WOW That long... Really!

I suppose the title speaks for itself, I can't believe it has been that long!
 I'm still knitting so it looks like I need to start blogging again.

Hats off to the Lads

Some of these hats date back to the beginning of the year though the last one was finished as recently as a few weeks ago. There is another one completed but was a gift and forgot to take a photo before I gifted it.
 They are all stash busters from part used balls in my leftovers basket, but the pattern I used for the two in the picture below is this . I'm fairly sure the yarn used for Luke's charcoal one is Robin Aran with wool, some leftovers of a huge 400grm ball that I've had knocking about in the basket forever. Hubby's version in claret and blue in honour of his football team Aston Villa. It is knitted in some Rowan that I think is Cashsoft that came out of the bargain bin without a label in House Of Fraser some time ago . A fantastic pattern, well written and easy to read as well as a great looking hat to boot. The hat in the photo above that Luke is wearing whilst trying to disappear at breakneck speed cos I welding a camera, is a DK version I cobbled together. I think it is knitted in Sirdar country Style in a silvery grey colour.

Sneaky

My husband turned 40 last week (so congratulations to him) and although it wasn't the original plan honestly, I managed to pull off a corker and gave him yarn for his birthday he he!!
He casually asked several weeks ago for a Union Jack cushion for the back of the car, and I did indeed  give a not too committable answer that when I got chance I would make him one. Probably his not too subtle hint for a birthday present but it was noted and I decided that I wanted to do it in secret and surprise him with it for his birthday.

Unfortunately I had a few other things on the needles at the time, with plans for a jacket for me (that I really should be getting on with, that I want to wear for a wedding we have been invited to in 10 days time!!) Then the boys breaking up for the Easter holidays together with the fact that I knew I had all the yarn I needed in my stash but could not find the single ball of bright red that I KNOW is in there somewhere, it got to the point where it wasn't even worth starting it as I knew I would not be finished on time. I ended up buying shiny new yarn and wrapping it up with an IOU. I was impressed that he ended up with yarn for his birthday... but he wasn't. He is looking forward to having his cushion for the back of the car though!

Mothers Day Spoils

I had some lovely presents.and I was in deed spoiled rotten. I am a very lucky mummy indeed.

My favourite is a framed photo of all 4 of my children together in the same room at the same time!! It was taken at Christmas when all 4 children had a Nerf blaster each from Santa. Christmas 2010  will forever be known in this house as the Nerf Wars year! I also had this very cute teapot/cup set. Not sure if you can read what is on it but it says "Mothers are like Flowers, they brighten your day" Isn't that sweet.

It was also Max's idea and on his insistence apparently that I also had 10 Snickers bars. Yum Yum but bang goes the diet.

I also had some very comfy slippers. I've already gone to go "out" in them several times because I forget I've got them on. If you meet me in the corner shop grabbing some milk and bread whilst wearing them please excuse me, I probably haven't noticed that I'm wearing them still.

I also received some Mothers day tokens... that's yarn money to you and me. So on Tuesday I went somewhere I've been just itching to go since last November but have been resisting as a yarn shop with empty pockets is for me a form of Chinese water torture.

  Stitch Perfect is a new shop just outside Birmingham City center and I was very excited when I was invited to join the group on Ravelry. They sell lots of the lovely posh yarn until now for me only available on the t'internet, I was in for a lovely treat when I stepped through the door. In fact I was pretty overwhelmed by all the colour and fiber contrast available, so much so I forgot to ask the very friendly and extremely helpful assistant/owner her name in spite of the fact that I spent a long time in the shop chatting.

As you can see my 4 month yarn diet is well and truly broken (though in all honesty I had a blip a few weeks ago in Hobbycraft with some Wendy Mode in Chunky on offer, it was criminal to leave it there, and it was an allowed purchase ie, one I didn't have to sneak into the house and hide).

I'm very excited to have somewhere that sells Garnstudio Drops, beautifully soft yarn and brilliant quality for the price. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but for now I just wanted to own some.

I bought a new cable for my Knitpro interchangeable needles, I struggled with a project a few weeks ago when I needed to knit 2 sleeves simultaneously  and had to use a much longer cable for the one than needed. Magic loop is not my forte.

This very special Briganta (isn't the colour lovely), is to make myself a very (hopefully) special item to wear to the 4 weddings we have so far this year been invited too.
Right now I'm trying to finish a few little projects I have on the go so I can get started, I also desperately hope I have enough yarn to finish it as although I am planning another trip quite soon to Stitch Perfect, they only carry small amounts of each yarn and so trying to match dye lots could be a problem.


Thank you very much to Leigh-Ann, Luke, Zakk and Max and of course hubby for a fantastic day and my presents.

It's All About Moi...

Moi, moi, moi and yes moi! Selfish knitting aplenty here AND I found the camera cable so I have pictures (ok so they aren't good ones but I have em)!! Hold me down please, the excitement is just too much. I may explode.

First up, this is the first thing I knitted on my Signature needles that I had for Christmas.
The pattern is Silver Tunic (though mins is obviously in pink) by Sian Brown and it was taken from Knitting Magazine 084 Christmas 2010. Yarn used is Sublime's Cashmere merino silk DK (colourway 0053). I bought this from www.blacksheepwools.com whilst I was at Harrogate. It took 10 balls pretty much exactly.
A fairly easy and quick knit, the lace pattern is an easy and short repeat that I didn't have to tink too much whilst watching TV at the same time. I've worn it a few times and it is comfortable. Yarn pills quite easily though. I hate that!

