Woolgathering

Having undertaken to complete Mr L’s socks during Socktoberfest, I find myself plugging away at them with dogged persistence today - despite several interruptions and a migraine. My head wasn’t too bad this morning and I managed to get several little jobs done, but the pain has been cranking up since around 11am. This is making the all-over stitch pattern more than a little tedious. Despite knowing that I cannot reach my goal, I plod on - one foot after the same foot, as it were - except I am not yet at the foot. I am not yet even at the ankle. One leg pattern repeat to go and I shall start the heel flap. The best I can hope for today is perhaps to get the gusset picked up. So - I have a terrible headache. Why don’t I admit defeat and go for a nice lie down? Madness, I tell ye.

Today has been a day of pleasant surprises - three of them in all. Lots of smiles today.

This morning I got my skeins washed, and washed and blocked the Clapotis and the Spiraluscious.

This afternoon, I tried to watch the execrable Merlin on the iplayer while I knitted on the sock. Merlin is truly awful - not even the presence of Richard Wilson and That Nice Man From the Coffee Ads can save it, nor even John Hurt’s vocal talents. So why am I making an exception today? So I can perv after Julian Rhind-Tutt, of course.

Which reminds me, why is JRT not being touted for the new Who?  He’d be perfect. Though, from the betting list that I saw, there were one or two others who might be almost as good. James Nesbitt  - yes, but he’s not going to, is he? Likewise David Morrissey, though perhaps he is slightly more likely to do it than Nesbitt.

This odds list snagged from Oldbloke over on LJ - comments are mine

Patterson Joseph 4.00 Who?
David Morrisey 6.00   He’d do for me, but would he do it?
James Nesbitt 7.00    Ditto
John Simm 9.00       He can’t - he’s The Master!
Russell Tovey 11.00   Too young
Anthony Head 11.00    Too much of an Old Ham
Richard E. Grant 15.00   Nicely sinister but too old and too established
Robert Carlyle 15.00    Perv, perv, perv 
Alan Davies 17.00      Time for another humourous/quirly/eccentric Dr? I think those days are gone.
Aidan Gillen 19.00  Who?
Harry Lloyd 19.00   Who?
Jason Statham 19.00 Who?
Ben Wishaw 21.00     Who?
Julian Walsh 21.00    Who?
Nigel Harman 21.00   Who?
Bill Nighy 26.00        Don’t be silly
Stephen Fry 26.00     Don’t be ridiculous
Chiwetel Ejiofor 26.00  Who?
Paul Bettany 34.00      Mmmmm…. possibly
Marc Warren 34.00     I’d go for that
John Barrowman 34.00   Don’t be ridiculous
David Suchet 34.00      Don’t be ridiculous
Christopher Eccleston 41.00  BTDTGTTS
Joel Beckett 41.00     Who?
Dean Lennox Kelly 51.00  Who?
Christopher Villiers 67.00 Who?
Ricky Gervais 81.00        ROTFL
Vinnie Jones 101.00       Don’t be ridiculous
Hugh Grant 101.00        Don’t be ridiculous
Robbie Williams 151.00  Don’t be ridiculous

No. I tell you - Julian Rhind-Tutt. He’s your man; Dr Mac for the Doctor.

Right - back to the sock!

New Patterns | Knitting Daily Online Store Projects

Stacks ( I mean *stacks*) of newly available pattern downloads from old Interweave magazines. Some moderate amounts of temptation there, I can tell you…

’scuse me, have to fly, I am mid-blocking

Two FOs so far today - the Clapotis and the Spiraluscious are both finished and ready for blocking. Edging the collar was fun - my first knit-on edge and it all went very easily. I feel ready to tackle a shawl edge now. I enjoy learning new skills - though I have to confess that it is something I would have preferred to do without a migraine.

Now all I have to do is complete the #1 Husband socks by close of play tomorrow. It’s not going to happen, is it?

Migraine today. Don ;t know what caused it: spinning rgoop overload, over-the-tiop-chocolate cntent on the browines, or the stiff Talsiker I had an a too-hpt bath last night when I got home from mymeeting/

Whichever my faculties are impaired and I intend tonurse myself today

over and out

I really am very, very tired indeed. Just ready to slump but unfortunately I have a meeting to go to tonight. I shall need matchsticks to keep my eyes open…

I almost got up at 4am. I almost got up at 5am. I seem to have nodded off at around 6am, but had to take Nell out at 7am. I got on with making a tomato sauce for lunchtime pasta, and whipped up some nutty meringues as my gluten-free offering for today. I had made the brownies yesterday and the gingerbread had been maturing since the weekend. All together, a fine spread for the spinning ladies today.

With one and another thing, I got no spinning done this morning, but I made up for that by getting my wheel out after lunch and I have a skein to show for my efforts.

There are ten repeats done on the Clapotis and two on the Spiraluscious that I began yesterday. I could finish the both of them if I didn’t have to go out later…

The sun showed his face today. The wind has dropped a long way and it has been dry almost all day. I was practically roasting when I went out to clean the salt spray off my windows so that the spinners could have some daylight. One day like this is worth all the bad weather that we get. On the other hand, we still have no mobile phone service, and some land lines are still not working. I think that everyone has electricity now, though.

When Mr L announced that the Wind Chill factor this morning was -5°C I decided that today was the day that the thermal legs needed to come out of storage. All I can say is that when I took Nell out I was perfectly comfortable with no jacket on - though I did have my Jacob Urchin on The Widen Chill is not so bad as it was early on, and was registering a little under -3°C when I checked it just now.

