Childhood memories...............................

Well today was almost interesting!

I had lots of people in the Jury waiting room today wanting to know how I had got on with my sock and had I finished the first one yet. I went on to have a few interesting converstations about knitting, who could, who couldn't, who would like too etc.....
Many were suprised that I started knitting when I was only 5 years old.
Thinking back to what I knitted as a child I bought this book at Ally Pally. It is a reprint of one that my gran bought for me when I was about 8. I was determinded that I was going to make everything in it - thank goodness I didn't otherwise I would have had the taste police after me.



There are some interesting designs. Not all politically correct I might add. I am not sure at this point if it is wise to disclose exactly which ones I knitted! Maybe another time.Or maybe you can have a guess?











1 whole sock and 1 top of sock done - aiming to turn the heel on the train tomorrow.

Did have the most lovely veiw of St Pauls Cathedral today as I stood halfway across the millennium bridge at lunchtime.

What do you do on Jury Service.............................?

Well what do you do with all that time sitting around on your backside while you are on Jury service then? Knit a sock of course!
Brittany wooden needles so they can go through the security scanner without any problems and knitting in the round so you can stop quite quickly if you are summoned to go down to court.



Here is the original yarn.........


Lovely cashmere sock yarn from Hipknits. This was a sale lot and is a little on the musty side and I had a few breakages today but still a bargain.

As it was my first day I had to leave early this morning and catch a train at 7.20am but managed to find a seat and start knitting straight away. When I arrived at Waterloo I decided that what I actually needed was a lovely stroll along the side of the river so instead of catching a bus I decided to walk, which in retrospect was a good decision as I spent the rest of the day cooped up in the Jury waiting room. I am officially a Juror in waiting. I feel very experienced in waiting now. I have done 7 hours of just waiting today. I did get out for an hour at lunch. Just enough to grab a coffee and walk to the river and back.
I wish I could post pictures of my lovely walk and the view I had across the millennium bridge, however I am not allowed to take a camera into this well known and prestigious court so it had to stay at home. Maybe I will get a few snaps on my phone to upload.
This evening I did the return walk across the millennium walk way and towards the Tate modern. I suppose if you have to do a commute for two weeks this is a reasonable one.
Also an hours walking every day has to be good for me doesn't it. Being based in town and travelling to Waterloo also has one other major advantage. It is one stop away from Vauxhall and Iknit - now officially in Timeout in the top 1000 things to do in London. Well done Craig and Gerard. Right I am off to check my train times for tomorrow now.

I want to knit these gloves........................

Aren't they just lovely and I think that this yarn will do just perfectly. I haven't knitted gloves before so this is going to be a new challenge. I am one step closer by knitting the tabi socks which have the separate toe. I guess gloves are just like doing five separate toes just a bit thinner and a bit longer? I also want to find some lovely beads to go down the sides too. Will have to get the lovely Gabrielle to guide me to the bead shop when she is back from her visit across the pond.







This is my Smooshy - Dream in colour yarn that I bought at the Socktopus Launch party in September. It is so smooshy! These will be perfect with the bright new pink coat I have bought myself.
Does anyone have any good tips for knitting gloves?
It really is time I invested in a skein winder.

Knit a Tit and the Party in Pink...............

Oh what a great afternoon, I haven't laughed so much in absolutely ages. Armed with some pink wool and some DPNs the mission was to Knit a Tit and raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness thanks to Iknit (Gerard and Craig) and Sue who was teaching the workshop.



So the aim was to knit one of the above while having a little fun and to help it along the way a few pink bubbles. To start it was a small icord that could be tied into a knot to form a nipple and then it was knitting in the round on DPN's and increasing as you went to make the front of the breast. A bit tricky to start with when you only have 6sts but a few increases later and it gets much easier.



So with the help of the bubbles we get on our way. It is at this point that I think I should mention Sue had kindly brought along nipple piercings for those who wanted them ......for the prosthesis I might add rather than the knitters.


Checking them out for size. And making a right tit of myself (or was it my left?).

Once the back and front were knitted it was time to stuff the breast into boob shape. However, it was at this point that we discovered that we were just a little short of any stuffing when Sue had the great idea of using the ballons that she had brought along.



What can I say, must be the cheapest boob job in town.

If you want to knit a tit yourself or for someone you know the pattern is available free on Knitty.com Issuefall05
Further information about knitted breast prothesis can be found at Titbits.

Preparing to Knit a Tit....................

OK so a little preparation is needed for the knit a tit session at Iknit. Mostly baking..........
So here are my little tits!

One of these tits is not like the other one.....one of these tits is not quite the same.....
Did you spot it?
OK so I did discover that you can buy tubes of only pink smarties but they just don't make nipples like Jelly tots do!




