artyfartykat

Friends

2011-03-20T08:48:00.003Z

When you are feeling as though the dark days will never pass and struggling through the mud of life, its amazing what a day with friends can do.
I spent a wonderful day last week with two of my dearest friends. We had a day of talking lots, eating beautiful food and even managed to squeeze in some crafting!! It lifted my spirits so much. Since that day I've made some cards, sketched, done some watercolour painting and knitted a bit more of my sock!

My knee has been giving me trouble for the past few months and I finally got to see a physio at a Joint Assessment clinic, who informed me I had a subluxating patella!! Sounds much more painful than a 'dodgy knee'! It can be simple to fix with exercises and ice packs but these need to be done for up to 6 months. So I need a way to remember to do the exercises 3 times a day. Any ideas? The dafter the better!!

Thank you for your comments too, they are much appreciated.

A Good Yarn!

2011-02-24T13:13:00.008Z

The problem with having a room for all my crafting goodies is its just too easy to stash another purchase in, and think, 'well I'll use up the other stuff first' and then close the door. Then I buy something else, think 'well I'll use up the other stuff first' and....................you get the picture! As stuff piles up it gets stuffed into any available space/drawer/basket/bag and as I have, on a good day, a 6 second memory, I forget about it!!

Well, I was forced into tidying my craft room, firstly cos I promised my baby bro I would make his wedding invites and he and his fiancee have named the day but mainly because I couldn't find enough clear space on the floor to put two feet down at the same time!

Anyway, this led to a voyage of rediscovery. Yarns, fibre, stamps and even a yoga mat were unearthed, I felt like an archaeologist digging up long forgotton treasures. So I took Daisys suggestion (Thanks Daisy!) and decided to start a small project. I decided on some mindless socks in a Posh Yarn of long forgotton colourway.

But for the odd occasion when my brain could retain a pattern, I decided to start the Lace Ribbon scarf on Rav using some Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn.

As you can see from the photo, the pattern retention occasions haven't happened too often! But I'm pleased I've just got going!!

I have also started looking at my blank canvases, haven't got much further than that yet, but the creative thoughts are beginning to rise to the top of the mind treacle!! Theres hope yet!!

Half A Century And Not Out!

2011-02-15T15:36:00.005Z

Due to a recent birthday, I am now entitled to life insurance without a medical, special deals with Saga, I have joints that are more accurate weather forecasters than the BBC and I would be likely to be released first in a hostage situation, so who said getting older was all doom and gloom!

Tom and Kate had a cake made for me to mark the occasion and it was a brilliant knitterly one!

I was still in bed when they gave it to me and that meant that that night before I could lie down, I had to pick lots of crumbs and bits of icing out of the bed! But it was worth it!!

I also want to say a huge thank you for your kind and thoughtful messages. For all I still feel I need solitude, it is so comforting to know there are friends there who understand and are prepared to listen when I'm ready to talk. It means a lot.

In The Doldrums

2011-02-05T11:18:00.002Z

The wind has definitely gone from my sails at the moment, for reasons I won't go into and it feels like my creative mojo along with any motivation I had, has been loaded into a cannon and shot into the wide blue yonder.

I think I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself and doing absolutely nothing at the moment, but it can't stay like this, I hope anyway.

I did get the hottie cover finished but I haven't took a photo yet. I keep thinking about starting some knitting, I've got hoards of laceweight, but that's about as far as I get. I might have a look on Ravelry and see if anything catches my eye.

My brother is getting married in August and has asked me to do the invitations etc. Its a bit hard at the minute but I need to get them done. It might help distract me and stop me wallowing in self pity.

Before I go, I just want to say to Carrie and Lynn, thank you for everything, for being there, for listening and just for being wonderful friends. It means so much.

Blue Monday

2011-01-17T16:23:00.008Z

The third Monday in January is, according to statistics, the most depressing day of the year! Mmm, maybe they are right!

To banish those blues, I decided to put some pics on my blog and cheer myself up!

I've finally taken a photo of Ians Christmas socks, not the best picture, but where are all the foot models when you need them?

These were knit in Lana Grossa mega boot stretch, or mega stretch boot or something!!

I haven't done much knitting this week so my hottie cover isn't growing too fast but I'm nearing the ribbed neck bit so it shouldn't take too much longer.

My art journal is filling up nicely too, I'm really enjoying this creative release where there is no right or wrong and everything is experimental. I've put a few pages here but I'm also a member of http://artjournaling.ning.com/. This is a fab site, full of inspiration from fellow journallers and I have my own Artyfartykat page on there where I upload my journal pics. Heres a few of my latest ones.

And in true artyfarty style, the next pic is upside down!!

Now I know why it's called Blue Monday!! Aaaaaaarrrrrgggggg! Maybe uploading pics wasn't the best way to cheer myself up!!
Carrie.......... help!!

Journals

2011-01-07T15:38:00.008Z

I've had the dreaded flu bug this week and whilst I think I'm over the worst of it, I just don't have any energy for housework........well thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

So to pass the time, I've been forced *smirks* to journal!! Here are a few of the pages.

This page was in my last post with only the background completed. I'm not sure if its finished yet, but this is how it looks at the moment.

This is a page about my inability to recall the word I want, when I want ! I've called it word soup.

This next one is my motto for 2011

After stuffing my face with anything remotely edible over Christmas, the next page describes how I feel. Its called Shrek with lipstick. Only I can't be bothered to put on the lipstick!

I thought I'd have a go at actually drawing something and after watching videotutorials on Youtube, thought I'd try a whimsical self portrait, using lots of artistic license as you'll see !!

Then I got really brave and tried painting a picture. And there were no numbers to follow or lines to stay within, it was just me, a loaded paintbrush and my journal! Now you know how c**p I am with technology, but this next photo of the finished masterpiece WAS the right way round and I don't know how to change it!

And on a similar theme, I don't know why theres two of this page, but I can't work out how to delete it!!

I thought I was doing so well!!

OMG! Is it that long since I blogged!!

2010-12-31T11:17:00.007Z

Where does the time go?! It doesn't seem a year since I last posted and I can't promise it won't be another year till the next one, but I'm in a' finishing ' mode at the moment so I'm trying to finish all the various crafty projects that are either half done or waiting to start. And theres quite a few!!

For Christmas,my friend Becky gave me her hand dyed yarn and pattern to create a stash bag for Woolfest. Hows that for forward planning!! So I knit it as big as I could and it looks fab, even if I say so myself.

The pattern is the Grrlfriend market bag which is free on Ravelry. Its a really simple pattern, a bit fiddly at the start but worth it.

I actually finished a pair of socks for Ian too. They were meant for Christmas but only one got finished, so I wrapped it up with an IOU for one sock and cracked on with the other which he got a couple of days later. I don't have a photo yet as they are in the wash because Ian wore the one I'd finished on Christmas day with an odd sock on his other foot!! I thought it was a good look!

I've also hit the art journal with renewed enthusiasm and finished a couple of pages that I started an age ago.

This was just using felt tipped pens,I love colouring in, it takes me back to my childhood!

OOps! I did turn it, honest! On this one I used a dye ink pad and some magazine clippings. Then I got the urge to splash some paint about, so out came the acrylics and stencils and bits off envelopes.

This is one of the backgrounds I painted, but its yet to be finished! It's on the list!!

Its going to be a page moaning about our postal service and the snarl ups that snow caused. I'll get it all off my chest!!

I love the freedom of creating art journal pages and it is very cathartic. Its a great outlet for emotions I don't want to inflict on others!!

So I'm off now to start a hot water cover with some merino I spun early this year. It was destined to become a scarf, but I am sick of burning my back when I use my hottie to ease my back problems, so the scarf was frogged and hopefully a supersoft cover will emerge!!

So Happy New Year, may it be a happy, healthy one and no promises but I'll try not to leave it so long till next time!!

Journaling Addiction!

2010-01-19T12:10:00.016Z

Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be any other crafts crammed into my life, up pops journaling and I lay the blame firmly at the door of the fab Lynn aka http://inkyartitude.blogspot.com/! And I am SO grateful!! It is wonderfully relaxing and freeing and I love it!

I must also mention another lady whose blog is http://www.thekathrynwheel.blogspot.com/. I find her art work SO inspirational, especially her use of colour and it has encouraged me to become much more adventurous.

There are pages in my journal that I like better than others and some I just don't like at all. Some I keep going back to and doodling, some I might paint over, but what I love about it is, IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!

Heres a few pics, a mixture of finished and unfinished pages and even just painted backgrounds, some I like, some I don't but I don't care, I allow myself not to like them!!

At last the snow has melted away but as I uploaded the journal pics from my camera, I found some snowy ones I'd forgotton I'd taken. I love the differences in light.

I also found these photos of our poor underfed pooches, who are so starved, they have to dig for bird food that has been covered up by the snow!! Please don't phone the RSPCA, I promise to feed them honest!

Paddy digging for any morsels he can find!

You can see just how thin Alfie is!! Ha!

Back to the journaling then!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-01T14:26:00.009Z

Where did 2009 go? It seems that as I'm getting older, the years just seem to fly by quicker and quicker!

We had a quiet and peaceful white Christmas, the snow gave it such a magical feel and brought back fond childhood memories of Christmases past. We did go on a mad jaunt in the snow to Tan Hill, where there were spectacular views

and lots of snow drifts!

But we made it.........to the pub!!

The pub up there (which, by the way, is the highest in Britain and has featured in the Everest double glazing ads!) provided some very welcome food and drink, all of which was enhanced by a roaring coal fire and two gorgeous kittens!

The drive back was even hairier than the one there, but Ian, who is a brill driver anyway, excelled himself, and we got home safely.

I know it wasn't the most sensible thing to do, especially as I'm usually Mrs Sensible with added anxiety, but for once I threw caution to the wind, it was exhilarating and I loved it!!

Wishing everyone a healthy, peaceful and happy New Year!

Wooly stuff

2009-10-05T13:30:00.011+01:00

Warning; This post was written ages ago and has been slumbering in the draft box, waiting for the photos to be uploaded, so beware, there will be another post coming soon!!

I've finally taken some photos of my Forest Canopy shawl, that I finished early September. It was a really easy pattern but as the number of stitches increased, knitting even one row became a bit of a marathon! I was keen to finish it as I used my own handspun merino and silk yarn in a bright, zingy, orangey, tomatoey colour, and so for me it was finished pretty quickly!!

I'm quite pleased with the result and I do feel a sense of achievement making something from a bag of fluff. But I must spin more evenly! When knitting the shawl, the wool thickness varied from lace weight to super chunky in the space of 10 stitches, so I need some practice!!

I also was at In Stitches, Beckys knitting cafe, on Friday, where Carrie kindly guided me through a crochet pattern, with much (needed) patience may I add, thanks Carrie!! And when the knitting cafe finished, Becky,Bev,Carrie and I found a local cafe for a coffee, bacon sarnie and, as you can imagine, just a little talking!! All in all, a lovely day!

And I must post this picture of Alfie, who managed to climb to the highest point in the dog basket, that is on top of Paddy, to lie in the sunshine!

Brass bands and belly dancers!

2009-09-28T06:59:00.004+01:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being around all things sheepy! And I don't include Carrie and Becky in that description!!
It was the weekend of Masham sheep fair and the weather was glorious for late September. Carrie and I met up with Becky and her girls and spent the whole day oooing and aaahing over various breeds of sheep, fleeces and fibres.
We watched the sheep race, (or should I say we watched a man running with a bucket of food in front of four sheep and three men behind them trying to stop them from running back to the pen, not always successfully) sheepdogs rounding up ducks and geese, brass bands and bellydancers and even found time to have a fab picnic in the autumn sunshine.
I was so pleased that we met up with the wonderful Artis-Anne and Tony, ( many thanks to Amber for passing on the S. O. S.!!) it was so nice to see them again and as usual, I could have spent all day chatting to them. Daniela from FeltStudioUK was spinning her wonderful art yarns and I just couldn't resist some of her gorgeous fibres. And I just HAD to buy a 'Know your sheep ' book after puzzling over the many and varied breeds on show!
The day was rounded off with a lip lickingly scrummy ice cream with a special low calorie flake! (Gone off on a chocoholic tangent now, low calorie flakes, mmmm! wish there were such things, apart from in my imagination!!)
So all in all, it was a brill day, with good company, good food, good weather and when I got home exhausted, it was Goodnight!!

Out Of Quarantine!

2009-08-15T08:30:00.007+01:00

I'm now officially swine flu free and to celebrate the fact, we took off on a last minute camping trip to Ullswater! Yes I did say camping, not the luxury of the caravan or even a tent that you could sit up in but a tent about the size of a coffin! It was supposedly a 2 man size tent but I'm thinking of sueing them under the Trade Descriptions Act!! It was very cosy, cramped, snug and any other euphamisms for too bloody little!! We were like sardines in a tin but with not as much space! But it was so funny! My highlight of the trip was lying in the tent, watching Ian as he tried to take his shoes off and get in without a) kicking me b) rupturing a disc c) putting his head through the tent or d) waking the campsite with loudly expressed expletives!! It took me 10 minutes to stop crying with laughter. Luckily the weather was glorious and while Ian and the dogs went walking, I sat and knitted!

Late evening on Ullswater

I'm still on with the Forest Canopy shawl that I'm knitting using my handspun merino/silk yarn. I'm pleased with it so far but the yarn is more 'rustic' than I would have liked!! I'll hopefully get it finished while we are in Cornwall, which is very soon, this Friday in fact. We are going in the caravan( luxury!) for two weeks, staying near Perranporth , so fingers crossed for good weather!

I'm off now to start the mammoth list writing that precedes any of our holidays! I'll leave you with a pic of Ian, Paddy and Alfie after their Helvellyn expedition last weekend! Maybe the tent should be recategorised, 1 man, 2 dog size!!

Surprise!!

2009-07-31T11:34:00.003+01:00

Yes it is me! Honest!
I can't believe where the time has gone since I last blogged! But I just had to say what a fantastic time I had at Woolfest, along with Carrie, Becky, ArtisAnne, Krafty Kath,Bev and several hundred others!! I spun, knitted and talked to lots of fellow fibre freaks, laughed till I cried, buggered up Ians sock cos I couldn't concentrate and generally fondled lots of fleeces!! And that was before we even got to Woolfest!!
Woolfest was fab, as always but the greatest pleasure of Woolfest for me, is meeting up with friends, new and old, listening to and sharing experience and laughing till my face ached!
So thank you to all those I shared my Woolfest experience with, long may it continue!!

