Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year!

As we approach midnight I want to wish everyone a happy and peaceful new year ! With everything that has gone on this year, I want to make 2013 count so will be thinking hard about making new year resolutions and setting goals .. Happy New Year xx lets make it a good one xx

Friday 28 December 2012

Clearance yarns

So much for New Year resolutions then ..

Day one and what do I do?  Leap across to House of Fraser and fling bags into my basket!
I wouldn't mind, but I did a sterling job of talking my knit-pal-Sally out of her bargains  helping her put them back and what do I do?!  Rush to do what I don't need to do buy more wool!  Crazy.
Although, I have wanted to knit a red jumper, I have wanted to knit a garment in fine lace .. And I can't resist a bargain I hold my hands up I am hopeless!





As well as a bag of ten fine lace, a bag of 20 denim found its way into my basket too!
I wanted to knit a Kim Hargreaves cardi for ages and the pale blue is just my colour!



Wednesday 26 December 2012

Crafty New Year resolutions

Talking with long standing craft pals it seems I am not alone in having difficulty setting craft goals and sticking to plans for FINSHING before looking around to cast on a new project.  Often this involves buying another new pattern .. Then there's the stash!  .. How come no matter how I look at it, it usually means another purchase!  WHY do I find it so hard to finish?
And why am I so easily distracted and find myself lusting over patterns and shove what I have got well under way into bags and out of sight?
Once put down, it's so difficult to just pick up and knit from where left off.
Well.  This year I am resolving that things will be different!  Things will be organised!  Things will be finished!  Things will wait patiently in a queue until I am ready to cast on!
There!  As easy as that!  Hurrah, I have sorted it! ..
Please, if you have tips to share on managing and organising crafty projects through from start to finish - do share with me! X

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Christmas gifts

What a lovely day we are having!  currently the family are watching dvd sets of NUFC highlights (ought give me, what? a good 20mins then? he-hee!!) and I have had the turkey prepared and ready to cook since this morning!

We got up and got the meal sorted and underway - I like to cook my turkey the "Delia Smith" method so write it out the day before with timings and gas marks for ease of following - by my reckoning we ought be sitting down to enjoy around 3pm.

The family got up and we did the usual gift unwrapping with the cats becoming more and more exciteable as paper got scrunched and chucked!  We feed our cats the day before having experienced too many christmas day heave ups over "meat plus excitement!" they have now both retired to "bed"!!

My husband had a nice surprise of some goodies ordered from the the NUFC site and they are all watching the dvd ..

I had my lovely knitty gifts to unwrap and enjoy!
A special thank you goes to Sally and Brenda my knit pals for their yummy scrummy knitty gifts of book on squiliions of cast on and bind offs, and Knitting Goddess yarn and pattern!
Close to that my YUMMY killing III kit and the highlight = the Colours of Shetland book from Kate Davies which I love!!

Wishing everyone a super day and hoping their stockings were filled with suitable yumminess!




Monday 24 December 2012

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas!


wishing everyone a HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

The tree looks a bit dull - in real life its much brighter and hasn't as many gaps as it appears in this photo which is about the best of 4 or 5 I took!  I am rubbish at taking photographs! perhaps I ought make that a New Years Resolution to learn to take a good photo!?

no.2.son took a pile of small gift wrapped sweets in to share with his friends at College - most of our gifts are under the tree - all except for dh's!  he doesn't yet know he has anything!  but shhh! its a surprise!  We don't "do" gifts particularly between us, I tend to buy what I want and this year I have the lovely Killing III jumper kit and Kate Davies' new Colours of Shetland to enjoy!

Later on we will visit no.2.sil and her family including the "new" grandchildren who at rising-2yrs will be thoroughly enjoying the Christmas atmosphere - its lovely with small children isn't it?  I have a few friends who have small children to celebrate with this year - I wish everyone a Happy Christmas and most of all a peaceful and HEALTHY one!  The number of years we have had bad colds and sickness bugs - one year we spent Christmas Day at A&E with no.2.son badly dehydrated with severe sickness so I am grateful that ours have now grown up and out of such seasonal afflictions. 
I suppose in time it will quieter when the family are off our hands, but for now with a 17yr old and a rising-20yr old its a full and noisy household.

