July 23, 2008

Love

The kind I'm talking about is the almost irrational kind. The kind where you can't help yourself, you can't stop yourself, you just love this... whatever it is. You can't explain why, you can't explain how, you just do.

There are few things I well and truly love. My husband is obviously a top candidate, and a close second is the sound of any super aircraft - a Red Arrow, a Typhoon, an F-16 - firing up its engines for take-off.

I think I now have a third. I'm not sure where it ranks at the moment, but it's making good effort shoving the aircraft out the way.

Please. Please go see this movie. If you need further convincing here's a trailer, a couple of teasers and a collection of vignettes.

It's not that I don't want to be the only person irrationally in love with this film; I just want to share the love. I love this film, and I love Wall-E. He is the most perfect, beautiful thing that Pixar have ever made. For the first forty minutes or so of the film, before other things start happening, while he was still totally alone, I utterly, utterly forgot he wasn't real.

You have no idea how heartbroken I was when I realized this.

I'm going to go see it again. I have to. I miss it.

July 22, 2008

The Tulip's Out of the Bag

Unless you're on Ravelry or have been watching me knit, you might - or might not, as I don't expect people to pay me that much attention - have noticed that there has been a finished object that I did not blog about.

This is because the idea came to me quite suddenly and happily, and I did not quite want the intended recipient - well, the Mummy thereof, as the recepient is still rather small and not quite up to using computers or reading blogs - to see her surprise on my blog until she received it. Happily I received an email from her yesterday telling me that she had, and that she was very happy. So happy that she blogged about it! 

I'm from a large family. Not that my immediate family is large, but everything around it is. On my mother's side alone I am the fifteenth of thirty grandchildren. I don't know where I am on my father's side, as my dad is one of thirteen children, but I don't let that bother me. Largely because I don't care, and my mum's side is way more fun, which is why we cousins all hung out a lot when we were growing up. Some of us were close, some of us weren't. Some alliances were made and stood, and some didn't. But that's just family dynamics.

What sometimes happens, when you grow up, is that people change in ways you don't expect - and the sooner my mother understands this about me, the better - and this is what my cousin Mrika has found out about me: I've gone crafty. She is right. I never really showed any aptitude for crafting unless you count counted cross-stitch, until I took up knitting. Photography isn't quite the same thing, and given how many artists, architects, graphic designers and interior designers there are on my mum's side, you could say that "the Craft is strong in this one". Except, you know, it's a family thing. A whole family of Crafting Jedi. It was just a while before I obtained the Craft.

Meanwhile, I've learned new things about her; about how she's an artist working from home making interior decorations, hand-made cards and gift bags, taking care of her kids herself instead of doing what most people back home do, which is have a live-in maid. What makes me happy about that is that living here in England, the whole live-in maid deal just doesn't happen. I already have had various cousins and aunts wondering how on earth I would cope without any help, and yet, here is Mrika, doing it all on her own and still doing the art she loves.

So, after many years of not being terribly close, we find that we're very similar, in philosophy and intent.

Now then: see these colours?

Dream in Color Classy, in clockwise from left Spring Tickle, Cool Fire, Chinatown Apple and most of a skein of Ruby River.

What happened was,I read this post on Mrika's blog way back when she was still expecting Baby Z. And I saw the colours she'd picked out for Baby Z's room and I thought, Funny. I've seen those colours before. As it turned out, two of those colours were in my stash and the other two were, well, in Stash. I misremembered the colours at first, and nearly picked out a deeper red and a gold to go with the Spring Tickle green, but I loaded the photo up on the shop computer and finally picked the right colours.If you look at the post I linked to at the beginning of this post, you can see photos of Baby Z's nursery following the photos of this Tulip cardigan.

Now, here was sort of my conundrum: I am from a large family. I would have thought that the general ruling was, you knit for one, you knit for all. And as by and large such efforts can go completely unappreciated, I was never going to commit to knitting for anyone apart from myself or perhaps - if I were quick enough - anyone else who also knit and would therefore appreciate the time and effort that had gone into their gift.

