My addiction to anything crafty created with a pointy stick, a needle or a hook.....
Our hearts are breaking this week; Eddie no-neck poo-foot rocket-boy had to be put down after a short battle with liver cancer, aged only 12. Hug your pets, you never know how long you've got. Sleep well, dear boy - no need to be afraid anymore.
Current mood: 
sad
It took a while for this sock to get a mate... Knitted flat, from an old Singer book, it was a test-knit for possible future fairisle socks...
Using the single-bed colour changer to do two row stripes. There's actually 5 hats, but one didn't get a photo for some reason
Green sock is waiting for a mate.
Current mood: 
lethargic
People are going to get the impression that I spend all my time on crochet retreats, which alas is not the case! Anyway, it was the turn of the annual KCG AGM and convention. This time it was in a hotel in Eastwood, which is in Nottinghamshire. It was a rather slow drive up the M1 - I think I'd missed any signs of an actual accident, but the traffic was still bunching up. I was absolutely shattered and it was hard work concentrating - so much so, that I checked in and attempted an hour's nap before the welcome talk. The dinner buffet was rather nice, as it was served in the room we had to ourselves. After dinner, I decided to skip the show and tell (which is always really good) and go straight to bed, even though I had finally added a button to the crochet jacket I'd intended to show off. My room was a good ten minute trek away - very handy for the carpark and lovely and quiet. I slept for 10 hours, so I guess I needed it!
After breakfast, we had a talk about the healing power of knitting (and crochet) by two psychologists, which was very interesting - a pity the AV decided not to play along for the first twenty minutes! After a quick coffee break, the AGM part went quickly, and after lunch I headed upstairs for my first workshop, which was crocheted cables. As always, it's very hard to pick a workshop - I would probably have been happy in any of them! More IT issues, as Lindy's live camera decided it only wanted to do stills. Eventually, a reboot sorted it out. We had a go at 1x1, 2x2 and 3x3 cables; the latter involves some poking about in holes but looks really good when finished. She also gave us a scarf pattern, something I may aspire to in the future.
After trekking back to my room, I was a bit too late for the second talk of the day, so decided to try out the pool and sauna areas, which were pleasantly quiet - just a few other "naughty knitters" in there! After another trek back (to dry my hair) it was time for dinner. Again, most of us went to bed after that, it being 9pm. I didn't sleep quite so well, getting too hot in the night, and had a weird dream about discovering a frog and then a weird high-speed slug in my mother's bedroom. Why can I never have nice dreams any more?! Pah...
I had taken a shawl project (glimmer shawl) that I started in 2015 to work on. I'm currently adding a knitted sawtooth edging. Alas, it took 3 attempts to get the first row right, and then everything went wrong on the 2nd row. Thank goodness for lifelines - now I remember why it's been on pause for so long, it's not TV knitting, it's "sit in a quiet room with no interruptions" knitting. So the two rows got frogged, and I got precisely nowhere with it. Oh well - I knew it was a stretch!
On Sunday, the hotel had been somewhat taken over by young footballers, so there was a bit of a queue for breakfast. My second workshop was a two-colour crochet technique which I'd not come across before. One always starts from the right hand end, always works on the right side, and works dcs into the back loop only of stitches one wants to "hide", and works trs into the front loop of the row below for colours one wants to see at the back - you alternate between the two colours in use. Although I missed the 2nd row, I managed to do one row of crosses. You do ordinary dcs and a chain space at either end, which gives you something to chain into later and add a border to. I really liked this as a technique, and the tutor had brought an amazing colourful blanket to show off the technique. Not sure what I'll do with this sample, as currently it looks like a bookmark for a giant.
After a short break, we had a talk by Ailsa Stephens, one of the "Game of Wool" finalists. She was lovely, and it sounds as if the show could have been cut rather better than it was. Then lunch, closing remarks and a raffle - I deliberately failed to buy a ticket because I'm trying not to gain more items, though the Kendal Mint Cake did look nice! We headed home directly after the raffle, and made great time. I was back at home by 5pm, and Greg had done two coats of paint on the bedroom ceiling, and two on the walls, and had planned a BBQ (men and fire again?!). Just a few minor bits to touch up this week and we can start glossing.
A really lovely weekend, an excellent venue, and it's inspired me to get another project or two on the go. Apparently the optimum number is 10?!
