Lazy Day

Darkana Tarot

So I had a lovely weekend, in spite of choosing to wear a linen blouse and skirt to make a 3 hour drive to Kent on the hottest day of the year so far: can we say, 'pointless' ?

Because although it kept me somewhat cooler than I might otherwise have been, one can only wear linen if one never sits down; and certainly not in a hot car for 3 hours or so; unless - of course - one is aspiring to achieve that whole 'alcoholic consul in an equatorial banana republic' look that Denholm Elliot did so well.

Unfortunately, it may have been worse than that - I feel I may have looked as damply disshevelled as Kathleen Turner:

 However, the warm welcome and family birthday barbeque made it all worthwhile. No, it has nothing to do with the fact that we also left the kids behind for a week with Nanny for their annual visit, I promise. Conversation did not flag on the journey home, as DH I and had a lively exchange of views discussing the influence of existentialism on Art.

Yes, you're correct - that last bit was absolutely a total lie; I can't actually remember what we talked about, but it was interesting and we had lots of fun and laughter.

Sunday was spent lounging around doing nothing that I can talk about publicly, apart from a quick trip to buy French bread, wine, olives and pate, as an additional reminder of what our lives were like B.K (Before Kids).

Today DH is at work, and as - unusually - I have no project in mind for the eye of the typhoon that is our house when the kids aren't in it, I have spent today eating cherries and reading rubbishy books that have few if  any redeeming features - I had no idea that the supernatural/paranormal sector of fantasy fiction had it's own sub-genre of murder/mystery/sex/romance where lycanthropy can meld almost seamlessly with daywalking vampires, graphic S&M, genetic manipulation and conspiracy theories. My mind has been quite well and truly boggled, let me tell you..

Obviously, I have not smoked enough of the right stuff, or else I would have come up with this vapid incarnation of porn, and be sitting on a beach in Barbados right now counting my money. And no, I am not talking about 50 Shades of Grey which at least has the excuse of being very poorly written fan-fiction.

Anyway, enough of the bitter envy mixed with mocking derision; having shared the cherries with the dog, I must now fall back to red seedless grapes. But - alas ! I have no-one to peel them for me.

                                 

WIP Wednesday 40: Dilemma

I have two I want to talk about today: firstly, I'm devising a new scarf pattern, as I couldn't find one that I liked for DH's middle brother's birthday present. I spoke about the yarn (Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK) already .... I love this stuff: it is soft, smooth, stretchy, and this 'Button' colorway is one my mother would have labelled as classy, and I would have labelled boring. I am older now and can begin to explore the concept that maybe bright is not always best, although I hasten to add that I am still a long way from being able to appreciate shrubs: I do not care about 8 million different shades of green, I want real color.

Inky thinks that this should be a Seekret Projeckt; but I am 90% sure that this BIL does not surf the interwebz. Certainly not this blog.

















So watch this space for a new free pattern release when I've all finished and done ....

The other WIP has really been hibernating, and now I need some help deciding what to do. It is the Willow Leaf Stole (Rav link) by Linda Choo. I'm using 1150 yards of 4ply silk 8/60NM from Colourmart - and I still don't really get what that means - on 3.25mm needles. I like the pattern, although the repeats are large enough to be unwieldy; I like the yarn. I'm just not liking them in combination. But. I have got quite some way, even though, with the best will in the world and some anticipated severe blocking, mine will be a scarf, not a stole ....



So, here's the dilemma of the title: do I

a) frog it and find something else (that will be a proper stole size) to knit with this yarn ? If so, what ?

b) continue on because I will love the feeling of pious righteousness when I've completed it ?

c) some other really logical option, so obvious that I haven't thought of it yet ?

Don't forget to hop on over to Tami's Amis for other mainly fibre-related blog posts as part of Work-in-Progress Wednesday ...

Project Umms

I had determined that this year was going to be The Year. The Year where I not only remember everybody's birthday, but get a present to them in time. So far I am going great guns, starting with one of my 6 SILs on last New Year's Eve. I posted another SIL's present a full month in advance, having written the date in the wrong month entirely. I have all the remaining four February presents all either bought or knitted, ready to wrap and post. I have no birthdays (apart from Mini Diva's) to prep for until the five due in April.

So, my dilemma is what to do now ? I know I will most likely be casting on for Mini Diva's aran coat, using Stylecraft Special Aran with Wool in Blackberry, but I don't anticipate this being a birthday knit, so have no deadline for completion.

I feel I really ought to use some of the fabulous posh yarn I've accumulated recently to knit something stunning either for no reason or for myself. I would take a photo of it, heaped artistically in a wooden bowl against a trendily out-of-focus background or something, except my trusty digital camera has given up the ghost - it still takes pictures, but you can't tell beforehand of what, as the display screen thingy remains obdurately black. Which makes taking pictures kind of interesting and mysterious, but not in a good way.


It also means that I have three FOs to show off, but cannot be bothered with the guessing game of photographing them; especially when we add in the challenge of natural winter light - or lack of.

Still, it is my birthday this week, and as you well know, hope springs eternal ....