Had a lovely afternoon at TramwayKnits yesterday , seeing all the lovely things folks were knitting , having a tasty lunch (and large latte , cos a gal needs her caffeine intake , 'specially after a morning looking after the bairns!), and, because it was Sunday, a large piece of cheesecake !
I was also de-stashing some of my knitting magazines , which unfortunately, I won't really get to knit anything from . I'm also on a Knitting magazine Diet , for Lent.....and probably beyond . Its just that there are so many lovely knitting magazines out there , and I buy them without realising I don't knit quick enough to be able to knit all the patterns in them that I like!
Back to the knitting....there was an abundance of gorgeousness yesterday. Kathleen had her Hap shawl in Shilasdair naturally dyed yarn, and was fast running out of the green (500 stitches on her needles now - take a bow Kathleen , and cue the Trumpet fanfare!) , but it still looked and felt fabulous to us .
Fiona was knitting a scarf/stole in a lovely shetland yarn , very light and airy looking. I might be wrong but it looked the palest shade of green, so pretty .
Catherine (who was wearing her lovely lilac shade knitted jacket) was knitting a cardigan in a lovely yarn in a shade of Deep purple , and it looked like it wouldn't be long before she would be wearing it!
Gloria had transferred a pattern from a beret and was knitting matching handwarmers , in a "glorious" shade of pink. It is such a lovely set , and the colour really suits her.
Maggie was almost finished her new cardi , it what I now call Maggies' colours , beautiful shades of rust and mustard. Really I should have taken a picture, as I'm not too good at describing it. She also had a gorgeous bag in similar shades , with a snowflake fairisle pattern on the front, as well as a smaller clutch style bag with cables inside that! The woman is prolific !
Patsy arrived a wee bit later and showed us her lovely crochet cardi , a gift for her daughters friends wee baby. We also had to stroke her ankles (!?!) , as she had finished her new socks , and was proudly wearing them .
Didn't manage to see what Evelynn and Irene were knitting , but Maggie had brought her (first) sock along , and was doing really well. She is knitting it in one of those fabulous self-patterning yarns , that help make boring stocking stitch interesting!
It was such a lovely relaxing afternoon , which was great because the evening was.....not!
Still, once the kids were in bed I got to drink some tea and watch the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency - just as good as the books!
I love reading other blogs about other folks family life. I read about children who have numerous interests , love spending time with their parents , helping out, joining in activities, going on jolly holidays with nary a harsh word spoken .
My family life is just as fulfilling , but a bit more challenging less Waltons' , more......"My Family" (British Sitcom with Zoe Wannamaker).
Taking DS2 to tennis lesson this morning requires the miraculous, more than Supernanny. Getting him to join in takes equal measures of bribery, blackmail and threat that would put a fully paid up member of the Mafia to shame ! AND we still leave a half hour before the end of the lesson .
DS2 is no less adept at upsetting parents in his own quiet but insistent way. A barrage of complaints and shortfalls of life in general ensure steam from ears and loud words from mouth of his mater.
There is only so much a mother can take!
And after sending them to their rooms for time out , while I quietly get on with the house-work, I soon discover that they are both watching TV. Quietly . Well almost . And although its some anarchic cartoon on some dreadful American kiddies channel, I say a silent prayer of thanks.
And don't ask why DS2 is now wearing swimming shorts a sweatshirt and a Wall E costume .
Now I will sit knit and listen to music , because soon it will be mayhem again!
PS - Its lights out at 8.30pm tonight to show the world we care ! (AND get the kids to bed early, 'cause the clocks go forward an hour!)
Browsing through the Ravelry patterns the other day , I came across a pattern for a Pokeball Hat. For those of you not in the know , Pokeballs contain Pokemons , short for Pocket Monsters. What you may ask are pocket monsters ? Well, Pokemon is a cartoon/card game about wee monsters that battle each other , gain powers , transform into higher levels do more battles with bigger better monsters (I sound like I know what I'm talking about, I don't, I'm repeating what my 8 year old son has told me - he's daft about it , and now his younger brother is daft about it too!)
So , my own wee pokemon requests I knit him a Pokeball Hat ! Shock Horror - he wants something knitted! So I set to it straight away before he changes his mind. Off to local wool shop for some squeaky coloured acrylic , Pokeball colours being white, red and black (so I'm told!) . Big brother requests one too , but needs one colour to be different and chooses grey, GREY , in this weather .
DS2 has decided that now , it is an inside kinda hat ! To watch Pokemon on TV , whilst lying on the sofa .
And we want to show it off everywhere too , lets wear it all over the house , to Nursery , IN nursery !
"Did you get my hat in the photo , mum ? Did You ? Maybe if I turn my head this way you get a better view of my hat . No it is not too big , its just perfect. Can I get another photo ? Please ?
"Okay Mum , I'm finished with the photo - shoot . Did you get my pokeball hat in ? All of it ? Is this a good smile ?
Of course I did son , this is the first thing I've knitted you that you want to wear - I need photographic evidence .
Now to get on with big brothers pokeball hat .
When the hailstones , rain , wind and all manner of plague pelt down furiously just as you get out your car!
When the Tesco Grocery delivery driver forgets half your order , including the bread for the lunchtime sandwiches !
When the kind lady at Tesco Customer services promises to track down the driver and phone you back in five minutes , then does so three hours later only to tell you he's probably back at the store!
When the other kind lady from Tesco Customer services tells you the driver left half his crates at the depot/store , and will deliver them later this afternoon , the time ? Your Guess!
When your kind relation who offered to fix the electrical problem with the shower turns up just before you are about to leave for an appointment with the childs speech teacher! (Well not quite , but it was close!)
When the child throws a tantrum just as you are leaving , to ensure you will not arrive on time at said appointment!
When it rains hailstones (again) as you go out to collect your child from the school bus!
And (the real crux of the matter) , when you cannot finish these blessed Marlene socks for frogging , or distractions , or sheer exhaustion!
And it always happens on a Monday !
Thank Goodness for Yoga on Tuesdays!
Still waiting on Tesco van !
The sun is shining right now , on a beautiful Saturday afternoon . I am sitting outside with my laptop and knitting whilst the kids are playing/fighting inside (sigh , but they did go to tennis this morning , so I suppose that counts for something) .
All I can hear are the very distant sounds of cars and ferry boats , and lots of wee birdies tweeting to each other. There are even a few bees perusing the early blossoms .
There are piles of ironing , plenty of DIY jobs to do , and much dusting (does it ever go away?) , but days like these are for sitting outside , knitting in hand and enjoying the first heat of spring.
Hope you are all enjoying the wonderful weather and that all is well with the world where you are .
Had a lovely afternoon on Sunday at TramwayKnits - it was a book swap Sunday , but I hadn't looked at the meetup information properly so forgot to take any books! Still after the rest of a stressful weekend , it wasn't surprising.
The lovely thing about knitting groups is that you are amongst like minded friends, and can share moans and groans without being judged or preached too! Its a support network as well as a lovely group to meet up with and knit too!
Tramwayknits has a group of organisers , and on Sundays just now , the lovely Maggie is organising different themes for the meetups. You can join in or not , and it doesn't matter one whit, everyone has a lovely time. Thank You Maggie!
I am very lucky to be a member of two wonderful knitting groups , and it definitely keeps my sanity in check. As the Yarn Harlot says.... I am calm because knit! If I didn't knit, well...... madness may ensue!
This year three of us from Flavaknits are going down to the Iknit weekend in London , in September. It was lovely to see Vanessa (who works in Iknit a day a week) at this years Craft Fair at the SECC , she too is an Iknit day attender! It will be good to meet up with Yvonne who will probably be hosting the Knitting and Crochet Guild stand again . Missed her at the Craft Fair unfortunately , due to the scheduling of volunteers being changed. And this year there are workshops galore taken by wonderful and famous (knitty) people!
Alice Starmore , Annie Modesitt, Yarnissima , Susan Crawford , and the Dutch Knitter ! Hurray! There are lots more , have a peek at the website!
Had a strange request in Cafe Flava this morning - Joe the owner wanted to borrow a knitting needle, something to do with measuring a cavity through a small hole !?!
Coulda been talking about my head!
My friend Moira from FLavaknits group has been a busy bee recently. Normally she is busy working at Amazon dispatching all our (knitting book) orders ! But after a wee break , she produced these at a recent Flavaknits night.
Wonderful fingerless gloves and mittens, here the lovely Sandy is modelling fingerless mittens in a lovely variegated yarn (can't remember what it was), lovely rings too!
And here Jo elegantly models the cable fingerless mittens in Artesano Aran, lying on the table are a pair of fingerless (but including a thumb) mittens in an unspecified DK .
Now these mittens are extra special! They are knitted in a Greenock wool DK using a Greenock pattern! I found this lovely yarn in the local charity shop and had to by it instantly to give to Moira , who collects all old Greenock patterns. At one time Greenock produced enough yarn to supply the hundreds of Scotch Wool shops all over Britain, sadly those days are gone . Funny thing is , my mother worked for one of the Greenock Wool companies when she was pregnant with me and was so busy dispatching orders that she was asked to stay on as long as possible before she went off on maternity!
Beginning to sound like my Grandmother! And nearly forgot to mention the model, again, the lovely Sandy.
Here are a bright and colourful pair of mittens, modeled by the lovely Karen this time, its the Greenock pattern using Jaeger Merino DK in a fabulous bright orange shade
And just so the feet don't feel jealous of the hands , here is Sandy's lovely new Bremen socks in a lovely variegated alpaca yarn. Apologies for the picture, it was taken under a table at Cafe Flava!
Now last week , Heather tagged me in a meme. I'm not very good at these , but here goes!
Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that let's them know they've been tagged.
- I need at least one cup of coffee a day, so I usually go to my local Cafe for a latte, always small and always one.
- I cannot bear the Daily Mail/Express newspapers , although the paper I read is owned by Rupert Murdoch and it shows . If I want right wing judgmental attitude I can get that at my parents , thank you very much!
- I love to read books , especially weird and wonderful ones by Alisdair Gray, but I have no retention, and promptly forget the story or that I've read it. But I get so much pleasure (and use) out of one book as I can re-read it over at leisure.
- I share the same birthday as my sister , but she is not my twin!
- I am not very sporty but I love to watch rugby, especially at Murrayfield!
- I own a lovely spinning wheel , pre-owned by the lovely lady (India) who taught me , and another famous yarny person learned on that same wheel (didn't you Lilith!)
Well hopefully that was boring , yet quirky enough , now who to tag ?
So , Nan , India , Lilith , Karen, Sandy and Lynette , if you fancy a wee bit of fun , consider yourself tagged!
Had a lovely birthday last week , and as I share it with my sister (and another Gourock Raveller !) , we decided to go out for lunch somewhere nice... Rogano's in Glasgows' city centre. Lunch was wonderful , Fish and Chips and a glass of Champagne - its what Rogano's is famous for (my story, sticking to it, end of!)
And that wee glass of Champers helped me cope with the fact I'm another year older!
Fortunately my family listened to my gift requests , and I got lots of lovely knitty things.
Here is my basket of Fyberspates Space Dyed Sock Yarn - truly squishy and fabulous .
Yes , My DH listened and let me choose my own gifts , as he is allergic to yarn buying !
I also had a wee order delivered from Amazon , the second book I ordered is not due to April ! Its Cookie A's sock book , and I am so desperate to see it as the preview looks great.
This is my kinda book , Twisted Sister Sock Workbook , sock patterns for socks that you can knit heels into after the main part has been knitted - plenty of opportunity to re-heel ad infinitum, as I keep getting holes in mine. Also, some great ideas for dye-ing and handpainting , obviously during summer when I can go outside and get the kids involved !
I also got (at last!) a Lazy Kate and Niddy-Noddy (those who spin will understand , those who don't go to the next paragraph BUT proceed with caution!) - will need to get the kids to help put these together or it will be next year before that happens. I did try to buy a Yarn Swift from Ebay, but keep getting out-bid right at the end . May need to just order one from a shop , but the one I would like is out of production just now *sigh*
However , this is the gift that makes me smile just thinking about it, the one I've been lusting after for a while , the Rolls Royce of Knitting Needles (or should I say BMW?) , the addi click set......mmmmmmm.....mmmmm....mmmmm......
Shiny Lightweight needles, with soft flexible cords , plus a little pin to put on a knitting bag just to show that , Yes, you too knit with Addi Click! (Should have been in advertising me! )
So far, all I've done with it is ,look at it, tidy out my knitting cupboard so it can be stored in a lovely place , and occasionally polish the needles with a yellow duster .
Time to get back to some serious knitting , and a few more pairs of socks !