What a lovely pair.
This is what I made with the left over mixture........ inspired by my visit to Iknit last week to meet Jane Brocket at Crafternoon tea and buy her book the Gentle Art of Domesticity, I think it somewhat resembles the cover do you not?



I even made the sponge pink too. And it was actually edible.
So all that is needed now is to pack up this little lot with a bottle of the pink bubbly stuff and go off to Vauxhall.

Knitters are such lovely people..................

Why are knitters such lovely people? I will tell you why. Yesterday I went to the post office to collect a parcel that had arrived for me the day before and this is what was in it.



I was so excited. It was sent to me by a very kind knitter who saw a post that I made on Ravelry about having this book on my wish list. She had already read it and offered to send it to me, but not only did she send me the book but a lovely note and a bar of chocolate. Apparently you need a nice cup of tea and some chocolate to really enjoy it. I am looking forward to setting away some me time to do this very, very soon. This was so kind as I have never met this lady before, although I am hoping to at the Stitch and Bitch London event on 10th November, tickets from Iknit London.

It was timed very well and put me into a positive mood for going into school during the half term. I was able to get quite a bit of display work done and was pleased with my finished efforts which I have chosen to share.

What shall we do with Rowan Chunky Print?

Well it seemed like such a bargain when I saw a pack of 10 balls of Rowan Chunky Print on the The Black Sheep stand at Ally Pally last year - less than half price and vaguely pink it had to be a bargain -didn't it?

Little did I know at the time it was going to take me a year to find a pattern that I really liked and was worth knitting.


This was the first pattern that I found, in fact the only pattern I could find in a Rowan book to use with the yarn I had just bought. I bought myself some lovely Brittany needles in 12mm and 10mm needles and was ready to cast on. I managed about 10 rows and mastered the wrapping around but decided this just wasn't an item I was going to wear. The project was then shelved for about 6 months.

Then while searching on Knitty.com I came across this purely by accident and decided that this could be a very good use for my yarn.

I still haven't decided whether I will knit this and I still have 6 balls left if I do go ahead which is enough but on Saturday while visiting Iknit London I found this in the new edition of Yarn Forward Magazine (Autumn 2007 - issue 3).

It was perfect so I got casting on straight away. I do wonder if the designer also picked up a pack of this yarn at Ally Pally too and also couldn't find a pattern so went ahead and designed her own. What ever the reason I am eternally grateful. I have been knitting this today while in the queque at Chessington World of Adventures. I have almost finished. It really is a very quick knit and only takes 4 balls.

I now want to see if I can also knit up a child's version in 2 balls.

Crafternoon Tea with Jane Brocket......... or whipping up a Yarnstorm

On Saturday I decided to venture up to Vauxhall and find Iknit and go along to Crafternoon tea with Jane Brocket - the author of the controversal (although I didn't know that until I arrived) The Gentle Art of Domesticity and blogger of Yarnstorm.

I still don't understand what has caused such a stir and concern amongst so many. I can only put it down to jealousy. Jane has done some interesting things in her life and is willing to have a go and learn new skills - so what if some of these are termed domestic. She knits, she sews, she bakes, she is creative - I really don't get what is so wrong with that. As she pointed out these are only a very small area of her life there are many more things that she does. I do all those things too and a good number of others not related to anything anywhere near domestic. I don't think I am a bad person and I don't feel guilty that I can do these things.

Anyway Jane was a fantastic speaker and it was so interesting to see the inspiration that she has drawn upon for some of her creations, especially the chocolate box quilt.

I had a fantastic afternoon and indulged in some of the cakes as did this young lady!

I believe like a true knitter she learnt the art of stashing that afternoon I am only sad to say that it wasn't yet with yarn!

I also couldn't resist making a few purchases in Iknit while I was there including the latest edition of Yarn Forward, and some Rowan Damask that was in the Sale. My copy of the book has already been whisked away ready for sending to Santa for Christmas.

The big knit....................

So here are my 32 Hats knitted for the Inocent Smoothie Big Knit. I am very pleased with the stash that I managed to use up knitting this little lot and the variations that I created. I refuse to spend hours making pom poms when I could be knitting more hats to raise more money. Looking forward to seeing them all out in the shops.

I decided to avoid all the recent hassles with the post and take them with me to Ally Pally and hand them in there and then.

My toeless socks....................................

So this is how it goes......

They started off as two skeins or luxury Evolution from Chameleon Colourworks in Flamingo Sunrise (bought at the Socktopus Launch party).
Don't they just look so lucuious you want to eat them. So lovely in fact I wanted to deviate from my standard pattern so went and looked in my Not just more socks book to see what caught my eye.

