Sheep art

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!)

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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?

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...

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

'The hell was I thinking?

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

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

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

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.