WIP Wednesday, in which the main road is once again left in favour of a dusty ol' sidetrack

Oh, hai!

It feels as if I've been super productive, but in the end, I don't have a lot to show for it. Does that have anything to do with not going by the earlier designed Grand Design? The answer, my friend, is a solid yes. After frogging for 3", which is to go back on your knitting for 7,5cm, earlier this week, I'm now slightly ahead of where I was.

(Dear DH, please send me my software so I'll be able to carve this in CS4 so I won't forget Things I've thought up...)

Anyway, quite a bit of knitting went into it, and this is what's left of a 300mtr cake. Only 2 more to go after this one.

I can't believe I haven't touched Bea the orphaned wheel this week. I've been such a bad mother. As punishment for my lack of attention, I haven't been able to keep my legs still for over a week. I have great plans for this weekend. Can't wait to stop twitching my feet.

Instead, I've been playing around with some felt and hot glue. A few more a ready for glue and then they only need some finishing. I see a few more things in my future, and they will involve glue! I can't believe I haven't hot glued before. It's so much fun, if you can stand the constant glue burn. (or if your fingers come with Teflon built in)

I think I might cover myself in them on V-day

On Saturday, I finally put to paper what's been floating around my head for a while. It might appear somewhere soon...

Have you been crafty this week?

Scottish Sundays, a work in progress

As you can tell, this blog looks a tiny bit different than it did before just now.

That's because I made sure to reserve some time with the DH this weekend, and asked (made) him help me out with the sizing of Things. Right now, I can only show you this One Thing, and it is quite late (he also told me to go to sleep).

Just know that Things are afoot after a good kicking of the behind. Stay tuned for some exciting news* later this week!

Goodnight, good night.

*involves glue

WIP Wednesday, and we're back

Sooooo...

Thanks to some soul-searching, a good session and some retail therapy (no chocolate or actual spending of money involved!) we're back. 'Twas a bit a of a Big Dip, so much so that I didn't even get chastised this week (minor triumph, in a way). But, as they say, one comes out the other end a bit wiser and a bit older (do they say that?). Either way, ideas aplenty, and never enough time. Yadda yadda, heard it before.

I poked myself in the chest carrying this secret knitting around to take a picture of it so I could show you. The things I do to put up a half-decent picture for you, eh? It's all out of love! (told you it's better now)

I did spin a bit throughout the Big Dip, and this is some black Icelandic. It's nice enough when plied, but it wasn't a joy to work with. Seems to be a recurring thing with the darker versions of a sheep breed. I've started the brown, and it's much nicer and less hairy. Updates next week!

I did learn something non-Dip-related during the Big Dip. When in a Big Dip, it's not a great idea to start designing. The birds thingymawattums was knit to 3" about 7 times and frogged as many. After 3 I remembered to put in a lifeline. As it is, it's not reconstructed, but there are Ideas! Something will come out of it, I'm sure. Above, design #6, discarded.

Some books I'm enjoying, some newer than others, collected gifts. I like how, leafing through, I recognize patterns and stitches used by some pretty famous designers. It's like having a peek in their kitchen. It also helps with the idea that it only takes a good idea and perseverance to make something pretty. Stay tuned. (scary!!!)

Ehm, no, he's never been tumble dried. He allows us to use it, sometimes. Since his stroke he's not been able, and now not allowed back to his old sleeping place on top of the washer. It seems he just really likes being off the floor, so one night he crawled into the drier. Another night, it was emptied so he could go to bed, but one of the ridges was in the bottom so he tried the washing machine that night. It wasn't a success (Cat later told me it was like sleeping on an old mattress with the springs sticking out).

We now take care to have His Majesty's bed turned up by nightfall. As one does.

PS. Peaks Island Hood is coming along. Yippie!

Scottish Sundays, roughly so

This past week has been a bit rough. Sleep seems to be elusive like sunshine on a rainy day and this hasn't helped my Being at all. In fact, although it has been quite nice, most of last week have felt like I wandered around with a cloud above my head.

Much like this one, actually (Outer Hebrides)

Road to nowhere, anyone?

I'm not a very pleasant person when I'm in this state of mind, so I mostly try to avoid people. I was going to enjoy my day off on Friday and devote it to Scotland and to designing. Instead, I dealt with the remains of a 2-day headache and read a book. It's a nice book, and it makes me laugh. It started with the title: Blood Sucking Fiends (amazon link). Enough to extract a smile, and it's pretty amusing for a Vampire Book.
The rest of the weekend I've spent ripping out (re-)knitting, watching tv, and finishing a skein of Black Icelandic wool, which wasn't a pleasure at all. In a sense, I felt pretty stuck in where I am right now.

Very Stuck Standing Stone, Callanish

In an attempt to grab myself by the scruff of the neck, I've been doing some job hunting with the Scottish Arts Council, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage. Unfortunately, I'm not qualified as a ranger or an estate manager, because how wonderful would that be? On the other hand, I'm not quite ready to go back into retail, as far as being a tourist trap shop assistant. At least not for a while yet.

