knit~up~sticks

2009-02-08T09:55:00.001Z

sugar, spice & stardust x

BOO!!!

2007-10-31T22:21:00.000Z

Happy Hallowe'en!

Coffeeswap Questions & Answers

2007-10-12T20:40:00.000+01:00

1. Whole bean or ground? I like it fresh so whole bean for me please

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully-loaded, don't see the point otherwise!

3. Regular or flavored? Regular, (my mum's a fan of vanilla flavour beans, but I just don't get it)

4. How do you drink your coffee? Usually black with cream/whole milk, I also like a good espresso, espresso macchiato, cappucino and latte... all dependent on the time of day and what my mood dictates

5. Favorite coffee ever? Blue Sumatra from my local coffee shop

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I only enjoy a cup a day at the most (or else I get the shakes) so it has to be gooood!

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Chocolate is always goooood, biscuits too, pastries and cakes also, though I don't think they ship that well!

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Can't think of anything except I like to have enough time to drink it before it gets cold so a babysitter is usually required while I enjoy a cup!

9. Yarn/fiber you love? I have a liking for Debbie Bliss cashmerino because it's beautiful and soft and knits up so nicely. I am a fan of anything natural/organic in all aspects of my life and that translates to wool as well. But mostly I'd like to be surprised by something different that I won't have used before.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Not a fan of acrylic or novelty yarns with furry bits and ribbons, they don't feel nice and they look bizarre, and they must be a nightmare to knit with!

11. What's on your needles? Which ones?! I have actually just cast off a debbie bliss hooded jacket, but haven't yet found the spare moment in which to do a little blocking on it and do the seaming. I still have Baudelaire socks on some sticks, but think they are too big and so have been avoiding them! Am also knitting a little tank top in gray & red stripes for my son and am trying to get round to my annual contribution of teeny tiny hats for innocent smoothie bottles!

12. Favorite colors? I like vintage shades of green & blue, Edwardian type hues! I also have a passion for red with white polka dots. I do have a thing for yellow, a nice strong, mustardy yellow and a good, vibrant turquoise green. Even a nice grey can be good. I think I like most of the colour spectrum, it all depends on the project I intend to use it with, every colour has it's place & pattern (though I'm not a PINK pink fan, you know like Barbie pink, bluuugghh!) Right I think that's enough confusion over colours, sorry!

13. Allergies? None that I know of, no

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I like post! Especially from overseas! I am truly annoyed by these Royal Mail postal strikes that we are suffering in the UK just now, doesn't look like negotiations are going all that well either...BOO! Anyway, I like to experiment, I like cabling, lace work and pretty much any fancy stitches I can get the hang of, I like to be inspired. I like buttons to sew on to my knitted garments! I'm looking forward to getting something I haven't used before especially since our LYS is a John Lewis department store (not that inspiring). Don't worry though, I found lots of yummy, fancy yarn to choose from outside of our yarn deprived city for my pal!

A Caffeinated Month!!! UPDATE

2007-10-12T20:16:00.000+01:00

Ooh I'm going to be all caffeined up, not only am I back in for round 3 of the Knitters' Coffeeswap, I'm also in for round 4 of the Knitters' Teaswap! Yay! And I have my teaswap partner already, Kristina in Chicago, an illustrator and general creative type like myself, she has noted some spooky similarities in our profiles already and I have to note a couple more, a liking of Joanne Harris novels and also the music of Beth Orton, fabulous matching by Suzie and Bridget me thinks!

***I have my coffeeswap partner now too, also Christina! She lives in Anglesey in North Wales and we have a mutual love of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino... it's just soooo soft!! It's going to be another great swap courtesy of fabulous hostess Knittymama***

Starting to think up possible inclusions for both packages just now, can't wait to SWAP SHOP!

Official Knitter's Book Swap...package arrived...

