Monday already?

Where did that weekend go? It felt like Friday afternoon only happened five minutes ago. But on the plus side it's been a great few days and I'm off to Woollinn this Friday and I can't wait!

So what have I been up to?

Friday

Mellow Mornings

Good morning, how are you? I flew back from Nepal on Sunday and since then my body clock has woken me up at 7am sharp every morning. As a natural night owl, I don't usually see this time of morning without the aid of an alarm clock and a strong coffee! I'd like to say I can watch the sunrise or the sky get brighter but it's still pretty grey in the UK at the moment. On the plus side, I feel like I get so much more done before midday at the moment. Let's see how long this lasts!

I was in Nepal for two weeks and before I left I knit a holiday hat out of Rico Adriafil DK.

Sleepy Sunday

It's been a strange week! I've settled back into my room after moving back from a hospital placement, started a new placement in the community and then tried to get through the day despite some weird headache flu thing. Cue slightly sleepy and grumpy person stumbling onto trains for my new lengthy commute! After lots of naps and general sleep over the weekend I am feeling a bit more human. Not sure what other species you would be instead? A sloth probably judging by this week....

Anyway! Lengthy commutes mean knitting! (And falling asleep and trying not to lean on strangers, especially in London. Awkward...)

I started a pair of socks for the Grocery Girls Sock Bash but midway through the month and have run out of time. Unless I can knit the second sock in the next four days which is not going to happen. But that's ok! Because I have really enjoyed the pattern and the yarn. The pattern is the Easy Lace Socks by Winwick Mum which can be found on her website and Ravelry. Despite one setback at the start of the lace part (post here), the first sock has come along really quickly. 

This pattern has been a really gentle introduction to lace knitting. The video tutorials which come with it have been helpful especially after my confusion of Slip Slip Knit (SSK) which it turns out I have been doing wrong for aaaages. The yarn is Cascade 220 4 ply in Purple Grape. I use 2mm circular needles although I would like to try the mini circulars again if I can ge hold of a 2mm version. 

In other WIP news, my Flax jumper is so close to being finished!! I am roughly 45 rows away from finishing the second sleeve and then I just need to weave in the ends. I cannot wait to get it finished. I'm already looking at other jumper patterns to try next, my only hesitation is I have no idea how to gauge the pattern difficulty level. Any suggestions?

Will post photos as soon as it's done!

What are you knitting? Are you taking part in any Knit-alongs?

I'll leave you with a picture of Harvey. I took all my yarn out of the yarn cupboard to have a look through it for inspiration and Harvey decided that he should take it's place:

Have a great week everyone x

Sunday chilling

After a weekend of doing absolutely nothing and a Friday off I think I'm getting back to my normal self. I'm less full of cold, I've caught up on sleep and have just spent time relaxing which is not something that happens often. I think its very easy to forget how important it is to pause and re-evaluate how you spend your time. This weekend was full of eating yummy food, bits of knitting and watching lots of tv with Will. I think both of us feel ready to take on just about anything now! Harvey slept a lot as well but that's pretty typical for him.

So what's been happening recently?

Just before my cycling weekend in the Cotswolds with Will (post here), my yarn kit for the latest Stephen West MKAL arrived. I ordered it about two days before the first clue came out and I was amazed and grateful at how quickly the yarn arrived. The whole kit is from For the Love of Yarn which is based in Glasgow in Scotland and is gorgeous. You can find her shop here. Although I'm slowly adding to my yarn stash I don't have enough to stash dive for a project and these colours were perfect:

Harvey wanted it all for himself. Or he's hungry. Probably hungry... Right food first and then the rest of the post.

Ok Harvey is fed and asleep on the bed so I'm back:

We've had some very stormy and grey weather here so the lighting has been challenging for photos. The colours really pop in real life and make me pause whenever I spot them in my room. Fitting when the MKAL is called Speckle and Pop!

Now I've had to pause this knit for a little while. I'm really enjoying it except for one slight problem. I don't own a swift or a ball winder. I know! Hence the messy ball of pink yarn above. I had to get a bit inventive to hand wind 400m of yarn. 400 metres. By hand. It took aaaaages! It felt like I was on an episode of Blue Peter. Now children, take one vitamin bottle and tape the end of a skein to it:

Drape the skein around a chair

And after what feels like hours you will get... a messy ball of yarn!! I think I've earned my Blue Peter badge, don't you? For those outside the UK, Blue Peter was a childrens program which amongst other things had a crafting section. The running joke was that the show could make anything with some toilet rolls and a bit of papier maché. I wonder if there's anything like that on tv now?

It was worth it to be able to start the mystery knitalong. This is how far I got:

And then re-read the pattern and realised I would need to wind ALL of the skeins in the kit for the first clue. Well that was that really. My birthday is at the end of November and I have very subtly suggested a swift and ball winder might be nice. (Subtle meaning I've emailed Amazon links to Mum and Will entitled Birthday Gifts.)

So until then the now not so mysterious mystery knitalong will have to wait. And yes I won't even pretend I haven't looked at other peoples projects. Which were ah-mazing. If you've made a version - well done!!

