Knits, Knots, Gnats

Hiatus

2011-02-26T15:54:00.002Z

Nothing to see here.

I'm taking a break from blogging. I've not been very prolific of late so there's no great loss there.

I'm alright - just got a lot on with work at the moment the project I volunteer on is going from strength to strength which means I'm feeling a little stretched and I don't have the same enthusiasm for blogging. It has become a chore rather than a pleasure, despite people's lovely comments. And I also find that blogging gives you a polite obligation to look at other people's blogs and I don't have time to do that anymore. Which is rather rude of me.

So, rather than leave a blank space, I thought I'd temporarily close things until I'm ready to start chatting again.

Happy knitting.

Colourwork

2011-01-30T18:29:00.007Z

At the beginning of the month I was checking my yarn levels. I discovered that I have more odd and orphan balls (and remnants) than complete projects, so I decided that I really need to make a dint in this.

Conveniently enough, my cousin is expecting twin girls in April and the BF's cousin is expecting a little boy in July. So lots of baby projects to use this lot up. As a result, nobody is getting any mono-colour knits. This little lot might look clever (as a couple of people have said) but it's entirely down to having a lack of enough wool to do one complete, single colour project.

Stand by for stripey blankets, jumpers and cardigans; with a fleur de lys jumper and a domino-knit scarf. (34 balls used up).

Some Pix I Forgot to Show You

2011-01-30T18:22:00.002Z

I knitted a few things for Christmas presents at the end of last year - mostly socks it has to be said, and none with any funky patterns (other than the colour itself). However, I did knit a couple of lovely things... this cardigan for Niece No 2 (and please note, the BF sewed the buttons on for me and he did a lovely job too)... with a matching pixie hat.

This is "Sirdar - Baby Bamboo" and it was a pleasure to knit, fun pattern in silky smooth yarn. The pixie hat was not strictly as per the pattern. There's a very good reason for this. The pattern was for a tam and as I looked at it, I kept thinking of Victoria Wood doing her "my friend Kim-ber-ley" routine. I couldn't help imagining my niece as cross between Kim-ber-ley and Frank Spencer.

The other noteworthy gift is Winnie the Pooh for Niece No 1. However, this monstrosity looks like a Rat-Faced-Evil-Winnie than the Disney offering.

Review of 2010

2011-01-08T16:30:00.002Z

It's taken me a while to muster some enthusiasm to write in my Blog. The last four months of 2010 were pretty rubbish and I wasn't sure if I wanted to write about that as this is where I try to keep to the business of knitting (and baking cakes). However, I've decided to summarise the generally icky nature of last year in an attempt to get it out of my system and move onto nicer things for the New Year.

So, in September, I had surgery and I've written about that in earlier posts so I won't drone on about that here. While I was in hospital, the BF's Nan had a massive stroke and was also hospitalised. The MIL had a prolapse. So, everyone's in hospital.

I went back to work, fighting fit, raring to go and with lots to catch up on. That was ok. Two days back at work and my Mam was in a three car collision. Thankfully, she wasn't badly hurt - whiplash, bruising across her chest, more shocked than anything else. Meanwhile, she was having to care for my Granda who had been steadily making himself ill through not eating because he feared that he had bowel cancer. He didn't. Investigations showed the problem was constipation. Eating, or rather not eating continued to be a problem and my Mam was trying to get help from Social Services, which he was refusing. (I live 150 miles away so I'm not exactly on-hand to help). He got himself into such a state, in November, that he fell and fractured his pelvis. He was admitted to hospital and two days later developed pneumonia and died. (My Mam rang to tell me to get home as he wouldn't live out the day. I was too late). My Mam, meanwhile was also enduring investigations and she has been diagnosed with diverticular disease.

Two week's later the BF's Nan died - the day after we were supposed to visit while we were in London, but couldn't because the BF had a chest infection and you can't visit a ward of frail old ladies when you're ill.

The icing on the cake happened the day after Nan's funeral when the washing machine sprang a leak. I superstitiously wish I had said 'cherry on the cake' as there is always room for something else on top of the icing. In the week before Christmas, my brother and his wife were made redundant.

Marvellous. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. My SIL isn't out of work until March and my brother has until June, so they have time to job hunt. My Mam is getting better - she needs no more physiotherapy and my Step-Dad retired last weekend. So things are not as bad as they were and I feel better for getting that out of my system.

So, knitting wise... I made lots of small things and I although I had said there would be no gift knitting, I still made a few things. Mostly I had fun so all was good.

Stash Busted 2010

"Baa-baa Baby" Hat ("Sirdar Soya - DK") for a friend's baby
"Baa-baa Baby" Jumper ("SIrdar Soya - DK") for a friend's baby
"KnitWitch - Lacy Rib Ladders" scarf
"Point Edge Wrap" (DB Cathay) in 'Muskat'
"Regia - Bamboo" gloves for BF's Tante
"Regia - Colour" socks for me
"Regia - In Step" socks for Step Dad
"Regia - Pink" Mini Diamonds Socks for Neice No 1
"Regia - Ringels" Fern Lace socks for me
"Regia - Silk" fingerless gloves for the BF
"Regia - Silk" socks for me
"Regia - Silk" socks for the SIL
"Regia" socks for BF
"Regia" socks for Dayle
"Rico" (black & white) socks for the BF
"Rico" (blue & white) socks for the BF
"Rico" (multi) socks for the BF
"Sanqhar Gloves" in 2ply laceweight
"Shaun the Sheep" for Niece No 2
"Sirdar - Escape" gloves for Alayne
"Sirdar - Escape" gloves for Anne
"Sirdar - Escape" gloves for Liz
"Sirdar - Escape" scarf for Alayne
"Sirdar - Escape" scarf for Niece No 1
"Some Assembly Required" in various cheapo DK
"TARDIS Socks" (!) for SIL
"Touch Yarns - Handpainted DK" scarf in 'feather and fan' for me
"Touch Yarns - Handpainted DK"gloves for me

(Gift) Knitting

Stitching 2010

Elephant curtains for my Mam
Two red and gold cushions for the sofa

Almost Forgot...

2010-10-19T20:28:00.002+01:00

...to mention that I made it down to Ally Pally for the Knitting and Stitching Show (though quite why there were so many beading and papercraft stall there is beyond me. It's a knitting and stitching show, damnit - not a general all purpose crafting show). Did I go to shop? Absolutely. Did I buy a veritable feast and abundance of yarn? Sadly not.

I saw lots of lovely things - a peacock shawl that would make you look like you were wearing wings, but I'm not really into looking like an escapee from The Battle of the Planets. At the risk of sounding tight-fisted I didn't see many bargains either - I know I can do better on eBay. So, I bought some gorgeous "Sirdar - Baby Bamboo" (at a decent discount) to make a cardigan for Niece No 2 and the "Colinette - Jitterbug" at the bottom of the picture was one of the few things that leaped from the stalls into my hand.

Not a bad selection of purchases but not quite the hauls of Ally Pally Expeditions-past. Am I going off yarn?

No. A gorgeous shop called Purl City Yarns has opened up in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. You haven't been there? Quick! Go now! Take my car. Actually don't, get the train. It's a great shop selling all manner of loveliness and I called in on my way home from work on Friday.

L-R: "Green Eyed Monsters - Silkling"; "Manos del Uruguay - Silk Blend"; "Austermann"

The "Green Eyed Monsters" is handmade in Manchester and that's about as local as I can get, though I am yet to see sheep roaming Platt Lane Fields or in Debdale Park, so maybe it's just hand-dyed. I'm looking forward to trying it and comparing it with the "Manos" - they're the same blend: 30% silk and 70% merino but there is more of a sheen to the "Manos". Obviously, it's for experimental purpuses that I was forced to buy this yarn.

And finally it was my birthday last week and my fab SIL baked me a cake!

I have never had a novelty cake before. I was very excited!

White Noise

2010-10-19T19:40:00.004+01:00

I've finished one of the Sanqhar Gloves - they of the shonky pattern - and I am very pleased with the end result. These are going to be toasty as the weather cools.

Obviously, one glove alone isn't much use to me so have started the second. Spot the deliberate error.

Yep, I forgot to reverse the pattern - this requires a reversing of the colourwork, not just the structure - and instead of black stripes up the back of the hand, we have white stripes. This is what happens when you gleefully have a couple of glasses of wine whilst knitting a complicated and shonkily-written pattern. I couldn't be bothered to unpick the rows to correct it.

Those stripes are going to get filthy aren't they?

Sanqhar Gloves

2010-10-08T13:07:00.006+01:00

I'm going to Ally Pally on Saturday for the Knitting Show. (The incisions are healed and I feel fine though I won't be pushing myself). Two years ago I bought a glove kit for Sanqhar Gloves. Sanqhar, apparently, is a small town in Dumfrieshire and the patterns (included in the kit) are variations on centuries old designs. I'm knitting a verion called "Shepherd's Plaid", because it has a red trim and is the only design without monogramming. (I'm not a fan).

I'd show you a picture but the copy of the pattern is rather poor and the picture was summed up by the BF as "white noise". As the name suggests the pattern is black and white tartan - laceweight so I think the finished result will be rather elegant.

As for the instructions... well, they are rubbish. I have never followed (or attempted to follow) such a shonky pattern in all of my life. My usual approach is to start knitting, having read a few lines of the pattern, rather than reading the entire list in detail because I often put myself off in thinking it's too difficult for me. Big mistake. For the first page (of five), all of the instructions refer to rounds, so my interpretation was that these were knitted in rounds. It's only on the second page that I discovered these first rows are knitted on straight needles - on page two, we convert to DPNs. These kind of errors abound throughout the pattern - it doesn't use charts but lists the stitch colours and does so, badly.

I'm a fairly experience knitter so I've been able (so far and with low levels of swearing) to overcome these problems. However, I am really appalled by the amount of errata in this pattern.

Anyway, stage 1: knitting the cuff on straights. The piece is then looped over and the cast-on edges knitted into "working edge" before continuing...

in the round (stage 2) - moving into the tartan pattern.

Althought it's laceweight, the Fair Isle technique means that the yarn is passed behind the work, making a thicker material. I will be toastie warm when I wear these.

Stage 3: Thumb gusset and stripes up the back of the hand.

Consideration: the pattern offers no advice on whether to stitch the two sides of the open cuff together. I think I'm going to leave it open - for room and because I rather like the look with the red lining showing.

Allons-y!

2010-10-06T15:24:00.004+01:00

Being off sick has been productive. (Hmm, that's possibly not what sick leave is for - fortunately I'm going back to work next week). I've finished the gloves for Martin's Tante who is visiting from Denmark next week...

...and I've finished the TARDIS Socks for my SIL too. I am really pleased with these and am going to give them to her this weekend. They were intended as a Christmas gift but she's having a rotten time at the moment - divorcing her abusive husband. (Usual pattern - years of undermining her and when she finally decides she's had enough, intimidation, threats to prove her an unfit mother, followed by a sudden and unexpected desire for reconciliation. Is there a textbook out there that these scumbags all share?)

Anyway, bring on the sonic screwdriver.

Meanwhile (2)

2010-09-29T16:33:00.009+01:00

It has been another break between posting. I ended up in hospital. Long story short - I am now better: all of the hormonal problems have stopped, no more hot flushes, no mood swings, no weeping for random reasons and the bleeding has stopped. Turned out there was a small lump on the ovary which has been removed during keyhole surgery. I have been signed off work for three weeks(!) but I'm recovering well. So, it's all good.

Anyway, since getting home, my knitting mojo has come back. (I was so unenthusiastic previously).

I've finally finished Shaun the Sheep for Niece No 2. It only took an afternoon - being unable to move very far kept me focused! I have been struggling to finish this one which is ironic because it's a series of quick knits (for each body part) and you can see how much progress you are making.

I've also been cracking on with some random pieces - a pair of gloves for the BF's Tante in "Regia - Bamboo". I have no idea what the colourway is (there's no name on the label) but I think it's very pretty.

And here's a small selection of projects that I have finished. (I have been watching lots of movies): "Sirdar Escape" scarf for Niece No 1; "Sirdar Escape" gloves for a colleague; "Touch Yarns - Cascade" gloves for me; and a pair of "Regia" socks for Dayle to thank him for shifting paving slabs with us.

And then there is this... and I am really excited about this...

