Things not going well

Managed to get a couple of boxes sorted and now have over 100 things sitting on Turbo Lister waiting to be released onto ebay but I have run out of steam. The task is too enormous, there is too much junk and I'm afraid to just throw it away incase I throw away something important or valuable.

I relised that there is a school of thought that says that if you haven't seen it in a few years then you can safely get rid of it but I do not subscribe to that. If you haven't seen it for a few years then it's probably been buried and is deparately trying to be noticed. To throw it away on the moment of it seeing the light again is just too cruel.

Well I shall see what I can get done in the next few days but it isn't going well.

Sorting out

Yesterday I went a bit mad and finally started to sort out the backroom - the room of doom, the terror room, the room crammed with so much stuff that I had a little path that went from the computer to the door and that was about it. Every bit of floor, spare bed, cupboards was just heaving with stuff. And it was not good.

I had so much that I couldn't actually see what I had and everytime I went in there I got depressed at the magnitude of starting to sort it that I would just end up ignoring it - Ravelry is such a wonderful distraction. But I have moved almost everything into my bedroom, which some might call displacement, but now it is not coming back into the spare room until it has been photographed, listed on turbo lister for ebay and then boxed up. I have bought 10 cardboard boxes which fit neatly into the cupboard and everything, well most of it, should fit in them.

So I managed to do 2 boxes yesterday and plan to do another couple tonight and I hope that by xmas I shall have them all done.

And then I can start on recording my stash properly as when I was tidying I found loads more that has never seen the light of Ravelry. But soon it will shine.

Secret Santa

Today I recieved the gift from my Secret Santa which has been organised by those marvels in the UK Random Act of Kindness group on Ravelry.



These two beautiful skeins of what looks like handspun have been sent to me and they are lovely. All soft and squiggy in grey and pinky reddy orangeish. I'm so chuffed that this has been sent off.

I think that they will become a pair of toasty house socks for my sister who seems to have permantly cold feet.

UK Swap Winter Warmers Questionnaire

Handmade Item Swap
What kind of items are you interested in receiving?
Oh I really don’t mind but I’m not a great fan of hats or scarves – I have long hiar so hats don’t really work and I always seem to lose scarves. If you fancy knocking up a pair of socks then I’m a 7.5. And if gloves and mitts are your thing then I’m a medium to large.
Do you knit, crochet, or both?
I’m a knitter only – although I have been trying to teach myself to crochet with little apparent success.
What is your favourite colour?
Green and rich blue - oh that’s 2 so I may as well go for the whole hog and say just about all of them
What is your least favourite colour?
Browns and beiges and pastels and neons.
What’s your style? (elegant, traditional, glamorous, girly, natural, sporty, outgoing, etc.)
I hope glamorous and elegant but proably more often it falls into being chaotic and scruffy
Do you have a favourite type of fibre or brand of yarn?
Not really. I have a range of stuff in my stash from beautiful alpaca and cashmere silk to some of the better acrylics.
Do you have a least favourite type of yarn?
Like many I’m not a fan of that plastic acrylic stuff – the type that squeaks when your working with it.
Do you do any other crafts?
I dabble in dress making and that type of sewing and that’s about it.
Are there any knitting accessories you are interested in receiving?
Anything will be gladly received but I and not after any particular things
What do you like to eat?
Everything – although I have been going off chocolate (I must be ill) and now prefer savoury to sweet things. But I’ll give anything a go.
Any allergies/preferences (fiber-wise or treat-wise)?
No allergies that I have found so far
Anything we missed that you’d like your partner to know?
Not that I can think of – I think that I’m easy to please and am really looking forward to the swap

Day of the Dead Round 2

I'm kind of excited as I will hopefully be able to start the 2nd round of the Day of the Dead socks today. I received the SIPs from knit-frog-knit over a week ago but because of Thanksgiving I wasn't given a new target. The organiser asked that socks were not worked on so I put them to one side but have been itching to start. Knit-frog-knit had some problems and didn't manage to get very far. She managed the cuffs and a few centimeters on each one so I have also a complete pair to knit. But the yarn is a lovely rainbow Lorna's Laces Shepherd Socks which feels like a dream - I just hope that it's lovely to work with.

I even brought to SIPs to work in case I get the email with my new target whilst at work.