2007-10-12T18:02:00.000+01:00

...ages ago, sorry! Thank you so much to Gabrielle who sent me "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" by Alan Garner...
...as well as a veritable stash of yarny goodness (Debbie Bliss Pure Silk - 2 skeins no less, and some Louise Harding Sari Ribbon) along with a challenge to use said yarn, and some lovely sparkly yummy beads also included, to create a knitted item inspired by the book. Looking forward to getting started on the book tonight (as little Boo is being very good and sleeping soundly for the moment, despite a yucky cold, thank you Olbas Oil!) and will see what sort of creation comes to mind...

Synopsis

The heart of the magic was sealed with Firefrost, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen...should Nastrond destroy the stone, then the magic will die away. When Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge, the Wizard - Cadellin Silverbrow - takes them to safety deep in the caves of Fundindelve. Here he watches over the enchanted sleep of one hundred and forty knights, awaiting the fated hour when they must rise and fight. But the Weirdstone of Brisingamen is lost and the forces of evil are closing in. The children realise that they are the key to its return, but how can they defeat the powerful magic of the Morrigan and her deadly brood. First published in 1960, four decades before "Harry Potter", Alan Garner's novel of magic and wizards has endured and become a modern classic of children's literature.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is a fantasy story by the author Alan Garner, first published in 1960. It is set in and around Macclesfield and Alderley Edge, Cheshire, and tells the story of two children, Colin and Susan, who are staying there whilst their parents are overseas. Susan has a bracelet, containing the Weirdstone of the title, that makes the children hunted by the forces of evil. The novel borrows extensively from Celtic, Norse and Arthurian legends. Many of the locations in the book and in the sequel, however, are actual places which Alan Garner knew from his childhood. These include the ancient Wizard's Well and inscription, the open mine pits, and the beacon.

Its sequel is The Moon of Gomrath.

The two novels have been dramatised as a pair by BBC Radio.

In the 1970's, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen was also adapted as a musical (written by Paul Pearson) and was staged in Manchester and Essex. The cast included Hugo award-winning artist Sue Mason, who also designed the progam book. The songs from the show were recently re-arranged by pagan band Inkubus Suckubus with a view to resurrecting the musical for a modern audience, though copyright restrictions make this unlikely in the near future.

Cast-offs, an exhibition

2007-10-11T18:59:00.000+01:00

" 'Cast-offs' is an innovative knitting project developed as part of a major series of events, art projects and exhibitions taking place in the city to mark 200 years since the legal end of the transatlantic slave trade.

Nearly 600 knitters have created hundreds of children's jumpers which artist Chris Biddlecombe has built into a striking installation on show in the city's Kirk of St Nicholas.

The 600 knitted garments align with the approximate number of children kidnapped from the North East between 1740 and 1746. The location of the installation is highly appropriate, given that St Nicholas is the benefactor of children, patron of sea-farers and the protector of the poor.

Between 1600 and 1800, around 12 million men, women and children were transported from Africa to produce crops on plantations in America and the Caribbean. This project has highlighted a lesser-known aspect of forced labour in the 18th century where Scottish children were abducted and shipped to the American Colonies - specifically Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

Drawing a fascinating link between the African Slave Trade and issues of contemporary slavery is the story of Aberdeenshire teenager Peter Williamson, who was kidnapped in Aberdeen harbour and transported to Philadelphia, where he was sold into slavery. After writing a book that exposed the scandal of slave trading, he later returned to the city and sued the Provost, four Bailies and the Dean of Guild for their collusion in his kidnapping.

When the installation is viewed, the jerseys form a collaged composition of text fragments, forgotten messages, lost initials and stolen words. Each knitter's written or drawn response accompanies the installation on garment labels.

When it is finally deconstructed the individual jumpers will form part of an international effort with Feed the Children UK, to combat contemporary child slavery, clothing babies born to young girls abducted in Uganda and closing this unique 'knitting circle'."

