Hallelujah!!!

I've just returned from a conference in York. During the day I've managed to squeeze in several knitting related adventures.

Taking my trusty sock yarn ("Fortissima - Sombrero") with me on the train, I managed to add a few more rounds to the dismal two I managed before the prawns struck me two weeks ago. When the train reached Huddersfield, a lady got on and after she sat down, I heard the unmistakable 'tink' of knitting needles dropping out of a bag onto the table. At first I thought she was making A Gryffindor scarf - the yarns were claret and gold. However, she was actually adapting the Alan Dart elephant pattern from "Simply Knitting".

We chatted about knitting and yarns until the train reached York.

This afternoon, I strolled off to 'The Shambles' in search of "Sheepish" and spent some time browsing through their stock. There is some lovely stuff in there. However, although I saw some beautiful "Regia" sock yarn which was very tempting, I didn't buy anything.

I did pick up a copy of "Knit Today" to read in the Museum Gardens (accompanied by a chocolate icecream). It came with a small pamphlet of baby patterns. I am taken with the chunky cardigan and the T-shirt and combats combo. There is also a beautiful "Rowan - Kidsilk Haze" cardigan. However, other than that... I'd give this edition a Peanut on the "Revel" scale of magazine content.

It was actually the first time I had picked up a copy and I'm not certain I will buy another.

However, yesterday I bought a copy of "Knitting" which I was impressed with. I like the reviews and I was really impressed with the clarity of the techniques section. There were also several patterns I liked - especially the plain men's (ok, unisex) jumper. On the "Revel" scale, this is definitely a Toffee.

Magazine buying - like everything - is very much determined by personal taste. I can take a passionate dislike to an article if I don't like its tone and style. "Knit Today" felt quite staid, even if there were some funky designs - such as the mock rib jumper. "Knitting" feels more professional and isn't patronising.

PS Our "Borders" knitting group now have a name. We decided on "The Mad Knitters' Tea Party" - inspired by the birthday cake brought in by one of the girls. It was iced to looks like some knitting, with a pair of actual needles and a sample sticking out of it. (There's a photo on my phone but I can't find my cable).


(Edited: Found it!!)

PPS The "Moon and Stars" blanket for bump is progressing nicely...however, the photo cable is safely hidden somewhere.

Stealth Knitting 2007

I've fallen off the stashalong, or I could treat it as my one day off per month. Friday was a warning - the yarn buying impulse was getting trigger happy.

A few weeks ago the BF casually asked: "So, will you be doing any stealth knitting this year?"

I laughed and said I doubted it.

A few days later, as I was knitting the "Opal- Neons" for his sister he hinted that he wouldn't mind some socks - green ones.

This made me think. There's every likelihood, he will get some socks, probably for Christmas, and I think I'll make him some "Opal -Caterpillars". However, he really seemed to be hinting for another jumper, and asking me now gives me plenty of time to knit it in secret. (The BF has a very good idea of how much stealth knitting went into "Leo").

So, for the last few weeks I've been looking at jumper patterns that aren't too patterned - not too many colours, not too much texture so no cables, though ribbing is fine. Once again, "Knitty" has come to my rescue. This is "Saranac" which has a zippy neck and is very much to the BF's taste.



The remaining problem was to find the yarn. The pattern for "Saranac" recommended "Cascade Sierra" which is an aran weight blend of wool (80%) and cotton (20%) or is that the other way around? So, I've been hunting around the usual suspects that provide a). nice yarns, b). of a similar blend and c). at a nice price. I didn't want to faff about with ordering from the US.

So, I've settled on "Rowan - All Seasons Cotton" because it's aran weight and while it doesn't contain any wool, I've used it before and like the way it holds a pattern. The supplier was Cucumberpatch because they were having a sale when I stumbled across them last night...



Voila! "Mocha-choc" at £1.95 a ball - wasn't that worth falling off the stashalong wagon? :-)

Completed "Paisley"

While it may be far too hot to wear (and one of our neighbours is thoughtfully sharing their music), I've finished "Paisley". I always underestimate how long it will take me to finish belts and ties, so Friday's theory that I would finish that night was far too optimistic. :-)

Here is the view from the back.



