My liddle brudda dropped in -

The other night my brother dropped in on his way from one part of Victoria, very far away to another part of Victoria, very far away.

He arrived, I fed him lentils, played with his dog (no one tell the landlord the d.o.g. was in the house).















She's not mad on sitting still and, as you can see, she is a cattle pup, so she is not mad being in the city either. She was, however, quite taken with my apartment with all the cords to chew and balls of yarn lying around. She is also rather taken with the fat grey cat who lives next door. The fat grey cat refuses to talk to me any more.

She has destroyed two of the hats I've made for my brother (she loves him, she loves good yarn, how can she help herself?). I see it as a good excuse to make him more hats (albeit in cheaper yarns).



















I cast on a baby kimono this week. I still seem to be having trouble concentrating on baby knits for extended periods. They are so small. They shouldn't take long, right?















The yarn is Lana Grossa Klimatika and is a wool cotton blend.

Why I should knit seamless and a cautionary tale -

I finished this jacket weeks ago, but it has taken me until just now to seam the shoulders and weave in ends. I also wove in ends on a pair of socks that have been all but done for some time, too. I am 6 days (I hope) away from moving house and all I want to do is cast on projects. Like 11 (15) are not enough. (I included the official ravelry toll and the toll that includes a few others that are sneaking about) (a bit like sizing for a jumper).















About 50 hopeful renters tramped through my flat this morning. It was weird, me with boxes everywhere, standing in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea. Them walking in, feeling awkward and embarrassed, looking at all of my stuff (I have too much stuff). I am officially out of here in two and a half weeks, but my agents are lovely, so, when they asked for an open house this weekend, I said sure.

And now for the cautionary tale. I washed my garter stitch mitts before wearing them and green went everywhere. While they were still damp I kept trying to fool myself that they hadn't lost that much colour.

They are still delicious and warm and lovely to wear, but I don't like this new green and I am debating how to wash the 'matching' scarf.



















And now, back to the packing.

Cross stitch in winter -

It is highly irregular, for me, but I have felt compelled to stitch recently. Normally this is a warm weather activity, but in the last few weeks as the nights and mornings have got so chilly, I have taken to cross stitch.

This is a kit that was given to me by friends a few years ago, and I had been coveting it for a few years before that. It was high time, then, that it was begun.














I slowed up a bit when my fingers cramped in the cold, but I think I have fixed that problem now.

I saw this weird alien/snail/frog spawn the other day.

No, I will not turn on the heater -

I started another garter stitch scarf back in summer. It is in the Kimono Angora Pure by Louisa Harding, and possibly not the best choice for summer knitting.

I bought four balls. I've already made two scarves from this yarn as gifts and decided I wanted a longer one. At the end of the second ball it was clear that, in garter stitch, this yarn was going to go a long way.

I decided to knit matching fingerless mittens, discovered Ysolda's garter mitts, and stalled.

I had a complete mental block over yarn and mitts and making something for myself (there are all these babies on the way) and put it all away. Finally, last weekend, the motivation to make them was provided by the weather and my determination not to put on a heater until I move house. My fingers were freezing while doing cross stitch and these will be perfect to combat that.















They will also be perfect for knitting, walking to work, reading, marking and typing (if you don't mind a little fluff in the keyboard). They took less than a ball and about four hours knitting time each.

Tomtem -

Half a day of professional development at work at the start of the week saw the body of the tomten done. The other half of the day I was presenting the PD. I thought I was going to die from terror, but it turned out to be okay.


















It did make for a veeery long week, though. I've been sleeping badly and feeling a lot like this in the mornings:














I've been finding these chaps all over the place.














I hope that the weekend will bring restfulness.