Well, I’ve been a bit slack this week. I started on the bolero in Vogue Knitting, and have the back done, but am having major problems with the front pieces. So I’ve posted on Craftster in hope of aid, and emailed the VK website for advice too in case the problem is size specific. I also asked a colleague at work who has been knitting for donkey’s years, and she came up with the same result as me – the decreases on the front do not add up to the number of stitches the pattern says I should have at the end. 🙁 Poo. I’m working on the sleeves till I find out what is wrong, and I’ll probably have one done by the end of the weekend (not much time for knitting this weekend!).
The weather has been gorgeous this week – lovely and sunny, but also very humid, sticky and sweaty. Thank goodness for the air conditioning at work that normally freezes us (I wear gloves when working at the back of the counter, it is so cold in winter!). Unfortunately, there was no airconditioning in Greenhead Park last Saturday when I did Race for Life. I’m glad my mate was there – she’d been poorly during the week, so we made it a slow walk and I ‘kept her company’ while our work colleagues zoomed off! It was a fab day, and very emotional. It is so moving to do it with so many people in a similar situation or similar experiences. And of course we earn money for a good cause, while having fun. My face, despite having factor 15 on it (more than on my body) rapidly gained a glow on the nose and cheeks which is still hanging around… I still don’t look tanned tho – just ‘rosy cheeked’. The perils of being fair skinned. The upshot of it being so hot is that I haven’t knit much, as my hands get too sticky too quickly.
I have had time to re-think some long neglected projects too. I’ve frogged the lace cami from Weekend Knitting. A shame, but a good thing too, as I realised it was going to be too big and sacky for me. Instead I’ll be making something from my new pattern book – yay! I bought A Season’s Tale by Kim Hargreaves from Amazon while buying a gift for someone (thus saving money in the long term on postage). There is a gorgeous pattern for a tank made in KSH using 4 balls, which matches my stash perfectly, plus 3 different options for a neckline: slash, v or polo. The polo neck is a bit too ruffled for me, so at the mo I can’t decide between the slash or v. I’m leaning to the slash neck – after all the fuss and reknitting with the bolero, I fancy something a bit simpler, but not less interesting. The book is full of lovely classic patterns with a little bit of a twist to them sometimes. There is something about it that makes me want to make everything, even if it won’t suit me or I can’t find a man who is willing to wear it (DB has a phobia of cotton wool, so he hates the piles of yarn balls in the corner of the lounge and the knitting swatches and stuff, and he won’t touch the finished item unless I’m wearing it. The last isn’t a problem ;), but the rest can be). The cotton 4 ply from Lucky will now make a clover free Lucky – I really want a ballet wrap cardi, but can’t find a decent pattern in the right size, so I will swatch up a plain square and see how it compares with the lace one, and hope I can adapt it to make a nice plain version of the pattern. There is also a lush pattern by Debbie Bliss, but I need to shrink my chest first for that one…
I have been very restrained on the yarn front, and despite there being a sale on at Beatties, I only bought yarn on the request of a friend to send to her. It was a bargain tho! 500g of unlabelled yarn, which when you look and are in the know, is very clearly Sirdar Wow! in a dark navy – the same I used for the cushion cover that broke the camera memory card. 500g for £3.50 (less than you pay for one ball of it!). Yay! There were many bargains to be had – similar unlabelled 500g bags for the same price, while full packs of a kilo were 5.95. I was very strong. Aren’t you proud of me? 😀 Although I am saving myself now for a trip to Coldspring Mill not far from me. They apparently have a huge collection of discount yarn (inc Debbie Bliss) for 1p a gram. ooooooooooooooooooooo. Yummy…
I’m going shopping with my mum tomorrow in Manchester, but as yet haven’t found any exciting links to yarn shops in the city centre. We won’t be travelling out of the city except to go to the Trafford Centre maybe, so it will probably be a good thing. I’m planning to spend some tho – I need loads of things, and they all come at the same time as a birthday bash shared between myself and a friend. We’ll be going out in Leeds, and stopping in a hotel, so it won’t be cheap, and I will need a new outfit so that I am glam enough for the city… Yay!
Sunday I’m going with DB to see a silent Hitch film at Bradford Pictureville – an art house kind of cinema in the Film and Photography museum. If you are ever in Bradford, you should go to both – they are fab. The museum has original models of Wallace and Gromit, so that should be enough to tempt you 😀 I’ve booked Monday off, in case we are back late, so that should be nice.
I think that’s it for now! Back to some knitting…