Good news and bad news

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

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!

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!

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!!

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!!

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!!

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!!