On and off the needles

It has recently been mentioned (and quite rightly too) that there hasn’t been much of my knitting on the blog lately – so there was I making excuses about not having done much, being busy with other things etc etc but when I actually stopped and thought about it, it isn’t really the case.

I think subconsciously, because they have all been small and simple makes that I have mainly popped away to be packed and posted to their respective charities, I didn’t expect anyone to be interested, maybe I am wrong (or maybe not) but anyway here is a round up of the latest knits off the needle.


At the top are two hats that I made up as I went along (and intend to write up the ‘recipe’ at some point). Moving round there are 3 squares for KAS (that black Wendy Party was some funny stuff to knit with!) there is a ‘Fish and Chip baby’ sweater and the little thing in the middle is an Angel Clare bodywarmer .


And finally my March square for the Bakers Dozen, lace leaf stitch in keeping with my theme (linked to me living in The Garden of England).



Then I thought I’d have a look at what was on the needles, I'm ignoring the mitred blanket languishing in the corner and the Babette crocheted blanket hiding under the desk which are more UFOs than WIPs – but to my surprise I still found 4 things though since I am working on all of them quite why it took me by surprise I have no idea.


Top left there is my simple charity sweater using the Fish and Chip baby sweater idea but with quite a few amendments, which again I will write up if it works, top right a shawl from the lovely Aysen that Rhonda sent me, bottom right is Mayflower’s lazy weekend cardigan from Loving Hands and bottom left is the Cable and Lace phone sock that I cast on at the weekend (well I bought a new phone on Friday so what else was I to do)


And then having put them all away in their relevant places (bedside cabinet, workroom, downstairs and handbag) I suddenly remembered my Hitchhiker – how could I forget it because hopefully as you will see from the heart shape it arranged itself when I tipped it out of the bag…


I love it!

A small act of kindness....

The other day a colleague and I were joking about how having new stationary is still fun and makes us cheerful even at our age and, reminiscing about new pencil cases etc for school, she showed me the pack of pens that she had just bought which I said were great and just the shape (and bright colours) pens should be.

The next day we were both in a meeting, which became a bit contentious and I quite clearly didn't hide my emotions as well as I thought I had, because afterwards she came to offer any help she could with the problem - and to give me one of her new pens "to cheer me up as she didn't like to see me upset"
Now I know it is only a pen, don't get me wrong, but at the risk of sounding rather sentimental, it's far more than that - every time I write with it, it reminds me that someone cares and has made me think how small acts of kindness can mean such a lot.

All that yarn

.. and I didn't buy a single skein!

Last weekend I went to Unravel - a bit of a hike round the M25 for me, but I'd never been before and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and besides there were some interesting workshops on offer. The journey was quite easy until the end when foolishly instead of listening to my satnav, I tried to follow the Unravel signs and took a couple of trips round Farnham's one way system before acknowledging that they were taking me in ever decreasing circles and back out again where as, on this occasion the satnav actually did know better.

Anyway, I had a very enjoyable day wandering round the stands that were in umpteen different rooms and squishing yarn,
I saw some real sheep

and a knitted one


Met up with Noo, Jessica, Franney and Wildpurl from CTnY which was so nice after having chatted on the forum for so long, went to help at the UK Handknitting stand, though my services weren't required as it was so quiet, so I had an extra browse, but even then I only came away with some Knitpicks interchangeables - I think there was so much lovely yarn I became 'wool blind'.

The workshop I had chosen was called "Entrelac + Beyond" with Alison Ellen, I've often looked at entrelac with interest, I once did the first row of blocks but that's as far as it went, and I now realise that the instructions I used were not clear. Anyway, I've 'got' it now, and have a little sample to prove it

Though I'm not sure I will be in a hurry to do anymore, at least I now know how!

Hugo and Claudia

I've admired Rebecca Danger's Knitted Monsters ever since I first saw them. I was looking at the book again a while back and bemoaning the fact that I had no one to knit them for when DH said "Well make them for yourself then" Now why didn't I think of that!
I decided it was an excellent use for my birthday book token and then I sent off to Kemps (any excuse!) and got knitting.
So now I would like to introduce


Hugo and Claudia

Whilst making Hugo, the couch potato monster for myself, DD looked through the book and asked me to make Claude, the closet monster, for her - I expect most of you know how rare it is for a teenager to ask for something knitted so I couldn't refuse, off we went to Kemps again, and she chose some purple Eskimo and decided a purple monster had to be female, hence Claudia.
I think they look very at home on the couch watching TV, though I did notice Hugo hogging the remote!

It's all square

I seem to have been making a lot of square things lately (well apart from Monsters but they deserve a post of their own).

I try to be environmentally friendly and use my own mug at work instead of the plastic cups from the vending machine (besides you can fit two cups worth in a mug!) and so it seems counter-productive to then use paper towels to wipe/soak up the inevitable drips. My crochet coasters are looking a little sad now so when I saw a new idea over on blueadt's blog and she kindly told us how to make them on the CTnY forum I thought I would have a go.



Then at my Lace meeting, a friend was crocheting a blanket and I rather took to the stitch she was doing but no matter how she tried to explain it, I just couldn't grasp what she meant - the only solution was to whip out a hook and yarn and actually do it......
easy when you know how, and another square to add to the collection for Knit-a-square


And finally, my January square for the Baker's Dozen where the request was for something in red/yellow/white

Spielwarenmesse International

Or International Toy Fair to you and me


Very early last Friday morning we set off for Ebbsfleet International to catch the Eurostar and then make our way across the continent by train.

