WIP Wednesday - 13 Jul 2011 An Old Friend Returns

Hello!! This is my first WIP Wednesday post so bear with me while I get the hang of it!

Well, since Sunday I have abandoned Erik and the Guernsey Wrap in favour of my Twenty-Ten cardigan because I just needed some colour in my evenings! I was tired of knitting neutrals and was a very good girl and picked up an old WIP that had been languishing in a basket because I needed to actually concentrate while doing it. I could have just cast on something new but I'd really like to be able to wear this in the autumn, and seeing that Mr T is away for the next few weeks and I won't have  to make conversation in the evenings I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to get back on track.

Its now measuring about 8 inches compared to the 4 at the beginnig of the week which I don't think is bad for 160-something stich rows in Moss stitch with 2 non-sleeping children.

I've even done the pocket...

I might treat myself by casting on one of the Monteagle bags later in some amazing Shocking Pink Rico Essential Cotton that I bought this morning at my fabby LYS, Love Yarn in Andover........ We'll see!

Pop by Tami's Amis to see everybody else taking part.

Year of Projects Update - 10th July 2011

Well, I can't believe its time for my first update on my year of projects! SO much seems to have happened since July 1st I just don't know where to start!

Firstly I have two, yes two FO's! More on those shortly though....

Sunday 3rd was my birthday and with some money from my Mother-in-Law I treated myself to a Swiss Pear Nostepinne from Purlescence, WOW!

Its beautiful and functional all at the same time, I never realised something so simple could make my life so much easier! They were fantastic to deal with and once my gift voucher from my brother arrives I will be buying a Sunflower Swift to make winding those huge skeins of Cascade Eco wool just that little bit easier.

Saturday 9th was my Mum's birthday but as we were travelling the 200 miles up to stay with her for my Dad's funeral on Tuesday night her present had to be finished by then, so fortunately it was. My Something Pretty cushion was a dream to crochet, combined with my bargain £1 charity shop jumper for the backing and buttons from my button tin I am very pleased with how it turned out, and most importantly so was Mum!

Whilst staying up there I also managed to finish my Textured Shawl, which now only needs to be blocked and is tonight's job...

...as well as casting on Erik for my brother after winding the skein into a lovely centre pull ball using my new Nostepinne.....

...and a Guernsey Wrap which you got a sneaky preview of in the Nostepinne pic.

Black Sheep Craft Barn also got a visit from me yesterday before we had to travel back south where I managed to get yarn for the jumpers for the boys, my hat and the boys' hats.

What a productive week!! It'll never last....

Blog-a-long Starts Today!! (1 July 2011)

Well here goes!!! I am committing to blogging about my knitting and crocheting for the next year and am very excited to see how it goes!

Over here in the Blog-a-long group on Ravelry a group of us are each getting together a list of projects that we aim to complete over the next 12 months. Every Sunday after that we will blog about what we have achieved from our list during the previous week and I am hoping that it will help me to clear up lots of WIPs that I have dotted around the house!

Some people are choosing to knit/crochet all the patterns from a single book, others are choosing compliations from their Ravelry queue, whereas I aim to do a combination of unfinished projects, new ones that have been languishing in my queue for far too long, and gifts for family members.

My List

UFO's to complete.....

1. Twenty-Ten Cardigan for me - started but then got sidetracked

2. Hemlock Ring Blanket for Alfie - I HATE HATE HATE knitting this, I think its a combination of the pattern and yarn but I don't have much more to do

3. Baby Kimono for one of the many babies we have arriving within our circle of friends this year

4. Granny Stripe Blanket for the sofa - this is a king-sized blanket so a very long term project and won't mind at all if I don't finish it during the next year, I'd just like to do a bit more of it

5. Mojo Socks for me -these live in my handbag for 'Waiting Room Knitting' so are another long term project

6. Japanese Flower Shawl -I love this however have been knitting more than crocheting of late but would love it to be finished for the Autumn
7. Textured Shawl for me - so nearly there I can taste it!
8. Something Pretty cushion for Mum

Gifts.....

9. Erik zip up hoody for Dan (my brother) as a birthday present

10. Monteagle bag for Nanny
11. Monteagle bag For Chris for her birthday

12. Owls jumper for Sarah (Dan's girlfriend) who fell in love with mine
13. Monteagle bag for Bez
14.  Fetching gloves (or possibly Owlings) for Sarah - because she works in a draughty office so wears these that I knitted for her last birthday all the time

Others....

15. Hiker jumper for Tom
16. Cardy me - Deco or Paulie

17. Hats for boys - either Astronomer or Modern Rib Hat

18. Remembrance Poppies

19. And So Are You shawl
20. Stitch Sampler Shawl because I fell in love with Sarah 's (from Crafts from the Cwtch)

21. Guernsey Wrap - because I love all of the Brooklyn Tweed patterns

22. Japanese Crochet Slippers for me

23. Sally the Eco Fairy as an Angel for the Christmas tree

24. Kalajoki socks

25. Damask shawl

26. Tamara gloves for me - I WILL learn to do colourwork!

27. Asymmetric stripe shawl - either Stripe Study Shawl or Different Lines

28. Still Light Tunic with hand dyed yarn

29. Lego Man for the ever Lego obsessed Alfie

30. Hat for me - either Wabbit Season or Jane (or both maybe?)

31. Jumpers for kids - this Fisherman Jumper I think, or maybe a Bergere de France one I saw at my LYS...

31!!!! Wow!! That's a lot!!  If I finish 20 of them before June 30th next year I will be over the moon because I just know that there will be other things that I end up knitting or crocheting between now and then because I just can't resist!

All of the projects from this list will be tagged with 'YoP' in Ravelry and I have created a Project Set for them all here where I will easily be able to keep track of what I have achieved.

I'd better get knitting hadn't I? Wish me luck....

RIP Dad

My wonderful Dad sadly lost his battle with cancer yesterday morning . He will be missed by so many people, and none more so than by my boys.....

We all love you so much and will miss you more than you can imagine xxxx

Bill Owen 16 September 1930 - 26 June 2011

Day 6: Something To Aspire To

First of all I'd just like to say that I'm completely overwhelmed at the response I've had to this little blog of mine, and have loved reading all your comments. I am so grateful to everyone for coming to visit me over the last few days and realy hope that you'll continue to do so once Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is over.



Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.
I didn't have to think very hard about today's topic as there are a couple of things that I would really love to master during the next year...

First up is Socks. I have made socks before.... just never a whole pair! I fell in love with these Hedera socks and knitted one, only to succumb to second sock syndrome and never cast the second one on. This little sock...

...was frogged in my tidy up the other day when I realised that I'd used some of the yarn that I needed for sock #2 on a cardigan for a toy rabbit so there was never going to be enough to finish them.
Today I bought some Rico Superba Poems in the Tropical Colourway to knit myself some Skew socks and I WILL finish them!!

Secondly I want to master Colourwork in my knitting, both Fair Isle and Intarsia. The main projects that I have in mind for this are this Dinosaur Jumper for the boys, this hideous creation for Tom and this beautiful Jumper and wristwarmers for myself.

Whether I manage to get all of this done or not, one thing that I know for certain is that over the next year I will learn more than I can imagine about things that I don't expect at the moment. Isn't that how things generally work out??

{this moment}

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by Amanda

Day 5: And Now For Something Completely Different....

Its taking over the world!!!!!

Do you see people knitting everywhere you go?

Does your local Knit 'n' Natter now look like this?

Its affecting people from all walks of life, from Fishermen, to Zombies and Snowboarders....

... to Elves, Chefs and Ancient Warriors....

... Pirates on a Desert Island (shame about the poor monkey!)....

 ... even the Fire Brigade...

...and the Police!!

All that we can do is hope and pray that it isn't Aliens, playing with our minds......

... because even the Army is under the Knitting Spell!!! HELP! Nobody is safe!