I am sitting in the kitchen drinking tea and knitting Juniors Harry Potter socks (first sock , second time, *sigh*) , while Junior and little brother are watching an old Tom Baker Dr Who video (Genesis of the Daleks) and eating their "Dalek" easter egg .
There is a general calmness about the place , quite unusual for after school , it must be the biting cold and snowy weather we are having just now .
Took a peek here , Sunshine Yarns , and they have their sock club up again - sadly, the time and pennies won't stretch to it. Besides I have to keep the pennies for IKnit London Day in September (the Yarn Harlot is coming , I'm sooo excited , note to self , must get out more!)
Had a lovely knitty morning in Cafe Flava , even my sister turned up wearing her new crop cardi (forgot to take a photo) . She had managed to knit a hat from the remnants of it too! Vals' husband popped by to show his new Aran Cardi - you've seen Roger Moore model in knitting patterns , now here's Roy , an even better model at Cafe Flava!
And beautiful knitting by Val too !
Am going to try some more spinning again tonight - tried last night , but just couldn't get the flow - then I discovered I was spinning the wrong way round - D'oh! Am using some lovely merino I got from New Lanark , hopefully I'll get on a bit better tonight. Even the drop spindle didn't love me , and I know I'm not too bad on it.
Will try and squeeze some more knitting in before dinner time - Chicken Casserole a la Nigelle's Express Cook Book!
Easter Wedding Flowers actually! Mother of the Bride gave me these lovely table Flowers (similar to the Bridal party bouquets) , as I left the reception at night. They are quite beautiful and give off a wonderful scent , very Spring like , even if the weather is still practically baltic here .
Hope your Easter was a happy and pleasant one .
Spent a lovely Easter weekend with the Grandparents, it being especially nice since DH and I get "time off"! We had a lovely Easter lunch at our favourite Italian Restaurant in Glasgow's Southside , which got us reminiscing , we've actually being going to this restaurant for about 14 years! Goodness!
Then the owner came up and mentioned the same thing - "aye , I remember you coming here when you were courting!" So we talked about the children and their ages , how it reminds of the time passing when you see them growing up etc.
Talking of growing , I will need to get a move on knitting up the Harry Potter socks. Had to rip them right out as I didn't like the way they were knitting up on 2.5mm needles , so went down to 2.25mm. Such a small change, such a big difference .
And given the weather at present , I should probably knit up the HP sweater double quick too!
than the dreadful weather we've been having of late, I think Spring is a coming!
Thank you to Kathleen - TwE kar , it is then!
And I owe Kathleen a bigger Thank You , for the very kind and delightful birthday gift - take a look , and feast your eyes, pity you can't stroke it , it is sooooo smooooth and silky (funnily enough )
Its Jaeger Pure Silk DK , and it shimmers.......
I could spend hours contemplating what to do with it , and I keep coming back to a lace project (which is apt , as Kathleen is Queen of the Lace projects) , more later!
I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday at Tramway Knits , with another eight knitters . It was Janes' last meetup before she moves permanently to Aberdeen , but I think she has found a good knitting group up there already. She was knitting a wonderful Alligator scarf in a bottle green DK, forgot to take a picture , bother!
Thea was knitting a lovely chunky hat , and concentrating hard, while Lynette was knitting something lovely in Rowan Tapestry (or was it Twilleys Freedom yarn). She was wearing her latest lace shawl , which was her first attempt at lace (and a very good one indeed). The yarn used was a lovely hand-dyed one from Old Maiden Aunt (our own Tigerlilith!). Alice was knitting Wisp in a gorgeous shade of Rowan Kidsilk Haze , in green. Kathleen was knitting from stash a pattern from the latest Rowan Magazine , a lovely shaped waistcoat style sweater. Couldn't see what Fiona was knitting , but Catherine was knitting a sweater in a lovely shade of purple , and a basket weave pattern. Unfortunately I forgot what Evelyn was knitting , but thats because I was trying to finish off my sisters Birthday gift - the Noro crop cardi!
It turned out very nice too , even if I do say so myself - I just love the colours. It's knit in Noro Silver Thaw no.13 , which is discontinued now , but some ebay sellers still have some.
Well remember I gave in to temptation at the SECC - here are the goodies!
New Lanark yarn - How do I love thee , let me count the ways!
One - the colours are divine .
Two - it feels wonderful .
Three - the price is so good, you almost give it away!
Now this is the New Lanark Wool/Silk mix , and is part of a kit for a Harry Potter sweater , the one from the first movie. Its for Junior , whom I hope will wear it , but no doubt it will be over a T-shirt .
And here is the Handpainted Jamie Possum Yarn , handpainting courtesy of Silkwood. This yarn is DIVINE , it is very soft , but not too fluffy . I want to do something really nice with it, haven't decided yet.... mmmmm ....
Phew , quite exhausted now , time for a cup of some nice Rooibos tea , just like Mma Ramotswe from the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency !
This weekend , we went to Twechar (I keep pronouncing it Tweee ker , my husband , TwE kar ) to see the remains of Barhill Roman fort and baths.
Son number one is doing a Roman Project at School , so being the ever caring parents that we (sometimes) are , we decided to take him on a wee trip to see various Roman remains in Scotland.
We managed Twechar and Bearsden !
Apparently , the Antonine Wall stretched along from Old Kilpatrick in the west , all along to Bo'ness in the East (ish) in central Scotland . Although I did stop short of visiting a cemetary (in Old Kilpatrick) to see the best remains of it.
The site at Twechar was very good , and Junior kept running around in the drizzley rain, shouting "I've found a Fort, Mum, hurry up and see!" , much to the amusement of two Dog walkers.
At Bearsden Roman Baths , we kept getting in the way of two archeologists (? , we guessed) , but had fun, climbing up and down the old walls , and taking lots of photo's for the project album . AND, it was close to a decent Cafe , which could not be said for the site at Twechar (think League of Gentlemen , Local Shop for Local People , but a pub with two doors into the same area, one called Lounge , the other Public Bar , neither describes it accurately!)
Last weekend , I had a lovely time at the SECC helping at the Knit n Knatter stand. It was good to see Yvonne again , and the stand was busier than ever , teaching lots of children and adults to knit (including boys! take note oh sons of mine!!)
And yes , I gave in to temptation ..... two skeins of Possum Handpainted yarn , 500grams of New Lanark DK in Bramble , another Hank in denim/bramble colourway , and some Merino fleece to spin!
Cannot touch any of these , until I've finished sisters cardi (three weeks late, tut tut!)
Talking of... better get back to the sewing of said cardi - photo's tomorrow!
As well as having a wonderful time at One Devonshire Gardens , I was also thoroughly spoiled in the gift dept.
And this being mainly a knitting blog , I will show some lovely knitting related gifts first!
A wee while ago , one of my very kind knitterly pals taught me to spin. Now I was not a natural , but I tried to keep up a little spindle spinning , until I got a lovely wheel of my own , but by that time , the confidence had sunk! So when my kind knitterly pal sent me a gift token for my birthday , I decided to use it for this book - a little refresher course , thats already boosting up my confidence .
I've been getting into the sock knitting again , and there is lots of gorgeous sock yarn out there - like this one from Arauncunia ! Another very kind knitterly pal gave me this gift along with the very gorgeous Langs wooden sock needles . Can't wait to knit this yarn up!
Oh yes! A little Harris Tweed brightens the day , especially if its in the form of a bag! A gift from my kind Knitterly Sister (still haven't finished the Cropped Noro Cardi for her , shame on me!)
On comments
Thank you for all the recent kind comments - I still haven't worked out how to email those who comment directly to say how much I appreciate , its something I will try and work at some point.
It is lovely to get comments , its like getting some nice unexpected cards through the post . And I always think its nice to let folk know that it is appreciated . (I guess its the mother in me! lol)
Anyway , here is another gratuitous photo of One Devonshire!
There is a beautiful Art Noveau style Stained glass window through that door - ah!
It was my birthday yesterday , but I just didn't feel like posting. After the nice start to the day , the weather went wild and depressing , and I just wanted to hide back under the duvet!
But I didn't!
Instead I had lots of lovely gifts and cards to open , I went out to lunch , and had a lovely relaxing day! I was truly spoiled...
As I had been during my wonderful weekend at One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow. One Devonshire is a Glasgow institution , and the name is synonymous with luxury. It was the ONLY thing I had wanted to do for my 40th birthday , was to stay over and eat there ...... and it didn't disappoint;-)
A bed the size of a room , a bath the size of a small ship , and towels so thick you could drown in them.
Then the food - oh the food, I still have dreams about the plate of small deserts with its souffle , creme brulee , chocolate siphon ..... , And I nearly forgot about the Champagne , Bollinger 2000 ! Joked with DH that he could now call me Bolli Knickers , as DCI Gene Hunt calls DCI Drake in Ashes to Ashes lol .
It was truly a fabulous way to spend my 40th Birthday , and I would recommend it to anyone (just prepare your credit card for the shock).
Will make a fuller post with photo's later , as I got some lovely Knitty gifts too!
Blogger is not working too well this evening , this may be a short (non) post!
Have a lovely mid-term holiday visiting friends in Inverness , and the weather was good. Spent a pleasant day at Nairn Beach (oh how I love Nairn beach!) , the boys all playing with the odd piece of Driftwood or ten - and they were big!
Took my Megaboots socks with me to try and finish them (nope didn't happen) , but my Godson did show an interest in Knitting - apparently there is a Cub Scout badge for knitting!
Well the unfinished projects are lining up now , apart from the socks there is the Cocoon Cardi , Astrakhan Shrug for a three year old , oh , and the Noro crop Cardi , which needs to be finished for February 25th. Hasn't got a chance!
And to add to the pressure , Son number one wants his new socks NOW , as the Yarn arrived the other day. Its a Harry Potter inspired colourway called Fawkes the Phoenix , and we are very excited about it (well he is , I'm just stressed!)It is a lovely sock yarn from Dani at Sunshine Yarns , and I think I will enjoy knitting with it , especially as it is child size socks.
On the Harry Potter theme , my Charmed Knits arrived from amazon today , I'd seen mixed reviews , but on the whole it seems a nice book. I particularly like Mrs Weasleys' Knitting Bag , and the Invisibility Shawl. I'm also hoping it might persuade Junior to wear a handknitted sweater or scarf. One lives in hope!
