I've had quite a busy Christmas and new year (for someone who hates Christmas and Christmas food I somehow managed to have two full Christmas dinners in one day. Not quite as bad as the Vicar of Dibley episode where Dawn French does it on a bigger scale, but not far off), I got plenty of knitting done when I wasn't doing random festive things. Unfortunately though my angels rest socks had to be pulled back again as it was just too much of a struggle to get over my ankle comfortably. Then the ball winder decided to eat the yarn as I rewound it so the whole project's taken on a dingy, dirty sort of luck - hence the lack of new pictures. I also started another pair of broad street mittens on Christmas eve in the Colinette Jitterbug I bought months and months ago. I'm about halfway through the thumb gusset increase on the second mitten and it looks so good I can't wait to wear them. Pictures to follow when there's something more to show, provided blogger lets me. For some reason, every time I try to write broad street mittens blogger freezes up and crashes, this is possibly the fourth or fifth time I've tried to post this entry. In other knitting related news I've been at the book buying again, this time the AntiCraft book which has so many rather cool knitting patterns in, and even more for other crafty persuits too. I also managed to get my hands on the little box of socks and currently have a pile of the pattern cards that lsb and I picked out (so much for taking a break from socks). 

The first part of my angels rest socks. After a few repeats the pattern's quite easy to remember and I think the pink girliness of the yarn suits the lacy pattern. I've had rather a busy weekend which has included such lovely things as receiving two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock rainbow as a birthday treat from my mother which will shortly be put to good use once I've decided what to do with it. And of course munching on slices of my yummy pink birthday cake. Of course it's also involved lots of things that aren't fun on your birthday weekend like writing a 2000 word assignment - which thankfully is now done, one down one to go. Now back to the needles and fun stuff.

The bagpuss like toefutsies are no longer bagpuss like. In fact they're in a frogged pile on my living room floor waiting to be turned into Angel's Rest socks. I discovered a few things this week, that working on secure units where the government say you have to wait a week for a set of keys is not fun, and neither is having to knit on dpns the length of cocktail sticks on said unit to avoid the risk of a patient stealing them and using them as a weapon. I can't actually knit on anything so short for any length of time without either getting very painful hands or making lots of mistakes. So I'm rather grumpy from lack of knitting, but I've been able to understand a bit more about what it feels like to be a patient in one of these places. You need a set of keys to do anything and move anywhere round the unit, and as for the knitting needles - I'm having something I enjoy and that makes me happy and acts as a pretty good support activity when I'm stressed or upset taken away from me "just in case" and that frustrates me, and I only have to deal with it for eight hours a day, five days a week. It's something that's opened my eyes this past week and thinking about things like that is seeming to make me better at what I'm doing at the moment.