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.

Interruption!

Ladies and gentleman, we bring you an up to date newsflash as a direct interruption to the never ending perpetual catch-up of this knitters activities that happen whilst not actually blogging. We thank you for your patience in this matter.

I am getting mildly obsessed with colour work. I keep dreaming about it. I'm loving all the Fairisle patterns out there at the moment, on jumpers, hats an even mittens. Mittens!! I live in a (supposedly) temperate climate (although the last 2 winters have been very unusually freakin cold), but I really want to knit not only beautiful, colourful intricate mittens I want to knit them with linings too! I think I am going more than a little mad.
After twice writing a rather lengthy post about how it all started (but they were both eaten by the soddin laptop, ggrrrrr autosave my piggin arse) it is now midnight and I am very sorry but I am not about to write it again. Not tonight at any rate :0(
It will have to be enough to say that Kate Davies, SpillyJane and Yarn Harlot, you three have a lot to answer for!
Now I'm off to bed dream some more about Herring Tams, Blue Hippo Mittens and what instructions I need to follow in order to make some beautiful FO's. Goodnight!

Thank You SS

Still on catch up, and this is a quick post so I'll keep it short and as sweet as possible.

This is the SS gift I received from Nelly who is a fellow member of Fekkers, a forum that I'm a member of and visit most days. She is the same Nelly who was also at Harrogate on my last posting, of whom I sat next to on the ever lasting but highly enjoyable ride home from the knitting and stitching show.

I received a beautifully knitted lacy scarf, made from Sirdar Blur. It is so light, warm and fuzzy and has already been worn a few times. As an extra bonus it goes beautifully with the new coat I had for Christmas. In fact the temperature outside has took a serious nose dive this morning so it kept me warm and cosy on the school run and walking my neighbours dog this morning.

These are a few pics of the SS present that I sent.

My recipient was the lovely Leigh and I knew she was Disney and Mickey Mouse mad and I definitely wanted to to do something to reflect that. Leigh also sent me my SS gift last year and she had hit the nail on the head by sending me a Christmas bauble filled with buttons. I'm sure I've mentioned my button fetish once or twice before....

I did struggle for a few days trying to think of the perfect gift to send when I had the brainwave of a cushion.

I used a chart from a copy of this book. I had it many years ago and lost it in a house move, but then found another copy on a car boot a few years ago. This is the first time I've ever actually used the book to knit from, and then I just used a chart for a design that was used for a jumper in the book. I had a nightmare in that the cover didn't actually fit the original cushion that I bought as I'd not allowed enough room for how much smaller it would be once the Fairisle was worked. That involved a last minute dash to the shops in order to purchase a smaller one. The yarn used was Sirdar Countrystyle DK for the main body of the cover and just some oddments out of my basket for the the characters. The lovely GG donated me a ball of black whist I was staying at her house for Harrogate, as I started the project on my way home. The very lovely buttons were from my stash, more than likely out of an Ebay bulk buy of a job lot.

Combined with the problems I had with the boys Star Wars hats I've come to realise that my colour work needs a lot of work and with some of the fabulous patterns I've come across the last few weeks it's something I aim to tackle in the next few weeks. But that will be another blog post!! ;0)

Oh Dear, Now We're On Catch-Up Catch-Up

I've done it again haven't I, gotten so embroiled in everyday life that blogging has passed me by yet again! Sorry folks, life was so hectic, busy and chaotic in the run up to Christmas and New Year (Happy New Year by the way) that time just flew by, and, before I knew it, we are are almost halfway through January.

I think last time I blogged I was looking forward to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show at the end of November. Did she get there I hear you ask????? To that, I answer yes I did. I travelled up to Yorkshire on the Saturday morning after a concerned week as to whether I would get there at all because of the weather. We had snow early this winter here in the UK, because it was a surprise and because we are so unused to it, pretty much everything can and sometimes seems to come to a standstill. There hadn't been that much snow at that point, just an inch or 2 in Birmingham and a little? bit more up north. Well there was enough to cause some minor disruption but the trains were still running and the weather forecast was OK, so after a few concerned conversations with hubby (who was a little worried)about me getting back or being stranded on a train or in a station Sunday night if the weather took a turn for the worse. After trying to reassure him of course as much as possible that it would all be tickety boo. I went !!!!!!

