Flying out on Friday

I'm flying out on holiday on Friday and have an overwhelmingly long to-do list.  So, of course the most important thing to be doing is writing blog entries!  

The multi-coloured fraternal socks are finished, and I had a happy yarn accident, courtesy of Phileas Yarns (with a 10% discount, it would be rude not to).  I went for the yarn/colourways of: Explorer - Reynisfjara, Rambler - Hot Dog in Coney Island and Rambler - Bac Ha.  There were at least three others I wanted, but I was being restrained.  There will be photos...

Pattern - Time Traveller Socks by Liz Sedmak
Yarn - King Cole 50 50 (discontinued)

I did try to make sure that both socks were started at the same point of the colour patterning, but somehow it didn't work as expected.  I guess that's part of the fun of knitting; seeing how it all turns out.  I also did a garter stitch gusset for a bit of variety. 

The toe-up Hermione's are going better than expected.  I was going to wait until after holidays to make them, but what the heck.

The Gender Games by Juno Dawson
Hermione's Every Day Socks - yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners

The Gender Games by Juno Dawson is the book I borrowed last week - and it seemed the perfect book to start reading over Pride weekend.  I don't always like the style of writing, but I agree with the points that she's making - so am sticking with it.

 Look at the waffle-y lusciousness of these socks:

Just look!

I love them - and I cannot wait to knit another pair (or several) after coming back from holidays.  I think I've worked out how to do the waffle pattern on the toes as well.

Yesterday, we went to a barbeque, held at a colleague's house, the other side of London and then some.  (Hertfordshire, to be exact).  That meant train journeys, which meant knitting time.  I decided to take the blue and red socks, on which I'd turned the heel too early.  Sock one has been sorted and knitted up to the point that I can do the gusset increase - but hadn't quite steeled myself up to sort out sock two - until yesterday.  On the down side, it's fiddly sorting out mistakes on socks.  On the plus side, I could get rid of this:

Remember - mistakes remind you that it's hand knit by a human.

I have no idea how it got there, and I had begrudgingly accepted it was there.  However, the perfectionist in me is pleased to get rid of it.

I put a lifeline in, trying to catch every stitch:

 and then pulled the needles out and ripped.  It's only on doing that, I found the two stitches that I hadn't caught on the lifeline.  Such is.

Counting stitches on the Thameslink platform at St Pancras railway station holds no fear for me.

59 stitches.  No, 61 stitches.  What ?

So - 59 stitches. Does that include the dropped stitches or not? 

No photos of the party - I was too busy having fun.  I knew a grand total of three people at the beginning of the party, and several more by the end.  We discussed French politics, built a fire and toasted marshmallows.  I also found out that one of my consultants is also a knitter.  We've already bonded over sharing a name and now this!  She's only been in our department five days and I already like her.

Do you have a summer holiday planned?  What's on your to-do list, and what have you been knitting? 

I Do Love Me a Good Rainbow

On Friday night, I met friends for dinner - after being reminded by a colleague to actually go home at some point.  Everything you read about unrealistic expectations in the NHS are true.  I can't do all the stuff I'm expected to do and leave work on time every day; it's as simple as that.  

Jane, K, L and I will meet up every so often for a catch up, and putting the world to rights.  We had to grab K before she disappeared down the Proms rabbit hole.  She sings in several choirs and is a season ticket holder; it's how she met her husband.  I've been to three last nights (one in the seated area, two in the arena - of which one was on the grid.  Trust me, it's a big thing to be on the grid).  Annoyingly, the proms I really want to see are in Iceland, so no idea if I'll get to the last night this year. 

So, we chatted about all sorts: work expectations, Proms, holiday plans, IVF, running, knitting, cherry coloured velvet.  As usual, there was the usual swapping of stuff; I got Guide badges, turkish delight and the loan of a book.  Whilst we were eating, we had the amusement of watching the staff blowing up balloons and trying to work out where to hang them - all in rainbow colours for Pride.  It was only as we were planning on leaving that we realised, as four Brownie leaders, we would be brilliantly placed to help, but it was far too amusing to watch.  Although, it did bother me that the red balloons were in the wrong place:

Within Guiding, I am known to my Brownies as Rainbow Owl.  I love the colours of the rainbow - so totally loved walking down Oxford Street (one of Europe's busiest shopping streets) and seeing all the rainbows.

