Smashing

My normally busy days have taken on a new perspective since DH broke BOTH wrists a few days ago whilst jumping his BMX bike. It's going to be a long six weeks before those casts are off. Boys!

Record-breaking bolero

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes! I had part sun, part rain, so it was pretty good. :-) More about my pressies later.

Well I gritted my teeth and seamed and crocheted the edging on this bolero the night after I've finished knitting it - that's definitely a new personal best!

It's taken a little longer to get around to sewing on the clasp though - if only my sewing box wasn't buried underneath a pile of sewing repairs that I need to do... ;-)

Here's the finished item, modelled by my eldest DD who is the proud new owner.

I used 100g (yes just 2 balls!) of Sirdar Luxury Cotton 4ply on 4mm needles with my favourite lacewing stitch.

This bolero is lightweight and delicate, but still a comforting layer over bare arms in a cooler summer breeze. A big hit!

I'm now formatting the pattern instructions and creating a couple more sizes for the design. I'll be asking for a couple of test knitters (probably via the Test Pool forum on Ravelry) for each size and then the pattern will be available for sale in Ravelry, my Etsy shop, and anywhere else I can think of!

Birthday time!

It's that time of year again - already! I've booked the day off work - let's see if we get any sunshine!

Yet another one for the seaming pile

Well the His and Hers washcloths raised a few laughs - the recipient had no idea what they were, and took a few prompts to figure out what they said, but got there in the end. The evening wedding reception was brilliant - lots of drinking and silly dancing - a good night out.

Remember I said that the Lacewing Bolero-ette should be a quick knit? Well here it is in it's current raw state (click on it for a better view):

I finished the knitting at tea-time, so now it's on to my favourite part - the seaming. Wooppee. Anyone going to guess how long that will take?

Last-minute wedding gift

A colleague is getting married next week and I was asked if I could knit or crochet a quick gift to add to the work present. Hmm, a last-minute challenge!

After much discussion of patterns, I came up with the idea of His and Hers knitted washcloths. I've seen other wedding washcloth patterns, but not any like this, so I graphed out the design and after 3 hours of knitting ended up with this happy couple:

(Ignore the blotchy colours - they still hadn't finished drying properly from blocking.)

I used Rowan All Seasons Cotton as I hadn't got any matt cotton yarn in a suitable colour. Pretty good I reckon! We'll see how the recipients feel about them soon enough...

Knitting? Oh yes, that...

Remember the Lacewing Bolero from 2006? I have worn that garment so much. So when my eldest DD decided she wanted something similar for herself, I couldn't refuse.

This is the back of the bolero, in the same lacewing stitch pattern that I love so much.

I'm using some Sirdar Luxury Cotton 4ply that I bought from ebay in the great neutral "Vanilla" shade. This is a yarn with outrageous yardage!

My DD specified the waist length, sleeve length, front shaping, etc, and I've designed the pattern using my Knitware software as before.

The back is done, and I'm up to the shaping at the top of the first set-in sleeve. It should be a fairly quick knit (famous last words!)...

Prize-winning items

Excuse me what's the date? Where exactly did the last 9 days disappear to? I'm obviously stuck in a time-warp. Or something.

Anyway, our local village show has been and gone, and was a great success. My DDs entered several categories and won prizes - and so did I!

This is youngest DD's entry for the shellcraft category. I helped her make a shell windchime.

Not the easiest thing to photograph while it's lying down, but you get the idea. Obviously the judge got the idea too, as DD won first prize in her age group!

The chime tubes were actually left over from a bought windchime kit that was never going to happen - plastic bits that had to be painted with a paint that just kept sliding off. No, I don't think so. This version looks much better and sounds lovely too. :-)

Eldest DD's entry was also great - a lovely shell necklace. The judge also liked this one, and she got first prize in her age group too!

DD has since worn the necklace several times, and it does look fabulous on.

They also both won second prize in their age groups for the decorated cakes category, but DH (bless him) forgot to photograph those entries. They didn't last long - both DDs ate them on the (short) walk home. ;-)

As for my entries, I did rather well !

My knitted welly socks got first prize (just out of shot here, but you've seen them before) and my cashmere ripple scarf got second prize in the handknitted category.

One of my zigzag crochet hairbands got third prize in the crochet category. :-)

The prize-giving ceremony lasts quite a while as you can see!

There were also the usual cornish cream teas (yum!), bouncy castle, coconut shy, brass band, local ice creams etc etc.

A great time was had by all - and the sun shone on us all day. :-)

Llama anyone?

