I'm A Sexy Knitter ;)

When I spotted the link for the Sexy Knitters Club from Annarella's blog I knew this was the club for me. I just love making sexy knits - all those cute halters and curve hugging knits..... oh yes, just perfect! Perhaps this will be the push I need to finish the crochet edging on that cute vest top thats sitting waiting patiently ;)



Though I haven't mentioned it for a while Kitsch hasn't been forgotten and I'm now working on the sleeves. The back shoulder seams were reworked and the three needle bind off worked perfectly! Oh I was happy and it looked so much better. Should be finished about the right time weather wise. Is still hot here in the UK but no doubt will ease off in a few weeks and Kitsch will be the perfect cover up. DH asked if she'll be coming to St Ives in September with us. Maybe......see how the weather is by then.

I'm really quite desparate to get an FO or two done by the end of August. I feel like I haven't done one for a bit and it would be nice to start the new season all fresh with maybe just a couple of WIPs hanging around. WIPs become FOs once the knitting part is done as I don't count the finishing part (which includes crochet)! It's all part of finishing isn't it?

The Curious Yarns bleeding dye saga has finally ended after waiting 2 weeks for the replacement yarn to arrive. It wasn't posted out when promised - the postmark gave that away and I was really quite disappointed. Seeing it was a gift and I'd had problems with the dye, I would have at least expected it to be shipped when promised. Oh well, we live and learn. Think I spoke too soon about the great customer service didn't I?



And to make matters worse I'm not that impressed with the colour of the replacement yarn. Its supposed to be Ocean, green/greys/blue. But where is the blue? None in my skein......ho hum. Not the best of experiences and I totally regret all the time and effort I spent trying to fix the bleeding yarn too. The owners suggestion didn't work and now I have half a ball of totally faded yarn, and another half a ball of a different colour. Right now I don't even want to look at the dratted yarn. Thought at least I did eventually get a replacement.....

As you might have noticed I've been doing a bit of work on my blog and now have a list of my 2006 FOs so far as well as all my 2005 FOs with links to pictures. I'll update the pictures as I go, if I get a nicer one or me wearing the garment, then I'll replace it. A few pre 2005 knits might appear too, if they're extra special. See how it goes.

I found I had quite a few FOs that had never had pictures taken of them for various reasons. So as I need to upload them anyway thought I'd add them here too with a wee description. So here we go.



1. Regia 6 Ply Bonbon Bed Socks - how did I miss these out?
2. Jerez Celeste Halterneck Top - I always take this away on holiday. Its superlight and doesn't crease and unlike most cottons, is very cool indeed.
3. Pop Cotton Braid Bag - quite a useless bag really but just perfect for putting my wet underwater digital camera in to dry off. Always comes on holidays too.
4. Cotton Braid Bra Top - never worn. What was I thinking - that bra will not contain my boobs!
5. Souk Cotton Rope bandeau top - I had to add a haltertie to stop it falling down! But its now acquired a sun stain that I can't get out....
6. Chunky Print legwarmers - very handy in winter to keep my ankles and feet warm at home and much used, to my surprise ;)



Well look at Custard! He looks an absolute devil doesn't he. We can't quite believe how old he is. He's 2 years and 4 months old and still going strong. He comes out every day into his tunnel maze and stuffs his face silly with organic pumpkin and sunflower seeds - as you can see! It must be the seeds, none of my other hamsters lived past 18 months, and Custard is now 28 months. Wow, a super amazing hamster for sure ;)

Sadness

This week hasn't been a good one. It started with the news that a lovely friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Truly awful news. So everything thats gone on since has been tinged with sadness. My dear friend is a knitter and regularly reads my blog and as this is such a personal issue I won't say any more. Except to remind everyone to never ever miss a mammogram check as this is how it was found.

Knowing how generous knitters are I'm sure you'll join me in sending her your healing thoughts and many, many hugs.



