Good to be home

I love holidays, and I love coming home afterwards. We did have a good break in Tenby last week; thanks for your good wishes. We had wonderful weather most of the time and have all managed to get tans by spending hours on the fab Tenby South Beach! Not bad going for 5 days in Wales.

Coming home was great - it smells of gloss paint as my magnanimous in-laws spent 3 days here whilst we were away re-decorating for us. They are such gems! We are currently tackling the lounge/stairs/landing - all in one as we have no separate hallway. It was covered in original 70's woodchip and many layers of yellowing paint; the painted areas now look like part of a newly-built house! It's all very inspiring, and my yarn budget is well on it's way to being blown on new curtains, cushions, and lighting. BTW have you seen that Crown suede-look paint...? Yummy!

AFA yarn goes, the holiday was unfruitful. I visited Colourway twice it was shut first time, and just about to shut for half-day closing the second time! I did manage to get 10 minutes to look around, but they still hadn't received the Jaeger JB38 magazine. I had intended to buy that and maybe some yarn for one of the projects, but it was not to be. Nor could I find any kind of sale section either, so no Welsh yarn bargains for me this time. It's a very lovely shop though. They had a cardigan knitted up in green Rowan Cotton Braid which looked totally fab (very different to on the ball as the binder disappears to the back and the coloured loops show up much better). I also spied some Rowan Plaid which looked yummy too but I was a little scared off by the £8.50 per ball price tag!

We didn't get to Colinette as turned out to be too far off route - that's a trip for another day.

We did stop for food at a fab place on the way back called Garth Mill - they have llamas in one of their fields! We bought some of their gorgeous dry cured bacon and home-made sausages - 6 of the pork and apricot, and 6 of the pork, mustard, and herbs. The mustardy ones went to my in-laws as a little thank-you for the decorating and were thoroughly enjoyed.

I did manage to knit every evening and finished the first ball of Jaeger Luxury Tweed on my textured cardigan - all 185m of it! It sure goes a long way. I'm loving the stitch pattern now that I've got used to it.

I also did some of the dreaded Fizz scarf, and I'm now on the second (and last) ball of that. I don't think it's going as far as the previous version of this yarn, but it doesn't matter.

Confession time! Just before we went on holiday I did succumb to 2 packs of Rowan Cork in the shade Chilly which the fab ebay seller 4to4 was selling for less than half price! The pattern book came along too as a freebie.

The intention was to make Carmel from Rowan 34 which I've been contemplating for almost 12 months now. BUT, having looked through the pattern book, I think I may change my plans to make Kathy and Bless as I can squeeze them both out of the 2 packs. Bargain!

We're off!

Well we're off on holiday tomorrow to (hopefully) sunny Tenby in South Wales. There are still piles of "stuff" everywhere, but I'm sure it'll all fit in the car tomorrow (fingers crossed). We're only going for a week, but we have to take toys for the girls too, plus clothes for all eventualitites weather-wise - well it is lovely Wales after all. ;-)

I'm taking my Textured Cardigan and the dreaded Sirdar Fizz scarf with me; hopefully there will be some progress made in the evenings. DH has just found out that there are some good surfing beaches close by, and the girls want to have a go at body-boarding too, so I don't think I'll be knitting on the beach.

See ya soon!

Don't try this at home

Last night I decided I would try to get my Lacewing Bolero seamed before we went on holiday.
I started seaming away merrily, doing the side seam first. Hmm, not so easy to sew the sleeve in. Never mind. Then I had to stretch the sleeve seams to fit the armholes - strange, I thought, but carried on regardless.
One side done, all ends darned in neatly, time to try it on. Hmm, seems weird - the armhole is a little tight and the neckline seems very wide - almost to my shoulders, and there seems to be an odd straight bit at the neckline before the v-neck starts.
So I took it off and had a good look at it. The cogs in my brain slowly whirred into life. What a plonker. I've sewed in the sleeves as if they were raglan when in fact they are set-in. That wide neckline and odd straight neck shaping is actually the shoulder seams that I've forgotten to seam together! No wonder the sleeves wouldn't fit properly - the sleeve cast-off is supposed to be joined to the armhole edges. Duh! Needless to say it won't now be finished before we go on holiday.
Moral of this merry tale - think about what you're doing and seam your shoulders first!

