It's been a busy week this week, going back to work and something on nearly every night. However progress has been made, more on some projects than on others.
I went to Patchwork Group on Thursday night and got a fair bit done on the centre section of the bottom border. I'm hoping that I might get that finished this week.
Progress was not quite so good on Crypt Club. The 32 count fabric requires good light and the weather this week has been poor. However I have got started on the lady's skirt, and I did buy fabric for the border/backing today.
Yesterday I went to Knit Group and finished the knitting part of the first Christmas stocking. I intend to leave the Swiss darning and sewing up until I have done the second one. That way I only have to get my needle out the once.
Progress on my Vanilla Latte socks has been very slow - just a few more rounds of rib. I'm not in a hurry to get these done. They are my travel and waiting project, so no deadlines to worry about.
And finally Hitchhiker! This is what 42 points in lace weight yarn looks like spread out on a single duvet. I have weighed the remaining yarn and I still have 36g left. So if the original 100g was 600 metres in length, I should have just over 200 metres left. I wonder how many more points I am going to get out of that - watch this space!
The physio was pleased with the improvement in my IT band, but wants me to carry on doing the exercises for another six weeks. This is going to get harder and harder to stick to as the mornings get darker and colder.
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles!
And nose back to the grindstone tomorrow :-(
For most of the week, the weather was dubious, but that was only to be expected as it was Bank Holiday week. It poured it down on Bank Holiday Monday, so when I had the girls for the day on Tuesday, they had to come equipped with waterproofs and wellies. We went to Belton House and they had a great time on the adventure playground. They wore themselves out and the fresh air was too much for me, so we all slept like logs that night.
One of the benefits of dubious weather when you have time off work is that you can easily justify to yourself time spent knitting and stitching, because of course there is no point going out in the rain. So, progress pics:
Baby Express now has its first flower. There will be a matching one on the other side when I get there. The backstitch was straightforward so that got done too. It only needs a couple of French knots for eyes, which will get done at the end. Next up is the middle section of the border.
And then Hitchhiker - I am now up to point 40 on this. The pattern goes up to point 42 (obviously), but there is still an awful lot of yarn left to work through.
Up next are three new starts.
I know it's a bit early for the "C" word, but this is the first of two knitted Christmas stocking decorations for my girls. I've finished the leg section and intend to work my way through the heel section this week.
Then some new cross stitching. This is "Stitch Night at the Crypt Club" by Prairie Moon on 32 count evenweave stitched over 2. When it's done, it will be a 70th birthday present for my Mum. The deadline for this is late October/early November.
And finally, I needed something to do while the girls were running riot in the adventure playground on Tuesday. So I cast on for Vanilla Latte socks in Sirdar Heart and Sole self striping yarn. However I discovered that I had twisted it when joining in the round, so had to rip back to the beginning and cast on again, which is why there isn't a lot to see yet.
So plenty to keep me occupied and out of mischief, and only a few weeks to go until Yarndale :-)
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
How is it possible that it is very nearly September already? The year seems to have flown past, and I had hoped to have accomplished more by now.
However I went to Knit Group yesterday and I do have two finishes to show you today, so I am very pleased with myself.
These are my Cabled Handwarmers which have been waiting to be finish finished since the middle of April. They are a Pat Strong pattern from Issue 38 of Knit Now, knit in King Cole Baby Alpaca in the Heather colourway (666). They are knit flat and then seamed on the thumb side. And they feel just gorgeous when I put them on.
Finish No. 2 is my Toe Up Socks knit in hand dyed yarn by Jellybeans Yarns in their Autumn Leaves colourway. There is a mixture of techniques here. All of the first sock and the foot and heel of the second sock were knit with Magic Loop. The leg and cuff of the second sock were knit on dpns. The heel of the first sock was knit using wrap and turn short rows, while the heel of the second sock was knit using German short rows. Neither technique was very successful, so I had to darn the resulting holes on completion. Both socks used the Turkish cast-on and Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off. So I learned a lot and have a very colourful pair of socks to show for it.
Moving on to work in progress, the first section of the bottom border of Baby Express is now complete. There is a tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel on this piece.
