Library Girl Knits!

Well, my lovely friend Sue has been extremely hard at work. She has knitted more in a couple of months than I managed in 4! She’s managed to knit a throw (a gift for her boyfriend’s mother) with a different stitch type in each square and a border too, several scarves, a bag, and half a jumper 😀 Probably more than that (I forget how much, but she has nearly as big a stash as me already too)
Here is the throw.

And here is the little bag being modelled by her neice (seeing as it was made for her!). The bag yarn was a gift that she didn’t quite know what to do with – there were a couple of balls of it, and being a new returner to knitting, she had to think a while about it, but her neice seems rather happy with it 😀

I’m very impressed with how prolific a knitter she is being 😀
Anyway, I am once again making loads of stuff! My Colinette One Zero arrived today, and I think I will make a nice herringbone scarf to replace the green one I lost on the train. I also started knitting up some of the Sirdar DK stuff I bought in the Christmas sales into the tank from White Lies. And I’ve started on the rug to bust my stash and get rid of the odd balls. Still working on the shrug and the camisole as well. Do you think I have enough on?! The scarf won’t take long though, and neither will the rug I would think. I hope not anyway!
Anyway, I’m off to sup wine, knit, and watch the rest of Spirited Away (NOT the US dubbing may I add!). Yay!

It was indeed. Sue and I spent most of the time doing knitting related things. She showed me her throw and I am mightily impressed with how quickly she has made it! I have high hopes for her… 😉 We also browsed through lots of knitting books/magazines, and I have suddenly developed an idea for my first design of a jumper… I’ve stolen a couple of bits from other people’s designs, but I think that is a good way to start inventing. I just have to learn how to make the proportions right for my size in the yarn I have (I think I’ll use the cheap aran I bought for pin up queen in SNB, and buy some nice mohair yarn from a very good seller on ebay, seeing as they are dirt cheap :D). I’m itching to play around and design while I have it in my head, but I also have lots of work to do this weekend, so I should do some of that first, then treat myself (I might not be saying that later when I try to work out how to make it!).
ooooo oo! I almost forgot! I also bought some new yarn from a little shop near Sue – Sirdar Duet. It is a bit odd (I’ll take a pic later of what it looks like and how it knits up – the weather is rubbish and it is really dark inside the house), but I think it could do some interesting things…
Anyway, the sooner I start some work the sooner I can play around 😉

Ach! The BFs crappy internet wireless doo dah cut out when I tried to save my post just now! Bastard thing…
To cut it short and save typing in for 20 more mins- Denise Interchangables = ace.
Gill and the Woolly Workshop (online UK knitting store who supplied the Interchangables) also = ace as they were v quick and very efficient, and are friendly, which is nice with a web company 🙂
Nearly getting to the mini break for Easter = ace as long as I can get some studying done before hand… Oops! I think I screwed that up already 😉

Hmmph. Do you ever have those days where you just feel really bummed out for no reason? I have absolutely no motivation, no stamina and no joy in me today. I’m a moaning Minnie today…
I have a weird metallic taste in my mouth, and have done for a few days now. Apparently it could be a number of things. It could be that I have some nasty gum disease (unlikely as it isn’t long since I visited the dentist), or that my dental work is reacting (which is a bit scary!). I could have electrical impulses in my mouth 😀 Probably not… Or I could have some scabby sinus problems or something. I might be pregnant (which would explain the mood swing!), or I could just need to change the toothpaste… 😀
That is the least of it, pretty obviously. I am so not in the mood to study, and I can’t be arsed knitting because if I am knitting, I’m not studying, and that is bad. And work is now supposed to be calm for a few days, with it being the Easter break, but that doesn’t mean that I have less to do there. Even Friends can’t pick me up right now, and [gasp] watching some new Simpsons. I’m going to see my friend this weekend, on Friday if I ever remind myself to look up train times, but blimey I hope I’m in a better mood by then! At least I should be increasing the stash by then… And I’ll have pics of hand feeding deer 🙂

I SO want to go to Japan! I was just suddenly filled with inspiration to look on Lastminute.com to see how much it would cost. It turns out that I might actually be able to afford to go next year! If I save, that is. It’s something that I have wanted to do for a long time, so to think that I might actually get to go soon is just unbelievable! I want to go to the Studio Ghibli museum (probably one of the few places the bf would want to visit with me!), and see the shrines and the gardens and the landscape. I want to see the cities and the shopping precincts and the restaurants and experience the huge scope of culture that the country presents.
And I might be able to do it! At last! A year and a bit is a long time, but a year passes far too quickly now (ahhhh, I’m getting old now!) 😀