On a happier note, here's my progress so far with the Luxury Tweed Textured Cardigan. It's very slow - about 7 minutes for each pattern row (2 in every 4), but the result is very rewarding. I contemplated ditching it as it's going to take ages, but I do love the finished look and feel - firm yet soft. Guess I'll just have to be patient with this one!

Yesterday I received my September issue of Sandra magazine. The usual mix of "Oooh!"s and "Aarrgghh!"s. I adore the main cover design, but I can't seem to find the specified yarn in the colour used yet, so I may have to substitute.

I also love this design - I seem to be strangely drawn to boleros at the moment. At least this one has a warmer look to it.

And finally I do like this one - a funky aran knit.

I think my wishlist has overdosed!

The votes are in!

Thanks to all of you who voted - you confirmed my thoughts. The winner is the Jaeger Luxury Tweed cardigan as pictured here. I started it today at the Knit Chat meeting, and it looks good!
I don't think it'll be a quick knit as it's a weird stitch pattern involving this: p3tog keeping sts on left needle, yo, p3tog again then slip sts off left needle. It's making a firm fabric so I'm not downsizing the needle size as I usually do.
It was a close call as to whether I made it in the beautiful colour shown, but I ended up buying the pebble shade.

The project speed doesn't matter; I just wanted something on the go to take on our hols to Tenby next week. Anyone know of any good yarn shops in the area that I should visit? I know Colourway are in that area, and Colinette may be scheduled in en route if I can convince DH to take my girls to the Llanfair Railway!

The pattern is from a Woman's Weekly Knitting and Stitching Special 2004 magazine that I picked up by chance whilst travelling home from an exhibition about HR systems for work! It also includes this fab cable jumper which I love; this one uses Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK yarn. Guess what I'm on the lookout for. ;-)

BTW, have you seen the Jaeger JB38 magazine? I love almost every project in there (groan!) I think I may have to purchase that very soon.

What next?

OK, the fronts are done, and I'm on the short sleeve for my Lacewing Bolero. I've got a severe case of next-project-itis! I just can't make up my mind though. Fancy helping me out? Any one of the following projects will use some of my stash yarn.
(BTW goodness knows why I'm getting all these blank lines. I haven't put them there!)

Which project next?
	Jaeger Luxury Tweed textured knit cardigan
	Colinette Giotto plain knit sweater
	Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran lace knit shawl
	Rowan Summer Tweed knit & crochet sweater
	Audrey in Rowan Calmer
	Gemma in Rowan Calmer & 4ply cotton
Free polls from Pollhost.com

1st Anniversary!

Today was the 1st anniversary of our Knit Chat group! I can't believe it's been going so long; the time has flown past. Just goes to show how much fun we all have there. ;-) Pictured are (clockwise from back right) Sarah Beth, Reg, Fiona, Fiona 2, and our lovely host Rose.

Some of our regulars missed out on this delicious anniversary cake that was supplied for us! Very tasty.

My Lacewing Bolero is coming along nicely, although the fronts have proved a little challenging to start. The right front is done and I've started the left front - and I had to begin both of them several times before I got the hang of which side was which for the pattern and the shaping. I'm just too tired. My youngest daughter seems to need far less sleep than the rest of us, no matter how much we do in the day to try to wear her out. Hopefully she'll sleep better when she starts full-time school in January. Until then I'll just have to be tired and knit carefully. ;-)

One step forward, two steps back..

First off, thanks & a big hug go out to all of you who sent me happy birthday wishes. It was really lovely to read them all. :-)
I had a fab day with my family - including my nephew James. As you can see, he's doing really well. :-)
My girls went home with nanny & grandad at 8pm so that DH could take me out for a yummy meal at a local pub - The Seven Stars at Seisdon. I had Romano Chicken - the homemade sauce was heavenly.

I've just realised that I haven't revealed my latest project; how very lackadaisical of me (fab word)! It's a lacy bolero I'm making up in the Morocco linen/acrylic blend yarn from my stash. Let me just repeat that - it's stash yarn. Just in case you didn't hear first time. ;-)

Rose summed the colour up beautifully as a mixture of raspberry & strawberry. It feels a bit harsh, but I'm hoping that a good dose of fabric conditioner will sort that out once it's finished. If it does get finished that is; I'm a little worried that I may run out of yarn as I only have 200g of the stuff. Oh well, if I do I'll just have to frog the back and fronts and re-work them shorter (but let's just hope we don't go there eh?!)

