am I bothered?

Over the last week I've been finding myself feeling totally over whelmed by the number of things to do, and decisions to make both at work and home. Sourcing and ordering a kitchen, moving my stuff from London, painting... Everything knocked off the to do list seems to generate something else, and every decision seems complicated and costly. Folk keep asking about all our home improvements. What will you do about this? How will that be? When will you get this? None of it is meant unkindly, and I know it shouldn't feel like all these decisions are being judged - but it does.

It was getting to the point where I'd started stressing over the most minor things, like was I using a blue and red for the Marius Sweater that would suit me well. (Or maybe that is the most important thing!) Which resulted in a huge packet of blue and red wool arriving today!

So I've given myself permission not to give a shit about a few of the things on my to do list. And when somebody asked yesterday what I was doing about a new sofa, I said 'nothing'. And that felt good.

 

heating

 This is our new Aga.  Bob brought it a few weeks ago on eBay.  It was in one piece when we went to collect it.  There was no way it was going to get out the door in one piece.  Did you know that old Aga's are full of vermiculite.  Discovering this is much like opening your fridge to find somebody has stuffed it full of tacum powder.

Bob has gone off shore so I'm not hoping to cook on this shortly...

(This saga actually began during a discussion about heating.  Bob doesn't 'believe' in central heating.  I've seen it at other peoples houses and I know it exists.  After proposing several solutions to our cold house issue, I told bob he needed to find a sensible heating solution.  At this point Bob discovered you can buy a secound hand Aga for a couple of hundred pounds.  I'm still not convinced this counts as a 'sensible' heating solution and am playing the skeptical girlfriend.  In truth I'm really exited about the prospect of having an Aga, and dead proud that Bob is the sort of bloke that knows about gas, electrics, power tools, and is compentant at striping things down and putting them back together.  At least I hope he is.)

 

the next big thing

 I started Marius Genser a couple of weeks ago using the sleeves as an over grown gauge swatch.  I've used the method where you knit both sleeves at once on great long circular needle.  This was a wee bit of a tangle, but at least all the shaping will be in the same place.  I'll separate them out when the blue comes in.

Turns out I don't have enough yarn to make a loose version, so am having to make some alterations to make it fitted. This will effect the sleeve length, so I've set these aside for now to start the torso tube.

I'm wide in the hips and narrow across the shoulders, so have made two changes. My rib boarder is only two centimetres wide and loose, so it won't gather at the hips. For the second modification I've cast on the total number of stitch required at the chest, and omitted the increases. There may yet be some waist shaping too.

 

finishing glory

January turned out to be quite a success when it came to tying off loose ends (Woolly's KAL), big finishing (Walnuss), and instant gratification (Baby Surprise).

 

This is the second year I've joined Woolly Wormheads mystery KAL, and it really is a good way to pick up new techniques without investing in a large project.  And you can end trying things that might have put you off a pattern if you were selecting it the usual way.  I'm wouldn't usually embark on this much reverse stocking stitch, but this hat was well worth the effort.  The yarn is indigo dyed, and colour was coming off on my hands as I knitted. I contacted the dyer who suggested I rinse the finished hat in a vinegar solution.  This did the trick, and the colour didn't fade despite the first rinse turning dark blue. The yarn is lovely, and the response to my email was helpful and super swift.  I made the largest size to accommodate my larger then average scon.  As you can see, even my head wasn't enough to fill it out, so I've sent it off to a larger than average headed friend who also has big hair.

Walnuss came out slightly larger than expected too.  This was a really interesting construction. I choose the pattern as I only had ten balls of the yarn, and worried the whole way through that I'd run out. In the end there was half a ball to spare - phew!  If your thinking of making your own Walnuss, it's worth going to the effort of doing the corrugated edges as it gives a nice finish for not much effort.  I found the recommended buttonhole method a bit loosey goosey, but maybe that is me not following the directions correctly.  The yarn is another I'd use again, although it has already piled a little, and I wish they'd put the yardage on the ball band to make pattern picking less of a gamble.

And finally some Zimmermania with my first Baby Surprise.  I'm knitting for a few Burt's this year, so if you have one on the way you'll just have to see what turns up in the post when yours arrives.  This pattern is totally addictive, I can see why it's been such a big hit with other knitters.  The Paton's Fairytale has come out a little firm on 3.75mm needles.  Goodness knows where my needle collection has vanished to, these were the only needles I could locate.  This is a good yarn choice if you want to give wool to machine washing parents, and I think it will hold up to a lot of wear.  I have more on standby for the next Burt knit.

Now, let the starting commence!

 

knitting karma

Turns out that if you knit for others one or two of then take up needles and knit for you.  The scarf was a lovely unexpected gift from Kathleen after I bequeathed her the leftovers from Burt's Jersey. And the gloves were a timely swap with A.

 

productivity assessment

I've just been over at Ravelry trying to assess the success of last years resolution.  Comparatively it wasn't great, ten completed projects in 2010, and only six in 2011.  Focusing on one project at a time certainly meant that progress was made across the board, but this didn't result in the completion of any of the long term unfinished things.

 

This year I'm going to try a mile stone approach with the long term unfinished things, and intersperse some instant gratification projects along the way. I've also decided what success will include the following completed projects:

• Socks That Fit Proper
  
• Prince Charles Cinema Socks
  
• Reykjavik Sweater
  
• Mariusgernser (New Knitting)
  

 

All this resolving has already been thwarted by the plethora of babies arriving this year.  I thinks there's something on the toilet seats.

dawn

My first few months in Yorkshire seem to have been spent driving through darkness.  I'm commuting three hours a day, so not surprising really. You can't say it's like tunnel, the landscape changes, flat, hills, lights in the distance, the shadowy outlines of villages, and life behind curtains.  I drive along as if somebody is laying down track just outside the range of my headlights. Accelerating, breaking, turning. The road dictates.

The rest of life feels like this too. Travelling along not really knowing what will come next, and not arriving just yet.  Having most of my things in storage adds to this continuing feeling of shifting.  I've stopped missing most of the accoutrements of my life, although being remote from ones personal records can be challenging.  All those objects just seem like an encumbrance.  That said, I've had to replace a few things out of necessity, and check other such purchases on a few occasions, reminding myself I can manage without.  Perhaps I shouldn't be so blasé about all those objects, there must are quite a few functional items in those boxes that I still want in my life.

Now that solstice has passed the days are getting a bit brighter.  Gradually we are inching the light back. This is how this particular new year seems to me, a dawning on a new life, a new phase, a new unknown spring.