tigerlilith knits...

back to basics

2012-01-27T17:42:00.001Z

if you follow me on twitter, you'll likely already know that january is proving difficult. behind the scenes, there's been a family thing, as well as the massive home repairs that i've been tweeting about. the roof of our building has been leaking for over a year, and due to problems with getting all the money together (let's just say that one of the properties in this shared building deserve more bad words than i could ever come up with!) we're only just managing to get it fixed now, at the point where it now involves ripping out & replacing an entire wall & part of the ceiling in the bedroom. since our household includes a neurotic dog who's scared of men & can't be left on his own if there are workmen about, and a person on the autistic spectrum (me!) who freaks out if things are off-schedule/out of place, it's been awesome. & after nearly two weeks of stress & exhaustion, the unspeakable happened: i forgot how to knit.
i couldn't believe it. i had started a sock for the RSA, but it was the wrong size, so i had to rip it out. but when it came to starting over, i couldn't figure out what to do. ok, i thought, it's a mental block - i've just ripped out these socks, and my brain is rebelling at doing all that work over again. but that's ok - i have other projects on the needles. i'll just work on them for a while, and restart the socks later. so i opened up another project bag - and nothing happened. i sat looking at the yarn & needles & half-finished cardigan front - i was sure if i just thought about it a little, i could remember what to do.
instead, i burst into tears, and had to be put to bed.
sigh.
luckily, it was only a temporary blip - after some sleep, and a day off (without work, or anyone climbing about the roof with a hammer, or anything to do but relax), i decided to go back to basics.

toe-up stripey socks in OMA merino superwash

phew.

love, love, love

2012-01-19T17:54:00.000Z

in case you didn't already see the thread on ravelry, there's yet another KAL in the works in the Old Maiden Aunt group! we took january off because some of us (ok, mostly just me) hadn't finished our projects from the december KAL yet, and needed a little catchup time. but after spending january clearing the decks of knitting projects, i'll be ready for more KAL fun!
this KAL is fairly open - the theme is "love". that means you can work on any project, in any yarn, for anyone at all, as long as you can convince me & the rest of the OMA group that it's linked to love.
i was asked very nicely if i'd consider dyeing something pink for this KAL - it's kind of the colour of love, after all, and a lot of OMA group members love it! i'm not really a pink person, so i don't have many (any?) pinks on my colourway range, and it would seem that some of you have been feeling a distinct lack of pink! so, since my customers are made of awesome, and i love them, i had a bit of a dyepot dabble:

"as you wish", shown in superwash merino/silk 4ply

"twu wuv", show in superwash merino/nylon/sparkle 4ply

to find out more & join in, check out the ravelry thread!!

resolved

2012-01-03T16:17:00.001Z

the start of a new year is always so exciting - a whole year to fill with new plans, new ideas, new projects, & new challenges. some people call these "resolutions"; here are a few of mine:

knit more socks. the RSA (resident sock appreciator) hasn't had new socks in a while, and has just worn holes in a few old socks, so clearly more sock knitting is needed. to help with this plan, i was gifted a membership in the Cookie A. sock club for xmas (yay!!) - a whole year of sock patterns, sock yarns - and cookie recipes too!
knit myself some classic, simple cardigans & sweaters that actually FIT. i've been struggling with this for a while - throughout losing weight, i didn't knit any garments at all, because i didn't know what would fit me when i hit my goal. and now that i'm more or less where i want to be weight-wise, the image i have of my body shape hasn't caught up with what my body is actually like now, so the couple of garments i've made lately haven't fitted properly at all (sigh). that means i need to take proper measurements of my shape, and more importantly, actually believe the measurements, even if it looks smaller than i think it should!
read more. i LOVE to read, but it kind of falls by the wayside sometimes. now that i have a kindle, i have no excuse - i'll have hundreds of books with me everywhere, all the time, and no reason not to read them.
start taking cello lessons again. i started last year, but over the summer i was away, then my tutor was away, then work/life/etc got a bit out of hand, and not only did i stop going to lessons, but i haven't picked up my cello since july. i will start again, and i will practice!!
& last but certainly not least - my biggest goal this year is to become a tough mudder - the scottish event is in july!! it might seem a little nutty - i definitely have my doubts! - but then, if you'd told me last year that i'd be clocking up 12 miles a week of running time, plus 2-3 gym sessions a week, and actually (shocked whisper) enjoying it - well, i'd have thought that was pretty nutty too. so who knows? (just so you know, this is NOT the training program i'll be following.)

so, what are you up to this year?

going on a bear hunt

2011-12-21T09:15:00.001Z

something strange is going on over here.

in various nooks & crannys about the house, little gold bears have been popping up.

some are harder to spot than others (i believe this one is practicing what's known as hiding in plain sight).

& some are turning up where you'd least expect them.

& just when they've all been found & gathered together, they disappear...

& it starts all over again!

win stuff with p/hop!!

2011-12-13T12:57:00.001Z

it's p/hop's birthday, and they're giving away lovely knitting things to celebrate, including a £30 gift certificate to an amazing online yarn shop!! all you need to do is follow along with their blog, & send in an answer to the question on the prize-giving post for a chance to win spending money for yarn, along with loads of other awesome knitty stuff.

(& if you don't already know about the fantastic fundraising that p/hop does, check it out here.)

random catchup

2011-12-08T10:25:00.000Z

wow, i haven't been here in a REALLY long time. there's been a lot going on, so here's a quick random catchup:

1. the november KAL was so much fun! loads of folk participated, there were a few fun prizes, and at the end, most of us had a lovely new shawl:

pattern: karise by the fab kariebookish
needles: 3.75mm
yarn: colorimetry lambswool lace, 750yds
modifications: i left out the plain stockinette section & did a few rows of lacey make-it-up-as-you-go at the top of the shawl before working 15 repeats of chart A, 7 repeates of chart B, and 1 repeat of chart C.

2. there's a december KAL running now, we had so much fun the first time! this time, the theme is colourwork, and there are four lovely mitt patterns to choose from. i'm making the "vagabond" mitts, but i haven't got very far on them yet (yarn is my own merino sock yarn in a one-off purple and "grellow").

3. i'm running a lot now, covering about 12 miles a week (which is pretty impressive by my usual sit-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing standards!). & i hate to admit it, but i actually kind of like it. and even more shamefully, i've actually just gone online & bought running tights (ack!) - i'm still not convinced that the west coast of scotland needs to see my butt in that much detail (seriously, spandex??) but with the winter setting in, it seems like the only way to stay reasonably dry & warm for my 6 mile run home from work.

4. yep, i just said 6 miles - and i'm gradually making it even longer. i'm also doing two short (3 mile) runs during the week, and i'm going to the gym three days a week as well, with a new workout plan i'm calling "The Insane Circuits of Death". & here's why. (ok, stop laughing - i'm serious!)

5. don't worry, i'll be dyeing up a ton of yarn beforehand, just in case i break an arm or something.

small shawls!!

2011-10-27T19:43:00.000+01:00

there seems to be more & more patterns popping up for small, scarf-sized shawls - some of them are truly lovely, and can be made from single skeins of sock yarn (& as most knitters know, sock yarn doesn't count as stash, so somehow, we end up with a lot of single skeins!). so, to encourage the knitting of small shawls (& the using up of single skeins of sock yarn that somehow found their way into our homes even though we're "not buying any more yarn right now"), the Old Maiden Aunt group on Ravelry is hosting a Small Shawl KAL!!!

here are the rules:

the patterns for this KAL are karise, juneberry, and shenandoah valley. all three designers have generously offered a discount on pattern purchases for any KAL participants (yay!!) - check this thread on Ravelry for details. only these shawls will qualify you for the prize draws.
you must cast on your shawl on or after 1st november. please post a “cast on” post in the KAL thread on Ravelry including details of your pattern choice, yarn choice, date started, and a photo if at all possible. swatching before 1st november is ok, but casting on is NOT!!
you must finish your shawl on or before 30th november. please then post a “cast off” post in the KAL thread on Ravelry including details of your pattern choice, yarn choice, date finished, and a photo!!
if you finish your shawl in the given time period, you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win something lovely from Old Maiden Aunt. i’ll also be doing a few random prize draws throughout - so even if you’re not sure whether or not you can finish in time, you might still win something if you participate! anyone who uses OMA yarns for their KAL project gets extra chances in any draws :)
if you’re an overachiever, or just a little nutty, and want to knit ALL THREE shawls during the KAL, you’ll be entered into a draw for an extra-special-fabulous bonus prize!!!

the KAL thread on Ravelry will be unlocked on 1st november for you to start posting - so in the meantime, clear your schedules/WIPs, choose your pattern(s), wind up your yarn, and start swatching!!
(& don't forget - there's still time to add your name to the sock club draw list...)

glasgow school of yarn!

2011-10-14T16:47:00.002+01:00

i'll be at the glasgow school of yarn on friday 21st & saturday 22nd october! the marketplace is open from 11am-6pm on friday and 10am-6pm on the saturday - i'd love to see you there!!

2012 yarn preview club!!!

2011-10-06T16:36:00.004+01:00

hurrah - it's club time again!!! the 2012 yarn preview club will run along the same lines/timescale as last year's club:

it will run for three months, with parcels being mailed out mid- january, february, and march 2012.
each parcel will contain two skeins of sock yarn in two different colourways (i’ll be sticking to the superwash merino/blends for this club, but haven't decided on the final yarns yet - i'll be choosing from the 100% superwash merino, superwash merino/bamboo, superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, superwash merino/silk, and superwash merino/nylon/sparkle. i'll only be choosing three types of yarn; you'll receive two skeins of each type in each package (six skeins of yarn total)).
this year, each month's shipment will have one beautiful "extra" - these are being created especially for the club in partnership with three talented crafters (one for each shipment). no patterns will be included in the club shipments.
each of the colourways will be brand-new, never-seen-before-in-the-web-shop, and will not be available for general purchase until april 2012 (after the club is over), at which point they will be available to all customers as the new 2012 colourway collection. the "extras" will not be for sale in my web shop after the club is over (but may be for sale via the crafter who is making them!). because of this, i would politely ask that you not sell on any of the yarn/"extras" during the three months of the club (gifting/trading is totally fine though!).
i haven't fixed the price for the club yet, but will do so in the next few weeks. this is because i'm still deciding which yarns to use, and am still costing the "extras". as a guideline, a single membership in last year's club cost £110 for UK/EU residents & £120 for non-UK/EU residents; a double membership in last year's club (double the yarn, but not double the "extras") cost £190 for UK/EU residents & £210 for non-UK/EU residents. i'll edit this post to add the cost of this years club as soon as i get the final costings added up.
it's entirely likely that it will be a bit more expensive than last year's club! this is simply due to increasing costs (unfortunately, materials & postage costs keep steadily creeping upwards!!). as a rough guide, i usually cost club prices by adding up a slightly discounted retail value of the yarns used, the actual postage costs, & the actual cost of "extras" (that is, the cost to me, and not their retail value). i always try to keep the price as fair as i can, and i hope you can understand why i may need to charge more this year.
the club will again be limited to 50 members - it will be a random draw from everyone who's interested, with no preference given to club members from last year (sorry!).

so, if you’re interested in the yarn club, please send me an email with “2012 preview club” in the subject line, and your name, country, & email contact details in the body of the message. i’ll be taking emails up until 30th november 2011 - if i get more than 50, i’ll randomly draw 50 lucky names; less than 50, & everyone who emailed me will get offered a place in the club. at that point, i’ll send out an email to let you know how to purchase your club membership, and i’ll start dyeing up a storm! please note that sending me an email doesn’t mean you absolutely have to purchase a club membership - if circumstances change & you’re no longer interested that’s ok. you'll then have until mid-december to purchase your membership, so that i can finalise the numbers; the first club parcel will ship out mid-january!!

postcards from the hebrides

2011-09-25T15:31:00.004+01:00

ferry from uig (skye) to lochmaddy (north uist)

north uist coastline, from the ferry

harris tweed warehouse, tarbert (harris)

randomly, an inukshuk at carloway broch (lewis)

dun carloway broch (lewis)

marbhig (lewis)

sock knitting on the ferry (stornoway (lewis) to ullapool (mainland))

headed north

2011-09-15T22:32:00.003+01:00

load the car & write the note
grab your hat & grab your coat
tell the ones who need to know -
we are headed north
("i & love & you", the avett brothers)

wool season

2011-08-27T17:59:00.005+01:00

it's true, i've been enjoying the summer (although i've been hugely busy in the new studio, dyeing up more yarns than ever before!). but lately, i've been sensing a slow but gradual change. each evening, the dusk is setting in a little earlier. there's a slight chill in the air, and we've had quite a few gray & rainy days over the last wee while.
some folk might find this a bit disheartening - after all, the winters in scotland can be pretty bleak. it's incredibly dark over here in the winter months - in the depth of winter, the sun doesn't rise until about 10am, sets about 3pm, and never really comes out from behind the clouds in between. add in some strong winds (we're by the sea, after all) and a fair amount of driving rain, and you can see why it might get some folk down.
for a knitter, though, the shift in the weather can only mean one thing - wool season is coming. and the cooler it gets, the more my knitting plans grow.
my laar is nearly finished - it needs one cuff, one sleeve, and a buttonband/neckband, and it'll be the perfect light wooly layer for the coming fall breezes.

then, there's this gorgeous rowan felted tweed in "pickle", waiting to be turned into a walnuss cardigan - a slightly heavier knit, ideal for the transition from late fall to early winter.

and finally, i've just dyed myself a massive pile of this (the new superwash merino/silk 4ply in "derelict daughter"), with plans for a lush, cozy sweater - i'm thinking of a densely knitted, hip-length fitted tunic with a HUGE (possibly detachable) cowl neck, perfect for keeping snuggly in the depths of the winter months.

& with all this & more to look forward to, why would i be sad about the end of summer?...

knit nation

2011-07-22T18:48:00.002+01:00

this might seem a little delayed, as Knit Nation is now well past! it was utterly brilliant - but so exhausting that even now, i'm not fully recovered (which is why it's taken me so long to post this!).
the RSA & i were lucky enough to be able to have a little bit of a holiday before the madness of KN weekend - there was a family wedding down in aldermaston the weekend before, so we thought since we would be "down south" already, we might as well just stay in this awesome flat in london for the week & enjoy ourselves (which seemed to mainly consist of walking everywhere, and eating loads - there are just too many great restaurants in london!!). we even went over to paris on the eurostar for the day (where we also walked huge distances, and ate vast amounts of lovely food - i'm sensing a theme developing here!).
after a week of eating, it was time to get to work - i'd shipped down all my KN stock to the lovely folk at Loop before i left scotland, & met up with them on the friday morning to unload & set up.

i'd learned my lesson from last year, and had a double booth this time instead of a single - we also pushed the tables to the sides of the booth to make sure folk had lots of room to come in & browse through all the yarns (& to make sure we had room to get in & out, unlike last year!!).

alas, these were pretty much the only photos of the booth that i managed to get all weekend - the moment the doors opened & all the ~~locusts~~ lovely knitters swarmed in, all i could manage to do was sell skein after skein of yarn (i know, what a hardship, right?). & i think it's safe to say that the new OMA bases are going to be extremely popular - halfway through the weekend, this is all that was left out of 10 kilos!

i think i managed to leave the booth for about 20 minutes total all weekend - mainly for bathroom breaks, but i did snag a few minutes to run around the marketplace myself as well (and sensibly limited my purchases to one skein of wollmeise laceweight and three small cones of habu - i was far too busy selling to be able to buy very much, which makes my wallet much happier!).
when the weekend ended, i only had to pack up about 180 of the 800+ skeins of yarn i shipped down (YAY!) - ysolda even had room in her van to bring them back up to scotland for me. and, thanks to some excellent forward planning by the RSA, i finally got a moment to sit with my feet up & have a little knitting time (in the airport lounge - for someone who spent the weekend at a knitting event, i barely knitted a stitch!).

a HUGE thank you everyone who came & bought yarn from me in london - it was SO lovely to meet so many customers (former & future!) and i wish that i'd had time to chat more with all of you. here's to another amazing event in 2013 - i think i'd better start stocking up now!!!

it's my party

2011-07-03T18:11:00.002+01:00

the studio-warming party was great fun yesterday! we were pretty well stocked with fizzy wine (& non-alcoholic fizzy drinks for the unfortunate folk like me who were driving home!) and all manner of homemade cakes & biscuits. loads of people turned up to see the new studio space, eat cake, & knit, including the lovely paula, elaine, kathleen, kerry, gwen, marion, mel, & even the famous ysolda! ;)
alas, it was all too exciting for words, and i didn't remember to take any photos until after almost everyone had left (duh!).

