Getting there,,,

I am now off work for 10 days (well 9, if you don't count today).

I have no initial plans really, I'm not going anywhere. It's just that in the run up to Christmas, I get a bit stressed out - especially working in retail, so I need a bit of me time.

I've been doing a fair bit of knitting for other people, what with Christmas and everything so I've been doing some knitting for me. So I have 2 scarves and a pair of socks on the needles. One of the scarves is a self designed scarf; the pattern will be coming soon!

I've been using the software that I got for Christmas and I must say, it makes things so much easier to write up. Mistakes are that much easier to weed out. I made a couple of changes to the way the pattern was written. It looked a bit silly to have the main design in stocking stitch and the edging in garter, so I have done the edging in stocking stitch as well. It will look amazing when it's been blocked.

A new yarn shop has opened in Leicester on Queens Road in Clarendon Park. It's a nice shop, but I think it's got room for improvement. They have some of the more unusual stuff there, which is tricky to get hold of, which is really good for an independent shop to have, but they also stock Sirdar and Debbie Bliss, which is available in pretty much any other local yarn shop. The stock is a bit sparse too. I expected to see a lot more yarn there and they could do with a comfy sofa where people can sit and knit - they even have that in John Lewis. They have the room!

I also noted a lack of stitch markers. I am going to make some up and take some down to see if they will have them on sale or return.

I have plans to complete my CV this week as well, plus I want to have a bit of a declutter. I'd best get on with it then :)

Flossie's Charts

I've created a chart for my Flossie's Gloves for those who prefer working from them.

The instructions for creating the bobble can be found in the pattern notes because the knitting software wouldn't let me edit the stitch to include the instructions in the key.

If you click on the image of the chart, you'll get taken to a bigger, clearer version of it. If you need it in any other size, let me know and I'll tweak it for you :)





Here is a link to a print friendly PDF of the chart pattern if you prefer it in PDF format.

11 in 11

So I have signed up to do 11 in 11.

This is a project, started on Twitter where we all agree that we will knit or crochet 11 scarves, cowls, shawls, shrugs or necklaces in 2011.

I had already started a scarf on New Years Day - the Elegance Scarf by YarnAddictAnnis (aka Anniken Alis). I did her lace workshop at Fibre Flurry last year and loved it and have been wanting to cast this on for a while. Trouble is, I've had so much to do lately what with Christmas knitting and everything so I've not had a chance to do much for myself.

I do love a good challenge! I have some handspun that I want to use, plus more fibre to spin up as well. I have some aran yarn ready to use up - I'm thinking a chunky cowl for that.

I'm also thinking that I could knit with wire and beads and make a necklace at some point. It's not cheating, because it's knitted ;)

If you fancy joining in, search for the #11in11 group on Ravelry and tweet using the #11in11 hashtag on twitter

In other news, I am a little fed up and indecisive. I want a new job. I also want to do the counselling course - I will have to do something like 2 x 2 year courses in order to get qualified.

I have some money set aside for a deposit on a house, but I don't think it will get very far. I can't afford a mortgage on the money I'm on - I can't even afford to rent my own property (I'm currently living as a lodger with 2 of my friends, which can be a bummer if I want my boyfriend round). I don't want to claim housing benefit because although I might be entitled to it, I feel like a bit of a fraud claiming it because I could get a better paid job (if that makes sense).

The thing is, if I get a new job, I don't know how flexible they will be when it comes to going to college one day a week for the course. Plus I was thinking that if I wanted to travel, then it would be pretty sensible to do it before buying my own house. I could use some of the money I have set aside for a deposit on a house, which may mean a slightly bigger mortgage.

Then again, there is always the shared ownership thing, which is always a possibility.

Aaaah, decisions, decisions. I could quite possibly be overthinking this. My gut feeling at the moment is to concentrate on getting a new job and see how I feel about travel when my fixed bond matures in a years time.

Think I will renew my passport in the meantime though :) It's good to have it anyway - for identification purposes.

Nice...

I'm a happy camper :)

I had a plethora of knitting goodies for Christmas.

I got some sock blockers (something I'd been hankering after for a while), a set of crochet hooks (with some especially teeny ones for beading), a small set of interchangeable needles (I'm hoping to do some moebius knitting soon), a needle roll, some knitting software (Intwined pattern studios ftw) and a subscription to Designer Knitting.

Epic!!!

Admittedly, I had asked for most of it - I gave a list of things to my stepmum, saying "anything from this list" and she got me all of it! Bless, I wasn't expecting that!!

So I am currently using the software to come up with a chart for my Flossies, because I know that written instructions aren't for everyone I have the main chart done, I just have to do one for the thumb section for each hand. It's surprisingly easy software to use. I can save the charts as images, or save the whole document as a pdf, which will be useful for ravelry :)