DECISIONS, DECISIONS.........

Hello there! Thanks for stopping by. It's always such a pleasure to spend a little bit of time with you. I felt sure that you would appreciate a little sneaky view of my button tin, well, one of them! Just look at those fabulous colours! I had quite forgotten how much pleasure a little glance inside this tin gives me. I was on the lookout for some suitable buttons for a little cardigan that I have just begun knitting for Sophie. Do you know, I nearly decided that I had none suitable and would have to make a small button purchase. Luckily, i did manage to find some that will do the job. They're not my perfect choice, but if by using them I refrain from buying more, all will be well. Once I start looking at brightly coloured buttons, there is no stopping me. It's a bit like feasting my eyes on fabulously hand-dyed sock yarn. It just's cries out to come home with me. For now they will do and I will resist the urge to find perfection. What do you think?

Hmmmm, I'm not so sure. Decisions, decisions!

You may well be wondering how this strange-shaped piece of garter stitch knitted fabric can possible become a baby cardi. Well, it does! The piece you can see is one sleeve. I've then cast on for the back section and am increasing at the other end of the needl to form the front. The pattern is a free  Drops design and is knitted in two pieces, with a mitred front and joined up the centre back. I've already made a smaller version for Sophie, as you can see in the photo below. This one will be just right for the slightly warmer weather, as a little jacket.

No, I don't think I'm happy with the buttons. I would like three different colours again, smooth, completely plain, non-shiny and round! That's not too much to ask, is it? Buttons aside, these sock yarns are perfect for this kind of garment and non-expensive too. The pattern asks for two 100g balls for this size, but I expect there may well be plenty of the second ball left. I'll make a little hat too and I guess there will  still be some spare for a few 'Sock Yarn Blankie' squares for Josiekitten and myself! I'd say that's pretty good use of two balls of sock yarn............................................. FROM STASH!!!

That's all the knitting I've managed since we came home on Tuesday evening. I've been pretty busy with 'house and life' stuff; the knid of things that get left until school holidays and then I have a mighty list to tackle. We did have a day at the coast on Friday. We drove up to Aldeburgh, stopping off at Snape and Orford. It was rather overcast later in the day, but dry and reasonably warm. I just love to be near the sea. Oscar had a great time too!

It's back to school tomorrow. As it's 'World Book Day' on Thursday, we are holding a 'book week' at school. There will be story sessions, library sessions, a 'dressing up as your favourite book character' day, a design a bookmark competition and tomorrow the teachers each have to choose a picture book to share with groups of children from different classes. The children will then have a go at producing a piece artwork for new hall displays. I've mused over what to choose all week. I just couldn't make a decision.

As it was such a beautiful  morning, Mr Snoops and I wandered down into the city centre with Oscar, for an al fresco cup of coffee.

 I had a quick book shop browse and there it was! The perfect book!

I just love Anthony Browne's  books and they are perfect for my intended audience, 7 to 9 year olds (Years 3 and 4). He is the present Children's Laureate. I do own several, but did not have this one. It's about  a little boy who worries. His Gran gives him some Guatemalan 'worry people' to help him. All is fine, until he begins to worry about the 'worry people' worrying about his worries. So, he makes them some 'worry people' of their own. I even managed to buy a little set of those very same 'worry people', made in Guatemala. How pleased was I!

Guess what we are going to be doing tomorrow?

 Have a fun week!

LOOSE ENDS................

Oh no! Just look at all those horrible ends. Not a pretty sight! I have to say, I do not relish the thought of sewing them all in. I did start off with all good intentions and for about the first twelve or so colour changes, I sewed in every couple of rows. Didn't last long though! The blanket still isn't quite ready yet. I still have yarn and think I'll carry on for a few more inches yet. Really, I cast on too many stitches and so, the blanket is going to be a downward ripple rectangle, if that makes sense. So, to compensate I'm going for a fatter rectangle :). THEN, I'll sew in the ends.

Yesterday, was glorious and after completing all my housey jobs in the morning, I sat in the garden ALL afternoon........ not feeling the least bit lazy or guilty, may I add........ and made this little 'Rainbow Bird'.

I think he's rather cute! The design is from Lucy's 'Attic24'. The tutorial is clear and very straightforward. He only took about three hours and was a very enjoyable 'make'. I took ages deciding on the best colour and size for his eyes....

I think I'll be making more!   So, 'what's with the socks?' You may ask.

Well, to be honest, it's been a pretty relaxed weekend really. This morning I put my feet up (in my London Marathon supporter, Sport Relief socks) to watch the London Marathon. Our eldest daughter's boyfriend was running his first ever distance run of any kind!!!

Yippee! He made it!! Along with his sister. A great achievement.

Oscar's had a relaxed weekend too. His favourite puppy soft toy is nearly loved to bits... well, I think it's 'loved'! Anyway, he was exhausted after the fun.

It's been pretty dull and wet most of  the day, over here on the east side of the country. Just the last hour or so though, the sun has come out and given us a wonderful, warm, April evening.

Let's hope the sun keeps shining. Have a great week!              

LOVE KNITTING.......LOVE OSCAR........!!!!

 Hello there! Welcome back. I had hoped to blog during the week, seeing as it was half-term, but 'puppy watch' duties got in the way. I did manage to finish a couple of things though and get a little further along the way with my Ripple Blanket.

 

  

This is the 'Olivia' beret that I started a few weeks ago, for my youngest daughter. She saw the pattern and the gorgeous Manos del Uruguay 'silk blend' yarn in our local yarn store, Norfolk Yarn . The pattern is specifically for the yarn and is extremely simple to follow. I did an extra couple of repeats of the pattern, to give it a little more 'flop'. It looks great on her!

I've also just finished this little cardi for my, as yet unborn, granddaughter. 

  

It's made from some Rowan baby alpaca DK, that I bought in the John Lewis sale. It's very soft and lovely to work with, but does need hand washing.  The photos don't show its true pale lilac colour. It really is a very pretty shade, called 'Heather'. The pattern is from Erica Knight's book, 'Natural Nursery Knits', which is full of really gorgeous patterns, all using Rowan yarns. The bonus of this pattern is that the garment is made in one piece, except for the pockets. I HATE sewing up!!!!  Do you like my pretty little heart buttons?  They came from 'Knitting 4 Fun'. There are lots of lovely buttons on the site and very reasonably priced.

Well, it's been a very full-on week with little Oscar and we haven't really done a great deal away from the house, except for making a couple of visits to the local pet store to replenish supplies!!!!!! He is absolutely lovely and sooo full of fun. Scott found him a little OTT at times and needed to  put him in his place with a swift swipe of his paw. But, I think they had a great week of fun together. I promise not to bore my 'non-doggy' friends, but I just have to include a couple of pics.

 

Oscar with his puppy Nylabone........ great for chewing sessions!

Big brother Scott putting a protective paw around his 'little bro'. They slept like this for about half an hour.

Little Oscar found his hero!!! Wherever Scott was........ there was Oscar! Not always to Scott's liking, may I add. He had to dish out a quick 'clout' with his paw once in a while to put the annoying little shadow in his place. They entertained themselves in the evenings, by stealing each other's toys; mostly good naturedly! I think Scott is a saint!!!!!!!

Ooh, just before I go..... take a litttle look at these.... spotted in our front garden yesterday....

 

Spring is most definitely on its way! HOORAY!

OCTOBER AFTERNOON ........ IN NOVEMBER!

Hello there! Sunday evening has come around again. The weekend seems to have flown by in a blur of wind, rain, schoolwork, washing, ironing (yes, I do some!), schoolwork, visiting, schoolwork and .......... YES! Some knitting! The weather was so appalling yesterday, with very strong winds and heavy rain showers lashing against the windows, that I decided to 'button down the hatches', get my jobs done, curl up on the sofa and KNIT! Don't get me wrong. I'm not really complaining about the weather. In fact, I'm thanking the rain for giving me every good reason to snuggle down for the afternoon with my 'October Afternoon' jumper and the gorgeously squishy Colinette yarn. I had three quarters of the second sleeve to complete, all the borders and the dreaded sewing up. Do you know what? I did it!

