Oops.

Dear Blog,

I am very sorry I have been neglecting you. Let me assure you, it's not you, it's me. I shall endeavour to do better, and for now, let me try to sum up the craziness of my life over the last month.

First, I've been spending a ton of time on my postgraduate studies. They are going well; I've handed in another paper, made good progress on my group project, and am really enjoying the module on Systems Analysis and Design. Clearly, a life of being an information geek is the right choice for me.

Second, I've been up to my eyeballs with the SCA. Specifically, I've been co-cratting a major event. Three days, 150 attendees, and so busy I did not touch yarn for the best part of a week. There, there, blog, it's ok, I'm better now.

There has been fiber in my life over the past four weeks, fear not. First of all, some lovely parcels! I received the final installment of the 2009 Tsock Club - The Abbey. It has gargoyles and flying buttresses. Isn't the yarn pretty?

What's that? Not yarn, you say? Why, blog, how observant of you! The Club's creators decided to try out something new with this shipment. Anyone who wanted to could swap their yarn out for superwash spinning fiber so that one might Tspin one's Tsocks. And for a small extra charge, the junkies yarn nuts out there could have both yarn and fiber. You can probably guess which option I went for.

Included in this shipment was a bar of handmade herbal soap, which smells divine, and a bag of herbal moth repellant. And since Jennifer is a sweetheart about such things, neither soap nor moth repellant contains lavender, to which I am allergic.

There's more yarn in my life, too. Dee and Tony did the impossible - they dyed the perfect red yarn. I may have broken the yarn diet, but my only regret is not buying more of the yarn while it was available. I also scored a skein of gorgeous lavender-and-pink cobweb-weight, 'cause I really needed more of that in my stash.

What's that? Where's the knitting? Oh, there's been knitting too, and spinning, but if I tell you about everything at once I'll have nothing to tempt you back with!

Hugs and kisses,

Your Knitting Fiend

Teeny tiny stitches...

I'm hemming tablecloths for the reenactment society. Good, because hemming goes really quickly compared to knitting. Bad, because it's miles and miles of itty-bitty little stitches, white on white. Yes, I could make bigger stitches, but these are for high table for an event in the spring and I want them to look perfect!

I promise I'm not dead

Though you might think that from the infrequency of my updates these days. I am rapidly approaching the end of the dress, and it's eating all of my time. I feel as though I can't update my blog because I have no finished projects to show, and there's only so many views of a green blob one can take. The wedding is a week on Saturday. Thankfully, I'm off the hook for lining it. Given the state my elbows are in from all the crochet, that's a really good thing!

I've started the toe of the first of hubby's Thuja socks. His toes are quite wide, so I probably won't do the recommended number of toe decreases. I'm working on a novelty yarn garter-stitch scarf as well - the ideal project for evenings when my brain has switched off.

This past weekend was a major Kingdom event - Spring Crown Tourney. My home Shire was hosting, and I (foolishly?) volunteered as reservations steward. Assisting in the running of a weekend-long event for 100 people is not hugely relaxing, but it was a lot of fun. And it meant that I spent quite a chunk of time frantically sewing clothing together to wear to court. My fingers are itching to sew again! I'm pondering taking some time out from yarncraft after finishing the dress in order to ply a needle for a while.

Having said that, Cookie A is in London this weekend signing copies of her new book at Loop. And I have a good-sized pile of semi-solid sock yarn needing a pattern, and I did commit to making myself four new pairs of socks this year...

Some pretty things

First up, some handspun silk. I am so happy with it! I ended up dyeing it with kool-aid, four of berry blue and one of strawberry. Weirdly, it doesn't smell of fruit like wool does.

And on a totally unrelated note, last weekend the hubby and I went to an event. And we got called up in court and presented with our Awards of Arms!!! Not a major award by any means, but it's the one that means that we can design and display coats of arms.

Hubs', with gorgeous Celtic knotwork:

Mine, beautifully done by the hand of Her Majesty, Queen Fiona (!):

I step away for 5 minutes to live my life...

...and suddenly it's been a week since I updated my blog! Oops! Major happenings on the needlework scene, some of which need their own post. So, a rundown of the minor things.

I still have no camera. This is annoying, but since little brother (who graduated yesterday! Woohoo!) seems to want to buy me one for Christmas, I am going to struggle through without one for a little while longer. However, mum is staying over this weekend and I have high hopes of taking a big batch of photos that I can dole out over the next few weeks.

I've done a bit of shopping. The reenactment group took a trip to Walthamstowe Market to look for garb fabric. I came away with 2 lots of fabric, both courtesy of my mother, and both for the same outfit! A while ago I swapped some yarn from my stash for some lovely rose-coloured cotton fabric. Only trouble was, there wasn't enough to make a full gown from. So I've now acquired some paler pink cotton and some white linen that is all going to be turned into a bodice-and-skirt number. I'm hoping to cut that out this weekend.

I also came home with 2 more giant balls of wool/acrylic to make sweater for the hub, courtesy of Grandmother. It's his favourite colour and I don't make him nearly as much stuff as I should.

There was one other thing that happened that day, shopping-wise, but it gets its own post!

Weaving Friend has now received her turquoise mitts and seems to love them. I'm glad she's happy. I'm gladder that they are out of my flat! (I've been in a bit of a purge mode recently.) Also gave Mum her garters, as well as giving her my Noro Triangle Shawl. She loves the colours, and while I really like it they are definitely more her than me. I've been promised a replacement skein of Noro Sock to make another in my colours.

While on a brief mission to John Lewis, I found 2 skeins of Kidsilk Haze in the remnants bin on half price. Needless to say, they now live with me. I'm rather pleased with them because I've just swapped for 2 more skeins of the same colourway - I'll have enough to make a sweater! Plus Mum found some gorgeous yarn that I am to turn into a pair of socks at some point in the future. I'm thinking Broadripples, personally.

Other needlework news - I finished my Wise Monkeys. They fit, are comfy, and have already been worn so are in the laundry hamper. I've decided that I don't really like the red tunic I started making for Hub last year, so I've ripped out a bunch and am going to finish it and donate it to the Shire guest basket. I finished another stripe of my bedspread last night, which is very pleasing. Halloween Monkeys are now the designated handbag sock, while the Poms are going to be my at home in the evening project. I really just want them finished and off the knitting table! Once those three projects are done, I'm seriously considering resurrecting the Coatigan. Mostly because it takes up a ton of space, and I'd really like to be able to wear it someday.

Back in the saddle

The sewing marathon is finally over. We all had garb to wear to Coronation, where much fun was had. People even admired the stuff we made! Pretty much everything got done, too, which surprised me greatly. The spouse's red tunic is not finished, but it is going to require a great deal of ripping, redesigning and resewing. Frankly, I'm just not into it right now! Also didn't get the garters done, but mum ended up managing just fine without them.

I'm devoting my last day of vacation to doing things that I want to do, rather than things I have to do. I just finished my Odessa hat, for starters! It came out as more of a beanie than I was expecting, but that's alright. I didn't have any beanies. I still think it's pretty. I'd like to make one without the beads, since they were a bit of a pain, but this pattern is definitely going into the "make again" pile. Not many patterns there, truth be told!

Later today I'm planning to cast on for some socks, possibly wind some yarn, and perhaps cut out a new skirt. There is much more garb being planned, now that I actually have time to enjoy doing it.

Bah

Betrayed by the frailties of my own body, I didn't manage to get the green tunic finished over the weekend. I had done so much sewing that I was having muscle spasms in my right forearm every time I made a stitch! So on Sunday I worked on my Odessa hat, which was great. I might even get it finished this month, who knows?

I also worked on my veil. I'd cut it a little wider than I needed, which ended up being a good thing. Turns out that it has some stains on the edges, so I was able to just cut them off. Now it's just a case of pinning, ironing and hemming. I hope to get that done this week, once the last little bits of hemming on the tunic are done.

