Take that, DPNS!!!

Of course, last night being the utterly bloggable moment that it was, I forgot my camera. I am teh dumB.

Well, I am blonde!

I am also now the proud owner of not one, but 2 sets of these babies

Addi Turbos! One set of 3.25mms, for that delectable sock yarn from the Natural Dye Studio that I have in my stash, and another set of 2.5mms, cos there's nothing quite like leaping in at the deep end.

We had been instructed to bring "scrap yarn" to get started on, which I did. Unfortunately, I hit a large problem, in the form of Jacqui and Lisa, the owners of This Is Knit. They were just so damn nice, and so enthusiastic about everything knitting related, that it blew me away. It took every ounce of self-restraint not to melt my credit card, and give myself a 2 year long knitting list, based on their recommendations.

I know that we knitters have a special bond. One that breaks down all walls and sense of shyness as soon as that stranger sitting beside you on the bus pulls out some yarn. It's one of the reasons I love my hobby so much.

Within about 2 seconds of arriving in the door last night and introducing myself, I had a cup of blackcurrant tea in my hands, and was wittering on about the new Debbie Bliss yarns that are in. (Which are, by the way, amazing when knitted up.)

As I walked around, squishing and fondling their stock, I resisted the urge to buy the yarn I plan on making a Clapotis from this summer. I stopped myself hovering by their shop mannequin, which was draped with the Noro Butterfly cardigan (another item on my to-knit list now).

With all of this self restraint, I felt I deserved a little reward. So I popped a ball of sock yarn up on the counter. It's teal, which is a good colour for my planned fathers day socks.




I bypassed the Tofutsies, while a waiting classmate was sucked in by their softness and lovely colourways. I grinned as she made jokes about not being able to leave it behind, despite telling herself that she was not going to buy more yarn this week.
She handed over her credit card, while I quietly added a ball of soft apple coloured baby cashmerino to my little pile on the counter. It will make a baby hat, I justified to myself, and a late present for OH's sister.

Yeah, that's it. Presents. Yarn can always be justified if it's being used to make presents for other people. See, I'm not a yarn ho. I'm a kind and giving person....

I went back to the Opal again, but didn't add another ball to the growing pile, as I remembered my small splurge on Tuesday (was that only on Tuesday? I could have sworn..) Suddenly, karma bit me on the ass for laughing at Tofutsies girl.

Two words.

Shepherd sock.



How I didn't strip down and roll around the floor in it, I'll never know.
It is some of the most delicious yarn ever. Ever.

Next minute, I'm sitting on a bean bag, more tea in hand, and there seems to be a shopping bag beside me. Further examination reveals the 2 addi's, the ball of Opal, my nice creen cashmerino and 2 skeins of shepherd sock in Mountain Creek! Another poke and I find some of this


10% discount? I'll take it in yarn, apparently!!!

So on to the knitting.
The casting on took me more time than any cast on in my life, as the funny yarn-related stories had already started, and I kept laughing til I lost count.

Magic loop rocks my socks.
Literally.

It makes perfect sense to my brain and fingers, which dpns never did.
After a few minutes of being all thumbs, I cast on again, for my first sock, with plenty of encouragement from our noble leaders. By the time the class wrapped up, I had finished the ribbing. I broke out the needles again on the bus home, and knitted away as easily as if I had 2 straight needles. At this rate, I'll have something actually resembling a sock and not just a sweat band by the time I break out the camera again!

No more porcupine wrestling for me.

No siree Bob.

Making up for lost yarn...er...I mean time.

I'd like to start by saying thanks so much for all your kind thoughts for my dad. It really does mean a lot to me. He's slowly improving, thankfully, so we're keeping everything crossed that he won't pick up another chest infection. He's gotta walk me up the aisle in a few months!

I forgot entirely that I didn't actually post a follow up to the scarf - his fathers day present - so lets make a start with that.

Two for one deal on that one...the first is a regular FO shot..



..and the second is a close up on the stitch pattern. Incredibly simple, but looks rather well, I think!


So I've been busy since last post.
I have spent my first night as an official resident of Belfast, as opposed to a visitor. It's not bad at all so far. I did mention that Jeans Wool Shop is just a few minutes stroll from my house, didn't I? Well, here it is!

