I've been truly spoilt this week!

When will I ever learn.. I should really update more often, then it wouldn't take me ages just to get all the pics right! I was going to have them all neatly arranged but it never works out so I'm sticking with a column/all centred.

Anyway, first of all a Finished project! Yippee! It's the Fish Trap Scarf, from Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas, and the yarn is Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino in Seashells, given to me by MazzaM from the AY forum :D

In my opinion, once the lace pattern was set up, this was a no-brainer, which was great! It was knit down the length, so the rows were very longand I think I preferred doint it this way round. The only problem is that is does curl when you put it on, despite a thick garter stitch border.

Beautiful colours eh. It's going to be a Christmas present, but I don't know who for yet!

I made this pin cushion for my Tea Swap (Ravelry) partner. She's no idea who she is! Teehee! What fun! I love this tactile little pebble! I'm going to make more!

Not greatly photographed due to unnatural light - sorry about that!

If you're a World of warcraft fan you'll like these stitch markers I made.. if not - try it out it's awesome!

We went to see Bill Bailey in Glasgow last week, he was awesome, hilarious, we were clapping and laughing from before he came on stage until well after he left :)

Anyway it meant a trip to John Lewis in Glasgow :) so I got sock yarn for pressies. I got white, because I'd like to design some skully socks for OH if I get chance.

And blue for socks for Dad.

My OH bought me this - it's Mirasol Hacho again, but in a different colourway. It's lush!

And here's the truly spoint bit! First I took part in a fingerless mitt swap, and I recieved a brilliant parcel from Donnae, who sent me roving, wee charms, a pack of textiles which I'd like to weave with, soap, and of course a lovely pair of mitts! They're much warmer than my Fetchings and I've worn them loads! :) They're Rowan Kid Classic, they are really lush, I'm chuffed to bits with them!

And yesterday I got a huge box in the post. The postie was quite surprised when I said "oh that's fantastic, thanks"! IT's the Tea Swap from Ravelry (The Cup a Tea group). Look how much stuff I got spoilt with!

My swappee, Sophia, lives in New Hampshire, and tried to send me as much local stuff as poss. Even the packaging the stuff comes in is really pretty!

First, Gypsy Tea, Rasberry Earl Grey.. YUM!

And Pomegranate Oolong. YUM! This smells particularly good!

Tea scented chocs, green tea lozenges, and I got some orange mints too. These all come in proper packets! I'm so impressed! They are all really yummy too!

And the yarn.. first the softest, most beautiful chunky merino/silk. The colours remind me of a storm, and.. it's just so lush I'm totally in love with it! The yarn Sophia sent was all natural - what a star! And it'll all spend quite a lot of time on display on my yarn shelves being squished and drooled over before I use it I think!

This is laceweight silk, 600 yards!! Lilac! Wow! It's incredibly soft and lush, and again, has been well squished and lusted over! I'm also really grateful that it's in a cake, as I don't (yet) have a swift!

And this is some hand dyed, beautiful dark stormy green Merino. Again, it's incredibly soft and lush, and I'm totally in love with it. It's a much nicer green than those socks I knitted!! It reminds me of the Scottish countryside, with the dark undergrowth under the heather. Lush!!

Sophia also included two beautiful patterns for lace shawls, what a fantastic choice!! Also stitch markers which I forgot to ask if she made herself, sugar skulls which are too cool to eat! And crafty themed badges which are pinned to my bag, and a lovely note from her! Afterwards she pm'd me to tell me all about New Hampshire as well, which I found really interesting. I should also add that the Pomegranat tea is in Proper Bags! They are little silky tea bags! They are so pretty that I've pinned a couple on my wall, which is incredibly sad I know (my OH thinks it's hilarious).

So... phew! I'm SO spoilt! Not only that but next week I'm going to the KNitting and Stitching show in Harrogate with my Mum for my birthday, and I've been saving up for it - both money and ideas. So it's all very exciting!

My current WIPs are - Forest Canopy (getting BIG), Ken's socks (1/4 through the pair), Oh's hoodie (success questionable), and I'm goign to start on the gnomes - I'm gonna make a load of bodies to start with (slightly creepy).

I've also made some Christmas stuff - buttons, stitch markers etc. And am dying more laceweight lambswool this week for the shop. Yey! It's very tempting to use it ;)

I'm going home for a week on Wednesday, so will get a lot of knitting done, and lots of dog walking no doubt :)

I'd better go and get on eh! Ciao for now ;0

Socks!

Finally!! The horrible green socks are finished! Ok so one's about a third bigger than the other because I lost the pattern.. but they are wearable! And lovely and warm!

Below you can see them without colour. I love this photo though. Sepia does have a place in modern society!




Ok you can have colour now. Here's why they are horrible! They were my first dyeing attempt back in the summer. It went wrong as you can see. It's a shame I don't like green.



Ok I'm working on the Fish Trap Scarf from the Arctic Lace book. I'm also a mod now on the Arctic Lace Group on Ravelry :D wahey! It's being done in Lucy Neatby celestial merino in Seashells colourway. It's beautiful!

