knitting

Well Pioneer is done. I’ve worn it twice already. It grew a bit more than I expected during the blocking, but that’s okay. Next time I’ll just throw it in the dryer so it won’t do that. I’ve started another large project: Aeolian. I’m using the green 100% wool I bought while in Montana two years ago. All I know about the yarn is that it’s not superwash wool. Came off a cone. I don’t even have an inkling as to how much I’ve got (either weight or yardage). But that’s okay. I’ve got a plan. And it’s working! I decided to use the lighter green for the Yucca and Agave charts and then the darker green for the edging. I’m doing the shawl size instead of the shoulderette and boy is this thing going to be big. Not huge, since the swatch didn’t grow a lot, but still pretty big. And it’s taking me forever to finish a row because of the size it is now. Also? The nupps, not so bad to make. I’ll definitely be making them again if another shawl calls for them.

Haven’t cast on any socks yet. I’m dying to. But I haven’t. I’m waiting for Cookie A’s Sock Innovation book to arrive. It should be here next week!

I’m in the Wildcraft Fibre Club and I got my second shipment yesterday! This one’s 100% Shetland wool, 115g, colorway Hedgerow. So that got me to finally start spinning my March shipment (70/30 bfl/silk, 100g, colorway Violas). I’ve split it in half in the middle and pre-drafted one of half. I started spinning it on my drop spindle and omg is it nice. So much nicer to spin than the stuff I’d tried before. I can’t wait for it to be done and plied and then knit with it. :D

I bought these really cute stitch markers today. Cheese and strawberries! There was a reason for wanting them too (besides the cuteness). I’m working on this sweater and my current stitch markers (cheap, plastic Lion Brand ones I got while back in Montana) just aren’t working. They’re too big and causing oddness in the raglan increase sections. So new stitch markers! o/ It’ll take awhile for them to get to me, since they are being shipped from Hawaii.

I’ve also placed another Happy Housewife order. I got the Berry Basket. And soap! Haven’t bought soap from there before, but I’ve heard really good things about it. I got Tea Time and Pumpkin Bread. I thought about holding out for more soap to go up, but after waiting like a month or so (the strawberry scents went up last month), I got tired and wanted the sniffies now. :D

I’ve just been to Belgium for a week visiting one of my sisters. Met up with old friends, met some of her new friends, shopped. I went to the Palais des Thés and bought three new flavors (two black teas, one red). On the same trip I went to a yarn shop and got a little under 1000m of laceweight wool in natural and about 300m of DK weight alpaca in blue-green. I also bought a cute summer dress from H&M (and socks). Yes, I knit socks (and wear them!) but during the summer, they’re too warm. And I don’t want them to get stinky when I wear sneakers and have sweaty feet.

We were invited to go to another party tonight, but I’m feeling kinda stressed about school stuff (which could be why I’m shopping so much) and spending today and tomorrow over there just wouldn’t help things. I have finished the story that’s due in a week, I just need to edit it and write the commentary. But I’ve got two more stories to work on that have to have be presentable drafts done by Friday and Saturday, so taking two days off just isn’t something I want to do. So even if I don’t work all day on these three things, I’ll get something done since I’ll be near my laptop a lot, instead 50 miles away.

Not much to say. Usual stuff going on:

1. Knitting Lots of stuff. Mainly socks right now. Still need to knit up a bookmark as a birthday present. Then I’ll be starting Pioneer from the newest Knitty. OMG this issue is made of win. I want to knit most of the patterns in there. I’ve already queued up Decimal, Absinthe, Cachoeira, Cirque and Sourwood to make after Pioneer (or at the same time). There just isn’t enough time in the day to make everything I want. And the cool thing about Pioneer is that I already have the yarn in my stash that I want to use. So yay, stash busting!

