I'm starting a sex line

Well, my cold is a lot better. I've been left with a hacking cough, which has given me a husky voice. So, I'm thinking I could make some money from it! (only joking!!)

My husband told me that he thought I was obsessed by knitting (yea, like it's a BAD thing) and so I haven't been doing much. I shall have to become a secret knitter I think. I wonder if there's something I could take up he might approve of. Snorting coke, or overeating I wonder?? Oh, but I already do that.......oops. The overeating, I hasten to add, not the coke thing.

Anyway, the blankie is nearly finished, maybe 2 inches to go on that. The sock has no progress. But look what came in the post for me this morning...



Can't wait to start that.

Also, Stacey has put a number of free patterns downloadable on her blog. Go and have a look!! We were thinking of starting a KAL, maybe with this one


If anyone fancies it, leave a comment or email me at the address on the sidebar and we'll get one going.




We went to the coast for the day yesterday. It's about an hours' drive for us, and always windy, as you can see. This is Floss on the rocks looking for the frisbee we lost. (My throw, I have to admit) You'll recognise my leg from the amazing pedicure at the bottom of it, of course.

Have a great day.

Got a cold...still knitting though

I haven't posted much this week as I have been feeling like I am wrapped in bubble wrap and have been clubbed over the head and then run over. I have given the blankie a wide berth as it's getting a bit tedious to knit now, and instead turned my little knitting ability back to the sock. This is the progress on it so far..


Can I just take this opportunity to state that the reason my leg looks like that is due to foreshortening. The artists among you (not piss) will know what I mean. Of course my legs are magnificently long and wonderously slim. I Thank you (small bow).

It's coming along though. It's easy to knit when you're not well, I've found. I've been so irritable that my family have been steering well clear of me, and that makes it easy to count stitches and keep to the pattern, so I have made good progress. Of course, the odd bag of M&Ms have helped too.

We're off to see the Simpsons movie tonight. Not my particular cup of tea, but there's popcorn (salty of course) and ice cream. Please don't be fooled into thinking I am ruled by food, I know there are a lot of references to it in this post, but you know how it is when you feel shitty!!

PS Please notice my toes in this photo..I had a gel overlay yesterday with a French manicure. I've already chipped off a corner of my big toenail. Oooops!!!

Yarn Pron Friday

I found a company on ebay, called Angels and Elephants, from Cornwall. They made this beautiful yarn, hand dyed merino 4 ply. Called Candyfloss. Isn't it lovely. I thought I might make the chevron scarf with a skein of it.
I'm pleased with it and will no doubt end up ordering loads more from them, just to love! Yarn junkies swap is yellow next month and they have some great yellow mixes!!!

Another picture of loveliness...

English Summer

We seem to have had our summer, back in April. Since then, it's done nothing but rain, rain and rain here. Alot of people are flooded and temporarily homeless and it doesn't look like it'll get any better. The Meditteranean is having a heatwave and that is where I'm heading soon. I could do with some sun on my face and some flip flops on instead of wellies!

We had some strawberries from a local farm, but it just isn't the same eating them while it's raining outside. So we thought we'd dip them in chocolate. Works well, we thought. A rainy twist on an English Summer dessert! Makes the wet weather a bit more bearable at least!

I hope you're having more of a summer than we are, and those of you who are in Winter, I bet it's warmer where you are than here!!!

New Banner

My daughter made me a new banner! How clever is she? I think I'll leave that sort of stuff on this blog up to her from now on. It'll be like having staff. Very retro though, don't you think? That's Flossie, my other little baby on there. There aren't really two of her, just one. The other one's an optical illusion.

I'm over halfway through the blankie now. I went to my sister's baby shower yesterday, she has 4 weeks to go. I would have liked to have taken it with me, but there weren't any other baby presents there. She wanted everyone to take a copy of a favourite childhood book with them for the baby instead. We chose That's Not My Dog, Kipper, Roald Dahl's Songs and Verse and Guess How Much I Love You (partly from my mum, who now lives in heaven and I don't know if they have a great postal service from there, or any bookshops)!!

