KathrynsKnitting

Gloire du Matin

2011-11-07T09:48:00.002Z

This is one of Everlasting 's latest crochet shawls.

This is Gloire du Matin by Syl Caron, not yet available to purchase yet but I'm sure it will be soon - here.

I used two skeins of BC Garn Silkbloom extra fine lace weight bought from Loop yarn shop in London and a 4mm hook. Actually now I'm trying to link this yarn I've found that Loop no longer stock this particular one. It's a shame - it is a nice mix of 55% Merino / 45% Silk. Started 13th-ish September and finished 21st September.

Isn't it gorgeous?

I love all of Syl Caron's designs and was so pleased to have the opportunity to crochet this shawl before the general release of the pattern that I'm sure will be soon.

Summer Flies

2011-10-25T07:50:00.001+01:00

In both senses.

First just a final few pictures of our Summer in France.

My photos don't do justice to the lovely sunsets that turned the whole sky red and the white tufa stone of the buildings a soft rose.

The strange beasties are just a memory now

And "what I did on my holiday"

It was Kate's idea to make this lovely little shawl Summer Flies by Donna Griffin and I had to copy her - even to using the same gorgeous yarn from Artisan Yarns. It is an unbelievably soft combination of Baby Camel Hair and Silk and there is a description of it and where you can buy it on their blog here. I loved the first one I made so much I had to make more.....

This is the first made exactly to the pattern although I didn't block it, preferring the slightly more rustic look.

I used 4.5mm needles and each one took me barely more than four days! All three used a total of exactly two skeins of Artisan Yarns Camel hair/Silk.

This one has a few garter stitch rows at the bottom to stop so much curling and so that I had enough yarn I had to add some Kid Silk Haze doubled and in fact I like the slightly furry bottom.

The next and last version is adapted from the final border of Alla Postelnik's "My version of Summer Flies" and I like it so much I've had to show you three photos of it. And it is my favourite.

By the way, the first, modelled, photo shows the most accurate yarn colour.

Bags and Rags

2011-10-20T16:59:00.001+01:00

Way back in the Summer of 2010 I started making crochet motifs with the intention of making them into bags. Soon the actual construction of the motifs became an end in itself. One bag was made quickly - well, fairly quickly - finished around Christmas time I think and has already been pictured here and on Ravelry. Most of the motifs were made from Amanda Perkins' motif designs.

Actually now I've checked I see it was finished in May 2010 so I obviously started the motifs much earlier than I thought. Hmm....I'm a bit confused......

Anyway eventually I had so many motifs that I felt forced to begin putting them together. I've by no means used them all and will continue after October half term. These are the bags I've just finished.

The bag making has been interspersed with a dabble into rag rug making. It seems to me very appealing to be able to use up old clothes that no longer fit, are no longer fashionable but may have sentimental value and then to turn them into something very relaxing and therapeutic to make, possibly useful - and hopefully attractive. What do you think?

I am very lucky to know a very talented crafter who runs short rag rugging courses from time to time and I was able to join her last one. I love going on these sort of courses - it's so nice to meet other like minded people and I love the exchange of ideas.

Of course knitting has been going on but that will wait until next time.

New Holiday Knitting

2011-10-05T21:16:00.001+01:00

The holidays are perfect for knitting light floaty tops - especially those knitted from the top down that really don't need too much of a pattern. Easy knitting and the promise of lightness and airiness with just the right amount of warmth for the possible chill of a Summer evening.

The name of this pattern just sums it up perfectly - Simplicity Cardigan by Mary Annarella

This is the third little top I've knitted using a similar pattern and the exact same wool - Jaggerspun Wool/Silk lace weight. This time I've used thcolour Peacock knitted from an enormous cone that I bought economically I think two years or so ago and now I've found the perfect pattern for it.

I used 4mm circular needles.

I made the body and the sleeves longer than the pattern and did more short row shaping at the back as well.

I think if I were to knit this again in this yarn I would still use 4mm needles but follow the instructions for the fourth size

Crochet Cals

2011-08-29T10:02:00.001+01:00

This is Millicent

I used a 3.5mm hook with Natural Dye Studio's Dazzling - 55/45 BFL/Silk which was lovely to work with and very swishy to wear. It is made from 100(ish) square motifs with triangular ones for the edge.
Thank you Amanda for the gorgeous pattern.

And meet Grace.

I know...just a beginning. But growing...

I could see that it was going to be too pointy so with a little help from friends on the NDS Ravelry forum "Desirable Crochet Motifs" - it has been changed and this is the new situation.

And I will wear it like this

It is a truer colour here.

Holidays are here again...

2011-08-06T17:35:00.003+01:00

In fact we've been here since July 17th .

The weather has been decidedly mixed but we've still had some lovely days and stunning sunsets and future promise

And some perfect days just made for strolling round a garden and a chateau garden makes a lovely afternoon out. I don't know how I managed to leave my camera behind but luckily I can show you some pictures that my sister took.

I just love these rows of red grasses - stunning!

These topiary and wood carving figures were just a bit of fun but I thought very clever.

But you can't imagine what a surprise we had when with much branch snapping and leaf- fall a peacock flew/stumbled out of an enormous tree just as we were walking under. We thought at the very least a large branch was breaking. But it was just a peacock.... I think they roost in trees but I'm not sure.

And a little further on we saw the mother peahen with her chicks.

We gave them a wide berth and she was very happy to keep still for the photo.

This is for you Harbill, do you like the vegetable garden?

A Crocheted Flower

2011-08-02T22:27:00.004+01:00

What a lovely flower pattern!!

Embellishing a felted i-p0d holder.

Halfway through I couldn't believe this would work and I ripped it back to row 3 - only to redo it exactly as before (and as the pattern is written) and had I had confidence in Lily Go's instructions I would have finished much faster. Even so, it only took just over an hour and it is so worth it. Thank you Lily Go I think this is the nicest flowerpattern I've used!

just a few more shawls /scarves

2011-07-09T14:53:00.001+01:00

Aestlight

And the knitty gritty: Aestlight, 4mm needles in NDS Precious 4ply Silk. Bought at iKnit Day 2010 Started 29Dec 2010, finished 5 Jan 2011

The green one is Precious 4 ply and the next one is on 5.5mm needles in Handmaiden Sea Silk- one of my all time favourites and of course the pattern is Montego Bay. Knitted Easter 2010

And another repeat knit
Barb's Koigu Ruffle although not Koigu.

The bluey/green is NDS Precious 4 ply and the purple one is Unicorn

The thinner purple one on the left is a fast-crocheted curly whirly.

I love the way this scarf makes a sort of ruff round the neck.

And I think I'm just about up to-date with the exception of the heaps of crochet motifs all waiting to be joined or otherwise finished. It's been a year I think since these were started and the longer I leave them the harder finishing them becomes. I loved the crochet part and I just wish I'd turned them into finished whatevers when the crochet was finished. I want them off the table!!

Tea Cosies

2011-06-15T13:18:00.001+01:00

These were just a bit of fun

This

and this

are probably my personal favourites, mainly because of the wool I think.

They are "Pot Sock Frock and Petticoat" from Loani Prior's whacky book Really Wild Tea Cosies. Fyberspates self striping sock wool . I like the effect of the underneath layer peeping through and the double layer will help insulate but it obviously doubles the effort.

Now these are almost instant gratification because of the much thicker wool (PoshYarn by the way!)

And more practical I think because the flowery lid just lifts off so it is easy to fill the pot up. Loani Prior again, this time Rosie Posy from " Wild Tea Cosies". The bodies are made double so again there is good insulation.

And this last one from Nicki Trench's Homemade Gifts

The white showing through from the fairisle carry threads will be minimised when it's been blocked. The book version has leaves on top instead of the flowers I preferred.
.

Getting Ahead

2011-05-25T06:21:00.001+01:00

I know it's not the hat season now but it will be again and anyway once I'd found Karen's fabulous pattern I couldn't stop. I even bought a little plastic pom-pom making aid to speed up the final touch. It made a nice change to start and finish a project in a couple of evenings and was perfect knitting for the spare moments in the Easter holidays.

It's funny because every Autumn for years I've searched for a winter warm hat that I actually felt good in and finally have found the perfect pattern. Amazingly it looks good on everyone that I've forced to try it on whatever size head....

Here it is -

(Don't ask about the model's nose - just don't even think about it)

I used Cascade Ecological shade 8063. The pattern is called 'I heart pom-poms" by Karen Borrel. Thank you Karen! Karen says "it's a slouchy hat that will flatter any face" and do you know it really does. I wear mine with the brim turned back but then I have a very small head.

I've so far made ten (10) of these!! But don't worry I'm not going to bore you with ten photos, these are the wools I've used.

The yarns from left to right are Colinette Skye velvet leaf, Lornas Laces, CascadeEcological (twice), Cascade 220, Manos Silk Blend 2444, Manos Silk blend 9332, PoshYarn Eva 6ply, Fyberspates Scrumptious, Sublime shade 0114.

Nell seems to fit in just here

Nell by Kim Hargreaves from Amber - A Winter Gathering.

I made size small with no mods. Needles - 6.5mm and 7mm as the pattern and Cascade ecological wool. It was about March 2011 that I knitted it, so it hasn't been worn yet.

Two little crocheted shawls

2011-05-23T10:56:00.001+01:00

Isn't this a gorgeous bundle of fluffy wonderfulness....

It's Aline by Syl Caron. Thank you Caronaime.
I used a 5mm hook and 700m (175gm) of NDS Precious (100% Silk ) 4ply colour Starlight.

I love the pattern - only two pattern rows to remember - and the yarn is a delight to use. And fast to make too - in first week of May 2011.

I think this little crochet scarf/shawl will fit in nicely here

Sonata Shawl by Sharon Silverman using a 3mm hook and NDS Angel 2ply Lace in Nov 2010. It's lovely and soft and I think I'd like the next one in a fine lace weight silk yarn.

An English Lawn

2011-05-20T10:11:00.001+01:00

It's Love your Lawn Week according to Joanna Lumley in the telegraph.

Thank you for the link Harbill. Well actually I think it was a week or so ago now.

But I have to show you our apology for a lawn.

Definitely a not-so-grassy bank.

And the rest of the lawn has these sort of patches

We each have our own opinion of the main cause but are both agreed that the lack of rain is not helping. Actually it looked much better while the moss and weeds were living but.....

Catching up.

2011-05-15T15:31:00.001+01:00

So much for my new year resolution...looking back I said that I'd photograph and describe my finished bits and pieces as soon as they were finished. Mmm....well that didn't happen so I'm back to having to do a little catch-up again.

But before I get on to knitting, look at this

It was left for us as a little "thank you" present from our neighbour's sister after she and her family had stayed in our house at Christmas time. It looks lovely doesn't it? But what you don't know is it was filled with totally tdf chocolates - eaten before they could be photographed (sorry) and more than that, the box and lid were entirely chocolate too!!

The box didn't last long either..

It had a little label saying it was made by "Patisserie Ayrole", our favourite chocolatier in Chinon and home of another speciality of the area - the delicious tarte vigneronnes. Ok, it's an apple tart but made special with a Chinon wine jam glaze and crunchy caramelised pastry base - extra special.

We didn't only eat chocolate and tart this Easter! We did lots of walking - knees, hips and backs permitting-

We loved walking along the little tracks and lanes with our grandchildren and there like here the season was well advanced with lots of blue skies and hot sunshine so there were bumper crops of dandelion seed heads that seemed to have appeared magically overnight.

But what we were all looking for was the hoopoe. A very striking bird with a rather strange monotonous cry-in fact cuckoo-like in its monotony and in its signalling of Spring but unlike the cuckoo its appearance is quite striking. I'm not sure about copyright issues so I shall just give you a wikipedia link to its photograph so you can see for yourselves.

At the end of the holiday everyone but me had seen it at least once. Hopefully when we are next there he will be too as he's a Summer visitor like the cuckoo, so I may be lucky.

The other Summer visitor arrived a week after us - in fact during the first week of April and after that we heard him singing each night .

It was a nightingale.

We were able to make an absolutely definitive identification by comparing his song with the nightingale recording on the RSPB site. And when there was only one bird song in the sky it was easy. He sang every night from about midnight until 6am-ish. And as we became familiar with the song we were able to distinguish it from the other bird's songs in the daytime. But we never saw it.

Knitting next time....

Gloves and Mitts

2010-12-03T14:50:00.001Z

Have you looked at the Jacquie Lawson card? Click on it to see the animation.

As well as all the other cards on the site there is a lovely Advent calendar and my blog's little Advent gift is to send the calender to the first five people to comment (please leave your email address if you want a calendar). It will sit on your desktop where you can open one window each day to see a little seasonal animation.

Here are all the gloves/mitts I've knitted in the last few weeks although as time goes by I forget what I've made and some of them are given away before they can be photoed. I think a good New Year resolution for me would be to photo and describe my fos as they are completed. We'll see.

Andrea's Mitts

Drops Alpaca 0618 (Beige), 0506 (Dark Grey). Size M/L. 3mm to start then 2.5mm for the rest. I decreased an extra 8 stitches (to 34sts) at the top for a better fit.

Andrea's Mitts - the first pair I knitted.

I did the lace section on 3.25 needles and changed to 2.5mm for the rest of the mitt, size m

Started 27 October, finished 31 October.

Latvian Fingerless Mitts from"Knitting Classic Style" by Veronik Avery
Drops Alpaca - pink 3770, dark red mix 3969, light green 7300, blue/green 7139, orangey/red 3650 for edge of cuff only.
2.25m

And the last ones in this set...

Vinterblomster by Heidi Mork

Drops Alpaca 7238 Olive mix,3969 Dark red mix,3650 red mix

2.5mm, 60 sts cast on. I had to do quite a bit of recharting to make this wool fit the pattern and I used a colour scheme I've seen several times on ravelry and I love it.

Oh yes - I nearly forgot this pair based on Strata from "Knitting New Mittens and Gloves" by Robin Melanson and Dancing at Lughnasa Gloves by Anne Carol Gilmour

I used Drops Alpaca and 2.75mm needles

And I made a plain pure Cashmere pair in Teo's handspun for Richard's birthday - not photoed.

Have I said that I love crochet....

2010-12-01T14:25:00.001Z

I've loved crocheting the gorgeous Lauretta shawl by Syl Caron.

Forget your preconceptions of crochet, this is the softest most beautiful shawl imaginable.

It took me just over a fortnight and I used two skeins of Natural Dye Studio Angel 2ply lace weight in colour "Shimmer" with a 3mm hook.

And Caronaime's lovely crochet fabric

has made this supersoft cowl too.

And thank goodness "Bloglines" is still in existence.

Crescent Moon Shawl

2010-10-04T08:33:00.006+01:00

This is still more of my Summer crochet. Sorry to be so slow getting these things posted but life and - well, you know....

