Thank God they’re over! The Poulenc was so-so, but the Mozart was better. Mary, my duet partner, and I both got an attack of nerves in the first movement, but the rest of it settled down nicely. The last movement is really tricky. There’s this awful bit in the middle where we take turns to play the same thing, and it is fiendish! Mary played it first. She panicked and stuck the pedal down for the whole thing, but she got through it fine. When it came to my turn, I thought, well, she got through it so I should just grit my teeth and do it too. And it was fine. Directly after that bit, there’s a bit where we imitate each other. Mary played a cracking wrong chord, really loudly… and the examiners started laughing. Lol, seriously, folks! Afterwards she told me that it was because she was so mad she played that hard bit badly, and I played it right, that she played the wrong chord. This made me laugh alot because I’d been practising that hard bit all year, never played it right once and was expecting it to be a mess. Oh well.
Now for some knitting. I did lots on Alouette yesterday to pass the time between exams. So much, in fact, that I completely left out the neck shaping for the front. I hate when you look back at the pattern and you see words such as at the same time as and until. I’m going to have to rip out about four inches. Here’s what I’ve got so far…
I messed up the decreases on the back piece for the arm holes, and ended up with a plain stitch edge going all the way up each side instead of the pattern. But I did it properly for the front, got the right number of stitches, and was able to carry the pattern all the way to the edge.
In other news, I still haven’t sewn the neck band onto Lucky. This is what I’ve got so far.
I was thinking about it this morning and I’d probably be better off pinning the band the other way around. The way it is now, the band is pinned to the right side so that the seam will be on the inside. However, I was thinking that if I pinned it the other way around and seamed it on the front, I would be able to gather the neckband better. I can’t tell you how tempted I am to just throw the bloody band away and crochet a neck-border and tie on instead.
Speaking of crochet! I got started on my shrug. I chained 45 stitches, double crocheted (or single crocheted if I was sitting in north america) away for about five inches. Then I got confused about gauge and ripped it all out. I re-measured everything and started again by … chaining 45 stitches. I was right the first time. Ok. Then I decided that the double crochet was turning out too dense for just a shrug. It looked like a car mat. So I ripped it out and decided to do it in trebles instead. This is much better.
I’m hoping that this will be a quick project. I like the colour, don’t you?
Yes, so Secret Pal 8 has started (woooo!) and I have been matched up with some fun people, both of whom are in the states. My own secret pal is great, we have lots in common and I’m really looking forward to getting to know her better. I’m still learning about the person I’m secret pal to, but already I think I’m going to have great fun spoiling her. I have mastered the art of secrecy by understanding how secret pal works this time lol! Since she is in the states, I am thinking up things to send her that are specific to Ireland. So far for my first package to her I’ve got:
– A tea-bag selection. I’m pretty sure she has not seen the wonder that is Lyons pyramid teabags 😀 Also some of my favourite Twinings herbal teas.
– A knitting magazine. Simply Knitting, Knitting or maybe Sandra.
– Butler’s dark chocolate. Noone can resist it!
– Some wool. Millions of ideas for this one.
– I want to make a booklet about lace. She doesn’t know how to knit lace but wants to learn. So I was thinking of making a sort of beginner’s guide to starting lace, with a little reference section for all the different types of decreases you can have, and some starter patterns. If it turns out well, I might put it up here on the site for everyone to have and use.
That’s about all I’ve got for now. I am so hyper and tired after yesterday. I woke up at 7:15 with my legs demanding I get out of bed, but with my eyes glued together. *Zombie Knitting*
Yay! Well done you 🙂 Oh, you might want to prepare for the postman – I took your parcel up to the post office yesterday, so hopefully it will arrive soon to, well, you’ll see 😀