Catknit

2007-09-08T18:46:00.000Z

Found more stash, need to lie down for a while.

2007-09-07T14:49:00.000Z

Its been a very wierd but educational day today, my yarn buying habit must have been really out of control for the stash to get to the size it is. I used to be a one thing at a time kind of knitter but since discovering internet yarn stores and knitting forums, that all went out the window.

I have been a good girl lately and the lack of funds kind of yarn dieting has worked wonders, I haven't bought any yarn since March this year but the stash still overfloweth!

I spent today taking piccies of my stash to put on Ravelry and mucking about trying to put it back into the hiding places so it looked less-needless to say failed on the hiding front and found more than I thought I had.

Now to upload all the stash piccies onto Blogger would probably take until Sunday night but just to shame me into tidying it, this is a pic of my knitting corner.

It started off as a nice old table with a lamp on top and a knitting bag (note the singular) with 1 project in it.

Then some books and magazines started appearing (mainly cos the lights in the hallway where the bookcases are didn't work for a while and I had to use a torch after dark to look for a particular pattern).

The project bags started to breed at an alarming rate leaving trails of little UFO's behind them and gave enough shelter for the smaller gadgets (needles, row counters, stitch markers etc etc etc. ) to hide in and avoid being found when needed and forcing me to buy more which then hid amongst the UFO's and started breeding themselves.

It all started to go really downhill after the beads arrived, they started off all innocent looking to be added into the odd shawl or border but then they called in a load of craft wire reinforcements followed by a box of pliers and findings for the wire jewellry.

I will tidy it sometime soon but always get distracted by a pattern or a magazine or something shiny......those beads have a very naughty glint in their eyes.....

Of course if you want to look at the stash, it should be viewable on my Flickr account but its still uploading so will increase as the evening goes on.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10269065@N06/sets/72157601897542690/

2007-08-20T16:16:00.000Z

Has she gone a bit nuts or just avoiding work again?
yup, its the avoiding work thing.
2 posts in a week-unheard of.
Anyway, I've quite got into this knittted jewellery thing so finished another couple of necklaces and even made a pair of matching earrings for one of them.

The one on the left is gold coloured wire with lilac/purple beads and sits quite low on the neck.
The right hand side is a choker made from silver wire with some Swarovski crystals left over from something else. The beads are mostly clear and pink so instead of putting on a clasp, I crocheted thin ribbon for the cast off and left long ends to tie it at the back.
These aren't for me tho, a friend of a friend has a sister who owns a crafty shop place and is interested in selling them for me *shock*.....could this be a less boring way to make a living than book-keeping? It doesn't take much........

And just to give myself a break from stringing beads for a while, I started a sock last night which is on a KAL on the crafty threads forum. The patttern is designed by Probablyjane and really good to do, looks like 2 colours worked at the same time but nu-uh,
its all done with slipped sts. We likey.

2007-08-18T17:19:00.000Z

MS3 is finished!

and I'm a bit disappointed, not because of how it turned out-I absolutely love it, but because it was such fun knitting it I'm sad to finish.

Which at a guess would mean I need to make another......

This one was knitted in Habu Textiles pure bamboo laceweight bought at Ally Pally two and a half years ago but sat waiting for the right project to come along and it was worth the wait. I have enough left to make another the same but might try dying it another colour or use it for another lacy project.

The yarn is smooth, silky and soooo soft, an absolute dream to knit, I used good old Brittany Birch needles and some beads which were lying around from something else (and they must have been around for quite a while because I can't for the life of me remember what the something else was!

If the weather improves tomorrow, I'll post some pics of other recently finished FO's but its raining again and the light is really bad, my photography is bad enough without trying to do piccies in dull light. ( finished 2 cardi's, Lotus Blossom Tank and some more jewellry so it might be a bit picture heavy).

2007-08-05T19:26:00.000Z

Good grief, you forget to blog for a few weeks then go to leave a comment on someone elses blog and realise that you can't go on because your email address had to be changed and you can't remember the new password 24 hrs later.-well you might not, but I do, well in fact I did and only just managed to get back on here after 3 days of trying.

So I thinks whilst I'm here, I might as well bung a bit of knitting on, so rather than trying to do a catch up of the not so recent projects, I present to you the Jewellry bits I've been messing with.

This piccie is knitted gold wire with lilac and purple glass beads. Just needs a clasp of some sort now and probably a pair of earrings to match. It took about an hour to knit plus some extra time for stringing beads.

This second one (modelled by DD1) is a choker made from purple craft wire with black beads and a satin ribbon to tie it at the back. Its now dissappeared along with dd1 into the dark hole she refers to as her room, I call it a pit.

2007-06-11T09:18:00.000Z

You know when you put off doing something for ages and then just never quite get back to it?

Well ain't that just the way with blogging, I've had a horribly stressful couple of months, details of which I won't go into here because this is supposed to be fun.

So the blog has been neglected yet again and when I come back to it, I can't think what to put first! Should I start with the oldest F.O's or the most recent and work back?

pfnerf..

Most recent....

Summer Secret Santa exchange from the Crafty Threads'N'Yarns forum was a real treat,

The lovely Slowasasnail sent me some Kid Silk Spray and beads to go with and a pattern for a scarf using said yarn and beads and some choccy for me and a giant Bonio to keep Foster quiet whilst I knit (it lasted long enough for me to take the ball band off anyway!)

The scarf is now finished and packed away as a Christmas present for someone so I've started getting some of that out of the way too.
So, close up............................ and the whole thing. The pattern is a kind of feather an

d fan with
3 rows of beads lengthways every 4 rows-nice to knit and lovely effects from the yarn.

