Bakewell & Ring-a-Rosie's Birthday

Hello again my dears, I hope that you're all well, and that the sudden appearance of winter hasn't upset you all too much.

I'm starting to write this blog somewhat later in the day than I'd intended, but at least this means that the sounds of fireworks have finally calmed down!

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last update, I have recently been to Bakewell Wool Gathering.  This was followed very quickly by Ring-a-Rosie celebrating 22 years of supplying smooshy, yarny goodness.  So this post is about those events, and will take a different format than usual.  For those of you who only come along for the penguins, there will still be penguins!

Bakewell Wool Gathering 2018

Usually I have a car full on the drive to Bakewell, but this year I was all on my own.  Poor Dominey had injured herself, and wasn't up to the stress of the day.  Krissy needed to bring her daughter with her, and while I love her to bits, she is my goddaughter after all, my own health wasn't up to attempting to drive while under the onslaught of an excitable 13 year old.  I was also starting my day at the wrong side of Sheffield to pick them up, so it was easier in all for them to catch a bus, and for me to drive just myself.  It felt a little strange, but when I ended up having to take a detour that involved a switchback trail down a very steep valley, complete with fallen trees across the very narrow road, I was glad that I didn't have to modify my language, as I swore a blue streak the whole way down!

Other than failing to complete my Hazy Daze shawl on time, I did do one little bit of preparation for the event:

When I did finally arrive safely in Bakewell, it was from a different direction than usual, which lead to me parking in a different carpark.  This car park had only 1 working ticket machine, and even that would only accept exact change, despite claiming to accept credit cards.  Fortunately, I did have exact change, having considered that this might be easier.  Unfortunately the person in front of me only had her credit card, and the machine wasn't telling her why it wasn't working, it was just cancelling her transaction.  Repeatedly.  There are no seats near carpark ticket machines, and I desperately needed to not be standing, but just as I'd arrived the wind had picked up, and the heavens opened, so sitting on the ground was seriously an "Only if I can't stay upright a second longer" option.

Eventually someone from inside came and explained about the credit cards not working, I bought my ticket with cash, limped back to the car to display it, limped back through the rain to the parking meter, where I stuck a note telling future customers that it would only accept cash, then limped in to the Wool Gathering.  Fortunately I was late enough by then that I didn't have to queue long, because the cold, wet floor was looking increasingly tempting!  

As I received my wrist band, Krissy and her daughter came past on their way out.  They had already done a full circuit, and were going for a rest.  I was barely capable of coherent speech by then, I think I may have grunted at them vaguely (sorry Krissy!), before I stumbled into the event, and promptly collapsed on the first bit of dry floor that I found.  For this reason, my first 15 minutes at Bakewell Wool Gathering this year looked like this:

Occasionally there were people walking past me, many of them looking at me somewhat strangely, but I'm quite accustomed to that now.

It was quite busy, even though I got there late! This is the back room, which was hot enough to bring on pre-syncopy!

After a short rest, I was able to drag myself to my feet, and begin a slow circuit.  When I first began attending yarn and fibre events, I used to do a quick full circuit buying only things that I felt I couldn't live without, then a second circuit to take a closer look at anything else that had caught my eye.  I know that these days I'm unlikely to make it to a second circuit, so with only 1 exception, everything was bought in the order that I first encountered it.

Unless I'm specifically after new needles, the first stall I always stop at is Rosie's Moments.  Not just for the gorgeous colourways, and cute accessories, but also because she has the best bargain bin in the whole place!  She always has a huge basket of lonely skeins that have been discounted, either because the colourway, or base, has been discontinued, or because they've lost their tags, and she can't be totally sure what they are any more.  I think that at least one of these was in there for being mis-labelled, as both were labelled with the same colourway name: "Stormy Sunset".  Clearly they are not both the same colourway! Both are merino sock yarns, the one with splashes of pink is also sparkly.

I also bought a set of 3 button badges that I've pinned to my bag.  They say "Yarn Addict" (guilty as charged) "Eat, Sleep. Knit", and "Knitting is cheaper than therapy" which might be true when the NHS is sold off to American profit-mongers after Brexit, but with the amount that I spend on my hobby, as a percentage of my income, I don't think this is currently true!

The project bag is the only thing that I came back for.  Because the Rosie's Moments stall is fairly near the entrance, I was able to come past it a second time on my way out.  I'd checked out a few other stalls that I thought might have nice project bags, but none of them appealed to me as much as this one.  I couldn't get close to it on my first visit, because the stall was just too busy, but on the way back I managed to sneak in.  I think I was lucky, because this was the last bag in that fabric, and I saw someone else looking at it as I approached, but she put it back, perhaps because the price tag had fallen off, or perhaps she decided against acid green.  Her loss, my win!

These are all mini skeins, and they have no tags or bands on them, so I've had to research the colourway names. On the left is "Thunderous", on the right is "Joker", but sadly I can't find anything similar enough to be confident of the colourway name for the one in the middle. They were bought from HeyJay, who had some really lovely, bright colourways, and they are destined to be part of my mitred squares blanket.

I think that these are my favourite purchases of the day.  I know that Dominey wanted to steal the one on the left!  Which doesn't surprise me, teal is her signature colour.  But that skein in particular called to me from across a very crowded room!  Neither my camera, nor my pitiful photography skills, can do justice to either of these skeins, but the teal in particular just glows!  I was literally on the verge of passing out as I fought my way towards the Coastal Colours stall, they were situated in the back room, which is always very crowded, and very hot, as you can see from the photo I took as I went in!  Fortunately these guys had a chair that they let me sit on while I clutched my prize to me, and talked about dogs with other customers until I felt steady enough to finally pay for my yarn, and escape the room.