This is Crescent Moon Shawl by Mayumi Kawai (河合真弓)
from Easy Crochet, Complete in 3 Days! (３日で完成、カンタンかぎ針！)
I used 3 skeins of Drops Delight col 07. 4mm hook Started 31 July, finished 6 August.

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Socks

2010-09-02T15:50:00.000+01:00

Actually the only thing that qualifies them as men socks is the size. Otherwise they can be for either.

Posh Yarn Elinor - pure merino. 2.5mm needles I think although the ball band says 2.75 so it could have been that. It was the October (last year) sock club yarn.

Holiday

2010-08-23T11:54:00.006+01:00

We've had a lovely summer holiday although dominated by home worries which thankfully have much lessened now.

But there was lots of this

there were balloons over us nearly every weekend

lots of these

lots of this

and this

and this

Holiday Knits

2010-08-23T11:50:00.000+01:00

I have so enjoyed knitting this.

It is "Adrift" by Carol Feller from Stolen Stitches.com. 4mm circular, Fyberspates merino/silk laceweight. Both the pattern and yarn were a present from Terri in the CTnY Secret Santa 2010(thanky ou again Terri!) and although it is a very fine yarn

It wasn't slow to knit - I think I started on 14th July and finished on the 30th and the crochet vest below was made in this time too. But there was a long car journey - perfect for lots of stocking stitch.

It has already proved a very useful wardrobe addition and I'm planningto make another with long sleeves when I can get my hands on the right wool - I want a deepish sort of green I think....or red...or black....

This one was not so easy. The hemp was hard on my hands and I struggled a bit understanding the pattern - my fault not the pattern's.

4SVest from Doris Chan's Everyday Crochet. 5mm hook, House of Hemp 2ply hemp. Edging HoH dk. Got off to a bad start on 12th July, frogged and restarted 18th July and finished 23 July. Mine is a fair bit longer than the pattern.

Frilly Scarflets

2010-08-10T08:09:00.001+01:00

These are all based on Edie Eckman's lovely pattern

Edie Eckman's Flower Frills Scarf adapted to make smaller flowered, one sided, thinner and lighter summer neck "adornments".

The first one is Handmaiden Sea Silk colour Sangria 3.75mm hook.
The second, Natural Dye Studio Precious 4ply, with some Debbie Bliss (or Rowan?) pure silk mixed in, started with 3.75 hook to chain 154 and then 3mm for the rest.

The third one is a mixture of Handmaiden Sea Silk colour Sangria and Fyberspates red Unicorn.

And the last one is Hand Maiden Sea Silk - colour Mineral, 3.75mm hook.

Socks again

2010-07-28T07:51:00.001+01:00

I still love having a pair of socks otn ready to pick up in spare moments and they are perfect for car journeys. I've not managed to crochet in the car yet, I think it might affect me like trying to read on car journeys when I would still have a queasy tummy hours after the journey is over.

These were knitted mainly during June and mainly in the car travelling to or from France. Except for Richard's socks and they were knitted mainly at home.

Muir Woods from 50 Socks,50 States (modified slightly to work toe-up and short row heel). Panda Superwash colour 2011 -Tweedy Spice. 2.5mm circular needles.

Yarnissima's Brainless, 2.75mm, NDS Angel colour Starlight. One sock is per pattern, the other with a simple short row heel. Pattern is not quite brainless because the stitch count around the heel didn't exactly work out.

Larger pair for Fearne (2 yrs), smaller pair for Millie (3 months).
PoshYarn Eva - Silk/Cashmere. 3mm needles.

For Fearne. Age 2.
PoshYarn Laura colour - Homecoming Queen.
Toe-up, 12 wraps, inc to 24sts on each needle, 4 1/2" from toe to start heel. Work heel on 24 sts and short row down to 8 unworked sts between 8 at each end.

Socks for Richard.

Posh Yarn Sophia 100% Cashmere. Colour Burns Night Feb Cashmere Club. 2.75mm circular. Toe-up with 16 wraps, inc to 32/32 then dec to 30/30 at instep. Work heel after 10 1/4" on 32/30, short row to 10/12/10.
Hopefully these will fit a man's size 12(UK)

And the last of this bunch

ladies6/7UK size. PoshYarn Lei - Merino/bamboo (I think - I've lost the ball band). Lovely Summery colour and the bamboo gives quite a light feel.

Châle Everlasting

2010-07-13T18:35:00.001+01:00

Caronaime's Châle Everlasting was so fast it seemed almost instant. I started on July 1st and finished July 9th!! I used 85gm/360m of NDS Precious 4-ply pink/green and 82gm/ 330m of the green with a 5mm hook and a 3.75mm for the last row and it measures approximately 52"across the top and 34" vertically to the point.

I am very pleased with this - it's unbelievably soft and drapey and I'm looking forward to making another pattern by this talented designer

I did have a few teething problems with the instructions - I think some of the French translation hasn't translated exactly to the way I'm used to reading crochet patterns but the charts clarified everything and it was my own fault misinterpreting that the final row should be worked directly into the arches and not the chains of the arch.

Now, to block or not to block? I'm not sure if blocking does for crochet what it does for knitted lace , as yet it is unblocked and I love it. Will it be even better blocked?

And I'm half thinking I might add some tiny flowers here and there. Or is that gilding the lily??

I've made a few and tacked them on.

What do you think?

Too Many Bags? Too many Cakes?

2010-07-12T06:35:00.001+01:00

A girl can't have too many. Bags, that is. I think I've said it before.

At the moment crochet is my thing and I love making bags so to combine the two is perfect joy for me!

Do you like this one?

It's the Mini Messenger Bag made from 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden colour 275, 5mm hook and lined with some lovely Viyella from my fabric stash.

And this?

I made it to go with this outfit

It is House of Hemp Expressions 2ply - pure hemp that I bought ages ago at Ally Pally to make a knitted modular style of cardigan. I bought some of the same yarn in shades of red/pink/burgundy to make a sideways knitted waistcoat thingy but the instructions were so vague that I decided it was beyond me, especially as the "pattern" was one size and that was enormous for me. So all of this hemp will be used in other ways and this bag is the first.

I used a 3.75 mm hook with the yarn doubled.

I made it to go with the skirt etc above for last weeks Christening. Due to chicken pox and the vicar only two instead of four of my grandchildren were baptised so the other two will be done later - tba.

But we all enjoyed a party afterwards - especially these lovely cakes that Kate had made.

Flower Frills Scarf (2)

2010-06-03T08:32:00.005+01:00

Flower Frills Scarf. 3.75mm clover soft touch hook (I love it). Handmaiden Sea Silk colour Sangria

Frilly Crochet

2010-05-30T16:04:00.002+01:00

My newly revived interest in crochet is being fuelled by three (!) books by Edie Eckman - The Crochet Answer Book, Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs and Around the Corner Crochet Borders

This is Edie Eckman's Flower Frills Scarf (Ravelry link) , you can buy from Patternfish.

Crocheted with 3.75mm hook

I used very very soft and very very shiny Handmaiden Lace Silk left over from long-ago made shawls in colours Paris (mainly) and Rainforest ( partly).
54" x 1 1/2" excluding the frills.

It's another "scarf" that is great for Summer - can be worn round your neck or as a belt. The lady at my lys kept correcting me when I called it "a scarf" - her word for it is "an adornment".

There are so many variations on this theme using the edgings from the borders book, I can't wait! In the meantime I'm hoping to show you a modelled photo from Katie because she "borrowed" it from me last Wednesday and I won't get it back for ten days or so.

2010-05-20T18:50:00.000+01:00

I loved Amanda's English Country Garden motif cal May motif, Hawthorn, so much that I had to divert from my cal colour scheme to make something quickly and in May colours and a bag seemed a good idea. You can't have too many bags - can you?
Here it is

I made 36 motifs with extra centre flower (round 1 of the motif) worked and sewn on to the centres of some.

Can you see the swivel hooks and rings attaching the straps? That is my current favourite way.

Yarns are Natural Dye Studio Unicorn-the pale yellowy one, Dazzle ht-the pink and creamy beige ones and Angel,the sage green. The dark green is Sunshine yarns pure silk shade Moss used double and the filling/joinng rounds are NDS Precious which sets the whole thing off! I used 4mm, 4.5mm and 5mm hooks in an effort to maintain a constant gauge.

I double lined the bag for strength and also added a rigid bottom to help it hold its shape.

Little Summer Scarf

2010-05-19T16:37:00.003+01:00

I didn't really need to do anything other than follow a simple chart to make the motifs in my previous post but this scarf was slightly more complicated.

This was how it started...

With the medium sized motifs being joined together as they were made and enough separate smaller ones to make the tasselly ends as long as I wanted.

Then you crochet all along the long edge and continue down connecting the smaller ones, then back up the other side to the top dangleys. The charts are excellent.

The pattern is from the Japanese book "Pretty Colour Crochet and Knit". And you know there are so many other pretty thing to make.... I love these books - I've got four of them now!

Each motif measures about 1 1/4". I used a 3mm hook and Jaggerspun Zephyr wool-silk. Lace weight. Mine is three motifs wide instead of the patterns four and the finished size is 52"x 5".

The very first photo taken with a cheapo webcam under an energy efficient light bulb is the truest to life colour. Actually the second one is true too.

Japanese Crochet Books

2010-05-04T07:17:00.002+01:00

No...I don't speak Japanese but I knew I had to have these books when I first saw them on Lucy's wonderful crochet blog and they have such excellent pattern charts and pictures that words are unnecessary (I hope). I bought them from Etsy seller Pomadour24 who is so super efficient that they arrived from Japan in barely a week.

They are full of lovely little projects all shouting "make me! make me!". This is the first, underneath part of Motif A from the right-hand book - Small and Easy Crochet Projects, a very simple one to ease me into chart reading .

Then a puffy flower is made separately and stitched on top like this

and this

The yarns are Fyberspates Unicorn and NDS dazzle ht with a 5mm hook.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my English Summer garden cal motifs, I'm still very enthusiastic about these and thinking more and more that they will become a summer shawl (thanks Jean!)

Surprise Direction

2010-04-21T11:41:00.001+01:00

At least it surprised me.

I've always enjoyed having some crochet to work on in between my knitting but I would never have said I was a crochet-er. I'm a knitter. Or was. I seem to be both now and although I don't think crochet will take over, it is certainly my current number one.

I really like using the gorgeous yarns of today and making looser, bigger stitches than is traditional to get much lacier, softer effects and of course the enthusiasm of fellow Ravelers has played a very big part in getting me hooked - er - sorry.

I've joined Queenieamanda's English Country Garden cal on Ravelry and now can't stop making motifs. There will be one crochet flower motif pattern every month until September - and sometimes two. All the motifs will be hexagons and can be joined together to make whatever.

This is the first motif - Jonquil

The one at bottom left is exactly as Queenies pattern, the other two have got a bit of extra in the centre.

Here's the second - Begonia, March 2

Only the first five are Begonias, a Jonquil has crept in at the end.

And third - Daisy. I think this one is my favourite ...

The yarns are the same for all - red and darker purple both Fyberspates Unicorn. Bluey/purple, pink and the variegated one NDS Dazzle HT.
Hook - 5mm
These are all the daisies I've made so far.

And this is a mixture of Jonquils and Begonias

I'm not sure if they will finally be a sort of shawl or a bedspread thingy. But I don't need to make that decision just yet.

One motif at a time is good for my current short attention span.

Wrong Impression?

2010-04-15T11:07:00.011+01:00

I think my last post has given completely the wrong impression and shown nowhere near the extent of my problem.

You see, the first three or four days we were here it was cold, wet and windy - no good for fairweather gardeners. The next week Kate and her three young children stayed with us and spending time with them was the priority. And now...time has passed, the weeds have grown incredibly and it isn't just a few borders....

It's bigger than I led you to believe - the whole area is three acres plus.

Here are a few pictures.

We mow a large part of this wooded area with a ride on mower so that's not too bad although time consuming but there are still lots of wild thickety parts like this

Then there's this section at the top that I thought would make a nice wild flower patch so for three years running I've scattered packets of seeds, and also planted little pots of established wild flowers with no success.

And only grass and a few big daisies grow here but we can't dig it yet because it's where the orchids will appear in a few weeks.

Then the lawn in my last post...I agree, the celandines are lovely and under the fig tree it doesn't matter because that will be deep shade in two months time. But beneath the celandines are (were) hundreds of tiny cyclamen and I *really* love (loved)these but will they live alongside the celandines? I don't know but I can't weed kill them. And there's this other large patch of cyclamen where massive cow parsley/wild carrot plants are competing.

I've tried several years running to hand weed the unwanted plants but they regrow with renewed vigour and worse, are spreading everywhere. The next time we come they are likely to be waist high.

This is where the Canterbury Bells grow.

And the nettle patch. These tiny nettles that I think you can just see will be enormous in a few weeks time and covered in black caterpillars that feed and feed and then turn into beautiful Peacock butterflies.

And of course the butterflies love the buddleias that survive despite the weeds.

We're going home in a few days so I don't have much time left and the roofer and plasterer are both coming later today so I need to brush up on a few words before I can continue in the garden.

Lazy Days

2010-04-15T06:45:00.001+01:00

Or perhaps I should say idle. There is so much to do but I'm having serious motivational issues. Even the lawn is barely recognisable as such.

It seems to be a losing battle, there are weeds everywhere and I sometimes feel I am losing heart.

And however hard we work now I know next time we come, in five weeks or so, it will be three times as bad, it's hard not to feel we're just wasting our time.

Nothing I've actually planted has ever grown here, it seems that the "garden" definitely has a mind of its own.

A New Direction?

2010-04-11T17:35:00.000+01:00

First let me show you the two neck scarves that have proved to be my most useful this last winter because they are perfect for just around the neck warmth - and spring because they are so pretty.
First -
Barb's Koigu Ruffle.

I used Fyberspates Ethereal 4ply - 65% Cashmere 35% Silk, colour Red Kite. 4mm needles throughout and garter stitch instead of the stocking stitch the pattern called for.

I think the colour in this next photo is more accurate.

And the second scarf from The Natural Dye Studio, crocheted in beautifully soft Poshyarn pure cashmere -
Queenies Precious Crochet Scarf

5.5mm hook, Posh yarn Sophia lace weight. Web cam is handy but the light is behind and so colours not true. This is better:

But still not perfect -it is a much softer colour than this shows. And the combination of fine soft yarn and large needles give such a light, lacey appearance and feel. Not like crochet used to be!

On a different subject....

I was so pleased to find a method for making dollies with curly hair like the hair of each of my little grandaughters. What do you think of this one?

Its another webcam snap. I'll do some better photos when I'm home - and when she's got some clothes of her own. In fact this one looks so much more like a boy doll that I'm wondering whether to make another similar to be the third girl and let this one have football shorts and top and actually be a boy doll.

Oh by the way, the new direction referred to in the title is crochet. I've always enjoyed crocheting the odd thing in between my knits but right now its becoming a bit obsessional. I blame Queenie Amanda from The Dye Studio and and the English Country Garden cal (rav link). More about this next time.

