Made It !

Fantastic Menagerie Tarot

  Well, we made it through the Fire Swamp Easter holidays - lots of sleepovers, bright but cold weather, and I still have the cold that Mini Diva gave me, which seems to be hanging on forever - and today Destructo Boy went back to school dressed in colorful shorts, a T-shirt and a warm jacket for 'Beachwear Day'. It is somehow connected to this term's Topic, the World Cup, and Brazil; as is their visit to the cinema on Thursday during class-time to see Rio 2. We are sure that this has some kind of educational benefit, aren't we ?

Mini Diva, on the other hand, sits her SATs next month, and the revision pressure seems to be on - they don't appear to be learning anything new, just re-doing lots of old stuff. Of course, this emphasis would have nothing to do with the school being in Special Measures, about to convert to Academy status, and desperate to improve its standing .... I need to just take a deep breath and get her through this final term of primary school without her totally stressing out. Yes, she is only 11 years old. So wrong ....

On a more cheerful note, I managed to finish the Deadline Item by the Deadline - my youngest niece's 18th birthday. She had requested a blankey, so a blankey is what she got:

You may possibly recognize that this used to be the WIP formerly known as the Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket:

At a very early stage

 Except I got bored with the granny squares, and time was racing on, so I made strips of the squares, added a couple of rounds of treble stitch round each strip, and then joined the strips together before adding a great big couple of border rounds around the whole thing. I forgot to count how many squares ended up being involved ....

Now, on this grey and damp morning, with my second optimistic wash of the day in the machine, I feel the overwhelming impulse for a lil nap to recoup my energies. It has nothing to do with the fact that I just inhaled the last bit of Mini Diva's homemade red velvet cake, nothing at all ....

Wittering

Shadowscapes Tarot

Almost one week into the holidays, and Mini Diva has kindly donated me her sore throat and snotty cold. I guess I can't complain too much, as I haven't had a cold for the longest time. Unfortunately I am out of rum, and Lemsip just doesn't taste the same (or have the same effect) without it.

In the quiet times I am hooking like a crazy person, and entertain some hopes of finishing the Deadline Item by the deadline. Next week. My nose is so blocked up it's almost the same as holding my breath, wouldn't you agree ?

Just because, here is a picture of someone who clearly knows he should not be where he is:

As usual, I have been able to count on the Eviller Twin and the Good Twin:

  

And inside was - no, not a herbal cure, if I used this I would die (and not from fluffiness) - but a housewarming present of two brugmansias (which the conservative amongst us might call daturas) :

They are presently being cossetted (but we're not telling them that, as you know what results) in the conservatory while they recover from their journey. Plus, I need to find some nice pots for them to go out on the patio ....I imagine sultry summer evenings of purple shadows and tropical fragrance, gin, tonic, lime and ice in hand ....

OK, so maybe the Lemsip is having some kind of hallucinatory effect ....

WIP Wednesday 177: Mind The Gap

Tarot of Durer

I am not a very creative person. I am perhaps a craftsman, an artisan in some ways - I have a little talent, and I practice what skills I have, but with other people's creativity and inspiration. I am unable to turn the rather nebulous ideas I occasionally have into reality, so - ever practical - rather than cover myself with sackcloth and ashes, I forget about it and search for the attractive or beautiful patterns that others have created, and try to do them justice by the standard of my work.

However, every now and then I simply cannot find exactly what I want, and nothing else will do. I dislike being in this position, as it makes me face the fact that I might actually be a little less than perfect. I know ! Almost impossible to imagine, I agree. Introspection and self-analysis is also not one of my strengths - but you knew that already. 

You must do the things you think you cannot do.

                                                                                                    Eleanor Roosevelt.


My MIL is worth the grief and hassle of wrestling with An Actual Idea, and as long as I can manage it without the dire consequence of personal growth, I shall make the attempt. Here is what it looks like:

I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.

                                                                                                           Benjamin Disraeli


Yes, that is a heap of Summer Garden Blankey in the Time Out corner. It is there to watch and learn from my MIL's project being beaten into submission. 

Go and see some lovely things over at Tami's Amis ....

Le Sigh

Victorian Romantic Tarot

This morning I incurred Destructo Boy's wrath by filling in a school permission form with the incorrect class - I labelled him a Turtle instead of an Octopus. It took me all of last year to get Giraffe (Savannah phase) fixed in my head, and then of course, a new academic year in a new Phase (Ocean) started with the new class name. At least I have progressed from just knowing it was something marine. Had it been something like, I don't know, mako shark or barracuda, maybe I would have remembered better.

