Sock club number 3.

Chose kit number 3 last night - cast on, knit the twisted rib and one pattern repeat then realised that the Colinette Jitterbug was too bulky and too busy for the Embossed Leaf pattern by Mona Schmidt. I ripped it out this morning after sleeping on it. The above yarn was a present from Mistress Pie for my birthday and I have decided to make a yarn sub over a pattern sub. This is a pattern I've been meaning to knit for ages and I think the longer colour runs, the palette of colours, the yarn weight and yardage will be much better. Have balled it up and it's looking really gorgeous.

Time to cast on.........................again.

Green-socks-no-ham - the sequel

All done and dusted. Pair number two from my very own sock club. Started 05/03 finished 26/03. I don't think 21 days for a pair of lace socks is too bad.

They need to be blocked. But they are nice fit and I love the Andersonville colour way from Lorna's Laces. Both socks only took 1.25 skeins in total so lots left for mittens or to add to my crochet squares stash.

Need to choose kit number 3. Will do so later this evening........

More thoughts from a 4 legged bug lover

"Doesn't she go on?" Anyways enough of her moaning. Yes it's me again. Look, down here. That's it."

"What have I discovered this week you ask? That Monkey-pees taste yucky, that compost flies are difficult to catch, that it is a long way to Australia when you're digging down and that I get told off for stealing stuff from the kitchen bin."

"I got a hair cut and bath this week too. Like the bath not so keen on the haircut but it's better than all those tangles I get. I also have cultivated a new persona as is shown in the picture below.....

How's that for cool? Get off your horse and share your porridge! Quickest yap in town...Fergus Wayne. I think I like it."

Woofings from the diary of Queen Lottie

"Look at it. The indignity! I was quietly minding my own beeswax, kipping in the beanbag when that thing. The Bogeyman of an excuse of a dog, just climbed on above my head. I mean, what is the world coming to? If I hadn't been in such a chilled space I would have given the long arsed bugger a little nip."

"And while I'm on the subject of indignities.....that bearded pink monkey thing plucked my wondrous fluffy eyebrows. I was sleeping...life is tiring you know, on his lap and when I awoke...due to some discomfort...they were gone! The pink monkey folk say I look "cute" and "puppyish" but it doesn't require the removal of a girlies eyzebrows for that to be the case. I look totally fantabulous every minute of the day. I am not an amused Queen Lottie this week and that is putting it lightly!"

The Dane Shawl

All blocked and finished in a week.

The pattern is a free one available on Ravelry and is by Jane Tanner (Knit Jane Knit). It is extremely well written with easy to follow charts and knits up quickly....even for me. Mistakes are easy to spot as the pattern has a nice logical flow to it.

I used 4mm Birch straights moving onto a 4mm circs when stitch numbers needed it. It took 1.5 50g balls of Rowan 4ply Soft which is a 100% Merino wool. The picture above is the truest to the colour.

Would make this again and probably again. I made the smaller one but it is easy to enlarge and she gives guide lines to this in her pattern notes.

I love it.

Blocking out last night.

Red

No. Not the new look Fergus Maul.

This red.

Scrumptious DK by Fyberspates. A blend 45% silk and 55% merino, 220m per 100g. I didn't go out to buy yarn, promise. But I was in George St (buying books) and Cocoon is there (www.cocoonknits.co.uk) and I just popped in for a look. I was drawn to the rich aqua/teal colour, literally drawn, and then M spotted the red. I have a thing for really, really rich reds and this is the kind of red that light bounces off of and well, the rest is history as they say.

I did buy a couple of books too. Felt the need for some fiction, more particularly Sci fi/fantasy fiction so I decided to try Terry Goodkind. Not read anything by him before and another new author, to me, Dan Simmons the book is called 'Drood' which appears to have an interesting story line.

I had a lovely weekend lots of knitting (on 3rd repeat of the Dane Shawl and finished sock 1 of this months Saddo Sock Club). Lots of reading both Mr Goodkind and AF....also finished Barchester Towers on audio book - hurrah. Have downloaded 'Can You Forgive Her?' again by Trollope, in fact it's the first Trollope I ever read many years ago.

I also spent lots of time on our new Wii Fit Plus - such a laugh. M in a chicken suit flapping his arms to fly - priceless. Even J did some.....he's very good a balance games, amazing for the kid we call the 'human pin ball'.