I have been doing a bit of the Embossed leaves socks, and I am planning to start THE Chevron scarf from LMKG, but I need to get some Koigu first. I'm thinking of getting some through Ravelry's yarn stash department, where there are plenty of people looking to trade or sell. I'm hoping to finish the blankie by the end of the week, and then I'll get on with the running stitch detail when the baby arrives, so I can tell what sort of colours to be doing it with.

I have found a great shop to visit, and am planning to get there sometime soon. I wish I lived nearer to it, they have some great social stuff going on there. It's here

Hope all of you Harry Potter fans are enjoying the book. My daughter is esconsed in it at the moment, sorry to say, as much as I enjoy the films, the books hold little attraction for me. SORRY if I offend anyone with that comment, we can't all like the same thing, can we?

Happy Pottering!!!

Yarn Pron Friday

This is Blue Sky Alpacas sportweight. On a purple hebe. Isn't it gorgeous? Colour 50, beautiful pink. So soft. So textured. So absolutely touchy and smelly I can't bring myself to knit anything with it. I just want to squish it between my fingers and rummage my face in it. Is that normal?

Close up for maximum appreciation...



I love alpacas. There's a big farm of them near me. So beautiful. Apart from the fact that one spat at me once. I've never seen a pink one, though. I think it would look good.

Blankie update and some small beady things

The blankie is coming along well...


I still don't Love it, I think it's because it reminds me a bit of a dishcloth and I have got a bit of an aversion to them (sorry, dishcloth knitters). I think this is down to the colour and also the texture of the stitch pattern and the cottonness of it all. I have a plan though. When it's finished I shall embellish it a bit and I think that will do it. THEN it will become what I want it to be. I've done loads, though, hey? Thank god for Fear Factor I say. Something to focus on when those sickos are eating blended up worms. YUK.

I also did these..


dyalikem????

I love them. I'm proud of them. Very proud for a first effort. And I have sent them with pink yarn to my yarn swap pal. Sshhh. Hope she didn't see this. More to the point, I hope they don't snag in her knitting. I REALLY hope they don't.

I Heart This

It turned out better than I hoped! A bit bigger, it's about 8cm tall. Not exactly small for your jeans pocket, especially if your jeans are as tight as mine. Let's face it, it's all I can manage to cram my legs and arse into them, never mind a knitted heart. Thinner people may like it that size. I don't know, never having been thin, apart from when I was born. Mind you, they called me Winston Churchill when I was a baby....there was no hope for me really, hey?

Still, I like it though.

I Have Been Spoilt By Maddie!

My pink yarn junkies parcel arrived this morning. I love this swapping lark, it's like having a birthday every single month!

This is what was inside the parcel


Some 4ply Rowan wool cotton, some beautiful soft wool, some chewing gum, some beautiful stitch markers that I think Maddie made (I LOVE them!), a gorgeous patchwork ball and some pink candles.

I am truly spoilt. I love it all, thank you Maddie!

I am putting together my package for my partner. She is a little scary to send to as she owns a yarn shop (gulp!)

I am having a rest from the blanket today and trying to make some small knitted heart keyrings. If they work out, you'll be the first to see them! If they don't. let's never speak of them again!

Knit Yourself a Ferrari

How cool is this?

As a car lover, I was hoping this would be achievable but not sure how it would cope in the incessant rain on my drive!

Have a look here

Well done her!

Oh????

Now then you ladies, I thought you ALL had the Last Minute Gifts book. Well, I definitely recommend it, there's loads of great patterns in it. I am trying not to read the yarn harlot's book before I go away, but I keep reading the odd page by mistake. My daughter thought it looked good as well, so she may well end up reading it before me at this rate!

She's back from her horsey hols and I am glad to have her back. Maybe she will finish knitting her bag to felt this week, she fancies knitting the chevron scarf as well, so we may do that as a joint (and extremely slow) project together! We'll be surfing the on line yarn shops tomorrow for some nice Koigu, love that stuff!

Blankie is coming along well. We spent today lunching with some friends who moved to Switzerland a couple of years ago, and it was great to see them all. But only a couple of hours knitting for me this whole weekend :( AND I've noticed another few mistakes in it as well. Fuckwitty thing. I'm carrying on regardless.

