Start-itis

Icarus blanket

2010-04-23T12:42:00.003Z

Once upon a time...

...no this isn't a re-telling of the Greek myth, but rather the story of a somewhat ambitious knitting project. So here goes...

I've always had a thing about sales, and since I took up knitting this has meant an ever increasing stash of yarn, which used to hide (rather unsuccessfully) in a cupboard in our spare room, but now has plenty of space devoted to it in my craft room - known to many as the spare room, or by the husband as 'Jenny's playroom'. In December 2008, a trip to the yarn sale at Liberty of London resulted in two bulging bags full of discontinued Rowan, including 12 balls of Scottish Tweed Aran. I was determined that this would become a lovely warm blanket that we could throw on top of the duvet for those particularly cold winter nights, when our draughty sash windows left us fantasising about lovely warn double glazing.

But what pattern to knit? I trawled through Ravelry, trying to find something that wouldn't bore me to tears, but that was simple enough for a spot of TV knitting - after all, such a big project was invitably going to take a while, so anything requiring me to lock myself in a quiet room for hours on end just wasn't going to cut the mustard.

Nothing caught my fancy. Hmmm. And then inspiration struck - I could convert one of the many tringular shawls I'd been planning to knit into a square, and Bob's your uncle - a blanket! Back to the search, which eventually led me to the Icarus Shawl from MimKnits. I already had a copy of the magazine it had been published in, and with a few back-of-the-envelope calculations, I was ready to start knitting.

And knitting.

And knitting.

By February, my Ravelry notes tell me I'd figured out that 12 balls of yarn wasn't going to be enough. So I needed more. Gah! Luckily, I found some on the internet at Stash Fine Yarns - I ordered three balls just to be on the safe side. Then I started to think about dye lots. Hmmm. When it arrived - it was from the same lot. Hurrah!

More knitting.

And some more.

There then came a period that I seem to have been largely successful in removing from my memory. It involved confusion about quite when I would start the edging chart, forgetting to put a lifeline in, taking the whole thing off the needles and ripping it back quite a way, and then spending an awful lot of time putting it back on the needles. The precise details are thankfully rather fuzzy...

So I eventually got back to knitting it. Then the weather warmed up, and the blanket went into hibernation - by this point it covered my legs entirely when I was working on it, so it definitely wasn't going to work as a summer project. I only had about 25 rows to go (at about an hour a row, due to the ridiculous number of stitches now on my needles - I was very thankful for the fact that the cables on my knitpicks/knitpro needles can be extended by joining them together. I was also a little bit paranoid that one of the joins would break...)

Winter came, as did a move to another city, a Christmas surrounded by boxes and a central heating system that decided to pack up during some of the coldest weather I've ever experienced. Suddenly a knitting project that covered most of my body while I worked on it sounded like a very enticing prospect!

So, over a year since I started working on the project, I picked up the needles again. After a couple of weeks of knitting, I finally cast off what is definitely the biggest project I've ever attempted. But it needed blocking to bring out the stitch definition. So back into its bag it went, to wait for better weather.

Well now April is here, the sun is shining... and my Icarus is finally ready to meet the world!

...of course, it is now too warm for me to need a huge knitted blanket (although knowing the British weather that could change at any time). And since we moved, the colour scheme in our bedroom isn't blue either. Ho hum. I still love it!

More detailed pictures can be found on my flickr page.

Keeping warm

2008-03-03T14:41:00.004Z

So far this year has brought lots of bugs/lurgy and thus lots of time at home on the sofa knitting - which doesn't lend itself to interesting blogging, at least until I get around to taking some pictures of my FOs!

I can, however, show you a couple of my most recent projects in use - the Noro hat from Saartje knits and (briefly glimpsed) Maine Morning Mitts from The Knitter's Book of Yarn, both knitted in Noro Kureyon, colour 161 - 3 days for the hat and 1 day for the mittens/handwarmers. Furthere details on my projects page on Ravelry. Yep, there was a lot of sitting on the sofa and knitting going on for a while there...

Oh, and the picture is me and my Granny, who came up to visit us in London at the weekend - her first trip to London in 35 years!

ahem...

2008-01-05T20:32:00.000Z

Well, that died a death, didn't it? And all because I got caught up in a 6 hour Monopoly marathon and missed the chance to post one day (I lost the game too, by the way). Nevermind.

A trip to Durham, Christmas mania (4 parties attended and a trip to Devon) and New Year have since passed, along with some knitting (there's an FO to come, when pictures are ready) and I now have a rush on my hands to complete some baby stuff for people who will be arriving on the planet very soon. Plus work just got a whole lot busier. I think 2008 is going to be a good year...

N is for...

2007-11-17T17:03:00.001Z

Networks

I joined facebook on a bit of a whim yesterday... Amazing to see how many people are on there, and also how many of my friends aren't. I'm currently trying to figure out whether I should bother contacting old school friends or not - I mean, if I wanted to be in touch with them, I probably would be anyway...

Needles

I found out the other day that Get Knitted are taking pre-orders for the wooden Knitpicks needles. A possible Christmas list item to suggest to my Mum, although I'm not sure if she'd be able to get her head around paying that much for a set of knitting needles. Or if I really need any more needles anyway. (And yes, I do still give my Mum a Christmas list each year, even at my age - it ensure I get things I actually want...)

M is for...

2007-11-16T22:32:00.000Z

Magic Yarn Ball

I took part in an MYB swap recently, and it was great fun! I managed to pick up a good variety of bits and pieces to include in it on my travels in September, and after a few evenings of frantic crafting I sent it off just before the deadline (assisted by the fact that my partner sent early and I promised myself I wouldn't open my parcel until I sent hers off). As soon as that was done, I unwrapped the following:

The yarn itself was Rowan Kid Classic (so soft and lovely) and I got some great gifts. James was a little shocked that anyone would purposefully melt a record, but I like it...

The items I made for my partner are shown below - a glass bead necklace, a needle case, 2 corchet flowers and matching silver/tourmaline stich markers and earrings (plus a pincushion I forgot to include in the photo)

I completed the pattern suggested (a shrug from one-skein wonders) in about 2 days, but unfortunately it is waaaay too small for me - I need to find a 10 year old to give it to I think!

I don't think I'll be taking part in a huge number of swaps as it took a surprising amount of time to pull this one together and I have other crafting priorities, but the occasional one would be fun...

Damn it!

2007-11-15T17:22:00.000Z

Work still getting in the way of blogging. Short posts like this are probably not in the spirit of NaBloPoMo, but there we go. No chance to write this evening either as I'm going to an SnB meeting. Which is a good thing - actually forcing myself out of the house on a cold winter's evening is not easy, so the trick is not to go home first...