Lots of dog walks and plays. Lots of nice home cooked food. Just a great family weekend.

I live with a cake monster!

So although I am watching what I eat and being a very good girl. I spent the last hour making these for the Cake Monster and his apprentice. Chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate frosting and micro chocolate (mini) eggs.

Yum yum!

Thoughts from a 4 legged entomologist

"That bloody Border has ideas above its station. I'm in charge and she knows it. I get both bones and hide the big one under my skirts and she gets nothing, nada, nil, zilch. I'm the one digging the escape tunnel in the side path. I'm the one, with my pet worm Clifford, who will one day be king of the bugs and rule the pink monkey things with a paw of muddy iron. Blue fing diadem, who does she think she's kidding?"

Notes from the diary of Queen Lottie.

"I may be pointing at the floor but it is only to signify where you belong. Down there on the hard boards, not up here on the soft and squishy satiny bed cover. You are understandings me, yes?

"I think my displeasure of your continued insolence over this bed business is very clear from my expression." Do not displease me further minion!"

"These are the elegant (partially stripped) paws that you are under Pink Monkey Thing...and don't you forget it.....and finishing stripping me.....I haven't had a reason to be a Nippy-Moobag in days."

"It's all so tedious. You just can't get the staff these days. And where's that Fergus he's meant to be fetching me my bluefing diadem!"

Mostly yarntastic plus a few other bits.

Ahh my little beasties asleep in the sunshine. As Fergus gets nearer maturity there have been odd scraps recently. Mainly over imaginary food and all started by the guts-on-legs that is Lottie. Steps have been taken to resolve this....no titbits or feeding in the kitchen, dogs shut in conservatory when food is being prepared and no fusses of either of them in the kitchen. But here they are, how they are 99% of the time. It's to help me forget this mornings growling and nashing of terrier teeth!

Now for yarn. After my yarn diet, cos I need to knit what I have and not buy anymore. M treated me for Mothers day. The above is Malabrigo Lace weight in colour way Gold. This stuff is just so soft. The colours are a move away from my normal , they are darker IRL, but there was something about this that really called to me. It's future will be a little neck shawl of some sort or a fine lace scarf for next winter.

Pressie from M number two. Fyberspates lace weight - baby alpaca, cashmere and silk. Again not my normal colours but I lusted after this wonderful spring like colour way from the day I first saw it. I have a lovely cotton summer frock in these colours that would look great with a shawl.

This yarn is actually M's. It's a belated birthday pressie from Mistress Pie and is some of her hand dyed Trekking sock yarn. We had one each and had to choose - M let me go first and I choose the one below (not Trekking but sock yarn that is softer) and M got this one. However, he loves it and yesterday was looking at it and really enjoying the colours.

I love this. I think my colour tastes are moving again - very drawn to earthy tones and spring greens.....weird I've always been a pink girl.

Saturday we hosted a Knitters Tea Party. It was fab. Loads of cakes and goodies and I'd like to thank everyone who came and bought delicious goodies (Annie - you are now known as the Brownie Goddess in this household). M and I really enjoyed ourselves and it was lovely to chat and catch up. We will deffo do it again!

Reading - still on AF and Trollope but diverted myself to re-read Jostein Gaarders 'Through a Glass Darkly' last week (am also reading it to J - we did 'Sophie's World' last year) they are good books and a good introduction to philosophy. I enjoyed it even more the second time around.

I can lick my own nose!

Can you?

Dun, dun, dun another one bites the dust.

Yay! At last it is finished. It is blocked. It is fuzzy. It is pretty.

The Upstairs Shawl by Michaela Behrends is off the needles. I'm really pleased with it. It will be perfect for summer evenings. The dye job by Nimu is very subtle and I adore the opalescence of the colours, particularly the flesh/peach tone and the lilac. All the technical bits are on a previous post or on my Rav page.

Someone got comfy this morning and took M's space when he got out of bed. Someone was very happy and sleepy and didn't want to move. Lottie enjoyed the snuggle too ;o)

The boys have ordered me a Mother's Day pressie (I wasn't expecting anything other than a card, we're not big on Mother's Day) of 3 yes 3 lace knitting books and some yummy lace yarn. Ohhh the bliss. Ohhhhh the torture for my mind. I love, totally love, knitting lace but I do rather suck at it. It comes under the heading 'pleasure pain principle'.