Current mood: 
inspired
Windspinner and an early stage of some projects
Cat keyring and paperweight
Coaster - a bit buckled!
The mini bag a bit further along
This strip was made in the round, I steeked it and applied the turquoise
Finished crochet jacket, not a great picture!
Labyrinth at dawn
There are more small items in various unfinished states, but these are what I managed to photograph this morning.
So if it wasn't already obvious from the dearth of posts here, I've been in a bit of a mental funk craft-wise this year. It's not that I've gone OFF crafts, but that I can't seem to stick on something I want to work through to completion. This has been compounded by the fact we've had rolling heatwaves since July - in fact, yesterday broke all records for the hottest UK day ever. Working on a large pile of something yarny in one's lap, or doing a major upper body workout on a knitting machine in an overheated room, just isn't attractive when the temperatures are hovering around the high twenties.
Anyway, I've been part of the Knitting and Crochet Guild for some time, and rejoined after a brief absence when the Guild of Machine Knitters folded and combined with them, so I sometimes get emails regarding interesting events. There's a very active club (East London Crochet Group) who often share amazing things in the quarterly guild newsletter, and they happened to have a few spare places on their annual retreat. I think they meet over Zoom now, but have been running for many years and used to meet in person. They also do a certificate in double filet which looks very hard - you make two colour squares with various designs, which can be reversible. I'm not great at fine details, so maybe that's not for me. After some prevarication - full time working comes with limited time off - I decided to take the plunge and book it. I am so glad I did! I'm also glad I took the afternoon off to get down there in the car. Leaving at 4pm would have been pushing it for time, especially as the last bit was 20mph and seemed to take forever.
The venue was a religious retreat near Richmond park, and all meals were included. Alas, no air-con in my simple room, but I was lucky enough to have a room that was in full shade all day, which helped (and there were fans available). The venue had lovely grounds to walk around in, complete with labyrinth and summer house. No TV or bar either, but I always overpack with pastimes because of my intermittent insomnia. It turns out I'm a terrible packer - I took lots of clothing suitable for ordinary UK weather but ended up mostly living in the one dress I'd taken. Also two pairs of woolly socks, but not the shoes they would go with!
We started the first evening with a show and tell - for which I did finally finish a crochet jacket, way too hot to wear though! One attendee brought a beautiful beaded shawl, and another a gorgeous blanket crocheted out of 4ply squares.
The week (actually 2 full days, and two half days) is usually based around a theme, and various attendees prepare a workshop loosely based on that theme, with a handout, for a small project or technique. We all had a large table each in the main hall, where we could spread out. The event was well organised by Nic and Rose, and I'm glad that Nic said not to try and finish everything, because that definitely would NOT be possible, even for the fastest crocheter. They also very kindly shared folders of previous years handouts, which were fascinating. I wish I'd had time to do more than browse through them.
The workshops included making a wind spinner, starting the base of a tightly-crocheted Mexican-style rucksack, making a mini shawl in an interlocking technique, having a go at circular tunisian six-sided star which I could NOT get started correctly, and ended up making a cute cat keyring. Mine has a bit of a squint and needs the keychain adding, but is otherwise finished. There was also a bit of braid making (like inkle weaving, but thinner and we tied ourselves to things for tension). Tricia kindly did us a trunk show of some guild items of unknown provenance. Everyone was very friendly, the location had lovely grounds to walk around in, and we had the added bonus of a partial eclipse on Wednesday night. One attendee's partner brought over a home-made pinhole camera, and a lemon squeezer, and another attendee had brought eclipse viewing glasses, so we had an enjoyable time viewing the eclipse, as we had an almost completely cloudless sky, whilst finishing off crochet projects on the patio.
The food was good and the staff were very friendly. I really didn't want to leave, not least because the car said it was 33 degrees and its air con really wasn't designed for heatwaves. But mostly because it was a lot of fun, even though it bent my brain a few times trying to count things. There will be photos, but right now it's all heaped in a bag as I was too shattered to do much when I got home last night. Thanks to all for making it such a welcoming retreat, and I might even risk public transport next year if the country isn't baking alive!