Currently working on a secret project for a friend in some rather scrummy laceweight, finished and sewn up a jacket in Cotton Glace but need buttons, and a disaster with a cardi from yarn which has been in the stash for a long time, I'm 6 metres short and no way of buying anymore so I will have to take some from the cuffs and re-do the bottoms of the sleeves-fortunately it's a top down pattern-it's in the naughty corner for now but will re-appear soon I hope, when my stress levels go down a bit.

2007-05-29T14:05:00.002Z

yup its working again, haven't been able to blog for a while because I forgot and then when I tried to earlier, it wouldn't work......right then, off to sort out some knitting photos and do a proper post!

2007-05-29T14:05:00.001Z

Testing, Testing one two one two

2007-03-27T19:43:00.000Z

Theres nothing like a bit of a splurge to get the knitting juices flowing again........unfortunately this splurge was as a result of the closing down sale at my LYS. The more reserved photo is a sample of the purchases and the huge pile is the whole lot en masse.
I bought:-
8 Rowan Big Wool
6 Kid Silk Haze in a pale peachy colour
2 Kid Silk Night in Ivory
1 Kid Silk Haze in black (well it was the only one left and looked lonely)
8 All Seasons Cotton in beige and 2 in chocolate
8 Wool Cotton in pale pink and 4 in cream
8 Cotton Glace in beige and 8 in Navy
1 Kid Classic in pink to go with some already in stash but it looked lonely too
4 Addi circs in sizes I don't have already
Erika Knights Classics book
and all at least 50% off recommended price- grand total £149.00 which is rather a lot to spend in one go but on the basis I won't be able to nip in there on the way to the bank anymore and there is 6 garments worth of stuff, its justifiable (to me anyway). The mortgage is paid and the fridge is full so I'm not doing any harm to anyone.

Which then leads to the current WIPs, the big grey blob is a sweater for DH, Garnstudios Highlander and one of their free patterns I have promised to finish this before I start on any of my new things and since I'm up to the neck shaping, I should finish tonight. It was all knitted in the round so no nasty seams to sew, I like this pattern and DH chose the colour so we're both happy.

Next up, the pink sockies are for DD2, my portable knitting for the week, I'm doing them both at the same time on 2 circs and its going ok, pink socks with cream heels cos I wasn't sure if there was enough pink- I should have done them toe up really but I was in a hurry to grab something on the way to her dance class the other day and didn't have my full kit with me (I prefer to do provisional cast on with a crochet chain of waste yarn but didn't have a hook) so cream heels and toes it is.

Once these are finished, I'm planning on starting a sweater for me from the Big Wool since its the bulkiest in the above and I really don't have anywhere to store it unless it goes into the wardrobe as a sweater in waiting but I have a feeling the balls might come tumbling out every time the door is opened.

2007-03-12T17:16:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes for Fozzie, as regards to the medicine hiding exercise, I found some sauce made by IAMS especially for dog food and thinking back to when DD1 was being picky with her food and everything had to be hidden under gravy or ketchup, I bought some of this for Foster (the doggy sauce-not ketchup) and he took his pills like a good boy!!!
So the mutt is good to go again and is helping me train for the Race For Life run on 13th June at Silverstone-(any chance of cadging a lift in an F1 car?)
Also helping are the DD's. Well they have to, they're in it too and I might need them to carry me round the last bit(only joking).
I seem to have lost my knitting Mojo lately, I've been doing some more socks and have 2 larger things on the go but can't seem to get into them right now, I think I need to dive into the stash for something a bit more interesting.......

2007-02-22T11:49:00.000Z

He's home!!!!

My mutly is home from the vets much better and even pestering me as I type to play with his squeaky dinosaur. Now we just have the fun of getting him to take his pills.......favorite method last time was to hide them in some soft cheese but he's wise to that now and won't touch cheese anymore!

any suggestions welcome.

2007-02-20T21:49:00.000Z

Not just a gratuitous pet photo this time although it should be.

Poor Foster the dog is v poorly and staying at the vets for a while.

His history is not good and he's a walking ad for pet insurance but the house just isn't the same without him....

History so far:

we adopted Foster 2 years ago from some friends who he was a surrogate baby for. When the IVF worked, he became very jealous and is not good with small people (or small dogs). 2 months after being with us, he had to go to the vets because a blackthorn had gone inside his food and was working its way out of his knee, no complaints from the dog just a slight limp which the vets couldn't pinpoint until he was knocked out for an x-ray. closely followed by a backache (probably from chasing something somewhere he shouldn't) followed by another thorn in his paw causing an infection.

All was calm for a few weeks when he started wheezing and getting very short of breath.

another trip to the vets and general anaesthetic so they could do chest x-rays showed Bronchial pneumonia which was very touch and go for a while. He was taken to specialist vets who took him to Bedford Hospital overnight (apparently a lot of hospitals rent out their theatres/scanners etc overnight to vets) for heart/lung scans which showed a massive enlargement of his heart due to his breathing difficulties. Loads of antibiotics etc later and he was as right as rain for a while. We were very careful in the warm weather this summer and always took plenty of water for him on walks but being a Springer, you just can't tell him not to get too puffed out.(he does have an inhalor but I'm not sure it really works on dogs, although we try very hard to get him to breathe at the right time(how can you get a dog to breathe in when you want him to????)

This weekend, he's been off his food, not even interesterd in a bacon buttie on Sunday and went to the vets yesterday. They were really pleased to see him-it's actually been 10 months since his last visit-and he's very popular (and familiar) but not pleased at how poorly he is...

His temp is 106 deg so he's on IV antibiotics, antinflamatories and asthma treatment.

