When you're tired...........

you just have to sleep. After a busy day with friends, what's a girl to do?

WWKIP

We all had a fantastic day at Carrie's on Saturday for WWKIP day. Carrie is a wonderful hostess, a fabulous cook and great company. (And Abby is just gorgeous, more of Abby in a mo!)

It started out a little grey and so we sat indoors


knitting and enjoying a beautiful lunch of grilled (barbecued to us Brits) chicken, home made Quiche, fried sweet potato and butternut squash (my favourite) and a pasta salad with roasted veg. Mmmmm.

The weather brightened and became very sunny and warm so we decamped to the more "public" back garden and variously knit or spun whilst we tucked into dessert and homemade lemonade or tea. Look at the height of that cake, another masterpiece from Carrie. But just who was it that got the first largest slice?
You know who you are!!


And this (still huge) slice was mine alongside the white chocolate mini cheesecakes made by Kimberly. I followed this with a slice of Moira's mums Early Grey tea loaf (gorgeous!) So no diet on Saturday.

Necessity being the mother of invention,


Carrie improvised a great table for the garden, can you tell what it is yet?

Who's that looking uber cool and stylish in her new sun hat? Long time no see Sandy, so nice to catch up again, hope that leg clears up really soon.



Gotcha Moira, I know you hate being photographed but I finally caught you!

Mhairi and Kirsty, sisters, enjoying the sun!


Innes, getting to grips with her new camera before getting out her wheel and spindles for an impromptu lesson.
The gorgeous Abby joined us outside and was very taken with Kimberly, particularly her necklace and her......nose!

(photo is a bit blurry as I was laughing so much)

I had a thoroughly great day and spun quite a lot of my cherry alpaca

that has been sitting waiting for me to get back my spinning mojo.

Thanks Carrie!

On the "Once A Sheep" front, they say no news is good news but I still have no news on the lease (aaargh!) but I do have a viewing on a second property so there is still another possibility. I'll keep you informed!

My Iknit weekender tickets (Sept 11-12)

arrived along with my pass to two workshops "Socks Upside Down" and "Adult crochet" (that's crochet for adults by the way not the more lurid other possibility!) Really looking forward to this as I can't make Woolfest this year.

Meanwhile we have been busy in the garden and now have a (rather large) new deck,


patio and paved and gravelled area. It's not quite finished as you can see

so I am hoping for more good weather so I can get out and do the finishing touches. We also spent all of Sunday building Paul's new workshop. It turned into a bit of a marathon session and we were both suffering with sore backs by the end. But it is all finished and just needs filling with all of Paul's "best tools".

Mum and dad arrived back from their Balkan cruise on Saturday with gifts of some absolutely fabulous fibre from Estonia (weird how the fibre smells different to British sheep?) and some gorgeous sock yarn from Finland.

Looking forward to working with both of them, though not at the same time as enjoying the litre of Absolut vodka from Sweden!
Thanks mum they are lovely xx

Sleep deprivazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am tired.

So tired!

I'm not sleeping well, lying awake 'till 2.am. then waking again at 5 a.m.

It's making me forgetful and disorganised, which is pretty worrying as I only have half a brain anyway with the rest given over to mashed potato.

Why am I tired?

I have a major project on the go, really major, life changingly major! I have finally decided to commit to opening a LYS. (Local Yarn Store to the uninitiated.) This means I have a gazillion things to organise and money to find from, well, nowhere really. A store wasn't in the budget until a few weeks ago. There is one minor, teeny weeny fly in the ointment, I don't have my premises yet! I am waiting to hear whether I have been successful in obtaining the lease on my preferred premises. I really, really hope so. I have my heart set on it.

The best part has been searching out suppliers and choosing who would be a good fit for the feel of the place that I would like. Can't wait to start placing orders so I can touch and feel all that lovely yarn and fibre.

Who could want more than to spend each day, every day in pursuit of their hobby?