I'm not sure if the tags attached indicate colourway names, or colour blends that have been used in their production, but they are the only nomenclature that I have to go on, so the skein on the left is merino, silk, and yak 4-ply, in the colouway "Lily-Iris", and the skein on the right is merino, silk, and yak laceweight, in the colourway "Tomato-Avocado".

Back in the main room, but working my way down the other side, I found All Wool that Ends Wool, who I saw for the first time last year.  I had decided that what I really needed at that point was an obnoxiously loud DK that I could make a winter hat from.  This colourway is called "Circus", and it definitely fits the bill!  I can't find a name for the mini skein, but I'm sure you already know that it's destined to be a part of the mitred squares blanket.

Finally, right next to the door on the way out, I spotted these gorgeous fellows on the Cat Designz stall (warning!  If you click that link, be prepared for adult language!) I may never actually use them as buttons, but you understand entirely why I had to have them, right?


Although my tour of the event itself had been rather short, by this point my body had definitely had enough of standing, and walking.  Fortunately it had also stopped raining.  So I hobbled into town to find lunch, and more importantly, a drink so that I could take my medications, and found Krissy and her daughter also heading for lunch.  Krissy kindly offered me a bottle of water that she had with her, so we stopped for a rest by the river while I gratefully took my handful of tablets.

We then headed to the little Bavarian cafe in town, where I had a gluten free frankfurter.  Then I went to the Original Bakewell Pudding shop, to buy an entirely not original Bakewell tart with icing and a cherry on the top for Stephen.  We also popped into a marvellous little cheese and wine emporium, where I treated myself to some miniature gin liqueurs, including a cherry Bakewell flavour, and a parma violet flavour!

Krissy and her daughter then went to catch their bus home, and I headed back to the car.  As the weather had improved significantly by that point, I stopped for a rest outside the event venue, and chatted to a couple of other yarnies for a bit, while working on Gemma's socks.

My total haul for the day looked like this:

Post Event Knitting

I had a little over a week between Bakewell Wool Gathering, and Ring-a-Rosie's birthday party.  During that time I posted my previous blog update.  I also finished 2 more projects, and cast one on.

I don't often do this.  This being, get home from an event, and immediately cast on with a yarn that I've just bought.  But I really wanted to see how this would knit up, plus the weather was starting to hint that Winter is Coming, so clearly I need a new hat, plus I really wanted a bit of selfish, instant gratification knitting.  So before I even remembered to take a photo of this skein on it's own to record on Ravelry, I had it balled up and cast on.

The pattern is Magnolia Magnolie Hat by Christina Korber-Raith, and the yarn is All Wool that Ends Wool handdyed DK merino/nylon, in the colourway "Circus".

At this point, I feel the need to say something about the pompom. I usually make my own pompom out of yarn left over from making the hat.  However, I felt that in this case the hat was quite loud enough, without adding an equally loud pompom.  The current fashion in pompoms is the faux-fur tribble.  So I went in search of faux-fur tribbles.  I found that the prices can be quite ludicrous!  Bearing in mind that I don't do Ebay (Complicated psychological issue) I found prices ranging from £4 - £22 for a single pom!  In the end I decided to go for a random mixed pack of 12 different coloured tribbles for a little under £15 in total.

Of course, you know what this means, right?  Yes!  I have to knit a bunch more hats with tribbles on them!

Well, it just so happens that it's about this time of year when I start knitting hats for my godsons, and it also just so happens that I'd bought a copy of the Simply Knitting bumper Christmas edition (mostly because there was a quote from me in there if I'm honest), but the extra pattern book that came with it included an adorable Scandi style baby hat, that I was pretty sure I could adapt (heavily) for older children.  There will be more on this subject later...

I finished these while I was up in Newcastle visiting my dad, and made sure that Gemma had them in time for winter scout camps.  She was especially pleased with these, because without my knowing it, they match her new boots perfectly.  I'm paranoid that she'll find them uncomfortable, because horror of horrors! there was a random knot in the yarn while I was knitting the foot of the first sock!  I ranted, and swore for a while, because not only was there a knot in the yarn, it joined 2 pieces that were't at the same point in the colour repeat!  So I carefully cut out the knot, pulled out more yarn until I found the colour repeat, checked that it was going in the right direction, and re-joined the yarn, hoping that the join can't be felt when Gemma is wearing the socks.  I was actually tempted to knit an entire 3rd sock to be sure!  I still might if Gemma finds these uncomfortable!

As usual, these are knit according to my own internal sock pattern.  I have been asked to write it down, which I'd hoped to get done before I went up to Newcastle too, but my brain just hasn't been in the right place.  It's a fairly simple pattern, but the most important part of it is how to adapt it for different sizes of foot, and ankle.  Obviously I know how to do that, but how to phrase what I do so that someone who isn't in my brain can understand it?  That's not so easy!  So sorry that I've not got this done yet Becky!  But I promise that I'm working on it!  

The yarn for these is Ice Yarns Super Sock, and the colourway has no designation that I can find.  I just call it "Purples".

Ring-a-Rosie's 22nd Birthday Party

22 might seem an odd birthday to celebrate, but like me, Barbara, who runs Ring-a-Rosie, has had a tough couple of years.  In fact we first bonded because I visited the shop quite a few times while spending time with dad while Trish was in hospital, and later as he began his own treatment for cancer.  At the same time, Barbara's mum was being treated for cancer.  So for both of us Christmas 2016 was not exactly merry and bright, and we comforted and consoled each other, and continue to do so.  Although sadly her mum lost her battle, Barbara always asks how my dad is doing whenever I pop in.  

