Parcel Two

This is not the aforementioned parcel. This is one that just got delivered to work just this minute. Ladies and gents, I would like to introduce you to some pale blue/grey baby cashmerino and some cashmerino aran in a kind of dirty golden brown colour (underneath the cone of blue).


And then some rusty red merino aran and two smaller cones of cotton cashmere.

All curtesy of Coldspring and all a stunning 1p a gram. One peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! woo hoo.

Yes I know. I am a yarn addict. Completely and utterly. Undeniably. More knitting, Miss Byrne, less stashing.

It is all so soft and lovely. Sheila at Coldspring is a god. And adam. Yay! Yarn! Two long hours before I can realistically hop it home and get swatching.

But wait, what light from yonder parcel breaks....

I have a parcel! yay, I love post. It is either the stuff from knithappens, coldspring, or something unexpected from my secret pal. Frankly I'm hoping it's the knit happens stuff as I ordered it so long ago and the first parcel got lost and and and... will find out later today.

Just as an aside I have thought up more of my favourite words. Here they are: alchemy, pernickity, pfaff, lush, awesome, bean, tea. I don't like tea but I feel I have a real aptitude for saying it :)

How wonderful are knitters?

To my astonishment no one has come a beat me up about being so rubbish at pledges. And...being knitters...they are far more interested in what I got from coldspinr - which I will duly display the moment it arrives. Not wanting to leave my audience disappointed though I do have some goodies to display.

This yarn is from this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Glenshee-Woollens. People - go look at their stuff. The yarn I got today is soooo soft and still has that faintly sheepy smell that tells you this is the good stuff. Aran weight and propoer oatmeal coloured. Going to knit a jumper for dad2 aka Rob.

I have started work on some of the sock yarn I got from the yarn house and I'm loving the colours. I've taken these pics with my webcam so the quality is r.u.b.b.i.s.h. so they are much brighter than this. I counted this morning - I need to make at least 8 pairs of socks for xmas presents! The yellow hump is the heel which is done by short row shaping, because I am sane and knit my socks on TWO needles rather than those sadomasacists who use 4/5. Been there, hated that, stabbed a passer by etc etc.

Lastly, a gamble. Bamboo needles on ebay. Ludicrously cheap - about a fiver for 7 pairs in a case. But they seem smooth enough so I'll give them a try. I'm really coming over to wooden needles now, as long as they have long points.

Purlpower sked how long i'd been on fluoxetine for (prozac to the non-sufferers). It's 18 months now and counting. Started on 20mg, went up to 30, went into hospital last March (as suicidal as one can be without being dead) and quickly got put on 40 and tried to come down to 38mg about a month ago (on consultant's advice) and reacted badly. Been back at work full time since last August. (Also managed to get peritonitus or something like that - kidney infection - in June so more hospital!) Apart from disrupting my sleep (wakes me up really early) fluox doesn't do me any harm so I'm fairly resigned to just popping it for the next year or so. I've been on some humdingers in the past though that I had all sorts or side effects to. I was even on Seroxat for a couple of months about 6 years ago. I'm a seasoned pill popper.

On a happier note, I am happy today even though I've had another crisis pop up at work. What the hell eh? It was all the knitting at the group last night that did it. The Golders Green bunch rock. I was shown how to do invisible seams and so have sewn up my red cable top. Just need to add hooks to the neck band and will be modelling it for real. Stand by to be wowed ;)

Don't mention the ....

yarn. It was Coldspring. They did it. I'd emailed them before I made the promise and then they emailed back yesterday and I was weak. WEAK!!!! OK!!!! Just when I'd gushed on UKHK about how I'd be a better person for not breaking it. Godamnit.

So now we're not going to mention the yarn, OK?

Anyway, not mentioning the yarn in any way, my secret pal got her first gift in the post yesterday - was some stuff we aren't mentioning from hipknits and some of my stitchmarkers I'd made from butterfly buttons and silver wire. People have left really nice comments about them too which is nice.

Am all irritated at work at the mo. Meant I was all depressed when left yesterday so didn't go to tai chi. 40mg fluoxetine a day and I still feel like I'm swimming against the current the whole time. Am going through a faze of just wanting to sink down into it and relax into the darkness but I doubt I'll be able to dig out again. There's only so many times you bother fixing something broken before you face up to facts and throw it away. Following this logic though it just means life = toaster which doesn't sound right.

