Is that a Frog?

I'm going to Spain tomorrow (and if Burglar Bill is reading, no, the house won't be empty) to stay in this delightful spot near Malaga, so this will be a very short post, just to keep you in the loop.

Work on the Mona Lisa has been temporarily halted because I discovered I had inadvertently purchased a ball of Double Knitting and a ball of 4-ply.  Doh!

Work has stopped completely on the "I dare you to knit this" pattern.  (Good Day Sunshine from Knitty)  The yarn just wasn't right for the job, and even though I had my doubts from the start, I just kept right on knitting.  Eventually, I bowed to the inevitable and out came:

Yes, it is a frog.

I have treated the green monstrosity as a large swatch (Yes, you heard right) and I have modified the start and the selvedges.

I have begun anew:

This is much more like it and it also has the merit of being yellow (which is a bit of a better fit for sunshine than green).

Close-up:

I don't know what the yarn is.  Wool, probably; a gift from a customer, definitely.

Finally, it's Saturday and for once you get this on the right day:

The sheep have gone (mainly because I found them all wandering round the garden at work the other day).

And I'm going too, because I need to pack.

Like Buses

You know how it is - you're waiting for a bus and then three come along together.

I spent so long waiting for my pattern from the Calling all Knitters group and I found myself in the yarn shop and I'd been thinking about the Mona Lisa and, well, I must confess, I bought yarn.  So I started to knit it:

I know it doesn't look much at the moment but it will, trust me - I'm a knitter.

A close-up:

(still not much to see).  It's actually a bit brighter in real life

Then the pattern came through from the "I dare you to knit this" department and I had to root through the stash to find just the right yarn for the job.  (Though the day before, when I was in aforementioned LYS, Nicky told me that if I needed yarn urgently I should just give her a call and she would open the cavern shop, just for me.)

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As it turned out, there were several candidates for the job:

 Some Arucania Botany Lace in pink.

Same again in brown/green.

Some sock yarn (perhaps best left for socks).

Some sparkly stuff (tt) from Wingham Wool Works at the last SkipNorth.

Eventually, I decided on this anonymous green stuff (tt) - it weighs 60gr but I have no idea of the yardage, so let's hope I don't run out on the last row.

 I don't usually like variegated yarn for lace but I don't think this is too busy.

The start is quite closely woven, which I don't know if I like:

but the idea of the sun and the rays coming out of it needs a dense beginning so I'm happy to go along with it for now.   I'm not looking forward to the knit 7 together (shades of the "nupp", which we now know rhymes with "soup" and not with "cup" as I had always thought.  I had that from Nancy Bush's own mouth and, being the queen of Estonian Lace, she should know.)

That sparkly (tt) stuff that came to light might just have to turn into something with ice, or icicles, or snow, or snowflakes, or something along those lines.  I was thinking this Frozen Leaves but am open to any suggestions.

Somewhat Stalled

I answered an advertisement in the local paper for "Knitters Required" and I met L, who keeps Jacob sheep and wants to start processing the fleeces and producing items from the yarn.  I made a lacy scarf for her:

I think Jacob yarn is a bit scratchy (tt) for a garment to be worn next to the skin but under a coat collar it would be fine.  She's pleased with it anyway.  She'll be having a stall at the Leamington Peace Festival this weekend, so if you are nearby you could go and say hello.

I've also been battling on with the Olympic figures for Nicky.  I volunteered to sew some up (sew??  What was I thinking???).

Here's Henrietta, getting ready to compete in the dressage event:

and from the back:

There's a hurdler (complete with hurdle) to go and then I am done.

There's been the obligatory sock (for 'im indoors):

Sorry about the fearful dark picture - the weather here has been so bad that we have had the light on by 3.30 in the afternoon.  This picture was actually taken outside just after nine this morning and it's still dark.  The saving grace?  It's not actually raining (yet).

Here's a close-up of the basket weave pattern on the leg:

I think I'm going to run out of yarn, so I used another yarn (from the huge sock yarn blanket bag) to finish the cuff on sock #1.  I don't think it's too noticeable:

All this fiddly (tt) stuff has meant that I haven't really be able to do any "proper" knitting - by which I suppose I mean something that I have chosen to do.  Now I'm like a rabbit in the headlights and can't think of what I want to make.  Help may be at hand, however.  I found a group on Ravelry called "Calling All Knitters". 

This is what the blurb says:

 Ok, so here is the game. Sign-up in the current sign-up thread and you will receive a message with a link for a knit project that I dare you to do. You must complete the challenge within a month maximum. So, do you think you’re up for the challenge?

 As soon as I see the word "dare" and mentally hear the sound of the gauntlet being thwocked (tt) down, I'm in.  I signed up for the first wave and should be receiving my challenge some time today.  It will probably be late on, since the moderators are in Colorado and Georgia, so between five and seven hours behind me.  I hope they are early birds because I can't wait to get going.  It's not a KAL (good, because I'm not a big "joiner") - everybody gets their own project based on their experience and if you don't like the project you can ask for another one.  You just need to complete your given project within one month and post a picture of it when it's done.  Genius.

The secret will be revealed tomorrow.  Watch this space.