This is the jumper I knitted for the exhibition. Each knitter was given the same pattern and some were given a letter to include on the front panel of the jumper. I have used the lovely rowan wool cotton that my KCS2 pal included in my package, I know I was meant to knit something for my wee boy with it, but this was a great idea & cause and I'm glad that a child who needs it will enjoy this jumper, (My Boo did get to sport it for the photos though!).

How fab do they all look hanging in the Kirk?!

There's my 'S' at the end of the first 'meets'.

One of the phrases, 'Is anyone listening'.

TISA the international sock!

2007-10-11T18:33:00.001+01:00

A long overdue post on TiSA the international sock of mystery! This is a picture of TiSA, with my portion knitted in Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino, looking out onto the pier in St Andrews. TiSA arrived with many goodies

from Shadkitty, thank you again!, and enjoyed a sightseeing tour of St Andrews, as well as my wedding and my cousin's wedding before going on to visit New England. She is looking very fabulous in blue hues at the moment and is currently in the States with Debi after a trip round Heidelberg with Holly. Progress on both TiSA and Alphamonkey can be found here...

2007-10-08T19:54:00.000+01:00

try this here!

Our summer.

2007-10-08T10:51:00.000+01:00

Well, to be honest, we didn't really get a summer here! Kept waiting for the sun to shine and it didn't really happen. It's been a long time since June and I've so much to post about, but I'm just going to take it a step at a time or else I'll get totally overwhelmed by the thought! I'm going to try and keep it in chronological order so as not to miss anything out. But firstly, a brief description of my "summer" and lack of blogging.

It has been a summer of mixed emotions, in fact we have had births, deaths and marriages. September was definitely a bit of a getting-back-to-normality month. My friend had a baby girl in June, Hannah, a sister to Nicola & Liam. My wee boy turned one in July...me oh my where did that year go? My cousin became a dad when baby Ryan was born in July. We also had so many weddings to attend this summer, but most notably our own. However, my Grandad had been very ill and spent most of June and all of July in hospital, he was too ill to make it to my cousins wedding in July and very sadly passed away the week before our wedding in August. He was a fabulous man and was such a part of the church that we married in that it was strange and very sad for him not to be there with us. We attended his funeral on the Thursday, it was a great service, the sun shone, the church was packed because he knew so many people and was involved in so many things. There is a lovely post & comment on this blog about Grandad. On Saturday we were back in the church getting married, my family is wonderful and despite the hurt we were all feeling at losing Grandad, they gave me the best day I could've hoped for. Thank you all.

Thomas McLaren Keracher 4 June 1930 - 4 August 2007

Would Buffy knit socks?!

2007-06-08T21:20:00.001+01:00

"What would Buffy knit?

All those pointy sticks she plays with — you can't tell me Buffy's not a knitter. The question is, what does she really, really want to make? You've got until 30 June to design something for everybody's favourite vampire slayer."

Take a look at the purlescence storytellers blog which emerged from a competition that ran on the purlescence site where you were asked to design a knitting pattern for a variety of different storybook characters, (I never got a chance to participate, though I would have loved to have designed something that Alice in Wonderland might knit, something weird and wonderful I imagine!)

Now they are asking you to design a project that Buffy, yes Buffy, might knit!! It's got to be something totally gothic don't you agree, lace? in black, with a silvery hue? ... ah you've found me out, I'm a closet Buffy fan, well really I'm a closet Angel fan, but Buffy's pretty good too! I'm off to dream up the kind of knitting project a slayer might find the time for! It would have to be on double-points, that way she could slay two unsuspecting vampires with either end of one of her bamboos!

Check out the best cupcakes... EVER!

2007-06-08T18:14:00.000+01:00

OMG, knitters beware, you'll have to put your knitting down and go bake once you've seen these from VeganYumYum!! Once your jaw has been picked up off the floor that is, these knitting cupcakes are amazing, I defy anyone not to be inspired or feel very, very hungry!

