Perhaps I`m not so weird after all ....

....or maybe I just don`t realise it.

Thank you to Queen Frogger for tagging me to come up with 6 weird things about myself, so here goes .......

1: I adore chocolate, I would die if they stopped making it, bars of it, chocolate cake, chocolate pud, choccy biccys yum –but I HATE drinking hot chocolate!

2: I can never stop a knitting pattern on row 13 – I`m afraid if I do, something bad will happen and I will never get back to it.

3: My left foot is bigger than my right foot – even though I am right handed.

4: I have a reputation among DD`s friends as being scary – but those who actually know me can`t understand why!

5: I have a teenage daughter and we don`t argue – in fact we are the best of friends. ( Judging by DD`s friends and their mum`s that is weird anyway).

6: I get really seasick – but I love going on cruises

actually the last one is a bit of a cheat – cos they do a fantastic anti seasickness injections – but I got stuck, I thought finding 6 things would be easy – so maybe I`m not as weird as I thought I was :-)

and because of:

THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

I am now tagging Tarty Crafty , Army of Knitters, Library Girl Knits , Knityoga, Float`n`purl and Two Fish Knitting . Sorry guys!

Les Dawson is alive and well.....

.....and playing the organ in our local church!

I am not a regular church goer, but I always make a point of going to the Carol Service - I think it is important to do something at Christmas time to remember the true meaning, so ever since DD was old enough, she, my Mum and I go along each year. It`s only once we`ve been to church that I really start to feel Christmassy.
DD is now 13 and to a great extent we share the same humour, so when the organist started playing a la Les Dawson, we didn`t dare look at each other, and certainly during ` The First Nowell` I have no idea what he was playing but it definitely wasn`t the same as the congregation were singing! ( hopefully you will recall the way he played the piano or else you will be wondering what on earth I am talking about!)

When I was about 5 or 6, I came home from Sunday School delighted to have learnt a new carol, which I proudly told Mum was called `The Trifle Song`, after much questioning she discovered it was in fact

`Oh come all ye faithful,
Trifle and joyumphant`

- now for some reason she and DD find this highly amusing - so when Les began playing this particular carol in his unique style - poor DD sitting between us just didn`t know which way to look and ended up studying the floor lest she catch one of our eyes.

I`m pleased to say we both made it through the service without either giving in to the threatening bout of giggles.

Now onto something a little crafty - DD was invited to a birthday party for a Goth friend, and having found the perfect necklace - a cross set with black stones on a black and silver beaded chain - we needed to make it look that little bit more special than just wrapped in birthday paper. Out came a remnant of black satin and some black lace and ribbon, and in no time at all, behold a presentation pouch. Some of DD`s friends were amazed.
" Your Mum didn`t really make that, did she?"
To DD (and me) it seems the most natural thing in the world, but isn`t it sad when others don`t realise the pleasure and satisfaction making something brings.

Yay....Knitting again

Well I can`t say it is because of the Dog Oil, which though nice to massage with didn`t actually help - in fact other joints have now joined in :-(

But I seem to be able to knit again :-) admittedly a little slower than usual (and I am slow enough anyway) and not for any great length of time...but I am knitting.

The photo doesn`t do this justice - the yarn is Patons Spritz in colour spritzer which is just sparkly enough to be interesting without being OTT, and the pattern is from the latest Knitting, and it is all for me!

The countdown...

...has begun!

Some years ago when I was into patchwork and quilting, I made this advent calendar for DD and it has been a firm favourite ever since. Incredibly easy but oh so satisfying.
Now that she is taller (errr.. taller than me actually) I have taken to wrapping each little gift to keep the suspense going as she is prone to peeping! - they are only little inexpensive things (you know, rubbers, pencil sharpener, cheepy earrings, hairbands, or fun sweeties, that kind of thing) but we both enjoy it.