Grrrrrrrrr!

The blankie is driving me round the twist AND up the wall. Last night, after I had stuffed my face, me and the dog settled down to an evening of knitting. I was on about row 12 when I started. By about row 15, I started to notice that I was a stitch out on the pattern. Bear in mind that each row takes a bloody long time to do, it's so bloody loooong. Anyway, I carried on, knitting 2 tog here and picking up 1 there to try and even it out. It got more and more on my nerves and by about row 21 I couldn't bear it anymore and ripped it all back to the moss stitch border. The dog looked a bit scared, and it was touch and go for half an hour, but we have gone through the pain and I am back to row 20 and it is beautiful again. AaaaaaaaH Big sigh of relief. And b r e a t h e
Here it is now...


These books arrived this morning (I did order them)

Yes, yes yes, I know I'm the last person in the world to get the last minute knitted gifts, but I REALLY want to kit the chevron scarf, especially as I love koigu. The yarn harlot book is to read on holiday.
These are the 2 things I love from the book..

and

Have a good weekend!

Yarnaholics Dream..Bank's Nightmare

When I took my daughter to her godmother's yesterday, as I said I would, I popped into the shop that sells ...mmmmm...yarn. Imagine my excitement when they had a 50% sale on. Quick, I said to my daughter, GET A BASKET!!!!!!!! No trollies in here. GET 2 BASKETS!!!! I went round and round and round the shop, must have that, need that, love that, want that. After about 10 minutes, my daughter asked me the VERY non knittery question: "What are you going to make with that?"

WHAT AM I MAKING WITH THAT??????? For fuck's sake...NOTHING
I AM JUST GOING TO LOVE IT TOUCH IT STARE AT IT WORSHIP IT.
Why else would I buy it?

Stupid question.

Mental note: Teach my child about important things, never mind about drugs and alcohol. Must teach her about adoration and aesthetic love and shopping just for STUFF.

Want to see what I got??

Some balls of this..(well, some, more like all they had) It's Debbie Bliss cashmerino chunky.


That photo hasn't done the colour any justice. It's more of an aubergine colour. Beautiful.

And these

That's Debbie Bliss cathay.

I did get a load of other stuff as well, but I can't show you as it may be the yarn I end up sending to my pal on the yarn junkies swap. Yes, it is all pink!

On the way home I popped into Maggie's shop (rude not to) and got these beautiful gems..





Those fabrics are already patchworked together. What a result!! How beautiful are they?

On the ravelry front, I am getting there, slowly but surely. As you can see from the side bar, I now have a flickr account and that means I can upload to the ravelry site. I love it, although I can't believe how easy it is to lose a few hours of the day there!! My house is a tip, but who cares.

Still knitting the blankie, it's so wide, 167 stitches, each row takes forever, and it's all 13 st st, 5 moss st, 15 knit, 12 purl. It could get on my nerves if I let it, but I am determined to get it done.

I'm home alone tonight as well, so am planning to make something nice for pudding (oh yea, and dinner..only eat that to get to pudding though) and then watch big brother without anyone speaking to me. Bliss. AND knit the blankie of course.

I might attempt to make some stich markers tonight as well, I have all the stuff to do it. See how fuzzy my eyes become later!!!!

Yarn Pron Friday

This is Debbie Bliss cathay and I just LOVE those colours together. 50% cotton, 35% viscose and 15% silk. The silk makes it SOOO soft.
Here's another shot..

Today in my House

This is what I am doing today...


I am making strawberry and meringue ice cream. Yum! It does have an obscene amount of vanilla sugar in it too. I have tasted it and it's delicious. It has gone pinker since I took that photo too.









I am also doing this



I can't give too much away oon this as it's a surprise for my sister whose baby is due to make an appearance in August. I'll show you little snippets along the way though.

The sock has taken a back seat in the above's rush to be finished but I am down to the heel..yes, look amazed. It does look like the picture in the book as well, which is always a bonus!

