Knitting socks in the costume show is apparently a tradition of mine

I am spending this week relaxing after a hectic weekend putting on the end of year costume and acting show at the Lighthouse Theatre (and going to the Summer Ball, for which I have the most ridiclous finished objects to show, once I find pictures). It was utterly exhausting, early mornings (getting to the theatre at 830am), late nights (leaving again at 1030pm) and frantic moments of trying to get 2 hours of sewing done in 20 minutes when three quarters of the sewing team haven't bothered to show up, but I got the last evening off to watch the performance and it was really good, so totally worth it. Plus! in between frantic repairs and alterations there were hours and hours of NOTHING to do, so I have finished my first Noro Jaywalker :D

And what's more, I have started the second one! I am NOT going to let this pair languish for a year like the last ones.

The Oh-my-god-I-must-be-freakin'-insane project

Obviously the huge pile of current WIPs from the last post isn't enough for me because I'm planning to embark on the most ridiculously complicated project I've ever considered. I've been listening to the Craftlit podcast recently - audiobooks are very good for handsewing I've found - and Heather mentioned that she was working on Vogue's Map of the World Afghan (actually she mentioned this in a podcast from about 3 years ago - I have quite a bit of catching up to do). I wanted to see what it looked like so I looked it up on Ravelry, and yes, it is an entire map of the world charted in blanket form:

And then I discovered that Vogue Knitting have it online for free and I started thinking about it. I'm not sure why, I don't even really like how it's styled. I like the bright colours in the countries but I think it's kind gaudy in the edges, and I really don't like the points and tassels, but I couldn't get it out of my head for some reason. Aaaand then I started looking at suitable yarn substitutes and found Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed as a perfect British alternative. And then I was kinda sorta looking up how much donegal tweed cost, just to kill time you understand, and I found out there were a lot of shades recently discontinued and now on sale on various websites for about half price, and, well...I cracked.

Yup, that's a LOT of yarn. But to be fair, this is probably going to occupy me for about 10 years, so a complete bargain really (off topic, I was saying this to my boyfriend as I was paying for it and he said "you know, you really don't need to justify your yarn purchases to me". I am going to marry this man*) The colours are a leetle bit brighter than the picture, but not quite so obnoxiously luminous as the original. The pack of natural coloured yarn at the front is for the edges, and I'm going to leave off the points and just finish it as a rectangle with a non-curling border. Of course, now that I HAVE all the yarn, I won't be casting on a single stitch for at least a month because

a)I am overcomplicating things slightly. For a normal, sane person, this is a great chart, but...err...I have a tendency to get a little...anal about detail. I could see straight away that I wasn't happy with the shape of some of the countries, Britain and Italy for example, and in a few places they'd lumped smaller countries together, for example, they have Central America as one country rather than eight. As I've started going over the chart I've found some really strange mistakes. Not only have they stuck countries together, they've split countries in half. They have actually added fictional borders into this map. I don't understand why they would do that.

Yeah, I know, this makes me crazy obsessive.

b)I'm in way over my head here. I don't know how to do intarsia. I don't just mean I've never done intarsia, I've never done fair isle, but at least I know the theory behind it. I have absolutely no idea where to even start with intarsia. It scares me slightly. Nice simple project to start off with then.

c) Oh yeah, and there's the other 11 projects already on the go. Best start knitting faster.


*No Mother, that is not your cue to buy a hat.

2 days to go!

I am two days away from the end! Not, I hasten to add, two days away from poncey gowns and mortarboards, I still have a little while to mentally prepare myself for that anguish, but my final deadline of the degree (CVs, portfolios and a lovely long evaluation about how wonderful the course is) is on Thursday. I had my big scary finished garments hand in 2 weeks ago, so this one isn't worrying me half as much, and I've been able to knit away to my heart's content in between preparing my portfolio and rather half-heartedly looking for jobs.

Ooh! And the costume I just handed in? Not only is it by far my best work, but I've been told by my Head of Costume that it's one of the best pieces he's seen ON THE ENTIRE COURSE. I am slightly swept away in a tidal wave of Smug right now. (Photos to come in a few weeks, gotta get a good photoshoot for this one)


And onward to knitting...


I have actually cast on at least 6 new projects since I last blogged, but in an effort not to make this post explode with images, I may leave those until later and catch up on some extremely late finished objects.



I finished my stripy jumper! About 6 months ago! (this is how behind on blogging I am) This marks a milesone for me. It isn't the first full size garment I made (that was the blue green and purple acrylic blob), nor is it the first jumper I've made that fit me (that was Tempting), but it is the first full size jumper I've made that fit me and STILL FITS AFTER BEING WASHED!! Huzzah, success at last! I love it, as you can probably tell from my out of focus grin. Ms. Walker is a genius and I look forward to making more garments from Knitting From the Top, though probably not any of the various styles of knitted trousers.

