ravelling

Finally Springing

2008-05-03T16:41:00.002+01:00

Spring is finally springing here. The temperature rose to 20 degrees today. Combined with all the rain we've had, the garden has really taken off.

No knitting pictures today as I have been working on my Susie Hoodie (sorry, it's a ravelry link) from More Big Girl Knits. I'm doing it in Charcoal Donegal Silk tweed from New Lanark Mills, so it photgraphs badly. It's slow going too as each round has over 300 stitches. Stll, I'll be smiling when I don't have to do endless seeming.

A knitting-related link, though: If you are a on ravelry, have a look at what Krystofer is doing to raise money for Aids research. He's taking part in the 2008 Aids Lifecycle. If you're not on ravelry, you can find his donate page here. He's holding a draw of the people who donate at least $10 towards this. Prizes are amazingly generous. If you have $10 to spare, pop across there now.

Socks

2008-04-18T17:00:00.003+01:00

We got a new camera. It's lovely - much more sophisticated than my previous one. Does lots more things, including macros.

Don't these Knitpicks Harmony needles go well with the Bearfoot yarn from Mountain Colors. I started off making Friday Harbor socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. Unfortunately, the yarn just ended up looking a bit lumpy in that pattern, so they are plain K3P1 rib socks with a Friday Harbor cuff.

Speaking of socks: I need to say a big "Thank you!" to my HSKS partner,Yvonne (also known as Emma Gorodok). Yvonne sent the most wonderful sock project bags, filled with goodies. I'm afraid I can't post pictures of everything here now as the little bags are at work, where they will live in my desk, holding stress-relieving and sanity-restoring emergency sock projects.

Warming up

2008-04-10T16:15:00.002+01:00

Feels decidedly springy today. I've finished my International Scarf Exchange 6 scarf and after blocking, took it outside to try for a background different to one of my usual sofa shots. Here it is dangling in one of our olive trees:

Some more garden picture:

A miniature flowering cherry.

Each year more and more moss and lichen finds a home on J's pondside Buddha.

The grass is full of tiny aconites and grape hyacinths.

Brrr

2008-04-07T06:20:00.003+01:00

A wild and windy couple of days - horizontal snow much of the time and gritters on all the major roads. Why do I remember getting summer clothes and sandals at Easter as a child? Is that one of those trick childhood memories that turns every Summer holiday into a Famous Five book or is the weather really shifting so drastically?

We walked on the beach, dressed like we were walking across Antarctica, and drove up to the Heugh Breakwater, near my new school, to watch the waves in action.

What a person needs, when the weather is like this, is a bright, bright, bright cosy wool sweater:

Terrible picture, but lovely sweater. This is my take on Chinese Lace Pullover by Angela Hahn. My modifications were: longer body (about 3 inches more), merino dk instead of cotton/silk, added some rows of garter stitch around the neck as I felt the neckline was too low when I had finished it, only did 1 repeat of lace around the sleeves so they weren't too fussy.

Back into the light

2008-04-06T17:01:00.005+01:00

I feel like this lovely anenome that is flowering in the garden - as though I've been down in the dark, underground, for a while now. It's one of those things that I don't always recognise until I start to come out again. Not a depression, I think, but a head-down, coping-by-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-another period.

Things at work have been very hard for a while - I got the job, we had an inspection and had to weather with the response of some colleagues to the inspection findings, lots of things have been difficult and everyone has been very tired. It's been a long, hard term and I'm glad it's my two week break!

I have responded to the stress of it all by eating chocolate (consequence - weight gain of 4lbs, I was lucky!), sleeping and getting in some knitting - not as much as I would have liked, but it all counts.

I finished my Chinese lace pullover. No pictures yet, but I'll get some done this week.

I have cast on for my International scarf Exchange 6 scarf.

Here it is:

I'm doing a pattern called Forest Shawl or Scarf, which I printed out from t'Interweb. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark the page or note the creator. It's in James C Brett Merino. The colour is darker than it appears here - more a dark Merlot shade. I love the way this yarn shows the lace pattern and love how soft it is.

I've been making small (and I mean small) woollen hats for Save the Children. They are easy to do and can be finished really quickly - even when my brain is fried and I can't keep my brain focused on anything complicated.

I read, on the Save the Children website, that half of all babies born in Tibet die in their first week - mostly due to hypothermia. What terrible statistics!

Finished objects sighted

2008-02-24T17:08:00.004Z

Two, to be precise. Just under the wire before I go back to work tomorrow.

