Tuesday 28 October 2008

Knitty progress : dishcloths and scarves


If I can find the blogger whose pattern I'm using for the above dishcloth I'll link it but I've temporarily forgotten where it is! but its a dead easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy pattern and ideal for this colourway.
Unfortunately the dishcloth below doesn't quite show off the sewing machine motif as well as it does here, where you can find the pattern, but never mind! it was a nice quick knit anyway!


I finished my two drop stitch scarves a couple of days ago and though the photo's aren't terribly inspiring, I promise these are LOVELY!! the ribbon yarn is nice and shiney and actually the top version is more raspberry/red shades which is not terribly well reflected in the photo and at £2.49 each but on offer at buy-one-get-one-free it makes it a terribly cheap make!
Tempted, slightly, to return to market and purchase another couple for Christmas gift ideas to keep incase I come across someone desperate for a handknitted xmas gift!
(it hasn't happened SEW far, what makes me think it will happen now?).



2nd monkey sock.2 is still on the go and I'm finding these smaller projects much easier to cope with as I struggle, still, with my shoulder hurting and the fatigue too is starting to get me down a bit as I really thought after a month I'd be feeling a little better in myself but apparently I'm not! I'm feeling worse!
Another week before returning to GP and another MONTH before first physio session on shoulder!

(the snow, btw, continues to fall and looks like sticking too! no.1.son arrived home a few minutes ago with inches of snow on the top of his head! he refused to let me take a photo saying he's NOT falling for the old "no! son! of COURSE I'm not uploading it to blogger!" .. (wise boy!))

DH is off today with his new boss to see the football match and he's not sure whether he wants HIS team to win (which isn't terribly likely given the groans following last lot of matches) or whether he wants his boss's team to. I suggested perhaps a diplomatic draw. Either way they've gone up to Newcastle and he's staying overnight too.

Quiet catch up times

What better way to relax than with a big steaming mug of tea and a pair of different magazines!
A few of us cyber-sew-pals have been swapping and exchanging and sending out magazines in "rounds" for a while now and the latest one is underway and today I received these in the post to enjoy before continuing the magazine round to the next.
A great way to enjoy magazines that I wouldn't otherwise come across.
Thanks girls!

Lilly's new den

Lilly, hiding out in her latest new den. (new printer box balanced atop new pc box, luckily she's such a lightweight she doesn't dislodge it by getting in!) She particularly likes the fact that Bertie is too big and not brave enough either to attempt this!

Snow!



Couple of (rather poor!) shots of our back garden this afternoon after it went from rain/sleet to snow! Is really coming down quite thick now and no.2.son is starting to murmur about how much FUN it all is going to be this winter!

This afternoon we measured no.2.son who at 13yrs is now just a bit shy of an inch shorter than me! at 5'5" (and a bit) he has really shot up and according to our chart grown about a foot in under two years. He's miles behind no.1.son who, at 15yrs, has got to at least 6' having been 5'11" at the last measure and towers above us all like a big giraffe!

Thursday 23 October 2008

Knit'n'chat and a bit of shopping

Fed up of staying inside "resting" I decided to go out today and try the knit'n'chat session I saw at local House of Fraser store hosted by Rowan DC, Anita. There was only one other lady and myself there, although they normally get 4 or 5; Anita did say it took a while to get her other group established in neighbouring store she works within so I might give it another couple of tries.
They had a 20% day today (and tomorrow, Friday) which was lucky as, inevitably, one starts to look at books and yarn when talking about books and yarn!
I bought two! the crochet workshop book will be handy for when I get my hook out (eventually!) to actually do something! (ha-ha!)

And I fancy some of the patterns in studio twelve (rather boringly of me its the sweetheart cardigan I quite fancy) (I've not actually bought the yarn - yet! but I've got it tucked away awaiting payment).



Had to buy some more sock yarn and with discount of 20% made two purchases. I took along my current sock WIP and really find this is a good project to have ready to go and I noticed the other lady, Sue, also had a "knit'n'chat project" (jumper knit with the HUGEST of balls of wool you've probably never seen!) but mine is much more portable!

While in the town I visited the local market area and by chance spotted that they had some bargains in their yarn section from one of the haberdasherers and I spied some dischcloth cotton at £0.89p/ball! Picked one in ecru up just .. because .. !

