Plodding Along!

Believe it or not I did actually start another post in January. Admitedly it was the end of January so no real rush to post but it ground to a halt. There were even photos. But then I thought the best thing to do would be to start again. So here I am, waiting for a delivery and putting my time to good use!

I have been busy, admitedly with a lot of none knitting related bits (like potty training - Fun!!) but also with some new knitting to show you all. There was a birthday deadline to meet to start with and I decided to make socks seeing as I'd not managed them for Christmas. Not content with knitting a pattern I knew and was happy with the results I decided to try a new pattern from Garn Studio which I liked the look of. Knitted up using 2 strands of yarn together on large needles (for socks at least!) it was a fairly quick knit once I'd got my head round the instructions. Not having done short row heels for ages as they're not my favorites my brain refused to comprehend what was going on for a couple of attempts but it got done in the end with fairly neat results. I'm happy with the finished socks and most importantly my Aunt is happy with them and they fit - what more can you ask?! Oh yes, the funny thing with these socks is that despite having 2 different yarns (both self-striping but different colourways) both of them got to a similar colour band at the same point resulting in obvious stripes in the midst of more random colours - weird hey?!



It's funny but knitting these socks and knowing they weren't for me has given me an urge for new socks of my own so no sooner had I cast off the Birthday socks then I cast on some for myself. The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks and is called Chevron (so simple to remember!) and I'm using some Blueface Leicester sock yarn I got in WoolFest that I dyed up during our big Dyeing Week and my Mums. Now I don't normally name my hand dyed yarns but this one screamed 'Plum-kin Pie' to me with it's shades of orange, brown and plum.

I have progressed a lot further than the photo shows now but then that it because I've been slow getting these posts done! So far I'm really happy with these, especially as Mum didn't recognise the yarn as stuff we'd dyed up and wondered where I'd gotten it from! Talking of Mum in connection with knitting, this next FO comes with many grateful thanks to her. Last birthday she gave me a skein of Posh Yarns luscious Cashmere aran weight which I'm ashamed to say I'd just not gotten round to knitting up sooner. This neck warmer is lovely to cuddle into and is based on a pattern for a whimple Mum found somewhere on the net - if I ever find the link I'll let you know!

DD is going through a phase of asking what I'm knitting for her everytime she sees my knitting something which is rather annoying as she doesn't seem to want to wear anything I've knitted for her. So I decided to knit her something she might play with instead and found this sweet pattern in amongst the huge pile of 'Golden Hands' craft books from the 70's. So far it's been a success.
And despite being a bad blogger and posting erratically Cyndy has kindly awarded me with the 'You Make My Day' award - Thank You!! so it now falls to me to return the favour and spread the award! To quote from Cyndys blog:
"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

Where do you start?

• My Lovely Mum - I may be biased here but she always makes my day and makes me happy, except when she's feeling poorly and down because she's so far away and I can't always be right there in person for her.


• Kendra - because of all the beautiful things she makes and the fact that she'd designing a new lace project with a young baby - now there's dedication for you!


• sheephappens - well I have to support another February 70's child! And she has lovely pics!


• Jazzycrafts, CraftyDramaQueen, Piglottie and Nicola - for always being so busy with assorted projects.


• Woolforbrains - and not because she louses things up but because of the amount of things she knits up with her own handspun (yes I know she's already had the award but nevermind!)


• Jo - for pretty handspun pictures.


• hpny knits - for pretty pictures and projects.

Well there are 10 for you who may or may not have been awarded already. Oh and if you haven't seen Cyndy's blog before hand hers always makes my day as well because of her beautiful nature shots which sort of make up for the lack of snow we've had here!

Oh and just before I go I feel I ought to let you know that I've fallen off the 'Knit from Stash' waggon already - Ooops! I blame birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and having a knitting group in a LYS but there is new yarn and new knitting books to show you and I'll try to do this sooner rather than later!

New Year, New Post

Well it has been a while and I can't honestly think why I've not gotten round to posting since November! When I posted about 'Blogging without Obligation' I really had not planned on a break like this! There has been knitting, spinning and dyeing a plenty - I even had a great title for a post all ready for a quiet moment at the computer. I suppose a whistle stop tour of the past couple of months comings and goings will be in order and a selection of photos for you to browse through!