With all this tiredness though comes a downside, less knitting. I pick up my needles and I'm off to slip in a jiffy. (Maybe I need to pick up the needles at 2 a.m.!) I have finished my first sock from Cookie A.'s new book Sock Innovations. Here is Kai Mei. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino.


Not awfully well photographed as it was a "self portrait" late at night. I'll do a better shot once they are both complete. If you like socks, do look at this book it's fabulous, I like every single pattern even if a couple of the charts give me the heebie jeebies! (Do check the errata online though, as with all new books the proof reading is rather lacking - can you tell I'm a proof reader too?)

Didn't we have a lovely time...........

Isn't this what summer is all about?

The longest sock I've ever knit

All 5kms of it! Well I suppose, strictly speaking, the sock isn't 5km but that's how far I walked with my Gourock SnB friends whilst knitting at today's Race For Life.


I had to learn Magic Loop (thanks Kimberly for the last minute lesson) so that I could walk without the fear of dropping my DPNs. Turns out I really like Magic Loop and it's so fast too, well it has been so far on this vanilla sock at least. I'm using Meilenweit Mega Boots which is knitting up really nicely. I haven't done a plain sock since I first learnt to knit socks and strangely I am really loving this sock.

The day was great fun including the warm up aerobics complete with knitting, thanks to the nice man who held on to me as I almost fell (I didn't want to let go of the knitting you see).


This is where Kimberley dropped a stitch whilst negotiating a particularly tricky aerobics step!


We were really lucky with the weather which was bright and dry without being too hot, though the ground around Eglinton Country Park was still pretty muddy in parts. There were only a few casualties (dropped stitches) and we finished the course still knitting. (Kimberly, Rhona and I brought up the rear, Marion had Pete the dog and he wasn't hanging around for us and Mhairi had been told she had to win the race by her youngest son so she had to make it over the line before us!)


I managed to raise £185 against my target of £100 so I am very grateful to everyone who sponsored me. Perhaps by next year we'll be able to run whilst knitting! I wonder how much you would all sponsor us for that?From left: Rhona, me, Kimberly, Marion, Mhairi

On to more sedentary knitting. I completed a pinwheel pram blanket for Paul's cousin's baby when it comes. I'm pleased with the way it turned out and will definitely do it again. It's knitted with Adriafil Ice Cream which is 80% wool but so soft and snuggly.


I finally blocked Paul's Flaming Filey and finished it, he likes it so that's a good sign. Maybe he will even wear it.


My whirlpool socks are destined to be frogged the swirl pattern is pulling too tight and I don't like the way the beads sit. You can see what I mean! The yarn is far too lovely (Cherry Tree Hill) to be used on socks that I won't wear.


The sock started on RFL is now finished and I have started on its partner.

I have also finished knitting a square for Sandy's Stitches on The Bridge panel, but had to frog it twice to get the proportions right. It should only have taken an hour but actually took three! (Sorry no photo before I passed it on to Mhairi for her square).

Finally I have made a little more progress on my Unicorn scarf but I think I already mentioned the yarn just seems to go on forever so this could turn into a scarf Dr Who could be proud of.

Just look what the cat dragged in.......

Friday night at about 10p.m. Bitsy (the cat) skulked in clearly having been up to mischief. On closer investigation we saw something in his mouth, flapping its wings. We gave chase and as he dropped his little victim and it flew through the house we realised it was a pipistrel bat! This isn't the first time he has caught a bat but it is the first time one has survived.

We managed to trap it under a pan and found the Bat Lady on the internet. She gave us advice on how to put the poor wee thing into a box with a roost and some water. The next day we took him over to Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust. I've never been there before but what a fantastic place it is. It's set in 20 acres of land in Beith and is entirely funded by public donations. They will give him antibiotics and then contact us when he has recovered to release him back here where he belongs.

Here he is:


On to knitting. My unmatched pair of socks is finished and I am not hurrying to knit their partners as I'm happy to wear them as they are.


