I trundled up to knitting today with my Lizard Ridge squares about my person full in the knowledge that it was a Very Important Day. Well, it was for me. Because today was the day that my blanket would finally start to take shape. I have ummed and ahhhed and then ahhhed and ummed about the colours that I have chosen since January 2008 and if truth be told the colours that I have ummed and ahhed stem back to the first time that I knit a square and lets face it, it was my idea, for a baby blanket, which was a roaring success from a knitting group I belonged to in December 2007. At the time when I suggested such a blanket for a baby that was about to be born into our group, I had no idea of just how complicated a suggestion I was making, well I had never read the pattern. I just knew that if there were, at that time, a thousand odd projects of this pattern that were displayed in Ravelry, then the pattern must be doable. And then there were the pretty colours, need I say more.

When I started to knit my first square I can remember being shocked. There was more to this than met the eye and I quickly learnt what a short row wrap was, but to do that I spent the best part of two days on the internet fine tuning what a short row wrap was that was hidden on the right side. It was time well spent, I will never be frightened of short row wrap again, especially after 36 squares!

I and my partner in crime, at least in gorgeous yarns and colourways, was quickly off the mark and Carie although she has a much heavier schedule than I simply churned out startlingly beautiful squares after square. Not content with her prowess she had to share and it was when startling beautiful squares, not least from her photography skills aided with the internet came landing on my desk that I groaned from the beauty of them all.

Resistance was futile.

It was time to spend several hours choosing colours for myself. At the time the dollar was nearly two to the pound, so it was a good time to choose my yarn. And from my records I chose seventeen balls of Noro Kureyon from Yarnela yarns, mainly because they had a rather better range of colours than had been released into this country by Noro.

Then there were others balls of Kureyon that I bought from the UK, and then most magically word spread and my knitting pals started to give me their left overs. It was wonderful to be given or to be sent random balls of wool, huge bags of left overs, or just bits and bobs, they have all made it into this blanket, which has made it even more beautiful to me. Seriously, it gave and still does give me such a buzz about just how wonderful and friendly the knitting community can be.

After Carie, Diane and I played with the squares we eventually settled on this. Before I go we had a lovely time playing with all of the colours and serious chats were held on the rights and wrongs between pinks, blues and greens. If you ever get the chance, play with colours with your girl friends it is truly wonderful and it is certainly going to be a day I always remember. It was so much Fun!!!

Well here goes….

First shot from me,

and then a photographic shot from one who is taller. (have I told you Carie is even taller than me!) Its a much better photograph,

and then,

and then a black and white to see if the blanket is balanced in the saturation of colours. I can see where it isn’t but trust me, we tried with the colours to get it balanced and to be honest I am very happy from the colour photographs.

What fun we have had today.

These strange, yet beautiful colours I put before you.

It cannot be, can it?

One has heard of these mirages, can this be true?

It is true, there are thirty six squares knitted up in the Lizard Ridge pattern.

And they have all had their ends sewn in.

Tomorrow, with luck, Carie, Kitty and I shall play to our hearts content with all the pretty colours. I suspect there may be others that find the colours irresistible and may need to come and play.

And look how pretty the ends are, I couldn’t bear to throw them away when I had a sudden inspiration.

I could use them as ties in a quilt. Wouldn’t they look pretty. I shall have to experiment with them.

I spent my spare time in December making hats for my parents for Christmas. Mum had just bought herself a beautiful purple coat and I just happened to have in my stash a purple that would match it perfectly. I also worry quite often about Dad’s bare head, he doesn’t seem to worry about it but I am sure he would feel warmer with a nice woolly hat. The previous year I had bought a rather nice (and very expensive!) lamb’s wool hat but I could see it wasn’t exactly the right shape for him and although he tried to wear it, it probably irritated him because he doesn’t like hats that go too far over his face.

I knitted the hats up and was considering giving them early as the weather had turned rather fierce, when I put them somewhere safe intending to photograph them in the next couple of days and then I couldn’t find them. During the latest upheaval (the windows have been fitted YaY!!!) they resurfaced.

Here is Mum’s hat, I am hoping it will look more interesting when it is on. It is Beret by Bernat Design Studio in Katia Cocktail in colourway purple 17 and took 2 balls.

And this is Dad’s hat which is much shorter hat from crown to tip and I think suit him much better. It is Hill Country Hat by Clara Parkes knitted in Rowan Renew in colourway Tractor 680 and took just over a ball. It is a lovely pattern, it took me about five hours of knitting time and I finished it in one day which makes it a very useful fall back if you have need of an emergency present. It was the first time I have used this yarn and I like it very much , it feels soft to the skin but has a tweedy effect to which I am very partial. The icing on the cake is that the colourway is called Tractor, my Dad’s first job was working on a farm, I am sure it will amuse him and will bring an anecdote forth from his lips.