It's a TARDIS Sock (by Swallowed by Sky via Ravelry).

This is a really easy pattern to follow though I've made a few ammendments - the TARDIS windows are in panels of six whereas the original does not group them. (I'm retentive about Doctor Who and the recipient (SIL) is even worse than me). I'm also knitting the heel and sock in a different colour (and yarn) "Rowan - 4ply soft" (with some reinforcement) because I don't have enough "Regia - Solid - Blue".

I am unfeasibly excited about these!

Meanwhile...

2010-09-09T20:18:00.002+01:00

It has been a little while since I posted. A few things have happened:

1. The BF is making good progress on the garden redesign - prepping it for when my lovely Step-Dad comes to visit.
2. The Great North Swim was cancelled because of green-blue algae in Lake Windermere.
3. I wouldn't have been able to do it anyway, because my GP told me not to.

Reason? If you're squeamish stop reading now. Normal service will resume next posting. Once I've done some decent knitting.

Still here?

OK, I'm having problems with my menstrual cycle/system for the last few months and currently I have been bleeding for five weeks now, apart from three days courtesy of Norithesterone. How does this make me feel? Mostly knackered. :-) And slightly peeved with a locum I saw in my first appointment (I'm never away from the GPs at the moment. I'm going to reserve a seat). Why was I peeved? On listening to me describe my symptoms, he grimaced and looked thoroughly squeamish. I felt I had to apologise but seriously, he's a GP. I'm happy to accept that the human body tends to have a few habits that just aren't tasteful in polite society, but I expect a GP to be a little tougher when it comes to bodily functions.

I've had scans and there are no lumps, bumps, polycystic ovaries or anything else that shouldn't be there. My iron levels are normal. Next stage, further blood tests - thyroid and Follicle Stimulation Hormone - plus a gynae referral. Personally, I think my current problems are hormone related. I'm having very strange mood swings - wanting to burst into tears for no logical reason. For example, I was shopping, picked up a bag of rice and was overwhelmed by the need to weep - you'd think I was grieving. Now, I freely admit that I dislike food shopping (though I love cooking and easting) but the aversion isn't enough to be traumatic. Generally all is good in my life and then on occasion I "feel" this unrelenting "sadness" - whilst thinking I've nothing to be upset about. It is completely bizarre. (The women at work who have gone through the menopause all nod in recognition and I've had a lot of stories about bursting into tears on the bus and leaving family members utterly bemused). I'm also very forgetful and finding it difficult to concentrate but tiredness would do that too.

And, on top of this (oh, yes - the list goes on) I've had what I'm pretty certain are hot flushes. The heat rises up from my feet through (it feels like it, anyway) the top of my head and it is unbearable. I've found myself hanging out of the office window and feeling like I'm about to faint. (Another story that makes the post-menopausal ladies nod in recognition).

By the way, I'm 33 not 53.

So, this may be a temporary glitch that can be fixed - contraceptive pills are the norm - or it may be 'just one of those things' that is unexplainable though passes. Or the GP thinks my ovaries might be packing in and I have an outside chance of premature menopause (though the excessive bleeding wouldn't make sense would it? There are varying opinions on this on both the 'respectable' medical websites and the hypochondriac sites). This would probably mean being on HRT until I'm at the usual age range for beginning the menopause as the biggest health risk is missing out on the protective benefits of oestrogen.

Ho hum. We'll see what the blood test results bring next week.

Ferns

2010-07-25T14:43:00.004+01:00

When I haven't been making jam and chutney (see posts below) I've been knitting some socks for myself in "Regia - Ringels". The pattern is Fern Lace and has been quite straight forward. well, I haven't had to restart three times, I have knitted one sock from start to finish in one go.

It's another twelve row repeat and I have maintained my rule of not stopping in the middle of a repeat, which has worked pretty well. So, here is one finished sock. It has used a lot more yarn than a plain knit sock, obviously, but also more than some of the other stitch patterns I have done before.

Though I am not sure if it is too busy a stitch pattern for the colour-pattern?

I'm pleased with it even if it is.

Chutney!

2010-07-25T12:45:00.003+01:00

Today, I has mostly been making chutney - to psych myself up for another afternoon of marking plagiarised assignments. I have been attempting to eat more fruit but had ended up with a bag of apples and pears that were not going to be eaten any time soon. So, I thought, I'd have a break from jam and make some.

I ended up combining a classic chutney recipe with a pear chutney recipe by someone called Peggy.

Here's the combined ingredients - the ones I focused on, anyway:

500g pears and apples
1/2 large red onion
300ml vinegar (bog standard, none of your fancy white wine, cider, honey vinegars)
250ml honey
100g sultanas
several splashes of lemon juice
4 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 grated nutmeg
shake of salt

First of all, chop the fruit, having peeled and cored it.

Add the finely diced onion. Heat it and mash it a bit.

Add the vinegar. Heat until it boils and then simmer until everything is tender. Open the windows, get the extractor fan on and shut the kitchen door, unless you are a devotee of Eau de Vinegar.

Having simmered, chuck in the rest of the agreements and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Or until you have hung out the washing, scraped the labels of the jars, Milton'd them and then warmed them up...

...in preparation for spooning the results into the jars.

I spilled a fair amount as I was doing this. It tastes pretty good.

Jam Today, Jam Tomorrow, Always with the Jam

2010-07-24T18:17:00.008+01:00

I thought fruit picking would be fun while I was on leave. And then it rained, and then I realised I am a lazy sod and couldn't really be arsed. Plus when I tracked down local fruit picking farms' websites, there seemed to be just too much faff involved: "There has been a bumper crop because of the recent rain and sunshine. However, we had too many people come fruit picking at the weekend so don't bother unless there has been a full moon, your name has an 'x' in it or if you can navigate the orienteering course to get in."

Ok, ok. I'm paraphrasing.

However, the local supermarket was selling strawberries at only £2 for £400g - a bargain I thought. So, I bought a couple of punnets, brought them home to chop up and then boil, whilst mashing them - very therapeutic. (I'm honestly not a violent psychotic, but I think I sometimes may give that impression of myself... violence against fruit, as long as it doesn't escalate I suppose). No water is added to this - the liquid comes from the melting fruit.

Next stage - sugar. I use low pectin preserving sugar because I use the MIL's recipe which is a Danish low-sugar version. Instead if the usual recipes (that I've seen) that require around 3x the amount of sugar to fruit ratio, this has a pectin supplement (Melatin) so you end up using 2/3 of the fruit's weight in sugar. E.g. 1600g fruit needs 1100g sugar.

Once boiled for ten minutes, the next stage is picking the scum of the surface - a finnicky job but it means that your jam won't go off. I've got a jar of blackberry jam I made last September, still in the fridge, and it is still good. No sign of mould and it tastes sweet. I also wonder if this has anything to do with the reduced sugar? (If anyone knows I'd love to hear from you).

And finally, the finished product.

Mmmm.

Mini Diamonds 4: This Time It's Personal

2010-07-18T12:16:00.003+01:00

Before we begin, I would like to make it absolutely clear that this was in no way a labour of love, it was an exercise in sheer bloody mindedness.

Our story begins when I decided to buy some pink yarn sock yarn for using up sock yarn oddments in socks for Neice Number 1. I was a little over enthusiastic on eBay and ended up with 200g of shocking pink sock yarn ('Regia' and 'Opal'). What on earth was I going to do with such an unnecessarily extensive array of pink?

I consulted the Ultimate Sock Knitting Book and decided to embark on the Mini Diamonds - a simple and effective looking pattern to look at that seemed to be a simple pattern for even a buffoon to follow. Uh-huh.

So, I set to knitting and having just got past the ribbing, couldn't get into the pattern - I kept making mistakes in the first six rows. I frogged it. This is not unusual for me. I usually end up pulling right back to the start, even past the neat cuff.

Take 2: One 12 row repeat completed. Eureka, the girl has cracked it. Oh, no, no, no, she has not. One glass of wine too many, and she miscounts and the whole thing goes belly up again.

I mentioned this at the knitting group I go to and the suggestion, the very logical suggestion was to give up. I would have said the same myself. But I couldn't - it was already becoming a case of "it's the socks or me." I'm sure Custer would have been proud.

Third attempt - completely sober gets me past three repeats. Three repeats. How marvellous. You may already suspect that this is not going to end well. I put down the pattern half way through the fourth repeat. Disaster. I couldn't remember which row I was on and while I soldiered on for another four rows trying to fool myself that Neice No 1 wouldn't notice the elongated diamonds... (I ran it past the BF and he couldn't see the problem, but he is a man and he struggles with the difference between Natural Hessian and Walnut, though he may have a point there)... I remembered that Neice No 1 is a seven year old girl and nothing gets past the little buggers.

So, I frogged it and started again. With new rules:

1. Do not knit this when anything other than stone cold sober.
2. Never stop a repeat half way through.
This is fine for 12 row repeats, but I am never going to be able to attempt 32 row repeats in lace shawls. I wouldn't be able to eat, or sleep or do anything else again... until it was finished. I'd be an emaciated skeleton pulled out of the living room by finally exasperated BF. Or I could learn to make a note or what row I'm on.
3. Use a life line, especially when four repeats into the pattern, like so:

Especially when turning the heel - not usually something I struggle with, but with this pattern, all bets were off and I was taking a belt, braces, crash helmet and knee pads approach.

And you know what, it's paid off - one pair Mini Diamond socks in the post to my neice this morning.

She had better bloody like them.

Cornwall and the Eden Project

2010-07-11T17:02:00.005+01:00

Apologies for the break in transmission. The BF and I have been on holiday. We've been to Cornwall - somewhere that neither of us have been before and we're attempting to fly only once each year. I'm not sure how that balances with the fact that we drove there and have driven over 1,000 miles this week but I'm hoping that's a little more environmentally friendly than flying.

We spent the week in Falmouth which is a really pretty town and, most importantly, has loads of great places to eat. This week, we has been mostly eating Mexican, Italian, Caribbean, English, French and fish and chips. Our guest house - the Chellowdene, if anyone is looking for a recommendation - was lovely: clean (immaculately so), friendly but not intrusive proprieters and top-notch breakfasts. To my mind, there was not a huge amount to see in Falmouth but the beach and coastline is stunning, Pendennis Castle is definitely worth a trip and, as part of a whalewatching trip only, the Maritime Museum is rather good - especially the exhibit about knitting lighthouse keepers. (The town's woolshop, sadly, isn't up to much).

So, stand by for a series of posts just about our holiday.

(I'll post about the bloody mini-diamond socks I've been attempting to knit for Niece Number 1 later this week. I am on the fourth attempt with these buggers!)

On our first day, as it was raining, we headed up to the Eden Project, where the biomes nestle on the hillside like giant maggots. I suspect that this was not the design aim (but then the 2012 Olympic logo probably wasn't intended to be interpreted as it is, either).

I really enjoyed wandering around the Eden Project - the tropical and Meditteranean biomes are stunning but the gardens outside are incredible too. I didn't find it that informative but it was certainly a lovely place to be.

I'm no horticulturalist but some of the plants are stunning and there are sculptures dotted around the complex, like these figures representing the Bacchanalia.

Or the giant bee!

I didn't see many actual bees.

The Lizard

2010-07-11T16:44:00.005+01:00

On the sunniest day we had during the holiday, we went walking around the Lizard.

Having left Lizard village, for the most part the route followed the Coastal Path which made for some stunning views, and yes, my horizons are wonky. (Liz, my photographer friend will spit her tea out when she sees some of these).

(And, here's my Dr Strangelove impression).

The route took in Lizard Head, Bass Point and the Marconi wireless station - where the BF and I were treated to a surreal little tour of a one-room hut and recreated telegraphy equipment. Very interesting though.

Most importantly, we had a cream tea at Lizard Point - not the most Southerly cafe in England, that was 15m down the path; but we were there for the scones, not the geography.

Whale Watching and the Minack

2010-07-11T16:18:00.005+01:00

We spent one of our days around Falmouth - on a boat trip to see sharks and dolphin and whales, oh my!

So, we got kitted up in this rather tasteful gear. Note that the appropriate footwear was not provided so tootsies got cold.

The faux fisherman look was for riding in one of these. For two hours. Bums were numb.

And did we see any dophins, whales or basking sharks? Not one. However, we did see gannets, guillemots and cormorants - making a lot of noise - and...

