In progress

I have a few bits and pieces ongoing at the moment.

I stopped by This Is Knit's sale with a friend (I think it's fair that I don't have to be Not Buying Yarn if there's a sale on) and he bought this Debbie Bliss Winter Garden for me to make him a hat. I'm using the Hat Fit For A Fella pattern (Ravelry pattern page here), which I've made before, removing the brim and using my modification from the last time I made it. The cables have eaten the yarn and I still have a few inches to go, so while I've been failing to go back in and get some more, I've started working on...

a jumper! I bought this yarn (Debbie Bliss cotton, I do like cotton) as an end-of finals-present to myself last year, started this tunic (Ravelry pattern page here), realised half-way through that it was the wrong sized and ripped it out, re-started it, realised half-way through that it was the wrong size and ripped it out, and then left all the yarn in a bag until now, unable to bring myself to touch it. I think it was a good move, as a third failed attempt would have bred supervillainy-inducing levels of frustration and resentment, and that would be a very underwhelming origin story.

In the year's interim I went off the pattern - or at least how it would look in this shade - and decide to make this v-neck instead. I think I'll get more wear out of it than I would the tunic.

It's top-down and has raglan sleeves, both of which are new to me in a jumper, and I've already had to restart once because "At the same time" is my enemy. I like how it's turning out, and now I don't feel guilty for having the bag of yarn sitting in the corner of my room, silently judging me.

I spent Saturday and Sunday hiking some forty kilometres of the Wicklow Way with some members of my volunteer group. It's easy to forget, especially living in Dublin, that Ireland is quite breathtakingly stunning, despite the national pastime of complaining about Ireland.

The second photo is of Powerscourt Waterfall from a height and distance, and the last one is of Glendalough valley. When we were walking across the planks in the fourth picture, the wind was so strong and the hill so exposed that I had to lean into the wind to end up somewhat vertical, and still nearly got blown off into the bog a few times. (You might think bogs are for low-lying flat land, not the top of hills, but you would be wrong.) We got very lucky with the weather, and I got sunburned wearing the one racerback top I own, because of course I did. It's not Summer until I have uneven tan-lines.

I'm currently a a tech volunteer for the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. So far this has meant moving props between shows, but they were important props. I've sat in on two plays so far, because I am the kind of very cultured and important person who sees two plays a week - premieres, no less. Bash: Latterday Plays is very intense, dark, harrowing and excellent. My Second Self is awfully sweet, quietly hopeful, and funnier than I was expecting. The program changes next week, so I'd recommend either or both if you're in Dublin this week!

Electric Picnic crafts!

I went to Electric Picnic this weekend. It was my third year attending, and my first year paying - last year I volunteered as a steward, and the year before I came with work (and technically qualified as a performer and got a performer's wristband, no big deal). Part of my motivation for paying this year was that I'm more interest in the crafts and performances than the music, and most of that goes on during the day. I might revert to not paying next year, but it was lovely to have a year to wander around the Green Crafts Village at my leisure and not be in a rush to pick a workshop that would finish in time for my shift.

The Green Crafts Village also makes me want to run away and live in a tree in a hippie commune where everyone teaches everyone else new skills all day. Hopefully some of those skills are farming and cooking, so we don't all die.

On Saturday I made this ring at a workshop run by Forgotten Silver.  I've never worked with metal before, and never had occasion or opportunity to solder, so I really enjoyed it. I've smithed something!

I carved this 'wood spirit' from lime wood at the Irish Woodcarving stall. I started with a triangle of wood with two divots taken out of it for the eyes and the area just beneath the nose, and the carver marked the lines I should carve with pencil as a guideline. I think he looks a little bit like the Deku Tree.

The wood was a lot lighter before varnishing. (I also got a henna doodle, but it didn't stain very strongly!)

In Mindfield I encountered the portable version of Winnie's Craft Cafe. I'd never heard of it before, so I'll have to make an expedition of cycling out there while the nice weather holds. I had intended to pop in last thing on Sunday to pick up a small project's worth of yarn (and then it could be my EP hat/pair of gloves/etc.), but they were packing up when I arrived. In fairness, it's usually a safe bet that no-one is looking to buy yarn at half eight on the last night of a festival. Usually.

They also had giant needles! More giant than the child with the wand in the corner of the lower photograph. I bet her that the needle was taller than her, and we measured her against one of them, and then we had to measure the second to be sure. Kid has the heart of a scientist.

The yarn I'm using in that photo is fabric selvedge, and I completed a row. No big deal.

If I could find an event in Dublin that allows craftspeople to run casual workshops, I would be very excited. As it is, I'll just get excited bout next year!

P.S. I saw The Cure. The Cure. I saw them. So.

Summer!

I haven't posted in quite some time. I have been busy sitting finals, sleeping off finals, rereading Harry Potter and watching Firefly (I am with Randall Munroe, if that wasn't a mortifying oversight Joss Whedon and/or the casting director should really jump in the lake) and consuming other media on which I will never be examined BECAUSE I CAN, going to Galway with my class after results (I got to pet dogfish and rays!), and sitting in the glorious sunshine.

I don't see how I'm meant to organise the next stage of my life when all I want to do is lie on the grass reading. Anyway, it would be a sin to be inside when the weather is like this. My efforts to go running have been thwarted by things like stopping to lie down in the park so that I can't see anything but the clear blue sky, and think about how beautiful the world is. I do stuff like that. Don't hate.

I feel slightly guilty about the lack of crafting I've been doing, as I've booked a table at a crafts fair midway through June. It will be my first time selling at a crafts fair, so that's an exciting milestone! Unfortunately, it is too warm outside to knit, and my sewing machine needs to be plugged in, which means crafting and being outside are at crossed purposes.

I did get some study-knitting done though, before the weather and my levels of obligation took a turn for the amazing.

 

 

 

 

The green are acrylic left over from a scarf, the two darker blues are Sublime Merino DK, and the light blue is Debblie Bliss Rialto. I used different patterns from a stitchionary I got a while ago - it's a fun way to test them out. I think my favourite new stitch is the seersucker stitch, which I used for the dark blue gloves. (While it doesn't come across well in the photo, in real life that yarn is the most perfect shade of TARDIS blue, and I really should have used it for something nerdier, but I was halfway through a glove by the time I realised. Pity.)

I also study-knit several headbands, but I keep forgetting to take decent photos. I still have to weave in all the ends of my study-knit goods, because weaving in ends is my least favourite thing.

My start of summer present to myself was lots of Debbie Bliss Cotton, which I am using to make this top. I love the look of it in ecru and beige in the Ravelry Project pictures, but I was limited in my colour choices by wanting something machine-washable.

I also got cubic needles! I've never used them before, but various forums (is it too grammar/language-nerdy to say "fora"? It feels like it is) have been talking them up. I get to use them in a few inches, exciting!

I have also been having baking and cooking adventures. I made oreo truffles using this recipe for the party the department held for fourth years the evening before we got our results, and they were well-received. (And the next day I found I had a First. Coincidence?) These brownies are also tasty! Projects involving making or altering clothes are being shelved for the time being, because in this weather I can't imagine wanting to be anything but naked, and that makes it difficult to make wearable clothes. But yesterday I went for a cycle and picnic in Phoenix Park and brought my SLR camera! So that can be my weather-appropriate project.

LOOK AT THE SUNNINESS OF THE DAY

"Are you intoxicated? You're being all affectionate."

I went to Electric Picnic at weekend!  Last year I got to go for free as I went with work, this year I got to go for free by volunteering.  By chance, I was working in the boutique campsite, so my wristband let me into the campsite where my work-friends were staying.  I took advantage of this after the first night, when my brother's friend crawled into our tent in wet clothes and fell asleep on my legs.  (I did manage to fall asleep, but woke up a while later because he was shivering violently, and couldn't convince him to put on dry clothes.)

I made this bag out of two t-shirts the night before I left, as my conveniently-sized one got snatched in Lima.

Confession: The 'handmade' one isn't an old, re-used one, I just saw it on sale.  But how could I not buy it to make it into a something?

I was happy enough with it for a speedy job - though the strap was a bit stretchy, which I solved by tying a knot a few inches down it - until Saturday night, when the bottom ripped and my wallet fell out.  So now it's at the back of the drawer while I sulk about that.  That will teach me to be lazy and speedy in my sewing, especially hand-sewing (though I expect my clothes to take much less strain than bags, so first time mistake etc.)  I have a pretty low opinion of whipstitch, too.

The wallet thing was also annoying as I'd planned to go to a few Greencrafts workshops on my last morning.

Happy concert things: PJ Harvey, Republic of Loose, Jazzberries (the guy playing the keyboard lives up the road from me, and he and my brother have been friends since they were teeny, but I've never heard them play before), running into people I haven't seen since the start or the Summer, the spicy veggie burgers from the big orange stand.