Just before finishing my (incredibly cartoonish) stripy jumper, I made a Kombu scarf from the Manos silk blend I bought in Scotland. I love this pattern, though...err...it possibly would benefit from something a little less drapey in terms of yarn.

The second scarf I made was for a two part swap over at the Monthly Adventures group on Ravelry, the idea being that we sent someone a skein of yarn (along with some presents for them), then they used that yarn to knit a scarf and sent it back. I ended up being paired with Twinsmama a second time for this one! She sent me 2 gorgeous malabrigo skeins which I used to make her a Reversible Cabled Brioche Stitch Scarf. This is another great scarf pattern, it has all the flat, reversible, extra squishy benefits of ribs, with added pretty cables all over it. 'Tis a good thing she picked pink yarn or I would have been sooo tempted to keep this for myself. But I did get a lovely lacy chevron scarf back from her so I don't mind too much!

Last minute Christmas presents! These were for a couple of my friends from university who unexpectedly gave me presents at the last minute (eep). Thems on the left are Fetchings, the most popular project on ravelry, for good reason. I think I finished those in one day. Thems on the right I designed myself :D Yup, I made charts'n'everything. I'm currently reknitting these as full mittens with some minor tweaks to the cable, then 'll write out a pattern. (Though it might make more sense if I waited until after the summer. Maybe)




Last one! This is the Limerick Moss Cap in mmmmmmMalabrigo, one of the lovely presents Twinsmama sent me in the scarf swap. According to my project page, this is the last item I finished knitting and I remember wearing it on my birthday. *sigh* that's over 4 months without a single finished item.

Hmm. So much for not having a picture heavy post.

Never mind. Just to cap it off, this is my small selection of current works in progress:

Hmm. I may be overcompensating for the last 4 months...

P.S. I did go and see the turtles at Weymouth in the Easter holidays, they are unbelivably cute! I think they're actually terrapins though. Bah. False advertising. But they are (were) about an inch long and thoroughly confused by the mirrored sides of the tank which more than made up for it.

P.P.S. I also went up to Wembley Arena the day after my final fitting to see the Prodigy play live :D (yes, I took 2 whole days off when making this costume). The Prodigy are, it has to be said, not as cute as baby terrapins, but they do set off this bizarre reaction in me that makes me dance like a broken marionette having an epileptic fit while stone cold sober. I am still on a high from this gig. Though I may remember to wear a sports bra if I ever see them again

P.P.P.S. I finally got round to casting on my second toe up sock, on the same needles, with the same number of stitches, only to find that my guage has somehow changed in the last 6 months. Well, bugger.

I <3 Bosch

I thought I had better write a quick post before it gets to another 2 months with no word. 1930s suit finished and apparently performed in, but they didn't start the dress rehearsals til I was already gone, so I didn't get to see it. Shame. Currently my life is being consumed by this:

Anyone who has done dressmaking might know what a pain in the arse normal jetted pockets are, but curved ones? with 4mm jets? Oh my God. I must be insane. I have my next fitting in 12 days, and because it is now the Easter holidays, only 2 of those days are in uni. So, to make up for my withdrawal symptoms and rubbish home equipment I bought myself a very sexy new iron. It's sleek and black and so powerful I just set off the smoke alarms cleaning it, and it depresses me how excited I am by something that is really just a shiny, expensive LAUNDRY APPLIANCE. This is apparently how I spend the money that normal students spend on clothes and alcohol.

So that's taking up 95% of my waking hours right now, though in my 2 week easter break I have given myself one whole day of free time - I am allowing my boyfriend too drive me to Weymouth on Monday to see the new baby turtles at the sealife centre :D (*squeeeeeeal)

Other than that, I've been keeping myself (almost) sane with a couple of rows now and then on Candy, in the Knitting4Fun yarn I bought at Woolfest. It seems to be a little small at the moment. It is supposed to be knit with negative ease, but I may have overdone it slightly. Oh well, I can always add a massive buttonwrap.

So that's it. I'm well aware that I still haven't shown off my Christmas knitting, or even my finished-months-before-Christmas knitting,but I am also well aware that my degree will be finished in less than 2 months and sadly knitting is not much of a priority. But hey, there's every possiblity that when I graduate I'll be unemployed and living in a box, so I'll have all the time in the world for knitting and blogging!

Fingers crossed.

IT LIVES!! Again. Ahem. Excitement over.

