HOL-I-DAY!

oh sweet sweet holidays, how much am I loving you?!  Two whole weeks; no alarms, no deadlines or audits, no students.  

I haven't had a chunk of leave since I started in my new role at the start of the year and boy, was it starting to show.  I've been looking forward to this since July, I swear.

This first week I'm pretty much my own person, as Lily's at her Dad's and my fella's working, so I've been planning how to fit in all the projects I have put on the backburner, like resetting the layout of the kitchen and loungeroom furniture and appliances, giving my old kitchen dresser a fresh lease on life with a lick of paint, setting up new displays and clearing some clutter out and down to the garage.  I've got gardening to do, and some paintings and prints to hang.  I've made pompom garland that needs to be hung.  You know, ALL the things!

My girl gets back Friday and then we are heading off to a beach house down at Phillip Island for the second week so the pressure is on to get the bulk of my projects done before we leave. Phillip Island has a special place in my heart, having spent many summers there as a child at my aunt's beach house, and I can't wait to get on Island time...

I've also got a (lofty) goal to complete my two cardigans that are on the needles by the end of my leave, and a week away might be just the ticket to get that done!  Girl Friday needs some sleeves and a button band/collar, and Morganite is up to the yoke, but that yoke is all lace, and is taking some serious concentration to get it set up properly.  

The pattern is gorgeous, but my one tiny criticism is the instructions around the set up of the lace when you incorporate the body and the sleeves into the yoke are decidedly vague.  I haven't found many posts on Ravelry about similar problems people might have encountered, so I'm working slowly and checking things twice.  I've already ripped out once, after knitting 6 rows and realising despite following the written instructions, I hadn't managed to pair up the lace correctly.

I often over-think instructions, so I'm aware the issue is most likely with me however I do get frustrated when patterns leave things up to interpretation.  Do they count the yo's in the "last three stitches of Chart X" for example?  Or telling me to just work in stocking stitch if I can't manage to pair up all decreases and increases.  It's too much thinking for me! 

I've been alternating rows on my skeins, and I think I've managed to incorporate the different skeins quite well so far.  I used the darker on on the cuffs of the sleeves, then once past the ribbing I started alternating with one of the three matched skeins.  I'm just about to start introducing the much lighter skein around the yoke so hopefully this goes equally well.

I think I'm going to do a bit of project monogamy on this one and fingers crossed it will be finished before the weekend, so I can just take Girl Friday with me to the Island.  

Wish me luck!

wanderlust

This week, I am dreaming of travel.  

Travel to far away lands, full of new inspirations and different views. To hear of different accents and languages, to eat different foods, and observe and soak up alternative customs to everything that seems so familiar.

The Shetland Isles and Iceland are high on my planning list.  All that textiles tradition to soak up.  
Chile and Portugal are the next on the list, some warmth to balance the Artic climate.   Ahh, but for the simple but harsh fact of funds (or lack thereof, more pointedly).

I've tried to satisfy (kind of) my wanderlust with some yarn purchases, although purchasing yarn is probably why I don't have a travel fund!.

Misti Alpaca and Berroco Alpaca, to make a thick, warm shawl.  Both are lovely.  

The Berroco wasn't my first pick, but the colour I had paired with the Misti (Sangria) was out of stock so I had to look for alternatives.  I think the brassy green pairs well with the lavender though, particularly now I see them in the flesh.

Work is travelling along nicely on the Girl Friday cardigan.  Still loving it, but not really photo worthy, I'm afraid.  Body is d.o.n.e.  Need to cast on sleeves tonight, then it's just the collar and the button bands.  I'm not fooling anyone including myself with that "just".  They are both some hefty amounts of ribbing to get through...

Grace is in the naughty corner, where I fear she will stay indefinitely.  I think I've lost the love.

but more about that maybe next week...time out can work miracles, so they tell me.

For now, I'm going back to my travel planning.