Baby Camel Multnomah

A short while ago; my friend Claire and I decided to have a quick KAL.

I decided to use the baby camel handspun and we started Multnomah a couple of weeks ago.

I finished it at the beginning of the week and it's turned out lovely!

Pattern: Multnomah
Yarn: Handspun
Time: 8-03-10 - 14-03-10

I also had a go at felting! I made this adorable little bag for a spinning wheel and chucked it in he washing machine on a 90 wash

Pattern: Felted Spinning Wheel Bag
Yarn: Handspun Merino
Time: 5-03-10 - 8-03-10

Fluffosity

I've updated the shop a few more times since it opened.

The Great American Aran Afghan

I never got around to showing you the full blanket.

I managed to snag a quick picture today.

Yes, that's my Mum - *sigh*

Home Education

I got a call yesterday; Alex was being suspended from school for fighting.

Apparently some kid called Alex a vampire due to the way he dresses and looks - Alex is 6ft, long dark hair, skinny, wears gothic clothes and a long black leather coat.

When I asked what would happen to the kid, I was told he would get a 'telling off' but that if Alex was going to dress 'wildly different' then he would have to put up with the comments. I stated that Alex wears school uniform like everyone else and is usually looking a lot neater than most of the other lads. The teacher also stated that Alex being "freakishly tall" didn't help!

I informed the teacher that they should be encouraging diversity not singling out those who are different. He then went off on this spiel about how they'd have to monitor everything that anyone says and that if Alex couldn't handle comments; he needed to grow a thicker skin.

I then said the school was two faced; it sends home any child who goes to school with 'unnatural' coloured hair and yet their are two teachers (that I am aware of) who have dyed their hair an 'unnatural' colour. I believe the deputy head mistress has purple in her hair...

While I understand and agree that Alex needs to be punished for physically attacking this lad, I don't understand why he's getting away with calling Alex a name (which he admitted to) but apparently that's ok!

Alex eventually turned up home after a couple of hours and seemed approachable (I've learned that you have to wait a while before you can get any sense out of him) so I enquired about his whereabouts for the previous few hours.

He said he'd been waiting for the school to return his St Christopher necklace.

It turns out he asked his PE teacher to keep it for safety during a PE lesson before half term. He forgot to get it back off her and has asked her for it several times since, everytime she has told him she’s “rather busy at the moment.”

They (the PE dept) have admitted they don’t know where it is. The head of the dept had been e-mailed.

I went absolutely bananas. The St Christopher was left to him by my dad who died on my birthday two and a half years ago, he gave it to the teacher to keep it safe

I phoned the school and was put through to the Headmaster's PA who immediately went to the PE dept to find out what was going on. Then I get a call from some pillock who knew absolutely nothing about it, informed me that Alex had been rude today and that he’d only been down twice for it - um, no, he’s asked for it every time he’s seen that teacher. Pillock says ‘well it was before half term’. I says ‘I don’t care if it was before Christmas!’

Then I asked why he was phoning me instead of Miss PA woman, or even the PE teacher in question. Turns out Pillock isn’t even the head of the department and is just sticking his nose in and Miss PE teacher had, conveniently, gone home. I said I would be at the school at 8am tomorrow morning. He said ‘You have to call and make an appointment like everyone else.’

I said ‘I am, see you tomorrow morning at 8am. Good day to you.’ and hung up. Then I called Reception and told them the same thing.

Miss PA then calls me back, unaware Pillock had called me, she’d been waiting for him to call her but Reception had contacted her after I had called them.

I apologised for being rude to Reception (but not Pillock) she said that going down before Reception was even open is pointless and it would be manic in the morning anyway. She is going to call me before 9am and if she doesn’t I am welcome to go down there all guns blazing. I said I definitely would and that I would take it further if it doesn’t turn up - Alex has already accused this PE teacher of theft so I’m sure they understand what I mean!

She was true to her word, she called me at 8.45am this morning - turns out the Head of the PE dept (the one who was e-mailed) had it all along. It was placed in an envelope and left at the Reception desk for me to collect.

Alex bought up the subject of home tutoring again yesterday - it is something we have thought about on occasion and after his first exclusion from the school (he verbally assaulted a girl, she physically attacked him along with about ten of her friends and he got excluded for 3 days because she's just had a baby!); I said that if there was anymore trouble, I would seriously consider pulling him from the school!

Well, after the teacher called me about the fight this week, he spouted off all the "We'll have to see about getting him some support in school" which is exactly what I requested when Alex started at that school. I had that head-meet-brickwall feeling.

