I am so unfit!

6 months ago I ran a 5k race in 30 mins. Then I had a rest. Then my MSc kicked in again and I had to study really intensely, and then the weather was too bad to run etc etc etc etc…
Today was the first time I have run properly in months, and I barely managed 2.5k in 25 mins in a run for a min, walk for a min style (with probably nearly 5 mins just walking to the top of the hill for a warm up). I am rediculously unfit! I hope it comes back soon.
Also, my Debbie Bliss DK arrived today, so I can finish off the earwarmers 😀 Hoorah! Another one to tick off the list (nearly)

Too much stash! (what a surprise)

Hoorah! I have finally got some time to do some serious not-studying 😀 I have spent it so far learning how to enjoy myself again.
Friday night a friend came over, we ate nice food, drank good wine, ate Green and Blacks Ice Cream then went to see House of Flying Daggers. Very good, but somehow a little disappointing. I’ve seen a review on IMDB that said it was like a soap opera, and it is, but a high quality, beautifully shot one. Just a couple of things bug me from it though, and I’m probably being really anal/sad. I hate that the blizzard at the end doesn’t move their hair or make the fight harder. I hate that it is extremely obvious that it is painted on. It bugs me that the continuity at one point is a bit off – Mei suddenly has a spot on her chin that wasn’t there a second ago, and then disappears (although I did wonder whether I saw it properly and it wasn’t the owner of the brothel… Need to check that one out!). So well shot and composed, but disrupted by such little things that could have taken 2 mins to fix. Still, a must see! Then we went to a couple of bars, came back here and watched Peter Kay at MEN, which is always ace no matter how many times you see it 🙂
Saturday, friend was viewing a house in Holmfirth with her man, so I went along for the trip. And accidentally went to Up Country naturally 😉 Therefore the stash has increased a bit… I now have 4 balls of Rowan Kid Classic in a dark grey, 4 balls of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed in a light green-grey and 7 balls of Kid Classic in a gorgeous light purple that I got from Get Knitted on sale (it was cheaper than the 4 from Up Country, including postage!). They all have projects though, so that isn’t too bad. The Yorkshire tweed is for Bloom in Rowan 36, the purple for Fern from the same, and the dark grey for a shrug in Scarf Style.
I still have tons to knit up tho. I’m making the butterfly scarf from SNBN for a friend, in Rowan Cotton Chenille, and I hate knitting with it. It slips off the needle, has an uneven completely non-maintainable gauge, but it does feel nice. I just hope it looks half decent enough to give as a gift when it is done. I’ll have loads left over too, which is poo now, because I don’t want to knit with it really anymore! Oh well, maybe I’ll be inspired one day. It might work for Vintage Velvet in Scarf Style… If I can be arsed!
Also working on a fan and feather scarf in some Jo Sharp kid mohair stuff, which is on hold at the mo. And there are some socks on the go, but I’ve only done a few of the ribbing rows at the beginning of the first sock. I’m waiting for a ball of Debbie Bliss DK to finish off an earwarmer/headband thing – apparently the stockists are having problems with it and I can’t get it until they have their delivery 🙁
And I’ve got two jumpers on the go too! That Sirdar one is still going, but I’ve finished the back at least! Plus Tempting from Knitty is still going, but this time I’m about 5 inches in. I can see it taking ages, but with luck it will be worth it.
The real pain in the arse is that all the stuff I’m making is ribbing! The butterfly scarf is 1×1, Tempting 2×2, socks 2×2, Sirdar jumper, 2×2 for a few inches. And I am so fed up of it! At least the Jo Sharp scarf at least is different, but it isn’t high on my list to get done as it is my treat rather than something that needs doing. I am so not allowed to start anything else tho till I’ve got the butterfly scarf done and Tempting (I think). When I’ve done the scarf I want to finish off the Maya and make some fingerless gloves (a la Eternal Sunshine, but shorter), so that will be more ribbing, but v quick at least! By the time I get on to the stuff from Rowan 36 it will be summer, and I won’t need any of my stuff anymore. Hmmph! Well, hopefully not 😀

Nearly there!

Hoorah! Only a few days to go before the next assignment is due in and I can rest for a few days. That means finishing off loads of half done knitting projects, and spending some time with my mates instead of living like a leper. For a short time until my next modules start and I have to do the same thing again till summer.
Finally got to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind this weekend – that was my treat for finishing that essay on Friday. Just lovely. It was a gorgeous enlightening film. If you ever have a low day and you need to feel like the poo bits of your life are worth it, then this is the film for you. And if you have an other half, then watch it with them – it is a good film to get snuggly watching 🙂 Oh, and I am really sad because I kept noticing the fab knitted/crocheted stuff that Clem wore. I want to make those arm warmers and that scarf, and that choker… Vvvvvv sad indeed 😀

Sundays are slow

But feel like they have gone really quickly by the evening 🙁 This weekend I have done lots of coursework, and not much knitting. Although I did manage to squeeze in a little bit… 😀
I had a delivery of some Debbie Bliss stuff to make the earwarmers in SnBN, but unfortunately none of the green stuff for leaves, just some black aran for the headband, and some red for the flowers. It is a pretty nice weekend knitting project, as uninterrupted it wouldn’t even take a day. Nice to have something quick to work on for instant gratification while I’m studying, cos it gives me a bit of a break.
I’ve also started a second Tempting (from Knitty – I’m following the knitalong on Craftster). This is because I decided to use 4.5mm needle instead of 5mm as that would make me meet the gauge more closely with the Jaeger yarn I have. But, I’ve barely done 2.5 inches of it and have used one ball already. I have 8 balls, and the whole thing is 24 inches long. You work it out! Therefore I don’t think it will be a bad thing to try knitting a ball up separately on the 5mm needles to see how much I get out of one before I cut down on the length and try to make the most of the yarn I have. Touch wood I’ll get more length by the metre.
Ooo ooo ooo! I extend the stash a bit too! I went through Beatties to get back to work on my lunch break, and saw they had a wool sale. I bought 10 balls of Sirdar DK in a taupe brown for 6 quid 😀 Bargain! I will use it to make my long awaited sleeveless jumper, and maybe a Belle Star from Knitty too… Depends how much it takes for the jumper. Roll on assignment submission!

