A pair of socks...

Look – a pair of socks!:

Pattern – from Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges by Ann Budd using picot edging (not that you can see it!).
Yarn – Opal Rodeo
Needles – 4×2.5 dpns

They are finally finished. To be honest I can’t say I’m very happy with them – they’re baggy (I didn’t realise the “subtract 10%” part of the “measure, multiply by gauge and subtract 10%” rule when I started them), and I’m afraid it feels like cheating to have used self-striping yarn – and I’m not mad on the colours. But if I ignore all that – hey!!! I knitted a pair of socks!!!! And I will wear them (I’m wearing them now) – and I don’t need to be all prissy about keeping them nice, as they’re just sloppy socks for wearing round the house – or hiding in boots when I want a secret to cheer me up.

A number of people have asked me about the yarn I used for Swatch (so-called because I couldn’t justify starting another project, but swatching is surely essential? No?)- it’s Kauni handpainted Estonian wool from here. It is a German website, but Uta was very helpful and was happy to email me in English. (I just about managed to fill in the order form with lots of help from an online translator, but I wrote what I really meant in the comment box just to be sure lol.) I love the subtle colour gradations – and having checked the URL for the link, I’ve just seen that she has a whole load more colourways in – I want, I want, I WANT!!

I’m a slightly heartbroken Mummy at the moment – Ruth doesn’t love me. She loves Adam, she loves Daddy, but she doesn’t love Mummy. To be honest, I don’t believe a word of it, but still…

Oh, and having finished one pair of socks, I’ve already cast on for another pair – this time for Adam (dinky little socks – should grow quickly ) – they’re sort of what I remember Thuja to be like, but can’t be bothered to look up properly…

And I’ve ordered a cone of Cotton Cashmere from Coldspring Mill (yes, if you follow the link you’ll find a camping shop, but they have yarn in the basement – cones of Debbie Bliss stuff for 1/4 the RRP – if you email them they will send you a list of what they have in stock – and if you phone them you can hear them running up and down stairs as they coordinate yarn and payment!) for a jumper for John. Again, I’m thinking some sort of not-quite-rib – probably K5P1 alternated with K knitted in the round.

And I’ve balled the Opal Handpainted ready for knitting my Sockapalooza socks – it’s definitely got a Jekyll and Hyde personality – in artificial light it looks drab and boring – in daylight it looks bright and vibrant.

I’ve been listening to lots of Brenda Dayne’s podcasts – Cast on – sadly I’m almost up to date, so I shall have to start waiting until the next one is produced before I can get my next fix. Still, there are lots of other ones for me to try. (See Brenda’s sidebar for a list). I love what she has to say – especially her Knitters’ Manifesto.

Oooh – hello Daisy – sorry for reposting this – my first attempt was interrupted by bathtime!

Presenting...

da da dah….

I’ve FINISHED Two baby sweaters all ready to be bundled up and sent off to Feed the Children (Daisy – will it be a double gold for Team GB Charity Jumpers?)

In the end I didn’t have the copious extra time I was bragging about last weekend (I’d forgotten how much going-to-work eats into knitting time – and although I do knit at lunch/break times – knitting in front of a class of 16/17 year-olds who are trying to avoid revising maths – hmmm – definitely not!)

And in case the list of my current WsIP isn’t enough for me:
1) Swatch (updated pic – yummmm – I love these greys).
2) Opal Rodeo socks
3) John’s Illusion scarf
4) A donkey
5) My mother’s Christmas present (another hat – hey, she returned the first one – she can wait )
and probably other things I’ve forgotten about.

I’m also planning on
a) Sockapalooza socks
b) Learning entrelac
c) A jumper for John (almost designed – I really want to get started on it, if only to stop me changing my mind about how to do it).
d) An alpaca sweater/cardigan for me
e) A hat for Adam

not to mention all the wierd and wacky things I found in Unexpected Knitting

So clearly I need a book on scarves – right? So it’s just as well that I ordered Scarf Style (no, I’m guessing I probably don’t need to add a link there – if you really haven’t heard of it, go look on Amazon… ) There’s scarves to love, and scarves to … not love – and even more ideas to play with.

More manners

Oh bother! And I was trying to get it right – I really should have said a big Thank you to Liz for alerting me to Unexpected Knitting.