Those of you who read Artis-Anne will know that we had a grand spinning and dyeing week without Little Miss Emily and I was all set to tell you all how:

"I Dyed and Berried Myself!"

OK the picture is a little blurred but it does give you an idea of the colours we dyed up. Actually all of these ones are my selection with a small glimpse on the right hand side of our natural dyeing as well which Mum has more details of on her blog. The overall colour theme with me seemed to be rich berry and purple colours and 'tomato soup' orange! Here's another shot of that purple which is some luscious Teeswater fleece in the process of being carder with the very scary looking English Combs which are fantastic for preparing long fibred fleeces if you're careful!

The Christmas knitting didn't progress very far and really put me off knitting for a while. I think it was the whole idea of having to knit things and the pressure of a deadline. December seemed hectic enough without adding to it so I only ended up making 2 presents - the cable socks for my Dad and a scarf for my cousin. That's not to say I didn't knit anything in December - just not for Christmas presents! After finding some Sublime Merino Angora yarn half price I decided to treat myself and made 'Agatha' which is a faroese style shawl and such a lovely pattern to knit up and quick growing to boot! 'finished in time for Christmas it's lovely and warm and the yarn is so soft and squishy even if it is almost too fluffy (grr angora!).



And the latest issue of Knitty had quick temptations as well for the Christmas period that were ideal for using up some of those stash yarns (this years resolution - knit from stash or spin something suitable!). The results of this was a Toasty Topper knitted up in some of my early hand spun and a virtually finished Quant using a ball of Noro Silk Garden. Now I'll admit that the Silk Garden has failed to live to my expectations - bitty and uneven though the colours are nice. Typically though Emily won't wear the hat/scarf but that's no surprise as she doesn't really wear anything I've made for her even if she does constantly ask what I'm knitting for her.

The latest FO hot off the needles is a stash buster using some unknown chunky yarn recycled from a jumper I no longer wore (sorry Mum!). It's one of Garn Studios patterns which was quick and simple to work but then again it could have been such an enjoyable knit thanks to the Christmas present from my beloved DH - some ever so pretty Knit Picks Harmonies!!

On the needles right now? Well for once I'm knitting something that DD might actually be glad of and make use of - a dress for her dolly!!

Right am off to knit and will make a definite effort to get back into blogging and will try to work my way round catching up with everyone. Finally I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and Happy Knitting!

November already?!

I guess you could say I've been a bit lethargic of late when it comes to knitting, blogging, etc and I really hadn't realised quite how long it's been since I blogged last. Recently I've not been doing much knitting at all anyway and have been reading instead some of my favorite books from childhood, namely Susan Cooper's 'Dark is Rising' series which I found again in the attic last month. There have been glimmers of creativeness here and there but I think the whole 'must knit these for Christmas' deal is putting me off it all and so I'm pulling the breaks on and have decided that I will knit things for people and they'll get them when ever but more likely after the festivities!! I also forgot that MIL already has her present of lace weight merino and a pattern so there's one less thing on the list already!!

Autumn finally seems to have arrived here and has lead to my current obsession with photographing mushrooms and fungi.




And my Aunt finally introduced me to her charges - 15 adorable Ryland sheep on the Formby Dune Heath which she 'watches' one day each week (counts them and feeds them and checks they're OK). They're on holiday from the Liverpool City Farm which has lost some of it's funding and so is unsure if these sweeties will be coming home again or not. They are such friendly little things and, with no rudeness involved, just look at those furry little bottoms - like mini Alpacas!

They did actually come up to you and were strokeable. Emily really enjoyed this but I told her she had to be quite with them and say 'Good Morning Mr Sheep' which she obediently did - can't get her to tidy up but say hello to a sheep? Of course!! Definitely a spinner/knitter in the growing!

Back to the glimmers of creativeness - I've found a 'local' Spinning guild. I say 'local' as it's about an hour away near Abergelle in a fantastic spot and in my first meeting we did rush weaving which was great fun - can you tell what it is yet?

It's a mat of course!! A bit holey and bumpy but I love it and I'd love to do more again. The lady who taught us was Mandy Coates and she had some wonderful creations on show with her made from both rush and willow and apparently goes to a lot of shows in North Wales wearing her woven hats so do look out for her! I've been back to the guild since for a spinning afternoon and the next meeting for me will be a show and tell - eek!! Will have to prepare myself for that one!