Please forgive the photo quality; the camera on my phone isn't great - and the light levels were dropping. 

Liberty's of London displaying their rainbow flag

Tea!  (I've walked past this shop so many times - still haven't been in).

 

With a pun my dad would have been proud of:

I loved this shop, whose rainbow coloured display was allowed to spill out on to the pavement: 

Rainbow coloured pavement! 

Even the bus stops wanted to get in on the act:

As I've nearly finished my current pair of socks, it's time to cast on another one.  (I'm attempting the Yarngasm Box O Socks challenge - so far at two pairs of socks, out of twelve.  I need to get the needles going.

The next pair is going to be my version of Hermione's Everyday Socks (blog entry with pattern here and Ravelry link with downloadable PDF here) but toe up.  I've not got the courage to knit a cuff down after my first attempts; I'm happy with what I know.  It would seem that at least one person has already had the same idea - so I won't have to re-invent the wheel.  After her attempts to improve the rights of elves I think she would be an ally of the LGBTQ cause, so of course rainbow coloured yarn would be entirely appropriate.  But which yarn to use?

• Top row: Austermann Step: Ennis,  Esslinger Wolle: Regenbogen-bunt; Opal - Mein Sockdesign: Feuervogel

• Middle row: West Yorkshire Spinners signature 4 ply: Rum Paradise -   Regia 4 Ply - Clown (discontinued); Opal - Funny Sparkle: Witty

• Bottom row: Opal - Mein Sockdesign: Over the Rainbow; Opal Schafpate VIII: Blickfang; Zauberball: Frische Fische

• Far right: Owl About Yarn: Rainbow

What's your next project to cast on? 

Lets Talk About Socks, Baby

The sock knitting continues.

I finished the pair for Mr Knitty.  They are a bit big, but they were made, and received, with love.  He has a higher internal temperature than I do, so wanted to wait until the weather was a bit cooler, before he wore them.  Yesterday was their maiden voyage.  He showed them to a couple of people, but told me that neither of the people he really thought would appreciate them were working that shift.

Me: Why do you think they would particularly appreciate them?
Him: Well, they've both mentioned yarn...

Regia Pairfect - Granite colourway

I knit them using the Time Traveler Socks pattern by Liz Sedmak.  As a relatively new sock knitter, this is my current go-to pattern.  This was the first time that I'd used the Regia Pairfect yarn.  For those who don't know, the yarn is provided as two separate, matching sections, divided by a length of yellow yarn.  The idea being that you can knit two socks which are guaranteed to match.  Youtube has a couple of videos which explain.  The German one is here and a Scandinavian one (I'd guess Danish) is here.

Instep of the birthday socks

The yarn is set up to knit cuff down.  As I knit my socks toe-up and knit both socks separately and at the same time, I had to prep the yarn first by unwinding it and re-winding it in the opposite direction and getting rid of the yellow yarn between the two balls.  I've heard criticism that there's not really enough of the main yarn, due to an excess yellow yarn.  As Mr Knitty doesn't like long legs on his socks, I did have yarn left over - so can't comment either way on this one. 

He didn't get them on his birthday, which wasn't a problem.  Of course, I had it in mind that he'd worked out that I was knitting him socks (although he denied it when asked).  So, one morning when he was up earlier than expected I said (without thinking) "normally this is the time that I'd be knitting your socks".  Oops.  Cat well and truly out of the bag. 

The advantage of that, is that I could take it with us when we went out for dinner to celebrate, at a local Chinese restaurant.  Apparently knitting and tea just have to go together - and who am I to argue? 

The rules of tea and knitting still apply when going out for dinner

Once completed, we were able to do an assessment on what worked and what didn't.  The pattern is available with either a 60 stitch or a 64 stitch width, and has a ribbed pattern.  We worked out that a better fit for Mr Knitty would either be 60 stitches with ribbing, or 64 without.  

