I think he likes it!

And, despite my customary laissez-faire attitude towards swatching, it fits. Hurrah!

Back to work

After two long weeks off with the flu I finally went back to work today. I have been so ill and fed up that it was a relief to be able to go back, but it has really taken it out of me. I feel all wafty and pathetic so I've settled myself down to a nice relaxing evening of telly and knitting, which will be followed by a bath and an early night. After yesterday's post I surprised myself by immediately winding the skein of Cascade 220 which I had on the swift. With the application of some loud music and a bit of silly dancing round my kitchen I wound the whole thing in no time at all. I still need to find my winder though because I do like the lovely flat bottomed yarn cakes it makes, my hand wound ball has rolled off the sofa and across the floor so many times now that I've stopped bothering to pick it up.

This is the Knotty but Nice hat I linked to yesterday. I'm just starting to work the cable pattern and the chart is slightly making my eyes cross, half of the legend is over the page from the actual chart so I spent a few minutes marking each symbol in pencil so I don't need to consult the legend at all. I think I'm going to enjoy knitting this, my last couple of projects have been really simple so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some good old cabling. My next project, I have already decided, is entirely stocking stitch so I will have something nice and simple to do when I am inevitably sick of cabling and charts. It pays to plan when you have an attention span like mine!

Today I also finally succumbed and bought Ysolda Teague's Whimsical Little Knits 2. I like a few of the patterns, but because I have so much stuff in my queue already I had been putting off buying it. However she is donating a lot of the profits from her sales this month to the Haiti appeal so I got on and bought it. I guess it was also a little treat for getting back to work. I love Ripley and Veyla in particular and can see both of them in my very near future!

Somebody stop me...

... 2 blog entries in 2 days? Crazy talk! Given how little I actually had to say for myself yesterday I admit that I this would appear a shade overenthusiastic, but what do you know, I actually have an FO for you. Hoorah! And I'm actually pleased with it, double hoorah! Plus - yes there's more - I promised I would make this for the recipient over 3 years ago so I think I get extra back pats for finally getting off my arse and completing this.


The pattern is Turn a Square (Rav link) and was super easy and quick and is a really great pattern for a simple hat. Mark asked for a red and black hat, I decided to make the red stripes bigger than the black ones and I think that was a good choice. Hopefully he'll like it and I'll get some pics of him wearing it when I give it to him, although he'll probably be so shocked I finally turned up the goods that he won't actually care what it looks like!

So now I'm on a roll, what's next? Apart from chipping away at all the UFOs I've got hanging around I have also promised two more friends that I will make them things. In an effort not to keep them waiting three years as well I'm going to jump right in and cast on for the first of them tonight. This Knotty but Nice hat caught my eye in the latest edition of Knitty and I'm going to make it in this rather eye catching shade of yellow.


Clearly the fact that the yarn is still on the swift is a minor obstacle I need to overcome before casting on! Unfortunately I can't seem to locate my winder at present so I'm doing it by hand, hence I've spent more time photographing the yarn than I have winding it....and apparently now I'm spending even more time writing about it, so perhaps it's time I just got on with it. Well, maybe after a cup of tea eh.....

Jess - this one's for you!

After receiving a complaint from my sister about my slack attitude to blogging, I'm going to actually try and update this occasionally. I guess that means I probably need to get on with some actual knitting and sewing too so that I have something to write about. I'm sure I could spend some time navel gazing and wondering what has caused my lack of motivation, but frankly I can't be bothered! So for the moment let's just concentrate on the things I have actually managed to make and then I'll worry about future projects another day.

Right...erm..well, I really have been crap these last few months and have almost nothing to report. A few rows here and there on this and that has pretty much added up to nothing. However, I have completed one thing and it's a goody! Ready?


Oh yes, I think I'm completely justified in wearing that smug expression - who doesn't want to look that cool! By way of an explanation, this was a commission, meant as part of a chili pepper costume for a fancy dress party. I actually earned myself a tenner and a very large box of chocolates for my troubles so I guess they must have liked it. I roughly followed this pattern, but obviously deviated from the plan towards the top, I can't remember exactly the mods I made but I think I detailed them on my Ravelry project page, should anyone else in the world actually want one of these for themselves. There has been talk of me producing a whole range of veg related balaclavas. Just to be clear, this will never happen!

Unfortunately that is pretty much it, my sewing machine has been buried under a load of stuff since I moved, but I am absolutely itching to make a load of stuff so I will hopefully go digging this week and sort that out. Perhaps I'll even complete something and then I'll have something to write about next time.