I have been knitting steadily in the last few weeks, sadly there has not been the outcome I would have been proud to show off, quiet the opposite… So here I am nicely knitting away on Celtica and I am getting this far: 
after swatching fairly thoroughly for needle size and alternative cable pattern (see below) 
After knitting as far as the waist (300gr!) I realized that (1) this skirt for the long jacket is just a little too tight (because: of course I am using stash yarn and it is very easy to get astray with your gauge on a large pattern like this) and (2) this will look horrible because of the placement of those beautiful cables on the jacket! 8 cables, right? Two at the front, four at the back, two at the front.
But this garment has got a shaped neck (shawl collar) and set in sleeves. So what happens to the two cables in each front piece once one decreases for sleeve and neck??? Correct ! There will be 1/2 cable and another 1/2 cable on each front, OUCH, ugly! And I checked on Ravelry – that’s what all the knitters have done! But WHY did I not SEE this coming when I started? Why do I have to knit hours to get to the waist to SEE?
I have started again. Small cable at the centre front each side – those will be decreased for the neck. Then remain 7 cables for front, back, front. So after the decreases (for front neck and sleeve) one complete cable will remain at the front – (going through to the shoulder), the narrow cable at CF will be decreased for the shawl collar, one wide cable (at the ‘side seam’ marked here with stitch marker) will be decrease for front and back sleeve decreases, 3 full cables on the back and so forth. Well worth doing, I reckon…
And if you are wondering about that small safety pin at the garter stitch edge – I am slipping in an extra 2 rows of garter stitch after 10 rows (5 ribs) in order to achieve the same length as in the main pattern – garter stitch has got a different gauge than the rest of the ‘fabric’!
And while I am putting this post together, I might as well show off Esther’s first patchwork sewn on the sewing machine! This will be a cushion cover, the back we will work when her friend comes over for a visit next time. It was amazing to see two 11 year old girls stitching away for hours and squealing with delight after the addition of each row!
It made me pick up Esther’s hexagon quilt again …
… and as a reminder (to keep stitching at it) I hung it on the sitting room wall next to her cushion cover front!
Go – 70s Hessian wallpaper! Use it as design wall – no dramas!
textileshed 
Argh. Don’t you hate when these realizations come after hours and hours of knitting? Love the patchwork and hex! I’m just starting to dip my feet into quilting.
Go go go – dip and drench with quilting! So soothing and sustainable/ potentially inexpensive! It amazes me how much my kids love the quilts we have lying around. There is no better feast for the eye than a bunch of teenagers with friends huddled under them watching a movie on Friday night. And they don’t seem to want new (better/ more sophisticated) ones… the old ones they have grown up with (re-patched and mended) seem to have a very special place in their hearts. Go!