WIP/Random Wednesday
1. I made this little sweater for an ornament swap (well, it’s a prototype because one sleeve is longer than the other, so I’m keeping it) – I need to make 5 more.
Dice are for scale.
2. I’m slogging along on the Gusset Heel Basic Sock (and the yarn is still happy to be plain stocking stitch)
3. I’m really enjoying this bit of Project Spectrum – it’s East with subcategories of Air and Wood so I’m taking lots of photos of trees and clouds
4. I’ve rewound the Colourmart yarn ready for the Anniversary Shawl starting on Saturday (although I may be busy wrapping presents and baking a cake for my dad’s birthday)
5. I wrote a cheque (check) for the first time in two years. And I posted it in an actual postbox. I’m surprised I remembered how to do either of those things!
6. Lancashire cricket club keep winning matches. I’m not used to this – it’s unnerving
7. I’m overwhelmed by the positive response to the Candlelight Kimono – thank you so much! There is already an errata, but you probably knew that!
8. And just so I can finish on my favourite number, see you next time! 
Because I’m catching up on stuff..
(Knitting content below)
And MrsDrWho tagged me, here are “6 Quirky but boring facts about me”
- I can wiggle my ears (independently of each other) up and down; a skill I inherited from my father’s father.
- My second toe is the same length as my big toe; I got that one from my dad
- I have a coffee cup and a tea cup and tea should never be put in the coffee cup or vice verse – they taste wrong.
- I am right handed but pour the kettle, the milk, etc left handed. If I pour right handed I judge the distance wrong and spill.
- I tend not to have the exact same haircut for more than 6 months
- Lists of even numbers make me nervous
- Ahh…. that’s better!
Rules
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that let’s them know they’ve been tagged. Not bothering with that, but if you’d like to share your own personal crazy, I’d be more than happy to laugh and point read your list
Progress on my Guided by Love sock
Not bad, huh?!
The throat is better (thanks for the good wishes) but I’m still feeling a bit dopey (who’d notice) and my hearing is a bit down (huh? Pardon?).
Until next time …
On sanity and coughs
I’ve got one and not the other – fancy guessing which is which?!
Maybe this will give you a clue?
Yes, I have a cold and I think I inhaled mould spores. I do not do things by halves, me. The mask is because I am now a lean-ish, mean-ish mould-killing machine. HIYA! Take THAT!
So, on to the thing I don’t have; my sanity.
I am a member of the Ample Knitter’s Yahoo Group because I fulfil both criteria for joining! Anyway, I shared my Torbay cardigan, which was warmly received, and I was then contacted by the list owner, Pam. She said she had been wanting to run a knit along for the group with a garment designed specifically for the group and it’s members. After a couple of days of thinking, I agreed to design something.
WHY?!?!?!?!?!?
I have no idea. In any case, here’s what I’ve come up with, in sketch-form;
No stealing of photos, please!
And this is the yarn I’ve picked:
Patons UK Serenity DK; a cotton/bamboo yarn.
I’ll be swatching as soon as I’ve finished my Christmas-type knitting and I’m aiming to start the KAL in February or March. I intended it to be a garment for a Northern Hemisphere Spring or a Southern Hemisphere Autumn.
The pattern will only be available via the Yahoo Group (at least for the time being) and will be FREE!!!!
Again, I’m an idiot!
Finally;
Does my Santa have boobs?
Now with added crochet!
Hang on! Come back! Sorry for mentioning the c-word, I promise this isn’t going to turn into a crochet blog!
See how pretty?
I love the texture you can achieve with crochet and how lacy stitch patterns are so much easier.
And also – woohoo! I managed to start with 41 stitches and I currently have 41 stitches.
3 pattern repeats of the lace. You’ll have to trust me that the sides are straight; the lace part pulls in quite a lot.
You have no idea how happy this makes me! The above is the Treenah scarf from the inaugural issue of The Inside Loop and is destined for my neighbour’s neck.
I keep checking and it does look like the pattern photograph. The designer used alpaca, but my neighbour can’t have anything woolly/itchy near her, so I’m using an acrylic. I’m hoping I’ll be able to block it out and I may even apply heat to try and “kill” the yarn so it stays blocked.
An “interesting” week:
The past seven days haven’t been easy because it contained anniversaries of both of my grandfather’s deaths. It’s also been very cold and I don’t do well when the temperature drops below about 20 C!
Look what happened on Saturday:
Spooky!
More traditional pursuits:
I’ve been knitting steadily on my three active projects and here is where I am with all of them;
Veste Everest/Cricket vest for my mum:
4 repeats completed, with 1 full repeat of 14 rows plus 12 rows to go before armhole shaping.
Toe Up Socks with a Difference:
Just knitting around on the leg now – totally mindless, but has to be done!
Mystery socks/Mad for Plaid:
I’m only doing a couple of rounds a day on these so it’s slow-going and I’m still on the gusset decreases on the second sock. The first sock’s toe has been grafted.
Erm … yeah. So. A mixed time in the past seven days, but could have been worse!
If you celebrated Thanksgiving I hope it went well. As well as large gatherings of family ever can, of course!
Next time, I’ll tell you why I agreed to design a garment for a knit along for free! Hint: the answer may involve questioning my mental stability!
Proof I can’t read
See this sock?
The cuff? Yeah – nice, right? See the heel? Also nice. The cuff is supposed to look like the heel. D’oh.
I’m soldering-on and will replicate my mistake on the second sock, but it would have been nice to have something that looks like the pattern Debi made.
Since Clue 2 is finished, I’ve started the second sock and made reasonable progress this evening.
Another Clue 2 which has been successfully completed is the Woolly Wormhead Mystery Beret KAL.
En tête
Off tête
Cute, non?
In other news …
I’ve started what is turning out to be the world’s worst washcloth
It’s supposed to have straight sides. It does not. And there I was, thinking I’d finally cracked this crochet racquet.
Speaking of ball sports, I’ve also made a start on my mum’s cricket vest
I know. Singularly unimpressive, but there it is. I’m working both the back and front simultaneously to avoid Second Sock Vest Syndrome. The yarn is O-Wool Balance in proper Lancashire and England cricketing colours of red (well, it’s a bit pink, really) and cream.
Thanks and tech-talk
Finally, a quick thanks to all the compliments on my shawl. I had a kind of rough week with family stuff and it was wonderful to wake up to those comments. I’ve worn the shawl 3 or 4 times since I finished it and it’s so versatile. (Not an advert, promise) I know the price of the finished pattern seems steep, but I worked out that you can have over 200 variations from one pattern. Seriously.
And finally, finally; the comment reply thingy is working now and I can reply to comments and have them show up right here. This will help in keeping discussions going and also allow me to answer questions so that everyone can see them. WordPress will, eventually, have threaded comments like some online forums you may have seen.
This means if Person B replied to Person A’s comment, it will show up in that way. Anyway, it’s cool and a bit geeky, but there you have it!
Catch y’all on the flip side. Or not. Whatever!
