April Round-up

Our Tour this Thursday is of April itself. Not quite the last day of the month, but close enough for a round-up:

• 2 F.O. – Chemo Cap #2, Brioche Lace Shawl for Mum’s 70th Birthday;
• 3 WIPs – Chemo Cap #1; Tunisian Crochet wrist-warmers; Better Mousetrap Socks
• 1 WIP-not-whupped – GlenvarAgin Cardigan (nearly finished the body, though);
• 2 planned projects not started: DD’s blue cardigan; DS’s brown cotton jumper – gotta finish GlenvarAgin first;
• 3 Meet-ups (one with someone I’ve only previously “met” online) – Fibre Fun Friday; Tunisian Crochet Class with Irene Lundgaard (hadn’t met Irene before) and April Spin-in;
• 1 new technique learned: Tunisian Crochet in-the-round – a truly mind-blowing experience!
• 1 S.E.X. – at the Yarn Room, Co. Wicklow;
• 1 U.S.A. (unplanned stash acquisition) – after the April Spin-in!
• 1 Volcano eruption that stopped the World;
• 1 DH went AWOL for 5 days!
• 1 fitness regime started -I started jogging, using the Couch to 5K programme. This is in anticipation of running the Flora Women’s Mini-marathon on the June Bank Holiday Monday;

Such a big month for crafy-goodness. On the down-side the Volcano eruption and DH’s consequent unplanned absence, put me off blogging for a bit. I’m slowly getting back on my feet and filling in the gaps that were left by my hiatus.

While I’ve been knitting, I’ve also been buying yarn like there’s no tomorrow. I’m a little out-of-control at the moment and will have to have a stern talk with myself – or learn to knit faster!

Easy Choice

Usually, in the run-up to the end of the month, my only crafting focus is to get my socks finished in time to register them for a credit on the Sock-a-Month KAL. My April socks – the Better Mousetrap Socks – were put on the back burner by some grave news.

In the middle of April we got word that one of our co-workers, A., has been diagnosed with an in-operable brain tumour. She’s been missing since last December but for whatever reason, the diagnosis was very slow in coming. I understand she has been started on Chemo-therapy and / or Radiation therapy but details come second or third-hand so are very vague and sketchy indeed.

We all donated to a collection and signed a card and a hamper was decided on as the appropriate gift, since the hospital doesn’t allow flowers. Then, word went round that A. was disappointed that she had missed the Craft Fair last December. So, those of us that had contributed then agreed to make something crafty to put in the hamper.

I thought “If I choose to crochet, I should be able to whip up a hat in an evening – a weekend at most; I’d still have time to finish my socks in time” This would have been true IF my yarn of choice hadn’t been sock yarn weight and my technique of choice wasn’t Tunisian Crochet in Entrelac. Go on – sigh – I know you want to!

Several days later, when I finally admit that I’m making a hat that will fit a toddler – at a push! – I switched to a bulkier yarn and a hat called the Two-Hour Hat from the Christmas edition of Crochet Today.

Two Hours??!?! Two Hours!?!?!? They Liiiiieeeeeeeeedd!

It took me more than two days! I think I was at it for the greater part of a week. But it is soft and snuggly and should fit an adult. And it’s in cotton – Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton. It’s like a hug for your head. I hope A. feels hugged when she wears it.

April’s Sunday Spin-In

Asking DH if I could go to the Monthy Spin-In the Sunday after he’d got back from being stranded for five days by an Ash Cloud was “milking-it”, let’s be straight about it. My account with the Brownie Points Depository was bursting at the seams and I was making a withdrawal. I didn’t quite say: “You see those three crazies and that mini-mountain of laundry? They’re all yours! See you in a few hours.” But I might as well have!

If we ignore the flailing spindles and the wanton fluff flying everywhere, I had a very relaxing time turning this:

Bought from Chicwithstix at the Crafty Market

…into this:

Worsted weight, perhaps?

