Gold ‘n’ Purls

Pattern: Ladies’ Striped or Plain Tank Top by Sarah Hatton (Rowan Pure Wool Family Collection)

Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK in Ultra-Marine (009) and Cypress (007).

Needles: 3.75mm and 4.5mm bamboo circulars. I had to go up in needle size to achieve the correct tension.

Babble: I had originally intended to make something completely different out of the Pure Wool DK, so now I’m left with 3 whole balls and most of a fourth to play with, out of my original total of 11. (If anyone’s wondering how that math works, the dye-lot I had matched some that one of my coworkers had bought, so I gave her 3 to make up enough for the Ladies Cabled Tank Top from the same book.)

I really, truly enjoyed knitting with this wool, enough so that I actually managed to stay mostly monogamous and finish the garment in 10 days time. 9, if you subtract the evening I slipped and cheated on it with some Cashsoft 4-ply. It knits beautifully and noticably softens after washing, but will fluff a bit. It’s just one of those things you gotta live with, and personally, I really don’t mind a bit of fuzziness. As long as I don’t look like an overgrown muppet I’m happy.

The only thing that disappointed me were my needles. Both my 40cm 3.75s and 4.5s broke while I was knitting, right at the cable join. This makes me a sad panda.

Pattern: Meadow by Martin Storey, feat. Rowan Classic Nature

Yarn: RC Bamboo Soft, sh. 105

Needles: 3.75mm bamboo circs

Babble: Lovelovelove this yarn. It is so incredibly soft and silky and just feels divine against the skin. I hope Rowan keeps it around a good long time, because I will use it again.

You do have to be patient with it, because it will split like crazy otherwise. Don’t let that put you off, though. The finished fabric is so worth a little extra diligence.

As for the design itself, it’s very straightfoward and easy to follow. The lace pattern is easy to memorize. It’s easy to slip into a meditative rhythm where the time and the knitting just seems to fly right on by.

It does plague me with my personal problem, which is the fact that it doesn’t want to sit nicely across my chest. The front desperately wants to slip open and sit on either side of my boobs. Harrumph. That said, I still can’t wait to wear it out and about.

It wasn’t a bad day, exactly. More kind of … out-of-sorts.

I woke up late, missed breakfast, and then discovered that the trains were FUBAR do to some kind of problem on the line. Something about wonky signal lights, I think. Delays were worse than normal, so I was 15 minutes late for work.

Despite this rather sucky start, I was all fired up and ready to tackle the stock room. With summer clearance looming on the horizon, I like to consolodate all the clearance yarns in one place, as this makes it much easier to find things and also helps prevent any full-price stuff accidentally getting mixed in and making a messy situation.

I managed a whopping two shelves worth of rearranging before my back gave up on me. Cue immediate grumpy mood and practically nothing to do. Most of our ‘regulars’ know that clearance is soon, so hardly anything is being bought, as they all want to wait and see what gets reduced. And since I’m not a “proper” employee, they couldn’t even utelize me to cover an area that was short-staffed.

My original plan thwarted, I just could not be assed. You can only tidy the yarn wall so much, and knitting on the shop floor while everyone else was running ragged just felt inconsiderate and rude.

Lunch was better. I sat in the graveyard and finished reading The Secret Life of Bees, enjoying the sun and the breeze. Something about the day … I just couldn’t stay grumpy. Twingy back, aching head and all. There’s something very peaceful and soothing to me about graveyards. Especially old(er) ones.

And of course, it being Tuesday meant I had the knitting group to look forward to. Bitten by inspiration, I bought a bunch of garden supplies, and successfully created a raspberry patch.

The wonderful company of Ruth and Emmylou, and new girl Jemma, helped to squash any lingering traces of Oscar-ness left in my mood.

Simple, “ordinary” pleasures are far more uplifting than the grandoise, I think. They create a soft, sustaining glow in your heart, a lasting warmth and lingering smile. Today started out feeling truly awful, “one of those days” you just want to erase from your life. Then it was transformed into something lovely, “one of those days” that, while not particularly spectacular, will still linger in fond memory as “one of those days” when I feel incredibly blessed to be me.

With two half-finished cardigans on the go and a shawl I really need to start, my Knitting Mojo Monster has been feeling rather timid lately. I needed something small, fast and fun to give him a little pick-me-up.

And so the Thermo-cup Carry Cozy was created:

These cups are fantastic. Guaranteed to keep a drink hot or cold for up to 6 hours, and I can personally vouch for 7. They have no handles, though, so unless you’ve got a bag you can tuck it into, they can be a bit of a pain to carry around.

