Knitting t-shirts (not literally!)

How cool is this design?

I found a great web site, thanks to a link on Cass' site, to here. Look at this cool t-shirt. Perfect, I thought, for me to wear to the Knitting and Stitching show (now 13 days away) I put one in my e basket, and soon discovered it wasn't such a great idea after all. The flippin postage is as much as the flippin t-shirt, and that's $25. Is it just me, or does that seem steep?

Go and visit them anyway, they have some really cool designs in their shop. If you're across the pond to me, you probably pay a few cents for postage. Not that I'm bitter.

Needless to say, I'll be coming in plain clothes now. Nothing fancy. You understand.

The thought was there.

PrOn Friday of a different kind....

Well, you know I stepped down from the YPF due to my saving up for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace (OMG it's 2 weeks today and I need to have saved at least three thousand pounds.....I have 50 pence)? Well, I thought I'd give you a different kind of prOn because it's Friday!

All my friends know I am a petrol head, yea, ok, it may not sit that comfortably with being a knitter....I've given up trying to fit in a box now I'm over 40. Last weekend, Rob and I went to Warwickshire to an Italian car event. As we drove in, we became an exhibit (obviously because we have an Italian car...come on, keep up with this story...).Imagine that, people were taking my photo as I was getting out of the car, AND I wasn't even holding my stomach in....I don't know how celebrities stand it..I was outta that car like a shot, and standing as far away from it as I could. Rob liked it. But then again, he has the body and face for celebritydom. I have a way to go yet..a long way!!

Anyway, check out the eye candy that was there.... (apologies if you're not turned on by cars...you strange fruit!!)




Just in case you didn't realise, they are all Lamboughinis. Beautiful, aren't they? I love them. If I win the lottery, I might get one.

Now, for all you peoples who aren't excited by speed and power, how about pure style and fantasy?? Oh yea, see? I thought about you guys as well!

Check this beauty out...




This, dear reader(s), is Lady Penelope's car frm Thunderbirds. FAB 1. I can see myself in it. Rob hated it. He can't understand how I can appreciate the beauty of Lambourghinis and Ferraris and find this attractive. I just have diverse taste is my thinking.

Come on now, can't you just see yourself sitting on the throne seat there, knitting something glamorous, like a silk thong, with a glass of champagne and some canapes by your side? See, I'm not limited by reality at all in my day dreaming....


BTW, does anyone know of a good sock pattern knitted toe up on 2 circs????

Stitch Marker Exchange

I made these lovlelies to send, (mainly to Canada for some reason), for the stitch marker exchange. I was having a little experiment as I want to sell something like this in my Etsy shop. (still in the process of being set up...snore)

I love making them. It's quick and satisfying. Kind of like eating a bar of chocolate....without the calories. And let's face it, making them must burn up a lot of calories.

I was listening to the new Foo Fighters cd at full volume while I made them. I LOVE it.

Check them out. If I'm sending to you, you'll have to guess which one you're getting!

Quick Get Ordering!

Did you order yours yet??

The Winning Colours

Ok, as promised, the favourite yarn colour choices, as chosen by you.



It was a draw between numbers 3, 6 and 14. Here they are. They got 9 votes each. The last one, on the bottom of the picture only got 3 votes. But I like it. I like all of the ones you guys chose.

Because I like them all the deciding factor might have to be price. The Cucumber Patch is holding a sale on the Jaeger yarns and the Debbie Bliss one is a little expensive. But it does feel nice. I might have to disregard price and just go for colour.

Now I'm going to drive my family extremely mad while I hold those 4 up to my face and ask them which one they like most.

You know...over and over and over again.

And then ask them if they're sure...really sure.

Let's face it, it's a big and complicated knit. I need to be certain.

And the winner is...............

Just got to build up the suspense a bit, first I'll show you that you all really were entered...

And, you all REALLY did go in my hat.....

And the first person I pulled out was................


Hooray! Well done Gilraen!!
Let me have your address via Ravelry and I'll send your goodies on to you.

Thank you all so much for entering my competition and letting me know which yarn colour you would choose for my Silver Belle. I shall collate the data and let you have the figures later today! There are 3 big favourites, though, I can tell you that much!

Never Mind the Bollocks, Guess Where I'm Going?

I'm very excited.

I have tickets for this

Never saw them first time round...wished I had. We're taking Lily. Every one should be able to say they saw a band like this, when they're sitting in the old folks home.

Dontchya think?

God save the Queen, she ain't no human being....must start learning all the lyrics so I can shout along!!!!!!

Just thought, 40 something lady shouting along with the Pistols. Does that make me mutton? I'd better not take knitting with me.

Do I care?

YPF no more :(

Dear YPF

It is with deep regret that I have taken myself out of your blogring. It was nice while it lasted, but let's face it....I was ending up buying yarn just to impress you. Nice as it was, my stash is embarrassingly large and overflowing and so YPF, it's over between us. I loved you alot.

It's not you, it's me.

I'll always remember you and the good times we had together.

xx

Competition Time!

