Present time

The garden is going a bit crazy at the moment.


1. Today's produce, 2. Runner Beans, 3. The Squash (I think), 4. Longest Tomato stem in the world, 5. Cucumber, 6. The Squash (I think)

I have more courgettes than I know what to do with (any recipe suggestions greatfully received). The tomatoes and cucumbers need picking almost every day. In a weeks time we will have more runner beans than we know what to do with. The tomato truss is trying to escape out of the greenhouse door and the butternut squash (I think that is what they are, but they could be pumpkins) are getting bigger every day.

I'm not complaining though. It is very satisfying when you can work from home and go outside to pick your own lunch. Yum.

Being at home today (our office is being refurbished) meant that I could sneak outside and take some pictures of my new sewing project before it is gifted at the weekend. I saw the ones SussexYorkie had made and had to have a go. The sale at Cath Kidston in Selfridges left me in no doubt of what to make my friend for her birthday on Saturday.


The tutorial is here.
I bought a purse to match the tea towels and figured I could probably put a clip on the loop for hanging the tea towel so the purse could be attached inside the bag. I also added a magnetic snap fastener.
I must have one for myself.... I think I may be off on a tea towel hunt as I want to make one for my Secret Pal and my UK Swap pal. So if you see any good tea towels let me know!

Talking of secret pal. A parcel arrived from Finland for me today.

Some gorgeous wool/silk lace yarn, a popular Finnish brand I'm told and sweets with Moomins on. How cool are they???? Thank you secret pal. It was a perfect parcel.

Lastly, I couldn't leave you without a blanket update picture. 16 squares down.

Another pregnancy announcement today means that you are going to be completely sick of blankets by January!

Questions Questions Questions

Secret Pal 12 Question:
What is your favorite summertime drink?
I think this has to be Pimms, with lots of mint and cucumber. Yummy. That reminds me, haven't had a glass yet this year!
UK Swap Question:
What is the strangest place you have ever knit?
Probably at a football match, before the game started. I got some very strange looks!
What are you doing to participate in WWKIP day on Saturday?
I met up with some of the Brum Knit Night crew at a pub in Central Birmingham.

Alison and I finding something very amusing, probably the fact that my new socks match my teeshirt!
Here they are:

More Speedways, in Opal Feelings. This time I've done yo's rather than m1 for the increases.
I think I might be a bit chevroned out after this pair. I forgot to take the pattern with me and couldn't work out where my heel went, so had to put them on a spare bit of yarn and start the other one!
Knitting on Muir has continued. I've done 3 repeats now. Not the best photo but you get the idea...

Here is something I don't think I've shared yet, a pretty awful attempt at an argyle vest for a friends little boy. My intarsia is pretty rubbish, but I'm hoping it might even out after blocking and when the ends are sewn in. It's on hold until I finish Muir though.

Meet Sidney...

Here is Sidney. He is a friendly green elephant

Pattern: Elijah by Ysolda, knitted in the round with no seaming.
Needles: 2.75mm Brittany Birch (until one broke, so one arm and the ears and done with 3mm needles)
Started: 17th November
Finished: 29th November
Yarn: James C Brett Kool Kotton. 50% cotton, 50% Acrylic.
He is a super elephant. Fun to knit, excellent construction. The yarn is soft, but will also stand up to being put through the machine, which I think makes sense for toys.... it is also only about £1.50 a ball and he used up about 2m less than a ball.. Bargain. I think he will have many adventures and I am very tempted to make more for Christmas presents.

Sidney likes to pose for the camera with his other elephant friends

He poses on his own too.. and sits there very still whilst you snap away.

He is nosey too... as you would expect from an elephant. He dived right in when I received my final Secret Pall 11 parcel earlier this week. Look at all of those wonderful things from Bette - the Knittin' Diva.

Wrapped it fab Christmas tissue paper we have, Artful yarns Shakespeare 100% wool in perfect colours for me, a pedicure set, snowman tissues, a tree ornament, some lovely fabric fat quarters, reindeer post-its, bath salts, a roses calendar and some gorgeous wool that Bette dyed. Thank you so much for your wonderful, thoughtful presents. You have been a great pal.

Zip-It!

My second parcel from my secret pal arrived today all the way from America.
Look at all the great things. I am very lucky. The best is the Zip-It bag at the bottom. Yes, it is a bag made from two zips. See http://www.zipitstyle.com/ for more details. My friend Kerry has a coin purse like this, or at least she did until her bag got stolen from her office a week ago. I spent hours online at the weekend searching for a replacement for her (but couldn't find one - it is hard to search for) then this arrives in the post today - how strange is that? Kerry I am going to keep looking!
I was also really really excited to get the Hanami pattern, I think this is definitely going to be my next lace project, I have had it in my Ravelry queue for ages. Talking of lace, MS3 is about 20 rows into clue 6. I really want to finish it before Brum Knit Night next week... but not sure I will... must go and knit more...

Secret Pal 10 reveal...

Another fantastic parcel from my SP 10 arrived today... this time all the way from Turkey! Some fab spices and amazing looking fig sweets (I'm sure Tony will LOVE these!) a little purse with an eye to ward off evil and finally 3 skeins of purple yarn - just perfect for me.
Thank you Robert - you have been an amazing Secret Pal. I hope you are having a lovely time on Holiday :0)

Birthday Celebrations!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes. I had an amazing weekend with all my friends. Here is the evidence.
Ruth and Tony, looking cool in 70s clothesShowing off the flares. Lol and Pete; too cool for me

Then the twister began and we were definitely not cool :0)
I also managed to get Kerry to model her skirt. It looks fab.