Shruggy Thing

This was a super fast knit project - don't you just lurve big needles and thickish yarn? It's my take on Shrug This by Toni Kayser Weiner from the book One Skein Wonders.

It's a birthday present for a friend and I modified it quite heavily as my friend is larger than it seemed to be. I also had a check out on Ravely and there were several larger people there who had adapted it as the sizing was coming up on the smaller size. So the first thing I did was to change the needles from 6.5mm to 10mm. Not a fan of large needles usually but hey do have their place. Then I used some of the random yarn that I have in my stash. It was a lovely rich red boucle that I have no idea what it is. That was held double and probably came up to something like an aran/worsted weight.

I kept the same number of cast on stitches but instead of the ribbing I did moss/seed stitch. The top part was knitted as per the instructions and I cast off the sleeves as directed but then I added 5 stitches under each arm to add some fullness there. The top was then continued until it was 15" and not the 11" in the book.

I think it turned out quite well but perhaps a little too floppy so if I were to do it next time (which I probably won't) I would drop a couple of needle sizes and increase the number of cast on stitches.

Day of the Dead Round 2

I finally managed to collect my mail from the sorting office and I now have the yarn for the next round of the Day of the Dead. The yarn came from knit-frog-knit and is a lovely bright rainbow of colours. It's Shepherd Sock by Lorna's Laces and is lovely.

The competition is on hold until December 1st as many of the competitors are in the US and it's Thanksgiving next weekend and it seems that there are loads of people travelling and so it was easier to stop the competition. It's a bit frustrating as the socks were only knitted to the cuffs and a couple of centimeters beyond and I can't touch them for over a week. But I rewound the balls as they were a bit tangled and now the yarn is sitting there - expectantly.

I also got a lovely wee bag with smellies and pretty pink glittery notebook from one of the members of the UK RAK (Random Act of Kindness). I'm back to Gloucester for 3 weeks on Monday so I shall take the smellies along and pamper myself a tad and the notebook will be used to for my stories.

Winter Warmer Swap

When I first got back into knitting earlier this year I got really excited about the various swaps that were on and around Ravelry. I was in some very successful ones and some not so great ones but I hadn't realised how much of a drain it would be financially. It wasn't necessarily that swap items were expensive but sometimes the postage was a bit GULP! Anyway so I have not done any for a while but I have found this - a UK Swap - through the power of Ravelry.

Sounds like fun and I am really looking forward to it. Wander over and join up too if you fancy an after Christmas surprise

WOW . . .

. . . it looks like I am going to finally finish the Smackdown Stole that I have been plugging away at for the past few months. Poor Woolyewe must have almost died of the cold by now but soon she will be out of her misery and wrapped in greenness. I am up to the last repeat and then tonight I hope to finish it off and might even gat it blocked. As soon as I can work out how to block it.

I wonder what has happened to mine. Perhaps my assasin had the same lack of ooommpp that I had for it and it still trying to get it done. So come on! Smack me with a stole and put me out of my misery, my mystery assasin ;o)

Gloucester

The Rotherham of the South (with profound apologies to Rotherham and it's inhabitants)

Okay Gloucester isn't that bad but I am stuck for another week here without my usual entertainments. It's odd though, because I have Internet access and I have brought knitting but it still doesn't feel right. Things aren't that much different than I'd be doing at home but there is something that is missing.

Oh well.

I now have the confirmation that I was looking for that I can start a new pair of socks of the yarn smackdown advanced sock. I wonder if there are any yarn shops in Gloucester or even Cheltenham that might have something suitable. I know that there is a place in the market that does Zig Zag by King Cole and that makes a god pair but as it is variegated I think that it wouldn't necessarily suit a lace pattern. Well I'm going to be busy with work for the next couple of days but will see if I can hunt down yarn based product.

Although I don't know the size that I am knitting to I can at least get them underway.

Day of the dead

I have gotten rid of the blue and purpleness that was my Day of the Dead socks for knit-frog-knit.

It was odd not knitting the whole foot to the toes but there had been issues with people concerned that they might have to unpick socks if the socks were sent to someone other than the original target. So the new rule was that we were to o knit 5 inches oof the foot and then lifeline them, making sure that we included enough yarn for the target to finish their own socks.