Mrika is, to me, rather different. Because she herself makes things. Not in the same way that I do, but she, too, would spend time agonizing over colours, working out textures, shapes and drapes. The joy was not only in the aesthetics but also in the process of achieving those aesthetics.

And anyway, I have always wanted to make a Tulip cardigan, and this was a pretty good excuse.

This is the first ever garment I have ever made. I've made a blanket, a hat, scarves, socks, and now currently, lace, but not something that could actually be worn. I remember squeeing with such gleeful silliness when I first put the armhole stitches on waste yarn to hold them, and after a few rounds the cardigan started to look like a cardigan. I ran around showing everybody, dammit.

And I remember as I knit thinking about the colours: the sweetness of cotton-candy pink, the zing of the spicy cinnamon, the eternal youth of spring green, and to round it off, the richness of the precious deep ruby pink. I remember thinking, You're going to be a very interesting little girl.

The Atiya Tulip.

Of course, I was aware that I was knitting a wool cardi for a baby who is living in tropical Malaysia. But again, because it's this one cousin and not any other, I figured that having the cardi in the colours that she had inadvertantly picked out was enough. I had no expectations that Baby Z would wear it, the poor thing, but I knew that it would be part of her early life, perhaps hanging in her nursery along with the paper cranes and the beautiful artwork her clever mummy had painted for her.

As for the pattern itself, it's fun and dead-easy, and I had a great time making attached i-cord. The Atiya Tulip was also part of a small revolution. A lot of the time people lose interest in the pattern because the original calls for 8 different colours, which means buying 8 skeins of yarn unless you can get a kit. But between me and Diane, we've made a four-colour Tulip and two two-colour Tulips, and now the possibilities seem utterly endless.

Though, come to think of it, I do worry that one day Baby Z will grow up and wonder why her mummy has a crazy knitting cousin who made her a wool cardigan to wear in a tropical country....

Oh well. Every family has a crazy knitting somebody, right?

And Mrika: you're welcome, and thank you for giving me the inspiration to make it in the first place.

July 18, 2008

A Slow Sort of Week

After the immense productivity of last week, this week seems like a bit of a crawl.

Mostly because I've been tired. It's been a bit difficult getting a good night's sleep lately, and certainly not helped by the fact that the idiots who live below us decide to blare music out up to 1 am. By the time the council noise officers that we called arrived, of course, they'd turned it down just enough that they can't really take action. Luckily the officers believed us, because more than one complaint about these jackasses had come through.

So given that the music lasted till about 1 am, and Nick had to get up for work at 4:45, I felt sorry for him and got up with him and stayed awake all day. Solidarity is a very strange thing. And I don't think I quite recovered from that. I'm still yawning right now, but I'm determined to go to the cinema with Nick tonight and watch Kung Fu Panda.

I miss the old Southampton Uni days when we'd go to a film every week, sometimes more than once a week. Back when student discounts meant that cinema tickets were something like £3.70. We went to see everything. And since we moved to London it's been too expensive to go, or we don't have the time and end up having nights in. But now we're a little better off, and we're determined to see just about every summer film out. Today is Kung Fu Panda, Sunday is Wall-E. At some point I owe it to my little kung-fu-loving soul to go see Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the same film in The Forbidden Kingdom. Nick wants to see Wanted.

If we don't hurry The Dark Knight will catch up to us and then HellBoy 2 will get in there and everything will go to pieces.

Anyone got a time machine?

Meanwhile, I have the most awesome husband in the world.

I fell in love with this skein of Middlearthknitter BFL/Nylon at Alice's when the box arrived at her place. It's the same yarn that was used for the Mosaic socks in the Socktopus Sock Club. I loved the yarn then, and I loved wearing the yarn, and remember that I love BFL with a deep, deep passion. So seeing this colour just made me go a little bit like this:

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Alice said she'd hold on to the yarn for me until it was all ready to go up in the shop. And when it did, Nick bought it for me. It arrived on Wednesday and I can't stop looking at it, or touching it, or...