Yawn

Well, today could have been worse, but as expected getting up early was a killer. Stupid work. Then naturally stuff has happened that gave me lots of extra work to do. Oh well, I have a job and that is something more than a lot of people have, so I shouldn’t complain! I shall try and be a good girl today.
I must give honourable mention to the fabulous Janey, whose comment for my felted hat is most appreciated, so many thanks to you, pet. It is so simple it is brilliant 😀 She quotes a site that says that to work out how deep you need to make a hat for yourself, make it as deep as from the bottom of your palm to the tip of your middle finger. How cool a measurement is that?! Just shows that nature does have methods, and that the size of a man’s hand is representative of something, even if not his bits…
Today I bought How to Crochet from a bargain book shop, and I am already deeply disturbed. Why does knitting seem so much simpler despite needing so much? I’ve been told that if you can do one, you can so do the other, but I can’t even read the pattern yet! I don’t think is the best book to learn from though, by the looks of it. Good diagrams, but tipsy descriptions. Nevermind! I can only get better from not being able to crochet at all 😀

Last day of freedom

Well, back to work tomorrow, after a couple of days extra for studying. Have luckily managed to get loads done, so have had a nice relaxing evening dreading the fact that I have to be up at 6.20 tomorrow morning. Yack. Also a bit sad that the nice time off with the boyf has to end. We didn’t really do anything but it was nice not to do anything together.
Have got a little bit of knitting done 🙂 Well I have to have some way of relaxing after all that studying! I finished the Maya scarf, which is a good thing seeing as the Jo Sharpe stuff arrived today 😀 I’ll post pics another day – it’s too dark to take pics right now. Have also succumbed to the Tempting pattern on Knitty. Not sure if I’ll have enough yarn for it though the way the first ball has knit up, but I haven’t checked the gauge yet. I wanted to do a few rows on the circ needle first as apparently the gauge can be a bit different knitting in the round. So there is no point posting a pic of that till I know that it will knit right.
Anyway, I’m off to watch the rest of my last night of freedom trashy film and switching off my brain while I still have one. Roll on Friday 5pm! (ooo – just remember it will just be a two day week, and then the next two weeks are only 4 days cos of study leave. That’s not too bad for going back to work :D)

Happy new year!

This year I am not making any resolutions, as I am guarenteed to break them. All the usual ideas still stand that I fail to do anyway. I will be thinner, save money, advance my career etc etc etc. But I probably won’t… I’ll still be sat on an ever expanding arse reading books that I should try and read before I am 30 that should have been read before I was 20, then 25. I’ll still be studying, I’ll still be trying to learn Japanese, and get no further cos of my studying. I’ll probably be knitting loads of stuff that I can’t wear too!
Which leads me to this. Here is the long delayed posting of photos that only 2 people look at – me and PH (with occassionally Stu noseying around). And he only comes to look so he can post sarcastic comments 😀 Alright, if I post them at Crafster then people will look at the pretty pictures, but they probably won’t read this (go on – prove me wrong! 😉 I dare you!).
Anyway here is a picture of a bag.
Felted Knits bag.JPG
It was made from a pattern in Felted Knits, and I am rather pleased with it. Knitted up from Noro Kureyon, run through 2 washes (the first felted it, but it wasn’t strong enough). A couple of people at work have expressed in interest in it, but I won’t be making anything so labour intensive for anyone else for a while, literally only blitz projects and the big stuff I have on the go at the moment.
Here are some mittens I made ages ago, but never took pics of. Again they needed felting twice to make them shrink enough, knitted up from another Felted Knits pattern, in Debbie Bliss Maya. Yummy yarn. The pic is not really representative of the colour – it is a really nice dark swampy green, with variations into a greeny browny yellow. Sounds horrible, but I like it!
Mittens.JPG
Next up is the scarf I’m making to go with the mittens. Started with Wavey from Knitty, but I got too bored with it. Sorry! My brother bought me a book for Christmas called Scarf Style, so I’m now knitting up a pattern from there by Jo Sharp called Misty Garden. I’ve also ordered some wool that it was knitted in originally, cos it looks too good to miss. But here is a far from completed scarf. The texture of the wool is quite different to the one in the pattern, so they will look like two different designs in the end.
Scarf Style scarf 1.JPG
Finally I have made a hat from Knit One Felt One. A cloche to be precise. Unfortunately it is too tall for me, so I might try and felt it some more, but I also might be lazy and turn the edge up. Or be daring and cut it down. I’m not sure yet, but either way I’m not posting a pic of me wearing it yet!
Felted cloche.JPG
So there we are. I’m also still making a Sirdar jumper, have Pin Up Queen lined up, and some socks, and Sarah’s bag to finish. And I have to make a post Christmas pressie for Becky which she already knows about cos she picked it out 🙂
I should go do some more work now… 🙁 I have done more than I expected today though, as I had a flash of brilliance (ha! Let’s see what my mark says when I get the essay back!) after about 15 mins of writer’s block. But Dave keeps nudging me to do more 😉 I will thank him one day, but not today 😀