slowly but surely

Cookie A patterns can be quite challenging and I've already learnt two new techniques and I'm only 2" done!

Firstly I've been making stitches while purling- I've been lifting the bar between stitches and then either purling the lifted stitch at the the front or through the back loop (tbl) Now, I've knit tbl but I've never purled tbl, and man that's hard on teeny tiny needles! I've been having to use a skinny crochet hook to create the tiny space to push the needle tbl purlwise. It seems to be working, but it's slower than just knitting tbl!

Secondly I've been cabling a three strand cable, 2 stitches brought forward, 2 stitches to the back then knit tbl the next two sts, purl the two at the back and knit tbl the first pair. This feels quite hard to hold two sep cable needles as well as the 4 dpns. I know that in theory that I could cable without using cable needles, but I'm not going to risk it! It's engrossing so I'm not knitting on this while watching anything complex.

This week's complex must see TV is a Danish crime story called The Killing  ("Forbrydelsen") which is subtitled so I have to keep my eyes on the screen, and has a very interesting plot so I can't predict whodunnit. The series is 20 x 1 hour eps so there's plenty time for many plot twists. I'm so glad that the BBC is showing this, even though I can't make any progress on my Rhombus socks while watching it. I did manage to get a bit done on my Landgirls top though- I can just about manage 2x2 rib while reading subtitles.

I couldn't help myself...

after I bought myself some new boots I had to cast on some new socks too!

This is Rhombus by Cookie A, from Knit.Sock.Love. and I'm using Lang Jawoll Magic, which is a very soft 3ply sock wool (I bought it at I Knit London last summer) in soft shades of blue and green.
I'm using teeny, tiny 2mm needles too- they look like cocktail sticks!


I should be working on a sweater for my Mam, as it's her birthday in Feb, but it looks like it's going to be late.

She chose this pattern Seraphina by Pat Menchini (from Let's Knit iss 36), and I've got some soft Stylecraft merino in Damask. It took me ages to get the wool: the snow in December prevented me from shopping, and then when I got to my LYS in Jan there were only dark shades which wouldn't suit her, so I had to wait till there was another delivery. Then I had a horrible cold and was delayed again. 


Finally I got the wool and realised that I'd broken my rosewood needles in Madeira, so I'm waiting for the postie to bring me new needles.


So while I wait I'll work on these lovely socks, on teeny tiny needles...


..then give Mam flowers on her birthday and show her how far I've got with her sweater!

head to toe!

I've finally finished the Eton cap for Jen's pal Hannah. Knitting with black wool slowed me down and then I had a horrendous cold last week, I was sneezing so hard that I made myself dizzy. So nothing got done on the pointy sticks- it was too hazardous, I could have poked myself in the eye. I didn't like the idea of sneezing all over someone else's hat either! So now the two teens have similar but not the same hats- that is quite radical!

Jack was home briefly yesterday for a dental appointment, and after I'd dropped him off at the clinic I got distracted by these funky boots. The shoe shop W. Mason's still had some sale items and these were calling to me. They're fab! the Italian leather is very very soft, and the heel is about the highest that I can manage. I'll have to get Jack to come come more often- it's good for my bargain hunting!

light and dark

it can be very grey in Scotland at this time of year, some days it's as if the sun hasn't been switched on at all, so I've invested in a SAD light to make sure that I get enough bright light during the day.  I've been sitting beside it for nearly an hour each day knitting away on the black Eton cap for Hannah (it will be a while before I knit with black again- it's hard!).

So far, I'm fairly impressed with the light box, and hopefully it will have the desired effect and perk me up in the winter months.

The hat is making good progress too. I have to crack on with this so that I can cast on a sweater for my Mam. I've got the yarn for it and just need to finish this hat for Hannah and then I can cast on the lovely, light coloured, easy to see dusky rose wool.

The football was pretty good at the weekend- despite our main goalscorer, Darren Bent, suddenly leaving to go to Aston Villa, the team kept it together and beat Blackpool 2-1 at Blackpool, keeping us 6th on 37 points.
(Kieran Richardson scored both of ours.) It's so good not to be in the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the table where 4 points separate the bottom 6 teams. D's team only drew 1-1 with Spurs, conceding the equaliser in injury time, which is very annoying for them. Still, they're 8th at the moment with 30 pts, so not too bad, although D would prefer it if his team was in 6th place and mine in 8th!

Blue Monday? Green Tuesday!

Apparently yesterday was Blue Monday, a day when people feel at their lowest, the weather is pants and the credit card bills for Xmas are hitting the doormats.


