Well I promised pictures..

Sadly - or perhaps it's a good thing - these are not of knitting but of trees - Westonbirt Arborteum in all its glory!








The knitting is progressing nicely - I now have finished all the knitting on Foxglove and I've done 5 crochet leaves - just another 47 to go and the sewing up then!!

I'm tentatively suggesting to myself that I might manage to get it finished this weekend and at the same time trying not to get myself backed into a self-imposed deadline as I'm going out tomorrow evening to celebrate/drown my sorrows as my best workmate moves on to pastures new and I MUST go to the gym this weekend. I meant to go on Monday but felt under the weather, Tuesday was knitting and today I didn't get back from meetings in London until 9 - grr. Saturday it is then - I will report on my progress in due course!

PS the Monkey sock is addictive - I'll try to snag a picture at the weekend if it doesn't rain too much!

Another week passes

And yet again I have been missing in action from the blog. However, all is well; I'm back and here is the news.

Exciting thing number 1:

Baby N was born on 14 October. He is very cute and new-born - babies are so sweet when someone else has to clean them! I have duly dispatched the blanket and booties and hopefully they will have arrived by now (fingers crossed) with apologies to M and J for spelling their son's name wrong - blame his Granny and Great-Uncle and the grapevine!!

Exciting thing number 2:

Christmas is shaping up nicely - I finished project Christmas 2 yesterday (yes Zee - it's yours) and project 3 is on the needles and being carefully hidden from all and sundry. I've not got too many more Christmas projects this year (after last year's sock bonanza) so I'm ticking along nicely.

Exciting thing number 3:

Foxglove is flowering. Not much progress made from last week - I've done about a third of the last sleeve and no more leaves but the end is in sight and I think it will look rather pretty. It is a coral/pink/orange type colour that photographs very pink and so is hard to show you. I think it will need a vest underneath to stop it being too revealing a top and I'm currently trying to decide which colour will show it off to it's best advantage - I'm thinking green because then I will have coral flowers on a green background.

Exciting thing number 4:

Casting on/swatching. I have swatched again for my tangled yoke cardigan. 3.75mm needles came out a stitch too big and 3.5mm a fraction to half a stitch too small. I'm going to go with the 3.5mm because (a) I have a wider range of cord lengths in 3.5mm circs and (b) I like the fabric better. I was going to start as soon as I could and the startitis urge is still there but as I know it would be all too easy to put Foxglove in a bag and forget about her until next summer I am trying to hold out for an FO - time will tell.

I also needed something new for the morning commute so I have chased, caught up with, and scrambled onto the last inch of the Monkey bandwagon and cast on in some purple/pink/orange/grey Koigu. I've popped a picot edge on the top for variation and so far (the edging) they look good. I would have done more this morning but I spent the journey curled up under H's coat feeling sorry for myself because I simply can't get warm. I'm writing this from work still wearing my suit jacket and my scarf (all hail the warming powers of Argosy) and with a fan heater full blast at my feet and if I move an inch out of the heater's range I feel all chilly - the temperature has obviously dropped and the office has been cold over the weekend so it takes a while to climb back up again!

Exciting thing number 5:

Yesterday H and I met up with my parents at the very beautiful Westonbirt Arboretum which is midway between us (well slightly closer to us). The arboretum has a collection of Acers and Japanese Maple trees that are stunning colours at this time of year as well as a 2000 year old Lime tree (it looks like a thicket but it's all one tree) and lots of interesting berries and other pretties.

Piccies to come in due course but for the moment imagine all your favourite muted reds, oranges, yellows and greens together and you've got the picture of a day spent walking in the trees, eating pasties in the sunshine and catching up on all the family gossip - perfect!

Now having spent my lunchtime blogging I had better go and justify my existence to the paying establishment - as they say in Brummie-land "ta-ra for now!"

Sunday again

I can either claim that work has been really busy or that I was claimed by the dark side. I'm going with the Dark side.

at the moment H is trying to play grandmother[s footsteps up the stairs. O a tuyping wotjpit l;pplomg at tje leu npard tp see jpw ;pmg je cam strau frpze sp tjos ,au ,ale mp semse at a;;! E'S STILL TERE!