The first is a small felted project bag for me to carry socks etc in while they are in progress. I made it from 1 skein of my large stash of Twinkletoes sock yarn. I may try more felted projects from this as it worked out well and I still have lots of the stuff left. I felted it in my washing machine and dried it into shape over a plastic cereal container.

It's lined with a lovely piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric. I love the fabric but am trying to reduce the amount of pattern I have in our house as it easily feels cluttered, so I'll confine it to small things like linings.

Next up is my Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap project bag. I've enjoyed making the bag, which is done in Wendy Fusion and lined with Liberty tana lawn in a knitting print. I haven't had as much time for the other swap activities as I would have liked and I'm worried that I may have annoyed the organisers with my lack of participation in the treasure hunts and quizzes, but I haven't had time.

The bag is off to my swap partner with a skein of hand-dyed Ravenclaw yarn (apologies, I can't remember where I bought this), a set of stitch-markers I made myself and a set of Lantern Moon sock stix. I hope she likes the kit.

*****

Back to work tomorrow. as usual, I don't seem to have got half as much done as I wanted to this week. Never mind. Is it 6 weeks until Easter?

One of the things that has been occupying my thoughts, work-wise, recently has been the fact that the post, to which I have been seconded, has been advertised as a permanent vacancy. It came up shortly after I started my secondment, allowing very little time for me to make an informed decision about whether to apply for it or not. If you have visited here any number of times in the past, you will realise that I don't do change!

Anyway, since I had started to do the job already I decided to apply. The interviews (2 days worth) are in a week, so I've still got some time to work on my ideas and presentation.

A hint of Spring

2008-02-23T18:34:00.002Z

Well, it's now much warmer than it was at the start of the week and I am quietly optimistic that winter might finally be easing itself out.

We finally got the living room put straight after having new carpets laid; much trauma and heartache invested into finding two matching curtain poles that would fit the two (non-matching) windows in this room without having to buy the hideously expensive largest size and saw great chunks off them. I am finally knitting again.

I have pulled this back about 4 times now, being unhappy with the shapings. I wish I was knitting it from the top down...

It's not pink. It's red.

Global Warming

2008-02-20T07:29:00.004Z

Our December and January have been mild and uneventful, in terms of weather, and then mid-February winter finally seems to have hit us. This is the second morning of freezing fog. A drive to the beach (we stayed in the car) reminded me so much of Ilona Wellman's images (see above). Yesterday the temperature didn't get above -2 all day and today looks to be the same. It's all relative, I know. Some people have been buried under the winter snows for months now. We watch Ice Road Truckers, so we know all about the cold. Nevertheless, winter is seldom a problem for us, so we take it personally when it does visit.

J has been taking it extremely personally. Every morning he hares outside to see what damage has been wrought on his tender plants. Most of them are wrapped up and huddled together on the perspex-covered deck for the winter, but he's been rushing about with armfuls of straw all over the place.

I'm on holiday this week - half term break. Very welcome it is too. I've been avoiding posting about the new job, just in case anyone who might know me finds this blog. It's unlikely, I know, but better safe than struck off :)
It's a challenge. Bits of it are extremely tough and we have a lot of work to do. It has been consuming most of my time and energy - hence the thin-ness of the blogging recently.
This week we are renovating the living room a bit. J has finally caved in under the pressure of my gentle, but regular remarking and concedes that our 15 year old carpet may merit replacing.
The problem is, you see, that it is a really, really good carpet and was really, really expensive and has lasted really, really well. It is also really, really heavily patterned and really, really dated. If you are of a nervous disposition, turn away now.

The upshot is that it is going to have a second life on top of a compost heap or something and we're getting a plain carpet. You wouldn't believe how many shades of beigey-brown there are out there! We can't have white or cream because our family is not good at avoiding spills, drips and coming in from the garden without taking our shoes off...

I have got some knitting in. Work continues on the Chinese Lace Pullover. Red is hard to photograph with a flash. I tried this morning and got a red blob. I'll try again in natural daylight if we ever get any today.

A flying visit

2008-02-17T19:16:00.001Z

Oh boy. Long time no post. So much to do lately. Nevermind - a whole week's holiday now so I will catch up.

In the meantime here's the answer to the Hufflepuff quiz:

"Then you should have died!" roared Black. "Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!"

