A Life in Check Lists

• Yarn Club deadlines? Check.
• Yarn club photo shoot? Check - despite me wearing a thin shirt/corset/skirt combo outside in Scottish autumnal weather (not recommended).
• Doctor's Appointment? Check. I am as peachy as I shall ever get (and that nasty little worry turned out to be nothing, huzzah!)
• Reading Ben Marcus' "The Flame Alphabet" before it is due back at the library? Pending.
• Design Deadlines 1, 2 & 3 for well-known UK knitting publication? Check. Just the samples left to knit.
• Project Winter Coat - 2012 Redux? Ongoing. This year I will need to find a replacement.
• Project Getting Ready for Much-Needed Holiday? Well, the holiday has turned into a working holiday.. Oops.
• Organising workshops for remainder of 2012 plus start of 2013? Check.

I think 2012 may be my favourite year so far, but I am awfully busy. As you already know.

However, I love being able to check off things as I deal with them and I have cleared space in my schedule to work on a few self-indulgent projects in November and December.

A few links to things and some name-checks of people that have kept me sane lately:

• Despite my initial misgivings, the BBC2 programme series on Vikings is actually rather decent. Bits were filmed in Denmark and I was once again reminded that growing up with burial mounds in your backyard is not all that normal common.
• New Domesticity. Blog tagged "thoughts about women and homemaking in the 21st century". Recent posts have dealt a lot with the tie-in book (a bit like me littering this blog with stuff about being super-busy, I guess), but have a look through the archives. Interesting stuff.
• The look book for Brooklyn Tweed Fall 12 is such a master-class in understated, sumptuous knitting design and art direction that I nearly fell to pieces when I first saw it. I want to knit everything. The world is filled with beauty and light.
• Papa Stour is a recent discovery. It showcases Scottish craft and design - and does so delightfully. Right now there is even a sale on .. cough.
• Finally, I cannot stop listening to Patrick Wolf's reworking of his own "Overture" (youtube). We are seeing him in November. Again.

at midnight.. and beyond

I am writing about "at midnight.." at the eleventh hour and the irony is not lost on me.

"at midnight.." is the name of the Old Maiden Aunt/Karie Bookish collaboration I may have mentioned before. It is a three months yarn club still open for sign-ups but at time of writing there are only a few spaces still left. It is my own fault for not mentioning it here before now - I have been so busy with work and life that blogging just did not happened.

"at midnight.." is inspired by the mood and era of the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Both Lilith and I are avid readers - and we both happen to love classic British mystery novels. I set out to design three accessories that drew upon late Victoriana but would still be very wearable today - and I ended up with three designs are that very feminine, elegant and subtle. The picture above shows you some of the props I have gathered for the photo shoot we are having later this month: it is going to be lavish, sumptuous and mysterious. I am really looking forward to hearing what people think - I have had a blast designing for this club and Lilith has come up with some really beautiful, decadent colours.

".. a Victorian heroine trapped in an Edinburgh close at the turn of midnight whilst footsteps come ever closer.." was one of the many small clues we sent back and forth between us. Yes, we had a lot of fun plotting this one!

If you are unlucky enough not to get into the yarn club, the patterns will be made available in an e-book in 2013. I originally thought I'd reknit the patterns in commercial yarn, but as I am really running short on knitting time these days I am not so sure I'll be able to do that.

Phew.

I did find time to design and knit a one-off shawl this summer, but I forgot to take any photos before I gifted it. Ironic, huh?

My darling friend, Paula, had a big birthday this past week. I started plotting her birthday present earlier this year and spent ages searching the net for the perfect yarn. I wanted something semi-solid, something blue-grey-purple and I wanted it to be British.

Juno Fibre arts came up trumps with their amazing "Belle" 4ply which is a mix of alpaca and BFL. The colourway was called "Breathe" - a subtle pastel mix of pale blues and purples with an undertone of grey. I really like working with the yarn - though I should warn you about it shedding - and it was really fun to work with a colourway so different to my usual tastes. Sometimes it's good to push your boundaries!

I just cannot believe I did not remember to take a photo - I shall have to show you later. I will say one thing: working on this shawl back in May/June certainly paved the way for some of my designs coming your way later this year. I learned a lot about going outside my comfort zone and trying out something new.

What's next? Well, I am currently knitting something using a very popular yarn - a design which you will get to see in print(!) early next year.. again in a colourway completely outside my comfort zone. I am also trying to knit a few rows on my Bute cardigan here and there - and then I am also working away on my Doggerland collection when I find time to breathe. I need more hours in the day.

Or sample knitters.

Hmmm.

Excursion

Tell you a secret: I slept in today. We are having overseas visitors at the moment. I love showing off Glasgow to friends and family - we live in such a beautiful area and there are many places to see and explore. However, I am still working full-time on top of playing tourist guide, so I am feeling both scattered a tired.

Sleeping in today was much needed. Instead of my usual Wednesday routine, I have just done a few loads of laundry, done some work in front of the computer and the rest of today will be spent working up swatches. Today is a slow day and all the better for it.

One of our visitors is a keen knitter who had long wanted to see a working woollen mill. So, on Sunday we took them to New Lanark which is a nearby UNESCO Heritage Site: a restored cotton mill and a social history gem. With yarn.