This is good, because I can’t seem to stop myself from buying some yarn whenever I go to my LYS. Like on Tuesday, before S&B at the pub, I got a skein of Trekking XXL in 305 (it’s pinks, need I say more?) and then four balls of Laines du Nord Royal Cashmere in brown. Still, all of that totalled £21.95 so it’s not like I’m going to go broke. £40-ish a month for yarn isn’t that bad money-wise. But I am trying my hardest not to reach SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy). So knitting up stash is good. Because that way I can buy more. :D

2. Cleaning Lately it’s just been surface cleaning though. We had the exterminator come again a few weeks ago because of the carpet beetles and that means I can’t vacuum for at least two weeks. Longer if possible. And it’s driving me nuts. I want to vacuum so I can put down the silk rug we had in the living room. We took it away for the party and the exterminator and I want to put it on a clean floor darn it. So mainly, it’s been laundry. And ironing. I’m loving the weather here btw. It’s been 10-16 C and sunny during the days which means that I can put the laundry out to dry instead use the dryer function. I prefer the feel of line dried clothes than dryer dried.

3. Writing Because I haven’t been able to clean as thoroughly as I’d like, it has freed up more time for me to write! I’m actually making progress on my school stuff. And as soon as the load of laundry that’s in the machine right now is done, I’m putting it out to dry and then staying out there to write the conclusion to my Young Adult story (it’s what I’ll be handing in in June as my coursework, so I want it to be done and ready for the critiquing by my classmates).

Speaking of classmates, one of the guys in my Children’s & Young Adult Fiction class is just… augh. Talks all the time. And I’ve noticed that he & I do not agree at all about what the aim is in our stories. Everyone else seems to get what I’m getting at in my stories, whereas he doesn’t. I’ve explained my point of view. But every single time he brings up the same points. Over and over again. I’ve just started to nod when he talks and write down what might be good points that I need to think about, but most of the time, it’s just information overload. He needs to learn how to distill his thoughts a bit. He’s just an odd guy in general. He told us one night that he’d experimented with drugs while he was still in uni doing his first degree in Philosophy. I think they’ve addled with his brain a bit…

I’ve already got my dissertation planned out too. And my Fiction coursework. Now I just need to actually write them. Oh and the coursework that’s due on April 20th too.

Laundry’s done!

I seem to post only when I’m sick. Huh…

But yeah, I’ve got an ear infection. Just been to the doctor’s and now I’ve got antibiotics. I hope they kick in soon. I’m still going to knit night tonight. I don’t feel that bad right now. And I’ve still got all day to see if I feel up to it.

I also asked about why my hands and feet get really cold. He checked my blood pressure, circulation and asked if anyone in my family’s got Reynaud’s. The conclusion? A spasm in a nerve. I think that’s what he said, my head’s so full of goo that it’s hard to think straight. Anyway, just another reason to knit more wool socks because nothing can be done about that.

I also really want to go to the dentist. Need to talk to her about my wisdom teeth. I don’t think there’s enough space in my mouth for the lower left one. Possibly the same goes for the upper left as well. I keep biting my cheek on that side when eating. Owwie. :( The right side seems fine though.

Lots of knitting progress. Started working on some Froot Loop socks with my Wendy Happy in the Aquarius colorway. I’m also making a pair of fingerless mitts from my handspun. And I’m itching to cast on a sweater. But I also want to make a pair of fingerless mitts for my sister and a chunky scarf using up my Wendy Roxy and Sirdar Harvest DK (this one’ll probably go to charity).

School’s going fine. Consistently scoring in the high 60s (a high 2.1) for my coursework, so basically the same grades as for my first degree. Now I just need to e-mail my dissertation idea to my teacher to see what he thinks about it.

I’m procrastinating again. I’ve got to write two stories for my next Fiction and Children’s Fiction classes (well, rewrite two stories actually). I made myself a deal, I can do whatever until 3pm, then I need to go do school work. Then at 4pm, I get to stop and go on the WiiFit.

My knitting’s going pretty well. The first Bayerische is done and I’ve got a pattern repeat done on the second one. I’ve finished off my mom’s Mother’s Day present and I’m on the final color of the baby blanket border. I’m hoping to get the blanket done in the next few days. I’ve already got my grandma’s Mother’s Day present lined up, but I can’t say more about that since they read my blog!

I finished spinning up my pink-black-gold fiber yesterday. Now I need to ply it. I’ve also picked out a pattern to use my first handspun on. But I won’t cast that on until I’ve finished the Bayerische socks.

