We’ve been having gorgeous weather here lately. Like five days in a row of sunshine and warmth. That was broken yesterday (icky grey skies, but no rain). Today? Back to being gorgeous. So I heeded the Yarn Harlot’s advice and aired out my stash in the sunshine for a few hours. Luckily I have not found anything in my stash, but I do know that our house has a carpet beetle problem (it’s over 100 years old so there are bound to be issues!) so I keep checking it more often than not. Same goes for all of my hand knits and natural fibre sweaters (ie the ones that my dad has bought for me).

I remember how devastated and frustrated I was when I first discovered the infestation. It was horrible.

I’d left some of my swatches out in the attic bedroom. I didn’t see the point in storing them away properly since they were just swatches. So, when I went to tidy up the bedroom/stash room/random storage room a few weeks later, I picked up one of the swatches by a corner. It crumbled to pieces. ‘That’s weird’ I thought and picked up another swatch. Also crumbed. And that’s when I saw them. The woolly bears, aka larva of the varied carpet beetle, were all over the third swatch. It grossed me out to no end, but even before I knew what the squirmy tiny things were, I knew they had to die. So I grabbed some tissues and squished until I’d got them all. I checked the rest of my stash. Back then it was all stored in the attic. Everything that had been in plastic ziplock bags was fine. The one handspun singles that I’d left unprotected? Ruined. Eaten through in at least ten places. Good thing I wasn’t attached to that singles. I’d only been practising drafting with that one and hadn’t planned on doing much more with it at the time. Then the studying and exterminations began. I read up on the little terrors. Our landlady was great and got the exterminator to come over six times over the course of two years without any complaints. But to no avail. They just won’t die.

I’ve resigned myself to expect to see them every spring now. So far I haven’t found any woolly bears, but I have found some adults just randomly hanging out on the walls (obviously, they die a swift death immediately). It’s kind of worrying that I haven’t actually found the woolly bears yet. I don’t know what kind of damage they’ve inflicted this time.

I won’t worry about it though. I can’t do anything about them, so I’ll keep up with my constant surveillance of my knitted and knitting goodies. Maybe one day I’ll have managed to squish them all and delivered the threatening message to any other carpet beetles that may be considering setting up shop in my stash: Enter my home and you will die without mercy.

P.S. I’ve updated my Rav projects and stash pages with photos. Go have a peek if you want to see the Jacqueline cardigan.

1. Kinda bored with my current knitting (Jaden, a sweater from Knitty.com; can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here yet). But it’s for Woolfest so I’ll keep going on it. Might leave it as a sleeveless top though. Haven’t decided yet.

2. Spinning of my Wensleydale is almost complete. Just have the plying left to do. Bored with that too.

3. Have knitting projects in mind that I want to cast on, but don’t have the yarn for them yet.

4. Still need to buy buttons for my Jacqueline cardigan/jacket. Maybe I should get them at the same time as the yarn for #3?

5. Had an amazing lunch/dinner today: A salad of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red grapes and flaked almonds drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil with some melted goat’s cheese on toasted ciabatta bread.

6. My knuckles really itch. Still haven’t figured out why. Been itching for about a month now.

7. Weather has been gorgeous lately, so I’ve been going out walking/hiking/running for an hour on the weekends instead of doing the 30 Day Shred. Also, swapped out that workout for a TaeBo one with Billy Blanks that’s only 8 minutes long (but the actual video of it is about 15 mins long including warm-up and cool down). It’s a nice change.

8. I remembered how to set up my sewing machine! I felt so clever today. All I did was hem a pair of my work-pants, but still.

9. Kinda wanna do some more sewing. Possibly because of #1 and #2.

10. Have bought seeds (basil, chives and parsley I think?). My plants will grow and then they’ll die, because that’s what happens when I try to garden. Haven’t given up hope yet though. Haven’t actually planted seeds yet either.

