a lost surprise!

{the completed jacket}

Since I picked up sticks again in 2006, I've been hearing about the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It was always talked about in such excited tones but having never knit one I didn't get it.  However, I had seen it about, thought it cute and so added it to my queue of things to knit. Then last summer, Lou gave me some Noro Silk Garden Lite and the BSJ pattern (thanks again Lou!). The Silk Garden was used up on a crochet blanket while the pattern was filed away for use at a later date. 

Earlier this year, Iwona got me to thinking about the BSJ after knitting one for a friend's baby. Two nights ago I decided I needed a break from my whisper cardigan and finally cast-on 160 stitches for the Baby Surprise Jacket! It turned out to be a simple, quick (6-ish hours) & pleasurable knit; I finally see what all the fuss is about. 

The construction is extremely intelligent and the jacket doesn't take shape till the very end when it all comes together beautifully. 

{The Baby Surprise Jacket}

Another big bonus (for me) is that there is just a single side to seam. I am very pleased with the results and highly recommend the pattern. 

I would also recommend that you don't bother trying to figure it out as you go but rather just go with it - it'll be alright on the night. 

This BSJ was knit in Yarntini 4-8-15-16-23-42; a fingering weight yarn I bought (off Lisa) on the first day of sock Summit '09. I'd been wanting to try Yarntini since getting back into knitting and was not disappointed. The yardage is pretty impressive (415 yds),  thus I have enough leftover for a matching hat and bootees. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend. 

in praise of words

Thinking about it, I've never been a great reader. Sure I read but my appetite cannot be termed voracious. Yet every once in a while I come across a book that touches something inside and I am hooked. Over and again I will return to its pages to re-read and rediscover favourite sentences, paragraphs or chapters - to see how it feels and sounds this time. I do this a lot; re-visit my favourites.

I love many things about a good book and it takes all sorts to make a book good.

There are the pages: the feel of them, the act of turning them; there are illustrations: the immediate connection, an exact image in my mind's eye; there's the pace: just right, like a favourite song; there are the pictures: in beautiful, technicolour brilliance and there are other immeasurable little things I love about books.

Then we get to the story and its teller, be it real or fiction, a good storyteller is unrivalled. With words they lure you, snare you and you're different, better, moved up a rung.

In my opinion, the best books tell of the human condition.

One of my favourite books that also excels in the categories listed above is:

{The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat}

In this book the author, a neurologist, shares some of his most poignant cases. Written in plain English, all the cases/stories are real and easy enough for anyone (without medical training) to follow. What I like most about this book is how it explains "the scientific study of the relationship between brain and mind".

The book is divided into four sections: Losses, Excesses, Transports and The World of the Simple.

In the first section Losses, Sacks writes about a man who can't tell his foot from his shoe, or his wife from a hat; a woman who wasn't aware of her body unless she was looking at it; a man who fell out of bed ("when he woke in the night he always found that there was a dead, cold, hairy leg in the bed with him which he could not understand but could not tolerate and he, therefor, with his good arm and leg pushed it out of bed and naturally, of course, the rest of him followed."); an old man who, without realising it, walked at a tilt because his centre of gravity was off by 20〫; a woman who only saw the right side of things (so she'd apply make-up to the right side of her face alone because that is all she saw and to visualise anything on the left, she'd have to turn right by 90〫and right again by 90〫!). 

Throughout the rest of the book, the author writes about neurological disorders and the physical illnesses that sometimes bring about these disorders. What I find interesting is that at times, there is no physical precursor and it seems that people just wake one morning with strange neurological disorders.

This book is not a medical/neurological journal of the weird and wonderful but rather a warm, often amusing, always gob-smacking account of one man's interaction with his patients and their illnesses.

he's back! he's back!

The bunny is back! As cute as ever. Granted, this probably isn't the same bunny from last year but let's not split hares. 

The bunny is back! and it's cute

and furry

and fast

Wanna know who else is back? S, and am I glad to see him! I missed him more than any other time he's been away on business. methinks he missed me too! 

