Saira's madhouse

Such a happy day

2011-07-12T10:06:00.003+01:00

As I mentioned in my previous post D and I renewed our wedding vows in May this year. On our 17th wedding anniversary we did it all again at the Archbishops Palace in Maidstone. It was a wonderful day, the weather was perfect, unlike the first time round. It was also a lot smaller with just 40 of our closest friends and family. We came back to the house for a BBQ afterwards which ended with a singalong in the garden. I couldn't have asked for more.
The actual ceremony was quite short but very emotional, we chose Imelda May's song 'I'm alive' as our entrance and exit music, the words were just so right. I loved having my girls as bridesmaids and they both looked so grown up and beautiful.
So on with some pictures.
The crafter in me just has to tell you that I made my shawl and necklace. The shawl was crocheted using Natural Dye Studio's Precious lace, which is a 100% silk yarn. It also has about 1500 crystals, a mix of Swarovski and Czech. It is beautifully sparkly but unfortunately it doesn't show in the photos. The necklace is made with Swarovski clear AB crystals and purple seed beads. The dress was from Debenhams and was perfect as I couldn't decide what colour to go for and this one had all the colours I liked. It also went beautifully with the girls dresses.

Tummy Troubles

2011-07-02T15:27:00.002+01:00

This is the update on D and the ongoing saga of his Crohns disease. Last time I mentioned it, he was getting a lot of pain and losing weight rapidly. It took several visits to the consultant with nothing much happening before they decided to refer him back to London and UCH. Last April (2010) while we were still waiting to hear from UCH, D was admitted to Medway hospital suffering from severe malnutrition. After a few false starts, (during one of which they managed to puncture his lung!!) he had a tube inserted into his chest and started to be fed through that. They also finally got his pain sorted out and he was put onto something that actually worked. He was in Medway for three months before being admitted to UCH London at the end of July. He stayed in UCH for another month and then finally came home. The tube was removed and he started a mission to gain weight.
The scans and tests he had showed that most of his small bowel was inflamed or scarred and there really isn't anything they can do about it. He can't have surgery as too much bowel is involved. The only hope was medication. Since the Infliximab had stopped working they decided to have a go with Humira. This is a self inject medication, so D had to learn to do the injections before they let him come home.
It was incredibly strange having him in hospital for four months. I ended up off work with stress, the travelling for visiting was awful and the kids were obviously very worried too. It was a tremendous strain for all of us. The only thing that kept me going was support from my family and friends. They were all wonderful. The Posh group on Ravelry even got together and made us the most wonderful care package including a mindblowing blanket made with loads of squares from everyone. It was overwhelming but in a totally fantastic way.
The one positive thing that came out of the long hospital stay was that D and I found that our relationship was completely reborn. It seems that over the years we had stopped talking and fallen into a huge rut. Both of us were having doubts about the relationship but we didn't realise how the other person felt. With him in hospital it was a forced separation, but we still saw each other pretty much every day. At visiting time there is nothing to do but talk, and we started really talking. It got to the point where it felt like we were almost dating again and I couldn't wait to go and see him. Over those four months we fell in love all over again, and when D was home he suggested we renew our wedding vows. Since 21st May 2011 was our 17th anniversay and fell on a Saturday we booked the registry office and started making plans. More about that in another post.
Christmas came and went and D managed to gain some weight, he was still incredibly thin but very slowly getting there. Unfortunately by March his pain levels were back up and he had a lump under his belly button. MRI scans showed it was a fistula and that his bowels were no better on the Humira. Over the next few weeks the lump got bigger and eventually at the beginning of May he was admitted to Maidstone hospital. They were very reluctant to do anything as the fistula was attached to the bowel and operating could cause more problems. Once again we waited for UCH to take over. After a week in hospital the lump got so big and so painful that they were forced to operate before it ruptured. After the op the pain stopped immediately but he was left with a stoma bag. Luckily he was released from hospital the week before the renewal and that all went ahead as planned.
So there you have a very condensed version of the last 18 months. its been a rollercoaster of emotions, from fearing we were going to lose him to celebrating a renewed relationship. At the moment he is feeling not too bad, the pain levels are manageable, he is getting used to the stoma bag and still trying to gain weight. As far as treatment goes he is still on the Humira, but it doesn't look as though its working terribly well. He is also now seeing Dr Lindsay at St Barts hospital to see if he is eligible to take part in a trial treatment. This is a stem cell transplant that, if it works, could cure the Crohns. It sounds very scary but the outcome could be fantastic. Only a handful of people have had it so far and if D is accepted on this trial then he will be one of 30 in Europe to have it.

Gosh, that was a long post. I did try to keep to just the important bits and if anyone has made it this far then well done. You will be rewarded with a happier and picture filled post next time, when I will tell you all about our renewal.

A new start

2011-06-27T10:47:00.003+01:00

I came back to my much neglected blog the other day and had a read back to some of the older entries. It turns out it was very enlightening, I was able to track back and realised that things had happened on completely different dates than I thought they had. My memory is obviously not as good as I had assumed it was.
Bearing that in mind I have decided to start posting here again. Not so much in the thoughts that anyone will read it, but so that I have a reference to look at in the future. If anyone is out there, then hello and you are very welcome to read my ramblings and comment if you feel the urge. If there isn't anyone reading then thats fine too, I talk to myself in the real world so I may as well extend that to online as well.
Over the next few days I'll do a few posts updating on whats been going on since I last blogged, that could take a while as its been interesting to say the least. Then hopefully I'll update more regularly in the future. The first post will come tomorrow hopefully and will cover D's Crohns and whats been happening with that. It will be an epic post!

2009-11-05T21:43:00.002Z

Just to let anyone who happens across the blog know that I am still out here! I just haven't been blogging for a while. Its too easy to let time fly by and not do an update and theres also the fact that I am too easily distracted by other things.
I am now in a completely new madhouse as we moved last month. We are away from the grotty neighbours and in a bigger house so the kids and the animals are happy with the extra space and we are happy with being in a detached and not having to worry about the neighbours. D has been very ill again and is back on steroids and waiting to see the consultant in London. I am trying not to dwell on it too much because I need to be the strong one and keep things positive when he is this poorly or else the atmosphere in the house is just too depressing. I am still finding time to knit, spin and bead when I can. That really helps to keep me calm thank goodness.
Another thing taking up chunks of my time is reading Twilight fanfiction. I loved the Twilight books and after reading Breaking Dawn I really wanted more. Well fanfic is definately more, and I keep finding myself completely absorbed by a story and walking around attached to my iphone reading. I have managed to cook and serve an entire meal whilst not actually putting the phone down. Lol.
Anyway I shall bugger off now and hopefully post again soon.

Part Two (life and a little knitting!)

2009-03-15T22:38:00.004Z

I'm finally back with part two of the update. Back in January it was E's birthday, we didn't know what to get her so we decided on a junior keeper for the day experience at Howletts. Originally D was going to be her 'adult' for the day but he wasn't well enough so I got to go. It was a fantastic day and E absolutely loved it. Watching her with the animals and asking so many questions of our guide and all the keepers was wonderful. She got to feed the lemurs, make the elephants beds, have a look behind the scenes in the gorilla house and watch tigers being fed close up. I got quite emotional when we were watching the tigers, they are one of my favourite animals and I was close enough to reach out and touch thier fluffy tummies. It was only the sight of the huge teeth and claws that stopped me! Here are a few pictures, we took hundreds!

D is feeling a lot better now and has started doing a gradual return to work. I'm hoping it goes alright, he is so up and down with his health that it worries me in case he doesn't cope and gets really ill again. On the other hand if all goes well and he ends up back at work full time we will need to sort out some childcare and that worries me too. It all makes for sleepless nights. I am distracting myself by planning my 40th birthday party. I am 40 on the 20th March and have booked a hall and disco for an eighties themed party. I'm going as Adam Ant and have hired a highwayman outfit. I am really looking forward to it as there are a lot of people coming that I haven't heard from in ages. I'll make sure some photos go up here so anyone reading can have a laugh.
I have a bit of knitting news too. I finished the seawool scarf from last months Yarn Forward magazine using the seasilk I bought back in January at the Posh meet. It is amazingly slinky and lovely. My only small niggle is that I wish I had made the scarf a bit bigger, I had enough yarn but followed the pattern instead of my instincts, even so its a very wearable scarf.

I have also cracked the wheel! After my last post saying how we weren't getting on I tried using a different fibre and hey presto, it worked. I spun some BFL from Limegreenjelly and produced this lovely squooshy yarn.

I managed to get some Posh Yarn roving in thier first ever sale of fibre and I couldn't wait to spin it up. This is called scotch mist and is falkland.

Now I just have to find the ideal pattern to show them off and do them justice. I am thinking maybe some fingerless gloves in the Limegreenjelly and a hat in the Posh.
I had a trip with the beading group to the Bead Merchant for one of thier open days and it got my beading mojo going again. They had some swarovski rivolis in stock, which are like large, very sparkly sequins. I fell in love and had to have a couple. I had a play when I got home and made this ring. It can be used as scarf ring or worn as a ring. It is impossibly sparkly and I love it. Now if someone could just arrange for there to be an extra few hours in each day I could have time for all my hobbies!!

Part one (knitting)

2009-03-06T08:48:00.008Z

Its been a busy month and I haven't blogged at all. The madhouse has lived up to its name so everytime I have sat down and thought about blogging something happens to stop me. My computer time has been made up of snatched moments here and there. There is so much to tell you that I am going to split this into two posts. One will be knitting and fibre related and the other will be everything else.
So this can be the knitting one. I have a couple of finished things to show, the first is a top in Wendy Pure Bamboo. I am really pleased with this, my only gripe is the sewing in of ends was a nightmare. This yarn is very drapy and slippy so I ended up with a needle and thread securing every end once I had weaved it in, I found that the ends would all come out otherwise. The neck is quite wide so I'm hoping it doesn't stretch when I wash it. I do have a little left over yarn so I can always crochet a new edge to the neck if need be.

The other item is really exciting, because its a crocheted neckwarmer and the yarn is my own handspun. I'm still spinning chunky but at least its fairly evenly chunky. The fibre is from Freyalyn and I got it as part of the Posh swap last year.