It's small, and amazingly well stocked, without that small and cramped feeling that I often get in specialist stores of any flavour. I didn't take any indoorsy photos, as I didn't want to come off as a complete fangirl on my first visit. Next time ;)

So, I thought it would be rude not to buy anything having browsed all their stock, with the lovely Jenny enthusing all the while. I thought, seeing as I'm here, lets get some bamboo dpns then, as I'm determined to get back on that wagon.

Hey presto, some needles appear on the counter, and, being the nice lady that she is, she hands me a simple sock pattern as well.


See, that was the beginning of the end, as I was directed to a discount shelf filled with Opal sock yarn. Now, I've never knitted a sock in my life, so I shouldn't actually be suffering from "separated from sock yarn stash" anxiety, should I?

Wrong!!

The sickening part is, that I'm going back to Dublin tomorrow, and have a magic loop class, so I'll have 10% off all class-related materials....and they have Shepherd Sock!!!!

I'm such a total and utter...muppet.

That proverbial silver lining

Before I even get into the madness that is going to be my end of month..

I got a phonecall from my mother a few minutes ago, to say that my father had opened his eyes. Just for a few seconds, but still.

To most people, even those seriously ill in hospital, the act of opening eyes is second nature. For my dad, however, it's the equivilant of climbing Everest. It's the first time in almost 6 weeks that we've seen him open his eyes. He's finally starting to come around. I don't know whether I want to cry and throw up, or run out into the street and hug every-damn-person in the world.

The next few days are gonna be interesting, and exhausting. I'm heading to Cork this evening, and will be back in Dublin on Sunday. Then, dear readers, the move is on!
This girl is heading to Belfast!

Sure, it's only for 3 days this week, and I'll be going up at the crack of dawn with a couple of changes of clothing, my laptop and some yarn, but still.
Oh, and did I mention that my house is a leisurely stroll from Jean's Wool Shop? I managed to connect with the Stitch N Bitchers over the last week as well, so in a couple of weeks, I'll be heading to a meetup.

There shall be many, many, many photos and so much yarn porn that your google will block me! Or that's the plan.

In spite of going to vote last night, and the vast amounts of stress I found myself under in general, I still managed to get the first repeat on my wrap done. It's a very simple design, but I think it will look well.

For once, I exercised some restraint when getting into something new (A lacework shawl? In mohair?!) so didn't go for some of the more challenging patterns. I do have to make 2 of these after all, and quite quickly, so the chances of me being reduced to a sobbing wreck need to be kept to a minimum.

Ok, next post will have lots of photo's, I promise!
Please don't get too bored with me in the meantime!


Have a great weekend everyone, wherever it takes you.

Politics and yarn

Went out for a rather casual dinner last night after work with a friend. Good food, good wine, good company. The kind of thing that life is all about.

It being a schoolnight, though, I was in my pajamas (or Thundercats tshirt, in my case) at 11pm. I flicked off the light, and lay there in the dark. I turned and twisted and tried to get comfy and settle down, but after about 10 minutes of being a complete fidget, I gave up. 11.30pm last night found me propped up in bed...casting on.

Yup, there's no cure for having busy fingers and a busy head like starting a new lace project! I broke out the baggies of Sirdar blur, and cast on. It's a rather nice yarn to knit with. It's a mohair/acrylic blend, so it's soft and silky, but if you need to frog a few lines you don't need a vodka and a vallium to get through it.

Knitting, to me, is incredibly theraputic. Ok, so I only got through the garter stitch lines that comprise the wrap set up, but by the end, I was feeling relaxed and calm enough to settle down for the night. Counting stitches is far superior to counting sheep, in my experience.

Today is voting day in Ireland. It's a general election, as opposed to just local election. I didn't get to vote in the last one, as I wasn't on the register. I was deleted off it. Apparently students don't bother or need to bother with pesky things like politics. I moved to Dublin nearly 3 years ago, and was again deleted at some point during this time. The difference being that I was well aware of their crap admin, and sent in my paperwork in November, so a polling card came for me last week.
(It's not just me. 100,000 people were "accidently" deleted off the register last year. Sounds a bit too like dimpled chads for my liking.)

This evening, I shall be exercising my constitutional right, and doing some ticking of boxes. Me, I'll be voting for who I consider to be the lesser of several dozen charlatans. I'm hoping for balance, in the end. I'd like to see people in charge who have the best interests of their constituents in mind, and not just their golf/rugby/chess buddies. Someone who can balance environmental and social causes, and not run the country into the ground financially at the same time. Someone who realises that total seperation of church and state is the way forward, and is not just "anti-Christian".

