Sunset Stripes

My office has a west-facing window and autumn has been providing the most spectacular sunsets across the rooftops of north London. There's currently a thin band of sandstone gold resting on the chimney stacks, with melodramatic dark grey clouds rolling past and slowly crushing it out of sight.

As well as being beautiful, all these sunsets have me hankering for some colour-combo striping. I rarely knit in more than one colour at a time and the thought of a Kaffe Fassett-esque kaleidoscope not only fills me with dread at the thought of knitting anything that complicated, but also at wearing it (it's just not me).

But lately, stripes are on my mind. The yellow/grey combo listed above, but I'm also thinking rust orange/warm beige, electric blue/storm grey, teal/pale grey, and a dozen other variations, in thin stripes, a DK or even 4ply lambswool and a classic boatneck sweater maybe, and one look at the Jamieson's shades can't hurt.... (Snap out of it!)

Of course, twitching fingers must be kept firmly on the Christmas knitting. Which is typical just as I'm longing to get swatching through my stash (and I never swatch, even when I'm supposed to). Although there is one festive project that can satisfy my craving for the time being - since it follows narrow stripes.

But this weekend is going to have to involve some serious knitting time. We're entering the danger period now, where it can all slip away with just a day or two off the schedule. I've got this weekend to finish friends' presents for next Sunday's festivities and get things in the post to the rest. Which leaves me almost three weeks to finish the family. I am determined NOT to spend the days in the run up to Christmas knitting from 9am to 2am. Apart from anything else I was starting to get RSI last year, and that's just embarrassing. Tennis elbow is one thing. Knitting wrist is ridiculous.