all knitting, no sleeping

I'm Back!

2009-02-08T15:40:00.005Z

Well, after a fairly long hiatus from blogging, during which time I was wondering whether to give up blogging altogether, I have decided to carry on as long as I can. I enjoy updating my blog - the hardest bit is finding the time to do it! Work is manic at the moment and I'm getting home quite late in the evenings. This leads me to feeling that I'm neglecting my family, so I'm trying to spend as much time with them as I can at the weekends.

Anyway, the past week's snow has meant that I got to spend more time with the family - I had 2 "snow days" off work last week because we had so much snow that I couldn't get to work.

This is what our back road looked like at the beginning of last week -

And the front / main road - there *is* a road under there somewhere! ;0)

At least the dogs enjoyed it. Sabian likes to eat it - 0bviously not the yellow snow! ;0)

and try to catch it as it's coming down.

Whereas Chance just likes to chase Sabian - until Sabian starts to chase him!

At least my days off work have been spent wisely. ;0) I managed to finish Hibiscus by Marita Rolin, made with 275g of Manos Silk Blend on 3mm, 3.5mm and 4mm Knit Picks needles. I modified the pattern by substituting a scoop neck for the original button-down neckline.

I am *really* pleased with how it's turned out and know that I'll get a lot of wear out of it.

Of course, I *will* have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit before I can wear it - it's snowing quite heavily again this afternoon and shows no sign of easing up. *rolls eyes* Snow is nice for a couple of days, quite a novelty, but I've had enough now! LOL

Super Secret Santa, SEX and FOs

2008-11-08T15:29:00.011Z

Get ready for a photo-heavy post. I've been gone a while and I have lots to show you. ;0)

I recently took part in a Secret Santa swap on the Crafty Threads n Yarn forum and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My parcel came from Franney and she did some spot-on stalking - I couldn't have chosen better for myself. Thank you Franney! :0)

She sent me a gorgeous project bag in scary Halloween fabric (which she made herself).

In this bag were 2 balls of Louisa Harding Grace - silk/wool mix - in the most gorgeous blue colour which is becoming a scarf as we speak. ;0) I'm knitting the Opera Scarf pattern on 6mm needles. Mine isn't as "open" as theirs but I love how it's knitting up - the sheen on this yarn IRL is amazing and it's very warm too. Ideal for a scarf (plus it matches my new winter coat perfectly).

Now, me and Franney share an interest - we both own pet rats - and so she made me a hammock for my ratties in the same fabric as my project bag. How fab is this?! It's lined with fleece fabric - and my 4 think it's the bee's knees - they're so comfy, I now have to physically remove them for playtime! *LOL*

This isn't the best photo, but I can assure you that this hammock is so well made, and much better than anything I've bought from a shop before.

Be warned Franney - I'll be sending orders your way in the future! ;0)

Just in case you were wondering, the dogs weren't left out either - they received a bag of Pedigree treats but being the big fat greedy pigs they are, they've eaten them already so I don't have a photo to show you! *LOL*

Right, back to me! ;0) I also had the most fabulous pair of mittens - again made by Franney (she's so talented) - to wear when I walk the dogs.

They have a flap on the back so I can whip my fingers out when I need them - how ingenious is that?!

They are very warm - and again match my new winter coat perfectly. :0)

Also in my parcel was this fab "knitted" mug - way cool! and I've wanted one for ages - some shortbread biscuits and some Green and Black's spicy chocolate, which unfortunately didn't last long but was absolutely delicious. :0)

Franney also sent me some buttons to match the yarn, a Ravelry badge and some stitchmarkers. Once again, thank you Franney - it was a wonderful swap!

I went to Get Knitted in Bristol today for a course on Professional Finishing with Debbie Abrahams. However, when I arrived at 10.05 a.m., I was told that the course had been cancelled because Debbie was ill and I should have had a phone call to let me know. Obviously I hadn't *rolls eyes*. But the day was not a complete waste of time because GK offered me 20% on any purchases I made to make up for any inconvenience. I wanted to buy some Knit Picks Harmony needle tips anyway and a "few" other things just happened to fall into my basket while I was there. *LOL* ;0)

I got some Mirasol 'Hacho' to make this pattern (Hawaii)

some Manos del Uruguay silk blend (luscious!) to make Hibiscus

and a ball of Sublime extra fine merino wool DK to finish of a pair of Corazon mittens for a Christmas present

and some needle tips, patterns etc. - "just because" - *LOL*

Now, just so you don't think I haven't been doing anything at all while I haven't been blogging, here are a couple of FOs - ;0)

my 3rd pair of Corazons - again for a Christmas present

I LOVE this pattern. :0)

It takes me about 6 hours to knit a pair of mittens and people think you've sweated blood making them! *LOL*

Finally, I made my son this scarf - from Morehouse Farm Merino - I still need to add some "smoke" coming from his nostrils but it's 99% done -

I'm Welsh, need I say more? ;0)

The one where I finally update my blog

2008-09-28T16:51:00.004+01:00

I thought it was time I updated my blog. I just don't know where the time goes lately - if I'm not in work, I'm out walking the dogs and I can't seem to find time for knitting, blogging or anything else really.

These 4 are keeping me busy at the moment -

The black and tan GSD is Sabian, 4 years old, who came to live with us last month. He's 4 years old and gets on so well with our other dogs - Chance loves playing with him and they spend loads of time rolling around the floor "yodelling"! ;0)

I have managed to do some knitting - I finished my Cassidy hoodie ready to wear to the iKnit day at the beginning of this month - you saw that photo in my last post.

I finished these socks for my dad at the end of August - I was soooo glad when they were finished because he's a size 10 shoe and they seemed to go on FOREVER! ;0)

Also, I made these Monkeys - I intended to give them as a Christmas present but I'll probably end up keeping them for myself! The yarn is from Skeins

bought at Wonderwool Wales earlier this year and is lovely to knit with. They are such a vibrant colour and I think they'll really cheer up what, according to the weather people "in the know", is going to be a very cold, snowy winter.

THE YARN HARLOT!

2008-09-06T23:49:00.003+01:00

Right, please excuse the cheesy grin but OMG! She touched my sweater! And she was so sweet! What more can I say?! She's a normal person. And a knitter! Fab!

DUDES! Honestly, I was shaking when I spoke to her! And all I could say ? .................

Hi, I brought you some beer. I'm not weird, honest! I just read your blog and thought you liked beer.

Honestly! What am I like?!

THIS WOMAN RULES!

In true Mike Myers fashion - I'm not worthy!!!

Another sad farewell :0(

2008-07-29T12:34:00.003+01:00

RIP - Toffee.

Unfortunately, another sad post about the loss of another beloved pet. :0( That's the trouble with having small animals whose life span is just 3 years max. :0(

Two weeks ago, Toffee went to the vet to have a wound stitched. I think it was an abscess that had become infected. Unfortunately, although he was eating and drinking and still running and climbing around his cage, the wound wasn't healing so I took him back to the vet last week. The vet said the wound was healing (slowly) and suggested re-stitching. Unfortunately, I had a phone call in work to say that Toffee didn't wake up after the anaesthetic. :0(

He was 2 years 8 months when he died and we really thought he'd make it to the grand ole age of 3.

Nibble has really been missing him. He spent the first 9 months of his life with Toffee as his sole companion and although he now has Smokey and Strawberry for company, I think he does miss Toffee.

Sorry for the depressing post. :0( I will be back with some knitting content SOON. :0)

Happy Birthday to You!!

2008-07-04T23:16:00.008+01:00

a la Stevie Wonder.

Or Happy Birthday to Me at least! Because today is my birthday. :0) Yes, I'm 37 today.
And although I had to work today - until 5pm!! :0( - I'm feeling pretty chilled. ;0)

DS picked me a flower while on a walk with the dogs yesterday (what a sweetie!) and then bought me chocolates and wine (ably assisted by DH) at the local supermarket later the same day.

Yarn-wise, a package from The Loopy Ewe - what good timing :0) - a birthday present from myself ;0) - arrived today, containing the following -

Loopy Knit Notes for Socks (so I can keep track of who I'm knitting for, what size, what yarn, etc.), a Loopy Travel Mug and Fiesta Baby Boom sock yarn, although this is so squishy and lovely that I think it's going to be a Forest Canopy Shawl rather than socks - I just don't want to hide the lovely colours away. ;0) I'm really into blues and brown at the moment. :0)

Elsewhere in my knitting, I received an e-mail recently from Black Hills Wool asking if I'd like a sample pack of their yarns. Well, would I ever?! No need to ask me twice! I said yes, and a week later a sample pack of their worsted weight yarn arrived with me. I made this - the Binary Cable hat (link for those on Ravelry) or it's also in this month's Simply Knitting magazine.

It's lovely yarn, quite soft for 100% wool even before washing, and apparently shower-proof if you don't wash it, so what more could I ask for when walking the dogs?!

I also finished my first ever Monkey socks - for me. ;0) Using Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra in colourway 'M' from Socktopus (although M isn't in stock at the moment). Lovely yarn - very soft and squidgy to knit with. ;0)

I can honestly say that I can now understand the obsession some knitters have with this pattern. ;0)

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern, it was a very quick knit, easily memorised after 2 or 3 pattern repeats.

I've now started a pair for myself in a gorgeous shocking pink colour, but more on those in a future post. ;0)

Finally, I thought I'd leave you with some pet pictures.

When we have a new dog join our 'pack', we know they've really settled in with us when they feel they can just jump up and sit on the settee without feeling guilty. ;0)

Well, here's Chance making himself right at home. :0)

I have to say that we've been lucky so far with the rescue dogs we've taken in. They've each had their problems but Chance has probably been the worst so far and definitely the most time-intensive.

He hates small dogs with a vengeance and lunges at them whilst on (or off) the lead. Needless to say, we don't let him off the lead while out on walks. ;0) He was starved in his former home and killed a kitten whilst there, so this has probably led to his hatred and lust for small animals. :0( Not really his fault, just a product of his poor upbringing. :0(

That said, in the 3 short months he has lived with us, he has learned to live with our rats - we have 4 and he now sits in front of their cage, happy to watch what they're doing without lunging at them. NO WAY, however, would I let them out for 'free time' in front of him, but it's a start nevertheless. ;0)

He has been attending basic obedience class for the past 5 weeks and is coming on really well. Last week, we started half obedience and half-agility and he has taken to it so well. He will also now sit before we give him his food and sits and waits to be called in and out of the Jeep when we take him out. In the home environment, he's so loving and is excellent with our 6 year old son.

He's still hard work, no denying that ;0) - but I'm sure he'll be worth it in the long run.

After all, how could you resist a dog that looks THIS handsome?!

A trip to the frog pond

2008-06-08T16:30:00.003+01:00

And a very enjoyable experience it was too, for a change. :0) I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. ;0)

Two years ago, I bought the yarn to make Minnie from Rowan Magazine 39 - I loved everything about this design - the wide, faffy sleeves, the lacy-ness, everything.

I ordered the yarn (Rowan HandKnit Cotton) in Shade 319 - Mango Fool - but I think I was the fool for believing that the shade I saw on my PC monitor was correct. It's actually nearer "Toxic Orange" than anything I saw on my monitor, but never mind, it was still a lovely pattern. *LOL*

Within 3-4 months, I had knit the back and 2 fronts. (including bobbles and yarn-overs galore)

I then discovered (maybe a year after buying the yarn) that maybe I didn't love it as much as I thought. *rolls eyes* Okay, no problem, I'd omit the sleeves and wear it as a slip over. TWO YEARS later, and it's still in my WIP bag, no further on. :0(

So last week I decide to bite the bullet and frog the yarn. I thought I'd be really upset - all that wasted time and energy - but no, it's actually a relief to have gotten rid of it. ;0)

This makes me wonder if I'm not more of a process knitter than a product knitter (I think that's what the Yarn Harlot calls it, isn't it, when you prefer the process of knitting rather than the end product?)

Anyway, whatever the technical term for it is, I've frogged the yarn and re-wound it into yarn cakes ready to be knitted into this -

Nerissa by Sarah Hatton from Rowan magazine 41 - I also have enough Rowan Hand Knit Cotton to knit another summer top from this magazine, but that can wait for another blog post. ;0)

(I said that yarn colour was 'toxic' didn't I?!)

Elsewhere in my knitting life, I have finally finished the HipKnits Project Club silk cardi, although whether I'm totally happy with it has yet to be decided. This is how it's supposed to look, with a button at the neck (I have yet to buy that button, btw ;0) ).

A friend on another forum suggested that for women with 'lady lumps' (*LOL* I love that description!) perhaps a button under the bust would be more flattering. So, here's what that would look like.

What do you think? At the neck ...... or under the bust?

Honest opinions, please! I'd like to hear what you really think, rather than what you think I'd like to hear! If you think I look like a fat and frumpy sausage, I'd rather know about it. ;0)

Thank you. :0)

FOs and more pet pics ;0)

2008-05-18T18:23:00.004+01:00

Firstly, as a break from all my pet photos ;0), here are some things I've recently finished.

This jacket is from Stylecraft leaflet #4205, made for DS (age 6) using just under 1 x 400g ball of Stylecraft Special Aran with Wool (80% acrylic, 20% wool). A quick and easy knit, finished just in time for last week's heatwave! *LOL*

And I finally gave in and made a Baby Surprise Jacket (by Elizabeth Zimmerman). I did not understand the pattern at all - before, during or after knitting it! *LOL* But it's very effective. I used Bright Dyes 100% merino 4ply on 3.5mm needles. I made a hat to match and think I have enough left over to make some bootees.

On the needles at the moment is a pair of socks, feather and fan comfort shawl, HipKnits project club silk cardi, and about 4 other things that either need finishing or frogging. I haven't quite decided yet but more about those in a future blog post. ;0)

Now on to the animal pics. ;0)

This is Chance, a 3 year old GSD who came to live with us (via German Shepherd Rescue UK) at the beginning of last month, just a few days before we lost Buster. He wasn't house trained, lead trained or very well mannered :0( but he's coming on in leaps and bounds now. We've been in touch with a wonderful trainer - John Bills of Gelert Dog Training - and he's now a pleasure to take out on walks and have in the house.

This is what he looked like when he came to us - a dirty, unbrushed coat, caked in mud and poo underneath him, and was petrified of anyone touching his legs/belly. You could see every single bone in his body. :0(

Within the first week he was housetrained, allowed me to trim away all the matted bits of fur and remove the dirt, and now he now loves to be brushed. Thank goodness for the Furminator I say! :0)

He's getting on really well with Lexi and Snoopy, although he can be a bit boisterous with them on times but Snoopy puts him in his place quickly enough!

And now on to furry creatures on a smaller scale. ;0)

We have 2 rats at the moment - Nibble 8 months old and Toffee 2 and a half years old. As Toffee is now quite old for a rat (they usually live about 3 years), we decided to get 2 baby rats so Nibble won't be on his own if/when the worst happens. After years of buying from pet shops - and suffering the consequences in the form of tumours and breathing difficulties :0( - we contacted a breeder in Cheltenham and was put on the waiting list. A few months later, these little cuties came to live with us.

They are about 8 weeks old in these photos.

This is Strawberry - a ruby eyed Himalayan Rex. His whiskers are really curly and his coat will become curlier as he gets older.

And this is Smokey - his coat is extremely silky and soft at the moment.

After some initial "argy bargy", they are now all getting on extremely well.

Their favourite place to sleep at the moment is in the top hammock, all piled on top of each other.

They are really friendy and love nothing better than coming out for "free time", running around DS's (well covered) bed and having cuddles.

A Tribute to Buster

2008-04-28T15:57:00.007+01:00

Buster
RIP
June 1996 - April 2008

We had to make the heartbreaking decision to have Buster, my beautiful GSD, put to sleep on Monday, 7th April, just 3 days after we came back from holiday with him and only 2 months before he would have been 12 years old. :0( He had twisted his stomach that afternoon and although he could have had an operation, he would only have had a 30-50% chance of survival. I felt I didn't want to put him through it, as he probably wouldn't have had a good time post-op what with needing his cart to get around and also his spine was starting to fuse together in places (according to x-rays the vet took that evening).

He was a beautiful old dog and I'd like to share some photos of him with you.

Me and DH (then my boyfriend) had just moved into our first house together and DH decided he wanted a German Shepherd. He'd had one as a child and loved the breed. I wasn't too sure (my parents had always had Yorkshire Terriers) but I went along with him anyway.

DH chose Buster - but Buster chose me! What I mean is, considering he was supposed to be my husband's dog, he bonded with me instead. ;0)

This is Buster at 8 weeks old in 1996. He was a very good puppy, easily house trained, although slightly highly strung and very protective of the family.

I took him to training classes up until the age of 1 year old and he passed his 'final' with flying colours.

Don't be fooled and think he was by now perfect though, it didn't last - when the postman delivered his training certificate and rosette a week later, he chased him up the road!

He discovered his love of lying on the furniture at an early age -

1997

2007

One house move and a pregnancy later, Buster had appointed himself 'protector of the baby'.

When I was pregnant, my nan was extremely worried about having "such a big dog" in the house with a new baby and told us we should "get rid of him". I was having no such thing!

Buster was 6 when DS was born in 2002, and I spent a few days in hospital following a caesarean. DH brought home blankets, clothes, nappies, etc. which smelled of the new baby to get Buster used to the smell.

We brought DS home in his car seat, put him on the floor, Buster had a sniff and since that day we never had a problem. DS was taught to respect our dogs and knew not to tease, annoy, pull, climb on them, etc..

Buster loved the beach and I always remember the look on his face when we took him there the first time - I've never seen a dog 'smile' so widely or bound across the sand so fast! He loved it and looked so happy.

Although he was never keen on the water and refused to go swimming. ;0)

He loved to be close when I was napping, and in fact spent all of his 11 years sleeping next to me on the floor in the bedroom.

...... and on the bed (even my pillow!) when I was out. ;0)

When he was about 8 years old, he developed CDRM (a degenerative spinal problem). It didn't cause him pain but he did start to drag his legs around a bit. This didn't become a problem for him going for walks until he was about 9 or 10, when we decided to buy him a cart. DH and I were a bit dubious, thinking that there was no way he'd take to it and we'd probably end up sending it back.

