One track mind

I think I must be obsessed. We have just booked a short trip in the Lake District, DH and DD will be coming down from Scotland where they are visiting relatives, and I will go up to meet them in the Lakes, a 5 hour train journey on my own, and my first thoughts – yes you guessed it – KNITTING TIME, woohoo!

So the second it was all finalised I dashed into my work room to choose a project – I have to carry everything including heavy walking boots in my rucksack, so weight and space are an issue, but I will have two long train journeys and the spare time when I am there, so it needs to fill enough time..… Now I know my choice is going to come as a surprise to anyone who knows me – but I have decided to knit socks! I know to most people it is the obvious choice, but I don’t do socks, not that I haven’t tried, I’ve made 3 (and a half) pairs, I’ve tried dpns, two circs and magic loop (and with the last ones DD banned me from ever making socks again because apparently I moaned the entire time I was knitting them), but time is a great healer, and recently I have found that I love wearing the offending pair (the other two were for DD) and I really would like some more, and for a non-sock knitter it is surprising how much sock yarn I have in stash. I searched Rav, and found Sock Stew , adapted it for two circs, my preferred weapons of choice, and cast on ready as I needed to follow my step by step instructions which are spread over several pages and didn’t think that would be very practical on a bumpy train. So I’m all set to go – the only problem is I’ve got 4 weeks to wait!




I’ve just had a thought though - I’m quite happy travelling on my own but with all my luggage and no one to keep an eye on it, it could make it more difficult to go to the buffet car or the loo …..though come to think of it, if I don’t go to the first I won’t need the second !

Two cuties

Lucy Lamb - (you may well have seen her in M&S) DH bought her for me for easter -he thought she was appropriate given my knitting and the fact that I had a lamb to bottle feed most years when I was young. Only trouble is, I don't want to eat her!

And perhaps I shouldn't say this is cute, but I'll say the pattern is instead



It's the Baby Pack Project bear. This one is made from one strand of something soft, fluffy, variegated and label-less which was acquired from a charity shop for 10p, together with a strand of a harder boucle (again details unknown) from the bottom of the stash. My knitting sat down between the bedside cabinet and bed, and I knit a few rows while drinking my morning cuppa each day and it soon grew into a soft squishy little friend for someone.

Playing with my new toy

I've finally given in and bought a new sewing machine - my old one, an 18th birthday present from my dearly loved and long departed Nan, has finally given up the ghost, it's been on it's way out for a very long time and I've limped on for sentimental reasons. Twenty seven years is a long time to have a machine, and it has had a lot of use, but it has now been replaced by a rather swish Pfaff, not a computerised one, but top of the range mechanical one, so I have been playing with it's stitches and generally getting used to it and created a little project bag - like I need another one but hey,it was fun, and having also bought a new larger handbag I now have room to carry a little knitting something so it seemed the obvious experimental project.


On to another machine - a knitting one - which I have had for many years but only sees the light of day occasionally. Inspired by those folk over on CT'n'Y I decided to have a little go again recently and created a baby gown for Bonnie Babies.


It was ok, but it's back in the cupboard again and the needles are out in preference. I am thoroughly enjoying making the Mystery Blanket from Yarn Forward Magazine despite all the errors in the patterns (there is a very useful KAL thread over on Ravelry if anyone is interested). Here are the first months, cabled, squares (please excuse the expensive and technical blocking system).
Having now seen the pictures in issue 13, three out of the six were exactly as they should be,one I knew I had done extra repeats (the only way to get it big enough), one is not quite right, though it will do, and one is, in my opinion better. It definitely made me realise just how much we rely on pictures as well as instructions.

It's lace this month, and the proof reading seems to have improved (she says tempting fate) and I am really enjoying this. It is a very long time since I have been so enthused with a project, I like the manageable deadlines, I'm using up stash and I have always wanted to make a sampler type blanket but never got round to working out the squares.

Dish cloth swap

Now that it has been sent and received safely, I can post a piccy of the cloth I made for the CT'n'Y dishcloth swap

I have to say, it nearly didn't get made, there were several errors in the lace pattern, the stitches just did not add up - at one point I even screwed up the pattern in disgust and threw it away, but I liked the design, I thought my recipient would too, and I am a very stubborn determined person and it was niggling me, so I smoothed out the pattern, got out my fingers and toes and did some counting, and hey presto!

The cotton is Anchor Magic (which sadly I believe has been discontinued) and there were some little gifts that went with it too, in matching colours, which I didn't think to photograph.

In my lovely parcel from Aknita there was a beautiful cloth in Rowan Handknit cotton, a lavender bag (I love lavender) some chocolate (ditto, but not together - have you ever tried Lavender chocolate - I thought it was weird!) a sweet painted bookmark of the Malvern Hills and some stitch markers in a cute little box.



She had clearly stalked me and put together a lovely package just for me.