Meep meep

Here are the irish ladies socks. I think my photography skills are getting worse.

The pattern is almost like a mock cable when blocked. Very sweet and lovely to wear. Yarn is Artists's Palette Smootherino . Lovely to use. Project on Rav here.

I'm now about a third of the way through the 3/4 Hap Shawl - so maybe I'm actually about 1/4 through the whole shawl? (Maths joke) (kind of). I dithered about the second yarn and have gone with this orangey red one I got from a seller I met on twitter.

Details of yarns and pattern on Rav. The Solstice Yarn (red one) is a relatively thick fingering weight and has a lovely woolly, bouncy feel.

I thought I'd have a go at some distractions other than knitting. After the success of my resin experiments a few weeks back the bracelet blanks I ordered duly arrived and I poured my WWE bracelet last night.

It's not fully cured yet but I am rather excited about it. I'll describe who is who once it's done. I also had a go at a bit of hand stitched crazy patchwork last night. It's for an old fashioned letter pouch to keep my correspondence in.

I used whatever small bits I had left over - including some Liberty swatches Purlpower gave me in a swap. These swatches have been so useful in lots of projects and are not something I ever would have bought myself. It just goes to show how swaps can introduce you to something new. I also used them in a couple of xmas presents I'm not sure I ever blogged about.

I made these little sewing sets for my sisters out of used pasta sauce jars by adding a little pincushion to the tops. Neither of them do more than sew on the occasional button so I thought these were more than sufficient for that. They each contained a little felt needlebook with their initials embroidered on. I wish one/both/either were crafty - but then I guess they'd just steal my stash. Swings and roundabouts.

Time Flies When You're Going Through It

Slight pause in blogging there. I had another 'depressive episode'. Or in layman's terms - went a bit loopy for a bit. As a result I am now mid-med-change and having therapy again and so on. One of the silver linings of this particular black-dog-shaped-cloud is that I am spending weekends at Mater's. As an example of the joys of staying there here is the cat giving us the quintessential money shot.

She's no lady.

On my most recent stay we went on a jaunt to Wiveliscombe (pronounced will-less-coom, I think, who knows) and found a place very similar to Liberty in London.

Inside, a staircase ran around what seemed to be the inside of the walls all the way to the ceiling. But then when you ventured up there were lots of tiny rooms all packed full of pretty fabric and kooky furniture. It felt like a house from Bramley Hedge. The coffee shop was very nice too and you should have seen the cake selection.

On the way there and indeed on my way pretty much everywhere I took pictures of clouds.

This isn't for the cloud jumper I will one day get on with. Oh no. For about 5 years now I've had an idea of a fairisle based on the colours of clouds and landscape and have been taking pictures accordingly. The first time I remember doing this was on the way back from a long distant SkipNorth with Nickerjac. I have quite a collection now.

I've been doing a lot of comfort type knitting - here are the socks in all their glory which I finished two weekends ago.

I've since done another pair which reside on my tootsies right now but of which photos there are as yet none. I've also just cast on the 3/4 Hap Shawl this evening and am using some Old Maiden Aunt in Bramble as the first colour. I haven't made a shawl for...I can't remember when I last did actually. Have a feeling it was a p-hop patterns about 3 years ago. I've had this one queued for a while so thought I'd give it a go.

My Mum has had these patchwork placemats since before I was born.

I adore them and have always had it in mind to copy them. I tried a few years ago but it didn't work out. It might be time to consider having another go. The finishing on them is just beautiful.

2 Good, 1 Not Bad and 2 Ugly

Let's at least start with the good - these are the soles of my first pair of fairisle socks.

I started them almost a year ago and finished one before casting on the second and then putting it away. I've almost finished the second in the last 4 days. I'm not crazy about fairisle socks because you lose the stretch (at least, I do). But I have enjoyed making up the pattern on the soles as I go along. The main pattern is a chequered heart thing which I'll try to take an in focus shot of at some point.

The other good is that I fired up the embroidery machine and did this to my dressing gown.

The blue pen round the outside is water soluble tailors chalk type thing and I just haven't washed it off yet. I made it as big as it would go which isn't very big because it is one of the presets, but I still rather like it. I used some variegated thread I had stashed away. I love blues and greens. Sadly the good...

...also brings us to the bad...

I'm clearly ok with the stabilizer that goes over the top of fleece or towelling but not ok with the one that sticks to the back of thinner cotton. Made a hole in my summer dressing gown :( But hell, it could have been worse.

Our other 'ugly' contender is rather more annoying. My beloved Minnie the Minx jumper.

In my head: "Hey, you know one of the reasons for doing jumpers in the round is so you can try them on as you go along?"
Me: "Yep, knew that."
IMH: "So why then do you keep leaving it til almost the end before trying things on?"
Me: "Er...."
IMH: "Is it because you are reinforcing the schema you have built around your self-image since 2003?"
Me: "Woah, getting a bit personal there."

...and so on.

