2006 was the year I hit a milestone birthday, which officially kicked me over the hill. I celebrated this momentous event in New York with people dear to me. It was a fabulous, fabulous time. Other than this, 2006 was another year of chaos.
2007 is going to be a better year. I don't say this out of desire and resolve, it's simply because there is no way it cannot be. The main reason for the chaos in my life is my home, the story of which is too long and boring to relate here, suffice to say that if you saw how I lived, you'd have me certified.
Renovation has been in the planning for oh so, so long. BUT it is finally here! In three weeks, I move OUT and the builders move IN. The new bathroom and kitchen units are being ordered and ohmygosh, I still can't believe it: by the end of February I will have a home I can live in. Of course, I'm not going to have any money for furniture, but that's ok, it will be renovated, redecorated, with room to move, CLEAN.
The impact this will have on other areas of my life cannot be underestimated; 1) I will be able to cook again, so my eating habits and health should improve, 2) living in a more organised and comfortable manner will reduce unnecessary spending, 3) I will be able to resume my studies.......... even little things like being able to come home from work, and drink a glass of wine on a sofa in front of the telly........... How can 2007 not be any better?
I am so excited about this, and so looking forward to this year, and even though I'll be walking further down the other side of that damn hill, I will be less stressed, much happier about life, rejunevated. I can see a whole different life ahead of me, and it's a good one. I even think I might be able to keep to some of my new year's resolutions, so, inspired by Crazy Aunt Pearl's list, I made one of my own, from which I am going to share one item: as soon as the renovation is complete, I am going to get a cat. While The Orange Cat Who Does Not Live With Me was never one for cuddles or lap sitting, I do miss feline company and I especially missed it at Christmas.
Right, I'm off out to see in the New Year with the I Knit London boys. Happy new year to you all!
All the partying this past fortnight has meant very little knitting, so even if I had time to post, I don't actually have anything to show! But on Friday, I went to the I Knit London shop, for an evening of food and drink and ....... knitting. It was a more sedate affair than other recent social forays, but just as fun, and I managed to work some more on the simple vest and the Oh So Beautiful Socks.
In a taxi on my way home, I realised I had left my laptop and other bags behind, so the next day, I was back and this time, I left the shop with my forgotten things and more besides. Then I drove to Loop, where I again left with more than I had going in. I haven't had a chance yet to take pictures of my swag, so I'll show you after Christmas.
I also managed on Saturday to get all the necessary preparations done, and the fridge is bursting with yummy food, including good wine to take to friends in the evening. No tree this year because of the renovation work, but instead a fabulous bouquet adorns the dining table, and with candles it's all going to look very festive. Can't wait for those lillies to open and give off their heady perfume. All that is left for me to do is, ahem, a little tidying up. Please ignore the background mess in the first photo - I moved the vase to get the best light for the picture. By the way, considering the pictures were taken with my mobile and at night, I think they aren't half bad.
On a final note, back to my lovely day at the yarn shops. In each case, as I was walking to I Knit London and then Loop, there was a ginger cat loitering. The Islington boy was quite amenable to a stroke or two, and also let me take his picture, and so with this feeling of love and goodwill, I wish you all a very joyous and peaceful Christmas.
For some time now, I have been planning to knit two lace shawls, one as a present for a friend and another for me to wear at her wedding in the new year. Now, you may be thinking that I'm trying to run before I can walk, because quite clearly, SIX FEET of Cozy doesn't count, what with it being such a simple pattern and all. Aha, but you see, I have been working on a more intricate lace pattern, albeit smaller project, for my secret pal. Obviously, my lips are sealed, but I can confirm that I have been bitten by the lace bug, and I'm very sore.
Of course, I have been desperate to get my hands on Victorian Lace Today, especially since the emphasis is apparently on rectangular shawls (my preference), I have scoured bookshops, I have made B drive me to other, larger bookshops and scoured those, I have telephoned other bookshops, visited LYSs, all to no avail: there isn't a copy of VLT to be had in London. When I first tried to order the book from Amazon UK, the dispatch time was 10-13 days, now it's 6-8 weeks!
