Notwithstanding Nicola

Pastures new

2010-12-01T20:34:00.002Z

I'm not really sure whether anyone checks back to this blog at all. I've been in the blogging doldrums for a long time but now a fair wind is blowing and I've decided to try and resume this blog, albeit in a slightly different guise. If you want to have a look you can now find me here:

http://www.nicolasnotes.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there!

Widely read or bust!

2009-01-23T09:19:00.005Z

I didn't make any very concrete new year's resolutions but I've been thinking about things I'd like to get done in the next year. I'm not too sure where life is going to lead us in 2009, possibly new jobs, maybe a move to a different city and that makes it hard to envisage what goals are realistically achievable. I did think of one little thing I'd like to get done though:

These are the books I want to read during 2009. They are all novels that I've owned for some time (I can't think of when my most recent fiction purchase was) and that I've either not read or started and not finished. I'd like to finish all of these by the end of the year. If I actually get my thesis out of the way eventually (even more so if I manage to divest myself of my current job) I think this ought to be an achievable goal - I don't always feel like reading that much when I've
been either researching or proofreading the whole day, which you can imagine limits my reading opportunities somewhat.

I won't be too strict with this, if I don't finish everything it won't be the end of the world and since most of these books are reasonably heavy going I'll excuse myself if I need to read some mindless chick lit for light relief now and again :o)

For information purposes here is the list of books (I'll try and update as and when I am able to tick them off the list):

1. The Berlin Novels - Christopher Isherwood - bought years ago and never even started(!)
2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig - nearly finished twice, will have to start again as I can't remember what's happened so far
3. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - bought a couple of years ago, never started
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer - bought last year from a pound shop (!) haven't had a chance to look at it yet but I loved Everything is Illuminated
5. Der fremde Freund - Christoph Hein - cheating... I've read this before but I desperately wanted to re-read it and I've already started on this one... easing myself in I guess
6. Der geteilte Himmel - Christa Wolf - bought in a clearance sale from the uni bookshop never got round to looking at it
7. Was bleibt - Christa Wolf - bought in a clearance sale again
8. Kein Ort. Nirgends - Christa Wolf - it's sort of related to my thesis topic so I bought it second hand, but got sidetracked by reading for research
9. Russendisko - Wladimir Kaminer - nearly finished this and it's all little anecdote-type vignettes so should be able to pick up where I left off
10. Perfume - Patrick Suskind - got at least half way through this and was really enjoying it but will have to start again now because it's been too long
11. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - a charity shop find, started but not finished
12. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse - another vaguely thesis related thing bought out of curiousity but haven't had a chance to look at it yet
13. Austerlitz - WG Sebald - another charity shop find, not started as yet
14. The Sorrows of Young Werther - Goethe - had to read it in German as an undergrad, don't think I really got it so thought I'd try it in English
15. Elective Affinities - Goethe - ditto the last reason
16. The Stone Raft - Jose Saramago - was postgrad coursework which I didn't manage to read at all - naughty me!

Hope this list doesn't make me sound overly pretentious!!!

First post of 2009

2009-01-14T15:09:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone! My year has been low-key so far although I have been suffering from a mean case of startitis since just before Christmas. I've started a pair of socks, 2 sweaters and 2 scarves since then, plus I have project on the needles, cast aside in favour of all the fickleness, which is really quite near completion and which I should probably try to work on. Anyhoo, the socks have been ripped out to be restarted at a later date, 1 of the sweaters is on hold (having knitted about 3 inches worth) - the other sweater is no more, 1 of the scarves bit the dust after only a few rows and the nearly completed project awaits seaming (I hate seaming)... only 1 of the projects from the bout of startitis has stuck...

here is the currect state of the one that endured:

Of course you can probably tell what it is... the ubiquitous Clapotis. I've never made one of these before but something inspired me (maybe a project that I saw in the random faves pages on Ravelry?) and I just decided it would be good to cast one on ... the Kauni yarn was a bit of whim too but is working out beautifully. Anyway, the project, despite being only a week old is somewhere around 75% finished so I reckon I'll be posting an FO here before the month is out.

In the meantime I'm posting a little (actually maybe not so little) review of my day to day life in 2008 - more as a little aide memoire to myself, but if you are at all interested then feel free to have a nose around!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Tried to walk up a mountain (Snowdon) – maybe in 2009 I’ll get to the top.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s Resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn’t make any specific resolutions for last year, this year I’d like to lose a fair amount of weight (and finish my godforsaken thesis).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No – a friend and his partner had a baby just after Christmas 2008 and another friend is pregnant with her first child and my cousin with her third child. That’s as close as I can get!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Fortunately, no.

5. What countries did you visit?

Spain, Wales.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A job that doesn’t depress me, more guilt-free leisure time.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I’m not good with days and dates – the only event which I can correlate with the correct date is the US elections on Nov 4 – I stayed up way past my bedtime (until Ohio was called) watching the results shows with the boyf. Cheesy, oder?

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Finally got offered a new job, hopefully I might be able to start it soon!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not finishing my thesis, plus too many minor failures for me to want to list!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Sprained ankle.

11. What was the best thing someone bought you?

A Nintendo Wii (for Christmas – wonder why there hasn’t been any knitting content for a little while?.....)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

The fabulous Richard who finally made it all the way to being Dr Dick.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Mine sometimes (not so much appalled, a little ashamed and depressed though).

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, biggest purchases were a new tent and a new camera.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Too many silly little things to mention – what can I say, I’m an excitable type…

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Kids – MGMT – at least it was surely the catchiest tune of the year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

Fatter or thinner? Fatter.

Happier or sadder? About the same.

Richer or poorer? Poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Saving up. Working on my thesis.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Disappointing people. Feeling guilty and ashamed because I felt I wasn’t working hard enough (even when I was working my arse off! – can you tell this is issue is a thorny one for me?)

20. How do you plan to spend Christmas?

In 2009 we would like it to just be the two of us with a couple of side visits to the respective families.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

It has been a good year for our relationship despite a lot of rubbishness going on our little world.

22. How many one night stands?

23. What was your favorite TV program?

House, Waking the Dead.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Not that I can think of – which I would say is a good thing.

25. What was the best book you read?

I don’t think I managed to read a whole book that I hadn’t already read before – so it’ll have to be The Secret History even though I’ve read it loads of times.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Seasick Steve, and the rediscovery of Manu Chao – great music for working on the thesis.

27. What did you want and get?

In a childish way: a Nintendo Wii, in a serious way: a job offer.

28. What did you want and not get?

Lots of jobs I applied for, the perfect pair of black boots.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

All my old favourites, I can’t think what stuff I saw at the cinema – Sex and the City, Burn After Reading – they were both OK.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Went to the greyhound track in Hall Green and lost a lot of money! I turned 27.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Working less.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
The year of the skirt (relatively speaking).

33. What kept you sane?

The boyf, friends, taking breaks even if that was hard and left with me with difficult emotions to deal with.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Daniel Craig maybe, but he’s a bit of a perennial.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Not sure.

36. Who do you miss?

My family, especially my brother, didn’t see much of him this year.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn’t really meet anyone new. Except fleetingly.

38. What was the best thing you ate?

Probably something from the restaurant where my brother works.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?
If you can handle the guilt it’s always worth taking time for yourself to relax and be you.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I’ll have to think about that and get back to you!!

Christmas knitting complete!

2008-12-23T09:14:00.002Z

(But, well, let's just say, I didn't set myself that high a bar to clear!)

I met with my friend last night and we exchanged Christmas pressies - I think (I hope) that she liked her earrings - I always seem to be rather nervous about giving handmade things - you hope the recipient likes them on the one hand but on the other hand you want to try and communicate that they if they aren't too keen they needn't feel guilty and wear such things out of obligation! Anyway enough with the paranoia, how about a couple of FO pictures?

I'm most pleased with the way the dyed wooden beads worked on style 3 from the Bijouterie collection, the other pair gives a small amount of subtle shine - they are made from clear glass seed beads. If you want to see the Ravelry page for this project you can find it here although it's not that informative! All the pairs of earrings I've made so far have been made with findings from Palmer Metals, silver-plated copper wire from Fred Aldous and a variety of beads from Sayila. I would recommend all of these companies for their product ranges, prices and speed of delivery :o)

As a small aside it is worth me pointing out another great reason for knitting this project - it has allowed me to cross off three more points on my Knitting Manifesto, namely, knitting with wire, knitting with beads and knitted jewellery. Huzzah!

I think there is only one more thing for me to say in this post, and that is for you all to do as the nutcracker army commands you:

*Have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful 2009!!*

Winter Knitty has a lot to answer for!

2008-12-18T22:25:00.004Z

Overall I didn't find the latest Knitty that exciting - there are only 2 patterns in there that really caught my eye. First off there is Amelia which I think is a lovely little cardi, which hopefully I will get a chance to knit one day. Secondly there is the front cover pattern Bijouterie which had an unexpected impact: it broke my resolve regarding not doing any Christmas knitting. I find Christmas quite stressful enough generally and this year has been my "year of stress" so far, so I certainly wasn't planning on adding to it by setting myself lots of deadlines I'd be unlikely to meet (I'd wanted to knit a shawl for a good friend who was very taken with my Adamas but steadfastly and with a heavy heart decided not to go for it). Then Bijouterie came along... well, knitting some earrings ought to be faster than a shawl and my friend will still get a knitted gift... it's not too bad. I ordered some materials and decided to start with a test run straight away. Here are the results of said test run:

I tried out all three of the patterns included in the collection - I couldn't quite seem to get the second style to look quite right so I discarded my scrappy efforts and moved on knowing I wouldn't have time to refine the results. I'll be keeping these trial versions of styles 1 (on the left) and 3 (on the right) for myself (although I'll probably undo the style 1 attempt and reuse the findings). I'm currently working on the second versions of each of these styles and these will be the ones that will actually go to my friend - I'm going to use coloured wooden beads in style 3 and clear seed beads on style 1, I also need to be more careful to make my stitches nice and even on that pair, the trial version is a little sloppy looking... these are very quick to make so expect to see the results soon!

The other thing that Winter Knitty has to answer for is the fact that it made me spend money not just on materials for the knitted earrings but on a little gift for myself as well. I've been looking for a nice needle storage case for a while so when I saw the listing for a circular needle holder in the cool stuff section I thought I'd check out the etsy store listed. You can do the same thing by looking here. It's a bit risky though, because, like me, you might be instantly smitten and find yourself clicking 'buy'. I bought myself this lovely needle case:

It's a lot more stylish than most of the mass-produced ones I've seen in the shops and has plenty of space for my (currently) relatively modest collection of needles:

A reasonable price for a lovely hand-made item as well, and it arrived really quickly, especially given that it came all the way from the States during the dreaded Christmas postal rush period.

So, there you go, Winter Knitty has a lot to answer for - but nothing that I'll hold a grudge about!!

Adamas ist fertig!

2008-11-17T11:14:00.003Z

Oh yes, Adamas is done!!! Fortunately it was finished blocking on Friday when there was actually some sun in the sky - so I decided to make some metaphorical hay while it shone :o)

Here is the shawl in all of its glory:

I am really pleased with it - perhaps that comes across without me having to be so explicit about it - oh well, nevermind. I will express my ardour further through the medium of photo mosiacs!

Here are some close-ups of various aspects of the shawl:

And here, more to give a general impression of the size of the FO than anything else, are a few modelled shots:

If you want to see larger versions of any of these mosaic photos just click through to my Flickr photostream.

So some details - this is the Adamas Shawl by Miriam Felton of MimKnits. It's been made using Adriafil Merino 2/30 cobweb weight yarn purchased from Angel Yarns (definitely one of the cheapest yarns of this type that I have found so far). I held the yarn double and knitted on one long 3.75mm circular needle. Ravelry project page is here.

Well, what can I say? This is my first true 'lace for the sake of lace' project and I love it! The pattern is beautifully simple which suits my tastes but also means that the repeats are easily memorised. I love the way the whole shawl grew out from the bottom point (out of just 5 stitches) - by the end the rows are pretty long, but they still flew by because working on this project was so addictive and I was so keen to finish it. The yarn is lovely and soft as well as being a real bargain and I think this shawl will make a lovely warm scarf without being too bulky.

I think I could quite easily become totally hooked on making lace of this type and I have already added several potential future projects to my favourites list on Ravelry. Once I've cleared a few projects from my queue I think I'll definitely be turning to lace again...

Anticipation

2008-11-13T16:59:00.004Z

I am on tenterhooks waiting to find out how my Adamas Shawl will turn out. It's currently blocking and looks a bit like this (but less wonky - once I saw the photo I moved some of the pins around to try and straighten the diagonal edges):

I am quietly confident that it will turn out well (at least I certainly hope it will). I couldn't seem to quite get it to stretch to the measurements given in the pattern - mine is just over 5' wide at the top and about 2'6" down the middle - I think that should be a good size though - I would expect I'll mostly be wearing it as a big cuddly scarf anyway.

There was a slight delay in beginning the blocking process when I realised I didn't have any pins that were up to the job; that meant I had to wait a few days while the 'T' pins that I ordered online turned up.

I haven't been slacking off in the meantime though, I have not one but two finished projects to show you from the intervening period. These two go together with my Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf (as blogged here) to complete a little garter stitch trilogy.

I give you without further ado my Zeebee hat:

Knitted in James C. Brett Marble DK - 5mm needles - I messed up my gauge measurements so I knitted 5 segments instead of the 4 stated in the pattern. Pattern here; Ravelry page here. This pattern is genius - the fit of the hat that it produces is really nice - covers the tops of my ears well which I like in a hat! I, sadly, am not a genius hence the reason I miscalculated the gauge and ended up knitting 5 segments instead of the stated 4 - it doesn't seem to have harmed the finished product at all though.

Next up are my garter stitch mittens:

Knitted in James C. Brett Marble DK - 4mm needles (magic loop method). Pattern here; Ravelry page here. This pattern is also simple but effective - I had a couple of false starts with these but that's because I didn't bother to make measurements of my hands before I started and just worked on a trial-and-error basis - they still only took a few evenings worth of knitting to finish though.