Catch-Up Socks

2010-04-10T06:59:00.001+01:00

Black Hills (South Dakota) was the sock that made me buy the ebook - 50Socks 50States

Laura Anderson's Black Hills Socks from 50 Socks - 50 States. Lovely pattern, easy to follow and to modify to work toe-up so that I could stay in my comfort zone and although I very often choose to knit patterns in the pictured yarn colour this time, serendipitously, it was the only Mini-mochi I had in stash. I love the colours. modified to knit toe up, magic loop, 2.5mm. Mini Mochi colour 116 - Feldspar

And then I had to join the ravelry kal and knit these

Cashmere sock yarn from Little Knitting Company. 3.25mm. Michigan Two Season Boot Socks - Terry L. Ross, from 50Socks,50States.

Sadly I've been too short of time to complete the third pair from the book in time for the kal end. Never mind, I'm hoping to finish them whil we're in France.

These are the deliciously slouchy soft Cashmere socks I made for Audrey for Christmas - my normal toe-up short-row-no-wrap heel socks. Lotus Yarns Pure Cashmere colour 30, bought from SkeinQueen 3.5mm circs, 52sts

Saviano by Yarnissima from Knitty, Winter 2009. Malabrigo sock yarn, colour chocolate amargo, 3mm circs.
I'm not very familiar with this gusset/heel flap type of construction so it was more difficult than it should have been where the written instructions had errors and unclearness. And I needed to make it bigger. I made lots of notes as I knitted because dd2 was knitting these too and I knew she would ask me what to do!
I started using 2.75mm but had to increase to 3mm for "gauge" and I worked an extra half-pattern increase to lengthen the foot.

After the difficulties of Saviano I decided I needed to knit a pair to compare heel construction.

Heel Comparison Socks, Posh Yarn (I can't remember which), 2.5mm circs

My "normal" heel is so easy that I think I've decided the other is just not worth the effort.

Catching Up

2010-04-07T16:35:00.001+01:00

I've got quite a lot of catching up to do because although I've had no time to blog I've still been able to knit - nowhere near as much as usual but it's been ticking along. These two cardigans were both finished around Christmas time.

It's just a top-down raglan starting with CO 72sts on 4mm needles using Zephyr Jaggerspun colour Curry.

Using the lace weight yarn on biggish needles gives it such a lovely light but swishy feel.

I've already worn it lots - it's going to be really useful.

Unlike this one from Purlescence.

Celtic Cardigan. Scotian silk - 65% wool,35% silk. It's a sideways knitted kit from Purlescence. I knitted size small but added a very substantial band to make it more of a jacket. Otherwise it would have been too short. And I added a tie i-cord to have the option of cinching in the waist. Oh yes I made the sleeves longer.

It looks so wearable and useful but I think so far I haven't managed to put together the right outfit for it. Perhaps it will be better as a light jacket for the Autumn....

And this one, a test knit for Laura at Fiberdreams that in fact I knitted before either of these.

7 1/2 balls Sirdar Snuggly Bamboo., 3.75mm needles.Size -Small. Its a lovely pattern and the Snuggly Bamboo has fantastic drape.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T10:13:00.000+01:00

It's been cold, wet and very windy for the first few days of our Easter holiday in France but Easter Sunday seems to have marked a change and today looks much more as if Spring is round the corner And we've heard the cuckoo - always the first sign!

These little bunny egg cosies are made from Little Cotton Rabbits pattern for a bunny egg cosy from Julie Williams and look how pretty they look here!

I shall start knitting in plenty of time next year instead of having to get up at the crack of dawn to finish just three. I'd planned to make them for all my young grandchildren but my two days g-children minding each week seemed to slow me down for all the whole week. I should have more free time now as Rachel is on maternity leave for a few months - yes baby Millie was born on 24th March, 6lbs110z, my tenth grandchild!!

The New Socks?

2009-12-20T16:44:00.000Z

Have gloves become the new socks?? I was beginning to think so when having finished these

I immediately started Julia Mueller's Entangled Stitches. But not before sewing in the yarn ends and patching the little hole at the base of the fingers.

Just a few details....

My Cashmere Gold Rings are knitted from Susan Chang's Picot Edged Cashmere Gloves pattern in Skein Queen's Opulent (100% Cashmere), colour Gold Rings on 3.25mm circular needle. I started 25th November, finished 27th November although the ends have only been sewn in today. The Opulent is rated 4ply -sport but knits up really fast and worked very well with no mods to the pattern which is written for dk. Oh - I might have adjusted the lengths of the fingers, I can't remember now. And I put a little bead motif on the back of my gloves.

Julia Mueller's Entangled Stitches pattern is worked almost entirely from charts. Not a problem once I'd worked out how to enlarge the pdfs and realised that for easy reading I needed to colour the different chart elements.
The instructions are very clear and well charted but it's still not exactly quick. I started on 28th November and finished 11th December. The gorgeous yarn is Unicorn from Fyberspates, my November colour choice from the Unicorn club.
And now finished

My enthusiasm has been fanned by joining the Crafty Yarners gloves kal and I've already planned the next pair - Karen Neal's Hand Painted Gloves. I've knitted several pairs of her mittens - which seems to be the term for fingerless, or truncated finger gloves - and although the pattern is a little bit fiddley it's exciting seeing each new section.

More Toys

Little Ted

and frogs

He is Laura Long's Frog Prince - just waiting for his crown.

And these last two little cuties are Ribbit by Susan B Anderson for Spud and Chloe. One of them is stuffed with a tennis ball and should bounce but I think the yarn I used was too absorbent or the tennis ball perhaps should have been one of those really bounce balls. It was agreat pattern and so effective.

Excuses

2009-12-05T07:00:00.000Z

I know I'm only looking after two grandchildren for two days of the week but it seems to impinge on each day either side too what with recovering and catching up with what I would otherwise have done on the child minding days. You can't imagine when you're thirty five but believe me it's far more exhausting when you're sixty five.

So, they're not excuses. Just reasons.

And part of my knitting is such that I can't post pictures just yet. But here are a few of what I've been doing.

These are knitted from Ysolda Teague's Mousie pattern

The larger ones (the two on their own) are 12cm from nose to tail, 3mm needles, Cashsoft DK and the smaller ones 9cm long, knitted in sock weight yarn on 2.25mm needles. The only mod was to knit the legs separately instead of picking up stitches and I decided the ears looked better attached upside down with a small pleat to make them more rounded.

Dolls
I've been wanting to knit one of these lovely AK traditions knitted dolls for over a year now, ever since their adverts started appearing in UK knitting magazines. They are gorgeous but very expensive. And then there's the postage - they are in Australia. And it has proved very difficult to contact them. Anyway, I'm happy with the dolls pattern I've ended up with. Its a mixture of Laura Long's Polly from Knitted Toy Tales, Jane Greenhowe and Tracy Chapman(Toys to Knit)

I knitted the smaller dolly in Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Soft, slightly finer than the pattern said, so dolly was slightly smaller but that doesn't matter. 3mm cicular, magic loop colour Blush and she is 14" tall.
And the bigger one - 20" tall- is Rowan Pure Life Organic Wool dk. 2 balls 3mm circular needles, magic loop.

I've knitted quite a few clothes for the smaller one and she loves them

but have yet to make the big one's wardrobe. And they need names.

As the little one's wardrobe began to take shape I noticed some eerie similarities with my own wardrobe. Quite extensive. Seemingly random colours. And random sizes. And each item is ok-ish but sadly none really goes with any other. So I reconsidered buying an AK kit but- you know what I like most of all about those dolls? It isn't the doll itself but the clothes. And not just the clothes, it's the colours. So a trip to John Lewis and a few hours later I'd chosen a basket of yarns that really look good together, based on those ak colour schemes.

I'm looking forward to dressing big dolly as soon as I've got a bit of time although she is very pleased to have shoes.

Twisted Stitches

2009-10-13T19:41:00.001+01:00

I'm really loving working twisted stitch patterns so imagine how excited I was to find this book. What a fantastic resource!! There are 174 traditional Austrian stitch patterns and instructions for garments including stockings, sweaters and vests.

No, I haven't had time to use the book yet but these socks are definitely in the spirit.

They are the Bavarian Twisted Stitch socks from Cat Bordhi's "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles"with modifications to magic loop, toe-up and short row heels.

I used Dye Studio's "Unicorn" yarn, colour Starlight. It's the first time I've used this and I certainly wasn't disappointed although I think the stitch definition may have been even better with BFL.

I can't tell you Unicorn's composition because I don't know, in fact it's a secret until the end of the year. When you buy a skein - either from Natural Dye Studio or Fyberspates - you get a clue and in December if you can solve all the clues and sort out an anagram of the first letters of all the answers you end up with the compostion. And you can win an enormous prize....

Wel,l I've collected all the riddles so far but don't have the answers yet. Not by a long way. But it's fun.

2009-10-06T12:18:00.002+01:00

I seem to be having a change of direction in my sock knitting. Instead of all those colourful ones that only need plain stocking stitch knitting I'm loving doing twisted stitch patterns on more neutral coloured yarn. Like Gschnitztal from Laura.

I used the Natural Dye Studio Dazzle HT - a high twist British Blue Faced Leicester yarn in colour Starlight. The high twist really shows off the twisted stitches. I used 2.5mm circular needles and adapted the pattern to work toe-up, short row heels.

And another from Laura - Algernon

I used Posh Yarn Martha colour Moonstruck, 2.5mm circular and again adapted the pattern to work toe-up, short row heels.

But that's not to say I'll never do plain socks, although you could hardly call these plain!

Aren't they gorgeous??

I love Fyberspates's self striping sock yarn. The colour is "My Pretties" and of course they are 2.5mm circular needles, toe-up, short row heels.

I liked the colour so much I had some custom dyed for this little cardi.

It is a cross between Knitting Pure and Simple's Top Down Cardigan and Featherweight. I used 2.5 skeins on 4mm needles.

I seem to mostly wear it tied at the front like this.

End of holiday

2009-09-17T13:52:00.000+01:00

Circle Socks

Dh had admired these so much while I was knitting them that I decided they would make a nice little extra anniversary present. I know they're very colourful but it seems men who normally wear fairly conservative clothes often like something a bit more flamboyant where it won't show too much, certainly Michael does and socks fit the bill. I wasn't entirely sure he really wanted these but he did and they are his favourite socks atm.

Actually it seems he really likes these little circles on the legs.

Circle Socks by Anne Campbell
Yarn: Zitron Trekking XXL colour 100
2.5mm circular needle.
Pattern slightly modified to knit toe-up with short row heel

But what a long time ago our 6 week summer holiday seems now. And how selective one's memory becomes.

This one day of stair rod rain that poured through the back door, down the hall and out of the front door seems to have left more of an impression than the weeks of glorious sunshine filled days and balmy evenings.

And the lovely meal at the nearby Chateau de Marcay , memorable enough as our celebration of 40 years of our marriage - and yes dh did give me a ruby and - even more special - a poem. In fact he has written me a poem for almost all the significant dates in our time together.

But the memory now is of the end of the evening spent in hospital in Chinon. All's well that ends well, but it certainly rocked our confidence when for no apparent reason Michael had two consecutive fainting episodes - fortunately we'd nearly finished our meal. Seriously though, it was very scary, mitigated by three very helpful and competent fellow diners who were able to tell the ambulance crew exactly what had happened better than I could. The hospital did loads of tests and found nothing wrong. A phone consultation with our doctor at home was very reassuring and apparently this sort of thing is not uncommon and has a name - it's a vasovagal episode. It means you faint when you are eating your dinner......I think it's the same sort of thing that causes teenage girls in assembly to faint when they've been standing for a while...

My French vocab has widened....

I know as time goes by I shan't have to deal with the memory of this in such a flippant manner and the hospital bit will fade and we'll just remember a good summer.

The long lazy days were very conducive to outside knitting and I enjoyed taking part in the Socktopus mystery shawl kal on Twitter - although I didn't actually ever tweet.

Poshyarn Sylvia 4ply (50/50 merino/silk) colour "seek" on 4.5mm needles.

I can't believe that right up to the end I hadn't realised it was going to be sort of circular and as such sits beautifully on the shoulders.

If you've got one of these....

2009-08-22T11:05:00.001+01:00

If you've got one of these....

then you need one of these....

and then this doesn't matter

Finished Socks

In order from left to right the socks are Fyberspates self striping - Summer Meadow, The Knittery's Merino Slim sock bought from Socktopus at I-knit day 2008, Dye Studio's Darling Sock yarn, Socks that Rock Medium weight and last Vancalcar Acres Jennifers Bamboo Ewe sock yarn, colour Sandstone from Socktopus, pattern "Bavarian Cable Socks" from Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe up with a few more pictures

I think I'm beginning to see a trend towards plain yarns with superimposed stitch patterns, not exclusively but I think it's starting.

Featherweight

2009-08-09T14:33:00.001+01:00

I loved this pattern as soon as I saw it, loved knitting it and love how it has turned out. I really like the feel of traditonally heavier handknits being knit on larger needles with a lighter yarn - and weighing 3 1/2 oz, Featherweight lives up to its name.

I used one and a half balls of Zephyr jaggerspun laceweight on 4mm Brittany needles, changing to a circular where necessary and made full length sleeves that I intend to wear pushed up. I like them to be full length when they fall down. And I made the body longer too.
I started following the pattern and cast on exactly the stitches for the smallest size but found I didn't need to continue the raglan length quite as long. I picked up less stitches around the back neck - in fact three for every four I think and it has made it a snugger fit around the neck.

Altogether a perfect Summer cardigan, modelled beautifully by dd2 - thanks Kate.

Active holidays - or not

2009-08-06T14:32:00.000+01:00

What I'm doing on my holiday

Continuing the theme of cable socks in plain yarn, this is Aknita's lovely p/hop pattern Hopsox ...thank you Joy.I knitted them in Skeins 50/50 Silk/Wool colour Mocha, on a 2.5mm circular needle and adapted the pattern slightly to toe-up, short row heel.

And you can see I modified the pattern further to make the cable centre over the front of the foot and I wish I hadn't. I shall knit them again as they were meant to be.

Kim Hargreaves' Precious

2009-07-23T17:40:00.004+01:00

I love Kim Hargreaves designs and Precious from her Dark House Collection, Heartfelt is no exception. It's knitted in Kidsilk Haze (and beads) with no pattern modifications at all and I chose the smoky grey colour because I'd tried on the one Kate had made last December so I knew it was what I wanted with this skirt and a t-shirt. It seemed a shame to be knitting an identical one but we decided sharing would be too difficult. It's going to be just the thing for any posh going out we might do while we're here in France and it's our 40th wedding anniversary later in August so I'm sure to need it then!

It's very funny being here with no children or grandchildren after such a concentrated time with them over the last almost-year and I'm missing them very much indeed - it doesn't seem right without them but I'm sure I'll adjust.