There has been a shortage of pie and handkerchiefs in the world of late. I feel this needs to be remedied. Everyone needs pie and handkerchiefs. Handkerchiefs are useful, and pies are......well pies are pies. They need to exist just to make the world a better place. Plus my mother keeps complaining that she doesn't know what I'm doing because I haven't been blogging. I apologise profusely, Mother.

Sometimes I think this blog has had so many near-death experiences that it must be developing a pathological fear of bright lights.

Third year coursework has been busy kicking my arse, as is only fitting I suppose, and continues to do so. I was ever so slightly correct when I predicted that I had bitten off more than I could chew in the last unit. About halfway through the unit my tutors and I decided I had too much work to do so the baggy, frilly, knee-length jumpsuit got cut. Shame. Anyhoo, they did get finished:

Well. Ish. That there jacket would hang a lot better if it had actual buttons and buttonholes rather than pins, but they still haven't seen fit to teach us how to use the keyhole buttonhole machine and won't accept them with straight ones, so we have to just wait for our technician to do them for us. Which she still hasn't. *sigh*

I'm currently about a week away from finishing the first costume of two for my final major project, which is a 1930s two piece suit and shirt for a BA Acting production of 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'. Very excited about this one, as far as I know, it's the only production that the acting course is puting on for a paying audience, in an actual Bournemouth theatre rather than university studio space, and I've somehow ended up making the costume for the male lead. There are 8 of us making costumes for this play and we're working directly with the designer and director in our own little production studio. Ah, it's almost like real life. Except I sort of hope I will be paid in real life. Our payment for this is 2 free tickets which I'm very disappointed to find I won't be able to use as I'm in America again the week the play's running. Dammit. I'm hoping to sneak into a dress rehearsal before I go.

In my very, very limited free time, there has been knitting, which I will show off at some unspecified future date. There are gifts, and warm weather woolies, and an ACTUAL GARMENT, which I have been ACTUALLY WEARING.

Exciting, huh?

Rightyho, I am off to turn up my cuffs.

My life is so fun.

Back at uni and suddenly shocked to find myself a third year

How can I possibly be a third year? I'm not ready for third year! I want to do second year again!


To be fair, I am vaguely excited about the things I'm doing, but I still feel things are moving way too fast. I may have stupidly bitten off more than I can chew in the current project, especially since I only have 8 weeks to do it. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to build on the tailoring skills that I've learnt or try something completely new with corsetry, so...err...I'm doing both.



I'm making the suit on the left (only the jacket though, everyone else in my class is doing full suits, but then, they're only working from one design)...




...and the corset and combination on the right. For those of you not in the know, a combination is like a baggy, frilly, knee length jumpsuit. Well fit. My model is thrilled.

At the same time as I'm making those, we have a 4000 word essay to write. Not a long one by third year standards at all, but then, I'm guessing most third year students don't have tailoring and embroidery to do at the same time. I'm currently researching the physical and emotional effects of high heeled shoes, but I haven't got far enough in to decide what my focus is going to be.

We had a group tutorial on our essays this afternoon to talk about such diverse matters as Donald Sutherland's uberwhite teeth, whether Cheryl Cole is the best X-factor judge ever and Grayson Perry, the transvestite potter who takes offence at being called a transvestite potter yet produces pots and wears little girl's dresses. Personally I think Donald Sutherland is a diva, Grayson Perry is a fake and X-factor should be taken off the air forever. I think my tutor has more or less gotten used to my abruptness by now, but I can never really tell whether he's disappointed that I can be extremely negative, or impressed that I'm not intimidated by the Emperor's New Clothes effect of modern art. Mostly though I think he likes to ask my opinion about things so he can have a good laugh.

I have been knitting furiously in meetings and on the coach to London to go fabric shopping, my lovely lovely Manos is gradually becoming a lovely lovely Kombu. There is no photo though, because I'm sitting on my bed and my camera is four feet away on my desk and it's a Friday evening therefore I'm too lazy to stretch that far. Pah.

A hat! And a scarf! And no cold weather to wear them in!

I have housemates! They all moved in while I was up in Scotland, and while they're all very nice people and it's great to have someone to wander off to the student bar with, I'm still finding it highly odd to hear other people's voices in my house. They're all very impressed with my knitting too, which may have been a large factor in their earning my approval. Shelly, Emilie and Polly have all asked for knitting lessons. The boys haven't. Yet. I know they're just yearning to throw off the shackles of gender-based repression though...

