Times nearly up!

Well, well, term starts again tomorrow so the holidays are sadly nearly over - let me hear you say 'ahhhhh'! Luckily I finished my mystery project which I can now reveal below.....Ta da!!

This definitely was inspired by the Golden Compass; the film anyway. I kept looking at the bonnet that Lyra wears in the North and I just got fascinated by the construction of it. How was it made? It looked really simple, so I decided to have a go. Of course it needed a sprinkling of Samsara fairy dust to make it truly a hat that I would wear, so here it is. The one Lyra wears looked like super chunky wool, so I decided to knit mine up using size 20mm needles (like knitting with broomsticks if you're interested!) and 5 strands of yarn held together. I wanted it to look very textured so I busted my stash out, all those small lengths of yarn that just aren't enough to knit an actual garment, and just added another colour when one of the strands I was using ran out. This is a great stash busting technique if you like that textured, variegated type finish. To get that rolled over edge that frames Lyra's face I just did a plain stocking stitch edge because that curls over on its own.

The one Lyra wears in the film ties up under the chin like a bonnet, but I wanted mine to be more like a pixie hood, and I'm just a little too old to get away with bonnets *lol*, so I made giant tassels for the front corners, and added a little sparkly bead for a touch of pixie sparkle. I've been thinking alot about tassels recently because I'm mentally constructing a tribal outfit for my belly dancing and I guess that influenced the style and size of the tassels I used here.

On a domestic note, I changed the bed this morning and put my rainbow blanket on and I don't think I've ever shown this off. I photographed it so I can add it to my Ravelry projects because I do love this blanket, even though I made it years ago. The colours are as vivid today as they were when I finished it and believe me, this blanket has travelled! I normally take it away with us in the caravan and it reminds me of summer days and festivals and seaside's! Just looking at it makes me happy, it's such wonderfully cheery colours! See, cheap acrylic yarn (I was very broke when I made it and just needed a warm blanket) does have it good points. I love that I can just chuck it in the washing machine and then in the dryer and it's fine. You can't do that with quality yarn!

It was really simple to make, just a granny square as large as needed to stretch from one side of the bed to the other when placed on there diagonally, then I started a small triangle halfway along each side and made made it bigger till the whole thing fitted the bed. 

So my next job today (well, it would have been today, but M's just informed me that he doesn't feel well enough to tackle the loft), will be to take the Christmas decorations down, always a sad job because the house looks so plain with all the lights and tinsel packed away, but the positive thing is that the house always feels a little bigger when it's done. Yin and yang again. Today I'm going to have to do a bit of studying. This evening will be spent doing those 'getting ready for work' things, like organising my work bag, making a packed lunch, setting the alarm and hoping to get to sleep early enough because I've been used to staying up all night and sleeping in late!