I finally got O’s last Christmas gift for me: Knitted Lace of Estonia. I’ve only had a chance to flip through it, but the patterns are really pretty. And I can understand some of the lace pattern names, which I thought was cool.

It’s nice and sunny here today. Still have some snow on the ground, but it’s going away. Finally. The slippery drive was really beginning to bug me. Monday was trash day and as I stepped out the door, arms full of trash, I go flying. Luckily I landed on my butt and didn’t hit my head on the step inches away, but yeah. -That- sure was a fun way to start the day. ¬_¬

Oh oh oh! The Wool Baa has agreed to carry my Instant Human mitt pattern. o/

Last week I was talking about hair with one of my classmates and she recommended this one shampoo that she uses. I looked for it over here and couldn’t find it, so she said she’d get me some for Monday’s class. So last Monday we exchanged money and product. Another one of our classmates looked at us and was like: “o_O Guys? That looks kinda dodgy…” What I got (and have used twice now) is this stuff from Schwarzkopf that’s supposed to make dull grey hair shiny silvery (not the aspect that I need). But it also reduces brassy tones in blonde hair. Which is why I wanted it. It seems to be working okay. :)

I made makaroonilaatikko (a macaroni casserole-y dish) for the first time yesterday. Turned out very well. I love the cookbook I got from my parents for Christmas. So many familiar recipes. ^-^ And I also baked some white chocolate chip cookies for O as a Valentine’s Day gift. They turned out all wrinkly and non-pretty, but they taste good. That’s the main thing, right?

I lurves my mailman. He actually knocked this time!

Okay, so yesterday I decided to buy some yarn (yeah, like I *need* more, but there ya go). The yarn is from The Knitting Goddess. Bought it yesterday, got here today. Love her service. Anyways, what I got was some 4ply 100% superwash merino in Cinnamon Trio and Indian Summer. The green hank is 2ply 59% cashmere/49% cotton in semi-solid Jade. Add in the shipping and the total came to under £25. Not bad. But but but! Joy, the owner, had included a freebie! It’s a lavender sachet pouch kit. :D

And at the bottom of the pic you can see my cupcake club. Yep, today was an excellent mail day.

Oh and everyone who asked about the yarn I’m using on my socks: it’s Lisa Souza’s Sock! Merino in Printemps. :) I’m using 2,25mm needles with it. Love the tight fabric that creates.

Just thought I’d share a few more pics with you all. (Yes, I’m procrastinating, still have to write something for teens that’s due tomorrow…)

It started snowing again this morning. The snow was falling when I took the pics (doesn’t really show, but I promise it’s there) and still falling an hour later.

And this is the Bayerische sock I’m working on now. All of those cables just make me do a happy dance inside. And it’s actually not that hard. Just have to pay attention every single round so that the cables don’t get twisted the wrong way. Which is what happened to me two days ago, but I was able to fix it. ^-^

Washing machine’s calling me. Need to go set it to drying mode. Yep, I lead a totally exciting life.

We’ve got snow. It started last night and still going on now. So this morning, I took these pics:

Last I checked, we had about 12 cm (5"-ish).

And because of all this snow, traffic and trains have been kind of a mess. I decided to go to Nottingham early, drop off my coursework that’s due today and come back straight away. Skipping class is so worth not being stuck at a train station late at night. When I got home, there was an e-mail from my course leader saying that because so many of the readers have cancelled due to the weather, the session has been cancelled. W00t! Now I don’t feel guilty about deciding not to go to class. ^-^

Oh and now the news just said that the Met Office has issued an “extreme weather warning” because of the snow. For some reason this amuses me very much.

The garter stitch has finally ended, now I’m onto the crochet edging. After that dark blue yarn runs out, I’ll use up the light blue and then add white until it reaches the “right” measurements. :)

The first pic has the correct colors, the second shows the edging.

I seem to be on a Batman kick right now. Watched “The Dark Knight” last night (which was just awesome btw) and now “Batman Returns” is playing on TV. That and playing Lego Batman on the XBox 360.

In other news, coursework is finally done. Good thing too because garter stitch is beginning to melt my brain and have it ooze out of my nostrils. Kinda like what Proust thought was happening to him (’twas because of syphilis). But luckily spinning brought back some sanity.

