Busy Weekend

Helloooo,
how was your week? Mine was ridiculusly busy! I have done some knitting but, I have also done a lot of frogging! I reached the waist on Abi, only to realise I should have decreased by over 50 stitches just after the rib which I hadn't done. There was no way I could rectify this so had to pull it out and start again. Haven't done anything like that for a while. I also finished one sleeve of Audrey. So maybe next week I will get in a Ta Daaa!
This weekend, like the week before it could easily have been swallowed by school and house work. Except that on Friday evening, Vintage Maddie said in passing that Hubby and son were off to watch the football on sat but, she was at a bit of a loose end as far as a great mummy daughter activity ( it is quite difficult to think of anything when you are soo close to having a baby. She had thought of teaching Daisy to crochet but, as Daisy has just broken her wrist this was out. Anyway a light bulb went off! When I went to the Harrogare show I had picked up a lovely cloth kits skirt for Oriana and I to make which we hadn't got around to doing. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for mummy and daughter time and for skirt making.
Saturday morning paper work didn't seem half as bad when I knew I had lovely dressmaking going on in the afternoon.


I had a big piece of lovely soft red baby cord ( excellent stash busting exercise!) which we copied the cloth kit pieces onto there was enough for two - matching skirts. So we have left the cloth kit for another time.


It was a bit nerve racking keeping the two girls cut out pieces separate until I had a brain wave.


I think the girls enjoyed this bit the most, they really enjoyed rummaging around in my threads to find the perfect colour. Afterall it isn't every day that you get to be the designer! We had a great time, Maddie and I chatted whilst the girls took turns in sewing their seams. Luckily my sewing machine has a go slow which was great for a newbie with a broken arm! It only took them about three hours and the only bit they didn't do was the ironing.

I felt really inspired to make something for myself but, today I really did have to spend marking!
Have a good week
Arianwen xxxx

Ta Daaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Hello my lovelies,

Here it is my first finished garment of 2011. Whitwizzle by Louisa Harding. I have to say I love it!!



The colour is my all time favourite (you will know this if you have ever been to my house)and the yarn is really cosy and soft, a mix of wool and alpaca. So soft you don't have to find cover up items of clothing to go under it in order to stop the wool itch. I love the skirt on it as it twirls- there have been some raised eyebrows from my kids. Apparently mothers really shouldn't twirl but, I don't care it is fun and it makes me happy.

I also finished Ishbel it was beautifully blocked on Tuesday and worn on Thursday but I am not sure that the Sundara Yarn likes the Yorkshire damp as the points no longer look quite so pointy!



I will just have to hope that everyone one who sees it is wowed by the wonderful colour as I really don't want to have to block every time I wear it.
I finished a secret bus knit as well this week but well it is secret:)
There has been a bit of casting on this week. Simple City a pattern I was lucky enough to get for Christmas. The Pattern suggests hacking the ball in half in order to get more obvious stripes but I didn't fancy doing that on the bus and I am actually really liking the subtle colour changes for me I think it will be more wearable.



The photo doesn't really do the colour justice everything is actually a more pinky, squished blackberry purple but my camera refuses to capture that.
I have also cast on Abi a non portable project due to the fact it is attached to a cone but lovely mindless evening knitting.

Which at the moment is just what I need.
I have also dusted off Audrey in Unst earlier today.
I can't remember when I last looked at it. It just needs sleeves and button bands so not much. However, the idea of wrap and turn sleeves put me off not to mention trying to track down a small enough circ. I managed to find the circ before Christmas but, by then I had moved onto other stuff. I have nearly finished a sleeve today it is that simple! The sleeve head is gorgeous looks really smooth I can't really see why I didn't get around to it before. Hopefully get the other one done next weekend.

