Almost 60!!!!

60 things made this year, that is ;) This hat is #59 - and the mittens to match will hopefully be # 60 .... but who knows what will happen between now and 31st December!?!

This is a double moss stitch hat knitted in Colinette Cadenza DK in colourway Jay. It took about 30g so I'm hoping the leftover 20g will make the mittens. Fingers crossed!

And so quick to make too - about 3-4 hours in total.

This yarn is lovely to knit with - really soft and beautiful colours, too. I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone! And especially from Lexi who has come to live with us since July this year. Our 8 year old GSD died suddenly in June and DH was devastated. He immediately tried to find another - something I thought he'd never do as he'd always said no dog could replace Duke. When he found Lexi at Many Tears Resuce in Llanelli quite soon afterwards, I thought he was rushing into things but when we went to see her they bonded straight away. I was a bit wary to start with because she had been dumped and we didn't know her history (and with a 4 year old in the house you can't be too careful). But she has really settled in well with us. Our other GSD (Buster - 10 years old) loves her and we can't imagine life without her now. She's put on weight since we had her and seems much happier. If only all doggy rescue stories could have such a happy ending .............

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by http://vikingmama.blogspot.com/ .....Here are the rules: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

Weird things about me:

1. I like salad cream on top of beans. In fact, I like salad cream on top of everything!

2. I once had 15 pet rats. I don't consider this weird but everyone else did. ;) They stopped visiting!

3. I like drinking coffee but I hate coffee cream chocolates. Bleurgh!

4. I'm happy because I have my own office in work. Everyone else thinks I'm mad because I don't want to be in an office with 15 other people .......

5. I love eating raw potato. And no, I'm not pregnant!

6. I can't stop myself from starting new projects even when my WIP list is at #15 - eek!!

I haven't tagged anyone else yet but I will soon.

Aunty's Chunky Jacket

I finished this last night while watching the X-factor final (I'm soooo glad that Leona won btw!). It's for my aunty's birthday next Friday, along with a scarf and some socks.

I bought this kit from the Cardiff knitting and stitching show (back in October, I think). It was knit with four strands of yarn on 15 mm needles.

Here is the finished item (modelled by me) and also a WIP photo - the colour is more like the WIP photo IRL.

I hated using the 15mm needles - it was like knitting with broom handles. I was also knitting some socks at the time on 2.5 mm needles and going from small to extra-large was really odd. Give me 2.5 mm's any day!

Perugino Throw

No progress on the Jitterbug socks today unfortunately, but I have been working with another Colinette yarn (I *lurve* Colinette yarns :) )

This is the Perugino throw I bought in kit form from Colinette back in July this year - available here http://www.colinette.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=154581d3104af22/shopdata/0060_kits/0060_throws/0020_Perugino+throw/product_overview.shopscript .

It's a really easy pattern but it became quite large and unweildy towards the end so it got put to one side for a while while I concentrated on smaller projects.

It's in the Woodland colourway - I love it ;) It's just the thing for snuggling under on cold, wet winter nights

In the kit were 2 skeins of Giotto, 3 skeins of Mohair and 1 skein of Tagliatelli. I love the rich deep colours of the mohair and the variation in shades. However, I didn't enjoy knitting with the Tagliatelli, horrible twisty stuff IMHO!

FOs - Slipper-y and Sibling Socks

The photo on the left is my 'sibling' socks as I've taken to calling them. They are made with Schoeller and Stahl Fortissima Socka Color, which is really nice to knit with, on 2.5mm needles. Annoyingly, however, the subtle shade of orange in the first sock suddenly changed halfway through the ball on the second sock (no knots or joins or anything) into what looks, in real life, like luminous orange. I knew I'd never get this yarn to match identically, but now even the colour is nowhere near. I find this really annoying as I like my socks to be 'twins'. ;) (I'm anal, I know ;) )


The photo below - excuse the fuzziness - are the slipper-y slouch socks for my aunty for Christmas. To fit a size 6 foot on 2.5mm needles took exactly 100g of Artesano Alpaca (in Teal). I washed and blocked them and they are just the softest, most luxurious socks I've ever had my mitts on. ;) I really must knit myself a pair, they are gorgeous. And they feel so heavy too, which is really weird.

