Title-y

So I haven't updated for a while. But in fairness, I've had good reason. Half term was not the excitement I was hoping for and something bad happened and I haven't felt like updating.

But I have been knitting. I finished my Colour Swap 5 project with a little time to spare and it appears to have been loved by it's new owner which I'm grateful for. She has certainly been kind in her praise anyway.

Since then, I have made:
- a stole using Zauberball in reds, golden browns and ambers which is very pretty and was worn to my work's Christmas do.
- three dishcloths for Lisa's Christmas present - including a Dalek one.
- a hat using the Cascade Rustic I received in Colour Swap 4.
- a scarf using Arucania Ranco in peacock colours which is stunning and sort of goes with the hat.
- started on a triangular shawl using another skein of the Ranco yarn.

But I have still not finished the fingerless mitts.

Lack of news

I've been quiet lately because I haven't really done too much lately. I'm still working on my CS5 project, which is coming up nicely, but taking it's time. This is the problem with making a big-ish project with sock weight yarn. And the pattern itself is kinda boring, but effective. Overall it's gonna take a bit more time, which isn't good as I wanted to get the parcel out before the last day this time, and that is rapidly coming up.

My mittens still need one more thumb on and the finishing to do, and my cowl is almost done, just two more ends to weave in and blocking, but I still haven't actually done it. Which is no good as it's getting really quite cold now.

Work is continuing more and more along a Jeremy Kyle theme and I'm desperately looking forward to half term which is in two weeks time. I'm so tired, and I've had a rotten cold for about three weeks now which really sucks. Hopefully a week off will help me get better and give me more time for knitting.

CS5

So I've signed up for the next Colour Swap. I'm looking forward to it - my partner this time seems to be more of a challenge. I've had a fantastic (even if I do say so myself) idea for the handmade item, have very excitedly found, ordered and received the yarn and cast on. Unfortuneately at the moment the way it's turning out is quite different to the way I had it pictured in my head. I'm going to keep plugging along and hope it's just the beginning phase, during which I often feel disappointed with a pattern - sometimes with reason and sometimes without.

In other knitting news, my mittens are almost finished - I have one more thumb to make and then the finishing. My cowl has been knit, but not yet finished and my Branching Out scarf is continuing slowly but surely.

Work

There are days when we win and everything gets sorted and you can walk away happy, and the kids make your whole week simply by being fantastic and you can know that you did your best and people responded in kind.

And then there are days like this. Days when you feel like you're fighting against the whole world because no one else seems to care as much as you. Days when you wonder what you can physically do help change the lives that these kids are leading. Days when you realise that our kids are no longer children, but are adults way before their time. Days when you don't know what more you can do, but keep on trying.

Spinning!

So this week at work has been kinda rubbish. We've been extraordinarily busy and at one point at the beginning of the week it looked likely that we had had our break and lunchtimes taken away from us as we have been put on duty (i.e. watching the kids in the canteen, making sure they don't fight etc) every day. We know have this sorted and so only have to do breaktime duty one day a week (mine if friday) and although we do all lunchtimes, we will get paid for it (yeay, more money = more yarn!)

However, by the time I got home on monday (yes, only one day into a very long term), I decided I needed to buy something exciting and new to cheer myself up. Something I'd been thinking about getting for a while, but hadn't quite treated mself to yet.

Yes, I bought a Turkish Drop Spindle.

So I have been doing a little bit of spinning. At the moment it is still driving me mad as I can't quite seem to get it, but I think I'm improving. I think my first yarn will be single ply and mostly worsted weight (mostly because I so far fail at keeping it even and so is kinda thick and thin). Hopefully I will have enough to make myself a scarf with it. Plus, with an added binus that Norfolk Yarns sell corridale tops for just £1.50, I should be able to get lots and lots. Yeay!

Peektures

Well, as I have now had a message that the blankets have arrived safely, I think it's only fair to post a picture or two showing them off.







And here's a quick WiP picture - this is my Branching Out - though it has grown a little more since I took this.

Not being selfish

Well apparantly I am a glutton for punishment. Just after I finished typing my last entry, I decided that the project I had made for my swap partner wasn't enough and it was very important that I should do another one. But I should still send my parcel out the following day. So I found a small project and I knitted (then WoW'd) and knitted until almost 1.30am when it was all finished except for being cast off, having ends weaved in and blocked. I got up early the next day in order to finish it off, finish the first project and finish wrapping and packing everything before taking it to the post office before 12.30pm.

I made it. By the skin of my teeth. So one parcel was finished and on it's way (or, shortly to be on it's way as I'd missed the last post).

