Mothlady

Just to let you know...

I'm back from London, full report with pictures will follow later this week.

Update

Well. When I wrote in my last post that I don't want to finish Aranmor too soon, I didn't have this in mind. In the last few weeks I've only knitted for maybe four hours. To make a long story short, I had a fun work project but totally underestimated the time it would take. So basically I did four weeks work in two weeks (ouch!), and this week I've been doing everything else I didn't have time to do then (laundry, cleaning up and other boring stuff).

Aranmor looks about the same as last time (only longer), so I won't bother with a picture. But I did finish the first Pomatomus sock.

The remarkable thing is that it fits even though I used Fleece Artist Merino (28st/4'') instead of Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra Fingering Weight (32st/4'').

Either I have bigger feet than I thought or I'm a tight knitter. I'd like to think it's the latter :)

As soon as I finished the sock I felt the first symptoms of Second Sock Syndrome, so to alleviate the pain I started the Sapporo 2007 Nordic World Ski Championships (22 Feb - 4 Mar) project.

It is the Cable-Trim Jacket from Classic Knits for Real Women, I'm using a super soft yarn called Schachenmayr Boston. And because Japan has a different timezone from ours I'm watching cross-country skiing in the mornings (and knitting at the same time), so it's not a bad way to start the day. Although Aranmor will still be my number one project, I expect to finish the jacket fairly quickly because I'm using 8mm needles.

I'm also going to London with a friend in May. After talking about it for 15 years or so, we're finally going to the Chelsea Flower Show! Woohoo!

Like a fish on dry land

I was planning to have an unusually long summer vacation, five or six weeks altogether, but it didn't turn out quite as expected. I spent the whole June doing the last bits of work for the idiot employer, then we were away for two weeks, and as soon as we got back I got the flu. It still wasn't too bad because I had four and a half weeks off, which is my longest vacation ever. But...

We've had the hottest summer in 50 years. Every freaking day it's been between 27 and 32 C degrees (81-90 F). Every. freaking. day. Except when it's even hotter. Which means I'm hot, I'm cranky and I'm constantly running out of clean T-shirts. The last time we had rain was in June (only once and it lasted maybe five minutes). The leaves of the trees are freakishly brown and everyone's really tanned (all except me, I was a redhead as a child). I'm constantly dehydrated, and vacuuming the apartment is a real PITA. Of course it's nice to have hot weather, but this is just too much. A walk in the park? Too hot. Knitting? Too hot. A visit to the gallery/museum/friend/restaurant I planned way back in May? TOO HOT.

To make matters worse, there's been some forest fires and the smoke gets here even though the fires are 300 kilometres from here. It's especially bad in the mornings when I feel like I'm in Pollution City. Even though I don't have asthma or anything, the tiny particles in the air are affecting my lungs in a bad way.

So I guess it's no wonder that lately I've been glued to the sofa watching the European Athletics Championships and crocheting the blanket.

It's very monotonous soothing for my zombie brain. The body part of the cotton sweater is finished, and I bought the dpns for the sleeves.

You can find the original pattern here. It's in Swedish, but they have a good dictionary and some of the patterns are in English. And no, I'm not doing the flowers!

Bettina's reluctant to leave her cotton bed, and I can't blame her.

Holiday snaps

Now that I've gotten over the flu bug (although I still sound like Eartha Kitt) I'm ready to show you some holiday snaps I took while we were away.

The first train journey went okay, but the second was rather awkward because the train was full of people and the weather was extremely hot. To top it all, we had the only window that had no curtains (Somebody had yanked them out and placed them on the top shelf. Gee, thanks a lot!). The third and final journey was the most difficult one. According to my calculations, there were six dogs with their owners - and us. One woman took her dog to Bettina's cage and when I asked her not to do it, she burst out: "Oh, but he loves cats!" Be that as it may, Bettina doesn't love dogs. Of course the weather was hot again and the heat and the presence of other dogs was too much for one poor dog, who kept howling, barking and growling for the whole time. Now, imagine two hours of that... And guess who were the lucky ones who got the roll-up window shade that didn't work? Argh.

Otherwise we had a really fun time. We met old friends, ate and drank well and got some much-needed sunshine. And we spent one day in a spa (a facial and a massage, thank you very much).

Although Bettina is a seasoned traveller, she doesn't like being in a cage (who would?).

"You just wait until I get my hands on you, you dirty rotten..."

The sky was blue...

...the strawberries were sweet and juicy...

...and I even got some fresh peas from the market.

