A lucky couple of days :0)

Yes, I certainly have had a lucky couple of days, and I am very grateful to whoever it is "up there" who's looking over me. :0)


Last sunday, I won the The Yarn Grove's prize for the Under Cover Club afghan which I finished in December 2007. I loved receiving the squares to knit each month and the finished afghan has certainly kept me warm since Christmas - it's been sitting on the back of the chair in the living room, ready to keep me warm on a cold winter night or when I've been shivering with the 'flu. :0)


And this morning, DH woke me at 1am to tell me I'd won the lottery. I was just about to start shouting at him for waking me up *just* for a tenner (three numbers), when he told me I had 5 numbers!!! I got up straight away at that! I have won .... £1,373. Not enough to give up work and retire ;0) but enough to pay some bills (and pay for our holiday at the end of next month) and have some "guilt-free" spending at Wonderwool on 26th April. :0)


I've had a stupid grin on my face all day!


And finally to some knitting. I finished my Sockamania socks for February some time last week but my didn't take a photo until today - and then my camera died on me and I haven't been able to find my batteries. *rolls eyes*


These were made with Fyberspates merino tencel in Sherbet colourway on 2.5mm circs and I love them. :0)

















I'd also like to say thanks for all the comments I had on my last post. The dog coats will be sent off ASAP to keep the dogs warm at Many Tears

but unfortunately I haven't been able to get any further on my Sirdar cable jacket. I've been working on a commission for the company (Sirdar) which was for a stocking stitch summer top with (very) short sleeves. No problem. Or so you'd think!


It's knitted in Just Soya, which is lovely yarn but has been causing me major problems. :0( My tension was out, so I went down to smaller needles, then the knitted fabric looked very "bitty" and uneven. Even DH mentioned it! I'll be ringing them tomorrow to see if it's the yarn they've sent - or just me!


And look away NOW if you've just eaten. LOL! DH, who is 6 in April, has just lost his 2 lower front teeth and wanted me to blog about it! His new teeth had come through before the old ones came out, so I'm hoping they'll all "line up" eventually. ;0)


Ready?

















Eww! Yet he thought it was sooooooooooooooo cool to have his teeth and gums on show on the 'net!













Oh, I almost forgot. I was nominated recently for a "You Make my Day Award" by Belaybunny. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have to nominate 10 people in return.


The ones I nominate so far are:


Aknita - Queen of the Forest Canopy Shawl! A Very, Very Nice Person! And As I'm not so well travelled myself, I love to see her holiday pics. :0)


Posh Yarn - I love Dee's yarn and I love reading her blog too. I'm Very Jealous that she lives in a place I would LOVE to live myself!


CJ - who nominated me in the first place, and who is another lovely person I've met IRL. I am in awe of the fact that she has started sewing clothes for her little ones. They are just soooo cute (clothes and little ones!). I can't sew a straight line to save my life !


BlueADT_Knits - This one is for a fellow dog lover who resuced a puppy and gave her the best life she could have wanted. :0) I've followed Blue's illness for a while and was very sad to hear she had passed away. :0(


I'll be nominating more people later and letting them know that they've been nominated. :0)

Where does the time go?

I really don't know where these last few weeks have gone. It doesn't help that a bout of D&V one week and 'flu the next have left me feeling weaker than a wrung-out dish cloth. :0( But enough of my whinging! Onto the FOs and WIPs. ;0)

I finished the first baby blanket for my cousin at the beginning of this month. I used 2 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK, yarn held double on 6mm needles.

One down, two to go ......


I finished these socks for my son, also at the beginning of this month. This was a ball of yarn I've had in stash for ages after I did a swap with an online friend. It had no ballband on it, so could be anything really, but from the feel of it I'd say it's Opal. I used my usual toe up pattern on 2.5mm needles.









I've almost finished this month's Sockamania pattern - Simply Love. Again, this yarn has been sitting in my stash for ages just waiting for the right pattern to come along. And here it is.

The yarn is Fyberspates Merino Tencel in the Sherbet colourway, which reminds me of Battenburg cake so you can imagine what I've been obsessing about since starting these! ;0)





I love the twisted cable on the rib, too. It was a bit difficult to start with - twisting through the backs of loops - but wasn't too bad once I'd got going.

It was worth it because it really finishes the socks off nicely.


In between my first and second Sockamania sock, I made this - Regia Silk Colour on 2.5 mm needles.

Again, this was yarn I swapped online and I really must buy more - it's lovely to knit with and feels great on the foot. I managed to get a nice long leg from the first 50g ball too. The second one will be started once my Sockamania socks are finished.





The newest Knitting magazine arrived yesterday before I went to our knitting group meeting in Pontypool. There was a lovely cable jacket on the back which kept nagging at me the whole time I was there, so I popped into my LYS on the way home and bought some wool to make it. They didn't have enough of the shade of Sirdar Click Chunky I wanted, so I went for Sirdar Peru Naturals in the Machu Picchu colurway (# 0553).

It's the first time I've used this yarn but I really like how it's knitting up, it feels a lot softer than it does on the ball.

