Sick as a dog

Me not well. Very not well.
Since Thursday I've been in a heap.

I actually thought I might have had swine flu I felt so awful. I finally managed to drag my ass to the doctor this morning and he said it's not swine flu, but a bad infection. Infection? More like runover with a train.
Anyway I'm off work for a week and on steroids.
A measure of how sick I am? I can't even knit. Typing this makes me want to go lie down for a while. So, hopefully normal service will resume in a few days.

Guess who's back, back again...

I know I was missing for a bit before I went away, but I swear, teacher, I do have a good excuse!
I won't get into the specifics as that would involve a lengthy post all on its own, but suffice to say that Dad got suddenly ill on the Saturday before I was due to go away. ( I found him collapsed on the bedroom floor where he'd been for 6 hours, but didn't call me as "he didn't want to bother me"). So bad I had to call an ambulance and he was admitted to hospital. The social worker got involved and refused to release him into the current home situation (caring for my Mam).
I finally managed to get him released on the Wed evening after I had organised a private health care crowd to call every day while I was on holidays, at a cost of approx €1000 for me.
So, I was due to fly out on Thurs morning, and I only knew for sure I was going on Wed night.
I shall summarise and say that I genuinely thought this holiday wasn't going to happen, and even when it did, I was so stressed out that the first week was kind of a blur.
BUT,
I did manage to have a good time, and I did do some yarn shopping.
Before the pron goodness, I must say a very large thank you to my hubby, John. He was an absolute rock during the crisis with my Dad, as he constantly is with my Mam. I don't think I could cope with them on my own. He really is a superstar. I love you.

Ok, slushy stuff over, let's get down to the knitty yarn pron gritty.
Bear in mind that I was much more restrained this year due to the current economic climate...
So I bought the following in no particular order:
Sugar n Cream Stripy stuff in various colours:

Patons Classic Wool as Alice specifically asked me for a Sock Monkey from the free pattern that accompanied it. I know, I KNOW it's toy knitting, but I was BEGGED. What can you do?

Then I found the bead section in Michaels. Short story = I went mad buying stuff to make stitch markers. Watch this space for exciting new stitch marker discovery stuff.

So I also bought some yum:

Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine

What a yum colour.

Some Cascade 220 as you can't go wrong with it:

Some Louet Riverstone as I fell in love with the colour but have no idea what to make with it:

Some more Sugar n Cream:

And then I went Knit Picks shopping.

I bought the Christmas tree ornament kit:

All Palette yarn, and needing to be knit asap.

I got my hands on the Maeve Fair Isle Mittens and Scarf kit:

I also grabbed some Essential tweedy sock yarn:

I shopped further afield and grabbed:

Fibranatura Yummy:

And scoop of all scoops...

Malabrigo Sock!!!

So that seems to be all of my purchases.

Project news:

The Noro Striped scarf is complete, in fact hubby wore it to work this morning. I have enough left over to make one for my Dad for Christmas.

This was my airplane and holiday knitting. Due to the flake out/total destress/in a heap nature on my holiday I'm very sad to report that there are no fantastico by the pool looking sexy avec la sock photos. But I do attest that some sexy by the pool fantastico sexy avec la sock knitting did take place. It was thououghly enjoyed by both me and the sock. Between the flights and the lounging, this is how much I managed to get through:

One and a half socks. Not bad going when you factor in all the sunbathing, swimming, park visiting and shopping. Not to mention the odd drinkie. Odd. Definitely odd. ok?

It was a great break, once I managed to let go.

I can't tell you how stressful it was, not knowing whether I was going or not until the afternoon before the flight. My poor Dad, he felt so guilty for getting sick, and my Mam? Oblivious.

There is a whole heap more to this story, if you want to know, feel free to ask. I just didn't want t0 clog the knitty place with any more personal stuff. Suffice to say that I spent most of this holiday either on the phone to Mam & Dad or the hospital workers, or worrying about them. I figure this will be my last holiday until they pass.

So I now have been given my Christmas orders. Hubby wants a new sweater that doesn't have "boobies" (see previous posts) and Alice wants a matching hat and mittens set, but the hat "HAS" to have ear flaps as they (her ears) "get really cold and I can't learn in school coz all I think about is my cold ears", plus they're COOL. OK so, a hat with ear flaps it is.