I think we have all proved I cannot type without being able to look at the keyboard once in a while - that should read "I am typing without looking at the key board to see how long he can stay frozen so this may make no sense at all! He's still there!" - as I said - point proved.

H is forgiven for trying to creep up on me on the basis that he was bringing me a medicinal port for my sore throat - yum!

Anyway... this week has, as expected, been a tad on the manic side. We also joined a gym last Saturday so we have been making sure we get out there often. I went 4 times this week and I'm pleased with that for starters - I wanted to go yesterday but the sore throat saw me tucked up under a duvet for most of the afternoon.

In between all of this I have managed to finish the sleeve on Foxglove which I started last week and I have ventured into the crochet and completed all the big and small flowers (11 in total). So just a sleeve and 52 leaves to go then!!

This has resulted in a profusion of late blooms in my garden as you see:


[NB - this is my Cosmos which was supposed to grow to 2 feet tall. It is now taller than me and I'm 6']
Actually, Calmer is a wonderful drapey yarn which makes it nigh on impossible to photograph except as a finished item so here are some folded parts of the garment:

If I showed you them spread out you would think the top is far more revealing than it will be!

It seems that the more you know about knitting and the more you know you can do, the more you end up fiddling with patterns. When I started knitting again I would have followed the pattern religiously and hope that I had chosen something that suited me when finished. Now I can work out how much extra length to add and how to adjust the front shaping and take depth out of the armhole and all these sorts of things so I do, to make sure that the finished item ends up as a smiley face and not an ugh. In all of this I find I'm giving the pattern for foxglove lip service rather than really following it. It's a great pattern but if I knit it as written on me it would have huge armholes and be far too short - isn't it great that we can change things!

I've also made pretty good progress on a pair of Christmas socks for a non-reader and a little Christmas magic for someone who does read this and all is well with the world!

Finally, a little plea for inspiration: H and I run our embryo church youth group. We had four teenagers today, two from very traditional church backgrounds and two who we met in the churchyard one week and invited in. They are all rather wary of each other at the moment and it's been a little while since I was a teenager so any ideas on how we can break the ice between them would be gratefully received.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The end is nye

Well sort of. Tomorrow I officially return to work but actually I'm going out on a site visit so the e-mails will remain unread for another day (phew!). It is somewhat putting off the inevitable but right now that's OK by me.

I have LOVED being on holiday even though it's gone far too fast and I've LOVED being able to spend time with H and the family without their being any time pressure or need to get other things done.

I've also done a ton of knitting while H painted and that too has been relaxing. So in achievements I can list a completed baby blanket (still no baby - as far as I know); a completed cushion cover (non-knitting but one of my oldest UFOs), a completed Argosy scarf and serious progress on two Christmas projects (over half way on one and just about half way on the other). Thanks to Ravelry I have also discovered all the other things that I want to make for Christmas but may well have no where near enough time!

Foxglove is my main knit at the moment and I have finished both fronts and the back and I'm making progress up the first sleeve. I think I like how it will look but a lot depends on the crochet flowers - I joined the shoulder seams and discovered that the arm holes were far too deep and the whole thing was gapeing off me in a most revealing manner so I have taken 4" out of the arm hole and it now looks a whole lot better. I think when the flowers are on and the ties are in there will be a dramatic improvement. I hope so anyway because the colour is lovely and the knitted fabric has a wonderful soft drape. With a bit of luck I will figure out the crochet easily enough and be able to make the flowers on the train - time will tell so watch this space!

In the meantime the stress levels are starting to build (my presentation tomorrow is the main reason we are going on a site visit) so I'm going back to my stst sleeve for comfort!

Not Knitting but...

I'll just wait for you all to pick yourselves off the floor.

Whilst knitting is my main hobby (as you can tell) I also love cross stitch and have dabbled in quilting and it is in quilting that we find my oldest UFO. In July 2005 the Lovely Husband, the Best Friend and I went on an America trip flying into New York for three days and then driving up to Boston through New England. It was wonderful and we were there for 4th July and saw a staggering amount of fireworks let off in the East River (I think? - we were by the UN building to watch them so wherever that is).

