2014 FO #6: Bendy Blue Socks

I am ridiculously behind with my FO Friday posts. These pictures were taken weeks ago and have been sitting in a draft post since then, waiting for me to take the time to write them up. I am a terrible blogger!

One Sunday, we were outside trying to get as much sun as we could before winter arrives, when Sam was distracted by a loud sound from above.

It was my stupid cat, who had remembered that it is possible to jump the 30cm from the top of the garage to the roof.

The thing is, once she gets up there it's like her tiny brain explodes and she cannot remember how to get down. Like she can be looking at the the garage roof that she jumped from less than a minute before and still not be able to remember how she got from one to the other.

But do not let the antics of my idiot cat distract you from the real story! I finished Sam's birthday blue socks three weeks early.

They are made with the Bendy sock wool I got before Christmas.

They are soft and smooshy and were lovely to knit.

They also look pretty darn good, if I do say so myself :)

Lucy did eventually find the garage on the other side to jump down. Moron.

WIP Wednesday: Getting shit done edition

It is the afternoon and all I have eaten today is bowl of chips with tomato sauce and a fun-size Twix. This kind of makes me feel a little bit like I am failing as an adult. I am trying to feel bad about it but failing; it's hard to be good all the time, and if the worst I do is eat nothing but saturated fat for a few hours, then it's really not too bad. Right? RIGHT?

Not really. Anyway, I am actually a little bit worried because I think Lucy might be sick. For the last month or so, she's been hacking up hairballs every couple of days. Having had cats all my life and therefore having cleaned up more hairballs than I'd like to remember, I didn't really think anything of it. Sam, however, noticed that even after hacking for a long time - like thirty seconds - no hairballs ever came up. That is not good, so I have made an appointment for her at the vet tonight. I know it is going to be a massive drama because she really, really, really hates going in the car but, I'm sorry Lucy, it has to be done.

In knitting news, I found out yesterday that Sam's horrible friends' baby might be coming earlier than previously thought.  I spent all last night frantically i-cording (is that a verb?) and got three-quarters of the way around the blanket:

It looks great! Unfortunately, even using a DPN two sizes bigger than the needle I knitted the blanket with, the border is too tight for the blanket. Sam, bless his hand-knitted socks, said "Can't we just stretch it out like we do with shawls?" (then sat there expectantly until I congratulated him on his knitting knowledge. He is a sweetheart.) I suspect that will not work. However, since I don't have any larger DPNs, I'm going to call it a design feature and say that I did it because it makes it easier for the baby to be wrapped up in the blanket...I just hope they buy it.

In knitting that has a much more worthwhile recipient (me!), my me-socks are coming along very well. They are much bright in real life and cheer me up every time I pull them out of my bag. 

Till next time!

Cinnamon non-sequitors

Ever since I broke my leg, I've been trying to be as healthy as I can with my diet. Mainly, I try to limit processed and sugary foods and make as much of the food I eat as I can. I also make sure I have lots of calcium (for healthy bones) and lots of veggies (for the nutrients and antioxidants). I've found the easiest way to do this is to make a smoothie every day, not only because it's so easy to do but because they are delicious, so it doesn't feel like any effort at all to eat well. This one contains four types of frozen berries, natural unsweetened yoghurt and milk and it is yum.

Since my accident I've also had a bit of minor joint pain - nothing serious, just a bit irritating. I read in the I quit sugar cookbook that cinnamon is a natural cure for joint pain, so I've been adding 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the mix over the last week. It might be the placebo effect but I swear it's making a difference (plus, I love the flavour of cinnamon so my smoothie is even more delicious!).

The colour of the smoothie reminded me of a project I started ages ago but then got frustrated with and shoved into a drawer. The pattern is the 126-29 DROPS gloves knitted using the leftover Alpaca Silk Georgette from the Rainy Day Socks II I made for my stepmother. The yarn is lovely but the wrist is too big and the thumb hole too small but the fingers took me such a long time that I didn't want to rip them out. 

Today, I bit the bullet...

..and voila, the glove became this...

..the start of a baby hat for Sam's horrible friends (may they never find this blog). 

Also, yes, Lucy has two climbing and scratching towers. I am aware she is completely spoiled, as I remember every night when I tip her expensive wet food into her hand-painted hand-wash only food bowl. I realise it is ridiculous for an adult woman to lavish so much love on her cat, but what can I say - I've got a soft spot for anything that purrs. I'm not sorry at all!!

Dan Lepard's easy white bread

Every time I looked out of the window today, all I saw was dreary grey. It felt like it did not stop raining from the moment I woke up - it was certainly too wet for either me or Lucy to go outside. So, what was left for me to do but warm up the house by doing some baking?

The recipe I used was Dan Lepard's easy white bread. I borrowed his book The Handmade Loaf from the library with the aim of developing my bread-baking skills further, only to discover that anything other than the most basic recipes was completely over my head. Simple it is, then, and it doesn't get much more simple than this - this dough doesn't need anything but the most basic work. Consequently, it doesn't have a lot of depth of flavour but its ease of construction means that I will definitely be making it again. I also think it would be a fantastic vehicles for other flavours - I think my next one will be garlic and parmesan (or rosemary and garlic or capsicum and cheese...).

Freshly made bread may not make the rain go away or the winter gloom lift but it does make it a bit easier to get through the long gloomy days (plus, my house smells completely awesome!).