I think it might be a bit painful for other spinners to watch me in action. I’m not… shall we say… graceful. Also, possibly my concentration-face looks akin to another person’s “I’m in pain”-face. A few other spinners expressed their concerns for my well-being and hinted at a less-than peaceful mental health – albeit, very gently and with a willingness to assist. In fact, I felt very much at ease and enjoyed myself immensely.

In particular, I’m very proud about what I’ve produced. It’s fairly even, doesn’t have too many rogue pieces of fluff from other spinners or floor-pickings and seems to be a worsted weight (as opposed to the lace-weight / bulky I produced last time).

I realise it helped that I was using pencil roving; and that it was undyed – that was my plan. By cutting out the pre-drafting part of the process, I could focus on practicing getting the twist in (without taking an eye out!).

I still have the second bag to spin. When I do, I plan to dye each single the same colour but separately: one in a dye for wool, and the other in a dye for Tencel. I know the Tencel will take some of the wool dye but I’m interested in seeing how the blends react. Then, I will ply them and hopefully end up with something that is nicely blended.

F.O.: A Saga

It all started one Thursday, when the world woke up to find a certain unpronounceable volcano in Iceland had brought hubris to man-kind:

If we thought human-kind could gad about in aeroplanes, defying the laws of gravity; Eyfjajökull brought us back down to earth.

If we thought European Member States could act decisively and efficiently, thanks to the instruments brought in under the Lisbon Treaty; the five-day delay in agreeing a cohesive strategy put pay to that delusion.

And if Scientists thought human-nature could be defied, and multi-national companies would tolerate losing billions of euro daily in the interest of human safety; they were asked to think again.

Those of you who read here regularly might have been surprised by my sudden silence – did the ash-cloud eat me? Then again, many of you also read Ravelry and Twitter; so you already knew that the infamous ash-cloud prevented DH from returning home from San Francisco for five days – leaving me to wrangle the three crazies and keep down a job. Needless to say, more people expressed concern for me than for him! San Fran is not the worst place in the world to get stranded, eh?

I should have kept a better track of the week but I guess these are the high-lights:

• We wake up, of a Thursday morning, to find the world taking a sudden interest in Secondary School level Geography: volcanic activity, constituents of an ash-cloud, wind patterns and weather systems are hotly discussed topics of conversation; 
• Not since Sigur Rós‘s last album have so many people tried pronouncing Icelandic names;
• realising DH is “stranded” near yarn-shops I’ve never been to, I put a call-out on Ravelry for suggestion for some compensation yarn: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/irish-knitters/1098908/1-25#1
• Tales unfold from fellow-Ravelers on Irish Knitters Group of stranded boyfriends unable to see their girlfriends; brides flying in for a wedding they’ve been waiting 25 years to do; parents not being able to see their daughter graduate. It was astonishing to realise just how much we take flying for granted;
• Meanwhile, on Twitter, people were having incredible adventures: driving from the south of Spain back to England;
• I get some great yarn and shop suggestions; which I promptly pass on to DH
• DH’s yarn buying field-trip is in vain – three out of five yarn shops on his list have moved; the fourth doesn’t answer the phone;
• The fifth yarn shop – the one he didn’t visit or ring – turns out to be the “golden ticket” yarn shop!
• The same day, DH gets word that Delta Airlines have re-booked him on a return flight to Dublin, via New York;
• At that stage Irish Airspace is still closed so DH doesn’t want to take the flight – being stuck in SF near his customers is better than being stuck in NY near no-one he knows;
• DH takes a leap of faith and gets on the plane to NY, fully expecting his onward leg to be cancelled
• Dublin Airspace opens at the last-minute – while DH is in the air on his flight from NY! His is only the second flight to land at Dublin Airport in seven days.
• When I get the call that he has landed safely, I skive off work to pick him up (bold, I know)
• Parking at the “Set-down Area Only” at the Airport I burst into tears when a Garda taps on my window to move me on (wtf? I never burst into tears – obviously more pent-up anguish than I’d allowed myself to admit! The Garda was very nice about it, very apologetic – though I still moved on)
• DH & I are re-united and, after I splurge for yarn online at The Yarn and Fiber Company, I forgive him for coming home with no “Compo” yarn!