But did he prove us wrong! The first day we put him in it, he raced off up the road with a big silly grin on his face. He loved it. :0)

He became a bit of a celebrity on holiday in West Wales (where we go regularly) with everyone wanting to know why he had it, where we got it from, etc.

And he went from being a dog who didn't like people approaching him, to actually going up to people so they *would* make a fuss of him. :0)

He was a wonderful dog - protector of the family,minor celebrity and giver of kisses and unconditional love.

He was my constant companion for nigh on 12 years and I don't know what to do with myself now he's gone. :0(

Buster, you are missed.
x

I'm Back!

2008-03-23T14:51:00.002Z

As it's been almost a month since I last blogged, I thought I'd post a few photos just so you know I'm still around. ;0)

This is one of the reasons why I haven't been around as much lately - Snoopy, a 14 year old lab cross, who we adopted from Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli two weeks ago.

As you can see, he found his spot straight away - ;0) - and has settled in with our other dogs very well.

He's the first dog we've had who has liked to cuddle up to other dogs when he's sleeping.

Not to be left out, Lexi thought she'd give it a try too. ;0)

Buster, however, still refuses to cuddle up to anyone. But he did at least agree to have his photo taken next to Snoopy. :0)

I finished the Sirdar Click cable jacket yesterday, although I used Sirdar Peru Naturals instead, Machu Picchu colourway. I used 10 balls of Peru - the pattern stated 16 balls of Click.

I love this jacket. It's very warm and comfortable to wear, and I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of it.

I did a slightly smaller collar than on the pattern (2 inches less of rib) because I never feel comfortable with a huge collar around my neck.

This was a very quick knit, even with the cables up the front and back. I started it on the 16th February, worked on other projects as well, and finished it on 22nd March. Altogether, it took 8 days to knit and sew up.

I also finished the 2nd baby blanket for my cousin, same details as previous blanket. This one only took 3 days to complete - I'll be able to knit this in my sleep soon!

And because I've finished a few projects, I thought I'd cast on straight away for my next one - the HipKnits Project Club cardigan kit. It uses 500g of HipKnits Silk Aran for the main colour (a beautiful deep blue), has a fairisle band around the middle using 100g of variegated silk aran (Splash) and is knit from the top down. I've only managed about 10 rows so far, which doesn't exactly make for an exciting picture. ;0)

A lucky couple of days :0)

2008-02-24T19:45:00.004Z

Yes, I certainly have had a lucky couple of days, and I am very grateful to whoever it is "up there" who's looking over me. :0)

Last sunday, I won the The Yarn Grove's prize for the Under Cover Club afghan which I finished in December 2007. I loved receiving the squares to knit each month and the finished afghan has certainly kept me warm since Christmas - it's been sitting on the back of the chair in the living room, ready to keep me warm on a cold winter night or when I've been shivering with the 'flu. :0)

And this morning, DH woke me at 1am to tell me I'd won the lottery. I was just about to start shouting at him for waking me up *just* for a tenner (three numbers), when he told me I had 5 numbers!!! I got up straight away at that! I have won .... £1,373. Not enough to give up work and retire ;0) but enough to pay some bills (and pay for our holiday at the end of next month) and have some "guilt-free" spending at Wonderwool on 26th April. :0)

I've had a stupid grin on my face all day!

And finally to some knitting. I finished my Sockamania socks for February some time last week but my didn't take a photo until today - and then my camera died on me and I haven't been able to find my batteries. *rolls eyes*

These were made with Fyberspates merino tencel in Sherbet colourway on 2.5mm circs and I love them. :0)

I'd also like to say thanks for all the comments I had on my last post. The dog coats will be sent off ASAP to keep the dogs warm at Many Tears

but unfortunately I haven't been able to get any further on my Sirdar cable jacket. I've been working on a commission for the company (Sirdar) which was for a stocking stitch summer top with (very) short sleeves. No problem. Or so you'd think!

It's knitted in Just Soya, which is lovely yarn but has been causing me major problems. :0( My tension was out, so I went down to smaller needles, then the knitted fabric looked very "bitty" and uneven. Even DH mentioned it! I'll be ringing them tomorrow to see if it's the yarn they've sent - or just me!

And look away NOW if you've just eaten. LOL! DH, who is 6 in April, has just lost his 2 lower front teeth and wanted me to blog about it! His new teeth had come through before the old ones came out, so I'm hoping they'll all "line up" eventually. ;0)

Ready?

Eww! Yet he thought it was sooooooooooooooo cool to have his teeth and gums on show on the 'net!

Oh, I almost forgot. I was nominated recently for a "You Make my Day Award" by Belaybunny. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to nominate 10 people in return.

The ones I nominate so far are:

Aknita - Queen of the Forest Canopy Shawl! A Very, Very Nice Person! And As I'm not so well travelled myself, I love to see her holiday pics. :0)

Posh Yarn - I love Dee's yarn and I love reading her blog too. I'm Very Jealous that she lives in a place I would LOVE to live myself!

CJ - who nominated me in the first place, and who is another lovely person I've met IRL. I am in awe of the fact that she has started sewing clothes for her little ones. They are just soooo cute (clothes and little ones!). I can't sew a straight line to save my life !

BlueADT_Knits - This one is for a fellow dog lover who resuced a puppy and gave her the best life she could have wanted. :0) I've followed Blue's illness for a while and was very sad to hear she had passed away. :0(

I'll be nominating more people later and letting them know that they've been nominated. :0)

Where does the time go?

2008-02-17T15:33:00.003Z

I really don't know where these last few weeks have gone. It doesn't help that a bout of D&V one week and 'flu the next have left me feeling weaker than a wrung-out dish cloth. :0( But enough of my whinging! Onto the FOs and WIPs. ;0)

I finished the first baby blanket for my cousin at the beginning of this month. I used 2 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK, yarn held double on 6mm needles.

One down, two to go ......

I finished these socks for my son, also at the beginning of this month. This was a ball of yarn I've had in stash for ages after I did a swap with an online friend. It had no ballband on it, so could be anything really, but from the feel of it I'd say it's Opal. I used my usual toe up pattern on 2.5mm needles.

I've almost finished this month's Sockamania pattern - Simply Love. Again, this yarn has been sitting in my stash for ages just waiting for the right pattern to come along. And here it is.

The yarn is Fyberspates Merino Tencel in the Sherbet colourway, which reminds me of Battenburg cake so you can imagine what I've been obsessing about since starting these! ;0)

I love the twisted cable on the rib, too. It was a bit difficult to start with - twisting through the backs of loops - but wasn't too bad once I'd got going.

It was worth it because it really finishes the socks off nicely.

In between my first and second Sockamania sock, I made this - Regia Silk Colour on 2.5 mm needles.

Again, this was yarn I swapped online and I really must buy more - it's lovely to knit with and feels great on the foot. I managed to get a nice long leg from the first 50g ball too. The second one will be started once my Sockamania socks are finished.

The newest Knitting magazine arrived yesterday before I went to our knitting group meeting in Pontypool. There was a lovely cable jacket on the back which kept nagging at me the whole time I was there, so I popped into my LYS on the way home and bought some wool to make it. They didn't have enough of the shade of Sirdar Click Chunky I wanted, so I went for Sirdar Peru Naturals in the Machu Picchu colurway (# 0553).

It's the first time I've used this yarn but I really like how it's knitting up, it feels a lot softer than it does on the ball.

I'm using 6.5mm needles as recommended and it's knitting up nice and quickly, which is always a bonus. ;0)

At the knitting group yesterday, I didn't get much knitting done because I was teaching 2 new members, Alison and Ruth, how to make toe-up socks. .

However, I did manage a few rows on another dog sweater - this time in Bergere de France Sport in a khaki colour.

On the topic of dog coats, I'd like to say a very big thank you to Alison and her mam who knitted some dog coats to be donated to the Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli.

Alison made this one.

And her mam made the other three. The blue one is extremely soft and I just want to keep stroking it. ;0)

So thanks again for all your work in making these sweaters - the dogs will really appreciate being toasty warm when they're wearing them. :0)

Now where did I put that pattern ..................... ???

2008-01-27T16:03:00.000Z

These past few days I've searched the whole house, high and low, 2 or 3 times in each room, searching for a pattern - King Cole #2242. I've had this pattern for over 20 years and now I've been asked to knit another 3 blankets, I've lost the blooming thing. I posted on forums to ask if someone might have a spare copy - they don't - and I've e-mailed the company (who probably won't be able to get back to me until next week).

It was only after e-mailing the company that I found some photos I'd taken of the blankets I made last year, nice close ups. So good in fact that I could see how many stitches I had OTN and from there work out the pattern. It was a toss up between sl1, k2tog, psso or k3tog on the pattern row - I went for the sl1, k2tog, psso in the end because it looked more like the photo. ;0)

And this is what I have at the moment -

2 of my cousin's friends have had baby boys recently and one is due next week. She wants me to knit three blankets in a fortnight! She's got no chance! I have, however, agreed to get one done within the next fortnight and let her have the other 2 as soon as I can. (I do have a life, you know, and DS and DH demand to be fed occasionally!)

I've been knitting dog sweaters again for Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli, South Wales. They're short of Labrador-sized sweaters at the moment so I'm using some Sirdar Country Style DK in Teal that I've had in my stash for over 2 years - it was originally bought to make me a cardigan but by the time I got around to using it, I'd gone off the pattern!

And I'm only 10 rows of rib away from finishing these socks for my aunty. Remember the merino/tencel ones which I'd promised her and then kept myself? Well, these are to make up for it. ;0)

The yarn is The Yarn Yard Soulmates sock yarn in the Arm in Arm colourway. I have 50g of the variegated left over and 10g of the solid so I should be able to make another pair of socks for myself out of that. Excellent value for money, I'd say.

My Fearless Foray into Fair Isle Continues

2008-01-20T13:57:00.000Z

Yes indeedy, I have overcome my fear of fair isle and, following success with the Corazon mittens in December, I decided to purchase a few patterns from Red Bird Knits - I got Andes, Bird Foot and Winter Dreams.

In my stash, I had some Regia 4 ply in 'King's Blue' (aka navy!) which went perfectly with the January 2007 Posh Yarn sock club yarn in 'Twinkle'. I can't believe I've had this lovely PY yarn in my stash for a whole year and haven't used it. I loved the colours of it but it just didn't seem right with any pattern or even plain socks for that matter. However, when used as the contrast yarn for this pattern, I think it really hits the spot. :0) I'm so glad I waited for the right pattern to come along. :0)

This is knit top down - I know I've been obsessed with toe up for the past however-many months, but I thought I'd make an exception for this pattern. ;0)

This is the inside of the heel flap - I'm about to start the gusset shaping.

And here's a close up of the pattern. I'm using 2.75 mm Knit Picks circs to get gauge of 8.5 sts per inch.

I finished my Cascading Leaves shawl on Friday evening - here it is blocking.

I love the way it's turned out. :0) It's just the right size - 66 inches wide x 37 inches deep.

Started: 9th January, 2008
Finished: 18th January, 2008
Blocked: 19th January, 2008
Yarn: 155g of Posh Yarn Lucia in the "Deluxe" colourway
Needles: 4mm KnitPicks Options
Pattern: Cascading Leaves by Vicki Mikulak

I did 13 pattern repeats and had 363 stitches on the needles at the end. It took about 10 minutes to knit 1 row.

And this is the gorgeous Perl Gray shawl pin which I bought from Purlescence. It's just right for fastening my gorgeous new shawl. :0)

Where have the past 2 weeks gone?

2008-01-13T15:00:00.003Z

I can't believe it's almost 2 weeks since I last blogged - the time has just flown by. However, it does mean that I have a few FO and WIP pics to show you.

I finished these 2 dog coats in December but didn't around to sewing on the buttons until yesterday. The patterns are from K9 Knitters and the coats will be going to the Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli, South Wales. This is the rescue where we had Lexi, our GSD, from.

These coats are small and medium-sized and are made from 100g of Sirdar Countrystyle DK on 4mm needles.

I made this coat yesterday - pattern again from K9 Knitters - this time using 300g of Sirdar Bonus Chunky. It's quite a large coat and would probably fit a Labrador or small GSD. The others are quite small - Yorkie sized probably. ;0) My knitting group - The Bag Ladies - have agreed to knit some more as Many Tears are desperate for knitted coats for their rescue dogs at the moment.

This is my first FO of 2008 - a PSP sock for a friend of DH. It's made with 10g of Opal Rainforest Tiger (4 ply) using 2.5 mm Knit Picks circs and I made the pattern up as I went along.

The second FO of 2008 is another multi-directional scarf (I gave my mint-choc-chip one away as a Christmas gift).

This one is made with 1 skein of Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn in the Tapis colourway using 3.5 mm Knit Picks needles.

I finished these socks yesterday - Anni's January Sockamania pattern.

It's a lovely drop-stitch rib pattern and knit up really quickly. I used Fyberspate's merino/tencel sock yarn in the Rusty Spoon colourway which was given to me as a gift in a Christmas swap on the Knitting Haven forum.

I love the colours and the sheen on this yarn. I think it really goes well with the pattern. I knit these toe up on 2 x 2.5mm Knit Picks Options circs and did 60 rows for the foot and 96 rows for the leg - I like a nice long sock. ;0)

Initially, I had promised these to my aunty but I loved them so much I couldn't part with them. *LOL* However, to ease my guilty conscience ;0) I'm going to cast on a pair of socks for my aunty later today - using this yarn .....

Soul Mates "Arm in Arm" from The Yarn Yard. It's 100g of variegated and 30g of the solid blue. I'll use the solid for the toes, heels and cuffs.

I also picked up this colourway for myself - Naughty but Nice - I love it. :0)

Finally, I'm making myself the Cascading Leaves shawl by Vicki Mikulak.

I managed to get my mitts on a 200g ball of Lucia in the Deluxe colourway (lovely shades of purple) in Posh Yarn's new year sale and thought this pattern would be ideal. I love knitting with Lucia, it's such a beautiful yarn.

I'm using 4mm Knit Picks Options circs and am probably about halfway through. I'm hoping to make the shawl slightly larger than the pattern as I think I've got plenty of yarn.

Anyway, time to go and wind some yarn ready to make my aunty's socks. ;0)

2007 - A (Knitting) Year in Review

2008-01-01T12:36:00.000Z

Well, here's the truth - in 2007 I knit 112 items. :-0

It may sound a lot but it really isn't because 36 of these items were 12 inch afghan squares, which took next to no time to knit. ;0)

Here's the list in total - 28 pairs of socks, 2 single socks as shop samples, 36 afghan squares, 4 dog sweaters, 3 children's cardigan, 1 child's sweater, 2 scarves, 1 baby cardigan, 3 bags, 8 adult sweaters, 3 shoulder shawls, 1 pair of baby mittens, 2 pairs of adult mittens, 3 wash cloths, 1 lap blanket, 2 afghans, 1 adult cardigan and 2 baby burial gowns.

Phew!!!

Some of my favourite FOs this year have been -

'Falling in Love' socks (pattern by Anni Design) using Posh yarn Lucia in the 'Kiss Me' colourway. I finished these in February and they were my first attempt at toe up / short rows, which I now love. I haven't done top down since.

'Ula' v-neck cardigan knit in Colinette Iona, an aran-weight yarn, finished in October.

I love everything about this yarn, from the silky soft feel of it to the gorgeously deep colours (this one is Salty Dog).

My first Forest Canopy shawl, finished in September, using Posh Yarn Emily in the 'Fells' colourway. I gave this as a gift to a lady I used to work with. I've since knit another (also in PY Emily) and have plans to knit a third, this time in PY Lucia.

Corazon mittens from Knitty, finished in November, using RYC Cashsoft DK. I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid of fair isle any longer and this is an ideal first pattern. I knit 2 pairs of these (one for a gift, one for myself) and will probably make some more eventually. The Cashsoft yarn is luscious to knit with, buttery soft, and even lovelier to wear. :0)

And finally a multi-directional scarf, finished in November, using Bright Dyes 100% merino 4 ply (lovely yarn to knit with). This is such a quick and simple pattern but so effective when finished. This was eventually given as a Christmas gift so I'm now knitting one for myself in Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn.

Amongst the items OTN at the moment I have the Henley Perfected sweater (from Interweave Knits) in Rowan Bamboo Soft, Moose Ridge socks in HipKnits blue faced leicester, feather and fan shawl in Artesano Alpaca, and a multi-directional scarf in Colinette Jitterbug.

Photos to follow next weekend. ;0)

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

2007-12-31T23:51:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

2007 has been a really good year for knitting. I've kept a list of everything I've knitted and can't believe how much I've done compared to last year - over 100 items so far! Admittedly, quite a few of those have been socks and afghan blocks, so that's cheating slightly, but still, not a bad little haul. ;0) I'll be posting some photos tomorrow of my favourite FOs.

My knitting this year has also become more sociable - I've met lots of new (and good) friends, via the Crafty Threads forum and by setting up a knitting group locally - The Bag Ladies of Wetherspoon's, Pontypool. At our Christmas meet, we worked our way through the cocktail list and we were soooo rowdy, I'm surprised we didn't get thrown out! We even managed to get some knitting done. *LOL*

To anyone who stops by and reads my blog (and leaves a comment) - I'd like to say thank you! It means a lot that you like to see what I'm making.

Anyway, a happy new year to everyone - I hope 2008 is a good one for you all. xxx

My Christmas Present to Myself

2007-12-24T21:16:00.000Z

This is the Under Cover Club afghan I've been working on for the past few months. It's made with O-Wool organic 100% yarn on 6mm needles.

I did a row of single crochet around the edge to finish it off using Cascade 220 yarn in the Fern colourway.

I am soooooo pleased I managed to get this finished today, although I've spent all day sewing the squares together when I really should have been doing other things. ;0)

NADOLIG LLAWEN BAWB!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Aunty's Afghan, a Hat for DS and some WIPs

2007-12-16T17:26:00.000Z

I finished my Aunty's afghan yesterday and I'm really pleased with it. :0) It's going to be so difficult to give it away - ;0) - but I know she'll appreciate the work that's gone into it. I just hope she hasn't redecorated her bedroom in the past few days as it matches the colours perfectly!

I used about 9 balls of Cascade 220 100% wool for the squares and 1 ball for the border, with 5mm KnitPicks Options needles. Four of the squares came from the Great American Aran Afghan book, the rest came from stitch dictionaries.