The vets have so far diagnosed a serious lung infection, low white blood cells and general anaemia and asked if he might have swallowed some kind of rat poison-trouble is, he runs around fields and in the woods where the gamekeepers put goodness knows what down-we can't pinpoint when he became sick since most infections take a couple of days to get into the system and he's not been noticeably poorly until Sunday(anyone who doesn't want a bacon buttie on Sunday morning must be ill or vegetarian or of a different faith).

Anyhow, the vets will phone during the night if he gets any worse and I'm going first thing tommorrow to see him, but the house just isn't the same without the tap dancing noises his claws make on the hard floors when he catches the post in his mouth before it even touches the doormat.

I miss my mutt and want him home, mucky paw prints and all.

2007-02-14T10:59:00.000Z

February socks.

My Feb socks for the sock a month challenge on Crafty Threads'n'Yarns forum. They're made from Posh Yarns sock club yarn for the main bit and an oddment of cerise for the toes & heels. I made the pattern up with 64 sts on 2.5m needles with a 12 st staghorn cable down the sides.

Very soft and cosy and DH has now been instructed NOT to put these ones in the washing machine like he did with my January ones which shrunk to DD2 size(although she is very pleased with them).

Next for the finishing is a striped sweater (only a sleeve left to do so hopefully completed in the next couple of days)

2007-02-13T23:22:00.000Z

Hmm. photos of the Icarus shawl from Interweave I made for a friend to give her Mum for her birthday. I like making shawls but this is the last thing I make for anyone outside the family for a while, it became a bit of a pain because there was a deadline for making it and I don't get to wear it!
Nice to make though, Kid Silk Haze from Rowan and the pattern was easy enough but it held me up on other things I wanted to do (well that and having to take a week off knitting from the sliced thumb and another from the steroid injections for the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome thingy).
At least now I'm back to other stuff. Just finished my February socks for the Sock a Month challenge (photos tomorrow in daylight) and nearly finished my stripey sweater in Rowan Little Big Wool bought in a sale (see January posts).

2007-02-06T21:11:00.000Z

I was supposed to be a good girl and finish the Icarus shawl I'm making for a friend but my new purchases yesterday made my fingers twitch so DD2 has her snuggly socks for bed.

Made in Garnstudio Eskimo, 8mm DPNs and 26 sts cast on, they took about an hour each to knit (size 37)

Instant gratification knitting, just what I needed after all the shawls recently. I have now promised myself no knitting for anyone outside this house for at least 3 months so I can catch up on the family stuff (sweaters and socks all round!)

2007-02-05T18:39:00.000Z

Major stash enhancement today at www.scandinavianknittingdesign.com.

Cazzie and I drove down and were made very welcome by Bruce and Birgitte (and Oliver the dog) and had a really nice chat about all things yarny over coffee then went on to some serious purchasing....

The firt piccie is Eskimo 100% wool chunky for a sweater for me(the mauve shade) and pink and blue for slouchy socks for the DD's

Second piccie is for DH's sweater, Highlander Yarn in a marly grey colour and some 100% alpaca which is soooo soft and 4 ply weight for some fingerless mittens and socks.

and the third photo is a skein of Yard Yard hand dyed sock yarn in Blueberry Muffin which the naughty Cazzie slipped in the boot of my car as a thank you for driving. Totally unneccesary but very, very much appreciated, I love the colours they are very me and will join the sock a month challenge in March (I've already started Februarys)

All in all a wonderful day out, apart from a slight detour on the way home when I switched the Sat Nav off cos it was bugging me and I missed the turning for the M1 as we were talking so much!!

2007-01-29T13:48:00.000Z

Januarys Sock-a Month challenge socks completed!
After all the hand problems this month (sliced thumb and carpal tunnel injection in right wrist), I never thought these babies would make it off the needles but finally they have. The main colour is a sock club yarn from Posh Yarns and the stripes, heels & toes are some leftover cream anonymous sock yarn.
I made the pattern up using 60 sts on 2.5m needles from the top down with a chevron stitch on the leg highlighted by the stripes.

These other two pairs were made before all the injuries for DD1 to take on her school trip to the Welsh border last week. Both made in stash DK, very boring to knit but quick and snuggly enough for hillwalking and pot-holing apparently.
She had a great time but came home exhausted and has taken all weekend to recover-I'm still catching up with the washing, when it said on the kit list to take bin liners for the laundry, they certainly knew what they were talking about!!!

2007-01-18T22:29:00.000Z

OOPs, forgot to put in the piture of the fingerless gloves as modeled by DD1. Slightly adapted the Fetching pattern from www.knitty.com to make it longer. I put extra cables at both ends but knitted in the recommended yarn-DB Casmerino aran which has been sitting in stash for a while, because of the extra length, I had to break into a second ball but I dare say the rest will be used at some point ( along with the other 6 the same)

DD is really pleased with them and took the photo herself which I didn't realise until after I had taken some more myself and came to post this only to find about 6 piccies of the same gloves on the camera!

but hey ho, at least it proves she likes them....

2007-01-18T22:06:00.000Z

I was going to chicken out on the sock a month KAL on my favorite Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum because of other knittting commitments but the yarn was calling to me in a very LOUD voice.
The reasons for the cowardly behaviour were-
1. Needed to knit boring thick socks for DD1's school trip to the Welsh border next week (rock climbing, caving, abseiling etc etc
and she needed some handknitted for these (her words not mine but what a fab DD for saying it).
2.I also promised to make a shawl for a friends Mum for her birthday (this will be posted later) I forced myself to do 1/3 of it before starting the socks.
3.I sliced my thumb open and couldn't knit for 10 days whilst the sts were in.
4.I wanted to made DD some fingerless gloves as a surprise for above mentioned trip.

