Today is just a really good day.
Car passed its MOT without (I repeat WITHOUT!!!) anything being the matter. That alone would have made my day. But no, it gets even better. I had just hung up on my insurer (renewing my policy for the car) when the phone rang again. And boy was that a fantastic phone call. Sorry I can't tell you (yet), but I'm soooo excited, I'm bouncing up and down and up and down and up and down...
Just had to share.
Life is good!
and up and down and up and up and up....
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Listening...
...while knitting.
It's my new addiction. Well, no, the knitting addiction is most certainly not new. But the listening to stuff is. very. new.
And I'm not talking music either. I'm talking pod-casts. Yes, I know I'm years late to the show but I only recently discovered them. And am currently working my way through all the back episodes of cast on by Brenda Dayne. To most of you I won't be telling anything new if I say - she's absolutely awesome. Fantastic music, great humor and really, really good essays that make you think and re-evalutate some things in your life.
I have about 10 episodes left and then I'm all caught up - and I'm slowing down how many I listen to a day. Because I want it to last as long as it can. And because once I have caught up, I'll have to wait for new episodes like all the other listeners. I won't be able to get my daily "fix" anymore. But I can go back to episodes, so I will do that, I'm sure.
Why am I blogging about this? Simple. I hate being read to. It normally makes me itchy and impatient. I suddenly can't sit still anymore. And I get really cranky (trust me, when I say really cranky, I mean mean CRANKY). Because I want to read it myself. Plus, remembering stuff that I've read for myself is a lot easier (for me). Consequently, I also dislike audiobooks immensely. They have just the above effect on me. I do not know what possesed me to download an episode of cast on. Because really it is people talking to you and esp. the essays (one of my most favourite parts!) are actually read to you! What was I thinking?
But download an episode I did. And guess what happend, it wasn't even over, when I went to subscribe to the podcast. And what made me "sit" through about 70hrs of it so far is a mystery to me. It has kept me company in the lab while doing stupid manual work, it has been to my personal knitting nights (since my cold has been keeping me from socialising *grumble*) and through the occasional sleepness night. And the best is - I've loved it.
So, I might become a convert now. Tempted to give audiobooks one more try. I think I have a copy of Lord of the Rings (just the first book) which was a Christmas gift from a friend a couple of years ago, that I might dig out. It was never really touched. Just maybe, I can enjoy it now. :)
And now to the actual knitting:
The sock I mentioned in the last post has been re-knit and grafted together (again). And since then it has been in time-out. For being a very evil little sock. But its cries for a mate are become rather loud, so it might get picked up again this week.
In the meantime I've been knitting a simple lace shawl which isn't done yet, so no pics. But I have started and finished this last week:
And I absolutely adore the pattern and the yarn. It's Carol Feller's Centrique pattern (Rav link, sorry) knit in Fyberspates Sparkle Sock in moss greens. Not the yarn called for in the pattern, but it works very nicely. Knit on 4.5mm needles. I have added one complete repeat of the lace pattern (I started with the stitch number for the smaller version). And am very glad I did - it would have been too short for me otherwise. I wet-blocked it for width (wingspan) and it measures roughly 164cm x 54cm.
My pretty will get it's first outing tomorrow.
Very happy about this one!
It's my new addiction. Well, no, the knitting addiction is most certainly not new. But the listening to stuff is. very. new.
And I'm not talking music either. I'm talking pod-casts. Yes, I know I'm years late to the show but I only recently discovered them. And am currently working my way through all the back episodes of cast on by Brenda Dayne. To most of you I won't be telling anything new if I say - she's absolutely awesome. Fantastic music, great humor and really, really good essays that make you think and re-evalutate some things in your life.
I have about 10 episodes left and then I'm all caught up - and I'm slowing down how many I listen to a day. Because I want it to last as long as it can. And because once I have caught up, I'll have to wait for new episodes like all the other listeners. I won't be able to get my daily "fix" anymore. But I can go back to episodes, so I will do that, I'm sure.
Why am I blogging about this? Simple. I hate being read to. It normally makes me itchy and impatient. I suddenly can't sit still anymore. And I get really cranky (trust me, when I say really cranky, I mean mean CRANKY). Because I want to read it myself. Plus, remembering stuff that I've read for myself is a lot easier (for me). Consequently, I also dislike audiobooks immensely. They have just the above effect on me. I do not know what possesed me to download an episode of cast on. Because really it is people talking to you and esp. the essays (one of my most favourite parts!) are actually read to you! What was I thinking?
But download an episode I did. And guess what happend, it wasn't even over, when I went to subscribe to the podcast. And what made me "sit" through about 70hrs of it so far is a mystery to me. It has kept me company in the lab while doing stupid manual work, it has been to my personal knitting nights (since my cold has been keeping me from socialising *grumble*) and through the occasional sleepness night. And the best is - I've loved it.
So, I might become a convert now. Tempted to give audiobooks one more try. I think I have a copy of Lord of the Rings (just the first book) which was a Christmas gift from a friend a couple of years ago, that I might dig out. It was never really touched. Just maybe, I can enjoy it now. :)
And now to the actual knitting:
The sock I mentioned in the last post has been re-knit and grafted together (again). And since then it has been in time-out. For being a very evil little sock. But its cries for a mate are become rather loud, so it might get picked up again this week.
In the meantime I've been knitting a simple lace shawl which isn't done yet, so no pics. But I have started and finished this last week:
And I absolutely adore the pattern and the yarn. It's Carol Feller's Centrique pattern (Rav link, sorry) knit in Fyberspates Sparkle Sock in moss greens. Not the yarn called for in the pattern, but it works very nicely. Knit on 4.5mm needles. I have added one complete repeat of the lace pattern (I started with the stitch number for the smaller version). And am very glad I did - it would have been too short for me otherwise. I wet-blocked it for width (wingspan) and it measures roughly 164cm x 54cm.
My pretty will get it's first outing tomorrow.
Very happy about this one!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Learning....
So, after being miserable for quite some time (it always takes me forever to shift a cold), I'm finally starting to feel ok again. Still have a sore throat and my dear cough (good chance of that one hanging around 'till spring, oh joy) but I'm starting to consider that I might belong to the human race after all. ;)
I've taken today "off" as a get everything sorted and partly also as a "me" day. And what do I do on a "me" day? Knit of course. Here's what I'm currently knitting:
Note something about the pictures? Yes, it's a sock. A nearly done sock. Toe is grafted and the only thing left to do is weave in the ends and knit its mate.
Why I show you this? Well, I have a little story to tell. A story about a foolish knitter who thought she knew better than the designer of the pattern (that would be Nancy Bush, folks. yeah. I know. Doh!)
The pattern (Gentleman's Shooting Stockings by Nancy Bush) asks for 3x50g/183m balls. That is a total of 549m of yarn. Fine I thought. And started knitting.
And it flew by, I liked the pattern and the yarn. I knit the toe and then grafted it together. And then looked at the left-over ball of yarn (note the singular here - not balls. ball.).
Hm, I thought, maybe I better weigh that against the finished sock. Just to make sure. Because, you see, I did not use the recommended yarn but Trekking XXL. And I have excatly one ball of that yarn. Which is 420m/100g. Notice something here? Yeah?
Well. The sock weighed in at 50g. Phew, I thought, you are just so lucky today.
Too lucky, really. And just because I can't help myself sometimes (must be all that scientist training, I tell you, not good for you!), I chucked the left-over ball on the scales as well. Which read 46g.
46 f*#%$§%%$" grams.
That is 4g or a good 20m short.
bugger.
That is probably the toe of the second sock.
Crap.
There're are no enormously long tail here that could make up for the difference.
And of course, I have nothing vaguely matching the browns in my stash.
You laugh? I didn't.