My stripy cartoony jumper, though I was zipping through it at my parents, isn't going to be finished for enrollment tomorrow because I spent about 3 days casting off the hem so I'm now only halfway through the first sleeve. I'm using the 2x2 sewn bind off from the Vogue knitting book, so although it takes sodding ages, it doesn't have the chain along the bottom and it's a lot stretchier. I think I might unpick the neck edge and re-do it like this.

FOs though! I finished Thorpe about 3 weeks ago with some RYC Cashsoft from Get Knitted. (I like ordering from Get Knitted, they send you biros and lollipops in the package. Whee! Free stuff!) I decided it desperately needed a bobble on top, but apparently I've forgotten how to make them properly and it ended up so dense I could probably use it as a tennis ball.

I also finished My-So-Called Scarf before I moved but it only just got unpacked from my cold weather boxes. How can I forget about something this soft and yummy?! I feel unworthy. Malabrigo is just gorgeous. Smells bizarrely vinegary though. (Well, it did, now it smells of Persil Silk and Wool Wash)

And also, because obviously I am knitting so fast that my current yarn can't keep up (haha), we went yarn shopping in The Wool Shed in Oyne, where I displayed my stereotypical womanly ways by losing where we were on the map both on the way there and the way back.

Mum: Don't worry, we're taking the scenic route.

Hannah: We're in Scotland! It's all the scenic route!

These are buttons. Yes. They have no purpose yet, but I'm sure when I find it, it will be magnificent. They are from Touched by Scotland, a craft shop next door to the yarn shop, which sounds incredibly cheesy but is actually full of Very Very Nice Stuff.

Manos Silk Blend in 'A Shot in the Dark' for a lovely scarf, though possibly a short one I have to pin together with a brooch. Hmm.

This is...err...a stolen photograph of Jitterbug in Raphael, because my skein went into my slightly-less-accessible yarn storage before I took a photo and I'm too lazy to take it out again. For someone who previously didn't see the point in knitting socks, I seem to be developing something of a stash.

Must. Knit. Faster.

Sir Reginald Barnaby Forthington-Smythe III at your service

Sir Reginald has recently arrived the home of my good friend Miss Darby, to act as chaperone on her 23rd birthday, and to ensure that her good reputation remains intact while she celebrates amongst the bounders and cads of Londontown. I personally feel she has more to fear from Reginald than the young whippersnappers of Soho.

Pattern: Pentapus

Yarn: Sirdar Snowflake and Cascade 220

I love this pentapus. It's been a while since I make Texas the stegosaurus for Chris and I'd forgotten how much fun it is making toys for people who are too old for toys. Laz adores him too, as is only right for someone who comes complete with his own monocle and twirly moustache. I now have a massive bag of stuffing I don't know what to do with as the fabric shop only sold 450g bags. Hmm. I shall have to find some more people who will appreciate something this bizarre and pointless.

Sir Reg's hat was made up as I went along (the original floppy hat obviously not his style), I decreased all the way round as soon as I attached it and increased gradually to flare it out, then purled a round to make a turning ridge before decreasing sharply to the middle.

Mia. At long last.

I need to find someone to take photos for me. I faffed about for ages trying to get a half decent shot with the self timer, with my camera balanced on a shelf in my housemate's bedroom (the only room in the whole house with a shelf at the right height), and the best I got was the one below where I look about 15. It was either that or "look, it's my arm in a mirror again".

Pattern: Mia

Yarn: RYC Cashsoft DK

I finished this over a month ago! Egad. Pretty much as is in the pattern, with a King Charles brocade cuff.

I don't know when I will ever wear this. Someone please invite me out somewhere and stop me spending my whole life in jeans and tshirts.

101 in 1001 update: Month 4

I don't seem to be doing very much with my free time this summer. I think it might be the lethargy of having nothing to do. Or perhaps I just need something important to push me to procrastinate. Either way, hardly any knitting, only one fat quarter sewn from the fabric stash, and I have read a grand total of one book, Of Mice and Men, which took me all of one cloakroom shift at work to read from cover to cover (it was a slow night).

I have been swimming and taking proper care of my skin, but I can't exactly say it's regular yet. Getting there though. Wearing skirts has fallen by the wayside a little. I've resigned myself to the fact that we're not getting a summer this year and my legs have been sulking in jeans and trainers every day since Nancy's wedding, with the exception of one night, when I went out in a miniskirt and boots and received many generous offers of drinks from sober and respectable gentlemen.

Knittingwise, I did finish Mia, sodding ages ago, and I farted about with the self timer on my camera today, so I have some very bad photos coming in the next post. Promise! As for sewing and embroidery, I did this a few weeks ago, but have been keeping it quiet as it was a gift for a swap. Anyhoo, Starry (Danielle) has received it now, so I may be smug and show off.

It's not perfect, but not half bad for making it up as I went along, I quite fancy making one of these for myself! I am particularly proud of myself for remembering how to make a jetted pocket (which the post-it block sits in), which was a tremendous waste of time since no one will ever see it! Embroidering and reverse applique...appliquing....appliqueing...sewing the cupcake was fun, thanks to Danielle for picking a fantastic theme for me to play with!

2. Fill out my student loan application for next year. Complete (yaymoney!)
24. Knit 12 garments. 1/12
36. Sew my entire fabric stash. 1/41
43. Do 4 beading or embroidery projects. 1/4
52.Go out to eat 4 times a year. 1/4
73. Go swimming regularly in the summer holidays; attempt to keep it up when I go back to uni. In Progress
92. Keep up a proper skincare routine. In Progress
58. Go to the cinema at least once a month, even if it means going on my own. 4/33
65. Read all the books I haven’t read on my bookcase. 4/25
95. Buy from a local butcher/grocer/market instead of the supermarket once a month. 4/33
20. Reach 175 blog posts. 64/175
82. Try a new food every month. 4/33
91. Wear a skirt at least once a week. 13/143

Neeewwww knitting

I am feeling somewhat windswept today. One of my friends from Kentucky has come to England, so Jade (who I also met in Kentucky, but lives in Bournemouth, obviously) and I are using this as an excuse to do all the touristy things. Today we took an open-top bus (really rather too windy to be entirely a good idea) around Sandbanks, until recently the most expensive land per square foot IN THE WORLD, Studland Bay ferry and Swanage, where we strolled along the beach with our hoods up, ate massive cream teas, and attempted to explain the mysteries of the British Summer Holiday, for instance, why beach huts are great despite the fact that you can't sleep in them and how Punch and Judy does not in fact mentally scar generations of young children.

There has been New Knitting since I last made a non swap-related post. Also New NotKnitting. Oooh.

First off, New NotKnitting! I am giving crochet another chance. I'm actually happy with it this time, it's going slightly better than the Yellow Triangle of Doom from a few years ago. I promise, this one isn't actually triangular, it just looks like that because the trebles are bigger than the doubles. Not sure how far my yarn and my patience are going to go with this, but I can tick off a technique, and hopefully the novelty won't wear of before I can make an armpit bag that I will probably never use (ha)

My rainbow of Cascady goodness is started and going pretty damn fast by my standards (particularly since I haven't bothered to blog about it in 2 weeks). I'm not using a pattern for it, just a swatch and the instructions in Barbara Walker's Knitting From the Top, which looks to be such a brilliant book that I will forgive her for having a whole chapter on knitted trousers. This is going to be my Scotland holiday project, so I will put it away and finish up some other things in the next 3 weeks instead.

Snapping Turtle is still awaiting a zip because I am lazy.

Mia is still awaiting photos because I am Really lazy.

And because I am hopeless I just joined another Monthly Adventures challenge. I have til the 7th to make and embroider a stuffed toy. One evening and two legs down.

P.S. The bouncer in the night club last night recognised me from the knitting club in Poole and came over and started talking to me about socks and baby garments. Heh, love it. Rock'n'roll baby.

The End! Really this time!

First off, I did not wait until today to open this package. My self restraint is good,but not that good. The nocturnal sleeping patterns are getting to me though and after opening my presents and squealing excitedly I promptly went for a nap and didn't wake up til an hour before I had to go to work. Ooooops...



My swap pal was Cat, from At The Pace Of A Snail, and Iam soo chuffed with the goodies. She's managed to match up perfectly, not only with the theme photo but with the rest of my blog as well.

The bizarre looking green thing that came unwrapped in the last photo is a 'Fingerboiler Pen', a clue to my pal's job in the Museum of Science and Industry. It has glass bubbles with liquid inside that moves up and down as the pressure from your fingers heats it up. I used to have a room thermometer thing like this. I can see myself playing with this a lot when I'm supposed to be paying attention in lectures next year. (I am too easily amused :D )

The rest of my package was themed around my beach photo of where I'd been diving in Mexico, using Mexico and sealife as inspiration.

Carrying on the theme of 'things-that-amuse-me-way-more-than-they-should', I also have:

a) a squirty pufferfish. I saw a pufferfish when I was diving in Mexico. Are you in fact psychic Cat? It wasn't puffed (it was a happy fishy), but they are still really strange cartoony creatures.

and b) Tattoo shaped plasters. Heh. Not themed, but as the explanation note says "who doesn't want tattoo type plasters". Well, my thoughts exactly! I'm going to wear them to work; as I work in a club that routinely has Vince Ray style artwork on their posters, I can pretty much guarantee that there will be a theme night at some point for which these will be the most appropriate thing I own!