I'm very pleased with my little garter stitch collection - I only hope the jacket that kick-started the whole process still fits me this winter!

I've just been swatching for my next planned project as well - news of that to follow when there is something worth reporting on! All I can say for now is that I have managed to get the correct gauge without too much trouble - phew!

With any luck the next post from me will be one which is full of pride for a successfully completed shawl. Fingers crossed!

It's that time of year again

2008-11-07T12:48:00.002Z

I went out last night to the annual fireworks display at the university. I don't know if I am becoming more pernickety with my advancing years but I didn't think the display was as good as it has been in previous years (probably not helped by it having to be temporarily stopped because of people wandering into the firing line). I still managed to snap a couple of acceptable pictures though:

I had go on one of fairground rides too - something I don't normally do - the experience of going on this ride:

has left me with rather a stiff shoulder today as well - ouch! (Possibly another sign that I am becoming old and decrepit - *sigh*)

Probably the best bits about the evening were the edible ones - a friend of mine made some delicious treacle bonfire toffee for our little group to share, yum. I contributed some seasonal(ish) cookies:

They don't look much but they tasted delicious. They are lovely Chocolate Parkin Biscuits, with delicious tangy chunks of stem ginger. The recipe is a recent one from Dan Lepard in the Guardian Weekend magazine. You can find it here - definitely worth a try!

I'm down to the last three rows of the Adamas Shawl now as well - exciting times! It should be off the needles and beginning to block over the weekend. I can hardly wait. Watch this space!

Look what I got!!

2008-10-28T17:22:00.004Z

Please don't be worried - I don't think it is a sign of an impending apocalypse that I have posted two days running! Just a quickie today, I wanted to share with you my wonderful new drinking vessel:

Isn't it great? I have 3 mugs that I usually use in rotation... one of them met a nasty end involving the kitchen floor at the weekend... at first I was upset... but then I remembered a blog post I read recently (I can't for the life of me remember whose blog it was - for that you must forgive me - forgiveness no longer required - it was here at Damn, Knit & Blast It!) and I knew where I had to go to get a new mug. Why, Sainsbury's of course! Who'd have thought it? The mug cost £4, is lovely and tactile and came with two little packs of Walker's Shortbread as well. A bargain, no?

So this has just been a little public service announcement about where to buy a very knitterly mug (please also forgive me for the fact that I am effectively advertising Sainsbury's - I had to weigh up the disadvantages vs benefits and decided you all might like to know about the mug...)

Much news on the knitting front!

2008-10-27T20:27:00.007Z

Hello again - look, look - this is my second post in the month of October! Amazing! Say hello to Mr (or Ms) Sheepie up the top of the page there!

I have lots of knitting goings on to report back on. I decided it was time for a good shake up of projects planned and projects languishing half finished and a metaphorical (and literal in some cases) spring clean of my knitting cupboard seems to have done me the power of good. I can tell because I have in fact got a finished object to show you!

Let's hear it for my latest socks:

(As Kath noted in her last comment I have gone crazy for making photo mosaics in Flickr - they do make everything look great!)

So these beauties are knitted from the Hourglass pattern in autumn Knitty, the yarn is Regia Kaffe Fassett in the Mirage Fire colourway knitted on my favourite 2.5mm bamboo DPNs. If you'd like to have a look at the Ravelry version of this info you can find it here.

I do think this pattern deserves its Knitty rating of extra spicy - it is certainly the trickiest sock pattern I've managed to complete so far. This makes me wonder whether I might have another try at Pomatomus some time as they are rated at the easier piquant level - maybe my knitting has reached a suitable level now to be able to manage them.

That's not to say that I didn't make any booboos on these socks - the first one had to be frogged twice whilst I was knitting the leg but I found that once I stopped trying to second guess the pattern and 'make sense of it' in my head but instead just put my faith in the pattern and followed the instructions everything turned out fine. A valuable lesson to learn indeed. Needless to say I am really pleased with these socks and I love the colours in the yarn too (they are slightly more subdued in real life than in the pictures) - an all round success I think!

The day after I finished the socks I cast on for my next project - one that I am very excited about:

The Adamas Shawl! Free pattern here; Ravelry pattern page here. I decided I really wanted to knit something lacy and warm and cosy that I would be able to get a decent amount of wear out of - Muir wasn't cutting it, I should have known when the yarn didn't turn out to be the colour I expected of it that the project was doomed to failure. So this is a plain brown shawl - no flowery bits (to suit my conservative tastes) - it's been really fun to knit so far. I'm using a very lightweight 100% merino wool from Adriafil for this project - I started off using it single stranded but it was just too flimsy for my liking when it was knit up and so I've started again holding the yarn double. So far so good - I like the way it is looking so far, it's going quite quickly and I am so enthusiastic about the project at the moment that I am hoping for rapid results - I'm not sure how I'll feel once the rows are lo-o-ong - but hopefully it won't put me off too much. Watch this space...

Lastly, a few other bits and bobs that seem worth mentioning... the yarn that I salvaged from Muir will be repurposed and become Firestarter socks; Thermal is no more - the yarn ended up in the bin too, it was already on its third incarnation and once I'd unravelled it again it was so pilled and tangled I decided to put it out of its misery - Thermal is still a favourite pattern of mine though so it make a comeback in a different yarn one of these days; I'm tinkering with knitting a Brea bag at the moment but might start again in a colour other than black so that the cabling shows up better; my Ravelry queue is sort of manageable at the moment - let's hope I can tick off some of those projects to make way for some new ones before the winter is out.

I'll try and keep the updates coming as well...

'Summer' travels

2008-10-09T14:19:00.006+01:00

It's been a long time again hasn't it? Tut, tut! I have been busy trying to make the most of what summer there was here this year...

Turned out there wasn't much summer to be had though :o( I did brave two weekends away camping though - both of which were affected by heavy, heavy rain at various points.

The first was to North Wales - we took the train from Birmingham up to Porthmadog and stayed for a long weekend there - even tried to climb Snowdon but didn't quite make it - we got to about 913m but would have missed the bus back to Porthmadog if we'd carried on to the summit so we had to turn back (having to rely on public transport can cause the strangest of problems!)

The second trip was to Edale - travelled there by train again for some easier walking. I still managed to sprain my ankle on the top of Kinder Scout which fortunately didn't spoil the weekend but put me out of action and in a very bad mood for a couple weeks once I got back home - largely recovered now though :o)

Eventually though it seemed that the only place we were going to be able to experience some real warm summer weather was on our trip to Spain in September - and we weren't disappointed:

Evidently a week of rest and warmth and blue sky did me the world of good, as I finally started knitting again while I was away, look - here's the proof:

Since I've been back I've been keeping it bubbling away with the knitting and in my next post I'll show you what I've been working on - although anyone who wants a sneak preview will be able to get one courtesy of my Ravelry page.

See you soon!

Back with a Bang

2008-07-16T13:32:00.002+01:00

Sort of at least! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last - where has all that time gone!!?? I've been feeling the blog guilt - but I've not had anything to post about really (this is meant to be a knitting-related blog after all!). But now I've got an FO and that says to me that it's high time I posted to the blog!

Without further ado I present to you a plain and boring pair of socks (hey- it's still an FO even if it isn't that interesting!):

Yup, 68 stitches around plain stockinette socks - 2x2 ribbing at the cuff, short row heel (winged it on the first sock and used some written instructions (from somewhere on the internet but I can't remember where exactly) on the second sock - guess which one turned out best!), standard toe - 2.5mm bamboo DPNs.

Those with elephant-style memories will notice that this is the same Opal Hundertwasser yarn that was on its way to becoming my Sidewinder Socks in the last post on the blog. I'm afraid to say that the Sidewinders had to bite the dust. I finished the first sock - my grafting looked absolutely dreadful... I would have been ashamed to show it to you! Once I'd finished it was clear the first sock was too tight - I couldn't even get it over my heel - pah! It didn't seem worth faffing around with a sock which needed so much of the dreaded Kitchener stitch and turned out too tight despite careful measuring of both my foot and my gauge swatch. So ... I gave up.

I really liked the yarn with it's bright stripes and associations with Hundertwasser so I wanted to do it justice - I figured that a plain stockinette sock would be as good a way as any of showcasing such vibrant yarn. So that's what I did, as you can see from above :o)

There's more I could post right now - I want to try and dig out my pictures of my visit to the Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna (they aren't that exciting but they would tie in well here) and I need to show you my latest WIP - but I'm a bit pressed for time so it'll have to wait. But not for long hopefully! Adieu for the time being.

All about me meme

2008-05-24T20:29:00.002+01:00

All about me meme
Originally uploaded by nicolamk

It's been too long again! Argh! By of way of providing a change of scenery for people who might stop by here and get sick of seeing the same post over and over again I thought I'd take the lazy way out and post a meme which has been doing the rounds on Flickr. Hope this passes the time for a while. Click through to Flickr to have a look at the questions and my answers which are represented by the photos. If you answer this yourself let me know - I'd love to have a look.

The incipient springing of spring

2008-04-23T22:54:00.003+01:00

Ah... what joy! The weather here in Birmingham at least has been decidedly pleasant and warm for the last two days - I've been longing for it (I feel the cold - a lot!). All of a sudden I am noticing the leaves starting to appear on the trees (especially the horse chestnuts) and daisies and forget-me-nots are back in bloom in the park - yay!

What better way to celebrate all this seasonal cheeriness than with a fitting FO? Here is my version of Elfine's Socks at last:

Details:

Elfine's Socks from My Fashionable Life (Ravelry page here)
Piece of Beauty sock yarn in beautiful, beautiful 'Sweetgrass'
2.25m needles (sock number 1 on Brittany birch DPNs, sock number 2 done using Magic Loop method)

They've actually been finished (and up on my Ravelry project page) for a little while but with their leafy lacy-ness and zingy green yarn now feels like a very good time to post them on the blog at last! As you'll see I've been practicing my techniques by Magic Looping on the second sock (necessity being the impetus here after I lost a second DPN from my set of 5) - I have to say I was quite pleased with how I got along with that way of working, I may well try it again in future. The socks are just a teeny bit tight - but wearable - which I consider a good development in my toe-up sock skills - I've had issues with my cast off being too tight in the past. These socks are definitely a step in the right direction.

My next project is also of the socky variety, but I am going for something a little bit different to keep my interest levels up:

This colourful but bizarre thing is a Sidewinder sock (Ravelry link) using my Opal Hundertwasser yarn. Ever since I saw that yarn I knew I wanted vertical stripes as suggested in the promo pictures. The yarn came with a free pattern (in German) which I could decipher easily enough but it sounded a bit too simplistic to offer a good fit - and the comments on Ravelry confirmed that that seems to be the case in practice and so I turned to Sidewinders. They are really ingenious I must say but there is one major sticking point for me... the grafting... so so so so much grafting - and that is something I'm not terribly good at! The picture here was taken at the end of March and shows almost all of the knitting complete for the first sock, I completed the rest of the knitting quickly enough but I still haven't completed all of the grafting so that I can try the thing on!! Soon, soon.

I have faced an obstacle in the last week though:

I was attacked by a hot griddle pan which has hampered my knitting (and general hand-moving abilities) but I am well on the mend now and if I can get this first sock done I should be able to start the second one over the weekend.

Send good grafting vibes!!

Long-awaited...

2008-03-09T16:02:00.006Z

Or maybe not long awaited - you tell me! It has been more than a month since my last post. WTF?! There are two items on the agenda for today's post and I shall start with the most important:

THANK YOU! To Knit-Nurse and to Kath of Krafty Kreations fame for honouring, yes honouring, me with the You Make My Day Award (have a look at Knit Nurse's post here for a bit of background). Far more than I deserve I am sure especially since I have been so useless on the blogging/knitting fronts recently. You certainly both made my day by thinking of me in this way. Now I have to think of my 10 people to pay it forward to.... Hmmm, an update on that will appear soon I hope - when I've got over my indecisiveness!

The second item on the agenda is the really long-awaited bit: FO pictures of Rayne. Without further ado here they are:

So now you can see that I really have finished this project! However, I don't think it is going to stay in its finished state like this for very long - the fronts are just too big in my opinion they add a lot of bulk and get in the way (although I am very intolerant of irritating clothing - other more mellow types may not find it a problem at all) so I am going to try shortening them a bit - so the project will have to be finished a second time - d'oh!

There are lot of knitting projects that need finishing off properly around here at the moment - in addition to Rayne Mark 2 there is Muir, my Elfine's socks, the mitts and hat to go with my Multidirectional Scarf and the My So-called Scarf that I started. My goal is to have all of these things sorted out fairly soon - maybe by mid-April, thus clearing the way for a potential project that I have fallen head-over-heels in love with - details to follow on that front!

To finish off the post I'll leave you with some pictures of my recent visit to the Henry Moore at Kew exhibit - I'm so glad that, despite being so busy recently, I made it there before the exhibit closes (at the end of March) as it was really a lovely day out and we were very lucky with the weather (on 1st March).

So, I shall return soon - at least, hopefully sooner than in a month's time this time! Bye for now, Nicola

The dreaded p-word!

2008-02-06T13:20:00.001Z

Yup, procrastination. I have been procrastinating over most areas of my life recently it would seem - hopefully this was a January-related affliction and will dissipate now....

Unfortunately the procrastination extends into the knitting sphere and so Rayne is still not finished - the knitting is done but it needs to have the ends sewn in and a blocking/ironing before I can really get a feel for whether or not it works as a garment!

Whilst procrastinating with my main project though I have worked on a little side project - using some of the extra yarn left over from Rayne. Without further ado then, I present the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf in Marble DK:

A little bonus close-up:

I've been looking for a scarf that will look nice with the jacket in the photos and it struck me that this shade of yarn (James C Brett Marble DK shade MT6) would work very well. With the help of Ravelry (here is my project's Ravelry page) I found the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf Pattern (bit of a mouthful!). Then I cast on using 5mm needles and slightly more stitches than suggested for a wider finished scarf.