11. Why on earth did I wake up at 6:30am on a Sunday and not be able to go back to sleep?

12. Have received some awesome packages in the mail lately. a) My March Great British Wool Club shipment came. It’s been a fun club, but I won’t be signing up for it again. Saving my pennies for Woolfest! b) Then about a week later my Sip’N’Stitch came. Last one of the coffee shipments. There’s a tea one that I won’t be signing up for. Again, saving for Woolfest! c) Got me some cute tea pot and tea cup stitch markers from Stephcuddles on Etsy (exactly those pictured! Had a hard time deciding between them and the blue ones). d) And I won some stitch markers by BeaGin Design (a friend of mine on Plurk). They are so handy. Already used them while knitting Jaden.

13. Kinda feel like going away on a mini-trip somewhere. Maybe Belgium for a few days. But then I remember that my sisters are coming over in June. And we’re going to Scotland in July. And there’s Woolfest! So I’m probably not going anywhere just yet.

Knitting/Spinning:

1. My mom’s shawl is done. Hop on over to my Ravelry project page to see photos. Isn’t it gorgeous? Kinda want to keep it, but the whole time that I was knitting it I knew I was making it for my mom so now when I see it, I just think of her. So I can’t keep it.

2. O’s sister’s shawl is done. Also very pretty, but I’m not that attached to it. The lace pattern is kinda hidden by the colours, but I picked the yarn because O’s sister’s favourite colour is purple and if it’s worn against a solid light colour, you can see the patterning.

3. My Damson is done. Had to modify the bind off since I ran out of yarn. The shawlette turned out huge.

4. Wow, that’s a lot of shawls. And I still want to cast on another. Possibly with beads.

5. Found a pattern for the bulky yarn: Jacqueline (a cardigan from Knitty.com). It’s coming along fine. Lower body is complete, first sleeve has been cast on. It’s slow going though because of the Rizotto patterning.

6. Finished plying my brown Shetland. Got a 3-ply skein that weighs 94g (74.5yds) and a 2-ply skein that weighs 14g (17 yds).

7. Have drafted up some Wensleydale, so I’ll be spinning that next. Going to try to do another 3-ply I think.

Books/TV/Other Entertainment:

1. Read one of the Little House spin-off series books, Little House in the Highlands. I liked it, but it just didn’t captivate me like the original series has.

2. Then I read a fairly sad book: The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. I knew going into it that it’d be upsetting, but it didn’t stop me from reading it.

3. Still watching a lot of The Biggest Loser, but my current favourite show is Masterchef. I really hope Shelina makes it. Or Jay. I’d love for either of them to cook me dinner one day.

4. Weather has been odd recently. +16C in February in northern England. Not complaining, the sunshine’s been lovely. Yes, I consider the weather entertaining.

Well, seeing as I don’t have much new to report on the knitting front (still working on the same two shawls and blanket as before), I’ll jump right into the book reviews.

First up, Traitors of the Tower by Alison Weir. Now, I’ve read both fiction and non-fiction by her. I’m not a fan of her fiction. Her writing style just doesn’t gel with what I want to read. This book however is non-fiction so I thought it would be fine. I really should have read the blurb about the book before putting it on my wishlist (I received it as a Christmas gift). Based on the title and the author, I was expecting proper biographies of people imprisoned in the Tower of London. Instead, the book in my hand was slim with slightly bigger text than usual. It was a QuickReads book (again, this is listed on the website, I just didn’t notice it before putting it on my wishlist). It felt really simple (duh), which made me not like the book because I wasn’t expecting it. It’s fine as a quick reference book, but a bit of a disappointment (partly of my own making).

The next one, a novel by Michelle Lovric, The Book of Human Skin. I haven’t been able to decide whether I liked the book or not. The narrative is compelling, especially after about a quarter of the way through, so I had to finish it. Some of the characters were repulsive. I read through Sor Loreta’s and Minguillo Fasan’s sections as fast as I could because I didn’t want to spend any more time than I had to with them. Both are warped and insane and just unpleasant. So, the book it well written and it’s a great work of fiction, but I can’t say if I still actually liked it. I also was a bit unsure about the decision to write Gianni’s sections with incorrect spellings and grammar. It was hard to get used to it. I could hear him just fine and I don’t think the non-traditional writing created any more depth to his voice. It took a bit too long for my taste to get to the point where all of the narratives come together. I’m sure some of Sor Loreta’s sections could have been condensed. The entire book felt a bit long-winded now that I think about it. On the whole, the book was very readable, but I wouldn’t read it again.

I have a confession. I get sucked into reality TV shows. It started off with America’s Next Top Model a few years ago. And then some of the spin-offs of it. And some of the Survivor series. Then 16 and Pregnant. And Teen Mom. Some of the Jersey Shore. The Great British Menu (this kind of qualifies even if it’s not the same format as the others).

And my latest reality show addiction? The Biggest Loser. I stayed away from the show at first because I didn’t like how it fixates on numbers. I still think it does that. But, watching everyone working so hard to lose weight is inspiring. It also makes me feel glad that I’m not as heavy as the contestants are. Over-weight, yes. Definitely could lose some weight, but I’m no where near as bad as they are.

The reason why I started watching The Biggest Loser? Because I started the Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred programme. I wanted to see how she coached the contestants and compare that to the workout videos. I didn’t want to mention it on the blog yet, but I have been keeping tabs on myself on Twitter and Plurk by posting once I’d completed a workout. Hoo boy, it’s hard. She’s not kidding when she says that you will feel like you’re going to die. But the workouts get easier with time. My endurance has gone way up since Level 1, Day 1.

That being said, today I completed Level 3, Day 1. At the same time, I’m amazed at how much I can now do (like punching and jumping jacks with weights) and how much I still can’t do. I do know that I can do this for another nine days. Will I keep going after that? Probably. Every day? Nope. I know I’m more likely to stick to doing the workout if it’s only three or four times a week. Or I might switch it up and find a different workout to do for awhile. We’ll see.

From Blog photos

Sip’N’Stich came last week! The yarn is a gorgeous gorgeous red that photographs do not do justice. I haven’t tried out the coffee (Cafe Femenino from Joe Van Gogh) yet because, believe it or not, I still have some left from the previous shipment. I guess I just haven’t needed/wanted the caffeine as much in the mornings lately. I’ve been choosing to have tea instead. Maybe it’s a comfort thing, picking tea over coffee.

The January shipment of The Great British Wool Club also came. It’s a very pretty blue, 50/50 blend of BFL and Exmoor Blueface. Don’t know what it wants to be yet, but as the whole club is coming from a co-ordinated palate and spun to the same specs, I may save it for a colourwork project. Photos are up on my Rav stash page for those interested.

That Lia sweater I’d started last time? In the frog pond. I’d finished the cable chart and decided to try it on. It just did not look flattering on me. I don’t know what exactly it was about the fit, but it just didn’t seem good. The cabling section fell wrong and I decided that it didn’t matter how much work I’d already put into the sweater, I was not going to knit a sweater that I wouldn’t love and especially one that wouldn’t fit.

So I frogged it.

And cast on a shawlette. I’m using Luxe Soles from Stitches’N’Rows in a custom colourway (Purple berries’n’cream) with my 3.75mm Signature circs. The pattern is Minttumaari. It’s free, from Ullaneule.net, and only available in Finnish. It’s took me a little while to get used to all of the Finnish terminology (since almost all of my knitting knowledge is in English), but I think I’ve got the hang of it again.

The shawl for my mom is going along well. Almost eight repeats of the Body Chart are done on the second half and I’m still enjoying it immensely. Lace patterning on both sides keeps me interested, but it’s not too difficult to keep track of. The shawlette has patterning only on the RS so it’s my travel/knit night knitting. And it’s kinda boring me already, even though I only cast it on last week and haven’t worked on it that much. But the result is pretty so I’m going to keep knitting it.

