By Stephie, on Wednesday 14th December, 2011 at 12:17 pm
 A flicker of Christmas I’ve gradually realised that it’s Christmas soon…cards have started arriving and the weather’s turned proper cold; I’ve been making lists and realise that not much has been crossed off yet; the excitement is building and the anxiety is rising as I try to make this as wonderful an occasion for Kim as I can.
It’s his last day at school today. He’s on a coach with friends travelling to London to see War Horse by The National Theatre. I want to be with him so much, I’d love to experience this with him. It looks amazing, so moving and epic. I want to see the wonder on his face as the story unfolds, instead I’ll have to imagine it and listen to his excited tales tomorrow. No doubt he’ll bring home all his empty sweet packets and half eaten sandwiches as memorabilia for me!
I bought a Christmas tree at the weekend, bumping into friends with the same idea. It’s sitting in the garden waiting ’til Christmas eve to be brought in and decorated. The thought of putting it up before then spoils the anticipation and magic, though we usually decorate the house a few days beforehand and we’re really looking forward to doing that together. I have plans to make some new decorations, but knowing me I’ll run out of time or money. Most likely both!
Christmas gift production is in full swing: the kitchen’s a cluttered mess; the kitchen table’s filled with fabric and scraps; the iron board’s a permanent fixture covered in trimmings and scraps; the floor’s covered in threads and rogue reels of cotton…and I love it. This is how it should always be: a hive of creative productivity 
By Stephie, on Wednesday 14th December, 2011 at 00:20 am
Tuesday. Red ochre and white lines. Straights and bends. Mizzle sparkling in the floodlights. Full on head wind. Pushing against it. Pushing against the will to give in. Elbows on knees, eyes closed. Feeling sick, feeling the heart thumping like an industrial machine. Feeling dead and so alive, simultaneously.
Wednesday. Encouraging words and interesting conversation. Pavement jarring. Christmas lights and Christmas shoppers. Meaty smells and Madame Acora. Livestock and laughter. Skimming the outskirts of a provincial town seeking the hills. Plodding up and up, concentrating on the rhythm of my heart, listening intently, feeling for signs of working too hard. The watch governs. Numbers flicker up and down in time with the beat.
Thursday. Into the darkness at gone 11pm. Cold rain, stinging my cheeks and forehead, wakes me from my drowsy indoor world like the pricks of needles, punishing me for my tardiness. It smells quiet. Absence. The call of an owl. Up hill. Back down again. Up again. Down again. Up. Down. Up. Down. Repeat. Again and again. I am Sysiphus. And I sleep well.
 Low tide Saturday. Low tide exposes deserted beaches. The muddy cliff paths are dryer, firmer under foot, narrow and obscured by encroaching gorse. Sluggish and slow. I gradually lose the lead weight of early morning and judge my progress by the headland in the distance as it grows larger. Short sharp rain showers and biting wind. Exposure. Exposed to the rawness of nature. Exposed to the limitations of my body and the fundamental level of my thoughts. Legs burning. Unending uneven steps remind me of Peru, The Sun Gate. The anticipation of what’s at the top, and the thought of relief, drives me upwards. After 15 miles and several hours at the edge of the fight between rock and sea, my knees bore the brunt of the beating. After 16 miles I fought tooth and nail with fatigue to get me to 17 miles – and the promised luxury of sitting in my car with no further to go…today.
Sunday. Reflection: I need greater self-discipline and consistency. I worry I’m not putting in enough effort in the high intensity workouts. They exhaust me, but is it enough? Could I push harder, if I tried? I need to seriously work on my LT: it’s crap for someone that wants to run big hills. And it’s probably crap for those that don’t. I feel that I am getting stronger, but I must be more committed to going to the gym. Only did one of the three scheduled session this week and it wasn’t enough.
I need sleep. I have Christmas presents to make.
Stephie
By Stephie, on Sunday 4th December, 2011 at 17:08 pm
 Seeing stars  The back Grey, miserable winter days aren’t conducive to good photography, but they’re pretty great for snuggling under a quilt and getting on with making a jumper a la Sarah Lund. The back is finished (needs blocking obviously) and the raglan wasn’t too painful to make up, it looks the part anyway – fingers crossed that the sleeves will fit in it when I get that far! I’ve made a good start on the front too and hope to have it finished in the next day or two.
Have you been watching series 2 of The Killing? It’s the only thing I watch regularly on tv, I find most things are complete rubbish. Although having said that, I do enjoy watching Young Dracula with Kim – ooh it’s compelling! Lots of twists and turns with a big dose of humour and darkness thrown in. Anyway, back to The Killing… there was a lot of speculation over what the latest jumper might look like (forget the plot…). It’s red and cosy in my opinion! And guess what, unlike the last one there’s even a ‘lookalike’ jumper pattern on the Radio Times website if you’re interested. Me, I’ve got a whole load of unfinished projects to wade through first!
It’s been busy week, but I’ve got more to share so I’ll be back soon.
Stephie
By Stephie, on Thursday 17th November, 2011 at 16:38 pm
It’s happening. Needles are clicking, the brain is whirring and Linda’s Sarah Lund style sweater has begun. After about 4 hours knititng I have something worth showing you!
 Seeing stars!
 Love the way you can see the stars on the reverse too  Checking for shape Trying to work out how to make this hasn’t been the easiest task for me since it involves rather too much counting!! I got fed up with adding up wrong all the time and decided to make it ‘by feel’ instead, something I’m much happier doing. I seemed to manage to get the height correct by measuring, but getting the width right was a bit of a joke. If I’d knitted the width by ‘stitches per inch’ (from my sample) it would be about 50 inches too wide – no word of a lie, ha, ha!!!!!!
I decided the best method for me would be to make a paper pattern and try and follow that. Probably not conventional for knitting, but I’m a sewer and making up clothing patterns has always been relatively straight forward for me (despite the measuring!) – and I’ve noticed that in general knitting pattern shapes are somewhat easier than sewing pattern shapes. Take the front and back for example, bar the neckline, a jumper seems to be pretty much the same both sides – trust me, a shirt definitely isn’t. So, anyway I decided to work to a paper template.
 My unconventional knitting pattern! The general shape is taken from one of Linda’s favourite well-fitting jumpers, but the Lund sweater is going to have raglan sleeves. So I’ve got to make that bit up. Yes, I’m shaking – but I’ve got a few more rows before I get there yet!
Stepie
By Stephie, on Friday 11th November, 2011 at 02:26 am
Well that’s to say look what I got in the post, though it’s not actually for me.
 Yummy! I got a bit excited when I ripped off the brown paper packaging and discovered this mound of soft loveliness inside – all ripe and ready to be turned into something that resembles the Sarah Lund junper. You might notice the new Fairisle sample (the last one was dark on a light background), it looks great this way round – more defined I think. I can’t wait to get going, but first there’s the small (and scary) matter of designing the jumper itself (not the Fair Isle pattern – that bit was easy!!!)…
If you like the yarn (Artesano alpaca/wool in aran weight) you can buy it online at The Wool Bar, or if you live in West Sussex you could pop into the store, I’m told they’re extremely friendly and helpful
Wish me luck!
Stephie
By Stephie, on Thursday 3rd November, 2011 at 19:53 pm
Has it really been this long since I was last here? You know that in my head I’m always writing to you, right? Sometimes I think you must get totally bored with me and you need a break from whatever it is I ‘write’, but that’s not the reason I haven’t been here for a bit. It’s been half term and the week before and during was mostly taken over with this stuff:
 L E G O It’s the bane of my life. I find it everywhere: the kitchen, the sitting room, my bedroom, even the bathroom and my bag. The Danes have a lot to answer for. My son Kim tells me an “amazing” statistic: there are more than 67 Lego bricks per person on the planet. In my opinion Kim has far more than his fair share: there must be millions of people out there with zero Lego bricks.
It took me days to clear it out of his bedroom so that I could decorate it. The stuff was everywhere, in every nook and cranny and more than half a tonne of it scattered on the floor. I was not a happy mummy. With the decorating done it took all my resolve to pick it up, sort it out, box it and put it back on his shelves and anywhere else I could find room for it. But this is stuff he’s played with literally every day since he was able to hold a Duplo brick. More than a decade. I can’t really begrudge something that’s been a major factor in his creative development. Can I? I guess not, but I think that when I run, I might well be running away from it!!! And I definitely need something else to focus on. Like making hats.
I got a bit carried away with these. Simple and very quick (for me!). 4 of them done and dusted and put away for Christmas presents. In 3 days I made 4 hats. Now that was escapism.
 Different shades of Rowan's Colourscape Chunky 100% lambswool  This is a hat for a child - hence the big pink button! I found the pattern on Ravelry and bought it here on Folksy. If you want something simple, quick and satisfying this is a really easy pattern to follow
I’ll be back in the next day or two with news of my marathon training programme that I started this week – the next 6 weeks are going to be punishing, and it’s got nothing to do with running!!!!!!
Stephie
|
|
I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
|
