Just so you know...

...I am a genius. Not only is my sock knitting going according to schedule, I’ve also had time to finish The Fox. Or rather, V is for Vineyard by the Prairie Schooler. Excuse the craptastic quality of the picture.

I love it. In fact, I love it so much that I started another letter from the Alphabet Series straight away, to wit: L is for Leaves. But, yup, you’ve guessed it, I forgot to take a pic. And really, I’ve only finished one tiny leaf, so you’re not missing much.

The socks I’m knitting for gifts are boring to knit and would no doubt be boring to behold, so I’m showing you a little something I did by way of light entertainment a couple of days ago:

This sock pattern is called Hwæt!, designed by The Sanguine Gryphon, and it features the first part of the Old English verse Beowulf. This bit of knitting was just a little trial. I knew it would probably be too small, and it is: can’t get it over my ankle (which isn’t even that fat), but I just wanted to see if I could do two-stranded knitting. I think I can now, and will be casting on a larger size once the gift socks are out of the way. Just so you know? I. Am. Smitten.

Ooooooooh, I’m also smitten with Harry Potter!!!! I know I’m awfully late joining the party, but I’ve just finished The Philosopher’s Stone (which I had already read), and I’ve started part two (which I have also already read, back in the day when part four [The Goblet of Fire] hadn’t even been released yet), and I have every intention of finishing all seven of the books before the end of the year. It’s very difficult to navigate your way around all the spoilers that circulate on the internet, though. I already know things about the plot I really don’t want to know yet. Just so you know, though, I couldn’t give a toss about Harry P. himself (sacrilege!). It’s Snape I’m interested in. But then I always go for the dark, mysterious, broody types :o)

Pelle is away for two whole nights and three whole days, so I’m off to enjoy a very lavish little holiday, filled with knitting, reading, stitching, reading, gardening, reading and maybe a bit of sleeping too. Weeeeeeee!

Yours vacationingly,
Annemarie.

Foxiness galore

It’s official: I have no taste. You came here in droves to tell me that the sock I was knitting looked lovely in its sewage-ness, so I plodded on and finished it. Alas, I forgot to take a picture because I was in such a dreadful hurry because I finish-finished something else and am on the point of finishing another something else and I'm so insanely busy with all of this crafting and gift-making that I hardly have time to breathe! Okay, let's go. Last things first. Look what I discovered in my UFO drawer:

Isn’t it fabby? I remember putting it away some... ohhhhh, six years ago, because I ran out of DMC 523 (which is, of course, a perfectly good reason to stick something in a drawer and never take it out until you find it by accident and fall in love with it all over again). Since recovering it from the dreaded UFO drawer, I’ve already filled in most of the grass and I have high hopes of being able to show you a finish pretty soon.

Now what do you think I found when I unfolded the fabric?

Squeeeeee! A finish!

From 2005. It is in serious need of framing, don’t you think?

***

Next Thursday will be Pelle’s last day at his medical daycare centre. On the 22nd of August he will be going to a proper school - well, a proper school for children who are not right in the head, obviously, but still, a proper school. I’m sure you will hear much more about it when the new school year is underway. Knowing my wee one, he’s not going to enjoy the first couple of months very much. Anyway, as a sort of thank-you-and-goodbye-gift, I’m knitting the infernal socks for the teachers, but I also wanted something special for the lady who accompanies the kids in the school bus, Erika. She is the loveliest woman ever, she’s 71 years old (!) and she’s very special to Pelle and to me. She never wears a coat or anything, because that’s too much hassle with al those children who need so much help getting in and out of the bus, but she loves to wear thick sweaters with cowls, in order to keep warm in the winter. Last year, I started a cowl for myself, and it was very nearly finished. It just happened to have all of Erika’s favourite colours in it (judging from the clothes she wears), and so I finished it this morning, with the intention of giving it to her. I must admit I’m totally and completely and madly head over heels in love with it, as it’s versatile, warm, soft, non-scratchy, it’s huge and it’s just... I’m crying over here... too gorgeous to give away, but I’m going to anyway. As my face currently looks like the cats used me as a scratching post, I’ve hired the services of a body double... well, a face double, really. Meet Tante Trui (or Aunt Gertrude in English):

Lovely, no?

Keep your fingers crossed that next week Ill be able to show you that stitchy finish!

Yours industriously,
Annemarie.