And just when I could do without a new challenge I've had to join Socktopus's mystery Lace KAL -Aurantium Blossom-and I love the name!! Despite not having the perfect yarn here with me and without my favourite lace knitting needles.

At least I think I've joined as the biggest challenge of all is that this is happening via a Twibe on Twitter....hmm new words to me.... I really could have done without this tweeting and I'm not finding it easy. I think I've signed up to Twitter and I think I've joined the KAL.....We'll see.

Instant Gratification

2009-07-04T19:25:00.000+01:00

Well - almost....

Crochet Ball Necklaces

Very fast projects - crocheted because quick is the order of the day and it's much faster to make a crocheted thingy than a knitted one. I'd planned to thread ribbon with little crocheted beads made from oddments of left overs but so far I've used complete skeins of rather nice yarns.

Clockwise from top left - The Knittery skinny sock ( I think) - from Socktopus last iknit day, the next and the last are both Maya from The Natural Dye Studio a pure silk now sadly discontinued and the one in between is Posh Yarns Eva sock yarn - Silk/Cashmere in colour carousel - or carnival.

I think they're great fun -what do you think?

Rachel says she wouldn't wear them because they're not shiny like real beads but I love them and Kate has already requested one made from Rowan denim - it can't be photographed because she wanted it for her holiday so its been posted off. Hopefully she'll send me a modelled shot...

Queen Anne's Lace Scarves

And more fast work....

Each of these little Queen Anne's Lace scarves (rav link) took only a couple of hours to crochet.

The first is in Noro Silk Garden Lite, colour #2025 with a 4.5mm hook.

Excuse the hairy neck - it's not mine.

The second is Noro Silk Garden, colour 282 and a 5mm hook.

The colours are incredibly difficult to photo accurately and in the photos you could believe that they were in fact the same colour. They're not. Here are two more photos - one of each of the scarves in the same order.

Domus Aurea

2009-06-16T17:30:00.000+01:00

This is a test knit for Laura knitted during April and May (can it be that long ago??) in a gorgeous greeny soft sheeny pure silk from Sunshine Yarns. It is a lovely pattern whose very clean and simple lines appealed to me from the start - and a very fast knit, not least because I knitted the scarf size. I began my scarf working the nupps written in the pattern butI very soon changed to using the suggested alternative beads because the nupps just didn't show up enough against the variations in the yarn colour. What has taken an inordinate time was getting some decent photos.

Why is this colour so hard to photograph?? It's most accurate on the second picture.

It is so lovely and has been admired by everyone who saw it on my table - so much so that as soon as the green was finished I was inspired to start a second one to be used specifically as a table centre runner. This next is wider and gold as the pattern's name suggests. It is 100% silk with a gorgeous sheen - I just hope I can take some photos that do it justice.

Short French "holiday"

2009-06-10T19:12:00.000+01:00

Although we've only been home for a week France is fast becoming a distant memory. The ten days away that included only three days on our own haven't actually done a lot to recharge my batteries and the amount of knitting has been inevitably small.

In fact I didn't have time to do much at all except eat, drink and attempt to tidy up the "garden". Oh yes...the garden....

On the plus side the roses this year were fantastic.

and these had the most amazing perfume

despite being some that have done their own thing for so long and now are completely wild, their flowers are only remarkable because there are so many but the smell reminds me of the rose petal scent we all used to make as children - and of the Iranian rose petal jam my friend brings me.

Actually the flowers are very similar to these of our newest rose - Rambling Rector I think it's called -
and I think this is going to be as vigorous a climber as it is reputed to be. It was only planted last year and has already made a very good start.

It's very close to a pair of lime trees and it's always this time - end of May/beginning of June when the flowers start to open and their heady scent completely fills the air - as does the buzzing of the bees.

But on the negative side we've been battling against these little pests.

I'm sure those of you living in the south of the UK will recognise the rosemary leaf beetle. I hadn't ever seen this until this year - and it still hasn't appeared in our English garden.

And the lily beetle

Both of these beetles are very destructive and can destroy completely the plant they're feeding on - or rather the plant that their larvae have fed on - and sadly neither seem to have any natural predator so the best we can do is to pick them off one by one and destroy them. The lily beetles are crafty little things - apparently when one is threatened it emits a high pitched sound that warns all the other beetles to hide and they all drop off the plant into the undergrowth out of sight.

But on a brighter side, these orchids grow wild in the dappled shade at the edge of our wood.

and although they are late this year and when we left there were nowhere near as many as usual, at least they were there.

In the Summer Shade

2009-05-01T18:05:00.002+01:00

Well, that's another year that I've missed WonderWool Wales. We were going to set off early(ish) and I would do yarn looking (ie buying) dh was going to look round the food section and he was even quite looking forward to it and then we were going for a walk in the afternoon. That was the plan on Friday evening until Saturday night when four of us were attacked by a vomiting bug. Not nice. Next year maybe...

In the Summer Shade

Finally blocked. And as usual - what magic is in the blocking!

I knitted this during our Easter holiday in France as a test knit for Laura at Fiberdreams. I knitted it on 4mm needles with two skeins of Violet Green's silk/cashmere lace weight in colour Morello. It was a bit trickier than most of the lace I've been knitting recently because there was patterning on both sides, and the pattern itself was slightly more complicated (and impossible for me to memorise) towards the end. But the end result was definitely worth it.

Back

2009-04-21T14:10:00.003+01:00

Although "back" seems a strange thing to say when I don't think I ever said I was away. But we went to France on 24th or so of March and came back last Thursday, so we had three weeks away from the stresses of home....But I really missed dd3 and her three little ones, after all they've been living with us now for seven months - long enough for the two youngest children to not remember living anywhere else and anyway the stresses of home seem to follow. Rachel's maternity leave finished this week and worryingly her childcare provisions fell through at the last minute so guess who's looking after the two youngest three days a week? Yes. Those are the days when the eldest goes to nursery so I'll "just" have the younger ones to look after.

My first day will be tomorrow and I'm finding the prospect quite daunting. How on earth did I used to manage it when mine were all little?? Hmm, yes, well I was thirtyish years younger. And I'm not at all sure how I'll cope in an emergency now.

Back to the holiday....I took lots of sock wool with me - and although one or two are started I brought most of it back unknitted.

I did manage to complete "Skinny Empire" from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits. This is such a great book - I can't wait to knit some more from it. You'll see I've made mine with longer sleeves - and they would have been even longer but that's where the wool ended. I used 8 balls of RYC luxury Cotton DK, shade 254 on knit pick options 3.75mmand KSH for the neck. I did mainly size 2 but any changes - well I can't decipher my pattern notes.

DD2, her husband and three children came to spend the middle week with us - this is the youngest

Isn't he a cutie? I think he must be 6 months old now.

My most exciting knit of the holiday was a test knit for Laura. In the Summer Shade. I couldn't block it until I came home so pics and the details soon.

In that excitement I nearly forgot the one little bit of holiday nature.

What do you think this is?

I haven't shown you this before have I?

Here's another

Now you know don't you?

They are processional caterpillars and travel in this convoy to look like a snake and so not be preyed on by birds. Unfortunately the track they are on is used by lots of tractors and they don't last long. I don't think the French ones are as unpleasant as these Spanish ones here

but they live in cocoons at the top of pine trees and we always see them on the track at Easter time.
From further "research" it seems they are just as bad.

Ishbel

2009-03-30T07:03:00.000+01:00

This is my Ishbel by Ysolda Teague knitted in Poshyarn Claudia 4ply alpaca, colour February sock club on 4mm needles.

I worked the same little ksh frilly edging that I used in my Wool Peddler Shawls at the end of the shawl instead of the final pattern repeat. This time I used one strand of two different colours, Meadow (581) and Majestic (589).

It's really soft and floaty and light but warm at the same time. I was so pleased with it once it was all finished and blocked (60" x 24") that I quite forgot my initial misgivings...

It was my first installment of the Posh sock club and I was slightly disappointed in that I'd already used the Claudia yarn a few weeks ago to make Audrey's socks and found it quite splitty. In fact it wasn't the neatest sock I'd made and in retrospect I think I should have used a needle smaller than my usual size of 2.5mm...
I had two attempts at more socks with my new yarn but frogged each time before finally settling on Ishbel and I'm glad I did. The colour is very subtle and this pattern seems suited by it.

And now the next edition of the sock club is almost due - although it will arrive while we're in France for Easter so I shall have to wait until we get back and that won't be until well into April.

Chill and Lady Irmelin

2009-03-23T13:59:00.005Z

Chill by Jean Moss

Knitted in Artesano Hummingbird DK 100% alpaca colour pheasant. I used 4 hanks for the size small on 4mm needles. There were one or two places where I had to stop and think about what exactly the pattern meant but I think that was my muddled-headed-ness and it fitted without any modifications. Oh - not exactly a mod but I misread the pattern and worked the main part of mine in stocking stich instead of the 12 row pattern of 11 rows st. st. and one row reverse st. st.

I think it will be really useful next winter. I hope so. Hope it's not destined to join the others that aren't quite right. Or that don't go with any other thing in my wardrobe. I can't believe how many garments I've got that I like very much for themselves but that go with nothing else... *nothing* else.....how many clothes do you need to be sure just two can be worn together? Perhaps I should stick to shades of grey...black...neutral....cream....

Here's another...
Lady Irmelin by Marita Rolin in Manos Silk Blend colour Pisces . I knitted the medium size and used 4 hanks as in the pattern and no mods.

The pattern has a button just below where I've got the icord tie. In fact I'm going to get the icords off and make two crocheted loops, one where the cord is atm and one just below, in the same place as the pattern's button placement then it will hang better.

I'm hoping this will be a useful addition to my summer wardrobe -if I can find some blue denim jeans that fit. We'll see.

Bag Pattern details

2009-03-17T17:24:00.001Z

I don't know what I was thinking with my last blog post - no pattern details at all!! So to correct that omission here they are.

You can click the thumbnails for a bigger pic or see the last post.

The bottom left is made from Carpet bag pattern by Kathy Frenholz from Indygo Junction and bought from Uhandbag. The top right is based on a free pattern/tutorial from Uhandbag.The others are my own patterns.

These are both "SwivelClip Bag" designed by Mandy Shaw at Dandelion Designs and made from plasticised fabric from john Lewis.

These and the other two are all more or less the same and made from my own "pattern"

Much of the material is Amy Butler and Joel Dewberrythat I collected over the last year together with pieces from my not insubstantial fabric stash.

Bags 1

2009-03-13T14:12:00.000Z

This is the last post of "old" things I finished quite a while ago - mainly before Christmas. In fact my sewing machine has stayed in its box since then and most days I don't even pick up my knitting.....grandchildren..... I *so* enjoyed making these bags and I must show you them because I've got lots of ideas for the next ones.

All of these are big enough to hold my knitting - and other essentials.

I've arranged them in "mosaic" groups so hopefully they won't take too long to open.

All six bags above are the same basic shape. Then there are these

Ooops!! The black and white one has managed to creep in again.

These two are in plasticised material from John Lewis...

The thing is, once I start on a theme I find it hard to stop...

....and if you're not too bored, two pictures from our last stay in France two weeks ago.

This last one is special because our garden here in England has absolutely no flowers anywhere in sight thanks to the g-children who beheaded everything that could possibly ever flower.

Hats

2009-03-07T17:47:00.002Z

I'm still catching up with what I knitted in France...

First let me show you my two berets - or tams -I 'm not sure of the difference.

Both in Teo's handspun Cashmere and Noro Cash Island. These really are two different hats - I had to knit the second to use up the yarn and so they are very very similar. The pattern is "Gramma K's Fair Isle Tam"by Kathleen Taylor.

Next three very similar hats - the first is loosely based on Kirsten Kapur's One Day Beret knitted in Colinette's Iona - colour Dali Morello Mash.

The second

based on Woolly Wormhead's Spring cap. Colinette's Iona #114 - Velvet Olive.

And the third, the same style but a different pose from sulky sue in Colinette's Iona #161 - Oyster Blush

I'm still trying to find one that looks good on me and in fact the last one isn't too bad but bizarrely the ones that seem to suit me best are these earflap ones.

These are both Colinette's Iris in different Prism colours

and this - same pattern but in Fleece Artist BF Aran colour Sugar Plum

Now this is possibly my favourite.

It's Elmira from Fleece Artist in BF Aran colour Sugar Plum. I love it. Although
since this photo I've reknitted the earflaps in garter stitch to stop them curling and I like them even more.

A close run thing is Chulo from Artisano knitted in Hummingbird DK alpaca, colour pheasant.

And last of all is the hat that I'm wearing most often - knit by Kate and swapped for one of my fairisle berets.

It's pretty isn't it? It feels wonderful on, she knitted it in Noro Silk Garden and I love it.

Five berets, five earflap hats and one gift.

Second Wool Peddler

2009-02-20T17:43:00.000Z

I don't usually like making the same thing again but I liked this shawl so much I had to make another.

Same Wool Peddler's Shawl pattern from Cheryl Oberle published in Folk Shawls but this time in Handmaiden Sea Silk, colour Ebony edged with a KSH frill again.

and it has scarcely been off my shoulders.

The next one is planned already - and yarn ordered from Knitwitches. DK Cashmere again, teal this time. I hope it will be waiting for me when we get home from France.

Socks and Mitts

2009-02-19T13:20:00.000Z

Actually some of these were finished before Christmas - in fact quite a few were Christmas presents. I need to add them to my blog because this is now my main record of what I've knitted and listing them helps to unclutter my mind.Well - I think it will.

These are Hypnosis from The Eclectic Sole

Knitted in Chameleon Colorworks Bambino 30/70 Bamboo/superwash merino, colour Dove. These were made from a tracing for an adult size 2 foot!! And they fitted.

The next five pairs of socks were all knitted from Fyberspates Echo - a self-striping sock yarn. And there were some very interesting combinations. This pair is mine.

It's just my usual toe-up plain sock but the yarn is so special it doesn't need anything else.

The next four pairs were all given as Christmas presents.

And this last pair was a recent present to my godmother. They are knitted in Poshyarn's 100% Alpaca sock yarn,Claudia in colour Adagio.

And mitts....

Marvelous Mitts.

Cream wool from stash and the pink is Jitterbug, Dali shade Whirley Fig from Colinette

Winter Cottage Mitts from Poshyarn. Bought as a kit. I changed the thumb so that it came out of the side of the mitts and made it two-coloured.

I've still got lots of plans for other colours but hats (and children) seem to be getting in the way.

Wool Peddler's Shawl

2009-02-08T17:06:00.001Z

This is the Wool Peddler's Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. Traditionally it was knitted in red and worn by the women who sold yarn and knitted goods at the market place so that they would be easily seen. Mine has a frilly furry edging.

I used almost 450m of Knitwitches 100% pure Cashmere DK, shade Jungle Jade on 5.5mm needles with an added edging of KidSilk Haze colour Fern #629. It should be greener but my photoshop skills are not great.

