Ashes to sashes...

It has come up occasionally on this blog, but only occasionally, that one of my other loves, apart from yarn & knitting & making stuff, is cricket. I can often be found, in what passes for summer in London, sitting in the pavilion at Lord's clutching my sock knitting and a glass of wine. waiting to see what comment the Members will make today (my favourite was an elderly Scottish gentleman who hadn't seen anyone knitting in the round since his mum used to send him socks when he was in the Navy in the war).

I'm a Londoner now, and therefore a member at my local club, Middlesex (who play their county games mostly at Lord's), but Yorkshire by birth (as has definitely been mentioned on this blog before now!). This winter has not been a pleasant one for the England cricket fan, awaking every morning to hear what new depths the team had plumbed on the tour of Australia. (The good news is we have retained an Ashes - well done Charlotte Edwards and the England women's cricket team.) Last year, however, things were different, with England on largely winning form (albeit, and I don't just say this with hindsight, the signs of the imminent collapse were there). I went to both the New Zealand and Australia tests at Lord's & was otherwise glued to the Tests on TV. Now I adore my cricket, but even I will admit there are times when one's attention can drift, which is one of the factors that makes it the ideal sport for the knitter. During the New Zealand series, my attention drifted to the new pavilion at Yorkshire's splendid ground, Headingley.

And in particular its triangular roof. The colours happened to chime rather well with the designs I was doing for Artesano Yarns at the time in their British Blue Faced Blend yarn, and so my thoughts naturally turned to: could I knit the roof?

So, I took some techniques from Shetland shawl shaping and worked out a way to make interlocking, seamless, garter stitch triangles and neatened it off with a bright edging. Serendipitously, Knit Now have put together an issue full of fascinating geometric patterns & angular knitting (I especially love the Biennial Jumper but I am a sucker for a diagonal). And here it is, Headingley Scarf:

 



In lovely Artesano Blue Faced Blend.