Anyway whilst on our craft shop crawl, sorry, holiday, I came across a bundle of brushed cotton fat quarters in blue, cream and red stars and stripes and needless to say they came home with me with a plan to make a big squishy cushion. We also found some wonderfully cheesy printed fabric with fireworks and the US as backing.

It wasn't until almost a year later that I found the pattern I wanted to copy - called America's Sweethearts in a quilting magazine and very slowly I have been putting the patches together on the machine.

And now... well it's finished. I decided that with a two week holiday-at-home there was really no excuse for not making a bit more progress so yesterday we bought the wadding, the cushion pad and a zip and yesterday afternoon I finished the quilt top and quilted it. As you see it doesn't have much quilting - I outlines the hearts and the stars and put in some straight lines to hold it all together but that's pretty much it. I also added the centre button - red with stars - it just seemed right.

Finishing the quilt was one thing; making it into a cushion cover is quite another. I am trying to get better with my sewing machine so I decided that this cover would have a zip rather than just being a slip cover and a concealed zip at that.

There are some fantastic instructions on inserting zips here and while I don't have a concealed zip foot for the sewing machine (I think I might get one though), I just tried to uncoil the zip teeth with my fingers and sew as close to the teeth as I could - I'm pretty pleased with the result:

If you've ever watched my family wrap Christmas presents trying to get the paper lined up just so then you will know that I am every inch my father's daughter.

So here's to memories of a wonderful holiday and some pictures of my finally finished object:


As you can see the concealed zip is not so invisible when under a bit of stress but for a first attempt with the wrong foot it's good enough for me!

Now when I said not knitting I probably should have said "not exclusively knitting". Foxglove it a bit bigger but makes very unexciting phography and the world outside is too grey to add interest by itself (plus my garden has seriously big weeds).

However, as Mary has now moved to the same county it seems only right that we should celebrate with knitting, tea and cookies. And so Sunday afternoon passed. The cookies were delicious (thanks Mary), the company was excellent and by the end of the afternoon Mary had made some serious progress on a small person sized sleeve and I had finished Argosy (but forgot to take any pictures until today)!:


I feel that Argosy missed out a little on the blog because for many weeks it has been my alternative "pick up and do a few rows" knitting, perched on the arm of the sofa. The pattern is interesting enough to knit a scarf full and yet shows off the silk to it's best advantage. I also had plenty of silk to make it which made me very pleased as I like a scarf long enough to wrap aroung my neck and tuck into the front of my coat. Now that it is October I fully anticipate needing a scarf in the mornings and this will be perfect.

So then, Foxglove, a sock and ...... A tangled yoke? - wait and see!

The Explorers Return

The last few days have seen H and I take a little road trip north to see siblings and family (ah the life of those of us not at work for two weeks).

We set off on Wednesday and drove up through the Lake District:

Sadly without time to stop so the pictures are from the car, and crossed into:

Land of extraordinary spelling and Picts so strange the Romans built a wall to keep them out. Fortunately Braveheart is not a permanent fixture.

A land where giraffes roam the pavement:

And the pigeons have got rather plump and heavy

- welcome to Edinburgh.

Whilst we spent much of our time with family we did have a chance to potter round a little bit and we really enjoyed the Scottish National Gallery which while much smaller than the National in London has some lovely pictures and is well worth a look.

The other little gem we discovered was an exhibition of tartan weaving largely disguised as a shop and with opportunities to grockle at every turn. However, it was free and you could lean over the balcony and see the machines at work

- it was fascinating and the fibre-aholic in me was rather taken with the shelves stacked with yarn ready for weaving. Interestingly, while the machines go very fast, the tartan grows rather slowly.

I took the Kauni cardigan to protect me from the sharp Scottish cold and it was needed - we watched the thermometer drop as we drove up the motorway - a good 5 degree difference and it got warmer as we came back down again into England.

