Weekend FO

Snowmen Jumper



Yarn: Rowan Soft Tweed and Cocoon
Needle: 6mm

I made the pattern up myself, and it went much better than I expected. I was worried it was too small, too big, too short....but it turned out lovely. I didn't want sleeves because it's bulky weight and I don't want it to be too hot to wear, but I do still have two balls of the tweed left so I might change my mind on that.

(This might be the best value yarn purchase I ever made - I bought 20 balls from Jimmy Beans in the sale at $3.50/ball and it has done me two garments).

Next time I would distribute the shaping evenly across the row rather than concentrating it all at the sides, probably do a bit less shaping (my hips are wid but not that wide) and I would decrease less on the neckline. I wanted a wider neck, really, but what I have ended up with is something just big enough to pull over my head. Really I should rip it back but I am going to see how it wears first and I will keep it as is as long as it doesn't stop me from wearing it.

I especially like the candy cane bind off. I thought that was an inspired way to finish it.



I might buy some decorations and make one of the snowmen more snowmanish - a carrot nose, some black bead buttons and eyes, and maybe a little sparkly scarf knitted from leftover sock yarn. I thought one like this would be enough as I don't want to make it too twee. But for now it's going into the FO pile.

Craft Photo Scavenger Hunt: October

We've all gone a bit quiet on this, but it is my turn to pick topics this month so I am determined to get it going again! Here are my topics:

Something I Made
Inspiration
Colour: Orange
Motif: Cherries (I would accept any fruit really)
Cosy

(I have had this post in draft for over a week waiting to do something creative with the topics but now we're halfway through October and I really should just get it posted!)

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment on this post.

Tuesday Ten

I miss doing a regular Tuesday Ten but I fear, now that I have reached over 100 posts with the tag, I am fast running out of things to list. I could come back every week and do "10 things on my mind" or "10 things I'm looking forward to" but, meh. I miss the prompts from Artsyville. I see she now does Glue It Tuedays and I did do some gluing today but it was on a work thing and although I am very pleased with it, it's not really fodder for this blog. Of course, I think it's fascinating to find out what our local infants' school is doing to improve writing, and you might too; but then I'd start feeling the pressure to glue something every Tuesday and most Tuesdays I just want to watch Bake Off and knit, you know?

Anyway.

So, I was casting around online looking for inspiration and I found a new group doing a list prompt, so I am going to neb in on that and getting listing. 'Cept, this week's prompt is Ten Ways You Are Embracing Autumn. That's a bit too much like that post from a couple of weeks ago.

What is a girl to do!

Steal an old idea, of course.

Ten Things I Love About Where I Live (and we're not being too specific here about where, as you'll see)

1. I live at the end of a cul de sac. It is quiet and peaceful and we have off street parking.
2. There's lots of nature nearby, but not too near. Like, I can go walking in some dewy fields but the place never smells of muck-spreading, of which the same cannot be said about where I work.
3. Air balloons go overhead quite regularly. During the Balloon Fiesta we gets dozens in the space of a few hours.
4. The weather in the southwest is typically milder and wetter than the rest of the country (according to the geography textbooks I teach from, anyway). This suits me.
5. From my back bedroom window you can see hills and it is a lovely view, especially with a sunrise behind them.
6. Bristol is just great. There's so much going on and it's all so different. I love this blog post about it.
7. My commute to work is across fields and along rivers and through woods, the last of which smells gently of wild garlic for most of the sunny months of the year (though a good tramp around in said woods one Saturday afternoon yielded no wild garlic and one bleeding ankle).
8. The local centre, aka the 'wood, has everything one could need (except a butcher since it burnt down but I'm trying not to dwell on that too much).
9.  There's lots of history to this place and it's still causing regular debate. I like a place that is argumentative about its history. Naturally I adore Portsmouth as my town of birth but it's a little bit smug with its pretty ships and chunky walls and internationally famous D Day Museum. Bristol history is not smug.
10. The cuisine. Pieminister and Hobbs House and lashings and lashings of cider. Well, it was a toss up between that and the accent.

Weekend WIP

The Christmas jumper I mentioned in my monthly goals post is going great guns. I have tried not to think about it too much and just gone for what feels right. I'm not using a pattern, but I am trying to make it look something like this handknit slipover, which I saw in a shop in Iceland when we were there in 2011 (which was, by the way, nearly £100 - the Icelanders know the value of good knitwear).



