I just put the heating on...

...it's only been on for 10 minutes but now I'm feeling much more snug.  I put it on to encourage my washing to dry.  It's been raining all day and I'm beginning to develop trenchfoot to supplement my winter blues.  Happy July, everybody.

My hours at work have been cut slightly from this week (poor weather = poor sales) and I'm determined to make the most of it.  I walked to work, even though it was raining (although I hadn't realised it was raining as it was invisible sideways drizzle) but drove back after lunch.  I developed a raging bad mood due so wasn't disappointed to have to leave early.  What better remedy than boiling up milk for a restorative hot chocolate and settling down for Japanese homework.  If I can manage half an hour each day and half an hour of stupid boxing and dancing with the wii I'm sure I'll start feeling more cheerful.

Some pretty things that make me happy arrived last week from Fripperies & Bibelots.  My only complaint about the company is there are far too many wonderful colours to choose from.  Whittling it down to five sets (wimbledon, breakfast at tiffanys, dusky sunset, rock chick, scaly simple solid rings) was a feat of great restraint but now there's an olympic set and I'd like vampire's kiss and not to mention there's a limited edition club set being released on Sunday night.   Now that I have so many stitch markers, I really should put some to use but I made myself finish a project before starting a new one.  It was supposed to be the simplicity cardigan but evidently if a cardigan has already taken a year, it's not going to knit itself.  After a brilliant wedding on Saturday (more about that another post) I finished a sock yesterday. Hangover plus channel 5 films all afternoon makes perfect simple sock knitting time. So, this evening, having done all the smug things mentioned earlier, I wound my steeplechase green silk and am ready to embark on Echo Flower Shawl. Bon voyage.

Something I knew but didn't understand

When my aunty saw my red Percy, I think for the first time I really impressed her. She said it looked like a cobweb and she'd have one in black with black beads. Whilst I've knitted for her before, I'm not sure she's asked me for anything before so I was very happy to oblige. Finding black yarn was a bit of a challenge but I plumped for 100g Grignasco Merino Silk 2ply from Violet Green. I haven't knitted much with lace weight but I knew it commanded serious respect from other knitters and I'm all about the glory. I knew it was finer than the sock yarn I'd used for the previous percys. So, perhaps some part of my brain knew the finished shawl would be much finer. And, I knew I'd used about 50g of yarn so it would be half the weight of my Percy. But then, knowing isn't the same as understanding.

I'm now concerned it's too nice. Too fine. Too unsubstantial. I'm worried my aunt won't dare wear it for fear of it floating away in the breeze or disintegrating between her fingers, because that's certainly how I feel when I hold it.  It is beautiful though.

I'll take it round and see what she thinks.  If she likes it then I hope she can wear it every day, and if she doesn't like it, I hope she says so as then I can make her another one, no I'm not bored of Percy yet, and keep this one for myself. And then I'll take up flamenco dancing.

Feeling human again

I have been ill with flu, made worse by the fact that I kept dragging myself to work although I mostly only managed the mornings. I thought I just had the cough that was circulating in the office but I realised that shivering over payroll wasn't normal.  It really hit home that I was super suffering when I completed a week without knitting. That's especially strange as I'd just bought new needles ready to start swatching.

Once I started feeling vaguely human, after a Shogun marathon and many oreos and chips, I decided to take some advice from a fictional knitting guru featured in the book How to Knit a Love Song.  It says something like, sometimes you'll hate what you knit and it will be crap so give it up and knit something else instead of hating it.  This struck a chord with the shawl I stalled on last year.  I joined in a KAL and loved everyone else's Percy shawls but to me, mine looked like a pile of vomit. 

So I wrenched it off the needles and started again in silver grey.

I'm already much more excited about it and now wavering on the plan for it to be a birthday gift for someone else. I'm much more comfortable with birthday gifts for myself.

Progress, but not as we know it

I've been struck down with a stinking cold so spent the last 72 hours on the sofa watching dvds and knitting. I can't really show you what I've knitted as it's for a magazine around Christmas 2009 but so far it is kicking my butt over the edge into madness. After 72 hours of not achieving very much, I thought I could feel pleased that I had finished both sleeves. At 10.30 last night, I compared them to make sure the length was the same. Dammit though - I'd used different numbers of stitches on each so one is wider than the other.