A very tall order, I realise, but I live in hope.

Some days, hope is all we have.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I received a box in the post at work today.
In it are 2 green MY LITTLE CTHULHU'S!!!!!!!

*jumps around like a mad thing*

One is for me, the other is a gift.
Roll on payday. I'm gonna gets me a red one too....hur hur.

I also received something else yarn-related and most squee worthy, but I want to save that news til later.

Bad knitter, no cookie...

So this is my excuse for an update today.
Mostly work has gotten insanely busy, which doesn't give me time for doing anything other than loading up a podcast or 7 to type by.

Before I start, I just want to thank everyone who has left comments. I really, really appreciate them all. It's so nice to know that I'm not just talking to myself!

For anyone who has missed it, Saturday June 9th is World Wide Knit In Public Day. Sign ups to host events have past, but there seem to be events happening all over the place. If you surf on over to http://www.wwkipday.com/ there is a list of locations that have WWKIP things going on. I won't be near any of them, unfortunately, but I shall knit in various locations around the hospital, and think of you all.
Next up, is something I discovered entirely by accident. It's Fibrefest!
Sure, it's not on til September, and it's in England, but it does excite me. There are classes, demos, stalls....it's all so fabulous!

I've never been to a fibre fest, or a celebration of all things sheepy.
The idea of a festival to natural fibres, and the myriad of things that can be done with said fibres, is fantastic. If it wasn't on so close to my wedding, I'd be booking my flight now. So, if you're in the area at the time, be sure to support it. You might even get some bargains!

Moving swiftly along... I've been knitting a while. Off and on since the age of 7. (That story is a post in itself, so I'll save it til later!) I'm a vaguely decent knitter, having taken up my pointy sticks again a year ago, following a 10 year break from them. My stash is growing steadily, including some gorgeous sock yarn.

What's so unusual about the sock yarn?
Possibly the fact that I ...


.....can't knit in the round!!!
*dies of shame*

I realise that as with anything, getting started is the hardest bit. I've had multiple arguements with my dpns, each battle ending with me sucking my thumb and scowling.

No more, I tells ya!

Next Wednesday, I'm heading to my LYS after work, and I shall fear the sock no more. I'm going to learn the magic loop method.

Of course this means that as soon as I master it, all other projects will be abandoned in favour of knitting socks. I've only had 2 pairs of handknit socks in my life. One I outgrew, and one wore out to a level that no darning could fix. Both times I was devistated.

Soon, there shall be socks. Many, many socks.
Wish me luck!

Wahoo!

It's a two-post Monday, and a photo to boot!

I love how stuff comes in the post just when I'm feeling completely poo.
Here we are:
I'm now the proud owner of a Brother yarn/ball/wool winder.
Faaaaabulous.

Ok, so I still have daydreams verging on erotic about Nancy's KnitPicks yarn/ball/wool winder, but at $199, it's a little beyond my budget right now. (A little? Who am I trying to kid??!!)

But wait! There's a plan!

After several months of buying stuff on eBay, I've got good feedback, and decided to milk this by selling a few bits. Nothing terribly interesting - a few books that I have 2 of, some bits and pieces that I was given that will never do anything other than gather dust. I have, today, made my first sale. w00t!
The next plan is to find even more sellable stuff, and sell it, and thereby save enough cash in my paypal account to pay for a knitpicks winder.

But haven't I just received a winder in the post? Surely that will last longer than 10 minutes? Has it even been set up yet?

This is where I get cryptic, and say that it "pertains to future plans and endevours".

Ain't I just a tease?!

Those 3am moments of clarity

So, another weekend spend on a train and in a hospital has passed, and it's Monday again. Bah and humbug.

I got sod all knitting done this weekend. Didn't want to cast on a new project on the train (new project is lace) and risk a sudden bump or stop resulting in me flushing my yarn. Cardigan is now too big and annoying to bring on public transport.

Instead of knitting, I read some Harry Potter. Order of the Phoenix. I've had it since the day it was released, and never managed to finish it, due to moving house and classes and other real life (tm) stuff. My next problem is that my copy of Half-Blood Prince is in storage. Gah.

Well I should have some proper pics for you again tomorrow - I'm bringing home the lappy tonight, which means that I can do some uploading. Huzzah!

I do have many, many plans at the moment though, some even involve yarn. Yes, I'm remaining cryptic for now. I think I've decided that I need to retrain (as opposed to thinking and then dismissing said thoughts), and in what.