Quidditch quiz

2008-02-02T08:04:00.001Z

1. What was Harry dreaming about the first time he woke up with his scar on fire?
b. Voldemort and Wormtail plotting to kill him

2. What is the problem with leprechaun gold?
a. It vanishes after a few hours

3. Why did Mad-Eye Moody turn Malfoy into a ferret
c. Malfoy attacked Harry when Harry's back was turned

4. Sirius warns Harry to be careful around Karkaroff because he had been a Death Eater. Which one of the professors at Hogwarts, who also used to be a Death Eater, is frequently bothered by Karkaroff?
Snape

5. Voldemort could have used the blood from any foe to make the potion that revived him work, but he held out for Harry's blood. Why?
c. The special protection Harry received from his mother would also pass to Voldemort

6. How old would Frank have been on his next birthday?
d. 77

7. Amos Diggory works for?
b. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

8. Who shared a carriage with the three friends on the way from the train to Hogwarts? Answer: (One Word)
Neville

9. What date in October did the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive?
a. 30th

10. What color were Percy's dress robes at the Yule Ball?
a. Navy Blue

Mr. Ollivander

Mad-Eye Moody

Cedric

World Cup Tournament

Dark Mark

Aaarghh!

2008-01-26T16:10:00.000Z

Oh my! Charlotte's Web is causing me some real problems! I keep ending up out on my row count. I must be missing some yo's or something. I've frogged it THREE times now and I'm tempted to just give up. Is this the revenge of the penance sweater? Am I not supposed to be working on anything else?

I sought refuge among my stash. I was ruthless today, jettisoning all the odd balls of baby wool and dodgy acrylics and oddments I'd been keeping 'just in case'. They are now in two sacks to go to the charity shop and recycling centre. I feel so clean :)

HSKS Hufflepuff Quiz

2008-01-26T10:04:00.000Z

1. What does Mrs. Weasley do when she is angry? She can be rather overbearing and tends to explode!
2. Who picks up Harry for his visit to the Burrow? Ron Fred, George and Mr. Weasley
 3. What did Moody give Neville? A book on herbology which mentions gillyweed
4. When is Hermione’s Birthday? 19th September 
5. Who does Snape have pickling rats brains for detention? Harry and Ron
6. Are Dobby and Winky at Hogwarts at the beginning of term? No they arrive after the start
7. Where do Harry, Ron and Hermione pick up sock for Dobby? In Hogsmeade at Gladrags Wizardwear.
8. Who helps Harry figure out the egg? Moaning Myrtle and Cedric
 9. Where does Harry have his first meeting with Sirius? In the hearth in Gryffindor Tower's Common room
 10. Who interrupts the above mentioned meeting with Sirius? Ron

I ♥ the weekend

2008-01-19T15:33:00.000Z

Well, what a successful day!
I have completed a number of minor repairs around the house that were causing ongoing domestic irritation. Small stuff, but very satisfying.

In celebration I baked a dozen cupcakes, then j got up and ate most of them...

As an antidote to the penance sweater (see below), I have cast on Charlotte's Web. I've started off with the skein of Claudia's Hand Painted Fingering I had left over when I decided to make the Chevron Scarf shorter. I plan to choose the next yarn from my (larger than I expected) stash of sock-weight yarns.

This will be my first shawl. I'm not sure I'm really a shawl person, but they always look so nice on other people and I know I'm definitely a scarf person and it doesn't seem a million miles from one to the other, so we'll see...

On the Hogwart's front:

I have sent for the yarn for my Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap partner. She's in Ravenclaw and there are some lovely colourways out there. I'm still trying to decide which bag pattern to use, but I'm leaning towards a sock project-sized bag, maybe with a drawstring and some charms...not sure yet.

My dragon ate my homework

2008-01-13T19:54:00.000Z

Ooops!

This week's assignment was to post this link here. Wonder if Miss Wartwobble will believe that my dragon ate my homework...

Rediscovering Filey

2008-01-13T17:29:00.000Z

No, not the seaside town on the Yorkshire coast. I've never actually been there, believe it or not (for all of you who are familiar with the area), although I have been to Flamborough Head.

This Filey is a sweater I started for J over 2 years ago. We bought the pattern and yarn from Bobbins in Whitby. I cast it on and then abandoned it after and inch and a half. While I was confronting the magnitude of my stash, recently, I rediscovered it. It seems like the right thing to do now is to pick it back up and finish it. Maybe that should really read start it.

Trouble is, it's a horrible experience: I hate the way the yarn makes my fingers sore; I hate the way the yarn makes my fingers blue; I hate the way my eyes struggle to see the stitches in anything other than bright daylight; I hate the fact that it will take so long to knit, particularly given J's height and the fact that it has to be knitted a third longer than the required finished length to allow for shrinkage.

I feel like I'm doing penance for something.

