One Quilt.......Done

...as Gordon Ramsay would say!

The quilt I have been finishing for the last few weeks is finally finished and gifted to one of my oldest and dearest friends, who is about to undergo some gruelling medical treatment.

I started off wondering if I liked the colour and design choices I made and ended up loving it. Here's some pictures of the finished article and then one of it being modelled by the recipient of it!






If you click on this one, you can see the dedication I sewed in..




We spent a lovely day with Mary and I even went near some horses. As my daughter's godmother, they are amazingly similar, and one of the passions they share is horses. I am amazingly UNpassionate and slightly terrified of horses, but yesterday I fell in love with a small shetland boy called Panache. This is us together...



...and that's as close as I am ever going to get to anything remotely equine, let me tell you!

Well, on this last day of 2007, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy 2008. May it be all you want it to be, and filled with plenty of knitting! I have a bundle of resolutions I am planning to make, some knitterly, some not, and I shall be back over the next couple of days to share with you. Have a great time tonight if you are celebrating in the New Year and seeing out the old.

Guess what I got for Christmas....

I just had to share this with you. Ignore the very tired looking me and concentrate on what I'm holding...



Oh yes, people, I have joined the ranks of yarn swift and ball winder owners, at long last. (Thanks to Rob) x

I never realised how satisfying it would be. I never realised how fast that swift would spin round. Imagine if you trapped your hair in it....oh, no, don't imagine that.

I have wound up 5 skeins so far. I have some more to do and then I need to only ever buy skeins, not balls. That's just boring.

My knitted gifts went down well, even the present in progress, which I am currently still kitting. I plan to finish the Silver Belle and then have a go at the clapotis I already have the yarn for. I would like to incorporate some beads into the edges. If anyoe has knitted it and can think of a good spacing plan for them, let me know, and how many, and I might try to be a little adventurous!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I really did. Some great gifts and all my sisters and their families here and it was fabulous.

God, my house is a mess now, though. Must get clearing up.....!

Happy Christmas!!!

OK, so the time for panic knitting is now over. Today, I'm making veggie sausage rolls, and maybe watching christmassy films. My knitted gifts are nearly done. They're all on Ravelry now, the last one went on today, except for Rob's cashmere scarf which I have decided will be a present in progress gift. I have put it in a sparkly box, on my Addi Turbos, and I shall have to admit defeat.

My problem was that I don't tend to have time to knit in the day and he's here in the evening, so knitting for him in secret was difficult. After tomorrow, I shall be able to whizz through it and finish it before he goes back to work. Hopefully. And, hopefully, it'll keep my hand out of the tin of Roses!!!!

So, I just want to wish you all a REALLY REALLY HAPPY CHRISTMAS. A calm, and peaceful and healthy christmas and New Year. We will be mainly chilling out. And eating. In the New Year, I have some knitting resolutions to share with you, my lovely blogerly friends, and I look forward to catching up with you when times are less manic.

I'll leave you with a picture of the most chilled member of this household.......

Another Parcel!

I have been taking part in the yarn colour swap in the last few months, and I have received the most lovely gifts and yarn through it. The last parcel I had was from Melissa in Australia and she sent me the most fantastic box of things. Some beautiful yarn, some hand cream, which I go through like no one's business, some papers for scrapping, which were really interesting as she had included some pages from walks near her, and some Cadbury's chocolate which I haven;t seen in the UK. And a lovely pin brooch she made. I love everything in this box, and Melissa was soooooo generous.



I'm going to find a really good use for the yarn and will keep you posted!

Christmas Crazy!

Oh, I've become rubbish at blogging. I know. I don't really have any good excuses, other than my dad is over from Norway at the moment, and I am frantically trying to get ready and knitted up for christmas. And we are doing christmas lunch this Sunday for my dad with all my sisters and their families coming and there's a lot to do. We're all in the same boat this time of year, I expect.