I'm Confused!

2008-09-21T12:47:00.004+01:00

Just for a change!!

Is it me or was it autumn last week and now.....it's summer! It doesn't take much to confuse me, so deciding what to wear is a nightmare. I either seem to wear too much and feel hot and chewed, or I wear too little and end up wet and wind blasted! Oh I suppose it's the joy of living in England!!

The knitting is still plodding along, I'm desperate to finish the hat but due to the headaches, it's very slow progress. My GP thinks its migraines, but to be on the safe side, I've got to have a MRI scan. I think I'm working my way through having every bit of my body scanned!! They'll be giving me my own chair in the waiting room if I go much more!

End of moan!

I went to the spinning group and had a lovely time. It was brill to meet up with old friends and get cracking with the wheel. At Woolfest, I bought some merino/silk tops, so I took this to have a go with. After a dodgy start and some timely tuition from Veronica, I was away. It is beautiful to spin and I'm pleased with the colour, especially as I tried to choose a different colour to what I normally choose! I fancy knitting a shawl cum scarf with it, but I haven't decided on a pattern yet.

I also intend to get cracking with Christmas card production, but my intentions don't always develop as I'd like!
Many thanks for all your comments too, they are much appreciated.

Us Ladies Wot Lunch!

2008-09-13T13:34:00.010+01:00

I had the most brilliant day on Friday, when I went to the Wensleydale Longwool shop, near Leyburn, with Carrie and Hazel. We were met there by Becky and Bev , and last but not least,Silvia, who had a fab pressie for Carrie!

In the shop ,we drooled over the gorgeous yarns and accessories and formed a long queue to pay for our purchases, I've never seen the little place so full! I was very good and only bought some aran to knit a beret pattern I've had for ages.

We then moved into the carpark, where we caused major congestion looking at Carries pressie from Silvia, a gorgeous spinning wheel!! I think we were as excited as Carrie! Unfortunately Silvia had to go to work, so we waved her off, then went into Leyburn, to a lovely little tearoom above Serendipity.

Carrie and Bev

Once again we caused chaos, as the tables sat four and we were a five! So after some minor furniture rearrangement, we eventually got settled and became ladies wot lunched!

Becky and Hazel

After lunch we sauntered around Leyburn and Becky took us on a mystery diversion to The Shawl. This turned out to be a beautiful hidden gem, the site of the original settlement of Leyburn, with stunning views and, as an extra bonus, sheep!

And en route toThe Shawl, I spotted this....

The photo isn't very good as I used my phone, but it was a trompe l'oeil painting of a cat on a coal hole door and in the very top left corner, a little bird! I loved it!!

Thanks to all the girlies for a fab day out, with special thanks to Carrie for taking me and putting up with my blethering all the way thee and back!

On the knitting front, Ian's hat is coming along nicely, it's a quick knit,but I've been having blinding headaches, which have slowed down my progress, but I'm plodding along!!

When I downloaded the photos from my phone, I found a couple of pictures of some canvases I painted a few months ago, mainly to fill a space on our bedroom wall!

I really enjoyed doing them and would love to do some mixed media canvases, all I need is another 24 hours in a day!!

The Dirty 'Diet' Word!

2008-09-09T13:08:00.005+01:00

This is a low fat post!
I only do low fat at the moment, well since I joined my local Slimming World group a couple of weeks ago actually! And so far, I've been so good you can see the shine from my halo at fifty paces! At last my weight is going in the right direction, DOWN!!

I had a fab time at the Graphicus open day on Friday, bought a plate of gorgeous Christmas stamps called Snow Is Falling, amongst other things! The stamps are beautiful and so I had to have a play with them on Saturday afternoon!

I've started Ian's hat too. I'm knitting They call em Pirates pattern using Dalegarn halk, which is water resistant. I think it may be useful when dog walking coincides with horizontal rain and Force 9 gales, which seems to have happened quite often this summer, never mind the winter!

I'm really looking forward to Friday too, when in the company of and courtesy of the wonderful Carrie , we and hopefully a few friends, will be visiting the Wensleydale Longwool shop and possibly having lunch in Leyburn. I never thought I'd be a lady wot lunched!!

Excuses, Excuses!

2008-08-31T13:19:00.008+01:00

There's no excuse really for not keeping up this blog, other than gallivanting around the countryside in our dear old caravan!

I have so much to write about......lovely holidays, fabulous Woolfest and feeling so much better than I've felt for a long time, that I think it's put me off starting. But NO MORE EXCUSES!!

We have actually spent this weekend at home, we needed to cos both the front and back garden was knee high in weeds, and the veggie garden..........well... the least said the better! Despite its sorry, neglected state, we have had a good year for veg, especially courgettes. In fact we have eaten courgettes with almost every meal. We have frozen them, made soup with them, eaten them in stir frys, curries and salads, given them away to family, friends and workmates and they still keep on coming!! It's great!!!!

I have also discovered a previously hidden obsession too! Photographing mushrooms!!!
They look so cute I just can't resist taking a pic! Here's a couple of my 'babies'!!

I love this one!

This one has a friend!

And this ones having a party!!

Simple things please simple minds eh!!

Woolfest!

2008-06-21T14:02:00.002+01:00

Its been a long time since I visited my blog but I'm still a fibre fiend and currently looking forward to Woolfest! Becky, Bev and I are staying at Graysonside in a caravan. I'm going to put a Ravelry sign in the window, so if anyone wants a cuppa and a chat, come on down!!

Back To The Blog!

2008-03-14T13:37:00.017Z

Its been too long since I last blogged, but I'm hoping to get back in the swing! I think I put off blogging because of the time it takes, I'm so slow at typing. So I'm going to try to do shorter posts, but saying that, this ones probably going to be quite big because of all the pics!

I've really lost my knitting mojo at the moment, well ALL my mojos seem a dim and distant memory at present. Hopefully the lighter, longer days will lift the gloom and I'll feel more up to doing things. I have done one quick knit. I realised a few days before we went to Prague that I didn't have a hat, so a quick dash to my LYS ensued! Using Woolly Wormheads Rolling beret pattern, I quickly dashed off this natty little hat in Sirdar Peru. When I say quickly, I MEAN quickly! It materialised before my eyes. And it kept me nice and snug on our weekend away.

We went to Prague with my brother and his wife. Flying from Newcastle, the flight was only an hour and a half so we were there in no time. We stayed in a gorgeous pension not far from the Old Town square. The beautiful old buildings were everywhere, a real mix of Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau, I think I wandered around open mouthed at the sheer size and number of them.

The old town square was breathtakingly beautiful and the cafes in the square breathtakingly expensive, but we did go into one just to experience the atmosphere.

While we were drinking our coffee, a guy with a pair of scissors, cut our silhouettes! Mine was very flattering so I bought it!

Ian's didn't look like him at all, it looked more like Benny Hill, so we had to get that one too!

It was chilly at times and Carol bought a hat to keep her ears warm!

This is a view of Prague castle from the Charles bridge.

The Charles bridge which we crossed en route to Prague Castle, was gorgeous with religious statues along the parapets and arts and craft stalls dotted along its length.

Every view was spectacular and I took hundreds of photos, most of which I won't inflict on you but a couple of favourites, first the astronomical clock which was stunning

but Tyn church in the square was my favourite of all, not just during the day when it looked so imposing and majestic, even when I got all arty and took black and white pics

But also at night, when all the turrets were lit from inside, it looked like a fairy tale castle. The photos aren't very good but to give an idea I'll post just one

I would definitely recommend Prague, but make sure you wear comfy shoes, there's a lot of walking!

Snow Business!

2008-01-07T11:50:00.000Z

The first snow of the year has fallen, making it feel well and truly like winter, at last! I used to love the snow when I was younger and I still like the beauty of new fallen snow, but with age has come anxiety, and now I just worry about Kate and Ian having to drive in it and my heart goes out to old folk that I see shuffling through it all. But I can't resist taking photos when it snows.

This is a view of the bottom of the garden, taken when the snow was coming down thick and fast, with those huge flakes I love to watch.
The snow has also brought a flurry of knitting with it. Well when I say flurry, more like a couple of flakes! When I cleared out one of my knitting bags, I found a lonely Fetching wristwarmer hidden in the depths, so I decided to knit it a friend! So I now have a pair of Red Fetchings!

I've also started a pair of socks for Ian, just plain old, don't have to think socks, using the blue Trekking frogged from the disasterous Potty Thomas socks. I started them yesterday, on the journey to and from Ayr, taking Tom back to college after the Christmas break. He's requested another beanie, so that will probably be next on the knitty list.

A couple of days before Christmas, we went to watch the Newcastle Falcons play and I couldn't resist taking this pic of Jonny Wilkinson.

This stance looks much better with the ball! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T13:10:00.000Z

I'm still here! I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and hope that Santa is good to you! Hopefully in the New Year, I'll get my butt in gear and get back to blogging, as I really miss reading all of your blogs. I've met some wonderful people through blogging and knitting.
I wish you all good health, happiness and contentment for 2008.
Hope to be back soon!!

Sorry!

2007-10-18T11:44:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to say sorry for my terrible lack of blogging and commenting in recent weeks. I don't seem to have the time or energy to keep up with everyone, and I do feel guilty about it, especially when people leave such lovely comments on my blog. Hopefully, after our short break in Scotland this weekend, I'll feel refreshed and be bouncing with energy! Well, I can always hope!
I look forward to catching up with everyone, take care.

We Have The Power!

2007-10-08T18:18:00.000+01:00

The power of electricity that is! Electricity that we didn't have from 10.30am Thursday until 2.30 pm Friday! It all started when I noticed smoke coming from the cupboard that houses the electric meter and fusebox thingy. I was very calm and switched off the electricity at the mains, then got on the phone to Ian and squealed like a girl!

An electrician was summoned, but as it was 5.30pm by the time he arrived, he could only make things safe and promise to return the next day. So out came the candles! OOhh, lovely I thought, a quiet evening knitting I thought. Wrong! How the Victorians managed to do their delicate, intricate needlework by candlelight I don't know, I couldn't see a thing! So an early night was the answer......to SLEEP of course!!

Finally by 2.30pm the next day we were back on the grid. Little did we know that another problem was brewing. It was discovered by Kate, who desperate for a shower, dived in that evening. All I heard were the screams, as the freezing cold water hit her!! Somehow, the electrician had managed to wire us up wrongly, which damaged a circuit in the boiler, which meant a plumber joined the happy family on Saturday morning, to fix the boiler!

Thankfully we are now sorted. Very grateful that I was in when the smoke appeared and even more grateful it didn't happen overnight.

While Ian was sorting out the boiler problems on Saturday, I went off for a girly day with Carrie Anne, Becky and Bev to MIMA, a modern art museum in Middlesbrough. We had a wonderful day in the company of Felieke van der Leest, a brilliant artist who uses crochet and knitting in her jewellery.

This pic was taken during the afternoon workshop, which followed the morning lecture. It was a great way to explore freeform crochet, and we had a good giggle too!

This was the 3D heart I crocheted without a pattern, just making it up as I went, it's not great but I enjoyed the process. The cafe in MIMA was lovely and we just had to have a couple of visits!

I even managed to get a few rows of sock knitted while I was there, so all in all a brilliant day! This is the very sock, though I am much further on than the picture now.

I'm also really enjoying the Pirates hat, thank you for your helpful fairisle tips. I started off poorly, mainly because I didn't read the instructions! And because I didn't read the instructions, I tried to follow the chart in the same way as I had in previous lace patterns and then couldn't understand why the pattern wasn't working out! Duurrrrrhh! Then the penny dropped, I was knitting in the round! After a few choice expletives and reading of the pattern, I managed to get going.

It was so exciting to see the skulls appear! So, so far, so good! Eventually!

I don't know if anyone has seen the Walls sausage adverts with the dog trying to pinch the sausages, but I love it cos the dog is a Border terrier, the same as our beloved Alfie. So when I saw they were giving away an inflatable 'Grizzler' as he's called, I just had to have one. I waited over 6 weeks and it came today. I blew it up........and was horrified! I have never seen such an ugly, frightening thing in all my life! It's horrific!

It actually doesn't look too bad in the photo, but it would frighten kids in real life! Just to show what it should look like, I took tried to take a photo of Alfie and Grizzler, but Alfie was scared of it!

So it's been quite an eventful week, though most of it I'd prefer not to repeat! Hopefully I'll have a bit more time ( and electricity) to catch up with everyones blogs and plenty of illumination for knitting!!

Emptier Nest!

2007-10-01T13:11:00.000+01:00

:( One of my chicks has left the nest, and flown all the way to Ayr in Scotland.
Well when I say flown, Ian didn't drive that fast, probably because we were so laden with 'essential stuff'' he couldn't have even tried! It was a miracle it all fitted in! All those years of going camping and trying to fit everything including the kitchen sink into a small car, obviously paid off! Anyway, Tom's settled in and is looking forward to his course in countryside management, but the house seems so empty, especially as Kate is never in! Speaking of Kate, she finally got an interview for an admin post after hundreds of applications, and she got the job! Its only for a few months, but its a start.

Amongst all the mayhem ,I somehow got the string bag finished last week. I really enjoyed knitting it, it's so simple you don't have to think, which suits my brain at the moment!

It stretches loads, the picture shows it with a BIG box of cornflakes in and there was still lots of space. Have a look at Queen Of The Froggers version in the bright orangy yarn, it looks fab!

I've decided to start pressie knitting for Christmas too. I'm in the process of knitting an item using some Posh Yarn Lucia for one project, but can't reveal what or for whom! And today, my order from Dragon Yarns came with the Dalegarn Halk, so now I'm ready to start a hat for my brother.

I'm going to attempt They Call Em Pirates! I've never tried fairisle before, but I'm looking forward to trying it. Any tips gratefully received!!

My Pomatomus sock was coming along fine too UNTIL I tried it on!

I'd rounded the heel and thought the foot was looking a bit tight, so carefully tried to put it on and found they were TOO SMALL!!! AARRRRGGGG!! My big fat size sevens just wouldn't squeeze in no matter how I wiggled the DPN's and in disgust I pulled them off the needles and sent it to the big frog pond in the sky!! I've decided I like sock knitting best when I don't have to think about it, so I'm going to do some ordinary and boring plain ones! It probably won't last, especially as I love Kaths log cabin socks!

I finished spinning the Gotland I bought at Woolfest but I'm really disappointed with my spinning. I seem to naturally spin a very fine yarn and find it hard to spin thicker stuff, I start off OK but as my concentration wavers, I seem to have a thin yarn default!! I feel the Gotland is spun way too thin and doesn't show the variation in colours like I had hoped. I also think I over twisted it when I plied it, so all in all I'm not a happy bunny!!

So I'm going to have to practise spinning thicker yarn. I wonder if it's because I find carding hard work and sub-consciously I'm trying to eek out the rolag?! I've just got drum carder envy I think!!
The garden is coming to the end of it's growing season now. At the weekend, we picked the last of the tomatoes and lettuce. The frost will get the green beans soon and there aren't too many courgettes left growing. But saying that, the Brussel sprouts are fattening up nicely and the leeks are getting bigger, so maybe it's not all over yet!

I remembered!

2007-09-20T19:24:00.000+01:00

The pattern for the string bag is the Elisa Nest tote bag which is a free pattern from here.
Think I need brain training!!

Back To Reality!

2007-09-20T12:45:00.000+01:00

With a bump! A huge laundry shaped bump at that!

I love holidays. All that relaxation, sunshine, eating good food cooked by someone else, the odd glass of wine................fantastic!

But then you come home, empty the suitcases, and the laundering marathon begins.

I wouldn't have thought that so many loads of washing could fit into two suitcases! My carbon footprint went up a few sizes as I ploughed through it all.

And then just as I thought the end was in sight, dear daughter decided to clean her room and hey presto, the washing basket was overflowing again. Nice to be home!

We had a fab holiday in Zakynthos. It was lovely to go away as a family again after a few years just me and Ian. I would like to think they came because they wanted to spend some time with their parents, but I strongly suspect that the offer of a free holiday was the motivation!

We stayed in a quiet resort called Alikanas on the East of the island. Our hotel was beautiful, right on the beach but not too far to the restaurants and tavernas.

Apart from stuffing our faces, we had some lovely walks on the beach and even ventured into the sea for some snorkelling. Some of the fish were amazing, and I was surprised how big some of them were so close to the shore.

I took loads of photos, which I won't bore you with, but at one end of the bay was a small harbour and when we walked there, I saw this old deckchair under a rusting parasol that was covered in netting and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I could just imagine an old fisherman sitting here, after the days catch had been brought ashore.

On holiday,I really enjoyed watching Tom and Kate in the pool, relaxed and laughing and just enjoying themselves generally.

Kate took a shine to an inflatable turtle, and was determined to sit on it. The resulting 20 mins was hilarious, she wouldn't give in and finally succeeded!

I managed to read a few books while I was there, some were from the Richard and Judy Book club list, which I enjoy trying, just to read books by authors I wouldn't otherwise choose. Some were better than others, but it was nice to read a book in big chunks rather than just a few pages at bedtime!

I did take some knitting on holiday, but didn't do too much. I'm knitting one of those string type bags, hopefully to reduce the number of plastic carrier bags I use. The name of the pattern escapes me but it's a simple 4 line pattern. I'm using some DK cotton from the stash that I'd forgotton about.

Since getting back, I've also done a bit more spinning of the Gotland I bought at Woolfest. It's the first longer stapled fleece I've spun and I'm enjoying the challenge! I'm still tending to spin too finely and seem to have to really concentrate to make a thicker yarn. But it's nice to get back to the wheel!

I'm also looking forward to catching up on everyones blogs! Is it just me who feels that the days are just too short? So much to do, too little time! Back to reality!!

Just A Quickie!

2007-08-21T14:00:00.000+01:00

To say Thank You YET AGAIN, to the wonderful Anne of Artis-Anne fame, for nominating me for another award !

It's a Schmoozer award, think I've spelt it right and is awarded for:

Schmoozing is the natural ability to 'converse casually in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection. Good schmoozers weave their way effortlessly in and out of the blogsphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don't limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.

Thanks Anne for even considering me, let alone nominating! I love the blog world, even if I don't spend as much time as I would like visiting it, and have made many friends, including Anne herself!!

I would like to nominate,

Amber, for her wonderful warm help and advice she has given me in times of need. I'm thinking of you and Mr Mog at this difficult time.

Also Helen, who has just returned from a blogging break, always has time to leave a friendly comment and I just love following her exploits.

And Kendra, who designs and knits the most beautiful garments, is a fab blogger,who always gives kind and supportive comments.

But I really want to say thank you to all you bloggers. You make the world a better place to be.

I'd like to thank......

2007-08-13T15:34:00.000+01:00

Artis-Anne for awarding me this;

Wow!

I feel like Anne, that I'm more of a crock girl than a rockin' girl! Anne, maybe we should start up a new club ?! Perhaps our button could have a crocodile logo?! ;)

The next bit is the hardest, as I have to nominate blogs that I feel 'rock'. There are so many blogs I love to read, many of which have been nominated already, but I do love the following;

Frog In Knots, whose blog is funny and witty and who can create the most amazing things with wool and pointy sticks

and

Seahorse, who in a warm and friendly way, shares aspects of her life with us and who I feel deserves the award for her nettle fertilizer recipe alone!

Due to the thumb situation, ( which this very day has been relieved of it's stitches!), I have nothing to report on the knitting front, hopefully that should soon be remedied. On the garden front, we are eating tomatoes with just about every meal as we have such a good crop this year. The apple tree is also groaning under the weight of it's crop, so Ian decided to make some cider! Just so the tree didn't suffer you understand!

Ian peeled and chopped the apples, while I was in charge of the food processor, I could just about manage pushing the button down for 10 seconds!

So the grated apples are now lanquishing in the fermenting bin, with the yeast and sugar, and in a few weeks, we'll be able to bottle it and hopefully produce some drinkable cider. I don't drink very much at all, so poor Ian will have to drink it all himself, poor thing!! It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it! And, we still have a load of apples left on the tree and you can't even tell that any have been picked! Mmm, apple pie, apple crumble......any ideas?!

In Stitches!

2007-08-05T10:20:00.000+01:00

Literally.....but more on that later!

Following a visit to my GP, I now know that my lack of oomph has a physical cause, my ever low iron levels having reached a record low! I feel much better knowing that there is a reason for it and am now throwing iron tablets into the system as fast as possible!

I'm not a 'cooky' type of person(kookie...possibly!), but I managed to bake some Bara brith and banana bread this week! It was such a momentous and rare occasion, I took a pic of the Bara brith!

I've also managed this week to start washing the fleeces I bought at Woolfest. I thought I'd tackle the smallest first, so the BFL and the Shetland hit the bucket!

This is the Shetland, srewn over 3 chairs on the patio! It was only half a fleece but it seemed HUGE! The BFL was only small in comparison, but much dirtier. It took bucket after bucket of water before it was anywhere near being clean. I also washed the Gotland too, though this was a

much more manageable affair as I only bought a few hundred grams.

BFL and Gotland drying on the table!

While the various fleeces were soaking, I gave the handspun yarns (with many thanks to Norman!) a wash, so when I get round to dyeing them they'll be ready to go.

On the line also is a mini skein of the Wensleydale that we dyed at the spinning group, using the logwood chips with alum mordant. I love the colour, even though it's not that visible on the pic.

By the time I'd finished all the rinsing, my hands were like an old washer womans!! It made me think about my maternal grandmother who would often talk about Mondays being THE washing day in the house, with all the clothes washed by hand. I can still remember the old mangle in her backyard, even trying to turn that was exhausting, let alone all the other bleaching and scrubbing that she did. It made me feel quite pampered with my washing machine and tumble dryer, let alone all those fabrics that dry faster and iron easier. And more appreciative.

I wanted to get the fleeces done because on Friday, I had to have a biopsy taken from this growth thingy on my thumb. Using some very blunt (ouch!) instruments, they managed to remove a piece and after a couple of stitches, wrapped up my finger. Using a small plaster? No........a huge, cartoon type looking bandage that Tom or Jerry would be proud of!! (slight exaggeration!) It's only been on 2 days and it's filthy already! What is it going to look like after 10 days!? I can't do a darned thing either! I didn't realise just how much I used my thumb, until I couldn't!! So the black cloud is, I can't knit or spin, but the silver lining is, I can't do housework either, so its quite evenly balanced!!

I was going to post some pics of flowers in my garden, but the first one I uploaded, I made a boo-boo!

Can you spot the deliberate mistake? Ooops! I've spent too much time with Becky, her photo uploading style is beginning to rub off! ;)

The insects were out in force and I couldn't resist taking some pics of them.

Thank you for all your lovely comments, they really do mean alot and cheered me up loads.

Need Some Oomphh!

2007-07-29T10:36:00.000+01:00

Has anybody got any oomphh? I need some desperately!! Or a kick up the backside, one or the other! I don't know whats wrong with me, I just feel bleurgh..!

I've done a bit more on the Potty Thomas sock, just working my way round the heel, but I seem to have just lost interest in it. I wouldn't care but I love the pattern, so hopefully I'll get back on to it soon.

I've almost finished the Nereus scarf, just need to cast off or crochet off or something! But I can't find the pattern with the instructions, so that's waiting patiently to be completed.

I've done a little spinning. This was some Wensleydale we dyed using natural dyes at the spinning group the week before last, using Logwood chips. I was amazed at the colour of the dye as it bore no resemblence to the colour of the chips. It turned out a rich, deep purple, which I've spun quite thin as usual. It just feels so chunky when I try to spin thicker, but I need to conquer it!

Sorry for the blurry pic!

Wednesday was definitely the highlight of the week! I did a fantastic workshop using Ten Second Studio stuff at Graphicus, a craft company in Barnard Castle.

We learnt how to mould and decorate thin sheets of metal under the guidance and tuition of the fabulous Lynn. Lynn is one of the best demonstrators and tutors I have ever seen, and it was a privilege to take part in one of her workshops. So much was crammed into the workshop,we learnt loads of techniques and completed several projects. I was really pleased with the results and I'm definitely going to try this craft again. This is one of my projects, a manly (said in a deep voice!)notebook!

I spent a lovely evening yesterday, in the company of Ian, Tom, Paddy and Alfie at the seaside! We went to Seaton Carew, our local bit of coast, for a walk on the beach and some fish and chips! A trip to the coast wouldn't be the same without fish and chips! And we weren't disappointed! It was a lovely sunny evening and Paddy and Alfie had a fab time, with Paddy charging through the waves to retrieve sticks and Alfie getting his ankles wet as he watched!

There's something quite magical about the sea,it really lifts the spirits. I love listening to waves crashing onto the shore. In fact I get that feeling near any expanse of water, I think that's why I love the Lakes and North Wales so much. It was a lovely evening, shame Kate didn't want to go but I can't have everything now, can I!

Ian's got a couple of days off, tomorrow and Tuesday. He's hoping to repaint the front door, but I'm not sure if the weather will allow it! The garden's also crying out for some TLC. But after seeing what many folks are going through due to the terrible floods, I'm just grateful I've got a front door and garden. My heart goes out to them.

Potty Thomas!

2007-07-23T10:02:00.000+01:00

Otherwise known as Pomatomus, the beautiful sock pattern that has swept through blogland! I think I'm one of the few that hasn't yet knitted it, but I'm in the process of ticking it off my list.

I had a few false starts. I've some Jitterbug yarn that's been in the stash a while and I thought would work well. I cast on but then read on Ravelry that this yarn is low on the meterage. So decided to try the STR yarn in Cracked Canyon. I was unsure about using this, as I wasn't sure if the pattern would show, but as I didn't have any other sock yarn decided to give it a go. NOPE! Pattern didn't show at all so frogged AGAIN! I was getting desperate now, I wanted to get started! I thought about using some undyed BFL sock yarn from Woolfest and dyeing it after knitting, but Becky came to my rescue and I bought some Trekking XXL from her in bluey shades and hey presto, I was finally away!!

I must admit it's an addictive pattern and difficult to put down without thinking 'just one more row'! But I'm really enjoying it.

Another addiction is Ravelry! I finally got my invite the week before last and I'm hooked! Having somewhere to document projects, yarns, needles etc and also able to look at others projects, patterns etc is brilliant. I know theres along waiting list, it took me about 6 weeks to get on, but its definitely worth it

I'm also crocheting the Nereus scarf from Natural Dye Studio. I love the pattern but I'm not keen on the yarn colour and the way it's 'distributed' in the scarf, for want of a better word! I loved the colours in the skein too and the yarn itself is beautiful, so soft and snuggly!

I've been really slow to post about my prize that I won on Kath's blog. When I met Kath at Woolfest, she gave me my prize, which came with a knitting challenge. No problem you may think till you see the prize!

Thanks Kath!! I tried to knit with them........ I really tried...honest, but chocolate......and me......yummy!!

The 'needles' kept breaking, so I just HAD to eat them.....or they melted so I had to eat them, there's a pattern emerging here!! I got chocolatey fingers, sugary knees and a full tummy!! Brill idea Kath, it was good fun. I'll get you back!

Last Monday, I had a gathering of knitting friends! Carrie Anne, Becky, Bev and Andrea all came to mine and we had a lovely knitty day, punctuated only by food and drink!! I just wanted to say 'Thank you!' to you all and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Well I think I might just go and squeeze in a row on Potty Thomas, before I get the hoover out!!

Out Of Bed....

2007-07-10T18:50:00.000+01:00

at last!! My back has decided to behave itself and let me get off it! It's so frustrating, all the goodies I bought at Woolfest have been calling my name and I haven't been able to do a flippin' thing! But at last, things are on the mend, I can knit and spin so I'm a happy bunny!

Becky and I have been to our spinning class today. I love it! Today we were shown how to ply properly. Shame I plied my spinning efforts last night and I don't think I've put enough twist in but I know I learn by my mistakes so I'm not too worried.

Norman plied!

I also got a pressie! Becky and Bev bought me a beautiful nostepinne, as thanks for sharing the caravan. Silly Billies, there was no need to buy gifts. Hard cash would have been enough!! But it is beautiful, so thank you both sooo much. As you both intended, not only will I be able to wind balls of wool, but also it will help me put on my socks!! Don't ask!

My new nostepinne!

Towards the end of my forced bedrest, I was able to knit and I FINALLY got my Regia 4ply socks finished. They are a bit day-glo but I love them! I'm wanting to start the Pomatomas sock pattern next, but haven't decided which yarn to use yet.

I've also started crocheting the Nereus scarf from Natural Dye Studio in their cobweb kid mohair. It's a really simple pattern, which as a novice crochet-er, I'm pleased about and the yarn is so soft. I'm about a third of the way down it so I've still a way to go.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments too. They really kept me going through the grottiness of last week.

Pooped and Penniless!

2007-07-02T13:27:00.000+01:00

I think it will take me a week to recover! But Woolfest was a fab few days!

My dear hubby took me and the caravan over on Wednesday evening. It was a glorious drive over, the shadows on the hills were so beautiful.

We arrived at Graysonside and as we set the caravan up we got the feeling we were being watched!

On Thursday, I spent a quiet day, knitting, spinning and reading! Bliss!! But as the day went on, the weather started to change, becoming wetter and windier by the minute. It got so bad that a nearby tent actually blew over and was rescued by some hardy souls!

It was quite scary, as the caravan was rocking violently. I was so pleased to see Carrie Anne, Becky and Bev!! As Andrea wasn't able to make it, we decided not to put up the tent and just squeeze into the caravan. This is a pic of the four of us.

On Friday and Saturday, we started with a hearty farmhouse breakfast, well worth staying at Graysonside for alone! On very full stomachs, and with a lot of excitement, we went to Woolfest!!

As last year, it was an amazing combination of animals, fibres, equipment and wonderful people. I met many people who I only knew through Blogland and it was brill to put faces to the names. The first bloggers I met were the wonderful Artis-Anne and her fab daughter Kath. It really made my weekend meeting these two warm and friendly ladies. It felt as though we 'clicked' straight away, as though we'd known each other for years!!

On Friday and Saturday morning, I spent the day shopping, while on Saturday afternoon I attended the Artic Lace workshop with Carrie Anne. This was really interesting, learning about the Eskimos of Alaska and their use of musk oxen hair ( is it spelt quivert?) in knitting.

I mainly bought fibre, including Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester, Ryeland and Gotland fleece.

This pic shows the dark Gotland as well as the golden and smokey Angora from those gorgeous bunnies! There's also some Suri alpaca in there too!

I also got a couple of extra bobbins, for all that spinning I'm going to do and a niddy noddy.

I really would like to try some more dyeing, so I bought some Procion dyes from DT crafts and some natural dyes from Pure Tinctoria. The undyed yarn is in sock and lace weight.

And finally I bought some reading material, some Spin Off mags, a book on natural dyeing and a kit from Natural Dye Studio, to crochet a mohair scarf! Gulp! It seems to be simple crochet, so fingers crossed!

So all in all, a fantastic few days. And to top it all off, I won Kaths Krafty Kreations blog prize! Thanks Kath!! It came with a challenge, which I'll post about next time. So here we are worn out and skint, but very, very happy!! Thanks to the rest of my caravan comrades for a fab time! Shall I book up for next year??

Woolfest!

2007-06-26T21:27:00.000+01:00

Well I'm off to Cumbria tomorrow in preparation for Woolfest, woo hoo!
On Thursday I'll be joined by 4 fellow blogging fibre addicts for two fab fibre-filled days and I'm sure we'll have a fantastic time. Our spinning wheels are coming with us, and so is more of Norman, who is spinning up nicely!! I'll post some pics after WF.
If anyone reading this goes to Woolfest and passes a rowdy bunch of women, please say hello!

The Holiday's Over!

2007-06-20T13:15:00.000+01:00

Well and truly! The washings done, the ironing pile is wobblingly high and I just want to spin!

The holiday was fab with just one hiccup in the middle, namely Fair Isle!

It had all started so well. Ian and I travelled to Benderloch, just outside Oban and stayed on a very small croft/site, which was so peaceful, and only a short walk to a lovely beach.

We walked and ate and generally relaxed in the glorious weather. We visited a poultry place which was less than a mile away from our site. I'd love to have a few chickens and it was wonderful to see all the different breeds and talk to the owners who were so helpful and full of info.

We then travelled to Braemar in the Cairngorms, to a Caravan club site called The Invercauld, another peaceful site. The village was only a few minutes away. Handy for Ian while I was in Fair Isle.............we thought!

The flight to Shetland was brill and Carrie Anne was an absolute star! The flight was followed by a two and a half hour ferry ride, where we saw a minke whale and many different types of seabirds.

Our first glimpse of Fair Isle.

Then everything seemed to go downhill from there! The 'retreat' was nothing like we'd hoped it would be, for many reasons, which I won't go into here, suffice to say we were so disappointed we decided to leave after two days.

The positive sides to the trip though were plentiful. Firstly, Carrie Anne flew! Twice! Evidence below

We saw a beautiful part of the world, albeit briefly. I would love to return and see the islands and their wildlife more closely. We also met some wonderful people along the way, who were very supportive when things were going wrong and I thoroughly enjoyed spending some time in the company of Carrie Anne!

So I returned to Braemar and spent the rest of the hols with my dear hubby, who I fear has started a new hobby, munro bagging! The dogs went beserk when I came back too! They had a whale of a time, walking, swimming, eating and sleeping with a bit of stick chasing in between!

Paddy and Alfie looking pooped!

Revived!

And so it was back to reality, Ian back to work and the holiday washing done!

I've spent the morning washing some fleece that I bought yesterday on a spinning course that Becky found only half an hours drive away! It was everything I'd hoped Fair Isle would be. Yesterdays lesson was on a members farm, and we were shown what to look for in a fleece and what to do with it to prepare it for spinning. It was brilliant,all the members were so friendly and welcoming and the tutor fantastic. I was buzzing afterwards and as I said I brought some fleece back home from a lovely Shropshire called Norman!

So Normans drying in the garden at the moment and I can't wait to spin with him!

Isn't life strange?

Are You Ready Fair Isle?

2007-06-01T07:29:00.002+01:00

I can't believe that it's actually here! The time has come to put the last bits in the van, make sure the kids have enough food to last them til Christmas and get out of those raggy knickers!

Fair Isle here we come!

Ian and I are heading towards Oban first til next Wednesday when we move across the country to Braemar. And Thursday of course is D-Day. Or should I say GCOTP-Day? (Get Carrie On The Plane Day!) ;)
After our flight from Aberdeen to Shetland, we get the ferry (for ferry, read fishing boat!) to Fair Isle. I have been told by Angela, our tutor and hostess for the week, that we will be travelling on the ferry with cargo that she has been waiting to be delivered. Namely a cow and her twin calves! Aaawwww! I think she should name them Carrie and Kath!!

Ian and the dogs will spend their time in the Cairngorms, while Carrie and I are in Fair Isle. I'm sure he's looking forward to some quiet time on his own, without my constant chattering!

So make sure you all have a restful few weeks, cos when we get back, I'm sure you'll need lots of strength and perseverance, to get through mine and Carrie Annes mega posts and pictures!
See you soon!!

Fair Isle Prep!

2007-05-26T19:07:00.000+01:00

The Fair Isle in the title is the place, not the knitting technique!!

Though I would like to have a go at fairisle, perhaps I could learn while we are actually there! That would be brill !

Its only a week before we start out on our adventure, though Acrylik and I don't actually fly until June the 7th I think it is!

I am so so excited already and the packing has started in earnest. You know what I mean, clothes that have been laundered are squirrelled away in a, usually vain, attempt not to have to wash them again before you go! Does anyone else buy new knickers for their holidays? My Gran always told us to wear decent underwear if we were going out, in case we were in an accident and had to go to hospital! I think the new knickers for holidays,may be a subconscious leftover of my Grans wisdom!

The packing is a bit more complex this time, as I have to pack a case for myself and Ian and also a case for myself for Fair Isle. Add to this the fact that I think we take as much stuff for the dogs as we do for ourselves, it all adds up to lots of packing, and lots of lists! Lots and lots of lists!

This is a photo of Burkle croft where Carrie Anne and I will be staying on Fair Isle.

Hopefully the weather will be as good as it is in the picture! The croft also has its own small flock of sheep, which will be sheared while we are there and we can have a go too!! Though I don't think I could inflict one of my haircuts on a poor sheep, I wouldn't complain if its coat found its way back home in my suitcase!!

In preparation for our fibre retreat, Carrie Anne spent an afternoon getting to grips with my spinning wheel! Now I know she'll disagree, but she picked it up really quickly! Treadling the wheel(or whatever its called!), seemed to come really naturally to her, she was flying!

I'm not sure what knitting to take on my hols. There'll definitely be a pair of socks in the bag and I'd like to take some lace too, but I can't decide on a pattern ! Too much choice, I think!! I do have an ever increasing lace stash, which needs to be attacked, preferably before Woolfest so I can buy some more!!

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post, I so love to read your comments. The meme brought some really interesting comments, so keep up the good work!! And I'll see you all in a few weeks!

Anniversary Waltz?

2007-05-13T17:40:00.000+01:00

21 years! We've been married 21 years and boy, has it flown!

To mark such an occasion, my dear hubby bought me a beautiful bouquet. I've always wanted one of those bouquets in a 'bubble' of water! No doubt there's a proper florist-y term for the bag of water , but my knowledge of floristry is minimal!

A very talented friend called Judith, makes fantastic figures from Fimo clay, in a range she calls Jobsworthy. Take a look at her blog http://claggybitz.blogspot.com She made a figure of Ian for me! Ian loves walking with his beloved dogs and so she made a hiker from clay, complete with packed lunch and a thermos in his back pack! I love it and more to the point, so did Ian!

The detail is fantastic, even down to his favourite rugby shirt!

This week also saw the delivery of some Handpainted yarns. They look fab, and really for the price, you can't be robbed! Carrie Anne and I clubbed together and chose 3 yarns each. These are the ones I chose, 2 lace weight and one I want to try felting with.

I've also been tagged by Kat of Knitty Kitty Kat Chat. Thanks Kat!
I have to write 7 facts/habits about myself on my blog and tag 7 others to do the same. As I'm always one for breaking the rules, if you would like to have a go, consider yourself tagged! Here's my fact/habits,

1. I got married at Gretna Green! So did Ian! Isn't that a coincidence!

2. I'm very tall. Just under 6ft actually. I HATE clothes shopping cos nothing is ever long enough! Thank goodness for Long Tall Sally! But occasionally I do feel small, especially when I stand next to my 6'8" son!

3. I am a craftaholic ! I love loads of different crafts and would love to try loads more. I don't make as many cards as I used to, as the yarn has taken over, but I still design and make card samples for Graphicus.

4. I am a qualified nurse. I qualified in 1983, which feels light years ago! But due to quite severe back problems, I am no longer able to nurse. :( I loved the hustle and bustle of the wards and Ian thought the uniform was OK too!

5. I passed my driving test first time, though you'd never guess by watching me reverse!

6. I used to be a really bad nail biter, but finally kicked the habit about 10 years ago. I would love to have lovely shaped and polished nails, but I'm terrible for not wearing gloves in the garden or when washing up.

7. I used to play the flute at school and would love to have a go again. I would also like to learn guitar, but my memory is sooo bad, I don't know if it's possible!

Hope I haven't sent you all to sleep! Thanks for all your lovely comments too. If there's anyone who hasn't commented before, please do!

Dyeing Day.

2007-05-06T10:20:00.000+01:00

What a fab day I had when Acrylik invited me to play!! Dyeing yarn is something thats been on my 'to do' list for a long time, but as with most crafters, there just never seems to be enough time to try everything. So when Carrie Anne asked me if I wanted to join her and try dyeing yarn, I had my pinny on before you could say niddy noddy!

We prepared all the ingredients ready for dyeing. Carrie Anne explains this really well, so I'd take a look at her Acrylik blog to get the details.

Putting the first colour on was exciting, and I think I got a bit carried away with dyes on the first skein! I was definitely a bit 'heavy handed' especially with the blue dye!

I just had to add a bit of red to the mixture and sloshed ,., I mean carefully placed a bit around the skein!

This is how it first looked, but after a few minutes, the colours became more muted. When I bought the spinning wheel, the lazy kate had yarn on the bobbins, so I plied this up and this was the yarn I used for the first attempt. It still had a lot of grease on it and was goodness knows how old. I don't know if this was why the colours were more muted, perhaps someone with much more dyeing experience can tell me why. As you can see in the next pic, the colours changed dramatically, and a little more colour rinsed out, though not a huge amount. I quite liked these earthy shades. The mix of olive, terracotta and muted yellow was beautiful.

The next skein I tried, I was much more controlled with the dyes! I still had to use all 3 dyes though! The result was much more vibrant on this yarn. It was one I'd bought from DT Crafts at Woolfest, a DK 100% wool. There was no dye at all in the rinse of this yarn and the colours stayed true.

We had such fun documenting each others attempts, and did get a bit silly at times, as you can see from the next photo! The incredible bearded lady!

I was really pleased with the finished results. The yarns look so different its hard to believe that the same 3 dye colours were used on both! So here are the finished articles, ready to use.

As I said before, I've skimmed over the process, so do please read Acrylik's blog. I really do wish I'd tried before as it was not as complex as I'd thought. As messy?.......yup!

I've still got a red thumb! Wonder if Carrie Anne's fingers are still purple?!

How Does Your Garden Grow!

2007-04-30T19:06:00.000+01:00

Quickly, I think the answer is! I can't keep up with the speed things are growing and seem to spend loads of time repotting things into bigger pots. Unlike the balmy South, Ooop North we can't put tender plants outside yet, so the greenhouse is looking decidedly cramped!

It really feels as if the garden is coming alive again after the long winter sleep. Lots of flowers are blooming, despite Paddy and Alfies best attempts to eradicate them, either by trampling or eating!

Unlike the garden, things have been quiet on the knitting front. I'm progressing slowly on the Regia socks. I love these colours, they are so cheerful and put a smile on my face each time I look at them.

I couldn't resist sale bargains at Hipknits either, I think it was the colours that called me again.

I really shouldn't buy any more yarn for several reasons,

I have plenty in my stash to last me years!
I'm going to Fair Isle to learn to spin, so I can make my OWN yarn.
I'm also going to Woolfest and should be saving, instead of spending!

BUT

There are some gorgeous yarns out there.
Even when I can spin, I'll have to learn how to dye to get some of the yummy colours!
Knit shops keep having sales!!
I NEED to try different yarns, patterns, books, magazines.............!

There's more things in the second list, so I reckon that means I'll just HAVE to keep on buying!

I don't know, life is SO tough!

Wool And Walkies!

2007-04-23T11:08:00.000+01:00

I've been soooo bad lately, in keeping up with the world of blog. I hopefully will soon be able to catch up with everyone's blog! I hang my head in shame!!