The International Socks have started their world tour!

2007-06-07T19:23:00.000+01:00

It started in Memphis...where to next?

Feltabulous!

2007-06-06T00:30:00.000+01:00

So I've been meaning to make these for a while, I found the pattern and instructions on the Martha Stewart site...too much crafty goodness there, I get into a panic when I search it because I can't possibly think when I'll have enough time to fit everything that I want to do in! One step at a time though, (pardon the pun!), so I have started with the felted booties as an addition to my gift for Tilly. I'm relatively pleased with how they turned out, they could be neater and slightly better shaped but I think that will take some practice and some tweaking of the making up process, in the meantime I think they will perhaps make MummyKitty cry tomorrow (not my intention, I only intend to impart happiness on others, but MK will still be full of hormonal type emotions and crying is probably inevitable!)

I added some stitched detailing courtesy of my lovely Pfaff Creative 7570, I am in love with this machine, it can do so much!

...and I found this lovely printed ribbon in my local craft shop, Dorrie Doodle, and couldn't resist it. It has found it's way into nearly every part of Miss Tilly's pressi so far! If you can't quite make it out it says "sweet baby girl" in an old typewrite font along the ribbon, too cute!

...and this was what happened to felted bootie mach1. I thought the size of pattern I had printed may be slightly on the small side, and despite reassurances from my mother and my friend, it was indeed teeny-tiny! So it has become an adornment on the gift bag! Waste not want not...

I've been Googled!

2007-06-05T23:28:00.001+01:00

I'm way too excited by this I know, but I noticed that I had been visited as the result of a Google search! I find all my most favourite random blogs this way, in fact I Google everything, and today someone found mine! It may not be anyone's favourite yet, but I'm really enjoying blogging and hope it's of interest to a small few!

"knit~up~sticks

this lovely lot, knitted in Rowan Tapestry Moorland, will hopefully turn into something like this... ...which I found here at Grammie knits blogspot. ...
knitupsticks.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-04-24T10%3A09%3A00%2B01%3A00 - 80k - Cached - Similar pages"

Baudelaire - Les Fleurs du mal in pattern

2007-06-04T23:36:00.000+01:00

So here are my Baudelaire socks, a work in progress, albeit slow progress because I seem to have no time to sit down and relax and enjoy working up the pattern (though I enjoy it all the more when I do find some time!). I am knitting them up in lovely Rowan Bamboo Soft in Moonstone and Cream, which is probably making them knit up that little bit bigger, but they are destined to be the most luxurious bed socks ever! This is my first pair of socks for myself and so it's a learning curve regarding gauge and sizing, but it's all good! The yarn was originally meant for a knitted garter for myself and my upcoming nuptials, but I couldn't find the perfect pattern and was desperate to start knitting the yarn up regardless because it's SOOOOOOO soft! I will find another yarn for my garter, and a nice lace pattern for said garter soon....any suggestions welcome!! Thanks x

"un nouveau frisson" indeed!

A gift for Tilly

2007-05-31T22:51:00.001+01:00

So I noticed that I have been too busy with wedding-type-things to post any FO's, and as this professes to be a blog mainly about knitting-type-stuff I thought I better get some knitting news posted!

So here it is, my Debbie Bliss Eyelet Vest knit, not in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, but in Rowan Soft Lux instead. It's beautifully sparkly and I must say I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

I am very much hoping to meet the beautiful little lady who this will belong to at the weekend. Matilda is her name and she is just over one whole month old now, bless her baby cashmerino socks!

...and just to prove that Scotland does in fact see the sun every once in a while, here is a lovely pic of the vest with sunny flowery shadows cast upon it in an arty-type-styley

...a close-up of the lovely chocolate coloured ribbon that contrasts nicely with the 'ciel' yarn

...and a close-up of the lovely pearl detail button on the back of the vest.