In which some manners are displayed and an "Unexpected" trip to the library is described.

First of all some manners: a big thank you to everyone who posted comments on the pink event – I love getting comments, and am grateful to all of you. And an apology for not asking Mary first if Bob and Dick could come and play here for a bit. They behaved very well, and were a pleasure to have.

Secondly –
Adam and Anne go to the library:
So yesterday I check my library account online, and discover that the book I’ve been waiting for for ages has finally arrived. So after dinner Adam and I bundled into the car for a “quick” trip to the library to pick it up. We’ve done it before, perfectly successfully, and back in plenty of time for a little CBeebies, and then bathtime. However… as we turned left out of the estate where we live (as in council estate, not stately home estate!) we saw blue flashing lights to our right. Then, (once we were totally committed to being on the main road, and couldn’t turn back) I realised that the police were blocking the road for oncoming traffic in front of us. Ah well, let’s get to the library, and see what’s going on when we get back… Pickup successfully achieved (more – lots more – on the book later), we then drove back towards home. The traffic was flowing fairly freely, so I was hopeful that the block had been cleared… but no. So having been forced to turn the wrong way, I did a bit of quick thinking and turned into the supermarket carpark, parked there, and went to ask very nicely if I could pretty please for once leave the car overnight as I needed to get a young man home for his bath (about 15 min walk away). They were very good about it, and agreed happily. As we set off to walk home I noticed that a number of cars were being allowed through, so I asked the policeman if there was any chance he might let us through – since we didn’t actually want to go past the accident, just along the stretch of road before it. (It was an accident – I did check that nothing more sinister was going on before I attempted to walk past with a 4-year-old! By the sounds of it, it wasn’t even a terribly bad accident, it just blocked the road.) He assured us that it would be clear in a couple of minutes, so we ended up going home in the car after all.

Now, as if that wasn’t exciting enough – I made the mistake of looking at the book as I settled down to sleep in bed. This was a BAD mistake. The book was Debbie New’s Unexpected Knitting. And OH WOW!!! Making one’s brain go “Pop, splat, what???!!!” is not conducive to a restful night. There are so many things I want to try. I want to knit swirly jumpers. I want to knit baby jacket using two hexagons. I want to knit a “Some Assembly Required” labyrinth jacket (although frankly that seems a little off – “Here’s a jacket for you – oh by the way, you’ll have to do your own seaming…” – hmmm – maybe not!) I want to try scribble lace. So many many projects, so little time. I would so love to post pics on here to show what I mean, but I don’t want to breach copyright – so I guess I’ll just have to knit some stuff myself. Oh, oh, oh!!!

(Just remember Anne – you’re going for gold – (anyone remember that show?) – keep your focus on the stripy sweater, the stripy sweater…

Book meme

I picked this one up from Chris

Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.

The Da Vinci Code* – Dan Brown (total utter incorrect drivel, but the pages turned very easily!)
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby – F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (can’t remember if I own of copy of this or not … if not I should get one!)
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – George Orwell
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Hobbit – J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez (certainly used to own this one, can’t remember whether I gave it away or not – don’t think so)
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
(The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini)
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 – Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown (yeah, yeah, I know, but it’s an easy read and my MIL has a copy she’s said I can borrow!)
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
(Neuromancer – William Gibson)
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
(The Secret History – Donna Tartt)
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis
(Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides)
(Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell)
The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement – Ian McEwan
(The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Dune – Frank Herbert

And yes, I do have knitting to do, but I’ve promised I’ll load the dishwasher first, so I’m procrastinating madly. (Funny how many of these I put the same brackets round as Chris – and I’ve only included my books – not John’s – if I included his bookshelves I’d have some underlined and crossed out, which feels frankly bizarre!)

One down...

