I spent the evening planning my bus route, checking maps, plotting a mission out west (West Auckland, that is) to check out a couple of yarn shops. I woke early on my one day off, glad it was not raining, map in bag with knitting supplies and a book, and ventured over on the ferry to the city, and headed for the bus.
I was still nervous of getting on the wrong bus, and getting stuck in some unknown part of the sprawling city, so checked with the driver that he was heading where I was. Of course! Absolutely. Only, he really wasn't. I don't know if my questions were wrong, or if he was just a bit mental, but I did indeed end up in the wrong place.
After sitting down with my map, I figured out I was defintely so far off track that I couldn't walk to my original destination, or figure out my way there without the aid of the trusty public transport planner site online, and so crossed the road and caught the next bus back into the centre of the city.
So traumatised by these events, and my apparent failure to get from A to B unaided, I retreated to the one yarn shop I've located in the (cold, but still beating) heart of the city, Masco Wools in the Downtown Shopping Center (one of those monstrous Westfield deals). Spotting some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in RED, it was easy enough to decide that this was meant to be. There were a few other selections made (how could there not be), and order was restored to my unbalanced world as I hatched a not so evil plan for yummy red socks.
One of my purchases was a hank of JJ's Montage Collection Mohair in "Karamea", that is pictured up there. For now, it is a scarf in progress, but as I've unravelled it twice already, I'm not completely confident it will stay that way (at least in its current form).
And I'm sure that I'll get to those shops eventually - perhaps next weekend. I'm going to endeavour to head out West again next Sunday after work for a knitting meetup. Hopefully getting lost two weeks in row is something even I can't manage!
Thinking of getting a treadmill?
I've hired one, and it's been great. The convenience of a gym in your home, and a great resting place for the kitty cat. What more do you need?
I've been doing a lot of reading lately. In a way, it's actually been spurred on by my rediscovery of knitting - popping down to the library to check out knittng books, and scouring the catalogue online for other treasures, I've picked up the odd book there and then. And knitting in the evenings and during my breaks tends to keep my focus away from the television, which doesn't hurt. The quiet solitude that I fall into with my knitting is also a good environment to follow lines in a book.
I've always read quite a lot, but I seem to go through phases where not much is happening on that front. These days I head down to the library very frequently. I still feel a little bad that a book with NZ on spine, branding it as a homegrown work, are much overlooked by me. I do realise that if I avoid them I won't read the good one that will encourage me to read more, but so goes it for now. If you're a NZ author reading this, you might consider asking libraries not to brand your books so - I'm sure I'm not the only one unreasonably biased against you from the outset.
For the most part, I've enjoyed all of the books I've read lately. I was pleasantly suprised by Kate Jacob's The Friday Night Knitting Club (my slight distrust spurred by the knowledge that Julia Roberts will be invovled in the movie), and found that I did smile, nod, and yes, get a little teary at the actions and thoughts of the eclectic little group of women.
Lisa Gardner's Hide was pretty darn good, I thought. I am a bit of a sucker for a thriller with a psychological or criminal twist, and this story of a woman hiding from a past unknown to her has all of that. I will definitely check out other books from this author - and remark that a lot of the more gripping crime novels I've read in the last few years have been written by women, not at all the way it used to be.
The central character in Hide is Annabel Granger, and whenever I read that I struggled to remember why that meant something to me. Was this a actress, another author, a TV character, or a defendant in some criminal law case I should not have forgotten about? Googling the name, I eventually discovered that Annabel was a character in a very different story which I listened to as an audiobook last year. Nothing like hearing a name read to you to make it stitch in your head. I did like that novel (a funny romance about a matchmaker - so different from Lisa Gardner's plot), so found that the library had another novel by the same author, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, that was rather like a spin-off from that initial story, picking up with another character. Sure enough, Natural Born Charmer was just as much fun.
Next off the library shelf was The Honey Wall, which I found a little disappointing. I enjoyed the writing style, and really felt like it could have really sucked me in. But I was left with the impression that it wasn't finished, that the characters hadn't developed enough - almost as if it were a series of excerpts from a completed novel. I'd be interested to see if the author has written anything else, though. Maybe when I've cleared the next six books from my "to read" list.
Right now I'm working my way through (in addition to various knitting books), The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory. I'd be lying if I said that historical novels, particularly those back on a semblance of a true story, are really my thing. I've never read anything by this author before for that reason, but this book was a freebie from HarperCollin's Prime Reads and so with it being delivered to me door, I had no reason not to give it a shot. And you know, I'm actually liking it. I'm about half way through, and Catalina, destined to to be Princess of Wales and Queen of England is now out of mourning for Arthur, and working her way into the sights of young Harry, now his father and namesake King Henry is dead.
I will say that I haven't been reading a lot of it in one sitting, which is my usual fashion, but I'm not sure if that's due to the nature of the book and subject, or if it's just me being tired and otherwise distracted. We'll see!
I really am terrible. I have once again set aside King Charles for another project. It's just that this 10 ply Naturally Sensation merino and angora blend has been calling to me since I picked it up half price from the basket outside Wild & Wooly, the yarn shop here in Devonport.
