Dressing Up!

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!

Knitting Catch Up

So its been a wee while since I put some knitty pictures up - these ones are just to prove that I am actually knitting and not snoozing in front of the TV.

This is actually the BACK of my Noro sweater in Silver Thaw - the yarn is so lovely and soft and cosy..... I could go on, but its eating into knitting and cooking the dinner time!

And this is the first of my circle socks - I love the heel, the pattern is called Eye of Partridge - its quite cushion-y!

And one of the reasons the knitting is slow, we were all in Edinburgh last week for the mid-term break, or October Holidays as its known locally! And of course we had to go the the Castle (although everyone I told asked, did you not visit the zoo? Zoo ? I live in a zoo why would I want to visit one! Mind you, might have been able to swap my two for a couple of penguins!)

And here is where the Scottish Honours are kept - thats the crown sword and sceptre) Thankfully they were under lock and key , or these two wee rascals might have been away with them!

And of course, we bought some Edinburgh Rock to eat (the sweet kind that is!)

Right , its time to make the salmon fishcakes - tummy's rumbling .

Lots of Birthdays and Spinning!

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!

Spinning Yarn

Every night when we put DS2 to bed , he gives us a list of things NOT to do - don't make a noise on the stair , don't close his bedroom door, don't make a noise in the kitchen, don't watch the TV, AND DON'T SPIN MUMMY!

The comprehensive list he gives us , is to ensure he has sufficient peace and quiet until he falls asleep! ( By which point in time Mummy and Daddy have fallen asleep...)

Of course two minutes after barking out these instructions he is asleep , and Daddy watches TV and Mummy spins.

In true Blue Peter style - here is some I made earlier !

The pale orange is spun from Dyed Mohair Tops, from Mobair who visited the SECC Craft Fair about two years ago. My good pal Karen helped me gently part the tight fibres into flat squares, which made it easier to part into "spin-able" strips. I think this Mohair was probably intended for Felting with pins, but it has spun up well (for me anyway!)

The black yarn to the left is spun from Wensleydale Longwool tops - it is very lustrous and slippy, but so soft. The yarn to the right is the plied BFL from the Natural Dye Studio. And the knitting at the back ?

Here is a close up, I finally chose a pattern for my New Lanark Chunky, can you tell what it is ?

I wasn't knitting it at Tramway Knits on Sunday, but I did take it in for a "Show and Tell". There were two new members on Sunday, Irene and Joy. I think it was Irene who was knitting the lovely Cushion cover from one of the Knitting magazines, it had four squares with a flower in each and the back had stripes. Very challenging. Joy was being taught to crochet by our resident expert Ali , and she learned quickly. Ali had brought in her Innocent Bottle Hats, there were so cute and once I find the lead for my camera I will download the picture.

Thea had finally finished her shawl and managed to block it by pinning it to the wall - she has photographic evidence to prove it! Maggie was knitting a very lovely short-sleeved cardi pattern from the Summer Interweave Knits , with her Ebay bargain yarn - gorgeous stuff it was too. Alice had finally finished her KSH sweater and there is only one word for it, WOW! Such a gorgeous shade of deep purple and so soft - Ali had her eyes on it but went away empty handed!

Almost forgot - Thea's shawl is now famous after featuring on STV's Five Thirty show - Vicky who works for STV , filmed the Tuesday Night group at the Tron Theatre Cafe and our Kathleen had a star role , along with Thea, Lynette and Elaine. Have a wee look here ! ( Its 4mins and 36 secs into the video after the book thingy .) I think I also spied Alice , Paula and Catherine too!

And lastly, here is gratuitous picture of DS2 - he doesn't like me to knit anything for him , so technically his picture shouldn't be on my knitting blog (he's ignoring this!), but I live in hope!