I have three. Soon to be two, since I’m sending this blue one (and the cozy) to my mother, who was recently complaining about not being able to get a decent cup of coffee at work. I told her that’s because she doesn’t drink coffee, she drinks paint remover.

The Stats

Yarn: 1 skein Mirasol Hacho, sh. 304

Needles: 3.25 bamboo DPNs

Tension: 20 sts to 10 cm (4 in)

Pattern: CO 48 sts, divide evenly across 4 needles, join into round. Work 7 rounds moss st. Continue in stocking stitch for 11 cm. Begin decreases.
Round 1: K1, k2tog, k to last 3 sts on needle, ssk, k1. Repeat across all four needles.
Round 2: Knit.
Repeat these two rounds until 16 sts remain. Cast off.

Handle: Pick up and knit 9 sts from CO edge. Continue in moss st until almost out of yarn (or until reaches desired length). Graft onto opposite side of CO edge. Weave in ends.

Will fit Lifeventure Thermal Mug.*

*No, I am not affiliated in any way with this company. I just think that good thermal mugs are damn hard to find, so when you do find one, share!

The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly was recommended to me by Ruth, from the Tuesday night Sticks ‘n’ Strings knitting group.

It’s the enlightening and somewhat heart-breaking story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke which resulted in Locked-In Syndrome. It’s not a thick or even very technical book. It’s simple, straight-forward honesty, and it is amazing and also humbling to realise, as you read it, that it was dictated letter by letter using blinks of an eye, the only form of direct communication left to Monsieur Bauby.

He presents us with an intimate insight into what it’s like to have Locked-In Syndrome, makes it something you can begin to understand even if you can never imagine it. The loss, the hope, the logical insanity.

I finished this book with a feeling of sorrow, and also, strangely, of joy. Sorrow for the incomprehensible loss of those greatest of little treasures life offers, like the taste of freshly baked bread or the feeling of hugging someone you love. Joy for the indomitable human spirit, that not only endures and survives, but also somehow manages to thrive against every odd.

This book is an enlightening and inspiring read, and I highly recommend it.

Size
Approx. 8.5 to 10.5 inch circumference around ball of foot.
Instructions for larger size, where different, appear in parentheses.

Materials
1x 50g ball variegated 4-ply sock yarn (A)
1x 50g ball semi-solid 4-ply sock yarn (B)
Set of 5 2.75mm (US2) DPNs (or size needed to achieve tension)

Tension
28 sts to 10cm (4in) in stocking stitch.

Abbreviations
k = knit
p = purl
ssk = slip slip knit
k2tog = knit 2 together
p2tog = purl 2 together
yo = yarn over
rep = repeat
sl1 = slip 1 stitch
alt = alternate
st(s) = stitch(es)

Lace Pattern
Adapted from the Curving Lattice Lace pattern found in The Knitter’s Handbook.

Row 1 (all odd rows): p1(3), k13, p2(4)
Row 2: p1(3), k2, ssk, k4, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, p2(4)
Row 4: p1(3), yo, k2, ssk, k2, k2tog, k2, yo, k3, p2(4)
Row 6: p1(3), k1, yo, k2, ssk, k2tog, k2, yo, k4, p2(4)
Row 8: p1(3), yo, k1, yo, k2, ssk, k4, k2tog, k2, p2(4)
Row 10: p1(3), k3, yo, k2, ssk, k2, k2tog, k2, yo, p2(4)
Row 12: p1(3), k4, yo, k2, ssk, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, p2(4)

Sock Pattern
Note: reverse yarn A and B placement for second sock.

Cuff:
Loosely CO 64(80) sts with yarn B.
Work in k2, p2 rib for 16 rows, or until cuff measures 4cm (approx. 1.5 inches).
Break off yarn B.

Leg:
Join in yarn A. Work 1 round k2, p2 rib. Continue in lace pattern for 4 repeats, or until leg reaches desired measurements. Do not break yarn!

Heel Flap:
Join in yarn B. K across sts from needles 1 & 2, combining them onto one needle. Heel is worked flat across these sts.

Row 1: sl1, p31(39).
Row 2. sl1, k1, rep to end.

Repeat these two rows 15(17) times more.

Turn Heel:
Row 1: sl1, p18(22), p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 2: sl1, k7, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 3: sl1, p to one st before gap formed by slipped st, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 4: sl1, k to one sts before gap formed by slipped st, ssk, k1, turn.