As a rough estimate I would say it was 20% too big. Maybe 25%. That's a lot of "too" to the "big". Fuck.

So that just leaves the 'not bad' which is the finished Fairisle Jumper.

I used applied i-cord around the armholes and neck and it looks very nicely finished. It wouldn't have worked if they weren't steeks as it would roll but it lays very flat as it is and I'm pretty happy with it. Of course - being me - it is slightly too big and slightly too short but hell, it wouldn't be me if it wasn't in some way faulty.

I've felt a bit odd the last 36 hours or so. I went to my assessment for therapy on the NHS yesterday. Going over all the back history is always a downer - and this was the whole back history back to childhood, not just the divorce stuff - and then she told me I did need therapy but there was a three month waiting list. It's already been a three month wait to get the assessment. It's just another set back. "Just". It's put me off my stride though. I had a couple if dates lined up from Match but I cancelled them as I felt too stressed to try and be normal in front of anyone. I was thinking a lot about Pooch again and also about "Religion for Atheists" which I am reading at the moment. Alain de Botton talks about the innate desire to have someone look after us, whether it is a god or a person. Not necessarily like a mother, although there are "Mary" figures in most religions, but more like having someone to listen to you and tell you it will be ok. Thank god for Angry Kitty.

Otherwise I really would feel like I was on my own.

Two Pints Byrne

I drank two pints of beer last night.


I haven't done that ever. In fact I don't even like beer. I was out with friends, one of whom is editor of a beer journal (I'm not making this up) and he recommended this stuff called Boon which tasted of beer not at all. In fact I quite liked it. Apparently it is a spontaneously fermented beer (no I don't know what that means either) and has sour cherries in it. It was certainly a good pink.

I've woosed out of my date for tomorrow. I just wasn't feeling it. On the plus side I now have the whole day to play with my new sewing machine.


A is for ace.

Give me a Resin to Love you

Much time ago I bought a kit to make resin pendants. It was another phase I was going through and nothing would satisfy me til I had made one. Then of course the kit took a week or so to arrive from america (perfectly understandable - lovely seller) to arrive and by then I had moved on to my next obsession. I'm sure that is typical of how the craft addiction cycle works for so many of us. There's so much craft...and so little time...Except there isn't really. There's lots of time and no need to hug every cat or do every craft right now. But anyway.

By no means perfect - you can see the resin has soaked into the white one - but overall I am very happy with them.

The white lady is actually from the envelope Natalie made me for LetterMo. She said she used that page because she thought I'd like the topic and I liked it so much I've immortalised it! Despite multiple warnings with the instructions I wasn't careful enough about sealing the paper (hence it soaking in in that little semi circle) so that is a lesson for next time.

The thing I love about resin is the 3D effect even on a flat surface. Of course that is increased if you use a bevelled container (all of these ones came with the kit).

You can see there were a few teeny tiny air bubbles caught in the holes of the buttons but I can live with those. I think next time I will try sewing some cotton through the button holes so they look more sewn on.

I've got more of the resin left and have ordered a few bezelled ring blanks. I'm thinking a WWE series of rings :)

Seriously though - Can't Hug Every Cat. Everyone should watch this.

Start of a New Era

Bernie came to dinner last night - two person knit'n'natter, very good - and brought the embroidered sewing machine I'm possibly buying from a friend. I've got it on trial.

I have *always* wanted one of these.

I am slightly hamstrung by having been caught unawares with no suitable interfacing in the house. Seriously - I have how many cubic metres of craft supplies and I don't have even a hankie's worth of soluble interfacing? The shame.

Bernie asked me what I was going to use it on. Well for a start all my pyjamas and dressing gowns (hey, I have two, get over it) are getting monograms. Then all my underwear are having inappropriate words added to them. Then I might get a bit more serious and explore some of the Urban Threads designs.

My cold went into remission yesterday - I woke up feeling splendid and even went outside and everything. But by the time Bernie left last night I was full of it again and feel grotty this morning. So I guess it's a good time for catching up on correspondence.

I got two lovely #lettermo letters yesterday and read them both with interest. Natalie had posted about receiving mine on her blog

"two pages in italic-ish handwriting which made me slow down to absorb the information. We are so used to reading typeface in magazines, newspapers books and online and I found myself needing to take my time, not because it was hard to read, but it’s been a while since I read someone else’s script" 

I could relate to this completely when I sat down to read my two. But then one of them was shorter than the other BUT contained two photographs of wrestling! Talk about a bonus. I shall query their origin in my reply.

Snow Again

I never mentioned the snow we had over the weekend. Last night it fell again which coincides with my curling up at home with a cold. I've spent the day so far doing a cat impression on the sofa. I did wonder about going outside for some fresh air and even went as far as opening the window.

That's far enough - baby steps.

I have cast on my first ever piece of double knitting. This is the technique and not a reference to the DK weight of the yarn. It does make it difficult to google though. There is a clear tutorial by Phazelia, who I was swap partners with many moons ago, free on Ravelry.