At the same time, I spotted they had the same ribbon yarn as purchased at a sewing/knitty show knit on large needles and one ball does a SUPER scarf! At £2.49 and buy-one-get-one-free it was a bargain and I chose a pink varigated and a plain black.
You can see my original purchase here and find the finished scarf which I promise looks much better in reality!

While in the town I visited WhSmiths to pick up a couple of books for no.2.son in series he is currently reading and saw that they were stocking Yarn Forward! HAD to pick up a copy! I'd forgotten I was supposed to be getting excited about this time to be purchasing it!!

Looking forward to reading that tonight over a glass of wine when the lads have gone to bed!

Other sundry purchases included an Iron Maiden cd for no.1.son who has decided he likes rock and is faintly embarrassed at the fact that his MUM actually liked it first and half of what he likes he can borrow from MY collection! (I find this quite funny! but I didn't have any Iron Maiden in my collection and have frightened him suggesting we "share" it!!)

WhSmiths had a sale on their Christmas card making sundries and I picked up a sheet of peel offs; not sure IF I fancy knitting socks on circulars, but after saying I was going to give it a go was rather pleased to find a couple of pairs of cheapie 2.25mm circulars which will do for a trial project! A new needle gauge, some dress lining and concealed zips finished my day off completely!


Wandered over to the train station laden with bags to find my train sat in the station! hurrah! how lucky! not! it was sat there for 40mins due to seasonal leaves on the lines! Luckily I spotted a pal/mum from playground coming home from her work and we sat together and caught up! Her no.2.son is same age/class as mine but her no.1.son is 2yrs ahead of my no.1.son so it was interesting getting her thoughts on the whole post-16 college thing that we are currently going through. She is a stage further, and is looking with Tom at University for teacher training and she surprised me loads by telling me the hours that he currently attends the local 6th form college which are surprisingly few!! Some days he does from 12-3pm! I don't remember school being like that in MY day! In fact I'm certain we finished closer to 4pm than the 3.10pm they do nowadays! (AND I'm certain the exams are less hard too!!)

Fortunately the train journey is short and I narrowly arrived home before the rain came!
Looking forward to my evening glass of wine and lovely magazine now!

Spying on the other neighbours! (Bertie)


Bertie! spying on the other neighbours over our fence, he's such a NOSEY cat he likes to keep an eye on whats happening.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Thanks, Debs! a "funny"!

THANKS Debs! I loved this over my cornflakes this morning, brightened my start to an otherwise dull start!

(love the "swatching" bit!)

Monday 20 October 2008

Sock and dishcloths

I love this sock! isn't it lovely? the colours and the pattern are just fab! sock.1 complete, sock.2 cast OTN's and at rib stage. Same pattern as before (Monkey) just LOVE it!

Small projects are just about all I can manage at the moment in between bouts of painful shoulder (tendonytis) and bouts of fatigue and I'm really rather pleased I got started on this type of knitting.
For ages now I've pondered whether to knit a dishcloth! Now I've got some yarn sent kindly by a cyber-knitty-pal who is a huge fan of Alan Dart patterns and we've done some exchanging recently, there's no excuse about not having a go. I never thought I'd find myself saying I'm about to knit a dishcloth, then again I didn't think I'd say I'd knit a pair of socks!

Weather here has been a bit miserable today, very wet! A library book I'd ordered had arrived and I charged up to collect it only to discover it was the late night and didn't open until 1pm! Had to wait for 20mins which means I got rather wet.

Monday 13 October 2008

yummy goodies!


LOOK! at what I've got! gifts! in the post! from my super knitty-cyber-pal off K&C, Shirley!
A pair of super knitty mags which I've already read most of and highlighted several things of interest to knit! (possibly)


And! cotton! blue/white from stash and white! for dishcloths! yay! I've enjoyed squidging these and plan to knit them up as another on the go project!
Thanks, Shirley!