Don't be fooled by this healthy-looking prawn salad, I've eaten enough pizza to last a lifetime :)

As we were at the seaside, there were always a couple of seagulls waiting for scraps.

By now, Bettina had forgiven us. Sort of.

I love old houses and barns, so I spent some time taking photos of them.

And I love flowers.

Seriously though, this was the fourth time we rented this cottage and Bettina recognized it immediately. But it's hard work for a city cat to watch all the birds and chase ants and bugs...

We spent the second week in an apartment that was worth every penny (and it wasn't even that expensive, it was cheaper than a hotel room!). This is the lakeside view from the balcony.

Of course I managed to do some impromptu knitting as well. This is going to be a scarf out of Brooks Farm's Harmony.

And even though we had fun, it's always good to be back home.

Yes, it's vacation time!

We decided not to take the house after all. It turned out that the real estate agent had been rather 'economical' with the truth when it came to certain aspects of the house. No wonder she didn't like it when we said we'd like to take a closer look. It was a tough decision, but I'm just happy we found out before we moved in. Oh well, I guess we'll find our dream house some day.

Moving on to happier things: do you remember the kittens I saw at my sister's? This is what they look like now.

I thought they would be grey, but they're black. And still cute.

I managed to lock myself into a train yesterday. I was waiting on the platform and a train pulled in. It was the end of the line, so all the people got out and I went in. There was plenty of time before the train left, so I started reading a newspaper. After a while I realized the train should have been moving by now, so I looked around. I thought it was unusual to be the only person in the carriage, but then I realized I was alone in the train. It was the wrong train of course, so I decided to get out, but the doors wouldn't open and I couldn't see any conductors outside. It was a hot day and the air-conditioning wasn't on, so the temperature in the carriage was well over 40 C (104 F). I contemplated briefly on yelling and banging on the windows. You know, "Help! Help! I can't get out of this stupid train!", or something along those lines. Ahem. At last I remembered I had my cellular phone with me, so I called the railroad company's service number. The woman who received my call didn't chuckle, but the guy who came to pry open the doors a few minutes later did. Boy, did I feel stupid :D

We're leaving on a two week holiday on Monday morning. The first week will be spent relaxing on the seaside (and without the Internet), but for the second week we've booked an apartment that should have an Internet connection. We'll see how that works out.

Get out and enjoy the summer!

A good weekend

I'm officially blogging less often than Stitchy McYarnpants used to (although nowadays she's cranking out posts like there's no end in sight). But don't worry, regular knitting and blogging normal life will resume soon because I'm taking six days off from work. I still have a bit of work to do before that and I need to get one document and send one letter on behalf of my dad, but then I'm all set for Easter, woohoo!

I had to work in the weekend, but we still had time to visit my sister and her family on Saturday. I had of course Lillehammer with me.

But I didn't knit a stitch after I saw these cuties.

Four kittens, aren't they adorable? Here's my recipe if you're a bit depressed or stressed out: something cute and furry (see above), something colourful and beautiful...

...and shome of my favourite wine.

Errr, let me rephrase that: a delightful wine with a soft finish.

Mmm.

All good things come to an end

Christmas is nearly over, and so is my holiday. Tomorrow is just another work day. *sigh* But tonight I've got some red wine, chocolate and The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book (which I got from my SO).

I finished all four scarves in the nick of time (I even had to put one of them in the dryer!) and the recipients seemed to like them. I didn't have time to take any photos, but here are the technical details.

Name: Mistake rib scarf

I got the idea from: a blog entry in Words and Wool

Yarn: 1,5 - 2 balls of Brooks Farm Four Play yarn per scarf (50% wool, 50% silk, 270 yds per 4 oz skein) in three colours: Libby (two scarves), Whimsey and Ginger (one of each)

Needle Size: 4.5mm for one scarf, 4mm for the rest

Date Completed: December 22 - 25, 2005

Random thoughts: What a wonderful yarn! When placing my order, the colours looked a bit different on my computer screen, but they were still absolutely gorgeous. And the yarn itself is very soft and easy to knit. I loved every moment while knitting with it.

- - - - - -

Mom got her slippers and Bettina got her kitty bed.

And one present did not get here on time. I'm a bit miffed that there was this bit in the confirmation email:

This receipt is confirmation of your Order. If there are any dificulties with your order you should normally hear from us within 2 working days. Otherwise you should expect to receive your order within 14 days if you are in the UK or within 28 days if outside the UK.

28 days? Talk about snail mail...

All in all it was a nice, if a tad stressful Christmas. Dad had a late lunch with us on Christmas Eve and it is at times like these that our two room flat seems so incredibly tiny, what with his wheelchair and all. On Christmas Day we went to see SO's family and today it was my family's turn.

