Work In Progress Wednesday Number 9

Subtitled: I really should cast on something that isn't orange!

I haven't worked on my green top at all this week (well, 4 rows, but I don't think that counts). Sooner or later I'm going to have to admit defeat and give up on the damn thing!

Second Zauberball sock has been cast on and is now just past the cuff:

I've decided to call these my "sunset socks" thanks to Kathleen's comment on Friday about the finished one being "crazy-sunset-beautiful". That description really made me smile, so sunset socks they are *grins*

I've also been working on my blanket. Not sure what possessed me to knit a blanket in DK weight, in July! I think it'll be a small blanket *laughs*

There's one more colour to add, which is a very dark chocolate brown. I love the pattern, although I'm not following the dimensions of the blocks exactly, I'm just doing what feels right to me... As usual ;) I really like how the colours are working together so far, so I'm excited to make more progress *smiles*

Remember that swap I joined on ravelry, well, the market bag that my swap partner made for me is serving as an excellent blanket yarn repository ;)

It keeps it all together, and means that I can just about fit all the rest of my stash in the appropriate drawers *laughs*

For more wonderful Wednesday's, as ever, head over to Tami's.

Meandering Musings

Things on my mind this morning...

• Why have I decided to knit a blanket when summer finally seems to be starting? And why do I have no motivation to work on my green cotton top, which is a more weather appropriate project?!

• Why is there a pigeon trying to mate with a seagull outside my window?

• Yay, it's less than 2 weeks to Knit Nation! I'm going by myself, so if anyone reading is going to be there, please say hi!

• Talking of which - I think I should take cash, so I don't go crazy with the credit card. But how much cash should I take? I have no idea what to expect but I'm excited anyway *laughs* In a related question, how much yarn is too much yarn? *ponders*

• I saw this linked in twitter - a blog collecting pictures of angry people from local newspapers. It's pretty funny ;)

• A much more moving and interesting blog is Dear Photograph. I saw it a few weeks ago when it only had a couple of pictures, since then it's gone a bit viral so it's a lot more populated *smiles* I'm sure most people have seen it by now, but if not, it's worth a look ;)

• Why will no one pay me to knit? I don't mean knitting on commission, I mean, why won't someone pay me to sit and knit nice things for myself? *laughs* 

• I would quite like a cupcake right now... Or maybe Krispy Kreme. 

• My toe hurts and I have no idea why. I would like it to stop. 

And finally...

I is for.... In the City

Little Red in the City to be precise *grins*

Ok, maybe it's cheating a little bit, but my book arrived at the weekend and I wanted to share ;)

I pre-ordered it when I saw a fantastic post on Ysolda's blog about what to expect from the book. As a result, despite having so few patterns, it became my must have purchase.

For those who don't know, the premise of the book is:

So it has sections on prep, techniques and patterns. The prep section is hugely informative, so I haven't really scratched the surface yet, but there is a lot of information on choosing a yarn for a project (very useful as I rarely use the recommended yarn) and how to make things actually fit.

There's a lot of maths for that last part *grimaces*

I hate maths. But it looks fairly simple, I hope, and making things fit well has got to be motivation enough to ignore my maths hatred ;)

It's a gorgeous book, with some gorgeous details, I love the "this book belongs to page", it feels like being a kid with a special book again *grins*

And I utterly adore the little bookmark/ruler tucked inside...

So cute :)

I can't wait to get stuck into this book properly. In fact I have already swatched for Cria, using the Jaeger Monte Cristo yarn that boyfriend's mum gave me. Just need to get my exact measurements before I start (and being patient is not fun for me!)

Head over here to Charlotte's for more ABC posts

Friday Mega Blog

I have multiple finished objects to show off today *grins* This is very exciting news after being stuck on one project for so long! So, lots of photos coming up...

First up, my cabled bag. I finished this on Saturday but haven't managed to find the right bag handles yet. I do love the lining though *smiles*

The yarn was the Brooklyn Tweed Shelter I won from a blog giveaway. It's beautifully springy, but a little rougher than I'm used to working with. Great stitch definition though.

Secondly, last night I finished sock number 1 of the Zauberball socks *big grin* I love this sock. I was wearing it last night for a little while, before being good and taking it off (to avoid wearing it out before it even has a mate!) The colours are so bright, and even though I usually avoid taking pictures in direct sunlight, I couldn't resist showing off just how much this sock glows!

And last, but by absolutely no means least, the final beauty shots of the Clapotis...

It's a little shorter than I initially wanted, however I've changed my mind about this being a bad thing - it sits really nicely on my shoulders at a good arm length. Of course, I made it for an event last Sunday (as you know) and it turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far! Luckily, it wasn't too hot in the shade, and it actually formed an excellent protective barrier against all the bitey flies that were hanging around ;)

I also love it worn like this, although I could do with a shawl pin to keep it in place...

Because it scrunches up quite small, thanks to the drop stitches, I can also wear it as a scarf, but I'm not quite sure that does it justice. I love how the next 2 shots really show off the magic of blocking, look how straight and flat it is now!

As you might be able to tell, I'm pretty damn pleased with this thing:

As ever, head over to the other Friday link parties for more crafty goodness: Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder

Work In Progress Wednesday Number 8

Good morning fine folk of the blogosphere...

