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Yippee a finished item already this year!

Here are my Godfather Socks. My own design but using a short row heel which I've never done before! The design is simply a 2x2 rib with cables between every two stripes. They look a really funny shape don't they ~


But they're actually a perfect fit :D I'm very chuffed. I love the short row heel, can't see myself going back to the heel flap heel now!



I've started a pair of Endpaper mitts too, these are for Mum and I have a planned pair for me too. I found the fairisle very fiddly at first but have found a technique for holding the two strands at once, and it's working beautifully. I'm finding it really easy now that I've got into it and I'm already onto the gusset! There's been quite a lot of progress since this pic.

I've also started a booga bag, mostly because I wanted some mindless knitting, and that's going well. Photo's will follow I assure you ;)

Check this out~

2 ply cashmere! Oooh yeah! Sent to me by a very nice person on Ravelry :) it's beautifully soft and will probably make a lovely Hanami, or other similar pattern. There's quite a lot of yardage so I might be knitting with it for a while :D

I've been busy dying again, this if my favourite colour, it's Wisteria because the purple has split a bit and there are paler and darker bits. Not intentional but I'm very happy with it!

And finally, how could I resist super-cute miffy. She's not adorning earrings, stitch markers and soon row markers. And anything else I think of! I know, I'm sad like that!

Soooo WIPs.. Well OH's hoodie is very nearly done, in fact I'm going to try and finish it today and give it him tonight. The yarn came yesterday so no excuse now, sadly.

Forest Canopy.. is coming along nicely now, though the rows are getting quite long. I'm almost onto the thrid ball of Kidsilk Night. The second ball I've only had about 4 repeats out of, so the third one I'll have to watch I don't run out before the end.

I'm also sewing up some stuff hopefully to put in the shop when I have a few things done. I'm enjoying the sewing, I couldn't not though could I, seeing as I'm using a 48 year old Viking Husqvana (sp?) sewing machine. It's like the rolls royce of the sewing mahcine world, it goes like a dream!

Anyway.. I'm off to carry on with the zillion things I have on the go. I'm keeping as busy as poss what with all the mess over the OU. I can't start my course til October and I was all ready to go for the 1st Feb, so I'm a bit down about that as I feel that I'm not using my brains much :(

Ah well, ciao for now!

Ooh, another update!

Another update! So Soon! Get me! Actually it's mostly stuff I forgot to put in the previous one.


So here's my first Finished Object of the year. Actually I tell lies, it still needs a flap on the inside to stop the needles coming out. But it's largely finished!

I'm rather chuffed with it! I'm a totally self taught sewer, and this is my first project (apart from hemming every single pair of pants I've ever bought). My sewing vastly improved over the course of making this, primarily just by keeping it in a straight line.

The ribbon is realy nice, it's purple with silver edging :) messily sewn on, seeing as I got it caught in the needle and it went off in the wrong direction!

The material's nice too isn't it? It looks wrinkled but I suppose it will be being rolled up.

Ok, next I did some more dyeing, this time it's called Raven, as it's really dark red.

Made myself some business cards and yarn tags.

The cards need improving, but they're a start.



Found a fantastic bead shop nearby and made these:

Cute eh!

And these:

Here's the Twilley's Freedom Spirit my lovely OH got me for Christmas. It's for a felted bag, and he got three balls and couldn't find another two, so I'm still waiting for another two balls of it. Isn't it lovely!

I got this in the sales, it's Rowan Romance. I thought it'd make a lovely, simple stole. Not lace or anything, just plain.

And some SB Soho, which is gorgeous. This is really for a nice cabled hat. For some reason my hats never ever turn out right, so i'm determined that when I eventually get round to this one it will turn out well!

And finally Jaeger Matchmaker 4 ply, for Mum's endpaper mitts.

Oh no not quite! There's more! I got this goregous Rowan Biggy Print in black from my swap partner Amy, in the UK Swaps group. Yey!

So.. I'm a confirmed co host in the UK Swap. I've got most of my prizes ready to send out, photo's will follow shortly.

OTN:

~ Godfather Socks (almost done!)

~ Gnome (also almost done!)

~ FC (still on hold :( poor FC)

~ OH Hoodie (almost done, waiting for yarn)

~ Major Hemming operation on OH's pants

UK Swap Questionnaire

Well as I'm sponsoring the UK Swap for the UK Swap group on Ravelry, and possibly co-hosting, I thought I should probably sign up and do my questionnaire ;)

Part One: Crafting

Do you knit, crochet, or both? Knit!

What do you like to make? Lace, socks, well anything actually!

Do you have a favourite project? No! (Sorry!)

Do you have a favourite type of fiber or brand of yarn? I particularly like natural fibres, apart from that I'm a sucker for just about everything!

Do you have a least favourite type of yarn? Well I don't like acrylic for garments etc, (it has it's place though - I'm no snob here ;) )

Do you do any other crafts? Spinning, jewellery making, photography, drawing, sewing, painting, weaving.. amongst other things ;)

What knitting do you bring ‘on the go’? Socks, or fingerless mitts, maybe a hat. But mostly socks.

What do you carry your ‘on the go’ knitting in? Anything to hand!

Do you want something new? Who doesn't.. sorry that's not helpful is it.. ok, can I ask for an alpaca? Ok ok I'll be sensible, can I have a wensleydale sheep then?

Are there any knitting gifts (book, toy, yarn, item, tool) that you have been lusting over? Errrrrr well mostly expensive things, you know like those lovely glass needles and stuff. I'll have a think while I write the rest of this!