There is also wool fat soap, for sheepy goodness, and dried ancho chillis (which are mild, mercifully!) because they are from Mexico, obviously, but also because she saw in my 101 list that I wanted to make curry from scratch.

And then YARN!

Mmmmmyarrrrrrrrrrnn. The balls on the left are 100% corn fibre(!), as the Mexican eat lots of maize, and I'd said in the questionnaire that I wanted to try some different natural fibres. I want to learn fair isle/stranded knitting at some point and I love these colours together so that's what they're destined for. I was thinking Endpapers but I don't think I have the yardage for that, so maybe a hat. Currently Inga owns my soul.

The skein on the right is fingering weight Seawool from Knitspirations in Cocoa, a gorgeous light brown/dusky rose colourway. There wasn't any fibre content information on the ballband or the webite, but judging from other 'seawools' out there, I think this is mostly wool with some seacell. This yarn deserves to become some unspeakably amazing socks. I currently thinking of Bayerische but they may prove to be a little beyond me at the moment.

I am so impressed with Cat's stalking abilities and all my goodies and looking forward to finishing some of my current projects so I can start some new ones! Thankyou very much Cat!!

The End! Nearly!

I posted off my package yesterday morning and I just got mine in return! Yays!


My swap partner is staying anonymous and wants me to seek her out through her blog (she’s a sneaky one). I shall put my detective hat on later…I know she lives in Manchester and works as a assistant energy curator…I haven’t been paying attention to people’s jobs and hometowns, I’ve only been watching the knitting!

Anyhoo (I knew this would happen) for the first time in THE WHOLE SUMMER I have a guest today, who is sleeping off the effects of last night downstairs (as I would be, if the doorbell hadn’t gone), so I will be good and not open my parcels till she’s gone home.

Oh, the suspense!

UK Swap question 8

After much consideration (er...and much laziness):

What three items would you want with you on a desert island and why?

I was thinking the obvious things like Ipod and knitting, but if I was forced to only bring one ball of yarn and an Ipod with a limited amount of charge I think it would annoy me more when they ran out than if I didn't have them in the first place. So:

1. A Book. I know, as above I'm only allowed one book, but I should think the Complete Works of Shakespeare would take me a good while to get through.

2. Snorkel gear. If I can watch the fish, I'm happy. This would be SCUBA gear, but limited amounts of compressed air is as bad as limited yarn or batteries.

3. A mosquito net. Absolutely vital. I don't know what it is about my blood but I'm like catnip to the little buggers. *shudder

Oh, and I'd like to get off the island at some point. Please?

I have been furiously knitting hexagons since I last posted. My fingers hurt.
















This bucket'o'yarn represents...probably about 60 hours of TVlinks, Videostic and Lovefilm. I have never been more grateful for my internet connection.

The beast is now stretched out in one of the spare bedrooms (God knows where I'm going to block when the rest of my housemates actually move in) and it is mercifully flat. I did have a great pre-dunking picture laid out flat and taken from the side, which looked like a blue knitted mountain range. Then my memory card decided it needed reformatting and kindly deleted everything for me. I do not have a healthy relationship with my gadgets apparently. But hey! The peaks are gone at least, nothing a good deluge couldn't fix. The skirt is all but finished,all I have to do is wait about 4 days for it to dry and then I can start knitting waistbands and suchlike. And then I just have to pray that it fits me. And then I also have to pray that Summer returns and I can actually wear it. Hmmm.
















There is a marked improvement as you travel down the skirt. This is what my picked up stitches looked like at the beginning.

This is what they look like now.

I feel I have progressed somewhat.

P.S. I just had to edit this post about 20 times to try and get the pictures in the right places with the words UNDER them. I still can't do anything about that last bit. I detest Blogger.

UK Swap question of the week #6 & #7

I nearly didn't bother with question 6. It was ages ago, I don't have decent answers to half the questions and, as I've said previously, I really don't like The Music Question. But hey, question 7 came out, and I'm a completist. Swap partner, apologies for the delay,hope you weren't going crazy wondering what my music tastes were.

Question 6

Of all the bands/artists in your cd/record collection, which one do you own the most albums by?

I thought it was Marilyn Manson (yes, I am a fan, don't judge me), but I just counted up and I have more Muse albums.

What was the last song you listened to?

Well, in counting up my Muse albums I just stuck on Map of the Problematique, but before that I was listening to Johnny Cash singing A Boy Named Sue.

What’s your favorite local band?

Um...this is one of the questions I have no answer to......