Arianwen xx

Show and Tell

Hello my lovelies,
hope you have had a good week. Mine has been busy - I can't actually remember the begining of it it has been that chaotic! Having said all of that I have accomplished quite a lot. I finished my dress ( it is gorgeous, soft and warm and I am wearing it) and I should finish Ishbel this evening. Sorry no photos of either as of yet. An offspring snapped a few of my dress earlier but, I didn't look at them until it was dark when it became obvious very quickly that they are all very blurry! So photos is a job for next weekend.
On saturday when we were at the library Oriana saw a Debbie Bliss Book "Blankets Bears and Bootees" She has been muttering for a while about all the teachers who are having babies at school and she decided that she wanted to make some bootees for one of them. So yesterday she cast on. A lovely pale green in baby cashmerino a few rows in and she had mastered yf and tbl.It is funny to see her leaning against this chair her face so full of concentration.
Much of my knitting has been carried out in exactly the same spot leaning against my grandmothers legs as she knit behind me.
Last week in my comments Jeanne asked if I had any suggestions for her daughter learning to knit I have had a think about it I was lucky mostly when I was in a knittng mood when I was little I was on holiday. So I had my grandmother to help. she was at the other side of the country but, if she wasn't due a vist a quick telephone call would soon sort me out if I got stuck. Nowadays if there wasn't anyone nearby to help I think I would use youtube. Any technique is shown there, you can see it again and again. Hopefully someone round about will be able to fix any errors that you make. Remember a true knitter will be glad to pass on their craft without charging you!

Arianwen xx

Ravelry takes the 229

Hello my lovelies,
A funny thing happened on Thursday morning. When I reached the bus station at 6.45 there was a girl sitting reading in my usual seat. She was reading a book and looked up as I reached the seats. I smiled and she smiled and looked away. Then I got my knitting out before I had knit more than a couple of stitches. She put away her book and pulled out her knitting. Well I had to talk to her then and we spent a lovely journey talking about our projects and our knitting goals for the year.Dbexx is taking on the challenge of 11 shawls in 2011 and was working on the most beautiful dark purpley blue prayer shawl. During our conversation she admitted to seeing me knit on the previous Thursday but because she didn't have her knitting with her she didn't feel she could come and say anything. So I would just like to put it out there if you see me knitting and you don't knit or you don't have yours with you come and say hello! I am already looking forward to our next Thursday meet up.
As for my knitting here is another Sunday reveal.
I have finished another pair of little socks this time for Oriana. This pair were very quick but, I had a bit of a problem with the second sock as the stripes were not lining up perfectly so I had to cut and splice the yarn to that the socks would match. I was pretty underwhelmed by doing this and I probably wouldn't have bothered if they had been Inigo's but unmatching stripes is almost guaranteed to cause distress to Oriana and truth be told it would have irritated me as well! I think that I knit these faster because I am really looking forward to next week's project.


I have made Ishbel twice in the past both for other people and I have always wanted one for myself. I have the perfect skein of Sundara that was a gift from the lovely Stash about two years ago and it has always been ear-marked for Ishbel I just kept being side tracked but I really think that it is the perfect knitting for the bus so tomorrow morning I cast on!
I have also finished the body of my dress and cast on the sleeves it is soo warm and soft maybe I will be able to finish it soon.

Arianwen xx

Craving the light

A couple of weeks ago I watched a vampire movie.It wasn't good, it was set in the far north of Canada. The story line was that the people of this little town had thirty days of darkness. For the last two weeks I have left the house in the dark, not seen the day and then gone home in the dark. Friday morning was wonderful I saw daylight only for a few hours but it really was wonderful. Grey, misty, winter light of course I have seen the same both Saturday and Sunday but somehow those precious hours were delicious.

It is strange to knit in the dark especially so early in the morning but I had fun twirling my dpns on the bus. It certainly raises a few eyebrows! Inigo is a very happy boy. Knitted socks are warm and they are perfect for skidding across wooden floors. Oriana has put in a request I will cast on in the morning. My dress is moving slowly gorgeous and warm I can't wait to wear it. though I haven't reached the arm holes and I only have 3 50g balls left so I am quite worried that I won't have enough.

Say Something Sunday

Hello my lovelies,
Over a week since the new year and my resolution of regularly updating my blog looked like it was going nicely down the drain. So I have decided to instigate a routine of Say Something Sunday the idea is that I get something into my blog each week even if it isn't very much.
Well the first week back at school has gone in a blur! I have left the house in the dark and come back in the dark so this post is going to be more than a little short of photos! For the next 6 weeks I am on the bus morning and evening which equates to a lot of hours!
I usually get wrapped up in big projects jumpers, dresses, etc which although I love doing are not exactly easy to transport. So when Inigo said that he really wanted some knitted socks I ran down to my Lys to see what they had in perfect boy sock yarn. Not much was the answer to that though they did have some very nice Regia world circus yarn which Inigo liked. I cast on tuesday at 7.00 am on the 229 bus. This week I managed one sock. Hopefully next week I will be able to show you a pair!
My Christmas project this year was Wightwizzle a gorgeous dress by Louisa Harding I am making it in her yarn Thistle it is a lovely teal green and unlike its name is really soft and warm. I have finished the skirt part of the dress it has eaten yarn and I am a worried that I am not going to have enough but I guess I won't know until I run out:)
Well that is it for this week take care and I will see you next time for Say Something Sunday

Arianwen x

Made in 2010

1. Vinelle, 2. Dyeing with KoolAid, 3. xmas Angel, 4. Elenya's Winter, 5. Elenya's Moon, 6. Yet another Moon, 7. Oriana's Misti Alpaca Moon, 8. A quilt for Evie-Rose, 9. Luna, 10. Delight, 11. Patience, 12. Inspired, 13. Anais, 14. Fruitella, 15. Bonita for you, 16. Bonita for me, 17. Inigo's Quilt, 18. Veyla, 19. Damson, 20. Afghan, 21. 009, 22. pussy cat tea cosy, 23. DSC03172, 24. 037, 25. Que Sera, 26. Daisy Buttons, 27. Owl, 28. School sweaters are finished!, 29. School sweaters are finished!, 30. Yoked Cardi, 31. needle roll prototype, 32. owl and the pussy cat, 33. 004, 34. Bliss, 35. 010, 36. 036

Hello everyone,
Well it Turns out that training to be a teacher takes more time than I thought:) Which is why I haven't been around much over the last couple of months. I have such a wonderful year and I feel truly grateful that I have been able to get onto this training course. I hope that your year has been as wonderful and eventful as mine and I hope that 2011 brings you everything that you need. Happy New year
love
Arianwen xxx

Patience

And breathe!
It is finally here a week of pure bliss. Of course I am talking about the half term holiday. I don’t think I have never been so desperate for a week off in my whole life. Knitting has been going on since my last post but, I haven’t had much time for concentration so basically as soon as anything has required anything more than your basic intelligence it has been shelved and something else cast on.
In fact the only thing I have finished in the last 6 or so weeks has been Patience. Just after my birthday I was lucky enough to spend a day at County Alpacas. All of Julie’s animals were lovely but, I have to say I am in love with only one.
Her name is Patience she is so called because it took 365 days of pregnancy on the part of her mother to deliver her. Now Patience is not pretty, she is highly allergic to flies which obviously are a problem especially in the summer. Her eyes and ears were red and puffy however, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I have to say I think she is gorgeous! Not only has she got the softest fur but she loves a cuddle and I spent most of the afternoon cuddling and stroking her- not a bad way of spending an afternoon. Needless to say you can’t go to an alpaca farm and not buy yarn and I came back clutching a lovely skein of hand dyed 4ply and a tummy full of the most delicious flapjacks handmade by Julie. Julie assured us that although the brown yarns came from one animal but the dyed came from several of the white (though I secretly hope that much of my skein belonged to the lovely Patience).
I stroked and played with my skein for a couple of weeks before the cowl pattern came into my head. I am pretty pleased with how it has turned out. It is the perfect back drop for a gorgeous yarn and a very nice pin that I was given for my birthday.
So if you have a few hours over the half term break and the perfect skein of yarn you might like to make your own.



Patience Cowl
100g 4ply alpaca
4mm 60cm circular needle
Cable needle

K2tog = knit 2 together
Yfwd = bring yarn forward between the needles. Then when you make the next st it will go over the top of the needle
Ssk= slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch
CF5 = place 2 stitches on cable needle at front of work , knit 3 stitches then knit 2 stitches from cable needle



Cast on 160 stitches join in the round
Add a st marker to show the beginning of the round.
Round 1 knit
Round 2 purl
Round 3 k2tog yfwd to end
Round 3 purl
Round 4 knit
Main body
Round 1*k5, p1, k1, p1, ssk, (yfwd k1) 3times, yfwd, k2tog, p1, k1, p1* rep from* to * 8 times till end of round.
Round 2 *CF5, p1, k1, p1, k9, p1, k1, p1* rep from* to * 8 times till end of round.
Round 3*k5,p1,k1,p1,ssk,k5,k2tog,p1,k1,p1* rep from* to * 8 times till end of round.
Round4 CF5 ,p1,k1,p1,k7,p1,k1,p1* rep from* to * 8 times till end of round.

