just what the Dr ordered, a little light reading to help the day go by
and this also happened to be in the parcel
I think I feel a felting experiment coming on
My thanks to everyone for the good wishes, today has been the first day in a week when I haven't been sick. The room seems to be standing still as well, so all I need now is the cough to go away and the noises in my ears to stop.
The garter stitch project continues slowly on it's way with the 3rd panel ready to be added. It's not the world's most stimulating project but I do hope it will be a wearable one.
I started this morning with the positive intent of returning to work. Less than 2 miles into the journey i felt so travel sick I got off the bus and walked home! Back to the Dr's for me.
Knitting attempts have been frustrating, the yarn for Olivia's jacket is so fine I can't feel it; I seem unable to knit garter stitch to an even tension and attempts to read a pattern and then my knitting just make me nauseous.
I'm persisting with the garter stitch and now have 2 panels completed, 187 rows of less than 30 stitches in a week - it's a good job I'm not trying to compete in the Knitting Olympics. No-one's guessed the pattern as yet - want to try guessing the yarn?
Being at home gives me far too much time to browse the internet and I seem to be click happy and have orders on their way from a number of different sources - I need to get back to work before the floor subsides with more purchases. I've only ordered oddments of things for felting projects but once i added in magazines, patterns and bag bottoms the cost seems to have rocketed.
I've just realised that I missed the Liberty's group birthday last week - six years of meeting there - what a fantastic tribute to Polly and the other founding members
.... call for desperate measures!
I refuse to give in and not knit so the last few days have been an exercise in damage limitation. The garter stitch is my friend!
I'm not so sure about the yarn. Over the years I've knitted quite a few special requests for my family and have spent a small fortune on cashmere and Kid Silk Haze for my mother so it was a surprise when she asked me to knit her a scarf in one of the cheapest eyelash yarns I've ever used. I managed to get a short scarf out of the 100gms and it's packaged up to send to her tomorrow - not a pleasant knit but she will be happy and it's another 170 yds to my mile!
The other garter stitch product is this
anyone want to hazard a guess as to what it might eventually be?
The yarn was a birthday gift from my youngest sister a few years ago and has been maturing in the stash pile. I originally intended to use it for a different project but hated the way it looked knitted up in the pattern so it's been in time out until I found a pattern that should work.
Matt's recovered enough from the flu to return to work - only snag is I think he's passed it to me!
Normally I'd cope with being at home by watching dvd's, knitting and reading - not this time around, for some reason the vertigo has kicked in and I'm fine as long as I don't move my head. Knitting has consisted of casting on 30 sts and trying to knit a panel of garter stitch, something i would have thought I could do in my sleep - obviously wrong as I seem to have dropped two stitches!
So I'm lying here listening to old podcasts about knitting and plotting new projects. The knit a mile was going well, I'm over half way through Manon, back on track with the baby jacket and up to the armholes of peonies and should be on target to finish the mile in the time planned.
I need to pick a stashbusting project from mid- February and think it might have to be the Hanne Falkenberg kit that I bought in February last year if I can find where I moved the pattern to!
The one bright spot to my morning was the news that I'd won a prize in another blog competition -wonder what it will be?
A couple of finished items to report this week which have added a further 250 yards to my mileage!
First is Windward
pattern by Woolly Wormhead who has done a fantastic job not only with the patterns but also with the kitchener instructions which finally made sense to me! the yarn was Pear Tree DK and is a lovely yarn to work with - I like it's occasional blips.
Next up is a neck warmer knitted from Fyberspates Sqishy yarn that is a mix of BFL and Alpaca
a fun, quick knit that I'm hoping will help ward off the putrid sore throat that seems to have attacked Matt and some friends.
The third project on the needles this week is Manon by Ilga Leja using Ranco Multi
The final photo is my final gift from Julie in the WLK swap. I've been spoilt by another pair of handknit socks, neat cards, soap and chocolates - my ideal package! This has been a great swap as I actually got to meet Julie, T, and Bella when they came to the UK in July
A substantial part of Saturday was spent knocking on my neighbours' doors! Since my well trained postman left his job in early December we have had a series of newbies who don't understand the way things work around here. As a consequence I've had packages left with at least 8 different neighbours, all of whom have different lifestyles and work hours to Matt and I.
I rounded up 10 different packages and had a great time opening them. Some of the packages contained mundane items that I had ordered, some contained computer bits to give Matt something to play with and others contained books that I had ordered and one contained beautiful knitted items that are now on my feet and scrumptious yarn! Thank you notes have been written and will be on their way as soon as I find the stamps!
