Star Wars Day

I'm a bit rubbish at this blogging malarkey at the moment. You know why? Constant interruptions. For example, I wrote the first line of this post seven hours ago. They're not deliberate interruptions by any means, but it does mean I lose my train of thought. Hmm, I'm starting to feel jinxed.

Anyway, happy Star Wars Day! Which by very happy geeky coincidence is My Beloved's birthday - couldn't be more apt really, though actually none of his geeky presents were Star Wars ones. My secret knitting of the last few weeks was this:

A Jayne hat

Oh, so much fun to knit! I've been doing quite a bit of 4-ply knitting this year so the gorgeous squishy aran-weight Drops Nepal and 4mm needles were a real pleasure to work with. And making a pompom is always fun :-D.

I've also knitted a blanket for Miss Mouse's teddy:

That was using Drops Nepal again, bought the same day I got the Jayne colours.  I took Miss Mouse with me on a trip to the Yarn Cake woolshop/cafe last week and let her choose some more from the wall of woolly goodness, for another blanket for Snowy this time, her polar bear teddy: 

She always chooses interesting colour combinations ( you should see her when she's given free rein to dress herself) and I really wasn't sure about these colours together

but she was insistent that 'this is what Snowy likes', and actually now that I'm knitting them up into squares they're looking quite good together.  While were up in the wilds of the west end of Glasgow (necessitating a trip on the underground, the first time for Miss M*) we took a detour through the botanic gardens and had a quick mooch around the Kibble Palace:

Miss M was getting tired and fed-up by this point but I love the swooshy shapes in the greenhouse. Greenhouse is too domestic a word for it really, it's more like how I'd imagine a Victorian spaceship. Lovely place.

* Wide-eyed the night before: 'Will we see icky worms and things?'

Five fave things (or reasons to be cheerful)

I'd been thinking of doing a post about bits and pieces that have entertained and interested me recently and then I saw The Flog ('Felicia Day's weekly vlog') and found an eminently nickable title from a segment of it. Yay!


1. Newreka! Eureka's back on British telly! Not sure what I made of the opening episode of season 5 to be honest, but as with all good programmes it's been cancelled so I'm determined to enjoy the last few episodes.

2. And talking of Eureka, this made me laugh and laugh -  Felicia Day and Colin Ferguson learn to crochet! The crochet bit starts at about 2.28 if you're impatient and want to skip to it. 'It's a shield' had me lol-ing - Colins are clearly all a bit the same then.

3. And more on the geek/crafting interface - nupps:

 I first saw this posted somewhere on Ravelry - I know there are so many variations on the 'One does not simply..' meme but this is my favourite by far. I've not tried nupps yet but I'm sure they'd be a bit of a nightmare. Generally speaking I have an objection to knitted bobbles of any type - not because of their perceived difficulty, rather it's an aesthetic thing. I just don't like the look of them and never have done. I remember wishing I could pick the bobbles off a jumper I had when I was a kid. But I've seen a couple of patterns with nupps that I've quite liked so maybe one day I will purl seven together. And stroll into Mordor.

the innards of a tulip

4. Monty Don's jumper. I've caught up on Gardeners' World now, but the only thing I've really taken away from it is the thought that Monty Don's grey funnel-neck jumper looks really really cosy. I think I need a cosy jumper. I used to have a lambswool roll-neck but it seems to have vanished. Usually I can't wear wool next to my skin but that one was just about bearable and very cosy. Can you tell that I'm cold? I was standing shivering in the school playground today, dropping Miss Mouse off, and wished I had my gloves with me. It is damply cool so feels about twice as cold as it actually is. I have planting out to do, but I'm a bit of a fair-weather gardener and don't want to get cold and wet.  Besides I've still got this sinussy cold - getting cold and wet wouldn't be advisable, would it?  No, clearly it is my duty to stay inside drinking mugs of coffee or hot ribena. Or hot toddies.

The plants will wait.

5.  Ah warmth! The finished hot-water bottle cover in all its cosiness - Miss Mouse loves it.

And so do I. I skipped the buttonholes on the reverse because when I tried them they looked untidy and really the garter-stitch has so much stretch it doesn't matter. I've never been able to do neat buttonholes. I should probably practice.

Oooh, ooh - second dreich sock cast on! I did most of the rib while watching Eureka and Big Bang Theory last night.