Mini Diva is a ... umm ... well, she was a Leopard last year. I want to say she is a Panther this year, but I don't know if that's only because of her feral behavior. 

Anyway. All that fun aside, I'm just popping in to tell you I'm stomping chucking placing the Summer Garden Granny Square Blankey into a serious Time Out for a while.

I finally managed to wrestle the colors into something that was bright, but did not make Mini Diva run screaming from the room with her aesthetics irrevocably mutilated:

Yeah, yeah, rubbish photo, but I had to take it before the cat(s) jumped up and ruined the Plan, which I would definitely not be able to remember without this evidence.

Not content with such agonizingly achieved perfection, I decided to gild the lily by adding a widening and calming border around each strip of squares:

 

And of course, now I don't like it. 

I am going to have to un-join the blue from the pink, and the russets from the purple. This is after it took me 4 - yes, four - goes to get the blue strip right, as it demonstrated that I had no clue what 'alternating' meant, and had no ability to count up to 10 correctly either. Cuz, yanno, 9 is not 10. And neither is 11, funnily enough.

Plus, I spent all last week ruminating - yes, just like a cow except I can't lick my own nose - and I feel it was wasted, wasted, sadly wasted time. Today I have downloaded a cute frog amigurumi pattern, which I am going to incorporate into my MIL-inspired design. I wonder how long it will be before I start ranting about how I can't turn the picture in my head into any semblance of reality ?

Taking bets ....

FO Friday 168: Ultraviolet

                                                      

Phantomwise Tarot

                

I kind of feel like Hippomenes, but instead of golden apples, I am casting previously made but undisplayed FOs at you instead: can you believe I have been paralyzed all week ? I have been unable to progress with the Summer Garden Granny Square Blankey as I have been sitting gazing it at contemplating the Color Conundrum.

But I am unaccustomedly merciful, and shall not make you suffer my agonies. Rather, you may gaze in admiration at the completed Forest Pansy Shawl:

The pattern is by Linda Choo, and the yarn is Jamieson & Smith 2ply Laceweight in the exciting colors of 'L20' and 'L49', or 'purple' and 'lilac'. My MIL had sent me 3 balls of each color from Shetland, and I have a little less than a ball left of each - and the shawl has turned out a goodly size. Yes, you'll gave to take my word for it, as I forgot to measure it again, and can't be bothered to move right now.

This yarn come in a great palette of colors and is easy to work with, if perhaps a tad ... harsh ... for us poor sensitive wussy southerners - but it is much softer after a gentle wash and lots of fabric conditioner.

 While I unresistingly sink back into the mental lethargy induced by too much pondering, you could pop over to Tami's Amis to see everything else that has been finished this week .....

WIP Wednesday 176: Color Torture

Fantastic Menagerie Tarot

So you know how it is: you finish a project, the kids want to go swimming and you have no other WIPs to take with you to occupy yourself for the afternoon. You have the yarn but not the pattern for the first item in your queue. You have the yarn AND pattern for the second item, but it also involves squillions of beads - definitely an 'at home' project. 

You settle for another pattern in your queue for which you can make do with some stash yarn. When you print it you notice that also needs lots of beads - which you don't have for this one, plus, same objection as above, if you did have them.. 

You then print a pattern from near the end of the queue that you have been saving for special - and then realize that not only has the printer given up the ghost, you have no laceweight wound. You know there is no point even thinking about winding it as the kids are clamoring to get out the door, down the road and into the water already.

What to do in this dilemma ? Is it the end of the world as we know it ?

No, of course not.

We sigh resignedly and unearth our long-term crochet project, the Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket. The feeling of piety and righteousness endowed by plodding on with an old project is in no way at all ever to be even thought about in the same breath as being anywhere even being near the neighborhood of the excitement of starting a Whole New Project.

At last count we had a random 119 squares completed, theoretically all made from leftovers and scraps. (Just for Titch - I mean, they are all definitely absolutely totally made from leftovers and scraps. Oh yes. Uh-huh.)

We have no idea how many squares we need as we have no real plan in mind.

Yes, I know ! Can you believe it was me talking just then ??

Anyway. We consoled ourself with adding to the total while poolside waiting for the kids to become waterlogged.

This was the first arrangement:

Sadly, it did not meet with the somewhat OCD aesthetic standards of either Mini Diva or Uber Cool Brother - who may now be merely 'Cool Brother' as a result. 