And I went shopping. For a good reason! I had bargained with a friend who does tablet-weaving for a belt in exchange for some elbow-length fingerless gloves. Foolishly, I figured that she wouldn't have time to make it for ages, but no. When we met up at the Shire picnic on Saturday, she had finished it! It's absolutely gorgeous, and will look splendid with my teal gown. I'd brought along the skein of Alpaca Silk I bought back in March to see if the texture was ok for her gloves (she's allergic to wool, poor thing), and not only did she love the yarn, but she loved the colour! So I went and got a second skein to make her the gloves. And since I was in the yarn shop on the 1st of June, when I'd declared 100g of yarn to be permissable, I indulged in a skein of Jitterbug in the colourway Copper Beach. It's destined to become a pair of socks for the husband once Summer of Socks starts! I also got a set of DPNs in a size I didn't have for the gloves and some removable stitch markers.

A frustrating lunch hour, though, as I'd forgotten my black sewing thread and couldn't sew. So instead I worked on another pair of booties. The first one is nearly done, so I will have a gift to take when I go to visit Baby and his mum! Yes, one of my friends has had her baby. Amusingly, he arrived on her birthday.

Plans and lists, for I'm obsessive like that

I have a bunch of stuff that I'm making or going to make that has an external deadline on it and needs working on. Plus I have a bunch of projects that I'd really like to get finished just so that they are done. So, I'm going to do a calendar run-down with deadlines and things to help keep track of what needs doing.

May 22-31: Finish enough garb that the hub and I each have an outfit to wear to the revel on the 31st.

-finish hemming bottom of chemise ASAP
-sew up seams of green tunic, teal gown and red gown on 24th with E's sewing machine
-hand-finish tunic and teal gown once machine sewing is done
-hem veil
-if time allows, apply trim to teal gown and cut out and assemble a pair of braies

ALSO work on mum's birthday present and the bedspread when not able to sew.

June 1: Camden Green Fair. Today I can work on anything I want, and may buy up to 100g of yarn providing I have a plan for it.

June 2-9: Cut out, hem and embroider handkerchiefs for Coronation. Keep working on mum's birthday present when not sewing.

June 10: Day trip to St Albans - birthday knitting on the train and in the purse.

June 11-17: hand finishing on red gown, repairs on red tunic, cut out blue court tunic for the hub, birthday knitting as and when, hopefully finished by June 18, swatching for silk gloves

June 18: pack before going on holiday, no needlework!

June 19-26: visiting mum, finishing up any remaining handsewing plus making blue court tunic and possibly pink gown, Socks on Vacation for SoS

June 27-29: Coronation - knitting silk gloves, maybe finishing some inside seams if I can be bothered.

June 30-July1: Bugger all. Two days off playing in London!

July 2-18: SoS will start properly for me at this point, since all the sewing will be done. Also knitting flag for the 198 Countries Peace Project

July19-31: SoS continues. Other priority project is the Swallowtail shawl

August 1-7: break from socks prior to the Knitting Olympics - will work on one of the Mission:Possible outstanding projects. Probably Interlocking Cables.

August 8-24: Knitting Olympics, during which I will attempt to knit an entire pair of Pomatomus socks in 17 days.

August 25-31: Interlocking Cables sweater and last few days of SoS

September 1-5: finish Interlocking Cables

September 6 - iKnit Day and the great wearing of the sweater to meet the Yarn Harlot herself! A small amount of stash enhancement is also permissable

September 7-10: anything I want to work on or cast on for

September 11-15: Raglan Ffair - silk gloves again

September 16-30: very little of anything, given that term starts and I will be exhausted from freshers.

October-December: finishing up as many WIPs as possible - ideally I'd like to start the New Year with no unfinished knitting, crocheting or sewing projects. NB sewing not embroidery - I'm ambitious, not clinically insane!

Pomatomus is no more

I don't know why I didn't trust the designer. The Monkey socks are the best socks I've ever made. Of course she had a reason to go up a needle size.