And so, a happy ending! I got DH home eventually; I got to come off the strict yarn-diet (having difficulty getting back on it, mind you) and the balance of my Brownie-Point Deposit Account is so high the crafty-world is my oyster.

WIP: Wrist-Warmers

… trying saying that title quickly!

When I met Irene in The Yarn Room, for my class in Tunisian Crochet, I brought with me the ends of two skeins of Noro Kureyon I had left over from finishing my Not-so-Frou-Frou cardigan. My plan was to work with each from opposite ends for the forward and return passes of Tunisian Crochet; so that the colours would contrast as Noro does best. What I didn’t know is that for Tunisian Crochet in-the-round you actually *need* to have two separate balls of yarn. Serendipity.

Under Irene’s guidance, I cast-on a chain long enough to go around my wrist. Irene gave me the gist of how to work Tunisian Crochet in-the-round and I set off. Following no specific pattern other than trying it on regularly, I very quickly made these wrist-warmers:

The image on the left shows off the texture best while the image on the right gives you an idea of the colour-contrast. I love how the green continued though-out for the vertical bars, while the contrast colour changes frequently for the horizontal portions. More serendipity!

Despite the fact that they’ve been bound-off – and pressed into action in the cold weather we had recently;, I’m still considering these as WIPs. The keen-eyed amongst you might notice the decreases at the top of the rght-hand mitten. I did this mitten first and completely forgot about my ingenuity when I was finishing the second mitt. So I’ve to frog and decrease and re-finish.

Góðan daginn for a Stash Enhancement Xpedition

While I was at the Yarn Room for my class in Tunisian Crochet (in-the-round, no less!) I had a special indulgence. Time for me to…

FLASH THE STASH!

3 Skeins of Lett Lopi from Ístex, Iceland in Light Purple(1) and Violet(2)

100g of Ashford Merino Silk in Juniper for spinning

1 Plate of Plotulopi in Arctic Blue Heather - for plying practice; with 2 sets of Addi Turbo needles and 1 set of circular crochet hooks

All-in-all a good day for a Stash Enhancement Xpedition – very satisfying.

Good Day to Hit The Road

According to Flickr, “Góðan daginn” is how you say “Hello” in Icelandic. It looks a bit like “Good Day” (if you squint and tilt your head sideways!). But while this day may be all about Iceland, it’s not exactly good, is it? How many of us knew that the volcanoes on Iceland were active? Or would start exploding? Or when they explode, planes can’t fly? Not me for one – but I’m learning fast!

Thanks to Iceland, “Good Day” is not how I would describe this day because the non-flying-ness of the planes means a non-coming-home-ness of the DH. So let’s not focus on how far from Góðan daginn this day is. Let’s ignore the fact that we’ve yet to learn the Icelandic for “Thanks, we’ve had enough!”

Let’s instead focus on a recent, very-good-day-indeed: my trip to The Yarn Room on Saturday 10th April.

The Yarn Room, Ashford, Co. Wicklow

I set off for The Yarn Room on a beautifully sunny afternoon. It’s a very easy drive – motorway almost all the way. I had to take it a bit “on faith”, as I got closer to my destination. My map isn’t sufficiently up-to-date to show the latest motorway extension and I began to worry that Ashford wouldn’t be clearly sign-posted. Thankfully, I didn’t get too “jittery” and stayed on the motorway long enough for the correct turn-off. I was impressed to discover it’s exactly 59mins from my driveway – in North County Dublin – to parking outside The Yarn Room – South Co. Wicklow. That’s sticking to the speed-limits the entire way – thank you, cruise-control!

