New Scrummy Yarn Goodness!

I promised I'd be back with details and photos of my little Woolfest haul, and so here it is...

This is my favourite (I think!). It's Laal Bear Bounce Extra in Twiglight colourway (not sure if that should be twilight, but it says twiglight on the label!). I just love the mix of purples and blues {heart}, although I did not love the 5 hours it took to untangle the thing. Impatience and inexperience do not mix when winding skeins into balls I have learnt. Sigh. Oh well, I did it and it has now been cast on as the start of my Travelling Woman, yay!

This is the lace skein I told you about, in a lovely silvery grey but with little flecks of turquoise running through. It's Natural Born Dyers BFL Silk Laceweight in mudstones colourway. Luckily for me Naomi wound this one and didn't have any problems until right at the end, but my lovely husband sat and de-tangled it for me last night, bless him! I forgot to take photos of these two before I started winding (told you I was impatient!). I know I was going to use this for the Travelling Woman, but I forgot about the above skein and so this will be used for something similar but a little more delicate I think.

Another scrummy Laal Bear purchase, a little last minute before the coach headed back to Leeds as I had been trying to compare various shades and I did love this one the best. It's Laal Bear Razzle Dazzle (no link for that). Not sure what this will be for yet, it was just so pretty I just knew I had to have it!

This was a steal (no, not literally!) from a lady who will soon be closing her business {sad face}. It's Artesano 100% Alpaca 4-Ply in a lovely purple colour that matches the Laal Bear yarn I'm using for my Travelling Woman. The plan for these is to knit a matching hat and mitts for winter. And boy are these soooooo soft.

And some more alpaca (I know, bit of a theme going on here, but it just feels so lush!). This is UK Alpaca Alpaca Sock Yarn in a lovely slightly dusky pink colour (not as bright as in the photo). Again, no project lined up for this yet, but it was too much of a bargain to pass up. This was my first purchase of the day and actually, I must confess, these are the first skeins of wool I have ever bought. I know. I blame lack of choice and availability where I live and not yet appreciating the difference between these and cheap acrylic balls (I have been educated now, don't worry!)

And other than a couple of cables for my Knitpro interchangeable needles, these are the last of my goodies. A beautiful fat quarter of this cute Russian doll fabric which I just adore, and sweet matching buttons. I was going to use this for bag lining, but now I think I might make this into a little project bag so I can carry my current project without lugging my big bag round.

So that's it, I've probably waffled for long enough now, time for lunch and a spot of knitting me thinks. Back soon :)

N xXx

WIP - or at least it will be later today!

It's another WIP Wednesday with the regulars at Tami's Amis.

I was hoping to be able to share with you my new yarn purchases from the fabby Woolfest (see last post), and maybe even a new WIP using said new goodies, but as I have not yet got them back from my very own (and very lovely) personal transportation and storage assistant Naomi (lol!) this is not possible. Fear not, I will be getting my sticky mitts on them later this afternoon *squeal!* and I shall be casting on asap. And in the meantime I shall show you the first project I have lined up.

So I present to you the gorgeous Travelling Woman:

pictures by feministy on the above linked page

Beautiful, right?! I have been wanting to knit a shawl/wrap for a little while but had been waiting to find the right pattern and the right yarn. And I think now I have :)

So I'm thinking of knitting it with this, which I'm pretty sure is the exact yarn I bought at Woolfest on Saturday - I know it was this exact colourway, grey with cute little turquoise flecks *heart*. I saw it, but didn't think I could ever even think about taking on a lace-weight project. But I just couldn't stop thinking about it, so I decided what the heck, went back and to my delight this single skein was still there waiting for me, and so of course I snapped it right up.

picture by simplethings on the above linked page

Isn't it just so pretty?! I so can't wait to share my other gorgeous purchases with you tomorrow!

N xXx

Mega weekend

I have had such a fantastic weekend!

Saturday started very early to catch a coach from Baa Ram Ewe to Woolfest in the Lakes with Naomi, Rachel, Heather and a large bunch of other knitters. I was excited to this year have a decent budget and couldn't wait to invest in some quality skeins of wool and yarn. Squeal!



