Continue rows 3 & 4 until all sts have been worked. Break yarn B.

Gusset:
With yarn A, pick up and knit 16(18) sts down edge of heel flap, k10(12) sts from heel. With extra needle k10(12) sts from heel, pick up and knit 16(18) sts up edge of heel flap.
Work row 1 of lace pattern across needles 3 & 4.

Next and following alt rounds:
Needle 1: k1, ssk, k to end of needle.
Needle 2: k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1
Needles 3 & 4: keep lace pattern correct.

Continue until 16(20) sts remain on needles 1 & 2.

Keeping lace pattern correct across needles 3 & 4, and working in stocking stitch across needles 1 & 2, continue until sock measures 5cm (2 inches) less than the total measurement of your foot. Break yarn A.

Toe:
Join in yarn B, work 2 rounds stocking stitch. Begin decreases.
Round 1: (needle 1) k1, ssk, k to end.
(needle 2) k to last 3 sts on needle, k2tog, k1.
(needle 3) k1, ssk, k to end.
(needle 4) k to last 3 sts on needle, k2tog, k1.
Round 2: Knit.

Repeat these 2 rounds until 7(9) sts remain on each of the four needles. Divide sts evenly across 2 needles. Graft toe using kitchener stitch. Weave in ends.

I feel that I must point out that Chick Lit is really not my cup of tea. However, I also must admit to a growing curiousity about the portrayal of knitting in modern literature. Combine that with a 50% off sticker, and you have a purchase no self-respecting bibliophile could pass up. I will always give a book a chance, even if it’s “not my cup of tea.”

At first I doubted my ability to empathise with Mary, our main character. We meet her directly after her 5-year-old daughter, Stella, has died from bacterial meningitis. Now, I have never been and never will be a mother, nor do I have any experience with the heavy grief of losing someone near and dear to my heart. As I swiftly found out, personal experience is not necessary for the reader.

Ann Hood writes with an exceptionally eloquent yet straight-forward style that will wrap itself around your heart and have you laughing, crying, cheering and yelling (at, for and with) every character we meet during the course of the book.

At first, you knit to save your life.
~Scarlet, The Knitting Circle

As we follow Mary through the course of her own grief and her progressing proficiency with knitting, we slowly learn the different stories of each member of the knitting circle. Through tragedy and heartbreak, they have all begun rebuilding their lives, deceptively fragile individuals with the strength and determination to not give up, to not let their tragedies rule their lives. It’s as much a story about survival as it is about friendship, love, and the shared bonds of grief.

As dubious as I was when I first picked the book up, I found myself unable to put it down. I am still uncertain about my own feelings regarding the story, but that’s not going to stop me from giving this book a definite gold star for being a good read.

Along with recommending the reading of it, I also recommend that you prepare yourself with the drink of your choice, tissues, chocolates, and something (or someone) to cuddle. Oh, and remove anything breakable from throwing range.

As part of the holiday plans this week, Kerroan and I arranged to meet up with friends at Warwick and spend a day at the castle. Unfortunately, but completely understandably, the jousting events were cancelled for the horses’ safety, as it was just a wee bit damp after all the rain we’ve had.

There is indeed a small jetty in front of this boathouse.

However there was still plenty to see, and all without even entering the castle itself. Thursday turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, shockingly (and to our chagrin we all of us forgot to pack sunblock and are now red as ripe tomatoes).

We walked down to the mill and looked at the view for a while:

We watched the falconry shows:

We wandered through the Peacock Garden and our friends took lots of pictures of the males, who were almost all of them displaying to anyone wearing pale green. I promise a Peacock Post later when I have access to the pics, since I didn’t take any with my little phone.

I did get a picture of the one I nicknamed His Lordship, though, who sat up on the castle wall all day and hollered on all of us mere mortals for invading his territory.

There was also a wander through the rose garden, where I was more interested in the pretty rock pool than the actual roses:

Towards the end of day I gave in to total and complete silliness and bought the best hat ever:

It was only £4! And now there are plans to design and make an entire costume around it.

We ended the day with a trip up to the top of the Mound. The view was spectacular:

I have a few more photos loaded into a set on Flickr, here. I was really impressed with my little camera phone, and disgusted at the same time, since it takes better quality photos than our proper camera. Ha!

Though, ClosetMonster let me play with her shiny Canon somethingorother, and now I waaaaaaant one.

As ever when we meet up with her and her Mr, much fun was had and time flew by far too swiftly.