I've just cast on to make myself *yet another* pair of socks - I'm addicted! I'm using Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn which I got in a swap with Christina (aka Belaybunny). The colour is Velvet Olive and is a beautiful rich deep green. I'll hopefully post a WIP picture tomorrow. I'm only on the rib at the moment but I'm still not sure whether to go for plain stocking stitch or a woven k2 p2 pattern. The yarn is really soft and lovely to knit with. I'm definitely going to have to get some more of this!

Slipper-y Socks

I've already got 2 half-pairs of socks on the go, so what do I do? Cast on yet another pair! (rolls eyes and heaves a big sigh!!) And I was so determined not to get second sock syndrome! But, I'm not in any rush for those two so I thought I'd make my aunty a pair of slouch socks to wear as slippers around the house - hence the name - slipper-y socks - geddit?! Also, I'm finding the alpaca very slippery on my Addis. They're going to make a pair of really luxurious socks, they feel gorgeously soft. :)

I thought I'd make her up a "girl's-night-in pamper box" for her birthday which is 3 days before Christmas, which will include small bottles of hand, foot and face cream, chocolates, booze and these socks. (That's if I can bear to give them away, of course! ;) )

Subtle Socks

I decided against finishing any WIPs - ;) - and cast on these socks last night. I really love the very subtle tweedy colours. It's Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima Socka Colori 4000. I was going to make some knee highs but my son (age 4) has decided he wants some as well, so they're going to have to be slightly shorter. I usually make him a pair with whatever is left over and he's come to expect it now ;)

FO - Dog Sweater

I recently answered a request for "knitters wanted" on the Angel Yarns knitting forum. I was expecting to be asked for adult or children's garments - instead I was asked to knit a dog sweater.

The lady who designed the sweater is Faith Verity and she can be contacted via e-mail - fabdrum74@yahoo.com.

She e-mailed me the pattern formula and said I could pick any cable pattern I wanted. I love knitting cables so I was like a kid in a sweet shop trying to choose which one to go for. In the end, I went for the Celtic Plait in the middle, with a basic cable either side and moss stitch for the edges. I was really surprised at how quickly it knitted up - this design is for a 30cm sweater.

The yarn is Sublime extra fine merino dk, shade 016 (grape). This was the first time I've used this yarn but it was lovely to knit with and really shows the cables up well. I'll definitely be using it again.

The picture shows the back panel of the sweater. I also knitted a panel for the tummy/underneath which was all in moss stitch.

Now I need to decide what to start next - finish one of my many WIPs or cast on for something new? Hmm ............... cast on for a new pair of socks, I think. Now, knee highs or slouch? Decisions, decisions ;) ...........................................

Toasty Warm Hands :)

Well what a fab weekend project these Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers are. They probably took a total of 6 hours to make. I think they would have been too big had I used the 4.5 mm needles. As it is, they fit perfectly.

This is what I have OTN at the moment, cast on late last night (about midnight I think). I already have about 10 WIPs on the go but need these ASAP because my hands are freezing!

These are the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. I'm using Noro Kureyon #180 on 4mm needles instead of 4.5mm - no technical reason for changing the size of the needles, I just didn't have any 4.5 mms but it doesn't seem to have affected the fit.

I'm making these to wear when I'm on my computer, as the room it's in is absolutely freezing, even with the heating on.

The pattern isn't showing up that well yet but I'll keep going and see how it looks when I've done a bit more.

Things I've knitted so far this year

Right, let's see if technology is working with me tonight - it'll be a first if it is! ;)

This is a slideshow of most of what I've knitted this year since January -

http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/NuttyKnitter/?action=view&current=1163859067.pbw

*Dips Toe into Blogland*

Okay, I've finally had a breather from knitting and decided to create my own blog. I've thought about it for a while - so now here I am. I am a self-confessed serial knitter - if I'm not actually knitting, I'm planning my next project, organising my WIPs (unfortunately there are many), trying to organise my working hours around knitting or reading about knitting. I even dream about it. I'm a hopeless case. ;) Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos to prove that I actually do knit! Here goes .............