Scarf-o-matic

My mother contributes!

I know, I know, I have been absent for too long... in fact, I am probably off the radar by now. I am not entirely sure what happened, but I got busy as my academic sabbatical ended (we are entering a phase of assessment with something called the RAE, which requires that we have a certain amount of published work by a certain date, so very busy writing up articles and so on). I began to re-evaluate my time and found something had to give... and it ended up being this blog. I am hoping to find a way to re-connect that allows me to contribute to these pages, whilst at the same time feeling able to read the blogs of other like minded knitters in the blogoverse.

I am still knitting in my usual way: lots of projects on lots of needles at the same time! Just started a pair of mad leggings last night because I have started cycling and my ankles where getting cold. Leggings! I said I would never ever wear such a knitted thing! Now knitting is responsible for me considering wearing something that is linked to the ghastly 1980s  (I lived and breathed 1980s fashion, so I am allowed to be rude about it - and myself: the knitted dress - tick; the puff-ball dress - tick; the perm - tick; excesive hair mousse - tick; shoulder pads - tick; batwing sleeves - tick; costume jewellery - tick; leotards - tick; patterned tights - tick).

But this entry is - in fact - my mother's. We both participated in the One Yard swap (I was late sending my contrubution - ooops; and have not yet received anything myself!). But my mother sent hers, and also received her much appreciated goodies. So this is what she says:

'I loved my parcel . Beautiful fabric ....a whole YARD of Aunt Grace Scrap Bag ...that lovely '30s Collection which is so difficult to get hold of here [Holland] ....AND 100 hexagons of 1930's material. Kate also saw that I couldn't really eat sweets so , instead , included some delicious-smelling shower gels and body lotion ....plus a coconut and pineapple candle .So I now feel thoroughly spoilt and will go off to gloat.'

Lucky Mother!

Summer madness

We had a lovely break in Spain, where all we did was sit by the pool and relax:

We also made a little furry friend, a beautiful grey (and partly) siamese cat:

In fact, she is the reason I haven't blogged about the holiday till now, because the Other Knitter in the House and I felt awfully upset leaving her behind (she was hungry and homeless, but so very affectionate). On the other hand, I am positive she would loath being in quarantine for 6 months because she didn't like indoor spaces. I hope the next people renting the house are as charmed by her as we were!

I am afraid the lack of blogging will continue for a while, as my sister gets married next week, and my house is about to be filled with parents and sibling! So, do return n September when I shall give you the lowdown of my sis's big day! Hope you are all having a lovely Summer.

Off to get baked in the sun

Quietly sneeking off to have a break in the sun in Southern Spain (though as I have some deadlines, I am taking some work material with me too. But I have promised myself to not feel guilty if it all stays in the bag!). This is the cottage:

And this is the view:

Back in a week.

Hot Dogs in Madrid

Back from my research trip to Madrid, where it was as hot as Hades! Although I must confess that I did take a sock project with me, I hardly knit a stitch. I also did not buy any wool, as I realised before I went that I actually haven't used any of the stuff I bought last time. I think I may have reached that stage in the new knitter's life (I started in Autumn 2004) when I start to say boring things like: I must stick to my stash. How depraved, I hear you cry, to deprive us of eye candy!

So if I cannot show you pictures of yarn, what can I show you? Well, I spent my spare time out of the library either cooling down with a beer, or pounding the pavements from bookshop to bookshop, and I couldn't help noticing the dogs. There are a lot of pooches in Madrid: big ones, little ones, and all of them were hot too!

And these two made me laugh!

And least you think there are no cats in Madrid, here is one snoozing in a cafe:

competition result

Needless to say I ran out of hand spun yarn before I completed said hat, so it is back to the spindle for me! However, I printed out the comments, cut 'em up, rolled each one into a little ball and asked the Other Knitter in the House to pick one. And the winner is: Nadine!

Now my blogging may get a bit erratic over the next couple of weeks! On Sunday I am off to Spain to do a spot of research, and must pack my bags over the next few days. Someone is not entirely happy about this.

re-surfacing in the blogoverse

Woah, what the heck happened? I disappeared from the virtual dimension for weeks due to the incredible workload that is the examination period (which this year combined with internal evaluation and personal appraisals), and each week-end was super sociable (most of my friends and relatives are gemini, so June birthdays pile up on top of eachother). As you can gather, not much knitting is being done either. However, I did read the knitting thriller gifted by Gina (as did The Other Knitter in the House), and not only would I recommend it as a light bit of reading, I am actually going to offer it to one of you blog readers (if I have any left that is).