I've been fed up recently with DS's hats not covering his ears so I searched on Ravelry last night for a pattern using Cascade 220 (I have rather a lot of it!) and found this pattern - the Norwegian Star Earflap hat - so made one for DS this morning. It took 3 and a half hours from start to finish! It was a very clear pattern and easy to follow. I made a child's size 21 and 1/3 inch hat on 5mm needles.

I fancy making one for myself next, but using different colours. I love Cascade 220 yarn because it has such good stitch definition. :0)

And finally the WIPs.

DH's friend wanted a sock for his PSP - the one he bought from Argos was very loose and his PSP kept falling out so he asked if I could make him a nice snug-fitting one.

I dug out some left-over Opal Tiger sock yarn, cast on 44 stitches and am now about halfway through. It looks *way* too small at the moment but stretches quite a bit, and fits nice and snugly so I think he should be happy with it.

And this is the second instalment of the HipKnits Project Club. These are the Moose Ridge Socks by Chrissy Gardiner and are a really enjoyable knit. I'm using 2.5 mm needles and 100% cashmere HipKnits sock yarn.

Ewwwwwww! (not even remotely knitting-related, sorry!)

2007-12-12T20:18:00.000Z

Ewwwwwww! # 1 -

Why is it that even though German Shepherd dogs are supposedly mega-intelligent and extremely easy to train, Buster insists on sleeping on my pillow, even though I bellow "GET OFF MY PILLOW!!!" at least 10 times a day?!

He is a bit of an old man at 11 and a half now and so we are pampering him a bit,
but still ......................

.................................... lying on my pillow is just taking the mick!

It's no wonder I keep coming out in spots.

*rolls eyes, shudders and goes "ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!" *LOL

Ewwwwwww! #2 -

Why is it that when anything "yucky" needs to be done, DH is nowhere to be found?

DS, now 5, has been potty trained for years and independent on the toilet since I can't remember when, so why does he choose tonight to sit on the toilet and say ....................................

DS: Mam ....... I've got poo stuck to me ............. get it off ..............

Me: Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You'll notice I haven't included a photo of this one!! *LOL*

Come on, guys! Give me a break!!

Don't you know I've still got Christmas knitting left to knit!!
I haven't got time for ANYTHING else!!!!!!!!! *LOL*

Oh Christmas tree ..............

2007-12-09T15:28:00.000Z

Christmas is fast approaching so yesterday we decided to put up our Christmas tree. DS helped with putting the baubles on the lower branches. I've gone for a mainly red with a bit of gold theme this year. It hasn't turned out too badly so I'm pretty pleased. :0)

Considering I haven't blogged for over a week, I don't have a lot to show you I'm afraid. I'm halfway through a chunky jumper for Sirdar (2 sleeves to go) and I've just started the next instalment of the Hipknits project club which is a pair of cable socks in cashmere sock yarn.

Unfortunately, these are my "lunch time at work" project and that's where they are at the moment - in my drawer in work - so I haven't even got a photo of those I can show you. They are very nice though. ;0)

What I can show you is my aunty's afghan, which I'm making as part of her Christmas present. I've spent most of today sewing squares together - there are 16 altogether so it's getting a bit boring now to be honest!

This is where I was just before lunch - all the small squares joined, just the long rows in between to sew up now.

I'm using mattress stitch to join the squares as it seemed to give the neatest finish. I did try a crochet join but it didn't look quite as tidy. I'm hoping to finish the sewing this evening and then there's just the edging to knit. I'm really pleased with how this is shaping up at the moment and I hope my aunty will like it too.

And finally, here are some photos of Nibble - he's really growing now and has settled in with Toffee really well.

He's started to come when we call his name and likes to have a roam around the living room in the evenings.

Here he is checking out his surroundings ................

More Mittens and a Mint Choc Chip Scarf

2007-11-25T21:01:00.000Z

I think I'm obsessed with the Corazon mitten from Knitty.com. *LOL* This is my second pair in less than a week.

I had a lovely relaxing afternoon watching the classic film It's a Wonderful Life (with James Stewart and Donna Reed) and knitting the first mitten.

I decided to go with black and cream (instead of black and red) because it will match my new winter coat perfectly. :0) Who knows, I'll probably knit a black and red pair as well, just because I love this pattern so much. ;0)

I'm making the 7.5 inch diameter ladies medium size and it fits me perfectly. I'm using RYC Cashsoft DK (again from stash *polishes halo*) as it's extremely soft and very warm to wear.

The only change I made to the pattern was to use 2 circular needles (Knit Picks classic circulars) instead of DPNs - I just find circs much easier to work with.

Hopefully I can get the second mitten finished tomorrow and I'll have lovely toasty hands on the drive to work. :0)

I finished my mint choc chip scarf yesterday, made with Bright Dyes pure merino 4 ply yarn.

I love how the garter stitch feels (very smooshy!) and the way the stripes knitted up nice and randomly.

I used almost every last bit of yarn and have a scarf that is approx. 5 inches wide by 60 inches long.

I used 3.5mm Knit Picks Options circs.

I was hoping to be able to show you the cute dog coats I made recently but I still haven't sewn the buttons on. (Been too busy knitting mittens!) Hopefully I'll get those done some time next week. :0)

Another Competition Win and Fabulous Fair Isle

2007-11-24T20:34:00.001Z

Yes, I've won another competition. :0) My luck has been *so* good lately - if only I could win the lottery!

At the beginning of November, I won 2 tickets to the craft show in Cardiff. Then on Monday this little chap arrived in a blue Bergere de France bag. Now, I can *vaguely* remember entering a competition (in Knitting magazine, I think) where I had to give the translation of Bergere and say what 'lamb' was in French. The second prize was a BdeF lamb. I won! YAY!

Now my first BdeF lamby has a friend - so no need for DS and me to fight over him any more. I've now got my own!! ;0) *LOL*

And on the knitting front, I'm obsessed with fair isle at the moment. I never used to like it but recently thought if I can do lace, cables and socks, then I can do fair isle. *LOL*

So here is my first "proper" go at fair isle. There is a second mitten but I forgot to take a photo before I sent it off (it's for a swap). Please excuse if this photo is poor quality - it was taken on my mobile phone.

Anyway, this is the Corazon Mitten from Knitty. I used 3.25mm and 3.5mm Knit Picks circulars - wonderful little things :0) - and RYC Cashsoft DK (from stash - how good am I?!!). These mittens almost didn't get posted - they fit me perfectly - but seeing as how I've got (lots) more Cashsoft in my stash, I've decided I will knit myself a pair in black and red. They are so soft and very warm, just the thing in this weater - it was minus 2 here last night when we went shopping :0( .

I was surprised at how easy this pattern is and I managed to strand the yarn without any puckering of the fabric. Each mitten took 2 days to knit - probably a maximum of 5 hours per day - so hopefully this time next week I'll be wearing my own. :0)

I'll be back tomorrow with some FO pics - dog coats and my mint choc chip scarf ...........

Competition Now Closed

2007-11-18T20:20:00.000Z

Blimey - you lot are quick! The correct answer was that I was going in the wrong direction on the 3rd triangle - my right hand edge should've been straight but it was way skewiff! I had 6 correct entries so I'm going to ask DS to pick 3 names out of a hat. Hang on a minute while we do this ................................

.....................................................................

............................................................................................

And the winners are .......................

Nautical Knitter
Melody
and Ladybird Linz

E-mail me your address at ygymraes@hotmail.com and I'll send you some 4-ply sock yarn and the pattern tomorrow. Try not to make the same mistake as I did though! *LOL*

Competition - Spot the (Deliberate) Mistake

2007-11-18T18:12:00.000Z

Okay, here's a competition for you.

If anyone can spot the (deliberate) mistake on my mint choc chip multi-directional scarf, I'll send you enough yarn (from my stash - unused) to knit one of your own.

I am sooooo annoyed with myself about this. I've just had to undo everything I've done today. Aaaarrrgghh!!!

Entries close next Sunday - or before if anyone guesses the correct answer. :0)

Everything reminds me of food!

2007-11-18T15:07:00.000Z

I went to a get together yesterday in Swindon for members of the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarn forum and had a fab day. Some of the members who own shops had taken along some woolly goodies to sell, others who couldn't be there had sent some in the post. While I was there I bought these gorgeous skeins of yarn - unfortunately, all the colours are reminding me of food!

First up is some 100% merino sock yarn from Yarn Addict Anni which reminds me of those Fruit Salad chews I had when I was a kid.

And this is what it looks like wound into a nice cake -

Next is a skein of Bright Dyes pure merino 4ply. In the skein, this reminded me of an autumnal woodland walk. However, now I've started knitting it, it reminds me of mint choc chip icecream!

I'm making a multi-directional scarf on 3.5mm needles and love the way it's striping.

I also bought another skein of Bright Dyes yarn - this gorgeous blue colour - which actually doesn't remind me of anything edible (yet!) but I just love the gorgeous colour.

And again, here it is in a nice little cake -

While I was there, I bought some Yarnimals which are just soooooo cute. :0)

Chicken stitchmarkers because DS (age 5) reckons I'm exactly like Babs from Chicken Run because I knit "all the time, everywhere"! *LOL*

And sheep earrings. Why? It's a Welsh thing! ;0)

I just love the expressions on their faces!

While I was there yesterday, I managed to finish the second November Blues sock for DS. It's made with Sirdar Town and Country sock yarn on 2 x 2.5 mm Addi Turbo circs.

I was so pleased because I managed to line up the stripes without much faffing about at all. :0)

And lastly I want to say a big thanks to Debz for driving yesterday and also for letting everyone have a set of her stitchmarkers *free of charge*.

I had these gorgeous red ones.

Debz - you really must get these on Etsy - now!! *LOL*

And another big thank you to Debz and Lane (her sister) for this gorgeous necklace which they brought back for me from the Hobbycrafts/Stitching show in Cardiff recently.

This is beautiful - just my colours - and I'll be wearing it to work tomorrow.

So a fantastic day was had by all yesterday. Thanks to Granny Smith and everyone who organised the food - it was delicious! Now, when's the next one? ......................... ;0)

AT LAST!

2007-11-11T13:22:00.000Z

At last!! Royal Mail may be VERY slow - but they deliver eventually! ;0)

Back in September, I joined a dishcloth swap on the Knitting Haven forum. Unfortunately, Royal Mail *lost* the first parcel my pal sent me but she was extremely kind and sent me another parcel (see here).

Well, I came home from work yesterday to find a packet in my post box - yup, you've guessed - Audrey's first parcel has turned up.

And these were the lovely goodies waiting for me inside -

the first is a very pretty blue dishcloth with hearts on

and next is a hand towel, similar to the ones Audrey's aunt used to crochet.

I'm delighted to receive both - thank you so much Audrey. :0) And sorry to put you to the bother of having to send another parcel when RUBBISH Royal Mail couldn't deliver the first on time! *rolls eyes*

In other news, I finished my Sockamania November socks. They took about a week to make. The pattern is really easy to memorise and knits up quickly. I used Fleece Artist Sea Wool sock yarn in the Marine colourway. I knit the first sock using 2 x 2.75 mm Inox Grey circs but by the time I started the second sock, I had bought some Knit Picks classic circs in the same size. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!! I've always hated the Inox Greys but they were the only circs I could get in the size I needed. I have to say that the Knit Picks are a pleasure to knit with - much quicker than the Inox Greys, which seemed to hold onto the wool more, somehow. Plus the join was atrocious!

I'm now waiting for more Knit Picks circs to arrive from Get Knitted so I can make a pair of these - I can knit fair isle but I tend to avoid it because I don't really enjoy it, but for these gloves I will make an exception. I love them! And I've got the perfect colours of RYC Cashsoft DK in my stash to make them with. Perfect!

RIP Robbie the Rat

2007-11-04T22:33:00.000Z

Robbie (the brown rat, in the front on the picture) died on Saturday, 27th October, while we were away on holiday in West Wales. He was about 2 years and 4 months old. It's such a shame that rats don't live for very long - most live to 2 and half or 3 years old - because they are such intelligent and friendly animals. Robbie was really affectionate and loved cuddling up under my hair.

I'd taken him to the vet the day before we left because he hadn't been well - he had breathing problems which the vet thought was maybe a tumour on his lungs secondary to a tumour he had removed in April. He was on antibiotics and Vitamin B and seemed to perk up a bit. He was fine during the car journey and on Friday when we arrived at the cottage but he went downhill quickly on Saturday afternoon. His breathing was laboured and he was very listless.

We were debating whether to ring a local vets in Aberaeron (to have him PTS - never an easy decision) when I went to have another check on him. He passed away peacefully just as I was smoothing him. DS (5) was devastated as it's the first time he's encountered anything dying. Toffee (the rat with the pink eyes) was depressed for the rest of holiday and was looking everywhere for Robbie.
Rats are social animals and are best kept in pairs (or more) of the same sex. Toffee (in the photo to the left, aged about 2) was definitely suffering on his own so we decided to get another rat to keep him company when we got home on the Monday, after burying Robbie in the back garden.

We went to the local pet shop, who had a single 10 week old male rat available for adoption from a litter which had been brought in 2 weeks before. He had been on his own in a cage for about a week and was very skittish. However, he took to Toffee straight away and they've bonded really well. Toffee has perked up no end.

So this is Nibble (named by DS), the newest addition to the family, who is now about 11 weeks old. He's getting easier to handle by the day and is definitely less skittish than when he first arrived.

And yes, I really do have a pair of pyjama bottoms with pink cup cakes on!!

On the knitting front, I managed to make this pair of socks for DS while we were away. The yarn is Opal Prototype which I bought from Ebay a while ago, knit on 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs. DS (age 5) is a size 10-11 shoe so these were nice and quick to knit up and only took about 36g of yarn, so there's plenty of yarn left over to knit another pair for me. ;0)

Then last Friday, I started these - the Sockamania (see link in RH side panel) November pattern - Ripples. As soon as I had the pattern via e-mail on Friday evening, I cast on. I had the perfect yarn in my stash - Fleece Artist Sea Wool sock yarn in the Marine colourway which I had for my birthday in July.

The pattern is very easy and quick to knit and looks really effective. I'm hoping to finish sock #1 tomorrow. I altered the pattern slightly to knit these toe up - I've been addicted to toe up ever since I knitted Anni's Falling in Love pattern back in February. I haven't made a top-down sock since!

A BIG thank you to Audrey

2007-10-22T19:26:00.000+01:00

I want to say a BIG thank you to Audrey for sending me a second dishcloth in the Knitting Haven dishcloth swap when rubbish Royal Mail failed to deliver the first one she posted.

I received this gorgeous circular dishcloth in the post today along with a box of Fine Inuit Herbal Tea with Labrador, Crowberry, Ground Juniper, Arctic Blend and Cloudberry flavours. I LOVE herbal tea and can't wait to try them. :0)

So, THANK YOU Audrey, you're a star! :0)

FOs - old and new

2007-10-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

I'll start with the old. Well, there's only one. ;0)

This is the Slinky Shawl by Jean Moss. I made this about a year ago, maybe longer, but it's stood up to a lot of use really well. It's quite big and is lovely to wrap around yourself on a cold winter evening. Yarn used was Artesano Alpaca Inca Mist but I can't remember what size needles, sorry.

Now onto the new - I *finally* finished my Stansfield 27 socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I knit the first one in May but second sock syndrome set in and I couldn't face the second one. I eventually managed to finish it this month and I'm so glad I did - these are very snuggly warm socks, just right for lounging around the house today (it's freezing here!). Yarn used was Posh Yarn Emily in Carnation (shocking pink, IRL).

This sock is the first of my Falling Leaves pair knit using the Opal Autumn Song yarn I received from Jeannet recently (see previous post for details).

Although this is quite a busy yarn, I think the pattern shows up well. I'm using 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs. I managed to get quite a long sock out of 50g and still had a fair bit left over. Second sock syndrome will NOT set in on these socks - I'll be casting on #2 tomorrow and I can't wait to wear them. :0)

Finally, I made a start on The Bag Ladies knitting group Christmas project - we're putting together memory boxes for parents of stillborn babies and will be distributing them to local hospital baby units. We will knit 2 burial gowns - one for the baby and one for the parents to keep - along with a blanket, a teddy and will include a few other bits and pieces too.

This one took just a few hours last weekend to knit. Yarn used is Sirdar Snuggly 4 ply and 3.75 mm needles (Denise Interchangeables).

It measures approximately 10 in across the chest and is about 12 in long. I just need to thread a bit of ribbon through the eyelets to finish it.

This is so tiny - the ball of Opal sock yarn is there for size comparison.

An FO and another present!

2007-10-14T17:07:00.000+01:00

First of all, I want to say a big THANKS! to Debz who made these beautiful stitchmarkers for our Bag Ladies Knitting Group.
Unfortunately, our group meet was a bit crap for Debz yesterday because some thieving scumbag nicked her handbag from the pub we were in, took her credit cards and pinched money from her account.

Anyway - long story short and all that! ;0) - thanks to Pontypool Police for being on the ball and the duty manager in Wetherspoons for searching through the CCTV for anyone who might have gone into the ladies toilet with Debz' handbag - the thieving scumbag is now in custody, Debz has her money back and apart from the inconvenience of cancelling the cards and waiting for new ones, hopefully she's feeling much better now. So a big thanks again to Debz for these lovely stitchmarkers - everyone go over to her blog NOW and DEMAND she make you some of your own. She *really* ought to be selling these on Etsy, y'know. ;0) They're gorgeous.

This is my 'Ula' cardigan made with Colinette Iona, their luscious new aran weight yarn. It's not the best of photos (my excuse, anyway!) because my camera was refusing to play nicely and kept sucking the life out of every single battery I put into it! This was the best photo DH was able to take quickly before they ran out again. ;0) I deliberately asked him to cut my head off - "manky" just doesn't adequately describe how I look today! *LOL* Anyway, the fronts really do sit much better than this photo suggests.

I must be mad, but I stayed up until 1am yesterday morning sewing this up and then had a mad steam-blocking session at 9am yesterday JUST so I could wear this to our knitting group. ;0)

I used the recommended 4mm and 4.5mm needles and the only change I made was to add an extra 10 rows (roughly 2 ins) before the armhole shaping. It's now about 23 ins long, so only slightly longer than the pattern suggested.

If I had stuck to the length in the pattern, I would have been able to make this with only 6 balls (one less than the pattern called for). As it was, the extra 10 rows took a tiny bit of my 7th ball. However, as I always buy an extra ball (just in case) and had 8 balls to start with, I now have enough to make a scarf to go with. I'm on the look-out for a nice cable pattern, I think. Ravelry, here I come! ;0)

Well and truly spoiled - times two

2007-10-06T21:16:00.000+01:00

This week, I have been well and truly spoiled by two great swap partners. :0)

First of all, last Wednesday I received my bag from Fairynuff (aka Sue) in the Angel Yarns September Swap.

It's a felted bag in a lovely deep red colour which is a fab shape

and just look at this cute button - made by Jominx. How sweet is that?!

Also included in the parcel were 2 bars of Green and Black's chocolate (de-lish!), two skeins of Natural Dye Studio alpaca/merino yarn in Tangerine Ocean (I love alpaca) and the most beautiful silver stitch markers.

Which I think are almost too nice to use as stitch markers - I'm quite tempted to turn them into a charm bracelet. :0)

And then yesterday (Friday), I received a very large box which was postmarked "The Netherlands". My clue, on a postcard of Spaubeek, was 'feline knitting style' and my swap partner was Continental Cat (aka Jeannet).

These are the beautifully wrapped presents I found inside.

And after frantically ripping off the wrapping ;0) this is what I found -

A skein of Opal 'Autumn Song' sock yarn, which is the most beautiful colour and so 'me'. I cast on a pair of 'Falling Leaves' socks earlier and I think the yarn really suits the pattern. I like it when that happens. ;0)

I also had 2 skeins of Opal Rainforest 3 - Butterfly - which are both gorgeous colourways and again very 'me'.

Next was a pattern book - Denim by Lang Yarns. There are *heaps* of designs in this book - sweaters, cardigans, hats and scarves - and I can see myself making quite a few of them in the future.

On the edible front - ;0) - I had (from the left) -

a bar of real 'hot' chocolate (I discovered why it was hot when I took a bite - it's *very* spicy! But very nice. ;0)

a pack of spicy cinnamon biscuits (I love cinnamon) which are a local speciality, only available between end of September and beginning of December, to welcome the arrival of St. Nicolas, a glass jar (which itself is very cute!) of Hill Country Marmalade, which tastes of summer fruits, a pack of fruit tea (made with apples, cinnamon and almonds) and two blocks of chocolates on wooden spoons - a brilliant idea - you dip them in a warm drink and suck the chocolate off. Lush!

So thank you to Sue and Jeannet for my wonderful presents. :0)

The presents have been a welcome distraction this weekend because I'm full up with yet another cold. :0( It was only the week before last that I had another one - and I was off work for 4 days with it. If I feel like this on Monday, I'll have to drag myself into work - and hopefully pass out cold on the floor so they send me home ;0) - because if I call in sick again with a heavy cold, they're bound to think I'm pulling a fast one! Annoyingly today my ears have been blocked so I feel like I'm hearing everything through cotton wool.

Anyway, enough of me and my ailments - ;0) - I'm off to knit some more falling leaves ...............

WARNING - yarn pr0n!!

2007-09-30T14:31:00.000+01:00

At the Colinette course yesterday - Knitting in All Directions - I was feeling quite restrained.
I bought just 7 skeins of Wigwam in 'Morello Mash', a gorgeous deep cherry colour, just enough to knit a textured v-neck sweater.

I then wandered around the shop for a while, having a squish of this yarn and that yarn, feeling quite smug that I could resist the loveliness all around me and that I hadn't gone mad and bought all the lovely skeins of yarn I could see hanging everywhere.

And then I happened to see this - Iona

As the Borg would say "resistance is futile"!!! ;0)

I *had* to have it. It's probably one of the most expensive yarns in the shop and I really don't need another WIP at the moment but I had to have it. It's such a beautiful colour that words fail me when I try to explain just how beautiful it is. It's so gorgeous I'd happily have its babies and cook and clean for it for the rest of my life! Seriously, it's *that* gorgeous!

I quickly gathered up all the skeins on the shelf - well, I didn't want anyone else getting their mitts on it, did I?! ;0)

When the fog of pretty-yarn-frenzy had lifted slightly, I realised it might be a good idea to have a flick through the pattern book that accompanies this yarn to see what I could actually knit with it. There are at least 4 things in the book I want to knit - my family will be pleased that buying Christmas presents for me this year will be a doddle! ;0)

I spent most of last night looking longingly at my lovely blue Iona (and trying not to get any drool on it) and then wound it into cakes this morning ready to get knitting with it tomorrow. I can't wait. :0) I still don't know which design I'm going to knit but that doesn't matter because they're all so pretty. ;0)

A strange thing happened to me on the way home yesterday and I'm now convinced that fate somehow intervened and I was *meant* to buy this yarn.

Let me explain - the colourway of this yarn is 'Salty Dog' - I know, not the prettiest of names! Anyway, as I was driving home after the course yesterday, I happened to be flicking through the radio channels. These days I very rarely listen to the radio in the car as I always have my i-Pod plugged in. However, I'd forgotten to charge my i-Pod so was stuck with the radio. ;0) As I surfed the different channels trying to find something half-decent to listen to, I heard a woman singing a bluesy sort of song, maybe from the 1940s (ish). But the spookiest thing was that this song was called - "I'm a Salty Dog".

What are the chances of that?! Spooky indeed! I'm now convinced that I was *meant* to buy this yarn. ;0)

Oh, I'd better tell you about the course I went on! ;0) It was called Knitting in All Directions and was excellent. I met up with Joy and it was lovely to have such good company all day. :0)

Colinette herself was teaching the course and started us off knitting mitred squares. We knit 2 of these and then moved on to mitred rectangles -

In this photo (in the darker yarn) I have 2 mitred squares on the bottom and a rectangle on top. To the left (in the lighter yarn) we then picked up stitches along the edge and knitted a garter stitch piece. I was amazed at how this worked. Until I tried it, I just couldn't see how it would turn out.

We then moved on to equilateral triangles -
here are 4 small triangles. Next, you could pick up enough stitches to make a larger triangle along one edge and just keep going until you get the effect you want.

Finally, she showed us how to make shells. These would make a really pretty border - unfortunately, the yarn I chose doesn't really show up the pattern but you get the general idea. ;0)

I had such a good day and would definitely recommend Colinette's courses.

I've come away with loads of ideas of how to use up all my spare yarn by knitting cushion covers and throws - in all directions!

My stash diet ends in style

2007-09-27T16:42:00.000+01:00

I knew I wouldn't be able to stay on my stash diet until Christmas. It may have come to an end early but at least I did it in style! ;0) It doesn't help that I've been off work ill this week (feeling flu-ey) and I always tend to buy lovely stash to cheer myself up.

The first of my goodies to show you are these incredibly cute stitchmarkers by Viknits (available on e-bay via the link on her blog).

They arrived quickly, were very well packaged and are very detailed - they're gorgeous!

Last Sunday I bought some Posh Yarn Emily, which arrived today in a squishy pink parcel.

I had 2 x 100g of 'Fells' and 2 x 100g of 'Hula'. I think the Fells might become a Forest Canopy shawl (mainly because of the gorgeous green colour) but I haven't decided yet. I'm not sure what the Hula will become, I just liked the colour. ;0)

On Monday this week this month's package arrived from the Under Cover Club. It normally arrives at the beginning of the month but was a bit late because the Yarn Grove were waiting for delivery of a new colour. It was definitely worth waiting for - a beautiful cranberry red, deeper IRL than these photos.

The patterns for this month were Twisted Sisters (above) and All Fools' Welt (below). Each square took just a day to complete.

Also included in my package this month was this beautiful J. Knits sock yarn and cute sock bag. I was the winner in last month's prize draw for showing completed squares. (It's a good incentive to get them finished!)

It's a lovely bright daffodil yellow and blue. I'm now on a search for the perfect pattern. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. :0)

Elsewhere in my knitting, I've done another 6 squares for my aunty's afghan, so only 2 left to do now.

On the left is Tiny Eyelet Rib from Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 1.

Below is Susan Rainey's Sweater square from the Great American Aran Afghan book.

To the left is Chevron Rib and below is Eyelet Hearts, both from Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 1.

All these squares were knit with 5mm KnitPicks Options needles and Cascade 220 yarn.

More squares, more bobbles, more cables ;0)

2007-09-22T14:58:00.000+01:00

More afghan squares, I'm afraid. ;0)

The first is Ann McCauley's Bobbledy Aran from the Great American Afghan Book, in Cascade 220 yarn (Ice Mint) with 5mm KnitPicks Options.

The second is Eyelet Posies from Vogue Stitchionary No. 1. Again, same needles. same yarn but different colourway - Lavender.

Now, when I knit something, I tend to recall what I'm watching on the TV at the time, even years down the line.

Nice to know then, that 5, 10 or even maybe 15 years in the future, when I see my aunty's afghan, I'll remember watching "Larva" on Sci-Fi last night.

Alien, bat-like, parasitic creatures erupting from animals and people and sucking them dry. :0?

Nice.

Hmmmmmm ....................... maybe I need to re-think the kind of TV programmes I watch!?! ;0)

Halfway There

2007-09-20T19:02:00.001+01:00

With only 14 weeks left to Christmas, I thought I'd better get a wriggle on with my aunty's afghan. So I will be (almost) exclusively knitting squares for it till I get it finished.

I am now officially halfway through. This is my 8th square - Barbara McIntire's from the Great American Aran Afghan (see previous post for details).

I love the central celtic braid cable - it's very easy but looks so effective. I used 5mm KnitPicks Options needles and Cascade 220 in Oatmeal (I *love* this colour!). This needs hardly any blocking as it's almost exactly 12" square so I won't lose any of the lovely texture.

I've just started my next one - Ann McCauley's Bobbledy Aran square - this time in Ice Mint (turquoise). Did I mention that I love big bobbles?! ;0)

Amount of yarn used for Hemlock

2007-09-17T19:21:00.000+01:00

In the comments yesterday, Annette asked how much yarn I used at row 101 of my Hemlock. Looking back at my notes scrawled on the pattern ;0) I used approximately 250 grams of aran yarn. The border took 23 grams. If I'd had the staying power, I really could have made it quite a bit bigger. ;0)

Sucked into the Hemlock-along

2007-09-16T17:04:00.000+01:00

Yup, even though I've got about 7 WIPs on the go at the moment, last week I was sucked into the Hemlock-along after seeing it mentioned on the Angel Yarns forum. The original is on Brooklyn Tweed's blog here - it's gorgeous. :0) Anyway, I ordered my yarn from Kemps Wool Shop very very late on Friday, 7th September and it arrived first thing Monday, 10th September. This is the first time I've ordered from them but it certainly won't be the last - I am VERY impressed with their service. :0) I went for the 400g Sirdar Bonus Aran with Wool (80% acrylic, 20% wool) in Buttermilk. I wanted something cheap and cheerful (this is £3.99 per 400g ball) that I can throw into the washing machine. Even though it's mostly acrylic, the yarn feels gorgeous to knit with and I'm already lining up a few other projects to use it with. ;0) I used 5mm KnitPicks Options needles and changed cord length once.

I started knitting last Monday evening. I did roughly 2 hours per night during the week and 4 hours yesterday and today - a total of 18 hours from start to finish. I finished on row 101 - I was tempted to make it slightly larger (maybe go to row 121) but to be honest I was getting a bit fed up by this time! There were approx. 500-odd stitches on the needles at this point and just knitting one round was taking forever! ;0)

At 11.45 a.m. today, I decided to call it a day and start on the border. This is how it looked as I started it -

I love the way the border turned out. It really fits in well with the overall design. Even though some knitters have dubbed this the "never-ending border", I must admit that I quite enjoyed the monotony of it. ;0) It was quite therapeutic - although it did take exactly 2 hours to knit. I finished at exactly 1.45 p.m..

After finishing the border, my Hemlock looked a bit of a blobby mess but I was quite confident that blocking would reveal a completely different piece of knitting.

Prior to blocking, I soaked the knitting in the sink for half an hour or so and then threw it in the washing maching for a quick spin. It was practically dry when it came out.

Half an hour later (and I lost count of how many pins!), this is what it looked like. I have to admit, I'm rather pleased with it. It measures about 40 inches in diameter. I would have liked it slightly larger but know I just didn't have the staying power for those last 20-odd rows! ;0)

And this is perfectly adequate as a lap blanket, which after all is its ultimate purpose.

I can see me knitting more of these, probably as gifts, as they're so quick and easy to make and yet look so effective when finished.

Dwti Socks

2007-09-09T20:18:00.000+01:00

Otherwise known as small socks. ;0)

'Twt' is the Welsh word for tidy, neat or smart. When I was growing up however, anyone or anything small was known as 'dwti' and it's stuck with me ever since. ;-)

I like knitting socks for small people - they are a very quick, rewarding project because they don't take long to make.

I started knitting this pair at my knitting group yesterday at 12.30 p.m. and finished them about 5 mins ago.

They're for DS (age 5) who is a size 10-11 shoe. He chose the yarn from my stash (Opal Rainforest 'Tiger' and he wanted them for school tomorrow, so he's really pleased that I've finished them in time.

I used my usual toe-up pattern, 52 sts on 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs. I knit 44 rows for the foot, 42 rows for the leg and 12 rows for the rib. These socks took about 30g, so I have enough left to make a pair for myself. ;0)

The only problem I had while knitting these was the annoying tune I kept singing the whole time I was knitting them - "That's neat, that's neat, that's neat, that's neat, I really love your tiger feet". Not sure who sung the song originally, and these probably aren't even the correct words, but it's been bugging me all weekend. I'll be glad to work on another project to get that song out of my head! ;0)

A Bag for Saira

2007-09-04T21:05:00.000+01:00

I haven't blogged much lately because I've been knitting things which are for swaps and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for my swap pals. But one swap parcel arrived today which means that I can now show you this -

This was a swap organised on the Angel Yarns forum. My swap partner was Saira.

I must admit that I cheated slightly because I had already knit the back and front of this bag. It was sitting in a dark cupboard, un-sewn-up and forgotten, because I didn't have anybody to give it to. (I was also feeling a bit guilty about not finishing it because it was a Bag Ladies Knitting Group group project and the others had finished theirs.)

Anyway, when the swap was announced I thought this was an ideal opportunity for the bag to go to a good home. ;0) I really enjoyed finishing it (even the sewing up!) knowing that it was for Saira and I enjoyed buying some pampering goodies to go with it. I also added a ball of sock yarn from stash (purple/brown to match the purple/lavender theme/colourway that had developed) .

The pattern came from a Knit Today bags supplement from earlier this year and I used Debbie Bliss Pure Silk DK for the body of the bag (which may have been raspberry) and Colinette Tao silk for the handles and trim in Neptune. To get correct gauge, I used 3.75mm Denise Interchangeable needles instead of the 4mm needles recommended in the pattern.

I bought some more Colinette Tao silk at my last visit which I may use to knit another one. It's very nice to knit with. I wasn't so keen on the DB silk though. Not sure why, but the Colinette just felt nicer on the skin.

Elsewhere in my knitting, I've been making dishcloths for the first time and really enjoying them, although trying to choose a pattern from all the free patterns out there on the net was nigh on impossible! I was overwhelmed with choice - not a good thing for a first-class ditherer! ;0)

I've also got some socks OTN but again can't blog about those just yet. Stealth knitting does not make for interesting blogging! Sorry. :0) More details soon, hopefully.

Fab New Sock Bag, more squares and some crochet

2007-08-25T00:04:00.000+01:00

I have a fab new sock bag. Yes, I know I have a few already but I have a lot of WIPs, so another one will be really useful! ;0) I first saw it here a few weeks ago (click on "small bags for small projects on the right) and managed to hold out for a week or two - but couldn't resist and ordered it from Danielle's Etsy shop on the 19th. She mailed it to me on the 20th and it arrived today. FIVE DAYS from the States. *shock* How speedy is that?! I'm really impressed. :0)

It was wrapped beautifully - and I had sweeties ;0) I'm really pleased with the quality of this bag and can't praise Danielle enough. :0) GO TO HER ETSY SHOP AND ORDER YOUR OWN NOW!!!! ;0) You will not be disappointed.

My bag had its first outing this afternoon when I took DS to his friend's 5th birthday party. While the kids bounced like loonies on the bouncy castle, I sat drinking lager and knitting on my Colinette Jitterbug sock. Bliss. :0)

In the pocket was a basic sock pattern, needle and grafting instructions and some fab stitch markers that Danielle sells in her shop.

And the bag is reversible - it's got the Sockapalooza fabric on the inside.

I'm so happy - I'm in sock bag heaven! ;0)

Elsewhere, I've been knitting more squares.

This one is Ada Fenick's Tree of Life square from the Great American Aran Afghan - see here for details of the individual squares. It's VERY quick to knit - something I approve of! ;0) I have to say, these are the biggest bobbles I've ever knit! They're humungous! But they do look effective. ;0) I liked this square, because it was like painting a picture but with knitting IYSWIM?

I started this at about 11 this morning and finished it about 10.30 this evening. And yes, I do have a life and unfortunately that life did get in the way, as it invariably does. ;0)

In between, I bathed [me and DS ;0) ], hoovered the house, cooked breakfast, lunch and tea (and washed up), cleaned and exercised the rats, took DS to his friend's birthday party and did 3 loads of washing - which dried quickly thanks to the fantastically HOT weather we're having today - YAY! Summer at last!!!!

Now, much as it pains me to give this square away [;0)] it will be added to my auntie's afghan, which is part of her Christmas present. The yarn I'm using is Cascade 220 (Oatmeal) with 5mm Knitpicks Options needles. This is the second square I've knit from this book and both times, I've used different size needles than stated. With the Cascade yarn, I get the correct tension with 5mm so I'm sticking with those for the time being. Also to be added to auntie's afghan, this is the first square from the GAAA I knitted - Jay Campbell's "Play Yard" which is knit in the round.

This is the first time I've used the "knit-in-the-round" technique to get a square but I really enjoyed it.

