Easter...

Easter and Christmas never seem to feel like proper holidays after a few years of working in retail, which sucks. Not that I celebrate them, being agnostic, but it's hard to enjoy your time off when you only have a day to enjoy, rather than the long weekend that everyone else has off. However, I do get a day off during the week and an afternoon off on a Friday, which makes it easier to get doctors / dentists done and out of the way without having to worry about work.

This year, I've got 3 whole days off, which seems like a luxury. Then I'm in for 3 days, then I'm off for 4 days. I am working on the day of the Royal Wedding. Mostly because a) I'm not bothered on watching it and b) I get paid my normal rate for working a Friday (so for 4 hours) and then time and a half on top of it. It seems daft to turn it down. Plus I'll be going out Friday night :)

Soon, I'll have to start working every Saturday, which is going to put a kibosh on going out (all of once a month!), seeing my boyfriend on the weekend (which tends to be the only time I get to see him) and doing knitty things on a Saturday (we often have get togethers). Frustrating, but hopefully I will be able to do something about that soon. It could have been worse. I could have been made to work Tuesday evenings (so no Stitch and Bitch) and Sundays as well.

24 hour society sucks sometimes. I don't see why supermarkets want to open on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. Mostly they are open 24 hours or until late anyway. I seem to recall that our mothers coped, but then I guess that we have busier lives now. People are also expecting us to open as well, so seem to go mad stocking up with bread and milk, when quite often the shop is only shut for one day. Even if I am visiting relatives over Christmas, I will try and take something edible as a gift to the host and if I will be there a few days, I will take the bread and milk I have on the go, because it seems like such a waste to leave it go off at home when I am not using it. It's easy enough to pick up a fresh loaf and a pint of milk on the way home.

One of the things that I love about knitting is that it's slow. It helps me to disengage my brain from the stress of day to day life. I had been feeling particularly low these last few days and the simple act of sitting out in the park with a few friends and some knitting, helped unwind the tension (which was further unwound with a few beers later on in the evening!). It's the same with camping. I find that when I go camping, I begin to focus on how to cook a nice meal, when I have 1 gas ring and getting the washing up done, which seems weird, but somehow, taking it out of the home makes it more pleasant.

It's been a lovely hot Easter. It's days like this that I miss being in Wales. In particular, I miss the beaches. Even when they are covered in snow.



I used to love going to watch the sun set. I love the vivid colours you get when the sun sets in the summer. Intense hues of yellow, oranges, red, purples set against light blue skies and maybe a little bit of white or grey cloud.



Something I have noticed now that I am a knitter is the quality and hues of colour. I always knew there were particular hues I preferred, like the red of my 1974 VW Beetle, which wasn't cherry red, but more of a yellowy red. Also, I love aubergine purple and royal purples and blues.

It's now more how colours interact with each other and pool together and how we have memories of colour too. Red for me, always means the aforementioned Beetle I had, which was quite a different red from the Triumph Stag and TR6 that my Dad restored many years ago (they were cherry / pillarbox red) and a different red again from the ever so slightly bluish red adorning the wall opposite me.

Something I didn't know before that pure, natural water isn't clear, but ever so slightly blue. I know that we think of (clean!) seawater as blue, but I'm talking of drinking water. I always thought that was clear.

And now I am relaxed. What a difference a day makes. Having spent the day so far browsing a car boot sale (bought a pair of candlesticks for a house that I don't yet own, nor have the salary to own, but, y'know, they were pretty!), applied for 3 jobs and bought some shopping so that I can make goats cheese and red pepper risotto later, along with a reduced Lindt Easter egg and a bottle of half price Cava. Nom!!

I want to test a sock pattern out. I have already sort of designed a pair of socks, but I want to know what they look like with beads on them. Only one way to find out :) Then I will work on writing the pattern out.

But first, I'm going to take a cup of tea in the garden and watch the cats chase each other round.

Survey..

I fancy writing, but have nothing to write, so here is a survey.

1: Have you ever had a haircut so bad you cried?

No, but I did dye my hair pillarbox red and it faded to orange, which looked odd with my colouring.

2: When you open the drawer after having poured yourself a bowl of cereal, do you reach for a small or a large spoon?

Large

3: Have you ever quit a bad job emphatically, ripped off a uniform or apron, thrown the balled-up cloth at a superior, then stomped off?