Personally I think that it's a bit odd not finishing socks - there are knitters who take part in these knitting competition who can't wear wool but they usually seem content to at least have a pair of socks. I realise that socks can sometimes go through several people (so speak) before getting to their target but is it really that difficult to unpick few rows if the person has smaller feet and possibly use a contrasting yarn if they need to be much bigger?

Anyway the socks have been finished as much as I could - at least I remembered to weave in the cast on yarn. They just caught the last post out and are hopefully winging their way across the Atlantic.

Grumpy

That's what I am. Really really grumpy.

I am still waiting on some SIPs for the advanced sock smackdown. These were meant to be posted on October 1st and they are still not with me. I know that they are coming from Canada but I would have thought that they could have taken a ride on a passing whale and then walked and still have gotten to me quicker. I have never had anything take this long from either the US or Canada and I've not had any contact from the sock deaded person either so have no idea what's going on. I have contacted the organiser but what can she do in all reality?

I'm not sure how long SIPs have to be missing before they are declared lost and I can start again but it's going to make me really grumpy if I have to splash out and buy more yarn. So far I have not had any SIPs - the first yarn, that came only after I asked where the yarn was, was so nasty that it posed a definite health hazard - death by electrocution would follow because the the build up of static electricity. So I started my second pair with my own yarn and now it looks like it is going to happen again.

And I'm also grumpy because I can't log onto the NaNoWriMo website - it take sooooooo long to do anything on that site. I have completely given up and will not bother updating my word count. Which is a shame as I really wanted to see the little bar on my progress thingy go up.

Oh and I'm grumpy about work as I am standing in the cold and can't knit because my fingers start to freeze.

But one good thing that is happening is that I have managed to crack on with the socks for the Day of the Dead competition. Should have the finished either tonight or tomorrow (probably tomorrow) so at least one thing seems to be going well.

Distracted

On November 1st NaNoWriMo starts (that's National Novel Writing Month) and I am taking part. The aim is to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month: so roughly 1600 words a day.

Now I have talking down as an Olympic sport but writing? Well that's a whole new thing. I have to write reports for work and I splurge every now and again on here but that's about for my writing output. I saw the link to the site a few months back and thought that it might be fun so signed up. Then I persuaded my fella to do the same with the idea that we would gee each other on to the finish. Boyfriend duly started forming the ideas for his story, creating characters, the things that writing is meant tobe about. Me on the other hand kept putting it off. Boyfrind bought me a lovely book to write notes in and it has never been used. But at least I now have the basis for a story.

When I did thikn about this, the story was going to be quite Generation X ish. A bit bleak, a bit sour, a bit grrhh. But on Saturday I suddenly realised that I was going to be writing about the Scottish Islands in the 1880s and the main character is a woman called Sarah. I have more details and I am beginning to research things like religion and crofting and at the moment I'm not sure if I have enough to sustain the story over 50,000 words but I have a start which means that it will have to end somewhere.

So I think that for the next month I shall be blogging more about my on-going novel (and fella's too) than about knitting because I can't quite see how I'm going to fit everything in.

If you want to keep up to date with my progress then check out my profile

Trapped by knitting

AAAAGGGRRRHHHH

I have got too many things on the go, in the fire and I'm adding far too many string to my whatsit. Why can I not just slow down and STOP adding new project to my even expanding list of things I want to do?

I bought a ball of yarn yesterday (even thought I said that I was not going to BUY any more) so that I could swatch for the lovely Snow White by Ysolda Teague. When am I going to find time to knit my way through that. It's a lovely pattern with a darling neckline but I have to stop.

My list, off the top of my head without looking at my ravely WIP list is:
Orange Boheme - I had to frog it back a way and then found something else to interest me
Helena - needs the sleeves but I forgot what needle I used but now I have remembered so it shouldn't take that long to sort
Pinky Socks - can't be bothered as I don't like the colour and I know that they are not for me but still can't be bothered
My lovely Lizard Ridge blanket - I've done 2 squares but have limited myself as the yarn is a bit pricey
Baby Jacket - again just the sleeves really and the sewing up
Smackdown Stole - my poor target must be wondering what has happened with this one. I kept thinking that I was going to come home and find a lovely stole waiting for me and then I wouldn't have to finish it but so far no luck.

That's the list then (I think) and that doesn't include all those that I have hibernating in various parts of the house. Someone please slap me if I start anymore without getting rid of at least 2 of these beauties. That way I will at least be working my way through them, slowly granted but at least I will be on my way.