One more to go.

The next day (Sunday) was spent picking up the stitches around the hooded baby blanket in order to make the border. Wednesday I finished that and blocked the baby chalice lace blanket. Thursday I went back to work (despite not feeling even vaguely rested or relaxed thanks to stressy holiday), but was still able to weave in all ends (and all correctly - I'm finding it much easier to do this now I know how to do it properly). And finally, yesterday (Friday) I packaged them up beautifully with a little note to Stef and Neil (mostly about how to wash them) and took them to the post office so they have now also started on their way.

I'm actually really enjoying this knitting for other people. I'm normally a very selfish knitter, but I've liked sending things off to people - especially when they don't know it's coming.

Pictures will follow at some point soon as I have actually managed to take some of my FO's!

So yesterday, I cast on two new projects. Firstly I decided to use some of the yarn Kara has given to me from her gran's stash (her gran no longer being able to knit) to cast on for Branching Out. The yarn I've picked (from the two enormous and filled to the top bin bags) is a fuzzy (probably some degree of mohair, but with something else added (acrylic?) to make it softer) somewhere between lace and DK weight in a bright duck egg blue with sparkles in. Not much of the yarn Kara donated has the labels on, so I am mostly guessing (though there is a lot of mohair in there).

The other project is finally making use of the beautiful Dream in Color Starry I bought a while ago which is burgundy with 2% silver fibre. The yarn is so beautiful I decided it didn't need a complicated pattern in order to show it off, so I've picked the Susie's Reading Mitts from this site. It's been quite cold these past few days and so apparantly I've been in the mood to make lots and lots of mittens/scarves/cowls/hats - and I keep looking for new patterns to make even more!

In other news, I *dinged* 80 on my druid (this is WoWspeak), went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (to celebrate my last day of freedom) and started back at work - it's like I never had a holiday already.

Procrastination

Yesterday was GCSE results day, so I went in to see the kids and how they did in their exams. It was nice to see most of them again. There were no tears or tantrums, so I guess everyone got what they thought they would. We only had one student fail everything, which at our school is almost good!

My swap package is progressing nicely and I'm hoping to send it out tomorrow - if I don't then I'll be stuck for a few days as it's a bank holiday. Almost everything is wrapped, I just need to finish assembling the handmade item (which I'm still worried is a little lame).

At the moment though I'm sturggling as I've got to the end of all my projects and seem to have so much finishing to do. And I hate finishing. I mean, HATE it. I've been known to wear swaether with the ends not sewn in because I hate it so much. The hooded blanket is blocked, but I need to attach the hood and do the edging. The lacey blanket still needs to be blocked. I need to bind off my other sock and sewn in the edges on both, and block them. The only real project I have still on the needles is the Crofter's Cowl, of which I have done the first half.

However, the only way it's going to get done is if I stop procrastinating on the internets and actually get on with it *sigh*.

Updatey

Decided to use the Lorna's Laces to make another baby blanket (you can never have too many of those, right?). This was mostly because the yarn has a little pink in it and I wasn't sure that Stef and Neil would want to be putting a baby boy in a jumper that had a little pink in. So far it's a simple 5x5 squared pattern using stockinette and reverse stockinette which looks quite effect. It's upstairs being blocked at the moment. I've also made a little hood which I will block then attach and then I've bought some Debbie Bliss Rialto in order to make a border. It's based on http://thriftyknitter.com/?p=293, which as a pattern allows for a lot of different interpretations - something I like now I'm becoming a little more experienced.

I've also cast on for my Crofter's Cowl. I'm using the most beautiful Malabrigo ever which is in gorgeous autumnal colours. It's going alright so far, but I keep making mistakes in the lace patterns and having to tink back. Possibly I should just pay more attention and stop having a glass of wine or two while I knit.

Also, I cast off one of my Blackrose socks yesterday. Haven't quite got round to doing the other one yet, but I have one sock. Wooties. I'm not convinced it's a perfect fit, but I'll have to see how it fits when I've blocked it. Mostly I've been feeling too lazy to do the finishing.

Life stuff has been a bit harder lately as one of my (two) uncle's died very suddenly about two weeks ago of a heart attack. He was 60 and there was no apparant reason for it. I guess sometimes these things happen. Last week was spent in a caravan in Cleethorpes in order to atend the funeral and visit with family.

I have another week and a half left of the holiday. At the moment I don't feel like I've spent it particularly well, but I'm not sure what I could have done differently or how to change this in the next week and a half.

