Goodness - doesn't time fly ? I'm going to stop making declarations about how I'm going to try to blog more because I think it pisses the Fates off and they step in to put a whole load of barriers in the way.
There have been health issues. I can confirm that I am the world's worst person at being not 100%. I bitterly resent every second that my traitorous body refuses to comply and engage it in a battle of wills until we see who backs down first :0)
There have been work issues. Really interesting, stimulating, mind challenging issues which I love every second of - but which are undeniably slightly all consuming and more than a little knackering.
And of course, there's been knitting. Lots of knitting. When I'm really up against it, knitting is the still, calm place in my head - so the more stressed I am the more I knit. Something had to give and it was blogging. Again.
Onto the knitting. Those who know me well know that I can get a teensy bit obsessed with the colour pink and oh boy, there has been a Lot of pink in my life lately.
My Cashmere Apres Surf Hoodie. And I adore it. (Click to embiggen on Flickr)
Me - who doesn't knit lace - adores knitting an almost entirely lace sweater. I'm just about to cast off the body (I knitted it in the round instead of 2 separate pieces) and if this one doesn't fit there will be a major hissy fit !
The yarn is Knitwitches Laceweight Cashmere. I bought a skein at Woolfest last year and Eirwen kindly agreed to dye me 2 more. When I use it doubled, it knits up as a 4 ply. And the yardage is great. And it's CASHMERE - so it's fabulous to knit with.
The only thing I can't share properly with you is the colour. It's so hard to capture. It's much more a crimson pink than the magenta pink it appears in the photo - it's called Raspberries. And it's an almost solid. Not even a semi solid I would say. The variation in colour is so slight but it adds a beautiful depth.
I'm knitting this for my Wester Ross holiday in July and I have all these images in my head of walking on windswept, empty beaches wrapped in my glorious pink cashmere. Wester Ross is the other still, calm place in my head - I think there's a theme building up here :0)
You up for more pink ? Well, there's this
A mini Clapotis (yeah, I know - late to the party as usual) - a gift for a dear friend whose birthday is coming up.
This may look pink but it's really a fabulous mixture of hot pink and orange
It's Skeinqueen's Kimono Silk Aran in Phoenix - another truly gorgeous yarn to knit with. The sheen, the depth of colour, the yardage, it's got it all :0) (I only used 1 and a bit skeins for this mini-clapotis so if anyone is interested in my other 1 and a bit skeins, you'll find it in my Ravelry Stash for sale !)
But do you know what fascinates me about this ? Check this out
A beauteous pair of Cheer You Up socks from the wonderful Emma - knitted in Skeinqueen's Plushness in PHOENIX ! The exact same colour but soooooo different on a different yarn.
I now need some very clever person to step in and tell me intelligent things about the way different fibres soak up dye but at the moment I'm just happy to ogle and say "Cool !" a lot :0)
Despite my best intentions blogging remains an infrequent treat (for me anyway !) rather than a regular dish of the day. One day I shall have more time - of course by then I may have lost the will along with the use of my faculties but I live in hope :0)
I'm living in hope with regard to Celtic Icon at the moment as the gauge is somewhat kicking my arse. Which is weird as it's nothing unusual but I've swatched 3 times and it's still coming out too big ! If all else fails I shall knit a smaller size and hope the gauge issue offsets it.
In a fit of pique the other week I decided to teach the elusive Celtic Icon a lesson and cast on another cable project.
This is (almost) the Cable Tunic from last month's Knitting Magazine. My lovely friend Nan was knitting it in a beautiful pale green when I saw her recently and I really liked it.
My yarn, The Knittery's DK: Silk Merino has been sitting idle in my stash for a couple of years. It's had its name against various projects as a possibility but I finally committed and I'm liking it. :0)
It's almost the tunic because I've made a few modifications - swapping stocking stitch for rib and adding front short row shaping to accommodate my ample cleavage - and so far as far as I can tell it's working out. The front is finished and when draped artistically over my front it looks like it will fit.
There has been other knitting but I'm going to eke it out. That way if I still have other things to show you I might feel more like blogging ! So instead I'm going to finish with a meme, passed to me by Karin a few weeks ago (sorry Karin - I took ages !)
Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that let's them know they've been tagged.
So what six quirky but boring things can I think of:
1. I am completely anal about taking my make-up and jewellrey off at night. I literally can't sleep if I am wearing any make-up or jewellrey, including even my wedding ring.
2. I have no phobias about heights / spiders / small spaces etc but belly buttons make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
3. I like to bite the top off Walnut Whips and lick the cream out of the middle before eating the chocolate. I never eat them in public.
4. I gave my old car away to a neighbour because I couldn't be bothered trying to sell it. I am VERY lazy about things like that and it was only worth about £100.
5. I rarely retain much about films I watch and often watch them again only to realise 10 minutes before the end that I've seen them before.
6. I have a streak of cheek a mile wide but only tend to use it with people I really like.
ETA : Bollocks ! Forgot to press save before posting so lost my list of taggees - here they are again - Arianwen ; Kathleen ; Mhairi ; Linn ; Thea and Debbie :0) - but only if you want to guys !
Heather x
so just as well I knit really. Life has been somewhat biting me on the bum this week. Some unexpected personal happenings and totally expected professional ones have made for interesting, but challenging, times. And I honestly think that if I didn't knit I'd go off my rocker.
Not of course that this means there has been any great volume of work produced but there has been a little.
We have 2 repeats done on the Artemis Stole. It has kind of stalled slightly now as I have to concentrate too hard but it will be done :0)
One completed pair of Circle Socks
And most of the first of a pair of plain vanilla socks using Skeinqueen's fabulous Plushness in Christmas.
The plain vanilla socks were the project I cast on especially to visit the lovely and endlessly hospitable Emma last weekend. Being unable to talk 19 to the dozen and concentrate on anything I'm knitting at the same time, plain vanilla seemed the way to go.
In between dealing with the hard things (or to be honest in order to distract me from them) I've also been planning some new bits pieces. Having liberated a sizeable amount of discontinued Rowan tweed yarns (some in a true damson plum and some in a beautiful mid-denimy blue) from Emma's impressive yarn room, I have been endlessly browsing Ravelry for tweedy DK patterns.
The damson is decided. It's going to become Celtic Icon but all in one colour, minus the side panels (which I don't think add much to the design) and with some girly waist shaping added. I swatched last night but need to go down at least 1 needle size (I was getting 21sts on 4mm when I need 24, so I think 3.75 or 3.5 mm may be called for). Horror of horrors though, I have so many WIP's that I couldn't lay my hands on the right size of needles ! They must all be busily employed on half-finished projects mouldering in long-forgotten bags ....... Still MCA deliver very speedily so that problem should be sorted tomorrow :0)
I've no thoughts yet for the blue. I do have a LOT of this now thanks to Emma. It's beautiful yarn but tainted for her with poor associations so lucky me, I was in the right place at the right time ! At the moment I'm thinking I may well get a sweater and a blanket out of this. (I did say it was a lot of yarn !)
I've also been distracting myself with a bit of reading and subscribing as I liked it so much and a bit of club joining.
I'm really intrigued by the sound of Fybrespates and Natural Dye Studio's new club, it sounds like a lot of fun. I do find it slightly weird tho' that me, who rarely joins anything, am now considering membership of no less than 3 clubs ! Yarn lust does make you do strange, out of character, things doesn't it ? :0)
Heather x
Festivities over and January gloom descends. Well normally but not this year. I've taken active steps this year and planned a few little treats :0))
A little bit of yarn shopping .......
Winter Collection from Sunshine Yarns
Handpainted Merino 4 ply from Old Maiden Aunt
but mainly plans to visit friends :0)
Forward planning some fun times is such a help with crappy weather, gloomy news reports and tough times at work. So in the interests of fun times for others I can tell you that the lovely Mhairi is the winner of my "Life Lived in Fear" New Year draw ! Email me with your snailmail Mhairi and a little liberated goodness from my stash shall wing its way to you :0)
Next time (when I'm not on this stupid laptop that refuses to load my photos), some actual pictures of actual knitting done by me, actually.
Heather x