Out Of Bed....

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.

Is It Christmas?

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!

Stitch And Bitch

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!!

Just A Quickie!

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!

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!