...even better than that we went to Fraggle Rock! I was very excited.

(It's not leaning - I was photographing this from a boat).

(For those who don't know/remember, Fraggle Rock was another Jim Henson muppet type offering, set below a lighthouse, featuring various puppet type things. It had a great theme tune. The light house is actually this one at St Anthony's Head, across the bay from Falmouth - and not to be confused with Giles from Buffy).

Back on shore, having clambered out of the boat, we drove down to Porthcurno, to the Minack Theatre.

This was built into the cliff side by Rosemary Cade and during the Summer, you can take a picnic to go and see a play. We were there for Romeo and Juliet - it was the hammiest performance I have ever seen, certainly on Juliet's part (and I could barely understand the nurse's accent, which coming from a fake-Geordie is saying something, I know but it meant I missed all the rude jokes).

The sun set just before the Romeo and Juliet carked it.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

2010-07-11T15:48:00.006+01:00

Our last day in Cornwall was spent back up near St Austell at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. If you find yourself having to choose between the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens as the destination for a day trip, I would definitely recommend choosing the latter.

The gardens are on the site of the Tremaine family's estate and over the course of the 20th Century were left to rack and ruin. The valley was "rediscovered" in the 1990s and the last twenty years have seen tremendous efforts made in restoring the grounds. They're a fantastic site and sight.

Alongside the Woodland Walk is the Giant...

...and a little further along the path, the Mud Maid.

(That's her on the right - I was only a little grubby).

At the bottom of the valley is the Jungle - full of bamboo, giant redwood, giant rhubarb and tree ferns. It all feels very prehistoric.

After a top lunch - they bake their own bread and grow a lot of the food served in the restaurant - we headed up to the Northern Gardens. I thought this was going to be fairly boring - vegetable gardens and flower gardens, but it is stunning.

There's a suggested walk taking you past the key points of interest and the gardeners don't seem to mind visitors asking (daft, in our case) questions about the plants and the restoration.

(I once read a horror novel about scarecrows - what possessed me to take a picture of one?)

There is information posted all over the Gardens about the restoration and about the different aspects of work (e.g. charcoal burning as a sustainable part of forestry management) and I found this much more informative than the Eden Project approach. Why? Well, the Eden Project is very funky with lots of brightly painted displays but these seem to ask more questions than actually getting around to answering anything.

Yes, it could be argued that sustainablity and the best approaches to being environmentally-friendly are up for debate. It just seemed to me that the Heligan method was more honest - "here's what we think, though we might be wrong". Yes, the information provided at Heligan was about the work done there, rather than trying to answer worldwide questions, but I felt there were gaps in the presentation at the Eden Project. They also grow their own food on site, and they use rainwater for the toilets, but then there is the tractor powered land train (milk float alternative?) and the stonkingly huge lump of granite shipped there and shaped by power tools into a seed - the Core. Doesn't this contradict what the Eden Project is allegedly trying to do? Perhaps I missed the point.

Knit in Public Picnic

2010-06-19T17:41:00.004+01:00

I've just come back from an afternoon knitting in Vernon Park. Our group decided to hold a picnic for Knitting in Public Day. It has been a deceptively nice day (red: cool) but we have had fun.

There was lots of great food to eat: Nettie's gorgeous cous-cous, Kathryn's moreish choc-chip cookies, Emma's amazing bread, Claire's marble cake and Ellies fabulously-named Whoopie Cakes - to describe but a few. I'm not sure how much knitting we did.

We're also not sure how public the Knitting in Public was. Vernon Park is very quiet and while we got a couple of odd looks from the squirrels and a few passing dogs, I think we do more knitting in public in the "Arden Arms" of a Thursday.

Great fun, though!

In Other News...

2010-06-14T20:03:00.006+01:00

...it has been a while since I updated and there are a couple of good reasons for that:

1. I am lazy.
2. The t'interweb connection has been doo-wappy. Yes, that is the technical term. And it has only got worse since that thing that involves over-paid children, sorry, men chasing balls around a course, sorry, the World Cup started - the neighbours all seem to be watching the blasted games on the computer. I am making this assumption because the connection has disappeared entirely during matches/innings/whatever.

Anyway, I'm still knitting the "Lacy Ladders" scarf - more so since the advice on what I am doing with YOs. Thank you. No picture today, sorry. There have still been a few mistakes but, thankfully, it's a very forgiving pattern.

I spent Sunday afternoon making some curtains for my Mam. Well, I started one and will make the other one next weekend. I'm not actually finishing them until I go to visit as I can't remember the drop measurements... so I don't want to make them too short.

So, here are two pictures that show you the curtain (in theory) without actually showing you the curtain.

A seam.

An example of how not to make a neat hem. There isn't enough material left to turn a decent hem - folding the material to hide the raw edges, but I'm having to make do with what I have.

In gardening related news... I have turned this bald lawn monstrosity (date - May 2nd)...

...into this toxic-green lawn of loveliness!

There's still a bald patch under the shrubs to the left of the lawn but that's thirst related. I think I'll try some Miracle Grow next. And no, it's not green because the moss has come back! :-)

Lacy Update

2010-06-01T18:59:00.003+01:00

Progress so far?

I'm quite pleased. It's so delicate and the pattern is easy to follow. The only difficult is YO-ing the yarn in the right direction. YO-ing purl-wise is fine, but the brain is struggling with knit-wise. I'm having to do a lot of unhitching and twisting when I knit the following rows.

KnitWitch Lace

2010-05-31T16:11:00.006+01:00

Today, I decided that I am bored with socks, having finished the third pair owed to the BF, (see below) and started using up some left over yarn on a pair for Number 1 Nephew.

Second Sock Syndrome struck so I hit the Stash cupboard and pulled out this beautiful skein of "KnitWitch Yarn" pure cashmere heavy laceweight ('Burgundy Lights'). I bought it and the pattern ('Lacy Rib Ladders') at Ally Pally in 2007 and I think it's about time I tried my hand at lace - especially if it's simple.

Dunham Massey

2010-05-30T14:44:00.006+01:00

My 7 year old niece has been visiting for the weekend, with her Nana (my Mam). This was the first time she has visited so I have been a bit nervous - what do you do with girly seven year olds? (In case, anyone hadn't noticed, I am not noted for my maternal instincts. When confronted with babies I usually ask "when will they get their upgrades and start doing something interesting?")

However, the solution turned out to be quite simple: Dunham Massey - specifically the deer park. Despite the rain, we had a great day (followed by a very nice pub lunch at the 'Axe and Cleaver'). Oh, and we have the two cats. I never need to entertain anyone ever again. I just put them in a room with the cats and then go and make a cup of tea.

("They can break a man's arm, you know". The first thing that anyone ever says about swans).

Meanwhile, my Mam and niece manage to get very close to a deer or should that be: one deer managed to get incredibly close to some very excited humans?

After kicking my backside at Mario Kart my niece cried when she had to go home. I was quite choked.

Wollmeise

2010-05-27T21:37:00.005+01:00

I have got my grubby little mitts on not one, but three skeins of Wollmeise. Hahahahahahahahaha.

Those were happy giggles rather than hysterical and/or maniacal laughter.

I spent Saturday stalking eBay and then stumbled across a very kind person's sale on Ravelry (which had only been posted 20minutes earlier). Despite my apparent speediness, I was only successful in buying one skein (WD Merlot) - not that I was ungrateful. However, the very kind seller told me that she was possibly putting up another haul later this week... So, she agreed to PM me first and I got first looksies at the stash and have bought a skein of Sabrina and Turkise Markise.

You can ogle the loveliness below.

I am very excited. Now, what to make? :-)

I also bought some "Regia" and "Opal" solid colours in blue and pink. These are actually intended to help use up sock yarn for toddler and child socks. However, I am strangely excited about knitting socks in plain colours.

It's been a great week for post.

On Cake...

2010-05-26T11:40:00.007+01:00

...specifically using oil instead of butter. We were discussing cake (a favourite topic, obviously) recently and the consensus was, as far as ingredients go: "Butter = Good; Oil + Bad". I disagree - in certain circumstances, specifically with this chocolate cake recipe (Moist Chocolate Cake) from '1001 Classic Recipes'. So, here is a step-by-step look at it.

Instead of butter, the recipe uses 150ml of oil and the result is a very runny cake-batter mix. So runny it drips.

When you pour it into the pan, there is no need to flatten it out, it just levels itself.

And the finished cake lifts so cleanly out of the pan. There will be very little scrubbing needed here.

The cake lifts out of the pan and it is so light and airy - look at the bubbles. The Millenium Dome-like appearance is all my fault... I cooked it on too high a temperature.

...and the finished result:

It's actually better the day after baking. It's becomes more moist.

Project: Garden 2b

2010-05-23T08:01:00.003+01:00

Quick Update:

I finished cutting the grass just as the lawnmower broke - how lucky was that? I put the seed down and I was looking at the lawn, I realised that some of the last attempt's seeding has worked. The paler green patches are new growth.

There is still a lot of lawn-pattern balding going on, however.

Project: Garden 2

2010-05-22T16:35:00.007+01:00

On a lovely sunny weekend, what could be better than getting some of the remodelling work done?

We were quite excited until 9pm last night. There has been a change of plan. The BF had to shoot off to Lincoln this morning to look after his Mum who just came out of hospital following an operation this week. Where's his Dad? He has had to go to London to visit his Mum who is currently in hospital. It's not good.

Why didn't I go to Lincoln? The BF doesn't want to make a massive fuss as his Mum is very pissed off with being treated like an invalid. Fair enough. We also couldn't get someone to look after the furry little hooligans at such short notice. Speaking of whom, I bought them a kennel last week, so that they can have some shelter in the garden if they've chosen to stay there while we're out.

So, the gardening project ambitions have been scaled back and I am going to satisfy myself with cutting the grass and putting more seed down to attempt to repair the myriad of bald spots.

I've also discovered that the Winter killed off my ladybirds - the evidence being the infestation of green fly on the roses. This lot are in for a shock. The ladybirds are on their way. Ha!

Fortunately, my rhododendrons are looking quite happy.

And I had to buy more sock yarn when I popped into "Hobbycraft" for sewing needles. Ho hum. It leapt into my arms.

And they're finished...

2010-05-21T18:20:00.005+01:00

Here is the "Sirdar - Escape" gloves and scarf set for Alayne.

I'm quite pleased.

Escape

2010-05-16T16:54:00.002+01:00

As mentioned, my colleague Alayne is escaping. I'm making excellent progress with her leaving present - I've finished the gloves and the scarf (in feather and fan) is coming along nicely. Feather and fan seems to be my new favourite pattern, but then, when your repertoire comprises of stocking stitch, anything is a novelty!

'Sirdar- Escape' is a DK yarn so I dutifully followed the ball band recommendation of using 4mm needles. After four pattern repeats I realised I wasn't getting a soft drape and I don't think scarves should be noted for their ability to reinforce scaffolding. So, I frogged it and resumed on 5mm. Much better.

You'll have to take my word for this at the moment, as I can't find the camera's battery charger. If this were an audible website, I'd leave you with some hold music. "Green-sleeves" maybe. Or for Star Wars fans... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

Plagiarism

2010-05-15T10:01:00.005+01:00

It's been another week of not very much knitting. This week, I have mostly been marking assignments.

And it has been bloody annoying too.

I volunteer on a project delivering public health education and it is assignment week. 13 have been submitted. 2 were bounced straight back to the students because 1/4 to 1/3 of work had been pasted from another report. Five other students have rewritten work from the same website. I am now at the point where I could recite this website for you.

There are plenty of things that infuriate me about plagiarism - it's cheating; it's morally reprehensible; it's lazy; it leaves you to wonder if the student understands anything that they are writing about, but I think the thing that really winds me up is that they seem to think I won't notice.

To say that they don't even attempt to hide it isn't quite true. Sometimes, the only difference is that they substitute the author's name with their own, but the plagiarism I am often presented with takes laziness to new extremes.

Sections of text will be pasted in, in one font, and you may find that a sentence suddenly merges into another format without any reason for this, before switching to another one. This shoddy approach is usually one of the early warning signs of a cheat.

Why students think that this will not be noticed is beyond me, but I don't want to point it out to them as it could be interpreted as a how to plagiarise guide.

And, no, I didn't draw this cartoon, but I'm not pretending that I did.

