We have survived

It was a mammoth week in the Atok household this week.  We had exam stress and  nerves, 16th Birthday  Day events, end of school muck-up followed by her leavers dinner and that was just for the daughter.  Daughter was well and truly described as completely knackered. After getting in on Saturday morning she crashed out.  Unfortunately, the rest of us who were just as busy had to keep soldiering on but she was our sleeping beauty who just snoozed on through Saturday and Sunday.  The first week post exams I think the kid is not planning to do anything but sleep and read.

So it will be a week before the reality of the world comes to my 16yr old and then mother will introduce Chores and the necessity of working for a living.  I managed to finish and sew up her birthday cardigan on Tuesday night with approximately 2 meters left of the last skein.  There were a couple of moments when I thought it would be all curtains.  I was so sure that I had foobared that I was starting to think about a contrasting colour for the button band.  I went back to the font of all knowledge and checked out other projects where they had knitted a similar size and used summer tweed.  Yeap six skeins.  Would I have enough left thanks to my minor adjustment of lengthening it.  I counted again and again and even got J to double check my calculations  Seemed like I had actually got it right.  The maths said that I would be ok. It would be close but I would be ok.

It was suck it and see time and I would not be kidding that when I describe the tension as palpable it was.  The old heart was in my throat and I was estimating how many stitches I was getting per foot of ribbing and looking at how much I had left and how much I was appearing to use for each row of the button bands.  It was a sigh of relief and a double check of the pattern to see if I had anything left that I had not knitted.  It looked right but I just had to check cause I had worked myself into a lather about this project.

To celebrate making a non lace project I decided to cast on a shawl.  Yes I was deluding myself that the cardigan was not lace as it was not a shawl. In response to my delusion about having a break from lace I therefore promptly cast on another lace shawl.  I have made 6 lace shawls already this year and it is just the end of June.  I am definitely on track for the 10 in 2010 shawl challenge.  I will have to continue to think about the next challenge for me .

ETA:  To add the photos now that she is consenting to model her cardigan for me.

The countdown is on.

Life in this household for the last couple of weeks has been a case of tip toeing on egg shells around a teenage daughter, Ry, who has been stress out to the max with her GCSE exams.  This week is a count down week as we have two exams to go, her birthday and her graduation leavers dinner.

Knitting wise at the moment I am a little shawled/laced out so what did I cast on last Wednesday a lace cardi for daughter.  Rocks in my head.  Well at least there is a big stretch of stockingette as she is a bit of a stretch.  I had a skein of dark grey summer tweed from J's waistcoat. I had managed to get a couple more of the same dye lot just enough for a short sleeved Hey Teach.  It looks like I will cutting it fine.  I started with six skeins.  2 for the back, 1.5 for each front.  I have 1 skein left to do the two sleeves and the ribbon band.

So onwards  I go to do sleeves with lace....  Why am I doing this to myself lace and shaping must be cause I love the mumble mumble ruddy teenager.  I keep putting myself under stress through my repeated habit of short knitting deadline.  I have three days to get the rest of this garment done, sewnup and then wrapped for daughter's birthday on Wednesday.

The First day of September

Well the First day of September has arrived and if I was the other side of the equator I would be celebrating the first days of spring but unfortunately it is the first days of Autumn here. The Arctic winds have kicked in and we have had rain and no sun now for almost three weeks now. There has been a distinctive chill in the air in the morning which tells me Winter is on its way.

It is the last week of the school holidays so I have made it a priority to finish off some UFO's and outstanding chores over the next week. Between work I hope to have a couple of chores knocked off as soon as possible.

As this month is my birthday I have been leaving hints with the family that I would like them to actually remember it for once. I am still peeved about no present last year and I have a feeling that it will be missed yet again.

The Third Travelling Woman shawl has been cast on and I am looking forward to getting it a little longer than the earlier ones. I have also cast on a Möbius for a student of mine who has just brought herself a scooter to travel in and out of university. I also have to start thinking about what preezies I have to make for Christmas and some birthdays that are coming up.

Auntie knitting is getting so far behind that I am getting to the point were it is no use panicking as I have not got time to do it.

Chris for SnB thinks I must have smoke on my needles for the last week but it really a case of my job list is getting taller and taller.

Half way

After some seriously long haul slugging I have managed to knit J's vest to the halfway point the back is completed. I still have not managed to get a new 4mm circular needle and my hands and arms are killing me.

The lovely man aka Husbeast, the Silverback Gorilla or J has organised a treat for me since I have been working like the clappers in the day job for his birthday - he is sending me to a dying day.. whoo hoo I get to play all day.


... hang on is he organising this so he can laze the whole day away and not be roasted by this stress bunny boiler who happens to be his wife..

I think this could be the reason why he wants me out of the house.

I have been roped into one of my workplaces talent day to demonstrate dying and other creative activities. I think I will need to get some samples dyed up on the dye day and get organised.

Remind me why I dont like acrylic

I could not remember why I do not like acrylic. I honestly could not remember why so today while intoxicated in my local real world LYS I brought a small ball of apparently top quality baby acrylic. I have just knitted the most mis-shappen BSJ out of it. It was horrible. I think that BSJ will quietly go into the nearest rubbish bin I can find since it can never be recycled.

J came with me as he was selecting his yarn for his vest we are talking over 13oo metres on a 5mm needle here. What does he fall in love with but Mirasol Hacho in Verde Ripple? He springs the bill and I managed to add a couple of other items to his shopping list.