Animals

A finished object from the book 'Knitted Wild Animals' by GMC. Super easy. Didn't like the seams but it's fast and I like fast. I knitted it for a grown man.

He'll be joined by a hippopotamus in due course.

On to other taxonomic groups, I'm looking forward to planning my yearly Christmas craft binge.

Christmas is mental detox time for me when I shut myself up with my folks and settle down to two weeks of craft with a blanket over my knees. The planning is the best bit and today my new favourite thing arrived - Musk ox yarn!!!

It's 8 times warmer than wool and is combed from the bellies of these beautiful, far away, arctic creatures. My ball is combined 50:50 with angora bunny fur. It's going to be an Ishbel for my Mum. I'm being practical and assuming I won't get it done before Christmas, so I'm planning she can watch it grow with me over the christmas hols, measured by afternoon films and idleness.

Crazy with the Mitts

It all started because I bought another single ball of yarn again - chronic magpie-ing. So this time I bought a pattern to go with it to try to get to the end of the tunnel and see what that feels like to complete, instead of living only in the world of yarn possibilities. I didn't think I was up to it. And now I'm addicted. Mitten madness has set in.
The first - buffalo undercoat spun into yarn.

The second some pure alpaca complete with bits of straw here and there which I was grateful to half-wear in this freeze as I approached completion.

And now for some heavenly blue sky.

Guess what you're getting for Christmas.

Knitting and Stitching goodies

One of the best things so far about the show has been the discovery of yarn made from possum fur. Possums are nocturnal, marsupial, tree dwelling creatures from Australia, introduced to New Zealand and now considered a pest there. It's a bit like knitting with rat and I'm very much looking forward to it.

My favourite treat was these bobbins from www.clothkits.co.uk. Their strapline is 'Make Time'. Very apt for me and my crammed life. The ticking may appear as part of my 'Lifelong Quilt'.

And finally, I can't wait to get started on this little guy from Knitted Wild Animals. I was planning to design a monkey, but if this guy is as nice to knit as he looks, then I won't need to. Progress report soon.

We're going back tomorrow for the last crazy, oversubscribed, hedy mix of fabric, buttons, books and delicious yarn.

The Knitting and Stitching Show

Just as I was taking this photo a beam of sunlight broke through the glass ceiling of Alexandra Palace and crashed down onto our table display.

It was a lot of fun today - too much to take in on one trip. Back tommorrow for more. Come and see us if you're there at the GMC stand.

happenings

So much has been happening this summer I've barely caught my breath. Finally I have some snatched seconds to share some happy-making things; starting with this gorgeous bunch of hydrangeas and roses I brought home from a shoot in a florists last week - they're still going strong after seven days!

Second I've been stockpiling some bunnies (still in progress) who will accompany us to the knitting and stitching show this weekend. We're doing book signings so please come and see us and say hello - it's at Alexandra Palace in London from the 7th to 10th Oct. I'll publish the signing times later in the week. We are V. excited!

I tried out a mini-bunny (below). He doesn't look it in the photo but he is very small and wee. I will give all the bunnies their smiles on the train each day this week. I feel it needs special attention as it's the process that wakes them up and brings them to life. When I was little I solidly believed all my toys were really alive and I still think these little guys have definite characters sewn into them. Their faces wake them up like Ted Hughes' poem 'Wodwo' (Go look that up - it's worth it).

And here's an extra happy making review from Lapdog creations who loves the book. Thank you lapdog. http://www.lapdogcreations.com/

FO sightings

Completing knitting projects has been the joy of this week. I worked hard as part of my ongoing decluttering detox. I realise though, that I am a process knitter, not a product knitter.
If you are a product knitter and you happen to be stranded on a desert island with one ball of yarn, you finish knitting up your item and then set about looking for suitable fibres you can fashion into yarn for your next product.
But if you are a process knitter, you would unravel your carefully made item and start over again with the same ball on something else.

I love the process. I love the feel of it all, I love the balls of yarn half way through, the soul of a thing unfinished.
This is a major hindrance to completion.
I appreciate the anxiety expressed by knitters about making the potential thing, into a thing. It's such a commitment. This week though, I have committed. I finished a bunny.

I't Rowan baby alpaca and it's SO soft it slipps out of your hand. A floppy little grey thing that is a sensual delight. I meant to give it away but I put it in my bed. Very unseemly for someone my age. But it makes me happy.

I finished another one skein wonder. This one actually doesn't cut off the circulation under my arm pits so that's a bonus. Lovely soft stretchy knitting - cashcroft aran from Classic yarns.

I even nearly finished another one. This is Rowan felted tweed - a bit sticky to knit with but I ploughed through and it does what it says on the tin. Good, solid, strong, warm. There's no mistaking it. It will double up as a floor cloth and survive.

At this point I notice I'm having a grey phase.

And once this is done I'm going to finish another fabulous alpaca shrug. Oh i love that alpaca shrug. I've been knitting it since 2007. It comes around the country with me. It's Blue sky baby alpaca. It's pure love. I am so scared of finishing it. It smiles at me from my knitting basket. I put my hand in to feel it now and then.
Soon it will be over...sigh.

The good things in life.

I managed to screw up my banking this week which left me unable to access any money whatsoever. I had to have a round up of all the loose change in the house just to go out food shopping. It was tough working out how to feed and transport myself all week on a handful of cash and in some places I failed miserably - how do people strapped for cash buy rounds of drinks or manage to be sensible in health food shops? It dominated all my activities - no treats and everything had to be planned.
It was sobering and a wee bit miserable and made me realise that what I do seems to be what I can afford to do - it's made me realise I have a lifestyle!

This is a bad thing because it means that making an ordinary cup of instant coffee from the office kettle makes me a different person to the one that buys an expensive cappucino on the way. My imagining of myself and who I might be is subtly connected to the social meaning of the things I can buy. Living in a tribe probably isn't any less of a lifestyle but perhaps more of the defining objects are free!

I think the fact that luxuries make us happy is inbuilt in that chimps will seek social status. It's survival. So 'lifestyles' are really all about how we think we measure up and that's all about fear. It's scary stuff because the meanings in all this are constructed. Somone somewhere knows this, and they've got us by the balls.

My budget adventure has made me appreciate the things i've had and made me wonder - why is it that, if all the good things in life are free, I'm not doing more of them.