I'm not sure about this!

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy.You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts.People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused.But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Still - if that gives me an excuse to day dream - I'll take it!

I'm still madly knitting scarves - one out of 6 finished and I'm finally dropping stitches on my clapotis - I've been keeping her hidden until I could see how she was turning out but this weekend I'll take a picture, let her take her bow, I think she's going to be lovely even though she isn't variegated, she's in Hipknits silk in pale lilac - I forget what the colour is called but she feels lovely, slinky and drapey and heavy.

Stash sorting

In preparation for putting some of my stash into the loft I decided to sort some of it and list and bag it ready for when the insulation in the loft is completed. I spent an entertaining few hours emptying containers onto my bed and deciding what I had plans for for the next few months and what is more long term. Long term includes some Ukrainian/Russian laceweight wool, enough pure wool arran to make at least 2 sweaters and assorted fancy yarns that I can't decide what to make with.

Loking at this picture (which isn't all my yarn) I have a feeling that I am illustrating SABLE in a big way although I can't compete with the people who keep yarn in their deep freezer because their cupboards are full!

Yes, it is the wrong sock!

I know I'm supposed to be finishing second sock this month, and I have made progress with it, the cuff is finished and I'm half way along the leg, but I've been hankering to make a sock that would fit me. As a result of this strange sock craving I cast on a sock in merino yarn this week, I used 3mm DPN's which has given a looser fabric but big enough to fit me and the merino seems thicker then the Opal sock yarn so the fabric still feels warm. Unfortunately I panicked in case I ran out of yarn so I've made an ankle sock and then ended up with loads of yarn left. I'll save all the spare yarn and make really stripey socks eventually.
There has been a major breakthrough today - I managed to graft the toe and it worked first time - and I almost understand what I'm doing, I live in hopes that soon I won't need to follow the instructions step by step out of a book!

In other news, the council's workmen failed to turn up to install the extra insulation they promised, so now I have to refill the airing cupboard and wait another fortnight before they do it. I've been to the gym 3 times this week and am beginning to notice some quantifiable improvement in how much I can do - as I'm in the office 5 days next week I'm hoping to manage 5 gym sessions, I see my physio on Monday and hope she will see an improvement.

Progress - of sorts

Well, the aqua sweater is finished and put away as I think it looks dreadful on me - maybe once the gym and diet have some effect I may decide it looks better, it's currently put away for review at Christmas!





The purple eyelash scarf is finished and the first of the scarves I'm making for my neighbour is 1/3 done, it's handy bus knitting so I don't mind the deadliness of it, then I reward myself each evening by doing something more interesting.


Second sock has made some progress - the cuff is finished and I've started on the leg, I think I have found someone who the pair will fit so I'm getting on with it again. No picture - it's not exactly at an exciting stage yet! What has made huge progress is the hooded matinee coat from Simply Knitting a month or so ago. I'm making it in girly pink to stash away in case I need a quick baby girl gift, It's an interesting method of making it, cast on the back , increase to shape the sleeves, then split to knit each front and the remainder of each sleeve, I've done all that and am now on the hood, then all I do is pick up edges to knit the furry bits - I've done nearly all of that this weekend - I know it wasn't on this week's 'to do' list but I have at least been in productive mode!

This week I'll concentrate on peacock scarf number 1, maybe the sock and any other knitting time will go on the Noro brown/cream jumper.

I also need to empty my airing cupboard and prepare for the council to come and install loft and tank insulation on Friday, plus my partner will be here Thursday so I can see this week being pretty busy. I'm aiming at getting to the gym at least 3 times this week - Friday is my day off so I can't manage 5 times, I might manage 4, that depends on how busy I am Thursday and how early I leave to see himself.

Sssshhhh it's acrylic eyelash stuff!

I know a lot of people don't like the new fashion yarns, and I do love to knit with quality real wool when I can, my fingers are itching to start the real arran wool I have in my stash - and once I can figure out enlarging the sock pattern I'll be knitting some gorgeous sock wool I bought her eand there, not to mentoin the Hipknits silk clapotis of course! That aside, I've been playing with some cheap from ebay eyelash yarn making myself a scarf in all shades purple, I love how it looks and feels, showed it to my neighbour who has put in a request for multiple scarves for her daughters and granddaughters

Ho hum lucky I just got this peacock eyelash yarn really really cheap from ebay isn't it? I may only get back a bit more than I paid for the yarn, but it's better than a kick in the teeth and I am sooo overspent this month! By the way - did I mention I love purple????





Incidentally this is what happens when you use some yarns from the middle of the ball - I now have to spend an entertaining time rewinding this into a ball that I can take on the bus!



This last picture is just to prove I do like other colours than purple -more brown and cream - acrylic again I'm afraid, but I do like some of my sweaters washable!