Bits and Pieces

2010-05-09T11:20:00.008+01:00

Bit of a mish-mash of a post today. I haven't done any baking and I have left my tortured garden alone this weekend - I've had to bring work home from work. Yuk! Knitting-wise, I'm doing lots of bitty projects - nothing to really get my teeth into.

I've finished a pair of socks for the BF - worn, and in the washing machine before I got a chance to photograph them... but you've seen enough pictures of non-patterned socks.

At the last couple of knitting group sessions I've been knitting Shaun the Sheep for Niece No 2. As you can see here, he currently looks like a couple of oddly-shaped dish cloths. This would probably knit up in a couple of days if I wasn't being a knitting tart and starting other projects.

Such as these "Sirdar - Escape" gloves from "TFS" book for my friend and colleague Alayne. I may have mentioned in other posts that I have spent five years in training to be a Consultant in Public Health. Last April, I was appointed to my first post (exhilarating and terrifying at the same time) and I actually started work in August - notice and HR.

When I started I was delighted to discover that Alayne was working there temporarily (we we short-staffed) and I was sharing an office with her. This was brilliant news - I worked with her over ten years ago on a couple of projects so there was that familiarity combined with the fact that she is an excellent Consultant. This took a lot of the fear away. :-) I have learned a tremendous amount from her and to be fortunate enough to have worked with her in my first year, in my first year has been a privilege.

We now have a full complement of staff so Alayne is escaping (despite our plans to barricade her in) and "Sirdar - Escape" seemed to be an appropriate yarn. The gloves rattle off very quickly so these will be accompanied with a scarf in some kind of (simple) lacy-ish stitch.

In other news... the cats finally went out last weekend. There is an end to litter trays in sight. However, they haven't been as enthusiastic as anticipated. I thought I'd open the doors and they would tear off over the fences. No such bloody luck.

Bandit, having been the intrepid explorer, will only go out if I leave the door open so she can race back in.

Smokey enjoys basking in the sunshine which is tremendous as he spent the first ten minutes of freedom with one paw in the house - moving around three legged. Since then, they have met nextdoor's cat Luna - who sat on the fence howling at them. They misinterpreted this hissing aggression and thought she had come to play. They're cute but stoopid. The three of them appear to be having a stand off.

They've also met Sid Vicious (our name for him) the Bengal cat who owns the street, the estate and quite frankly, the whole town. There was a glass door between them and I don't think the next meeting will end well for Smokey and Bandit.

This morning, Smokey was hissing at the fence.

Jake (AKA Baggy-Pants) was staring under the fence at him.

There will be more hissing to follow, I'm sure.

Baking Goodness

2010-05-03T19:23:00.012+01:00

WARNING: Picture heavy. If you're on dial up, even if you're not in some cases, you might want to put the kettle on.

I occasionally try to eat fruit. I have no problem eating plenty of vegetables and salad but fruit, well, fruit's boring, unless it's in a fruit salad and I can't be bothered to chop it all and yes, I am too damn lazy to peel an orange. If we were meant to eat satsumas, clementines (or whatever the hell those little oranges are called), they wouldn't be full of all those pips. As for apples, they just leave me hungry and pears are either rock-solid or meltingly soft... i.e. dribbling juice down your chin and leaving your hands too sticky to answer the phone. Melons are just glorified water, pineapples are an endurance test, and as for nectarines, plums, and peaches - well, see pears, plus the fact that peaches are furry. Fur belongs on animals, not fruit.

Bananas are ok.

However, the best way to eat fruit is in jam or better still, in cakes.

In the fridge today were two old bananas, a small tub of newish blueberries, a large box of newish strawberries and five peaches just on the turn...

So, the old faithful bananas-and-chocolate muffin recipe was pulled out and blueberries were added to the ingredients. 2 fruits our of 4 dealt with. That left the peaches and strawberries to be dealt with... which meant a call for help to the Masked Woman of Mystery and Cakie Goodness - the Caked Crusader! Amid her myriad of recipes was this little stunner - Peach and Raspberry Traybake (http://thecakedcrusader.blogspot.com/search/label/peach) which I adapted.

It's a rich recipe - 250g butter melted as a starting point with three eggs, vanilla and sugar, creating a lovely gloopy mess, of a rather radioactive shade of yellow.

As well as substituting raspberries with strawberries, I also adapted the recipe, mixing the fruit into the batter rather than "resting" it near the surface.

The slice peaches are then carefully placed on the top - leaving it looking as though I've tipped some sliced potatoes onto it.

While it cooked, I poured out the muffin mix, but I ran out of cases...

...so, we'll just have to deal with larger muffins. It's a hard life.

And, then the tray bake was lifted out of the oven...

...sliced and, while still warm, placed on plates. It was so moist.

And, while it's hard to build on perfection (thank you, Caked Crusader!), a dollop of vanilla icecream, certainly helps.

Project: Garden

2010-05-02T17:05:00.008+01:00

The BF and I moved here three years ago. We have been gradually working our way through the house and were about to start work on the living room... but then we got the cats. So, attention has switched to the garden, which I have been mostly ignoring.

We've decided to lay a patio at the back of the garden and remove the existing path at the front, by the French doors, and lay a matching path. (The patio will be in the large gravel square in the top right hand corner of the garden and in the gravel patch, at the bottom of the photograph, will
be some raised flower beds).

As this is a new house, there is about an inch of top soil - below which is rubble. So, one of today's jobs was attempting to repair the lawn. (It is going to be a while before we get the patio and the lawn is already down to about 50% grass, 50% moss/buttercups/bare soil).

Last week's work began with cutting back the decimated fuchshia to its stumps. The shrub usually takes up the whole of that corner, but it needed Spring pruning. Power saws are the way forward.

At the right side of the garden was a patch of shrubs. This is a new house - the gardens were over planted with tiny plants, which became a mesh of tangles and twists. This bed is in the wettest, shadiest, mossiest part of the garden. So the plan was to cut down and dig it up. I'm nearly there but there are a few root stumps that are proving difficult. Did I mention that power saws are the way forward?

And here's where the branches are currently residing. I did think about transplanting them to other parts of the garden, but I was unable to separate them.

So, last week was all about destruction.

This week I planted two clematis cuttings in the tall pot where the bougainvillea resided last Summer. Last Winter was surprisingly unkind.

And I replanted two hanging baskets - ivy, petunia, impatiens and trailing lobelia.

It has been a good day.

More Socks

2010-04-18T16:21:00.002+01:00

I finished these "Regia - Colour" socks today. This is the first pair, for myself, where I have bothered to sew them up with Kitchener stitch. (I usually just thread the yarn through the final stitches and pull them tight.

This may be heresy so I will whisper it: I can't tell the difference.

These were finished off whilst visiting my SIL. My nephew, who is three, wandered over while I was knitting and asked what I was doing. When I told him, he nodded and asked: "Auntie Fi - please may I have some socks?"

He has just become my favourite nephew.

Warm Hands and Cosy Toes

2010-04-11T17:18:00.003+01:00

Sometimes stash is a Bad Thing. (Did I hear someone shout 'blasphemy'?). There is a very good reason for saying this. At Ally Pally in 2008, I bought some beautiful "Sirdar - Escape" with which to knit a cardigan. Nearly two years later, the yarn is still gorgeous, I still love the colour and it is just as satisfying to knit with as I intended. It's just that I'm not as keen on the pattern as I once was. In fact, I don't like the idea of making a cardigan or a jumper out of it at all - I just can't see myself wearing a top in this colour or this texture.

This is the problem with my SEX. I find a yarn I love and I need to buy a pattern to use it with. If I buy ten balls and assume I will find a pattern, I inevitably find a pattern that requires twelve balls.

The other issue is that on these trips to Ally Pally, I buy so much that it takes me years to get around to knitting it up, which means that my tastes have changed and on occasion I have found myself looking at the yarn (always lovely) and the pattern to accompany it, thinking: "You thought that would be a good idea?" Yes, I should just find an alternative jumper pattern but I am fickle and find that once I've gone off the original idea, a substitute suggestion just won't do. This is why I now have a beautiful "Touch Yarns" scarf rather than a lovely "Touch Yarns" cardigan. Why can't I just read pattern books and think: "Oh, I could use the yarn at the back of the wool cupboard for that?" Well, I do, but then I forget about it by the time I pull out the yarn and it becomes a scarf.

Or, as in the case of a ball and a half of "Sirdar -Escape", a rather nice pair of gloves (from the "Freedom Spirit" pattern book) for my friend Liz - she loves purple.

And here are the socks for the BF... once I got him to stop vogueing. Poseur.

The Fcuk Up Fairy Pays Another Visit

2010-04-05T15:31:00.003+01:00

Having bought new needles, I later discovered some heavier duty needles already residing in the sewing box (see below) which I thought would be ideal for sewing the remaining cushions. It would appear that I was very wrong (see below). Not only have I managed to snap all three needles, but I broke them spectacularly - they pinged over my shoulder mid-stitch.

"Rasputin! I am very cross".

In other yarn and needle related matters, Bandit decided to help me sort out some DK acrylic.

And the Odd-Ball Orphan Box overflow has been delayed. Janet is making a gorgeous domino-knit bedspread from sock yarn, so I am donating this lot.

I was never going to get around to knitting it up. This lot will soon be joined by whatever's left of this ball of "Rico" from the BF's new socks.

...And a Cape for Me!

2010-04-03T18:07:00.003+01:00

I popped into "Hobbycraft" to buy sewing needles, but while I was there I remembered a few other things I needed: pins, glue. Then I thought that I might as well have a look at the yarn stock, which has really improved of late. I think I've been quite restrained.

(Then I went into Tesco for a tin of coconut milk and came out with three shirts and an Easter Egg).

Anyway, having bought the needles I was able to finish two cushions...

...And make a start on the next two. This involved more ironing. Have I mentioned how much I detest ironing?

I was thinking about using the reverse side for contrasting piping to complement the other cushions, which I think would look very effective.

However, the material is too loose and would be far too great a temptation for the furry critters (that have just learned a new trick. They're a pair of housebreakers. We found them trapped in the spare room this morning).

Bum Nuts!

2010-04-02T17:05:00.011+01:00

I decided to make some cushions today. I have some lovely material, so I measured it out...

Then I cut four squares, to make two cushions...

I thought the reverse side of the material would make great piping...

...And the cat decided to help. (Thanks, Smokey).

Here's the piping laid out ready to be sewn to the cushion.

The cat decided that, after all of his hard work, he deserved a rest.

Meanwhile, his sister was overseeing the work...

... When one needle bent and shortly afterwards, my last needle snapped...

Bollocks.

...Just as I was in the middle of sewing in the zip.

Ta-dah!

2010-04-01T10:11:00.003+01:00

So, here he is... a knitted Lego man.

This is knittedfrom the pattern by Amber Allison "Some Assembly Required" (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/some-assembly-required). He looks a little lumpy and bumpy which is a result of my construction rather than the pattern.

It's a very intricate pattern and requires most of the knitting techniques I know so it was like a revision piece - testing me on skills previously learned. :-) The BF commented (as he watched) that he was impressed by just how much knitting was involved... as opposed to stitching individual boxes together. I know what he means. It was a really fun knit.

As for the actual instructions.... They were great. Amber has included lots of step-by-step directions - explaining what you're doing before plunging you into the knitting instructions, so you have a picture in mind of how the different parts are going to take shape. She also includes a lot of photos to supplement the pattern so if the written direction isn't too clear, the pictures help to show what you should be doing.

"Some Assembly Required" was an absolute pleasure to knit.

More Mystery Components

2010-04-01T09:11:00.002+01:00

Can you guess what it is yet?

It's a fiddly knit with only one sizeable part.

And the red parts seem to link with the blue bits.

The attention to detail in the pattern is incredible.

The Mystery Knit Continues

2010-03-30T17:51:00.002+01:00

Any thoughts?

What happens if we add these...?

Clearer?

What about this?

Mystery Knitting

2010-03-29T18:06:00.009+01:00

Can you guess what this is?

PS. I finished the scarf. The yarn is actually "Touch Yarns - Handpainted DK". Other than a couple of mistakes, I'm very pleased with this. Got 1 and a 1/2 skeins of this stuff left. I think I'll make a matching pair of gloves... and then some.

Cat Dexterity...

2010-03-20T13:39:00.002Z

...In which Bandit demonstrates why beer glasses will not be left in anyway unattended in future for fear of creating a pish-head pushie.