Since the age of 4, I've been studying drama. I even spent 2 years going to a professional acting school. Somehow, I managed to end up in a desk job, where my unofficial title is CS manager/office manager/I.T. manager. It is a strange evolution.

Don't get me wrong - as office jobs go, this one rocks. I really like the people I work with. They're nice, friendly people, and when we have nights out we have a blast. The work is challenging enough to keep me on my toes, but not so challenging that I'm pulling out my hair in frustration.

Despite this, I'm setting myself up to leave. It won't be until next year, but I will be leaving this job, in the hope that my creative endevours will work out.
There is about 4% chance of me ever being a working and bill paying actor. The two sides of that equation only meet in those lucky few that grace our screens on a regular basis.

I'm not giving up though. I'm just...expanding.
Hopefully my waistline won't follow suit as well!

.....watch this space....

Tagged and ready for departure

It seems that I've been tagged by Nan.
I always worry that I will bore people with things that I think they might find interesting. Here's my attempt!

So this is how it works: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.


Alrighty then...
1. I'm an only child.

2. I'm useless at delagating tasks to other people, because I'm never convinced they'll get done to my standards and on deadline.

3. Little by little, my "great" office job is killing me. I will be in a padded cell if I don't get off my butt and work in something creative again.

4. Snakes. Snakes squick me out. I think it has something to do with them not having legs, as I am rather taken with lizards, geckos and the like.

5. I have a hamster. His name is Dagon. (He tells me to do things...like buy yarn).

6. My yarn stash is scarily organised. Just about everything is in labelled ziplocs. Sometimes I think that if I have the time to label and bag all my yarn, I obviously have a small and puny stash.

7. I bake when I'm stressed. This normally results in several phonecalls to people to come and help me scale the cake mountain.

I'm going to be a big chicken and not tag anyone, but if anyone would like to do this after seeing it here, please comment so that I can go and read yours as well!

Right, well this apparently is a knitting blog, so I'll mention that I got a whole inch done on the ever-present wraparound cardigan last night, before my eyes decided they weren't on speaking terms with my fingers anymore. The only thing less exciting than endless rows of stocking stitch are endless rows of moss stitch on 4.5mm needles.
I was home a tad late last night, having decided to go on a window-shopping walk after work to clear my mind. I may have ended up in several bookshops. I may have bought Charmed Knits. I may have stayed up til 2am wondering what to knit that wouldn't be too warm to wear on my trip to the next HP movie. I may be too geeky for my own good.

Next we have the entirely random "Things I see on my walk to work". I don't have any stalkers that I know of, but if I do, I may be making things a bit easy for them.

Anyway, here it is.



It was raining rather heavily this morning, and just as I got to Dublin castle, the rain cleared and the sun peeped out for a moment. Nice metaphor, that.

rjeanvgpntcp!!!!

So there I am at my desk, with my lovely mug of vanilla red tea brewing beside me, and LimeNViolet on my earphones.

Naturally the moment that I need to stifle a loud giggle happens as I have the teabag balanced on the spoon, hovering precariously over the bin. Naturally it went entirely off target and landed with a loud splat.

On my foot?
Nope!
Beside the bin on the ground?
I wish!

No, dear readers (I delude myself into believing that there are lots of readers and I'm not just wibbling to myself ) I landed the hot, liquid-filled teabag dead on target into...


MY HANDBAG!!!!

Argh!!!

My book is currently drying out on the windowsill, and my wallet smells of vanilla and honey. I think it's a reminder of my blondness from the universe...

Mission accomplished

Wahoo! Scarf done!

I'll see what I can do about getting some pics up tonight or tomorrow.
I think it looks rather funky, but I may be slightly biased.

This means that I'm back to one on-the-needles project, which is the cardigan.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm still as enthusiastic as ever about the wonderfulness of Twilleys yarn, and the pattern is something that even I can manage without too much trouble.

I was actually doing really well with it until I ran out of yarn and cast on the scarf.
I love the cardigan, even though it involves endless rows of moss stitch, the sloooooowest stitch in the world, ever. I don't mind that it's going to be weeks upon weeks before I get it done, because it's going to be really nice - I hope.
The thing is that the scarf was just so damn fast (once I actually got some knitting time sorted)!! Probably 10 hours from cast on to finished product, including weaving in the ends. It's ginormous, and shiny, and I now have "completed project buzz". If I had a caramel machiato right now, things would be pretty perfect.

