Slightly Obsessed

I came across this on the wonder that is Twitter and I have become hooked.

I'm terrible at finding new music for a whole load of reason but mostly because I can't stand 'modern' radio stations. In the old days DJs knew their place, they were there to tell you a bit about the band or song and then play it - no chit-chat, no thinking they were funny but really they were just crass, no anecdotes about their girlfriend/mum/dad/dog/boyfriend/bus driver. They had a job to do and that was that. But something changed and everything in radioland went tits up and suddenly there were 1000s of 'personalities' out there all thinking they were funny and that their opinion mattered. I blame Steve Wright.

So I stopped listening to radio and my musically knowledge became trapped in the past with only a few things managed to penetrate. But now I have access to thousands of other people's choices with all the wonder and variety that music has to offer and I love it.

Check me out on Blip.fm - for more of my eclectic choices.

A Re-cap

Ages and ages ago I started in Summer Smackdown - we're heading into summer now, so it shows how long ago it was (August 2008 in fact). I was in the advanced socks category, the lace scarf, the lace stole and the bookmark event.

It probably didn't go quite as one expected as I never managed to get a pair of socks or even the yarn to start the killing again for the socks and it took me ages to finish off the stole, although the scarf was banged out relatively quickly but I only lasted a single round in that. Things went quiet and the organiser decided that since there was a recession that it was probably better to stop the contest, or at least not up date things so people got bored and wandered away. But she did start up another knitting battle (Day of the Dead which I also took part in). Anyway earlier this month one of the other competitors from Smackdown started things going again to see if there was anyone who just wanted to finish the game and it seems that there are several of us who did.

So now I have a person who will get the socks and have managed to get them to a quick finish - probably another day depending on how the bus trip goes. There is also someone who wants to finish off the stole match, however, I have managed to 'tidy' the half sent stole that was sent to me away and I am not sure where it is. So I have started again and last night I managed about 2.5" so only another 76" to go.

Wish me luck ;o)

My Artfire Studio is open

Well i have finally managed to get my act together and have finally got some things into my Artfire studio.

So far all I have is a few vintage sewing patterns and a couple of pieces of vintage clothing but I shall be adding more sewing patterns, old postcards, old photographs and my dear but underused collection of vintage and retro knitting patterns.

To give you a sneak preview of the patterns I have this many Paton and Baldwin patterns ranging from the 1930s through the the early 1970s

From GlamGirl Knits

There are over 500 there and I have at least 2000 patterns to find new homes for, so please check back into the studio at regular intervals and I might just have the thing you are looking for.

Spring Vines in Blue

Yesterday I started on Spring Vines by Dao Nguyen using a right bargain of a yarn buy - 12 balls of Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo for less than a fiver. Atkinsons in Sheffield have got a fair amount of this "unbranded" yarn in (and others) at the moment and it's £4.99 for 500g. Not entirely sure if I like the yarn but I'm going to have to like it as I am knitting the Spring Vines for the the Sexy Knitters Club KAL and I also got some in purple for Intolerable Cruelty.

Anyway back to Spring Vines. The pattern is a bought one and I'm not usually a pattern buyer since I have enough vintage patterns to build a house from but I wanted to join in with the KAL and I wanted to do something that isn't socks or small things. The pattern is a bit of a mish mash with some of the numbers not quite adding up but there seems to be enough scope to make do.

I started with the back and got about 15cm in but realised how sloppy but purl has become and so frogged back and started again but working it in the round. I had a moment of panic when the stitches didn't add up. The front is 4 stiches bigger than the back but I think that'll not really nticed come the finished article.

From GlamGirl Knits

Is that a crime for a knitter to say she has too much yarn?

I have too much yarn.

Far too much. I was sorting bits of it out yesterday, well trying to find something completely different but thought it might have jumped into one of the yarn bags, and I have realised that I have far more than I want. Is that a crime for a knitter to say she has too much yarn?

I think that I have, or more likely I have too much junk stuff that I don't really want. I want a stash that is gorgeous and lovely and a joy to look at and use. I want to be able to knit an entire garment from the same type rather then cobble it from bits that I have laying around. I want to be able to see it all, in one place, so I make the right choice about what I want to knit rather than dredge through bags trying to get all of one kind together. I want to be more organised.

If I can get the living room sorted and tidying before the weekend I might start the grand sort through of the yarn on Sunday. If the weather is nice I shall take bits of the stash out into the garden to photograph them nicely and then list them properly on Ravelry and then put them in clear bags and then but the bags of 4 ply, double knit, Aran and chunky separately and then they can get stored in the cupboard.

So there that's the plan.

It won't last of course, I shall get distracted, or bored, or start knitting random things, or reading things but it's a plan.

And a good one at that.