& after spending some time with my studio filled to the brim with so many lovely knitters & friends, i can say that it finally feels like my space. since i moved in, i've been working so hard on Knit Nation prep that my main focus was getting the dye room set up & running, and i hadn't really put much effort into arranging the front studio space. but since i was throwing a party, i thought perhaps i should get it looking a little more welcoming - and after that, & an afternoon full of cake & knitting, it feels much more like home.

thank you so much to all the lovely folk who came along, and for all those farther afield who couldn't make it but who sent me kind wishes!
now, i'm off to make sure all my boxes & bags are packed up & ready to go - i'll see you in london!

let them eat cake

2011-06-13T13:04:00.005+01:00

at last, things are starting to come together with the new studio - it's been a lot of work, but it's really beginning to feel like my space. i've got a few little things still left to sort out, but after that, i'd love to have you all come by for a visit!
so, i'm planning a studio-warming party - come take a wee tour of the studio, try out some of the yarns, & have a glass of wine, and there will of course be plenty of cake! if you're anywhere near that west coast of scotland i'd love to see you!
the party will be on saturday 2nd july & will start about 2pm (& will finish when we run out of cake, or about 6pm-ish, whichever comes first!) - please drop by if you can! the new studio address is:

Studio 30, Ritchie Street
West Kilbride
KA23 9AL

flittin'

2011-05-28T17:40:00.001+01:00

as they say here, i've been flittin' today - that is, moving!

i've left my little studio space & have moved into a fantastically huge new studio, just up the road from my first one. i'll be spending next week getting everything organised & set up (& possibly going furniture shopping, to find things to fill up the new huge empty space!) but after that i should be open as normal. i'm also planning a studio-warming/yarn-tasting party at some point in the near future...

...so hopefully i'll see you in the new studio soon!

cardigan catchup

2011-05-13T17:38:00.003+01:00

wow - i haven't been here in quite a while!! things have been pretty busy - i'm working like mad to try & keep the shop restocked, plus dye up a load of new yarn for knit nation, not to mention getting ready for a studio move! blogging has kind of fallen by the wayside - but there's still been lots of knitting....

exhibit A:
started: 22nd november 2010
completed (eventually): 10th april 2011
needles: 3mm addi circulars
yarn: my own merino sock yarn in "strange rock n' rollers" (just under 400g)
pattern: tangled yoke cardigan by eunny jang (ravelled here)
modifications: the pattern is written for a fine dk with a gauge of 24sts/30rows over 4". i used a 4ply, with a gauge of 30sts/40rows over 4", so i worked the pattern more or less as written for the 46" bust size to end up with a finished bust size of 38". i also had to mess about a little bit with the number of rows between shaping rows as my row gauge was a little different, but that was kind of done on the fly.

the merino sock yarn is great over the cabled yoke - lovely stitch definition!! overall, i'm hugely happy with this cardigan - it's probably the best garment i've made so far.

this is actually the second time i've worked this pattern - the first version was worked in rowan felted tweed (the recommended yarn) & was much worn & loved. alas, one of the unfortunate side effects of my recent (& hard-won!) weight loss is that many of my old knits are now far too big (yay! but also, sob!). some of them i probably won't repeat - but this was definitely worth making again.

exhibit B:
started: 28th january 2011
completed: 15th april 2011
needles: 3.5mm knitpro circular
yarn: rowan felted tweed shade 154 (ginger), 1300 yards
pattern: larch cardigan by amy christoffers (ravelled here)
modfications: i worked this more or less as written for the 38" bust size. i worked a straightforward 1x1 twisted rib followed by a purl row for the edgings instead of the cast-off/pick-up described in the pattern (too fiddly!). i also did something strange with the collar which ended up making it a little deeper than the pattern version - i'm still not sure what happened there.

overall, i like this pattern a lot. there's something very slightly odd about the way the shoulders fit - they seem a bit wide, & don't quite sit right on me (maybe i just have narrow shoulders?). they also seem to sit a little farther back than they should (as you can see from where the shoulder seam is sitting in the next photo). even so, i still really like this knit.

i took both of them with me on our spring holiday (we headed up to these forest cabins in strathyre for a week), where i tested them in a variety of conditions (ok, mostly lazing about on the deck, knitting & reading & drinking wine - but they held up pretty well!). the great thing about spring (& even summer) in scotland is that it's often still cool enough to wear hand-knits - & i can see myself using these ones a LOT.

lang-legged beasties

2011-04-06T17:50:00.006+01:00

at last - the yarn preview club is over, & i can show off the new colourways to everyone!! this year, the colourway collection was inspired by a traditional scottish prayer...

"fae ghosties & ghoulies
& lang-legged beasties
& things that go bump in the nicht...
guid lord, deliver us”

1. baobhan sith, 2. bean nighe, 3. far darrig, 4. ghillie dhu, 5. leanan sidhe, 6. selkie

all the colourways in this year's collection are themed around scottish myths & legends, and the mythical creatures in them - to read more about the new colourways & the inspiration behind them, please go take a look!! i'm working on adding lots of stock of these colourways to the web shop in all the base yarns - please bear with me while i get them all dyed up!

how things measure up

2011-03-21T15:43:00.003Z

i've been busy lately, measuring things up & getting some ideas together - organising the finishing touches for some nearly-done projects, making some lovely new things for the shop, swatching for a new sweater or two...

& planning the layout of my new studio space!!!
yes, i decided to take the giant huge fabulous studio up the road from my current space (& thank you all for your wonderful words of encouragement - i hope you realise you all have to keep your word & buy lots of yarn now!!). i've agreed on the rent (a discounted rate for the first year, hurrah!) and am now just waiting to see when i get to move in. there are a few small repairs that need to be done before i can get in & get set up - including some plasterwork, so i don't want to move any yarn in there until the messy stuff is done! but in the meantime, i've been going about with a measuring tape taking notes & making plans - how exciting!!!

a leap of faith

2011-03-02T17:35:00.002Z

today i did something very exciting, and terrifying, and mind-consuming (it's literally all i can think about at the moment!) - i looked at a new studio space.

front room, taken from the front door

it's rented by the same fantastic initiative that i rent my current space from, and is literally just up the road from where i am now - but it's SO different. for a start, it's HUGE.

front room, taken from front window corner

it's also been divided into several parts at one point.

desk nook (& doggy den?) with kitchenette & bathroom to the right

originally, this was a shared studio space, so the division was done to make it easier to rent it in two halves rather than as one massive space. but since i'd be renting it on my own, that means i'd end up with this:

back room, taken through the window off the desk nook

check out all the skylights, fans, & heaters - can anyone say "dedicated dye-cooking room"? it would be absolutely perfect for this - a window for keeping an eye on the dyepots, a door that can keep it closed off from the rest of the studio (no more steam everywhere!) and huge amounts of ventilation & natural light. and, i'd also get this:

front room, taken from the desk nook

a HUGE space for prep work, storage, comfy chairs for hanging out & knitting, and of course, shelves & shelves of lovely hand-dyed yarn. (i love how the dog has ended up in both photos - it helps with imagining the scale of the space!!).
it's only recently come available, and there are a few things that i need to figure out before i can make a final decision. some are practical concerns (there are two sinks plumbed in, but they're both teeny-tiny, so i need to know if i can take the massive sink from my current studio - which was installed there especially for me, so i'm hoping i get to take it with me!). and some are a little harder to pin down.
in a way, i'm almost back in the same position as when i first thought about taking on studio space, with the same question - am i really going to be able to sell enough yarn to afford this? in my current studio, i'm restricted as to how much yarn i can make - i have limited counter space for burners & dyepots, and limited floor space for drying racks. i'm frequently getting emails from customers asking when this or that wil be back in stock - obviously, i'm just not keeping up with demand, which makes me think that if i'm able to dye more, i would be able to sell more as well. the new space is double the size of my current space (which, alas, means double the rent!), and with the back room being so perfectly designed for a dye room, i could more than double my output - but will my customers really buy that much yarn?
it's a bit of a leap of faith to take on such a big space - but then, i took the same leap a few years ago, when i moved into the studio that i'm in now. i remember being so worried every month that i wouldn't sell enough yarn to pay my rent - now, i'm worried about not being able to make enough yarn!! i've definitely got a lot to think about.... & i'll keep you posted!

where i've been lately

2011-02-25T16:58:00.003Z

working a LOT

learning something new

taking walks by the sea

staying snuggly

and mostly

waiting for spring...

yay!!!!!

2011-02-01T17:57:00.003Z

whew - i'm back from cornwall! it was brilliant, lovely, amazing fun.... and completely & utterly exhausting.
when i got up on thursday morning to finish packing, i found a helpful list from the RSA to help me get organised.

(there's no such thing as #5, but she had me going for a second!)

i packed & headed off to cornwall, ready to start the weekend!! i went down the day before the retreat officially started - i'd never been to cornwall before, & wanted to be able to have a little wander around on the friday.

(watergate bay beach, from the coastal path above)

after that, i went to meet up with some of the other knitters for dinner (& knitting, of course!).

(slightly grainy iphone photo, sorry!! l-r: anne, me, tricia, cookie, judith)

the next day, we were all ready to start classes - my first class was with anne, learning different lace techniques by working on her marie antoinette socks. all of us had to concentrate pretty hard on our knitting - even anne!!

we were sent off after the class with some "homework" (aka sock knitting) - by the next day, some of us had made it a lot farther than others...

(my sock is pretty teeny compared to some!)

next it was cookie's turn - cables, travelling stitches, and short rows for 3D knitting.

there was a lot of swatching, to try out some different techniques:

(3D knitting strangenesses!)

(& some cable work)

as well as some helpful interpretive dance demonstrations:

(cookie & alice demonstrate cabling)

the view from the classroom window was a little distracting sometimes:

but we managed to get a lot of work done anyways (& make a lot of knitty mess!).

after all the learning, our brains were pretty much mush. & although i would have loved to stay there forever (amazing hotel, beautiful surroundings, great food, & lots of lovely knitters!) i was also pretty happy to get home & get some sleep. but if you want a review of the whole retreat - as alice would say, YAY!!!!!!

getting it together

2011-01-18T15:40:00.003Z

i've had a fairly slow & muddly start to this year so far - both the RSA & i had flu over the holidays, and although we're both better now, the lack of energy carried over into the new year. but i'm trying to get back on track, and am finally starting to get it together - getting some old things tidied away, and some amazing new things lined up & ready to go.
achievements so far:

january club parcels are heading out to members now - all international & EU ones have already left, and the UK ones will be packed up tomorrow & posted on thursday!! plus, i've already started dyeing the february yarn.
the "fugue" kits should be hitting the web shop within the next week! remember "fugue", the beautiful tam/mitts pattern from the amazing kate davies? after a long year of problems & delays (kate's illness & recovery, plus some problems with yarn sourcing), i'm very excited to finally be releasing these kits - the kits will have a nicely printed little booklet of kate's pattern, plus enough yarn (100% organic corriedale 4ply, in colourways "lon-dubh" & "dreich") to knit both the tam & mitts. i'll be working through a fairly sizeable waiting list to start with, so if you want to purchase a kit, please email me & i'll add your name to the list & let you know when your kit is ready.
in an attempt to get my yarn stash & project queue under control, i've been doing some serious project planning. i have a trunk full of yarn that i'd love to work with, and a queue of patterns that i'm dying to knit - but for some reason, i never quite get around to making the things i really want to. i think a lot of this is down to not planning ahead - i'll find myself suddenly needing a project, and instead of planning, swatching, & thinking it through, i'll end up casting on for another pair of socks (which is fine - knitted socks are always good - but i end up never making some of the things i've thought about for ages!). so the new plan for 2011 is plan ahead - at the moment, i'm working on this:

a self-designed (aka "make it up as i go") cabled sweater for the RSA in wollmeise sockenwolle "forster's gluck". worked on 2.5mm needles, it's definitely a labour of love, but since i've been wanting to knit a wollmeise sweater for ages, it had to be at the top of my knitting list. also on the needles (75% finished) is a tangled yoke cardi in my own sock wool, adapted to take the finer gauge into account, to replace my too-big-after-weight-loss old tangled yoke that i miss a lot!
& since the idea is to plan ahead, i already know what i'm casting on next - since both of these are at a serious-cables-requiring-serious-attention stage, i need a simpler project to take with me to the socktopus retreat next week (yay!!). and instead of casting on some travelling socks at the last minute like i normally would, i'm already swatching for this cardi (of course, i'll probably take some socks along as well).

so, despite the year's strange start, i'm feeling pretty good about what's left of january!

2011 wishes

2011-01-01T11:45:00.004Z

happy 2011 everyone!!
i have some high hopes for this year. 2010 was quite difficult, for a number of reasons - it just seemed to be one thing after another, and i've decided that no matter what, this year has got to be better than that.
but even with all the glitches & hiccups, there was something that remained consistently great - and i can only take partial credit for that, i'm afraid. the rest of it is down to my amazing customers, who are just fantastic!!
when i started my business, i never really thought about whether it would be successful. i didn't really go into it with a well-thought-out business plan, and was quite taken aback by the response that my yarns got - and completely blown away by how lovely all my customers were!! work has really kept me going this year - i love going into the studio & mixing up new colourways, knowing that my yarns are going out across the world to be enjoyed by lovely knitters & made into lovely things.
so i just want to say thank you - despite all the obstacles that 2010 gave me, my customers definitely kept me going! so happy 2011 to all of you - i hope that your gauge swatches never lie, your stitches are never dropped, and that you never run out of yarn in the middle of a cast-off!!

happy happy

2010-12-25T18:40:00.001Z

happy christmas everyone!!!

2011 yarn club

2010-12-02T10:20:00.002Z

club signups are now CLOSED!!!

i've sent out emails to everyone who got in touch with me about the club - if you didn't get one, check your spam filter! memberships are now available for purchase in the web shop to everyone who was offered a place - please put your order through before friday 10th december in order to secure your place, or you won't be part of the club...

i'm really excited about the theme & colours for this year's club & i hope you are too!!

(if for any reason you've changed your mind about buying a membership, that's ok. there are still a few people who wanted a place in the club but missed the deadline - if you let me know that you won't be taking your place, i can offer it to someone on the waiting list!)

smackdown

2010-11-25T17:46:00.002Z

i'm starting to wonder if this just isn't my year. it's not that anything immense has happened - nothing hugely traumatic or upsetting, just a series of small annoyances. the tone of the year was set right from the start, when the RSA went off to india for work, & i was left on my own for weeks on end. just when i was starting to settle back into things, there was the triple-whammy of Knit Nation (brilliant but exhausting), Knit Camp (oh, the drama), & the pup-surgery one after the other, followed almost immediately by the yarn-shortage disaster. and then, just as i thought things were finally getting back to normal, the universe decided that i needed another little smackdown:

yep, that's right - i've managed to pull one of the tendons in my ankle. i've got some painkillers, some prescription anti-inflammatories, and an elastic bandage, as well as strict instructions to rest "as much as possible". i'll admit that i haven't been managing too well with that last one so far - i spent the day in the studio today, and it turns out that yarn-dyeing requires a surprising amount of walking about (& i'm paying for it now, alas). so despite my best efforts, i may have to take a little time off, which means the studio might not be open for visits (email me before you come, just in case!) - it's pretty chilly in there, which is fine if you're moving about dyeing vats of yarn, but not brilliant if you're having to sit about & do nothing!!
so, what with everything, i've been feeling a little bummed out this week. but there are still things that are cheering me up:

wollmeise 80/20 twin in "red hot chilli"

i got these in a ravelry swap (& yes, they really are that bright!). i'm planning some winter-banishing over-the-knee socks like these (scroll down to the second picture). that's an awful lot of sock-knitting - but it looks like i'll have some extra time on my hands for the next few days at least...

2011 colourways preview club!!!

2010-11-05T17:22:00.005Z

at last, i've managed to get my act together, and spend some time planning the 2011 yarn preview club!! i'm so sorry that it's so late this year - i had really hoped to run it along the same timeline as last year, but several events conspired to delay things somewhat, and before i knew it, i was running out of time. but although i'm not on the time schedule that i'd originally planned, it's all coming together nicely, and i'm now ready to tell you all the details!! this year, the club will run along similar lines as last year's club:

it will run for three months, with parcels being mailed out mid- january, february, and march 2011.
each parcel will contain two skeins of sock yarn in two different colourways (i’ll be sticking to the superwash merino/blends for this club, so by the end of the three months you will have received two skeins each of 100% superwash merino, superwash merino/bamboo, and superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, with six different colourways in total).
this year, each month's shipment will have one beautiful "extra", designed especially for the club in partnership with a very talented scottish artist, plus an "extra extra" in the last shipment. no patterns will be included in the club shipments.
each of the colourways will be brand-new, never-seen-before-in-the-web-shop, and will not be available for general purchase until april 2011 (after the club is over), at which point they will be available to all customers as the new 2011 colourway collection. the "extras" are also brand-new items that will only be for sale in the web shop after the club is over, with the exception of the final "extra extra", which will only be produced for club members & won't be available for sale. because of this, i would politely ask that you not sell on any of the yarn/"extras" during the three months of the club (gifting/trading is totally fine though!).
a single membership in the club will cost £110 for UK/EU residents, and £120 for non-UK/EU residents. this gets you six skeins of sock yarn (one skein each of six new colourways), plus four very cool "extras" (one in each shipment, plus a final club-exclusive item in the last shipment).
a double membership in the club will cost £190 for UK/EU residents, and £210 for non-UK/EU residents. this gets you twelve skeins of sock yarn (two skeins each of siz new colourways), plus four very cool extras (one in each shipment, plus a final club-exclusive item in the last shipment). double memberships get double the yarn, but not double the "extras".
yes, this is a bit more expensive than last year's club! this is partly because everything is costing me more this year (materials & postage costs have all gone up a fair bit since last year, alas!), and partly because the "extras" this year are bigger, higher quality items & are therefore costing me more to produce. i'm still trying to keep the price as fair as i can, and i hope you can understand why i need to charge more this year.
the club will again be limited to 50 members - it will be a random draw from everyone who's interested, with no preference given to club members from last year (sorry!).

so, if you’re interested in the yarn club, please send me an email with “2011 preview club” in the subject line, and your name, country, & email contact details in the body of the message. i’ll be taking emails up until 1st december 2010 - if i get more than 50, i’ll ramdomly draw 50 lucky names; less than 50, & everyone who emailed me will get offered a place in the club. at that point, i’ll send out an email to let you know how to purchase your club membership, and i’ll start dyeing up a storm! please note that sending me an email doesn’t mean you absolutely have to purchase a club membership - if circumstances change & you’re no longer interested that’s ok. you'll then have until mid-december to purchase your membership, so that i can finalise the numbers; the first club parcel will ship out mid-january!!
last year was my first-ever yarn club, and it was so much fun - i'm really looking forward to doing it all again!!!

not very sensible

2010-10-22T18:37:00.004+01:00

well, it seems official - winter is nearly here. the wind has shifted, there's a serious chill in the air, & it's finally time to start layering on the wooly knits. with that in mind, am i being sensible & spending my knitting time finishing up the various projects i have underway (a sweater, a pair of socks, a new winter hat, and a shawl, to be precise)?
i am not.
instead, i'm completely addicted to knitting these...

mini socks!!

& before you start thinking "well, they're wooly socks, what's wrong with that?", i should show you a picture with some sense of scale...

they're teeny tiny!!

the pattern is free here - they're meant to be christmas decorations, but i'm planning to use them to decorate the big front window of my studio (it's looking a bit bare & bleak, and needs some added colour before the winter days get too gray).
& not only that, i've already started to spread my new addiction - i've asked the Old Maiden Aunt group on Ravelry to knit some tiny socks out of their leftover OMA yarns & send them in to be hung up in the window. & if you'd like to join in, please do - the more teeny tiny socks, the better!! just post your finished socks in to the studio address - make sure you include a note of your ravelry name and/or email contact details, and in exchange i'll send you a discount code for the web shop. i'm also going to be doing a few random prize draws for tiny sock knitters, to add to the fun.
now, i'd better get sensible, & spend some time knitting my real winter clothes, before the cold really sets in...

a good offense

2010-10-15T17:11:00.002+01:00

it's true - the best defense is a good offense. and the first line of defense against the rapidly encroaching winter weather? woolly socks, of course.

project specs:
started: 25th august 2010
completed: 14th october 2010
pattern: pomatomus by cookie a., from knitty
needles: 2.25mm
yarn: wollmeise 80/20 twin in indisch rot WD

there's nothing better than a brand new pair of woolly socks just as the weather starts to turn, in such a warm, glowing colourway. maybe winter isn't so bad after all...

lazy hazy

2010-10-13T18:00:00.002+01:00

there's been a definite chill in the air the past couple of days - it seems that with each passing moment, the scottish winter is slowly drawing ever closer. & today, one of the first signs of the approaching winter appeared - the haar.

view from my window - sea obscured by fog

but sometimes, it's quite nice to have a gentle haze over everything - especially on a day like today, when there was nowhere i needed to be. it's a day to fire up the heating, light some candles, & snuggle up on the couch with a cozy blanket, a big mug of good coffee, a new knitting project (fiona on the fly hat by a black pepper, which will be essential for the upcoming winter weather!)....

& a laziness supervisor, who knows everything there is to know about being snuggly.
it's back to work tomorrow, but for now, i'm enjoying my lazy, hazy day.

yarn apocalypse

2010-09-22T12:19:00.002+01:00

something awful has happened. my utterly wonderful & reliable yarn supplier has had a huge warehouse fire, which has completely destroyed nearly 3 tonnes of undyed base yarn (& that's a LOT of yarn!) - the fire was so devastating that, in his words, "it's as though all that yarn never even existed in the first place". luckily, nobody was hurt in the fire, but his stock has been totally wiped out - and, as an inevitable knock-on effect, my stock levels (& those of a lot of other UK dyers, i'll bet) will suffer as well.
i do still have a reasonable amount of undyed yarn in the studio to work with for the time being, but obviously i'll be limited to what i already have in stock for the next little while - it will probably take him a couple of months to be fully back up & running, & sending out undyed yarn to all his customers again. i'm quite low on the sock yarn bases, so there won't be much of those being added to the shop over the next little while, but i still have lots of lace & sportweight, as well as a few kilos of a new lush 4ply blend which i hope to start adding to the shop soon.
i'm keeping my fingers crossed for him, that the recovery from this doesn't take too long - and (quite selfishly) that i'll be able to get my dyeing hands on some more sock yarn soon!! since a lot of us UK-based dyers use the same supplier, it feels a bit like the end of the yarny world here in the UK - here's hoping that we all get back to doing what we love quite soon.

fancy a dip?

2010-09-16T15:55:00.002+01:00

this may just be the cutest thing ever...

doggy hydrotherapy!! (sorry about the photo quality - it's a little blurry, he was swimming so fast!).
after the initial "what the heck is this?!?" reaction (understandable - even for a laid-back, adaptable pooch, this was a little weird) he absolutely loved it (the squeaky chicken toy may have been key). & until you've seen a dog wagging his tail underwater, you haven't seen true happiness.
he's now completely wiped out, & happier than i've seen him in ages - he was getting a little bummed out over the lack of exercise & excitement in his life, what with all the post-surgical restrictions. he's still in recovery, and won't be completely back to normal for a good few weeks yet, with no long walks or off-the-lead playing until probably the end of october! but swimming is great - all the exercise with none of the joint stress (plus, squeaky chickens!!).
lucky for us (& the pooch!) our insurance will cover a fair few sessions, so we'll be doing this twice a week for the next few weeks. & the bonus of this for me (in addition to the extremely happy puppy) is that it will hopefully tire him out enough to be left on his own for longer periods, so i can finally get back on a better work schedule.
after so long away from my normal working days, though, it may take more than a squeaky chicken to motivate me...

must be the season

2010-09-14T12:01:00.002+01:00

it's official - the weather is starting to turn. we've had a few days in a row now of some fairly typical scottish autumn weather - rainy & blowy, with a definite chill in the air. some people might be upset at the passing of the summer - they miss the heat, the sunshine, the bright days & warm nights. but in the autumn, a knitter's fancy turns to thoughts of wooly jumpers, cozy socks, & soft shawls.
& although i'm excited about the change of weather, and am looking forward to a long winter of snuggly knits, i'm having a bit of a knitting dilemna. there are loads of things that i want to knit, but i'm struggling with which projects to choose. a lot of the knits in my queue are fine-gauge, fitted cardigans - since i'm still a work in progress weight-wise (nearly there, but not quite!), it's hard to know what to pick. i don't want to knit anything fitted until i know for sure what my final size/shape will be - i'm already having to give away a lot of older projects, knits that i spent a lot of time & nice yarn on, because they just don't fit anymore. so i'm limited to socks & shawls for the most part, with the occasional garment thrown in - anything that is designed to fit loosely without closing (my recently-finished-except-for-sewing-up minimalist cardigan), for example, or styles like the recently-cast-on buttercup (fitted around the shoulders/yoke, which is a body part that probably won't change all that much regardless of weight loss).
but regardless of my problems with choosing knitting patterns to work on, i don't seem to be having any problems with my yarn choices...

top to bottom - shawl, sweater, socks

there's a distinct colour theme going on here - it must just be the season.

how the time is spent

2010-08-28T17:53:00.003+01:00

life with no tv...

...is actually quite nice.

just enough

2010-08-27T13:36:00.003+01:00

we're heading off to get some peace & quiet for a long weekend, at a lovely little house in dumfries & galloway, in the middle of nowhere with no tv, no internet, and a patchy mobile signal at best.... bliss. lots of rest, lots of delicious food & wine, a few board games, a few audiobooks...

& more than a few knitting projects. when you're packing for a weekend away, and your knitting projects take up more room in your suitcase than anything else, is it too much? or just enough?

knit camp

2010-08-18T12:38:00.002+01:00

phew - i'm back from Knit Camp!
if you've been online at all in the past wee while, i'm sure you've already heard all about the various problems with this event. since i was only booked in as a vendor in the marketplace, i managed to avoid most of the glitches (although the overall organisation did leave a bit to be desired, it only affected my experience slightly, and i think i was pretty lucky compared to some of the folk who were booked in for the whole week of classes etc.).
because some of the other vendors had pulled out, i ended up with a giant double-width booth space to fill. as a sole dyer, i've only ever booked single-width booths at market events, because i'm always a little worried about being able to produce enough yarn to fill anything bigger - especially after having my stock decimated by the horde of ~~locusts~~ ahem lovely knitters at Knit Nation (i had to have a few days of furiously dyeing sock yarn, just so i had something to take with me to stirling)!!!
i think it worked out ok in the end, though...

the room that my booth was in was huge & airy with lots of windows, which made all the yarn colours look great. & i learned a lesson from my Knit Nation setup - this time, i pushed the tables to the back of the booth space, so that i could sit out front instead of being trapped behind my stock all weekend. the marketplace wasn't nearly as mad as the one at Knit Nation - the flow of traffic was pretty steady, but i wasn't rushed off my feet, and even managed to spend some time knitting (as well as take a little break now & then to do some shopping of my own!). i was rather unfortunately placed, though, as i was right across from the Jamieson & Smith booth - i say "unfortunate", because the marketplace hadn't even officially opened yet before i started spending money (a whole pack of gorgeous shetland laceweight, enough for a beautiful lightweight sweater - it was the last batch of a discontinued colourway, so really, i had to buy it). i also got a couple of skeins of laceweight from a couple of other UK-based dyers - i'll have to do another blog post later with all my booty from the summer of yarn shows!
i got to meet lots of lovely customers in person at last - it was so nice to finally meet some of the people who have been supporting me for so long, some of them since the very beginning! alas, i didn't have time to take any pictures myself (but i think you can find me on some other blogs here & there!).
all in all, it turned into a pretty good weekend - although i definitely wouldn't recommend the beds in the student halls! i got to knit, hang out with friends, have some of the best fish & chips i've ever had (the chippie in bridge of allan, yum!) and sold lots of yarn (i may even be able to pay off the balance on my credit card at last!). now i just need to get everything unpacked, and back up in the web shop....

...maybe i'll just have a little nap first.

enough for now

2010-08-09T10:37:00.003+01:00

well, things have been a little chaotic here lately. first, there was Knit Nation (which was fabulous, but busy & exhausting). then, there's Knit Camp¹.
and then, there's this...

the pup has had to have some fairly major surgery - it turns out he has a luxating patella (on both back legs, but obviously, they can only fix one at a time). his surgical fix involved making a cut in the tibia, tightening the tendon to make sure the kneecap can't pop out of place anymore, and securing it all back together with two metal pins (ouch!!). we've had to crate-train him very quickly (he wasn't crate-trained before, and had about a week before the surgery to get used to being in his crate) - his activity levels will need to be seriously limited over the next few weeks, which is going to be difficult (he's not the sort of dog who likes to take things slowly!). plus, he's a bit of a fussy licker, so if he's left on his own for even a few minutes, he has to wear the "cone of shame" (which he loathes & detests, but it's the only way to stop him from messing with the stitches). he is a lot happier in the crate without the cone on, though...

obviously, he's going to need a lot of care & attention over the next few weeks - because they had to make a cut in the bone as part of his repair, he's essentially got a fractured leg, and needs to be watched most of the time to make sure he doesn't move about too much (dogs aren't great at remembering that they're injured!). and because my working hours are much more flexible than the RSA's, it's going to be down to me to keep an eye on him a lot of the time - which means i won't be able to be at the studio as much as i usually am (so if you're planning a studio visit, please email me ahead of time to make sure i'll be there!). i am still going to be working as much as i can manage, but the web shop will be restocked a little less often than normal, so i hope you can bear with me for a few weeks until i'm able to get back to more normal working schedule.
and to the universe, or fate, or whoever is in charge of what's been going on? i just want to say - can you give me a break for a little while? that's enough for now, thanks.