If ever there was a bright and cheery yarn to try and lift the spirits this is it. I was lucky enough to win an auction on Ebay for this beautiful Noro Iro yarn which I've coveted for a while. I got it for an amazingly cheap price, just over £21!!! And that is including postage ;)

Straight away I kind of thought I'd really like another lot of 5 skeins to make a zipped jacket I'd seen in one of Jane Ellison's books so I got up early one morning to make sure I won another lot, as this was one of the two final lots! And can you believe someone had the cheek to bid against me. Unbelievable. Anyway I ended up getting it £27 including postage so still a very good bargain indeed. Hopefully it will arrive soon.

The bleeding sock yarn saga continues. The vinegar solution didn't work on its own and after rinsing, and more rinsing got rather fed up and then quite cross when I got blue hands :(



However, after getting some further advice from very helpful knitter I tried heat setting in a microwave. The results were definitely better and a lot less dye came out when I rinsed and washed. The yarn is still in the sun so will get a knit test soon no doubt. I'm not sure you can tell from the photo but one half is much lighter than the other. Darn!

Unfortunately, the promised replacement yarn has not arrived. It was sent out over a week ago 1st class post but never arrived which has been most disappointing:( Another should be on its way to me shortly though.

The thought of the new autumn/winter season starting next month has got me a little excited though and stopped me fretting too much over my missing yarn. The Rowan mag will be out on the 1st August as will the new brochures and new yarns. I saw a couple of previews in a mag.......and yesterday saw a preview of the new Jane Ellison Noro book which excited me even more. So looks like lots to look forward to. Good.

I even remember seeing an ad for a totally new yarn range, Sublime. Don't know any more than that, apart from it says 'natural yarns'. Oh yes, music to my ears ;)



I picked up this foldaway garment dryer thingy in the John Lewis clearance sale for £5 and very handy it is. Each week I've been washing a knitted garment for the last few weeks, in readyness for the new season and the sad end of summer. But best to wash it all now as don't woollens take forever dry when its cold? Aren't I organised ;)



I have managed to finish something, event though its only a sock. Its Opal Petticoat and looks lovely on. Interestly it looks a bit boring on its own, but is so much nicer when worn. I was just trying it on after grafting when dear Thunder bombed over and crashed on my feet for snugs. He obviously approves ;)

Those that have read by blog for a while will now I suffer from a lot of intolerances and allergies. Add that to the fact I'm a veggie it makes life shall we say, rather interesting......so I was very cross indeed when I suffered an allergic reaction last night to fried tomatoes. I won't go into details but having a burning tongue and blisters all over it is extremely painful. It is also most difficult to try and sleep with your tongue hanging out. Which I needed to do as it was too sore to leave in my mouth.

So no surprise that a visit to the doctors today was necessary and I'm being referred to an allergy clinic. So that just about sums up how the week ended. Oh and did I mention my DH came home today with a great gash in his hand. Roll on next week....purrrlease.

Time for a change

As I've been blogging for over a year now I thought a little change of template and tidy up was needed. Bright isn't she? Don't you just love that font.....

Knitting wise everything has been fairly quiet. I've made good progress on my Log Cabin Blanket which is not far off half finished. Yes, this is definitely destined to be my first completed blanket. I can't wait!

My little sock break has finished as the lovely Splash colourway from Curious Yarns just begged to be started. And it would have been rude to refuse right? It started wonderfully, lovely yarn and gorgeous colours......till I noticed my fingertips were changing colour! Yep, they were going blue and as it wasn't mid winter you couldn't blame it on the cold. I stupidly carried on the next day before doing any investigating. By then I was rather suspicious that my beloved Inox bamboo needles were starting to change colour too. Darn & drat.

So I stopped the sock and emailed Curious Yarns and the next day received a lovely reply offering to replace the skein with another from the current range or even dye my another skein as my shade was now discontinued. Wow - how is that for great customer service. And I got to keep the skein with the suggestion of soaking it in a vinegar solution then leaving in the sun for a few days.



Jury is still out on whether that will help or not. I tried the vinegar solution as you can see but when washing it out in warm/hot water the water quickly turned a lovely aqua shade. But I washed it as best I could and now its drying in the sun. Worth a try though eh?



