Happy Easter

After 40 days with no chocolate I am trying very hard not to eat this all in one go!

Happy Easter everyone! We seem to have avoided the horrible weather and snow here in the Midlands. I've spent the morning out in the garden moving soil to make new borders and cleaning my greenhouse ready for spring planting. I think I deserve some chocolate and knitting time now!

A parcel to cheer me up

I've been under the weather for the last couple of days with some nasty cold/sore throat/virus thingie. I know I'm not well as I did *NO* knitting yesterday when I had the day off work. I made the journey into Birmingham today but knew my UK Swap parcel was on the way. I was convinced it would have been taken to the sorting office, but my lovely postman had managed to hide it in the recycling bin! I must've looked a little strange trying to reach into a massive green wheelie bin in my work suit!
Here are the fab contents of my parcel:

My swap pal was Sarah, who I failed to find despite lots and lots of clues!
She sent me... Muffins - a cook book I've wanted for ages and has made it into my Amazon basket on numerous occasions but has been removed at the last minute. I'll have to try out a few of these recipes when I'm feeling better. A lush bath bomb to help me sleep, a Lindt chocolate bunny which I will be saving for Easter (no chocolate for me until then), some purple tea lights , a fab purple tote which matches all of my other purple accessories, a sock pattern , a skein of Posh Yarn Eva in Tinkerbell, a wonderful greeny/browny colour and finally, some sock yarn that I've been trying not to buy for myself, the Kaffe Fassett Regia 4259 colourway.
A perfect parcel to cheer up a dreary day... thank you so much Sarah , I love it all!

Just enough time for a blog post

I don't know where the evening has gone! All I've done is put a load of washing on, had dinner and wrapped up my parcel for the UK Swap. I am hoping Tony will take it to work to post as the box is massive and I don't fancy taking it to Birmingham on the train tomorrow!
I think there is just enough time for some finished objects before Skins starts on E4!
I ventured down south this weekend to see Owen in his birthday jumper....



I managed to finish my Cranford Mitts on the train

And I have been keeping my hands nice and snug in them today. The best thing? I can still knit whilst wearing them. Yipee. Perfect for commuting knitting.

Started: 1st March
Finished: 9th March
Pattern: Cranford Mitts by Jane
Yarn: Yarn Yard Merino. I used about 1/2 a skein of the MC (Mysteron) and a tiny bit of the contrast Gaskell)
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Comments: A really quick knit. The horseshoe lace pattern is very easy to memorise. The increases for the thumb are so simple I would never have thought of it. The are a lovely snug fit perfect for keeping my hands warm whilst knitting out and about. I think I might make more of these as Christmas presents! I also intend on using the horseshoe lace pattern for a pair of socks sometime soon.
I also started on my Mr Greenjeans cardigan. Not much to see at the moment. One more pattern repeat before I take off the stitches for the arms. I am loving the Malabrigo and the purpleness of it all.

A purple patch...

The socks are done. My mum came out of hospital on Thursday evening so I took Friday off work to spend with her, just in case her heart started racing again. Luckily she was fine, just really tired and I got lots of knitting done.

Pattern: Whitby from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road
Needles: 3mm Circular and dpn's
Yarn: Posh Yarn Emily in Canary yellow.
Started: 24th February
Finished: 29th February
Comments: An excellent pattern for slightly thicker yarn. I think the cables look great and the diamond pattern in the middle of the sock makes it really easy to remember when to cable. These had a square heel construction, which I've never done before. I was worried it might make the underneath of the heel too narrow but the socks fit well. I wore then all day yesterday and they were very soft and lovely on my feet, however I'm not sure the yarn will stand up to lots of wear as it has already gone quite fluffy in places. I think they may have to be kept for sofa socks!
Saturday started out well. My socks had dried over night so I could wear them. The postie arrived with my merino for Jane's Cranford Mitts from Natalie at The Yarn Yard. I managed to wind two balls before dashing out of the house to meet Fiona. We were heading over to the Ravelry Fun Day at the Crafty Cottage in Warwick.
We met Rachel and Alison on the train and wandered up the hill into Warwick. When we arrived the shop was packed out with knitters. I headed straight for the Malabrigo! Jo put on a great spread and there was so much amazing yarn. Here is a photo taken later in the afternoon when things had calmed down.

