Something cute

I just wanted to share something utterly cute that my dad found while out walking the other day, in fact nearly tripped over:



I think he was a little concerned at first that it might have been injured or poorly since it was just sitting there and its mother had run off. I've looked it up since, however, and apparently its normal behaviour for fallow deer to leave their newborn young alone in the undergrowth, returning every few hours to feed it. I wish I could have seen it too.

Ooh, successes!

"Your tutors join me in offering congratulations on being awarded a First Class Degree. It represents the culmination of a great deal of hard work and effort, which has been justly rewarded. I hope that your future plans will be e quallysuccessful."

I feel so clever! It's the result I'd be hoping but I hadn't dared anticipate. Of course it's soured a bit by the fact that three years studying means not working thus not gaining any experience to find a job now (and they tell you if you don't go to university you won't get a god job!), but seriously I'm thrilled. I've worked damned hard these last few years and I'm so glad it's paid off. Hurrah!

That was success number one of the week :) Success number two was finally finishing my first skein of plied handspun (after getting frustrated on my first try because it wasn't well balanced). It may not be perfect (some bits are really lumpy), but I'm happy.



After the singles I'm spinning right now, I'm thinking joining the Spun Stitches KAL and buying some natural black fibre (perhaps alpaca) to knit into a shawl. I've never taken part in a knit-a-long before, but I really like the look of this one. I like the idea of knowing what I'm spinning has a destined project since right now I have no idea what to do with my handspun other than snuggle it.

Seven random facts about me

Eek, I completely forgot I'd been tagged by Yarngeek for this! Anyone who reads this may consider themelves tagged if they wish to be so (I'm feeling too shy to go out tagging people, and I think a lot of people have done this already). Please leave a comment if you have your own seven random facts, I love to read them. But anyway, here are mine:

1. I love the smell of old paperback books. I know it's one of those clichéd favourite smells, but it really makes me happy. Even better if the book's spine is broken and the pages dog-eared. Then I know it's a really well-loved book.
2. I'm allergic to red wine, the only alcohol I really ever drink. It makes my skin blotchy and my eyes and nose itch like mad. Such a shame.
3. I have really big hair. It's not so bad now it's longer, but when I was in my teens I had it short and it suck out in a triangle shape. People at school used to say I looked like Side-Show Bob from the Simpson's which was not great fun!
4. Having nothing to fill my time with freaks me out. After finishing my second year of university I started having anxiety attacks over the summer mostly because of the shock of not having any assignments to do. I think this plays a massive part of why I love to knit – it keeps me busy.
5. I don't drive and you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming and hissing like a deranged cat to get me to do so. I resent the fact that driving seems a mandatory part of today's society. Public transport suits me just find right now, even if it's inconvenient at times.
6. My first memory was of not liking soup, which is really quite appropriate as I've grown up to be a really fussy eater.
7. I have (almost) the same terrible handwriting as my father. His excuse is that he learned to write before he worked out he's as blind as a bat. I have no idea what mine is, but I keep expecting the Human Genome Project to announce a bad handwriting gene one of these day.

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.

Hurrah for pretty sock yarn

Going to see Spiderman 3 on a bank holiday, what the hell were we thinking!? Sold out and queues out the door at the first place we tried, hoards of irritating kids who were most definitely not over twelve or acumplinied by an adult at the second. Thus a no-go. Even though I've seen the reviews, it's still a shame...

BUT got me home in good time for the first update of the sparkly new Lime & Violet Shop to buy possibly the world's most beautiful skein of sock yarn. As a treat to myself for finishing university, or that's what I'm telling myself anyway :)

Can I hibernate through summer, please?

Something is seriously wrong with the weather. It's April, it shouldn't be this warm. There certainly shouldn't be people out sunbathing. This is most unfortunate knitwise, since most of the projects I've set my mind on are distinctly wintery. Bother.

I made a list this evening of all the things I want to knit over the next few months. First of all obviously I want to finish my Jaywalkers and knit a pair of Waffle Socks for Nan. After that, seeing as I've already brought the super lovely yarn, I'm going to knit Ysolda's Lace-up Opera Gloves. I'm keen to knit a couple other gloves/mitts as well: Eunny's Endpaper Mitts and Tua Cha on MagKnits. I'd love also to have a go at getting the Mary Jane's Pithy Hat done in time for Spiderman 3, but seeing as that's really not far away now (yay!) and I don't have yarn and needles perhaps I might be pushing my luck. Feels nice to have lots of projects lined up anyway.

I'm in Oxford only until tomorrow then back up north again. On Wednesday I have a formal interview for a medical lab assistant post in Doncaster. Last week I had an informal chat and some tests, and I feel lucky to be called back again even if I don't get the job. It'll be an experience if nothing else. Only two and a half weeks left now til I relocate northwards properly. I'll definitely be sad to leave Oxford, but being able to be with my beloved permanently is more important to me than anything else.

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!