stash, stash, mountains of stash

i hit up country today, and boy oh boy did i hit it hard. went in for the wool to make another maya scarf and came out with the wool for three, oops! still at least it'll keep me busy for a while. also managed to make a start on the silk socks i've been promising boyfriend for the past week or so, and seen as i finished fawne off yesterday i felt a new portable project was needed. especially seen as i have to spend a large number of hours per week on public transport and after a while a copy of the metro just doesn't cut it as in flight entertainment.

fawne

my third pair of fawne gloves, freshly off the needles this afternoon. they were one of the first things i ever learnt to knit besides a very simple moss stitch scarf. they've become one of my favourite things to knit i think, very simple and quick to do but also very effective looking. having a day out raiding up country tomorrow, so no doubt i'll come back with arms full of all sorts of lovely woolly goodies

the rate of knitting has gone up significantly in this house over the past week or so, if i'm not fretting about getting an assignment in, i'm fretting about why i haven't had the results of an assignment back. which all adds up to one productive but stressed knitter. i think right now i will actually knit anything and everything that's put in front of me including this...

in case you can't actually tell from the picture that's a very, very long eyelash yarn scarf. the kit was a christmas gift a few years ago from a friend and it's never really been my favourite thing to knit, but just lately i've been willing to do anything to keep my hands busy in an effort to just stop worrying.

today's seen some more knitting on the dratted scarf (progressing well so far, fingers crossed), a lot of fighting with the nhs student grants people, the progression of my last university assignment of the year and the rediscovery of an almost forgotten scarf project.

as a student nurse money is always tight (but it's always funny how even if there's no money for food the yarn still gets bought), as anyone in the same situation or with family members training to become nurses will tell you. and as such i'm trying to apply for help with healthcare costs which involves getting in touch with student grants to try and get an awards notice to show the amount of bursary i currently get. this is the award notice they were supposed to send out last september but forgot. after much hassle they finally agreed to send something out to me over a week ago with the promise it should be here by the weekend at the latest, so i waited, and i waited. then today i got fed up with waiting and got in touch again to find them reluctant to send another notice out to me, and then when they did i found out the cause of all the trouble. they were sending it to the wrong address. well ok, the correct address really, but the actually only had my house number and street and the name of the city i live in. completely missing out the name of the village and post code. now the city i'm from isn't a big city by any means, but by missing off half my address anything coming to me is going to be very very delayed. so eventually after rectifying this i went back to my knitting.

with having the house to myself dratted scarf's progressing very well indeed (i will not be defeated!) i've probably got something like half a metre or more done now, and for a knitter new to lace i wouldn't say that was too bad. although of course once my brother got home from school any chance of peace and quiet to concentrate on that went out of the window and i had to hunt round for something else to occupy my time with. and after much pleading from my boyfriend i said i'd look for some more yarn to knit him another pair of socks as i think he's started to love the ones i gave him a couple of weeks ago more than anything else, i almost had to prise them off him on the sunday night to get them in the wash. his demands were clear, something fairly plain in colour so he can wear them to work and to his bowling matches without feeling too embarrassed if anyone looks at his ankles. so after much searching through the stash i settled on some of the regia silk in a navy blue, quite conservative but at the same time a little bit special. while on the hunt for some sock wool though i came accross an almost long forgotten scarf project of my mother's that she started over two years ago for me, when i was but a very very novice knitter hardly able to do much beyond cast on, stocking stitch and rib, of course i was no good at casting off, sewing up or doing increases the "right way". thankfully i'm somewhat more confident and the idea of slipping stitches and knitting into the back or front of this stitch or that one seems a lot less daunting. so i decided to help her out on this one seen as the scarf's mine anyway, and if left to her own devices my mother will never, ever finish it. the problem is she has a project for every occaison and like me it's easy to lose interest part way through or when some shiny new yarn arrives on the site or shelf of your favourite yarn store. thankfully though i love knitting with debbie bliss maya (now called soho i think, i'm sure someone will correct me if this isn't right), i love the thick and thin texture it gives and all the shades of red this particular variation has that i'm just itching to get stuck in and make it up (pictures to come once it's finished). of course i've recently also been distracted by all the fabulous wares on the numerous knitting sites i've been introduced to, i'm particularly in love with all the gorgeous stuff my mum found for me on pearlescence. i think the leopard print needles are a must have, or would be if i didn't need to be sensible and go book a driving lesson or two over the next few weeks.

the dratted scarf

this is the dratted scarf, so called because i hate it. it's my first dabbling in the world of lace knitting, after rarely straying out of my personal safe zone of stocking, moss, and rib stitches for the past three or so years i thought i should throw myself into the (fairly) shallow end and get myself one of rowan's how to knit kits and with a simple four steps and repeat pattern it sounded easy enough. but oh no. pure and simple this scarf hates me, it senses the confidence growing in me each and every time i make the fatal mistake of thinking to myself "hey, i'm starting to get the hang of this you know". it senses this growing confidence and sneakily the stitches breed, or they decide to somehow decrease themselves. in fact i've honestly started to believe that whatever god, or giant tortoise in the sky must really have it in for me. in fact i sat all morning on the sofa while the boyfriend was out getting the car serviced, chanting to myself over and over that i will not be defeated.

i'm so determined to make real progress with this thing that i'm actually putting my relationship in danger. my poor long suffering boyfriend made the mistake of attempting to talk to me while was trying to keep track of my stitches, now i love this man muchly but as i have a short term memory span of around 2 seconds it's not a good idea to disrupt me. i'm the sort of social knitter who has to keep something basic in rib or stocking stitch on the back burner for knitting in social situations like on the train to university or in cafes. i really fear that i might defeat this scarf project eventually but after so much shouting and snapping at the boyfriend i'll hold my needles up high and shout hooray at finally gaining a scarf, but i'll have lost my boyfriend in the process. ah such is life.

i've gone somewhat knitting crazy over the past month or so finishing the ice maiden sweater i've had on needles since the summer of 2005, a pair of socks and started at least two other projects. stress levels are obviously very high this time of year and when i get stressed i knit, a lot. in fact i think over the past week all i've done is get the last of my assignments out of the way, knit and sleep.