Tag..you're it!

Sarah tagged me last week with the random things meme. It has taken me this long to think of some mildly interesting answers and to try to find someone who hasn't been tagged already!

Here is how it works: Each player starts with five random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog with their five things as well as these rules. You need to tag five others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1) I can read a map. Contrary to the opinion of most men, there are women out there who can read a map and I am one of them! Granted, I have to 'get IN' the map (ie, turn the map the way we are going!) but Jomp's knows that he can ask me to get him anywhere and we will get there.

2) I don't have a sense of humour! Well I don't think I have but everyone else disagrees. I tend not to laugh out loud at much, except other peoples misfortunes! You know, someone slipping on a banana skin type of thing! However, my favourite TV show at present is 'Peep Show'. It's the funniest thing I've seen in ages.

3) I really really want to learn to play the piano. I'll do it one day. A very old friend of mine plays amazingly. Every time I hear her play I wish I could play.

4) I met Jomp's on the internet! People always look shocked when I tell them but, done properly, it's much safer than meeting someone in a pub and going home with them. We 'chatted' online and on the phone for a couple of weeks before we met. In fact Jomp's says he fell in love with my voice before he even knew what I looked like! I would recommend it to anyone.

5) I was adopted when I was 13. My adoptive parents, known as Mum & Dad for that's what they are, are fantastic. Not only did they take me into their lives but also my brother. We'd been split up a couple of years previously. If it were not for Mum & Dad I'm not sure that my bro and I would be in contact now. The funny thing is that both my bro and my adoptive brother have the same name so I have 2 brothers with the same name! My Mum used to tell anyone who thought it was a bit odd that she had two sons called the same that she 'just liked the name!' You can imagine the looks people used to give her!!

There you go folks..now you know a very little about me!

Unfortunately I didn't find anyone to tag as I think I must be the last person on earth to do this! However, if by chance you haven't done it and fancy a shot, please be my guest but let me know so that I can read your answers!

A valuable lesson learned?

I'm feeling just a tad cheesed off tonight. I suppose it's my own fault...I've read enough posts on the angel forums to know I should have expected this!

I saw my sis tonight and gave her the newly finished Jaywalkers. I knit them for her because we both have a bit of 'a thing' for soft, thick socks. I thought she would love them, as I do! But I was disappointed with her reaction...

She was pleased I think but her reaction was fairly muted. She didn't even try them on til I asked her to to see if they fit.

So, I have learned a lesson today...not to knit gifts for people who haven't asked for them! (Babies excepted!) Jomp's says that it's just that people don't appreciate how much time & effort has gone into them. Which I guess is true. Still disappointed tho........

How time flies...

...when it's peeing down outside. Yes it has rained all day long (it's bank holiday weekend, what else do you expect?) so I've managed to finish the jaywalkers:

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina.

Yarn: Posh Yarn Sophia 4ply. Colourway: Tada!

Size: Shoe size 8 (UK)

Knit for: My sis

Comments: My first patterned socks. I love this yarn, cashmere is definately the way to go! I made one mistake - didn't read the pattern and slipped the heel stitches knitwise when they should have been purlwise but I still like the effect.

When will it be over?

It's official! I HATE HATE HATE my Jaywalkers! But it's ok because I shall love them again in a few days!

Let me explain... I don't suffer from 2nd sock syndrome. I'm usually so thrilled with finishing the first of a pair that I can't wait to cast on it's sibling. This was as true as ever, if not more so, in the case of the 2nd jaywalker.

Unfortunately I suffer from half finished 2nd sock syndrome! I get to the point, when I'm not very far from finishing, that I just want to hurl said sock out of the window. It takes on a demonic like quality..calling to me and laughing at me...."You know I'm here, come finish me!" but I'd rather boil my head than keep going round and round and round and round!

Then I had the 'great idea' of joining the sockamonth thing so now I have even more pressure to finish the blasted socks! All because I live in the vain hope that I might win some more sock yarn so I can start the whole vicious circle all over again!

Here is the offending article, only 35 more rounds plus the toe to go but only 5 days left to finish them:

Let the fun begin...

3 good things have happened to me today.

1) I just got back from Weight Watchers and have lost 3.5lbs this week. Yippee!! Total in 2 weeks is 5.5lb.

2) I had to pick up a parcel from the post office and thought it was boring book for Jomp's but I was wrong! It's my new wool winder from eBay. I only won it on Sunday and it arrived yesterday even though I was out. Fab service! Can't wait to have a go at it!!

