I have about a gazillion balls of yarn and associated projects waiting to be knit up.

So why did I suddenly become overwhelmed in John Lewis, by the desire to buy yarn to make a pattern I’d only just seen?? I must be a sick, untreatable yarn addict…. It’s that or the tummy bug that’s had be laid up for the last few days…. 😕

This was the object of my latest desire …(This picture does not do all the detail justice)…

It’s Nicole by Leah Sutton from Rowan Magazine 39

I’m really enjoying mercerised cotton at the moment and I seem to be wearing lots of vesty type tops so this leapt off the page at me.

“OK” I thought, “It’s going to be a bit boring to knit but I want to wear it.”

I didn’t want to spend much money that day so I decided to substitute Patons’ 100% Pure cotton 4ply for the Rowan 4 ply cotton.

Boy did that decision work out a bargain!! I needed 2 balls at £3.50 a ball – a garment for £7 Cool! 😎

So…. Start knitting…..

There is a band of a textured pattern around the waist and bustline. This is worked on bigger needles so it doesn’t pull the garment tighter at these points.

The pattern is relatively simple “Yfwd, K3 and pass the first of these 3 stitches over there other 2, repeat….”

You won’t know till you’ve tried it, just how hard it was to get the “larger” (3.25mm) needle through that first stitch to be able to pass it over! 😯

I spent hours cursing and stabbing myself trying to hook up that illusive first stitch! By the time I started to get the hang of it, I’d been gripping the left hand needle so hard I’d worn a blister on the side of my left ring finger 😥 Is it just me who gets that when suffering “knitting stress”? 🙄

I silently thanked the Knitting Gods, when that section was done, that the whole garment wasn’t in that stitch 😉

Here’s how it looks….

The middle stocking stitch part was very very dull. Some shaping but still brainless. Duller than a dull thing, on a wet Tuesday afternoon in Dullsville. Ideal though, to do while gossiping and gulping down buckets of Starbucks with my fellow Guilty Knitters!

Nearly finished back and front …just the straps and front shaping. Surely I’m nearly finished???

So did you spot the beads? Take another look at that picture …

There they are….on the straps!

While you’re looking at those straps, did you spot that they were in a lacey pattern? No? Me neither till I got to knit them!

(No ,I don’t read the pattern through before I start – I like to be reckless and live dangerously!! 😀 )

Then the big downer… the 200ish beads are sewn on after knitting the straps ! I think I’d rather spend an afternoon stabbing my leg with my 2.25mm metal needles 😡

See my next post for details of how I resolved this beady problem! (no leg stabbing required!)