I'd rather be knitting

I've spent all afternoon working on an ethics approval form for a piece of research I want to do. Form filling is not the greatest way to spend an afternoon and ethics forms... Well, my friend Paul describes completing them as "having someone stand behind you flicking your ears, for three hours".

I have given up for the day now. It's for the best. I have completed the main section (which is vast) and that's not bad going. Then I reached the supplemental form... it wants me to repeat everything I have just typed.

The damn thing is meant to be a marvel of electronic wonder - removing sections that become unnecessary depending on your answers; and allegedly copying information from the main document to the supplementary section. Well, it doesn't do that completely.

You know, there are people who spend their lives developing these things. Are they sadists? I hate form-filling. They're either voluminous monstrosities that want your life in tedious detail or so superficial that you wonder what the point of bothering with them actually is.

It's too early to go home and knit.

On a happy note, the Spring edition of "Knitty" is out! Hurrah! Teabreak, I think.

Rowan 41 and DB Summer Essentials

My Mam has put me on a mission to track down some "DB Cashmerino Chunky - Robin's Egg". She has spotted a cabled cardi she wants to make... for herself! (So far, I have a fab red cardi trimmed in"New Fizz" and she has made a green one for my Auntie - all bar the zip, which she also sent me hunting for).

This gave me a valid reason to go to my favourite LYS - "Wool" in Stockport. It makes a change from tenuous excuses. :-) However, I've also bought for myself: "Rowan 41" and "DB Summer Essentials". Yes, this does increase the likelihood of me buying more yarn.

(I had to really fight temptation when I saw a whole basketful of "Colinette Jitterbug". At the rate I'm buying it, I'll turn sock knitting into a chore rather than fun).

However, I'm using the purchase of these books to encourage myself to knit up my stash. Then I can have a lovely time buying stuff for knitting the gorgeous patterns out of these books. I must say that I think "Rowan 41" is an improvement on "Rowan 40". Yes, there were a few nice things in that edition, but the Summer magazine has LOTS of lovely things. "DB Summer Essentials" has some lovely tops to knit in "DB Cathay" which I just love; and a rather nice silk top that wouldn't come in toooo pricey.

So, with a cup of tea and a few other books that Aileen gave me to browse through while I was there, I had a lovely time.

Gloves - with a picture

Finally, here is a picture of the finished gloves, which I think are rather funky.



I used 39g of a 100g ball for medium-sized adult hand gloves. So, I reckon there's enough left for another pair in that size and a small- sized children hands. Alternatively, I could have a very nice pair of socks.

Speaking of which, I'm onto shaping the heel of the first sock of a pair ("Opal - Petticoat") as the other half of my Auntie's birthday present.

PS What do you think of my new avatar? Does it make the site too slow to load up/use? Is it irritating?

Easy-Peasy Gloves

I've finished the gloves. (I will try to post a picture tomorrow - the camera's batteries need to be recharged). They were incredibly easy. Yes, they are a bit fiddly - knitting 16 stitches in the round tends to be - but they were very satisfying to make.

I also take back anything I said previously about probably preferring gloves in a charcoal effect colourway or plain. The "Opal - Feelings" yarn produces lovely stripes. You could cut the yarn to make the fingers all one colour but I like the mismatch effect of some of the fingers being one colour and others two.

I think my auntie will be pleased.

There's also a lot of wool left over. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you can get three pairs of medium-adult sized gloves out of it...more if you knit child sized gloves. I'm going to weigh the finished gloves and the unused wool to get a rough estimate.

Postie Goodness

Actually, the postie is a big meany. I had to come home on Wednesday morning (a friend had left his wallet in my car and I don't drive to work) and found a card, saying that I had not one, but two parcels to pick up at the sorting office. Wonderful! However, I couldn't collect them until Thursday morning - mini-huff ensued.

I've been taking part in the www.knittingforums.co.uk 'Springtime Secret Santa' which has been a lot of fun - electronically 'stalking' the person I had to buy for through the forum posts to find out what she would really like. Naturally, I've been looking forward to receiving mine... and here's what I got:



This rather fabulous jute bag which has got lots of room for all of these:



That's two 'Clover' crochet needles and needle case (in a tapestry cover); some beautiful laceweight cotton in a shimmery green colour and... some "Opal Rainforest - Frog".

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

(I can hear the orchestra even if you can't).

These were all beautifully wrapped and I toyed with the idea of not opening them until I got home so that I could take some pictures to show you. That thought lasted all of, oh about 30 seconds because I am a brat and demand instant gratification. So, I caught the train to work and opened them in the waiting room of Stockport Railway Station.

And another parcel arrived too! I must block my access to Ebay. These are (mutters) some more sock yarn... "Opal Rainforest - Doctor Fish" and "Zebra".



I am really happy with the "Zebra" but "Doctor Fish" is much pinker than it looks in pictures. I expected a more lilacy colour. Oh, well. My Mam might be getting these. She likes pink.

PS Apologies for the posting delay - further blogger problems.

Gloves - surprisingly easy.

I cast on the first glove on Tuesday morning. After seven rows, the ribbing wasn't looking right so I finally decided to count the stitches. Odd number! "Bugg'rit" in the words of Foul Ole Ron. Naturally some frogging ensued, though the seed stitch effect wasn't too bad.

The glove was cast on, again, on Tuesday night and here's what it looked like at the end of last night's knitting group.



Glove knitting could be a new addiction. The pattern is nice and simple and it's a really logical progression. While 'Knitty' taks about 'tangy', 'piquant' and 'extra-spicy' levels of ease, I would put glove making at 'One glass of wine' especially if you have made a couple of pairs of socks.

Levels:

Stay sober - very tricky and fiddly pieces, or as Knitty puts it: "These babies have teeth!"
Have a shandy - difficult, but really not that much of a problem.
Glass of wine - very easy, but keep an eye on the detail.
Bottle of wine - an absolute doddle.

PS. I had to apologise to a lady at last night's group. She first came to group about six weeks ago when she saw me making a pair of socks... I did warn her.

It's catching I tell you.

Last night she was making the most beautiful pair of "Colinette Jitterbugs" for herself - having made four pairs recently: three swiped by her husband and the last pair by her grandson who calls them his 'shocks'. :-)

The seldom seen male knitter

I've heard that men knit and I even chatted to one or two online through the knitting forums. The BF's uncle used to do French knitting many years ago, but I'd never actually seen a male knitter until last night.

Vaughn arrived at the knitting group ('Borders', Stockport) last night with a fantastic "Dr Who" scarf in progress. He's learning to knit and he certainly has garter stitch sewn up (*cringes at the semi-pun*). And, he wants to learn how to make socks! We nearly have another addict. So, our group is going to teach him to purl, cast on, cast off and the other techniques he'll need for sock-knitting.

I still haven't seen a bloke knit, as Vaughn was more interested in chatting about what he would like to learn, but I'm confident that I will soon.