Well that's it - the Llama Lland Open Day has been and gone for this year. A slightly lower attendance than last year due to the delightful weather we're having right now, but a good day anyway.

Here are some of the main show stars - although I'm afraid I'm not sure of their names. A very handsome and well behaved bunch, although I didn't manage to get any of the fibre or yarn from them this year. :-)

These little black sheep also drew lots of attention, not least from my DDs who spent quite a while feeding them.

My memory is dreadful - the lady in charge of them told me what kind they are, but the name immediately fell out of my head.

And finally a close-up of some of the main pieces of my offerings - crocheted necklaces, beaded jewellery, and llama earrings.

I was surprised that none of the llama earrings sold!

I did sell 2 out of 3 of the crochet necklaces, my crocheted pots, a couple of bookmarks, a couple of hairbands, and a couple of pairs of earrings - but almost all of those were bought by my MIL and her friend. I'm pleased that they wanted to buy them of course, but it feels like they were biased - you know what I mean, don't you?!

So I guess a few Etsy updates are on the cards - after the local village show this weekend.

Crochet Captivation

OK this is getting silly. My entire life is being taken over by crocheting small items for craft fairs.

I'm crocheting in every spare second and the rest of the time I'm thinking about colours, designs, etc. I've bought a huge bag full of Patons 100% Cotton 4ply - 1 ball of as many colours as I could afford at the time. I've now printed out a shadechart for it so I can see which ones I have left to buy...

The scary thing is I'm loving it.

I settled on the Patons Cotton 4ply because it's fantastic stuff - great sheen, huge yardage, affordable, and good range of colours. Plus I can get it from a LYS - I'm still supporting them even if they are closing down soon. (Boo hoo - I would love to buy the business from them as they're retiring but there's not a chance.)

The event I'm aiming for is the Llama Lland Open Day on 6th July. We went last year and it was a popular family event, so I've focused on small items that may be more appealing as they won't cost much money to buy. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather - and if you're in the area, come along!

Whatever's left after that will be listed in my Etsy shop - I really have no idea how much there will be. Here's the tally so far:
7 crochet bookmarks
12 crochet hairbands/chokers - some beaded
2 crochet beaded pots
5 beaded necklaces - 1 crocheted
12 pairs of bead earrings - including llama bead ones!

Right, time for more crocheting...

WWKIP - Truro

What a wonderful day!

We met in the Piazza in Lemon Quay in the centre of Truro, and had a wonderful backdrop of flags and masts as we sat alongside the Cornwall Boat Show.

There was a good sized group of knitters, with people coming and going throughout the day. I met loads of knitters from Ravelry - hi all of you!

I also met a knitter local to Perranporth (our nearest place) and we're hoping to meet up and maybe even get a group going - finally!

Julia from Knit Wits at Penzance with the record-breaking needles turned up - complete with needles, yarn, and Guinnes Book of Records certificate. A truly amazing sight.

The weather held up for us, with only one shower during the whole day. We took refuge under the huge umbrellas covering the Hall for Cornwall's outside coffee area - well it was time for a delicious chunk of carrot cake and a latte anyway. ;-)

The lady from The Natural Fibre Company in Launceston was also there with a sack of their fabulous yarn. She very kindly gave everyone the opportunity to select a free 50g ball of the yarn as a taster. A very good way to get some new customers! I chose the "Pure 50/50 Alpaca & Shetland Wool" which is beautifully soft. I have no idea what I'll be making with it yet though.

The event was thoroughly enjoyed by all - hopefully we'll meet up again soon.

Anyone for WWKIP?

As in World Wide Knit In Public Day. I'll be in Truro of course!
Where will you be?

Unexpected guest

It still surprises me that wetsuits feature regularly on our washing line nowadays, but this weekend we had another surprise - an unexpected guest.

On the wetsuit was a bright green stick insect!

Apparently there are a few colonies of them here in the South West of England. Amazing..!

Fantastic weekend btw - great weather = much relaxing on the beach, bodyboarding, new shoes, and a family bbq! Perfect. :-)

Trivia and oddments

There's not been much sign of any knitting going on around here recently has there? In fact not much of anything. But you know how it goes: less blogging = more doing usually.

The back of the soya cardigan is finished - and you didn't even know it was started. The yarn is Sirdar "Just Soya" in shade "Hot Pepper".
It's beautifully soft, but very splitty and it has a slight haze already from handling the knitting. We'll have to see what the pillability factor turns out to be!
I've also found that every ball so far has had a join in it somewhere - annoying for a full price yarn.