But I am still reading your blogs when I get a minute and I am desperate to show you all my knitted gifts if you aren't able to get into Ravelry. And I haven't forgotten you, my blogley friends.

Love you all.
x

Parcel Crazy!

I had such a lovely surprise in the post today....twice!
Firstly, my yarn arrived from Mary through the yarn colour swap at swapbot. It is gorgeous and my daughter will laugh when she sees it as it's the exact colours of her school blazer!!! There were a couple of sweet markers in the parcel as well, I especially like the car one.



Then, another one. My final package from my SP! She has really pulled out all the stops this time and sent me some (more) absolutely amazing things. She must have known that I have wanted to try spinning and to gift me a drop spindle kit is just perfect!!!! It shall be my mission over the christmas holidays to master it and hopefully in January I shall have something to photograph!! And the book will help me along. I also have a lot of different colour roving in my stash from felting, so I'm sooooo excited! I know Lily will want to have a go too. She also included the pattern from Knitty for Fetching. Have a look on Ravelry, they are gorgeous!

Thank you so much Knitaholic. I absolutely am over the moon with the lovely gifts you have sent to me. Now....just to work out your identity from the clues you gave me.......!

Peeking too soon............

I know some of you have been over to Ravelry to see what I've been knitting for presents, but I hadn't put them on there yet. Slow down.... They're on there now. Just go here and you can have a sneaky peek!!!!

I went to Maggies sale at the weekend and as you can imagine, did not leave empty handed. Here's some of the goodies I got
Some lovely yarn..


Some beautiful fabric....


And some great books....


And Maggie was selling off some of her own made quilts. These are all one offs, which she is selling to downsize into her new life and premises, and I feel lucky to own one.




I hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I am doing well so far, determined this year to be organised and not running around like a headless chicken. Yesterday Rob and I went Christmas shopping and 2 miraculous things happened.
1. We got most of what we went for.
2. We are still speaking.

That'll do me!!!

Happy shopping!!!!

Lack of Posts

I know it seems as if I haven't been posting much lately, but please don't be fooled into thinking that I am not doing much. It's just that I am knitting Christmas presents at the moment and therefore it's a little difficult to show you guys without spoiling the surprise for any visitors who might be receiving the gifts!

I did have a thought though....if I put them on Ravelry, only you guys will be able to see them as it's not in the public domain yet. So I shall endeavour to do that today.

I am off on a little spree today as there is a yarn and fabric sale at Maggie's. I'll try and get some pics of my loot on here later for you to drool over!

Cool Crochet

How sweet are these? No, don't get excited, my crochet skills are still granny square level. I bought them in a shop..they were sooo cheap. I just adore them. I wish they would grow in my garden like this!



Click on the image to enlarge and appreciate them some more.





Silver Belle is still coming along slowly but surely. Cashmere scarf is coming along extremely slowly and I am itching to cast on some other stuff I have come across, but shall wait, sensibly, until after christmas.

Why, oh, why, did I think it would be a good idea to knit presents for people for christmas? Could I not have learned from the yarn harlot, who I see is having a similar panic. You'd think she'd have learned her lesson by now!!!!!

Ravelry Thanksgiving

Ravelry has got to be one of the best inventions of the year, and if you are on Ravelry, and want to show some appreciation to Casey, Jess and Bob, visit here.

In the meantime, I hope all you peoples across the water had a great Thanksgiving.Enjoy the holiday and get lots of knitting done!

Sale on at Pink Lily

Just to let you all know that I am having a pre-christmas sale over at my Etsy shop. All of the stitch markers have been reduced in price, some over 35%! I'll even giftwrap them for you!

So, if you're stuck for gifts for knitterly friends, look no further....just click on pinklilydesign on the righthand side bar and you'll go straight there.

It's like time travel. But better. Actually, if I could travel like that, I'd be in the Maldives right now, or the Cook Islands. Anywhere but here today, in drizzly ol' England :(

Look at what's arrived!

Tada! I have the grey one on today and it's very comfortable!