After a little cry for help (and just possibly some blaming of her) to Jen and maybe a tear or so, I closed my eyes and started to undo the sock. And quickly opened the eyes again. As it turns out, unpicking a grafted toe with closed eyes is not the best idea ever.
So this is what the sock looks like now.
It will have to move into the smaller (female) sizes portion of my gift knitting bag (X-mas knitting is in full swing here). I just hope that I ripped enough. Not 100% convinced of that, to be honest. I'll keep you posted.
Oh, and a piece of advice - if the pattern says you need about 550m for male sized socks, 420m will not be enough.
And now excuse me pleaes, I need to reknit a toe.
Edited to add: if anyone knows what is going on with blogger and pictures, please enlighten me, I had to link to my flickr account to get pictures included in this post. The button to upload pictures here has just simply disappeared. Maybe today is just not my day...
I've taken today "off" as a get everything sorted and partly also as a "me" day. And what do I do on a "me" day? Knit of course. Here's what I'm currently knitting:
Note something about the pictures? Yes, it's a sock. A nearly done sock. Toe is grafted and the only thing left to do is weave in the ends and knit its mate.
Why I show you this? Well, I have a little story to tell. A story about a foolish knitter who thought she knew better than the designer of the pattern (that would be Nancy Bush, folks. yeah. I know. Doh!)
The pattern (Gentleman's Shooting Stockings by Nancy Bush) asks for 3x50g/183m balls. That is a total of 549m of yarn. Fine I thought. And started knitting.
And it flew by, I liked the pattern and the yarn. I knit the toe and then grafted it together. And then looked at the left-over ball of yarn (note the singular here - not balls. ball.).
Hm, I thought, maybe I better weigh that against the finished sock. Just to make sure. Because, you see, I did not use the recommended yarn but Trekking XXL. And I have excatly one ball of that yarn. Which is 420m/100g. Notice something here? Yeah?
Well. The sock weighed in at 50g. Phew, I thought, you are just so lucky today.
Too lucky, really. And just because I can't help myself sometimes (must be all that scientist training, I tell you, not good for you!), I chucked the left-over ball on the scales as well. Which read 46g.
46 f*#%$§%%$" grams.
That is 4g or a good 20m short.
bugger.
That is probably the toe of the second sock.
Crap.
There're are no enormously long tail here that could make up for the difference.
And of course, I have nothing vaguely matching the browns in my stash.
You laugh? I didn't.
After a little cry for help (and just possibly some blaming of her) to Jen and maybe a tear or so, I closed my eyes and started to undo the sock. And quickly opened the eyes again. As it turns out, unpicking a grafted toe with closed eyes is not the best idea ever.
So this is what the sock looks like now.
It will have to move into the smaller (female) sizes portion of my gift knitting bag (X-mas knitting is in full swing here). I just hope that I ripped enough. Not 100% convinced of that, to be honest. I'll keep you posted.
Oh, and a piece of advice - if the pattern says you need about 550m for male sized socks, 420m will not be enough.
And now excuse me pleaes, I need to reknit a toe.
Edited to add: if anyone knows what is going on with blogger and pictures, please enlighten me, I had to link to my flickr account to get pictures included in this post. The button to upload pictures here has just simply disappeared. Maybe today is just not my day...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
This blog will resume shortly...
... that is as soon as I can shake off that cold that seems rather attached to me at the moment.
Needed a little blogging break, but I'm good to go again, so hopefully I'll find the energy to blog on again properly on sunday. That is if anyone is still reading ;).
See you all soon!
Needed a little blogging break, but I'm good to go again, so hopefully I'll find the energy to blog on again properly on sunday. That is if anyone is still reading ;).
See you all soon!
Friday, September 04, 2009
Desires...
Sometimes you just can't help it.
You just have to do it.
So I did.
After agonising about it since knowing about it, I have now treated myself to:
Two Annie Modesit workshops
on sunday at the chapel. So excited!!! Hoping to learn a lot and and meet lovely people.
I'm now jumping up and down and grinning like a mad woman (ok, arguable I'm not exactly sane, but never mind).
