Gemma, by Laura Long

I finally finished Gemma tonight while watching TV. I thought it would take me ages to deal with all the loose ends, but I eventually just tied them together 8 times, hoping they won't come undone in the wash, and only sewed in the ends at the very bottom of the hem. There were too many to deal with and so after six years it's finally, absolutely, completely and totally finished. I originally posted about it right at the beginning of this blog, here.

So the inside doesn't look pretty, but no one except me will know once I have it on. I've already talked about the colours not really being my colours (pastel purple???), and I only chose them because the photograph in the Rowan book was so seductive. Anyway, I'm glad it's finished. (My little assistant got in on the act as usual when I was taking photos, nudging me so there were lots of blurry shots.)

All in all, I'm pleased with it. It's lovely and soft, and I don't have anything else like it.

I did look on Ravelry and discovered pretty much everyone on there who has knitted Gemma had the same problems as me with the ends. Laura Long could easily have given clear directions on that from the start. Anyway, it's finished.

The Big News

Is that there is no news, it being January an'all. So to entertain myself I have finished the first of my new mittens (sans thumb).

I like how it's turned out and think these colours may be a keeper! Phew. I've just started the second mitten so I should be finished them in about a fortnight, thumbs included. The matching hat will take an afternoon, but the matching scarf could take about three weeks. I'm thinking of knitting the Norwegian star design on my mittens into my scarf but will probably also need to do some rows of pure yellow to use up wool and get a long enough scarf. Still playing around with the design.

 

Hagos has been making soup every other day. It's totally amazing and so delicious. He uses either a lentil or a split pea base and then adds stock and vegetables. It's very healthy.

This has become my favourite spot in the house, round about 5pm. I either sit and read for an hour, or knit a few rows in silence. It's all too easy to put on the TV or radio and actually it's lovely to just sit with the sound of the fire beside me. I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books (alongside adult books too) and I usually read HP at 5pm and when I go to bed. My brain doesn't want to deal with any complicated or clever plot-lines at 11pm.

And, the snowdrops are out! Such a relief to see them poking through the earth along with other, later flowers. I really love snowdrops.

The only other news is that our Tuesday night pub quiz is doing fairly well (should be, considering we had nine members last night!). It's been great to re-instate our London pub quiz tradition, and to have three of the original members in our new team is great. 

Coffee, and Third Time Lucky with the choice of Mitten Colours?

This is my coffee ritual in the morning. A half-caf, as a fully caffeinated coffee is too much for me and keeps me awake at night.

And my new colour combination for my mittens. This is the third time I've attempted to get the colours right. The first was purple and orange (yuck), the second was green and purple, which I liked, but which now seem a bit garish. More subtle, but still striking (I'm hoping) is my honey-yellow and charcoal.

Moleskine Diary, and Me and Meg Portrait

I love Moleskine notebooks, particularly the cahier designs. And my favourite colour at the moment is around the yellow and orange end of the spectrum. 

So I was pleased when my new diary arrived today. It has a week per page as well as useful information at the front, but most useful to me will be the time zones page and the page that has a ruler with inches and centimetres :)

Moleskine notebooks are/were favoured by artists (according to Moleskine) including Van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway and Chatwin. I love the range they do, for example notebooks with musical scores in, sketch books, story board notebooks, watercolour books, Japanese concertina books, specified city notebooks, as well as their range of sizes and colours. And they are incredibly, aesthetically satisfying to use. They are beautiful. 

This is me attempting a self portrait of me and Meg. I set the timer on my camera, and then ran to pick her up. She struggled of course. (Please ignore my hair, which seriously needs washing!)

And in this attempt she had been sitting facing towards the camera, but when I slid into shot to join her she simply walked away.