"Knit me, cable me, you know you want a pair of warm, soft and snuggly socks for your cold feet!" It was almost yelling, I had to relent. I had to skewer it with my cable needle to keep it quiet. ;-)
I really want to wash up the first one now it's done, but I'm keep it around until the second on is done, so I can compare as I go, making sure I keep everything in line, size and row wise (since I'm just following my own formula and making it up as I go).
My handy dany stitch marker is helping me keep track of where to start on the heel shaping, and I'm marking every cable cross over row with another, to make sure I don't stuff up the frequency there. Then I can just count cables for length. In case it's not obvious, I hate counting rows, and will do all I can to easily avoid doing so!
Once again, I started toe up with, and have done a short row heel, and finished off with the picot cast-off described in More Sensational Knitted Socks (basically, a knit one, make one, bind-off method - which I worked in 2x2 rib), for a looser top.
These socks are for my Mum's birthday (next week) and are now in the post (and thus able to be revealed to the world).
I got the idea for a simple sock with a cable down each side of the leg from this Debbie Bliss book I borrowed from the library. The pattern included in the book uses her Cashmerino yarn, in a pink shade (I have some lilac stashed away to use for me one day), and is a basic top-down sock with a short row heel.
I, of course, decided to work the socks toe-up, on a single 3.25 mm circular needle. The yarn is Naturally Me, and like the Debbie Bliss yarn is a merino and cashmere blend, and super yummy to work with. Seriously, if you're stressed out, just mushing the springy ball of yarn in your hand is a pleasant diversion! The colour is better represented by this photograph, and you can be in no doubt that it is green. And so soft once washed (I almost kept them, I swear).
One thing I found when working the socks was that if you're cabling up the side of the leg, it's much easier if you rearrange the stitches on the needles after the heel so that the cable is in the center of the needle, rather than fiddling with the beginning and end of each apparent turn. Luckily I sussed that out only a few rounds into the patter on the first sock!
I still have a little of this yarn left - each sock was one ball, and about 8 rows of another. I'll have to think of a little project to use up the rest (as I will with this cotton). Or just keep the ball by my desk for times of great stress!
I still have masses of my Paton's Inca after my quickly knit socks, and after taking my camera out of its very worn cloth cover to take progress photos, I decided to whip up a camera case with some of it.
Not surpsingly, this was a quick knit too, and only a short detour from the sock knitting!
Finished off with a recycled button, it was really quick and easy, and seam free.
And, bonus, because my camera has its own strap, I didn't need to worry about making a cord from a shoulder strap at all, and I can carry it along, or tuck it into my bag or pocket just as easily as before.
Now that More Sensational Knitted Socks has arrived, I've started on something a little more taxing than my last quickly knit pair. Started twice, actually.
My first choice of yarn was a solid brown, unknown yarn liberated from my Mum's stash. After a little knitting (and knowledge that there was a lot more to go), I decided the yarn was splitting too easily, making the making of new stitches irritating. Easily enough fixed.
Yep, I chose another yarn from my stash, a very slightly flecked sock yarn in a softer shade of brown. I stuffed up my choice of size, but I've recovered from that with only a slightly pointier toe than usual (again, my favourite provisional cast-on and Easy Toe), and a few more rows of increasing. Now, I'm into the pattern proper.
The King Charles Brocade pattern is one of many in the new book, and is a twelve stitch and twelve row repeat made up of good old knit and purl. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't contemplating just working a band of it, or only working it up the fron of the leg, but it's early days yet.
However, working with 2mm needles isn't my most favourite of things, so I wouldn't be surprised if this pair takes ages to finish. I have started on the two for the second sock (though have not completed the increases), but still I think I'll grab some 8 or 10 ply from my stash before too long - if for no other reason than to have something to take out with me that doesn't require taking a pattern or memorising the repeats!
I started the first sock in Cleckheaton Country Naturals while visting with my parents in Rotorua. I started it again just before leaving, and worked a good a good portion on the bus journey home. Until just past the ankle, I was working with a really nice set of bamboo (3.25 mm) needles (five, and eventually four). Things progressed quickly, and then I decided to try working the leg on two circulars. That was OK, but a little cumbersome for me, and I eventually switched back to trusty double-pointed's to finish off.
One sock was done, the leg ribbed 3 x 2, with a slightly darker blue stripe to stretch the yarn to a reasonable length.
I keenly started on the mate, with yet another needle method (magic loop), for variety! I chugged away at it, and then got distracted by more stripey endeavours.
Finally, they're done. and wearable. And, I learnt a lot during their knitting. Not just that two circulars is not for me (not yet, anyway), but that placing markers is tedious, and not something you really need to do if you're watching closely, and well, that I really should refer to yardage/meterage if I don't want to have to add a stripe in!
I am finally free of the unfinished pair guilt (for now, at least).
I really shouldn't complain, because it wasn't raining today, but hey, this is the internet, and the internet is for complaining! I'm cold, and I wish it were still summer!
Sure, I could still go down to the beach and take off my footwear, but I'd get sand in my socks, and damp in my old bones.
Please sun, shine some more tomorrow (after 11 when the dude who is dropping off the treadmill I'm hiring has gone would be best). Thanks!
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