Patience...

...is not really one of my virtues.
Determination possibly is, which is why I’m able to knit for what seems like forever in order to create something, but waiting 5 minutes for a bus with nothing to do makes me crazy!

Anyway, I was impatient to decide what colour we’re going to paint the kitchen so I dragged hubby to Homebase last night before I went to knitting group.


The colours are (top to bottom, left to right)
B&Q – Rich Sari, Purple Purl, Berry Mid, Berry Dark
Homebase – Raspcoulis, Jazzberry
Habitat – Wine, Hibiscus
Homebase – Bubblegum

I’m fond of hibiscus; it’s not quite as bright as in the picture. Hopefully hubby and I can discuss it tonight and make a decision…

Bitten by the Home Decoration bug!

I’ve been feeling a bit down lately.
It’s the house.
I love our house, it’s spacious and has big windows. It has a good sized outdoor space and a garage with room for more than just a couple of bikes.
It’s really a good house.
It’s just the stuff inside, specifically the décor, that’s getting me down.

So, I’ve decided that something needs to be done.

In an effort to kick-start the whole process (which requires funding for some things) I’ve been identifying what I want to do in each room, and then I’m approaching them in order of how much difference the changes will make in correlation with how little they will cost.
So, a free thing which will make a big impact – that’s top of my list. An expensive thing which will only make a small or medium impact – that’s at the bottom.

So, with that in mind, at the weekend we went shopping. We actually went out to look at sofas (big cost, smaller impact) but the last thing we did before we came home was to pick up some new accessories for the bathroom.
The bathroom itself is done. It’s tiled in nice tiles, has a decent suite and floor, and a really posh radiator.
But I like colours, I like bold patterns and rooms which make you feel something when you walk in.
The bathroom didn’t do it for me.



(left to right, top to bottom) Cluttered windowsills, I already took down the shower curtain (nice, but not me) general mess and no pizazz!

But, changing the shower curtain, the soap dish and cups, new bath-mat and loo-mat, and moving some clutter into the cupboards (or bin) made a massive difference to how I feel about the room. In addition, these were things we needed anyway!



(left to right, top to bottom) Shower Curtain from Dunelm Mill, Marble Effect Soap Dish from Wilkinsons, Marble Effect Tumblers from Wilkinsons, and a Bath Mat and Pedestal set from Dunelm Mill

It wasn’t a “free” change, we did have to pay for the mats and such, but they weren’t very expensive and now we have two sets (our other set are white) which we can swap out when one needs washing.
Great stuff!

The next room I want to tackle is the kitchen.
This will be a low-cost high-impact change too.
At the moment we have a lovely kitchen, but the cupboards are painted duck-egg-blue. I’m not really a fan of that colour – certainly not as a “main” colour in a kitchen. Kitchens should be dynamic rooms, and they should feel dynamic in their colour schemes.

The kitchen is an L shape, with access into the kitchen at both ends of the L.
Kind of like this:

 

The plan is to re-paint all the cupboards a nice bold pink colour (the exact colour is yet to be agreed by hubby and myself) and having seen a great example of a bold kitchen while we were in France (hubby’s second cousins have great taste!) I also want to paint at least one wall lime green.
The current plan is for that wall to be the one at the same end as the doors into the garden, the one with no doors on – just a radiator.
Once I’ve done this I plan to fix up a mirror we have. It’s currently got a black surround which is a little chipped, and I think that with a coat of primer and a coat (or two) of the same pink as the cupboards, it could look amazing on that green feature wall!
Then, there’s the other wall. I’ve been thinking about this too, and also the lack of pin-boards in the kitchen. So at the other end of the L, the wall with the pantry door in it, I think that wall could also be green (might brighten up that end of the kitchen!) and on that wall I could put the big pin-board that hubby has.
However, I don’t want to put it up as-is! I want to paint the frame (pink again, of course) and then supplement the cork bit with some nice fabric, something which will still take pins, but that will look pretty.
Perhaps something like this:



I think that would be much nicer than a regular pin-board, and would work really well with a green wall and pink frame.

The final thing I want to do is to add a little more storage. We have loads of storage in the kitchen, but I’d like to add some kind of space for the ironing board. This could be as simple as some brackets on the wall to rest it behind, or could be a funky cupboard/unit thing.