Love those sweet alpacas!

I was planning on sharing photos of my lovely purchases today, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until later in the week because I let Naomi take them home - no I haven't list my mind! I was going straight out into Leeds and didn't want to carry my haul around city centre pubs and clubs lol!

And after we had a quick bite together at Wok In next door to Bas Ram Ewe - man we were so hungry by 8.30 when we got back!




And after a fantastic day shopping for scrummy yarn I went out with my crazy but fun group of friends to celebrate another big birthday - most of them are turning 30 this year (in fact it's hubby's turn in a fortnight!). I had a bit of catching up to do on the drinking front by the time I arrived but it wasn't too hard lol! I had a fab time and danced all those stir fry calories right off, finally getting home to bed about 4.30am - yikes! I had been up since 6am the day before! Hard core lol!

Here's hubby and his best mate getting a bit merry (and a bit bromantic if you ask me lol!)




And today we slept til noon (not surprising!) and went for a scrummy 2-4-1 lunch at Ask and a nosey round the shopping village in the glorious sunshine while the kids lived it up at the seaside with grandma and grandad - bliss!







Thank goodness I'm not on the early shift tomorrow, still an early night for me!

Promise I'll be back ASAP with a more crafty-related post - hope you all had a rocking weekend too :)

xXx

Dangermouse!

I was hoping to make enough progress on my new knitting project - the Arbor top (a free Ravelry pattern - to have something worth showing you for WIP Wednesday today. But Alex, my two-year-old stuntman had other ideas Monday evening and gave us an experience I never ever want to repeat (but fear we will several times over, sigh).

We put the boys to bed Monday evening, just after I'd got home from a long 11-hour shift at work, and straight away we heard him run into our bedroom. I knew he had climbed on to my dressing table stool and pulled open the drawer to grab my make-up case again, so Gareth made his way up to move it out of reach and put him back to bed. But before he could get there, there was first a bang, then the sound of Alex crying hysterically - the sort of cry that drives absolute terror into you (you mums will understand). Alex met us at the top of the stairs and at first I thought he'd cut his tongue or mouth as I could see blood in there (anyone of a squeamish nature might want to skip a couple of paragraphs here) but I quickly realised the blood was pouring out of a wound in his forehead, at the top of his nose right above his eyes. And I mean pouring, I've never seen anything like it. So I grabbed the nearest item of fabric and applied pressure while telling Gareth to phone for an ambulance. I feel awful thinking about it now.

The paramedics took a little while to arrive, during which time Alex had stopped crying and the wound had stopped bleeding as bad, and I could have a look - relief washed over me as I could see it wasn't as bad as we'd first feared. But he'd split the skin and taken out a good little chunk, and it was clear he would need it stitching or glueing.

So the paramedics arrived, checked him out, bandaged him up and off we went in the ambulance to be put back together in A&E (me and Alex - Gareth does not deal well with blood, so kept out of the way by attempting to scrub the carpet, which resembled a crime scene by this point. Last thing we needed was him fainting on us!)

By now Alex had perked right up and loved his little adventure. He had great fun watching out the ambulance windows, then playing with the toys in the A&E waiting room and charming all the nurses as usual despite it being way past his bedtime (and no, this wasn't our first visit and I'm sure it won't be our last, he just has no sense of danger that child!)

Here he is waiting to be glued up (doesn't look too fussed does he?!). He was more bothered about his PJs being covered in blood - amazing how much there was, both of us were covered. I had changed him before taking this pic:





So, we finally got him glued and steri-stripped up and we were on our way home.

And that's the story of why I got no knitting done Monday as planned. He must fallen from the stool and hit his head on the open drawer. And yes he hasn't learnt his lesson, trying the same thing again last night - luckily I was one step ahead of him (plus I have now moved my make-up - not that there's any left, grrrrrrr).

And he is two days later. I'm not sure this is the neatest patch-up I've ever seen, but if it does the job I guess it doesn't matter. Just have to keep it dry for another few days, then let it dissolve.




Managed to make it to knit night last night for a much-needed catch-up and cake and to surprise a much-deserving friend, although I only got a little bit done. The Arbor seems to be quite slow because of the chart pattern. Hopefully I'll have enough to show you next week - toddler permitting!

P.S. Blood does not clean out of carpet it seems and I hate the stains being a permanent reminder of something so awful, so now a new staircase/landing carpet is on the agenda. Which is fine as I hate the current one and had been trying to convince Gareth to replace it anyway (just not this way!)

xXx

10 things

Today I'm taking part in 10 things with www.shimelle.com - simply post 10 things every 10th of the month. Here are mine:

1 - day left until I go back to work, thank goodness. I love my boys but five days of just me Vs the two of them is more than enough!

2 - pairs of Lee Cooper jeans that arrived today by courier. Well, I live in my jeans, can never have too many jeans lol! And at £5 per pair they won't break the bank. :)

3 - weeks it has taken me to knit my lovely summer Razor Cami (see previous post), and probably the number of times I've stropped over finishing it too!

4 - number of Kaiser Chiefs tickets I snapped up today. They launched dates at a beautiful abbey just down the road, right by where I grew up. Two are for me and Gareth, two for my parents-in-law for their birthdays. I can't wait already!

5 - months until both the Sarahs Cards retreat and our next girly retreat to the lovely little cottage in the country - counting down the days already and just praying it doesn't snow like it did last November!

6 - months until Christmas! Am I allowed to mention the 'C' word yet? Oh, I just did lol!

7 - weeks until our little family holiday away. I'm all about the countdowns today aren't I?!

8 - days until pay day, can't come quick enough. Fingers crossed for an early Friday transaction!

9 - pages of items I want to knit in my Raveley queue. At the rate of one per month if I'm lucky, and several added each month, I fear I may never finish!

10 - the number of scrummy little toes I can see on Alex, who is currently asleep on the living room rug, bless 'im!




xXx

FO Friday - my Razor Cami

It's finally finished!

Sorry for the poor photos, it's just me and my iPhone today :(

Looks a lot better in this photo, but the first pic is more colour accurate.

I pretty much stuck to the pattern, except for the straps, which I knit using a fellow Ravelry member's mods (I didn't want thin spaghetti straps or too thick either).

Must replace these with better DSLR photos quickly, the top is not really this salmon!

Love it!

Right, best get on, got a string of errands to do and have two kids in tow, so they won't be getting done very quickly, sigh.

Don't forget to check out Tami's Amis for more FOs -------> here.

Bye for now :)

xXx

WIP Wednesday

Not taken part in WIP Wednesday for a little while, but it's half term, I'm at home and it's bouncing it down with hail (I kid you not, it's June and we have hail!) with a sprinkling of thunder and lightning for good measure. Sigh. But that means I have time to join in this week, hurrah!

So, here's what I'm working away on right now:

(Poor photos, sorry, but you get the idea)

This is my copy of the Razor Cami - a cute summer strap top, which hopefully I might get chance to wear if the weather brightens back up before autumn's back again. Although it's more peachey pink than shown in the photo (bad weather = lack of proper daylight and poor photo results).

It looks really long in the photo, but it isn't and needs to stretch sideways to fit - I really hope it does. It has taken so long to get all that done in 4-ply cotton yarn (especially after I had to rip out the first few inches of pattern as it just wasn't working properly). Saying that though, this is my first 4-ply project EVER and once I got going it did work up quicker than I expected. 

I just have the ribbing at the back to do and the straps to add now. Hopefully I might finish in time for FO Friday - if so, I'll be back then!

P.S. Don't forget to visit Tami's Amis for more lovely WIPs :)

N xxx

Thank you :)

Just wanted to say a big...

for stopping by Shimelle's blog and helping to raise (at last count) more than £500 for Plan-UK's Because I Am A Girl campaign. And a massive well done and thank you to Shimelle for such kindness and generosity, and hard work. You are all awesome :)

And for those of you who bid on my eBay items, thank you too. I kept my promise of donating 25% of the total proceeds to the charity, and my donation of £25 has already been sent to Shimelle to top the fund.

I can't wait to see what worthy projects the money goes towards helping, and the opportunities it might bring to girls in the world's poorest countries.

Night all :)

xXx