Ally Pally 2008

Torben is going to be ok. They're operating again tomorrow but the outlook is good.

So trying to get back to normality, here is my ally pally report...

Overall it was pretty good. I went on sunday and it was really pretty dead which meant that I could actually get at the stands and fondle things without having to use my elbows (not that I ever do, ahem) and also got to chat to some people I haven't seen for ages. I read Yvonne's post with interest and I'd have to agree - there wasn't that much there that really grabbed my interest. Here is my haul:

I have to admit that my favourite purchase are probably these from Back Door Shoes.

I had a hard time choosing between these and the tomato print. He was a lovely guy and told me they would be producing a wool print one later next year. Am bookmarking the site!

This is the only yarn that I got.

The wool is worsted and for the ripple bag from the most recent Knitters mag. The panda is for a neck scarf like the ripple one by the Clapotis woman. You know the one I mean. However I have determined not to cast on anything else until I have finished the mobius cat bed for Artemis. Apparently she has taken to sitting on my step-dad and manipulating him into her preferred position while not letting him read a book. Mum thinks a bed will stop her as she'll have somewhere else to go.

I also got some lovely beads, buttons and fabric.

I adore the marbled fabric. I love marbling. I want to find out how to do this for myself. Plus check out the little octopus buttons - so cool!

I didn't spend my budget and so when I got home I got ordering some soft touch crochet hooks from web of wool (their stand, incidentally, was pretty amazing - a riot of self-patterning sock yarn - pic below) and some denise accessories from Woolly Workshop.

There is one other thing I have been sorely tempted by. I saw it at IKnit Day too and put it back then. If I've resisted it twice does that mean it isn't meant to be? But then if I keep thinking about it, does that I mean I should?

It is here at Purlescense. Should I.....shouldn't I....? It looks completely impractical.

Outside the main halls there was an interesting display of the hyperbolic coral reef, including this one, made from a crisp packet!

Was very interesting and gave me a chance to chat to Rosie too. She has taken over as Editor of Slipknot and I know is going to do amazing things. I also liked this:

I saw several little-old-ladies having their photos taken under the needles like a woolly guard of honour. There was also the usual sweet stand outside the main hall which brings me to my favourite picture of the day.

I seriously love strawberry bootlaces. When I was living with BoyAlex we used to buy packets from woolworths and eat them til we felt sick. Happy days.

To finish, I finally met up with Alice at Socktopus and as well as exchanging news she gave me to the skein of Wollmeise that was donated as the podcast prize. Isn't it gorgeous?

Seriously, I want it. Would anyone mind if I just kept it and gave some regia out instead? No? Oh. OK then. I'll be announcing the winner soon! And am tentatively planning another episode for next weekend.

Pause for Thought

I was uploading photos to blog about Ally Pally when I got a voicemail from my Mum telling me that my sister's cheating scumbag ex-boyfriend had been ambushed in helman province and was being operated on to remove grenade shrapnel from his leg. He hasn't lost any limbs and his outlook is good but...jeez. It's a real reality check. She's still close to his brother and her wife so she is round there with them. Am really shocked. Will hold off blogging until tomorrow when I should know more.

Chocolate and knitting - perfect combination, and a give away!

Suse asked how the slippers look on...

They're pretty comfy and I think look kind of elfin.

In July Pooch got me a voucher for a chocolate making workshop for my birthday. And last weekend I finally went - it was awesome! There was tasting and history and then the making of 4 different recipes and then hands-on decoration. I came out with tonnes, of which these are just a small selection.

A week later they are gone, but by no means forgotten!

I've finished three socks since I last blogged. One pair is a christmas present so are on ravelry but not on here. The third sock is also a xmas present so I won't blog about it too much but seriously, look at this.

Remind you of anything? Honestly, I couldn't knit it in public. I had to wait til I got far enough along to invert the toe inside the rest of the sock and then keep it hidden like that. The finished sock is on ravelry. It looks truly awful until you put it on, then it all makes sense. This is the free pattern.

My final finished object is the bathmat, using the pattern from the previous issue of KCG's Slipknot. It was quite an ingenious pattern which worked out very nicely. I used some aran weight cotton held double so it is thick and pretty heavy but very soft and lovely to stand on.

