Yarn Along: 29th April 2020: Bright Above Me

Hello... whispering very quietly... I appear to have three children that are entertaining themselves for a few minutes, so I'm popping by to see what you're up to. We've been on lockdown for five and a half weeks now. Pre-lockdown, I dreamed of all the extra time I'd have without having to do the school run, or all the after school chauffeuring, now several weeks into lockdown I'm mostly wondering how I manage to spend all of my time cooking or cleaning up having cooked!

For the first couple of weeks of lockdown I got very little crafting done. I thought I should be doing easy knitting that I didn't have to concentrate on, but all that happened was that my mind wandered. As soon as I realised that what I really wanted to work on was really complicated, fully-immersive knitting that could distract me from what was going on in the world, I started getting a lot more done!

Starfall sweater yoke

For ages I have been saying that I should get my Starfall Sweater done, but every time I picked it up, I was uncertain about how it was going to turn out, and one evening, having knitted a second sleeve that didn't match the first, I finally gave up and decided to put the yarn to better use. One project that has been on my mind ever since it came out last year is Bright Above Me by Dieuwke Schack-Mulligen. I actually started knitting the sweater last year, but got annoyed by the long strands that had to be caught as they were showing through on the outside and I abandoned the project before I really got started. Since then, I have learnt how to do ladder back jacquard, where you create a second layer of fabric on the back for all the floats and it is actual magic! Yes, it does require a bit more concentration, but it is totally worth it for the finished result.

Bright Above Me yoke

Ladderback jacquard

I've hardly read anything since the schools closed (see comment above regarding cooking...), but I am enjoying reading a few pages of How to Stop Time by Matt Haig every night before I go to sleep. I've read some of Matt Haig's non-fiction before and like his writing style, but this is the first of his novels that I have read. Tom, the main character ages very slowly: 15 years for every Earth year. He looks 41, but is in fact well over 500 years old, and he remembers everything from the long life that he is living. This is another book I have on long-term loan from the library (all the libraries are shut, so I can't return anything), and it is proving to be a perfect read for now. The chapters set during the Great Plague London in the 17th Century feel apt for the current pandemic. During the plague, Tom lost the love of his life, Rose, with whom he had a daughter, who ages at the same rate as Tom. In the present day, Tom is trying to built yet another new life for himself, while still pining for Rose and for his long-lost daughter. While I'm reading this quite slowly, I really want to know how the plot will unfold, and whether Tom will ever be able to find peace.

Work in progress

What are you currently working on? Are you finding yourself wanting mindless knitting that requires no attention, or something really involved? If you've been eyeing any of my patterns, don't forget that everything in my Ravelry store is buy one get one free until the pubs in the UK reopen (can you tell that I am missing my weekly pub meet-ups with my knitting friends?!).


Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Yarn along March 25th 2020: Silver linings

Hello from my dining room! I'm having a break from my living room today while I work and my husband looks after/home schools the kids. School's shut now for the foreseeable future and my husband and I are both working from home. The current instructions from the UK government are that we should all stay at home, only going out for exercise once a day and shopping for essentials when we absolutely need to. We're both very grateful for family, for the internet, for streaming services, for hobbies, for video calls, for outdoor space and for sunshine!

While it's hard logistically having all of us at home all of the time, there are definite silver linings. We're getting to spend quality time with the kids (I've done several work outs with them), and I've gained hours back by not having to walk them to and from school every day, and not having to act as chauffeur for all the extra curricular activites. This has freed up time for sorting all the boxes of magazines - I now have a nice pile of patterns I want to keep, and all the half magazines have gone to be recycled. I also found three books I'd mislaid, including Custom Socks, which is my favourite book to use when I'm designing socks.

I've had time to cut out fabric to make a dress for my youngest daughter, and once that's stitched, I'll see what calls to me next from the fabric pile. Long-abandoned knitting projects have started to lure me back. My Starfall jumper has told me repeatedly that it doesn't want to be finished, so while the yoke is beautiful, the fit is terrible, and the yarn is soon to find a new lease of life as a Sugarplum Sweater.

My current active project is a new sock design, knitted in MillaMia Naturally Soft Sock,* which LoveCrafts sent to me last year for review purposes. I was inspired by the colour, and am knitting some bamboo-patterned socks. The pattern will be coming soon... Patrice the Panda approves!

