Not quite sure that it's there
This ethereal lace
Insubstantial like air
Just a touch on the face
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Three jumpers in potentia
Last week I was browsing ebay, as I sometimes do when bored out of my skull. Clicking 'watch' on shoes and clothes and yarn I like but will probably never come back and buy. If I wanted it that much I'd bid on it right there and then, wouldn't I? I clicked through to my watch list and spotted something I'd put on there months ago from a yarn store, now on sale. So I got over 2000 metres of cherry red Aran weight Araucania Nature Wool for about thirty quid. Then Mara and I went into our local yarn store and, oh look they're having a sale here too, and so I got 12 balls of black Rowan Classic Cashsoft Aran and 9 of maroon Rowan Classic Extra Fine Merino DK too. Oops. The cash card breathed in sharply, but it coped.
I have an ancient black hooded cardigan I was planning on knitting a replacement for, but there isn't really enough of the black for that so my new hoodie will be BRIGHT CHERRY RED and I think I will knit myself a sexy jumper by Ysolda Teague which has been queued for ages from the black. As for the maroon... inspiration will strike no doubt but it's beautifully soft and squishy and a very 'me' colour (and machine washable!).
It's funny, this yarn purchase has pulled me out of a knitting slump. I have things to knit, things I want to knit, things I want to own and therefore need to knit, but there was nothing exciting me. But buying yet more yarn I don't really need has given me a spark. Why does that happen? Is it some symptom of the materialistic culture I've internalised?
I have an ancient black hooded cardigan I was planning on knitting a replacement for, but there isn't really enough of the black for that so my new hoodie will be BRIGHT CHERRY RED and I think I will knit myself a sexy jumper by Ysolda Teague which has been queued for ages from the black. As for the maroon... inspiration will strike no doubt but it's beautifully soft and squishy and a very 'me' colour (and machine washable!).
It's funny, this yarn purchase has pulled me out of a knitting slump. I have things to knit, things I want to knit, things I want to own and therefore need to knit, but there was nothing exciting me. But buying yet more yarn I don't really need has given me a spark. Why does that happen? Is it some symptom of the materialistic culture I've internalised?
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Holiday!
Last week MrK and I trundled off to Wales where my family had hired a cottage for the week. This cottage:
What do you mean 'what cottage?' The one snuggled in under the pine trees in the middle of the picture. That cottage. Behind the cottage can be seen the Glyderau, a group of mountains we conquered later in the week. Well, we didn't conquer them really, we got to the summit of one and between looking at wild flowers, collecting pretty stones, looking at the view, taking pictures, stopping to eat rhubarb&custards, not to mention my Dad's dodgy knees on the downwards path it took us about twice as long as it would take a group with good knees and bugger all interest in their surroundings. But what's the point of going up Glyder Fawr if you can't stop to collect quartz crystals and laugh at sheep on the way up?
My sister's an outdoors instructor. She's good at this stuff and kindly loaded her car up with five kayaks so we could all go kayaking and we spent two happy mornings drifting about on lakes saying 'why am I going in a circle AGAIN?' It was great fun. Pics later maybe if I can get them off my Sis who has a funky waterproof camera. I have to say - Kayaking gear is not the most flattering fashion wear ever although somehow MrK managed to look like a mafia hit man in a kayak. I understand how he looks like a mafia hit man any time he wears a DJ, but in a kayak? That's skill.
Between the mountains and the lakes we even had a little time to wander through the Gwydyr Forest:
In short we had a lovely time and I managed to finish MrK's socks on our very first evening there thanks to getting some serious knitting in during his share of the driving.
They're a mite short in the foot. He has broad and relatively short feet which make footprints exactly like yeti footprints and I overdid the shortness slightly, but not to an uncomfortable degree so he can put up with it. Also nothing, NOTHING would persuade me to work with that yarn again.
Hurrah for family holidays and socks!
What do you mean 'what cottage?' The one snuggled in under the pine trees in the middle of the picture. That cottage. Behind the cottage can be seen the Glyderau, a group of mountains we conquered later in the week. Well, we didn't conquer them really, we got to the summit of one and between looking at wild flowers, collecting pretty stones, looking at the view, taking pictures, stopping to eat rhubarb&custards, not to mention my Dad's dodgy knees on the downwards path it took us about twice as long as it would take a group with good knees and bugger all interest in their surroundings. But what's the point of going up Glyder Fawr if you can't stop to collect quartz crystals and laugh at sheep on the way up?
My sister's an outdoors instructor. She's good at this stuff and kindly loaded her car up with five kayaks so we could all go kayaking and we spent two happy mornings drifting about on lakes saying 'why am I going in a circle AGAIN?' It was great fun. Pics later maybe if I can get them off my Sis who has a funky waterproof camera. I have to say - Kayaking gear is not the most flattering fashion wear ever although somehow MrK managed to look like a mafia hit man in a kayak. I understand how he looks like a mafia hit man any time he wears a DJ, but in a kayak? That's skill.
Between the mountains and the lakes we even had a little time to wander through the Gwydyr Forest:
In short we had a lovely time and I managed to finish MrK's socks on our very first evening there thanks to getting some serious knitting in during his share of the driving.
They're a mite short in the foot. He has broad and relatively short feet which make footprints exactly like yeti footprints and I overdid the shortness slightly, but not to an uncomfortable degree so he can put up with it. Also nothing, NOTHING would persuade me to work with that yarn again.