Yeah. I worked for a week for a travel agent. When it came to the end of the week, he paid me £40 for a weeks work. Ok, this was back when the lowest paid job you could do, working in a bar was about £3 per hour, but it worked out to £1 an hour for the hours that I did. Fuck that.

4: How much cash do you like to carry?

Erm. Sometimes nothing but usually about £10.

5: One large winter coat or layers?

Layers. It's the beauty of being a knitter. *nods*

6: If you cross paths with someone walking a dog, do you talk first to the person or the dog?

If I don't know them, neither. I will smile though. The person, if I do know them.

7: Can you accurately size up the square footage in a room?

Nope!

8: Are you quick with your wit, or do comebacks tend always to arrive hours later?

Not really very quick. Although I did have a very crude, very obscene comeback to some random guy who was shouting random "you're fat" comments at me.

9: Do you keep your photos in albums or shoeboxes?

Albums. And a big envelope.

10: Have you gravitated, traditionally, toward the top or the bottom bunk?

Never slept in a bunk, but bottom, I think.

11: Do you own any pieces of monogrammed attire?

No. I could knit monogrammed socks though, but I have no need for monogrammed socks.

12: When a friend begins telling a story he's already told you, do you let him go, or let him know?

Depends on the story and how many times I'd heard it.

13: When making a shooting-yourself gesture, do you do the gun barrel with two fingers or one? Do you insert the finger-gun into your mouth or press it to your temple?

Two fingers to the temple. Rarely do it though.

14: When driving by cows, do you give in to the urge to moo?

I have baaad back to a sheep once. He baad at me because I shouted mint sauce at him. He was probably telling me to chuff off.

15: Are you accurate at guessing people's weights and ages?

Nope. I bet people on checkouts are pretty good with ages though.

16: Look at your fingernails: did you just stretch out all five fingers, palm out, or did you fold your fingers down over your inward facing palm?

Stretch out.

17.: Do you have a system when it comes to pockets,or do you blindly dump in coins, lighter, i-pod, phone, smokes, etc., then fish around each time?

Yeah, purse on the right coat pocket, iphone on the inner trouser / jeans pocket. Keys in the left jeans pocket, when I smoked - cigs and lighter in the left coat pocket.

18: When eating bananas, do you peel them nude at the outset or peel as you eat?

Raw bananas are vile. As is anything banoffee flavoured. Chewy banana chips are full of win though. Yeah. Weird.

19: What famous landmarks have you found especially disappointing?

I thought Paris was dull. Full of building sites and scaffolding. Landmarks don't really do much for me anyway.

20: Which do you (or would you) find more embarrassing: Crying in public by yourself on a bench or laughing out loud in public by yourself on a bench?

Erm. Neither.

21: Do you measure distance in miles or minutes?

Minutes if on foot, miles by car.

22: Do you imagine sleep as a kind of rising (you are a basket being pulled gently up in a hot air balloon) or as a kind of sinking (you are a flat stone no longer skipping, disappearing through layers of lake)?

Neither, but I view meditation as sinking.

23: How many different bathrooms would you say you use on a given day? Are there bathrooms, (not your own) that you consider a pleasure to use, even look forward to using?

Work and home usually. Toilets are toilets are toilets. Unless we're talking Trainspotting style toilets.

24: What's the strangest non-food item you swallowed as a kid?

I ate mud once. Oh and as an adult, I swallowed the ball from my tongue piercing.

25: How do you show love to what is yours, by wearing it in or attempting to keep it pristine?

Wear it. If it's yarn, stroke it reverentially.

Wheeeeeeee

I have thoroughly enjoyed going through my stash and am now granted with a determination to go through my stash and knit as much of it up as I can and make some amazing stuff.

I have just recently downloaded all of the Savage Love Podcasts to listen to while I knit. I also have a fondness for audio books and have enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter books read by Stephen Fry. After the podcasts (there are 238 of them and I am on episode 51!), I have The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell to listen to.

The Wrong Boy is one of my favourite books. Ever! It might appear, on the surface, to be about a boy that likes Morrissey, but it's more about how it's ok to be different. It's not all about being Emo or whatever as you might think when Morrissey features heavily in the book. It's a really engaging story, that makes you laugh and gets you angry at the same time.

I think I have some of the Terry Pratchett audiobooks somewhere too.

