Wibbo's Words

Taking up where I left off

I thought I would take up blogging again where I left off in 2018. It's hard to believe that more than a year has gone past since my last post, in spite of lots of good intentions on my part. I'm a bit of an expert at putting-off-stuff-until-tomorrow.

So, what's been happening here? Nothing of note really - it's been one of those fallow years where I've felt as if I've been marking time rather than forging ahead. I've read a lot of books and listened to countless audiobooks while despairing about the state of this country and the government. And I feel it's only going to get worse after January 31.

In other news, I'm beavering away on several new knitting and crochet designs. There has been much swatching.

The models are now finished but instructions still need bashing into shape before the patterns are tech edited and tested. Why does everything take an age?

Best of 2018, part three

Apart from wall-to-wall Spotify or Planet Rock, my best listening during 2018 has been this:

Favourite guitar player plus brilliant singer plus damn good songs; Living the Dream has it all...

Best of 2018, part two

My best nine posts on Instagram this year are mainly knitting. No surprise there then.

From left to right, top row: Outlander shawl knitted several years ago and finally blocked, new design Colifichet, new design Wrap of Ages. Middle row: garter stitch wrap using oddments of sock yarn held double, Outlander blocking, Wrap of Ages pattern shot. Bottom row: Frankensocks, no-knead wholemeal bread straight out of the oven, new design Random Precision, large size.

I'm @wibboswords on Instagram if you want to check me out...

Best of 2018, part one

I listened to a lot of audiobooks this year, partly because I've been busy doing hours and hours of sample knitting for new designs.

My audiobooks of the year are Chris Ould's Faroes Trilogy, The Blood Strand, The Killing Bay and The Fire Pit. Matt Addis gets a special mention for his superb narration.

My top two fiction choices are William Shaw's Salt Lane and John Harvey's Body & Soul - both excellent reads.

Non-fiction best-of-the-year are The Spy and the Traitor, Ben Macintyre, and Viking Britain, Thomas Williams.

Washcloths

A knitted washcloth is a quick and easy-to-make gift. Wrap it in pretty paper with a lovely bar of soap. I have a couple of free washcloth patterns ready to download in my Ravelry Store.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy is an easy washcloth to knit - it's a garter stitch square knitted from corner-to-corner using simple increases and decreases to form the shape. Knit this pattern in two or more colours or use a self-striping yarn. A pure cotton or a cotton/synthetic blend yarn works best for a washcloth.

Leaf Lace Washcloth has a simple lace pattern surrounded by garter stitch borders. The lace pattern has written instructions or there's a chart if you prefer to work from one. Yarn choices as above.

Random Precision

My new design, released today, is called Random Precision and the pattern is available from my Ravelry Store. A quick preview:

Random Precision contains two patterns; a small cowl (green) knitted in sock yarn and a large cowl (purple) knitting in DK weight. As ever, both  patterns have been tech edited and test knitted. There's a £1.00 off promotion running from tomorrow, November 15, until November 21 using the Coupon Code FLOYD.

This and that, Friday style

Knitting: new design samples for mitten patterns.

Baking: no-knead wholemeal bread; recipe and method from The Quince Tree. I've been making three loaves at a time and freezing them; I haven't eaten bought bread at home for a couple of months.

Eating: 'tis the weather for making and eating homemade soup. A stewpack of veg for £1 makes a fair amount of soup.

Drinking: New York Breakfast and Ginger Spice teas from T2.

Music: mainly Daily Mixes  and my own playlists on Spotify.

Listening

I listen to a lot of audiobooks; they're perfect listening while I work.  I have an Audible subscription and also download audiobooks from Brighton & Hove Libraries free BorrowBox service. There's list of this year's books (including physical books, e-books and audiobooks) on Pinterest.

This audiobook is my best non-fiction listen so far this year; it's an incredible story that sounds like a good spy novel but it's all true.