Yes, still here...

It has been in the back of my head somewhere for the last while that 'yeah, I must do a blog post, it's been a while', but I genuinely didn't realise just how long it had been until I checked over the weekend. And nearly gave myself a heart-attack.

So I'm sitting here now, (1:30am, for those not on GMT), wondering what to write? Thinking of how I have neglected you all, and how bad I feel about that (okay, not REALLY bad, but a little), and what have I finished knitting since last we spoke, and what have I been meaning to tell you about, and, and, and...

Deep breath. There's a bit. And I won't get everything in on this post. I'm kinda sleepy.

Anyway. First up, last time we spoke I was on holidays with my Botany Lace. Botany Lace was thirsty and encouraged me to have a little beer too. Just a little though, I don't knit drunk.

Well anyway, me and Botany Lace came back from holidays, to absolutely beautiful weather. So I posed it for its FO pic...

Obviously it still needed beer, as it was hot weather and stuff. Seas Shawl by Suzy Crancer.

(And yes, that's actual Duff beer, as seen on The Simpsons! Just the one bottle brought home, it probably tastes like crap, but we'll never know. It's still unopened, sitting on display in the kitchen, and no-one wants to mess with it. Ornamental beer, basically).

I have, of course, stocked up on some more Botany Lace since last we spoke (well duh, like we didn't see that coming), but I'll save that for another post. Because the colours are possibly the nommiest of all the nommy yarn I've acquired to date. Possibly. Nom. 

Anyhoo, I digress.

Next up, I finished this...

...which was a long-awaited requested knit with a looming deadline, that, even though I can do it with my eyes closed, I still managed to screw up completely and utterly, and repeatedly, in the last ten rows. Oh, and then I ran out of yarn half-way through the LAST ROW.

Cue a very panicked visit to The Constant Knitter, where I discovered, to my horror, that this particular colourway was aaalllll gone. NOOOO!!! However, Rosemary absolutely saved my ass on this one, by giving me some of the same yarn in a different, contrasting colourway...

...which really works, I think! Makes it look all sophistimicated and stuff. Like piping. I love it! :o) Thank you, Rosemary!

So it was wrapped up all pretty and dispatched with my father on Saturday morning last as he headed down home for the weekend. The recipient is away at the mo and won't receive it til tomorrow, but fingers crossed she likes it.

(And yes, I have checked with my dad more than once that no, he didn't lose it/accidentally destroy it/give it to the dog to sleep on/forget to pack it/set it on fire. He knows his fresh home-made brown bread supply will dry up fairly sharpish if he screws this one up).

Then there was this one...

Yes, I know. Another beaded Swallowtail! But they're just sooo pretty, and at this stage (this is my seventh, I think) fairly bloody fast!

The beads in this are Swarovski crystals. I've been planning this project for a while, so basically I've been acquiring the beads about 5 at a time, since January. Yes, the beads cost me WAY more than the yarn! But I happen to think they're worth it...

Really sparkly and twinkly. Funny thing is, I alternated the colours between clear crystals and ones with just a hint of aqua. However, once I'd put them on the yarn, I could no longer tell the difference between them, at all! Which is just as well, as I think I may have screwed up the sequencing more than once.

FYI, the pattern as written uses 208 beads in total. I have received a LOT of queries regarding beading in general and Swallowtails in particular, so I'll do a separate post on that in the very near future.

So coming soon to a monitor near you... a post all about slapping beads onto your knitting. And one on my latest Botany Lace acquisitions. Also a post on what happens when your brothers figure out that your knitting can possibly mean them getting stuff made for them (hint: varying degrees of success on this one, to be fair). Also what happens when you drag your dad into your LYS for the first time (hint: my dad swears a bit. Sometimes loudly). And what happens when WWKIP Day coincides with your actual birthday (hint: I have added to the stash, but not entirely my fault. Teaser: it's NOT Botany Lace).

But, as it's now 02:21 (yes, it took me THAT LONG to do a post!), I'll just leave you with this...

Yes, I rock. I knew that. It just turns out that I rock really, REALLY slowly! ;o)

Startitis

So all those good stashdown/WIPdown intentions that were looking so wobbly on Friday night? Nosedived completely over this weekend.

Do not judge me, I am but a mere mortal (except when I'm invincible and kicking ass and stuff, but that doesn't happen so much these days) and all these yarns and projects are all purty and stuff and make me happy and warm and fluffy inside and on the outside too, or at least they would, if I ever actually finished knitting anything, and, and, and...

Anyhoo. Saturday was a long overdue visit to Rosemary & Co. at The Constant Knitter. Where, obviously, more stash was acquired. (Don't look at me like that, it would have been rude of me not to buy something. Stop it).

First up, a totally legitimate purchase, and technically it's not even stash, as it was purpose-bought for a shawl I've been asked to knit for someone, so doesn't count. At all. Ooh no.

Isn't it pretty? Fabulous greeny-bluey-turquoise colour combination, and a thoroughly reliable yarn. I've used it before on the same project that I intend knitting this into, and that came out pretty fabulous, so fingers crossed this one does too. I have six weeks (ish) to get it done. Heh!

Next up was sock yarn. Impossible to resist, as again I'd used it lots, and it's easily one of the best sock yarns I've ever worked with. Bought a single skein of the blue-green colourway when I first saw it in the shop in January, and made footies out of it. Was so in love with the colour and feel of it that I decided full-blown socks were called for. Which obviously necessitated a purchase of more of the yarn:

The orangey-red one I got because it was pretty. And it reminded me of tigers. And fire.So it'll basically give me really warm, possibly scowling feet.

Anyway, everyone knows that sock yarn isn't really stash yarn! These babies will be cast on and knit up so fast that they won't even have time to get comfortable. Y'know, once I get around to finishing the other socks I have on the go at the moment...

Yes, started in January. I got bored. This is a hobby, and supposed to be fun, there's no rule that says I have to finish everything I start. It's a bonus when it happens, but not a requirement! :o)
Which is just as well, considering I also have these babies on the go...

Yes, they've been going a while too, but I only knit them when I'm out and about, which I haven't been much at all recently.

Obviously then there was the fab 'on sale' yarn I acquired last week...

...which, following suggestions from my Twitter peeps (elvin, I'm looking at you!) was rapidly cast on to become this (so far)...

When it grows up, it'll be Summer Flies, with a mod to the edging.

(I know 'Summer Flies' is meant as like 'time flies', but is anyone else thinking feckin bluebottles and those nasty fecky little black buzzy yokes that wreck your head here all summer long when you read that title? Or is it just me?).

Then there was further nice Noro yarn that I had acquired on Friday, which was cast on that night...

...destined to become another Holden. (You know it's definitely Noro yarn, by the way, because there's a fluorescent lime green stripe coming up. Which seems to be in all their colourways. Stand-out hideous, yet somehow 'goes' with everything. I love it)!

And did I mention that I may also have cast on for this queued item? Only just started...

...more details to follow as I progress.

So yeah, tomorrow I think I'll go cast on some socks... :oD