Silver Belle update: Tada here as well! I have started the second sleeve thinking that whatever went wrong on the first one is old news and if I go right with the second one it'll spur me on. Still a bit scared to start the peplum. Casting on 480 stitches fills me with dread and terror. And the 80cm circ that it says to use doesn't look as if it'll hold that many stitches even!

The sun is out here today, makes a change from the incessant rain we have been having, and I am off to watch my daughter in a school riding competition this afternoon. Have a good day whatever you're doing!

Punky fingerless gloves

I like the idea of fingerless gloves, and I can see their relevance in a modern world. But let's face it, there are some, let's say, unusual ones around in the knitting world.

I wanted to make some for my niece for Christmas, who is going through an Emo (I say Emu) phase. I have searched Ravelry, twice and this morning, decided to do a Google search. And look what I found.


They are perfect. And if she doesn't like them, I'll have them!

The pattern is printing off at this very moment and I have the leftover aran yarn from the silver belle (don't talk about it) colour swatching.

My filling is repaired and I am back speaking like my former self. I daren't eat on that side yet though. Is that normal, or am I a real dentalphobe???????????

Current Time User Uppers

These are what I've been doing this weekend. The quilt is coming along now, just needing the quilting bit done...so my fingers will resemble pincushions by the end of the week. I'm hopeless with a thimble, so straight through the skin is how it has to be for me. I'll go through the pain in the name of friendship. *Sniff*..just call me a matyr, the rest of my family does.

Secondly, the men's cashmere scarf. This has worked out differently to how I thought, my cashmere is thinner ply than the pattern, and I'm using 4mm Addi Turbos instead of 8mm straights. The pattern is a bit different, but I think it looks ok. A little more subtle than the one in LMKG. I think Rob will like it more. I got loads done while they were at the O2 Arena last night watching the Foos.

Here's a close up of the pattern.



Right, off to the dentist so he can sort out a crumbling filling. Gulp. I will try to be brave, but he and me both know I'm a jelly in the chair. Lots of novocaine is what I need. And quick. Back later when I am looking like a lady who's had a stroke.

Contest Alert

No, not me! Gnat at BarknKnit is having a contest. As it's Thanksgiving over the pond soon, and her 100th post, she is asking for comments on "who are you thankful to".

Go on over there and tell her who you'd give your last rolo to.

And tell her who sent you. There's a great prize on offer.......

A little extreme, but I like it!

Check that out!!!
It's in the Erika Knight New Knits book I bought today. It's so awful, I love it! It could be my knitted knitting chair!
I'm very tempted to make it, I can tell you. Maybe in pink though.
I went over to Maggie's today. I bought some gorgeous quilting cotton, in my favourite colour, pink. I'd never wear it as I think I'd feel like a giant marshmallow, but I love it anyway. Here's my most artistic attempt...

and she was having a book sale. How could I resist????

That should keep me going for a bit.
Before I go off to make sausage and mash for dinner, yea, admit it, you're jealous of the glamorous life I lead, let me show you a couple of things I'm putting on my to do before Christmas list..

How clever is that? The bar code dog coat has a pattern so you can put your telephone number on it in case your dog gets lost and loses its collar on the same day!

And this, a knitted wire basket.

Apparently, wire is really easy to knit with, according to Erika Knight. We'll see. If I end up with hands ripped to shreds by wire, maybe my injuries will still be too severe in December to cook Christmas dinner!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Just lurking down here and whispering to you that this is what I am casting on for today. It's the Men's cashmere scarf from LMKG. My second Christmas present. I'm using the gorgeous green handspun cashmere that I bought at the Ally Pally show, and I rang the nice lady in the Isle of Skye to order some more.

I'll have some pictures of it soon. Good job Rob doesn't come round here often.

Okay, stand up straight again and back as you were.

I have been a bit busy!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your fantastic suggestions on how to get back my knitting mojo.

They really did work. Look..