Another advantage of the current situation is that the libraries are closed and fines suspended, so I might actually have time to finish the library book pile before any of the books get recalled! I'm starting with Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, which my friend Amy recommended recently. The book is about two friends, Frances and Bobby, who were once lovers, and a couple, Melissa and Nick. I'm enjoying it so far, in a low-key way. The writing is keeping me going and I want to see how the releationships between the characters evolve.

I hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well. What are your silver linings at the minute?

*Affiliate link.

Yarn Along March 4th 2020: World Book Day

It’s been a while since I last wrote a Yarn Along post, but it’s World Book Day tomorrow, and I’ve actually read some books recently, so the timing seemed right. 

My current work in progress is a jumper for a magazine, and the body consists of a lot of stocking stitch, so at the weekend I sat on the sofa and did a lot of (very bright!) knitting. The major advantage of stocking stitch in the round is that all you have to do is knit, which I can do without looking, so my eyes are free to read. Reading while you knit is easiest with an e-reader (I have a Kindle), but it is possible to read without one: at the weekend I was reading a paperback, which I broke the spine on (don’t tell the reading police, needs must…), and held it open with my phone (I have also been known to use a clothes peg or bulldog clip to keep the pages open, but it’s harder to turn the pages). Once I’d finished the paperback, I moved onto a hardback book I’d borrowed from the library. Hardback books are much easier to lie open, and library copies definitely lie flatter as their spines have been opened and closed many more times than a book that is read once.

So, what have I been reading? I’ve been reading The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley for what feels like forever, and thought I’d made a lot more progress than I actually have when one of the kids moved the bookmark on by 300 pages… The Seven Sisters is about seven sisters who were adopted in turn at birth by one man. When their adoptive father dies, each of the sisters is given a clue to their birth story. I’m about 150 pages in, and so far the book is written in two time streams: one in the present day, and one from the time before the first sister’s adoption. I’m finding the book rather slow, and it is the first in a series of (somewhat predictably) seven books, so I’m not sure whether to continue. If you’ve read the book, is it worth carrying on?

 

As a break from The Seven Sisters, I picked up a couple of books by Jenny Colgan, who is one of my favourite authors if I want an easy read. Both books are from the Summer Seaside Kitchen series, set on a fictitious island to the north of Scotland where the winters are long and dark and in the summer the sun never sets. I read The Summer Seaside Kitchen and A Very Distant Shore a couple of summers ago and loved them both, The Endless Beach and An Island Christmas are the third and fourth books in the series, and I read both in quick succession over the past couple of weeks. The Endless Beach catches up with all the original characters: Flora and her distant boyfriend Joel, Lorena, the headteacher at the island school, Fintan and his boyfriend Coltan, and Saif, the doctor who is a refugee from the Middle East, who lost his entire family when war broke out in his homeland. The book covers a huge range of topics, including mental health, isolation and loneliness, racism and homophobia, all told in a warm and welcoming writing style. While the book could definitely be classed as chick lit, I feel it offers a lot more depth than many authors in the field. I can’t tell you much about An Island Christmas without giving you spoilers for The Endless Beach, but Jenny does include a synopsis of the earlier books at the start, should you want to dive in with book four. I didn’t find An Island Christmas as enjoyable as The Endless Beach as it lacked the depth, but it was an entertaining enough diversion for me to read the book over a 36 hour period, and I was sufficiently engaged in the lives of the characters to sob the whole way through a couple of chapters towards the end.

As I said at the start of this post, tomorrow is World Book Day, and having spent this morning trawling the shops for a Poppy the Troll wig (not possible to buy locally, so I ended up buying the whole costume; no planet-saving points acquired there), and a green t-shirt for my son to wear so he can be Howard Hutchins from Captain Underpants (trickier than anticipated – green is not one of the colours of the season, so I’ve had to buy an adult-sized one that may be on the large side; at least he’s made his own comic book to take, so he does get some points for creativity), I can’t help but feel that the meaning of World Book Day has been lost amid the fancy dress. Surely my money would have been better spent on some actual books? In an attempt to reclaim World Book Day for the books, tomorrow I plan to camp out somewhere and do some very obvious reading in public, and to ask everyone I see for book recommendations. Let’s start here: what are you currently reading? What have you read recently that you would recommend?

Joinig in with Yarn Along, hosted by Ginny.

Mellow yellow (Yarn Along: June 2019)

Hello June! I'm a bit late with June's Yarn Along post, but, honestly, I'm working on the same project as last week, and reading the same book, so let's pretend I wrote this last week!