1 if you're on ravelry, you'll already know about the various ongoing problems with Knit Camp, which as of the time of this post have yet to be sorted out. i AM still planning on having a stall at the weekend marketplace; if anything changes, i will post it on my twitter feed.

knit nation

2010-08-04T18:30:00.002+01:00

i'm finally back home after knit nation!!! i'm still organising things in the web shop as i gradually unpack the tiny amount of yarn left over, and re-dye a lot of yarn in preparation for next week's knit camp - but in the meantime, here's a little recap...
i managed to get my boxes & boxes of stuff packed up & shipped down safely, and followed them down on the train. after a couple of hours of building up & arranging (& rearranging) of what suddenly seemed like a ridiculously huge amount of yarn, the booth was ready!

everyone at the booth was very hard at work all weekend long.

& it's just as well - look what happened when the marketplace opened!! (this was actually taken by the RSA, who went away to get me some food, and couldn't get back into the booth for about half an hour!)

it was a bit of a buying frenzy (but a very polite one!) - this was more or less the view of the booth all weekend long. & it was absolutely brilliant - not only did i manage to sell a ton of yarn (i shipped home about a quarter of what i sent down, & although it seemed at first as though i'd brought too much, it disappeared fairly quickly!), i got to meet so many of my online friends & customers in "real life" at last. & although it was utterly exhausting, the whole experience was just so much fun. everyone was having a great time - even the RSA, despite being a non-knitter, was completely won over by the fantastic atmosphere (turning to me in wonder at one point & exclaiming "everybody's just so HAPPY!!!").
& it just got better & better - after the marketplace closed on its final day, the vendors did what must have been the quickest breakdown in history (so quick, in fact, that i completely forgot to take an "after" picture of the booth & its decimated stock!) so that we could all run over to the ravelry party, where we met even more lovely people (& had a few well-deserved drinks!) - and i even won one of the door prizes, a beautiful project bag from ysolda, with a "damson" kit (printed bag, pattern & a skein of malabrigo sock in "ravelry red") inside.

all in all, the weekend was fantastic - i really really REALLY hope they do it again next year!!!

(i did also manage to sneak away from my own booth to go visit another vendor's booth - i'll post about that separately though!!)

light as a feather

2010-07-09T08:55:00.003+01:00

& here's the second of the two garments i managed to complete in my long blogging absence...

project specs:
started: 18th may 2010
completed: 3rd june 2010
pattern: another featherweight by hannah fettig, available here
needles: 4mm addi circular
yarn: dream in color laceweight, colourway "black parade"
modifications: added a little length to the body & sleeves, and left off the ribbed edging
i've made this once before in a slightly heavier yarn - it's a super-easy knit and the finished garment is great. it's lovely in a laceweight knitted at a loose gauge - the perfect light cardi for the scottish "summer" evenings!

audrey (not in unst)

2010-06-24T17:05:00.003+01:00

it's been so long since i did a proper blog post - so long, that i've actually managed to finish two full garments. here's the first one - and my first time knitting a big project with one of my own yarns!

project specs:
started: 21st march 2010
completed: 18th may 2010
pattern: "audrey in unst" by gudrun johnson, available from twist collective
needles: 3.5mm & 3.75mm addi circulars
yarn: old maiden aunt alpaca/silk sportweight in a "dyer's mistake" colourway; 375g/1050 yards
modifications: practically none! i added about 1" in length to both the body & the sleeves, between the ribbing section & the shaping (which also meant that i had to add extra buttonholes & extra buttons). i made the 40.5" bust size, which fits perfectly, with about 1.5" of negative ease (so i'm hoping that it will still fit after my weight-loss phase is over!).
the pattern is excellent - quite easy to knit, but with some lovely, thoughtful details which make it look really well-finished & clean. there's a beautifully simple lace bib & a tidy little icord neck edging - and then there's something that i can't believe i didn't know about before...

...seamless set-in sleeves. they're fantastic! i love the look & fit of set-in sleeves, but i hate hate HATE sewing them in - i had no idea that you could work them seamlessly, using picked-up stitches & short-rows, and i'll definitely be using this technique on future cardigans!!

ta-da!!

shameful

2010-06-21T14:19:00.003+01:00

i can't believe how long it's been since i posted - it's absolutely shameful. i've been SO busy! i will do a proper blog post later this week, i promise - i've got a lot going on that i should be posting about, but i just haven't had the time!
i've finished two cardigans, and haven't even managed to photograph them yet.
i've dyed up about a thousand skeins of yarn for the lovely Loop, who seem to be selling my yarn like nothing on earth - it's actually quite overwhelming!
i've also dyed about another thousand skeins which are being quietly stashed away in boxes hidden around the studio, which i'll be taking along to Knit Nation in London and to the Ravelry Weekend marketplace in Stirling in just over a month's time.
& i've even managed to dye a few skeins of yarn to restock the web shop now & then.
which, alas, doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging...
but i will definitely try to do better!!

prizes (at last!)

2010-05-31T10:51:00.003+01:00

my apologies for the delay - life has been very busy lately, and i just haven't had the time to focus on anything other than work! but at long last, i've drawn the names for the "hulk" yarn winners....

sadie, flavaknits, elodi, and lin!!!

please email me with your mailing address, and i'll send your yarn out straightaway.

thank you everyone who replied - it did really make me feel a lot better about the whole thing (and in case you were wondering, he didn't get elected).

don't make me angry

2010-05-06T18:04:00.011+01:00

those of you who follow me on twitter will already have seen my comments about one of our local MP-hopefuls, philip lardner (i'm not going to link to his site, because i don't want to give him the traffic - but if you're really interested/curious, feel free to give him a google). i don't often get too personal or political on my blog - it's usually a place to talk about knitting, or cute dogs, or nice things like that. but sometimes, i need to vent a little bit.
this MP candidate was a member of the conservative party - he was suspended once in 2008 for racist comments, then reinstated, only to be suspended again this year (so soon before the election that he's still listed as a conservative candidate on the ballot papers, which may be confusing to some!) for an anti-gay statement published on his website. he's still standing as an independent MP candidate, and unfortunately for us, has been quite a presence on the local streets over the past few days - including leading a wee parade of his supporters (about 10 or so) up & down the street outside my studio on saturday, then spending some time hanging about chatting to folk right outside my studio window.
it was a strange feeling for me to watch this little parade of bigotry - some of these folk are local people who have previously been quite chatty & friendly to me, and a few have even visited the studio from time to time. seeing them out in support of a man who not only believes that i'm "abnormal", but who is actively seeking to gain policital power so that he can lobby against me & my kind, was a shock. & although i've certainly experienced homophobic behaviour of varying degrees throughout my life (ranging from the sudden absence of former "friends", to verbal abuse, to being spat on), for some reason this was almost worse.
and then i worked out what it was - i've actually reached a point where for the most part, the majority of people that i come into contact with on a daily basis really just don't care that i'm as gay as the day is long. and so, i let myself relax - and i almost forgot, just for a minute, that we're not quite there yet. i forgot what this kind of casual hatred feels like; i forgot the fear, and nausea, and the sheer unadulterated rage that floods through your brain in response to something like this. and in the short time that i was in the studio with this going on outside the window (before i fled up the street to a friend's studio & accidentally burst into tears on her shoulder), i did the unthinkable....

.... i added the wrong dye mix to the pot that was cooking away on the stove.

now, not only had this ruined my saturday afternoon, but this tiny-minded man had actually ruined my yarn. it was meant to look like this:

& instead, it came out like this:

sigh. but the more i looked at my "mistake" yarn, the more it reminded me of something...

"don't make me angry - you wouldn't like me when i'm angry."

...which cheered me up a little. i think that anger can actually be quite a useful emotion - it's an "active" feeling, and it can sometimes inspire or push you to do something that you wouldn't normally do. anger is what's behind a lot of the political protests that have changed the world for the better - and when used in the right way, anger can be pretty powerful. & i'd like to get something positive out of this - something that would annoy the philip lardners of this world, just a little bit. so here's the plan...
i have four skeins of this colourway, in the merino/cashmere/nylon 4ply base - and i'm going to give them away. all i hope for in exchange is that you make a donation to stonewall, a UK-based charity that works towards equality for GLBTQ (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/queer) folk like me & mine (or, if you'd prefer, to a similar charity in your own country). stonewall accepts donations by credit or debit card, or via paypal. then, leave me a comment on this post that says "i donated!" - you don't have to tell me how much - and i'll add your name to the draw for one of these totally unique skeins of yarn. i'll keep the comments open for 2 weeks, until 22nd may, then i'll draw the winners.
and maybe, being angry won't feel so bad in the end.

summer haircut

2010-05-05T11:18:00.001+01:00

before.....

& after!!!

the winners

2010-05-03T10:52:00.002+01:00

thanks for all your great comments! i've randomly picked three winners from all the lovely commenters, and here are the winners....

winner of the £15 gift certificate is victoria (spiderknits)!!

winner of the £25 gift certificate is marie (stashsiren)!!!

and, winner of the giant £50 gift certificate is..... lucy williams!!!!!

thanks everyone for your great comments. if you're a winner, please email me (info@oldmaidenaunt.com) and i'll let you know how to use your gift certificate in the shop.

thanks to you

2010-04-23T09:57:00.004+01:00

i got a little bit behind on my accounts this year (ok, by about six months, but we won't talk about that). i started off the tax year with the best of intentions, planning to keep track of everything month by month. that way, when it came to putting together my tax info at the end of the year, everything would be so easy - i'd just pull out my monthly sums & add everything up.
well, that never really happened - i managed to keep it up for the first few months, and then all my good intentions just slipped away. which is how, these past few weeks, i've found myself having to go through months of orders, receipts, invoices & payments - and have ended up with some results that have truly blown my mind. of course i was aware that orders this year have been good - i've been keeping pretty busy, and have been shipping out lots of parcels every month without fail. but when i sat down & added it all up at once, i nearly fainted.
i've never been a very business-minded person - years ago, when i went to a few business start-up classes, i felt completely out of place among all the ambitious folk who talked for ages about their financial plans & how much profit they planned to make. my goal was always fairly simple - i wanted to be able to do something i really loved, to work for myself, and above all, to avoid the kind of office jobs i'd always had before (& which nearly drove me into a full-on meltdown - i don't really do well in any kind of "normal" job). what with one thing & another, we've been more or less living on the RSA's salary for a good few years now, so we're fairly used to living an economical life, without much financial input from me.
so when i started this little business, it was really more of a "hobby" - i loved dyeing, creating new colourways, and i loved what i was making - and i hoped that a few folk out there might like what i was making too. i hoped that i would be able to cover my running costs - but it never once occurred to me that within the first two years, i would be running an actual profit-making business. it's said that if you're starting up a small business, you should expect to make a substantial loss in your first 2-3 years. well, in my first year, i sold enough to cover my costs plus a little bit extra. and this year, it would seem that i've actually made enough that i'm going to need to pay income tax on it - and it's all thanks to you.
it completely blows my mind that there are so many people who want to buy what i'm making - i'm so grateful to each & every one of you. so i'd like to give you a little something in return - how does a gift certificate to the old maiden aunt shop sound? i'm giving away three - one for £15, one for £25, and one for a whopping £50!!!! to get a chance to win one, here's what you do - leave me a comment on this blog entry telling me about something you're thankful for. i'll keep the comments open until the end of april - after that, i'll get the RSA to draw names from a hat, and three of you will win a thank-you gift certificate!!
thank you all so much - i really mean it.

ETA - comments are closed!! i'll be drawing names tomorrow & posting the winners so please check back then!!

awesome

2010-03-29T13:12:00.004+01:00

some awesome things:
1) the twisted ribbing on "audrey" is done!! now i can move on to the next exciting part... oh, wait - it's stockinette. still, the yarn (if i do say so myself) is awesome.

(old maiden aunt alpaca/silk sport)

2) i just found out that the cat empire is coming back to the UK in the fall. we went to see them almost by accident the day that i flew back from canada - i was completely exhausted & jet-lagged, but somehow ended up dancing through the whole show, that's how awesome they are.
3) my customers. not only are they fantastically understanding & forgiving (i've had a few glitches with overselling in the web shop, and so far, the few folk that it's happened to have been very cool about the inevitable delay that this will cause to their orders), but sometimes they send me amazing stuff! look what i got from the blogless - but awesome - daniele in france. my customers are made of awesome.

teeny tiny rocking chair charm!

4) it's finally spring! (at least it has been for the past couple of days - let's see if it sticks.) the sun is shining but it's not too hot yet, and everything is turning green & lovely. spring in scotland is awesome.
5) i've been doing the weightwatchers thing for three weeks - and have already lost half a stone!! (that's 7lbs, but half a stone sounds much more impressive, doesn't it?) & despite the fact that none of my clothes fit properly anymore - i've got a pile of clothes from my (slightly) thinner days that are still a bit too small, and all my "fat" clothes are now too big - i'm pretty excited. i've changed a lot of things about the way i eat, but it hasn't seemed like too much of a struggle (except for a little - well, ok, fairly major - sugar withdrawal in the first week, but we don't talk about that). i'm don't feel like i'm starving all the time, and i already feel a lot healthier - i even went to a step class last week, and since i didn't die, i'm going back again this week, and probably next week too (crazy, eh?). so i think it's safe to say - i'm awesome.

the disconnect

2010-03-23T12:43:00.005Z

i've never been a very physical person. i'm not into sports - i don't really like exercising, and i'm not very graceful or coordinated (minor understatement!). most of the things i enjoy doing are fairly sedentary (knitting, spinning, reading & so on) & cerebral. & no matter what i try, there always seems to be a disconnect between my mind & my body.
a small part of this is an Aspergers thing - my messed-up sensory system means that sometimes i struggle with correctly identifiying physical sensations (pain, tiredness, hunger) & end up thinking i should be capable of more than i actually am (which never goes well, and makes me quite cross with my body & its limitations).
but for the most part, it's simply down to being female, and living in this society where we are constantly told that we'll never measure up. i've had the tv on the background while i've been thinking about this, and so far, i've seen a series of ads that are telling me i need to lose half my body weight, but enhance my "assets" (ahem); elongate my eyelashes, colour my lips, smooth out my skin, and hide my gray hair, wrinkles, & stretch marks; and that i should never, under any circumstance, let it be known that i sweat, menstruate, have body hair, or ever get that "not-so-fresh" feeling (& don't even get me started on that one - that's a whole rant on its own!). add in the fashion industry, with its clothes cut to fit an idealized, tiny body type (the like of which the vast majority of women will never possess), and the diet industry, whose sole function seems to be making us feel bad about enjoying food, and you can see how it all begins to wear you down.
because of this, my relationship with my body is difficult at best - i tend to see it more as something that i need to do battle with rather than something which holds & supports me, which gets me where i need to go, and which (more or less) works exactly like it should. & despite knowing how lucky i am to have a body that works, it's often hard not to feel like it's not quite good enough. & it's even harder to admit that although i try my best to like myself as i am, the simple fact is that i do need to lose some weight in order to be a healthier person.
with all the aforementioned factors playing their damaging part, though, things become very complicated. if i say that i need to lose weight, is it because i want to be healthier & stronger (yes) or is it really because i think i'll look better as a thinner person (also yes)? and if i'm losing weight partly because i think it will make me look better, is this some kind of feminist betrayal, because i'm buying into the idea that thin=attractive? or is it ok that by "coincidence", what will make me feel stronger & healthier will also make me feel like i look better? & so on, & so on.... sigh.
& so, with all that in mind, i've joined weight watchers (online only - no meetings for me, thank you) and have officially started my becoming-healthy project as of the start of this week. and as much as i loathe, detest, despise & abominate the diet industry, so far it looks like weight watchers is a fairly reasonable way to go - it's already making me more aware of what i'm putting into my body, and what it's actually "worth" nutritionally (i'm fairly certain that's not a word, but i'm just going to carry on regardless), and it doesn't seem to be geared towards making you feel guilty about food. & i'm trying some different ways to connect to my body, from the serious (healthier food & exercise) to the downright frivolous.

