....... TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

......... well, time really is running out! The long, lazy, seemingly endless summer holidays have almost come to an end. Much too soon, I say! I have loved every minute of my carefree knitting days, seeing friends and family and just generally pottering around. The weather hasn't been amazing, but it has been warm, quite sunny and mostly dry; which means plenty of 'being outside'!

Oh my God! How on earth will I survive 'back to school' and the myriad of things to do, places to be, work to plan, meetings to attend, that each new school day brings! I don't, at this moment in time, know how I will, but what I do know is that I feel exactly the same every year, as the challenges of a new academic year draw ever closer. Every year ...... it's all OK! Just different! A different mind set, a different gear, a different class of children and before you know it you're up and running.

As for knitting, I am racing to get as much finished as possible on my summer holiday projects. I got sidetracked today though, as I dug deep into my Russian Doll bag in the hope of finding my blue scissors and just had to pull out 'Sock Blankie' to have a little admiration time with him! That was it ..... 'Sock Blankie' addiction instantly re-kindled. Sooooo to cut a long story short, I have spent all day in the garden with Blankie. Here's how he's looking .......




He's got quite a few more squares added since I last showed you. I just love, love, love rummaging around for the next colourway and deciding where it's going to go. With many of the sock yarns, you never quite know how they are going to turn out until the little square is completed. I guess that's part of the fascination. Each square takes very little time, which means there's always 'just time for one more!' Before you know it ..... you've made a blanket. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, or even wishful thinking, because I just can't wait for him to get done; I guess in about two years time I'll proudly showing you my finished Blankie!

I had to get a move on with my August 'Sock Challenge' socks, as time was running out. I knit, knit, knit, knit, knit on Saturday and just managed to complete them with a day in hand ( a day to share with 'Sock Blankie' :D). They fit well in the foot but are a little wide in the leg, mainly because the pattern and the yarn are both quite stretchy. I am very pleased with them though. Jenny Cook's dyeing is really gorgeous. I gave you details of the pattern and yarn two posts ago.
Here they are...... my 'August Welsh Hills Socks'!





Most of my other projects are still no further forward, but I have made a start on my September 'Sock Challenge' socks. I'm calling them 'September Sunday Swing Socks' after the pattern title. It's a free download here on 'Knitty'. The socks feature a stitch pattern that will show off the colours and pattern of the yarn, but is simple enough not to be obscured by the yarn colours. My chosen yarn is an Opal hand-dyed, that has been in my stash since we were in Wales for our son's wedding last August. The colours are rich and autumnal; just perfect for September socks. Here they are so far ......... yarn wound and pattern chosen....


Twisted rib done and first pattern repeat of sixteen rows completed ........



Here you can see a little more of the pattern ........



I'm off to London on Wednesday and then back to school for two INSET days on Thursday and Friday, so hope to see you again next Sunday ..... if not before!

Have a lovely week, whatever you're doing!

SUN, SEA, WALKS, FAMILY......

Hello there! It's good to be back. I have just returned from a wonderfully relaxing week in North Yorkshire, where we met up with our family! We walked and explored and dined and supped, found forests and Roman Camps, beaches and art galleries, spotted birds and butterflies, ate fish and chips outdoors, visited a stately home, enjoyed amazing skies and views and generally had fun. I did find time to knit. It was good! Here's a snapshot of our week .........


I took several projects with me to get started on; more than I needed of course! But you never know and ... just in case .... Needless to say, I had more than enough and so not much actually got finished. I tended to knit only for short spells of time in the cottage or in the car. As always, I spent much more time looking at the stunning views, than actually concentrating on any knitting and made endless errors that needed large scale 'frogging'! Let that be a lesson learnt. Either knit or gaze but don't try to do both. This is progress so far........

Very Fetching! (completed)





These are such a quick and simple knit. The pattern is 'Fetching' by Cheryl Niamath. It's very well written and so easy. It would be a good pattern for anyone who is desperate to try out cabling for the first time. There is just enough to practice with and quick gratification of a finished project in about two hours. The pattern suggests one or maybe two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I found one was sufficient with very little excess. Always 'good'! They fit like a dream and the cashmerino is so gorgeously soft. I have no doubt that a few more pairs of these may be sprinting off the needles in the run -up to Christmas.

August Welsh Hills Socks





I gave you the details of the yarn and pattern in my last post. I managed to get one sock finished and have to get a move on to finish the other by the end of the month, as these are my August 'Sock Challenge' pair. They are going well and the pattern is easy to memorise. If I hadn't taken several other skeins and patterns with me, they may well have been completed. You know what it's like though. If you've chosen two or three great patterns and you've got two or three (or more :D ) skeins of yarn sitting there in the bag just waiting. It is impossible not to get started, even if it does mean having way too many WIPs!

Seascape Scarf



Oh how I love this yarn and the pattern. I've had it ready and waiting for a while now and once they had both jumped into the 'holiday bag', well ........ couldn't leave them alone for too long now, could I. Just look at the results so far. I LOVE it! Reminds me of the beautiful blue-green sea reflecting an azure blue sky at Robin Hood Bay and the cliffs and the sand and the stunning views as early evening falls and Scott and his humans swim and play. I'll remember; every time I wear my Seascape Scarf!

The pattern is Drop Stitch Scarf by Christine Voegel. It's another great free Ravelry download. I'm using a 100g skein of kettle-dyed Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend. It's perfect for this project as it is quite slinky and has a gorgeous sheen. I think I might be in love!! The pattern is a straightforward 8 Row repeat. Two rows involve yarnovers and two rows involve dropping the the yarnovers SMILE! The rest are just knit! It's very easy to memorise. I haven't got too far yet, but it seems to grow quite quickly on the size 5mm needles and the ball of yarn doesn't seem to be getting very much smaller, so I'm guessing that my 100g will make a perfectly acceptable silk and wool blend scarf, to remind me of lazy summer days.

Speaking of lazy summer days, I can't resist letting you see this lovely picture of Scott ..... he found the spade on a deserted, small beach at Robin Hood Bay and carried it all the way back up to the top of the cliffs, insisting it be thrown for him to retrieve repeatedly, as we all trudged up the steep incline; only to lose all interest in it once we arrived at the top. Typical! We love you Scott!



Wavy Yorkshire Socks

Here they are so far, one and a bit complete ..


These are my 'in the car' socks. I began them on the journey up and completed the first sock within about three days. It's a pattern I've used several times before and always produces a good result' It's yet another freebie - 'Waving Not Drowning Socks' by Violet Green. There are lots of really lovely patterns on her site, many of them free! I'm using a Trekking XXl yarn. Stripy yarns always work well with this pattern, which is 4-row, ultra easy but effective. Just great for long journeys!

No trip away is 'perfect' unless an ever so little yarn stash purchase has been made. Bearing in mind that I am off to the 'I Knit Weekender' in London in about three weeks time, I was very controlled and only bought two skeins of Regia (colourway 04451). What do you think?


Well I have just another week and a half of school summer hols left and my aim is to complete these projects. I do also have the cardigan I showed you last time and a smaller version of the 'Ice-cream Sorbet Bag' to finish. Hmmm ...... lots of knitting time required! Before I go let me leave you with another lovely photo of my grandog, Scott, taken last week at Robin Hood Bay.


AAWW! Such a cute boy!

Have a great week, whatever you are doing!

IT'S RAINING! SO GUESS WHAT ....

Hello there! What a gloomy August morning. We woke up to rain, rain and more rain. If it's school hols, if the sun isn't shining, if I can't knit in the garden, if the fridge is about to vomit tomatoes or blackcurrants or gooseberries or ..... , then that means only one thing ........... jamming; or in today's case, chutneying and marmalading with a bit of freezing of allotment French beans last evening, thrown in for good measure. What a busy little bee I've been! I had a very special little errand to complete first thing this morning ... mission accomplished ... sshh! Then it was straight home to get those old jars sterilised and the show on the road. Our greenhouse, as I said a day or so ago, is overflowing with tomatoes! This chutney used up 2.5 kg and I used another 1.15 kg to make a pasta sauce for supper this evening. Talk about being 'tomatoed out', but at least the fridge is feeling a little better now!

Here we are, eleven jars of 'Red Tomato and Apple' chutney. Do you want to see the bits in between? There aren't too many. Well, you're going to have to I'm afraid, because I've taken the photos! I hope you don't mind. Here we go....