Now if I could just find hubby’s sock that I lost….

Today very sadly we lost our beloved ginger boy, Boswell. He came to us as a rescue in a very strange way. I was in touch with various local rescue societies as we helped transport dogs in need when they were desperate for help just at the time we lost our beloved cat called Brian, our black and white fluffy cat who I completely adored, I’d show you a photo, but they are not on digital. I was a very sad girl as Brian was much loved.

Then a doggy lady in Birmingham who I knew got in touch because she had been feeding a cat who wasn’t her’s and had found out a neighbour had also been feeding him who had threatened to finish him off, he had become a pest and this ladies husband was not best pleased and would do the job willingly. With much blessings the cat was dog friendly. My immediate response, “Bring him here” which she did in less than an hour.

We dog tested him with Charlie my super friendly golden retriever and they said hello to each other in a very calm and collected way and we decided he was ours.. .. what a story that is. We got him sorted out at the vets and micro chipped him, the vet thought he was about five which was over ten years ago.

A very tentative Boswell on his first day.

Over the years this cat has rung us ragged. He liked to stay with other people until they or he became ill and we always picked up the pieces and sorted him out. Our boys became disenchanted with him often asking me how I could love him when he came home, often skin and bone and I said “Its like the prodigal son, and killing the fatted calf” as I opened a new tin of cat food and enticed him to eat and drink as this cat who was his former self dragged himself over the door step. And when the boys said “But how can you, he is a traitor to us, he abandoned us”, I used to say “Would I not welcome you” to which they became quiet. I think it takes a while for children to understand a mothers love.

But never the less he came home in his retirement, well mostly apart from he got lost in the ice and snow this winter when two RSPCA chaps arrived at the house and asked if we had lost a cat, I’d been fairly sleepless for a few weeks by this point and thought they were bringing bad news. We found Boswell had rehomed himself yet again down the road. He was getting pretty senile by this point. We brought him home yet again where he stayed, we sorted him out again and got him back to full health.

Far too suddenly his health failed beyond repair. Today we had to say goodbye.

I’ll leave you with my favourite photo’s of Boswell.

Good night Boswell and God bless. Sleep tight.

That’s what I say,

and they were truly delicious.

Precious and Rare”

Some of you may have noticed the rather infrequent blog posts of late. The truth is I simply can’t be the creative bouncy person you have all come to know and I hope love (if even just a little) when I am going through the mill – yet again!. To cut a long story very short my rheumatologist and I have been steadily working through why my CRP has been steadily rising for the last three years (its up to 40 now, a well person would generally fall between 1 and 4 it signifies inflammation) and why my IL6 blood test came back showing a very high result. Along the way we have discovered the Fibromyalgia and the Polymyalgia, the Restless leg syndrome, of course there has also been the Atrial Flutter and the hypothyrodism and lets us not forget – as if we ever could – the Alopecia Universallis.

Well, I had a positive result a couple of weeks ago, one that I really did not want to be blessed with, but one that both my rheumatologist and I have been waiting for. I came in sero positive to rheumatoid arthritis. I am thinking of taking the seat in Mastermind with “autoimmune diseases I have known and loved!”

I am glad to have a result, its been a long time. At least I know why my knee’s are shot to hell and I struggle both up and down stairs, why my ankles sometimes hurt, my shoulders play me up when I lean on them, especially whilst leaning on them whilst trying to sleep (at times I feel like I am trying to dislocate them!, which wakes me up in agony) and why my elbows play me up at times. I am looking to keep moving and remain very positive and there are plans afoot to keep the positivity going which I shall reveal in due course.

However, on hearing this news I slipped and lost my footing and whilst in my deepest of darkest of holes and lets face it, I have decorated and furnished some of those during the last three years, my old friends kept an eye on me. Either through emails, private messages or phone calls which I was extremely grateful for. Just knowing people are there for you can be very healing. I am still in a pretty dark place but lets just say I can see a brighter place, its just over the horizon.

And whilst in the deep dark place, I received this.

A beautiful shawl knitted by Diane. (Ishbel shawl designed by Ysolda Teague and knitted in The Yarn Yards Ochil)

I was completely bowled over, I don’t think I could speak for half an hour, I absolutely love it. So many emotions flooded through not least that a good friend had taken the time to sit and knit me a shawl in my favourite colours. And also knowing full well that this lovely friend has had an aversion to knitting lace through most of her knitting career – she is a very accomplished knitter – and she put that to one side to knit me something beautiful to sooth me and help me to heal.

