A Meagre Offering

Hello everyone.  I know it's been yet another record absence from blogging, but it's been a long year, and blogging about a pair of socks might not seem like a very big accomplishment, but it is - truly.  I feel I've spent the majority of this year sleeping, or perhaps sleep-walking through my life.

It's been a very busy time, chock-full of very bad and very good.  The very bad, we lost my Dad in April.

He was a lovely person, very patient and loyal, and always fixing things, leaving the world a better place in small ways.  He will be missed.

In September we lost our little bunny, Pip.

The opposite of Dad, this little bunny was a vicious creature.  We suffered through many bites and scratches in the 13 years he lived with us, and though I certainly won't miss that, his absence is being felt.

But there's also been very good.  In June, Nigel and I went down to Minneapolis to see The Cure in concert.

 This was good fun, and, as we were staying at the same hotel as the band, I got to chat with Roger O'Donnell on the elevator (hey, check that link out, it's his birthday today!)

Also very good, Nigel bought himself tickets to Wimbledon, so I tagged along with him to England and met up with my Aunt and Uncle.

They are delightful people and we spent a lovely day wandering through antique shops in Hastings.

...on to the socks.

A simple sock pattern from Regia, using Regia Zoofari yarn, a kooky little yarn that knits up into animal prints.  These are the tiger stripes.  I added a little solid black at the heel and toe, and a smidge along the cuff.  Rrraawr!



So, in short, the good was wonderful and the bad was awful and the socks are tiger-stripe, and it's left this entire year feeling like some strange dream...and so...


Let's watch The Cure (circa 1989) sing us a Lullaby while I try to shake myself out of dreamland.

So Much Knitting, So Little Blogging

I've accomplished quite a lot of knitting since I last posted to the old blog... (over 6 months ago!!!), but I'll spare you most of the projects.  To be perfectly honest, I've not actually finished all that much.  I have a great pile of "almost done"s in knitting bags beside my chair in the entertainment room.  Some need sewing up, some need buttons sewn on, some need both these things, but I've no momentum at the mo. 

I will show you two projects I did managed to finish - oddly neither required sewing up or buttons.  First, Lilleput by Finnish designer Lene Alve.  This is a very clever knit, worked sideways, from hem to neck in a series of short rows, with contrasting panels and trim - I chose hot pink for the contrast and a soft cream and pale gray for the body of the cardi.

It came out looking pretty swish, if I do say so!

and finished up with sweet wee ties at the neck...

and here's wee Josephine modelling for us.  She's also showing off her hot pink Minimocs that Elly encouraged me to purchase while in Victoria last September.  Not that Old Nan needs much prodding to spend money on Wee Josephine!

Also finished recently, a pair of mittens for my other little darling - Nigel.  The pattern is Darth Mittens, by Swedish designer Therese Sharp, she has all sorts of interesting mitt patterns, but I knew these ones were for my man.

Just look at them!  Nigel isn't as agreeable a model as Josephine, but likes them very much and wears them when out in the cold evenings while walking the dog.