A incident I'm not sure how to feel about is that when I went to buy a shirt, I asked for a men's small (babydolls sit funny on me, and men's shirts are easier to made into different things, plus the material tends to be lighter) and was given a women's small.  I asked the person who gave it to me, and he said that was all they had, and sure that'd fit me better anyway. (1. Wonky proportions, no it won't, and 2. Men's Small and Women's Small aren't equivalent size-wise.)  I ended up getting it because it was the design I liked the best, but giving a guy a Women's shirt because it was the only kind left would be seen as a weird thing to do.  It's nice to have the option to buy things from either section of the shop, which isn't really available to guys, but assuming without checking that I'll take something from the section I didn't choose this time sits a little strange with me.

Reconstructed Beatles t-shirt

T-shirt is now a different t-shirt!  I'm happy with it - I like scoop-necks a lot (best neck), and the cinching at the side makes it a bit more than a plain t-shirt.  I should maybe have bought a size smaller for aesthetics (it's a men's medium), as it makes me look a bit blocky, but it is very very comfy.  The style also might be better suited to a shirt with something other than a big central logo.  Things to keep in mind next time, but I still like this one!

Related: I never understood why people say "Oh, I can't draw a straight line" when disparaging their artistic abilities.  Straight lines are hard.

Please don't judge me.

This t-shirt is It's A Cinch from

I don't like throwing things out, so it's a good book for me!

I spent today sitting in the (glorious) sunshine, knitting and reading sewing books.  It just isn't Summer until I have strangely geometric sunburn on one side of my body.  (My back was to the fence how did it even get sunburned I do not understand.)

Aaand we're back.

I finished exams!  They could have gone better, but could have been a whole lot worse, so I shouldn't complain.  I also broke my one-post-per-fortnight rule, but my laptop broke the day before my last exam and I only got it fixed yesterday, so I think I can be excused.

To reward myself for finishing exams, I made this hat:

Check me out, taking photos outside where there's light instead of in my room where there's not.

I don't have a good photo face.  I've decided to stop trying.

The pattern is Tori by Erin Kate Archer.  The pattern calls for bulky yarn, but I really liked the striping of it and couldn't find any nice variegated bulky yarn.  I used Louisa Harding Grace - so lovely and so soft.  It's worsted weight though, so it didn't come out as slouchy as the original, it's more of a beanie, which I wasn't going for.  I am happy with it though (and I don't usually wear bright colours but I am trying NEW THINGS).  The pattern is lovely and it knits up quickly (I made it while letting my brain melt watching horror films), and I might keep an eye out for suitable bulky yarn to make another more suited to the harsh winter months.

My follow-up indulgence was my Amy Gloves.  I'm using 4-ply yarn (Debbie Bliss Rialto), instead of 3-ply as suggested by the pattern, both because there's a wider selection and I'd imagine it to be snugglier.  I finished the left one the other night, but decided there was just a little too much wiggle room.  I've ripped it out and am reknitting the whole thing on slightly smaller needles (2.75mm), so it should be a better fit.  I'm glad to be redoing it, the lace pattern was just a little wide and sloppy for my tastes as it was.  I find lace on large needles just looks gappy.

Red toenails are Summery for me.

I'm nearly finished my friend's hoodie.  This photo was taken before I'd sewn up the sides.  I didn't think through the pocket properly.  I intended to pick up stitches, but realised that that left me with the yarn on the wrong side, so I pulled a length of yarn to the back to pick up at the front and then kept on knitting at the front.  Then to attach the top I sewed the last row, pulled the live stitches through using a crochet hook and bound them off on the back.  Not ideal, but I'm satisfied with my minor feat of engineering, and it's a lesson in planning ahead for next time.  I also grossly underestimated how much yarn I'd need, and when I went in it was clealy a different dye-lot.  Oops.

In PLAN news, I still want to make myself a hoodie, though I'm now thinking of making something light and summery, maybe in cotton.  I also want to make a big snuggly cardigan because I can't find any I like in shops.  I also want to make a skirt out of fabric I've had for ages now.

I'm starting an internship in the developmental biology lab on Monday.  Exciting!

Exams have me yearning for summer.

Nine exams down, one to go. I took these when I was fifteen and sixteen, and came across them on my computer recently. After next Tuesday, get to start on making new memories.