WIP Wednesday: Instagram edition

It's nice to be back online! Last month I used my entire monthly data allowance in 10 days which, frankly, both sucked and was completely ridiculous. I couldn't go into my office at uni because of O-Week and the first week of classes (so many people! so much beer!), so I could only check my email or do fun stuff like read blogs or play on Ravelry if I could access someone else's wifi. I've finally sucked it up and signed up for a fixed broadband plan with lots of data that is double the cost of what I pay now but it irritates me incredibly that data is so expensive in Australia. Not only does it limit the competitiveness of Australians internationally, access to data will be an increasingly large socioeconomic issue. Grrr!!

However, on the plus side, the lack of ability to hang out in cyberspace meant I had lots of time for knitting and other crafts.

Well, only knitting, really. The cross-stitch does now looks like a bird but I also remember why I stopped cross-stitching in the first place...knitting is much more fun! I am determined so I will finish it...not so sure about the other three patterns I bought though.

I finished the brioche hat and started working on the matching cowl.

I'm not sure how much cowl I'm going to get out of this amount of wool, so instead of knitting it in the round I'm going to knit it scarf-style and then sew it up at the end. It might be a while away, though - I find brioche stitch ridiculously slow going. That 10cm of knitting is the result of two movies' worth of knitting! It might end up being my scarf for next winter.

Finally, I've just turned the heel on the Bendy blue sock. I am loving knitting this wool - it is soft and squishy and the colours are pretty and harmonious. Now I would be happy if this project was the one that took a long time to get anything done, but unfortunately it is just zooming by and they'll probably be finished by the weekend. On the positive side, it means I'll have one fewer pair of socks on my to do list, which is also a good thing, so I shouldn't complain.

So, very glad to be back on line! But also have noticed I spent rather a lot less time working this morning than I did last Wednesday, where I had no choice but to put my head down. I'm not sure what conclusions we can draw from that...

Bi-craftual

This week, I am sad to report that the first signs of winter arrived. For me, the two biggest signals that the cold weather is coming is Lucy waking me up in the middle of the night so she can get under the blanket for extra warmth and me wearing my  my purple fluffy dressing gown and pink fluffy slippers for warmth when working at my desk during the day. A third and less fixed symptom is an overwhelming nostalgia for comforts from my past. This could be a weekend binge-watching Scrubs or Robert Redford movies or an unstoppable craving for my favourite childhood dessert - chocolate self-saucing puddings with a glass of cold milk (yummo!).

This year, it's manifested in an overwhelming desire to revisit what used to be my favourite craft before knitting - cross-stitching.

The design is a Charlotte Alexander beginner pattern. I'd forgotten how addictive cross-stitch can be. It's mesmerising watching the picture slowly emerge, one stitch at a time. Me being me, I bought four patterns so there will be a lot more cross-stitching in my future! Maybe instead of socks I'll give everyone a personalised design for Christmas this year? Babe steps :)

Oh, and I made mini scones too. They were a) delicious and b) the reason I get fatter every winter. I'm like a bear who bulks up for warmth in the colder months and then sheds its blubber when the summer months arrive. C'est la vie grande, n'est-ce pas *gallic shrug*.