This brings me to my next point: I’ve just joined this fibre club!. Can’t wait for the first shipment. But I guess I’d better spin up some of my stash first, just to make room.

And now I’m going back to having my brain dribble out slowly.

I can’t seem to get inspired by my WIPs. I’ve got two pairs of socks and a mitten. Well, the mitten only needs the thumb and then the pair’s ready. I just so don’t feel like working on it though. And this whole having three projects at the same is driving me nuts. I prefer to be a monogamous knitter, two projects at the most if one of them is a bigger one like a sweater or a shawl. At least one of the sock pairs is almost done; both of the socks just need the foot and toe doing, then they’re done. The other socks just have half of the leg done on sock #1.

Plus I have homework that I feel I should do. There’s the first coursework piece that’s due in December, and now I have to come up with a story for 10 yr olds. And I’m coming up with nada. At least I know what I want to submit as coursework for Fiction and Children’s Fiction in January. Haven’t written it yet, but I do have ideas. And since I have no portable projects right now, I’ve designated the train commutes as reading time. I seem to be flying through The Duchess by Amanda Foreman (about half way through I think). I’ve also decided to alternate between non-fiction and fiction books. I’ve got two more non-fiction books (Alison Weir’s The Lady Elizabeth and one about the Mayflower pilgrims) but a ton of fiction books that I want to read as well. Now I just need to pick what I’ll read next.

O’s parents are coming over in a bit. I can’t wait until I get my own car so we won’t have to depend on them to give us a ride to the supermarket. I could walk to the supermarket get all of the food that I need, but O likes to buy lots of soda and other heavy and/or awkward things (like pizza and potatoes). And I can’t carry that stuff up hill in the awful weather we have here. I mean, I could, but then it’d take me all day (okay, just the morning) to do it and I feel it’d zap my creativity that occasionally strikes. That’s another thing that I noticed this week: I get the creative ideas of what I could write for class and stuff only to find out that there isn’t enough space in my notebook to write them down. I’ll have to start carrying around my peach colored multi-purpose notebook again. So far it contains sections of various knitting patterns, genealogy research stuff, writing ideas, general notes to myself…

Ooh ooh! I’ve got a picture of my first “proper” handspun! It’s all done on a drop spindle too. It’s about 180 yds in fingering weight (about 15 wpi) 100% wool. No idea what to make out of it though. Not enough for a full pair of mittens, but I might pair it up with something else to make mittens. Or I could add it to my scrap entrelac scarf I plan on making after I’ve gotten my WIPs done. With that scarf I’m basically trying to use up all of the leftover sock yarn I have hanging around. Still haven’t decided if I should knit up all of my sock yarn before I start it though. I’ve got about five skeins of various sock yarns hanging around (four of those will be socks, one might become gloves). We’ll see. Anyway, here’s the yarn.

The house is still a mess, but tomorrow I can finally vacuum again! Then it’ll be exactly 14 days since the exterminator came the second time and this time I hope the bugs stay away. I haven’t really felt like cleaning up when I’ve known that I can’t vacuum so tomorrow’ll be fun! And no, that’s not sarcastic. I actually do like to clean, especially when I’ve got good music to listen to while I do it. The first room I’ll tackle is the living room, then the dining room, then the kitchen and finally the bedroom & bathroom.

I’ve been trying out my Happy Housewife scents and so far I really like most of them. There are a few that I don’t like, but that’s the fun of being in a club. Get something new that I wouldn’t have thought of ordering and be happily surprised (lovelovelove the club exclusive scent! Will very likely be getting a bottle of that) and then there’ll be stuff that won’t work on me. And I don’t mind that, it’s just how body chemistry works. Like my sister has found her signature scent that smells wonderful on her, but when I tried it? Nuh uh. So I’ll be gifting some of my non-working scents to someone. I’ll offer them first to my sisters and if they don’t want them, I’ll have to find someone who does. :)

One more thing! I have dance shoes! They feel kinda low compared to the shoes I used to dance in, but I’ll get used to it. Lol, a 2 1/2 inch heel low. I used to think that was plenty high enough, but apparently not anymore. Anyway, at least these won’t have my slipping and sliding around the floor while doing the Jive and almost killing me. :D