One down eleven to go.

pyrosocks 001
Originally uploaded by loobles2002

Pyroclastics finished. Washed and blocking as I type.

They're a perfect fit for Ma...phew.

Knitting news pt 2 - now with spinning too

On the Little Gem some merino/silk blend in a colour called Libra - finally on the last spool of this so 300 out of 400g is all spun up.

On the Traveller Baby Camel and silk - 200g spun another 100g t0 go. It is lovely but it coats everything and gets up my hooter!

This is the lovely yarn from Wibbo that I got for my birthday called Jaipur. Design is my mine and it is going to be a wide scarf or shoulder stole ( similar idea but longer than Clementine). I'm knitting it in two halves which will then be grafted.

It will need blocking - but I am loving the way the colour variations work within the two textured patterns I am using. Have knit on this a lot just because I love the colours so much.

Last but by no means least. Lace - really fine lacy lace. This is the one I fooked up on and had to rip back - been a slow recovery because I don't want to mess up again. Pattern is the Saskia Shawl by Wolhemel which is a free one on Ravelry. Yarn is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Peppermint - a long ago swap with a friend across the pond - I've been saving this, it is so soft, fluffy and I pet it as much as I knit it!

So all up to date with yarn and fibre.

Reading - hmmmm slowed down a bit. Been so busy. But am still reading 'The Weaker Vessel- pt 1' by Antonia Fraser - fascinating. Listening just to Barchester Tower - chapter 25. Did finish audio of Wuthering Heights - love it so much could listen to it again straight off.

All up to date - phew.

Now for the knitting news........pt 1.

Tyne, Dogger, Humber, German Bight......no wait that's the shipping news - doh!

The pictures above are of my Upstairs Shawl - which was hibernating but has recently awoken feeling refreshed. I'm on repeat number 9 - the pattern (by Michaela Behrends) calls for 10 but it just doesn't look long enough and I have loads of yarn left (a kid mohair lace weight hand dyed by Nimu Yarns). I am using 3.25mm as opposed to 3.75mm needles so that may account for some of it and I know it will block out, but I think I'll carry on past 10 repeats and see how the yardage goes.

Now for my Pyroclastice Sadass Lonely Sock Knitters Club. Sock one all done - way too long in the foot and leg for my little trotters. To get the foot shaping to meet across the top of the foot makes it just too long - however they are a perfect fit on Ma - and she loves this colour (it's not my favourite) so she has just won herself hand knit socks for Mothers Day (UK 14/03).

Sock 2 is well under way - though I'll admit to 2nd sock syndrome. I started the heel flap yesterday - and also skein two of the Lorna's Laces - great yardage on their yarn!

I also drew sock kit number 2 today - lucky dip stylie and it is...........Green Socks No Ham! designed by the wonderful.....Me ;o) the yarn for this is LL again but in Andersonville - much more my colour and as I wrote the pattern I know in advance that the boogers will fit my stubby ankles and pudgy trotters.

Plain sock number two is also under construction - tis slow - just knit night knitting really.

Part 2 - to follow.

Hello - what's been happening dudes?

Oooo icky-sticky Lottie tongue.

Back from a weeks stay-cation in which it rained so 90% of the stuff we planned did NOT occur! We traipsed through other stuff though - opticians, hair cuts, swimming, beginning to strip Lottie, pottery, knitting....stuff. Relaxing, eating, drinking and chilling out. Lots of playing and laughter - Wii games and silliness. I think it did us all some good.

One other reason for lack of 'doing' was on Wednesday I put my back out.....seriously bad. Honestly it bought tears to my eyes and Thursday was a day of agony. I'm on two types of pain relief tablets plus using red Tiger Balm - OW! By yesterday the pain has eased and I now feel stiff and bruised. Am down to 1 dose of 1 of each tablet in the morning just to get my back moving after sleep. Now need to build back up to normal mobility but still have that scared to move suddenly or too much in case I do it again!

For all the knitting I have nothing to show - clever pants that I am - got 30 + 10 rows into a lace pattern (no suicide line - doh!) and fuck up big time - that I to ripe it ALL out.....am back to 10 + 5 and sulking with it. Maybe today I'll finally forgive it as it's so pretty.

M is back to work tomorrow - so we plan a lazy day today. One last big chillin session - pottery, knitting, snoozing - J has decided to have a Lego-a-thon so he's sorted too.