He returned bearing gifts of

                {100% baby llama}

     {water bottle with cage for chloe}

and

     {a wee bag to carry my WIPs around in!}

In other news, I've been listening to Stacey Kent cos I'm feelin' love. Work on my whisper cardigan continues apace, it seems I am over the awkwardness that was 12" circular needles. It is very likely I'll have 3 skeins of this gorgeous yarn leftover. I think it'll be perfect for citron but that still leaves at least 1 skein of this gorgeousness. What's a girl to do? 

Sounds like a giveaway is in order. Come to think of it, there's lots more lace weight yarn in my stash that could do with a good home. I'll have to have a riffle and a think but keep a look out.

have a good week, my lovelies.

farewell, hello

It was gorgeous here today: sunny, not too warm and it was knit night. Many Nutty Knitters showed up to bid the lovely Tina farewell. I was reminded of how knit nights used to be - rowdy and so much fun!

As I was hosting, I got to try my hand at baking things I don't eat. I love pretty food but have a number of intolerances that limit what I can eat, so I seize every opportunity to make such things when I can.

  {a brownie round, raspberry muffins & blueberry muffins}

There was tea, lots of laughs, a farewell, a hello and of course, knitting. 

Thanks for your company ladies, it was a lovely evening.

blue, white and green

{A perfect day}

2 metres of cow

In the last year or two I've made a number of friends. As is expected the spectrum varies. There are friends that calm me when I'm climbing up the walls, friends I make things with, friends that drive me up the wall, friends that are a pleasure to hang out with, friends that drain me of time and emotions and so on.

Each friend can play different roles from day to day - someone that was on my wavelength a week ago could do an about turn that makes me think, "what planet is he/she from?!?!".

Then there are the steadfast ones, those that you can't get enough of. The ones in whose company you like the you you are. It doesn't even matter what you spend the time doing: knitting, chatting, singing silly songs, being quiet,  baking, sewing, whatever - you just feel better for being with them. 

My favourite friends are those that inspire and enlighten me to be better and think differently. If when we disagree, I can still walk away with something to think about, you can be sure I'll return. 

Nicola is one of these people. She is a potter/ceramicist, a knitter, a mother, a scientist, maker of soap, lotions, perfumes and so much more. And every time I visit with her, I get ideas about making things, improving things, techniques, resources, solutions... 

Last Friday, I hung out with N & G, where I got another look at the coolest PVC mat then rode home with the strangest urge to own

a friesian print picnic mat! 

Honest. I mean, how else was I to enjoy world wide knit in public day on the Stray? I need more sunny days to lay out my 2 metres of cow mat and play with friends outdoors.

Yesterday was lovely. Today? not so much. 

S is away on business and I miss him - amazing how big a king sized bed can be with just one in it :(

the edge of town

The past week was a busy one here and I am ever so pleased it's over. I sat what I hope is my last ever exam.

It's a lovely day here today; bright but not too warm. S and I rode our bikes on bridle paths along the edge of town. The views were particularly lovely. On our ride we came across:

{a viaduct}

{a valley}

And as I paused to catch my breath from pushing my bike up a very steep hill, I was startled by a grunt. On looking up to see what or who (all the while hoping it was a who or at the very least, a non-big what) had made that sound I was confronted by

{very curious cows}

They then proceeded to 'escort' us along the length of their enclosure, at times looking like they were ready to charge

{charge?}

Back home and after lunch, I persuaded S to model "dad's socks with a difference"

{Wendy's toe-up socks with a difference}

Wondering what the difference is? 

Well, the gusset is on the sole of the foot (above).

I am pretty pleased with how neatly the picked-up stitches along the side are - I almost never knit them that neatly. 

These socks won't be given to dad after all. They're too short for his tastes + I think S is growing attached to them and he's ever so good, totally deserves another pair of hand knit socks. 

I love so many things about S (of course I do); like his ability to tell the difference between this and other socks I've knit him. He quickly noticed how dense this pair is, he also mentioned that these were not just tight but springier than usual. You see, I've been fiddling with needle sizes and number of stitches and it's nice that someone noticed. Or it could be the yarn that's making all the difference. It's Socks that Rock (STR) in Petroglyphs, if you were wondering.

Wendy's toe-up socks with a difference was a pleasure to knit and is a pattern I'll be re-visiting. Next time I'll incorporate lace and cables. But before then, I need to knit down my modest stash of variegated sock yarn, then invest in solid and semi-solid colours after which I can begin to think about "designing" socks.