What was I thinking?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.