Anyway, the photo above is the sock in progress and the other a badly shot close up. The yarn is from Posh Yarns sock club, I can't remember the name of the colour but since the weather has been so grim this week, the colours cheered me up, lovely orangey reddy, brown and some ivory left over from something else for the ridges, toes and heels.

I'm making the pattern up as I go along but when I do the 2nd sock, I might try to write it out and post it on here if the technonumpty in me can figure out how to do that bit. It's basically just a ripple pattern with a couple of rows of another colour thrown in, one of which needs to be purled for the ridge effect.

2007-01-11T10:46:00.000Z

Finished knitting Rogue last night and sewed hem and sleeves, just the top of the hood to stitch now but I think it may need a bit of knitting adjustment first so I was sensible and left it for today when my mind and eyes are not so tired.
Hopefully photos later!

2007-01-08T17:13:00.000Z

Rogue Sweater, the story so far......
I started Rogue back in October but Christmas knitting and other small projects with deadlines kept getting in the way, I finished the sleeves way back and started the body at the beginning of November but then it was set aside until the 28th Dec when life started to calm down again, I motored through the body and was looking forward to finishing it this weekend but right thumb injury last week is making knitting very difficult (read impossible) so I thought I'd blog it instead.

The yarn is Garnstudio Alaska which is aran weight pure wool and very nice to knit, it gives a good stitch definition and soft on the hands. The colour is a bit darker than the photos, it would probably be better to photograph it in daylight but every time I remember to get the camera out it starts to cloud over and rain again!

So the top piccie is the sleeves, unblocked and curly at the edges,

the middle is the front neckline and the start of the hood and the bottom is the body bit in full with curly hem waiting to be slip stitched into place.

I chose not to do the pocket on the front, I'm feeling bulky enough round the middle at the mo and don't need extra inches added by a kangaroo pocket and besides, I'd only walk around with my hands permanently stuffed in it and stretch it out of shape or fall flat on my face cos I can't get my hands out in time (it has been known on more than one occaision)

I've tried the body on and it seems to fit quite well so here's hoping!!!

As soon as knitting activity resumes, this baby's going to be finished and worn loads.

I only have another pair of socks and gloves for DD1's school trip to finish by the 22nd January and a shawl to do for a friend by the 10th Feb so no pressure really!

2007-01-05T12:07:00.000Z

Gratuitous pet photo

This is Foster the Springer trying to look innocent on Christmas day, he never quite succeeds though. What the picture doesn't show is the Christmas stocking he has nicked (under his right front paw which is empty but he won't give it back and is planning on shredding later.

2007-01-05T11:54:00.000Z

I went into my LYS yesterday on the entirely innocent not stash enhancing mission to buy some KSH for a shawl I've been asked to make for someone else and the rotters had started the sale.....well whats a girl to do????
3 KSH as required. 14 balls of Rowan Little Big Wool in various shades to make the stripey sweater in Arabesqe booklet.
The LBW was reduced to £2.50 per ball and the pattern called for 11 balls but I want to make the sweater a little longer than on the pattern so I bought all they had left (well I could hardly leave just a couple of lonely ones sitting there could I?)
Now I just need my thumb to heel so I can start on it......

2007-01-04T16:46:00.000Z

Christmas knitting- okay so really pictures of the Christmas knitting should have been posted ages ago but I've been busy knitting things for me since then....until last night when I sliced into my right thumb and now I can't knit for a couple of weeks.....so what to do instead, blog about knitting and sort out my stash and planned projects.

The pictures above are the lace tablecloth made for MIL's Christmas present and hopefully below will be the finished article.....

The tablecloth was very well recieved and now has pride of place on her dining table.

The yarn was crochet cotton from stash and pattern is Springtime Design by Marianne Kinzel,

size 2.5mm DPNs to start and ever increasing lengths of circulars as the cloth grew.

I also made socks for FIL in his favourite rugby team colours-green, black and gold and some for a friends Dad in his favourite rugby team colours-cerise, french grey and cream but I forgot to take photos of these before giving them away.

2006-12-30T00:44:00.000Z

okay, okay,
I haven't posted for ages and to be quite honest I waasn't feeling at all guilty until I got 'tagged' and now have to think of 6 wierd things about myself....not a difficult task for me, 6 normal or ordinary things I do would be pushing it a bit but as far as I'm concerned, wierd is good.
The hard part is finding 6 other people whose blogs I read to tag, they've all been done already!
Anyway, the rules are as follows and I now have to narrow down the wierd things into the less embarrassing things:

Here are the rules:THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

Its a nice idea and I don't mind exposing my wierdities but I don't want to dump the chain letter thing onto a stranger?

2006-11-22T17:04:00.000Z

Continuning on from the post below, a Shoalwater shawl knitted in Helen's Lace from Lornas laces, I can't remember the shade but its purpley blues and lovely to knit.

and a Stashbuster! the yarn is from Elann.com, its a wool/alpaca mix and aran weight so the shawl is really warm and cosy. The pattern is one of their free ones, Victorian Lace Shawl (I think)I had the yarn and pattern lying around for ages and in the end it only took a week to do.

so now I'm off to do some more photos....what shall I do next? socks or gloves or bags or bigger stuff?

2006-11-22T16:47:00.000Z

Back to a bit of normality now or as close as it gets Chez Catknit so blogging will resume with a bit of shawl showing off.
The deep red shawl is Birch by Sahron Miller in a yummy colour Kid Silk Haze. It was knitted for a friend so I have to part company with it at the weekend but I have plans to but some more of that shade for ME.

