STILL HERE

Well it is very nearly the end of January and I have noticed that it is over a month ago since I lasted posted. I am not sure how that has happened, but I suppose when you can't remember what you have actually done since Christmas, simply means nothing of interest to one self, let alone to anyone who may be reading.

Like most people January is my least favourite month of the year, probably due to the post Christmas slump and as it always seems to be a case of going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark and with the weather we have been experiencing lately even the hours at work have been in the dimmest of light.

Talking of Christmas though, I hope you all had a fantastic time and a "Happy New Year "to you, a bit belated, but typical of me "better late than never" I did receive some wonderful Christmas goodies My favourite present being as set of Harmony Option Interchangeable Needles and a complete set of Harmony Option DPNs. I also received some lovely Twilleys Freedom Spirit yarn of which I will talk more about in a future post, when I have a bit more knitted to show. I also received yet more sock yarn, some of which is photographed here



On the left is Nino Merino, a 4ply sock yarn in the shade Rainbow, which was purchased from The Natural Dye Studio. The one on the right is a skein of Fiberspates Sock Yarn, Blue Faced Leicester wool in the shade Spring Greens. I have seen some of this on other people blogs and just had to have some. It came with a free blue faced pattern too and was purchased from Get Knitted

I also received these fabulous books. Both of the One Skein Wonders and 101 Designer One Skein Wonder books have numerous quick patterns that I would like to make one day. I am rather impressed with the Finishing Techniques by Sharon Brant, the pictures and tutorials are clearly photographed and written. One thing by reading this book that has finally sunk into my head is the real importance of taking proper measurements prior to starting something, which I am sure is where I have been going wrong as it is not necessarily the case of where you knit a certain size for the chest measurement, you will need the same size for the length too. In my case I need to knit medium/large for chest measurement but probably a small or even xsmall for the length. Not really a body proportion size I like the idea of, but one of which is important to enable something to fit properly and be wearable. The book explains how with your knitted gauge measurement you can calculate how to add or deduct inches in the width and in the length and still keep the garments shape in proportion. My other option of course is although I can't really do much about my height, I can certainly do with losing some weight to reduce my chest measurement to be more equal. Just before Christmas I reached an all time high with my weight and do desperately need to do something, so I have embarked on another healthy eating and exercise plan, as thoughts of last years disastrous resolution comes flooding back. but this time I am determined to succeed both for vanity and health reasons and so far I have lost 8lbs woowoo!! Anyway I am digressing, the book Finishing Techniques is one I would recommend to anyone who like me needs help in that area and doesn't want to fill with dread when its time for the so important finishing and trying on of a garment for the final time. Which I think is why I have been dragging my heels over finishing the Sublime Cardi as I am sure it is going to be too small width ways and too long in the length. The book also has six basic patterns to make all using Rowan yarns, I already have a Summer Tweed lined Jacket, A zipped Cardigan in All Seasons Cotton, and a pullover with lace edging in Calmer added to my to do list and all of this is in this book. Super!

Other knitting news I am pleased to say is I have finally finished Beth, I really like her a lot, although she has turned out to be rather snug and long too. I will try and get DB to take a picture of me wearing her for next post and you'll see what I mean. But overall I am pleased and she is lovely to wear on these chilly days.



Well that's all from me until next time and I shall try not to leave it so long between posts.


P.S Sorry didn't think I posted the link for the Harmony Option needles directly to the Knitpicks website, who don't currently ship to the U.K for some reason, mine were purchased from Get Knitted, Bristol for anyone reading in the U.K who would like to purchase some.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Would just like to wish You all a very Happy Christmas, I hope Santa brings you all lots of nice things. However you spend the 25th, have a lovely restful day with the people and animals you love. Eat and drink well and have a fantastic time! See you soon xxx

SLACKING

I am rather slacking in the blogging world, I can't believe its over a month since I last posted, where on earth does time go... I have been rather busy at work, trying to get everything finished for the year end, as I do so hate leaving the tedious reports and things til after the Christmas break, as I spend most of the holiday, thinking about the workload I have got to go back to. So I am buckling down and trying it get it all done, I actually finish work next Friday, then don't go back til Wed 2 Jan, so a nice long break where I am hoping to get plenty of knitting done, especially the wip's, so I can start new stuff in the new year, that's the plan anyway.

