Work In Progress Wednesday Number 27

In an amazing turn of events, I have actually been following my plan (which I made 2 weeks ago - this might be the longest I have ever stuck to a plan!), so the fuzzy ballet sweater has been making progress and my sock is also a little further along.

The sweater now has 2 finished fronts, which leaves the sleeves and the ties left to do. I have enough yarn to make the sleeves longer than elbow length, so I'm going to do that. Also, I decided to try doing the sleeves two at a time. I haven't converted the pattern into the round (that was just a little more maths than I care to do *laughs*) but because the yarn is so fine it is easy to get both on the same needle:

Just have to make sure I don't get too tangled ;) It's good practice for my next pair of socks though, as I want to try making them two at a time to avoid second sock syndrome!

Talking of socks, my super long sock now has a heel and a gusset, thanks to me having a sudden burst of sock motivation at the weekend. It seems that I have to be in the mood for socks, and this one has been languishing thanks to sock-burnout. Happy to say it seems to be back on track now though *smiles*

The book I am reading is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. While the film is actually really good, the book is so much better.

A few people asked last week what I thought of the book I posted, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake... Hmmmm. Well I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a friend, let's put it that way *laughs* I was very disappointed, it was such an interesting concept but all of the plot points that could have been great were glossed over, whereas the boring stuff just went on and on. The writing style was frustrating, and the plot just went all weird at the end (way beyond what I would expect from the initial concept). So yeah, not recommended!

As ever, you know where to go for more works in progress and yarn along posts ;)

So... Felting

As I mentioned previously, I recently bought some merino top in a lovely burnt orange so that I could try felting.

At the weekend I decided to give it a quick try *grins* So I grabbed my supplies and went with the simplest thing I could think of - the felted balls.

Pulling off thin tufts of the top was fun - it's so fluffy, see?

And I'm really pleased with how the balls came out... They're a range of sizes, although they're all pretty small because I had no idea if it would work. I plan to make some more that are slightly bigger. Still not sure what I'm going to do with them, but that's hardly the point *laughs*

I used quite a few different tutorials to end up with a method I liked, so I thought I'd make a note of it here in case anyone else is interested.

• Supplies: feltable material (I used merino top but I have no idea what else you can use!), bowl of hot soapy water, hands ;)
• Pull off small sections of the top into little wisps. Shape around themselves to make a ball 
• Dunk the ball into the water, fully submerging it - at this point mine no longer resembled a ball and just felt like a blob of wet wool, but I carried on and it worked out, so don't panic!
• Very gently roll the ball around the palms of your hands, forming it back into the correct shape
• Continue doing this for a little while until you can feel it starting to get denser and harder
• As it gets denser you can put a little more pressure on as you roll it around, but don't do that to start with or it'll get squished ;)
• When the ball reaches your desired size and consistency, rinse and leave to dry.

And voila, a felted ball *grins*

Cookbook Challenge #5

Last night I thought it was about time I made something savoury for the cookbook challenge (as 50% of my cookbook recipes so far have been sweets and cupcakes!)

Nigel Slater's Roasted Red Pepper Salad. I am counting this as a definite success.

It's pretty simple, although somewhat fiddly and timeconsuming. The peppers get roasted with garlic cloves (still in their skins), then peeled and deseeded. The garlic gets mixed with the pepper juices, salt, pepper and some olive oil and used as a dressing. See, simple *smiles* Peeling the peppers was the hardest part - although the recipe is for a cold salad, I wanted it warm. Which meant having to peel the boiling hot peppers as quickly as possible, without letting them go cold first. Ouch ;)

The recipe suggests serving with crusty bread to soak up the juices, so I baked bread too *grins at my domesticity* And, definitely a good recommendation, the homemade bread and the juices tasted so good together.

I decided to serve the salad with griddled chicken - to make it a main meal. Cooking the chicken on the griddle pan was the perfect touch, as the charred sections worked absolutely perfectly with the sweetness of the peppers and garlic.

See, I do make vegetables sometimes *laughs*

Yay... It's a Giveaway ;)

Sorry to anyone who is expecting pictures of my completed Hitchhiker scarf, I have something else for today...

Tomorrow afternoon represents my biggest finish to date - I will have been knitting for exactly one year *grins* To celebrate this, I have decided to have a giveaway. I've been very lucky to win some fantastic giveaways since I started blogging, and I wanted to give something back to the community that has welcomed and inspired me over the last year.