I can however assure anyone making a Kauni cardigan that it is now an internationally recognised symbol of a knitter after the Rowan consultant in John Lewis in Edinburgh turned round to me in delight to pat my arm (universal knitter's handshake) having recognised the cardigan!

So then, a bit of knitting. Now I know none of you will find it strange that I took 4 projects with me for a 3 day trip.

First off I picked up the Argosy scarf which has a wonderfully mindless pattern and quite short rows - perfect for motorway knitting:

I am now well over half way and I've started the second ball of silk which, as you can see, has a great deal more blue in it than the first half. Whilst it shows up clearly when photographed like this, in real life I think the colours meld better and it won't be noticeable unless you really analyse the scarf. In any event this is French hand-dyed handspun silk so it's blue or nothing and I love this scarf. The yarn has a little bloom and will probably pill something chronic but it is soft and autumnal and fits my current green whim.

Next on and off the needles was wee baby sock number 2 - I am now fully prepared for the arrival of Baby R - no news yet though:

And then the picture-less projects. I have started a little Christmas knitting - it isn't for anyone who reads the blog so there may be a picture in due course but not just yet. I also figured out the maths to make the decreases on the front of Foxglove match the extra length I added to the back in all the right places.

And finally....

I promised pictures of the finished blanket:

For Baby R

Or will he be E?

Dear Baby R

My little second-cousin-to-be: I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected from among my readers to make your way into the world shortly (all the others have already done so).

Your bootees are ready, you have one wee sock and most of all:


You have a blanket. It is soft and beautiful as always and will help you to play with your letters at some point (I double checked and they are in the right order). Despite all of my mutterings about endless edging triangles and dejected sighing when I realised that there are 100 edging triangles in total, this blanket was made with much love, to give you the very best welcome into the world and into my family that I can give and by the special request of your Great-Uncle (who it must be said has very good taste in these things).

I know that as you get bigger you will chew the edging, drop it in puddles, make tents with it and I hope it will stand the test of time. Now if you want to hang on for a bit I'll finish off your other sock and rescue your blanket from the washing machine.

Otherwise, Mum-to-be of Baby R; fire at will.

Love Cariemay

PS - let me know if your name begins with E- I am studying the corrolation
PPS to everyone else - proper photoshoot and details will follow later

PS

PS - while we were out today I saw a set of interlocking foam mats. There were 4 and they looked a good 50cm2 each and very reasonable and they struck me as just the thing for blocking.

If anyone has ever used foam boards rather than towels on the spare room floor please let me know (a) whether they work (with or without a towel on top) and (b) whether the dark grey colour would come off on the knitting?

Top to Toe

Fear not lest you be alarmed that this post contains some of yesterday's substitute photographs - it does not.

After more mammoth knitting sessions (my favourite), not only have I finished the centre square but also the top and tail borders. The weather played along (temporarily) and this morning (possibly afternoon, I'm on holiday and a little fuzzy about time) this is how Baby 3's blanket looked (note autumnal foliage and be reassured that the blanket will be going through the washing machine before being sent to baby):

I have two borders to go and I am determined to finish it over the next couple of days so that my holiday knitting can all be for meeeeeeeeee!

Oh yes, holiday. I am not at work. I was not at work this morning. I will not be at work for any of the days of this week. Nor will I be at work next week. Hee hee hee. For some mystifying reason this makes me prodigiously happy (tee hee!).

On a complete tangent it is noteable that on the first morning on which we really could sleep in guilt free we were woken up by two big storms and the postman arriving at 7.15am with a parcel (it was a knitting parcel and I made H go downstairs and get it - oops!).

Now then where was I, oh yes: Baby Blanket 3. Now that I have only two borders to go I am becoming more enamoured with the project again although I am determined that if I ever make another one of these again it will only be for one of my own babies and that won't be for a while. Watch this space for a newly finished object.

Speaking of things that are finished ....

This afternoon we were in Coventry and after queuing at just about every bank imaginable I got a good 50mins people watching time in Starbucks waiting for H. Cue Ipod, blackberry and gooseberry smoothie, apple cake and a traveller's sock;
And now there are two:

This is my best attempt at photographing the cuff - it is very pretty and worth the effort.