You will enjoy this book if you love reading descriptions of fibre-lust, can suspend disbelief in the face of such an amazingly 'wonderful' and 'welcoming' group of knitters (the caring one, the mischevious one, the wisecracking one, the male one...), like a bit of love interest thrown in, and tolerate or enjoy those American crime series they show on afternoon TV.  I will be taking the second one on holiday with me.

So, leave a comment, and a name shall be drawn out of the hat next Tuesday. Which hat? Well, how about this one I started knitting using some of my wildly erratic hand-spun Fibre from Hello Yarn):

Sadly not off to the Woolfest this year, but those of you that do go... enjoy!

mini breaks and mail goodness!

The 'Other Knitter in the House' had a birthday last week, so we took a few days off and went to Suffolk. We are currently building our holiday breaks around the family history, and as one of her ancestors was from Dennington, off we went for the day! Her ancestors could not afford  memorials as grand as this one in St Mary's Church, (or even a little headstone come to that):

You can see where the fairy tale princess aesthetic comes from, right down to the little dragon resting at her feet:

We then spent the night on the coast, before meandering our way back to London and stopping off - among other places - at Sutton Hoo, the burial ground for an Anglo-Saxon king (erm, nope, neither of us can claim this lineage either!). The burial mounds are grazed upon by rare Norfolk Horn sheep:

One wanted to get up close and personal:

And because it was a glorious  sunny week-end, we did absolutely nothing (I am afraid I did not switch the PC on at all!) and the cat kept us company:

Whilst I was away I received the green 'Project Spectrum' package from Justine. Look at all the goodies, including a pattern book by Mission Falls for 'Smittens'! (check out her preparations for her forthcoming wedding)

And, this morning, a total surprise package from Gina! A knitting murder book to curl up with this evening (plus a gorgeous little skein of art yarns). Thanks a million!

Seeing red: a double decker bus and a sock

It rained buckets on Saturday, but did not dampen our friends' civil partnership ceremony at all. As we waited outside the town hall, two other C.P. couples posed on the steps: two young men in smart suits with their arms around eachother, and a few minutes later two young women in the most wonderful cocktail dresses emerged laughing and shivering as confetti and raindrops fell on them. The ceremony we attended was very moving (and civil, of course!), and then we all piled onto a red double decker bus. It was a gorgeously old one!

Did you ever travel on one like this? And who remembers going down these steep bus stairs?

After pressing this button?

The party was fun, and given all the red wine I consumed... I can't believe I didn't wake up with a sore head. And, yesterday, I finally completed one sock... only one more to go.

almost a sock and for no reason at all... a horse

I am wielding needles, but in a slow sort of a way...and I have almost finished a sock! But I am going to rip it back and restart the toe as it feels a bit tight.

The baby hat, as it turns out, is a little larger than baby's head (whoot!). Said baby is on the teensy side, so she will grow into it. My sister - wedding end of August - had better start delivering a baby or two from next year, 'cause this auntie's needles are primed and ready to go.  Talking of weddings, we are off to a Civil Partership ceremony today and the partners-that-are-to-be-hereafter-civil have hired a double decker bus to ferry guests from town hall to home... do you think we will all be fighting our way to sit at the front of the top deck? Or shall all the guests be civil too?

And just because, here is a photo taken last week-end in Devon, of a horse.

Miss Dashwood off the needles

I can be quite ignorant when it comes to English Literature classics (my excuse being that I was educated abroad), so imagine my surprise when I sat down to knit Miss Dashwood and watch Sense and Sensibility: Dashwoods on the telly and a Dashwood on the needles. Lovely film, and - I must say - a lovely pattern too. I am a convert to picot edging, but not - dare I say it - a convert to knitting with cotton angora: it feels beautiful, the colour is very nice but I found it split easily when doing k2tog. No earflaps and - I note with horror as it may be too small - I made the 3 to 6 months size (I thought I was knitting the 6 to 12 months size!), but I had enough with one ball of yarn.

And, I received this treat in the post courtesy of Maglia. A wonderfully colourful skein of her hand dyed yarn, which would make a very patriotic pair of socks in time for the World Cup (if I were a football fan!). Thanks!