What’s the worst CD/record/etc. you’ve ever bought?

I have some real crap on my computer, but mostly I justify it by saying it reminds me of good times. I think the Rocky theme tune takes some beating, but it's staying on there because it reminds me of Paul singing it out of the blue when we were hiking in Yosemite.

What was the first single/album you ever bought?

I'm drawing blanks here too. Obviously it wasn't important and life-defining enough to warrant me remembering it.


Question 7

Do you prefer to watch films at home or at the cinema?

I don't think I really have a preference. It's all good.

What is the last film you saw?

Last film I saw at the cinema was The Dark Knight, last film I saw on DVD was Eastern Promises. Both very good films, if a little, um, icky in places.

Have you seen any films more than 10 times? If so which ones and why.

Oh, tons. I have many many favourites. American Beauty, Back to the Future, Baz Lurhmann' Red Carpet Trilogy, The Truman Show, The Princess Bride, Fight Club. I could go on. Mostly these are just films that lift my mood no matter what. Including American Beauty. It bothers me that people look at me strangly when I point that out as a feelgood movie.

What film do you recommend that people should see?

One? Only one film recommendation? Ok, go see Wall.E, I defy you not to fall in love.

If you could be any character from a film who would it be?

I wish I was more like Amelie, but honestly, I'm just not that nice.

101 in 1001 update: Month 3

5. Buy Playstation/DVD player. Complete

Yarp. I now own a nice, shiny, entirely non-new Playstation 2, so even though the TV in the new house doesn't pick up, y'know, actual TV, I can watch DVDs. And play Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. Hurrah!

38. Make a dress to wear to Nancy and Olly’s wedding.

Nooooo. Due to the malicious sentience that my sewing machine seems to have whenever I have a deadline coming up, it collapsed in a gruesome tangle of threads 2 days before the wedding. I am mildly peeved. It's a pretty complex pattern so I'd already spent almost a week cutting and gathering the damn thing. I was on the home stretch so I really want to finish it at some point, but it's definitely a summer dress and it's definitely an event dress so I've no idea where else I could wear it. Possibly my graduation, but that's a whole year away! *sigh

76. Give my number to a cute stranger. Complete

Um. Yes. This will never cease to amaze me. Even more amazing is that I actually said yes to a date. There won't be a second one, but still, I am perhaps getting over my habit of saying no without thinking.

82. Try a new food every month. 3/33

Apparently rabbit is the national dish of Malta. I am not terribly impressed. Give me a nice bit of cow any day.

58. Go to the cinema at least once a month, even if it means going on my own. 3/33

Yes! Woop! I fell in love with Wall.E. He is adorable and hilarious and I am not at all ashamed to say I cried. Well, slightly ashamed but at least I wasn't the only one. Also The Dark Knight, which looking back on the plot and characters is a really good film, but when I was sitting in the cinema, losing feeling in my arse, all I could think was 'God this sonar parp is distracting'. Pity they've ruined such a great film with pointlessly flashy effects.

65. Read all the books I haven’t read on my bookcase. 3 /25
66. Read the entire works of Shakespeare. 2/45

I've read the Escapement by K.J. Parker, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne and The Taming of the Shrew (again) this month. I know as a woman I'm not really supposed to like Taming of the Shrew, but I do. I can't help it.

20. Reach 175 blog posts. 58/175
91. Wear a skirt at least once a week. 11/143
95. Buy from a local butcher/grocer/market instead of the supermarket once a month. 3/33

Old ladies are officially cooler than me.

I was knitting on the bus yesterday and an old lady started a conversation with me about how unusual it is to see people knitting these days. I told her it gave me something to do on the achingly long journeys. She said she used to knit a lot and I asked why she didn't anymore, expecting her to blame arthritis or something similar. Nope.

"I don't really have the patience anymore. I tend to go out and enjoy life instead."

Well, dang. So that's it. I knit because I have no life. I knew something was missing.

Anyhoo, this is what I was knitting:

Ths is my first pair of toe-up socks, using the Knitty Universal toe-up formula, which has a short row toe starting from a provisional cast on. I love this toe, tis genius.

Other than that I haven't done a lot since the last time I updated. The month sort of ran away with me really. The Snapping Turtle skirt is 2 and a half rows down and, man these hexagons go slowly. I finished Mia, and will take a photograph at....some....point, but I didn't get to wear it. The dress I was making for Nancy and Olly's wedding is still in piles of spotty fabric on my desk because (surprise, surprise) my sewing machine broke again, and my fallback dress wasn't quite as shrug-friendly.

I really need to buy myself a new sewing machine.

An update! A REAL update!

