Production Halt

Due to technical difficulties chez KnitInc, production has ground to a halt.

I blame it all on the decorating bug that seems to have struck. Yesterday we painted the bedroom that used to be Alice's. That's two bedrooms in one week.
That and the stupid café curtains I decided to knit for Alice in a moment of madness.

Take a look:

That represents, what, a week of knitting? Whenever my last post was. I hate it. The lace pattern is lovely, but the yarn I was using was crap and it frustrated the life out of me. There were 295 sts in a row, and almost every patterned row was off by at least one stitch when I got to the end. Invariably the mistake was at the beginning of the row, so I had to rip back almost all the way and do it again. Every second row. Gah.

Too much like hard work. I decided this morning it had to go. I frogged and then decided I'd wind it into a ball to use again later. I dug out the swift and proceeded to wind it back on. Yeah. Crappy yarn struck again, and all that came out of the centre was lump after lump after lump.

I ended up with this by the time I lost the head:

It has now found a new home in the bin. I hope it will be very happy with the peach stones (from a peach cobbler I made last night NOM), hair from hairbrushes and assorted other items of garbage that are really too good to associate with this lump of evil yarn. Buh bye, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

So I now need to decide if I want to knit the damn curtains at all or go out and buy some. I feel like my mojo has taken a right beating this week. I need something to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside again. Ideas?

Nothing else has been knit this week. Except for about two 6 row repeats of this sock:

This is my Baby Fern Sock using the Wollmeise Pfefferminz Prinz that was rescued from the clutches of my nemesis, the evil Pomatomus sock pattern.

Although, I'm not sure I like the Nike-type arrow of green that seems to be emerging. Hmm. I doubt I'll dislike it enough to rip it back, though, I've had quite enough of frogs for one day.

Hubby's mother was taken in to hospital last weekend and hasn't been very well. More hospital dramaz! I feel like I should have a free parking pass in all Dublin hospitals at this stage. I know the inside of them by heart!

Anyway, Alice & I made her a card this morning:

Not bad, eh? In fairness I did more of the making while she did the important job of "Handing me stuff & making sure I cut straight". Sigh.

I went on a knitty outing this week too. I decided to go into the Wednesday morning meetup in Powerscourt Shopping Centre as A. was home from Spain for a week and had tweeted she was going to pop in. I haven't seen her since UK Ravelry Day in Coventry, UK, last year. So I packed my Fern Sock & Alice into the car & off we went. SheKnitUpThatBall & GaietyGirl (who had a big box of her lovely hand dyed yarn ready for delivery to ThisIsKnit. You can check her yarn out here)were there, too & we had a great chat about anything & everything as well as some yummy scones & coffee.

Of course I had to trade off with Alice. I ended up in H&M and buying her Hello Kitty clothes. A small price to pay for an hour or so of knitty fun. I really enjoyed it.

So, that's about it. Oh, one last thing I'm sure will give you a giggle.

I was trying to see if there were any other suitable yarns in my stash to re-commence the café curtains this morning when hubby came in to the kitchen.

"Whatcha doin?" he asked.

"Looking for replacement yarn" sez I.

"Oh, can I hel- WTF you have 169 stashed yarns???? And you want to buy more in the States this year? No way José!!!"

Shit. I've been rumbled.

The Lesser Spotted Blogger

Yes, it's me, the blogger formerly known as Sinéad. I haven't been around for a while, so I'm not surprised if you all have forgotten me!
It's amazing, I thought being off work for a few weeks would mean I had loads of time for things like knitting & blogging. Not so!
I'm busier than ever!

I've loads to report in this post, so settle down with a coffee and read on.

First item of big news, I bought an iPad!



I couldn't help myself. They went on sale here in Ireland on July 23rd, and somehow I ended up at the store at 11 that morning. Before I knew it, I was walking out with one in my bag. I love it. I haven't put it down since!

It came in especially handy on my trip to London last weekend. I downloaded an app for the London Underground that saved my bacon on several occasions!

So I was at Knit Nation last weekend. I had the best time!

I took a full day class with Cookie A on Top Down Design your own socks. It was absolutely brilliant! I learned so much. She's a great teacher, really enthusiastic. You can tell she used to be a math teacher, she's so into maths that it shines through. We went through the elements of sock design, how to put them all together, and then she passed out Japanese stitch pattern books & we got to work picking a stitch pattern & working out our own socks.

I hope to get going on them again, so watch this space for my Cookie A class socks!