Clunky computer

2007-11-14T21:49:00.000Z

A bit of a break from the 'selfabet' (brilliant description for the alphabet posts that I found on Ravelry) as I know exactly what I want to write for 'M' but I was too busy at work today to write it up (shocking - I mean, its only what they pay me to do all day!) and I can't be bothered to sit in our spare room at the PC so I've cranked up my old laptop, which hasn't got a hope of coping with 2 webpages at once, hence no pictures and no 'M'.

So effectively, this post is a bit of a cop out, but what the hell.

Back tomorrow. With proper technology.

L is for...

2007-11-13T16:38:00.000Z

Lace

As mentioned a few days ago, I've just swatched for the Peacock Feathers shawl. I started swatching in some laceweight silk from colourmart but really wasn't happy with it - too fine, and too slippy for my new Knitpicks needles... So I thought about what was in the stash and decided to try my beautiful Garnstudio Drops Alpaca (picked up in Stockholm) - it is perfect! Unfortunately I didn't have enough, but a spot of shopping at Scandinavian Knitting Design soon fixed that (by the way, I highly recommend them - the package arrived next day!)

It won't be as light and 'lacy' as the original, but I think I prefer that anyway - I like my Seraphim and I think fingering/sock weight shawls are more my style (not that the peacock is for me). I wore Seraphim on Saturday and it was nice to receive so many compliments on it (including from Debbie Stoller...) and to be able to tell everyone about the pattern (do you think I could get commission?)

I really enjoy knitting lace - I think the charts appeal to the scientist in me - but if that's the case, I can't figure out why colourwork holds no interest at all (for the moment at least). Plenty of time for many other favourite techniques in the future I suppose...

K is for...

2007-11-12T20:31:00.000Z

Knitpicks Options

One of my recent purchases is a set of Knitpicks Options interchangeable needles from Get Knitted. I admired them at ally pally, but knowing that I'd be visiting the GK shop in Bristol the following weekend (October was a bit hard on the finances but good for the stash!) I saved my purchase for a week. I was slightly concerned that they wouldn't have any left after the show, but all was well and I've transferred a couple of my projects onto them already...

My first attempt at using them wasn't entirely successful - silk yarn plus slippery needles is not a recipe for success - but with other yarns they are a dream to use. I've just cast on the Devil Baby Blanket from Crazy Aunt Purl's book and it is progressing well:

That is less than one day's knitting - good given my usual speed (mind you, it was a Sunday...)

I also wanted to write a bit more about the UK Stitch n Bitch day on Saturday - what a great day! It was smaller than I expected, but that worked out well - there was an opportunity for smaller companies to have stalls and more time to speak to the stall holders. I had a lovely chat with a lady who farms cashmere goats down in Devon (Devon Fine Fibres) during which I learnt about how the coats of cashmere goats differ from those of sheep and just why cashmere is so expensive (I hadn't realised just how little you get from each goat in a year!). There was lots of knitting - with the SnB London Stitchettes and others - and I met so many lovely people! To top it all off, I actually managed to stick to my plan not to buy any yarns. I came home with a book and a few patterns - hurray!

J is for...

2007-11-11T19:52:00.000Z

Jacket

The baby surprise jacket is coming along well (plenty of progress made while chatting to the stitchettes at UK SnB day yesterday) - it's for a friend's baby and I don't know if she is expecting a boy or a girl, so I'm hoping the colour is non-specific enough...

J is also for Jane Brockett, who blogs at yarnstorm. I had the pleasure of attending a 'workshop' with her at the SnB day yesterday (it turned out to be more of a talk really, about colourful crochet squares, but was interesting anyway!). There's been a fair bit of controversy over her book, particularly on Ravelry, but having flicked through it I decided to get myself a copy - I like it for the way it is so bright and colourful, and it is interesting to read about one person's approach to life and creativity, even if it isn't the way I live mine! Anyway, I got my copy signed on the day, along with a copy of Debbie Stoller's new book 'Son of Stitch and Bitch' which has some interesting patterns in it, most of which I'm pretty sure James wouldn't like (just as well too, I've got quite enough projects to keep me busy at the moment thank you very much!)

I is for...

2007-11-10T08:40:00.001Z

I Knit London

Hurray to IKL for organising UK Stitch n Bitch day, which is today.

Boo to the fact that this is the second Saturday running where I've had to set the alarm!

H is for...

2007-11-09T21:02:00.000Z

Handknitting

I've been a bit stumped for a topic beginning with H, so this one might be scraping the barrel! I was pondering earlier the difference between machine knitting and handknitting - I have tried machine knitting a little (my Granny had a knitting machine - in fact I wonder if she still has it stowed in the attic somewhere...) but I think I prefer handknitting - it may not be as fast, but it's a heck of a lot more portable! (and more suited to a flat in London...)

On another (related) topic, I'm amused to realise quite how many people are secret knitters/crocheters - my SnB page a day calendar at work has triggered a few confessions, and I mentioned that I was heading to UK Stitch 'n' Bitch day tomorrow (expecting complete disinterest) to discover that yet another colleague is a secret fan... I may have to do a bit more knitting in the staff room and see if I can get some people to join me!

G is for...

2007-11-08T21:43:00.000Z

Garter stitch

One of my many WIPs at the moment is the 'baby surprise jacket' (see the Schoolhouse press website - scroll down the page a bit) for a friend who is expecting in the New Year. It is an interesting design whereby, after a bit of woollen origami, you only need to seam along the top of the sleeves to turn what looks like a very peculiar piece of knitting into a little jacket! The whole thing is done in garter stitch (like the Mason-Dixon baby kimonos I've knitted in the past) and I have to say I'm still rather on the fence as to whether I like garter stitch or not. The plus side is that it is all knit stitches - no purling to slow you down. But I kind of like the smooth surface you get from stockinette stitch, where you can see the pattern of the individual stitches much more clearly, and trace the path of the yarn...

Perhaps if I knit another I'll take a look on Ravelry and see if anyone has tried to knit it in stockinette.

Speaking of which, I've just swatched for the Peacock Feathers shawl as a very special present for someone... I'm not sure if I want to knit it as triangular shawl though, so I decided to see if anyone had knitted it as a rectangular stole, and lo and behold, a combination of Google and Ravelry lead me to Chappysmom who has done just that. It looks great and so I'm now trying to work my way through back through the charts to convert them into a form my brain can cope with when knitting without those triangular increases...

F is for...

2007-11-07T21:49:00.000Z

Furniture

There's pretty much only one place we bother to go for furniture: Ikea. I have a feeling that Ikea is the sort of place you love or hate, but when you're trying to furnish your first home, there really aren't many places that allow you to purchase attractive furniture at an affordable price. The downside is, of course, that you have to put it together yourself, and it can be mighty annoying when they don't have what you want in stock (when we were trying to get the furniture for our flat, we ended up having to pay a trip to 2 branches of Ikea in one day, just to get all the stiff we needed while we had a van to transport it in...)