Repeat last 4 rounds 14 times
Then repeat rounds 1 and 2
Start border
Round 1 purl
Round 2 k2tog yfwd to end
Round 3 purl
Round 4 cast off.

Inspired!

Hello again,

I was on Ravelry Yesterday and spotted this Gorgeous think I, I must own one immediately! So here it is and just in case you feel the same here are the pattern notes.

Go on you know you want one, cast on immediately!

You will need 8mm needles

Approx 200g of very chunky yarn I used Debbie Bliss Como as I had it in stash.

Cast on 60 st.

Knit in Garter stitch till you run out of yarn. Mine measured 24" and I knit 145 rows.

Cast off.

Stitch the beginning to the End. Voila you have a cowl.

Now you just need cold enough weather to wear it.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hello again,
The summer holidays hold all kinds of happiness but, of one my favourite selfish pleasures is the Rowan Exchange. When I first started taking part it was as a member of Rowan International an exclusive club that Rowan has for getting your magazine. I still belong to Rowan international but the exchange is now open to all who join the Rowan Tree a friendly little forum on Ravelry.
I love every aspect of the Exchange from choosing which yarn and gift my victim will love, to finding little extras to pop in the parcel and then of course waiting for the post man who always turns up pretty close to my birthday! This year Skeiner Organised it we had to write an essay about ourselves, our likes and dislikes and she suggested we look at our victims favourites and queued items for inspiration.
I have to say I did struggle a bit. Other years the information that I received from my victim was more straight forward- yes no answers. By the end of reading the essay I knew she liked purple and black and from her queue I knew that she liked fingerless gloves.
A pair of Veyla gloves would be perfect for Starside and I knew I wanted make a shawl or a hat to go with them.
Now although she has made a lot of lacy shawls none of them seemed to be for her and to be honest as I had met her once she didn't really strike me as a lacy kinda girl! So in the end I settled with Damson also by Ysolda Teague. I chose Drops Alpaca to make both things in. A lovely rich purple which I knew would be right up starside's street. Anyway they are finished and sent and Starside assures me that she likes them. I love the Veyla and would definitely make them again but, Damson I have my reservations about
I don't think I will make it again it was very easy to do perhaps too easy and I think the end result is more than a little bland. Luckily the yarn is fantastic so even screwed up inside a coat used as a scarf it should be ok. Oriana liked it:)

As for my gift received... I think Gillspain found the choosing of a gift really easy! It is just perfect for me. I saw this in the Summer Interweave magazine and immediately queued it on Ravelry. The trouble is with bags I rarely make anything like that for myself especially if I have to try and work out an English equivalent yarn.
Gilspain used allseasons cotton in green. She also sent two skeins of llama yarn and an odd skein of green all seasons cotton (which I have already used) There is an unfounded rumour going around that I am obsessed with green. I am however, totally obsessed with this bag!! I literally jumped up and down when I opened the parcel. Hence the very wobbly photos. I thought I might be going to have to fight Pinkie for it but, it isn't crochet so after an initial sniff she left it alone.

Pussy Cat

Hello again, not that I am obsessed with cats but....Continuing on the cat themeJ Last year when I went to see my grandparents I noticed that not only did they use a tea pot several times a day but, they also used a tea cosy. The one that they owned looked like it had seen better days though it was a hand knit created probably by my Auntie Sandi as she is a prolific crafty person! Anyway when I got back on Ravelry I found this great tea cozy. Obviously gonna keep the tea warm and they do love cats. Anyway I kept convincing myself that I had loads of time before I went again to Canada so it kept going to the back of the queue. About two days before I was due to go I cast onL luckily it was a very quick knit and I had finished it in time to shove into my hand luggage. By the time I got to my grandparents the original tea cozy had been replaced with another of my Aunts creations which was probably just as well as it was a little bit of a struggle to get my pussy cat over the tea pot without burning your fingers – next time I need to make him bigger!! He did however raise a chuckle from my granddad especially and has made friends with Tinker. Which if you new Tinker you would realise was no mean feat!

