Back from Edinburgh

I do still exist and haven't fallen into my stash and drowned as was suggested in the comments (although most days it is a close run thing, we haven't been able to sit on the sofa in the lounge for about two weeks now due to the yarn).

We got back just over a week ago from a conference I was helping to organise in Edinburgh, and I still haven't caught up on all my email yet! Also the place where I work has introduced a new finance system and it is all very busy.

In Edinburgh we stayed at the Royal British Hotel which despite the name was very Scottish and even had tartan carpets!

I managed to get some of one of my Mum's christmas socks done during spare moments while we were away. As you can see above it was stunned by the carpet, even though it clashed badly. The yarn is Serena 100% cashmere sock weight by Posh Yarn. It is lovely but seems to be knitting up to a tighter tension than the sock yarn I have used before so I am slightly concerned that the sock is coming out a little small. I will see how it is after I have washed it and then work out whether I need to reknit parts of it.

At the weekend we finally had a bit of decent weather and I persuaded the other half to photograph me in the circular cardigan:

and from the back:
The yarn is Inka by Garn Studio, 72% acrylic, 28% wool, bought from Interknit Cafe in Farnham.

It was really fun and very addictive to knit. I am going to try another one but this time as an eight segment circle rather than seven to see if I can get the centre back to lie flatter. Also I think I will experiment with shaping the shoulders and neck to get a better fit. Since this photo was taken I have crocheted a chain accross the inside of the shoulders to stop them stretching so hopefully that will improve the fit.

And just for a last silly, I bring you, new shoes:

They are Birkenstocks and are made of wool! (as close as I could get to a sensible pair of knitted shoes). They are wonderfully comfortable and I love them.