Where Did The Weekend Go?

I can't believe the weekend went so quickly! Having a lot of rain gave me the perfect excuse to sit and knit for a greater part of the last few days.

Paisley is growing nicely and I'll soon be onto the next chart.



In between the rain showers, the sun was beautiful and I was able to get out in the garden and tidy it up. We inherited an established, but overgrown garden when we moved here and sadly, some of the shrubs had got so woody, the only thing to do was to dig them up and start again.

I'll take you on a quick tour of my garden so far..

This is looking towards the house from the far end of the garden.



The next view is taken at 90 degrees from the last one looking across to the conservatory.



We're now standing a few feet away from the conservatory looking back across to where the last two pictures were taken.



I also took a trip to the Garden Centre and spent some of my stash money on plants!!





I haven't completely lost it though - these two arrived this morning. Thank goodness for Mr.Mastercard!!



Just for Angie!!

Paisley or Peacock?

I was very torn as to which way to go. A smidge more yarn arrived in the post that was ordered with Peacock in mind.



It's a little finer than I thought it would be and what the pattern suggests, plus it needed winding and I was itching to cast on. It's shown next to a strand of Silkwood Sock Yarn.



Paisley won the toss, but it was very close.

It's coming along faster than I thought it would and I'm really enjoying this. The yarn is lovely to work with and whilst it's not the softest I've used, it has a beautiful feel to it.

By the end of yesterday evening I had finished the first repeat (five more to go) and went to bed feeling rather pleased with myself.

Blue String Pudding Anyone?

Do you remember The Clangers? One of their staple meals was Green Soup and Blue String Pudding. I made my own yesterday.



I'm not having much luck with this project at the moment. I seem to knit 5" and undo 3. Here's how far I had got before I realised that I'd forgotten to start the shaping.



I had to rip back to the safety pin! I'm almost done, but won't share any more of this until it's time to send it off to my Exchange Pal.

Can anyone guess what it is yet? I'll give a yarny prize to the first name pulled out of the hat with the correct answer.

Who Let The Cat Out of The Bag?

What else (apart from sleep) do cats get up to when it's tipping down with rain outside and they're bored?



They play Hide and Seek!






Ahem!... Back to the knitting... I've turned the heel on the Silkwood sock and I love the way this is knitting up. I think if I ever knit these again, I'll do a couple more pattern repeats before I start on the heel flap. The instructions are very well written and easy to follow and if anyone is thinking about giving lacy socks a go, then this would be a good one to start with.



I'm also making good progress with my exchange gift, but need to rip back a bit 'cos I've overshot on the length a bit! Photo's next time.

A Bad Case of Startitis!

I know, I know! I couldn't help myself and have gone and started another project. I have ground to a halt on my Rowanette Exchange thingy and need a vital component before I can make any further progress.

There was nothing for it but to start on something else ( and besides I don't have enough WIP's at the moment either).

Yesterday I cast on this



with this.

I made swift progress and have got as far as turning the heel



a little further on than this picture, but they are whizzing along. The pattern is Hedera from Knitty.

On the cat front, there was only one thing that Zippy wanted to do today...



....on the grounds that it is far too wet for any self respecting pussycat to go out in!

I Can Resist Everything But Temptation

One of my favourite quotes by Oscar Wilde, and so true! The lure of a new project finally got the better of me yesterday and I started on my Exchange gift. I had originally thought that I would knit the cables in another colour, but I got in such a tangle and wasn't happy with how it was turning out so ripped it back after 4" and started again.

This time I am using two strands of Alpaca and it's growing well, but not without having found a wrong cable.

I hadn't noticed it when I took this picture and had knitted to the end of the first pattern repeat.



There was nothing for it but to take the offending cable out



I then began the task of putting it right and could have done with at least one extra pair of hands!




Job done.



Excuse me whilst I go and lay down in a darkened room .....

All The Way From Alabama

That's how far my Sockapaloooza socks have travelled! I had an email from my Sock Pal on Friday to say that she had posted them to me and they arrived this morning.



Not only were the socks in the parcel but also some 4ply Mystic Alpaca and a copy of her local paper.



I'm not sure which sock yarn was used, but it is 100% Merino and soooo soft.



Laura, if you are reading this - Thank You so much. They fit perfectly and I LOVE them!

Growing Pains

Last night I did the Picot edging to the bottom of River. It took me longer to undo the provisional cast on than to do the cast off!



I also managed a few more repeats - see - it's growing!



I just wish there were just a few more knitting hours in the day. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures to make you go 'Aaaahhhh'

I Love Monday Mornings!

Not normally, I hasten to add, but this morning got off to a good start with the postie bringing me this...



and this...



I can see I'm going to get a lot done today! I'm going to be good and NOT start on the shawl straight away as I have to finish a couple of things off first (yeah - I can see that happening).

I also thought you may like to see Zippy's latest trick. She doesn't generally like using the cat flap and will wait around it for ages until someone is mug enough to open it for her. This serves as a good alternative...





Apologies for the poor quality of the pics, but I think you get the general idea!

Give Us a Clue?

Yesterday I found out who I am knitting for in this year's Rowanette Exchange. I've got a few ideas as to what I'm going to knit and the only clue I am going to give for now is that it will involve this



Progress on the River Stole is slow - I've managed another repeat, but am trying hard not to be distracted by this. The Soft Seascape is calling my name and it's getting louder by the minute. I must resist...I must resist...

Here's One I Made Earlier

.. or rather several to be precise.

I've been laid up with the 'flu over the last few days so haven't done a huge amount of knitting. I do have, however, a few pictures of some of the things I have knitted over the last year or so and thought now would be a good time to share them with you.

Absolutely Fabulous Throw - Antique colourway.



This had been in my stash for quite a while before I made it - don't know why I left it so long before doing it as it is exactly as it's name implies - Absolutely Fabulous!! (And I had visions of swilling Bolly under it Patsy style).

Detail



Next is a second throw inspired by the Ab Fab and also because we redecorated the lounge about a month after I'd finished the first. We have also just moved house, so I can feel another one coming on *sigh*



Detail



Last year I took part in the Rowanette Exchange. The first gift was to a fellow Rowanette in the US and the Theme was 'Edgy'.

Saxon Braid Scarf - as on the cover of Knitting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein As well as lace knitting, I also love cables (the more complex the better) and this was a really enjoyable knit.



I also adopted an 'orphan' towards the end and knitted Ene's Shawl from Scarf Style

Modelled by my lovely daughter H

Detail

Progress

Tonight I managed to get almost to the end of my third pattern repeat on River...only another 17 to do!



I've also been a bit naughty and treated myself to this as I have spent most of the day in bed with 'flu and needed cheering up - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! I've chosen the colour Mahogany which is a gorgeous deep plum.

Cast on, Kast Off..

Remember the lace scarf I started the other day? It is no more. I liked the pattern, yarn and everything about it, but having had it sitting on my desk by me whilst I worked, it dawned on me that there was an awful lot of yardage in that ball of silk and it deserved to become something a little bigger.

It has returned from the Frog Pond and is now going to be a 'River Stole' designed by Evelyn.A.Clark (you'll need to scroll down a bit).

I started with the provisional cast on



and have now got this far.



I haven't been able to work on it since Friday as I was a little distracted over the weekend.

After an early start on Saturday, I headed off to deepest Norfolk to join Kast Off's one day workshop with Debbie Abrahams.

We were working on designs from her third book and I wanted to improve my intarsia as I always manage to get holes in it! I had a really great time. Thank you to Sarah and Jean for making me so welcome and also for the magnificent catering throughout the day.

Here's the obligatory group photo



My block - just need to finish the last few rows but have run out of background yarn.