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 :)

Sunny Bank Holiday

Shhhh.... I don't want to say it to loudly, but we've actually got some sun on a bank holiday weekend, quite rare for the U.K. but fabulous, I had a lovely day Saturday, as DB and I went to Sutton on Sea again on the Harley, It was busy enough, but not as busy as you would expect on a bank holiday. We had Fish and chips, traditional seaside fare, and a walk along the beech followed by a Ice cream, I think the poor bike was groaning a bit on the way back though;)

We also had a barbecue at DB parent's yesterday, first one we've had this year, so it made a nice change and really felt the smell of summer... Tess of course was happy, in her element with sausages, burgers and steak on the offering and had lots of fun in the garden playing with the hosepipe and her ball afterwards!

Thank you for all your well wishes, regarding my lip. Your comments really do mean a lot and make things not seem so bad, you are all such lovely nice people. although the lump has not got any smaller it has not got any worse either and it seems a lot less irritated than it was, although I was a bit disappointed as my appointment with dermatologist has been changed and is now on the 13th September instead of the 5th, so another week of waiting and although I am not usually superstitious I can't help feeling relieved that the 13th falls on a Thursday and not a Friday, and at least something positive can be done and hopefully he'll be able to remove it with little trouble.

There's not been much knitting been done over the last fortnight, but I've made a few purchases. Whilst in Yarn, there was a sale, but not much left unfortunately when I got there, as I didn't know they were having one. I did see some Ribbon Twist in the sale though, another Rowan yarn, sadly now discontinued. I was rather disappointed that they did not have enough of any particular shade in the sale to make Beth, a winter jumper I have been wanting for to make for ages now. So I did ask them to order me some in the shade Riches,




As this wasn't in their sale, I thought I would have to pay full price, but they deducted £7.50 off for the ten balls, so I was really pleased. Also while I was there I picked up a copy of the new Vogue, this is really an excellent bumper issue, with lots of good stuff, as they are celebrating 25 years. So Happy Birthday to Vogue Knitting!



After seeing the gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill, Louet Gems on Roxy's blog, I just had to go and order some, these are in the shade Blueberry Hill, the colours are gorgeous and jewel like. Thank you for the link Roxy



There are just so many gorgeous shades to choose from, I can see more of these being added to my stash very soon.

The fourth STR kit will hopefully arrive very soon, I've been avoiding blogland over the last few days, so I really do not know what the kit will this time, I'm kinda hoping it's not going to be lacy like the grasshopper pattern, that came with second kit. I've been struggling to find an alternative to use with that yarn Walking on Wild Tide, the yarn is so beautiful, lovely colours and so soft, nothing seemed right, I tried several, but they turned out either to big, or the lace didn't show the yarn's at its best. So I finally settled on Tidal Wave, which was the original idea I had after seeing the one's on Curly Brunette's blog. Thank you CB for the link, I love the pattern, fabulous with both written instructions and a diagram and the pattern is so simple to memorise anyway. The pattern for this is a free one from The South West Trading Company. Here is the progress so far I'm just up to the start of the heel flap.



The only other knitting I have done, is this simple trainer/ankle sock. The yarn used is Regia Cotton Color Shade 4183, a bargain I won on eBay for 99p It was only for one 50gram ball, that's why I am making it into just a pair of basic trainer socks, as I don't think I would have enough yarn for a normal pair. but as I mostly wear trainers at weekends, they'll be perfect and you probably couldn't buy a pair cheaper ready made anywhere either.

I've have also made a few other purchases, but I'm still waiting for them to arrive, so I shall put those in the next post. I feel like a little squirrel, building a hoard for the winter time, but that's what we knitter's like doing best.

Here comes the Sun at last!

Isn't it ironic, that when the new Rowan Autumn/Winter magazine arrives on you doorstep complete with thick woolly cabled items that the weather does a complete U turn and they're the last things you want to be making in the glorious sunshine. Not that I'm complaining though, the sun always makes things seem brighter and happier than the dismal rain we was having.

My Rowan Magazine N0 42 seemed to arrive later than usual and although I had managed to resist looking at any previews prior, for me this time, there isn't anything that takes my fancy. A lot of the patterns seems to be made with Mohair content, the only fibre that I am allergic too. I do like the magazine for the articles though, and I do keep picking it up for another browse, although I do wish that the pictures were better, they seem rather dark and difficult to see especially with some of the models poses.

The Sublime Cardigan is coming on well and I have very nearly finished the back

It is a fabulous pattern and very well written, although I am in a bit of panic, as the second size I am doing requires ten balls, which I purchased, but I am already half way through the fourth ball and I am a bit concerned I will run out, I usually purchase a ball more than the requirements, but this time for some reason I foolishly didn't, so I think another trip to Yarn is in order tomorrow, to buy another couple of balls just in case and what a perfect excuse also to have a look at the other new Autumn season books, which are out now, including the new Rowan Classic books.

Everything been fairly calm over the last few weeks, although I had a bit of shock at the doctors the other day. I had a small blood blister on my lip about eight months ago, something which has never really cleared up and then recently started to come fairly probmatic, rather itchy and keeps bleeding a lot, so finally DB persuaded me to go to the doctors, of which I did and was prescribed a cream to use and was told if it didn't improve to go back, In fact the cream seemed to not help at all and the lump started to grow bigger and get even more irritated. So I went back to the doctors, a different doctor this time, who was most concerned and said that a visit to the skin specialist was required, as she couldn't really say what it is but thought it may be a Pre-Malignant Tumour, those words just made me shudder. My appointment has been made for the beginning of September and I am really hoping it is the doctor being over cautious. as since the visit and I have stopped using that damn cream, it has calmed down and is no where near as itchy as it was.