I guess the poor cardigan is destined to be on the back burner for a bit, destined to be ignored apart from weekends and train journeys and other times when I have a couple of hours of potentially uninterrupted knitting time available. It's just too damn big for carrying around in my handbag like other projects, waiting for me to do a few lines while I'm on the bus, having coffee or waiting for a movie to start.

Next up then should, if I use the rational part of my brain (as opposed to the bit that makes the squeeeeee noise around yarn) is to get the first of the wedding wraps cast on.

This is the yarn I have for them, except they'll be black. The whole lot is currently in two ziploc bags in my knitting "tidy". I can't remember whether the pattern calls for 5mm or 5.5mm needles. I don't think it matters that much, it being a wrap and all, but I'm sure my lack of 5's would be the perfect procrastination tool. Should I be so inclined....and stuff....

Apart from ordering the rings, I haven't been doing anything wedding-related of late. I'm not consiously avoiding things, I just always seem to find something else to do instead. I guess there's just a little part of me that's completely terrified that my dad won't be able to walk me up the aisle come autumn.

So should I remain in denial (it's not just a river in Egypt, folks!) and possibly end up blocking the wraps the day before the wedding, and start on something else now, or should I get over it and start them, hoping that by the time I get them done that all will be right with the world once more?

I have to admit, that "something else" is looking awfully tempting right about now.

Let the great clearout commence

....just slowly. Very slowly. Most of my stuff, junk and all, is in storage at my parents house, and heavens know when I'll be back there again. So I'm clearing out what I have in the fabled box room.

I'm flogging a few bits on eBay (selling stuff on eBay = money for yarn), and FreeCycling some other stuff at the moment. Don't worry, nothing knitting related. Mostly unwanted gifts and things that have accumulated in my room even though I've been doing my best to avoid said "things" accumulating.

Tonight will involve finishing off the scarf for dad. Only a few more rows to do, and then weave in the ends and block it. I'll bring it down to Cork at the weekend then.

Pity he isn't awake to see it.
Soon, soon...

Things that make you go oooh

Everyone, no matter where they live, has a favourite bit of their city/town/village/hamlet.
This is one of mine, which I walk past every day on my way to work (complete with morning traffic)



The bridge is connected on the left to a building that houses the Dublinia exhibition. On the right is Christ Church Cathedral, a famous and beautiful Dublin landmark.

Christchurch is rather old. There has been a church of one form or another on the site since around 1030. The world premiere of Handels Messiah was sung by the cathedral choir. The building as we know it today is rather Victorian gothic in style, due to major renovations in the 1800's.

Things have changed a lot, even since the victorian renovation project.
The bridge that was used (and still is) as a walkway between both buildings reminds me of the time when members of religious orders of various descriptions never really saw the outside world. The bridge would have brought them from their living quarters to the church and back again, without their feet touching the streets of the busy city outside.

The whole concept of cloistered life is a very alien thing to us in our age of constantly looking to the future. In a round about sort of way, it's one of the reasons that I love knitting and handcrafts so much. It's the perfect balance between the past and the future. The tools may have changed, but it's still the same basic process as it was a thousand years ago. Pretty nifty, huh?

Wahoo!

Camera cables found, photos transferred, smiles all round.

So, to start, here's the blue scarf of doom that I can now put to rest entirely, having blogged it. It's being modelled by the birthday girl herself.


One down :)

This is the current scarf, for my dad.

It's going to be finished this weekend (it is, dammit!) and blocked next week. The colourway is entirely different to any pictures I've found of it online.That's my foot crammed into the side of the picture. Did I mention that my room is teeny?

Well since I had my camera out, I thought I'd take another couple of pics, to make up for the ongoing drought here.

First off, we have my little yarn tidy.

The blue blob on the left with the needles in it is the cardigan. I'm not going to post pics til it gets to the stage where it's done apart from the arms, because it's knit in one piece and looks silly right now.


Next we have a cone of yarn of mystery yarn in a shade called Lagoon.
It's a nice colour, but not a very nice yarn to knit with. Still, it's yarn. It came to me as part of a large box o' yarn from a destash that my mothers friend was doing.
In front of that is a leftover ball of Kilcarra in Moss, the ball of black is for a craft me-me thing that I should have started months ago.
In the ziploc bag we have 3 balls of Sirdar Blur for starting on as soon as I get done with the current scarf. They will, by the magic of television, be turned into a fabulous lacework wrap for my chief bridesmaid to wear at my wedding.
Underneath that lot is another bag of Blur and a few other bits. I am a one skein ho.