BTW, the Japanese Stitch Pattern books are just gorgeous. Some really unusual stitches. I may have to invest in some, but it'll have to be later in the year, I'm completely broke after this weekend in London!

Look what Cookie had with her for the class:

All her sample socks! The original ones! I couldn't believe it. She passed them round the class all the time. I couldn't keep my hands off them. The original Monkey!! It was great.

I brought my copy of Sock Innovation with me and she kindly signed it:

I didn't get a photo with her though :(

During the lunch break from the class, I scooted down to the marketplace to nab myself some goodies. First up was the Wollmeise stall. I had done my homework and knew exactly where the stall was in the hall, so I made a beeline for it first...

And I wasn't disappointed.

These pictures don't do it justice. It was HUGE!

I've never seen the like before. All that Wollmiese. *sigh* It was gorgeous. It was a bit of a scrum, but I managed to get some. I could only buy three, as she wouldn't take credit cards. I was quite annoyed by this, to be honest. Every other stall I purchased something at took it. Why was she so special? I think it was because she knew people would make the effort to bring the cash because of the yarn. Bad business practice IMO. She doesn't have to pay any credit card fees, and I have to pay to convert sterling. Plus, I would have bought more from her if I could have used my card. I didn't want to be carrying too much cash around with me.

OK, rant over, here's what I bought:

I got a Knit Nation tshirt, which I love. It's really comfy.

The Wollmeise I bought:

One skein of 80/20 twin in Amethyst 2. The purple is so rich! It's gorgeous.

One skein of Lacegarn in Pesto. 1717 yards of the most gorgeous green lace!

One skein of 100% Merino Superwash in Tandoori Masala. I had to buy this as I love Indian food, and the shade of reddish brown is the most wonderful hue:

At lunchtime there was a prize draw. This is a sample of the gathering:

Not surprisingly, I didn't win anything. :(

Here's some more stash enhancement:

At long last, I have a skein of Handmaiden Casbah sock yarn:

This yarn is so smooshy! I love it.

I also nabbed some Fyberspates:

This stuff is fabulous. It's called Sparkle. It's sock yarn with real silver in it. It's 65% Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon & 2% Silver. Ooh! BionicLaura rightly predicted that Alice would snap this up for a pair of socks for her. I'll see. I don't know the yardage of this skein yet.

I also bought this:

This is The Natural Dye Studio Blue Faced Leicester sock yarn called Dazzle HT. I fell in love with the colour and the feel of it. Plus, I've never tried Blue Faced Leicester before.

Finally, I got my hands on some Madeline Tosh!

I'm reminded of a blog post title that WendyKnits once used, "Good golly, good gosh, it's Madeline Tosh!" I was so excited to get some of this yarn.

So, that's my haul! To be honest, I think I was very restrained. Although I still managed to spend a fortune. Ah well, what can you do!

I met up with two knitters, BionicLaura and Viola afterwards and we went out for a meal which descended into a few pints too. A great night was had.

I also managed to fit in some sightseeing. I tramped London for the weekend. Every night I was very very footsore but also very happy.

A sample of what I did:

My hotel was literally round the corner from the V&A and the Natural History Museum. How could I not go? I had heard about the knitted artifacts in the V&A so I decided to hit there. Unfortunately, there were none on display. I was told to make an appt to come back and see the samples they had in the archives. Yeah right, like I had the time to do that. I was very disappointed. I decided not to let it get to me, and headed elsewhere.

Off to Westminster with me:

Big Ben. Yipee! I was there when it chimed too. So loud! Plus, check out the guy in the bowler hat. Very like the Dad in Mary Poppins :)

The Houses of Parliament. Gorgeous building. The stonework is amazing.

I also got pics of the Milennium Eye etc, but I figure these are enough pics!

On the Thursday night, I went to Avenue Q. I heart musicals, so I was really excited!

It was absolutely brilliant! So funny! The actors were terrific too. I had great seats, 5 rows from the front., so the view was perfect and I could hear everything perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was great.

On Saturday I went to the matinée of Wicked.

Oh. My. GOD. It was brilliant, amazing, breathtaking, insert other descriptive term here. I can't describe how fabulous it was. Even now thinking of the singers & songs, the hairs on my arms are rising up. Rachel Tucker who played Elphaba was incredible. Her voice! Oh! I was in the second row for this one and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. I was in tears watching it. I'm like that, music makes me cry. I'm such a wimp. But this was probably the best musical performance I've ever seen. If I lived in London I'd be going to this again and again. I'm already trying to get John & Alice to come over with me to see it. They'd love it. If you're ever in London, GO. You have to.