The bamboo top and beachcomber tunic have both stalled at the seaming gate. I just haven't felt like doing either of them, and seaming is definitely something requiring the right frame of mind in my experience.

Instead I've been busy making frivolities - small items for the summer run of craft fairs and summer fetes.
You've seen some of the beaded jewellery and hairbands; those are now in the West Midlands for a while. Others are currently in my Etsy shop - go take a look!

As a result of that all my recent purchases have been either beads, jewellery findings, or oddments of mercerised cotton yarns. If anyone has any they want to clear out - shout up!

Knowing me, knowing you

There you go - a fact about me that's not in this tag: I love Abba songs, although they remind me of my parents' divorce, as that's when I heard them most!

Anyway, CraftyPeach has tagged me, so here we go:

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
Let me see, May/June 1998 - I was 2 months pregnant with my first daughter, working at the University of Wolverhampton, and also finishing off my Masters degree in Advanced Software Technology there. Wow, how life has changed!

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
- Find the paper copy of my driving license - not done yet. Why do organisations keep requesting to see the part which doesn't have your photo on as proof of ID? I just don't get it!
- Have a picnic lunch at the beach - done! A distinct lack of sun, although it was mild enough.
- Take youngest DD to a friend's fancy dress party - done (DD went as a red indian squaw, complete with fringed dress, face paints, and feather in her headband) and thoroughly enjoyed by all. :-)
- Get more laundry done after our visit up-country earlier in the week - done. How does laundry multiply so much when you go away for just a few days?
- Get an early night. Hmm, that one's debatable!

3. What are your favorite things to snack on?
Definitely oatcakes, then nuts (brazils and almonds), olives, cheese, raw carrot sticks, celery, the new Walkers crisps called SunBites - delish!

4. Where are some places you've lived?
Various places in the West Midlands of England, and now Cornwall. I guess I'm a home bird!

5. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Do charity work during school hours, and spend the rest of the time with my daughters. Make regular donations to worthy causes. Buy DH the car of his dreams. Pay to have all our extension done right now. Always stay in the best hotels when visiting family and friends - our recent trip and hotel-stay was SOOOO lovely and relaxing.

6. What jobs have you done?
Saturday shop assistant, computer games programmer, software developer, systems analyst, business analyst - can you see a theme?!

7. Which other people would you like to know more about?
Your turn - Alison, PurlPower, ScarletPrincess, and Iris. :-)

Photo frenzy

Well we're heading back to full health just as DH gets the sickness bug. He doesn't seem too bad though - luckily he doesn't suffer from man-flu. ;-) Hopefully he'll be over it before we head up-country to visit my relatives for a few days from this Friday.

Anyway, as promised, a photo frenzy follows. There - you have been warned!

Firstly the beaded jewellery:






Then the crochet hairbands:






And finally the beautiful calla lilies in our front garden right now.

That's the lot for now. More when we get back next week!

Cornish bugs

Youngest DD and me have been poorly girls this week. Not the greatest way I can think of for me to lose weight, but effective enough.

We're over the main effects now, but we can't find things that we're enjoying to eat. Weird. Chocolate? Nope. Fruit? No way. Plain biscuits? Still too sweet.

It seems that our bodies are crying out for plain carbohydrates; bread, toast, potatoes (in any form) are all going down fine - as long as there are no sweet flavours with them.

As for drinks, well it seems to be water, water, or more water. I've tried a decaff now and again but it just doesn't feel right. Fennel or mint tea to soothe the digestion are fine until the stomach acid hits afterwards. Very strange. Still, at least we've not had it as bad as blueadt - I guess this bug is hitting nationwide.

Watch for some crochet FOs as soon as I get the energy to get the camera out...

What to do?

Don't you just loathe those days at work when there's little to do?

You've recovered from the last manic phase and now you're waiting for other people to do their bit before the next wave of hysterical deadlines hits. Yet you still have to sit there, unable to find anything to make the day pass at more than a snail's pace.

You've tidied up all your email folders in Outlook and deleted all the temporary folders and files in "My Documents". You've got rid of the icons you don't use from your computer's desktop. Your desk is amazingly clear as you've sorted through and filed away all those piles of papers from a couple of months back. You've even blown the bits out of your keyboard. Eugh - how disgusting was that?!

You started eating your packed lunch at 9:15am and by 10:45am it's all gone. No matter how often you open that allocated food drawer for the rest of today nothing else magically appears inside. Unless you go shopping at lunchtime and buy another lunch and a mountain of goodies to last the afternoon.