I think its very beautiful and it will go perfectly with a brown jacket for spring.

And then the next day whilst at knitting Carie whipped this out of her bag (it was beautifully wrapped of course) and after I had unwrapped it, sticky tape can be a bit tricky at times, I found this. My eyes nearly exploded out of my head because I recognised it as the fibre that I had started to spin at Carie’s house but my knee’s and muscles wouldn’t let me progress. (at least we know why now!) Carie had spun it up for me just so that I could have it to stroke whilst gazing at its beautiful colours. Although how she found the time to spin and ply with a baby that is only a few months will forever mystify me and knowing how many hours were also put into this I am very touched. Of course I will knit with it, eventually!

I love it, it is just so pretty with all the various greens, browns and yellows blending with each other.

I have already had an idea of a hat which I am sure will do this lovely yarn justice. The yarn is Blue Faced Leicester, which is gorgeously soft and there are 110 yards and 94 grams.

So, due in no small part to my dearest friends, normal service will be resumed.

Son no.2 has blessed us with his presence for the last few days which has been wonderful. During this time we managed to organise an evening out. Which is not as easy as you would think when son no.1 has such an extensive social life.

We then tried to book four seats at our local flea pit to watch The Kings Speech to find they were fully booked, which then sent out all of our timings and where we were going to eat for the evening. So it was decided that we would eat first and Indian cuisine was voted for, so we quickly rang an Indian restaurant that is so busy if you don’t book you can’t get in. Fortunately we were in time and secured a table. The food was delicious as usual and set everyone into a very good mood. We then had an hour and a half before the film so it was decided that we would take a trip out to ToyRus. I haven’t been there for years, it was great fun.

The boys did what they always did, ran off. It took me a while to find them.

Son no.1 called to me just before cracking this joke with an oven. “I know how you feel love” I said and playfully pulled him out with a “Don’t do eeeiit”

And then son no.2 found this triceratops which tickled him completely. This is him calling his brother over to have a look.

The triceratops moves his head and roars, look at the smile on the boy.

Yep son no.1 appears on the scene.

Son no. 2 deep in studying it mode.

Ooh yeah, still looking at it!

And just one final examination of the power of its jaws.

Hubby was suitably impressed. (it may have been full tummy syndrome)

Studiously looking at the microwaves.

“It works just like ours!”

And then onto the Pizza. Obviously these boys need more toys, they even admired the washing machine! (at this point I could show you a photograph of the pile of washing son no.1 has just dumped in the kitchen, but I won’t be that cruel – Its a toy son, honestly!!!!)

There has been knitting, this is a cardigan called Audrey in Unst by Gudrun Johnston I cast on on New Years Eve and have been steadily knitting it ever since. My chosen yarn is Rowan Purelife Organic in Horsetail and I am falling deeply in love with it.

There are lots of nice little details on this cardigan, the twisted long ribs and the decorative lace to name but two. It is knit in the round and has an unusual way to attach the sleeves, which I liked, its a very nicely written pattern. Another week’s knitting and finishing and we should be there. I’ve knitted it on the smaller of me side so that I shrink into it!

I have no idea what prompted this urge to knit a beautiful red dress for Valentines for my delightful god daughter. Was it the rush of god motherly love that I so often feel for her? Was it the desire to play at dressing a girl?, real life baby girls are So much better than dolls. Or was it simply that I wished to play with red wool? Who knows, but what I do know is one moment I was happily knitting my spring cardigan, and the next I was knee deep in stash where hubby surprised me and saw my happy face as I had just found the required red aran I was looking for.

Next was to find a pattern that would suit and have I told you recently just how much I love Ravelry. Another happy hour was spent critiquing the dresses until I found the perfect one. Golden Rose Baby Sundress by Wendi Dunlap or if your are a member here is the link in Ravelry
As soon as I saw this beautiful dress I knew it was perfect for Miss Kitty.

So I started to knit and knit and knit and the wonderful aspect of this dress is that it has a very full skirt which I love which is then gathered together just under the bodice to form soft gentle folds. I was quite tempted to make a petticoat of many layers to fluff out the skirt but not knowing Kitty’s exact waist measurement it might have been a bit tricky. I’d finished one half of the dress which I had lengthened by one inch as Kitty is long for her age, and was quite happy with it, until I happened to meet Kitty and her Mum unexpectedly for coffee and realised with shock and just a little bit of horror just how much Kitty had grown.