That wasn't too bad, was it! I'm no passionate cook (I'd rather be knitting), so the best bit for me is making them look pretty! Yes, I'm happy with those, although the tomato should have been a little smaller and a little higher.

It was still raining, so time to get out the Marmade tin and rustle up half a dozen jars of marmalade, then I could 'pretty' a few more jars up!

Phew! It was a little steamy in there!

That jam funnel is the best gadget eve. It stops all that hot, sticky, gooiness from slopping everywhere and getting stuck solid to the sides of the jars. Great invention! Thank you Mr Snoopydog junior!

I love this pretty Amy Butler fabric ........ such a bonus to live close to John Lewis :).

Mmm the labels are OK too! Yes, I know they are not the important bit, but ....... well you know how it is!

I really should show you some knitting, but needless to say, there were not enough hours in the day today,' to make any progress with anything on two or four needles. I will show you my August socks that are in progress though. The pattern is 'Rib Fantastic' from the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns. My great pal Josiekitten bought me a copy for my birthday last month. It's a lovely book, full of lots of advice and info on how to get the best out of handpainted yarns and avoid pooling. There are some great patterns too! The BFL yarn is dyed by Jenny Cook. It's a gorgeous, really deep colour. I love it! Here they are so far ....

I've also got a jumper/cardi on the go at long last. Mr Snoopydog bought me some Colinette Cadenza last Christmas and I have really struggled to find a pattern that I liked and that would suit the yarn. I have tried two and frogged both! I made a decision at the start of the summer hols, that whatever else I began, I HAD to finish my jumper. At last... or maybe I should say 'at least', it's on it's way.

I've called it 'October Afternoon' after the colourway name, so I'd best get going quickly if it's to be worn in October! The pattern is called 'Bizet' and it's from the small pamphlet of patterns published by Colinette especially for this yarn. Instructions are given for both a cardigan and jumper and at the moment I am undecided as to which I'll end up with. Watch this space!

We are off up to Yorkshire on Friday, for a week of chilling. We have rented a couple of cottages with our three children and their partners and, of course, that scrumptious little bundle of yellow labrador doggy goodness ... Scott! It's lovely to get ALL together once in a while...... plenty of good food, good ale, long walks, relaxing, 'nattering' ...... and of course, some knitting! I've got these three projects sorted ready to take with me. I'll give your more details next time, hopefully with some knitting progress on each project too!


Love these colours. It's a Trekking XXL yarn to knit some Violet Green 'Waving Not Drowning' socks. It's an easy pattern that is quick to memorise and good for car journeys.


I've had this skein of Manos del Uruguay 'Silk Blend' for quite some time now, especially for the 'Drop Stitch Scarf'........ more details later!

See you all when we return on Friday 21st.

BAGS OF TIME.......... :D

Hello again! It's Monday morning and another weekend over and done. It's been warm and sunny here in Norfolk; just perfect for lazing in the garden and catching up with knitting projects that have been lying around for a little too long for my liking! This bag isn't one of them, may I add. I haven't been able to leave this project alone for very long. But yes, I did finish it yesterday.



The bag, I call it my Summer Ice-cream Sorbet Bag, is the fabulous design creation of Lucy from Attic 24. Thank you Lucy! It's brilliant! Attic 24 is full of colour and vibrancy and if you haven't already been, you really should drop in and say hello. The yarn is Paton's Sorbet; most of it bought very cheaply from Kemps. Lucy used Debbie Bliss Merino Aran. Her colours are wonderfully bright, but I quite like these soft summery colours too! I liked the feel and structure of the cotton yarn for a summer bag. So, here it is! Want to see some more photos? I hope you like it!




I made it exactly to Lucy's instructions. She writes them in a clear and very easy to understand way; amply illustrated with photos to help you. It was so easy, I couldn't wait to get back to it. In fact I think this pretty .... I wanted to say 'little', but it certainly isn't a little bag! So, this pretty BIG... or even ENORMOUS bag has rekindled a long forgotten love of crochet. I'm all ready to get on and make another; a smaller version next time, using up the yarn leftover. I bought 3 balls of each colour and have used nearly two of each of my favourites and one of the less used colours. So, plenty left for another bag. If I had used each of the colours equally, two balls of each colour would have been needed. I really like the pretty little flowers, with their layered petals and pointy leaves. I kept them close by yesterday afternoon, so that I could keep feasting my eyes on their prettiness. The bag has a whole host of possibilities for it's use ....... a beach bag to carry all our towels and books and knitting, a bag to take a picnic and knitting project to the park on a warm, sunny afternoon, a project bag for an Attic 24 or Do You Mind if I Knit big blanket project, which I am now determined to begin as a cosy evening project for the winter months, or a storage bag for LOTS of yarn! I think it will be the latter to begin with until my blanket gets underway. I have even treated myself to a new book to try some ideas out. It's full of really pretty designs!



Must go, it's time for lunch. It's tomatoes, tomatoes all the way in our house at the moment. It happens every year. They start to ripen in the greenhouse quite slowly at first, so that you eat them up without feeling tomatoed out! Then before you know it tomatoes have taken over your life! So far there's been tomato sauce for pasta (scrummy, but you need to start the process in good time because sauce the needs about an hour and a half to reduce), tomato on the veg kebabs for the barbecue, tomato and spinach pasta bake and today........



..... a quick, but very tasty bruschetta! Lots of garlic, deskinned tomato, freshly ground black pepper piled onto homemade granary bread and grilled, but not for too long. Yum!

See you again soon, I need to eat!

P.S. There will no doubt be some red tomato chutney, tomato and basil soup and as the season draws to a close, some green tomato chutney; so easy to make and really delicious to eat!

INNOCENT FUN ......... ?

Hello again! I seem to be making more of an appearance lately; that's down to it being the school hols, so at the moment I am nicely relaxed into the holiday, with enough time still left for me not to be feeling the need to start preparing for the new academic year yet. It's a good feeling! Hmm you may be wondering what has been going on 'chez snoopydog' ...... wooden cats (one with missing toes!), small hats.... and, as yet unbeknown to you, Trevor about to put in an appearance. I feel a story coming on, but you're going to have to wait!

Yesterday, I spent the day with with my good pal josiekitten. We had previously put two dates in our diaries for 'get-togethers' this summer. The first was for us to begin knitting our 'Sock Yarn Blankies' and the second, to knit cute little hats for Innocent Smoothie bottles in aid of The Big Knit 2009. For each smoothie sold with a hat on, 50p is given to the charity 'Help the Aged'. What a great way to make a small difference to a charity that will connect with us all! Here are the results of my labours.....



We had such a lot of fun.... dropped stitches, difficult design choices, lost i-cords. But no, I jest the knitting went swimmingly! :D Don't you think they are so cute! We may even be tempted to add some more to the collection.... another day of banter and 'cutting edge' design choices. It's a brilliant way use up oddments of yarn AND for such a good cause! I had fun photographing them too.......






Ted had to get in on the act. He's a Bear Factory bear, so pretty smart! He's also pretty keen on hats and loves to be at the cutting edge of hat fashion, so as soon as he espied the 'new season's preview' being filmed, he jumped down from his shelf in the 'library' (hmmmm far too many books!) to get a closer look. Throwing a very prima donna .... ish tantrum, he demanded that the collection be named after him. He said he was both smooth and innocent! I'm not so sure and didn't want any bad publicity when the paparazzi started to delve into his past. As a compromise, I agreed to let him choose a hat to keep for himself.


He deliberated for ages, torn between 'Norwich City Rules' and 'Dennis the Menace is No 1'. In the end he plumped for the 'Dennis the Menace' hat because the red matched the lettering on his sweater, the black matched his eyes and he felt that it was just that bit more 'edgy' and 'cool!'. I think he's got a lot to learn, but that's fine; I can quickly make another red and black Innocent Smoothie bottle hat (back to reality).

Just as the photo shoot was taking place, a very special guest put in an impromptu appearance. Trevor the toad, who has lived in our garden for at least the past four years, leapt from a pot of petunias to get a better view of the proceedings. He arrived just as the 'Friesian Cat Twins' were modelling their final hats!


Please don't ask her how she lost her toes! It's far too painful a story and she becomes very upset. Just focus on her supreme hat modelling ability, that has taken her right to the top of her profession and for which, luckily, she doesn't need to use her toes!




