I'm back!

It's been almost a month since I last posted and there are several reasons for it... It's true that I have been very busy with my work and studies, and when I had some free time I didn't want to be working on the computer (as I spend almost all the time working with it!!!).

But the main reason for it is that I've been in a kind of "anti-knitting" mood. Can you believe it??? Arisaig is going sloooow, so slow! I've almost finished the right front side, but it seems to take forever with those tiny little needles. I was looking for other projects to knit but I couldn't find one that I liked. I have subscribed to Knitting Daily and this has been good, as there are loads of free patterns and some are very nice, but the problems I have is that most of them use yarns that can only be found in America, and I'm not very good finding substitutions. Another pattern I REALLY love is this one:
It is a free pattern from Interweave, isn't it lovely?? the problem: to buy the yarn for this (debbie bliss cashmerino superchunky) would cost me more than 70 pounds! maybe when I'm rich...

Anyway, the thing is that I've been stuck, without wanting to knit what I have at the moment and without finding another pattern, so I didn't have anything to say in my knitting blog. Yes, I know I could write about random things, but the problem is that I don't have time! working, studying, taking care of our home, being a wife, church life (yes, I'm a committed Christian!) and some social life (please!!!) I struggle to find time for my precious blog... (*thinking* what am I going to do if I have children????) I'm so sorry blog!!! I'll do my best to keep coming back though!!

I'll post some piccies later: one of my second part of my beloved arisaig and another of my next project! yes, last saturday I finally found it :))) So, I'm back on my knitting now!

PS. I realise I was tagged a while ago to say some random things about myself... I'll have to do it as soon as I make some time! :P Promise!

It's my birthday!!!

Yeeeehh! It's my birthday today! and nope, no wrinkles or grey hairs yet!

oh, I see the 30 soo close now that it's scary!! sometimes I see people on TV or in magazines that are 27 and look so much older than me... I know it's awful to say, but it's true!! Maybe it's because I look younger, I don't know... Sometimes it's even embarrassing when I'm at the supermarket and buy and alcoholic drink and they ask me if I'm over 18... Believe me, this happened a few months ago!! and people ask me what I'm studying all the time!! You should see their face when I say that I finished uni almost 5 years ago!

anyway, I'm 27 and this is a fact. It doesn't matter if I feel it or not. And I need to work today, bleehhh! luckily tonight my husband is taking me to a fancy restaurant, so it's not that bad!! :)
At the moment I've got one present: a nice silver bracelet that came by post from my mum! I got some other presents in advance when I was in Spain, mainly clothes, as I find clothes in UK very expensive, and they don't fit me either. I'm looking forward to what my husband has got for me! although I think I might know... I'll let you know if I was right!

knitting update: I finally finished the back of arisaig and I've started one of the front sections. I'm hoping that I'll get some 'knitting' money today and then I will be able to expand my projects!! I've had just one for so long now that I'm starting to get a bit bored.... Having no time and no money is not a very good combination for knitters!

I've got a cold. My husband came home with a cold last thursday and after 4 days I thought I had been lucky enough not to catch it myself. I was wrong, and today I woke up with sore throat and sniffy nose... I don't feel too bad, though, so I'm hoping I have started taking the medicine soon enough.

I came back from my holidays a few days ago (hence the reason I haven't posted earlier) and I can say that they were GREAT! firstly we spent a few days with my family-in-law in the south of Spain, near Granada. What a lovely place! It was pretty warm, so I was able to sun-bathe a little and to do some nice trips to other towns and in the mountains. Do you want to see a couple of piccies?

The spectacular view from our villa!yup, that white stuff at the back is snow, Sierra Nevada, - although we are in the hottest area of Spain...

The Al-hambra:The best cous-cous I've ever tried! (Granada)
Well, I could add many more pictures, but I won't... So now you can understand that I haven't done much knitting in the last couple of weeks! However, I've almost finished the back of Arisaig, woohoo!

And as it's my birthday very soon, I've also spent some time thinking about what I want... I still don't know what I want my husband to give me, but what I know is that I want many vouchers for yarn!!! :) I have some projects in mind that I would like to do, but I won't say which ones they are at the moment, as I keep changing my mind every day! I would like to knit a nice jumper with Kidsilk Haze, from Rowan, as it looks really soft, but the price is a bit steep! I wish wool was a bit more affordable... so many things to knit and so short of time and money!!!

sheep and lace

oh gosh! I can't believe a week has passed since I last posted!! naughty naughty me!!! I have some excuses, though! as my cousin and her family were visiting over the weekend and I was just very busy before that.... plus the weather is still fantastic!!! I love this time of the year, specially when you go on a trip with the car and you find this:



How cute are they? I could add more pictures, but I won't... you should have heard them all with their funny voices!! how can a relatively small animal have such a deep deep voice?? they make me laugh!