But not that lazy. I spent 2 hours in the kitchen washing up, drying, cleaning, including the white cupboard doors, which somehow manage to collect filth that I didn’t even know existed 🙁 Then I put some washing on. Then I dossed a bit… 🙂
Then I frogged Tempting 🙁 I looked at the 8 inches of ribbing and decided that the rib pattern wasn’t for me in an aran yarn. I just frogged it while watching the Ross Emily wedding episode of Friends so that helped 😀 So now I have 696 meters (760 yards ish) of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in Cedar. I may have to buy some more in a different dye lot to make something, or play around a bit. I may even have to try and design something myself, but I’m not sure how to do it. I’d like a v-neck design, but I haven’t done that before… I suppose if I’ve already frogged 8 inches of ribbing, it wouldn’t do any harm to frog something again! Or, if one of the projects I’m on works, I might adapt it and use the Jaeger for it. I’ll have a rummage through my patterns and stuff for ideas…
Which brings me to something else. I’m now a little shorter on projects, but have lots in mind. I’m making the fluffy camisole from Weekend Knitting in Kid Silk Haze (Drab), following the knitalong on Craftster, but it isn’t moving too fast. I do like it so far though 🙂 I have high hopes for it! I’m also making the Shrug from Scarf Style, but I’m not sure whether I’ll have it the same way. The polo neck thing could look really silly, so I’m hoping I could adapt it to exist without it.
STILL making the socks 😀 They will be one of those things that never get finished, along with the Sirdar jumper because of the plasticy yarn.
Plus I have Belle Star planned, and Lucky from SNBN, which I was itching to buy yarn for online today, and ended up telling myself I couldn’t until I have reduced my stash. That means using up all the odd balls I have lying around seeing as lots of the stash is that. I’m going to make a rug out of strips from each oddment so that when I get in and out of bed, I don’t get cold feet on the laminate floor. That should take up quite a few balls and leave me with some space in the stash box 🙂 I’ve got a couple of tops lined up too – the leftovers vest, a white lies vest, and a Rowan vest if I can ever get my boobs small enough to fit into it!
Anyway, that is most definitely enough to go on for now (plus there are loads of wishes in Rowan 37 to dream of!). Maybe I’ll finish something else soon.
Dave phoned up, and he is still in work 🙁 On a Saturday it is at least time and a half, but this is above and beyond the call of duty. We’ll have a takeaway tonight, but I suspect that he won’t be up to watching much film wise. But lets see. If he comes home that will be enough for now!

Arggghhh! Someone tell me which template I need to have a links section at the side! I hate using templates… I didn’t learn HTML to use templates and forget everything I learnt…

I also blow. I really need to get up off my arse and do stuff – coursework, living, knitting, keeping friends. Etc etc. I’d love to start writing again too, but I have no ideas – all the ones I have are stolen from good books I read. Oh and restart (yet again) learning Japanese.
Ipods are ace. But the cheaper version that holds loads more on it than the Ipod is even better. Today I listened to Elbow, Reindeer Patrol, Kathryn Williams and the Killers. It may not know my moods, but it holds enough tracks for me to bump to another random track till I find one. Incidentally the cover of Candy Man by Cibo Mato is very good for going to work to, as is Beef Jerky and Birthday Cake (by the same). Nothing like a good loud shouty song to get you going in the morning when you know that you have a rough day ahead.
Anyway, here is a little thank you extended to Kitten for commenting too 🙂 I kept trying to post a comment your blog, but my web connection is apparently as sporadic as me posting… But the essence of it was, you are ace, you knit cool things, and you blatently like cool things if you like stuff I do 😉 Anyway, stuff that bloke, get out there and show the world and him too that you are way beyond what he could cope with in a woman. Eat Green and Blacks ice cream, and here is a list of good things to read and watch to keep your mind busy.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – gorgeous book, vvvvv long, but it doesn’t feel that way when you read it.
Battle Royale – blood fest with irony. Hoorah!
A Wild Sheep Chase – so bizarre, even in its normality that I totally fell in love with it.
Spaced, the TV series. Very silly, completely mad, quite British, but it makes me laugh no end 😀
Also fab is Look Around You but less so the second than the first series. If you want to taste it’s aceness go to www.bbc.co.uk/lookaroundyou
At this point, all I need say is:
thanks everyone for reading.
Thanks Kitten.
Thitten.