My Ravelry isn't going well, yes, I can see the smirk starting in the corner of your mouth. I can't get my photos from iPhoto to get on the site and I think I may have to start a Flickr account and do it like that. Hmmmm yea I feel your smugness.

Off to drop my daughter at her godmother's tomorrow and that will involve meeting at a shopping centre where there is a shop with yarn in it. I am going in there only to get some yarn for my yarn junkie pink swap pal, but I may be tempted by some other stuff as well. You KNOW I will, I can't help it. I need to go to a yarnaholics annonymous meeting soon.

Ravelry Invite

Tada! At long last I have my invite from Frecklegirl...now you're all seething with jealousy, I just know it.

Bad Luck Rafael

I'm not sure how widely broadcast Wimbledon is, but I for one have been totally hooked and my life has gone a little to pot over the last couple of weeks. This past weekend were the finals for the men and women..how they got there I'm not sure, because it seemed to me as soon as those covers were off, whoever controls the weather seemed to think, quick, get the fuckers, and it would pour. Covers on, covers off, covers on, a whole two weeks of it. Anyway, I was glad that Venus won the women's on Saturday, I like that girl, but I was a little gutted when Federer won. I DO like him, but let's face it, Rafael Nadal is just completely gorgeous. Better luck next year my darling. (just getting into practice in case he comes to visit me) Good match though. I only fell asleep in my new hammock for about 20 minutes of the second set.

Now then. I had some books I ordered from Phildar delivered last week. I have narrowed my next project down a little to these.
WARNING: multiple pictures from now on.







Noot sure which one to go for. I have a blanket for my sister who is expecting in August that I need to get done. It's from a Debbie Bliss book, I'm just waiting for 15 balls of white cotton cashmere to get delivered. I'm going to do it on Addi turbos as well, which I haven't used before. Looking forward to trying them.

I am on my second pair of socks..oh yeah.. I saw you raise your eyebrows. Don't call me addicted, I'm just filling in time waiting for the blanket yarn. I love them though. I'm using the Koigu KPPPM I loved so much. The socks are from the Favorite Socks book from Interweave and the pattern is Embossed leaves. I thought I'd skip intermediate and go from beginner to advanced. Why not? Never been known to take the simple route anywhere.

And a close up as they are SO beautiful

AND I have knitted my daughter a bag. We love it. Such a simple pattern, a slightly modified Jean Moss pattern. I seem to be incapable of knitting anything without modifying it a bit. It's knitted in merino brights by The Wool Boutique. The self striping colours worked really well on this size.


And then I lined it with some Kaffe Fasset I had in a stash.


See, you thought all I had been doing was laying around eating yum yums and watching the tennis.Oh no, I am a multi tasker, and I can watch the tv, eat cake AND knit! See?

Check out the new header!!!

After a very frustrating day, my daughter and I have finally worked it out!!!!! (Kind of) Check out my new header!!! It's not perfect, ignore the line where I tried to blend, and the fact that it's sort of to the right and a few other minor things, it's up there where it should be!!!! I did think I might change it for the 4 seasons, but I liked doing it and, more to the point, I CAN do it, so I might change it on a bloody DAILY or even HOURLY basis! Keep checking, you never know. What I want to know is, what is the strange language my daughter seems to know and I don't, the one where things start with < and = and " in front of random letters?? Oh, how I am being left behind by the times......feeling a bit old, running as fast as I can now to keep up (in a very tortoisey like way)

Secret Pal Swap

I've been waiting to join this and now have signed up. I have done one swap so far, the green yarn junkies one and got a lovely parcel from Celia, but this is a BIG swap, a SERIOUS and grown up one. I'm a bit scared as, when I read the instructions, I didn't really geddit. It doesn't take very much to bamboozle my ever shrinking brain. But I've bookmarked the page, and I'll try reading it each day and hopefully one of the days it'll make some sense. I'm hoping the co ordinators will email at critical points to tell me what I should do. It's why I love knitting, you know, it's just I like being bossed and a pattern does that, in the kindest way, of course. Sign up here if you fancy it. Just make sure you send some cool stuff if you get me, oh, and lots of chocolate (just kidding!!!)