Tag Archives: Netflix

Feb3

WIP: March sweater Day 2

Posted on by
Standard

Well hello there, I’m back with more news of the March sweater.

Yesterday was a heavy crochet day – I spent a LOT of time on the couch and almost finished the back. I did go for a walk in the evening with Tai Chi Man to get some fresh air and some blood flowing through the veins, though.

The back was kinda boring, being all black, and it was nice to start on the coloured stripes for the right front today (after my 8am yoga class).

My first Ravelry project page update, earlier today, showed that I had done five blue stripes and was just starting on the green part of the yarn cake. In order to keep the coloured sc rows fairly visible, I’m crocheting the black rows in the front loop only. This leaves a little extra colour visible on the right side.

I’m also “cheating” with the colour. The blue did five rows and I made sure that the green would arrive on the sixth. So when I’d done five green rows I cut some out so that the acid yellow would appear on the next one. I want to make sure that all five colours in the cake appear across the front of the sweater (which is actually going to be a sleeveless vest with a wrap front).

Tricky to photograph black, especially when there are other colours involved in part of the shot. Of course I’m only using an old iPad Mini, so I guess I can’t expect too much. (And those ends! Lots of weaving in to do later.)

So that’s it for today. I’ve put down my hook for the night, even though it’s only 9.20pm. I’d rather go and get into my PJs and read in bed for a while because I’ve realised that staying up late is not serving me well. Thankfully I’ve finished all seasons of Mr Selfridge now, and am reluctant to start another series. It’s just too easy to binge watch episode after episode.

So apart from crochet, this week’s entertainment is finishing A Dog’s Purpose (yes, the book that the film was based on, though I haven’t seen the film) and starting on the third book in the Poldark series, Warleggan.

I gave a work shift away to a co-worker whose schedule was messed up so the coming week has me doing two shifts instead of three, which means…you guessed it…more crochet time! I estimate the March sweater will take no more than a week in all and then I can decide what to knit for April! Oh yes, and the Ravelry Ravellenic Games start on February 9th, and I am entering the toy event, so I need to do a bit of preparation for that before next Friday.

It’s all go, you know. 🙂

Jan17

WIP: more of the January sweater

Posted on by
Standard

 

IMG_7121

I’m feeling happier about this sweater today because once I’d done some of the yoke decreases I put all the stitches onto spare yarn and tried it on. I was originally aiming for  a 44″ circumference, which would have given me a lot of ease, but because of the tighter gauge it’s coming out at 40″. That means it will be fairly form-fitting and I was worrying about it being too snug. But no, it feels just great, so I am gaily marching on towards the neckline.

The next decision will be how wide to make the neck. I want to add a big collar, maybe not a regular polo/turtleneck, but perhaps a split turtleneck. I’d like to have the option of buttoning it up around my neck, but also to open it up if I’m getting too hot (which is quite possible considering how thick the sweater is).

I’ve added a couple of short rows in the back section tonight, with the plan to add a couple more later on. I finally learned how to work a wrap properly in the round. I can do the ones on the left end of a short row fine, but the challenge used to be that when I knitted all the way around and encountered the wrap at the right hand end of the short row I didn’t know the correct way to pick up the wrap without making a mess.

Well, I found this tutorial. In it, she shows how to work the wraps – the left hand one is done the usual way that I’m familiar with, and the right hand one is done with a yarnover. When encountering the yarnover later, you slip the stitch before it knitwise, slip the yarnover purlwise, and knit them together. Hey presto, it worked!

As this is such a bulky sweater, I also am using a slightly different technique than an ssk for my left leaning decreases. I  can’t remember where I found it now, but the theory is that an ssk is very visibly different from a K2tog. When you’re doing mirrored decreases on a raglan yoke, it’s nice to have them look similar on each side. So instead of slipping one knitwise, then slipping another knitwise, putting the needle into the front of the two slipped stitches then knitting them together, I am doing this: slip one knitwise, slip the next one purlwise through the back, then knit them together.

Sounds fiddly, but once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s just as easy and it does seem to be looking pretty good.

My knitting has been accompanied by a TV series on Netflix that a customer at the store recommended to me. Mr Selfridge. And I am enjoying it immensely, and not just because it doesn’t have subtitles!!