New Lanark was bathed in sunshine - which was a first for me - and they also hosted a Victorian Fair. The Fair played host to all the usual suspects: a school band with a mean fiddler, an ice cream vendor, a Punch & Judy booth, a stall selling homebaked goods, a young girl playing an Irish Harp, face-painting and so forth. Dave indulged in some falconry and I may have bought some yarn..

We saw a few interesting vehicles - such as this steam automobile/locomotive (I am not quite sure how to categorise this thing!)..

.. and the first Penny-farthing I have ever seen in the wild. Strangely enough, I saw my second-ever Penny-farthing the very next day rushing up the hill two streets down from my home. Go figure.

We did a bit of hiking too - along the Falls of Clyde. For some reason we've never made it as far as the Corra Linn (linn is Scots for waterfalls) although it is just a 20 minute walk from the New Lanark village. There was a bit of climbing involved, though, and my calves were killing me the next day. Corra Linnwas not in full flow - but it is still an impressive sight. The water falls some 90 feet and the waterfall is surrounded by steep cliffs and beautiful woodlands. Next time I'll wear better footwear and we'll bring a packed lunch.

Yarn, eh? I was going to be a good girl but I found a 4000 yrds cone of fingering weight yarn in a gorgeous olive green (cue shocked gasps from the gallery) for just £10. How could I resist?

Maybe if I had known that I'd be subjected to very rare Hunters of Brora yarn at my knitting group just a few days later.. but that is a story for another day..

Handmade Living

Handmade Living landed on my doorstep this weekend. It is a lovely, accessible and crafty lifestyle magazine which encourages people to make a go at things themselves.

And (probably because I am the sort of person who likes to have a go at things herself) I am in this issue.

There I am. Hello you.

Blogging (and micro-blogging on Twitter) may give you the impression that I am a bubbly extrovert person, but I am not. I am quiet, introvert and only truly relaxed when in a small group of friends. I am never very comfortable talking about myself - and giving the interview to Handmade Living was really difficult for that very reason. Like pulling teeth, I tell you. Luckily, the journalist was very patient and kept loping me some very good questions that made me relax and open up.

So, if you have arrived here thanks to Handmade Living: hello!

It is a funny old world. One day a girl may be in the depths of despair as her world tilts on its axis, then she decides to "make a go of things" out of sheer bloody-minded determination and a few years down the line, magazines ask her questions about herself as though she was somehow special or interesting. Yes, it is a funny old world.

Bute. Now in Progress.

Today I was a bit tired and this is what I did whilst recharging my batteries.

Whoops.

Not part of my tight knitting schedule, but so very enjoyable and meditative.

Still adjusting to very un-Karie colours, but I think it really works.

(Also, I have an abundance of teal tops in my wardrobe).

Onwards!

Finally some knitting on my blog! This is my swatch for Bute - the lovely cardigan from Rowan magazine 52.

I have completely changed the colour scheme - more on which in a second - but this swatch is all the Bute I am going to knit right now. It will be my reward knit for meeting all the deadlines I have looming over my head. Carrot time!

What deadlines?

As you may know I am doing the Old Maiden Aunt Autumn yarn club. I am currently knitting the last sample, then the patterns go out to be tech-edited and I'll be doing a photo shoot mid-September. I am busy also doing work for a well-known UK knitting magazine which has a tight deadline. I am caught in a perfect storm of fun patten writing and sample knitting. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am just pleased that all the last months' hard work will slowly be trickling its way out to the general public, so you don't all think I am been a complete slacker. As I keep saying: "I am still knitting - honestly!" and now I'll be able to prove it!

(And I know people are going to be asking about the Doggerland collection. I am also working on the second sample for that right now, so expect something to happen relatively soon - of course 'relatively soon' now means something completely different in my vocabulary than in yours, but Doggerland is very much a part of all this hard work. In fact, I just solved a rather nagging design problem the other day).

Bute will be my reward for all this hard work. It is going to be a real treat to sit down with somebody else's pattern and just relax into the knitting rather than always constantly think which is what I am doing when I knit my own samples and swatches.

So, yes, I changed the colours of Bute and I am going to tweak them a tiny bit more. Here is how I went about changing the colourscheme.

• I took the original colours and arranged them on a table so I could really look at them
• I assigned each colour a value: "the pale base colour" - "the dark base colour" - "the zingy contrast" - "the highlighter" etc.
• Essentially I tried to imagine the given colours in greyscale.
• I also tried to figure out what function they have within the colour scheme.
• Then I decided what I wanted from my colour scheme. The original Bute was very earthy and warm. I wanted a cool tone with hints of frost.
• Then I set about going "this is the pale base tone. It is a warm camel colour. What would be a cool, pale base tone?" and that's when I decided to use the Clay colour as the basis. I was aided a tiny bit by Rowan having done another version of Bute although I eventually deviated hugely from that colour scheme too.
• The hardest bits were using the "highlighter" and "zingy contrast" - for the highlighter, I actually ended up using a cool pink ("Peony") although I am not a pink person. The design just calls for a sharp colour to just add interest here and there - and the pink will bring out the purples and fuchsia undertones in other colour colours. It is all about looking at how the colours relate to each other in the design.

My last tweak will be to swap the teal and the dark purple in the swatch. I was really tired last night when I knitted the swatch and I forgot my original plan. Still, it looks really nice and I cannot wait to get started.

And that, my friend, is just a handful of deadlines away. Off to knit some more. I swear I look forward to unveiling all of these sekrit things.