Progress and Stagnation

It finally looks like a hooded jacket. Whoot!

Still some sewing and knitting of button bands to do. That’s not going to happen unitl exams are over though.

I won’t have the focus or brainpower until afterwards.

At the moment, I need chug-along knitting. So I’ve cast on the Rico Designs yarn to begin the vintage vest.

It’s the bright green beside my stagnating projects which include:

Justin’s Waistcoat

Gerry’s Scarf

My log cabin throw

My Sedgemoor cardigan

Little Daisy Cardigan

They *will* become finished over the next couple of months.

 

There now….

Log Cabin blanket minus cat!

 

I’ll be back to regular blogging once the ‘zams’ are over & I have treated myself to a new little camera that plays nicely with my laptop.

Tomorrow, I’ll be travelling to Mullingar via Portlaoise. Since I’ve never spent anytime in Portlaoise, I’ve decided to get there a tad early & have a wander about. The internet tells me that there’s a yarn store in the town called “Knit & Sew”. True to form this store doesn’t have any information about itself online (that I have found).

I only know it exists thanks to this. So I’ll be endeavouring to find “Knit & Sew” on Coliseum lane tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

It’s a great pity that Irish craft stores (and Irish business in general) have side-lined themselves by not having a web presence. This Is Knit being a wonderful exception.

Business Computing is what I’m studying & “This is Knit” provided a lovely Irish example of a ‘Click & Mortar’ business for one of my course projects. They’ve been shortlisted in the “Best Blog of a Business” category of the Bord Gais Social Media Awards. Fair dues to them.

I’ll have a modest amount of money to spend in Portlaoise tomorrow. I want to spend some of it in an LYS. If it weren’t for the portlaoiseontheweb DOT com site I wouldn’t know about “Knit & Sew” and most likely would have continued onto Mullingar without taking the time to find it. As it is, I don’t know what kind of yarn they stock & if I’ll find anything to my liking (a gamble that I’m willing to take) or if they’re even still in business! I have their number noted just in case & it’ll be nice to be able to say that I’ve actually been to Portlaoise and not just passed through there.

When I travel I enjoy supporting the Local Yarn Store, both as a knitter and as someone who would like to work within the yarn industry. It’s lovely to see how different owners layout their stores and see the differences in colour palettes and yarn types stocked.

What does it say about the amount of craft tourism lost to smaller Irish towns if a motivated crafter like myself finds it difficult to get online information on LYS?

I’d say it’s as bad as the tourism lost to Limerick City due to the lack of a backpackers hostel. Sure, we are over-accommodated with hotel rooms but back-packers don’t look for hotel rooms for a variety of reasons. I’m more likely to stay in a place if I can get a hostel room. Partly due to the fact that I’d rather spend my money on yarn purchases, travelling to local amenities and trying the local cafes than spend it on a hotel room. Hotels are great for privacy and comfort but there’s a lot to be said for a friendly, well-run hostel with communal areas where you can strike up a conversation with a fellow visitor. I’d love to see a proper hostel open in Limerick city. It would boost the city centre no end.

Anyway, that’s my kvetcing over with for today.

Back to the Business Information System Development study.

 

 

Today I clean

It seems appropriate what with one year ending and a new year beginning.

That……and the fact that I’ve managed to use all the cutlery & every one of the mugs that I enjoy drinking tea and coffee from.

Yes, I’m particular about my mugs. We all have issues. That just happens to be one of mine.

Speaking of which (mugs, not issues), the teen and I enjoyed a meal in Marco Polo restaurant a couple of days ago.

Lovely decor, comfy seats, friendly staff, yummy food and the best of all…….they served their cappucino in mugs!

In proper mugs. I was ever so pleased. No dinky cups. No boat like containers wherein the liquid is tepid as soon as it arrives to the table.

A proper, though diminuitive in comparison to my home collection, mug of cappucino that stayed appropriately hot.

Whatever about the food, I shall be returning to Marco Polo for cappucino!

From cappucino I move onto latte. That’s what the lovely Hazey Fantazey made for me when I popped around to give her the Log Cabin blanket she earned by getting married to her lovely man. I say she earned it because she poured such tender loving care into creating a wedding day that not only reflected her relationship with her man and their relationship to her daughter, affectionately referred to as Dolly, but it also reflected how big a heart she has. She created a welcoming  space where those in attendance were received with warmth, rather than duty, and were made a part of their binding together as a married couple. I felt honoured and privileged to be a part of their day which declared their committment to their family unit.

