Pam Alison Knits

I think I may have fallen into the trap of thinking I have nothing new and therefore I have nothing to write about here on my blog. After all, you can only post so many pieces of pink knitting (which all look alike to the casual observer) before things start to get a little samey. The first photo of a pen is exciting, the umpteenth photo is a little less so. I can happily report that I am making steady progress with my pink knitting and the two often-used, well-loved fountain pens I inked up for June are doing sterling work. The inks I chose, often-used, well-loved, are very traditional and are working admirably, but I’m a little bored with them if I am honest. July is just around the corner and I have plans to make it more colourful.

I’m already about 1/3 of the way through my current journal, though it feels as if I’ve only just started it. Often, when I start a new journal, I can come up with an apt quote straight away, before I even start writing entries. This time it took much longer, but I finally decided a quote about how long it takes to say anything was just right for the book where I take an awfully long time to say very little.

I have been duplicitous so far because, actually, there have been new things. Just this weekend I have changed my printer as I spent the time I would have been blogging last weekend jumping up and down throwing a tantrum about the fact my “old” printer suddenly didn’t want to recognise the ink cartridges that were installed. I was originally a big fan of the HP Instant Ink service, but over recent weeks I’d been beginning to wonder whether it was quite the right fit for me. One of the things I didn’t like so much was that the printer had always to be switched on because it was communicating with the mother-ship about how much ink I’d used. That doesn’t sit too comfortably in these energy-aware days. More importantly, I sometimes print on pre-punched paper, such as for my William Hannah disk notebook, and the punching means you have to feed the paper in manually, one sheet at a time. The HP printer didn’t have a manual feed option, so I had to open and close the main paper tray and extend the paper landing-strip every single side that I printed. This is the precise situation that they invented the word “tedious” to cover. I have scurried back to Canon for my new printer. I like Canon printers. All the brands print text just fine, but I’ve always thought Canon have the edge when it comes to photos. Canon have automatic ink delivery options, just as HP have Instant Ink, but this time I’m not going to go that route. I will just have to rely on myself to make sure I don’t run out of ink.

Another new little item is this wool in a charming shade of blue. In real life it is just a little more vibrant than I can quite replicate in a photo, but you get the general idea. This wool is still in its box awaiting the completion of the pink cardi so that I can make a start on the “real” project of knitting all the items from the “Moordale Collection 2” book. This is earmarked for the wide-bodied cardigan/jacket featured on the cover of the book. The wool is buttery soft and I think it will drape well which should stop the garment from being too boxy. I may live to regret that, given my previous experience with drapey yarns, but perhaps this will be a magical yarn and pattern marriage which will stand the test of time. As I am knitting the pink cardigan, I am viewing it increasingly like the “muslin” which a dressmaker would prepare – a practice piece to check whether any adjustments are needed in the sizing of the garment before you devote your good fabric to it. If I only intended to knit one garment from the collection, this would seem like a waste of time. However, knowing that this is going to be a multi-year project, I think it’s going to be beneficial to get a good understanding of how the sizings will work out.

I’ve also got a new dress ordered, but I’ll save that for when it arrives. Fingers crossed that it will work very well with the new wool.

In fact, my pen wallet is the only place where there really is nothing new. I’m not sure if this is a situation that I want to rectify any time soon. Nothing is really calling my name and I feel at present that I want to be spending my time with the pens I already own. Ink can be harder to resist, but resist I will. I have enough variety to provide interest as I choose the inks to use in July and that’s as far ahead as I really want to look.

Do you have plans for any new things over the summer months? I’d love to hear about them, if only to live vicariously through you.