I have really appreciated the last two days off work. I met a friend for tea yesterday, and did the shopping (OK, grocery shopping is not very exciting but hey, it was a day off) and today I went to the gym then pootled around in the kitchen making the Burrito Breakfast Bake from my new book, The How Not to Die cookbook by Dr Greger. I’ve made a few recipes from that book now and have been pleased with them so far. The kids are not crazy on yams or cooked greens, which is a shame because they are just SO good for you! I still try and get them to eat them, though.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to work 5 – 9pm so it almost feels like another day off. Kinda sorta 🙂

 

Jul21

Fabulous Friday

Posted on by
Standard

Let’s see, what do I have to share with you today? I probably should have got out of bed earlier this morning. I was up at about 7, and had to be at work by 9.15. So the first thing was to grab my lemon water and cup of tea, and then get on with making a pot of chili. It took about an hour to get everything going in the pressure cooker but it was a great way to use up the beans in the fridge and freezer, some spinach, Swiss chard, a couple of mushrooms, some grated carrot, a partial can of diced tomatoes and so on.

We used to have “refrigerator soup” most Fridays before I started working at Fabricland, because we always did our weekly shop on Saturdays and it was nice to clear out the wilting vegetables. Our routine is not so set in stone any more, because my shifts are all over the place. This week my only shifts were a five hour stretch last night plus an eight hour one today. I had a busy morning but because we are open until 9pm on Fridays we have more staff arriving at lunchtime to see us through to closing, and a couple of us were able to leave early today. So I’ve only actually earned ten hours worth of pay this week.

So to get back to the chili, and the fact that I put in a couple of loads of laundry and hung one load outside on the line, and had to eat breakfast and make a lunch, I didn’t have time to meditate this morning. And I actually missed it! It’s only Day 4 but I already feel it’s something I want to keep doing. So when I was told I could go home early if I wanted, I jumped at the chance (as usual) and fitted in my 35 minute session before dinner.

Awesome!

I also had time to review the slideshow that I have put together for a presentation I’m making tomorrow night. This presentation, which I’m calling Wholistic Nutrition, has been scheduled for months and I had started writing things down and mulling over how it was all going to come together back in May or June. With the deadline looming, I discovered Google Slides, which is a free Powerpoint type tool which is easy to use. Using the material I wrote weeks ago, plus some text from my blog posts on Grains, Greens, Berries and Beans (my whole-food plant-based blog), plus some nifty photos from Pixabay (free Creative Commons pictures), I found that doing a slideshow was a better way to get my thoughts in order and present everything attractively.

I sound like an advertisement, don’t I!

I ended up putting the whole thing together in a day, with a couple of tweaks since, and I even had to get a bit of advice from my techie sons about changing my display to incorporate two screens, as my laptop will hook up to a projector. I feel a bit nervous about relying heavily on technology, and just in case my speaker notes aren’t visible while the slideshow is playing I will be printing them out.

FullSizeRender (1)

I do actually have two WIPs to show you. I have finished and joined Parts 1 to 5 of the Everything is Cool and Groovyghan CAL 2016. Part 6 is a long strip that attaches to this piece, and I had to wonder why it was made separately when I could just work it straight onto the piece I already had. So what I did was crochet a row of sc along the edge of the joined blocks (after I took this photo) instead of making a row of foundation sc, and whilst I have a few extra stitches I think it will be okay (famous last words) as I think the pattern repeat for part 6 is a multiple of 5 plus 2, and I have 172 stitches. This is only five more than the pattern calls for so I think I’m good.

Good grief, that photo makes the blocks look so wonky. There’s going to have to be some serious blocking when all the parts are joined.

IMG_6721

This is my other WIP. It’s the Kanata Kerchief Tank, available as a free Ravelry download. It’s a pretty top, made quite simply with four large squares, partially joined and finished to make the shoulder straps. It calls for a DK yarn so I’m using a new yarn to me, Scheepjes Linen Soft, and a 6mm hook.

I figured that this top should be the priority, so that I can wear it this summer, and then I’ll probably follow that up with the toddler dress with the pink Linen Soft. I’m really looking forward to making that.

I also managed to binge watch Season Six of ‘Suits’ on Netflix this week. There are only 10 episodes and I’m 99% sure there won’t be another season, considering how it ended, but I could be wrong. (Who, me?)

Wishing you all a happy sunny weekend. Have fun, stay healthy, be happy!

 

 

Jan13

FO: Facets cowl

Posted on by
Standard

Good morning! This is an expected morning at home. I missed a call from my manager and showed up at work at about 9.15 expecting to start at 9.30 and she asked if I could do a 1 – 9pm shift instead. Someone who’s due to work this evening is sick and they need an extra body for the evening. So as I only live 5 minutes away, I readily agreed. In fact, I took the opportunity to try out the car wash that opened not long ago, just across the highway from the store, and I now have a white car again! It was fun. The car’s wheels get pulled onto a track that takes you through at just the right speed, so all you do is sit there and enjoy the ride. They also have vacuums you can use so that your mats get the treatment too. It was minus 11 Celsius while I was out there, so I had to keep my two pairs of knitted mittens on, and also be really careful not to slip on the ice underfoot.