Day of the Dead - Sock Wars

Well I have registered for a new knitting battle - Day of the Dead. It is being run as a sort of test for Sock Wars 4 and Helen Waittes is looking for 100 test knitters to see if the new system works.

The last Sock Wars had quite a few problems but and this is a way to try and avoid flakes and missing SIPs and all the other hassles that go along with this type of thing. Instead of having a round robin killing spree each knitter is drawn against another in a head to head battle and once they have socked their opponent they are given another name. well that's my understanding of the rules. Anyway I have signed up and on November 1st I start knitting socks again.

Wish me luck ;-)

Been away . . . again

Well I am back from another exciting and thrilling work at the archaeological coalface. Okay, I was standing around watching a big yellow jcb dig a slot trench in Gloucester which amounts to the same thing. It's dull work: we uncovered a Victorian cellar, a cobbled surface and a 1930s drain but (as everyone is saying at the moment in this weird economic climate) IT IS WORK!

Anyway this has meant that I have not been able to blog and really I haven't had as much time to knit as I would have liked. But I did manage some knitting so hurrah for that at least. I started a sock last Saturday and have now finished it. It was my first attempt at doing the heel flap last and it looked very odd but it worked and I now just have to get the other one done.

I didn't really have much time for looking around Gloucester but did manage to find the market and they have 2 yarn stalls in there. Granted much of the yarn is acrylics and others oddities but there are some interesting bits too. I bought a couple of skeins of unknown green, pure wool that was quite scratchy and which had the lanolin smell but also that greasy smell that comes from coned yarn.

It's a bit of an experiment and at 69 shiny new pence it was a bargain even if I use it only for making felted bowls or something like that. It looks like a 4 ply so I thought might bloom to a double knit but after knitting a swatch on 3.75mm needles and then soaking it before washing it it has blossomed to a rather lovely, but slightly thinner than normal, aran weight.

It's still a bit scratchy but I am going to knit another swatch and drop a little bit of washing up liquid into the bowl and let it soak a while, then add some conditioner in the final rinse to see if the itchy factor can be reduced.

Setting up the shop

Well I have this massive stock of vintage knitting patterns - mostly from the 1940s and 1950s but there are many that are either side of that era too. I am not every going to knit them up so have decided that I will be selling them. There are 2 reasons for this: firstly since I am not going to be needing them I thought that others might like the chance to enjoy them and secondly I need the cash.

I have registered a domain name - www.knittingpatternsgalore.co.uk and the shop will be called Knitting Patterns Galore. I've been looking around and have found an ecommerce site that seems to have what I want - a fresh looking site that does all the hard work for you. I can customise it and put on photos so people can see what they are getting. I was thinking of offering pdfs of the patterns rather than photocopies as it avoids the hassle of posting things and them possibly getting lost. But for the moment I'm just trying to get stuff sorted out.

I am going to be spending a couple of weeks getting things up and running and working smoothly before announcing the grand opening to the world but call back here or leave a comment or drop me an email if you want notice when I finally get the shop open.

OOOhhhh

Well it seems that I am the last knitter standing from the UK and Canadian competitors in Summer Yarn Smackdown. I am waiting for SIPs to be shipped from Canada and then I am not sure what is going to happen. I have emailed the organisors and shall wait until she gets back in touch but I'm really quite excited by it all.

Like many of these knitting competitions, it's generally a matter of luck whether you stay in or not. I managed to get 5 kills in Sock Wars III but only because I have two flakey assasins which gave me plenty of time to crack on with the socks. This time with Hat Attack I have made my initial kill (in Canada) but my assasin is in the UK so it's likely that I shall be killed by her hat before getting another one cracked off. No matter though - it's all just for fun.

But anyway . . . the Summer Yarn Smackdown final battle thingy could be fun and who knows I might even end up winning it.

Back from Skye

Phew that was a tough week - I have just spent the past 10 days yomping through the peat and over the beaches of the beautiful island of Skye (off the west coast of Scotland for those that don't know). The weather was okay - some brilliant days and towards the end of the week a few squally, wet days but that's what the Scottish Islands are all about - their unpredictability.

