“Lust is an arrogant and haughty beast…”

“…and far from subtle.”

I am usually a monogamous person, but this month I’ve found myself lusting after others. Worse, I have been acting upon those lusts.

Luckily (for my husband at least) all I’m talking about is knitting.

I normally focus on one project, finish it (or frog it, as the case may be) and then begin another. I think I have juggled projects before, but it’s not my habit.

I don’t know what’s changed, perhaps I’m fickle, perhaps the draw of the new was too much for me, perhaps all my willpower is being used elsewhere, but I have succumbed to the lure of casting on something new.

I’m part-way through a cardigan (Peloponnese) and I found that the needle I had planned to use for the sleeves wasn’t suitable (too long). Instead of using other needles or just knitting it flat, however, I cast on a pair of socks.

So now I’m partway through two projects. And I’m not feeling a great desire to pick up either…. I want to knit my sleeves in the round on a circular needle (rather than DPNs) but I don’t have the correct needle. And as my birthday is coming up, I don’t want to buy myself new gear. But I’m not feeling any great desire to continue the socks, because they are tiny and fiddly and make my wrist hurt.

The silver lining is that I’m not casting on a third project (though I do have a very worthy one waiting in the wings), instead I’m tucking into a nice juicy book. Yum!

Maybe next week I’ll be able to show some knitting progress, but right now I need to get back to Wheel of Time and check what Perrin’s doing…


*Quote from Mervyn Peake

"To succeed, planning alone is insufficient..."

"...One must improvise as well."

As I alluded to in my previous post, I was expecting a delivery of wool. I love getting wool. It's very exciting. I hate choosing wool (too many possibilities!) and I hate buying wool (so very expensive!) but boy, do I love receiving wool!

I have this very cheap and very soft Baby DK from Paintbox Yarns:

Which will join forces with some cream Sirdar Snuggly DK to make Peloponnese by Sandi Rosner (Ravelry link here):

Sandi Rosner

I have this rich navy fingering weight Heritage Solids wool from Cascade Yarns:

Which will ultimately become Navigate by Annie Lupton (Ravelry Link here):

Annie Lupton

I have some silky Bamboo Cotton by King Cole:

Which I'll use for Confetti by Rain Knitwear Designs (Ravelry Link here):

Rain Knitwear Designs

And finally I have some funky Paintbox Yarns sock wool to make socks of some description:

YUM.

*Quote from Isaac Asimov

"It's like, how much more black could this be?"

 "...and the answer is none. None more black."

This was actually completed right at the very end of last year so has already been included in 2017's wrap up, but it's a bit early to be able to flaunt 2018's FOs.

This is a Tegan Baby Hat (Ravelry link here) by Julie Taylor.

This was really difficult to photograph, but the stitches are lovely and defined in real life I promise!

The wool is MilliaMia Merino wool in black and is super soft and drape-y.

It's for my friend's baby due in June. She asked for any baby things to be black, white or grey (gender neutral as well as chic) and as I had the wool I thought I'd whip this out.

You might think it looks a bit big for a newborn baby, and you'd be right. I thought no baby will want to wear a BLACK hat in JUNE, so I've knitted a 3-6 months size to be worn when autumn/winter kicks in 3-6 months later.

I've probably jumped the gun with this a bit and done it all too soon, but I was a bit excited (and I was still awaiting my delivery of new wool).

*Quote from This Is Spinal Tap.

“For last year's words belong to last year's language..."

"...And next year's words await another voice.” 

Welcome to 2018 everyone!

Before I go into reviewing the past year, let's get the usual guff over with -

RESOLUTIONS

Now I haven't really got any good ones, but let's give it a go.

1. Read 26 books (one every fortnight).
2. Knit myself a jumper.
3. Knit CB a jumper.
4. Knit myself a pair of socks.
5. Knit CB a pair of socks.
6. Remain the right size to fit into my wedding dress.
7. Moisturise after showering.
8. Some other stuff?

Yeah, this self-improvement malarkey is rubbish.

Let's instead look back on what I achieved in 2017:

• I read 23 books (just cannot get into Catch 22)
• I watched 67 films (not all good films unfortunately)
• I knitted 33 items (and began two others I later frogged)

I'm disappointed with my book score. I know I had some big ones in there (Wheel of Time novels and a Lord of the Rings re-read) but I read 43 in 2016 and a whopping 75 in 2015!

Films are much of a muchness. 67 is down from the 81 watched in 2016, but on par with 2015's total of 65.

Knitting is a new hobby and I suspect it's the reason for the decrease in the other two. I took up knitting in the summer of 2016 and knitted 15 items. That has approximately doubled for a full-year of knitting in 2017 so is about right.

I would prefer to read more in 2018 and knit fewer but larger items (jumpers rather than mittens). Films can chug along as usual. To be honest I have a pretty good life - as long as everyone I love remains healthy and happy I don't really mind if I'm not the perfect version of myself. I reckon she'd be annoying anyway.


*Quote from T.S. Eliot