I amused everyone with my purple obsession!

I came home with 6 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Cuarzo and one in Purple Magic. It is destined to be Green Jeans from Knitty. As you can see I've already wound one ball! I couldn't resist the laceweight Dark Purple 90% silk, 10% Cashmere from "Shades of Cashmere". I am thinking of making Matilda from the first edition of Inside Loop
Fi's purchases lived up to her Ravelry name, Scarlet Princess - she came home with lots of red yarn!
I managed to tear myself away from the wool and the food and get started on my Cranford Mitts. I found a mistake in the pattern on the way home, so these need ripping back to the cuff. I emailed Jane last night and woke up to a corrected pdf file this morning! Thanks Jane :o) The edging is in Gaskell and the main colour is Mysteron. I also have a skein of Aubergine, because I couldn't decide which would go better with my coat!

I've spent Sunday catching up on my sleep, taking photos and blog reading. Now I have to decide whether to have a couple of hours tidying up in the garden at the new house and planting the gooseberry bushes I bought for £1 yesterday or carrying on with the patchwork I started last weekend. I don't think it is too bad for a second attempt. I've even managed to quilt it!

Whitby

After much flicking through books and browsing on Ravelry I finally decided on a pattern for the canary posh yarn. Thanks for all of the suggestions.
I wanted something with cables and here we have Whitby from Nancy Bush's "Knitting on the Road". I haven't knit anything from this book before, so I feel like I am using something old from my stash, just my book stash not my yarn stash!
It is exactly what I wanted, fits like a dream and is a really easy pattern to memorise. This is a picture taken on the train to London this morning. Yes the man next to me did think I was odd.

Here we have progress as of tonight. One (or maybe two) more repeats and then onto the toe. I love socks on 3mm needles! Unfortunately I don't think the pair will be finished in time for the Ravelry fun day at the Crafty Cottage in Warwick on Saturday, not unless I skip work tomorrow!

Models

Owen's Birthday jumper was finished on Sunday evening and in the post on Monday. I ended up wrapping it sat at my desk at work, which is where this photo was taken

Pattern: Catch Sweater from Louisa Harding's Miss Bea's Playtime.
Yarn: GGH Samoa, 50% Cotton 50% Microfibre. 1.5 balls Turquoise and 2 balls of green)
Started: 14th February
Finished: 24th February
Comments: A very quick easy knit. I modified the pattern to knit in the round up to the armholes. I also knit the neck edging in the round and grafted the shoulder seams.
This morning I got a picture from Non's phone of the birthday boy in his new jumper. Yeah! It fits :0)

On Sunday I managed to find another model for a recent knit. Josh looks very cute in his tank top!

And it was all yellow....

I think I've worked out why I feel compelled to knit some yellow socks. I saw these in the garden of the new house today. I love spring.

I bought this "sproingy" Posh Yarn Emily last Sunday (along with a few things for my UK Swap Pal).

It feels amazing and I can't wait to get started. Just have to choose a pattern. I'm thinking Uptown Boot Socks or maybe Conway
Any suggestions? I want something fairly easy to memorise so I can knit them on the train.
I won't have to wait too long to cast on, as my February "Socks from the Stash" are finished:

Pattern: Monkey from Knitty, but with knit instead of purl stitches.
Yarn: Yarn Yard Sock Yarn in Peppermint Pink, about 60g.
Needles: 2.5mm circulars and dpns
Started: 30th January
Finished: 21st Feburary
Comments: Brilliant pattern, really fast doing the no-purl version. Love them!
I've done the random number generator and the socks for March need to be knit with this:

Tonight I'll be trying to finish Owen's birthday Jumper only about 1/4 of a sleeve to go.