And last but not least, here is Hitchhiker. There are now 38 completed points on this shawlette but still plenty of yarn left on the ball. Progress gets slower with every point as there are now over 150 stitches per row, but I am looking forward to wearing it this winter.
In other news, I have a week off work! Tomorrow is a bank holiday, but I have the rest of the week off to do what I want to do. I have some plans in place - a day out with my nieces, a theatre trip with my Mum - but also some time for me, myself and I. More information in my next post :-)
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
Apologies for the lack of posts the past couple of weeks. The mojo has been somewhat lacking for various reasons.
I went for a job interview, but didn't get the job - although the feedback was positive and helpful. And thank you to anyone who had their fingers crossed for me - apparently all the candidates were good and it was very close.
I went to the physio, who said that, because I am very flexible in my lower back, my bottom muscles aren't pulling their weight and so the muscles in my thigh have been overworked. I am now rolling out of bed every morning (except Sunday, my day of rest) and doing exercises before I do anything else. I hope that progress has been made, but have another couple of weeks before I go back to the physio.
In other news, there has been progress on the knitting and stitching fronts.
As you can see, the left hand border on Baby Express is now complete and progress has begun on the bottom border. At the current rate of progress, I might even get it finished before his first birthday :-)
I have finally got round to blocking my Cabled Handwarmers. The plan is to take them to Knit Group on Saturday, stitch them up and finally have them finished well in advance of the cold weather.
The second toe-up sock is nearly done. Since this photo, I have finished the leg and started the ribbing for the cuff. I am hoping that in my next post I will be able to show you a finished pair of socks!
And I am still trundling on with Hitchhiker. The photo shows points 1 to 36, and I have done point 37 since then. However there is still a lot of yarn left, so I am not proposing to forecast a potential finish date just yet.
There is not really anything else to report at present, so I will love you and leave you, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
I can't tell you any details yet, but if you would be so kind as to keep your fingers crossed for me on Wednesday morning, I would be very grateful.
There has been progress this week on all pieces as follows:
Although my back stitching mojo has done a runner, I did manage to get it together this morning and start the last section of the left hand border on Baby Express. Some progress is better than none, so I'm just going to carry on with the border for the time being and hope that when that's done, I can find the urge to finish the back stitch.
I'm also working my way up the foot of my second toe up sock. I went to a different Knit Group on Monday evening within walking distance of my house, which was interesting and very different from my Saturday Knit Group. I got quite a bit done on the sock that evening and will be going back this week.
Hitchhiker has now reached point 31, but there is still a lot of yarn on the ball. I now have over 120 stitches on the needle, so each point takes longer to complete than the one before. I'm not giving this piece any kind of deadline because I really have no idea when I am likely to finish it.
I have also knitted a swatch for my first jumper but I am holding off casting on until I have finished one of the other pieces. Time is too tight to have three knitting projects on the go when I have deadlines on other things to keep in mind.
In other news, I went to the doctor this week about on-going discomfort in my upper left leg. He says I have a problem with my IT band and has referred me to the physio, so I have an appointment this coming week - watch this space.
Why are weekends always so short? Back to work in the morning, so here's all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.
So this week has been like the curate's egg - good in parts!
Work was mega busy because the boss is now on leave for two weeks. So at least the first half of the coming week will be spent doing all the little things that need to be done but didn't get done, because I was doing the big things that he needed to have done before he went on leave. The coming week also means attending the funeral of the friend who died last week.
On the positive side, yesterday I had my hair cut very short so I no longer look like I stuck my finger in the plug socket and my fringe no longer comes below my nose. I dyed it plum colour this morning, and so far the response has been very favourable. Yesterday was also Knit Group day, so time spent with like minded people always makes me feel better. And today I went on a workshop about knitted garments - the first knitting workshop that I've been on at which I never touched a needle! It was all about the maths needed to change patterns to fit you, your preferred yarn and your gauge. I think I understood it properly - I now just need the time to get started on a jumper.
However there has been progress on all the things:
I have stitched the middle section of the left hand border and started doing the back stitch on the engine. I will continue with the back stitch this coming week. Once that is done, I will go back to working on the border.
I am now up to point 19 on Hitchhiker. I rather think that this is going to end up as Hitchhiker Plus. The pattern is designed for 525 metres of 4 ply/sock yarn. I have 600 metres of laceweight, and my intention is just to knit until I reach the end of the yarn.
Finally I have just started the ribbing on my toe up sock. I shall be glad to move on to the second sock so that I can try out a different kind of short row heel. It appears that on one side of the heel I have a tension problem with my wraps, so when you put the sock on, there are holes. I have been told to try German short rows on the second sock as they might work out better for me.
In other news, Dad seems to be fine following his angina attack - presumably the new meds are doing whatever they are supposed to do - and the replacement for my colleague who left recently starts in three weeks' time. And I have something really nice to look forward to next weekend, which I hope to tell you all about soon.
So all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well clear of your needles.
Last week was not a good week, so I did not make as much progress as I would have liked. To put matters in a nutshell, my Dad had an angina attack and a night in hospital, one of my colleagues left the firm and one of the members of our Patchwork Group died. We were on countdown for my colleague leaving, and the Patchwork Group knew that the chances of our friend coming out of hospital were slim to non-existent, but all the same ... However Dad having a funny turn and getting whisked off to hospital was definitely not in the plan. He's fine now, on some different meds, but we could have done without it.
So what progress was there?
I made more progress on Baby Express than anything else. The engine is now stitched, but before I can back stitch it, I need to do the next section of border because there is an overlap between the two parts. I've got a busy weekend coming up so I will only commit to getting the border section done this week.
Next up is Hitchhiker. What with one thing and another, I only managed a further three points on this so am now at 12 of 42. I just love the colours in the yarn and am really looking forward to wearing it.
It was only when it was too late that I realised that the best way to show progress on my Toe Up Socks was actually to take a foot selfie. Knitting Magic Loop style means that the cable stops you presenting the sock in the same way as you can with double pointed needles. I did do some sock knitting in the hospital though.
I'm going to finish here cos I'm tired and blue, so wishing you and yours all the very best, and may the frog stay away from your needles!
Yup, I missed last week. Why did I miss last week? Because I lost my mojo! And why did I lose my mojo? Because I had to frog Hitchhiker. I waited so long to start that project and then I bodged it and then I had to frog it. It's a garter stitch shawl - you can't get much simpler - and I still managed to bodge it. Depressing, huh!
However, this week my mojo is back and I feel good, despite the extreme (for my part of the UK) heat. And here are some progress pictures.
Baby Express has come on well this week. The whole of the rear of the engine, including the giraffe, is stitched, so I just need to do the front end and the backstitch before moving on to the rest of the border.
This is my re-started Hitchhiker. I have done the first 9 points out of 42 so am slightly ahead of where I was when I frogged it. I do think the colour is gorgeous and am looking forward to wearing it.
And this is what is making me really happy! This is a selfie of my foot wearing my work in progress toe up sock, and as you can see, I have turned the heel. I did it at Knit Club yesterday afternoon - it took a lot of concentration so I didn't do much talking. Now I just have to keep knitting up the leg until I run out of yarn! Plus I have new needles - those are Addi Turbos that I am using (and for Hitchhiker) - and they are so much easier to use.
And in other news, I went to Slimming World this week and I have maintained - so still 11 stone 8lb. I am putting some of that down to the heat, because that always tends to affect my appetite.
Anyway, time is getting on so all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
It rained on Midsummer Eve, it rained on Midsummer Day and it rained again today! If anyone mentions the word "drought" to me any time soon, I may do them a mischief. I know I go on about the weather a fair bit, but when there is a seasonal element to your relationship with the Black Dog, a soggy summer is not very beneficial to your state of mind. I could quite happily ship all this rain to California, where it would be properly appreciated!
On a lighter, brighter note I have a finish and two starts to report.
The two headbands for littlest niece were finish finished the day before her birthday. When she opened her present, she put the first one (with the flower) on her own head and the second one (the lace one) on her sister's head. So I'm counting that one as a success. And my Mum really likes the leaves!
