No piccies at the moment, one of my cameras (my favourite) is poorly, the other (work one) takes pretty crappy photos, not keen on it at all. Will pop mine into a shop and see if they know what's wrong with it, but I suspect it is dead.

Lots of knitting going on, I started Kim Hargreave's Ward on Christmas Day and am aiming to finish it tomorrow, its boooooorrrrrrrring as anything but it's not too far from being finito. And it's good infront of the telly knitting, no brain required.

And a lot of sewing to get on with, had a mini material buying spree with the plan of making up several project bags for etsy - and said material is still sitting on the table. The table that was tidy for one day ...

Mr Parcel Postie has just been with my New Lanark Mill wool, its nice but too many flecks of colour for me to be totally happy, but it should knit up OK, am planning on making Perfect Paula with it (a cabled cardi, wil find out how to add Ravelry links someday!).
But now it is time to slap some lippy on, do something with my hair (any ideas on how to grow out a fringe without getting cross and chopping the lot off anyone??) and brave M&S food hall. Again. I have my eye on their party food / fizz for a tenner offer, all for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Bye for now, keep warm, keep knitting, you know it makes sense!

Hurrah! I am pleased with these - originally knit whilst sitting on the beach at Scapa Bay in Orkney, after the Interview.From.Hell, then realised they were toooooo small, as I was using the wrong needles, Anyway, reknit, haven't blocked them as she has slim hands and I think they will be a hit. Very fast easy knit, might have to make myself a pair.

The squiggle photos are in the wrong order, thank you blogger.
Cheeky little thing was hanging on by his back legs and hugging the net of nuts to his chest to chomp off the top - the blurry photo was through my net curtains, when I went out and said 'Oi! They aren't for you!' he sat on the gatepost and laughed at me, Cheeky blighter.

Well.
One more sleep, lorra food, lorra plonk, lorra laughs, then relative normality should be resumed.


My daughter is due here in a couple of hours, not cooking anything for tea, we are hitting the cheese and assorted nibbles instead of holding off until tomorrow afternoon.
Lazy? Moi? Damned right.


Finished the last bit of the last present - is this a thing that crafters the world over do, finish assorted projects off last minute? I suspect so.All wrapped, all hidden in the bomsite that is my bedroom - all the crap from downstairs now seems to be in my room. Yippee. Three guesses what I am doing Boxing Day ...


I had also knit the owls jumper, but as a cardi, for a present, but it looks vile - have left it unwrapped, and she is going to try it on, see if it is salvageable, and if not will let her have a plough through patterns on Ravelry for something else. Sheesh.

Have a warm, lovely Christmas. Toodles
x

so ...

Flying visit - I took the plunge, deleted all the html code on my blog template, and added this one - I think it's ok? I wanted something really delicate and almost jewel like, and found one I liked, but couldn't work out how the hell to add it! This will do for now.

Tired, cold - very cold, and slumped infront of Midsomer repeats, and about to try and finish, or almost finish, a pair of mitts for a Christmas pressie.

I am surrounded by wool, oodles of wool, and - er - mess.

The photo - the view from my doorway a couple of evenings ago, and the snow is still there, brrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Brrrrrrrrr!

Work in progress - half a bag is better than none I suppose, I plan on finishing this one tomorrow, but I forgot to buy some material to make the strap, silly moo - I suspect I can find something in the mountains of material upstairs.
Gorgeous Laura Ashley materials, and a silk birdy, I have plans for embellisging it furtehr before sewing in the lining.

A bit of self indulgent knitting, despite having certain things to finish for Christmas ... great pattern, it grows really quickly and is easily memorised, will add a link when I get my act together. The wool was a gift (thank you Darlene!), and I like it - Karaoke, half silk, half soy, great colours. Not the softest in the world although it should soften after a wash, but it really shows the cable effect well!

Blimey! It's bloody freezing! And it started snowing here a couple of hours ago, brrrrrrrr - love how it looks, hate how it feels!


I spent a couple of hours - yes hours - putting four bags on my etsy shop, HOURS. I had to edit all the photos, then the editing wotsit I was using decided to sulk, so I had to find another way - I suspect it was a job that would take someone a bit more savvy than me minutes to do - anyway, they are finally on.


