Finished article

Tubey


Hmmmm. What to start next? Still knitting Tiger Feet, which i could do with finishing before next weekend (plus some mittens with remaining yarn) as we're off to see the Tiggers next weekend in the semi finals of the Powergen Cup in Cardiff.

I'm toying with a big fluffy jumper in blue, but not sure yet.

hot lava cardigan

For the benefit of Andie who is contemplating making one.

This is the "Hot Lava Cardigan" from the Blue Alvarez site (see link in sidebar under shopping.)

I knitted this a couple of years ago (or was it only last year? From the condition of the spare room I'd say last year). In fact it was the project that got me back into knitting again.

Blimey look at that, then I had no hair and a waist, now I have no waist but I do have hair.

Sigh!

Secret Pal Parcel

Got in from work on Monday evening to find that the postman had been. Unfortunately he'd then gone away again, taking my parcel with him and leaving me a card saying that it was waiting for me at the sorting office!

As by the time the sorting office opened I was at Michaelwood services (southbound) just north of Bristol, and I didn't get back on Wednesday until after they had shut I had to wait until after work on Thursday to pick it up.

I'm not good at waiting for stuff, I don't do patience very well.

BUT it was worth waiting for. Luckily I car share and on Thursday I get a lift in to work so I was able to open the parcel STRAIGHT AWAY without waiting till I got home.

Ooooh, stuff!

These heart shaped wooden buttons (Don't look Ro*). They are well cute.

Three skeins of Rowanspun Chunky, two green and one sort of oatmealy colour (not as pink as in the picture). They go beautifully together so all I need now is a plan for what to make from it. Once again any suggestions gratefully considered.

ALSO a keyring in the shape of a wheel. I like that a lot, reference to my career as a driver. I was even more impressed when I realised that it was an alarm clock too. Useful n'est pas?

ALSO some scrummy looking Aloe hand and body lotion. Just right for a spot of post run pampering. I tend to get a bit scabby and dehydrated when driving, that salt they put on the roads is manky and it gets all over you when you open and close the curtains on the truck. I usually get back looking like a particularly grubby refugee.

Last, but by no means least a set of five Addi bamboo DPNs with two rather startled looking teddies as point protectors (well you would look like that too under the circumstances I suspect!) and a card saying "hello". Those Addis are fantastic, I've knitted with bamboos (Clapotis), but they were cheapo ones that came free with Simply Knitting, these are just so smoooooooth, they are lovely. Can't wait to try them out.

Another winner from my secret pal.
Thank you sooooo much!


* Ro has a bit of a phobia about buttons, strange but true. She's okay with them on garments but en masse they make her go gleppy! I'm not sure if three constitute en masse but thought I'd better post a health warning.

just a quickie

and no pictures.

I'm very tired tonight. I don't know why I've stopped sleeping the night before I drive. When I first started the run down to Bristol I didn't sleep well 'cos I was anxious about it, then I started to get to know what I was doing and getting used to it and I'd go to bed about eight or nine o'clock and wake up at 2-00am, so I'd have about five hours sleep. Now I'm still going to bed at that time but I'm either not getting off, or I go to sleep for about an hour and then wake up again. Once I'm awake I just think about what I'll be doing the following day, not in a worrying sort of way but just running things through in my mind and planning it. "If I can get the drops in Bristol done by three pm I'll have time to drive up and do the one in Boughton, maybe pick up the pallets from Cheltenham, or do the drop in Chipping Camden on the first day too, that'll leave me less to do on day two and I can get back earlier." That kind of stuff. It's crazy 'cos whatever I plan the night before it's all dependent on what happens when I'm out; traffic conditions etc.

Tuesday night I always sleep well, I wake up a few times but have no problem getting back off 'cos I'm always so knackered, and when the alarm goes off at between five and six a.m. depending on where I've parked up, I never want to get out of bed.

Wednesday I'm back in my own bed and pretty tired again and you'd think I'd sleep okay, but I quite often wake up early; quarter to four this morning, and then have trouble going back to sleep. Finally drop off about sixish only for my alarm to go off at seven. It's a bit of a pain and I'm not sure what's the best thing to do about it. Having said that I seem to be better at driving tired than I was and don't seem to get that awful falling asleep feeling the last hour or so of the drive down. Window open and singing at the top of my voice seems to be the way to combat that one.

Hope I haven't worried anyone too much posting this, in actual fact I'm far safer than I make it sound. I'm just very tired NOW.

Perhaps I'd better get to bed, so night to you all!

Oh bye the way Tiger feet progressing and even the Tubey's started up again.

Socks, socks, socks

Completed Jaywalkers, I'm very pleased with them. they feel like a pair of little hugs on my feet. It looks as if there's a hole on the instep of the right one, but it's just a particularly YELLOW bit of yarn. I have discovered that the best way to take pictures of socks in artificial light is to lie on your back on the settee and wave your feet in the air, thus the odd composition (it also makes your ankles look thinner). The colour hasn't come out too well as I had to use the flash.
This is a great pattern, it's easy to knit but not too boring and the finished effect is good. There's a bit of a funny bit where the rib stops and the pattern starts, sort of sticky outy, but I can live with that.
All round jolly pleased, in fact I've bought some more of the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in another colour (Fall Foliage) as I found it so nice to knit with. I have a couple of patterns in mind for it Crusoe from the Spring '03 issue of Knitty and I like Pomatomus from the latest issue, but think it needs to be done in a greeny bluey colour so am on the lookout for that. Quite fancy doing another pair of Jaywalkers too, maybe as a present?

Once I'd finished those I immediately cast on these:-
They're my Tiger feet.

