Sheep Happens

North of England Way

2011-05-10T13:25:00.004+01:00

I've been away the last couple of weeks, hiking an alternative coast to coast walk across the North of England. You can read about my adventures here. There wasn't any knitting, but there were a hell of a lot of sheep.

These aren't the shoes you're looking for

2011-04-03T12:35:00.001+01:00

Monkey Magic

2011-03-15T19:28:00.005Z

Pattern: Monkey Socks, Cookie A
Yarn: Jawoll Magic, Lang Yarns
Colour: Greens
Used: 78g
Needles: 2.5mm Surina wood dpns (5)

Loved this pattern - the yarn, not so much. The twist was very loose so within a couple of stitches I was knitting on pretty much straight fibres which were fluffy and very easily split. Care was needed in making the stitches (which isn't too much of an issue as I can't ever really knit without looking at what I'm doing for more than a couple of stitches at a time) and especially in following the pattern, as tinking back was a nightmare. I don't know how hard wearing it will be either, so it'll be interesting to see what the socks are like after a few wears and washes.

Having caught the sock bug good and proper, I cast on straight away for a pair of Absinthe socks in bright red Regia. They are done toe up, which has given them a bit of a strange pointy toe that I'm not sure if I can live with or not.

I am as yet undecided but, whatever I do with them, it'll have to wait as I had a bit of an altercation with a paper towel dispenser yesterday and ended up slicing my finger open.

I have a slightly less dramatic bandage on today but still cannot bend my finger, so there will be no knitting for the time being - which is a bit of a shame as I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time on trains at the weekend. I should get lots of reading done, but it's not quite the same. Boo.

Sheep in Snow

2011-03-05T13:04:00.002Z

I didn't manage to knit a lot of sock last week, as we were on holiday in Southern Poland. I did about half a dozen rounds at the airport waiting for our transfer, and about three more rounds one evening when we had a bit of time to spare between getting to the hostel and going out for dinner. So I'm still working on the sock and have nothing yet to show you - in the meantime, I have some sheep related photos from our trip.

Never leave home without your sheep totem

Mt Turbacz 1360m (not many sheep here - they're all down the pub)

Sheep keeping warm - it was minus 14degC outside!

Traditional Highlander sheep cheese presses in Zakopane Museum

Old shepherd's hut in the forest

Shopping Fail: Reality bites sucks.

2011-02-15T14:39:00.006Z

Actually, credit for this has to go to Rob, who spotted it the day before Valentine's Day and had his phone with him. And charged. And was willing to take a photo while I stood by laughing.

Monkey see, monkey do

2011-02-06T15:18:00.006Z

My next project is to be a pair of Monkey socks - it seems like ages since I've made socks and it is also my knitting group's first KAL of 2011. Which yarn to use can be a tough decision - solid colours can look dull on plain socks and a variagated sock yarn that is very pretty on the skein can be surprisingly tricksy to match up to a pattern. Have a look at my Bayerische socks and you'll know how I know this.

So to help me decide, I had a browse of the Monkeys posted on Ravelry - and there are over 13,000 of them. I am SO late to this party that I should be carrying a bin bag and a pair of Marigolds for the morning after tidy up. As well as looking at the favourited projects to see which ones came out really nicely, I think it is equally worthwhile taking a look at the frogged pond to see what turned out, erm, less than satisfactory. For a start, there aren't nearly as many.

I decided that a lightly varigated yarn suits this pattern and started with some Jawoll Magic in greens.

Blending in quite well here on the blog

I got the Jawoll on Tuesday on a birthday trip into Manchester (birthdays are for spending time with friends and buying yarn, not being at work) and also picked up some gorgeous Malabrigo sock yarn, with which I am planning to make a Gail (Nightsongs) shawl.

Lily of the Valley

2011-02-06T14:41:00.007Z

Pattern: Lily of the Valley Scarf by Nancy Bush, Knitted Lace of Estonia
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Lace - alpaca, silk, cashmere
Colour: 6977
Used: 1x 50g skein
Needles: 3.75mm Addi Lace circular needle
Mods: Did 10 repeats of central lace pattern

Pinning it out for blocking took a while, and a hell a of lot of pins - I think I need to invest in some blocking wires. This photo was taken first thing in the morning and came out very blue indeed, the second picture of the finished scarf is how the colour really is.

And finished with over a month to spare before my aunt's birthday - not like me at all. The Manos lace yarn is a joy and the is pattern fun and quick, I loved having so few stitches on the needle. Yes, there are nupps, but the Addi lace needles make them pretty easy.

And very pretty they are, too.

Lace Repeat Roulette

2011-01-30T18:01:00.007Z

My Aunt is a very good knitter but, apart from a foray into the books of Kaffe Fassett in the 80s which introduced her to the wonders of colourwork, never really ventured outside of her knitting comfort zone. At New Year, I mentioned the world of online yarn shops, patterns and communities, and the look of horror on her face at the thought of using a computer actually surprised me. We were talking about knitting and making lace, as my Step-Mum makes lovely, very complicated looking stuff with bobbins that is very impressive and my knitted lace shawls were much admired - I had my fiery shawl with me and Diane had brought with her the Forest Canopy I'd made for her. Having had my work so admired, I thought I would make my Aunt a shawl as a birthday present - her birthday is at the end of March so there would be plenty of time for even a slow-coach like myself to get it done in time. Using the Manos Lace bought just a few weeks back, I cast on for a Lily of the Valley scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. I love the delicate pattern and the fineness of the yarn, so pretty in pale grey.

The pattern said 9 repeats of the lily and small flower centre chart, but the scarf still seemed quite short at that point, so I thought I would push my luck and see if I could get another repeat out of the skein of Manos Lace. My luck was in. Hurrah!

Hearty Tomato and Chickpea Soup

2011-01-15T13:43:00.007Z

It is raining, grey and depressing outside. Inside there is warmth, knitting of lace (more on this later) , coffee and chocolate orange, and making of soup. I made this for lunch today and while we were eating it decided that it was good enough to write the recipe down so I could make it again some time. Sadly, by the time I decided it was nice enough to go on the blog there wasn't enough of it left to take a decent photo of, so I've just written it down and you'll have to trust me.

1 tablespoon butter or buttery marg type stuff
1 tablepoon olive oil
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
2 sticks celery
4 radishes
1 small tin chickpeas
1/2 hot red chilli
some tomato puree (about 2" from a tube)
400g can of rich chopped tomatoes
about 1/2 can of water
1 teaspoon reduced salt bouillion powder
some dried basil
small cup of milk with a pinch of baking soda mixed in
few grinds of black pepper

Heat butter and oil together and add roughly chopped onion and garlic, chopped celery and radishes. Chuck in drained and rinsed chickpeas. Chop chilli into very small pieces, add them in. When the onion is softened, stir in the tomato puree and let it cook for 5 minutes. Then add in the tin of tomatoes and water used to rinse out the can. Add in milk and powder, herbs and pepper. Cover, bring to boil and let it simmer for a while, about 10 minutes. Ladle out a bowl full of the chunky soup and whizz up the rest with a hand blender. Return the chunks and reheat if necessary. Serve with crusty bread and a swirl of creme fraiche if you are posh or with some granary sliced if you are me.

Midwinter Blues

2011-01-09T20:47:00.008Z

There is a definite blueish tinge to this post.

I love the idea of winter. I love the thought of it being cold and snowy outside, and me sitting inside with a hot cup of tea, wearing woollens and slippers, cosy with my knitting in front of the fire. The reality is often more prosaic, especially when you have to go to work, shopping, travel but things could be much worse, the snow looks lovely and there is plenty of beauty around. And occasionally some if it can be tempted into the back garden, where I can take photos of it without needing to go out in the cold.

Early morning visitor

A regular visitor

A slighty more uncommon (round here anyway) bullfinch

After the stresses of the lace cardigan, I decided that I wanted to knit something that was simple and straightforward, using thick aran yarn on biggish needles. So, I picked this entrelac based snake scarf by Kim Salazar. The pattern is based on a self striping yarn like Noro Kureyon, but I love the structured look of the ribbed triangles and wanted a plainer yarn to show this off. In the stash I had some basic Wendy wool mix in navy, picked up at one of of the swaps at my knitting group, which does very well.

Resolutions

2011-01-03T17:24:00.005Z

This year's New Year's Resolutions (in no particular order of sense or importance):

1. Slightly knitting related - be more careful about measurements rather than blithely carrying on thinking everything is going to be fine. It isn't, and it's much easier to fix when you first spot a mistake than after you've cast off, sewn up and woven in the ends. Yes, cardigan, I'm talking about you.
2. Wear lipstick more often.
3. Read more literature. I have often posted a reading list at this time of year, but this year I won't be as the list could be pretty much summed up as vampires (some sparkly, most not), spaceships and Anna Karenina. So I have taken the Top 100 Book list from a couple of years back, removed the ones I've already read and sorted them by number of pages and the cost to download for my Kindle. This afternoon was spent very pleasantly reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is a. very short b. very good and c. free. Next up is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

New Year, New Yarn

2011-01-01T18:48:00.003Z

Santa (otherwise known as my friend Kirsty) sent yarn for Christmas, in a gorgeous teal colour that is going to make some lovely gloves (or mittens - yet to be decided.)

Manos Classica Wool

Between Christmas and the New Year we spent a couple of days in Manchester and I took the opportunity to visit Purl City Yarns for the first time, and there was a sale on so it would have been doubly rude not to buy some of the lovely yarn.

Manos Laceweight: Baby alpaca, silk and cashmere

Fyberspates Scrumptious: Merino and silk

Alice Cardigan completed

2010-12-30T17:22:00.003Z

Pattern: Alice Cardigan by Karen Bourne
Yarn: Alpaca Select 4ply
Colour: Black
Used: about 550g
Needles: 3.75mm Addi Lace circular needle
Size: 14, but cut 10 pattern repeats off each sleeve.

Got gauge, but should have checked the measurements of the sleeves. I am considering this one to be my trial run, as I really would like to make another one, this time with the thumb holes! It is a lovely design and the pattern was a lot of fun - should be easy now I know how many pattern repeats I need to do to get the blocked sleeves the right length.

I Want That One

2010-12-20T21:26:00.006Z

Through sheer determination, I have finished my Christmas shopping (except for a few last minute food stuffs like pork pie which I cannot have in the house before because it will be eaten as soon as it gets home, and then my Christmas food plans will go all to pot - and I have a spreadsheet and everything.) I finished the last of the gift shopping during my lunch break today and, feeling a little smug, drove back to work. The queues at the supermarket turn off were incredible and I am sooooo pleased I don't have to spend hours in there, battling with wobbly trolleys, lists, last minute decisions and other shoppers. I try to make grocery shopping less painful by careful planning and list writing, but still dislike it. Apart from one thing that almost makes it worth the trip. Almost. I find it really funny to see what people put back. Me, if I change my mind about something, I will trudge all the way back to the place where I got it from to return it to the shelf, but there are wonderfully carefree people out there that just abandon stuff on the nearest shelf when it occurs to them that they don't want it. I like to think that it's because they decided that what is there on that shelf right in front of them when the decision is made, is what they really, really want instead. And I like to take photos*

Some previous examples. Ooh look, fabric softener. No need for these scones.

What to feed kitty today? Gourmet gold / Alpen? Kitty loves the muesli bars.

And today: No yummy chocolate drink for me today - I'll be just having these here tinned vegetables...

*That said, I don't have photographic evidence of the funniest one I ever saw (sometimes you have to pay the consequences for not keeping your phone charged) which was a pack of underwear left in the booze aisle in exchange for a bottle of wine.

Surviving Steeking

2010-12-19T22:16:00.008Z

Backstitch down centres of two adjacent diamond patterns.
Tiny stitches and tiny needle with black cotton - not the pink basting.

Steeking. Slightly terrifying.

Taking no chances; securing edge with sewing machine.

And a finished wristwarmer.

Notes: picked up and knitted 56 stitches on 3.25mm dpns, and then knitted 10 rows of 3x1 rib and cast off knitwise on 4mm needle.

I really would rather not have had to do the steeking. It was not an enjoyable experience, particularly not because it could have been avoided if only I had taken the time to check out the width of my knitting, while I was knitting it, and when it would have been far simpler to do something about it. But still, this isn't the first time I've made this mistake, and sadly, I'm certain it won't be the last. And I did get a pair of lacy wristwarmers out of it.

The ends of the cardy sleeves have been finished off in a similar way, and it is now blocking.

I appear to have italics all over this post, and I've tried but can't turn them off, so they are staying. This is annoying me more than it has any right to, I've had a traumatic day and I am going to bed.

Hiatus

2010-12-15T09:46:00.005Z

I have been off knitting for a while. I finished my lace cardy and the sleeves might just fit an orang-utan. But, as my other half helpfully pointed out, we don't know any orang-utans to give it to. There were the usual stages of denial (it's not so bad, I can live with it - as the sleeves hang 6 inches off my finger tips), anger (stupid pattern, and how could I miss noticing in the pictures in the magazine that the sleeves are too long, and all the other people with projects on Ravelry have commented about the sleeves being too long, why didn't I take heed?) and finally acceptance (I really have to do something about this, I spent too long knitting the cardigan for it to end up pushed to the back of a drawer.) So I came up with an extreme plan, which *touch wood* seems to be working out ok at the moment but it's very stressful. I don't know if I can bring myself to tell you what I've been doing - are you sitting down??

Okay. Deep breath. The lace cardy is knitted from the back upwards, then increased over the sleeves, decreased and split for the two fronts. So it's not possible to simply frog back the sleeves to make them shorter because the knit stitches are sideways. So I steeked them, and am making a pair of fingerless lace mitts out of the ends. Yes. I CUT my lace.

Photos to follow... if you are brave enough to look.

Learning to Tat

2010-08-30T13:11:00.008+01:00

Last week we took a trip to Gawthorpe Hall near Padiham, which is a big old country house with rather impressive interiors (although the grounds are a bit disappointing, I have to add) and a fine collection of embroidery and crafts on display. Some of the needlework is amazing and really brings the rooms to life. Near to the knitting and crochet (such tiny hooks and intricate work!) was a collection of tatting. This really caught my interest and I wanted to know more about how it is done. So, a few deliveries from Amazon and a trip to Hobbycraft later... I am now a fledgling tatter. There are quite a few videos on Youtube, etc, on tatting, but to be honest none of the ones I saw seemed to be particularly clear to me, so I bought the book 'Learn to Tat' by Janette Baker. This has a lot of pictures and comes with a DVD of clear and easy to follow instructions and seemed to be the most recommended of the books on offer. I say "easy to follow" but it still took a good hour or so before I was able to say that I'd got the hang of it.

I bought two types of shuttle, one made by Prym which is a simple symmetrical bobbin and one slightly more fancy design by Pony. The Pony one has a little hook at one end which is really helpful for loosening wrong stitches - and there will be wrong stitches - and the winding bobbin is a nifty trick so you don't have to turn the whole thing around in your hand to unwind more thread. I think the Prym one cost about £1.30 and the Pony £2.40 and in my experience is well worth the extra pennies.

To start with there were some knots, wiggly knots and some swearing. In the guide book it rather comfortingly says that your practice thread may measure a foot or two before it is consistently correct. I didn't quite take a foot, but not far off.

Some mess

Different coloured thread and a breakthrough

Making curly threads - improved tension

Rings

Picots

I am now into lesson 2 and things are getting a bit more fancy. Hopefully soon I will be confident enough to take on one of the projects and have something a bit bigger to show for my efforts.

Black

2010-08-30T12:53:00.005+01:00

I love black and wear a lot of it, however despite this, I very rarely knit myself anything black. Well, that's about to change. First, I have started the Alice Cardigan from the August issue of Knitting magazine, in Alpaca Select Natural 4ply in black. Adding to the luxury are my Lantern Moon rosewood needles (not black.)

Slightly less luxurious perhaps, some random black acrylic aran (on 4,5mm bamboo dpns) which is going to be a pair of ankle warmers. I have just taken possession of some rather fancy black patent leather ankle boots which will look good with a pair of chunky socks, but are not big enough to comfortably wear a pair of chunky socks in, so I am making these ankles warmers to wear tucked into the boots rather than in eighties legwarmer style. That's the plan, anyway. There is no pattern, I'll just stop when I think they're long enough.

Bits and Bobs

2010-08-30T12:43:00.002+01:00

First some teddy purses from the Jaeger Handknits for kids JB29. I made one of these years ago and it turned out pretty well, so I used the same Sirdar Countrystyle DK, buttons and velvet nose as before.

A couple of mobile phone cosies out of left over sock yarn, the one on the left is Opal Tiger with a manly flap and the one on the right is Opal Carnival with girly beads. I made the Carnival one first as a simple tube with a picot cast off, but was not happy with the seam at the base so with the second one changed to a Turkish cast on which is much neater.

Cleverness

2010-08-17T20:50:00.007+01:00

Colourway 'Greys Corner'

And then I got carried away. This pair of yoga socks (again for Mum because they proved so useful) I thought I'd try making two pairs of socks at the same. I have these dreams of doing the two at once on dpns where you knit one inside the other, alternating between stitches on each sock but while I may be occasionally overly optimistic about things, I am not delusional - so didn't attempt that. The two socks on two circs went pretty well to start with. It is a little fiddly having to cast on the stitches and then rearrange them on the circs so that the leading yarn is in the right position but there are some good websites with plenty of pictures to follow. The cuffs went pretty well and it seemed to be generally quicker than knitting them separately would have been. Then I reached the heel cast off and cast on edges and it got all very confusing and fiddly. I ended up dropping a stitch (which thankfully I found and recovered before it caused a complete catastrophe) and also had some loose stitches and holes appear at the rib edges. They had to go. So, I ripped back to the heel hole, separated the socks onto two sets of circs and finished them one at a time. I'm glad I tried the two socks at once thing, just to get it out of my system!

Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock 'Pilsen'

2010-08-17T20:34:00.001+01:00

Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock 'Pilsen', originally uploaded by Sheep Happens.

After the success of the first pair of yoga socks I decided to make a pair for my mum's best friend, whom I really like. It's also a treat to knit with the lovely Shepherd Sock yarn, so worth it. This colorway is Pilsen.

Traveling Woman

2010-08-17T20:17:00.002+01:00

P1000987, originally uploaded by Sheep Happens.

My knitting group decided to have a KAL and chose the Traveling Woman shawl by Liz Abinante. I think it looks good in variagated yarns, so decided to use some really colourful stuff that had been given to me as gift but I didn't know what it was apart from it being approximately 4ply and very very bright! Taking a bit of a chance that it would block, it turned out really well and I'm dead chuffed with it. Lovely autumnal colours will be just the thing in a month or so.

Ishbel

2010-06-06T19:39:00.005+01:00

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Lacy Lamb, 100% lambswool
Colour: Oxblood
Used: about 15g
Needles: 3.5mm Addi Lace circular needle
Size: Made large size, bigger st/st section, followed charts A, B, A, B, A, C, D then E.

Surprisingly, the hardest part of making this was the stocking stitch section. The lace charts were a joy to knit and seemed to take no time at all. The Lacey Lamb yarn is very, very fine - and wonderfully soft - so I was a bit concerned that the shawl would end up the size of a handkerchief but after the wonders of some vigorous blocking, it came out a very good size.

The whole thing weighs about 15g and is mostly air.

Yoga Socks

2010-06-02T22:05:00.003+01:00

I recently spent a quiet weekend at my Mum's, as she's not been very well lately, hoping to get quite a lot done on my Ishbel, but after a few tentative stitches under the watchful gaze of Cassie - quite possibly the prettiest, fluffiest, cuddliest cat in the world - all hopes of knitting ceased as her claws wooshed out dangerously towards my lace yarn and circular needle.

I did manage to count my stitches, and discovered I'd somehow ended up with two too many stitches. This was easy enough to fudge and a couple of k2togs at either end won't show. Once safety back at home, I finished the lace section, which actually seemed easier to knit than the stocking stitch, possibly because of the fine yarn and the finished shawl is now upstairs blocking on the spare bed.

Meanwhile, I decided that Mum might appreciate some yoga socks (she lives in toepost sandals but gets cold feet) so made a pair using some Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Purple Iris from the stash. Superwash wool - very important! Mum doesn't hold with fancy yarns! I used the free pattern from Patons' website and they are a super quick, fun knit. The yarn is lovely - so I've just bought some more!

West Highland Way

2010-05-02T11:01:00.021+01:00

or The Longest Post Ever in the History of the Sheep Happens Blog...

With great excitement, we travelled up from Manchester on Wednesday evening by train after work. We spent the night at the Alexander Thompson Hotel in Glasgow, which is very handily situated just around the corner from the Central Train Station. It actually came as a bit of a shock when we arrived late in the evening just how close it was, as I was expecting a trek across the city but it took less than 5 minutes to find. A good night's sleep and a very hearty breakfast complete with seagull entertainment through the window, the first of many - hearty breakfasts, not seagulls - began the day and we headed to the train station and Milngavie (pronounced Millguy- although we did speculate that maybe the locals just tell unsuspecting walkers that's how it should be said just for a laugh). There would be numerous discussions along the way about town and hill pronunciations, most particularly about Rowardenen.

Sandwiches for lunch were bought in Millgavie, a bit of last minute shopping attempted (and failed), and we were off. The path leaves town and weaves by the side of the river through a country park before heading out into farm land and tracks. Part way through the morning, we made a detour to visit the Glengoyne Distillery, but the tours run on the hour and it would have been over half an hour wait until the next tour, so in our excitement we decided not to wait and headed off straight away along the path. I later decided that I would make up for this omission by toasting the end of the WHW with a glass of the Glengoyne.

Lambs in Drumgoyne

We reached the tiny, basic (to put it kindly) campsite at Easter Drumquahassle Farm and pitched our tent amongst the trees in the sunshine - along with some other WHW'ers that we were to see on and off through out the week. The WHW is very popular and many people follow very similar itineraries, so you get to recognise and chat with many people along the way. We'd read that thousands of people walk the WHW every year, but it was still quite a surprise to actually see so many people undertaking a long distance path. You don't often see anyone on the Pennine Way who looks like they might be doing the whole thing.

An evening visit to Drymen (Drummen) proved interesting, we managed to get drinks at the very friendly Winnock Hotel and a fantastic dinner at the Clachan Inn in between sporadic lengthy power cuts. There is a Spar here too for shopping. Returning to the campsite we had a rather unmotivating chat with a fellow camper who had spent the last week in Scotland revelling in the glorious weather that was just about to change for the worse and was telling anyone who'd listen how many people he had seen hobbling off the path into Beinglas campsite (our destination on day three) suffering with sore feet and blisters, apparently the worst off being the fools who were carrying all their own gear... cheery stuff indeed. Still, this chap was gone by the time we surfaced in the morning, although we were woken quite early by the enthusiastic morning greetings of a rooster.

The start of Day 2 was dry but very humid and warm. We headed through some fields and then on to tracks through forestry, where I saw the back end of a red squirrel running off into the trees. At about 10am it started raining. At about 10:30 Rob started complaining about his leg. At 11am he could barely walk. We stopped at a bench overlooking the valley and had a rest and wondered what to do. There had been notices about the section of the WHW over Conic Hill because of lambing and there was an alternative route suggested which took a lower level path. We descended to the road and had a good, long lunch break at the Beech Tree in Balmaha (with iced lemonade and chips) and took stock. Rob decided he could carry on, at least until the end of the day and then would see how he felt. Here we met a group of chaps here who had already walked from Milngavie that morning and were planning to do the whole thing in three days over the weekend. Seems like too much like hard work to me - although I was quite jealous of the tiny daysacks that they were carrying.

We wild camped in the woods beyond the youth hostel at Rowardenen. Had dinner at the Hotel, which was nice - although we spoiled our dinner by having tea with massive scones with jam and butter when we arrived.

Wild goats by the shores of Loch Lomond

By Loch Lomond

We'd bought provisions for breakfast from one of the campsites passed the day before, so had cereal and a decent cup of coffee with fresh milk and Rob decided that he had enough feeling in his leg to allow him to carry on, although we'd have to 'walk slower'... this 'walking slower' suited me just fine! The new official Way route goes on a higher track for a while which is very easy going and then returns to the shore of Loch Lomond for the rest of its length. The path is narrow and rocky and it was part way along here that we met the first of the runners. To begin with it was a novelty to see people going for their Saturday morning runs but after I'd commented to Rob that 'there was another runner coming', this runner replied that there would be about another 300 of them. These amazily fit people were doing the Montane Highland Fling race from Milngavie to Tyndrum - the winner taking 7:45hrs and the fastest woman, who was beaten by only four men, ran it in 8:38hrs. Incredible. I suspect our paths had met along probably the worst possible bit of the Way for being passed by other, faster users and it did get wearing to have to keep looking around to make sure there was no one approaching when starting to head up or down tricky sections - but they were all very polite, very friendly and very appreciative of the efforts we made to get out of their way.

Over Loch Lomond

Lunch was at the Inversnaid Hotel- where there wasn't as much choice as I was expecting, but it did. Many American tourists (and runners' lunches strewn across the carpark) here. Camped at Beinglas Campsite which is very comfortable and the wigwams looked nice. Facilities (shop, bar, food, showers and laundry) were excellent.

Scottish Blackface Sheep

Birds showing off on the River Fillan

We took detour down (& back up quite steep hill) into Crianlarich on Day 3 for lunch at the Rod and Reel Pub and to visit the shop. We had planned to stop at the Tyndrum By The Way Hotel campsite, but decided when we reached the Strathfillan Wigwam village (near Auchtertyre) to camp there for the night. The 'village' is a lot bigger than I expected, and the wigwams seemed nice - good shop, serving hot drinks and food, but sadly hadn't opened by the time we set off at about 8am, so I didn't get to have the hot bacon roll and coffee that I'd been dreaming about.

Moonlight over the hills

A late breakfast was had at the Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum where we put away an obscene amount of food. We shopped for snacks (long walks make for a very good excuse for eating shortbread at every opportunity) at Brodie's. Today was a short day and we arrived at Bridge of Orchy Hotel early and made ourselves comfortable in the bar. There was a telly here, although without sound, and election news coverage on - made me very glad that we are away to miss most of the electioneering. Dinner was excellent and we had a good breakfast the following day (the previous Full Scottish Breakfasts had finally taken their toll and we couldn't face any more than cereal, scrambled eggs, toast & croissants, juice and coffee for brekkie..yes, we are indeed piggies...) and packed lunches available to order. The hotel was very nice and we were well looked after, taking advantage of the laundry and drying room, although the beds in the bunkhouse were rather hard and uncomfortable.

Clach Leathad and Sron nam Fosair, with Meall a Bhuridh in clouds.

Day six saw us crossing Rannoch Moor in appropriately gloomy, atmospheric drizzle and trying unsuccessfully to name the mountains that we saw. Arriving at Kingshouse Hotel we set up camp by river under the watchful gaze of the almost tame deer that grazed nearby - it was a bit midgy, even in April and I got bit on my hand, thankfully not the itchy kind. I saw a fish in the river - this may not seem like a particularly momentous thing to many people but I have seen so few wild fish that I was almost convinced that they didn't exist and anyone seen by the side of water with fishing rods in their hands was just kidding themselves. The benches in the Climbers Bar are unbelievably uncomfortable, but the tea, cake and food were all good. Campers can use the bar facilities during the day (open at 11am) but not at other times. This is very politely made very clear in the notices by the door. There was VERY heavy rain during night, amplified considerably when falling on the tent so I was very thankful for my mp3 player and Stephanie Mayer's New Moon and my earplug for helping me get a decent kip. When I woke up the puddle that had formed under the ground sheet by my feet meant that there was a distinct water bed thing going on. The river had risen considerably and I was glad that we hadn't pitched any closer to it. We had a bit of an enforced lie-in because of the rain, but by the time we'd got packed up at 9am it had eased off and stopped.

Riverside camp - fairly dry a this point

From the Kingshouse Hotel we walked over the tops to Kinlochleven (Devil's Staircase isn't so bad, if you're used to any kind of hillwalking) and camped at the MacDonald Hotel, which was very nice. Good food and entertainment (including a pool table, where Rob beat me as per usual , although I did put up a better showing than usual) at the Walkers Bar. Breakfasts and packed lunches are available if needed. Was informed that the Tailrace Inn is a good pub, but we didn't fancy going back into town to visit. Along the route today we started seeing people on motorbikes and signs for the 'Pre-65s' scrambling bike event. Impressive as it might have been to see all the vintage bikes on the trails, I was pretty thankful when we read that the main trials were to take place on the WHW on the Friday, by which time we would be on our way home. The runners by Loch Lomond had been a little inconvenient, at least they not so big, fast, noisy or fumy as motorbikes.

View from bar window - who needs telly

We set off from Kinlochleven in good time and in good weather. The views out of Kinlochleven are amazing and I took many a photo along the way, I'd been told there was a family of eagles nesting in the hills nearby but sadly I didn't get to see them despite spending most of the time peering up into the sky. It being the last day, we ate all of the 'emergency' food that we'd carried the rest of the week, so were well fueled on trail mix and Jelly Babies. Towards the end of the day, you leave the forests, get a view of the bulk of Ben Nevis in front of you and it's all down hill from there. It is traditional to climb Ben Nevis when finishing the WHW, but I'm afraid we had a strong case of the been there, done thats.

Last day, wishing it wasn't about to end

The WHW follows the road from the Ben Nevis visitor centre into town - I would suggest (if you don't mind deviating from the official route slightly) investigating the path to the Braveheart Carpark, or even the higher level path into town, as even if these routes might be longer they may well be easier on the feet than very uninspiring pavement by a busy road for the last bit of the way. We stayed at the Premier Inn at Fort William, which is no frills but clean, comfortable and had very nice bath. I celebrated the end of this amazing holiday in the Grog and Gruel pub with some nachos and my wee dram of the Glengoyne.

Slàinte

WHW Kit List

2010-05-01T23:12:00.013+01:00

Yesterday, aching considerably, we got home after having walked the West Highland Way, which is 95 miles from Milngavie (nr Glasgow) to Fort William. We planned to do the walk in eight days and carry our kit with us, buying food and getting water along the way. We stayed in hotels in Glasgow the night before we started, in town at Fort William at the end and we had a night at the bunkhouse at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel in case it rained constantly and we needed somewhere to dry out. The rest of the time we would be camping.

Rob and I carried everything between us, he took the food which made his pack heavier and a less consistant weight than mine, which came in at about 8-10kg, depending on what I was wearing or carrying. The majority of WHWers that we saw were taking advantage of the luggage porter services who, for about £35 per bag, will take your bags to your overnight stops so you don't have to carry anything more than a daysack. We decided this was cheating, because we are like that and ~~happy to suffer in order to be judgemental~~ like having the freedom to change our plans and stop as and when we wanted.

This is pretty much what I took.

Osprey Exos 58 rucksack =1150g
Alpkit 600 down sleeping bag =980g
Camp 3 Kovea Titan stove, windshield, feet, 125g GoGas canister, Lighter
2x Origami folding plate/bowls, 2x plastic cups, 2x Light my Fire plastic sporks
Snowpeak Titanium pan & lid =about 650g
Go-Lite Shangri-la 3 tent inner =1020g
Thermarest Neoair mattress - mdm =380g
Thermarest Compack Chair =182g (unused)
Berghaus Infinity Lite smock (used mainly as pillow...) =280g
Integral Designs brushed nylon pillow slip =38g
2x Berghaus X-static top =154g, Mountain Equipment red t-shirt =90g,
Sprayway troos =220g, 2x Smartwool socks =80g, Bridgedale liner socks =22g
Buffalo mitts =80g, tesco £1 fleecy gloves (not used), woollen shooting mitts, waterproof overmitts
Visor Buff, Buffs x2, quvuit knitted hat =50g (not used), midge net - not needed, thankfully
Paramo Cascada trousers =650g
Paramo Velez Adventure Lite Smock =520g
Paramo short gaiters =150g (unused)
Salomon Windproof jacket =120g - very impressed with this, would probably be winner of best kit on trip award
Columbia lightweight fleece short zip jumper =150g
2x Lowe Alpine dry-flo pants =54g, spare pants =14g
Thermal long-johns =100g
2x Debenhams t-shirt bras =48g
2x Platypus bladders, filter, tubes - unused because I forgot a connecting lid and ended up using a small plastic bottle got free from the hotel in Glasgow.
Jinga shoes - pretty, but not entirely practical =240g
Petzl Tikka Plus headtorch =68g
Camera, spare battery, case, clip strap (neat idea but not quite sturdy enough for the job) =650g
Phone, mp3 player =180g
Notepad & pencil, Swiss Army knife - used mainly for the scissors, Lip balm, hanky, Silva compass & whistle, hand gel.
Washbag - mini toothbrush, Colgate, Dove deodorant, shampoo, SPF15 moisturiser, facewash, loo roll, bags, wetwipes, comb, earplugs, mirror, nail file, foot cream, all purpose soap, painkillers, hayfever tablets, midge bite clicker.
Zinc oxide tape - started off with stuff from Boots that proved to be bobbins, replaced when we got to shop in Tyndrum
Travel towel =65g, 2x small cloths
4x carrier bags, ziplock bags, bin bag
Sit mat =40g
Leki Makalu trekking poles
Salomon Elios gtx mid-boots
Sunglasses - worn once... =80g
Suncream - could have probably managed without this...

Deciding what to take and packing was a tricky business. Partly because this would be the longest backpacking trip that we'd undertaken and also because of the wildly fluctuating weather forecasts. A week or so before we left there was significant snow and freezing temperatures during the day and night. The week before we set off it was cold, clear and sunny during the day but freezing at night. By the time we set off it was going to be warm, wet, windy, sunny and just about eveything in between. So, erring on the side of caution, we went for the winter sleeping bags, warm clothes and big rucksacks. Turns out I was almost too warm every night and didn't need much of the warm gear I'd taken, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and, funnily, the weather forecast for the coming week is for a return to cold weather and frosts.

Hindsight being what it is, I wouldn't have taken the thermarest chair because we could sit in hotel bars or pubs pretty much every night. A paperback or some knitting would have been more useful. I would recommend taking a sit mat in with you if you are planning on spending any amount of time in the Climber's Bar at the Kingshouse Hotel - those benches are tough! I didn't need the pair of fleece gloves, and I didn't wear my Buffalo mits but would have taken them anyway because, well, just because I like having them with me. I probably could have managed with one less top and one less pair of socks, but it was quite a relief to have additional spare stuff as it happened that although there were laundry facilities at many of the places we stopped, they weren't always available.

The stove and cooking gear wasn't essential, as places to get food and drink are so widely available on the WHW, but it was nice to stop and have the occasional brew - and it's reassuring to know that we could be self sufficient if need be.

The photos are uploading now, and I will blog about the actual walk tomorrow.

Spring is Sprung

2010-04-15T16:07:00.023+01:00

Spring is here well and truly by now. We have had some amazingly warm days lately, which make you start to think that summer is here and the woolly hats and gloves and warm coats can be stored away till the autumn, and then it turns cold again.

Since my last post, there has been a fair amount* of activity. I decided I really need to come up with a better system of uploading blog posts and photos as I really want to continue blogging but it all seems such a faff sometimes. I have photos uploaded to Ravelry from flickr and photos for the blog elsewhere, holiday photos somewhere else entirely and there’s no continuity. However, in my usual way, I haven’t done anything about it yet.
*well, quite a lot for such an intrinsically lazy person as myself.

So...what's been happening...

I’m another year older... eep... and now owner of a few more knitting books and crafty bits & pieces, visited the zoo, played out in the snow a lot and then we had an amazing holiday in the mountains of Slovenia. Slovenia is a beautiful place, the mountains and lakes are stunning and it’s people so friendly and welcoming. Since the introduction of the Euro and all that brings with it, it’s not as cheap a holiday option as it would have been a few years ago, but I would definitely recommend it. There are holiday snaps posted in my photo album here. We have been out and about closer to home as well. And, even as I type, there are plans afoot (ha, bit of a walking pun there) for a major expedition in Scotland in the not too distant future. We have been out walking every day and doing plenty of shopping in preparation but I have been making time for more leisurely pursuits.

Stove testing in the back garden - tiny pan too small for a couple of bacon rashers!

To the knitting. My Edith Hat is finished, worn lots (nearly lost, but I realised it had fallen out of my pocket and ran back to pick it up, phew!) and much admired. It was a joy to make and Johanna is so helpful and friendly. I would recommend any of her patterns. I have the Signe Mitten patterns in my library, and will be making a pair to match my hat at some point before winter comes around again. Which, at the rate my life is passing me by, won’t be long. Most of the following pictures are shameless ripped off from my Ravelry projects page.

Hat out on location on Rishworth Moor

What else… I made some socks for my nephew Samuel who, at 6 years old, has way bigger feet than he has any right to, so I had to rip them back and start again after we’d been over to visit for a weekend. I don’t think he noticed his aunt staring in horror at his hobbit-like feet. I hope not anyway, I don’t want to give him a complex.

Huge kiddie sock

Then I made a wavy baby blanket for Emma’s as-yet-unborn baby boy. I love the wavy look of the increases and decreases, although wasn’t too happy with the overall shape of the blanket. It didn’t appear to know whether it wanted to be round or square, and would need to be sternly blocked to get it to stay in either shape. Being knitted in acrylic (I don’t believe that there are many mothers of very young children that would thank you and mean it for the gift of something hand wash only) and likely to require cleaning at regular intervals, blocking wouldn’t be an easy or practical solution so I left it in it’s undecided state.

It is a circle? Is it a square? No, it's wavy blanket...

The urge to knit lace kicked in at the weekend - the sunny, warmer days making me think of light, floaty yarns and delicate fabrics. At my knitting group, a few people had expressed an interest in making the Ishbel shawl and there was even talk of a knitalong. We discussed several pattern possibilities, and as a result my Ravelry queue has now increased alarmingly. Luckily, I have plenty of laceweight and pretty sock yarns in the stash for all eventualities. I have begun my Ishbel in the lovely Jade Sapphire Yarns Lacey Lamb that was a swap gift from itgirl.

It's early days!

The more it snows, tiddly pom

2010-01-10T17:34:00.006Z

The snow is turning brown, slushy and nasty in town and my walk to work each day is not much fun, but out on the hills there is still proper snow and rather deep snowdrifts. We had a great time on Saturday on Crompton Moor, although it was rather hard going at times...

So Sunday was spent firmly attached to the sofa in front of the fire and my knitting in hand. I have started on an Edith Hat, which is the prettiest patterned hat by Johanne Ländin, using Cherry Tree Hill yarn in Nantucket Red and Slate Blue.

The border starts on 2mm needles; there is something very pleasing about neat rows of tiny stitches.

Bit of Glamour

2010-01-06T19:42:00.005Z

Pattern: Ribbed Shrug, from Glamour Knits by Erica Knight
Also Available as a free download from Canadian Living Online or via Ravelry.
Yarn: Elsbeth Lavold Chunky AL, 50% alpaca 50% Peruvian wool.
Used: 7x 50g balls
Needles: US Size 10.5 and 11 straights and 10.5 circular needles
Mods: because of the chunky yarn used, one strand only was needed to get gauge.

Loved making it, love the yarn, love the finished shrug. If here is one tiny fault with it, it's that it seems to shed hairs on everything it touches. But you can't have everything... where would you put it?

The weather has continued cold and snowy. Yesterday we had about 5 or 6 inches on top of the stuff on the ground, and the snow in the back garden is now over a foot deep. This photo was taken this morning after I'd been out to put food on the bird table and defrost the birdbath.

I went out just after to get some of the snow off the shrubs before they got crushed!

More snow, and some knitting

2010-01-02T17:11:00.003Z

Rather unexpectedly, we had another 4 inches of snow today. It shows how used to snow we have become over the last couple of weeks that Rob didn't even bother to wake me to tell me that it was snowing this morning. I got up about an hour later, and there was already over an inch of fresh fallen snow. So we went out for a walk in it. Lesson 1: if you do not put your gaiters on, snow will get down your boots. Lesson 2: it is possible to fashion a set of temporary gaiters out of gaffer tape round the tops of your boots. Lesson 3: people might give your feet funny looks in the pub later when you stop for a drink on the way home.

So, it is cold and snowy outside, but inside it is warm and there is snuggly knitting. This is shortly to become the shrug from Erika Knight's Glamour Knits, done in Elsbeth Lavold Chunky AL, alpaca and wool yarn.

New Year, New Camera

2010-01-01T20:20:00.002Z

Woo hoo!

Scarf with Striped Border

2009-07-01T19:46:00.004+01:00

Pattern: Scarf with the striped border from Weldon's, Volume 5, 1890
From: Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby (page 80)
Yarn: Hipknits cashmere fingering weight - pressie from the ~~sticky~~ lovely Super Monkey, thanks!
Used: About 400m (40g)
Needles: 4.5mm
Mods: none

This is probably one of the simplest lace patterns in the whole of the Victorian Lace Today book but I think it's very pretty, and the simplicity makes it more wearable for everyday than most of the designs... although maybe not actually today, given that it is the hottest day of the year so far. I'm sure that 28 degrees would not be considered very hot at all just about anywhere else in the world, but here in north west England we are definitely not used to it. But I am not complaining, oh no, not me. It's a fine excuse for eating icecream, buying new sandals and speculating on when it might rain again.

I really don't know what I want to make next. I have been thinking about making a felted bag for my Mum, as she really admired the Booga Bag that I made a while back, and there are a lot of cute looking bag patterns about. I am tempted by Nicky Epstein's Floral Felted Bag but the lining instructions are scary. There is also nice Drops pattern with a sort of filigree crochet flap thing going on that I quite like the look of too. I shall have to have a think.

Neat

2009-06-29T19:48:00.005+01:00

This is making me very happy indeed. It has a very simple pattern and a really neat way of joining the border sections. Hopefully will be done in less than a week, which I think could be a record.