In other news I have been to the gym 3 days so far this week and my physio was MOST impressed on Monday as I am almost at double what I could do on the 15th August - I'm most proud of myself and very grateful to all my friends/family members and my partner for acting as my cheerleaders in all this keep fit stuff!

So much for progress

I'd carefully worked out that I had enough yarn - just- without starting another ball to finish my aqua jumper, I'd measured the neck and it would fit over my head, all I had to do was knit the neckband, cast off loosely and slip stitch it double, then a WIP would be finished. As you can see, this has not been a success, even casting off on a size bigger needle left me having to undo the slip stitching and the neck seam, undo the casting off and cast off with an even bigger needle. You can see the wreckage of the original casting off and seaming in the picture.

I did the casting off, it's still a wee bit tight but does go over my head, however, having tried it on, I hate it - it hadn't occurred to me that the panel down the front would turn into a diamond at the top over my bust - I've left the thing sat on a chair waiting the final neck seam being resewn and then it will, I suspect join the ranks of things made but better forgotton.

I have got a bit done to almost all of the remaining WIP's but have am currently in Eeyore's gloomy corner and opted to spend this afternoon clearing up some of the muddle in my spare room/office rather than knit.

I nearly done it!

I finished the front of my aqua jumper, then panicked as I wasn't sure the neckline would be big enough - when I did the front i seemed to not do enough rows according to the pattern. As a result I ended up sewing the shoulder seams first to make sure it would go over my head. I now have to find a set of 3.25mm DPN's or 2 circular needles so I can do the neck - it's supposed to be a plain neck but I fancy a polo neck although I'm not sure if that will work with the stitch pattern.



Anyway I'm attaching a picture of it as far as it has got, and a close up of a really rather neat seam of which I am inordinately proud!

In other news, I nearly left a pan on to set fire to my flat today, did some housework over the last few days and used the office gym for the first time - my shoulders may never be the same again! I'm feeling noble and heroic today - tomorrow I suspect I may be unable to pick up a knitting needle!

Progress and a sock

Thanks to the people who pointed me at an instructional video I've finished the sock - I'm not totally happy with it - it looks uneven to me but I think that is partly because the yarn turned speckled at that point just for the last 2 rows of the toe which makes it look more uneven. It's definitely too small for me so I know need to work out how to adjust the pattern to fit me, this will mean many calculations on tatty bits of paper, appeals to my mother for advice that i will probably ignore and a lot of bad language before I figure it out!

In the mean time as an earnest of good intent I have cast on the second sock (twice as I had to frog the first attemp) and done several rows of rib. Don't expect this sock to be as quick as the first, I'm pretty much recovered from the virus I had - coughing merrily still but well enough to go back to work which will slow me down. In addition I'm religiously working round all my WIP's and am pleased to announce that in another 21 rows the front of my aqua jumper will divide for the neck, this is the oldest of my WIP's, the back and both sleeves are ready so I'm planning on mostly working on that this week to see if I can finish something for me.

Because I've been ill I've missed the Knitting/Needlecarft show in Manchester this weekend, but my mother and sister both went and I gather have bought some 'things' for me, I'm not sure how I feel about this - my stash is at almost unmanageable quantities which is why I'm trying to get some WIP's finished' I've promised spare yarn from projects to my mother for her charity knitting so most WIP's when finished will cause a reduction in stash over and above what I use in the garment.

My current aim for September is to finish the following:-

1. The aqua jumper
2. The blue shawl - newly started but quick
3. The Noro jumper - that might not happen as the body is too heavy to carry to and from work
4. The chunky jacket back and left front - they are large pieces though so I reserve the right not to get them done
5. The second sock!!

Any guesses as to how many of these will happen?

Finished and almost finished objects

Another day off work has enabled me to really make some progress - the second Christmas shawl is finished - including the fringe, this time I started adding the fringe once I was about 2/3rds of the way through the kniting so I didn't run out of fringe this time. With great nobility I have even cast on the third Christmas shawl straight away - the fourth shawl is mine, to replace the one I gave away so I probably won't do that one immediately after the blue one - 5 of them in a row would I think leave me gibbering under a table somewhere.


The pink fun tape bag is finished - I changed the handle pattern and it seems to have worked well and will now sit in the bottom of my back pack for the days on which I wind up with too much shopping- although it may wind up as another stash store instead.

A lovely surprise in the post today - I bought soem New Zealand yarn on Ebay the other week, four 100g skeins, the lady I bought it from found another ball in her stash and sent it to me out of the blue - I know it wouldn't have been much use to her, but it was a nice gesture.

Finally, the sock, is complete except for grafting the toe, for the life of me I can't make sense of the instructions I have for that, I've tried twice and failed and am now looking for either a diagram or an alternative explanation or method so I can finish and start number 2 before second sock syndrome sets in. I'm not normally this dim but it looked truly dreadful when I tried to do what I thought I was supposed to be doing. Can anyone point me to any help?