Hurrah for family holidays and socks!
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Works In Progress
I have multiple knitting projects on the go at the moment. Some are mere moments away from completion, were I a speedy, dedicated and skilled knitter. If only.
My lanesplitter skirt....
... is about an hour from having the knitting done. An hour if I drink tea and chat and generally don't knit very much. Of course then there'll be elastic to wrangle. I've an idea for how to make it more flattering than knitting a casing up from the edge as the pattern calls for. Watch this space.
My boot socks for MrK are past the heel on the second sock. So at the rate I knit socks they're unlikely to be finished for our family walking holiday next week.
I might finish them while we're away assuming my Dad doesn't ply me with so much beer I'm incapable the whole time and it's a fair bet he will. Also: unexpected problem with using vintage yarn for these bastards? Lots of places where one of the three plies is broken. Or the yarn is just broken. Or there's a knot. So there are lots of ends to work away. Grrrr.....
The purple neckwarmer is more than half done, and the shawl has a row added now and again and is moving as fast as I'd expect something with lace to move when it's me in control of the needles. But what about Blue Love?
Erm... what indeed. I struggled through the left boob with lots of swearing and honestly can't be fucked to continue at the moment. I suspect (hope?) I'll finish it off sometime over the winter. It feels harsh to complain about a pattern that's free but... just... *sigh* I hope I can remember the alterations I made and the ways I fudged it so the fronts match just a little.Ha ha ha ha ha.
Oh and there's my Sunset Scarf:
I work on this now and again when I want to knit something pretty and fun but not difficult with lovely yarn. It's about a foot long now and I don't honestly care when I finish it. 2015 is fine by me.
My lanesplitter skirt....
... is about an hour from having the knitting done. An hour if I drink tea and chat and generally don't knit very much. Of course then there'll be elastic to wrangle. I've an idea for how to make it more flattering than knitting a casing up from the edge as the pattern calls for. Watch this space.
My boot socks for MrK are past the heel on the second sock. So at the rate I knit socks they're unlikely to be finished for our family walking holiday next week.
The purple neckwarmer is more than half done, and the shawl has a row added now and again and is moving as fast as I'd expect something with lace to move when it's me in control of the needles. But what about Blue Love?
Erm... what indeed. I struggled through the left boob with lots of swearing and honestly can't be fucked to continue at the moment. I suspect (hope?) I'll finish it off sometime over the winter. It feels harsh to complain about a pattern that's free but... just... *sigh* I hope I can remember the alterations I made and the ways I fudged it so the fronts match just a little.Ha ha ha ha ha.
Oh and there's my Sunset Scarf:
Monday, 22 August 2011
Sigh...
This makes me sad ...
Particularly the bit
Particularly the bit
Unmarried and a virgin at 30, Proctor has struggled with her sexual identity since puberty, believing her same-sex thoughts are a sin. Last year, she says, she was masturbating almost daily, sometimes twice a day. To rehabilitate herself, she became an active member of Dirty Girls Ministries and started driving two hours to attend a 12-step program for sex addicts called Heart to Heart.One day maybe we'll live in a world where people aren't made to feel crushing self revulsion for just being who they are. I live in hope.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Pink and Purple
In August Project Spectrummers are concentrating on pink and purple and I thought I'd gather together some pictures of pink and purple flowers from the year so far. Although I'm not a fan of pink in many situations, the garden is one place I really enjoy it and I'm sure you've figured out that purple is one of my favourite colours (it does battle for the podium with red).
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Purple Passion
August is Purple in Project Spectrum land and look what I happen to have on the needles:
Top is a chunky neckwarmer in the merino/alpaca/silk mix I got from Fibre East. The stitch is ric rac rib which is enjoyable and simple enough to be TV knitting.
Below that is my very first lace shawl, Centifolia. The pattern calls for a heavy lace-weight but I'm doing it in my yummy Zauberball sock yarn. I think it's a pretty good pattern for a first lace shawl thanks to all the stockinette stitch in the pattern but blimey it gives me a headache... nearly 400 stitches per row at its widest point. The pattern is floral in its pink incarnation in the magazine (Knit issue 40) but I reckon it will be a bit gothy and batwinglike in this rich purple-black colour so I'm calling it my Purple Pointy Gotherina Shawlette.
Both are for me of course (mwah ha ha) although I have a sneaking suspicion my darling sister will like the neckwarmer despite her general allergy to knitwear. If she does and it doesn't make her itch, I might give it to her. But let's face it I probably won't.
Top is a chunky neckwarmer in the merino/alpaca/silk mix I got from Fibre East. The stitch is ric rac rib which is enjoyable and simple enough to be TV knitting.
Below that is my very first lace shawl, Centifolia. The pattern calls for a heavy lace-weight but I'm doing it in my yummy Zauberball sock yarn. I think it's a pretty good pattern for a first lace shawl thanks to all the stockinette stitch in the pattern but blimey it gives me a headache... nearly 400 stitches per row at its widest point. The pattern is floral in its pink incarnation in the magazine (Knit issue 40) but I reckon it will be a bit gothy and batwinglike in this rich purple-black colour so I'm calling it my Purple Pointy Gotherina Shawlette.
Both are for me of course (mwah ha ha) although I have a sneaking suspicion my darling sister will like the neckwarmer despite her general allergy to knitwear. If she does and it doesn't make her itch, I might give it to her. But let's face it I probably won't.
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