Soho and silk (and cotton, velvet, leather, pvc...)

With the very best intentions I started out for hounslow yesterday, initially meeting Nikki at Holborn. Discovered that as well as the district line being closed (which I knew about) the piccadilly line was also up the duff (which I didn't). Basically meant no way to get to west london. Was rather ticked off but Nikki marched me off to soho and a rather good time was had by all.

I'm not going to list all the shops we went into a that would take many pages (who'd have thought there were so many fabric shops in soho) but there are a few that deserve a mention. The Bead Shop in Covent Garden yielded these:


Nikki knew of this amazing bling jewellery shop which was packed full of sparkle and everything a girl could want in life. I was very restrained and just got these two:

I'm not saying what Nikki got.....

Then the Cloth House just off Oxford Street. I got the top two of these three from there and could have got a whole lot more:


As soon as i got back I started effectively swatching the fabrics I had to see which I'd use in the final thing. I decided against the brown one this time and got going. The hexagons are about 3cm across. I am aware that the overall effect is cute rather than actually attractive and I've just joined a new Yahoo group asking for advice on choosing fabrics and mixing patterns. A major source of inspiration is going to be Yarnstorm. But then that women is just a dude anyway. That squidgy date cake has my name on it.

Anyway, here is what we have so far. I ran out of paper templates which I've done on the graph paper generating website here. I just cut along the lines...

This is destined to be a cushion. But I would like to have a stab at something a bit bigger like these...

• Crazy Patchwork
• 9 block pattern
• 9 block in variegated colours
• Irregular nine block (top one)
• This is my favourite

Maybe start slightly smaller though!

Yoshimi jumper finished

Here is the finished object

The sleeves are supposed to roll up. The pattern is from erika knights special knits book although I added the curly whirly esque edging around the bottom. This is the yellow variegated yarn that I really like. I reall wish I could wear yellow without looking anaemic.

Then I did succumb and buy another skein of cherry tree hill. I love my first pair so much I have cast on another. In fact Gill at Woolly Workshop played a blinder and got it to me in about 17 hours order to delivery. Plus she sent me some gorgeous peace fleece buttons which I don't have to hand to photograph but will soon. Following all that negative publicity for angel yarns on UKHK I immediately recommended her shop to others and also do to you, dear reader.

I thought I would try a bit of a pattern for my 2nd pair (in 'gypsy rose'). The first were cabled so I thought I'd go for zig zag this time.

Pattern goesRow 1: purl
Row 2: k1, inc into next st (knit front and back), k4, s1 k1 psso k2tog k4 inc into next two stitches k4.....
Row 3: purl

So basically it is quite easy to get a grip on. For the first time I am knitting both socks at the same time on the same two needles. This means using the centre pull and external end of the ball I wound from my skein. I am a bit nervous I will end up with a tangle but at least this way I can ideally maximise sock length while ensuring both are an equal length. At least, that's the theory.

Off fabric hunting later on with Nikki. Will report back later when I have a min. It's Pooch's birthday tomorrow and celebrations today so I might not have time. Pooch has also just changed job so went out for his leaving do last night and came home god knows when very very drunk to tell me how much he loved me. He appears to have eaten a jar of rollmop herring after getting home.

Tagged....

I got tagged two days ago by Nikki but can't manage to get the brain in gear enough to get 7 for each category. So here is my slightly amended version.

Five Things to Do Before I Die

1. Go to Japan
2. Go to New Zealand
3. Be clear of depression
4. Have a baaaaabbbbbbyyyyyy
5. Get hitched (big dress)
6. 
   

Six Things I Cannot Do

1. Crawl (swimming style)
2. Any one thing for more than about an hour at a time
3. Sleep-in
4. Leave the house without a book
5. Use chopsticks properly
6. Continental knitting

Three Things That Attract Me to Blogging

1. Sharing what I've done
2. Seeing what others have done
3. Source of inspiration

Seven Things I Say Most Often

1. Dude
2. Knitting
3. Yarn
4. Wool
5. Pooch (in various tones of voice)
6. Bollocks
7. Balanced Scorecard
   

Six Books That I Love

1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, J Le Carre
2. Small Gods, T Pratchett
3. Thud!, T Pratchett
4. A prayer for owen meany
5. Murder must advertise, D Sayers
6. Murder on a monday, P Branch

Five Movies That I Watch Over and Over Again

1. Mary Poppins
2. The taking of Pelham 123
3. Zoolander
4. Star Trek Insurrection
5. Hellboy
6. 
   

Some People I Want To Join In Too

(Actually i don't want to tag anyone as it's a bit or a marmiter with the love/hate thing. Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to be.)

