Lillian

Hello,


I really can't believe how the time seems to slip away from me this year. It is either knitting or blogging at the moment. And I have to say I am finding that at the end of most days I am short of words and pictures but here it is!!! Lillian.

I am so proud of this sweater. The colour has turned out really well with no pooling. The pattern was easy to follow and the finished product is warm comfortable and flattering! Really flattering.

Just look at those amazing Cables.
I have worn it with jeans around the house and with a black pencil skirt for work and it has gotten me a lot of compliments. I can't wait to get my hands on another dyeing project really soon. Maybe something red, though I am still being goodish on the stash busting that might have to be my christmas cast on. We shall have to wait and see.

Till next time
Arianwen xx

Shawls

Hello,
well we are slipping gently back into the school and work routine. Uniforms, lunches and out the door. Blogging time is again at a premium. But I cant let a year go by without mentioning the Exchange! For those of you who don't know one of the highlights of my year is the RowanTree Exchange. This year the theme was "Fit for a queen" My exchange gifts for the RowanTree exchange have arrived in the sunny Netherlands. So I thought I would share.
This was a mystery shawl from Through the loops, I really struggled with this one as it really didn't want to behave on the blocking. I think this might of been because it should of been lace weight and I bought to dye for 4ply in Bloody Valentine ( what a great name hey? I bought it on the strength of that alone). Anyway I invested in some wires and was ruthless and that seemed to work. I also made this.

Nessie a shawl that my exchangee specifically asked for. It was pretty perfect for the bus rows, upon rows of garter stitch. It was a little bit mind numbing but I actually really liked it when it was finished the way the ends twirl is very flattering.
Then I realised that there are quite a few shawls from the past few months that haven't been shown.
Many of them were done on the bus last term. I have a little shawl addiction going on all because of BooKnits her shawls are lovely!! This was my first, Cloud Illusions
the perfect medium for a lovely skein dream in colour starry that I was gifted as part of the RownTree Exchange last year.
I keep buying her little booklets and seeing more and more that I want to own. This one is called Sweet Dreams ( they all have lovely names)

The yarn is madelainetosh light and I was lucky enough to get in on a ravelry destash from none other than Booknits herself.
I am still knitting the mystery shawl as I think I mentioned last post, it is called out of the darkness. It is a bit of an experiment I am dyeing my yarn every six rows or so, covering the whole shawl with the dye and then when I am ready to dye again filling the bottle back up to the top with water so the colour dilutes. To me it looks like summer skies I love it. Just need a few more hours to finish.
Speaking of dyeing, I have finished Lillian!!! Watch this space for a grand reveal.

Till next time
Arianwen

The Last Day of Summer

Hello,
well that is it. The last day of the summer holidays is drawing to a close. We have spent it biking on the rec and then playing in the sunshine at the local park. I have to say we are very lucky as it has just been restored and even if it hadn't just look at those views.

We have a wonderful summer and I have had a very industrious last week of freedom. There has been knitting! Lillian is again on the needles.
A mystery booknits shawl has be cast on. The title of it is out of the darkness and I have again put my dyeing hat on.

Dyeing it slowing with a paintbrush at every stage. The first colour change is a little more stripey than I wanted but, I will hopefully be able to change that later. I do love the way the beads sparkle on the newly dyed yarn.
The other knitting has been this
The RowanTree Forum on Rav are designing our own blanket. This is my first block that I have designed for it I hope to have another up my sleeve plus of course all the other blocks that my friends have designed.

I hope you enjoy your first week back at school and I will see you next week.

Arianwen xx

Say Something Sunday

Hello, Yes I know it has been a while, I just haven't been very motivated with anything much except children and their activities. I also hadn't realised how stressful it is waiting for Exam results. For those of you who haven't got children at the exam stage of life it is far, far more stressful than your own! Lilian seems to have been mislaid it has been so long since I have done any on it. Anyway in order to try and get myself into the swing of things again I have decided to re-instate Say Something Sundays, well for this week at any rate! So I am going to show you Emilie I finished it months ago and have worn it lots.

I have to say the pattern is lovely and I would definately make it again. But the yarn really isn't as good quality as you would expect for the price. The colour is fantastic and seems to go with lots in my wardrobe but it has pilled quite badly so I guess should of kept it for high days and holidays this really is a shame as I have enough in a gorgeous purpley blue to make something else and I was hoping for Challow which really is an everyday kinda sweater!
Anyway enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday weekend
Arianwen xx

Taking the plunge

Hello
how are you? We have had a lovely first week of summer holiday. There has been baking, sewing and couple of chilly day trips to the beach.

The weather is on the lips of everyone this summer. I am watching the Olympics as I type and it is throwing down during the cycling race. I waited all through April and May in order to be able to start summer knitting but by the end of June I gave up on the idea and decided to cast on a winter warmer. Whilst at Woolfest I wandered about looking for the perfect yarn. I saw some on a stall a lovely bluey grey green handdyed. £12.00 a skein and I waited and waited for the lady to serve me but she was too busy talking to her friend so I put it back then I ended up at Debbie's stall I told her what I wanted my yarn to look like and then I bought myself some lovely BFL in aran weight. I also bought three tubs of procion dyes. As soon as I got home, I took the plunge and painted up my yarn. It is difficult to capture the colour, I have taken dozens of photos and this is the closest.
I am making Lilian by Lucy Sweeting I am going quite slowly mainly because I can't believe that I am actually knitting up wool in the middle of summer. It is a very enjoyable pattern just complicated enough to keep my interest and easy enough to be done in company. I am knitting it in the round two balls at a time because I was a little uncertain about my first dyeing but it seems ok and I have to say I am loving the results!

Where have you been?

Hello,
Just thought I would pop in a show you one of my latest creations. Made entirely from stash.

A birthday gift for the littlebluetortoise. A ginger tom cat based on one I know and that she loves.

A friend for the owl.

Childish Gasps and smartie Trees

Helloo,

Well Easter is nearly upon us and I don't know about you but to me that means CHOCOLATE!!!. When I was a child, chocolate, sweets of any kind were a real luxury item. My dad was diabetic so no sweets or biscuits were kept in the house ever. At Christmas my stocking contained a slab of toffee and maybe if I was lucky my grandmother Mamie would bring me and my sister some smarties. Easter was wonderful brightly, foil wrapped chocolate eggs filled with jelly tots or smarties. We were always taken to the shop to chose one. I used to save mine and my sister ate hers as fast as possible. When I was 10 we came to Yorkshire to visit Mamie and she bought me a quality street egg. I can't remember how that egg tasted but I remember the cardboard box it came in. It was cream and line drawings of victorian ladies and gents danced around and around. I kept that box for a lot of years it was that special.
My children have a very different relationship with chocolate and sweets. There are always biscuits in the house and usually chocolate too. The chocolate bought in bulk when we go to Belgium or brought in the back of the car by Oma and Opa. The Easter Bunny comes to our house. The children don't even wake us now for the hunt. Elenya turns off the alarm and out into the garden they go to find the loot. It is brought back into the house divided into equal piles and then much of it languishes until I melt it and they dip fruit into it.
Anyway my last week at work one of the ladies mentioned her friend Kelly was making sweet trees. Any sweets you would like I thought it would be a good idea, Smarties of course. It arrived at school on the last day of term and brought it home on the bus.

It was worth the effort it brought gasps of excitement from all of the children. They have admired it,carried it around the house finding the best place to display it ( I personally think it looks great on my CK tablecloth) bragged of it to their friends and now they are eating smartie by smartie. I have spoken to Kelly and she assures me that it is ok to put her mobile number on here in case you want a tree of your own. 07413763156 My children are thinking malteaser trees. But I am still thinking jelly tots and smarties.

Arianwen xx

Take a Peek

Hello, can you believe what I woke up to this morning?

Take a closer look yep it really is snow! We have about four inches, it was fairly trecherous this morning but the roads are now clearing. I am glad I am on holiday and don't have to venture outside. Instead I have made ( and eaten large amounts of) a blueberry cake. I didn't have enough icing sugar to make the spectacular icing suggested - cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a boiler. So I had to botch it but no matter it is delicious. I have finished and blocked Emilie which is good as the sleeves somehow seemed to take forever and cast on a shawl. Yes I do already have quite a few wips on the go but I just couldn't resist. I bought the pattern a while back and then a lot of really nice versions have shown up on Ravelry. The Shawl is called Cloud Illusions and the yarn is dream in colour Starry. I was given the yarn last year as part of the rowan tree exchange and I have been pettin it ever since. Can you see the silver sparkles? I am going to team it with silver beads I think it is going to look amazing. Lets hope it lives up to my expectations.
Arianwen xx