He's so adorable, don't you think? I'm sure he must be the most photographed toad in England. However, the story could have had a very different outcome. I was, only yesterday, telling josiekitten that I had had sleepless nights, worrying that I inadvertantly KILLED Trevor. It would have been classed as murder, I am sure. Way back during the May half-term holiday, I had planted out far too many pots (as usual) and as Miss Snoopydog2 and I were admiring them one evening, we noticed that several of the plants had been very badly nibbled by slugs or snails. We smugly deposited slug pellets around the aforementioned pots ........ gulp! TREVOR! I have not seen him since and was convinced he had died a horrible 'death by slug pellet'. So, you can imagine how overjoyed I was today, to see him looking so well and enjoying the excitement and razzamataz that goes along with such a high profile modelling assignment.



Trevor ... glad you're back ...... and ALIVE!

I did promise you some progress photos on my latest knitting projects, but they will have to wait until next time. I hope you don't mind!

Enjoy the 'run down' to the weekend! :D

JAM 'N' SOCKS!

It really has been a rather pleasant afternoon, at long last. Although there was quite a smattering of fluffy white clouds, they scudded by quickly to let the sun reappear frequently enough, to make it at least begin to feel like a summer's afternoon!

I've been quite busy this week, once I'd put my mind to things and stopped deliberating over which pattern or which yarn or even where and when! My July sock challenge socks have finally been completed....... HOORAY! I kind of lost the will with them for a couple of weeks, because the yarn is very loosely spun and splitty. I have a feeling it will felt very quickly too! It is incredibly soft though and will be very snuggly on the feet. I'll just have to not wash them.... only joking! Splittiness aside, I am bursting with pride over these socks, because they are my very first attempt at dyeing. I used a Kool-Aid kit that was a Christmas gift from my friend Josiekitten. You can see the process in one of my earlier posts. I love the way the colours stripe!



The pattern is 'Daydreamer' by Vikki Harding. It's a great pattern; well written and easy to memorise. It was my first attempt at a short row heel too. I'm not sure I like it as much as the heel flap method, but that may be because I haven't had much practice at it yet. It certainly seems to take less time!

Having griped on earlier in the week about my efforts at jam making and the mess, I grew more and more attracted to those eight pretty little jars that sat on the kitchen work surface. As the weather has hardly been condusive to relaxing in the garden, I thought I'd brave the jam pan again ....... just so I could get to make more little jars look pretty. On analysis of the previous 'jam experience' it seems most of my bad humour had been brought about by the 'topping and tailing' process, so this time it was strawberries. Not our own homegrown, as the blackcurrants were, but grown locally. I have to admit, I had a rather pleasant morning.



Although the strawberries have to be hulled, it is nowhere near as time consuming a job as the blackcurrant preparation. I decided against the red and white gingham metal lids, in favour of Amy Butler fabric covers instead. Much prettier I thought!



John Lewis will sell 20cm of fabric. That's enough for eight or ten lid covers ...... such gorgeous fabrics too! Take a look at the fiinished product ..... scrummy!





I re-lidded the blackcurrant jam pots too! Much better, softer and prettier and made my selfer........ although I'm not sure about the Comic Sans font. Looks a bit schooly! Never mind, it's a learning process. I much prefer the strawberry jam labels, so progress has indeed been made.


Hmm! We have tomatoes ripening by the dozen every day, so watch out for red tomato chutney......... I need to make some more pretty labels and pot covers with that gorgeous fabric!

I've begun my August sock challenge socks too. In fact I've got to the heel flap of the first sock in an afternoon. I love the yarn and the pattern is looking good. You'll have to wait until next time to see progress thus far, but here's a taster...... the gorgeous BFL yarn that I bought in Hay - on-Wye last August. We were in Wales for the wedding of our son and his lovely fiancee. We were made to feel sooo welcome, that this seemed a fitting yarn to choose for my August socks; begun today on their first wedding anniversary! I'm calling them my 'Welsh Hills Socks'.


Progress has been made on my crocheted bag and a couple more squares added to my 'Sock Yarn Blankie'. All in all, a good week's 'work:D' . Have a good week!