Before I get too sappy, I'm sure you're interested in the prizes:

So, clockwise from top left we have: 

• A 50g skein of Shunklies hand-dyed 4ply Superwash Merino in "Royal Gala"
• A selection of sock yarn mini skeins - including Mini Mochi, Regia, King Cole and Zauberball - so many people knitting the beekeeper's quilt that I couldn't resist ;)
• Cable Collection knitting book - I've noticed quite a few blogs recently where people are trying out cables and discovering how easy yet effective they are
• Party Crochet book - really good pattern book - some bizarre ones but some really pretty garments that prove crochet can be really beautiful

I've had a great time over the last year, and I'm grateful to everyone who has read this blog, left comments and generally been lovely. The last 3 Fridays, where I have gone through my archives to remember my earliest projects, have been great fun. So, thanks so much for joining me and I will have real finished objects to share next week, honest *laughs*

I'm quite excited about my first giveaway (in case you couldn't tell already!), but before I forget, here is the smallprint-type stuff:

To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. If your email address is hidden on your profile, please make sure you leave me a way to get in touch with you if you win! If you have a preference for which prize you'd like, let me know in the comments. Giveaway is open worldwide. Closing date for entries is Midnight (GMT) on Thursday 10th November and I will announce winners next Friday. 

Good luck, and thank you for stopping by *grins* 

PS: Don't forget the usual suspects: Tami. Natural Suburbia. Wisdom Begins in Wonder ;)

Felting...

When I went shopping with mum (posted about here), I also picked up this:

A twist of merino top. In orange, of course *laughs* Of course it looks bright red in this picture, but it is actually a darkish orange.

I wanted to try some sort of felting and have seen some great tutorials for felted balls, so when the shop we were in had some available I grabbed the colour I liked best and bought it immediately.

I haven't actually tried it yet (which is a shame, as it would make this post far more interesting!) but I can't wait. I only have one colour at the moment, but if they come out as well as the image below then I might make them in a variety of colours. Either as decor or to thread onto a necklace... Who knows ;)

Then there's the felted soap idea I've seen on other blogs too... Because I need more hobbies *laughs*

Work In Progress Wednesday Number 26

Well, I actually stuck to the plan I made last week *pauses for the amazement to die down* ;)

I have finished the Hitchhiker, just trying to decide now whether or not I want to block it. I love it and will be showing it off just as soon as I have determined it is 100% finished.

I am finally at the point where I can start the heel on my sock, after knitting it (as planned) on the train to and from visiting mum. It seems to have taken ages, and I have been cursing the day I decided to make it as long as I did *laughs* But I'll be happy I did once it is finished, I'm sure. I'm still loving the yarn, which is the one I dyed myself using Kool Aid. Once I start buying yarn again, I will definitely be dyeing some more, it's so much fun ;)

And, as planned, (seriously, I am amazed that I have stuck to a plan for an entire week - this is unheard of!) I have been giving some attention to my fuzzy ballet sweater:

It doesn't look like it's that much longer than last week, but as this is the front and I'm on the decreases, it should go pretty quickly from here. Then it's just sleeves (3/4 length so they shouldn't take long) and the ties. Hopefully I can get this off the needles fairly soon. Of course, the Christmas knitting does take priority at the moment, so it'll be longer than it might ordinarily take!

The book I'm reading is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, about a girl who can taste the cook's emotions in the food she eats. I have been intrigued by it since it was first published and have finally got around to starting it. Not sure what I think yet, as I'm not far into it... I like the concept but I'm not sure I am enjoying the writing style.

As ever, you know where to go for more works in progress and yarn along posts ;)

Yarn Shopping with Mum

A couple of weeks ago, when I posted about my Hitchhiker, my mum commented to say that she wanted one. When she saw that the pattern wasn't symmetrical she wasn't quite so keen but I wanted to make something for her anyway. After trying to work out if I could make the pattern symmetrical (with the saw tooth edge on two sides) and deciding it was a little complicated, I decided to look for a new pattern *laughs*

Trying to find a shawl/scarf with a triangular, symmetrical shape, a triangular style edging in a garter stitch pattern was a small challenge, but we finally settled on Pimpelliese. There are some modifications mum would like, that I will need to figure out (shallower at the back to be more of a scarf than a shawl), but it looks like it'll work beautifully.

Of course, this required a trip to find yarn *grins* Like me, mum is quite specific in what she wants, so the brief was:

• Something that won't stripe
• Variegated but not clown barf (so, similar colours rather than a rainbow)
• Preferably colours to match winter coat (green)
• Soft and tactile

I added a couple of provisos - well, just the one really... It had to be something I wanted to knit with *laughs* So cotton was out, and for speed 4ply was out. 

The first yarn shop we went to didn't have anything suitable (although I did spend a while stroking the Debbie Bliss Andes yarn, I very excellently didn't buy anything). Luckily, the second shop came through...

Colinette Art in the colour Lagoon. 79% Wool, 21% bamboo, similar enough colours to hopefully avoid any unpleasant pooling, soft and strokeable and enough green to match the relevant coat. Phew ;)

Better picture of the colours, which are gorgeous:

Now, as mum has chosen the pattern and bought the yarn, this is a project I can blog about - which is nice. I just need to get a few things off my needles before I can start it!

I did manage to buy some yarn for myself in the second shop, which may seem like it has broken my yarn diet... However, it is the same as some I already have and means that I will be able to make something a little more useful with it (first time round I hadn't really bought enough for anything I wanted to make, ooops!). So, although I don't really need to justify my yarn purchases, I'm still pleased that I have actually made some stash yarn a little more attractive *grins*