Can you tell I'm in a good mood?! This post is Clapotis free *grins* The finished item was previewed last Friday, and will receive it's full glory this Friday, but for today, we're without Clapotis ;)

Which means I am back to working on my other projects at last. Actually, the cabled bag will also be appearing on Friday, as I finished that one last weekend! It was so bizarre working with aran(worsted) weight after all that time with sock yarn, everything happened much faster of course *laughs*

My Zauberball sock is coming along nicely, a little bit more of the foot to do before I start toe decreases:

Not sure why it's upside down, but it's amusing so I shall leave it that way ;) I'm still loving the yarn, even if it is hyper fuzzy. Not sure why there is such a large purple section, but I'm finally on a new colour again, which just makes it so much more fun *grins*

Green top has had many more rows added, and looks very much the same as before *sigh* I couldn't bear to post another picture  looking exactly the same as the last, so here's the actual amount of progress I've made...

You'd think it would make more impact on the overall look of the garment, wouldn't you?! Or perhaps I'm just not seeing it. Maybe I'll take a photo every hour or so, so that I can track progress and feel like I'm making some ;)

I've also started knitting the orange yarn I posted about yesterday. Even DK weight feels huge compared to everything else being 4 ply! 

This sunny thing will become the first block in a Moderne Blanket. It's a log cabin style, but the blocks are all different sizes. I'm thinking this will be a fairly long term project, being a blanket and all. On the other hand, it is all garter stitch, which is good! I don't usually like garter, but for some reason I'm loving it in this yarn. And the yarn is so soft and squishy, despite it's acrylicness, which is just perfect for a blanket. 

It's funny, after the slog of the Clapotis (ooops, wasn't supposed to mention it again today!) I was feeling a little burned out. But give me some orange acrylic and some garter stitch and I'm suddenly all happy again *laughs* 

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me today, but head on over to Tami's to see what everyone else has been working on this week :)

Yarnapalooza

Now, I know my intention was not to buy any more yarn for a while, so that I could use up some of my stash, creating more room in my storage system.

And that still stands (with the stated exception of Knit Nation). However, buying yarn is not the only way to acquire yarn *laughs*

Yesterday, a friend from work came in with 2 huge bags of assorted yarn that his lovely lady no longer uses.

Like I said, huge bags! Lots of different types  in there - quite a few mohair blends, lots of DK but also some chunky, some strange and interesting ones...

There are 2 balls (although they're more like tubes) of this Lion Brand acrylic. It's an American yarn as I understand it, and I've quite wanted to get my hands on some for a while, just because. Not sure how old it is, as the label looks pretty vintage ;)  As always, my camera refuses to acknowledge the existence of red, so it looks kinda orange here.

Talking of orange, I was quite excited to find this in the batch:

I think I may have previously mentioned that I like orange *giggles*

In the strange and interesting collection, there are these:

A boucle called Emu Florentine, and 3 sets of King Cole Exotique in different colours. Not entirely sure what one would do with any of these, definitely out of my usual style, but the Exotique is remarkably soft. Any suggestions most welcome!

This guy from work is a big fan of my knitting, and shows great excitement at what I make, especially when I made socks. In fact, I believe his response was "They look like actual socks" - which may have been offensive had it not been my exact reaction too ;)

Trying to fit it all into my stash drawers was a bit of a logistical challenge, I no longer have my WIP drawer as that has been taken over, but I did actually manage to get it all in! Now to find things to do with it *laughs*

H is for... Home

Before starting today's post, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who stopped by on Friday and commented on my Clapotis! I've never had so many comments, and I can tell you they made my day *grins*

Anyway, before I get too gushy, on to "H"

H for me is for Home. My mum's house will always be home, because it's where I grew up and it's family and history and all those things. But, I obviously have my own home too

My home is a little flat, with 4 rooms including the bathroom. It's tiny, although it does have a garden, and it's the first place I've lived in alone (without housemates or anything).

I have mentioned briefly before about my living room decor. I love the steampunk aesthetic, but I don't want to live in something that looks like a film set, so I have incorporated little touches here and there. It's more battered antique than steampunk perhaps, but it's exactly what I want.

Like this bookend (although I think it is supposed to be a doorstop)

One of my favourite things in my living room is the antique typewriter. It's all battered and could do with a good clean, but I like the way it looks as it is:

I love this little selection of bits and pieces, the globe was from Spitalfield Market, and was exactly what I'd been looking for. The glass bottle actually contained real ale (bought for my brother entirely because I wanted the bottle!). The metal box is a candle and was the inspiration for my mirror paint job.  And the test tubes were discovered by my mum in a little shop in Rhodes while we were on holiday. You can also just see the cogs bookend on the shelf below (it's made of plastic and I keep wanting to make a proper one, but I'm no metalworker!).

You've seen the top of this next item quite frequently, as it is where I take most of my pictures. Partly because this is where the best light is, and partly because I really like having it as a backdrop to my pictures. It's a Victorian travelling trunk, owned by a lady named Cybil Bury (her name is still marked on the top), picked up from an antique place in Rye for a steal *grins*

This is my fabulous Victorian pine blanket box, that mum suggested would work as a coffee table when I spotted it but couldn't decide if I should buy it or not.

Close up of the little stack of books at the end, with some old opera glasses balanced on top. Again, mum's idea (she has really great ideas, as soon as I described what I was trying to do, she immediately suggested vintage books).

So, that's a very small snapshot of my home. I have more globes dotted around, as well as cushions with map fabric and leather covers, but they were too bathed in sunlight to get decent pictures *laughs* It seems that taking pictures when it is sunny is almost as challenging as when it isn't, as you can tell from the sunflares ;)