It's that time of year....

... to hold a birthday competition...



So if you want the chance of winning some goodies (and there may be 4 ply included..)
Just leave a comment on the answer to this question:



How many circular needles to I have ?



I'm not including my Denise set, and by needle I mean bit of 'string' with points a both ends.


I promise not to buy any more between now and the close - midnight (uk time) on 'the day' next Saturday 8th September.

I will also do my upmost to find all the strays that are hiding round the house.

And something that might help - I use circulars for sock knitting, I have some addi lace and turbo and some knitpicks... and I have no idea what the answer is myself !!!





The postcard arrived from a friend yesterday, very suitable as I'm off to Wales as soon as I've packed.... spending the day helping at Colinette tomorrow (and maybe going to the steam train festival nextdoor)and then there is a food festival somewhere nearby on Sunday.

Have a good weekend !!

Sorry Peter

I really will try and finish something for you later... I've been a bit distracted...

There was this cone of Noro burning a hole in the carpet...

I cant remember what the pattern is but I reduced the size by quite a bit. An annoying thing about the cone was that to change from pink to blue there was a knot every time... The yarn was not good to sew up with, kept on breaking... but it is done and is going to stay zip-less..

And there is enough left to make a bag... double bargain !!

And I didn't enjoy knitting this, I stopped probably before I should have done but the thought of doing another 48 rows made me glad that I'm so short !!

It is Shoalwater Shawl, I strand of cashmere and one of Parisenne.

Sorry the cloth is un ironed I took it strange from the line...












And a pretty close up of the edge...

I've also learnt that when pulling up nettles care should be taken so they dont jump back at you and hit you in the mouth...

I've also got my appointment letter through for the hospital about my ear... I understand the bit about arriving 15 minutes early so they can do tests, but 35 - 45 mins before that so you can park !!! Think it will be park and ride for me...


And now I really must go and try and finish a big little jumper before he grows anymore !!

A relaxing time

I did a bit of shopping whilst away..

The new Noro book from Voirrey

Vogue 25th is as good as it should be, lots of things to be tried and patterns to be followed.

I've not seen a piecework before, it doesn't have as many pages as other Interweave mags bu

t covers lots of crafts.

Knit N Style only seems to be available in Borders, it has basic patterns in it that look wearable...

And my main knitting of the weekend - a throw for Lou's sister.
The colours grew on me - I was asked for blue, cream, gold and yellow...

And by the end of the weekend I was getting very tired of it....

I was knitting other little things as well but I'm not going to share until they have been sent off...



And on the way home I stopped off at the best wool shop I've ever been to...

To be fair they actually have two shops as their stock doesn't fit in one....

These are a couple of shots of their 'normal yarn'

The other shop has Noro, Debbie Bliss, Rowan, Colinette and Hanne Falkenberg kits... I was too excited to take any pictures in there - overwhelmed by the amount of yarn....

They have the last stocks of Jaeger Extra fine merino ...

I had already decided that I was only going to buy some Jaeger Extra fine merino - and it was the only yarn I bought...

They did have some old Vogue mags, so the holiday ones for 2004 & 2005 had to be rescued from the counter...

And the nice shop keeper made me take one of these...

A shade card for the discounted yarn...

I was so good - I nearly brought home one of these but decided that I should finish Mermaid first....
Or should that be start and finish Mermaid first !!

I've also been trying to use up the Noro cone I bought at Skipnorth - back and fronts nearly finished - I'm hoping that a cardi for me will be finished by the weekend...

Finished things ....

Yes two in two days !!

Kauni like cardi.
I really enjoyed knitting this, but I do need to learn how to do 'jogless joins' when doing circular knitting.
Also the very top purple was not colourfast so the top bands have a pink background instead of natural ...

I've not sewn down the steeks, just left them cut.

Basically this has turned into a 'test knit' just to prove to myself that I can do colourwork, without the garment ending up the right size for an eight year old !!

And then we have counterpoint scarf.

This has been on the needles a very long time.

Front looking uninteresting...





The backing giving some idea of what is to come...









And then the keys appear ...

Very difficult to take a picture of, and this is a good as I could get....

And now it is the first of my Christmas presents to be finished....


Thanks for the suggestions on my ear problem, unfortunately it is more of an infection type thing than sinus and damp makes it worse... I'm hoping that I will know more in a month when it has been well and truly probed...