There's more hiding in the wardrobe, and under the bed. And in the wardrobe of my room in my parents house. Oh, and a bunch went to the new house already.


.....and we all know that yarn kept in desk drawers at work doesn't really count, cos we haven't even had a chance to look at (or fondle) properly yet. It's only just out of the mailbag, for heavens sake!

Eureka!!

I quizzed OH about the mythical camera cables yesterday afternoon, and he denied all knowledge. Or gave me the brush off. Technically the same thing. Last night I got home at 11.30pm, and decided to rip apart the box room, just so I could have the pleasure of saying "They're not here so you must have them. Please search" and after about 20 minutes of scrabbling around on the floor, I found them, chucked under the bed.

Now I'm not saying that he hid them for the purpose of making me dump/pack stuff, but lets just say that last time I saw them, they were firmly attached to the usb port at the front of the pc.

So there shall be piccies of a vaguely productive and entertaining nature tomorrow.
Huzzah.

Got absolutely zero knitting done in the last 48 hours, due to work being all-consuming (with this ickle break for updating) and going to see The Lives of Others last night. Very good movie, though not really one I'd recommend if you're in the mood for some brain candy. Funnily enough, I've started reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas this morning, as it was next on the stack.

Oh, and I was a bit blonde the other day with my scarf yarn info. It's not Tivoli, it's Wendy Fusion, and the colourway is Allspice. What spices are blue and purple, I don't know, but who am I to argue.
Mine seems to have massive amounts more mustard than anticipated, which was actually zero. The outside of the ball was a dark red and purply-blue. I didn't poke at the inside, which I really should have, because in the course of working my way through the ball I realized that it's mustard. Very, very mustard.
I have learned my lesson. Variagated yarn shall be poked from this point on.

Hrmmm....

Well it appears that my darling other half took those useful connect-camera-to-pc cables to Belfast with him when he moved the pc. So I lugged my laptop home for pretty much zero result last night.

I did find a handy pic of the yarn I'm using for the cardigan though, just to inject a little colour in here - ain't I thinky?


It's Twilleys of Stamford. Spirit in Air. Gorgeous, gorgeous yarn to knit with. So much so that 2 of the 4 scarves I knitted as Christmas gifts were made from it. Different colourways, though. Can't have us all in matching knits. Far too Brady Bunch for my liking. The yarn itself is so soft, it feels like clouds. Or how I imagine that clouds would feel, if I were 5 again and hadn't reached that bit in the science book yet.

In other news, my dad is still in hospital. The chest infection is refusing to go without a fight, which is completely killing his recovery time.
Still, we knew our mantra for this month would be "baby steps", and we have to remember that.

Wedding bands have been picked and quoted for, and will be ordered tomorrow.
I must admit to being more than a little excited about that.
They match my engagement ring, which is a bonus, considering I have teeeeny fingers and thought it would be a nightmare to get something that fitted and that we both liked.
Here's my one:


Pretty, no?

Well I've been living completely outside of the "real world" for the last couple of weeks - or perhaps too much in it.
This is my first day of net connection since my last post. My dad isn't well, so I've mostly been sitting by his hospital bedside. He won't be out for several weeks, but I've had to leave my mother there as it's rather important that I don't lose my job. I also managed to miss OH's birthday in spectacular style during this period. I suck.

While I was away, I got a nice bit of work done on the cardigan, then promptly ran out of yarn. In fairness, I thought I was only going to be there for 5 days, so I didn't bring all the yarn for the project with me. I'll know better next time.

So there I was, with no patterns, no yarn and a pair of freebie needles off the cover of a magazine. On investigation, there is a rather nice yarn shop in Cork. It's a little on the expensive side for some things, but has a nice selection of the big brands. It was a little worrying that the staff didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned gauge or blocking though. Still, I've got a lovely dropped stitch scarf for my dad on the needles, which should be finished for the weekend. It's in Tivoli Fusion, but I can't remember the colourway off the top of my head.

I'm breaking the camera out tonight, so will have some snaps tomorrow, all going well. What a boring blog with no photos!

Hope you've all been doing well anyway.

Oh, and my Lornas Laces was sitting on my desk when I arrived in this morning. Yay!