Okay, so was disappointed at John Lewis yarn sale, all the good Rowan stuff gone, so decided to finish off a WIP!
Yarn is Artesano Hummingbird, think the colourway was Love Bird, will need to check (probably discontinued!). Bought this yarn about ...ahem.... years ago at K1yarns in Glasgow, started various sock patterns before settling for this one.
Pattern is from One Skein Wonders book, by Judith Durant - marvelous book have knitted quite a lot from it. Still have a good amount left after finishing these socks, may make a corsage from the remains.
Don't like showing off my (spam coloured) legs, so jeans cover the top a little . Its a broken garter stitch, which makes it nice and sqishy, knitted from cuff down, and after heel is knitted, yarn is broken off , and then gusset knitted from "top" needle - I changed that so technically was knitting it inside out, still worked out .
Would definitely do this pattern again , love it, a winner !
Well not us exactly, but our friends had a wee boy, Cameron David John on Saturday 20th December , welcome baby Cameron.
And even better news, his big sister Ellie has had her MRI scan , and has been given the all clear for this year, well done Ellie.
Christmas has been lovely this year, the boys got lots of toys, we got lots of lie - ins , and I nodded off in front of the TV on Christmas evening, eating my cheese and crackers , accompanied by a nice glass of Burgundy red (Bourgogne)
We watched Dr Who (how exciting) and Wallace and Gromit (how exciting again!)
Well the steak pie is in, the Cava is chilling and soon it is Hogmanay .
Happy 2009 everyone!
I'm not sure what these Shepherds are watching - the teacher directing them! Well this little Shepherd is unwell today, a touch of the dreaded Winter tummy bug, yeuch! Hope it wasn't the beard that caused it!
Perhaps the stars will quicken his recovery, here are his two wee pals, don't they look gorgeous in gold.
Apart from sleepless nights and tummy bugs, there has been some fun too.
Tramwayknits Christmas special was at the Park Inn Hotel, formerly Langs, and a jolly afternoon was had by all. There was a Santa Lucky Dip, a fun fibre quiz, and lots of eating and drinking. Ooh, and I won the Fibre Quiz! The prize was the book Diva's don't Knit, can't wait to get some time to sit down and read at leisure.
Oooops, almost forgot, the winner from last weeks quiz was...... Kathleen , she won the lovely sock yarn. Although I think due to the small number of commenters , there may be some runner up prizes too!
Still haven't blogged fully on my fab weekend last weekend , at the Girls night out with Craig Hill and Abba's Angels, but I will leave you with some snapshots that seem to sum it up!
My good friend being ritually humiliated on stage by Craig Hill - he was gentle!
Mr Hill swinging his...ahem....stuff.
And a rather strange lady in an Abba blonde wig - who could it be??
The really embarrassing things always happen at busy times when there are LOTS and LOTS of people about. I was struggling to get up the stairs at Glasgow Central Station, carrying a small suitcase, handbag and large shopping bag when I tripped! Of course, according to Sods Law , there were trillions of people about (well....,perhaps ten!), I managed to put my hands down on the steps to stop my face being re-arranged, and dropped the bags, and a very kind young gentleman picked them up and inquired "are you alright?"
Normally people walk over or around you - it is the Christmas Shopping season of course, so I was very surprised and cheered by this incident.
Really embarrassing incident number two !
Driving the kids to school (running late, of course) I turn up this awful wee Victorian road with passing places (passing places in 21st century roads, I ask you!), when I have to stop short to let oncoming traffic pass. I hit the kerb and hear this awful noise. Now there is nowhere to stop - not to change a tyre anyway - until I get to the road near the school - everyone stares at disbelief at this mad woman crawling along with a flat tyre, UP roads , because of course Gourock is full of hills! And I have a 3 inch tear in my tyre.
I manage to stop somewhere near the school, and a very kind Dad, stops his car at mine to ask if I have a spare tyre, and would I like if he changed it for me.