(apologies to my friend with the foot phobia!)

& hopefully, soon, i'll start to appreciate my body for the wonderful thing that it is, instead of feeling so disconnected from it.

frankengreen

2010-03-21T15:34:00.002Z

project specs:
started (2nd time): 1st february 2010
completed: 20th march 2010
needles: 5mm addi circular
yarn: superwash merino aran from fyberspates, 600grams
pattern: a monster-mish-mash of ideas from various sources, mainly my january cardigan and my adeline coat.
this was originally knitted up into almost a full cardigan, before i decided to rip out the whole thing & redo it into something completely different - & i'm really glad i did! i'm quite pleased with how this has turned out, especially as i pretty much winged the whole thing (especially the mini-shawl collar!).

hopefully i'll have more great projects to show off soon - i've found a gorgeous yarn/button combo for my next cardi, and now that i've cleared one big project from the needles, i'm excited to get started on the next one straightaway!

still here

2010-03-12T10:38:00.003Z

sorry about the long silence - i'm still here, & things are good! the RSA got back safe & sound a few days ago & i've been adjusting to having someone else in the house again (turns out that eight weeks is just about long enough to get so used to being on your own that it's slightly odd to suddenly have someone else around).
it's starting to feel like the long winter is over at last - the days have been really sunny, and it looks like spring might finally be peeking through.

first crocuses!

& i've been knitting something designed to chase away the last lingering remnants of the winter grays.

"sam" socks by cookie a. in wollmeise "sonne"

apart from that, i'm just trying to get back to normal - being on my own was a pretty big adjustment, and it seems that not being on my own is going to be an adjustment as well! hopefully it won't take too long, and i'll have more brainpower for blog posting soon.

gold medal knitting

2010-02-26T10:17:00.002Z

well ahead of the finsh line, my knitting olympics project is complete - and i just managed to scrape through, with less than a metre of yarn left over (the tiny little scrap above the socks in the photo is what was left from the skein of yarn i used).

project specs:
started 12th february 2010, finished 25th february 2010
needles: 2.5mm addi circular (magic loop)
yarn: handmaiden casbah - almost exactly one skein (115g/325m)
pattern: trystero by cookie a.
modifications: i used a larger needle size (2.5mm instead of the recommended 2.25mm). i worked the pattern as written except i shortened the toe slightly, working the toe decreases to 28 sts total instead of the recommended 16 sts. for a UK6 foot, i worked foot chart C, chart A, chart C, and chart A ending on row 9.

this pattern is gorgeous, with some great, well-thought-out detailing (like all cookie a. patterns). the cuff ribbing flows nicely into the leg pattern, and the cable detailing framing the heel looks beautiful as well as being fantastically comfortable to wear. i'm really pleased with these, and i may have gotten me over my fear of cookie a. patterns - maybe i'll try these ones next!

seven reasons

2010-02-25T21:57:00.005Z

seven reasons why today was better than yesterday:

the snow is gone - it turned to rain overnight, so everything's been washed away. it's been gray & rainy, but the wind is a lot calmer, so i'm no longer getting a face full of snow every time i walk out the door.
welly boots plus woolly socks is a great combination (i even splashed through some giant puddles in the park, just because i could).
i planned ahead, and brought spare clothes to work today, so i had something dry to change into after the rainy, puddly dog-walk in the park.
we're now officially in single digits in the RSA-comes-back-from-india countdown - 9 days left!!!
i had to get to the studio early for a courier pickup - i didn't love the early start, but i got lots of work done this morning, and even had time for some coffee & a cake.
the courier pickup was a big box of yarn that was heading off to Loop London - who have started stocking some of my yarn!! (i'm super-excited about this as i always thought that Loop was a pretty swanky place, so i guess that means i'm swanky now too!)
i finished my knitting olympics project, well ahead of schedule! (i'll take pictures tomorrow when there's better light.) i was completely convinced that i was going to run out of yarn, so much so that i'd dyed up a skein of my own merino/cashmere/nylon (a base that's almost identical to the handmaiden yarn i was using for the socks) in a colourway that i tried to match to the project yarn, in case i needed it - but i managed to finish the second sock with less than a metre of yarn left (which is just as well, since my dye-matching job wasn't too great).

maybe the week is picking up...

i give up

2010-02-24T17:25:00.002Z

we're in the middle of a completely ridiculous snow-blizzard here, so i've decided that's it for the day - i give up. the problem is not so much the snowiness (it's very wet snow, so it's not really "sticking", and the road surfaces are mainly clear) as the blowiness. the wind is so strong that the snow is "falling" more or less horizontally. & if you have to go out walking in it (which, if you have a dog, is pretty much a given) you instantly resemble some kind of human/yeti hybrid, as whichever side of you is facing the wind becomes immediately plastered with thick, soggy snow-globs. as for driving, the wind is also performing frequent, random gusts of multi-directional wildness, so you have to go considerably slower than normal, lest the road ahead of you suddenly disappear in a mad swirl of giant fat snowflakes.
by the time i got to the studio, i was fairly well drenched, & had to spend most of the afternoon wearing wet trousers; today was also the day that my nearly-brand-new snowboots (purchased during the last freak snowstorm a couple of months ago) decided they would spring a leak, so i also spent most of the afternoon in wet socks. despair.
so, what with everything, i've decided it's time to give up on the day. i closed up the studio a little bit early (i thought it was probably safe to say that nobody was coming in to see me today), and made a detour to tesco's on the way home, where i found something to cheer me up:

wellies with butterflies on them, yay! hint - always check the kid's section. the largest kid's size is a UK 6, which is exactly the same as a UK women's 6, but their stuff is always way more fun. plus, if (like me) you suffer from disproportionately large calves, kids' boots tend to be shorter in the leg, which avoids the calf-size issue altogether. so until i get my proper winter boots replaced (they'll be going back to the store as soon as i can get up there - i'm really not happy that a so-called pair of serious walking boots only lasted 2 months!), at least i'll have happy, dry feet!

olympic progress

2010-02-16T15:23:00.002Z

olympic challenge sock #1, nearly completed

citius, altius, fortius

2010-02-11T17:55:00.003Z

i've decided, at almost the last minute, to attempt the knitting olympics this year. there aren't any hard & fast rules, except that a) you can't start your olympic project until the olympic flame is lit at the opening ceremonies, and you have to finish before the flame goes out at the closing ceremonies; and b) that whatever project you choose, it has to be something that will be a personal challenge for you to complete in these 17 days.
i had thought about joining in this time (i haven't before) but since i'd already started a few new projects recently, i figured i had enough going on, and i would probably give it a miss. but then i realised that one of my newly-started projects was going to be too small (i underestimated the circumference of my calf, and there's nothing worse than too-tight socks!) so it looks like i'm going to have to start over. the pattern is trystero from cookie a., whose sock patterns are beautiful, but full of intricate cables...

trystero "swatch"

& although i've bought several of her sock patterns, as well as her new book, i've yet to knit any of them, because i'm frankly a little scared of how complex they all look! but i decided that it was about time i tried one of them - and actually, although you have to pay close attention to what's going on, it's not nearly as scary as i had thought it would be. & since i've had to rip out the first few inches of the first sock so i can change my needle size & start again, i've decided to make this my olympic project, and consider the first attempt my "swatch" (& swatching ahead of time is allowed!). maybe challenging myself to knit my first pair of intricate cookie a. socks will inspire me to move on to another of her patterns (which i bought ages ago, at the same time as this one, and really want to knit - but it's really scary!!).
& in case you suspect advance-knitting-olympic-cheating, i absolutely ripped out my "swatch" and will not be starting over until tomorrow - here's the proof!

no head starts or false starts, i promise...

cheering my tuesday

2010-02-09T17:22:00.002Z

look what arrived in the middle of my day-off drudgery (i'm not in the studio on tuesdays, which means i have to clean the house, boo!)...

some "un-valentine" flowers from the RSA (who's still in india until the beginning of next month - but yay for online florist deliveries!). there were so many of them that they wouldn't fit in my one & only teeny, tiny vase, so i had to go get something to put them in (all i could find was a big glass pitcher, but i think it works!). while i was out, i may have accidentally stumbled into a sale of cheap dvds, and bought these three bad movies (whoops). so once i finished all my house-cleaning, i got back into my pjs, and have been alternating between watching dvds & gazing at my lovely flowers.
i also managed to finish these, so i've been wearing them as well (i love the colourway name, it makes me laugh every time i see them...

plain toe-up socks in socks that rock lightweight, colourway "crabby mchappypants"

and, i've finally started the shawl that i've been dying to start since i bought the yarn for it in paris this summer...

agatha shawl, 4ply alpaca from la droguerie

so all in all, my tuesday has been well & truly cheered - how about you?

starting over

2010-02-01T12:50:00.003Z

why is it, as knitters, that so many of us keep going with projects that we know just aren't working? we convince ourselves that somehow, if we just keep knitting, all our concerns about a project will disappear. somehow, it will fit properly, it will flatter us, it will work out...
and then, without much effort, we're confronted with an almost (or entirely) finished knit that just isn't what we wanted. it doesn't fit; or it fits, but in the least flattering way possible; or the pattern modifcations that we thought were such a good idea, really weren't; or the yarn/pattern combination is awful; and so on, and so on.
some knitters will deal with this problem by finishing the damn thing anyways, then wearing it once before folding it away in their closet of mistakes, from where it will never return. but some of us take a different route:

this was, up until yesterday, the o'keeffe cardigan, and it was very nearly finished - all i had left to do was sew on the sleeves & knit the collar. and as i was plodding away at it, the realisation was slowly dawning that this was not a good knit for me. it wasn't going to work the way i wanted it to, and it certainly wasn't going to look good on me. and despite knowing this, i kept on knitting - until it came to me. the only reason i wanted to finish this project was so that it would be finished. i didn't want to wear it; i wouldn't be happy with the result; i just wanted it done. and as far as i'm concerned, that's not a good enough reason.
so, i spent most of yesterday afternoon ripping out an almost-finished cardigan, and winding the yarn back into neat little yarn-cakes. and now, i'm starting over. i'm working from a "pattern" idea that i've already used (my january sweater, modified for an aran rather than a chunky weight yarn) - it's one of the cardigans that i wear all the time, so i know that it works for me. and although i'm a little disappointed that all that knitting work has been undone, i'd much rather have the extra effort go into something that i'll actually use - i don't have enough closet space to hang onto my mistakes.

not a stranger

2010-01-26T20:39:00.004Z

i hate to admit it, but i'm fairly certain that i'm not always the greatest friend. having an autistic spectrum disorder means that on any given day, i can be any or all of the following - self-absorbed, abrupt, inadvertently rude, awkward, selfish, unsympathetic, and socially unaware. & knowing this, i'm more than amazed to remember that i have such a great core group of friends. at the moment, we're meeting every week for a regular knit night - they know that i'm struggling on my own, and although they can't all make it all the time, at least a few of them have been meeting me every week to remind me that i haven't been totally abandoned, and to keep me attached to the "real world" in a way that i just can't manage on my own.

how strange to feel not a stranger
how much stranger could i be?
(deb talan, back to oregon)

maybe it helps that we're all a little "odd" - none of us seem to see the world in an ordinary way, so perhaps that makes them a little more forgiving of my peculiarities. but having come through a long childhood of always being the "weird" one, the one who was "too smart", the one who nobody really liked, i feel like i can't ever take having friends for granted.

i need my place at your table
i'll come for dinner when i can
(deb talan, "back to oregon")

and it amazes me that no matter how much i'm struggling, or how socially inept i feel, or how far inward i turn, they will be there. even if i can't manage to meet up with them when i'm supposed to - if the world becomes too much for me, and i need to retreat for a bit - i know that they're waiting out there for me to come back, and that when i do, they'll be as welcoming as they always are. and having people like them to help me navigate this difficult world is more than i could have hoped for (& you all know who you are).

status report

2010-01-21T18:50:00.002Z

i don't know how everybody makes it through the daily drill
paint their nails, walk the dog, pay every bill
(dar williams, "buzzer")

sorry about the small blog silence (and thank you to everyone who was concerned!). i'm pretty much ok - just really tired from working my way into the new habits of Being Alone. when you've been living with someone for quite a while (10 years, yikes!) i think you naturally settle into a routine, and a kind of division of labour happens - sometimes deliberately arranged, sometimes just something you fall into. one person does some tasks, the other does the rest, and everything gets done that needs to. but when you're suddenly on your own, you have to do everything yourself - and boy, is it tiring.
& it's not so much the fact that you now have to do all the daily tasks on your own - it's knowing that no matter what, you have to keep on doing them. there's nobody to say "hey, you look tired today - i'll do the laundry/take the dog out/clean the cat litter/pick up milk on the way home" - and that, more than anything, is what's utterly exhausting. there's no back up - just me, on my own, doing everything.
and it's going ok so far - i'm not living in squalor, or eating nothing but junk food, or living like a shut-in. i've been keeping things clean, keeping myself & the menagerie healthily fed, and have even been going to the gym (mainly out of boredom, but still...). and i've been making a point of getting together with friends every week for a knit night, and they're cheering me up no end.
but i'm not sleeping all that well (i'm a bad sleeper anyways, and even more so when i'm on my own) and i'm starting to get pretty tired, what with everything. and i'm definitely as lonely as i thought i would be - but i'm coping. and there are some small things every day that make me happy...

basking in the afternoon sun

& maybe these small happinesses will be enough to get me through the 46 days that are left (not that i'm counting down, or anything...).