This evening, we went to our local branch (hurray for London - when I lived in Devon it was a 90 minute drive to the nearest Ikea, now its about 10 minutes and that's only because of the traffic!) in search of storage for the 2 household obsessions: CDs and yarn. Last time we went (just for the CDs) we were after a Benno rack (see here - we've just filled our sixth one...) but they were out of stock. This evening they had plenty, but I was also after some storage for my yarn, in the eternal struggle to keep my stash tidy... I'd identified the perfect thing, which will even hopefully fit my sewing machine on top (see here) but when we got down to the warehouse... Out of stock. So another trip beckons in a couple of weeks. Joy.

And can anyone explain why, even when they don't have what we want, we always manage to spend somewhere in the region of £40-£45 on 'stuff'?!

E is for...

2007-11-06T19:58:00.000Z

Entrelac

Well, it had to be really, didn't it?! Lady Eleanor continues to progress well, in fact I'm past the 50% mark now, working my way towards the big decision: to fringe or not to fringe?

I think the solution is to see how it looks at 90% done, as the pattern fringe will take about 1/2 a ball, so I need to know if it is long enough to spare that - and whether I really think a fringe will suit me and whether it will suit the project - it's a combination of the two really, isn't it? I also plan to peruse Ravelry and see what other people have done...

No photographs today as I haven't had time to get me, camera, knitting and camera cable all in the same place at the same time. Today has been a bit manic, and I really meant to go to the SnB London meeting this evening, but after leaving work later than planned, cycling home, rushing to change and going to the dentist, all I really want to do this evening is sit on the sofa with James, my knitting and a bit of TV. In that order.

D is for...

2007-11-05T16:10:00.001Z

Dublin

So, it's actually over a month since my trip to London, but I've only just got around to posting about it. Oh well!

I only had one day to look around, but I liked Dublin and I hope to go back. I was amazed at how small the place is, given it is a capital city - but then when you realise that the whole of Eire has a population of something like 4 million, and London itself has about 7 million, that puts things into perspective. It being a catholic country, Sunday shopping options were a bit limited too. I'd hunted the internet for yarn shops, but most I found were unfortunately closed - including this one, which looked interesting:

I had a bit more success at Hickeys, which focuses more on fabrics (if only I'd had more than hand luggage to carry things in!)

They do have a selection of yarns in the basement - mostly the usual uninspiring acrylic mixes, but I managed to pick some lovely Kilcarra Aran tweed in a heathery purple:

And i just had to get a shot of their fantastic window dressing:

After finding some yarn to take home and hobbling around the city for as long as I could manage (given my huge blisters), I headed to the airport. They made me take off my shoes at security and I left them off for the rest of the journey home. That's right, I got one the plane, off the plane, went through Heathrow airport, got on the tube, changed at Green Park onto another line and got to my station all in my socks. Can you imagine the looks I got for that? Even in London I don't think you see all that many people travelling on the tube in socks...

C is for...

2007-11-04T21:01:00.000Z

Crochet

This is what got me back into the whole world of crafting - good old crochet. About 2.5/3 years ago, I saw a woman on the bus crocheting a small circular motif. Having handed in my thesis, and thus having a bit of time on my hands, I thought "Hmmm... I could probably do that!" bought some yarn and a couple of books, had a bit of a look on the internet and started my first attempt - a chunky piece in blue acrylic which mysteriously turned into a triangle.

First lesson - that is what turning chains are for! I got my hands on the book '200 crochet squares' and decided that my first project would be an afghan made of a mixture of squares, in browns and naturals - to match the colour ideas I had for when I finally got a place of my own and was able to decorate it (yes, I plan that far ahead, and yes, my lounge is now brown/soft coffee/dark red!). So far I have about 8 squares - that book is great to look at, but I think it has a few errors, and all of the squares turned out completely different sizes!

Since then I have taught myself to hold the hook and yarn properly (at first I held it like I was knitting, not surprising as that was what I learnt first over 20 years ago) and not made much progress on the afghan. One day though...

B is for...

2007-11-03T07:22:00.000Z

Birmingham

Which is where I'm off today, hence the ridiculously early post on a Saturday morning. You know those times you agree to something and then realise later on that you're actually going to have to do it? Today is one of those days - I agreed to speak at a careers conference on my 'unusual' choices (only in science could my route be considered alternative!) so having created a presentation in my lunchtime last week (there's nothing like being well prepared!) today I'm off to deliver it. Twice.

Wish me luck...

A is for...

2007-11-02T13:10:00.000Z

Academia

I spent a long time (or so it felt) in academia - and when I left I thought I'd seen the back of it. Three years undergraduate, almost four years postgraduate, and by the end of that time I'd had enough. I'm not cut out for working in the lab, so I ran away to a life of science policy - thinking that was the thing for me. Well, it turns out I'm still figuring out what's right, and that process of figuring out has taken me back to... you've guessed it - academia! The difference being, I no longer have to work in a lab, and I get to smile to myself as I watch the latest batch of unsuspecting PhD students begin their research...

On the plus side, my MPhil certificate arrived last week, and one of the signatures is that of my old uni's new chancellor, Floella Benjamin. All my friends are going to think I made it up. (This is likely to be a UK specific joke, limited to a certain age range - I've told a few people at work and received blank looks as the majority of people here are from abroad!)

As for the rest of life, Lady Eleanor is progressing well, I've started umpteen new projects, spent a small fortune at Ally Pally and Get Knitted, wasted a lot of time on Ravelry and bought a new bed. Life is good :-)

NaBloPoMo

2007-11-01T20:55:00.000Z

So, after a whole month of not posting, I'm going to try for the complete opposite - just in time for NaBloPoMo. Taking some inspiration from Bella Dia's project this summer (and to give me something to start working with), I'm going to use an alphabet theme. Starting tomorrow. Well, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, so I need to save a day or two to fit it in!

There's only one thing for it...

2007-09-30T18:05:00.000Z

I'm stuck in Dublin airport, having arrived three hours before my flight home (because I mis-remembered the flight time). My feet hurt and I have several blisters (damn work shoes. I knew minimalist packing was a bad idea!), finding yarn shops in Dublin that are open on a Sunday is not easy (athought not impossible...), I don't have a camera cable with me so I can't use any of the photos I took, and to top it all off I've just paid 5 euros to get wireless internet access and Ravelry isn't working properly.

So I'm off to the bar!

No knitting...

2007-09-29T14:58:00.000Z

...well, not exactly none at all, I did achieve about 1/2 a row on Lady Eleanor on my holidays, but I concentrated more on reading and relaxing. I'm now in Dublin attending a meeting, but I'm able to sit at the back of the science talks and catch up with a few things on my laptop (mainly pictures, blogging and ravelry).