I finally got my backside into gear and did some dying. This is my 2 ply lambswool.

I strongly believe there's no enough purple yarn in the world, so I thought I'd do my bit to put this right ;)

This came in the post:

It's Rowan Tapestry in Leadmine. Yum!

This Drops came too. 11 balls of red and two of black, for OH's hoody. Need to measure him then get knitting!

And finally, I discovered this technique for using with clay, so had a go. I've made a load of buttons in different colours :D I see them adorning bags and that, some or glazed, some not.

So.. WIPs - Arctic lace, fingerless mitt swap mitts (almost done), and Forest Canopy (still!).

I've had a go at making Christmassy buttons and stitch markers too :D it's much fun!

A Very Varied Post

Phew.. it's taken forever to upload all these photo's!

I'm not getting tonnes of knitting done at the mo, because I'm somehow busy with other stuff, I'm not sure how, but I seem to be insanely busy without getting much done.. how does that work?


So first I'll show you the gloriousness of Scotland.



And looking north towards the Aviemore area.

Images are all clickable if you want to see them *even bigger*!




My camera battery ran our shortly after, which was incredibly unprepared of me but forced me to see the world through my own eyes instead of through a camera lens!

Ok here's the knitting bit. This is the jumper, which was fine to knit, quick even, but oh the finished garment was another kettle of fish (which when you think about it is rather a strange saying.).

The shoulders were so baggy it wouldn't stay up, and they wouldn't fold over, so I sewed the down, hoping that if it was folded it would hold it up a bit (it's supposed to be folded by the way).
So I did that, but it didn't make much difference, so on each shoulder I put a thread round the top and pulled it tight, so the shoulder tops were kind of gathered up, if that makes sense.

Anyway that's how they are now, and it fits better, but still falls down a bit. Also the front's short, and I followed the pattern exactly (for once), and the measurements are right. It is insanely stretchy, so I can pull the front down a bit.

I'm hugely disappointed with the pattern, it was great to knit but the finished garment just doesn't behave itself. It's good for slouching about, and is very warm despite being mostly acrylic.




I could only get photos of the top I'm afraid, but the rest is stocking stitch with a ribbed bottom and cuffs.

It's notoriously hard to photography black, particularly in a dark flat on a dark Scottish day!! So I hope you can actually see it a bit.

I'll just explain about this - the pentacle represents the five elements - fire, earth, water, air, and at the top point - soul - which brings the rest together. Also the circle around the tips encapsulates the elements and is the never ending cycle of life and death.

(People who are "satanists" and follow "occult" (depends how you define these, hence the "), turn this upside down, putting soul at the bottom and removing the circle - breaking up the elements and destroying the soul - often known as a pentagram which is associated with occult practice).

Anyhow.. lecture over ;) I hope that wasn't too boring!

It's only long enough for one wrap and one end to dangle, so I button it at the neck. It's also *ridiculously* warm. So warm in fact that I've not been able to wear it yet! lol!

(I hope you can't actually see up my nose there)




My OH was up for the weekend too so I kntted these Fetchings for him in Wendy Fusion. I did them one cable repeat smaller, so they are a great fit and kept his hands warm on the very cold walk we went on.

He was very chuffed with them :D

And I was chuffed with him, because he's so incredibly well trained... look what he brought me!!

Mirasol Hacho... isn't it just divine!

Two skeins of beauty. *Droooool*

I do already have one skein of blue and one of this pink, so now have 3 of the pink altogether. I've no idea what I'll do with it, but for now I'm happy to fondle it and lust over it :D

My parents came over last week, and brough the hounds, which was ace. Inca (the black one) took a flying leap onto my cosy double bed, only to land about 5cm higher than she started, as my mattress's on the floor. The look of surprise on her face was priceless :D

Bonnie, below, claimed the sofa, including three cushions and my best sheepskin rug. My Grandma went mad!

Here you can see her sulking having been moved.

I know I'm biased but I don't think she looks 12 :D She's pulling a face here because she doesn't like having her pic taken, so she's looking all coy. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing, you can't leave her with the knitting or stash, she'd rip it up!

Ok here's the non-knitting stuff. Well it's kind of knitting. There's an abundance of strawberries for some reason.

Strawberry earrings:

Strawberry buttons:

Sheep buttons:

Bertie the Blueberry stitch markers:

Sheep stitch markers... my sheep do all have wee eyes and noses on them, which look really cute.. except I can't get them to show up on photos! Grr!

They also have wee bobbly feet which I think are really cute.

Oh more strawberries!

I'm going to get these on etsy now. eBay, sorry greedBay are having a half price listing day on Thurs, so I'll be listing them then. I think it's a lot to pay a 50p listing fee for something you're making say £1 profit on, then be charged 20p commission too... I'm off my soapbox now don't worry!

I've just made some cute carrot buttons too, they need cooking and glazing yet though!

So, WIPs this week - finish green sock, arctic lace, forest canopy, swap mitts, and mitts for the nice lady in the charity shop. Also want to wind off some 2 ply yarn for dying! And also I've just posted off the application for the OU :D