Next I wound up into balls and cast on. I then bought this lovely Go pouch for knitting on the move to carry my latest project around Ally Pally with me at the show. I have to say I was really pleased with the way the rib was turning out. Just like the one in the book. What do you think?

Ok the legs here are hairyer than mine but I think that the colour works really well. I also love my new little stitch markers care of Alice who packages everything up from Socktopus so carefully and thoughtfully. Everytime I open a package it is like having an early birthday. So progress is looking good. What I hadn't considered in my pattern selection was the extra yarn required by such a long rib and loose leg (80sts) the consequences being pictured below.

Yes I finished the skein and I am 3cm plus toes shaping short of completing my socks and as you can see from the toes themselves they do need covering up. I am currently chasing up an extra skein and thanks to the kind knitters on Ravelry and with the help of Alice from Socktopus I may well achieve this. However I have also had some good advice from other knitters such as using a contrast for the toe or learning a toe up method for sock knitting so that I could contrast the cuff. I do really hope that I manage to sort out the problem with an extra skein of the same colourway though as they were a special treat and the first yarn that I picked up at the launch party and never considered even for one second to put down. So toes crossed for extra yarn to be sourced.

Getting really frustrated..........why won't it load my photos???

Have spent most of today trying to update my blog and add photos. Getting so frustrated. I have managed to add a few but I only manage to load one every seven or eight tries at the moment. It is so annoying. I so wanted to get all my Ally Pally pictures up with yarn and friends! I am sure there must be an easier way than I am doing it at the moment.
Just want to get posts up really. All the photos are sitting on my hard drive just waiting to be shared with anyone who can be bothered to look! Hope this problem gets sorted out soon.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ally Pally and all that stash..................installment one!

Ok so I am far behind everyone else posting and blogging about their Ally Pally purchases but I have been busy knititing some of mine. I had a really great day with Gabrielle and this time we had a plan of attack. Gabrielle had managed to aquire a copy of the floor plan in advance so the tube journey was spent with two coloured highlighter pens to mark important stands to visit.

Our first ports of call were to be Socktopus and Purlescence to see the lovely Alice and then the lovely Robynn and helper Armin.

Here is Alice on the Thursday with helper Emma from London SnB and Gabrielle. I bought one of those Go pouches that are on the wall. I nearly bought one last year and then didn't and regretted it ever since.

Here is the lovely Socktopus stand with all the lucious yarn. It's those lovely sock blockers on the wall that I want. Maybe with little yarn and needle cut outs although Alice's pug ones are great. I bought some lovely red Handmaiden yarn with cashmere.

Here is the lovely Robynn of Purlescence on her stand too! Look at those fabulous Off hand design bags in the background. They are just fantastic. I must have already purchased every style of needle case that they do, straights, circulars and DPNs all in a lovely speckled tweed. I am looking into the Lantern Moon Crochet Case next - really beautiful and with a lovely weight to it. This is seriously going on my Christmas and Birthday list. I just love the delicate black and white beading. You can by one yourself here.

Gabrielle and I had a really fab day with some other really good purchases. I will post those tomorrow as I have been having a really hard time uploading photos and twice when I actually got them to load I ended up promptly deleting them. I think it is time to quit while I'm ahead at the moment. I did buy some gorgeous yarns though.

oh and did I mention at all that we ended the day with a glass of champagne in the champagne bar in the good company of some of the London Stitch and Bitch crew, very nice to meet y'all again. Loved the posters and so wish you had them available for sale! I particularly like Knitty Woman! Well done girls.

Going to have to frog it................

OK so it started off as a lovely skein of Handmaiden Sea cell and Silk in the most divine colours ever. It was going to be a mobieus scarf based on a Cat Bohordi design, it took ages to cast on. And ages to knit a round. Just look at those lovely colours. I was knitting every round with anticipation. Looking forward to jazzing up my winter wardrobe. Having something luxurious to wear. The yarn seemed to be going on for ages and was fantastic to knit with, and then finally I finished it.

So here it is. Unfortunately it is far too long and not what I was hoping for at all. I know I could wrap it around several times but that really defeats the object of having used a mobieus cast on. It also isn't as wide as I wanted. So the only alteranative seems to be to frog the yarn and start all over again with half the number of stitches.

I will let you know when version two is finished. I need to get hold of Robynn first to show me the mobieus cast on again. I have to say I am not looking forward to doing the first round in which I convinced myself what I was doing had to be totally wrong. Luckily I decided to do the whole round and unpick then if it was wrong but at that point it all fell into place.

I did enjoy using the addi turbo circular needles though, they were a real pleasure to knit with.