Scarf with the striped border from Weldon's, Volume 5, 1890
from Victorian Lace Today

PS. I might have done something stupid. I have agreed to run next year's Race For Life in York with my sister-in-law and niece. Ha!

Corset Pullover

2009-06-23T08:14:00.007+01:00

So, to prove that I am not a complete wastrel, I have returned as promised with my finished Corset Pullover. Despite it not being the black that I really wanted to make this in, I am very pleased with it indeed. I think it may be the first to-be-worn-by-me garment that I've ever knitted that has actually fitted me properly without needing to be vigorously blocked or stretched about. I decided to keep the arm cinch straps as I like the D-ring details and sewed them into position with a single strand of the cotton yarn, as despite my best efforts with the iron and spray starch (a new and exciting introduction into the Sheep Happens Laundry Room) they kept curling up.

I have been very impressed with the Paton's Washed Haze yarn, it is lovely to knit with, feels soft and appears to be tough as old boots. All good. If they do this in black, I would most definitely buy more to make my next Corset Pullover in.

Corset Pullover on

We are still going out walking a fair bit (armed with obligatory hayfever tablets, insect repellant and a goodly amount of balsam tissues) and I have decided to try and make a note of some of the interesting nature around me. Like pretty flowers. I shall be attempting to post photos and identify things, using my not-very-handy-weighs-a-tonne book of the countryside. If you see that I have got something very obviously very wrong, it doesn't really matter but you can feel free to leave a comment letting me know if you want :)

Yellow Flag (iris) growing in (disused) Hollinwood Branch Canal

How do?

2009-06-19T16:42:00.004+01:00

*blows dust off blog and settles down to type*

Ahem.

I've been planning this post for a long time. I was going to post when I finished my next knitted project, so that I had something intricate and amazing to show for my time and have lots of other excuses prepared, but quite frankly I don't.

I finished (sort of) making something!

Pattern: Corset Pullover by Robin Melanson.
Yarn: Patons Washed Haze Cotton DK (January sale bargain from Kemps at 49p per ball)
Shade: Sand
Size made: 35 1/4"
Amount used: about 10 x 50g balls (I think)
Needles: 5mm straight, dpn and circs.

Mods:
Made the length longer in the lower body, working an extra 1" before starting the shaping and decreasing every 6th row rather than 3rd.

However, before it is really finished I'll need to undo the seam at the tops of the shoulders and shorten the neck probably about about half an inch front and back to the shoulder shaping as it looks a bit baggy around the top. I will do this at the weekend, block it and then take a photo of it being worn as it's quite fitted and looks better on than laid out flat.

I also have to decide whether to keep the cinch straps around the arms, as I think they might be a bit too much??

And lastly, before I go - with a promise to return soon, maybe even with some more knitting! - here are some pictures of yummy yarn and cute lambs.

Posh Yarn June sock club yarn, Daisy

Lambs in May at Floors Castle in Kelso

Strata

2009-03-02T21:57:00.006Z

Fingerless gloves
from Knitting New Mittens and Gloves by Robin Melanson
Yarn: UK Alpaca Superfine DK in Rose Pink
Used less than 50g
Needles: 4mm circs

Traditional gloves
Yarn: UK Alpaca Superfine DK in Black
Used about 80g
Needles: 3.25mm circs

Mods: none

Very nice, warm double layered gloves. I might make another pair of the fingerless mits, I'd probably make them in the smaller size as they are a little too big to wear on their own.

PS. Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Another year older

2009-02-17T19:20:00.003Z

Ooh look at that... yet again, considerable time has passed between my posts. I have been thinking about blogging for a couple of weeks now and each time I think of something I should mention, I promptly forget about it. I doubt I am the world's worst blogger as there seem to be millions of single post blogs that start off so hopefully with an introduction and statement of the high aims that person has for their blog and then complete silence ever since... so that award is out of the question, but I must be up for a almost-near-death-blog award. Maybe I shouldn't draw attention to it – there might be some kind of blog police or RSPCB that will come and get me.

So, moving on...There has been snow. You might have noticed.

This was taken last Saturday, almost a week after we'd had any significant snowfall.
The drifts are still over a metre high up on the tops.

The back garden got a decent covering - about 6" or so

There has been a birthday (I've had enough of them now that I'm starting to lose track of how old I am) and I got some very nice presents, which included the Vogue Stitchionary books and some very lovely Manos de Uruguay Silk Blend yarn.

We went to Warwick Castle for the day and had fun exploring the battlements and towers. As it is February they weren't doing much outside (how I always longed to have a summer birthday like my sister, whose birthday is in July and got parties in the garden and presents of roller boots and bikes – whereas by birthday was usually spent indoors and involved board games) but they did put a very entertaining falconry display on. Maybe it's wrong to be amused by a man in not very warm looking green leggings looking half frozen in a blizzard while trying to stop an eagle from clawing his finger off. There was birthday scone with jam and butter and clotted cream and we bought some mediaeval toys and soon will be having a great trebuchet vs ballista face off! When the weather is nice enough to play in the garden, as battles are not permitted in the living room apparently.

In other knitterly news, I bought 12 x 50g balls of Patons cotton for less than £10 delivered, which is planned to become a Corset Pullover. I had really wanted to make this in black, having seen a beautiful finished one on Ravelry, but now I might make two!

And the first of my Posh Yarn sock club yarn has arrived and is utterly gorgeous.

Raglan Jumper

2009-01-17T15:57:00.004Z

Pattern: V Necked School Jumper by Rita Gulliver
Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker DK
Needles: 3,25mm and 4mm
Mods: None

The yarn for this jumper was given to our knitting group by a local teacher who had to clear out a cupboard in the art department at her school and wondered if we could make use of it or it was all going in a skip. There were bags and bags of stuff, some of it not useable but a few real gems. There was 350g of this Jaeger Matchmaker yarn which, after I had washed, dried and rewound it, was as good as new.

Finishing up

2009-01-11T16:17:00.006Z

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post about my shrug - it was a real relief to get something wearable after all. I always have niggly doubts about projects while I'm knitting them, as generally it will be the first time that I am using a pattern and even though I can measure pieces against myself you never really know how garments are going to fit until you finally try them on.

There has been a big change in the weather, the frosts and chill have been replaced by wet and windy weather, so today has been spent cosily indoors - drinking tea, sewing up the school jumper for Feed the Children that I've been working on and listening to Victorian murder stories.

I don't know of many people that like sewing up as much as I do, most knitters of my aquaintance seem to detest it, but I like the process of turning those separate, unidentifiable pieces of knitting into a finished thing. The raglan sleeves on this pattern provided nice neat edges to follow. Hopefully I'll get the collar knitted on and the last seam sewn up this evening.

Raglan seam

Shrug

2009-01-06T19:11:00.003Z

Pattern: Shrug by Debbie Bliss (free pattern from Prima)
Yarn: Bargain merino DK
Needles: 3,75mm
Mods: Made arms slightly longer

About a week before my Mum's 60th birthday last year, I decided to make a shrug to go with the dress that I'd bought to wear to her party. About a month after the party, at which everyone had a thoroughly good time, I finished knitting the shrug. Having sewn up and tried it on, I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with the results and it ended up languishing at the bottom of my work basket waiting to be blocked. The languishing period seemed to correspond with my lack of enthusiasm for both blogging and knitting. I don't know that I'd blame the shrug, but it certainly didn't help.

A couple of days ago, I decided to rescue the shrug from it's baskety confinement and do something with it. Thankfully, a bit of blocking seems to have done the trick. The front is still quite stretchy and looks better held together so I added some hooks and eyes (that belonged to my Grandma, from a pack bought lordknowswhen for the princely sum of 7p) to create a join as inconspicuous as possible.

It turns out that I actually quite like it afterall :)

Year of the sock

2009-01-04T19:13:00.005Z

While browsing my favourite knitting shops for sale bargains to spend my Christmas money on, I happened to notice that the lovely Dee is running a Sock Club for 2009 and, although not strictly in the sales (although there are savings, so that's alright) and maybe costing a leeetle more than Santa brought me (although I am worth it, so that's alright too) this seemed to fit in perfectly with my knitting plans for 2009 - i.e. having shipments of yummy yarn sent to me without me having to lift a finger so that I can make lots of lovely socks. So I've joined! Hurrah!

Bookish

2009-01-03T16:45:00.008Z

The last couple of new years I have compiled lists of all the books that I have read during that year and what I thought of them. This year though, there doesn't seem to be much point. I have been reading The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox for what seems like forever and the only book I remember having really enjoyed this year was Matter by Iain M. Banks. Oh yes, I have just been reminded that I liked Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman as well. But I sure that is it.

So, in the absence of current reads to list, I am doing the Big Read meme doodah that others have been doing and hopefully it will inspire me to actually read something in 2009.

Instructions:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read.
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list so we can try and track down these people who’ve read 6 and force books upon them.

1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6. The Bible (I did start reading this in French at school, but didn't get much beyond Genesis)
7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye – J D Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch – George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34. Emma – Jane Austen
35. Persuasion – Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41. Animal Farm – George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50. Atonement – Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52. Dune – Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary – Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72. Dracula – Bram Stoker
73.The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses – James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal – Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession – AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (I only like the Muppet version)
82. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94. Watership Down – Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

My total is 44. A couple of things spring to mind about this list. Firstly that most of the ones I've read seem to be from the childrens' section, which I think says a lot about me. Also, that there aren't many entries that I can honestly say I loved. I've never heard of some of them, but there are a fair few that I do want to read - and even have sitting on my book shelves waiting patiently for the day I get around to them.

Lastly, I actually did something knitting related today. I knitted half a sleeve on the jumper and then blocked my shrug, which I'm hoping will be nice to wear to work as the temperature in our office can be a little erratic.

Cold sheep

2009-01-02T12:11:00.004Z

Between Christmas and New Year we decided to go to the Lake District for a couple of days, as although the weather has been wintry it has also been dry and clear of late, perfect for walking in the hills and we have never been ones to be put off by a bit of cold. Camping in winter is the best thing, if you have the right gear. The campsite was relatively busy for the middle of winter but it was still quiet on a night and there was a real spirit of adventure about the place, particularly in the morning after it had got down to -9°C during the night.

After a coffee and hot breakfast, we set off to High Raise (762m) returning via Seargent Man and Stickle Tarn.

It was a beautiful morning - the temperature didn't get above about minus 2 all day, and I discovered at lunchtime that the lettuce in my sandwiches had frozen.

As we got to the top of High Raise, the clouds started to set in and they stayed for the rest of the day, which was a shame but made for some good navigation practise over the tops. On the way down, we saw this handsome chap who posed for a photo.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T20:48:00.004Z

Well hello... if anyone bothers reading here any more, I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year and hope that you had a nice, peaceful Christmas.

I have been meaning to blog for a while, but after a break it feels like I should have something really momentous to show for my time away, and quite frankly, I don't. I started knitting a shrug, finished knitting the shrug, sewed up the shrug, tried on the shrug and then left the shrug in my work basket to await some blocking, and forgot about it. I then started knitting a jumper for charity, which is such a simple pattern and should really have been finished long before now but somehow Christmas and holidays and stuff has slowed progress to decidedly slow speed, but hopefully I'll have something to show for it very soon.

Very kind friends sent me some very nice knitterly things for Christmas, piccie below, and I have £25 to spend on wool from my Mum, so I'm off to hit the sales!

Too slow, Chicken Marengo

2008-10-14T18:58:00.000+01:00

10 minutes per round. 18 rounds per pattern. 4 pattern repeats. 720 minutes for the cuff. Heel probably about the same. Foot is only half patterned, that should be much quicker, estimate 5 minutes per round, so 360 minutes. Traditional to make one for each foot. This means a total of 60 hours knitting time. Hmmm.

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-13T18:26:00.008+01:00

The alarm came as a bit of shock this morning, as did having to get up and go to work. I was a bit miserable about it all, until I decided that I should try to look on the bright side as, until I do something like win the lottery, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. So I've been thinking of positive things about not being on holiday any more.

1. Comfy bed.
2. Reclining sofa.
3. No strange noisy boiler room type things whirring all through the night.
4. Payslips.
5. I now have five days worth of Gilmore Girls episodes to watch while sitting on aforementioned sofa. While knitting.

Ah, it's good to be back.

Holiday in the Lakes

2008-10-12T16:32:00.006+01:00

Last week we went on holiday to Keswick in the Lake District. The week got off to a slightly nervous start with the torrential rain and road above Ambleside seemingly under water, meaning that we had to turn back and go over the Kirkstone Pass in an attempt to try and get to Keswick and collect the keys to the apartment before 5pm - we made it with 10 minutes to spare, so no panic there then.

The next few days were clear and bright and we did lots of walking and sight-seeing.

Heading up to Grisedale Pike (791m) was a nice walk, grassy slopes leading up to a rocky summit with lots of little scrambly bits. This would have been a lot of fun if I wasn't quite so unfit!

Lunch overlooking Hobcarton Crag and Hopegill Head (770m) - the pointy one - which was our next destination. Returning over Crag Hill (839m), Sail (773m), Outerside (568m) and Barrow (455m) made a Wainwright total of six for the day and two rather tired pairs of legs.

There were sheep out on the hills, looking very majestic...

...and the following day sheep on stage - at the Lakeland Sheep and Wool Centre, where you can get right up close and meet them properly. Some are very cute indeed and I have decided that I want a pet Shetland sheep, although they are quite dark coloured and the photo didn't come out very well - so here is a Blackface instead with a Swaledale troughing behind.

I think the main theme of this holiday was food. Lots of food. English, Italian, Indian, Thai and Mexican. So much yummy food. So it was just as well that there was a more walking...

After scaling the dizzy heights of Walla Crag (376m) we returned back along Derwent Water shore, which was very high indeed after all the rain.

Ashness Bridge

The weather deteriorated towards the end of the week. Thursday was nice enough to go walking, and we went over Ard Crags (581m) and Knott Rigg (556m and very windy).

And on Friday it rained. And rained. And rained some more. So we visited the Honister Slate Mine in the belief that it would be drier underground. Ha ha ha. My shoes are still drying out.

Over Honister Pass from the car. With heater on full.