So, 20, and 21, came and went, and Barbara was not ready to celebrate.  So 22 has been celebrated instead!  And celebrate we certainly did!  I'm used to being one of just a handful of people in the shop, often monopolising Barbara's attention as we chat.  This was the shop that night:

I drank pink fizz, ate cake (I elected to suffer the consequences for the sake of birthday cake, and didn't ask if it was gluten free!) bought yarn, chatted to many lovely people, gave Barbara hugs, and hogged the only chair for a while to sit and knit.

I didn't photograph this while I was in the shop, but this is what I was working on.  It's such a simple pattern, but it's perfect for showing off the glorious colours in Barbara's hand dyed yarn!  So many people asked me about it during the party!

The pattern is TGV (High Speed Knitting) by Susan Ashcroft, and the yarn is Ring-a-rosie Marvellous High Twist, which is a merino based sock yarn, and the colourway is one of Barbara's many un-named, one-of-a-kind colourways.

Oh, I guess you'll want to see what I bought too!

Remember I said that I was planning on knitting hats for my godsons?  I decided that given one of the tribbles is duck-egg-blue, and another is a colour that I can only describe as ASBO pink, and that these colours are favoured by my 2 gorgeous nieces, what I really needed was appropriate yarns to knit matching hats for my nieces as well as my godsons.  To be honest, I didn't think that I'd be able to find such a delicate blue, and such a bright pink in the same line of yarn, but amazingly I did!  

You see here Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4-ply, in the colourways "Paddle" and "Pinkaboo".  Stylecraft Bellissima in the colourways "Smoked Pearl" and "Double Denim", and of course, a selfish yarn just for me, Ring-a-rosie Stargazer, in a gorgeous one-of-a-kind mix of greens and blues.

This was a party thrown by Barbara though, and we already know how incredibly generous she is from the number of free mini-skeins that you've seen she sneaks into my bag!  This party took that to another level though!

For one thing, she had invited a representative from Stylecraft, who was lovely, and helpful, and really knows her colours!  Not only that though, if you bought any stylecraft yarns, you were given a tote bag full of freebies!

On top of that, as I went to say goodbye, and thanks for such a great party, I was given an amazing party bag full of goodies!  Actually, Barbara went hunting to try to find one with Purple yarn in it, but I was perfectly happy with a beautiful grey colour that was right next to me!  This bag contained 2 balls of Sublime Yarns Lola, 3 mini-skeins that Barbara has specially dyed for the party, patterns for 2 different cowls, or a hat, that could be made using the Lola yarn, some gingerbread people, and a herbal tea that was so lovely that I bought more as soon as I got home.

So once again Barbara, thank you so much for hosting such a lovely party!  And even more for such generous party bags!  You're amazing!

Afterwards

It's been nearly 2 weeks since the party, I've spent half of that time up north with daddy, and half back at home sleeping off a cold.  I have not been idle though!  I have followed up on my threat of hats for children!

These 2 are for my godsons, and have already been delivered to them, as my sister went up to visit a couple of days ago, and she took them up with her.  The pattern is heavily adapted from Scandi Baby by Sophie Jordan, and the yarn is Stylecraft Bellissima, in the colourways "Smoked Pearl", and "Double Denim".

I've seen 3 photos of my youngest godson taken since I sent these up, and in every photo, he's wearing his hat.  So I guess he likes it!

This is the first of the 2 hats I'm making for my nieces.  How perfect is that pompom for this?!?!

I actually entirely forgot to take a picture of my progress so far on the second of these, so give me a minute while I do that...

Fortunately these are pretty quick to make.  My aim is to finish this in the next couple of days, and get both hats to their new owners as soon as possible.

As above, the pattern is heavily adapted from Scandi Baby by Sophie Jordan, and for these 2 the yarn is Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4-ply, in the colourways "Pinkaboo", and "Paddle".

The only stash that I've acquired since my last update, other than those from Bakewell, or Ring-a-rosie, has been my October KnitCrate, which included a whole booklet full of patterns this month!

Penguins!

Yes, the penguins section still exists, even in this unusual post.

These were my nails for Ring-a-rosie's party.  Knitting and penguins and shiny nails!

A couple of months ago I bought Stephen a wind-up pink Tyrannosaurus Rex.  We were back in the same bookshop (yes, bookshop.  Where else do you buy cheap plastic tat?) a couple of weeks ago, and I spotted this guy.  So Stephen bought him for me.

This wooden penguin tree decoration was also in the bookshop.  He seems to have climbed on top of Stephen's books too.

I know I've not mentioned Kelly much recently.  I'm afraid I've not seen much of him recently :(  This is because Stephen has been ill, so I've been staying with him.  Kelly is still in my life though, I still love him very much, and I think he must still like me at least a little bit, because he gave me this adorable little chap :)  He's a felted brooch, and his beak is very long!  

This is officially the best hair brush I've ever owned.  When we saw him in the supermarket Stephen just looked at me, and I didn't even blink before I said "Of course I need that" and put him in the trolley.  The penguin, not Stephen.  I'm not strong enough to put Stephen in a shopping trolley.

That's everything that was in my blog notes, and it's now 5am.  We have guests coming over tomorrow, so I think I'm done even if I have forgotten something! I'll be back after Nottingham Yarn Expo, and then it will be Advent, and time for my new Advent tradition of Blog About All The Advent Calendars!

