Knitting update

I seem to have thought about wool and knitting a lot this weekend, but not got nearly as much done as I had anticipated.

On Saturday I went to the Wool Baa to order my yarn for the beautiful Brioche throw I intend to start one day and I pretty much stuck to what I had originally chosen except for Cezanne was chucked out and replaced by Forest. Jill (at the Wool Baa) did a fantastic job of helping me choose the colours. I met Lucy (Littleblue on the forum) and she chose her yarn for the Brioche throw, but her colours are more pinks, purples and blues. Stunning colours and very Lucy. Whilst in there my friend Esther appeared and had various different wool projects to show and then she ended up ordering yarn for the Brioche throw. She is making accessories for her boyfriend Dale's house in greens and pinks, so that's what she chose for her throw. It was all very frantic, but very enjoyable.

Knitting has certainly energised my creativity and ability to put colours together. In the past I used to match everything with black or white, but these days I prefer to put colours with other colours and often I like the clashes they may create. Favourite colour combinations at present include: orange and pink, orange and red, red and pink, turquoise and purple, green and purple, green and pink. If you see anyone wearing such bright ensembles, it could well be me. I usually accessorise well, so if there's matching jewellery, it's definitely me!

Esther and I then went to my favourite café - Ceres for a bite to eat and we did our bit for Worldwide Knitting in Public Day. The waitress was mightily impressed with our efforts, so maybe our knitting in public will inspire a convert.

Yesterday I did finish the second Jitterbug Mardi Gras sock, so I now own four pairs of handknitted socks. I usually knit myself a pair and then someone else, but I might end up making myself another pair because I want to get going with the posh sock yarn. It may be some time before I get onto them because I have made a terrible mess of unwinding the yarn. I really wish skeins were banned because I can never turn them into a ball without mess and this time it's really messy. Eric keeps saying, "what a skein in the arse", and he's right! I am going to turn this yarn into Jaywalker socks and because I've not done this pattern and it is a rite of passage, I want to get going now!

Guess what? In the midst of all this Tulip has not progressed any since last week, even though I was going to devote Saturday to this lovely cardigan. My aim was to finish it and be wearing it in June, but I doubt very much that this will happen. The next aim is to be able to wear it in Germany, where I go mid July. I just can't be swayed from socks. Socks rule! They are more satisfying than anything else knitted.

Away from knitting, today I've had another hectic day at work. I'm loving my new job, but there is a lot to do. Tonight I went to Spanish where we had a mock exam because the exam is imminent (11 days and counting). I finished early so I left and saw Eric down at the allotment. He was revising outside amongst the onions and asparagus; his German exams are tomorrow. Good luck Eric!

The allotment is looking full at the moment and things have definitely grown in a week. We tasted our first peas, which were sweet as sugar. The lupins and poppies look beautiful and some more cacti in the greenhouse are ready to flower and look really healthy and spikey! I also saw a dead shrew today. It is outside the allotment and clearly an animal had pecked at it. It was so tiny; Eric hadn't even noticed it. We had a good nosey because we like looking at nature, even when it's dead. Shona would have loved it because last year in a similar place there was a dead bat and we liked to look at its body as it decomposed. She's coming again this weekend, so hopefully there will be something left for her to see.

I got the address of where I will be staying in Madrid today and it looks as if I am near to a subway station and also walking distance from the language school where I will be having lessons. I'm relieved because I need to have ease over there. The language and classes will be hard enough without transport difficulties.

Tomorrow there'll be photos, but don't forget I managed to link to other websites today!