All Fingers and Thumbs

This has not been a good week. Still ill. Tomorrow I'm off on a work trip for a week and let's just say the timing could be better. Like you all want for your blogs I want this to be a smiley, happy place but some days those smiles are harder than others. One thing that never fails to help are your comments. Thank you all so much for your lovely compliments on my last two FOs; you virtual friends are coming to mean the world to me and I love to show you what I've done and then I'm always so delighted at the many ways you find to say lovely things about simple little projects. Big smiles for you all :o) So the Hederas are getting towards the toe of the second sock, nearly there and looking pretty. I'll not take them away with me as there isn't enough knitting left in them to earn them a space in my overcrowded case. They can await my return in a hopefully better state than I leave them. I've got the Velvet Plum Jitterbug yarn packed to take for the trip and t...

There is just nothing to beat a finished object; never mind the thousands of stitches that I have put towards Arisaig's arm this weekend, two much more simple FOs give me a much greater sense of achievement. Pattern: Fulled Lopi Tote from Hello Yarn Yarn: SWTC Karaoke - 1 ball of Wild Cherry; 1/2 ball of Mermaid Mix Needles: 4x 4mm Metal DPNs Started: 4 August 2007 Finished: 26 August 2007 Modifications: Swapped Karaoke for Lopi but kept the number of stitches cast on the same, this made for a narrower bag so I made it shorter than the pattern called for to keep it in proportion. New Skills: Three needle bind off (who knew that would be so easy, the name sounds so complicated!) Fulling Notes: The fulling/felting was a struggle. I have to say the pattern was great and I like the FO a lot but it was harder work with the Karaoke than I thought it would be. To brand this yarn specifically as ideal for felting suggests that the merest swish through the washing machine will do the job. ...

I had a clear plan to knit the Snicket Socks as soon as my Hedera's are finished and now that Ravelry came along and put a spanner in the works. A spanner in the shape of a beautiful sock pattern called Esther's Socks that I haven't seen before. This pattern comes from a German Yahoo group that I persuaded my German speaking friend to sign up to and get the pattern for me - it is in English so she doesn't have to translate as well :o) She says that the group looks great, they send new patterns every two months and have a good archive. If I didn't spend all my time knitting I'd take a German class. The yarn I will use is the Colinette Velvet Plum, that much at least I am sure of. I love both patterns but I just can't decide which one to do first. So I thought I'd try a blog poll and let anyone who wants to vote decide for me :o) All being well the poll should appear at the end of this post, please vote and when I get the Hederas finished I shall go wit...

Feeling a bit under the weather this week and it's reflected in the knitting - a couple of plain blanket squares for Flo's project (see natty button to the right) have been just the right level. Having finished them up last night I moved on to swatching . I'm trying to match some of the stash up to the Norah Gaughan projects my fingers are itching for. I am now a little more conscious of how much yarn I have amassed as I'm listing it all out in Ravelry ! No obvious pairings seem to jump out though. My best hope was some of the Rowan Plaid I have for the Frost Jacket but it is too chunky to get anything like the right gauge: I'm wondering about a slightly shorter version of Flicca for the Plaid instead. My number one pattern from Knitting Nature is the Snapping Turtle skirt: There is no potential sub in my stash for Berroco Suede and it is mighty expensive to get it shipped from the US so that one is definitely on hold. My favourite cardigan is the Ramshorn Jack...

You are my sunshine Ravelry :o) Invite arrived yesterday, phew for the wet weekend making plenty of time to play. I love Ravelry, it is as brilliant as everyone says - I'm Thumbelina if anyone I haven't already found and pestered to be my chum would like to be friends with the new girl on the edge of the playground :o) I had a moment choosing my username where I nearly ended up with the initials from my blog name in front of my name..... yep I'm glad I didn't submit AFATSarah!! Playing with the yarn, taking photos etc has absorbed most of the weekend and been so much fun - who wouldn't be happy when their sock yarn stash looks like this: I have managed the odd moment of sociability; sharing the last of the plum plague, sorry harvest of bountiful proportions, with my friends in the form of a highly recommended Nigella Winter(or just feels like it) Plum Cake: However I think that Ravelry has probably tipped me over the edge into true yarnsanityI woke at 6.30am think...

For anyone who hasn't read about Florence Knitingale's latest project and has some time to knit a square you may like to read this .

I don't know, you give your one true beloved a pair of hand knit socks you slaved over for hours and after a mere 36 shots in two locations he's had enough of modelling them. Pattern:Twin Rib Socks from SKS Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Colortweed 80% wool, 20% polyamide , used maybe 90g of the ball to fit a UK 11 foot Needles: 2.5mm Bamboo DPNs Started: 8 June 2007 Finished: 10 August 2007 Notes: These poor socks got overtaken by the course socks so have lingered on the needles far longer than need be. This was an easy pattern from SKS which the boyf chose but I found it was wasted in this striped yarn so I did the instep (it never seems right to me that this is the tops of the feet - the instep to me is the arch of your foot, that had me baffled me the first time I read a sock pattern!) in plain 3x3 rib which would have been a better choice all over. The socks fit the BFG well and he is pleased with them. I really liked this yarn to knit with, it is very springy and s...

My weekend at home was a lovely relaxing time, just look at this perfect retreat. This is part of the glorious garden that my Mum has created. While she put in some work in the vegetable patch I stuck to fibre work. I finished up the man socks (photos to follow when the recipient does some modelling) and cast on my Mum's summer socks in the Lana Grossa cotton blend. My Mum raves about how lovely her Chain Rib birthday socks are so I wanted to get straight on with another pair for her. I wanted a nice open pattern for lighter weight socks and I wanted something relatively simple for my first go at lacy socks. I was inspired to go for Hedera after I saw Janey's lovely pair . The socks are growing fast, like weeds you could say, if you were feeling a bit tired and unable to resist a dreadful pun :o) When I wasn't actually knitting this weekend I was reading about it, though not on blogs for once as my parents internet connection is too slow for me to bear. I found a great s...

Sunlight bathes the top of our house of a fine summer's evening with a glorious, golden glow. As the evening wears on it gradually seeps away leaving a mellow warmth behind. It's particularly precious this summer when the sunny days have been scarce. It feels as if the same golden glow emanates from me when I think of the day I have planned for tomorrow: over three hours on the train to knit and my Mum and Dad at the station at the other end to pick me up. Bliss.

The Mr's family came over yesterday for the afternoon and evening. We made the most of the sun and hung out in the garden doing some crafting. Mother and son make a great rugmaking team. I worked on the tote and a few Innocent smoothie hats . A great use of a sunny afternoon.

Ah such wise advice in the comments to my last post, thank you all for the chuckles, the empathy and the sensible suggestions. Of course I am a stubborn mule (not persistent or devoted Webbo, just stubborn to the point of stupidity) so I didn't bin or donate the monster, nope I reworked it by chopping it up and sewing two lengths together and gave it to my friend . I can't believe I did it but in the interests of a full record of my knitting adventures I have to own up to the fact that I gave my poor friend the Stashbustrophe. She actually seemed to like it (she does wear slightly odd things sometimes so there is a possibility that she wasn't just being polite, alright she was just being polite but she did it well!). I know gifting it makes me a bad person, look at me wearing it - I HATE IT - but I just couldn't face not salvaging something, had nothing else to give and she does value hand made gifts above everything else so.... yep, I know, I must learn to know when t...

Or should that be was I thinking? Sometimes these days I like to nudge myself up a class in the world of knitting, not so much a beginner beginner, I'd maybe see myself as an advanced beginner, I can knit, purl, increase, decrease, goodness I've even knit socks. However it would seem that I am unable to recognise when I am knitting the biggest catastrophe of a project EVER. Actually it may not be the biggest catastrophe but it sure is the longest. There was thought behind this - I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse? I wasn't hypnotised and made to knit this, my cats weren't held ransom to make me knit every one of the 500 odd cast on stitches over and over again. I chose to knit it, I watched it grow, I am responsible for this monster. Just call me Frankenstein. The original concept was good, I stand by that. The pattern is Stashbuster Serape (Simply Knitting Issue 24), I was drawn to the idea of using up some of my slightly dodgy early days purchases...