breispace

All around me people seem to be procreating lately, and it was time to supply the soon-to-be demand for baby garments. First there was the hat (from a free Drops pattern) for baby Fay, Maldwyn and Elizabeth’s v cute offspring.

Not in the traditional pink for  two reasons:

1. no cliche should be used without irony;
2. so she can support her daddy’s rugby team this winter.

Next were the caps for no less than four babies of colleagues and college classmates. I needed something fast, and so I decided to make simple umbilical cord caps from the first Stitch ‘n Bitch book, knitted with a double string of leftover sock yarn. Only 64 stitches in the round, rolled brim, finished off with i-cord. I had them all finished in ten days.

Another hat I had started on at last year’s winter banquet in Archeon will now be finished for the next one. I trimmed it with bear fur (or dog fur, I have no idea) from a muff I got from my dad’s girlfriend. It looks and feels quite spectacular, if I say so myself.

It’s going to be a toasty winter.

I am fairly up to scratch with my studies, and so the main part of this autumn half-term was spent on leisure and other forms of my own personal  benefit.

To begin with, I had ordered three Lundia bookcases to hide some of the chaos that is my study-cum-living room. I wanted to bring some order to my favourite sixteen square metres, and I wanted the possibility to continue the same look on the other side of the room in the future. I had ordered the planks, panels and worktops mid-August, and October 14th was the first possible delivery date. I had it moved to this week because it’s my Autumn half-term holiday. Good things come to those who pay through the nose wait, I suppose.

The before situation can be seen on Kees’ blog, and below is what I apparently looked like after Kees, Nantko and I had moved it all and I got supper on the way. Notice the emptiness behind me…

This is what things looked like a few days later, with the Billy and my comics collection moved to the left and after I had assembled everything and put most of my stuff back in. All the top shelves will be behind mauve-pinkish doors once the hinges get stolen from Ikea come in the post.

  

After two days  of marking tests and writing planning schemes for work I decided it was time to get some R&R before all school breaks loose again. Therefore this morning Marion and I took off to the textile craft fair in Rotterdam. It was held in a beautiful architectural landmark, the former Van Nelle factory.

I had just finished this cute amigurumi penguin the night before, and he seemed to enjoy his first view of the outside world while Marion and I KIPped on the train. He had made himself quite comfortable on my -also recently finished-  purple beanie with pink skulls. I decided to call him Pengurumi until his next owner decides on another name.

Saint Salarius had just visited me the night before, and after paying next month’s rent and various other bills it was now time to blow the rest on yarnabilia. I bought 9 skeins  pure brick-red silk tweed yarn (on sale) for a sweater to be knit next spring, various bits and bobs for making more amigurumi, a book on modular knitting and 700 grams of gorgeously soft BiFL roving (to be spun this winter and knit into yet another sweater next autumn).

Pengurumi was quite exhausted by now, and had a little rest in the Ravelry / Dutch knitters‘ corner.

Marion had managed to restrict herself to only one hank of hand-dyed sock yarn, although that wasn’t her only purchase; perhaps she’ll own up to blog about that herself. Or perhaps not.

One more day before school, and the end of daylight savings’ time tonight. Take a deep breath..

• On the bike to the station: cigarette smoke at fifty paces behind an electric wheelchair.
• On the platform: a buxom woman in her twenties who’s forgotten her deodorant this morning. I’m sure she’s a turn-on to someone, somewhere.
• On the train: a woman smelling of candy, chewing with her mouth open whilst talking loudly to her mobile phone. A young man in KLM ground crew uniform about to start his shift, wearing plenty of fresh aftershave. Not a window in sight.
• Getting in at Schiphol: a family combo. Mother wears patchouli, daughter chews a banana. Like being slowly clubbed to death by hippies.
• On the ferry: brackish water, more cigarettes. Inside, the air is stale but smoke-free.
• On the bike in Noord: the smell of the stable.

The bodies are all still very tanned, but the faces are in full Monday mode. Even on Wednesday.