Today, as Sunday morning dawned clear and bright, Mr Snoopydog and I strolled down into the city to change library books and have our usual Sunday 'al fresco' coffee. We nearly always 'coffee al fresco' despite the often inclement English weather. We consider ourselves to be of the hardy type, who don't mind too much a downpour of rain, or a gale, or a snowstorm. Oh yes, we much prefer the lovely warm sun to be shining down upon us as we coif, but to breathe in the great outdoors is always infinitely preferable to sitting inside, at any time of year. On the way home we stopped of at John Lewis to buy some buttons for the aforementioned finished garment. I have looked for buttons a couple of times since beginning my cardi, but found nothing that seemed exactly right. I matched about ten different buttons against my yarn today. Although I had a definite preference for something small, simple, brown and wooden, when it came to the crunch .... they just didn't look right. You'll see what I finally chose in the pics coming up.

I am really pleased with my finished cardi. Even the sewing up looks flat and neat! The Colinette yarn was gorgeous to work with and beautifully coloured. The pattern was easy to read and accurate and the sizing perfect.
Here it is!




I loved the moss stitch neckband and front bands. They are narrow, lay absolutely flat and just do their job!


Sorry the next pic is a little weird; I'm not good at taking pics of myself whilst looking in the mirror to try to see what I am taking a picture of!!!



I have two skeins of this lovely yarn left. What shall I use it for? Mittens, gloves? I 'll have to decide.

I hope you like it. It's not my normal kind of style, but I had already tried three patterns and frogged each one, because either the yarn pooled or it just didn't suit the pattern. This pattern was written for the yarn, so it did suit! I like it!

Needless to say, there has been very little progress on either my 'November' socks or the 'Jaywalkers' for Jools. I must finish both pairs and my 'Cora' scarf before beginning anything else. What will you bet that that DOESN'T HAPPEN! I have that bag, full of gorgeous Rowan Cocoon that I showed you last week ................................. We'll see!

Have a good week everyone! :D

IT'S OCTOBER...... SOCKS AND 'SPECIALS'....

Welcome back! Here we are again; another Sunday evening, ending another hectic and 'no time to spare!' week. Thank goodness for weekends! What on earth would it be like to work seven days out of seven? It's not worth even beginning to contemplate. How lovely it was, to have yet another sunny, if rather windy, weekend. This morning was absolutely glorious. I snapped the above shot as Mr Snoopydog and I strolled into the city for a Sunday morning coffee. I just love autumnal days like this when the early morning chill has lifted and the azure blue sky allows the sun's warmth to gently touch the richly coloured autumn leaves. It feels GOOD!

Yesterday though, was SO windy, that I decided it really wasn't worth venturing out and managed to begin and complete this sweet little baby cardigan in a day (in between loading and emptying the washing machine and completing other mundane housey jobs)! It's a 'very special' cardi. You'll know what I mean if you've read my last post. If you haven't ........... here it is! Some very 'special' information for you, dear reader.




The pattern is from Erika Knight's book 'Simple Knits for Cherished Babies'. It's very, very easy and made in one piece, so not too much sewing up. I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino; it's so soft and wonderful to work with. As for the buttons...... the teddies I showed you last time really didn't look right and so another trip to John Lewis was made and these plain and simple little natural buttons chosen. They look much better!

I had to crack on very speedily with my September socks, managing to get them finished just in time. I love this Opal handpainted yarn; such perfect autumnal colours! I gave you details of the pattern last time. What do you think?





The pattern is perfect for variegated yarns and very easy to commit to memory. I love them! I've just begun my October socks too; can't think when I've found the time to do all this knitting amidst Staff meetings, Senior Leadership Team meetings, Key Stage team meetings and Governor's meetings, planning and swimming and washing and cooking and ........! I think the answer is too many quite late nights ...... enforced by needing to knit 'just one more row'! I've called them my 'October Leaves' socks, after the stunning colours of the Colinette 'Jitterbug' yarn. The pattern is a free Ravelry download, called 'Show-off Stranded Socks' by Anne Campbell. Again, I tried to search out a pattern that would highlight a variegated yarn. So far, I am feeling quite pleased with my choice.



