...grass

I've been a hayfever sufferer for most of my life. Every summer brings at least two or three months of intermittent sneezing fits, streaming, itchy eyes and nose, and a sense of suffocation in the pollen-filled air. Antihistamines, eye-drops and tissues are my constant companions, and I pray for rainy days to bring some relief. 

This year is no different, apart from the fact that over the past couple of weeks I've rather fallen in love with the source of my affliction. Up at the park large swathes of the old golf course have been left to grow unchecked into softy undulating meadows, containing a wide array of grasses. The effect is really quite magical, as the flowering spikelets range in colour from gentle pinks and purples to soft beiges and creams, all set against a backdrop of vivid green. The macro setting on my camera enables me to get such detailed images of the flower-heads - far better than my eye can actually see - and I find myself constantly stopping for 'just one more' picture.

Somewhat to my surprise this time spent getting up close and personal with the enemy doesn't seem to have made my hayfever significantly worse. I wonder if my positive thoughts and feelings might eventually be able to override my body's physical response?

 

...magic loop

I've started work on the first sleeve of my Gable jumper. Resolutely trying to overlook the fact that it is distinctly grey and not the silvery lilac I thought it would be based on the website photo:

Website photo

Real life

As it's an entirely seamless garment (hooray!) knitted in the round, I decided to look at some videos on Youtube and see if I could master the knack of magic loop knitting, rather than using double-pointed needles for the sleeves. I've never tried magic loop before, mostly because I rarely knit garments, socks etc. and haven't felt the need, but I have to say it has been an absolute revelation. It's a little bit of a faff having to stop and slide the stitches along the cable, but much less fiddly than dpns. The faffing only happens twice per round rather than four times, and in my opinion it's significantly less faffy not having to sew seams together! Although I haven't managed to get the tension exactly right at the points where the stitches divide, I think once it has been blocked the slight gap between the columns of stitches (barely discernible in the photo below) will disappear. Again, this is a lot less of an issue using magic loop than it was when I used dpns to knit sleeves in the round.

All in all I am very pleased to have picked up this new trick, and fully understand why so many knitters recommend it.