The pale pink fluff is my wedding shawl which is shown in progress much earlier in the blog(pattern is The Dove Shawl from Heirloom Knitting) and the minky coloured job is my first Birch, much loved and worn everywhere again in KSH.

2006-11-08T18:01:00.000Z

Just a quick post to say I'm still alive, not many knitting photos to show right now because my camera has been choked up with other stuff and I couldn't find the lead to empty it on to the puter. Anyhow, a quick wedding pic for those interested, taken by my Dad, l-r DD1, best man Norfy, me 'n' him, DD2 and my new stepdaughter
I suppose this does include some recently finished things cos the girls are all wearing Birch shawls I made and mine is another Sharon Miller design called The Dove Shawl, all made in KSH, mine was pale pink and the girls were Pearl.

We all had a great day and the weather was just perfect, a sunny October day, not too hot, not too cool.

2006-09-21T13:24:00.000Z

Blogging suspended until life calms down,
too much work, wedding arrangements, hen weekend this weekend (Brussels here we come)
kids stuff, house decorating, more kids stuff, did I mention too much work?
oh and some idiot drove into the back of my car yesterday when I was sat at traffic lights in town so trips to garage for damage assesment and repair and lenghthy phone calls with insurance companies to sort out all the dross.
AAAAAAAAARRRGH.
that feels better
AAAAAAAAAArrggh
hmm a bit calmer now.

2006-09-01T08:36:00.000Z

Finally Blocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This poor old tablcloth has been a crumply mess in the back of a cupboard for at least 2 years waiting to be blocked but inspired by Viv67's www.vivica.de.blog post on Angel Yarns forum of a picture of her Forest Path Stole, I kicked myself up the backside last night (not easy)and spent 2 hours crawling around the floor pinning this thing out and spraying starch all over the place.

The pattern is the Lilac Time oval dinner cloth design from Marianne Kinzel's Second Book of Modern Lace Knitting which is an absolute treasure for us lace obsessives.

Trouble is, I love knitting the tablecloths I hate blocking them and I also have no inclination to use them (I'm just not a lace tablecloth type of girl) so unless they are earmarked as a gift, they end up in a dark and dusty cupboard until said kick in the rump arrives. Well its done now, its one less thing to guilt over when the stash store calls to me and now I just have to think of someone with an oval table to give it to!

2006-09-01T08:11:00.000Z

Back to blogging, where has August gone ? Answers on a comment box please.

Never mind, got up this morning to a nice wee package in the post, its my Posh Yarns sock club September installment and the colours are yummy, autumnal and as always lovely sock yarn, I have a feeling ( actually I know full well ) that this is a pair of socks for me, the last one was a bit pastel for me so DDs have claimed that but even tho its not knitted yet I might just have to start on mine as a bit of small stuff to do after the recent shawl frenzy.

It was such a treat to have yarn in the post as the yarn diet continues and this doesn't count since I signed up before the diet started.

For anyone interested, the wedding shawl mentioned previously has been finished but needs blocking and I have finished one of the mini Birches for DD2. DD1's has been cast on and a couple of pattern repeats finished but I decided I needed something a bit thicker and less fluffy than KSH for a bit so I started my Victorian Lace shawl in Elanns Uros aran, I'm down to the last 2 balls of yarn so I should finish this weekend and will post piccies when mass shawl blocking session is done.

2006-08-08T11:10:00.000Z

I'm finding it very hard to motivate myself to work today and using any excuse not to actually open a file and do something so even without photos I thought I'd do a bit of a rambling blog.
The house is still a tip, bathroom is almost finished although I still have to paint it once the tiler, carpenter and plumber have done their finishing bits. DD2's bedroom is painted but still needs a loft hatch fitted in the ceiling and a light sorted out, curtains, carpet refitting and all the furniture put back in (before Sunday). The dining room is ready for painting but with all the other bits I have to do I've told DP I want someone else to do this for me and then we get to start ripping the kitchen apart (aaaaargh)
I need a holiday badly but won't get away until the honeymoon (early October) by which time I'll be a frazzled wreck.
It's a good job I have knitting to keep me sane. I joined the Bertie-a-long on the AY forum a while ago and made it last weekend, it turned out quite well and its going to be a Christmas present for someone but I haven't decided who yet. My wedding shawl is into the third ball of KSH and although the pattern called for 4, I think its almost big enough now, I don't want it too long or it will hide the detailing on the back of the dress.
My Ogee sweater from Nature knits by Norah Gaughan now has one completed sleeve and I'm 1/3 of the way up the front, I've decided the back will be v boring to knit plain in 4 ply so I think the cable design will be on the back too.(Imust be insane, this is complicated cabling but has to be better than plain st st for a whole 4 ply back)
Apart from those two things the only other thing OTN is MILs lace tablecloth which was originally to be for her birthday present but I got side tracked and now it will have to be completed for Christmas.
The planned projects list just keeps getting longer though, and yarn is already sitting at home to make a Rogue hoody, another sweater from nature knits, several (well call it about 15) pairs of socks, 2 Birch shawls (mini versions for dds to wear at wedding) Aran shawl for me, alpaca for a lace jacket, and soo much more it makes my head hurt to think about it. I've been very good on the stashalong so far and once I got over the initial 'NO DON'T BUY IT' stage, it hasn't been too bad. I would like to reduce the stash down to just two or three planned projects since this interwebbly net shopping mularkey means you're only ever two or three days away from starting a project and I feel guilty about having all this stuff around that is still 'to do', it feels like I'm as far behind with the knitting as I am with everything else and although my yarn is very forgiving and doesn't mind being left around for a while, I'm starting to worry about the compulsiveness of this yarn buying - it's not the money value but more the storage space!! we had to have extra cupboards build in the bathroom to put the towells etc in because the 'linen' cupboard is full of yarn and stuff which falls out on you when you open the door!!
Anyway, must go and do some work, three lots of company year end stuff to do and it won't go away by itself.....