1. Stage One - Observation.

Stage 2. Investigation.

(God, the carpet needs vaccuuming! Appropriate use of Photoshop will be required before future publication).

3. Reward.

Baa Baa Baby

2010-03-20T13:36:00.003Z

Finished this jumper to match the hat on Thursday night. Some frantic sewing up before I dashed out to the pub. (Priorities!)

It's from "Family Circle: Easy Baby Knits" and was a very simple knit - very little shaping involved. The pattern was actually for an Intarsia picture of a sheep but as you can see, I ignored that small detail. Good stashbuster - the whole lot used three balls of blue and one ball of white.

Something Completed

2010-03-07T16:43:00.002Z

I've rattled this off this week - a little beanie for a friend's baby. (And it's some cunning stashbusting too. "Sirdar Soya - DK").

The pattern is from a book I picked up in 'Borders' closing down sale (sob): "Family Circle: Easy Baby Knits". It's a great book - a mish-mash of clothing patterns and some very funky multi coloured dinosaurs.

Fortunately, I have three friends who are expecting babies this year - including twins - so plenty of excuses to knit them.

Feather and Fan

2010-02-28T15:46:00.002Z

Having finished the final ball of "Regia - Silk" sock yarn, I decided to treat myself and started knitting a scarf in this lovely stuff... well, I would tell you if I knew what it was...

I picked up three 400g skeins of "Touch Yarns" DK (and I think it's merino) at Ally Pally two and a bit years ago. I seem to have lost the labels and I had a look at the Touch Yarns website (http://www.touchyarns.com/) to check but it seems to be a discontinued batch.

Anyway, below is the start of a scarf in feather and fan (AKA old shale). The colours aren't exactly clear but they are Autumnal shades and the yarn is lovely to knit with - great stitch definition but very soft at the same time.

You may notice, the bottom section looks somewhat chunkier than the rest. I made a mistake when I picked it up on Saturday morning to do some more knitting and the back became the front. However, I intend to pretend that this was deliberate and will do a similar 'trim' at the other end.

I just can't be arsed to rip it back now.

Finished Socks

2010-02-19T09:07:00.004Z

So, I finished the socks last week.

But there is still enough yarn for another pair of socks. Probably for the SIL.

I'm bored with this yarn now - I need to get them finished and get on to something more fun. Either a scarf (which may not sound like fun but the yarn is gorgeous) or a Lego man for the BF. He has designs on a Lego army...

Concorde

2010-02-08T17:15:00.004Z

What's this?

It's a dodgy photo of Concorde (Alpha-Charlie, the flagship of the Concorde fleet, to be precise) and I can't make it rotate to landscape.

Why is it here?

Because I've been on Concorde. (Brace yourself).

Now that's not a bad way to start the week, is it? Being on Concorde that is, not seeing a photo of me.

This was all work related: I was attending a meeting on air quality. (A meeting on air quality held at Manchester Airport - no the irony is not lost on me either). Anyway, I spent the day, sitting under the right wing and at lunch time we went on board.

It used to cost £3,500 each way to fly from London to New York and the new seats are by Conran at the bargain price of £4,000. Oh, I'll have ten.

It was amazing to be on Concorde. The guy who was showing us around was a steward when it actually flew and he had a number of stories to tell about the different 'slebs that used to use it. Pavarotti and Michael Jackson used to book two seats each when they flew, for entirely different reasons. The Queen and Prince Philip didn't sit next to each other. The most interesting stuff was about how hot the plane used to get and how the body used to stretch as it flew at supersonic speeds.

But, I'm not sure where the luxury was. As one of the women in our tour group said: "I've been on nicer flights to Malaga".

But then I am a yob and a heathen.

Diary of a Traumatised Cat Owner (Part 4)

2010-02-07T15:44:00.003Z

So, updating on the bloody poo situation...

I took the kittens to the vets on Thursday. They were not best pleased with me but then who could blame them. They each had a thermometer stuck up their bums and were given an antibiotic injection, plus I was sent home with a syringe full of antiobiotic gunk to insert into their mouths... that went well. One shredded thumb later, I gave up and resorted to burying it in their food.

They were also put on a special diet - cooked chicken or fish. This didn't work out too well at first. They had never seen real food - as opposed to the packet food so they didn't really know what to do with it. Thankfully, my friend Di suggested making a little gravy and grating the chicken (as the kittens are too small to deal with chunks of food). This worked a treat. Thank you, Di.

I tried similar with the fish and though they seemed to like the smell, purring around my ankles while I cooked it... they were less than impressed by the look and taste.

So, yes, I have been cooking food and grating it and making gravy for it... for cats.

They are completely back to normal now - racing up and down their new cat climbing frame. The BF was worried about them being bored. This was only £48 as opposed to some of the overpriced things I've seen in certain pet superstores.

Not quite sure what to do with it.

Hamster on a string!

Hmm, what's up here?

And when it all gets just too exhausting.

Some Knitting, Finally

2010-02-07T15:36:00.002Z

I haven't been completely distracted by the kittens. True, I haven't blocked the pieces of my new jumper yet, but I have been trying be good and knit all the yarn left before moving on to another project.

This is proving easier said than done.

There were four balls of yarn left over from the jumper so I am in the middle of pair of socks for me and am doing a pair of fingerless gloves for the BF. I was worried that this was a bit of a girlie yarn but he said: "I'm only going to wear them at home - no-one's going to see." I'm not entirely certain that this answered the concern or if it's a back-handed compliment.

The Great North Swim

2010-02-03T20:58:00.002Z

Hmm, yet another non-knitting related post. Normal service will resume at some point and I have more kitten updates and pix to follow. We're in the midst of bloody-poo at the moment which is not fun. Vets tomorrow.

Anyway, I just wanted to draw people's attention to the fact that I will be swimming one mile across Lake Windermere in September for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust.

If anyone would like to donate and honestly, there is no pressure to do so, this is my Just Giving page (complete with a rare photo of my actual face - I usually prefer to hide):

http://www.justgiving.com/Fiona-is-actually-doing-some-exercise

If you'd like to know why I am doing it, here's why:

"I may live to regret this but I have decided to do the Great North Swim for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust.

"I hate exercise and I hate being cold so this was obviously a logical decision. I'm going to be swimming one mile across Lake Windermere at 1 o'clock, on Sunday September 5th. I am reliably informed that there are no sharks in there but I'm not sure what the guarantees are on pike and leeches.

"There is a group of us from the office doing this - though we're all fund-raising separately. I'll be bringing up the rear, no doubt.

"We've chosen Marie Curie Cancer Trust as our team's charity for a number of reasons. Cancer is a major public health problem and there aren't many people who haven't been affected by cancer. My Nana died 13 years ago of stomach and lung cancer. She was a very pragmatic woman. When I was 16 she suggested I become an undertaker on the basis that "it's a job that will never go out of fashion". Did I mention the twisted sense of humour?

"So, that's what I'm doing and why I'm doing it."

I've started my training sessions - 800m in around 30minutes last night, which wasn't bad. In May we're starting open-water training, when it's a bit warmer. So we'll be sampling the delights of Salford Quays.

Diary of a Traumatised Cat Owner (Part 3)

2010-01-25T09:22:00.002Z

Day 11
Stoopid BF. Bought the wrong cat food. The kitten equivalent of 'this is not just cat food, this is stoopidly rich and delicious cat food - exactly the sort of stuff to create the kitten equivalent of gout'. Or in this case, gave us a 24 hour diarrhoea-fest.

I wondered why the two of them both curled up on my lap.

They weren't being friendly, they were being poorly.

Day 12

Normal service has resumed. Wall of death around the house this morning and they're trying to break into the plate cupboard.

Diary of a Traumatised Cat Owner (Part 2)

2010-01-23T13:50:00.003Z

Day 8

Smokey discovered glass doors this morning. Bandit had already discovered glass, and more specifically its reflective qualities.

The BF is impressed that Smokey made the leap from the table, headfirst, splat into the doors. Apparently, this means he is brave, daring and athletic. I think this means he has no brains.

Bandit has discovered knitting.

Day 9

(Bandit checks that I am working from home. The boss is more likely to believe the cat than me).

Kittens finally using basket. Smokey allowed me to stroke him, because his sister was there.

(The Scratching Post? The Ambush Post as Bandit takes another flying leap at her brother).

Smokey still likes being under the dining room table - he likes being anywhere he can keep an eye on us, quite frankly.

Basement Cat says "I got my eyes on you."

Diary of a Traumatised Cat Owner

2010-01-20T20:19:00.002Z

Day 1

The BF has finally succumbed to persuasion to get a cat. (Actually succumbed some time before Christmas but it has taken us until now to get organised). Browse various websites. Finally decided to consider cat rescue. (Friends' previous bad experiences with psychotic cats put me off - BF already thinks cats are out to take over the planet). Two beautiful kittens are available from Bolton Cat Rescue. Actually, there's a lot of lovely cats and kittens available from Bolton Cat Rescue but I like the look of these two. One is black and white and the other is black.

Day 2

Ring Bolton. Questionnaire to complete and we'll be vetted on Sunday. That was fast!

Day 4

Have been vetted and we have passed. Apparently, we're getting the female and whichever one of her four brothers she decides to bring with her. I like the sound of this girl. Off to Pets at Home.

Later:

Am traumatised. Since when has cat ownership been this difficult? How many collars does a cat need? What's with all the choice on food bowls and mats? Why would I want all the cats' stuff to be heart shaped, covered in flowers and pink? As for the food - scientific, hypoallergenic, anti hairball, sensitive skin, anti dandruff... I'm making the last one up, I think? And then there's all of the decisions to be made about what the cat will crap in - non-clumping, clumping, environmentally friendly, wooden, semi wooden, blue, grey, sky-blue-pink-with-yellow-dots?

Previous cat Lollipop did alright without this lot and she was 22 when she had to be put down.

Day 6

Got the cats! Bandit has been charging all over the house and she most definitely owns the house now. This is Smokey. He hasn't come out from behind the sofa all night. He howls when he can't see his sister. She runs back to him with what looks like cat exasperation.

Day 7

Smokey has moved from behind the sofa. He's now under it. This is not going well. BF is working from home this afternoon to "help them settle in". Text message updates about eating and crapping. Everyone at work is laughing at me but then they're all asking when the next update is due.

I don't want a traumatised cat. Apart from the fact I don't want the cats to be upset there's the very happy situation that they're litter trained at the minute. Traumatised cats crap everywhere.

Later

Smokey has taken up residence under the dining table. It's an improvement.

(Blurry photo (obviously) with his sister)

BF empties the litter tray. Running commentary regarding the difference between cat wee and cat poo in the litter tray. "That's what happens when a man does household chores".

Can't believe how soppy the BF is.

It's a Wrap

2010-01-17T11:44:00.003Z

Here's that DB Pointed Edge Wrap I mentioned.

Not sure if the pointed edge should be worn at the top or bottom. I think it's better at the bottom - like the trim of a dress or skirt. The BF reckons it should be at the top.

Broken Resolution

2010-01-16T14:12:00.003Z

So, here's the sock yarn responsible for breaking my no yarn buying resolution. At less than a tenner, it is so worth it.

Regia 4ply: Jacquard Colour; Brasil; Bamboo Colour; Line Step Colour

Resolutions? Suggestions.

Retraction

2010-01-14T21:46:00.004Z

On the 14th January in "The Arden Arms" (Stockport), I made a false statement that alleged the BF had been browsing Ravelry.

In my account, I stated that the BF had found this rather brilliant pattern (Some Assembly Required by Amber Allison, available at www.ravelry.com) whilst surfing Ravelry. He had then asked to use my account, rather than set up his own, paid for the pattern and downloaded it.

The BF has protested that this is not a true and accurate representation of what actually happened.

What actually happened was as follows:

He had found a link to the pattern whilst browsing his usual websites (you know, games, gadgets and all round general manly sites). He then asked to use my account, rather than set up his own, paid for the pattern, downloaded it and saved it to my desktop so that I couldn't fail to see it and would therefore knit it for him.

So, now you know.

New Year, New Knits

2010-01-13T18:49:00.004Z

Finally, here are some pictures of the things I am knitting at the moment.