Last post I mentioned the saga of the Malabrigo of which I am pleased to say has finally arrived, I was rather beginning to think though, it was not going to happen, twice it was sent back to the store where I purchased it from, each time saying either no one to receive or refused, each time I confirmed the address as being correct, when finally on the third attempt the kind postman finally brought it... Arrr relieve... and all to be revealed why it had taken so long, the yarn store had only kept labelling the address for a hundred houses away, yep I know clearly written on the package number --, instead of --- and also inside the bag when I opened it, the yarn store had the cheek to send back the previous packaging bags each with the wrong address written on, even despite me e-mailing and phoning to clarify the address, and them getting quite stroppy with the situation. I don't want to harp on about it, because its hardly world ending stuff and at least it is now sorted, but really that kind of incompetence annoys me so much, as even when I e-mailed them to explain, they never bothered to reply. Obviously a case of third time lucky for me, as by this time our usual postman was back from his holiday and when he went to deliver the parcel at --, and they refused again, he recognised the name and guessed where it belonged too, now the worrying thought is if the postman can link you to a yarn package, does that mean you have been spending too much on yarn. lol!

Here is the picture of the Malabrigo, I apologise for the rubbish photograph, the yarn is actually a little lighter than shown, The shade is Tuareg, a kind of dark turquoise, the yarn is lovely and so soft, believe me it has been caressed a few times. I have in mind, to make a hooded pullover with this, if I can get the gauge right.

Knitting wise, I have finished my Regia Trainer socks, I really like the colours of these, as they look so pretty together

I actually enjoyed making these so much, that I have cast on another pair, the good thing with these are they are easy to make and you can easily make a pair with a 50g ball and as I wear trainers a lot, I rather like the idea of having lots of pairs in different colours. Last Saturday I needed to take the car into the garage, to have some springy thingy fixed on the exhaust, don't ask me, as you can guess I'm not mechanically minded at all. I had booked the car into one of those Formula one Auto Centres and knowing as it was Saturday, I would probably be in for a long wait, I wanted to take some small simple knitting with me, and just as I was deciding what to take, the postman brought one of my eBay purchases, some of the lovely Lana Grossa Magico, thank you Roxy for posting so quickly, absolutely perfect for another pair of trainer socks and the ideal project to start whilst waiting. So off I went, and although they were busy, I was the only one in the customers waiting room, as I assume as it is on a big retail park the others were using the opportunity to go shopping, so I got myself a hot drink from the machine and plonked myself by the window and you know had the most tranquil time, sitting knitting and watching all the Christmas shoppers scurrying in and out of the rain to their cars with bags of shopping, I enjoyed myself so much, I was rather disappointed when the mechanic said my car was ready to be driven away. So if you ever want to steal the perfect excuse for some knitting time, book your car in for a long service, you'll enjoy it. lol!

Here's the progress I made with the Lana Grossa Magico sock

That's all my knitting news really, I have completed one sleeve on Beth, just one more to go, so hopefully will be able to finish her this week, especially now its starting to get rather chilly.

I hope you all managing to get all your Christmas preparations in order, it seems to get more mayhem every year doesn't it?

I'll leave you with a rather scary picture of Tess, this is how she looked after being woken up from her Sunday afternoon nap with her dad.

Good Intentions

I did have good intentions of having a FO for this post, but alas, once again, it is just not meant to be. Knitting time has been reduced for some reason, general life and work, just seem to get in the way.

Thank you all for your well wishes in the last post, I am pleased to say the allergic flare up has gone and settled down. The only thing we can put it down to, is believe or not, is the cardboard tube of some new Toilet rolls we bought, these particular one's have a scented core and of course which silly idiot, after having a runny nose and watery eyes wiped her face with a piece, yep me, not realising at the time that was the very thing causing the runny nose and watery eyes in the first place. Hence five hours later the swelled up face and eyes. then to go in the bathroom again, and another flare up of sneezing and wheezing. It really was a point of elimination and since these were the only things different to normal I had used, did I start to wonder and since throwing the wretched things away, I have been fine since. Live and learn eh!

Despite not having any FO's to show, I have been knitting and I casted on Beth from the Ribbon Twist Collection a fortnight ago.




This is a speedy knit, even for my standards. knitting on 12mm needles however, felt really weird, especially after using 2.25mm sock needles, but I soon got the hang of it and have been whizzing along merrily. Here a picture of the back and front done, just the sleeves and collar to go....



The weird shape will disappear I hope after pressing as the edges are having a serious tendency to roll, I am pleased with the progress though so far. and I am sure it will be a lovely warm woolly jumper for the forthcoming winter months.