3) When I got home there was a fabulous pink squishy parcel waiting on the doormat....... more Posh Yarn!!!! It's soooooo lovely. Sophia 4ply (100% Cashmere) in colourway 'Shadows' for Jomp's socks.

All I need now is to finish the Jaywalkers and find a less boring pattern than the Opal basic one for Jomp's!

200 knitted blocks - #1 of 200

We had the day off today and needed cheering up so off we headed in to town, despite the fact it's Payday this week and we are broke! I bought a new book in the hope of finding some enthusiasm for a big project. It's 200 knitted blocks by Jan Eaton:

Pictured underneath is my 1st square, or part thereof, named 'Plain leaf':

I chose this one as it looked unusual and was really pleased with my progress. I was thinking how clever it all was, making a 3D object out of a flat length of wool. Then Jomp's ruined it by snorting "What IS that meant to be??" All he could see was something that looked really rude!! What do you think?

Saving my sanity!

How bizarre that such a strange looking contraption might be the thing that stops me going round the bend on a one way visit to the funny farm!

Winding skeins into balls drives me potty. I tried it myself with the skein round my knees.. that one took me about 7 hours to untangle. I got Jomps to hold whilst I wound..that nearly led to divorce! And dont even speak to me about my hand dyed wool! That was a nightmare!

So I'm going to buy a ball winder. This one is on eBay so hoping to get a bargain. Off course, then I will need a yarn swift too. Roll on pay day!!

Knitting backwards.

Grrrrrr. I made a mistake in my 2nd Jaywalker. Jomps and I were fantasising about winning the lottery whilst I was knitting last night....lost my concentration and messed it up! Have spent this evening tinking back 3 and a half rounds!!! I'm not a happy bunny!

So then I needed a break and thought I'd find out why it's called 'tink'ing, thinking there must be some really clever reason. Found my answer on Angel Yarns: It's just 'KNIT' spelt backwards because you are knitting backwards, ie, unpicking stitch by stitch!

Gosh, my blog is grumpy tonight. Lots going on around here and I guess it's rubbing off a bit online. I will make sure my mood has improved before I post again, I promise!

Feeling uninspired....

I really don't know what's the matter with me at the moment. Normally I have at least 2 WIP's on the go usually involving 1 pair of socks and 1 larger project. But ever since I finished Beth's Little Princess Cardigan, my knitting mojo has got up and gone! I have at least 10 pairs of socks planned and can't wait to start the next pair but I need a 'big' project to really get my teeth into.

I've been thinking about trying some lace, maybe the forest canopy shawl or the kiri shawl. Either of these would at least give me an excuse to buy more Posh Yarn but I just don't know!! Advice please!

Sock-A-Month 2007

I have joined my first knit-a-long type thingamyjig! It's sock-a-month 2007 and looks great! I may use the Jaywalkers to get started although I tend to think that's cheating a bit. However, everyone else has had a whole 16 days more than me so will probably use the Jaywalker in the end. One lucky person each month wins some luscious sock yarn....mmmmm!

I picked up my new glasses today, super funky they are too. Completely not me at all but I love them! So I should for what they cost... could have bought many many skeins of yarn instead! I guess it's better that I can see properly, don't you think?!

My 1st comment!

Forgot to mention how thrilled I am that some kind soul (Emma) has taken pity on me and my very new blog and left a comment! Please do leave a comment if you time!

The postman always rings twice....

The first time was on Saturday! I forgot to tell you that I had a lovely delivery from the Knit Tin. Unfortunately the site is closing down but that does mean some great bargains!

I got a needle tin, an accessory tin (full of accessories), 3 (yes 3!) pairs of Brittany Birch needles, some spare DPN's (to allow more sock based wips!) and 6 balls of Paton's Fairytale DK for a pound a ball.

Now I'm waiting for the next postman's ring! I'm excitedly awaiting a delivery of 50 packs of Kool-Aid so I can have another go at dyeing. I really should buy some more undyed yarn too.... perhaps after pay day if I can wait that long!

Socks...socks...and more socks!

Considering that I have a bizarre dislike of feet, even my own, I am curiously obsessed with socks. All I seem to knit are socks. When I'm not knitting, I spend hours looking at pictures of socks that other people have produced. Or it's hours conjuring up wish lists chocka block of sock yarn, preferably hand dyed, hand painted. Then I have to whittle the list of potential patterns for each particular yarn down to one or two. After trying each pattern out and disliking the effect I have to spend more hours looking for another pattern! This coming from the woman who has only knit 2 pairs of socks!