my NEW monkey socks OTN's

Using my super YUMMY Regia Silk Color sock yarn, I've cast on and knit most of the cuff of another pair of delicious Monkey socks!
I know! I know! I wasn't going to, then I was, then I decided I wouldn't! but THEN I had to make a visit to local Hospital on Saturday and having finished my last pair of socks, had to grab at yarn, DPN's and fling a pattern in my bag and it was easier to take this printed copy!
I don't mind, its a super easy pattern and I love the look of it and it gives me the opportunity to change the heel a bit this time round.
All the waiting until Dr's had been round to me meant I did a lot of knitting!
I could, possibly, have done more! but with several staff coming over to find out what I was doing with funny looking needles and was I really KNITTING - SOCKS!? I was somewhat held up from progressing!
I managed to knit until 2.40am before FINALLY the 2nd of the Dr's made his way over to me, by which time, of course, after 9hrs of *sitting* and *resting* I was perfectly well and breathing normally with no symptoms! and by that time it was far too late for me to call dh to come and pick me up and I thought maybe I'd just try and get some sleep afterall. I think I did nod off, I sort of remember my shoulder was hurting but exhaustion meant I didn't care! and then the flipping LIGHTS went full on and the nurses were clattering and banging about! at 6am! blast! They said the Dr's were doing their am rounds, what? again? I've got to wait AGAIN? I've just been seen! not quite as long to wait this time, but long enough to have got a good start on my sock!

LOVE this pattern! easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Saturday 11 October 2008

Monkey Socks are finished



I LOVE THEM! (squeaky voice!) they are LOVELY!
I want to knit another pair, they are SEW yummy!

Except. do you see the sock calendar? here? half way down? Issue 47/SK free gift. The pink socks, top row? I LOVE this pattern too! ooohhh! what to dooo? there's another couple of pairs in this calendar I like the look of too. Will decide later on.

Friday 10 October 2008

my NEW best ever skirt pattern!

This is my NEW best ever skirt pattern!

I love it!!

I cut out the grey fabric, basted and tried it on before adjusting the fit (smaller across all the seams) and seaming and putting in concealed zip. Just need to hem and add waistband and line it and then its done!

Val said she thought my previous skirt from this Simplicity pattern was probably most flattering on, and I didn't really think the Burda would offer anything more but it does! I was a little wary of the centre seaming for front and back, but hey! it works! and I'm very pleased with it and will make it up again in non-work grey fabric!

Thursday 9 October 2008

Post 16 options

Yesterday evening school held a post-16 options session involving various local colleges.
Scarily this has come upon us quite quickly! it doesn't seem all that long ago that no.1.son was just starting his secondary school and now we find its some short number of weeks to his mock GCSE's and then his actual exams and then he's DONE!
Our school doesn't offer a 6th form college and we have two choices favoured at the moment and their open days are coming up in the next month. No.1.son seems firmly set on joining RAF and dh thinks we ought to explore this with him (rather than collapsing into a pile of weeping heap of anxious mum-mode begging his to reconsider his original junior school ambition of being an icecream van man!).
Well, I know from my own experience at 16/17 that what EVER my LateMum *told* me not to do, I did and did in full, I can't really be all that surprised that its not happening to me now in reverse?

Skirts (again)

Well it looks like nothing hanging there all hangy! on the hanger!
(no, I've still not got a dressform, yes I'm still thinking about getting one)
But its finished and its a nice if plain skirt and will do for work.
Makes a difference the fabric, yesterday I wore a much lighter, more drapey fabric version and its like wearing a totally different skirt.
Last night I cut out and prepared the pattern pieces for the Burda 8213 which is SIMILAR in style and will look forward to comparing this. One advantage of having so much of this grey fabric, I can afford to cut a pattern and discard it if the fit is not right; generally, however, I am fine at adjusting the pattern to accommodate my one high hip, sway back, high waist AND large blancmange middle bit!

Monkey sock.2 is nearing completion, just the shaping at the toe to do today (hopefully).

Monday 6 October 2008

Pincushion

I am building up to one of these! (cd pincushion, see the tutorial) in the meantime I found an empty jam jar lid and cut some fabrics to have a go! Inspired by this.

I was going to CP a top but decided to *cheat* with a faux effect fabric I had instead as I wasn't convinced it would be quite as nice as I hoped! (it isn't. actually. quite AS nice but then it wouldn't be? but the next one will be with yummy stitching and bits of beads! yes?)

The ribbon to finish around the join is actually better matching than the photograph reflects, btw.

Terrible shot! but you can see how cute this is?

Can't wait to have another go!

Sunday 5 October 2008

A Christmas Giveaway!

A very talented cyber-pal is having a giveaway! of one of her more popular patterns!
Do visit her blog and read her post for a chance to win this super prize!