The knitting went very quickly - I tended to knit one triangle at a time which was quite a manageable chunk - and soon enough the scarf was done. Huzzah! Now I plan to knit some simple garter stitch mitts and possibly also a beanie to go with the scarf - hopefully I won't procrastinate too much with those!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-07T21:35:00.000Z

Happy 2008 indeed! January certainly came round sooner than expected for me. Since my last post I have been lazeeeee! But I make no apologies... I think a bit of lazy was just what I needed. It is only this week that I really feel up to getting up to full speed again on projects other than my 'day job'. I plan to attack my thesis and my knitting projects with renewed gusto :o)

I received a few crafty-ish gifts this Christmas and their presence has been inspiring and got the cogs of my brain turning and thinking about potential projects for the coming year - no really concrete plans though as yet - I shall see where the mood takes me.

Gift number 1 was from a good friend of mine - it was this book:

It's not a book I had heard of before but I am taken with a few projects and the idea of combining knits with graphics is an appealing one, as colour work is something I would like to branch out into soon. I rather like the scarf project featured on the front cover - it is knitted from Kidsilk Haze which I understand to be rather good - but which I have never used myself. Another project I like the idea of is this one:

Not sure how this cardi would look on me though... I shall give it some consideration though, that is for sure. I suppose if I am feeling nice it could even be made as a gift for someone, we shall see.

I also received this book:

I've been wanting this one for a while - I would like to be able to begin using the sewing machine I received last Christmas for projects more involved than turning up trousers! If all goes well I can get me thesis out of the way sooner rather than later and have time enough to begin sewing on a regular basis as well as knitting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! (But not holding my breath - that could prove dangerous!)

The last 'crafty' gift is these earrings:

The fella got these for me from the German Christmas Market in Birmingham after having been on the receiving end of some fairly hefty hints ;o)

I think they look a little bit yarny (although this photo doesn't really show them to their best advantage) and they remind a little bit of these earrings which got me into a covetous mood when I first saw them on And She Knits Too.

So, there you go, my Christmas haul.

At the moment I am still working on Rayne - it has grown rather large - the body is nearly finished and then I just have the sleeves to work, which I think should go quickly. I may have failed to meet my previous self-imposed deadline but the enthusiasm is there again (helped along by my recent purchase of a skirt that I think will look very good with this wrap/sweater) and there should be results soon.

Fits of fickleness

2007-12-10T11:43:00.000Z

Gosh! It would seem time has flown by recently; its passing has been concealed by a flurry of activity - festive preparations, visits from friends and to the Christmas market, concerted efforts to work on my thesis (still not quite there yet) and even (shock! horror!) some knitting.

In actual fact there has been really quite a lot of knitting, but there is little to show for it and this is because I have been so very fickle when it comes to project loyalty/decisiveness recently. I was working away on Muir quite happily and in a very dedicated way - but perhaps I overdid it a bit and worked too much on only the one project because I had to put it aside for a break when I was just over 50% done (and that was a good while ago now). Elfine's socks are still on the needles too but I didn't really feel like going back to them at the moment. But I needed to knit. What to do?

First of all I allowed myself to be tempted by some pretty yarn - Cascade 220 Hand-dyed which I bought from Get Knitted:

I decided I wanted to make a nice warm scarf and either a hat or mittens and, having made my first forays into making and using a makeshift nostepinne, started playing around with patterns, unsure what look I was really going for. Eventually I settled on My So Called Scarf and even found a pattern suggestion for a coordinating hat on Ravelry and so I began my scarf:

And the above picture demonstrates precisely how much I have knit so far, for I have stalled on this project too. I have gone for all out monogamy with a different project instead and I seem to be getting results. I cast on for the Rayne Wrap Cardigan designed by cosmicpluto on 4th December and am already past the placement for the first armhole. At this rate I could be finished by the end of the week! Here is a picture which is now very much rendered obsolete by how far I have come in the interim:

The photo does show the colours of my yarn fairly well (considering it was taken in artificial light). I liked the idea of this cardi when I first saw it on cosmicpluto's blog but I knew I certainly wouldn't be able to make it using Noro (for financial reasons!). As it is such a simple pattern though I think it needs a yarn with some interest in terms of colour and after some searching I came up with an affordable option which I think looks good - the yarn is James C Brett Marble in a DK weight (meaning I did have to recalculate the pattern for my different gauge, but given that the cardigan is essentially a rectangle this wasn't too tricky). I managed to pick up 10 balls of this yarn from Dianne's Knitting Yarns for £14.50 (postage on top) which is what made this design an affordable and feasible possibility for me. Fair enough the yarn is 100% acrylic but it feels quite pleasantly soft and I'm sure I will have quite a bit left over which could possibly result in some more scarf/hat/mitten-knitting.

Anyhow, that's about the size of things round here at the moment. Stay tuned - there should be an FO very soon!

No knitting of note...

2007-11-16T14:40:00.000Z

... but instead there is most certainly cake, see:

Yum, yummy, yum. I know I first read about this Chocolate Guinness Cake in connection with Nigella Lawson's 'Feast' book, but it wasn't in the book itself and beyond that I don't remember where it was I read it... What I did know was that I had to make this cake! A Google search turns up several free recipes for Chocolate Guinness Cake or Chocolate Stout Cake and I chose one of them - can't remember exactly which but they are all pretty similar.

So the cake was easy to make, the hardest part (physically at least) was whisking together the topping which is cream cheese, double cream and icing sugar - I think mine was still a little bit runny but I am a weakling ;) The cake was served as a dessert when friends came round for dinner on Tuesday and it was unanimously agreed to be very tasty - especially the topping, it's good because it's a chocolate cake which isn't at all sweet really, even the icing has a pleasant tang from the cheese - thumbs up all round.

So culinary adventures (oh well, and a bit of work) have been keeping me from knitting all that much - there have been two further repeats of the Muir chart produced, but there just doesn't seem much point in another photo when it's just more of what you've seen previously!

The other thing worth getting excited at is this:

The Frankfurt Christmas Market is back in Birmingham - the opening day was yesterday so we went along for some Prager Schinken, Bratwurst, Gluehwein and Weissbier - yum! Once the German Market rolls into town I consider it acceptable to start feeling festive and Christmassy - it's hard not to when you are faced with such seasonal cheer whenever you go into the city centre. It's definitely (one of) the best thing(s) about living in Birmingham. I am looking forward to many more visits before December 23rd!

Remember, remember...

2007-11-05T10:39:00.000Z

Well, it might not actually be Bonfire Night yet per se, but seeing as I went to my favourite Fireworks Display on Thursday the 1st I thought I would post these pictures as I hinted at before. I really like Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night as an occasion, why do we need to adopt Halloween here in England when we've already got this seasonal celebration? (It's only a shame that this custom originates - like many others I'm sure - from such a somewhat 'un-PC' source - I think this might be a good example when it is OK to let the root of your traditions get a little bit lost!)

I May Be Knitting A Mountain Range

2007-11-03T12:27:00.000Z

See:

This intriguing structure is, of course, actually Muir in its current state. I'm hovering around half-way there - 6 repeats of the chart completed (I think) and into the seventh. It's going a lot quicker than I thought it would, this here project - I figured I'd still be knitting this at Christmas, now I'm not so sure at all that that will be the case (whether I'll have blocked it by then is another matter altogether but that's by the by).

The long and the short of it is I am enjoying this kind of lace knitting and am even thinking of casting on for a similar project after this one. Alas, I find that my pattern options are somewhat limited by my own fussiness. I'm not really a girly girl, but maybe it is intrinsic to lace that so many of the patterns are very girly (flowers and leaves and twiddles and things) and hence not really to my taste - I'd far rather knit something geometric. Muir has been an exception because the leaves are very stylised and the pattern is nice and repetitive, but it has taken a long time for a suitable pattern to come up (Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy Shawl is a good one but I also favour rectangular designs so that one is still on the back burner).

Thanks to Ravelry though I have found my next wrap pattern! It's this Lattice Lace Wrap pattern and I'd really like to have a go at this one very soon - it might even be more perfect than Muir as this one is completely geometric! I think I can safely say that without Ravelry I'd never have found the pattern so yay for Ravelry :o) (Incidentally I still had to click through many a page of girly, twirly patterns before I found this one, but perseverance paid off.)

My my, this has turned into rather a waffly post. To recap in a somewhat more succinct style the three main points are: I'm doing good on my current main WIP, I'm growing to like Ravelry a lot and I've found the next project that I'm itching to try. That is all!

(Oh, except to say enjoy the festivities to anyone who is participating in Bonfire Night events over the weekend. I've already been to my local fireworks display for this year - very nice it was too - perhaps I'll even post a few of the many photos I took if any of them turn out to be OK...)

Back home again

2007-10-17T14:10:00.000+01:00

In fact I've been back home again for a week, slowly reacclimatising to the chill here after sunny Spain - sigh!

It was a lovely (as you can hopefully see from the pix) and much needed holiday.

Things here Nicola-wise are still much the same - no new job as yet, thesis still not done, the usual - I am still feeling relaxed enough post-hols though to just let everything wash over me, ahh! Things aren't 100% the same though - I have enjoyed a slight change in status...

I am now officially a Raveler ;) Yup that's right my invite arrived while I was away (and got eaten by the spam filter) and I am all set up. My profile isn't exactly thrilling at present as I haven't had time to add things but I have put on the details of the two WIPs I am working on most at the moment plus my most recent FO. If you want to find me I go by 'nicolamk'.

The second of my two WIPs is a new one. I mentioned before I think that I was thinking of working a variation of the Muir shawl from Knitty... In the end I figured that variations only mean extra work so I just cast on for the pattern as it stands. In fact I've cast on for it three times now - so the sum total of my holiday knitting has now been ripped out twice :) I've cast on again since being at home and, looky looky, we have progress:

OK it doesn't look like much in the above state but straigtened out I am quite pleased with how it is coming together so far:

This still isn't even one repeat of the chart (I haven't made it that far yet in any of my attempts) but this is the furthest I've got with no mistakes and I am inordinately proud :) I think perhaps it is time for me to figure out how to use a lifeline though...

Anyway, there we go, it is even sort of good to be back from holiday - I've enjoyed a few evenings curled up on the sofa knitting since we got back and I'm sure there will be many more this autumn - let's hope this means there will soon be more progress on Muir to share.

Playing catch-up

2007-10-01T15:08:00.000+01:00

I'm sure people are starting to get bored of hearing how busy life has been for me between posts and how that prevents me from posting more often... I'm afraid, though, that that's just how things are around these parts at the moment. The usual demands on my time are the culprits with the added addition of a job interview (playing the waiting game at the moment) and the associated shopping (I am now the proud owner of not one, but two suits - sure I will need them at some point in the future!).

In the midst of all this I have managed to come up with an FO and buy more yarn (the latter of those never seems to be very difficult though!).

Here are my Broad Spiral Rib socks at last - who would have thought something so simple would take so long?! Nonetheless they are lovely warm socks and nice and snug because of the ribbed pattern so that's all good. I much prefer the way the striping worked out on one of the pair but the second sock is not bad either :)

So that's another WIP out of the way... Elfine's Unfinished Socks will be accompanying me off on holiday this week as will this new addition to my stash:

This is two out of the three skeins of Socrates Sock Yarn I ordered from Violet Green in the colourway Dusty Answer. I've never ordered yarn before that has turned out to look quite so unlike its website photograph... the photo I am posting here is really quite a good representation of how the yarn looks in real life - do you think it looks much like its photo on the website? Fortunately enough I actually quite like the yarn in the flesh, purples and teals/turquoises being colours I'm into at the moment so I'm prepared to let it slide, although I think I would have been happier if the yarn actually looked how I thought it would! This is destined to become some sort of lace scarf or stole, I'm not 100% sure exactly what will happen, although I will admit that I am very taken with Muir from Knitty so it might become an adapted version of that. We shall see. I plan to just pack the yarn and some needles and have a play, whether what I come back from holiday with is more than just a swatch or a tangle remains to be seen!

Craft imitating life

2007-09-10T14:26:00.000+01:00

Well it looks like its been a while... life has been busy and not always that much fun recently. My thesis is proving tricky at the moment, every small change I want to make seems to necessitate six more changes somehow until I don't know what I'm dealing with anymore - I am working on trying to tame the thing though :o). I was rejected for another job (which I was sort of prepared for but it made me feel a bit sad nonetheless) and was treated to the delightful news that the PhD proposal which I worked so hard on for so long earlier in the year was not even considered (nobody even looked at it!) because of an administrative error that wasn't even my fault - what a waste of time that was! I'm not that upset about not being able to do a PhD this year as I had my doubts anyway but what does bother me (and I know this sounds odd) is how many choices this leaves open to me - try and get funded again next year, walk away from academia forever, stay in my current job, look for a new job (but what?) - I just hate having to be decisive! I would describe my current state of mind as somewhat scattered and I think my knitting projects reflect that to a certain degree...

I was working away quite happily on Elfine's Socks - to the point where the first one was very nearly finished:

(Incidentally the detailed shot of the lace is a pretty good representation of the actual colour of my Piece of Beauty Sweetgrass yarn). But as soon as all the serious making of life decisions wormed its way to the forefront of my mind (against my wishes!) I started making mistakes in the lace and having to rip back all the time - I don't want to ruin these socks so I put them aside and cast on for something a little simpler...

Yes, socks again (of course) but this time a mere 4 row repeat for these Broad Spiral Rib Socks in Trekking XXL shade 100. I'm not really following a pattern; I think I've knit enough socks now that I ought to be able to cobble one together as I go along... so I decided to challenge myself to do just that. I allowed myself to be inspired by Adam Knits!, searched around the Internet for the stitch pattern and just cast on. I've got down to the heel once realised that the stitch count I'd chosen was wrong and ripped all the way back, what you see above is my second attempt with slightly more stitches and which will hopefully make for a better looking and more functional heel. I'll carry on with these for the time being until my brain is in a place where it can cope with something trickier again.