Having started work again after maternity leave, I'm restricting myself to one personal project at a time, with the general intention of casting things on, then actually finishing them. The current project is a cardigan for my smallest daughter. The weather in the UK at the minute is particularly erratic - it's pouring with rain as I write this, in spite of it being 'summer' - so layers are really helpful when dressing a small child. I'm knitting a Granny's Favourite, a cardigan that I have knitted before, several times. I'm knitting it in Bergere de France Ideal* in the colour way Jaune, which is a lovely soft buttery yellow, and will be perfect over summer dresses, assuming we ever get any sunshine. The yarn is listed as a DK weight, but I would say knits up better at 24 sts to 10 cm, so is on the lightweight side. The project is a lovely one, and I am enjoying adding a row here and there - I should be able to cast off the body in the next day or two.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is my current read, and it is one of the best things I've read in absolutely ages. Paul is 36 and coming to the end of his surgical training, looking forward to the life he's dreamed of when he finally qualifies, when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He wrote the book between his diagnosis and his death at 37. Kalanithi gained a degree in English Literature before he studied medicine, and his writing style is beautiful. I've recommended this book to everyone I have spoken to in the past few weeks, and so many people have replied that it is a fantastic book that has really stuck with them, so I would definitely recommend it. I would note though, that you shouldn't give it to someone as a 36th birthday present, as it will give them a complex!

What are you currently working on? Read anything good lately?

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along. Head to her post to find out what other people are reading and crafting on.

*Affiliate link.

All about the socks (Yarn Along: May 2019)

Hello May! Where did a third of a year go? I have no idea, but somehow we're here.

I am in the midst of the magnificent sock-kick. I cast off a DK-weight pair earlier in the week, and have made significant progress on two 4-ply pairs since then: The Battle of Winterfell (Game of Thrones) and Avengers: Endgame both contributed significantly, even though I had to knit in the dark for both. I've also had a poorly baby this week - she's wanted nothing but cuddles on my knee for days - so have been knitting round her. I'm back to work in a couple of weeks, so the sock knitting will slow down significantly, but, until then, you'll probably find me with socks at various stages of completion on the needles.

Alongside the sock knitting, I am reading The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris. The story is told from the perspective of Jasper, a 13 year old boy with synaethesia, who paints what he hears. Bee Larkham is new to area, and Jasper wants her to be his friend, so he can see the parakeets that live in the trees in her garden; Bee Larkham is missing, and Jasper thinks he killed her... This book is beautifully written, and I can't wait to see how the story is concluded. 

Next on my to-read pile is The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. I've loved everything previously written by Kate Morton, so I'm really looking forward to reading this one (even though it's massive!).

What are you currently crafting on? Read anything good lately?

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along, a monthly celebration of crafting and reading.

Project details can be found on my Ravelry project pages:

• Blue striped Regia socks
• Yellow, blue and orange Marie Curie socks
• Grey Opal socks

Stepping in to Spring (Yarn Along April 2019)

This month I have been embracing a slower pace of life, partly because it's the school Easter holidays, so I have all three children with me every day for two weeks (which makes it a little harder to get things done), and partly because I am about to enter the final month of maternity leave, so want to make the most of the time I have at home with my still-small baby. I have been enjoying watching Spring emerge, starting with delightful purple crocuses on verges, swiftly followed by bright and bold daffodils everywhere, and now we're moving on to blossom; Spring really is my favourite time of year.*

With so much life stuff happening this month, my knitting has very much taken a back seat. A couple of weeks ago, I spent an afternoon rummaging through the deeper recesses of my stash and found a fair number of unfinished sock projects. Rather than hiding them all back where they came from, I am determined to finish at least a few pairs before casting on any more socks. The current pair that's getting my attention are DK weight, in some stripy Regia yarn; I'm knitting these for my brother as a slightly belated birthday present. Is a work in progress (WIP) still a WIP if you unravel the whole thing and start again? I don't know, but I'm counting this pair as a WIP even though I unravelled them before doing any more knitting as I decided I wanted to knit them from the top down rather than the toe up,** and that they needed a few more stitches.

I have allowed myself a new cast on this month: the Pond Street shawlette, which I bought the kit for at Yarndale in 2017. The shawl uses short rows (one of my favourite techniques) to create a chevron border, then more short rows to make the body of the shawl. The colours in this project are perfect for me: navy, turquoise and deep pink. The yarn (Baa Ram Ewe Titus) does have alpaca in it though, so ultimately I may have to give the shawl away at the end if it turns out to be too itchy against my neck (silly sensitive skin), but I'm enjoying the process so much that I'm fine with that.

