A head full of knits

It's definitely an obsession, this knitting hobby thingy I've adopted. For some reason, once I sit down to put together some rows of Slytherin colour, I find it very very hard to stop.

I have already printed out half a dozen patterns for cardigans and jumpers - though to be honest that was partly because my printer ran out of colour ink and I mistakenly replaced the black and white ink instead, and now I have to use up the old black and white because I have already removed the seal from the new black and white cartridge.

The big plus is that, when I had to take my mum to a hospital appointment, the thought of being in the waiting room for up to three hours was not as stressful as it would have been if I did not have a bagful of forest green merino yarn to work with. It also means that I can be work on a garment even if I only have ten minutes spare - something that was pretty much out of the question when I was the sewing queen.

Of course it's only a matter of time before the lack of reasonably-priced non-wool yarn, a fashion swing away from home knits, and a surplus of over-sized chunky knits in my wardrobe drives me away from my new-found past time. But until then, it is my way of zoning out and that's gotta be a good thing.

stranger danger

Something happened to me the other day that has made me re-consider my fashion choices.

I was walking to the bus stop in the morning. It was, as usual for this time of year, cold and drizzly - so I was forced to abandon my lovely winter coat and instead wear a dark blue waterproof parka (men's size M) over a merino & possum fur cardigan. There was a dress under there somewhere too, as well as my trusty opaque black tights and my super-comfy (but slightly school-girlish) flat black shoes with criss-cross strap.

And a man leaned out of his car window on the other side of the road, and said "Hey where are you going?". He may have said "baby" somewhere in that sentence. If he didn't then it really sounded like he meant to.

Of course, I turned around and replied "why do YOU want to know?" and carried on down the hill.

But I do wonder whether he thought I was a little girl.

And by the way, I finished the pinky purple scarf. TLM has already worn in twice, even though I have yet to tidy up all the loose bits of yarn hanging off it. Next up, a Sytherin scarf for the boy!

Too hot to handle

So this morning TLM and I had chores to do in the local shopping area, and then for a treat I took her to MacD's for a hot chocolate.

In any normal cafe she'd get a fluffy (warm milk fluffed to look like a bland cappucino, plus marshmallows). But she wanted hot chocolate this time.

So I ordered her one, and a soy latte for myself.

TLM was very patient, waiting for her treat to arrive - it was pretty busy in there, even in the McCafe.

Then it arrived, and  TLM decided she was "not sure about" the dark swirls of chocolate sauce on top.
So I scooped it up and disposed of it (into my mouth).
Then she decided she wasn't sure about the drink itself.
So she ate the accompanying marshmallows while I drank her hot chocolate.

Funnily enough I got the impression that they'd put soy milk in the choc drink rather than in my latte - which explained TLM's lack of enthusiasm.

At this point I should've just taken her drink back. But no, I ordered her a fluffy instead. Just so she would have a drink she was sure about, while I tried to finish her hot choc and my latte.

Then the fluffy arrived. It burned her mouth. Who'd have thought that anyone could possibly serve a  drink that's designed for littlies, super-heated? It was really, really hot - healthy and safety kinda hot.

So then I had to ask for some cold water for her poor scalded lips.  And that's the drink she was sure about.

Not much of a treat for her really.

I'll be the one in the Pumpkin Patch scarf

So I bought a crochet hook and a ball of pinky purple (Pumpkin Patch colours!) yarn, with the idea of teaching TLM to crochet. Then it turns out that I cannot remember how to crochet. I can produce a simple chain, but that's it really.

However I can remember how to knit and purl. So TLM agreed that we should add that pinky purple acrylic yarn to the existing "stash" (i.e. one skein) of pinky purple bamboo yarn, which I'd bought to teach TLM to knit with (I had this idea that we would have one ball per project), and I'd knit the whole lot into something pinky purple and wearable.

Now, I haven't knitted since the 80's, which is the last time hand knitting was trendy (really - there were even television ads featuring himbos with knitting needles). But I do recall going to university in a hand-knit sweater dress from the House of Violet, and no-one fell over laughing at me.
And the upshot is that I have become hooked on knitting. I have been knitting every spare moment at home, since last Thursday. And now I'm inspired to knit up a storm in cotton and bamboo.

One ball of acrylic yarn and one skein of bamboo does not a scarf make. But it might be enough to make one those snug-fitting collar thingies. And I plan to put 2 buttons on it at differing widths, so that the pre-schooler and I and take turns wearing it.

Good old husband-finding skills

TLM first expressed the desire to learn to sew when I let her go with me to Spotlight, and she found a Dora the Explorer sewing machine. I managed to get us both out of there without buying (or promising to buy) said sewing machine. But every time she saw me with my well-used quick un-picker (i.e. seam ripper), she'd say "I want to sew something!".

And that, my dear readers, is why I have decided to teach TLM to knit.
Actually, it's because knitting needles aren't sharp like sewing needles.

But now that I've cracked open the blob of silky bamboo yarn (in a girly mix of purple and pink) and busted out the slinky knitting needles, I'm thinking that I should have searched for "crochet needle" on TradeMe instead. At least with crochet you've only got one implement to handle, and it's not very long.

So far I've let her occasionally start a stitch or pass the yarn the over, but I refuse to let go. Because, despite that fact that I intended the whole project to be a TLM DIY - I can just see myself re-looping them stitches over and over again...