They were originally planned for a craft fair, but it feels wrong to do craft fairs when I am signed off work somehow ... I do like them though, the birdy one above is a favourite. The bird is silk, and a really yummy chocolatey brown - brown and pinks together are rarely a bad thing!

Tea smells good so I suppose I had better go and check it - roast veg, with mushrooms, chillies and garlic, yummy. Somehow salad didn't seem too bright a plan in this weather ...
Stay warm!

Right. A brief summary of the last few months, since last posting.

The owl - am trying a bit of art quilting, or something similar - the novel (?) I ended up with for NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) is made up of chapters (thats fascinating, nobody has thought of THAT before) and the dark owl is one of the main themes in one, then reappears a couple of times in others. So out of that came this little owly bloke, but hes meant to look malevolent, but to me he looks cute, which defeats the object somewhat.

I tried some oil sticks for the first time, imprted from America after reading lots of rave reviews, but am pretty disappointed in them.

Too chunky, they stink (of oil paint, well would you believe it...) and my machine didn't enjoy sewing on top of it. I think my good old Dylon dyes are better for what i tend to do (I have loads upstairs from ye olden dayes when I used to make and paint corsets).

So I will plod on with it and finish it before the weekend, because I have just painted my living room and want this up on the wall, it's been far to long since I put anything I made on display. Not that there's anyone here to see it ....

What else - LOTS of knitting going on, LOTS of sewing and a few ideas beetling about in my head for some paintings, will add piccies and things tomorrow.

I am off work at the moment, back at the Dr next week, see what she says. Very odd feeling to go from 100% to zero in a day, but not a lot I can do about it. I don't want to go into detail online, but I think the break is doing what it is meant to, time will tell.

Right, that's it for now - more to come, but I still cannot master these damned piccies, they load into one place and don't like being moved in between text, grrrr ....

december?

how did it get to november - no, december - without me writing a single post?



am going to play about with this one, i dont like the layout, and try to keep up with it
lots to report, nothing world shatteringly exciting, but i DID finish my novel!
so a flying scrap of a post today, then hopefully more regular witterings to come



thank you to those who stuck with this and left comments, thats lovely of you

the owl? will explain later, hes only half finished bless him ... toodles x

just playing

with the colour purple - sock wool i dyed recently, and love - and photos from my teeny tiny garden (which i also love)

paying it forward

i like this

not that my life is busy enough as it is, but i like it ....

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. (No refunds... no exchanges!!!!)

2. What I create will be just for you, with love from me.

3. It'll be done this calendar year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. I may even create something totally unbelievable and surprise you!! It will be handmade and may be any medium I choose. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange...or awesome...or lovely!

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note/post of your own and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to it.

7. Send your mailing address if you don't live close to me!

Itis a good excuse to dust off some of my other carfty things, and have a bit of fun
Tempted? Go on go on go go on, join me!

Personally I dont mind where you live, if it's the moon I am likely to make something lightweight, and Royal Mail will do their 'best'.
Come on in, plenty of time left in the year ....

two things ...

one - please go and check kims fabulous giveaway - http://calamitykim.typepad.com/

the link to the actual post is in the sidebar on the right, i have followed kims blog for quite a while now and love it - the giveaway is amazingly generous!

and two - we had ofsted today, massively stressful (especially as head of english, with writing being a major target from our last inspection, grilled at length and lesons observed) - and i got outstanding ;-)

thats all

too tired to write anything else!

psssst go check kims blog ...

count your blessings

no pictures
no waffling

please follow the link - and if possible send even just one lightweight item, maybe some wool, maybe some toiletries, maybe something as simple as string

reading the list of items desperately needed brings home exactly how much people have lost in the australian fires - everything

http://peasoupoftheday.blogspot.com/

i have a problem with donating via major charities such as the red cross, for my own reasons - but if i know that every penny will go where it is needed, then yes, in whatever small way i can help, i will

thats all

going back to work ...