Part of the reason I got so much knitting done is because I have been to Edinburgh on the train to give another seminar on mentoring. It was the best one yet, though I say so myself, with about 30+ in the audience and very well received. I do like doing that kind of thing - going out of the office and meeting the people I otherwise only email and helping them - making their career development a little easier. Overall I have been enjoying my new job since it began in Jan. There have been a lot of challenges and certainly the current economic shinnanigans are creating some interesting times but it's been pretty good. The only fly in the ointment is my immediate boss who is terribly overworked and also planning her wedding and I suspect is not well and combination of all three is making her a little bit difficult. Mood swings, changing her mind, wanting things now then stressing at you for expecting her to have read them. I really sympathise and I'd love to make things easier for her but she's not an easy person to help and the rest of us are all up to our eyes doing our normal work and keeping up with her demands. It all leads to a situation that takes up far too much of my time - time when I could be thinking about knitting!

Fortunately tomorrow brings a visit to Ally Pally. Like many my budget is less than half what it has been in previous years. Saving for a deposit and the rising cost of everything makes it essential to rein things in a bit. On the plus side I don't have anything particular in mind that I need so the budget I do have I can have fun with. I'm really looking forward to it!

Now finally, I had some comments from people about the noro sock yarn. I have a load leftover from making my socks so I've divided it into two lumps and if two people want to have some to play with just let me know. The only thing is you have to be in the UK. Email me at littlelixie at hotmaildotcom with the address you want me to post it to and the first two will get it. Here are the two batches.

Crazy slippers

I rather rashly offered to knit slippers for a very stressed colleague. I thought I'd give the 8 square ones a go because they looked quite interesting. I guess it was wrong of me to assume that I could work it out even though it was in finnish. I have since discovered one or two things that will help me in future but I kid you not when I say that three competent adults took 15 minutes to work out how to fold them. I'm going to make a video and put it on youtube. The first ones were too small but the second are just right. So the first pair will be for his son. Unfortunately his son is a twin and therefore I need to make another pair for his sister and it would then be mean just to exclude the mum so I've gone from one to four pairs in a very short space of time. At least I'll not be forgetting the folding technique after doing it 8 times.

They're not exactly elegant but they are comfy and a good way of using up leftovers.

I also finished the noro socks. I washed them and they have got a bit softer but not enough for me to think about using it again.

The colours are nice though and I like the long colour changes and it just happened I was on Ravelry (now there's a suprise) and I came across a link to this site. She sells the sock blanks that Easy Knits had on their stand at IKnit Day and you can dye them yourself. So a little purchase later and there is one in the post to me. I shall dye my own long colour changes!

Ravelry really is dangerous. I also saw the most amazing needles on someone's Ravatar and so had to ask where they came from. I haven't splurged yet - I shall wait and see what Ally Pally brings, but I have listed them as another of my many favourite sellers!

Christmas Ornament Swap

I always mean to make some and never get round to it. So I thought that if I was in a swap to make them I'd make some extras and get to keep them. Plus the ones others send me. Hoorah! Click on the image below to join in.

Anyone can join in and SwapBot is free.

Knitting bag bonanza

Off I went yesterday, on the bus to lewisham to visit the most amazing fabric shop called 'Rolls n Rems'. There are three of them, I think, in London, but I've only ever been to this one. I really love it. I came out with some clear plastic sheeting, two cottons, a stretch cotton for a skirt, curtain fabric, iron-on interlining, 4oz wadding, buttons and a fabric marker for less than £25. Take a look at the fabric:

and some of the buttons.

These are for my button-up socks as they are all quite small.

Nearby are a couple of charity shops and one had patterns so i got these three.

I also splashed out on a huge bouquet of thistles and these pinky orange things. I can't remember what they are now.

And why was I buying all this fabric? As I said on the podcast (which I know has stopped working again - I am very annoyed with the hosts and have complained again - why do I have to spend so much time complaining? I really hate doing it) I have been spending quite a lot of time thinking about knitting bags. For many years I've been using tesco ziplock type things. They're efficient but not exactly sexy. I also have some drawstring type things that I've sewn in the past or bought. The problem with those is that you can't see what's in them and, if you have such a terrible number of UFOs as me that can be quite a hindrance. So, some thinking and many comments from people later and here we are.

I made 4 prototypes. My frist thought was to make a couple of half plastic and half fabric. These are the ones made of the yellow star fabric. I did wonder how to get these to close since the plastic is a bit thick to ruffle properly. And sure enough, exhibit A.

And exhibit B which wouldn't close properly at all.

