The Proof

I said I'd been knitting in my prolonged absence, didn't I? Well I'd forgotten just what I'd started and finished til I got it all together to photograph it for the blog and Ravelry.

Back in June, Jomps and I became Auntie & Uncle to our new Nephew, Anthony. I, of course, realised 2 weeks before he was due that I HAD to knit him something. This was the first family member who has had a baby since I've been knitting and it was on the In-Law side so no pressure there then...NOT! Anyway, Jomps' brother knew it was a boy so I picked out this little set:



Pattern: Snuggly Baby Bamboo #1734 Striped Baby/Child V-Neck Pullover or Slipover Vest from the booklet Baby Bamboo Knits and Simple Baby Socks from the booklet Fiber Trends -The Magic Loop .

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo. Various colours

Size: 3-6 months in the vest and 0-12 months socks

Knit for: Anthony James

Comments: Loved this pattern and the yarn which gives clear crisp stitch definition. The only issue I really had was weaving in ends as the yarn is so slippery. The neck opening on the vest seemed small but I did offer to take it back to add some buttons on the shoulder seam if need be.

This was also the first time I had tried Magic Loop which I really liked, surprisingly! I think I'll be sticking to my teeny tiny circular or Harmony DPN's though!

After these were finished I found out I was pregnant and also found myself unable to knit much at all. I tried...I really tried:

Both these socks were knit with yarn that lovely Cheryl, my SP11 spoiler, sent me last year. The shorties are Cascade Fixation which is a really weird yarn to knit with, soooo stretchy! It took me three attempts to get the tension right and still ending up with completely different pooling on the two socks. The red stripey socks are in Regia Cotton India Color and are my first try at a picot hem. Despite being cotton...they are still pretty warm and I love the colours. They are also identical twins...a first for me!

And then, of course, I had to knit a little something for the bump:

Pattern: Baby to Toddler Socks by Miriam L Felton

Yarn: Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM)

Needles: 2.5mm Harmony DPN's

Size : Newborn

Knit for: the bump!

Comments: Oh my, I'd forgotten how cute baby knits are and how quick they are to knit! LOVE these socks even though the foot section looks huge...I guess they'll fit at some point!

So..there is the proof that I haven't been entirely idle!

Pull up a pew

I know, I know. It's been 3 months since my last confession... I've decided that it makes me a real blogger. Many blogs that I read have summer holidays, long breaks without posts, and I still read them. It doesn't put me off so I'm hoping the same can be said for anyone still remaining out there in blogland that bothers to read my little blog.

So, go on, make a brew and I'll fill you in on the news in Woolly Tales.

The kids are back to school and the summer has been a wash out. We had Jomp's kids here for half the holidays so we were busy on days out, picnics and general family stuff. My beloved Pickle continues to grow like a weed. Her vocabulary increases by the day along with her understanding that she can get anyone to do anything she asks if she just flutters her eyelashes at them! Potty training is a laugh...NOT! Still, she'll get there in the end.

Jomps and I have just celebrated our 4th Wedding anniversary and decided, as we do each year, that we'll try for another year. I thank my lucky stars to have him in my life, and I can only hope and dream that we'll be trying for another year together in 40 years time.

I guess this is as good a point as any to tell you that we have another mini Pickle on the way, due March 3rd 2009. We are both thrilled, excited and nervous about how we will cope with another little one in the house but any worries we had faded the minute we saw this little person waving at us:

I have felt terrible almost from the word go and precious little of anything, knitting or otherwise, got done for quite some time. Thankfully I'm now 15 weeks pregnant and feeling much better so on with the show!

Talking of shows.... we spent our Anniversary weekend in London. We saw Joseph starring Lee Mead which was just mindblowing. It was such a colourful show, so much to look at on stage and very funny. I really recommend it.

Then on saturday, another show... I Knit day 2008! I booked the tickets (yes, Jomps came with me, bless him) months ago and couldn't wait! It was a great day and I was thrilled to be in the company of so many knitters, everywhere you looked there were people knitting. I was very restrained:

Yes, only ball of yarn..Noro Kureyon Sock. The new Yarn Harlot book, natural Knits for Babies & Mums, a tiny sock blocker, the kitchener dog tag (I always have to stop knitting and look up the Knitty article) and a new mug.

The talk by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was so funny. I'm not someone who laughs out loud at the cinema or the tv but she had me in stitches! I had to put my knitting down in the end or I'd have made a terrible mistake. It was such a fantastic atmosphere, everyone there for the same reason, mostly with their knitting in hand, listening to someone talk about the health benefits of knitting and telling us all how we are like Buddhist monks! It was the best 90 minutes I've spent in ages.

I was very lucky to be about 10th in the queue for the booksigning and was a bit stage struck but Stephanie made everyone feel at ease and had something personal and genuine to say to everybody (even those 3 hours back in the queue!). Jomps made her laugh and I even made it on to the Yarn Harlot's blog, scroll down to the pic of Jenny holding a picture of her daughter and baby...well that's me to the right in a LOVE(1) t-shirt talking to the better half of Jomps! Not a great picture but I don't care!

So, there you have it... all the important news. I have of course, done some knitting but I'll leave that for another post!

I'm pleased to be back.... I've missed you all. x

Tagged!