Never fear though, I plan on giving my brain a helping hand to reach that place - I decided I deserved a rest so me and the boyf have arranged to head off on holiday to Spain at the beginning of October - anything academia-related will be banned (thoughts included) so I think I'll be reserving a place in my luggage for the Elfine's Socks - they ought to be safe :)

Of course there are more immediate things that can be done to cheer yourself up in times of crisis and indecisiveness and, hence, cake:

It certainly did the trick ;) - even if only temporarily... I predict more cake in my future!

Lauded ;)

2007-09-01T11:36:00.000+01:00

It was a very pleasant surprise to discover recently that I've received a little bloggy award. Ms Blog_Bletherings sent me a Schmoozer Award (see it over there in the sidebar?) - if you visit this post you can see why she thinks I am worthy - I can't thank her enough!

The award is designed to promote blog-friendships by rewarding those who are good Schmoozers, schmoozing being 'the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection". Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogsphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship'.

That being the case I gave a fair amount of thought to who I would pass the award onto, and came up with three names - one of them was Blethers herself so I guess that won't work so well, another was Kath from Kath's Krafty Kreations but she's already got a Schmoozie award and I don't know if you are allowed more than one! So I am left with only one person to pass on the love to, that person being the lovely Knit Nurse. Knit Nurse is without a doubt my most regular commenter and I appreciate her interest in and contribution to my humble blog very much - cheers m'dear!

Lombard Street

2007-08-16T12:58:00.001+01:00

Crikey, it really is all socks all the time round here at the moment. I wonder whether whatever I end up doing after my Masters is finally finished will leave me enough time and mental energy to work on something more taxing than socks?

For the moment I think I will have to be content with woolly footwear. Retaining my sanity whilst faced with a lot of stressful work is one of the (the?) main reason(s) I knit - it was when I was studying for my finals that I took up knitting again after a very long break because I needed something to take my mind off university and the knitting bug bit. Looking at things from that angle I think socks are the perfect knit for calming the mind - they are more gratifying (for me at least) to knit than a scarf (and a lace shawl I think would not be too relaxing even if it must be supremely gratifying), you don't have the worries associated with whether a sweater is going to fit, socks are very forgiving in terms of fit and if you end up with something you aren't quite satisfied with it's not too awful because the investment of time hasn't been too great, the last thing that an already unstable mind wants to contend with is the frustration of realising that a much coveted sweater that has eaten days of time in its creation is in actual fact not going to look as good as you thought.

Therefore, without further ado, I present to you my latest socks:

Lombard Street socks from Magknits
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sunshine from Cnyttan Patterns
Clover Bamboo 2.5mm DPNs

These socks are a case in point, in some ways I am very pleased with them - the fit is excellent I am very pleased with the way the heels and toes came out (and with the picot edge - first time I've completed a pair with this detail), I love the yarn it suits the pattern brilliantly - BUT the colour, I loved it in the skein but on my feet I'm just not so sure about it, like I said though the investment of time has not been great and I have a wearable finished product (what's the point in being too vain about socks, very few people will see or pay much attention to them unless you want them to) so I will not let this bother me and move on to the next sock knitting adventure. By the way I would certainly knit this pattern again, very nice, exceptionally quick and worked excellently with this yarn (just not in yellow!).

The next sock knitting adventure is as previously mentioned Elfine's Socks using my new Piece of Beauty yarn, beyond that I have a couple more ideas up my sleeve for further socks. I hope no one is getting too bored yet?!

Sockapalooza Synchronicity

2007-08-13T19:30:00.000+01:00

Look who else received their socks today! I am so relieved that the socks fit the wearer and that they are otherwise to her liking. A most serendipitous day for me and my pals in the world of sock swapping :) (Have I gushed enough now? - I promise I will calm down soon!)

A photo story

2007-08-13T11:46:00.000+01:00

What could be in here?

A pretty little box and an envelope, that's what:

And inside there is a tissue paper parcel and a pretty notelet:

And inside that tissue paper parcel is the best of all...

POMATOMUS SOCKS!

These are my Sockapalooza 4 socks from the wonderful and obviously very talented Michaela, needless to say, I love them :) Thank you so very much Michaela, as you can see they fit perfectly, the yarn is lovely to wear and are they especially welcome after my own failed attempt at the pattern (which resulted in the Monkey socks, so it wasn't all bad).

I am so pleased with what this swap has yielded for me so far - I only hope that the socks that I knitted make it to their intended recipient and please her just as much as I have been pleased with these socks.

Thanks once again Michaela!

Even more obsessive update...

2007-08-11T03:09:00.000+01:00

Yup, I'm still awake - bleurgh, if I can just squeeze out 500 more words I can go to sleep with a clear conscience. At least I can have a Saturday lie-in, although I'll want to keep an ear out for the door I reckon - my package has arrived at the 'DHL facility' in Birmingham - don't want to miss any potential deliveries that might take place tomorrow...

Obsessive update!

2007-08-10T23:59:00.000+01:00

Ho hum, I am up late tinkering with chapter 2 of my thesis (no light at the end of the tunnel on that front yet - *sigh*). As depressing as that may be it is heartening to know (courtesy of the good people at DHL) that my Sockapalooza package has made it to Blighty - East Midlands Airport to be precise. That's not far from Brum at all :) Not long now!

(If only I could siphon off some of this Sockapalooza enthusiasm and redirect it towards my thesis...)

Just Rewards

2007-08-09T13:14:00.000+01:00

Well, I think I am largely recovered from the rush to get my Sockapalooza socks sent off. Now it's time for the just rewards...

My pal emailed me earlier today with the shipping details (I should be able to track it on its journey thanks to DHL... maybe that's a little too obsessive though?) for my sock package ... it's on its way, it's on its way! I am very, very excited to see what will be inside.

Being the impatient type that I am though I decided I deserved a reward sooner. Hence the arrival this morning of this:

I was rather impressed with the Piece of Beauty yarn I used for my Sockapalooza socks, so I decided I'd treat myself to 100g of the same - although, of course, it is not the same because mine is in the quite fabulous Sweetgrass colour. I love it! It's got more of a yellow tinge to it than my rather blueish looking photos and is, in short, quite luscious. As for a pattern I'm thinking Elfine's socks - inspired by some beautiful examples.

First of all, though, there are the Lombard Street socks to be finished, I'm working on the heel flap of the second sock... onwards!

Mission accomplished!

2007-08-04T23:24:00.000+01:00

My Sockapalooza 4 socks have been completed and now sent - phew!

After all the worry caused by my own idiocy (see the previous post!) I managed to get them done pretty much on time.

I worked the second sock with 1x1 ribbing (thanks to Knit-Nurse for explaining first principles to me - much appreciated) and that did seem to improve matters as far as actually getting the sock over my heel was concerned (hopefully the same will be true for my sock pal). So then I undid the 2x2 ribbing from sock #1 and reworked the cuff of that one - thankfully there was just enough yarn left after unravelling the first attempt to rework the cuff without having to join new yarn. Finally a good block on a sock blocking device fashioned from a wire coat hanger left things looking a lot neater. Et voila!

Both socks certainly have imperfections, and, as I say, I am still concerned as to whether they will fit my sock pal (I suppose that is an inevitable problem when knitting for someone you don't know and can't call upon for a fitting), but overall I think the end result is acceptable...

I hope that my sockpal agrees!

Sock stats

Pattern: Falling in Love by Anniken Allis in Magknits Feb 2007

Yarn: Piece of Beauty 100% BFL superwash in Cuban Rose less than 1 skein

Needles: Clover Bamboo 2.5mm DPNs

The next worry of course is whether or not the socks will safely reach their destination... I hope Royal Mail can be trusted. Other than the socks my package comprised the remainder of the yarn in case there is need for alterations (there was quite a bit left but I think the length of the finished socks is not too skimpy), two prime examples of Birmingham's finest delicacies (i.e. a big bar of Bournville and a packet of miniature bars of Dairy Milk - hope sock pal likes chocolate... never thought of that potential issue...) and a selection of 'beautiful' postcards of the area:

Brum postcards don't seem to be very inspiring at all unfortunately, but I think the ones I managed to find are not too bad, one even includes the much vaunted (around these parts at least) fact (?) that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice... I've never checked but it's a nice idea!

And so my own Sockapalooza mission has concluded. I eagerly await (with a certain degree of trepidation) news of my sock pal's reaction and of course receiving my own socks... the best is yet to come I am sure!

Eager beaver

2007-07-25T11:12:00.000+01:00

A bit too much of an eager beaver in fact... on Saturday I turned the heel for my second Falling in Love Sockapalooza sock, by Sunday afternoon I was within one repeat of starting the cuff ribbing, by Sunday evening I had ripped all the way back to the heel - wah! Boo hoo! So eager was I to knit the leg that I forgot to start the lace/cable pattern on the back of it and carried on doing the plain stockinette continued from the sole of the sock. D'oh and double d'oh. I suppose at least I realised before I actually started the ribbing (or, even worse, finished the ribbing and cast off). I've been busy working on my thesis for the last couple of days so no progress has been made on reknitting the leg as yet. Hopefully tonight I can make a start. Silly, silly me!

Other than that what's going on? Well not that much I guess...

The aforementioned work on the thesis (how it'll ever be done by the end of September I don't know - but I persevere).

Since Saturday we've been staying at the house of some friends who are on holiday so that we can dog-sit their 9-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It's great fun, I love dogs and I miss my parents' black Labrador quite a lot, so being dog-sitters has been a nice interlude, the dog is very lovely (easier to look after than the Labrador but that might only be because our friends have a big garden for their dog run off his energy in) and he makes cute little pig-dog grunty, snorty noises which make me laugh. We hand him over to some other friends for the next dog-sitting shift on Saturday which is sad but probably a good thing because it is hard to get work (and even knitting) done when there is a doggy to play with instead.

Since this morning I have also been dreaming of a new sweater to knit - it's this one from My Fashionable Life. No pattern is available as yet but I will certainly buy it if it goes on sale. Thinking of sweaters I might as well start working on Thermal again once I've finished my two current (sock-shaped) projects since it would appear that we are skipping summer this year...

Has anyone seen a weekend?

2007-07-16T10:57:00.000+01:00

What happened to the weekend? It seemed to flash by so quickly I barely noticed its presence! Anyway, although it is a day late, here is the promised knitting update:

I now have one complete Falling in Love sock for Sockapalooza 4 as well as one sock knitted up as far as the heel. I haven't worked on these since I was in Croatia but I shouldn't have any trouble finishing the second sock before the deadline.

I added 2x2 ribbing to the cuff of the first sock and used the sewn bind off as inspired by Knit-Nurse but I'm still a bit concerned about the sock being difficult to get on to the foot. It did fit over my heel (my feet are not that dissimilar in size to my pal's barring foot length) but with a fair bit of tugging - what if it doesn't fit my pal? Eeek! I'm trying to think of ways to lessen the problem but I'm not sure what to do for the best... should I undo the ribbing and just knit another lace repeat and then bind off? Or how about 1x1 ribbing - would that be any stretchier? Or will a damn good blocking sort the problem out? Anyone have any thoughts on a possible solution? It's not the worst problem in the world, it doesn't render the socks completely unwearable but perhaps it would be better if things were a little less tight...

The Lombard Street socks didn't see any action until I got home from Croatia but I've been quite enjoying knitting them so far and they are getting along quite quickly. I will probably finish this first one and then return to the Sockapalooza socks before starting the second Lombard Street.

Things have already progressed since the photo I'm posting here, I have finished the gusset decreases and am heading for the toe. The Lombard Streets have a flap heel and I think I have managed to make my personal best heel on the first sock, it looks so neat and tidy and with not much in the way of unsightly holes - in the pattern the designer notes that it is better to put the instep stitches on hold on waste yarn whilst working the heel flap (as opposed to leaving them on one or two spare DPNs) as this will mean less of a hole at the corners of the heel. I'm certainly impressed with the way that tip seems to have paid off - who would have thought something so simple could make such a difference? I'll have to try it on some other socks and see if it yields the same results.

Anyhow, that's quite enough rambling for now, but, regardless of rambling, yay for knitting content! Hopefully my next post will be just as on-topic!

What I did on my holidays

2007-07-13T16:38:00.000+01:00

Well, as we all now know, life has been less than brill since I got back from my hols, BUT that doesn't mean that the actual holiday wasn't just fantastic:

I love Croatia and I loved the warm sun and blue skies, yummy food, friendly hosts, swimming in the sea everyday, not having to do anything I didn't want to do, not turning on the TV for a whole week, spending proper time with the other half, in short it were lovely :)

Why not have a quick look a small pictorial guide to some things that you can get up to in Croatia:

You can stay in a lovely little place like Mlini:

You can walk round the Župa Bay from Mlini, stopping for a swim in the lovely clear sea along the way, and take a photo when you get to the end just to prove you did it:

You might be lucky enough to find that when you get in one evening the lovely people you are renting an apartment from have left you lemons and cucumbers from their garden and a plate of delicious home-cooked courgette fritters:

(If you are even luckier the lovely hosts might also invite you round for drinks on the very first night you arrive and cook you a slap up meal of barbecued fish on your last night :) )

You can eat your tea on the balcony (without fear of being rained on) whilst gazing out over the sea:

Of course you can also do other things whilst you are on the balcony, the most important example being... knitting of course!

Oh! How I miss my hols... I could ramble for hours, but then this post is getting awfully long. I think now might be the time to end it. That means the knitting progress post will put in an appearance over the weekend, watch this space!

Why, hello there...

2007-07-12T17:56:00.000+01:00

I'm back!

Of course I have been for a while but me being me just haven't managed to put in an appearance until now.

I had to hit the ground running when I got back... I was back at work last Friday (which would have been OK if our flight hadn't been delayed for 5 hours - meaning that I didn't get to bed until 2am!), then me and the boyf attended the wedding of some friends at the weekend (which was lovely :) ), the washing machine went kaput so there was that to deal with (although now it seems to work again of its own accord - I shall be monitoring the situation), this week I've changed to a new pattern of working hours which hasn't been quite as seamless as I would have liked, I was rejected for a job that I really wanted and had an accompanying existential crisis (don't worry the worst of that is over now!) and all in all it's been a bit of a struggle this last week.