This is nearly my 100th post, and it was my dog's birthday last week, and I'm in a quandry as to what colour to knit my silver belle in. So, what better excuse for a competition??

All you have to do is this.....
Check out the (ahem,couple of) yarns I bought to help me make up my mind.



Leave a post saying which number yarn you think would look good in this knit, and on me. And for the winter, and with jeans!! Have a look on the link if you like. I have numbered them like so:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
Click on the picture for a good look at them all.

If you mention this competition on your blog, come back and tell me and have another entry into it.

I'll draw the winner from a hat (yes, really a hat) on Sunday. The competition closes at midnight on Saturday 23rd September, my niece's 14th birthday!

Oh, the prize??? Some yarn from my stash...yes, you've had glimpses of what beauty lies in that, some stitch markers made by me and some Cadburys chocolate. You know you want it..........

Good luck people!

Chevron Addiction

Because I don't have too many wips at the moment (manical laughter ha ha ha ha) I thought now would be a good time to cast on something that I've been wanting to knit for a while....the Chevron scarf from LMKG.

This......


has become this......


How cool is that?? If you click on the picture, you get a good look at it!

It's such an easy pattern to knit, and SOOOO addictive. I want to pick this up and knit it the whole time.

And, as an added bonus, because blue and green are my favourite colours, aand I wear them alot, this knitting goes with whatever I'm wearing!!!!!

Have a closer look....


One of my best girlfriends is not well at the moment, and I've been going with her to various doctor's appointments. It's great because I just get out my knitting and then knit uninterrupted for 30 minutes or so. I hope she gets better soon, but her cloud has a silver lining for me and my scarf!!

Tell you what though, I really need a yarn swift. I've put one on my Christmas list. Winding it around my feet and then bending over rolling it into a ball is not the most glamorous pose I've ever been in!! My family kept walking past me staring at me as if i was cracked.

I've joined a Clapotis KAL as well. Am I the only knitter in blogland who has not knitted this??

Hah, not for long.

Still searching for the right colour yarn for the Silver Belle...........

Embossed Leaves Socks are Finished!

Before I let you in on my little mistake, let me show you the wonder of my second pair of socks...









I have to say, I am proud of them, and they are knitted in my beloved Koigu KPPPM, so that makes me love them even more.

Now, let me explain the pose in the first 2 pictures. As you know, I was knitting these bastards a while. They've been to France and back twice, let's face it. In the long hours, knitting away, I would daydream, yea ok, some of the stuff you won't want to know....but one of the things I day dreamed about was, what would be the best pose to show there socks off to their best advantage.

Of course! Laying on my back in the garden with my legs waving about in the air!! You'll be pleased to know, I was wearing underwear at the time.

I just thought they'd look good near some real leaves.

Oh yes, my mistakes......well, I was finishing these off last night and the pattern says

"when 7 and a half repeats have been completed, start toe decreasing"

Well, as you can see, it's a bit difficult to know, especially late at night, where this bloody repeat starts and where it bloody finishes.

Anyway, I did 8 and a half by accident.

I did debate whether anyone would notice.

I did debate whether I knew anyone who had one foot 3 inches longer than the other.

I did unpick the one repeat.

Imagine my joy when I picked up the right number having undone it.

Imagine my horror when I realised that the rib on the top of one sock isn't the same as the rib on the other sock.

It's bloody inside out.

Oh well, individual I say.


I have given them to my daughter. She has always liked them and I think she'll appreciate them and the hours that have been invested in them.

YPF

Gaze upon the beauty that is Koigu KPPPM. I love this stuff. If I could only choose 1 yarn to ever love, this would be it. Check out those HANDPAINTED colours. A work of art, in my opinion.

Although these 2 may just look like skeins of beauty, they are in fact a chevron scarf. Look out!

Booga on down......

Yes! It's finished.

Hah! Only joking, that's my arty photo of it... here's it in all its glory..



Nice, isn't it? I love it. Not wanting to ruin my run, I of course made some modifications. I knitted the straps a little longer, and I put a buckram panel in the bottom to keep it a bit sturdy. As you can see from my first arty photo, it doesn't make much difference. In fact I do think the only thing it will achieve is in making a place where all my lipsticks, money and so on, can roll under and I will spend my booga life with my hand under it, searching for stuff. Oh well.

I did not really get the instructions about where to tie the handles on, either. Julie Black Sheep, said in the pattern, I should end up with the knots on the outside. I read it and read it and I didn't really get it, so I did what I thought looked best.



It looks ok I think. I have 3 skeins of Kureyon in another colourway and I'm tempted to cast on and churn another one out. I'm sooooo close to finishing the Embossed Leaf socks, though, I might get them done first.

I've been sewing as well this week.



My neice started school properly today and my sister said she needed a gym bag. So I made her one. It was ok to make...a little lateral thinking required to put the lining in and make it back to front and the right way round, but plenty of staring at it fixed that. I'm going to put this sort of thing on my Etsy shop (when I get some time to do that) Hopefully lots of kids will need gym bags!!

