Finished at last!

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

All spun and done. The last skein is now hanging (weighted) up to dry - the total weight out of 200g of fibre is 202g of handspun.

Sorry for the boring background (kitchen work surface) but it is dull grey here and hissing down. The colours are more muted and subtle in real life but still oh so pretty......just like me *guffaw-guffaw*.

"I'll give you two socks."

"But they may not match."
"But the close-ups are pretty - even without a match!"
(sung to 'Green grow the rushes-O') :-D

'Oh yes there has been some knitting, there has been some knitting today' ......OMG brain caught in old songs - I just typed that to 'Yes we have no bananas' playing in my head. Make it stop - NOW!

Sorry - I'm OK now.

Above two 1/2 pairs of socks. M's lozenge socks in STR 'Storm' and No-Purl Monkey's in Colinette Jitterbug 'Fire'.

I've cast on before in Jitterbug and also ripped out what I've knit just because, really. This is my 1st completed sock in it - and..........it's ok-ish. But boy is it mean yarn - in yardage terms. If I knit Monkey socks in Lorna's Laces I can get 1.5 socks from a skein (more if it's a plain sock). When I finished this sock last night I weighed the remains of the ball - just to make sure I had enough yarn to make number 2 - the ball looked too small. One sock had used 46g - that's unheard for my size feet!!! The STR has a similar feel and weight as it knits and I got M's sock (UK size 8 - so 3 sizes bigger than me) out of 1 skein and still have 62g left for sock 2. It just doesn't make sense. If you've got big feet - then Jitterbug sure will work out expensive for socks!

I love the colours they make and I do have another skein in 'Mist' in my stash - but I have to say I won't be hurrying to buy more.

***spinning***

The last of the red/orange/pink merino silk from P&M bought at Lewes is spun and is 2/3 plied - wheeeeeeeeee - I got my mojo back!

What could be better?.......

Then when you're fighting off the lurgy to knit a bacteria to make you feel better!

My son adores and collects Giant Microbes - he has loads of them, he writes comics about their super hero adventures, so when I saw this pattern online - I couldn't resist!

The pattern can be found via http://loxosceles.org or (I think) via Ravelry. It took just over an hour to make and has been named Fiddly - cos when J asked what I was knitting I answered "Something fiddly!" The pattern isn't at all difficult - just a tad 'fiddly' to begin with.

I used 3.25mm dpns and some DK weight that I had hand dyed with KoolAid.

J thinks he is cool! That makes me a happy Mum - I foresee more of these in my future - maybe Xmas stocking fillers?

I also finished sock 1 of M's Lozenge Socks last night - time to cast on for number 2.

No-purl Monkey Socks

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Finally finished. I must have been bad not to want to knit socks!!

These are for my Mum. Knitted on 2.5mm ebony dpns in Reggia Kaffe Fassett Sock Yarn - used about 65g in total to make UK size 5 socks.

Almost got them to match....but naah - who cares!

A little better - thank you.

Wow have I been ill? I actually had to take to my bed (unheard of!!). Whatever this bug is - it's a nasty one. Coughing until I choke, stomach cramps, sickness - both ends, aches and a killer headache. And although I am a lot better today (still have stomach cramps & cough) I feel so weak - it is ridiculous.

I haven't wanted to do anything - no knitting, spinning, reading etc. I've either slept or just sat. M & J have been wonderful.

So I've nothing to tell and nothing to show. So you can have this instead........

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, 'Snow!'
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries lustre-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, 'Frost!'

All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild beast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly -
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

(Something told the wild geese - Rachel Field)

Bleh, ugg, yuck.......back to bed!

Ooooo it hurts

Deary me, this chest infection is awful. I feel like my breast bone area is being scrapped away with hot razor blades. I have a hacking....and I mean really hacking cough and a headache from all the coughing.

Poor M is coping so well and J is helping (kinda) and I am a wilting lack lustre weary willy who looks and feels like shit....so all is fine here then ;-)

Little knitting - but no energy or enthusiasm - ditto for spinning. Am reading a bit and moaning a lot.

Normal blogging will resume when I rejoin the land of living.

Smokey balls

clay ones of course!
M has been experimenting with smoke/pit firing on some of his carved spheres. I like the effects. Though I don't think my crap photographic skills do them justice at all. The colours are way more subtle than the flash allowed.
I have little knitting to show. Here is a purl-free Monkey (the pattern idea is on Ravelry). The yarn is Reggia - Kaffe Fassett (?sp) - the socks are for Ma so are a bit big for my blockers as she has long toes.
Close up of stitch and colorway.

Still ill - and still fed up with being ill.

Off to veg and feel sorry for myself.

Lurgymified

After battling off a head cold last week, the boy grobblies got to my weakened state and have invaded my being. I have the worst cough. Honest to jeebers I sound like a pack of baying hounds crossed with Lauren Bacall right now. It would be kind of sexy but for the fact that every so often my voices cracks, squeaks and then hits my boots - my germ spreading son asked 'was my voice breaking?' - cheeky brat.

There is of the course the plus side of having a cold and a bunged up hooter -" what is that?" I hear the masses of people who read by blog (snort) cry............

I can't smell Dalmatian farts! And anyone who lives with a large, old and gaseous dog knows that a respite from that can be a boon to everyday life.

How's that for looking on the bright side?

I am now going to ensconce my ample booty onto the squishy sofa, catch up on listening to Escape Pod and the Dragon Pages on iTunes and knit me some socks! I might move to make tea but then again I may just dispatch the aforementioned germ carrier to do it for me.

Sunday picture show

Bonkers loves him some Chirpy mouse.
Looking up the cliffs to the sky.
Turning tide revealing the rock pools.
A fishing seagull.

From summer 2007 - flowers and fishes at Groombridge.

Such a perfect day....

In all the hustle, bustle and crap of daily life it is easy to forget just how lovely living by the coast can be.

The first two photos show what the sea does to chalk on the beach. I love the texture and colour of these two shots.
They were taken looking down onto the beach from the undercliff walk heading toward Saltdean.
This is the undercliff - with my bonce in the foreground. We walked from Rottingdean to where the undercliff walk runs out just around Telscombe - the furthest cliff in the distance in the above photo.

Looking back toward Rottingdean, Ovingdean and Brighton. The sun was warm, the sea mellow and the breeze light but enough to keep you cool as you walked. We saw a myriad of birds, including gulls and pigeons but also Kestrel, Shags, Wagtails, Oyster Catchers, Jackdaws and a couple we couldn't name.

We walked out on the groynes, skimmed pebbles and sat for a while just enjoying the calm, warm afternoon......bliss.

Slightly backwards here - but this morning we went to Shoreham Farmers Market - lovely little market - friendly, interesting with good live music. We met up with, quite by chance, a couple of J's cousins and their parents and ambled quite happily tasting and buying as we went. I visited the LYS got the black wool DK I need for an afghan that I'm slowly crocheting and some Reggia Kaffe Fasset sock yarn......likely to be an Xmas giftie for Ma - just can't decide whether to knit her socks or write her a pattern and give her the yarn to knit herself.....I shall give it some thought.

At the market we bought - some Huss for dinner - strange the other night we were saying how rare it is to get Huss in the Fish-n-Chippy, but as kids it was a common choice - we also got some fresh lavender oil from a local grower, goats cheese with garlic, wheaten/soda bread and some wonderful Venison sausages from a local farm (which we ate with the bread for lunch). J splurged out on some of his favourite local produced crystallized ginger - which he kindly shared with us.

Now back home, feeling a happy tired kind of invigoration - looking forward to what tomorrow might hold!

That was the week that was

Kyla handwarmers/mittens completed. Nice pattern - knits up well. This picture actually gives a truer colour representation.
One of the best Conkers McBonkers pictures ever. I was making the bean bag rustle out of sight - this is his intent but too idle to pounce face.

Other stuff.

Both J and I have had colds, his is streaming with a bark like a hound in pain, mine is a head cold. I feel a bit better today and J is OK in himself except for the 'snot-n-woof' that remains. Due to this we've had a really quiet week - no swimming, no walks etc but J has read loads and built with Lego etc. He was too ill for anything else so all my weeks HE plans have been carried over to next week. It now looks like M is coming down with this for the weekend - poor bloke - he's on call too.

I've done loads of indoor stuff -interspersed with huge bouts of sleeping - lots of spinning, catching up on podcasts (though EscapePod still needs some attention) and some knitting. We've made homemade bread, including J's fav ....cinnamon and raisin. We made huge pans of homemade soup. So although we've been poorly and indoors - it still feels as if it's been a really full week.

Today I have a mountainous pile of ironing, quite a bit of housework (before the weekend laziness sets in), knitting that I am desperate to spend time with and a new book that is calling me.........

Tomorrow, if we are all well, is our favourite local farmers market (right in front of my LYS - whee) so something to look forward after a week in seclusion.

Aren't I a pretty girl?

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Boo!

Suffering from da lurgy!

Heading back to bed - feel like a bag of shite.

Hate colds!!!!!!

G'night!

Musings.

I have all these things in my head I want to say and it's all a jumble of thoughts with little cohesion. Today is one of those days when I find it hard to gather my thoughts at all.

It's strange how people mouth platitudes, normally because they find themselves unsure of what to say. I myself am guilty of this.

It is also strange that with the benefit of time passing and hindsight you come to realise that the reason these comments/sayings survive is that they are often true.

Take for instance - 'time heals' or 'grief lessens with time' - the common element here is time.

It is 16 years today that I lost my Dad to leukaemia. Lot's of time has passed and my feelings about him and his death have changed so many times - I see the person he was clearer now than I ever did when he was living - I see so much of him (the good and bad) in myself - I hear his words spring from my mouth - I realise the pedestal I kept him on for so many years is now back in the cupboard, because from this distance I finally see him warts an all. I think this makes both him and I better humans.

I do still grieve. But it is different, muted is the best way I can describe it. Time has made this change - time to reflect and allow my idol to stand on his own two feet of clay.

My Dad was an arsehole, big, bad tempered, over opinionated, a tough guy - but he was also strong, honest, loyal and a good Dad to me.

I regret he never got to see either of his two Grandsons - I think he would have adored and spoiled the pair of them - as well as been so proud of them both!

I miss hearing the sound of his voice and his own personal -pipe baccie - smell.

I miss sparing with him - verbally - he never really realised just how funny he was.

He was my Dad and I still love him - warts an all - but I don't 'really' grieve for him any more - but feel grateful for the life lessons my time of grief taught me.

Tonight we will let off (as always) a big fat firework for him, we'll light a bonfire (he adored a bonfire) and we will raise a glass or four to him. He'd like that.

Just too scary!

Last night I found myself shouting at the TV!!!! Boy, I never thought that I'd do that. But *steps-onto-soapbox.....briefly* I would like to point out to the idiots at the BBC - particularly the local South/East broadcasters that Bonfire night is the 5th November - always has been. The rhyme never went 'Remember, remember the 3rd of November' - did it? Bunch of moronic fuckwits!!!

The plastic female presenter stated that the weather was perfect/lovely for Bonfire night and then wished everyone a safe Bonfire night....tonight! WTF - when did it change? Just because a percentage of the population for social events and ease let off their fireworks on the 3rd - does not make it Bonfire night.

I hereby categorically remind all fuckwits - moronic or otherwise - November 5th is Bonfire Night!!!

*climbs down off of soapbox, clears throat, straightens hair and goes off to eat breakfast*

With all these posts Monsieur....

you are really spoiling us. *sighs* sometimes I wonder if my sad attempts of wit on this blog are pearls before swine ;-)

Here are some works in progress (wip's). First up, Natural Dye Studio Alpaca (gifted last year from Helen at http://purlpower.blogspot.com/) I made socks from just one skein and have been waiting for a project to present itself for skein 2. Inspired by http://picperfics.blogspot.com/
and her post of 01/11, I cast on for Kyla handwarmers (these are a gift knit). I must admit to having yet another brain fart episode as it took 3, yes 3, cast on's before I was happy with it. This wonderful pattern is free and can be found here http://yarnloopie.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-call-them-kyla.html

They are very, very pretty and will make the perfect gift for the person I have in mind.

Wip numero 2. The two skeins of contrasting SeaSilk is knitting into a stole/wrap of my own design - tres purty!
Numbers 3 & 4 - dunahhhhhhh socksies. The pale pastel ones are lace of own design and are knitting up in Opal dye your own from a batch I did last year - again these are labelled to be gifties the others are Socks that Rock in Storm (gained from a swap on Ravelry) and are a 'lozenge rib made up pattern as I go along' design for M - cos the colours are perfect for him.