For now, a few pictures which make me wish I was still on holiday...

La Cite, Carcassonne

Palms in Perpignan

Church door in Elne

And my favourite so far:

Holidays!

2007-09-15T07:56:00.000Z

I'll be here for the next 10 days, sunning myself. And possibley working on Lady Eleanor (or just reading a lot of books!).

Ravelry is good, but I'll survive without it somehow. When I return, I'll be able really get into it...

I'm in the club!

2007-09-13T15:58:00.000Z

No, not that club, I mean Ravelry, silly... username Startitis :-)

Slow progress...

2007-09-13T14:36:00.000Z

Lady Eleanor continues to grow - I started the second ball around the middle of row 5, joining 2 black sections - I think it looks ok (it probably combined to make a slightly longer than average bit of that colour) and I'm finding it interesting the way the colours are distributing themselves.

With the aid of good daylight, my phone takes an ok picture I think.

There's not as much time for knitting as I would like at the moment, what with getting ready for holidays (10 days in the south of France, starting on Saturday - hurray!) and trying to get some bits and pieces done for my magic yarn ball swap. Hoping I can pick up a few nice treats to include from my hols!

I'm now #74 in the queue for Ravelry, so should get chance for a browse before I go away...

Kiri

2007-09-12T10:05:00.000Z

Finished weeks ago, but only just photographed:

Kiri (pdf pattern here)

Isn't it lovely? Completion was a bit delayed when I ran out of yarn (and accidentally bought a ball of the wrong colour - there are two shades of Kidsilk haze that are very close in colour, and my memory failed me - I was using shade 592, Heavenly, but picked up 636, Mist) but took about 6 weeks in total. I used just over 2 balls of KSH and reduced the size by a couple of pattern repeats as I was concerned it would be too big - once blocked it was ok, but could have benefited from just one more repeat I think (typical!)

With my crochet bag, a new dress and my white fakenstocks, it completed the perfect outfit for a slightly rainy wedding. I was amazed at how warm KSH is, given it is such a thin/fine yarn. And I didn't find it too difficult to work with either (I avoided frogging as much as possible though!). I've even bought some more with my Liberty tokens...

Who'd have thought?

2007-09-11T13:26:00.000Z

I finished both sides of the entrelac bag last week (the pattern only requires one side in entrelac, but I did both for the practice) and almost immediately started a bigger project - Lady Eleanor from scarf style. I really like this technique - interesting enough to keep me going (so far anyway) and yet simple enough that I can pick it up for a few rows and not worry about getting confused. I'd recommend learning to knit backwards, as it is invaluable for entrelac - and surprisingly easy!

Bag panels - bag itself yet to be finished:

Due to a shopping mistake last year, I happen to have 10 balls of Noro silk garden at home in the stash, which I had earmarked for this project, and I could really do with getting rid of some stash (in preparation for the upcoming Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally) so it seemed like as good a time as any to start. Mind you, I've not got to the end of the first ball quite yet. And yes, that is some kind of shopping mistake, isn't it?!

Lady Eleanor, as of Monday evening:

In other news... I ordered my wedding dress at the weekend! I really should make more of a start on the planned shawl...

Under 1000...

2007-09-05T09:06:00.001Z

Like many, many other internet aware knitters, I've signed up for the waiting list for Ravelry. And waited. And waited. This is what happens when you sign up for a beta project in the knitting world. I don't mind waiting, as I know its a small project run by just a couple of people, but I really do want to get on there and start exploring! Thankfully, they''ve introduced a widget that allows you to check on where you are in line, and when I checked this morning, I saw the following:

You signed up on July 3, 2007
You are #12133 on the list.
999 people are ahead of you in line.
18561 people are behind you in line.
36% of the list has been invited so far

Woohoo! I'm finally under 1000 (after 2 months waiting). And do you see how many people have signed up? Over 30,000! And there are people who can't be bothered to join the waiting list and are just planning to join when it is out of beta too.

In other news, I have joined my first swap - the 'magic yarn ball' swap on Craftster. (for a beautifully put together example of a magic yarn ball, see here). And decided to broaden my crafting skills by making a few new things for the swap. Because the spare room isn't full enough already with various crafting supplies, is it?! I've spent a bit of time sourcing things on ebay and apparently Hobbycraft is only 10 minutes away from work on the tube...

Blue crochet bag

2007-09-03T11:55:00.000Z

Having finished my beautiful Kiri, and found a lovely dress to wear to my friend's wedding a couple of weekends ago, I was almost sorted. Problem was, I didn't have a bag to complete the outfit. I'm the kind of person who likes everything to match, so that was a distinct issue for me... I trawled Oxford Street in search of a suitable bag, but to no avial, at which point I decided I'd have to make my own. Easy, right?

I popped into Liberty and picked up a few balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton and half a metre of fabric for linin (I think it is a Kaffe Fassett/Rowan print), with a vague picture in mind of a shell crochet bag with stripes of colour. After a couple of redesigns and a quick bit of work on the sewing machine, I came up with this:

(Please excuse the bad quality pictures, I'll take some decent ones with my camera soon, these are from my phone!)

The bag design is my own, and the flowers from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet

and The Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques. The lining contains a couple of pockets for my oyster card and mobile phone, and plenty of room for a purse and other assorted junk (aka things that might come in handy...)

All in all, it took about 2 weeks to complete (I was a bit too relaxed about it to begin with, and could have worked much faster, so in the end I was sewing the lining in on the morning of the wedding!) and less than half of the 4 balls of yarn I bought, so there's plenty left over for another project. Plus plenty of fabric, but I have plans for that...

I want to be here

2007-09-01T15:01:00.000Z

... but I'm not. The view a few weeks ago on the back beach in Teignmouth, Devon. Wish I was paddling there now!

Took a tour of 'historic Kilburn' this afternoon - it was a bit rubbish, but we did find out that there are the ruins of an ancient priory in the middle of a council housing estate. Well, where else would they be?!

Tonight, we're taking my parents (who are in town for an extended weekend visit/holiday) for sushi - lets see how that challenges Dad's 'I'll try any new food once' principle (insert evil chuckle here...)

But now, back to the entrelac. I think I'm actually getting the hang of it!

Yet another technique to add to the repertoire?

2007-08-29T13:47:00.000Z

Having tackled quite a couple of lace projects (and with one stalled on the needles - made a mistake and haven't had the time to sit down and figure out how to fix it), last night I decided to try another technique - entrelac.

My Stitch 'n Bitch page a day calendar had a pattern for a small bag in Noro Silk Garden back in March, which I thought looked like a good introduction to entrelac. I procured a couple of balls of said Silk Garden in colour 226 (a mix of blues, greys and purples) and added this to my long list of future projects. And then forgot about it.