I must admit, I hadn't noticed. It was a mild, sunny day (hurray!), I got some stuff done outside, I even washed the windows and I enjoyed a non-icy walk by the river with my dog. I had a pretty good day all round!


Today was also a pleasant day, about 6C with some sun, so I spent some time listening to podcasts while tidying up in the garden. It's great to be be able to see my garden after all that awful snow and ice. I pruned some roses, cut back the lavender, inspected the  green and white crocus shoots coming through and filled in some huge holes that Megan had so kindly dug for me while burying her toys. sigh.


It was good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine and I enjoyed listening to Knitting Pipeline. Paula is a keen knitter as well as a piper and features some beautiful music. Well worth a listen to!


I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight, Delia Smith's Normandy pork with cider although I took the recipe from her 20 year old cook book which uses slices of apple in place of the apple sauce and double cream instead of creme fraiche. And the cider was replaced IKEA's apple and cloudberry drink (4.5% alcohol).


It was appreciated but not as much as the Pommes Anna from earlier this month!

a Zen state of mind

I've been enjoying watching Rufus Sewell in Zen, the BBC adaptations of Michael Dibdin's crime novels set in modern day Rome, almost going into a trance like state watching the gorgeous Italian scenery. Oh and Sewell's easy on the eye too!

I'm working on my Landgirls top while I'm enjoying Sunday night tv as I've found that I can only work on Hannah's Eton cap in natural light. It's hard knitting a lace pattern in black wool! Arrgh my eyes!

The plots in Zen are not so much whodunnits but more of who-is-covering-it-up-and-for-which-political-group. Very enjoyable all round, and quite a contrast to Larkrise to Candleford which screens just before Zen. This has become a bonnet-soap and not an awful lot happens, but it happens so beautifully.

At least the TV has taken my mind off my football team's inept display at home to our local rivals Newcastle. They played us off the pitch and deserved to win but we got a last minute equaliser when the ball bounced off Gyan's chest and into the net. What a relief, at least we got a point and remain 6th. Sadly, one of our best players, Darren Bent has requested a transfer, and it will be a terrible shame if he goes, he has scored some cracking goals.

Nevermind, I'll take my mind off it by watching Glee tonight and make a bit more progress on Landgirls. Glee makes me laugh so much, I won't achieve a state of inner calm, but I will get a bit more 2x2 ribbing done!

so long, farewell

well, that's the boy back at Uni for another couple of months!

I drove him through to Glasgow today with his necessities : 3 guitars, 1 violin, a microcube amp and a laptop computer.
He took some clothes, groceries, bedding and towels too, but only because I insisted.Tsk tsk, fussy mothers eh?

After we unloaded the car, and I tried not to look horrified by the midden that is his room, I took him for a late lunch at the Rawalpindi on Sauchiehall St.

Glasgow was named the curry capital of the UK in 2010, so it's about time that I had some of the local cuisine! That's one tried, another 60+ to go!

Speechless

Had my third trip to the cinema this week, to see a film based on fact not fantasy this time.

Colin Firth is tremendous in The King's Speech along with the rest of the stellar cast. It's a moving story of a man/prince/king facing up to his personal demons and overcoming his speech impediment as Britain is on the brink of war.

Sadly, my football team's inept performance today against Notts County ( 2 divisions below us) left me pretty speechless too - we got beat 2-1 at home. D's team Newcastle got thumped 3-1 by Stevenage (3 divisions below the Toon). D doesn't want to say anything about that at all!

Felix and Anna

I finished Jack's Felix mitts yesterday (yay!) just as the snow had come back to East Lothian (booooo!). He goes back to Uni this week so I needed to get them done before he headed off to Glasgow. He heads off to the bright lights and we have a quieter house. It's a fair deal!

Next up on the needles will be another beaded Eton hat, this one is for Jen's pal Hannah. I don't normally do requests, but Hannah's a good kid and it's a cute pattern, so I'll make an exception this time.

I've been cooking meals for 30 years and it's very easy to get in a rut and cook the same old, same old for convenience and/or speed, or to make sure that the kids eat something, or to make meals that aren't too spicy (for Jen) or too wet (for Jack when he was younger). I was so impressed with the food that D and I had in Madeira that I decided to liven up my repertoire a little. One of my cyberpals cookknitwine went a whole year cooking a different meal every day- 365 dinners with no repeats! That's impressive, but a little beyond me, so I've decided to try one new thing every week, not necessarily a whole meal, maybe just one of the side dishes might be different.
Luckily we were given a copy of Larousse Gastronomique for Xmas and it's a very inspiring book. I decided to try Pommes Anna last night (with pan fried haddock & green beans), and followed the recipe scrupulously. It's not complicated- thinly sliced potatoes layered with melted butter, pressed down in the oven dish and baked for an hour or so. I served it by inverting the oven dish on a plate so that the kids could see what a potato cake looks like. It wasn't on the plate for long as they descended on it like locusts - even Jack, who normally is not keen on potatoes.