I have managed to chart some snowmen to go around the yoke but I am doing this almost totally blind, because I've never knitted a sweater of this type before. But I like a challenge and if I have to rip it out, so be it - the good thing about bulky yarn is that it knits up so quickly.



The yarn is Rowan Soft Tweed. I had eight balls leftover from my Ravelympics 2008 project, which I have just realised I never blogged about (if I think I am a slack blogger these days I need to remind myself of the desert years), and I'm going to pair it with cream Cocoon leftover from last month's bulky jumper.

Goals for October

It felt like summer today, not October; but then as it started getting dark the air smelled like bonfires rather than barbecues and I could believe autumn was really here.

Here are my October goals:

• Go to the gym/a class/some exercise thing more than 15 times (thus beating September's total)
• Lose 10lbs
• Finish the Christmas jumper, aka "don't let the colourwork put you off"
• Make a start on something else - gloves or socks or some kind of Christmassy thing. I have it in mind to knit the wreath from the latest Debbie Bliss magazine, and I want to make some more Yule trees
• Do grandaughter duty, by phone or in person
• Clear out the spare room
• Visit Ikea for boxes and possible a sofa bed
• Something worky...hmm. The stuff from last month will defo have to be done this month so it feels like cheating to put it on there. Instead - plan the New Exciting Project I have conceived; find some sixth formers to run it and do the paperwork

October Weekend

It's always a good time for chutney!



From the last time I made chutney, I liked this type the best. I doubled it up this time.

• 900ml/1½ pint malt vinegar
  
• 450g/1lb light soft brown sugar
  
• 900g/2lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  
• 450g/1lb onions, chopped
  
• 225g/8oz raisins
  
• 25g/1oz English mustard powder
  
• 25g/1oz ground ginger
  
• 2 tsp yellow mustard seed
  
• 2 tsp mild curry powder
  
• 20g/¾ oz salt
  
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 110g/4oz walnut pieces
  

Heat the vinegar and the sugar until boiling. Add all the other ingredients except the walnuts and bring back to the boil. Cook until it's, well, chutney - probably 3-4 hours. Cool a little, stir through the walnuts and then pot into sterilised jars. Keep for a month to mature.

September Goals Round up

Stick to my new intended eating plan (I decided I'd give the Paleo diet a try since the sugar-free Lent seemed to suit me so well) 85% of the time
I am going to say yes to this. I have found it quite easy to stick to and it doesn't feel like a chore to eat tonnes of lovely fresh veggies and meat and fish. Thanks to sticking to it for a month my tastes have already changed - yesterday I had a slice of bread and butter for lunch and the butter just tasted of salt.  I'm definitely going to keep going with this one.

Use my gym membership 12 times 
Well, no. I used my gym membership 7 times, which means I paid £5 per visit - not too bad. I did, however, visit other classes/saw my PT 8 times through the month, for 15 exercise sessions in total. Not too shabby considering how busy I have been. No wonder I haven't had much blogging time.

Get the new techs project baselining done
No. It has just been manic this term so far - I can't believe five weeks have passed, because I have achieved nothing. I blame the re-marks, of which there were 35% more than normal, and the app-writing. All my school time is spent marking and planning lessons so that I don't have to do any of that at home.

Start the new techs weekly sessions going
Yes - well, I did one so far. It was not very well attended. I hope next week's will go better.

Launch and recruit some techie kids for the project
No, but I did get as far as talking another staff member into helping me.

Finish knitting my big, squidgy, cream caramel cardigan
Yes - see last blog post for far too many pictures of it.

Start knitting the red Christmas jumper I have been planning for two years
Yes, this is about half done now. Oh, how I love bulky weight yarn.

Recruit a cleaner
I found a number. I rang and left a message. They didn't ring back. So - not totally my fault!

Reorganise the wardrobe so I can actually see my clothes.
Sort of - I have taken out a lot of summer clothes and dresses I only wear occasionally. I still need to make a visit to Ikea to buy some storage boxes so I can put things like fancy dress clothes and ski wear in the loft. 

Blog at least 15 times. One down!
Only managed eight. Sadface. I had many good intentions. I am blaming the re-marks, again.