In other words, although I could still get it onto my foot, the first Pomatomus was a little on the tight side. So I frogged it. RIP! I am being much more demanding on myself recently. If it's less than very good, I don't tolerate it. Although it did take me almost a fortnight to admit to myself that really I'd be happier with a looser sock.

I've managed to build myself quite a nice schedule at the moment. On the 31st of this month, I've got an SCA event for which the husband and I both need garb. I have 6 full days of weekend to spend sewing between now and then, and only 3 pieces of clothing that must be finished. Hopefully this is doable. I'm spending my weekdays on knitting and crocheting both to avoid sewing-induced RSI and because, well, I like knitting and crocheting better than sewing.
Then in June I can devote my free time to making my mother's birthday present on weekdays and sewing more garb and some handkerchiefs for Coronation on the last weekend of June.

Conveniently, Summer of Socks 2008 starts the weekend before Coronation. So in theory, I should have all my sewing done by that point, allowing me to throw myself headfirst into an orgy of sockish wonder. Now that I've frogged the Poms, I have enough sock yarn for at least 9 pairs of socks. Maybe if I use it all up during SoS, I can buy a bunch more at one of the autumn knitting events I'm going to!

I will be revisiting the Poms at some point in the future. The pattern is great. But in order to make a nice fabric on 2.75mm needles, I'm going to need a thicker sock yarn, like Emily or Lucia from Posh Yarn. The yarn I was using for the Poms is probably going to end up being another pair of Monkeys.

So many things done over the long weekend!

First - a long overdue photo of the mini-Who scarf. The recipient is coming over on Friday, so that'll be good. I like getting rid of the finished projects almost as much as I like finishing them!

Next, an update of my Mission:Possible projects. I only took photos of the ones on which there was any visible progress, so some are just list entries.

• Black drop-stitch shawl Finished!
• Half-hexagon shawl Hibernating
• Dr Who Leftovers Finished!
• Red Posh laceweight Swallowtail WIP
• Acrylic several WIPs no photos
• Interlocking Cables sweater WIP
• Alpaca neckwarmer Finished!
• Coatigan Hibernating
• Monkey Socks Finished!
• Pomatomus socks WIP
• Anne-trelac socks not yet cast on
• Clapotis WIP

I'm quite pleased with my progress, actually. I'm hoping to finish Swallowtail this month, since I have so much laceweight to get through!

I spent most of the weekend sewing, when I wasn't taking photos or cooking. We are going to a big SCA event this summer and need clothing. At the moment, I have a gown and chemise for myself and a tunic for my husband underway. I also have enough fabric to make two more tunics for him and three more gowns for me. I'm hoping to have 2 each finished by the end of June, so there probably won't be as much knitting on the blog as there has been recently.

Lots of progress, no more finishing

I may bite my tongue later, but I don't think I'm going to finish anything else this month. Although it'd be nice if I did!

I was home sick from Friday until yesterday, and I got quite a lot done as a result! Well, up until Sunday, which was when I got to the dysfuntional part of the cold. On Friday I managed to finish the green and yellow mitts for my mother, and I'm quite pleased with them. They were very good practice for working corrugated ribbing, of which there is a lot on the Ivy League Vest I'm hoping to make some time this year. And because I've finished the mitts, I can now add the remnants of the yellow and green yarn to the mini-Who scarf and finish up a fourth goal! Mmmmm, mindless garter stitch.

After finishing the mitts, I decided to indulge in a new project. One of my goals was to knit up the crimson Posh laceweight that I've been hoarding. Trouble was, it was only 400m of yarn, hardly enough to make a shawl and I didn't really want a laceweight scarf. And then Knitting Daily published the e-book of old patterns that was supposed to have come out back in March. Contained therein was the pattern for the Swallowtail Shawl, a truly gorgeous pattern that calls for... exactly 400m of yarn. And just after they published it, the Posh Yarn Group on Ravelry decided to have a knitalong for the Swallowtail. Destiny, surely. So I cast on. The pattern is delightful. It flows beautifully, and each pattern repeat is only 6 rows long. And only 3 of those rows actually have pattern on them - the others are just purling back across. I've finished the first chart and done 4 of the 14 repeats of the second chart. There are then 3 border charts to work through, although they are each only worked once.