Make that 2 and a half pairs!

The 1st Jaywalker in Posh Yarn Sophia is finished! Must cast on the 2nd one!

Anyway, back to the obsession....I now have added to my sock repertoire - following on from attempt at dyeing, I keep finding myself daydreaming about colour combinations to try! I'm waiting for a big box of Kool-Aid to arrive then I will crack on. I'm really looking forward to trying to green/blue combo's.

Which reminds me. Jomps has said he wants some cashmere socks after helping to wind the 2nd skein of the Sophia into a ball. Must go look!!

Summer Pudding

Here it is, in all it's beauty!

Oh boy do I love my first attempt at Kool-Aid dyeing! It's 100g Trekking sock yarn dyed with 1 sachet of Strawberry and 1 sachet of Grape.

When it was drying I really wasn't very impressed but since I've rewound the skein, the colours are really shown off. The colours range from a bright red thru pink to white to lilac to dark purple.

It reminds me of summer berries so I've chosen to call it Summer Pudding!

Armed & Dangerous!

I love my postie! He left me a soft squidgy parcel today full of undyed Trekking sock yarn:

My mum recently brought me some Kool-Aid from the states so I'm ready to go! Can't wait to get started on producing some handpainted original sock yarn!

Also in my parcel from Get Knitted was a pen, sweeties and 30cm 2.5mm Addi Turbo as I've wanted to try socks on 1 circular for a while. I've already tried a few rounds of the Jaywalker and it feels great!

Previously finished articles.

Having told you how I got into knitting again, I don't want to bore you with endless descriptions of what I knit and when! Therefore, I'll post pics when I can in the finished articles list.

Hope that's ok!

Pretty skeins....ugly balls!

Back to work I went today..... and pretty horrible it was too.

The one light spot was my lunchbreak when I managed to get a good few rounds of my Jaywalker done. I was knitting in the staff 'tea room' and noticed lots of people casting sideways glances at me to see what I was doing. This made me think about how my knitting must look to other people....DPN's everywhere linked by a ball of wool.





Now I'm in love with my Posh Yarn cashmere. I would have it's babies if I could! But, I realised other people wouldn't like it so much as me.....because I've seen it in a skein! It's just so pretty in a skein, I could look at it (and stroke it!) for hours but I love it far less when it's been wound into a ball. Why is this? Am I the only one to feel like this? I may have to post a Poll on the Angel Yarns forums to find out!

Back to work tomorrow

Gutted!

We've had such a lovely week off and our break at Center Parcs was fab! I should have spent this evening getting ready to go back but have spent it all blogging and reading other people's blogs!

Of course I should be knitting too but I'm feeling very uninspired at the mo. I have a pair of Jaywalkers in Posh Yarn cashmere on the needle but nothing else really. I need to find a 'big' project to enthuse me again, any ideas?

...and a bit more...

That weekend, I ran out and bought the Stitch & Bitch book, some very cheap acrylic DK yarn and a pair of needles. Slowly but surely, what my Grandma had taught me so long ago came back as I learnt how to knit, purl, rib etc. I still have the very first item I made, a little stripey hat for our kitten "Pig"!

A bit of background....

I guess I should say a bit about myself and how I got interested in knitting.

I remember my Grandma teaching me to knit when I was perhaps 9 or 10. I was sat by her side with pretty thick needles and red (I think) wool in my hands. I don't think it was too long before I was holding a knotted 'scarf' that was so tight I couldn't force the neddle into each new stitch! I clearly remember hating knitting and wondering why she spent so much time on it!

Fast forward 20 odd years...

My Grandma, sadly, died in 2003. No-one else in the family seemed to knit or do any sort of craft. I had, over the years, tried my hand at a number of hobbies including cross-stitch, but they had all fallen by the way side. Jomp's (my DH) had gotten quite used to seeing me get all enthused about something new only to see me give up when the going got tough - I'm a typical Capricorn - I can't bear to do anything that isn't perfect!

Then, I became pregnant! Looking back now, it seems that not only had we concieved our little bundle of joy but a love of knitting began to grow within me too. Almost as soon as that little blue line appeared on the test, I had an urge to knit for my unborn child. I think it was because I knew my Grandma had knitted furiously for my four nieces when they were born and I knew that my little one would never have that.

Welcome to Woolly Tales!

Well, I've finally succumbed to the growing trend of blogging and persuaded myself that someone, somewhere might actually be interested in something I've got to say! So here goes...Welcome to Woolly Tales!