The cowl that was a mere WIP last time I posted is now an FO. I didn’t actually finish the two skeins of the Loops & Threads Facets after all. The person at work who is sick is a great lover of turquoise and lime, just like me, and I know she will love this cowl. So I measured it and it was 27″ long and just right for a single loop cowl. All it needed was a single crochet seam across to join the two ends, and voilà!

 

The photo on the mannequin head shows the colours well, but the whiteness of the styrofoam is a rather glaring. This Agnes Lace Cowl used 130 grams of the yarn and an 8mm hook, the circumference is 27″ and the depth is 10″.

I could easily make a bunch of these. The stitch pattern is so easy and with the bulky yarn it grows fast. Maybe this would be a good stashbuster project with multiple strands of yarn (brain is ticking away here but at the same time telling me I should keep going on the baby blanket). Speaking of the blanket, I have now finished row 4. I decided last night that my studies could wait and that I would focus on the blanket while watching Netflix. Have you seen No Tomorrow? A fun series with an important underlying message – seize the day!

Time to go and have some soup. Have an awesome weekend with lots of warmth and crafting.

 

 

Oct4

WIP: Demelza

Posted on by
Standard

This is the Week 4 part of the blanket CAL though by now we are well into Week 5. These squares took some time and it didn’t help that some days I haven’t had a chance to pick up a hook. I don’t like days like that!

fullsizerender-5

I grouped my pinks and purples in these squares, with green for ‘foliage’ and a camel and copper edging. The next set, Flat Flower 2, will be browns and blues.  They are already started. I was watching a movie last night, Joy, which is about a woman with a VERY dysfunctional family who invents a self-wringing mop. It’s based on a true story and she certainly had a lot of challenges on the road to success. The family will irritate the heck out of you but be assured she overcomes it all in the end.

I have an eight hour shift today and I’m going to continue to avoid heavy lifting as much as possible. The pinched nerve or whatever it is in my left shoulder isn’t giving me as much bother this morning and I think it may be on the mend. Even the hip isn’t as sore.

Wherever you go today, I hope you are able to smile and be positive. It makes all the difference!

 

 

 

 

Sep27

Life update!

Posted on by
Standard

fullsizerender-4

Firstly, Demelza progress. These “flat flowers” feel like they’re taking ages. I’ve done seven rounds on each so far and there are still four rounds to go to square them up. There are two types of flat flower in this blanket, and I decided to concentrate my pinks and purples in this set and my blues and greens in the other set. Unless I change it up somewhere along the line.

What am I reading right now? I just finished House Rules by Jodi Picoult, a novel based around an 18 year old young man with Asperger’s whose passion is forensics. I am also reading Remember Zen by a local author (book is not to hand right now) which summarises much of the Buddhism/Taoism learning I have been doing over the last six years in a manageable paperback book. Next I will pick up The Different Drum by M Scott Peck, a book that a friend gave me for my birthday.

Netflix-watching is currently Broadchurch Season 2. I watched Season 1 yonks ago but only just realised that Season 2 is out. It’s a bit gloomy – I shall have to balance it out with some lighter entertainment. Close-ups of David Tennant’s myriad pained expressions are getting a bit much and I’ve only watched the first two episodes!

Aches and pains haven’t got any better but I have three different modalities planned for this week. A person at my chiro’s office offers something called SCENAR which involves electrical pulses that stimulate the body’s natural painkilling effects. That’s tomorrow, then Thursday morning I’ll be seeing a massage therapist, but I have a feeling from reading the info on his website that this won’t be a gentle massage with scented oils (he doesn’t use oil) but more in depth and possibly painful as he digs in and finds the knots etc.

I have a friend who also does healing for free in her home and I will see her another day, and that’ll make three healing sessions in one week. Hopefully at least one of them will make a difference so I can get back to normal….or better than normal.

I was at work today (fabric store) and was put on cutting table 2 which is in the upholstery section. You can guarantee that means lots of lifting of long rolls of fabric, in addition to which I had huge boxes of curtain rods to unpack and price. Despite the lifting and the standing/walking on a concrete floor for 6 – 8 hours, I actually feel best at work, probably because it takes my mind off my back and hip. I was at a class tonight and had to sit in a folding chair for nearly two hours and that really didn’t feel good.

Well, that’s enough from me tonight – I need sleep. Hopefully I’ll have more Demelza progress to show you soon.

 

 

Dec5

Stash beanie

Posted on by
Standard

   
 
This didn’t take long to make – two strands of James C Brett Marble Chunky with a 6.5mm hook, generic top down crochet beanie, of which I have made many. I’m pleased to have used up two partial skeins from the stash.

Tonight’s Netflix show of choice was White Collar, a TV series about an FBI guy and his sidekick, a reformed art forger who is impossibly good-looking! 

