Friday 21 November 2008

Why public transport doesn't work......

....for me, at least. I was relegated to the bus last Monday due to one car off the road, and I have to say it was a good journey. Said bus arrived only a couple of minutes late, it wasn't hampered by the horrendous traffic on the A10 between Ely and Cambridge at 8am, it went straight to the science park with only a couple of stops along the way, and I arrived at work at my normal time. So why would I not repeat the experience?
One word - PRICE!!!! A 20 minute journey cost £3.50. I know there are various options for dayrider tickets, weekly and monthly passes which do save money (I only needed a one way ticket) but even those don't make it a viable option for me to use public transport in favour of the car. Even with fuel prices as they are right now, it still costs me less to run my car for a month than it does to take the bus. Maybe my veiwpoint is a little too simplistic, but surely if ticket prices were cheaper, more people would use the bus (I would, for one) thus enabling the bus company to keep prices low, there would be fewer cars on the road making a better journey for everyone, be it by car or bus, and better for the environment. Oh, and at only one bus every hour, it's not exactly convenient, is it?
I'll get down from the soapbox now to return to the new things I'm knitting. First photo is of Touch yarns possum cabled sweater, a 5x5 rib with a plaited cable panel at each side, v-neck with shawl collar. It's approx 4-ply, knits up lovely and feels very soft. Second, Catriona cabled vest, a Debbie Bliss pattern that I downloaded from somewhere that escapes me right now. The yarn is completely the opposite end of the woolly spectrum - sorry to all the purists out there, but it's a 100% acrylic brushed dk that my mum gave me during a destash. Despite that, it's not looking too bad now that the ribbings established. I did tubular cast on and I'm knitting in the round rather than flat, because I really don't want too much sewing up with this yarn.

Thursday 13 November 2008




It's a dull grey and damp afternoon in Ely so what better to cheer the soul than some knitting?
It was hibernating for a while over the frenzied knitting of the Ravelympics, but my criss-cross sweater reached completion last weekend. It's very soft and cosy, perfect for a day such as this, and I'm really pleased with the result. My own pattern, it's hip length with a basket weave cable hem for the body and sleeves, saddle shoulders and polo neck with the same cable. The main body's in stocking stitch; the cable pattern used up huge amounts of yarn. Worked mostly in the round, the yarn is Lang "Zoom", a 60% merino 30% cotton 10% nylon blend that I bought at Ally Pally 2 years ago. Each 50g ball has 135m, not bad for aran weight, so it went a long way, even with the dense cabled areas.
The other photo is of my final Ally Pally buy from this years show - 4 skeins of Colinette Jitterbug, colourway Venezia. I wanted to get 6, but this was the end of the day and I'd spent out so had to settle for 4! The pattern I wanted it for was a long sleeved rib sweater, but I'm sure I'll have enough for a sleeveless version anyway.
I've also made a scarf in hyacinth stitch with the Fyberspates mix but my photos are rubbish (blame the poor light!) so I'll do that next time, along with the thing I've just cast on.