I'll count that as a success, but as I used 80g of butter in it, I won't be serving it on a daily basis!

knit.sock.love. ...woot!

I had an Amazon voucher to spend so I just had to get more knitting books!

I bought knit.sock.love by cookie a and spent ages drooling over the photography. What a stunning book! I love the patterns too, and want to make every design (including Monkey, again).

I can see why the YarnHarlot had a self-imposed sockclub last year as it would be so easy to spend a bucketload of cash on more sock wool, and there is the minor detail of paying the mortgage to consider. I have tons of patterns, I have a lot of sock wool. Hmmm...
Gorgeous book though, totally gorgeous. Cookie a is genius!

I also got the latest from Debbie Stoller Stitch n Bitch Superstar knitting. The Stitch and Bitch books are such good reference books and have such funky patterns in them too. I feel the need to knit myself a sequined cardi....

cookie a, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Debbie Stoller- three superstars, most definitely!

Reepicheep Returns!!

It's a bit like herding cats, but we did managed to coordinate two teenagers and get all four of us to the cinema tonight to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

I love this story (I love all the Narnia stories) and I particularily enjoy watching Reepicheep.

The CGI for the sea serpent, the dragon and the Dufflepuds is tremendous, and very believable.
...and now that they have defeated the evil that was threatening Narnia I would quite like to have a voyage on the Dawn Treader, even though (SPOILER ALERT) Reepicheep has sailed off on his own....

Harry on Camping

I'm a bit late to the party with this, as it has taken me weeks to find someone to go to the flicks with me to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1.
sigh

finally, no 1 kid agreed to see it again, even though he'd seen it on opening night in Glasgow when half of the audience had been dressed as their fave characters  (he went as a muggle!).
Jen had already seen it too, but was already hanging out with her not-a-boyfriend.

It is of course, a thoroughly enjoyable romp, and now I need to find a pattern for Hermione's little beaded bag which could hold a 6 room tent in it! How useful would that be?

stargazing

Jupiter

The latest TV offering from the incomparable Dr Brian Cox is Stargazing Live on BBC2 8pm (on Mon 3rd, Tues 4th and Wed 5th of Jan) . It's fascinating, but I had to put my knitting down as it was too engrossing, which was a shame as the second felix mitt is nearly done.





partial solar eclipse

 This is an astronomy programme designed to encourage people to go outside at night and look at the stars and it does it very well.

A live TV programmme from Jodrell Bank, it looked at the position of Jupiter in the winter nightsky (it's been pretty obvious in the night sky recently, I wondered what it was!), the partial solar eclipse this morning (oops missed that, still asleep, but it was cloudy anyway), and it's done in a light hearted but informative way. I could have done without the inanity of Jonathan Ross, but Dara Ỏ Briain and Brian Cox were brill.

The website has a lot of amazing photos taken last night and this morning by amateur astronomers. I just hope that there's less cloud over Scotland tonight so that I can see the stars too.

We lost another star yesterday, the tremendous Pete Postlethwaite, who died after a long battle with cancer.

He was an honest actor, believable and engaging in everything that he did and gone too soon at 64.

a good start to 2011

I'm always a happy bunny when my team wins a football match and when the team wins convincingly then I'm ecstatic.
2011 began with a 3-0 victory for Sunderland over Blackburn Rovers at the Stadium of Light and it almost made up for our 2-0 defeat by Blackpool at the SoL on 28th Dec, when we lost our unbeaten home record.
Wellbeck opened the scoring on 11 minutes followed by Bent's fab header and Gyan sealed the win in the second half. This puts us 6th on 30 points! Such dizzying heights!

It was fab following the match and I managed to get a lot done on Jack's Felix mitt while listening to all the football coverage.
I just need him to try it on so that I can see how much thumb it needs and it's done. I've realised that I need to rip back the first mitt and reposition the thumb slightly.

I'm enjoying knitting with the zauberball wool too, I must get myself some more of this, it feels soft yet strong and I love the colour transitions too.

Next up after Jack's mitts is another Eton beaded hat, this one is for Jen's pal Hannah. But it's another project in black! My eyes!