Apologies for the lack of posts the past couple of weeks. The mojo has been somewhat lacking for various reasons.
I went for a job interview, but didn't get the job - although the feedback was positive and helpful. And thank you to anyone who had their fingers crossed for me - apparently all the candidates were good and it was very close.
I went to the physio, who said that, because I am very flexible in my lower back, my bottom muscles aren't pulling their weight and so the muscles in my thigh have been overworked. I am now rolling out of bed every morning (except Sunday, my day of rest) and doing exercises before I do anything else. I hope that progress has been made, but have another couple of weeks before I go back to the physio.
In other news, there has been progress on the knitting and stitching fronts.
As you can see, the left hand border on Baby Express is now complete and progress has begun on the bottom border. At the current rate of progress, I might even get it finished before his first birthday :-)
I have finally got round to blocking my Cabled Handwarmers. The plan is to take them to Knit Group on Saturday, stitch them up and finally have them finished well in advance of the cold weather.
The second toe-up sock is nearly done. Since this photo, I have finished the leg and started the ribbing for the cuff. I am hoping that in my next post I will be able to show you a finished pair of socks!
And I am still trundling on with Hitchhiker. The photo shows points 1 to 36, and I have done point 37 since then. However there is still a lot of yarn left, so I am not proposing to forecast a potential finish date just yet.
There is not really anything else to report at present, so I will love you and leave you, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
I can't tell you any details yet, but if you would be so kind as to keep your fingers crossed for me on Wednesday morning, I would be very grateful.
There has been progress this week on all pieces as follows:
Although my back stitching mojo has done a runner, I did manage to get it together this morning and start the last section of the left hand border on Baby Express. Some progress is better than none, so I'm just going to carry on with the border for the time being and hope that when that's done, I can find the urge to finish the back stitch.
I'm also working my way up the foot of my second toe up sock. I went to a different Knit Group on Monday evening within walking distance of my house, which was interesting and very different from my Saturday Knit Group. I got quite a bit done on the sock that evening and will be going back this week.
Hitchhiker has now reached point 31, but there is still a lot of yarn on the ball. I now have over 120 stitches on the needle, so each point takes longer to complete than the one before. I'm not giving this piece any kind of deadline because I really have no idea when I am likely to finish it.
I have also knitted a swatch for my first jumper but I am holding off casting on until I have finished one of the other pieces. Time is too tight to have three knitting projects on the go when I have deadlines on other things to keep in mind.
In other news, I went to the doctor this week about on-going discomfort in my upper left leg. He says I have a problem with my IT band and has referred me to the physio, so I have an appointment this coming week - watch this space.
Why are weekends always so short? Back to work in the morning, so here's all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.
As the last of my Fibre East purchases arrived in the post this morning, and at Leonore's particular request, here are all the pretty things (even if some of the colours haven't come out too well in the photos).
This was my first purchase and I just couldn't resist. Sock yarn by Sara's Texture Crafts in Watermelon Neon in her Oddsox - Line Art collection. So one sock will be mainly pink with some green and the other will be mainly green with some pink. She had quite a few different colourways but this was the one that grabbed me.
More sock yarn, this time from Unbelievawool. This colourway is called Petrol Pot and yes, you can see silver sparkles in it.
Moving on, this is what came in the post this morning. The photo is not good - it's more of a reddy pink than this. From Native Yarns, three skeins of Clare Merino & Silk 4ply in the Astrid colourway which I bought specifically for this shawl, the pattern for which I also bought at Fibre East.
Then we come to the John Arbon Alpaca 2-3ply. How could I resist - 1200 metres of 90% alpaca, 10% nylon in this gorgeous moss green for just £10? Couldn't be done, but I have no plans for this as yet.
I took a couple of friends from Knit Group with me to Fibre East. They usually go on the train, I was going to be driving there anyway - so a no brainer, and it meant I had company, which is always nice at these things. Someone to say "Ooh, feel this!" to, and get a second opinion from. So then they wanted to give me petrol money, even after I said not to be daft, because I would have gone anyway. So I said to give me yarn instead, so my stash now includes two skeins of Garnstudio DROPS Lace, this one in the Purple colourway ...
and this one in the Red colourway. We're talking 70% baby alpaca, 30% mulberry silk and 800 metres to a skein. This should work out to two very luxurious shawls at some point and at a very reasonable price.
So there you are, Leonore, all the pretty things. I am now on a yarn diet - no more new yarn until Yarndale in late September, but the knitting will continue and I will keep you up to date with that.
Back again, but not a lot to show for it. It's been a busy couple of weeks with the boss being off work, a funeral, Fibre East and something I can't talk about yet.
Fibre East is a yarn festival held near Ampthill, Bedfordshire. After I started knitting last May, Fibre East was the first yarn festival I went to so I hadn't a clue what I was letting myself in for. This year I went with two knitting friends and had a great time. I was very good and only spent the cash I had taken with me, which was hard because I really wanted to buy all the pretty things. And now I want to knit all the pretty things, but time is short.