I used the KSH double and worked two rows garter stitch with increases on the first row about every 5 stitches then five rows of stocking stitch . Then knit f&b in every stitch, purl next row and cast off with a loose lace cast-off.

The last photo is taken before I blocked it and I have to confess that the first was taken in error on the wrong side and I just didn't notice and now can't face redoing the pictures. It's a major operation in this household right now.

I'm well on the way to completing the next one - in Handmaiden Sea Silk colour ebony and this is going to have a frilly border too. It's a very fast knit - a week or so...

Dulcavina 2

2009-01-27T14:06:00.001Z

Rachel loved the first Dulcavina that I'd made last April and asked me if I would make one for her for Christmas in a pale beige colour. I found the perfect yarn in Chameleon Colorworks' Evolution Laceweight colour Mushroom - a similar weight to the Malabrigo and just what she wanted. It would have been finished in time for Christmas but I was held up waiting for more yarn for the edging. Never mind it was ready very soon after and in time for the cold weather.

And she loves it.

Serendipitously I'd got some of Chameleon Colorworks Bambino in the exact shade of mushroom and combined with other yarn from my stash was able to make another pair of Karendipity's Marvelous Mitts

Winter

2009-01-07T18:08:00.002Z

I'm firmly into making mitts - the Marvelous Mitts from Karendipity that were all the rage last year and in fact are actually fingerless gloves. I loved them then and I love them even more now. They are deceptively easy and very very effective.

And true mittens - the Winter Cottage Mittens that I bought as a kit from Poshyarn just before Christmas. These are a nice easy knit and I'm already planning to make them in other colour schemes.

Photos later because I'm knitting lots at once and nothing is anywhere near finished and anyway the reason for all this mitten knitting is that Winter has arrived.

It's lovely to see the transformation in the garden and the weird shapes the snow gives the plants.

Over the last fifteen years or so we've spent a lot of time in early January here in France and we have never had such wintery weather. It's been below freezing nights and most of the days since we arrived and on two nights the temperature plummeted to -10 degrees and didn't rise above -3 degrees all day. And we've had snow such as I've not seen at home for a very long time.

It came on Monday and is showing no signs of thawing yet!

We would have made a snowman so we could send a photo to the g-children but it's funny snow and just wouldn't stick together. I don't know whether it was too cold? Or perhaps the air was too dry? I don't know but we couldn't do it. Nor even make a snowball, it just fell apart.

So it's just pefect weather for knitting mittens.

I've got Bird in Hand by Kate Gilbert and Anemoi Mittens from Eunny Jang calling to be made next - well next- but- one because I've promised Rachel a pair of Marvellous Mitts and I'd like to have them made for when we get home.

Favourite Books and Frost Flowers Froufrou

2009-01-04T15:09:00.001Z

Happy New Year to you all!!

But first back to last year with my favourite books from 2008. I've chosen two knitting books - one on socks and one on lace and one cook book.

Janel Laidman's The Eclectic Sole and Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia and Ottolenghi:The Cookbook.

And my first FO of 2009 - Knit Yoga's Frost Flowers Froufrou
This is destined to be a favourite for 2009.

And some finished pictures:

It's gorgeous isn't it? And Froufrou describes it so well!! I think I shall knit another in Knit Yoga's first choice of Kidsilk Haze.

This one is knitted in Fiddlesticks Jaggerspun Wool/Silk, colour Ruby on Brittany 3.75mm

Newest addition

2008-12-19T19:00:00.001Z

I can't believe I haven't shown you a photo of my newest grandson, Alex, born 5th December weighing 9lbs 12oz.

Isn't he gorgeous?

Meret

2008-12-17T17:26:00.006Z

I've just made these two berets in an attempt to find one that suits my head - to no avail. I'll continue my quest when I've not got so many other things to do

The first is a pattern from a little supplement that came with November's Let's Knit (I think).

It looks great on my polystyrene model don't you think?

I love the yarn of this one -it's Manos Silk Blend colour 7032 on 4mm needles. Sadly it doesn't look at all good on me and in fact suits Rachel much more than me.

As does this one.

This is Woolly Wormheads Mystery Beret pattern for November - Meret. I used Malabrigo Worsted shade Simply Taube.

I loved both the Malabrigo and the pattern and I shall certainly knit it again in another colour in an effort to find one for me.

Knitting Advent Calendar

2008-12-03T10:56:00.003Z

I thought this Advent calendar from Drops Design was such a great idea when I saw it on Franney's blog that I've had to copy it here!

Now, like everyone else, all I need is a bit more time!

(ETA To try and make the link work)

Syncopation

2008-11-30T17:21:00.005Z

Syncopation was a most enjoyable test knit for Laura at Fiberdreams. I used 5 balls of Louisa Harding's Grace - 50/50/ wool/silk and it is so soft with a fantastic sheen. 4.5mm needles.

It has got just the right amount of shaping to give a really flattering fit. It doesn't look too bad on me either.

Even before it was off the needles Rachel had fallen in love with it - and was wearing it before it had been blocked.

This picture was taken in one of the rare moments when she hadn't got her hands full....

But I've had plenty of other photo opportunities because I think she's worn it just about every day!

My only slight regret is that I didn't make it in a more hard wearing yarn. Gorgeous though Grace is, it is already showing signs of pilling.

Now, tell me. I want to give my eye consultant some hand knitted socks for Christmas and I've just finished a pair in a suitable colour. Do you think it would be very inappropriate gesture?

ETA I don't know why those first two photos are half-sized, Blogger defeats me frequently.

Newest arrival

2008-11-18T19:02:00.000Z

Let me introduce Freddie my youngest grandchild, my eighth! He was born on 18 October and weighed 7 lbs15 0z.

Isn't he gorgeous!

And here is his youngest cousin - Fearne now4 months old.

wearing Kalamazoo rib wrap booties - and they really do stay on!

And one more pair of almost instant booties

For my newborn great niece.

There are so many of us now I daren't count!
I can't believe Freddie is four weeks old!! It's funny isn't it - the more time that passes since the last blog post, the harder it becomes to know what to say.

Last post was easy...I had lots of FOs all waiting for finishing and photoing and it was *only* my three little grandchildren who are still in residence with us.

Back then perhaps I would have talked about the worries of dd2's pregnancy and obstetric cholestasis and her subsequent induction at 37weeks. And thank goodness everything went well. Then I would have talked about the worries of alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency that Freddie's oldest brother has and was suspected when he - Freddie was still jaundiced at 12 days.
But then my right eye began to have the same problems my left eye had had in November 07 and that had ended with two retinal reattachments - hard not to look on the black side, especially as I had plenty of time to think while having to keep my eye still and no computer and no knitting until I could see the consultant. Four weeks later it seems about the best outcome I could have hoped for. There were three little retinal holes that needed two separate sessions of laser repair and last week I was told they were all nicely sealed. So fingers crossed that that has sorted my right eye out.

So that was last week and all the worries of the previous four weeks are beginning to fade into irrelevancy and just the good things are remaining. And I'm almost feeling back to normal.

Thank goodness.

I'm still full of promises for future photos of FOs, it should be soon as they're blocking right now! But I do have one I could show you...

Gd1's wearing f.pea's " cowgirl butterfly astronaut vest" .

Hectic Times

2008-10-14T16:39:00.003+01:00

I know - it's the first post for ages and not a single photo in sight....sorry.

It's been just a little bit hectic here for the last two or three weeks with dd3, her husband and their three children aged two and a half, one and a quarter and 3 months staying with us. They're on an extended visit while the house that they've bought is renovated - their old house is now rented out and the renovation is going to take at least three months so Michael and I are having to make some fairly major adjustments in our daily life. For me the hardest part is having virtually no time to myself when I'm used to all day on my own but the upside is that I get to spend lots of time with my daughter and youngest grandchildren.

I've joined Woolly Wormhead's Mystery Beret KAL on Ravelry here. I think it's just the sort of useful, interesting and above all short project that's perfect for now.

And the other thing I seem to be into is bag-making - not the knitted sort but sewing. I'm very much enjoying being able to get things finished fast. Necessary when one's time is so limited!

Pictures next time if I can get my camera out without my young "helpers" seeing.

Estonian Lace Stole

2008-09-25T22:10:00.001+01:00

This is the test knit I did for Knityoga of the rectangular version of her Estonian Lace Christening Shawl

I used three skeins plus a tiny bit (~28yds) of Zephyr Jaggerspun in colour Suede on 3.25mm needles. The nupps, which in the past have presented no problem were a bit of a trial to me with my current eye situation. In the end, I managed perfectly well, although slowly, using a darning needle to work the multiple knit-togethers. And there were a lot of them!

And it was well worth the effort!

It measures 84" x 25"

The Funny Side

2008-09-23T22:05:00.000+01:00

Life can sometimes just get too serious.

With all the city doom and gloom I love the way the Daily Telegraph's Matt cartoons lighten the day. Here are a couple of my favourites from the last few weeks.

They're lovely aren't they? I think he's so clever.

I have to thank n from The Yarn Yard for a new- to- me time waster that I just can't resist.

Jigsaws.

I used to do the "real" ones way back but I've been very slow to discover the net version and it is completely addictive. I haven't worked out exactly how to put one on my blog yet (one day) but here's the link to Jigzone where there are hundreds of puzzles as well as the puzzle of the day.

Socks and Addies

2008-09-20T09:21:00.000+01:00

Sock knitting was a very relaxing change in the middle of my Summer of Lace when I completed two lace test-knits - the second is still under wraps so I'll tell you about it another time.

But the socks....these are Rivendell from the hard to find Eclectic Sole byJanel Laidman. It was restocking almost everywhere I tried to buy it except from Paradise fibers who really have an excellent selection of sock books.

I'm enjoying a spell of using solid or semi-solid yarns and letting the sock pattern do the talking. Quite a change from my usual approach of speed first. I've posted pics of these before but not since they've been absolutely finished, so I am including them now.

I had to slightly modify the pattern because I wanted to do toe-ups. After several false starts I decided my charting techniques weren't up to reversing the lovely flowery thingy in the middle so mine is actually upside down. Otherwise it just looked messy - you can see a pic of the mess in this post. I had to start over.

And I'm pleased with it now.
Oh yes, the yarn. Colinette Jitterbug #Wasabi Squeeze, 2.5mm Addi circs. Toe-up.

And a wip - and with this one the yarn is definitely talking - shouting

It's Fyberspates Echo, a ~~self-striking~~ self-striping bfl sock yarn and this colour is Harvest, bought from Get Knitted. Jen from Fyberspates was wearing a pair in another colour at i-Knit day - at least I think it was Jen.

I started with 2.25 circ and about 5" after the heel, changed to Addi 2.5mm and then began increasing until it was right for my knee. It will have a bit of rib and I hope that will be enough to keep them up. I've never knitted such long socks before so I'll have to wait and see.

I hadn't heard anything about these Addi Click interchangeable Turbos that I saw at Knit-O-Matic - not available yet but to preorder and available soon! Not that I need - or can afford - any more interchangeables. But they are Addis ... And it'll be nice for people who haven't got any interchangeables to have another choice. And they are Addis...

You can tell I love them already!

Awards

2008-09-11T15:50:00.001+01:00

Thanks for this award Aknita!! It made my day!

The rules for award acceptance are as follows:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her website/blog.
2. Add a link to the person who gave you this award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other websites/blogs.
4. Provide links of the nominated websites/blogs.
5. Leave a message at each website owner that you´ve nominated.

So I would like to nominate
Maureen
A Blossom Knits
Donna
Kai
Sheep Happens
On the Hill
Damn,Knit & Blast It.

And my second award received just a few days later

Thank you KnitYoga.

The rules are very similar

1. post this award on your blog;
2. add a link to the person who sent you the award;
3. nominate at least 4 other bloggers, and add their links as well; and
4. leave a comment at the new recipients' blogs, so they know they got an award.

My nominees are
Clarabelle (contact via Ravelry here)
Aknita's Knits
Jane's Probably Knitting
Gilraen.

My apologies if any of you have already received it.

These awards and any comments left make such a difference. I think even if no-one were to read it I would still keep my blog but it's very nice to feel appreciated.

I Knit is fast becoming a distant memory. It was a lovely day, despite being very tiring and there were so many people I "know" from blogs or forums or Ravelry that it's quite amazing how few of them I actually managed to meet. I'm hoping to do better at Allypally in October.

New Food?

2008-09-01T11:11:00.001+01:00

Well, it was new to me! And I've reached the age where I don't expect any food surprises!

When we went out to lunch last week to Cafe de laPaix we were sure that it would be good and when Ludovic said that the boeuf bourguignon was excellent I didn't doubt him. We've had it before...who hasn't? ...but I know that beef, however good, can often be - well- stringy however long and carefully it's cooked. In fact it depends on starting with the right ingredients.

OK. I knew it would be tasty but I was prepared for it possibly to be stringy. How wrong I was!! It was quite superb. So much so that I *had* to ask what cut of beef he'd used. It had that same gelatinousness and melt-in-the-mouth-ness of good shin. But more so. And even shin can sometimes be on the stringy side.

I didn't expect it to be a cut of beef that I'd never seen in a butcher's shop nor to have never seen a recipe using it in any of my many cookery books (you'll know I've got a lot when I say cookery was my hobby before knitting!). So what was it??

Cheek. Beef cheek.

It doesn't sound great in English but "joue de boeuf" sounds much better. And I was very pleased to find the local butcher sells it - not even to order. He says he always has it. But it wasn't on the counter, I had to ask for it. Michael is always happy to shop for meat.

So that was our supper last night and it was just as tender as Ludovic's , tasty and most definitely not stringy and I shall be searching for it at my local home butcher. So fingers crossed because that is the meat for beef casserole and stews for me!

I've found that I can get it easily at home.

And look what a lovely homecoming we had!

And I'm really busy test-knitting Hazel's rectangular version of her gorgeous Estonian Lace Christening Shawl.

Friendship

2008-08-23T18:31:00.008+01:00

Friendship - designed by Laura Patterson from Fiber Dreams

Isn't it a great name for a shawl?

And I love how Laura describes the symbolism of the lace motifs: The diamonds at the top are because she values friendship more than gemstones, the hearts represent love and the semi-circles in the border represent hugs. Of course Laura's words are so much better than my paraphrasing.

I've been so lucky to be able to test knit Laura's latest shawl - Thank You Laura! - and you can get the pattern here and on ravelry here

It took 1300yds of Posh yarn's Cecilia. One skein, almost exactly! On 3.75mm needles and the beads are Beads Direct's Toho seed size 8 dark copper metallic.
The beads are all over and very pretty.

Laura wrote the pattern with a choice of two sizes and I made the larger one and I love it being so big!! It measures 106" x 55"

You can see how lovely and light and airy the Cecilia is. Oh yes - it's cobweb lace weight, 50/50 silk/cashmere.

And here are all the motifs together - shame the colours here aren't as good.