Using my hand as a measuring guide, (I have a near perfect eight inch span which is useful) as well as Carie’s beautiful dress for Kitty she had just completed and happened to be with her realised that my dress would only just cover Kitty’s bottom! which would never do. So I undid the top added another two inches to the skirt, which means it is three inches longer than it should be! (did I tell you she has very tall parents) and carried on.

Five balls of Aran Cashsoft by Rowan in Poppy 10 later, you have this.

A pretty red Pinafore for Valentines day.

There are some nice details to this dress. Simple but effective moss stitch,

and pretty lace at the bottom of the skirt.

Kitty modeling her dress, assisted by Daddy and staring happily at Mummy.

But Mummy being a clever blogger too, knew that I was after a shot with Kitty smiling at the camera. Mummy is on the move,

and Kitty is really not sure what is happening. “Where is Mummy going?”

“Oh, there she is” as Mummy is stood behind me.

“That’s my Mummy, she smells of milk, I like milk”

“And I like snuggling into Daddy”

“And I think I quite like this dress”

It all started in June 2010 when I emailed Debbie Abrahams to see if she would be willing to come to Kenilworth to teach a workshop. Debbie came back to me offering her workshops that she normally covers, where upon I became very cheeky and asked her ever so nicely if she could cover beading, intarsia and fairisle in one go. Debbie very kindly agreed to teach a workshop covering all three techniques which was extremely generous of her.

Emails shot backwards and forwards between us in the intervening months covering various necessities, whilst all of this time I was quite giddy about having such a wondrous and quite famous (in the knitting world) knitter coming to us.

The day dawned and I headed off to The Almanack who do a wonderful job in looking after us to be quickly joined by many of our group. Debbie arrived, along with her beautiful blankets, books, dvd’s and beads.

These blankets are exclusive to her mystery blanket clubs and I find them absolutely stunning. This is mystery blanket 2009 called Arabian Nights. I think this is my favourite blanket, I would love to own this. (If anyone knows of a spare kit, give me a nudge!)

Arabian Nights with a pile of Debbie’s books which were stunning, one could happily pass the day gazing at the lovely photography of her blankets.

This is my second favourite blanket, although it is very difficult to have favourites when they are all quite exquisite. This is In the Country, mystery blanket 2008.

And underneath here is Beneath the Sea mystery blanket 2010 which also tickled me. Debbie has told us she still has a handful (approximately five) of places left on the 2011 blanket. So be quick if your interested because once they’re gone, they’re gone.

These are her lovely beads, which are beautiful to work with in your knitting.

We set to work and had a very busy morning, followed by a lovely lunch.

Pictures of everybody hard at work,

it was an intensive workshop we learnt a books worth of techniques in one day!

And Debbie was a very attentive teacher,

Debbie looking quite calm and stress free, considering how much she had to teach I am very impressed.

Time to go home and a quick snapshot of some pieces of work. They are all looking wonderful and we have the pattern, yarn and beads to complete our little bags.

As you can see we all learn’t a lot, through Debbie’s wonderful teaching. I’ll try and finish my bag soon to show you although I have spent a large part of the day drooling over Debbie’s book, Blankets and Throws to Knit, choosing a blanket that will be lovely to knit with my new found skills. Intarsia, fairisle and beading, here I come….

Well just one stone actually,

this one…

I’d been working on that stone backwards and forwards over Christmas for quite a while and this week as my tippy toes touched the scales I knew I was in with a chance of success, which proved to be correct. I have stuck my certificates on my study wall for when desperation strikes and I can gaze at them for inspiration.

And the other good thing about achieving the landmark of a stone,

Is a received another sticker. I like stickers..

I have a very long way to go, but I am enjoying the journey.

Three things I have learnt from Slimming World.

1. Generally people take longer to lose weight than you might imagine, although there will always be the stars of the group who manage to somehow drop lots of weight every week, generally it comes off very gradually, a pound loss is a great loss if your dieting every week.

2. I need the discipline of weighing in, it sharpens the mind when the mouth is grazing. (or longingly looking at treats that would send me into a catastrophic whirlwind of events that would end very sadly)

3. That it is good fun. I know that is shocking isn’t it?! But you would be suprised about the laughs we have. Whether its about the friendly time you had with a bottle of red, the long term relationship you have with a bag of sherbert lemons. Are you a nutaholic? or a crispaholic? or maybe you love the sweet things in life. There are commiserations and celebrations, its all there at SW.

Right, I am off to make some homemade leek and potato soup, followed by a roasted pumpkin risotto. Yum, yum.