Oh-so-long-ago when I first had ideas about this bolero, Francoise asked if I'd be making it the same shape as my Peachy Bolero. It's basically the same (and again designed using my Knitware software), but the sleeves are shorter. It may be a little different as I've lent my Peachy Bolero charts to a friend, so I'll have to draw the front shaping onto these charts from memory. ;-)

I'm using the Lace Wing stitch pattern from my Vogue Dictionary of Knitting Stitches. It's a very easy 4 row repeat, with 2 of those being purl rows. Not that you'd know it, from my antics yesterday..

Yesterday was the Tuesday Fix - the Knit Chat club. I had a lovely time happily knitting away on my lace wing shrug (up to the armholes on the back!), chatting, and drinking my favourite latte for an hour. Just about 10 minutes from the end, I suddenly realised that I been increasing instead of decreasing. On the armholes. That's too much for a Homer Simpson "Doh!"; it's more of a Bart Simpson "Arrggghhh!" Talk about lights on and nobody home.

So last night, I gritted my teeth and frogged said increase rows. Why does frogging take so much longer than knitting? Maybe if you practise often enough it doesn't. No, I don't think I'll try that. So I got back to where I'd started at lunchtime. I knitted 2 rows. I counted the stitches. There was 1 short!. Double aaaarrrggghhhh!!! I'd forgotten one of the yarn overs and of course it had to be right at the start of the first row I'd re-knitted. What did I say about frogging practise?

Anyway my brain must have warmed up at some point as I'm now on the straight part of the armhole, racing up towards the neckline & shoulders. Did I mention that I've already done one short sleeve? It was good practise for the pattern. I do love the stitch pattern, and the colour of the yarn. Not so sure about the feel of the linen/acrylic mix though.

My birthday present from my girls arrived yesterday courtesy of Amazon - it's the lovely book "Lavish Lace : Knitting with Handpainted Yarns". I've started reading it from cover to cover; it's very interesting. It includes lots of gorgeous lacy scarf/shawl patterns and it also describes how the handpainted yarns were created, plus how the pattern looks and behaves in the same colourway but different fibre yarns. Fab. And yes I now have almost all the projects on my To-Do List!

Finally, look what DH made me for dinner after work today! A very delicious beef salad. There are advantages to marrying a guy who part-trained as a chef! ;-)

Birthday Girl!

Yes, I'm 39 today. The sun's shining and I've got the day off work. DH ordered something from my Amazon wishlist off my girls, but it hasn't arrived. Guess that means I get another birthday tomorrow too. :-) Better get cooking for my lunchtime visitors.

FO as promised

The Presto Top is done!
This is me modelling her just before midnight last night, immediately after sewing in the last end. She fits really well and feels lovely on the skin.
I had to resist the temptation to wear her today as I want her first outing to be to the Knit Chat club on Saturday.

I had a lovely day today visiting our local park with my girls. This is the view through the railings of the bridge over the connecting part between the 2 lakes. I walked and my girls rode their bikes. My eldest has just mastered the art of riding without stabilisers, so a 3 mile ride was good practise, and great exercise for me.
The park is exactly 1 mile in perimeter, and we walked/rode there and back too. We called in at the new tea rooms at the park, where the girls had ice creams and squash, and I gave in to a lovely fresh cream and strawberry scone with a cappuccino. Just the job to revive us for the walk home!

I wanted to show you the fabulous flower beds at the park which are in full bloom at the moment. Absolutely gorgeous. This is just one small section of them. I must try fiddling around with the photo settings on my mobile phone to see if I can get some better pics.

My eldest is having her first ever sleepover at her friend's tonight; they were so excited! We're all meeting up in the morning for another trip to the park, so fingers crossed for more sunshine!

I had a bit of bad news from Marchmoon this afternoon. My order for the Filatura di Crosa Brilla yarn can't be fulfilled; apparently FdC had promised stocks which never appeared and the Marchmoon staff had forgotten to take it off the website. Oh well, c'est la vie. I'd better press on with more stashbustin' instead!

More news..

I'm so pleased with my purchase today I had to share it with you all. This is my new pink suede jacket which I got for £35 (that's 30% off) in the BHS sale. My wonderful DH loves it and is buying it for my birthday which is on Monday next week! Faberooney! It even smells gorgeous. It's fitted at the waist and looks wonderful on, especially with my plum skirt that I bought recently from the Principles sale. I'm chuffed to bits!