The guild wheel has now gone back and I have bought a second hand Louet S71. It is a beautiful compact wheel but at the moment we have a slightly rocky relationship. It has an incredibly fierce take up and is taking a lot of getting used to. I'm determined we will end up best of friends but it may take a while. So far I haven't been able to spin anything worthwhile on it at all. I just can't get enough twist in the fibre to stop it all breaking as soon as you try and wind the yarn off the bobbin.

This hasn't stopped me buying fibre of course. I managed to grab some fibre on Davids last update on Come in Spinner on Esty. its merino and the colour is Midnight.

I also bought some more fibre from Limegreenjelly. This time its BFL and called 'Girls just want to have fun'. Isn't it the most fantastic pink?

Now for a confession, I have broken my stashalong. The friends of P group on Ravelry is having a knitalong using a new sock yarn called Zauberball. It knits up similar to the sock blanks, with the colours fading into each other. I just couldn't resist and bought a ball of Fuschia. I think Mitzie was cross with me.

January, what January?

2009-02-04T10:04:00.002Z

Blog wise I seem to have skipped January completely. If only you could do that in real life. However this does mean there is a lot to put in a post today so I'll try to be as concise as possible.
I have decided to frog the shawl as I am not feeling the love for it at all. I just keep finding excuses to not pick it up. I think the problem is that it doesn't flow as you are knitting it and if I am not enjoying whilst the rows are small I'm going to hate it when the rows are longer. I still want to make a shawl with the blue cecilia and the silver beads and just have to work out which shawl I can add beads to. I have narrowed it down to three options, Matilda, Adamas and Go fly a kite. All have a regular pattern that will allow for the placing of a bead. But which to do? I know, I should swatch, but since when did I do the sensible thing.
The skittle vomit socks have also been frogged and reborn in a different pattern and I have nearly finished the first one. In amongst all this frogging I have actually finished two items, a pair of fingerless mitts for Chris at work and an Odessa hat for me. This one has been worn and I don't feel too silly in it.

I have been looking at second hand spinning wheels on ebay and ravelry but am not really sure what to go for, there are so many different types and I had never even tried a wheel. So I joined the local spinning guild and got loads of good advice from a very friendly group of people. Even better they have a guild wheel that is available to borrow, so it is now sitting in my front room. I picked it up Sunday morning and then spent most of Sunday afternoon swearing at it. Its certainly not as easy as it looks. I did manage to produce some yarn, its very uneven but its yarn nonetheless. Since then things have improved and I am getting a lot better and swearing less. The only problem now is that I have run out of fibre! I am waiting for some to be delivered from an ebay seller and I do have a couple of braids of beautiful fibre from Limegreenjelly but I want to save them until I can do them justice.

I have joined Twitter, I even managed to add it to the side bar of the blog. I'm not sure how much I'll use it, but its great for following people like Eddie Izzard and Stephen Fry who do use it. I'm not really sure that I can think of that many interesting updates about me but I'll try and add things that aren't too tedious or silly.
The only other thing to add before I go are a couple of obligatory snow photos, this was proper snow, the kind that shuts down the schools and gives the kids a day off to indulge in some real fun. My two made the most of it and produced a much better snowman than the December one. D and E had a mega snowball fight in the garden and R disappeared over to the park with her friends for the whole day, coming back soaking wet and extremely cold.

What was I thinking?

2009-01-02T12:26:00.004Z

Now that Christmas is over and I've finished the clapotis I decided to cast on something new. I have started a pair of socks in the yarn that I got from Mum and Dad for xmas and boy is it bright! I was just going to do a plain pair but I need something to stop it being boring so I am doing the Yarn Harlots Earl Grey socks, just enough pattern to make it interesting to knit but not too much to get lost in all that colour.

I have also started a shawl, in Posh cecilia. I bought it at Wonderwool in April and it reminded me of a midnight sky, deep blue with purple flashes. I wanted a pattern that included beads as I had visions of silver lined beads being the stars. So I picked a pattern called Spring Garden which is absolutely gorgeous. So far I have done one pattern repeat and have come to the conclusion that I am mad. Why on earth did I think I could cope with incredibly fine yarn and a pattern with no plain rows? It is taking huge concentration and will obviously be a project that takes forever. Oh well, at least it will be worth it when its finished.

Roll on 2009

2008-12-28T09:38:00.006Z

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. It was ok here in the madhouse, a bit subdued for reasons I'll go into later but ok. The kids were happy with thier presents and I got some lovely bits, including a set of harmony options, some blocking wires and a subscription to Yarn Forward.
I managed to get some knitting done as well and finished my clapotis on boxing day. It is wonderful, so cosy and snuggly.

Its now that quiet bit between Christmas and New Year and I'm reflecting on the last year and looking forward to the next. This year wasn't the best, too much hassle, illness and horrid things happening. It was all topped off by my Brother and his fiancee splitting up just before Christmas. He is devastated and is now going to be battling for access to his son as she isn't known for being amenable on that front. She has another little boy who isn't my brothers and she lied through her teeth to stop his Dad seeing him. Apparently she has another bloke lined up already, I really feel for those two boys, how long will this 'Dad' be on the scene? In the meantime my brother is falling to bits and missing his son like crazy.
But I need to put all that behind me and look forward. I need to be more positive in 2009. I have already started to make decisions about how to try and make next year work, and here they are. (At the very least I can look back next year and laugh!)

1.) Lose weight. I am not going to kid myself anymore that I am happy with my weight. I'm not! I'm the biggest I have ever been and I really need to lose as much as possible. Its my 40th in March so I intend to be significantly smaller by then and by summer I would love to get back into the dress I bought in France a few years ago. Lovely isn't it? (It needs a nice shawl, but I didn't knit in those days.)

2.) Sort out the work situation. I love what I do for a living. I'm a Fingerprint Expert and have always been really proud of my job. I enjoy the adreneline rush of going to court and I still get excited when I get an identification, and thats after 18 years in the business. What I don't enjoy is where I work. The way the place is managed is awful. I have been asked to apply for a managers position but refused because they are all so overworked and the money is terrible. If I genuinely thought that I could make a difference I would give it a go but the problems lie higher up with the senior managers and me becoming a team leader wouldn't have any impact on that at all. Our shift allowance was taken away and now they are going to force us to work weekends for no extra money. We have basically been told 'if you don't like it then leave'. So that what I am going to do. I'm not the first and I'm sure I won't be the last. Maybe when we all start going elsewhere then things will change.

3.) Knit from stash. This one will save me money but the main reason is because I have so much gorgeous yarn that I feel I should use it rather than just fondle it every now and then. I already have patterns lined up for most of it so not buying any new yarn will force me into making the things I have been intending to for so long. Just as a side note to this, I'm not including fibre in this as I only have a little of that. (Also anything bought at Wonderwool won't count. Lol.)

4.) Be more positive. There have been a few things this year that have really dragged me down and I've found it difficult to pull myself back up. I am going to try and look for the positive in everything next year. I'm hoping that by focusing on the positive I will feel better in myself.

So thats next year sorted.

Lucky ducky.

2008-12-14T21:33:00.003Z

I have been a very lucky girl this week. First of all I received my secret santa parcel in the Posh swap. It was amazing, look at my goodies, fabulous fibre, a nice chunky mug, scrummy smelling soap, and best of all a pair of mitts in Posh Lucia that are so soft and delicious. They are also the same pattern as the ones I made for Mums birthday! How spooky that I was knitting them for Mum and the lovely Crobbles was knitting them for me at the same time.

I also won in a competition on the friends of P board on ravelry. We had to post up pictures of our pets with our Piddleloop bags, well I may only have two Piddleloop bags but I have lots of pets so its not surprising that I won two prizes. I won a skien of Schaeffer Anne yarn and a handmade needle roll made by Claire from Absy's Knitting. I donated a prize too and that was won by Saskia in Holland, so one of my bracelets is on its way to Holland. My jewellery is better travelled than I am!!
Then, to top off a lucky week I won the bonus ball on our work lottery. I was so pleased, I collect the money in each month and this is the first time this year my number has come up. This means I was able to order three skiens of Laura from Posh Yarn this week. The colour I have gone for is called patchwork quilt and is a beautiful pinky/fuschia. I am on a stashalong until Wonderwool in April, but since I won this money I don't feel guilty about spending it.
In other news, D isn't feeling so lucky, his abcess got worse and went into the bone so his face was very swollen and he is now on super antibiotics. This means he can't have his infusion of Infliximab, which means his joints are not working well at all. (Part of the Crohns symptoms is over production of the stomach acid which crystallizes in the joints and causes artritis type pain and stiffness. The Infliximab is an infusion every eight weeks that helps with the joints and the stomach.) He gets worse as the next one is approaching and with the cold weather as well he really do without the delay. He now has to wait untill 2nd January. As if that wasn't enough, his whole lower leg swelled up last night, he wasn't too worried at first as his knee is already swollen due to the Crohns, but today it got worse and was painful so he called the on call doctor and ended up at the hospital. They think he has a blood clot so he has had a clot busting injection and has to have an ultrasound scan tomorrow to confirm it. Basically he is falling apart at the seams.
Oh well, at least I only have another week and a half before I am off for Christmas and new year. Hopefully once he is over all this we can start the new year and hope for a bit of better health.

Peace, blessed peace.

2008-12-06T10:30:00.004Z

Its lovely and quiet here as E is helping out at a christmas fayre with the Brownies and D & R have gone into town, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to post an update. Its been really manic around here lately, D had an abcess in his tooth and he doesn't handle pain well so that meant sleepless nights for him and me. It also meant he hasn't been doing anything around the house so I've been extra busy trying to keep on top of things and going to work too. He was supposed to be going back to work last week but due to the abcess and a couple of other problems he isn't well enough, his company have said to see how things go at the beginning of January as he is seeing his consultant at the end of December. I am really worried about him going back to work, he can hardly cope with the few bits he does around the house and doing the school runs so I'm not sure he will cope with travelling back and forth London as well as doing a 9 hour shift. He hasn't been to work for four years so it will be quite a shock to his system. Last time he went back he only lasted nine months before he was off sick again. We are hoping that because he has now had the operation to clear the blockages in his stomach and intestines it will be better this time. One of the other problems he has had recently is severe abdominal spasms and cramps so lets hope its not another blockage. And lets not even think about the childcare issues that are going to crop up, I can't change my hours again so I'm stuck on the shifts and we need to find a childminder who is willing to work around that, its a total nightmare.
Anyway, enough of my problems and on to the knitting. Mum loved her spiralucious and the fingerless mitts I made for her birthday. I made a hat from my handspun which is gorgeous but doesn't suit me at all so it now belongs to E. here it is modelled by her giant teddy.

I still want a hat for myself but can't seem to find a style which suits me, I tried a few on last time I was in town to much hilarity from R. I think the only style I can get away with is a slouchy beret style and am thinking about this one by Wooly Wormhead. I have some beigey alpaca in my stash that will be ideal for it, but am worried about making another hat that doesn't look right. I think I will just go for it and if I don't like it I'm sure someone will take it off my hands.
I have also started a clapotis, I must be the only person in the world who hasn't made one yet so I thought I'd best get on with it. I keep seeing them on Ravelry and they look so lovely. I decided to make it in Wendy Fusion as I love the striping and I wanted a cosy clapotis, which fusion definately is. I only had four balls of the anise seed colourway and very quickly realised I would need more. Luckily I found Kemps who had it in stock for £1.20 a ball and I have never known such fast service, I ordered it on Tuesday morning and it arrived on Wednesday morning! This is how it looked before I started dropping stitches.

We had some snow earlier in the week, the kids were very happy as we don't see it very often. They went straight out and made the tiniest snowman possible before it all melted.

Cold day in London

2008-11-10T11:02:00.002Z

E and had a fantastic day in London. The weather was sunny but so cold, especially on the top of an open top bus! My knotty gloves were very welcome, but I really needed a hat. I have finally finished plying my handspun so a hat will be knitted soon. First I need to finish Mums birthday present, I am knitting some gloves and a cowl in Posh Lei for her, she doesn't read the blog so I am safe in posting a photo.

The pattern is Spiralucious by Anne Hanson and it is a quick and easy knit. Its the first time I have done a knitted on border so a new technique learned too. The only small problem with the pattern was that the finished cowl measured exactly what the pattern said it should, but it was a bit on the small side. After a hard blocking it fits ok, but is now bigger than the pattern states. I am now working on some fingerless mitts with the lei that was left over.
Here are some photos from our day in London. They were all taken by E, she loves taking photos. We went to the Tower and saw the crown jewels and went up Tower Bridge, which was fantastic. The view was stunning and it is definately worth a visit if you are in the area.

Catch up.

2008-10-28T08:35:00.003Z

I really must blog more often, this is going to be a long picture heavy post and all because I left it too long between updating.
Since my last post I have been to Alexandra Palace and had a wonderful day. I met up with Twinepixie from the Posh group on Ravelry and had a cuppa and a chat, which broke the day up nicely. Mum and I had a lovely chat on the coach and wandered around together for a while. Its nice to get some time with her without the kids being there. As much as I love my kids they do tend to take over and make it hard to have a conversation. I managed to stick to my shopping list and buy the things I was after rather than just random bits and bobs. I did pick up some malabrigo sock yarn as I keep hearing about its magical properties and thought I must try it in the interests of research.

I also bought some yummy fibre, deep green BFL from Hipknits and some merino/silk in blue from Fybrespates. I have spun half of each so far and plyed them together, once I have spun the other half I am going to make a simple roll brim hat. I'm quite excited as it will be the first thing I've actually made from my spinning.

The other fibre was green (again) from Spindlefrog which had a sachet of lavender in so it smelt wonderful when I spun it. Again I have spun half and andean plyed it. I'm not sure what to do with it yet but will make up my mind when I've spun the other half.

I have some finished objects as well. I finished the second Knotty glove, these really are wonderful. I can't wait for the cold weather to hit so I can wear them. Its half term this week and I am taking E to London for a tour on an open top bus and a visit to the Tower of London on Friday, the forecast for the week is artic and for once I'm pleased.

The other finished project is my Juno Regina. I started it way back in May and it has been badly neglected because once the lacy bits on each end were done the middle section was really boring. I had to force myself to carry on and it very nearly got shoved into the 'never gonna finish' bag. Luckily R has started going to ballroom dancing classes on a Saturday morning and it involves me sitting for an hour and a half waiting for her. Ideal boring knitting time. I am pleased I didn't give up as it has turned out beautifully. Its made in Posh Yarn Eva 2ply and I wore it to work yesterday to many compliments.

Knotty

2008-10-07T21:38:00.002+01:00

I have just finished a glove, just the one at the moment, the pair to it is still on the needles. The pattern is Knotty and I love it. The yarn is dream in colour smooshy bought at the Iknit day. Yet another project that has pushed Arwen back. I feel slightly guilty but there are so many things I want to do that I have now decided to leave Arwen and just do what feels right at the time.
I have been spinning too and it is getting easier and more even every time. I am ready to break into the gorgeous fibre I bought at Iknit day and am excited about making enough yarn to actually knit something out of.
Its the annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace for the knitting and stitching show on Saturday and I am looking forward to a great day out with Mum. I have actually written a shopping list this time as every other year I get blinded by all the pretty yarn and beads and end up with loads of stuff that I don't really need. This time I know what I want and I won't be distracted! Lol, well I'll try anyway.
To finish off here is a picture of Tilly with her friends.

In a spin.

2008-09-25T21:10:00.003+01:00

I said Abby would be a quick knit and it was, only three days and it was done. I am really pleased with it and can't wait for the cold weather now.

I still haven't got the spindle I ordered at the Iknit day, they are having problems with the supplier, so I ordered another one from The Yarnyard. This is actually a good move as it means I will have a top whorl and bottom whorl spindle now so can work out which I prefer. I had a play today and made my first ever yarn from the 'padding' the spindle was wrapped in. Some lovely merino tencel in a soft lilac. Now hopefully one day I will be so good at spinning that I will look at this little uneven skien and laugh, but at the moment I am very proud of it.

I have also nearly finished my plastic canvas bag. I am going to see Mum (the sewing guru) tomorrow to make the lining and it will be done. It turned out a lot better than I expected. I used some cotton that was on sale at Lidl last year and the plastic canvas was 49p a sheet, the handles I have had laying around for ages so this has turned out to be a bargain. The most expensive part was the fabric for the lining.

Last night I took R to see Chicago at the Cambridge theatre in London. It was very good, although I think I prefer the film version slightly more. The stage is very sparse and that took away from the feeling that you were watching a story unfold, it felt a little more like a concert. But the dancing and singing was fantastic, if only I had legs like the girls in that chorus line!

Decision unmade!

2008-09-12T21:02:00.004+01:00

Having decided to cast on for Arwen I have been sidetracked by the latest issue of Knitty coming out. I have cast on for Abby instead. Its a very pretty cowl and as soon as I saw it I knew I had finally found the pattern for the Posh Sophia 2ply in my stash. My logic is that it is small compared to Arwen so I will finish it quickly and then start Arwen.
Its been a funny week this week, I thought for two glorious days that I was going to Texas for a conference. I've always wanted to go to the states and was thrilled to get the chance to go, even if it meant going to a not very thrilling conference. Unfortunately a big part of my job involves giving evidence in court and I received a court date slap bang in the middle! Bloody typical. So now someone else is booked to go and then to top it off I was de-warned!!!??!! So now I'm not going to court or Texas. I think Bugger will cover it.

IKnit day

2008-09-07T17:06:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was IKnit day and what a fantastic day it was. It started with meeting a fellow knitter on the platform at Bearsted who was also going, we travelled up together and had a nice chat. The venue was huge, much bigger than last year. I had a wander around and bought some Kraemer Sterling in a fabulous blue. The sparkle in it is amazing. I then had a go on a drop spindle courtesy of the nice lady from Moonspinning, it was a lot easier than I had imagined. Next on the list was a meeting of the Poshites from the Ravelry forum, it was so great to put faces to names and there was much admiring of various socks, shawls and sweaters. Some of us then went for a coffee and a slice of cake and then it was time for the highlight of the show.. The Yarn Harlot.
She was on for an hour and a half and was funny and interesting and amazing. There were lots of people knitting during her talk, I worked on my Juno and Susan was working on a Jitterbug sock. After the talk I headed back to the main hall and joined the queue for the book signing. I had taken my first socks along and Stephanie took a photo of me holding them and her sock so I'll be keeping an eye on her blog to see if I can spot me.
Next in what was turning into a busy day was a workshop with Sasha Kagan making crochet flowers. I made a very pretty pink and purple flower which I finished off this morning with a button found in the bottom of my sewing box.

By the time the workshop was finished the show was a lot less crowded and I went for another wander around the stalls. I was hoping to buy some of the sock blanks dyed by Easyknits but he had sold out, I must learn to buy when I see and not wait! Instead I bought some Dream in Colour Smooshy sock yarn in a lovely bright pink, a pattern for a peacock shawl, a copy of Yarn Forward and giving in to temptation.. some fibre and a drop spindle. I spotted Lucy of Settersknits and sat down for a chat with her while the alien competition was being judged by Craig from IKnit and Mazzmatazz. She is enjoying being a new knitting celebrity. Now in the photo of them you will spot a sock shaped alien, this was my effort for the competition. It was woefully inadequate! The standard was awesome and the winner moved its arms and everything!
After this it was time to go and I was exhausted! I walked back to Victoria station with Lynn from the Posh group and then headed off to a friends house for a party. D and the girls were already there. I wasn't much of a party animal as all I wanted to do was go to bed, but it was nice anyway. All that remains is for me to show you the yummy yarn and fibre that found its way home with me.

Decisions made.

2008-09-02T22:28:00.003+01:00

Well I've decided to have a go at Arwen as my next project. I have had a read through of the KAL group on Ravelry and am going to make it in one piece up to the arms and then split, and I think I'll have to make the arms bigger if I want it to fit my bingo wings. So I shall be starting that one next week probably. I'm not procrastinating, honest, but what with the kids going back to school this week it is a bit busy. This morning I had the shoe battle with R to find school shoes that I approved of and she felt were fashionable enough. This was the third time we had been shoe shopping in the last week and at last we found a pair.
On Saturday is the Iknit day and I am so excited. I can't wait to see the Yarn Harlot, meet up with some virtual friends and go to Sasha Kagans workshop. What a day! There will be photos next week I promise.
I have also made a decision that I am going to try a new venture. Mum and I were discussing the fact that we, and every other crafter we know, have a huge stash and could do with getting rid of some stuff. Mum commented that its a shame there isn't such a thing as a 'craft jumble' and a lightbulb came on over my head. I'm looking into hiring a hall and selling tables, like a boot fair but just craft items. I ran it past a few people on Ravelry and Angel Yarns and they have come up with the idea of inviting local craft guilds to come along too. I also have a friend in the WI who I can ask about doing tea and cakes, I'm sure they won't pass up the chance to raise some funds and WI cakes are the best in the world. So watch this space and I'll keep you updated with any more news.

Finished just in time

2008-08-26T21:01:00.001+01:00

Here are my two projects for the Ravelympics. I finished the socks two hours before the flame went out so it was a close thing. I'm glad I decided to redo them in plain stocking stitch as I definately prefer that look. They fit but are a bit loose on the foot so that has made my mind up that I am a cuff down girl. I enjoy turning a heel more than a short row heel and I quite like kitchener stitch.
The little bug was a really quick and easy knit. It was meant as a pincushion for me but E has decided it belongs to her so who am I to argue.
This is the first time in ages I have only had one thing on the needles and its quite strange. I haven't got far to go on my Juno now and am not sure what to cast on for next. There a few things in my queue that are calling to me. In the meantime I have started a plastic canvas bag in the hope that inspiration will hit. Its either going to be a Spring Garden shawl in midnight blue Posh Cecilia with silver beads, or a top in Pure bamboo. The other thing I want to do is Arwen, basically too many things and too little time!

Thank you for lycra!

2008-08-16T08:37:00.003+01:00

Just a quick update on the Ravelympics socks. I have frogged them and restarted. I wasn't happy that the yarn and pattern went together. The bit I liked best was the stocking stitch bit on the sole and I was getting big ladders because the first stitch on each needle was a purl stitch. So in frustration I frogged and am doing a plain unpatterned pair. The positive side to this is that I have now had a bit of practice doing a short row heel, so it should be a bit neater second time round. I have to say I'm not really enjoying knitting toe up. I definately prefer to do cuff down. It will be interesting to see how these socks fit compared to all my others. I have actually found myself watching bits of the Olympics and am so pleased that we have a few gold medals. The star of the show has to be Michael Phelps, the swimming genius from the USA. He is so good its scary, and looks rather good in lycra too.
I received my Iknit ticket yesterday and am really excited about seeing the Yarn Harlot. They are doing a competition to make a knitted alien as well and last night, (while not sleeping again) I had an idea. I will let you know if it works at a later date.
I have no relevant pictures today but I don't like a pictureless post so heres a random bunny nose for you.

Ravelympics are go.

2008-08-10T20:55:00.002+01:00

I have started my Ravelympics sock. The opening ceremony was at 1pm on the 8th August and I had to be at work at two, so I literally just cast it on and then went to work. But at least that was during the opening so I am following the rules. This is how far I am at the moment. The yarn is scrummy, its Posh Yarn helena and is lovely and soft. The colours remind me of Bedgebury Forest where we took the girls for a walk last week. It was lovely, we walked for miles and enjoyed every minute. We also went to Longleat Safari Park, which was truly awesome. I was amazed at how close we were to tigers and lions. The monkeys climbing on the car were the girls favourite but they were little buggers for ripping bits off. We were lucky and survived intact. Photos will follow at the end of this post.
I had a nice day out with the beading group last Saturday, we went to The Bead Merchant for one of their Saturday open days. I have been neglecting my beads recently so this was a much needed reinjection of inspiration. On the Sunday D and R went to Brands Hatch for the day and E went to her friends so I had the house to myself and was able to spread the beads and my tools out all over the table and play. I made a necklace for myself which came out brilliantly. I am so pleased with it.
It was a complete bugger to photograph though. This is the best I could get and it took several attempts. I just wish that I had somewhere I could leave my beads out, its an absolute nightmare to get all the boxes, tools and lights out of the cupboard and then have to put them away because we need to have dinner. I love making beautiful sparkly things and just need the time and space. I can hear crafters all over the place agreeing with me. I know my Mum was only able to make the most of her crafts once my brother and I had moved out so I'll just have to wait and hope that the girls don't want to stay here forever. Lol.
Anyway on with the photos of our days out last week and I'll update you on the Ravelympics next time.

Shetland Shorty

2008-07-19T21:31:00.002+01:00

This is my finished Shetland Shorty. I am so pleased with it. The pattern is great, easy to follow and fun to knit. The dress was a bargain from Matalan, when I saw it I knew it would go really well with the shorty but the only one in my size had a broken strap. I got a sizable discount and then fixed the strap. One new summer outfit for under fifteen pounds.
I took the girls to see Mamma Mia! today, it was fantastic. We really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a lift as it is definately a feel-good film. At the moment a lift is just what I need, things are just not going my way. My car broke down on Tuesday and the washing machine has packed up too. Work is just so stressful its unbelieveable and home is not exactly stress free either. Never mind, its the summer holidays so at least I don't have to worry about forgetting whats going on with school and clubs for a few weeks.

Aragon Farm open day

2008-07-13T22:13:00.003+01:00

We had a lovely day out today at Aragon Farm in Sissinghurst. They were holding a sheep shearing contest and had loads of stalls and displays as well. There were owls, jams, yarn, ferrets, rabbits, pottery, sheepdogs and of course some rather muscular men shearing sheep. Photos below...

I am quite busy at the moment, I have nearly finished my shetland shorty and it is looking fab. It is on hold at the moment though as I am making an Adipose for Mazzamatazz's BBC project. We have to make them but leave them unstuffed and with no face so it looks a little freaky! I only have the feet to do and then I can post it off to her. Once thats done I have signed up for the Ravelympics 08. If you are on Ravelry look it up, its great. Basically the idea is that you sign up with a team, I'm on Team Tardis, and decide on an event and you cast on during the Olympics opening ceremony on Aug 7 and have to finish your project by the time the Olympic flame goes out. I have signed up for the Sock Put. I am going to make it more of a challenge by trying toe up for the first time. I must be mad, mainly because that only gives me until Aug 7 to finish the Shetland Shorty and my Juno Regina too.

Bye bye moles.

2008-06-23T08:23:00.003+01:00

Well as promised in the last post, I have finished Junes birthday present and now that she has received it I can blog about it. I made a felted crochet hook/ dpn holder for her. I crocheted and felted the main part from SWS soy wool and then sewed the inner part using Mums sewing machine. I made a couple of knitted flowers to decorate the outside. I am quite pleased with it overall. Considering I never sew I actually managed to make it look ok. The photos are a little fuzzy as D managed to break the camera while he was in Scotland and I am having to use my mobile phone camera.
I have finished a couple of other things this week too. Both for new babies , one a girl and one a boy. The bootees are Saartje's bootees which are a lovely quick knit. I used some colinette jitterbug and they came out beautifully. The bunny blankie is the third one I have made, this time I used Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino which is wonderfully soft but meant the bunny was a bit smaller as the pattern is for chunky wool. It doesn't really matter about size for a teddy so it looks great anyway.

In other news, I had some moles on my face removed this week. I have had a large lumpy mole on the side of my nose for as long as I can remember and it seemed to be growing, there was also another one just under my eye. I nearly had them removed a few years ago but chickened out at the last minute. Recently E has been getting comments at school about her Mum being Nanny McPhee and it was upsetting her, so I decided it was time to be brave. When I went in to have them done, they also decided to remove two more smaller lumps I hadn't even been bothered about so I came out with four dressings on. I look like I've been in a fight, one of the girls at work thought I'd been glassed in a pub brawl! As it turns out the very smallest lump may be a small skin cancer so it was a good job I did go to the doctor. The stitches come out tomorrow and I can't wait, the dressings are really uncomfortable and the one on my nose keeps bleeding and the dressing is nearly falling off. I have woken up the last few mornings with my face all swollen and puffy, I am truly fed up with it now.
The bunnies are getting bigger and are still very very cute. It seems we have a boy and a girl so will be getting them 'done' as soon as possible. That way they can stay together as they are always cuddled up together and grooming each other, it would be too sad to separate them.
Have a good week everyone.

Additions to the zoo.

2008-06-11T12:44:00.002+01:00

We finally gave in to the begging and pleading from E and said yes to a rabbit. We had to then say yes to another one or R would be upset. So yesterday two little bunny babies came to live with us. They are so cute and fluffy, I am totally won over. They are dwarf lionhead crosses and are six weeks old. At the moment we don't know if they are boys or girls but they are living together in the same hutch as they love cuddling up together. The breeder has said they can stay together for a couple of months then we have to separate them. Without furthur ado here are a couple of pictures.

At the weekend it was the local village fete, E was doing her bit on the Brownie stand and volunteered to join the 'Its a Knockout' team with the Brownie leaders and dads. Each team was made up of four adults and two kids and E was the only actual Brownie on the team! Anyway they won the competition so E now has a huge trophy sitting in the living room, she is allowed to keep it for a couple of weeks and then pass it on to Brown Owl to look after.
D has headed off to Scotland for 5 days with his mates for a motorbiking holiday so I have a few days off work and peace and quiet in the house, it is bliss. I am making some bootees for a friends new baby and also have a secret project on the go for a knitting friend who has a birthday coming up. It involves sewing and crochet and I'm not sure that it will work out as I am making up my own design as I go. I will post pictures up if it all goes well.

Holiday!

2008-05-31T20:42:00.002+01:00

We have just got back from a fantastic holiday in North Wales. We went with my Mum, Dad, brother and his girlfriend and thier kids. It was not a quiet break by any means but certainly fun. We stayed at the Haven site at Prestatyn which was great for the kids as they could join in with the shows in the clubhouse each evening. It was a nice site, clean and friendly. North Wales is beautiful, there was so much to see that we are going back again because we didn't do half the things we wanted to do. We wanted to go on the Snowdon Mountain railway but it was fully booked so we will have to go back to do that. We did go on the Llandudno cable car so at least we went up a mountain.
There were castles everywhere and the scenery is breathtaking. The beaches were also very good, large expanses of sand and really clean. I visited the Trefiw Woollen Mills and chatted with a lovely lady about spinning then saw the industrial spinning turbines. I treated myself to some beautiful roving to do some needle felting with.
Now for the photos, just a taster of the week. Oh and this is the first time I have been to Wales and it hasn't rained, except for one day, so that was a first. I even have a bit of sunburn!

