In praise of the unexpected

I can assure you that I'm surprised as you are to see a crochet blanket popping up here. I had absolutely no intention to start one and I certainly didn't wake up yesterday morning with that that in mind. If anything, on my day off yesterday I was sneakily planning to start another Mitered Square sock yarn blanket but this one to be in seasonal 'panels'. A more portable version to use up some of my more colourful sock yarn and one which could come out and about with me.

Then, two things happened. The first was that I managed to twinge my back quite badly - getting out of the car. As a consequence I found myself trying to distract myself from the pain with a bit of pattern surfing and I came across the Spring into Summer crochet pattern. This is a crochet blanket using the 'corner to corner' method of construction. A way of knitting a blanket without the super long and super fiddly foundation row which I detest with a passion and whigh I never fail to rip out at least three times before getting it right.

You just start off at one corner and increase as you go. The pattern I found is beautifully simple and most importantly has good clear pictures. 

My only rule for this blanket is no grey or dark colours. This is going to be light, bright and fun. I might do 1 large square or break it up into 4 square panels - I'll see how I go as the square gets bigger. For now I am just content to work away on my new found obsession. 

A knitters day off

If I'm slightly giddy with excitement this morning I'm afraid you will have to forgive me. The reason is simpless- for the first time since before half term - 5 weeks ago - I get to have the house to myself. The boys will be in school and immobile DH is starting back at work with his crutches and ice packs at the ready. Once I've done the necessary drop offs and grocery shopping I have a whole 5 hours to myself.

Let joy be unconfined.

Now in the true style of an introvert I plan to spend the time by myself, alone. I might read a little, I might go for a walk but mostly I plan to just sit and knit. Time alone is how I recharge my batteries, deal with problems and cope with whatever life throws at me. Having absolutely no time to myself over the last few weeks has been one of the hardest things about DH's  surgery when the only time I've had to myself is when I'm driving- and that doesn't really count.

So I'm out of bed at the crack of dawn this morning. Hustling everyone to get ready for school and work - the sooner I get them despatched the sooner the 'me time' can commence.

What's your favourite way to relax and recuperate? Are you a classic introvert like me or do you seek the company and stimulation of other people?

Don't be a flat squirrel

As knitting blogs go - you’ve got to admit that the title is a bit of a strange one.

A favourite saying of an old college lecturer of mine - this one has stuck with me over the years and never has it been more apt than now. Whether it is deciding on which new sweater pattern to buy from Ravelry to picking a new logo for the web site I can be guilty of the most horrible procrastination and over thinking.

The end result is predictable of course, I don’t do anything.

The worst thing that can happen to a knitting project is that it stalls at a point where a decision is needed. Do I have enough yarn to make 2 full length sleeves or should I cut them short? Should I stop and turn the heel now or turn them into afterthought heels?

A quick inventory of my WIP basket(s) shows that all of them - apart from an interminable grey sweater for DH - are stalled pending a decision from me. And the daft thing is that in most cases a quick 10 or 15 minutes of quality time with that particular WIP is enough for me to assess it, work out what needs to be done and to make a decision.

Indecision struck again this weekend during my #bedinburghyarnfest. I was determined to cast on a new sweater for myself and my task was simple. Pop on to Ravelry and find a suitable pattern. Predictably though, the more patterns I looked at the more indecisive I became. Having a time constraint didn't help the sense of pressure either.

My learning point from this was that my queue is in desperate need of a good sort out and a matching up to yarn in my stash. That way, next time I can make the process a lot more straightforward.

For this week though, my task is simple. Just make a decision. Whether I am faced with a WIP or an issue on my website. Make a decision and move on.

Not now, I'm counting

I'm currently enjoying working on a fab colourwork project - a kit from Lucy Locket Land - and it is a sheer joy to work on. Lovely, sheepy wool, bright colours and the sheer joy of two handed colourwork knitting. When you are in the zone it's a great feeling and you hum contentedly to yourself as you work your way along the rows and see the wonderful pattern emerging.

Except if you are in my house. In the same way that kids can sense the opening of a fridge door or the fact that you are embarking on an Important Phone Call, my two have an unerring knack for knowing when I'm in the middle of a knitting project that requires counting.