The colours remind me of these winter pansies, just outside our front door. I snapped them as we left the house this morning for our coffee shop stop. So pretty!



I hope the sun continues to shine for at least another week or so. It makes this time of year so beautiful. Wishing you all a happy and productive week. Have fun! :D

'SPECIAL' DELIVERY!

Hello there! The weeks do seem to be flying by, don't they? It only seems like yesterday since I was last here. It's been another very busy week at school and not too much knitting has been done, but that's working life and hopefully, what I do, in some small way, helps the world go round! It's been a very exciting end of the week for me though. Would you like to know why?

Well, first of all let me show you my finished 'Single Scoop Ice-cream Sorbet Bag'. I made this one with the leftover yarn from my giant-sized 'triple scoop' version that I showed you here . I used the same pattern, but made it much smaller by only crocheting 10 rounds for the base. It's going to be used for something very, very special. Here it is .....




This morning, Mr Snoopydog and I wandered down into the city centre for an al fresco coffee, whilst the weather is still behaving so beautifully. We caught up on the week and on the way home stopped off at John Lewis and made some very 'special' purchases. Not that I need any more yarn, you understand! But this was very 'special' yarn for a very 'special' purpose. It was bought with three 'specially' chosen patterns in mind; patterns that were very carefully chosen on the 'special' evening of Thursday, September 24th! They could all be made in this colour or that colour, but definitely NOT this colour or that colour. It was even more 'SPECIAL' that Mr Snoopydog offered to pay for the yarn! Have you guessed anything yet? Well, what do you think is in the newly finished 'special purpose' bag?



Have you guessed.....?



Of course....... it's all those 'special' purchases; those woolly 'special' purchases and some other 'special' bits and pieces too. Have you noticed the pretty ribbon and beautiful little star-shaped shell buttons ? There's a BIG clue in there as well! I wonder if you've spotted it. It wasn't deliberate, it was just how the ball of yarn chose to lay in the bag!

I bought some other delicious little buttons too. They are so sweet!







The teddy buttons do look cute in real life, honestly! Maybe I shouldn't have photographed them so close up! They do look quite scary up there don't they! Don't pass judgement though, until you see them on the finished garment. If they don't look good, don't worry, I'll change them! Everything has to be just perfect!

Well, I haven't got anything else to show you. I have the patterns chosen and the yarn bought and the buttons matched and the the ribbon waiting ................ for.............. some 'special' little person. I can't even begin to tell you how 'special' it felt to be choosing or how long it took to choose or how carefully I carried my 'specially' chosen purchases to the counter to pay............ or how my head seems to be permanently full of 'SPECIALNESS'!

Have you guessed?

Did you spot my clue, on the 'BABY' Cashmerino label?

Well, in case you didn't ...... and in case you're not sure 'exactly what' and in case you 'got the wrong end of the stick' and in any case ......... well, just to give you the answer ........... guess what ................. I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!!!!

P.S. I never, ever, thought it would feel so amazingly, fantastically, emotionally, ecstatically, every minutely...... 'SPECIAL'!

P.P.S. I'll tell you what I'm making with my 'specially' chosen yarn in my next post. I might even have some progress to show you.

For now, I'm just basking in 'SPECIALNESS' inside both my head and my heart! :D

'I-KNIT' ...... LONDON!

Hello again! Welcome back! I can't believe another weekend has flown by and a new week is getting ready to begin. It's been a busy and very enjoyable one for me. Hope you've had a good one too!

Friday evening was spent excitedly checking I had everything ready that I would need to take with me on Saturday morning. What did I need ......
- my small camera, to make sure I got lots of photos to show you
- some lunch, so we didn't waste too much browsing time
- my saved up 'yarn fund' ( £1 for every ball of yarn knitted this year!) + extra :D
- a small, simple project for the train journey (plain socks to show off a very pretty yarn)
- some yarn and needles for afternoon workshop with Woolly Wormhead
- train tickets, safely stored!
All done!

