Monday, September 26, 2005

End of Holidays



Well we're back from our holiday in St. Ives and as usual it was fabulous. This is the view we had from our apartment. Gorgeous isn't it? We didn't see any rain while we there and had lots of sunshine so were really pleased with the weather. We visited Penzance and the lovely Knit Wits shop were I met Julie, the lovely owner of the shop. I bought some Sari Silk to make a bag as well as some bamboo handles. I also just had to buy the Petticoat sock yarn and the Apaca in rose just spoke to me ever so quietly saying wouldn't she make the most luxurious, warm and comfy slipper socks. If only I could make socks quick enough to keep up with the amount of sock yarn I buy.....



For the first time I also bought some yarn in St. Ives itself. Only a couple of balls of Adriafil for a small scarf that will go lovely with a jacket I have. We popped into Iriss in Penzance while we were there and DH bought me some locally produced hand-dyed yarn for yep, even more socks!

I will get round to pressing & finishing my ever growing pile of FOs as soon as I get through some of the huge pile of washing I have. Seeing as we only went for a week the amount of washing to be done is unbelievable.



All my babies are well and happy though obviously missed us, especially Thunder. And to be honest, I missed him dreadfully and was just so excited on the way home. He's grown a little and is still the adorable and friendly but cheeky little devil he was. He has also realised that the sofa and my lap are for his personal use as and when he feels like it. He really is one cool rabbit. He's giving his dad a well needed wash in the pic. DH had just got home from work and Thunder just loves washing him.

So for this year our vacations are all done now and it won't be till next year that we'll enjoy the luxury of eating out every night at restaurants. You didn't think we'd eat in now did you? Oh no, walking and shopping each day, restaurants each night followed by a bit of fun in the arcades and maybe a quick drink in the pub. No wonder we do it every year. And my DH gets to eat as much ice cream as he wants. Which is a lot, believe me.



Knitting wise I finished the back of Lizzy from Naturally Noro. Shinano is just gorgeous to knit with and I wish it hadn't been discontinued. Never mind though, I've got more than enough to be going on with that's for sure.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

I Love Thunder





It's our wedding anniversary this Saturday and we're off to St Ives, Cornwall for a week and we can't wait. We go at least once each year and absolutely love it. My DH has bought me Ribbon Twist in Rascal to make the gorgeous Beth. She reminds me of the fleeces I wear and will make a very welcome addition to the family. and I can use my lovely 12mm Brittany needles on her too.

We have another reason to celebrate too. We have a new baby bunny rabbit called Thunder. He is the cutest, most friendliest rabbit I've ever seen and is definitely the best rabbit in the world. We weren't exactly planning on getting a rabbit just yet, but Thunder chose me you see. It really wasn't my fault. Honest. I was just saying hello to all the animals in our local garden & leisure centre which is quite a regular occurence, when Thunder immediately came over to me and jumped up wanting to be stroked and cuddled and asking to be picked up. Well, it was love at first sight and that as they say, was that.

He's settled in really well and is happy for anyone to cuddle him and stroke him and everyone is amazed at how friendly he is. Of course I shall miss him when we're away but he'll be looked after well by our local PetPals man who will be taking care of all our brood.

So you know why I've been rather behind on my blog and keeping up to date with everyone elses. Playing with Thunder is far more exciting!



My lovely Lopi yarn arrived from Wollywood in Germany last Thursday by courier and is gorgeous. Am very pleased. And would you believe it - they sent me the Lana Grossa booklet that I hunted high and low for free of charge! After all that, if I'd have waited I could of got my brochure without having to order it in the first place. Isn't it always the way?

Once I'm back from our holidays I should have some pics of FOs ready. I've currently got 4 projects waiting for either the last few rows to be done, sewn up or pressed. Unlikely I'll get it all done before we go, I haven't even started packing yet!

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Somerset Sock


The lovely Somerset sock has been completed. She is lovely. Her mate will be started shortly. I don't believe in SSS. I want a matching pair. Preferably right now please.

It was love at first sight as soon as I saw this Felted Lopi Tote. I just had to have the yarn for it. No substitute would do. I wanted furry lopi yarn. Oh boy did that turn into a challenge. I don't know why it's so difficult to get some yarn made in Iceland. Plenty of places in the US sell it - but isn't it kind of ridiculous to order Icelandic Lopi from the US! I eventually found some on a German site that has a partial English translation and managed to place my order no trouble. They sent me a confirmation email following day saying it had been shipped. Yippee! Will let you know some more next time.




I said I'd do an update on my order from the German site Rikes Wollmaus which as you can see, has now arrived. It came on Friday special delivery, which is pretty good seeing as it went out Sunday and of course we had a Bank Holiday on Monday. I was really pleased with my goodies and they even put in a little packet of sweeties. DH appreciated those. The pattern for the Lana Grossa cardigan I love should be fairly easy to sub, as Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky has exact the same tension as the main yarn used, so I'll probably use that in different colours all the way through. Yarndex.com had proved to be an absolute godsend with finding alternative yarns. Especially as you need to find out the recommended tension for a yarn rather than what's used for a particular pattern. I'm a huge huge Yarndex fan. It is just the most amazingly useful website.

I gave up on the Ballet T-Shirt from Loop-d-Loop. Tried subbing 2 yarns but wasn't happy. Also think the pattern might just be a bit too chunky for me as a summer top. This yarn subbing thing is a real pain unless you can get a yarn with the exact tension match to start with. Does rather put me off a bit I have to admit...... I mean, who wants to knit tension squares when you could be knitting a new cardigan or bag?