2006-07-26T20:09:00.000Z

Many thanks again to Mouldydc for my SSS present.

Its ages since I made DK socks but couldn't resist starting my alpaca/silk socks straight away and sock 1 is finished.

Its sooooo soft and snuggly but obviously too warm to wear at the moment!

The yarn was an absolute dream to work with and because its DK instead of my usual sock weight, it whizzed off the needles in no time.

I basically made the pattern up because I needed to work toe up since I wasn't sure how far the yarn would go and took the number of sts from the Regia pattern for DK (48sts for size 5 feet). Did a prvisional cast on of 24 sts and worked around the toe cap, then up to the heel and a short row shaping followed by st st for a bit of leg then k2p2 rib until I ran out of the first skein of yarn with just a bit left to cast off.

I think the rib looks better doubled over and since its a winter sock, it will be more snuggly around the ankle.

2006-07-26T12:46:00.000Z

My Angel Yarns Summer Secret Santa parcel arrived yesterday but I had problems getting Blogger to upload the pictures so here they are.
Everything was slightly disorganised yesterday because of builders in the house so my office was in the garden and I took the pictures out there.
The first is of my still wrapped parcels and the card containing the clue.

Parcel one has undyed sock yarn and some jelly crystals and food colouring. My spoiler had been doing some homework(stalking) and read that I was very eager to try dyeing with jelly after the Koolaid adventures.
also in the package was a pattern for mini sock bookmarks- so dinky and ideal for stocking filler presents and using up the left over bits of sockyarn lying around!

The second parcel contained some dreamy soft 80% alpaca 20% silk DK from the Natural Dye Studio, some 3.5mm DPNs, a beautiful butterfly and some dinky heart shaped buttons in the small voile bag.

Boy was I well and truly spoiled, From the clue in the card, I worked out my spoiler was Mouldydc
and a huge thank you to her.

The alpaca/silk is already nearly a sock and will have a photo on here later...

2006-07-22T13:02:00.000Z

Kool aid dyed socks update.

1 done, 1 almost to the heel.

I really wasn't sure about how the colours in these would turn out and since the kids chose the colours (see earlier posts) I didn't have much control over it.

The green and purple have worked themselves into alternate row stripes and the pink although it looks like a wider section is actually a spiral running through the other colours. DD1 has now claimed them as hers and since she did a few rows herself, I think she deserves them. She now wants to dye some all by herself and I have to teach her to knit the next pair.

DD2 wants to do somemore dyeing but not so keen on learning how to do socks yet, she wants to knit and felt a handbag first.

2006-07-22T10:00:00.000Z

and last but not least from the bottom of the box is a pile of purply bluey bits, some of it is Noro Hanna Silk, the variagated is Noro papery stuff, theres some hemp laceweight and assorted bits and bobs, the plan is to turn it into a multitextured wrap of some sort but I might have to add somemore to it .

The other pic is the dregs at the bottom, its a pile of odds and ends usually used for practice squares and that kind of thing.

Phew I feel better now that it's all tidied and photos are done, but do I have the guts to do upstairs? Not likely this weekend, I'm off to knit.....

2006-07-22T08:49:00.000Z

On the left, leftovers of Kid silk haze becoming crochet squares for something.
And below Debbie Bliss pure silk-the remainders of a pack bought because I fell in love with it, part of it turned into a sleeveless top on a previous post and I'm not sure about the rest, I think some might become a beaded scarf or maybe not.

Good old Clapotis. The yarn was bought in the Anny Blatt shop in Perpignan last year whilst I was there to watch the rugby. Its beautifully soft, has my favourite winter colours in it, and theres just not enough to finish the clap. Its also a nightmare to undo so frogging is not an option. I need to be in a clever mood to sort it out and that just doesn't happen very often but it will happen sometime....

And a pile of Jaeger merino aran and some Rowan Yorkshire tweed. You know when you go into a yarn shop and they have a sale on, everything suddenly has a 'buy me' face on and you know it'll grow into something eventually? well this little lot isn't going to grow at all, its going to shrink...probably into a felted bag or slippers.

next up is bundle of sockie bits. I had a practise with my ball winder when it arrived and thought I'd be mega organised and wind everything and pack it in nice tidy bags but the sock yarn was as far as it got.

2006-07-22T08:25:00.000Z

Blanket box contents part two.

This huge cone of yarn was part of a box load which was donated to me for my knitting club at school, it's very fine and laceweight and therefore not good for teaching small people to knit. I swapped all of my bits of DK yarn which was hanging around in the cupboard for this and it may eventually become a shawl or something but will most likely just languish for a while. Poor thing , I think it needs to go upstairs to the cupboard where it won't get disturbed so often.

This fair old pile is Classic Elite Yarns Mackenzie
it was bought for a planned Rogue sweater and is 70% wool, 30% silk but its a bit too textured to show off the cables on Rogue so may also have to go in the cupboard for a while until a project idea comes along for it.

This package is Uros aran from Elann.com the shawl pattern is really nice to do, I already made it once in Jaeger Trinity in Cream but had a bit of a curry accident on the first wearing so it was dyed to a sandy colour instead.
Anyhoo, the Uros Aran is the next planned shawl
I fancy something a bit thicker for the autumn and this yarn is really soft being 50% wool 50% Llama.