So that's the deets of my trip. I had an absolute ball and came back totally refreshed and feeling like a new woman. Exactly what I needed.

I've finished the sooper seekrit vest too. No pics, I'm going to chance submitting it to a magazine.

I've also started a new design, some café curtains for Alice's new room. We decided to move Alice into the bigger bedroom as I think she's of the age where she needs more space. John spent the weekend painting as I gallivanted in London (heh) and it looks great. We bought carpet on Sunday and it's being laid this morning. I hung new curtains yesterday. I think she needs some privacy without drawing the curtains though, and I don't like net curtains or roller blinds, so café curtains it is. These are half height lacy curtains. I've picked out a stitch pattern and cast on last night. They're 55" wide and 22" long, so I figure I'll be well sick of them by the time they're done, but so far so good!

That's all for now, I think. Sorry about the absence, I'll try harder next time!

Good knitting!

On a roll

It's like it says in the title, I'm on a roll!
2 posts in a row, I've FOs to show.



I've finished Alice's socks. She loves them.



Pattern: Double Lace Ribbing Socks by Charlene Schurch from More Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash, half a skein.
Needles: 2.5mm wooden dpns

They fit great. I know I always say I'm not a fan of toe up socks, but it's a great technique for using up yarn ends and also for fitting to feet that are always changing in size. Kids feet grow too fast for a slow knitter!

I have to say, I love Charlene Schurch's sock books. They must be the books I've made the most patterns from.
In fact, I cast on today for another pair from the same book as above, the Baby Fern Socks (Ravlink)
I'm using the Wollmeise in Pffeferminz Prinz that I tried unsuccessfully to make the Pomatomus socks with. I'm not expecting these to be done any time soon, they're my on the road, knit night socks. Not my knitting at home project.

Last night I decided to start my organization of all things knitty in the house by going through my magazines and queueing anything I liked, so when I came to start a new project I could peruse the queue without having to take the bookshelf apart. My magazine pile is fairly substantial!



That's just the magazines, mind you. It doesn't include my books. That's for another day.
Anyway, I spent a very pleasant few hours going through them all, and managed to queue quite few new things! the queue feature on Ravelry was something I hadn't really used before, and if I stay disciplined about it and not add loads of stuff then it should be a useful tool to help me stay library organised.
So, I'm now brimming full of lovely things I want to make!
Of course, that means I have to get my WIPs out of the way. I'm doing well on that front I think. I've been knitting away on the Summit Shawl too, I've got about another two repeats done. I think I might stop it at just the one ball of Malabrigo Lace and save the other ball for something else. I'll decide for definite when I'm coming towards the end of the skein. It's looking nice though, and once you get into the rhythm of the pattern it's really not that difficult.

In other news, I went to a yarn party today. The Constant Knitter invited me & a few other knitters along to her place to knit, drink tea & eat cake. Of course I couldn't refuse such a kind offer, what kind of knitter would that make me?
So, off I went and after getting completely lost and almost driving the wrong way up a one way street, I finally made it. You'd never know I've lived in Dublin all my life, I was so lost.

Anyway, there were plenty of other knitters there, such as chicwithstix, bunnyt, gerryberry, whirl123, Bríd, Helen1 & Helen2 and loads more whose names sadly escape me.
There was tea, cake, meringues and lots of chat. We had a great laugh.
Of course while I was there I had a tragic accident. I fell into the room that is used to store the yarn and fell back out with 4 skeins in my hand. I swear, I don't know what happened.
The apple cake must have been drugged...

Anyway, denials out of the way, let's get on to what I bought.
Just coz I absolutely love this yarn and the colour is fab, two more skeins of Drops Alpaca:

No uses for it as yet, but something will come to me.

This one, however has a destiny. Two skeins of Drops Delight:

This yarn is going to be a Baby Surprise Jacket when it grows up. I think it'll be lovely, and gender neutral too.

So there you have it, projects finished, projects begun, yarny adventures & stash enhancement.

What more could you ask for from a blog post?

Good knitting!

Holiday Heaven

I love summer. Especially when I don't have to go to work!
I finished up yesterday lunchtime until August 31. Yipee!

To mark the occasion, I finished this last night:



My Seamless Colourwork Yoke Sweater. Isn't it great?
Here's a close up of the fair-isle yoke:



I'm really pleased with it. I think I got the stranding just right. I was afraid I was leaving them too loose, but upon soaking & shaping I think they're fine.

Pattern: Seamless Colourwork Yoke Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Jamieson & Smith Shetland 2 ply Jumper Weight
Needles: 3.5mm Knit Picks Circulars.