These socks fit beautifully (as most Nancy Bush patterns do), the yarn is soft and cosy (.. can you tell I'm still wearing the socks), and I've got another favourite to add to the sock drawer. Thank you little sister Zee for the birthday yarn xx.

I also got out in the garden today to discover a "late developer":

About time too! It is possible that our not-so-very-giant sunflower feels a little intimidated by the neighbours:

Our sunflower is the one in the bottom left!

Manic Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday ...

Blogging has sadly been lacking from the curiculum for the last week as H and I gear up for a wonderful two weeks off work (it's wonderful but hasn't quite sunk in yet!). Unfortunately being off work for two weeks means making sure that your work is in a state that can be left for two weeks hence the manic. Now, enough worky-talk; all is play for the next two weeks.

The time not spent working has been spent knitting like the sheep were about to come and ask for the wool back. Baby 3 is due shortly and I am determined that he (for it is another he) shall have a finished blanket to greet him.

The fact that this is the third blanket within 6 months means that it has rather lost the novelty value and somewhat removes my incentive to blog about it - that and it's dark when I get home at the moment so I can't take particularly good piccies.

I started while I was waiting for Kauni to dry and 1 week later it looks a little bit further on than this:

this is actually blanket 2 but under better light than any current picture of blanket 3.

So.. 1 tier and 4 borders to go and we will be ready to welcome Baby 3.

On a side note - Babies 1 and 2 were both boys and both named E - I already know that Baby 3 is a boy so the question is - (1) do I get a hat trick on the names as well and (2) can you influence a baby's gender by knitting an alphabet blanket?

No need for a hairdryer..

Patience, and time spent practicing crochet appear to have won.

Well you know what this means:


Kauni is truly finished et voila enough sunlight remained to take a photo under natural light (ish).

I am very pleased with the finished cardi - it has softened up a lot in the wash and is warm and snuggly and everything I wanted it to be.

So then, those steeks.... there seems to be lots of advice on how to finish off your steeks ranging from the "just leave them alone" to binding them in with another bit of knitting/ribbon. I've gone for a combination approach.

The steeks on the neckline and round the armholes I have trimmed and left well alone:

They aren't under any stress and will never be seen and will gradually felt into the main body of the cardigan.

The steeks on the button bands however, may well be seen and could get pulled about a bit. The best tips I found were from the Rainey Sisters who have a method of crocheting on a steek edging. I haven't done eactly what Sally suggests - I folded the steek along the line of the third row of stitches from the edge so that the third row was on the edge and then did a line of double crochet through both arms of that third stitch. At this point the rest of the steek band was still attached (also I mean English double crochet which might be US single - it's all very confusing).

I then very carefully cut the edge of the steek away from the crochet edge and it all holds together very nicely (for the moment). If at a later stage it all falls apart and is an unmitigated disaster then I will cover it all up with some pretty ribbon!

And just for a giggle - proof that I was blocking in the back garden!!

I needn't have worried about running out of yarn either - here are the leftovers!

Today is obviously the day for presenting FOs to the world. Another "project in a commute" on the train this week were these adorable booties for baby R in leftover Sugar Maple yarn from my Conwy Socks. Simple, quick and very cute - just about sums it up!!

Patience is a virtue

Kauni is finished. Kind of. The knitting part has been finished since Thursday at which point I washed and blocked it. I still have to finish off the steek edges (I'm thinking some version of crochet) and sew on the buttons but the wretched/lovely thing isn't dry.

It's been drying since Thursday night - a day on the spare room floor and outside since this morning. Is it wrong of me (and indicative of the state of modern society etc) that I really want to take a hairdryer to the button band?

Piccies will follow in due course but for now I'm saving the surprise!

Just a little something

Do you see what I see?

The leftovers of Traveller's sock number 1 makes this impossibly cute little baby sock. In a day's commute!! Seriously it's very very cute and the pattern is here (all hail Ravelry for finding it for me!)

This sock will be joined by a friend as soon as I finish the other Traveller's sock and they are to be for Baby R who is due at the beginning of October and is a wee baby boy, hence wee baby boy coloured sock!