No knitting to show still but...

27 days to go

Did some of the kaffe fasset last night and some of the black basketweave tunic and managed to stop myself starting another project - socks in some of the yarn I bought on Saturday. Nothing worth posting though.

27 days...was wondering whather a solution was to take the loop opening 'off' and add an extra day on the end. One of the lovely commenters suggested an extra month - wow, could I really do that? But I feel I must be sustaining the livelihood of at least 3 independant retailiers so I would feel too guilty not buying for that long. Delusions of grandeur? Never!

Damn and blast

28 days

BUT Loop is opening on 2nd July. This leaves me with a problem, or rather an ethical conundrum. Because I want to support local business. And I want yarn. But I promised. Hum.

Have left my medication at home today which isn't the end of the world - I'll just take it when I get back. But it does leave me wondering whether my wrath against my fellow colleagues is a result of this, PMT or just because they are f*cking stupid. Not all of them, just the ones who feel my wrath. I like the word wrath. Other words I like include conundrum, dearth, finicky and erstwhile. Of course one should not swear in a blog. Afterall, children might be reading. But sometimes, I don't know. I guess it's like eating chocolate when you know you shoudn't. Sometimes you just *have* to.

Countdown

29 days to go.

Thanks for your messages of support (and warnings!). Sunday is a traditional ebay day so I am feeling a little shaky. Pooch is laughing like the moose he is and wants me to come and 'help' him carry a new computer house thing as he accidentally threw away a vital bit of the old one. Hesays it will help distract me.

It's not like I haven't got enough yarn to keep me more than happy for the month. Especially after yesterday. As Kate says, in with love - out with hate. Will just continue my deep breathing.

SP5, Silkwood, Fame and a Promise

My day started pretty well - had a postcard waiting for me from my secret pal. Hello whoever you are! Will keep an eye on my pal's blog to see how my parcel goes down.

Then the debauchary started. I went to The Yarn House in Caterham www.theyarnhouse.co.uk where Silkwood yarns (the ones Nickerjac dyes for) were having a kind of open day. Sheila, the yarn house owner was there and Jan had made a avictoria sponger and there were biscuits - already my idea of heaven without the inclusion of a tonne of yarn. Debbie Bliss, Rowan and some unusual brands. One was alpaca - so soft. But enough about the stuff I didn't get. Let's get down to what I did. First off some nice sock yarn. Safe. Nice. Something for when I'm on the move. (Pooch is now complaining that although I am quoting star wars I am only ever saying the one line - "Always on the move". You can not please some people.

Then we come to my first Silkwood purchase....4-ply blue and green 100% wool. I only bought one skein but that was just to see how much I'd need for a simple jumper. Although that doesn't fit too well with my promise, but more of that later.

Then, I just couldn't help myself. They had all this 100% angora and it was about £20 a skein so way out of budget. But....goddamn them, there were some smaller teeny skeins that were *only* ...um...."only"?.....£7.
Now look, for someone who has never felt angora I can understand that this will sound insane. But but but but it is soooooooooo soft. Unbelievably soft. So soft. Softness in earthly form. Mmmmmm. (Just don't ask me what I intend to do with it.

And now, ladies, gentlemen and everyone else, here it is. 300g of delicious, sensational, hand dyed, 'aubergine' pure wool boucle. Yeah baby yeah.

So now I have more yarn, but we'll get to that later. First let us deal with 'fame'. Of a sort. Not really, more like just been deductively recognised. I got to the shop and went inside and a lady asked if I was Alexandra. I was gobsmacked but she was on the UKHandknitters list and had heard I was coming and was someone she didn't know. The later a couple of people asked if I were Lixie - one after seeing my boogle bag or whatever the damn pattern is called. So there you are - the knitting world is smaller than you think, although actually I never thought it was that big. In a reverse of this I hung around especially to meet Nicky of Nickerjac fame. But then I didn't get to say that much too her as that is one popular lady. Is quite cool to think I might have one of the skeins she has dyed though.

And so finally, the promise. You see I have had to cancel my woolfest trip and genoa holiday because I can'r afford them all, and so Silkwood was my 'holiday'. And then during my enforced stay-up-late night last night I got a 1000kg cone of aran weight wool from a scottish company on ebay. And so...my promise is...30 days without buying wool or yarn or anything that I could foolishly try to knit with. Ditto knitting accessories. 30 full days. So until 9pm on 10th July no new yarn shall pass my mitts.

