Float'n'purl

Forgive me Father for I have sinned........Part II

Two blogs in one day what's happening. Well, I didn't want to do one long blog as I have a tendency to "loose" long posts.

My second confession of the day is that its taken me so long to sing the praises of my second Secret Pal parcel. It arrived last Friday just before my DS and her family arrived for the weekend so I haven't had the chance to do my wonderful gifts any justice but here goes.......... this fabulous parcel contained the following:

1. A pair of 4.5mm Ivore needles that "will become more personalised with use - like an extension of your own fingers". I can't wait to give these a whirl!

2. 8 balls of creamy Berger du Nord Kid Mohair which is just crying out to become the wrap cardi from Rebecca magazine no. 29 (just spotted on The Yarn Shop that the fall issue is out!).

3. Knit - A Personal Handbook which is a great journal with pockets for ball bands (I always loose these) and lots of handy information including a translation of "Yarn Shop" into no less than 22 languages which is impressive in its own right but the fact that two of those languages are Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic, which most people don't distinguish as being two separate languages (not that I speak any of either)!

4. Planet Organic Cookbook - my favorite recipes to try are the "Roast Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Basil and "Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup". In the winter I really thrive on soups - yummy.

5. A skein of beautiful Cherry Tree Hill Baby Loop Mohair in fabulous earth shades. This yarn is saying to me "wrap". I can't wait to start knitting with it - its so soft and the little loop really adds interest.

6. Some lovely hand painted scented candles and a bar of Wool fat soap from Get Knitted. The candles will be coming away with me at the weekend as DH and I have a break from it all at a lovely B&B called Hindle Pastures which we often escape to where I can spend hours soaking in a bath (we don't have one on the boat!).

7. The Rowan International Knitted Cushion Kit with lovely earthy colours.

8. A Wonder Knitter which I've never seen before but I'm definitely going to give a go as it looks like fun!

9. And last but not least a bottle of Flying Fox shower gel from Lush! I took this to work as I sometimes cycle in and then shower in the office but one of my colleagues spotted that this shower gel is an aphrodisiac so I'll keep it for the privacy of my own home. It also claims to help control PMS - what more can a girl ask for in a bottle!!

Wow, my Secret Pal really knows how to spoil me. I now have lots of exciting projects to start but I'm still working on my sock! Yes, things have been slow. This week we had my sister visiting with her family, a night out at work and sadly a funeral of a dear friend so there hasn't been time to draw breath so its time to hit the sack and head off tomorrow for a relaxing weekend, once I've done a bit of cleaning..........

Forgive me Father for I have sinned............

Its been 10 days since my last post but a lot has happened since then.........but without further ado I will now list my own personal idiosyncrasies:

1. Just like Annie and Steph, I too have to have the toilet roll round the right way but I like the end to roll from underneath.

2. I have to drink filter coffee (decaf of course) from a proper cup and saucer - it simply doesn't taste the same from a mug.

3. I have to have a glass of water by my bed at night otherwise I won't be able to sleep from fear of dying of thirst in the night!

4. I hate to see towels hanging around the bathroom and spend far too much time folding towels so that they look right and hang nicely on towel rails. I even do this at work but when we've got too many visitors (and hence too many towels in the bathroom) I have to close my eyes.

5. I always have to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door just in case I have to escape quickly in the night - what from I don't know (perhaps the boat sinking). In fact I now realise just how many little rituals I have the revolve around going to bed like putting drops of Lavender on my pillow, using ear plugs to drown out the noise of traffic............the list goes on!!

Right, that's me done my duty so here are the lucky bloggers who I've tagged Karin, Jean, Anna, Emma and Danielle. I hope you all enjoy analysing your own idiosyncrasies!

Well heeled!

I've changed my image - well the blog image. I thought I too would take advantage of typepad's new designs. I really wanted to use the "knitting" theme but it was a bit wishy washy.

On the knitting front I've now managed to turn the heel on my sock! DH was unimpressed but I was almost whooping with joy at my new achievement! I'm also amazed at the way the stripes form with this yarn. Its so clever - the shorter the row the thicker the stripe. Now I know that seems perfectly obvious but I'm still amazed how it actually works!!

And of course the postman also brought joy into my life with the delivery of these....... Thank you so much to Jean who kindly sent these all the way from Germany. I've since also discovered that Kool-aid can be bought on ebay, although its not exactly cheap (some sellers are really taking the mickey on postage!!).

I can't wait to give it a got with help from this article from Knitty. In fact if you do a Google search on Kool-aid dyeing there are loads of sites but this article also has pictures of yarns dyed with each flavour. They are all literally "good enough to eat!!"

Apologies.......

Firstly I have to apologies profusely to Andrea for getting her name wrong in my last post (now corrected!). I can only say "sorry" and that sadly, I seem to do this all the time. I recently called my friend's baby Ruth instead of Emma - why I don't know. Is there such a thing as name dyslexia?

Anyway, I met Andrea on Thursday night for a couple of hours after work. We found out that we had more in common than just knitting! It was great to talk to someone else with the same interests and I got a lot of useful tips. I've just signed up to the Yahoo UK Handknitters Group and I might also join Rowan International club since I love their yarns so much and I'm such a sucker for "free gifts".

The sock is growing a little. I've just started on the heel flap so I guess this is where things start to get "interesting"! Also, my carders arrived so I popped into "The Turners" last night and carded a little bit of our wool. Its so light and fluffy and really white. I can't wait to try dyeing some and of course spinning. Shirley gave me a very brief demonstration but when I tried the wheel kept on spinning backwards. However, the girl's dad, Ronnie has made Shirley a beautiful solid beech spinning wheel that just needs a bit of cleaning so hopefully I might find it a bit easier with that. He had also made a 2nd one but unfortunately the wheel warped with the dampness so it needs a new wheel. I'm hoping to persuade Ronnie to finish this one off so I can practice a bit more at home........

Right, I'm off to Chester to do a bit of shopping. Have a nice weekend!

Tarbert Rocks!

Firstly, I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to the friends and families of those who lost their lives last week in the terrible bombings in London. I've read a lot of weblogs where people have been very eloquent in their comments whether be it condemnation for the atrocities or sympathy for the victims and I feel that I can't add anything more other than to say that I will never understand why anyone should wish to carry out such sickening acts of violence.

The second strange event that happened last week was a little closer to "home" for us. We spent the weekend in Scotland looking at our plot and meeting our new neighbors (a wonderful couple full of enthusiasm and lots of useful knowledge). We were staying at a hotel in the nearby fishing village of Tarbert and had a wonderful seafood meal in the restaurant. The whole of the west coast of Scotland is abundant with delicious seafood but Tarbert is one of the rare places that still has a fishing fleet so you can be assured that what your eating is really FRESH. The restaurant and bar were full of sailors all enjoying a night out ashore and the atmosphere was fantastic. In fact people were dancing on the tables by the end of the night (this is definitely no sleepy backwater). DH and I staggered, crawled, went to bed feeling full of life but the next morning was something completely different. We woke to be told that there wouldn't be any breakfast as some of the hotel residents had taken a boat out at 3am (presumably drunk) and drowned when it hit nearby rocks. The whole village was crawling with police. I felt awful that people who we had watched enjoying themselves and living life to the full the night before were now dead. The crazy thing was that it was such a foolish thing to do as the sea was like a millpond.

Anyway enough of doom and gloom. The sock also came away this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed itself in a Yarn Harlot kind of way.

Here's the sock outside Skipness Castle which is only 2 miles from the plot! Another of the sock inside the castle, and one of yours truly KIPing (well in fact I'd left my 5th DPN in the truck so I'm only posing). DH very reluctantly took this picture mumbling something about being mad - who me? Surely not?

On Saturday we also saw an Adder Snake in the grass basking in the sun by the road! And we walked the 10 minutes from the plot to the sea - yes, that's right within 10 minutes I was paddling in Kilbrannan Sound. We then sat in the middle of the plot in the (waist high grass) on our deck chairs drinking champagne - it was a truly magical weekend, one I will remember for a long time.......

On the way home we took a different route which involved two short ferry trips and a lot less driving and the siting of three porpoises from the ferry! I took this picture from the road above Tighnabruaich looking down at the Kyles of Bute - so spectacular.

I also progressed with my Tropical Sunset only to realise that for some reason one armhole is bigger than the other. The right side is really tight but the left slack so I've had to frog it back to the start of the decreases. Here's a picture of the edge before frogging. Its a lovely slip stitch that creates such a neat edge - I only hope I can get it right 2nd time around!

