" title="Knit one, read two"> Knit one, read two

My Katje cardigan reached the point this morning where it splits for the body and sleeves so I thought that would be a good point to try it on and take some photographs. The weather is a bit gloomy here today so the light isn’t brilliant but I’m really pleased with how this is looking. (I’m ignoring the pictures that I took with the hood up; I’ll never wear the hood up!)

Like my Katarina, this is another Cocoknits pattern. I absolutely love Julie’s work. The styles are modern without being too trendy and the patterns are really clearly written.

The two patterns that I’ve knitted have also been simple enough to be fairly mindless knitting but with just enough going on that I don’t get too bored knitting them. They’re ideal for product knitters who aren’t terribly bothered about learning new techniques but do like having new things to wear!

In times of stress or crisis (or both!) I find myself returning to favourite books as a form of comfort that is both cheaper and less fattening than chocolate. Since I was combing the shelves last night looking for a bit of a pick-me-up, I thought I’d share some of my favourites.

Top of the list is Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, about what happens when rock and roll hits the Discworld. I’m a big fan of the Discworld series, although I’ll admit to not having kept up with the last few published, and Soul Music is my absolute favourite. Not only does it frequently reference one of my favourite films (The Blues Brothers) but I feel a certain affinity with the character of Susan. As well as sharing a name, we share a logical, rational mindset, combined with a certain underlying anger when the world (and people) just don’t work the way they’re supposed to.

Continuing with the Terry Pratchett theme, next up is Good Omens, co-written with Neil Gaiman.  It tells the story of Armageddon from the point of view of the Antichrist (a 12 year old boy living in an English village), the angel and demon sent by their respective sides to make sure that he grows up properly, and the witch and witch-finder out to stop the whole thing from happening. Like Soul Music, it’s the humour and the references that make this so enjoyable.

For a very short pick-me-up, I can also recommend Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’s graphic novel, Stardust, about a young man who journeys into Faerie to retrieve a fallen star as a gift for his true love.

Moving away from the fantasy genre, I have to include anything by Alexander McCall Smith, particularly his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. These are the books that I read when I want to be reminded that there are good people out there and the world doesn’t have to be a cruel, selfish place. His books are probably a little too nice (or possibly naive) for everyone’s tastes but, for me, they’re the literary equivalent of a large mug of hot chocolate when you’ve just come in out of the rain. The other bonus is that he’s pretty prolific so, even for someone who reads as quickly as I do, there’s usually a new book just out or on the way soon.

Marian Keyes is another author that I return to at times like this. Her heroines are just flawed enough to be instantly identified with and her writing can move me from tears to laughter over the space of a page.

Non-fiction can be comforting too. I find myself returning to Bill Bryson’s travel books over and over again, especially Notes from a Small Island, about his travels in the UK. The (often self-deprecating) humour combined with a genuine affection for the people and places he sees make this probably my favourite non-fiction book ever.

And, last but not least, my literary equivalent of buying (and eating) a whole 400g bar of Dairy Milk is any sort of trashy chick-lit bought at the train station on the way home from a bad day at work (sometimes along with the chocolate). The brighter and more garish the cover, the better. Escaping into a world of sheer fluff and silliness for a couple of hours is often exactly what I need. Hmm, I think I might have to stop by the bookshop at the train station on my way home tonight!

I’m posting this from my new G1 phone (mainly just to see if it’s possible). The phone was an impulse buy at the weekend, although I’ve wanted an internet phone for ages. Much as Steven loves his iPhone, the fact that you need a computer running iTunes was a huge turn-off for me since I would have had to sync it via Steven’s Mac.

Enter the G1, described to me by probably the geekiest friend I have as “the ultimate geek toy”. So far, it’s living up to its reputation. I can surf, check email, blog and post photos without any trouble. Its slide out keyboard and slightly rubbery feel and smell remind me a lot of a Psion PDA that I had years ago, which is nice.