I enjoyed an interesting conversation with Felix today at Sticks ‘n’ Strings about how so many people live in music (radio, mp3 player, etc during day-to-day activities) and never notice the plethora of interesting, ordinary sounds that occur during those activities. Like, to borrow Felix’s example, sloshy sudsy water and all the rest while doing the washing up.

In my convoluted brain, this led me to remember Tap, though embarrassingly I couldn’t remember the title at the time. There’s a scene where Gregory Hines’s character is talking to/teaching a tap class, and all the students are just woodenly, if skilfully, tapping through set routine after set routine, with very little life or passion. He gets completely fed up, and ushers everyone outside onto the street, and tells them to shut up and listen. If I remember correctly, it starts with the regular thump-thumpa of cars driving over a loose manhole cover. Then sounds from all over the neighborhood get pulled in: the shhsh-shhsh of a shopowner sweeping his stoop, a rattathump from some construction work, the click-buzz of traffic lights changing. It’s all blended together into an amazing percussion of city sound, and he begins an awesome improvised tap right there on the sidewalk, using no music but that which everyday sounds provide.

…now I want to watch that film again…. Anyway.

After we packed up for the night and I was at the station waiting for my train, I without thinking got out my iPod and started to scroll through my playlists. Then I thought, no. So I packed it away and tried to focus on the everyday sounds of the station and trains.

It’s way harder than one might think. o.o I have a serious talent for distracting myself, especially when it comes to listening to the voices in my head. (No, nothing psychotic.) I think in dialogue and narration, as if everything were a scene written down in a book. Each side of an issue gets its own voice to deliver arguments/contradictions/questions in. This makes it very easy to become so engrossed in whatever I’m thinking about, even if it’s just pondering whether the cheesy-beany jacket potato I had for tea was properly baked or blitzed, that I completely lose track of the world around me.

I was constantly catching myself and re-focusing my attention outward.

At first, it was hard to hear anything beyond the rumble-roar of the train engine and the stuttering gusts of wind coming in through the window. After a while, though, it became easier to hear the sounds beneath the sounds: the dry raspy crackle of newpapers being shifted, the metallic whisper of portfolio zippers, the soft susseration of my yarn sliding along the edge of my carrier bag as I knit, the rhythmic tick-tick-tap of someone playing on their DS Lite.

For a while I tried focusing only on the sound of train engine, and how the tonal qualities would change depending on our rate of speed, if we were accelerating or deccelerating, if we were going through open fields, past a station, through an urban area, or a sunken ditch as I think of the high-banked stretches.

It got me thinking further along the lines of how much of our world we fail to experience, simply by ignoring all the information our senses can give us. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch … we (as in, the general human population we) simply don’t utelize these to their fullest capacities. I’m not saying one should go out and lick the nearest moss-covered brick wall or anything silly like that. But if you happen to be standing near one and take a deep breath, savour the scent, and then focus on what that air tastes like. Is it dusty? Earthy? Wet? Is the moss the soft furry kind, or the rough brittle kind? Is the brick pourous or painted, warm or cold? How does the quality of sound change when you stand close to the wall, as opposed to a few feet away?

Just one single mundane moment can become fascinatingly extraordinary.

I thought it was an excellent idea when Felix first spoke of it, but after tonight I find myself even more looking forward to The Fantastical Reality Radio Show that she’s doing.

…and now I’d better stop before I go into a completely different thought-tangent about Synesthesia. o.O Fear my Polluted Stream of Consciousness.

I am a geek for alliteration. O.o

Pattern: Banjo Bag by Sylvie

Yarns: Noro Silk Garden (sh. 87) and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, pine green

Hook: 4.5mm Brittany Birch

Babble: I said from the start that I wanted to make this in one of the Noro yarns, and what d’ya know I actually did! This is a definite accomplishment, given the vast majority of things I say I want to do, and the pitiful dearth of things I actually manage to do.

Crochet eats too much yarn for a really nice stripe effect, though. I’m debating a knit version. But I loves it, precious, I does I does! It makes me happy.

Which is how I got the inspiration for my buttons. It is all but impossible to find nice/funky buttons in this country, and when you do find something half-ass decent, it’s plastic. Blech! Sooooo, Sculpey to the rescue!

Each button represents something that makes me happy. Each button also has its own story, some special memory significant only to me that goes beyond the obvious symbol. Sharing each one in full would be an epic saga of a blog post, so I won’t go into eye-watering detail.

Maybe I’ll do a Button Blog series one of these weeks. At the very least it’ll give me something to write about other than YAWIP* and whining about the state of my hands/feet.

*Yet Another Work In Progress