It has been done a while

I have to confess Inigo's quilt has been done for quite some time. In fact I am not quite sure when it was finished certainly before the summer holidays.
I pretty much fall in love with all of my quilts as I finish them but, this one I just love, love, Love! I am not sure if it is the combinations of batiks and plaids which work so much better that I could ever have hoped for or that although it was made for my lovable boy it is sophisticated enough for him to still enjoy it when he is a grown man. I think the biggest love has to be Inigo's enthusiasm for it. Every time the fabric was laid out, cut, sewn or rearranged Inigo was there admiring it and asking questions. He was adamant from the very start that he wanted cats on his quilt. Four cats in representation of the four that live in this house!
This was my biggest worry of the quilt four cats that didn't automatically make the quilt for a small child (I really want him to still love this when he is big).
I figured silhouettes would be the best option but not in black. I spent ages looking for the perfect fabric
it eventually turned up in the LittleBlueTortoise's stash (it is great having friends with the same hobbies) at one point I thought that I had mucked up one of the cats and broke the news that it might just have three.
"Don't worry" replies Inigo "there will always be a fourth asleep in the middle of the bed".

I originally wanted to quilt it even more heavily but, I weighed up the time it would take to add the extra quilting against the immediate happiness that Ingio would have if he could have the quilt that night and his smile won out.

39!

I opened my eyes this morning and just like that another year has passed. They say the years go past quickly the older you get but really the time whizzes by so fast that my head spins. How did my baby girl, in a matter of weeks, become taller than me? I realise that it has been over a month since I last blogged, yet loads has been going on. This time last week I was just leaving my grandparents in Canada. This time last week I was finishing Anais and Starting Arielle and an Afghan inspired by the one on my grandparent's sofa. In fact so much knitting and sewing has gone on in the last month that it is far too much to tell you about in this post! I shall try for a post a day until the back log is complete, but today I shall look at my cards and eat my cake.

Blossom

Well yet again I have been a bad blogger. Spending lots of time making things and not enough time telling you about them JI have really enjoyed making Blossom indeed I am really enjoying wearing Blossom as I type. In the 1980's and early 90's Kim Hargreaves was my designer of choice her designs are very wearable and fun to knit. In her latest book Misty there are several designs in the just gotta have so I should be casting on another from stash in the next couple of weeks. Anyway back to Blossom. The yarn Rowan Milk Cotton Fine doesn't behave very well.
It is splitty and in some places it actually hadn't taken the colour it also likes to tangle in the ball very annoying but, having said all of that I think that I will probably use it again. The colours are divine!!!!
The fabric is soft and floppy and has lovely stitch definition just the thing for summer knitwear. I ended up making a size smaller than I intended as by the time I had reached the length for the peplum in the smallest size I figured it looked big enough so took a gamble and cast off. As it happens the gamble paid off but I spent a couple of sleepless nights wondering if I would be able to do it up!
The photos of Blossom were taken by Oriana but, as she skipped back into the house this little one came to visit seh was right by my feet when I took this photo and I spent another 5 minutes watching her getting food ready for her babies,so sweet!

InSweMoDo2010 #10

Pattern Blossom

Designer Kim Hargreaves

Needles 2.25mm 2.75mm

Yarn Rowan Milk Cotton Fine Water Bomb 4.5 balls

Que Sera, Sera...

yep, they are both finished and have both been worn and have both now been photographed. Though not well! The sun which lets face it has been mainly absent this spring decided to turn up on the two separate days that we were wearing our new cardis ( well you didn't actually think we would wear them together did you?). I have to say I am really happy with how they turned out.
I love the short sleeved version and really think it is cute left unbuttoned. Why I didn't think of that for myself I don't know.
Mine looks better buttoned which is just as well as it is the proud owner of some fantastic daisy buttons. Now as soon as I saw this cardigan I thought ah ha I have the perfect buttons for that. Beautiful glass daisies that were once painted and could be restored!!! A rummage through Mamie's buttons and I could find only 3 buttons - I thought I had more:( So I decided to do an ebay search on glass daisy buttons QUE SERA two more exactly the same as the three I already owned.

A couple of coats of enamel paint and they look exactly as I had hoped. Perfect for a pretty spring cardigan.


Pattern Que Sera
Needles 4.5mm
Yarn Rowan Handknit cotton
Time taken :- far too much!

Mothers Ruin Has a Giveaway

Well I don't know about you but I love fabric and and Mothers Ruin is having a giveaway. A mention on your blog is all you need to take part so here is mine. I always love a new blog and a crafty male makes a nice change/ gives a different slant on the female craft perspective. So if you are looking for a giveaway or an entertaining new blog then give him a look.