(heart) warming

2010-01-12T16:59:00.002Z

(month 01, week 02, photo 02)

a friend who comes to meet you for a night of knitting, because she knows you're lonely, even though she has a broken wrist...
it warms you up inside.

my own devices

2010-01-09T10:03:00.003Z

i'll admit, i'm not too great at managing on my own. when i'm left to my own devices, here's what happens: i eat rubbish junk food (i can't cook to save my life), i watch far too much bad tv, and i tend to avoid social contact in favour of talking to the dog. none of these things have ever been a big problem before, since the longest i've been left on my own for has been a few days here & there.
unfortunately, the RSA (the Resident Sock Appreciator, aka my partner) has just left for TWO MONTHS working in india - so i'm pretty sure my usual on-my-own habits aren't going to cut it for that length of time. luckily, the freezer has already been stocked with piles of easily-reheatable (& nutritious!) food, so that solves one problem; i've also filled up my lovefilm rental list with a bunch of great dvds, so that fixes the bad tv issue.
the last problem, however, is a little more difficult. having an autistic spectrum disorder means that i'm kind of naturally wired to avoid socializing - even if i want to have company, i'm not likely to actively seek it out. and although the RSA does a lot of practical "caring" for me as well (keeping me organised in the midst of life's chaos, keeping me positive when i'm more inclined to mope, and keeping me fed!) the most important thing she does for me is to link me to the "real world".
having aspergers is sort of like living on a small island - the rest of the world is happening around me, but i'm separated from it. it's not always a bad thing - parts of the island are nice & calm, and it's pretty relaxing to hang out here. but sometimes, it's really lonely, and scary, and weird - and luckily for me, i have someone who can bridge the gap between weird-alone island and the rest of the world, and make things less lonely over here. and the thought of two months of being cut off on my island is quite frightening.
it's not all bad - i do have a few very good friends who i'm sure will be looking out for me, and family who will no doubt be calling (a lot) to make sure i'm still alive. but there's noone that i feel as safe with as the RSA - and even the best of friends can't help with things like having to go to bed alone (i'm fairly certain that i'm not that good friends with any of them).
so, here's hoping that the two months passes quickly, and that i don't get too weird & reclusive from being stranded over here on my island....

staying warm

2010-01-08T16:58:00.002Z

cold snap? what cold snap??
month 01, week 01, photo 05

snow day

2010-01-05T12:47:00.003Z

sunlight on snowfall

softly blanketing rich browns

& warm reds

project 260

2010-01-04T18:29:00.003Z

a while ago, i tried to do project 365. and although i mostly enjoyed it, i didn't end up making it through the whole year. i often forgot to bring my camera with me throughout the day's events, and would then find myself scrambling for that day's photo last thing at night, just so i could tick off another day from the 365 days that year. it started being stressful, and stopped being fun, and eventually, i gave up on it altogether.
i do really like the idea of committing to take regular photos, though - i enjoy finding interesting things to photograph, and trying to look at something in a different way than i normally would. plus, i bought a fancy-pants new camera quite some time ago now - and embarrassingly, i've yet to take it off "auto" mode (blush). clearly, i need the practice - but taking one photo every single day still seems a bit much (i already have more than enough things to remember).
so, here's what i've come up with - i'm going to take 5 photos each week this year*, with no daily structures - if i want to blow all five photos in one day, that's fine. and through these photos, i'm going to learn how to properly use my new(ish) camera (which frankly, i'm more than a little frightened of - it's so fancy!!). since it's going to be a learning experience for me, some of the photos might be quite bad, and for that, i apologise - i'll be storing them all in a flickr set, but you're under no obligation to look at them. i'm also going to be making it a little more interesting (for myself, possibly not for anyone else) by giving myself a theme to work with each month (chosen in a totally arbitrary way - basically, i'm making this up as i go). and what better theme for a cold, dark january in scotland than "warmth & light"...

month 01 week 01 photo 01
christmas lights in the dark; macro setting, high ISO

i'm looking forward to seeing how my photos progress this year - and given how cold & dark january is so far, i'm especially looking forward to actively seeking out "warmth & light" this month...

* 5 photos times 52 weeks equals 260 photos!!

new year, new yarn

2010-01-02T14:55:00.002Z

happy 2010 (i can't believe it)!! a new year means different things to different people, and to me, it can only mean one thing - new yarn. 2009 was the year of homecoming (and the now-ended homecoming collection, inspired by all things scottish) - but now that homecoming is over, it's time for a new collection.

"i made you this mixtape"

all the colourways in this collection are inspired by the lyrics to some of my favourite songs, and designed to work together in various combinations. the first little batch of them is up in the shop now (just search for "mixtape", or check out the "new products" section!), and i'll be dyeing up a pile more this week. i LOVE these colourways, each & every one of them, and i'm very excited to be introducing them to the shop at last!!
happy new yarn everyone (oops, new YEAR...)!!

bleak midwinter

2009-12-29T17:43:00.005Z

in the bleak midwinter
frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone

(christina rossetti, 1872)

it's cold here. so cold, that we've had our first "white christmas" in more than five years (even if it snows elsewhere in the UK, it doesn't normally snow much where we are, and it definitely doesn't stick). well, it stuck this time, and then the snow turned to freezing sleet, which turned to ice, and the ice has stayed for a fair few days now. our little under-insulated sea-front flat is icy - all heaters are turned up to full blast, there are blankets & duvets on the couch to huddle under, and i'm surrounding myself with (equally chilly, i'm sure) furry creatures. around my comfy chair in the living room, i'm collecting lots of cozy knitting projects to work on - if i keep everything within easy reach, i can stay in my blanket-nest as much as possible. & since i've taken to wearing two pairs of wooly socks at a time in an attempt to keep my feet at least semi-warm, i clearly need to keep knitting more socks as fast as i can.
embarrassingly, this pair (they are both finished now, although there's only one in the photo) have been on the needles since january 2009 - i have no idea why, since it's only taken me a couple of days of holiday-tv-knitting to finish the second sock. i'm wearing them now (over another pair, of course) & they're lovely.

plain toe-up sock in sewknitnbeads2 handspun, colourway "lazy daisy"

i'm also finishing up some plain toe-up socks in my own merino/cashmere/nylon 4ply (colourway "bramble" - no photo, sorry!) which have been on the needles since about may 2009, as well as these brainless socks, also in my own merino/cashmere/nylon 4ply (a dyepot-accident-colourway), which have been in progress since july 2009 (blush).

"brainless" socks by yarnissima, yarn by me

i'm a tiny bit annoyed with myself at letting these projects sit for so long - i'm getting through them quite quickly (now that i'm actually working on them!), and i'm very pleased with the finished socks (especially since it's sooooooo coooooooollllld...). but at least it means that i've got lots of interesting little projects piled up around my blanket-nest to keep me occupied through this bleak midwinter. if i get bored of one, i can pick up another, and i may not have to leave my cozy spot until the spring....

(...now, if only i didn't have to go to the loo...)

merry christmas

2009-12-25T10:16:00.004Z

whether you celebrate it or not, whatever you're doing today, if you're a knitter, the message is still the same....

may there be sheep on earth,
& good wool to all

i hope you & yours are having a lovely day - merry christmas!!

strangely bereft

2009-12-21T19:06:00.002Z

the last batch of this year's yarn club parcels is off in the post! i'm so happy with how everything has gone - it's my first-ever time running a yarn club, and the response has been fantastic. it's quite a worry, this yarn club business - essentially, you're asking folk to fork over a fairly substantial amount of money in advance, without seeing any of the yarns or colourways that they're going to get, on the expectation that you're going to send them something good!! the potential for unhappy customers seems quite high - but the yarn club members have been wonderful, and everyone seems to have liked what they got (& if not, i haven't heard about it yet!!).
& i'm especially relieved that the colourways have had such a great response, considering that they're my 2010 collection (otherwise i would have had to spend my christmas holidays coming up with a new batch of colourways for next year, instead of knitting & eating chocolate...). but now that the parcels have all left the studio, i'm feeling strangely bereft - there seems to be so much more room in the studio now that all the little stashes of club yarn & club extras are packed up & shipped out. and my work schedule is suddenly wide open - no more big batches of club yarn to dye, skein, & label up!
however, there's no time to rest on my laurels - after all, since the club was a 2010 preview, that means that i need to dye up some more of the new colourways quickly, & make sure that there's some in the shop for the start of the new year (which is alarmingly soon - have you noticed?). i'd better get going.....

sweet adeline

2009-12-06T13:34:00.003Z

project specs:
started: 1st november 2009
completed: 3rd december 2009
pattern: "adeline coat" (bust size 42", test knitter for lucy sweetland's upcoming pattern)
yarn: rowan harris tweed aran, shade 018 "thatch", 1100 grams/2050 yards (ravelled here)
needles: 4.5mm addi circulars
modifications: the pattern as written has a knitted tie belt & also has pockets; i knitted the pockets but decided not to add them on yet as i quite like how it looks without them. i'm still undecided about the belt, so i'm just using a shawl pin to close it at the moment (& i quite like the look, so i probably won't add the belt either). other than that, as a test knitter, i knitted the pattern as written.
there were points during this knit that i was a bit skeptical - with the number of stitches i had on the needles, and the amount of knitted fabric that was piling up on my lap, i was convinced i was actually knitting some sort of wooly yurt.

but i trusted the pattern, and kept going - and i have to say, i think this is probably my favourite finished project so far. once it was off the needles, sewn up, and blocked - i was sold. the dense cabled bodice, the drapey long skirt...

...the perfectly proportioned sleeves, with a cabled cuff that echoes the bodice pattern & stops the sleeve from riding up....

...and the incredibly cozy, immense shawl collar (very warm, even in the face of the brisk sea wind we were dealing with during the photo session!).

i love everything about this coat, and i'm so happy i got to be a test knitter. the level of detail & thought in this pattern is fantastic, and lucy was very helpful with any small questions that came up. i've been saving this yarn for ages for the "perfect" pattern - and i'm so pleased that i kept it for this stunning knit.

(the photographer's assistant was also impressed).

my 15 minutes

2009-12-03T17:55:00.002Z

here's the excitement for today - a crew from newsnight scotland was filming in some of the studios in west kilbride, for an upcoming item about crafting in scotland, with some of us crafters in the west kilbride craft town. i wasn't super-excited about being on tv, but had agreed to be "background" - i thought this would mean a few quick pans over the dyed & drying yarn, maybe a shot or two of the spinning wheel, something nice & colourful that they could use as background for a voiceover, and then they'd move on. alas, i was quite, quite wrong - they were in my studio for about 45 minutes of "could we get some shots of you spinning?" (good thing i wore my nice socks!) and "could you stir this dyepot?" and "could you stand over here & skein up this yarn?" and so on, and so on....

.... and then they asked me to talk. on camera. faint...

so, just in case you need to know when not to watch newsnight scotland, i'll be embarrassing myself on tv at some point during the week of 14th december (i don't know the exact date yet). please avoid all screenings of this show during that week, just in case - i know i won't be watching!!

making progress

2009-11-30T13:08:00.002Z

thing are gradually getting back to normal over here - the new floors are down, the new bedroom furniture is built, and some progress is being made in reorganising & returning all our bits & pieces to their regular habitat (although there's still a surprising amount of things crammed into the spare room). & we even have all our doors back on (they had to come off when the new floor went in, and the RSA spent a lot of time & energy cutting bits off the bottom of doors to get them to fit over the new floor). & although there's still some things to be done, i no longer feel like i'm living in the middle of a building site, and can get down to some serious knitting at last (for most of the past week, my brains's been good for nothing but 2x2 ribbed socks).
& since i've fallen behind a little on the adeline test knitting, that's my focus for the moment - i've made it up to the armpits and split for the fronts & back, and have just finished one of the fronts. & now that it's no longer bunched up on one circular (i've put the parts that i'm not working at the moment on some waste yarn) i can really spread it out & see what's what.

(cat for scale)

& seriously, this thing is huge - i may be knitting a ranch house *. i mean, i knew it was big when i was working on it - it is, after all, a knee-length knitted coat - but i didn't quite realise how much i had knitted until it was all laid out before me. & when i look at the pattern & how far i have to go, it seems like nothing compared to how far i've already come - i think i should be putting the finishing touches on this by the end of the week. & just in time - it's starting to get pretty chilly here, and i think i might just end up living in this all winter.

* "Jose brought up the blueprints for a new ranch house... I have this strange feeling that the blueprints and the knitting instructions got switched. I may be knitting a ranch house." - Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn, "Breakfast at Tiffany's")

a fugue state

2009-11-24T12:32:00.003Z

i'm sorry for the blog silence - things have been pretty chaotic around here, and i haven't really had much time to myself. we're in the midst of a great big DIY mess - most of the laminate flooring in the flat is being replaced, as well as most of the bedroom furniture, not to mention tearing down old wallpaper, skimming walls & ceilings, and repainting....
in the past couple of weeks, i've spent more time that i care to recall doing things like pulling up laminate flooring & carting it to the dump, taking apart old furniture & getting rid of it, and building new things from ikea (which i'm now fairly certain is actually swedish for "satan", such is the diabolical nature of their near-indecipherable so-called "instructions"). in the past few days, i've made more trips up & down our two flights of narrow, winding stairs than i normally would in a month (carrying heavy things up & down & up & down). and i've managed to cram just about everything we own into the small spare room, to clear the way for the new laminate flooring to be put in. i'd take pictures, but it's just too depressing.
i'm utterly exhausted, & wouldn't be at all surprised if i suddenly succumbed to a fugue state - the idea of completely forgetting all the chaos & heading off for parts unknown seems incredibly tempting.
alas, i think i'm doomed to stay here & suffer the clutter & disorder - thankfully, the new flooring is being put in this week, and the rest of the new furniture is arriving on saturday, so everything should be more or less back to normal by sunday evening.
and happily, i've got something lovely & new to distract me...

i'm extremely excited to be working in collaboration with the amazingly talented kate davies, who has created this fantastic new design especially for old maiden aunt yarns - fugue, which will be available in kit form, in a variety of colourway combinations, with an option of either tam or mitts.

kate's designs are utterly lovely, full of incredible thought, planning, & attention to the minutest of details, and i'm thrilled that she's created such a gorgeous design using my yarn. the base is a new one for me, a 4ply pure welsh wool from bowmont braf. this yarn is beautiful - soft & squishy, fluffy & light, yet wonderfully warm & durable when knitted up into the dense fabric of this design.
the pattern & yarn is off to the test knitters & tech editors, and i'm just waiting for my batch of base yarn to arrive (this year's clip of the bowmont braf wool is currently off at the mill being spun & should be with me within the next couple of weeks) - with any luck, the first batch of kits should be available in the web shop by mid-december. the kit will include kate's pattern and enough of the luscious bowmont braf to knit either a tam or mitts, and will be packaged in a lovely little "old maiden aunt" project bag (a new product for me as well, which will also be available in the web shop soon!).
if you'd like to be added to an email list to be notified when the kits start to become available for purchase, please drop me an email. until then, i'll be working away at home, trying to restore my wee flat to some kind of normality...

i'll see you later!!

(all photos belong to kate davies & are used with her permission)

chilly days...

2009-11-09T13:54:00.003Z

... call for cozy things.

porridge with raisins, brown sugar, & homemade applesauce - yum

a comfy chair & a warm blanket

some excellent entertainment

& some seemingly endless knitting

(snoring pup optional)

how are you planning on keeping warm this winter?

france thinks i'm a tory

2009-11-05T17:13:00.002Z

or, to be more precise, the french minister pierre lellouche thinks that the tories are "autistic". in an interview published this morning in the guardian, he says of the party's approach to the EU; "they have one line & they just repeat that one line - it is a very bizarre sense of autism". later on today, he clarified: "In French, the term autistic has been totally trivialised through overuse. President Sarkozy is called autistic every day. I understand that in English that this word could shock. That was a glitch. It was a misunderstanding." oh, ok then.
now, i don't normally get into the political (or the deeply personal) on this blog - it's usually chats about knitting & other topics of the light & fluffy variety.