Last weekend was mainly spend tidying up the flat for an impending parental visit (stand by your beds...) and I took some time to tidy the project baskets at my end of the sofa, during which I found the Silk Garden again. A bit more tidying unearthed the pattern, so now I'm good to go. I got onto the second row last night before making a mistake that I just couldn't figure out, and deciding that the bag was going to be too small to carry around the basics (purse, phone, keys) and needed to be a bit wider, so I frogged it and started again. I was hoping to get a bit done at lunchtime, so I took a picture of it with my phone to show the before...

...with the intention that a noticeable amount of progress woudl be achieved by the end of lunch. Some chance! I tried to Bluetooth the image from my phone to my swanky new work laptop, and ended up spending my whole lunchbreak trying to figure out how to get that to work! Turns out I needed to install some Nokia software so that they could recognise each other, so no 'after' picture today. Isn't technology great?

Perhaps some progress tomorrow...

Knitting groups

2007-08-28T15:37:00.000Z

I've often considered joining a knitting group of some kind - London has quite a few, and I even plucked up the courage to go along to an 'I Knit London' meeting, but then couldn't find the knitters! The idea of joining an established group has been a bit scary, and I've not yet managed to get over that fear of the unknown, so I continue to knit on my own and use the internet to connect with other knitters.

Until now. New job is going great, and the atmosphere is such that I'm not afraid to knit (or crochet) during my breaks, or display my Stitch 'n Bitch page a day calendar on my desk. And I've been spotted! Turns out that there is a knitting group here at work (well, they meet at each others houses) and I've been invited to join them at their next meeting :-)

Now I'm dying to find out what they're all working on and see how it goes. Might help me to get on with the wedding shawl which I haven't even finished the swatch for yet. (I'm delaying with plenty of bulky knitting. Even after Kiri I'm still scared of laceweight...)

June...

2007-07-24T17:26:00.000Z

The first week of June was a haze of writing handover notes for my old job (despite there being nobody to hand things over to... they haven't got around to recruiting yet...) and leaving. Everyone told me it would feel really strange to leave after over two and a half years, but all I felt was relief. And pleasure at having been able to wangle a good leaving gift through a quiet word in the ear of a good colleague...

Liberty gift tokens (real coins, none of your paper slip rubbish!) and a Liberty hankie (to make up the money I think). Didn't get much of a send-off as a lot of people were away, but can't say I'm that bothered to be honest!

Took a couple of days off before I started the new job, sorted out some wedding stuff (venue, register office stuff and found a possible shop to get my frock from...) and then started the new job, which I am travelling to by bike! Taking a bit of getting used to as I've not had much exercise for a while, but I'm actually really enjoying it (and the new job, thankfully).

Also started knitting Kiri, my first time using Kidsilk Haze (in heavenly), and despite all I've heard about it (the KSH) I'm actually getting on ok with it - 9 repeats completed so far, and into the stretch where it takes a while to get each row done.

The end of June also included a trip to the Liberty sale, but more on that at a later date...

May...

2007-07-24T17:08:00.000Z

Another month, another two finished objects!

After about eight months, Seraphim is finally off the needles:

I'm really pleased with it and have worn it a couple of times, although I'm still trying to figure out how best to wear a triangular shawl...

I also completed a feather and fan/old shale lace scarf for a friend, in Rowan Tapestry (approx 3 and a bit balls)

In may we also took a bit of a road trip to visit friends and family - 9 nights in 6 different places, London to Leeds to Durham to Newcastle to Kettering to Cottenham to St Ives (the Cambridgeshire version) and back to London again. Phew!

Took our 6 year old nephew to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre in Washington in the rain - which neither he nor the ducks minded, so the trip was a success! Also managed to sprain my foot chasing him around a playground, I think we underestimated how tiring it is to look after a child, never having had to do so before...

No knitting related purchases in May, there's a wedding to save for!

April...

2007-07-24T16:28:00.000Z

I was happy to find that most shops in Tallinn open on Sundays, so we did a bit of a tour and picked up a few bits and pieces...

There is a large shopping centre in Tallinn - I think it was the Viru Centre - and in the basement we found our first shop. No purchases, but worth a look, they just didn't have anything I wanted at the time.

Just on the Town Hall Square, we found this shop:

Where I purchased this yarn:

On Niguliste, we found another shop selling traditional Estonian knitting and more wool:

Picked up a few more bits and pieces there:

And as I mentioned before, on Saturday we found a shop on Narva Mnt where I picked up some bargain rate laceweight - it worked out at about £3 a skein! In fact, all of my purchases were absolute bargains, I spent about £30 in total, and brought home quite a haul!

Tallinn also has loads of places selling traditional knitting, including a whole street full of stalls on Muurvahle (no idea how to add umlauts on blogger unfortunately)

So, that was a great trip.

The rest of the month passed in a blur of telling people about our engagement, with the added highlight of my birthday, a job interview, visiting baby P and family (including a trip to Monkey World - highly recommended) and...

... being offered a new job and being able to hand in my notice! Woohoo!

March...

2007-07-24T15:52:00.000Z

This was bit of a mad month.

First off, there were the dreaded MWoCs. Which at least led me to get on with applying fo ra new job! Then having gone to the doctor with what he thought was sinusitis, James ended up in hospital for a week. All is well now and he is feeling fine, but life was a bit crazy for while, and I spent as much time as I could visiting. On the plus side, it meant that I managed to knit myself a Forest Canopy shoulder shawl in about 2 weeks!

The magic of blocking took it from this:

To this:

My first piece of lace and I'm very pleased with it! There are a few mistakes, but they're only visible if you look very closely, and the varigation in the yarn takes the attention away from them. Overall, I'm very happy with it :-)

Project specifications to follow when I can remember them...

I also had an interview for another job, an events position for a major medical research charity, but unfortunately I didn't get it.

Thankfully, things picked up later in the month, when we took a trip to Tallinn. Things started well, when I checked my email at the airport to discover a message from my university (the one I left three years ago and have been battling with ever since) telling me I'm finally going to awarded an MPhil. Hurray! It was supposed to be a PhD, but things went so wrong and I was so unsuited to working in research that I was over the moon to salvage something out of the whole debacle.

We arrived on Thursday evening, survived a taxi journey with a driver whose English was only about 2 words better than out Estonian (which amounted to precisely zero words... always a good idea to print out a picture of your hotel and the address) and were happy to find that our hotel was lovely (never did manage to find the sauna though).

Friday we explored the city a bit and then went out for a lovely meal - Modern estonian food, quite good - then decided to climb some nearby steps to one of the viewing platforms on the hill in the old town centre, where you can look out over the city and the coast.

It was lovely to look out over the lights, and even lovelier when James asked me to marry him - I don't think the weekend could have got any better!