Ebbsfleet to Brussels, Brussels to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Wurzberg, Wurzberg to Bamberg.

During the course of the day we discovered that just like British Rail the trains can be delayed, but unlike BR they keep you advised and even work out how you can still catch your connections with announcements in German, French and English.

We were off to the Nuremberg Toy Fair, a business trip for DH and I was tagging along under the guise of photographer (well that’s what it said on my press pass). Don’t laugh, I have had photos published in the magazine – taking pictures of model aircraft whizzing passed at 30-40mph using a very expensive camera is a totally different ball game to taking snaps for the blog.

We arrived late afternoon at a very German hotel,
The writing on the wall translates to – Give every day the chance to be the best of your life.

The next morning we took a double decker train (now that was a novelty, I felt like a kid, especially when DH and BIL asked me if I wanted to sit up stairs) then the underground to the exhibition centre, which is absolutely enormous and I confess to feeling a bit overwhelmed and wondering if I should attach myself to DH to make sure I didn’t lose him forever.

This is just one of the 4 entrances (viewed from the balcony outside the Press Lounge)

Having access to the press lounge was a godsend, somewhere to meet up with the rest of the party, rest our weary legs and refuel on pastries, pretzels and free tea, coffee and soft drinks.

I did do the meeting and hand shaking bit for some of the time, and felt very proud of DH, of the respect he comands and the welcome he recieved from what is frankly not an industry that is easy to get into and that he only joined 5 years ago. I also took some time to wander round the other halls – well after all there are only so many model planes, helicopters, engines and the like a girl can take.

I surveyed the (miniature) kingdom.

Picked out our new summer cottage.

Made some new best friends.

Saw flying fish.

Found the source of our yarn?

And spotted woolies in woolies.

Our journey back was interesting, with the temperatures reaching a 'high' of -21' during the day even the German trains were having trouble coping,(-28' at night resulted in some traders having the diesel freeze in their van's tank's!) and a delay meant missing our connection, running across stations - well DH walked and the other 3 of us ran to keep up - taking an alternative route and literally hurtling through customs and diving on to the Eurostar just as it was about to pull out of the station. But, we made it and came back to a snowy white England to rest and recover and look through our hundreds of pictures and mountains of brochures.

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!)

Too tired to knit

Would you believe I was away all last (bank holiday) weekend and I didn't do a single stitch of knitting! I know, I was amazed myself, but I was SO tired.

I may have mentioned before that DH is deputy editor of a Model Aircraft magazine (BIL is editor) so we had a working weekend.


The British National Model Flying Championships
We were at Barkston Heath RAF base near Grantham, Lincs where literally thousands of model flyers of every discipline attend to compete, watch, camp, socialise, and shop.
(That is only a small part of the traders village in the photo above, and some lovely clouds!). Now the menfolk need to network, photograph and cover the events so this is where DD and I were all weekend
Our 'shop'

It was more of a publicity tent than shop really, though we were selling current and back issues of the magazine and subscriptions plus a few accessories - each day we had to unpack the van and set up the stand, then pack it all away again at the end of the day, then drive off to the Premier Inn nearby where we were staying for a decent shower and a meal- I've camped at the Nats before, twice, and believe me that was two times too many. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, for miles to stop the wind, in fact this year only one tent was blown down, but last year there were several!

DD in the corner at the till

We had a prize draw which was very popular and planes made from the free plans in the magazine on display too

We met some lovely people and had some very nice chats, we met some weird people - like the man who had bought a plan for a model plane 20 years ago from the previous company and insisted on showing us every line on it that was even a milimetre out! and we met some strange people too - like the lady who wanted to know why we hadn't bought any Cross Stitch magazines to sell ....um a) this is a model flying event with 95% of the attendees being male, b) we were there for the specific model magazine not the publishing company and c) rather more importantly, the company don't publish one - not that she would believe us!

All in all it was a very enjoyable, though very tiring, weekend.
However the only downside was the facilities - think a handful of portaloos, a warm weekend and thousands of men, some of whom had absolutely no idea of hygiene or aim and must live in a pigsty and you will realise why DD and I decided that it wasn't only the model helicopters that needed to hover!

Blanket confession

If you have been over on Ravelry lately chances are you will have come across the Beekeeper's Quilt . Like all of us, I am sure, sometimes I see a pattern and think I must make it NOW, but it isn't often that I act on it and the urge passes - this time, resistance was futile, I tried to ignore it, but it kept going through my mind, and all those balls of sock yarn were calling out from the cupboard. I was just so taken with it that even though I switched off the computer and went off to do something else, I couldn't help myself and logged back on, bought the pattern and cast on.

I have deviated from the pattern a little in that I am using magic loop (knitting on two DPNs just isn't for me) and Judy's Magic cast on - which I need to practice and be familiar with for a workshop I have booked, so this was one of the ways that I justified buying the pattern :0) and I am closing the puffs with Kitchener stitch.
Who knows how many I will end up making, there may only be enough for a cushion seat pad, but on the other hand they are quite addictive so I might have a bedsized quilt, only time will tell.

We have also been talking about blankets over on the Crafty Threads'n'Yarns forum, so I thought it ought to be confession time....I have two other blankets on the go already (but neither of them are as portable as these little puffs where all the bits and pieces fit neatly into a cosmetic bag in my handbag).

Babette is still on the go although I haven't touched it for a while

and there's a Mitred Blanket that has been on the needles for a good long time,

based on the sock yarn blankies that have been popular but using DK oddments, I'd forgotten how cheerful it was and I nearly disposed of it at one point, but I'll be adding a few more squares now, if I can put the puffs down for long enough!