Weekends

are lovely, regardless of being at work in the week or not. I think it's so ingrained that the weekend is for relaxing that it's become habit (and it has been a long time since I had a job where I worked on a weekend).

I don't usually brave the city centre on a Saturday at all, not my idea of fun, but I nipped out to post mum's present. The painting isn't perfect - a long way from it - but it's not too terrible (for a few days my grandad was looking like Michael Winner, which was unnerving - maybe I should have TRIED to paint Mr Winner and I might have got a better likeness of my grandad ...)but a) I got my paints out, b)I want to do more (and have started sketching one out) and c) I stronly suspect my mum would love it even if it looked like an overexcited three year old had done it.



This is my latest haul from good old Kemps - they had several assorted Rowan kits on, at silly prices, so I stocked up - and am thrilled with almost all of it (and can find a use for the rest). The black kidsilk will hopefully enable me to make use of the odd balls in assorted pinks I have had for ages.
The pink (which is a really pretty shade) is some very cheap (89p a ball I think) Sirocco, cotton / linen blend - I suspect it will be a sod to knit, and I usually avoid cotton, but I thought it might make a nice long nubbly cardi for the summer, something to sling on top of a black dress. Has to go with black, lots of black ;-)



And lastly, a secretive (hard to be secretive in these colours!) picture of something I have just posted as an angel parcel for a lovely friend in America, it was good to be able to do something nice for her as she has been very kind to me over the last year.
Enjoy the splash of spring colour! It definitely lifted my spirits knitting it, made a change to being surrounded by mu usual black and grey knitting!

I wonder...

what I should call this blog?
Sadly - very sadly - I found another one with the same name that is a BNP based one, so not exactly something I want to be associated with.

Yorkshire Pudding?
Not a clue, my brain is mush!

I am trying to finish some knitting / sewing for an angel package I need to get in the post in the next few days - have enjoyed knitting it and now need to do the fun embellishing part.
I also have some goodies to make for an Easter swap I am running on Ravelry, some of the 'things' I need for it came today, and hopefully the rest will be here soon as that also needs posting early next week.
So mum's painting is the main priority (and I am going to go and do an hour or two on it in a minute), then the angel wotsit, then the Easter doodah (all recognised trademarks), and then things for ME.Me me meeeeee.

Ah. And a certain something for my daughter's birthday.My things are going further and further down the list ....


I am enjoying this very much - I found a tiny part that needed changing - or it did in my fussy eyes, I am sure it's absolutely fine without my alteration - this is my relaxing knit, and I am so glad I gave it a go. It's slow going but I think it will be worth it.



No reason for this other than it makes me smile inside.



And this makes me smile both inside and out, and I want one right now!



May your day be filled with squishy pink cake.

Trying

to keep some arty crafty goodness going in my life, even though my paintings are not going as planned! I am very out of practise, and it shows.

The dyeing is for knitting a clapotis, definitely not my favourite shawl / scarf, but there is a Clap party at Knit Camp, so I neeed it for then! Looks like we are having a mni clapalong on Ravelry, that should give me the incentive to get on with it. I love the colours of these two skeins, the third not so good and needs redyeing.
I planned on something much more subtle with gradations of colour, but never mind.


Ignore the mess, this is the little still life I set up recently - the painting I started is far too crap to show on here, needs either binning or lots of work (I am trying not to bin anything arty).


This is hopefully going to be for my mum's birthday next week, absolutely loads of work to do on it but I am enjoying it. It is my much loved and very deeply missed nan and grandad. Nothing else to say really. Very special people.


And spinning - the pink cheviot I spun up recently (rough, tough and rather sproingy! very easy to spin but mine is a touch overspun still)actually looks like a REAL ball of wool when wound up!Cheeky blighter, you little chick, hands off my wool!


I do feel that there is a very amateur edge to everything I do - Jill of all trades, mistress of none.It frustrates me.
I try to write, it comes out as bilge.
I write a blog that nobody reads.
Sketches in my diary / journal are rubbish, so is what I write.
Knitting is average, as is my spinning.
Painting - pah!
But I get a lot of pleasure from it when I allow myself to just relax into it, and that's the most important thing.

Relax ...

Not a huge lot to report today.
Had my Occupational Health assessment which was a bit bizarre - I had been warned by a couple of people that they try to put the onus for your illness on to you, so I was prepared - work has made me ill, nothing else and I was ready to stand my ground.
And it almost came to it - she was rather officious and very abrupt, so I sat, said my piece very calmy, looked her in the eye and was ready to ask why she was being so rude.
But after I had described work, and how dangerous it was becoming she changed her tune, and went from one extreme to the other, ending up showing me photos of her ex on her work computer (WHAT??) and photos on her camera of her partner (WHAT AGAIN!!).Most peculiar ...

So that's another box ticked, meeting next week and hopefully part time after Easter. Utter dread, that's me!

Knitting - am playing about with a pattern idea for a bag, I like it (obviously) but am unsure about copyright - if I adapt a particular cabled leaf pattern that I have seen on several things, is that OK? Lordy.

Ideas are bubbling in my feather filled head for another book (equally craptastic as the first), but time, never enough time - what the hell will I do when I am back at work! Argh! Don't they know I want to CRAFT, DAHLINK!