Both times I followed the charts instead of the written instructions, something I would have avoided like the plague a few months ago. But now I find charts so much easier - the pattern is easier to "read" and I find it makes the knitting much quicker.

Yesterday, I decided to crochet the beaded wrist purse I purchased from DT Craft and Design when I visited Wonderwool Wales a few months ago. This was my first go at using Procion Dyes and I used just one - Deep Purple. It took beautifully. The dyeing took about 6 hours and crocheting the bag took about 3! Here it is:

It's quite small (about 3in around the base and 3.5" tall) but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. This is my first try at crocheting a bag, and my first go at using beads, which gives the bag a nice "weight". I'm not sure that I'd ever use this, but I'm glad I made it. ;0)

Now, I really must knit a bit more on my Della shawl ....... but that naughty American afghan book keeps demanding my attention! ;0)

Feeling better :0)

2007-08-21T21:27:00.000+01:00

After having vented my frustration last night, I'm now feeling much better. :0) It helped that I had a knitting group meeting this afternoon with Debs, Lane [and her sweet son ;0) ] and new member Jenny - I felt much more relaxed afterwards.

I'm finally ready to show a few photos of FOs. I've mostly been knitting afghan squares, but I'll show some pics of those later. Firstly, I want to show you the socks I'm working on at the moment - with Jitterbug sock yarn by Colinette.
(OMG! I've just seen their new Iona designs - simply lush!)

I can't praise Colinette enough on both their yarns and patterns. I've never had a problem with needing more yarn than stated for projects and their sizing is spot on.

This is the first time I've used Jitterbug and I have heard people complain that they haven't had enough yarn to knit a "decent" sized sock so I was on a bit of a one-woman mission to prove them wrong. I think I may have achieved that mission. ;0)

For these socks, I used a 115g / 291m skein in the Alizarine colourway. I used 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs. I knit my socks toe up with 60 sts. I knit 60 rows for the foot, then did a short row heel. I then knit 10 rows of SS for the ankle before starting on a 2x2 rib pattern for the leg - I did a massive 95 rows of this and still had some yarn left over. This gave me a leg length of about 7.5 inches. I like the legs of my socks to be long and this yarn certainly delivered. So a big thumbs up to Colinette! :0)

Okay, now for my afghan squares. These are what I've done so far -

From left to right -

Alternating Diagonals in Gooseberry for my dad
Dimpled Delight in Olive for me
Lacy Eyelets and Rib in Fern for my dad

From left to right -

Basket Weave in Oatmeal for me
Diamond Brocade in Olive for me
Lucky Bamboo in Oatmeal for me

From left to right -

Adam's Rib in Airforce Blue for me
Quilted Brocade in Pumpkin for me
Woven Fun in Airforce Blue for me

From left to right -

Bouquets in Lavender for my aunty
Big Bamboo in Mustard for my dad
Daisies in Ice Mint for my aunty

I have another 4 blocks waiting to be washed and blocked - they're all 12 inches after blocking. I finished the most gorgeous "Lamb's Tails" this morning for my aunty in cream - very tactile and nubbly. :0) I chose this design because her name is Mary. As in "Mary had a little lamb". Geddit? ;0)

I'm really enjoying knitting these squares. They're not too big so don't get boring (and some knit up extremely quickly) and they introduce new techniques too (like in the Bouquets square). The patterns for my dad and aunty have come from the Vogue Stitchionaries (Vols. 1 and 2) and are knit in Cascade 220 on 5mm Knit Picks Circs - the ones for myself are from the Yarn Grove's Under Cover Club and are knit using O-Wool Classic on 6mm Denise Interchangeables. Both yarns give 2 squares per 100g skein.

I'm seriously thinking about knitting some squares out of this book. I love the sweater square (so cute!) and like the idea of knitting cables in the round, something I haven't done yet. I can see a few of these squares turning up in my current afghan projects, although I'd like to try every square at some point.

This WIP has now become an FO and is winging its way to my cousin in Southampton. I made her one in cream RYC Cashsoft DK when she had her 2nd baby back in June and she liked it so much she asked for another.

This one is knit using Sirdar Snuggly DK. Not quite as lush as the Cashsoft but still very very soft.

It's a King Cole pattern - # 2242 - which I've had for so long that I don't know if it's still available. It's a 4-row pattern and uses about 300g of DK yarn (which is held double throughout) on 6mm needles and is a very quick knit - this one took me about 8 hours from start to finish. The pattern is easy to memorise and the blanket measures about 20 inches x 27 inches when complete.

I'm still working on Della, although I haven't done any for a few days. I'm at 110 rows at the moment, so only another 90 (or so) to go! ;0) But I'm still enjoying the pattern, which is always good.

Still no news yet on whether my Sockapalooza 4 socks have reached my pal, which is a bit worrying seeing as I mailed them (to the States) over 3 weeks ago. Leyna, if you're reading this - LET ME KNOW IF THEY'VE ARRIVED! Thanks! :0)

(Humour me - they're my babies and I worry about them!!)

I haven't received my socks yet, either, but my pal very kindly e-mailed me and said she's still working on them and they were going to camp with her last week so she could finish them. So hopefully I can start postie-stalking soon. ;0) Fingers crossed! :0)

What a waste of time :0(

2007-08-21T02:23:00.000+01:00

Okay. Time for a whinge, I'm afraid. I'm totally fed up of spending my time and money on knitting designs that simply haven't been thought out properly. I've spent an irretrieval amount of hours over the past 12 months knitting a shawl jacket only to find out that I didn't have enough yarn to knit the two sleeves, even though my tension was spot on. So I emailed the designer and then had to pay P&P to have the yarn posted to me. This miffed me to say the very least, but I wanted to finish the jacket so paid the money. The yarn eventually arrived, slightly thicker than the original and a slightly different colour, but I carried on.

This evening, I finished one sleeve and tried the jacket on. I used exactly the measurements as stated in the pattern, again with correct tension, but the sleeves are way too short for me.

AND I STILL DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH YARN!

This means that I'm going to have to e-mail the designer (again), wait for a response (again), pay P&P (again) - for the privilege of having enough yarn to finish the jacket when, in my opinion, there should have been enough yarn included in the kit in the first place - and then wait for the yarn to arrive (again) before I can start the second sleeve. And then I have to undo the first sleeve and make it longer. And more than likely, after I've done all that, I'll hate the thing and never wear it.

AARRGGHH!!!!!!

Quite frankly, I have better things to do with my life.

This jacket is currently stuffed in a dark corner, waiting for the day when I can be bothered to frog it. If that day never comes, then I won't be sorry.

In future, I'll be sticking to companies who I know provide enough yarn with their kits, and who also provide well-written patterns which have been tried and tested.

:0(

This was going to be an update :0(

2007-08-20T13:23:00.000+01:00

I had every intention of giving an update this morning on what I've been knitting lately. I've added a few more 12" squares to my afghan collection, made one Colinette Jitterbug sock in 1.5 days, knit a few more rows of Della and have almost finished a baby blanket for my cousin.

BUT

Photobucket is refusing to play nicely and for some reason just won't bring the site up on my PC.

SO

my update will have to wait until later because without photos, there really isn't much point! ;0)

Squeeeee! I've been nominated!

2007-08-12T20:50:00.000+01:00

Yay!! I've been nominated by Joy as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Thanks Joy!

And in honour of this event - and seeing as how I haven't blogged about anything for a whole week ;0) - I thought I'd better show you what I've been working on for the past few days.

This is Della, the first project from the Hipknits Project Club (click on the sidebar button for details) -

The yarn is Hipknits Cashmere laceweight in Seaweed. Kerrie, who designed the shawl, says "Della is the highest waterfall in Canada and this shawl was inspired by the idea of a lace pattern that mimicked falling water splashing into a pool at the bottom of the drop". I have to say that the Seawood colour really does look like sunlight dappling on water, so is the perfect yarn for this pattern. When the picture was taken, I had knit about 60 rows of the pattern. Unfortunately, I just haven't been able to find the time to do much more of it this weekend, which is extremely frustrating!

DH and I spent most of Friday at Ikea buying some cupboards for the bedroom (we were desperate for more storage). Saturday morning I had an early hair appointment - I've gone for the chop! More about that tomorrow ;0) - then knitting group in the afternoon. By the time I got home, DH had 2 of the units together. While he worked on the third, I fixed the 8 drawers together. We didn't get to bed until 2.30 this morning! This afternoon, I took DS to his friend's birthday party, and this evening I'm surfing the web for a while.

I fully intend to start work on Della again later - I've got itchy fingers now and can't wait to get some more rows done. I just love how this pattern is knitting up and can't wait to get it finished. :0)

Which I will hopefully do within the next few days as I've got TWO WHOLE WEEKS OFF WORK!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!

I fell off the wagon at Colinette

2007-08-05T21:20:00.000+01:00

After being on a yarn diet since the end of June and being very good, I fell off the wagon at Colinette yesterday. I decided that this would be my one day off until Christmas. I went to the crochet course and had a brilliant time. I met forum friends old and new - Joy, Christina, Debby and Jackie - and bought a *bit* of yarn. ;0)

Here are some photos - click on them to make them bigger -

This was a selection pack which cost £20. I can't believe how much yarn is crammed into the bag - once I'd got it out, I had a job to get it back in again! There are loads of lovely yarn samples in there - best of all, there is enough Jitterbug in there to make 3 pairs of socks.

The blue, on the left, is about 50g and enough for a pair for DS, the pink/red and light/dark brown is enough to make 2 pairs for myself, with different colours for the heels/toes etc.

Next, I bought 2 skeins of Jitterbug - Alizarine on the left and Tapis on the right. The blue yarn in front was from the sale room and is Banyan yarn (£2 per skein) which I'm going to use to make the Alva cardigan from the Banyan book.

This is 2 skeins of Tao silk (from the sale room). I'm not sure what it's going to be yet but I've got the Arboretum book so may make either a scarf, fingerless mitts or a bag.

This mini bag is what I made while I was at the crochet course. It's only big enough to fit a mobile phone in but I learned some new techniques - joining in new colours, joining the squares together and how to make a handle that won't stretch.

And finally, this is the goodie bag that all participants on the course had. It's got some great yarn samples in it and I can't wait to get started making some squares. I've decided to make some cushion covers for the living room, so these sample yarns will come in really useful.

Bobbly Bouquets

2007-08-02T19:47:00.000+01:00

This is what I'm working on at the moment - the first 12" x 12" square for my Aunty's afghan for Christmas.

It's the Bouquets pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary Vol. 1, and has a 30 row pattern repeat.

I'm using Cascade 220 yarn in the Lavender colourway (which I LOVE) and 5mm Knitpicks Options circs.

I just love the texture of this pattern - it's very 3-D and very touchy-feely - and I love knitting bobbles anyway. The more the merrier, I say. ;0)

Cotton Cardi

2007-08-01T23:38:00.000+01:00

This is the cardi I've been knitting for DS. I've almost finished and just have the collar left to knit.

I used the cheap cotton I bought from Lidl a while back - about £3.00 for 6 x 50g balls I think. I've discovered that I don't particularly like knitting with cotton. It didn't help that this yarn was very "splitty" so I had to be really careful when knitting.

I used a pattern from Ann Budd's book of sweater patterns. It was knit all in one piece to the armholes, then the sleeves were added in and the raglans were worked in one piece, which means

LOOK - NO SEAMS!

So the only bit of sewing up were the sleeve seams.

I (actually) did a swatch because I wasn't sure what the tension of this yarn was and ended up using 3.25 mm needles for the rib and 3.75 mm for the main body.

**DS has asked me to point out that his belly isn't really big - it's just the way he's standing.**

Hmm, an excuse I've used in my time, I do believe! ;0) *LOL*

4 Sweaters in 21 days

2007-08-01T00:05:00.000+01:00

Is this a record I wonder? I was so glad to pack up that 4th sweater tonight and will breathe a sigh of relief when it goes off in the post tomorrow. ;0) It took about 3 hours this evening to knit the collar and then sew it up. I didn't have time this evening to do any other knitting but I've got my bag packed and ready for tomorrow with DS's cotton cardigan. It'll be nice to knit with something other than chunky yarn.

Oh, I did use some of the left over King Cole Aero last night to start a crochet afghan for Many Tears Rescue - this is where we had our GSD Lexi from last year. Last Christmas I sent them a few knitted blankets but I thought I'd use up my stash and crochet some this year. It's also much quicker so I'm hoping to make more this year. The KC Aero is very chunky so I'm thinking it may make a nice horse blanket - I've got plenty of yarn left over so size shouldn't be a problem. ;0)

And this bit of crochet will give me a bit of practice ready for my course at Colinette this Saturday. I can't wait! :0)

Sweater Marathon almost at an end

2007-07-30T22:42:00.000+01:00

And thank goodness for that! This sweater marathon has made for some very boring blog posts!

I sailed through the first and second sweaters, the third was no problem, and the front and back of the fourth were a breeze. BUT I've just got stuck on the sleeves of the fourth and final sweater. I just can't seem to get into the knitting at all. I've taken to doing housework - anything but knit these **%%$$!! sleeves! ;0) I've even got my lunch ready for work tomorrow - I normally run round like a headless chicken trying to get my lunch together approximately 10 minutes after I'm supposed to have left the house! *LOL*

But I'm hoping that tomorrow will bring a better knitting mojo and I'll get these flipping sleeves finished. I'm knitting them both at the same time - I get too bored otherwise!

Apart from sweater knitting, I have been doing the odd few rows on a cotton cardi for DS in some very cheap cotton yarn in purpley blues. (Just to relive the boredom, y'know) It's looking nice and hopefully by the end of this week, I'll have some not-quite-FO photos.

My next project is going to be a baby blanket for my cousin, same as the cream one I posted a photo of recently, but this time in a very pale pink. This should hopefully take about 3 days and then I'm going to do some knitting for ME! :0)

Sockapalooza 4 Commemorative Bag

2007-07-22T20:11:00.000+01:00

This is what I teased you with yesterday. My new Sockapalooza 4 commemorative bag from Allena - The Knitting Ewe. I first saw the bags mentioned on the Sockapalooza 4 site and thought they were great - I also loved the price $15 (about £7.50).

These bags are available to everyone, not just those in Sockapalooza 4.

You get to choose which colour and design of fabric you want, in whatever combination you want, and the bags are totally reversible.

They measure 7.5" high x 20" around and the base is 5"x5". Just the right size for portable projects like socks and scarves.

I had an e-mail from Allena on the 17th to say that she had posted it and it arrived yesterday, the 21st! Very quick, considering this came from the US.

I definitely recommend Allena's bags to anyone - they're really well made and the service I received was excellent. Next time I need another bag (and you can NEVER have enough bags!) I know where to go. ;0)

A Teaser for Tomorrow

2007-07-22T00:00:00.000+01:00

I had a lovely package in the post today which totally cheered me up after the Royal Mail failed to deliver the new Harry Potter book which I pre-ordered from Amazon back in January. :0( I eventually went to my local Asda and bought one from there. I'm now halfway through and it's brilliant. :0) When (and if) Royal Mail ever deliver the one from Amazon, it will be going straight back, with a stroppy letter to both about lack of decent service.

Anyway, back to the little package that cheered me up today. It's knitting related but not yarn. Although I can use it with yarn. It's also sock-related, although not sock yarn. I will post a photo tomorrow to put you out of your misery. ;0)

I definitely recommend the seller - the service was exceptional. :0) More to follow tomorrow ....................

FO Picture of MS3 Clue 3

2007-07-21T00:09:00.000+01:00

This is Clue 3 finished. Melanie said that her shawl measured 25" long at this point - mine measures 20" long, so I think I'll take the option of adding in one extra repeat. That should give me a finished length (roughly) of 71". The width is about 15". I could probably block it more aggressively than it's pinned out here though.

Talking about pins, I found a pack of 20 T-pins/quilter's pins in Hobbycraft recently for under £3.00. They work wonderfully with my new foam blocks. ;0)

I fibbed - there is a sock photo

2007-07-19T23:34:00.000+01:00

Yes, I did indeed fib earlier when I said there wouldn't be any sock photo tonight. I managed to finish the back of sweater #3 more quickly than I thought I would, so instead of casting on for the front (that can wait until tomorrow) I thought I'd finish the rib on DH's Serpentine socks.

Can I please make it clear - that is HIS bit of hairy leg in the photo. It does NOT belong to me! ;0)

I'm using 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs and Angel Yarns 4ply sock yarn in shade #3032 - Sage Tweed - which is more heathery green/grey IRL. If you click the link, it's the large picture at the top right of the page. It's definitely more of a "manly" colour, which is why I've decided that DH can have this pair. Plus he's been moaning at me because I never knit any socks for him. I have no argument for this, however, because I've knit 40-plus socks so far - and not one pair have been for him. No wonder he's feeling left out. ;0)

Blocking Mats

2007-07-19T19:18:00.000+01:00

I've wanted some blocking mats for a while now and know that a few people have bought mats like these from the Early Learning Centre.

I bought these from B&Q today. They cost £15.98 for 8 mats which are 210mm x 210mm x 11mm, a total of 3 sq metres or 32 sq feet. The best thing is that I can stash them away behind the settee when I'm not using them. :0)

They will come in very handy when blocking my Mystery Stole 3. I normally use our bed, which isn't ideal when things take ages to dry, and sometimes there still isn't enough room to spread things out properly, even on a double bed.

No sock photos today unfortunately as I haven't finished the rib from yesterday. I'm up to the armholes on the back of the third sweater, the second one being posted off earlier today. I'm hoping I can get this and the fourth finished by the end of next week, then I can do some knitting for ME!

Sweater No. 2 - Finished

2007-07-19T00:08:00.000+01:00

I finished sweater no. 2 earlier - YAY!!! It's now all packed up and ready to go off to King Cole Ltd. tomorrow. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it after I'd sewn it up. Instead, here are some WIP pics.

I received the payment today for the first sweater, which has spurred me on to get this one finished and start no. 3.

They also told me that I get to keep the unused balls of yarn, which is great. There are about 3 and a half balls left over from each sweater so I should be able to make 2 sweaters for DS (one in
each colour) and use the rest to make some crochet throws.

I also managed to do some knitting on my Sockamania July socks. I've almost finished the first one - just the rib to go. I'll post pics tomorrow.