Last post, I did mention having some purchases to share with you, First I have two balls of Rowan Kid Classic, these will be to make a felted mobile phone cover from the 1st issue of the newest UK magazine Let's Knit

Mohair in the past, sometimes for some reason, reacts with my skin, leaving an itchy rash, but the mohair content of this is only small and hopefully with it being felted it won't give me to much trouble especially as I won't be actually wearing it against my skin. This also will be the first time I've felted, so it'll be interesting and fun to try.

I also purchased some sock yarn from the Fleece artist, one is basic merino wool in the shade Seastorm, a lovely mixture blues, brown and greens
>




The other Fleece artist yarn is a skein of Sea wool in the shade Wildflowers, this is a very subtle mix of cream, pale blue and pale pink, but is rather pretty.




The fifth kit of the STR kit has also arrived, the pattern is Lenore and the yarn with the kit has the same name, the colour is predominately black with reddish tinges, the yarn is lovely, but the pattern again isn't really my thing unfortunately.

I was rather hoping to have some Malabrigo yarn to show you, but I have had huge problems with the ordering, First I ordered and paid from one online store, to be told seven days after waiting, that there was not enough in stock to send and they wouldn't know if or when they would get some more in, so would have to give me a refund, of which after numerous e-mails and calls, was actually refunded another week later. I then located some from another store, who was most helpful with good communications, I managed to order some and pay, problem free, that is until the Mail system got involved, after a week and half of waiting, I did start to wonder, so after e-mailing was told to wait a little longer as the mail have still got a backlog to get through, another two weeks past, so I decided I really need to chase this, to be told that the parcel had been sent back to them, due to the parcel being refused, impossible as I have been waiting eagerly for its arrival and no way have I or anyone I know refuse a yarn package. So I then checked with the store the address that they had sent the yarn too, who then confirmed that it was the correct address, and that now the yarn hadn't been refused, but no one was in to sign for it, or had responded to the card left by the 5th November. which was it was why it was returned This is completely and utterly rubbish, as on the day they said no-one was in, we received three parcels from eBay, all delivered by Royal Mail. I don't blame the store who sent the goods, I just think it an easy and simple way for the Mail system to get through their backlog of work simply by returning goods to the sender. Sorry to rant on... but the whole thing has been going on since early September and has made me quite cross and upset, am I the only one who gets stressed out by small things? The store have said they will re-send so hopefully fingers crossed the Malabrigo will arrive this week.

My disappointment hasn't lasted too long though, as I have won these gorgeous items from a lovely eBayer, "Thanks Roxy" Here we have Four balls of Jaegar Trinity in the shade Powder, a big ball of Lana Grossa Millenweit Inca and lastly a gorgoeous skein of Sweet Georgia Speed Demon in Mango. I've been looking for some of this for ages and it took DB's excellent bidding skills in the final seconds to clinch it! Woohoo the colours in this skein look good enough to eat and will make a gorgeous pair of socks to brighten these dark foggy days

also Roxy, very kindly sent me a huge ball of the lovely Sugar N Cream in Pink, Thank you so much Roxy you are a star, I had seen this on Ravelry, but could not find a stockist in the UK, it is gorgeous and such a lovely pretty colour

The Car tax and Insurance is due for renewal this month, and of course Christmas is just round the corner so I have really got to try and avoid the temptation to buy anything else for a bit, not sure how long I'll last though. DB does keep reminding me I surely have enough yarn by now and it is a bit worrying when a few people are starting to make comments about my illness of Yarn addiction. But of course, they don't know what they are talking about do they? lol !!!>

Ahoy We have Tidal Waves

Yes, At last I have actually another FO, these are the Tidal Waves that I was making from the yarn that came with the second of the STR 2007 club kit. I really love these, as they are so soft and silky to the touch.




Here is a close up of the patterned cuff

This pattern I would, definitely do again and would recommend to anyone who is looking for something a bit different to a plain sock, but still want to be able to knit without too much concentration or the need to keep frogging due to mistakes on previous rows. For anyone interested here is the link again to the pattern Tidal Waves by Deby Lake

I was rather hoping to show you a few of my purchases I had made over the last few weeks, but I'm afraid I don't have as much too show as I would have liked, as I think I've been hit by the postal strike and am still waiting for some bits to arrive, although I do sympathise with the Postal workers grievances, I can't help wondering how much other companies have used it as an excuse, as lately that is all we have been hearing at work "It must be in the backlog due to the strike"

Anyway as mentioned last post, I have had these two books arrive

The first one, Favorite Socks by Interweave is a classic, there are a few patterns that I would add to my never ending to do list, and even has a couple that I would like to make for DB at some stage, but ssh, don't tell him, as there is an "inverses" on the "at the some stage" bit. The other good thing I like about this book is that it is spiral bound, so will stay home at the correct page whilst in use.