With so many beautiful patterns available, in the end I decided on the Forest Canopy Shawl, backed up by these lovely examples here, here and here. This decision was partly influenced by the yarn I wanted to use, Posh Yarn's Lucia in mulberry, a cashmere/merino 4-ply bought months ago, but which just hasn't made it to a pair of socks yet. It is a little heavy for some of the more intricate shawls, but I thought would be perfect for the FCP.
So, after a couple of false starts experiementing with guage, the first night saw me get as far as the picture above. As you can see, it is a relatively simple knit, but not so simple that you can watch CSI at the same time (my yardstick). In the first picture, I've stretched it out a bit so that you can see the pattern, isn't it pretty?. Sorry, the colours aren't true in either picture, have to rely on my mobile till I get batteries for the camera.
On Wednesday I went to I Knit London at the New Players' Theatre. As always, knitting in convivial surroundings, meeting new people, catching up with the old, and of course, drinking red wine all added up to a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Even though I knew the lighting wasn't going to be the best, I took along the Knitty Cozy I started for myself some time ago. Yep, it's black, and yep, it's lace, but I know the [simple] pattern by heart, so I figured I'd be safe. Fool, fool! At some point, I made a mistake and although I did try to rip back a couple of rows and fix it, the combination of the afore-mentioned lighting, chat and *cough* wine all conspired to make it worse.
I put it away in disgust, and resorted to my on-the-go socks, whereupon the marvellous Stefan insisted on teaching me magic loop. At first I resisted, thinking it would be too complicated for me, but he made me knit a couple of rows of his own sock-in-progress to test it out. It turned out to be surprisingly simple, really SO SIMPLE, and really more logical than magical. So, having converted me, Stefan got me some 2.5mm Addi Turbos and I continued on my own sock. The little Addis are so smooth and pointy, and the little stitches just glide from needle to needle, I just flew through the next inch.
I was so excited to learn something new, but at the same time, I'm torn. I LIKE using DPNs. I dunno, I suppose handling those tiny bamboo sticks makes it feel more like knitting. I remember my first time with DPNs, and how lucky I was not to lose an eye; now, despite only having knit the grand total of three socks, I am completely comfortable working with four needles, and whip them out regularly on bus and tube journeys. (Harrumph, the circular is definitely better for travelling; I magic looped on the tube home that night, and didn't worry once about dropping stitches, dropping needles, snapping needles...).
Tomorrow, I'm going to catch up properly with both my secret pals. Last week, I sent my spoilee a small gift. Annoyingly, it will not arrive in time for Christmas (although it was bought and sent on the promise that it would, hence my irritation). Something else I have bought for her is still in transit to me; this particular item was quite difficult to find, not to mention very precious, so I hope it's just the Christmas season that is causing the delay and it hasn't got lost in the post.
Hopefully Blogger will be behaving itself too, so I can post some pictures!
Ah, mes amis, sorry for the lack of posting. A couple of trips away have meant little time for blogging, and not much more for knitting. I did take some sock knitting with me both times, but frankly my dear, there isn't much to show for it.
But I have made some progress on current projects; the simple vest is growing with the underarms shaped, and the back almost finished. BUT..... although I bought more than the yardage specified, I might run out of yarn, since I'm almost done with the fifth out of six balls. It must be because my row count is slightly under gauge. I'll see how it looks once I've started the front section and got a feel for the size and shape, then it might be a frantic call to Laughing Hens for a match.I've also been working on some gifts. One is a present for my secret pal, so I can't show you any pictures yet, but I'm really pleased with it so far. The others are for recipients who don't read the blog, but they're in such an embryonic state (the knitting, not the recipients), that it's hardly worth taking a picture.
All in all a pretty dull post. I'll update later in the week, this time with pictures. Hope you're all on target with your gift knitting!