As soon as I finished the last scarf I was already thinking of the next project. I agree with Twig, Backyard Leaves is my favourite for mom's birthday scarf, but I've never seen her wear anything green. I know she likes brown, but would that be just silly? As in Dead Backyard Leaves?

Status report

Yesterday I realized that I've been on vacation for almost two weeks. Where did the time go? Furthermore, it's starting to sink in that there's a real deadline for all this Christmas knitting I've been doing. I'm a process knitter and keeping a deadline is difficult for me. So, what have I been doing for the last thirteen days? (Apart from futzing around, of course.)

The mistake rib scarf is finished, if I decide that it's long enough as it is. I've started another scarf, I've got one Fuzzyfoot half-finished (and waiting for a twin) and one kitty bed is waiting for some, uh, trimming. The bed is enormous and it will take a long time to dry. It's the middle of the night now, so pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. It's funny, no matter how early I start, I'm always late with Christmas gifts. And I've noticed the first symptoms of Christmas mania: just the other night I was thinking of how an overrated activity sleeping is. Next step will be an increase in the daily caffeine intake.

I'm glad to tell you that I inspired at least one person to do her Christmas cards, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's in a desperate hurry to get everything done. Here's a card idea for the time-challenged.

The incredibly easy Christmas card

1. Buy Christmas themed stickers and a card with an opening (plus an envelope). I used cards with a window-like opening.

2. Put the greeting sticker into the front of the card.

3. Put a sticker inside. If you're in a real hurry, just sign the card now and send it away.

4. If not, add some ornaments like holly, stars etc.

And you're done. See? Easy!

And if I happen to have some free time on my hands (I wish!), I bought these...

...because I want to paint these cute wall plaques.

And here are some ideas for future cards. This firm knows how to keep their customers happy.

Yes, that's candy and a free Cupid stamp between the chicken and the penguins. And take a look at that knitting chicken! For some reason the postman delivered the stamps to my doorstep and I didn't have to go and see Dumb and Dumber. Yay!

Seeing as everyone's posting pictures of snow in their blogs, here's what it looks like in our backyard. Keep in mind that I live in Northern Europe.

The green, green grass of home... in December???

Tomorrow: Christmas gifts in various stages of completion.

A temporary setback

We came home on Monday afternoon after a nice and refreshing weekend. We can't help but wonder at how well Bettina adjusts to different places and accommodations. She just checks where the litterbox, food and water are and she's happy. A true travelling cat. But she sulks every time she has to go in her cage. I can't blame her, though.

I did some knitting on a kitty bed, but look what happened on Sunday night.

This has never happened to me before, the metal part just snapped off the cord. And the needle was brand new! I suppose I tugged too hard, but still... And because of this, I couldn't knit on the train journey back home, so over two hours of good knitting time went to waste. I probably should ask for a new one, but I also need a longer needle as the kitty bed is much bigger than I expected.

When I got home, I wound the first Four Play skein into a ball and began to knit a mistake rib scarf.

These shades of brown and blueish grey would be ideal for my FIL or BIL, so it looks promising gift-wise. I like this sort of mindless knitting that I can do while watching tv, but it's still hypnotic to watch the rhythm of the changing colours. The occasional light beige part is exhilarating and creates the subtle zigzag pattern that is so typical for this yarn.

I've sort of decided what kind of Christmas cards I'll be making this year. I'm still waiting for the stickers to arrive, but here's my original idea of a knitted Christmas tree. So, I started with this machine-knit pattern I saw here.

Here's my version of it.

 

Can't see it properly? Me neither. That's why I deciced to use two colours.

 

Glue it on a card, add some tinsel and voilà! A knitted christmas tree.

If I decide to use this idea in the future, blocking would be a prerequisite. Otherwise the stitches look all wonky.

Plans for December

Two of you asked in the comments what I'll be doing before Christmas. Well, let's see...

We'll go away next weekend to see some friends. We'll be staying in a hotel and Bettina is coming with us, of course. I just hope this time the hotel room doesn't have wallpaper. The last time we were in a hotel Bettina realized at the ripe age of sixteen what wallpapers are really for.

But other than that we'll be staying at home, hopefully relaxing and getting ready for Christmas. I probably have to work for a couple of days in December, but I still have over three weeks off work. Three weeks sounds a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can think of something to do. Ahem.

Running rampant

Here are some of my recent purchases over the internet.

I wanted this book when I saw the Winter Wonderland sock in this site. It's too late to do anything this year, but maybe next.