Night night my dears!

Catching up, and Tidying up

Hello my darlings, I hope that you are well!

As you may have noticed, it's only been a month since my last update!  I'm actually catching up on keeping track of my life, finally!  This post is going to include a few things that should have been in earlier updates, but because I've mostly been living at Stephen's house, rather than my own, I haven't had everything available to take photos etc.  After that, I should be up to date as far as last weekend.  I'll be doing a separate post about that, as last weekend was Bakewell Wool Gathering!

FO's

I feel as though I haven't finished very much, but then I remind myself that this is only a month of knitting this time, so I can't expect to have finished everything!

My most recently finished project is a pair of socks for Gemma.  I always enjoy knitting for Gemma, because I know that the appreciates, and uses the things that I make for her.  

As usual, these socks are knit according to my own internal sock pattern, which involves 3&1 ribbing, a reinforced heel-flap, and size adjustments according to whoever I'm making them for.  The yarn I've used is Regia Design Line Jazz Colour by Erika Knight, in the colourway "Somethin' else".

Stephen's parents came down from Shetland to visit for a few weeks, and his mum brought me a giant ball of bright neon yarn.  I really wanted to knit something up with it before they went back to Shetland, so that she would get to see what it looks like, but I was struggling to think of a project to begin with.  I don't have any babies in my life anymore, as my nieces and godchildren are all growing up with alarming speed! and I wouldn't use anything this bright to make charity knits.  Then I was idly browsing Ravelry one evening, and saw a pattern for a Japanese Knot bag.  By the next day, I had this!

The pattern is Japanese Knot Bag by Louise Higgins, and the yarn is King Cole Melody Super ball DK , in the colourway "Fruit Salad".

When Stephen's mum saw the knot bag, she asked if I could make her something to carry her iPad in.  So I measured it up, and got knitting.  This took me just a couple of days.  I'm annoyed with myself about the strap though, because I've managed to twist it before kitchener stitching it, so it now has a permanent twist in it.  Fortunately, Stephen's mum doesn't mind, and because I deliberately worked it all in stockinette so that it would roll up on itself, the twist isn't really noticeable unless you know it's there.

I didn't use a pattern for this, but it's a really simple construction. 

WIPs

So far this month I've been very good at resisting the urge to cast on All The Things, so I've only been working on 2 projects, other than those that I've finished.

I had hoped to finish this before Bakewell, but because Stephen's printer isn't working, I'm having to rely on reading the charts on my phone, which is too small to see them clearly, and the screen goes dark after 60 seconds.  So instead I've been copying the charts by hand into a notebook, but my handwriting is abysmal, so it's very easy for me to make mistakes.  Which I definitely have!

Firstly I tried to put in a lifeline before starting the lace section.  With astounding lack of foresight I managed to thread the lifeline through every one of my stitch markers.  I decided after this to just not bother with a lifeline, and to risk making mistakes in the lace section.

The lace section on the right of this photo is correct.  You can't see it clearly, because lace never looks great until it's blocked, but you can at least see that there's a nice symmetrical shape to it.  The lace repeat on the left is a mess.  One row went wrong, and I didn't notice until 4 rows later.  I can't bring myself to rip out 5 entire rows of beaded lace, especially without a lifeline! and right now dropping back just that section is beyond my concentration span.  So I've put this to one side until I can decide if I'm just going to live with the mistake, or if I'm going to bite the bullet and fix it.

With a bit of luck, and a lot of diligence, I might just about get this ready for Nottingham Yarn Expo next month.

The pattern for this is Hazy Daze by Boo Knits, and the yarn is Tuxedo Lace by Penguin Soup, in the colourway "April Showers".

Yes, it's going to be another pair of socks.  Yes, it's purple and grey yarn, so obviously they're going to be for Gemma too.  I figure that with 2 young sons, a very boisterous dog, and a husband who works a fairly physical job, Gemma already has plenty of laundry to do, without always trying to be sure that she has at least one pair of proper wool socks clean when she only has 2 pairs.  4 pairs should make life a little easier when planning scouting weekends, and family romps around the countryside.

My usual sock pattern, and the yarn is Ice Yarns Super Sock, and the colourway doesn't appear to have a name or designation, at least not one that I can find on the ball band.

Stash Acquisition

I wish to start this section with a disclaimer:  Not all of this yarn was bought in the last month!  Some of it was bought back in July!  So I haven't gone as crazy as it might appear!  I confess to having gone a little bit crazy though.  When I'm stressed, I get decidedly laissez faire with my money, and I become very prone to comfort shopping.  Not a good combination for my finances, but excellent for my yarn stash.

These are 2 of the skeins that I bought back in July, and somehow managed to put away before taking photos, recording on Ravelry, and showing off in a blog post.  They're by Chromatic Yarns, the yarn dying business of Hannah, also known for The Corner of Craft online shop, where she sells her beautiful hand made beaded stitch markers, and The Corner of Craft Podcast, where she tells us all about her knitting exploits, while having immaculate makeup and fabulous hair.

I met Hannah at a Knit Nottingham birthday party a year or 2 back, when she was just starting her yarn dying business, and she is definitely my kind of person.  I think you can tell that by the way that her Yarn business is named after a spell from D&D, as are many of her colourways.  The 2 above are "Vampiric Touch", and "Rage".

More July purchases.  This time from Mothy and the Squid.  Apparently when she first began dying yarn, Jillian used to dye a lot of rainbow pop colourways.  But as artisan craft supplies became ever more popular, a number of other dyers began using very similar techniques, until Jillian felt that the market was pretty much saturated with that style of colourway, so she stopped producing her own, and concentrated on the colourways inspired by nature (in particular, colourful moths and squids, obviously!) that we know her for now. 

