An update at long last

I don't think there are words to descibe the wonderfulness Ravelry, truly. I've only had access since this morning and already I'm in love. It's such a simple yet amazing idea, I can see myself spending hours on end just hunting through other member's projects and stash and adding new "must knit!" items to my queue. Hurrah for the creators!

So far I have added only two projects: a simple pair of stokinette socks I'm working on and my finished pair of Jaywalkers. The latter took me a bit longer to complete than I had hoped due to technology being (as ever) out to get me. We recently spent nearly two weeks internetless due to some problem at the provider's end, and since I didn't have the pattern printed out anywhere sock two was halted at the end of the leg for a little while. Very sad. However! I have them all finished as of last week and really pleased with how they came out. They were so fun to knit, too.



Another very happy point of the week (and stashed at Ravelry) was the arrival of my sock yarn from the Lime & Violet shop. I'm not sure what to knit with it yet, though for now I'm quite content to stare at it in awe. It's the Vampyre Sock and the colourway is Sandrine.



No luck on job hunting still, though not for the lack of trying. I have, however, just enrolled on a training course with The Society of Indexers which, although will take me a couple of years to complete, will at least give me something to do and hopefully stop me from becoming to despodent while I'm not working. Also, eventually, it would allow me to not only have a job that is related to my degree and to work freelance which is something that has always appealed to me. Good stuff.

Lots of goodies!

I feel very spoilt. A few days ago, a box of goodies arrived for me from my Lime & Violet swap pal. What can I say? I was absolutely thrilled to bits!



The picture above links to a biger version with clicakble bits. I feel very lucky to have such a great swap partner (thank you very much Margret if you are reading this!), esspecially since this was my first knitting swap. The Cherry Tree Hill yarn is fantastic -- the colourway is so very "me". I couldn't resist casting on a pair of Jaywalker socks right away and I'm really pleased with how the colours are showing up. On the train down to Oxford from Scott's today I turned the heel and started on the gusset of sock one. Makes me very happy :)

Since I'm on the subject of socks, Mum loved her Waffle Socks. I'm really relived, and extra pleased because my nan asked me if I can make some for her too, and I'm planning on doing something similar for my dad for Father's Day. Looks like lots of scok knitting ahead for me -- hurrah!

The joy of comfort knitting

Woke up in the middle of the night last night with an agonising cramp-like pain in the back of my neck. Still not being able to turn my head or sit up without great care this morning, went off to A&E with my fiance when he left for work (I'm very lucky to be engaged to a lovely someone who happens to work in a hospital), returning home a couple of hours later with some pain killers and advice to just wait it out. Pulled muscle probably from sleeping funny. Wonderful.

Thus today I have been curled up under a blanket, sitting very still and knitting my way through Calorimetry using a ball of Noro Kureyon I picked up in York last week when I went to visit my sister. Beautiful stuff! I adore the way the colours are coming out, all dark greens and dusky purples -- just looking at them makes me feel better, even more so than the pain killers and a jam doughnut.

Alas, if only I could say the same for my socks. Having figured out the basics with Thuja, I thought I'd have a go at these lovelies. Several froggings later however, I'm feeling very much the novice knitter I am and very frustrated at the bloody stitches that keep wandering off somewhere when I'm not looking. Annoying of them.

I think I'm going to have another jam doughnut.

Fair isle is fabulous

Christmas and New Year have been lovely and filled will knitting goodness. True I still haven't got round to finishing those bloody socks, but this is mostly because I have been distracted by the joys of fair isle. Never a more wonderful craft have I come across! My first fair isle project was a iPod case based on the chart from Corazon from the Winter 2006 issue Knitty, knitted in black and grey with a cute little wooden toggle to fasten.

Next I have set my mind on the Manresa legwarmers -- just as soon as I find a suitable yarn to use. I would love to be able to use the recommended yarn for its alpaca warmness, but I have been unable to find it sold anywhere that will ship it to the UK. Oh well. Perhaps I should just stick to sensible acrylic: I am far too frugal for yarn-snobbery, and since I intend to wear them (when/if I take up) running, perhaps something nice and machine-washable wouldn't be a bad idea.

In the meantime, I have on my needles a gift scarf of a feather and fan design knitted in a pale purple chenille yarn. I've had several skeins of this yarn in my stash a while; it originally came from the charity shop where I volunteer from time to time, and I am very glad to finally be able to put it to a good use. It has knitted up just wonderfully! The pattern repeat is simple enough to be almost mindless, so I can knit while watching telly or while travelling, but at the same time not so mindless as to be mind-numbing.

Black yarn needed

I have now completely run out of the black DK yarn I need for my crocheted scarf! Found a small, ancient ball at the bottom of my stash that kept me going for a while, but that's now all gone and the only stuff I could find locally was £3.50 a ball. Sod that for a game of soldiers when I can get some for £1.30 back home. I might have to ask my mum very nicely if she can buy me a ball and bring it up when she and Dad visit this weekend.

And I now also have a few balls of black worsted on my "to buy" list. Firstly for my new wrist-warmers -- I decided on these over Fetching in the end. They look much more cosy. Secondly, I stumbled upon a delightful pattern for an "As-Worn-By-Kirsten-Dunst Hat". I bow down to the glorious "make-me"-ness of it. Saw something similar while out shopping the other day, but dithered over buying it since a) I have no money to speak of, and b) I was sure there'd a pattern for making it out there somewhere. And so there was.

In non-black yarn news, I've at last moved into new lands and started on the heel of the Green Oddity. Have no idea how it's really going. I think they'll end up very scruffy bed-sock like, but I'm going to keep at it.

Of scarves and socks and such

Finally managed to get back from my parents' house the black double-crochet scarf (my first crochet project) I've been working on for winter. I'm constructing it sideways and am quite pleased with how it is going so far, though am very impatient to get it finished so I can wear it. The weather's starting to turn gorgeous and crisp. Running out of the DK yarn I've been using for it though, so looks a trip to buy more might be in order this week (yay!).

I'm also determined to get some more work done on the Green Oddity over the next few days, since I've just finished a monster of an essay and have have something of a deadline lull for couple of weeks. Got quite a back-log of DVDs to enjoy while doing so. Lovely :)

Finally, my wrist-warmers I knitted for myself last year are starting to look a bit tatty, so I'm thinking I might have to make a new pair. Perhaps Fetching by Cheryl Niamath on Knitty. I'm not sure yet though, since I'm terribly attached to the old pair, bless them.