And that’s it for now. I’ve still got two book reviews (both fiction) and a confession to make, but they will have to wait until next time.

One of my friends wanted a pair of mitts for his wife and asked me to design and knit them. Since the idea of what he was requesting was intriguing, I gladly began working on them. The result is above. They’re a really quick and easy knit. It feels like I spent more time weaving in ends than actually knitting them, but they’re really cool and stretchy. Kind of like an accordion. I also discovered while knitting these is that I really like using Wendy Norse Chunky. It’s surprising since the yarn is a wool/acrylic blend and I usually prefer all natural blends (mainly due to the softness and sweaty-ness factors). But I can see myself eventually knitting a whole sweater out of this yarn. Once I clear out some of my stash and queue first obviously.

Speaking of knitting sweaters, I’ve cast on for Lia by Mandie Harrington. It’s Knitty pattern (as most of the sweater patterns are that I knit up). I’m using INOX 6.5mm circs. I originally bought these needles to make a French Market Bag back in 2007, but I never got around to knitting it so the needles have just been lying around in my needle stash. As many of you may have noticed, I gravitate towards knitting with smaller needles and thinner yarn. But now that I’ve found a pattern and yarn that called for bigger needles, I’m glad I have them. And they’re unexpectedly good! I guess I just assumed that since I bought them when I was still a beginner knitter, I didn’t know what I was getting.

Still making more squares. And knitting that shawl for my mom.

Book review time! Quickies, I promise. For Christmas, I received a *lot* of books. Mainly from O. ^_^

I devoured The Help by Kathryn Stockett in three days starting immediately on Christmas Day. It was really good and I had a really hard time putting it down. I would have finished it in two days, but I had to drive to O’s parents place and back, so that cut a little bit into my reading time. I just hope the movie lives up to the high standards of the book (of course I want to see it now).

Next up, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I liked it. It was quirky and fast and I could feel the narrator Rose growing up as she told her story. The story begins when she’s a child and ends when she is in her mid-twenties. She has a peculiar ability; she can taste the emotions of whoever cooked or baked the food she eats. And the story starts off with Rose feeling her mother’s sadness in a lemon cake. I was telling O about one section of the book where she is eating a sandwich prepared by the girlfriend of a baker. She feels the sandwich yelling at her “Love me!”. So O lifted his eyebrow and said: “That sounds like something you’d write.” Which is really funny, because when I was in Montana a few years ago, my writing teacher compared my style with Aimee’s (who I had never heard of until then). So it makes sense that I’d like her books.

I’ve got one more book that I’ve read since Christmas, but since this post is getting to be really long, I’ll leave it for next week. Need something to beef up next week’s post since my knitting won’t have really made much visible progress by then.

Brandy - Jan 6, 2012

OMGosh I am so hooked on Downton Abbey too! Sounds like a wonderful day. Secret knitting you say?!? ;)

---

So, hi! Happy New Year! December just kinda flew by. Just like last year. And kinda like the year before. Maybe I should just make this a yearly thing, to take a break from blogging in December. It makes sense since I’m at work most of the day and then the rest of the time is spent doing gift knitting so I can’t talk about it anyway.

This year, I kept the gift knitting list small. A bookmark for the Secret Santa thing at work (along with a gift card to the bookstore) and two felted mug cozies for my grandparents. I also sent a pair of mittens (the Ruba’iyat pattern) to my youngest sister, but that wasn’t a Christmas present. But I had other secret knitting to do that I still can’t talk about so moving on to things I can talk about!

I did crochet some more squares for the never-ending FrankenBlanket. No idea how many, but quite a few. I’ve also started spinning up some Shetland fibre that I bought from the Sheffield Wool & Textile Fair a few years ago. It’s a pretty brown and white mix. I’m going to aim for about worsted weight, but I can never tell in the beginning how thick or thin the singles will be. I usually just let the fibre be whatever it wants to be because I can’t be bothered to fight it.