After I had given up hope

2008-01-12T17:25:00.000Z

and decided that the Christmas Post Monster had eaten my package, this arrived from Canada:

It's my Coffee Swap package from Natalie in Ontario and it smells gorgeous. Mmmm...dark-roast coffee...

The gorgeous yarn is Sea Wool from Fleece Artist.

Thank you Natalie!

Comfort Inn Kensington

2008-01-11T20:33:00.000Z

Don't Ever Stay There!

Been in London again for a couple of days at the Bett Show. It's an enormous technology in education show/conference. It's exhausting and when you get finished for the day you don't want to stay in a hotel that has:

tiny, shabby rooms

cramped, dirty en suite bathrooms

disaffected, uncaring staff who speak inadequate English (- probably on minimum wage, but employers should learn that they get what they pay for!)

smelly corridors

inadequate and noisy room heating

dangerously overloaded electric socket adapters

The spoils of conference...

First FO of 2008

2008-01-08T18:45:00.000Z

Well, technically my pratchgan square was the first but a 6 inch square doesn't seem to count really.
So here is my Pistachio Bomb:

It's Cherry Bomb from Big Girl knits, done in James Brett Merino wool on size 4mm needles. I made it 2 inches longer than the pattern directions and it's still a little short for wearing with trousers. It will work well with a skirt, though.

buggrit, millennium hand and shrimp

2008-01-05T07:55:00.000Z

Terry Pratchett apparently came up with Foul Ole Ron's fantastic catchphrase by feeding a random text generating program with a Chinese takeaway menu and the lyrics to They Might be Giants' song Particle Man. Works for me.

I made it the theme for my square for an afghan (or Pratchgan) being lovingly made by the Ankh-Morpork Knitters' Guild. (Sorry, it's a ravelry link)

I've tried to make the lettering as chaotic as possible and to work within the 6 inches square and washable constraints. Does it count as a finished object? The first of 2008!

The finished article will be sent to Terry as a "we're thinking about you" gesture.

Even a single hair casts its shadow

2008-01-04T14:00:00.000Z

It's not on the list, but it's on my bedside table:

Who could fail to love Gok Wan?

I'm sure that, in his days as a hair stylist, he never gave any woman the experience I had this morning! It's all my own fault. I usually go to a certain hairstylist who has her own salon - well, she is the salon as she is her only stylist. I missed my last appointment through changing diaries when I changed jobs and now she's gone to Thailand for 3 weeks... To cut a long story short I decided to have an interim trim until she gets back. I booked an appointment at the place j has his hair cut. He likes it there and I always like his hair so I thought I'd be safe.

Wrong.

The stylist started her consultation by running through the products she would be using - just in case I wanted to buy them at the end, I guess. Then she shampooed and massaged - nice, I thought - but kept up a running commentary on the products used.
then she trimmed microscopic amounts off my hair ends and blow dried.
"Is that enough off?" I asked.
"Yes, I'll straighten it and then see if I need to thin out more."
"I don't have it straightened." (My hair is soooo straight. If it were thicker it would be orientally straight).
"I need to straighten it into shape."

Okaaaaay

Some straightening, waxing, thinning, tweaking, spraying and teasing later, I realised what she was aiming for:

I had to force myself not to start laughing - the alternative to crying.

I admired the back in the mirror, paid my money and headed for the car, stopping only to try to run my hands through my hair for a bit of diy distressing.

Mistake.

I have never had such rigid hair since the 1980s. It was a cold, windy day and I had to walk across an overpass bridge to get to the car in the multi-storey. Not one mm did my hair move.

Finally got home and washed it. I've managed to style it back the way I like it - windswept and interesting and with a chance of looking like I'm under 80.

A valuable lesson about the value of a well-organised diary.

Snow

2008-01-03T19:06:00.000Z

We had a flurry of snow today - only light when I took these pictures of some of our more tropical plants withstanding the cold, but it got a little heavier as the day wore on.

The local media got really excited and the local new featured pictures of 'terrible driving conditions' in East Cleveland. It's all relative. I visited Calgary in Alberta, Canada one late Autumn and there's no comparison. J spent time in Nova Scotia - nope, still no comparison.
Nevertheless, just in case, BBC Tees have produced this handy 'snow survival guide'.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T16:04:00.000Z

...albeit slightly belatedly.

We stayed home for New Year's Eve. J was tired and under the weather so we just chilled out in our pyjamas, which was nice enough. The street was quiet so I guess others had done the same.