Talking of SWD guilds you may remember Mum has done some weavings with her guilds, the name of the lady escapes me now but I'm sure Mum has note of it somewhere on her blog. Anyway I had a little go at one as well way back when she did her first one but hadn't got round to finishing it off for ages. Now I can finally present it to you all:


Maybe there should be a prize for the person who can guess what it's meant to be. DH had trouble even seeing it in the flesh but then he does sometimes have trouble seeing things right in front of him - bless him! He was also the cause of a woolie mishap when my Twillies Freedom Spirit tank ended up in the wash. Poor DH hid it thinking I'd go mad with him (a bit annoyed granted but I've not killed him for it!) and when confronted with the felted mass he said 'Can't you frog it?' which impressed me with his knowledge of knitting terms - can't go mad when he's learnt that much, there is hope he may learn more!!

My knitting course progresses all 8 weeks of it including homework one of which is this bag in Sirdar Bigga which was an insanely quick knit but needs lining at some point before I call in properly finished.

Right, I'm weary now - coming down with a cold and having a tiresome few days (and nights) with a poorly DD who not only is full of cold and coughs but has nasty big back teeth coming through as well so lots of sleepless nights and whingey days poor love. Will try and get my knitting mojo back but the old knitting/tennis elbow is still bothersome at times so it may be dribs and drabs. Oh, that reminds me - I've a new link in the side bar for 'Knitting without Obligation' which I found from a comment on ArtyFartyKat's site which seems a really sensible approach to blogging which fits my mood lately and I've decided to try not to make this blog seem a chore and blog when I feel up for it. I will try and catch up with you all as soon as possible but it seems to be the hibernating season for quite a few blogs lately - maybe it's the time of year! Catch you all soon!!

FO Flashing!

Well as promised I would give you all the full details of my latest knitting as soon as it was finished and here you have it! It was finished last Tuesday/Wednesday and I'm pleased with it - it really is warm but being such a heavy chunky wool has given me a case of Knitters Elbow with my left elbow and wrist being painful. So there was no knitting for a few days to ease the ache!
The pattern comes from N.Y. Yarns but mine has been modified due to lack of yarn. The original had a fold down collar which I didn't do. Instead I did some short row shaping around where the collar would have been and I also added another button hole to stop the from gaping open quite so much. In these pictures there are only 3 buttons because I didn't buy enough (typical!).

I went to visit Mum for her birthday the other week which was the perfect chance for a photo shoot! Mums treat was a pic-nic to a local beach, Black Rock Sands, where we had chip in the camper van. We had a great time going for a walk as well even if it was a wet and blustery day.

And I even braved the weather to 'flash' my FO!!

Mum called this my 'Norman Wisdom' pose!

Well in my defense it was cold and wet!!

Here's a 'normal' pose for you! It had a brilliant test drive on the beach - it's lovely and warm and cosy and I've been wearing it loads since! Definitely a success which I'll be knitting up again but will try and spin enough for a collar as well next time!

Sorry it's a bit short and sweet this time. I'm feeling a bit anti-computers lately and have been avoiding it a fair bit. Yes, even avoiding Ravelry. No Computers, no blogging, no Knitting even - what's come over me? I think it's a case of the blues right now but DH has promised me a week away at my Mums without Emily at some point in the near future!!!! Bless him, he's good and I certainly feel due to escape and switch off for a while! Right I'd better go and get ready for week 2 of my course - so far so good. I promise I will try and be a good blogger this week and attempt to catch up with all your blogs ASAP, thanks for sticking with me!

Edited to add: The yarn I used was my own chunky handspun Merino/Silk from the giant batt I got in WoolFest. I'd decided to set myself a challenge of spinning enough yarn for a garment and knitting it up before the 31st October as that will be a year from when I first had my spinning wheel and I thought it would be a good way to see how much Id learnt in that time! I am really pleased with the result and the thought of spinning for garments now doesn't seems as daunting anymore!

I'm In!!!

Hurrah!! My Ravelry invite has arrived and I'm all set up - if you're on I'm KraftyKath, come and find me!!

