Too slow, Chicken Marengo

10 minutes per round. 18 rounds per pattern. 4 pattern repeats. 720 minutes for the cuff. Heel probably about the same. Foot is only half patterned, that should be much quicker, estimate 5 minutes per round, so 360 minutes. Traditional to make one for each foot. This means a total of 60 hours knitting time. Hmmm.

Home Sweet Home

The alarm came as a bit of shock this morning, as did having to get up and go to work. I was a bit miserable about it all, until I decided that I should try to look on the bright side as, until I do something like win the lottery, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. So I've been thinking of positive things about not being on holiday any more.




1. Comfy bed.
2. Reclining sofa.
3. No strange noisy boiler room type things whirring all through the night.
4. Payslips.
5. I now have five days worth of Gilmore Girls episodes to watch while sitting on aforementioned sofa. While knitting.

Ah, it's good to be back.

Holiday in the Lakes

Last week we went on holiday to Keswick in the Lake District. The week got off to a slightly nervous start with the torrential rain and road above Ambleside seemingly under water, meaning that we had to turn back and go over the Kirkstone Pass in an attempt to try and get to Keswick and collect the keys to the apartment before 5pm - we made it with 10 minutes to spare, so no panic there then.

The next few days were clear and bright and we did lots of walking and sight-seeing.


Heading up to Grisedale Pike (791m) was a nice walk, grassy slopes leading up to a rocky summit with lots of little scrambly bits. This would have been a lot of fun if I wasn't quite so unfit!

Lunch overlooking Hobcarton Crag and Hopegill Head (770m) - the pointy one - which was our next destination. Returning over Crag Hill (839m), Sail (773m), Outerside (568m) and Barrow (455m) made a Wainwright total of six for the day and two rather tired pairs of legs.

There were sheep out on the hills, looking very majestic...

...and the following day sheep on stage - at the Lakeland Sheep and Wool Centre, where you can get right up close and meet them properly. Some are very cute indeed and I have decided that I want a pet Shetland sheep, although they are quite dark coloured and the photo didn't come out very well - so here is a Blackface instead with a Swaledale troughing behind.

I think the main theme of this holiday was food. Lots of food. English, Italian, Indian, Thai and Mexican. So much yummy food. So it was just as well that there was a more walking...

After scaling the dizzy heights of Walla Crag (376m) we returned back along Derwent Water shore, which was very high indeed after all the rain.

Ashness Bridge

The weather deteriorated towards the end of the week. Thursday was nice enough to go walking, and we went over Ard Crags (581m) and Knott Rigg (556m and very windy).

And on Friday it rained. And rained. And rained some more. So we visited the Honister Slate Mine in the belief that it would be drier underground. Ha ha ha. My shoes are still drying out.

Over Honister Pass from the car. With heater on full.

In between all the walking and eating, and sheep visiting, mining and theatre going, I did manage to fit in a little bit of knitting, although it must be admitted, not much. These are Cable Net socks on 2mm needles and you'd better get used to seeing them, because they're going to take me a loooooong time.

Autumnal

So October is now here and it is autumn good and proper. Today's weather has been lovely, sunny and still, but chilly with a hint of crispness in the air. Not bad at all considering it was supposed to be gales and torrential rain. I guess that'll be here tomorrow - Saturday - ah well. Today was perfect for taking photos in the back garden, so it was good that I have something to show.

My Drops jacket is finished and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. Took a little bit longer than I expected as I decided to reknit the arms. The pattern calls for something like 34 stitches for the cuffs, knit straight at then increase up to the shoulder and 'bell-shaped' doesn't even begin to describe. I am not a fan of baggy sleeves and there was a definite risk that the hugeness of the sleeves would use up all my yarn - and possibly start invading other people's stash all by itself - so I frogged and redesigned with my own preferred sleeve style, hugging and long enough to cover half my hand.

Pattern: 103-1 Jacket in Eskimo or Silke-Alpaca with A-shape
Yarn: Rowan Chunky Print, in Pit. 7 x 100g balls
Needles: 9mm Denises
Mods: Made body slightly longer, arms longer too and more fitted

The buttons came from my Grandma's button stash that I inherited. They may not be the prettiest or trendiest buttons in the world, but they make the whole jacket seem more special to me.