As I say though the worst is over. My photos are uploaded, knitting was done whilst on holiday (although no complete pair of Sockapalooza socks just yet) and the holiday itself was just wonderful. I just need to take some progress pictures of the current socks and then I promise I will compile a proper post ASAP!

Hope you're all still out there :)
N x

Happy (early) birthday to me

2007-06-27T09:36:00.000+01:00

This is a bit of a rushed, cop-out, cobbled-together post before I go on holiday, but hey ho, I suppose I’ve at least written something.

First of all a progress update: The first Falling in Love sock is very nearly done – I’m on to the cuff ribbing. I hope to return from holiday with a completed pair, but we shall see, if I haven't managed it while I am away there is still a little time left.

The Lorna’s Laces has also been packed into my suitcase just in case I should have a sudden spurt of activity and finish the Sockapalooza socks really early – definitely no danger of my being knitless.

Something else that has been packed is my passport in a new cover:

I know Primark are a strong contender for the title of "Root of All Evil" but sometimes the draw is very hard to resist - a super cute passport cover for only £1.00 - it's tricky, but obviously I am weak cos I gave in.

Continuing the random nature of this post...

As it will be my birthday while I am away I thought I would steal this appropriately themed meme from Once Upon a Time…

***

The rules are to go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

Events

1936 - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell published.

1977 - Virginia Wade wins the Ladies Singles title at Wimbledon, the last British champion at the All England Club to date.

1997 - The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

Birthdays

1975 - Ralf Schumacher, German race car driver

1983 - Cheryl Cole, British singer (Girls Aloud)

Holidays

Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I'll refrain from tagging people in favour of a more free-for-all approach, if you want to do the meme then please do :)

***

All that remains now is for me to bid you farewell for a week, hopefully I shall be well-rested and raring to go when I get back...

Wetterbericht

2007-06-22T11:50:00.000+01:00

This weatherpixie is meant to show the weather for Dubrovnik (which is roughly where I am heading off to for my hols next Thursday). At the moment it seems appropriate that the yarn that I have chosen for my additional holiday knitting is this one:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the nearly solid colourway Sunshine. Let's hope that this remains an appropriate match - I certainly don't want to escape rainy Birmingham for an equally rainy Croatia - come on weather gods... smile for me!

I ordered the yarn from this website on Wednesday (around lunchtime I think) it arrived yesterday morning at about 9:00am - how's that for service? Most impressive I reckon :)

The yarn is destined to become the Lombard Street Socks from Magknits. I seem to have gone a bit cabling crazy since I started the Falling in Love Socks.... Incidentally I intend to finish the Falling in Love socks before I start the next pair, but it's surely better to take too much yarn on holiday than not enough?

Lovestruck

2007-06-18T10:54:00.000+01:00

I decided in the end that I couldn't wait to start the Sockapalooza 4 socks, so I dived straight in after I had finished the first toe-up cotton sock for my boyfriend (so nothing to cross off on the manifesto yet).

As much as I liked the Seduction sock pattern it needed resizing for my sockpal's foot measurements and I wasn't in a fit mental state to work out the maths required. So first of all I tried the Simply Lovely Lace Socks from Interweave Knits Spring 2006. But the twisted stitches did nothing for my lovely yarn so I ripped it out after an inch or so.

I've picked a new pattern though and I've been going well over the weekend, look:

Doesn't the yarn work up well, just plain stockinette looks great and no pooling or any weird effects at all. The front of the sock is yet more exciting and I'm quite pleased with it even though I have made one mistake with the lace chart which I decided not to go back and fix (hope sock pal won't mind!)

Here again (with flash - yuck!) so that you can see the stitch pattern:

The pattern is Falling in Love from Magknits. Haven't changed anything yet but I will be putting some ribbing at the top of the leg as has been done here. I'm definitely loving this pattern and the yarn is knitting up beautifully. I'm excited to keep working on these which is good. The toe of this, my second ever toe-up sock, was much more successful than the first attempt. I used Knitty's Magic Cast-On and remembered to twist my M1 stitches so as not to leave holes when I increased. I must make sure that I can whichever heel option it is I choose turns out just as neatly. There are a couple more lace repeats on the foot before I get to that though...

New Knitty

2007-06-12T09:19:00.000+01:00

Meh.... what a collection of odd patterns, I feel a bit let down. There is only one pattern that I really love in here and that is Grrr. I might make a couple for my mum's birthday, she is a Leo so it is appropriate as well. Maybe this is the knitting gods' way of telling me I should be working on my thesis rather than mucking about with yarn. Spoilsports.

Housewarming yarn!

2007-06-11T10:10:00.000+01:00

Surely the best kind of housewarming present? Yup we made it safely into the new house; I used the only area of floor in the house not covered with boxes to take a picture of the new yarn in my life:

(Click on that last one to view it in a larger format - totally worth it!)

This is Piece of Beauty Bluefaced Leicester 3 ply sock yarn in the colourway Cuban Rose. It's for my Sockapalooza socks, my pal said she likes pinks and reds (there's a bit of both in here) and would be grateful for superwash (which this yarn is) so I think I've fulfilled my brief quite well. I'm also pleased that this is yarn from the UK (Scotland to be precise), I eschewed the Colinette in the end as I decided I wasn't 100% sure about the colourway, and this is more likely to be a yarn that is new and special to my sock pal. I hope she will like it, I just have to choose a pattern now. Cable Twist or Seduction socks? I'm erring towards seduction socks at the moment, I think the delicate pattern will fit this beautiful yarn.

Under the radar...

2007-06-07T09:02:00.000+01:00

... that's where I've been. Stress levels are riding high around here, moving house over the coming weekend and the associated preparations being the major culprit, throw in some trips to research libraries I've had to make for uni, and my general background levels of hassle and it all seems to add up.

So I've been up for some mindless, calming knitting - of course a stockinette sock is just perfect for that, but doesn't make for great photos. Here we go nevertheless:

But wait! The photo tells us that this isn't as mindless a sock as it might be. It is in fact My-First-Toe-Up-Sock (TM)! Inspired to no small extent by My Knitting Manifesto (I've decided to be good, only once I finish the second sock will I cross off the item on the manifesto) I decided to give toe-up a go, and it makes the stockinette a bit more interesting to have new construction techniques to think about as well, especially when the person you are knitting for has size 11 feet (that'd be the boyfriend then). I've found it's gone quite quickly but I'm not entirely happy with this first sock of the pair. I used Toe Method 2 from this pattern by Wendy for the cast on, the cast on was fiddly but actually looks OK on the sock. I used the wrong kind of increases for the toe which doesn't look so good but I will remedy it on the second sock (I know they won't match then but the boyfriend is into function over form when it comes to his socks). I didn't want to do the gusset heel from Wendy's pattern so I used the short row heel from this Knitty worksheet. I've wanted to improve my short row heels since I knit the first one for my first RPM sock (yes the second RPM sock is still stuck in the second sock hinterland). This current short row heel turned out rather holey, so that is another thing I will try to improve on with the second sock of the pair I remember having read about this tutorial from misocrafty so I think I will try to follow it for the heel of the second sock. So there you go that's what I've been up to and what I will be doing in the immediate future.

As for further in the future I am still vacillating over both my summer holiday project and my Sockapalooza socks. Who knows, maybe they will in fact turn out to be one and the same thing - perhaps this is the sensible course (no wonder I didn't consider it before!)

Inspiration

2007-05-25T09:40:00.000+01:00

Further to yesterday's planning session I've researched the Cable Twist Socks a little more using Google Blogsearch... this version of the pattern is breathtaking I think. I need to get yarn asap and start swatching to see how it works with the Jitterbug. Small obstacle: I find you generally need money to buy things - roll on payday - not long now!

Be prepared

2007-05-24T19:00:00.000+01:00

I hope the photo above is evidence enough that I am attempting to be prepared. I've been giving more thought to my summer holiday knitting and to my Sockapalooza plans.

The summer holiday knitting is now more than likely to be Argosy from Knitty. But I want to make it wider as I saw has been done by others, for example here. So that's what the scrawl up there on my writing slope is - I have copied out the chart to take account of the fact that I want my version of Argosy to be about twice as wide as the original, I expect for many people copying out the chart would be somewhat superfluous and they could work out the additional repeats in their head - but I'm not sure I quite trust myself... I think it will have to be a Noro type yarn that I use - Shikisai seems lovely and I like shades 4 & 6 or maybe Silk Garden Lite as is used in one of the models in Knitty. I will see what I can get a deal on :)

As for my Sockapalooza socks I think I've decided on a yarn. I thought of Colinette Jitterbug almost straight away because of the British roots of the company and with my pal being from the States I thought it would be nice to use materials from closer to home, the existence of the Raspberry colourway is the deciding factor here as I think it will perfectly match my pal's colour preferences. I'm still not sure about a pattern - at the moment I'm quite liking Hello Yarn's Cable Twist socks especially since I saw this finished pair... What does anyone out there think?

Hey hey it's the monkeys

2007-05-18T09:21:00.000+01:00

(Yeah, I know, the title of the post is hardly original - I know at least that Cara at January One has used the same gag and I'm willing to bet shes not alone either - it's just too tempting a thing to want to write when your sock pattern is called Monkey...)

Anyway, without further ado:

Monkey socks from Knitty by Cookie A. Regia Bamboo Colour in 'Jamaica'. 2.5mm bamboo needles (for consistency's sake of course... or maybe just because I have bamboo needles in the right size).

I like this pattern a lot, as I've said before. The socks could stay up a little better but I think this is more likely to be a result of the yarn than the pattern. I think I might very well have to make another pair of these in a Regia wool or something similar - I think the pattern would show up a lot better then as well.

My knitting manifesto

2007-05-14T17:30:00.002+01:00

I stole this from And She Knits Too! within 30 seconds of looking at it – I hope to be able to turn some of these italicized items to bold sometime soon. Maybe this is my knitting manifesto…

***

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL (although only if Sockapalooza counts)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting (is it bad I don’t even know what that is?)
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting (but maybe one day I’ll get my head round it)
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes (on my doomed bulky cables cardi)
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting (thwarted through no fault of my own)
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting (when I was a little girl and my mum still used to have a knitting machine, probably won’t do this again I wouldn’t have thought)
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves (I tried but I failed)
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies (is it just me that thinks 'preemies' is an odd word?)
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom (if those little French knitting dollies count)
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Bandwagon jumping

2007-05-08T09:20:00.000+01:00

This weekend I did this:

I'm seeing so many people working on these Monkey socks at the moment and Knit-Nurse finally pushed me over the edge. That and the fact that I needed something other than unpicking Thermal to work on over the long weekend. Why not look here and here for two other examples of Monkey-knitters (that sounds a bit weird!) from my blogroll. I love this pattern and would heartily echo everything that Cara at January One has to say in that respect. The yarn is Regia Bamboo which I originally bought to knit Pomatomus (an attempt that ended in failure and a sulk big enough to prevent me from blogging about it) but I guess working another Cookie A pattern instead is a fair substitute. The yarn has a white thread plied into it which seems to make lace patterns get blurred quite easily but it is just about OK for this pattern. I do like the feel of this yarn though, nice and soft and more comfortable to wear than a cotton blend I think, we shall see how durable it turns out to be.

Of course the other purpose for knitting these is as a warm-up for Sockapalooza 4. The main areas I've noticed in this sock that I'd like to get better on are to have a neater looking gusset - in respect of both the picked up stitches and the decreases (my toe decreases look fine so I would like to achieve a similar look for the gusset decreases) and a neater join at the cuff of the sock. I will work on these aspects in the second Monkey sock and hopefully they will be remedied before I start work on my pal's socks. A few more ideas are coming on that front and I have now been in contact with my pals in both directions, this is getting very exciting!

Where's ya been?

2007-05-03T11:50:00.000+01:00

It's a bit late really for a what-I-did-at-the-weekend post, so this'll just be a where's-Nicola-been-for-the-last-few-days sort of post.

I never made it to the Rag Market at the weekend to look for more bag fabric, the weather was just so nice on Saturday that a trip to an inner-city, indoor market paled in comparison to the chance to spend time out in the sunshine. I'm glad I made the effort to go up to the Lickeys again as well as the bluebells were out in force and the sights and the smell were amazing. These photos don't really do the scene justice but I will post them nonetheless:

The extent of my crafting lately has been fiddling around trying to unravel the bottom ribbing on Thermal which is proving to be easier said than done, I've nearly got to the point where it doesn't look dodgy anymore so hopefully I can get that sorted out even if I don't eventually get round to adding any extra length as I had originally planned.

I've also been looking at new houses to move to since our landlady gave us our notice, and after a short but intense burst of activity (fortunately mostly Internet based) I've found somewhere for us, so now we've got sorting and chucking out and packing to look forward to for the next few weekends. Oh the joy! Hopefully I won't have to blog too much about that!

Of course the Sockapalooza 4 matches have been made now which is very exciting. I guess I'm not going to get to start work on my socks until the house moving is over and done with, but now I've got my pal's details I can certainly put my mind to deciding what pattern and yarn I will use...

Dispatches

2007-04-26T11:10:00.000+01:00

What could this:

be? Did you guess? That's right I made a poor attempt at waiting for my pay cheque before I bought fabric:

As I think you can make out from the picture this is Alexander Henry "Heart to Heart" fabric. I started researching my options for bag fabrics on ebay on Tuesday and saw this for sale (with this seller) and then got carried away and thought that buying a metre now wouldn't be too bad - so I went ahead and bought it :) Today it turned up in the post - how's that for speed? I must say I'm very impressed and I like the fabric a lot. It is destined to become the accent top panel on the Frenchy bag and I will also make one side of the reversible Swing bag using this fabric as well. The main fabric for Frenchy and the fabric for the other side of the Swing bag will be plain cottons I think and I will shop for those in the market in Birmingham.

The boyfriend is away at the weekend and I will be at a loose end... hmm, maybe I could fit in a trip to the City Centre....

Forward planning

2007-04-24T13:04:00.000+01:00

It's all been quiet on the knitting front recently. I've been working on an essay and was also away visiting family at the weekend so I haven't had much time to get anything done in that respect.