Look what arrived from Ebay. Yup, more sock yarn ;) this time though its some Regia Bamboo in the pretty Papillon colourway. It was quite a good bargain as its in odd weights and unballed but I've wanted to try it as soon as it came out so here's my chance. Reviews I've heard so far are all good, soft and silky, though not as stretchy as usual wool sock yarns so probably an idea to make a size larger as I usually like 10% negative ease. Don't want our sock to be too small now do we?

I promise I haven't forgotten about my holiday pics and I am working on them. I don't think even 2 posts will cover them though.....there are just so many!

I'll leave you with some pics of my footwarmer, aka Thunder. He just loves to sit under our feet or inbetween them and will spend hours happily sitting there in the evenings whilst I knit and DH watches TV. Can you believe Thunder is almost 1! I didn't realised myself till the other day, but its his first birthday on Sunday. Wow I can't believe how quickly the time has gone...



So happy 1st birthday Thunder! Just check out his legs - this is one cool relaxed bunny ;)

Finally A Blanket Is Due

Remember I mentioned the trouble I had with the short row shoulder shaping on Kitsch last post? Well now I know why I couldn't do it! It only dawned on me as I was finishing the front that I had a lot less stitches left on my needle than I had for the back shoulder. DUH! Yep, I'd been trying to shape the back neck along with the shoulder. No wonder it wouldn't work out right. I was really pleased when I realised though, as now it should be nice and easy to short row. YAY!

Following last weeks visit to the vet poor Thunder was eventually cajoled out of hiding after several hours. Well, when I say cajoled I mean I had to rescue him from his hiding place as he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for ages. He was not going to come out on his own even though I'd been stroking him and trying to comfort him. So I had to 'remove' him and snuggled him real close which usually he lets me do for about a minute till he's off for some investigations. This time of course he let me hold him for quite a while longer.....poor thing.....but eventually had had enough and went and laid in his litter tray which also doubles as his chaise-longe. He looked so miserable and dejected still so we sat next to him and took it in turns to stroke and comfort him. Several hours later, he finally came out of his litter box and had some food and wandered round. And slowly he got back to his usual bouncy self. By the next morning he was totally back to normal and all was forgotten. Thank goodness! Boy that was worrying.....I'd never have dreamt he'd have reacted so badly. Poor baby.



I am so pleased that I've finally found a pattern for a blanket that I really like, no, to be correct, I LOVE IT! Yep, that fab Mason-Dixon Knitting book has worked its magic and while I was looking through spied the Log Cabin Blanket and had a sudden urge to dig out the current blanket WIP and frog it (yet again.....) and cast on. And would you believe it, I'm still working on it which is a major accomplishment I can tell you. Its so easy to pick up and the most headache free pattern I've come across.

Which has been really necessary this week as I've had headaches daily, as well as very bad asthma. No doubt its all to do with our heatwave and will no double settle down soon. It even involved a trip to the docs which I try to avoid if at all possible, but my meds are upped and my asthma is improving so thats good.

I reckon the Log Cabin Blanket would be superb as a stashbuster, especially for those sock knitters amongst us......I'd probably double the 4 ply sock yarn and add some leftover DKs as well. I wonder if I'm going to get addicted to the pattern.....

So meanwhile Kitsch is having a rest till the headaches are gone and I'm just working on my blanket which is so soothing. Doc did offer me tablets for headaches but I declined....take enough stuff for hayfever and asthma as it is.



I went ahead and ordered my beloved Bagsmith Project Bag which is a huge success. I've never bought a project bag before, maybe because I've never seen one I've fallen instantly in love with. But this one, oh yes, this one is good. Very, very good. Its happily replaced my rattan storage box and within 5 mins of arriving looked like this....I love the fact it stores balls of yarn! It is truly fabulous. And no doubt will replace other little small storage bags and boxes that holds odds and ends. Oh, and did I mention the other side has a plastic compartment for the pattern ;)



And lastly, a pic of me wearing Shingle in Rowan Cotton Tape which I finished the end of last summer, unfortunately too late to be able to wear it last year. I won't be making that mistake again this year :)