(look, a puppy!!)

however, as an autistic person (i have asperger's, an autistic spectrum disorder), this language usage has made me pretty uncomfortable (& i'm fairly certain it isn't just due to an extreme aversion to having any association, however slight, with the tories!). i've been thinking about it all day, and i'm still not 100% sure how to articulate what bothers me about it.
i suppose the major problem is the use of "autistic" as an insult. some of us have moved on from using terms associated with other disabilities as insults - "lame" & "retarded" spring immediately to mind. i'm not sure if these are mainly north-americanisms, but wherever you are, i'm sure you can think of more/others - i was horrified, when i first moved to the uk 10 years ago, to hear someone use the term "mong" in casual conversation (short for mongoloid, a word of truly sketchy origin & usage). there was also an accompanying face. luckily i haven't heard that one in years, so maybe it's fallen out of use as well (fingers crossed...).
but is that just because they're being replaced with new insults, taken from words used for other, newer minority/disenfranchised groups? things like autism, ADHD, OCD and other neurological disorders are relatively new discoveries (previously, it's probably likely that someone like me would have simply fallen under the now-defunct umbrella of "retarded", "mentally handicapped", or simply "crazy"). apparently, the word "autistic" has become popular in recent years in colloquial french to refer to anyone who is stubborn/doesn't listen, & is used every day in the political world and media (according to the times online article linked to above). nice. so, is "autistic" the new "retarded"? i'm not sure what to think about that.

reassurances

2009-11-04T21:12:00.001Z

please take reassurance in this fact:

the test knitting is being properly supervised at all stages.

preparations

2009-11-02T10:30:00.004Z

sometimes, i think i like the preparations for a new project even more than i like knitting it. printing out the pattern, choosing the yarn, carefully selecting needle sizes, and winding all the yarn into sturdy, squat yarn cakes.

but then, seeing the project taking shape is pretty fun too - especially when it's as beautiful as this one is (check out the amazing cabled section!).

i've been chosen to be a test knitter for the gorgeous adeline coat (ravelry project page link, but lucy has a beautiful photo of hers on flickr), a new design from lucy sweetland designs (a black pepper). i'm pretty excited about this project - it's a stunning design, and i'm quite honoured to be trusted with the test knitting, and to be among the first to make it. it's a great combination of the simple & the intricate, and despite some initial gauge issues, i'm almost done the first sleeve already, even though i only cast on for it on saturday.
i've got a "deadline" (not officially demanded, but politely requested) of 3-4 weeks, which seems manageable, so expect to see a lot more about this project over the next while, as everything else will be taking a back seat! it's no hardship, though - this project is making me very happy.

o'keeffe cardigan

2009-10-27T12:28:00.005Z

the seasons are changing here, and fall/winter is definitely edging in. the skies are shifting to gray, and it's getting dark quite early here now. one of the things i found difficult in my first year in scotland (and still find difficult now) is how dark & gray the winters are here. it never really gets that cold here in the winter, but the lack of light & colour is something i struggle with year after year - so it's important to find things to combat that grayness that starts to settle in this time of year.

merino aran in "limes" from fyberspates

something bright & vivid, in a soft & cozy merino, is perfect for chasing away the grays. this yarn was my one & only yarn purchase from this summer's ravelry day in coventry (i ended up being far too busy to browse the other vendor's stalls, and just snatched this up on my way back from the loos - the colour shouted out to me!) i've been knitting with fine-gauge yarns so much lately that i'd forgotten how quickly an aran weight knits up, and it's rapidly becoming the tilted duster cardigan from the interweave knits fall 2007 magazine.

interweave fall 2007 cover shot

the only problem with this project? i can't get georgia o'keeffe out of my head. & here's why - before i cast on for the cardigan, i had this conversation with the RSA.

me: (holding the interweave magazine so the RSA can see the cover shot of the cardigan) what do you think about this cardigan? i think i'm going to make it.
the RSA: hm... are you going to change it, or knit it just like that?
me: well, i'm probably going to knit the bottom "skirt" section plain, instead of having the ribbing at the fronts, and make it a little wider so there's more overlap.
the RSA: oh, ok!
me: why do you ask?...
the RSA: well..... knitted like that, it kind of looks like..... ah..... well, it looks like a..... vagina.
me: oh.

(scroll on back up & take another look at the magazine cover shot - you know you want to.)

well, what can you say after that? i'd already planned to change the ribbing at the bottom, because it draws a lot of attention to the belly area, & i don't really need any extra attention there! (weirdly enough, lots of folk on ravelry have knitted this as a pregnancy cardi, so i'm clearly not alone in thinking it's a style that draws focus to the belly). but now, all i can think of is georgia o'keeffe's flower paintings:

"well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't."
(georgia o'keeffe)

yarn club - october!

2009-10-18T18:51:00.003+01:00

the first yarn club mailing is all packed up & ready to go! unfortunately, i'm still waiting to receive a couple of the little things i'd planned to include as "extras" in this mailing. but since the postal service is going on strike for 48 hours at the end of this week (thursday/friday), i decided it was better to get these parcels out as soon as possible - even though i don't have everything that i wanted to include - in the hopes that the UK ones would be delivered well before thursday, and the non-UK ones would at least have cleared the UK before any strike action! the missing few little things will just have to go out with the november mailing instead, so everyone will get extra "extras" next month. i went back & forth on this a lot, and in the end, decided that it was better for everyone to get their yarn on time and include the treats in next month's mailing than to have this month's mailing be delayed.
it will all go in the post first thing tomorrow morning, & i'm really nervous - it's the first time i've done a yarn club, and it still boggles my mind that so many people have been willing to hand over their hard-earned yarn money to me, without knowing anything about what they'll be getting, and just trust me to send them something good. so fingers crossed - it's all heading out to you tomorrow, and i hope you like it!!

national poetry day

2009-10-08T19:03:00.002+01:00

"the kind of work that keeps you together" - basic cowl, handmaiden cashmere

How to Knit a Poem (Gwyneth Lewis)

The whole thing starts with a single knot
and needles. A word and pen. Tie a loop
in nothing. Look at it. Cast on, repeat

the procedure till you have a line
that you can work with.
It’s a pattern made of relation alone,

my patience, my rhythm, till empty bights
create a fabric that can be worn,
if you’re lucky and practised. It’s never too late

to pick up dropped stitches, each hole a clue
to something that might be bothering you,
though I link mine with ribbons and pretend

I meant them to happen. I make a net
of meaning that I carry round
portable, to work on sound

in trains and terrible waiting rooms.
It’s thought in action. It redeems
odd corners of disposable time,

making them fashion. It’s the kind of work
that keeps you together. The neck’s too tight,
but tell me honestly: How do I look?

and another...

2009-10-01T21:40:00.001+01:00

...just to let you know that i’ve sent out an email to let people know that they’re in the club! i ended up having 40 people interested (help!) so everyone who emailed me has been offered a place - if you emailed me & didn’t get an email back offering you a place in the club & telling you what to do next, please check your spam filters!
thank you all so much for all your lovely support - i’m really excited about the way the collection is coming together, and i hope you are too when you start getting parcels out at the end of the month!

just a quick one....

2009-09-29T13:52:00.002+01:00

...to remind you that time is running out to sign up for the 2010 yarn preview club!!! i'm still taking names up until 1st october (which is alarmingly soon!) & have already started dyeing up the first batch of new colourways. so if you want the be part of the preview club, please send me an email in the next couple of days - or else you'll have to wait until next year!!

all that i'm capable of

2009-09-23T11:55:00.005+01:00

so far, wednesday isn't going that great. right from its very first minute, things weren't good, and we were very rudely awakened at about 12.01am (after only having gone to sleep about half an hour before). i'll spare you the details, but let's just say that the dog is as sick as... well, as a dog. and that the way this sickness was -ahem- manifesting itself, none of us got any sleep at all, and that over the course of the next 8 or so hours, there were many, many throw-coat-on-hastily-over-pajamas-grab-dog-and-run-outside-at-full-speed moments. sigh. fingers crossed, there seems to be a lull in the -ahem- "activities", and the pup has been convinced to eat something, drink something, and nap on the couch, so hopefully the worst has -ahem- passed.
unfortunately, i'm not a person who does well on no sleep, so i'm more or less non-functional today - in fact, if any of this post makes even the least bit of sense, i'll be quite impressed. i've decided to close the studio, just in case things don't improve (i normally take the pup in to work with me, which just doesn't seem like a good plan today - but then, neither does leaving him on his own at home!) - maybe if we both just rest & reboot, things will be ok again tomorrow.
& since i'm ridiculously low on brain-power today, this is all that i'm capable of...

it's the short-row cardigan from la droguerie in paris (or, as it's more properly known, the "gilet à rangs raccourcis") & it's a work of utterly simple genius - worked in garter stitch, side to side, using basic short rows to shape the yoke and the sleeves. i bought the yarn & the pattern together when we were in paris this summer, and it's knitted in their own 4ply 100% alpaca held together with a strand of their own laceweight mohair - essentially making a fine dk/sportweight yarn, but worked on 5mm needles for a lovely light fabric. i'm not normally a mohair fan, but the yarns worked together are so soft & luxurious, and the knitted fabric is so fluffy & squashable, that i may just have been converted. the pattern uses the same four-row repeat throughout, so it's perfect for a day like today - completely & utterly mindless, and just about all that i'm capable of.

p.s. so far, 25 people have signed up for the yarn club - is it bad that that's completely freaking me out??!?

2010 colourways preview club!!

2009-09-20T11:56:00.003+01:00

as you might already know, the Old Maiden Aunt 2009 “homecoming collection” colourways have been going down well. alas, in a few short months, it will no longer be 2009, which means it will no longer be the year of homecoming! so, i’m planning a new collection of colourways for 2010, and am having lots of fun dreaming up new ideas. (don't panic - some of the "homecoming" colourways will be sticking around - but not all of them).
then, something occurred to me. maybe some of you don’t want to wait until 2010 to see the new colourways... maybe (just maybe) some of you might like to get a look at them ahead of time, over the next few months, before they make their way into the Old Maiden Aunt shop? so, i've decided to set up my first ever yarn club - the 2010 preview club! here's how it will work:

it will run for three months, with parcels being mailed out at the end of october, november, and december.
each parcel will contain two skeins of sock yarn in two different colourways (i’ll be sticking to the superwash merino/blends for this club, so by the end of the three months you will have received two skeins each of 100% superwash merino, superwash merino/bamboo, and superwash merino/cashmere/nylon, with six different colourways in total) plus a few extra little treats (no patterns will be included in the club).
each of the colourways will be brand-new, never-seen-before-in-the-web-shop, and will not be available for general purchase until january 2010, at which point they will form part of the new 2010 colourway collection. i would ask that you not sell on any of the yarns during the three months of the club (trading is ok).
the club will cost £75 for UK/EU members and £85 for non-UK/EU members, and includes six skeins of sock yarn & all postage costs (plus a few wee treats!).
the club will be limited to 50 members (although i’m not sure if that many will even be interested, but hey, who knows!).

if you’re interested in the yarn club, please send me an email with “2010 preview club” in the subject line, and your name, country, & contact details (email and/or ravelry name) in the body of the message. i’ll be taking emails up until 1st october 2009 - if i get more than 50, i’ll pull 50 names out of a hat; less than 50, & everyone who emailed me will get offered a place in the club. at that point, i’ll send out an email to let you know how to purchase your club membership, and i’ll start dyeing up a storm! (please note that sending me an email doesn’t mean you absolutely have to purchase a club membership - if circumstances change & you’re no longer interested that’s ok.)
if you have any questions or comments please let me know - i’d love to hear what you all think about my idea! if there’s anything i haven’t covered, please ask & i’ll do my best to answer. & if you know anyone else who might be interested, pass it on - the more the merrier :)

p.s. i can’t tell you yet what sorts of colourways you might be getting, but i can tell you that if you’re a fan of deep, dark, rich colours, this might be right up your alley ;)

in recovery

2009-09-15T17:02:00.003+01:00

i'm safely back home after a crazy weekend, doing an old maiden aunt yarns trunk show at socktopus in london. & even though i was seriously delayed getting back (my 2pm flight home was delayed, then cancelled, then i was bumped on to the 5:30pm flight, which was then delayed for over an hour, & i finally made it home 5 hours later than planned!) it was totally worth it.
there were delicious brownies made by ali, and the best deli sandwich ever, and candy galore. (click on any pic to embiggen in flickr!)

i shipped a big box of yarn down ahead of time, & we filled up the shop with colourful piles of sock yarn.

the trunk show was set to open from 12-5pm, but at 11:45am, this happened (good thing the door was locked!).

well, we couldn't keep them standing out there, could we? but someone who arrived bang on time (12:01pm) felt a little left out...

...especially when she found out that someone else had already scooped up most of the purple colourways...

(it's not my fault - i was bribed with wollmeise - & managed to hang onto it, despite the presence of a would-be wollmeise thief!!)

... & that lots of other folk already had armfuls of (purple) yarn as well...

i think everyone was happy with what they got in the end, though.

thank you so much to alice for having me, and to all you mad london knitters for being so fab & welcoming - and for buying lots of my yarn (i'm shipping back less than half of what i shipped down - hurrah!). i'd come back anytime - but next time, i'm taking the train!! & for today, at least, i'm in recovery - some simple knitting, my alias dvd box set, and a big box of chocolates (from the RSA, waiting for me when i got home, yay!).

stranded...

2009-09-14T14:04:00.000+01:00

... in luton airport after the socktopus show weekend. more about that later - for now, i'm waiting for a 2pm flight home which has been delayed till 4:30pm!!! boo.

at least i have a few wee things here to keep me going...

(oh no - it's worse than i thought! my flight is now cancelled, & i've been bumped to the 5:30pm flight instead - bah.)

to sum up

2009-09-08T18:16:00.003+01:00

1. i have somehow managed to pull a muscle in my - erm - posterior. this injury is at once utterly ludicrous (try telling someone - without laughing - that you have, in effect, sprained your ass. it's not possible.) and ludicrously debilitating. currently, i can't comfortably do any of the following things: stand; sit; lie down; get in or out of a chair or bed; walk; climb or descend stairs; bend at the waist or knees; step in or out of the bath; put clothing on my lower half; etc. don't worry - i'm still doing all of these things (especially that last one, for everyone's sake) even though it hurts. & thankfully, it seems to be starting to get a little better already. unless, that is, the washing up needs done.
2. i have also somehow developed a twitch in my cheek (the one on my face this time) which makes it look as though i'm winking lasciviously (in an exaggerated "carry on" sort of way) at random passersby. add to this the occasional absentminded massaging of my - erm - injured part, and the overall effect is one that may well see me getting arrested before the end of the week.
3. the above-mentioned twitch (as well as the absentmindedness) may possibly be related to the (approximately) 27 pints of coffee that i have managed to ingest today while waiting for the courier to pick up this yarn:

(packed into a big box, naturally). it's on its way down to london for a trunk show this sunday at socktopus, and the courier company gave a pickup window of 8am-6pm today (helpful, no?). i was at the studio at 7:45am "in case they were early", having pretty much rolled out of bed, put a bra on under my pajamas, dragged the still-sleeping pup out to the car, and whizzed out to the studio. the courier arrived at 4:30pm.
4. the above-mentioned twitch may also be due to the fact that up until last week, i was blissfully unaware that this coming weekend is also IKnit London, a massive annual knitting event/yarnorgy, which essentially results in almost every knitter in the UK (& lots from other places as well) turning up in london simultaneously. turns out that many of them are also staying on for the sunday as well, and planning a visit to my socktopus trunk show, which is more than a little intimidating. especially when one confirmed trunk-show-attendee is also one of my favourite sock designers, whose sock pattern "brainless" i had planned to knit as my travel project this weekend - although i may rethink that, as it seems a bit like going to a concert wearing the t-shirt of the band you're going to see.
5. to sum up - aching, twitchy, overly caffeinated, and a little freaked out - london, here i come! (think they'll let me in?)

where have i been??