Alex has decided he positively hates it there, he's had enough of the teachers and students and the way the school operates.

So, when I went in this morning to collect his St Christopher, I also left a letter for the headteacher asking for Alex to be removed from the register as he would now be home educated!

I must admit to being terrified about my decision. Alex and I are very close, we can have a right laugh, but I don't know the first thing about home education. I don't know what I should be teaching him and how I go about it. There are loads of websites out there, but they seem to contradict each other in some ways. I suppose it's easier as he's got all the basics down, I just need to find stuff to keep him occupied for the next couple of years!

What they teach 14 year old boys at school

My son came home with this piece of paper today - I thought I'd share it with you.

50 ways to show someone you love them other than having sex.

1. Give them your last Rolo.
2. Say "I love you"
3. Tickle them
4. Pick them a flower
5. Send them a romantic txt
6. Flirt
7. Kiss when people aren't looking
8. Name a star after them
9. Take them to places that mean a lot to them
10. Watch a romantic video together
11. Be with them when they are upset
12. Take them to the place where you first met
13. Organise an 'I love you' message out the back of a plane
14. Help them with their problems
15. Go for a romantic walk on the beach
16. Give them loving cuddles - even in the street
17. Make sure they are safe
18. Write them a poem using their name as a subject
19. Make them a walkway to a dinner table using roses and candles
20. Buy them a piece of the moon
21. Compliment them and make them feel special
22. Go paddling on a summer's day together
23. Leave romantic notes on their pillow
24. Cuddle each other and fall asleep in front of a fire
25. Hold their hand
26. Write their name in the sand
27. Run them a bath
28. Learn to say 'I love you' in 10 different languages
29. Make a CD of their favourite songs
30. Write their name with a sparkler
31. Throw them a surprise party
32. Phone them every day
33. Listen to love songs together
34. Do something fun and have a laugh together
35. Support and offer them advice
36. Share strawberries dipped in chocolate
37. Share secrets
38. Decorate their room/house in all their favourite things
39. Take them on surprise trips
40. Hold them and let them know you care
41. Send them flowers at college/work
42. Cook them their favourite meal
43. Be open and honest
44. Make something for them
45. Take an interest in something personal to them
46. Listen to their problems
47. Be a shoulder to cry on
48. Be willing to compromise

Yes, I know that's only 48, but on the piece of paper he had; they'd missed out the number 16 and had written 'Cuddle each other and fall asleep in front of a fire' twice.

This was given to a 14 year old boy!

Erm.....yeah

Fluffosity

Ladies & Gents....well those of you that keep coming back anyway LOL.

Fluffosity opened today.

I spent a happy afternoon playing wih oh-so-soft BFL, splashing colour about all over the kichen and I ended up with:

I'm really pleased with the four that I did and I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot more tomorrow. I must order some more colours too as I've only got red, blue and yellow!

Within half an hour of the shop going live, my friend Claire e-mailed me to ask if I'd spin the green one up for her as (due to medical reasons) she doesn't spin. Unfortunately, Debs then went and bought it out from under her!

I'm so excited to open my shop and have interest immediately!

I love a good dessert!

On Monday evenings a group of us meet at various different places to sit and chat and craft and chat about crafting.

Monday this week I met up with Rachel and Rah (that's the other Rachel, it's easier for you lot if I call her Rah lol) at Table Table. We all had a meal and as I was absolutely starving; I ordered the 'Ultimate Sharing Sundae!'

It was humongous!

It had fudge brownie at the base, a couple of profiteroles, chocolate fudge truffle ice cream, vanilla ice cream all topped with whipped cream, hot chocolate sauce and two flakes!

Well, I managed about two thirds of it, so I gave Rah a clean spoon!

It was delicious!

My Humbug lace weight

I thought I'd show you lots of pictures of this because I'm just so proud of it!

Please feel free to let your eyes glaze over if you've already seen these pictures plastered all over Ravelry, twitter and Facebook LOL

GoSDTC

That stands for Guild of Spinners, Dyers, Tea-drinkers & Cake-eaters!

Helen came to visit over the weekend and we had a great time!

We were so busy spinning, chatting, eating cake and drinking tea; we didn't leave the house all weekend!

Here is Helen spinning on her new wheel:

While she was here she had a play with my drun carder and is now on the lookout for her own LOL

I took the weekend to finish my humbug

and ply the two singles together.

I'm so pleased with how well this turned out! I ended up with two skeins of two ply lace weight yarn, 42WPI and a grand total of 1473.2 metres/1611.11 yards!

Hmmmmmmm what shall I do with it?

Shop will need a name!

So I've got the dye, the fibre has been ordered, I have just about everything I need.

But I don't have a business name!

I asked on the UK RAK board of Ravelry for some suggestions and so far these have been suggested:

• Puddytat’s Purls
• Purrfect Fluff?
• FluffyTatPurr?
• Purrfect Fibre?
• The Cat’s Miaow?
• I Thought I Saw Purrfect Fibre?
• Fluffosity?
• Fibrelicious?
• Puddytatpurr’s House of Fabulous Fluff?
• Puddytat’s fluff n stuff
  
• Puddytats purrfect fibre
• Puddytats creations
• Puddytats purrfect delights
• Sheep Fluff World
• Purr Your Delight
  

This list will be added to as more people suggest names to me and I plan to pick a name at some point.

Leave me a comment with your own suggestions or telling me which name you like best - please leave your comment here, not twitter or facebook; makes it easier to see who likes what!.

Don't forget to check back for updates to the list!

I must admit, I quite like Fluffosity myself but Patricia (who's suggested most of the names loves Puddytatpurr’s House of Fabulous Fluff!

So, whaddya think?

A painful few days & A New Beginning

On Thursday I came down with a migraine. It was quite a bad one and I, stupidly, ate dinner after taking a pain killer.

Dinner added nausea and a general feeling of bleurgh to the whole migraine experience.

On Friday I felt absolutely awful and I actually spent the entire day lying on the sofa under a blanket (much to the delight of Isis) snoozing. I then went to bed and slept for 8 hours that night!

I felt slightly better on Saturday and actually managed to get some knitting done - not a great deal, but a little bit.

Sunday, I woke up with a chronic pain in my shoulder. There was a central pain in my right shoulder which travelled across the top of my shoulders, down the right side of my back and down my right arm. This lasted all day and I just couldn't get comfortable!

I spent most of the day zoned out on painkillers with a hot water bottle pressed to my shoulder and slept fitfully Sunday night.

On Monday, Alex had an appointment and afterwards I took him for lunch in KFC. We have a ritual we do everytime we go; tear the end off the straw wrapping, put the straw in your mouth and blow hard so that the other end of the wrapping flies off and hits the person sitting opposite you. Of course, I completely forgot about this and jumped about a foot when this piece of plastic hit me square on the nose.

Christ that hurt!!!

But afterwards on the drive home, I had barely any pain at all!

I went off to our fibre craft meet as usual on Monday evening, but by the time that had finished I was in agony with pain all over the place!

I rested yesterday and shopped today and I'm still in agony, there's a band of pain going right across the middle of my back and I just can't get comfortable!

Naturally, I have a billion and one things to do. I want to tidy up as Helen is coming to visit this weekend. I've got cakes to bake as Jess turns 15 on Saturday and Alex 14 on Sunday.

This is even affecting my knitting as I need to keep moving, fidgeting, shifting position, refilling my hot water bottle, etc and I don't think I'm going to get my Olympic knitting finished in time :(

I can't wait until I finish this shawl as I really want to spin! I have the gorgeous Thunderstorm batts that I carded and several other glitzy batts that I've purchased recently and I want to spin now!!!

In good news; I have purchased 20 kilos of BFL, dyes in blue, yellow and red, squeezy bottles, vinegar and clingfilm! I'm all ready to get dyeing! I'm going to start looking at sites to sell through soon and I should hopefully have a full shop to open by the end of March!

Home from hospital

We were late getting there as we missed the ferry, but they were ok with that.

As soon as we got there, Matt had to go and do the exercise test - he did very well on that.

We then went back to the ward and Matt spent the afternoon having various tests: Cardiac ultrasound, ECG, x-ray, blood test and had a cannula put in.

Here's a pic of his arm with the 'magic cream' (it numbs the area) on and the cannula in.

Amazingly we rushed through everything and from about 4pm; we were sat twiddling our fingers. Thankfully, they had some reasonably decent DVDs, an X-Box, a pool table, TV's everywhere and some stuff to keep Matt occupied. I had my knitting!

He was scheduled to go to theatre second on Tuesday morning, that should've been around 10am. Unfortunately, they had an emergency case come down from Neonatal ICU so we all got bumped down a space which meant Matt didn't go down until 1pm.

The procedure itself went well, but his blood thinned quite a lot during it and refused to clot so they couldn't take the sheaths (which they run the camera wire through) out of his groin while he was still under. They gave him a clotting agent and then removed the sheaths. He said the pain was awful and he coped brilliantly!

After a Cardiac Catheter you're supposed to lie flat for an hour, bed rest for the next four hours and very gentle exercise for the next two hours.

At first the consultant said we may be able to go home that night, but due to the delay in going down to theatre and the delay in coming back from theatre, it meant that the above didn't get finished until 10.15pm and hospitals get a bit funny about discharging people at that time of night. Especially when there's a risk their artery may spring a leak on the way home!

So we stayed in another night and were discharged early this morning.

Matt just has to take things easy for the next few days, gentle exercise and to keep an eye on the wound site to make sure his artery doesn't bleed again.

The surgeon and consultant were very pleased with the results; the hole has now completely closed, the aorta itself is leaking slightly along with the regurgitation but they're in no hurry to operate to fix it and his left ventricle is slightly enlarged, but they don't know why. We go back and see the consultant in six months.

I didn't sleep well there, the bed was ok - but it was boiling in there and I feel exhausted now.

I managed to work on the shawl, but didn't get as much done as I would've liked. I'd like to work on it now, but I'm finding it really hard to keep my eyes open (and it's not even 2pm) so I think I'll have to have a nap LOL

Knitting Olympics/Ravelympics

The Winter Olympic games started on Friday 12th February.

In the knitting/crochet/spinning community; this means 12 days of frantic crafting. The idea is to challenge yourself.

During last years Ravelympics, I made Cinnamon Latte for my mum. It was my first lace project and I finished it just in time.

This time; I shall be making Mandala available here from goddessknits!

Hospital

My second son, Matt, has a heart defect.

He has a VSD (Ventrical Septal Defect - a hole in other words) and aortic regurgitation.

The VSD acted like a vacuum and sucked, the aorta valve was pulled toward it.

He had surgery 6 years ago to plug the VSD and give the aorta a 'lift'. The surgery was mostly successful, he still has a small VSD but the aorta has been overstretched (kinda like when you overstretch an elastic band) and will eventually need replacing.

Matt is going into Southampton General Hospital tomorrow for a few days. He will be hooked up to a machine and will run on a treadmill so they can view his heart under exercise. He will also be anaethetised while they put a camera down his throat and one in an artery in his groin so that they can get a good all round view of the heart.

This means that Matt will be admitted tomorrow morning and discharged on Wednesday morning.

As Southampton is so far away; I, naturally, will be going with him.

Hopefully I'll have signal on my BlackBerry, so I will try to update my blog and twitter as often as I can.

I'm hoping that I will have the opportunity to get loads done on my Ravelympics project!

Go for it!

I mentioned my blog post to Mum this morning. She asked a few questions, such as cost to get started (the most expensive things are going to be the dyes, I think), what's involved and whether I'd be able to do it physically.

Then she shrugged and said:

"Go for it!"

I can't believe it, Mum is a pessimist like me and isn't usually enthusiastic about any of my ideas, but she seems quite accepting about this!

Any help or advice, gratefully accepted ;)

Mittens for Me

I rarely make an item more than once; I tend to get bored easily.

But I loved the mittens I made for Mum so much, I decided to make myself a pair.

Recognise the yarn? Yeah, this was what I made Baroque with. I decided I didn't like Baroque once they were on the foot so I frogged them to make the mittens with.

Pattern: Ailbe
Yarn: The Yarn Yard, November Club Edition
Time: 31-01-10 - 10-02-10

A Big Decision

There are so many people who sell their fibre or handspun on Etsy, Folksy, Misi, eBay and their own blogs or websites.

So, do we need yet another seller of handpainted roving, batts, handspun yarn?

The reason I ask is because I'm seriously considering it myself.

I enjoyed making the Thunderstorm batts recently and I've had quite a few people ask if I would be willing to sell/trade them.

I think it's something I would enjoy doing and I have quite a few colour ideas, both dyeing and blending.

I don't normally edit a post once I've posted it - it bugs the hell out of me when other people do it as I read through an RSS reader LOL.

If I choose to do this, it'll mean a big change for me. I don't work due to my back problem, but this would give me a something. A goal, a purpose, something to do! I had thought before that my own business wasn't something that I would keep up with, that I'd get bored with it, or forget about it, or pissed off with it if things didn't sell.

But this will be yarny fibrey goodness - if it doesn't sell; I can always keep it LOL.

I don't think it would cost too much to get started. I could buy a few sample packs to make batts. Some undyed roving (I've found some at a good price) and some dye. To be honest, I think the dye is going to be the most expensive thing to stock up on!

So...what do you think?

Have a go

Saw this on Susan's blog and I thought 'what the hell?'

So here ya go!

You just have to have one word answers to the questions, and it’s harder than it looks, I mean, “I don’t know” is three words!

Your Cell Phone? Always

Your Hair? Morticia

Your Mother? BFF

Your Father? missed

Your Favorite Food? cheesy

Your Dream Last Night? painful

Your Favorite Drink? tea

Your Dream/Goal? peace

What Room Are You In? craftroom

Your Hobby? knitting

Your Fear? wheelchairs

Where Do You See Yourself In 6 Years? here

Where Were You Last Night? bed

Something That You Aren’t? slim

Muffins? blueberry

Wish List Item? Majacraft

Where Did You Grow Up? Germany

Last Thing You Did? spin

What Are You Wearing? clothes

Your TV? SG-1

Your Pets? Isis

Friends? some

Your Life? OK

Your Mood? annoyed

Missing Someone? sometimes

Vehicle? two

Something You Aren’t Wearing? hat

Your Favourite Store? fibre

Your Favourite Colour? purple

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? earlier

Last Time You Cried? 4am

Your Best Friend? Mel

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? B&Q

Facebook? yes

Favourite Place To Eat? home

Sometimes it pays to rant

I really don't get why I was told it would be a few more weeks for my printer to be repaired by the insurance company.

Somebody somewhere was obviously lying as I received a phone call from Staples 3 days later telling me it had been repaired and was at the shop waiting for me to collect it!

They probably stuffed a second hand part in there with a timer set to blow up the printer the day after the extended warranty runs out!

Thunderstorm

Today I decided to play with my new drumcarder.

I got all of this:

Ari sent me this along with the drumcarder and some trilobal nylon, this bag is one that Sara sells here (it's the black, white & grey pack) and carded each colour twice. When I got to the white, I threw in some of the trilobal too.

Then I set to blending using a quarter of each colour (I started with black and worked my way through the shades to the trilobal/white), until I had a layered batt.

I hummed and hawed debating whether to leave it like that, or run it through again to blend it even more.

Eventually I took the plunge. I split each layered batt into four and fed each quarter - black side facing up - into the carder once

and got these gorgeous batts!

I got four batts in total and they are lush! I'm calling them 'Thunderstorm'.

Unfortunately, this took me most of the day, my back hurts, I'm absolutely shattered and I shall never moan at the price of batts ever again!

Drum Carder

I decided a few weeks ago that I had to have a drum carder. You know, to make pretty batts like these!

So I asked about on Ravelry and Ari told me she had one in excellent condition that I could have, I sent her some dosh and she's sent me this!

She also sent me some of this to play with!

I got gifted some sparkly from someone else too so I can make shiny batts!

I will never buy HP again!

Beware, mega rant ahead!

I have had numerous Hewlett Packard printer - usually superduper-do-everything-for-you-except-make-a-cuppa ones!

The first one I had needed to go in for repairs when the shuttle holding the ink cartridges broke during the first cartridge change. The second one didn't print properly and was a complete piece of rubbish. Then I bought another one.

Well, this one ran out of black ink at the beginning of December. I got new cartridges and replaced them. Went through all the realignment processes and received an error message that the heads could not align.

I checked the help (HA!) section on the HP site and followed all the instructions.

Nothing doing!

So I took it back to Staples. I walked in and Mark (the salesman) took one look at me and said "Not again!"

He spent half an hour fiddling with it and eventually phoned to book it in.

I knew it would take a while as it was booked in on the 16th December. Two weeks before Christmas; I knew it was going to be hectic.

Then of course there was the 'Big Freeze' and the whole country ground to a halt.

I received a call from the insurance company in January apologising profoundly for the delay. I understood that due to the snow, not much was happening. They said they would call me back in 10 working days.

I received another call a couple of weeks later telling me that they had to send away for parts from 'abroad' as they couldn't get the part here and that they wouldn't be received until February 5th! I grumbled a bit, but - ya know - not much I could do.

I've just received another call. It's going to be a few more weeks!

I have just flipped down the phone at the poor CSR. This is totally unacceptable tha an item that cost me that much money breaks in the first year and is extremely difficult to repair!

They haven't offered me a printer to use in the interim!

I will never buy a HP product again. They're completely crap, don't last and just aren't worth the money!

twitKAL

A couple of weeks ago; Spazzy came up with the idea that we should have another twitter KAL.

We all voted on a list of patterns, Traveling Woman won and we cast on on Wednesday.

I finished today.

It's ok, but it's very small. It's less than a metre deep which makes it more of a scarf than a shawl - but I'm sure it'll get plenty of use.

Pattern: Traveling Woman
Source: Feministy
Yarn: The Knitting Goddess Sock Yarn in A Fine Goddess
Time: 27-01-10 - 30-01-10

Hanging Around

The problem with spinning is that you need somewhere to hang your newly spun yarn once you've spun it and washed it to set the twist.

Give it a good soak then roll it in a towel and walk on it to get any excess water out. Thwack it against something too if that's what you like to do.

Then you need somewhere to hang it.

I was in Hurst's the other day. Hurst's is one of those shops that sells kitchen stuff and hardware. All the fancy bone china mugs are at the front of the shop, then you go into the section where all the breadmakers, coffee makers and mixers are, then into the section where they sell everything you could possibly need in your kitchen and out the back is where you'll find screws, drills, door handles and other ironmongery type stuff).

I found big hooks! They're actually used to hanging saucepans from one of those overhead pan rack things.

Well I bought a pack and I've hung them from the rings around my curtain pole - which also happens to be directly above a radiator and in front of a window. So in the winter, the heat from the radiator will dry it and in the summer the sun will!

Snuggly Isis

A week ago, I decided to give Isis a haircut, her hair was getting out of control and she was obviously uncomfortable. Normally I take her to the groomers, but the last time I did; the groomer plucked her ears and was just generally unpleasant. So I thought I'd have a go at doing it myself.

I don't think I did too bad, it's a bit rough - but I think it just adds to the general scruffy puppy look!

Unfortunately, since then, she's really been feeling the cold!

I found this fab pattern through Ravelry and thought I'd make one for her.

I normally loathe clothes on dogs, I don't see the point. Dogs aren't supposed to wear dresses, but this falls under the same category as her raincoat - so it's ok!

Pattern: Ribbed Sweater Vest
Yarn: Sirdar Bigga
Source: Mia and Maddie Designs
Time: 2 hours

Worsted Weight - that's DK to those of us this side of the pond!

Apparently, one of the hardest things to do is spin a heavier yarn once you've figured out how to spin laceweight!

So, naturally, I had to try. Especially as I really don't want to knit Sleeves In Your Pi in a laceweight yarn when the pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn at 10WPI.

I pulled out 200g of turquoise merino that I bought at fibrefest and went for it.

I ended up with 232.75 yards of 9WPI yarn!

So now I have to call in my extremely dubious math and work out how much I need for the shawl which takes upto 2200 yards.

I'm going to need 2200g.......right?

Aestlight

Jen bought me the pattern for Aestlight as a belated birthday gift.

I was very excited to get this as it's a pattern I've been coveting for a while. It's a surprisingly fast knit and only took me a few days (interspersed with spinning)

Here it is on the blocking mat

Isn't it just gorgeous? I shall definitely make more of these - so if I'm not sick of them by Christmas; you may just get one in your stocking!

Pattern: Aestlight
Source: The Shetland Trader
Yarn: The Knitting Goddess 4 Ply Sock Yarn in Goddess Violet
Time: 17-01-10 - 21-01-10

The weather

As I told you on 6th January; we have had snow.

Lots of snow!

In the end, the entire British Isles looked like this:

The majority of the snow has now melted...unfortunately!

Life today!

Mittens for Mum

Mum has had a real problem with cold hands this year, so I thought I'd make her some mittens. She chose Ailbe from Knitty.com and some yarn I had from The Yarn Yard November club and I set to work.

These babies grew really quickly! Unfortunately, I didn't finish them in time for use during the snow, but it's still chilly enough that Mum might get some use out of them this winter!

Pattern: Ailbe
Source: Knitty.com
Yarn: The Yarn Yard, November Club Edition
Time: 4-01-10 - 16-01-10

Damn Socks

I started these socks at the beginning of November. I did the smallest size because that was the number of stitches I normally cast on.

However, I didn't take into account how much twisted rib and cables tighten the fabric!

So, I frogged it and cast on the medium size. I could get them on...just. But then I couldn't get them back over the heel and I had to frog them from around my ankle!

Finally I cast on the largest size and tried them on regularly.

I eventually finished today!