Sunday 24 January 2010

RIPPLY RIPPLENESS.... TAKE 2.....

Good evening! I don't have long to chat this evening, as Mr S and I are off to our 'local' with friends, for themonthly quiz. It's always a good opportunity to 'catch up', over a lovely pint of real ale!

I was bemoaning my dissatisfaction with the chosen yarn for my ripple blanket, last time I met you. Well, I decided to take immediate action and after our staff meeting last Monday, I called in at John Lewis on the way home and bought some Rowan pure wool instead. The Debbie Bliss cotton will be used to make a cushion and so I have 'zzzzzz'd' it for now.



I'm so much happier with this yarn. The yardage is better, for a start! So, it's  not going to break the bank...... well, not quite so badly! It's also much, much softer and suitable for the purpose. I bought mostly Rowan 'Pure Wool DK' with some Rowan 'Cahsoft DK' to help get a good colour range. Phew!

Progress has been slow this week, as I have been quite busy with school related stuff and when I DID have some knitting time, I repeatedly made errors on the first row With 229 chains to start with, that first row was going to be a bit of a trial anyway, but somehow I 'messed up' not once, not twice, but three times! Things are well under way now and I am love, love, loving it. The 'ripply rippleness' is so soothing and relaxing and there's a huge rush of pleasure to be had each time a colour change is near. I haven't needed any other projects to switch between either. My 'ripply  rippleness' has been sufficient! Plans are already formulating in my head to make another for myself. But first things first! Here it is so far........













Do you like it? The colours are brighter than they look in the photos. It's been a dull, dreary day here and by late afternoon, when the pics were taken, the light was ummmmm not very good!

I wanted to show you a sneaky little purchase I made last week too. I am a great fan of Ali's yarns over at the 'Laughing Yaffle'  and last week she posted some new skeins. I JUST HAD TO HAVE THIS......





Aren't the colours just beautiful!I hadn't posted this one last week as I was still feeling a wee bit guilty at my rashness, when I have almost enough skeins of sock to knit a pair for every day of the year. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but at least enough to knit a pair for every week of the week! There is more to this story though, as last evening Josiekitten and Mr J came for a meal. We caught up on life and had a good old chuckle, as once again it was a case of 'great minds think alike'. She had also bought a skein of the very same yarn, having 'eyed' it at the very same time. Spooky!

Having said I didn't have much time to stop this evening............. I must just share one snippet of 'birdie' talk. We have a new feeder in the garden, filled with peanuts this time and it is fair to say that we have seen no more than one or two birds stop by. When we looked more closely at the nuts, it appeared that the birds may well be having difficulty with them. So yesterday afternoon, I chopped them up small and rehung the feeder. I'll let you know if it makes any difference. We refill the sunflower seed one weekly!

 

That's it. Enough for tonight. I need to eat and go!

Have a great week and thanks so much for stopping by and leaving me such lovely comments. I LOVE IT!


21 comments:

Jennyff said...

That is dedication starting again, I hope you won't have to pull out the first attempt to turn it into a cushion. You deserve the sock yarn as compensation. By the way I've posted info on the little jumper pattern you asked about over at my place.

Unknown said...

Have a pint for me... It sounds wonderful, but it's only noon here. Love the new ripple. You are making great progress. YOu all are so lucky to get all this Rowan woolie so reasonable. Us major $$$$$ over here.

Now, about that "other" stripie yarn. You know I'm having a serious look at those colors, as I have some new to dye.

Cheers-
Kate

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

The yarn is brilliant and I'm sure you'll find something equally as useful to make out of the cotton yarn.
The sock yarn is just yummy too... one can never have too many pairs of socks.
Have a great week and I hope you enjoyed your evening at the pub.
Susan x

Anonymous said...

Awww..how kind You are to those birdies :o)
I can see the rippling is quite addictive and am starting to feel it's infectious too.
It's looking very Lovely indeed, I like Your colour choices very much and the Laughing Yaffle wool is Gorgeous!
Hope You have a Lovely evening :o)

xxx

Sumea

josiekitten said...

Your blanket is looking lovely. I totally agree about the cotton yarn. Mine is going to be cushions too. And as for the sock yarn, well great minds yet again! Spooky!!!!!! Thanks for a lovely evening. xx

Helsie said...

You all make me very envious with your ripple blankets but unfortunetely it's never cold enough to want one here.
That new yarn with the beautiful multicolours really grabs the eye. I'm waiting to see what you do with it .
Cheers
Helen

Sarah said...

Your new colours for the blanket are lovely! I also like the rainbow wool. Those are lucky old birds to have such special treatment! Hope it works. Have a good week at school! Oh and I agree-staff meetings have always terified me too and I do my best to avoid doing them!

Molly the Airedale said...

Our nanny used to make blankies that looked just like your ripple blanket! It's just beautiful!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Pearlesyarn said...

Wow, your ripple is lovely, the colours are great. I really, really want to get stuck into one myself however I have to complete my snowflake blankie 1st; I started in in 2006! must concentrate! Love the Jaffle Yarn as well, Ali is a star. Have a good week,
Em:-)

Aussie Maria said...

Loving ALL the yarn you have, love the progress shots too

Northern Monkey said...

The Laughing Yaffle yarn is just gorgeous, that colourway is particularly lovely and there is no such thing as too much sock yarn!

Dawn said...

Beautiful colours - I love Rowan pure wool, so lovely to knit with.
Your ripple blanket looks so lovely.

melissa said...

oh i love the new colors!

and how sweet are you to chop up the nuts for the birdies?!?

cmv said...

oh my goodness this is just wonderful!! i love the new yarn and your color choices are just perfect!

Tracy said...

Wow...the Ripple is just waving along beautifully now. :o) And LOVE the pretty hook you're using while you work. What a great treat all the Rowan...*swoon*... Hope you had a lovely weekend. ((HUGS))

Anonymous said...

Hellooooo

Many thanks for your comment, I am glad other people think trees are magical too :o) I popped over here earlier to see wether there were any new posts, wondering how the rippling was coming along etc. Hope You are having a good week, keeping nice and warm. It's getting a bit nippy again here - had a heavy frost this morning, my poor jasmin has gone all crispy :o(

xxx

Sumea

Sarah said...

That's funny-we must both have been chasing sunsets at the same time!

Mrs Twins said...

So beautiful cant wait to see it finished!
Really lovely colours
Hugs and Love Suex

Mrs Twins said...

So beautiful cant wait to see it finished!
Really lovely colours
Hugs and Love Suex

Sue Pinner said...

Hi loving the new ripple haven't touched mine in weeks...ooops
The swap 12 was pastels as the colour other than that anything goes
Adore that new random yarn and thanks for the site link
Hugs Suz x

Anonymous said...

Hello

Just calling by to wish You a happy weekend and to ThankYou for Your kind comments xx

Hope all is well xx

We had a little snow flurry here yesterday, but bright sunshine today. Am starting my very first craft profect this year (infact the first for about 8 months). Have chosen a sewing project which in my imagination was going to be easy, but it has turned out to be a little tricksy. I am dyspraxic and made a couple of crucial left/right mistakes in the cutting out :o