However, having finished Hermione's Socks last week and then the headbands, I had nothing left to knit. I still need to finish finish my handwarmers, but I had nothing on the needles, which made me very fidgety (addicted much?). So this weekend I started two new projects.
The first new project was my first pair of toe-up socks. As it is just over 3 months since I did the workshop on these, I had some problems with the cast on. My attempts at the Turkish cast on resulted in holey toes and my attempts at Judy's Magic Cast On resulted in bad language as I kept dropping needles and getting nowhere. So I went back to the yarn shop where I did the workshop and got the owner to show me how to do it again. And lo and behold we have a toe!
My second new project is "Hitchhiker" by Martina Behm. I have been waiting to start this shawlette for quite a while now. I bought the pattern on New Year's Eve but have only now found myself in a position to put yarn and needles together. It's called Hitchhiker because when finished, it will have 42 points. I'm using a lace weight yarn instead of the sock yarn it was designed with, so my shawlette will end up somewhat lighter weight. The pattern is nice and easy and I'm enjoying the process as well as looking forward to wearing the product.
And finally Baby Express. I think I've made some good progress on this since you last saw it and when the back stitching is all done, it is going to look very nice indeed.
I think that's everything for this post - I don't have any other news to tell you. So all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles!
It threw it down at the weekend, absolutely threw it down. Why am I having to wear serious wet weather gear in the middle of June? And it meant that our family barbecue on Saturday had to take place indoors, so not so much fun for the kids. Anyway, sorry this is a bit late but we had family visiting this last weekend, which was great. Baby snuggles with my cousin's 4 month old who we had only seen in photos before now - a lovely little boy who was very laid back about being cuddled by complete strangers. And she keeps the mittens and booties I knitted when he was born in the change bag!
Anyway, progress has been made. I have a finish and a part finish to report.
The finish is Hermione's Socks. I grafted the toe of the second sock and tidied up the cuff on Saturday morning. So I now have three pairs of hand knitted socks. The next pair will be toe-up socks, but I need to get my part finish completely finished first before I cast on.
The part finish was the first of the two headbands that I am knitting for littlest niece's birthday. Having blocked it to get the lace pattern to show better, I wove in the ends and sewed on the buttons. Job done! The second headband needs grafting together and the leaves and flower stitching on. The deadline is tomorrow night cos the birthday is Wednesday.
And finally Baby Express - having now met the baby it is for, I really want to get this finished. The engine is coming on nicely and I reckon I'm more than halfway there with this piece.
I didn't go to Slimming World this week because it was Patchwork Group, so nothing to report there.
I could really do with a good night's sleep, so I will love you and leave you, wishing all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
It's hard to believe that it is June already - where is the year going? At least the weather seems to be slowly coming to terms with the fact that it is supposed to be summer, so that's a plus!
If you look carefully at the left hand side, you can just see the first elements of the engine coming into being. I have also started to back stitch the track in that area. Plus next weekend I get to meet the future recipient. My cousin and her family are coming up next weekend so I'm looking forward to snuggling the little one.
I still haven't quite finished the second headband for littlest niece, but I have knitted a flower to go on it. I'm now wondering about a second leaf or a second flower and a second leaf. However I have less than 10 days left before her birthday so really need to crack on with this one and get the other one blocked and buttons sewn on.
And the end is in sight on Hermione's socks. I finished the last repeat on the foot today, so with a little luck I may be showing off a finished pair of socks in my next post. And then I will be casting on my first toe-up pair (if I can remember how to do the cast on I was taught at the workshop).
In other news, I have a new car! Things haven't gone quite as smoothly as I would have liked, but I now have a 58 plate Citroen C3, which drives very nicely, thank you. All I have to do now is pay off the credit card :-(
I also went to Slimming World this week and have lost 2lb, bringing me back down to 11 stone 8lb. And today I did the Race for Life to raise money for cancer research. I took my stopwatch and am pleased to say that I managed to walk 5km without stopping in 41 minutes 39 seconds, including the traditional sprint finish. If any of you have either done or are going to do the Race for Life this year, I wish you all the very best - major Brownie points!