Forced knitting

Flat downstairs having a party. Means their loud, awful music is louder and awfuller than usual. Will therefore finish this tonight. Will sew up when am more awake.

Oooo, moody post today!

SO tired

Got up at 6.30 yesterday to get on a coach with a load of reluctant colleagues to go to Bristol to our sister company. I didn't join them on the tour but had a quick meeting with the cutest man ever (His name is Nick and he has grown his hair recently and lost some weight and now looks Byronic. He's a graphic designer and that whole art/scinece mix always gets my attention. Pooch has been informed of his existence and he is now my Liz Hurley equivalent). Then off to Cardiff for the launch of their grad school and then nasty dinner in New Orleans diner (what did I expect!). Then train back to London which was hugely delayed so didn't get home til 11pm. And then Pooch was all talkative. Then rushed out this morning and found all sorts of things not done for the event I've got on in 3/4 hour. Then tried a new sandwich filling for lunch and it was nasty. Oh dear, what a poor little thing I am determined to be today!

On the upside managed to get lods of knitting donw on the trains yesterday. Doing a sari silk batwing cardi/bolero on 9mm needles and the colours are gorgeous. Will post a photo once I've calmed down!

Sending my secret pal her first little parcel tomorrow. I really hope she likes the things.

There's knitting and then there's Machine Knitting

Oooooooo yes. It happened yesterday. The machine arrived from Ruth yesterday - so nice of her to bring it round. It is a brother kh891 and has a ribber with it. I set it up this morning and look what I got! Within about 20 minuites of opening the box!

The main problem is that it didn't come with a manual so I am using a scanned one from the web, and the picture quality on the scans is poo. So I couldn't work out the wholoe casting on thing and so I think I should have moved the cast on hook strip thing away after the first cast on row maybe. Instead it just sat there and hings got a bit ruffled:



I'm hoping there are some lovely machine knitter out there who can clue me in on what I am doing wrong. I have a couple of books on order from amazon an some punchcards from ebay but you know I'm just so impatient! Is so exciting! Will be able to do all the small guage stuff on machine and the bigger 5mm + by hand which I much prefer. Lovely jumpers and skirts here I come! Woo hoo

Kool Aid - how to

Ok, so you get your kool aid (I get mine from www.koolaiduk.com but there are other suppliers) and carefully rip the packet open. DO NOT INHALE THE POWDER.

Get some tupperware or something like that and mix the powder with about half a cup of water. For my yarn used about half the packet but could have used less - depends how much you want to dye.

Put your yarn into a skein and secure it in a couple of places so it doesn't tangle. You can only use animal fibres - cotton won't work.

If you are going for variegated then put a different colour in two different bowls with the water and plonk the skein in on top with half in one bowl and half in the other. Add some more water until the yarn is just covered. Squash it about a bit to let the dye penetrate. Then just walk off and leave it for an hour and open all the windows because by now your house will smell like strawberry shortcake's pants.

Make sure all the yarn has been covered and then lift it out of the tupperware and squeeze the excess liquid out of each colour. Get a piece of clingfil and lay the yarn on that. Remember not to agitate it too much if you're using wool as it might felt. Wrap the yarn loosely in the clingfilm.

Set up a steamer on the stove top and lay the clingfilm wrapped yarn in there. Put a lid on it and go away for another 30 minutes. Take the wrapped yarn out of the steamer and leave it to cool down completely. Carefully unwrap and carefully rinse any excess kool aid out using a sink of water. Leave to drip dry and when it is (dry) knit with it!

I have yet to discover how colourfast it is!

Kool Aid

My first ever experience dying yarn. So how was it for me? The smell - not really expected. Because of course I used kool aid which americans actually drink ?! and the rest of the world uses as a dye. Today I used strawberry, grape and something or other cherry and dyed some merino dk and some slubbed cotton. Exhibit A is the wool, which has turned out quite well.


Exhibit B is the cotton.
Note to self: do not try and dye yarn without putting it into skeins first. Plus try harder when cleaning taps.