I’m currently working on getting it set up so that I can read ebooks on it but that’s about the only thing missing at the moment.

The photo (taken with the G1 phone) shows what I was supposed to be studying today had I not been playing with my new toy!

First the old: I finally got Steven to take some pictures of me in my Sahara jumper.

I love this jumper and probably wear it more than anything else I’ve knitted. I’ve already blogged my thoughts on the pattern so I’ll move right on to the new.

I’ve abandoned attempting to convert the Vino cardigan to something that I’ll actually wear and instead am going to use the yarn to make another Cocoknits pattern, Katje. It’s an interesting pattern, knitted from the top seam of the hood down. Given how well my Katarina cardigan turned out, I’m really looking forward to this one.

Finally, there’s yet another pair of socks on the needle.

These are Thuja from Knitty in Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran, which is a gorgeous yarn but unless you happen to be standing in John Lewis looking for yarn that you can buy right now, I’d recommend ordering from New Lanark instead. I’m enjoying the speed of knitting socks in aran-weight and Thuja is a great pattern, enough going on to keep them interesting without getting too complicated. Steven started these but has finally decided that he just isn’t a knitter so I volunteered to finish them for him.

For someone who doesn’t like knitting socks, I seem to be spending rather a lot of time on them recently!

One of the more fun things that my Mum asked for for her scrapbook was a set of close-up pictures of my wedding bouquet and I realised that I hadn’t really blogged about my wedding flowers till now.

My bouquet, my bridesmaid’s bouquet and the groom and best man’s buttonholes were custom ordered from the wonderful Princess Lasertron. I just told her, rather vaguely, what colours I wanted and what my budget was and she came up with the perfect arrangements.

A picture of all the flowers in action:

The buttonholes couldn’t have matched Helen and Steven’s outfits any more closely, which considering they were made thousands of miles away without ever seeing the outfits still amazes me. The browns and creams in Nicki’s bouquet were really elegant and I just absolutely adore the pinks in mine!

The best thing about these flowers, for me, is that I get to keep them forever without them withering or dying.

Here are some of the close-ups of my bouquet that I took for my Mum’s scrapbook:

including my new favourite picture of my wedding shawl:

A close-up of Steven’s buttonhole:

I don’t have any close-ups of Nicki’s bouquet, unfortunately, since it’s at my Mum’s house but hopefully she’ll send me the ones that my Dad took for the scrapbook.

So, does this look familiar to anyone?

That’s right, it’s a swatch for the Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. “But didn’t you already knit one of these?” I hear you ask. “Didn’t it take you about 4 months? Wasn’t it quite stressful and involved lots of cursing and swearing?” Yes, yes and yes.

My mum phoned the other night and the conversation ran something like this:

Mum – Do you have any of the yarn left from knitting your wedding shawl?

Me – Some but not very much. Why?

Mum – I’m making a scrapbook of the wedding.

Me – Wow, that sounds great.

Mum – I already have some bits and pieces like invitations and the order of service but could you send me more if you have them?

Me – No problem, we have plenty of spares left over.

Mum – I also have a piece of your sister’s dress (my sister was my bridesmaid) but I was thinking, rather than taking scissors to your shawl, maybe you could knit a small sample square. Maybe two pattern repeats across by one high.

Me (just about recovered from the mini panic attack at the idea of scissors anywhere near my shawl) – Sure, I should have enough yarn to do that.

The conversation moved on and we talked about other things and then we hung up.

And then it hit me. My Mum had just asked me to knit a swatch for a project that I had already finished. And not just that, the most challenging and stressful project that I had ever worked on. I hadn’t properly knitted a swatch for the shawl the first time I knitted it and now, 4 months later, she wants a swatch!

Fortunately, thanks to a rotten cold, I wasn’t doing anything anyway and so with the help of some Friends DVDs, some chocolate and a large pot of tea, I now have a shawl swatch blocking.

It’s just as well I love my Mum.