But I've also been knitting. I'm up the leg of the Neighbourhood Tunnels socks, and still have about 28g of yarn left! How long is this sock going to be? I don't know. Can't get them too long because my calves will get in the way and I'm not quite clever enough to do calf-shaping when there's a lace pattern built in.

And also this:

My Swallowtail Shawl (Ravelry link), Koigu KPPPM colourway P608D. This is 9 repeats into the second chart. Five more repeats and then three more charts and I'll be done. Hopefully in time for my cousin's wedding on August 9th.

I love these colours. They make me think of summer fruits - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, those odd yellow-orange berries that I don't quite know the name of - all covered or dusted in chocolate.

Edible, is what I call it.

July 14, 2008

Essay Monday: On Writing

This is going to seem strange, because really, this was the whole point of Essay Mondays. Essay Mondays is, to me, supposed to be about writing just to keep the old writing muscles flexing and the creative neurons firing. And I've been shabby about it. And it's not because I have nothing to write about - because I do - but because, well...

Writing's kinda hard.

Continue reading "Essay Monday: On Writing" »

July 11, 2008

Still Spinning...

Remember this, from just over a week ago?

Right after I got my massive box from Spunky Eclectic, I got going on this again, fully committed to finishing the rest.

My handy box of predrafted fibre. Prior to my one-off spinning lesson with Diane I didn't much bother with predrafting, but the more time I spent on Ravelry the more I saw that it helped with your spinning results. So I spent a whole evening predrafting. All of the fibre I spun this time was predrafted just like in the photo.

Luckily I decided to get the jumbo flyer kit to go with my Rose, so I could fit all 4 oz. of Navajo-plied yarn:

This was the other important thing I learned from my lesson with Diane. I had asked for three quite specific things: understanding how my wheel works, low-twist singles, and Navajo-plying. And she, followed by myself, delivered.

The singles were probably the most consistent I'd ever spun, so that made the process much easier, and after reminding myself to treadle a little slower, give myself a little time, I was N-plying very happily. I had a few breakages - which were my own fault where I'd underspun the single - but I found them easier to fix in N-plying because they're easier to lock back in. After a bit of spit for good luck, of course.

Where I made new loops aren't spun as tightly as I would have liked, therefore technically those spots are even weaker than they otherwise would've been, but I'm sure the next time I try this I'll fix that and make even better yarn.

Spunky Eclectic BFL in Burning Embers; 4 oz, 210 yards, 12 wpi.

I think Blue Faced Leicester is officially my favourite fibre. It drafts beautifully, and when I was spinning it at Alice's the other week I was partly in the sun and you could see the gorgeous lustre even as it went from fibre to single. And after a wash and a bit of shock-snapping and a dry in the airing cupboard, it's soft, bouncy and utterly delicious.

Thanks, Diane, for teaching me how to make such lovely yarn.

July 10, 2008

Nearly a Whole Sheep

Oh, there has been productivity around here!

(Except in the Essay Mondays department... I know, know...)

Not long ago, Natalie at The Yarn Yard decided that her fibre club would work on a monthly subscription, just like the Spunky Eclectic fibre club. Me being a sucker, I signed on for 100g a month.

And me being an idiot, I forgot to take a photo of it before I spun it up. It's 100g of Wensleydale in a colour Natalie calls Chiminea, as it reminds her of the embers and colours she sees inside a fireplace. I spun it into low-twist singles, a fine result of my spinning lesson with Diane the other week.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be because of one thing: I had finally taught myself to treadle at the same speed consistently and letting the wheel settings do their job for me. So having set the wheel at its slowest setting and the brake band tension set tighter than usual, I just treadled and let Gabriel do his thing.

Now, I know these two photos look like they've been adjusted, and that's because they have. I wanted to show the colours as true-to-life as possible, which means they look a little washed out.

I'd split the fibre into three along its length, but I only predrafted the first third. I was so excited about trying this and at how much success I was having (after wrecking the first 5 or 6 yards) that I spun the rest without much predrafting. It was good practice, actually, because with the quicker take-up I had to learn to draft quicker without making my feet treadle faster.