Back in July this year she decided to revisit a few of her original colourways, then she decided to combine the rainbow pops with one of her new colourways, which resulted in this gorgeous skein of forest greens and browns with a bright splash of rainbow, which is appropriately called "Autumn Rainbow".  

The 2 mini-skeins are to be included in my mitred square blanket, and they are the colourways "Peacock Flower", and "Ruby Tiger Moth".  All 3 skeins are BFL sock yarn.

Now we're back up to recent purchases.  These were bought while Stephen and I were on a short trip to York.  At first he was slightly reluctant to visit yarn shops with me, then we discovered that this particular yarn shop (The York Makery) has a shop dog!  Then he was very happy, fussing the dog, who was very waggy, and licked his face.

2 momentous things happened in this shop.  Firstly I spent a small enough amount that I could pay for it using contactless payment.  This has never happened to me before!  Secondly, I had to drag Stephen out of a yarn shop in order to visit a historic building before it closed!

Anyway, these yarns are Opal Energy in the colourway "Tatkraft", and The York Makery BFL DK in the colourway "Puck".  The DK is to be part of my memory blanket, and yes, I did deliberately look for the most offensively bright colourway that I could possibly find!

I think that Barbara of Ring-a-rosie's has some sort of psychic knowledge that means she knows when I'm going to be up north, and she times her instagram photos of freshly dyed, beautiful, one of a kind colourways especially so that I will immediately run to her shop as soon as I get up there!  I think I'm going to make another of Susan Ashcroft's shawl patterns with one of the 4-ply yarns, and the mohair lace.  Of course the mini-skeins are for the mitred square blanket.  The mini-skeins, and the variegated skeins, are all Marvellous High Twist merino 4-ply, and the bright magenta is a mohair and silk laceweight that Barbara calls Flooty.

I have discovered something wonderful, and it is called KnitCrate!  

So, you may, or may not know, that I am a fan of surprises.  Especially mildly indulgent surprises.  This is why I like advent calendars that give me a month of tiny little surprises every day!  But you can't get advent calendars for the rest of the year, which is sad.  However, you can sign up for a little box of smooshy to be delivered through your door once a month, complete with a little pattern booklet that details a knitting pattern, and a crochet pattern that you could choose to make with the yarn that you've been sent.  You never know what colours the yarn you're going to get will be, so it's a good way of pushing yourself into trying something a bit different if you like that.  Depending on which type of crate you choose, you might not even know what kind of yarn you'll get!  It might be DK, or 4-ply, it might be merino, or silk, or cashmere... I'm not quite ready for getting that much out of my comfort zone, also, when I'm being sensible, I have to remember that I do have very limited expendable income (I literally only buy yarn and penguins!) so I opted for the Sock Crate, which is always wool/nylon 4-ply, but I can tell you that it is very, very soft!

Miscellaneous

As I mentioned above, Stephen and I went to York for a couple of days.  I would have loved to be able to wander around York Minster for hours, examining every detail, but my body has different ideas on that subject.  So after I'd wandered as much as I could manage, I got to sit and knit with this marvellous view while I waited for Stephen!

Then in the York Minster gift shop, they had these beautiful drawstring bags in a fabric reminiscent of a medieval tapestry, and I thought they would make perfect project bags, especially as the roleplaying game that Stephen is currently running for us is based in a medieval-like setting, and my character is proficient in fibre crafts, so I can legitimately knit in character!

Part of my treatment for my newly officially diagnosed POTS is to drink 3-4 LITRES of fluid a day.  And you thought that trying to drink 2 litres a day was difficult!  I've got myself a graduated bottle with a straw, and using that I can manage almost 2 litres, then I start getting resistant to drinking just plain water.  I've always had a love for really good quality loose leaf tea.  So now I'm collecting loose leaf teas, and infusions, and pretty tea caddies to store them in, which I thought you might like to see, because there are few things finer than tea and knitting together.

Penguins!

I am aware that there are several penguins in this photo, but the new one is the one lying down with the little chain dangling below him.  He was an impulse buy, just because he was very inexpensive.  And cute.  Unfortunately I've had to remove him from my handbag, because his pin clasp keeps falling off, leaving me at risk of losing him too.  So I'm going to find him a new, less risky place to live.

In York we stopped for tea and cake (gluten free carrot cake!) in a little tea shop called The Mad Hatters Tea Room, which was located on the top floor of a charmingly quaint old building.  What this translates to in disabled person speak is "dangerously precarious and exhausting to get to, if not downright inaccessible."  But the lower 2 floors were a teddy bear shop, that had penguins. Also I'm stubborn, so I mountaineered up the stairs anyway, ate my gluten free cake, and bought a penguin on the way back down.  We also got a dinosaur for Stephen, because it kept leaping off the shelf at him.

My wonderful daddy taught me that one should always carry a torch.  And a bit of string.  I figure that I pretty much have string covered in the form of yarn.  To be honest, I do also have a perfectly ordinary mini maglite in my handbag, but that did not stop me from deciding that I desperately needed this head torch when I saw it in the sale from the online store that I buy my cheap fat girl clothes from.

We decided that we hadn't been to the Royal Armouries in Leeds for too long, so we went.  There we heard tales of Waterloo, the Tournament at the Field of Cloth of Gold, Duels of honour, and medieval plate armour.  In the gift shop Stephen, who long ago chose his online handle as Smaug, and is known among our friends as "The Dragon", found this book.  I don't think he's ever done anything more sweetly romantic than bringing this book to my attention.  

It's that time of year!  I was actually very restrained when I got this, as there was also a bigger hollow chocolate penguin!

I've bought these before, but I can't remember if I was blogging back then.

This is what they look like when in use.  They please me greatly :)

Last time I went to visit my sister, she presented me with this marvellous little package.  Penguins and craftiness!  

I decorated them like this :)  

The last time I went to Meadowhall to buy more tea, Stephen came with me, which meant we ended up in the Lego store.  They have their Christmas bauble sets in stock, and this year the finally are doing a penguin!

I briefly thought about waiting until December to build my Lego penguin, but then became impatient, and built him straight away.  This is the perogative of adulthood.  If I have to do grown up stuff like plan, cook, manage finances, and tidy the house, then I have to be allowed the advantage of choosing not to wait to build my Lego.

I think that this year there will be many more Christmas decorations in Stephen's house than usual, (usually there is a single 6 inch tall tree) and most of these decorations will be penguin related.

Now, I think it is bed time.  I shall be back again very soon with a report on Bakewell Wool Gathering.  Sweet dreams my dears!

Progress! And Socks!

Hello my darlings, I hope that all is well with you?

It's been a little longer than I would have liked since my last update, but not as long as I worried it might be, so I guess it's not too bad.  I've also made a lot of actual progress!

I'm remarkably chipper right now, all considered.  Perhaps because I've had a particularly productive weekend.  However, health has been an issue - my own health, dad's health, and Stephen's health.  I'm not going to go into too much detail, but suffice to say, life is busier now than I'm entirely comfortable with.

However, there has been good news about dad!  His most recent scan results show that the cancer is being kept at bay.  While it hasn't shrunk very much, it is shrinking, and there is no sigh of the metastatic tumours reappearing.  So he has started his 4th round of 6 chemo sessions.  His oncologist was very impressed, because apparently when dad completes this round, he will be the first patient his oncologist is aware of who has survived 24 rounds of this particular chemo! His chemo is due to finish at the end of November, so I'm looking forward to another Christmas with my daddy :)

FO's

So, on with the regulars: 

I promised last time that I'd show a picture of this sweater once I'd properly finished it.  I could pretend that I finished it very soon after my last post, but I'd be lying!  In fact, I wore it for the first time today, having sewn on the buttons, and blocked it last weekend.  The sudden arrival of autumn, along with more typical British weather, finally gave me the kick up the arse that I needed to put the finishing touches to a knit that I actually finished months ago!

The pattern for this is Smart and Stylish Sweater, by Pat Menchini, published in the October 2017 issue of Let's Knit magazine.  And the yarn is King Cole Luxury Merino DK, in the colourway "Mildew".

Daddy's socks.  Can you spot the deliberate mistake?  Of course you can!  It's glaringly obvious that the toe of one sock is made of an entirely different yarn!  I lost at Yarn Chicken :(  Being used to the sister-yarn (crazy Zauberball) of this one, which is sold in 100g balls, and is plenty to make a pair of socks, even for someone with quite large feet, I hadn't considered that this 50g ball might not be quite enough.  Because it's a rather light 3-ply yarn, that 50g was almost enough.  Almost, but not quite.  I searched my stash for a green 3-ply sock yarn to finish the toe of the second sock, and the only one I could find was a much lighter shade of green, with orange splashes in it.  Not ideal, but as Dad pointed out, nobody is going to see the toe, it's inside his shoe, and he assures me that he can't feel the join, or the difference between the 2 yarns, so I guess that's ok.

As usual, I didn't use a pattern for these, I simply adapted my own internal sock pattern for smaller needles, and finer yarn.  The yarn in question is Schoppel-Wolle Edition 6.0, in the colourway "Waschtag".

This was a bit of a "spare time" project that I only worked on when at Stephen's house, and when in between other projects.  It started off as a handful of blanket squares that were intended to be sent up to Shetland to join squares made by others, in a number of blankets to be given to the charity organisation From Shetland with Love.  However, my enquiries as to whether it would be ok for me to post my squares, rather than deliver them in person during Shetland Wool Week, were never answered.  So in the end I decided to slowly create enough squares on my own to make a small blanket, and then give that blanket to a local charity.  I will probably donate this to one of the local animal rescue shelters, to comfort a cat, or small dog.

There is no pattern, it's simply 12 squares, roughly the same size, in a variety of different stitch patterns, sewn together, and a simple crochet border.  All of the yarns are double knit, acrylic, or acrylic/wool blends, and all left over from other projects.

Yasmin has commented a few times now that she would like me to make some socks for her.  She is a knitter herself, but she tends to end up making gifts for babies, and doesn't have the time to make very much of her own.  So I asked her for her foot measurements, and made these for her.  She was very pleased to find that "they fit like they were made for me!"

As usual, my internal sock pattern, adapted for Yaz's tiny feet and ankles.  The yarn is King Cole ZigZag, in the colourway "Waves".

No, it's not a yarn or fibrecraft.  When I'm staying with dad, we spend Tuesdays at Ashington Woods, where my dad teaches a green woodworking group.  Often when I'm there I knit, or crochet, rather than join in with the carving, but sometimes I try my hand at carving as well.  This is a spoon that I finished recently, with the pocket tissues for scale.

This is how most of the things I carve start.  Just a plain chunk of wood.

