Charged

West Yorkshire is beautiful: all rolling hills, verdant forests and picturesque old cottages. Unless, of course, you visit Huddersfield which feels like one big roundabout. This is my second year of visiting West Yorkshire in late spring and despite an abundance of roundabouts, I am still intrigued and finding it all terribly exotic. How could it fail to thrill when you drive through a place marketing itself as "the home of Onward Christian Soldiers"?! Delightfully, the hymn's author is Sabine Baring-Gould who I know better as the author of the lycanthropy classic  The Book of Werewolves! Sometimes fragments of my life collide in the most splendid ways..

However, West Yorkshire was about work and work was exciting. Thankfully. I also had the privilege of spending three days together with some of most creative, inspiring people I know. It has recharged me in ways I did not even know I needed (although my recent blog posts probably do tell you how run-down I have felt this month, this very long month from hell) and my head is buzzing with ideas. It feels good.

One of the very good things I realised came courtesy of my good colleague and friend, Miss K, who had knitted up a green version of my Red Cardigan of Doom. Miss K wears an abundance of feminine 1950s inspired tea-dresses over which the cardigan looks effortlessly classy. She has a petite frame so she could definitely wear the cardigan as intended, but instead she has chosen to let it hang unbuttoned and it looks so nice. So my plan is to rip back the sleeves beyond the unfortunate chicken cutlets and reknit them straight. Then I'll sew on my pretty buttons, finish the buttonband, weave in the ends and wear my cardigan almost-proudly.

Whilst on the train I began (and finished! That's what eleven hours of travelling can do) a crochet scarf. I'm writing up the pattern but it'll be tied to the teaching stuff I do, so I won't release it globally just yet. I learned a few lessons with a previous scarf pattern.. I am also seeing the end of my Fancy jumper-turned-shrug. It is so nice to be finishing things which I have been working on for so long. Maybe this is a good time to whip up a few sewing projects because autumn is going to be hectic workwise.

Brief Encounter

• I have a nice pile of unfinished projects I had really hoped to have finished by now. Thank you, Upstairs Neighbour for flooding our bathroom and completely derailing an already busy week.
• I have been running so many knitting and crochet tutorials this month. It has been completely overwhelming but in a good way. My brain is slightly fried and I feel like I've used up all my good craft-related jokes.
• I'm nearing the end of one design process and will begin another one next week. I have been asked about my design process. Right now my process is all about meeting needs I discover in my many, many tutorials. I'll get back to this in a later post.
• First, though, I'm packing my bags and heading off to Yorkshire for work. I'm off to spend quality time with some good people.
• My first quilt is currently displayed in the window of The Life Craft. How blooming exciting and slightly humbling. They are now offering ceramics classes - I'm tempted but I really do not need another craft. I have no time for another craft.
• I have been reading a lot of crap this week. Balogh's One Night For Love may very well be the worst book I've read in several years. This plot outline should give you an idea why. However, my brain is too fried for anything vaguely decent. I even had trouble following The Brontës Went to "Woolworths", for heaven's sake.
• I really need a long holiday. Looks like that's not exactly in the cards just yet..
• Maybe getting a proper night's sleep would be a good place to start. And then it's time for Yorkshire.

In the Middle of Something

I'm due a short break shortly and oh how I need it. Casa Bookish has seen a series of minor calamities recently - not least upstairs neighbour managing to flood their bathroom so thoroughly that water came pouring through our ceiling on a late Sunday evening. So far it looks as though our wallpaper may be the only major casualty but I shall know more after we have had an inspection on Friday. So faced with minor calamities I do what I do best: I knit and I read. I am soldiering on with some deadline-knitting and I have read two books. They have not been great books by any stretch of the imagination - oh the anachronisms and plot holes - but I needed a distraction. I am now reading China Miéville's new novel, Embassytown, which is a giant step up in quality (and I say this only one chapter in).

I'm going to leave you with my favourite act from Eurovision 2011. They may not have won, but I adored Moldova's entry. I may have voted for this track - and done so very unironically. Hanging out on Twitter during Eurovision shows can also be highly recommended..

Boom! Boom! Chaka! Chaka!

This is one of my favourite weeks of the year: the Eurovision Song Contest week. For my non-European readers, imagine American Idol with 45 different countries competing. Then add xenophobia, bad blood, neighbourly love, dubious ethnic costumes, weird instruments, and mangled lyrics. The combination is oddly compelling. The first semi-finale took place yesterday with the second one happening tomorrow and the finale is on Saturday. Here are some selected highlights:

• Armenia delivered an astonishingly bad, yet classic Eurovision performance in the first semi. It did not progress past the first stage. It was a bit of an upset for a nation that has done very well in recent years.
• Despite myself, I actually like Ireland's song although it features the dreadful Jedward twins (to spare you googling, just watch this clip and weep for humanity). I feel dirty.
• Georgia was one of my personal favourites in the first semi-final which tells you a bit about the level of talent. It is not a classic year.
• Meanwhile Russia's "Alex Sparrow" and Sweden's Eric Saade are fighting it out for the Cute Twink Singing Club Anthem award. I actually prefer Saade's 2010 effort which didn't make it past national finals.
• Iceland has a very strong song with a big sob-story background. I expect this to do very, very, very well.
• Germany won last year. Unusually the winner has chosen to defend her title and she has opted for a seriously cool, dark little song. Go, go Germany! Israel has also sent a former winner. I don't think Israel will do well this time around.
• Finally, my two "home countries" which are both doing well with the bookmakers. Blue's "I Can" is the strongest UK entry for over a decade and this is the sort of stuff the UK should be entering every year*. Denmark's also being hailed as a potential winner. I loved the song when Andreas Johnson sang it in the Swedish 2006 finals. Bad boy Denmark for ripping off a Swedish song.

(* I have heaps of ideas of who to represent the UK at the ESC. Alexandra Burke, Little Boots and The Saturdays would be fabulous if completely unlikely competitors.)

Just to finish off, some of my recent ESC favourites: Turkey 2008, Bosnia & Herzegovia 2008 (which included knitting ladies!), Romania 2006 and France 2007. For sheer WTF-ness, try Azerbaijan 2008. For cuddliness, try Norway 2009 (which won).

And Sweden 1983 which spawned a life-long Eurovision love.

Exciting News

A sneak preview of a new Old Maiden Aunt yarn which is set to launch this summer. Oooh. Lilith handed me two skeins yesterday and I am under oath to not breathe a word about this new yarn to anyone. Okay, I can tell you this much: it is 4ply and the colour shown is called 'ghillie dhu' (it's part of her brand-new colour collection).

I can also reveal that I've been asked to design specifically for this yarn and that you'll be able to purchase the new yarn line with accompanying pattern support at this year's Knit Nation.

As far as everything else happening with Lilith, Old Maiden Aunt and Knit Nation .. well, I'm sworn to secrecy (but it's really cool stuff). I've been asked if I'm going to Knit Nation this year, but sadly I have prior engagements. I nearly did accept an invitation to do some work there but .. annoyingly I had to be a proper grown-up with a "I have already agreed to do something else, sorry". Sigh.

If you're going to be in London for Knit Nation, please do visit Lilith's stall and say hi. Also do a trip on the London Eye for me because I'm so scared of heights I need someone to do it on my behalf.

Fenris & the Lady

I finished a book the other day to my great relief. I have been struggling with books for a few months now after the disastrous Zadie Smith - On Beauty almost-read. Refusing to finish On Beauty, I picked up several books only to put them down after a few pages and so it went for a few months. Wilkie Collins' The Law & The Lady isn't a great book by any stretch of the imagination , but it kept me reading and I'm very thankful for this. Mostly I have been working on my jumper, Fenris.

I have just finished the body; it includes so fairly dramatic waist-shaping, short-rows to shield my lower back (which is always cold) and short-row bust shaping ala Knotions' excellent guide. I am now working on the sleeves using the method I 'unvented' when knitting Snorri. I suspect I will also snip off the bottom ribbing and reknit it again like I did with Snorri. We shall see.

Fenris will have a circular yoke with some colourwork. Fenris is, of course, the monstrous wolf in Norse mythology which bit off Tyr's hand. While I am not planning on having disembodied hands nor wolves roaming around the yoke, I am idly pondering some Norse-inspired motifs. It all depends upon the colours I will have at hand. I only have the one colour in the yarn I'm using but its texture and appearance matches New Lanark Aran fairly well, so I have been digging through my stash to find suitable oddments (successfully locating some green, grey and brown bits).

Which brings me to: If any of you have oddments of New Lanark Aran (5g - 10g) in pinks, cream or blues - or in a similar yarn - please do get in touch and we can work out a swap or something. I refuse to spend £10+ just for a few yards of contrast colour.

I'm still working on my Fancy but I think I'm going to turn it into a shrug. Despite swatching and going down a size, it is still coming out huge. Future plans include writing up a couple of patterns (two freebies, one non-freebie), sewing a few skirts, and hopefully then have cleared out my knitting basket in time for the winter collections to arrive. Mildly ambitious..

A few recent favourites from Ravelry:

• Paper Daleks: this one caused a minor discussion in Casa Bookish. (I'm still not going to knit you a Doctor Who scarf, Dave. It doesn't mean I don't love you. It just means I think it'd be a great beginner's project and I'd be very happy to teach you how to knit)
• Cactus Blossom: I love the vibrant green colour coupled with Noro. Yum.
• Julia's BSJ: So awesome-looking in Kauni. I'm leaning towards making one for my pregnant colleague. I do not know that many pregnant women so it's now or never..
• Vintage St James: So gorgeous, it makes me want to make a striped sweater with a big kick-arse bow.
• Grey Miette: How pretty! How wearable! I must, must, knit myself a grey cardigan!