Grey Days

Helloo,
well you can certainly tell it is Easter in my neck of the woods. Cold, grey and raining. The heating has kicked in and we are huddled up inside. The children have had friends to stay both Sunday and Monday night so the house if full of extra childish laughter drifting down the stairs.They are of an age now that they don't need very much intervention from me so I am tucked up on the sofa knitting. Emilie, such a cute little cardigan, she has been my constant companion on the bus for the last few weeks. I bought the yarn Fybrespates Scrumtious, at woolfest last summer, for the specific purpose of making Emilie. The colour is wild! Rich, ginger, gold, the colour of tabby cats. It is not one I would normally wear but I just couldn't resist and I am glad I didn't as it is really lifting my spirits and making me happy. I am onto the sleeves now. They are knit in the round from the sleeve head down so nice and theraputic especially as there isn't going to be any sewing up!
Enjoy your day
Arianwen

Smells like a bakery in here.

Hello,
how are you all? Ready for the Easter Break? I know I am. I woke up this morning dreaming about marking how sad is that?
Anyway I have decided that this holiday that I am going to try and do as many fun things as possible. High on my list of fun things is cooking not the labourious what is for dinner kind but the special baking kind. I was at BlueADT house a couple of weeks ago and they were busy with all things yeasty. That day they had made a sour dough bread and the remements of a friendship cake were also on offer. Both were delicious!! Anyway this morning I decided I would make a loaf of bread so rummaged around in my baking drawer for the relevant ingredients. The November 11 date on the yeast showed me how long it was since the bread maker had been out. I decided to take a gamble on the bread as I had already made a squash and sweet potato soup. Mmmmmm! The smell of fresh bread is permeating the house. The loaf turned out delicious. But whilst the bread maker was stirring and mixing I was at a bit of a loose end so I took another dive into the baking drawer and pulled out the ingredients for Spiced Apple Cake, a firm family favourite, from the magnolia bakery cookbook. Both cake and bread were happily baking in the oven and I was thinking about the delicious friendship cake that I had eaten at BlueADT's house, now her's wasn't ready for sharing and in fact I probably wouldn't have got around to making it anyway. But holidays mean extra time and google means you can find out anything, so I had a look and came up with this recipe he is now fermenting gently on my windowsill and I have ten days to decide what kind of cake he is going to become. If you live close by and would like a little Herman of your own leave me a comment and I will give you some.
Arianwen xx

Hectic

hectic

Pronunciation: /ˈhɛktɪk/


adjective

1full of incessant or frantic activity: a hectic business schedule


2 Medicine, archaic relating to or affected by a regularly recurrent fever typically accompanying tuberculosis, with flushed cheeks and hot, dry skin.





Hello my lovelies,
I can't quite believe how much time has gone by since I was last here.We have gone from winter to spring in the blink of an eye. But life is as the dictionary defination describes incessant activity ( rather than a fever) . I am working full time as a full time supply teacher, commuting several hours out of every day on the bus, learning to drive and of course the most important job looking after children and pets. This kind of activity although necessary leaves me a little frustrated, tired and a bit crochetey. I have been knitting but it seems a slow and labourious type of process as most of it is done early in the morning on the buses and is a forced activity rather than the fun it is supposed to be.
Dashings for Mario,
The Acer Cardigan, my third sweater of the year took weeks to sew up and put buttons on.

So this weekend I decided that it was time for a little me time, a little calm, I dusted off the sewing machine and with a little help from Oriana we made the cloth kits skirt that we cut out so long ago. We stitched and I pressed. We laughed and had cuddles and Oriana modeled our efforts a perfect way of spending an afternoon.
Enjoy your week
Arianwen xx

Two Years for a Ta Dahhh!

Hello my lovelies,
Whoop! Whoop! A Ta Daahhh. I am sooo happy about this one.

I can't quite believe it but it really is two years ago that I started Noyeaux.