And... Here is the view from the front. I really like the sweep of the huge collar and it will be a lovely, big, warm cardi to snuggle into when it's cold. I made the belt about 40-50cm shorter than the pattern recommendations as it would have been trailing below my knees otherwise.



I didn't really understand the pattern's instructions about knotting lengths of yarn through the cast-on and cast-off edges of the belt. I couldn't see how this would hold the belt in place and allow it to move so made my own belt loops which you can see in the pic below, if you squint!



I liked the way the slipped stitches at the edge of the belt created a looped effect so I did something similar:

Cast on 6 stitches.
For 24 rows - Slip first stitch knitwise, purl two, knit two purl.
Cast off in pattern.

I felt the belt hoops needed to be chunky to match the overall feel of the complete cardi.

PS I got a new laptop yesterday so I will try to update my blog more often.

Why is it always the people with the cackest taste in music who feel the biggest need to share?

The Lure of Ebay

It's not that I haven't got anything to do at work - it's not as if I'm even bored. However, I'm being drawn to Ebay. It knows I'm attempting a stashalong, even if it is a stashalong in baby steps. The first stage ends on June 14th. If I make it to then, I will have lasted one month without buying any yarn. So far it has been two weeks.

You have to take these things slowly.

However, I've just seen these on Ebay. Whilst, they're not tremendously new by any stretch of the imagination, they're pushing my cravings.

For a start, this rainbowy "Opal - Feelings" could be used to make some socks for my SIL. She always had a rainbow jumper at Uni and I think she would love these.

Pah! Enough of this altruistic justification... I want a pair of Tigers to go with my Snakes, and my Blue Frogs and the Peacocks and the Zebras and the Fish. Ok, so I haven't knitted those last three up yet.

However, then there is this lovely stuff... "Opal - Handpainted - Autumn". On Kay's website (Seventy By Heart) she showed a pic of the most beautiful scarf she made in 'Old Shale' and I fell in love with the colours. I think these are they... though I know she didn't use "Opal" yarn.

I've hidden the credit card. Maybe I'll have another look at these tomorrow and think about it. Or maybe I'll just buy them.

Who knows? :-)

New Month, Better Luck

May has been a real mixed bag with quite a lot of bad stuff happening both personally and at work. Admittedly, it hasn't all been bad but it has been like the little girl with the little curl - when it has been bad, it has been 'orrid. So, here's hoping that June improves. :-)

Ok, bit of an update on some of the things that have been happening.

1. Remember the chav in the BRIGHT LILAC tracksuit? Well, the police called the other day and somebody, whilst not giving a statement, had given them the name of this sartorially challenged individual. So, she will be interviewed on Monday next week and dependent on what she says, I may be asked to go in to see a line up. I didn't expect the police to catch anyone but the nice officer who called the other day simply said: "We got lucky."

2. The house selling and buying lark has given us a few jitters but I think (fingers crossed, touch wood, chuck salt over my shoulder, count magpies, etc, anything for luck) that we're nearly there. My solicitor told me we can complete very soon.

3. The prawn lurgie has definitely gone now. It came back on Tuesday!

And the knitting.... I have nearly finished knitting "Paisley", I started the belt during "Hustle" last night. The collar seemed to take ages, and as a result I'm sick of ribbing. This may have something that I ended up with 30 more stitches on the needles that required.

For each section (the back and the two fronts) I consistently picked up ten more stitches than the pattern recommended. Obviously this was wrong, so I tried again being strick on the required number but the join between the collar and the body looked as if it was full of holes, so I decided denser was the best way to go.

Naturally, this took longer to knit and used more wool but I'm pleased with the end result. It fits!

Of course, now the weather has suddenly warmed up again!

If I finish this tonight I think I'll start on the moon and stars baby blanket for Bump.

Prawn Lurgie

I've had a disastrous knitting weekend.

I went to a mini-University reunion (which isn't why my weekend knitting didn't work) to catch up with my friend who emigrated to Canada after we finished our degrees. In the final year of studying journalism, one of our projects was to explore the culture, politics, and media regulations of another country. While I chose Finland, having been there the previous Summer, she (being a serious Bryan Adams fan) chose Canada - focusing particularly on Vancouver. During the research process she happened to glance over the shoulder of a Middlesborough FC fan and spotted someone on the mailing list with a Canadian email address. Confused yet?