The 3rd and 4th charts are interesting. They contain nupps, which are a bit like miniature bobbles. On one row, you do a whole bunch of increases into one stitch, and then on the following row you purl all of the increases together to get back to where you started. There is a popular alternative to the nupps where you add a bead to the knitting instead of working a nupp. Much easier, and uses less yarn, so very good if you're worried about running out. Now, I live close to a bead shop, but I was concerned about being able to do the beads. You see, unless you want to go to the trouble of prestringing all of the beads (which is really bad for the yarn), you need to have a tiny crochet hook. Tiny enough that the head and the shaft fit into the opening of the bead. I had some pretty small crochet hooks, but nothing on that scale. And then I went to the shop on Saturday.

It was an honest trip - we were going to the recycling centre on our way somewhere else, and the shop was just before the centre. So I waited in the shop where it wasn't raining while the lovely spouse got rid of an ancient computer monitor. And I found a tiny crochet hook! This sucker is only 0.6mm in diameter. So, I bought the hook and some black beads to go on the red shawl. Goth I may be, but I was inspired by the Kitri Socks.

And then we headed off to our somewhere else, and I got to be even more productive! It was our monthly Shire Revel, and we'd decided that it was going to be a day of garb-making. So I spent Saturday morning cutting out the pieces of a chemise, and spent Saturday afternoon assembling them. Well, I pinned, and our Seneschal ran them up on the sewing machine. I can use a machine, but she's much quicker than I. Especially since it's her machine! So the result of the afternoon was a completed seamed chemise. I just need to hem the skirt and cuffs, finish and apply trim to the neck, and finish the insides of the seams. And the insides aren't really a priority. I can work on them here and there as the mood strikes me.

One of our members is a whiz-kid with a tablet loom, and had brought a load of trim for finishing her most recent gown. And when she had a bunch left over, she offered it to me for the new chemise! And this of course inspired me to strike a bargain. She's going to weave me a belt, and in exchange I'm going to knit her a pair of elbow-length fingerless gloves. She can knit, but isn't really good at it (her comment, not mine!), just like I could probably figure out a loom, but don't really have any desire to. So it works out well for us both.

On Sunday I dived into my husband's tunic, the one I've been working on for AGES. Or so it seems. The incredibly productive Saturday inspired me, and I've just about finished attaching the bias tape to the collar. There's still a lot to be done on it, but getting the neck nearly done makes it look a lot more like a proper piece of clothing.
And then my cold caught up with me, and I spent the rest of Sunday laying on the couch feeling like hell with a fever, and Monday mostly in bed resting. And crocheting the ripple bedspread. I went through the bag with my Mission:Possible stuff in it (and the contents are shrinking!), and pulled out all of the acrylic that isn't for the bedspread. It's now in its own bag so that I can just get on and make all of the little scrappy projects I need to do.

Pretty busy, huh?

Busy busy busy

The biggest hindrance to updating the blog and posting photos is that I'd much rather spend my free time making things than writing about them. Especially at the weekend, when I've got enough time to work on big projects instead of the ever-present socks.

This weekend was both busy and productive. There is an SCA event coming up in a couple of weeks, and both of us would like to have garb to wear. And we bought fabric, it was just a case of cutting and assembling. So I laid out my fabric, realized it was huge (3m of 60-inch-wide crimson wool), and decided to have a go at cutting two garments out of it. And I did. Thanks to lots of geometry at school and my trusty notebook, I was able to lay out the fabric in such a way that I've got a long-sleeved kneelength tunic for the spouse and a sleeveless floorlength gown for me cut out. Spouse is very happy, since I'm finishing his tunic first.

Thus far I've attached the sleeves to the body and basted the side gussets into place. Stitch'n'Bitch is tonight, so I'm hoping to make good progress on attaching the gussets. Once I've done that I'll put in the gusset at the back, finish the sleeve seams since it would be a pain to do them later, cut out and attach the underarm gussets, finish the collar, sew the sleeve seams and pin up and sew the hem. Then after the event when I have more free time I'll add some embroidery around the cuffs and collar and finish the rest of the seams.
Then it's on to my garb! I've already got most of my chemise and gown (a teal one, not the red) cut out and basted, so hopefully they will go quickly.

