dolly dimple knits

Cold Feet

See what came in the post this week :

2 balls of Regia Silk Sock Yarn

1 ball of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Multi-ringel Sock Yarn

AND Regia Jubilee "India" Sock Yarn !!!

Told you I was going to knit more socks - maybe slightly more than even I had anticipated but I had to make the postage from Germany worthwhile :0) Thanks Kay, Emma and Yvette for the links !

To make it a bit more interesting and bearing in mind that I've only ever knit ONE pair before, I thought I might try something new with each yarn. Why go the easy route ? ..... No, don't answer that.

The navy silk I thought would look good in a textured or lace patterned sock ? The multiringel I might try with a toe-up sock or short row shaping for heels ? (Don't be fooled by all this talk, I haven't the first idea how to go about any of these techniques or whether I should be mentioning them in such a cavalier fashion. Feel free to disillusion me ....)

And the India yarn I'm going to try knitting both at once on 2 circular needles. PLEASE tell me now if this is completely mad. I have no idea whether this is a good idea but the thought of finishing both at once appeals :0)

Suggestions for favourite patterns or techniques for any of the above would also be very welcome - I am a relative sock newbie after all.

India's going to be the first pair and Sue and Yvette are hopefully joining me in a mini-sock-along as they have some India too. Bet they finish before me, it's taken me 2 days just to understand the casting on to 2 circulars instructions ....... maybe this is an omen ?? ......

Chrysalis

Butterfly is taking wing and only needs her collar now and she'll be off - the needles that is. I want to wear this next Saturday and I think I might just make it. What do you reckon ?

The colour is actually pretty true in this picture (shade 124 is an incredibly hard shade to photograph - the reds always seem too bright) and I haven't changed anything about this design except for shortening the sleeves by around 4 inches. I increased every 6 rows instead of every 8 which took out just over an inch and then I knitted until the sleeve was 17½ inches instead of 20½ long before the cap.

I'm also planning on making the collar slightly narrower tho' I don't want to overdo that in case it ruins the balance of the design.

And of course the best thing about getting this off the needles is that it will leave me free to START SOMETHING ELSE !! HURRAH !

Jacqueline has an interesting post on stash and the possible reasons behind it which made me think about mine. ( I'm planning on stash raking today to begin thinking about what I'm doing next ....) Of course I could finish another WIP first ........

I honestly don't buy yarn with no purpose in mind - I always have a project that I'm thinking of. The problem for me is that ideas for projects come much faster than I can actually knit them so I've often changed my mind before I get round to using it. I don't buy single balls just for the sake of it tho' I do have a lot left over from bigger projects - I used to find the amounts were always out in a lot of Rowan designs and frequently had 1 / 2 untouched skeins. Scarves and flower pins that's the answer for those !

Anyway, the point is, that it made me revisit what I already have and I have lots of stuff I still really like so I'm going to aim to do a bit of stash busting AND to get rid of some of the yarn I know I will never use now. Some of my stash-busting mini projects have already appeared and there are a couple more in the sidebar.

I am also going on a yarn diet. But can I categorically state THIS DOES NOT MEAN I WILL STOP BUYING YARN. There's no point in setting myself unrealistic goals :0)

My yarn diet is more linked to the fact that I am a stone (14lbs) heavier than I was this time last year - which is about 2 stone (28lbs) heavier than I'm comfortable with. I am, however, a crap dieter and I need incentives.

So for every day that I don't eat snacks and junk (kettle chips and wine .... ah ! drool !) I will put £1 in here

Meet Mr Pig - my tasteful Secret Santa present from my work colleagues. Mr Pig shall be the keeper the of the yarn money and when (note WHEN not IF) I lose some of this lard I shall splurge it on a project I've been eyeing up for a while.

Proving that you can turn a pig's ear into a silk sweater. Or cardigan.

Added later :

Well spotted Tracy, Mr Pig is indeed an elephant - I wondered if anyone would notice, there should be a prize really shouldn't there ?! From the moment he was unwrapped though my 2 year old has insisted that he is "Mr Pig" so the name has stuck :0)

Copping Out ...

Work is hard..... Work is time-consuming....... Work = I haven't done much (okay, any) knitting this week so far.

So in time honoured blogging tradition, my personal review of 2004 ..... (hey, it's still only January - I'm entitled !) Can't remember whose blog I pinched this from - if it was yours, THANKS :0)

1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before ?

Started this blog. Which was cool. And fun. And has brought me lots of new friends - so go start one. You know you want to.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for this year ?