64 stitches plus ribbing is a bit too comfortable

But they're finished and all properly woven in and have been broken in - so it all counts as a knitting win. 

Why yes, my husband was happy to pose in his socks on the doorstep.  When I say 'happy', I probably mean bemused.  He's known me long enough to be used to my quirks.  No face, but please may I draw your attention to the hairy legs; he was very keen that they should be included.  

What has your knitting week brought you, quirky or otherwise? 

Now I Know How Dobby Felt

Any Harry Potter fan will know that the only way a house elf will become free, is if their human gives them an item of clothing.  Dobby the house elf was given his freedom by means of a sock.  Socks are a big deal to Dobby - and I'm starting to understand the enthusiasm.

My first failed attempt at cuff down socks is detailed here and the discovery of toe up socks is detailed here  (Fact fans, that first pair is still in the process of being knit).

I then tried Sockmatician's toe-ups as part of his March sockalong - which used German short rows which I thought was an exciting technique to learn.  Apparently you can also do them without turning the work  (Both links are to Youtube tutorials).

 Things were going well:

Toe up socks - yarn is Regia 4 ply in the colourway Mosaic

Things were going really well:

I realise that the camera on my phone isn't that good under artificial light

Until the point where they weren't.

I have no idea where I went wrong - but as other knitters were using (and loving) the pattern, it's a knitter error, rather than a pattern error.

So, instead of getting worked up, I did the only logical thing - and cast on a new pair, using Stray Cat sock yarn (the acquisition of which is here)  The pattern is Time Traveller Socks, by Liz Sedmak.  (Ravelry link here  Non Ravelry link here)  It has a Fleegle heel - which the pattern describes as being: "great for a beginning sock knitter because there is no picking up gusset stitches, no “wrap and turn” short rows, and no kitchener stitch"  Sold. 

 The heel looks a little triangular to me, but the sense of achievement in turning the heel was pretty awesome. 

Using the same pattern, I cast on my next pair: 

King Cole 50:50 (discontinued) Colourway: Jubilee

I was knitting these socks for the second briefing weekend for our trip to Iceland, for the World Scout Moot in Iceland.  It's not the required wool content needed for walking socks for the trip, but it contains the colours of both the UK and Icelandic flags, and it seems appropriate to wear them for the opening ceremony. 

However, after the first false start with the heel (I had to knit to two stitches beyond the marker, which I did - I just used the wrong marker) I don't think I've knitted the foot long enough.  I've turned the heel on the first sock and it feels a bit snug.  It might be OK, but then again, there's a risk it won't be - and if frogging 20 rounds or so removes that risk, then so be it. 

The weather here has been phenomenally hot, and socks are about the only things I can knit without sweltering.  (This is why there are no photos yet of the completed cable-breaker).  All the windows are open, which means moths at bedtime.  The fridge is full of drinks which we're both reminding the other to actually drink,  The Tube tomorrow is not worth contemplating.  On the plus side, my hands appear to be behaving themselves, more or less. 

What has your weekend brought you ?  If you're in the UK - how are you coping with the heat?  No, really - I think I need tips. 

The Elk Under the Sofa

I've just dropped a whole load of loom bands on the floor, and in clearing them up - found an elk under the sofa.  He's a Christmas decoration that I bought in Stockholm last August.  I have no idea how he ended up under the sofa, instead of on the tree - but we can rectify that in December.

Since last posting, we've not had any more major terrorist attacks (yay!) but we have had a General Election (boo!).  The Prime Minister wanted a strong mandate to carry on with negotiations to leave the EU.  She ended up with a reduced minority and a hung parliament.  At the moment of writing, she is still leader of the party, has just 'reshuffled' her cabinet and is going into partnership with the DUP to get a majority.  Many people, quite rightly, are expressing concern about the government now no longer having neutrality in the power sharing talks in Northern Ireland and as a result risk totally destroying the Good Friday Agreement.