We had a wonderful few days in the Lakes. The weather couldn't have been better, with unseasonally hot sunshine to relax in. We stayed on the shores of Lake Coniston, which is beautiful and not as busy as some of the other lakes. This is an early morning pic of the southern end of Coniston.

We stayed in our caravan, which is going to be put to good use again in June. Five of us County Durham knitters are going to 'caravan' at Graysonside camp site , in order to visit WOOLFEST!! Woohoo!!

As you can see, the caravan isn't massive, it's going to be very 'cosy' at Woolfest!! Please excuse the pic of topless hubby, he was slaving over a hot stove at the time!!

I finally got my shawl blocked, and persuaded my dear daughter to model it!

I'm really pleased with it, the border really made a difference when I FINALLY sussed it out. I'm still not sure if it's on backwards, but it looks OK!

I also knitted a couple of the Booga bags, which are drying post-felting as we speak. This is what one looked like before felting.

I've also been playing with my new toy, the swift! It's absolutely brilliant! It winds a skein in no time. I wound three yesterday, Two Jitterbugs from Colinette and my precious Socks That Rock! The colours really complemented each other and I couldn't resist taking a photo.

I'm knitting socks in Regia 4 ply at the moment, I started them at last Fridays KnitnNatter, which was a lovely morning as usual. Bev gave me two of the dinkiest pens I have ever seen! Thank you again Bev! I've always been fascinated by miniatures. I love the mini wheel that Artis-Anne recently bought too!

Speaking of gifts,inkyartitude gave me a belated birthday pressie of some beautiful metallic acrylic paints, in gorgeous colours. Thank you again Lynn!

Aren't they beautiful? Can't wait to use them! Just need more hours in the day!

I'll leave you with some pics from our garden, after a light shower. The spooky thing was, Carrie Anne showed me some pics she'd taken of flowers and they were the same flowers that I'd taken pics of! Spooky!!
I've put the photo of the Grape Hyacinth on, even though it's blurred, just so Carrie Anne can see the coincidence for herself!

P.S. Thanks for all your wonderful comments, they really mean a lot.

Is It Christmas?

2007-04-11T14:19:00.000+01:00

The postman knocked this morning. I opened the door and he said,

'There's a few parcels for you today!'

Then he added,

'In fact all the parcels I've got today are for you.'

So he gives me 4 parcels. My heart starts pounding, I feel like a kid at Christmas!

All these are for me?

Parcel number one: My belated Easter pressie from Ian, my longed for swift, woohoo!! Thank you darlin', much better than a choccy egg!!

Parcel number two: Noro Kureyon destined to be a Booga bag for my sister in law. Lovely colours!

Oops forgot to rotate photo!

Parcel number three: Not for me :( , a book Ian ordered on CBT for work stuff. Boring!

and then Parcel number four. The cutest little sheep finger puppet from Craftydramaqueen! Thank you Andrea for this gorgeous pressie. It was a lovely surprise and is sooo adorable!

Have you seen his little heart feet, aawwww! It really cheered me up to get his little woolyness!

And as if I haven't been lucky enough to get all these lovely pressies, we are off to the Lakes for a long weekend.

I better get back to caravan packing! We always take far too much, I'll be ready for a break by the time we get sorted!

Happy Easter!!

2007-04-09T09:23:00.000+01:00

Warning: LONG BLOG AHEAD!!
Long time no blog! Where does the time go?
The garden has been calling the loudest these last few weeks. I think the sunshine definitely helps. Ian and Tom have got most of the veggie garden ready for the new growing season, and yesterday saw Ian plant the tatties, just before going to watch Newcastle Falcons rugby team win!! Woohoo!

The veggie garden is never pristine like some gardens, like our neighbours gardens ! But I don't like it perfect, I prefer it a bit rough around the edges, more lived in. We grow the veg organically and in the photo I see I've captured the bucket of chicken poo!! Nice!

My brother and sis-in-law visited on Saturday, and we went down to the Food Festival in Auckland Castle. What a fab morning we spent, wandering around the food stalls and craft marquees. We bought organic meat and veg from local farms and some yummy cakes, breads and teabreads, most of which we ate the same day, as another one of my brothers called with his girlfriend . I think they smelled the food cooking ! We spent a lovely afternoon, having a BBQ, in the sunshine, eating gorgeous food and slugging some wine, with some pleasant company. Bliss!

All the yomping around the Food Festival, plus the pathetically small amount of weeding I'd done on Friday, meant I was out of action yesterday. But every cloud has a silver lining and I cracked on with my knitting.

I FINALLY finished my second sock. The Piece of Beauty yarn was a dream to knit and I love the Boathouse colour. I'm desperate to start my STR, but I've also got 2 lots of Jitterbug that I got before the STR yarn and I would like to try that too! Decisions, decisions!!

I also started the border on the shoulder shawl I've started from VLT. Now I've had real problems with this, but I think I've finally cracked it. I know as a novice knitter there are loads of things I don't know, but I thought that there would have been clearer instructions about attaching the border. I think it's the one thing about VLT that I'm disappointed about. I think I may have knit it on back to front, but I'm carrying on anyway!! I'm just round the point, so it should soon be finished.

I was up early yesterday due to the various aches and pains but I was rewarded with a beautiful view from the back door.

Well I apologise for the photo-heavy post, but I MUST put some photo's of 'the boys' in. They have had a whale of a time in the garden this weekend and have slept like babies each evening!

This is Alfie, after he found some shade, and Paddy is drying out after a pond dipping session!

All those with of nervous spinning disposition, look away now! This is the result of my first spin on the wheel. It's very slubby, but I did get better as I went along! Not that you'd notice! But I plied it up with some yarn that was on a bobbin that came with the wheel when I got it and this is the result.

It actually doesn't look as bad as it does in the photo, but I wanted to document the NUMERO UNO, no matter how bad!

Oh I forgot to say, my DH has ordered me a swift for Easter! I think he got sick of holding the skeins. So along with the woolwinder I got from E-bay, I should be able to wind some tidier looking balls of yarn!

And finally, I promise this is the last photo! Last but not least.

My Dad died in June 2004 and I miss him so much. So when Tom found some'forgotten' about photo's, I was overjoyed. They were taken only a few weeks before he died and despite him being very frail and in pain, he still smiled and joked as usual. So I'll leave you with my Dad.

Doing It With The Lights On!

2007-03-27T10:34:00.000+01:00

OOOh, behave! I meant knitting of course!

Last night,myself, CarrieAnne, Becky,Bev and Andrea joined the knitters of Teeside to watch the film 'Notes On A Scandal', with the lights on so we could knit!! And what a lovely evening it was. The film was really good. I'd read the book a few years ago, but I couldn't remember much about the story. It was brill being able to knit, though the lights were a little dim. Luckily we'd all prepared for the occasion and had taken easy 'straight' knitting. I saved my sock knitting for the purpose! Just going round and round the foot didn't distract me much from the film.

The Arc in Stockton is a lovely modern building and after the film we retired to the cafe, where we nattered until we were asked to leave! Poor bloke wanted to go home!!

So I got a fair bit done on the sock. I'd left it as I said for the cinema, but I must admit the shawl is calling me more! I'm really enjoying the pattern. I've made a few mistakes, silly ones mostly, but not as many as I thought I'd make!!

The yarn is Ullcentrum, 100% wool. Its a bit rough, but I do like a bit of rough! I think it will be fine as an everyday type of shawl, which is what I wanted. I love the fine, cobwebby types too but I'd end up keeping it for 'best'! I'm at the 10th pattern repeat, so only another 5 to go! AND then the border of course, sigh....it may take longer than I thought!

I haven't done as much knitting this week as I've been making card samples. I seem to be taking longer and longer to make any card that looks half decent, and end up taking days and days to make just a few crappy cards. I don't know if having to make them within a time limit hampers my creativity, but I find I'm struggling a lot of the time.

Thank you for all your comments on my last post. I'm trying my best not to have ironing guilt! I saw a brill quote somewhere about housework. It said

The only place housework comes before knitting, is in the dictionary!

My new mantra!

Mothering Sunday

2007-03-18T11:44:00.000Z

Mothers Day in our house has always been a low key affair.

The kids have always bought small gifts and cards, which I really appreciate. I get totally pampered for the day too, having all my meals and coffees made for me. It is a day of rest and relaxation, which is unusual for me.

I wish I could get rid of the feelings of guilt I get if pick up the knitting needles when the ironing is building up in the corner. I've even tried putting the ironing out of sight but still the guilt niggles away. I don't always give in to it, sometimes I just say Sod it and pick up the needles. But then the fingers of guilt start creeping round my head and I'll end up putting the knitting down and doing some housework. Now it's not that I'm houseproud, by any stretch of the imagination! I think it's a self esteem issue, not feeling as though I am good enough to allow myself to do something pleasurable, when theres other stuff I should be doing. That sounds really heavy, I don't know where it came from but its true! Does anyone else feel like this ?

On to nice things!

I seem to have avoided second sock syndrome, and have got cracking with my 2nd Piece Of Beauty sock. I'm really enjoying this yarn, as I've said before and would definitely recommend it.

Progress on the sock has been a bit slower because I decided to push on with the bag. I eventually got used to knitting with the rough Kureyon, the colours are beautiful and somewhat make up for its coarseness. I haven't lined it yet but this is how it looks so far.

It has felted beautifully, but it's smaller than I thought even though I followed the felting directions on the pattern. Andrea has knit this bag before and said hers is much bigger. I guess it's all the practise I've had of felting any woollen garment that I get my hands on!! Queen of Felting, the Fulling Princess!!

My Victorian Lace Today book came this week too and it's beautiful. The photography alone is gorgeous then you get the delicious lace patterns on top! I love the historical angle that the author has used and recycled the patterns so that todays knitter can use them. I think it's fab and can understand why the book has been sooo popular! I have just started this one.

I'm using the Ullcentrum yarn I bought at Harrogate. I'm being very good and using from the stash, mainly I must admit cos we are skint! I am trying to stick to the No yarn til Woolfest and due to our financial state, it's not too difficult at the moment !! But it means I'm using stuff I'd forgotten I'd bought, it's quite exciting!!

Friday was KnitnNatter day with the multi-talented CarrieAnne! ( She'll kill me for that one!) It was a lovely group of folks as usual and all the group fees went to Comic Relief too.

Happily, Tom's back is slowly starting to improve. Thank you for all your well wishes. And a huge thank you to everyone who has commented lately. Your support and kind words really do mean a lot. And if theres anyone that reads my blog but doesn't leave a comment, please do, it's lovely to "meet" new bloggers!

Stitch And Bitch

2007-03-11T15:45:00.000Z

Last night I had a wonderful time at CarrieAnne's stitch and bitch!! We ate well, drank well, talked and laughed well and even fitted a bit of knitting in! Thanks CarrieAnne!

I took the socks in progress and the yarn for a felted bag I've wanted to knit for ages.

I almost finished the socks, but when I got to the toe decreases, I thought it wise to put them down and cast on for the bag!

I actually finished the sock this morning, so one down one to go!

For the bag, I'm using the Noro Kureyon shade 164 that Ian bought for my birthday.I love the colours, but it feels so rough, especially after using the Piece of Beauty sock yarn. It's like knitting with rope!

Speaking of birthdays, yet another book from DH came this week.

" At Knits End " has some humerous bits but 2 of my favourite bits were acronyms.
The first, I definitely have problems with;

W.H.A.C.O.

Thats Wool Housing And Containment Overflow! The removable bath panel comes to mind!

But I have yet to achieve the second acronym;

S.A.B.L.E.

This stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy!! It explains that if you didn't buy another ball of yarn AND knit full time until the end of your time here on earth, you still wouldn't use all the yarn in your stash!! I wonder if anyone out there is at this stage already?

Stand forward and be counted, or at least post a pic of your stash!!

What A Week!

2007-03-07T17:56:00.000Z

It's been a pretty s*%t week, and thats putting it politely!

First we had The Bed Drama.

To cut a VERY long story short, the new bed we'd got Tom wouldn't fit up the stairs ! That is, until Ian came out of the garage wielding a large hammer and saw! After some minor adjustments to the banisters, which included knocking out all the spindles and sawing through the newel post, the bed was finally installed!

Then was The MRI Scan-dal.

Picture the scene. Dear son, virtually bedridden with back pain visits GP who wants him to have an MRI scan. But because he's been ill at the end of the financial year (not recommended!) theres no money to allow him to be scanned until the middle of April. Result; one very angry mother and one hefty bill for private scan because we just couldn't watch him struggle any longer.

And the latest was on Monday; CarrieAnne and Kaths Unexpected Adventure!

We'd had a lovely morning at Spennyknit. Lots of knitting, coffee,cake and chat. So far so good. Then all five of us went en masse to a local shoe shop, where we tried on DM 's and generally drooled over shoes. Lovely morning. Then after saying our goodbyes we got into my car and headed home. And then BANG!

Part of my exhaust snapped and got trapped under the car. We pulled over and tried to pull the offending part off, but neither of us had eaten our Shredded Wheat and couldn't manage to remove it!

So I had to phone Mayday rescue and we waited. And waited. Thought about getting the knitting out. Waited some more. The guy eventually turned up, and after about 5 seconds, pulled off the broken bit! Job done!

The annoying thing was the number of cars that passed us but didn't stop, including 2 police cars! Poor CarrieAnne! I felt awful, offering her a lift, then the car falling apart around us!!

But the worst was yet to come. When the garage put the car on the ramps, they found that I needed 3 new tyres, so yet another huge bill!

I'm thinking about standing in the street with a begging tin! Or I suppose I could make more of the dreaded bags to sell ! NNOOOOOOO! End of moan!

Knitting has been brilliant at helping to reduce my stress levels. My Piece Of Beauty socks are coming along nicely. I'm hurtling down the foot at the moment.

Its beautiful to knit with, I'm really enjoying it, even though I'm just knitting the bog standard pattern. I would like to try Monkey after seeing CarrieAnne's, the pattern looks even more beautiful in the flesh!

I also got a belated birthday pressie from Ian. Sorry about bad pic. Theres some lovely

patterns for accessories in this book.

And speaking of books, Ian ordered Victorian Lace Today from Amazon last month, but they can't deliver until April! I've looked at loads of sites for it, but no luck. I wonder if this print run has been sold out and shops are waiting for more to be printed?