This is the "Point Edge Wrap" (DB Cathay) that is actually knitted in "Muskat" (DK Egyptian Cotton) which I bought at Ally Pally in 2008. It's a fantastically easy knit: garter stitch with a very simple lace edge. It was fun and transported well (as I took it with me on the Great Northern Christmas Cross Country Dash AKA visiting all the relatives).

It's currently blocking so I'll post a photo of the full item once it's dry.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Yes, it is indeed sock yarn ("Regia - Silk" 4ply) and it's another stash buster. I'm knitting a jumper (a jumper! in 4ply!) which is a pattern from the lovely 'Web of Wool' people. The front and back are knitted in two pieces and stitched up the middle so the self-patterning effects aren't lost. Surprisingly (a jumper in 4ply!) it's knitting up really fast. The back is upstairs blocking, as I type and here is the front. One of the sleeves is on the needles.

And, I've already broken a resolution - the none shopping one, naturally.

How could I resist? It was £4.19 on Ebay! I also picked up a bargain of sock yarn at "Kemps" online shop. Enough "Regia " for four pairs of socks, for under a tenner.

Regretsy

2010-01-08T17:48:00.004Z

Many people and friends have Etsy shops where they sell the beautiful things they make. However, there is a dark side to Etsy... Regretsy... I stumbled across this site months ago and have been meaning to talk about it here. As ever, I finally manage to, just as the site owner is becoming popular - we're talking book deal popular - and everyone has already seen her work of art.

Bugger.

The true horror of it all can be found here: http://www.regretsy.com/

I don't know what I love more - the awfulness of some of the creations, the posts by their creators or Regretsy's comments.

Obviously, this site could offend the crafters who have worked so hard on their products. However, the main complaint was that Regretsy did not link back to their site in case viewers wanted to buy.

As a taster of some of what's on offer...

Apparently, these are intended for adult women.

Oh My God! You've got a dead dove coming out of your head!

Words have failed me. It's a ...Unicorn...Pig...Hat... for the inner child within us all. My inner child has run away screaming and will be in counselling for the rest of her life.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-04T20:00:00.002Z

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

So, have I made any resolutions? Not really. I've got a few to carry over from last year but this year I intend to enjoy my knitting rather than turn it into a chore. So, I won't be making any more jumpers for the BF (he loves his latest but is well jumpered out); or cardigans for my Granda (he has three and absolutely loves the latest even though I thought it was a monstrosity); or anything other than accessories for Niece No 1 (at 7 she has reached her knitted goodness limit).

So, in 2009 I mostly knitted and sewed:

Stash Busted 2009 (from 'old' stock)

"Admiral R Druck" socks for me in basketweave pattern.
"Colinette Jitterbug - Lapis" socks for me.
"Fortissima - Colori" socks for the BF.
"Fortissima Colori" - more socks for the BF.
"Middle Earth Yarns - Captain Jack" socks for me in 'Cartridge Rib'.
"Middle Earth Yarns - Davy Jones" socks for me
"Regia - Colour - Avenue" socks for Thomas.
"Rowan Silk Tweed" "Deep" (Rowan 39) for my Mam.
"Thomas the Tank Engine" jumper for Thomas.
Patchwork blanket for a friend's baby.
Two pairs of cobbled-together socks for Thomas.

(Gift) Knitting (bought new)

"Bo" (Rowan Babies) for Nephew.
"Buster" (Rowan Babies) for Nephew.
"Buster" (Rowan Babies) for Niece No 2.
"Hans" (Rowan Babies) for Niece No 2.
"King Cole - Zig-Zag" socks for Liz.
"On-Line - Circle" socks for Debs.
"On-Line - Circle" socks for my Mam.
"On-Line - Circle" socks for Niece Number 1.
"On-Line - Circle" socks for SIL.
"On-Line Circle" socks for FIL.
"On-Line Circle" socks for Step-Dad.
"Opal - Circle" socks for my Auntie.
"Opal" gloves for Step-Dad.
"Regia - Colour - Avenue" socks for the boss.
"Retro Jumper" in "Jaegar Extra Fine Merino" for the BF.
"Retropolitan 4.0" for my Granda.
"Rico" socks for BF.
"Rico" socks for Brother.
"Rico" socks for my Granda (yes, another pair).
"Rico" socks for my Granda.
"Rico" socks for SIL.
"Rico" socks for the BF.
"Rico" socks for the BF.
"Rico" socks for the Debs.
"Rico" socks for the Neice Number 1.
"Vintage Swing Coat" (Sublime) for Niece No 1.
"Wendy - Happy" socks for MIL.

Stitching

Elephant curtains for the spare room
Nefertiti cushion for my Mam
Tutenkhamun cushion for my Mam

Not bad, methinks.

Happy New Year!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

2009-12-20T18:30:00.012Z

...Well, it isn't, obviously, but for a change, I'm not frantically knitting the night before Christmas. (This is largely because I have written off the knitted teddy bear until next year).

The computer keyboard has been fairly neglected over the last few months, largely because of all the knitting; and because I started a new job in August which has been extremely busy; and because I've been running an online course (tutoring and marking); and because this year has been one of those years for anniversaries, milestone birthdays, housewarming parties and just general chaos. It has been great.

So, what have I finished? (You might want to go and make a cup of tea while this page loads).

Another "Retro" ("Sublime") jumper in 'Jaeger Extra Fine Merino' for the BF.

Socks for almost everyone on the planet (ok, ok, I know I'm exaggerating) in a variety of yarns - 'Rico', 'On-Line' and 'Opal'.

"Buster" and "Hans" ("Rowan Babies") in 'Sirdar - Soya' for Niece No 2.

"Buster" and "Bo" ("Rowan Babies") in 'Sirdar - Soya' for Nephew.

Erm... socks? mittens? a jumper? for my Step-Dad.

"Vintage Swing Coat" ("Sublime") in 'Sublime Cashmerino Silk DK' for Niece No 1.

Oh dear - it's another "Retropolitan" ("Son of Stitch and Bitch") in I'm not sure what yarn, for my Granda. But, I think I'm guilty of a Christmas jumper. I'm so sorry.

In my defence, I would like to point out that I am slightly colourblind (weird shades of green and blue) so what I thought was going to be a red and blue jumper has become a very festive green and red. (I've also got him a bottle of whisky to numb the shock).

Sunny Samos

2009-08-02T12:26:00.003+01:00

We stayed at the gorgeous Ino Village Hotel. (www.inovillagehotel.com because I cannot do justice with my photographs). It's up on a hill overlooking Samos Town (or Vathy) which is the capital of the island.

There is not a great deal to see in Samos Town. It's in a beautiful bay and there are lots of cafes and bars overlooking the harbour, where we benefitted from the breeze coming in from the sea. There are also lots of great places to eat but for attractions... well, the museum was shut every time we walked past it.

There is a statue in Pythagoras Square.

(Complete with a man picking his nose, in front of it. My camera timing is useless).

There's a very pretty church too.

Gagkou Beach is where we spent most of our time. Most mornings we were there before 9.30 and it was virtually deserted - just us and a few elderly people swimming in the water.

We did catch the bus down to Pythagoria where we scrambled around the walls of Logothetis Castle (which was shut) and visited the church nextdoor.

The harbour was fab - full of yachts and fishing boats. And cafes, naturally. We also walked out to the Efpalinos Tunnel. (Underground aquaduct through the mountain). Surprisingly, it was open and we paid 4 Euros each to walk down some steps, along a short tunnel and back again.

It was worth it, to get out of the heat.

Even the locals were sheltering in any shade they could find.

By, eck! It's been a while.

2009-08-02T12:13:00.003+01:00

The last month has been a bit busy. I've been finishing off at work to start my new job tomorrow. (Nervous? Moi? No, not at all, honest. And if you believe that...).

On top of that, I've been marking essays and doing lots of swearing about plagiarism and students who can't follow instructions. Ask them to write 2,000 words and they present you with 741 words.

I've also been on holiday - which was lovely - and some of those photos will be in the next post.

On the knitting front... nothing hugely exciting which is why I haven't posted for a while. Because I decided to knit presents for everyone for Christmas and I don't want to be still knitting them on Christmas Eve, I'm managing to turn my hobby into a chore. That was never the point. Knitting is supposed to my relaxation not another list of jobs to be ticked off.

I am enjoying making the gifts - so the process is enjoyable - and I certainly don't begrudge them as presents for my family. It's the fact that I have created this 'list' and this 'job' as a task to be carried out. So, I won't be doing anything on this scale again.

However, I have been productive:

One sock for Mary's birthday on Thursday. (There will be another).

Socks for Debbie for Christmas.

Two pairs of socks for the BF's birthday and one pair for my Granda's birthday.

Swing Coat for Niece Number 1.

The BF's secret jumper - back, front and the start of a sleeve.

Beige on Beige

2009-06-22T20:55:00.004+01:00

I was on a conference in Scarborough last week. Other than work, this obviously was a great opportunity for some stealth knitting. Here we have a shot of front of the BF's beige "Big Retro Sweater" (Sublime) on the beige carpet of my living room. Technically, the yarn ("Jaeger - Extra Fine Merino") is 'Biscuit' but as far as the BF is concerned, that's beige.

He may have a point.

Stealth knitting in the open - these are also for the BF for his birthday. (Further shades of beige). These are in "Rico" which is fantastic (and cheap) sock yarn. The BF thinks these are for my Granda's birthday - the perfect cover.

I astound myself sometimes, but then simple things and simple minds...

Ladybirds

2009-06-15T20:11:00.004+01:00

The situation with the greenfly in the garden has spiralled out of control so I have had to engage in biological warfare. I bought a ladybird house and twenty-five ladybirds. It beats chemical warfare.

Here it is.

Yes, it is indeed a piece of wood with some holes drilled in it. However, when was I going to get around to doing it myself? Answer, in case you weren't sure: NEVER.

Here we have the ladybirds in action. The greenfly never saw them coming. Ha!!

They're amazing. They have swept across the rosebush from right to left and back again. Insect vacuums in action.

I also recovered from my attack of SSS at the weekend - here's the "Wendy - Happy" socks for the MIL. I hate knitting with this stuff, but she loves them so much.

Damn.

Swinging Times

2009-06-14T08:50:00.002+01:00

The Swing Coat for Niece No 1 is knitting up quite quickly (aside from stealth knitting breaks).

Here's the back. I'm knitting the smallest size because the pattern seems to have four adult sizes and one child. I was in two minds about whether the smallest size would be too small but, as I was mulling this over, I realised that the next size would fit my Mam (and she's not that small). So I'm hoping I made the right decision.

The stocking stitch section's width is reduced by 25 stitches by the time it comes to the moss stitch panel. This starts to produce some 'pleats' which will contribute to the swing effect.

Just a shot of stitch definition.

Socked Off

2009-06-08T20:40:00.004+01:00

The MIL's socks are on hiatus. This could also be known as Second Sock Syndrome. However, I have had enough of socks for now and am currently knitting this...

You may have recognised this yarn from a pre-Christmas attempt at "Sublime's Hearts and Cables" tank top. The yarn is stunning - "Sublime - DK Cashmerino Silk". It's gorgeous, it's soft, it's squishy, it has beautiful stitch definition and produces a lovely drape. What was there not to like?

The pattern... well, actually, no. There was nothing wrong with the pattern. I just decided that an Aran-effect top (even if it isn't DK) probably wasn't the way to go when I was feeling a bit chunky. (There's a copy of "What Not To Wear" in the office staff room, so even though I was planning to go with a V-Neck, a cable top could not be classed as 'My Greatest Decision, Ever').

Upshot - I frogged the work, which was a truly satisfying experience and have started knitting the "Swing Coat" (from the same pattern book) for Neice No 1. Yes, it's expensive yarn to chuck at a small child but I love the pattern; she will adore the the coat and the colour; and there are only so many pairs of lilac gloves I can make.

I suppose it could have been turned into a matching hat, scarf and gloves set... nah, what the hell.

One slight annoyance I have is that one of the patterns for small girls, in this book, is called 'Little Flirt'. It's a simple shrug for 5-7 year . I don't know if I am being particularly sensitive, easily offended, mucky minded but I don't like it - I think it's inappropriate. It seems to be symptomatic of the trend to sexualise young girls.

Before I go off on a rant, I shall stop there and leave you with a pic of nextdoor's cat doing her "Here's Johnny" impression.

