I have a severe case of startitis just now - its all for a good cause but its becoming a bit overwhelming.
There is the pair of socks for my Dads' birthday (yesterday) which I am knitting the OMA Merino/Bamboo in Midnight Owl . Then there is the cropped jacket for my Mums' birthday (next month) which is knitted in Rowan Big Wool/Drift , and should be quick if I focus on it! And don't even talk about the Aeolian or Arisaig (or Rose jacket for that matter) .
However , this is also the time of year I like to knit up some hats and mittens for the Shoebox Appeal run by an organisation calledBlythswood , who deliver Shoeboxes full of good and useful items to Eastern Europe and Pakistan . They also issue out a paper telling you about who the shoeboxes go to ....... it is a very humbling read .
A Very Kind Person has given me some yarn (in a box funnily enough) , and some of this will be perfect for mittens and hats , especially for small people as well as big people!
The multi-coloured pinks and purples will be perfect for little girls and the blues and browns for wee boys . Should get some done for the grown-ups too from my box of plenty .
The charity are also looking for cash donations , this helps with the delivery costs of the shoeboxes . If you could donate any that would be magnificent .
The boxes are sent out at the end of October , to make sure they arrive in time for Christmas - better get cracking then!
Autumn is finally here , the leaves are changing colour and the storms keep blowing up . The temperature has definitely become cooler , it is time for the woollen knits to come out .
There are several birthdays soon , DS1 is almost 11 and my Dad is well over 11 !
Its difficult to know what to get for Parents these days . Not much is actually "needed" , and the "nice to have" they have in the plenty .
What he doesn't have is hand-made socks! Or rather handmade socks with gorgeous OMA yarn - Midnight Owl Merino with Bamboo (good for mens' feet as antibacterial)
Bought this yarn today - my good pal Rosie and I made our way to West Kilbride to Liliths' studio to visit our friend Ange who was shopsitting . Just lovely being surrounded by all that gorgeous yarn and fibre , the colours , the texture, the shiny and sparkly yarns , the soft and squishy fibre . There were a few folk who popped their heads round the door and a few other pals who popped by too , Jane and Gwen . It was lovely to see them in their home town.
And just down the street from the studio is the " Wee Deli " , which we visited for lunch . It does a fabulous Soup and Sandwich deal priced very reasonably , and it was delicious . If you are ever in West Kilbride I recommend you visit it too .
Back at the we had tea and cakes as we knitted and chatted , so relaxing and fun , a perfect day .
This is my latest knit , its for a Waldorf swap , and it will go West soon too. To the USA. Can you guess what it is ? Hopefully it will look like a Hedgehog soon as it's the wee Hedgehog from Ysoldas' Whimsical Little Knits 2 , and I am loving knitting it .
The body is knit on dpns , increasing every alternative row , the spines are knitted separately then knitted together with the body , such a clever construction . The body is Rico Merino aran , divine to knit with , and the spines are Debbie Bliss Glen yarn , an alpaca / merino mix . It feels very soft and cuddly. Hopefully the recipient will love it . I may need knit another one to keep as it is so cute .
Best get a move on so I can start the socks , these birthdays come too quick!
And I in mine - from my small corner today , this is the first Coffee Break sock finally finished . I couldn't work out the spiral effect from the graph provided so just continued the pattern straight up and added a nice manly thick rib since its for FIL .
The yarn is gorgeous and a pleasure to knit , however the chart for the spiral effect had me completely baffled so it took me a week after ripping out several times , to decide to modify the pattern . Also , I think FIL would prefer a plainer pattern , being a traditional Scotsman .
Was feeling frustrated that I hadn't finished anything , so I think a little change to my usual (lack of) routine . Now the children are back at school , it will make it easier to focus my energy on finishing things AND getting the house in order (although the last one is a pretty steep order).
It feels good to sort things out , get them done , tick the boxes then sit back and have a coffee break .
I've got addicted to the quick crossword in the paper recently , some days I get it done quickly , other days I struggle to understand the clues . Sometimes I go back the next day and the clues become clearer , so I go on to finish it . Result .
However , in reading the other parts of the newspaper , I am getting more confused and things are becoming less clear to me . Newspapers can do that , the reporting of news has always been (a wee bit verging on the) sensational (broadsheet) , or completely sensational (red-tops) .
Apparently (after these riots) our Country is in moral decline . Although there was a picture of over 20,000 people who came out in a show of unity and grief over the deaths of 3 young men . There was no fighting or mud-slinging there , just a dignified father who inspired his city , and made me proud to be part of this country . And the people came out to help with the clean-up and provide for those in need , was , too , inspiring .
Also , those who partook in the rioting are to be dealt with more severely than your usual crooks . Naively I thought the law was impartial and not arbitrary .
Why should someone be dealt with more severely than another for committing the same crime ?
Why are we putting petty thieves in with hardened criminals and setting them up for a life of criminality ?
What happened to community service ?
Why is the government interfering with the law and where is Cherie Booth when you need her ?
What is the British Government doing to Britain ?
And why is the stealing of goods and the jailing of thieves front page news when the death of people ends up six pages in ?
What is the British media doing to Britain ?
I look at Norway which has just come out of a months mourning for the victims of the massacre , and I get a peek at the beauty of human dignity. I don't hear shouting for more restrictive laws , or mobs bent on exacting revenge on the perpetrator .
It appears that if we don't ask these questions , if we don't rise above exacting revenge , if we care more for possessions than life then , yes , that is moral decline . When we lack tolerance and civility , when we blame the very least in our society for its ills , we have moral decline .
I don't believe we do have moral decline in this country , there are too many good , decent , caring people . People who give up their time and money freely to help others , run charities , look after the vulnerable , provide for the less well off , give company to the lonely .
Its time the politicians in charge actually met the people who truly "run" the country , the true and the good , the "Big Society" . Don't make their job harder .
Try and be a little more like Norway , shining like a clear pure light in a dark world .
Well , its back to school for my two this morning - neither was too pleased about it but they put on a brave face and said goodbye to the rabbit before they left.
DS2 was trying to see if she wanted to join him at school - don't think so !
Grin and bear it like men (cough) , or was that grimace and bear it .
Had a lovely weekend , Saturday was the Guild day out to the Summer School Exhibition through in Queen Margaret Uni outside Edinburgh . Five of us met at Once a Sheep shop in Gourock , and the very kind Ange drove us through to the Uni , which is near Musselburgh . It was a very inspirational as well as aspirational exhibition , as there was Certificate of Achievement projects on display and the Summer School class and tutor work . The weaving Certificate of Achievement project on display was amazing and caught the eye of Ange , who is soon to embark on her own C of A in Weaving . I am not sure if she was inspired as much as overwhelmed by it all . The spinning project was fascinating and I was amazed at some of the handknits from handspun that were "rejected" as part of the project for various reasons , two beautiful Estonian Lace shawls were not accepted - High standards indeed.
Also many of the tutors had put on displays of their work , and they looked fabulous - sadly can't remember who this one belonged to , I just loved the gorgeous spindles and the Estonian Lace Shawls !
Next to Janet Renouf-Millers display was this fabulous dress and shawl by Di Gilpin . Janet had her handknits from handspun yarn , as well as some lovely crochet pieces too . The yarn was so soft , and her chevron cardi is just gorgeous (its just peeking out the left had side of the photo !) . She is truly a talented lady . We meet her in the "suppliers" hall , after she had finished her last class , and she was looking forward to the meal and ceilidh later that evening celebrating the end of another Summer School . Janet teaches regularly at Once a Sheep and her classes are always sold out very quickly , she is a super teacher .
There was also the chance to borrow from the Guild library , usually based in Sheffield , and we all took out books that we wouldn't otherwise be able to buy - there was felting , spinning , weaving , textiles ...... so many to choose from . And a few wee items were bought by some of us , Kimmie got lots of gorgeous fibre especially the hand-dyed fibre from Ripplecrafts in 200g plaits . There was a raffle too , so we bought out tickets and popped the spare one in the tubs in front of the prizes we desired . Ange and Jane were ambitious putting theirs in the Drum Carder and Knitting Loom tub . I opted for a felting kit , and Kimmie put a ticket in for the Woolly Sheep .
And she won it! She was very excited and she ran up to collect it . The man calling out the raffle announced that ours was the first new Guild of Weavers , Spinners and Dyers in 25 years! We got an applause . I also won the felting kit , but sadly the rest of the group did not win the carder or loom , sigh . However, we also got to meet lots of nice new people and network a bit for our Guild which was lovely .
Next week the Guild are attending the Broughton Gathering , outside Biggar where there are competitions etc. Should be another good day out .
Having a wee coffee break just now , and trying to knit up quickly this lovely sock pattern from Easyknits called ..... Coffee Break !
The yarn is hand-dyed and was included as part of the Sock Club 3 . The shades are coffee-ish and the pattern represents the coffee bean . Perfect for DH's Dad whose birthday is very soon , and who loves all things coffee .
The yarn is Blue-faced Leicester , very soft and stretchy and a treat to knit . The pattern is a very simple one to remember , and looks great , hope my FIL likes them .
Easyknit yarns and patterns are gorgeous , I first came across them when I went down to the first Iknit event in London about 4 years ago (?) and me the ever charming Jon Dunn and his lovely partner Roy (a talented cook) . Since then Easyknits has really taken off , and Jons' patterns and yarn have been featured in magazines like the Knitter . He is also in demand for his teaching skills , and his tutorials for Socks etc. also feature in magazines . He finally gave up his day job to concentrate on his Yarn activities , which I personally think is super .
Sadly London has been host to the most outrageous riots , and many good ordinary people have been caught up in these dreadful events including the area where Jon and his husband live . Local business' destroyed , town centres laid to waste , people living in fear . The post office where Jon sends out his wonderful yarns has been almost destroyed and for what .
So while I am knitting these socks , I am thinking happy thoughts and hoping and praying that these communities will recover soon , one stitch at a time .
Have got my computer back , also got new batteries for the camera so can use it again ....... when I retrieve it from DS1's room .
Might get a chance to take come pictures and upload them too.
Today is lazy Tuesday , I got a lie in and kids are lounging about watching TV and eating cereal by the box load . We'll head out later when DS2 has a party to go too .
Last week was wild and fun at the Mayhem Kids club at St Johns Church . A lot of hard work by some very dedicated and talented people of all ages meant it was a great success , the kids had a ball. It was a Space and Alien theme , and meant there were lots of kids walking about Gourock with jet-packs made from plastic bottles and brightly coloured paper . The teenagers had a great time too in the evenings going to Lunderston for a BBQ and heading up to Xscape for Laser Tag .
Yesterday was lovely - had a craft and coffee morning where some of my pals came round to knit n stitch and have a good blether . Think I made decent coffee for a change and the pancakes turned out okay too .
On the knitting front , getting on well with the Aeolian shawl , but don't think I will have it done by end of August . I have done 9 repeats of Yucca chart , so almost at the Transition . Request for hats is not going well , need to check up what exactly is wanted and it seems to keep changing . And the pom-poms .... least said soonest mended .
Finally bought Little Red in the City , and the book is really growing on me , I can see it being a really helpful book , and have sorted out yarn and patterns to do - could I have some done as Christmas gifts ? We'll see!
But for now , its back to dong nothing.... just great! Oh and hopefully I won't lose my computer although the patter of smallbutgetting bigger feet might just change that!
Had such a lovely day today . Some of the knitting group came round for a morning of knitting , coffee and baking!
The children came too had had a smashing time playing out in the garden , or on various computers or just sitting crafting .
Had a near disaster when baking the cookies this morning , went to take them out of the oven , burned my finger and almost dropped all of them in the sink full of bubbly water - Yikes . Thankfully most of them survived , but the ever talented Noah and Freya had brought round some fab Brownies and Empire Biscuits anyway.
They were almost done by lunch.
Have lots of projects on the go just now , but was approached recently by a local shop to knit up some Hats'n' stuff for them .
Wool is lovely , and the colourway is their choice , quite dark for me .
It's a bulky yarn so it shouldn't take long to knit up , hopefully they will like the design .
Then I'll need to work out the 'n stuff!