Could I ask a favour?

If anyone knows where I could get one, would you let me know as I'm desperate to get my hands on it, I've heard so much about it!

Housemaid's Knee!

2007-02-25T16:47:00.000Z

Well, I haven't actually got housemaids knee, but I should have!

I know it's hard to believe, but I've actually tidied my craft room! And because I knew you wouldn't believe me, I took a photo to prove it!

It's hard to imagine that this was the same room that I tried to shame myself into tidying by putting a pic on the blog! In fact the old one was in such a mess, it wasn't a room, it was a skip!

I lost count of the number of full bin bags I took out over 4 days, yes FOUR days. Because of my dodgy back, it was a starty/ stoppy affair and at one point I thought I'd never get it finished, but it's done. Thank God. And I am going to TRY and keep it tidy. Promise! ( I'll just lock the door so I can't get in to make a mess! It's about the only way it will stay tidy!!)

I was sooo pleased when I sold my first felted bag and even more pleased when someone saw it and asked if I could make them one. Now, after I've knitted this pattern for the sixth or is it seventh time I'm sick of it! It's not that I mind knitting them but the pattern is so simple and I would like to knit something else! Here are the latest two, minus handles!

The major side effect of this situation is that I now have a mountainous yarn stash that needs some urgent attention! Especially before Woolfest, or I'll have no excuse to buy more. I know, I don't need an excuse to buy yarn!

In an attempt to address the stash mountain I've started on the yummy Piece of Beauty sock yarn that Carrie Anne bought me for Christmas. It's called Boathouse and I love it, it's so soft and feels lovely to knit with.

I just need to sit with my feet up, knitting in hand and rest that housemaids knee! Poor girl, hope her other knee's ok!

Just A Quickie!

2007-02-20T11:59:00.000Z

Before I burst with excitement!
Last night, Carrie Anne gave me my birthday pressie! Wow, Wow, WOW!!!

Yes, its Socks That Rock yarn! Just the yarn I've drooled over for sooo many months! And in a fab colourway called Cracked Canyon. Thank you Carrie Anne, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

And if that wasn't enough, Bev gave me a fantastic card, which she knitted using sewing needles and sewing cotton. This is the card,

But the close up shows how incredible it really is.

It's unbelievable just how Bev knitted let alone cabled. I think it's fantastic and just had to show and tell!!

Thanks Bev, you are a genius, a genius with bad eyesight now, but a genius non the less!!

Thank you!!

Pressies Galore!

2007-02-18T15:44:00.000Z

Thank you so much for all your kind birthday wishes, they were really appreciated, as are all your comments.

I had a wonderful birthday and was totally spoilt by family and friends. As well as the colour analysis session, my hubby got me some yarn to unwrap.

I've got this lined up for a felted bag. He also got me some sock yarn and a book.

Ian bought the Jitterbug yarn in autumnal hues of oranges and browns called Sahara. I will tell all about the Castagne Jitterbug pictured, later in the post!

My kids bought me books, chocs,flowers,slippers and a necklace, all gorgeous! I told you I was spoilt. I also got a beautiful picture from Carrie Anne ( her hubby Vicks takes some fantastic photos) and a tease about a pressie yet to come! Its killing me!
I also received one of Carrie Annes fab yarn cards.

And Andrea made me some yummy stitch markers!
A huge, huge thank you to everyone for making my birthday so special.

Back to the other Jitterbug yarn pictured above. As a Christmas pressie, I bought Carrie Anne some Jitterbug sock yarn in Popsicle. I was horrified when I saw the finished socks, they were totally different colours! I felt terrible, even though it wasn't my fault, so I sent off an e-mail to Colinette to let them know how I felt. They replied quite quickly, saying as the yarn was hand dyed you should expect it to knit up in a random nature, etc. So I sent another e-mail with a photo of the offending items. And would you believe it, they agreed that the colour shouldn't vary QUITE that much and they kindly offered TWO skeins of Jitterbug in any colour as a way of saying sorry! One for Carrie Anne in Fruit Coulis and one for me, the aforementioned Castagne! ( I really should have given Carrie Anne both skeins, but I didn't! I'll never get to heaven!) I'm really impressed with Colinettes response, a big well done to them!
Friday was Knit n Natter at Bishop Auckland. Its a lovely group and I really look forward to going. One of the pieces of info Carrie Anne had this week was from the Teeside knitting group that meet in Borders at Teeside Park. They are hiring a cinema, and showing Notes On A Scandal. Tickets are available for knitters, but the best bit is they are leaving the lights on so you can knit! What a fab idea! I'm definitely up for it!!

PS Britknitcast 11 is up for grabs!

Birthday Week!

2007-02-11T18:39:00.000Z

Today is the start of my birthday week , not that at my age I'm supposed to celebrate being another year older!! I can remember when I was little being told ( and believing!) that once you got to 21, you went backover getting younger each year! If only it were true I'd be -25 now!

My birthday has been a quiet affair since my 26th birthday, which I spent in the labour ward of our local maternity hospital. But our son Tom managed to put off appearing on my birthday and hung on in until the next day and became my Valentine present for 1987!! Since then my birthday has usually been spent preparing for parties etc for Tom. Not that I'm complaining mind, now that hes almost 20, I don't have much to do, other than buy his cake and pressies!!

I actually got one of my birthday pressies yesterday. Ian got me a Colour Me Beautiful colour analysis which I've wanted to do for years and years. It was fascinating! I found out that I am an Autumn person which I was over the moon about as I love the colours of Autumn, but also deep colours with warm tones suited me best. She also went through makeup, showing me which colours looked best on my skin. It was so relaxing! I left with a wallet of fabric swatches, which will hopefully guide me to choose clothes in colours that suit. I took a (blurry)photo of some of the swatches.

I've finally finished the red pair of Fetching after a small hiccup! When I put the pair together, I found that one glove was about 2 cm longer than the other. So I knit another glove and hoped it would be similar in size to one of them, which luckily it was!! The annoying thing was, it was one of the few times I had remembered to reverse the cabling, typical!, especially as I forgot on number 3!! Number 2 (if you pardon the expression!) is pictured below.

I've cast on a sheep from Simply Knitting , but I'm finding the Sirdar Snuggly hard work. I'm dying to get started on the Ullcentrum yarn I bought at Harrogate. I'm wanting to knit a shawl or wrap and would like to try some simple lace, any ideas?

After all the wintry weather the rest of the country was having, we finally got some snow!

Pathetic. Call that a snow fall!

I'm off to wrestle with the Snuggly, think I'll have a cuppa first!

Long time no blog!

2007-02-04T16:26:00.000Z

In some ways it doesn't seem like two minutes since I last blogged, but when I looked at the date of my last blog, I couldn't believe it!

There are several reasons (or excuses!) for my lack of waffle. Firstly my hubby has been on holiday last week, holiday may not be quite the right word ,as he hasn't stopped decorating all week! Because we decided to decorate the living room, dining room and Kate's bedroom all in one go, absolute chaos descended! The only room that didn't have stuff from any of the rooms being decorated was my craft room, and that was only because we couldn't get anything else in!

Kate wanted her room to look more grown up and sophisticated and so began a grand clear out. This consisted mainly of her putting anything she didn't want, into our bedroom. On the bed. On the bed so we had to move everything before we could get into said bed!! KIDS!!!

But now her room is finished, bar a few pictures to hang and she is a happy bunny! Me and her Dad are knackered, but shes happy! For the time being!!

The other contributing factor to the lack of posts is rugby! No,not me playing it, but my son Tom. He was brought home injured two weeks ago after hurting his back during a match and has needed loving care ever since! Not that hes got it, but we've done our best!! He's still struggling but it will take time.

Knitting has been on the back burner, a few rows done here and there, but I've finished the bags that were asked for, just the linings and handles to fix on

Both were knit using Wensleydale Longwool Aran which felts beautifully, and a fancy yarn for the top. I am really pleased with the Wensleydale yarn as it is beautiful to knit with too.

I've also been tinkering with stamps. Above is a box I'm almost finished altering, it needs a bit of something on the top. Inside I've created a wacky scene scene using stamps from Graphicus.

Oops, I've got two pics of the box inside and I can't get rid of either!!! My IT knowledge is astounding!
My WIP on the needles is yet another pair of Fetching for a birthday gift. I started them at Darlington knitting group last Friday. It was lovely as usual. I was very tempted by Beckys latest sock yarns, I'm thinking about them!! I'm not sure what to start next, I've got quite a stash building. I would like to try and use it in the order that I bought it, but I don't know if I can be that disciplined!

Busy As A Bee!

2007-01-21T11:09:00.000Z

Well, busy for me, busy knitting of course! So be prepared for a long post!!

You know the saying 'Every cloud has a silver lining' ? Well it is so true. As various parts of my body have been failing me this week, I've been forced to rest and so I've had loads more time for knitting! Consequently, I've actually got some FO's to show and tell!!

I finished my sister in laws Fetchings in record time for me. I'm getting to know the pattern off by heart now but I STILL forget to reverse the cable on the second glove!

I then began to knit the yarn I've been desperate to knit since I won it on Silvia's blog www.fromthesheepsback.com. I couldn't decide what to knit until I remembered the Iris hat from Colinette. So, hoping that there was enough yarn, I began to knit. I took a few photo's, but they just don't do justice to the yarn. It is beautifully soft, thick and thin yarn, hand dyed using beetroot, hand spun, and plyed with a touch of sparkle, it's absolutely drop dead gorgeous!

It looks like an upside down bikini for someone flat chested at this stage! I took a close up to try and catch the sparkle, but no joy.

When it was finished, I utilised a nearby candle to try and show the hat in all its glory!

I tried to avoid it, and I apologise in advance but here is a photo of me wearing the above hat. Those of a nervous disposition, look away now!!

Sorry for inflicting that on you!

As well as knitting, I've also been busy crafting with a beautiful kit Carrie Anne bought me as part of my Christmas pressie, alongside some sumptious sock yarn from Piece of Beauty. The kit uses Japanese Washi paper to make a mirror compact and was really straightforward to make. So now follows the finished item from every conceivable angle known to man! ( Can you tell I got a camera for Christmas?)

I love it. The colours are gorgeous and wadding between the layers make it soft and squishy to the touch. The kits can be bought from www.japancrafts.co.uk. Thank you Carrie Anne!!

Well, I'm ready for a cuppa myself now, and back to my WIP, another knitted bag in Wensleydale Longwool !!

New Look Blog!

2007-01-14T18:07:00.000Z

Well I've finally succumbed to the the constant prodding by Blogger and have gone Beta!! While I was on I decided to change my blog colour as I'm not really a pink person!! I thought I'd go with a bit of nature, what do you think?

I finally got the beanie finished! It was really simple to knit, but as I said previously, I made an easy pattern difficult due to lack of concentration! But I finally got there and it fits Tom a treat! It was the first time I'd 'fiddled' with a pattern, adding extra stitches and pattern repeats in an attempt,successful as it turned out, to fit my sons large head!

I've already started my next project. It's my sister in laws birthday at the end of January and I've started a pair of Fetching in black for her birthday. She admired a pair that I knitted for a Christmas pressie and so I thought they would be ideal.

She loved the bag I made her for Christmas and a couple of her friends are keen for me to make them one each, but I'm really stuck on how much I should charge for labour. Any ideas?

My back has been really rough these last few days, so I haven't been able to get the spinning wheel out. I feel terrible about the wheels lack of use, its not that I don't want to use it, but things seem to conspire against me. I liked Kaths ( Kaths Krafty Kreations) idea of doing something each day e.g. spinning Monday, weaving Tuesday and it can be left really flexible to cope with lifes ups and downs!!

Tomorrow night is Knitknots at Darlington forum and I'm looking forward to a little bit of knitting and an awful lot of nattering! Oh and a gorgeous cake and cup of coffee!! Tempted? Me too!!

First Blog of 2007

2007-01-07T16:15:00.000Z

Its hard to believe that yet another New Year is here! It doesn't seem two minutes since 2006 began! I just get used to writing the correct year on various bits of paperwork, then it goes and changes!!
Friday saw the first knitting group of the year at Darlington Stitches. It was lovely to see everyone again and find out what Santa had brought them! I took a few photos with my new camera, as you'll see in the photos,Bev was also playing with her camera!

It was a smaller group than usual, but that made it easier to talk to everyone.

The progress of Toms beanie has been slow, very slow. I thought such a small piece would knit up in no time, and it probably would have but I didn't take into account the need to have a small amount of concentration! On a scale of 0 - 10 my concentration is around the - 5 mark!!

So consequently it has been pulled out more times than I would care to share!

Its a really straightforward cable pattern from S n B Nation that I'm doing in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran. I've had to make the hat bigger and longer cos my son has..well, a big head!! I know its in proportion with his 6 ft 8 inch body but the facts are compared to the average head, his is big!

Hopefully I'll be able to crack on with it and get it finished. I've got so much yarn in the queue and I also feel quilty about the downright neglect of my loom and spinning wheel!

Has anyone any ideas how to increase the number of hours in the day? If you do, pleeeease let me know!!

These Socks Are Made For Walking...

2006-12-30T18:34:00.000Z

Well I`ve finally finished Ians socks so I thought I'd take a pic to post. But Ian being Ian, when I asked him to pose his feet so I could take a photo of the socks together, these were the results

This one wasn't too bad, but then I commented that you couldn't see the back sock too well.
This resulted in the following photo! Swan Lake it ain't!!

This one shows how badly matched the socks are, as well as Ians obvious expertise in balletic posture!

He kept that one quiet, I wondered what he wanted all that pink net for!!

I thought I'd leave with a pic of Alfie, standing in the frost covered grasses on Boxing Day. The frost was amazing in the way it had accumulated day after day.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year, ours will be quiet as always.

Thanks to everyone who has left comments over the last few months, I really do appreciate them all. Happy New Year!!

Christmas Come Early!!

2006-12-22T13:12:00.000Z

I've got an early Christmas pressie, but I can't unwrap it till June!! Puzzled?
Well myself and Carrie Anne have booked a week long holiday, a fibre retreat to be honest! A FIBRE RETREAT, Whooohoooo!!!!!!!
Its at the beginning of June and to get there, we have to have a one and a half hour flight(yes Carrie Anne is going to fly!!!). This is followed by a two hour ferry trip! The destination?
FAIR ISLE!!!!!!!
I am so excited!! We are going to learn all the skills to prepare, dye , spin and ply wool! And apparently we are there at shearing time and we could learn an extra skill!!!
Well I hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful and relaxed Christmas, with lots of time for knitting!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tagged!