Current mood: 
enthralled
Machine knitting can be quite daunting to the uninitiated, and it can give us "old hands" a run for our money at times too. I thought it was high time I wrote a post for those thinking about dipping their toes into this most interesting of crafts.
Introduction
Most knitting machines ceased manufacture in the 1980s and 90s, with the exception of Silver, Creative and Artisan brands, but that does mean you can pick up something second hand of decent quality on Ebay or Facebook. Buyer beware: very vintage machines (before 1970) can be hard to get spares for. Anything from the 80s onwards is a good bet, and Brother were the most prolific sellers in the UK. Useful reading about on buying a second hand machine. Try and buy the machine in person if possible (and ask to see it working is even better). They don't travel well in the post, and unfortunately not everyone online can be trusted to sell you a working machine. Your local guild or club (if you have one) are often excellent sources of preloved machines.
Choosing your machine
Buy the machine for the yarn you most wish to use, and don't try forcing too-thick yarn through a machine - you'll only end up frustrated, and possibly damage plenty of needles in the process. In this case, the machines are approximately grouped as follows (ideal is knitting plain stocking stitch):
Machine maintenance
It's a common misperception that any machine that was stored in working condition many years ago, should continue to work right out of the box. Piffle - you wouldn't expect a car to work if it had been standing idle for over a year! The main culprit for many new users is a flat sponge bar aka needle retainer bar - this is a sneaky piece of foam, usually mounted on a metal strip, which is designed to keep the needles down against the bed. Once they start to ride up, you'll have trouble knitting anything. Take a look at the end of your needle bed, and you'll often see a plastic tab sticking out - this is the end of your needle retainer bar. Its main use is to hold the needles down, and its secondary use is to slide out to allow you to replace any damaged needles. So before commencing any knitting, check if the sponge is still doing its job. Foam has a tendency to perish. Expect to have to replace a bar on a machine that hasn't been used in a while. You can still buy them online - I like the covered ones sold by Smartco, but any machine knitting shop should sell something that will work. Despite their cheapness, I don't favour "refurbishment" kits (where you just get a strip of foam and some glue), especially for beginners - the foam tends not to be stiff enough, and anyway if you are just starting, you don't know what you're aiming for. So always buy a complete bar if possible. Note to Passap owners: You do not have a sponge bar, more a needle retaining bar (thin metal rod) and a needle retainer spring, which is very easily damaged.
Whilst we're on the subject of maintenance, it's worth vacuuming the needle bed slots and carefully brushing the underside of the carriage to remove any fluff and dust bunnies. Then a few drops of oil on any pivot points will help no end. Most of the cams on the carriage should move symmetrically in pairs, so check to see if any aren't behaving. Occasionally springs can pop off, or a slightly deeper clean is required. If disassembly is required, look up the comprehensive "Ask Jack" videos on Youtube.
Let's start knitting already...
It's worth not running before you can walk - start by knitting something fairly simple, such as a hat, using just the main bed. This gets you learning about casting on, decreasing, and casting off. You can learn about mock ribbed hems, picot hems, different cast ons, cast offs, increasing etc. When you've mastered the basics, you can start playing with the patterning / punchcards and the various pattern settings (tuck, slip, lace, fairisle etc). When you are confident with those, it's time to add the ribber and try a few of the different ribs. The manuals are pretty good in this case, and if you didn't get a manual with your machine, most can be found here in PDF format. If you can curb your enthusiasm, it's worth working a small swatch of all the methods in the manual, and maybe keeping them in a file - it'll be time well spent.
Mistakes, mistakes...
I often tell my handknitting friends, that knitting machines just allow us to go wrong a LOT faster, and that's true whether you've been using them for ten years or ten minutes. If the yarn's not quite where it should be in the carriage, the whole lot is on your feet in less than a second. Take heart, dear knitter - we've all been there! It's worth learning how to "tink" back a stitch at a time - it's a kind of zigzag movement that you'll get quite good at after a few goes. Misery loves company - there's a thriving machine knitting community on Ravelry, and many machine knitting groups on Facebook, so take a look and find your kindred online. You'll often find that something that has you stumped has happened to somebody else, and they'll know how to get you out of it.
And finally...
Remember, any new skill takes time and patience to grasp, so don't throw in the towel too early. We all had to start somewhere, and once mastered, machine knitting is an absorbing and creative craft. If nothing else, it teaches persistance - I'm determined to master my machines. It comes with lots of cool gadgets, and at the end of it, you (hopefully) get a sweater! How cool is that?