WIP Wednesday: Allaying the post-holiday gloom

While technically I am posting this on a Thursday, "WIP Thursday" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Instead, I'm taking the philosophical approach that time is bendy and a construct anyway and pretending that now is in fact yesterday. *clears throat, glances away shiftily*

To the WIPs! The first one is an oldie (six/seven years old at least) that I was inspired to pull out of its longterm hiding spot behind the couch when I got back home from Queensland and was cold. Since I took this photo I have sewn all of the pieces together and just need to knit on a garter stitch border. The problem I am having is that the blanket is so heavy and large that knitting on it is a logistical issue. I'm pretty excited about the finished project, though, so hopefully that will inspire me to push through the pain.

Sam works with a man who I just don't like. This man recently married and knocked up a woman who I also don't like. There's nothing really wrong with these people - they don't kick puppies or hate rainbows or anything - but they're just not nice or interesting. They're the kind of people who never respond to an RSVP or bother to turn up to a party or give you a birthday present, no matter how much you spent on the Christmas and birthday presents you gave them last year or how important the party is to you. They don't bother to remember your cat's name or your research topic or any of the little details that help build a connection between people. In short, they're just not my type of folk. However, Sam and he get on really well and so Sam asked me very kindly if I wouldn't mind pretty please knitting something for their soon-to-arrive baby. I would usually totally mind but fortunately I have the Shades of Purple blanket from last year that just needs a border and it's done. I do find it hard to motivate myself to work on a project for people who won't even say thank you but Sam doesn't ask for much, so I am doing it for him. I know he will appreciate it.

My final WIP of the week is a new project. When I got home from QLD I was super chuffed to realise I had run out of portable stockinette sock projects because I had finished them all! Yippee!  I immediately cast on a pair of bright and cheerful stockinette socks to help me deal with all the upcoming winter gloom. 

Until next week, adieu (I saw The Sound of Music on the weekend. I'm sorry but I just couldn't help myself).

Gone fishing...kind of

Hello and happy Easter, everyone. I'm back!

I didn't mention anywhere that I was going, mainly because I am repeatedly horrified by bloggers who blog under their real names and post photos of their local area and house and then tweet things like "Just dropping Fido off at the kennel then off to Bali for two weeks! #holiday". I don't know why then don't just pop a placard in their front window that says "My house is vacant please rob me". Of course, my paranoia is incredibly ridiculous because a) I had a housesitter, so my house wasn't vacant b) other than my adorable cat and 10 skeins of the type of sock wool that was fashionable five years ago, I don't have anything anyone would want to steal and c) I only have about five readers (love you guys! Don't go away despite my irregular postings and too frequent pictures of my cat), BUT STILL!

The holiday started off on shaky grounds when we arrived in Noosa at the same time as the rain band of Cyclone Ita. It was wet and windy but I'm from Melbourne, so if there's one thing I know it's how to deal with wet and windy (and how to complain about it too...) so we packed up the car and went driving to Pomona, a local town with a random great big hill in it.

We tried to drive up to a lookout point but the little Hyundai i20 we'd hired couldn't handle the incline. It was pretty funny hearing the engine go chug chug chug chug chug (although less funny when we slid backwards a little bit. But we returned the car without damage, so no harm no foul).

There was a gorgeous art gallery there in a converted railway station. It's filled with art from local artists and had a wonderful artistic community feel.

Unfortunately, there was not much else to do that was inside, so I went home and drank champagne in the spa (no pictures of that! But it was delightful.)

Fortunately, the weather cleared up and we were able to hire a boat for the day.

Sam said it was like driving an incredibly slow water-capable dodgem car. The hire came with fishing gear, so I had a go at baiting and casting.

Have you ever seen such a natural fisherwoman? However, fishing is incredibly boring, so I lasted about three minutes before pulling out my knitting.

Sam approached his fishing experience with a lot more enthusiasm than me but without much more luck, so we ended up returning the boat with the supplied (optimistically sized) bucket for caught fish completely empty.

The holiday also contained of poolside cocktail drinking and al fresco dining, which was fantastic. It was a lovely holiday and I certainly did not want to come back to cold, wet, windy Melbourne.

The only downside of going away was that I couldn't take Lucy with me. Despite the fact that she was very well looked after while I was gone, she was both incredibly cross with me and incredibly happy to see me. Everywhere I've gone since I've got back I've been followed by a little furry shadow. Her favourite pose is this:

Still able to keep an eye on my but letting me know very clearly that she is Not Happy.

Oh, to be on holiday still!

WIP Wednesday: New socks edition

Before I get to my new project, I have something exciting to share:

My first capsicum! Unfortunately, when they start to grow capsicums look like butts but still - how exciting! I planted them too late this year to end up with much of a harvest but, since I now know how easy it is to get capsicum seeds (use the seeds from grocery store capsicums - thanks Jamie!), I'm going to plant them much earlier this year.

I finished another pair of socks (pics coming soon once I've found a male to model them) and I figured I'd been so good in finishing off pairs of socks that I had earned the ability to start a new project...more socks. I was so excited to be working on something new that I have zoomed through the foot part of the pair.

It helps that these are for a woman so there's only 64 stitches in each round - that 8 stitches really does make a difference! I've only got 60g of yarn so they'll either be ankle socks or I'll do a cuff in a contrasting colour. Sock knitting is such fun :)