2006-07-21T17:11:00.000Z

wow, 2 posts in one day!
I must be feeling really guilty or is it just that I have the house to myself for a couple of hours (and boy is that precious time) so I thought I would get ahead of my stash photo session and organise everything (yeh right), anyway, I looked in my cupboard and looked in my blanket box and pulled a few things about a bit then panicked and poured a glass of wine, then I ate a pork pie (sophisticated or what?) then I decided to do downstairs first, so blanket box it is..... not in any particular order, this contains hidden WIPS, files of patterns, stuff that gets bunged in when I need to tidy up in a hurry, and a suprising amount of yarn (well not so much suprising as embarrasing)

This baby is the Ogee sweater from Nature Knits by Norah Gaughan, well its most of a sleeve anyway knitted in Angel Yarns 4 ply sock yarn. It happened one night last week when I was fed up with the shawl knitting and fancied something straightforward for a change.

And this is the lonely glove knitted last year on the way to Ally Pally, destined to loneliness until the autumn I fear. The pattern is from a Rowan magazine but can't remember the number at the mo.

This is Elann Sierra aran with accompanying planned pattern for a lace cardigan worked from the top down. Its been there a while now and I really should start it once I finish the Ogee sweater.

And this is karaoke bought to make an order up to the free postage mark and will find itself being a felted bag at some point. The colours don't look so good in this photo, they are a fair bit brighter especially the greeny/blue, which I believe was called mermaid.

Sorry for the interruption folks but I just got invited to the pub... more later if I'm still sober, more tomorrow if I'm not. I'm feeling slightly more virtuous now I've made a start on this so I think I deserve a swift drinky

2006-07-21T11:49:00.000Z

oh poor neglegted blog, I've been too busy knitting and going out to say hello. I have to stay in tomorrow while the nice man from BT comes to fix my phone line (finally! fault reported on tuesday at 8:40 am and the are coming to repair on saturday) so I should have a nice time knitting, photo-ing and then blogging. Everyone else will be out and I will have peace for a few hours. I plan to dig out all of the stash and have a good sort through and if I'm feeling really virtuous, I'll finally get around to sending Nadia that yarn for her charity knitting, if I leave that until after sorting out the stash, there will probably be more for her to keep her orphans warm with!

2006-07-06T16:53:00.000Z

DD2 is in Wales for a week with my camera, therefore no photos to post, therefore very boring blog.
Normalish blogging will resume at the end of the week

2006-07-02T21:04:00.000Z

Not much new knitting happening this week, it has been the week from hell as far as work goes and the kids are silly busy this time of year so loads of ferrying around etc to be done, but I did tidy out my blanket box which hides part of the stash and found a knitted and felted bag which was waiting to be put together.
I made it a while ago from leftovers of Jaeger 4ply merino and Kid Silk Haze, held together.
The KSH helped to felt the finer wool and mutes the colours. I bought a bag shaper insert from SWTC a while ago and used that aswell. The bag has now been in use since Thursday and is a nice little summery number which goes with at least two pairs of flip-flops and a pair of sandals, so no excuse to buy new shoes to go with it (huh).

I then decided to do a bit of indulgent knitting so I made a sock with some of the yummy Angora blend I splurged on at the AY weekend, the pattern is from Interweave Winter 2005 and is the Embossed leaves socks designed by Mona Schmidt.
Angora is definately a yarn to knit outside since the bits kept getting up my nose indoors and its lightweight enough to knit on the hottest of days (like today). The finished sock is so light (15 grammes) and fluffy and soft I even cast on the second one straight away. The lightness of the sock means I'll get another out of the 50g ball and probably a pair of shorty socks too or I might make a pair of matching fingerless gloves or wristwarmers. and since I have another whole ball too, a scarf would be the obvious follow on but I do still have several other things to finish aswell
so I might just have to save the Angora for garden knitting over the summer.....

Off now to do some more of the sleeves for MIL's cardi since she needs it finished by next Friday for her hols.

2006-06-26T10:51:00.001Z

Not a lot of knitting action this weekend as I was busy being an unpaid taxi driver, and also had to do the school fete and a BBQ on Saturday. Sunday was a bit of a clear up day and hit the ironing pile with avengance. Went to a friends house to watch the footie in the afternoon and didn't get home until 8:30.
Did finished the red socks tho but not worth putting a piccie up since the second one looks the same as the first (yup, they're a pair)
I've decided to photograph my planned projects this evening so there may be piccies tomorrow, but not many FO's for a while since I've agreed to help future MIL with a jacket for her hols by knitting the sleeves for her and I need to make a caterpillar outfit for DD1 by Friday!
Happy days!!

2006-06-23T16:51:00.000Z

Ok so its the finished Shell top. Personally I think it looks better on the hanger than on me, or it could be that the skirt is making the front bit crumple a bit. anyway, lengthwise it worked okay for hiding the lumpy bits and its really soft and slinky. As for the previous thought of putting sleeves on, thats abandoned as a too much thinking involved plan and I reckon a shrug with the cable pattern running down the sleeves would be far easier and less likely to end up in 'yarn divorce court'.

And continuing on from the sock yarn dyeing efforts, DD1 was in a winding mood after school today so she wound the skein into a ball ready for a sock knitting lesson. More news when this happens.