Back to work tomorrow, so all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
I haven't blogged for a while, but hopefully normal service will now resume.
I have been away! I have actually been on holiday on a plane for the first time in over a decade. I went to Jersey with a friend and had a fabulous time. Admittedly from where I live, the flight was just up and then down again, but all the same it was nice to fly again.
We went to Durrell (Jersey Zoo as was), Mont Orgueil Castle, Elizabeth Castle, Jersey War Tunnels, the Glass Church, the Maritime Museum and Corbiere Lighthouse. We walked several sections of the coast and also from St Aubin to Corbiere (along a disused railway track). All in all, we had a really great time.
This is a view from Elizabeth Castle across the bay to St Aubin. The sea was that lovely greeny blue colour everywhere we went on the coast.
The consequence to all this is not a lot of progress to show on my knitting and stitching.
The morning of the day I went away, much to my chagrin, I discovered that I had miscounted the railway track a second time and it would have to be frogged. So I left it behind to be dealt with on my return, which I duly did. There has therefore been a limited amount of progress on Baby Express.
The actual headband of Headband 2 is currently on hold until I can secretly measure it round eldest niece's head to see how much more I need to knit. I have however knitted a leaf to be stitched onto the headband in due course. This did not come on holiday with me either.
Although Hermione's Socks did come on holiday, once again progress was limited. It was a bit difficult to knit while walking up and down cliff paths, so knitting only really happened while we were resting after each day's adventures before going out for our evening meal. However the decreases are all done and I am slowly working my way down the foot.
In other news, I went to Slimming World this week and have put on 1lb in the last five weeks, so am now 11 stone 10lb. I need to either lose weight or maintain this week or I will be out of my target zone. I have also spent some time this weekend hunting for a new car - positive thoughts would be much appreciated.
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
Apologies for the delay in posting this. Somehow my work computer managed to catch a virus on Friday, which was a bit scary, and put me off going on-line at home for a few days. However I did take WIP photos so here is a catch-up.
The top border of Baby Express is now complete and since this photo was taken, work has begun on the side border. The baby is coming up to three months old and I really need to make better progress on this.
There has been progress on this headband, but not enough to be very obvious. This is another piece where I need to crack on, especially if I am going to knit a second one before mid-June.
And finally I am working my way down the leg of Hermione's second sock. I've got the pattern firmly in my head, so I just need to knit, knit and knit.
Saturday was Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day so I spent most of the afternoon and evening in my LYS. I also bought yarn which will at some point become a project and make itself known on this blog.
In other news, my blood tests came back "normal" so why am I still so tired? And cold - I wish the weather would sort itself out - you never know what to wear because it never stays the same longer than five minutes. Also I am so looking forward to the General Election being over - if one more person puts political junk mail through my door or knocks on it wanting to know how I'm planning to vote, there may well be trouble!
Anyway, all the best to you and yours, may the frog steer well clear of your needles, and may the sun shine on you every day.
I'm currently waiting on some blood test results to see why I'm so tired all the time - could be the thyroid problem back again, could be anaemia again, could be something else. Whatever it is, I'm fed up with it cos trying to knit and sew when you're yawning your head off only leads to frogging the next day.
However I have pushed on through and made good progress this week.
I got my mojo back after last Sunday's tinking session and motored on through to finish my first Hermione's Everyday Sock by Friday night and cast on the second one straight away. The ribbing is all done and I am onto the leg of sock two. I have checked with fellow knitters and the heel flap is inside out on sock one, but I know what I did wrong and will get it right on sock two.
I also got the whole of the middle section of the top border finished on Baby Express. My intention is to do the next two sections of border and then to move back into the centre to stitch the engine, before finishing the border and doing the flowers and baby's name in the bottom section.
I've also made progress on littlest niece's headband, but need to measure it and do some calculations before moving on.
In other news, I went to Slimming World this week and discovered that I'd put on 1lb over two weeks, so am up to 11 stone 9lb. Some work is needed on the healthy eating front to lose the necessary 2lb to get me back to target. Unfortunately the tiredness doesn't help because I end up just eating what is quickest rather than what is healthiest.
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