And DD...if you are reading this, I may or may not have included any or all of the above...ha! thought you`d find out didn`t you? x

There`s a lot of it about

As I wander aroung blogland, I have noticed that there seem to be a lot of us knitters suffering from aches and pains in hands and fingers - me included :-(

At the moment my left thumb joints are so troublesome that I can only do a very small amount of knitting at a time, hence having nothing to show. I`m not sure if it is arthritic, RSI (though I can`t imagine why since my right hand is far busier at work and is fine) or if I have strained/sprained it. However, I have heard that Mason`s Dog Oil is very good so I thought I would give it a go - it`s very early days so I am not sure if it really has helped or whether I am imagining things - I`ll let you know.

I was initially a little wary, I mean Dog oil? I know they press olives for olive oil. sunflower seeds for sunflower oil...... but it was reassuring to read the FAQ`s on Mason`s web site which included

Do you use dogs in it?

No. We can't run fast enough to catch them!

Light at the end of the tunnel

It has been a tense time in the Model household, you see DH has been unhappy in his job for a very long time, but having been with the company for 27 years and worked his way up, leaving was never going to be easy. However, along came Dream Job, and having been told over 3 weeks ago that he had got it, we have been waiting (metaphorically) by the letter box ever since - he needing the confirmation so he can hand in notice, and me so I can arrange increased hours (as dream job = pay cut + happier DH hopefully). Said letter finally arrived on thursday so the deed is done. Now he just has to get through the 3 month notice period - yes that`s right 3 months!

Added to that DD is in the process of choosing GCSE options, which, because of the way the choices are grouped is proving a bit of a challenge. Still she is nearly there, so things should be settling down here soon (fingers crossed)



Anyway, not much knitting to show at present but this is what I have been working on in the Bobbin Lace department. Just got to use that lovely invisible thread to attach lace to frame - that is if I can find it!

Done and undone

DD has been complaining that her hands get cold when she is typing, so what else is a mother to do but knit her offspring Fetching, DD can then type to her hearts content - shame it`s on MSN rather than her homework though! I decided to try Wendy`s Fusion as it felt so soft and I loved the colours - this one is juniper berries. Once I got used to the yarn it was really enjoyable to knit. I was fully expecting it to be a bit of a race to get them done before the yarn ran out, as the pattern says it uses a full ball of yarn with 89m and Fusion has 88m, but I have ended up with several metres left!! Oh well, better that way than the other.


And the undone?....well, remember my Sari Silk hat which I was so pleased with and which fitted perfectly? What happened? I washed it, that`s what and it grew and grew and grew - I could no longer see where I was going and when I turned quickly, the hat didn`t!!! So here it is. I could see no other alternative, and so now I have to start again.
It is only fairly recently that I have been bothering with a tension swatch, but after this I can see I shall also be washing my swatch BEFORE I start knitting.

Me and my big feet!

Actually I don`t think they are really that big, size 7 1/2 to be precise, but I am beginning to despair of ever finding decent looking shoes to fit. It`s not as though they are that funny a shape, the majority of size 7`s fit fine widthwise, but I need them just a tiny bit longer. I do so wish that manufacturers would understand that just because I need an extra half size in length it doesn`t mean my feet are suddenly much, much wider. Grrrrr. They all seem to be as bad as each other, though Clarks have been very helpful in offering to get certain styles in for me to try.

In fact Clarks have been very good this week (and here eventually comes the knitting link) whilst I was in there I asked if they might have a couple of spare shoe boxes for our Love in a box and they happily produced some together with carrier bags to keep them dry, however, DD immediately snaffled the small one leaving me with a gents size 11 box! Now, I have always been surprised how much you can fit into a shoe box anyway, so my bits looked a little bit lost, cue photo.....

I whipped out some large needles and the left over wool from the hat, and created a `space filling` scarf using the same mock rib as the hat on a reverse stocking stitch background - I now realise it should have had a garter stitch border, as even after wet blocking and steam blocking it still has a tendency to curl - but hey, I`ll just pretend it was a design feature!
This week I took delivery of some really nice bamboo dpns, all the way from Hong Kong! from Joycesupershop . I was a bit sceptical as to what they would actually be like in view of the ridiculously low price - 12 sets of 5 x 6" dpns for .....wait for it 99p plus £11 postage, and when I opened the package which arrived in double quick time and saw it included a piece of sandpaper! I wondered again - but they are BRILLIANT, I love working with them, even with Wendy Fusion which isn`t the slipperiest of yarns they are just great (that`s where the 12th pair are at the moment) and in sizes from 2mm to 8mm I should be set for anything. I know where I will be looking if I want any other needles.