Well, I seem to have had a lovely pile of positive feedback on Fern on Craftster – bless em! They are all such lovely people there! I haven’t decided when to wear it yet, but they have convinced me that it is worth wearing in public and with pride (well I should do really considering the work I put into it!). I’ve already started on some other stuff, but I keep forgetting to take pics to upload. I made the fingerless mitts from Weekend Knitting in what was left of my Maya (still have half a hank left – it goes so far!). The sizing was a teeny bit off, leaving it a bit big on the fingers, but it was so easy and quick I don’t care – they’ll fit on over my gloves for extra warmth. I’ve also started on the fluffy cami in the same book. I’ll post pics of the yarn and my progress when there is something worth posting 😉 AND I’ve been crocheting the scarf from Rowan 36. My first ever crochet work! I don’t like it as much as knitting, but it does have that versatility to play around a bit more with to make stuff up.
I’ve also had a comment from Jada, asking a couple of bits and pieces, so I thought I’d answer them here. I’m still no good with Movable Type and how to play with settings, so rather than posting a comment myself, I figure it is less hassle this way. Hi Jada 🙂 If you are interested in Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I would highly recommend Of Love and Other Demons. It is a super quick read if you get into it quickly, but it is such a lovely story. He writes such gorgeous descriptions and characterisations, and this one is particularly interesting. Even his introduction has a little bit of magic thrown in to it 🙂
As for Audition, it is a really freaky film… But I like it in a sick “I want to punish myself and others by watching this” kind of way! It starts off really gently, and seems to get darker and darker. But it has a lot of intelligence behind it – the violence is kind of designed to reflect the way Japanese women have responded in extreme ways to the oppression they have dealt with in society, but the male characters are certainly not particularly nice either – would you fancy a bloke who held an audition for talented women and then used it to pick a potential wife to look after him? The first 2 thirds of the film are essentially a love story, while the bloke tries to find out more about his enigmatic chosen bride to be. The final third is where he starts to find out all kinds of nasty things in connection with her… It is only in the last half hour where things a really yukky. It helps to turn the sound down a bit! I’d be hesitant to recommend this film unless I knew about your personal tastes in film and what kind of gore you’ve seen, but if you can cope with the nastiness at the end, it is interesting viewing and reflection on gender roles in modern Japan, and historical treatment of women. But it also makes you want to throw up… Takashi is so determined to push the viewer, and almost seems to want you to leave before the conclusion. I’ll leave it at that to see whether that might tempt you, but you have been warned! I’d be interested to see what people think of this one actually. Heheheheh! (evil laugh)

Thank goodness for that! I know I haven’t posted in ages, but it is because I’ve been working on the Fern cardigan from Rowan 36 for over a month. I have pretty much finished it today – yay! It needs ironing and I missed a couple of threads when I was weaving them in which will need tidying, but I also need to get a ribbon to put across the front to hold it on my shoulders (as in the original pic that you can find on www.knitrowan.co.uk). I’m kind of elated, but let down. As always, it doesn’t look as fab on me as it does on the model as I am fat and she isn’t. Also, I had to play around with the pattern so that I wouldn’t run out of wool, so I ended up making a smaller sized sleeve, plus playing with number of rows between increases and decreases. All in all though, it has turned out ok. It is at least wearable, and perhaps even in public (gasp!).
So here it is on my bed (with the sheets being washed, but it shows the colour best really).

And here it is with me wearing it, in poor light, but you get the idea. I really need to kick myself up the arse and diet properly (spending time at mum’s didn’t help with half a bottle of wine each night – oops!), yet again…

And another pic where you can see the frill better.

I hope it was worth me spending so long on it. I kind of like it, but I have no idea whether it flatters me at all… I’ll ask the Craftsters 🙂
Now I need something really quick and easy to make, particularly as I lost my scarf and mittens on the train and need to replace them 🙁 There isn’t too much winter left now here, so I need to make something up quickly, meaning felted mittens are out till later this year. I’ll probably make the fingerless mittens in the Weekend Knitting book.
And hoorah for Sue being inspired and taking up the pins again 😀 Yay Sue! I think you should send me pics to put up on here 😉 Hurry up and make that throw, petal!