Wonderful Wollmeise

In the summer I was really lucky to take part in the Rowan Knitting Exchange. This is organised every year by some wonderful Rowan members. I don't know if you remember but I made Ishbel in Rowan Damask for a lovely canadian lady called Nance. In turn my parcel was from a lady in England called Marie France sent me the most wonderful pair of Malabrigo socks (really too nice to put on my cloven hooves)a very cute poncho which I have had a ton of compliments for and a skein of Wollmeise.
Now I seem to have a bit of a rep as a wool snob and I do have to admit I do like nice yarn but I have never been passionate about anyone supplier until now. The first thing that strikes you about the wollmeise yarn is the colour it has wonderful depth, there is variation of colour without it being glaringly obvious. The second thing is the smell, and let me tell you it is a smell to die for. Imagine a field of rose bushes just coming into bloom combined with a soft summer rain. That it is the smell of wollmeise. I have since found out she washes her yarn in perwol. So if you are in Germany, rush to the shop and buy some you won't be disappointed!
I was busy looking for the most perfect project for this wonderful,squidgy, yummy yarn, When my friend Monica bought me a copy of Aestlight. Perfect! A match made in heaven the most wonderful yarn in the whole universe coupled with a very attractive shawl that was interesting to knit and very easy and enjoyable to wear.

Stockport

Way back in the summer the Rowan winter popped through the letter box and I fell in love with stockport. I promised that I wouldn't start winter knitting until the 1st of Sept which I didnt' but then I knit like crazy.
We went to Flamingo land and I knit in the freezing cold whilst the rest of the family screamed on rides.
I knit in the car when the cold became too much.
I loved it when finished. The yarn is so soft it is like wearing a hug but it grew a bit after a couple of wearings. So I washed it. Thousands of bubbles emerged from the cocoon as soon as it hit the water and Stockport grew enormously! I nearly had a heart attack. When dry it did shrink back but it is still a little big in the neck.
I still really like it but I am unsure that the design plus the cocoon are really that flattering to anyone over a size 6. I have however seen it made up in a finer yarn which was gorgeous so maybe I will have to make it again.

Sick,Sick,Sick!

Pardon my absence. We were doing presentations on swine flu at school and it looked so exciting I just had to try it. Five weeks later I have been back at work for a week but my energy levels are low, I still have a hacking cough and I am reliably informed by everyone who sees me that I look like sh*t!

I started knitting two weeks in the first week I just slept no energy for any thing else. finishing somethings and starting lots of others. I really can't face the idea of my photo at the moment so instead here are a few pieces without models.

I finished the Lotus Blossom Tunic it is very pretty and I enjoyed making it but,because I was knitting from stash I couldn't add another pattern repeat this meant that sadly it was too short for me. It is however a perfect fit for my sister.
Two of my very close friends announced with days of each other that they were expecting. Neither knew what they were having so I took a gamble, something for a boy and something for a girl. I went for stripey in case they were both the same sex.
The sailor top came from the sublime baby book. Rosie Hope was born first so she got the yellow.

I have to say I wasn't very happy with the construction. The sleeve head was curved but the armhole wasn't -very strange though I think they turned out OK. I just wish the bottoms wouldn't curl so much. Maybe after a couple of washings it will sort itself out.Casey James got the blue


The slippers I bought from knitting 4 fun as a kit at woolfest. I saw the bunnies made up and fell inlove.
at that point I only knew about one baby but I had more than enough yarn for two pairs of slippers. I really love these though I have to say
I have a real soft spot for the bunnies as all of my children had bunny slippers.


An update on Molly, she really is a going concern. In the early days she would sleep comfortably under what ever I was knitting. Now she has discovered yarn-kitten heaven. And is rarely still for photo's.

She has made friends with the other cats. This is whether they want to be friends or not. Luckily most of the time they tolerate her jumping on them.

Meet Molly.

Well today hasn't exactly been the Sunday I had in mind. We had a leisurely start pottering about then there was a banging on the door and my mum had arrived carrying a little brown bundle. At first I thought she was holding a little hedgehog but it turned out to be a very tiny kitten.
A quick wash of her very sticky eyes and a syringe of egg nog were partaken of before we rushed off to the emergency vet. She is about 5 weeks and has conjunctivitis. So I am now in charge of eye bathing and putting in drops which I know she is going to hate me for. She isn't eating solids yet but we have picked up some kitten formula from the vets and she seems to have grasped how to lap from a spoon. She is so tiny a very big name wouldn't have worked so for now she is called Molly.