I do love the fabric though - £3.60 a metre I think.

So then I moved on to the idea of using reverse applique to create windows. This is the first prototype.

The fabric is furnishing stuff and so quite thick. Not ideal but works pretty well. So being happy with this one I refined it a bit. I wanted to make the edges look neater while not having to do too much fiddling about. Plus I was wondering what would happen with a shaped window. Ta da!

I'm going to write up a pattern for people in case anyone wants to make their own! I'll definitely be making more.

As well as this sudden burst of sewing I've also been knitting away. The Noro socks continue, curse them.

The colours are (mostly) good but the yarn is just horrible. If only there was something like a cross between this and kauni but in sock yarn. Closest I've found is this but the colours get blurred when the plies don't match. I have got some of this stuff, incidentally, and it's pretty nice. Cheap too.

I've also started knitting a bathmat after deciding I don't like mine. I'm using the 10-stitch pattern from an old issue of SlipKnot. Going pretty nicely!

Using some aran cotton I got on ebay, held double. Pooch is very doubtful about this and thinks it will never stand up to his use. I told him that another knitter on ravelry said it was used by her and her husband and their two teenage sons. Pooch says his usage is equivalent to that of 5 fully grown men so I guess time will tell.

Thinking Time

I've been on a flying trip to Belfast. Literally flying actually - first time in about 18 months and the security stuff was rather a drag. Leaving belfast all my stuff got fingertip searched because I'd forgotten a can of deodorant. And then once I'd repacked everything I had to go back through security again. The posters at City Airport had a list of things you couldn't have in your bag and one of them was knitting needles. But during the minute search of everything she rummaged in my knitting bag and never said a word. I knitted on the plane there and back so all was well really.

They say travelling expands the mind, and it certainly gives you time to think. I have been spending much time thinking about the Kauni jumper. I got this lot out of the bookcase and had a rummage for ideas, answers and inspiration.

I ended up finding this in the Designing Knitwear book.

So that gave me the neckline and how many stitches to cast on IF I was going to go top down. But then while I was away I got thinking. It went something like this...

1. I'll knit it top down - then I can try it on as I go.
2. That means I'll need to map out the pattern including the increases from the neck down.
3. Ah. That's quite complicated.
4. Wait, this is a steeked cardigan, so trying it on as I go is going to be difficult.
5. What am I going to do about the arms? Whether I go top down or bottom up I'll need to get the colours to match where the arms join the body.
6. I'll probably need an extra ball to get this to work. But I've got 600g so that might be enough. Maybe.
7. So wait - if going top down doesn't bring the benefits I thought, should I just go bottom up. I've already worked out the waist and bust inc/dec to do that.
8. I still need to map out the pattern, but can play it a bit more by ear with the shaping.
9. If I do a fake side seam of a purl stitch I can use that to disguise mismatches in the pattern. ...Or I could forget that and have the pattern matching all the way round.
10. Oh my god. We're all going to die.

Which reminds me - remembering my previous post, has anyone seen this? http://www.hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

Meanwhile I've been slogging away on the noro socks. I really really don't like the yarn. I had a knot which changed purple to turquoise - and my opposing stripe was already turquoise so it wasn't working on so many levels.

I went to see Tropic Thunder at the cinema this afternoon. It was brilliant. The premise is one that has been done before but they did it well. I do like a lot of Ben Stiller's films and this was definitely his film. I don't mean in terms of screentime because everyone got a good amount, but he directed, wrote, produced, created, thought up etc etc the whole thing, although I did see one of the coen brothers credited for something at some point. They very cunningly got you to watch the end credits by having them accompanied by a dance. Not just any dance either. This is the dance of dances. And the dancer is someone so unexpected - the biggest surprise is that he doesn't just not appear on the posters, even as a name, but isn't menioned on the imdb site either. It's staggering since he's known for having a high profile even though he has gone a bit weird recently. I won't say anymore - but look out for him and his hairy knuckles. I didn't believe it was him the first time he appeared on the screen. Took a few minutes for me to finally believe it. Genius casting. Robert Downey Jr was very good too. I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang the other day too - I really rather like his acting.

The walk back from the cinema was rather lovely as it was just starting to get dark and the dock looked lovely.

It's been a lovely warm day. Guess there won't be many more, although on the plus side this means more scope for wearing handknits!

Podcast Working Now

I dunno. But whatever it was it is fixed now! Here or on Itunes. Hoorah!