3 flowers, 2 hats and a scarf!

Well they may only be small items but I`m pretty pleased with my FO`s from last weeks break I have finally finished Bertie and I am really pleased with the way it came out after blocking. The 4ply hand dyed lambswool from Bryony my one skein pal, was lovely to work with, though using 3.25mm needles meant it took quite a while to knit 95cm and it is narrower than the original. It is actually a little pinker than the picture, but hopefully the colour variations show as they really `lift` the design.

The flowers will be part of my contribution to The Gingerbread House the latest project of textile artist Alison Murray in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and the North Devon Hospice.

The Sugar on Snow hat from Knitty made from a bright and cheerful odd ball of chunky that I picked up in a charity shop is destined for the Love in a Box that I will be putting together shortly. This was the first time that I had tried mock cabling, and I also wanted to use my Boyes Needlemasters, which I have to say I am very pleased with. Initially they seemed a little metallic, but as I worked on, I found them to be a pleasure to knit with, nice and pointy and the cable behaved too. I did keep an eye on the join having heard that they can unscrew, but had no problems there, though I would still bear it in mind another time to be on the safe side.

My final FO is a hat for me from Hipknits Sari silk using their free pattern, and it actually suits me!!!!!

Back again....

and I hadn`t even told you I was going (sorry time ran out) but this is where I have been, and here I am trotting along on Sheffield Pike in the Lake District.

DD`s school has a different October half term to the rest of the world, so until the holiday companies realise, we decided to make the most of the `non-school-holiday prices` and sneaked in a last minute break in Ambleside for a bit of fell walking.

It was great to get away from every day life for a few days and after marching up the fells by day, I felt totally justified in spending all evening sitting knitting - and I will show you what I`ve achieved when they (yes plural!) are blocked.

Old dogs and new tricks

In the last Simply Knitting mag, I noticed a new (to me) way of holding the yarn when knitting fairisle - both yarns in the right hand, one on index finger the other on middle finger, so I thought I`d give it a go and at the same time knit my contribution to Knit a river for Wateraid. Well, I very soon got in a tangle, it was a real fiddle and the knitting became all puckered and `orrible. It didn`t take me many rows to realise that after 30+ years of doing fairisle one way, there really wasn`t any point in trying to master a new method if it didn`t come easily, so I went back to main colour in right hand the english way, and contrast in left hand the continental way, and in very little time this square appeared.

Now I know that you really can`t teach old dogs new tricks - or at the very least it is just not worth the effort.

`Tis done

The Tuscany shawl is finished, I rather enjoyed making it with each row being shorter than the last, and it is lovely and warm - so let them turn on that air conditioning now, I don`t care!

The picture just doesn`t do the yarn justice, it is lovely IRL and looks more like this. It was a real pleasure to knit with too.








Now to decide what to make next - yes I know Bertie and half a pair of socks are waiting for me, but you know how it is. I always used to be a one WIP person, but lately I have been led astray :-) There are too many nice things out there (but not enough hours in a day)

It`s official!

I`ve always known I am a Modelwidow, but now it is official. (well it`s nearly the same) DH came across this sticker when looking for something else and just had to buy it for me. Shame I can`t stick it on my knitting bag, wonder if they do a material one.



Knitting wise, I have finally managed to get hold of some Boyes Needlemaster interchangeable needles - Not that I didn`t like the idea of Denises but they just don`t go down small enough for me. It has been something of a trial getting these - I was unable to find a UK stockest and couldn`t find anyone in the USA willing to ship over here. On eBay most of the sellers wanted prohibitively high shipping rates to make it worthwhile until finally I found these. The price and shipping was good - I knew it must be too good to be true and it took 7 emails after buying to actually get the seller to acknowledge my purchase and send them to me - and he even had the audacity to ask for positive feedback!!!!!!