But back to the loom bands. 

The loom bands were to help match up a batch of knitting needles that I've been bequeathed.  At my grandmother's memorial earlier this year, I was given unused yarn and needles from my uncle's mother, so not a direct blood relative.

Yesterday was only the single point needles; the box of DPNs will have to wait until a later date.

All together, I ended up with 36 marriages (of which three weren't true pairings, but they were the same size and length and basically looked good together) and 42 orphans.  As one of my friends said: "Knitting needles breed, but are lousy parents".

I'm knitting a secret thing for Mr Knitty's birthday, which is later this month.  He's probably worked out what it is, but is pretending not to.  I want to keep it a secret, so can only knit when he's not around.  Graciously, he's said that he's happy to wait if needed.  

Yesterday, we went for a walk in a local park and saw the birds, and a fallen down tree.  

Love where you live - the walk yesterday afternoon

As I was taking this photo - a small dog decided to take a poo at my feet 

There was something about the inside of the tree branch which seemed so fresh and meaty; I ended up taking loads of photos, all of which were pretty much the same. 

Odd that I should describe this as meaty, given that I'm a vegetarian 

Today was all about the knitting of the socks.  This pair started off so well.  Sock one had the foot done in pretty much one evening.  Sock two came with me to Gilwell Park (the headquarters of The Scouts and that's where things started to go wrong.  I was using Drops basic needles, as a friend of mine said that they were cheap, but long lasting.  This is the second pair of socks I've knit with these needles, and something happened to the join between the cable and the needle, to the extent I couldn't get the yarn past it, without it badly fraying - so I had to cut the cable. 

Yarn is King Cole 50:50 (discontinued) in colourway Jubilee 

Then I had a mare turning the heel of the first sock - all now sorted.  I'm at the heel turning point on both socks, but it's not going to happen tonight.  Pattern is Time Traveller by Liz Sedmak (Ravelry link)  Free pattern with an easy heel.  What's not to love? 

So what have you been knitting this weekend?  Has it all gone to plan?  

(Just checked.  Theresa May is still PM)

London Calling

The Shard, in the centre of the picture, was near the attack last night

It seems spurious to be blogging about knitting, in the aftermath of last night's terrorist attack in London.  It's a city I know fairly well, as I've lived and worked here since 2011.  I was aware of something going on via social media before I went to sleep last night.  Mr Knitty was awake before I was this morning, and told me it was a terrorist attack by giving me a massive hug when I woke up. London is a city I know and love, inhabited by people I know and love. All the places on the news where the attack took place are all places I have woven into my life story.

London in the cold light of day

Again, my sadness is for the people directly involved.  Tomorrow may be interesting; it appears that some of the injured were taken to the hospital where I work (thank you Swedish media) and I also have an appointment at Guy's tomorrow, which is right next to where the attack happened.  It is moments like this when I am incredibly proud to work for the NHS.  And again, Twitter took the mickey in the way that we British do best.

My uniform and international necker - for a foreign visit last year

Yesterday was a better day.  I spent all of it at Girlguiding Regional Headquarters with other international advisors, discussing Plans and sharing ideas.  Our voluntary role is to advertise international opportunities to all members, help to select girls and leaders for international trips and support groups going away if needed.  Above is my uniform top and neckerchief from when we went abroad last year.  The union flag badge is one you sew on your uniform when going away internationally. 

The plan today was to sit and knit a hat, using Sockmatician's Invisicrown pattern (Ravelry link).  The yarn was bought for my nephew's blanket and I have a purple and red ball left over.  In a day of feeling out of sorts, creating something seems to be a good way of being productive.  Very annoyingly, I cannot find the double point needles that I need to swatch and knit.  Instead, I'm putting together ideas for another international trip to Bruges later this year.

Oh - and I've finished the cable breaker.  

The Cable Breaker

It seems spurious to be blogging about knitting, in the wake of the recent terrorist attack  on Manchester.  It's a city I know fairly well, as I spent four years there for university.  I heard about it from Mr Knitty on Monday night, via text message, whilst he was at work.  From there, I watched it unfold via the internet and social media.

