Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace

I took a few days off work this week so that I can recharge my batteries and also attend the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace today (Friday).  It actually opened yesterday but knew it would be very busy and so Frank purchased tickets about 4 weeks ago, for today.  We thought it would be a bit quieter there but oh my goodness, it was busy.

The Journey

We did not leave home till about 9.30am and got the Hammersmith & City Line from Barking Train Station to Moorgate Station.  We then had to walk down a lot of stairs, including some old spiral stairs to another platform to get to the Great Northern Line and I was expecting it to be packed with knitters and sewers but it was empty but for just a hand full of people.  It took us to Alexandra Palace Station and Frank said there was a free shuttle bus to take you to the Palace but we decided to walk because it had stopped raining.  Walking up that hill certainly gives your lungs a good workout and the views were fantastic.  You could see for miles and unfortunately, I did try to take a little video but it was so windy it was not very good quality.  Once up the hill we then had to walk all the way round to the front of the building (it is a massive venue) and eventually found the entrance.

There was a brief bag check at the entrance and you then walk into a big foyer where there is a lot going on.  Coffee and snack bars, a stall selling brochures, t-shirts and bags and lots of students and groups of people that were meeting up.  There were 2 entrance's, a VIP entrance and a Main Entrance so we went through the Main Entrance which took you into a long hall that had what I can only describe as Teepee's, there was about 6 of them and each one was of a different colour and consisted of knitted blocks of all different sizes.  They were gorgeous and here is a photo of one of them.

The base of the Teepee is an inflatable and the knitted blocks are stretched across the top of it. It is so tactile and there were so many different shades over each one.

Inside the Palace

I would have loved to take lots of photo's but it was so crowded and quite overwhelming at times.  We got there about 10:45 and walked up and down the aisles and there was a lot of sewing companies and not as many knitting companies.  I saw Black Sheep Wool, they had a stand and there was a big stand with Rowan.  There was also Stylecraft which had a lovely selection of yarns in packs right in the middle of their stand and they were reasonably priced around £20.  

We saw the stand of the latest crochet blanket designs with Stylecraft and a knitted blanket caught my eye in the Bellissimo range.  It was a whole blanket kit for £45 which we thought was really good value, I got 2 free pattern books, a bag, 6 progress keepers, keyring as well as the actual pattern the yarn is for.  Frank bought it for me, he's so good to me.

Here is a photo of my purchases at the show..

 I purchased one of their T-shirts, I bought West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas yarn (one pair for Frank and one pair for me).

I also got a pair of 2.25 fixed circle needles for socks.

Can you see my new hobby that will start to transpire soon.

Romney Marsh Wool's had a stand and they had a Drop Spindle Kit with 250g of their fleece, a spindle and a technique leaflet for £20. That is good value.

I cannot wait to start spinning!


We had some lunch and then decided to go back into the main hall but it was getting so busy and so hot in there, we decided to leave.  It was about 1:15pm and were glad to get outside in the fresh air.

We decided to get the free shuttle bus back and then was home at about 2pm.  

Back to normal now, I can only image that tomorrow at the show is going to be even more busy.  I love craft shows but I just cannot stand lots of crowds and there were times when you could not stand and look properly which can be quite frustrating.  Plus it was so hot in there, it was getting quite unbearable.

Next is my finished object and they are my own design that felt like they took ages to do.  The first sock took about 5 evenings to knit because of designing it as I was knitting but then the second sock whipped up in about 3 evenings.  The recipient was very pleased with them.

It is now 7.30pm and am ready to do a bit of knitting and then an early night.  I have my Grand children tomorrow and overnight so I will be quite busy the weekend.  I will leave you with a photo of my gorgeous cat Tipsy who is 23 years old.

Don't be fooled by that cute face!

Early night with my knitting

I am in need of an early night and to rest my legs from arthritic pain.  So it is 6.30pm, I'm in bed and about to catch up with my vlogs on YouTube.

I finished my sock order and now making Frank a pair. 

It is very important to have a duvet evening and will be a regular weekly event.

Night night

Shawl & Socks

I do wonder where on earth the day goes which to me, seems to be very quick and before you know it the Autumn weather is here.  It is getting dark now about 18:45 and the sunrise is around 06:50 plus it is rather chilly in the morning and evening.

I have been showing off my completed projects to my colleagues at work and recently had an order for 2 pairs of socks.  Elisabeth's son and daughter in law are going to New Zealand in November and she said she would like to gift them a pair of hand knit socks to take with them so I said I would make 2 pairs.

 This first pair is a size UK 8-9 and they are knitted using Novita Venla which is a 75% wool and 25% nylon mix.  It is machine washable and the colour is called Harmaa (No.499).  

I would describe it as a stone grey and I have knitted it as a plain sock which is what Elisabeth wanted for her son.  

The yarn is 100g ball with 420 meters so I have quite a bit left over still.  

The 2nd pair that I am knitting are going to be in a gorgeous lilac colour and I am having a go at designing again so I cannot show them on here yet.  

I have knitted one sock and started the other one yesterday morning.

I seem to have a lot of design ideas going on in my head at the moment and I am so anxious to get them all knitted but it is just impossible.  