Further reading:
Want to learn machine knitting?
Beginner course - main bed techniques
Beginner course - ribber techniques
Cute crochet cactus, a birthday gift.
Single sock knitted flat, striped with two ends of sock yarn. A test knit for possible fair isle socks in the future. Yes, Second Sock Syndrome in action, it has no mate!
Belated picture - crochet and knitted hearts for Coventry hospital's palliative care unit
CSM socks made at the MKC retreat day and grafted the following weekend.
Proof that it's working, a repeating bird pattern centred on a "sleeve" sample - I'm instructing someone how to use her Passap E6000 with DesignAKnit at the weekend, and had to figure out how to use the integrated, interactive knitting feature with the Passap. Long story short, I'd downloaded a pattern to that machine with the old W10 laptop, but hadn't got it working with W11 (but it's been working with the Brother and Silver machines). It turns out that (a) my curly cord needs repairing AGAIN (repeated error 200) and (b) the Passap only wishes to communicate with the right hand USB port and not the left one. Nope, I've no idea why either! Ignore the wonky edges, I was being lazy and not fully fashioning them as I usually would.
It appears that you first have to apply the pattern, position it, and "integrate" it into the garment piece. Then you download the stitch pattern using "integrated download" not "download" - somehow I missed that the first time. Then when you start knitting the piece, select "integrated" not "shape only". It makes perfect sense now, but my poor old brain was struggling with it last weekend. At some point in this process, the Passap will tell you if it's not happy with the design - for example, you've used a two colour double-bed technique, but selected a 3 colour single-bed technique. I've never had issues before BUT so far I've only knitted straight pieces where the pattern alignment wasn't a concern. So it was a nice learning experience for me, and as part of that I discovered there are tutorial videos on the Softbyte website that I'll be working through.
I won't bore you with too many holiday snaps - in April, we had a short break in Hathersage, famously the last resting place of Little John (of Robin Hood's merry men), and diverted to Chesterfield on the way home. In May we did a week in Venlo, Cologne and a night in Amsterdam. As you can see, it's been a dull, damp, chilly spring!
View from Stanage Edge. The five mile hike from Hathersage was hard work!
None of my workmates believe me when I tell them this place exists in the Peak district.
Famous twisted spire at Chesterfield, the photo doesn't do it justice. Apparently it's the weight of lead applied to a medieval wooden spire (but there are lots of legends involving the Devil as to why it's like this).
Cologne cathedral is HUGE. Yes, the weather was as grim as it looks alas!
A visit to the Lindt chocolate museum. Worth it just for the shop (which sells other brands too! Love it!).
Current mood: impressed
Post-dating this, because 6/6/26 is my blogiversary!
Well, the two day machine knitting "retreat" mentioned in the previous post went very well - hard to know whether to call it the May or the June retreat, seeing as it fell in both months. Anyway, we took over the Alexandra Arts in Rugby for two days and generated gentle, knitty chaos, fueled by lots of lovely coffee/tea and snacks. There were a few LK150s (manual machines) going through their paces, a few electronic and mechanical flatbeds being kept very busy, and at one point, four CSMs also being worked on. I managed to demonstrate DBJ after two separate attempts - day 1 producing the dreaded stripes, day 2 being much more successful. I also managed to complete a pair of tubular socks, which is 100% more than I've ever managed on previous days.
A group shot, taken for the one lady who injured herself before the event and couldn't come. Hope to see you next year!
Beautiful hand-manipulated lace done on the LK150 - this is just a swatch!
So many ends! Intarsia on the LK150. This lady is so brave!
A hive of industry in the garden room - my CSM is in the foreground
More pictures here.
It was lovely to see old and new friends again, bond over our shared obsession for all things machine knitting, and enjoy a meal at a local restaurant on the Sunday night. I'll be running a one day event in October this year, and probably running the two day event next year with some minor tweaks. I'll drop the competition, seeing as there weren't many entries, and maybe we'll do a "show and tell" instead, because I think we'd all benefit more from that.
