Not a stitch since Sunday!

I have been chomping on the bit, wanting to start my Jaywalker socks with the posh sock yarn, but only late last night did I manage to untangle the yarn. Each night I have been convincing myself that "tonight's the night" and the yarn will be ready to knit, but it's only now that I can contemplate casting on. I'm sure there has to be an easier way to unravel a skein. Why does it always take me so long. I had the yarn on my knees and started well, but before long I was in a mess. Anyway, the yarn is now ready and looks gorgeous. A photo will confirm this:

Today's weather has been miserable - really wet and rainy, the sort of weather you expect in October and November. The rain sends the kids a bit loopy at school and frustrates we teachers. The great thing about weather like this is having a pair of newly knitted socks like these:

These are Colinette Jitterbug in Mardi Gras. They are beautiful and warm. They are not remotely identical and this is usually a problem for me but because they are not faux fair isle, I feel surprisingly tranquil about their individuality.

I'm not having a big knitting night today - I'm going out for a Chinese with Emily and Rich. Tomorrow I'm picking up Shona and then it's camping on Saturday. How will Tulip fit into that? The likelihood is that it won't be finished and ready to wear in June. June 2008 it is then!

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!

Can't sleep for thinking knitting

As predicted, I had a nice time at Knit Club at Lucy's. There were only four of us, but it was really good fun and we managed to cram in a lot of knitting and knitting chatter. There are actually two Lucys, so this blog make get confusing, Barbara and me. I did a bit of crochet, but then ripped it back and promised never to be seduced by it again because it makes no sense to me whatsoever and then continued with the second sock in Colinette's Jitterbug Mardi Gras. The cuff is almost completed. Barbara actually did some knitting on a sock and it looks unlikely this time that she will rip it back. She has a habit of undoing everything she ever knits at Knit Club, but I'm hoping she will break the habit. Lucy (the host) showed us the progress on that marvellous throw and she was also knitting something from the RYC Coast book and the other Lucy completed her first sock and I helped her to graft it, which made me feel like I had actually completed a project.

Lucy (the one making socks) and I are going to the Wool Baa tomorrow to order our Colinette yarn that the other Lucy is using for her Brioche throw. We are just so inspired and I'm sure that throw is the reason I have been up since 4.45am! I have just spent over forty-five minutes choosing my colours on the internet. The trouble is, Lucy's throw is just so stunning and the colour combination perfect, that I fear I will not make as wise a decision when it comes to choosing my yarn colours. At the moment it stands at:

Mohair - Cezanne, Moss, Autumn leaves
Giotto - Velvet Leaf, Madras
Tagliatelli - Castagna

This combination is likely to change and I'm hoping that Jill at the Wool Baa has some colours in already so I can compare because using the internet can be tricky in that way. I had six Colinette windows up at the same time and have changed the colours and checked the colours various times. I love autumn colours and want browns, oranges and greens but it is tricky without seeing the yarns together. I want subtle and bright together with dark and light. All this is a lot to ask of yourself on the internet. The throw is designed for the living room and the brown leather settee that I keep being assured by Eric will happen one day.

No doubt I will update after my trip to inform you that this plan has all changed and that I have bought pinks, purples and blues and that's it's for the little bedroom, and already now that I've written that (or should it be typed?) I'm thinking that would be a great idea.

I predict a great knitting day

Look at what has arrived in the post today! Posh sock yarn sent kindly by Caroline. I didn't know which colours I would be receiving so I was very excited opening the parcel. I love these tranquil blues and the yarn is so soft! It's Schaefer Yarn and it having a German name makes me love it even more! I cannot wait to get my dpns into it and make some cracking socks for my good dear self. It is 60% merino wool, 25 mohair and 15% nylon and you can feel the luxuriousness.

I finished the first Mardi Gras Jitterbug sock last night. It only took 35 rounds on the foot because it is slightly thicker than 4 ply and I use 3mm dpns, not my usual 2.5mm. It's a great sock. I weighed it and it weighs less than 50g and I have more than 50g left, so I won't need to buy another ball after all, and as a result these will not be the most expensive socks in the world.

I thought I would also show you a picture of the gorgeous Granby who has been following me around since I've come home this evening. It took me a long time to get him away from the yarn and sock as he seemed to want to steal the limelight.