Podcast and more

Let us forget about the buttocks and move on...

I had a day off today and spent it in style getting the rather delayed episode 16 of my podcast out. Sadly it's not downloading so you can't actually listen to it. Tsk. Have submitted a plea to the podbean site owners to fix it so will let you know when it is fixed.

I've also been dyeing my hair, catching up on my trash tv and pondering whether a top down raglan fairisle would work. What do you think? I can't help thinking it is chavvy but I can't think what has put that into my mind. I need to do some googling and see what's out there. Now this is nice. And as for this - if Eunny Jang thinks it's ok to do fair isle raglan then it must be ok. OK, I'm convinced. Now I just need to decide on a neckline. Kauni here I come.

My sister Sianybo got me a skein of noro sockyarn for my birthday in July. I finally got on with some socks in it after seeing some nice stripey ones on Ravelry. But...not loving it. The texture is pretty rough and the yarn changes from lace weight to DK with annoying frequency.

I'm glad I've used it though. It's an experience.

After I blogged on sunday I got a bit crafty and finished off my diary cover. This sucker has been hanging around since 2006. It was going to be a tanktop but I ran out of yarn. So some hardcore felting and trimming later...

I *love* it! It's so tactile and gorgeous. Very, very happy.

I also made a needlebook for a swap on swap-bot. The recipient listed daffodils as one of her favourite flowers.

To get my day of rest off to a good start I had a massage last night. This meant I was in Covent Garden so I popped into ArtBox, my latest favourite shop.

I really love the Happy Panda line. Don't ask me why. It just makes me laugh when I see it.

My miss-shapen buttocks

I got this lovely book from a Raveler after asking whether anyone had one to sell on the ISO group.

I got it from america with postage for £5 less than the Amazon UK listed price. I have never made a mobius out of knitting before so I decided to start with something a bit more basic than the knitters bowl that I have my eye on. So I went for the 'Fanny Basket'. Cat Bordhi describes how after she'd made it she realised it looked like a bottom. The result of a few hours knitting, using the aran left over from Pooch's jumper, was this:

Which after a go in the washing machine has ended up as this rather unlovely creation:

It's just not sexy. I might try felting it more but I don't see it getting any better. Ah well, let us not be discouraged. Onwards and upwards!

The SkipNorth website will be going live within the next hour or so. I'll be posting on the Ravelry Group and the Yahoo list when it actually happens. Very exciting!

Edited: Here it is!

SkipNorth 2009

Book Now!

Are we dead yet?

It's zero hour at CERN today, and it looks like we're not dead. As a person with a physics degree I've been asked to explain what the deal is with the black holes and stuff. Frankly, I don't know. I did my degree 7 years ago. I just dunno. The point is though, that it's cool. And if they find the Higgs Boson that's good and if they don't there's a whole lot of PhDs to be funded. But more importantly, Google have a good animation for it.

I clicked on it, just for fun, and you know on the right of the screen, where they have the paid for advertising? Well, I saw this one:

Genius.

Yarn Harlot liked my t-shirt

She said if I put them on ebay she would absolutely buy one. Thinks "I should put these t-shirts on etsy".

Anyway...

Yesterday really was brill. The organisation was excellent. Great stands and shopping. Fashion shows and catering. Places to sit. Charity projects. I'm very very happy. I caught up with loads of people I haven't seen for ages, met Gill from WoollyWorkshop and, most exciting, Stephanie Pearl McPhee was awesome AND she liked my t-shirt. It doesn't get much better than that.

I got some lovely things. Sock yarn x4:

Herdy t-shirt and notecards.

Denise organiser - this was my big buy. I told myself I'd wait til I got paid but then it was there and kind of wicked and so I just did it.

The buttons are ones I ordered from WoollyWorkshop for the bad cardi. I'm thinking the green leaf ones will be the best.

Lovely keyrings from the people who did the knitted gingerbread house.

And then there was this...

Yeeha! She was really lovely. And she had something real to say to everyone.

A great day.

Then I got back and last night and this morning I finished off Pooch's jumper. Ta da!

I am very pleased with it. All the details are on ravelry. Got the yarn at SkipNorth. It fits him nicely and the colours are perfect for him. Very happy with it!

A number of people asked me about the podcast yesterday, and have been messaging me about it on ravelry. So....I am going to do another one. I've got a day off in about a week's time so I'm going to plan it for then. It would be good to get back to them again.