I managed to get the Advanced Socks off to Toffee's Mum . They were finished off on the train going up but I didn't manage to get to a post office until a few days later. And I have started the stole for advanced smackdown again too. I had previously tried it with a super slinky black DK but really couldn't get into the pattern so I changed the pattern from the Weekender Lace Wrap to the Sea and Shells stole. I changed from the slinky black to a lovely green 2 ply lambswool merino. I'm holding 2 strands together and it looks fab (well I think so).


The pattern is very appropriate for starting on Skye as I was looking for old, old shell middens in caves on the raised beaches next to the sea. I've got quite far and am now back and will continue to knit as fast as I can.

Tired

so, so tired.

I've loads to blog about: my lovely shipment from the Woolmeise Sock Club (I got that last week but have been putting off opening it until I had finished both my Smackdown sock and my Hat Attack hat; I've got the delights of my 'new to me' yarn twister and baller; I was going to pattle about my recently discovered stack of random needles - see loads of kntting things but I am so tired that I am going to leave it.

I'm off to the sunny (I hope) climes of Skye, Scotland tomorrow so will be gone for a few days. Then I can tell you all and hopefully I'll have a few more things to blather about.

Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah and other general merry making

It took me longer than I thought but it was an okay pattern. I'm not a fan of ribbing and this was just one big old version of ribbing but I have finished it and tomorrow it will be sent off to see if it can reach my target before I am killed. I had a look on the spreadsheet of death and it seems that my assasin is in the UK so I could well be dead very soon.

The hat took just under 2 balls of the Fairytale Dream for Me DK - but I was a bit worried so pop into Coles on the way back from work to pick up another ball of each. Luckily I can take it back and might swap it.

Gearing up

Hat Attack starts today and the pattern gets released some time between 2 and 8pm EST. So I worked that out and it seems that I won't be knitting hatty death until, at the earliest, 7 or 8pm (never could work out differing forms fo daylight saving).

Anyway I swatched using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran but it came out well over tension, when I dropped a couple of needle sizes I got the gauge but the fabric felt like card - I had lost off the squidginess of the yarn. So I thought next about using a thicker double knit and got some Patons Fairytale Colour Me DK and it seems to have worked out fine. Started with 4mm needels and a circuler swatch but it came up a bit large so ahave dropped a needle size and think that I've got it pretty much perfect.

I have my target's info but I think that I'll stay anonymous for a while to see how the competition goes. But she will have a hat of green and blue - perfect spring colours in those cold Canadian winter months.

Rant Alert - Rant Alert

This is going to be a rant so if you are easily offended by people having an opinion then please look away now.

Okay. . . so I have been battling away in Summer 2008 Yarn Smackdown and it's a well orgainised contest with loads going on.

I started on the start day on the 8th August and started knitting a pair of purple Starry Starry Night Socks. It took me a while to really get going as I was not feeling upto par and a few other things went a bit tits up so I didn't knock them out with my usualy gusto. I even thought about pulling out of the contest but things changed and I began to feel better so got the socks finished on August 23rd and posted off to my target the next day.

Hurrah hurrah I had finished without getting killed myself.

So I wait for my SIPs to be shuttled back to me, ready for me to kill again. I have no word from her, no registration of death, nothing. Then I get a letter saying that she's going to resurect herself as a zombie but isn't sending me the yarn as she's going to use it to kill her target. So I email her and say that the rules say the SIPs or the yarn comes to me so I can carry on in the game. I contacted the organiser who says that I can start with my own yarn or wait for hers but gives me my next target's dossier. So I pick the pins again and start to knit the second pair.

Again I hear nothing from my original target, so last week I emailed asking her to register her death, but hear nothing back. I know that people have different ideas of how these games should be played but I thought that this was just a bit off.

Now comes the big rant bit

So last night I got home and then was a parcel crammed through the letterbox - you've gotta love posties ;o) - and inside there was the yarn from my original target. It is awful: horrible, nasty, plastic and acrylic. It creaks when you move it. You could use it to stick babies to the ceiling with there's that much static coming from it. Wearing socks made from it and you'd probably be able to power your computer just by rubbing your feet together. It's BAD.



I know that not everyone can afford lovely yarns - times are hard and we are all feeling the pinch. But there are loads of good, basic and well priced yarns out there. I think that she just grabbed something 4 ply ish from her stash, bundled it into the envelope had done with it but this stuff is just blurgh!