I started my May socks which are the Whirlpool Socks from Knitting socks with Handpainted Yarn. I really don't like the way they suggest incorporating the bead so after three repeats of the pattern I have changed to a more straightforward technique. The finish is much better but I am worried that the spiral pattern and small needles (2.25mm) are resulting in a tight fit. I need to put the sock onto a circular needle to check whether it fits. Frankly if it doesn't I am happy to frog it as I'm not feeling the love for it yet!

Maisy turned 5 on May 1st and despite us all having been laid low by a bug, we had a really lovely party attended by 20 of her wee pals. She was totally spoiled and received some quite fabulous gifts.


My Unicorn scarf is coming along nicely and is about 3ft long with no signs of an end to the yarn. The yardage is 400m but it feels like more. I love the feel of this yarn so soft and always slightly cool to the touch. The objective of the Unicorn club is to guess the composition of the yarn aided by a series of clues over the next 9 months. I'm thinking Angora or Alpaca with secell or silk. I think I need to get a few more clues before I make my mind up. The scarf is knit with my April Unicorn and I have now received my May Unicorn. Sadly I can't remember the name of the colourway but it is a subtle combination of pinks, reds and oranges.

I have had lovely news this week too, one of Paul's cousins had attended the fertility clinic to begin a course of IVF only to be told she couldn't have the treatment as she was pregnant! So I am now knitting for this special baby as well as another due in July to another of Paul's cousins.

I really need to get quicker at knitting as I have so many things I want to do! My poor spinning wheel is not seeing much action these days.

Jetlagged knitting!

It's hard to believe we have been back from Florida for over a week, apart from the fact that I still feel jet lagged, it seems to have been over so quickly. We had a fabulous time in a beautiful villa away from the tourist area but close enough to be easy to get to. We walked our legs down to stumps, shopped till we dropped and relaxed and swam in our lovely hot pool every day. This is where we stayed, the villas are surrounded by the golf course (golfers would love it, shame none of us actually play).

We aren't going back next year (this was our 3rd time in a row) but we will definitely be going back before too long.

A couple of things cheered me up on our return (apart from the fact that we left the day a tornado arrived). It was lovely warm weather which meant I could get out in the garden and get everything back in shape. We have plans for some hard landscaping so it was great to be able to do the plans actually outside instead of from the window!

Also my first order of Unicorn yarn arrived. It is so soft, just stunning. I decided to knit the Crest of The Wave Scarf with it and it's co-operating beautifully.


Flaming Filey is now finished and just needs blocking and finishing. I hope Paul likes it and it gets worn as it's been a bit of a labour of love (and it doesn't even have sleeves!)

You may have noticed that a little knitting took place on holiday though the heat and tiredness did limit how much I achieved. I knit one ankle sock in the June Apple Pattern from Yarn Forward and am 2/3rds of the way through a different ankle sock Inspiral Socks, also from Yarn Forward. The idea is that I will get round to knitting the partner socks but this way I won't get bored with one pattern.


Before we went away I held my Earth Hour Party, and thanks to all who came along, it was great fun. It was lovely when all the lights and music went off, much more atmospheric. I think I'll be turning the lights off more often (though not perhaps when I am knitting!).

I have now also booked accommodation in London for the Iknit Weekender in September. I got up at 6 a.m. on Thursday and managed to bag two nights for three of us at the Travelodge in Southwark for just £39 in total. Not bad! I am really looking forward to the weekend as much for the company as the workshops, yarn and fibre.

You'll see here that I have exceeded my target for Race for Life so thank you to everyone who kindly donated, Iguess that means there's no backing out now. I am planning to knit my way round the course so it could take twice as long! To anyone else reading this please don't be put off donating just because I have hit my personal target, the more the better!

Finally the applications for One & Other opened this week, I have applied and if successful plan to spin on the plinth for my hour. There are 207 places available for Scotland so do apply, there's a good chance you'll be picked! You can click on the link to find out more.

Knitting in the sun!

I am making small progress on my ankle socks but it's not easy knitting in the heat you know!

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

And we don't want to be dull do we?

Just a few snaps from yesterday!

It is not Spring until you can plant your foot on twelve daisies. (1863)

It is officially Spring in my garden! But how much better it looks now even when it returns to wet and windy weather.

