It is Wool Week here in the UK and as a result my working week is somewhat frantic. This year the emphasis seems to be wool as fashion and that ties neatly into some blog posts I have been working on. Wool School asked budding fashion designers to design woolly jumpers with the best designs being snapped up by retailers. It is a different approach to previous years' campaigns which were more focused on wool as product. I applaud the decision to shift focus - it cannot not have been an easy decision - and hopefully by asserting wool as fashion we can start to have that particular discussion. More on this when I get a chance to post my blog series.
The Knitter features my Doggerland collection this month and I was slightly stunned to find myself sharing a page with Steph Pearl-McPhee, Alana Dakos, Jean Moss, and Kaffe Fassett. No pressure, Karie. However, that does bring me to what's going on with Doggerland. The next pattern is a 4ply shawl called Vedbaek - I really love it and it's a real comfort knit. The trouble is that I have about six or seven strings to my bow and I am a bit overwhelmed with work. So, Vedbaek is sitting 75% finished on my harddesk and I am as frustrated as everybody else that I cannot just dig into it and get it published. Hang in there with me. Besides Vedbaek, there are two more Doggerland patterns to go. I cannot wait to show you.
(this does go back to one of my concerns pre-release that my portfolio was going to drag me away for lengths of time. I need a time-turmer)
But at least being busy and travelling gives me time to do some work knitting (see photo!). I finished knitting my Bute cardigan (or did I? Oooh, there's a story..) and I began knitting Orkney. It is going to be a long-term project because I'll only be able to work on it now and then - but it is so pretty. I am changing the colours completely: from the beige/purple/turquoise original to a darker, more muted version in brown/green/red. Ravelry is full of wonderfully reimagined Orkney cardigans: Doodle's Orkney, Grebe's Orkney, Pletynka's Orkney, and Whitecotton's Orkney. I am blessed to be able to spend a bit of my work time of knitting - I don't think I will have time to do so going forward, though.
And so it is time to depart. Enjoy Wool Week - I will probably enjoy it most when it is all over for another year! Shhhh...