If you drink any more tea/coffee/water you'll burst. You've filled up the office kettle and cleaned up the spilled sugar, dissolved coffee granules, and used tea bags around it. You've washed up the mugs and spoons left in the sink, and taken out the empty milk bottles.

Knitting or crochet is obviously out of the question, as you're blatantly not working. Web surfing is forbidden unless you want to spend all day reading about other people's work on the intranet. Crafty sites are a no-no thanks to the core-hours web monitoring and subsequent
wrist-slapping for spending too much network resource accessing non-work-related materials.

You've discussed last weekend's activities and next weekend's plans with your colleagues. You've printed out a world map and passed it around the office marking off where everyone's visited. You've stared out of the window lamenting how glorious it looks out there whilst you're stuck in here. And it's still only 10 minutes later. Has your watch gone backwards since you last checked it?

You've tidied out your handbag, so at least the cleaner's got a bin to empty now. You've synchronised all the important (birthday/anniversary/holiday) dates between your Outlook calendar and paper diary, and worked out how long it's been since your last haircut. You've made a list of all the cards and presents you need to buy in the next 3 months. You've started a Christmas spreadsheet with gift ideas for all your cousins and their families, but now you need to do some web-window-shopping to get more inspiration - but it's not lunchtime
yet.

Reading anything interesting is almost impossible if your boss shares or visits your office. You can guarantee that they'll need to speak to you the moment you open the latest issue of Interweave Knits, and it's just too big to fit inside the covers of "Computer Weekly" now that the compact version is out. Or you'll get so engrossed in the latest Harmony stitch guide from Erika Knight that you won't notice them lurking by your side until they clear their throat, then you'll slam your fingers in the book and go red with embarrassment and pain.

So all that's left is to dream of the week's worth of knitting you want to get done that evening and compile a blog entry to email to yourself during that long-awaited lunch break. Now for the afternoon.

Busy beading

I got the beading bug this evening.

This is the "Fresh" necklace; a double strand of lime green wire with glass beads in zingy spring fresh shades of turquoise, lime, and very pale lilac, with a lobster clasp fastening.

This one is the "Blue Lagoon" necklace: 2 strands of turqoise and lime beading cord with glass beads and a shell disc in similar colours knotted along it, with a lobster clasp fastening.

Look out for them on sale in my Etsy shop soon!

The garden has been busy too.

This miniature azalea in a pot by our front door has never bloomed this well before. I guess it likes living further south. :-)

This lilac is doomed to go when we have our extension built. It's a beautiful colour but very old and woody, so we're enjoying it at it's best. Along with that fantastic blue sky. :-)

Just about 2 miles in that direction is Perranporth beach, where we spent a good deal of the weekend once the sea mist had cleared. The tans have commenced!

Playing around

This week has flown past, mainly due to a poorly DD (better now thankfully). Lack of sleep really saps the days.

Last night I dabbled with some crochet necklaces.
First this one from a free pattern at Berroco. Hmm, not bad, but I don't think it would be really wearable in that yarn.

Next I had a go at a pendant necklace using a dichroic glass pendant purchased from ebay.

I crocheted the strap using some weird metallic bound wire-like cord stuff that I bought from the Knitting Show at the NEC a few years back. Why I didn't ask what it was I'll never know!

If you recognise it please tell me what it is called.

Still playing around with different designs and materials. More to show soon!

The knitters friend

Films are a knitter's friend. Especially when the knitter is producing endless amounts of stocking stitch, like sleeves.
We watched a good film (but not so good I couldn't drag my eyes away) at the weekend - and I ended up knitting and crocheting the second sleeve of the Beachcomber Tunic in record time.
I'm now on the lower crochet half of the front. The finish line is in sight!

The Beachcomber Tunic is too big to be easily portable now, so I have a new work lunchtime project - my first pair of commissioned socks!
Instead of cash payment I'm bartering services with the recipient. I'm getting a big jar of chilli olives in return for the knitting, and of course the recipient has paid for the wool.
I'm using the same Irish Wellington Socks free pattern, with the Big Fabel yarn in the green colourway - as chosen by the recipient. Very nice it is too.

I also managed to summon up the energy and enthusiasm to tidy up our building site back garden a little at the weekend. I planted some violas and pot-bound plants, so we should have some flowers soon.
Just look at the garlic! Hopefully I'll be able to dry those off and start eating them soon too - yum. :-)
Hanging baskets are next. We will have colour!