Well, now ....

... it has been a while. Between non-working cameras, being sick and all manners of busy, I have many unblogged things about which I would like to blog. I realise that was quite possibly the most grammatically incorrect and just plain bad sentence to be written in a blog this year, but it's late - cut me some slack.


Anyway, as I have a ton of new photos just released on my computer, I'd better get started. Let me introduce to you my first ever baby item - the cabled sweater:



This started off as a present for someone, but crossed wires aplenty meant it is no longer headed their way. Someone mentioned giving it to charity but I have a strange connection with it that makes me unwilling to give it away. This is probably due to the whole evening I spent with it, attempting to do the neckband.

First time about to cast off - that doesn't look right, I'd better rip it out.
Second time halfway through cast off - no, wait, it was right the first time.
Getting ready to knit it for the third time - is that shoulder seam sewn up wrong? better unpick it ....
Halfway through unpicking - nope, it's supposed to be like that, I'm just holding it funny %$^&^%&*!!!.
Then finally (a minute or few later), it was done. Thankfully. So I feel it needs to stay with me so that I can see it looking gorgeous on a little one and know it was worth all of that.

Speaking of frogging, meet the Donegal sock as she looks now:



Yes, she is no more. A number of unfortunate circumstances conspired against her and so she had to be ripped.

There was a distinct tension issue going on when I returned to the sock with a new zeal for removing DPN ladders. Incidentally the ladders are gone, but so is a good fraction of the width.



There was also a bit of an unsightly hole where the ribbing had changed to stocking stitch, I had a sneaking suspicion they were going to be too wide, were knit top down when I prefer toe up and were really meant to be jaywalkers but I was watching a film so went for the no-brainer instead, but these were not the most pressing reasons for frogging.



No indeed, the broken needle was the curse of the project. The straw that broke the camel's back needle, if you will. I have joined with Jolene in the lamenting of our broken cocktail sticks! Love bamboo as I do, I am starting to feel the need for metal only sock needles lol. This injury took place in my bag somewhere from bus stop to back door, but they feel pretty fragile in the hands too. Another one of my bamboos also broke in a 3mm size and I wasnt even using it - I ask ya! When I have my wool shop, some fine day in the future, I will sell single DPNs for just this eventuality.

But anyway, ripped she is and Jaywalkers will be the pattern of choice, once I have enough working needles to knit the thing without giving myself a splinter.

But I feel the need to balance that lot of moaning with some happy, happy thoughts. So here's a quick run through of some nice things to be happening arond these parts recently.

New member for our Belfast SnB. We love her, she is great, she is never allowed to leave us or we will hunt her down and steal all her stash (I hear there's lots).



My first ever knitted dishcloth. Repeat after me: instant gratification.



Bead shopping! oh how I love it!



Also you see the itsy bitsy crochet hook i finally got for beading the MS3 (membership closed now so I hope you're all signed up). Here it is so far (I'm up to row 80 of clue 1 so far and loving it!).



Now that was a mammoth of a post, and yet I still have more to say! It will have to wait :)

I admit defeat ....

... the dolls are not going to be finished for this evening. Due to mistakenly thinking I could do two in a week (as well as you know, working and stuff) I ended up getting two half-done and nothing finished. Luckily I had finished one months ago earlier. Meet my aunt's birthday nurse (she is a nurse herself, honest it's not that weird a gift!):



Note the beetroot, sunburnt look as this was done back in the day when I had no skin tone yarn (now I do - third time lucky lol). Also note the bad embroidery which gives her a wonky eye and a pursed mouth. I think toy knitting isn't my thing ... I should stick with bags and scarves!

So at least one thing will be delivered this afternoon when we arrive in their neck of the woods. And to make up for the mad toy knitting I attempted this week, I'm talking only pretty things for myself to knit on the trip down and whenever I get a chance while there. I have brought the swatch for Mystery Stole 3 and two lots of sock knitting (neither of which is the sock I started in Donegal - bad me!). The knitting one thing at a time mantra has been thrown to the wayside a little. But I will try to get back on track after the weekend. Honest.

I got mail!

The camera issues are still aplenty (including some evil misplacing) and so I have not been here, but there has been a lot of knitting and I have a lot to show .... when I ever manage to get a camera and batteries and daylight and the knitting all at the same time. Someday.

But getting to the point - I got mail. More importantly - I got yarn mail! Yes my Sarah's Yarns order arrived yesterday (quick, wasn't it?). All my little lovelies turned up, wound in the cutest little balls I have seen and in individual sealed bags to keep them in their gorgeous state. I ordered 3 2oz balls in Ebony (for Mystery Stole 3) and another 3 in charcoal (because I wanted them). Any suggestions for the Charcoal colourway are greatly appreciated.




I was really impressed with Sarah's Yarns and will definitely buy from her again. The yarn is great, wound and packaged excellently, sold at a wonderful price and I received it so quickly! All round excellent shopping experience. And she sent me a colour card for the Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool Silk line, so how can I resist ordering again?

Black and white

I am about to post without pictures. *shock* *horror* I thought it was worth warning you all beforehand. Have I lost my marbles? Blogging without pictures! Well no, rather I have lost my batteries. I am having camera battery issues, but all will be resolved tonight if I have anything to do with it.

However, I couldn't resist talking about a few things that are going on in my knitting world. Firstly our stitch'n'bitch has had 5 members present two weeks in a row. This is shocking and wonderful all at once. Imagine what will happen when we advertise that bad boy!

And in yarn acquisition news, I have been on the lookout for some yarn to use with the Mystery Stole 3. Not being terribly wonderful at the old alternative yarn decision, I decided to go with the yarn as dictated by the designer herself. So Jaggerspun Zephyr Wool Silk 2/18 it is - in ebony and charcoal (just in case I desire to make two). And Sarah's Yarns was the winning supplier. So far the shopping experience with her has been great - she responds quickly to e-mails and her prices are so good that I'm getting the yarn shipped from the US at a third of the price compared to the only UK online retailer I could find. Price is important when you're a poor debt-ridden student with a need for lovely yarn. I'll let you know more about the shopping experience as it progresses.

Finally I'm visiting some relatives for a pre-wedding dinner next Thursday night and so need to finish all their knitted gift pieces that have been accumulating since I last saw them. This means 5 knitted figurines of which one is finished, one is half-knitted and the other three remain in the pattern book looking at me smugly. Looks like this will be one crazy knitting week! (Hopefully with pictures).