I arrived at GG's and HWN's fine, (the only delay was on the local line at the other end due to staffing problems, not the weather). I had a lovely time Saturday spending it with with my friends, I was made to feel very welcome, spoilt rotten, fed to bursting and looked after wonderfully. They are really a wonderful couple.

I also finished a hat which I'd started on the journey up. I don't travel on the train very often, and big stations like Birmingham New Street that are very busy and a little!! like a maze, make me nervous and panicky. I also had to catch a connection in Leeds (where I'd never been before so had no idea of the station layout) of which I had to wait a short time for, so I wanted something simple that I could pick up and put down easily, so I went ultra simple from my head for my head. The pattern started off as another copy of Luke's hat, but I knitted it in a odd ball of Rowan tapestry and I was having serious doubts about having enough so I altered the decreases slightly to try to make sure I wouldn't run out. I did have some left over but I'm not sure if it would have been enough for the original pattern or not.

I wore this hat a lot before Christmas, it fits quite well considering the accelerated decreases but, I had a new gorgeous dark green duffel coat or Christmas and it doesn't go with it as nicely as with my old coat. As the weather warms up I will wear it and my old coat again but for now it is languishing at the bottom of the hat basket waiting until then.

I wore my hat to Harrogate on Sunday. We got up early to a beautiful blue cloudless sky and so very cold of temps of well below -10, even in the car a hat was needed. GG's daughter, the wonderful M was going to Harrogate too, so after she arrived at GG's we set off to collect the lovely Nelly and lovely Jan (some fellow Fekkers) on the way. The countryside was very pretty with it's few inches of snow blanket a very bright white with the sun glistening in it.

We had a great day, even though the show itself wasn't as busy as last year, crowd wise or exhibitor wise. We thought the weather had a lot to answer for, and for the lack of visitors that must certainly have been true, but we were puzzled at some of the big company names missing, until we spoke to one of the organisations that were showing there. Apparently the stall fees had gone up a lot for that year so a lot of companies had pulled out or decided not to bother. It also explains why there much fewer bargains than the year before. Not only were there not as much knitty stuff this year but the amount of needlework fabric and notions as well as cross stitch available had gone up considerably. There also seemed to be a few more not related to craft at all stalls that had also crept in. But as much as I had gone up for the show, the real reason was to see friends that I talk to on-line pretty much everyday but are not able to see more than once a year. I have now managed to see some of them several times in person despite living so far from them. We also got to see the lovely Donna (another fellow Fekker) and her lovely daughter Rosemary who we met up with for lunch, a chin wag and a show and tell of what we'd all bought.

Now I did buy stuff honestly, not loads but I did buy some yarn and a few buttons etc but the next pictures are a bit of a cheat as I forgot to take some, both when I got home and after Christmas day. My spending money as usual came in the form of cash to buy my own Christmas presents from my 2 eldest children and my MIL, even though I bought the money from my MIL back home with me and bought my new coat the following weekend with it! So when I retuned home (eventually that is, and I'm getting to that bit) I had to hand them over where they would not be seen again until Christmas day. So my apologies that these photos weren't taken until a few mins ago after going on a retrieval hunt, I've had to dig them out of cupboards, from my stash under my bed and other bits from baskets and knitting bags. I hadn't realised they were all so scattered around.

This is pretty much my total haul, though reduced in that the pink Sublime cashmere merino silk (from Black Sheep Wools) was 10 balls but, as it is my WIP at the moment there is only 2 balls left and they will soon be knitted up pretty sharpish.

There are also some ball of pink chunky to the left of the pic, though bought at Harrogate they were for me to make a present for someone else rather than a present for me.

This beautiful silk mini project bag, I spotted first, sorry Nelly and Jan who both liked it too but it was the only one in this pattern., the other patterns were pretty but this one was lush! I can't remember where it came from, I did put a business card in the bag but it is now empty. If I come across it I will update and add it.

Just a little close up at the scrummy yarn. The Rowan actually wasn't quite bought at Harrogate. A little more about that in a minute!

Some vintage buttons that came from a stall that sold not only vintage buttons but vintage dress patterns and lots of other vintage equipment for stitching of all descriptions. They are surrounded by the contents of a bag of buttons from The Button Lady.