The Boho wrap is unchanged, and the skirt-scarf is thus…

  
Approximately 17” along that right edge, which is the width of the rectangle or the length of the skirt, depending how you look at it. Yeah, black doesn’t photograph well. 

So much for this WordPress app, which isn’t working properly again. I can upload certain photos, but others freak the app out, I think, as I get an ‘uploading’ thing cycling at the top of my screen indefinitely. Frustrating! Back to Safari for me. 

We had a wet and windy day, and the new snowfall we had earlier in the week has all melted. It always amazes me how warm plus 5 feels after minus 5! My day was full of shopping and baking, and the aforementioned crochet, so even though it felt like it was getting dark at 2.30pm I was happy, cocooned in my house with the smell of molasses cookies and home made bread. 

How was your day?

Nov12

A comfortable spot

Posted on by
Standard

imageA friend of mine commented on the darker evenings, saying she was already starting to suffer a little from cabin fever. Well, the clocks changed only two weeks ago, and I am loving the lighter mornings and long dark evenings. It’s so much easier to get up in the morning when it’s not pitch dark. And my favourite thing to do on winter evenings is tuck myself underneath a crocheted blanket and crochet some more!

Admittedly, eating dinner then spending the whole evening on the couch is a recipe for putting on more pounds, and there are some evenings when I have gone out for a swim at the pool. But dark evenings seem to just pull me towards hibernation mode and staying in.

Tonight I came out of the kitchen, having loaded the dishwasher and made myself a hot drink, and this view of the sofa with my shawl, blanket and current project just sitting there was so appealing.

Maybe you recall my recent cowl project made from shades of brown in my stash. Well, I took those same yarns, held three strands together and crocheted this hat with a 6.5mm hook. It’s my Crochet Hat Recipe in the sidebar, also known as Adjustable Crochet Hat on Ravelry. Used up some small odds and ends, which was nice.

image

image

And when that was finished, I immediately started a pair of my own Free Beginner’s Crochet Fingerless Mitts, the pattern for which is also linked in my sidebar, with Stylecraft Harlequin Chunky in cerise/turquoise. Very pretty. The photos don’t do the colours justice.

image image

I started this at a coffee shop yesterday and couldn’t look up the pattern so this pair will actually be a bit longer than the originals. My plan is to put them with my other completed projects which have yet to find a new owner.

My Netflix watching is a British TV show called Death in Paradise. It’s a fairly entertaining series set on a Caribbean Island with a reluctant Englishman as the chief detective. He is always complaining about the heat but always wears a suit and tie. And is always looking for the perfect cup of tea!

Have you seen the new James Bond movie, Spectre? My menfolk and I went to see it last night. Classic Bond, of course, he always manages to get out of every conflict with everything intact, and seems to have no problem getting around and managing his wardrobe after seemingly being stripped of everything he owns! Maybe he always has an emergency passport and credit card duct-taped to his body or something. And all the women want to sleep with him. But hey, it’s great entertainment even if you can’t follow the storyline. Oh yeah, and I really want a £3,000,000 Aston Martin that shoots flames out of the back, you know, just in case!!

Ok, time to do some crochet (maybe some more hand cream first, this cold weather is drying my hands out and my cuticles are a mess – catching on everything). I have had to promise my half-done blanket that I will get back to her before starting another new project. She’s sulking…

Oct11

Skull beanie FO

Posted on by
Standard

imageJust popping in to show you my Finished Object. The skull beanie, modelled by Sally the Styrofoam head!

It’s snug on her which means it won’t fit me, but that’s ok. I’ll take the head and hat to work on Tuesday and when it’s had its time sitting out on view I will find a suitable new owner.

I just finished all five seasons of Drop Dead Diva on Netlfix and then discovered that Bones Season Ten is available. Yay! I’ve already started watching episode 1.

Two potlucks in two days this weekend, and tomorrow I’m cooking lunch for the five of us. Hmmm, better hike extra kilometres and swim extra laps after this.

Aug23

Item #1 – check

Posted on by
Standard
Sweater guts

Sweater guts

My last post itemized a few things that I intended to do. Well, number one is done. While I watched a movie on Netflix (The Baker – quite amusing) I ripped out the sweater.

And here is what it looks like now. A large pile of navy blue bulky acrylic, a small pile of red worsted weight acrylic, and the inevitable pile of scrappy ends from the messy parts (like the grafted armpits).

This yarn is very soft and only lightly twisted and it has not retained much kinking from being knitted into a sweater.

We are experiencing a lot of smoke in the valley again. Apparently it’s being blown north from Washington State. My eyes are sore and my nose is running. By this point in the summer, we British Columbians are looking forward to fall’s cooler temperatures and maybe some rain, if we’re lucky.

Hope you have a super Sunday. 🙂