What a great way to loose hours - I've been meaning to post here since Saturday evening but have been lost in Ravelry until all hours of the night. And at least I know I'm not alone, a certain Piglottie was also on there near midnight on Saturday!

Anyway - there has been knitting going on as well which is another reason for the lack of action here. I've been putting a determined effort into knitting up my merino-silk hand spun after the fiasco that was 'Lacy Waves'. I did start off with one of Sirdars 'Peru Naturals' patterns but decided I'd do something else before I'd even completed the back.

I've nearly finished this now - I'm just picking up 222 stitches round the front edges after sewing the shoulder seams. I never really enjoy picking up stitches so the thought of 222 is not fun. It's a really simple pattern, just a k4, p2 rib with rows of reverse stocking stitch every now and then and as it's knitted up on 6mm needles is a quick grower. You'll have all the details soon when I do the final reveal!

I had a bit of a surprise on Friday in work when I was asked to go on a course for them today at short notice - could I get a baby sitter? Well - how hard do you think I would try to get a babysitter so that work could send me on a knitting course?! So I will be off this afternoon to head office in North Wales to join all the other paying customers in Abakhans very first 'Advanced Knitting Course'! My boss did add that she knew I could knit well already but she thought I might be interested in the chance for a free course 'to improve the service we offer our customers'! Who am I to refuse?! And Mum thinks the instructor is a lady from one of her Spinning guilds - small world!

Anyway I should go and get myself ready and stock my knitting bag in readiness! Full report to follow!

A Measure of FO's

There are times when I am in love with my Finished Objects and there are times when I wonder why on earth I even bother knitting at times. 'Lacy Waves' has been finished but I'm sorry to say that it has a tale of woe for you.

For once I actually decided to block all the finished pieces out to the stated measurements before I even started sewing 'Lacy Waves' up. I was so pleased with myself for being professional (so I thought) and taking the time and effort to do things properly. I did make a little adjustment to the pattern in that I did a three needle bind off at the shoulders and was pleased with the result. It was when I washed the pieces that I had a bit of a surprise - the wool decided to grow despite all my careful washing. The body length up to the armhole had grown from the 14" I'd knitted to 17.5" and the body width was also larger than intended. The arms were longer but I wasn't bothered by this as in the pattern photos they did look like 3/4 length and I rathered longer sleeves. And at any point in my careful blocking did I realise what lay before me? Not at all.

Lace Insert detail.

Impatient for everything to dry and realising that Emily would soon be back from Nursery to trample over my knitting blocked out on the floor I started sewing the damp mass up. At this stage I was still pleased with how soft the washed wool was and how neatly I was sewing the garment up but as I sewed the last seam it dawned on my that the stupid thing looked massive. I knew the pattern wasn't going to be my usual fitted garment anyway but this was bigger than it should have been.

The fitted sleeves were loose and baggy and the body was overly wide threatening to fall down all the time. Admittedly I had yet to crochet round the neck but at this stage I knew that 2 rows of crochet were not going to save this. 'Lacy Waves' had drowned to become a Bagpuss jumper - saggy and baggy but not loved. Well, I lie - I did/do love the lace insert which was a clever piece of textural knitting combining lace and cables but the rest of the jumper is an utter waste of time. And what cheap and badly behaved yarn was this knitted in? Jaeger Matchmaker DK so I can't even blame that. What happened with the tension square you may very well ask? I hang my head in shame here and know my downfall - no tension square. It was the right sized needles - why bother?

With no smaller size 'Lacy Waves' pattern I'm not sure what I'll do now about reknitting this again. And the yarn itself worries me a little - will it grow again after reknitting? So far the plan is possibly to knit 'Daphne' the lovely little cardi that Mum has just finished and hope that the smaller needle size will keep the yarn in check but for now that yarn is going to sit in a corner out of my way until I'm less disappointed with the whole fiasco.

On a brighter note I do have some photos I promised you last time of some Monkeys I found hanging round in the woods by Mum last week - thank goodness no-one saw me with my feet up a tree taking photos of my socks! I'm still really pleased with these even if they have a tendency to fall down a bit for what ever reason. The Lana Grossa Mellienweit is lovely and woolly and such lovely soft colour blending - will be interesting to see how it wears.