Spring usually calls for a bit of a clear out and the start of new things, well that's my excuse for not finishing a few projects and starting on a new one!

Having been enabled to buy some fabulous Jamie Possum 4 ply at the Creative Stitches show in Glasgow recently, I just had to cast on. I started a pattern of my own making based on the Fibonacci principle but having got as far as the toe I fell spectacularly and unexpectedly out of love with them. I had no option but to frog as the yarn is far too lovely to be spent on unworn socks. As an alternative I found a free pattern on Ravelry called Midnight Waves,

I have almost completed the first sock with a few modifications of course. I am much happier with them now and am still feeling no inclination to get back to Filey. (Paul's vest top from Rowan 45).There is something about big garments that makes them much easier to cast aside when new yarn is calling.

The Gourock Stitch n Bitch volunteered as in previous years to help out at the Learn to Knit stand at the show in Glasgow. I went along on the Sunday but due to a change in the running of the stand I had only a very little time to peruse the stalls myself. I still managed to acquire the aforementioned Jamie Possum and two very large hanks of New Lanark DK. It was great to meet so many people wanting to learn to knit and I had so much fun chatting as I taught. It was a shame the stand wasn't quite as convivial as usual but who knows next year may be different again.

Mhairi, Kimberly and myself have now booked our tickets for the IKnit weekender in September. This year the event is on both Friday and Saturday and we're looking forward to a long weekend of knitting and fibrey goodness.

With the recent warm and sunny weather we have been grabbing every opportunity to get out into the garden and get ahead of the game. Potatoes are planted,

greenhouse repaired after the windy weather smashed a few panels, water butt reinstated, seeds planted, shrubs all pruned, weeding done and deck pressure washed.

All with the able assistance of Maisy of course! Most of the soil seemed to end up in the house on her clothes and ultimately in my washing machine. Still you've got to get them interested young.

Talking of environmental things (nice link eh?) I am having a wee bash at the weekend to coincide with Earth Hour. We'll be drinking and eating in the dark when all the power goes off at 8.30 p.m. I'm hoping to see darkness descend over Gourock as everyone does their bit to save the planet. I'm also hoping for not too much spilled food and drink before the lights go back on!

You'll also notice that I am doing the Race for Life on May 17th along with Mhairi, Kimberly, Marion and Rhona. If you haven't got charity fatigue by then, please do sponsor me I've made it really easy just click the link. Thanks!

Sunday was Mother's Day and was such a lovely day for me. I was woken by Andrew with a lovely cup of tea and then showered with cards and gifts. I got beautiful chocolates Lindt and Green and Blacks, both my favourites, but they will have to wait until after my holidays as I'm crash dieting this week! Andrew also bought me a fabulous sheep called Nellie,

created by Toni Goffe. The story goes that he and his wife were out walking when she observed that the poor sheep in the nearby field looked cold without their fleeces. Toni immediately set to sketching designs for handknit wearing sheep. He then produced a series of sculpted sheep called Ewe and Me,with individually designed knitwear. Nellie is gorgeous her expression is so funny as she sports her matching fairisle jumper and bobble hat! I think she may be a blue faced leicester!

As the day lengthens so the cold strengthens (1631)

First things first, I have still only completed one of Paul's Valentine's socks!
But really it's not my fault, honestly it's not. I had left Rowan 45 on my office desk, as you do, and Paul had picked it up and found Filey (see the picture on the left, and yes he is rather handsome, the model that is!). Other than socks, Paul isn't a great fan of knitwear, hats are a definite no go and the only jumper I ever knit him is to be frogged, never worn. But he rather fancied Filey, (the top that is not the model!). So in a fit of extravagance I bought the yarn, the actual Rowan Summer Tweed yarn (70%silk, 30% cotton), in the actual colour, Reef, to knit the actual top. (Lana Pura, excellent value for money and ultra quick delivery if you really want to know). The back is now complete and looking very good, even if I say so myself, but the yarn, despite the price tag is quite horrible to knit with, it's sticky on the needles and feels papery and rough, but it does actually knit up beautifully. So there's my, rather long-winded, excuse for not yet finishing the valentine's socks, maybe by next year eh?