Also more good news - Presto is nearly finished. Here she is waiting for me to knit the last 2 rows of the neckline. I seamed the arms to the back & front last night, and it went really well. The remaining seaming shouldn't take long, and then I can wear her too. Faberooney mark 2. ;-)

I don't know, 2 posts in 2 days - don't expect this all the time will you?!

Tuesday Fix

Well lookey here! The blob of randomness has blossomed into a pretty little moebius scarf. Just the ends to sew in. I used 1 ball of Linen Print and 2 balls of Cotton Tape, so it turns out that this project is a great way of using up odd balls of yarn. Now that's useful to know. I have a feeling I'll be making more of these.

I got my (almost) mid-week fix of our Knit Chat club this lunchtime, so I'm happy. Today was amazing as there were 7 of us altogether, instead of the usual 3 or 4! An hour of knitting mid-way through a day at work is a lovely break. It's also more than I've managed in the last 2 days; last Saturday I managed 4 hours of knitting (club meet plus a late night) but since then I've only just squeezed in 4 rows per day, at bedtime. I'm just 6 rows off finishing the second sleeve for the Presto Top, so I'm determined to get that done tonight (even though I need to help DH with his VAT return - bleugh).

That puts me in an unexpected situation; I then have 3 projects awaiting work with the darning needles, and only the replacement Sirdar Fizz scarf to knit. Hmm, that wasn't very good timing was it?! I guess I'd better get those Chibis out..

Hey Presto!

I'm loving this Presto Top pattern as it's turning out to be a quick knit with great results. So far anyway.

The back and front are done (identical) and here's the first sleeve. It took no more than 1 hour last night from start to finish! That's the kind of sleeve I like. ;-)

I have to admit to giving in to the Marchmoon sale, although I am trying to curb my stash enhancement atm. When I checked for the Brilla yarn I'd had my eye on, there were just 9 balls left of the exact colour I wanted. It had my name on it! I ordered it immediately on Wednesday evening, so hopefully it should arrive soon.

I also want to get hold of the latest Rebecca 30 magazine and a Filatura di Crosa magazine. Rebecca 30 is supposed to be good but isn't being previewed at their website until 17th August which is the official publication date for it. I can't find any previews of the Filatura di Crosa magazine, but whenever I spot adverts for them in any knitting magazines, they always seem to have a lovely textured pattern shown.

BTW, if you've got the latest Knitting magazine, there's a pic in the Rowan workshop article of our lovely Rose who hosts our Knit Chat club!

We visited my nephew James today and he's thriving I'm happy to say. We had lots of cuddles and he's much more alert now. This is his thoughtful pose. :-)

As for our garden, I finally have flowers on my clematis! This is a breakthrough, as clematis plants don't seem to like my garden. These blooms are small but beautiful.

We now also have some stripy grass safely installed in a pot in our garden too. My MIL donated it from hers, and I was told to put it in a pot as it's very invasive. Pretty though. I just wish I could remember the proper name for it!

Finally... a classic from my youngest daughter today.
Me: "Don't do that darling - it's dangerous. If your hand slips you could fall on your head and be dead, so I don't want to see you do it again, ok?"
Daughter: "Mommy just don't look."
Don't ya just love 'em?!

Sidetracked

We had a fab Knit Chat on Saturday. I got completely sidetracked when Rose brought round a huge lucky dip bag of Rowan yarns! We could have a couple each, to practise making the project of the day which was a moebius scarf.

I (finally) chose a ball of khaki Cotton Tape and a faberooney ball of Linen Print in "Smoky" (my birthday wishlist now includes 10-12 balls of this fabulous shade!). I decided I could complement it with some of the left-over Cotton Tape I have in my stash in the "Enchant" shade (deep cerise pink).

The scarf was very tricky to handle to start with, but after the cast-on and the first row it was fine. I still can't get my head round how it works! Anyway, it's fast & easy, and we'll soon be able to see how it turns out.

While we're on the Rowan topic, have you previewed the latest Rowan 38 mag? I did and unless it's better close up then no thanks. I'm not too impressed with the patterns or the "new" yarns. New? Maybe some, but others (such as Kidsilk Spray) seem to be simply current yarns in new shades. OK so it's variegated, but that's just another colourway isn't it? If you bring out a car in a new colour is it a new car? I didn't think so.. maybe I'm wrong..