Oh! What a haven awaited me! The bright, sunny shop reflects perfectly the dispostion of the owner, Stephanie, and her staff. I was greeted like an old friend, even though I’ve only met Stephanie once before. I was and made feel very welcome and very-much at ease. Being surrounded by gorgeous yarn and fiber also helps, of course. I had a great browse and quickly assembled a pile of potential purchases. I was particularly interested in the Lett Lopi, an Icelandic Yarn (funny that – how prophetic!) because, so far as I know, Stephanie is the only shop in Ireland that stocks it. She also stocks a great range of fiber for spinning and felting; so I had a good poke around of those as well.

I wasn’t just there for the yarn, however. I was there for a class: to learn Tunisian Crochet in-the-round from Irene Lundgaard (the fiber-artist formerly known as WonderWanda). What a blast that was! The class, and meeting Irene for the first time, deserves a separate post all of its own. I mention it now by way of noting that The Yarn Room is a great space for a class. In fact, there were two classes taking place at the same time – our class around the large table, and a weaving class seated on a sofa on the other side of the room. I can’t wait to find a reason to get back to The Yarn Room again. Learning how to weave is suddenly attractive – The Yarn Room offers classes in it and it’s the only thing I don’t know how to do… yet!

Decisions, Decisions

My Work Work-Plan Plan – in which I plan to have a plan and then work to work to my plan – is all working according to plan. (hee hee, I love to I wreck heads!) I’m two days into my strategy and I’m feeling all super-productive and happy. This super-focussed-feeling is spilling into my home-life too (so I’m only allowing myself 30mins to blog) and even has me feeling I should be super-focussed on what my knitting project priorities should be.

Note I say “should be” because, in reality, my inner-crafty-self is not listening to super-focussed-work-self. Super-focussed-self says I should be focussing on finishing those last few inches on DH’s GlenvarAgin Cardigan, so that I can get cracking on the sleeves – and finally give it too him after all these years. Inner-crafty-self says “Boring! Oooh look… shiny new techniques!” and promptly potters off in the direction of a crochet hook!

Better Mousetrap Socks by Debbie New from Unexpected Knits

One shiny new technique that grabbed my undivided crafting attention last week was Better Mousetrap Socks by Debbie New (above). Within two days of casting on, I had completed one half of my first sock. I was amazed – I don’t know if I’ve ever progressed a sock that quickly before.

Trust me, it's a sock!

One thing I’m not sure about is the way the colours are working. If you recall, I’m stranding a self-striping, faux-fair-isle yarn (Berroco Sox) with another solid sock yarn (Bergere de France CHO’7) for a bulky, quick knit. It’s giving the following effect, close-up:

So... whaddya think?

I’m not sure that I like it. I don’t think it does enough to express the construction of the sock. I think the overall sock will just look homogenously mottled.

I’m of a mind to unwind the second cake of yarn and re-wind it so that the Berroco Sox and the CHO’7 are each double-stranded separately and then complete the second half of each sock in stripes of each. Would that be completely crazy looking? Should I leave well-enough alone?

 I’d love if you could give me your opinions, dear Reader.

Sundry Items

This weekend alone has given me a whole week’s worth of blog-posts:

• It all started last Friday evening with Fibre Fun Friday at the Tea Gardens (last Friday’s Blog-post).
• Then yesterday I took a trip to The Yarn Room in Ashford, Co. Wicklow, for a class on Tunisian Crochet by Irene Lundgaarde – more about that in the next Tours on Thursday post. 
• Among my purchases from The Yarn Room were two pairs of 3.5mm Addi Turbos, which means my Better Mousetrap Socks are back in the running and I have choices to make next Choosey Tuesday.
• Terrible tease that I am, you’ll have to wait for my next Stash on Saturday blog-post for more details of the inevitable stash enhancement at The Yarn Room.

While I was off galavanting to Co. Wicklow, DH and the kids spent some quality-time together in the garden. Now we have potatoes, lettuce, onions, beetroot, radishes all growing away.

Kitchen Garden

My daughter, the property moghul

DD and I spent some quality-time together too. At her suggestion, we started a game of Monopoly. Our baby-sitter taught her the game a few weekends ago and she’s taken to the whole concept like a duck to water. Her first question, whenever she lands on an un-owned street is “How much rent will you have to pay me if you land here after I buy this?” She doesn’t waste her money on the cheap streets, let me tell you. She is making a killing – at my expense!