So now - yarn stuff and wip's are all up to date - except for some crochet. I still have two large wip's (the rib cardi & Sahara) that are under construction and a scarfy type beaded thingy from some handspun - but that's it. All other o/s works are now complete or frogged.....hurrah!

Off now to get some black yarn for the crochet, some claw clippers for the Dalmatian and then back to dig over the veggie patch and bury pots in it for M's pit firing ala Bonfire night next Monday.

PR0n of Yarn

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

OOOOoooo do you want it? Suit you!

Koigu colour P913 - beautiful!

Yarn Pr0n

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock blue tone is Devon and mauvey tone Wisteria.

Handspun

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Originally uploaded by loobles2002

This is the plied yarn from the fibre I bought last Friday at the Lewes show and have shown previously as fibre and on the wheel. I chain plied this because I wanted a tweed style yarn and the barber poling really laid itself open to it.
The picture really doesn't do justice to all the subtle colours that run through this. It is soft and the perfect weight for socksies.

Now just have to get out proverbial finger and spin the rest of it!!

Just sometimes....

we fight. Not often but when we do it's more than little heated. The other night culminated in such a fight, over goodness knows what really. I was in a nit picking mood and M was defensive and it escalated until neither of us knew what had started it. It was all resolved before we went to sleep - but it was unpleasant, uncomfortable and not a good way to end the day. Even the following morning I felt discombobulated (yay my most favourite word ever).
M came in from work with these wonderful flowers - they are not an apology - nor do they need to be because he had nothing to apologise for - it was a one those type of fights. But it was the kindness of the thought and the gesture itself that cheered me up and really means a lot to me.
They are beautiful flowers, great mix of blooms and colours and every time I've looked at them I've smiled - over the silliness of a late night bickering match and spirit of love that they were given in. I never ever cease to feel lucky that I married a guy who gives a little thought and takes a little time to make me happy so often.

Ok - slush fest over - it's safe - put the bucket away!

Brain farts and botty burps.

Cos that's just what sort of a week it's been so far!

Here is our spooky carved.........wait for it................wait a bit more........melon!!

Because Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury and our local farm shop had ALL sold out of pumpkins. But it worked. It was much easier and quicker to carve, we ate some the scooped out flesh as a starter and used the rest in our smoothie this morning. We had a smaller Halloween celebration this year mainly due to the fact that I'm going through a 'can't be asked' phase, J is a bit older and wasn't as psyched by it all and both M and I are having a shitty week so our enthusiasm was muted.

M did buy me a bit of dressing up (although my heart just wasn't in it) but looksie, stick on black nails with skulls on. I don't know why he thinks I like skulls!! *rolls eyes* just joking. I did wear my wig and devil horns for a while and we decorated the kitchen with many spooky bits n bobs. M cooked a creepy meal of craniums, maggots in distilled yak pee, fingers and brain mash with bogeys or in non-halloween-ese (large Yorkshire puddings filled with onion gravy, sausages, mashed tatties with fresh thyme and peas). Dinner time chit-chat comprised of us trying gross the others out - good clean fun.
The fibre I bought last week in process of being spun. Tis lush and spins like a dream - so pretty!

This time of year is a difficult one - made harder this year by the loss of M's Mum (which I still don't feel either of us have come close to coming to terms with and all sorts of weird shit is still going on), this time of year also marks the anniversary of both of us loosing our Dads too. M's is only a few a years ago, mine is a lot longer, but harder to forget because every year as the fireworks start being let off it refreshes the memory that he died on Bonfire night (also the day before his and Ma's 34th wedding anniversary!). So I'm in a bit of a fug and have lost about 80% of my tolerance level - local fuckwits beware - you may get your head bitten off it you say the wrong thing in the next few days.

Also we have some difficult decisions to make - hmmm if the NTS ever actually make a decision - what should have been clear cut is now more muddied by recent developments - when is life ever going to be simple eh?

Anyhoo, enough of the blah, blah - I just thought I'd explain the lack of enthusiasm before some well meaning anon commenter accused me of ruining my child's life with my psychosis again!