Last night I finished the back of my Presto Top, and I love the crispness of the stitch definition, and the mix of shades in the yarn. I'm still not sure whether I should have used the 5mm needles as stated; I went down to 4.5mm as I knit loosely, but it's going to be a close call as to whether it fits a little too snugly or not!
I've got used to the Sandra magazine patterns now; you need to photocopy the charts and annotate them as much as you need so you can work almost exclusively from them.

My Clover Top is still waiting patiently in the seaming pile; I haven't yet looked for another yarn to use for seaming instead of the silk, which simply breaks too frequently when lacing the seams up. Ho hum.

BTW have you seen the sale at Marchmoon? 20% off all yarns starting today! AAARRRGGGHHH. Why do I never have spare cash when I want it?!

Finally a pic of the beautiful geraniums growing in my hanging baskets atm. I'm definately saving these for next year. They remind me of the Cremosa lollipops!

You're It!

Lixie tagged me! My first time. ;-) I have to write down 5 personal idiosyncrasies, so here goes:

1) The drainer in the kitchen has to be loaded up right; if it's done in a particular way you can fit loads on. If it's not done that way, it really irritates me, and I have to move things to their "right" place.

2) Loo roll has to be on the "right" way round, i.e with the end nearest you (same as Knitty Kitty). I feel so compelled to do this that I find it really hard not to put it "right" everywhere else I go.

3) First hot drink of the morning has to be regular tea. Not coffee. Not any fruit or herbal teas. Regular teabag tea. After that, anything else is fine.

4) I have to check under my duvet and pillow for creepy crawlies before I get into bed. Even if DH is already in bed, I still have to check my side and as much of his side as I can get without turfing him out. I have actually found creepy crawlies in there twice in my years of doing this.

5) Clothes washing has to be left to dry in the best way so as not to have unnecessary creases in it. I'm the same with this whether it's on the clothes line or over the radiators. I really have to grit my teeth and not look at it if somebody else has done it for me and it's all wrinkled! Makes sense to me as I hate ironing.

OK, so who shall I tag? Let me see... Goldthorn Girl, Scarletprincess, Guernseygal, Float'n'Purl, and last up it has to be Woolywarbler. Ladies, you're it!

The Angel Flies!

Yes, Angel is complete, at long last! Here she is, modelled by my eldest daughter (the recipient):

I'm really pleased with the final result, as is my daughter. The pattern (from the Pipsqueaks book) is easy to follow, and the Rowan Wool Cotton is gorgeous to work with - so buttery soft. We'll see how it stands up to life with a 6yo!

She also wanted to show off her new wellies - part of my huge order from the half pice sale at Next. Groovy huh?!

And WIPs? They're here too..

Clover Top - is still with the seaming team (I wish I had one of those). One sleeve is in (and fits beautifully) but gave me a headache to do; the silk yarn does not like being pulled hard and breaks very easily. I may revert to a different yarn for the rest of the seaming to save my sanity.

Cashsoft 4ply Scarf - is no longer. I swatched, noted, and frogged. It's still on my To-Do list, but will have to wait until the summer garments are finally out of the way.

Which leaves space for A New Project. :-) I've started the blue top on the cover of the June issue of Sandra magazine using the Presto yarn I bought from Wollywood in Germany. It's too early to photograph it, but the swatch looked lovely last night, and the yarn feels soft but kinda nice & crisp, a bit like the Linen Print . It's a cotton/acrylic/polyester mix, so practical rather than delicate this time.

BTW fingers crossed for not too bad a night weather-wise - it's forecast to be really torrential rain all night, so I'll have to check that there's nothing of great value at ground level in our garage tonight in case it floods.

Finally would you all please mentally send lots of good health wishes to my youngest daughter who yesterday had a hospital visit for oxygen, a nebuliser, and antibiotics, due to breathing problems caused by a chest infection. Hopefully it'll clear up within the next couple of days. No underlying asthma flare-up this time, but always too scary.

Brrrr

I was soooo cold this morning, and this afternoon I had to try not to snooze at work in the warmth. No wonder I've had a horrid summer cold since last week. The weather here is not wonderful for July. I know lots of friends who have gone on holiday in the UK this week; I hope those who are camping don't get washed out! Fingers crossed it'll improve as the week progresses.

Despite the weather, and my health, the knitting is coming along nicely.

My Clover silk top now has a eyelet edged neckline and 2 sleeves, and is awaiting seaming.

Angel has a lace edging actually sewn onto the body. Yes, you read that correctly. I accomplished this long-awaited task during a fab Knit Chat this Saturday - thanks ladies! So now Angel just needs a buttonband which is I think approx 200 odd stitches long... Hmm, a minor final task..