They also strongly disapproved of this arrangement:

Their response might be summed up by:   ''Oh. My. Hmm. Yes well. No. Colors ! ALL THE COLORS ! Next to each other ! ALL THE COLORS ! I'm struck blind !''

This time I ignored them, safe in the knowledge that if I thought I was out of my comfort zone with color usage, oooh, say as far as the Moon is from the Earth, then they are out of their color comfort zone as far as Pluto. So, satisfied with having imposed this level of artistic anguish on at least two people, I got greedy for more screaming and decided to impose it on you, too, Dear Readers.

You're welcome. Just enjoy how subtle everything else is going to look in comparison .....you can check out classy things over at Tami's Amis .....

WIP Wednesday 149: Crochet on Parade

Muggy, warm and cloudy, with the promise of thunderstorms later today - not a day for high-level physical activity. Like I have any of those at any time - pah.

Instead while I wait for the yarn fairy to arrive with yarn for the stripy baby sweater and crochet hooks for the crocheted baby blankey, I was a good girl and did as I promised - I got on with a few more squares for my Summer Garden Blankey.

It'd been a while, so not only did I have to find the pattern, I had forgotten exactly what was the plan.

What do you mean, wing it ?

No. I'm still perfecting how to do spontaneity. Watch the following clip from 1:27 ....






Like Colonel Hathi, I may have a rubbish memory, but here's the plan: each set of colorways will have 10 squares with light inners and dark outers, 10 squares with dark inners and light outers. That's as far as it goes, I haven't yet got an overall plan or pattern for how all the colors and squares will go together - there's loads of time for that yet. Please to notice the classy seagrass (or something) pretty basket. It's actually too small to hold all the squares ....

There seems to be a preponderance of blues, somehow. I may have to split those off to become a separate blankey for Mini Diva, who has been blue for a while, as pink is soooo for babies. There also seems to be a lack of orange/yellow in the color scheme - but do you realize how hard it is to find those colors in halfway decent acrylic and simultaneously that they're not so bright or fluorescent they burn your eyes out ? Neither is there any kind of brown, but I am told that this would be as boring subtle as including grey.

So anyway, nothing will get done while I sit here chatting with you, much as I enjoy it.

Yes, I do.

If you still have some free time, pop over to Tami's Amis to see what everyone else is up to....

Up a Creek

Shadowscapes Tarot

 .... without a paddle in sight. 

I finally got the most recent shawl finished, then washed - and now it is blocking.

Great !

'Monday, the start of a new week, all my chores are done, the sun is kind of out, let's go start something new !' I thought, enthusiastically.

And then I screeched to a halt.

As we have discussed before, I have everything I need for about the next 4 items on my queue, and I am trying to KTQ2013.  However, there is a bunch of things not in my queue that have a deadline .....

A minimum of 2 baby sweaters, one just like the pattern below, and another one which I haven't yet selected, which will be in the relevant SIL's preferred color of dark red. Deadline: beginning of August.

 And I know you will recall my ambitions to crochet a baby blankey for the same SIL. After requesting expert opinions on difficulty (or really, total lack of same) in the Patterns forum of Ravelry, I chose the Heirloom Lace Baby Blanket from the top book: 

Item 2 with a deadline

Then both Mini Diva and Destructo Boy will need school sweaters or cardigans; 3rd deadline: beginning of September. I made myself a weak milky coffee and sat down with all of these:

 From this angle, you can't see actually how many patterns are there, but I am pretty sure it is in the hundreds. Of course, I only had to look for kids' patterns; I have chosen 2 or 3 for each child to select from when they get home today.

And I cannot cast on for any of them, as - and I know you will guffaw in rampant disbelief and amazement as did my DH when I told him - I do not have any yarn.

Well, of course I do - and you know that, since I share all my acquisitions with you. But I have none of the right yarn: I have no pale blue or white baby yarn for the 1st baby sweater. I haven't chosen or found a pattern for the 2nd baby sweater, let alone that I don't have any of the dark red yarn required (no, my Austermann Merino Lace is not appropriate). I don't have yarn for the blankey, or the right size hook. Mini Diva will require black DK, and Destructo Boy needs navy blue: I do not have any. Well, I have odds and ends, but not a sweater's worth, for sure.