In between all the walking and eating, and sheep visiting, mining and theatre going, I did manage to fit in a little bit of knitting, although it must be admitted, not much. These are Cable Net socks on 2mm needles and you'd better get used to seeing them, because they're going to take me a loooooong time.

Autumnal

2008-10-03T18:27:00.002+01:00

So October is now here and it is autumn good and proper. Today's weather has been lovely, sunny and still, but chilly with a hint of crispness in the air. Not bad at all considering it was supposed to be gales and torrential rain. I guess that'll be here tomorrow - Saturday - ah well. Today was perfect for taking photos in the back garden, so it was good that I have something to show.

My Drops jacket is finished and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. Took a little bit longer than I expected as I decided to reknit the arms. The pattern calls for something like 34 stitches for the cuffs, knit straight at then increase up to the shoulder and 'bell-shaped' doesn't even begin to describe. I am not a fan of baggy sleeves and there was a definite risk that the hugeness of the sleeves would use up all my yarn - and possibly start invading other people's stash all by itself - so I frogged and redesigned with my own preferred sleeve style, hugging and long enough to cover half my hand.

Pattern: 103-1 Jacket in Eskimo or Silke-Alpaca with A-shape
Yarn: Rowan Chunky Print, in Pit. 7 x 100g balls
Needles: 9mm Denises
Mods: Made body slightly longer, arms longer too and more fitted

The buttons came from my Grandma's button stash that I inherited. They may not be the prettiest or trendiest buttons in the world, but they make the whole jacket seem more special to me.

Drops Jacket 103-1

2008-09-09T18:35:00.003+01:00

103-1 isn't exactly the mostly inspiringly named design in the world, but that doesn't seem to have put a dampener on it's popularity. I am (as usual) a latecomer to this one, but I'm not letting that put me off either. I bought this Rowan Chunky Print about two years ago with another pattern in mind, but having seen some of the versions that have been made I changed my mind - and I don't think I need another bolero style cardy.

The yarn is very nice to knit with, although I am not really liking knitting on 9mm needles as it seems to make the back of my right hand ache a bit. Still, chunky yarn on 9mm is going along at a good rate, so it shouldn't be for too much longer.

P.S. If the world really does end tomorrow, it was nice knowing you :)

Glaistig

2008-09-03T18:10:00.002+01:00

Pattern: Glaistig by Robin Melanson, from Knitting New Mittens & Gloves
Yarn: Artesano Alpaca, Inca Cloud 2/4#009 light grey, 2x50g
Needles: 3,5mm bamboo
Mods: none (not planned, anyway)

I am very happy with the way these turned out and I know that they are the first of many pairs that I'll be making. I used one 50g ball of yarn to make both cuff and hand pieces, and after much umming and ahhing decided that I really did want to have the buckles covered as well. Somehow the look of the shiny didn't seem right with the soft yarn. So I made a trip to the indoor market where there is a little shop that sells all sorts of stuff (while I was in there someone came in to ask for comedy inflatable boobs, as you do) and had a rifle around in their buckle box. It really was a treasure trove, and I said as much - to which the lady behind the counter gave me a bit of an odd look. It always strikes me as odd when people who work in these places seem to totally fail to see the enchantment of them. Maybe it's something that wears off after a while and she no longer sees the charm of boxes of old buttons and odds and ends. It's also possible that she was busy, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, I found some shorter, fatter buckles which allowed a bit more room for the end of the cuff once they'd been covered - which took quite a bit more yarn than I was expecting, certainly made quite a dent in the second ball of alpaca.

September so soon

2008-09-01T18:05:00.005+01:00

I haven't posted in a little while, and really I think I've been doing you a favour as I have been not particularly good company and you really didn't want to be reading my endless whinging about the weather, being overworked because everyone else is on holiday and how hungry I am. There are silver linings to a couple of these, in that I will be able to gloat and be smug when I am the one disappearing on holiday and when I do go, I will be wearing those size smaller jeans.

I have often said that autumn is my favourite season and one that I look forward to, although admittedly I would have preferred to have had some sort of summer to break up the colder seasons. I love the colours of autumn and the thought of cold, clear days for which hand knit sweaters, gloves and scarves are perfect. The thought these days of my imagination will soon be here never fails to cheer me. Added to this some new books and the latest Fall magazines arriving, and I have been inspired afresh to start knitting and planning.

Firstly, I have finished the patterned socks. They were a lot of fun to make, although the end results are not quite as satisfying as I would have hoped. The stripes around the foot look great, I think, but the changeover of the yarn created a seam under the foot which despite my best efforts not to pull tightly, is quite noticeable when walking in them. If they were for me, I wouldn't mind too much, but these were the second attempt at birthday socks for my sister and I am reluctant to gift them knowing that they won't be as comfortable as hand made socks can be.

As a break from the dreaded sister-socks, I thought make Glaistig by Robin Melanson for a friend. These are really pretty and I love the detail of buckles at the wrists. So I cast on with some Artensano Alpaca from the stash in a soft light grey. I managed to knit up all the main parts out of one 50g ball, which I was quite chuffed about - although it didn't leave any spare for covering the buckles.

Finding buckles proved to be more difficult than I had expected. But I found a very decent selection at Buttons, Buckles and Belts and ordered a few to try out - total cost less than £4! I ordered them Friday and they arrived today, which is pretty good going and I liked that they used good recycled packaging.

Can I get away with the black plastic ones top right left uncovered? The gilt ones are a little heavy, and I'm not sure I like the way that the horizontal type pull the ribbing in too tight. Hmmm.

Socks socks socks

2008-08-09T14:58:00.004+01:00

So, when last you heard from me I was about to start making some socks for my sister for her birthday. I picked out some very pretty Colinette Jitterbug yarn from the stash and a very pretty lattice pattern from the Sensational Knitted Socks book and set to. My sister has slightly bigger feet than me, but not by much, so I reckoned that any sock that comfortably fit me will fit her well enough. I had a slight hiccup when I spotted a mistake and had to frog a few rows and try again. Could be me, it often is. Try again. Nope. I checked online and was shocked by the number of errata that come up for this book. Got the right instructions, set off again.

I got started on the second sock straight away - and things are going well.... until about three inches to go to the toe I had a sudden realisation that I'm going to run out of yarn. So I undid the toe of the first sock, shortened it by half an inch and pinched the yarn to finish the second sock. Unfortunately, now they are really too small to give to my sister so they have found a home in my sock drawer. Shame.

Cutting it fine.

So, I have started on another pair of socks that are intended for my sister. I bought some Regia sock yarn in the Woolly Workshop sale last month and thought I'd have a try at some two colour socks. I like trying new things, and the pattern is really fun. Just a shame that these seem to be turning a little on the small side....

And I leave you with Mr C relaxing in style.

And then there were two

2008-07-05T10:45:00.002+01:00

My first loopy sheep was looking a bit lonely (and there was half a ball of yarn leftover) so I made it a friend. The kit makers were rather generous with the filling so I shall have lots of organic filling for the next few toys that I make, which is nice. The second sheep turned out very wonky, not sure quite why this happened and so I had to put in some long stitches through the body and tie them tightly to straighten it out. I did the feet differently too, on the first sheep I made little bases for the feet and sewed them on and on the second I just stitches around the ends of the legs and pulled them closed - this looks neater and was a lot less faff.

It is a shame that the weather decided to be crappy today, so they are indoor sheep rather than lawn sheep.

I have now started on a pair of Jitterbug socks for my sister for her birthday. There's only a cuff at the moment, so I'll take a picture when there's a bit of pattern to look at.

Proof!

2008-06-23T20:13:00.004+01:00

...if proof were needed, that sheep are highly cultural animals and love a bit of modern art sculpture.

Yesterday we visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and had a great time (despite the very windy weather) walking around the park and looking at (and in!) the sculptures. My 9 year old niece proved herself to be very knowledgeable... or at least very good at finding the labels before everyone else.

Sheep by a Henry Moore.

This sheep has had quite enough of art for now, thank you.

Midsummer!

2008-06-20T20:54:00.005+01:00

So the longest day is nearly upon us... and it's all down hill from here ;)

Nevermind, for it is a night for parties and bonfires and fun into the night (quietly, though, because of the neighbours) and celebrating the turning of the year. I'm not one for getting up early to see the sun rise, although I do hope to see it one year I never attempt it!

In other news... I can't remember if I mentioned it here, but a while back I bought myself a Wii Fit. To be honest, I haven't used it everyday and it has on more than one occasion been a little bit, how shall I put it, sarcastic about my progress. However, I have been using it a bit more regularly this week and now I shall risk Fiona's scorn for the accuracy of such measurements by saying that my BMI dropped out of the 'overweight' category today (my Mii looked rather pleased with herself) but the big story is that today, for the first time ever, my balance board didn't say 'ouch' when I stood on it. Woo hoo!

Baa!

2008-06-10T17:32:00.002+01:00

This little fella was made from a kit that I was given for my birthday. It is a Cornish organic wool loopy sheep and is very cute indeed. I decided not to give it the hat or scarf, as that would be unrealistic. It's summer and far too warm to be wearing scarves. The kit contains enough to make two sheep, so who knows, in another three weeks I might have managed to make it a friend. Or I might have started on the wonderful Alan Dart circus mice that have caught my eye in Simply Knitting magazine lately.

Memememememe

2008-05-31T11:00:00.005+01:00

Modelwidow tagged me for the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme so here goes:

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
Hmmm. May 1998. We'd not that long been in our own home and it was a new build so in the spring I was busy trying to make something of a garden out of the weeds and building rubble. Battling with poor soil, slugs and drainage issues.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
1. I have yet to get dressed. What? It's Saturday!
2. Paint a picture
3. Mow the lawn
4. Knitting!
5. Blog about actual knitting.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate and biscuits. I'm having a KitKat phase at the moment.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Donate to charity, of course. Move to the Lake District. Employ a housekeeper. Set my Mum up so she can retire in style. Do a lot of walking, knitting and purchasing of fancy new toys.

5) Places I have lived:
Mostly in houses! - although I did spend a summer in a caravan once. I've had some really grotty flats but now thankfully I have a lovely house with a garden. That lawn still needs mowing though.

6) Jobs I have had:
Boring ones, but they are good at paying the bills. The best ones was working in a toyshop.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
I shall be mostly tagging people with three letter names: Kay, Noo, Dee, Mel and Ann.

Rain

2008-05-27T22:28:00.004+01:00

Today it rained for the first time in over two weeks. I am pleased about this. Now, normally I'm not a big fan of the rain and getting wet and I was happy that it stayed dry while I was on my holiday - however, water is kind of essential for a number of things. Like watering plants and putting out fires.

This is a view over Greenfield in Saddleworth yesterday with the smoke from the big moorland fire up at Littleborough (about 10 miles away) on the horizon, it was so windy that the fire spread really quickly and the smoke could be seen for miles. The fire burned through most of the night and only the rain we had early this morning put it out properly.

Holidays!

2008-05-26T18:25:00.007+01:00

Last week I didn't knit anything. Instead, I went on holiday to Keswick in the Lake District. It seemed ages since we'd been out and done much of anything outside, mostly because it has been ages and we needed a serious kick start to get ourselves into gear and out on the hills. And there were hills. Steep ones. With sheep on, so it wasn't all bad.

These were some locals on the slopes of Skiddaw where were walked on Tuesday, up from Latrigg - where someone has conveniently placed a carpark a good way up - over to Lonscale Fell then up to Skiddaw summit via the Little Man.

This is looking back towards Keswick - very nice view and I may also have needed to stop for a breather. Shame it was only about 300 yards from the car park. Once over Skiddaw we turned right at Bakewell and headed back along the Cumbria Way, passed Skiddaw House.

Where there were some sheep enjoying the shade of the trees. This whole area is called Skiddaw Forest, although I assume that the forest part of the name comes from the really old meaning of the word as an area reserved for hunting rather than because of it having many trees, because it doesn't and the tiny wooded area by the house is, well, tiny. This was a pretty long day, considering we hadn't been out for a while and 12,4 miles in total, so we definitely deserved our chips that night. There might also have been beer.

On other days, we went for a boat trip around Derwent Water, visited the Cumberland Pencil Museum where they have the longest pencil in the world which is pretty blumming big and went to Whinlater Forest Park to see a proper forest with trees and everything. Including alpacas, which was quite a surprise.

Corsica

2008-05-17T16:36:00.004+01:00

Just in time for summer, I have finished Corsica. Although in a typical British summer, sometimes a big chunky sweater is just the thing. I really liked knitting this, the pattern was well written and it's (as I've probably said loads of times by now) an interesting construction. My only critisism would be that the arms are on the skinny side and it's a bit of a stretch and a struggle to get it on. The same number of stitches are used for all sizes of the pattern at the moment, which I think is rather unrealistic. I know the pattern is going to be published for larger sizes than are available at the moment and they will have wider arms.

Pattern: Corsica by Fiber Fiend
Size: 38"
Yarn: Sirdar Hug in Murmur 170, used 10x 50g balls
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, US10.5
Mods: I did about six more pattern repeats on the arms to make them longer, I like a nice long sleeve that amply covers my wrists and half my hand. I also reduced the number of rows at the back of the neck.

How many needles?!

2008-05-05T14:54:00.004+01:00

I have gone back to working on my Corsica after finishing the socks and am now on the row where you join the sleeves onto the body. There's a lot going on.

And a close up of all the needles...

It's certainly interesting!

FO!

2008-05-02T18:51:00.006+01:00

A Finished Object! Not being rude, honest :|

Pattern: Garter Rib socks from SKS (Charlene Schurch)
Size: Mens US12, 96 stitches
Yarn: Wisdom Yarns - Marathon Socks, Boston
Colourway: 211
Needles: Knitpicks 2mm circulars

I was gifted this yarn by itgirl as part of a Ravelry swap (thank you!) and it was very nice to knit with and a cool, subtle colourway. I'm not sure if you can source it in GB, but I would really recommend it. It is stretchy and super soft once washed. The ball was 100g and I decided to make them top down and see how things went. The first sock weighed 48g so I was confident as I cast on that there would be enough yarn to make the second but as I got closer and closer to the toe and the ball was getting smaller and smaller, I must admit that I started getting the niggly doubts. In the end, eveything worked out juuust fine...

and there was even some left over to make a toy for Mr C.