So yes, she earned this symbol of  warmth and happiness, of snuggles, time & commitment.

How does a blanket symbolise committment?

Think about how many knitted rows it took to create this blanket.

Think about how many stitches it took to create each row.

Think of how much time I’ve committed to making this for my lovely friend.

So many hours that they equal days or possibly weeks (I haven’t kept count….even I’m not *that* pedantic).

She deserves my commitment of time. Why? She’s Hazel. She’s lovely and I get to call her my friend. That’s why.

Hazel puts considered effort and an eye for perfection into everything that I’ve seen her do or seen the results of.

I’m not so structured, methodical or fastidious in my approach to almost anything.

So it was that I procrastinated hugely on casting off the final 10 stitches (only 10 stitches) which kept this gift a work-in-progress for oh-so-blooming-long!

You see, dear readers, after casting off those 10 stitches would come the sewing in of ends, which I’ve already posted about.

The sewing in of ends is a chore for many knitters. I don’t mind it though. However, I can be haphazard with it if the project is destined for use by me.

Not so for this offering to my lovely, eye-for-detail, fastidious friend!

It had to be perfect! In the end, I decided that I’d rather get it to her this decade rather than dawdle over it waiting for perfection to appear.

Ends got sewn & neatly (as I could do) snipped. Blanket was gently washed (not for reasons of blocking but due to the practical realities of living with cats who gladly share their coats).

Project was coaxed neatly (with the minimal of swearing and maximum of teen amusement) into a box that Hazel had lent me over the summer.

So it was that Hazel finally (FINALLY!!!!!!) received her wedding gift from me. Then promptly fed me cupcakes and latte. Nyom!

In her own words, she goo’ed over it.

Yes! I have achieved. It passed muster & she declined to spot even a smidge of less-than-perfect sewing in.

Huzzah!

*happy dance*

This is where she’s put it!

In their marital chamber.

Now if you’d all be so kind and take a wander over to Hazels blog, I’d be much obliged. It’s chock full of lovely creations. You do like cupcakes dont’ you?

Happy crafting folks!

 

The sun did shine brightly

This knitter did walk into town, knit in public, had an ice cream cone, walked some more, bantered with two sets of friends, walked even further………

and has this to show for it all.

Log Cabin Blanket Progress 18.04.2011

My camera and the light in my office conspired to create an injustice to the colours in my current w.i.p.

The red and purple varigated colourway isn’t as busy as it looks in this shot. The texture of the pink and orange varigated colourway is lost. The red/rust/green/pink varigated colourway looks like it’s been bleached by the sun. Meh! In real life the colours blend far more harmoniously than the picture gives credit for.

This project is intended as a gift. Methinks I shall have trouble letting it go, though, as I’m really liking how it’s turning out.

The garter stitch is making for a lovely and smooshy fabric.

Oh well, I’m just going to have to make two!

 

Project the 9th

No sooner had I cast off & indeed donned project the 8th, I found my hands longing to be gainfully occupied.

Along with doing a phenonmenal amount of laundry folding, airing cupboard rearranging & generally energy venting activities I am now occupying my hands with this.

Log Cabin Blanket 17.04.2011

I’m using the Mason-Dixon Log Cabin blanket tutorial as a guide.  I highly recomment checking out their blog by the way. It’s got a lovely format.

So far so good with the tutorial.

I’d recommend this as a project to anyone with a stash of yarn that needs using or indeed to a newbie knitter looking for a way to practice the basics.

By the time you’ve finished the project you’ll have practiced casting off (same thing as binding off) and adding a new colour so many  times you’ll wonder what the fuss was.

While the word blanket does appear in the description, this can also create nifty cushion covers or place mats, depending on the type of yarn used.

Referring back to Project No. 8 – The Sirdar Raglan Top

Having worn the top for a few hours I can attest to the comfort of the knitted fabric against skin.

I can also attest to having committed a basic noob oversight. I failed to account for the difference between the suggested & the yarn I actually used.

This is a pattern I’ve knit from before & get great wear out of my first attempt. It’s made from the same red multi-tonal yarn that I’m using in Project the 9th.

Even casting on for the smallest size, the resulting garment is noticably bigger than my first attempt.

This isn’t a disaster. I’ll still get wear out of it, but the top does have more ‘ease’ than I would like, especially in a knitted top.

I live. I learn.

Happy crafting folks!