This is the third Sockamania sock I've knitted and unfortunately I won't get to wear this pair either! The first ones will be going to my Sockapalooza pal next month, the second ones I gave to DS's teacher yesterday and now DH has nabbed the third ones!

Out of the 40-plus socks I've knitted so far, I've yet to knit a pair for DH and I think he's feeling a bit left out. ;0) I've refused to knit him any so far because his toe nails are so long they always go straight through his socks (gross!!) but he's promised to keep them trim and keep these socks for best.

Oh well, maybe I'll get to keep next month's ..... ;0)

Summer top FO

2007-07-15T15:49:00.000+01:00

I use the word "summer" very loosely! ;0)
It's piddling down with rain here today. :0(

I finished this a few weeks ago but haven't got around to posting the photo. And seeing as all I have to show you lately are photos from the sweater marathon, I thought this would make a nice change.

This is a Sirdar pattern which gave the choice of having cap sleeves or sleeveless, with colour or without, and also the pattern had fake pockets on the front, just above your boobs, but I left those off because I thought they may make me look huge!

I used 3.25mm and 4mm needles and RYC Cashsoft DK, which is a lovely yarn to knit with. I think I used about 7x50g balls in total. The mother of pearl heart buttons were bought from my LYS.

Lastly, I made up the necklace myself - I bought the glass heart from Hobbycraft for under £3.00 and put it on a suedette thong which I had at home.

Sweater One - DONE!

2007-07-12T17:34:00.000+01:00

This is sweater #1 - which I finished this morning due to an unexpected day off work. DS (age 5) was unwell yesterday, complaining of a headache and sore tummy. Well, he woke up at 6 this morning, was sick all over the bed and about 5 or 6 times after that! :0( So he couldn't go to school and I couldn't go to work.

BUT, the silver lining to this cloud was that while he was asleep for an hour or so, I managed to finish the sleeves (I knit both at the same time), do the neckline and do the dreaded sewing up. YAY! I'd actually forgotten about the sewing up bit - which is the bit I hate the most. And to think I've got to do it another 3 times! :0(

I'm really pleased with the finished sweater, although it doesn't suit me and wouldn't be a pattern I'd choose to knit myself. For some reason, I don't know if it's the chunky yarn, but it just makes me look HUGE! I like v-neck sweaters with waist shaping - this doesn't have any - which I always think are more flattering.

Anyway, I'm still pleased with it and managed to get it packed up and posted off lunchtime, thinking it would get there tomorrow.

BUT NO! Damned Royal Mail are having a 24-hour strike so my sweater isn't likely to arrive until Monday. **%%££**!!!!!

Anyway, can't stop - I have sweater 2 to cast on! :0)

Sweater One - Almost Done

2007-07-12T00:15:00.000+01:00

This is the first sweater almost finished. I've got about another inch or two on the sleeves, knit the neckline and then sew it all up, which I'm hoping to do tomorrow.

So far this 36" sweater has used about 8 balls. It's knit up amazingly quickly - let's hope the other 3 are equally as quick!

The colour IRL is exactly as it is in the photo. It's a lovely rich shade of blue.

Excuse the poor picture quality on the photo of the pattern. I could blame the flash bouncing off the man's bald head ..........! But unfortunately it's just my bad photo-taking. ;0) But at least it gives you an idea of the finished item.

Sweater Marathon

2007-07-11T00:59:00.000+01:00

I really must be mad. Last week, I agreed to knit 4 sweaters (adult size 36") and to do them as quickly as I possibly can as they are needed ASAP. It does help that they are knit in a chunky yarn so they knit up quickly - I did the back yesterday and the front today - but I know that I'm going to get bored before the 2nd one is finished! ;0) And they're all the same pattern. But at least I've got 2 different colours to alternate between.

So, all my other WIPs are going to have to go on the back burner for now. Except for MS3, which I shall be knitting on weekends, just to have a break from sweaters. I'm hoping to get one sweater finished per week - I'm hoping they'll all be finished and sent off by the beginning of August, when the HipKnits Project Club starts with a lacy shawl.

And the reason for all this sweater madness? I occasionally knit garments for the King Cole yarn company. I saw an advert at the beginning of last year asking for knitters and because I didn't have much OTN, I decided to apply. So far I've done a baby sweater and an adult hoodie jacket both in DK but this is the first time I've been asked to knit so many items at once, especially in such a short time scale. It doesn't pay mega bucks (put it this way, I won't be able to give up my day job!) but at least it gives me a bit of extra cash to go towards, say, my visit to Colinette for the crochet course in August! That'll make all this sweater knitting worthwhile!

I'll hopefully post some pictures tomorrow - I'm hoping I can get the sleeves done tomorrow, sew up Thursday and post on Friday. The yarn I'm using is King Cole Aero, a chunky yarn that knits to 10sts and 14rows to 4 inches on 9mm and 10mm needles. (Going back to my 3mm needles for MS3 is going to be very strange!) It's 80% acrylic and 20% wool and is nice and easy to knit with. The colours I've been sent are Petrol (a gorgeous deep blue) and a bright red. Like I said, I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow so you can see what I'm rambling on about. ;0)

And now I really must go to bed or the bags under my eyes will be the same colour as the yarn!

MS3 - Clue 2 finished

2007-07-08T15:54:00.000+01:00

This is Clue 2 of MS3 which I finished about half an hour ago. I really must invest in some black material to take these photographs on - using the seat of my best black work trousers just doesn't cut it somehow! Brings a whole new meaning to "does my bum look big in this?" !!!

I'm really enjoying this pattern so far. I have no idea what the theme could be, although the next bit of pattern looks like it will be honeycombs and the first bit now looks a bit scarab beetle -y to me. But who knows!?!

I'm really enjoying knitting with this yarn - Posh Yarn Cecilia cobweb laceweight. It's in the Marmalade colourway and has a very subtle variegation running through it.

Roll on next Friday and Clue 3!

Happy Birthday to me!

2007-07-04T14:01:00.003+01:00

It's my birthday today and I've got lots of lovely goodies to show. First of all is a row counter bracelet and scissor fob with detachable stitchmarkers from Knitz and Glitz. These are both beautiful, but I especially like the stitchmarkers on the scissor fob.

Next, some yarn pr0n. I had 3 skeins of Fleece Artist Sea Wool sock yarn in (L-R) Pinata, Marine and Jester. Pinata and Marine are destined to become these and these, and Jester will become a scarf, although I haven't found the right pattern yet. If you have any ideas, let me know. I also had a ball of Artesano Alpaca Inca Mist, to go with the one I had from Kai in the Secret Summer Santa Swap a couple of weeks ago. This is going to be a Bertie, designed by the talented Bronte. I had 7 x grey and 7 x black RYC Cashsoft DK, for a ribbed sweater for myself, a pack of Clover ring stitchmarkers and a tub of Blue Sky Alpacas Knitter's Little Helper hand balm. Fab stuff. :0)

I also managed to finished Clue 1 for Mystery Stole 3 this morning. Yay!! Now originally I had no intention of joining in with this because I've got loads of WIPs to finish and another load of PIWs (projects in waiting) to start on. But I'd seen a few photos of finished Clue 1 and was hooked. I joined up and am so glad I did. I swatched (yes, I did, swatch hater that I am!) and decided to use Posh Yarn Cecilia cobweb laceweight in Marmalade (from stash *polishes halo*!) using 3mm needles. This yarn is so fine that it makes the PY Eva laceweight I'm using for a stole from Victorian Lace Today look like DK! It's knitting up beautifully though.

At row 100, it's measuring approximately 15 inches wide. Click on the photo to see better detail. Unfortunately, this is a pretty rubbish photo, it looks much better with a black background, so I'll try and take another one later and change it. Can't wait for the next clue to come out this Friday. Oh, sign ups close on Friday 6th July, so if you want to join, DO IT NOW!

Swanky New PC

2007-06-30T10:33:00.000+01:00

DH and I bought ourselves a swanky new PC yesterday. We've been thinking about getting a new one for quite a while - our last one was over 13 years old and getting really cranky! If you opened more than 2 windows at a time, it would shut itself down! Anyway, we finally bit the bullet and bought a new one. We were a bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to load everything we use on to it, but it couldn't have been smoother. Broadband, iTunes ..... you name it, it loaded fine. We had heard a few horror stories about Windows Vista causing problems but (touch wood) it's all working brilliantly at the moment.

I can't get over how fast this new one is - it has 160gb of memory. I'm not sure how much our old one had, probably about 8!, but it was extremely slow. It's also very, very quiet. You can hardly hear it running.

Well, I could rave on about my new PC for ages (and probably will, to everyone I meet!) but I won't bore you any more. Suffice to say, I'm a happy bunny! :0)

Baby Knits, Snazzy Slippers and Cute Rats

2007-06-23T20:29:00.000+01:00

These are some baby items I knitted for my cousin who had her second baby on Thursday, 21st June at 12.10 a.m. - a baby girl called Lucy, sister to Maggie who will be 2 in August. For the blanket (for Lucy), I used a very old King Cole pattern, so old I couldn't even Google a picture of it! The yarn is used double throughout on 6mm needles and it's such a quick knit, with a finished size of 20in x 27in. I used RYC Cashsoft DK in Cream and it feels lusciously soft, almost like velvet. I used about 4 and a half 50g balls. The mittens were also from the same pattern, in the same yarn. The bolero cardigan is for Maggie, knit using an unknown acrylic yarn (but I really liked the colour) - it's a Sirdar pattern #1721.

Most of my morning was spent at the local carpet warehouse with DH, trying to choose a new vinyl for the hallway. Whatever I liked, he didn't and vice versa! Eventually, we settled on this one and it really makes a difference. We had carpet in the hallway before and with 2 dogs and a 5 year old in the house, it was really showing its age. :0( We would have liked laminate flooring but the dogs find it difficult to walk on - we had this experience on holiday last year when Buster refused to walk from the bedroom to the kitchen because of the laminate floor and had to be practically carried from one room to another.

And while DH was fitting the vinyl, I did the sensible thing and went shopping. Well, DS needed new trainers. ;0) While I was out, I picked up some snazzy new slippers for myself - £6 in Brantano. They're a bit "Bet Lynch" and not what I'd normally go for, but they're really bright and cheery. Just what I need in this horrible weather. ;0)

I have done some work today though. ;0)

When I came back from shopping I cleaned out the rats' cage and couldn't resist taking some photos. It was difficult though because they just wouldn't keep still. ;0) I love the picture below - such a cute look on Robbie's face (he's on the right). Toffee refused to pose however. ;0)

)

And this photo was taken when their cage was all nice and clean. I'd love to have a few more rats but this cage is just big enough for the two of them and it wouldn't be fair for them not to be crammed into a small cage and not have enough room to run around. And unfortunately we don't have room for another large cage.

Rats have such wonderful characters and make lovely pets. :0)

Sockapalooza Socks Finished

2007-06-20T20:31:00.000+01:00

I finished these at the beginning of May but I've only just got around to washing and blocking them, so thought now would be a good time to post a picture.

They are made using the Sockamania May Day pattern, using 2 x 2.75 mm Inox Grey Circs and 100g (300m) of Fyberspates 100% Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn.

When I joined Sockapalooza 4, I was a bit worried that it would take me ages to find the right pattern for my pal. But I knew as soon as I started knitting these that they'd be just perfect. The combination of yarn and pattern was just right. A stress-free knit, that's what I like. :0)

Happy Birthday, Buster

2007-06-13T21:50:00.000+01:00

It's my gorgeous pup Buster's birthday today. He's 11 years old and still going strong. Even though his legs are very weak and he drags them a bit around the house, he's always raring to go when we get his wheels out to take him for a walk. And he loves just going for rides in the van - so long as he gets to look out the window. ;0) As he gets older, he's spending more of his time curled up by my side on the settee with his head resting on a pillow. Bless!

Not much knitting news to report. I'm working on a summer top in RYC Cashsoft DK (lush, lush yarn), Sockamania June socks in alpaca and some afghan blocks but no piccies until the weekend, I'm afraid.

Oh, and I've decided to go on a stashalong until Christmas (yes, you heard right!). I've officially reached SABLE proportions now (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). I've got enough sock yarn to knit 38 pairs (that's just ridiculous!) and I'm not even telling you how much other yarn I've got, suffice it to say that it's bursting out of its custom-made cupboard. It's time for drastic measures.

So, if you see me buying yarn - slap me!

WIPs and KIP Pics

2007-06-10T22:16:00.000+01:00

First of all, some WIP pics, which I've been promising for a few days but haven't gotten around to posting. ;0)
(Click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

The little bootee I whipped up in an hour last night while watching Grease is the Word (glad Susan won, btw). The handdyed Blue Faced Leicester yarn came as part of my Secret Summer Santa pressie and is lovely to knit with. My cousin's second baby is due at the end of this month, so these will be given to her.

I've finished one side of the lacy bag we're doing as our "Bag Ladies" knitting group project. The main yarn is Debbie Bliss Pure Silk (which I received in a previous Secret Santa swap) and the contrast yarn is Colinette Tao, which I bought myself not knowing what I was going to make but just because I *had* to have a skein. *LOL*

Yesterday was National Knit in Public day and The Bag Ladies knitting group met in Pontypool Wetherspoon's, our usual meeting place. We had a new knitter join the group, Leigh, which was really good. Unfortunately Debz (one of our regulars) was unable to come because she was ill. :0(

In this photo, on the left from front to back is Lane and Kelly and on the right from front to back is Leigh and me, Linda.

Me and Lane made some Innocent Smoothie hats and then we went off in search of some Innocent Smoothie bottles to model them on.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any so some Fruit Shoot bottles kindly offered to model them for us instead!

We had some VERY strange looks from the people in the shop while we were taking these photos, I can tell you!

I knitted a couple more last night, including the scary-looking snowman who's missing a nose at the moment because I can't work out how to get it to stick to the pom-pom! Again, no Innocent Smoothie bottles were available to model so some bottles of Shandy kindly stood in for them. They said they really needed the bobble hats because they'd been in the fridge all day and were icy cold! ;0)

Secret Summer Santa, Competition Prizes and Kid Silk Lace

2007-06-07T14:08:00.000+01:00

I must say a big thank you to Kai, who was my Secret Summer Santa on the Angel Yarns knitting forum and who has just sent me all this luscious loveliness!

In my parcel, which arrived yesterday, I had a gorgeous fringed scarf, a skein of Middle Earth sock yarn ('Beachball'), a skein of handdyed BFL from the BorderTart ('Puce') and 2 patterns, a ball of Artesano Inca Mist 100% pure baby alpaca ('Cinnamon') which is incredibly soft, a bookmark, a Bergere de France Lamb (aw, sweet!) and 2 bars of chocolate. :0)

I have been really spoiled and am very, very grateful. Thanks again, Kai. :0)

It's been a good week for goodies in the post. Today, I had 2 Patons booklets which I won in the Simply Knitting magazine crossword competition, issue 27. Sizes go up to 4 year old (27" chest) in the Play Days book so I'll be able to knit something for DS and there are some gorgeous girly patterns in Sugar and Spice which will come in very handy for my cousin's daughter for Christmas.

The best thing that arrived today though was this beautiful Posh Yarn - it's Dee's new Kid Silk Lace and I was lucky (and quick!) enough to get some in last Sunday's sale. It's the 'Snuggle' colourway and it really took my breath away when I opened the packet, it's so gorgeous IRL. This is destined to become something large and airy from the Victorian Lace Today book - I have no idea yet quite what it will become but I'm just enjoying petting it at the moment! ;0)

And in the midst of all this mad stash enhancing, you're probably wondering if I've done any knitting?! Well, I'll have a few WIP pics for you tomorrow. :0) I've finished the front of my silk lace bag for The Bag Ladies' group project. We'll be starting the second side this Saturday. I've also been working on a shawl for my cousin who is expecting her second baby at the end of this month. I'm not even halfway through yet but it may still be finished in time.

Anyone for golf?

2007-06-05T18:26:00.000+01:00

I had my lower left wisdom tooth out yesterday and have now got a lump on the side of my face the size of a golf ball. I look like a demented chipmunk. ;0)

DH (helpfully) told me it's bigger today than yesterday. I'm still feeling dizzy from the anaesthetic, my mouth hurts if I open it too much (which starts the stitches bleeding again) and I don't feel like eating much so today has been a bit crap really.

We had a 4 hour wait yesterday after arriving - we got there at 8am and I finally went down for the op at 12. DH fell asleep in the chair which made me so glad I took my knitting with me. In fact, I almost finished one sock for DS with the yarn I Kool Aid dyed a couple of weeks ago, there's only the rib left to do.

I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out.

I'm back

2007-06-03T17:13:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm finally back to blogging - seems like ages since I was here last. ;0) - feeling slightly better than before but still coughing. Anyway, to cheer myself up while I was feeling grotty I had some retail therapy.

Firstly, I ordered a new knitting bag from Get Knitted along with a Know-Knits pouch for my sock WIPs and a lovely Ilga Leja Urban Goddess pattern. (I've got some Jaeger 4-ply alpaca in the stash for that). Also in the picture is my second sock in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - Desert Flower - which I've now finished. (Lovely sock yarn and feels gorgeous when washed.)

This yarn arrived in the post yesterday morning from Posh Yarn. On the left is 'Farewell' - Lucia sock yarn, my last instalment of the sock club. On the right is 'Bluebirds' - Eva 2-ply laceweight and my last instalment of the lace club.

I had *another* parcel yesterday, this time from Get Knitted - 10 x 100g skeins of Cascade 220 yarn to make 2 afghans for Christmas presents.

The colours on the bottom row are for my dad - Mustard, Gooseberry and Fern - and the ones on top are for my aunty - Lavender and Cream. I've still got 2 x Oatmeal to come for my dad and 2 x Oatmeal and 2 x Ice Mint to come for my Aunty. I'm thinking at the moment of doing an Aran-type afghan for my dad and will be playing with patterns later today.

This is my first attempt at Kool Aid dyeing and what the skein looks like wound into a cake. DS has decided he wants this yarn for his socks so I'll have to dye some more for myself. ;0)

TAG!