Well, this photo cheers me up:



It's more knitting from my trip to Portugal. My sister liked to have afternoon sleeps so while she napped, I knitted*. I over estimated how much I could get done on holiday (as always) so I printed out extra charts to take with me which I didn't get anywhere near. I've made it to row 103 now (out of 295584) and am counting stitches after every pattern row. In my first knitting session on holiday, I knitted 3.5 pattern rows before realising I had made a mistake on the 2nd one so spent longer tinking that day than I had knitting. The time it takes to count each row is definitely less than any tinking time. Of course, I haven't made a mistake since. That's life.

*If only it was Estonian lace, then I could have said, while she napped, I nupped. Maybe I'll have to hold onto that for another holiday.

Decisions

I'm going on holiday tomorrow and I'm so excited. I've got the whole day to pack and it's already been an eye-opener. I've found clothes I thought I'd lost (granted I knew they must be somewhere in my cupboard but never bothered looking for them), clothes I'd forgotten about and enough toiletries to last me until Christmas 2015. I think I might be spending the bank holiday weekend after I get back sorting through my entire flat to get a grip on what I have and where all my money has been leaking to.

Something I'm also finding very enjoyable is deciding what knitting to pack. I definitely want something fun and have already given up on the idea of taking any of the socks on the needles. I've narrowed it down to the four items below.


As it's going to be warm on the beach, I searched for something non-wool to at least consider. I've had problems in the past knitting with pure plant fibres as I'm a tense, tight, speedy knitter so I'm left with arm ache and messy stitches. However, I found a bunch of Cotton Rope that I had in mind for a summer top. It's a cotton acrylic blend with 6mm needles recommended so I can't see this causing me too much agro. However, I don't have a pattern in mind and it might not prove to be relaxed and mindless enough to win a place in the suitcase.
Case For: suits hot weather knitting
Case Against: am not struck by inspiration


Mmmmm, alpaca. I am mildly obsessed with wool to the point where my colleague yesterday suggested I was a sheep in a previous life. I responded, Yes, an alpaca. This Puppy Alpaca Rimisto was purchased in a previous lifetime when I visited Japan for a someone to knit for another. Well, the someone's not around anymore and I'm thinking this should become some wristwarmers for me with plenty leftover for another pair or a scarf or hat or socks ...
Case For: I really fancy this yarn
Case Against: not suited for summer knitting



Um, I've just talked myself out of bringing this. I'm not really a fan of the colour of this Noro Cash Iroha so it will become a gift so I'll need to decide who and then take measurements so it's not suitable.

This one's a definite. Compact to pack, no risk of finishing it halfway through the holiday, interesting enough to not get bored. I don't think it's one for the beach though so I'll need another project.

So, I'll be back in just over a week, hopefully with something to show for my time away.

New project!

When I was at Ally Pally I bought some Nef Lace from Fyberspates. It is very beautiful and soft (alpaca, silk and cashmere) and I have finally decided on a pattern to knit. I've never knitted a triangular lace shawl before and I wanted to see whether it suited me.



The pattern is Mystic Waters shawl by Anna Dalvi. Like most triangular shawls, it starts with very few stitches and after increasing two stitches every other row, you finish with approximately 7000 stitches. Okay, I haven't actually checked how many I will finish with , but it will be many many many stitches.





As I have only just begun, the rows are very quick. I have only had to unpick two and a half so far out of 20 so I think that is pretty good going. I can only do a few rows at a time as I find manipulating the fine yarn a bit stressful on my wrists. Oh ok, I was playing computer games in my lunch break and my arm was a bit strained.



I'm using completely wrong yarn and needles for the pattern so it will be a voyage of discovery and a delightful surprise as to the final measurements. I normally don't like surprises but I'm too lazy to swatch and I don't think the measurements of a shawl are crucial. I think I'm partly drawn to this as I've been watching lots of Jane Austen dvds lately. My new favourite is Mr Tilney. I've set a preliminary deadline of the summer - perhaps a birthday present for me. Actually, the shawl was originally going to be a gift for someone else so I shall see when I've finished whether I want to keep it or not. If I had been buying for me, I would have bought a different colour but I do wear blue a lot and I do like this colourway.

I'll leave you with a view of my new hairdo.