I love this pattern, it's a quick knit, but enjoyable and satisfying, will def be making another one for girl baby no. 2 due to another friend in June

...and finally a pic of the pretty fuschia bush in the scottish sun just because!

My KCS Pal rocks!!

2007-05-28T20:13:00.000+01:00

I haven't been able to post about this until now, it's been a hectic weekend...but look what arrived on Saturday!

The postie knocked on the door while I was dashing about getting ready to leave and photograph a wedding, I was quite nervous because it's the first work I've done since having my wee boy, I was in such a flap that I couldn't even think what was being delivered, I was sure I hadn't ordered anything! Then I saw the customs label and the return address and realised exactly what it was! My Knitter's Coffee Swap package! Had to stop myself from ripping into it straight away before I found the camera... and boy was there a lot to photograph - my swap partner Diane has thoroughly spoiled me!! Thank you so much D, I love it all and am overwhelmed by your generosity. Here are some shots of all the goodies...

Two fabulous packets of locally roasted beans from Peet's, they smell fantastic! I am planning on filling the Cafetière up tomorrow afternoon, putting my feet up, getting on with my Baudelaire socks and enjoying a lovely cup of Aged Sumatra AND a wee bit of dark chocolate AND maybe a couple of Stroopwafels too!

So much yummy yarn! Two skeins of some beautiful Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino which D tells me is made by a mother & daughter in Canada, can't wait to knit this into a lovely pair of socks (aah my sock addiction has begun!) The colours are so gorgeously muted and vintage and I don't know if the computer screen can really do them justice,

...and more yarn...3 balls of Rowan Wool Cotton in a beautiful blue which I definitely will knit up into something fab for the wee man!

...and there's more! Two bars of Scharffen Berger fine artisan dark chocolate, which is locally made in CA and tastes scrumptious *munching on a large chunk as she types*

...and more chocolate! Two bars of Unique Origin chocolate, one made with cocoa from Venezuela and the other with cocoa from Ecuador. I'm looking forward to tasting these, I know from experience that chocolate made from just one type of cocoa bean has a very distinctive flavour so these are definitely to be savoured!

And to quote D, "in case you want a change from the chocolate - try the 'stropes'." I can't believe I got a pack of mini Stroopwafels too! And I hadn't even mentioned to D that I have family in the Netherlands and was taught by them how to rest my Stroopwafel on top of my cup of hot tea/coffee and let it sit for a minute before eating it, (so as the caramel goes all gooey between the waffles!!). I LOOOVE STROOPWAFELS!

...and there's still more to come! Some lovely hand salve, again it's made locally to where D stays (on Bonny Doon Farm - which actually sounds very Scottish!), and if only you could transfer the lovely aromas via the computer screen because this is so lush! A beautiful lemon scent and it's non-greasy so perfect for knitter's hands!

...and last but definitely not least some beautiful stitch markers, they're gorgeous and I'm popping them on my Baudelaire needles because they're far nicer than the one's I'm using currently!

I can't say it enough but thank you, thank you, thank you (and Danke, danke, danke!) Diane, you put a wonderful package together for me and it arrived at such a fantastic time, made me completely forget my nerves with regards to the wedding photos, though I didn't really want to rush of and shoot them afterwards, I would have much rather stayed and sat knitting and drinking coffee all afternoon!!

I hope you like your package as much as I like mine, and I hope it arrives with you v soon.

And now I'm all out of superlatives so I'm going to stop typing and go do some knitting!

my fabulous hen!

2007-05-24T21:44:00.001+01:00

So, the dress in action! The classiness was lost slightly by the trademark "L" plates that a bride-to-be is typically adorned with but I was happy to go along with it, every one of my hens put in so much effort and we had a fabulous night. Even mother hen was on top form for a good evening (spot her to the left in the background of the pic on the far right!). Then you see myself and two of my fantastic bridesmaids who both made speeches during the meal and made me bubble like a little girl! The performance of Chicago at His Majesty's Theatre was beyond brilliant, I loved it, so much! We got a lot of looks in the dress circle from the other theatre goers, I can only assume they were jealous of our fabulous costumery and also the fact that we had the best seats in the house (it pays to have a bridesmaid who works for the marketing department of the theatre who was able to reserve our seats nearly a year in advance!!)