Current mood: inspired
TLDR: loving my new guitar and a minor crochet irritation
I treated myself to a new toy late last year - a gorgeous Ibanez bass guitar in candy apple red. I've long wanted to get back to learning to play bass. An ex-boyfriend made me one in the early 1990s but it had "tons of mistakes" (his words when I showed it to him a few years ago) - I had it assessed recently, and it either needs a longer truss rod, a completely new neck or some major repositioning of the bridge. All of these are probably expensive repairs to what is a sentimental guitar-shaped object - though I might still consult a local luthier about whether it's possible to repair it without too much cosmetic damage. I'm sure my ex would do it for me but he's up in Scotland. Currently the intonation is wrong on the lowest string (it gradually gets too sharp as you move up the frets) and the action is very high, so it's hard work to play. Nevertheless, I did get some lessons on it in the 90s but can't remember much about them, though they came to an abrupt end when I accidentally bumped into my bass teacher on the bus, on the way home from town. He stunk of weed and was possibly drunk and got a little too familiar with me so that was a red flag (luckily my stop was before his, plonker)! Not long after that, my boyfriend and I split up and we moved apart and by then I was into my final year at uni, so learning to play took a back seat. I haven't touched the poor instrument since, except to dust it (and it's now safely stored in the back of the wardrobe in a case).
Anyroad, I finally got myself into gear late last month and signed up to an online training course with Bassbuzz - I had watched some of the tutor's free videos and liked his teaching style, and now I am obsessed / addicted to finishing the course. The music theory is a bit boring (for me) because I'm a classically trained but very out of practise violinist, but learning the bass clef is good. Alongside that, I'm already eyeing up 5 string basses, and wanting to buy myself yet more t-shirts and stuff to show off my new obsession. The course (lifetime access! Yay!) comes with 100 songs with tab / bass tracks, and there's a 50 song challenge running for those of us confident enough to having a go. I've already nailed Gnarls Barkeley's "Crazy", though it turns out that bassline is a sample from an old spaghetti western. I'm trying to learn AC/DC's "Highway to hell", though it's a little too fast for me at the moment, and this week I pretty much nailed the first song on the list which is Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", which was a firm favourite when it went to number one many moons ago (and I later became a big Floyd fan anyway). Turns out the bass plays it in drop D tuning (lowest string down one tone) and then it's really easy. The Cog has decided he must learn the guitar solo and says it's very challenging. He's been trying to get me to learn the Beatle's "Back in the USSR" but I'm not fast enough to match Paul McCartney yet!
So... that's what's been inspiring me to get out of bed lately (that and the job, pah!). Don't worry, normal textile crafts are still ongoing, as I'm running the annual two-day MK event next weekend. My crochet has stalled though, as I've got to the sleeve and the designer has really not done a great job of handling the shape vs pattern repeats structure, so I'll probably have to grab a calculator and pen/paper and chart it. The pattern repeat is roughly a one inch square in size, which doesn't really work with the shape a sleeve needs to be - plus there are no total stitch counts given for each row. I don't like crocheting patterns where the pattern alignment jogs about - I'm not THAT OCD, but it won't match the body pieces which are already done. So I either re-chart it - I'll probably do plain blocks either side of the centre to keep it in pattern - or I just do it in rows of trebles and double crochets and hope the gauge stays close enough to the rest of it. Decisions, decisions... maybe I'll just put it away and get the guitar out again! 😁👌🎸
Ha, I just noticed that the guitar emoji above is a Fender Strat. Shame on you Fender, for the terrible PR mess you're currently embroiled in. I happen to own a Fender acoustic (a gift from years ago), and I'm currently using a Fender headphone amp that I bought for the Cog last Christmas, but I certainly won't be giving them any more money...
Current mood: enthralled
Well, I'm still here. There's not been much crafting to report, because I've rather lost my mojo of late. My FIL passed away late February after a short spell in UHCW and round-the-clock feeding by the four sons both there and when he returned home - using a dessertspoon takes forever. The funeral was the day after my birthday, and two days after what would have been his 91st birthday, so things were very low key this year, though we did have a small family buffet on the following weekend, which was nice. Keeping the house running whilst the Cog dealt with the family stuff every single evening really took it out of me - dozing off in front of the TV became our "hobby" for a time.
