Yarn Along in pajamas

It has been a looong time since I did the knit along. Mostly because I haven't been able to sit (curse you back troubles) so my knitting has been on GOOOOOO SLOOOOOOOWWWW.  Now I'm way more mobile its going faster.

This project is the tail end of something experimental.  I am making sleeve, leg and tummy extensions for E's favorite pajamas.  I am not normally ambitious enough to bother with this sort of thing because E.'s clothes go right to J. as hand me downs and everyone is happy. 

 However....  

These particular pajamas are for E. the best-est pajamas ever created on the face of the planet. They are boy's pajamas (eg nice and comfortably baggy) we bought in the UK before we moved and they have guitars and other rock/music equipment on the shirt.  I am lengthening them only because when I told E. they were getting too short and she had to hand them on her eyes teared up and J. started jumping around crowing because E.'s precious "Coolest PJs on the Planet" would soon be hers!  

So here I find myself... doing the thing that seems totally futile for the sake of a pajama obsession that is probably quite unhealthy... 

I will post pics next week with a how-I-did-it-and-if-you-are-a-masochist-or-cheapskate-so-can-you!!

I'm reading Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  It is a fantasy novel which has two others in a sort of paralell series. I've found it  interesting and I love the world the author created but the book is slow and pushes hard against some moral issues that I feel quite strongly about so I have found it occasionally uncomfortable enough to skip some reading. I would read it again if it weren't for a lot of (gentle) references to said moral/sexual issues which this is not the forum for discussion.  It has a villain I find very very repulsive and A LOT of victims. So I dunno. Thumbs sideways I guess.

You can see E is re-reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Excitement for the The Desolation of Smaug is reaching fever pitch in our house as the girls all know it opens the day after M.'s birthday and I've already bought us tickets at our local cinema (surprisingly good for a small town) as a surprise for him (he LOVES The Hobbit).

Happy kitting!

xx Jo

Yarn along and Pack up... again.

I know how tedious this must be getting to hear that we are packing boxes... AGAIN.

Think how it feels for us though! 

 I am truly and sincerely hoping to just settle after this.

 Our little yellow farmhouse in the country is a rental but I have every intention of not thinking or dreaming or wishing for anything different for a LONG LONG LONG time.  This will be our third move (fourth home) in 9 months. For a person who likes to nestle in, get to know the inside-out of a place, learn the little signs of the changing seasons, know where the warmest shaft of sunshine lands, find the best patch of blackberries and anticipate the harvest: the last 9 months have been a slow cruel kind of torture.

This packing job is a breeze though. We have some furniture (mostly bought at the awesome Lytton Salvation Army ) and the bulk of our possessions, already here, came in five suitcases and will leave the same way and I've been doing new home shopping in the last two days and have more than quadrupled the things we had with us. However it does mean I now have crockery (goodwill) glasses and mugs (goodwill/Khols/Target) and some pots and pans (family/friends/goodwill/Target) and can actually prepare food for my family in the new place.

 

Matt believes he can read my stress levels by how much knitting I get to do. I am happy to report that the crochet hook (a useful and fun tool but not my preferred modus-operandi) has been tucked away and the knitting needles are out again! I finished the tissue box cover, which was a lot of fun to design but I would change some things next time.

 

The base I did as a granny-rectangle (is there such a thing?!?) because it takes up less yarn and I only had one left-over ball of grey and just the dregs of mustard and aqua. That was great but I should have gone through only one loop on the round when I turned up the side of the box, and again at the top, which would have made it more willing to conform to the shape of the sides of the box.  By the time I realized my mistake (and being essentially very lazy) I couldn't be bothered to undo all the stitching and redo it again.

Delphine is almost done. She needs some buttons and a silk ribbon. So I'm holding off sharing till she is there. The fit is truly spectacular even though I had quite a few "Hang on this looks minute and is never ever going to be my size" moments before and during blocking.
 