I have an Etsy shop!

2008-05-06T20:05:00.002+01:00

I have finally taken the plunge and opened an Etsy shop to sell some jewelry and beaded bits. Its something I have been thinking about for a while and now seemed the right time. I won't feel so guilty about buying yarn and beads if I am earning some money from my hobby. Please take a look and let me know if you like it. The hardest thing has been taking the photos, I am struggling to get the colours right as I want the pictures to be as accurate as possible. Maybe if I sell enough I can buy a new camera! Here is the link for The Treasure Tub.

A perfect weekend

2008-05-05T19:04:00.002+01:00

This weekend has been lovely. It has made me appreciate living in Kent. On Saturday we went to the Sweeps Festival in Rochester. The weather was fantastic and the atmosphere was lively and fun. There were loads of Morris teams dancing in the High Street, everything from the traditional to the more alternative.

My swallowtail shawl had its first outing and Mum was so impressed with it that she made me pose for a photo.

On Monday it was a sunny bank holiday, which is a miracle in itself! We went to the Museum of Kent life as E was dancing round the maypole with the school team. I sat next to an oast house, listening to jolly folk music and knitting a sock. It was really chilled and nice.

Just to top off the day I bought some fresh rhubarb on the way out and have just stuffed myself on rhubarb crumble and cream. What could be better.

Swallowtail takes flight.

2008-04-30T12:42:00.003+01:00

I have finished my swallowtail! It is absolutely glorious. I am so pleased that I did this as part of a knit-a-long, it encouraged me to keep at it seeing all the other finished ones on the Ravelry group, especially Hebe's as it was done in the same yarn as mine. The Posh Knitters group now has a page of finished swallowtails and they are all beautiful.

I did 19 repeats of the budding lace instead of 14 to make the shawl bigger, and used beads instead of nupps on the Lily of the Valley section. I also added beads to the peaked edging as I had plenty left. I do feel slightly sad now the KAL has ended for me but there will be another one soon so I' ll join in on that too. In the meantime I am going to try and finish the cabled shrug I started and decide which shawl to do with my goodies from Wonderwool.

I have been taking photos of Chandler, he is getting bigger and is still gorgeous. Everyone keeps asking me if he changes colour when I put him on a brightly coloured surface so I thought I would try and put him on my Wish scarf. Well, he stayed green, just a slightly different shade of green. So there is the answer.

Wonderwool Wales

2008-04-27T20:12:00.002+01:00

Well I had a fab weekend in Wales at Wonderwool, there are loads of photos coming up so get a glass of your favorite tipple and enjoy.
This is Builith Wells, a very pretty town in mid Wales.

In the show there were things that grow yarn on them.......

There were beautiful things made of yarn.......

There was lots to buy........

June had a go at spinning and extreme knitting......

There were workshops, which sadly I didn't do, but will next time.......

The lady in the middle there is Linda whose blog is All knitting no sleeping in my links list.

Anthony Worrall Thompson was there as there was also a food and drink show going on, and they got him to do a bit of modelling on the 'sheepwalk'

I bought a few things, well it would have been rude not to.........

All in all a pleasant but exhausting weekend. Roll on next year when we can do it all again!

Swallowtail in progress

2008-04-21T18:14:00.003+01:00

Remember the yarn and beads in my previous post? Well they are well on thier way to becoming a swallowtail shawl. I have done 17 repeats of the budding lace chart. Only two more to go then I can start the border with the beads. I am very pleased with it and the Sophia is a dream to knit. I am heading on a lace kick now and have already seen other patterns I want to try. I am also going to buy Victorian Lace Today as i have heard lots of good things about it and it has just come out in paperback.

These are some armwarmers I made for Rhianna using Opal feelings yarn. They are lovely and bright but she says they are itchy so hasn't worn them yet. I am going to wash them a few times and hope they soften up a bit. I also started a scarf using the yarn I received in the friends of P swap. It was to fill in time while I was waiting for the Swallowtail knitalong to start. It has already got quite long and will be the perfect quick knit for hospital waiting rooms or when I don't have time to concentrate.

I am off to Wonderwool Wales this coming weekend and am just a little excited! June and I are heading off on Friday morning and visiting the Colinette factory shop and then going to Wonderwool on the Saturday. I can't wait to meet some of the people I have been talking to on Ravelry. I will be taking the camera so will update with loads of pictures when I get back.

Vinnie needs your help!

2008-04-09T18:38:00.003+01:00

One of the ladies on the Friends of P group on Ravelry has been having a nightmare of a time with her new doggie Vinnie, he has been very poorly and had to have some very expensive treatment. The cost has been met by the rescue centre that Vinnie came from and KTMay is now holding a raffle to raise money for the rescue centre. There are some beautiful prizes of Woolmeise yarn and Piddleloop bags so check out the link and explode at the cuteness of Vinnie. Knoobie Knitter blog

Happy April

2008-04-03T11:37:00.002+01:00

I can't believe its April already! This year is flying by. Thought I had best put a post up seeing as its been a month since the last one. I had a birthday and got some lovely pressies, best one was an i-pod so I have discovered the joy of podcasts. I have added links to my favourites at the side of the blog.
I finished my Blur jumper, I am really pleased with it. I made an effort to do the seams properly and they look fantastic. The Blur has washed well and is nice and warm to wear.

I am going to be making a Swallowtail shawl as part of a knitalong on the Posh group on ravelry. I am going to be using some Sophia 2ply in a beautiful green and adding beads in a pale green.

I will post pictures as I go but if you are on Ravelry then check out the others on the Posh group. We are going to start on April 15th, which is swallows day.

Mothers Day

2008-03-02T20:06:00.004Z

Today is mothers day and I have had a jolly good one. I got the best pressie ever, a baby chameleon! His name is Chandler after the character in Friends and he is so cute.
I can't stop watching him in his vivarium, I love the way his eyes look in different directions and the strange way he walks, its fascinating.

I finished knitting Grans scarf at half five last night, she mentions my beaded scarf every time I visit so I made one for her as a Mothers Day gift and she was really surprised. Her reaction was worth the panic of thinking I wouldn't get it done in time.
I got a lovely picture of four generations, Gran, Mum, me and the girls. Its not often we are all together so I couldn't let the chance go by.

Last night we went to a wedding reception that was held in some napoleonic tunnels, it was really nice, all lit with candles and very atmospheric. My only gripe was that it was a bit cold. The kids spent the whole evening running around the tunnels and loved every minute. The bride wore blue and looked gorgeous. At one point we were all told to go outside and there was a fantastic firework display. All in all it was quite an evening.

Hope all you other Mums out there had a good day too.

Captain Jack

2008-02-16T11:30:00.002Z

On Valentines day the girls and I went to Bluewater and queued for a book signing by John Barrowman, Captain Jack from Doctor Who and Torchwood. Well, actually I did most of the queuing while the girls went to the Disney Store and did some shopping. After two hours we got into Waterstones for our thirty seconds of book signing. He is just as gorgeous in real life as he is on the telly and was really friendly and chatty with the girls. It was the first book signing I have been to and I'm not sure I will do another one. Too many rules, don't ask for posed photos, don't ask him to sign anything other than the book etc. I know they are trying to get as many through as possible but we were rushed in and rushed out and in the end I only managed to get one decent photo so it was a little disappointing. The girls were impressed though and seemed pleased that they had seen him so it was worth it in the end.
I finished my other ribbed sock and I am so pleased with them, they fit nicely and the yarn is lovely. I have now started another Variation on a Frill for Gran as she really likes mine. I am doing it in Posh Yarn Emily, which is lush. I am going to try and get it finished for mothers day so need to knit fast. So far I have done the frill on one end and started the main body of the scarf, I will post photos once it is a bit longer.

Life and death.

2008-01-30T22:29:00.001Z

Its been a strange sort of month, the usual January anticlimax after christmas and the girls birthdays, but for some reason I've found it harder to pull myself up this year. My friend Nessie had her baby, a little girl, which is fantastic news and I'm going to see her and have a cuddle tomorrow, I can't wait. On the flip side, one of the girls in the office downstairs was killed by a tree falling on her car a couple of weeks ago. She had a one month old baby, who was in the car with her at the time and was fortunately completely unhurt. She wasn't a friend as such, more someone I said hello to in the tea room every now and then but its really upset me. I am just so bloody angry that bad things seem to happen to nice people. That poor baby is never going to know his Mum now and theres not even anyone to blame, it was just a freak accident. Life isn't fair and I hate that.
On the knitting front I did actually finish one sock in January, here is E displaying it for me. I am aiming to finish its pair whilst I am on jury service for two weeks starting next Monday. I should have plenty of time sitting around and waiting, perfect for sock knitting.

A star!

2008-01-15T19:07:00.000Z

Well, first post of the new year and its nearly halfway through January! Bad blogger!! Its been a bit hectic as we had both the girls birthdays so we have had a party, a sleepover, a shopping trip to Bluewater and a trip to the pantomime in the last couple of weeks. Fun but exhausting. I have however in amongst all that finished the star blanket for Nessies baby, now I just have to wait for Nessie to finish making the baby. He or she should be here soon. I am really pleased with it, it is by far the biggest thing I have ever crocheted and was nice to do.
I have joined a group on Ravelry to make a pair of socks each month for 2008. Yeah, like thats gonna happen! I did cast on for a ribbed pair for January but I have frogged them as I didn't like the yarn and pattern combination. So I am casting on again tonight for another pair. I am using Middle Earth Knitter yarn and the colours are fab, deep blue, green and purple. I will be happy if I finish one sock a month so I'll aim for that and see if I can reduce my sock yarn stash a bit. Please feel free to roll around laughing at this point, bearing in mind I have bought some lovely sock yarn from Posh Yarn and joined Middle Earth Knitters sock club again.

Legal at last!