So Bob – I see we have an FO?
Yes Dick – one down, one to go.
So how would you say our contestant is doing? This looks pretty impressive to me.
Well Dick, she is doing well for quantity, but I’m not so sure that the component marks will be what she was hoping for. With the new judging scheme we are seeing much nervier performances. A lot of knitters are frogging. I think she has played it safe. So far we have a clean performance, but there has been nothing very spectacular. Her most technical element so far, the bobbles, are somewhat shaky. And her reverse stocking stitch is not particularly even.
Still, Bob, she has completed the required elements?
Yes, I think we now need to see how she performs in the stripy event.
How is this one going?
Well, she had a small panic at the start – insufficient yarn – a problem striking so many of our knitters this year – looked as though it may ruin her chances. However with the body completed, she should have sufficient to complete the sleeves as planned, although I think she has some small alterations in mind if necessary.
Are alterations allowed at this stage?
Well Dick, that’s a difficult one to call. We have seen a number of quite dramatic changes in some knitters’ patterns. The referees have been taking careful note, but there have been no deductions. Again, we do need to see how the new judging scheme deals with this one.
Alright Bob, well that’s all from us here for now. Catch us again for the next update.

Dreamcatcher

Yesterday Adam and I made a dreamcatcher (OK, I made a dreamcatcher, and Adam chose the bits – I usually try to make shared projects a little more hands on for him than that, but this was complicated enough for me – without little hands “helping” ).
So here it is:

(I know it’s not authentic, but he likes it.)

Oh, and I did do a little bit of washing up. But not enough I’m blaming it on the blob.

Yay SP!!!

This morning I saw the postman – my little heart leapt as usual (not the postman himself, but he was carrying parcels… ), but he went next door Ah well, another time… but then, later, a knock at the door – Annie (next-door neighbour) is standing there with a pile of parcels. The postman had been confused – and I had my very first Secret Pal present

Some Berroco yarn – yummy yummy colours – and a beeswax candle – and a lovely note typed on a 40 year old German typewriter. Of course I had to sniff the yarn, and it smells wonderful – as it would after being wrapped with a naturally honey-scented candle. THANK YOU SECRET PAL!

I’m back to the washing up now… (and the occasional cuddle of my Berroco!)

Second sleeve syndrome...

... is in danger of kicking in. In the salmon pink event we have:

see – the lighting was more natural than a couple of days ago – really, really pink! (Don’t get me wrong, I do like pink in the right place, and so long as this isn’t teamed with another pink item I think it will be just fine, but I can’t bear the school of thought that says that every item of clothing worn by a little girl must be pink.) So the front is done, the back is done, and one sleeve is done – and my focus has shifted back to the other sweater. Even with a deadline (albeit a currently easily achieveable-looking deadline) the second sleeve will take a bit of a struggle to start.

And in the stripy (hmm – can’t find a dictionary easily – bizarre since John used to work from home as a freelance editor – surely he had a dictionary somewhere… maybe he’s taken it to The Press with him – still, I believe stripy rather than stripey) event we have:

the body is mostly done – and the sleeves are to come. Because I have yarn issues, and to avoid the SecondSleeveSyndrome I’m going to knit them both at once… I have to say that I’m loving the Fibonacci stripes – very satisfying for my maths teacher self!* And yes, that is pink you see again there – this sweater is being made out of left-overs from a scarf I knitted for my goddaughter for Christmas (where the criteria were 1) pink, 2) sparkly, 3) pink!)

I’m having a fun week with the boy (it’s half-term this week, so no college for me, and no nursery for him). Monday I took him for a filling (BAD mother – letting his teeth get a hole ) – he was amazing – climbed straight into the chair, closed his eyes and opened his mouth – done and dusted in no time. Tuesday we pottered. Then on Wednesday one of my longest-lasting friends came over with her children. Ruth and I met when we were still teenagers (!) and have drifted apart a couple of times, but now both have a 4 year old son and a 1 year old daughter. We can’t quite believe that we’ve known each other close to 20 years. And we certainly don’t feel any more grown up… Ruth is Ruth’s godmother (IYSWIM), and I am Isabel’s godmother. It was a really successful day. The boys got on well – disappeared up into Adam’s room with a couple of games, and we didn’t hear a peep out of them for ages (unlike when he has other friends round and all we hear is crashes, thuds and whinging) and Little Ruth appears to have got over her antisocial phase, and kept offering things to Isabel (”’Ere y’are Baby” ) And Ruth and I had the chance to chat. Thursday was another fun-packed day for Adam – he needed his pre-school jabs. The poor lad had a really bad time having a blood sample taken a couple of years ago, so (not surprisingly) he’s terrified of needles. So I didn’t tell him where we were going until we got there – and again, he was brilliant. Yes, he cried, yes, he squirmed and tried to wriggle away, but there was no hysteria, and no unnecessary fuss. Then I took him out for lunch to the local garden centre – and we looked at the animals and played in the wendy houses.