I've made quite a lot of headway into Paloma  using Rowan wool cotton in Ship Shape. It is a delicious soft wool but I think it may be too heavy for the pattern. I bought the wool with help from the knitting ladies at John Lewis before I left the UK but sadly they were not entirely correct. I have since found that there is a great conversion chart UK-USA yarn weights on Wikipeadia and indeed: my beautiful Ship Shape wool cotton is too heavy. However before anyone starts to wonder that a tension square didn't notify me earlier of the issue I would like to remind you of the afore mentioned fact that I am essentially very lazy... and heartily sorry for it. So I'm in two minds. Do I carry on and hope for the best or pull it out save my beautiful and delicious Ship Shape for another day?

  

Jo xx

Knitting for fidgets

Researchers recon that people who are fidgety tend to be slimmer than people who aren't.  I am the proof that that doesn't work for everyone.
 

I didn't used to be "delightfully Rubenesque" as one acquaintance described me (thanks Nat, that gave me nooooo end of confidence!). M. is convinced that I could model for Lely's Venus which sits in his favorite room (wonder why) in the British Museum ; not having recently seen myself crouching at my bath I can neither deny or approve of his assessment.

 

I also didn't used to be fidgety. I don't find it difficult to sit peacefully or to relax but I do have difficulty having empty hands. I sometimes fill the gap between my fingers with sketching, especially when I'm supposed to be looking attentive in meetings. **blush**

 

  Knitting however is perfect. I can do it while sitting as a passenger or watching a DVD; I do it in the cinema and sometimes (awkwardly) in the bath. I will pick it up while waiting for the kettle to boil or talking on the phone. I got an indignant huff from K. as I knitted during a card game (she won btw).  M. never gets impatient when I say "Hang on- just finishing this row", never ever suggests that I could be more gainfully employing my time and is happy for me to lounge across him with my knitting in hand in the evening while he reads aloud to me. I think its because it's almost always a jumper for him on my needles.

Earlier this week I finished another jumper for M.  This one is in Rowan's gorgeously soft and luxurious (machine washable) Cashsoft in Thunder. The pattern is from the book Warm Knits, Cool Gifts which is full of stylish practical knits and the authors include loads of information about adjusting patterns to fit your needs. So for Matt's Polo I shortened the sleeves (he doesn't like rolled up sleeves) and broadened the chest to suit him.

It was nearly 8 inches longer & wider because M. decided (while it was still damp and blocking) to try it on. I went... mental.  The poor man apologised in a tiny terrified voice. It felt like that moment where Galadriel is tempted by the ring.  Combine that with my "Rubenesque" (thanks Nat) figure and it makes me feel...

Not Good.

Jo x
 

 

Yarn along and Here we go again...

At present it is a daily struggle not to hyperventilate or allow my head to explode.  I'm not too worried about the head-explosion because the mess will just blend in with the carpets but I am a bit of a whiner when I pass out and get a bruise.

This is our living room as of this morning:

 

M. has gotten a job in California and is headed out tomorrow for his medical and to hammer out the details of starting dates etc (breath, breath, breath) and he will- God willing- be moving all our life across the ocean sometime around the end of December. I will follow with the children mid January (breath in, and out, breath, breath, breath).

 

Knitting at the moment is doubly important to me. I use it as a kind of  meditation: I'm not a fast knitter. When I sit and knit with my mother-in-law she has basically been knitting like a machine and has finished her project within a week and I am gently click clicking away on my project month after month. It means that I am forever growing my projects until I get bored and start another one. So I don't finish nearly as many as I start but I'm sure it keeps my blood pressure down and my brains off the carpet.
 

 

Growing on my needles at present is Delphine in a lovely golden-mustard coloured Rowan yarn. I own the book French Girl Knits which I ordered off Amazon on the weight of Delphine alone. In all honesty there are only three patterns in it I would wear so it was a bit of a wasted purchase but I adored  Delphine and Paloma so much I kept the book.
The yarn is Rowan Pima cotton DK in Dijon. Its so beautifully soft and has a lovely drape you don't always get from 100% cotton yarns. Delphine works up really fast. I had 10 cm on the needles (its knitted in the round) after just two days of picking it up when I had the chance. As lace patterns go it is super duper easy- a 4 row repeat with rows 2 and 4 being the same. The only hitch really was figuring out what the UK equivalent of 'Sportweight' yarn is which the lovely and very knowledgeable ladies in the knitting department of John Lewis were able to help with.