How

does it get to Thursday evening so quickly? Eh eh eh?

Sooo... no piccies today, I don't seem to have used my camera much this week which is unusual. Must charge the batteries (of camera and self) and catch up - oh, I DO have a piccie somewhere of the current knitting project, let me look.


This is gorgeous - The Summer Shawl,via Ravelry - this is my challenge for the year, no idea if I will get it finished, and had a bit of a fart on getting it started! But I am now almost finished with the fourth row of roses, and it is lovely. The Kauni Effekt wool is a bit odd, rather rough and tough, but the colour is good and I suppose that's what all the hype is about.

Cheviot, great to spin - not next to skin soft, but very easy to use as it's long and grippy. QAnd cheap!

And this little bundle is most of the spinning I have done lately, I need to start thinking about how to use it all up. Ideas?

Lots

of things.

This is almost, almost heartbreaking, in a knitty sense.
It is Pocket Watch, a lovely pattern from one of Louisa Harding's yummy books, a fun knit - until I rinsed it prior to blocking.
The black dye ran into the pinks, and has smudged them - the photo doesn't show the true damage, its very noticeable. The wool was from ebay and I am pretty cross about it, to put it mildly.
I think the only thing I can do is wash the sleeves (there's about 3 inches left on the second sleeve,I threw them in a basket out of sight before I was tempted to throw the whole thing out) and hope they run the same way. Then either live with it, or try rinsing with a colour run product ...
Very very annoying.
So I turned to this: again from one of Louisa's books (see, I am on first name terms now), Masquerade from the Cardigans book. The light grey is baby alpaca and is a nightmare to knit as it's so soft and fluffy - but for exactly those reasons, it is also lovely! This is my relaxing knit, as I am also attempting something which for me is really challenging, piccies to follow.


Plenty of spinning going on, I think because it relaxes me (my mind is inescapably on going back to work a lot, not good).The pink is cheviot, which is certainly not next to the skin soft, but because of this rougher texture is a doddle to spin,. I plied it much more tightly (is that's the right description?) than usual, gave it a damned good THWACK and left ity to dry, and it hung wonderfully, much better tension than I ever imagined! Quite a bit left to spin, I should get enough for a short length cardi of some description, maybe with black.


And one day I will find a use for all of these!

Things.

New spinny goodness. This is lovely, it came with co-ordinating ribbons and lace and buttons, am looking forward to playing with it all. I also received 2 gorgeous plaits in shades of black, grey and purple to spin at some point fairly soon (ie probably before the return to work).I hope I do them justice ...



From several years ago, this is where I feel the need to be right now. At the seaside, specifically Scarborough, absolutely laden with lovely memories (we went on holiday here every year with my nan, grandad and my aunty, the whole lot of us! Fantastic times).This would be the ideal place for me to find a new job, I would move here in the blink of an eye.
Would make up for a lot to know I could walk along the beach every weekend, heaven.



And also from a few years ago, a nice bit of colour to perk me / you (does anyone still read this? I really have no idea) up.
Hurry up Spring!
Can you tell I haven't taken any recent photos?

Knitting - am almost finished with Pocket Watch, a cardi with hearts on, love it!
And also need to hurry up and finish a test knit celtic knot that's looking good.

But the main thing I want to do, is to actually DO SOMETHING with my craptastic book.
Whether that is going to be self publishing, or what I really don't know, but I do need to get a move on with the patterns for it. I have ideas, oodles of them, but never seemt to get focused enough to work on them properly.
I also have a piece of travel writing to do for a competition that my mum found, again I have jotted down lots of notes but need to get focused enough to write it all up.

It frightens me that I never seem to have time to accomplish anything - and that's when I am off work. Where does the time go??

Moving on.

Am trying to get my head back into work mode, but it doesn't want to go there.
I love being at home - I keep busy, I am sewing every day to stockpile project bags, and have ideas buzzing around in my head for two other ranges of bags, one of which I think is pretty unique.
I could happily stay at home all day every day - couldn't we all - and sew, knit, write and spin, and paint.

But back in reality, it's almost time to go back, and I am dreading it.
By the time I became ill, I felt unsafe in my lessons, and tht's something I hve only ever experienced once, in six years of teaching these 'types' of children. Not a good place to be mentally and emotionally.

The job hunt goes on ...
And back in the land of creativity (and mess) this is some of what I have been up to lately.

I enjoyed knitting this - Andrea's Shawl (this still won't link, but the pattern is available to buy from Ravelry).Would have been a two day knit but I had to unpick and reknit all the striped section.
Double knit, on 4.5mm needles, so it flew!


It's meant to have curves along the edges but I prefer points - should be able to wear this tomorrow - it's quite small, but hopefully a good size to tuck into the neckline of my trusty mac.

Will be starting on the matching fingerless mitts tonight, there might just be enough of the pink (I have plenty of the charcoal).
So yes, a definite thumbs up!



And another from my old photos which makes me smile. This plant didn't want to grow last year and looks very sad at the moment, so I might have to try and find some new ones and pot them, because this was glorious all year and smelt lovely.

We had bright sun and blue skies this morning, really lovely - all gone now, replaced by big grey rain clouds. Come on spring, we need you!