The other book is called Knit,Knit, a interesting but rather unusual book. I bought this purposely for the lovely Bridie by Anna Bell, which is also on my "to do" list and for me the book is well worth having just for this pattern alone and also gives a lovely profile on Anna, which each time I read it, gives me a huge boost of inspiration. The other patterns though, unfortunately are just not for me, some such as "knitted Boxing Gloves, Knitted Shoes, Knitted Bathing Costume, a rather lacy see through mini knitted tube dress, jump in the wall, yes a knitted wall with a jumper knitted in which you wear by standing against the wall etc... but please do not let me put you off completely, the book is full of good reading and gives wonderful in depth profiles of each designer, each one completely different and how knitting has had a impact on their life's, each time you open it, you see something different and is not one that you could appreciate by just glancing through, this is ideal book to perhaps try and persuade your local library to get, that way you can have a good look, before you commit to buy, although at £11.80, it not overly expensive to treat yourself too either.

I also have some more gorgeous STR to show

These are called Saratoga (Top) and Grandma's Flower Garden (Bottom), these strangely enough do look, like you see here, very similar to each other, but when I chose them, they did look more differently on the Blue Moon Website, but never mind, they are both gorgeous and I may use one of them to knit Monkey Socks. Talking of STR, I have now received my invite for next year's club, so that is now all sorted and confirmed, which I am pleased about, as I don't want the same question as last year, will I or won't I get in...

Hopefully for next post, my other goodies will have arrived so I can share them with you.

Not much knitting going on here at the moment I'm afraid, as I have spent a fair bit of knitting time on Ravelry, yes the addictive bug is still with me lol!

Sorry for the shortish post, but over the weekend I have not really felt too well, It started off as a really bad swollen sore throat and tight chest and then this morning I woke up to my face and eyes swollen up to three time the size, Scary eh... I have taken the day off work and did go to see the emergency doctor, who says no doubt I have an allergy of some kind, not really sure what it can be though, as I have not taken anything or used anything differently to normal. The doctor has subscribed some antihistamine's and did say that if it gets worse or the wheeziness in my chest comes back to go to A& E immediately for stronger meds. Although I do feel much better now than I did twelve hours ago, the swelling hasn't gone down much and I do not like the idea of walking around looking like I have done twenty rounds in a boxing ring but hopefully it will all be cleared up soon once these tablets start to work and at least I have my knitting and Ravelry to take my mind of things.

I'VE GOT MY INVITATION

Good news, I have now received my Ravelry Invite, I was rather surprised how it happened so quickly, about a week ago I was about 2200 in line, then Sunday evening, it came. The fact that it came at about eleven o'clock in the evening though sent me into a tizz, I felt rather like a child wanting to play when really should be going to sleep ready for Monday Morning. And of course being a Monday I couldn't play until after work. :(

I am quite astounded about how clever it all works and what a huge inspiration for ideas, it must be one of the best things to happen in the Knitter's World for a long time, of course most of you reading probably know this already, if you have had your invite . Thanks Roxy for the advice of setting up a flicker account already to use, I did start that last week and it does make things a little easier to be prepared beforehand. My user name is CurlyCable, so if anyone would like to let me know their user id's so I can add you to the friends page. I think it's going to take some time putting everything on there, so I adding bits as and when I think about them. For someone who thought they were quite a good girl with a small stash, when taking it down from all the hiding places, found this clearly isn't the case, I feel a little guilty about adding it all. Even worse, when photographing it all, DB asked "Are you putting all that for sale on Ebay then, What a cheek :) (Wonder how much he likes breathing) ;)


Despite spending a lot of time on Ravelry this week, I have done some knitting, and I am pleased to say The Sublime Cardigan is coming on quite well, with the back and two fronts all done


I am also half way up the first sleeve, so hopefully by next post I shall have all the knitting done.