2009-09-02T19:55:00.003+01:00

ah, paris....

je t'aime toujours.

unlucky for some

2009-08-14T14:48:00.003+01:00

all this time, i thought it was friday the 13th that was meant to be the unlucky day - but as it turns out, friday the 14th might not be that great either. driving in to the studio this morning, i slid gently & gracefully around a curve in the road.... and the back end of my car kept on sliding (not so gracefully, though). it's been pretty rainy today, and there must have been a slick patch on the road - the slide turned into a skid, and my car performed a neat full circle before shooting off the side of the road (backwards), down a small embankment (still backwards), and came to rest in some brush, stopping just before we reversed onto the beach & into the sea.
i guess it could have been worse - the road was fairly busy, and the slide could easily have gone the other way, into heavy oncoming traffic. the tide could have been in (!!). i could have been badly hurt - as it is, i feel mostly ok, apart from a sore right shoulder (probably due to some pretty intense wrestling with the steering wheel!). the pup (who was in the back) could have been hurt - he's ok too, and doesn't even seem to be that worried about it (he's passed out snoring in his bed like nothing ever happened). and the car will hopefully be ok as well - there didn't seem to be an awful lot of damage (although i'm still waiting to hear back from the repair centre, so cross your fingers for me!).
even so, it was pretty scary - so, after waiting about in the pouring rain for the tow truck to show up, i've pretty much given up on the rest of the day. gone is the plan to head into the studio for a day of hard work (i've got a ton of stuff to do, but it will just have to wait). instead, i'm planning an afternoon of hot baths, hot drinks (& stiff drinks too), good books, bad movies, and knitting. & here's what i'll be having for tea...

C is for cookie...

...that's good enough for me.

new love

2009-08-06T19:03:00.002+01:00

it's true - i move on quickly. none of this sitting & pining over things lost - nope, i've moved on to something new before the dust even settles.

new socks, in the "reclaimed" yarn from the pair that didn't work

just because things didn't work out between me & my monkeys, doesn't mean i'm living a life without socks - sometimes, you need something a little brainless to get over an old love.

(p.s. i realised belatedly that some of you took my last post to mean that things were not well on the home front! don't worry - i only "broke up" with my socks, not with the Resident Sock Appreciator!!)

it's not you - it's me

2009-07-24T19:31:00.004+01:00

have you ever been in a relationship where, although you've been together for some time now, you can't quite shake the feeling that something just isn't right? you seem to be putting in all the time & effort, and your other half just isn't pulling their weight. and although you try to keep going, there finally comes a point where you have to admit it - this just isn't working.

one entire monkey sock... which doesn't fit.

sure, you can try to ignore the obvious. you can try to distract yourself with other things.

lovely noro striped socks, which do fit!!

but eventually, you just have to come clean - you just don't fit. you're at a stage in your life where you really just want some time on your own. you need to spend more time on your career. you just don't feel like you have anything left to give.

goodbye, monkey...

it's not you - it's me.....

33

2009-07-20T21:45:00.005+01:00

once a year we celebrate
with stupid hats and plastic plates
the fact that you were able to make
another trip around the sun
and the whole gang gathers round
and gifts and laughter do abound
and we let out a joyful sound
and sing that stupid song

happy birthday! - now you're one year older
happy birthday! - your life still isn't over
happy birthday! - you did not accomplish much
but you didn't die this year, i guess that's good enough

so let's drink to your fading health
and hope you don't remind yourself
your chance of finding fame and wealth
decrease with every year
does it feel like you're doing laps
and eating food and taking naps
and hoping that someday perhaps
your life will hold some cheer

happy birthday! - what have you done that matters?
happy birthday! - you're starting to get fatter
happy birthday! - it's downhill from now on
try not to remind yourself your best years are all gone

if cryogenics were all free
then you could live like Walt Disney
and live for all eternity
inside a block of ice
but instead your time is set
this is the only life you get
and though it hasn't ended yet
sometimes you wish it might

happy birthday! - you wish you had more money
happy birthday! - your life's so sad it's funny
happy birthday! - how much more can you take?
but your friends are hungry so just cut the stupid cake

(arrogant worms, "the happy happy birthday song")

monkeys everywhere

2009-07-15T19:30:00.004+01:00

phew - i'm back. i actually got back last week, but have been busy dyeing like mad to try & restock the shop (lots of yarn mysteriously disappeared while i was gone - i'll be checking what my shop volunteers add to their ravelry stash listings, as i certainly have my suspicions as to where it's all gone...).
the trip was great, but exhausting - it's nice to be home. & i did manage to plow through quite a lot of knitting while i was away, what with all the sitting about & chatting that we did - but it's not gone quite how i expected it to.
i thought i'd get a lot done on my paper crane - a super-fine stockinette knit that goes on forever, which would be perfect for a holiday with a lot of sitting/knitting/chatting time. but then something else happened.
first there were these - i just about finished one on the plane, and the other grew quickly during my first few days in canada.

socks that rock lightweight in "pond scum"

then, there was this - i bought the yarn (in a very familiar colour!) in my next few days in canada, and wound it up at the shop so i could start straightaway.

fleece artist somoko, can't remember the colour

then, before i could even start the second one, this happened (at least it's a different colour...?).

my own merino sock yarn in "midnight"

i don't know what's going on - i'm mad for the monkeys!! i think this may be my sock for the summer - i've now knitted the pattern so many times that i don't even need to look at the charts anymore (& the leg of the last one is accidentally one pattern repeat longer than it ought to be as i was too busy chatting & just kept knitting).
and as if that wasn't enough - guess what i'm going to make with this new acquisition?

a small part of my koigu purchases at lettuce knit

would that be so wrong?

oh, canada

2009-07-02T14:41:00.001+01:00

well, i survived the plane journey (and they even let me bring my knitting on board - i took a photo with my new iphone to prove it, but i can't figure out how to get the darn thing off the phone!) and made it safely to canada, where i've been spending time with family. there's an awful lot of us, so it was pretty hectic - but now everyone else has headed back to work & i'm just here hanging out with my wee mummy, so we can relax a bit/die of exhaustion. after the busy & intense family weekend, we were both pretty tired - but we did muster the energy to take a drive down to a local yarn store... and much to my surprise, i found quite a lot of interesting things!!

fleece artist somoko sock yarn & two colours of merino/silk combed tops; habu textiles 100% linen

since i'm staying with my mum in my fairly small hometown, and the yarn store was in an even smaller town about 30 minutes' drive away, i was pleasantly surprised at the vast selection of fabulous yarns they had in stock (and my wallet was unpleasantly surprised at the amount of money falling out of it, but that's another story!). & although i brought plenty of sock yarn with me, i couldn't resist the bright grellow (green/yellow) somoko sock yarn, and balled it up at the store so i could start yet another pair of grellow monkey socks (i finished most of the first sock of that pair on the plane, and the second sock yesterday!).
it's been pretty strange being back in canada after so long. it's been at least five years since i've been back, and a lot has changed - but a lot has stayed the same as well, which is even stranger (but so far, at least, i've managed to avoid running into anyone i went to highschool with - fingers crossed i make it through the rest of the trip without seeing anyone from "the best years of my life"!!!). & am i missing scotland at all?

well, i'll let you be the judge of that...

priorities & essentials

2009-06-24T18:55:00.003+01:00

as any knitter knows, our priorities are very different to those of non-knitters. non-knitters, when faced with a transatlantic trip of over two weeks, would be focusing on packing the essentials - clothing, toiletries, & all the other odds & ends that one might need to survive two weeks away from the comforts of home. knitters, on the other hand? well, we focus on the survival essentials as well - but our essentials are slightly different.
essential #1: will my finished-just-in-time, brand-new-summer-lace-shawl, blocked-this-morning-and-still-pinned-to-the-bed, dry in time for me to wear it on the plane tomorrow?

caricia shawl from knitspot.com, in handmaiden mini maiden, colourway "bronze"

essential #2: will my planned-for-weeks, endlessly-big-holiday-knitting-project-on-tiny-needles, swatched-with-love-and-care, actually keep me going for the whole two weeks, or should i pack a couple of skeins of sock yarn as well? (answer - yes. pack the sock yarn, just in case.)

paper crane cardigan by assemblage, swatched in my own laceweight held together with a strand of habu stainless steel/wool blend

essential #3: will the security folk, for the love of elizabeth zimmermann, will they oh will they... let me take my knitting on the plane??? (i'll let you know.)

monkey socks, in socks that rock lightweight, colourway "pond scum"

now that the essentials are taken care of, i'll see if i can find some room in my bags for a few clothes - after all, i'll need to leave some room for the yarn i'm bound to bring back with me....
it's all a question of priorities, you know.

tying up loose ends

2009-06-14T16:10:00.003+01:00

i'm not a great finisher of knits. i love working on them, i love the knitting process, i love making up the pattern as i go along - but i don't love the finishing up. weaving in ends, sewing seams, knitting button bands & buttonholes & sewing on buttons? yeuch....
....which is maybe why this cardi is only now making its appearance - now that it's summer weather here, & too hot for wooly cardigans - despite all the knitting of it being finished nearly a month ago.

i'm quite impressed with how it's turned out - even the locals stopped to admire my handiwork, and made appreciative noises as they watched the photoshoot.

& although i'm really happy with it, i can't help but be a little annoyed that i took so long to finish it up. the whole project has been a long-drawn-out labour of love, since it's the first ever large-scale project where not only did i do all the knitting & make up the "pattern" (such as it is), but i also made all the yarn myself - the bright green of the yoke is my own mill-spun hand-dyed yarn, and the rest is my very own handspun!

i worked on this throughout a very stressful period, and the combination of the simple pattern & the lush handspun merino/silk blend was hugely soothing. & although i had some slight doubts & misgivings about the "pattern" as i was going along, i'm really happy with how it's all turned out in the end.

project specs:
start date: 21st april 2009
completion date: 26th may 2009
yarn: main colour - my own handspun, a 70% merino & 30% tussah silk blend spun to a heavy aran 2ply, with roughly 680 grams & 620 yards; contrast colour - my own hand-dyed aran alpaca/merino/bamboo blend, 100 grams & 180 yards
needles: 5.5mm
pattern: a top-down round garter yoke cardigan made up as i went along

don't i look pleased with myself!!

a good weekend

2009-06-08T13:56:00.002+01:00

phew... i'm back. and what a weekend....
thanks to the miracle of vacuum bags, we managed to fit the entire yarn mountain into two suitcases & one box, & packed the car up on friday morning to drive down to the much anticipated uk ravelry day.

it was cold, gray, horrible & rainy when we set up the market stall, after driving all the way down to coventry the day before, spending a night in a caravan, and getting up ridiculously early on saturday morning (who knew there was such a time as 5:30 a.m.??). the lovely lynette, who came to help out, didn't want to be in a photo, but i managed to snap her hiding at the back of the stall anyways!

it could have been an absolutely awful day - we were outside in the pouring rain for more than ten hours, sheltering under the foot & a half of awning overhanging the back of the stall. we were both exhausted, damp, & frozen, and were out there all day with hardly any time to grab something to eat or even to go to the loo! but it wasn't awful at all - it was absolutely fantastic. the rain didn't seem to put off any of the wonderful ravelry folk from coming out to see what all the market stalls had to offer - and even eloise the sheep guarding the old maiden aunt stock didn't put them off from buying lots & lots & lots of yarn.

despite the weather, we had a wonderful time - it was so great to put faces to ravelry names, and so exciting to see so many people buying the yarn i've spent the past few months making! i even managed to sneak a few minutes to run around the other market stalls & gather up some ravelry day booty of my own...

a beautiful hand-sewn project bag from chookiebirdie (i was actually selling these from my stall, as the woman who made them has a studio just up the road from me in west kilbride - i couldn't resist buying one for myself!); some lush merino aran in a vivid green from fyberspates, some knitpro dpns, and some gorgeous buttons from textile garden...

(i couldn't resist the bees, & i know exactly what i'm going to use them with already).
& although we were both utterly shattered by the end of the day, it was an amazingly wonderful experience. i managed to sell an absolute ton of stock (ok, i exaggerate slightly, but the car was about 15 kilos lighter on the way home!) & meet a whole bunch of wonderful ravelry folk - thank you all for coming out in the pouring rain to see my stall & buy my yarns (and thank you especially to liz, who brought me some lovely chocolate even though i assassinated her in sock wars a couple of years ago!!)
the ravelry day plans for next year are already underway, and this time it's going to be in stirling in august 2010 (& in case of rain, the marketplace is going to be inside, thank goodness!!). after having such a great time this year, i'll definitely be applying for a market stall at next year's event as well. all in all, a very good weekend - now, i think i need a nap!

yarn mountain

2009-06-03T20:11:00.004+01:00

sorry i haven't been around here much lately - i'm hoping things will get a little more "normal" soon. i've been very busy building a yarn mountain...

(for scale, this windowsill is about 10 feet wide by 4 feet deep, and the sheep perched on top is about the size of my head)

i'm one of the marketplace vendors at UK Ravelry Day, and i've been busy dyeing up mountains of stock to take with me - it's my first time ever as a standalone vendor at a big fibre event, and i've been very worried that i wouldn't have enough yarn ready (seriously). now, i'm worried that i've dyed a bit too much - do you think i can fit all this plus three passengers in a clio?? (cozy.)
since i'm taking as much yarn as i can carry, i've set all stock levels in the shop at zero to avoid any duplicate sales - i'll be filling up the shop next week with whatever doesn't sell on saturday.
i'm heading down on friday for the day's event on saturday - wish me luck, and if youre coming down for the day, please come see me at stall #16 (map here) - i'd love to meet you!!
most of my prep work for the weekend is done, so there's only one thing left to do...

(p.s. - bring me large quantities of wine & chocolate, please.)

relaxing

2009-05-10T20:33:00.003+01:00

when we woke up this morning, the day looked so gorgeous we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to have a little day trip. my aunt has a little house down in a teeny tiny remote hamlet in dumfries & galloway, so we packed up the car & headed out for the day.

we crossed the swing bridge

for a walk in the countryside, & some of us swam

then some of us had to roll in the grass to dry off

before posing for a nice photo op

then we sat outside all afternoon

as the sun shone on us in our comfy chairs

until the evening shadows crept in, & some of us fell asleep

comfort

2009-04-28T14:32:00.002+01:00

it's been difficult here recently - i won't go into details, but things have been sad & stressful. & sometimes, there's only one solution...

handspun sweater, biscuits, hot chocolate

in days to come, when your heart feels undone
may you always find an open hand
take comfort wherever you can
(deb talan, "comfort")