So another week passes with no answers but more questions. At least there is still my awesome mother, who did my laundry so I can have clean clothes while I drag myself to work again in the morning. I promise to be more upbeat soon. I just need a bit of good news, the old good news has worn off.

WIP Wednesday, only it's Thursday

Uhm yeah, so all plans were out the window yesterday. Apparently, that's where all of my plans live. I can only assume it's getting crowded out there and it is quite cold, so maybe some will drift back inside. One can always hope.

No essential work was done in the end, but I made back ups (long overdue), updated my phone's software (so the reminder could stop draining the battery) and lots of annoyance with the one camera in this family was more or less solved today.

All of this happened so I could show you some lovely pictures of some new projects. Yeah I know, I have a few (a lot) on the needles already, but sometimes it just feels good to start something new and exciting. (Startitis, much?)

Exciting, no?

Last weekend I cast on for the Peaks Island Hood, which has been in my list for over a year. The Hysteric Yarn is nice in places, and a bit over-twisted in others, but who cares?

I don't

And then for the piece de resistance (in French, obviously) I figured I could design something myself. It worked out alright in the beginning, the size was just what I calculated but I didn't quite like the way it lacked 'widening' after the brim. So I frogged. And decided I didn't like the edge anyway. I came up with another one, and spent all evening watching progress bars move slowly and knitting a 180 stitch picot edge. This afternoon, I re-read Alice Starmore's Fair Ilse Knitting, and decided to change the k1mc,k1cc colour edge as well to a k1mc,p1cc.

I moved on to larger needles this afternoon, after the brim so for the first time, I could tell the actual size. And now it fits 2 heads.

Pretty though, isn't it?

or 4 yarncakes, if stretched

Guess what, I'm frogging again and abandoning the picot edge. The k1mc, p1cc can stay, after I measure again.


It's not all doom and gloom, today at work we learned that not one, but two girls found themselves another job so no one is sent home (yet). Next elimination planned for the end of March. I'm not over the moon about it, though I guess I should be. The best I can do right now is "meh"

WIP Wednesday, postponed.

Due to epic technological failure including emergency back-ups (laptop), essential updates (phone), SD card breakage (camera, not mine) and 2(!) empty camera batteries, there will be no WIP Wednesday this Wednesday.

All being well, there will be a WIP Wednesday on Thursday. Unless the sky falls down. There's always a chance.

Scottish Sundays, Confusedly Yours.

You're never too old to learn, so if I go by my age and the average age of my Grandfathers (not my grandmothers, that would not serve my purpose), I have a lot of things to learn still. One thing I've learned is that you must make time to find some tranquility within yourself. I've learned some exercises and my spinning helps me get there, but the trick is in the Doing (as ever).

Take a pebble beach, a tranquil sea, and Feng Shui! A Quiet Head!

This Quest For Scotland, however, is not as easy to follow. While the idea is starting to stick, with the sticking comes the worrying about how to execute this Quest. If I had my way, there would be no more worrying about money and how to pay the bills, but that's just not realistic. The road to IF is very treacherous and will lead to the Bridge Of Doom if you're not willing to stray from it. And you know you won't have the correct answer to the question. Aaaaaaaaaaargh!*

It doesn't hurt to travel along it for a while...

IF there was no worry about how to pay the bills, THEN I'd love to live in my tent for a while. I'd take the big one, the one with room to move around, and stand up. I'd take it to my most beloved sites, and some I haven't visited before. I'd take my knitting and my Bea*** and my laptop, and I'd design and people would love me and offer me odd jobs around their business, their hotel or whatever. I'd make a commitment to walking at least an hour a day, and because of this, I'd finally reach a size that leaves me room to expand a little again, whenever I get back to having access to fall-of-the-bone-ribs. I'd do some tech editing or translate patterns to bring in enough to buy food and petrol when I need it, and the world would be OK.

However. The world is not made of IF (unless you're offering ;)), but of NOW.

The Windy Road Of Deathy Deaths, or NOW****

I've traveled that road a fair few times now, and it's mesmerizing, scary but with that sense of excitement. And sometimes, I find glimpses of excitement but they disappear so quickly into the Fog of Doubt. Would anyone else be interested in walking and crafting to free the mind? How would you find these people? Where would you go and where would you stay? Would anyone buy into this silly idea of mine?

This Quest is scary and driving me back into IF and into worrying, and it's really up to me to fix it, but it would be silly not to ask for Help. If you, dear reader, have an opinion or ideas, please leave them below.

It never hurts to remind yourself that the Windy Road of Deathy Deaths sometimes takes you here. Life ain't bad on the Harris/Skye ferry.

*Note by Geek: Blue**
**I probably got that wrong.
***Bea, the Orphaned Wheel
****Yes, that one, again