On Saturday we walked up to the big park and explored Kadriorg Palace. I found a yarn shop on the way, but more on that in the April installment!

February...

2007-07-04T15:15:00.000Z

Going back in time a little, I'll cover my trip to Stockholm and a few details of my explorations!

Stockholm has to be one of my favourite cities, and I've been lucky enough to visit three times now. It's not a cheap city, so having a friend whose floor you can sleep on is very helpful! This was my first trip in winter, and I was hoping for the full Scandinavian winter experience, but alas, it was not to be - I managed to visit on one of the warmest weekends they'd experienced in months, so there was a lot of slush and not much snow - and not much need for the toasty hats and scarves I'd squeezed into my little suitcase either. I did, however, get to walk on a frozen lake, which was quite fun! (the tracks you can see are from cross country ice skates, which I'd never seen before)

I also got to explore some yarn shops and managed limit myself to one purchase (well, it would have been rude not to buy anything at all...)

I went here:

I can't quite figure out what this shop is called, its either Sticka, or This Side Up, but anyway, their website is here. A lovely shop, and the place where I bought this:

There was also another shop just down the road with some lovely stuff that looked to be hand spun/dyed - but I resisted!

We popped in to the yarn section in NK, which seemed to carry a lot of Rowan etc, so not much use to me, though it did look like a good selection, and toured some of the bead shops on Sodermalm. I have a feeling there might have been some yarn shops there too, but we couldn't find them (despite trying!). Finally, we visited Panduro Hobby (UK website here) where I picked up some little label holders which I intend to use on the side of the Ikea boxes that hold a lot of my stash. When I get around to being organised of course!

On the way home on Sunday afternoon, we happened upon another shop on the square where my friend catches the bus every day - which she'd never noticed before (no idea how, it was pretty big!) but unfortunately it had already closed. Oh well, will have to save that for my next visit!

As mentioned in my previous post, my flight home was delayed, so I whiled away some time chasing Bell Bottomed monkey around the airport while he misbehaved:

And that was about it for February, from what I can remember. Well, it was four months ago!

...catching up...

2007-07-04T15:12:00.000Z

Looks like I fell a bit behind! lots to catch up on, which I will attempt a month at a time...

Too confusing!

2007-03-06T15:07:00.000Z

After a heart to heart with my colleague, I discovered that the boss was being far from truthful and so things are resolved with said colleague - turns out she's had more than her fair share of MWoCs lately as well. Obviously the boss is trying the 'divide and conquer' technique - not the best plan.

Anyhoo, after another session today I was informed that it is not appropriate to sit at my desk and knit at lunchtime (even when I'm stuck in the office and there is no-one else to cover the phones).

The phrase 'work to rule' sounds more and more appealing...

MWoC

2007-02-27T11:58:00.000Z

An MWoC is a meeting without coffee. The type where your boss calls you in and criticises you for, well, as long as they like really. Usually because they are getting it in the neck about something and want to feel that they’ve solved whatever the problem is, when in actual fact all they’ve done is pass on the blame for said problem. To you.

One week ago today (in fact almost to the minute) I was in an MWoC. It only lasted an hour - the friend who coined the term had one that lasted three hours. (She had her revenge by weeing on the teaspoon when making the boss a cup of tea just before she left the job, but that’s another story!) And it has taken me this long to calm down...

For two years now, I’ve been doing two people’s jobs – mine and that of my manager. This started after only three months in the job, and I have to say I’ve kept things ticking over ok, but the point of taking me on was to increase the work and profile of my section – not something I’ve been able to achieve on my own.

You may think that after two years, I’d be in a position to become the manager myself, but to be honest I don’t want it. The question of management crops up occasionally, and recently the boss put in a request for funds to employ a full-time manager – which was unfortunately turned down. I work in a small organisation and in trying to oversee everyone’s work, unfortunately the boss is of limited help and hasn’t been available to give me the support and training I need to move onwards and upwards. But now there’s been a definitive ‘no’ to employing someone else to work with me, so the pressure is back on.

The MWoC probably didn’t start well when I was asked ‘where do you want to be in a years time?’ and had to honestly answer ‘not in the manager role’ – the boss knows I want to move on to other things and has dangled a few carrots regarding other opportunities, which unfortunately haven’t been forthcoming. After that, it turned into a session where all my ‘flaws’ were pointed out (I don’t work overtime (which is unpaid) if I don’t have to, and I use up my holiday allowances each year – shock horror!) and I was accused of ‘slapdash and lazy work’ and of being less committed to the organisation than my colleagues.

I calmly pointed out that I didn’t feel the organisation had been particularly committed to my development in my time here, and thus probably hadn’t shown 100% enthusiasm for the job, but quite frankly, what can you expect? And as for slapdash work, one recent piece of writing wasn’t what a colleague wanted it to be, and thus it has been deemed weak. When really the brief was very badly articulated and it was a good piece of work, just not exactly what this person was looking for.

Anyway, the upshot is the boss is now treating me like a school child. And I am looking for another job. Know of any vacancies for a well organised ex-scientist who likes organising events, playing with spreadsheets and databases and doesn’t want to work in policy any more?!

Apologies for the rant. Normal services will resume shortly.

P.S. another thing – it appeared in the meeting that a so-called friend in the office has completely screwed me over in order to show her own ambition. I hate not knowing who I can trust.

P.P.S. Shirl, if you read this – I soooo wish I didn’t have to help James pay the rent, ‘cos otherwise I’d have asked if I could resign there and then too!

Where am i?!

2007-02-18T17:44:00.000Z

Stuck at Arlanda Airport (Stockholm), trying to kill time waiting for my delayed BA flight...

At least there's cheap internet access, although trying to find the @ sign on a Swedish keyboard took a while. And theres been a lot of deleting when I keep finding the strange Sewdish vowels (ö, ä, å) by accident.

On my return: a review of the yarn and craft stores I managed to find in Stcokholm (2 yarn shops located within my first 2 hours there, but I had cheated with some web searching!) and some pictures of a bored monkey in the duty free shop at the airport...

In the meantime, I'd better check whether I'm ever going to get home!

(p.s. at least it is possible to take crochet on the plane, if not knitting :-) )

Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit

2007-02-09T11:18:00.000Z

No, not the crazy frog doing a Chas & Dave cover - just the sound of me frogging 6 rows of the seraphim shawl. At least it was only 6 - and i think that's only 8 in total through the project so far. I was almost at the end of chart #1, but looked back and realised that the YOs on rows 21 & 23 were out of synch. I had a feeling I'd done 21 wrong (got a bit confused about how they ran over the stitch markers) and then I did the k2tog & YO in the wrong order on 23. I hoped it might be something I could put down to an 'original interpretation' but in the end it looked bad, so I had to bite the bullet and go back!