2007-12-27T10:21:00.000Z

Well after not feeling christmassy at all we had a really lovely time. It all came together in the end, the decorations went up on Sunday, which is actually not a bad thing as normally I am getting annoyed by christmas day with retreiveing baubles from all over the house that the cats have hidden. This year they didn't have time to hide many. The kids loved thier new Wii and it provided us with lots of fun on christmas day playing all the games, even my Mum and Dad had a go. The only game I am regretting is the singalong High School Musical one, if I hear 'What time is it?' one more time i will scream!
I got some lovely pressies, a swift (at last), a popcorn teddy kit, a couple of books, some perfume, a storage box for my beads, some choccies, money and best of all, a deed poll changing my name from Sarah to Saira! So I can now legally use the name I have been using for most of my life. I need to write loads of letters informing everyone but I don't mind that at all.
I am now looking forward to finishing off my WIPs and starting something new for the new year. I have a huge list of stuff I want to make, mainly thanks to Ravelry, but I need to sort out what order to do it all in. I only have a couple of bits left on the needles, so I will finish those first.

Bah Humbug!

2007-12-21T21:14:00.000Z

I'm feeling so un-christmassy its untrue! We don't even have any decorations up yet, work has been a pain, money is tight, D is Mr Grumpy and the puberty fairy has arrived with a vengence in our house! At least I am now off until Thursday so maybe the christmas feeling will start soon. I have finished my christmas knits now so I can breathe a sigh of relief on that score, I made my Mum a scarf in Knitwitches pure silk and I'm really pleased with it. I hope she likes it.

Dad is getting a cabled scarf and hat, he has been moaning that I never make him anything so hopefully that will keep him quiet! June is getting a pair of pink fetchings like I made for R as she admired those when she saw them. The other gifts I made are for Sue and Sue at work, these beaded vases.

I have also made my first ever christmas cake! I followed Delias recipe and have been feeding it with Tia Maria so I can't wait to try it. I hope anyone who happens across this blog has a very merry christmas without too much stress.

Gifts from Las Vegas.

2007-11-20T16:59:00.000Z

Today I received some squishy lovelyness all the way from Las Vegas! My friend June went and bought me back some wonderfully soft Alpaca and some SWS soy wool for felting. I can't stop stroking the alpaca, it is so soft, that will become a scarf for me I think.

I finished a pair of crochet bootees for Kate at work on Friday and it was just in time as her niece was born on Sunday. They are from Crochet Today magazine and were fairly easy to make, although there were loads of ends to sew in which was no fun. She insisted on purple as that is her favorite colour, its a strange colour for a baby but there you go!

What a day!

2007-11-10T21:53:00.000Z

Today I have mostly been at the Stitch'n'bitch event in London, and what a wonderful day it was! I listened to a talk by Jean Moss which was interesting, I spent some money which was nice and I met some lovely people which was even nicer!

Here is what I spent my money on, although its not all for me! Some is to be sent on to Gemma from the AY forum who is in hospital and missed out on going to London today. Lottie had the idea of getting her a squishy gift to cheer her up. I had to get the 10g Opal ball as it is so cute! I have no idea what you could do with 10g of sock yarn but sometimes useless can be fantastic!

I met Lucy from Bristol who told me how to put a link in my blog, so here is a link to Lucy's blog hopefully! http://settersknitspop.blogspot.com/ Thanks Lucy!

On Wednesday D and I went to see Top Gear being filmed! It was so good, the lads were on top form and there were lots of laughs. I'll be watching it tomorrow to see if I can spot me in the crowd. I did get a photo with James May, but you will have to excuse the strange expression on my face, I discovered that trying to talk and smile at the same time just leaves you looking badly constipated!!

Trip to Norfolk and meeting the Mayor.

2007-10-30T10:36:00.000Z

If you have read my blog you will know that R is deputy carnival princess for our village. On Friday night we were invited to a presentation evening where cheques were handed out to good causes in the area from the money raised at this years fayre and carnival. R got all dressed up, she had a new dress that I bought from Ebay (god I love that place!!) and a manicure and her hair was done in curls again by my friend June. When we got there, she was more dressed up than the carnival queen! I was a bit worried that I had got it all wrong but when I checked the letter it had asked for her to go in full regalia! Maybe the queen prefers the understated look. Anyway, she had her photo taken with the Mayor and seemed quite happy with the whole thing so that was ok. It was lovely to see both the girls dressed up and looking gorgeous.

D and I had a weekend trip to Norwich while the girls stayed at my Mums. D had a reptile show on the Sunday so we decided to make a weekend of it. As usual it didn't go quite to plan! We got stuck in traffic on the way up because some lad had run in front of a van at the Dartford crossing so we didn't get there until 2.30 and we left my Mums at 9.30! I found Norfolk Yarn, which is a lovely shop and full of ladies with spinning wheels, which was lovely to watch. I bought some red cashmerino to do E some fetchings and a bagain bag of 10 balls of Elle chunky in an aubergine colour to do a jumper for me. On Sunday D dropped me off in Norwich and went to his show, it was very wet and windy but nice to have a casual wander round the shops on my own. I then went to meet D at the reptile show and wouldn't let him buy anything! I'm so mean! We did get a new vivarium which will eventually house a chameleon but not until we have room for it!

When Mum dropped the girls off in the evening she gave me this...

Its a needle roll for my dpns and crochet hooks!! It is absolutely fabulous, I love the colourful cats on it. She is working on one for my circular needles too. What a complete star! So all in all I have had a nice weekend!

Stash enhancement!

2007-10-23T20:18:00.000+01:00

Haven't blogged for a while! I have been far too busy buying more stuff. We had a trip to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace and I bought lots of lovely things. There are needles and yarn and a book and patterns and a magazine.
Its all very squishable and yummy so I can't wait to get started on making things. Some is for christmas presents but I'll keep quiet about what exactly just in case the recipients are reading. So on to some finished items instead.

This is a Jaywalker sock made with Regia Bamboo and I am so disappointed with it! The yarn feels lovely in the ball but knits up really floppy and doesn't hold a shape well. The sock feels baggy and shapeless on my foot. I will make the pair for it and give them a wash as I am hoping that will help, but I can see it being a long wait before that happens as I am not inspired by it at the moment.

I also made some fetchings in pink for R. Here she is striking a rock'n'roll pose! These are such a quick knit, they came out really nicely and I am planning to make some for myself, after I've made E some of course, as she is now sulking!!

A better day.

2007-10-04T22:53:00.000+01:00

Well, I am feeling a lot better today. D has been really poorly and is in huge pain which means I have been forced into taking a few days off work to keep things going at home. That sounds awful, but has probably saved my sanity a bit. He has been to the doctor and we have been assured that it is nothing to worry about and is probably just spasms connected to the surgery he has had, so once over the initial panic about the pain I can now relax and just worry about making sure he takes his tablets and rests. I know I should see the doc myself and get signed off for a bit, but I am covering someone elses job for the next couple of weeks and would just get more stressed knowing that the work won't be done if I'm not there. I just wish I was superwoman!

Anyway, on to the good bits. I received my winter warmer secret santa from Yunaleska on the Angel yarns forum today and it is gorgeous!! Just feast your eyes on that sock yarn! It is from middle earth yarns and is called midnight... it is wonderful and it is mine all mine (insert manical laugh here.) The other yarn is called Hug and is so soft, there is a pattern to make socks or legwarmers from it. I think legwarmers are to be left to the younger generation as they bring back bad memories of the eighties, so socks it is.

More good bits.. I have finally managed to get tickets for me and hubby to go and see Top Gear! It has taken a bit of persistance and a long wait but we are going on 7th November to see an episode being filmed. We went a few years ago and had a great day so I can't wait to go again and see the hamster (hes lovely!!!) and have a laugh.

Finally R is going to be filmed by the BBC for a kids show on Saturday. She has to take Elvis (our kingsnake) with her as they want to interview her about keeping snakes as pets. She is really pleased and has been telling everyone at school about it.

This is Elvis, he was only a baby when this was taken. He is now about four foot long and rather beautiful, he is also the most docile , calm and laid back snake ever! So he should be good for filming.

The other good news, well sort of, is that Rusty is no longer with us. I have signed him over to the RSPCA to rehome. I feel terribly guilty that we couldn't give him the home he needed, but I am relieved that he is not here any more. As hard as it was I know we made the right decision. The house is so much calmer and the cats have come out of hiding already. Apart from five minutes of tears at bedtime, the kids are ok with it too. They have commented on how much easier it is without him. I really hope he finds a home where he can get the attention he needs and someone who has the time to train him properly and help him get over all his problems.

Anyway I am off to bed now and hoping that tomorrow is a good day too.

Not much to say!

2007-09-29T10:20:00.000+01:00

I have just sat here staring at the keyboard and don't know what to put. I am feeling really down at the moment and can't think of anything positive to say. I'm the same on the forum I visit, I keep going to answer a post and just giving up halfway through typing. So I will take my Grans advice, 'if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all'. I will wait until the cloud lifts and try again.

I'm in!!!

2007-09-20T22:51:00.000+01:00

Yay!! I have finally made it into Ravelry! OMG!! There is so much there to play with! I can see nothing getting done this weekend in the way of craft or housework!

I have also finished the bag for the bag swap, and now that Leah has received it I can show a picture of it. I had to borrow this photo from Leah because I was so eager to send it off that I forgot to photograph it! The bag is crocheted with a 12mm hook in Wendy Pampas, the pattern is from Tess Dawsons book. I added a sparkly charm to it as well. I sent a couple of other bits with it too, a bracelet, kilt pin and scissors with a beaded charm. All of which i made as well. It was nice to get the beads out again, they have been stashed away for too long. It also inspired me to make another bracelet to send to my Winter warmer swap pal, so I hope she likes that too!

Another finished object!!

2007-09-09T11:24:00.000+01:00

I have finished an item that was so quick it never even made it to the WIP list! It is a bolero for E in Sirdar Blur. I love this yarn, it knits up really nicely and a little goes a long way. This took less than a ball! I have some in a nice green to do a jumper for me from septembers Knitting magazine and that only needs four balls.

It looks great on her and she is out playing in it at the moment, I just hope she doesn't ruin it whilst climbing a tree!!

R wanted me to put up a picture of her in her new school uniform, so here it is. She has settled in well and already has 5 merits! She has managed to catch the bus on her own and phones me every lunch and break time!! That will hopefully stop once the novelty of having her own mobile phone stops!!

