Blog every day in May: I have a cunning plan

Morning!

And suddently it's May. April whizzed past just as fast as all the other months have so far this year, so I fully expect we'll be at Christmas before I know it... Today is a(nother) bank holiday - you wait ages for one then four come along at once, and I'm pretty sure the plan is to lounge around and maybe head out to the local soft play later. I have a couple of magazine projects that need working on too, so those are going to get some attention, and tonight I have my regular knit night (in the local pub with friends), which is always a highlight of the week. What are you doing today?

I have also decided to take part in Blog Every Day in May; a blogging challenge initially set up by Rosalium, and while I don't think it's officially running this year, I thought I would give it a go. Let's see where it takes us. If you'd like to join me, post a link to your blog in the comments and I'll pop over to yours to say hello.

Image from SkitterPhoto on Pixaby

My major plan for May is to get a few long-term projects off the needles and hooks. Last night I dug out my TOFT chameleon and he only needs legs and eyes, which I could probably do in an evening if I find a quiet corner (I have to concentrate on every stitch while crocheting amigurumi, which is why the chameleon isn't finished yet). I have about 100g of yarn left to knit for my Dotted Rays, so that's definitely do-able (especially as the wedge consturction means I may not have to knit very much of the final 50g ball of yarn). And it's my husband's birthday soon, and I would love to be able to give him the socks I started knitting him earlier in the year (an ambitious plan, but possibliy possible, and if they're not done for his birthday they'll definitely be done for Christmas. Apparently there are no photos of these, and no Ravekry page...). And last but not least, I need to finish my Lynda socks for my Knit Night Collection KAL, which finishes at the end of May (there's plenty of time to join in - head to the thread in my Ravelry group for more details*). What are your plans for May?

TOFT chameleon

Dotted Rays

Lynda socks

*Ravelry link. You need to be logged into Ravelry for this link to work.

Yarning along: Stop the bus, I'd like to get off

Rachell over at The Little Room of Rachell has started up Yarning Along to replace the Yarn Along that was run by Ginny until a few weeks ago; every week Rachelle will be sharing her current work in progress and whatever she is reading, and I thought I'd join in.

This week has been racing by. The Easter holidays are over, and the kids are back to their usual routine, but I still seem to have far too much to do. Most of my knitting is for deadlines (which are looming - May starts next week, and I am absolutely not ready for that), so I can't share it here, and my pleasure knitting is largely being limited to Sundays, so progress is rather slow. As a result, today's WIP I'm going to share is a bit of a halfway house: my Lynda socks for the Knit Night Collection KAL that I'm running in my Ravelry group*. The socks are being knitted in yarn I picked up at the opening of Lucy Locket Land a few weeks ago (which I will eventually write a blog post about); it's a Bluefaced Leicester/Nylon blend and is dyed by Lucy's daughter Penny. The colours are wonderful and the yarn is really soft. I wasn't totally sure about knitting the pattern in a variegated yarn, but the variegation is really subtle and well blended, so I'm happy with the socks so far.

Having finished Me Before You (which I thoroughly recommend; I came to the book via the film, and the book has subtleties that vanished entirely when condensed into a film. The basic plot is that Louisa is employed on a six month contract as a carer for a quadriplegic, but soon realises her role is much more significant. While she tries to change his life, he manages to change hers), I have moved on to the sequel, After You, and while I'm only a few chapters in I think I should get through this pretty quickly (for me, so it'll probably take a month!).

What are you reading and crafting on at the minute?

*Ravelry link: you must be logged into Ravelry for this link to work; membership is free.

A week in the life: 10th February 2017

This week hasn't been the best (hence the long delay between posts). We had the death of a close family member last week, and I had an job interview that I didn't get. I'm trying not to dwell on either of these things, but the week hasn't been as bright and sunny as I'd have liked.

The week hasn't been all bad though. Friends have come to my support, and a lot of my knitting work has been sample knitting with friends in pubs and cafes. This means I have finished the new sample for my Lynda socks (the pattern is currently out for testing, and the pattern will be available from my Ravelry store very soon), and am very near the end of the first sock in the second design of the collection.

Lynda socks in my size!

I've been working on a new blanket design too, and am now 40 rows from the end of the charted section and am delighted with how it looks. I'm really hoping to get the blanket finished by the end of the weekend (and then for some better weather so I can take some decent photos; it is sleeting as I write this and has been all morning).

New blanket design in progress

The socks of doom are off the needles and only need their ends to be darned in before I declare them complete, and I have finally cast on a pair of socks for my husband: I had started knitting him socks in this yarn (a self-striping yarn by Mothy and The Squid) last year, but the second sock came out smaller than the first, so I'm knitting these two at a time in the hope that they will match!

My socks so far this year

The next few weeks may not be the easiest, but I have a few things to be looking forward to, including spending half term with my children, so it's not all doom and gloom.

What have you been up to over the past couple of weeks?