The Argosy scarf is finished and drying on my guest bed! I do love it and it is my first finished Christmas present. My friend doesn't read here, so I'm safe! I shall sew some sequins on the ends when it's dry as she's a sparkly sort of person.
Here's a close up. I loved how it looked a bit like lace (having never knitted lace) without bring a fiddly pattern.


I have also been making this quilt for my friend who is ill.

I'm hoping to finish it by the weekend. My famile are off to the Foo Fighters on Sunday, so I'm looking forward to a day doing knitterly and sewerly things.

I was so blown away by your good ideas to get my mojo back. Such fantastic things to inspire anybody in a lull. It's funny, I was thinking that I don't know any of you guys personally, but it's almost as though you know me and I know you from just ramblings on a blog meant for knitting. Lots of my real life friends know nothing of my blog, and I like that. My virtual friends are a different part of my knitting life and I would share with you different ideas and thoughts. I mean, you might not be interested in what yarn I'm considering for a knit, but I'd think you were! But in my other life, I don't think anyone would know anything about dilemas I have like that, and other stuff. And I like it like that.

Just wanted you to know I appreciate you all and love the comments you leave, and love reading your amazing blogs. Feel the love, people!

Anyway the winner of my contest was............(drumroll)

Queen of the Froggers
Ta da. She sent me a link to the most amazing piece of knitting

which Winnie at guavaseeds designed.
I love it. This is mine so far

I'm thinking the holes will look more like the picture when it's blocked. I think it'll take a while to finish, but I don't care. I just love it.

Silver belle news. None. I made a mistake and I can't bear to pick it up again. One day soon I'll pluck up the courage and hopefully not chuck it in the bin. I just need to be in the mood.

So that's it. My update. Sorry I've been off the radar a bit recently. I have been visiting you all, just quietly. But now I'm back.

Obviously when I have a moment from being addicted to watching I'm a Celebrity, get me out of here. How did Janice Dickinson EVER get to be a model????????????

Help!!! AKA Mini Giveaway

I seem to have lost my knitting mojo a little recently. Now, then I had a thought. Yesterday, the thing on my side bar showed that 51 people visited my little abode here in blogland. So I had an idea.

If you visit here, could you leave me a teency weency little comment telling me any idea you have to try and get my mojo back? It could be a joke, a good pattern, a great picture, anything really. I mean, you're here anyway, aren't you?

I'll be so grateful that I'll reward one of the commentors with a little gift from my stash of many beautiful things.

I'll be waiting up until Sunday at midnight.

Thank you, my blogland friends.

Contest at Cass' Place

Hey, go on over to Cass' blog! She's having a competition to celebrate her 333rd post. Lots of lovely prizes to be won. All you have to do is tell her your 3 favourite knitterly things.

PS Don't forget to tell her who sent you and I get another entry. Thank you!

Blankets for Africa

Seems an age since I posted, nearly a week. I have been reading, but my MIL has been staying. She went home yesterday and it was hard to do anything I normally do while she was here. Anyway, I'm back.

I had some awful news last week, too. Not so awful for me, but for one of my best and oldest friends. We went through chemo close together some 17 years ago, and last week, she found out, thanks to the treatment the first time around, she has breast cancer. I know without the treatment we wouldn't be here, but it's a bit of a sick joke, if you ask me. And ironic that it was pink month. Oh well, she is a real fighter and I'm sure in my heart all will be fine with her in the end. It's just a real fuck that she has to go through it all again. I just hope the anti sickness drugs are better these days, as that was the worst thing about chemo. Losing your hair is a breeze compared to that.

On a more cheerful note, she sent me a picture of what the 78 balls from my loft turned into!!!

Check out the ladies' work!


Not much to report on the knitting front. Both my silver belle and my argosy scarf hit a mistake and I just am not in the right zone mentally to pick them up and work out what's gone wrong. I am hoping to get some sort of knitting mojo back today maybe.

I'll post some pictures of them when I've sorted them out!

Right, back to humdrum.......