This is my most recent carving project, and you'll have to use the stitching on the arm of my dad's chair to get an idea of scale.  My dad has carved a number of very tiny spoons, just as an exercise in technique really.  I thought I'd give it a go myself.  This spoon is about 6cm long, and unfortunately I do think that I carved it a bit too thin at one point.  If you hold it up to the light, you can see through a small patch in the bowl of the spoon, and the grain of the wood is coarse enough that it's possible the spoon would not hold water.  I haven't actually tested it yet though, and it is really only meant to be decorative.

WIPs

About 4 years ago I started making crochet squares out of left over cotton, or wool, double knit.  This was a long-term project, intended to use up little bits of really nice yarn that weren't big enough to make anything useful with.  Over time it has become more than that, as I've visited various yarn shops on my travels, but haven't always had enough money to buy enough yarn for a full project, instead I would buy a single ball of a very pretty dk.  This yarn then becomes a memory of that trip, or holiday, that will be crocheted into the blanket.

The intention is to make 100 squares in total, then crochet them all together with a plain black yarn.  I took this photo 3 days ago, and the square on the hook was number 31.  I'm currently working on number 34.  This is a bit of an unusual spike in progress on this particular project, brought about because all the sock knitting I've been doing was making my left thumb try to dislocate.  Crochet is a different series of movements, and different pressures, so I've been able to continue crafting, while resting that left thumb.  Unfortunately, too much crochet makes my right thumb try to dislocate!  So I'll be back to knitting again soon!

This is my pitiful progress on the lace shawl that I cast on during my birthday holiday.  Even though this section is basically just stockinette, the pattern of increases is worked on both knit and purl rows, over 4 rows.  So in order to keep track of where I'm up to, I have to be able to complete a multiple of 4 rows at any time I pick it up.  I can't always guarantee that I'll be settled without distraction for long enough to do that, so this project is not progressing very quickly.  I have however decided to add beads when I get to the lace section, and I've got the beads, and the tiny crochet hook all ready.

The pattern is Hazy Daze, by Boo Knits, and the yarn is Penguin Soup's Tuxedo Lace, in the colourway "April Showers".

I only cast this project on today.  This will be the latest pair of socks for Gemma, because she's always so lovely about telling me how much she likes the socks that I've made for her, which makes me want to make her more :)  She likes grey and purple,  my stash has no shortage of these colours, I enjoy knitting socks, so this seems like a winning combination.

In addition, these socks will be my first entry into a Knit-a-long set up by Corner of Craft called "StashmasKAL2018".  The aim being to knit as much as possible from stash between September 1st, and December 31st this year.  I think it's also intended to get people started on their Christmas knitting, but I know for a fact that I won't wait until Christmas to give these socks to Gemma!

Pattern from my own head, as per, and the yarn is Regia Design Line Jazz Colour, by Erika Knight, in the colourway "Somethin' else".

Stash acquisition

I freely admit that this section is missing some entries that really should be included, because I bought them some time ago.  However, I evidently forgot to take photographs at the time, and I've left them at home, while I am currently at Stephen's house.  So they will have to be belatedly included in my next update.

There is no lack of yarn porn though:

This is another yarn box by Yorkshire Dales Yarns, at Homespun Wonders.  Well, it's most of it, because before taking this photo I had already taken out one of the items and started using it regularly:

Homespun Wonders do these gorgeous themed yarn boxes.  This time there was a choice of mystical creatures, and I chose Faery.  The themed boxes always contain yarn (usually you chose the weight of the yarn, and if you'd like 1 or 2 skeins), some sweet treats, stitch markers, and a selection of little gifts related to the theme. I know that Katie is my friend, but I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say that these boxes are extraordinarily good value for money!  Literally the perfect gift for any yarn lover in your life (including yourself!)

I always choose 4-ply, because it's my favourite weight of yarn to work with, and I usually choose to receive 2 skeins.  As you can see, my box contained 2 beautiful pinky-purpley skeins of yarn, some yummy heart-shaped chocolates, a little faery stitch marker that can be used either as a needle marker or a clip marker, a very shiny trinket box (I have a minor obsession with trinket boxes, I actually have a small collection of them, so I was especially pleased with this!) a scented candle, a ceramic re-useable coffee cup, and a very large and sturdy tote bag.

Yes, I've been back to Ring-a-rosie's!  What can I say?  I love that place, I love the lady who runs it, and I love the yarn that she dyes!  Plus, she has a habit of putting a fresh batch of one-of-a-kind colourways out just before I head north for a visit!  

This time it was the mini-skeins that really caught my eye.  I may not have actually done any work on my mitred square blanket for a while, but I'm still thinking, and planning, and preparing for when I do!  I saw this little bundle, with that bright pop of pink, and the pale speckles, next to my usual purple, green, and turquoise, and thought that this was a perfect opportunity to force myself to use some colours that I wouldn't usually choose, which will make the finished article look that much more vibrant.

There'd been a fresh re-stock of all colourways of Crazy Zauberball too, which is definitely one of my favourite commercial sock yarns, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a couple of the colourways that always seem to disappear quickest.

Of course, I couldn't leave without having at least a little look at the full-sized skeins too, and with the arrival of autumnal weather, I couldn't resist this skein that reminds me of a photograph my dad took when my sister and I were really little, looking out over the West Allen Valley in Northumberland.  Every tree was a different colour, with all of the usual autumnal shades from palest green, through to deep, russet reds, but there was also one tree that had gone dark purple.