I was tagged by Knitting's Nice on 21st May and have only now got around to posting my facts - sorry. ;0) The rules are: 1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves. 2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules. 3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names. 4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find *anyone* who hasn't already been tagged, but I'll post my facts now and worry about tagging others later. ;-)

1. When I was about 8, I won bronze medal at the Cheltenham Music Festival for playing "When the Boat Comes In" on the descant recorder. I was soooo chuffed. I do still play the recorder occasionally - not for long though because the dogs start howling and DH starts moaning!!

2. I have to have my feet covered with a sheet in bed, even in the middle of the summer, just in case someone (or something!) tries to grab my feet while I'm asleep. Irrational, I know .....

3. When I was pregnant, everyone told me that because both me and hubby are vegetarians, the baby would be underweight and not healthy and constantly tried to get me to eat meat. I stood my ground and proved them all wrong by producing a "bouncing" 10lb 5oz baby boy!

4. I have a strange taste when it comes to food. I'm mad about cheese and I have it with everything and my favourite thing at the moment is to put slivers of it underneath rice. I just love stringy, melty cheese! I also love salad cream and have that on most things too, even cooked dinner (without the gravy, though, I hate gravy).

5. I love to listen to music and have a very eclectic taste. On my i-pod I have a variety of music including country, classical, rock, heavy metal, pop and West End music shows. I like to have different music available for whatever mood I'm in.

6. I keep pet rats and have 2 at the moment, although a fews years ago I had 15 - one of our females got pregnant and produced 13 babies. DH wouldn't take them back to the pet shop in case they sold them as snake food, so we ended up keeping them. Didn't get many visitors after that for some reason ..... ;0) They make great pets and are so intelligent.

7. I've tried many different crafts over the years (cross stitch, embroidery, painting, scrapbooking, card making, beadwork) but always come back to knitting as my number one favourite craft and haven't put my needles down for the past few years. I find it very relaxing and therapeutic. My nan taught me to knit when I was about 6 and I always remember the times we spent together knitting with great fondness, and am very grateful to her for passing on her expertise.

8. Although I was born and raised in Wales, I live in a very 'English' area and never had the opportunity when I was young to learn to speak Welsh. I feel quite strongly about speaking the language of the country I'm living in - if I lived in Spain, I'd speak Spanish, or if I lived in France, I'd speak French - so about 15 years ago I decided I was going to learn to speak Welsh. After a few years of evening classes, I passed the GCSE exam (grade B) and then the A level (grade A) and eventually went on to to become a tutor for other adult learners, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Still Feeling Rough

2007-05-29T18:07:00.000+01:00

Well, I've spent the past 3 days coughing and all day today sneezing, Ihink I'm going for the world record - ;0). My eyes are streaming and I'm really bunged up. And I've booked another day off work tomorrow because I feel so rough. So the photos and random facts are going to have to wait (yet) another day. Sorry folks. :0(

Not so "bleurgh" today

2007-05-26T00:08:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm not feeling quite as "bleurgh" as I was the other day. I've almost finished 2 WIPs so that's helped. Unfortunately, I'm full up with a cold and have a really sore throat so that's not helping matters. :0( I'm hoping it won't hang around too long because I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out on Monday, 4th June under general anaesthetic and they won't do the op if I've got a cold. After waiting over 12 months for the op, I don't want to miss it now and have to wait again.

Anyway, to cheer myself up I ordered a new knitting bag, Ilga Leja Urban Goddess pattern and a Know Knits Go Knits pouch from Get Knitted. Super speedy service (as always) - ordered late Wednesday evening, e-mail yesterday morning to say it'd been sent and it arrived today. :0) Brill! I'll post some pics tomorrow, along with my 8 random facts - I've been thinking hard and hope what I've come up with is interesting! ;0)

Tag - You're It!

2007-05-21T22:13:00.000+01:00

I've been tagged by Knitting's Nice. I *promise* I will blog 8 random facts about myself, but not tonight. I'm just in a bit of a "bleurgh" mood. Can't quite explain it really. I don't want to knit, I don't want to surf the web, I don't want to watch telly, but I don't want to go to bed either. *sigh* I've tried knitting socks, a baby cardi, a bag - all WIPs I've got on the go but can't seem to get anywhere with at the moment. I get like this occasionally when I've got too many WIPs on the go at once. I usually remedy the "bleurgh" feeling by casting on a new WIP. *rolls eyes*! Not this time though. I WILL reduce my WIP pile ..... I WILL reduce my WIP pile ..... *LOL* So, I'll have a think tomorrow and try to come up with 8 interesting facts for tomorrow night's blog. :0)

WonderWool S.E.X.

2007-05-20T15:13:00.000+01:00

I had such a good day yesterday. We arrived at about 10 a.m. and didn't leave until almost 5.30 p.m.

The photo on the left is my "little haul". ;0) I actually didn't spend very much (for a change *LOL).

There were 4 of us at the spinning class. We started with choosing a fleece, then carding and making rolags. Then we used the rolags with drop spindles. I enjoyed it but don't think it's really for me. Maybe when I've got more time (like in about 20 years when I retire!!) I'll think about it again. At the moment though, I'd rather be knitting. ;0)

I saw this beaded wrist purse on the DT Craft and Design stand. It was such a cute little purse and the beads gave it a nice weight. You dye the yarn yourself and then crochet the purse. This will be a first for me in two ways - (a) because I haven't dyed anything myself yet (these are Procion dyes) and (b) because I've yet to knit anything with beads. So I expect a steep learning curve!!

Next is a handspun baby alpaca scarf kit. I just love the natural colour of this yarn, it's super squidgily soft and I like the fact that I've got a photo of the actual alpaca the yarn came off (Lysander).

Then I had a bargain at HipKnits - £15 for all this yarn, in one of their sale bags! From L-R - aran weight silk yarn (which will probably become a scarf), a gorgeous red/orange/green worsted weight yarn (destined to become my new sock bag because I broke mine this morning!), a super chunky weight yarn (which will become the handbag from this month's Simply Knitting, along with some other yarn from my stash) and lastly a cotton yarn, worsted weight I think, but I'm not sure what this is going to be. Maybe another bag.

Also from DT Craft and Design, a Kool-Aid funky dyeing kit, including yarn and pattern to make fingerless mitts and wristlets. I thought I'd try Kool Aid before starting on the procion dyes for the wrist purse. I also bought some undyed sock yarn from them, which I've been dyeing this morning. So far, I've got orange/green yarn for the mitts and bluey-green/purpley-red yarn for socks. The yarn is hanging on the line to dry as we speak so hopefully I'll be able to get some photos later, if it dries.

I was surprised at how easy it was to dye yarn, although what my colours will look like knitted up is another matter! But at least it's given me a taste for dyeing and I'm quite looking forward to trying the procion dyes for the wrist purse. I'll probably order some more undyed sock yarn, because I was told I'd have *loads* of dye left over, so I'll be able to dye some socks to match my purse! I do like to be co-ordinated!

Wonderwool Wales - 19th May, 2007

2007-05-18T23:16:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, I'm going to Wonderwool Wales. I can't wait! I'm so excited I probably won't sleep tonight. :0) But that won't be a good idea because I've got to get up at 6 a.m. and I'm driving me and Debz there. *LOL*

We're booked onto the "Introduction to Spinning" workshop at 12.15 p.m. - DH said that if I come home with a spinning wheel, he's moving out! (If I'd known that was all it was going to take, I'd have done it years ago!! *LOL*)

I've got some cash and can't wait to get my hot little mitts on all that luscious yarn. :0) No doubt, there'll be some yarn prOn photos tomorrow!!

Very Fetching!

2007-05-15T23:01:00.000+01:00

I needed a quick, easy and satisfying knit - and here it is: - Fetching from Knitty.

These mitts took just 2 hours each to make - one last night while i was watching Heroes on SciFi and one today while I had my lunch break in

work.

I used 4mm dpns and 1 skein of Posh Yarn Eva 8 ply .

I will DEFINITELY be making more of these.

VERY quick, VERY easy, VERY satisfying :0)

And luscious, luscious yarn :0)

Update on Madeline Shawl Jacket

2007-05-14T20:15:00.000+01:00

Well, things are quite positive at the moment. :0) I had an e-mail back from the designer first thing this morning and she has offered to dye some more yarn for me if I send her a few yards of what I'm using at the moment so that she get can match the colour. It's going to take me a bit longer to finish but at least I know it'll get done eventually. I tried it on last night - it's easier now that I've taken the armhole opening off the waste yarn ;0) - and I'm really pleased with how it's looking. So, fingers crossed that the yarn comes back and the colour matches ;0)

Progress report on WLD Madeline Shawl Jacket

2007-05-14T00:17:00.000+01:00

I've been knitting all day today on Madeline. The knitted-on border just seemed never-ending but at last I finished it. However, my happiness soon turned sour when I realised that I have just 33 grams of yarn left. That gives me 16 grams per sleeve. Looking at these tiny little balls of yarn, I really don't think I'm going to have enough left to finish my jacket. :0(

I've e-mailed the designer in the hope that she can either (a) say yes, 33 grams will be enough or (b) mail me some more yarn in order to finish this. I was hoping to get it finished in time to wear out next weekend, but that's looking less likely as time goes on.

Anyway, I'll keep on knitting the sleeves until I run out of yarn and I'll keep you posted on what happens .....

April Showers in May

2007-05-11T19:48:00.000+01:00

These socks are knit in Posh Yarn's Lucia sock yarn in the April Showers colourway (April's sock club yarn) using 2 x 2.75 mm Inox Grey circs, toe up with short row heels.

I thought the colourway went perfectly with the Scrolls pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. The pattern reminded me of ripples in puddles - very appropriate today as we've had torrential rain for most of the day. This is a 14-row pattern but it knitted up extremely quickly.

They took me 9 days to knit - I made the first sock in April but got sidetracked by other things ;0) and finally finished the other one today.

Sockamania May Socks Finished

2007-05-07T20:47:00.000+01:00

I managed to get these finished earlier today. I've really enjoyed knitting them and will definitely be knitting another pair in this pattern.

Also, concentrating on knitting has helped take my mind off my throbbing wisdom teeth today. If my hospital appointment to have them removed doesn't come through soon, I might let hubby loose with the pliers ;0)

Pattern - Sockamania May Day socks by Anni (see Sockamania KAL on the right-hand side bar - more lovely patterns are available to purchase from Anni's blog - Confessions of a Yarn Addict - also on the right-hand side bar)

Yarn - 100g (300m) of Fyberspates 100% Bluefaced Sock Yarn

Needles - 2 x 2.75 mm Inox Grey circs

I modified Anni's pattern slightly to knit toe up and finished off with a garter stitch rib because I felt it flowed better from the point I finished in the pattern. If I'd finished on a stocking stitch bit, I would've done a 2x2 rib because that would probably have looked better but I finished on a purl bit, so garter stitch seemed the best choice.

Sidetracked by a shoulder scarf

2007-05-06T20:49:00.000+01:00

I had every intention of finishing off my pair of Sockamania May socks over this long bank holiday weekend. That was until I happened to take a look at the Get Knitted site late on Thursday evening. *rolls eyes and blushes at lack of willpower!*

They've just had in stock the most gorgeous scarf kits from Strickwear - I chose the Merging Colours Pretty Picot Shoulder Scarf in the Blueberry colourway. I placed my order late on Thursday night, it was dispatched on Friday and arrived on Saturday (yesterday). How's that for great service?!

The kit came in its own vinyl zippered pouch and contained 8 x 30g skeins of laceweight yarn in varying shades. Using my swift and ball winder -I'd be lost without them ;0) - I turned these skeins into 24 mini-cakes of yarn. (Each skein needs to be wound into 3 x balls.) To get the merging colours, you work with 3 x strands of different shades, changing colour every 4 rows or so.

It's mainly garter stitch, with a cable up the centre, and is such a quick and easy knit. It's knit using 2.25 mm needles to start (only for a few rows) and then changes to size a size 4mm (24 inch) circular. I used my Knit Picks Options for this bit.

AND I have enough yarn left over to knit another shoulder scarf, possibly even 2. My next one will have the colours merging from light at the neck to dark at the picot edge.

This scarf measures 9.5 inches down the centre back and I can see me getting lots of wear from it. It'll take the chill off bare shoulders during summer evenings and I'll even be able to wear it tucked in the front of a coat during the winter, so it's very versatile.

Can I finally just say - please excuse the white bra staps showing in the photos! *LOL* I wouldn't normally be seen in public with white straps under a black vest but I just threw on this top so hubby could take the photos!

A WIP pic at last!

2007-05-01T20:33:00.000+01:00

This is the WIP pic I wanted to show you a week or so ago but I just haven't got around to uploading the photos.

It's the Madeline shawl jacket by White Lies Designs in raspberry cotton. The yarn has a lovely drape and is light but warm.

These photos don't show the colour as it is IRL. It's probably somewhere between the first and third photos. It's not a completely solid colour and has lighter bits here and there, which I like. For a better idea of what the colour is like, visit the White Lies Designs website -

It's worked in the round (I'm using 6mm Addi turbos). The sleeve holes are placed on waste yarn and picked up later.

This is a close-up of the knitted-on border. I had a total of 352 (ish) stitches OTN when I finished the main body and I think I'm about halfway through the border. Then it's on to the sleeves.

I'm really enjoying this at the moment, but I'll be happier once I've got it off the needles and can try it on. It's kind of bunched up at the moment so it's difficult to lay it out flat to see exactly how big it's going to be.

And this is where I am at the moment. (sorry about the poor photograph)

I love the way the pattern swirls on the back. Now I've laid it (almost) flat, I can see it looks like a flower.

I probably won't do much work on Madeline this week because I've just started the Sockamania KAL. The pattern came today and is gorgeous, so I'm off to cast on for that now. If only I could decide which yarn from the stash to knit it in ...... ;0)

Tired - but no longer stressed

2007-04-28T23:25:00.000+01:00

Wow! Am I glad that's over! ;0) It actually went surprisingly well. 17 of the 24 children invited turned up, the bouncy castle was HUGE and kept them all amused and I actually made just the right amount of food - they ate plenty and we only had to bring just a little bit back with us. DS really enjoyed himself and that's the main thing, so all in all, it's been a good day.

However, I'm totally shattered now! I didn't finish the sock for DS until 1.30 a.m. (I must be mad!), I've been on my feet since 9 this morning cooking food, running round after the kids, etc. AND I'm feeling edgy because I've gone a *whole* day without doing any knitting! *LOL*

Plus, this morning the postie brought me a skein of Fyberspates bluefaced sock yarn, Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac and Stephanie Pearl McPhee's Knitting Rules - and I haven't been able to drool over them all day! And now I'm home, I'm too tired to really take in what I'm reading. *rolls eyes*

Never mind, there's always tomorrow - as DH has just said, at least I can have a quiet day then. So I reeled off a list of the jobs I have to do that I've postponed from today - 3 loads of washing, hoovering, visiting dad, a trip to the pet shop for rat food and litter, not to mention all the visitors who have promised to come by with presents for DS, plus opening all the presents and cards DS had from his party today. Oh well, pass me another G&T ..... another couple and my list won't seem so bad ;0)

I am sooooo stressed!!!

2007-04-28T00:45:00.000+01:00

I'm too stressed to post any WIP pics at the moment, even though I'm dying to show you a photo of my White Lies Designs Madeleine Shawl Jacket WIP. I took the WIP pic last Sunday but it doesn't help that DH has been hogging the PC all week so I can't upload the photo! ;-(
I've made quite a bit of progress on the knitted-on border since then, so will probably post 2 WIP pics on Sunday, sort of a before and after - before and after stress that is. ;0)

And the reason I'm so stressed? I've been (trying) to organise a party for my son who is 5 on Sunday. The party is tomorrow and he's invited 24 of his friends. So far, 15 have RSVP'd but there are sure to be others who just turn up anyway. We've never had 'proper' parties for him before so I'm not quite sure of what I should be doing! ;0) My son decided he wanted a bouncy castle but doesn't want any party games. Now, is a bouncy castle going to keep 15, possibly more, 5-6 year olds occupied for 2 hours? I think not, but what do I know?! And then there's the food.... How do I work out how much to make? We're vegetarians but that's not a problem nowadays with Quorn ham and chicken alternatives. Plus we've got plenty of egg and cheese. But how much? That's the problem. (We spent £££'s in Asda tonight! *rolls eyes*) Chances are we'll be living off cheese and egg sandwiches for the next month! But I suppose it's better to have too much than not enough. And why is it that no matter how much I put in the goody bags, they still seem to be half empty?!

And as I'm sat here typing this, I realise that I still haven't finished the socks that I promised my son I'd make him to wear to his party. I've only got 14 rows of rib to do ........ looks like I'll be up way past midnight! *rolls eyes*

(I suppose I should be grateful that he even wants to wear my handknitted socks!)
(Plus, I shouldn't make promises only 2 days before the big event!)
(I wonder would it be considered "wrong" to knit whilst at his party? I keep getting jittery feelings - 2 and a half hours of not knitting. *shock* I could finish the border on Madeleine in that time! *LOL*)

Anyway, I'm off to have another G&T - hopefully that'll help me de-stress!

Sahara FO

2007-04-22T13:57:00.000+01:00

I finally decided on short sleeves for Sahara and finished it last week. I wore it to our knitting group yesterday and it felt really comfortable so I'll definitely be knitting another one but with long sleeves so I can wear it in the cooler weather.

This took 8 x 50g balls of Sirdar Just Bamboo and the needles I used were 5mm Knit Picks Options and 4.5 mm Denise Interchangeables.

The pattern is available to purchase from www.stitchdiva.com

Traffic Stopper socks and Posh Yarn S.E.X.

2007-04-19T22:08:00.000+01:00

I finished these on Tuesday evening - 'Traffic Stopper' socks for my almost-5-year son. It's Regia Cotton Top Color #4075, using 2 x 2.5mm Addi Turbo circs. He's a size 10-11 shoe and I had a little bit of yarn left over. I liked the feel of this yarn as it was knitting up and found that it's got quite a bit of stretch in it too. He loves them and wore them to school on Wednesday, and Thursday .... in fact, he hasn't taken them off since! They'll start humming soon! ;0)

And this lovely yarn is the result of S.E.X. at Posh Yarn's sale last Sunday. It's all Emily sock yarn - L-R - Surf 'n' Turf, Canary and Carnation. They are such lovely vibrant colours, unfortunately the photo doesn't do them justice, they are so much more vibrant IRL.