The Coastguard have been round today in their very jazzy 4*4 - we swiftly hid a barrel of French Brandy under the bed… (I wish!) Frankly, when I saw a Very Official Looking Vehicle approaching, I thought that TV Licensing had finally come to get us. I was so looking forward to telling them that they couldn’t come in. As it got closer I realised that my ambition of leaving an Enforcer shivering on the doorstep was not going to realised this day

My muslin has arrived in today’s post and I am all ready to get my sewing machine out. One day, I mean. Some day. But I am all prepared.

No knitting last night - we took the Mac to bed and watched some telly on the BBC’s iPlayer. All three episodes of Sunshine. I’m not a Steve Coogan fan but I do like Craig Cash and Bernard Hill. How bad could it be? Well, actually, it was fairly good - once one got over the Coogan factor. He over-egged his particular Coogan omelette as he always does. Probably worth watching, if you haven’t already seen it. Have a hanky ready if you are the susceptible kind (like me.) (I’ve just noticed - there are currently only 10 hours left in which to watch any of these episodes)

So, today I have that over-stuffed feeling that comes from too much telly watching. I feel the need to be active, but it’s horrible outside.

Maybe we need a bout of extreme knitting? I could get out my doyly.The light is lousy, though and won’t lend itself to fine work. But I think that I may have a plan. First, though, I have to make Chocolate Brownies. I hope that I don’t sneeze on them - yesterday’s aches and stiffness remain but today I have added sneezing to the inventory. It had better disappear soon because I do not want to spoil my unbroken run of cold-free health since running away to Scotland five and a half years ago.

Leftovers for lunch - there is half a goats’ cheese tart left and we’ll have it with a few oven chips as a matter of economy/laziness, so I have time on my hands today.

Ropeknits -  Patterns     Kimono Style Sweater

What do you think  - could a fat bird get away with it?

I love knitting this Clapotis. Dropping stitches is almost as satisfying as popping bubblewrap.

I have 9 of 13 repeats done on the length, though will definitely add some extra repeats to get to the length that I want. If I knitted this again in the same yarn I would certainly use a smaller needle, maybe 3.25mm. As it is, the open nature of the fabric looks just fine - though reminiscent, in this colour, of chain mail. I’d just like to see it sleeker.

It would be good to knit this one day as written and make a large one in the suggested yarn. Unfortunately 4 skeins of the suggested yarn comes to £64.00 For a scarf!!!! And dry clean, to boot. But, just look at that Aslan colourway, wouldn’t a Clapotis look fine in that? Or, even better, in the Irving Park colour.

I need to find an aran weight alternative in 50% silk/50% wool. Colourmart don’t seem to do one but they do a 55% Cashmere/45% silk (currently out of stock) that I may have to keep a weather eye on.

Have I developed a Clapotis addiction? Perhaps I have. I do love the one that I already have and wear it frequently, even in the house. And, let’s face it, they are a very good quick-fix knit. Kind of the knitting equivalent of comfort food and mindless TV, with a glass of cheap plonk on the side.

I wonder if there is a support group for Clapotis addicts?

NTS: I really must tidy my desk to the extent that I can push my monitor out of the way when I want to take snapshot of my knitting.

Every so often something inexplicable comes over me and I disappear into the kitchen to spend an entire morning preparing our midday meal. Today was one of those days and my morning culminated in serving a fine example of a Goats’ Cheese and Caramelised Onion Tart. We had new potatoes and a cabbage salad with it. Very, very nice.

The weather remains pretty horrible here and worse is to come yet, with possible snow later and tomorrow. Last night we experienced the novelty of the whole of Orkney being minus power for a brief period. A whole bunch of battery powered lighting solutions have been ordered today. That should ensure that we get no more power cuts this winter

I feel very cold and miserable today and can scarcely type. I must make myself some fingerless gloves soon.

Confirmation of my job interview came this morning, together with details of the presentation required. Five to ten minutes - no Powerpoint, no OHP. That is quite some challenge! Talking for ten minutes with no prompts and nothing to point at (i.e. nothing to do with one’s hands) … EEK! Anyway, it’s on the 11th November, at 11:30. Some time to prepare, at least. Maybe insufficient to memorise a whole presentation though! I shall most likely be awful…

I did have a brief moment’s inappropriate hilarity when I paused to wonder if an 11am appt. has been made for another candidate. The idea of an interview beginning with two minutes’ silence cracked me up for some reason probably only my warped mind could fathom.

There is talk again of selling the house and downscaling once more.

The Lightsoutis version of the Clapotis scarf progresses. No progress to report on other projects, and little will exists to pick them up. Generally speaking it’s one of those days when all I want to do is crawl back under the duvet.

It’s Craft Club night tonight. I really don’t feel as though I have sufficient energy to get myself ready to go out. Maybe I’m coming down with a virus. Spinning is here on Wednesday so I had better perk myself up by then. I have to make chocolate brownies tomorrow in readiness. I should prepare something gluten-free too. Mr L has a 2 hour meeting on Wednesday morning so I shall be needing to manage all the dogs and to usher ladies and their wheels in and out of the house in relative quietness…

…and then the week will be mostly over once again!

That Clapotis sure is coming in handy. The lights have gone out again and the UPS is singing its song at us. Time to power down and  go for a candlelit bath I think. And there was me poised to snap a beautiful skein of yarn from Posh Yarns at 7pm. *sigh*

Plans are afoot to purchase a rechargeable hand-held spotlight…