When I was chatting, and finding my debit card, Barbara must have snuck in a little free gift as well, beautifully wrapped in a Peter rabbit pouch was the final speckled turquoise mini-skein :)

We had a very busy day that Saturday up north.  Starting with the trip to Ring-a-Rosie's, then meeting dad at Pegswood, where he was teaching a group of Young Rangers about green woodworking, then driving up to Felton, where we had lunch with dad at the Northumberland Arms, then taking a slow walk across the river Coquet to Fine Fettle Fibres, which is where I bought this little haul.

I was hoping to be able to get some of the fabled Northumbrian Rose yarn that I'd read about, but sadly it has all sold out, and can't be re-stocked until the mill can spin some more.  However, I did know that this place stocks Triskelion yarns, which I absolutely love, but who don't come to any of the fibre shows that I'm able to get to these days.  So of course, the first skein I chose was this gorgeous green sock yarn from Triskelion. 

I'm not usually a fan of single-spun yarn, but this Marina yarn by Manos del Uruguay is such a beautiful colour, and has such a lovely sheen to it, that I decided to give it a go.  I do have to admit that single-spun yarn does tend to feel much softer against the skin than most plied yarns, but it biases terribly in garments, and is prone to weakness if you have to frog it and re-knit it.  This one just begs to be a super soft and luxurious shawl though, so I'll just have to be careful, and use lots of life-lines!  The bias problem shouldn't be an issue for a shawl.

This bright orange though!  Orange is so not my colour!  But this one called to me, looking like spun fire.  It's by Ginger Twist Studio, who if I'm being honest, I'd never heard of before, and it's called "Melon Balls On Fire".  How awesome is that?!?

Finally, the book - Cast On, Bind Off - has been on my Amazon wish list (Officially the cheekiest link I've ever made!) for ages.  I figure that I'm a fairly accomplished knitter, and I do know a reasonable number of different ways to cast on, and bind off.  But I nearly always use the same 2 or 3 techniques, because they're the ones that I'm most comfortable with.  I really want to be able to do more, things like making my cast on, and bound off edges look the same, or finding a really stretchy ribbed bind off that doesn't create a "frilly" finish.  This book will help me do that.

Another book

Something that I forgot to photograph, so couldn't include in my last update (happens too much!) was this funny little book:

The dust cover has already become a little tatty, because this sits in the cubby by my nest at home, where I can read little bits of it at random.  Some of it is useful, some of it is funny, some of it is educational, most of it is interesting.  It was entirely an impulse buy, because when I have mood wobbles, sometimes I fix them by buying stuff that I probably shouldn't.

Penguins!

It's getting to that time of year again... The "C" word has been used in my knitting magazines, in the YouTube videos that I watch, even in this very blog... And we all know what that means!  Penguin tat is creeping onto the supermarket shelves!

These things are not tat at all!  These were my birthday present from Liz.  A sweet little penguin keyring, that I'm using to make gripping the zip on one of my project bags easier, and this marvellous penguin pen, that now lives in my holographic organiser, and gets used nearly every day :)

Look at him!  Isn't he brilliant!?!  My goddaughter hand sewed him herself, especially for me!

Our strawberry plants are getting a bit out of control, and have produced loads of creeper shoots.  So we went to buy another pot to plant the shoots into, so that next year we will have even more strawberry plants.  While we were being all adulty, comparing the relative merits of different types of plant pot, Stephen spotted this garden ornament, then the garden ornament found it's way to the checkout with us, and now he lives among our strawberry plants.

I don't know how well you can see what this actually is, because I didn't want to climb out from under it to take the photo.  It's so soft, and snuggly, and it has penguins on it, and it's big enough that both Stephen and I can sit on the sofa underneath it.  We saw this blanket on a top shelf in the "seasonal" aisle at Asda (during our most recent trip north, when it felt like we spent so much time at Asda that we could get our post re-directed there).  Anyway, when we looked, the label on the shelf said "spare stock", and these blankets were not to be found on any other shelf.  I departed a sad and deflated penguinophile.

A couple of days later, on a day when I found myself at Asda alone (Sunday? I might have been looking for sage and onion stuffing to go with our Sunday roast) I just happened to find myself on the same aisle (you have sage and onion stuffing at Christmas!  It's totally a seasonal item, and could totally have been on that aisle!) and there were the blankets, available for sale!

Just a little thing that I added to my cart when I was buying the next thing.  You might think this is a penguin, but it's actually hand cream.  I use a lot of hand cream, because my skin is crappy and delicate, and because dry skin snags on my yarn.  This is supposed to be lavender scented, which is debatable.

When I bought the hand cream, I was actually really buying this, and I only bought this as a cheap way to find out what this colour really looks like.  Which is red.  I mean, it's not just me right?  This colour is indisputably red, right?  It looks red in the pictures on the website that I bought it from too.  But it's called Pink.  I actually want to buy a backpack from the same collection as this (you can't use shoulder bags with crutches, really, you just can't.) but the price of the backpack made me think twice about ordering it if when it arrived it was going to turn out to actually be magenta, which is very Not Me.  But this smaller bag was very affordable, so I thought I'd order one and see what the colour is like, and what the construction quality is like (I overload my bags a lot, if they aren't sturdily constructed, they don't last long).  I actually love it.  It has many, many pockets (to make up for the fact that the Patriarchy are controlling women by not putting pockets in our clothes).  It is large enough to contain all of the myriad items that I routinely carry around with me, including purse, meds, hair brush, makeup, diary, sunglasses, hand cream, house keys for 5 different houses, car keys for 2 different cars... and still have plenty of space for a knitting project too.  I am pleased.  I shall be buying the backpack.

Right, it's exactly 2am now.  In 6 hours I have to get up, because Stephen and I are going to York.  So I'm going to bed now.  Sweet dreams my dears!