This pattern is Ava, taken from Let's Knit magazine 034, September 2010 issue. Yarn used is Sirdar Countrystyle colourway 0533 which is a pale silvery/blue grey. In fact on my monitor the colour likeness is coming up quite close. It took 4 balls with just under half a ball left.
I'm a little hesitant when knitting patterns from Let's Knit as they have a reputation for mistakes. There was a few typo's on the yoke part which might trip up a less experienced knitter but other than that I had no other problems with it. I do like the finished article a lot though.

This is Owl's by Kate Davies, Ravelry link here or the link to Kate's fabulous and inspirational blog is  here.
I fell in love with this a while ago as well as few of Kate's other designs. Beautiful colourwork that I am almost disappointed that spring is here so I know that I won't be knitting  much more winter stuff until the autumn. I am also on a serious yarn diet (aren't we all) and cannot afford to buy the yarns needed in the colours I want at the moment. 4ply in my stash is rare. Stash busting is the name of the game for me for now and this what I used the left overs from Leigh-Ann's heart pocket cardigan for. The yardage on this yarn is amazing, I used just over 4 balls for this. (421grms to be precise). The pattern template I'm sure I will use again, it is well written and easy to follow but there is a mistake on the short row stitch counts on the back of the neck . I coped OK by looking at the stitch counts of what I did have had to what I should have had, then comparing it to the smaller sizes. (the mistake happens after the extra instructions for the larger sizes), and I managed to work it out from there placing them just inside the back edges. I didn't realise that you don't have to do the short row shaping at first but I'm getting old and the warmer the back of my neck is by raising the back neckline the better.

For now more selfish knitting is happening although I have some small things to show you next time just to prove that I haven't totally forgotten everyone else.

For Leigh

Hi, 

I'm an idiot. I am so full of dumb.

 I've managed to lose misplace the camera cable so, at the moment I cannot download any pictures. This is why there has been another blogging break, (sigh) and believe me it has been weighing heavily on my mind. I have quite a few finished projects too, typical.

 I've just had the idea to look at what pictures were downloaded before the cable went missing, and compare to what I did get around to blogging about during the catch-up period.. I hadn't realised that I hadn't blogged about this.

 This is a cardigan I made for my daughter Leigh-Ann. It was meant to be for Christmas but it actually got finished a few days after Christmas day, it was fine I hasten to add, she's a grown up so no melodrama..No pattern link I'm afraid, this was knittted and made up  designed by moi as I went along.   It was a requested item from something Leigh-Ann had saw online, a picture of something similar (which I glimpsed at once whilst trying to cook tea) but then she lost it and couldn't find it again. I don't think there is much to worry about copyright wise (I hope). I had the instructions of "a long (past her bum) chunky cardi, it has to have pockets and can you please put love hearts on the pockets. It also has to have a deep and wide V-neck".  The one online would have been machine knitted for a start and she thought that maybe it only came in one colour anyway (and that was dark brown, she doesn't like dark brown) so could I please make her one in a different colour.  It is knitted in a cheap acrylic bought from Harrogate for this purpose. Tawny family favourites chunky in a dusky pink. Money has been very short the last few months and I couldn't simply afford to use anything else. even for a present. Leigh=Ann doesn't mind (and being a very novice kntter knows no different). I did however totally over estimate how much I would need and have  had enough left to make something else for me, that is however another blog post for when I replace find the cable for the camera.

I am pleased with the outcome... though not half as much as Leigh-Ann is. She wears it constantly. She also reckons she has had a large amount of "OMG where did you get that cardi "s. Please ask your mum to make me one too. 

A few semi serious enquiries that I'm not committing to cos for the moment I'm busy, catching up on selfish knitting ;0)

Crimbo Catch Up

Ladies and gentleman, thank you very much for your patience during the interruption, normal catch-up blogging shall now resume.


Here's a few more items, Christmas presents for 2 of my favourite girls, Charlotte and Gina.

Firstly for Charlotte, I felt more than a little guilty because she had asked me for a jumper she'd found in one of her mum's pattern books a while ago. I also realised a while ago later that there was no way I would be able to do it in time for Christmas, even though I said at the time it wouldn't be a problem. So I was left to thinking what would make up for the disappointment of not getting the jumper she had requested. The girl is Eclipse mad, barmy for Edward the Vampire etc. and Looking on Ravelry I found these and figured they would be perfect..I think by the smile on her face I hit the jackpot with Bella's mittens. Yarn used was a last minute dash to a LYS and all I could get was King Cole value chunky in a mid grey. But they look pretty good and I was really pleased at how they came out. I also considered making myself a pair and I may still do that yet.
Next but not least we come to Gina's present. The hat started out being for myself, I found the yarn in a local LYS (the same as where I bought the above for Charlotte's present) way back in September and I fell in love with the colours. The yarn is King Cole Riot. So I bought a ball to treat myself to a new hat for the autumn, as well as do another test hat for the hat pattern I done for Luke .I was almost done when Liz and the girls popped round for a cuppa . Gina too fell in love with the yarn when she what I was working on. I made a mental note there and then to get some more and make her a present with it, but once I'd tried the hat on after they'd gone it was a tighter fit than Luke's version so straight away I put it was in the gift pile with Gina's name on it. Her head is a little smaller than mine so I knew it would be fine on her.

I knitted the arm warmers to match, although they don't match each other. I had to do them as fraternal rather than identical, but I think Gina quite liked that. The pattern is improvised, and trying to knit for someone whose arms are much slimmer that your own and trying to judge the length was fun!!!  They are just stocking stitch tubes with ribbing each end and a hole made  on each by casting off a few stitches on one row and casting them back on the next round for thumb holes.