Friday, April 13, 2012

Spring break begins at Chez Hail Britannia

After what can best be called a craptacular two weeks, I'm eagerly anticipating next week's spring break.

  • No two-way drives back and forth to school.



  • No dealing with my son's anxiety during those drives to school. (Long story. I'll fill you in when the school year has ended.)



  • Sleeping in without an alarm clock.



  • Several scheduled playdates, which means I get a couple hours to relinquish my CEO title. That's Chief Entertainment Officer.



  • A week where I have only one thing due for work -- and I'm pretty sure I can finish it tonight.


Anyway, because of above-mentioned craptacular two weeks, I haven't gotten much done around here. I did manage to knit my way down the bottom of my Simplest sweater, despite not listening to the nagging voice in my head that said the yarn was all wrong for it. It was only until I tried it on that I discovered I knitted about 3" too much and the hem was hitting my hips most unflatteringly. To top it off, the bust was too loose. So tonight it'll be paying a visit to the frog pond.

Sort of looks like a sleeveless haircloth shirt, doesn't it?

My latest pair of socks have been more successful. Here, I'm just finishing up the gusset and ready to start knitting down the foot. That yarn, btw, is the much coveted Trekking XXL in Brach's Candy/#126, which I picked up a couple weeks ago at Hub Mills in Billerica. I've been searching for this colorway for eons, and was pleased to find it in my own backyard!

Candy socks. Yummy!

And then lastly, a cowl pattern I started on the spur of the moment, something to reduce my stash.



This one's called "A Very Braidy Cowl." I'm loving it, except that I have no idea why I'm knitting it on straight needles. I'll probably finish this and give as a gift. Unless it looks good on me. Ignore that dirty fingernail -- I spent the morning planting shallots and weeding the peas, and that's my excuse.

So what are you doing for spring break? Whatever it is, I hope you're doing it where it's sunny and warm.



 

 

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The story of Keep Calm and Carry On

A well-done video that explains the history of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters from World War II. Enjoy!




 

Monday, April 9, 2012

It wasn't such a lazy weekend

On Saturday we just lazed around:

Untitled


I thought we were quite sluggish, but I ended up knitting a great deal on my latest project:


Simplest


This is with the wool I purchased at Drumlin Farm last weekend. I knit most of this on Saturday, while hanging out on the couch, and Sunday in the backseat of our car as we drove down to Connecticut for Easter dinner at my parents' house. I'm short a skein, so I need to run over to the farm so I can finish the sleeves. Approximately ten rows left to the body, so that will keep me busy tonight until I can pick up the yarn tomorrow.


I'm just running out the door, but I do want to say: we've been reading Jack London's White Fang aloud and it's quite a good book. I was surprised that I'm liking it so. My son has to read it for school, but because it's a little advanced for him for silent reading we're reading it aloud as a family. More on this later.