I also managed to wash the second Agnes cardigan (purple merino) wrong - it turns out "delicate" means spin the bejesus out of things to my washing machine - and the extra yarn it mysteriously needed to complete it suddenly resurfaced, leaving me with a cardigan for a giant. Yeah, as it was my second attempt at that cardigan I guess I'm cursed to never own it - I'm not entirely sure round yoked cardigans fit my frame anyway but it was such a pretty pattern! I am part way through frogging it. I think if I reuse the yarn it will be in a crochet pattern - I'm fed up of investing so much time in handknits that then have to be frogged!
However, all is not lost. I've been knitting and crocheting little hearts for UHCW's palliative care team - apparently they give them to patients and relatives - and I'm also crocheting a cactus amigurumi kit that was a birthday present. Finally we may have an unkillable plant in our NW facing living room. I've also been doing a bit of beading. Youtube is such an amazing resource, but I do wish I could find some books on the subject, because short little videos are kind of irritating to use as reference materials. I do love a reference book! Talking of which, I finally caved and bought "Structural Stitches" by Victoria Salmon, which is very inspiring - kind of the book Bill King would write, if he compiled all of his MKM articles.
So, I'm in a bit of a weird mood - I want to be creative but I don't seem to want to finish anything already in progress. Maybe delayed start-itis? Who knows?
Current mood: 
indescribable
Well, it's been an interesting time lately. Mojo has been lacking - partly because the weather has been ick and also because of other issues which I won't go into here. I've tried to make myself available to support my partner, and when that hasn't been required, I've been distracting myself with various social events, so there's not been much crafting time. The tumble dryer started shrieking and had to be replaced - the original manufacturer conned me into practically paying for a new one over twelve months (it and the washing machine are 8). When G returned from his snowboarding trip, we cancelled it and decided to go in for a new "heat pump" one. The old one actually destroyed several shirts when we first got it, and the sensor never sensed anything, so was costing a fortune to run and doubling as heating on laundry days. Some evil git scratched and dented my car and drove off, on a week when it could have happened in quite a few places (it still being dark fairly early), so that's another bill I could have done without. The less said about trying to get rid of our old sofa before the new one arrives, the better. It's been a trying year!
Anyway, this weekend was the annual Kegworth "Going round in circles" event. Owing to a complete oversight on my part, I'd already bought tickets for myself, Mum and sil to attend the "Sewing for Pleasure" show at the NEC on the Sunday, and they don't do refunds alas, so I could only attend Kegworth on the Saturday. It was a lot of fun to catch up with old friends and make new ones. As I was teaching a class, I didn't get time to knit anything myself, and then I packed away quite early and wished I hadn't. Anne ran a cool class on how to make mini socks, and I'm hoping I made decent enough notes to be able to make some more of these.
Aren't they cute?! Because of the dinky size, they are knitted as flat web and then grafted and sewn up one side. She even has a method for knitting the loop for adding to a keyring. I stayed for the evening meal, which was very nice, and then hot-footed it back home to bed. Yes, I did pick up some sock yarn, and no, I'll not bore you with the pictures.
The NEC show was also fun - this one mostly focuses on sewers (sewists?) but there are a few yarn stalls dotted about, alongside beads, printmaking, marbling, card-making / scrapbooking, and the usual oddities - a cheese stall, olives, rum, moonshine, garden furniture and clothes/handbags. Ironically I only picked up a few findings and beads, and two pairs of "harem pants" which are great for lounging around the house in. They'll also be great for holidays, should I ever be lucky enough to go on another beach holiday.
Some bling I picked up from the Southampton Bead Shop. It was all I could do not to buy more! So much lovely stuff!
Current mood: 
awake
Well, the weather continues to be rubbish - either grey and very wet, or grey and freezing. Either way, the sun has packed up and left. I felt sure we'd wake up to snow on the ground this morning, but no, it's back to blah. This is global warming, I guess - more water than we know what to do with, localised flooding, and yet the nearest carwash is kaput again. Pah!
This Sunday just gone, I had a table at the Alexandra Arts spring studio stash sale day - local artisans sell off old stock and extras they don't want. I donated some bobbin lace books to the book table, and managed to sell off some socks, my old bobbin lace board (with half-completed bookmark in situ and loads of notes and extra stuff), a hand-knit cardigan and a few sewing items. I raised £46 for Dementia UK and rounded that up to £50 just because I like round numbers. I did pick up some beautiful antique glass buttons, beads and some pretty fabric. The weather wasn't great (despite a brief glimpse of the sun on Saturday) so visitors were low.