I have also done a small amount on the second Tidal Wavesock too, the first one of which I finished whilst waiting for the hospital appointment, As ArtyfartyKat and Roxy commented, it does spur some interest, knitting rather than reading whilst waiting. I did get quite a few strange looks, some people even seemed a little smirky, and looked at me as though I had got some weird contagious disease, which in a way put me off, but then again I thought Why shouldn't I knit I am not bothering anyone else. It seems to me these people who mock knitting, miss out on an awful lot don't they and I think all the people who've signed up for Ravelry prove that.

That's really all my news for now, but will probably with Ravelry try to blog more little and often from now on. I have ordered a couple of books Knitknit: Profiles and Projects from Knitting's New Wave and also Favorite Socks by Ann Bud so will hopefully be able to tell you more about these next post.

Mid September already!

Crikey, where has this year gone, I can't believe it is three weeks since I last posted and unfortunately have very little knitting to show. Work has been busy again, and with the glorious weather we've been having lately it has almost been too warm to get the needles clicking.... I know, excuses excuses, I really do need to get my act together and get something finished to wear, this weather is bound to change over the next few weeks and then I shall be complaining about having no woollies to wear and since I have taken up knitting again, I seem to get a dreadful guilty feeling about buying them ready made, as they are just not the same are they?

All is not been too bad though, as I have finished one of the Tidal Wave socks I was making from the STR Silkie Yarn, I am really pleased with the result, the sock itself has a lovely snug fit, and is just so silky and soft. I love it so much I can't wait to get it's mate finished so I can wear them :)

I actually finished this, whilst at the hospital on Thursday waiting for the dermatologist appointment. I guessed I'd be waiting for a long time, so I took this with me, as I really did not fancy one of those celebrity magazines available to buy in the Hospital Newsagent showing J-Lo's armpits or "How to have the figure of the latest WAG by simply drinking a glass of lemon juice and eating a quarter of an apple every four hours" Urgh!!! Everything went well with the consultant, who after a bit of poking and pulling diagnosed the blemish to be something called a Venous Lake, apparently completely harmless and is caused by damage from the sun which causes the blood vessels to dilate.

Unfortunately, there is very little they can do to remove it at this stage, as one option would require several laser treatments over a period of time and to surgically remove it would quite likely leave a huge scar looking even worse, than it is now, as it is not giving me any problems at the moment, and is still fairly small it would be best to wait and see if it changes, or starts to get irritated, then I would need to go back and start the laser treatment. I left the hospital, armed with leaflets on how to prevent further sun damage, and what signs to look out for, something I must admit I have been fairly stupidly ignorant off up until now. So I was told this was a warning and I will alter my ways in the future. When I got home I did look Venous Lake up on the Internet and felt rather shocked to read that it usually only occurs in the elderly :( So now I'm making sure I slap on plenty of suncream before I go out in the sun.

Last post I mention further purchases I had made and was waiting to arrive, one of which is a fabulous Kim Hargreaves kit Harmony in her Out of the Shadows collection




I first saw this on Queen of the Froggers blog, I loved it so much that I just had to order one, the yarn used for this kit is Rowan Summer Tweed and the colour I chose for this is Puff, This is one of the shades in the sale and I just love grabbin a bargain. There are still some left I believe so if you are interested, head over there





The kit is super and contains everything you need apart from needles. I am planning to start this early next year, ready for the spring. nothing like planning ahead and I really would like to be one of those people who manage to organise their knitting, so they always have the right thing knitted ready for the right season. although lately with our weather I'm not sure whether seasons actually exist anymore.



Talking of bargains, I managed to win Ten balls of Ribbon Twist on ebay for £17.00 ;) that just works out at £1.70 per ball, big difference to the price I paid in Yarn a few weeks ago, this shade is 119, which is called Rascal, a lovely cream colour with pink and blue ribbon, I've not decided what to make with this yet, but there are plenty of patterns I like in The Ribbon Twist Collection, so I shouldn't have too much trouble deciding...





The fourth kit of STR has arrived also, This is actually my least favourite out of all of them so far, the pattern is called Summer of Love and is like a lacy ankle sock to be worn with sandals, unfortunately although the pattern is very pretty, this is not me at all, as I prefer sandals definitely without socks. I will however use the yarn for something else, it is not a colourway I would have chosen, but I do kinda like it as it is quite bright with a good mixture of colours including magenta and turquoise.



But as I still have not even finished the second kit yet, and I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the meantime , I am not in too much of a rush to decide what to make;) So I'll see you next time with a hopeful progress report on the Sublime Lacy cardigan. Have a good week :)