A New Year

Happy New Year! Can't quite believe it's the end of January already. But I always find Jan & Feb fly by and to be honest, I'm rather glad. Cold, wet gloomy weather really doesn't do it for me funnily enough! Roll on spring please...........

To prove I've been knitting here are my last 2 FO's of 2007 which brings a grand total of 26 . Substantially down from previous years but never mind. I've given up knitting anything that requires reading a pattern so that really leaves just plain socks. But combined with STR yarn they are the perfect project for me right now. The gorgeous STR colours keep my interest and I don't have to (mis)read a pattern and so don't make any mistakes. Good news all round ;)

The scarf is gorgeous and is the Purl Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. A fab stashbusting pattern too and would also make a lovely gift :)

The final FO are my Cherry Tree Hill Louet Gems socks which really seemed to take forever. I kinda went off the yarn a little when knitting the second sock, something that doesn't happen with STR!

Check out the gorgeous Blue Moon sock blockers sent from the lovely Madge. Aren't they just beautiful? And they arrived in the most perfect packing too! How cool is that!

We had animal shennanigans again just before Christmas when Roo and Chilli had an 'encounter' resulting in more being bitten off from Chilli's paw. Yes, it was the same paw Roo bit off again! So another vet visit and 21 days of antibiotics ensued. He seems to be ok now though not sure either of them have learnt their lesson.

Thunder has been super cuddly and generally pretty good apart from his new trick of jumping onto my laptop - when I'm using it! He's not a small rabbit and has taken a couple of keys out. Luckily I put them back ok. To make it worse, Chilli and Roo have decided this is a also a wonderful game and do the same. Luckily they don't weight much but really, come on guys!

The last STR kit of 2007 took4 weeks to arrive (cheers UK post!) as they got caught up in the xmas post. Though I have to say I love the kit and have loved being part of it. Pre illness I'd already decided I would rejoin but after becoming ill and leaving work started to wonder if I would rejoin. Money issues and the fact that I can't read patterns anymore (correct that, I can read them, just can't follow them correctly anymore) made me think it might be better to leave it. But I couldn't bring myself to let Blue Moon know and ummed and aahed about it for 5 days till me & DH had a discussion and agreed part would be Valentines pressie and the rest from birthday money. So I rejoined and once I'd done it felt so pleased and actually rather relieved. So I'm in the 2008 club and the first kit should be arriving any day soon ;)

Here is my current WIP that is keeping me happy. Gorgeous STR socks in Jailhouse Rock. I can't get over the colours in the yarn and how different it all looks knitting up compared to in the skein. You can never see all the amazing colours till you start knitting with it. I've made good progress too and am now on the 2nd sock.
I ordered the extra Harmony sets as soon as they were in stock at Get Knitted and how have the complete set. I love em. But I am on a cutting down splurge. I've cancelled 2 of my knitting subs already and may do another 2. I'm also planning on selling some more yarn on Ebay that I know I'm unlikely to use. After hearing about various yarn diets I've decided to record all the yarn and yarn related stuff I buy this year. I don't think I got that much last year but reckon if I added it all up I'd be quite surprised. I'm not on a yarn diet, oh no, but more of a 'only get it if you really need it' type of thing.

So obviously buying a pack of 10 balls of my much-loved Rowan Calmer for £24 is perfectly fine. It's the only yarn I've bought this year and was reduced from £65 to £30 and then an extra 10% off. I try and steer clear off sale yarn these days unless its a couple of balls or so. But this is Calmer, and there is always an exception with this gorgeous yarn ;)

Healthwise there have been quite a few things going on. Asthma is under control though I'm still on a high steroid dosage. Virus and tiredness has improved so that I'm not spending half my life (or more) in bed. My homeopath recommended a light box and that has helped my excessive sleeping. She was pleased with my progress and I had some more medication sent to me. My lovely GP has now left the surgery and I saw another one in a very long session. We went through everything but she wasn't happy with my current antidepressant dosage which had been reduced a month ago as I'd lost a lot of weight due to them making me nauseus. Which was quite a surprise as I thought I was actually doing ok. But thinking about it she is right, I have been getting more and more upset for longer. So I'm back on the higher dosage and hoping no more weight loss occurs. Or nausea as I'll then have to change meds and I'd really really rather not go through all the side effects again.

It's kind of funny that after Christmas most people are thinking about dieting but I actually have to put on a stone in weight, which isn't actually all that easy. It would be nice not to be called skeletor by DH really but I can understand, bones that stick out are really not that attractive (or comfortable either).

It's the new knitting season very shortly and I'm hoping my Rowan mag arrives quickly and gets my creative juices flowing. Even if it doesn't, you can't have enough socks can you lol?

Here is the gorgeous Evolution bought at the Knitting & Stitch Show from Jo for part of my xmas pressie. Lush isn't it? And the other 2 yarns I got for xmas are from The Natural Dye Studio and some more Tait & Style.

I'll leave you with a cute iPhone Cozy I made to keep my lovely new iPhone snug and warm. Yay - my first FO of the year. The iPhone was my BIG christmas present from DH and I absolutely love it ;)