Not the Tour de France

2008-08-19T15:31:00.000+01:00

We were just enjoying a quiet coffee and croissant in the square when lots - and I mean lots - of cyclists began arriving. According to the gendarme who was making a half-hearted attempt to divert the traffic, there were going to be more than five thousand (that's 5,000!!) cyclists passing through Chinon that day.

It was great fun and all very entertaining as more and more of them squashed into the narrow streets.

And then the musicians arrived along with a very tall dancer! He kept trying to spray the cyclists faces - with water I presume. Goodness knows how he kept his balance on these cobbles.

There was an amazing range of ages but they all looked very fit.

That was a lovely hot sunny day - not quite as perfect for kite flying as this one was .
In fact the weather over the last two weeks has been windier than I can ever remember in Summer - and cooler too. And wetter. But not as cold, wet and windy as back home by all accounts.

But more importantly I've knitted the second Cleopatra sock and started - in fact finished the first sock - of that lovely Rivendell pattern from Janel Laidman. It's available singly and also in her book - The Eclectic Sole. I've ordered this but not had a confirmation and I think it's reprinting. I hope it'll be waiting for me when we get home, it sounds very exciting.

The thing is I decided I wanted to knit it toe-up in my usual fashion with the clever pattern superimposed....
I wanted the ribbing to start in a graduated fashion...
That works ok. And I love the colour of the Jitterbug - I think it's called Wasabi Squeeze. And I'm happy with the heel...
Although I think next time I would introduce the ribbing on the back of the leg in a graduated way like at the toe. And do a couple of inches before starting the diamonds. But it was going well. I made it longer to use up exactly half the yarn.
But, and it's a big but, I've not managed to re-work the main pattern motif so that it looks the same knitted in the opposite direction.

See

It's all wrong.

I shall have to wait until I have more time at home to sort out how to do it. If I can. I'm under such pressure to do holiday things atm and it's definitely not the sort of thing I can get my head round when I'm constantly being asked if I'll be much longer.

Lace knitting photos next time...one finished shawl and another I'm test-knitting. It's all very exciting!!

And just a glimpse of the sunflower fields that seemed to be all around us when we first arrived. Aren't they lovely?

sunflowers2, originally uploaded by tigerlily598k.

They're usually coming to an end in mid July but this year they were planted later because of the cold spell earlier in the year and so we have seen them at their best!

I have to give a sad update on our baby dormice who didn't survive. The skylarks - well I don't really know. The next time we looked at the nest, several days later there were no babies there. I know they fledge really quickly, so I hope that's what happened.

Cleopatra's Stocking

2008-08-02T19:02:00.001+01:00

Although I've belonged to the Rocking Sock Club since January this is the first pattern I've knitted - but not in the club yarn. I used Colinette's Jitterbug in colour 161, Oyster Blush.

The pattern is designed by Yarnissima and is written toe-up - my favourite and I used my usual short row heel.

Most of the socks I've knitted have been in stocking stitch using the many variegated yarns to make the pattern but this one caught my fancy and I love it in this almost- uni- colour. I think if I knit this again - and I probably will - I'll adjust the pattern so that the points of the diamond zig-zags meet at the sides. Well, I might....

Next on my list of socks to do is one from the "Summer Pick 'n' Mix Socks" from Probably Jane.

Here is a peep at the shawl I'm test knitting for Laura Patterson. I'm using Poshyarn Cecilia in a lovely rich ruby red with Japanese Toho size 8 seed beads in a dark copper metallic colour from Beads Direct (thanks Clarabelle) and thanks to them for a very fast service to France - three days from ordering to receiving.

And some fabulous Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 in colour Earth - a gorgeous colour but difficult to photo accurately. The navy is actually black but all the shades are very soft.
And it arrived in just four days from Red Bird Knits - great service.

I'm going to knit another Tempest although I don't know what yarn I'll stripe it with, perhaps I'll find something at the I-Knit day in September. I can't wait!! It's been ages since I chose yarn in person.

More wild life

2008-07-28T13:58:00.002+01:00

Just a quick update from France....

Another baby dormouse fell out of its nest yesterday so now we've got two snuggled up together in the shoe box. We're feeding them bits of seeds, nectarine and apple at the moment. I can't take a photo because I can't really look at them without getting upset.

Until yesterday we had at least seven little bats spending the days behind the salon shutter and it was great fun watching them swoop around catching insects in the evening. I don't know why but they're not there today. Hope they're alright....

And in our "wild flower area", just as I was about to scatter some nigella seeds kindly given me by my neighbour, a bird flew up from the ground revealing a nest full of babies almost under my feet. I beat a hasty retreat and hope the bird returns soon. As far as I can tell from the brief glance I had of it, it's a skylark.

2008-07-26T17:24:00.003+01:00

We're having a bit of a tough time with the wild life here and I don't mean the grandchildren.

When we were sitting quietly having a last cup of tea before bedtime on Tuesday night we heard odd rustlings and louder noises coming from the bookcase. Nothing to be seen though.

I got up the next morning to find the dozen or so nectarines in the fruit bowl and a dish of tomatoes had all been very convincingly nibbled - in fact you could say half-eaten. That was bad enough but there was small animal pooh absolutely everywhere. And it wasn't a mouse....definitely not, definitely much bigger....

We looked in all the usual places but naturally there was no sign of anything. So the next night we strategically placed various trap devices but didn't catch it despite the traps going off .

The next night we put down bigger traps and caught it. We wished we hadn't when we saw we'd killed the most beautiful dormouse. I'd never seen one of these close to - he was such a pretty creature and from our various books we identified him as a Garden Dormouse from the black mask round his eyes like a raccoon and not the rat we thought it must be. There's more info at the Animal Diversity website

But worse was to come when we found a tiny baby dormouse fallen from an empty bird-nesting box and realised that the squeaking sounds we'd heard that morning were the babies calling for their mother. We've put the baby dormouse in a shoe box near the nest with some bits of nectarine and some more nectarine in the nest for the other babies. I don't know if they'll survive as they are still very small although they do have fur and although we can supply them with food scraps I don't know how they'll learn to forage.

We've since read from various French sites that it's not uncommon for these to come in houses and the thing to do is to set a very large two compartment type of "humane " rat trap and then release them back to the wild. At least we know for next time......

La Fete

2008-07-23T18:24:00.000+01:00

I can't believe we've been here for ten days now.

We spent the first six days preparing for the neighborhood Quatorze Juillet celebration held this year at our house last Saturday. And the next four days recovering from it! It's an all day event involving two lots of barbecuing, boule tournaments and plenty of French wine consuming!

The host has the responsibility for the main course, with everyone else bringing a plate of something. The usual main course is sausage and of course we had plenty of those but to add a slight variation from tradition and to add our own touch we'd brought some haggis with us. I served this not in the traditional Scottish way because it was far too hot but piled onto flat mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil and cooked in the oven for 20 mins or so until the mushrooms were done.

We hadn't been sure if we were trying to provide sun or rain protection so this was the start of our preparations
(Man's work) and

(Surely these instructions can't be right....)

Followed by the high light of the event for the children

The table tops, trestles and benches had to be collected from the different houses and the children really loved this part!

In progress

The weather couldn't have been better.

We've managed to get the French broadband up and running on our laptops making internet life so much easier. It's only a slow broadband because we're some distance from the exchange but what a difference from dial-up!!!

I've only managed to fit in a little bit of knitting - started socks, started a test knit for Laura more of this next time. I've finished the Marie Grace "Alpaca Baby Shawl" for my newest grandaughter.

I used Sublime DK Csshmere/merino/silk. 4mm needles. It's lovely and soft and I love the pattern - knitting round and round on circular needles to make a square shawl is very appealing.

Picture Post

2008-07-11T16:18:00.001+01:00

We shall be on holiday in France from the weekend and then relying on dial-up for a while so I'm going to try and post all my fo pictures before we go. In fact I signed up for French broadband today!! It can take up to two weeks after they've received the db form that will be waiting for me to complete when we get to France. I hope it all works smoothly because the internet on dial-up was just too tedious.

Before the pictures I must share the good news of the arrival of the latest family member. Fearne Natalia was born on Monday July 7th, 7lbs 1oz. DD3's third child - she's got two girls and a boy- and my seventh (7th) grandchild!! I've got five g-sons but only two g-daughters. Two more g-sons expected later this year.

So here we go with the pictures:

Tote bag for carrying a knitting project and everything else.

The spotty lining is an Amy Butler fabric and the bag is modelled on one that was given free with Simply Knitting magazine a year or so ago. It was so useful on long car journeys and hopefully mine will be even more so with its extra pockets and bits...

EZ's Baby Surplice Jacket

Colinette's Jitterbug in colour Mist on 3.25mm. I made the longer sleeved version.

Socks

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, colour "Seaside"and my usual toe-up magic loop on 2.5mm circular using Violet Green's Tapestry Sock pattern. I don't usually knit patterned socks but I really like the way the pattern mixes the colours so it actually does have a tapestry-ness about it.e very much.

And I love Shepherd Sock!

Tempest 2

Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 Sea Storm as used in the pattern picture with Suri Blue (also Fleece Artist) colour Moss. And although this time I did a size that should have fitted me without negative ease and yes my tension was spot on, why do I still feel when I wear it (= try it on - I've not actually worn it yet) that it's not quite big enough.... Well, the shoulder seams don't reallly sit on my tops of shoulder so that's why. But if you look carefully on thepattern photo neither does the one on the model. So I'm probably not going to make another from that pattern.....and I probably shan't wear either of the ones I've so far made. Disappointing. But I love the feel of it. I like jumpers made in sock wool or finer so just maybe I'll make a sort of combination of Tempest and Marguerite. Then I'll know it will fit.

And the last of my finished knits-

Boogie-Woogie

Boogie-Woogie 1

Boogie-Woogie 2

Same as above except colour Mist

Just as I was thinking I'd finished I remembered this

It's the second Flutter Scarf made this time in the suggested yarn -from Skylark Yarns called Les Oiseaux

I love its drape and the whole appearance but prefer the feel of my first one in Violet Green's Silk/Cashmere

Eye Op Update

2008-07-03T11:48:00.003+01:00

I now am the proud owner of a brand new lens!

I don't know why in all the preceding discussion about the cataract operation it hadn't dawned on me that my own cataract affected lens would be taken out and replaced with a completely new - artificial - one. I don't think I'd considered too carefully what exactly would happen and I didn't realise I would be able to choose what strength of lens to have. In fact under the guidance of the surgeon I chose a lens very close to the one in my other eye and my old glasses work well with this new lens and both my eyes can still read without glasses so that side of things has gone well and the surgeon said the operation itself went well.

The only thing is, I'm much more conscious of the shadowy patch in the corner of my eye. I've had this all the time since the second retina re-attachment operation and have needed constant reassurance that it wasn't the start of a third detachment. Neither of the two surgeons I've been seeing have known exactly what it is but both were sure that the retina was securely fixed. Now though, this seems more extensive and is worrying me more. Anyway, I'm seeing him tomorrow and hopefully it will be that because the eye is seeing better the contrast between normal vision and this shadow area is more pronounced and that's why it's more noticeable to me.
Hope so.

No photos of knitting because this is happening outside overlooking my favourite pho o-taking place.

So photos will have to wait until the chimney is fixed.

Tempest and Chanson

2008-06-25T15:17:00.004+01:00

Rona

I was just trying to find a mirror with a fairly neutral background to try and self-photo my finished Tempest (!) when in the spare room I found this....

It's been blocking for over a month!!! I just totally forgot all about it and couldn't even remember what it was when I first saw it. I've posted a previous photo but it wasn't quite finished then and certainly not blocked so I feel justified in showing this one again.

Of course it's Rona Lace Shawl from Knitpicks and the yarn is Violet Green's Silk/Cashmere 2ply lace in colour Emerald.

Tempest

This must be one of the fastest little knits in existence.

It's Tempest from Spring Knitty 2008. I used Poshyarn Lei in colours Floozy and Harmony on 4.5mm needles. And I used exactly one skein of each with just six 10" long strands left over for emergencies! I knew there would only just be enough yarn but I hadn't realised how close I was to not having enough. It has knitted into the lightest softest thing you can imagine.

It will fasten -it just needs buttons - oh yes and I might have to block it. It would have been easier to seam if I'd blocked the pieces but there you are.

I enjoyed knitting this (apart from all the time wondering if there'd be enough yarn) and I shall knit another. Although the size I knitted - the smallest- fits me (just) with negative ease, I feel more at home with slightly more ease and so next time I shall do the third size and I shall knit the fronts and back at the same time to avoid some seaming. And I don't think I'll slip the first stitch of each row as given because I found my row ends were very loose and not easy to seam at all neatly. And I shall have enough yarn to make the sleeves longer.

Oh yes, there's this as well -

Soo was sharp eyed and spotted it blocking on the kitcen table in one of the yarn shots last post. It's Chanson En Crochet and I saw it first on her blog - thank you Soo!.

It's a very speedy little capelet from WrapStyle and available here. The yarn is the RYC Bamboo Soft that was originally knitted into the beautiful-looking but ill-fated Glade. I was very glad to find a use for it because it's a lovely drapey yarn (although *very* splitty). I see this needs a button at the top too.

Thank you for your good wishes for my eye op tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Decisions, decisions...

2008-06-20T14:50:00.004+01:00

I don't seem any further forward in deciding which two yarns to use for my Tempest despite my new plan to make it easier by displaying the likely candidates around the kitchen. Michael's finding it quite unnerving when I have break off in mid-sentence to slightly alter their relative positions or go closer to get a better look or just fondle one or two as one does...

You wouldn't think it would be so difficult, would you? And this is the short list hanging here - I've already ruled out the less likely ones. But it's hard enough to imagine what one skein will be like knitted up let alone when it interacts with another.

I hope I decide soon because I can't do "normal" things with all of this in my kitchen.

Actually this sort of undemanding activity is all I've felt up to doing today after getting back from my pre-op assessment for my cataract operation next week. I know they have to tell you all the possible complications when you sign the consent form but it was rather disconcerting to know that a detached retina is one of the most common specific complications. Very disconcerting when you know that my cataract was a direct result of the original procedure to re-attach the retina!! I'm very apprehensive about it - not least the local anaesthetic injection in my eye. And the operation has to be done in the eye theatre because this sort of cataract is not the normal age-related one but what they call a "hard" cataract and bits can fall off into the back of the eye so the surgeon needs to have all his kit handy....

Anyway I'm going to try not to think too much about it. Sufficient unto the day... etc. Back to my wool choices. I did hit on a good aid to my decision making -

It's quick to do - and does help a bit. I've knitted a few stripes in both the pairs of pinky shades on the second row (all four are PoshYarns one pair Laura and the other Lei) and I'm going to do some in the vertical greeny one (Fleece Artist Merino and the limey green is Rowan Spun - unfortunately the Rowan is DK but it seems a thinnish one so maybe it'd be ok).
I hope I don't buy any more yarn...