Tinkering

I have been told by several people that since I added the new comments widget that they could no-longer leave me any comments. Which is, as far as I am concerned one of the main reasons for having a blog! Anyway I have just deleted it. Unfortunately this means that I have lost all of the lovely comments that had been left before. So to all of you that have been leaving messages I am truly sorry, especially to Charity who responds to all of my ponderings.
Another note I have been busy knitting the last of my summer projects, Lotus Blossom Tank. I brought back some beautiful linen from Canada and I thought the pattern and the yarn would be a match made in heaven. After one round of the pattern the yarn seemed to be growing extraordinarily. So much so that I had to pull it out and re think the yarn. I settled on 5 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace that I had in my stash. So now not only is it looking really lovely but, I can feel virtuous knitting from stash!

Anticipation

It's not that I don't have yarn. It's not that I don't have plenty of wip's. But sometimes I just really want to make that certain something. I looked in stash, I even went to coldspring to try and find something cheaper but, it just wasn't happening. So when we went to the Trafford Centre earlier for the termly pilgrimage for school shoes I took the opportunity to slip into John Lewis and came out a few moments later with 500g of Rowan cocoon in Lavender Ice to make Stockport from the latest Rowan Magazine. I promised myself no winter knitting till Sept 1st so I will have to just play with my yarn and anticipate for the next week the delicious casting on.

A month.

I can't believe it has been a month since I last blogged. The time has just whizzed past but that is usual for the summer holidays. A trip to Canada a visit from the inlaws and my birthday pretty much takes care of the time. On the knitting front I finished my Eyelet Chemise, Tropicana and a Razor Cami. I finished sewing the buttons onto the Chemise on my first morning in Canada whilst the rest of the world slept(yes I had serious jet lag).I then wore it to Bluesfest and to have tea with the Suffragettes of Ottawa, it is nice to have worn it for an occasion as everytime I wear it now I will think of my time in Canada. I would have finished Tropicana in Canada, but when I went to get my next ball of yarn out I realised that I had left it at home which was very frustrating.So finished when I got back. I have a ball and half left of the silk so enough to make one for Elenya. Oriana has also asked for one of these. Luckily there are tons of yarn shops in Canada.My cousin even has one on her street so I stocked up.
The Razor Cami was a lovely quick knit, probably a little too quick as I knit like a fiend throwing it into my case finished at 11pm on my last night in Canada. I left the last balls behind which I kind of regret. The straps were very uncomfortable so had to be made into a haltertop.
I would definitely make the straps differently if I had more yarn. On the Crochet front I finished the back of Joy my project for the plane.(Pictures to follow...) I asked if I could take a crochet hook onto the first plane. The very young man behind the counter told me he didnt know what a crochet hook was but if I showed him....I didn't bother asking again. Whilst at my grandparents, my Auntie Sandi introduced me to fabricland. She also brought her sewing machine for me to use...I whipped up this bag by McCalls..(Pictures to follow...) Just as well she did or I wouldn't have been able to get all of my loot home without it.

The Family Anthem

Does your family have a favourite song? One that when hummed by one, is sung loudly by all? Mine does.
I wouldn't say that I have ever been a Bob Marley fan, it isn't that I would have switched stations, groaning loudly, when he started to sing but,I wouldn't have turned him up either! Something more pop or rock were my tunes of choice.
When Oriana and Inigo started school, their first teacher loved Bob Marley and the two of them loved Mr Moss! So much so they invited him to their 5th birthday party -and he came!
At tidy up time the first few bars of three little birds would have the class rushing to tidy the room. After a few weeks Oriana had learnt the words and she could be heard lisping them all around the house "This is my message to youhoo". Her siblings soon joined her and three little voices from different rooms could be heard singing "every little thing gonna be alright". .

At the end of the year the school put on a play I don't remember anything about it except at the end every child in the school started singing. Three little birds sung by over a hundred little people was probably one of the most moving things I have ever heard.There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Last year when we decided it was time for Oriana to have a room separate from her brother I knew that I wanted to make them each the perfect quilt.
I found a small wall quilt in Quiltmania that Oriana liked. It just wasn't big enough I decided to expand on it but with what? ...then I heard Oriana singing and I knew she just had to have Three little birds singing sweet songs.
If your family has an anthem, drop me a comment I would love to know

And they're off -Or day two

Well I had couple of days until the tour started with not much to do. So I cast on Tropicana, I bought the lovely silk at woolfest and although I had a couple of false starts I finally got my swing on Thursday. I had a long journey on friday evening and again yesterday and easily memorised pattern was perfect for this. I am really enjoying knitting it and in someways I am a little frustrated to be putting it down to start the Eyelet Chemise.Maybe I will sneak a few rows in everyday:)
I was away over the weekend so had a late start on the Eyelet Chemise. I cast on last night. Knitting in cotton after silk is a little bit of a shock to the fingers. Though the cotton has a lovely stitch definition and seems to knit up really quickly Which is very useful when it is pattern based on inches rather than rows!