Today (Saturday) I decided to get up and get on with doing all of my chores i.e. hoovering, dusting, cleaning the bathroom, ironing, sorting out the freezer and cleaning the cooker.  Well, it is now 1pm and that is all done and am quite pleased with myself.  

After all of that my next plan is to write this blogpost and then watch some podcasts and do some more knitting.  

My next project that I have finished is a shawl that I have knitted before but using a different yarn.  

This shawl is a pattern called LaLa's Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman.  She is one of the Knit Girllls on Youtube.com.

It is a free pattern on Ravelry and the yarn that I used was Sweet Georgia Yarns 'Party of Five' Tough Love Sock Mini Skeins.

The colour way is called Hanami and I just kept on with the pattern until I used up the mini skeins which weight 30g each.  

This yarn was £35 to buy and it was a gift from my partner a couple of years ago and so I wanted to make sure I made something that I would wear.  It is very soft and a joy to knit with but be warned....the darker colour runs when you wash it.  

I let my shawl soak for about 5 minutes in hand warm water and the dark colour ran, I whipped it out of the bowl pretty quickly because I didn't want it to bleed into the other colours.  Thank god it didn't.

I do have a crochet blanket on the go which is using up scraps of sock yarn and I am crocheting a Christmas tree skirt for my grand children using a Cygnet Yarn in red which is lovely and soft.  I tend to do that in bed for a while because I cannot crochet for long periods of time due to fatigue in my hand and arm. 

Oh well, I am off now to watch Ali's from Little Drops of Wonderful Podcast.  She is doing Vlogtober which I thoroughly enjoyed last years one.  

Happy crafting and be back soon.

Getting overwhelmed a bit...

 After having a bit of a mojo loss for my crafts I have certainly got it back now.  So much so that I have marked patterns in my books and magazines of projects that I want to make.  The trouble is I have been getting myself in a bit of a state over it all because there is just not enough hours in the day and also, trying to decide whether I want to design anything or to just enjoy the craft of knitting and crochet.  I do like the process of just picking up my needles or hook and just making something without a pattern, it's a kind of free for all and if it works that's good, if it doesn't then nothing lost.

I did complete these lovely socks out of my Novita Nalle yarn that I have lots of at the moment, they were just a random pattern that I came up with and are another Christmas present completed.  I love the berry colour and the white makes it stand out even more.

I knew that the Novita yarn is a bit thicker than a 4ply yarn but it still has the same mixture of wool and nylon.  I ended up casting on 72 stitches and knitting a 2 x 2 rib using the twisted knit stitch method for the cuff.  I then just continued the 2 x 2 rib after changing colour and then when I got the heel flap, I moved half of the stitches onto one needle and then I did a slip stitch, k1 on the right side and a purl row on the return row.

I do not do a heel turn (if that's what you call it), I really don't think its necessary to do that.  I knit all of my socks like this and they fit very well.

I then picked up and knit 14 stitches either side of the heel flap and then knit 1 round.


Then I just decreased every row at the edge of either side of the heel flap till I got back to my 72 stitches.    Then just knitted the top of the foot in the rib and the underneath of the foot in stocking stitch.

After the socks were long enough for the foot, (I did them to fit a UK Size 4-5) and then changed colour again and worked decreases for the toe and then Kitchener stitched then together.

I would say I knitted a majority of this pair whilst on the bus going to and from work and then a few hours in the evening whilst watching podcasts.

This next photo had me in a bit of a dilemma the whole time I was knitting this hat.  I had the bright idea of putting 2 strands of 4ply sock yarn together and winding them up into a ball and I got quite a big ball.  I then had a go at making another one of those Mini Hat's (have a look at my project page on Ravelry for that) but then it was hurting my thumb and arms with the tension.  So I decided to have a go at knitting a hat for charity and not worry about how the colours come out because lets face it, if I was homeless GOD FORBID, then I would not worry about colours of a hat, I would just be grateful to have a warm head.  

The hat has come out a bit ODD.  It was knitted completely randomly and I was debating about breaking the mustard yarn, winding it off the big ball and then rejoining the ball when I got to the mixed colours.  However, I just thought I will carry on and see how it goes.

I love the thickness of the hat and my own little design of the crown but I am just not sure whether anyone would want it.  Plus I have enough to make another hat.

I have not sewn in the ends yet and I am going to think about it for a while.  I may decide to just unpick it and knit a scrappy blanket....oh I just don't know.



My next project that I am going to be starting straight after writing this blogpost is a Christmas Tree Skirt for my ex-daughter in law and my Grand children.  I asked her if she wanted one and she said yes but in Red so Frank bought this Cygnet Yarn in a gorgeous red colour and I have got 10 balls of 100 gs.  It works out to about 2000 grams in total and it should be about 60 inches in diameter.

I am starting this project early because crochet tends to make my right shoulder, top of my arm and my right thumb ache a lot so I can only do crochet a bit at a time.

I hopefully, will have it done by December for Emma to put under the tree.

I know my Grand kids will like it.



And finally, I have purchased a book on Amazon which has been in my mind for a few weeks.


It is not a great photo to show and I'm sorry if it is a bit blurry but I just had to take a quick photo of it.

In the beginning of the book it is a story about a various assortment of gorgeous cute bugs and about a caterpillar that bursts out into a beautiful butterfly.

After the story there are crochet patterns to make each bug and so my idea is to read the story to the Grandkids and bring out each little bug to encourage learning and to have fun.

It is such a bright colourful book, the written words of the story are only a few on each page with big bright pictures.

It is going to be a joy to make.  I have already got a lot of the Drops Saffran Cotton yarn and just need to get a couple of blues and reds and I will be ready.


It is fair to say that I have my mojo back with all of these plans and the trouble is that I get myself worked up and stressed because I just want to get on and do them and not have to go out to work or do chores etc.  It is so silly because I know for a fact that if I sit for hours and hours on end knitting or crochet, I will be in a lot of pain.

I spend most of my working 8 hours in front of a computer typing letters and by 4pm my thumb has had enough of moving over a keyboard.  So I have just got to be patient and thankful while I can still do my crafts.

It is a lovely weekend here in Dagenham, I hope to spend most of tomorrow Sunday, just pottering around.

Thanks for reading and be back soon.

Granny Smith Apples

It is Saturday, 8.30pm and I have just spent a couple of hours working on another sock design which at the moment is driving me nuts.  I love the yarn I am using, I love most of the design except one little thing, a stripe that I have included.

So what do you get when you knit stripes with different colour yarn, a 'jog' and it is driving me nuts.  Normally a 'jog' in a stripe does not bother me but when you are writing a pattern and designing, you must make sure that it is professional looking.

I did knit the first sock on double pointed needles and thought that maybe if I knit it on a circular needle, it would be easier to do.  No...stupid girl that I am!

I am up to the turning of the heel and have put it away before it ends up being an Unfinished Flying Object.

It has been a pleasant Saturday, I was up quite early and decided that I wanted to get out and do my errands early so that I can spend the rest of the day at home pottering around. I had to go to the Postal Sorting Office to collect a parcel and then I got a few bits at the Heathway shops.  I was home again by 10 am, did some chores and then started working on the sock.

The weather has been much more comfortable today, I managed to get out in the garden too and did some tidying up and dead heading of the roses.

The tv has not been on most of the afternoon and all of the evening and now I am going to do a little crochet and listen to an audio podcast.

I don't have any photos to show on this post, I would like to have shown the socks I am working on but I am not happy with them and once I am happy with them, I have to knit a second pair in a different size as part of the pattern.

Have a good Sunday and happy 1st September for tomorrow.

Solaria Blanket and Hedvig Blanket

I have been a busy bee with my crafts so I am going to show you a couple of finished projects from the last few weeks.

First of all is my completed Hedvig Blanket which was designed buy Arne & Carlos, here it is.

What do you think!

It is definitely an heirloom blanket because even though I thoroughly enjoyed making it, I was ready for it to be finished.

It is made with 100% Merino Yarn, cost £180 and took two and a half months to complete.

It easily fits onto a double bed and is super heavy.  I am not sure if that is because of the yarn!

Solaria Blanket

This is a design that is free on Ravelry.com and it is by Norah Gaughan.

It is suppose to knitted in yellow but I did not have any at the time and so I used some Jameson's Shetland Purple Heather which is aran weight and 100% wool.

The chart is so easy to follow and I absolutely loved this blanket.

The only problem I had is because of using a 6mm needle, the weight of it on the circular and the aran yarn has caused me a lot of shoulder and forearm ache so to be honest, I could not wait to finish it.    

I did wash it in the machine and it has felted slightly but that has not done any harm to the pattern.  However, the yarn has become more itchy and I can't bear to touch it.

So the 9 balls that I have left are going in my de-stash on Ravelry.com.

Finally, my next projects are going to be a crochet sock yarn blanket which will be a mindless project for the evenings.  I shall show a photo of that a bit later.

Also, I am going to start some socks and possibly some hats.  Not sure yet!  I would like to knit a couple of garments for my Grandchildren for the autumn.

It is a Bank Holiday here in the UK so that means no work day for me.  It is also 32 degrees outside and unbearable.  So it is a day indoors for me.

Depression and Crafts

I have avoided many times when writing my blogposts about real life and how depression effects my day to day activities.  I have often thought about consistency in my life that has never really changed and since the age of 10 I would say it is 'crafting'.  As a child I was taught to crochet and you know what kids are like, it gets put down for a few years and then you pick it up again.  I can't quite remember when I did pick it back up.

My Mum died when I was 7 leaving my Dad to bring up 9 kids, the youngest being 2 and the eldest being 18 and all of a sudden our world was turned upside down.  We all got split up at the time and 3 of the youngest kids went to stay with my Aunt & Uncle in Chelmsford for 6 weeks, 3 of the kids went to my Aunt & Uncle's in Peterborough and then the eldest kids stayed home to help Dad with the funeral.  I will never forget going back to my primary school and standing in the big porch that we stood in when it was raining at playtime and a friend Carol said "where have you been" and I just said "My Mum died and we went away for a while".  It's strange how little things like that you can remember.

We did not have much growing up, new clothes and shoes were never an option and it was always hand me down's from neighbours or from jumble sales.  The house was not clean and I often cringe about that and as we all got older, the house got worse.  Dad ruled with a hard hand at times and let's just say he was not a nice man to me and my sister.  As far as he was concerned we got fed and that was about it and if it wasn't for my Aunt & Uncle in Chelmsford we would not have had Christmas presents.

The neighbours were great back then and we were often given bits and pieces and one neighbour in particular who Dad referred to as a Gypsy lady would visit now and then with a big black bin bag and  it would have second hand clothes and shoes.  One particular day we were given a load of paper and it was yellow but of course, I wanted white paper to draw on so Dad would tape the paper to the sunniest window and it would bleach white.  Wow!  So I use to spend hours upon hours in my bedroom drawing.  That is where my creative side started kicking in again.  I could copy a picture from a comic but not freehand drawer from my mind.

As time went I started crocheting again and knitting, I think it was my Aunt in Chelmsford that taught me to knit but I can't quite remember.  When I got my first wages after leaving school I bought a load of acrylic yarn and wanted to make my eldest brother Alex a jumper and of course, I loved every minute of knitting it and when I gave it to him the bloody thing wouldn't go over his head.  I was so disappointed and did cry but he took it home and did not see it again until many years later when his wife showed me their new home and in the wardrobe was Alex's jumper.  He had kept it but never wore it.

As I got older and started my career I then got married and had 2 boys and in that time my depression seemed to hit quite bad.  My anxieties got worse as the kids reached milestones of schooling and my husband was in and out of so many jobs that every day was becoming a struggle.  To this day I do not know how I got through those years.  My husband back then was a heavy drinker and smoker and he had got a job in a store called Rumbelow's which use to sell fridges, freezers etc and he brought home a cross stitch kit to cheer me up.  So that was when I got addicted to that and the little bit of yarn I had got put away in a drawer.  Then a few years down the line I started patchwork and quilting and would go around the charity shops and look for bits of fabric in the cheap basket or I would cut up old clothes.

In 2010 something happened and I decided enough was enough, I had been working up to 7 days a week trying to get by and my husband was getting worse with his drinking. I got divorced after being with him since 1986.  My youngest son was going down the wrong patch and I was not coping with him and getting no support from my ex and I just sunk, sunk into a robot kind of figure.  While I was at work I tried to be chirpy and jolly and by the time I got home in the evening I would sink and cry and run out of steam.

The one thing that I only ever did to keep my mind normal as possible was to do my crafts, I would work on projects like blankets just so it was a long term project and it would focus my mind.  I would start little projects that I could take to work with me and do in my lunch break just so I could try to relax.  It is like weaving the yarn into your worries and anxieties and hopefully, getting it out of the head and into something that is beautiful and creative.

Even now today I have woke up wanting to go to work but I just could not bear stepping out the front door.  I get terrible palpitations, hot and sweaty, shaky and light headed and just cannot face the world outside which is why I am writing this.  I thought it might make me feel a bit better.  I am taking medication for my depression and over the past 6 months I have weaned myself to a lower dose but sitting here today, thinking about consistency in my life and what helps is my crafting.

Every day I craft, if I could spend my whole day at home I would.

One stop shop at John Lewis Store, Oxford Street

Another week has flown by and the local schools will be finishing for their summer break.  We live on the route of many school kids attending both Infant, Junior and Senior schools and so there is a lot of traffic as well as the teenagers walking past.  So by the end of the week, 19th July, the road will have much less traffic and the buses will be a lot quieter too.

At Christmas 2018 I got a great gift from Frank and I think I posted about it but I shall repeat myself a little, he got me this book and the yarn to make the socks on the front cover.

Frank said the lady in the store went through the yarn needed and purchased them.

I decided the other day to start knitting them and it is an absolute joy however, one of the colours was incorrect and that was the reason for going back to John Lewis Store, Oxford Street today.

I was so eager to start the Fir Tree section and when I realised that the colour was wrong, I could have said a few chosen words but was a good girl and didn't.

Frank went to the Stratford John Lewis store but they did not have it and that was the reason we went to Oxford Street today.

I am going to sound like a right bore now!  I really hate crowds of people, I would have much rather purchased them on-line but because we took the Grandchildren back to their Mum yesterday, we went to London.

Frank loves it, he thinks nothing of getting on a train or bus and seeing where it takes him whereas me, I like to go get what I want and then come home.

Anyway, we got the green fir colour that I needed and also got an extra ball of white for the socks because I don't think the one ball that I had was going to be enough.  They had the samples on display in John Lewis and they are so gorgeous, I cannot wait to do some more.

You can see the purchases we made in the photo above and it is a gorgeous green colour.  In case you're wondering what the name of the pattern is called, it is Cabin in the Woods.  The pattern book has got such a lot of lovely sock patterns and I know I will be doing at least 3 of them.

We also got a set of Knit Pro Symphony's double pointed needles which start from a size 2 mm.  We had a look at the Prym DPN's too that Arne & Carlos said that they use but oh boy, they are £10 for one set.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to challenge myself with my knitting and doing colour work is a challenge.  I was put off a bit when I knit the Latvian Mitts because there were 3-4 colours per row which I got rather frustrated with.  Also, when you watch a lot of youtube podcasts and the techniques that others use when they do colour work it can get a bit overwhelming so when I started these socks, I thought I would just do them the way that is comfortable for me.  So because it is only 2 colours at a time I am not going to knit with a colour in each hand, I am just going to do it my way.

As I knit I drop the colour, grab the other colour and then keep doing that.  I also keep the balls of yarn on my lap and pulled from the centre so the balls don't roll around.

I do know that I have quite a few sock patterns that I want to do but also after watching a podcast on youtube called Ellinesscrafts I have felt inspired to knit a garment.  Here is the link for Lorraine's podcast.

 'https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBo4oNYesohizAOQ-VUBjw


I do hope you find the time to have a look,  I binge watched them all over a couple of weeks and she is very inspiring.  She only podcasts once a month, doesn't get into too much personal life or opinions etc and just concentrates on the knitty gritty stuff.  Lorraine has made such gorgeous summer tops and I definitely have a few on my to-do list.

WHAT'S NEXT

We had a lovely fish and chip dinner in John Lewis's so I don't have to cook a meal today and that means more knitting time.  I am going to finish this blogpost up, grab another drink and start on the next part of the Nordic Socks and then maybe, I will do a bit of ironing. 

I have Doctors in the morning and am going to request blood tests so I have to fast from tonight and boohoo, I cannot have a cuppa when I get up which is gonna be hard.  But once I've had my blood test I can come home and knit.

I have been progressing well on my Hedvig Crochet Blanket but must admit I want it finished now, it is a big project and I should have waited till nearer the winter time to do it.  Never mind, it is going to  be a great heirloom piece when it is finished.

Have a good week and hopefully, I may have a finished pair of socks to show off!

Hello July

Hello and welcome back to my blog,  I did not post last Sunday because I did not have much to show and to be honest I was quite knackered last weekend.  

I have been working on my Hedvig Crochet Throw by Arne & Carlos and have made 110 flowers and  started to crochet them together but I had to stop crocheting for a few days because it was causing me pain in the base of my thumb.  I was still knitting and that does not seem to effect my hands like crocheting does.  

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Frank bought some Debbie Bless Rialto Luxury Sock Yarn which was on sale and he gave them to me and asked if I could knit him a pair of socks out of the green so of course, I obliged.

The photo below was taken last night (Saturday) in our garden around 7pm because it had been such a lovely warm day and I wanted to enjoy using our new little Bistro Table that we bought from Wilkinsons.  

I spent most of yesterday evening right up to nearly 11 pm watching a podcast called Ciasbod whilst knitting on the 2nd sock.  I started it that morning for something to knit on whilst I was at my hairdressers and then after the days chores, I sat in the garden till about 8 pm and then came inside.  

It is such a lovely colour green, blue, beige, yellow and there is some black in there too, Frank loves them and I intend to knit another pair.

My Gypsophelia Socks have sold 2 patterns and I was so chuffed that someone was interested in them.  I am yet to wear them at the moment because it has been so warm here but no doubt, the weather will change.  It has today actually, it started raining last night as I went to bed and it continued right through till the morning, it wasn't heavy rain but enough to water the garden.

BOOKS

Frank was at work the other day (he is a Gardener in Islington) and a lady who owns a rather posh house put out a load of books for people to help themselves and it just so happens that she did it as Frank and his team were driving past.  

He grabbed the above book and it is like new.  I told him who Clara Parkes was and he hinted that he liked a few patterns in the book so looks like I will be busy!

CHARITY SHOP

This photo on the left shows some stickers that I picked up at my local Charity Shop and were only 50p each.

I intend to put together a folder of all my patterns that I have designed and wanted to make the folder pretty so I thought that these would be perfect.

They had quite a few stickers in the shop but these ones really caught my eye.

THE WORKS

The Works is a shop that has opened up at The Heathway Shopping Mall not far from where I live and I just love that shop.  It sells stationary, books, notepads and a whole load of other stuff too and it is great for getting little pressies too so I have picked up a few bits for Christmas gifts./

PLANS

I have been thinking a lot lately of sorting out some yarn, matching it with patterns and putting them aside so that I have planned my next lot of knitting that I want to do.

My yarn stash is getting a bit big now and I don't like the thought of it all sitting about waiting to be made into something.  

The lady Cia on the podcast Ciasbod has created herself a Yarn Bingo Sheet and she has marked on it squares and inside each square is written the yarn and a pattern that she intends to use it for.

Then what she does is as she completes a projects she colours in the square and when she gets coloured squares in a row, she treats herself.

Doesn't that sound like a good idea plus you can control your stash.  

Please take a look at her podcast, you have a choice of watching in Swedish or English and she is so inspiring with the jumpers, hats and mitts that she makes. Plus she lives in a lovely old house with her two gorgeous dogs!

Oh well, I am off to start planning my folder and the rest of today's activities.

Have a good week and I will return next Sunday.

June nearly done

Well we never got any storms as of today, it has been forecast quite a few times with heavy down pours, thunder and lightening in the South East of England but where I live, only rain.

As I sit here on Sunday at 16:30 it is quite overcast after a warm day of 23 degrees and is threatening to maybe, just maybe rain or thunder a bit.  So I really need to get this post typed up and then head out with Tammie for her walk.

Considering I wake up at 6 am Monday to Friday to get up for work you would think that I would get a lay in on a Saturday morning.

Nope!  I went to bed Friday evening at 7.30pm and I woke up at 05:45 on Saturday.  I did get a fair bit done, I even went and had my hair cut for the first time in a good year or two maybe.  It feels so nice and worth £35.  I have even booked in to have my hair highlighted with foils in 2 weeks so am looking forward to that treat.

I finally published my Gypsophelia Socks on Ravelry.com, I completed it early Saturday morning while I was wide awake.  The pattern consists of knitting up 2 pairs of socks, a lace pair with about a 6 inch leg and a shorty sock pair. Two for the price of one.

They actually used only 58g of the 100g ball of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply yarn and so I cracking with a second pair but this time, shortie socks.

They obviously did not take as long to knit up because the cuff is only a few inches long but I am so pleased with how they turn out.  The colour is a lovely apple green with specks of cream and white.

Now that they are finished and the pattern is published I can get on with my Hedvig Blanket by Arne & Carlos.  I have done 60 flowers so far and I would show a photo on here but I wanted to do the Ta-Dah moment when it is completed.  So watch this space.

I better get going and walk the dog, have a good week and I will be back next Sunday.

Gypsophelia Socks

Hello and welcome back to my blog

I have finally finished my sock pattern called Gypsophelia which is named after the 

West Yorkshire Spinners Colourway that inspired me to design a pair of lace socks.

Here is a photo of them which was taken early evening.

I have the pattern nearly written up and I just want to get them test knitted.

Also I have 42 grams left of yarn left which ideally should be enough to make a pair of ankle socks.

I was going to call the socks "On the Buses" because a majority of them have been knitted on my journey to and from work plus during my half hour lunch break.  

However, I think West Yorkshire Spinners did a good job of naming this colour way.

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The next bit of crafting I have done was last weekend.

I have been enjoying a podcast on Youtube called Lan Anh Handmade which teaches you so much about how easy some jewellery is made.

The bracelet in the middle of the photo shows my first go at twisting wire around a gem.  

It looks so hard but trust me, it is not.

I then went on to make a couple of other items too and they are all now sitting in my gift box.

If you do get a chance to take a look, I don't think you would be disappointed.

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That is it for now, I have not really had a lot of time for crafting. 

My Hedvig blanket by Arne & Carlos has been going very well, I have completed 50 flowers so far.

Hope you are all well and be back soon.

Hand Painted Sock Yarn

I have had a pretty busy few weeks because of settling into my new job which is now full time but also I didn't realise how tired I was feeling at the end of a full weeks work.  I enjoy my new job but looking at a computer screen all day does make your eyes tired, your ankles swell up because of lack of movement and then coming home to keep on top of the chores does tucker me out.

I have been crafting a bit but it is mainly knitting and unfortunately, the jewellery making has been put on a back burner because I am so into my knitting and crochet at the moment.  Also not having anyone to give the jewellery away to makes it pointless in doing it at the moment.

So I have finished the Hand Painted Sock Yarn that I said about in my previous post and here is a photo.

I have had to screen shot the photo from my Ravelry projects page and it is not coming out as good as I wanted you to see.

They have knit up so lovely, the yarn is fantastically soft but also can you see the heels and toes.

It is a short row heel using the same yarn and has given a bright change to the rest of the yarn.

They have washed up nicely on a 30 degree wash in my machine, kept their shape and Frank says that they are luxury on his feet.

I think they are well worth the money plus I had around 40g left of the yarn which I am saving to do a sock yarn project later in the year.






I have now got the sock knitting bug again and thought of a simple pattern to put together which was encouraged by receiving a West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply yarn from Frank.  It is without any doubt one of the best colours I have ever been given and I immediately wanted a pair for myself but this time I wanted to design a lace pair.  The photo below does not do it any justice and I will try to get a better photo when they are finished.

It is a speckled green colour that is almost peppermint like with dashes of white and cream.

I have been knitting them on the bus of a morning going to work, in may lunch break and also coming home in the afternoon.

The funny thing is whilst knitting this pair I have an idea for another pair so it goes to show you how one idea can bring on another.

Plus the fact that my sock yarn stash is becoming a good collection and I just want to knit, knit, knit.




I have also started crocheting another blanket that was recently released by Arne & Carlos and I have been waiting for the pattern since they showed the blanket on their podcast.

Again being the spoilt girl that I am,  Frank saw the blanket too and said 'you have got to make that babe' and he immediately worked out how much yarn I needed and went on Loveknitting.com and purchased the whole lot.  It was not cheap but with a coupon it knocked £46 off the £180 that it would have cost.

So I have done 30 flowers so far and am aiming to get it done within the next month or two, so watch this space.

I am now going to go and cook the dinner before he comes home from work too and hope that you are all enjoying this warm weather.

Fringe of Muswell Hill, Project updates

So this is going to be a long one, you may need to grab a cuppa and have a little bit of quiet to read about what has been happening the past month.

First of all I have spent the past 6 weeks working 2 jobs, I handed in my notice at the Dr's Surgery and had been working my months notice and whilst doing that I started at my new job which is now full time at a hospital as an Audio Typist for the Trauma & Orthopaedics Dept.  I absolutely love this new job, it is going to take a while getting use to working full time again but it is quiet, no patient contact, just typing up letters for the consultants and maybe one day becoming a Medical Secretary.  Which is what I hope for!

Obviously this means less knitting time during the day but am still managing to do a little when I can keep my eyes open.  I do have less of a bus journey to work so by the time I get stuck into working on a sock, it is time to get off the bus.  To be honest I went off sock knitting for a while and its only been the last couple of days that I have picked up another sock to knit.

Today is Saturday 18th May 2019 and we have one weekend a month that we don't have the Grandkids just so we can get things done around the house and go places we want to go to without having to worry about getting on and off transport with buggies or changing nappies or finding a toilet.

So Frank took me to a shop called Fringe which is in Muswell Hill, London.  We got on the District Line train at Becontree Station and headed to Kings Cross St Pancraes which is about half an hours journey so of course, I got some sock knitting done.


Do you like my bright pink coat.  It was rather chilly today and was glad of wearing it, especially on the next part of the journey.

It was quite busy on the train even though this photo was taken around 9.30am.

 This is a better picture of what I am actually knitting on.  It is another sock for Frank using a Cascade Heritage Hand Painted sock yarn which is a mix of Merino and Nylon.  It is stripping up really lovely and is quite a soft squishy yarn.  I intend to make them a little longer in the leg because of his preference and I just hope I will have some left over for a scrap project.

When we got to Kings Cross we had to get to the Piccadilly Line to get to Bounds Green which even Frank has never been to before.  That part of the journey took around 15 minutes and I could not believe that was fairly busy too even at that time in the morning.

After we reached Bounds Green we then had to get a bus number 102 from opposite the Train Station to a stop that was called Roseberry Rd which was about 4 stops on the bus.  You could have walked it but we were too eager to get to our destination.

Oh my goodness it is such a quaint little shop and as you walk in I would say there is not a whole ton of yarn in there but it was so comfortable and relaxing to just browse around.  The young lady in the shop was at the back by a large table which was set up for workshops and there was a gorgeous spinning wheel in the back too and a few sewing machines.  The lady came over to say Hi and we told her we had come a long way to visit and she then carried on about her business while we browsed which was really nice to be left alone to look and to not be pushed into anything.

The main reason we went there was because we had looked for a stockist of Drops Yarn and this was about the only one that was not too far away and of course I had a little bit of my birthday money left so I treated myself to Drops Cotton for an idea to do a summer time blanket.

                                                 

The photo on the left is the Drops Safran which is a 100% cotton yarn and is going to make a lovely blanket.  The photo on the right is Drops Karisma which I have been thinking about for a while now since hearing about how nice it knits up by The Bakery Bears.  It is 100% wool and is so soft and squishy.

The photo below is a treat from Frank because he saw the colour of green mixed with yellow and cream and said he wanted a scarf in that so he bought one skein of it and it is an aran weight yarn and I will be able to get a nice short scarf for the winter that he can wear under his coat.

We are definitely going to go there again, it only took around an hour to get there and we were back home by 12.30 in time for a bit of housework and then some knitting whilst Frank went to the library.

The next time we go I will ask the lady in the shop if we can take some photos for the blog.

Now this is already getting to be a bit of a long post so I am going to show a few photos below of completed projects which are mainly some jewellery making items that I did and also my completed Full of Mini's Hat that Frank is wearing and says that it is so warm. 

I will eventually get around to making myself one but at the moment I just want to get on with other projects.  I did knit two other hats with some Drops Fabel yarn which are colour work and I will show them in another post.  Do you think he looks happy with it, he always pulls that grin.  He is such a knit worthy guy and loves the 27 pairs of socks I have made him over the past couple of years.

They are just a few random things that I wanted to have a go at making and they are not for any one in particular, I have them in a shoe box packed up as I make jewellery just in case I need a random gift for someone.

I have worn the green bracelet on the left a lot and it fits just right.

              

These little beauties are my favourite.  I made these little angel charms for key rings and the little one on the left is a progress keeper for my knitting.  I have given a couple of them away already and I think they went down well.

I am hoping that I can do a bit more jewellery making tomorrow because I do have some ideas going around in my head.





The other weekend I decided to pull out all of my hand made blankets and pile them up on a chair in my bedroom so that when you get to the top of my stairs you can see them just sitting there making the room look bright.  Here is what I did.

It doesn't look like much at first but that is not all of them.  A lot of my blankets I have given away as gifts and these are just a few that I have laying around the house.  I just love looking at them, they make me feel so comfortable and warm inside knowing that one day when I am no longer here they are going to go to my family to keep them warm and comforted.

There are 3 there that are my designs which I am proud of and on the top of the pile is actually a wall hanging that is waiting to be hung once I realise how I am going to do it.

  

This is the mitred square blanket that I knitted  a few years ago with Regia Mini yarn that Frank supplied me with. 

It is well used and I would like to knit a blanket similar so that I have 2 of them that the Grand children can enjoy.

Can you see the crochet cushion covers on the bed!

Now the last finished object that I have done was a design all of my own which was made with some 100% acrylic yarn that my son got me for Christmas and I just did not know what to make with it.


I could only think of one thing that would really work which is a lap size blanket and when my son Scott saw it he said he wanted it so I cracked on and got it done.  I will have to make another one though with a better quality yarn and write the pattern up because I have had a lot of interest in it on Ravelry.

 I wanted a square in the middle that did not twist as the blanket got bigger which is what you see on a lot of crochet granny blankets and I am very pleased with the outcome of it.

I also tried a few ways of getting the corners a different colour but ended up coming up with my own idea that I am very pleased with and is a great evening project to work on whilst catching up with the podcasts.

It is quite bright in colour as you can see but it is warm enough for a chilly evening, soft once it is washed and I think the black really makes the colours pop out.

So that is what I have been up to the past month or so and I hope that this has given you some interest as to what I have been making.


It is Sunday tomorrow and I am going to potter around doing bits and pieces around the house and hopefully enjoy a bit of sunshine.

Thanks for coming back to read and have a good week.

Photo and project updates

You will notice that the photo of me on the Header has finally become smaller after much frustration.  I posted on Ravelry to get some support about how to make my blog get more followers and hits and obviously I got a lot that day.  In fact it was 274 to be exact and it was rather good to see that.  Plus I got another follower from a lady on Ravelry.

I got one comment on Ravelry on how to make the photo smaller which actually put me in the direction of how to do it and is much appreciated. I did however get a few comments about the photo of me being rather stern looking, serious face and that I should have a photo of me smiling.  I actually think it is a good photo of me because it is hiding what you do not see, a double chin, grey hair and a gap in my teeth.  So I shall keep it there for now.

I have spent the past 4 days at home and only going out to walk the dog the past 2 days due a bug going around so I have spent a fare few hours watching podcasts, knitting, crochet and jewellery making.  Here are my latest projects.

This photo shows you what I have been up to and as you can see there are a few projects.

In the front of the photo and on the needles is a hat that my partner wants and it is called Full of Mini's Hat by Barbara Nalewko, the pattern is on Ravelry.  She has a podcast called KnittingILove and is a Polish lady living in Ireland with her husband.

I was drawn to the pattern because I wanted something that I could do that was different to other hat designs and to also use up some of my sock yarn.  It is really thick in texture, very tactile and will be very warm once finished.  I will have to block it when it is finished because it is snug on the head around the brim part and Frank said that it was ok but I think it needs a soak and perhaps next time use a slightly bigger needle for the brim.



On the top of the Hat is a crochet purse that I have had a go at making, I am in the process of making another at the moment using up some yarn that I got from Frank one year at Christmas.  I am hoping to make a few of them and have just ordered some zips and some plain fabric from my favourite on line store Woolwarehouse.co.uk.

Behind the crochet purse is a crochet bag that I did about a week ago and my intention was to have a bag in the summer to either use as a handbag or as a little shopping bag that I can use if I just need to go to the shops at the end of my road to get a few bits.  I have lined it with some fabric left over from making the pillows for my Grand children and I intend to get a couple of handles, possibly leather to attach.  I thoroughly enjoyed the lining process and the little bit of hand stitching inside and brought back memories of when I use to do patchwork and quilting.

I have ordered some Iron on Interfacing from Woolwarehouse too so that on my next bag project it gives a bit more stability of the fabric.

 I have also been looking at a few books and I do like to grab a couple of my books and leave on my coffee table to just browse over every now and then. The Knitting Masterclass and Jewellery for Dummies has been my choice for my coffee table.  They are both from my local library and what caught my interest in the Knitting Masterclass is quite a lot of detail about short row shaping and I loved the bolster cushion  pattern that is in there so I have that in my head to maybe do one day.  The other book called 400 Knitting Stitches was my treat a few weeks ago from Hobbycraft.


So as you can see I have been rather busy, I did make a bread pudding the other day and it has come out the best one so far but I cannot see it lasting for very long in this house.  Frank has taken some to work and we had a piece each last night for our tea.

I am now going to have a bit of breakfast with another cuppa and then am going to Asda to see if I can get some more photo's printed in their store and maybe have a browse around for a while. The weather forecast is not good today, in fact it is dark, gloomy and raining and is only 9am whilst I am writing this.

I will leave you with a close up of the Full of Mini's Hat and want to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to have a look at my little blog.

Bye for now xx

Ice Cream

In this post I was trying to upload a short video of an ice cream that I make at least once a week for my partner Frank.  He loves his ice cream and the price of ice cream in the shops can cost you a lot, especially the branded ones.  We refuse to buy them not only because of the cost but the actual ice cream is so hard to spoon out of the container  but also the taste is not that nice.  We tend to buy a plain Vanilla Ice Cream from our local Co-Op which is around £2.50 a tub and is yummy.

As my readers know I watch a lot of Podcasts and recently became a Patreon of the Bakery Bears Podcast which I have watched since it started about 4 years ago.  Kay and Dan film every 2 weeks and include a lot of different daily activities to which they film, ie visiting places of interest, knitting, crochet and cooking.  They also do a quiz which is lots of fun, Dan is a knitter too, they also talk about music and discuss films and much more.

Recently Kay recorded a segment called Bakery Bears Kitchen and she made Eve's pudding and Ice-Cream.  The pudding looks so yummy but in my house of 2 adults it would end up being me eating most of it and I do not have much will power at the moment so I decided to have a go at making the Ice-Cream that Kay showed you.   It is quite delicious and to not lick the bowl out is hard to resist so I adapted it slightly by actually mixing up the ingredients into the plastic tub that I am going to freeze it in.

The episode of the Bakery Bears I am referring to is called Episode 120 so if you get a chance take a look at it, you will not be disappointed.