...and here you see the beautiful brideS-to-be, this is my cousin Lynsey, she gets married 2 weeks before me in the same church in St. Andrews. It's going to be a great year for family and parties! She helped me dance until the wee small hours and I've just received an email from her bridesmaids inviting me along for her hen where I can return the favour! Can't wait!!

...finally a pic of most of my wonderful hens celebrating after the theatre with a G&T in Under the Hammer (missing from this pic are Mother Hen, Auntie Babs, Auntie Sus and the delightful Viv. We let them rest their weary legs in the only free seats so they could knock back a nice glass of vino while we waited for our table at the Stage Door to be made ready for us.)

Thank you to all (especially my lovely maids), the evening exceded all my expectations and I'll treasure it for always.

I love my dress!

2007-05-18T20:14:00.000+01:00

It is finished, my beautiful dress, (pattern can be found here at Past Patterns), I am so pleased with it and can't believe I actually made it all myself. My hen is tomorrow and I can't wait to get dressed up, pin my hair into 1920's bangs and stick feathers in it!
And it looks lush with my beeauutiful sparkly gold t-bar heels!

More pics of me and my lovely hens all dressed up will follow at the beginning of next week along with a crit of how fab Chicago was (because it will be!) and whether or not I was the loudest singer-alonger!!

Knitters Coffeeswap 2 ~ package away!

2007-05-15T21:16:00.000+01:00

It's away! I posted my pal's package today for the Knitter's Coffee swap. I must say I'm pleased with my finds and hope my pal will be to.

Now the part where I have to find some patience, and I don't mean waiting on my own Coffeeswap package to arrive (though I am thoroughly looking forward to that also, and will inevitably end up keeping an eye out for the postie at every opportunity!), but I'm actually impatient for my pal's package to arrive with her!! I can't wait to see what she makes of it! Goodness me, I'm far too excited about this and I need to remind myself that I only posted it today! But I'm like this everytime I put a gift together for someone! And because of this, it's like torture in my house just now, I am so well prepared that I have had my friend's birthday present ready for ages and it's not until next week, AND I have another friend's new baby pressie also sitting ready to be opened and I can't bear the wait to present them!!! Oh so sad am I!

Anyway, you may have noticed the pics, they are a sneaky preview of the KCS package that is now winging it's way to California!

What a week!

2007-05-05T22:29:00.000+01:00

So much has happened this week I'm dizzy!!

Happy birthday to me for yesterday! I got some yummy presents and will post pics of them at another time. I must however say a very happy birthday to little Matilda born on Wednesday, so glad you arrived safely and can't wait to meet you! Well done mama Kitty and congratulations papa Joe.

This week has been up and down and up and down! We spent the weekend in St. Andrews sorting wedding preparations, oh so much to do and oh so little time! See our venue here

Illness was then the name of the game for the start of the week for my other half and also for my chum's little one who has chickenpox, poor wee thing.

Then the birth on Wednesday and only half the week was past!

A trip to sunny Banchory on Thursday, that nearly didn't happen for us as we left the car seat in Granny's car...oops! And that just left my birthday on Friday, we spent the day in town shopping for lovely stuff...fabric for the 1920's flapper dress that I am making for my hen night...only two weeks away now! It's going to be oh so grand, we see Chicago at His Majesty's Theatre in the evening followed by dinner at the Stage Door and then cocktails for afters! Can't wait!