Vaguely remember promising to knit more for myself in 2004 ..... that would be a No, then. This year, I'm evolving instead of resolving.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth ?

No :0( But friends are expecting at the beginning of March :0) And a virtual friend kind of got in on the act .... :0)

4. Did anyone close to you die ?

Yes. Enough said.

5. What countries did you visit ?

Em ...... does England count ??

6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004 ?

A job that doesn't keep me awake at night, stressing out. A tidy bedroom. A pair of grey and pink trainers. A ball of Regia Jubilee shade 5472 called India (yes, I am going to knit more socks ... for me this time.)

7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory and why ?

Um ... there are probably more dates I'd prefer to forget from 2004. August 12th was good - we went back to Mull, one of my favourite places in the world. :0)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year ?

Knitting my first ever socks as part of my extremities exchange gift to Benedetta.

9. What was your biggest failure ?

Having to knit 3 sodding socks 'cos my first one was so bad !

10. Did you suffer a major illness or injury ?

Don't know about major but I did have pneumonia for 5 weeks over December.
It was not fun.

11. What was the best thing you bought ?

A new WHITE bathroom suite for our loft conversion ......... it's still not fitted ..... procrastinators ? who ? us ?

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration ?

My 3 gorgeous daughters.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed ?

My 3 gorgeous daughters. Parenthood is a mixed blessing.

Oh, and Tony Blair's ....... and mine, sometimes.

14. Where did most of your money go ?

The mortgage - bum !

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about ?

I'll get back to you on that. I'm not sure I do excited.

16. What song will always remind you of 2004 ?

That one by the Scissor Sisters. Can't remember it's name but you know the one I mean.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you :

i. Happier or sadder ? Both.
ii. Thinner or fatter ? Fatter. Thanks for pointing it out. I feel so much better now.
iii. Richer or poorer ? Poorer, probably. Who cares ? It's only money.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of ?

Sleeping. Knitting, naturally. Being happy to be me.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of ?

Bitching about the small, unimportant stuff. Kettle chips - I have a serious Kettle Chip habit. Probably explains 17.ii now I think about it .....

20. How did you spend Christmas ?

Quietly. Sleeping a lot - I had pneumonia, remember.

21. How did you spend New Year ?

That's Hogmanay, actually. Drunk. Staying up too late trying to name the American states in alphabetic order. Even the American in the crowd couldn't do it ..... Delaware, dammit ! Knew we'd missed it !

22. Did you fall in love in 2004 ?

No. Of course, I'm destined to be the second Mrs Ewan McGregor .... tho' there is the small matter of Alan, the girls, his wife and kids .....

23. How many one-night stands ?

Hah ! Chance would be a fine thing ! That would require staying awake past the 9 o'clock news ...

24. What was your favourite TV programme ?

Little Britain. CSI.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year ?

Hate's a strong word. Utterly despise, maybe. But not hate.

26. What was the best book you read ?

The Da Vinci Code (No actually, I'm just saying that to wind India up - I haven't read it, honest !) Em, let me think. I really liked "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan and the Alexander McCall Smith books.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery ?

That there are still no better bands in the world than Teenage Fanclub.

28. What did you want and get ?

My own way, mainly.

29. What did you want and not get ?

Regia Jubilee Shade 5472 India - why does nobody in the UK stock this ????

30. What was your favourite film of this year ?

I only ever get to watch U's and PG's - oh, the joy of children. I quite liked The Polar Express - it made me feel festive !:0)

31. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you ?

I really can't remember, sad isn't it ? I was 38 - sad isn't it ?!!!

32. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying ?

This blog and my new blog and knitting friends. Undoubtedly. No question about it.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004 ?

Oh, thank God ! - it still fits .... just.

34. What kept you sane ?

Who told you that ?? ! HAH !

35. Which celebrity / public figure did you fancy the most ?

See no. 22

36. What political issue stirred you the most ?

The unlawful imprisonment of children, otherwise known as the detention of asylum seekers at Dungavel. Well done, Mr Blunket, you arsehole ! How the mighty have fallen ...

37. Who did you miss ?

Lots of people for different reasons. New Year resolution : be better at keeping in touch with people I care about.

38. Who was the best new person you met ?

All of you. See nos. 1 and 32.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004 :

To value myself more. You only get one shot at life. Don't fuck it up.

40. Quote that sums up your year :

"One day, this too will pass."

Genuine Knitting Content !

Once I got over the shock of returning to work this week (it sure does interfere with your knitting time...) I can happily report that I have actually DONE SOME KNITTING.

Feeling virtuous I decided to pick up Butterfly again and whizzed through the sleeves in 3 days - I did cheat of course as I've made them 4 inches shorter on account of everyone else's experience :0)

So now it's just the back to finish

and then on to the collar. I may even race Anita and see if I can finish mine by the end of the month too ....... then again I may lose interest and shelve it for months. Attention span of a flea, me.

I do have a cunning strategy though to stop me getting bored. I have been interspersing Butterfly with some teeny, quick projects to keep me entertained.

I really loved the stitch pattern for the Maya scarf I knitted for my friend Angela at Christmas. (Amelia loves it too ! :0))

So I used the same stitch for this

A really simple little bag from I skein of Maya (shade 09) which I lined with some magenta silk with a wonderful hot pink (now there's a surprise !) beaded border detail. This is a great stitch pattern for Maya. Each of the colours comes through and it doesn't seem to have any problems with pooling or striping.

For anyone who's interested it goes :

•CO an even number of stitches

•Row 1: K1, *sl 1, K1, psso but before dropping the slipped stitch from the left needle, knit into the back of it* repeat until there is one stitch left, K1

•Row 2: *P2tog, do not slip stitches off the needle, purl the first stitch again, slip both stitches off needle*

Easy !

My other little diversionary project was these

I knitted these from one of the fabulous free patterns on Marnie MacLean's site.

Now these are really quick - half a ball of Rowan Cork, a pair of 5.5mm bamboos and two hours later toasty hands :0) My kind of project !

New Year Evolutions

I have little or no resolve so there is no point in me going the resolution route. Every time I make a New Year resolution I am immediately overwhelmed by the desire to throw the towel in, and yell "the game's a bogie - the ba's up on the tiles !" and QUIT. I am a quitter.

However, like the most miniscule amoeba crawling on this planet, I reckon that - given enough time - evolution I CAN do.

2004 was not my best year ever, either knittingwise or personally, so I've decided to give some thought to a couple of things (in the space of the next 12 months) I can evolve into. Knittingwise. The personal stuff is best left to your imagination.

1. An experimental knitter

I went through a bit (probably less than half, oops !) of my stash over the holidays and discovered lots of lovely yarn. Lovely. But similar. Lots of similar textures, weights, colours, I could go on but you get the picture. We all have our favourites but holy smoke, I AM IN A RUT ! Yarnwise, anyway.

So every month, for the next 12 months, I will try a new (or new to me) yarn. I appreciate that some of this I may hate.

In which case look out for unexpected gifts .... no, seriously, I only ever give away things I really like. It's good for the soul. Plus I reckon if I hate it, why inflict it on anyone else ? :0)

The January entry for New to Me Yarn is

KFI Yarns
Gioco - a ribbon ladder yarn that I bought from The Knitting Garden who offer a fabulous service. (I ordered on the 31st so allowing for the holiday it wasn't posted out until the 3rd and arrived today ! I've had slower service from UK based companies !) AND I just discovered that it's my soon-to-be-new-brother-in-law's mother's LYS - spooky.

2. A follow-through knitter

I admit it. I have the attention span of a flea. Possibly not even that good.

In 2004, I cast on 3 cardigans and 3 sweaters for me, exactly one of which is finished. The clue, of course, is in the words "for me" - every project I cast on intended for someone else is blocked, sewn up and gifted (bar one which I'm blocking at the weekend. Honest.)

Now I don't feel guilty about this because they're for me and I don't really do guilt anyway, truth be told. But I do feel kind of stuck. And spendthrifty - which in the face of Stephanie's unfailingly eloquent reminder of how cushy we have it here in the west, I don't like.

So today instead of thinking about what yarn to buy to cast on yet another probably never to be finished sweater, I set up a monthly standing order to Oxfam.

A monthly payment because I worry that once the first shock and immediate response is past, it will become just another charity plea to be ignored and they are going to need help for a LONG time. Really long. And I chose Oxfam because my wonderful friend (the one who got the Maya scarf for Christmas) works for them - and gave up much of her Christmas and New Year time off working for them. Really hard.

Having followed through on that, I'm going to try to follow through on the sweaters and cardigans too. I reckon if I stick with it, I could complete these unfinished masterpieces by, say, June ??

Of course, the local pig farm could take to the skies in arial formation first but I said TRY people, okay ??