Oopsie!

Talk about falling at the first hurdle! Terribly sorry, people. I have little to show for the past fornight, although 16th-17th was taken up by going to two Alice in Chains gigs which were incredible. Well, the second one was incredible at any rate. The 16th involved being crushed (and smothered: ew) by an extremely hairy, loud, obnoxious and TALL guy for an hour and half, which was less fun. The next day we got there early and so were at the very front and it was amazing. And I got a plectrum from Jerry, which was very cool. A got three but I'm happy with mine :) and who knows, maybe I'll get more on the 7th. Surely buying tickets to all three London shows demonstrates one's true fangirl obsession with Alice in Chains and  therefore earns one many plectrums?

Ok, I think it's time for some knitting talk don't you?

So, you know how in my last entry I was up on my high horse about how I didn't mind seaming and it was part of the tailored beauty of knitting and blah blah blah? Well...um...

This cardigan-to-be (Jen, from Precious, by Kim Hargreaves) has been like this for a while and I cant seem to bring myself to seam it. I have a couple of the raglan seams done, so it's not been entirely ignored. Still pretty shameful though, right? Of course, the problem isn't precisely the seaming; raglan sleeves are quite fun and easy, not a big problem. The issue is what comes after, i.e. the bit where I have to pick up 191 stitches for the neckband. I really don't like picking up stitches. At no other point in a project am I as likely to set it aside "for now" and begin the ignoring process. Even when knitting socks I dread finishing the heel flap because I know what comes next.

While this was lounging around (I'll try and finish it soon, promise) I needed something to take to knitting group that was fairly simple and that I didn't have to buy new yarn for. After a bit of stash diving and Ravelry queue-browsing I came up with this Noble Cowl pattern and some Manos Silk Blend that I had lying around. Readers, I present to you the first FO of the blog:

•  Pattern: A Noble Cowl, by Emily Kausalik
• Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, roughly half a skein
  

I loved this project and I am so so pleased with it. It was one of those perfect moments when a yarn has decided what it wants to be and everything just...works. Plus it was a quick and short enough project that it was finished before the stitch pattern got boring, but was simple enough that I could knit it and talk to people/watch tv etc. without any problems. I would definitely make another one. The only thing I would say is that I kind of wish the lace pattern had been charted instead of written out but hey, the pattern is free, I could have charted it myself but was just lazy and as far as written instructons go it was pretty easy to visualise as I went along.

I have about half a skein left so I'm thinking about making a little pair of fingerless mitts to match. Cosy stuff!

As a final note to this post I want to show you how awesomely yesterday's pincurls attempt turned out! This was before the wind destroyed it, of course. I'd love to know how people stop that from happening.

I'm still very much at the experimental stage with pincurls. I did this one by splitting my hair down the centre, then splitting that into three layers. I curled  inch sections of the top layer counterclockwise, middle layer clockwise and bottom layer counterclockwise again. Then when I brushed it out I flipped the hair over to make a side parting, fiddling with the ends a bit to curl them under.

Incidentally, the lipstick I'm wearing is brand new Retro Matte in colour Ruby Woo by MAC, possibly the most expensive piece of makeup I've ever purchased. Twelve pounds is not to be sniffed at when you are a poor student. I'm not entirely sure if it's exactly the right colour for me, so the search for the perfect red will continue. I'm planning on writing a little review of it soon though, so stay tuned.