Drops Jacket 103-1

103-1 isn't exactly the mostly inspiringly named design in the world, but that doesn't seem to have put a dampener on it's popularity. I am (as usual) a latecomer to this one, but I'm not letting that put me off either. I bought this Rowan Chunky Print about two years ago with another pattern in mind, but having seen some of the versions that have been made I changed my mind - and I don't think I need another bolero style cardy.

The yarn is very nice to knit with, although I am not really liking knitting on 9mm needles as it seems to make the back of my right hand ache a bit. Still, chunky yarn on 9mm is going along at a good rate, so it shouldn't be for too much longer.


P.S. If the world really does end tomorrow, it was nice knowing you :)

Glaistig

Pattern: Glaistig by Robin Melanson, from Knitting New Mittens & Gloves
Yarn: Artesano Alpaca, Inca Cloud 2/4#009 light grey, 2x50g
Needles: 3,5mm bamboo
Mods: none (not planned, anyway)

I am very happy with the way these turned out and I know that they are the first of many pairs that I'll be making. I used one 50g ball of yarn to make both cuff and hand pieces, and after much umming and ahhing decided that I really did want to have the buckles covered as well. Somehow the look of the shiny didn't seem right with the soft yarn. So I made a trip to the indoor market where there is a little shop that sells all sorts of stuff (while I was in there someone came in to ask for comedy inflatable boobs, as you do) and had a rifle around in their buckle box. It really was a treasure trove, and I said as much - to which the lady behind the counter gave me a bit of an odd look. It always strikes me as odd when people who work in these places seem to totally fail to see the enchantment of them. Maybe it's something that wears off after a while and she no longer sees the charm of boxes of old buttons and odds and ends. It's also possible that she was busy, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, I found some shorter, fatter buckles which allowed a bit more room for the end of the cuff once they'd been covered - which took quite a bit more yarn than I was expecting, certainly made quite a dent in the second ball of alpaca.

September so soon

I haven't posted in a little while, and really I think I've been doing you a favour as I have been not particularly good company and you really didn't want to be reading my endless whinging about the weather, being overworked because everyone else is on holiday and how hungry I am. There are silver linings to a couple of these, in that I will be able to gloat and be smug when I am the one disappearing on holiday and when I do go, I will be wearing those size smaller jeans.

I have often said that autumn is my favourite season and one that I look forward to, although admittedly I would have preferred to have had some sort of summer to break up the colder seasons. I love the colours of autumn and the thought of cold, clear days for which hand knit sweaters, gloves and scarves are perfect. The thought these days of my imagination will soon be here never fails to cheer me. Added to this some new books and the latest Fall magazines arriving, and I have been inspired afresh to start knitting and planning.

Firstly, I have finished the patterned socks. They were a lot of fun to make, although the end results are not quite as satisfying as I would have hoped. The stripes around the foot look great, I think, but the changeover of the yarn created a seam under the foot which despite my best efforts not to pull tightly, is quite noticeable when walking in them. If they were for me, I wouldn't mind too much, but these were the second attempt at birthday socks for my sister and I am reluctant to gift them knowing that they won't be as comfortable as hand made socks can be.


As a break from the dreaded sister-socks, I thought make Glaistig by Robin Melanson for a friend. These are really pretty and I love the detail of buckles at the wrists. So I cast on with some Artensano Alpaca from the stash in a soft light grey. I managed to knit up all the main parts out of one 50g ball, which I was quite chuffed about - although it didn't leave any spare for covering the buckles.

Finding buckles proved to be more difficult than I had expected. But I found a very decent selection at Buttons, Buckles and Belts and ordered a few to try out - total cost less than £4! I ordered them Friday and they arrived today, which is pretty good going and I liked that they used good recycled packaging.

Can I get away with the black plastic ones top right left uncovered? The gilt ones are a little heavy, and I'm not sure I like the way that the horizontal type pull the ribbing in too tight. Hmmm.