Over the course of this year I've got a second, Byzantine-style tunic and matching undertunic, along with some breeches, planned for the spouse and the red gown and a couple of headdresses planned for me. Plus there will be a ton of navy wool left over from his second tunic, so I'll have to figure out something to do with that. I'd really like to attempt a pieced gown, maybe with lacing. And I'm certain I'm going to have leftovers from the teal and cream I'm using for my current outfit. So many possibilities!

Of course, the weekend also contained yarny goodness. I worked on Monkey Two, and am very nearly done with the cuff. It's slowed down because I really need to finish the clothing, but it's still fun. I've been working a few rounds whenever I make progress on the tunic. The mini-Who scarf is being worked on too. In fact, it's my lunch-hour knitting of the day. I needed something mindless, since the tunic takes so much concentration.

And because I have the restraint of a 2-year-old at Christmas, I started a new project. See, I had to go up to the London Bead Co for red sewing thread to match the tunic, and while I was there I spotted a jumbo crochet hook that was just the right size for making the black-and-pink yarn into the wrap I found. So of course I had to try out my new hook. I've never worked with one this big before, but I think it's going well. And so quickly!

And then there was more

A few other tidbits from the weekend:
-I finally bought some tailor's chalk, also at the market. It should make cutting out garb much easier. Now I just need a yardstick!
-I experienced a first - I twisted the stitches on the sweater when I joined in the round. So that got ripped out and I'm going to knit the first couple of rows back-and-forth to avoid repeating my mistake.
-The sweater was (unsurprisingly) irritating me, so I cast on for some Monkey socks, at long last. And they are fun. Admittedly I'm still working the ribbing, but the yarn is wonderful (more Posh, of course) , the faded orange-y colour is yummy, and it's nice to be working a sock on only 64 stitches and 2.5mm instead of the rather insane gauge of the Jitterbug socks!

Tonight's project-at-the-pub is going to be my ripple afghan. I'd love to take the socks, but I really can't read a pattern in a dim taproom while participating in a meeting. And I really do want to crack on with using up the acrylic yarn.
The nice bit of this whole weekend is that everything I started or worked on (apart from the Jitterbugs) was part of Mission: Possible! I love making progress on my big projects.

One up, one down

Not just a great drinking game, but a good reflection of my knitting progress this weekend. I cast on for a baby jacket for a friend who is expecting, but I also finished up the lace kerchief that I started months ago! I finished the patterned part during Scrapheap Challenge, and knit the ties and border during part 2 of Cranford. I still need to block it, since the lace is a little bumpy right now, but I tried it on and Spouse thinks it looks great.

The baby jacket is adorable. It's made in three pieces - 2 sleeves and a body. I've done about half of the body so far. It's great having instructions that say things like "work even until piece measures 1.5", then divide for the armholes". The last adult sweater I knit needed 8" of knitting before the armhole, and that was a rather short sweater. I'm making it in lime green for a couple of reasons. First, I had enough lime green cotton in my stash to make the whole thing, and I got gauge on the needle size stated in the pattern. Second, I don't know whether the bump is a boy or a girl, and green is nicely neutral. Third, I think babies look good in bright colours. It's never really made sense why people give babies brightly coloured toys to stimulate them, then dress them in bland and boring colours. Crazy.

I've also started something that I've never done before. I'm making a gown. Spouse and I have gotten into medieval reenactment, and the time has come for us to have some garb of our own. So I got some lovely teal wool and on Saturday cut out the pieces. It's a simple sleeveless overtunic with a full gored skirt. Nothing but straight seams, unless I decide to do something funky with the neckline. I'm hoping to get the whole thing done by the twelfth of January, since we are having a feast. Of course, I'm also going to need a chemise to wear underneath, but that's going to mean sleeves and gussets.