SP 11 package number 2

How exciting, my package arrived on Saturday, full of great things. The theme was miniatures and my pal sent me a mini hand cream, mini chocolates, which will be saved until I get weighed on Thursday, a little book of handbags and some soap. AND some great Noro silk garden lite, which has already been put to good use.
Here is what it has already become (or becoming)

It's the Argosy scarf from Knitty. Download the pattern free here. I love it, it's knitted on the diagonal, but is a straight scarf. Much to the confusion of my family.
I hope my secret pal approves. Of the scarf, not the confusion. A close up for you of the beautiful square pattern...

The colours in the Noro look beautiful on the scarf, I think!

I knitted it at bingo today. My mother in law is staying for the week. That's why I was at bingo.

Anyway, it's a quick knit, so FO pictures soon. A break from my caramel belle, but I may do a little of that tonight.

Quilting, I haven't forgotten You

I've been so busy knitting lately, I've lost any time and a bit of mojo for quilting. Every now and then, I go and lovingly stroke my (embarrasingly large) stash of fabrics. This week, as it's half term, me and a few teenage girls went shopping (no, I was the driver, not the old one pretending to be young), although I have to say I would not revisit the ages between 13 and 20 for all the tea in China, it was a miserable time for me.

Anyway, back to my story. On the way to shopping we passed Maggie's shop. Rude not to go in, I thought. Once you're in there, I defy anyone not to buy something. Here's my purchases
This..

and this..

oh, and these..

The way she puts them together just makes them look like something special. I am determined to make something before Christmas.

Talking of Christmas, and just when you thought it was ages away, look what I found...

Christmas SOON
Muwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

PS Excuse my awful photos at the moment. It really is winter here now and the light is not at all conducive too taking good pictures.

Silver or Caramel Belle Cast on pics

As promised, well a bit later than, my cast on pictures of my silver belle. After writing out the pattern, I realised that, on the sleeve, anyway, it's on a 20 st loop. Easy, you'd think. Wrong, you'd be. For some reason, I have had to unpick a fair few times. Luckily, it's quite easy to pick up.

The cabling I've found ok. Apart from the fact that I talk like Popeye a lot of the time, with it gripped between my lips.. although I expect that Popeye didn't say stuff like "go and get your pjs on please" and "watch out the cat needs to go out". Maybe he did.

I'm knitting the sleeves on straights. Just because I thought it would be easier. I do grapple a bit with circs. The yarn, well I love the colour, but I'm not sure about the texture, it's a bit stiff, not cosy enough for me. I'll reassess at the end.

Here's a close up of the mistake I decided to leave in/behind. I call it individuality. Maybe some would call it laziness because I didn't see it until I was about 18 rows on from it. Whatever W

It's a one stitch mistake. Excuse the blurriness of the photo, it's to confuse you. Not really.

Tammy Beret

Just a couple of photos of the beret I knitted whilst selling my wares at the car boot sale the other weekend. It was so easy and quick to knit, I think everyone I know might get one for Christmas this year! Tammy Beret from RYC Weekend, book 8. Rowan Cashsoft aran yarn. About 2 balls in total.

My gorgeous daughter is modelling it. "DON'T get my face in"

Silver Belle news, I'm half way up the sleeve, and all is well and quite calm. I shall be posting some pictures of my progress later today. In between taking the elderly cat to the vet, doing the ironing and taking Lily to get her hair relaxed. You know how it is, I'll fit you lot into my glamorous life if it kills me!

Wish Me Luck.......

I'm starting my silver belle tonight. I had to write out the first 7 rows as there's 6 charts to read from and it's a bit complicated. Check out the sheet, looks like algebra, doesn't it? Even Rob was impressed (well dazzled) and he speaks computery languages. I'm revelling in the feeling of superior intelligence. I'm hoping it gets easier as the pattern emerges.

I'm starting on the sleeve. Mainly because casting on 480 stitches for the body filled me with more dread than I cared to contemplate. 70 for the sleeve seems more dooable.

Here I go....GULP