Seriously, they're related. I don't know how, but they are.

Close-up time!

This photo needed no adjustment and it's exactly what the yarn is like. After a warmer-than-usual bath and a good whacking around to help the singles felt a little, it's soft, silky and quite drapey, which I like. And while it shouldn't be all about the numbers, I was very proud to have got 150 yards out of this pretty bump of fibre.

Natalie, if you're reading: thank you!

But I have someone else to thank, too...

This arrived last week and rendered me unable to leave the flat. Actually, because this box arrived I've been in a spinning frenzy. I got that Yarn Yard Wensleydale done immediately after the BFL I posted in my last blog post, which I should be Navajo-plying later today.

Amy, you rock.

You can see amidst this pile of deliciousness a little spindle: it's a Greensleeves Lady Barbara spindle in Purpleheart, 1.1 oz. It's so tiny! I really hope I figure out how to spend some time with it soon; at the moment I'm giving Gabriel Rose a heck of a lot of attention...

June 28, 2008

It Never Fails

Just as I was feeling pretty damned clever and getting jiggy with this:

Yup. Like I said, adapted for Magic Loop. Those notations either help me knit this sock, or summon a small demon. It's probably crucial to remember which.

I get this:

It is indeed that time again when silver parcels make their move. Or, well, mine didn't, as spinning was at Alice's and I just picked mine up there. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy and is in the most edible shade of pistachio green. And the pattern is by none other than Alice herself!

What to do, what to do? And I have a Swallowtail to try and finish to wear to a wedding, too...

I know; I'll do some spinning. That'll help.

What, me? Problems with commitment and decision-making? Whatever gave you that idea?

Of course, if anyone knows me, they'll know that in moments of indecision and procrastination, there is always one thing I do end up doing:

Laundry.

June 27, 2008

Stylin' With Tiles

Mosaic tiles, that is.

That's right, I've got another pair of socks, all done. Ends woven in, washed, blocked and endlets trimmed flush. And they are sweet. They feel fantastic and have softened up really nicely after the washing and blocking.

I'm really pleased with these. Not only was the yarn so lovely to work with, but the pattern - as I've mentioned before - is so very mathematically satisfying. By the time I got to the second tier of blue squares on the first sock I was off and running and wondering why I ever thought that entrelac would be daunting. It's not. It turns out you only need two key skills: a) being able to pick up stitches neatly, and b) in this case, being able to count up to eight.

But then I did the first heel and then I stalled, because I kept needing the chart for the mosaic moss stitch pattern.

And then, in some sort of fit of madness, I picked the sock up again about two weeks ago and then just rocketed through it, because for some reason my brain finally worked out how the knits and purls were arranged and I could do the whole lot from memory. I was wearing the first sock while casting on the second sock last Tuesday, and they got done last night.

I'm really happy with them.

Pattern: Mosaic Socks by Diane Mulholland, for Socktopus Sock Club 2007/2008: Part III (April)
Yarn: Middlearthknitter Yarns 75/25 BFL/Nylon, 100g Charoite & 25g Azurite
Needles: 2.5mm, 80cm

In other news, I had a spinning lesson with Diane this morning and I've learned quite a bit more about the whole process. Luckily for me, Nick decided to take the day off today so he drove me over to Diane's and went for a wander while I learned more about spinning. When we were done we came home to drop off the wheel and headed out again to Borough Market.

We love Borough Market. We'd decided recently that every other Saturday we'd make dinner entirely out of market ingredients, which has its pros and cons....

Pros: Absolutely yummy and fresh, and we keep trying new things.
Cons: How do we bring ourselves to shop at Tesco's for the next two weeks??

As today is Friday, though, and we're just having a simple dinner, we found some lunch and then had a lazy wander around. We bought some duck breasts for dinner, I bought some lovely fat raspberries. We got a jar of blackberry jam - Kentish Bramble - and most importantly, I finally got myself some lovely Monmouth Coffee: Fazenda Rodomunho from Brazil. According to the website, it has dark cocoa notes with a medium to full body and soft acidity.

