further dissemination

of random materials. Or, I've run out of carefully themed posts.



The dog was pricked and poked in the undignifieds the other day by the vet, rather than the cat as is per usual. Poor beast, seemingly everybody is against him. He has the Soulful Expression down pat as you can see, and when performed together with the All Over Body Quiver of Terror he has Son #2 wrapped around his little finger paw.



Son #3 is now a tea drinker. He asked me to record this for posterity.



Latest knitting. I'm trying to ignore its siren call while I finish the mister's birthday jumper, but it lies there all green and alluring, tempting me with its soothing garter stitch.

I recently discovered the wonder of podcasts (I know, I'm sooo cutting edge ...) and have been listening to them on my commute lately rather than audio books. I've found one or two I enjoy but would love to hear your recommendations. Any favourites or must-listens out there? (Continuing with bookish matters, I'm halfway through two fabulous books and just finished another equally enthralling one, and, I will be coming back here in a day or two with a review and a book giveaway so stand by. [I love saying that, it makes me feel all official]).

And in yet more exciting news, Susie from flower+press interviewed me yesterday as part of her regular Show and Tell series. You can read the interview here and leave a comment telling Susie how gorgeous her blog is. And buy some of her fabric (I can personally attest to its loveliness). Thanks so much Susie.

different lines

I should title this post "tis the season part II", or "more knits for my neck, sorry for the lack of variety lately".



So. Meet my latest shawl. More of a scarf really as it's quite petite. The pattern is Different Lines from the brilliant Veera, and is a variation of her Stripes Study shawl pattern. I've cast on for that one too, in green and charcoal (yes I found a use for those yarns I dyed), so look out for yet another "tis the season" post, you lucky lucky people.



I knitted this in two sock yarns, one charcoal and the other an undyed natural cream, but when it was finished the cream looked a most unattractive shade of dirty off white so I threw the shawl into a sort of grape-purple dyebath (cherry Kool Aid, courtesy of my American crack Kool Aid dealer, with a dash of black food colouring) and this is what happened.



The natural yarn turned a slightly more fetching shade of plum, but I was surprised at the extent to which the dark grey took up the purple dye, as it's now a very deep aubergine. That is, except for the final couple of dozen stitches on the bind off which were done in a different grey because I ran out of yarn so subbed in with a mystery grey thread from the stash which took up the dye at a different rate (ie. not at all). Sigh. I'm telling myself it's not noticeable. If you can spot it in the photos I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW. (I just looked at this photo; it is indeed noticeable. I just also noticed how appallingly creased the shawl is. It'd been in my overnight bag for a couple of days as I took it away with me to the sheep & wool show which reminds me ... stash enhancement and woolly tales to come! Anyway apologies for the lack of artfully styled and carefully pressed knitwear photos).

I notice the house needs repainting too. Amazing what you notice only in photos.

Moving ON.



Anyway, post-dyeing I quite like the shawl, and it matches my glasses now too which are a kind of aubergine/plum so, um, bonus! I feel all styled and matchy-matchy when I wear it. Like I did it on purpose or somesuch.


God it really is crumpled, isn't it.

The pattern is brilliant and so clever in its construction. The secret is short rows, of course. It's also highly addictive and fast (I cast this on in order to have a lightweight knitting project in my handbag for the sheep show, but it was done and dusted before I even left on Friday night so I simply had to cast on another project, hence the green and charcoal version currently in progress). Also, garter stitch, yum.

Recommended.

Vital statistics ravelled here.

PS. I'm appearing in an interview tomorrow; I feel so important. Details to come. Edited to add: the interview is up! Read it here, and thank you so much Susie. I'm blushing furiously.

tis the season

to warm one's neck





Boy it's damp and wintry around here. I've been madly knitting things to go around my neck in a desperate attempt to stave off drafts. The red one in particular has not left my neck my for days on end (it's long enough to wear doubled for extra snuggle factor).

For those pointy-stick obsessed amongst you who are interested in the details, both cowls are ravelled, here and here.

Other stuff:
• The laptop hardrive died, leaving me in mourning for all the photos I didn't get around to backing up or uploading to Flickr (probably not many, but enough to miss), and in shock over losing the accounting software that we use for the mister's business, (now out of date, meaning we can't reload it). The laptop died a couple of days after the end of financial year, before I had a chance to finalise the accounts. Ouch. A whole year lost, and now I have to find a new bookkeeping software package. Recommendations welcome. Commiserations, also.

• Off to see the final instalment of Harry Potter in a couple of hours. My children have grown up with these books and films, so it feels like a real milestone in our lives. The older two may go again later with their own friends, but today we are all going together. The family that sobs together, stays together. Or something ...

• Speaking of milestones, there is only one member of the household shorter than I am now. I'm thinking of putting a brick on his head.

• I'm going to the wool show this weekend with my fellow knittery, woolly, textiley Steiner school mums. Hip hip!