2006-12-20T17:35:00.000Z

Well I must say thank you CarrieAnne (through gritted teeth!) for kindly tagging me!
The Rule: People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as stating this rule clearly. At the end you should choose 6 people to be tagged and leave a comment telling them in their comments.
I have really struggled with this, I'm just boring! But here goes!
1. When everyone else is freezing cold, I'm really warm. I never used to be like this but I quite like it in cold weather. Its horrible when the weathers warmer, I go into meltdown!
2.I haven't had a bath in years! This isn't as bad as it sounds, honest! Since my back surgery, I haven't been able to get into the bath without much tugging and pulling, so I stick to the shower. I long to have a hot soaky bath!!
3.I don't know if this is too much information, but I love reading on the loo!! It drives Ian nuts, especially as my son has inherited the gene! He'll be so pleased I've told the world, so if you see a 6ft 8inch bloke with a beard looking embarrased, it will be Tom!
4.I don't mind gutting fish but I couldn't bear to kill one.
5.Due to my slight OCD tendencies, I feel that putting the toothbrushes in the right order will make the day go smoothly!
6.I love going to the Lake District when its raining! This is joined by loving going to the coast when its stormy.
I didn't realise until I got started that I am much more weird than I first thought!!
Instead of tagging people( I don't think theres anyone left!) , if you would like to explain your own weirdness, consider yourself tagged!!
I will leave you with a photo of our own Santa Paws if Blogger will allow!

Remember Me??!!

2006-12-13T11:03:00.000Z

How long is it since I last posted? I can't believe where the time has gone!
Christmas preparations are going full steam ahead. We've got the tree up, courtesy of Kate who has done all the decorations.

We usually put the tree in the conservatory, its cooler in there and so the tree doesn't drop as many needles!

The other good thing is its easy to get it outside and down to the compost heap, without leaving a trail of needles!

I had to show you this photo of CarrieAnne!

I think she looks fab with her 'dreads'!!

They really seemed to give her more 'bounce', more like the old CarrieAnne! I hope shes here to stay!

Last week CarrieAnne, Andrea and myself ventured to Borders at Teeside Park, to visit the Knitting group at Starbucks. Of course we had to indulge in cakes and coffees!

Afterwards we shopped a little, and in M and S a tannoy announcement asked us to leave!(we were the only ones left in the shop!) It was a really good night, we had lots of laughs as usual and I hope we can do it again soon.

Last night, Ian and I returned to Teeside park to try and do a bit more shopping for Christmas. We got a few things but still need to get some more. Kates not doing so bad, but finding things for Tom is proving more challenging!

On the knitting front things are slow, even slower than usual. I've just started an item which is a Christmas pressie so I can't give details. I'm still plodding on with Ians socks but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

I've got most of my cards done, but there are still a couple to make, hopefully I'll get those finished today and I'll be able to relax a little thinking at least one things done!

I'm looking forward as usual to KnitnNatter on Friday. I was convinced it was next week! I would have been gutted if I'd missed the Christmas party that Carrie Annes putting on!! I love mince pies and am quickly becoming a similar shape!!

Well, I'm going to listen to Britknitcast next and then craft room hell here I come!! (still not tidy!)

Photo Time

2006-11-29T20:01:00.000Z

Thought I`d put some photos on my blog as I've just got a new camera!!

First, this is the fab yarn I won from Silvia, I love it!

The next photos are brooches I made earlier this s ummer from Stampbord, using various inks,
stamps and scraping techniques. They are really easy and fun to make.

This is a quick card I made for my
brother in laws birthday on Friday.
Last minute as usual!

And at last a knitty photo! Ians socks are coming along fine. The 6ply Regia knits up quickly but I prefer the 4plys fineness, but as CarrieAnne pointed out, these look 'manly'!!

I've taken loads more photos, but luckily for everyone, Bloggers on a go slow, so I won't bore you anymore.

There was one photo I wasn't sure about putting on as it makes me look such a slob, but I thought the embarrassment might spur me into tidying it.

Let me introduce my craftroom.........................

What more can I say! I hang my head in shame!!

Like A Kid In A Sweet Shop

2006-11-26T11:30:00.000Z

And I was!! I got back from the Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate late on Friday night, after spending two days trawling the halls!
I didn't know what to expect as it was my first time there,but the sheer size of it was enough to get me excited!!
This is some of my purchases. I bought some Regia sock yarn, Alpaca DK which was reduced as a show special, and several shades of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran. From HipKnits I got some sari silk in gorgeous autumn shades and from a Swedish firm whose name escapes me, I bought 2 skeins of a hand spun handdyed aran weight yarn, which I'm hoping to knit a shawl with. I also got some yarn to try dyeing and from Jamiesons, I purchased some tops in a yummy chocolate colour.

I was a little disappointed in the yarn stalls. There were all too many selling cheap fuzzy yarn and not as many as I'd expected selling unusual stuff, I don't know if this was typical or not.
I also bought some fabric and a pattern for tote bags. I'm no
seamstress, so watch this space!

I finally found some Denise interchangeable circular needles and a pair of bamboo dpns. Also at the Taj Craft stall, where I bought my Denise needles, I found a book called Learn to Spin. It is really basic and goes through fleece preparation as well as the spinning itself, so it seemed ideal for me! I also got some beads to add to the collection waiting to be made into something! And to try and make me feel Christmassy, I got a felt christmas angel kit.

The four huge halls were mind boggling and I don't know how many times I got lost.

Highlights for me were the workshops and Rowan fashion show I attended. Kerrie Allman ran Knitted Flowers, which was very enjoyable, not just for the workshop, but also because I met Emma and what a lovely person she is, and she looks stunning too!!
In the first photo, you can see some small amounts of silk yarn right at the front. This was the yarn Kerrie gave us at the workshop.
My second workshop was Hooky Rugs which I found interesting as I like learning new craft skills. The Rowan workshop was brill too. Seeing the garments in the flesh gave a totally different perspective to the designs. Andrea joined me for the fashion show. It was lovely to see that she'd made it down and I really enjoyed looking around with both her and CarrieAnne.

While I was away, Silvia posted the yarn I had won and I couldn't wait to see it. I was not disappointed! It is absolutely gorgeous. I forgot to take a photo, but I will. The yarn is so soft with a beautiful texture and colour. I'm pleased to read also that Silvia is going to start selling her yarn. I would definitely recommend it, its gorgeous! So thank you Silvia and keep up the good work! I wish you loads of success with your yarn sales.

Ready To Go!!

2006-11-21T10:44:00.000Z

I'm so excited! Firstly, cos I'm busy packing for a few days in Harrogate at the Knitting and Stitching Show! I've never been before but I preordered the show book which shows what companies are there and where they are. It looks HUGE and very tiring, but I'll just have to grit my teeth and think of yarn!!
The other reason I'm as high as a kite is I've won some beautiful yarn!! Silvia of Fromthesheepsback fame, has spun a gorgeous yarn and I won it in her competition!!! I don't think I would have been able to part with it if I'd spun it!! So thank you so much Silvia, I can't wait to get my hands on it!!
Well fingers crossed that my back holds out, I'm sure I'll still struggle round even if I'm crippled with pain!!
I better get on with the packing. Twenty layers to sleep in cos I bet the caravan will be FREEZING! But its all part of the fun!

Skip To The Loo!!

2006-11-13T13:56:00.000Z

It seems ages since I blogged. I just seem to be busy doing nothing at the moment! I've felt more able to get out and about a bit more, which does make me feel better, but gives me less time to do things.
On Monday, Spennyknit met up. The usual addicts were there and it was lovely to see some new members. The mince pies were yummy!! Thanks Andrea!
Friday was a bit of a roller coaster! It was my dear hubby's birthday. 21 again!! He's still waiting for his pressie from me, as the company I ordered it from decided not to tell me it was out of stock when I placed the order!! Adding to the stress , my son was referred for more medical tests on Friday too. I know that it's better to identify the problems cos then you can deal with them, but it still makes my anxiety levels shoot through the roof! I also did Darlo craft market with CarrieAnne, didn't sell a bean, got hypothermia but really enjoyed the day and had a good laugh!!
People of a nervous disposition should look away now!! There follows graphic images of..............loo roll covers!! Us 'Coven' members currently have a standing joke about loo roll covers!! I think I was responsible for this all starting, after jokingly suggesting CarrieAnne knit some for her stall!! I then bought her a BEAUTIFUL crinoline lady loo roll cover!! But back to the craft market, Andrea presented me with.....................

This GORGEOUS Christmas Pud loo roll cover!!!!

Aren't I a lucky Lady??!!

CarrieAnne preserved the handover of this fabulous gift for posterity !

I can see this getting out of hand, each of us ending up with loads of these things!! If anyone has seen any patterns for these gorgeous items, the tackier the better, could you let me know!The eventful day finished with a beautiful meal with the family. I think I was pleased it was over!!

On Sunday, our knitting groups had a table at a local craft fair, to sell the remaining teddies etc from the Picnic. Unfortunately, there were only a few customers through the door but we did sell some things. See CarrieAnne and Andrea's blog to see the photos of the newly named 'Coven'!! We knitted and nattered the day away, drank loads of tea and ate lots of biccies!! So it turned out well in the end!!

Promised Pics

2006-11-04T14:40:00.000Z

Tom came home with his camera, so I`ve taken the opportunity to take some pics of my ( now unwrapped ) wheel!

The wheel needs waxing but I haven`t got round to getting any yet.

I`ve also taken a photo of the extras that were sent with the wheel. They are balanced on top of the fleece that I was sent. I don`t know if its usable, how old it is or anything. I feel at the bottom of a very steep learning curve!!

I`ve looked thro the Ashford book of spinning, but I would really like to go to a workshop, to learn the basics.

Yesterday was Darlingtons In Stitches knitting group at the art centre. It was really nice to see everyone, to see what everyones latest knitting project was, have coffee, cake and lots of laughs!! It really does lift my spirits.

After the group CarrieAnne and I had a mooch around Boyes and bought some bargains, though mine weren`t of the knitting variety!! I was looking for fabric to make a 'drool blanket'!!

Being the owners of a big, beautiful, black labrador brings many rewards. The downside is the drool. Remember that film Beethoven, with the drooly dog? Well Paddy has definitely modelled himself on Beethoven! And as Ian has just got another car, whose rear seat is drool-free, I am going to attempt to make a cover, just for where Paddy rests his head when he is in the boot. Alfie, not to be left out, contributes by putting his mucky little paws in the same area!!

While shopping, I bought some black fleece, thinking it would wash and dry quickly. So all I`ve got to do now is make a cover!!? Oh-oh!

A New Arrival

2006-10-31T17:45:00.000Z

No, not that sort!! But then again you could say its my new baby!! Yes, my spinning wheel has finally come. Its been two weeks but the guy Ian bought it from has kept in touch to explain the reasons for the delay.

You`d never guess what it was would you!!

( unfortunately batteries in camera packed up after this photo so I can`t show off my new toys!!

As compensation he sent some extras, wow I couldn`t believe it as I unwrapped it.
He`d put in a lazy kate (even though I`ve already got one in human form!) with three bobbins, a pair of carders, a little flick carder, The Ashford book of Spinning, another spinning book and some leaflets on vegetable dying and spinning!! And to top it off, tucked in the parcel was two big bags of fleece!
I was totally overwhelmed, it was like Christmas! Now I just need to learn how to use them all!
Today really was like Christmas, as I also got two other parcels in the post.

First, I want to say a huge thank you to Andrea (craftydramaqueen), for her thoughtful gift and beautiful handcrafted card. I was quite teary when I opened it, it meant such a lot to think someone had gone to all that effort for me. So many, many thanks Andrea.

My final package were my Hong Kong bamboo knitting needles! I can`t believe how good they seem for the price. I`ll be able to get cracking with my Colinette hat now!!
So all in all its been a strange day, brill but strange. Ians just made me a cuppa, so I`m going to have a flick through a spinning book or two!!

Warm Hands and Feet!

2006-10-26T18:11:00.000+01:00

It doesn`t feel almost a week since my last blog. Where does all the time go? I know this last week has been different, in that Ians had a weeks holiday from work and I haven`t been too good in myself ( its bring out the straight- jacket time!)
On the knitting front, I`ve finally got a photo of my finished socks,even if it is a bit dodgy as I took it myself and cut most of my feet off!!

I`m really pleased with them and they couldn`t have been finished at a better time, bbrrrr! I`ve been cracking on with the Fetching gloves. I can`t believe how fast they knit up!! I`ve taken a photo at the thumbless stage on my first glove. The colour is actually a lovely soft pistachio green!

Ian and I had a lovely day out in Knaresborough on Tuesday. I couldn`t walk past Sheepish of course! They didn`t have the colour Noro Kureyon that I wanted, so I ended up just with the Twilleys Freedom spirit pattern book. After a good mooch about the town and a gorgeous lunch at the Lavender tea room, we headed towards Leyburn, to the Wensleydale Longwool shop to be precise!! I bought wool for another felted bag in a brown called natural black!! The lady in the shop was really helpful and so pleasant to talk to.
Good news on the home front. Kate, my dear daughter, has passed her driving test.
She was so much calmer than I thought she would be. It was me and Ian that were pacing the floor, waiting for her to return from the test centre. Mind, as soon as she got out of the instructors car we could tell she had passed. I don`t know what it was that gave it away. It could have been the ear to ear grin or perhaps it was the glass shattering scream as she ran down the drive!!

As my daughter has been complaining of bias on my blog ( i.e. her brothers had his photo on and she hasn`t!) in the interests of family unity, and because she did so well passing her test, I`m going to put her photo on!! Its blurry because its a photo of a photo, and not my usual dodgy camera work !

Todays The Day The Teddy Bears........

2006-10-20T19:18:00.000+01:00

Well I`ve well and truly celebrated National Knitting week!! I`ve never had such a busy social life!!
Following Mondays 'knit in', CarrieAnne, Becky and I travelled to Teeside Park on Wednesday, to visit the knitting group at Borders. To celebrate the week, they were there every night, knitting away. They were a really friendly bunch. Add to that the shelfloads of fibrecraft books and a Starbucks cafe instore and you have the recipe for a pretty good evening!!
But today was our knitting groups offering, and it looked fantastic. The Teddy bears picnic was crowded with teddies, who feasted to bursting point on all the delicious grub provided!!
Our Afghan blanket raffle did really well, as did the knitted goods stall.
All the group members excelled themselves, both in the items they made and the time they gave. It was wonderful to be able to play a small part in this event.
Hopefully, we will have raised loads of money for the Hospice already, even before we sell the remaining teddies at the Hallgarth Hall sale.
The photos are poor quality but top pic shows Sheila and Anne who were manning the knitted items for sale stall.
Below them are Linda and Carrie Anne, CarrieAnne being the organiser extraordinaire!!