In the Cotswolds I finished my first ever jumper:

This is the Flax jumper in Aran weight yarn, designed by Tin Can Knits. I used the free Caron Cake I received from Knit Now magazine for subscribing (post here). Its a free pattern and part of their learn to knit series called the Simple Collection. You can find it on Ravelry or just Google Tin Can Knits Simple Collection. Alternatively just follow this link. Each pattern has great tutorials attached on their website which made this incredibly easy. It was also part of my year goals for 2017 (see here). I'll be reviewing my 2017 goals later this year around December time. I can safely say I may have over aimed slightly! I have a project page for it on Ravelry which will be updated properly soon.

Then this week came the uber cold! Or that's how it felt anyway. Cue sitting in bed watching stuff and knitting.

If you haven't come across this podcast before, I cannot recommend it enough. This is Inside Number 23 hosted by Katie. She's really chatty and fun. She mainly talks about knitting and sewing with bits of life chat thrown in. It was definitely one of the highlights of last Friday when I was getting very grumpy about being ill!

And last but certainly not least - I have a new-ish cast on! I started this on Thursday and I'm flying through it.

Yes, you guessed it. It's another flax! This time for my cousins little girl. Is that a second cousin? I can never work it out. Answers on a postcard or below! My only slight tweak to the pattern is that I'm not doing the garter panel down the sleeves. This is for two reasons: 1. I kept forgetting to do it on the first jumper so its a little bit variable and 2. I really didn't enjoy knitting the panels. So instead I'm happy to knit a simple raglan jumper. If you've never knit a jumper before I would say this one is perfect for beginners to try as I'm a beginner myself but also it comes in sizes 0-6 months all the way up to XXL men's and the tutorials are very helpful. 

And to prove how much I love this jumper, I'm making one for myself as well! 

It's in slightly more muted colours with subtle specks. Its currently on hold while I tackle a few Christmas gift ideas (Christmas 2018 at this rate). Although three is a bit excessive, it has meant that I've gained confidence with garment knitting. Especially understanding gauge, tension and and how each part is created with different stitches. 

So what are you knitting this week? And how do you relax when everything has got too busy?

Hope you have a wonderful week x

Wo-oh! Halfway there!

Wo-oh we're halfway theeeeere! Wo-oh living on a prayerrr!

Two exams down and one to go! The last exam takes place over two days so I'm tempted to count it as two really. A two day exam is just wrong on so many levels. I haven't posted on here for ages because revision has had to take priority leading up to my end of year exams. But by midday next Thursday I shall be free to relax and do whatever I feel like! I CANNOT WAIT. Can you tell I'm excited?

Knitting-wise a few things have been on the needles. I have taken some speedy photos - be prepared for a bit of blur!

I tried my first piece of colourwork:

The square is a little bit smaller than the plain knit square behind it so more practice needed (and blocking)! It was fun to try something new and get started with a new technique. This is from the Knit Now Enchanted Cottage KAL. You end up with enough squares to make a blanket. There are three square patterns in each magazine aimed at either beginner, intermediate or experienced knitters. Not entirely sure how many magazines you need to buy to complete the pattern, on five so far.

I've started a pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks. The pattern is free and available on Ravelry.

Sitting on a beach definitely helps when knitting. This is the lovely West Wittering on the south coast of England. The sound of the sea cures everything and gives you a deep sense of calm. I love this place and if I could, I would be here everyday rain or shine. The yarn is Regia 4 ply in Mosaik Istanbul.

I have also started the Tin Can Knits Flax Sweater, or a jumper as we Brits call it, in worsted weight yarn . There's not much of it at the moment so photos will follow once its more substantial! I am knitting it with some acrylic yarn from Hobbycraft which is obviously not what I would have as my first choice. As a beginner knitter I'm not yet ready to splurge on a sweater quantity of more expensive yarn. It would add pressure to get the jumper exactly right because of cost rather than for the end product. Now I can enjoy discovering how to knit raglan sleeves, shaping and how to make a jumper in general. Its toasty here in the UK right now but it should be done in time for cooler weather in September. 

That's my five minute speedy update! Back to the revision books! How has your July been so far?

I shall leave you lovely people with a picture of Harvey in his normal state of being - asleep and content:

Charlotte and Harvey x

Harvey

Well this week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Harvey went out on Sunday evening for his nightly roam around the neighbourhood. And never came back. For the past few days we have been knocking on doors, putting up posters and walking around the surrounding streets to find him. One sighting by someone in the neighbourhood led me to make a new feline friend:

A beautiful orange cat but not Harvey.

It was getting to the point that we had to start considering that Harvey might not come back. But then.... 
Today the little girl downstairs asked us why our cat was now living in the tree outside. Children are wonderfully observant unlike adults! 

High, high up in the fir tree in the front communal garden was Harvey! He doesn't miaow or at least very rarely and so hadn't made a sound as we walk underneath the tree everyday never thinking to look up. Can you spot him in the photo below?

How about in the next one?

We are so relieved! Unfortunately though he has to stay in the tree one more night as the RSPCA didn't have a free officer tonight and the fire brigade don't rescue cats without the RSPCA present. He is so high up that normal ladders don't reach anywhere near him. Its currently raining and I wish Harvey could be in the warm with us. Hopefully tomorrow will see him home and dry!