on holidays, slow progress...

Yes yes, I know, it's been a while since my last post. About 2 weeks I think. It's just that these days I have started my holidays and travelling season, so I have other matters on my mind than knitting. "How dare she?!?!" I hear you exclamating! Don't worry, I haven't gone completely off the grid just yet! I am currently in the south of France (again) visiting my family and I have with me a few knitting projects to keep me going.

I am, of course, still working on the Hawaiian Trunks. The progress is slow, I confess. And I won't be finished in time for the boys' birthdays as planned. But it's ok really, it's nearly a tradition with my sister to be really late in the present delivery. Take last Christmas for example. I got my gift from my sis' only early March!
The problems I am encountering with this project at the moment is that the blue cotton that I bought from La Droguerie is quite quite hard to work on the hibiscus flowers colourwork bit, it just won't stay in place in place in my fingers! This is rather annoying, and I must do breathing exercises every 4 or 5 rounds or so to keep me from throwing it all away.
And of course I also forgot to bring the necessary needles to get a move on on the sunset pattern trunks... It's typical, one always has to forget something when one packs for a trip away. And also typically, I have starting using 3.25mm needles, which doesn't seem to exist in France. So for now and this project I am stuck (I have only completed the belt).

Being on holiday at my Mum's for a short time, we couldn't help but to go to every wool shop that we know off in the area. And I didn't resist buying some wool and started working on a cropped jumper for myself. I know it's not fair isle, but it's a cool project still.
(Oh, and talking of my Mum, she knitted this amazing short sleeve cardi in a duck blue mohair blend wool... I've been wearing it constantly for a week! Well, in the evenings; it's been sunny and 25°C and over since I got there last Friday, hee hee.)

Otherwise I am trying to come to terms with some computer programs to create colour charts. Not doing very well here so far, but I won't give up. The same way I'm not giving up on my Hobbit Kindle cover, it's just on hold I promise!

And finally, I've been doing a bit of sewing. All related to knitting too! I have a mind to recycle -or "upcycle"- old t-shirts into knitting bags. And I am having quite some fun with this to tell you the truth! I am looking forward to be able to get myself a sewing machine and make more of these than really is necessary...

So you see, I am away but still am a busy bee with my knitting needles.
The first 3 weeks in May I'll be travelling in Southern Africa (can't wait!) so posts will be scarce then. But I trust you'll forgive me, and be sure that I'll get back on weekly schedule as soon as... So keep patient my friends!

Hobbit Kindle cover # 1

Did I ever tell you that I am a nerd?

Well, there’s no hiding this from you anymore...

And it’s well due time that I blend my love for sci-fi and fantasy literature with my obsession with colour work knitting.

For my first nerdy knit creation and colour chart, I chose to make myself a cover for my trusty Kindle. And the inspiration comes from the best of them all, JRR Tolkien. I’ll be keeping the Lord of The Rings aside for a little while for now  -although I do have quite a number of burgeoning ideas in relation to it; so I’ll use The Hobbit instead. And I’m thinking it’s going to be rather straight forward really. Dwarves = runes = straight lines = easy. But is it really? Hell no it isn’t! I have now been working on this chart for a couple of days, and I am pulling my hair a little bit here.

For those of you who are unaware of this classic of literature that is The Hobbit; it tells the story of, duh!,  a hobbit (I don’t need to tell you what a hobbit is surely!) who finds himself embarked on a adventure with a bunch of dwarves thanks to a certain wizard who might just be as famous as Merlin himself by now.  The purpose of the adventure is to reunite the dwarves with an enormous family treasure that is now guarded by a nasty dragon. And because there is a treasure to find, there is a map. Thror’s map. And it is the legend, the key, of this map that I am *trying* to transform into a e-reader/tablet cover. To be more precise, that little bit on the left corner that marks (I quote) “the secret entrance. You see that rune on the West side [of the mountain], and the hand pointing to it from the other runes? That marks a hidden passage to the Lower Halls.”

Thror's map - as printed in my copy of The Hobbit

work in progress

So there you go, or more accurately there I go! Let’s keep working on this idea, the dwarvish runes may not be as easy as I thought to transfer onto a chart, but I’ll soon get there I know. And then onto knitting a cosy and awesome looking cover for my Kindle...  And then when I succeed at this one, perhaps I’ll think about creating more nerdy designs for tablet covers (Harry Potter anyone? Or A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones?)...  

Mmmmmmh, I may be onto something here...