I'm using the basic pattern that comes with the Opal yarn. Was considering another pair of Jaywalkers, but I didn't want anything to detract from the Tiger Stripeyness of the knitted up yarn.

In addition to this I am HONESTLY going to restart my Tubey this afternoon whilst the rugby is on the box. (Well I may pick up the stitches before the kick off as I need to concentrate for that bit!).I've decided that Tubey is a home knit and that socks are a knitting whilst out and about knit.

I noticed last night that it says on the bottom of the basic sock pattern:

"WARNING Sock Knitting is highly addictive"

They're not kidding are they?????

Bugger Blogger!!!!!!!

I just created a post about my knitting progress and publish it, only to find that I've accidentally posted it on the Tubey KAL blog, not my own blog, and it's all about socks and not about Tubey!!!!!!!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

So I start again, I manage to copy the text so I don't have to type it out again (couldn't remember what I said anyway probably) and download the photos again. After THREE attempts where I'm told that the photos have downloaded only to discover they haven't, and having my connection time out to boot, I've given up.

The status of my knitting will have to remain a mystery to you all (I can hear the groans of disappointment).

Sorry folks, later!

Knit 'n natter

Okay yeah I prefer Stitch an' Bitch, but it was my first time so I didn't like to throw my weight about re. the name of the group.

Just attended my first meeting in Cafe Ollo at the Media Centre in Huddersfield and it was cool to meet a load of new people who want to knit too!!! I spread the word regarding the importance of a computer as a knitting tool, passing on information about Knitty and Magknits, blogs and on-line S.E.X. (Yep, down another £35 on the Getknitted site last night. SHAME!)

My Cherry Tree Hill supersock was almost universally admired and I nearly lost my completed Jaywalker to a fellow knitter who wanted to take it home with her! Grrrrr!

We even had a guest speaker from Dyed In The Wool, a (you'll never guess) wool dying company which lives here in Huddersfield.

So I'll probably go along again next month (every second Thursday in the month, for anyone out there who's interested).

Why don't we have yarn shops ....

.....like this in Britain???

Not fair!

Though I suppose if we did I'd just spend even MORE money!




and now for your amusement and delectation my number 1. finished Jaywalker


Have cast on the second last night just before bed time, but this morning I've been very good and kept off the knitting. Have been decorating my spare bedroom (only nine months since I started this). Walls finished now ready to start on the woodwork BUT have to cook lunch and then it'll be a knitting and watching the six nations afternoon. Woodwork will have to wait until next weekend. Hey, it's waited this long, it can wait a bit longer. At least I'm over that "oh god I should be decorating.............. perhaps next week!" and have actually got started again.

Jaywalkers

I think I'm in love!

I am enjoying knitting these so much, dunno if it's the pattern; which is simple enough to remember without recourse to the instructions all the time, but interesting enough not to be just DULL; or if it's the yarn, which seemed a bit strange and sort of stringy and tightly twisted when I first felt it but is actually really lovely to knit with.

I started them last weekend and didn't take them away with me but picked them up again when I got back on Wednesday after I finished the "Freezing Toes" socks. Have had trouble putting them down since then.

It's so nice to get a project that is an absolute joy to be knitting.

oops forgot the credit (though I'm sure you all know already) Jaywalkers by Grumperina published in last October's Magknits. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock bought in the sale at Get Knitted.

Oh and while we're on the subject of Magknits poor Kerrie put up a post about how much flack she takes from people complaining about the site. Apparently from about sixty emails she got when the latest edition went up TWO were compliments and the rest were complaints about the patterns which people didn't like, the fact that the balance of patterns was wrong, too much advertising etc.

COME ON PEOPLE GET REAL

this is a free magazine, the advertising is necessary to PAY for it! Doh!
We don't all want to knit the same things, some you'll like, some you won't. Live with it!
Kerrie puts in an enormous ammount of work in her own time to get this organised and out to the knitting public and she deserves our support (the same goes for the Knitty team I would imagine).

Lets give some positive feedback.

Okay, rant over!

Meme

Thought I'd do this meme, it's all useful stuff for my secret pal.

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life
1. Waitress in a bingo hall
2. HGV driver
3. Bookshop assistant
4. Housing officer

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over -
1. Fargo
2. Guys and Dolls
3. Singin in the rain
4. Arsenic & Old Lace

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch
I may have to change this to four radio programmes that I love to listen to
1. Test match special
2. The NOW Show
3. The Today Programme (even if it does leave me wanting to chuck the radio out of the window!)
4. The food programme (in the days when it was presented by Derek Cooper)

Four Places You Have Lived
1. Clifton-Upon-Dunsmore
2. Sunderland
3. Nottingham
4. Huddersfield

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation
1. Gower Peninsula
2. The Island of Mull
3. Paris
4. Dublin

Four Websites You Visit Daily - I don't visit daily, no access to a computer when on the road but these are probably the ones I go to most often.
!1. Crazy Aunt Purl
2. Message board on the unofficial "Tigers" supporters site
3. Yahoo mail
4. Google

Four favorite Foods
1. Bread
2. Lamb
3. Roast parsnips
3. Steak and guiness pasty from the farm shop in Netherton
(You can all guess what shape I am!)

Four places you would rather be right now (okay not necessarily right now)
1. Parc des Princes, 19th May 2001. (Ro says this has to be at 5-30 pm as for the rest of the afternoon she thought she was going to be sick!!!)
2. On the road on a sunny day in some beautiful out of the way spot with only one more (light) drop left on the truck and no other traffic.
3. Welford Road
4. In bed