And yes, I've started a new project. Or two.

I had to start the first one as it's a replacement scarf in the new Sirdar Fizz for a relative. I'm not really enjoying it but it has to be done. The yarn is fabulous to feel, but I'm just not in the mood to pull out the bits on each row of knitting before doing the next.

The second one I started out of frustration last night when I needed some knitting that didn't need to be groomed after each row. So I scoured quickly through my stitch directory, grabbed my bargain odd ball of Cashsoft 4ply, and began on 3.5mm needles. I'm thinking of a yummy cuddly scarf in Horseshoe Lace (aka fishtail lace) pattern. I'm still experimenting though; this morning saw 3.75mm needles with a view to 4mm and a decision to move to 4 pattern repeats instead of 3. If it looks good you'll see it here soon!

Today I also paid off my credit card bill; I've obviously had a good shopping month as it was fairly sizeable. I'm trying to clear it every month, but it's been a struggle this time. This means not only yarn diet, but shopping diet. That includes clothing, but excluding the NEXT sale order arriving over the next few days. That doesn't count 'cuz it's for my DH and my girls too. ;-) I guess the Filatura di Crosa Brilla yarn from Marchmoon and the Stop Print from Wollywood will have to wait. I. MUST. USE. MY. YARN. STASH.

Just One Thing

Yep, I'm sticking to my HipKnits silk top project like a.. like a... (let's be decent here) ..lid to a new jar of jam. It is progressing quicker, but it also means you only get pics of knitted-up silk in Clover colourway (sigh). A knitter's life is a tough one. So here they are.

The finished back, with integrated in mid-body shaping and that lovely eyelet edging. Ignore the dodgy side shaping; it's not really like that. I seem to have a talent for pulling pieces into odd shapes when photographing them.

The front, nearly done (again without that peculiar-looking side & hem shaping!)


One sleeve; I knitted this before anything else as I wanted to try out the edging over a smaller piece. So now just one more sleeve to go, definately less boring than two!

To be honest, this could have been finished by now, but I've been feeling too poorly to do much - including knitting (eeek!). It's only a summer cold, but it's really draining me, so much so that I've been going to bed early. The first part of this week it had got into my eye ducts, meaning my eye was swollen, bloodshot, constantly streaming, and sludgy in the morning. Nice. Made me feel quite like this. Real attractive.

On a good note, I was pondering over the next project - as you do after getting about halfway up the first piece of the current project. I thought the blue Sandra top would be a good idea whilst it's still (supposedly) summer. But to my horror, after checking all my stash locations, I couldn't find the yarn! I had ordered it from the yarn shop in Germany, received it and showed it off, and then lost it!

I decided that either I was being told that I should not be buying any more yarn, or the household gremlins had felt wicked and hidden it. It must be the latter of course. I was right, as yesterday I found it! It was tucked down behind the air conditioning unit which DH had moved into our bedroom when the hot nights started. Definately gremlins. I'd better start knitting it before they get hold of it again.

It's still a close call about the next project though. I've worn my Peachy Bolero so much that I've already created a Knitware pattern for another using this DK yarn from my stash (note the halo). Can I get a bolero & a summer top both finished within the next month?

Anyway I'm off to knit - it's the last school day before the summer holidays, which means no more quiet Thursday & Friday mornings for 6 weeks - aarrrggghhh!

Back to nature

I don't know what's come over me the last few days.
We're always proud of the fact that our young children are happy to eat a wide variety of good foods (ok so I'm blowing my own trumpet there!), and tend to opt for a pretty balanced diet most of the time.
But recently I've gone health mad, well, nutrition mad to be precise.
Our shelves are now stocked with brown rice, houmous, rye crispbreads, and I find myself making much wider use of seeds, beans, and natural flavourings like ginger.
I've swapped a lot (but not all!) of my coffee quota for herbal teas - and enjoying them! I want to munch on organic carrot & celery sticks dipped in houmous. :-o
Yesterday morning DH made us a bacon sandwich - usually a Sunday treat - but afterwards I felt really stodged up and not good.

I really don't understand it. Is it an age thing? Or maybe it's seasonal, like SAD?

More importantly, will it affect my knitting? I guess I have been opting for more wide ranging natural "ingredients" there too; I bought the House of Hemp yarn & the HipKnits silk, I've been eyeing up the bamboo & soy silk yarns for ages, & I'm determined to get hold of some fabulous alpaca for a yummy warm winter sweater this year.