Hope it's as sunny wherever you are today as it is here.

Secret Pal 11-First Installment!

Hooray, my first package from my secret pal arrived yesterday! She had (I'm assuming she's a she) contacted me and said she would be sending three parcels.

Wow, check out what she sent...(please excuse the terrible photo, it's awful light here)


Some really nice stuff, some cinnamon candles (one of my favourite smells), some burner oil, some handstitched paper and embellishments, some sweeties, and...some bamboo needles (I really love these) and some yarn, spun, dyed and balled in Yorkshire...really spooky as my husband is from Yorkshire (and I don't even think that I have ever mentioned that in my blog!!)

It's a weird feeling knowing that someone has taken the time to get to know me, from my ramblings and sent me things she knows I will (and I do) love!!

Thank you, Secret Pal!

As I am typing this the Booga Bag is in my machine, felting. I have consulted those who know in Ravelry and they assure me that Kureyon doesn't run. I'm still nervous. Think I may set up a sock knitting camp in front of the machine to keep an eye on it. I'll keep you (gulp) posted of progress. Anything other that a muddy coloured mess will be a bonus for me. Keep your fingers crossed.

YPF

Like it?? It is what it says, silk and wool mix.

It is the colour of maize blowing in the wind on a warm summer's day, against a baby blue sky.

I got it from nifferjjl in the yellow yarn swap. Nice.

Back for good this time

Hah! I've tried to keep to the song titles theme when I go and come back, but it's true...that's the end of my gallivanting about this summer. Next trip away for me is a day one...a very important one...to the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra Palace in London in October. Can't wait!

We had the most amazing time away at this place and fell in love again. (with each other) Needless to say, the sock knitting suffered. The chateau was on the side of a (bit scary and high) mountain (I think mountains and hills are the same), and isolated in a way that there were only about 10 other people staying there. It felt comfortable and relaxed and I loved it.

Some snaps for you to get the picture...

That's my true love layig by the pool. I took that whist in the pool. The steps were at the other side, in the deep end, so I had to, camera in hand, heave my chilled out body onto the side and then wade, camera above head, over to the other side to take this. God, I hope no one saw me get in one handed, it was a sight, I can tell you. Go on, next time you go to the pool, try it, you'll see what I mean.

This is my arty photo...


Our room was in the gardens of the chateau, and we had a roof terrace above the room. This was accessed via a SPINDLY and DANGEROUS looking ladder, perched precariously on the high balcony. When we arrived , Rob went up there and shouted for me to come and look. He knows what a sun worshipper I am. Well, I managed to get my eyes level with roof terrace floor level, became overcome with vertigo and quickly came back down spindly and dangerous ladder.

Next day, the pool was in shade. There was one on the roof of the chateau as well, but remember.....VERTIGO?????? I was in a dilemna. Rob went up to the roof terrace above the room and helpfully told me it was in full sun. Hmmmmmmmmm.....what was I to do?

Of course, I went up the spindly ladder as quick as I could and then laid there trying not to think about where I was. Seemed to work. It was great. This is Rob coming down the spindly ladder...


Yea!!!! Didn't believe me, did ya?? Check out the scariness of that MF!!!! (Yea, I know I'm a wimp)

Knitting wise, I have finished the bag part of the Booga Bag. The Kureyon is a bit itchy, but I love the colours it makes. Just the handles to go now, except I can't but 6.5mm DPNs anywhere, so I may have to make do with slightly larger/smaller ones. It's going to be felted, so shouldn't matter too much. Famous last words!


Since I have been back, my dad and his partner have come over from Norway to visit Florence and other grand daughters. (I have 3 sisters and we have 5 girls between us-no boys!) We went to visit my youngest sister, whose partner is a farmer.
There's a tree in her garden which has plums on it.

Me: Will you eat those plums, or can I take some to make jam?
Her: No, they're crab apples.
Me: I'm sure they're plums.

This conversation went on for a while. My dad and his partner also were convinced that they were plums. We even ate some. She wasn't convinced. Come on, my dad's partner is a Norweigan jam maker. If ANYONE would know, SHE would.

Me and my 4 year old niece picked 3 kgs of them.

I don't know what crab apples look like, but they look very plummy to me.

This is what they are now....


Real, proper, true life JAM!!!!!!!!!
Oh yea, I made it. It's officially plum jam with a hint of cinnamon. I'm going to give a pot to my brother in law. Hah! Call yourself a farmer!!!!!!!!

Meantime, I have been reading this book. It hasn't changed my life yet, well, it made me make some jam, if that counts? But I would recommend it, it's funny, and easy to read.


On another front, the KAL that I am co hosting with Stacey is going strong. We have a load of people who have signed up now and one finished and some near to finishing. It is a truly beautiful piece of knitting and I can't wait to get started. I have ordered some different yarns in colours to find one I love to knit it in. Come on over to here and have a look at the loveliness of it! Why not join us????

Back soon.
Missed you all.
x