I have also pretty much completed the shopping for my KCS pal, now the real fun of putting the package together! Have a look at the lovely wool shop in St. Andrews I got the yarn from here

But finally I must also say ****HAPPY BIRTHDAY**** to Renee for today...so many birthdays in just one week, what a good week, now for some good sleep!

Sweet dreams all! x

CoffeeSwap ~ "die Fragen" ~ (the questions)

2007-04-24T10:09:00.000+01:00

Well it's all go now, I'm in my first swap and yesterday I got my email from Knittymama telling me who my pal would be, Diane from sunny California! You can check out her blog here and see how she answered her Q&A, I think we're pretty well matched, muchos kudos to Knittymama! I'm really looking forward to putting together a great package for her...

So now the "die Antworten" ~ (the answers)

QUESTIONS

1. Whole bean or ground? I like it fresh so whole bean for me please

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully-loaded, don't see the point otherwise!

3. Regular or flavored? Regular, (my mum's a fan of vanilla flavour beans, but I just don't get it)

4. How do you drink your coffee? Usually black with cream/whole milk, I also like a good espresso, espresso macchiato, cappucino and latte... all dependent on the time of day and what my mood dictates

5. Favorite coffee ever? Blue Sumatra from my local coffee shop (they have a website, but I'm not sharing just now, I'm going to get the coffee for my pal there and I want it to be a surprise!!)

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? I only enjoy a cup a day at the most (or else I get the shakes) so it has to be gooood!

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? I like a small bit of good quality dark organic chocolate, (had a bit of yummy Green&Blacks Dark Choc with Soft Mint Centre yday with my coffee, not usually a mint choc fan, but this was good!) ...now I know this doesn't help with the caffeine shakes, but a small piece goes a long way...and dark chocolate is good for...yes it is, rich in antioxidants and all that!

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? Can't think of anything except I like to have enough time to drink it before it gets cold so a babysitter is usually required while I enjoy a cup!

9. Yarn/fiber you love? I have a liking for Debbie Bliss cashmerino because it's beautiful and soft and knits up so nicely. I was intrigued by the Rowan Tapestry because it's 70%wool & 30%soybean, it feels and looks lovely. I am a fan of anything natural/organic in all aspects of my life and that translates to wool as well. But mostly I'd like to be surprised by something different that I won't have used before.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Not a fan of acrylic or novelty yarns with furry bits and ribbons, they don't feel nice and they look bizarre, and they must be a nightmare to knit with!

11. What's on your needles? Which ones?! I have some Lucinda Guy cabled kids socks on a pair of straights, a Debbie Bliss Eyelet Vest on another pair and I have some Rowan Tapestry on some double points which is destined to be a felted saucer to go with a felted teacup, (though I have to start the teacup again, because it felted a little too much!!!)

12. Favorite colors? I like vintage shades of green & blue, Edwardian type hues! I also have a passion for red with white polka dots. I do have a thing for yellow, a nice strong, mustardy yellow and a good, vibrant turquoise green. Even a nice grey can be good. I think I like most of the colour spectrum, it all depends on the project I intend to use it with, every colour has it's place & pattern (though I'm not a PINK pink fan, you know like Barbie pink, bluuugghh!) Right I think that's enough confusion over colours, sorry!

13. Allergies? None that I know of, no

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? I like post! Especially from overseas! I like to experiment, I like cabling, lace work and pretty much any fancy stitches I can get the hang of, I like to be inspired and I don't know if I've said this already...but I'm so excited to be a part of this!! I'm looking forward to getting something I haven't used before especially since our LYS is a John Lewis department store (not that inspiring), nothing as beautiful as the likes of this, which is my idea of heaven! Don't worry though, I found lots of yummy, fancy yarn to choose from outside of our yarn deprived city for my pal!

Oh me oh my I think that's plenty!

Happy shopping, happy swapping!