Without the benefit of a lifeline, i threaded a smaller circular needle thought the row below (and thankfully managed to only go through one stitch on the row above by accident!) and had it all sorted and back on the needles in about an hour on Wednesday night. And with a nice bit of time on the sofa last night, I'm back on track and it only took two days (two days!) to get back where I was in the first place. All in all, not too bad given this is the first time I've worked from a chart. I'll definitely include a lifeline before things start getting more complicated in chart #2.

What's the focus?

2007-02-06T21:10:00.000Z

I read quite a few blogs, and recently I've been interested to note the differences in what people choose to write about. I've been particularly struck by a few thoughtful posts - namely the Keyboard Biologist writing about resolutions and Crazy Aunt Purl discussing choosing to be healthy: both subjects have struck a cord with me and the way I deal with things in life. All topped off by an amazing piece by a friend who has recently returned to the UK after 6 months living in Ecuador. These are excellent pieces of writing, which make me wonder - could I do that?

I'm amazed by the idea of blogging, but haven't quite figured out the logistics of fitting it into daily life - alongside work, home, spending time with my boyfriend (partner? other half? - can't quite get my head around which is the best description) and also squeezing in time to knit and make all the other things that are on my list! This blog could end up just being a load of pictures of things I've made - a potentially valuable resource for me - or I could try to make it something more interesting (though I'm not really sure how interesting anyone else would find my life!)

For now, maybe a mixture. If I can get used to the idea of jotting down thoughts and making time to write about things, who knows...

Finish-itis?

2007-01-30T21:07:00.000Z

Some more finished objects (mainly for me to keep track of them!) Hopefully only a few more posts like this and then I can attempt to write something interesting...

My proudest achievement so far: Clapotis!

Details:

Clapotis from knitty (link as before)

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, colour 47, 4 skeins (I think)

Alterations: 1 increase less than pattern and a couple of straight repeats more, to make it a little longer and narrower

Dates: October 2006 - November 2006, probably about 3 weeks altogether around work etc.

Recipient: My Mum, for her 60th birthday. She was very pleased with her 'posh scarf' (her words!)

Notes; I really enjoyed knitting this, I suppose it could be a bit repetitive, but perfect for travelling/lunchbreaks/watching tv!

Close-up details:

Another baby kimono & matching hat

Details:

Pattern: M-D baby kimono, as before, baby hat from Debbie Bliss 'baby knits for beginners'

Yarn: Wendy 'Peter Pan', supposedly double knit but I used 2 strands on a 4.5mm needle for the kimono. Single strand for the hat.

Finished: January 2007 (mainly knitted over Christmas)

Recipient: A colleague at work who is now on maternity leave, due on 28 February.

Baby blanket:

Details:
Pattern: My own - simple granny squares in a variety of blues and purples witha cream edging. The colours show up terribly on this photo as it was taken on my phone before we acquired a digital camera at Christmas.
Yarn: cheap acrylic (for my sins).
Finished: January 2007 (started in the summer and sewn together in November, but it took me that long to finish weaving the ends in!).
Recipient: Another colleague who had a baby in September 2006. At least it arrived before the baby grew up completely!

I'm quite surprised I've finished so many things as it seems like I take ages to knit every row - though that doesn't alter how much I enjoy it.

Cute!

2007-01-29T10:56:00.000Z

After a rather long absence, there's a lot to catch up with - even some finished objects! Can't do it all in one go, so for starters, here's a picture of BabyP in her Mason-Dixon baby kimono, my first finished item of clothing!

Details
Pattern: Heartbreakingly cute baby kimono, Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Sirdar Country Style DK, less than 1 Ball (100g) - can't quite remember the colour, a kind of purply-pink
Changes to pattern: 50 stitches cast on to account for difference in gauge (pattern uses worsted weight yarn), more stitches cast off for neck and more rows for arms
Completed: October 2006

MrsP tells me that this little top has been much remarked on (someone even asked her if it would be possible to commission one!) and her Mum was very impressed - praise indeed from one of the most prolific knitters I know!

To follow: More baby kimonos, Claopotis (another FO), Serpahim Shawl, a large amount of stash listing (in an attempt to figure out what I've got hiding in the spare room) and trying to keep track of project ideas...

A short wish list

2006-10-13T14:20:00.000Z

So, I have two specific things I’d like to find yarn for tomorrow (so much for not adding to the stash and just using what I’ve got):

Clapotis – not necessarily using what is recommended, I have a couple of ideas, but mainly want to see what I find.

The Seraphim Shawl – I haven’t bought the pattern yet, but I like the idea that this one is composed stockinette on the top bit, with lace at the bottom – warm, and a nice way to practice (I hope).

I'll also be looking for some green and blue cotton fabrics for a potential quilting project. I've looked on the web, but I'm much more comfortable with looking at colours 'in person' so I can really get a feeling for them.

As for the baby kimono, after another nice sunny lunch break, I’ve on the home strait – just another 4 inches or so to do on the right front, and then ribbon or something else to find for the closure. Hoping that my friend doesn’t have the baby any earlier than planned, but so far on her first day of maternity leave she has cleaned the house and attempted to mow the lawn. She just doesn’t know when to stop!

Testing, testing...

2006-10-12T15:51:00.000Z

I've been trying to get a few pictures of what I've been working on to make things a bit more interesting! However, the combination of using the camera on my mobile phone, and the fact that by the time I get home from work it is starting to get dark (natural light is so much better when you have a rubbish camera!) have lead to some less than successful results!

Just to test out what a half decent photo from my phone looks like, here's picture I took at lunchtime (and a wonderfully sunny lunchtime it was too!)

Well, there would be a picture if I could get blogger to upload it!

Ok, there its is! After only six attempts... I can see that when I do manage to get more pictures, I'll have to post them from my PC at work, as our dial-up at home will never cope with it! There seems to be a bit of a 'vaseline on the lens' effect - it might need a clean.

If you look closely, you might be able to see the London Eye in the background; yes, this is a picture in central London. I'm lucky enough to work near one of the city's beautiful parks, which makes for a pleasant lunchbreak when the weather is good.This helps when I'm going a bit mad about living in a city (I spent the first 26 years of my life in Devon, so London is quite a contrast).

Today I sat and watched the geese fighting on the pond while knitting a baby kimono from MDK. On a bit of a deadline on this one as my friend is now going in for a c-section on the 20th - the baby is breech and they've had no success turning it. She waited 5 hours to see the obstetrician on Tuesday, and then they closed the department at the end of the day without her actually seeing a doctor! I'd really like to get it done before the baby arrives, so all my knitting time is going into this one project at the moment.

Other time has been spent creating a wish-list for the Ally Pally. More on that tomorrow...

Resolution: must post more often.