Anyroad, being a bit down in the dumps, I made a list of all my hobbies (I have a LOT) and whilst having a stash dive in preparation for the above sale, I rediscovered a necklace kit I must have picked up at one of the NEC shows, so that's in progress. I also knitted two pairs of fingerless gloves on the KH965i, mostly because it's currently the Ravellenic games and as a moderator, I felt I ought to contribute something. I'd forgot there's a "yarn unwinding" event, I could have waited to frog that diastrous circular cardigan and made it into an event. Ah well!
Sales table at the Alex
Fingerless gloves for the Ravellenic games, pattern is here. These are a great stashbuster and can be made in a long strip and then seperated later. T5 for sock yarn makes them a smidge too small (supposed to be ladies size) but would be great for teens. As this is sock yarn leftovers, one has to be frugal with the yarn!
Another pair, think I made these over Xmas but didn't blog about them. Added extra cuff in a contrasting yarn, possibly making them a little too long.
Beading in process - it's already further on than this, but seed bead spirals require good eyesight! The big yellow bead is a safety bead which will come off later.
Gorgeous glass button and bead eye candy!
Current mood: 
crappy
Well, I guess it shouldn't have come as much as a surprise, but the depths of midwinter seem to coincide with bad news in our family the last few years. Or maybe the news is always bad lately, and the season seems to commiserate with it?
My father-in-law K has had poor health for many years, having succumbed to ME after a nasty bout of 'flu in his late 60s. We stayed away to protect him during the pandemic, by which time he was almost completely deaf (my partner already wears hearing aids so that's hereditary). There was a waterworks infection which produced odd behaviour - but eventually it turned out to be vascular dementia. K used to smoke and presumably drink, as was more common in his era. The fact that the family have coped since his last hospital stay has extended his life by a few years, but after another kidney infection he's being released to come home to die. The only signs of life are growling, eye movement and breathing. It's horrible to watch, and I can only hope he slips away soon. As a family of engineers we feel powerless - our natural instinct is to think our way around such situations and repair them; but in this case there is no fix. The law in the UK sentences people to lingering deaths that we would not put our pets through. I was very lucky that my dad briefly rallied on my last visit - he was mentally with us 'til the end, and it turns out I was the last one to talk to him, a banal conversation about the weather I think!
So my mood is indescribable at the moment - anger at the universe for allowing such suffering, sadness for the family, admiration and sorrow. The Cog has been out every evening for the last few weeks, to take over from the constant attempts to get food and liquids into K in hospital - the nurses do an amazing job, but nobody can spare three hours to feed someone with a dessertspoon. So our meals have been in shifts, and it's a rare thing if we eat together at all. At least K has family to take care of him, though whether prolonging his life is humane at this point is debatable.
Amidst a rising tide of right wing rhetoric in the world, I note that many of the nurses were from exotic countries. Without immigrants, the NHS would collapse. Follow the money and use your intelligence, people, not the twisted tabloid media with their nasty agendas. Whilst the masses look the other way, the rich get richer. I was "reliably informed" by a supposedly intelligent work colleague that the reason her partner can't get a minor medical procedure done is because immigrants have swamped the NHS. It's nothing to do with years of underfunding, piecemeal privatisation by the back door, an ageing and increasing population, badly-paid staff leaving, and crumbling infrastructure. I suspect her anger at others is partially fired up by a badly-managed council HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) starting up next door, which is forcing them to consider moving.
Anyway, enough. You can see, my mood veers from sadness to anger and back at the moment. Lack of sleep, work stress and a sore back isn't helping! Hugs to all who find themselves in need of them at this time, and never forget to kiss your loved ones goodbye. You never know when it might be the last time.
Current mood: indescribable
TLDR: Updates on my absence, and some overdue project pictures
Hello blog! I'm sorry I've not posted in ages. Life gets in the way sometimes - I got busy at work, and then distracted by a new toy (more on that later), and I've fallen off a cliff on Ravelry too I'm afraid, which is embarrassing when you're a moderator of the big machine knitting group. Whoops!