Still, my housemate's cat just bought a frog in and I rescued it which made me feel good.

Baby Blanket

Well, I went to Stash Yarns on Tuesday and managed to pick up some Dream in Color in the colourway Black Parade. It's a beautiful black with flashes of greens and browns that kinda reminds me of a blackbirds wing. I know it's a slightly odd colour choice for a baby blanket, but as I keep reminding myself, baby's Mum (my friend Steph) is a trad goth.

So I cast on that day and managed to get a whole two repeats of the lace pattern done (it's a 20 row repeat) and it was looking much better than my first attempt. Less busy anyhow. And I've carried on at the same kind of speed right up until today (Saturday) when I finished it. I still need to weave in ends (but this process makes me mad as I just can't do it right) and block it somehow, but it's finished. Already.

I even used a new (for me) bind off - the Sewn Bind Off - as I don't like how a Basic Bind Off looks. The Sewn Bind Off is a lot more time consuming, but I liked to edge much better. If I use it again (which I probably will) I will probably do it on the wrong side row though as on this one it has added an extra row and the edge will look much neater.

I have also (in my 'I'm on holiday and am therefore knitting like a crazy thing' state) have done part 1 and 3a of my swap project. I will post about what it is when my partner had received her project, but I don't want her to find out in advance, so make of this what you will.

I have also decided that I really really want to make the February Lady Sweater (http://www.flintknits.com/blog/?p=151) and even started looking into yarns before I realised that I still need to finish the swap project, my Blackrose socks, sort out my Juno Regina stole and start off two other projects for which I have already bought the yarn (some beautiful Malabrigo Worsted that will be a cowl and some stunning Dream in Color Starry which is burgendy with silver fibre) as well as use the yarn originally intended for the Baby Chalice blanket for something else (probably baby related).

Oh, and I've just found out I have left my needles in Norwich...

I think I have finally worked out the issues with this blog, so hopefully I will be able to update it a little more often (though my knitting is going very slowly, so there is not much to update).

At the moment I am on summer holiday once more, which is very good. This past year has seemed very long at times. I broke up last Friday (17th July) and have pretty much been on Brownie Pack Holiday ever since. In spite of the name, this is not much of a holiday for the people running it. It's more like working all day every day. I finished on the one with my unit (leaving a good quantity of them throwing up as some kind of bug went around) and travelled down to London to help out with my sister's one. There was less vomiting on this one, though a girl did step on a nail which right up into her foot. And this time I was the first aider and so had to deal with it. Luckily I know a little bit about these kinds of foot injuries aving very recently decided it was a good idea to walk home barefoot from the pub and having stepped on something which decided to stay inside of my heel. I did the same for her that the walk-in clinic I went to did for me and gave her a big padded plaster.

The holidays have given me a very small time to knit (more than an average day does...), so I have made some progress on the magic loop socks I have been working on. The heel was turned during day 1 of the first one and I am now some way through the foot (probably just under half). I have, however, made absolutely no progress on the two projects I am making for other people. The baby blanket did get off the ground to some extent, but the yarn I picked is too busy for the pattern, so I'm going to go to Stash Yarns in Putney tomorrow to try and get hold of some nice Dream in Color - thankfully baby is not due until September 5th after all. And the other project is for a swap package that has also somewhat stalled. I have picked up a few bits and bobs, but no yarn and am not close to finishing the project yet. I really need to get a move on, but thankfully I will have lots of time over the next few weeks.

Once I've recovered from Pack Holidays though.

OMG!

Look, I actually managed to sign in again! This site has to be the most frustrating I have ever come across.



Anywho, lots of stuff has been going on of late.



On the knitting front, I have been trying out many new things - mostly socks. I have made one Spring Forward (just the one - the other will hopefully be finished soon) and am currently some way through my first two at a time magic loop project in the shape of Black Rose with some lovely Malabrigo.

Speaking of Malabrigo, I've also cast on for Juno Regina in some of their laceweight, but I went wrong somewhere and have been trying to tink back to find where - something that is easier said than done!!

And I started a new project today as well - Stef and Neil are expecting a baby, so I've started Baby Chalice Blanket (Ravelry link) which I hope to finish quickly and I think she's due any minute!!

In school related news, we have had a girl loose her finger, found out that I do have a job next year, but a very different one to the one a currently have, and I'm not sure I like the changes and found out that the new Academy colours will be black and red.

In other news, I have passed my driving test back in February, bought a car and loved driving around. I have bought a new laptop as my desktop sadly died. I have joined a gym and I graded recently and am now a blue belt.