And Mary .... I see your plant and raise you a guitar!

The Dark Side

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
It is a morning of Saturday. Rebel knitters, striking from a hidden base behind the stash, have won their first victory against the evil Empire of the Hook.
During the battle, Rebel knitters managed to acquire skills to recreate to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Granny Square, an armored afghan with enough power to destroy an entire planet's interior decorating tastes in the early 1970's.
Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents (thoughts of entire crochet projects) , 'Princess' Carie (Fisher?!) races home aboard her starship, custodian of the knowledge that can save her knitting and restore edgings to all the Rowan patterns....

Dum-dum-dum-de-de-dum-de-de-dum

It is true, I have fallen victim to the dark art of crochet! Web of Wool run a series of fantastic workshops throughout the autumn and this week it was Basic Crochet. As Foxglove requires a few crochet flowers and leaves I decided that it was high time I learned properly rather than fudging things as I am wont to do whenever crochet has been required in the past.

Despite all the Star Wars jokes it was a fantastic day and having a small group meant we got a lot of individual attention. It sounds daft but the most useful thing was learning how to hold the yarn and the hook and which way to wrap the yarn. Having forced myself to get used to two-handed knitting for fairisle it wasn't too alien a concept to have yarn in my left hand and I think that helped a great deal. We worked on a little bag project, edgings, circles and the ubiquitous granny square and at the end of the day I had produced:


Half a bag - one side and one handle to be precise



and a strip of lace edging and a granny square with a colour change.

It was a lovely relaxing day talking knitting and crochet and rugby with everyone and I was sorry when we ended. After a little bit more practice this morning look what I have:



I asked H what we could use a small green string bag for and he replied "keeping green string in" - right then!!

Least you feel I may have entirely embraced my inner vader (what do you mean, why am I wearing all black and suffering breathing difficulties?) I can announce a massive bout of startitis which I have wallowed in. Work has been a bit tough this last week and will continue to be that way for the next couple of weeks at least so I dove into the stash and brought out a treat:



This is the start of Argosy using some wonderful hand-dyed and handspun pure silk which H and I bought in Paris in the spring. The colours are beautiful, and it's luxury knitting. I have no idea how much I have in yards - I have two skeins, I've added another pattern repeat widthwise and I'm going to knit until I run out of yarn. It's going to be a lovely snuggly autumnal scarf.

In Kauni news I have knit the neckband:


As you can see I followed Melinda's route and unpicked the cast off steek stitches to have a neckline steek - it is a million miles easier to work corrugated rib in the round as I am now discovering - I cut the centre steek this afternoon and I am very slowly going back and forth on the button band.

Finally, I finished a sock. This is a singular sock at present but deserves a mention because it took ages - the Travellers Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road - the cuff pattern takes ages.



In the immediate future I have plans towards a pair of baby socks, baby booties and I have another small pile of cream baby Cashmerino signalling that it is now BLANKET TIME!! Baby number 3 is due in early October and I'm warming up my fingers as we speak.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend

Comfort Knitting

Life has been pretty fast paced recently and as you all know, when the going gets tough, the tough retreat to the sofa with a Pimms and their comfort knitting.

Kauni is still waiting a neckband and some button bands - in the meantime foxglove has grown a back.

I'd love to show you some wonderful arty photo but as will be the norm for the next nine months it's dark now and anyway the back is a riveting stretch of coral coloured stst.

In an attempt to liven things up I've added a few friends.

The dolphin is south american (I think) and was a present from my father who saw it and knew that I would love it (as indeed I do). The whale is a present from New Zealand from my parents - if you pull out the eye it all comes apart as a jigsaw puzzle and when it's together it has nice curves from its joints!

These:

are my more impressive finished object - actual tomatoes which survived the drought/flood/drought weather we've been running. They were yummy!

And finally, grow your own sunshine!

We planted a mixture of yellow giants and these red ones but the fat pigeon ate the tops of the giants. The giant in the background is over the fence and belongs to the neighbours who have apparently managed to intimidate the fat pigeon - I must ask them how!