Tour de France Kal

Tomorrow is the start of the tour de france. It is also the start of the knitalong on Ravelry! It is not that I am particularly interested in bike riding but, I do like the idea of a knitalong. Especially when you actually make something you really want to a deadline.
I have decided on the Eyelet Chemise by Terese Chenynoweth. I have wanted to make it since the Summer 2006 interweaves came through my door but somehow have always got sidetracked.
I am unsure if I will finish. A new job and a trip to Canada make things in the middle of the tour make things a little more hectic around here but I am going to have a really good time trying.

Ishbel

I once heard unblocked,knitted lace, described as looking like a bag of cat sick! I think this is a little unfair but, it is true to say the metamorphosis is similar to that of Caterpillar to beautiful butterfly.
The last week I have been knitting Ishbel a lovely straight forward pattern by Ysolda Teague. The first was in Collinette Jitterbug,
the second was from stash three balls of Rowan Damask.
It shows great versatility on the part of the pattern that it looks equally lovely in both yarns. The first is warm and cosy perfect to keep out winter chills
the second is crisp and summer. I was a little worried that the Damask may not hold its points but, it turns out the points are lovely and crisp whilst the shawl has a great drape.
Unfortunately neither are destined to be mine. Though I have two equally gorgeous yarns earmarked to make it in sometime in the not too distant future. Maybe I will get to keep one of them.

Scrappy Nine Patch

A few weeks ago, I came across Crazy Mom Quilts and her one a day quilt along. I thought that it sounded like a good idea, one block a day, and a great way of using up scraps but, I had so much on the go that I probably wouldn't bother. I mentioned it in passing to my quilting buddies the little blue tortoise and J who got really enthused. We decided to pool our scraps so that we would all have a variety of fabrics. I had a major clear out of all the little bits I had pieces going back to my earliest quilts. Every Thursday for the last couple of weeks we have grabbed great handfuls of 2.5" square and handed over our nine patches. The rest of the week has been a frenzy of nine patch piecing as we tried to catch up. At the end of thursday evening the nine patches have then been spread across the floor and we have each picked one till they were gone. At day 53 we have 59 each and the target is 70 which makes a single bed size. We still have a lot of scraps and I am still enjoying the rhythmic piecing so maybe mine will end up a double.

Hey Jude

It is gorgeous! The fabric is heavy and very luxurious.The colour magnificent. The buttons a perfect match. The stitch pattern was interesting without being too difficult.
But Why did it have to take so much effort to finish? It has been my nemesis, my only garment for me this year.
It has been like a creative sponge zapping my enthusiasm for all other projects. The whole thing was so stressful it had to be pulled out so many times firstly because I made too large a size then because it was too short. If I hadn't wanted it so badly it would definitely have joined the never to be finished pile. The buttonhole band alone took about four attempts to get it set up straight. Would I do it again? Yes, I love it!

Catching up!

We have just had our annual visit to Brugge to visit the inlaws. I have been there so often I forget that it really is quite pretty. Anyway I got busy with the camera and brought you back some delights of the city.Hmmm Chocolate

There is a story about Brugge and the swans. I am not entirley sure of it but basically the people of Brugge did something wrong and were punished by having to feed the swans.
I spent my second wonderful afternoon in Hema with the knit and knatter group that I met through ravelry. The bright green pile is Jude or as I have renamed it the rip stitch sweater as I have pulled it off the needles so many times.

I also visited my favourite shop in Brugge (more than once)De Lander it sells gorgeous patchwork fabrics,patchwork and bear kits as well as lovely home gifts.
Katie who owns it was busy telling me how she hates having her photo taken (I guess she will hate it even more when she realises what I have done with it!) LOL!Though all of the quilts you can see Katie has made whilst sitting at the counter.

The sleepy canine is called Lander, I guess you know who the shop is named after.
Mario and I were sat on the square having a drink and watching the world go by,it was very civilised.

Sometimes you just need an Angel!

I seem to be very behind with everything at the moment. A combination of lethargy,lack of time and a wrist that doesn't quite do what I want. Which is why the day before the Little Blue Tortoise's birthday I still hadn't organised making her present.
I had decided on this Tilda Angel last year as it is just perfect for her. Then I ended up making something else. The fabric has been sitting waiting on the shelf looking at me for months. so on Wednesday I drew around the pieces. The sewing on the machine wasn't difficult and I whipped it up Thursday morning before work. However stuffing it was a bit beyond me. Luckily I had two little angels of my own to help!
They really enjoyed it even though it was a little rushed(we did it as we got home from school). I can see more of these popping up around the house very soon.
I think everyone has now received my Handmade Happiness Gifts so I shall reveal what I made. The posie pattern is from Lucy at Attic24
the needlecases and the bookcovers are my own design.I am very pleased with the book covers and one of these days I will make one for myself.

There are some very complimentary things said both Here and Here.
Mousie here was given as part of the exchange but was really for a very pernickity cat called Jack. The lure of cat nip makes him like me a little better.

The booties are for a soon to be arrival.