Maybe it's my age..?

Ker-ching!

Yes, it's stash enhancement time, courtesy of ebay again.

First we have a pack of Rowan Summer Tweed in Lilac. I've been intending to buy some of this for months, with the idea of making a duplicate of an old and much-loved sweater which finally disintegrated. It was a bought one in a similar yarn, which had a crocheted front and knitted sleeves and back. Quite plain, but very useful!
Only problem is, I've since spied Dune in Rowan 33, and I love that too. Maybe I'll have to buy another pack!

Next up, 2 large packs of Jaeger Aqua, which will hopefully make for a good substitute for the Twilleys Cotton DK in Phoebe and Monika from the pattern book I've had for months.

Plus a new WIP! I had to start a top using my HipKnits silk in the Clover colourway. It was calling me day and night, and I simply couldn't wait any longer. ;-) It's quite a simple knit, created using my Knitware Sweaters program, with a lovely eyelet edging from Jane Crowfoot's book.

The last bit of news for today; we just ate a lovely dinner of oven-roasted breaded cod fillets with a potato and spinach salad made with the first crop of our own sugarsnaps, picked literally 5 minutes before being eaten. Deeee-licious!

Summer highs and lows

Yes, it's that time at last. The WIPs I've been threatening to finish have finally had their last stitch sewn, their last end woven in. So, in order of finishing, may I present my youngest daughter wearing her Rainbow in the Sky Crochet Poncho:

I'm happy with this as it fits her beautifully; she thought it was going to be the same size as her sister's, i.e. a little too big for her. Plus I didn't get hung up on the fringing this time as I remembered how painless it was when I finally got round to it last time. ;-)

And next - it's a Peachy Bolero! I stayed up late last night to finish it as I wanted to wear it to work today:


It's this first time I've made a bolero type cardigan, and I'm real pleased with it. The Linen Print feels lovely to knit with and even better to wear. The sizing from my Knitware pattern came out exactly as I wanted, as did my front shaping which I basically guessed by eye and marked out on the pattern front.

I'm a happy bunny; 2 FOs in 1 post. Pardon? What about Angel? Well that would just be too much. ;-) I do have to keep a little seaming on the go, otherwise I'd be able to knit all evening. And that just wouldn't do would it?!

As for the weekend, it was packed full of events. The main one was the local City Show which we visited on Sunday as it's within walking distance form our house. We walked around for 3 hours with the girls, but still had to go home before seeing everything as my youngest daughter had a party to go to.

The show was very family-friendly this year (unlike previous years) and much extended. We even saw our butcher there who was in a tent with other local butchers showing how to dry-cure bacon, make sausages, etc!

Then we spotted a farmyard animal section, which of course had masses of sheep with a demonstration every hour of them being sheared! Sarah Beth was going to ask if she could have some of the fleece - did you manage to get hold of any? There was also a huge tent with loads of sheepskin rugs dyed some wonderful colours (my favourite was a deep rich purple.)

It was glorious weather, really hot and sunny, and has been since. Only one problem - yesterday I saw the first dreaded wasps of this summer in our garden. I can't begin to explain how much I hate wasps. I've had 3 horrible stings (ok not many but they hurt!) so far; check out these weird scenarios:

1) Stung on the palm of my right hand at the base of my thumb by a wasp which was sitting on the washing line (eh?) while I tried to grab the washing as it started to rain; how swollen do you think my hand got?! That critter escaped too..

2) Stung on the back right side of my neck at the top of my shoulder multiple times in one go (grrrr) by a wasp which managed to get stuck in my hair (which was tied back in 2 bunches at the time!? Go figure!) whilst in the fridge section of a small local supermarket! I had to flatten that beast against my neck by hitting it repeatedly with my hand before it would stop stinging me. The other shoppers thought I was having some kind of fit until they saw my neck..

3) Stung on my left calf in bed at 5:30am by a wasp that had crawled under the duvet and sat on my leg, then stung me when I moved in my sleep - aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! DH squashed that evil monster double-quick.

Now can you see why I hate them so much? I have no problem with bees but wasps are in a different, evil league. Well who's idea were they in the first place?! I think I may put up half a dozen homemade wasp traps around the garden very soon, and I even have muslin and stick-on velcro to make window & door screens so that we can get some air without inviting in masses of wasps. We had no less than 3 nests in our house when we moved in 10 years ago, and had to get Rentokil in to get rid of them. Now there was a brave man!

