Portable Projects

It's lovely to be able to have an uncomplicated project that you can work on in the unexpected free moments that may occur in your day - the waiting room or train journey (or the car in my case, when you're waiting for the football training to finish!)

I have a drop spindle that travels with me. As I create the yarn I'll be using it in a cowl (or scarf perhaps) using an old stitch called Broomstick Lace. It will be easy to add in the new yarn as I go.

Broomstick lace is like a mix of 'casting on' from knitting and simple crochet and all you need is the yarn, crochet hook and something thicker like a very big knitting needle or handle of a wooden spoon. But, as we're talking portable here, I'm using a four-in-one Bic pen.  

I made a small sample first and washed it - this really gives you an idea of how the finished stitches will look. This is the tedious/unexciting bit but it's worth it as you can make changes at this stage that will save disappointment later. My yarn is lace weight so the stitches are quite small - you can vary the type of yarn and the size of the lace holes to create the effect you want.

If you'd like to learn this stitch there are plenty of easy to follow tutorials and videos on line like this Craftsy lesson and this video.

I'll keep you posted on how it's progressing!