But the main thing was that in the note she sent with it she didn't see why she should send the yarn and that she had looked and said that it said nothing in the rules. But it's really clear and questions from people new to these knitting battles are invariably about who do they send their WIPs to. She bascially got a nicely knitted pair of sock to her size, in a nice colour from decent yarn and then thinks that she doesn't have to send anything in return.

GGGRRRRHHHHHH, yeah fine, just expect me to knit for a complete stranger who then decides your time and effort isn't even worth a decent yarn in return to battle again with!!

OOOOoooo - I am so peeved

I am dead

Well Smackdown Scarf dead - many thanks to my lovely target Sephiroth who killed me with a lovely soft greyish scarf. I'll put some photos up later but the snaps I took last night seemed to feature my double chins more than I thought appropriate (it's not that kind of blog) so I shall take some more this evening with the camera on the tripod and see if they are any better.

Now there is the delightful chase of trying to hunt down WIPs and who they need to get to. I have contacted my target, but she is also dead so hopefully she can get in touch with her assasin to get her to send the WIPs scarf back to my assasin's assasin as Sephiroth is also dead. It can get very complicated - how does Helen (the boss of smackdown) keep it organised?

I'm still in with the socks and stole but oh dear, oh dear, oh dear am I having problems with the darned stole. I managed to mess the repeat up in two lovely ways and didn't spot it until I had added another 3" to the stole. Not only did I manged it across the row, I also managed to knit the same row three times. Obviously I cannot knit lace with slidey yarn and do anything else. No tv, no radio, no talking of any kind. The strange thing is, is that I have actually got the pattern in my head so don't need the chart or text. I just need to concentrate more.

Anyway . . . the socks are going well and I might have them finished in time for posting off on Saturday so that's nice.

Things aren't going well

The smackdown stole is never going to be finished - it's conspiring against me.

Last night I had to start again as I managed, not only to pull off the stitches from the needle but also managed to lose about 100 of the little blighters. Okay I know there are only 75 on the pattern but I thought that I should really start again. Grrrhhh!!!

Oh and I know that I said that I wouldn't have more than 25 things in my Ravelry queue but I have just added Fetching as my friend Sarah wants a pair so she can take photos without freezing her hands. I've already got the yarn in my stash so it'll just be a quick project once I have finished the socks for smackdown. Perhaps they will be a bus project (until Hat Attack starts)

Things do do (knitting)

Perhaps I need to get more organised so I thought that if I had a list of things that I should be knitting or at least finishing it should give me time to get it all done. I am not a miracle worker when it comes to knitting and although I can knit quickly, it can still be more interesting to start a new project than finish up an old one. I realised that my queue list on Ravelry was becoming unmanageable and unknittable so have started a process of rationalising it. Everything that I have queued is going into my favourites and then I am going to have a maximum of 25 things in my queue so I have a choice of things but only once I have finished them then will more be added. I can see me having thousands and thousands of favourites but I do like many many things so this isn't a problem.

So the list of WIPs - this includes those that are slumbering and hibernating (I'll add photos, possibly, when I get round to it)

• Grey Socks - these only need the very point of the toe to get them done and dusted but I lost the pattern and got excited about my Jaywalkers. I shall make them the priority as they could probably be done in an evening if I just GOT ON WITH IT!!!!
• Topsecret - I love this, the colour is great, I really enjoyed knitting it, it knits really quickly but I got a bit unstuck when it came to the decreases after the arms. I took off too many too quickly and it looked odd and certainly didn't fit. I have to frog back to joining the arms again and start over but really it might take a long weekend and it should be done. Perhaps it's the project for the next weekend I have without my lovely man - it will keep me entertained and I will have another project off the list.
• Striped Scallop Throw - just finish it. Perhaps I need to knit half an hour of this a day and it will get gone.
• Fluffy - I started this and now have a person who wants it, I just have to finish it off, perhaps a couple of nights maximum. If I can remember the pattern - mind you I was just making it up so it shouldn't be too difficult to get it sorted.
• Jaywalkers - these were started and one was completely finished and then I got sidetracked and started the second one. But never finished. I'd say a week of bus knitting should sort it out.
• BFF - again a half finished pair of socks, but again a week of bus knitting and it should be done.
• I Do shrug - this was meant to be for a friend and also my Tour de France KAL project but I managed to not finish it. I ran out of yarn and then the shop didn't have any more and I had to wait and then I got distracted and never went back to it.