I've been very lucky to get one of the Knit Picks options organiser case. I've wanted one of these for ages but Knitpicks won't ship to the UK and Get Knitted who stock the needles don't have the case so I thought could I possibly ask Laura to post an order on to me - and she said yes, so now I can start organising my bits and pieces. Thank you Laura!

Yarn for Tempest

2008-06-17T11:13:00.003+01:00

I've been knitting - even finished another Flutter scarf and anotherBoogie-Woogie slipover vest in fact I don't think I've shown you the first one yet. But more of those next time. For the moment I am completely fixated on Tempest. I absolutely love this little cardi. It looks perfect for this cooler summer we're having and it's such a fun looking knit using only two hanks (yes two!) of sock wool which is easily obtainable in so many different colours. How can I go wrong?

Well, the trouble is that there is just too much choice. I can't make my mind up. No, that's not quite right; the problem is that I don't have the right colours in my stash - not the right colours in the same yarn. I keep ordering more but it is very hard to colour match on the computer screen.

I've whittled down the four large boxes of sock yarn to a short list. I'm trying to choose from these gorgeous yarns

You can see them in more detail here. There's quite a lot of Bonnie from the Yarn Yard here.

And this little lot that arrived today. The big hank is a massive 250gm skein of Fleece Artist BFL 2/8 colour Sea Storm from Red Bird Knits in Canada. I ordered it last Thursday and it's here today!! Three working days!! How impressive is that? I also ordered a little stash of Jitterbug from Colinette on the same day. Colinette to here is only just over an hour by car but there's no sign of that yet.

Oh yes, the other two yarns are both Cherry Tree Hill from Woolly Workshop - Colours Green Mountain Madness and Life's a Beach. Also very impressive next day service and Gill has very kindly suggested some solid colours that will look good with those and also helped me choose Dreamy and Tulip from the new Indie Dyer Yarn range.

And these came today too.
Three skeins of PoshYarn - Lei colours Harmony and Floozy and Laura colour Serenity- sitting on my new Denise needle organiser.

If I can't find two that I want to use from these, together with the ones that should arrive tomorrow then I will have to wait until I can be somewhere where I can choose irl.

Weeding and a Meme

2008-06-05T15:51:00.003+01:00

First a picture of the sort of weeds we've got to clear....

And a quick picture of the just-beginning-to-flower Canterbury Bells growing wild in our wood - well, semi-wild as we didn't plant them although someone originally must have done.

I chose the colour of wool for the Canterbury Bells shawl from my memory of the flowers' colour and you can see that Laura was right in suggesting that "violet" was a closer match. Never mind, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I'm not very good at these Meme sort of things but I've been tagged by Clarabelle for this"know more about you" meme. so here goes.

1) Ten years ago. It's hard to imagine life before grandchildren and before this internet knitting world. I must have been in the middle of preparations for the weddings of two of my daughters about then.

2) On my "to do" list today.....Definitely remove two more ticks from Michael's arm - I'm expert at this now. And clear enough space in some of our overgrown areas so that we can have a relatively mosquito, snake and tick free barbecue for our 14th July celebration. It's our turn to host this in five weeks time....panic stations then! Oh yes I must cast-on some "journey" knitting.

3) Snacks I enjoy - favourite of the moment (and I'm fickle this way) is marmite spread quite thickly on bread, topped with mashed avocado and chopped tasty (pref homegrown) tomatoes. I love it.

4) What would I do if I were a billionnaire? Give lots away and I would make more space around me.

5) Places I have lived....Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Northumberland.

6) Jobs....the usual waitressing type of odd jobs when I was a student, operations research analyst and private maths tutor. Burt most of my life I've been lucky enough to be able to stay at home bringing up my children. And I've always had fairly consuming - hobbies.

7) Tag - Anyone who reads this who's not already been tagged please join in. I'm not up to normal blog-reading speed yet.

Canterbury Bells

2008-06-02T16:05:00.001+01:00

This is the lovely Canterbury Bells stole pattern I've been test knitting for Laura at FiberDreams It's been great fun, I really quite like test-knitting.

I used less than one and a half balls of Jaggerspun Zephyr in colour Ice Blue on 3.75mm KnitPicks Options but I think my tension must have been a bit off because my stole isn't quite as big as it should be - it measures 20" x 70" blocked. I must have been tense - that's when I knit more tightly.

The pattern is available now from Laura either here or on ravelry.

I had hoped to be able to take some photographs with the semi-wild Canterbury Bells growing on the edge of the wood but everythng here is so late that they are still in tight bud; I think they'll be in flower in a few days.

Not for the Squeamish

2008-06-01T18:44:00.003+01:00

Good news regarding my laptop! The second repairer we took it to said that there was nothing actually wrong with it and it was just the power adapter that was faulty. He had a new universal adapter that worked just fine with my lappy,and he just charged us the cost of the adapter - 40Euros.

Definitely a shop we shall use again and such a helpful man (boy actually).

Of couse we feel we should go back to complain to the first shop where they told us it was unrepairable and charged a whopping minimum charge of 25Euros as well. And sold us a usb printer cable that we didn't need once my laptop was repaired. We shouldn't have had to pay any of it but I'm not sure my French is up to that sort of argument...and we are supposed to be on holiday.

Not that you'd know it from the weather. I can't remember ever being here at this time of year and had so much rain - so frequent and heavy that the river has flooded at several places. And big scary thunderstorms because it's warm. And the warmth and dampness have brought far more mosquitoes than usual, making it very difficult to enjoy our outside evening drinks. We're not ones to be beaten by a few insects and the citronella is working very well.

Other things like the warmth too.

We saw this on the little track outside our gates a few days ago. It was basking in the sun and slow from its winter hibernation when a fouine (a stone-martin - they're all around in this area) started attacking it. Unfortunately the fouine ran off leaving us to deal with this wounded viper. The men did it.

And the warm wet weather has brought another pest that we've never seen here before. Ticks. We've had experience of two of these now. One was attached to Harry's tummy and the other we found later on Michael's arm. We took Harry to the pharmacy expcting that they could get it out for us, but we were told that as he was a baby and the tick was so small, a doctor was needed to be sure it was all removed. OK, it was very quick and Harry didn't seem to mind. The doctor put vaseline on it for two or three minutes which stopped the tick breathing and then he just twisted and pulled and out it came. We just had to watch and make sure it didn't become inflamed because that would be a sign of infection and would need antibiotics but he is fine.

We decided we could remove Michael's ourselves....

But it wouldn't be a holiday in the Loire valley without some of this
It's the chateau at Langeais.

And we're ready for an ice cream (or something)

And knitting has been happening. Of course! You didn't think I could be on holiday and not knit.... I've been test knitting a stole for Laura at FiberDreams. Pictures next time. Hopefully tomorrow. When she says so.

And I'm in the midle of another Colinette Boogie-Woogie slipover. Actually I don't think you've seen a picture of the first on I made in colour Castagna, the same as the pattern illustration. Picture when I get home. And this one is colour 68 - Mist. It's Jitterbug, Colinette's sock yarn, lovely to knit with and a fantastic drape.

Another Sunday six o'clock sale at Posh Yarns has gone with another complete failure to purchase anything at all!!! It's months and months now since I've managed to buy anything; I know I only have a slim chance here with dial-up but I'm usually at home where my broadband is pdq. What I really really wanted was some Eva laceweight Apple that I saw (and missed ) about a couple of months ago.

I. Must. Get. Faster. Broadband.

I need something calming now ....

Thanks from France

2008-05-28T10:39:00.004+01:00

Many thanks to all of you for your comments on Rona. They are all much appreciated. I'm afraid catching up with your blogs will have to wait until we get home in ten days or so because any sort of internet work is proving impossible with the slowness of dial-up and distractions of visitors compounded by major computer troubles.

My laptop refused to co-operate from our first day here in France - last Thursday. Even when it was connected to the mains it still thought it was using battery power which of course was being depleted rapidly. I took it straight away to the pc repairman recommended by Ludovic from Cafe de la Paix. He took one look at it - and me, obviously a computer illiterate stupid Englishwoman- and started explaining to me how batteries on laptops didn't last long and it probably just needed a new one. Eventually I managed to explain that it just wouldn't run from the mains regardless of the state of the battery and he promised to phone me the next day to say what was the solution.

It didn't take even that long. He phoned later the same day to say the laptop was dead. He didn't know why but said it would be uneconomical to repair.....then he was surprised when I said I'd collect it later....Anyway I got it back and another IT shop is looking at it. At least this second shop doesn't charge for just looking, unlike the first that charged an arm and a leg.

Fingers crossed.

I'm having to use Michael's laptop which of course isn't set up with any of what I do....

So, sorry, but no photos this time.

Good news though, I've found out that we can get broadband here, even on the edge of the village, and I've found a provider who has an English helpline and offers free calls to the UK as part of its monthly package. I'll check this out in more detail from home and get it set up for the summer.

Rona Lace Shawl and Thanks to Violet Green

2008-05-18T18:38:00.004+01:00

First I must apologise for showing you photos of Rona unblocked. I was so pleased with it I couldn't wait to block it especially as blocking can't happen for a while......

It's Violet Green's Silk/Cashmere in colour Emerald and the pattern is Rona Lace Shawl by Anna Marie Jenson from Knitpicks

Those edges will have the points pulled out when it's blocked.

You'll see in this next photo why that can't happen yet.

You see although I thought I'd been very clever when I worked out how much yarn I'd need for the lace cast-off I wasn't quite clever enough. I cast off over 900 stitches but ran out of yarn with another 100 to go. I could have undone the cast off and part of the previous round but undoing so much gives so much opportunity to drop stitches so I decided that wasn't an option and I would have to buy some more - albeit a different dye batch.

But Violet Green came up absolute trumps and offered to dye me just a strand of yarn long enough to complete it!! What fantastic service isn't it??!

Flutter Scarf

2008-05-13T10:24:00.006+01:00

Flutter Scarf is a very fast and effective pattern designed by Miriam Felton. I love the way the ruffles flow out of the eyelets.

Pattern: MimKnits Flutter Scarf
Yarn: Violet Green's 55%/45% Silk/Cashmere 2ply lace weight in colour Berries (55gm)
Needles: 4mm Brittany Birch
Size:8" x 52"

Lovely pattern and lovely yarn.

Violet Green's Silk/Cashmere is very like Posh Yarns Eva - same composition and yardage but *slightly* easier to acquire!! I love Posh Yarns yarn but I haven't been fast enough to buy any for at least the last six weeks - and not through lack of trying. In fact last Sunday all the yarn seemed to be sold within about 5 minutes. Dee has got an incredibly effective way of selling and Well Done Dee!! But.... I find it so stressful! I'm sure it wacks up my blood pressure. I expect I'll carry on trying to buy it but I don't hold out much hope that I'll get any.

And right now I'm very tempted by this and this....

ETA The second "this" link above worked when I first typed it but since then I bought 3 hanks of it and I must have had all there was because it's not there now! This link is another colour I liked and this is the link to all the Silk/Cash.

Birds

Besides being a model tree the lovely cedar is also the new home of DH's birthday present.

You can see it easily in the sunshine

But against the light it's very camouflaged.

It's not just a bird's nesting box, it has a little camera inside it. Well, we haven't actually put the camera in yet because I'm still checking that it works ok and I didn't want a wireless one so we've got to organise the cable too. I know that no bird will use it this year or even next but they'll get used to its being there so hopefully, eventually, we'll be able to watch them in their nests- I think the blue-tit sized ones will be most likely. It's a colour camera -except for at night when the infra-red will kick in and it can link either to the tv or direct to the pc; I'm told it's easy to make dvds of them in their nest......

Worcester Peregrines

I love the way web cams have made it easy to see bird activity that otherwise would be hidden.

I've particularly enjoyed watching a pair of peregrine falcons with their two chicks in their nest on St Andrew's spire in Worcester. I think there are still two more eggs to hatch. This web cam updates every 10 seconds, so although it's not a movie it's fast enough to be interesting.

Luna Moth Shawl

2008-05-07T12:20:00.005+01:00

This is my first Luna Moth but it definitely won't be my last. I loved knitting it and I love it now it's finished. Actually I finished it last weekend but today was the first day that it was fine enough to be outside and still enough. The last few days have been too windy for lace photos.

You can imagine how it feels when you know it was knit with Poshyarns Eva (55% Silk/45%Cashmere). I used two skeins of colour "Glide" on 4mm needles. Knitpicks options I think. It blocked to 74" wide and 50" long.

Rona Lace Shawl and Mondrian's Treehouse Throw

2008-05-06T09:34:00.006+01:00

I'm upset just thinking about the shawl so I'll show you the throw first.

It's a Colinette kit, Mondrian's Treehouse in colour scheme Tableau, knitted on 6.5mm Denises using 6 hanks of each of Giotto colours Lichen 76,Caramel 148 and Cherry 122. In fact the Caramel was a bit pinkier than I wanted so I alternated this with some Mushroom from my ample stash.

It was fairly quick to knit but it took ages to get round to sewing in the thousands of ends.

It's destined for a wall in our French house...not sure which one but it'll be a long wait if I wait until it's in situ.

And here modelled by GS5

This is Harry - the current youngest of my six grandchildren. And I'm expecting three more this year!!!

Oh yes, Rona Lace Shawl.

I'm using Violet Green's lace weight Cashmere/Silk again, this time it's colour Emerald and it really does have a jewel-like shine and of course the soft handle from the cashmere.

This is the new beginning.....

Last week I was making excellent progress. On Saturday I told Clarabelle ( who by the way is having a Super Shawl Raffle) that I had done a third of it and over the weekend I made very speedy progress. For some bizarre reason it didn't occur to me to wonder why my yarn seemed to be lasting so long - I expected I would use three skeins to make this shawl so why didn't alarm bells ring when I was still on the first ball and already three quarters finished??

How could I have been so stupid????

In my hurry to get going I managed to omit one of the initial increase rounds so that the whole of my shawl was based on six initial pattern repeats per round and not the twelve needed. So for the rest of the shawl my circumference had half the required number of stitches. So it could never be flat. Only a sort of large pudding basin thingy. Why ever didn't I notice??? 180 stitches instead of 360!!! A bit of a difference....

I was too upset to take a photo and just undid it very quickly. Of course, progress is half the speed of before and I'm itching to get started on The Orkney Pi but I can't start that yet.

Dulcavina

2008-04-29T23:28:00.001+01:00

I've been lucky enough to test knit Laura's latest stole pattern - Dulcavina.

Isn't it lovely?

It measured 76" x 24" and took just under three hanks of Malabrigo Laceweight yarn in colour Verde Esperanze ( with about 25gms over) on 3.75mm needles. It's the first time I've used this yarn but it won't be the last. It's such a beautifully soft merino wool I wouldn't have believed anything that wasn't Cashmere could be so soft. I bought mine from Stashyarns in London.

The stole is made of a travelling vine pattern is in the centre with vine lace zig-zag at either end then a deep border all around.

And part of the bottom edge with one of the pretty corners

Has that wet your appetite?