Knitting Daily

2009-06-06T11:53:00.003+01:00

I wasn't planning to post today - I'm hungover and all I am knitting at the moment is plain socks (plain as in bog-standard stocking stitch) even if they are rather funky colours. However, today's email from 'Knitting Daily' features a booklet of free baby knits.

It's rather good and these booties really grabbed me. I think they will be a fun knit.

FInished Blanket

2009-06-01T19:50:00.004+01:00

I finished the blanket this weekend. Ta-dah!

I am debating whether to block it or not. Blocking may result in some nice neat squares but I rather like the 'wonkiness' of the slightly different sized squares pulling it out of shape. I realise that this sounds like a good excuse for not finishing the blanket properly, but I think it's rather a good one.

Further confessions...

While the yellow and blue hearts along the top of the alphabet column are indeed the colours of Kiev's football team (a little clue as to where this blanket is headed), they were sadly not part of a cunning plan. There wasn't enough room for another letter but I couldn't leave it blank.

Furthermore, the yellow and blue mix was not intended as Kiev's colours, I ran out of pink. However, in the scheme of happy accidents, this is certainly a good one.

In other news, I have knitted 2/3 of the back for one of the Christmas jumpers for the BF. "Jaeger Extra Fine Merino" is a beautiful yarn. I raved about this last year but the drape of the 'material' as the yarn knits up is gorgeous. It is a really satisfying knit.

Baby Blanket

2009-05-27T20:49:00.002+01:00

Some time ago, I started knitting a patchwork blanket for a friend of mine who is expecting a baby next month. This was actually about four months ago. "Relax," I told myself. "What's the rush?"

Then suddenly, there's less than a month to go... and I still have three squares to knit and a column. Oh dear. Fortunately, we weren't doing much on Friday so I got two squares rattled off while watching "Rosemary's Baby". Do you think I could be jinxing this baby? Knitting its blanket during one of the best justifications for not getting pregnant?

So, here it is with the completed squares.

And here is the started column. It looks from this angle as though it might be too narrow but that's because the stocking stitch curls under.

Google Analytics

2009-05-22T08:36:00.003+01:00

One month ago, I registered my blog on Google Analytics (https://www.google.com/analytics). This is a tool that allows you to find out how people are finding your website, where they are coming from (geographically and technically - referral sites, search engines, networks). It's something that we have started using at work to monitor the use of some of our websites, but I wanted to play with it at home to see what it can tell me. It has been really interesting.

1. In less than a month, 100 people have visited my blog, though there have been over 200 visits. Around 50% of these are newbies and the other 50% are returning to read pages. I was stunned to find out that so many people have been dropping by and coming back. Thank you.

2. The majority of people visiting are in the UK, but there is a fair old number who have popped in from the US (which has vastly improved by knowledge of North American geography) but also from Poland, Japan, Turkey, France and Australia.

3. The searches that have resulted in people coming here have included the not terribly surprising: cartridge rib, socks, pixie coat - all knitting related and as this is a knitting blog, to be expected, as I mentioned. What has been surprising is the number of people who have got to this blog through searching for porn and sex confessions.

There are a number of very disappointed people out there as they have ended up on the pages titled "Sock Porn", or "Yarn Porn" or "Ally Pally Porn". Or discovered that SEX here usually refers to Stash Expanding eXpedition. Or discovered confessions about my attempts to botch knitting or sewing mistakes.

As a result of this post there will be some disappointed people tonight and over the weekend.

Finally, Some Bloody Progress

2009-05-18T21:04:00.004+01:00

I have finished one of the curtains for the spare room. There's a fanfare playing in my head, if not everyone else's. This is going to be a very picture heavy post so if you are on dial up, you might like to put the kettle on.

1. Measuring up - the eyelet tape is my new discovery and a very happy discovery it is too. It minimises the risk of 'wonkiness'. However, there were too many eyelets on this, for the curtains, in my opinion.

2. So, I put the facias in position to see what this would look like with six eyelets instead of the twelve on the tape. I rather liked it so went with that.

3. Drawing the holes to cut out. On the front of the curtain!!! Nothing like living dangerously.

4. Cutting out said holes in the curtain.

5. Completed hole with eyelet facia pushed in. That's my foot you can see through there.

6. The view from the back. The eyelet tape is attached to the back of the curtain, in the same way that ordinary curtain tape is. Next job was to sew it in place.

Here's the room that the curtains are going in.

7. Putting the curtain up.

8. Fanfare please.

Forgot to mention...

2009-05-17T15:02:00.005+01:00

...Hobbycraft are selling "Sirdar - Soya" at £1.49 per ball, and I think this usually retails at £3.99 per ball. "Bargain," I thought.

I went shopping and bought lots of the above to knit the following for Niece No.2 and Nephew:Buster, Bo and Hans from "Rowan Babies". Hopefully, this yarn substitution will work well.

Interlude

2009-05-16T16:24:00.004+01:00

I thought I would give you a break from curtain progress pictures. They're still not finished as this picture demonstrates - so I have still managed to sneak in a picture that was supposed to be curtain free. This has been the view in my living room for the last couple of weeks.

...Yes, the BF is a very understanding representative of his species. It is also very helpful that he is currently completing this year's final assignments for his OU degree. This means that he is rarely in the room to notice them or, more importantly, to complain.

Over the last few weeks, I've also been knitting socks to make a dent into the Christmas knitting.
Here, we have socks for my Mam, Niece No. 1, nephew and SIL.

Curtain Stages III

2009-05-12T19:28:00.001+01:00

Nearly there. Still haven't bought the curtain tape but I sewed up most of one of the curtains on Saturday and I am really happy with the way it is taking shape.

1. Sewing up the side.

2. Modelled by me.

A time consuming but satisfying project.

Curtain Stages II

2009-05-08T08:49:00.003+01:00

Started sewing up the curtains last night. I still need to pop out and buy some curtain tape otherwise I might as well have dish clothes hanging from the poles. These are going to be eyelet curtains and the material I have chosen is very soft, so the curtain tape needs to be placed between the lining and the curtain material (at the top with the eyelets) to give it some 'oomph'. (Yes, that is the correct technical term to describe what I want to achieve).

1. Sewing up the lining. Below, hopefully, you can see the very bad stitching on the right side of the lining's hem. However...

2. ...the stitch line is very neat on the wrong side of the lining. So, I am making an executive design decision and am going to make this the right side of the lining.

3. Pinning the elephant rim to the bottom of the main piece of fabric before starting to watch Season 5 of "The Wire".

I think the overall effect will be pretty good. The cream needed something to cheer it up, and the shine of the fabric will be a good contrast with the colours in the room.

These need to be done within a fortnight. We have friends coming to stay.

Curtain Stages

2009-05-06T20:13:00.003+01:00

Spent last night pinning out the curtains. So, step-by-step photos coming up:

1. Pinning out the lining.

2. The elephant rim - trimming but before pinning.

3. Pinned edge - sharp corners.

4. Hefelumphs.

5. Botched mitred corner. Can't do it properly so this will do, for now.

It's Curtains....

2009-05-05T19:49:00.002+01:00

...Or it will be, once I've made them.

We painted the spare room - Tuscan Terracotta and Apricot Summat or Other, which sounds garish, but isn't. The furniture is all seriously dark wood. Sounds oppressive, but isn't. I had bought material to make cushions (lovely contrasting cream - sounds like a bad dessert, but doesn't look like one). I also bought material to make curtains (though on a rethink, decided that this would be hideous).

I should take a picture of this room. It may help with descriptions.

So I went shopping again. The plan was predominantly cream curtains with a rust coloured pattern. The BF casually mentioned that something along the lines of my Mam's elephant rimmed plates would be good as a trim - a gold, orange and black motif.

I went to Dunelm's. Look what I found.

So, the BF has designed the curtains. The plan is to make a cream curtain - that has some sparkly bits on - with a trim at the bottom.

In other news, I decided to do some Christmas knitting at the weekend and I have rattled off two pairs of socks in "On-Line - Circle" for Niece Number 1 and my Mam. Here's one of them.

Rethink ont' BF's Christmas Jumper

2009-04-25T12:42:00.004+01:00

The original plan was to knit the BF "Avast" (www.knitty.com". However, I'm not sure he will be too keen on the yarn ("New Lanark - DK"). While I do tease him about his princess and the pea qualities, I don't want to make him something that he won't be overly keen on.

I do suspect it will be a 'grower' though, i.e. he would hate the idea if I suggested but once he sees it, he will like it... and it's a cardi so won't be touching his skin.

Meanwhile, he loved the "Sublime - Retro Jumper" I knitted for him last Christmas in "Jaeger Extra Fine Merino", and said I could knit him another one in different colours.

Since Jaeger have discontinued their yarn production, balls of this lovely stuff can be found with some searching. I went back to Cucumber Patch (www.cucumberpatch.c.uk) and picked up a batch of "Biscuit" for the bargain price of £2.25 per ball - previously knocking around for between £4.50 - £5 per ball. It's also a fantastic substitution for the "Sublime Extra Fine Merino", producing a beautiful drape in the finished material.

While I love knitting for the BF and he loves what I make for him, he still has a tendency to hang jumpers on the floor.

Pay £5 per ball to make him a jumper? Bugger that for a game of soldiers.

"Davy Jones" by Middle Earth Yarns

2009-04-22T15:37:00.005+01:00

I finished the "Captain Jacks" and while I had thought that the pattern of the colourway was too dense for the stitch pattern, I'm really happy with the finished results. The yarn is beautifully soft and lovely on the feet.

Having enjoyed knitting this so much, I dug out the other skein I bought from Cazza - "Davy Jones".

It also meant I was able to play with my swift.

And, I'm knitting another pattern from the 'Vogue Ultimate Sock Book' - 'Big Bamboo'. I think the shades are really appropriate for bamboo.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2009-04-20T19:22:00.003+01:00

Sid (no idea what his/her real name is, but Sid'll do) has been trying to get onto this window ledge for months. Tonight he managed it. "I can haz rools the street."

Then he got stuck, and didn't look quite so smug.

He fell off (in a controlled sort of slide down the tiles) and strolled off: "Nobody saw anything. Everything is cool".

My Socks

2009-04-18T14:41:00.002+01:00

Finally, I get my act together and take a photograph of my socks in progress.

I'm really pleased with these. The yarn is lovely and soft and the stitch definition is fab. One 'concern' is that I think the colourway variation is too dense for this pattern but that's my fault not the yarn's. :-)

Next pair, I think will be Cazza's "Davy Jones" in 'Big Bamboo'. I think.

Jollies Update II

2009-04-14T21:53:00.003+01:00

Thought I'd present some alternative holiday shots - you can find better shots of the major tourist sites on any holiday website, or in nice books, or if you go and have a look yourself. So, instead...

The seagull sitting next to me on top of the Castel Saint-Angelo in Rome. The Castle was originally constructed as Emperor Hadrian's Mausoleum - him who built the wall, you know.

The crush of people, herding themselves through the Vatican Museum, ignoring the tapestries, the frescoes, the paintings, as they dash as quickly as they can to the Sistine Chapel... where they will talk endlessly and noisily, ringing their pals to say: "Guess where I am. My gawd, I'm in the Sistine. It's like so impressive." Before saying to the people with them: "Quick! Get a picture of me in the Sistine". "Quick get a picture of me next to this statue, and this statue and that statue."

The dumb pigeons in St Peter's Square. I threw them an icecream cone. They just looked at it. I stamped on it, and look how they reacted. Brains of Italy? Methinks, not.

A statue of St Francis in the Church of St Maria in Trastevere. There are hundreds of little letters at his feet and his arms. It looked amazing.

And, finally... Get a load of this piece of chocolate cake. We had lunch in the roof garden of the Uffizi in Florence. Delicious, and the gallery wasn't bad either.

Some Knitting Stuff

2009-04-13T09:59:00.005+01:00

I finished these socks for the BF at the weekend. (I was planning to knit whilst on holiday... but just couldn't be bothered). The yarn is "Fortissima Colori" and I bought it at Ally Pally last October. It was intended for me, but the BF started whinging for new socks and I 'went off' the colourway... so he got his sixth pair of knitted socks.

For myself, I'm on with these...

Erm, well - it would have been except it would appear that I forgot to take a photograph, so what you have instead is a photo of my timber paint spattered arms. I spent the day painting the garden fence and I ended up looking like I had had a henna fight.

