WIP Wednesday 94: Three's Company

Tarot of the Old Path

How quick it rolls around - another WIP Wednesday: something I haven't managed to take part in for a while. And I must confess I have departed from the straight and narrow: I have abandoned serial monogamy for the pleasures and guilt of polygamy - I have 3 WIPs on the go currently.

Unfortunately, Lily's Slice of Pi has made no progress since we spoke about it last; she has become the needy, clingy over-emotional friend that we all have and can only spend a limited amount of time with before we are itching for something fast, simple and easy. No, not a man. That way lies only a different form of crazy.

This is actually 'Delphinium' blue, and not some weird shade of charcoal grey, and is the summer shrug for Mini Diva. The slinkiness of the Twilleys Freedom Gorgeous DK enticed me, and I strayed ... what can I tell you ?

And then, of course, you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb; my new next-door neighbor is expecting, in about a week, so I thought I'd make the Vintage Baby Cardigan again, as its 4ply demand fits right in the middle of the other two projects:

Stylecraft Special 4ply in 'Pale Rose'; lovely and easy to knit with, good yardage and good value. See those mehusive paws ? Yes, me too.

Remember to pop over to Tami's for more loveliness and less craziness .... I blame the almost overwhelming heady scent of the lilacs in the house: Katherine Havemeyer is here.

Why Me ?

Barbara Walker Tarot

So I had planned on blogging this morning, as I know how much you've missed me and wanted to know what's been happening; but meanwhile I had an argument with my DH that, because of his pigheadedness, resulted in me wanting to stab him over and over and over and over. And over. Again. Lucky he's in his truck, at work. ... 

I was questioning why I had bothered with marriage again - like the first one wasn't lesson enough, fer pete's sake - when I read this blog post, which reminded me that a few more unicorns and rainbows wouldn't go amiss. So I will come back later with some fluffiness when I have buried him calmed down.

Gambled and Won

Morgan Greer

So I'm celebrating a few things today: the bathroom is finished, the builders have gone ... for the time being; they'll be back to insulate the bathroom roof. The plaster dust and mud has been vacuumed and mopped away, the layer of dust on the furniture has been polished away. Even I, with my high tolerance threshold for mess (read: slatternly ways) was finding it all irritating by the end.

My friend Steph of stephcuddles, who makes amazing stitchmarkers, is staying with me for a day or so while she attends an interview (she wore a hoodie in the most eye-wateringly acid yellow I've ever seen so that I could identify her at the train station)  - so the card is inaccurate as far as numbers go, as there's only two of us. 

But best of all, though, we all woke up alive in our beds this morning: she isn't a perverted axe-murderer, as we are warned that internet friends infallibly are. Yaay, internet and Ravelry win !

The hostess gifts she brought with her were wine, yarn, and chocolate; while I was out at hip-hop class with the children, she washed up; she likes cats and doesn't mind the dog, even though he is moulting; she has no odd dietary needs. As you can see, she is the perfect guest. 

 Look at the beautiful yarn she brought me:

It is Yarn Addict Supreme Sock, 400m of yummy merino and silk, in the colorway 'Dream Blue'. It is very soft.

You may be thinking you have seen a similar color on my blog before: well done ! You have.

This is also Yarn Addict, but Silk Lace in the colorway 'Jewel'. Also a gift from Steph. She's not really living up to her 'Queen of Green' title with these beautiful turquoises, is she ? She may have to abdicate.

 If she ever wants to stay with you, have her.

Fanfare for the Winner

So what with everything, builders and rain (both are still here, after a brief weekend respite) I totally forgot that there was a competition to be judged and won !

It was the poetry competition of Day 5 of this year's Knit & Crochet Blog Week: there weren't as many entries as last year, so I have put them here for your delectation:

Paradise
Cluttered Disheveled
Hunting Digging Finding 

$2.49 bag of Noro
Thrift Shop

Kitten with a Whiplash

 

The knitting needles sound,
Click clack click.
I had to frog this round
Because I dropped another stitch.

Mixed Martial Arts & Crafts

 Creative brain? I'm insane....and I have the stash to show it!

Sudden Expression 

  

The Zauberball (or 'Why They Are Pretty, But Not So Easily Manageable As A Centre-Pull Ball, But We Forgive Them, Because They are Pretty'). By Mimi Poe Hill. Aged 33⅓.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over a many quaint and curious pattern in the Ravelry Store,
While my needles, gently clicking, around the yarn, softly tickling,
Pointy needles softly pricking, fingers held aloft for stitches more,
While the ball, slowly unravels, unravels all over the front room floor - 
Over carpet, out the door.

Eskimimi Makes

http://www.catclipart.net

 

Feeling myself totally unqualified to choose a winner, I asked Alison of Hestia's Larder to choose, as she used to be an Editor and is an Author too.

She chose 'The Zauberball' by Mimi of Eskimimi Makes.

Congratulations, Mimi !  Something yarny will be wending its way to you as soon as you email me your snail mail address ...

Thank you to those who took part ... come back next year for another try.

It's a Dutty Job

I have been distracted this week - not only was it the first of the May Bank Holidays, but the landlady has sent a proper builder to fix our bathroom, which has had problems with damp and mildew, especially during winter.

There has been an extension of the time it will take, as underneath the first layer of wall tiles to be removed were a further three layers. Can we say 'shonky' ?

I have to say, I despise people who take the short, easy route; who do a crappy job of something just to make it a quick and cheap fix; and additionally, it usually turns out in the end to be more expensive than doing the job properly in the first place, because the fixing the rubbishy short-cut(s) costs money and time on top of doing the actual job required.

Add in the grey and wet weather,which means oh so many muddy footprints across the floor (in spite of a doormat) and it explains why there is no point to housework this week. Hence the 'dutty' of the title; which also means that I have caught a whole bunch of Law & Order episodes that I hadn't seen, while I race along with knitting Mini Diva's Delphinium Shrug ...

shower after removal of 4 layers of tiles

waterproof  paint, new plasterboard, single layer of tiles started,shower tray replaced

Of course, Destructo Boy thinks it's all fabulous and makes us rush home from school so that he too can officially take part in the grown-up permitted mess-making. It should all be done by Monday, and then I will begin my search for a new excuse not to clean ....

Still Here

Well, I made it. I posted every day of the 3rd Knitting and Crochet week, except for one - the Photography Challenge, which was just too big of a challenge for me. Voting is open now here for the 10 finalists, and it is well worth a look, the standard is very high indeed.

I am pleased that I took part, and my tea breaks for the next few days and maybe even weeks will be taken up by checking out some more of the other blogs that also took part. 

But it kind of left me without much to say about knitting, for the moment. Well, that and the fact that 'A Clash of Kings' which I had ordered at the library came in, and we watched Happy Feet 2 (11/10) - worth it for Bill and Will the Krill on their own - and Puss in Boots(7/10) at the weekend.

So I guess I'll tell you that Mini Diva arrived back from her first residential school trip in fine fettle, and not even as muddy as one might expect after three days of dyke-dipping, thatching, a boat trip and various outdoor games in the wettest April on record for years. She told me she might have missed me [] that much. Do you see that ? Not even room in there for a punctuation mark of some kind. 

How Hill, Norfolk Broads

Which means either I'm a great Mum whose incredible maternal skills are resulting in a very confident and self-reliant girl, or Mini Diva is a sociopath in the making. No, no votes on that, thank you.

And to the person who nudged me into posting today by asking when was I going to because they were waiting to read it: I am thankful for you in my life every day  quite frequently  sometimes  when it occurs to me.

Oh yes, since you asked so nicely, let me pass you this: