Rain-bringer

The day I came to Germany it was 35°C and sunny, the next morning it was overcast and started to rain. The weather in London is apparently quite pleasant, it’s worse here! Today was the first day we could actually go out and do something, so we went to the castle 30km away for brunch. I love going there because you have to walk up through the woods to get to the ruins of a castle that now have a little restaurant and bar in it.

And after a fairly gentle climb you end up at the ruins

Having come down with a cold 1 day into my trip and thanks to the bad weather, I’ve had a fair amount of time for knitting. I’m working on a secret project which uses these colours.

The alpaca is so slippery on these metal needles though! But progress is fast so I should be done in the next few days.

Crochet!

A while ago I started a pattern for a crocheted toy I’d seen on Ravelry. I looked up videos on Youtube and taught myself how to start a chain, do single crochet and increases. I found the half-finished body of the poor panda in my knitting box and figured I’d give it another shot. I never realised how quick crochet is! I finished him in just one evening – I think the sewing up took the longest. He’s got some squiffy limbs, especially his feet, but my mum loves him.

Since progress was so quick I’m now on the lookout for other cute, quick crochet patterns. I might try a toy that’s a bit bigger next time- as you can see he’s quite small.

As I’m now in Germany for the next 10 days I’m planning on going to the local yarn shop. I’ll almost definitely buy lots of yarn I won’t use for ages but simply have to have!  It was 35°C when I arrived here yesterday, so hopefully I’ll be able to get to the shop without melting!

Never-ending tunic

I’ve been working on this ‘Coffee Tunic’ since the end of last year. It’s the project that I work on for about 3 inches then put it away for a month or so. So, I’m making a concerted effort to get it finished!

You can find the pattern on Ravelry here.

I visited the Loop’s new shop on Wednesday too. It’s so lovely! I’d definitely recommend going there if you’re in the area. So much bigger than the other shop, and with so many areas to sit down, flick through magazines or fondle the wool. I bought the most beautiful yarn I think I’ve ever purchased for myself. It’s a fingering weight yarn from Madelinetosh.

The colour is called ‘Lepidoptra’. I’m not sure how I managed to pick just one colour though. All the yarns in the shop were beautiful and if I could I would’ve spent a fortune!

Boot camp

Yesterday I started the Creativity Boot Camp. My medium is drawing/designing, so I can’t really add beautiful pictures or anything on here. The first prompt word was ‘Ivory’, so my first move was to list words that I associate with ivory. Some of these were smooth, foreign, murderous connotations and even decadence.

After thinking about these words I went on to make rough sketches of a few knitting ideas. I came up with a clutch with beads to imitate the shine of ivory, as well as some more colourful elements to pick up on the countries that ivory comes from.

Today’s theme is ‘Picnic’, but it wasn’t really a picnic day today, with drizzle and cooler weather. For picnic I went for brighter colours, gingham, even some colours from the traditional picnic foods. This boot camp is great, I’m already realising how many links I can get from just one word, and what effect that has on my ability to design. It made me realise I never think about myself as an artist because I don’t think I’m talented enough, or will ever produce anything original and worth mentioning. Hopefully by the end of this I’ll have loads of new ideas and be proud enough of them and of myself to produce them and show them.

Lazy days

Yesterday was another hot day in London, so I took the boy for his first visit to Battersea Park. We had planned on going on the lake, but all the boats had been rented so we walked around and I took pictures instead.

I also managed to get started on the left heart mitten to match the right one I’ve had sitting around for ages!

I know I should do some Arabic revision, after all I’ve only got 5 lessons left, but I’d definitely rather finish my mittens.

I’m also thinking about buying tickets to the iKnit Weekender online or whether I should get them closer to the date in case anything comes up and I can’t go. Either way I need to start working on my entries. I’ve got one fully formed idea and all the yarn for it, but the bigger project needs a bit more work.

Scorcher!

After leaving Arabic class today it just kept getting hotter and hotter. I think today it reached around 32°C. I’m just thankful I don’t have to go to work in an office or get on the underground! I was planning on getting most of my left heart mitten finished at last, but it’s just been so hot I’ve just been trying to stay cool. I wanted summer, but this is a bit too hot for such a busy city!

On Ravelry I saw a post about this great Creativity Boot Camp blog. So, as of Monday I’ll be starting it, but I might have to stop it for a day or two when I fly to Germany. I’m so pissed off that I forgot about Knit Nation 2010 when booking my return flight. I come back just a bit too late. I was so looking forward to going! There’s always the iKnit Weekender though.

Moving day

Lots been going on, so I haven’t had time to update or knit! Moving out was stressful. Too much packing, too many boxes full of clothes (I really have too many!) and at the end of it all thorough cleaning. I felt a bit sad leaving the flat for the last time, odd since I never liked it there that much!

On a more random note I’ve started a 2 week Arabic course at university. Difficult but surprisingly fun so far! Just before leaving the flat I started a lace shawl. My first bit of lace and so far I’ve learned:

1. Don’t attempt lace knitting whilst watching a film.

2. Don’t try lace knitting with your boyfriend or other distractions around. I’ve found that whenever I do something that requires concentration that that’s the time he’ll start talking to me. Result: end up with too few/many stitches and have to start again.

This is the result so far.

I found pattern the Ravelry by Linda Choo. All I need now is silence, tea and lace knitting!