i am pleased with my little self today
this is the handpsun i have just plied, its the most even i have managed so far (despite my lovely wheel playing silly buggers repeatedly), its a bit thinner than double knit, so if i really concentrated i might be able to spin / ply around fingering weight / heavy lace weight

you can see how pleased gibbs is too, with his cheeky little grin and his twinkly eyes - ahhh jethro, you warm the cockles of my heart, you silver fox you

these were the 2 bobbins i had spun over the last wek or two, much better than my last lot (this is maybe my 5th go at spinning), no serious thick / thin differences in this lot - i am not kidding myself its brilliant, but i am very happy with it so far
my aim is to spin enough to be able to knit myself a grey shawl, and as theres still a bag and a half left to spin up i should have plenty

hand spun, hand knit shawl in natural greys - not bad!


this is 'choke', from noro silk garden - very easy to kniw, the dragon scale stitch definition isnt brilliant but its ok - had to do a bit of jiggling about with the noro, as i love the pinks \& purples but LOATHE the orangey browns, so joined at the back neck to hide those colours
i think this will be heading to work with me tomorrow

work
yuk
where did the holiday go??



FINISHED! twilight mitts of heavenly goodness, i love these - one or two stitches in the wrong places but i love them to bits




and finally - if i knit myself a tank top (to wear over a black shirt, i can picture it in my head) would i end up looking like father dougal??

spring, almost

ok, so the piccies on here have loaded themselves back to front - not literally, but as in this should have been the last one - never mind

i know better than to try and move them about anymore, that way madness lies ...

this is a little cuff i made a while ago, mrs beetons (ravelry) - ridiculously easy to make, very fast - pretty ridiculous on too, but i love them - totally silly and a bit of frippery (great peeking out from a long sleeved black top)



playing about with my camera - i still dont know what the hell is meant to do what - i tend to experiement and scribble notes down if a certain setting seems to work - i quite liked these ones of a lamp in my living room

i will invest in a better camera at some point, and lessons - thats the biggy, this camera is lovely but i know i dont even begin to make the most of it out of sheer ignorance
i would book onto some nightclass now, but this silly chronic fatigue / ME thingy knocks that for six, a nightclass would kill me just at the moment

talking of which, i feel a kip on the settee coming on ...

ah, this is more like what was meant to follow the title - my garden is tiny

not one of those tardis type gardens that are always in 'container gardening for small gardens' books, that are usually the size of 17 of mine put together, with decking and seating and a pond and a pergola and enough grass to keep 5 gardeners in business

no, my garden is TINY, no grass, just 2 squares outside the house (and as its a back to back terraced house, thats it, no other garden space at all)

my old garden was heaps bigger, 3 sides to it, lovely, and backed onto open land and old trees - but this little space keeps me sane in the summer, i spend a hell of a lot of time sitting out in it

i tidied all of my many pots the other day (its mild, dark, cloudy and wet but mild, its a start), and loved seeing how many bulbs are poking their way through - daffs, tulips, bluebells and goodness knows what else i shoved in there last year

last summer everything looked gorgeous, very cheap bulbs mainly, from good old wilko, so i bought loads more and shoved those in too

i need to find a good online plant supplier, and to get to a garden centre again - i miss having one really handy, its 2 bus rides to get to a homebase, and much much further to get to somewhere bigger like b&q

being a teenager in a small country market town was dull as can be, but being able to get to all the shops easily was a huge bonus!

ah well

last remaining pansy that survived the snow and ice - i love you

holidays

a time of rest and play ... sleep, knit, read - and repeat, heavenly
half term, one week off for good behaviour, although i am in work tomorrow for the day to do some 'very important' (actually it is, very) paperwork - apart from that, meeting friends, knitting, meeting friends AND knitting, having lunch, roaming book shops, looking at things for knitty swaps, looking at things for spinning swaps, seeing my mum, and dying my hair - perfect week off, all being well

the above picture is one of my latest 'must knit's, but in as dark a grey or black as possible and without the collar
i think with a black long sleeve top and a quirky skirt & boots it could be quite nice

for some reason i am reminiscing about this lovely book a lot lately - my mum rang me the other week after reading some article where the writer had mentioned this book and how much he loved it as a boy - i had 2 that i can remember, and loved them - pookie, a little bunny with wings - i had a pookie teddy at some point, with chubby legs dressed in blue trousers, i cant remember him having wings though, maybe i chewed them off
tis perfectly possible
but once you start down memory lane its never ending - i was a happy happy child, and there are so many wonderful memories, mainly around my nan and gag, my much loved and missed grandparents
happy days