And finally, my Secret Pal 10 parcel as promised. Beautiful Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in a gorgeous sea green colour called Tide Pool. I need an easy lace shawl pattern for this I think... any ideas anyone?

Some Stroopwafels (as requested - yum), Blooker Cocoa (I'll make some muffins for work with this), toast sprinkles, bubbles, mini-sellotape and clips and finally the best stitch markers. They are binary, so you can use them for row counting. Genius! Thank you SP, I love everything and I feel well and truely spoilt.

Right, must go and help TT put up the bookcase from Ikea - finally I get somewhere to store all of my books and knitting things. Yipeeeeee!

Parcels, Progress and Podcasts

I had a phonecall at work yesterday lunchtime to say a very heavy parcel had arrived for me from Amsterdam and it couldn't possibly contain wool as it was far too heavy!
I arrived home to find this:An amazing Easter parcel from my SP10
I now have the largest supply of Easter goodies in the world (or maybe just in Wolverhampton). I will have to hide the biscuits however, as no soon had they been noticed by Tony he had a cup of tea and was tucking in! Thank goodness they weren't Stroopwafels as they would all be gone by now!I also have some amazing regia sock yarn in purples and greens that are just crying out to be made into Jaywalkers (or possibly another ripple type pattern from this book - a recent acquisition). Thank you for all of my goodies SP - they are fantastic.
Now onto progress - progress to me has meant some undoing. it shocked me to realise that I wasn't afraid to rip the Roza Sock I showed you at the weekend and start something else. I felt like the pattern was a bit lost in the Koigu, so I have progressed onto Monkey socks. So much better don't you think? A few months ago I would never have undone all of that hard work, even if I wasn't happy with it.
And finally podcasts - I can't believe I've lived without these for so long! I tried a couple of knitting ones about 18 months ago and they were awful and I was really put off. I listened to the Baddiel and Skinner World Cup podcasts in the summer and loved them and now, thanks to my Brum Knit Knight pals, I have discovered some good knitting podcasts! I have downloaded all of the episodes of Cast-On and alos Lixie's podcast for my knitterly enjoyment. They are both fab - if you can recommend any others, please do.

Happy Easter!

The secret pair of socks can finally be revealed. My commuting knitting has been these Child's first Socks from Vintage Knitted Socks in Lorna's Laces Iris Garden for my sockret pal. You can see better piccies of Wendy wearing the socks (and all of the other purple goodies I sent here)I felt like I needed a challenge when I started out on these socks but I was pleasantly surprised how easy the pattern was to memorise. I loved them when they were finished, but I was very happy to send them to Wendy who has been such a great person to spoil. I'm a bit sad now that sockret pal is over... but I do have SP10 to look forward to.... I sent my first parcel off last week and it was greatfully received and I'm looking forward to seeing what I get!
Our secret pal hostess has set us a quiz - 1) How old were you when you learned to knit? and 2) Who taught you?
I leant to knit when I was about 8 or 9. My mum taught me. She was a prolific knitter. I was looking through some old photos yesterday and every jumper and cardigan was made by her. I used to knit Jean Greenhowe dolls as presents for friends at school. I knit a bit whilst at uni - but usually toys. I started again when a colleague at work was pregnant about 5-6 years ago but again, it was a bit of a fad. it is only really in the last 2-3 years when I have had something on the go most of the time - again I guess it is the advent of all babies my friends seem to be having!
I spent most of last week on trains between London and Wolverhampton, or at least that is what it feels like. I have ended up with a finished Socks that Rock RPM sock at the end of it though. I love this, and I love that it is for me even more. Instead of casting on for number two I decided I probably needed to start on the socks for Tony's mum who is 60 at the end of April. Progress so far....
Roza's socks in the Koigu my Secret Pal 9 sent me.
And to prove that I do knit something other than socks, here is the finished "Thinking Dress" for Carys. I think I even have enough yarn left over to make a matching tank top for her new little brother!
And to complete the Easter festivities - some beautiful tulips from my lovely bf.
Right, off to play in the garden. Happy Easter everyone.

Do you like my new socks?

It has taken me long enough to make them! I started (and finished) number 1 on holiday in Amsterdam in June - after pestering Bry for the pattern to take on holiday with me. For some I didn't start number 2 straight away... in fact it took me until 30th December to start number 2. This has been my commuter knitting since the start of the New Year and it was finished yesterday. I LOVE them. I can't believe I waited this long to finish them, they are amazingly comfortable.
Pattern: Fair Isle Free Argyle Socks by Bryony.
Yarn: Nature's Palette in Odd Duck 3 (love it)
Started: June 2006
Finished: 15th Jan 2007 (the shame)
Comments: Great pattern, they looked 100 times better after blocking! Perfect fit, I love them.
Now for my surprise parcel from my Secret Pal..... look what gorgeous things arrived today... TWO skeins of Koigu in THE most perfect colour (more below), some yummy jelly beans and a fab fish bath fizzle. I'd better get my ball winder out!

Now SP - you have to tell me who you are!
In other news, I started squares for a baby blanket after deciding the alphabet blanket was too hard to try and do whilst watching the TV. I will complete it one day, but it will not be in the next 4 weeks! I have two pairs of (men's) socks to knit by the middle of Feb too. Might go and cast on for one tonight. Has anyone knitted socks with Rowan 4ply soft? I bought some the other day but I'm now worried they might get holes in really quickly....