Watch this space!

Holiday Update - Holiday

We had a loveley holiday in France. The weather was great, the food was excellent, and the company was great.

My favourite village was Pujols, where they had some fantastic floral arrangements

Everywhere, from lamp-posts to street corners!

In Penne d'Agenais I found a really nice rose creeping up a house that matched my outfit for the day

and I had crêpe flambé!

But hubby had his with banana split...

And there were some lovely sunsets. This one is over the village where we were staying; Frespech.



Holiday Recap – Knitting Update

Wow, I have a lot to share today! So I’m going to split it between two posts. One will be about the most recent round of Nerd Wars, and will cover all the things I’ve knitted and crocheted last month. The other will be about my recent holiday to France, and that will come in a little while. So, Nerd Wars. I’m pleased to report that I melted the cube again this month (though I haven’t yet been awarded my badge for doing so, that usually happens around the 5th)

Giving Geeks	Scientific	Intellectual
Geek Pride	Technical	Nerd Culture

So that’s six for six. Though the cup cosy was the smallest of the projects, it actually took a while! The bookmark was designed by me (my first ever crochet design) and needs to be made into a PDF before I can put it online. It’s tested though!

As well as all those challenge submissions, I also completed the first of two pairs of socks which I am knitting for the dissertation. The second pair, this month, is going to be a challenge.
I have to finish my Ravellenics shawl and some spinning before the end of the Olympics and I’m not sure that I’ll be casting on the socks until I’ve done the shawl at least.
Perhaps I need to revisit my plan…
But here they are: Illyria socks


While I was away I started the Versailles scarf, though I confess I haven’t got very far. This is partly because I got a few repeats into the pattern and decided that I needed to change it, so I frogged it. I might try to finish it for the WIP challenge in round three of Nerd Wars (which just began)
Once the Olympics started I was also able to start my shawl. I’m knitting it in handspun and it’s coming out really well so far! I think I’m probably about a third of the way through now, so I should be on track for completing it while the Olympics is still happening!

More Knitting!

The Mohair Top
Pattern: I made it up.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Angel
Needle: 5mm
Modifications: n/a
Verdict: It’s a bit curly at the bottom, and a little on the loose side, but I think once I’ve blocked it and maybe with a belt it will be fab!

Then, that was the end of T5R1
I posted a total of 6 challenge responses and thus I melted the cube once more!


Since Then...
This round I’ve made these Fetching mittens



Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran.
Needle: 4mm
Modifications: None, I knit them as written – well, except I did two at a time.
Verdict: I’m not sure they’re long enough for my liking, but they are very smooshy!

Nerd Wars
I really enjoy participating in Nerd Wars. It’s a real driver for me to get more things made, and that means that I’m slowly working my way through the stash of yarn and fibre I have.

At the weekend my parents visited, and they brought some new storage with them. Well, new to me – it’s the old furniture from one of their rooms. The cupboard has two drawers and was exactly the right size to fit under my existing bookshelf. Bonus extra storage!
So now all my fabric is in one drawer and all my wrapping paper and such like is in another. The cupboard holds all my fibre for spinning (well, almost) and this now means that there is floor space in the room!

While I was in the mood for sorting things out, I went through my yarn stash and organised it into the three-drawer chest I keep it in. With the exception of my handspun it all fit in, which is good news. I’m still on my yarn diet though – I’m not going to buy any more yarn or fibre until there is a space for it. (there is actually a little bit of room in my sock-yarn drawer, but since my handspun doesn’t fit in the drawers at all, I think I’d better work on making space for that first.)

This also gave me the chance to have a look at all the yarn and think about what yarn I want to use for my holiday project.
I’m going to crochet the Versailles Scarf by Joy Haworth. I think it’s really pretty, and it shouldn’t be too hard to do on the plane or when talking.
I’m also taking another project with me for the Ravellenics. This is a craft-along which happens at the same time as the Olympic Games in London will be happening. As that starts after I go on holiday, I’ll be casting on as close to the opening ceremonies as possible – but not before! That project is (Rav Link) Eva's Shawl by milobo. another relatively simple one, though I will need a crochet marker. It’s reasonably similar in construction to the Elise shawl that I made on honeymoon.