Still on socks, I received Socks a La Carte in the post. I really like the concept of this book, featuring flip pages you can mix and match the cuff, leg and heel and toe combination. Where the book lets itself down is in the photography and the poor choice of yarn. The socks are all featured in the same yarn a dark variegated pink colourway that does nothing to show the stitch definition/patterns. The socks are all photographed flat, not on blockers or even on a real leg so again the stitch definition/pattern is totally lost. It seems a pretty basic error to me and I am disappointed, I think had I seen the book in the flesh so to speak, before buying, I would not have gone ahead and bought it. So no recommendation from me on this one I'm afraid.

Funny old weather for the time of year! It's been really mild some days, the daffodils are coming out already, and then freezing the next few days. I have been able to get out into the greenhouse though and got the tomatoes, cucumbers, rocket, radish, onions, coriander, parsley, basil and chives all going! It was so good just to be out in the garden even if I was still indoors! It may snow tonight so I made sure the propagator was on and the little heater too. I really need to get the raspberries moved before it's too late and I have found a little cranberry bush to plant which I'm quite pleased about.

Finally if any of you are readers of the Greenock Telegraph, please vote for my daughter Rhona who will be appearing in the Teen Idol competition! She (and I) would be awfully grateful.

A short horse is soon curried (1350)

As I haven't posted much recently I though better a short post than none at all. So here we go:

• At last my Anna socks are finished, I love them in the Kramer Sterling so pretty when they catch the light, the photo can't do them justice.
• I knit some of my New Lanark handspun into a Doorstop, stuffed with uncarded fibre and loads of rice. It looks good and works well, not bad for a design made up as I went along. Think I may do some more as all our doors are sprung (fire prevention idea but a danger to little fingers!)
• I had conceived a great idea to knit Paul some lovely red socks (Rowan 4ply oft in Honk) for Valentine's day. Well it seemed like a great idea at the time but after frogging 4 designs, I settled on knitting a self made design. Sadly that come out big enough for an elephant, and I was left only enough time to knit one as the love of my life was working from home for 2 weeks so no covert knitting was possible. He did however appreciate the sentiment and all the witticisms of my SnB group, mainly relating to his having only one leg, or only having one sockful of love etc. I frogged the sock again and am re-knitting an entirely different pattern!
  
• As I couldn't knit the aforementioned socks at home I had to cast on something else to avoid suspicion from himself. So I began the Spring Leaves top in Simply Kitting 51, in Jaeger Mohair Art. It's coming on fine, so far I'm liking it, the mohair doesn't seem scratchy at all. It's knit in the round so, whilst it seems that little progress is being made, it is growing the front and back at the same time. I like knitting in the round....no seams!
  
• My lovely friend Gale has her computer set up at last in South Africa and has signed up on Facebook. If anyone else is on she is here oh and I'm here!
• I have also signed up on Twitter which is quite absorbing once you understand what on earth it's all about. I signed up really to follow Stephen Fry but have found other lovely people (fellow knitters) too. Here I am on Twitter.
• Did I show you my washcloths? Trying to use up some cotton that was lying around, if I already have, sorry but here they are again!
• I sorted through my entire stash! Some I passed on to mum (I'm an indian giver I hope she'll knit for MJ with it!). Some went to the charity shop, Ardgowan Hospice, who are happy to take ball ends and odd balls for charity knitting. Two lots are to go on ebay and the rest is for projects. It was oddly exciting to do as I found all sorts of yarn I had forgottem about and had lots of fun trying to work out what on earth I had bought it for.
• I had some lovely comments from MJ's ballet teacher today. I had knit her a Garter stitch Loop Through scarf for Christmas. She said she wore it constantly through the recent snowy weather and she and her friends had nicknamed it "Maisy's mummy's marvellous muffler", how nice does that sound?
  

Well for a short post that wasn't bad was it?