Also as requested here is my bobbin of handspun. Blended on the drumcarder predominantly using shades of purple, blue and pink hand-dyed Texel and Cotswold curls with odd bits of yellow and red thrown in for good measure. The photo doesn't really do the colours justice as there is so much more variety in the colours than can really be seen here. Still need to finish the other bobbin to ply this up with so will report back later with the finished yarn and it's details.

Whilst at Mums I cast on for yet another project - not something I really needed to do as there are so many around the house. Can you tell what it is?

Can you tell where the deliberate knots in yarn end and the unintentional ones start?

Okay - it's a 'Scarf with the Striped Border' (not the most exciting title!) from 'Victorian Lace Today' knitted in some HipKnits lace weight silk which is such a slippery thing it will not stay in a ball and is permanently making it self into knots whether I like it or not!

More pretty things for you all - goodies from our trip to the Colinette Millshop! I did very well and resisted most admirably (could this be due to a certain 2 year old causing major distractions?!) and came home armed with this small offering:

The blue and yellow are both 'Jitterbug' from the sale room in unknown colourways and, as always, another cone of 4ply wool for my collection - such good value I can not resist! And all lovely bright colours for happy socks!

Whilst at Mums we had a lovely walk round a local lake that I've driven past so many times but have never actually walked round. What a pleasant surprise that was. Emily had a whale of a time running round with the dogs and playing 'Pooh Sticks' on the bridges and it was such a lovely day - we even managed a pic-nic!

Emily plays 'Pooh Sticks'

And why the surprise at the lovely location? Can you see the building in the photo below? That is the decommissioned Trawsfynydd Nuclear power station, something I've always grumbled at and never really before seen what really surrounded it. The only drawback to it going is that the funding has gone for the visitor centre for the lake and so there are no more details available on all the lovely walks surrounding it all.

Well, all those photos have put me in a better mood now. I shall ignore that pile of green for a while and forget the excitement of a lovely lacy jumper gone sour. Ah, knitting - why do we inflict ourselves with it?! Sorry about the photo heavy post will try to keep it brief next time!

The Stocking Stitch Slog

Well as I feel like I'm virtually up to date with every ones blogs again I'll allow myself to post. Saying that there's not an enormous amount to blog about right now. I'm trying to do two things at once as always and am working on Norah Gaughans 'Lacy Waves Top' from 'Lace Style' again. Now I've not shown you this before as quite honestly there's not a lot to see. The back is plain stocking stitch - no shaping until the armholes and neck / shoulder. The front is much the same - 14" of plain stocking stitch, nice mindless knitting but not exactly the most exciting photo in the world. But just to show I have been doing some knitting here is a dull photo of stocking stitch for you all.

The pattern does get more exciting later on with the lace sleeves and lace insert panel for the front of the jumper but for now it is a little dull and a bit slow growing as a result. I've decided that I do like my knitting to keep me thinking to some extent or another and so these 14" have been a bit of a chore at times, still not far to go till the armholes bringing shaping and things to think about!

WIP number 2 at the moment (obviously not including those lost in the UFO pile) is another pair of 'Log Cabin Socks' from Hand Knit Holidays but these are the larger size this time which will hopefully fit my Dad. I wanted to make him some thick warm socks as he does Motor Racing Marshaling (those guys in the orange suits round race tracks) and stands round in the cold for hours - these will hopefully do the trick for him! Knitted in a chunky yarn on 4mm needles (I'm doing the magic loop as usual) I'm using some Sirdar Denim Chunky as I don't think I could trust Dad not to sling hand wash only socks in the washing machine so at least these will be safe in the machine and not shrink on him but still have some wool content.

It is a great pattern - quick growing and a straightforward cable pattern that whilst easy is enough to keep you from being too bored. I'm on the heel flap right now so am whizzing through them - pity not everyone is having chunky socks for Christmas!! I think I'm safe to post about Dad's socks here as well but other Christmas socks may have to be kept secret for a while!

My Monkeys have of course been finished and unfortunately the camera battery ran out as I was about to photograph them for you so a bit of a delay for that.