Manchester was where I was at university - so it's a place I know and love, inhabited by people I know and love.  All the places on the news; where it happened, where the arrests happened and where the vigils have been held, are all places I have woven into my life story.

It's so horribly sad for the people directly involved and for the wider city.  The heartening thing, as is always the case, that the stories of people helping and looking after each other is greater than the stories of those wanting to cause destruction.  There was (quite rightly, in my opinion) praise for the NHS, some obviously upsetting stories and, of course, Twitter took the mickey in the way that we British do best.

But on to the knitting...

The cable breaker is what I'm naming my current WIP - a Scandinavian style shawl made with leftover yarn from a baby blanket I frogged for being knit in too loose a gauge.  There's no point in having loops big enough for a baby to catch their fingers in.  It took about 16 minutes to knit a row, when there were about 400 stitches.  It's grown since then, and I dread to think how much time I've spent knitting on it.  As it's in a simple garter stitch, it's been a pretty good thing to work on whilst watching Swedish TV - most recently Jordskott.

The needles I'm knitting on, are the third set of circulars that I've used.  The first was a set of Pony bamboo needles, the second was a pair of metal needles (again, Pony, I believe).  The third is a pair of Knit Pros, and so far are holding up.

The first ended up like this:

One broken cable on a circular needle

Great shame really, as I liked the feel of the needles in my hands. 

The second ended up like this:

The second broken cable on a circular needle! 

Yup - that's micropore from the first aid kit.  I was knitting it whilst away earlier on in the year - and needed something to stop the cable from breaking, and all the stitches falling off the needles.

I'm know knitting on a pair of KnitPro Karbonz (thank you local yarn shop) with a 100cm cable - which is doing the job brilliantly so far.  

KnitPro Karbonz in 4mm and a lovely shade of blue

At the penultimate count there were 484 stitches. 

Lots of lovely squishy garter stitch

That increased to 510 by the final count.

The final shawl before casting off 

I didn't think I'd be able to get into the  garden for photos today.  We've had some pretty dramatic storms last night.  I was convinced it was going to start tipping it, the second I went outside.  Luckily, it didn't. 

The garden is mostly a mess.  When clearing it a few weeks ago, we found a nest tucked away behind the ivy, complete with a couple of eggs.  We tried putting it back for the parents to come back, but a couple of days later, the nest was on its side and by today, the eggs had gone. 

After taking photos of the shawl, I had fun taking photos of a honey bee collecting nectar from the overgrown sage flowers.  

The nectar sacs were pretty visible on its legs:

If my overgrown and untended garden helps wildlife - then I can live with that.  It's a good reason to do the minimal amount of gardening. 

I'm going to leave with one of the highlights of this week - and what I suspect will be an iconic moment in British contemporary history; the one minute silence on Thursday for the victim's of the attack in Manchester. 

Happy New...

..what do you mean it's nearly summer?! 
For several months of last year, my wrists were flaring up every other month, so there was little knitting being done.  With little knitting, comes little blogging.  I'm not going to apologise for that, as it was completely out of my control.
In the interim, I have (in some vague kind of chronological order)

• Been to Scotland for Mr Knitty's 40th

• Been to Slovenia and Croatia

• Been to Sweden

• Got an new job (a proper one, this time)

• Been part of Yarn in the City's Yarnporium

• Found some drugs that properly work for the RA (yay!)

• Been on another knitting retreat

• Been home for the weekend (proper home; where we grew up)

• Been away to Dorchester with Mr Knitty 

• Finally knit a pair of socks

• Bought more yarn.

• Dyed my hair (OK, that was yesterday) 

There is a mass update to be done - and a Plan to manage it.  That plan also has to work around work, study and commuting.  And the washing up, which I have failed to do this evening. 

There is also preparation to go to Iceland in the summer.  I'm nowhere near ready and have a lot of stuff to buy and flight tickets to book.  Of course, the biggest challenge of the lot is finding out how much yarn I can bring back with my luggage allowance.