I am back at work tomorrow after a bit of time off to look after D. He is home from hospital but still quite weak. I hope he will be ok on his own next week. I am really stressed and on the edge at the moment which is not a good thing, the dog is winding me up constantly, if I'm not having my arm pulled off on a walk then he is tripping me up, winding up the cats or barking at phantoms in the house. We have the normal arguments with the kids about homework and tidy rooms, the house and garden look a tip and I just feel like I am not coping. I hate this panicky feeling which seems to be there all the time. Never mind, I shall get the chores done and settle down to some craft.

Yummies in the post.

2007-09-06T10:24:00.000+01:00

I am taking part in a bag swap on the Angel Yarns forum and I received this beautiful bag on Tuesday! It is from Linda (Allknittingnosleeping) and it is so pretty. It is made from Silk and feels absolutely gorgeous, I've not bought any silk yarn yet but I may now be tempted, if it drapes this beautifully in a bag then it would be lovely as a top.
I have actually started mine, it just needs handles and a lining and then I can post it off.

These are the other goodies I received in the bag swap package, lots of lavender smellies, chocolate and some gorgeous Opal yarn.
I have been planning my extras to go in with the bag and it will have to be beaded!!

Thanks so much Linda, you really brightened my day!

Socks done!!

2007-08-31T09:32:00.000+01:00

I have finished the waving not drowning socks and they are lovely! I love Opal yarn and I love how it softens up after a wash, this colour is fantastic, the name Neon really suits it. So now I have my bright and cheerful socks for grey days.

D is still in hospital, he was hoping to be home tomorrow but it looks like he will have to stay over the weekend. He is eating soft food now so things are definately on the up, the only problem is his blood pressure is low so they are trying to sort that out. E is off to brownie camp this weekend so it will just be R and me on our own. We will have to have a real girly weekend and make the most of it.

Last night i had a precious night off, the kids are at Mums, D in hospital so I was all alone and didn't have to go and visit him either as he already had visitors. It was the first time in ages that I have sat down and relaxed!! I poured a glass of wine and planned an evening starting a new project. First I tried winding a skein of Lana Borgoesia cashwool into a ball, that took ages and I got in a tangle near the end so decided the ball was big enough! Then I tried casting on for a beaded shawl but it is the first time I have used anything that fine and I found it really hard so after a few attempts I gave up for the moment. Next I decided to start E's blur bolero, only to find I haven't got any 6.5mm needles. Eventually I started a lacy cardigan in cotton 4ply, after casting on 189 stitches I got in a muddle trying to k4tog tbl and dropped a load of stitches off the needles!! At this point I put it all away and gave up! Sometimes its best to just watch telly!!

A bit of beadwork

2007-08-24T06:06:00.000+01:00

I was going back over the blog and realised that I haven't got any pictures of my bead work. So here are a few. These are not recent bits but they are ones I am particularly proud of. This is going to be image heavy!!

This one is a brooch I made for a secret pal swap on a beading forum. It was sent to Hawaii .

This is a necklace made with art glass beads from an american seller on Ebay. They are so gorgeous, my favourite colour (teal) and up close they look like little galaxys with swirls of stars in deep blue.

This was a challenge piece on the Bead and Button forum, the theme was Bollywood, so I went for lots of bling in red and gold. The little hearts tinkle when you move so it is a lovely piece to wear.

This is a choker made to a traditional American Indian pattern, as a commission piece for a friend who is really into that culture. It took 17 hours to make!! Each seed bead was added individually as the pattern was for a loom but I did it in square stitch!

This was a set in goldstone that a friend at work asked me to make for her daughter. It is beautifully sparkly as the goldstone is filled with lots of twinkly bits.

Last but not least this is the one I am probably most proud of, I made it at a workshop with Lyn Firth from Stitch'n'craft. It is simply stunning and I remember walking into that workshop and Lyn showing us what we would be making and I just thought "No way am I going to be able to do that!" But I did!!

At last the op is over!!

2007-08-22T23:21:00.001+01:00

D has had the operation and is recovering nicely!! Hoorah! He is covered in tubes and feeling very sore today but otherwise is doing ok. I am so relieved it is over at last. This has been hanging over us for so long now, I know he still has a lot of recovery to get through and it may not even solve the problems completely but it has to mean some improvement surely!?!

The girls are coping really well, I have had a few tears but I took them to see him this evening and that helped, they are so used to having him at home all the time that they miss him a lot.

I wish I was coping as well, but I am so tired, what with all the animals to sort out and the kids to keep amused as well as work and visiting the hospital I just can't keep up!

We spent yesterday dyeing our sock yarn, it was fabulous messy fun! Just what the doctor ordered! E did hers bright blue and red, she wants a hat. R did bright orange and pink and wants trainer socks. I tried to do some more pastel shades, one is peach and pink and the other a light blue, I got a bit experimental and added some red to the blue to try and make a bit of purple but I'm not madly happy with the result. Maybe it will look better when it is wound and knitted.

Aaarrggh!!

2007-08-17T15:13:00.000+01:00

Sorry, another getting it off my chest post! The trouble is that I am having to be the strong one here and all I want to do is lean on someone else and let them worry about everything, but there isn't anyone! The kids need me to be strong, D needs me to be strong and his Mum is relying on me too. He has his op on Tuesday, and he is so scared and stressed. I am bad enough but he really is convinced it is all going to go pear shaped and he will get an infection or something. Neither of us are sleeping, he is grumpy because of the stress and he is in a lot of pain too at the moment. Its lovely here.....not!!
What doesn't help is the fact that we have finally, after much soul searching, decided that Rusty is going to have be rehomed. :-( We have gone through the finances and just don't have the money to pay for the intensive training he needs in order to be a controllable dog. We have had him a good couple of months now and tried so many things to sort out his problems but it isn't working. I hated having to make that decision, but it had to be done. The kids will hate me for it, not to mention other people who have been very vocal about thier disapproval of me even thinking about it! The thing is we never went looking for a dog, he just needed a home and we said we would give him a try. Well we have and it didn't work, now we just have to live with the fall out. Hopefully the kids will be ok and at least the cats will come out of hiding now.
Well I'd better go and be the strong one again! I'll update on the op next week.

Crochet shrug done!

2007-08-12T11:07:00.000+01:00

I finished the crochet shrug! It has worked very well except I am not sure about the front, I may need to put an edging on it as it is a bit gappy around the armholes.

My undyed sock yarn has arrived too! We have the food colours all ready so will do that one day soon, I am thinking of doing it on the day D has his op, that way I can keep mine and the girls mind off it!! We won't be able to visit him on that day anyway, just phone for updates. I was only £2 away from the free postage at Violet Green so a skein of lovely plum, pink and purple sock yarn fell into my basket too. Pretty isn't it?

Good news and bad news

2007-08-10T10:01:00.000+01:00

Good news first, the alpaca sock is coming along nicely. The yarn is so soft, this sock will be like walking on kittens! I also received my all seasons cotton so I can finish the crochet shrug, hurrah!

Now the bad news! Before I can carry on with the sock I have a bit of a mess to sort out, due to my dog deciding he liked the alpaca too and unwinding the ball for me!!

We had doggy trainers in yesterday and Rusty will be going to school in a couple of weeks. I am at the end of my tether with him, he is not badly behaved indoors but a nightmare outside! We tried a group training class but he was so stressed about the other dogs that is was a total disaster! So now he is going to have one to one training, its very expensive but if it means I can walk him without major dramas then it has to be worth it. Also they said he is very attached to D and suffers seperation anxiety when he isn't here, which is going to be a major problem when he goes into hospital. They have told us what to do and we have 10 days to sort that problem out before D goes in. Hopefully it will be ok, I am going to be anxious enough myself and trying to stop the kids from worrying about thier Dad, I don't know that I could cope with a stressed out dog too!!!

Busy weekend

2007-08-04T11:03:00.000+01:00

We have a busy weekend ahead, guests coming to stay and tomorrow we are going to Brands Hatch for the World Superbikes. So I am in the middle of a housework frenzy! I don't know why I am bothering as I know I am the only one who will notice that its tidy and there will be crash helmets and leathers all over the place once they get here, but at least I can relax once its done!

I decided to cast on the alpaca socks as Bronte suggested, I am using Artesano Hummingbird and it is so squishy and soft! I have ordered some non slip paws for the bottoms of them so they will be house socks. Since I don't have a picture of them yet here is one of Tilly relaxing on my bed.

Oh well, tea break over, back to the house work!

A finished item!

2007-08-01T21:54:00.000+01:00

I have finished the primrose shawl!! It is so light and lovely and I am thrilled with it. Here is R doing her model bit!

I have made sixteen squares for my shrug so far and run out of yarn! So I have ordered more and will carry on with that when it arrives. In the meantime I will try and finish the neon socks and then I need to decide what to start on next. I am torn between a lacy cardigan in 4ply cotton, some Regia bamboo socks, some alpaca slouch socks or a lace scarf.

I have found out that my Aunt is having a mastectomy in a couple of weeks time, they removed the lump at the beginning of July but think they may have missed a bit, so she made the decision to get the whole breast removed. I think I would have made the same decision. So fingers crossed that this will get rid of the cancer for once and all and she can get on with her life again.

Late night ideas!

2007-07-27T21:55:00.000+01:00

I couldn't sleep last night and found myself mentally going through my stash and thinking what to do with it when I had a brainwave! If I take the Rowan all seasons cotton that I won in the Knit Today competition and make crochet squares I can join them together into a rectangle and make a shrug!! So I ignored my 'finish one thing before starting another' rule and started making squares today. So thats another thing in the WIP list, but hopefully it will be quite quick and then I can get back to the Primrose shawl and make the pair for my neon socks. I'll keep you posted!!

No more Harry Potter!!

2007-07-22T22:20:00.000+01:00

I have just finished reading The Deathly Hallows and am feeling really down! I can't believe there will be no more Harry Potter books. Every time I've finished one I've been desperate for the next one to come out and now that is it. I can only hope that JK takes pity on us and keeps Hogwarts going in another book, there is so much scope even if the main characters are different.
On a completely different vein, D has had the date for his op. It is the 21st August, which is highly unfair as that is his birthday! So I am trying to sort out leave and who can have the kids whilst he is in hospital and also when he comes out as he won't be able to drive for a while. He in the meantime is hoping the weather perks up so he can get out on his motorbike as much as possible before the op!