Then , just as I am about to roll the car down the hill to a more appropriate place for changing a tyre - another kind Dad asks if I'd like a hand to change it!
This is MONDAY MORNING! These people are dropping of kids at school and then hurrying to work. I am quite simply stunned! I decline saying I already have help, but thank you very much indeed .
So kind Dad number one changes the tyre, in his suit, and I'm praying that it won't get dirty, and why do I have stupid alloy wheel covers that are a b*gger to get off, and do I have wet wipes for hands......
Drinking my LARGE coffee later, after one new tyre at a cost of £60, I realise that the world is actually a very good place to be , even when horrible things happen.
My very kind fellow Raveller, tattie-bogle, sent me her duplicate copy of the Simply Knitting Diary , and in the package was some lovely little Burt Bees products. So in the spirit of Paying Forward, I thought I'd give away some lovely sock yarn.
The person who has the closest answer wins........
DS1 Advent Calendar has the Christmas story over 24 days - what part do you think is shown on the 12th December ?
If you need help - go look on Wikipedia - and try and work out how they spread the telling of this over 24 days (very short bursts each day!)
Give your answer on the comments - if you can't comment (blogger acts up sometimes), email me at mhairidotgilchristatbtinternetdotcom , I'll contact the winner on the 13th December, and mail the yarn .
There is so much doom and gloom just now , and if you are of a nervous/anxious disposition its best not to read the papers or watch the news on TV! People being trampled to death in the sales , companies and lives going bust all over , misery at every turn.
The story about the co-joined twins, Faith and Hope, did bring a little .... faith and hope to these depressing times. These little souls made it into this world against the odds, to loving and caring parents . Sadly , Hope did not survive the separation operation, but her sister is fighting on , hanging on to her precious life. I hope she makes it . My heart goes out to the parents , what brave people they are .
On the Knitting Front
Aaagghhh , its the headless woman - nice cardi though!
At a bit of a standstill just now - have finished the cropped Noro Cardi, just love it to pieces. Am trying to get inspiration for my secret Santa gift , and some other knitted items I wanted to do for Christmas presents.
Started a scarf using the gorgeous handspun from Oldmaidenaunt, but sadly there was not enough for the pattern I was using, double moss stitch takes up a bit more yarn than I bargained for!
And I have lots of lovely yarns I want to use, ...mmmmmm, and I also have lots of lovely projects to finish.
Maybe pay Knitty a visit to get some inspiration .
Well the macaroni cheese is cooling down just now, the kids are complaining every two minutes they are hungry, so fingers crossed they will actually EAT their dinner!
The rest of the house looks like a disaster area, and at present so does my face - big red nose, sore lips, red watery eyes.... lovely, the first cold of the season! And guess what, it really is cold outside...look!
Even the sky looks frosty!
I am on the sewing up of my cropped Noro cardi - hurray, although I don't really enjoy sewing, I just love this yarn so much that I don't mind just now .
Will need to start the small knitted Christmas gifts for the Knitting groups secret Santa's soon. The Calendar is filling up with Nativity practices and plays, School Christmas services, Church services, parties, Carol Concerts and to add to the excitement the first doors on these were opened today .
DS1 has the Nativity Advent Calendar on the left , DS2 has the Charlie and Lola Advent Calendar on the right . The Nativity Advent Calendar is quite clever, each door , once opened, is a speech bubble telling the Christmas story - DS2 wanted to swap his Charlie and Lola Advent Calendar for his brothers, he was so impressed!
And tonight DS1 will start Jostein Gaarders' " A Christmas Mystery" for his bedtime story. There is a chapter for each day of Advent, and the story ? You'd better read it for yourself , its a wonderful start for the Christmas season!
Had a lovely lunch today at the Cafe Continental to wish our good friend Gale Bon Voyage as she heads back to South Africa, after 6 lovely years in Inverclyde, and 3 of those as a member of Flavaknits!
It was just the four of us , who usually meet on a Wednesday morning, having a leisurely time eating and chatting, but very little knitting getting done . We are very sad to see Gale go , but it has been lovely to know her as a friend these last few years. Who knew that a hobby as knitting could bring together people as good friends , we're glad it did!
Won't write much , as my cold has now really kicked in , so I am nursing a Beechams Hot lemon just now - will just leave you with some photo's of todays' lunch.
Although you can't see past these three lovely ladies - the view out the window of the Argyllshire hills with snow, and the little fishing boats with flocks of seagulls following them , do look lovely! (Not as lovely as these three of course - Val, Karen and Gale) . Val has her gorgeous Jaegar Mohair Cardi, and Gale her lovely South African Merino scarf - Karen isn't wearing her scarf in the picture unfortunately - you can see it on her blog, Once a Sheep
If you look closely, you may just see my little silk tank under my pink cardi - finally finished it off, and do you know, it is actually very warm to wear.
The waiter was busy when I took these photos, so I have only three in each, instead of one picture with the four of us!
Watch out South Africa , with Gale back, the knitting craze will really take off!
And Haste ye Back my dear !
About a year or so ago a good pal sent me en email from a well known networking site, so I sorta joined, and used it occasionally to keep in touch. Then , the other day another pal sent me an email from the same site, so I went back on, and ended up finding other folk I knew,which was nice, and added them to my friends ! So far so good.
Then , following a link to some other page within this site showed me I had some sort of mail, like birthday cards or something (?!), but the actual comment said - (Number) people Hate you, (Number) Have A Crush on you !
?
Good for them! But why bother telling me via an e-card ?
At that point I lost interest completely , and started looking at blogs, then popped on to Ravelry for a wee check , and oh, what was it I was doing first?????? Whats that funny web page there ???? Ahh Delete!
So, I'll just stick to Ravelry and good old email , that wastes enough of my knitting time without adding to it .
So, back to the knitting!
Isn't it lovely - I want it NOW - its a design from Jenny Watsons' Mini-Knits for Noro , gorgeous!
Oh look, whats this?
Its the back, Knitted over two evenings, I've also finished the two fronts and half a sleeve . Its love.
The yarn, Noro Kochoran, colourway 57 , same as my scarf.
When I saw the yarn in my LYS, and had to have it - used money I had to buy a christmas party dress (who needs them!) to get it , such was my craving! I'm hoping to have it done by the weekend, or if I'm extra fast by Flavaknits night.
Was very jealous of my DH this weekend - he was in London, and his hotel was in Waterloo, near Iknit (which had the Stitch in Time Book event on Saturday). Then he got to attend the Rugby at Twickenham (which I love and he doesn't!).
Just as well I have my knitting to console me !
So , we are almost back to full health , apart from DH's dodgy back! DS2 is fighting tooth and nail NOT to take his anti B's , which means he is most definitely better .
Phew! I hate it when wee ones get raised temperatures and feverishness - blame it on my childhood reading of Victorian childrens' literature !
And talking of reading - a little package arrived today which contained this.....
The first book by the famous knitter/blogger called Panopticon, or Franklin Habit to give him his Sunday name . He visited the Iknit shop in London last Thursday , to do a reading and a signing of his book, unfortunately I couldn't be there in person to see and hear the "reading" .
Fortunately, I ordered a book before he arrived..... and look....a signature from his crafty/arty fingers!
Thank You Gerard and Craig, the lovely owners of Iknit!
And talking of crafty/arty fingers, a few of us gathered for a spinning lesson on Sunday, hosted by my very good friend Karen . Janet, our teacher was very calm and patient, the pupils , however, were ........a bit less calm ! It was a wonderful lesson, but you could hear the cogs in everybody's brain turning over, and occasionally some steam coming out of the ears (lets not mention the words coming out of the mouths , or rather silently from my mouth! - least said soonest mended!)It was a fun day , and thanks to Karen and her family for the fabulous lunch . And all that wonderful fibre - got some to practice on! hehehehe.
Sandy and Ali did very well , as they had not done spinning before at all , and managed to produce very good looking yarn. Kimberley came on leaps and bounds too with her spindle , being younger she is a bit more active and could walk about while spinning
Janet taught Karen and me this technique of spinning straight from the tops without pre-drafting, which I seemed to get , then lost, then get , then lost..... but eventually found I could manage it even with slippy silk - oooohh, that was gorgeous that silk.
And of course I've been busy practising ever since (fingers crossed !) , or rather I've been trying but just never get the time !
Well, not literally - its part of the 3 Kings Christmas Carol!
However Frankincense is a wonderful oil to use , especially at Christmas time, as it helps deepen breathing and provide a meditative state that helps reduce stresses. It has antiseptic and healing properties, and I can't recommend it highly enough!
Especially after a sleepless night, I don't get them very often now, and its a shock to the system when I do .
After a visit to the Doctors this morning we discovered that DS2 has an ear infection - a course of anti B's and Calpol should help, his temp is finally coming down a little, although it is still quite high.
Just now - he is Sleeping in Heavenly peace - which is great , I may join him!
Just a little knitting trivia - my sister lent me her Nigella Christmas Recipe Book - but what is this (Handknitted) item she is wearing ?
And doesn't it look at bit like this pattern from K1yarns
I'm going through the "Thank You page to see who might have given it to her - less stressful than reading the recipe's , those are scary! I'll just stick to the "express" recipes instead .
DS2 is still a bit unwell, lots of hankies and calpol , olbas oil and apple juice are at hand to aid recovery . Thankfully DS1 is fit and healthy and his immune system is a little bit stronger, due to being exposed to lots of germs at school!
Its raining outside, and the sky is grey unlike the one above which was taken a wee while ago. I'm not complaining, it means its easier to get into the "zone" for knitting, and all those wee jobs that need done about the house.
It also means I get to start thinking and preparing for Christmas ..... oooohh I said it , the C word!
Yesterday I bought an Advent Calendar for the children - its got Charlie and Lola on it, a favourite of DS2. Soon the Nativity scene and the Advent Calendars will be out, whipping the children into a frenzy of anticipation for Santa Claus/Father Christmas/St Nicholas .
And I'll find I am as unprepared as I was last year . *Sigh*
Time to get back to the knitting!
Its starting to get seriously chilly here just now , and the "nights are fair drawing in" as they say in these parts. The wee one DS2 has a "croaky voice" which appeared yesterday, so a day off from Nursery with lots of hot cocoa and lavender baths. It hasn't dented his energy levels that much, and the train set is taking over a large part of the living room!
Have had some lovely knitting sessions, at Flavaknits and Tramwayknits, over the last few days. Also took DS2 to his idea of heaven, the Greenock Model Railway Club annual show on Saturday - lots of other MRC's from different areas take part too , bringing some of their model railway sets. I think the DS2 favourite ones were the Thomas set he got to play with by pressing the controls, and the Lego one that he got a shot of too! Mine was the Narrow Gauge models, set up in the middle of the hall - its much bigger than the usual model railways, the members usually have their sets out in their gardens ! And , of course, there were plenty of Thomas toys to buy!
This time of year is wonderful ! Its cold and so a perfect excuse for knitting up cosy garments to keep warm in and stave off the winter chill . Great way to save on the heating bill too.
Here is my new , recently finished , Noro Kochoran scarf, using only one skein and the ever popular multi-directional pattern. One skein goes a long way, which is good considering the price of it, but it definitely went a lot longer than I thought it would ! One metre and 70 centimetres long, it will help get rid of my cold . Not bad from one skein of 160m . I love the colours in this yarn, and it is very soft and cuddly!
I'm also pressing ahead with the hiker socks, I've decided that they will fit after all, so just to finish number one and get on with number two .
I love the way the colours are coming out - sort of diagonal stripes , and the socks are as squishy as the yarn - squishy is the technical term for the level of softness!
However, just now I'm pressing on with a wee gift for an even smaller friend, hope to have it done by Wednesday! Need to get my finger out (or fingers) to make sure .
Its a Patons pattern using the DB fabulous Cashmerino Baby yarn. Its knitting up a treat . I can't wait to see it finished and keeping that wee person warm.
Now I'm off to make my (in?)famous Winter warmer soup - then have a peek at Ravelry , well the house works almost done !
So, I started with 20 stitches on my directional scarf, and by the time I had reached the 4th triangle I was down to 16 !
So, to quote Edwin Collins, Rip it back and start again (Orange Juice, 1980's??) I ripped it back and shoved it in my knitting bag - will pick it up and start again this evening at Flavaknits, where a nice Chai Latte will soothe my nerves .
I should stop staying up late watching old repeats of Coupling, which I didn't find funny first time round , but for some reason I now find hilarious!
Now if you fancy going off course , have a look at Karens' blog - there is a very worthy cause to donate to there, AND it involves knitting too!
The many who owe so much to the few
Vogue Knitting Holiday Issue is in my local Keystore! So excited I bypassed the newspapers and forgot to check the American Election result.
Thankfully my good pal India's on the button, so to speak, and when I checked my blog updates she had it there on her blog!
And the BBC have it on their website too! What, who won ? Why Barack Obama of course - any candidate with a wife like Michelle Obama was going to make it into the White House! And if she follows in the steps of another American First Lady, she'll be the first Female President of the USA ! Just my tuppence worth!
No, I'm not waving a little flag here, its my Noro Kochoran which will soon be a multidirectional scarf, its some knitting therapy after my disastrous socks.Its a gorgeous yarn, there was only one skein left in John Lewis on Saturday, so it had to be mine , mine , mine !
Hope it matches my beret.... do you notice my beret has changed shape - finally blocked it on a large dish - gave it a great beret shape, and not, as my sister would say, bunnet shape!
And there are lots of lovely hats to knit in the latest VK..... so many lovely patterns, so little time!
Off to the bakers now to get some Bonfire Night cakes - remember, remember the fifth of November..... Americans certainly will!
Edited: Keystore had 4 more copies of VK this morning, its only £3.75
Well, I was feeling very smart after finishing several knitted items, and I fancied a new pair of socks, so , I pulled out some Artesano Hummingbird yarn that had been relagated to the stash bucket, and started Hiker Socks from One Skein Wonders.
I'll fit this in between knitting my Noro sweater, I thought. Then as I turned the heel, I tried it on (as I usually do at this point), and it felt tight!
Checked tension, checked measurements, hmmmm, appear to be right, so why is it tight . Perhaps its just the cast on, I can sort that, oh, its tight on the heel too, mmmmmm. Thinking......
More thought bubbles - should I continue...... should I frog......or should I stop right where I'm at and just start another bigger sock ? Thinking again.........
I know , I'll just get on with my Noro sweater, now let me measure the finished back, hhmmmmm, not as long (or wide) as I originally thought ! More thinking ......
..... Should I frog or just get on with the front, make it longer, and embrace the fitted look! *Sigh*
I think I'll just go back to reading my knitting magazine, and have some chocolate!
I know its been two days since Halloween, but the Tramwayknits group had a Halloween theme, courtesy of the lovely Alice and her Pumpkin Teapot cosy!
Isn't it gorgeous - Alice is a bit of a whizz with the dye-ing, and I'm sure she mentioned overdye-ing some pale orange with a darker shade , or some such process, to get the achieved look - its fabulous! Look it even doubles as a hat ! And check out Alices' gorgeous Kidsilk Haze sweater - apparently complete strangers stop her to stroke the sweater, the pull of cracksilk haze , eh! (That's Joy admiring the hat/cosy)
Everyone wanted to try on the pumpkin (! we persuaded them !) and here is the lovely Sarah being "styled" by Alice , while Heather tries to avoid being the next person to have a knitted pumpkin stuck on her head!
Doesn't she look lovely! And.... it matches her sweater.
And here is Alice modeling her lovely sweater, seconds before she had her hands on a very obvious part of the sweater , which is why Thea is peeking round in surprise !
The things a digital camera misses , eh! Never mind, here is Thea modeling her lovely supersoft scarf, just right for this time of year.
And here we all are actually knitting, and not modeling , its a pity I never got a picture of Gloria with her extreme crochet hook and her wonderful Tunisian crochet blanket, it looked fabulous and will make a lovely present . That's Gloria between Alice and Fiona, head down , working hard, trying to avoid that dreadful woman and her camera! hehehe!
Finally finished this , it was for another baby, but my cousins partner has just had a wee baby girl, and so it is now for them (it takes me that long to sew up!) Its just perfect for a baby, ........ acrylic, machine washable and tumble-dryable!
Best get the buttons sewn on now!
Its Halloween, time for dressing up - I think my new circle socks are a good colour for Halloween, the colourway is "Sour" and the yarn is Old Maiden Aunt sock yarn. This is wonderful yarn to knit with , the colours are fabulous and it feels great to wear. Karen finished her socks first - different colour but matching patterns!
Jumpers are still in progress - however , have managed to finish one other project - do you like the colours ? remind you of anything ?
Its the oversized beret from he latest DB magazine, although I have used Colinette Iona and Eden Earthly paradise yarns this time. The Colinette is in the Monet colourway, and it is another fabulous yarn to knit with, I just love it! Its not quite as floppy as the hat in the magazine , but I wanted something that wouldn't blow off in the wind. I also reduced the size of the hat missing out one big cable , as I felt I would end up looking like Wee Willie Winkie if it was too long! Bit old for that look now, although as a small child I would dress up as him at Halloween !
Hey! Who's this peeking in? Its DS2 dressed as Wall:E for his Halloween party !
Yikes , watch out Wall:E there is a Cyberman next to you! Its DS1 dressed as a Cyberman (one who doesn't like the helmet). Haven't broken the news to DS1 yet that David Tennant is giving up playing Dr Who next year - wait until its announced in his Dr Who adventures comic , I think!
All that excitement is too much for me - time to settle down with a good book, an old favourite, The House of Arden (no info in Wikipedia about it, not sure why!). I don't think the BBC ever dramatised this book of E Nesbit, unlike the Phoenix and the Carpet and the Railway children. Its sheer escapism, all very early 20th century middle-class England. Its about two children who set out to find the lost fortune of their family before the little boy (the new Lord Arden!) has his tenth birthday , with the help of a magical creature . Its beautifully written and the characters sound like real children, getting up to scrapes and being very cheeky .Oops, looks like its had an effect on DS2......
Time to go - Wall:E has fallen asleep , shhh, look !
Its all that partying at Halloween - All trick and treat - ed out!
September/October in our house means lots of Birthdays - firstly there was DS1's !
Wee brother obviously likes to help blow out the candles and also EAT the cake ! Auntie has to assist while mummy take the picture.
Then there was this one - Grandpa's Birthday , lets not mention age though! hehehe!
Both DS1 and 2 need to assist Grandpa to not only blow out the (it plays Happy Birthday musical) candle , but eat the icing, I mean, cake too!
Then there is DH birthday, 40 years young Darling and don't look a day over it either!
Not until we drink the Birthday wine anyway!
And in between all these celebrations, there has been some more spinning - finally finished and plied the Black Rare Breed Wensleydale, I just love this and wish I could have afforded to get more. It was £7 for 100g (ouch!), but it is so gorgeous , I think its love!
This is the Mohair close up , the colours are so lovely , and although there is still a bit of an itch factor, for Mohair it is really soft ! Pity there is only about 40/50g and perhaps 50m - still working out what to do with it.
And here is the Wensleydale (Longwool) roving on the wheel - I'm trying to spin it slightly thicker, but I'm making a mess really. I should just spin it finer and then ply it up thicker - still you live you learn!
Feels fabulous though!
Now , anyone for more Birthday cake - still plenty here!