One thing I have been enjoying in the past couple of weeks is dedicating some time to reading. I have just finished Notes from a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig, which I bought on a whim from a bestseller-shelf in a supermarket. The book is a collection of Haig's thoughts on mental health in the modern age, interspersed with short narratives about things that have happened to him; it's engagingly written, and made me think a lot about how I, and wider society, use social media in a way that is not necessarily good for us. Throughout the book there are lists about all sorts of topics, and one point on a list about being kinder to yourself was 'Do something in the day that isn't work or duty or internet'; the quote really resonated with me, and reminded me that in spending all our time doing the things we think we have to do, we sometimes lose ourselves along the way.

I've just started reading The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris. The book is about Jasper, a boy with synaesthesia (Jasper senses the world around him as colours), who has somehow become involved in a police investigation to do with the disappearance of Bee Larkham. I'm two chapters in and definitely hooked!

What have you been reading and crafting on in April? Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.

*It's also my birthday this month, which obviously makes Spring even more significant to me.

**I used to knit all my socks from the toe up, but have recently had a change of heart and currently prefer to knit them from the top down.

How not to finish a jumper (Yarn Along March 2019)

Last month I wrote excitedly about my Edinburgh Yarn Festival jumper - Bright Above Me. After I posted, I sat down and knitted a few more rounds, and with each stitch I fell more and more out of love with the project. I found the combination of increases and long floats really tiring, so I wasn’t picking the project up enough to make any significant progress. There was also the small issue that while I can knit colourwork with a baby on my knee, this colourwork was just too complicated. So I unravelled it, with precisely no regrets.

Once I had unravelled the star jumper, I looked through my Ravelry queue to choose something new to cast on. I knew I wanted to knit a colourwork sweater, ideally from the top-down (I have issues getting the length right when knitting from the bottom up). I had quite a lot of jumpers by Jennifer Steingass in my queue, but my favourite was Starfall, which has a beautiful colourwork yoke that makes me think of jewels. The pattern is written from the bottom-up, and I did briefly consider knitting the jumper as written, before having a revelation: I could cast on the yoke provisionally, then knit the whole yoke before picking up the held stitches and knitting the rest of the jumper from the top down.

A bit of knitting later, I have a completed yoke. It is glorious! I enjoyed the colourwork so much more than the stars, even with the three-colour rounds (those rounds had to wait for uninterrupted knitting time - I couldn’t do them while feeding the baby). I’ve also realised that I much prefer working decreases when knitting colourwork than increases - if I’m working increases I find my floats end up a little tight.

While I won’t be wearing my jumper at Edinburgh this weekend,* I hope to have the yoke back on the needles by then, ready to work the body and sleeves. If I’m really organised I might be on the body, ready for some mindless stocking stitch rounds on the train journey.

I’ve dedicated more time than usual to reading this month. Partly for a rest, and partly because I’ve really enjoyed the book I’ve just finished: Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. This is a beautifully written autobiography, written by a self-confessed party girl, covering her years of partying, then her years recovering (she’s only 30 now), all within the framework of ‘love’. I don’t have a lot in common with Dolly (we’re both tall, and some aspects of her struggle with being seen as different as a child and teenager resonated), but I loved her writing style, and her depictions of non-romantic love were very emotive at times. Definitely worth a read.

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along, a monthly crafting and reading link-up.

*I’ll be there on Saturday. Say hello if you see me.

Fashionably late (Yarn Along February 2019)

Last weekend I went to visit my sister, and for a 60 hour weekend away, with a baby, I packed one sock project, a jumper project, a spare 150 g of yarn for the jumper and an extra 100 g of sock yarn *just in case*. I’m pretty sure that makes me an optimist, even if only about the amount I can knit while (1) driving, (2) feeding a baby, (3) sleeping, and (4) entertaining three babies and a preschooler. Perhaps predictably, I didn’t get that much knitting done. I did however, spend a lovely couple of evenings sat feeding my baby in a hotel room and getting into a good book, which was such a treat - I feel like it’s been ages since I last sat down with the specific intention of reading for an evening. With all that in mind, here’s this month’s Yarn Along post, better late than never!

So, what's on my needles? This month I've been joining in with the Lots of Socks KAL in aid of Down Syndrome International (full details can be found here,* but the prize list is amazing and you only have to knit one sock to enter) so have two pairs of socks on the needles. The first pair are three-quarters done and are fabulously pink! The yarn is King Cole Zig Zag, in the colourway Pinks. The colour is not one I would typically go for, but is so marvellously cheery that it's perfect for February.  I'm using a pattern from Kate Atherley's Custom Socks - Basic Ribbed Socks - and am planning on knitting several pairs of socks to this pattern over the next few months for a project I'll talk about once I have the first few pairs off the needles.