Took one too many pills on Monday (Monday has been one of my cut-down days for 4 months so this wasn't dangerous it was just forgetful) and the impact of having just one pill extra has thrown me back into the forgetfulness again. It seems to be wearing off a bit now but it serves as another reminder how powerful the anti-d's are.

Golders Green last night was really good - lots of chatting and laughing and a new woman came along who was really nice. I finished (bar the edging) Yoshimi's yellow jumper. Would have had pictures but the camera was dead this morning. Am looking forward to my fabric-buying trip on Saturday and Pooch is now indicating he doesn't actually care if I go to Sandown to see Les and Tess (of Silkwood Yarns) on Sunday. I am a little unsure of Pooch at the moment though. He starts a new job (different game, still at Sony) on Monday so has a leaving lunch and drinks on Friday but I'm not invited to either. Then there's football on saturday which he has expressed delight at about me not being there. A group meal in the evening and then I thought we would do something couply on sunday which is his actual birthday. But now he seems happy about me not being there. Ah well. I guess I'm only treading water with Pooch til Nigel Harman comes to his senses anyway. Because a mentally ill, anti-d addicted, sleep disturbed, knitting obsessed, out of shape project manager is just what he's looking for....

Untitled

I just heard this thing on the tv - a trailer for another religion programme. It went something like this:

"Without religion good people would still do good things and bad people would still do bad things. It takes religion to make good people do bad things." (Cue: shot of the blown up london bus.)

You know how most of TV is bollocks - especially at the moment. Just look at the reality shows on at the mo - celebrity big brother and soapstar showstar or something plus god knows what else. It's mainly rubbish. But I have found this comment quite thought provoking. I have had my on/off/off/off/on/off/off flirtation with religion and always end up thinking of it as a sop - something to make you feel better about bad things. But then, as I'm sure I've put on here before, what kind of god lets its believers suffer agonies, genocide and general trauma? Terry Pratchett always has gods in his books and his idea that a god's existence and personal power depends on the number of believers it has always seemed a good one. Anyway, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I think my general reaction to the trailer is "It takes desperation to make good people do bad things". It just seems like this is down to religion a lot at the mo.

So there, I've started on a happy note. Let me get back to crafty pursuits...

Saturday started well with mini-me:

So then I decided to make one for the only other person who seems to appreciate my creativity - Yoshimi (the baby).

The thing is though I did consider that while currently mini-me would seem like a decnt size doll to the sprog in a year's time she'd probably choke on it (mini-me is about 4-5cm tall). So let me introduce you to the two of them standing side by side.

A good bit of work I thought.

I have also been knitting a jumper for her as I got an email from Vitas yesterday saying they were glad to hear the needles have not been idle as you was rapidly turning into a "chubby bubba" so I've made sure this jumper is the next size up from the last lot. I will rave about the yarn when I remember to take a pic as it is divine and washable and bright yet not garish. Perfect for young shimmy. (Anyone else had the line "Can you shimmy like your sister Kate?" pop into their heads?)

Moodwise all goes fairly well although Pooch has twice told me nicely that I had major mood swings. I can't think of anything I've changed recently that would cause them so I'm putting it down to hormones and we'll say no more. Will have to monitor this next week though.

Lastly, I'm kind of putting this on here as a reminder to myself. Check out this online/Hounslow West fabric shop. I keep almost making an order online but I really need to go there in person to see about matching colours for my patchwork *(insert object here)*. So cheap and the stuff looks pretty fab. Possibly next weekend. I was going to go yesterday but il pleut and it's a hell of a long way to go with wet feet.