Still alive!

2008-04-26T18:17:00.006+01:00

It is true. I have not fallen foul to malaise or mire. I have been meaning to post here for a couple of weeks now, but the truth of it is that I haven't really done much that I've felt worthy of blogging about. I seem to have been stuck on this little treadmill of life that included work, eating and watching telly. Exciting stuff, eh. There has been painting, yes, but that is not for here and there has been knitting, but when I'm knitting socks with 96 stitches on 2mm needles, these things take a while.

So, some of the shopping was new shoes (Clarks - my grandma would definitely have approved), Hotel Chocolat goodies and this: The Cute Book, because I feel I need more cute in my life.

It is über cute. These are not knitting patterns, but basic sewing pattern ideas for making out of felt. In the way I have of making simple tasks waaay more complicated than they need to be, I have a plan for making my own felt. Yes, this is going to happen....

Progress on Corsica is coming along well. It's a really interesting pattern to follow and I am really intrigued as to how the arms are going to be knitted on. Sirdar Hug is very nice yarn to work with too.

I have knit the main of the body and about one and a half sleeves. I'm doing the sleeves on my Denises, using magic loop. They are very very close fitting and I have contemplated a few times re-knitting them with more stitches as I'm a bit worried about them being too tight around the tops of my arms, which frankly aren't as thin as they used to be. The wristy bits fit fine though.

And then there are the socks that I mentioned. These are they:

I took this sock along to my very first knitting group on Thursday night in Stockport and it had a very nice time, was made to feel welcome and may well go back in a fortnight :)

Sheep art

2008-03-22T17:05:00.003Z

In the snow

This is todays picture from my Picture A Day blog and I'm putting it here to because I feel that it fits well with the weather we are having. And I like sheep :)

Steps

2008-03-19T19:48:00.004Z

The final step count before bed yesterday was 13337. Woo hoo! I'm pretty proud of that, and feel that I deserve the large slice of pie, chips and gravy that I had for my tea at the pub! Today, I have done 9797 steps so far and am confident that I will reach the 10,000 goal today.

I haven't made any grand decision to try and walk 10,000 steps per day but I am trying to do more exercise generally as some of my clothes seem to have shrunk in the wardrobe over the winter. I love knitting, but it's not really the most energetic of hobbies.

So we have bought a Wii and I knacker myself out trying to play tennis, even though I'm a loooooser, and while the weather is nice I shall walk whenever possible and when it rains I shall go in the car and not feel guilty.

I realised earlier that I hadn't answered Tutley Mutley's question about Supernatural. Sorry! I did think about the answer and then it slipped my mind. Supernatural is a drama / horror / comedy show from the USA. It's into it's third season now, although I'm a late joiner watching on DVD so I'm a bit behind. I think the latest shows are on ITV3. It's about two brothers that fight supernatural creatures like demons, evil clowns, werewolves and ghosts. It's kind of like a cross between the X-Files and Angel. One of the brothers Alec X5-494 in Dark Angel if that means anything to anyone. That was a good show too. You should watch that as well :)

Pretty things

2008-03-18T17:24:00.002Z

Corsica is coming along pretty well. I have done the braid, ribbing and picking up for the top section and am now about to make a start on the sleeves. It's a really interesting pattern and lots of fun. I am pleased with the yarn and hoping that this is will be a knitted item that I will really get some wear out of. I have to admit that most of my larger knitted items don't really see much use. I wear my socks, hats and wristwarmers a lot, but the jumpers well, not so much. The massive cabled jumper I don't wear because it's massive and the cabled hoody is a bit itchy. Shame really.

Last week I received a lovely belated birthday pressie from Badger, with some pretty laceweight and a chocolate bunny! There were some chocolate buttons too, but they didn't hang around long enough to have their photo tooked...

How cute??!

Right, I am off to the pub for my tea. Hurrah! I am not being totally unhealthy though because we'll be walking up to the pub and back. I've been wearing my pedometer all day and so far have done 6987 steps. Woo!

Beginnings

2008-03-08T14:35:00.003Z

I have the beginnings of a Corsica. The construction of this jumper seems a lot more complicated than others that I've made, looks like it's going to be very interesting! The Sirdar Hug is looking pretty (this colourway is called Murmur) and it's very soft, although a bit splitty so you have to keep an eye on where your needle is.

An interesting pattern, rainy weekend and Season 2 of Supernatural on DVD and I should be able to make some good progress with this!

Cosy

2008-03-04T17:13:00.004Z

The weather has been rather unpredicable of late and there have been an alarming amount of germs in close proximity so I am glad to have my cosy alpaca/wool socks. They are loosely based on the Drops Design 98-10 pattern, but I changed the rib to 1x1 to make them more stretchy.

And, thanks to RaVen, I have possibly the cosiest, softest warmest hat in the world. I have also decided that hats are my new favourite things to knit. They are quick, simple and (unless something's very wrong) you only need to make one of them.

Qivuit cap in false cable pattern

Erm

That's better - although still not quite Alaska

We had about an inch of snow lying this morning, most of it fell in the space of about an hour (not sure how much space an hour takes, but there you go) last night, while I watched the cars slipping and sliding all over the road outside the house (we live on a steep hill) and hoped that Rob got home safe from work. As soon as he did, the snow stopped completely.

I am now swatching up the Sirdar Hug that my Mum gave me for my birthday. I have enough for a sweater or cardigan, although it's bulky yarn so I'm not sure what style to go for. Maybe Corsica?

Winter day

2008-02-17T18:34:00.003Z

Firstly, many thanks to Kath nominating me for an award. Very surprising and flattering!

With my apologies if you've already been got, I nominate Fiona and Posh Dee.

The next surprise of the day is that we went out! Yes! Outside. For a walk. It's been a while, I know, and the waist bands on my trousers have been giving me hints for a little while now that perhaps I might like to get up off my behind and actually do something vaguely resembling exercise. So, although there weren't many leaves left on the trees to be brown and the sky most certainly wasn't grey, but we did go for a walk on a winter's day. Just a local walk, about 7 miles, along the Pennine Way for a while and back around Green Withens Reservoir.

Not a cloud in the sky

Blackstone Edge

Ice - not necessarily thick enough to hold your weight...

Pollution

There was a bit of a cracking ice and ending up knee deep in the mud incident but still a good time was had by all and those trainers needed a wash anyway... Who knows, we might venture outside again at somepoint this year.

Experiments with Alpaca

2008-02-12T17:28:00.001Z

Last year I bought some alpaca/wool mix yarn on discount and it has been sitting in the stash ever since waiting patiently to be made into something deserving of it's softness, warmness and all round general snuggliness. And there is nothing more deserving of warmth, softness and being snuggled than my feet. So I set about making a pair of socks - as I don't have enough of these already. Nope, and pointing to my overflowing sock drawer will not convince me otherwise.

I don't have a pattern for socks in such chunky yarn, I'm knitting these on 6mm needles, so am using a basic formula and trial and error... mostly error, as it turns out. There was a cuff

and then there was a heel - which I didn't think turned out too badly considering I was watching Supernatural while knitting it and hence rather distracted.

And then I decided to try them on. They were far too big and stretchy. Super soft and snuggly though, so I am convinced of the right-ness of making these and, to be honest, the yarn is so lovely that knitting them again and again and again would be no chore.

Even Mr C couldn't resist the lure of the yarn!

Birthday pressies and a finished shawl (gasp!)

2008-02-05T20:31:00.001Z

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. I had a lovely day with lots of pressies, Tapas for lunch with sangria and shopping. I also had some new holes put in my ears (this is maybe not everyone's idea of a cool thing to do on their birthday but it didn't hurt much) and I am very pleased with my new look five ringed ear. Then we went to see the new Alien vs Predator fillum which is very jolly.

From Rob I got some books (including the thickest novel I've attempted since Bleak House and the most dense book in the world ever) and a painting DVD so I will have a better clue what I'm supposed to be doing with my paintbrush and the needle roll was made for me by my (blogless) friend, Kirsty who is very handy with a sewing machine. Mum bought me lots of pretty wool to make something nice for myself and Rob bought me a handy drawer unit to keep some of the stash is. The loopy sheep kit was a pressie from another friend, Lisa, and is the coolest thing ever! I just hope that I can get the expression on the face somewhere close to that in the picture.

And finally, the shawl! I had a big push at knitting on the border on Sunday and got it finished and pinned out. I am really very pleased at the way this turned out, and I think it possibly is one of the most demanding patterns that I have attempted. Am in two minds as yet as to whether it was worth the struggle, but I think so!

It is in Posh Yarns Eva 2ply, which is lovely to work with and, as mentioned a lot already, it is the curved shawl from Victorian Lace Today.

Birthday!

2008-02-01T09:36:00.001Z

Today I am another year older and I am contemplating whether it's about the right time to start having a midlife crisis. I have the day off work, as working on your birthday must be the most depressing thing ever, and so far there has been coffee and pressies (photos later!) and there will be shopping and hopefully not getting stuck in the snow (February is a bit of a rubbish time to have a birthday!)

To prove that I am a real child of the 70's, check out the paisley on this!

Thirty years or so ago!

Bordering on

2008-01-23T22:16:00.001Z

Work is progressing on the border of the curved shawl. I am probably about two thirds of the way around and I think it's looking ok now I have sorted out which threads of yarn to knit into to join on to the main body. The first few repeats of adding a border always seem to be a bit trial and error with spacing.

Hopefully I should be able to get this done and blocking at the weekend. I didn't have any recipient in mind when I started making it, I just liked the pattern, but a friend of mine has had a bit of a sad time lately, so I'm planning on giving it to her to hopefully cheer her up a tiny bit.

Eventually!

2008-01-17T18:59:00.000Z

The Earl Grey socks are done! It is a really nice pattern and I like the softness of the Garnstudio Fabel sock yarn, so I'm really pleased at the way that these have turned out. If only they hadn't taken me quite so long to knit! Yes, I have been distracted away from the knitting by the art lately, but I have still been knitting away.

I know it seems a long wait for dull grey socks, and I'm sorry - but I like them :)

Next: The (even longer) long awaited curved shawl border!

Picture a day

2008-01-04T20:50:00.000Z

The new blog is up and running at www.pictureaday.co.uk for my paintings, drawerings and scribblings and ideally will be updated everyday. How long I can sustain this, I don't know, but I'll give it a go.

Please be kind :)

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:58:00.000Z

I hope that everyone reading this had a very Merry Christmas and Santa brought you everything that you asked for. I did pretty well with the gifts, particularly in the chocolates and biscuit areas, so I am looking into the future and predicting that my trainers are going to be seeing a bit more use in the near future. Either that or I will be hitting the sales in search of jeans in a slightly bigger size.

Well then. So 2007 has passed away - with quite a flash and a bang last night thanks to the neighbour's fireworks - when did this become such a part of new years celebrations? It took me ages to persuade Mr C to come out from under the sofa. Grrr! But anyway.... and we are now into 2008. A whole new year filled with promise and without any mistakes in it (to (mis)quote Anne).

As is traditional I have been looking back over the last year's accomplishments and casting a critcal eye on them.

So. Knitting. 2007 was definitely the year of lace. Although there has not been so much of anything of late and I still have the second Earl Grey sock and the circular shawl on the needles (oh, and a bit of a crochet blanky done).

Swallowtail Shawl - first lace. Prettiest lace.
Cabled hoody - finished at last! Phew.
Zebra socks - not especially impressed by the stripnicity.
Lambchop - Probably my favourite knit of the year. Now residing in my sister's cupboard. Ah well.
Cherry leaf shoulder shawl - in pale green Posh Yarns Eva. Turned out very nicely.
Bayerische socks - Boo! to the Sock Hater.
Tank top - very handy for work. A black one would be even better.
Forest Canopy Shawl - great present for step mothers.
Clanger - very cute, very pink.
Dobbin aka Sheldon the Turtle - great pattern. Definitely want to make more of these in different colour combos.
Felted slippers - fun to knit but tedious tedious tedious to felt to the right size.
Seashell socks - the merino yarn didn't like it in the washing machine. Oops. If only the felted slippers had felted this easily. T'uh.
Artemis top - looks nice on the hanger but could do with a bit more shaping to make it a bit more flattering.
Devan - I really liked making this and was very pleased with the way it turned out. This was my favourite non-lace, non-toy knitting this year. Last year. Um.
Ugly socks - hmmm.
Earl Grey socks - on the heel. Am really liking Garnstudio's Fabel sock yarn. It's very fine and soft. Using smaller needles gives a very comfy sock indeed.
Circular shawl - still on the go. Now I have all the needles I'll ever need I shall be able to finish this shortly. Promise.

Not as much as last year, but the lace knitting is a bit more time consuming than plain. That is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. I think next year I will try to use up some of the contents of my stash that has been waiting around for the longest. I had thought that while I was off work over the holidays I would get lots done, but it doesn't seem to have worked out like that and I've been doing other stuff instead, like reading, cooking and drawing. I think the knitting will return once I get back into the routine of work (boo!) again.

Next. I read some books.

33. Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb (current)
32. Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb ***
31. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens ****
30. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman ***
29. Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb ****
28. The Tale of Beatrix Potter - Margaret Lane ****
27. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier *****
26. Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier *****
25. Cat Confidential - Vicky Halls **
24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling ** and a half
23. The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart **
22. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver *****
21. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman ***
20. The Good Life Gets Better: Panning for Gold - Dorian Amos ***
19. Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer *
18. Rilla of Ingleside - LM Montgomery ***
17. The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells ****
16. Yarn Harlot - Stephanie Pearl McPhee ***
15. A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin *****
14. Do You Remember The First Time? - Jenny Colgan ** a warning that you shouldn't read books that come free with magazines.
13. What Katy Did - Susan Coolidge *** + an extra * because I loved this book as a child.
12. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson *****
11. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde ***
10. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux * but I deduct that * because of Andrew Lloyd Webber
9. The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro ****
8. Moonset - Louise Cooper ****
7. Northern Lights - Philip Pullman ****
6. Eclipse - Louise Cooper ***
5. Hide and Seek - Ian Rankin **
4. Knots and Crosses - Ian Rankin ***
3. Artemis Fowl - Eown Colfer ***
2. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood *****
1. Bleak House - Charles Dickens *****

I think my favourite book would be a choice between The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Cold Mountain. They are completely different though, so I can't decide. Read them both.