It's always easy to fit in a little bit of musing about future projects though. As I mentioned before I'm looking for some new springy/summery projects but wasn't sure what to do. Given careful thought I think the idea of a knitted skirt will fall by the wayside - the risk that it will just look rubbish is too great!

My next knitted project (most probably worked alongside Thermal) is likely to be a little shrug I think. I like this very simple pattern from Knit On The Net. I've seen some good deals on Rowan's Little Big Wool recently as well although I might have a look around for other yarns as the colours for Little Big Wool don't grab me all that much, although "Amythest" and "Topaz" aren't bad. I'm hoping to buy yarn for this project once the next pay cheque rolls in.

I have other plans up my sleeve as well, I was inspired by something I saw at Tres Chic Veronique - the lovely Amy Butler Frenchy bag pattern. A cotton bag like this seems pretty summery to me and I've been looking for a shoulder bag which is big enough to carry a few of my uni books and papers around in - sounds good so far. Even better though it will give me a chance to play with a toy of mine that has thus far been sadly neglected:

My mum and dad bought me this little (mug shown for scale) sewing machine for Christmas and I have yet to use it for any real project. (I did have plans to finally hem my bedroom curtains so they are the right length but seeing as our landlady has just decided to give us notice to quit on our flat it doesn't really seem worth bothering) So, I hope to make a bag using my (still) new sewing machine and new pattern:

Hmm, yes there does seem to be two patterns in that picture, I found the Frenchy bag pattern on ebay from the lovely ebay shop Monkey Foot Boutique, the proprietress was kind enough to point out she could post up to 3 patterns for the same postal fees as one so I thought it would be silly not to take advantage of that opportunity to a certain extent and snapped up a Swing bag pattern too. The first big task for this project will be to choose fabric, that will probably entail a visit to the markets in Birmingham at a later date (pay cheque dependent again).

Well, that's turned into a rather rambling post about not very much at all, I'm sure it's high time I quietened down! Looking forward to starting out on my new projects :)

One down

2007-04-17T13:25:00.000+01:00

I have finished the first sleeve of Thermal - let's celebrate with an exceptionally dull photo! Woo hoo!

I was going to post another equally enthralling photo of how I have decided to make my next task unravelling the bottom ribbing and reknitting it - kinda scary (I will not be pleased if I mess it up; I am using a lifeline though so hopefully it will be alright) - but the batteries in my camera died so you are spared more boredom!

Perseverence is key at this stage I feel! Send good vibes...

Did you notice...

2007-04-12T09:36:00.000+01:00

... that I signed up for Sockapalooza 4? I've never done one of these exchange thingies before so I think it ought to be quite exciting :o) It will be over a reasonable time before the deadline for my thesis as well so it shouldn't prove a problem in that respect - phew!

Farewell lovely weekend

2007-04-10T17:38:00.000+01:00

Easter weekend was so nice! How fortuitous that the weather decided to be so lovely.

There was much walking - on Friday to the country park at Woodgate, and on Sunday to the Lickey Hills, see:

In addition there was chocolate and ice cream (the first 99 of the season was enjoyed at the top of Beacon Hill whilst surveying the scene you see pictured above), delicious grilled salmon with hollandaise, the boy's bestest roast potatoes, courgettes and french beans for Easter Sunday lunch, seeing friends (inclusive of silly dancing in Reflex) and a blessed break from work.

There was also a fair amount of knitting on Thermal... I am just about to start the sleeve cap of sleeve number 1 - I seem to have been working on that bloomin' sleeve for ages. I do plan to persevere and get Thermal finished now, even though I don't suppose I'll get to wear it until autumn. Even though I still have (bound-to-be-interminable) sleeve number 2 + seaming + the neckband + correcting my messed up ribbing to get through my mind is turning to what I might knit next.

I have two projects in particular in mind, but am unsure about them - what does anyone think who might read this...?

I am thinking of Knitty's Convertible in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Camouflage - but will that merely resemble what the name suggests - a piece of camouflage netting? I'm also keen on the idea of Knitty's Eyelet but what do we think about knitted skirts people? Are they doomed to be unflattering or can they be OK?

Down to the wire

2007-03-31T17:18:00.000+01:00

Well the birthday party starts at 8 o'clock tonight so as usual I haven't left myself much leeway before the deadline constituted by giving these away as gifts to the birthday girl, but they are done and I am pleased.

These are the Interweave Heart Sachet pattern, knitted from some form of Lana Grossa cotton sock yarn - I don't recall any details other than that I bought it from Janette's Rare Yarns on ebay - and filled with lavender flowers from another ebay seller. I didn't do anything fancy with the hanging loops; just threaded some thin orange ribbon I'd bought from the markets in Birmingham through the top of the heart using a yarn needle and tied it in a knot. I was going for the simple but effective route and I don't think I'm that far off.

Well anyway, I must be off to get on with my gift wrapping.

Unusually...

2007-03-22T12:09:00.000Z

... everything seems to be going to plan.

A sweet-smelling package has just arrived in the post:

My ebay seller has come up with the goods in plenty of time. That's 100g of dried lavender flowers, which certainly looks like way more than I thought it would. So I will be able, I would have thought, to finish the Heart Sachets very soon.

I'm also keeping my word as far as Thermal goes, my progress on sleeve number 1 looks something like this:

Fair enough, there is still a long way to go, but headway is at least being made.

Hopefully next time I post it will be with news of an FO or three!

So... do you like my new tank top?

2007-03-19T10:54:00.000Z

I am fairly pleased with this so far, I think.

The misgivings: I am worried it is a little bit too tight - I followed the instructions in the pattern to round down the bust measurement, but really I think it wouldn't have been too bad if I'd rounded up (my measurement came out, as usual, squarely between two sizes), that said it might grow a bit when it is blocked and it doesn't look too bad. All will be revealed, in the time honoured and mystical way of knitting, I guess. My other misgiving is the ribbing - I don't know what I've done to it but the first three rows after the cast on look awful, the rest of the ribbing looks very neat and tidy though - it will bug me if I leave it how it is, so I think when I have done the sleeves I will undo all the ribbing and knit it back on again in the opposite direction. I hope this is a jumper which I really am going to wear so I'm sure it will be worth the effort.

Maybe tonight I will manage to cast on a sleeve...

Temporarily thwarted

2007-03-17T16:10:00.000Z

Yes, well... my plans of finishing the Heart Sachets over the weekend are categorically not going to be fulfilled (this sort of thing seems to be a recurrent problem for me!).

The spanner in the works this time is the complete lack of lavender flowers available for purchase in Birmingham (although I have not searched all that exhaustively - no time). The way around this problem is of course to turn to ebay; I have ordered 100g of very reasonably priced lavender flowers from this seller, hopefully these will turn up speedily and then I can get on with filling and finishing the sachets in time for my friend's birthday celebrations.

Here's hoping!

ETA: One thing has gone according to plan: I've started working on Thermal again. The back neckline is now finished I am whizzing up the left front, so soon I will have a rather interesting looking tank top I would think ;)

By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who might be celebrating.

2007-03-15T09:41:00.000Z

(Why not have a play with this: Catalog Card Generator)

Spring is springing

2007-03-05T10:34:00.000Z

Well, how about a little debrief on my goals from my last post?

I think I can classify them as well and truly not reached. Ho hum. A severe amount of stress surrounding the tortuous task of composing a proposal for funding for a PhD that I don't even know if I want to do yet has rather got in the way of knitting. So, Thermal now has half its back neckline finished with no further progress on the front of the body and definitely no sign of a nascent sleeve. After the end of this week things ought to improve somewhat though.

Knitting hasn't been cast aside completely though, with the prospect of Mothering Sunday coming up and a good friend's birthday coming up at the beginning of April I wanted some cute, quick gift knitting (it's OK - neither potential recipient reads my blog as far as I am aware). So yesterday evening I cast on for a Heart Sachet from Interweave. This project was attractive to me on many levels: it can make use of sock yarn that I already have in my possession, so it works out cheaply, it is small and hence quick to knit, it is very pretty so ought to be well received by mum/friend and for a while I had been wanting to try some modular knitting. I have had my eye on this Mitred Square Felted Bag but really wanted to use the Kureyon called for and didn't quite have the funds. I will still make the bag one day, but I think I can consider the sachets a useful part of the learning process for that project :)

That is all the progress I made yesterday evening on the sachet, not bad at all :) I think I have completed 8 squares out of 14 and am working on the ninth. Picking up all the stitches has been a little tricksy, but I like the project; it keeps you entertained.

Lastly to prove that I am beginning to feel like spring is springing here is a gratuitous shot of my vase of daffodils - I used Saint David's Day as an excuse to buy these, aren't they absolutely worth £1.50 though?

Single mindedness

2007-02-24T18:39:00.000Z

Even if I haven't managed to be single minded recently about all the work I am supposed to be accomplishing for my course, I have at least been single minded about my knitting. I have been working on Thermal at an alarming rate, which in itself may account for why I haven't been getting much studying done - oops! Here are some quite appalling progress pictures of thermal. As you can tell (hopefully, given the terrible flash lit photos) I am getting quite close to having finished the body - yay!

My goal for the end of next week is to be at least past the ribbing on the first sleeve. Watch this space.

She's got high hopes...

2007-02-09T17:48:00.000Z

... shes got high hopes, shes got high, apple pie, in the sky hopes!

Yes, that's right! I've got high hopes ... of the Thermal jumper.

I was merrily knitting away and quite enjoying myself, the waffle stitch is just enough to keep me interested and I've achieved, ooh, it must five whole inches (including the ribbing) in the last (nearly a) week, and then today I looked at my progress and thought, hmm this looks small, so I decided I needed to check out my suspicions.

I took the thing off the needle and put it on spare yarn so that I could try it on round my squishy belly and joy of joys it fits without trouble. Woo hoo! It's all back on the needle again now - I shall continue.

This is why I've got high hopes, this may well be the first true jumper I complete for myself - Boogie doesn't count because it's got no sleeves (and I like a challenge now and again) ;-)

Inappropriate attire

2007-02-07T13:03:00.000Z

This is just a random post I guess.

It is slightly bizarre and entirely inappropriate to be purchasing summery attire when it is so cold outside but whilst killing time at the shops yesterday I found a very cute top - as you always do when you are not intending or wanting to buy anything and are feeling as poor as a church mouse - and decided I'd better buy it in case they were all gone by the time I am feeling flush again (likely to be some time in the next millennium).

Without further ado here is an example of the cuteness which is to be purchased for only £10 at New Look:

Thus ends today's public (shopping) service broadcast.

Nostalgic Knits

2007-02-04T10:13:00.000Z

Well, a progress update I guess. My Mosaic Bag (which was the second easy peasy FO I was going to show from time off being ill) is mere inches and some seam sewing (yuck!) from completion, but once again it has been cast aside.

I happen to believe it is not just my monumental fickleness which is to blame for this. This time Knitty is partially at fault too. Why is this? Well they just had to go and put the pattern for Thermal in their winter surprise section. I could not resist, I love this pattern, it is completely nostalgic for me as (naturally, I suppose) it reminds me of a German Army surplus thermal vest which I used to wear absolutely to death as little top when I was a teenager. Except Thermal has a cuter neckline :)

Such was my burning desire to start this project, coupled with the extent of my financial troubles at the moment, that I knew there was only one way to go to get the yarn. I had to sacrifice my Union Square Market Sweater. I don't think I've ever posted about that project but I had actually done a whole sleeve and got up to splitting for the front and back of the body but I was never quite sure about it so it had sat there with no work being done on it for ages. I thought the body seemed a bit short and I wasn't overly enamoured with the colour combination I picked (a burgundy for the main colour and a mauve-ish shade for the accents) so I decided to go with my enthusiasm for Thermal and try and get something finished.

So there you have it, I've cast on for Thermal in a burgundy 4 ply merino from Texere. This does mean, however, that I have nothing more interesting to show you at this stage than 1 3/4 inches of twisted ribbing. Perhaps once I have got into the main stitch pattern a bit I will show some progress photos.

I don't think this is the end for Union Square Market yet either. Now that I am using the yarn I have already got for a noble purpose I will feel more able to buy more yarn in better colours to start over again - I am thinking maybe of the same merino yarn in 'bronze green' and 'olive'. Maybe the mauve-ish accent yarn from the original attempt will turn into a pair of socks at some stage. This is stash-busting out of necessity - waste not, want not.

Keeping Promises

2007-01-28T12:46:00.000Z

A promise kept indeed, and one made only yesterday...

I have an FO.

This is one of the results of me thinking that I needed some easy, mindless knitting to do while I wasn't feeling so well. It was already finished yesterday, actually Thursday I think, but I had to wait until I had my teapot back (don't ask) before I could take a picture.

This is the Kureyon Kozy pattern from Knitty, except (perhaps rather foolishly - I don't know) I used Silk Garden instead of Kureyon because I already had some Silk Garden which I had been planning to use to make a hat, but then changed my mind because I didn't like how it felt against my skin.

My level of concentration was obviously seriously depleted whilst I wasn't well because even though the pattern is very straightforward I still managed to make several mistakes - not repeating rows in the correct sequence and not doing the right quantity of repeats of things. I also couldn't be bothered to try and match up the stripes on each side of the cosy. I don't think any of that really matters though, the end result is a functional tea cosy which is pretty and colourful and I got my go at mindless knitting and that was all that I was aiming for.

So there you go: I can still knit and with any luck there should be more to come soon.

Knitting's power to confound

2007-01-27T14:06:00.000Z

The combined effect of me working my butt off to meet my deadlines and the yuck weather was that I got ill (with a bit of help from the boyfriend, who handily passed on some nice cold germs). I didn't feel like doing much of anything most of this week and haven't left the house to do more than go to the pharmacy downstairs.

Knitting has been happening, but only at a background level - still it is a level that permits me having a couple of finished objects to show off soon I believe. Last night, though, I was feeling a bit more human but wanting something to do to avoid having to play cards with the boyfriend and his buddy...

So taking my cue from said buddy, who was bemoaning his lack of seasonal headgear, I whipped out the needles and took up the hat challenge.