I am lucky that both of mine enjoy family moments, and no.2.son helped with the Christmas cake this year decorating the top - doesn't it look lovely?  Its a weigh-watchers fruit cake but completely soaked in sherry!!  We plan to continue with the "plan" once Christmas is over but for the next day or two we are resolved to enjoying ourselves and pay the consequences later on! well! it is Christmas afterall and it would be churlish to decline all treats!?


With treats in mind! I love finding things that have a knit or yarn theme to them, and earlier on I "found" a lovely candle with a cable pattern and last week while in Waitrose, I came across some gift food items with a "fairisle" theme and couldn't resist!
I love the shopping bag!  I bought four and have put my knitting WIP's inside for a festive feel and it doesn't look quite so bad as having lots of knitterly stuff strewn about the lounge.

I am looking forward already to The New Year! and this year I am planning to compile a list of resolutions one of which will be to take control of my growing stash and never ending queue of "must knit this!" patterns and projects.  there are techniques I want to explore and patterns I want to try, and yarn I need to knit!  but it appears I am rather better at starting than finishing!!
Next year I plan, too, to doing more sewing!
We'll see?
So on that note, wishing everyone a very happy and "merry" peaceful AND healthy Christmas! xx



Wednesday 12 December 2012

Getting into the spirit of things!

Tesco had a good price on the lovely scrummy YUMMY JD honey infused bottles recently and one found its way into my trolley for no.2.brother and .. for ME! .. fast becoming my new fave drink and just in time for the festive period!
dh and I have both been weight-watching some weeks now and while HE is thrilled at losing just a lb shy of one stone - I on the other hand have scraped a 9lb total this week.  Its SO UNFAIR! it takes SO long to lose!  I had hoped to have lost about a stone or thereabouts by Christmas but at this rate its going to be next Christmas!
In the spirit of things I have rather bravely I feel, put aside my "presents" for this year under our tree unopened and still sealed!
For two reasons: mainly because I dare not become sidetracked by the loveliness within and MUST MUST MUST do some FINISHING but starting yet another project .. I have some lovely plans for shawls in my queue but, again, am resisting casting on but its hard!  I don't know if I'm a slow knitter or whether its because I'm so easily distracted but lately it seems like I have bags of the stuff!
To that end, I enlisted the help of no.2.son and we did a big tidy up and I have banished many of my projects upstairs to sewing room and only letting remain those that I can commit to spending time knitting - its a risk - not least because its so much easier to get tempted into juicy new fresh projects while the older ones sit wrapped upstairs out of sight out of mind ..

This weekend we collect no.1.son and bring him home for the holiday! 
This week we took our cats to the Vets for their annual check and injections, worming tablets etc and disappointingly we are told "officially" that Bertie is no longer just a "big muscular healthy" cat - he is officially a FAT CAT!  the Vet confirmed he has put on weight and what we thought was thick cat-fur is in fact FAT!
Poor Bertie has to go on a cat-diet - well both dh and I are fully engaged in Weight Watching so he won't be alone - the Vet has ordered him some "low carb" cat biscuits and we are encouraged to get him playing/exercising more but it won't be easy - Bertie does lay about the house sleeping for most of the day .. (and night! which is, I suppose part of his predicament).
Lilly, on the other hand, little scrap of Lilliness is slightly under weight from last year, but classed as "normal" - we're told that she can eat the biscuits too and that they settle the cat's systems better as they are more nutritionally suited to a cats natural diet being "mouse based" .. the Vet was quick to point out that there is no actual "mouse" in the food .. I think dh found that comforting ..

It has been a funny week of getting things ready for the festive period - our shopping is now complete - the tree is up! and our gift shopping done too ..
Inspired by the theme of knitting Christmas bits and bobs I was thrilled to see that a lovely snowman pattern was included in the current editiion of Yarnwise!  I went a bit mad and knitted up a few!
dh requested a "NUFC" supporting snowman with black and while scarf and hat and has taken it to sit on his desk at work!

Elsewhere in knitting news, my two gifts for myself arrived last Saturday! and they are still sat wrapped in their packaging under the tree and waiting for the Day!  I treated myself to the new Kate Davies book - Colours of Shetland! and also the lovely series three Killing grey chevron kit from the super people at Knit'n'Caboodle who are kind enough to oblige by sourcing pattern and yarn for at least two of the Killing inspired "Sarah" jumpers.
I dare not open them!  I will become inspired to CO anew! and I must FINISH! first!

My festive treats!

the lovely snowmen!