Yippee Yippee Doo Daaaaaaa

I PASSED MY MA!!

Meant to post about this when I actually heard, er, a fortnight ago, but life sort of took over, as it does. I am now a librarian with a qualification - whoopeeeeeeeeeeeeee. :-) Actually it still feels very weird as I was beginning to think I'd never get to this point. I decided I was going to be a librarian about 11 years ago, when I was 15 and sat down and worked out what sort of GCSE grades I'd need, what might be good A Level subjects to take, and a degree and then that I'd need to have at least a year's experience and an MA (not that I knew what an MA was then, and I was a bit hazy about the degree part too). According to my calculations then I'd be a librarian by the time I was 23, but life got in the way so it took a few year's longer than that. Not that I mind that now as there are other more important things to be doing at the same time (like knitting & spending time with family and friends etc). It does still seem very strange to have finished though, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. At the moment I'm loving freelancing as it suits my circumstances... Still don't know what sort of mark I got for the MA (they just let you know whether you've passed or failed at this stage!).

Anyway, I've got a stonkingly sore throat so have been sitting around at home (no heating at work) drooling at yarn websites and reading the Knittyboard and Angelyarns Forum.

Things I'm coveting at the moment:

• I saw this pattern in a Bergere de France advert in Simply Knitting (November?) and it's now available at Angel yarns. I just love the way the cables are around the neckline. The yarn looks nice too, although I'd have difficulty choosing the colour. According to the Angel Yarns forum there will be some kind of offer on for this though so I'm going to wait and see. Maybe treat myself after Christmas?

• I am also madly in love with the sock yarn at Curious Yarns. I love the idea of having a separate 25g in a coordinated colour for the cuff, heel and toes. The colours are also very very tasty. Again, it's on my list of things to treat myself to in the future.

And I think I promised a knitting update so here are lots of pics! See being off work means being at home in daylight!

Noah's jumper is finished! Whoohoo! I think it looks really cute, it's plenty big enough so he'll be able to wear it for a while and it was SO easy with the self-patterning yarn. Now all I have to decide is whether to give it to him for his 1st birthday (Dec 12th) or for Christmas.

Everything else I've been knitting has been driving me CRAZY. I am SO SO bored with Misty Garden.

Who is now just over halfway as I've just finished the first ball of Jaeger Mohair Art. Misty Garden would be ideal TV knitting but unfortunately the TV is next door with Mum, and MG is Mum's Christmas present. I am not forking out for a TV Licence just so I can knit it here - that would make it the most expensive scarf ever...

Here's a close-up of the boring boring boring feather and fan pattern. I can understand why the original pattern in Scarf Style uses Jo Sharp variegated mohair - at least if it was variegated you'd get some different colours in to make it marginally more interesting! I was also distressed to read on the ScarfStyle KnitAlong that someone had managed to make Misty Garden in about 3 hours?!?! If I sat and knitted Misty Garden for 3 hours I would go BONKERS!

Then we have socks. Above is Broadripple sock no. 1, now approaching the toe decrease section. This is now for me (as it won't fit my SIL) so is no longer a Christmas present. Sock no. 2 will be left for after Christmas. (I can see a mass outbreak of SSS developing here). Below is my brother's Christmas present sock in Cygnet wool rich 4ply using a 4 stitch repeat from the Charlene Shurch "Sensational Knitted Socks" book. The pattern is basically k2p2 for 2 rounds, knit 2 rounds, p2k2 for 2 rounds, knit 2 rounds. It's on 2mm needles, which, although they're only marginally smaller than my usual 2.5mm for socks, are driving me CRAZY because they seem so small! The socks grow SO slowly... especially as my brother has UK size 9 feet.

So I decided that, as knitting is meant to be a hobby and fun, I would knit something for me on big needles as a change. So out came my birthday hand-spun yarn and some 9mm needles and one evening later I have a new hat!

I love it. It used almost exactly the whole ball of yarn and is very warm and cosy. It's also just the right size, as my (shop-bought) previous hat was quite tight which I don't like over my ears. I also usually wear a woolly hat at work in the winter due to the lack of heating, and don't like spending the whole day with my ears unable to breathe - so this new hat will be perfect! :-)



The pattern is from Simply Knitting issue 7, which was originally intended for use with Rowan Chunky Print yarn. I think it looks ace with the hand-spun yarn though...

Phew. That was a long post. I'm off to drink honey and lemon. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee