Storm-Romance-Starstruck-Rasssssberries!

It's been a while since I last wrote, so I decided to check in and give a detailed account of the past months. And a rich account it shall be, as I believe I have finally reached that sublime combination of anxiety, curiosity and alertness required to be active and enterprising. I believe my ennui was at last crushed by water--both inside and out. To be exact: about two months ago I began hydrating properly, which proved beneficial for my intellectual work; at about the same time, the weather changed. Thus, June was a particularly stormy, cold month. This brought much misfortune and misery to many, but for me, it translated into a static-like background noise, which was what I needed most.

Also, because of the abundant rains, my yard's greenery (be it weeds or pretty flowers) is sprawling, making for a nice, cozy Secret Garden kind of atmosphere.

The uprooted, British atmospheric conditions allowed my mind to stay in one place and wander at the same time. You may ask yourselves: what does all this have to do with a knitting blog? Nevertheless, it does.

As you may observe, it has created the proper environment for me to finish my previous engagements and submerge myself into new ones. This is where the knitting, painting and general state of creation comes in: I decided to open an Etsy shop where I will sell various objects-- from toys to knitwear, from planter boxes to brooches and pins. I have neither certainties, nor expectations as to its success, but I do take comfort in the fact that there was no paperwork required and only a minimal investment.

For the time being, I'm working my way around finding the best themes, materials and means of delivery and payment. While doing so, I've had the pleasure of creating belated-belated gifts for my friends. (They shall be presented in future posts) All I'll say is that I have been knitting a starry Norwegian (American?!) shawl for a dear, dear friend and a pair of baby booties for a lovely new mother.

On a more personal note (as this post seems to be revolving around myself) I am glad (and a bit ashamed) to announce, that I have finally managed to read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (which for some reason, I started a thousand times, but never managed to finish). I also saw two cinematic adaptations and I am now ready to agree with my friend, M that the Colin Firth version is the superior one. In just 48 hours I have dealt with more Pride and Prejudice-related information than in my entire existence, altogether. (Note here, how well the reading of a British romance goes with the British weather.)

Ultimately, on the culinary front, I managed to bake something season-appropriate: a Raspberry Cream Pie, which despite my care and attention, ended up being a soggy, over-sweetened, pleasant-looking failure.

Electric Neckwarmer

At some point during the snowy month of January I decided I wanted to knit something fun and easy that would involve a new pattern and that would give me (almost) instant gratification. (I was kind of low on motivation --then again, when am I not?)
I had recently found Heidi and Anna's Pickles so I decided to browse through their amazingly cozy creations and choose one. (The two Norwegian beauties generously offer free patterns for most of their handiwork.) Here's the pattern that caught my eye (and both hands for a couple of days.) I picked a completely zany color combination, some soft wool et voilà:

I ♥ my camera

Yes! Finally. My camera is back. Here's the photographic journal of the last couple of months.

P.S. More to come.
P.P.S. Yay for spring!
P.P.P.S. Writing my B.A. thesis so maybe I don't really mean the P.S.

Hooded Baby Blanket & Booties

Here are the aforementioned photos:

Newborn Blanket Turned Mom Blanket

Remember that baby blanket I was working on? Well..cross out "baby" and insert "mom" because this piece of knittery has recently changed its receiver. First of all, the finished product is big enough to almost cover a queen-sized bed. Secondly, my mom really, really liked this blanket. She recently underwent surgery and she also had a birthday, so I decided that this would be the perfect gift for her. Thirdly, Maya's mom is sick of all the pastely, rosy-pinky-whitey garments she has been receiving. In conclusion: I made a new, two-toned, hooded blanket for Maya. You can find the pattern here.
I'm quite happy with the result (and hopefully, you'll get to see it soon enough). I used an icy-blue yarn as the main material and a petrol-blue yarn for the margins. My only twists to the original design were that: 1. I used garter stitch for the margins because I was a bit scared that a ribbed pattern might not hold the piece together properly, resulting in the edges being permanently curled up. 2. I did not seam the hood to the rest of the blanket as I'm not very confident in my hand-sewing technique. I decided that I'd rather bind off the two pieces together and it came out beautifully.
Also, I made her a pair of these Saartje Baby Booties in purple and icy-blue.

O's Purple Lacy Scarf

My friend O's been asking for a purple scarf for quite a while now. And, since my knit-o-sophy is: "ask for it in the summer, get it by winter (and vice versa)" O's about to get scarfed.

The first thing I decided was that I wanted a more intricate pattern and a more delicate overall appearance. I chose this lacy pattern because it goes well with her personality and her wardrobe. Unfortunately, my choice of color and material were severely limited by my lovely town's lack of profile shops. (My reluctance to leave town did not help, either.) So, it is what it is: a pretty bright shade of purple + a lovely pattern + an artificial, yet pleasantly soft yarn. Now that it's all done (and because I'm dealing with lace) I'm having a hard time deciding whether to block it or not. It might prove useless (since acrylic does not have a memory, like wool and cotton). On the other hand, if I block it, the scarf will look quite amazing when O receives it and that should be enough (...kind of). For now, enjoy the pictures of this unblocked piece of knittery.

Edit:
I had to give O the scarf sooner than expected, so I had no time to block it. However, I figured that for this particular scarf, a light ironing after every wash should do the trick. If not, machine-washing the garment and allowing it to dry on a flat surface is the only alternative I could find. Hopefully, O will try at least one of these and let me know how things worked out for her.

Here's a taste of O's fashion personality:

Another Sunny Day (For Oli) by Andreea7 featuring a silk shawl