I’m back in to work tomorrow morning for the first time in two weeks. I had my second session with the Staff Welfare Officer and she’s agreed with my suggested plan of action for how to try to deal with the crappy work situation. I’m writing it down here so that it’s not just a nebulous plan, floating in my head.

1. Regardless of what’s going on, take the time and trouble – first thing on Monday morning – to plan my work for the week
2. Go into my boss and tell him my work-plan – alter it if neccessary – but get his agreement to it
3. Make a note the conversation with him – either keep a journal or bang off an email to him out-lining the work plan as agreed
4. Knuckle down and get on with my work and make a note of anytime I’m pulled off it to parachute in on some fire-fight for my boss

The Staff Welfare Officer has suggested that we meet again in a month to discuss how the plan has worked out. I’m bringing a new notebook in with me to work tomorrow so that I can record all goings-on and have something to show her when we meet again. There’s nothing like new stationery to make you feel like you’re making a new beginning. That’s the plan, at least. Fingers-crossed.

Fibre Fun Friday

The blog-post that I had planned for today was going to be all about the shawl I spent last week knitting for my Mum. It’s the Hervst Afond Scarf from Knitting Brioche by Nancy Marchant that I made with this yarn from The Constant Knitter:

Unfortunately, I can’t blog about the finished object on this F.O. Friday; because I’ve no photos to show you. I thought I took a photo of it as I cast it off. I realised an hour later that it was a video – most of which is black because I put the camera on the desk after I snapped (as I thought) the shawl. I gave the shawl to my Mum as she was leaving to go home and she opened it the next morning; so there were no photo ops of her trying it on.

I even brought my camera with me when I visited her today but I couldn’t pluck up the courage to ask her to bring it out just so that I can photograph it. I mean, how do I explain that I want to photograph the present I gave her without making her worry about any time she may have accidentally dropped me on my head as a child!

So I bailed and came home again, photographless and with this lame excuse to give you. Sorry!

I’m just glad I got it finished in time to give to her for her birthday last Sunday. It was not so much “down-to-the-wire” as “well-past-the-wire-and-several-furlongs-later”. Despite getting DH to drive slower than the speed-limit, so that I could maximise knitting-time on the way over to my sister’s house for the Birthday Celebration Lunch; I still had another hour of knitting after I arrived. Thankfully, we were the first to arrive and The Earl had fallen asleep in the car on the way over; so I used the excuse of staying in the car with him as my cover for continuing to knit. I’m sure other knitters have done this or similar.

I’m also happy to report that she loved it and was mightily impressed with the brioche-knitting technique. So I’ll be making more of these, I think.

I know you all like pics, so instead, let me tell you what I did with my Friday evening: I met up with other Fibre-istas at Fibre Fun Friday in the Tea Gardens, 7 Ormond Quay in Dublin City Centre.

Fun with Fibre and Funny Tea

It was my first time to visit The Tea Gardens. It’s a fantastic venue for Fibre Fun Friday – kudos to whoever found it and chose it. Despite being on the quays in Dublin City Centre, facing right out onto the Liffey, it’s location is a little obscure. If you’re walking down the Quays from O’Connell Street keep going until well after you’ve begun to doubt yourself that you’ve gone too far. As you walk closer and closer to The Four Courts, properties are becoming less likely to house Tea Gardens and more likely to be Solicitors Offices. Then, finally, a small and demure street-frontage beckons to you in acid green!

Look out for the sign

The street-frontage is as wide as the sign in the above picture. Then it’s down some steps to a welcoming mural at the bottom.

The little “OPEN” sign reasures you enough to push the door and peer past the curtain. Then, just follow the sound of chatter and giggling – that’ll be the other fun Fibre-freaks. People start gathering from 6:30 p.m. and the advice is to come early if you want to get a chair! Being a Japanese-styled Tea Garden, however, the floor is perfect for sitting on.