I think he's trying to make the most of his time with me this evening because at seven I am going to Lucy's for this month's Knit Club where this new yarn and new sock will make their debuts. Poor Tulip has been before and has made little progress since then, though I'm going to dedicate time to Tulip tomorrow as it's Saturday and I have no cares in the world on a Saturday!

Recent photographs

I have managed to upload my recent photos. The sock is now finished and grafted, the pink is Tulip and the cactus is an Echinopsis that flowered two days ago, although now it is already wilting and dying. It was stunning and I just felt that the world needed to see it.

What's been happening

Well, I tried to write some thoughts on Sunday after I came back from camping and was just about to go back to work, but unfortunately I made a complete mess of it and I've been just too busy to do anything about it ever since.

Brief summary of past week. Eric, Shona and myself went camping in Derbyshire (Lathkilldale - ominous name but truly beautiful). We had a great time and Shona really took to the outdoors as we expected she would. I managed to start another sock but we were just so busy that knitting did not progress as I had hoped. On return home I did some knitting of Tulip again and have made a little progress on the left side as you can see from the photo. Problem is, this cardigan takes real effort when following the pattern so I need to do this knitting at the weekend when I have time and patience to do it.

The sock I started is my tried and trusted freebie pattern for Opal yarn but it's in Colinette Jitterbug in Mardi Gras. I love it, especially the red spiral which is very obvious from the photographs. Such a lovely yarn, such incredible colours. Well worth the money but I suspect I will need another ball if I am to get a pair of socks from them because I have already used a lot of the wool. The joy of using Jitterbug is that it is slightly thicker than four ply, so you use larger needles and fewer stitches; a sock takes less time that way and I should be wearing them by next week. I know it's summer, I know these are 100% merino wool but you can never have enough socks and they will be nice to wear on my next camping expedition in two weekends time.

Yesterday I received a lovely message from Caroline who has bought some beautiful posh sock yarn in a sale. She is selling it to me at a very reduced rate and is even putting it in the post so I will not have to wait until the next Sheffield Forum Knitting Meeting in three weeks. How kind is she? She has two skeins in different colours and a fellow sock sister is having a skein also, though it's down to the flip of a coin which we end up with. I love both although they are very different so I'm looking forward to the yarn surprise soon.

Tomorrow is Knit Club at Lucy's and I cannot wait because it's always good fun and knitting with others is fantastic because you don't feel like you are the only person on the planet with a yarn habit and obsession and who thinks that knitting is a normal part of life and needs discussing.

After many failed attempts I cannot post the photos I want to today, so I will have to try again later, probably when Eric returns from his night class, but at least I have caught up with myself and have got back into the swing of blogging.

I love knitting with other knitters.

It's the middle of the night, I can't sleep, so this feels like an ideal opportunity to blog. On Wednesday I went to the Wool Baa for the Sheffield Forum's knitting group and had a great time. The group meets once a month on a Wednesday and I thoroughly look forward to going. I like being nosey and seeing what other knitters are up to. I am amazed by what other people are making, and also quite humbled.

Knitbird is making a stunning throw for her sister's birthday from a mixture of Colinette yarns. The pattern is Brioche from Toast and Marmalade (I think) and she has chosen her colours well. It's different yarns and different shades of red with hints of yellow and green and it is amazing. I think I will end up making one, even though it's a massive project and knit on circulars. I've been looking on the Colinette website today and I'm really drawn to some of the bright colours they have.

Wool4Brains kindly showed me a different way of knitting a heel on a sock, so I was also being educated during my evening out. LittleBlue started a sock, despite being defiantly anti-socks and Albethere and I talked again about our mutual sock appreciation. It was good fun and I even mentioned my blog and the address.

Whilst there I managed to finish a pair of socks for my lovely six year old niece, Shona. I knitted them in Colinette Jitterbug colour Florentina and she was really pleased with them when I arrived home afterwards. She loved them so much, that she wore them in bed and today at Playscheme. She said she couldn't take them off because they were just too warm. She's not daft, isn't Shona; compliments like these will mean a lifetime of socks for her.

Today I've not done much knitting, a few rows on Tulip by Rowan which I am determined to wear during June. As it's now June, I have only until the end of the month in 29 days, so I will have to resist starting more socks and get cracking with the cardigan.

Tonight we had the pleasure of Di at tea. It was nice to see her as it seems we've not seen one another for a while. She's going to Australia at the end of July so we need to make the most of her while she is here. The picture below is of Di and Shona and the socks. What a lovely photo!