Anyway, what I've been working on is a pair of socks for myself (photo to follow). The yarn is the lovely stuff that Cazza makes (MiddleEarth Knitter Yarns). This is another one from the stash and was a birthday treat to myself a couple of years ago. The colourway is "Captain Jack" (from her 'Pirates of the Caribbean' phase) and the yarn is beautifully soft.

The pattern is cartridge rib from "Vogue Knitting's - Ultimate Sock Book". I was planning to do a more complex pattern, that would be more sea-related (something that reminded me of seaweed perhaps) but I wasn't feeling brilliant so went with something more straightforward.

Jollies Update

2009-04-10T13:45:00.005+01:00

I'm back in Blighty. "Hail," as one of the Romans said in 'Carry on, Ceasar'. "Hail," responded Sid James. "Rain, sleet and snow". The day before yesterday, I was swanning around in a frock and sandals. Today I'm in a jumper.

We've had a great trip, though quite an eventful one.

The first problem is that we were travelling through Terminal 5... Of course, before we even reached Italy, there was the matter of the lad at the back of the plane, who was being deported. Remember, Marge Simpson's "Fear of Flying" ("Let me off, let me off!")? It was a little like that. He was screaming and shrieking: "I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going."

We made it to Rome, but the cases didn't. However, being a pessimist, I had packed a couple of changes of clothes for us in an overnight bag.

The next issue was that the Italian banks had 'lost their connection' with my bank = no money. (Though we had Euros with us).

The luggage was delivered to our hotel that night and was waiting in our room for us when we returned from an evening walk around Rome. (How relieved were we?) I'll pop a couple of photos on when I get my act together.

We had six days in Rome, followed by two days in Florence. The weather was beautiful (with only one day of rain). We've seen the sights - Colosseum, Vatican, St Peters, more churches than I can remember, the Capitoline, Palatine and Castello St Angelo; we queued for three hours to go into the Uffizi, we've been to the Duomo, and we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa from the plane. However, most importantly, we've drank red wine, cappucinos, eaten pizza, pasta, traditional Tuscan cooking and even more importantly... cake and lots and lots of icecream.

Further events have sadly included the eartquake at L'Aquila. The tremors from this hit Rome. Obviously, we weren't hurt though the hotel did quite some shaking and there were people screaming. I was just impressed that I was awake for it. We didn't realise how serious it was elsewhere until we started getting calls from home.

In Florence, there was a fire alarm, just after we woke up. We scrambled out on to the road outside... only to discover that someone had burnt their toast and everyone else was upstairs, eating breakfast.

Off On My Jollies

2009-03-27T09:50:00.002Z

I won't be blogging for a few weeks - I'm off on my holidays, with my Mam. It's her birthday this weekend and we fly to Rome on Tuesday for six days, followed by Florence for two.

Very excited. See you soon.

Something That Has Gone Well

2009-03-22T16:51:00.003Z

When it comes to cakes, I don't do icing. I don't eat it; my attempts to make it leave much to be desired; and as for doing anything pretty with it... you're having a laugh aren't you? However, I've baked a fruit cake for my Auntie as it is her 60th birthday on Saturday.

(She and my Mam are twins and, no, my Mam ain't getting a cake 'cos she's getting married so I've bought that from these lovely people www.slattery.co.uk and I'm taking her to Italy for her birthday).

The BF has spent all of this week pointing out that all I have made is a Christmas cake and, as it is March, this must be unlucky. Therefore, he could help me out by eating it. He's so self-sacrificing.

This led me to think that perhaps I should do some sort of birthday icing. Hmmm.

Several years ago I solved my icing problem by always buying ready rolled icing. It's like putting a table cloth over a table. Fantastic.

And, yes, I am so lazy that I won't just buy a block of the stuff and use a rolling pin to foll it out. So, that's the covering sorted.

It still looked liked a Christmas cake so I bought some writing icing. That stuff is brilliant. It's so easy to use. So, my Auntie's cake now looks like this...

...ok, it won't win any awards but it beats the offering off a few years ago where the icing I made was so runny it slid off the cake and pooled on the bench.

Deep Doo-Dah

2009-03-21T18:26:00.004Z

Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.

How annoyed am I? Very piggin' annoyed.

Why?

Rowan 39: "Deep" for my Mam for Mother's Day.

It doesn't bloody fit her.

Socks for Liz (and Some Socks for Me!)

2009-03-17T21:19:00.002Z

I can stop grumbling now - I've started a pair of socks for me! Actually, at this stage, nearly finished them.

These beauties are "Colinette Jitterbug - Lapis". I've no idea what has happened to this photo but I am going to pretend I was deliberately taking 'arty shots'. (Oooh, is that the band playing "You Can Believe It If You Like"?). The colour really is this lovely royal blue but the shading doesn't look that fuzzy.

And here are the socks for Liz - I think she'll like 'em.

They're the first pair I've knitted with "King Cole - Zig Zag". It's a really nice yarn - has a higher nylon content that "Opal" or "Regia" and as a result, I think, they're softer. I'm quite impressed. I certainly enjoyed knitting with it more than the "Wendy - Happy". The stitch definition is pretty good too.

Deep Done

2009-03-10T19:08:00.003Z

Is finished. Is blocking.

Has died the white stripes pink. Very annoying. Not in keeping with the colour scheme at all.

My Mam will be pleased - she loves pink.

NB Over-exposed piccie and soaking wet yarn - it's not really blue.

Sock It To Every Other Bugger 'Cept Me

2009-03-08T14:34:00.005Z

Can I just remind you that I have made one item for myself this year? I finished off a pair of socks that I started last year. Starting to feel like I'm on a treadmill which is not good when this is supposed to be a hobby. Contrarily, I don't really mind and the peeps I make these things for are always delighted and that's nice.

So, updating on the Sock Front.

I ran out of wool for Thomas's socks. (Yes, I've decided they're for Thomas).

The phrase we are looking for here is, "Bum". So, I raked through the orphan box and found these two.

(Poo - Blurry pic). So I spent the next hour 'cutting and pasting' coloured sections to do a rough match, to finish it off.

Not bad, but not as good as the match I did on a pair of socks for Neice No 1. That was invisible. This looks looks like a grubby toe. And I did manage to drop them in my Weetabix the following morning. Don't ask.

Here's the start of a pair of socks for my friend Liz. I think she'll like them.

New Sock Wool

2009-03-03T14:38:00.004Z

Yes, I've been shopping, again. However, in keeping with my resolutions...

...this is for a gift. It's my mate Liz's birthday (on the same day as my Mam's and my Auntie's) and she has hinted that she would like some stripy socks. Her favourite colour is purple so hopefully, the "King Cole - Zig Zag" will knit up to requirements.

I should get those done for the 29th. Got a lot on this month. My Mam's Hen Night is on the 14th. She gets married on the 28th which is the day before her 60th birthday, and she's a twin. And I've nearly knitted "Deep" for Mother's Day. On the 31st, as has been planned for the last eight years, I'm taking my Mam to Rome for her birthday. Feels like I'm gate-crashing the honeymoon but my Step-Dad reckons the birthday trip takes precedence... and besides he's taking her to Scotland and reckons it will be warmer in July.

Deep - Progress Update

2009-02-27T20:26:00.005Z

I don't know what it is about this knit, but I can't muster any enthusiasm for it. This is probably because I pulled it out of the abandoned basket and I am a brat - want to knit something new, not old! However, if I put it down now, I'll never finish it...

...which would be really annoying because I am now knitting the ribbing.

I've sewn up one sleeve;

Joined the shoulder seams;

Have one sleeve left to do and the whole thing to stitch. T'would be ridiculously silly to stop now, especially as it will be a Mother's Day present and I would really like to get "Bonita" (another abandoned project) finished in time to take to Rome.

Mini Socks

2009-02-23T19:50:00.003Z

We were visiting the MIL and FIL this weekend so I needed to take something small to knit. (Obviously, I couldn't not take something to knit).

So, I took these - some stash busting socks for... I'm not sure. These are children's size 7-9s and I thought they would be perfect for Thomas who is two and a half, but I'm not sure if they would be better for my neice Talia who is one.

Advice from people who have their own munchkins would be gratefully received!

Pressies!!!

2009-02-19T15:54:00.005Z

Look what I got when I got into work today.

My mate Liz has knitted me a scarf. It's the first thing that anyone has knitted for me (as an adult). (My Mam did give me a jacket she had knitted - but it had originally been for herself and she had gone off it, so that doesn't count. Yes, I know that's what I am doing with "Deep").

I'm very excited.

Deep

2009-02-15T13:33:00.003Z

The fact that I had nearly finished the back when I picked this up again is making this knit zoom by. By the way, it's a bolero rather than a 'full' cardigan. (I think this is why I went off it. I have a big chest and I would just look I had stolen a child's clothes - same goes for Capri pants and anything with an Empire line).

It's also very straightforward knit - a striped rib.

The two fronts look much smaller than the back but the ribbing trim will add to that. As this was originally intended for me (having not really realised it was a bolero, me being a muppet), the colours are more my taste but I think they'll suit my Mam too.

Dredging the Work Basket

2009-02-12T19:34:00.003Z

I have finally re-started knitting "Deep" (Rowan 39) which has been on the needles since, only... August 2006.

You'll notice it's on my resolution list to be a gift for my Mam. Reasons are:

1. I've gone off it - let's not beat around the bush here. This is not a really a selfless gesture.
2. The only way I could bring myself to finish it was to make a gift of it as there is more of a motive to get on with it.

Having pulled it from the bottom of my tool bag, I was pleasantly surprised to find I've nearly finished the back. It's not being knitted in the colours shown in the picture. I am using "Rowan - Summer Tweed", but I'm replacing it with, a deep red, oatmeal, chocolate and the wickedly named shark (aka grey).

Resolution Done

2009-02-10T20:28:00.002Z

I've finished one of my resolutions! (Is that the right phrase?) Having found the socks I was doing before I started the Christmas knitting (2008), I've just finished those off.

I'm really happy with them. These are my first patterned (as in stitch pattern) socks. I went with a basketweave pattern - I couldn't go too wrong with that. The yarn leant itself well to the pattern - it's just a simple stripe, quite boring really and the boxy pattern looks great (even if I do say so myself).

I've also finished my Auntie Jennifer's socks - for her birthday next month.

Knitting Lists

2009-02-07T17:09:00.004Z

Why are lists so compulsive? Why are we drawn to notch up what we have done and compare notes on what we haven't? This is my third list related posting of the year, and I may change my online ID to 'List Fiend'.

This is from Kai's blog -

So, you need to mark with bold the things you have done, mark the ones you plan to do sometime in italics, and leave the rest.

Afghan
American/English knitting
Baby items
Bobbles
Buttonholes
Cable stitch patterns
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Combination knitting - I don't even know what this is.
Continental knitting - A Dark Art
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Darning - My Mam taught me this as Christmas and saved five pairs of socks... a valuable and necessary skills for all sock knitters.
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting Drop stitch patterns Dyeing spinning fibre Dyeing with plant colours Dyeing yarn Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Free-form knitting
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Gloves
Graffiti knitting
Hair accessories
Hats: Cuff-up
Hats: Top-down
Holiday related knitting
Household items
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewellery
Kitchener stitch
Knitted flowers
Knitting a gift
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine - and then some!
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting art
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting on a loom
Knitting smocking
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting to make money
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with camel yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Knitting with dpns
Knitting with linen
Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with wool
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Participate in an exchange
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Tassels
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting - Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting - Once more, with feeling, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Writing a pattern

Return to the Sock

2009-02-06T16:14:00.002Z

I wasn't in the mood for more blanket knitting the other night, so I picked up the sock I started for my Auntie Jen (and have been working on in our office weekly lunchtime knitting group). Knitting went so well, I finished it, and have started the second one.

It also occurred to me that everything I have worked on since Christmas has been for other people. While the recipients are always incredibly grateful (which isn't the point - I knit for them because I do want to) I think I'm in danger of turning my hobby into a chore. I need to make something for myself.

As luck would have it, I found Basketweave second sock! (Behind a book in the office... ?) So, here it is, and I intend to finish it once I have done my Auntie's.

PS I sent the Thomas cardigan to my nephew this week. He LOVES it was what his Mum said - especially the googly eyes, so the BF is delighted and planning a career in knitwear design, based on the success of this suggestion.