No sign of the spinning wheel yet, but its probably for the best as I don`t think I would have had the time to look at it!! Tomorrow I`m going to a tabletop sale in Spennymoor with Andrea, so hopefully I`ll sell some of the 'clutter'!!(Make some space for more yarn!) I`m taking my socks and hopefully I`ll get them finished while I`m there!!

Well I better go and dig out some stuff!!

He`s Done It Again!!

2006-10-17T09:31:00.000+01:00

Oh My God!! I came home from the Darlo knit in last night, only to find my husband with laptop on lap!! No surprises there.
UNTIL, I discovered he was in the dying minutes of an E-bay auction for a spinning wheel!! And he won! I apparently had arrived home sooner than expected as he wasn`t going to tell me, and was just going to wait for the screams when it arrived!!

Full House!

2006-10-14T16:41:00.000+01:00

Well we are back to a full house since Tom returned from uni for the weekend, with mucky washing in tow of course! I must admit, it is nice to have everyone back in the nest. Or maybe I should say stye, looking at the state of the place!! The knitting/weaving addiction is definitely taking hold!

It`s been an odd week. Earlier in the week I took leaflets to some local shops ( advertising our KnitnNatter Teddy Bears Picnic next week) and begged pleaded and cajoled for them to be displayed. Most agreed! Only one grumbled, mainly because he had been talked into putting a huge circus poster in the window. I pointed out that ours was for a good cause and he relented!!
On the knitting front, I finished my pink bag, and couldn`t wait to wash it! I hovered around the machine like an expectant father in a labour ward! I was really pleased with the result. The Longwool has felted beautifully, giving a lovely thick textured felt.

The pictures not wonderful!
As before the colour isn`t true, it`s bright fuschia pink, but you can get an idea of what it looks like.
I still need to line the bag, and I`m looking for some funky material whilst on my travels.

I`m still plugging away with sock number two. I`ve just about finished the instep shaping so hopefully it won`t be too long before its finished and I`ll have warm toes!!

Last time I was at Beckys stall in Darlington, I bought some Regia sock wool to knit some walking socks for my dear hubby. I`m looking forward to starting these as the yarn is 6ply, and I think they will knit up quite quickly.

I`ve decided to knit a hat from the Artyfacts book using Colinette Prism. I`ve chosen the muted shade called Castagne . I`ve tried to take a photo of the hank but it doesn`t look good I`m afraid!

After I ordered the wool and the pattern, I wondered if I had the right sized needles. Well would you believe it, I didn`t!! So to remedy this and to try and reduce the incidence of it happening again, I went on E-bay and ordered a set of the bamboo needles from Hong Kong. Andrea received hers a few weeks ago and they were brill! Now I`ve just got to try and be patient while I wait for them!

Have you listened to Carrie-Annes latest BritKnitCast? Its fab as usual, so do try to catch it if you can. I especially liked the sounds of the sheep race at Masham!!
I think its back to the socks!!

Here Weave Go!!

2006-10-08T11:06:00.000+01:00

I finally found time to start playing with my loom! I found the warping up process quite straightforward and relatively painless, I think mainly due to the book Ian bought with the loom. It describes each step in such simple terms alongside good step by step photos, that even I could follow it! I decided on a scarf width because a) I wanted to try and make 'something' rather than a swatch and b) because I was really impatient and wanted to start weaving!! So heres the progress so far:

The colours in the photo are poor, they are actually browns and creams.

I`ve also started knitting a felted bag. It`s actually knitted in
the bright fuschia pink Wensleydale Longwool I bought at Masham. I ran out on Friday and luckily Becky (of Tabbydashery fame) had one ball left on her stall at Darlington market yesterday! What an angel!!
I`m now busily trying to get the handles finished because I can`t wait to see the finished felted product!!
It`s been a busy weekend as Carrie-Anne has had an open house 'stitch in' to try and make some blankets from the myriad of squares the KnitnNatter group have produced. It`s a slow process but well worth the effort. I`ve even learnt how to do mattrass stitch, as taught to Carrie-Anne by Debbie Abrahams no less!!
I wish, for Carrie-Annes sake that the turnout had been better as she had made a huge committment to open up her home for the weekend. I think she deserves a medal!!
Well I`m off to the final day`s stitch in. I think we`ll be seeing knitted squares in our sleep!!

It`s Come!!!!

2006-10-03T09:14:00.000+01:00

It`s come!! Woohoo! My wonderful hubby`s fantastic 'surprise' pressie of a loom has arrived. I can`t wait to get it put together and get weaving!!
As Carrie-Anne warned me, the loom should be waxed before assembly, so guess what I was doing last night (after a short visit to Homebase for some wax) ? I usually leave stuff that has to be put together to the aforementioned hubby, but he`s away in Birmingham until late tonight and I know I just can`t wait till then!!
Also in the package, was the book, The Ashford Book Of Rigid Heddle Weaving. I had a brief read ( after waxing, the loom that is and not my legs !) and it looks as though it`s going to be really useful.

Now where did he put that screwdriver?

Ba Ba Black Sheep!

2006-10-02T14:05:00.000+01:00

Well its been a busy few days! Yesterday, I went to Masham sheep fair in the company of Carrie-Anne of Acrylik fame! There was so much more there than I expected. Of course there was lots of sheep, I loved the fat lamb category! There was a cross-section of craft stalls, tempting us before we even got near any wool! We were keen to get to the spinning and weaving demo`s as Carrie-Annes friend Silvia was demonstrating spinning. When I watch an experienced spinner, I always think it looks so relaxing, , unlike my attempts with a drop spindle, most ungainly with elbows akimbo!!
It was very thirsty work , all this watching, so we found a small cafe called Suncatchers. It served the most mouthwatering menu of cakes that I have seen. On our first visit(yes there was more than one!) we sampled the beautiful carrot cake and our second sampling involved some gorgeous lime and lemon drizzle cake! Mmmmm! I can definitely recommend Suncatchers!
The day was rounded off with a small flutter on the sheep race and a brilliant display of sheepdog handling. I came home with the latest Interweave Knits and some Wensleydale Longwool Aran in a bright fuschia pink, destined to become a felted bag. I also bought some merino tops for felting/spinning and a Miniweave 4" square loom. I even bought my hubby a t-shirt and a bottle of Black Sheep beer!! A wonderful day in all!
This morning saw the second Spennyknit. Still not too busy but hopefully numbers will pick up. Unfortunately, I had to have another cake! Yum yum!
So now I suppose I should really try and burn off all those calories and do some ironing, but then again the wool is shouting!
I wonder which one will win!!

Surprise, Surprise!!

2006-09-27T18:53:00.000+01:00

It was a huge surprise, surprise that I got this morning, when I found out that my gorgeous, wonderful husband, had ordered me a loom earlier this week! Within the next couple of days, I will be the proud and rather shocked owner of an Ashford 60cm rigid heddle loom!! I`m so excited!! I can`t wait to get my hands on it.
Ian`s also ordered me a book on rigid heddle weaving, which I will definitely need. I`ve already spoken to Carrie-Anne, creator of the brilliant BritKnitCast, and requested tutorials!!
Ian`s definitely scored zillions of Brownie points with this surprise!!

Here are the promised photos. On the left is my very first sock, I`m quite proud of it too!

Next is a very poor picture of my Nuno felt which I made at last weekends workshop. The photo doesn`t do it justice, its actually fuschia pink and has a lovely ruched texture.

And so we come to the the last picture. No, its not an escaped pea from a Birds Eye commercial, but my felted Merino tops bead!!

Felting Workshop

2006-09-24T13:11:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Craftydramaqueen and I went to a wonderful felting workshop held by Durham Guild in Durham City. I was unsure of what to expect, but I shouldn`t have worried. What a lovely group of people! They were so friendly and all the members made us feel so welcome.
We started by making a simple flat piece of felt, and as the day progressed, we moved onto Nuno felting. This incorporates materials into the felt and as the wool shrinks, causes the material to 'ruche',leaving a wonderful texture to the felt. We also sampled felt bead making, and three dimensional felting, making bags with plastic templates.Photos soon !It was a really packed day!
I particularly enjoyed looking at some felt items which the members brought in. These ranged from hats,bags,containers and jewellery to slippers, waistcoats and even a teapot!! The quality of these items was fantastic. It was a real pleasure talking to all who attended, the Guild members were so experienced and gave us loads of hints and tips to help our felting. Can you tell I enjoyed it!?!:). They are going to let us know about next years programme of events, and I`m sure we`ll be back!!

My son had an unexpected return home on Friday. My husband was called to Newcastle General hospital to collect one concussed son, in full rugby regalia! He had to be observed for 24 hours and persuaded the doctor to let him come home as 'both parents are nurses'!! So home he came and returned to his flat the following day, laden with MORE food and a large box of beer! Just the essentials eh!
I`m having a lazy day today. I ache in places I didn`t know I had! The felt workshop should be renamed a felt workout!! Goodbye bingo wings after all that rolling! I think one of the Guild had the right idea. She used an electric sander in a plastic bag to 'roll' the felt. Noisy but very effective and much less wear and tear on the old body!!
I`ve started to write a list of things I need to make felt. Its an odd looking thing , as it includes items such as an Ikea bamboo blind and a broomshank!! The things us crafters need!!

And Then There Were Three!

2006-09-20T19:08:00.000+01:00

Well, the first of our chicks has fledged! Tom finally moved to Newcastle after weeks of preparation, with enough stuff to supply a small army! I rather underestimated the amount of 'stuff' that had gathered and so on the day of the move, I was surprised that it wouldn`t all fit in the car. Even booting Kate out didn`t make enough space, so we had to have 2 runs! But despite that minor hiccup,everything went well. He`s settled in well and has some really nice flatmates. Our house is tidier and quieter, but Kate is trying her best to remedy that!
Kate has also started her Uni course, but is travelling daily, so far its gone well, but tomorrow is the first 'early' bus ride so we`ll have to see how that goes!
All these adventures have left time for crafting in very short supply, but I did manage to get to Knit n Natter at Bishop Auckland and Knitknots at Darlington in between Uni stuff! I love going to these groups, the atmosphere is brill and other members are so welcoming. I knew I couldn`t miss them or I`d have had withdrawal symptoms! My sock is getting longer with the toe in sight! I`ve also finished another scarf for the Teddy Bears Picnic event. Sorry no pics cos Tom has taken the camera to Uni!! I should really do some ironing next, but the sock is calling!!

University Challenge

2006-09-13T18:58:00.000+01:00

My challenge is to try and get two kids ready for Uni next week and oh what a challenge it is. Wading thigh high in mud would be less taxing!
Tom, the eldest is moving to Newcastle and so needs the usual household bits, most of which I`m sure will merely gather dust in the back of a student kitchen cupboard!! Whether it will all fit in the car on Saturday is another story, but at least its only Newcastle if we need a second run and not his second choice Uni ,which was Swansea!!
Kate, our youngest is also going to Newcastle, but has decided to travel daily. We had a recce on Monday, firstly to find bus times, then find the Uni, then shop. When Kate read the bus timetable she was shocked to find that her bus left at 7.24 am. She didn`t know there were two seven o`clocks in a day! Needless to say, she`s hoping her lectures are not 9am starts!! The bus journey was long. Very long. It was like a guided tour of the North-East!! We eventually got there , shopped till we dropped, found the Uni and headed home! We both had a really lovely day but were exhausted.
Because of all the 'sorting stuff out for Uni' stuff, knitting has taken a back seat. It was only last Friday( when my back gave up the ghost ) that my needles got a chance to start clicking!! I got my Woolclip scarf finished and cracked on with my sock!! I couldn`t take a photo, as the camera batteries had died, so I thought I`d not do my blog until I had a photo. But eagle-eyed Acrylik spotted my updated percentage bar!!

I`m looking forward to Knit n Natter on Friday, I`ll be able to take a finished item at last!! And I`d better get cracking with my sock. I told another member Kath that I`d have at least 1 done before the next meeting. Ooops!!

Up and running again!

2006-09-04T19:20:00.000+01:00

Well I`m finally back online, following a series of hiccups with our wireless connection. Me and technology just shouldn`t mix! ( When I say technology, I mean anything from a tin opener!!) Last weekend, Ian and I had a lovely lazy long weekend in the Lake District. I cracked on with my sock and I`m really pleased with it so far.
While we were there, I couldn`t resist a trip to the Woolclip. There were too many beautiful wools to choose from! After much deliberation, I chose a hand spun, hand dyed wool in a shade called Raspberry Coulis! Good enough to eat!

I also bought a scarf kit in beautiful soft aquas and pinks. I have just started it and already my daughter Kate is dropping hints about needing a new scarf and how the colours of the one I`m knitting are really nice...........!

Today was the first Spennyknit group, at the Settlement in Spennymoor. Turn out was disappointing, but with it being the first one AND school holidays, things can only get better. I wish Andrea every success, Carrie and I had a lovely time. It`s brill at the moment what with Knitnnatter,Stitches, Knit knots and now Spennyknit, its wall to wall knitting! What more could a girl ask for( except more handbags of course!)

Busy Day

2006-08-23T19:17:00.000+01:00

Its been a busy day, with setting up my blog and all! When I say setting up my blog, thats not strictly true! Without Carrie, I wouldn`t even have a blog! So, merci beaucoup Carrie!
I did`nt really introduce' my boys' pictured below. Alfie is the O so innocent looking Border terrier puppy and Paddy is our handsome black Lab. They are full of beans but usually tire each other out!!
I can`t wait to get my needles out tonight.Since I started on my first pair of socks only a couple of nights ago, I`ve been hooked! The Opal self patterning yarn is fantastic. I get excited waiting to see what the next colour will look like when its knitted into the sock!! So I`m off to start knitting!!

introducing Paddy and Alfie

2006-08-23T17:01:00.000+01:00

My boys!

Welcome!

2006-08-23T16:54:00.000+01:00

Hello and welcome to my new blog!