The second pair of socks is a bit slower as the pattern (Galiano Socks by Tracie Millar) is a tiny bit more complicated (though not that complicated in the scheme of things - there is some texture and a cable or lace round for two rounds out of eight). I'm knitting the socks in a sparkly brown sock yarn from a Knit Crate from November. Again, not my usual colour, but the shades and tones are so rich that I'm enjoying every stitch.

The jumper I mentioned is for the This One's for Me KAL* that I'm running in my Ravelry group, and is a Bright Above Me jumper in Drops Karisma. It's my first top-down colourwork-yoked jumper and I will confess to finding the pattern a challenge: the floats are looooooong, and that combined with the increases is hard work. I think that’s why I gave up at the weekend and opted for reading over knitting, but once the colourwork is done the rest of the jumper is rounds and rounds of stocking stitch, which I can do while feeding, so I’m quietly optimistic I might get this done in time to wear to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival.**

The book that grabbed my attention at the weekend was Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher. Liz has been with Ian for 10 years, and is expecting him to propose while they're on holiday in Dubai. Instead he tells her the relationship is over, and she embarks on a quest to find out who she is now she is no longer 'Liz and Ian'. Yes, it's an easy read, but that seems to be what I need at the minute!

Are you favouring knitting or reading at the minute? Any recommendations for reading for tired eyes?

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.

*Ravelry link. You need to be a member of Ravelry for this link to work. Membership is free.

**I’ll be there on the Saturday. I don’t have an advance ticket, so you might see me in the queue! If I’m not wearing a jumper with stars round the yoke, assume I didn’t finish it, and that sleep won over knitting...

Yarn Along: Welcome to 2019

Happy New Year!

It's the first Wednesday of the month (and indeed of the year), and that means it's Yarn Along day. For those of you who haven't been following my blog for very long, Yarn Along is a monthly blog feature where I let you know about my current work in progress (or works in progress, there are often a few) and what I'm currently reading. Yarn Along is organised by Ginny of Small Things, head to her post if books and crafts are your thing as all the Yarn Along posts for the month are linked there.

Things have quietened down a lot here in the Bird House since all the Christmas madness. All the gift knitting is complete, and this month I'm concentrating on knits for me. I started my Vinterskov sweater in October and have finally reached the yoke, so not much more to go! I'm currently working on the plain rounds before the colourwork, and it won't be long at all before I get to start on the trees. I'm now pretty confident I'm going with a pale lilac for the trees, having gone back and forth between a few options. This is the first bottom-up in-the-round jumper I've knitted and I am finding the yoke a bit tricky as all the weight of the jumper makes shuffling the stitches fiddly, but I'm nearly there, and really hope I'll be finished by Twelfth Night (I’ve just checked that and the date is ambiguous; I was thinking January 6th).

In the next day or two, I'll be swatching for my next jumper project, and I'm going for Bright Above Me, a gorgeous top-down jumper with stars around the yoke. I definitely need to swatch for this one as I'm knitting in Drops Karisma, which is a DK weight yarn, rather than the worsted weight yarn called for in the pattern. I'll be knitting this jumper as part of the This One's For Me KAL that I'm hosting in my Ravelry group. Full details can be found in this blog post. Once I've completed the yoke, I'll be swatching for a Chuck sweater as I like to have once tricky project on the needles, and one that is much more mindless.

Yarn for Bright Above Me

Yarn for Chuck

My current read is also knitting-themed as I'm reading A Stash of One's Own, a series of essays about knitters and their stash, curated by Clara Parkes. This book is a wonderful easy, yet thought-provoking read. It's fascinating to learn about other people's approaches to their stashes, whether their stashes are beautifully curated or a haphazard mishmash. I'd recommend this read to anyone who has an interest in yarn and knitting, or any other craft - there is more that unites us than separates us.

What are you currently working on and reading? Do you have any crafting or reading-related new year's resolutions? I'm going for the very conservative target of 12 books for 2019 (I'll be listing them here), so hopefully I'll be reading something else by the time I write my Yarn Along post for February! My only crafting target is to end the year with less yarn than the amount I started with, but I'll elaborate on that when I post the final few Yarnometer posts for 2018.

Happy knitting!