From inside The Harrogate International Centre there aren't many vantages to see outside, but on the morning had been beautiful, very cold for a soft southerner like me but sunshine and lots of it (and did I mention?) with not a cloud in the sky. About 3 pm we happened to notice some skylights, and the snow coming down very thick through those skylights! The thought crossed our minds that it may be wise to leave early, my train home from GG's wasn't until 7.30pm but if the snow carried on it may cause problems. We saw some more skylights 10 minutes later and the blue sky was back so we gave a sigh of relief and carried on looking for a stand that sold back issue magazines that we'd seen earlier but had disappeared. 20 mins later we still hadn't found the stand we wanted but we did spot that the sky had gone very dark and that the snow was coming down again, very heavily. We were in 2 groups to walk around the halls but we met back up quickly and decided to leave straight away. We were in fact out of there in minutes and were shocked at home much snow had come down in such a short amount of time and it was still coming down in bucketfuls of blizzard proportions. Put that with the snow already on the ground and the Arctic temps from the previous night and you have some pretty horrendous conditions for driving. The multi storey car park we were in very near to the halls has a very steep drives going into and out of it. There was also a queue of other people all with the same idea at roughly the same time of making an early move and getting out of the car park alone was something GG told us after she didn't think we were going to make without getting out and pushing. The car struggled to get a grip on the very steep incline to get back onto the road, the car in front was also struggling and despite a huge gap between them and us it was still hold your breath in case they slid back into us. We made it out of the car park and the traffic was already bad. As well as the Knitting show, it was also a lot of peoples last pay day before Christmas so lots of people had been Christmas shopping in the town centre, there was also another show on elsewhere in the town or so I was told. Down the road in York there was also a huge Christmas Fayre on, which also generated a lot of traffic. All this added together caused us huge problems. Over 2 hours later we were still in Harrogate sitting in gridlock traffic having moved no more than a hundred yards or so. At that point it was looking unlikely that we were going to get back in time for my train. 90 minutes later and again we were still in Harrogate, I had to phone hubby and tell him what was happening. I was safe, in good company (very good company, we spent most of that time stuck in traffic in fits of giggles) but I wouldn't be home as expected late that night, I would let him know as soon as we got back to GG's what would be happening. He wasn't very happy obviously but there was nothing any of us could do. I had joked about being snowed in at GG's for a week and that I was looking forward to it, but I never for a minute thought it would happen. My biggest concern was that I hadn't booked an open train ticket in an effort to keep the cost of my trip down. I had left plenty of time for getting back so as to cover what I thought would be every eventuality, knowing that the journey from Harrogate to GG's shouldn't take more than an hour or so and that she only lived round the corner from the train station. Silly me eh?? In the end we got back to GG's 5 and a half hours later. The only reason it was that early was because Nelly's husband came and collected Nelly and Jan from a service station which was at a halfway point, so GG didn't have to try and drive down rural lanes to drop them off. Nelly's husband obviously knows their local area well and which roads were best to use and where he would be least likely to get stuck. The weird thing was though, once we were a few miles away from Harrogate there was hardly any snow at all, in fact no snowfall at all for some of the journey home, and the snow from the previous fall had all gone! Apparently Harrogate is quite high up so the weather can hit there pretty hard! The problems we had were pretty much localised to the area and although Leeds and York also had problems I'm not sure they were as bad as we had.

Once back at GG's with a nice hot meal inside us was the problem of trying to sort out then how to get home???? Trains were far too expensive so close to the travel time, it would have been £50 of which ,quite frankly I did't have, National Express wasn't much better either at around £40. Whilst stuck in traffic , we had spotted a Mega-Bus, a company that offers cut price travel around the country. Jan had said that she had used this company to travel Birmingham on several occasions (she is originally from the same area of Birmingham where I live now and still has family that live, whom she visits) and were pretty good. M looked up the website for me and my fare home?? It cost just £9.00. I booked for it the following afternoon, if we had more bad weather I wanted to make sure that the bus would be running and that I could get to it to catch it as it meant getting to Leeds. If it snowed again overnight then I reckoned the roads would be easier to travel later after a certain amount of traffic had travelled through them, also give gritters etc a chance to be out. Also GG looked exhausted, it was hard work for her driving for that, being stuck in that traffic all that time and some decent sleep for her was much needed. An early get up for all of us to be honest the following morning was out of the question. The Mega bus went from Leeds which is still a fair bit of travelling from GG's house and although I expected and then offered to get the train to Leeds both GG and HWN insisted that they would take me by car get the bus. It was a good job they did, the bus stop wasn't in the main bus station, it was in fact very hard to find, but GG after remembering something Jan had said about where the stop was being opposite a pub, we got there with minutes to spare, and so I was soon on my way home to Brum. Tired and missing my family but happy from a lovely weekend.

The bus dropped me off in Birmingham city centre, just literally opposite the bus stop from where I catch the bus home in fact. Problem is I needed to use the toilet. I wouldn't use the one on the bus. I simply wasn't brave enough. So the necessity I had to venture into House Of Fraser to use the toilets after 3 hours or so on the bus was urgent, the pull on the way back down in the lift from the toilets on the 6th floor to the Haberdashery dept on the 4th floor was strong. The Rowan fine milk cotton on sale for £10 for a bag of 10x 50grms was screaming at me so loud it was deafening. Once it had my attention it lay there on the table whimpering until I relented and bought it home with me too. Well I had money left, so what was I supposed to do ;0)

Some Tiny Ones For The Girls, Lola and Esme

Jinkies (sorry I've been over dosing on Scooby Doo thanks to the boys) is it really 3 weeks since I last blogged! You can tell Christmas is round the corner when you start losing whole weeks!

This post is all about some tiny pink arrivals, very tiny pink arrivals.

Firstly (although she didn't arrive first but she is related and I have actual baby photos) Lola. A few weeks ago I became a great auntie. I have a few mixed feelings about this, yes she is beautiful and a baby is very very special and something to be cherished blah blah blah but I'm not 40 yet!!!!! In my (admittedly very very late twlightyears) 30's is not old enough to be be a great auntie. Honestly my nephew Paul has an awful bloody lot to answer for making me a great auntie at thirtysoddingnine and not quite a half !!He has had a light clip round the ear but unfortunately it didn't rectify the situation, Lola is still and here blissfully unaware of the agony and heartbreak to my ego. I mean come on, great aunts have grey hair (OK so I've been colouring mine for years and I have more, far more than my fair share of grey hair). Great aunties stay in on a weekend watching TV and drinking cups of hot chocolate (hhhmmm it's a few years since I saw the inside of a nightclub and the last time I was in the city centre on a Sat night I was pooped and ready for bed well before midnight, I couldn't wait to get home for acuppa and kick my high heels back into the bottom of the wardrobe where they still languish). Also great aunties have old fashioned hobbies like ....knitting. Eerrmm yes, well eeerrr OK. AL RIGHT then maybe I'm old enough in spirit if not in years!

Lola was born on 5th November weighing in at a tiny 5lb 12oz. She was only a few days early considering her tiny birth weight but mum is only tiny so no real surprise even if dad is a lofty 6'5" in his socks!

Hold on tight there are a few pic's to post, links to find and yarns to remember.

First up this is a preemie cardi and the link is here It is knitted in Hobbycraft's own Palette DK in a soft aubergine/dark berry colour. The hat is a basic preemie hat and although I cobbled this from memory from doing many of these there are patterns for these available all over the web in the guise of topknot hat or umbilical cord hat etc.

And the beautiful Lola herself wearing the hat!

This hat unfortunately is still a little big and I'm afraid that by the time the hat fits then this cute little cardigan both knitted in Sirdar Baby Bamboo won't fit! I may find myself doing the next size up once the crimbo knitting is out of the way. It is a pattern taken from a book no longer in print I'm afraid. But for reference the book is Knitting For baby 623 by Teddy Knitting Yarns. It goes down to a 14inch chest. The hat I made up as the hat to match the cardi was a bonnet and I didn't think being a young couple they would like a bonnet.

Next up is a baby slouchy beanie knitted when Lola was known as Peanut. I used this as my basic pattern but extended the straight body of the hat before doing the decreases. Dad is a huge fan of the slouchy beanie and has many of them, he is rarely seen without a hat so it was for a little jokey whimsical that I knitted this. It is knitted in Sirdar Snuggly 4ply, plain white.

I thought these were probably the cutest things ever when I first spotted them on Ravelry. The blog is in French but my browser prompted me to translate to English, even if yours doesn't then the very clever lady has done a very simple foolproof chart instead. They are so easy and quick it is actually ridiculous. I'm not sure what the yarn is I used, just some beige DK bought labeless from a car boot sale many moons ago. I've also just remembered that the pattern calls for aran but I re-gauged it and used DK

Even though there a few other bits for Lola at the risk of me crashing my blog from posting too many pictures I'll move onto Esme.

Esme is the daughter of Liz (my friend)'s SIL Julia (also a friend)'s brother and his wife (who I have met once but don't know personally). She came into the world 8 weeks early due to mum suffering from pre-eclampsia and weighing a teeny 3 and a half lb. These were so small they didn't take long to knock up.

This is actually a dolly cardi taken from Doll's Wardrobe (also suitable for preemie babies) 614 again by Teddy Knitting Yarns. It's knitted in Sirdar Countrystyle in a bright Barbie pink. It was an oddment left oner from something else so I have no colour way reference's etc

This last one is Paxton that is a Ravelry link as I downloaded the PDF from there. My apologies if you are not on Ravelry, seriously if you are a knitter then I question why not and urge you to join. It's the best thing sliced bread honest. It is a wealth of inspiration, knowledge and guidance which also packs in some wonderful patterns (many free some not) projects and totally fab everything you can think of. It is a place you can not only showcase your own projects but also unashamedly peer at other peoples and not only become amazed (and occasionally envious)at their skill and patience but also gogglefied at their sense of humour. It is the place to join like minded people! The yarn is some more Hobbycraft Pallette in DK and leftovers from this along with the above berry coloured yarn for Lola's hat and cardigan. I'm afraid I'm not sure where the buttons came from though I do remember they only cost 10p each.

OMG I nearly forgot to mention, Harrogate is in ONE WEEKS TIME whoop whoop!!!! Mama's gonna buy me some yarn!

The Force Has Bypassed Me Completely

Well after making such a brilliant start on the Star Wars hats for the boys some time ago I sort of lost focus a little! I finished Zakk's after a few attempts, he loves it, it matches his coat and all is lovely. Max's hat however is another story. September and indeed a lot of October were fairly warm and mild and the need for a winter hat for Max seemed far away (I'd given myself such a head start on Zakk's hat after all) so I let myself be seduced by other projects. These projects included other hats (OK so no logic there, knitting a hat for the 21 year old but not for the 6 year old hhmmm priorities!!), some preemie clothes for a friend of a friend (very near future blog post), arm warmers (blog post in the offing) and another commission (again another future blog post).

The cold weather is now however fast approaching, and the fact that I broke the boys new winter coats out of the wardrobe during school half term last week and that they even needed hats on one of the days brought me up pretty sharpish to the fact I'd only got around to casting on Max's hat and that was it! So I got back to it on Monday, finished the rib and started to try and place the characters from the chart around the hat as evenly spaced as possible, cursing myself that if I had remembered to write down some notes on how many stitches I had used to separate the designs etc then where the %$&*£ had I put them. After spending the afternoon trying to wing it, (which of course didn't work), tinking and then trying to count carefully (which still didn't work) and then even trying to not count carefully I finally threw my knitting down in disgust.

At that point Zakk came in with some Maths homework which he had been working on and asked me to check it....... there's no hope in me working out the maths to place 6 figures evenly spaced around a hat if I can't even understand a 7 year olds maths homework is there......

Leigh-Ann managed to finish the half marathon. She went past us so quickly we didn't get any photo's of her at all but and we were on the right hand side of her just down a few yards in this photo cheering her to the finish line. Her time was 2 hours 50 mins and she has raised more than £200 pounds so far. Thanks to everyone who sponsored her, it still brings a tear to my eye with how proud I am of her.

So Proud

I'm asking for a little help on behalf of my eldest baby today. Leigh-Ann I am very proud to announce is running the Birmingham half marathon on Sunday 24th October for this charity. It's a fantastic cause and she is of course looking for donations. I know it's a tough time for everyone but it is a worthwhile charity and although she has done the Race for Life before and a charity parachute jump this is the first where she has had to put in some hard work to train. She certainly isn't hoping to break any records (apart from personal ones) except to finish in the 4 hour time frame and hopefully raise her target goal.

Any of you out there who are feeling generous and can spare even a few pounds, it all helps can give here.

A Hat For Luke

Hhhmm another gap in blogging! Never mind I'm here now even if it's a quickie post.

This is a hat I made for my son Luke's birthday a few! okay 4 weeks ago. Can you believe this handsome chap was 21! I can hardly believe it myself. It doesn't seem more than 5 minutes since he was the same age as Zakk or Max.

The time is flying by at the moment don't you think? It's start of the run up to Christmas now, every time I blink it's another week nearer YIKES!!

Here is the man himself modelling it very nicely I hope you'll agree, there was another photo with an altogether different type of hand gesture!! This is a family blog so in spite of his disappointment I will leave that photo on the camera!