And I'm off to stay with friends this weekend - I've been told that there will be lots of relaxing.. I'm hoping to get to here on Thursday afternoon and if it is dry on Sunday I've got permission to knit outside here. My plan is to see how many of my wips I can finish whilst watching films, and having food cooked for me. And one of the best things about these friends is that I get to sleep in my grandparent's bed, which I always sleep well in, strange fact, but it could be to do with the good company, wine and a relaxing time....

Using up 4 ply - slowly....

It was someone's birthday last week... and I made some socks - pattern is from Lace Style book and was an easy knit.

Word of advice - first check the size of your friends feet.... these are a lot bigger than my blockers !!!



And my cardi grows - I've been joining the yarn after each pattern repeat so that the sleeves match the body...
Unfortunately it does not seem to be using up as much of the 4 ply mountain as I thought...







So I bought a pattern to use some more up ...

I saw the original vest at Ally Pally last year and wondered if I could make one....

And now having the pattern I think it will take rather a long time...and will be challenging to say the least..







And some lace patterns have been jumping at me.. At the top Honeybee stole from Knitspot. Anne has some wonderful patterns and sends them really quickly (and it will be next on the needles once I've finished something!!)

And then two patterns from here.

I thought the one on the left might make a good table runner.
The one on the right is a circular with borders to make into a square - clever stuff....


Thanks for all your messages on my results - I still cant believe I got so much, but know that I probably wont with the course I'm doing now !!

If anyone has any ideas for getting rid of earache I would love to hear them (sorry about that choice of words...) Nearly two months of pain and a wait of another month before I get to go to the hospital - I do hope they can sort me out, I'm getting far to0 grizzly and my afternoon sleeps are not good for getting anything done .....

SP11 Questionaire

I decided to give this another go, as I've got another set of WIP's from the last time I answered... If anything doesn't make sense, please ask...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Love to knit with natural fibres – wool, silk alpaca and mixtures.
Loath with a passion eyelash and novelty yarns that have never seen a sheep !!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Wooden straights in a felted needle roll made by a friend.
Some of dpns in a plastic box.
Circulars and others in a cool bag ….

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Cant remember how long I’ve been knitting, but have been knitting for gain for about 25 years… so think I’m towards the advanced skill level.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Not current

5. What's your favorite scent?
Lavender, mown grass, coffee
The smell of tea makes me ill…

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh yes !!! Love dark chocolate, and coffee flavoured sweets.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Yes to spinning, I also do machine embroidery, patchwork, felting, gardening, baking and have more power tools than the average man !!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Most things pre 1990… not sure about the MP3s…

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
Love earthy tones and purples/blues.
I don’t do pastels and whites, yellow & oranges…

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Live with my two cats, life is far less complicated that way..

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes to scarves and mittens, hats do not like me and I don’t like ponchos !

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
For a while I’ve been having a lace love - but I also like cables, and am really enjoying doing some colourwork.

13. What are you knitting right now?
A version of the Kauni cardi, two lace shawls, a 4 ply cardi and jumper, something in Noro that I’ve only just started, and there’s a dk cardi that just needs sleeves and a collar and some unmentionable presents… and I’m sure there are more missing in action…

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Love long straights (knit underarm) but also do a lot of circular knitting
Try to knit with wooden needles to try and save my hands…

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes to both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Cant remember it is a jumper that only needs the neck doing, I cant manage to find it and the pattern at the same time !!

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Being in the north of Scotland appreciating the wonderful countryside.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Knitting books, especially old magazines from the beginning of the last century.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Subscribe to Rowan, Simply Knitting (UK) and Interweave. Buy Vogue when the patterns interest me…
Would love to have some Socks that Rock patterns and yarn, plain coloured sock yarn for fancy feet … Anything that cant easily be got in the UK....

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
How to hold yarn in left hand, how to crochet left handed (keep on being asked at shows..)

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes ;-) UK 5, foot length 9 inches.

23. When is your birthday?
8 September

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Not yet – another 4000 to go ….

It's official

I really do know lots about Death & Dying.

I got my results from my OU course - I'm totally surprised by the 71% I got in the exam - in the top 12% of students.

I thought the exam was one of the hardest I'd ever taken, but I had the idea just to write anything - they cant take marks off you if you write rubbish - and it seemed to have worked.

And now I have to concentrate on my History of Disease and Health course - next assignment is something about what happened during Industrial Revolution to health care (if I've remembered correctly). Sounds like I'm in for an exciting weekend if I can stay awake !!!