And so the world turns

Let's scroll back about ten days, just before this referendum thing.  It was clear that the result was going to be close, but we were at least sort-of-united, in that we didn't know the outcome.

We were travelling back on the Caledonian sleeper on the night the result was called.  Wi-fi wasn't working, so Mr Knitty couldn't access the BBC website on the laptop, and him clicking on the keys was keeping me awake.  I was able to log into Facebook a couple of times and got updates that way.  I had a dream that there was cheering from both cabins each side of me as the result was announced that we wanted to stay.  When I got out at Euston, the steward told me that it was an overwhelming vote to leave.

There was a four percent difference between the in vote and the out vote.  Four percent.  That's not overwhelming.  That's just about the right percentage to equally divide the country.  The leave side say that the democratic thing to do is now leave, as the people have spoken.  The stay side say that enough people are against leaving that the government (such as it is) should have either another referendum or a general election. 

There are reams and reams that could be written on this.  The fact that we shouldn't have had the referendum in the first place, the rumours that the out side wasn't supposed to win after all.  The fact that the government doesn't have an exit plan, because they never thought they'd need it.  There doesn't appear to be an effective opposition, as they're all in-fighting.  Reports of post-referendum racism have increased; in the last week I've had two friends post on Facebook with something they've experienced first hand, both in London.  Whilst not everybody who voted out is a racist, all racists now think they have half the country behind them. 

I'm trying to understand why people voted to leave.  So far, I've not really been able to.  The potential impact is huge.  Scotland wants to stay in the EU, so could possibly leave the UK; if that happens Ulster may well follow.  Unsurprisingly, there's a divide between London and the rest of the country; in broad terms, I suspect that this is a rich/poor divide, which has been encouraged by the Conservative party.  I also think the people who will come off worst are the people in un-skilled jobs or are from a certain social demographic.  There's the expectation that this is going to hit scientific research, the economy, the arts, education, the NHS, the rest of Europe.  The list seems infinite, as we're pretty much the guinea-pig of the EU and nobody quite knows what the consequences are.

I still have friends in Europe, who I don't love any less.  I'm done with being told to just accept the result, as that's democracy.  The process to leave hasn't been started yet, and until it is - there is everything to play for.  I think I'm done crying over it, but I'm not sure.  I've written to my MP.  I'm vaguely drafting letters to MEPs.  I've not ruled out writing to other European leaders.  I just wish the weather would get a grip and stop bloody raining; I'm sure it'll make a difference. 

In the meantime, I'm hiding with knitting, tea and Youtube videos. Oh and trying to get better at Swedish, just in case.  Youtube suggested that I watch Måns Zelmerlöw, as I've watched his videos before.  Most of his songs are about relationship and relationship break-ups, some of which have felt a bit close to the bone.  This one had particular resonance: 

Sunday, Sunday

There is a truth amongst knitters that films with subtitles are not necessarily good partners to a knitting project.  I thought I could get round this by knitting garter stitch.  Seems I was wrong.  The knitting was fine, but there was a lot of winding back to find out what was said.  Either my Swedish is not as good as I thought it was, or I don't understand the Stockholm accent.  Possibly a bit of both.

Have I mentioned that I'm going back to Sweden in August?  Mostly to meet up with friends, but I've also found out that there's a theatre festival at the time, so I'm happy.  That's after the trip to Slovenia/Croatia and before next year's trip to Iceland.  There'll be more about that in some other entry. 

Last weekend was Brownie Holiday - AKA 'how much can we keep the adults awake before they want to kill'.  I swear there are parts of the world where this is considered torture.  I was going to sew lots and lots of badges on to my camp blanket, but that never happened.  We were all in bed far too early.  

The most I managed were pictures of the houmous dip we had - fitting in beautifully with the animal theme which we had for the weekend: 

Lion houmous dip

If yesterday was about starting new projects, today will be about buying yarn and blocking completed projects.  Oh, and admin for our trip to Europe next month, but that's not so blog worthy.

What does your weekend bring you?