2006-06-23T12:42:00.000Z

Just a quick post to say I finished the Shell Tank last night but no photo as yet, there is a gang of carpenters and plasterers in the house at the moment so i'm not going to parade around taking photos of myself!
So for now, piccie from last week.
This is DD1 playing with my yarn swift and ball winder.
I'd been after a swift for ages and kept bidding on ebay and looking at sites for a reasonably priced one, just when I was about to give up(I even had a go at making 0ne myself), I won an ebay auction and this one arrived from Sweden just as I was leaving the house to go to the Angel Yarns weekend. Of course it got bunged straight in the boot of the car and I hastily grabbed my winder and some skeins of yarn to practise with.
It works like a dream, I set it up in my hotel room and wound all the bits I had with me into lovely doughnuts of yarn. Anyway, as soon as I got home and explained to DD1 what it was, she was as keen as me and went through her entire knitting bag winding everything that wasn't attached to needles. Great fun bit of Mummy/Daughter time but she looks so serious!!!!

2006-06-22T13:05:00.000Z

No new pics today, the shell tank is nearly done, just the two side seams left to do later today, I did not enjoy joining the other bits together and thought I deserved a bit of mindless clicking last night so I started a bit of a stashbusting exercise. In order to make the bulk of the yarn in the cupboard look less, I started with all the bits of super chunky/big wool/point 5 left over from other things and I'm working on a mitred square bag which will be felted and hopefully turn out the right size for a knitting bag. So far two big squares done and two big balls of yarn used. If I get rid of the bulky stuff, in theory it will look to the untrained eye like theres a lot less yarn in the stash than there actually is! (the untrained eye being DP) after all, one carrier bag stuffed with sock or laceweight yarn contains a lot more knitting time than the same bag stuffed with Big Wool.
Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!!

Oh and I finished the first red sock last night and did the rib for the second.

2006-06-21T08:22:00.000Z

Well last night was the England/Sweden match and DP went to a friend house to watch it so I got to watch the match without someone shouting abuse at the screen. So nice peaceful sock knitting. I'd already turned the heel on Saturday night after my get together with Joy and Nadia at the Angelyarns weekend so worked the foot last night but couldn't be bothered to go upstairs and get another sock to measure the foot against but I guessed well on the length of the foot and its just the right length!

The two socks at the top of the picture are from previous pairs knitted for DP and the red one is the current WIP- up to the toe shaping now so soon to become 1/2 of a finished pair, I will try to resist other knitting until I've done its partner but may be side tracked by finishing the Shell top on the previuos post since I finished the main knitting bits last night too and just have the seams and edgings to do (dreading it)

2006-06-20T08:30:00.000Z

And this baby is the badly behaved Shell tank from Nature Knitting by Norah Gaughan. The pattern is ok as such but has obviously been written in a large size and reduced down. Not usually a problem but on the left side panel, the armhole shaping takes you down to 2 sts which have to be worked for 5 inches. This means that you have to sew this teeny strip to the cable panel and pick up around the armhole for the border. This put me off finishing the thing and its been in the naughty corner for about a week now. I only have a few rows left to do on the Right front then of course the sewing up and the borders which I'm not looking forward to!
Anyway, I am working it in Debbie Bliss Pure Silk which I adore but I bought too much (originally bought for another project) and if I'm feeling brave enough I may try to put some sleeves onto it with the cable panel going one way on one sleeve and the other direction on the other. Oh and I made mine longer than the pattern(don't like anything above the waist band)

2006-06-20T08:16:00.000Z

So this morning, more photos of works in progress, the first one is the shawl for my wedding outfit in pale pink Kid Silk Haze, the pattern is by Sharon Miller at Heirloom Knitting called the Dove Shawl, its really quite easy and after the first repeat I didn't need to look at the pattern so I may get bored! I transferred it onto my new rosewood needles last night and it is fair flying now since the needles are just that bit smoother than the Brittany Birches it was started on.

2006-06-19T19:06:00.000Z

So blog part deux.
During the recent half term holiday me and the girlies had a go at dying sock yarn with KoolAid
Heres the pics starting with painting on the dye-3 colours used-Grape, pink lemonade and Changin' Cherry (green)

So then the mouldy lookin Sausage was clingfilmed up ..... and cooked in the microwave....

Then rested and cooled down before rinsing

and hanging on the fridge door to dry(it was raining)

And heres the finished 'ice cream colour' sock wool, ready to go on the swift for winding.

2006-06-19T18:40:00.000Z

Having finally figured out how to put photos onto this, I think my first post should be a big thank you to all the other members at www.angelyarns.co.uk forum for guilting me into showing some of the things I make. And also a huge thank you to Julie at www.theknittin.co.uk for having the best local yarn store a fanatic like me could wish for.
So here goes with the photos latest ones first (well I never do things in the right order)
My purchases at the Angel yarns open day yesterday.

Yogue Knitting Holiday 2004-missing from my collection and has some lovely ideas.
Knit 1 summer 2006-the latest issue
Knitscene fall/winter 2005-haven't seen this one before but there are a few interesting ideas in it.
Angel Yarns Angora-the two little balls on the right, Can't decide if they will grow into socks or a scarf but they are destined for ME
Rowan Calmer-the pale blue for a sweater in Nature Knitting by Norah Gaughan-my current favourite pattern book
4ply cotton-pale green for the Corset style top in Interweave Summer 2006 Mag
The Coral colour is loads of Angelyarns sock yarn also destined to become a sweater from the Nature knitting book
2 balls of Wendy fusion in purples/lilacs for DD2 and 2 in bluey shades for DD1 -they haven't decided what they want to make with it yet.
Pony Rosewood needles for a current WIP-The shawl for my wedding outfit in KSH-I was knitting this on Brittany Birch needles but find KSH a lot easier on rosewood.
Please ignore the glass of wine in the background, it was a long drive home!