The promised sock post will arrive at some point as well. promise. :)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to stalk my inbox for the email telling me what I need for the workshops....
You just have to do it.
So I did.
After agonising about it since knowing about it, I have now treated myself to:
Two Annie Modesit workshops
on sunday at the chapel. So excited!!! Hoping to learn a lot and and meet lovely people.
I'm now jumping up and down and grinning like a mad woman (ok, arguable I'm not exactly sane, but never mind).
The promised sock post will arrive at some point as well. promise. :)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to stalk my inbox for the email telling me what I need for the workshops....
Monday, August 31, 2009
Comments
It has been brought to my attention (thanks, Machelle!) that the settings here only permitted comments from Google Account holders. Not sure why I chose that setting as it doesn't make sense at all. It's fixed now and anyone should be able to comment now. Sorry about that! Truely was unaware of it...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Bunting
A while back I had a slightly crazy idea. But I liked it. So I asked Elly what she thought about it. And she said "go for it!". So I did.
And this is the result:
The idea was to create some bunting for Jeni. Jen is a very good friend of mine and had just moved Fyberspates into a large industrial unit - and judging from the pictures I had seen on her blog that space needed some cheering up.
To cut a long story short, I messaged people in Jen's Ravelry group and a lot replied and wanted to participate - in the end we all produced 85 (yes, that is eighty-five!!!!) bunting "flags" that I strung up on over 20m of ribbon (boy, am I glad I went with the whole reel of ribbon and not the 10m or so I had initially looked for!).
On friday I visited Jen and gave her our surprise. And I think it's best to let the pictures do the talking:
Anyone who knows Jen will know what it means to render her speechless... well, we did that. And when she regained her ability to speak it was just for a repeated "I can't believe this!" :)
So I think this was a full success!
We hung up the bunting on Saturday - thanks to a brave Jen who climbed the ladder (two people who don't like ladders and a heigh ceiling is an interesting problem lol) and the appreciated sacrifice of quite a few pins (Jen is viciscous with a hammer, trust me!). So this is what the Fyberspates unit looks like now:
I think most people will agree with me that the pattern is really easy and each flag knits up very quickly. If you want to have a go at it (for your next garden party? Charity Fair? Childrens bedroom decoration?), the pattern is available as a free download from Ravelry or you can email me and I will send you the pdf.
download now
As I have neglected this blog horribly the next post will contain some sock-y goodness. I have started the Xmas production line for this year. ;)
Have a great bank holiday tomorrow everyone!
And this is the result:
The idea was to create some bunting for Jeni. Jen is a very good friend of mine and had just moved Fyberspates into a large industrial unit - and judging from the pictures I had seen on her blog that space needed some cheering up.
To cut a long story short, I messaged people in Jen's Ravelry group and a lot replied and wanted to participate - in the end we all produced 85 (yes, that is eighty-five!!!!) bunting "flags" that I strung up on over 20m of ribbon (boy, am I glad I went with the whole reel of ribbon and not the 10m or so I had initially looked for!).
On friday I visited Jen and gave her our surprise. And I think it's best to let the pictures do the talking:
Anyone who knows Jen will know what it means to render her speechless... well, we did that. And when she regained her ability to speak it was just for a repeated "I can't believe this!" :)
So I think this was a full success!
We hung up the bunting on Saturday - thanks to a brave Jen who climbed the ladder (two people who don't like ladders and a heigh ceiling is an interesting problem lol) and the appreciated sacrifice of quite a few pins (Jen is viciscous with a hammer, trust me!). So this is what the Fyberspates unit looks like now:
I think most people will agree with me that the pattern is really easy and each flag knits up very quickly. If you want to have a go at it (for your next garden party? Charity Fair? Childrens bedroom decoration?), the pattern is available as a free download from Ravelry or you can email me and I will send you the pdf.
download now
As I have neglected this blog horribly the next post will contain some sock-y goodness. I have started the Xmas production line for this year. ;)
Have a great bank holiday tomorrow everyone!
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