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.