I'm using 6.5mm needles as recommended and it's knitting up nice and quickly, which is always a bonus. ;0)

At the knitting group yesterday, I didn't get much knitting done because I was teaching 2 new members, Alison and Ruth, how to make toe-up socks. .

However, I did manage a few rows on another dog sweater - this time in Bergere de France Sport in a khaki colour.











On the topic of dog coats, I'd like to say a very big thank you to Alison and her mam who knitted some dog coats to be donated to the Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli.

Alison made this one.













And her mam made the other three. The blue one is extremely soft and I just want to keep stroking it. ;0)

So thanks again for all your work in making these sweaters - the dogs will really appreciate being toasty warm when they're wearing them. :0)

Now where did I put that pattern ..................... ???

These past few days I've searched the whole house, high and low, 2 or 3 times in each room, searching for a pattern - King Cole #2242. I've had this pattern for over 20 years and now I've been asked to knit another 3 blankets, I've lost the blooming thing. I posted on forums to ask if someone might have a spare copy - they don't - and I've e-mailed the company (who probably won't be able to get back to me until next week).

It was only after e-mailing the company that I found some photos I'd taken of the blankets I made last year, nice close ups. So good in fact that I could see how many stitches I had OTN and from there work out the pattern. It was a toss up between sl1, k2tog, psso or k3tog on the pattern row - I went for the sl1, k2tog, psso in the end because it looked more like the photo. ;0)

And this is what I have at the moment -
















2 of my cousin's friends have had baby boys recently and one is due next week. She wants me to knit three blankets in a fortnight! She's got no chance! I have, however, agreed to get one done within the next fortnight and let her have the other 2 as soon as I can. (I do have a life, you know, and DS and DH demand to be fed occasionally!)

I've been knitting dog sweaters again for Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli, South Wales. They're short of Labrador-sized sweaters at the moment so I'm using some Sirdar Country Style DK in Teal that I've had in my stash for over 2 years - it was originally bought to make me a cardigan but by the time I got around to using it, I'd gone off the pattern!
















And I'm only 10 rows of rib away from finishing these socks for my aunty. Remember the merino/tencel ones which I'd promised her and then kept myself? Well, these are to make up for it. ;0)















The yarn is The Yarn Yard Soulmates sock yarn in the Arm in Arm colourway. I have 50g of the variegated left over and 10g of the solid so I should be able to make another pair of socks for myself out of that. Excellent value for money, I'd say.

My Fearless Foray into Fair Isle Continues

Yes indeedy, I have overcome my fear of fair isle and, following success with the Corazon mittens in December, I decided to purchase a few patterns from Red Bird Knits - I got Andes, Bird Foot and Winter Dreams.

In my stash, I had some Regia 4 ply in 'King's Blue' (aka navy!) which went perfectly with the January 2007 Posh Yarn sock club yarn in 'Twinkle'. I can't believe I've had this lovely PY yarn in my stash for a whole year and haven't used it. I loved the colours of it but it just didn't seem right with any pattern or even plain socks for that matter. However, when used as the contrast yarn for this pattern, I think it really hits the spot. :0) I'm so glad I waited for the right pattern to come along. :0)















This is knit top down - I know I've been obsessed with toe up for the past however-many months, but I thought I'd make an exception for this pattern. ;0)

This is the inside of the heel flap - I'm about to start the gusset shaping.















And here's a close up of the pattern. I'm using 2.75 mm Knit Picks circs to get gauge of 8.5 sts per inch.

I finished my Cascading Leaves shawl on Friday evening - here it is blocking.

I love the way it's turned out. :0) It's just the right size - 66 inches wide x 37 inches deep.





























Started: 9th January, 2008
Finished: 18th January, 2008
Blocked: 19th January, 2008
Yarn: 155g of Posh Yarn Lucia in the "Deluxe" colourway
Needles: 4mm KnitPicks Options
Pattern: Cascading Leaves by Vicki Mikulak

I did 13 pattern repeats and had 363 stitches on the needles at the end. It took about 10 minutes to knit 1 row.

And this is the gorgeous Perl Gray shawl pin which I bought from Purlescence. It's just right for fastening my gorgeous new shawl. :0)

Where have the past 2 weeks gone?

I can't believe it's almost 2 weeks since I last blogged - the time has just flown by. However, it does mean that I have a few FO and WIP pics to show you.

I finished these 2 dog coats in December but didn't around to sewing on the buttons until yesterday. The patterns are from K9 Knitters and the coats will be going to the Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli, South Wales. This is the rescue where we had Lexi, our GSD, from.
















These coats are small and medium-sized and are made from 100g of Sirdar Countrystyle DK on 4mm needles.

I made this coat yesterday - pattern again from K9 Knitters - this time using 300g of Sirdar Bonus Chunky. It's quite a large coat and would probably fit a Labrador or small GSD. The others are quite small - Yorkie sized probably. ;0) My knitting group - The Bag Ladies - have agreed to knit some more as Many Tears are desperate for knitted coats for their rescue dogs at the moment.
