Also today I finished Sahara but haven't been able to get a decent photo so that'll have to wait till the weekend. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and think I'll get a lot of wear out of it with the short sleeves.

I've had a good weekend

2007-04-15T20:02:00.000+01:00

I have had such a good weekend - I feel relaxed and refreshed (for a change). :0)

Yesterday, I went to Abergavenny craft market and came away with 4 balls of sock yarn - DS chose the 2 balls on top - he has such a weird taste in colours, ranging from shades of grey one week to every colour of the rainbow the next!
I've already started to knit the Regia Cotton socks for him and the colours are so much more vibrant IRL.

Here's a close up of the Trekking - it's such a beautiful rich colour. My dad and my DH have both said how much they like it. This is supposed to be for ME! I think I may have a fight on my hand here!

While I was in Abergavenny, I decided to update my wardrobe - black/grey doesn't really cut it when the weather is so warm and summery. I ended up buying 2 cotton/linen skirts (1 brown, 1 pale khaki), a pair of cotton trousers (khaki) and a shirt (very pale khaki). I am being very daring - the skirts are *so* much shorter than I'm used to ..... to mid-calf. *LOL* I usually wear skirts to my ankle, so I consider this to be showing way too much flesh!!

And the warm weather helped me to make up my mind about the sleeves on Sahara - I've decided that I'll get more wear out of it with short sleeves, so I knitted the first one while watching Dr. Who last night. I'll do the second one tonight, with the aim of wearing it to work next week. It'll probably snow now .....!

Today, I've had the house to myself because DH and DS have gone to an American Car Show at Billing Aquadrome, Northampton. They left at the ungodly hour of 6.30 a.m. so I was happily snoring away when they went! ;0)

While they've been away I've managed to get shed-loads of work done - When I got up, I took the dogs for a lovely walk around the lakes, then I did three loads of washing and managed to get it all dry. Next, I waged war on the knee-high dog hair in the house and for once didn't clog up the vacuum - YAY!!. I finally finished the pair of pink/orange socks I started about 2-3 months ago. I watched the comings and goings of a robin to our shed - I think he must be building a nest, going by the amount of twigs in his beak. I'll try to have a sneaky peak next time he leaves. I listened to a CD I bought for £5 at Asda on Friday - Johnny Cash, Lonesome in Black, 40 songs on a double CD - and the majority of them I haven't heard before. :0)

Finally, the thing that cheered me up the most, today I bought some more yarn from Posh Yarn's One Off Sunday sale, even though I promised myself I wouldn't. ;0) After much deliberation and dithering, I bought three lots of Emily yarn - Carnation, Canary and Surf 'n' Turf. Can't wait to see them IRL. Probably won't let on to DH about this little lot, though! *LOL*

Socks, socks and more socks .....

2007-04-14T07:15:00.000+01:00

I think I may give up knitting garments (i.e. sweaters, cardigans) and just concentrate on socks, that's all I seem to be knitting lately. I'm now on my 33rd pair since February 2006 when I knit my very first pair and I'm just addicted.

I'm going to a craft fair at Abergavenny Market tomorrow - to buy sock yarn - even though I've got more sock yarn in my stash than anything else *rolls eyes*.

My nearest LYS in Pontypool is due to stock Regia sock yarn at the end of this month and has asked if I'll knit some samples to go in the window - they didn't have to ask twice! The more people I can entice into sock knitting, the better! ;0)

And my second-nearest LYS in Cwmbran has some sock yarn in but not yet on display - I may go there tomorrow and offer my services to knit some samples - I just can't seem to get enough of socks.

I knit loads of socks for gifts but my sock drawer is bulging and I'm probably going to have to move onto a second sock drawer (hubby looked shocked at this sugggestion! LOL!) because I have enough socks at the moment to have a new pair every day for a fortnight - I just figure I'm helping decrease global warming because I'm not using the washing machine and detergents so often. :0) LOL

I've just signed up for 2 new sock KALs. You think I'd be bored of them by now .... but no, I don't think I ever will be.

And with the new More Sensational Knitted Socks book to keep me occupied, perhaps I'd better start looking for a third sock drawer ........

I'm Singing in the Rain

2007-04-13T03:09:00.000+01:00

Well, not exactly, it's been gloriously sunny here today but that's the song I've been singing while knitting my current socks. ;0)

I'm using Posh Yarn's April sock club yarn (Lucia) called "April Showers". When I first saw this yarn, I wanted a pattern that would look like ripples on water. Then I saw the "Scrolls" pattern on page 95 of More Sensational Knitted Socks. It's a 14-row pattern, and every row is a pattern row, but I'm really enjoying knitting these. This pattern has such a great texture to it as well, it's almost 3D IRL.

I'm quite tempted to make the "Travelling Vine" pattern for my next pair in Sirdar Town and Country - I've got 2 gorgeous green balls of this in my stash. A friend I used to work with years ago is 72 next week, and her favourite colour is green, so I think I'll make them for her.

Valerie, I'm glad your Posh Yarn came today, it's always nice to have a squishy pink parcel in the post. :0) Is yours the same colour? I know Dee said they'd all be slightly different.

All sorts of stitches

2007-04-10T23:30:00.000+01:00

These are my Summer Sunset socks, knitted in Opal Prototype yarn bought from an e-bay seller in Germany (see previous post for details) and knitted using 2 x 2.5 mm Addi Turbo circs.
I finished these on holiday last week and they softened up wonderfully after washing.

Next, stitches of a different kind. This is Robbie the Rat who has decided to start taking his stitches out now we've taken off his sock/sweater. It's 10 days since he had the op to remove a tumour and is due to go to the vet to have the stitches removed but at the rate he's going, he'll save me the vet's bill! The lump was much larger than the vet originally thought, hence the alarming amount of stitches (10 I think). But he's healing well and is back to his old self.
(btw - the dirty hand belongs to DH!!)

These are the socks I'm working on at the moment - my first pair from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I'll give you a clue as to which pattern it is ..... I have an annoying little habit of singing songs depending on the name of the yarn/pattern I'm using at the time. For instance, while knitting Anni's 'Falling in Love' sock pattern, I kept singing "falling in love again, what am I to do, can't help it" in a sort of Marlene Dietrich accent. I'm not sure if she ever sang it, but that's what kept going through my head! It drove DH potty ;0)

Anyway, the song that's been accompanying the knitting of these socks is Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine".
(but without the silly accent this time!)

Any ideas which pattern it is? It actually looks slightly different to the one in the book, possibly because they've used plain yarn.

Anyway, enough of my eccentricities - ;0) - I'm knitting these with Posh Yarn's Lucia sock yarn in the March Hare colourway (March's sock club yarn) on 2 x 2.75 mm Inox Grey circs. I wasn't over-fussed on this colourway originally, but I have to say it's grown on me and I think it suits the pattern. It's a 12 row lace pattern and is knitting up really quickly. I'm almost at the heel and hope to have these finished tonight so I can start on Posh Yarn's April club yarn - April Showers - tomorrow. It's a lovely mix of watery blues and greens and I have two patterns from More SKS that I'm dithering over at the moment. Perhaps by the time I've finished these, I'll have made up my mind. ;0)

Feeling refreshed after hols in West Wales

2007-04-09T02:52:00.000+01:00

We arrived back home last Friday after a few days away in West Wales. We stayed at Mulberry Cottage, Plas Llanina near New Quay and were just 150 yards from the beach. It was peaceful and secluded and the cottage we stayed in was immaculate - wooden floors throughout, brand new kitchen and a wonderful king size bed that I wish I could have brought home with me. It was fantastic being able to stretch out and not be anywhere near DH - or have him stab me with his toes! ;0) A totally gross thought - but it happens more frequently than I care to think about!

There was a lovely patio area out the back surrounded by woodland which was a lovely sun trap. Here I am, getting my priorities right ;0), and finishing off a sock.

This is Buster - I think he's just spotted a squirrel .....

Jason, Jared and Lexi (under the table) taking a break from football .....

Jason, Lexi and Buster (in the cart) enjoying a stroll across a deserted Llanina beach - in the background is New Quay - you could walk across to it an hour either side of low tide.

Buster enjoying the early morning sunshine (and probably just spotted another squirrel!) .....

If you look closely, this bird is collecting Lexi's fur - these birds will have the best insulated nests for miles around. It was fun watching them come back for more ..... ;-)

And me, Jared, Lexi and Buster on Cei Bach beach which was just over the pebbles from Llanina beach ..... we stopped at a lovely pub on the way back for a lager (well, it was after 12.30 pm!!).

The only downside to our holiday (I knew it was too good to be true!) was that there was another cottage above ours - it was an old granary building that had been divided laterally - and one of the people staying there snored.

*Really loudly*

I'm a very light sleeper and I just couldn't get to sleep. All I could hear was this person snoring. They just didn't stop. I tried stuffing paper in my ears, but nothing helped.

On our first night there, it took me until 2.00 am to get to sleep, 4.00 am on the second night, and 2.30 am on the third. By the second night, as I was tossing and turning (Jason and Jared had no trouble getting to sleep *rolls eyes*) I was busy devising a painful death for whoever it was doing the snoring ..... I'd stab them with one of the extremely sharp kitchen knives. No, I'd bludgeon them to death with a blunt instrument. No, hang on, perhaps it would be more satisfying to throttle them slowly with my bare hands ..... Needless to say, I'm evil if I haven't had my sleep. ;0) *LOL*

If we go again (which I think we probably will) I'm definitely taking a set of ear plugs. :0)

Knitting-related find at 'Next'

2007-04-02T22:55:00.000+01:00

It's the first day of my annual leave today and while out shopping earlier I popped into Next. Look what I found to keep all my bits and pieces in - a make up roll for £7.50.

There is so much room inside, so I'll be able to keep all my stitch markers, scissors, cable needles, etc, all in one place.

And it was only £7.50!!

More on Sahara

2007-04-01T05:08:00.001+01:00

Not the best of photos, but I've just finished the neckline on Sahara. I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. :0) It fits really well and I feel nice and comfortable in it.

I'm still not sure yet but I think I'll probably go for a long sleeve on this.

Anyway, I'm off to knit some more socks till I can make up my mind. ;0)

I am so easily pleased :0)

2007-04-01T03:00:00.000+01:00

I really am easily pleased. ;-) DH fitted a new kitchen window today and this is now the view from it.

It's so clear, it almost looks like there is no glass there at all. I keep going to have a look out. Yes, I know that's sad! But it's so good to be able to see out of a window without having to look past all the smears and imperfections.

So now no smears, no runs, no condensation-which-has-dried-and-left-smears.

I keep humming the song "I can see clearly now the rain has gone ...."!

I must admit that I had my doubts about whether he'd be able to fit a double-glazed window, but fair play to him, he's done a brilliant job!

I am so weak!!

2007-03-31T06:01:00.000+01:00

I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever. :-( Despite have three "half" pairs of socks (i.e. they all need their partner!) I cast on in my lunch hour today with the Opal Prototype yarn which arrived in the post yesterday. I just couldn't wait to see what it would knit up like.

And I'm really loving it. :0)

Fairly regular random stripes, if you know what I mean ;-)

Today has been pretty stressful. Work was manic - I'm going on annual leave next week so have been trying to clear all outstanding stuff before I go - I finally managed it at about 5.00 p.m. :-(

Then I had to collect my pet rat Robbie from the vet - he's had an operation today to remove a tumour from his side. He coped with it really well but the little sod has already tried to pull out one of his stitches so he's now wearing one of DH's shop-bought socks like a sweater ;-) I can see me staying up with him all night, just to make sure he won't pull out any more. Okay, I'll look like crap in the morning but at least Robbie won't pull any more stitches - and think of all the knitting time I'll get!

Socks ..... oh, and S.E.X.

2007-03-30T03:40:00.000+01:00

These socks were knitted for my almost-5-year-old son. He picked the yarn himself at our LYS. It's Sirdar Town and Country (#0102 I think) and is a mixture of greys. It was a little boring to knit with, sort of like watching black and white TV, if you know what I mean. ;-) But he loves them and couldn't wait to wear them to school on Tuesday to show everyone. Apparently, the day before, his teacher showed everyone the socks he was wearing which I'd knitted for him (stripey ones) and he was well chuffed!
And these really knit up quickly - I made one sock last Sunday and the other on Monday, so they probably took about 8 hours in total.

And this lovely lot came in the post today, from S.E.X. I had on Ebay last Friday. ;-) I bought this Opal prototype yarn from beautiful-yarn-and-socks, a German seller on Ebay. This yarn is a new development by Opal apparently so I have no idea how it will knit up (stripey or otherwise) but I can't wait to find out. :0) And the colours are luscious IRL, very vibrant. A nice change after the monochromatic madness that were the T&C socks!

Sahara so far

2007-03-29T05:13:00.000+01:00

Well, it's an awful photo ;-) but this is the progress I've made so far on Stitch Diva's Sahara. I subbed with Sirdar Just Bamboo, on 5mm needles. It's a lovely yarn to knit with, has great drape and a lovely sheen. The colour is more dusky pink IRL.

I was unsure about the 3 inches of negative ease in this pattern, as I really don't like garments that cling but wasn't sure if it would look the same if I went up a size. Anyway, I bit the bullet and went up one size larger than usual and the fit is perfect. I must admit, I didn't try it on as I went because it just seemed like too much faff taking all the stitches off the circ, etc.

I think I'll do the neck border next - DH thought it looked a bit "gappy". Men - sheesh!!
And I'm still not sure whether to do long sleeves or short. Originally I was going to do long but I live in hopes of the weather warming up some day soon and think I may get more wear out of it with short sleeves. Maybe by the time I've finished the neck border I'll have made up my mind .........

Lumieres

2007-03-21T05:41:00.000Z

That's the colour of the Bergere de France v-neck sweater I've just finished, from their Designer Knits for Women booklet. It's knit with BdeF Prisme yarn on 6mm and 7mm needles so is a fairly chunky knit. But that also made it a quick knit :-) It only took just under 2 weeks from start to finish.

I've had this yarn in my stash for a year so I thought it was time I used it. It's quite unusual yarn, almost like a tube, but it knits up into a lovely warm fabric, ideal for this chilly spell we're having.

I'll be wearing it to work tomorrow because it's blooming freezing there at the moment. Even though the heating is on, I've had to put an extra heater on in my room to keep me toasty warm :-)

How cute is this?

2007-03-11T23:06:00.000Z

This is just too cute. :-)

This sock blocker keychain came in my welcome pack when I joined the Fyberspates sock club. I knitted the sock toe up with some Posh Yarn Lucia I had left over from the July 2006 sock club yarn, but I can't remember the name of the colourway.

Am I really sad to want a different sock to match all my outfits? Perhaps it's best if you don't answer that question ........................... ;-)

Fyberspates - A New Addiction

2007-03-10T06:06:00.000Z

I finally finished my knee highs today and love them. :-) They are knit on 2x2.5mm circs using Fyberspates sock yarn in the Ocean Forest colourway. I used the double eyelet rib pattern from page 168 of the Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches (A Harmony Guide), altered slightly to knit in the round. I think I used almost all 425m of the 100g skein - I was left with a bit of yarn the size of a pea ;-)

I enjoyed knitting with this yarn so much that I joined Fyberspates sock club (http://www.fyberspates.co.uk/index.php?cPath=56_128&osCsid=49b57b518d4f5eba92750d96ed60b86b) and my club yarn arrived in the post today. It's simply gorgeous.

It's 90% alpaca and 10% nylon and is lovely, soft and ever so slightly fluffy. I love the colour and think I'm going to make a pair of socks with the baby cable rib from Sensational Knitted Socks. Can't wait to see what next month's club yarn will be .....

all knitting, no sleeping

I'm Back!

Super Secret Santa, SEX and FOs

The one where I finally update my blog

THE YARN HARLOT!

Another sad farewell :0(

Happy Birthday to You!!

A trip to the frog pond

FOs and more pet pics ;0)

A Tribute to Buster

I'm Back!

A lucky couple of days :0)

Where does the time go?

Now where did I put that pattern ..................... ???

My Fearless Foray into Fair Isle Continues

Where have the past 2 weeks gone?

2007 - A (Knitting) Year in Review

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

My Christmas Present to Myself

Aunty's Afghan, a Hat for DS and some WIPs

Ewwwwwww! (not even remotely knitting-related, sorry!)

Oh Christmas tree ..............

More Mittens and a Mint Choc Chip Scarf

Another Competition Win and Fabulous Fair Isle

Competition Now Closed

Competition - Spot the (Deliberate) Mistake

Everything reminds me of food!

AT LAST!

RIP Robbie the Rat

A BIG thank you to Audrey

FOs - old and new

An FO and another present!

Well and truly spoiled - times two

WARNING - yarn pr0n!!

My stash diet ends in style

More squares, more bobbles, more cables ;0)

Halfway There

Amount of yarn used for Hemlock

Sucked into the Hemlock-along

Dwti Socks

A Bag for Saira

Fab New Sock Bag, more squares and some crochet

Feeling better :0)

What a waste of time :0(

This *was* going to be an update :0(

Squeeeee! I've been nominated!

I fell off the wagon at Colinette

Bobbly Bouquets

Cotton Cardi

4 Sweaters in 21 days

Sweater Marathon almost at an end

Sockapalooza 4 Commemorative Bag

A Teaser for Tomorrow

FO Picture of MS3 Clue 3

I fibbed - there is a sock photo

Blocking Mats

Sweater No. 2 - Finished

Summer top FO

Sweater One - DONE!

Sweater One - Almost Done

Sweater Marathon

MS3 - Clue 2 finished

Happy Birthday to me!

Swanky New PC

Baby Knits, Snazzy Slippers and Cute Rats

Sockapalooza Socks Finished

Happy Birthday, Buster

WIPs and KIP Pics

Secret Summer Santa, Competition Prizes and Kid Silk Lace

Anyone for golf?

I'm back

Still Feeling Rough

Not so "bleurgh" today

Tag - You're It!

WonderWool S.E.X.

Wonderwool Wales - 19th May, 2007

Very Fetching!

Update on Madeline Shawl Jacket

Progress report on WLD Madeline Shawl Jacket

April Showers in May

This was going to be an update :0(