Drowning AND Waving

**Edited to put in the photos!**

The drowning part refers to the tides of mucus that have been threatening to overwhelm me (yes, yes I know, far more information than you could ever have wanted but frankly I'm through with being stoic about my lurgy - 10 days and counting -  as I'm BORED OF IT by now) and the waving is 'Hello. I'm not actually dead.' Not physically anyway.

Would you believe that there were approximately seven minutes of clear light on Sunday afternoon in murky London town and I had my camera to hand albeit with a dying battery which nevertheless lasted through about twenty shots and there was actually enough clear space by the window to pile up yarncakes and finally take photos?

If BT weren't such a shower of shits I could possibly show them to you.  Basically even though they have now removed the 'tag' from the line which would enable me to get broadband, (after the requisite two weeks that they are 'allowed' to take) or will do tomorrow, it can take another two weeks for my chosen broadband supplier to get my service up and running, because BT can prat them around, as far as I can make out.  Of course, if I'd chosen to go with BT, they could have connected me straight away...  I told the woman I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.  All so very very dissatisfactory.  Hence no photos so no blogging.  At some point this may revert from being a whinge-misery blog back to something with a little relevance past my navel.  Well, you can only hope.

So: so far we've got about 70% of the Christmas crafting done. [Imagine the pictures. You're creative.].

Dad's specially requested bedsocks - long and stripey and fun, just need the Kitchener stitch treatment. Oh who am I kidding, it will be a three-needle cast off, most likely.  These were - ahem - created in two different Lana Grossa yarns because one kept splitting - annoyingly, once I got to the heel of the second sock.  I've probably mentioned that I usually knit both socks to the heel flap stage and then turn both heels together so was really peeved about this.  I thought I'd have to start over - then decided to join in another ball which actually works quite well as they have a marled blue and white stripe in common.  They are bedsocks so I don't think he'll object though they do look like they should have a satsuma and a 50p piece in the toe, as is traditional with Christmas stockings.

Maternal Granny's Clapotis - I bought Louisa Harding Kimono Angora in the orange/pink/purple-grey colourway to make a clap for my aunt.  This was before I was informed that orange is her favourite colour (WTF? Seriously, what happened to the passion for pink?) and it all kept going horribly, horribly wrong and though everyone was trying to rescue it, it wasn't get any better much faster. 

So rather than beating that particularly dead horse, I started on one in Debbie Bliss pure silk in that perfect pumpkin colour, in the second lot of yarn that I bought specifically for my aunt. Using stitch markers and the fact that you can clearly see the drops etc in the silk seem to have clinched it and it went swimmingly. The angora one is now finished too, and will be for my granny. 

Paternal Granny's bedsocks - toe-up, no less, in scrumptious plum coloured Blue Sky Alpaca Silk.  I'm cheating and doing an afterthought heel.  They are 70% done.

 

After that, it's a simple lace scarf in Colormart cashmere for my mum.  She asked for something light but warm so I think this will fit the bill.   However I think it's going to have to be presented unwashed and unblocked - i.e. still oiled - so it won't have the full cashmere bloom until after it's been washed, though knowing my mother she'll be 'ooh now don't be bothering with washing it...'

Then something for me - possibly the feather and fan scarf in the Knitwitches silk and mohair (bought at the I Knit Stitch and Bitch Day - the yarn is lovely but luckily I didn't hold my breath waiting for her to put the patterns she was touting up on the web, as they're still not there) that we wound together when the girls all descended on Tash's for the Bloc(k) Rewind party some weeks ago now.  This was before I got my own ballwinder and swift, the procurement of which is another story altogether...

I also have great plans to make little gifts for my friends - everyone getting pretty much the same thing, though of course I have now lost some confidence in that idea and so may have to head out next week to go shopping instead.  Urgh.

Still job hunting, still battling to get a working washing machine.  The latter may now be in situ, thanks to my lovely friend Helen who camped out for a couple of days, pretty much, so that I could pretend to be waiting for the service engineer yesterday when I was actually off on job interviews, and when the engineer screwed up yesterday she came back today to wait for him so that I could go to work.  Little star that she is.  I did make her supper including dessert as a small thank you - still loving the new Nigella cook book. Still slightly bemused by the tv programme.

There's some jewellery on the go; Christmas presents; a make-swap with someone whose work I adore; and the letterpress needs to be cranked up.  And a baby quilt and a baby present-yet-to-be-determined.  And then someone tells me that apparently it's mid-December? Cancel Christmas.  I can't quite get my head around it this year.

Comments

[Sarah]

I suggests reversing the order and cranking up that letterpress first! Like Now! Sigh...

[Denise]

Yay! You're back. Glad you liked your stitch markers. The little package was meant to be your house-warming gift, except of course the thingy I ordered is still on back-order. February is looking good!

I am v impressed by the amount of creating you've listed! I look forward to seeing some pics :)

Hey am going to be in Ireland in January - no chance you'll be home??

[Ting]

Welcome back to blogland Snuff! If it makes you feel any better I have NO X'mas presents ready for anyone,.. I will just be showing Gruff and my family random bits of yarn and asking them to imagine a jumper/sock/scarf (hah!) with the aid of some pictures perhaps and then,... I'll take them away for the knitting up part. Heh heh - cunning I know.. x

[Thimbleanna]

Woohoo! She's AH-Live!!! Hope you fell better soon. I SO want to see pictures of your fab projects -- I LOL'd when you said to use our imaginations and picture them ourselves. Not much imagination going on with the hustle and bustle and busy-ness of the holidays!

[pixie]

yay, Flib, you are still alive...hang in there baby, we want to se the pix. Dammned BT.

[Lucy]

Thank goodness you are back. I've been visiting daily and this morning, even got around to creating a google mail account just to send you an email! Sorry to hear BT are being so boring but hope you will soon be able to sort out pics of everything. I am not even thinking about Christmas yet, or only thinking about it in the "oh my goodness me it is nearly here and I'm really not ready" sort of way. Your productivity is fantastic.

[ruth singer]

Hello!
life sounds like the usual bundle of chaos. I sympathise, but good to hear from you. fingers crossed for the god of broadband being on your side soon!

[Claire (not Bahrain)]

Yay!! Your back!! Glad to know that your ok and keeping busy. Look forward to seeing you back on a regular bases and seeing all the pics.

[Jade]

I headed over here, when I saw your email. Yippee! Happy to hear you've been busy, can't wait to see all the crafty goodness you've been producing. How lovely it all must be! Empathise with you on having to deal with the big ugly telco. They're all the same wherever you go!

[Sarah Jayne]

It's lovely to hear from you. I think the lurgy must be across the whole country as I've had it for a week now. I'm at the hacking cough and husky voice stage now - not very attractive.
Some companies do sem to have missed the concept of customer servie don't they.
I'm trying to imagine the pressies you've made. AT least you have photographed yours - I forgot and just wrapped them all. Doh.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

[Fliss]

Argh! Your BT situation sounds exactly like what we experienced when we moved. It took 4 weeks for BT to be ars*d enough to communicate with Sky in order to set up the broadband, although this process would have been truncated to three days if we'd have stuck with BT... Anyway, I do look forward to hearing more about the new flat and what you've been up to - it all sounds so exciting! Good luck with finishing the crafting in time too - I have got mine done now, but only after a merciless cull of the gift list. Have a lovely Christmas and here's to a happy and prosperous 2008 xxx