I really shouldn't be surfing because I see things like Alyssa's mistake rib scarf. Meet my new friends.

From left to right: Whimsey, Ginger and Libby. [Add a sheepish voice here.] Not to mention their five pals, all from Brooks Farm, Texas. The picture doesn't do their colours justice, but I'm sure you'll see more pictures of them being knitted up.

I haven't abandoned my LYS, here's some yarn I bought for the felting projects.

Lopi will turn into kitty beds and Alaska will be Fuzzyfeet, I hope. Hopefully I will get the right gauge with Alaska. As I didn't want to run out of yarn, I bought a whole bag of them. For some reason the LYSO recognizes me instantly and always greets me with a wide smile. She must be a very nice person.

Now looky here.

These are soaps and candles from Twig's Wicks and Wood. The ones in the jars are candles, Christmas Memories and Cinnamon Spice (mmm, really spicy!), the golfballs are bubble bath balls and there's a silver maple pen as well. Every time I use the soaps, people will think I'm crazy because I keep sniffing at my hands because of the lovely scent. And then there's this, which takes us to the next subject.

Vanilla and hazelnut. And ivory.

A rant on customs officers

I've had several shipments from the US in recent years and the customs officers have always been very helpful and nice. Until now. Today I met two obnoxious individuals, who will be referred to in this post as Dumb and Dumber.

When Mrs. Dumb saw that I had papers for two packages from the US, she greeted me with this: "Oh no... YOU'll have a lot of work ahead of you." That's funny, I thought the customs officers were there to do the actual job. Begrudgingly she agreed to take my papers, all the while complaining and grumbling. The Brooks Farm yarn went okay, but when she heard about the soaps and candles she hurriedly asked Dumber to step in, as she had to leave early. Some 20 minutes went by merrily. NOT.

Dumber: Oh, this is a hard one. Candles, soap AND a pen. That's three different groups of products.

---

Dumber: What's hazelnut and ivory?

Me: Well, hazelnut is... hazelnut.

Dumber: I know THAT! But what's IVORY?

Me: That's the colour.

Dumber: Oh, they're colours then, not soaps.

---

Dumb [who is almost ready to leave from work]: I've counted the till and there's money missing. [Why wasn't I surprised by this?] Did you pay the tax at all?

Me: Yes I did, and you gave me the right amount of change, because I checked. [You can see I'm getting a bit edgy here.]

---

Dumb: Oh, there isn't any money missing after all. I just punched in the same thing twice.

When I finally got my boxes I asked Mrs. Dumber where I could give feedback on their "service". She seemed genuinely surprised, so I suppose they give shitty service to everybody and nobody bothers to complain, as they don't have to deal with customs very often. Mrs. Dumber then went on to explain that my case was "a difficult one". Hey, let's not forget those three groups of products! Excuse me, who was I talking to? A brain surgeon? A rocket scientist? No, a petty customs officer who tried to act as if it was some superhuman task to handle two boxes from the US. And I will complain about their "service". This is the third time ever I've complained about poor service, but I think it's worth it. Besides, I've got another shipment coming. Two groups of items, from the US. Need I say more?

Knitting projects

Christmas gifts are a priority right now, but I suppose I could get back to my three WIPs... *gasp* Scarf Style is a wonderful book that gave me a lot of ideas. But... how many scarves can one person have? Hang on, I'll count them.

Nine. That's not so bad, is it? There's room for more, right?

That reminds me: I really need to use yarn from stash as I've run out of containers the sofa looks like a yarn display there's no more room behind the stereo otherwise the moths will beat me to it. I would like to knit a cardigan, and the Irish tweed might be suitable for Bpt. I'm also thinking of doing the Geometric Star jacket by Kaffe Fassett out of this pile. And I need another hat! A kitty hat looks like a fun and quick knit.

Books

I'm reading Yarn Harlot's first book. It's quite different from what I expected, but in a good way as it has actual meditations (Duh! Why did I think it would be anything else?). If you've got the book, so far I think the best one is on page 45. Tee-hee, crochet!

And if you've wondered why I keep The Da Vinci Code on my reading list for months, I'm waiting for a time when I could read the book without any interruptions. I've tried to read it before going to sleep, but that just doesn't work as every chapter ends in a cliffhanger. So that's on my December to-do list as well.

The Great Declutter Project

I've decided to get rid of the clutter in our flat. This means I will go through all the cupboards and closets and I will also get rid of piles of newspapers and magazines I have accumulated over the years. Realistically thinking I probably can't do all that before Christmas, but I'll give it a try.