At least I have my knitting to keep my mind off things, talking of which I can leave you with another FO the Jaywalkers

and here they are again

These are quite bright, but will be lovely to wear with boots in the Autumn, the Jaywalker is a fabulous pattern and is one of my favourites, These were made with STR in the shade Knitty Rocks and although I made the smaller size of the two in the pattern, I was only left with just over, one metre of yarn, so if anyone is thinking of making a pair, it is worth bearing that in my mind.

And of course, now they are out of the way, it means I can cast on for another pair, now what next. Decisions, Decisions, don't you just love them ;-)

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well, isn't the recent weather becoming rather tiresome, this is supposed to be the summer for goodness sake. I, in Nottingham have not had it anywhere near as bad as some parts of the country and to have your home flooded more than once must be devastating. My heart goes out to these people, as the clearing up process takes so much time and for the worry of listening to the forecasters predict more heavy rain is unimaginable.

We did not manage to go camping in Whitby after all, the forecast for the whole week was not good, and really by watching the inches of rainfall, it was probably best we didn't go. We did however, manage to go out and about on an odd day trip and made the most of what bits of sunshine we did get, one of those trips DB took me to our local LYS Yarn. I had a fabulous time, browsing through books and getting to feel and see lots of lovely yarn, so much better than on a computer monitor. To be honest, I wasn't looking for anything in particular, as I have that many WIP's I can't possibly start anymore or can I? Then I saw the lady owner of the shop wearing a fabulous cardigan, and after a lengthy discussion with her, it really did appeal both pattern and yarn used. The pattern is this one called The little lacy number cardigan

and comes from this book called The Sublime Merino Hand Knit Book

The yarn used is Sublime Extra fine Merino wool and is so soft, you just can't help touch and feel it, by this time DB came into the shop and when I showed it him, he did say he could see me wearing it and offered to buy me the yarn, to make up for the disappointing week's holiday, now you know, this is a good offer you just can't refuse. So another WIP on the needles, although I have really settled into this pattern, the lace is very basic and simple and is only worked on every fourth row, with stocking stitch in between, great for TV watching, the pattern also has a ribbed waist section which is done on smaller needles to the main part, now anything that makes this area look slimmer is a bonus in my opinion ;-)

Here is my progress so far on the back. I chose this lovely deep pink colour, a change from my usual blues and greens, but thought it was time to be more adventurous with colour and after all it helps to cheer up these dark and wet days.

I have also made good progress on the Jaywalkers and have now completed one sock and cast on for the second straight away and I am now about half way on the cuff.

I am a bit more used to the colourway now and I am pleased how it turned out and I bet you'll agree you've never seen a sock quite like it before ;-)

I am now back at work "groan" Am I the only one, but why is when you start back, after a couple of days its always seems like the holiday break never really happened, at least we have our knitting to look forward to at the end of the day, oh what sanity ;-)

Socks, Socks, Socks

At last, they are done, the man's socks, I have being promising DB for the last six months, eight days later than my final agreed deadline of being completed for his birthday, but hey they done and they fit OK too...

I will try and get him to model them for next post, but at the moment, he says they are too hot to wear, can you believe it, after all the work I put in to getting them done, there's gratitude for you ;-)

But now that's out of the way, I can cast on another pair, for myself this time though ;-)

Can you remember last post, I purchased the STR skein colourway Knitty Rocks, yeah that one, so bright it leaps out to you from the monitor. Here's a few pictures of it, unravelled from its skein, wound into balls and a sample of it knitted up

Here is the skein, unravelled and ready to be wound in to a ball, the hank hanger incidentally is a device which DB made for me, after seeing the complete tangle and frustrated mess I made once trying to wind a skein into a ball on my lap! he thought of and made this, the idea with this, is so I can clamp it to the shelf at the side of my chair and to be able to adjust the height, length and angle according to my seated position and hand wind into a ball, while the weight of the skein with gravity untangles itself as you go, once hand wound into balls, I then rewind with a ball winder into centre pull balls, this is probably not as quick as using a swift, but it does work well and the good thing, is it uses very little space and all can be done from my chair. DB has been bugging me to put this on the blog, just to prove that after the last post of putting his socks on upside down, he is not a complete gonk really, lol!

Here the skein wound into balls, at this point, I'm beginning to feel a little uneasy about the colourway, a good part of the skein, has some fluorescent lime green pieces, which I'm not keen on, when I originally ordered the skein, those didn't seem as electric as they do in real life.

I decided to knit a pair of Jaywalkers with this, after seeing the pattern tons of times on other people's blog, I quite fancied a pair, typical of me, following the trend, a year of so behind everyone else. This is them knitted so far, I am not usually this adventurous with colour and these certainly are technicolour. I am really not sure what to think of them, they turning out most unusual don't you think?

The third STR Kit has now arrived too, blimey the year is certainly rushing by, I have still not thought about what to make with the second kit, yarn yet, the pattern for that one was called grasshopper, a rather lacy pattern, which I think may be beyond my reach, and I am not all that keen on holey socks either, maybe a few lacy holes but not as much as in the grasshopper pattern. Anyway sorry, I digress, here's is the picture of the June Kit, a lovely pattern with a lovely skein called Firebird, perfect for the summer I think! This pattern is called The Solstice Slip, This is my favourite kit so far...

I'm feeling a lot less stressed now than I was last post, especially as I have this week off work, lots of knitting in order I think, we were going to go camping, but all the rain we have had lately, our campsite is water logged, so we shall have to wait towards the end of the week and see if we can get on then. We are hoping to go to Whitby, I've not been there since I was a child and the quick break will be a nice change. I am also hoping to find a yarn shop or two to browse in and of course I will be taking the jaywalkers to knit whilst I am there. Fingers crossed for the sunshine ;-)