MIse-En-Place

My mom, Mrs Ferguson, subscribes to "The Knitter" magazine from England, and kindly gave me her October issue. It is the one with a free gift every month in a cellophane wrapper at the newsstand.

The magazine has a nice knitting vibe, comfortable and stylish with a touch of whimsy.
The Alan Dart pattern is especially appealing, so much so that I may once again have a cat. I have made quite a few of Jean Greenhowe toys, this is the first Alan Dart, and likely not the last. Maybe mice next, in tutu's
My beautiful Noel had to find a new home, as she kept making a break for it when the front door would open, of course not realizing how busy (and deadly to animals) Highway 12 is. She certainly wasn't a scaredy cat at all and I understand she is very happy with her new family.

My (not so) Scaredy Cat will be just as stylish, though not as energetic. I promise to contribute to him every day. Cyrils' English cousin is made with Hayfield Bonus DK. There is a wider colour range of this yarn available to knitters in the UK. The Paprika colour especially. I found a substitute in my stash.

He will be a mix of vintage Hayfield Grampian, Sirdar Country Style, Paton's Beehive Astra (made in Toronto) and for his furry self Kitten from Sandnesgarn.

From a practice us use in hand weaving, cardboard and tape preview the colour combination, so helpful. There is more detail about this process in the post for the the Acheson scarf.

I also like to rewind the yarn and completely assemble a working area, what a chef would call mise-en-place. Everything ready for the daily exercise.

Because the parts are so small, and sometimes parked for a while I use a 5 piece set of double pointed needles turned into short pairs with cute Clover stoppers for the ends. Organizing this way gives me 2 sets and a spare, thus lots of options for open and waiting "live" bits

The portable knitting desk is a piece of ceiling tile covered in a cherished piece of rayon. I use thumb tacks and some flannelette to finish the back side

Yes, Cyril is on the way for Hallowe'en 2018!