Any requests from "have you seen my trainers" to "the cats have brought in a mouse again" is met with a renewed focus on the work in the front of me and the muttered response "I'm counting". It's like they have a sixth sense and without fail, they know exactly the worst possible time to interrupt me.

They are pretty quick learners though, I'll give them that. By the end of the weekend they were wise enough to realise that if I had the 'grey woolly thing' in my lap then they should just back away quietly. My eldest boy even went for extra brownie points for sidling back into the room, quietly depositing a jaffa cake at the side of me and then leaving again.

I think I know what happened to the rest of the packet of jaffa cakes but it was a small price to pay for getting some uninterrupted time with my new favourite project.

Things I learnt from my Festival At Home

Don't get me wrong, whilst I thoroughly enjoyed my #bedinburghyarnfest day I'll be the first to admit that the day didn't go entirely in accordance with my nice neat plan.

• It didn't start well, when immobile DH insisted on coming on the grocery shop with me. I had planned on a quick, military style operation to get the necessary snacks. Shepherding a bear with a sore head(knee) around a crowded Waitrose full of intolerant and grumpy people slowed me down somewhat.

And my quick browse in Ravelry threatened to derail proceedings. Chronic indecision struck and not only could I not decide on a sweater pattern I also couldn't find a single pair of 4mm needle tips in the house. Faced with the choice of pulling the needles out of an existing project (don't judge - we've all done it) or settling down with an existing project I opted for the latter.

I made good progress on my colourwork hot water bottle cosy but then had to search for something easier for rugby watching. My stash search produced 3 skeins of Blacker Yarns Cornish Tin 2 which would have been perfect but on closer inspection one of the skeins had an almighty tangle in it. I decided that untangling it wasn't in the spirit of the day so it went back into the stash.

I did manage to locate a beautiful yarn cake - bought at EYF last year from The Wool Kitchen. A ready to knit gradient yarn from the Urban hints range. This has been cast on into a nice simple shawl. For now I'm just working simple stocking stitch and I'll decide on a border later on.

For next  time my learning points would be to

• Wind yarn ahead of time
• Plan a new cast on properly and amass the necessary materials - don't try to do it on the fly
• Buy more snack - and don't forget the cake!

The secret of a good festival at home: A list of course

Like anything else, the secret to a successful knitting day at home is all in the planning. After much thought and deliberation ( and my 2nd cup of coffee) I hearby present my agenda for the day.

8.00am to 10.00am: Market shopping and domestic chores. Particular attention being given to the buying of snacks which are easy for a 10 and 11 year old to prepare and eat (as they will be in charge of feeding themselves and immobile DH).

10.00 to 10:30am: Home to unload shopping and make offspring aware of location of all of Saif snacks. Mental note to check kick off times for Six Nations rugby.

10.30am to 11:00am: Ravelry surfing to find pattern for DK weight sweater for me. This time slot is strictly limited to avoid falling down a black hole.

11:00am to 12noon : Cast on for new colourwork hot water bottle cosy. Have a slice of cake.

12noon to 13:00: Lunch and reading a good book (must pop into library whilst in town)

13:00 to 14:00: Cast on for DK weight sweater. Have another slice of cake.  

14:00 to 15:00: Check downstairs that no one is injured, bleeding or starving and work on colourwork project again.

15:00 to 16:00: Try to finish stripy sock in progress and set up for afterthought heel.

16:00 to 17:00: Stash rootle. Find a fab skein of yarn for an impulsive and frivolous cast on. Have a cheeky glass of Prosecco.

17:00 to 18:00: work on frivolous and impulsive cast on.

18:00 to 19:00: Join family for dinner (take Prosecco with me) and catch up with rugby chat.

19:00 to 21:00: Find good Netflix family film. Settle down with Mitered Square sock yarn blanket.

21:00 to 22:00: Small peeps and immobile DH to bed. Settle back on sofa. Bring remainder of cake out of hiding and finish it - being careful to cancel crumbs.

22:00: and so to bed.

If I'm cunning I may be able to repeat this on Sunday too - fingers crossed.