This is my first FO of 2008 - a PSP sock for a friend of DH. It's made with 10g of Opal Rainforest Tiger (4 ply) using 2.5 mm Knit Picks circs and I made the pattern up as I went along.
















The second FO of 2008 is another multi-directional scarf (I gave my mint-choc-chip one away as a Christmas gift).
















This one is made with 1 skein of Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn in the Tapis colourway using 3.5 mm Knit Picks needles.

I finished these socks yesterday - Anni's January Sockamania pattern.

It's a lovely drop-stitch rib pattern and knit up really quickly. I used Fyberspate's merino/tencel sock yarn in the Rusty Spoon colourway which was given to me as a gift in a Christmas swap on the Knitting Haven forum.

I love the colours and the sheen on this yarn. I think it really goes well with the pattern. I knit these toe up on 2 x 2.5mm Knit Picks Options circs and did 60 rows for the foot and 96 rows for the leg - I like a nice long sock. ;0)

Initially, I had promised these to my aunty but I loved them so much I couldn't part with them. *LOL* However, to ease my guilty conscience ;0) I'm going to cast on a pair of socks for my aunty later today - using this yarn .....
















Soul Mates "Arm in Arm" from The Yarn Yard. It's 100g of variegated and 30g of the solid blue. I'll use the solid for the toes, heels and cuffs.

I also picked up this colourway for myself - Naughty but Nice - I love it. :0)

















Finally, I'm making myself the Cascading Leaves shawl by Vicki Mikulak.















I managed to get my mitts on a 200g ball of Lucia in the Deluxe colourway (lovely shades of purple) in Posh Yarn's new year sale and thought this pattern would be ideal. I love knitting with Lucia, it's such a beautiful yarn.















I'm using 4mm Knit Picks Options circs and am probably about halfway through. I'm hoping to make the shawl slightly larger than the pattern as I think I've got plenty of yarn.

Anyway, time to go and wind some yarn ready to make my aunty's socks. ;0)

2007 - A (Knitting) Year in Review

Well, here's the truth - in 2007 I knit 112 items. :-0

It may sound a lot but it really isn't because 36 of these items were 12 inch afghan squares, which took next to no time to knit. ;0)

Here's the list in total - 28 pairs of socks, 2 single socks as shop samples, 36 afghan squares, 4 dog sweaters, 3 children's cardigan, 1 child's sweater, 2 scarves, 1 baby cardigan, 3 bags, 8 adult sweaters, 3 shoulder shawls, 1 pair of baby mittens, 2 pairs of adult mittens, 3 wash cloths, 1 lap blanket, 2 afghans, 1 adult cardigan and 2 baby burial gowns.

Phew!!!

Some of my favourite FOs this year have been -

'Falling in Love' socks (pattern by Anni Design) using Posh yarn Lucia in the 'Kiss Me' colourway. I finished these in February and they were my first attempt at toe up / short rows, which I now love. I haven't done top down since.

'Ula' v-neck cardigan knit in Colinette Iona, an aran-weight yarn, finished in October.

I love everything about this yarn, from the silky soft feel of it to the gorgeously deep colours (this one is Salty Dog).

My first Forest Canopy shawl, finished in September, using Posh Yarn Emily in the 'Fells' colourway. I gave this as a gift to a lady I used to work with. I've since knit another (also in PY Emily) and have plans to knit a third, this time in PY Lucia.

Corazon mittens from Knitty, finished in November, using RYC Cashsoft DK. I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid of fair isle any longer and this is an ideal first pattern. I knit 2 pairs of these (one for a gift, one for myself) and will probably make some more eventually. The Cashsoft yarn is luscious to knit with, buttery soft, and even lovelier to wear. :0)

And finally a multi-directional scarf, finished in November, using Bright Dyes 100% merino 4 ply (lovely yarn to knit with). This is such a quick and simple pattern but so effective when finished. This was eventually given as a Christmas gift so I'm now knitting one for myself in Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn.

Amongst the items OTN at the moment I have the Henley Perfected sweater (from Interweave Knits) in Rowan Bamboo Soft, Moose Ridge socks in HipKnits blue faced leicester, feather and fan shawl in Artesano Alpaca, and a multi-directional scarf in Colinette Jitterbug.

Photos to follow next weekend. ;0)

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Happy New Year!

2007 has been a really good year for knitting. I've kept a list of everything I've knitted and can't believe how much I've done compared to last year - over 100 items so far! Admittedly, quite a few of those have been socks and afghan blocks, so that's cheating slightly, but still, not a bad little haul. ;0) I'll be posting some photos tomorrow of my favourite FOs.

My knitting this year has also become more sociable - I've met lots of new (and good) friends, via the Crafty Threads forum and by setting up a knitting group locally - The Bag Ladies of Wetherspoon's, Pontypool. At our Christmas meet, we worked our way through the cocktail list and we were soooo rowdy, I'm surprised we didn't get thrown out! We even managed to get some knitting done. *LOL*

To anyone who stops by and reads my blog (and leaves a comment) - I'd like to say thank you! It means a lot that you like to see what I'm making.

Anyway, a happy new year to everyone - I hope 2008 is a good one for you all. xxx