Getting carried away

I don't usually get involved with anything political - though having met DH through Young Conservatives all those years ago perhaps I should as good things can clearly come of it. Mind you I only joined because I was pressganged by a friend to keep her company as she though it would be a good way to meet a man...she didn't....funny how things turn out. Anyway, I digress, it was more the humanitarian aspect of the Save the Children Knit One, Save One appeal that caught my eye, never mind Gordon Brown. If a couple of hours of my time could potentially save a baby's life by keeping it warm to help prevent pneumonia then I'd knit a hat, just the one, then I'd get on with my top. Erm, but it didn't quite work out like that. They were fun, cute and easy and I got a little carried away. I started thinking perhaps I'd try a different yarn, oh and there's just a little of that left which would look great striped with that one, and that stitch looks interesting on that cardi pattern, how would it work on a hat. DD didn't help, " there's nothing girly" she said so I had to knit a pink one, and a self striping pinkish one and so my one hat became....


and there is yet another on the needles - I think I may be addicted.

Oooops!

This is what happens to a cat who likes catching moorhens but who loses his footing



And doesn't green muddy pond water smell!

While the cat's away....

Modelwidow is going to teach herself to spin

Well that's the theory anyway. DH and DD have gone on their annual Daddy/Daughter trip to the Lake District to 'bag some peaks'* so I thought I would take the opportunity of time to myself to try something I've always wanted to do. I've read the book, checked out all the threads on the Crafty Threads'n'Yarns Forum and watched some videos on Youtube, so now it is just a matter of actually doing it. The yarn on the spindle was already there, spun by the seller to start me off.
Watch this space ( or listen out for the bad language as I discover why the contraption is called a 'drop' spindle)

And now for a Meme:

Sarah has tagged me for the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme so here goes:

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
Here are my responses.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
I was a stay at home Mum, DD hadn't long started school and we lived on the other side of the village. In May I would have been busy on my allotment much of the time and though I was going through a spell of not knitting (shock, horror) I had recently taken up Patchwork and Quilting, and was sewing clothes for DD too.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
1.Spin
2.Knit
3.Bobbin Lace
4.Visit Mum and Dad
5.Make Cauliflower cheese for tea with a cauli from Dad, cut this morning. The others hate it so I don't bother when they are home.
Yes it's all self indulgent - but then I am having a little holiday at home this week.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Fruit, especially bananas, and chocolate of course, and if I am trying to be good, then Salt and Vinegar rice cakes.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Tell work what to do with their job naturally. Then buy a nice place in the Lake District, with cottages/accomodation attached so I could let them out, just to keep the £££'s topped up and give me something to do, and have my friends and family to stay in them (for free).

5) Places I have lived:
Tunbridge Wells in Kent, and 2 villages nearby - and Northampton when I was at college.

6) Jobs I have had:
Forecourt attendant (in the days when we served the petrol) Shop Assistant, Office Admin, Life Assurance claims assessor, Bank clerk and now Health Insurance Adviser.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
This is the hard part, sorry Peeps - (only do it if you want)
Knityoga
Mandella
Seahorseclaire
Blueadt
and
Helen

* there are 214 Wainwrights (fells described by Alfred Wainwright in his guides), and some strange folk DH and DD included try to visit every one. DH has about 50 left to go, and DD quite a few more, but then again she is several years behind him.

Along the Thames

(Picture heavy courtesy of DD)
As a family we like walking, we also like London, so the other weekend we decided to combine the two, and DD took her camera along to take some different shots of well known places.
We started out by taking a tube to The Millenium/O2 dome
and then made our way towards
Canary Wharf
It seems strange looking at it like this at the end of a road. We followed the Thames Path most of the time which takes you to
Greenwich Observatory
and through the Greenwich foot tunnel under the Thames which DD did not like one little bit, I have to admit when you are roughly in the middle it does have that damp cold eerie feel. On towards Docklands and
The Traffic Light Tree
I'm glad I was walking not driving - even though it is only for decoration I think if I came upon that in the middle of the roundabout it would throw me completely.
Further on, heading back towards Charing Cross we turned around to see
St Paul's Cathedral
The weather was perfect, warm enough to walk in T-shirts with just enough breeze to make it comfortable and en route we saw or passed so many other sites and things of interest, the Gherkin, the Cutty Sark (or what's left of it), some real Gin Palaces of Yachts in the docks, a Victorian Wooden boat waiting for the lock gate to get out into the thames etc etc, I could have made this the longest post in history, but all good things must come to an end and three tired but happy people made their way back to Kent, and of course DH couldn't resist taking this rather unflattering picture of the best way to pass time on the train.

I have been thoroughly spoilt

When I accepted Silvia's invitation to Pay It Forward I never expected to be this spoilt. Just look at this beautiful lap quilt.



I just love the 'rustic' look of this Rag Quilt (the name doesn't do it justice). The gingham is not the type of gingham I remember of school summer dresses, but much nicer than that, and the lighter coloured squares have tiny dots and little stars that complement the design so well.
I used to do patchwork and quilting several moons ago, but it is one of the crafts which have fallen by the wayside for me, and though DH brings me home a magazine each month, I read and wish but never make - now I have a quilt of my very own specially made for me.

And not only that, which on it's own is wonderful, but Silvia also included some of her gorgeous handspun BFL

I wish you could feel it, so soft and squishy. I'm going to have to find just the right pattern to show it off, but in the meanwhile, I'm happy fondling!
Thank you so much Silvia.

And now in the spirit of Pay It Forward :

The first three people to join the challenge on my blog will receive a gift handmade by me. I will have 30 days to make and send your gift. You must then do a post on your blog inviting 3 people to join your Pay It Forward and receive a handmade gift from you. Sounds easy enough right. The first three people who leave a comment saying they want to join will receive something made by me.

Please feel free to comment anyway, but if you would like to join the PIF please say, if you don't mention joining in then I'll know you aren't (iyswim - you have no idea how many times I have tried to phrase that so it makes sense. I hope it does because I have now given up trying!)

Keeping the postman busy

That's the trouble with having a couple of weeks off - easy access to the computer! Actually the first lot didn't cost me a penny because at work each time we achieve something we are awarded stars ( yes it does sound like school and no we don't have a star chart) They are saved automatically on a computer system and we are able to convert them to gift vouchers when we have accumulated a few. I decided to have Amazon vouchers and treat myself, and this is what I bought.


I have no idea who I will be making the Fleecie Pets for, I'd seen the book in the shops and fell in love with the little critters. I expect a lot of you will have seen 101 designer One Skein Wonders already, I just thought there were so many nice little projects in there ( having checked it out on Ravelry) and I wasn't disappointed. Trust me I'm a junior doctor is going to be a good read - I always read Max Pembertons column in the weekend paper, I do find his style of writing amusing, and this book is about his first year after qualifying. And finally, as I've read some good things about Diva's don't knit I thought I'd give that a try too. The CD which just would not be photographed is by Savage Garden cos it was only £2.98 and I like two of the songs on there - I don't often buy CD's but at that price...... Not a bad little selection for free, considering I earnt my stars simply for doing what I consider to all be part of my job anyway.

Then I noticed that Kemps Wool shop had a sale and having been eyeing up Sirdar Ocean for a while, when I saw it for £1.50 a ball I just had to buy some. I've been a good girl, I knitted a tension square and washed it too before I cast on

and whilst I was there I spotted this gorgeous coloured Cotton DK from Patons and since it only increased the postage by a few pence it I couldn't resist buying some for Soleil from Knitty


And finally, just to show I have been doing some knitting as well as buying here is my latest charity knit



Using stash DK and 8mm needles, it knitted up quite quickly and is drapey, but I didn't enjoy making it and won't be using that needle/yarn combination. I thought I'd give it a go, and now know I don't like it but never mind, it will keep some little bubby warm.

Back from Edinburgh

We decided last minute to take a short break in Edinburgh. DH and I went up a few years back and loved the city, we always said we would go back, so we did! Now that DH's job and hobby combine and he often works from home, the only way to stop him working is to get him away from the computer, so we found a 3 for 2 deal in a rather nice hotel, (with DD staying free, would you believe) and booked ourselves on the train (plenty of knitting time) and off we went. The MacDonald Holyrood Hotel was super (a bit posh actually) and we had ended up with a suite!!! The bed was so large I nearly had to wave goodnight to DH.

DD wanted to see the Castle, which we all enjoyed looking round, and this is the view of the city from it



and from further up including the canons



They still fire Mons Meg and I couldn't believe my ears when I overheard and american tourist asking one of the guides
" What time is the One O'clock canon fired?"
the very tactful reply was "Thirteen hundred hours, sir."
I'd love to see some of the photos - it didn't half make everone jump!


We spent the rest of the day wandering round the city and the following day DH wanted to see the Royal Yacht Britannia, so we caught a bus out to Leith



The audio tour was very interesting and gave an insight into what it must have been like to be on board. There is a very stark contrast between the staff quarters and the Royals - you can hardly believe that this sitting room is on a boat! I was rather amused that the Queen had wanted to have an open coal fire in here, but the rules dictated that a marine would have to stand by it with a bucket of water at all times so she changed her mind.



On the knitting front, I visited John Lewis and despite all the beautiful yarn there I only came out with this

which I am intending to make into a Smoke ring. But I did fit in quite a bit of knitting time mainly thanks to the five and a half hour train journey from London to Edinburgh and came back with this
which is for the Round Robin Gift bag exchange over on Crafty threads'n'yarns and uses the Sweet Stranding pattern, and I also knit most of the 5 hour Baby Sweater


which actually isn't very well named, as it took me a lot longer than five hours. However I did enjoy making it, and next time I will put in some button holes! there wasn't any mention of them in the pattern and I didn't think until it was too late. I noticed a lady opposite on the train watching me intently whilst I was knitting this and I wasn't sure if it was because I was looking out of the window admiring the views at the same time, or if she was mesmerised by the awful fluorescent yellowy-green twist in with the white yarn that makes up the body and sleeves, or the BRIGHT green stripes in the yoke - The yarn was inherited, and yes it is a bit bold, but it is for the Baby Pack Project and can't you just imagine a little coloured baby in it.

Congratulations....

...to Knityoga on guessing the correct square crocheted by DD in my blogiversary competition.

I have sent you a mail to the address on your blog, if you would like to let me have your address I will pop the prize in the post.

Any one for a cuppa?

Another item for the Shaun the Sheep Picknit but my efforts this time rather than DD's. The pattern was from Simply Knitting and I liked the way it was based around a disposable cup to give it body and a realistic shape - actually I think mine looks a bit more like a latte than tea - I would be a bit worried if my tea was that frothy looking!

And after yesterdays outing with DD, I really could do with lots of cuppas. She and I went up to Olympia to the Vitality Show, we had a good day and came back with large bags full of freebies including numerous pens, samples of healthy foods, beauty products and even a T-shirt and water filter jug! Unfortunately due to a nasty cold ( first one since sept 2004 so I can't really complain) wading through the crowds was pretty tough going



and I was neither a picture of health nor beauty by the end of the day!

(just a quick reminder that if you are reading this before April 3rd, there is still time to enter my blogiversary competition designed by DD in the previous post)

Blogiversary and Babette

It will soon be my second blogiversary and to mark the occasion I will be giving away a small prize. Just a little something which I hope the winner will find useful, and a chance to say thank you to everyone for reading my blog and commenting over the last two years.




The prize consists of a small project bag ( great for socks, or any small project, I have a BSJ on circular needles in mine) together with a needle case containing (suprise, suprise) a wool needle and a couple of simple stitch markers, and with the attached fold-up scissors, just add pattern, needles and yarn and you are ready to go. Oh and, of course, some Divine chocolate - after all we knitters need chocolate and since this is Fairtrade, and delicious, everyone is happy!

So DD has designed a little competition for you based on the progress so far of my Babette blanket




We would like you to leave a comment including the number of the square which you think she crocheted ( is that the past tense of crochet?)
If more than one of you guess the correct square the winner will be decided by drawing a correct answer from a hat.
And if no one guesses correctly - I'll put everyones name in the hat.
(perhaps not the standard competition rules, but it's just a bit of fun)
The closing date will be my blogiversary which is April 3rd.

When I first started this blog, I didn't realise how much I would enjoy writing it, or how much all your comments would mean, thank you all so much.
And following on from the last entry - yes, Silvia, I think DD is wonderful too - I am very lucky. She has enough of me in her that we are similar, but enough of DH that we don't clash. I feel privileged to be able to say that my teenage daughter and I are the best of friends.

Happy Birthday DD

Good grief! how can DD possibly be 15 already? To celebrate we took her and two friends out for a meal yesterday and they stayed over. The easy way to tell they are growing up is that they actually slept. I told them I didn't mind whether they did or not, but DH and I would like to, and they were as good as gold. I never heard a peep after we went to bed and apparently they all went to sleep about 1am. Are DD's friend just lovely girls or is that normal for 15 year olds these days!

DD may be all growed up but she still wanted a fun birthday cake, only this year I just made the cake, and she did the decorating



And following the tradition started by my Dad when she was a toddler, she gave me this lovely bright and cheerful 'Pot Mum'



to say thank you for being her Mum.....but the pleasure is all mine.

Happy Mummys Day

I was quite spoilt this morning - tea in bed and these pressies from DD


Despite having the mickey taken by her friends whilst out shopping yesterday, she bought me Simply Knitting (quite why a knitting magazine should cause such hilarity I do not know but then I`m not 14 and from a non-crafty background) and added a little pad of sticky notes with a cute frog on,(lovely little chaps, frogs) and also framed my favourite photo of her and DH, and rounded it all off with a handmade card. The best and most thoughtful Mother`s day pressie I`ve had.

Knitting itself seems to have ground to a halt temporarily due to the discovery that the Babette Blanket pattern could be bought as a pdf, So I`m currently crocheting. Having wandered round the web, I found I was drawn by the blankets which used similar or a limited range of colours, so I delved into my stash to find all the pink/red/mauves. It`s only acrylic, but then again at least it will be easy care.

I did however finish EZ's baby blanket from Knitter's Almanac, which enabled me to send another two packs off to the Baby Pack Project. Here's a full shot - really hard to get it to look like the real thing...

and DD's Arty shot which shows the yarn, an inherited unidentified DK.


I got a little bored with the continual stocking stitch, so I decided to add in my own lace motif - in hindsight I should have done this a bit earlier, as I was running low on yarn by then - but Hey, it's the first time I've added my own (albeit very simple) design and I don`t suppose the little mite that is wrapped in it will be too concerned about its placement, and I learnt a lot too.

Having been inspired by the Shaun the Sheep Picknit at the Creative Stitches show a couple of weeks back, DD has taken up the needles and is rightly proud of her leaf, flowers, sweet and strawberry, especially bearing in mind she has only ever knitted a sample square before. I was particularly impressed with the strawberry - she handled two colours like a pro.

From the sublime to the ridiculous

It took me five weeks to make the socks, five weeks! I`ve decided that two at a time on magic loop is probably the way to go, but I have to confess that I won`t be in a great hurry to make any more. I`m pleased with the finished result, but as DD reminded me when I was looking at sock wool last weekend, I spent the entire time I was knitting them moaning!


Two toe-up socks on one circular needle
in Schoppel Wolle, Admiral ombre 1702
using a 100cm, 2mm Hiya Hiya circular needle
I`m hoping the tram lines will disappear after the first wash, and if I`m honest I may have to undo the cast off and try a different one as it isn`t really stretchy enough, it`s fine when it`s on, but it`s the getting it on, if you see what I mean.

I then went to the other extreme, and using the 20mm needles that came free with Let`s Knit, and a ball and a half of 3 Suisses Claridge (circa 1973) that I picked up for 10p at a bootsale last year, I created a garter stitch scarf in an evening. It`s actually quite cosy, and there is a slight colour variation which doesn`t show up in the picture, this is destined for one of my Christmas shoe boxes (yes I know it is only February but I`m going to reduce that stash somehow).


From 2mm to 20mm needles !

Good enough to eat

DD and I went down to Brighton yesterday to the Creative stitches and Hobbycrafts exhibition, which was, frankly a bit disappointing. If you don`t make cards or cross stitch, then there isn`t much for you. DD was looking forward to the "Stunning display" of costumes from Strictly Come Dancing - and there were 5 dresses!
But we were impressed by the Gingerbread House.
I knew about it, and even knitted a few flowers and leaves for the garden, but I hadn`t quite realised how large it would be, or how impressive in the flesh. It was nigh on impossible to get a good picture of the outside because of the number of people around it, so DD being tall raised her camera above the other heads and took this great picture of the inside.

I just loved the knitted photos

and for some reason the flower pots appealed as well

However, we couldn`t help but find our blood pressures rising as we sat in the cafe area along side and listened to some women of a certain age decreeing rather loudly that they just couldn`t see the point of all that knitting and that it was a waste of time as nothing could be done with it, unless of course it was dismantled and the toys given away and the squares made into blankets. I was so tempted to explain to them that apart from being rather an achievement involving over 500 knitters, it was actually raising money for charity - but because of their arogant dismissive tones I didn`t trust myself to be civil.

And just to prove how disappointing a show it was for us - I came away with .....a circular needle and a pack of jump rings. Yep, that`s it!

At last...

Why is it that whenever I am enjoing a cuppa some one always wants something? It`s become a standing joke in our family that I reply the same way so often that when the Grim Reaper knocks on the door I will say it to him too - and have it engraved on my tombstone.

So here it is...

Tombstone Generator

Victorian shawl

The shawl is finished and blocked and in regular use of an evening while I knit. I was really surprised at just how much it opened out after washing and blocking, but it certainly shows the lace now, and came out at almost the exact size on the pattern - which makes a distinct change for me even when I do hit gauge!

Victorian aran Weight Shawl Jaeger Matchmaker Aran modelled by DD

The socks are coming along, I`m just about to turn the heel - I can`t say I`m enjoying making them, the only thing that keeps me going is when I try them on they feel so nice.

Last night I decided to do a little bit of sewing, as I could do with a small needle case to keep in one of my knitting bags, just so I can have a needle and a couple of safety pins holding stitch markers to hand, I got fabric ready and settled down to stich but then discovered I had a little bit of a problem ....

It`s all Kelleys fault

I really, really want to like knitting socks! A couple of years ago a made a pair on dpns, then a (still) lone sock followed, but it wasn`t fun. A few months back I made DD a pair, two at a time on two circs, and that was better, but I still wasn`t hooked, so the other day when I was listening to some `back issues` of the Knit Picks Podcast and Kelley Petkun was talking about knitting two socks on one long circ using the magic loop, I thought I`d give that a try. So off I went and found a brilliant tutorial by Cometosilver , and a l-o-n-g circ from Knit n Caboodle .

The very next day postie knocked on the door with this....

Well you can`t just buy a cirular needle on it`s own now can you? especially when the sock yarn is reduced to £3.95 a ball.
DD was quite amused that I became excited when I saw it was in a Purple posting bag, wrapped in lilac tissue, with a free cable needle. Luckily I had just finished the Aran shawl (which is blocking as I write) so I was able to cast on straight away.
The Hiya Hiya needles are quite nice to use, the joins are good and the cable very flexible, if a little curly, and so far I`m enjoying it - though with 32st to 4" and size 8 feet (!) to knit for, they won`t be the quickest socks in history, but I just love the colours - perfect for brightening up a dull january day.

Happy New Year

Where on earth did 2007 go? Even Christmas seems a dim and distant memory fortunately. (yes I know it could have been much much worse, in truth it was only mildly irritating, and I have just a slightly sore tongue from constantly biting it to prevent me expressing how I felt to certain relatives regarding their and their offsprings behaviour- but hey isn`t that families all over)

Regarding New Years resolutions, how did I do... well I intended to knit 10 things for charity and.....

I actually ended up with more than 10, which makes up for the fact that I failed dismally on resolution no.2 - to get fitter - ah well, gives me something to carry over to 2008!


Christmas pressy wise, I received Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle, and my only problem is ... What do I knit first - there is very little in there that I don`t like
I also had a gorgeous skein of Lane Borgosesia Cashsoft Lace yarn in Nutmeg - it is soooooo soft and squishy, but oh my, talk about fine, I`ve always wanted to try lace weight but, it`s scarily fine. (Yes, yes, I know you are all laughing at me, but you are reading the blog of the person who usually uses dk acrylic!) Despite having the Folk Shawls book, this is most likely going to become Pomegranate from the autumn Yarn Forward magazine, which I love, and because there isn`t really anything in the book that uses just one skein of lace weight!
DH nearly bought me a knitting book - he went off to the shop all by himself and came back with the perfect book for me, 200 Knitted Blocks, then he looked at my bookshelf and in fact found it was so perfect, it`s one of the very few I had bought myself!
So he took it back and bought this CD instead and I can now be found dancing round the kitchen and bopping along while I do the ironing.

Rudolph cakes and Happy Christmas

I HATE writing Christmas cards, hate it with avengence, so for my work colleagues I came up with another idea



Rudolph cakes which were a very popular and much tastier alternative




The victorian aran weight shawl is coming along nicely, I`m now part way through ball 4 (of 8) and on the third type of lace. DD thinks it looks like a forest of trees, and I can see her point - quite seasonal (or they would be if they were green with tinsel and baubles!)
And because the rows are getting rather long, and I`m still having trouble memorising the pattern I have started a piece of `I-don`t-want-to-have-to-think-about-it` knitting in the form of the babies shawl from February in Elizabeth Zimmermann`s Knitter`s Almanac - though you could be forgiven for thinking that I am knitting a beret!


Just lovely mindless knitting, with the odd yarnover for shaping, so I can chill out when the festivities get a bit much.

Happy Christmas to you all.

What shall we have for dinner?

A question I often ask myself - I do dislike having to keep thinking of what to cook. But inspiration can come from the strangest sources, for example I spotted this little chap in the corner of the garage.

So what did we have for dinner?



Toad in the hole, of course!