My lovely friend, Cheryl, just tagged me in a thinly veiled effort to get me blogging again so here goes!

The Rules - Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.Since I don't do this very often, here goes:

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was living in London with my two very best friends 20 minutes outside London and having a ball! I was working at Great Ormond Street Hospital which I loved and was also right in the centre of London so socialising after work was a lot of fun. I was also dating my aerobics instructor...need I say more?!

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Take Pickle for her very first visit to the dentist (that should be fun, not!)
Pick up Jomp's Fathers Day Present from Pickle (more on that after Fathers Day)
Put a ton of clean clothes away (I always leave it til we have nothing left to wear!)
Have some tickle time with Pickle (Thursdays together after 3 days at work/Nursery are fab!)Catch up with letters/bills/emails (This is on my to-do list everyday!)

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Banana's - as long as they are just on the yellow side of green, I hate them if they're too soft
Cadbury's Fruit & Nut - the bigger the better
Cheese & Onion crisps - all varieties except the really cheap ones

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

Have at least 5 more babies! Still, at 35, I'd have to be pretty quick!

I've always said if I won the lottery I'd like to own a bookshop. It would be full of very old leather 1st editions that smell just like old books should. It would be stocked from floor to ceiling with books stacked higgledy piggledy all over the place. On one wall there would be a huge open fire, always burning whatever the season, surrounded by lots of old leather wing backed chairs. My customers would be my friends and there would be free fresh coffee whatever the hour. Of course, being a billionaire, it wouldn't matter if I never sold a single book!

5. Places I have lived:Not very interesting:

Lancing, Shoreham, Surbiton, Kingston-Upon-Thames, New Malden, Worthing

So, let's see, who shall I tag??
1. Vikki
2. Lucy
3. Fiona
4. Charlie
5. Claire

It's taken me ages to think of these answers and to find people who haven't already done this meme. Right, I'm off to let you all know you've been tagged!

A change is as good as a rest?

It's been quiet over here, hasn't it?

I've been trying to put into words how I'm feeling but couldn't. Down? Yes but it's not descriptive enough. Fed up? Definitely yes but who isn't? Depressed? Maybe but that sounds such a serious word.

Then I was reading a blog, I forget what the subject was as I was just going from click to click, and there was the word I needed. 'Flat'. The author described how she was feeling and she was describing me.

So that's how I'm feeling. Flat. I think it sums my feelings up perfectly. There's no great ups but neither, thankfully, are there huge lows. Just this sense of being very low and not quite sure how to climb out of the little pit I find myself in.

I know why I'm feeling like I am and I know that those reasons aren't going to go away anytime soon. I really need to come to terms with a few things and get on with my life but for once, I'm finding it very hard to do.

So today, I sought solace in food! Not just any old food... home baking!

I know, I know! Food is not the answer but I needed to be busy and I've been reading lots of cupcake blogs so I fancied giving some a go!

While I baked cupcakes, the bread maker rocked and rolled it's own merry rhythm and produced this.

And whilst I iced the cupcakes

Jomps baked his first Victoria Sponge!

Surely all these goodies would make anyone feel better? I'll let you know when I've finished munching!

Lots of stash, not much knitting!

All of the above sock yarns have been bought or swapped for my sock blanket. It's so nice to get your hands on so much stash and know exactly what project it's for! The best thing is that when I've bought a ball, I know that I will get more yarn from it. What I mean is that from each 50g ball I get 5 10g mini balls. 1 goes into my blanket, 4 are for swaps. So I get 5 different sock yarn mini balls from one 50 g ball. It's a great way of satisfying my addiction to sock yarn!

The blanket is growing slowly, will post a pic when I've got to 50 squares!

Of course, now that I've cast on for the Apres Surf Hoodie, the blankie is going even more slowly! I'm really enjoying this knit so far:

It's going to be a lovely hoodie, so feminine and pretty. Really not my usual style but it will be nice to wear something light & airy on summer evenings. The RYC Cashcotton is yummy, very soft, especially surprising considering the cotton content. And I love the colour, such a pretty blue.

You would think that I would be knitting like fury with such lovely projects on the go, wouldn't you? Well I would but things keep distracting me! I ordered a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's 'Knitters Alamanac' which is keeping me amused. I've never read any of her books before but I think I need to buy more as I really would like to be able to have the courage to make pattern mods which EZ really encourages.

And, of course, then there's the distraction that is the mighty Ravelry!

When I'm not swapping yarns or posting on the forums, I'm looking at so many beautiful projects that I lose track of time and the knitting lies beside me looking forlorn. Last night was worse than usual! I'd read that the Ravelry shop was about to open and I wasn't going to miss out!!

Fast forward 3 hours and many thousands of F5 presses later....I was lucky enough to get in quickly as one of 5 test shoppers to try out the checkout process before the shop went live!! I was SO excited as I managed to order one of the very few Tote bags in stock, a Ravelry pin and a T-shirt! I then spent the next two hours worrying that I'd missed out due to a hiccough in the checkout but it appears that all is well and my goodies are on their way!! Woo Hoo!!

So no, not a lot of knitting has been done....but there has been lots of stash enhancement going on! It's hard to say which of these two activities I enjoy most - what about you?