So Far, So Good

Jean and Spinning Fishwife were very helpful at lunch on Monday with ideas about the Everest cosy. I took my swatch and we passed it round and rubbed it on our faces: it was only later that I realized this might have looked a bit odd. I don't think the people at the next table left early. A wimple / cowl / smoke ring seems to be in order, which can be worn in a variety of ways, so I've been prowling Ravelry and am down to the final few. I think.

I've had ample opprotunity to test the warmth of my new Jet Kaari this week, as the central heating went phut on Monday morning. Jet is 70% wool and 30% alpaca, and I can testify that it holds up very well. I have been lurking in the room with the fire, but I was pretty comfortable. The only bit of me that was cold was the gaping neck and I was able to fill that with a cosy pashmina, so I was kept warm very satisfactorily by a trio of wool-bearing mammals.

The boiler guy came today and fitted a new pump. I have a horrible suspicion that the old one was full of mouse poop, but we won't think about that. I discovered at the end of last year that that was their favoured route into the kitchen, down the back of the boiler. However, the multi-front mouse deterrent seems to have worked well and there have been no signs for the last week or so. Consumption of bleach and disinfectant should fall dramatically.

I decided that it would be a good idea to send the one completed legwarmer to be tried on before I made the second one, and I got a call tonight to say that it fits perfectly. Cinderella's slipper didn't fit better. So that's good to know. I spoke to the small pink person and asked if her sister liked the Mary Jane hat. 'No, thanks,' she said.

I'm progressing satisfactorily with the Dapper waistcoat: the knitting isn't hugely exciting, but I can't stop looking at the colour. I've realized that it's the same shade as MttR's lovely Ali jacket. Wool Cotton gives a beautiful finish, makes you look like a very good knitter. It's too late to photograph it tonight, but there's not much to see anyway. I'm just about to start the decreases on the first front and have used one ball of yarn.

I don't know how much my readership overlaps with KMKat's, so here's another chance to see something that she posted recently in case you missed it. It's an ad for Pringle of Scotland, drawn by David Shrigley, showing life behind the scenes at Pringle.



Actually, it doesn't rain all the time. That's just on the west coast. The voiceover sounds so like a friend of mine, it makes me giggle every time I hear it. It's really Bridget McCann.

While I've been working on Dapper, I've been catching up on Series Two of The Big Bang Theory. Sometimes Sheldon is just so me.

More and More Knitting

I baptised Kaari and dried it flat, and I'm very pleased with the result. I knew as soon as I first saw that pattern that I would knit it, so it almost doesn't seem new. I knitted a size smaller because I wasn't getting gauge and it's come out just the right size. I didn't make any alterations at all, although the neck is a very little shallower because I ran out of yarn. I'm wearing it as I type. Can you tell?

The neck has come out quite wide. Since I always planned to wear this over a tee shirt, this doesn't matter but when I make a summer one, I'll have to do something about it. I think it might be because of my narrow shoulders which don't hold it in place, so I'll just have to continue the front up a bit higher and think of a way of making the sleeves come up higher too. They have an unusual construction so it will take a bit of thinking, but it should be feasible. Or I could make it out of linen on large needles, and wear it over a cami. I'll think of something.

I've done one tiny legwarmer for the small pink person. I got my wires crossed and made it in stripes when apparently what is required is a plain legwarmer in ballet pink, so I'll finish these and then do the plain ones. It's RYC Cashmerino and some Wool Cotton from the stash. At least if these turn out to be the wrong size, I can get it right the second time. I made the pattern up.


I bought this skein of Habu Shosenshi, which I've been planning to get for a while: I already have some of it in grey and I have project in mind which will require two colours. More will be revealed. The shade is called Indigo, a very pale washed-out indigo.


The waiscoaty thing on the front of the latest Rowan mag, number 47, is meant to be made from Lenpur Linen, but I went with Rowan Wool Cotton. I won't be putting on the beads.

The colour is called Cypress, which I thought was a dark green but this is a sort of dusty turquoise, like verdigris but a little bluer. The vest, which is called Dapper, is knitted in one piece starting at the left front and is meant to be knitted without the front band and the armhole trims: they're added by picking up stitches at the end, but I've decided that I'm going to do it all in a oner. I expect I will realize why this is wrong when I'm nearly at the end, and there will be much smitting of the forehead, but I'm going to do it anyway.

I watched three more episodes of The West Wing on Saturday, and was greatly distressed to discover that there wasn't a fourth episode on the disk. I missed a lot of the seventh series the first time round, and it's interesting to watch it again anyway because we have discovered since that the writers based some of it on Obama's senate campaign. I consoled myself by watching some of the first series of The Big Bang Theory, which I was slow to discover and just love.

Here's a quickie.



And if you've got 10 minutes, here's some more.