So I have quite a list of things that need finishing - and that doesn't include those that I have already on the pins: Orange Boheme, Helena, Smackdown socks and Smackdown stole. Will I get them done? Of course I can and of course I will. No more things until I have them cracked.

Except the Aran that I am going to be knitting for my man's xmas present. He has been waiting for a couple of years so I really should get round to it.

Death is coming

But it's not all doom and gloom - my assasin for the Smackdown Scarf event has been in touch and I am on my way out. She did say that it might be a couple of weeks so I might get my grubby hands on another scarf before I die but since that one will also likely to be coming from overseas I think in reality that I'll die with just the one scarf kill to my name.

In a way that's a good thing and it will give me time to concentrate on other knitting project. I'm having a crack at Hat Attack this year. I don't tend to knit hats very often (if at all unless is is for a battle) but like the idea so will give it a go. I also want to get some of my old sleeping WIPs sorted out, and then there is the xmas knitting to sort too. I think that I am going to knit a few presents this year but I am making no promises as I get side tracked so easily.

On the Pins

So, at the moment I have 4 things that are being tinkered with.

A pair of lace socks - these are for Summer Yarn Smackdown. They are being knitted in Cygnet Wool Rich 4 ply which is a good solid sock yarn. It might not have the jiggery pokeries of some of the lovely colours and textures but it washes well and is hard wearing and I kind of like having solid colours to use too.


I am also playing with Helena - this is being knitted from the remnants of some Sirdar Salsa. I started ages ago to use this yarn for a cardigan but lost the pattern and my way so I decided to reknit a toddlers jacket for my friend's daughter. I really like to blue. I have modified it slightly as I didn't want it to be too long so left off the last set of pattern repeats. I'm also going to add buttons rather then the ties. I hope that she likes it.

There is also a Boheme but I'm not entirely sure who it is for. I got all excited as my cousin and his wife recently had another child and I thought that I would knit it for her but it is coming out huge. Mind you I am knitting it in an aran weight Finnish yarn - Novita Spektri Plus. This yarn was sent to me in a swap and Ireally like the texture of it. The colour is a little bit patchy for my taste but i think that it is knitting up very well. I have modified the arms slightly as I cast off with the picot edging that will be done for the hem too. Perhaps the sprog will grow into it.

And lastly I have the Summer Yarn Snackdown stole on the go. This seems to be taking ages even to do a small amount. The yarn is Sirdar Silky Look and it's a nice slinky yarn so I think that it is going to work well as a stole. Hopefully I can finish it before I get assainated by stole myself.

Death to Kaphine

In the nicest possible way of course. I have finished, blocked and posted off the lace scarf for the Summer Yarn Smackdown and it is soon to be flying away to the west.

I started with some yarn from my stash that I now recognise to be some of the ugliest yarn in creation. Brown is not a lacy colour anyway but it was just horrible, although it knitted up and showed the pattern well enough it was just wrong.



So I started again - hunting through the stash for something light and fluffy and fun and arrived at some Rowan Kidsilk Haze in pink. Hey presto! a lovely flightly scarf began to take shape and I am quite pleased at how it turned out. Normally I don't block things for these knitting battles but the scarf looked so much better for it and it didn't delay anything so Kaphine now gets a lovely scarf (well I hope that she thinks it's lovely) that is ready to wear.

Startings - again

This is going to be a much better blog - I like the name more already. I did have another blog that I have kept as an archive here but from now on I shall be listing everything on this one.

I am going to manly be chatting about my knitting experiences but also about my attempts to open an online store selling my vintage knitting patterns (I've also got one for postcards if anyone if interested). I'll also be prattling about my life every now and again. I'm not a terribly public person - although some might say I have exhibitionist tendencies but that's another story all together, but I am bit freaked by those blogs that give every little details.

I'm going to up date my ever growing list of WIPs (curses to Ravelry), probably on a weekly basis and possibly on a Tuesday, but there is one of those little gadget, widget things from Rav that has my wips (and that looks wrong in lower case) so that will give a more detailed list.

I am financially stuck at the moment (big time) so I shall be trying to not spend money and knit from the stuff I have in my stash so that'll be a challenge of it's own. Once I am in balance more with the cash I can see that I'm going to have to be really disciplined or it's all going to go tits up again.