X

once bitten, twice shy :(

2007-04-23T21:48:00.000+01:00

A word to the wise...if you partake of the wee glass of vino whilst surfing the wonderful web on your lovely iBook, be very careful not to rest your glass on the arm of the sofa near said laptop which is perched on one's lap :(

As you may have guessed I did just this, and needless to say said glass of vino toppled, spilling wine onto beautiful iBook. It made a nasty noise, I turned it off in a panic, (in the hope that it would limit the damage), and set it out upside down, like a pitched tent, to dry.

This was two months ago, laptop didn't like the wine very much and the insurance company stated it was "beyond economical repair" which, in turn, meant I got a lovely new MacBook (bonus upgrade!). Though not without paying the policy excess and losing any no-claims bonus.

But still I was quite happy with my new computer.

Today, however, I shed a little tear to the random I was speaking to on the phone regarding the attempted retrieval of the data on my old hard drive (how embarrassing, but it really couldn't be helped as you will come to understand). I had payed the fee to get my hard drive info retrieved and saved to disk, this should have taken a week, that was three and a half weeks ago. I phoned to check the status of the retrieval...I suspected, due to the lack of contact, it was unsuccessful...I was right...they couldn't do it...then the tears...all the pics of my baba, lost and gone, no back up (because no matter how many people tell you to do it, I defy any new mum to find the time to back up all the pics on their computer whilst looking after baby and trying to find the time to sleep!).

I am hoping that if I send out a plea to friends and family I will manage to retrieve some percentage of the pics and will be able to build up a new collection.

My plan is to do any touch-up's required on Photoshop, save them to disk and then send them off to the lab to get some high quality prints done (something I should have done ages ago!) Then I will adorn the house with them!

I love photos, I live for pictures and I miss them, but I still have my wee fella, he's a beautiful picture in himself everyday and that's what's important.

Lesson's learnt:

* Back up stuff from your 'puter
* Print your pics out and put them somewhere you can see them everyday
* Use film (it's always better anyway - not denying digital doesn't have it's place but I'm a traditionalist at heart)

and

* Stop drinking wine ...near your computer!

My little Boo, day one, in the maternity hospital (photo courtesy of Sarah, thank you honey!)

lazy days and sundays

2007-04-22T22:13:00.000+01:00

What a lazy day! Complete joy, stayed in my pyjamas until after 4pm! ...and in a before-the-baby-arrived-pyjama-day kind of way, not just because I didn't have a chance to actually get dressed!

Ahhhh! Lounging on the sofa with my chum, chatting, drinking coffee, googling everything that we didn't know the answer too, (including where on earth we knew the actor who plays Ryan's dad in the O.C. from, eventually finding out that of course he was Hercules! Who could forget that loin cloth, honestly?!)

Anyway, this lazy Sunday I decided it was time to take a step away from the easy and move onto a bigger (albeit only slightly bigger) project than simply baby socks, booties and hats! I have done so before, but being slightly impatient about finishing projects I tend to shy away from casting on the cardie I love the look of, or the cute, yet complex baby jumper for fear I shall never get them finished. Today I raided my stash and pulled out a couple of balls of Rowan Soft Lux in Ciel (which I think they have now discontinued) and decided to start this cute "Eyelet Vest" from my Debbie Bliss 'Special Knits' book...

...yes I know I should really be knitting it with some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (seen as it is one of her patterns & because it's what the pattern calls for!), but I didn't have enough in my stash and the aforementioned lazy pyjama day meant I couldn't possibly go out and purchase any, also I rarely pay attention to the yarn I'm meant to use and just use the stuff I want to. I must say I'm quite pleased with the way it's knitting up, and the little silver sparkle in it will look v lovely on one of the baby bumps that a couple of my friends are cultivating just now!

Fingers & toes crossed that I manage to finish it sometime ever!

I'm in, I'm in, I'M IN!

2007-04-20T21:48:00.000+01:00

My first swap ever, so exciting...So I'm in for the Knitters' Coffee Swap (Round 2), can't wait! Woohoo!!