That was the week that was

A roundup of some going-on this week:

I-Pods

I managed to win an I-Pod shuffle this week! One of the companies we deal at work with sent us all an email to check our details with them. For some reason they had us all down as being in France. I suspect this was a ploy to get us over to their site. I duly corrected the listing and afterwards was presented with an electronic scratch-card. I clicked the pictures not expecting anything to happen, but the phrase matched and the site said, congrats you have won an I-Pod. Much shock and disbelief! Rest assured it isn't a scam, this is a big reputable company we have a "strategic alliance" with. And they give out prizes!

Latifa

I've made progress on this, despite the occasional stitch contriving to escape from the needles :-) My hands are having what I refer to as one of their "crunchy" phases and my grip and dexterity is affected. The yarn also is slipping around a little as I'm using a pair of metal 3.25mm needles. These were my gran's once, I think, the reason I think so is that one of them has a distinct bend in it :-)

My gran taught me to knit, and she would tuck the right needle under her arm and throw the yarn. As I have now found out this appears to be quite a widespread way of knitting in Northern England and Scotland. People either tuck a needle under their arm or use a knitting belt or similar. This is why I have knitted like I do until now, except I never tucked the needle under my arm.

I don't believe there is any "one" way to knit and whatever works well for you, it the "right" way for you. And I'm not about to argue with the highly talented knitters of the Shetland Isles either! :-) So, not so much a "real" knitter but changing my style to deal with physical issues being aggravated by my uneven movements.

Clapotis

Hey, I started a Clapotis on Friday. Only 3 million light years behind everyone else :-) So far I'm in section 2 and about to run out of nice beaded stitch markers! I have nine, one is in use on a hat at the moment, so that leaves eight. I already have five in the knitting. Looks like I'm using some contrasting yarn for a while then :-) It was very nice of Simply Knitting mag. to give away five free markers last month though, just in time. I'm currently consiering trying to make some with my bead stash.

House

Heads-up for House fans. Series 1 is out on DVD on the 27th! I'm rather pleased as I missed all but one episode, having only discovered it late.

Wensleydale

Acrylik has very kindly sent me a sample of Wensleydale Longwool 4-ply. It is fabulous stuff indeed. It's the softest 100% wool (i.e. not superwash or treated in any other way) I've ever handled. I'm trying not to buy wool/yarn at the moment, unless for something very specific. This is going on my list for future purchases though!

Cotton

I bought 600g of Wendy Supreme Cotton DK this week, from the LYS. It is lovely soft mercerised cotton, and I bought 300g of pale lilac and 300g of pale blue. This is intended for chemo caps, first of all. I've been peering at the Odessa hat pattern from the latest MagKnits and I think that will be my first chemo cap project. Thanks Maureen for your comment about the Cashsoft yarn. I will put that on my list for future buys too!

No pictures today, I'll try to get some this week of progress on my current WIPs. I've been ignoring the Snowflake hat and I think I'll frog it. The yarn would probably work better on the larger rec. needle size, as a garter stitch scarf or two for Dulaan. Speaking of which I printed out the Ken Dulaan hat pattern and hope to make one this week.