It is definitely slower than your usual or even ribbing (which it basically is but with a slight change) but then we were all slow knitters when we first started and I have sped up already. I'm randomly adding a dot where I feel like it without worrying about an even pattern. Of course the last thing I needed was to start another project but bleh - don't be mean to me, I'm ill. If you can do 1x1 ribbing then you can double knit and the resulting fabric is deliciously spongy. Of course it will probably be summer by the time I finish the hat - but then maybe I'll go whale watching in Norway and need it.

LetterMo - blogged about here - is in full swing. I'm rather enjoying it! I've written five so far and am now out of stamps.

If you'd like to receive one from me then send me your address: littlelixieat hotmaildotcom.

Well That's Not Good

I have never pretended to be an athlete.

I would not have said that I even particularly liked running.

But I liked the feeling of fitness and the way it kept my bulges to mere hillocks rather than mighty mountains.

I'd been getting shin pain so I went to the Physio. He told me to stop running. I am downcast.

Come on guys! Aren't I due a bit of a break? I finally find something that's good for me and now I can't even do that! I'm really quite annoyed about it. He says I've got flat feet. Flat feet!! I thought that only happened to malingerers trying to get out of national service in the forties. So because the arches aren't doing their shock absorber thing my shins are baring the brunt of it.

I was already a little concerned about the next week or two. I've had psychotic PMT the last couple of times and what with breaking up with Gordon I was not looking forward to this month's instalment. I've been reading up and calcium is supposed to help so I've been knocking back milk and supplements. Exercise is the other essential and now, kaboom, out that goes. I'm going to try swimming. But. No matter what those bloody adverts say. There are some times of the month when I would not feel comfortable going swimming.

Bah.

I made a necklace.

It didn't really cheer me up so I went back to admiring my embroidery.

Just a shame my photography skills aren't quite as good.

Letter Mo

I've not done very well with challenges recently. But coincidentally having written a letter to my ickle brother last week I was thinking maybe it would be nice to have a penpal or something. Not in the Brownie sense. More like in the 'thought you might find this interesting' sense.

Natalie has pointed this out to her Twitter followers. I've signed up and find myself 6 letters behind already! I'd better get writing. Would anyone like a letter from me? I'll post internationally. My email address is on the contact page (tab just below my header) so send me your postal address.

Bye bye baby, baby goodbye

Single again. Again. Ah well. Flash was my third relationship since I left the marital home and I've learnt a lot from all of them. Onward and upward.

I've been tidying up as I'm joining the Exchange Away website for swapping houses with people for holidays. In case anyone reading does have a property in Amsterdam, America, Peru or somewhere else interesting I have a one bed flat with an additional sofa bed which could sleep 4 at a pinch but more like 2 comfortably which is 10 mins from Canary Wharf. You will find it here.

While tidying I wound the skeins of wool I dyed for the cloud jumper. Here they are.

I'm very pleased with how it came out. I used Kemtex acid dyes in grey, navy blue and ultramarine, all quite watered down and then had set aside 2 cakes worth of undyed for the clouds themselves.

I also took some photos of WIP. This is the Minnie the Minx jumper which is approaching the armpits.

I was making it reversible but have decided to stick with the 'right side' of the stocking stitch. I just adore the sequins.

During the week I went to Sheffield for work and had time for a trip to the Wool Baa while I was there. A very lovely shop, crammed to the rafters and with an excellent selection. Bus stops abound or it is about a half hour walk from the train station.

I got some lovely things. The Cascade 220 is for a felted bag. I was planning one in fabric but couldn't find the right fabric. When I saw the heather green and the grey I knew a felted bag would do the job.

I'll write up the pattern once I see if the concept works out. It's a bit tricky because the shrinkage is so different top to bottom and left to right (yes - I actually swatched AND felted the swatch). I adore the colours though.

Sheffield itself was fecking freezing but as well as the shop I popped into the Millennium Gallery where the Crocheted Coral Reef was coincidentally in residence.

Just after taking the photo I was very politely told photos weren't allowed because of copyright. I didn't point out I'd crocheted some of it. And no - I couldn't spot my bit! It's reached massive proportions now. Of course Sheffield is famous for its metalwork. My eye was drawn to a display of scissors which included some HUGE shears...

...juxtaposed with these tiny little things.

They reminded me of the baby crabs we used to find on the beach when I was little. A tiny yet perfectly proportioned version of the fully grown adult. They were perhaps 15mm tall...The cafe at the Gallery is very nice and would make a good knitting group venue. They had an amazing "mix it yourself" hot chocolate where they brought you jugs of chocolate, milk and marshmallows and then left you to it.

Very nice. The setting was equally pleasant. Beautiful palms abounded.

And then there was the background hum. Actually it was more than a hum in this case. I felt like I was in some sort of Alan Bennett monologue as the woman sitting at the table next to me and who is leaning into the picture was amazingly annoyed and outraged by how she had been treated by an outlying branch of her family and was telling her companion all about it. In retrospect, I don't remember the companion saying anything at all.