I've also been playing with my drum carder making my own batts out of my hand dyed fleece and playing with blending colours with really satisfactory results, well at least I'm pleased with them! As with Monkeys no photo so far but I'll get one done as soon as possible. I've one bobbin of purpley mauve shades and I've started spinning up a bobbin to ply these with. Original plans were for some plain Welsh Black but I'm now thinking of blending some more coloured fleece in with this to see if I can get subtle flecks of colour coming through the black. It's proving to be a good way of getting used to the drum carder and figuring the best way to use it and is fun seeing what happens to these pretty batts once they're spun up. Not sure what the yarn will end up as but so far it's nice and fine so depending on the yardage possibly socks - now there's a surprise!

Fireworks for Finished Objects!

Not really! I'm very lucky to have great scenery on my drive to and from my knitting group. Some people may not agree with me, especially when I say that I have to drive through Birkenhead's Dock area but it really does have lovely urban scenery and I've seen some fantastic sunsets over the docks on my way to knitting on many an occasion.
And in addition to this there is the views over the River Mersey to Liverpool which really has a great waterfront. And on Tuesday night as I was coming home from knitting I had an extra special treat. I got myself front row seats (well standing room) at a Birthday celebration. If you weren't aware the City of Liverpool is 800 years old and really celebrated '800 day' in style with one of the largest fireworks displays on the river in years. And boy was it spectacular - they even had fireworks that burst open to say '800' which I am seriously impressed with!

It also gave me a chance to test my cameras 'firework' setting and try and capture the atmosphere.

You can't really tell but the orange blur to the lower left is actually the Liver Building home to Liverpool's famous Liver Birds. It sounded like they were bombing Liverpool with all the blasts and bangs and combined with all the smoke and searchlights they had it almost felt like having gone back in time and watching a wartime air raid. Anyway, I thought I'd share this little bit of local news with you all as it really was a fun night out!

Back to the knitting I've a flurry of knitting to share with you and, sit yourself down, some more FO's. Recent ones. And another half done WIP. Yes, there has been some concentrated knitting time (OK - due to being full of cold but it's still results!)

Exhibit A - Angora Fetchings. Based on the pattern from Knitty, I used some Louisa Harding Kimono Angora and 3.75mm dpns and lenghtened them to make skinny hand versions as a (belated) birthday present for my brothers girlfriend. They've gone down well and I did promise her some mittens last Winter so at least they'll be in time for this year! She's bunny mad as well hence the angora yarn which is insanely light and fluffy. These were knitted from one 25g ball and I've got a load of left overs!

Exhibit B - Finally I've gotten round to completing my Devon Holiday socks which was a silly UFO having only about 1" to knit up before casting off for the toe. Needless to say these took next to no time to whip off the needles and near enough straight on the feet! The pattern was from 'Sensational Knitted Socks' and if I ever find where I've put the book I'll tell you exactly what pattern it was. Yarn is as usual some Colinette 4ply wool from the Mill shop sale room. You can see slight colour variations - on the right foot the toe area is a little redder than the rest and on the left the cuff is redder. I realised what was happening and switched back to another section of yarn so I could end up with mostly matching socks.

So far they're lovely and snug and cosy and was a simple lace pattern to do, even if the colours in the yarn don't really show this up much!

No sooner had I grafted the toe of these, stitches were rapidly cast on for Monkey which started zooming along, so much so that I've already finished one sock and am halfway down the next leg! Must say it's a great pattern and I'm glad to be finally knitting them and am probably the last person globally to be knitting them. I can see myself knitting more of these and I'm really pleased with how the yarn is knitting up as well. This is some of my holiday yarn namely some Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch which feels lovely and woolly and has lovely soft colour changes which don't seem to distract from the pattern. This photo is pretty accurate colour wise except just before the heel flap on the leg.

You can also see my latest lucky acquisition - my very own set of 'Tony Toes' sock blockers! I'm trying to persuade Mum's DH that he could start earning a bit of pocket money making these sock blockers to sell and have decided that he should brand them 'Tony Toes' but I'm not sure if he's convinced yet! But bless him they are great and have been a godsend recently as my DH accidentally washed a pair of my 100% wool socks. In the Washing Machine. Softly felted socks anyone? Thank goodness I can still get my foot in them and they are on the blockers being stretched. I just seem to have lost a bit of length in the leg (of the socks - not me!) and somehow managed to get a hole in them in the lace section. Thankfully I've plenty of that yarn left so I'll darn the hole and it needs be I'll knit another pair - why though does this have to happen to your favorite pair?!

Of Gables and Socks.

