I've been spoilt

Recently I have been chatting with Rhonda , another of the moderators over on the Knit-a-square forum on Ravelry , about the lovely yarn she has been using for her charity knits – (she lives on the other side of the pond you see), and she very kindly offered to send me some to try.

So after stalking the postman for a day or two, a squidgy parcel of loveliness arrived.

Not one, but three! gorgeous skeins of Araucania Aysen in two beautiful colour ways. I do wish you could feel it, it is so soft and squishy, and it even smells soft!
Well being merino, alpaca and silk I guess it couldn’t be anything else but wonderful. I am so lucky, and I'm looking forward to deciding what to knit with it.

Now all I can say is if yarn like that is affordable for charity knits in the US – I think I need to emigrate :0)

End of year

I have found it very hard coming back here after the last post, but I didn't want to end the year on such a sad note - so I made myself come back with a final tidy up of bits and pieces I have knitted/crocheted.

A couple of months back I joined the Baker's Dozen group over on Ravelry after hearing about last years swap on an old podcast. Basically, in case you haven't heard of them, there are 13 of us in a group and each month 12 of us make a 12" square to send to the 13th member (member of the month) so eventually we all get enough squares to make a lap/snuggle blanket. We can specify colours, washability etc and the rest is up to the maker, so
November's request was for a square that had meaning to the maker, with a suggestion of girly colours (if required). As I live in 'The Garden of England' I chose this flower square.


December's request was for purple - and keeping on the theme of Garden of England I decided on a leafy square this time.
January's square is at the planning stage, I'll reveal more later.

Charity knit wise, I finished another blanket for Bonnie Babies - I must like this pattern, it's the 3rd time of making


I seem to have started a tradition of making a Christmas card for each of my 'Lace Friends' which can then be used as a decoration - this year I went for Wreaths


Finally, I felt like trying something different, so I hunted out my Tunisian Crochet hook - sat down with the internet to hand and created a sampler square - it's not perfect by any means, so don't look too closely, but I had a lot of fun and it will be put to good use as it can go off with my next batch to Knit-a-Square



And just to wind up, and purely for my own interest, I do like to keep a note of the books I read each year - much to my suprise I have read 14 in 2011, and they are

* Knitalong by Larissa & Martin John Brown
* Santa Cruise by Mary Higgins Clark
* The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth
* A Killer Stitch by Maggie Sefton
* Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
* Old Boyfriends by Debbie Macomber
* Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
* Darkness and Light by John Harvey
* In for a penny, in for a pound by Tim Waterstone
* A knitter's Home Companion by Michelle Edwards
* Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey
* Confessions of a GP by Benjamin Daniels
* Not What She Seems by Victorine E. Lieske
* Free Range Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

So there goes 2011 - let's hope 2012 is a Happy New Year for everyone.

A big space

There's a big space in my life right now and I'm feeling rather low.
Thanks to a car I have lost my furry companion, my shadow, my little 'helper'
Dudley
2005 - 9th December 2011

Autopilot socks

I really don't know where the time goes, it's been 3 weeks since my last post yet it only seems a day or two. I know I have been busy moving offices, making the Christmas cake and pud, doing all the normal stuff and manning the phones for Children in Need but really!

The day after my last post it was my birthday and DH's pressie was a workshop in London called Autopilot socks by the lovely Amy Singer (of Knitty fame) organised by IKnit London.
Not only is Amy a genuinely nice person, she is also very clever, and her way of knitting socks is just brilliant, no more hoping they will fit, no more confusion over short rows and which bit to knit into, just a good logical knit and a nicely fitted sock at the end. The group were very pleasant and much chatting took place (with quiet bits for concentration) and we all came away happy with a sample sock that gave us chance to have tried out all the techniques.

Ok so I admit it, I haven't got around to starting a real sock for myself, but I definitely will and all the bits are ready in my knitting bag to pick up and start (just waiting for a few more hours in the day - or at least some spare time in the ones I do have).
I can highly recommend a workshop with Amy, I would certainly go along if she does any more, but in the meantime all the details of her sock 'recipe' are over on Ravelry under Autopilot sock

Other knitting wise, I am still making the baby blanket and the lace border is being knitted on and is growing nicely, I have started Hitchhiker with the King Cole Riot I bought in The Lakes, (though I can't say I am really enjoying the yarn, it's lovely and soft on the ball but there is just something about it, maybe because I'm not used to working with singles, I don't know, still I will persevere,) and I am making the garland bit ready for all the lovely decorations to hang on from the talented Frankie Brown's Advent Garland (but since that is currently just a grey strip of garter stitch with icord edging it wouldn't make a very good picture.)

And talking of Christmas, my finished item is

A Little Christmas Tree Which is only about 6" tall and will be perfect to go on my new (tiny) desk in my new office because we aren't going to have room for much else in there!

Caught without knitting !

It's extremely unusual for me to be without knitting, normally there is something to knit in my handbag but on the one occasion that I actually needed it last week with the prospect of a 2 hour wait - I didn't have any! DH suggested I bought a magazine so I could read about it instead, but I had a better idea...
I popped into a charity shop and bought a ball of (weird) yarn and a pair of needles all for the princely sum of £1.50 and while I sat waiting I started knitting this little chap
He's my version of the Angelbear (well it was from memory) done all in garterstitch this time with loopy ears.


We were actually away in the Lake District and unfortunately I was still suffering a bit from the lergy so I wasn't feeling up to walking as much as usual, so on one day I sent DH off to bag some more peaks and happily sat in the rented apartment knitting, quilting and just generally enjoying the view Well, with a view like that from the window it seemed a shame to waste it :0)

While we were up there I also finished my wwwww #1 by Kate Davies of Needled perfect for keeping my ears warm when walking
If you are not familiar with Kate and her work then I would highly recommend that you wander over to her blog and have a read, - not only is she a very talented lady, she is also overcoming a serious health issue too. One of the most inspiring and determined people I have come across in a long time.

Other knitting included the Noro Sekku scarf from the yarn and pattern I got the previous week at Ally Pally but it just wasn't doing it for me so it has now been frogged and having had a wander around Ravelry to see what others have done with this yarn (what a brilliant search tool) I think it is destined to become a Revontuli instead - a pattern I printed off yonks ago but would never have thought of using for this without Ravelry's help. Fortunately I always take far more knitting projects on holiday than I usually need so I had the yarn and pattern to start another charity baby blanket, which is currently just a square of garter stitch so no photo yet until it is a bit more interesting to look at.

Finally, back home I finished off number 4 Christmas Stocking for the charity Bonnie Babies Christmas Challenge (beware of the music on the site if you follow the link!)
and these have now been posted off to grace the cribs of premature and poorly babies in SCBUs over Christmas.

My 'puter is back

...a bit of a long catch up post

I've been without 'puter for a couple of weeks as it all went pear-shaped and had to go away to have a new motherboard (whatever that might be). It was rather disconcerting to have a man come and collect it and drive off into the sunset, but then a machine rang up every so often to say where it was in the chain of repair, and I am pleased, and relieved, to say that it is back with me now, feeling better, and so here is a quick (or not so quick) catch up post.

A second co-worker left to have a baby, and again she didn't want to know if she was having a boy or girl so I had to choose another unisex pattern
Cardi for Emma's bump
from a Garnstudio pattern

I do hope the next person to leave decides they will find out the baby's gender, I am dying to make a sweet lacy cardi or a cute boys jumper - oh well, this one went down a treat and there were plenty of compliments (isn't it great when you work with people who know the basics but aren't knitters, so they think you are SOOOOOO clever!)

With the weather turning chilly I decided it was time to get over my SMS (second mitten syndrome) and get myself ready for winter - I do suffer from such cold hands, even at the best of times, but this year hopefully I am prepared
Matrix from Knitty
I used New Lanark Aran on 3.25mm dpns (I am a loose knitter) and lengthened the cuff because I hate having a gap between glove and sleeve, and it seems that I may have the makings of warm and toasty hands this winter. (Sorry the photo is sideways - I just can't seem to get it to turn, it looks fine until I upload it, and if I turn it first it ends up upside down!!)

And my 'odd moments' knitting has created this rather strange little chap
A bear for the Angelbear charity
I didn't have a stitch dictionary to hand, and don't know how to do loop stitch so he ended up with plain ears suitable for the under 3s. I think he looks odd (don't all my toys?) but hopefully he might bring a little comfort to a kiddy in need.

So that's what I have made, and now for new supplies.....


Of course it was The Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally at the weekend, and I had a great day. I was actually quite restrained and came home with some back issues of mags, enough Click DK to make Amna , some Knit-pro dpns, some Hipknits laceweight in a gorgeous purple and the obligatory impulse purchase - a ball of Noro Sekku which was displayed along with a sample scarf and free pattern.
My impulse purchase

Now anyone who knows me will be aware that 2 of those purchases are rather out of character for me - the only things I tend to knit for myself are scarves/shawls and the like but DH keeps asking why I don't make something bigger for me, I haven't made myself a jumper/cardigan since I was a teenager, so maybe it is about time I did. I bought the Click from the Blacksheep stand (you know the one, where there is an e-nor-mous heap of packs of wool and it is almost impossible not to dive in head first - intentionally or otherwise) and it was a bit of a bargain at £14.99 so if the cardi doesn't work out it will mainly be time that I have wasted rather than money as well. The other unusual items are the dpns - not that I don't use them, I do, but these are for something I don't generally knit, something I desperately want to like making but so far don't, something I am going on a workshop to learn to do in a different way.... all will be revealed at the end of the month.

Talking of workshops, I also spent a very pleasant 2 hours on Saturday learning freeform crochet,
Freeform sample
and no, I haven't a clue what it is going to be when it grows up, but it was fun anyway!

The good news and the bad news

The good news is that from today my secondment becomes a permanent post.

The bad news is that I lose my Tuesday mornings off.

The good news is that I won't have to go back to the contact centre.

The bad news is that I will have to take a 1 hour unpaid lunch break.

The good news is that I can use it as knitting time! Yay!

Alpaca love

Last weekend I discovered Appledene Alpacas was having the last open day of the year, and it isn't too far away from me - well as the crow flies anyway, but my SatNav has a very funny idea of shortest and fastest routes, I can tell you. Anyway, after a bit of a scenic drive in which I got mixed up with a large number of bikes doing an 80K cycle ride and had an unwelcome passenger in the form of a bewildered wasp who had been flying along minding his own business when he got scooped in by my open sunroof, I arrived in one piece (and unstung) to find these gorgeous ladies


waiting patiently in a pen, and I was delighted to find I had arrived just as they were about to be scanned - and we were treated to a view on the ultra sound monitor of the little cria that they were carrying.
I do think they have the most beautiful and intelligent faces


And don't you just love the hairstyle?


There were lots more Alpaca in the fields

but no-one wanted to come up and say 'hello' apart from this chap, who quite clearly knows he is handsome.

I shall definitely be going back next year to see the cria when they are born.

Knitting wise, I had a little loss of mojo for a week or two after the show, then suddenly I had the urge when this came up on my knitting calendar and knit it all in one day (then had achy hands for a few days - serves me right)


Wasp Nest Hat
(rather appropriate given my stowaway on the trip to see the alpacas!)