2006-10-05T11:34:00.000Z

Going on holiday is great, but when you're trying to get into a new habit, it can be somewhat disruptive. But there we go.

Cornwall was great, very relaxing, and the weddings were fun (even while wearing my veryred (TM) bridesmaid's dress!) but I'm all wedding'd out now. Don't think there are anymore on the horizon, which is a relief.

This has to be quick, as I'm at work, but the startitis continues...

1 crochet blanket nearly finished: almost all of the ends weaved in, just those of the border to do now. This one is for a work colleague. When she went on maternity leave, I presented her with a gift-bag full of squares, yet to be sewn together, and the promise that I woul dget it finished as soon as I could. Baby is now 2 weeks old, so the pressure is on. The finished article is a bit small, but so are babies. Apparently.

3 more squares of knitted baby blanket done, but I've lost track of how many that is in total (aiming for 36). For my oldest friend, who is due at the end of this month. Think this may end up as a Christmas present.

1 knitted ripple baby blanket cast on: another work colleague having a baby! Not until February thankfully, but I wanted to get started on it.

1 baby kimono cast-on (in lieu of finishing aforementioned knitted baby blanket for my friend - hoping this will be finished in a week or so if I can stick at it). Pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting, a recent acquisition, and an excellent book. Trying to stop myself casting on for a log-cabin blanket until I've finished another project. Though I have bought some cotton in order to make a dish cloth. Can't help but stash sometimes!

2 balls of wool purchased for a new hat for me (there's a chill in the air): Rowan Cashsoft Aran in 'Mist', pattern of my own design (to be determined). I hear grey is the colour of the season, so an opportunity to make something of my own and be a bit trendy. This is sooooo soft and cosy, I'd love a scarf to match, but cost may be a factor there. Will see how the hat goes. This will also be my first attempt at knitting on DPNs, so wish me luck!

Next week is the knitting and stitching show (as mentioned before) - hurray! Going to think about a few items I'd really like to make, and aim to find appropriate yarn. But I will probably buy random stuff as well ;-)

Ok, back to work...

Where does the time go?

2006-09-07T15:41:00.000Z

I can quite see why some blogs don't get updated that often: like many things in life, it can be difficult to find the time! Not that it takes that long for the simple posts I've managed so far, but just making time to sit down and write for a few minutes is one of those things that modern times don't seem to allow for.

Though maybe that is, in part, due to the fact that I've written all my posts so far while at work, and for the past few days I've actually been doing what I should do - getting some work done. Catching up with all those things I do before taking tomorrow and all of next week off, hurray!

As for craft-related content - no pics (still) but a small revelation for me: I've finally figured out lace knitting (not 'knitted lace' - that is significantly beyond my skills at the moment). The lightbulb moment occurred when I figured out that a 'yfwd' was just that - bringing the yarn forward - and did not include knitting the next stitch. My sole achievement so far is a square with a chevron pattern, but it is an achievement I'm very proud of!

Ok, must go now - a few last things to sort out and then I'm off for a week of weddings (two, and I'm bridesmaid at one of them) and exploring the yarn shops of Devon and Cornwall...

Rules of a yarn diet?

2006-09-04T15:07:00.000Z

I’ve begun to compile a list of my stash in a little notebook that I can carry around with me – so if temptation strikes (a) I can take a look and hopefully scare myself out of purchasing and (b) if I do succumb, I can double check I’m not duplicating something I’ve already got (this applies particularly to the non-yarn part of my stash – I know many refer to needles as tools and discount them from the stash, but in reality I know I’m collecting far more than I need with my ‘might need that one day’ mindset!!). Hopefully the list will make it here eventually, but I’ve got a bit of work to do yet!

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about ‘yarn diets’. My question is: can a yarn diet run along the same lines as a food diet, where some suggest the 80:20 rule – being good 80% of the time? And if so, how do you define that 80%?!

I’m off to Devon at the weekend for a visit to the folks and a friend’s wedding, and last time I was down there I noticed that a new yarn shop has opened in the town where my parents live. Quite amazingly it seems to stock something other than brightly coloured acrylics: as with many things, the trend for quality yarns is taking time to work its way down there. So, having promised to myself that I won’t buy any more stuff until the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace, I find myself tempted – in the name of supporting local/small business, of course! I think the rules to follow here are: only if I absolutely love it, can’t buy it anywhere else (except the internet – which is never as good as being able to hold something in your hand) AND know exactly what I would like to make with it.

And no, I’ve never been much good at food diets, so why should a yarn diet be any different!

The difficult second post...

2006-09-01T10:44:00.000Z

So… You start a blog – as a result of reading loads of others (when you should be working!) and then… what do you write?! I’m not a prolific crafter – so progress of ‘half a 6”x6” square last night!!’ isn’t going to be entirely fascinating, is it? Ah well, lets just give it a go and see how things progress… (Oh, and the only digital camera I have is on my mobile phone, so this could be a little lacking in photos for a while – hoping to resolve that one at Christmas)

As suggested in the blog title, I’m a great one for starting projects, but when it comes to the knitting and crochet I think I could count on the fingers of one hand the number I’ve actually finished! Saying that, I’ve only really got back into this kind of things in the past year/18 months, having previously been preoccupied with excessive years in education and lab work. Now happily (well, reasonably happily) ensconced in an office job where I spend all day sat in front of a computer, doing something creative of an evening is the perfect antidote. And also the awkward sod in me likes it because of the puzzled reaction so many people have to the idea that I find knitting fun – it’s not just for old ladies folks – haven’t you heard?!

When it comes to the sewing side of things, I’ve been a little more successful, possibly in part because it’s so much quicker to do for me. Recently completed projects include roll-up holders for my knitting needles (one for straights and one for DPNs/circulars – did I forget to mention that I’m a bit of a compulsive shopper and my subconscious seems to be under the impression that if I have endless supplies, I’ll achieve more, when the reverse is probably true?) and one for my crochet hooks. I’ve also made all the curtains in my flat and a couple of other bits and pieces. The latest thing I’m planning to start there is a patchwork blanket for the soon to arrive baby of a friend.

So, what with that and the knitted blanket I’m also working on (about a third of the way through at the moment), and the baby due at the end of October – not a problem, right? If I don’t bother coming to work for a couple of weeks that is! (Oh, forgot to mention the tiny detail of some corrections I need to do on an old piece of work that will mean I salvage something out of 3 ½ years of blood sweat and tears in the lab, rather than ending up with nothing but a big gap in my CV – but that’s another story…)

Perhaps next time I’ll try to figure out exactly what projects I have in progress/have purchased stash for/have promised I’ll get finished for someone. The blog as a means of getting projects under control? Now there’s a novel one…

2006-08-31T16:12:00.000Z

Hmmm... this seemed like a good idea a few minutes ago!