So I have thoroughly enjoyed wasted my day so far, planning, and browsing through various yarn websites, as today is not market day and also the main LYS is shut on Mondays. When I get back from collecting the kids from school, I think I may just have to ease my creative addiction habit itch by adding to my Summer Garden Granny Square Blankey:
                                                                 

WIP Wednesday 119: Bright Idea

Spiral Tarot

If I was a bear ... Well, OK. If I was a bear without kids, I would definitely hibernate: I don't like winter - the cold, the wet, the greyness, the dark. Since I have kids and have to stay awake, I think of the summer and remember its colors by adding to the SGGSB.

The count now stands at 56, up from 44. In the two tall stacks are 10 of each type of blue square - I've decided that I will make 10 of each color combination, and then re-assess to see how many squares there are and whether they will make anything worth joining them all together. You'll be glad to know - as proof that I still retain some shreds of sanity - that I am weaving in the ends as I go:

 

As it is getting to halfway through November, I thought it was about time to start on the obligatory Xmas knitting for my youngest nephew, the pitiful victim who is blissfully unaware of the psychological and emotional scarring that is heading his way (mind you, with the full encouragement of his mother); I've found this seemingly simple pattern for a hoodie from Sirdar:

And lookee ! enough seasonally festive Stylecraft Special DK of the colorway 'Matador' in my stash to make an immediate start:

Believe me, your eyes are not bleeding as much as mine.

Since I cannot leave well enough alone, I have modified the pattern by using a straightforward checkerboard stitch pattern rather than - yawn - stocking stitch.

But I can tell you are wondering - no Scandinavian colorwork of white snowflakes, no applique of a reindeer, no sparkly fun fur, no jingly bells even: what's so damaging about this ?

Wait til you see the buttons I have found.

Hop on over to Tami's Amis to see what other evil plots gifts of love are in the works ....

WIP Wednesday 118: More Moonlight

GendronTarot

Having missed posting last Friday, I thought this week would be a little calmer, since the routine of school has started again after half-term.

But obviously not - hence the tardiness of this post, as today I was sorting some books at Belo's house, and scored some fascinating vintage knitting books, which I will post about another time.

I have now stashed 44 squares towards the Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket (I think we will shorten that to SGGS Blankey, don't you ?) and I confess I have crocheted none this week, as my Mother-in-law gifted me some yarn which I was impelled to use immediately - a ball of James C.Brett Moonlight Sonata in the oh-so-imaginatively named colorway SM3, which is rather soft and lovely gradated shades of dusty berry pinks with sparkles; not that you can tell from this photo, more's the pity:

You've seen the green colorway before. I should mention, the pattern is not for some kind of hippie bag-sack thing, but it will be revealed eventually as a Slice of Autumn/Spring, which, because of the color, I am calling Slice of Berries. I am so poetic.

And to tantalize my tarot friends, here is a pic of the Sirian Starseed Tarot in the process of being reviewed:

Yes, those are my increasingly notorious pink sparkly reading glasses appearing for the 2nd time in this blog. I'm not actually really such a pink person, I promise. I do hope that it is not a portent of impending fluffy-bunniness ...

See some sanity over at Tami's Amis ....

WIP Wednesday 117: Squares & Rectangles

Halloween Tarot

Having completed the test knit of the Arlington Shawl for Emily Ross aka knitterain (pics up here on Friday), as usual I wanted to cast on for something new immediately: I'm not too good at letting the grass grow under my feet at the best of times.

I'm in a shawl mood, so did a quick straw poll amongst Twitter knitters and my Facebook friends, between Romanesque and Sabrina: Sabrina won.

I am pretty sure it will look marvellous with the electric blue Wollemeise I liberated from Mags, which has very generous yardage just right for this pattern; I have printed out the chart and instructions, I have the necessary size of needles.

However, I seem to have accidentally succumbed instead to the Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket from Lucy at Attic24.

No, I didn't buy any new yarn for these, nuh-uh, no way, nope, not even.

Well ... OK. 

Maybe just the two greens, and the peach and russet combo that I so love. But they were cheap, I promise, and everything else is leftovers. Really.

I will have to put them down next week when half-term is over and the kids have gone back to school, as I have been sent two more tarot decks to review:

 

The first is the Sirian Starseed Tarot kindly sent by Kat Engh at North Atlantic Books; and the second has also been kindly sent by the editor of the TABI Ezine, and is supposed to be the premier edition of Kay Steventon's Spiral Tarot, although there is nothing on the external packaging that differentiates this from the original deck & book set, which I have owned and worked with for quite some years now. I am keenly anticipating ripping away gently peeling the clingwrap from them both, I can tell you !

As usual on Wednesdays, pop on over to Tami's Amis to see what everyone else is working on ...