Still, I`ve got them in my grubby little mitts now - just need to finish my shawly thing, and decide what to cast on next to make use of them.

Not quite so Hot Desking

In my office we `hot desk` and just in case anyone isn`t familiar with that term, it`s just a fancy way of saying we don`t have our own allocated desk but just use which ever one is available.
Now, we all have different shift patterns in my team, which can vary person to person and on a daily or weekly basis - (I`m so glad mine is a fixed shift, I don`t think I could cope with constantly changing times as my colleagues do), so hot desking is fine if I start before them as I can chose my desk, but when they start first I often get left with the desk under the air conditioning unit,then it`s rather like sitting in a fridge.
At the moment my lovely scarf from my One Skein Pal is keeping the chill off my neck, but I know that soon I will be needing something to keep my shoulders and upper arms snug too.

So it occured to me, what I need is a Clapotis, I can wear it like a scarf on the way in, and then if necessary open it out a bit to keep more of me safe from the arctic chill. Yep, a clapotis would be perfect.

So, can someone please tell me why I am knitting this?!

I suppose it could have something to do with me falling in love with the colours,(it`s greener IRL and the purple and cerise bits look much nicer against it) not to mention that my LYS had just the right amount left in the reduced basket. It may not be a clapotis, but it is knitting up nice and quickly on 10mm needles, and every row is 2 sts shorter than the one before :-)

And here is a little chap I made in an evening for DD, the pattern is from Stitch`n bitch Nation, and the yarn is something soft and pinky and label-less that I picked up ages ago in a charity shop thinking it would come in handy sometime. In fact the buttons cost 3 times the amount I paid for the wool.
I like the way you leave a bit of the bottom seam undone so you can plug in your handsfree, looks like DD is chatting to a wooly toy!

And finally, it`s a good job this isn`t a smell-blog, I`m in the middle of making a huge pot of chutney, and it don`t `arf pong round here. Best go and give it another stir, poooooh.

Saturday Shopper

It`s not very often I see a pattern in a magazine and just have to make it now, but the Saturday Shopper in this months SK had that effect on me. I can`t remember the last time I crocheted something, (crochet was one of the crafts I more or less left behind with my teenage years) but it all came back to me - a bit like riding a bike, which was just as well owing to the number of errors in the pattern, including some sentences which simply did not make sense in english never mind crochet terms. But good old common sense prevailed, I worked out what they meant, and here is the end result. I had some left overs of cotton DK, but as I wasn`t convinced I had enough of either, I came up with this version, hopefully everyone else who sees it will think the two colours were a design feature and only you who are reading this will know the truth!

Despite my cursing at the pattern mistakes (which has made me wonder if I dare tackle anything else out of SK) I really enjoyed making this, and have vowed not to leave crochet for another ** years before I do any more.

Utterly Gorgeous

My One skein pal really is a star, my gift has arrived and it is absolutely gorgeous
She says it is her first completed crochet project - can you believe that? just look at it, and it is a shame you can`t feel it too, it is the most incredibly soft, silky thing you can imagine and it is feather light. Apart from the warmth and deliciousness of it you would never know you had anything round your neck!
It is made from Habu silk mohair kusa - there is only 14 grams in a ball!! I am so pleased with it I can`t tell you,

and just to show you how beautifully it has been made, here`s a close up! (Are you blushing yet puss?) She also sent me some chocolate, milk and plain (yum and double yum - this girl knows me too well) and the parcel arrived on my first day back to work after the 6 week summer break so it couldn`t have been better timing.

The card as usual was very appropriate - in case it isn`t clear from the piccy it says
"Mummy, what will I be when I grow up?" "Don`t be silly you`re a bloke, you`ll never grow up!"
DH looked up from his model aeroplane long enough to read it and chuckle!!!

It`s really nice to finally find out who this lovely lady is, (lucky thing lives near Holmfirth - Rowan country, Knitting and Crochet Guild, etc) It seems strange not having to call her Puss anymore, but I`ll be visiting her blog, Library Girl Knits to see what she gets up to.