Anyway, time for a progress report. There has been so little progress on Baby Express since the last time you saw it that there was no point even taking a photo.
However I do have one finished toe up sock to show you and the beginning of the second. I am going to use a different heel on this one in the hopes of getting a better result than I did with the first one.
And Hitchhiker now has 28 points to it. There are now over 100 stitches to a row so progress is slower. Basically I am now into the long hard slog part of it, but the colours are so lovely that I don't really care.
Also I am now on a yarn diet until Yarndale at the end of September. No more yarn until Skipton. I went on Ravelry the other night and worked out how much yarn I have - nearly 39 miles worth! I really do have to knit faster!!!
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day with the boss playing catch up after 2 weeks off, so I am going to love you and leave you, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.
So this week has been like the curate's egg - good in parts!
Work was mega busy because the boss is now on leave for two weeks. So at least the first half of the coming week will be spent doing all the little things that need to be done but didn't get done, because I was doing the big things that he needed to have done before he went on leave. The coming week also means attending the funeral of the friend who died last week.
On the positive side, yesterday I had my hair cut very short so I no longer look like I stuck my finger in the plug socket and my fringe no longer comes below my nose. I dyed it plum colour this morning, and so far the response has been very favourable. Yesterday was also Knit Group day, so time spent with like minded people always makes me feel better. And today I went on a workshop about knitted garments - the first knitting workshop that I've been on at which I never touched a needle! It was all about the maths needed to change patterns to fit you, your preferred yarn and your gauge. I think I understood it properly - I now just need the time to get started on a jumper.
However there has been progress on all the things:
I have stitched the middle section of the left hand border and started doing the back stitch on the engine. I will continue with the back stitch this coming week. Once that is done, I will go back to working on the border.
I am now up to point 19 on Hitchhiker. I rather think that this is going to end up as Hitchhiker Plus. The pattern is designed for 525 metres of 4 ply/sock yarn. I have 600 metres of laceweight, and my intention is just to knit until I reach the end of the yarn.
Finally I have just started the ribbing on my toe up sock. I shall be glad to move on to the second sock so that I can try out a different kind of short row heel. It appears that on one side of the heel I have a tension problem with my wraps, so when you put the sock on, there are holes. I have been told to try German short rows on the second sock as they might work out better for me.
In other news, Dad seems to be fine following his angina attack - presumably the new meds are doing whatever they are supposed to do - and the replacement for my colleague who left recently starts in three weeks' time. And I have something really nice to look forward to next weekend, which I hope to tell you all about soon.
So all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.
Last week was not a good week, so I did not make as much progress as I would have liked. To put matters in a nutshell, my Dad had an angina attack and a night in hospital, one of my colleagues left the firm and one of the members of our Patchwork Group died. We were on countdown for my colleague leaving, and the Patchwork Group knew that the chances of our friend coming out of hospital were slim to non-existent, but all the same ... However Dad having a funny turn and getting whisked off to hospital was definitely not in the plan. He's fine now, on some different meds, but we could have done without it.
So what progress was there?
I made more progress on Baby Express than anything else. The engine is now stitched, but before I can back stitch it, I need to do the next section of border because there is an overlap between the two parts. I've got a busy weekend coming up so I will only commit to getting the border section done this week.
Next up is Hitchhiker. What with one thing and another, I only managed a further three points on this so am now at 12 of 42. I just love the colours in the yarn and am really looking forward to wearing it.
It was only when it was too late that I realised that the best way to show progress on my Toe Up Socks was actually to take a foot selfie. Knitting Magic Loop style means that the cable stops you presenting the sock in the same way as you can with double pointed needles. I did do some sock knitting in the hospital though.
I'm going to finish here cos I'm tired and blue, so wishing you and yours all the very best, and may the frog stay away from your needles!
Yup, I missed last week. Why did I miss last week? Because I lost my mojo! And why did I lose my mojo? Because I had to frog Hitchhiker. I waited so long to start that project and then I bodged it and then I had to frog it. It's a garter stitch shawl - you can't get much simpler - and I still managed to bodge it. Depressing, huh!
However, this week my mojo is back and I feel good, despite the extreme (for my part of the UK) heat. And here are some progress pictures.
Baby Express has come on well this week. The whole of the rear of the engine, including the giraffe, is stitched, so I just need to do the front end and the backstitch before moving on to the rest of the border.
This is my re-started Hitchhiker. I have done the first 9 points out of 42 so am slightly ahead of where I was when I frogged it. I do think the colour is gorgeous and am looking forward to wearing it.
And this is what is making me really happy! This is a selfie of my foot wearing my work in progress toe up sock, and as you can see, I have turned the heel. I did it at Knit Club yesterday afternoon - it took a lot of concentration so I didn't do much talking. Now I just have to keep knitting up the leg until I run out of yarn! Plus I have new needles - those are Addi Turbos that I am using (and for Hitchhiker) - and they are so much easier to use.
And in other news, I went to Slimming World this week and I have maintained - so still 11 stone 8lb. I am putting some of that down to the heat, because that always tends to affect my appetite.
Anyway, time is getting on so all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