Ok, and now something about knitting!!! (although these pictures could actually be under the knitting category, look at that amazing wool!!!!) My progress with Arisaig is slow. I have lost the count of how many times I've had to frog and frog again... I find it hard to be so concentrated, and sometimes I knit while watching TV, which indeed doesn't help my concentration... Here is a picture of how it looks right now:


and a closer look to the pattern:

sorry about the quality of the photo, but I was alone and I was trying to stretch it while taking the photo... hopefully it will be enough to see the pattern.

I'm still concerned about the size... this has to cover my whole back!!! hmm... I'm trusting the miracle of blocking at the moment... the pattern is beautiful and the yarn is very easy to work with. I'm quite enjoying myself knitting this, even with the frogging!! I couldn't knit at all during the weekend, as I had guests from Spain and I spent all the time with them, but this morning I took the needles again and I knitted non-stop for a couple of hours!! and I feel sooo much better now...

Sant Jordi

Once upon a time there was a terrible dragon which viciously attacked men and beasts. To pacify it, lots were drawn and a person was chosen to be given as a sacrifice to the monster. One day, the misfortune fell on the king's daughter, who would have died in the beast's claws if it had not been for the arrival of a handsome knight who challenged the dragon and killed it by throwing an arrow to his heart. When the blood of the dragon touched the ground, a rosebush appeared.

This is the legend behind St. George's Day, and the story behind the Catalan tradition that calls every man to give a rose to the woman they love. This day has also become the day of the book, and many catalans give and receive books on this day, as there are tables with books on the streets and writers are around to sign copies of their most recent book.

I love this day! roses and books, what a great combination! I love walking around Barcelona on Sant Jordi, watching at people going through books and with roses in their hands, especially if I have one myself! :) Every year the streets ar packed on this day, it's even hard to walk in certain streets! and I just love it.

Here are a couple of pictures, so you can have a feel of it!! enjoy!



I feel a little bit homesick when I cannot be there on this day, but I still celebrate it here in Nottingham! hopefully my husband will remember to buy me a rose when he comes back (I've already reminded him before he left... just in case!) and we've ordered two books from amazon, altought unfortunatelly won't arrive at least until tomorrow! oh well... I've bought the novel called Brethren for my husband and he has bought me the The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, by Ann Budd. I've heard so many wonderful things about this book that I couldn't leave it for much longer! ahh, just one more day....

I know that I just started Arisaig and that I still have a long way to go with that, but I've already been thinking about what else to knit. I'm thinking about something not too complicated, but that I could knit whilst watching TV, for example. Arisaig is my challenging project, so now I need a relaxing one, so I can choose depending on the mood I'm in. I have 6 balls of Jaeger luxury tweed (already discontinued) and I was wondering whether I could use them for my new project, whatever it might be. They are a lovely blend of merino wool and alpaca, so very warm!!! the colour is quite nice, lime green I would say...

however, I'm not sure if I want it to become a clothing item, as it might be too greeny and I might end up feeling like a lettuce!! so I thought maybe a shawl would be better... I find shawls quite relaxing, as normally there is no shaping and the pattern normally is the same all the way through. I haven´t been able to find a shawl that I like and that uses a DK yarn, so I might have to adapt a pattern for a different yarn. Here is a shawl that I like, from Cool Crochet:

The pattern is designed for an aran weight yarn, I think, so I will have to experiment a little bit with different hooks. Another good thing of shawls is that gauge is not so important!! I might have a play later, if I can have a break from addictive arisaig! I'm not going to post a picture of it today, as I´ve only managed to finish the ribbing, so it's hasn´t changed much since last time.

Here I am again. These last couple of days I've been "busy" working on the look of my blog: I've added some links, lists about my projects and I've posted some pictures on flickr. Not bad! Specially because I'm so rubbish with computers! I have to admit I haven't knitted at all this weekend, as I have been busy studying and enjoying this lovely weather!!! who says England is grey and rainy all the time??? Today we went for a picnic in Wollaton Park with some friends and I can say now that I have a light sun tan!

Let's go back to knitting matters... At the moment I have only one project on the needles, the Arisaig from Knitty. I've started with the back (I'm still in the ribbing part) and I'm a little bit concerned. I read in a few places that there are some problems with the sizings, mainly with the sleeves, so I decided to go for the size actually knitted by the designer (yes, I measured it first and hopefully it will fit). However, at the moment it looks tiny!!!! I know that ribbing will expand after I've blocked it, but still! hmm, not sure... here you can have a look:
Without expanding it, it measures 7.5 inches. Very, very concerned.

We'll see how it goes, knitting with such fine needles it takes ages to grow! Perseverance... this is what I tell myself everytime I finish a row!!! I'm looking forward to get to the lacy bit, although it is also quite scary, as this is the first BIG project in lace.

I'll post more pictures soon.

bye for now!

laia