The yarn is the remains of the Lang DK 100% super wash merino that I used for the Drops Bolero and I just had enough around 60 grms worth. Not quite sure what that is in yardage but 1 and a half skeins on Rav is coming up at 147 yards or 135 metres.

The pattern is one I did on my own after discovering the aran weight one I found on Ravelry I hadn't enough yarn for so had to frog it and start again. I tried knitting it with the yarn held double for a thicker warmer hat but I ran out a few inches from the top.

I am going to put the pattern on here but I was rather hoping to do a PDF version so I am waiting for a few quiet hours when I can learn how to do it!

Sorting Out Bones Of Contention!

For quite a few years now there has been a few full scale rows, no wait a minute that's very strong, how about heated discussions??? hhhmmm nope still a little strong, shall we settle on hubby's little bone of contention? Yup I think that would sum it up on my husband's attitude about how my downstairs stash/immediate WIP's/knitting magazine library and knitting bags threaten to overtake the living room. At one time they were small enough to confine to a single cupboard (can you believe at one time my whole stash, pattern collection and needles would fit in this single cupboard and non knitters who caught a glimpse inside would comment on "what was I going to do with all that wool??")

Then it sort of spread to behind one of the settee's, (the larger of the two settee' if I'm owning up and I'm not taking a photo behind there as it's still shameful). Then it started spilling out from behind the settee to a medium sized basket either side, several magazine holders (full) and a project caddy. Still behind the settee in between the overspill were knitting bags, needle bags and rolls, bags of yarn (though 95% of it is now under the bed) and plastic baskets containing more magazines (I have four on monthly subscription, if I had to buy them in a shop I'd never have any as nowhere local well within walking distance seem to sell them with any sort of consistency) that seem to multiply on their own!
Hubby like most people (including myself I hasten to add) has the annoying (I tried to think of a suitable super hero descriptive here but annoying works best) ability to ignore his own crap that he has discarded and abandoned (check out the breakfast bar in the kitchen, any time, day or night, Monday to Sunday he has stuff there in varying degrees of useful! from "been used for a job earlier but I can't be bothered to put it away right now when I can do it in an hour or two", to "might come in handy someday so I'll leave it here where I can find it until then!!!!! So his bone of contention as you can guess wasn't the same as my breakfast bar one, no, his was my knitting collective of stash,magazines and knitty tools that bulged behind and that spilled out the sides of the sofa.
I have to confess that I didn't intend for and I didn't enjoy my knitting stuff stored in this way, it wasn't practical. For a start it was all stored behind the sofa he prefers to sit on when he's chilling out in the evening to watch TV. So picture it....if he was settled and comfy watching for instance Ross Kemp on Gangs or some true crime programme that he enjoys to sit through etc and I suddenly needed a different size pair of needles and I had forgotten (I am very very forgetful) to get out at some earlier part of the evening before he has sat down, maybe putting the boys to bed took longer than anticipated, anyways because or whatever I have to get up to go digging round the back of the sofa (with him still on it) and I'm rustling and cursing cos it's dark behind there and I'm trying to feel for the right needle bag or roll and then cos I'm leaning precariously I'm hoping if I'm going to fall flat into the pile of useful utensils that I fall onto a soft bag of yarn and manage not take my eye out with a 10mm chunky plastic glittery needle that fell sticking pointy end up out the knitting roll I'm looking for. So you get I'm being loud and annoying and disturbing (I apparently do this a lot) and my hubby bless him was not granted with a huge amount of patience so will not stand up and offer to move the sofa so I can indeed take a safer, better look for what I'm looking for (and no I'm not about to ask as I KNOW what the answer would be)!! No don't be daft I'm more likely to get a reel of f's and b's and other expletives at what the hell am I doing and to buzz off as he is trying to watch Ross Kemp and why can he not watch anything HE wants to in peace! I have to confess if it were the other way round I would not be a happy hunny bunny either!
So in the interest of sorting the mess that is behind the sofa and with a lot of good intentions outright blatant lies that somewhere to keep my magazines would be i) a good start to tidy the whole area up, and, ii) an end to above style domestic disputes. After a whole lot of nagging and whinging convincing hubby finally made me this, a bookcase just for me to go at the top of the stairs. Funny that I don't seem to have as many magazines and books when they are all put together.....


Ooops no I forgot they aren't all quite in one place, there's still the stuff in the bedroom bookcase


and Oh I still need to finish sorting out behind and the overspill that is the sofa.

Say Cheese :0)

This is a catchup post, mainly cos the pics are already on the pc.

A long,long time short while ago an old school friend approached me through Facebook to do some commission knitting. Lisa, who is a very talented photographer and artist with her own studio based in Leicestershire wanted me to knit some props for baby photo's. She was venturing out into a Bumps to Babies series and wanted something to make hers look a little different. She sent me a link to show me what she wanted and asked whether I would be able to produce something similar but with an individual spin.

I wouldn't exactly say challenge is my middle name, I was more than a little nervous but I had a go.

The original samples I sent were a few of these cute, jewel coloured pixie style hats. I didn't get around to taking any more pictures unfortunately but if you go to Lisa's website here then you can see another in the slideshow gallery on the home page! Go on and check her website out, like I said a very, very talented lady.

Lisa's next request was for something the babies could be put in, she had found a US photographer who had babies in little sacks. The pictures are lovely but Lisa had a brainwave for her spin and was eager for a giant sock rather than a plain sack to put the babies in.

This was what I came up with, I was pretty pleased with the end result but again a little nervous. I hadn't got a baby handy to get measurements for so I had to do a little maths at how big to do it etc so a baby would actually fit. I looked at knitting a basic sock but using bigger needles/thicker yarn etc and crossing it with a Christmas stocking,.I've only knitted a few pairs of socks before but they aren't difficult, it was the scale that was the technical headache bit!

Finally this is a sack style cuddle bag for a baby to be placed inside. This also looks like a giants trainer sock though with my rubbish photography it's kinda hard to tell!

We Apologise...

For the interruption in blogging. Due to a technical error Knitternicky has once again been without an internet connection. However the shiny new and WORKING router arrived late this afternoon so normal service will resume presently!

The good news is due to an overload of time not taken up with online surfing, social networking and general piddling about on the net a good deal of knitting has been accomplished. This means there is a new wealth of blogging subject lined up for the very near future as well as the backlog from the previous router failure.

WHOOP WHOOP Finally I'm a Hooker (well almost)

Yesterday I found myself with one of those very elusive things.... a spare hour! Of course I had things I should have could have been doing but I was a little restless and more ironing etc for some absurd reason just didn't appeal???

I have been wanting to learn to crotchet for years quite a while, but although I've had a few quick lessons over a 20 year span I hadn't stuck at it past the lesson enough to actually get to grips with it!! One of the lessons (and probably the most productive one) was with the lovely GG. She is a fantastic friend whom I met through a knitting forum, she and her wonderful husband HWN kindly invited me and two others to stay at their house last year in order for us to be part of a group from the forum who were going to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show. She had promised me a lesson whilst at her house, but with so much chatting, getting to know each other and of course knitting going on it was nearly midnight before we knew and it and I thought my chances of learning were gone. GG however stayed up an extra hour (which was wonderful as we had a very early start the next morning) after the others had gone to bed and gave me a master class in granny squares of which the above was produced. Alas when I tried to recreate it at home I only ended up with a tangled mess, I put it down to being very tired during the lesson, and leaving it (a few days) too long before trying it again.

Anyway this came out more than 6 months ago in the UK and I bought the first 3 or 4 copies that appeared in the local newsagents but hadn't done anything with it since (you had to subscribe for the rest of the series and I wasn't sure enough of my commitment to commit to 2 years or so worth). In the first issue a free instruction DVD was included so I dug it out and put it in the DVD player.

These were the result.

My first attempt at slip stitch oooeeerrrr

My first attempt at double crotchet eerrmm umm yeah. Now this is actually where I ran out of hour, so the DVD lessons stopped at this point so everything after this point was an evening of practising double crotchet, which did (in my humble opinion) improve.

My second attempt at double crochet hhmm a little better!

and my third attempt, ignore the fact it doesn't look square, it is fairly square it 's just not sitting flat... honest.

OK, I KNOW I still have tension issues and when I first pick it up I automatically hold the yarn in the right hand like I'm going to start knitting instead of in the left but after a few seconds I figure it out and change hands. After another few seconds I can even get a rhythm going whilst I'm doing it so that is a major accomplishment.

Now I just need another spare hour to finish the DVD lessons and progress to triple crochet !!!

And on a final note, my sister did in fact like Jaiden's present, so much so she txt me to ask if I would make him another, so here it is. Just needs to be washed. I'm still hoping for photo's of him wearing one of them.