Kate is about 75% done. I used just under two balls for the back and I finished the first ball of the front in the car on the way home yesterday. This is a fun knit and the mistakes I have made have so far been quickly identified and fixed.

You may recall that my first swatch for Kate was WAY off gauge. I tried a second swatch driving to a friends for desert Christmas day, this time on 5mm Addis, and second time was the charm so I cast on Christmas night while blow drying Mum’s Market Bag. I had done about an inch when I decided to double check my gauge and carefully spread my knitting out on the floor. My very first thought was “that looks WAY too small” I was too confused to even bother checking my gauge. I just sat and stared for about 5 minutes (while adjusting the hairdryer absent mindedly). Eventually I thought to count the stitches, which I had cast on in sets of 20 divided by makers for easy counting. I was 20 stitches short. Ooops. That was my biggest mistake so far.

At the same time I also realised that I was supposed to have used smaller needles for the waist ribbing. I put it aside in disgust and started again the next day in the car, careful to cast on enough stitches this time. I forgot to use the smaller needles. Again. As it happens I am quite happy with the result and the needles I would have used were bamboo, which I have decided that I loathe with a passion. Since then all the errors have been to do with making decreases on the right hand one stitch too soon and having to drop two stitches for 2 or 3 rows in order to move the decrease to the correct spot. That, or using the wrong decrease on the right and doing the same as above to correct the mistake. Knitting combination style means I have to remember to first untwist my knit stitches before doing a k2tog or it comes out looking like an ssk, despite this I still feel compelled to actually slip, slip, knit my ssks rather than just doing a k2tog minus the untwisting.

I have been feeling a bit flat today, thus no progress on Kate since our return but this brightened my day - a long awaited parcel from Threadbare.

The Raspberry Lamb’s Pride will go with all the Lamb’s Pride remnants from my Christmas Booga Bags to make myself a knitting bag, probably very similar in shape to the Market Bag I made Mum. The Brown Cascade is to become a Sophie. The Colour Cards make me happy because I clearly have issues about ordering online and that is the only way I can get Lambs Pride.