Anyone else had any horrible stings?

Chugging along

I'd just like to say first, thanks for all your good wishes for my nephew. He's doing well, and went home today! Also my migraine is in it's final stages, so I'm feeling a lot better today; it's been a stinker this time!

It's a very pictoral post today; starting off my one of my favourite plants in my garden, the astrantia bush. These flowers are wicked; I love the unusual shape and the colouring. I may have to get one of the pink variety too. They're very easy to grow and take little looking after - that's my kind of plant. ;-)


Here (at last) is a quick shot of the rainbow & sky blue crochet poncho for my youngest daughter. I thought I'd better get one up now as it's nearly finished! I've made this one slightly smaller, and it feels like it's taking a lot less time than the last one. That's probably not true; it's just that I want to start more projects!


This lovely little sample is of Sarah Beth's handspun acrylic. She brought some round a couple of nights ago, and I have the priviledge of knitting it up and washing it to give it a test run, and then pass my comments back to her. Isn't it fab?! I adore the colours. I've never been a yarn tester before!


My peachy bolero is also nearly finished; just a little seaming and edging to go. Karen asked about the shaping leaning the "right" way; you can see from this photo compared to the back before I frogged it - look at the shaping on the left and hopefully you'll see a difference! This is achieved by decreasing using K2tog (knit 2 together) on the one side and k2togtbl (knit 2 together through back of loops) on the other side. Just don't ask me which is used for which side cuz I can't remember! You'll soon see when you try it.


So how do you like this little number? It's the clasp I bought from ebay (of course!) to go on my peachy bolero - that's the idea anyway. I also found some fab ones at Bead Addict which are lined up for a purchase soon I feel!


And here is Angel, looking very erm.. punk with all the safety pins holding the edging on. Yes, more seaming to do..

You know, the number of my WIPs is finally, really, going down..!




One last thought regarding events in London today: it never ceases to horrify and sadden me how much pain and suffering we so-called intelligent human beings cause each other.

Of babies, migraines, and seaming

As promised, here are a couple of pics of my new nephew, James. These were taken on Sunday when he was just 1 day old:

What a cutie!



Who could resist a cuddle? Not me!

I've had a pretty poor day today as I had to come home from work early suffering from a migraine. I haven't had one for a while, so I guess it was on the cards. The visual disturbances are quite amazing but very annoying. I can see properly now, but I still have a cracking headache on the left of my head, so I'm taking it easy.

As for knitting progress, I'm being very disciplined and actually finishing my peachy bolero before I start something else! I've done half the seaming and sewing in ends, but couldn't resist starting to do a crab stitch (reverse crochet) edging. I'm really pleased with it so far, so pics to follow when it's complete.

I'm also romping through my youngest daughter's crochet poncho as I want to get it finished for her. When that's done, I really should get around to edging my crochet cardigan; I was horrified to realise last night that I actually started this in April 2002! Oh well, I guess it was a long-term project. ;-)

New arrival!

What a mad weekend. On Saturday morning I received a phone call from my brother saying that his first baby has arrived - 5 weeks early! Welcome to the world baby James! He weighed in at 5lb and half an ounce, and has dark hair, and the bluest eyes. He's sleeping loads, and is tiny and gorgeous.

My brother needed a hand as they had just set out to shop for all the baby essentials when his partner went into labour. So I spent a wonderful 3 hours yesterday morning in Babies'r'us buying everything needed for now, including a moses basket, baby monitor, travel system, nappies, sleepsuits, breast pump, bedding, etc, etc! I loved it, and my brother was very grateful as he hadn't a clue what to buy. :-)

I went to see them tonight in hospital, and James is beautiful - pics to come soon, once DH has fixed the floppy drive. Good job I got that baby blanket finished early!

We spent the weekend at my in-laws as it was their 39th wedding anniversary. We've had a great time relaxing, swimming at the local baths this morning, lots of eating and drinking, etc, etc. No knitting; I've finished all the knitting for my peachy bolero and re-knitted the shaping on the back as I realised from the last photo that the shaping on the left side was leaning the wrong way. I've started the seaming, but didn't really feel like I could do that justice whilst we were away this weekend. Instead I've made progress on my youngest daughter's crochet poncho in rainbow and sky blue, as requested. Pics soon!