Within the length of this

(incidentally a most fabulous film, available, among other place, here), I managed to churn out a Hot Head Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch.

The buddy, I believe, was suitably impressed. I used some black random chunky yarn left over from previous Hot Head Hat attempts (I've made two before for the boyfriend, one which he lost and the second as a replacement) and 6mm needles as I couldn't find a pair of the prescribed 6.5mm. I knit the large size and tried to knit quite loosely as I was concerned, given the smaller needles, that the thing wouldn't fit buddy's fairly large head after all the effort. But (phew!) the thing actually did fit and there were smiles all round.

Such is the greatness of knitting!

... and relax!

2007-01-18T14:37:00.000Z

Well now I finally have some space to breathe again, I can explain were I've been.

The answer is: nowhere exciting. This week is the first week back at university and this means essay deadlines. I had various assignments due in yesterday, but me being me, left everything until it got right down to the wire. It is all done now though, I am not expecting excellent marks, a simple pass will make me very happy, low marks for the taught section of my course are not the end of the world in my view, the thesis which I will begin working on in earnest very soon makes up 75% of the course, that is the main thing that I am concerned about being perfect because it is my baby, an idea that I have worked out myself (with a little bit of help from my supervisors) and not just the task of answering an essay question set by someone else that will be answered by lots of people. Working on the essays has made me feel grateful that I am so much more interested in my thesis topic than I was by the essay topics - I hope this means I will be able to launch into the thesis work with enthusiasm.

Of course the other aspect directly related to this is that I have done no knitting whatsoever. Not a stitch since I finished the Jaywalkers. I feel this will have to be remedied very soon, but what to work on, I have a few ideas but I must think things through.

And now, because 'why not?', a picture of an elk, one of my favourite animals:

I took this picture in Leipzig when I was there last year (back in March I think), the elks lived in a park not far from the house I used to live in along with other kinds of animals which would, at one point or another, have been indigenous to the area.

PS. The weather is awful at the moment isn't it? If there is one kind of weather that I really don't like it is strong winds, the place where we live at the moment is quite exposed and I feel like I am being personally battered by the wind every day seeing as I spend so much time in this house. Quite frankly - enough already! Rain, snow (but not too much precipitation either because we have a hole in our roof), be cold or sunny or anything else but please stop being windy! (Helpless and pointless plea to whoever it is that sorts out the weather round here - just a rant really)

Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T09:55:00.000Z

First of all: the best of wishes to anyone out there reading this :)

Second of all my latest FO. I actually finished these in 2006, on 29th December to be precise.
It is of course the Jaywalkers:

There's not much to say about the process of knitting these other than it was great! I followed the pattern without any changes - I even bit the bullet and finally figured out how to do decent Kitchener stitch (as detailed in my last post) so there wasn't any need to change the toe.

I used Regia Canadian Color in shade 4736. A very nice yarn in my humble opinion. I really like the colours and the variegation shows up the stitch pattern of this design very well I think.

In evaluation I would have to say I like these socks a lot, the fit is good especially around my oddly small ankles and heels so they are not half as droopy as any of the other socks I've knit for myself. The only odd thing is that the flipside of the non-droopiness is that I find them quite difficult to take off but that is not the worst problem in the world and worth it when the benefits it affords are taken into account :)

So once again, a Happy New Year to all and here's to a successful 2007.

And the answer is...

2006-12-18T15:48:00.000Z

Of course I didn't do the sensible thing and finish off one project before starting another, hence I now have this:

Half a pair of Jaywalkers of course. Excuse the bad colours in the photo, but it is nearly four o'clock in the afternoon after all.

I can tell already that these are great, great socks, very comfortable and I will love wearing them. Yay. I just have to finish the next sock, although I am slightly concerned I might run out of the Regia Canadian that I am using to knit them - we shall see.

I used the Kitchener stitch toe, unlike with the Snowflake socks, and thanks to carefully following the series of pictures on this page for once there is no Franken-toe. Yay, I am glad because I really think I will wear these socks a lot and want to show them off.

A nothing post

2006-12-18T10:06:00.000Z

By way of proving I'm still alive I thought I would document one of my latest pleasures:

Listening to BBC 6 Music whilst working on my proofreading. What a good radio station, why didn't I start listening sooner?

I promise my current work in progress will be the very next thing to be documented. Do you think I went with the sensible option of finishing the RPM socks or started something else?

Procrastination

2006-12-05T13:23:00.000Z

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!

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And this time I mean it!

2006-12-04T09:26:00.000Z

Now I actually have a matching pair of FO socks to show off! Yay!

Here are the finished Snowflake socks. I love this pattern very much, so pretty and seasonal but really not that complicated. These are knitted in Regia Silk and as a departure from the pattern I used the pointed toe which I first encountered in the pattern for RPM (NB. RPM socks still not finished...). The reason for that is that I absolutely hate having to do Kitchener stitch for toes, I always butcher it and it ends up looking awful, I know there are probably (definitely, I expect) other ways to go about a normal toe but for the time being this seemed liked an OK solution.

The yarn is beautifully soft, really comfy to wear, but I have to report I'm not totally in love as it seems to pill really quite badly - I think probably in the close up picture you can see the fluffiness that already abounds. That means, that although I had been considering sending these socks as a gift I probably won't do, cos they already look perhaps slightly past their best. Also I don't think wearing them inside a shoe is likely to do them any favours at all.

This means that, save knitting more in different yarn, these remain as a sort of padding about the house kind of sock for me. But as far as I can see there is no harm in that!

Harrumph!

2006-11-28T13:27:00.000Z

It is a lovely day outside and I think I would much rather go for a walk to the reservoir than have to sit inside reading about French social reform in 1814.

Maybe I'll be able to fit in a half hour stroll after I've eaten my lunch...

All things considered, though, I seem to finally be creating some balance in my new schedule - this week I don't feel like I'm rushing everything quite so much as I have before. I hope that things might continue in this vein but there are a lot of assignments to be done by January, so maybe that hope is too much? At least now I feel like I have an outside chance of getting it all done on time - and that is an important difference :0)

FO?

2006-11-13T11:07:00.000Z

Well I have actually completed a pair of socks - do they have to be a matching pair for them to count as an FO do you think?

It's all going to be good though: no second sock syndrome - at least as far as the Snowflake socks go - I've already cast on. Who knows when the half finished second RPM will get done though...

There is a sea change going on around here - I have a strange urge to knit something other than socks, just as a little breather before I move on to my next pair (remember I recently purchased three sets of socks-to-be and have only worked on one so far). I'm thinking of a not too huge shawl or a stole or a large scarf... I'll have to dig around a bit I think and come up with something I like.

Remember to breathe

2006-11-09T16:26:00.000Z

I do not think I have ever been so busy in my whole life! We moved house this weekend and piles of work (from work-work and uni) keep building up so fast that I just can't keep them down. Nevertheless I still went back on my sensible plan of finishing at least one knitting project before moving on to the next one.

Yup I started the Snowflake socks. And very pretty I think they are too. This photo and this one here of the lace detail:

aren't that good really despite the fact that my new home has excellent photo-taking light in the morning (I am just too scatterbrained at the moment to take advantage of it).

I like this pattern a lot, though, and I am knitting in Regia Silk which is lovely and soft, and (quite possibly for the first time ever) as far as I know I haven't made a mistake in the lace pattern for these yet. I will keep everything crossed that that continues throughout the rest of this project.

Reasons to be cheerful...1,2,3

2006-10-20T13:22:00.000+01:00

1.
It seems there might eventually be the prospect of a flat on the horizon ... we are going to meet up with our potential new landlady for a drink and discussion about the terms of letting agreements on Monday - fun, fun, fun!

2 & 3.
New yarn and needles - yay!

I decided to cheer myself up by getting myself a big load of socks-to-be from Web of Wool. We've got lovely natural coloured Regia Silk, Regia Bamboo in a colour called (I believe) 'Jamaica' and Regia Canadian Color in 'Ontario'.

When you add in the new Brittany dpns you get the ingredients for three new pairs of socks. I'm hoping for a replacement pair of Jaywalkers, a pair of the very beautiful Snowflake socks from Magknits and a pair of Pomatomus from Knitty. I don't there need be any prizes for guessing which yarn will become which pair of socks.

As always it's never as simple as it sounds. For a start I've got to finish off the RPM socks first, the first sock was really fast though and I've only got two thirds of the second to finish off. I just hope none of those other distractions in my life (like the minor matters of working and studying) get in the way too much. I hope new impetus will mean I get the RPMs out of the way quicker though.

Nothing like a bit of unrealistic optimism, eh?

Progress report of sorts

2006-10-06T09:21:00.000+01:00

Well I've started my life as a postgraduate student now. That's pretty exciting.

I think I am going to enjoy my course. It's largely research based with a taught part totalling about one third of the total marks. This is good because the taught part covers thinking from a number of European countries giving me a broader base to my knowledge than I ever gained in my undergraduate degree. My research will still be focussing only on German authors but I hope my new broader perspective will mean I see their work in a different way. Very exciting! (Well, if you're me at least it is.)

More negatively we still haven't found anywhere to live, this is getting more than faintly irritating now. Since I've been up in Birmingham I've taken over the traipsing around to all the viewing appointments from the poor old boyfriend. All we've seen though are either places which are completely disgusting or places where people beat us to filling in their applications. I am trying to stay positive and optimistic but it's certainly getting harder now...

There's already an appointment lined up for Monday, fingers crossed that this one works out!

On the knitting front things are crawling along. I finished the first of my RPM socks while I was still down in London and even started the second sock. The project made the journey up to Brum with me but hasn't even made it out of my bag yet as I've been so busy. The weekend looks like the ideal time to relax after a stressful week and knit a good few rounds of sock number 2. More to look forward to - who said optimism was dying out (oh wait, that was me!).

Good things and bad

2006-09-19T18:47:00.000+01:00

Well, I am glad I started pre-emptive stress-relief knitting - it came in handy soon enough...

Yup, we lost the flat that we were hoping to move into (damn!).

But I don't mind because I've just knitted my first short row heel!

(Well I do mind a bit, but I'm over the worst of the upset-ness now!)

Stress relief kit

2006-09-12T18:40:00.000+01:00

I decided to take myself up on my promise of knitting as stress relief. I treated myself to some new reading material for when I need a change from knitting as well:

The beginnings of that sock are part of RPM from Knitty. Those of you with eagle eyes and elephant memories might notice that the yarn I'm using is the one which was going to be a pair of Jaywalkers until I snapped one the needles I was using. I decided to use this yarn for the new project because I like the colour a lot and buy some new yarn for the Jaywalkers which I still intend to knit at some point. I think I'll invest in some new, hopefully stripier, yarn for the Jaywalkers - that ought to show up the Jaywalker pattern better.

Now the worst of my stressful decisions are over it seems I regained my knitting enthusiasm quick enough. Good, good.

I know, I know

2006-09-09T14:33:00.000+01:00

There's still no knitting.

It's still all stress, stress, stress round here. At least now we've found a flat that we both like. Fingers crossed now for a smooth rental application process. It already looks unlikely that we'll be moved in to our new permanent home by the beginning of October but at least that new permanent home is on the horizon now.

On the knitting front, perhaps it would be a good idea for me to knit a bit as a means for stress relief. Trying to finish off projects that are hardly inspiring me at the moment might not be the best way to do that though...

I am thinking I might cast on for something else. What's the betting that that might be another pair or socks?

Do I still have a blog?

2006-08-28T14:57:00.000+01:00

Well yes I do. And finally it seems I have some time to type a little update.

Everything all went a bit pear shaped there for a while. Despite my previous overconfidence (as evidenced here) I didn't manage to secure any additional funding for the Master's course. I was, of course, rather disheartened and much flapping around trying to sort out a viable Plan B has ensued. But I do think I've just about done it now.

By moving up to Birmingham and carrying on with my glittering proofreading career on a part-time, work-from-home basis I will still be able to study full-time on the course I've chosen and pay my way in terms of rent and maintenance. All this and as an added bonus I get to move back in with the boyfriend. It's good on so many fronts!

The downsides are not numerous, but they are daunting, the minimum 60 hour working week being the main example.

I've only got to hope that despite working so much I will be able to fit in a bit of knitting and relaxing. Otherwise how will I ever manage to get any more projects finished including that pesky Mosaic Bag and the Saturday Market Bag which I seem to have been working on for ages now?

Who'd have thought it?

2006-07-25T19:26:00.000+01:00

Well, somehow it seems, that despite everything, I've now been blogging here for slightly more than year. I'm not sure I thought myself that that would happen.

In celebration (completely unintentional) I am posting details of my latest FO...

The Hedera socks are finished!

Here is a small pictorial review of the items themselves:

(don't mind my pasty legs!)

I like these socks and they were fun to knit and not at all cumbersome because I found that I could quite easily memorise the lace pattern.

The only unfortunate thing (not really though because I will probably knit myself another pair) is that these socks are not destined to adorn my feet but are going to be a present for my gran, since she admired them whilst they were still baby little WIPs.

Now, onwards and upwards I guess!

Back in Blighty

2006-07-14T14:30:00.000+01:00

Indeed I am back on the island that is home, relaxed in many ways, stressed out in others - why does that always slightly mar a holiday?

I stuck to my word though and knitted feverishly on the Hedera socks:

The fruits of my labour are 1 completed sock (yet to be blocked) and the cuff and three pattern repeats of the leg of another sock:

I have to head up to Birmingham tomorrow to see a friend so I intend to carry on knitting away on my train journey and not end up stuck with half a pair of socks. Progress report to follow soon...

Holiday preparations

2006-07-02T20:14:00.000+01:00

I finished off a birthday weekend which was busy but very fun by making an important preparation for my holiday. I have finally decided what knitting project it is that I will take with me and now I have even bought the yarn.

Socks seem to be the obvious choice for a small but interesting project and to spice things up a bit more I have picked a lace pattern. Hedera from Knitty seems to be an ideal choice because the lace will make the project more challenging but the absence of a chart will mean it doesn't become too cumbersome for poolside knitting. Lovely! I am for once using the recommended yarn - Rowan 4-ply Soft in a bright, bright bubblegummy pink colour. What I really wanted was a really citrusy green but I couldn't find anything that fitted the bill and since this was my last opportunity to buy yarn I settled for my old favourite pink.