How I've spent my Sunday

OK, so it all started with a discussion on the Irish Knitters board on Ravelry, here.
Someone mentioned making an Owls sweater, and we all just kind of decided to join in, as you do.
I must admit I think it would be great fun if we all assembled en masse in our Owly creations on the streets of Dublin. Imagine the looks we'd get? great fun.
I've always liked this sweater, so I said that I'd join in but not until I get back from holidays.
Yeah, that worked.
Now this sweater is meant to be knit in Bulky weight yarn, but, y'know bulky me + bulky yarn does not equal a flattering project in my opinion, so I was thinking about using something else.
namely, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I lurves this yarn. I know it's not an Owly colour, but hey. I like pink and what's wrong with bringing out the feminine side of owls?
Only problem was, it was already made into a cardigan that I didn't like, the Flutter Sleeve Cardigan(ugh):

Like I said, I wasn't even going to think about this until I came back from holidays.
So, today, after a bit of cleaning around (I'm so proud of myself for managing to do some cleaning!) I attacked the cardigan.
I must admit it was quite nice ripping that thing back to the yarn again. I hated that project, I think it was my biggest "pattern for me" disaster ever. Anyway, I ended up with a load of balls (stop it)

Yay! I thought. I'll just skein them , wash them and hang them to dry and my Owls sweater will be ready to start when I get back from holidays. I like the way I keep reiterating "after the holidays", as if I'm going to do that now? No chance.
Anyway, skeining isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you have to wind the balls into centre pull balls first as otherwise they hop all over my (uncleaned) kitchen floor.
So I wound them first, then skeined them. About an hour and a half later, I have this:

Lots of lovely washed skeins of yarn de-kinking on the line beside my lurvly hand made socks that I washed while I had the bowl of soak. Kill two birds? Oh yes. And it was one more job off the list. See how I made this into a house cleaning task? I know, I'm a domestic goddess. (snort)

So, once these dry I have to wind them again into centre pull balls and I'm all set for my Owls jumper. When I get back from holidays. Not before. No.
All I need to worry about now is getting gauge or redoing the pattern for lighter weight yarn, upsizing the pattern for me, and doing lots of maths I'm sure. So yeah. A piece of cake.
After my holidays. Not before.

Swallowed by a black hole

I know, I know, I've been lacking in the blogging. I just don't know where the time has gone.

I think maybe I was swallowed by a black hole and was only spat out this evening.

It reminds me of the excuses I would give to teachers for not having my homework done: "But teacher, I DID do that 6 page essay on the merits of Othellos realtionship with Desdemona, and it was fabulous, but then my rabbit must have been hungry, because next thing? It was shredded on the floor."

I haven't been neglecting my knitting however, here you go, an FO:

Pattern: Baby Aran Cardigan from an ancient Wendy pattern

Yarn: Sirdar Bonus Aran

Needles: 3.75mm and 4.5mm KnitPicks Options

(I know the picture is crappy, but it's dark here people)

A grand and handy knit, it must be said. Just too much seaming for my liking. I do like the bobbles, though I'm unsure about them for a baby garment. I think the temptation for a baby to suck on them would be quite high? Still, the one thing my friend asked for was an aran for the impending arrival. I think this fits the bill.

I also think this is my baby knitting obligations fulfilled.

I love the buttons too, I got them last Saturday on sale in a store, I think €1.10 for 4? They suit it great I think.

It's a shame that I mis-calculated the button spacing and left too large a gap in the middle. Still, overall I'm pretty happy with it.

I've also made another one of the Petal bibs, in the yummy yellow Rowan cotton that Tara sent me, but I accidentally deleted it from the camera. DUH. I'll post a pic next time, I promise!

My next piece of knittyness is the Noro Striped Scarf:

I've been dying to make this for ages, and we're in the middle of a cold snap at the moment (3C this morning, scraping ice off the car windscreen ugh) so what better time?

I'm not using Noro, but King Cole Mirage (a budget friendly alternative).

I thought when I bought the balls that the colours would go very well together, but upon knitting I think it's a bit masculine and insipid. Maybe I can lie to hubby and pretend there's no wool in it and see if he'll wear it?

Still, it's mindless easy peasy knitting so I'm good with that for the moment.

Only 2 weeks until my Sunshine State excursion! I'm so excited you'd swear it was my first time. I think making the afghan has increased the excitement level by a few notches.(Plus the promise of some sunshine!)

I'm still torn about my airplane project, although I think I'm decided upon the yarn. I think I'm going to spoil myself on the plane and knit with one of my Wollmeise skeins. Which one and what pattern? God knows so far. Some work is required I think.

Speaking of work, I need to get my internet orders from KnitPicks and Webs sorted too. Methinks some KnitPicks City Tweed is called for, but apart from that? Who knows. Anyone have any yarn faves from these two retailers? And from any others, as I will be visiting 3 LYS while I'm there too!

Have a good week!

I Got Game

I can bring it. Oh yes I can.
Behold, the Liberty Bell Afghan in all its finished glory:

Pattern: Liberty Bell Afghan from Cover Up with Nicky Epstein

Yarn: Various Acrylics and cotton backing fabric

Needles: 5mm Addi Clicks

Here you can see the backing fabric and how it goes with the afghan front:

Isn't it great? I can't wipe the smug grin off my face at the moment.

This was the backing fabric pinned and tacked befoew sewing in.

Thanks to the girls from my knitting group and my sister in law, I have mastered the invisible hem stitch. Check it out:

Neat huh? It took me about 4 hours to sew in the backing fabric which I think is quite good considering it was by hand, and my first time. I finished it at about 6 this evening when I made and sewed on the tassels.

So, do you think my sister in law will like it? I sure hope so!

In the meantime I cast on for this Baby Aran Cardigan.

The back:

The Left Front:

Just the thing, some instant gratification after a long hefty project like the afghan.

In other great news, I got the most fantastic care package from Tara. I had put out a plea for a copy of Interweave Knits Weekend, as it wasn't available here, and she kindly volunteered to post it to me. Much to my surprise, there were goodies in the parcel too!

A gorgeous sheepie card addressed by her adorable daughter, a kite for Alice made by her husbands own fair hands and a ball of Rowan Handknit cotton in the most scrumptious shade of yellow. Reminds me of banana ice cream. Isn't she the best? Thanks Tara!

My Mam had her brain CT scan today. Once I managed to get her up, dressed and out of the house it wasn't too bad actually, I thought when she saw the machine she'd have a fit, but the staff were great. They didn't give her a chance to freak, just popped her on the bed and bish bash bosh. Just what she needed.

Let's hope the results of the scan and the geriatrician appt on Thursday go as well!

Not much in the way of knitting

It's been a quiet photo worthy knitty week here.
I'm about to start the last chart of the afghan (can I get a yay?) so I hope to have a beautious FO to show next post. I'll have to wait till next Tuesdays knitting group to get help to sew on the backing fabric though, so it won't be fully finished till then.

I've knit about 4 rounds of Alices Sunday Swing socks as well, so like I said a really slow week.

We went to the Dublin Kite Festival last Sunday though, and it was great fun. It was an amazingly hot day, not a cloud in the sky. So rare for here, let me tell you! Just perfect for viewing kites, although not quite windy enough for flying them...

Hubby took lots of pictures:
Here's a slideshow of some of the best pics we took:

Oh, I almost forgot, I got an email from The Book Depository and my copy of Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Knitting is winging its way to me as we speak! I can't wait to get this and have a good read.

I'm one subborn MoFo

I'm a really stubborn person. Maybe it's the Irish in me, I don't know, but I won't let anything beat me. Especially not this knitting project. I'm going to finish this by God, and I would prefer to have this finished in the next week or two so I can get back to something nice for me before the holidays. Speaking of holidays, time is getting on so I need to pick my airplane sock project. Any ideas?
Progress so far:

I've finished the star chart and am on to the second last chart, the emblem.
Here's an idea of the size of it so far, compared to Alice (who is tall for her age)

It's looking good, no? Of course once I finish the knitting I then have to figure out how to sew on the backing.
We've started watching the West Wing again from the beginning (Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, sigh) so I'm feeling suitably American-ly patriotic whilst knitting this.
I've had an awful cold recently too (no, not Swine Flu) so it has been very comforting to have this on my lap.

I got what I presume is the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting in the post today.

I don't know what is up with the Designer Knitting title, why not just call it Vogue? Anyway, I've only just got it and haven't read the articles yet, just flicked through the patterns.
Two catch my eye so far:

I like this, but don't know how wearable this would be for me. Methinks a tad bulky, but I love the stitches in it, especially the cabled band.

This one I love.

I think it looks fab on the model, but she has no boobage. I think the place where the cables stop and the yoke begins would make mine look even bigger (if poss) so if I were to make this I would have to make the cables stop lower or higher. If I ever get round to it! I do love it though, I love cables, and I reckon this could easily enough be converted to in the round á la EZ's EPS. Hmmm...