Look at my stash!!

2007-07-20T23:12:00.000+01:00

Today I got all my yarn out and photographed it. I didn't realise I had so much. Some of it I will never use so it is going to be put on Ebay, but there will still be plenty to work on. I just wish I could knit faster! I don't seem to have the patience with finishing things and am desperate to cast on the next thing before casting off what I am on at the moment. I am having to force myself to only have two main projects on the go at once. At the moment it is the crochet shawl and the Opal socks. I do also have a scarf and a baby blanket in the naughty corner, I will get back to them one day! I am so lucky as I have some really gorgeous yarns to work with and my head is full of ideas to use them.

Some knitting for a change!!

2007-07-14T10:39:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos of knitting, just for a change!! I still can't find the charger for the camera but have taken photos on my phone instead.
First of all E in her new alpaca hat. It was supposed tobe for me but didn't fit!! The pattern I used said to do 2 repeats of the cable pattern but I'll need to do three to make it fit me. The pattern is from knitting pattern central and is called the Kisses and hugs hat.

This is a work in progress, it is Primrose from Tess Dawson's new crochet book, which is marvellous. I am using Kaalund Classic 2 and the colour is called pacific. It is my first proper attempt at crochet and is very easy to follow.

Lastly I have cast on a sock, I always like to have a sock on the go! This one is called Waving not Drowning from Violet Green. I thought that was appropriate considering everything that is going on at the moment!! I am doing it in the brightest colour I had in my stash, Opal neon. It almost glows in real life!! If that doesn't cheer me up then nothing will!!

That'll make the summer interesting!

2007-07-12T11:24:00.000+01:00

D had his appointment with the surgeon yesterday and they have decided to go ahead with the operation!! He is amazed as he thought it would be put off again, then the amazement turned to fear as the surgeon explained what they are going to do! I felt really sorry for him, his face just fell. He will be in hospital for at least 10 days and will be fed via a tube in the nose until he starts eating again. The incision will be crossways and go from one side of the chest to the other, so a fairly large recovery time afterwards. The barium xrays he had done were inconclusive as even the liquid barium couldn't get through the blockage, this means they are going in blind and hoping that the intestine is healthy enough to use for the by pass.
The op is scheduled for the beginning of August, so I am going to have to hope that my boss is feeling nice and will let me take some holiday even though the quota of people off in August is already filled. With the kids off school I am going to need at least two weeks whilst he is in the hospital and the first few days at home.
On the plus side I finished knitting a hat whilst I was waiting at the hospital. I have made it with the alpaca yarn I bought on Sunday and used a pattern on knitting pattern central for a cabled hat. It is lovely, but doesn't fit! I followed the pattern and did two repeats of the cable section, obviously I should have done three as it is fine widthways but too short for me. It fits E so she can have that and I'll do another one.
I am working on a crochet shawl at the moment and it is coming up beautifully, I can't find the charger for the camera battery so will have to post photos another day.

Quick update

2007-07-09T09:19:00.000+01:00

I didn't get time to log in last week so a quick run down on whats been going on in the madhouse. I won a competition in Knit Today! How cool is that? I won ten balls of Wendy Shimmer (not sure what to do with that as it is a nightmare to knit with!), three skiens of Collinette Enigma (lush ribbon yarn, I've already earmarked that for a wrap that is in the latest Magknits), membership to Rowan international which also includes a pattern and 4 balls of All seasons cotton, some patterns and two tickets to the Knitting and Stitching show! Aren't I a lucky girl!! I already have my tickets booked for the K&S show so I have given them away on the Angel Yarns forum. Spread the happiness!!

On Sunday the Tour De France came through Kent, so we avoided it and went to an Alpaca farm for an open day. It was slightly less than advertised but we had a lovely time. The alpacas were so cute and the farmer was so enthusiastic that it was great to listen to him talking about them. I bought two balls of pink DK alpaca yarn and have decided to make a hat. I may even get it finished by the 22nd as we are going back to see them again!!

Happy news!

2007-07-02T16:31:00.001+01:00

On saturday we went to the local village carnival and fayre, it was incredibly wet and windy but very busy despite that. R was entered in the carnival princess competition so we spent all morning doing her hair and getting her ready. She did her parade of the arena in the rain, I felt so sorry for all the girls, they looked so pretty and the brollies sort of spoiled the effect!

Luckily it stopped raining for the presentation and R was crowned deputy princess!! She was so pleased and wasn't at all bothered about not actually winning as she got a tiara and sash anyway.

I was worried that E would feel left out but she said she would only do it if she could wear camo and trainers! All she wanted was candy floss, so that was soon sorted.

Getting it off my chest!

2007-06-29T10:24:00.000+01:00

Ok, today I am going to have a moan and get it off my chest, so those who happen across this blog and don't want to read the deranged ramblings of a mad woman can go away now!
D has Crohns disease and over the last seven years has not only lost huge amounts of weight but become a completely different person. He is bad tempered, moody, and can be really obstinate. I know its because of the medication he is on and because he is in pain a lot of the time but he really is a bugger to live with!! Finally after a good few years it seems they have got the Crohns into remission, which means he can now have an operation to bypass the scar tissue at the exit of his stomach. This will hopefully stop him constantly throwing up and he can put some weight back on and get rid of all the pain and discomfort.
Sounds good eh? But of course it isn't as straight forward as that. The reason he is in remission is because he is on immune suppressant treatment, so he has no immune system to speak of. The surgeon that we have been referred to is not keen on doing the surgery because of the risk of infection afterwards. He can't stop the treatment because not only could the Crohns come back, but once you stop you can't ever have that treatment again as it would send you into anaphalatic (sp) shock. The risk of infection is quite high at this hospital, last November my Grandad died after having a hip replacement op and picking up MRSA. MIL's best friend died in February after having an op and catching C-Diff. So given that knowledge the op seems more and more of a risk.
The problem is, I know D can't carry on the way he is, and I know I can't!! But I am scared to death that the op that should save him may end up making him more ill or even worse killing him.
Added to all this life seems to be determined to be a pain in the backside and keeps giving me more and more to cope with. R is playing up big time, she will be in a cast for six weeks but the ADHD is making her a complete cow at the moment and she is not making any effort to control it. My Aunt has just broken the news that she has breast cancer, work is too much stress, and I am just not coping. All I want to do is hide somewhere until it all goes away.
Well, there you go, rant over! Maybe getting it off my chest will help, maybe not.

More chaos!!

2007-06-22T21:43:00.000+01:00

Why is nothing ever easy! D had to go to the hospital for a barium xray on thursday, so he was there all day and I had to take time off work and rush around trying to sort out cookery club supplies and school runs. Then in the evening R is at gymnastics and I get a call to say that she has an accident and can I go and get her. Turns out someone has accidently landed on her hand and her thumb lokked all swollen and a bit wrong. So off to A&E we go, 5 hours later at 1.30am we get home complete with plaster cast and sling. Today I was on earlies so I felt like death all day, R wasn't much better, she went to school but came home at lunchtime as she was in a bit of pain and kept falling asleep in class. We both had a nap this afternoon but i still feel shattered.
With all this going on I haven't had much chance to knit, or practice the crochet I learnt at my workshop on wednesday, hopefully we will have a quiet weekend and I get stuck into some serious craft!

2007-06-18T19:58:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago we adopted a dog called Rusty, he was about to be thrown out on the streets so we took him in. He is very sweet but needs training! He cannot walk on a lead, barks continually and hates being left on his own. On Saturday D was out with his brother and the girls and I went shopping. I got back to find my knitting bag had been emptied all over the floor! Not only that, but Rusty had found a bar of Green and Blacks chocolate in there and eaten the whole thing. Chocolate as you may know is poisonous to dogs so off we went to the Vet and he had to have charcoal powder every fours hours, yes even through the night! On Sunday we were back for a blood test, luckily he is fine but it cost over £100 in vet fees!! The only good news is that I managed to save the sock that he nearly ruined by a bit of spitsplicing.

I'm really not good at this blog stuff, am I?

2007-06-16T10:17:00.000+01:00

I think I had better try harder to keep up to date with this, I love reading other peoples blogs so it would be good to keep mine in a state where people might actually want to read it!!

Since my last post I have received my secret santa goodies from the Angel yarns forum swap, and they are lovely. I have already started a pair of socks with some of the Jojoland Melody. It is a slightly strange pattern as I have used a stitch pattern from the Knit Today sock booklet, but the pattern in the booklet is for DK and the Jojoland I've used is fingering weight so I had to adapt it. Its the first time I have worked without following a pattern strictly so I am really pleased with how they have turned out. The yarn is fabulous too which helps.

I am also on a stashalong which is going to last until the Knitting and Stitching show in October. I have written a list of all my stash and have the yarn and patterns for so many things that I just can't justify buying any more!! Having said that I fell off the wagon last week and bought some Wendy Fusion to make a felted bag! I must behave from now on! I have also joined a sock club, but that was an anniversary present from D so I'm not counting that!!

I am going on a crochet workshop next week and will update the blog with how I got on afterwards.

Hello

2007-04-11T18:48:00.000+01:00

Well I seem to have cracked it!! Here is Fat cat on a box! Now I know what to do I can start to put up some pictures of my knitting and stuff.

aarrgghh!

2007-04-10T11:48:00.000+01:00

I obviously still need to work out how to upload a picture!

Lets try again.

Lets try again then!

2007-04-10T11:43:00.000+01:00

Well, so much for keeping this updated. Never mind I'll try again. I will have a go at posting some pictures of my knitting and stuff too. Life is just too busy really, I need a couple of extra hours in a day. Hopefully here is a picture of our cat Tilly.

Christmas Day

2006-12-25T22:45:00.000Z

Well, after all the hullaballoo of getting ready, it's finally here. We have had a really lovely day, Mum and Dad came over and we did all the usual stuff. We didn't have xmas pud this year as Dad wanted a cheesecake, I duly made one but didn't use enough gelatine, so it was the incredible collapsing cheesecake!! Still tasted good though. D's Mum is coming tomorrow and we have promised to take the kids to the park to try out thier heeleys.
Decided to make today the first day of my blog, not too sure whether I'll have time to keep it updated but I'll try.