Llamas, Alpacas and Pooh

Aren`t these guys handsome?
With DD and DH away playing with their model planes, I decided to have a day out and went to the craft fayre at Ashdown forest Llama park. I have to be honest and say it was a bit of a let down as it`s nearly an hours drive from here and there were only a handful of stands, with nothing of interest to me. So, I went to say hello to the llamas (above) and the alpacas (below)


Don`t they look funny after they`ve been shorn
but cute when they are young.

I spent quite a while wandering in the sushine and though it isn`t a big place I managed to pass a couple of hours quite happily. Sadly, they don`t sell any alpaca wool, I think they could be missing out there. Anyway with time still to spare I decided as I was in the area which in case you didn`t know is actually Pooh country, I couldn`t leave without visiting some of the sites, so I trekked off to Pooh Sticks Bridge, had an ice cream near Eeyore`s Sad and Gloomy Place, and finished up at Pooh Corner.

a not very good picture of Pooh Bridge - the only view I could get without all the world and his uncle in it!

I promise, my next post will contain something about knitting and/or crochet, as hopefully I will have something to show by then.

Back to earth with a bump.

So this is where I have been, I had a wonderful two weeks, (and all your good wishes must have worked as I wasn`t seasick on this cruise!) and the time just flew by.
We sailed from Southampton on the QE2 heading for the Mediterranean, with ports of call including Lisbon, Cagliari, Zakinthos .......







....Piraeus, from where we took the Metro (all by our ownselves) to get to Athens (shown here from part way up to the Acropolis), and it was 39'C (phew!)





then there was Naples and finally Gibraltar where we went up one of these to see the apes at the top of the Rock, which DD and I loved watching








I have to confess though that I didn`t get much knitting done, there was so much else to fill my time. Obviously there were the visits in port, but also on sea days there were lectures, (including Jeffrey Archer who, no matter where you stand on politics, is an excellent speaker, and oral historian Max Arthur who was very good too, to the extent that in one of his moving lectures with an audience of 500 you could have heard a pin drop!) there were dance classes, and demonstrations, films, shows etc etc ....I could go on for hours, and put in loads and loads of photos, but I won`t, I will just to say we had such a super time this is where I wish I was now

Sailing off into the sunset!

I did it in time!

DD`s bolero is finished and will be coming on holiday with us. It was a simple knit and I enjoyed the feel of the Kool Kotton which is a bit of a bargain at 99p for 50g especially as there are 130m per ball, and this took just under 4 balls. I`ll definitely be using it again (I hope it washes and wears well, I`ll let you know).



Well, I have got the important bits sorted out for our holiday - I will be knitting a Bertie Scarf courtesy of Bronte but using the lovely lambs wool my One Skein pal dyed for me, and then if I want something plain(ish) and stocking stitchy I will be taking my Kool Kotton (which I would have used for a bolero for me if I hadn`t have looked so daft in one) and DD`s left over and have a go at Mesilla . I have also packed my books, but I suppose I ought to consider packing some clothes too!

Wish me bon voyage, I`m going on a boat and get seasick! but hopefully all will be well and I will tell you all about it when I get back.

Packed and ready to go.

HAH! you thought I was off on holiday, didn`t you?


Well I am soon but in this case it is the One Skein Secret Pal gift that is packed and ready to go, and I really hope my pal likes it - I`m pretty sure she doesn`t read my blog so hopefully it is safe to put this piccy in now. I`m pretty pleased with the end result (I think I like this felting lark even if poor old Mum doesn`t quite get it - well she has spent the last 40 odd years of married life trying not to shrink woolies, and here am I doing it on purpose!!!)
In the One Skein book this `Clutch you`ll never give up` was decorated with buttons, but not having anything suitable I thought I`d scout around and found this lovely butterfly which is in fact a hair decoration from Clare`s Accessories - (brilliant shop for cheap pretty pretties and one we almost lived in when DD was pre-teen) and I think it just finishes the bag off (though it could easily be removed/replaced as desired as it is simply pushed through and anchored with a little invisible thread - how I HATE that stuff, but it has it`s uses. I`m still trying to find the bit I dropped, and no I`m not kidding!!)