At last the love heart cushion's done. Complete with slightly odd embroidery. I say at last not because it's been a chore to make, on the contrary i loved every minute of it but because up until the last letter was embroidered i was worried it wouldn't get finished on time. My placement has been absolutely hectic since i got back from my summer break with only a week left to go before my first year's skills have to be signed off and i can be considered to be fit enough to start my second year's nurse training. Next week is also my first week of night shifts which i'm quite excited about in a strange way (and not just for the extra knitting opportunities it may bring on the odd quiet shift between paperwork and actual nursing). In other news the heel less socks are very close to completion with only one and a half pattern repeats left before shaping for the toe. In fact i've already picked out a ball of wool for my next pair which i had to wrestle off the lsb despite it being mainly pink, though he argued it was more purple (i know i said i was fed up with knitting things in plain blue for him but going to the other end of the spectrum with pink is a bit much for a grown man) i'm not sure on the pattern yet though. The yarn is a deep pink with occasional spots of navy, purple and a reddish pink perhaps something lacy? An unusual rib or failing that perhaps even another heel less sleeping sock as i've found they're suprisingly comfortable and great inside a winter boot.

i found myself just having to break off from knitting my new cold weather hat to post a picture of the lovely yarn i'm working with. it's one of the two skeins that came from handpaintedyarns, the one that i just had to treat myself to as it's such a pretty purple and it was the last one there and just begged to be taken home, the shade itself is called amethyst and as you can see from the photo it's a mix of various shades of purple, the occaisonal spot of deep dark green and navy blue. it's a joy to knit with as well, pure wool, not as soft as the merino i've used for the love heart cushion (which is done and awaiting stuffing and embroidery) but still beautiful anyway, it reminds me somewhat of debbie bliss' maya/soho with it's occaisonal movements from thick to thin and back again.

in other news i met up with my friend who'll be receiving the love heart cushion for her birthday, for lunch yesterday. she's back in yorkshire for the summer, normally she resides in glasgow which i'm now convinced must be the coolest place on earth as her course has a knitting group - which i suppose is possibly to be expected from an art school, but still pretty cool. it almost makes me want to either pack my bags and move to glasgow to persue my long forgotten dream of becoming an abstract painter in order to have other people to knit with, or start up my own knitting group at university. despite the proximity of my university to places like up country and bobbins (i think i have that right, rather famous wool shop in whitby. the one the long suffering boyfriend tends to whisk me past) knitting doesn't seem a particularly big thing, in fact sadly i think apart from some students in the school of art and design i may be the only student who actively knits (i know from talking to other students on nursing courses that many of the students with children knitted for them when they were babies but no longer knit).

this morning i got the swift and ball winder out to deskein the two hanks of wool that arrived recently and i'm in love. the blue i chose for the cushion really lives up to its name of shining skies and it's so soft! i'm actually a little disappointed in myself that i didn't order a few more skeins for myself. i cast on for the cushion this afternoon and have been happily knitting away on it since, i'm about three quarters done on the first side (pictures to follw when it starts looking more interesting). i've also indulged my love of all things punk and alternative with the pretty in punk book, it arrived this morning and there's already so many great things i just have to knit, the union jack mohawk hat, stripy mohair jumper, and spider web jumper (plus it can be knitted from one ball of wool, how cool and easy on the pocket of a poor student is that!) to name but a few.

i cast on for these beauties this morning, they're going to be the heel less sleeping socks from nancy bush's knitting vintage socks in opal royal. i felt the need to knit some socks without heels because i pinched the long suffering boyfriend's ski socks a few nights ago after being caught in a down pour and finding them amazingly comfortable and without heels. but just look at the colours purple, black and a blue that seems to glow in some parts not to mention the sparkle, they almost remind me of something from harry potter in a strange way, they just seem magic anyway.

the yarn for the love heart cushion's now all sorted thanks to handpaintedyarn.com and i was a little bit naughty and chose an extra skein for myself (in purple, what else) to make a lovely hat for winter. i think i intend to be a very busy knitter over the coming weeks. but how this is going to be juggled with the new harry potter book when it comes out on friday i don't know. i really must perfect the art of reading and knitting at once.