So today is housework day – which is why I’m sitting at the computer in my pyjamas at 9:30… I’d really rather start a second sleeve than attack the kitchen…

And in response to a couple of questions left in comments:
Hazel – I’m not sure if it’s the cable needles themselves, or just the frustration at stopping to “fiddle with stuff” that puts me off cabling. I love the effect, and want to get to grips with it, but don’t want to be put off knitting again for another 15 years…
Marji – the 14 bobbles on the front of this sweater will probably do me! I enjoyed the first one, but after that…

*Fibonacci sequence – start 1, 1, 2,... then continue, getting the next term by adding the previous two together. I’ve just repeated 1, 1, 2, 3 (or 2, 2, 4, 6 by doubling) using 5 colours, so they come out looking random – but they’re not!

Valentine update

Well, first of all the knitting:
Not a lot got done on the stripey jumper yesterday, but the salmon (OK then, pink – so sue me) one is fairly flying off the needles:

(The colours are a bit dodgy, but when I used the flash the bobbles of the flower didn’t show up so well.)

And a massive THANK YOU to the lovely John for my Valentine’s Day present:

Yes, my very own mp3 player, and a Jamie Cullum CD. I’m pretty much blown away by this – I had absolutely no idea – and still have no idea what to get for him. Somehow I feel that simply making sure that the laundry is folded isn’t quite in the same league (and with both the munchkins at home today, and me feeling ill/trying to knit, I can’t even guarantee that… )

I’m beginning to think that perhaps I haven’t really set myself a challenge that fits the Olympic idea – there are some new things involved – I converted the stripey jumper to be knitted in the round – the first time I’ve done that. I made bobbles for the pink salmon one – again, a first time. And of course I’m not letting myself get sidetracked onto knitting other things – now that’s a big deal, but I can’t say that anything is really stretching me. So… when I finish these, what should I do with the rest of the time (and the way things are going, there will be more time). I’m thinking maybe entrelac. I’m not going to commit to finishing a project, just to mastering the technique. Or maybe I should have another go at cables… but I loathe and detest cables, and they could well kill my current passion for knitting… hmm – any thoughts?

Dear Secret Pal

Oooh – a package on its way… – thank you! You are building up the anticipation wonderfully

I was so pleased when I read that my spoilee had received her parcel and likes it – I’d put a few little unexpected bits and pieces in, but I’m not saying too much in case she’s (prob not giving too much away there!) reading this.

Sunday report...

Well, now I’m up to here:

and I’m beginning to worry that I won’t have enough odds and ends of Sirdar Countrystyle to finish the stripy sweater. Ah well, I’m sure I can find something else to add to the mix – or just make the sleeves different.

Progress report ...

After some distracted knitting at 2pm (Ruth has definitely given up afternoon naps ), some very frustrating lace at Team Cambridge’s casting on party, a nice uninterrupted hour and a half when I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep (and no, I didn’t get up because I wanted to knit, I got up because I couldn’t sleep) – I can show you the current state of play:

You will note that there are two projects – I really don’t have the requisite boredom threshold to commit to just one project, and since my challenge is to complete not one, but two sweaters I’m knitting them both at once Allegedly they are the same size, but as Daisy says, since these are charity jumpers it doesn’t really matter what size they turn out, so long as they’re about the right shape they’ll fit someone…

Probably won't be on so much...

over the next couple of weeks – I’ve got serious quantities of knitting to do…

oooh – and the yarn I bought to knit my Sockapaloooza socks arrived today from eBay –

I’m thinking perhaps Crusoe, but my recipient wants calf-length socks (apparently ankle length ones give her the heebie jeebies!) and I’m not totally convinced that there’ll be enough yarn.