I know that I will not complete both of these projects during my 7 day holiday, partly because I will have other things to do, but as with most knitters I tend to over estimate the amount of crafting that I need to take on holiday with me. I will finish the shawl during the Olympics though, and I also intend to spin some fibre when I get back to my wheel. I’ve got some lovely MHE in a nice dusky pink colour which is already calling to me to be spun! Lush!

Busy Busy

I’ve continued work on those socks, though I have only completed two repeats of the pattern, and I need to be at the heel by the end of next week!
Monkey socks are a nice knit though, and doing two at a time is easy with a repeating pattern like this.
The yarn is nice to work with. If you fancy something similar check out Violet Green! Her yarns are lovely, the colours are fab, and they’re good value for a hand-dyed yarn. I especially like the pure cashmere that she does.

I’m still plugging away on the mohair top, though it’s slow going. I think I’ve fallen into a stocking stitch black hole. It doesn’t matter how long I knit on it the top doesn’t get any longer! Still, I’ll get there eventually.

I have completed something else though; I’ve knitted a lovely hat from some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk.

Pattern: Robin’s egg blue hat
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran.
Needle: 5mm
Modifications: The pattern called for chunky yarn, but I used Aran, so I adjusted the numbers accordingly. I did a spiral decrease on the crown rather than the one written in the pattern.
Verdict: it’s a fab hat, and should be lovely and warm. I may have to make some matching accessories to go with it!

I’ve also been spinning; I’ll post later in the week with the singles yarn I’ve been making. My first ever singles yarn! I’m pleased with it so far, but I haven’t skeined, washed and dried it yet.

Time Passes...

Wow, time passes doesn’t it? I spent the rest of May working on one of the two swallowtail shawlettes I have on the go at the moment.

 

You can’t really see the beads in this picture, so you’ll have to believe me when I say that they are there!

Pattern:Swallowtail shawl
Yarn: Abstract Cat Merino – colour: Dragonfly
Needle: 3.5mm
Modifications: Beads instead of nupps, didn’t complete the final lace chart as I ran out of yarn.
Verdict: The bind-off isn’t very stretchy so the points aren’t very pointy. It’s still nice, but I am thinking about pulling back the cast off and the last row and re-casting off to make it more stretchy.

Nerd Wars has started again, and I’m playing on Team Hellmouth this tournament. That means I’m doing another rewatch of Buffy, but it’s good fun in any case! The challenges this round are challenging, but I like them so far.
I’ve submitted to two challenges, so here are my two FOs for your perusal.

Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Yarn: Leftover sock yarn and some 3ply dreamtime from Patons. Needle: 2.5mm Modifications:Instead of a crochet chain or i-cord, I have used a twisted cable for the ties under the chin. Verdict:So cute! I love it!	Pattern: Crochet net soap saver and body scrubber Yarn: Craft cotton from Boyes. Hook:5.5mm Modifications: Used a larger hook than called for. Again used a twisted cable rather than a crochet chain for the ties. Verdict: It looks good! Hubby is yet to use it, but he seems as pleased as one can be with a soap saver!

Now I'm working on another top. This one is made from Debbie Bliss Angel, which is a mohair blend a bit like Rowan's kidsilk haze. The colour is the most fantastic shade of pink! I'm enjoying knitting it, partly because it's all knit, as it's a raglan top down design. I'm making it up as I go along to a large degree, which is both exciting and daunting, especially since there's really no frogging mohair. I don't know what challenge I'll be submitting this to, it might require a little creative thinking.

I've also started work on my Nerd Wars dissertation; a three-month project which is also part of Nerd Wars. I've chosen to knit two pairs of socks for my dissertation, which given what else I have on is a reasonably big deal! I've cast on and knitted one repeat of the first pair; I'm knitting them magic loop two-at-a-time. The first pair are Monkey socks in honour of Illyria, a character from Angel. The second pair will be of my own design, and will be in honour of Willow from Buffy.

Klingon Sweater

Last post I said

“I’ve been continuing with my re-knit of the “Klingon Sweater”. I’m expecting the weather to turn on the day that I cast it off; we’ll have record temperatures and a heat wave.”

Well, the forecast for the rest of the week is glorious sunshine and much warmer! Typical; as I have just finished weaving in the ends for my Klingon Sweater.