Val asks for pics of the skirt and progress on trousers and quilting projects: pics will follow of skirt although they are a bit dull! Trousers are next! have now got my pattern out from the position in horn cabinet that shows is a likely pattern to be tackled and is now sitting on my cutting table looking promisingly at me!! As for quilting! I've not yet done a thing! and I'm actually very cross about this as one thing I did want to do was get on with this. I'd better put my best foot forward and get ON with it!!
I admire Val for not putting on her central heating until now (and I remember the off at May and on in Oct *rules* only too well for ad.ed. centres and can PROMISE that I have gone through sessions sat with coats and scarves ON and clutching at hot cups of coffee to keep warm!)
Our central heating I'm sad, I mean GLAD, to say has been on since about August! (not really! it was September!). I can't be doing with the cold, it upsets my rather arthritic knees too much!

Jules! I've noted your email addy and also found you on Rav and contacted you there! I will email you shortly, you are right, its not the most efficient way to carry on a conversation via the comments box on our blogs!

Saturday 4 October 2008

New Sock Yarn!


Is it a bit sad to get excited over new sock yarn?
Took our no.1.son shopping today, spent loads on cd/dvd's and sportswear, PS3 game for no.2.son who wouldn't come with us (which was financially probably for the better!) and dh came over all peculiar and selected a dvd, game AND a t.shirt for tennis too, sew I decided a couple of balls of sock yarn for me was perfectly in order!

This is Regia silk color, shade 0185.
I bought it from the wool/haby section in a department store and saw a notice advising customers that a twice weekly *knit'n'chat* group runs for one hour monday and thursday afternoons with a Rowan DC on hand for any knitting queries. You can bring along any knitty project purchased from anywhere! Monday is my regular day off and I thought I might pop along to give it a go!

Almost finished my skirt, I probably won't get chance to do much sewing this weekend but next week I plan to crack on and try out a trouser pattern I found in my *must do* pile in the front of my horn cabinet last night.

Oh! and no.2.son finally found my small silk tartan pincushion (still, thankfully, filled with pins! but who knows if the full amount of pins!) that I suspected Bertie had pinched - he'd buried in underneath a pile of wadding in the far corner of my sewing room and I'm still not sure how no.2.son managed to find it, but I'm glad he did!

Weather is extremely dismal, that fine very *wet* rain and starting to feel quite cold.

Shoulder still acting up, now spread down to elbow and wrist. Awaiting appointment for physio.

Thursday 2 October 2008

Monkey sock.1 complete


First sock complete on this super pattern!
Would I knit it again? yes!
Sock 2 OTN's.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

Dressmaking: skirts!


Simplicity 5914 : a particular favourite of mine. I've made this up in view B as seen on the model, many times and mostly for work. This time I've cut out some more of my never ending best value EVER, grey *school trouser* fabric for the longer version in anticipation of winter at work.
The useful thing about having so much of this fabric, is that I can make up skirts to add to the jackets thus maximising the number of uniforms I can wear - the downside is, they all look the same due to the fabric and I feel like saying psst! this IS another jacket and skirt combo btw!! I've emboidered one jacket, left one plain with a collarless version, another has a collar and buttons but no pockets and another has shawl collar and pockets. I've also reversed the fabric as both sides look equally valid as "right side".

Burda 8294 is another particular favourite pattern of mine and I've made up the jacket and skirt and plan, this time, to use the skirt pattern on some lovely deep rich purple fashion fabric faux suede I've had stashed; and now I find that PURPLE is on trend! Tried to take a photo of it however it appears on pc a ghastly shade of watered down raspberry juice!


Burda 8213 is a newish pattern, I think I bought it in the summer, its not been opened/used, but I like this style of skirt and noted its recommended for lightweight woollens (amongst other fabrics) and I have seen a really rather yummy brown flecked wool mix that matches wonderfully a rather floaty and terribly NICE blouse weight fabric the content of which I can't fully remember, but it was worth the price/m for a smart blouse for autumn!

Years ago I had a fab. buy with some black and white checkish (NICE check!) pure woollen fabric that was a dream to sew and even BETTER to wear, sadly the skirt has long gone, but I still have the jacket! and hurrah! it appears that checks and tartens are also on trend! A super new black fabric is also fresh off the cage and new in together with a lovely pair of teal type *blues* including a check that would make either a fab skirt or jacket! (but not a suit, I feel it would be a bit too much!).

Now to get started!

Suprise knitting mag in post!

Cool! look what came through the letterbox this morning for me!
A longtime cyber-sew-pal-Viva kindly posted it after coming across it in store and thought of me! I shall enjoy reading it, with a cup of coffee, later on before the lads return from school.