A week in the life: 19th March 2017

This week I have mostly been... a bit poorly. Nothing major, 'just' a sore throat, but enough that I've been going to bed a couple of hours earlier than planned, and getting up as late as I can get away with. And as a result the days have been shorter and I feel like I haven't got a huge amount done. Not nothing though, here's what I have achieved!

Working in a sunny spot

There has been sunshine! And while I did have work to do so couldn't go out and revel in it too much (it's still not warm, in spite of the sunshine), I did manage to find a sunny corner to do some work in one morning this week, which was lovely. I also treated myself to some new pens; my favourites are cheap Bic biros, and I was delighted to find a pack containing pink, purple, green and blue ones. No more notes in boring colours for me!

Pink socks and A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Second

My pink socks have been on and off the needles several times, but I think this time they are right. I'm now knitting them one at a time as knitting two at a time was affecting my gauge. The colour is wonderfully uplifting, but this is as much progress as I've made on these socks this week as I haven't finished writing the pattern, so some rounds require more brain power than my brain has seemed capable of this week. I really hope to finish the pair next week.

I am on to the second book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, and while I'm enjoying them I am not getting through them as fast as I thought I might. This may be a rare occasion when I liked the film (TV series) better than the book. The TV series is more fleshed out, while the book is very much the bare bones. I will read them all, but might be on a bit of break as soon as I've finished the second.

Swatcher's block. Cake cures everything, right?

Thursday was when my throat was at its worst, so while I tried to do some work at home - swatching - it just wasn't working. I decided to call it a day and went for a walk instead. As is often the case, a bit of fresh air made a huge difference, and I sat in a coffee shop for a bit knitting a swatch that did what I wanted it to, while eating a delicious bakewell tart.

Hot cross buns are always a winner

I know hot cross buns are available all year, but I only ever buy them around Easter. They're one of my favourite breakfast foods, especially when toasted. I'm sure I'll be enjoying plenty more of these over the next few weeks. At home when I was little we used to make hot cross  every Good Friday, and I think I might reinstate that tradition this year; nothing smells better than freshly baked bread.

Splish splash!

The weather this week has been a bit of a mish-mash, but my youngest was delighted when our walk to the shops on Saturday involved a fair portion of muddy puddles to splash in! These wellies have been a delight, and get many admirers while we're out and about; this weekend was their final outing as they're getting rather snug. We bought some new Paw Patrol ones, but they're just not as good.

Anyone for lemon cake(s)?

We had guests yesterday, so I picked up some cake while I was at the shops. Apparently I had lemons on my mind as there was definitely a theme! The lemon fondant fancies are my favourites and I always make sure I pick up at least one box while they're available. I am still baffled as to why Mr Kipling don't have three lemon ones in a regular box; the strawberry ones are just weird!

Homemade lemon drizzle cake

The lemons became a lemon drizzle cake, which is one of my favourites. I always use the recipe from Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell (I've just looked it up and it might be out of print. Boo.). I know several of my friends have bought copies on my recommendation, and I haven't had any complaints yet...

Monogamous knitting makes things grow faster, apparently

Yesterday I decided to work solely on my Sockmatician Sockalong socks as I want to get them off the needles. I went from the toe to the heel yesterday; apparently working on one item at a time means you actually feel like you're achieving something. Maybe I should do that more often!

What have you been up to this week?

March, already!

The year has gone far too quickly, I've blinked and suddenly it's March. March has lots of exciting things in store, starting with the weather and the emergence of Spring: even in the past couple of days I have noticed more sunshine and lots of colour arriving with the early Spring flowers and the newly replanted flowers at the bus stop near my house. I also have several new patterns coming out this month, so look out for those, and I'm planing on hosting a KAL in my Ravelry group later in the month too. And I'm going to Edinburgh Yarn Festival next weekend, so lots to look forward to!

Today is Wednesday, so I thought I'd link up with Ginny for Yarn Along and show you what I am reading and what's on my needles. I have finally acquired the first few Lemony Snicket books. As there are thirteen in the series I decided that I would resurrect my Kindle (which I bought before my son was born, used a lot when he was small, and then stopped using as I wasn't reading fast enough to get through all the books I was given for birthdays and Christmas every year) rather than add more books to our over-full bookshelves. I did briefly consider buying the lot in one go, but it would have cost rather a lot of money, so I bought the first one, and am planning on buying the later ones as I want to start reading them, or picking them up in charity shops as I find them (I found books three and four this weekend). I'm two-thirds of the way through the first book and am enjoying its dry sarcastic dark humour immensely. The project that I am currently spending most of my time on is a pair of pink socks (in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply). The pattern is my own, and I'm really hoping to get it out by the end of the month. The pink isn't a colour I would usually use, but I bought the yarn in the depths of winter as it made me smile; the yarn still does and I am really enjoying knitting with it.

I also cast on a new pair of socks today. This morning I was listening to the latest edition of the Sockmatician podcast, in which he announced a sockalong (#SockmaticianSockalong) that is running for the whole of March. I know I said I wasn't going to join in any KALs this year, but I am certain I can get a pair of vanilla socks knitted by the end of the month! The yarn is an Arne and Carlos design for Regia and has been in my stash since last summer (I'd forgotten about it, and was delighted to find it in my stash this morning). Am I being overambitious to think that I might be able to finish these socks in time to wear them for Edinburgh Yarn Festival next weekend? Probably, but I shall try.

What are you looking forward to this month?

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A serial follower of series

Last week I mentioned how much I was enjoying the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events. While I was in town at the weekend hunting in charity shops and the library for the first book (no luck; I'm going to have to buy it from a regular bookshop) I realised series are a bit of a theme in my life.

As a toddler I always asked for Postman Pat books for bedtime stories (and at any other time during the day), so much so that mum says she still has the words locked away in her memory and could probably tell them again without the book. My Little Pony was also a favourite of mine - the ponies are all still at my parents house waiting for the day my children want to play with them.

At primary school I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on, and would buy collections that featured a story I hadn't read, even if I had read the other two in the book (and was disappointed a few years ago when I discovered that 'Carolyn Keene' was actually a collective of ghostwriters, rather than one individual; had I realised how long the series had been going - since 1930 - that might have been obvious). This phase was rapidly followed by The Babysitters Club; I read them all as fast as they came out, and in my head the characters really were my friends and their adventures were mine. I did eventually grow out of them, but only finally got rid of the physical copies last summer when I spent a week at my parents (and even then I did keep a few). The Chronicles of Narnia definitely featured in there too, as did Harry Potter, even though I was already in my late teens when I read the first one.

In my teenage years my series of choice was the television show Dawson's Creek, and has since included House and How I Met Your Mother (I almost started re-watching that a couple of weeks ago, but realised before I hit start on the first episode that I would want to watch the whole nine series, and took a step back), and currently it's A Series of Unfortunate Events. You might by now have noticed a theme: the series I love are easy reading and easy viewing. Other people's lives that I can immerse myself in; I think there must be a critical mass of characters; not just one, but not too many. I have watched all of Game of Thrones, but not engaged in the story to the same extent as my favourites: there are too many characters and then I struggle to relate to any of them.

I'm really hoping that when I get my hands on the first of the Series of Unfortunate Events books that it is the start of another series that I can't stop reading. Escapism is definitely something I enjoy.

What are you favourite series? Are there any you would recommend?