Finally, I'm off to meet Andrea tomorrow at John Lewis in Cheadle after work. This will be my first ever LIVE bloger meeting so I'm really looking forward to meeting Andrea in the flesh!

Nothing New

I haven't any progress pictures to show as progress on the knitting front is decidly slow at the moment. I can only manage a few rows a night and my shoulder has been hurting again. I now go to a great Yoga class on a Tuesday night which is great for stretching out the old back etc but sadly it stops next week for the summer so its back to the class at my gym which isn't half as good. I also have some hot and cold packs which I can use to ease any pain but basically I have to learn to do more with my left hand on the computer - easier said than done.

So instead I thought I would just talk about my favourite patterns from the Vogue Knitting Mag my lovely Secret Pal sent! I love this Bolero, this lacy vest but my favourite is this wrap cardi.

We're off to see our plot in Scotland this weekend (we complete on Friday!) so I'm really excited. The weather forcast is rain (of course) but that won't dampen the spirits! I'll also have a bit of time for some sock knitting......I can feel a Yarn Harlot photo session coming on!

The Perfect Model

My friend Morag kindly sent these pictures of little Emma wearing her Jumping Dress from Miss Bea's Playtime

I particularly like the "ball in mouth" pose which, in my opinion, should be adopted by Vogue! My other favorite is the chocolate biscuit pose. Now that's what I call fashion. Maybe I'm bias but I think she looks really cute!!

Not much more to say except that I had to frog my sock (only four rows) last night while watching Live 8 (have you signed the list?). I'd started knitting it inside out but I guess now know how to avoid doing it again.

"Alternative" Woolfest

I've been a bit too busy to post these pictures this week but now I've finished a bit of studying so I'm free to "play"............

I really wanted to go to Woolfest last weekend and from the posts I've read its sounds like everyone had a great time. So as not to be disappointed I had my own "alternative" Woolfest!

Firstly, my friend from work, Christina, just so happens to have four Ryeland sheep (as you do!), and a while back I'd asked her if I could have their fleeces so last weekend they had the sheep shearer round............ As you can see, this type of breed is very hairy (or should I say "woolly"). A BIG thanks to Christina's husband Richard for taking these photos and to both Christina and Richard for letting me have their fleeces!

Once I'd picked up the fleeces my next stop was "The Turners"! How many people can say that they have friends who allow them to wash sheep poo off a fleece in their bath? It's certainly the sign of true friendship! The "Turner Sisters" are Shirley, Janette and Ali who are the most talented people I know (along with the rest of their family). I think they've just about turned their hand to every craft know to man and excelled at them all. Thankfully, they've also done a bit of spinning and have a wheel so they knew what to do when it comes to washing fresh fleeces.

Here's a picture of the mountain of fleeces in the back of DH's truck (he wasn't impressed at the stench of sheep poo but a bit of a hose and it was as good as new!).

And here are the "Turner Sisters" (from left to right Ali, Janet and Shirley) holding ONE (yes that's right) complete fleece (I did say that they were "woolly" sheep!). A few hours of soaking and gently rubbing off sheep poo and here we have Shirley with a bundle of lovely white fleece! I can't thank the girls enough and of course the rest of the family; Ronnie, Hazel and John for letting me completely take over their bathroom, drive and garden! We realised later that we'd been over ambitious and tried to wash too much in one go and that its far easier to wash a bit at a time (we'll put it all down to experience). I went up to visit the girls the next day and it looked like it had snowed in their garden - fleece everywhere!! Shirley's carders have gone a bit rusty so I've ordered a new pair from Scottish Fibers so as soon as they arrive we'll get down to a bit of carding!

In the meantime I have been doing "a bit".............. I've cast on a sock for my 2nd attempt but with the help of Betsy this time. And I'm also half way through the front of Jen's Tropical Sunset, which she has kindly adapted for my gauge. Its using my Hipknits silk which is so beautiful to knit with. I've also been very naughty and bought yet another pattern book - Rowan Classic Holiday. I simply couldn't resist it but I also bought some more yarn, which is bad as I'd made a promise to myself not to buy any more until I've knitted up my stash but alas I'm weak! I bought this to knit up Sundae but I now think that I've been over ambitious as it has some beads and for me, quite a complicated pattern. I'll decide what to do in the next few weeks and I might even take the yarn back to John Lewis (Surely this is unheard of?). Who knows, alternatively I'll simply hide it from DH so as not to feel too guilty........