I have also remembered that if you are a Lovefilm member (as I am), you can watch *some* films online. So, this evening I have watched Night of the Living Dead (the original black and white film) which I loved. I do love a good Zombie film. I plan to watch as many as I can that my plan allows.

If, like me, you like good Zombie films, I reccommend Dellamorte Dellamore (sometimes called Cemetary Man), Pontypool and Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. Also, the podcast called how to survive a zombie apocalypse is great. Very very funny stuff!

So, for the rest of the evening, I will be watching another film on Lovefilm, knitting and drinking beer. Tomorrow, I will be working *sigh* and then after that, looking for jobs.

Stash!!

So this weekend is my weekend off, and I decided that I was going to have a bit of a spring clean and sort out my stash.

I have far too much yarn and have known that for ages but it's been a while since I've gone through it and looked hard at what I have. I've supposedly been on a yarn diet for a long time now, but I have had the occasional yarn binge.

I've changed how I shop now. I don't buy because it's on sale and cheap. Now, I buy it if it's beautiful and I can turn it into something beautiful. Don't keep it if I'm not likely to use it or I'm struggling to think what I can do with it.

Here is a picture of the yarn mountain, pre me sorting it out.



Heh. Yeah I know.

This is the Aran I have in my stash. I don't actually knit with aran that much. I'm a big girl and I tend to avoid anything bulkier than DK for jumpers / cardis / tanks. Not that I tend to knit many garments like that, but I do have plans :)



I've been crocheting a massive granny square blanket for an age and a half - I'm not doing little squares and sewing them together, but just one massive blanket with scraps of blue and green yarns that I have. I did rescue some blue yarn from a charity shop especially for this blanket (yeah I know!), but it was pure wool, which doesn't turn up often in charity shops around here. So yeah. It looks like a lot, but it has it's place.



Here's the unfinished blanket / WIP. It must be nearly 5ft square now and will be massive by the time I'm finished, but it's oh so nice :) When I get my own house, I am totally going with a blue, white and wood lounge.



I have been spinning a lot lately and loving it. I knew exactly what I had - a whole kilo of merino, plus 400g of fibre to be spun, but the enormity of just how much that was didn't occur to me before. Heh. Sounds stupid I know, but meh. Plus, I have a lot of handspun that needs to be knitted up as well - that didn't occur to me either :)





Also, I have a lot of hand dyed yarn - some of it is mis dyed. There are 2 skeins of yellow / orange yarn there. 1 of which got some green on it from the dye pot so is a little muddy and not as bright as it should be. The other skein has tiny little blue marks on it from the dye pot. I felt awkward about giving it to someone because it might look a bit naff if it's a garment like a shrug or shawl. My own reasoning is that they'll be fine as socks.



I got load of yarn from Lidl's that I was thinking that I would dye some for socks. I got about 800g in total, then I saw a pattern that I could use for some of it, so I dyed half of it to turn into a top, but I think I would prefer the same top in cream. So yeah. Not sure what to do with the blue yet, but *shrug*



This is some of the aforementioned "Oooh look it's in a sale, I'll have lots please!" Rowan aran that I got. No plans for it, but I am knitting with a bit of it. I have a suspicion that this will end up in the swap pile. I am currently knitting with a bit of it and I'm not sure whether I will need any more of it.



This is my random pile of stuff. In there is some sock yarn, some Mirasol Hatcho, some laceweight, some Chinese silk. I'm not sure about what I'm going to do with it, but hey ho.



This is more of the sale yarn. I got some use out of it, when I was making my Flossies, especially when I was designing them.



This is the stash of mostly Regia yarn that I got on sale. £1.20 a ball. I'm pleased with this, as this is my yarn for when I want to knit easy socks that I don't want to have to think too much about.



This is some fibre that I have absolutely no use for. It needs carding and sorting, but I have no desire to do either, so I'm going to swap it or offer it up to someone. If anyone wants it, they are welcome to it. The white fibre is Alpaca and the black/white fibre is unknown stuff that came with some bobbins for Doris (my spinning wheel).



Here is the yarn that I have decided that I don't want any more. I was thinking of holding a thing at my house for my knitting group, where my fellow knitters can help themselves to yarn from the box. Anything left goes to charity.



Steer me away from the yarn stores. Unless I am buying notions or patterns :)