I saw it on ravelry and fell in love. Trouble was it was a catalogue of disasters from the very beginning. My lovely friend Carolyn picked up the yarn in Canada for me and sent it off.
It took over six weeks to arrive and poor Carolyn was doing her pieces she was so anxious about it's arrival. Then when I cast on I was unsure about the size as my usual seemed big so I started on the smallest.
This seemed tiny! Then the shaping wasn't straight forward so after finishing the back I shelved it. I have thought about it over the last couple years but something else always took my fancy. Anyway I picked it up last week and it just flew off of my needles. It needed some serious blocking to make it the right shape. Then it sat around for a couple more days before I stitched it up which is also unusual for me. Love it! Love it! Love it! I should have finished it ages ago. The shape is very flattering and the Blackstone tweed is soft, warm, cosy and makes me feel great.
Enjoy your week
Arianwen xx

TaaaaDaaaaaa!

Hello my Lovelies,
well it is finished my Lovely Logan. The first completed item of 2012. It is funny but the first and the last made items of the year always seem the most special to me. It has become a tradition for me to cast on something special for me on Christmas day. This year I decided I couldn't afford to go and buy yarn for this tradition so I rummaged around in my stash. This one nearly didn't make it. I cast it on in a completely different colour (white) and a different yarn. Four inches in and I knew it wasn't going to work. By the end of Christmas day it had gone to the frog pond. Another stash diving and I came up with a cone of soft grey. As soon as I cast it on I knew it was perfect the cables just popped. I am so pleased with how this has turned out especially as it is made from stash. I made the smallest size but because my tension was slightly different to the recommended yarn, the sweater has turned out less fitted than the original but is so warm and snuggely.Just perfect for windy winter days.I was a bit disapointed that I couldn't splash out more yarn but there is somehow a lot of satisfaction out of be able to use up what I already have. I am going to carry on trying to down size my stash as well as whiping the wips. Noyeaux is back on the needles so expect another taa daa very soon.
Arianwen xx

Shades of grey

Hello my lovelies,

welcome to the deep mid winter. It seems that is continually freezing cold and grey. I have noticed the days getting longer ( they must be as January is rushing by) but really not fast enough for my liking. I saw sunshine this morning, fleetingly, through a staffroom window. That little bit of shiney, happiness lifted my spirits no end.
The evenings are so dark I am spending them huddled in front of the fire knitting of course.Logan is warm and snuggley covering my lap it is nearly done and I can't wait to wear it.

I decided that this year I wanted to make some of my own designs up so I am also working on a hat pattern of my own design.

The projects match the weather all grey.
Enjoy the rest of your week I am going to carry on knitting and hoping for a Taaa Daaaa moment at the weekend.
Arianwen

Looking Backwards and Forwards

Hello my lovelies, well it doesn't seem possible but after climbing over the Christmas tree for several weeks it is finally over. 2011 is finished and it is time to look forward to the possiblities that 2012 might be going to offer.2011 for me was hectic, stressful and towards the end quite disapointing. However I did get a lot of knitting done. There is nothing like blogging to help you keep track of your accompishments.

1. NaNaas socks, 2. Go Go's on the bus socks, 3. Nobel Cowl, 4. Elenya's Birthday Liesl, 5. Bird house, 6. Winterberries, 7. Rama, 8. Spring Crocus, 9. Looks like Martha to me!, 10. Audrey in Unst, 11. SWEATER AND BONNET, 12. Simple City, 13. Abi, 14. Ishbel, 15. Christmas Thistle, 16. Miette, 17. Crochet Cushion, 18. Creature Comforts, 19. Opal, 20. Lady Cythera, 21. Aaren, 22. Vaire, 23. It's not Harry's it's mine!, 24. Emilia's Quilt, 25. A Hat For Matt, 26. Back to School, 27. Back to School, 28. I love sleeping in the wet!, 29. Granny Tissooo, 30. Liesel, 31. Tidal, 32. Esha's Rama, 33. Crochet Cushion, 34. Audrey in April, 35. Habitat, 36. Hopsalot
This year looks like it is going to be equally rollercoaster like so I have decided what I need for 2012 is a plan of action. For the knitting, at least, mainly so that I can use up my stash whip the wips and try and stay focused on what I want to make rather than being swayed by all of the wonderful projects that I see on Ravlery. This is what I have so far.
Noyaux
Logan
Acer
Emelie
Honeybee
Baby Cables big ones too
Vali
Myrtle
Mathilde
Lillian
Velynda
Paper dolls
Noyeaux, Logan and Acer are already on the needles. Logan and Acer being what I cast on for Christmas (I couldn't decide. I am thinking 12 hats and 12 shawls too but that might be a little ambitious what do you think? I will look back at the end of the year and see what I came up with.
Happy New year
Arianwen xx