We're not making resolutions or saying silly things like "Let's hope next year is...." Every year brings it's ups and downs. 2008 sees me starting a new job and J continuing to improve in health. The person with the greatest number of challenges and changes this year is j. He will sit his GCSEs in the Summer and has some AS levels too, this year (1 in January, he informs me). He also becomes old enough to drive so that means getting a car that he can practice in. Our second car is a Fiat Punto that I've had from new. It's 12 years old this January and has done more than 100000 miles. It's a miracle on 4 wheels and J uses him for work. Ooops, does that 'him' give it away? I've anthropomorphised it. His name is Paolo - Paolo the Punto. Unfortunately, Paolo is a temperamental old chap and has a tricky gear box and no power steering (although he does have electric windows - he was top of the range at the time). I don't think it will be a good idea for j to practice driving in a car like this, so 2008 is the year we face retiring Paolo and getting a newer second car. Can I face it?

Work is going well on Pistachio Bomb. I've finished the front. I'm a bit anxious about the way the bottom is rolling. Hopefully, it will block out flat and stay flat.

I've made a start on the To Be Read Challenge.

I love Sam Vimes.

Memories are made of this.

2007-12-30T15:30:00.000Z

Been tidying up the sidebar of the blog - I wanted to make space to keep a running record of my progress with the books in the post below. I decided to get rid of some of the buttons from the knitalongs and swaps I've been in. It felt a little sad as so many of them represented really good experiences, but they were starting to remind me of girl guide badges or those patches from places you had been on holiday that you could get to sew on your (blue, quilted, nylon) anorak when I was growing up in the 70s.

They were aspects of the 70s that I'd be happy to forget. This, however, brought back some happy memories of school discos and Top Of The Pops.

I've been playing it in the car at a loud volume and singing along. Look out for me at the next set of traffic lights - I'm the one stomping in her seat to Sweet.

Anyone remember the Aztec Bar ? It, along with so many other blasts from the past, is in here. Fab book!

We've had a bit of a 70s Christmas. All that was missing was going to my Auntie Jessie's for tea and playing Newmarket for pennies or peanuts.... (Cue swirly camera effects and Jimmy Shand Danceband LP soundtrack)

I've been sorting through my stash and have decided to cast on Cherry Bomb in pistachio merino so I can wear it over a shirt.

That's two stash-busting projects on the needles at present as I still haven't finished my Chevron Scarf, but it's coming on well.

To Be Read...

2007-12-29T19:16:00.000Z

I'm going to skip New Year Resolutions this time, in favour of a few general aims: I want to continue to look after my body and mind, to try to knit up some of my stash and to read more books. I've joined the To Be Read Challenge.

This is my list of books:
1. Making Money – Terry Pratchett
2. Jingo – Terry Pratchett
3. To Kill A Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
4. Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett
5. The Truth – Terry Pratchett
6. Carpe Jugulum – Terry Pratchett
7. Instant Confidence – Paul McKenna
8. I Can Make You Thin – Paul McKenna
9. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive – Alexander McCall Smith
10. The World According to Bertie - Alexander McCall Smith
11. Exit Music – Ian Rankin
12. Odinn’s Child – Timothy Severin

And my 'Alternates':
1. The Whale Road – Robert Low
2. The Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett
3. Small Gods – Terry Pratchett
4. The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith

If you're looking for an author recommendation for the New Year, we can recommend Nick Stone. J and I have both just finished this:

and we both really liked his first novel, Mr Clarinet.

While the boys are downstairs killing zombies...

2007-12-27T15:49:00.000Z

...I have begun on my stash reduction. I made a resolution, last year, to knit from my stash, but I only knit from it after adding to it. Spurred on, however, by the success of my Juliet from stash yarn I am giving it another go this year.

First I finished a pair of socks that have been lingering. They're Jaywalkers in Old Rose Cherry Tree Hill yarn. The yarn pooled oddly on the second sock even though the tension seemed the same.

Then I started on a Chevron Scarffrom Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm making it in Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn, in Boot Camp and Desert Dusk. I really like how it's looking so far.

I have added a row of small gold beads to the set up rows, but they don't show up here, alas.

We had to take our Christmas tree down today. It's much earlier than I would have liked - we normally wait until 12th night. However, it was shedding like mad, crispy (despite being watered) and nearly a third bald. That's what we get for eschewing the major gardening chains and supporting a local business. Back to Peter Barratt's next year.
J and one of the guys who works for him wrapped it in a dust sheet and took it down to the recycling compound. We can't be the only people who bought from this seller this year. J said there were quite a few trees down there already.

Fortunately, we still have some lovely Christmas flowers, gifts from colleagues at school: