Exchange Gifts

I had a lovely parcel arrive in the post today. My Rowanette Exchange gift arrived from Rosie in the UK this morning.



The bag is knitted in Rowan Handknit Double Knit Cotton and is from Magazine 21. It has an ingenious base to it and looks as though it will hold loads.



The girls are already fighting about who will be borrowing it first - I've got news for them.....

Also in my parcel was a potholder made using Vivian Hoxbro's Domino technique and a skein of yarn picked up in Italy in a yarn shop by Lake Garda.

Back to Earth

I've finally got both feet firmly on Terra Firma after my recent jaunt to Zog! Boy are those painkillers strong - but hey, they do the trick. My doc also confirmed my worst fears that it is Gout - at 44??? Apparently it becomes more common in post-menopausal women, and before we have a case of T.M.I (Too Much Information), we'll get back to the knitting content of this blog!

Progress is being made on the Hanging Garden Shawl now that I can see straight. I've removed the stitch markers between the edging markers as I was having to shunt them back and forth depending on where the decreases were and this wasn't doing anything for the flow.



I'm using Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace in Green Mountain Madness colour. The beads are Mill Hill #6.

Other news - Helen got her Art GCSE result today and she got an 'A'. I'm really proud of her especially as she has taken this exam a year early.

Where's Wally?

Last night I forgot to shut the sunroof and windows of my car. Guess who had a thunderstorm and torrential rain at 4am this morning? I didn't give it a thought until I went to take Dave to his doctors appointment this morning and got a wet behind. It has meant that I've spent the day driving this whilst mine has dried out - the hardship!



It turns out he's torn a ligament in his shoulder and may have to have surgery to put it right. He's got an appointment at hospital next week, so we'll find out them. In the mean time, as well as the girls being on school holidays, Dave has been signed off work for 2 weeks! Anyone want a lodger??

Greetings From The Planet Zog

Dear Readers,

I'm having a lovely time! Wish you were here....but glad you're not.

I woke up this morning feeling really stiff and achey, a lot more than normal and have had to resort to some of my mega-painkillers. The aches are more bearable, but I'm not too keen on feeling this spaced out so early in the day. I've done a bit of research on the 'net and putting everything together think I may be suffering from Gout!(I have medical training and don't normally make a habit of self diagnosis - will have to verify with my proper doc in the week).

Anyway, thank goodness for spellcheck to weed out all those embarrasing smelling pistakes before piblushing...

Here are some pretty pictures to take your mind off my troubles (and sorry for sharing them).

Hanging Garden Stole by Sivia Harding progress and detail shots - you won't believe how many times I've tinked this little baby!



Detail

Look What I Got!

I ordered this yarn and the book a couple of weeks ago because I have heard so much about it and felt that I needed to give some a home...



The yarn is sooo soft and being Superwash Merino means that I can bung it in the machine! It's Socks That Rock yarn and the colour is Scottish Highlands.

PS Les' socks fit a treat so I dare say I will be making more at some point (but not in this yarn)

PPS Hi Anna! Yes - the socks are on my list of things to knit!!

Hot!

It has been so hot here over the last week. Yesterday afternoon Dave and all his colleagues were sent home at 4.30pm and when he got home he cheerily announced that the temperature according to his car was a whopping 37 degrees! That is so hot!!

The cats have been struggling to not overheat and I haven't seen Bungle for a couple of days. I did however find her yesterday afternoon trying her hardest to keep cool.



DO NOT DISTURB!



On the knitting front - Les' socks are all done and will be posted to him today.

I started a Knit Along and have managed the cast on and knit about 10 rows



This is what I'm aiming for

My Mate Les...

called me during the week to ask me if I'd knit him a pair of socks with no seams across the toes! - No problem. I debated whether to use a snazzy Red or something a little wilder - (Fall Foliage) but in the end I decided to play it safe and use 'Bark' - a Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solid.

One sock is finished mate - you'll have to hop until I get the other one done!!



Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. It has a Welsh Heel and a Star Toe of Three Points....apparently.

On It's Way!

I finally posted my Rowanette Exchange gift the other day! It's a hot water bottle cover knitted in Artesano Alpaca and using a pattern from Rebecca Home magazine. I also included in my parcel the washcloth that I made a couple of weeks back and a skein of Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino in Fiery Fuschia along with a set of Brittany dpn's. Hope my Exchange Pal likes her parcel!



I've also whipped up this pair of socks for a friends birthday at the weekend.



I've made these before in the same colour and she nearly disappeared with them last time. I thought it best to let her have her own pair.

Yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino.
Colour - Winterberry.
Pattern - Bobbles and Beads.

Hands Up If You Fancy a Knitalong!

I've been 'talking' to Liz over the weekend and we've both fallen for the Baudelaire socks over on the latest Knitty.

We are aiming to start knitting on 7th August. Anyone fancy joining us?

Knitting over the weekend has been entirely on Kimono Shawl - another 3 repeats. I've now done 8 out of 25 and am going to have to have a rest from it for a few days as my wrists have started to complain about knitting on straights for too long.

Two Steps Forward...Three Steps Back...

That's exactly what has happened this evening. I have been going great guns with the Kimono Shawl and sat down to knit this evening to find that I had to undo most of what I knitted yesterday evening. It's taken me until now to find where I went wrong and get back to where I was when I started! I'm not going to show you the non progress, but have decieded to dig out something I made a while ago.

I hadn't done any colour work for years and went on a one day workshop at my local John Lewis last summer to freshen my memory. It was a great day and I learned how to knit Fair Isle using both hands to knit at the same time! (Right hand knits normally, left one Continental). It was easier than it sounds. Anyway, here is what I was inspired to go on and knit....



Detail



I also dashed out after the thunderstorms we had this morning to take a couple of piccies of my tubs that I planted earlier this year. You'll have to scroll down a little.

I can't believe how much they've grown - they now look like this!

Happy Birthday.........To Me!!

Is it me or do birthdays seem to come round a little faster each year? I'm 44 today and can't believe it! I still feel as though I should in my 20's (okay that's probably stretching it a little - early 30's then).

I've had a lovely morning so far - was woken at 5am by Bungle meowing like mad at me. My present from her was a freshly caught headless mouse gently placed on the duvet next to me..eeeewwww!

I have had flowers and home made cards from my girls,





hubby bought me some of my favourite perfume and the complete series 1 - 6 of The West Wing

My friend Margie popped round early to give me these - the scent is divine!

FOR TESS - THESE ARE THE STOCKS!!!


and I gave myself these two books



Knitting Nature caught my eye when it was mentioned by Yvonne and I thought it warranted a closer look. It is my sort of book and I can see myself using it a lot.

The Kimono Shawl is progressing nicely.



I managed to get a fair bit done yesterday, but because I'm using straights I needed to take a break every now and then so didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

Home Alone....

Yep, it's just me and the pussycats this weekend. I can't remember the last time I had a weekend on my own. It's good to do your own thing once in a while, but this weekend I was supposed to be in Finland!

I made the decision to stay at home when my daughter was still in hospital and as we didn't know when she was coming home, we cancelled my flight. At the last minute, the girls' dad was keen to have them this weekend so they happily went after lunch with the promise of an afternoon's shopping.

I've spent most of the day catching up with boring jobs like laundry and housework and plan to spend tomorrow indulging myself in a days knitting.

The July instalment of my Posh Yarn Sock Club arrived this morning. I'm not sure which yarn it is, but I suspect it's merino. It's lovely and soft.



The cats have spent the day trying to find a cool spot to splodge out in. Bungle spent most of the afternoon in her favourite chair (probably due to it being near enough to an open window, but not directly in a breeze).



Zippy plumped for a shady spot in the conservatory, but was after a little more heat than her sister!