Laminaria

2008-04-22T14:02:00.003+01:00

I make no excuse for the large number of photos here.

I. Love. Laminaria.

Elizabeth Freeman's Laminaria from Knitty

It's lovely isn't it!!

I used two skeins of Violet Green's beautifully soft 2ply laceweight 55% Silk/ 45% Cashmere on 3.75 Brittany needles and Hiyahiya as the number of stitches increased. It drapes fantastically.

The final blocked measurements are 34" centre back length and 68" wide
Although it was a very straightforward pattern I actually had quite a lot of problems knitting the five stitches made on a previous row from k3tog, yo several times into one stitch. I think it was a vision thing trying to sort out the order of these stitches and I know I got it wrong from time to time.

But those minor problems faded into insignificance when I saw the finally blocked shawl.

And a few close-ups for you-

And (eta) just one more

Here are some pictures of the lace patterns used.

I was worried that this little star pattern at the beginning of the shawl was going to be too dense but it's blocked out just fine and in fact thecloser texture seems to help it stay in position.

2008-04-15T12:26:00.005+01:00

Are any of you listening to "World on the Move" on Radio 4? It's about animal migration but most fascinating for me is their tracking of a female osprey's journey last year from her nest in Scotland to the part of Africa where she spent the winter and then a month ago, starting on 12th March, her journey back to her summer home.

There's a diary here showing her daily progress and her latest position - just north of Heathrow. She's got about 750km to go until she reaches her nest and her mate who is perched on a nearby tree waiting for her. There's a picture of that too. I can't believe how interesting I'm finding this!!

This is my latest top- down sweater - it took just 3 skeins of lace weight Cashmere, colour "Far from the Madding Crowd" from Violet Green on 3.75mm circular needles to make a useful lightweight Summer top.

Again, I'll post the pattern notes when it's easier to type.

I've been feeling quietly confident that the *kinesitherapy session I had in France made an improvement to my back; it's still not better but there's no doubt the "treatment" had some effect.

In the few hours immediately after, I felt desperately tired and could only move at a snail's pace. Gradually that feeling wore off and I began to feel more normal and that night I slept better than I had done for years - not waking until about 9am. Unheard of as my normal wake-up time is between 5am and 6am

It was a weird sort of treatment. Bruno said there was an enormous block causing the muscles around my lower vertebrae to stop working properly and causing lots of inflammation. Now he didn't touch my back once during the whole thirty minutes. He never "manipulated", just touched very gently always with two hands - one on a foot, the other on tummy or waist. Or one on my tummy and the other on my head. He didn't press - it was all very very gentle. At the end he said the blockage was cleared and that a chain reaction had started so that the body would gradually heal itself.

Mumbo-jumbo??

I don't know. There's no doubt in my mind that something happened, I don't know what, or if it will stop my back pain. If I'm still suffering when we go back at the end of May I'm inclined to give it one more try. We'll see.

* I think I mistranslated this last time as kinesiology. But he didn't speak English.

Hiya Hiya

2008-04-07T10:48:00.001+01:00

I am still here.....and actually on holiday in France with the so slow dial-up making it impossible to do anything but the minimum. I shall catch up with you all when we are home because even opening a blog is a five minute wait and leaving comments impossible.

It was touch and go whether we came because I had that lurgy that the rest of the UK bloggers seem to have had - really bad fluey chesty thing and each time I coughed, which was often,I worried that I would be "unsettling" my eye again but my consultant reassured me before we set off so I was able to relax about it (a bit).

We'd planned to come to France for Easter but I was feeling far too ill to travel and only just made it here in time for my sister's birthday - her 60th. My daughter Kate made a beautiful sunflower cake -

and it tasted as good as it looked too. It was a very moist, rich chocolate cake almost more pudding than cake and a lovely way to finish a super celebration meal cooked by my niece. She's just recently started keeping chickens and quails and so quail's eggs featured very nicely in the meal.

The Regia bamboo raglan has been finished for a little while but I've only just been able to take a modelled shot-

It's colour Ethno and 3.25mm needles. The only difference between this and the first one I did is that I shaped the neck so that the front is lower than the back and so the whole neckline fits much better. I will write out the stitch count and roughly what I did when I'm back with my proper pc next week.

Number 3 is in the pipeline - in fact almost finished. It's a v-neck in lace weight pure cashmere - more details next week.

Have you seen Hiya Hiya circular needles? When I saw them mentioned on Franney's blog here I knew I'd have to try them. I've only found one UK stockist - Knit'n'Caboodle and they have a fantastic range including those hard to find 2.25mm and 2.75mm in seven different lengths too.

They are stainless steel and less shiny than Addi turbos which is a good thing for me because I find I get dazzle if the light isn't just so. The needles are the same length as the Addis and the join is as smooth. I think I probably prefer the cable of the Addis but not enough to prevent the HiyaHiyas being a clear favourite.

I hardly dare mention my bad back amongst all my other health issues but this reached the point where I needed some sort of outside help. I've had a bad back of sorts (haven't we all??) since I had to lug 14month old twins upstairs together more than 30 years ago but whatever I've got now is different and I think caused by some awkward action to get into bed over a mound of pillows designed to keep my eye in one position. And I've had it for over two months now.
I don't get constant pain but when I do certain twisting movements I get such debilitating breathtaking pain making moving impossible until the spasm has passed and then I'm left feeling weak and sweating.....

I'm going to see a bio-kinesiologist today. Hmm. No, I'm not sure what one is but he was recommended by my French neighbour and his bad back and his wife's have been much improved by Bruno. If it doesn't help I shall see the gp when I get home......

......speaking of which there should be some lovely Malabrigo laceweight waiting for me to do another stole test knit but more details later.....

TopDown Raglan1 Finished

2008-03-19T16:31:00.003Z

But first I'll show you the progress on TopDownRaglan #2

and a better one showing the colour

It's Regia Bamboo colour Ethno. Basically the same as my first but a modified neckline and generally a snugger fit. I'll post full details next time when it will be finished- hopefully as #3 is in the pipeline. I can't believe it's been at least a fortnight since I had socks otn....I don't think that's happened since I knit my first sock...

But onto Raglan #1 (and I'll apologise in advance for the photos and not mention them again)

In the second picture I've reknit the bottom to make it a couple of inches longer.

It took 9 x 50gm balls of Rowan Classic Yarns Luxury Cotton DK Shade #257 - Char using
Knit Picks Options 3.75mm(US 5) and Addi Turbo 4mm for the sleeves because by then my gauge had changed.
Gauge 7st = 1"

And what I did -roughly

Cast on 80 sts.
Join to knit in the round, place marker at centre back for beginning of round and knit about 9 rounds of stocking stitch and on last round place sleeve markers like this:
k15, pm, k1, pm, k8, pm, k1, pm, k30, pm, k1, pm, k8, pm, k1, pm, k15. All the k1 stitches are "seam" stitches.

Now start the raglan increases by increasing before and after each seam stitch.

As the knitting grows you'll be able to try it on and when it meets under your arms you're ready to separate the sleeves. It measured 9"from the "neckband" (measured along a raglan seam) and the front section had increased to 92 stitches.Work the next round and slip the sleeve stitches onto spare yarn when you come to them and continue working in rounds until it's long enough. Then a bit of 2x2 rib and the front and back are done.

Knit sleeves, decreasing every 4th or 5th round - I followed the shape of an existing sweater and I finished with 5 rounds of 2 x 2 rib and then 6 rounds of st st so that it would roll like the neck.

What I've learned from this:

1. I think it needs to be a bit longer.....I've fixed this....
2. The neck should be smaller - quite a lot. Although I measured it, in wear it seems to stretch. I've sort of fixed this by working some back stitching at the bottom of the neck roll. This has tightened it up and it fits better.
3. I think the neck line would be improved if I did two rows of rib and then some short-rowing after the neck roll so that the front would curve down like a smile. (I've done this on the next one and it's much better)
4. The raglan length might need to be adjusted to fit more snuggly.
5. Should I divide the stitches so that less are on the sleeve sections? I don't know yet.

You can see I'm enjoying myself with this...

Precious and a Top Down Sweater

2008-03-11T17:02:00.003Z

I must show you this photo of my daughter in her newly completed Precious from Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt - The Dark House Collection

I am so proud of her!!

It's Kidsilk Haze and beaded all over. Hasn't she made a good job of it?

It was only last year, on holiday in France, that she asked me to show her how to knit. She wasn't a complete beginner having learnt the basic stitches when she was at Primary school (and probably did the usual scarf for a teddy) but she hadn't been interested since then until last year - 25+ years later. Luckily I'd brought lots of exciting yarns and a good selection of needles so I could show her a bit of what knitting today is all about. And she's been hooked!! It's so nice having a real live knitter to chat to!

She hasn't got a blog (yet) but I've got her addicted to Ravelry and I'm sure the blog won't be long....

Top-Down Raglan

I've arrived very late to this type of construction of a sweater which has the try-it-on as you go appeal and no seaming!!

There are loads of them about - all the Zephyrstyle ones and the Knitting Pure and Simple range for example but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So many of them have wide/loose necklines and while not wanting a tight rollneck or tight crewneck, I definitely didn't want one that was so loose that I would keep fidgeting with it to stop it falling off my shoulders.

Then I saw this on Sarah's blog.....exactly what I was looking for but no pattern.

I'm not really very confident about knitting without a pattern but with Barbara Walker's book "Knitting from the Top", Pamela Costello's "Incredible Custom-fit Raglan Sweater" from Woolworks and modifying Stephanie Japel's "Raglan from the top down" I've arrived at what I hope will be just what I wanted.

Its still got one sleeve to go but I can't resist a progress picture.

I think it's going to fit ok but I didn't try it on as much as I should and my tension varies so much as I go along. I've really enjoyed knitting this way so it'll be the blueprint for lots of future ones

Marguerite finally finished

2008-03-09T16:49:00.001Z

I've used the last few months of forced inactivity and convalescence to finish simple things that have been waiting for a long time. You know - those boring and time consuming jobs like sewing in wool ends, lining bags , sewing on buttons ....

Although I have manged to get lots finished, disappointingly I seem to have very little actually photographed - even with my digital camera my restricted vision is making it too difficult.

But I'm very pleased with this one started before Christmas and the knitting part finished ages ago but I've only just found its buttons and finished the seaming.

It's Marguerite from Louisa Harding's Design Collection book. I used 4mm Addis with Kimono Angora Pure shade Teak #13 and did the second size (34). No mods except to make the sleeves full length on me and not the 3/4 length of the pattern.

The colour isn't great on either photo. It's a lovely deep burgundy verging towards chestnut tones as you'd guess from its name - teak. This photo taken when I first started is a much more accurate colour - exactly right on my pc screen.

I've been meaning to add a link to this excellent tutorial for cabling without cable needle from Kathy aka Grumperina. It is an excellent description.

Not Earthquake Country.....

2008-02-23T18:24:00.003Z

We're not an earthquake country here in the UK so last night at 1am when there were strange rumbly noises and the bed shook that was not the first thing we thought of. In fact neither of us had been to sleep, we were in that dozy state only just awake when you have heightened "danger" awareness.
So - bed shaking, strange noise from somewhere below? Yes it can only be some sort of creature forcing its way from under the floor. Definite monster. Michael said that although we have had experience of rats there would have to be an army of giant rats to lift floor boards and move the bed and that it had to be an earthquake or a big tree uprooted...but I wasn't convinced and it took a long time for the palpitations and heart poundings to stop and for me to drift off to sleep. You feel very vulnerable at that time of night. And its very easy to revert to childish nightmare fears.

Last night's measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale. The only other earth tremor I've felt was four years ago and that was in day time and slight enough to not be scary.

Now on a more relaxed note...

This is my new YarnYard sock/glove yarn. The bigger skein on the right is a subtle purply shade - not the grey in the photo and the other four skeins all mini amounts, not to use for fair-isling as n from the Yarnyard wondered but for heels, edgings on Jane's Cranford Mitts or decoration on Karen's Cupcake Kid Mitts. Or, maybe if I actually dare admit it, just to add to my stash of Yarnyard yarns...

Yes... but this is just one basket. I've got twice as much again squashed into boxes and more sock wool of other brands squashed in bigger boxes, ...... quite a bit more ......But I'm not going to count it up like lots of you have done. I would feel too guilty and I wouldn't enjoy buying more. I'm sure I'll know when to stop - won't I??

Of course there's the lace weight - quite a lot of this and it lasts longer than sock yarn. And wool bought specifically for Other Things. Hmm, we won't go there today....

Lily of the Valley SmokeRing

2008-02-23T16:35:00.005Z

This is my second attempt at Susan Lawrence's lovely Lily of the Valley Smoke Ring. I think this colour suits me more than the Mushroom Jaggerspun Zephyr of the previous one did.

It's as yet unblocked but I couldn't wait to show you a close up of the lily of the valley pattern.

I used 3.75 Addi turbos to knit the lovely Qiviut I had for Christmas. It really is as soft and luxurious as everyone says!
ETA I didn't use Addis - it was Knit Picks Options.

Now this next one is Regia Bamboo Color #1064 Ethno - 45% Bamboo/40%Wool/15%Polyamid and I have actually completed the pair of socks. As soon as I started knitting I was absolutely in love with both the colour and drape of the yarn and in fact so much so that I've ordered more - lots more - to knit a little v-neck cardi. I hope it comes soon while I'm so enthusiastic because a 4ply cardi won't be the fastest thing and my attention span is poor.

What do you think?
As usual my photo does not do justice to the yarn.

My eye seems to be doing what it should and I'm doing my best to be relaxed about it. The surgeon that did this last operation could see that I was a worrier and he's given me his pager number, home number and several hospital numbers so that if I have any urgent worries I can get in touch with him quickly and I see him each week as well. All of which is very reassuring.

I've found this RNIB site and forum really helpful. It makes such a difference to hear of other peoples with similar experiences.

And another very useful aid is the Audio Description provided for lots of tv programmes. It does exactly what it says and where there's no dialogue it tells you what's going on. Good for knitting while tv watching.

More Marvellous Mitts

2008-02-10T11:20:00.000Z

First a big thank you for all your hugs and best wishes. The surgeon said everything was going well and that I didn't need to see him for a fortnight but needless to say, I'm still worrying. And that is despite the relaxing session of distant reiki from Donna who I'd found some time ago through her knitting blog.

Marvellous Mitts

I started my second pair of these mitts soon after Christmas and have worked on them when I could.

And, yes I have made a pair!

The colour is somewhere between the second (indoor) photo and the first two (outdoor) photos. I used YarnAddict yarns - I can't remember the names of the colours, in fact they probably were from the Sock club.

Simple Gloves
These are based on the gloves in Sandi Rosner's book "Not just Socks and are knitted in Lana Grossa Meilenweit Fantasy shade 4830. I used magic loop with 2mm Addi turbos
They were fun and very easy and I will knit them again but next time I'll use a softer yarn.