Well I've only just realised that I've a Finished Object that has been waiting to be shown to you all for about two months now. I'd finished 'GreenGables' in time for WoolFest and just wanted to get a good photo for you. Well I think we'd still be waiting for that so you'll have to make do with a not so good photo instead!

It's not brilliant I'm afraid as I took this myself in the mirror. And I'm not that tall really - I'm stood on a box so that you could see all of the top! I love the pattern even if I did mess up the lace pattern as I kept forgetting which row I was on of a simple 4 row repeat - so mindless I didn't even think enough for it and only realised when I'd cast off! I don't mind as I love it so much and I'll definitely be doing this again - hopefully accurately next time!

I've been thinking of WoolFest lately after listening to the latest BritKnitCast and it reminded me that I'd filmed on of the sock knitting machines which were just brilliantly clever machines so I thought I'd leave you with this little film whilst I try and finish some more WIP's! Enjoy!!

I should also add that I've been nominated for a Schmoozer award by Mum.

Which to quote from her blog is:

Schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection. Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogsphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship".

So in return I nominate the following:

Sarah who always has a kind word;
Badger who always seems to have a friendly word to say;
Carrie-Anne even if she is away house-sitting she still manages to comment and keep up with the outside world;
Piglottie who again always seems to have a friendly word to say;
and finally Jo another one who never seems to fail to reply to comments.

It has been very hard narrowing the nominees down again as there are so many people out there who are so friendly and generous with their time on-line and always seem ready to encourage and support and offer words of friendship. I really do cherish the camaraderie within blogland and thank you all for your support and comments and will try my best to return the favour!

As Requested...

Well, as I said in my last post I've been responsible for the Wool Department in work the last few weeks and have had large deliveries to put away. Normally the official Wool Lady does this but she's on holiday which means I'm left in charge - ooh er!!

I arrived today armed with my camera to get some photos as requested only to find there had been 5 more huge bags of wool delivered and there were 3 more still to be unpacked. As if that wasn't enough work to contemplate the boss decided we should move all the DK weight yarns to the same area. And of course by 'we' I really mean 'me'!! I didn't escape the wool all day I was that busy shifting things. I don't know if the orders were doubled up or not but there were insane mountains of cheap acrylic DK - still a big seller with our little old charity knitters - most of which were doubled up. I did enjoy myself once I'd figured out where everything should go and was bemused when the Sirdar rep arrived and as I had armfuls of wool at the time dealt with me! Thankfully nothing more complicated than a new shade book and new posters to display but exciting none the less! Naturally the old shade book is sat here with me to peruse before being passed on to my knitting group to study.

So here's the finished result of anothers day hard labour in the wool dept!

From L to R - Click Chunky, Blur, something from Wendy with alpaca in it,
Wendy Fusion and Peru Naturals (that actually smells woolly!!)

The DK Aisle! - including the new Click DK and Twillies Freedom Spirit
and leading to the rainbow of acrylic DK!

I also hinted in the last post that I might at long last have an FO to share with you and so I have - can you tell what it is yet?!

For those in the know it's obviously another of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jackets in its 'before' mode. And here it is 'after'!



The girls had fun at my knitting night trying to figure how it all came together after I finished casting off and were all suitably impressed with the cleverness of the pattern. Obviously I haven't sewn the buttons on yet but Emily has worn it and does like it. DH is trying to train her to say 'Surprise' whilst wearing it and so it's of course known as the Surprise Jacket to little Emily as well!

I love the pattern! I really really do! This only used 144g (weighed on the kitchen scales!) of leftover DK acrylic that was in the stash - not my favorite but with messy Emily a god send really and simple to wash. I was even tempted with the thought of making a rainbow one - all I need is a decent blue and orange and I think I know where I can get those from! But first I want one for myself! And then Emily really needs a Tomten Jacket and another of EZ's fantastic patterns - do you know, I loved the patterns before knitting them. But now having actually knitted one up I'm even more in love with them all - EZ was truly a genius with her patterns and I want to knit more of them!! I can see an obsession coming on!!

Right, I'm going to try and find the buttons for this and try to crack on with finishing something else namely my Devon socks - only inches to go!!

Edited to add: The girls in work though I was mad taking pictures of the wool but one of them has decided that this is what happens when you start knitting with four needles!