Now, I'm no coffee expert. I have no idea what body has to do with anything, but the people at the Monmouth Coffee stall were so helpful. They asked me what I liked and how I drank my coffee: with milk, two sugars, smooth and nutty rather than fruity. And bang - one bag of coffee, freshly ground from the bean.

Right then: where's my cafetiere, and my spinning wheel?

Edited to add: Encouraged by how quickly I knit the second Mosaic sock, I've re-cast on the Neighbourhood Tunnels socks, this time using Magic Loop. A bit more fiddly, a bit more numerically challenging, but it's working out grand for me. After the usual chaos of unzipping a crochet chain cast on, I have most of the toe already...

June 19, 2008

Photo Mosaic

Still sick, but better, but I saw this meme going around on one of the blogs I read - and I'm so stupid I can't remember which one it was - and then I saw it pop up again on Grit & Michaela's blog, so here's mine:

1. Yemen - Sunrise on Bir Ali beach, 2. Blue Raspberry, 3. DSC_7880, 4. Chocolate & Cherries / Mon Cheri, 5. antonio banderas, 6. Unbrand America, 7. Mighty Winds, 8. Raspberry - Swirl Cheesecake, 9. IMG_7913, 10. AN IRISH WOOD. (KILKENNY, IRELAND), 11. the gateway, 12. Giant Manta Ray

Here's what you do:

A. Type your answer in flickr search; use only the first page to pick an image
B. Copy and past your picture URLs into fd's mosaique maker

The questions are:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name, or your favourite animal (as I remember this from the first instance I saw this meme).

Cunningly enough, I recently finished the first Mosaic sock, and am now plugging away on the second. So it's still knitterly-related content.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's cheap, but it's all I got.

June 10, 2008

Sick

That cold I started off having about a month ago never quite went away.

It was just like last year, when I came down with a Force Five cold and just couldn't shake it. I took a day off work sick, and went to the walk-in centre and got told that the reason why my cold stuck around for two weeks was because there was tonsilitis hiding under it all. I was being ganged-up on. I was advised to take a week off work; instead I took off one more day and went into work on the third day, only to be told I was being fired for taking days off work.

So, depending on who your boss is and what kind of retail you work in, if you ever get something like, say, cancer, just quit your job and avoid the indignity of getting fired because you were sick.

At any rate, this year the doctor at my registered surgery didn't find any tonsilitis, which was good. She gave me my yearly perscription for my hayfever, which did help with the cold a little. But the cold is still here. And my last visit to the walk-in centre was useless. How this woman was a nurse, I didn't know.

"You have a cold."

My God. Really. Tell me something else.

"And if you have asthma and hayfever your cold will stay for longer."

Firstly, I have not made acquaintance with my inhaler for a year and a half. Secondly, my cold is in my nose and my head, not in my lungs.

"It's normal for a cold to last this long."

A fucking month? Are you insane, woman? A perpetual sniffle, I can understand. I have friends who have eternal mini-colds. But an internal hurricane that is so fierce that when you blow your nose your ears scream the shriek of the Nazgul? No. It is not bloody well normal.

At least knitting has been happening, which is the one nice-ish thing about being sick. One project is nearly done, I started a Swallowtail shawl (Ravelry link) last week, I'm getting through a friend's Pay It Forward gift.

But also this:

Pretty, isn't it?

It's a Kundert spindle. The whorl is maple, the accents on the whorl are zebrawood and yellowheart, and it weighs 1.2 oz. I'd finally decided to give spindling another go and Amy helped me pick one out over email. I love it to bits.

But for now, I need another box of tissues.

About

Struggling writer, knitter, spinner and photographer who plays video games, does kung-fu and yoga, loves cars and planes and aspires to have concrete and clever theories and opinions about film and television. Has come to terms with the fact she may be a yarn geek.

Concurrent blogs coming soon!





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