Part Two: Your Favourites

What is your favourite colour? Purple

What is your least favourite colour? Orange and green (pea green that is, turquoise and dark greens are lovely)

What scents/smells do you like? I don't like anything heavily scented, it usually gives me a headache :( but if it's very mild I like musk and vanilla.

What don’t you like? Oops, I said it above didn't I..

How do you like to pamper yourself? (bubble bath, hand creams, massage, manicure) Actually I sit down and do my knitting or play world of warcraft! I don'd do baths, massages, manicures, creams, or anything like that (very sad I know!)

What goodies to you like to treat your tummy with? (chocolate, biscuits, truffles, etc.) *siiiiiigh* (that was a dreamy sigh) Truffles... you know like the viennese ones from Thornton's? I love things like that. Love fruit and nut, white choc, fondant filled choc (the ones with the most cals in usually), and a good sunday roast :p

Do you prefer tea or coffee while you knit? Tea tea tea! I love tea! Fruit tea and normal Twinings... yum!

Any particular kind? Oops did that again...

Favourite mug/cup? Eeyore mugs (I have a few), and my snowman teapot/mug

Do you listen to/watch anything while you knit? (TVshow-Along, movies, music, podcasts) I *always* have music on, I love listening to Radio 2, and I occasionally watch TV when I'm home - usually for a movie.

Part Three: Living & Past-times

Where do you live in the UK? (General idea not address) Lancashire

Have you always lived here, or did you grow up somewhere else? Nope, I'm a proper Lancashire Lass. I have spent 4 years in Dundee though and become very attached to it!

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? I'd go everywhere! Particularly Iceland and Norway.

If you couldn’t go to a knitting group, what other kind of gathering would you go to? (book club, tea party, yoga class, jewelery class, etc.) Dance classes, spinning class.. Actually I'd just stay in and knit mostly.

What’s your style? (elegant, traditional, glamourous, girly, natural, sporty, outgoing, etc.) Eclectic. Sorry I know that's not helpful. If I tell you my hobbies you might get the general gist - I dance, shoot (with a shotgun or rifle), sew, knit, do photography, play world of warcraft, go to the gym, love my dogs..... Eurgh this is hard. Ok, I'll try and help you out a bit more. I'm not girly at all. But apart from that my style just about encompasses everything. *Tears hair out* You'll just have to guess, sorry!

Final Part:Any allergies/preferences (fiber-wise or treat-wise)? Nothing really smelly, I'm allergic to penicillin so no antibiotics please if you were thinking of sending some :p

Anything we missed that you’d like your partner to know? I feel sorry for the person who's got me, I must be a nightmare. Oh and I still haven't thought of any small knitting gadgety type things that don't cost loads.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping the new year will bring health, wealth and happiness to you all! :)

I've been pretty AWOL for a while, I was insanely busy over the festive period.. ok so I still am, but not to the same degree!

I have a long post here, and have missed out many knittted presents that I forgot to photograph, amongst other things.

First off I recieved this gorgeous hand dyed yarn from BabyLongLegs, aka Sarah - Thankyouuuu! I've done a tiny bit of weaving with it on my wee loom, and it's fantastic. Pics will ensue once I decide what to use it for!



Shortly before Christmas I went to the spinning class at Alston Hall. I met a lovely group of people there, and had a really enjoyable day. I spun on my spindle, and in the afternoon had a go on a wheel, which was brilliant!

Over the course of the day I spun up the natural coloured singles you see below, and in the weeks afterwards I slowly made my way through my own hand dyed sliver/roving/whatever the term is. I plied them together and finished up with this rather pleasing yarn!

It's not photographed too well, it's under the bright influence of my craft lamp that I recieved for Christmas. What a good idea! Anyway...

Ok, next, not knitting, but equally as pleasurable - snow! Yippee!

We had loads :D waist deep in some places, and knee deep in most places. We went sledging and built a huge snowman. What fun!

Ok this isn't exactly in chronological order - going back to christmas, my lovely OH got my this ace snowman teacup/pot! He also got me some delicious fruit tea, yarn and knitting books - he's incredibly well trained. I will remember to photograph the yarn for th enext update. It'll just be in the wrong update that's all!

Ok going back again, here's what I made for a member of my family, and they were really well appreciated ;)

Here's Timmy:

And Shaun:

His knitting needles are what I'm particularly proud of!

And Timmy's mother:

Ok so now we're moving forward again in time. HEre's my first ever short row heel. YEy! I love it! It's a sock for my Godfather in as close to the Welsh colours as I had in stash! It's also ribbed with a cable that I've added.

I love the short row heel, it's infinitely neater and nicer than the standard heel.

Here's my latest, well first-for-a-long-time sewing project. A DPN holder. It's only semi done, I've just done the pockets, I need to get material for the outside and a flap and a ribbon, then it'll be done. There's surprisingly more work in one of these than there appears to be.

My sewing needs some serious improvement!



And finally - some Sugar Plum that I dyed yesterday, which I'm very pleased with!

My WIPs are:

- Socks for Godfather

- Gnome for Godfather (his birthday was actually laszt week)

- FC in KSN (been sadly languishing on hold for a good month)

- Hoody for OH (need more yarn!)

- DPN roll

I've got nso many ideas, it's just finding time to do them all!

Ok, I'll do my new year's resolutions:

- Start designing (I've got the ideas, just need to do them)

- Start paying off my three overdrafts *gasp/sigh*

- Lose weight (ha)

- Do well with my course!

- Update this more regularly!

So... I'm off now to take pics of all the things I forgot! Like the yarn my OH got me, the books, the yarn I got in the sales, etc etc.