late August

A few days until the August Bank Holiday and already things are staring to look autumnal.

There are fewer flowers now than in mid-summer.

The hogweed is still in flower

although many have already turned to seed,

the seedheads as attractive as the flowers.

The thistles are over and the thistle down is ready to float on the breeze

and up in the horse chestnut tree, plenty of conkers are forming.

This bank holiday always feels like the end of summer whatever the weather but this year more so as it seems to be turning cooler. Yesterday morning at 6:30 the car thermometer read 5ºC and there was low lying mist over the fields, early autumn weather.

Shawl - Vertices Unite

Its been quiet here lately. I've been enjoying the summer weather and not spending too much time inside at my laptop. We have also been away on holiday and I will post some photographs soon.

Firstly though I'll catch up with some finished knitting. This shawl is Vertices Unite by Stephen West. It is knit in one piece joining together the different sections as you knit. The pattern comes in two sizes.
I chose the small size because I had enough left-over Jamieson and Smith 2ply Jumper Weight to complete it. I didn't have enough of each colour to follow the pattern exactly, in the photograph below you can see that I used two different purples and had to join them mid-section, but the end result looked fine.

 

This was a lovely relaxing knit for lazy summer knitting although it was a bit heavy once the weather warmed up. I have always liked garter stitch and this pattern uses it very effectively.

My current knitting project is a traditional Icelandic jumper for my son, again easy knitting but a rather warm heavy project for this summer weather! I've just finished the yoke (knitting top-down) and I will post pictures soon.