Yarning Along: Decision deferred

Last week I shared a ball of yarn that was destined to become a pair of socks, and this week that's rather more obvious. As is the fact that I have knitted almost two socks, but finished neither.

Cables everywhere!

I did the swatching for this design earlier in the summer, possibly as far back as July, and was happy with the foot and leg patterns, but hadn't swatched as far as the leg-to-cuff transition, and when I got to that stage on sock one I decided that I would think about that section for a day or two before committing it to yarn. Rather than waste time, I decided it would be prudent to make a start on the second sock. And somehow I've found myself at the end of the sock without having gone back to make a the design decision, oops. I do have a good idea of what I'll be doing to finish the socks, but need to work out exactly how that will work when knitted. Fingers crossed I should have a finished pair of socks before too long.*

My husband was away last week, so I made the most of the opportunity to re-watch some films I haven't seen in ages. We have a huge collection of DVDs, but since the arrival of Netflix, we don't venture to the DVD shelves too often. I had been wanting to re-watch Closer for a long time, so hunted out the DVD, and while I was there stumbled across Atonement, which I watched when it came out at the cinema and bought the DVD as soon as it came out, but when I found it on the shelf it was still in the packaging. I'm really glad I made the (admittedly, quite minimal) effort of finding the DVDs as I really enjoyed them both.

And yes, I am still reading The Miniaturist...

Linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along.

*The socks are a collaboration with indie dyer Bea and Rose.

A week in the life: 19th January 2017

Another busy week here, so there's been rather more than a week between weekly posts, oops!

Last week was crazy busy. Last Thursday was my PhD graduation ceremony, so I got to spend the day prancing around in a silly hat and fancy gown (at one point I even had a wand! Nothing to do with the ceremony) in the wonderful surroundings of Durham Cathedral. I had a last minute panic about what to wear when I realised how little of my outfit would be covered by the gown, so made a dash to Next the evening before to buy a black dress, and had to buy a black jacket on the morning of the ceremony as it was freezing when I got up (and snowing, which was fortunately short-lived, but I did have to walk very carefully to the bus stop as I was in danger of falling over in my heels! The day was lovely, especially as my parents had come up for the week so they could attend.

Not everything last week was excellent; my husband was in a car crash early in the week, and while he's absolutely fine the car is not and has gone off to be scrapped. This has left me without a car, and while I live on a bus route  it's still a little annoying as everything is taking longer than usual. In addition my son and I have both been a little poorly, nothing more than colds, but enough to wipe us out for a few days. I think we're all better now though, and are starting to make progress on sourcing a new car, so things are definitely not all bad.

Over the past few weeks we've started reading the Harry Potter books to my son. We're only on the first (and might pretend for a while that the later ones don't exist as I'm pretty sure he'll find them scary), and I am loving revisiting the series. So on Saturday night I rewatched the first film (for vetting purposes). I'm not sure I've watched it since I saw it in the cinema in 2001 (?!), and it is as wonderful as a I remember, so that pleased me hugely. I'm looking forward to watching the later films.

I have managed to make some decent progress on some crafts over the past week or so. My finger has heeled (finally), and I have finished the first pair of socks of the year. They're in Regia Stripemania Colour, which is a DK weight yarn, and have gone in the gifting pile. I cast another pair of socks on the bus on the way to graduation, and even though that was a week ago I have made so little progress they're not worth showing!

At the weekend I got some long overdue pattern cutting done. I've been meaning to make a dress for my friend's daughter for ages, and when I finally got round to cutting the pattern out I realised I needed to cut out the largest size. Isn't the fabric lovely though? And as they live in Australia I don't need to worry about the baby keeping warm.

I have also been cracking on with lots of design work, especially this week as I'm back into the normal routine. I am about to cast on a new blanket, and am halfway through a pair of socks. Nothing to share now, but there will be soon.

This week I made an Instagram-enabled purchase. I've been following Yarnistry for a while (I mentioned them in my Christmas gift list last year), and earlier in the week she posted a photo of her new glittery dinosaur stitch markers. I was completely powerless to resist, and was delighted when they arrived in their holographic posting envelope. And I love them. They'll definitely be used on the next project I cast on.

Last night I made an impromptu visit to the cinema. I'd seen trailers for La La Land, but not with the sound on, and knew I wanted to see this film. It's a romance and a musical, set in present day Hollywood about a wannabe actress (Mia) and a purist Jazz-enthusiast (Sebastian) who dreams of setting up his own Jazz club. I loved everything about this film. The set piece at the start really gets you in the mood for the film. The whole thing is beautifully acted, and the costumes are wonderful - there is so much colour in his film. It is strongly reminiscent of old-school musicals, with the likes of Doris Day, with both ballroom and tap dancing. The film is about the power of dreams and ambition, but also how these can be interrupted by real life things like having to pay the rent. The ending of the film is wonderful, yet it made me cry so much! This film is one I will watch again; it's perfect. 

The film also left me for a hankering for a dark green silk dress and a new red handbag. In fact I loved Mia's whole wardrobe, in its pallets of bright primaries. The school run this morning did, however, remind me that while floaty dresses may be suited to the Hollywood climate all year round, they're not practical in Durham; it was freezing this morning!

That's it from me this week. What's everyone else been up to?