Pooch just rang (inebriated I am sorry to say - I shall tell his mother) and tried to get me to order him some kebabs to be delivered so hey would be here when he got home and therefore save vast amounts of time he would have had to spend getting them for himself. What is it with men and kebabs when they've been on a bender? I declined the opportunity but this does mean he'll be back any minute so must clear all that dye out of the kitchen before he tries to drink it.

But first - most importantly - I have my secret pal (in Portugal) and the person who has me as a pal has been in touch and I think is in germany. I can't wait to start sending little parcels out and finding other ones waiting for me over the next few months. Knitters are wonderful people!

Progress

Am not too sure about the yellow. Don't think I'll use it again. So there it is and I just get on with it for another 30 cm or so. I quite like fairisle - it is stocking stitch which is my favourite and keeps things changing by using three colours on each row and changing the colours every three rows.

In others news am SOOOO annoyed. Two parcels have arrived and I just know they are wool-based (wooldar) and the concierge man wasn't manning his station so I couldn't pick them up. I neeeeeed those parcels.

Was reading my 'yarn to dye for' or something like that book at lunch. Can't wait til the weekend to try it out. Am also trying another Monica Ferris book (craft mysteries) that arrived from amazon at the same time. Actually I ordered three and they all came - don't tell Pooch!

From nickerjac's blog

You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hmm. Pooch just did the test too and is also shetland wool. Not sure how to take that!

Secret pal - tension rises

Wow oh wow. I see a few others have their secret pal already. I'm just so keen to get going. I love giving presents as much as getting them. Must remain calm!

So here's what I'm going to do

After my big old quandry yesterday about what to knit next all is resolved./ Someone on the list (think it was Diane) suggested I knit squares for a blanket. Think I'd blogged about this idea before so I got out my stitch dictionary and did two in a random ball of variegated cotton I had hanging around. Then I thought about the Kaffe Fasset design
and my little, umph, disaster as regards the whole dk vs 4-ply thing and decided to nuckle down to some sample squares to see how I could get the right tension. 4-ply and 4mm needles seems to do it so I'm off.
means having three colours per row but fortunately the beginning was the bottom edge rib so I've done that just to get warmed up.
Will start the pattern proper tomorrow.

Have been reading people's blogs from list on left and leaving comments and questions and people have got back to me really quickly. Have found out lo0ts of interesting things form other knitting bloggers. Thanks everyone!

blocked cable top

So here it is, all blocked and just drying in the stonking heat here in london today. Actually, it isn't too bad at the moment, but it's set to make the tarmac melt or something equally daft later on.



Front and back.



Have some concerns that the waist will be too tight. No point worrying about it just now though.

Have been thinking I'd really like to get more into designing things, like the loop-d-loop things. I've got two books on how to design knitwear so I really should nuckle down and try some stuff.

Ode to Pooch

I know he keeps an eye on my blog so I thought I'd give him a big thank you for being so very lovely. He actually has gone to quite a lot of trouble to understand what 'cabling' means and why kid silk haze is so special and why wool is only wool if it is 100% wool and otherwise it is yarn. And how much time goes into knitting something. And why you can never have too much yarn and why I need to have so many patterns. And why having no money doesn't count when there is a new LYS to explore and you have a credit card. And why yarn is better when it's on view plus why there needs to be so many different projects on the go at once. He knows how painful it is to rip something and that everything knitted is knitted with love. I love Pooch x

And so here for the first and only time is Pooch in his space invaders jumper that, yes, was way way too big.

Hum, what to knit next?

The red cable top, which I realise I have never posted a picture of, is almost done. I'll just have to post it in all its glory when it if blocked and sewn up.

I've got lots opf yarn and wool. I've got loads of patterns and ideas. So why is choosing a next project so hard????

Options are: Sari silk cardi, fancy yarn pink/gold/silver batwing beach top, basketweave tunic from vogue, kaffe fasset top (but I still don't think I can look at that yet after past disappointments), underwear set from knitty, skinny red clapotis, something chunky using all that maya and umpteen others. But let's stick at these for now. Skinny clapotis is tempting as I really enjoyed knitting the last one, but then I've got yarn on order to do one for Mum for Christmas. But then it's May so no rush.

AAAAARRRGGHHHH. Is Dad's birthday in a week. Damn, always forget. NO real time to knit anything for a man after he turned his nose up at the idea of knitted golf club covers.

Back to previous thinking - clapotis is an option then. They are all options though! Pants. Any suggestions anyone?