So the storm seems to have passed, though the wind is still pretty fierce. All of our garden furniture was toppled over, some roof tiles flew off and our poor little crab apple tree looks like something out of Charlie Brown. The plus side is I got some crocheting done. I finally finished the never ending yoke increases, so I’ve finally got armholes.

I’ve tried it on and it seems to fit well, but think I might make the front edges of the yoke fold over into lapels, they look a little bit funny on me otherwise. I’m just glad I’m not working on nearly 200 stitches a row, it really seemed to drag on. Fortunately those linked stitches are just so cool that it’s hard to get sick of them.

Monday is my most productive day in housekeeping too, I feel recharged after the weekend. I downloaded a load of podcasts to get me through the daily toil and am surprised by how good some of them really are. I’ve just gotten into Brenda Dayne’s Cast On podcast am love it. It’s so well produced and with some truly interesting segments, interviews and great music. I’m going to have to slowly make my way through the archives since I’m so late on the bandwagon. Crochet Cast and Yarnthing are pretty good too, and certainly helps me get my knitting fix while scrubbing toilets and the like.

In non-knitting podcasts I’ve finally gotten in the Archers after 5 years of avoiding or half listening to the programme, and thank goodness it’s only about 15 minutes because a huge chunk of my life would be gone listening to it. Now that I’m hooked I have no idea when it’s going to end so this is kind of a life long committment. But maybe my favourite podcast of the day was Earth and Environmental Systems podcast, which is really just a series of lectures for the Colorado School of Mines. I’ve only listened to one lecture but they are so well researched and produced that I find it engaging and educational without getting too overwhelmed. Perfect for the science geek in everyone because he does such a range of topics, but favours geology. I’d love to hear your favourite podcasts (knitting and otherwise) as I can see myself becoming quite an addict.

You’re just innocently browsing Ravelry when suddenly it hits you, a gorgeous little pattern, that you just HAVE to make.  Now.  Fortunately I knew exactly what yarn I wanted to use and within a matter of hours I have a new hat.

It is crocheted using Twilleys Freedom Spirit, which is pretty soft, but it’s the colours that draw you in.  My favourite part are the colourful rings in the centre of the hat.

Delicious.  It’s so quick to hook up that I want to make it in a dozen colours, a  hat for every day of the week, for every mood.  You can see why I get so little done when little things like this crop up in the middle of my day.

And out with it comes Cupcake. It really isn’t warm enough to wear this, but at least there was enough light for photos.

In the photo it looks a little short, but it’s really only because I’m standing with good posture. When I slouch there’s no problem. I love the look of it front the back too, the shaping is what really makes it fabulous.

I can already tell this will be my top for most of the summer, I just need to get some more vest tops to wear underneath it, you know, for decency’s sake.

Work on the Curvature Jacket is progressing quite nicely too. I had to sit down for about an hour yesterday converting all of the directions to my gauge. The recommended gauge is 4.5 st/in and mine is 3.75 st/in. Couple that with rather complicated yoke increases and you’ve got a lot of maths to do. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever used math more in my life than when I’ve started knitting/crocheting. So far everything is going according to plan and I should have a very well fitting, tailored cardigan to wear through the spring. Because the colour of the cotton is so blah I have grand plans to use some sort of indigo dye to really transform it. I can picture the lovely texture of the cardigan going really well with deep blue, and hopefully it’ll only improve as the dye fades like my favourite pair of jeans.

After spending a sunny morning reseaming Cupcake (I finally got to grips with the invisible weaving technique) I can present to you this.

She is what I’d consider done.  I’m not going to bother with the shell edging or the ribbons.  I’m just not a ‘frou frou’ sort of girl.  I love everything about it though.  If it wasn’t hailing outside I would run around the village, freezing, but wearing it proudly.  Modeling shots will probably come when it’s warm enough to warrant a short sleeved holey top.  I love the yarn, the colour, the pattern, and most of all, the crochet.  I find it’s almost effortless to do, and purely fun.  I always look at knitting as almost utilitarian, a way to produce something practical to wear, and for warmth.  There’s a lot of fiddling about with knitting that I don’t like (kitchener I’m talking to you!), but with crochet there’s such a relaxed atmosphere.  Only one stitch to worry about at a time, no worry of stitches carelessly falling out and crying over dropped and mangled knitting.  Don’t get me wrong, knitting is my first love, but crochet is now my secret lover.

To prove this I have done a gauge swatch.

For the Curvature Jacket, I knew I had to buy it the moment I set eyes on it.  I love the structure and the construction and it’s probably one of the most elegant crocheted garments I have ever seen.  It’s downright classy and shows knitting a thing or two about crochet.  I swatched with Sirdar’s luxury cotton DK and wonder if it’s the right yarn for the job.  The linked stitch is interesting, a bit fiddly, but creates an appealing dense fabric.  While I’ll probably knit my mom’s socks in the evening while listening to audiobooks but I’m afraid I can’t resist the call of the hooks.

When the weather is grey, cold and miserable you need to put a bit of spring in your step.

Out come the cottony summer yarns and crochet hooks.  This is the back of the Cupcake top from Debbie Stoller’s “Happy Hooker”, and I’ll consider this my first real crochet project.  I’ve finally got the hang of half-double crochet stitch and getting my hook through those pesky turning chain stitches.  I love the yarn, Wendy’s Supreme Luxury Cotton, and adore the colour, which is a much richer red than pictured.  Because my gauge was tighter I figured that I could knit the medium size, but my measurements make it to be a smidge smaller than I like.  I’m crossing my fingers and praying to yarn gods that there’ll be a bit of give.  Even if this does go to the frogpond I still have this to look forward to.

Fyberspates Merino/Tencel sock yarn.  If only there was ‘feel-o-vision’ because this stuff is soft soft soft, with a lovely sheen.  Best part?  It’s machine washable and non-feltable.  I’m knitting these for my mum for mother’s day (in May), pattern still undecided.  I feel just so tempted to keep it for myself, but will be good, my mother deserves a delicious pair of handknit socks.So if you don’t have spunky yarn to cheer you up on those wintery days you know you can never beat a bowl of hot, thick, roasted garlic and potato soup.