I'm a little late on this. The entire world has now forgotten about Woolfest, but I've only just unpacked my yarn from my many many moving boxes so I shall inflict it on you all now anyway (oh, I'm sure you are backing away from the screen in horror).

I took a grand total of...no photos in Cockermouth, big surprise, so we just have pictures of piles of yarn on my dining table instead. Hurrah! Somewhere, possibly on my mother's computer, there are photos of me wrestling a pair of giant knitting needles with which I managed all of 4 stitches, but it's probably a good thing I don't have these photos. The needles were about 9 foot long, they were very heavy, and there was much gurning involved in my manoeuvring of them.

I was very good at Woolfest. I had to be very good, because I only took cash. As in I only took cash to Cumbria. I left my cards in Bournemouth, so I'm not entirely sure what I would have done if I'd lost my train ticket home or something equally horrible. It was reasonably easy to be good, since the majority of the festival was fibre and I'm not a spinner (Mum is - she spent horrendous amounts of money on the offcuts of exotic beasties). Besides, I'd gone with specific garment projects in mind and most of the yarn stalls were selling variegated sock yarn rather than jumper's-worth amounts of solid colours. I did buy some sock yarn though. It was too fun to pass up. Only one though. I was good.
















Both my 'sensible' yarn purchases were from a stall called Knitting4fun (not at the same time - I had to umm and aah and then come back for more). This is a wool/silk blend for the Silk Ribbed Corset, hopefully, though I forgot to take my notebook with me so I have no idea if it's going to come close to the right gauge or yardage.
















These are pure wool for Candy, which Mum has promised to make me matching Fimo buttons for. Remember that Mum? I'm gonna remind you in like, 4 years time when I actually get round to making it.

















This is my fun yarn. See, I told you it was fun. It's Colinette Jitterbug in MARDI GRAS!! (I may have added the capitals and exclamation marks myself). As always, the photo does not do it justice, it's much more...glowy in real life. Especially the yellow, I could wrap the yellow around myself as a reflectivejacket. A very small and pathetic one, but a glow-in-the-dark one all the same.


I have new WIPs since settling (Ha!) in my new abode, mainly because I am a huge quitter and can't be arsed to work out the new sleeve caps on the red jmper.
















This is the first row of the Snapping Turtle Skirt. As far as I can tell it's going to fit me around the hips (yay!) but it is so far merely a Snapping Turtle Belt. I'm getting over my fear of picking up stitches though.





















This is the beginning of Mia, and is also an out of date photo. I took this two days ago (before I could be bothered to update the blog) and I have since knit about 4 inches of the lace back, decided it was too tight with twisted stitches, frogged it back to the sleeve, knit the entire back with nice normal stitches and started the second sleeve. I may even finish this. Woot.





I use brackets too much.

UK Swap Question of the week #5

Yep, I'm behind. My advice to you all, never make the mistake of moving house on your own, while still looking for a job, 2 days before going on holiday. Not that I had a whole lot of choice, but still, spectacularly stupid.


Quick fire questions this week, based on a game I've played with friends whilst on (very long) car journeys!

Choose one - don't think just choose...

1. Stop or go? Stop

2. Going out or Staying in? Staying in

3. Small town or big city? Big city

4. Happy or sad? Happy

5. Straights or Circulars? Circulars

6. Red or Blue? Red

7. Seaside or countryside? Seaside

8. Fish or chips? Chips

9. Surprises or plans? Plans

10. Wine or beer? Wine

11. Sweaters or cardigans? Cardigans

12. Pizza or Pasta? Pasta

13. Chopsticks or fork? Fork

14. Early Bird or Night Owl? Night Owl

15. Knitting or crochet? Knitting

16. Hot or cold? Hot



And now for the picture part of this quiz (copied from a meme that's going around at the moment)

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.


I do like this mosaic and the searching was fun, but a lot of the UK swappers have the same images popping up. I think since I saved this mosaic I've seen that puppy at least 5 times. This would work better on questios that had more than 2 choices. Still, Stop! Hammertime makes up for any minor dissapointment.























1.STOP: Hammer Time, 2. Primary Stillness, 3. Montmartre on a cloudy day HDR, 4. Amazing Thailand, 5. Star light, Star Bright, 6. Gizmo, 7. Shell pick 'n' mix, lightly arranged, 8. Angel of the Morning, 9. First Snow 2007, 10. Why, Yes...I Do Have Shoes To Match, 11. And now for something completely different, 12. 'stick' together, 13. Colours, 14. Crafting 365, day 159 - another brooch to add to my collection, 15. Rut. With Gullfoss., 16. Some like it hot