Having agreed with the fan, it was alright to steal this contact for her project, she started emailing this chap. Then they began calling each other, and then it became plans to visit. At first we were a tad concerned about the axe-murderer potential of this situation, but thankfully our fears came to nothing. She and and her husband have been married for eight years and have two great kids.

So, she was back this weekend for a reunion and several of us agreed to meet up in a certain pub in Lincoln. On the way there, I cast on some "Fortissima - Sombrero" socks and dropped a stitch on the first row, which resulted in them being pulled out to start again. Two rows of the said socks were done this weekend. The reason for the rest of the my failed knitting is below.

While I won't go into too much detail, it may be wise to stop reading now if you are of a delicate disposition.

We met up in a certain pub on Saturday night for dinner. The pub is part of a large chain and selected for its child friendliness. I had prawn risotto. We had a lovely evening - catching up on everyone's news. One girl got married in Spain two years ago, another went travelling through Uganda and Rwanda on a gorilla safari for three weeks and came back with the most amazing photos and video footage. So, all in all, we had a lovely night.

Three hours after eating. I began to feel ill. One hour later I was vomiting for Britain, and that was how the rest of the night passed. We were staying at the BF's parents' house, as were the SIL and husband, their baby and two other pals from the reunion. So, I spent the night trying to do this quietly. (As I work in public health, I passed the time in the bathroom, playing guess the germ, too). Not fun. It lasted all day Sunday too, and I was too weak to knit.

Whilst I was absolutely fine yesterday, I was still feeling too weak. Very annoying.

Gilraen Tagged Me

Rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ermmmmmmm.........................................................................................................................................

1. I worked as Women's Officer at my Student Union, sharing an office with the Welfare Officer who was from Dartford, Kent. I'm from Durham. Through general chatting we discovered we were very distantly related through marriage because of distant cousins marrying in Sunderland.

2. I seem to bring out violent tendencies in minor celebrities. I was knocked down by Jimmy Saville. He was running the "Great North Walk" and as he was jogging along, saying "Mornin', mornin' guys and gals!" he knocked me over. His minder said sorry. Richard Fairbrass from "Right Said Fred" stood on my fingers. My pint was on the stage and me and my pal were leaning on the stage. He said sorry. (My friend Pete was sworn at by John Noakes. John Noakes! "Blue Peter" John Noakes. And, my SIL swears that Gary Linekar swore at her when he played for Spurs - their training ground was near her college).

3. "Army of Darkness" (part of the "Evil Dead" trilogy) is one of my favourite movies and at the other extreme I love "101 Dalmations" with Glenn Close. They both have me in fits of laughter.

4. I really like ducks. And penguins. I have no idea why.

5. I used to parachute but I'm scared of heights... though there are several factors to consider. When you jump out of a plane, the ground is too far away to do you any damage. When you're standing on something high, you can vividly imagine meeting the ground face-to-face in a hurry.

6. I studied journalism as my first degree. I now work in public health.

7. I learned to scuba dive in the Red Sea, but I didn't like it. I loved seeing everything - the coral, the fish, even the moray eel...it was all fantastic. It just doesn't make sense taking a little tin of air into an environment where you can't breathe and everything wants to kill you... that moray eel (have you seen the teeth on those things?), the lion fish (how quickly would you like to be stung to death?) the clown fish with their psychotic aggression to their own reflection in your mask ("Finding Nemo" was a lie), the angel fish (that lurk) and all these other things that bite, sting, stab or are just slimy. I'm with Billy Connolly on this.

8. I can canoe, ride horses and fence (with swords rather than garden boundaries) and I had a bash at rock climbing with the mountaineering club, though I didn't like that, (See no. 5). I haven't done any of these for a long time however, and I haven't jumped out of a plane since I broke my arm at a party. Damn good party, it has to be said.

Right, I'm tagging: Seahorse, Auntie Noo and Fraggle Knits, 'cos I haven't tagged them before.

Erm, change of plan, because Seahorse and Auntie Noo seem to have been tagged to within an inch of their lives.... Fraggle Knits, I May Be Knitting A Ranch House and Knitting To Stay Sane.