What else did I mention? Cooking. I did a fair bit of baking this year, mostly trying to bake decent cookies. I still haven't managed it but considering the size of our Christmas goodies stash and how I really shouldn't indulge so much if I want to fit into my clothes, I don't think this is a hobby that I should be persuing!

Drawing and painting. I have to confess to being a doodler. Give me a pen and paper and I will scribble. I was given a lot of super arty stuff like paints, instruction books and posh paper for Crimble (I think the rellies were a bit relieved that there wasn't any knitting stuff on the list!) and I have made a decision (which in itself is unusual!) to try and improve my skills, particularly with watercolours. I am thinking of starting a painting blog separate from this one to keep notes on my progress and encourage me to paint regularly. Today would be a good day to decide, as I could do a drawing a day. Maybe. We'll see.

Inconceivable!

2007-12-19T13:49:00.000Z

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Which Princess Bride Character are You?

Shawl? What shawl?

2007-12-17T13:29:00.001Z

The ugly sock is not all by itself any longer. I started on it's ugly companion straight away and now there are one and a bit ugly socks. I think I might give them to my Dad for his birthday.

See how well thought out the jolly pink background was :|

Then I got all sidetracked by the Yarn Harlot's Earl Grey socks which I decided would make a rather nice Crimble pressie. As long term readers of the blog will know, I am not good at knitting to a deadline and I really should have known better to even attempt to start making something as a gift after, ooh, sometime around the middle of October. There is no way on this planet that I am going to get these babies knitted in time. However, this might be a good thing as they are turning out to be just the right size for me! I can feel myself getting more and more attached to them by the (tiny) stitch. The Garnstudio Fabel sock yarn is very nice and soft and I am thinking that the grey would be very practical indeed. Another argument on the side of me keeping them for myself is that I have had a horrible cold lately and might have impregnated it with illness. I saw a book with a funny title in Waterstones the other day, a survival guide and collection of anecdotes about flat sharing called 'I Lick My Cheese' ... I think I might adapt it to 'I Cough on my Yarn'...

I reluctantly let go of some of my non-germ-affected yarn from Ally Pally to a good friend of mine for Christmas, I decided that I could spare one of the two lovely skeins of Jitterbug that I bought, but I needn't have feared, for more yarn has arrived to replace it!

A big thank you to Itgirl for my 'Hands Across The Sea' swap package which arrived a week or so back. In it, I received some very interesting American foodstuffs for the making of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some packet mixes for American biscuits, although I need to find out more about this to know what to make them to go with.

There was also American yarn of the sock variety:
And the scrummy lace variety:
The Lacey Lamb is very soft and fine indeed. Be assured I have coughed slightly near it.

Santa came early...

2007-12-05T17:53:00.000Z

I bought myself a present.
I will never go needy again.

'The hell was I thinking?

2007-11-30T18:31:00.000Z

I knew there was something wrong about half way down the cuff but I carried on knitting. Somehow this sock made me knit it. It's ugly and it's evil.

I'm scared.

Hills, most of them cloudy

2007-11-27T23:30:00.000Z

Last Friday it was our wedding anniversary. It has been 6 years since we ran away to Las Vegas and to celebrate this event (as we are saving the return trip to Vegas for our 10 year anniversary) we went to our favourite place in Blighty for a few days.

We rented a tiny apartment in Ambleside, just outside of town up a tiny lane with stone cottages which is described in the tourist brochure as 'the delightful Peggy Hill' - this was renamed, after returning on foot from a 10 mile+ round of the Fairfield Horseshoe, 'the scabby Peggy Hill'. I didn't get a picture as just as I got my camera out a delivery van pulled up at the foot of the hill with hazards flashing and spoilt it. Here is some snow instead.

Top of Fairfield - it were a bit parky!

From Nab Scar, looking down to Ambleside

Next day, as a break from walking, we took the ferry down Windermere to Bowness to visit Blackwell, which is a beautiful house in the Arts & Crafts style - it made a real change from the usual stately homes we see in England and I bought a copy of the best book in the world ever! It is surprising how little you can fit into a short winter day if you don't go places by car, it was dusk as we were on the return ferry - very romantic!

Bowness

Windermere, heading back to Ambleside

On the last day of our break we walked up Helm Crag, over Gibson Knott to Calf Crag and back down Easedale Gill. This would have been a lovely walk if it hadn't been peeing it down all day and blowing a gale. Still, it is days like this that make you appreciate the days when you get clear blue skies... like the following day when we were coming home. T'uh!

Far Easedale Gill

Sheepses in the sun

I decided against taking the shawl away with me and decided to make a start on a pair of socks in a colourful Lana Grossa yarn that I bought in a sale on a whim recently. I am too ashamed to show it to you. I am making the most hideous socks in the world :(

Devan

2007-11-25T15:07:00.001Z

Pattern: Devan by Holli Yeoh, from Knitty
Yarn: Stripes are Schoppel Admiral, colourway 1744 (2 x100g balls, 60g left over)
Contrast colour is Opal Uni, colourway 1412 (1x100g ball, 30g left over)
Needles: 3mm straights & 2,5mm/60cm circs
Size: 2-3 years
Mods: Not much, made the detail on back slightly bigger to use each stripe colour and made larger button holes to suit the flower buttons; these were from Ally Pally - I've lost the card with the details of the stall holder, will update if I find it or a miracle occurs and I remember the name.

I really enjoyed making this, it is a very nice, simple pattern to follow and the stripes in the yarn striped well - although I have to admit that towards the tops of the fronts and the arms, where there was more shaping, I did help things along a bit to make the stripes neater. I wasn't going to 'fess up to this, but feel that it's only fair to in case someone decides to use this yarn and expects it to work up perfectly. I still didn't manage to get the fronts exactly the same, but I like that it has the differences that make it unique.

So, one 2nd birthday present for Lily-Rose finished and with over a week to spare before the big day. Anyone would think I was organised!

Jumper jigsaw

2007-11-16T18:35:00.000Z

The pieces are knitted and the time comes to put it all together. It seems to have taken much longer to get this far than knitting a toddler jumper should have but I am blaming the little stitches for this, as I'm sure that I've not been slacking off - much. Ravelry may have something to answer for though as it is definitely 'getting sidetracked' central.
I quite like sewing up. There is something satisfying about seeing the bits come together as a garment and I don't really understand why so many people put it off; who wants a bundle of knitting hiding away at the bottom of their workbox making them feel guilty when they could have a FO to gaze at lovingly. Yes it can take a while but I think it's always worth doing carefully, as it would be rubbish to have a beautifully knitted something spoiled because your seam was wonky or you left a knot showing through. And you just know that someone somewhere is going to take a sneaky peek at the inside.

Joining the shoulder seams on Devan is to be done with the three needle bind off - which is something new to me. Despite the fancy lace and cabled knitting that I have produced, as it seems to me that there is always a new technique to learn and I am still very much still on the learning curve, after all, it was only about 4 or 5 years ago that I seriously decided to try to become an 'expert' knitter.

It strikes me as funny though when I compare this feeling of relative novice-ness at knitting to my 'years of experience' at crochet. My mum taught crochet classes at the primary school before I started there and she used to take me with her and I would go along with her. I remember vividly laughing at one boy's efforts (very mean and insensitive of me, I know!) and informing him that he was doing it too tightly. But despite getting on for thirty years experience at crochet, I actually only know how to do a couple of stitches. Which just goes to show that it doesn't matter how long you've been doing something if you don't push your boundaries. So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go and look up three needle bind offs.

Finally finished flipping felted footwear

2007-11-10T16:33:00.000Z

So eventually I have got round to finishing the felting of the clogs that I started aaaages ago. I really like the look of these clogs and I am glad that they are done, they are warm and very comfy and my house is cold. Well, not cold, but we've turned the thermostat down and are wearing jumpers. I would have preferred the slippers to be slightly shorter at the toe, but I'm done with felting them now. The felting didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked, which is probably why they were banished to the back of the work box for so long. Felting in the washing machine may be quicker, but it left some unevenness that I don't like but didn't seem to be able to change by hand afterwards. Meh. It may be a while before I felt anything again. Aside from that, these were great fun to make, a very interesting pattern. My Denises were a great help, as at one point you end up with loads of stitches on holders and three 9mm needles on the go.

Pattern: Felted Clogs from Fiber Trends
Yarn: Lambs Pride Worsted in Seafoam and Turkish Olive
Needles: Denises

Slightly uneven felting, but still cute

My apologies for the lily-white ankles.

I'd like to add here a bit of a plug for Gill at the Woolly Workshop for amazing service. I ordered my Interweave subscription yesterday and lo and behold! this morning a magazine (containing a rather nice felted bag, I notice) arrived on my doorstep. Thanks, miss.

Teeny Tiny Stitches

2007-11-05T18:11:00.001Z

The project that I was grumbling about is finished. In the end it wasn't so bad, once I had given up trying to make sense of someone's ramblings and did my own thing. No pics yet, as it is a present.

I have also been knitting away on Devan. Although 110 stitches a row in stocking stitch is not thing fastest growing knitting in the world. I am now about half way up the back in the plain yarn and even though I am not using a particularly jacquard-y self striping yarn, I still want to do the version with the patch motif. A bit of cutting and weaving in should do the trick.

And since I keep mentioning Mr C but he never gets his picture tooked (as he's not very good at sitting still and posing) I thought I would put one in now. Here he is in action, catching his dinner. We got him the food ball to try and encourage him to get a bit of exercise and although it took him a while to get the hang of it, he uses it now for every meal. It really is one of the funniest things to watch!

Autumn Colour

2007-10-29T12:35:00.000Z

Conversations on weekend mornings in our house tend to run something along the lines of: Was there anything you wanted to do today? No, not really. Shall we go out? Yes. What shall we do? Don't mind. Where shall we go? Don't know. So we stay in. But yesterday, we made a decision! And we went out! To Hardcastle Crags, just north of Hebden Bridge, to see the trees in all their Autumn glory.

A walk in the woods

We got away without paying!

Hebden Water

Plenty of water in the streams after the rain last night

In knitting type stuff news, I have been mostly huffing and grumbling under my breath. I decided to make something for a friend and the 'pattern' if it can be called that, is a nightmare. I am subbing a yarn, which I am quite familiar with the pitfalls of, but even including for that, it is the most, erm, *grumbles under breath* piece of *grumble grumble* ever. I eventually abandoned trying to follow it and started making it up as I go along. When I'm finished I shall post my version of the pattern, that will be as much use. It will be a picture of the thing with 'make something that looks like this' written underneath. *Grumble*

Stripe-nicity

2007-10-18T18:11:00.000+01:00

I had forgotten how much fun self-striping yarns are to knit and am loving the stocking stitch - at the moment, I'm sure the novelty will have worn off long before I've finished the jacket.

I had some good news today. The vets called to say that Mr C's latest test results have come back and all is well, so there should be no need for any more tests or treatment for 6 months. Huzzah! Crack open the catnip!

Nothing to see here...

2007-10-17T09:55:00.000+01:00

I remember once reading a forum thread about the sort of things people like / do not like to see on knitting blogs where someone had commented that they didn't like blogs where only finished blocked projects were shown and there was no detail on things that had happened along the way, no trial and errors, mistakes, minor panics or progress reports. Well, whoever you were, this post is for you.

Before I start with any of my new yarn, I want to finish the shawl from VLT that's been on the needles for a while now, so on Sunday I managed to drag myself away from Ravelry and the computer and finished off the main body section with it's pretty picot cast off.

Yesterday, I rummaged around for some 3.5mm dpns to knit on the border. Do I have any 3.5mm dpns? no, I do not. Bit of a shame that I didn't realise this before spending the whole day on Friday in and around knitting shops, but hey ho. I have some 3.75mm dpns, so I thought I'd try with them as after all, there isn't much difference between 3.5mm and 3.75mm diameter needles is there.... well, actually, once I'd thought about it a bit more carefully, there is. There is a 0.8mm difference in circumference between these two sizes, which is over 20%. This is going to add up, and yes, 20 rows later this experiment was frogged as the lace pattern was looking decidedly floppier than it ought. My 3.5mm Addi lace needles are a little on the small size, so this difference will be even more. Ah well, the postal strikes are over, so my order for a selection of small dpns (and some sock yarn that was on sale) has been duly placed with Get Knitted.

While I wait for my needles, I thought I'd make a start on Devan for Lily-Rose's birthday. The pattern calls for 2.5mm and 3mm needles. Another look in the needle box turned up no 2.5mm straight needles other than dpns, which are too short. Could I use 2.75 and 3.25mm pairs instead? A tension swatch proved no. Then I remembered that in my knitting bag there are my 2.5mm circs for sock knitting. Perfect. I started with them. In the wrong colour. I went to bed.

Ally Pally

2007-10-13T16:10:00.000+01:00

I did go to Ally Pally yesterday!

London is a big, strange place, but I was accompanied by Super Monkey, Badger and Northern Monkey so was quite safe. However, things did get off to a slightly shaky start when a random man on the train declared, totally unprovoked, that my Bayerische socks were 'hideous' and he 'wouldn't be seen dead in them'. Well. Quite apart from the fact I'd be surprised if any greying, middle-aged chap wearing a dull suit would like a pair of fancy cabled purple socks -I most certainly won't be giving them to anyone to be buried in, no matter how much they liked them. So sod you, sock hater.

Anyway, on to more pleasant things. Like yarn! And shopping! And lots of it.

I can has stash?

Ally Pally was very exciting. I took this picture on the way in and then forgot to take any inside as I got a bit distracted. There were lots of knitting and yarn stalls, and some others with strange papery stuff that we ignored. And a tiny button stall where I got some lovely (fully washable) handmade buttons.