 

Pattern: Uffington by Jeni Hewlett, from the Fyberspates Scrumptious Collection volume 1.
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Chunky
Needle: 5mm and 6mm
Modifications: Where to start?

1. I knitted it in the round rather than flat; chunky wool doesn’t need chunky seams.
2. I knitted double the length of ribbing specified
3. I decreased for the hip, but then did not re-increase, thus extending the waist section and allowing negative ease to replace the bust shaping.
4. Instead of casting off at the shoulders I worked them as short rows, which I then grafted closed
5. Instead of always k3tog on the corners of the neckband, I did paired matching decreases for a neater corner
6. Because of not increasing for the bust I have much narrower shoulder straps, allowing me to extend the length of the rib for the arms.

Verdict: I’m really pleased with it now. It looks great on and fits me well.



This now means that I’m working on the baby pattern I designed and had tested. I just need to finish the ribbing on the neck and that will be ready for photographing and then I can make the pattern available!

I’ve already started churning some ideas for the next round of Nerd Wars, which starts in 12 days (not that I’m counting!) and teams will be announced on Friday, I believe. I’m planning on having another stab at a dissertation, though at the moment all the projects I want to make are big-ish, and I need to try to remember that I’m on holiday quite a lot over the next few months!

My fun-task for the weekend was to sort out the rest of my clothes. I already got rid of some trousers and shoes, but I wanted to go through all the holiday clothes and work clothes. I now only have clothes that fit me hanging in my wardrobe, and I also know that I have a good selection of clothes to choose from for my holiday. Woo!

End of Nerd Wars Tournament Four

So it’s the end of tournament four for Nerd Wars and I’ve had a blast. I’ve made some cool things, I’ve chatted to some cool folks, and I think I’ve made some new (online at least) friends. So first, achievement news:

As I completed 6/6 challenges in round 1
And in round 2
And in round 3
I get this funky special badge for completing 18/18 challenges in the tournament

Since the end of the tournament I’ve been watching some movies: the Avengers and Cabin in the Woods. These are both Joss Whedon films, and both star Chris Hemsworth in major roles.

The Avengers is a brilliant movie, I loved it. Plenty of action, drama and suspense; I enjoyed the humour and the interaction between the characters, the dynamic was excellent. Robert Downey Jr was excellent as Iron Man once more, Chris Evans’ Captain tightpants America was both lush and lovable, Chris Hemsworth was Godly as Thor, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk was both believable and unbelievable! Even the evil Loki played by Tom Hiddleston was fantastic, and the lesser but important Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury were great too.
In fact, the only downside of the movie is that now I have to wait for it to appear on BluRay before I can watch it and all the extras. Oh well, I know what’s going on my Christmas list!

Cabin in the Woods is, in a word, Weird. It starts out in a teen-holiday mood, and ends up; well, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. It’s vintage Joss at his best, with some good gore and jumps thrown in for good measure.
My main issue with this was that it wasn’t really that scary. It was horrific, but it was also predictable to a degree. In places it almost felt like a parody because of that. On the whole, though, it was a good movie.

What else have I been doing? Well, I’ve killed some courgettes by planting them out the day before we had a frost. That was a shame. I do have a couple more courgette plants though, so all should be well. I’m still sprouting seedlings on my windowsill, so I’m hopeful that I’ll have some more nice veggies to come. And some chilli peppers!

I’ve been continuing with my re-knit of the “Klingon Sweater”. I’m expecting the weather to turn on the day that I cast it off; we’ll have record temperatures and a heat wave. It’s chunky weight you see. I’m also plotting what I might knit for the next tournament of Nerd Wars. I’m switching teams for the next round, though I have to wait for the team roster to be announced. All being well, I’ll be playing on team Hellmouth for three months.
Then I plan to go back to Enterprise/Space Alliance (whichever is there for T6) to coincide with Star Trek London! (more on that in future posts I’m sure.)

Two more projects!

Two more projects gets me to my 6 for Nerd Wars for round 3! Woo!