ah pookie, where are you



this - sylvi - has gone in the bin
was never 100% sure that i would actually wear something chunky and bright pink, and should have stuck to me instincts, and at the least knit it in charcoal
or ignored it
small people who aint sylphlike shouldnt bloody bother with chunky cables

i loved knitting it, and blocked the back yesterday / over night - it was so small i had to stretch the hell out of it and soak it and stretch it some more, so when i took it off the pins it looked like lace, not nice ... so rather than keep trying i have binned it
if i ever go back to it, it will be with different wook in a better, as in more 'me', colour

meantime, theres a gorgeous, long, flarey cabled coat in inspired to knit, so i am ordering than from amazon and will give that one a go
in charcoal
not pink




and finally - did these at work with the kids before christmas, and i like them now they are up on display - took me all afternoon to put this little lot up, and i suspect one or two will have tumbled over the hols - i forgot to add the mountain of blutack i had planned to sneak under the canvas
oops

i loved covering such a big board with bubblegum pink, it refelcted across the corridor - am adding some to a display in my own room next, to annoy the lads ;-)

catching up - and wrapping up

just another thing i have made recently - i m atking part in the knit a sweater a month group on ravelry, this was my first one - i really like it! so far i have not worn it, it needs blocking again as its a tiny bit tight across the back - plus its been too cold for a little cropped cardi!

(its the gothic lace pattern, on ravelry - free)

i am currently working on sylvi (the big pink cabled jacket on the previous post), and a cropped dusty pink cardi (yes, another unsuitable - for - winter item), haight from the most recent norah gaughan booklet


playing with my camera this morning - we were supposed to be going on a training day, a morning of phone calls - when we finally tried to set off, first the taxi couldnt get to my road, never mind my house (and i certainly dont live in the middle of a field!), then we had a pretty scary drive before my boss rang and told us to go home

so i had a day off, which was lovely - but ironically all the work i could have done with catching up on - is on my table at work

so playing with my camera, trying to get a really sharp close up of my tulips


i love both piccies, but they are not as sharp as i would have liked - trial and error - i have no idea what i am meant to do with all the settings, and simply point, fiddle, and click ....

my house, turn to the left .... (the red brick wall in the foreground is mine) ...

... and turn to the right - at about 10am this morning

we dont tend to get snow like this very often, it came down in huge flakes all morning, and on & off this afternoon - i hate the snow, but this took me right back to being a little girl again, real old fashioned snow - i bet a lot of young children had a great time in it today!

lots more due this afternoon and overnight, no idea if we will all make it into work tomorrow - its a pretty long journey for some of us, and all our kids are taxied in

(a day at home again will be very welcome, but a tad frustrating when i have so much to do at work!)

keep warm all x

long time no see .....

it has been a very long time since I wrote on here - not that anyone will have noticed of course, but hey, I am back, sort of ...

A mixture of illness (ME / chronic fatigue), doing zilch in my 'free' time so that I can manage to keep working - and work being barking fooking mad (chairs & tables being thrown sort of mad), plus lethargy plus reading like a mad woman = very little time to blog on here.

BUT in the meantime - spinning, knitting up a storm, reading constantly and finially managing to gather the impetus to sit and WRITE (1,343 words of utter shite = the best selling novel that will make my fortune and enable me to buy that elusive little home by the sea with NO neighbours)... dream on.
But yes, I have written a bit, utter rubbish but it is a start.

And this is some of my ongoing knitting from recent weeks / days : sylvi, which I love but am taking a break from after finishing the back, was sick of the sight of the blessed thing.

the wool was from fleabay, discontinued, ridiculously cheap, and its lovely, really nice to knit with - both sleeves are done, and the back minus the flowers, and i have started a front before boredom set in.

I spun this scarf, the first amount I have managed to spin that could be used for soemthing to actually wear, it is plied with silver thread and silver beads, and I really like it - it's having its first outing tomorrow.

I can't remember what roving it was, but I THINK it might have been swaledale, I will have to check on my ravelry pages.

Whatever it was, I liked spinning it and managed to keep it fairly fine most of the time, definitely a huge improvement on my previous motley efforts.

And finally, the baby herself - my beautiful wheel ...