Anyway, I’m NOT GOING TO START THEM UNTIL AFTER THE OLYMPICS – sorry for the shouting, but sometimes it feels like I’m not listening…

Right, bathtime for little ones, and then I have my maths student this evening – followed by last night’s Despo Housewives (it’s on too late on E4 to watch “live”, so we record it). And some pondering time – do I convert the second sweater to be knitted in the round or not? I’ve done the first one (it’s going to be stripy (stripey? – mind’s gone blank) – so at least I’ve halved the number of ends to weave in!) but I’m not so sure I’ll bother with the second… if it’s not done tonight, it’s not going to happen!

This is fun!

Have a look here – you can get maps (one from the 1881 census, one from the 1998 census) showing the geographical highest density of people with your surname.

My married name gives this:

for 1881, and this:

for 1998.

It also gives social grouping – my husband’s family’s is “Sharing a Staircase”.

My maiden name gives this for 1881:

and this for 1998:

– and the social grouping is “Conservative Values” – hmmm – really not sure about that one!

Thanks to Liz for the link.

Freecycling

It’s now just over a week since I started freecycling – and I’m so impressed. Basically, you look around your house/room/whatever and realise that it’s full of stuff that you never use, but someone might find useful. Now, of course, you could take the time to list it on eBay, but when it’s a large pile of children’s clothes that will need rewashing, ironing, photographing, weighing, listing… and then probably won’t sell for more than about 99p, it’s hardly worth it. Or if it weighs too much to make postage viable. So you log on to freecycle and find your local group – list a brief description of the item(s) in question and wait for people to say “Oooh yes please, I want that.” So far I’ve disposed of 5 large carrier bags of children’s clothes and an IKEA lighting system. And I’ve gained a plastic tray on wheels to put under the bed (now, hmmm, let me see, what could I put in it?) I’ve even had the cheek to offer our broken-down washing machine – no-one seems to want it (funny that!), but the motor is still intact, and you never know, someone might come over all inventive and decide to use the drum as a planter…

Thank you Janis!

Look what the postman brought for me today:

Two lovely balls of Italian sock yarn from Janis – the recipient of my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. What a lovely thoughtful gift. Thank you so much.

Ooops – loud screams coming from the other room – I’d better go and adjudicate!

Interesting...

Gordon Brown is endorsing Jim Wallis’s book.

Party Boy!

Ooof – Adam isn’t quite 4 yet (not until Wednesday), but we had his party today – a small and select group of friends met at the Funky Funhouse – which was superb – perfect for the five 4/5 year-olds and for the two little sibs (20 & 22 months) – and the grown-ups had fun too (well this one did – I’ve always wanted to go on one of those big bumpy slides (you know the sort of thing I mean) – and they had one there, and I went on it, and I couldn’t stop, and it was BRILLIANT!

And then back here for a party lunch (we forgot to put out the crisps – no-one missed them!) with, of course, birthday cake:

John and I had a lot of fun putting it together last night. And yes, we did run round like mad things trying to make the place look more respectable – and our daughter let us down completely and utterly when we all arrived here after FFH – she walked into the kitchen, took one look at the clean and tidy surfaces and said “Wow”, in tones of wonder similar to the ones she used when looking at the Christmas tree. Ah well.

Oh, and an update on the front room:

Look – that’s a sofa that is, and there’s nothing on it except a throw and some cushions – things which belong on a sofa!!

Anyway, enough – I shall go and knit

Silent poetry reading

I found this lovely idea from Grace’s Poppies via Yarn Harlot

I loved the poetry I studied for O-level English Literature – we did the War Poets. In fact I loved it so much that when I finished the course I went out and bought my own copy of the book. My very favourite poem is “The Death of the Hired Man” by Robert Frost, but I’m afraid I have an incipient migraine, and it’s too long for me to copy out now.

However this one comes a close-run second:

Night Ride by Herbert Read

Along the black
leather strap
of the night
deserted road

swiftly rolls
the freighted bus.
Huddled together
two lovers doze

their hands linkt
across their laps
their bodies loosely
interlockt

their heads resting
two heavy fruits
on the plaited
basket of their limbs.

Slowly the bus
slides into light.
Here are the hills
detach’d from dark

the road, uncoils
a white ribbon
the lovers with
the hills unfold

wake cold
to face the fate
of those who love
despite the world.

New Magknits

Oooh – the new one is up – more fun stuff to knit (although I’ve still not started last month’s yet – and I really want to knit Thing 1 and Thing 2!)