Towards the end of last year I think I was subconsciously wrestling with the black dog a bit. I gained weight, I slept more - the Cog thought this was excellent, as my sleep always goes out of whack in the winter time and then I'm really grouchy - but as I tried to explain to him, sleep isn't something you can bank up. It resets itself every day - and as I'm usually an early bird, sleeping 'til 10am on a weekend is not normal for me. I suspect he was just enjoying some peace and quiet!
Anyway, life has taken a new direction lately. The Cog got laid off in mid November and promised me the house would be spotless (I'm still waiting on that, ha!). Automotive CAD jobs in the UK seem to have disappeared lately, so that's not good. We rearranged the living/dining room in early December - Eddie the psycho rescue cat is still sulking and has retreated under the Passap. Sorry Ed, but the room feels much bigger (we had the sofa as a "room divider" before) and it's staying for good, not least because we intend to replace the current sofa and coffee table with a corner sofa and some blanket storage.
As for machine knitting, I lost my mojo a bit. I've often said, one needs a good clear few hours to machine knit, whereas handknitting/crochet is an easy project to keep for in front of the tv - so machine knitting is a hard hobby to keep alive when you work full time. Like anything, practice makes perfect. I attempted a fairly simple fisherman's rib sweater on the Passap, and the first front has such loopy sides from dropped stitches, it could double as a rug. The second side went better - but as usual, I didn't make any notes of what size I was doing, etc. I really am my own worst enemy sometimes - it's not as if I haven't got a notebook for writing down what I'm doing! So the only machine knitting that happened towards the end of the year was finishing up more CSM socks for xmas presents. I had planned to make lots of "magic" yarn from the sock yarn leftovers, but that's also quite time consuming. I'm tempted to use the leftovers up to make fingerless gloves for charity. I also finally pressed the gold boucle cardigan I first mentioned here, and it looks a lot better.
On the handknitting side, I finished three cardigans. The purple merino (Drops Agnes) was a resounding success, other than I ended up playing yarn chicken at the end, and had to shorten the back to finish the second sleeve, having already had to buy a second lot of yarn in a different dye lot. Don't ask, I don't know what happened there! At the same time, I got tempted into buying some end-of-line super chunky cream with coloured flecks yarn. The cardigan took just over a week to knit because it was such thick yarn. Alas, I keep forgetting that chunky yarns don't suit someone as sturdily built as I. Also, the button holes are so large that I had a real struggle finding suitable buttons. I think it will go into the box for Knit for Peace that I am putting together. The circular green cardigan (Drops Modern Elegance) I started early last year has turned into an unmitigated disaster. It doesn't fit well, the armholes are too tight and the sleeves are too long. The yarn itself is very pretty, so I will unpick it and do something else with it.
I recently completed 25 years at my company, and got a small bonus because of it. I put the money towards a new bass guitar, case and practice amp. I've always wanted to learn bass guitar, and an ex of mine even made me one. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get the lowest string in tune because the bridge is too close to the neck (it was his first ever attempt, he's much better at it now). So it's gathering dust - kept for sentimental reasons, but no purpose otherwise. So I am currently teaching myself to play bass, which will, alas, mean less time for knitting. I am planning to attend and possibly teach at the annual Kegworth CSM event, but due to double-booking myself I will only be there on the Saturday.
So, that just about brings you up to date! I'll try to post a bit more on here, but no promises - I go through phases of hobbies, and right now knitting isn't top priority.
More CSM socks!
Agnes cardigan in Drops extra fine purple merino. Sorry for the busty picture, blame the camera angle! :D
The chunky aran cardigan - very cosy! Mistake rib, I added an extra line down the sleeves just to make them a bit more interesting.
The circular cardigan disaster - it's not for me!
The gold boucle cardigan - a Clair Crowston design
Some recent shopping bags - I love the Oriental one, the gold really glitters! The other two are from old IKEA pillowcases. Not shown, another plain white one which needs embellishment. Will probably donate some of these to the local foodbank, I have more than enough shopping bags. Also not pictured, a bunch of shopping bags I made as xmas presents last year. Oh well, it's noted here even if there are no pictures.
My new toy - an Ibanez bass in cherry red (now sporting a skull strap, this strap was temporary). I am in love! It seems to coordinate with other things in the living room too! Ha!
Current mood: 
okay