Saturday morning dawned and my great friend Josiekitten arrived bright and early. A last check on tickets and knitting and off we went. I love travelling by train and the two hour journey to London was gone in no time, as we chatted and caught up with each other's news. These are the socks I started for the journey.


It's the yarn I showed you last time. I love the colours, they look so pretty together. An important lesson was learnt and acted upon after my train journey a week or so ago, when I came home with less sock that I had gone with! NOT a very satisfactory situation, I'm sure you'll agree. This time though, progress was made; although I do find it very difficult to keep knitting whilst I chat and look out of the window and drink a rather large cardboard cup of coffee.

After a rather overpriced taxi ride, we finally arrived at Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster for the second day of the 'I-Knit Weekender 2009'. We spent the morning browsing up and down each aisle and trying very hard to be selective with our purchasing. That's extremely difficult, when at every turn there is so much deliciously scrumptious yarn to touch and fondle! It was an absolute knitter's heaven! Lots of the on-line shops had a stand and you could even try your hand at 'big knitting', using giant sized needles and thick strips of fabric. Here you are, our day ....


So much fabulous colour, so much delicious softness and so many new ideas for things to make or try.

In the afternoon we took part in Woolly Wormhead's hat design workshop, which was great fun. I don't quite have a hat to show you yet, but I feel Iknow a little bit more about how to begin designing my own! Hopefully I will be able to remember all I learnt and soon show you the finished product. It's to be a beret! I don't wear hats of any shape or form, but I'm sure I will find a welcoming head for it. Here's progress so far, after we had checked head measurements, calculated the stitches, worked out a pattern for the main body and written the first part of our pattern .......


I had gone with no real plan of what to buy, except maybe to find hand-dyed sock yarns that I hadn't tried before. After that, it was whatever begged to be brought home. Here's what I chose...

They are ... going across..... 1. DI4U 2.'Skein Queen' small balls 3.'Natural Dye Studio' DazzleHT sock 4.'Skein Queen' sock 5.'Artisan Yarns' sock - for dyeing 6.'Schoppelwolle's' Crazy Zauberball 7.'Natural Dye Studio' DazzleHT 8.'Malibrigo' lace 9.All my little purchases together! Scrummy!

Amongst yarns bought that I hadn't seen before, were delicious hand-dyed yarns by the 'Skein Queen' , Debbie Orr. Her colours are really beautiful. I had to buy one or two from one of my favourites too. 'The Natural Dye Studio' uses exclusively historical plant dyed to create totally scrumptious subtle colourways. One or two of the photos above show crotcheted items from their stand. I just adore their yarn! It knits up beautifully and washes well too. I also treated myself to some pretty Malibrigo laceweight, which I think will become an Aeolian beaded shawl. It's the beautiful yarn on the bottom row.

We met the contingent of Dutch Knitters and marvelled at some of their beautiful brioche colour work, whilst enjoying their delicious Stroopwafels and chocolates!


The day finished at 6pm and we made our way back to catch the 7pm train for home. It really was a fabulously relaxed and enjoyable day out with great company!! Can't wait for next year.

Today, by comparison, has been extrememly lazy and I still havent finished my planning for school, so I think I really out to say 'goodbye' and wish you all a happy week! See you next time!

BABY BITS AND PIECES

Thank goodness for school holidays! I've spent much of the first week knitting these baby clothes for a friend of a friend, who is expecting a baby girl any day now.

I bought the pattern from my local John Lewis and the yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. It knits up beautifully and is sooo soft.

These were made using Patons Fairytale Dreamtime, which is 100% wool. Apparently it's being discontinued, which is a shame because it is really lovely to knit with and gives a soft, warm and light finish; perfect for baby garments.

I've just begun this pretty little cardigan for one of two family babies due to be born this year. I found the Wendy Happy pattern in John Lewis. Once the cardigan has been knitted, the narrow lace border is made separately and attached as you knit! Hmm ....I'll let you know how it goes.