I also received my prize from Pampered Knitting (an Etsy shop) for participating in the Knit.Sock.Love KAL on Rav. Two very cute project bags big enough for a sock project. Both fabrics have ladybugs on them. One has a pretty yellow background, the other a green background with sparkles. Jenna also sent some stitch markers and dpn protectors. It’s an awesome prize.

I may be a bit ramble-y, but that’s because I’ve been up since 5 am today. I got up early to help O do his hair for the competition. And then I just didn’t go back to bed. I had every intention of going back, but then the siren song of the shawl that I’m currently knitting beckoned me into the living and I sat down, put on an episode of Downton Abbey and knit. It’s almost 4:30pm now and I’ve watched like five episodes. I have taken breaks to tidy up the living, do the dishes, tidy up the dining room, vacuum, do two loads of laundry, the ironing… I even had plans to go out for a run. But Downton Abbey sucked me in and I knit. All day. This has been one of the best days ever.

…

So O’s back. Apparently the competition didn’t go that well. But that’s fine with me. Means that I get more snuggle time with him. We just watched The Simpsons Movie and I had a short power nap while snuggling on the couch with him. I say nap, but really it was more like me resting my head on his chest with my eyes closed but still listening to the movie. This is why I like audiobooks. Quite often I’m tired, but my brain is alert enough to focus on listening as long as I can have my eyes closed.

Anyway, I’m off to watch one more episode of Downton Abbey (O’s best R texted me today to say he’s hooked on it now too!) and knit some more. I’m hoping to finish the body chart of the shawl tonight. This isn’t Super Secret Knitting. It’s a gift for my mom for Mother’s Day (but I may just send it out as soon as it’s done because I want her to have it), so I don’t want to give out too many details until she’s received it. But if you’re on Rav, I’m sure you can figure out which project it is. ;)

And no, I’m not going to show a photo of my swollen cheeks. I had two of my wisdom teeth taken out this morning. It went a lot faster than I expected, even with the left upper tooth being stubborn. My dentist really had to work at it and when it finally did come out, she went: “Wow that’s a big one!” I took the day off work and I’m not going dancing tonight either. According to the leaflet I got, physical exertion can cause the sockets to start bleeding again, so I’m staying put. Totally fine by me. Been knitting and crocheting while watching TV. And it’s easier to find soft foods to eat that I don’t have to take with me. Like yoghurt. Been having lots of yoghurt. Mainly because I can’t think of much else that I could have as a snack/small meal.

There isn’t a whole lot of knitting that I can blog about right now. There’s the pair of colourwork mittens that are over half way done. I’m at the thumb gusset of the second mitt. But they don’t really excite me, so I don’t make an effort to work on them. Then there’s the secret knitting which I can’t talk about. And when I need a break from that, I’ve been crocheting more squares for the blanket. At about 520 in total right now (still need to update the sidebar).

No spinning to talk about yet, but I’m thinking of spinning up the Shetland top that bought from the Wool & Textile Craft Fair a few years ago. It’s a pretty brown and white mix (I think they called it Humbug?). Anyway, I see that becoming a nice bulky-ish yarn.

I’ve started re-reading the Little House books again. They’re nice and quick. And comforting. They’re the only series of books that I’m willing to re-read every year. And I’ve discovered that there are spin-offs of the series! I don’t know how good the spin offs are since they’re not written by Laura Ingalls Wilder/edited by her daughter Rose, but I’d still like to see what kinds of stories they are. I have a feeling that they’re not as realistic though, since they’re not based on someone’s actual memories of childhood. Yes, I know, Laura made up some stuff and moved events around chronologically and left stuff out (I wrote a paper about the Little House series while in college, can you tell?), but in the end, the stories are good and captivating. That’s all that matters, right?