So, we have, silk laceweight from Knitwitches

Bronze Earth

Very Black

Just the thing, as the evenings are drawing in and the nights are getting longer, for making big black lace shawls with - I may have read too many Victorian novels, but I have in mind something that would be suited to dying of consumption in. While dragging yourself up to expire on your dead lover's grave. In the snow.

The ladies at the Jamiesons stall were very reassuring about black shawl making and offered good advice on how it might be achieved while minimising the risk of blindness and insanity - they were very nice, even if I did almost have to wrestle one of them to get the yarn back.

Colinette Jitterbug in Castagne and Copperbeech

Fyberspates DK - I cannot remember if the colourway had a name. I shall call it Beautiful.

I possibly didn't give as much thought as I should have done to my shopping list before going to Ally Pally, although a list that is made up of things like 'nice laceweight in black' and 'grey sock yarn' and 'nice yarn' was fine by me. I plan to make Devan from Knitty for a friend's kiddy, as I made an Opal cardy for Lily-Rose when she was born and (how brilliant is this!) it became her favouritest cardy ever! So now she's bigger, I want to make her another one. I got this yarn at the Knit' n' Caboodle stand as they had non varigated sock yarn and they turned out to be very helpful and friendly.

Admiral R Druck sock yarn and contrast colour in Opal.

And an ugly duckling of the sock yarn world, Garnstudios Fabel sock wool in grey. I solemnly pledge to this yarn that I will make it beautiful.

So, as if that wasn't enough yarn for anyone, after lunch we went yarn shopping. In shops. First we went to Stash, where I did bump into Kai and where Northern Monkey and Badger got me some petrol yarn for driving them Down South, and more importantly, back Up North afterwards.

Koigu KPPPM sock yarn

Malabrigo lace weight in Violetas.

Then we went to visit the lovely Mr Craig in his lovely shop I Knit London where we got some of the softest cashmere ever for our Mystery Snoodalong and some ace badges. Badges, not badgers. We had to take her away with us, even though she did take her shoes off and get very settled in on their sofa.

Softest cashmere ever

So, a fab time was had by all (apart from the sock hater) and big thanks to Super Monkey and Devious for putting us up and looking after us, Idoru for her pancake restaurant knowledge and Badger and Northern Monkey for singing themselves hoarse in the car with me. Hurrah!

Ravelry

2007-10-13T15:55:00.001+01:00

This is my 200th blog post. Woo.
I thought I should save it for an important announcement which is that I got into Ravelry today! Woo again.
I am on there as HellBelle so if you're there too, look me up :)

Great Langdale

2007-09-30T22:34:00.000+01:00

Now that the year is turning, the summer over and the nights are drawing in, the temperature is dropping and the camping season for most is over. But not us. Nope, this is the time of year to get out your tent, warm poufy sleeping bag and head for the hills.

We had planned to visit Glenridding and the North Eastern Fells, but there were horrendous traffic jams, delays and bridge repairs on the M6 north on Friday night, so Plan B was Great Langdale and the Langdale Pikes. As it has been a while since we did any 'proper' walks, we decided to keep it simple and follow a route up towards Harrison Stickle, but skirt around underneath to Stickle Tarn without going all the way up.

Sheep enjoying the view.

Pavey Ark overlooking Stickle Tarn.

From the tarn, we headed round to Castle How and down to Chapel Stile - stopping for a welcome sit down and a pint at the Wainwright Inn

before heading back along the valley to the campsite (9,5 miles). The day was a little grey and hazy, but it stayed dry and was quite a lot warmer that I was expecting, partly because there was hardly a breath of wind - something that would have been quite a relief while huffing and puffing up the steep bits!

The pointy one in the middle of the background is Harrison Stickle.

Rather dramatic moon - photographed at bedtime en route to the toilet block.

Daisies this morning at Sizergh Castle - where you can see lovely autumn colour and some very impressive scaffolding & plastic sheeting.

Autumn Equinox

2007-09-23T21:46:00.001+01:00

The days are on the slippery slope getting shorter at their quickest towards winter. We've had some fairly cold nights, and the spiders and woodlice are letting us know it's chilly outside by coming in and setting up home by the fireplace. I'm not especially scared of spiders, thanks to my Mum (whom I have a picture of somewhere holding a tarantula) but I won't pick them up (having seen my Mum's finger swell up and go numb after being bit by a spider that she was rescuing from the dog's water bowl) so we have plastic pots and pieces of card handy for taking them outside. Some of them have been monsters! Spiders may be hairy and scary, but they are useful little creatures who help reduce the number of insects in the world and I would urge you to put them out rather than squash them (you only end up having to deal with a dead spider instead of a live one, which is worse, in my opinion, as you have to move it yourself). Woodlice that come inside die very soon from dehydration, so if you like the teeny armadillo lookylikeys you should put them out too before they succumb to the Sahara-like conditions of your carpet.

So another weekend has gone, but it was fairly productive. I painted the front window, which now looks white and glossy and makes all the others look twice as bad. I uploaded my latest photos to the online gallery (there is a link over on the left if anyone wants to see more of our walks and days out - although there has been shamefully less walking this year than there should have been). I did some baking and some knitting. I managed to ignore the untactful utterings of my MIL without laughing in her face or poking her with a paintbrush. Job well done.

Curved Shawl Progress

2007-09-20T21:34:00.000+01:00

It took a while, but I am a changed woman. I haven't suddenly become the world's speediest lace knitter, but everything seems to have fallen into place and I am at least now a relaxed lace knitter. The pre-blocked knitted fabric is uninspiring to say the least.

But with a little bit of pulling about (I managed to get a photo where you can't see my foot in it!) we can have a sneak preview of what the magic of blocking will reveal.

In which there are sheep

2007-09-17T18:14:00.000+01:00

Yesterday's walk was over Rishworth Moor, from Green Withens Reservoir around Dog Hill (9,5 miles). Didn't see any dogs but we did see plenty of sheep, which is fine by us. The day started fine but breezy and got windier. The rain just started as we were stopping off at the Co-op to buy beer on the way home.

Sheep on the moors

Sheep in the grass

Sheep in fields

Crackly wires

1,2,3...over, knit, over...1,2,3...repeat ad infinitum

2007-09-13T18:19:00.001+01:00

The knots-on-a-stick-turned-curly-wurly-scribbles-on-a-stick are now some floppy-blue-messiness on a bendy plastic cord. The Addi lace needles are lovely to knit with, nice and pointy and the yarn just glides over them with no snagging on the joins or anything. I give them the Sheep Happens seal of approval (woo).

So I have lovely yarn and lovely needles and a relatively simple pattern... why am I not gleefully working away on the shawl and nearing completion? I don't know. I really don't know. There is something about the openness of the pattern that makes it difficult to see where you are in the repeats and I have had to keep counting, something that is easy enough for a short time when there is peace and quiet, but not so easy once His Nibs gets home, turns the telly on and expects replies to his conversation. Progress on the shawl has been slow and I am getting a bit bored of it.

Poor shawl. My head has been turned by lace cuff socks and a pretty cardy pattern on the Garn Studio website and I am trying to decide whether making tiny knitted hats for innocent's Age Concern charity appeal counts as being unfaithful. I've only made three so far. And they're very small.

Not much walking has happened lately, but the other evening we did go to Dovestones Reservoir just down the road from here. It's not a bad spot for a picnic tea.

Views as the evening progresses

At the sharp end

2007-08-31T18:27:00.000+01:00

My knots on a stick have progressed into some curly wurly scribbliness hanging from a stick. If you look closely you can see some sort of order to it, which is a good sign. This is hopefully going to become the curved shoulder shawl from Victorian Lace Today (page 71) if I can keep it together. It is the first lace pattern that I have attempted that doesn't have a plain knit or purl row on the wrong side for me to collect my thoughts along as it is a very open lace pattern - but luckily the stitch repeats seem fairly simple and I'm hoping that they will stick in my brain ok and it should grow quite fast.

And when it does, I shall be ready! I have my brand new Addi Lace Needles!

See the points!

Top to bottom: Addi Lace 3.5mm circ, Pony 3.25mm metal straight, Addi 3mm metal dpn

I have been trying my hand at braid making too. Super Monkey brought me presents (huzzah!) from her holiday in the Peak District and one of them was a lucet. This is a mediaeval way of making cords (basically a two pronged knitting-nancy) and I although was a bit wobbly at it to start with, I think it will be useful for making straps and ties, etc, as an alternative to twisting or i-cord. Super Monkey also gave me one of her cool swirly crocheted bookmarks, which will definitely come in handy the next time I pick up a book (which hasn't happened in a shamefully long time and is something that I really should rectify).

I have been doing a bit of knitting-related reading, having bought the 25th Anniversary edition of Vogue Knitting. It is a bumper thick magazine this Fall, packed with lots of patterns and stuff from the last 25 years. Obviously there's a lot of retro stuff (big jumpers ahoy!) and some updated versions of old patterns, there are also some good articles - in particular the interviews with the knitting elite from way back when, including Kaffe Fassett and Alice Starmore, and from now, with Debbie Stoller and the Yarn Harlot. The one pattern that jumped out at me was Iris Schreier's Mesh Lace Cardigan, which I think is just beautiful. I also think VK should give their patterns slightly more imaginative names...

Nice long weekend

2007-08-27T18:37:00.000+01:00

Bank holiday weekends are great!! We have a policy that we don't go anywhere on bank holidays where there might be crowds and the easiest way to avoid crowds completely is to stay at home. Our nice new washing machine was delivered on Saturday, so there has been much washing and drying of laundry at Sheephappens Towers. Thankfully the weather has been fine for drying, and I did some gardening too (necessary in order to get said washing machine down the path at the side of the house which had become rather overgrown with buddleia and tree mallow during the summer. I even cut the grass! Woo!

It's not been all work, work, work though.

Pattern: Artemis from Muse
Yarn: Lasso by Colinette in Seabreeze (2 skeins was plenty, even with my mods)
Needles: 3.25 and 4mm straights
Mods: Added extra length in the body and straps

This would have been a quick knit if I hadn't messed up and had to reknit the top half of the front panel again. It wasn't actually so bad doing the knitting a second time but frogging was painful; mostly because it was my own stupid mistake in the first place. I'd increased the length of the back and then followed the pattern for the front, so the pieces didn't match. D'oh!

Still, got there in the end. Pretty, in't it?

I have started on the next project: some knots on on a stick. Hmmm.

There has been bread making. Yum.

And late-night drunken treacle sponge pudding making. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and this one proved that presentation isn't necessarily everything when there is syrup, cake and custard involved.

Ostrich-like tendencies...

2007-08-23T21:36:00.000+01:00

...are a bad thing. Especially when it comes to knitting. I had this niggly feeling that something Wasn't Quite Right. Did I stop and check? Get the tape measure (my super-dooper Lantern Moon bee tape measure even) out? No, I don't think I'll bother using it today. Did I compare the two pieces of knitting to see if they were the same length? Did I heck as. I'll just carry on knitting this front piece, with all the shaping and edging and everything because everything is going to be juuust fine. Not.

*sounds of gentle sobbing and unravelling of yarn in the background*

Still, it's not all bad.

I have been nominated for awards!

Many thanks to Hawksley for numerous things mentioned in this post. The bee tape measure and the Lasso yarn that I'm knitting (well, unknitting today)were swap gifts from her and for this, that arrived during my summer break. Hopefully it wasn't because I'd stopped posting.

I do like a bit of rock! I would nominate everyone in the list of blogs over there for one of these.

And thanks also go to Artyfartykat for a most unexpected nomination:

I would like to nominate Badger for one of these, as she has true comment power. And sent me a ~~bribe~~ present.

'ello

2007-08-17T17:50:00.000+01:00

Well, as summers go, it wasn't much of one; but at least we haven't had to worry about sunburn or heatstroke.

My rose managed about three flowers before the wind and rain got them.

For much of my blogging break, I was attached to the sofa listening to the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while cross-stitching hares and acorns. When I started listening to the book, I was trying one of the lace shawls from VLT but the combination of complimicated chart / pattern, wrong needles and diverted concentration wasn't working, so I frogged that and decided to work on something else. What caught my eye was a Moira Blackburn sampler kit that I'd bought a couple of years ago and it had been sitting abandoned ever since. Needless to say, once the book finished (my opinion? it was ok, a satisfactory story with a reasonable ending, I suppose, but the epilogue was terrible) I went back to knitting and the sampler has gone back into the drawer.

And some other stuff that I've been up to lately....

I learned entrelac. I will make something using this technique as soon as I find a pattern that doesn't look lumpy or ugly.

The finished seashell socks. I was slightly disappointed with these. The Lucy Neatby yarn might be hand-dyed but the colours are so different on each sock that they might have come from different lots rather than the same skein. Also there were many lumpy sections where the yarn wasn't twisted properly. Sigh.

I baked!

We walked up Black Hill - you may (but probably don't) remember me writing that during the winter a helicopter had been used to dump grass seed over the peat bogs here to try and stabilise the moorland. Most of the grass has taken and it is now rather less black at the top of Black Hill than it used to be.

A visit to Jodrell Bank - where, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the building of the Lovell Telescope they have demolished the exhibition centre and planetarium. The arboretum is still open and there is a nice cabin where you can shelter from the rain.

Pressie from Woolfest. Sumptuous Cashmere and silk from Badger.

Mr C is feeling better

I started turning this...

...into something a bit lacy. Woo!

We went to the Lakes! In a tent! It rained! A short walk (because I've been terribly lazy lately and am very very unfit) from Aira Force

Over Gowbarrow Fell (about 4,5miles), escorted by thousands of horrible flies. This view taken from part way up the hill looking back towards Ullswater. I only stopped because the view was so pretty, not because I was knackered. Oh no.

And because it is still summer, after all, we had ice cream.

Having a bit of a break

2007-07-27T11:18:00.000+01:00

Oops. My 'it's been a few days since I blogged' seems to have unintentionally stretched out into 'quite a lot of days since I blogged'. I don't really seem to have much enthusiasm at the moment and so I have decided to take a Blog Summer Holiday for a short while till the slump is over.

Rest assured, all is well with us and I shall be knitting and doing and hopefully will have much to tell of when Sheep Happens returns...