I finally finished spinning this yarn

 

Fibre: A Little Bit Sheepish Merino
Colourway: Vampire Rock
Spun using: Highest ratio on the Ashford Traveller
Spin direction: Z (wheel turning anticlockwise, spin to the left)
Plying type/direction: 3-ply, S (wheel turning clockwise, spin to the right)
Yarn Stats: 100g / 247yards (12 wpi, approx sport weight)
Verdict: Nice! I love the long stripes. I think it needs to be a shawlette of some sort.

And I crocheted these slippers



Pattern: Men’s Padded Sole Slippers
Yarn: Cascade 220 in grey
Needle: 5mm
Modifications: None
Verdict: Nice. I like the padded soles. They’re a bit loose for hubby though. I’m going to try fulling them slightly and see what happens then.

And I got a little bit of gardening done. A very little bit. I’ve planted some more beans and peas in some seed trays, I’ve also planted some chilli plants. I don’t know how well they’ll do, but I have my fingers crossed!

Here are my squash plants.



I’ve transferred these to some lovely bigger pots and put them in the greenhouse. The next stage for these guys is to be planted in either the grow bag or the garden. I’m experimenting.

Quick Roundup

Alas, between my sister's wedding and the other randomness that's always going on, I haven't blogged much. Also, I lent my sister my camera (it does underwater) so I haven't been taking as many photos lately.

I do have some things to share though, so without further ado...

More Knitting!
Remember this yarn?



It was crying out to be something nice, wasn't it? Well, I decided on Argosy because I thought it would work well with the colours.



Once it was blocked I posed it on my pea structure (I'm hoping to grow peas this year!) so that I could count it for my Nerd Wars Unity - terraforming!



Would you believe that those are iPhone photos?

Pattern: Argosy
Yarn: my scrappy handspun
Needle: 4.5mm
Modifications: None
Verdict: Brilliant! Exactly what this yarn needed to be. My squares aren't very square, though perhaps I could have evened that out in the blocking.

Now that I've finished that I've been working on hubby's slippers again. There's a chance that he might get them in time for our one year anniversary coming up soon! They're actually quite nice and simple, but I've been procrastinating about making the custom insoles. Tsk tsk. It's not that they're going to be hard to make, and I'm almost at a point where I can't continue with the slippers without them. I don't have an excuse!

I have completed some spinning too, but I haven't taken photos of that yet.

Speaking of peas (as I was back a few paragraphs) I've got quite a few things on the go from a vegetable perspective, as I'm sure you remember me writing previously. Well, the chilli plant is all but dead, I think it's been too cold for it in the greenhouse with all the cold and rain. I've bought some seeds though, so I'll hopefully be able to get some plants going in the house instead. I have six squash plants which I intend to pot-on this weekend, though I'm not sure I'll risk them going outside just yet.

I'm also going to hopefully put some peas outside soon. I have one really strong looking little plant in the greenhouse and two or three reasonable looking ones in the seed propagator. Ideally I want 12 plants on each bamboo frame.

The weather hasn't been good enough for me to get out and weed the potatoes, or to earth them up which needs doing soon too. The ones in the potato bags need another layer of soil too. I'm quite hopeful that there will be potatoes, though we will see. If it goes well this year I'm thinking about re-arranging the whole garden!

I've had some success with the second seed planting of Brussels Sprouts, which hubby is quite keen on. And there's also some Swiss Chard on the go in that same seed tray. The beans and peas are not doing so well in there (though the peas are doing better than the last lot) so I may have to plant another round of those. I'm also hoping to arrange a bit of a swap with a knitting friend who also has some tomato plants. I may have to have a bit of a move-round in the greenhouse to accomodate them all though! Or else get myself another plastic plant shelter. I gave my old one to my mum!

I'm learning all the time though, and I already think that next year I might plant more varieties of tomato, but fewer of each plant. I'm also going to have a re-think about how early I sew some things. That said, if I get a nice early crop of tomatoes then that's fine by me! If I get myself out there either tonight or over the weekend (weather permitting!) then I'll take some more photos of how it's all going.

My sister

This weekend saw my lovely sister marry her lovely new husband. I thought that she looked absolutely beautiful, and they both looked very happy. I was a bridesmaid, and Mum outdid herself with another amazing outfit. (She had the best hat out of everyone!) It was a great day, and the weather held - no rain during the photos or anything! Woot! Congratulations to them both, I hope they have a great honeymoon too!