If I were to knit this again (and I will) changes I would make would be to use a smaller needle for the ribbing as I think it's a bit loose. I also think the neck is a bit wide. I suppose that's a victim of the larger sizing for the EPS?

I'd love to make one of these into a Henley Neck seater. I think it'd be lovely.
Alice wants one too. Only she wants hers in pink. I should have known!

This sweater was really cheap to make, Jamieson & Smith yarn is dirt cheap for 100% shetland! I love the stuff. The colours are gorgeous too.

I can't believe I finished this in a week, from the joining of the sleeves. I had let this sit around for approx 6 months. Just goes to show how lazy I am, or how scared I was of the fair isle.

So now, on to enjoying my time off & moving on to my next UFO - the Summit Shawl.

Good Knitting!

Day Trip

Yesterday I ventured out on a yarny day trip. The Yarn Room was celebrating its first year in business with a sale. I had never been before, so I decided this was the perfect reason to go.

I'm really glad I did, I had a great day! I was pleasantly surprised, it only took me less than an hour to get there using the motorway. This is a HUGE improvement on what the journey used to be!

I'm really sorry I forgot my camera, I would have got some great pictures. I met loads of lovely knitters that I knew from Ravelry and Twitter, but had never met "in the flesh" before.
I met Nic (thanks so much for coming down!), Irene, Serena, Karen, Jenny and of course Stephanie, The owner of The Yarn Room.
We had tea, cake and great fun as well as some serious yarn buying.

Let's get to the meaty stuff, shall we? Ok then!

First up, some Schoppel Wolle Admiral Uni sock yarn:



This was a total impulse purchase, but at €1.95 a ball I just had to. I'm sure my Dad won't say no to a pair of socks made with this!

The rest of the yarn I bought was 10% off. Not bad value really, when I think Stephanies prices are cheaper than most anyway.

I already have some of this in pink in my stash, but the colour is so beautiful I couldn't resist:



Some more Cushendale Mohair Bouclé. Isn't the colour lush? It's called glacier. No clue what I'll use it for, I'm just enjoying looking at it for now.

Then I got down to business. What I drove down to buy:



Zauberball! Yay! Look at the colours. *Love*! Black and grey and cream, oh my! There were loads of choices including a really lovely brown/cream combo, but this one struck me. I think it will make a lovely shawl or scarf. I maybe should have bought another ball to make a really nice shawl, but I chickened out.

Mainly because I got this one too:



This was a real bargain. It's a 150g ball that was delivered by mistake so was the same price as a 100g ball. And 10% off! Oh yes, I had to buy.


Then I got my Unspun Icelandic!! Squee!

I'm so excited to have finally got some of this yarn. I got 3 wheels of each colour. I sense a big comfy Pi blanket for winter tv watching with one of the sets of these, maybe the brown. I've wanted this yarn for so long, ever since I saw EZ talking about it. Yipee!

I also got some buttons:

I got 5 of each of them. I think they're nice. I find it really hard to get nice buttons in Dublin.

Oh, and in case you think that's ALL I bought (as if that wasn't enough!) I also got the 3 Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries I was missing: Vols 1, 3 & 4. Woot!

I'll be flying along now picking stitches and making my own garments. I'm thrilled to finally have all 4 volumes.

All in all I had a really fabulous day. It cheered me up no end to meet such lovely people. I had tea, home made cake, banana bread, the most delicious home made jam (still warm, ooh) lots of chat and some knitting. I ended up staying nearly 3 hours! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, it really felt like a neighbourhood store.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to try and get down there again when I'm off work for the summer for one of their Thursday knit nights.

Speaking of time off, it starts next week, baby! With luck my boss will let me add on some flexi time and I'll be finishing Thursday lunchtime until August 31st! Oh my God, I'm so excited!

I'm full of plans. Most of them involve sleeping late in the morning :), but once I'm up Alice & I are going to have great fun. Museums, knitting, card making & crafting, playgrounds, cinema, etc etc. I think it's going to do me the world of good.

So, there you have it! A day trip that while it was expensive was worth EVERY penny for the good it did me. Food for the soul.

Good knitting!

Drifting

I feel like I'm drifting at the moment, knitty wise. I'm doing lots, finishing little. Do you ever feel like that?
I took out my not inconsiderable pile of wips this evening for further inspection.

Exhibit 1:



My Seamless Colourwork Yoke Sweater.
According to Ravelry I started this in November 2009. *gasp* That's shocking. I should be ashamed of myself. I know I haven't been super motivated to knit it because I deliberately made it too small hoping to lose enough weight to fit into it, and also because I'm scared of the colourwork. Not as scared as I used to be, since I made my Norwegian Snail Mittens, but still pretty scared.

Exhibit 2:



My Myrtle Leaf Shawl. According to Ravelry I started this one in February. Funnily enough, I had entered this into a Ravelympics event! Ha. Delusional. I must have been on medication.

Exhibit 3:



Summit Shawl. According to Ravelry I started this one in April, so not so bad. Still bad, but not in the crime area yet. I remember dashing out to This is Knit to buy Malabrigo Lace to make this one, full sure I'd have it knit while on holidays with Mam & Dad for a week over Easter. Yeah.


Exhibit 4:



This one is really only guilty of a minor infraction. I did only start these last month, and have been knitting them at least once a week at knit night. But, I would love to finish them in time for Alice to wear for the World Cup final on Sunday as The Netherlands are through! I'll be wearing my orange socks for sure.

Of course I am plodding away steadily with Dads sooper seekrit vest. I have one more pattern repeat before I'm at the bottom of the armholes & v neck, which is where it all gets interesting. Maybe that's why I think I'm getting nowhere, because the project I am progressing on is one I can't talk about?

So, cast your votes now. Which project do you think I should finish first. "The Sweater of Ages", "The Shawl of No Border" or "The Shawl with no Summit"? Cast your votes now, members of the jury. Whichever gets douze points (Eurovision reference there) will be the one I attempt to finish first.

In delivery news, I placed an order from Ravelry the other day. I have to say, their delivery is absolutely brilliant. I think it took 3 or 4 days to wing its way to Ireland. Why can't everything else I order from the States come that quick?
Alas, it was not to be a happy delivery.
I ordered this:



I really loved the look of this shirt. I was thinking I'd rock Knit Nation wearing this and my Daily Dose of Fiber shirt. But, sadface, it doesn't fit. No ones fault but my own. Although, it is the same size as my other tshirt. Why cant shirts have the one sizing? Grr.
Anyway, I'm now left with the shirt that does not fit. I don't really want to send it back, between postage etc it'd be a waste of money. Plus, it's not Ravelry's fault it doesn't fit.
I think it shall just be consigned to the pile of clothes that do not fit. Maybe I can put it in the bag with my unfinished "Sweater of Ages?

BUT, to make up for the sad tshirt, I did get a happy sheepy project bag too.



Cute! This shall be my sock project bag. I love it.

Ooh, The Yarn Room have a sale starting this Saturday. I've never been to the shop, so I figure now is the time. I've asked Mam & Dad if I can go round to them on Sunday instead and I'm off on a road trip. They have Icelandic Unspun, baby! I've been dying to try this stuff for ages. I really hope it's included in the sale :)
So, road trip! I can't wait. I'm hoping to meet up with a few other knitters, especially NicKnits. It's going to be fun.

Good knitting!

Where has the time gone?

Happy 4th of July to all my readers from the USA. I hope you have a lovely Independence Day.

It's my wedding anniversary today. We're married 12 years. I can't believe it's been that long. Time really does fly!

When I look back at our time together, we've achieved a lot. It's been a bumpy ride, but we're stronger for it.

Together we can achieve anything.

Alice got crafty yesterday. There was a card making demo in Inspiring Ideas, so off we went once I was finished in Mam & Dads. She got some great ideas, and the lady doing the demonstration was very good with her. Spent some time showing her how to improve.

With the result that I went home over €40 lighter.Surely now she must have enough stuff!

Anyway, filled with inspiration, she/I made an anniversary card for us:

I just love the Forever Friends teddy. So cute. And she outlined him with glitter. Life can never have too many sparkles.

I'm sadly lacking in bloggable knitting content. Dads vest is coming along (slowly) but I can't blog about that. Alices sock is progressing too. I'm almost at the heel, but there's no point in another orange sock picture, it looks the same as the last one lol!

So, that leaves me with no knitting pictures or content that I can talk about. Sorry!

I have been thinking though. As I've been making Dads vest, it has occurred to me how much I heart Elizabeth Zimmermann. She would have been 100 this year. Wouldn't it be nice to pay some kind of tribute to her? The best thing I can think of would be something knitty of course.

If I could, I'd love to knit all of her patterns I have. A daunting task, there must be dozens & dozens of them. Still, it's something to ruminate on whilst I plough on.

Maybe I should count them up before I get too carried away!

Good knitting!