I've been suffering from a severe inability to get anything finished - skipping between projects and spending a lot of time doing things other than knitting (shock! horror!) Hopefully the minimal distractions offered by a lazy holiday will mean I get a substantial amount of this project finished in one go.

I had some lovely news (on my birthday as well to make it extra good) that might also mean I have a bit more time for knitting in future... I am being awarded a scholarship which will pay three quarters of the fees for the Masters course that I want to start in October! Yay. Even better, the fact that I have been awarded this scholarship means that I might be more likely to get awarded one which is still more generous, I'll just have to wait a while - maybe up to the end of August - to find out what happens, ho hum.

Brighton Rocks!

2006-06-27T20:11:00.000+01:00

Without a shadow of a doubt. I had a fantastic weekend at the seaside, a good mixture of seasidey fun and good eating and drinking possibilities. Top marks. A little photographic impression:

My time continues to seem very full of things other than knitting at the moment. This weekend is yet another write off but I think that celebrating my birthday is excuse enough for that. Then towards the end of next week I'll be off on holiday for a week. That means there should be more time for knitting whilst lounging by the pool. All I have to do is decide what I want to be knitting while I'm on holiday... decisions, decisions. At least the fact that it has to be very portable and preferably cotton will help narrow down my options. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime I've finished the main piece of the Mosaic Bag - a sixteen by six inch rectangle which has taken me for ever! I have decided to dispense with the knitted in button hole because it would have meant my favourite colour section of the Noro I'm using facing the back of the bag. Instead I'll make a button loop to showcase my favourite section of the colours. Next up the strap - surely this can't take too long...

Can it?

Lazy girl ...

2006-06-19T18:58:00.000+01:00

... at least as far as knitting is concerned.

The reason I've not even managed to complete so much as the tiny little Mosaic Bag is that I've been working my butt off doing overtime again. The closer my potential return to university becomes the more I am having to scrabble to pay back my overdraft. With any luck I'll make it if I keep working as hard as I am.

It's not easy though, especially as I want to make the most of actually having some disposable income for once and fully intend on doing just that on my family holiday to Portugal in July and a weekend staying at a friend's flat in Brighton this coming weekend - so excited I can barely wait!

Long weekend

2006-06-01T20:28:00.000+01:00

For once in my life I decided to actually do something with a weekend (well for one day out of a weekend at least - my excuse centres around the weather on the other days!). Last Sunday though my boyfriend and I and another friend spent a day out in Stratford upon Avon and get in as much sightseeing as possible by taking a very touristy open top bus tour.

Among other things we saw Mary Arden's very pretty house:

and I met a few new friends!

the only thing lacking, perhaps, was knitting.

Roll on more long weekends!

Keep going

2006-05-21T18:33:00.000+01:00

I've been having a stressful time at work and doing a lot of overtime to try and help pay back more of my debts before I go back to university and make some more debts. There hasn't been all that much time for knitting and I haven't got round to getting a new needle so I can carry on with the Jaywalkers yet.

In the end though I realised that it is ridiculous to give up knitting in times of stress when knitting is one of the few things that truly relaxes me. So I've embarked on a little stash-busting project - the Mosaic Bag from Spun Magazine. It's not taxing at all but using two balls of yarn at once keeps me on my toes just enough so that it's not boring. It's satisfying to know that even moments of relaxation can be productive. Here's a photo of my initial progress:

I'm only knitting little bits now and then, but this is such a dinky project it shouldn't take me all that long to complete.

Karma

2006-05-08T20:14:00.000+01:00

After the annoying incident with the needle snapping I was feeling a bit peeved. I haven't really knitted much on my Jaywalker's since then. I tried a couple of rounds but it's all just so much more logical over a total of five needles than four, needless to say I managed to make a fair few mistakes and now I really need to go back and sort everything out, but I think I'll try and get hold of some new needles first.

The magical world of knitting does not completely disappoint me though. I thought my Winter issue of Interweave Knits had been lost for ever in the dark underbelly of the Royal Mail but guess what turned up today! Obviously all the patterns are little unseasonable at the moment but it was still a lovely cheering surprise :o)

Sometimes I don't know my own strength

2006-05-01T16:24:00.000+01:00

Well, well it's catch up time again. My weekend in Spain was a lovely break for me. I got to do nice things like sit in this square:

and eat yumminess like this:

Mmmmm!

My recent knitting project has been the Grumperina Jaywalker socks. I've not had a lot of time for knitting recently so progress is slow, but there is progress, as you will see here:

In this picture you can also see that I am obviously some kind of very violent knitter because as I innocently knitted my first round of the evening on the sock yesterday I managed to snap one of my new Brittany birch needles. Damn. I really liked these needles, I hope the remaining four will stand up to whatever it is I did to that first one!

Not enjoying the prospect of tomorrow

2006-04-17T23:01:00.000+01:00

Yuck, it's horrible to go back to work after a lovely long weekend like the one we've just enjoyed. There should be one at least once a month to make up for the trauma.

It was a great weekend though, full of good fun, good friends and good food. The boyfriend had a great birthday, the socks got finished (on the morning of his birthday itself) although I have no photographic evidence due to the batteries going flat on my camera.

So what to knit next? I suspect more socks alongside half hearted attempts on the Union Square Market sweater (it's quite clearly not going to be finished in time to wear this year so why rush?) I think I'll have to start something else as well that I can wear sometime within the next few months. A Convertible from the new Knitty is high on the list at the moment. Otherwise maybe a Debbie Bliss Fiery Bolero (about half way down this page) from Interweave last summer. Hell maybe even all of these, who knows?

That said there'll not be that much time for knitting this week as I'm far too excited about going to visit my friend in Spain next weekend. Yes, that's right my busy April continues apace, I've even been promised a beach visit, swimming cossie required - who'd have thought such things were possible in April? I'm soooo excited!

March hare (just in time!)

2006-03-31T18:54:00.000+01:00

As promised a quick survey of my current knitting progress:

Sadly of the projects that I have previously mentioned the only one that is still in existence is the Union Square Market Sweater. It's going well, although obviously it won't be finished in time to be worn this season - nevermind. I'd just better try not to put too much weight on over the summer!

I am also working on these:

Just plain old top-down socks made from some of the German sock yarn as a present for my boyfriend's birthday - it's on 15th April so I should get them finished on time.

Best of all though I do, as I promised have an FO, can you spot him?

Yes that's right... it a Jess Hutch Bunny, it's a little project I was working on to break up the big swathes of stocking stitch on the Union Square Market Sweater. I'm quite pleased with the way his face has turned out after a few attempts at getting it right. If I knitted him again (and I may well) I would sort out my wonky attempts at attaching his limbs and maybe give him longer legs... but don't you think he's cute?

New toys

2006-03-27T20:28:00.000+01:00

Recently I seem to be developing strange cravings for sock knitting and so I've treated myself to a few little goodies from my favourite ebay yarn store, Janette's Rare Yarns. Aside from all the other good things about Janette's the goods always arrive quickly and well packaged:

I've now got some lovely summery Lana Grossa cotton yarn and new birch needles to knit it up on:

Now all I've got to do is decide on patterns. Grumperina's Jaywalkers may well be one of them, the other, well that can wait I suppose...

As for the rest of my knitting I promise an update and hopefully at least one finished object later this week, just to prove that this is still a knit blog and I can and do still knit!

Whoopee!!!

2006-03-12T12:52:00.000Z

I just decided it might be an idea to check that the various elements of my online application to the MPhil that I want to do had all been received, and guess what I found...

I am going to be given an unconditional offer of a place on the course just as I hoped.

Phew! That means the first hurdle has been cleared. Now the second, final and hugest hurdle remains - funding (cue scary horror movie-style organ music). I have written the dreadful proposal/case for funding and sent the forms off to my referees, there is little more I can do, except wait for months on end to find out (and hope in the interim that the the university manages to send my form to the funding council before the deadline). Lovely!

Evidence of Germany

2006-03-11T11:05:00.000Z

Since my blog has been a bit poor in terms of photos recently I wanted to post a few to show that I haven't forgotten how. A couple of photos of lovely Leipzig are enough to show how it is a place full of fantastic contrast...

Between the very elegant, high culture side of the 16th to 19th centuries...

... as demonstrated by J W Goethe himself whose three (I think) years spent living in Leipzig are commemorated in this statue,

and the later, more industrial Leipzig shaped by the GDR and taken over by the hipster scene in more recent years...

Last but not least a quick picture of the rather minimal souvenirs that I brought back from Germany, of course sock yarn and East German confectionary were the obvious choices!

So there you go! See you soon ;o)

Update

2006-03-06T21:43:00.000Z

Well it seems I've been away for a while.

Things have definitely conspired to keep me away from the blog. Not least the fact that my very ancient but well loved IBM Thinkpad finally died and I had to get hold of a new computer. I am only thankful that it did not come to this while I was still a student - I would have been computerless for months and certainly wasted a lot of my time queuing for use of communal computers. As it is I am now the proud owner of a new Dell laptop, albeit the bottom but one model.

It was delivered very quickly but no sooner did it arrive than I was off to Germany for an extra long weekend visiting the Eastern city of Leipzig where I spent my year abroad from university. (A few more details and maybe a couple of photos soon).

My old laptop did however eat the draft of my masters research proposal so I spent every evening going to my parents house to use their computer and get it redrafted. I managed it though and by the 2nd of March the application for a university place and the funding application were winging their way to the university.

The incessant proposal writing plus the accompanying travel required to get computer access mean that I have done virtually no knitting in the last few weeks, I plan to make up for that soon. My plans for the Knitting Olympics fell sadly by the wayside though, the yarn has still not turned up at any rate and not having received replies to any of my calls or emails to find out where it is I think it might be time to have recourse to my credit card company to get the money back.

Oh well, all this stuff is sent to try us. I may have reached the end of February with no finished objects to show for it but at least these minor setbacks have not dampened my spirits too much!

Calm now

2006-02-12T12:07:00.000Z

No, as far as I am aware at the moment the yarn for the Olympics has still not turned up. I had wanted it to be there by Wednesday really as I had to come up to Birmingham straight after to work on Thursday and in order to find it's way into my luggage the yarn definitely needed to be there on Wednesday evening. I'm off home this afternoon anyway, so who knows maybe it will all be there when I get back and I can start off just a bit late.

On the other hand maybe I won't... The reason for the trip to Birmingham is that I have decided to apply to go back to university and do a masters (with a large research component). This means that I have not very long at all (about 10 days) to prepare my research proposal to be submitted to my referees before being sent off to the funding body to pick to pieces and then decide not to stump up the cash anyway.

But if you don't try you don't get - so now rather than knitting my next few evenings will probably be handily consumed by reading around my proposed topic. I have sections of 4 books to read as well as several articles taken from journals and anthologies. All of which adds up to a substantial amount of stress especially if I want to have a first draft done by next weekend (which I do).

So yet more challenge to plough ahead with. More luck needed!

Oh no oh no oh no!

2006-02-05T12:36:00.000Z

Where is the yarn I have ordered for my Knitting Olympics effort? I must email about it today. It doesn't have long to get here, surely I can't fall at the first hurdle (although I realise that that is not a Winter Olympics sport I can't think of a winter-sports-based metaphor)...

Overambitious?

2006-01-21T11:00:00.000Z

I have evidently managed to drag myself out of my knitting rut and have cast on for/have in the pipeline a glut of projects.

A. I have one glove done and may get round to cast on the second one soon - with any luck before the cold weather ends and I don't get to actually use the things until next winter (by which time I will have lost one or both gloves anyway).

B. I treated myself to a nice Christmas present of some issues of Interweave Knits magazine and have been well and truly inspired. The first of the projects from there that I have cast on for is the Union Square Market Pullover (it's the cover photo of the issue linked to) using some merino yarn that I got from Texere.

C. Also in my wisdom I have decided to challenge myself to the the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics and my project for that will be Dibs on Ribs from Interweave's website - sorry for being a little Interweave-centric at the moment. I have not yet managed to make up my mind on a yarn (well actually a shade of Kureyon) for this one yet which will hopefully not prove to be too much of a setback.

I think the upshot of all this is that I will be well and truly frazzled by the end of February but hopefully a few nice garments better off - it'll all be worth it!

Something I don't do very often

2006-01-15T16:57:00.000Z

That is ... knit in public. The only reason I don't do it very often is because I never have room in my overstuffed handbag to carry around even the smallest project.

Yesterday though since I knew that I would be hanging around waiting for my boyfriend, who had been visiting his dad in hospital, I decided to take the glove I am making at the moment along to keep me amused. It did keep me amply amused and instead of just getting interested looks from people I got a couple of comments too.

A couple of ladies of a certain age were absolutely delighted to see someone knitting on dpns and said how it "took them right back" and wanted to know if I was making gloves or socks and what kind of needles I was using etc (ooh and complimented me on the tension of my stitches - which was nice!). Their quite a bit younger companion's only question though was whether or not I was having a baby!? Intriguing really that knitting is immediately expected to be something that expectant mothers do and not really anyone else.

I wasn't offended though, it certainly made me laugh and if nothing else I suppose the remark could be attributed to the fact that I was after all hanging around a hospital! Tee hee.

Interim knitting

2005-12-30T23:49:00.000Z

I am renowned for my indecisiveness... so whilst deciding what to actually knit next I made a replacement hat (the original one got lost somewhere in the Dali exhibition at County Hall) for my boyfriend. Just a straight up Hot Head Hat from Stitch n Bitch but in plain black to suit his colour preferences.

I think I have decided what I would like to knit next. I need gloves/mittens and I am very taken with the Broad Street mittens from Knitty but I want them to go vaguely with my scarf and hat (neither of which were homemade I am afraid), so since I have a pair of bought wristwarmers which already match said items I think I might try and unravel them and knit them back into a new and less drafty pair of mittens.

Will this end in disaster? You will be the first to know!