Here's the long awaited book
All pretentions of doing housework stopped whilst I found yarn and needles. The yarn is Pear Tree DK and was a gift from an Australian friend who thought I might like to knit a hat with it. Linda - you were right! Here's the in progress shot
I'm enjoying the yarn and it's occasional slubs, the pattern is clearly written and I love the chart version. I've at least 3 other hats bookmarked to make. The highlight of the book for me is the section on grafting Woolly Wormhead has excelled herself with the clear directions and Pixeldiva's photos are fantastic.
Other knitting this week has been the commuter project of Olivia's jacket. I finally finished the back
The yarn is Baruffa Bollicina and feels so soft to work with - I'm fantasising about a camisole for me knitted in it but the thought of how many stitches it would need soon adds a dash of cold water to the plan.
The Knit a Mile challenge started well. I've knitted up 600 yards of yarn, I've walked an average of 3 miles per day (usually around the office) but the incoming yarn has gained by nearly 2 miles thanks to the gifts and a quick trip to the All the Fun of the Fair sale!
This is the start of Peonies from Hand Knit Style - the original used a variegated yarn but I wasn't happy with the way the original yarn I'd planned to use was working out.
I've started knitting this using the Jaeger Ascot that I bought in Liberty's sale. The yarn is funny to work with due to the elastic element but I'm hoping that will help it keep it 's shape. I'm enjoying the pattern but still haven't memorised line 3 of the 10 row pattern so need to refer to the working copy I carry around with me.
The finished size is slightly less than I need it to be but I'm hoping that the negative ease will create a sweater that fits.
The postman came again today and thanks to my friends I do now have to knit a second mile! Perhaps that will be the March target. I'm not setting targets for february as work one's will be stressful enough on their own.
Walking today 2 miles (using a pedometer to count), knitting 40 stitches before I lost the 2nd needle out of my bag. I'm going back to using circulars!
So much for good intentions....
In 3 days I have knitted 268 yards and walked 5 miles and then along came the postman.....
My prize from Wye Sue for guessing how many wip's she had
By my calculations I think I have to another 2/3 of a mile
One of the great things about Ravelry is the inspiration you find. I've known for a long while that my stash is out of control (was it ever in control?) and that I need to get more exercise so my only New Year's resolution is to join in with the Knit a Mile challenge.
It starts at 4pm GMT today and the aim is to have knitted a mile of yarn in six weeks. I'm also aiming to walk a mile each day arthritis permitting.
The pedometer is set but no needles / yarn / specific project have been chosen - I'm intending to dabble, as usual, with an eclectic mix of projects. I have a few small gifts to finish, a baby jacket to knit and sale yarn waiting for inspiration.
I'm off to play with Excel to see if I can find a way of recording all this!
I still don't know who was sending to me - I hope I find out at some stage as I enjoyed my packages and would like to give thanks.
For my downstream pal I was sending to Ambermoggie and had great fun in choosing items for her & Mr Mog.
This morning the postman has handed me a wonderful package from Amber which has really brought a smile to my face
For someone who thought she couldn't knit socks Amber has done a fantastic job at knitting socks for my difficult feet. I love the elemental doll and will treasure her
i'll apologise now for the lack of html links - i can only cope with them when my brain isn't frazzeled!
We had a peaceful new Year's Eve and day at home, knitting, playing music and watching old dvd's.
This morning was back to work with a vengeance as I was on duty all day. I love my job but there are times it is stressful - we have a lot of unsettled youth in the community due to yet another murder, very much "on our doorstep" and everyone is understandably jumpy.
I left work at a civilised time so decided to join the I Knit London group at the Royal Festival Hall just for an hour - on the way there I had my pocket picked and lost my disabled travel pass and some banknotes - it could have been far worse but I feel violated and annoyed at the hassle I will have to go through to get another pass and the expense I will have to pay out !
I arrived frazzeled but was greated with a hug by Gerard who very obligingly bought me a drink. It was great to catch up with Chrissie (Ghostknitter) who was visiting from Singapore; to chat with Ann (Pixeldiva) and congratulate her on her photos in Woolly Wormhead's book and to get the chance to chat and teach / learn from other knitters. I got to meet Julieann (from Ravelry and learnt a new stitch to practice on the knitting loom.
The journey home was uneventful but I couldn't settle to knit so am opting for an early night in bed and a better day tomorrow!
I doubt I'll get to Liberty's though as someone has booked me full of client appointments until 7pm!