So here is me- going onward with my wonderful and terrifying adventure. Knitting in one hand and packing tape in the other.

Xx Jo
 

Cough-Cough... Atchooo

 

Sorry I've been away so long. We had a week away in South Wales visiting M's family and since then I've had a rotten cough and cold. I've been feeling very sorry for myself indeed!

However- I've gotten a LOT done in that time. E's knot cardigan is finished! I lengthened the pattern to make it hip length and left off the sleeve finishing as I thought it made the finished cardie fall strangely on the arms. Esther loves it and as it is more K's size than E's she is constantly defending her territory.

And then came this!!! I finished my first colour pencil (cp) painting. This was done entirely with wax based prismacolour pencils and many parts of it are over worked. I don't have the meticulous had require to create a really great cp painting but for a first attempt its not too bad.  

Or at least not bad enough that I wont let M hang it on our walls.

 I owe my love of this medium entirely to my cousin's genius. She has so much skill and beauty in her hands I cannot get anywhere near her artistry but she did encourage me to try. I would mention her by name if I didn't think she would be entirely horrified!

 CP painting is amazing- I would like to try my hand at water soluble pencils at some point but it's quite a challenge to get to grips with the wax based ones. The frame is from Ikea... I love their frames! This one came with the white matte and I cut the grey matte myself (as the painting was too small for this frame aperture but too big for the frame size down).

Happy!

X Jo

Easter Monday To-Do List and BIG Plans

tea, iron, sew, tea, chocolate, knit, tea, cook, draw and did I mention tea?

That's it pretty much. Its been fairly manic around here so I'm looking forward to a day of pleasure; except for that big iron in the top-left which is not my favorite chore but when your husband decides the wardrobe and drawers must be malfunctioning... needs must.

The knitting is a jumper I'm making for E. The pattern is from the March 2011 copy of Lets Knit (not a magazine I usually buy but the pattern is sooooo delicious!).  It has lovely little knots (the photo isn't as clear as I would have liked) which give the fabric a beautiful texture and grain. And the yarn really is quite special. It is Sirdar Crofter DK in Granary 57. It knits up with a beautiful fair-isle style finish which looks more clear on smaller items than this. I've had so many people comment on it as I knit! I'm thrilled with the finish- a light summer weight with a lovely stitch definition. I will try to remember to post a final picture when I finish.

 I've let the cat out of the bag properly on Facebook now so I guess I can safely say that our plans are to move to the USA.  M has a greencard application pending which we have to wait for the next step. Our house is under offer and on the verge of exchange of contracts. So we are going to move a lot closer to M's work until we are within a couple months of emigrating, then we will (thanks to the very generous and gracious kindness of my in laws) live with M's parents until we have a set moving date.  At present it looks to be early 2013 God willing.

I can't wait. Literally cannot wait. I want to be able to go down the road and knock on a door and find myself a home where I know I will be welcome and loved. Where there is no tension or fear of judgement. I want to be able to talk about my family and loved ones with other people who know and love them too. I've missed so many years of being with them all I know going home now will be very different and nothing will bring my Mom or brother back but I can make the most of those moments I have left with the rest of the people I hold dear. This year can't go quickly enough for me.

X Jo

Too many needles.

I'm afraid I've managed to cast on too many projects. I have a half finished *ahem* summer jumper for E, just started shawl for K and a half finished jumper for M. I don't know which to work on so I'm not. I am polishing up the perfected art of procrastination.

In all honesty I feel a bit inclined to do K's and leave the others. After all E's is for summer wear and I already made one for M... to be fair it came out a bit... errr... BIG and technically he isn't allowed to wear it out of the house (though he will try drat the man!).

I think I might just have a coffee and put on the second Pride and Prejudice disk while I make up my mind.