I am still knitting. I have 2 pairs of completed socks which I will share with you this evening. Blithe is getting lots of wear and I am making good progress with Raspy from Denim People.
I will endeavour to get some photo's up this evening after I get back from a Birthday celebration with some friends.
Better get to the office - rather busy! Something to do with working in the property sector and the credit crunch!
Happy Knitting
xx
Sorry but it has been a busy couple of weeks. Not too busy to stop the knitting though, just the blogging!
Summer of Socks has begun and in celebration I cast on a new pair of socks.
The yarn is TREKKING pro natura - lots of brown shades and I like the colours a lot.
Tomorrow I promise to take a photo of Blithe now that she has her buttons on. I have yet to wear Blithe but have plans to this week.
Happy Knitting
xx
I seem to be back where I was in May - multi socks!
This was the state of "sock nation" yesterday morning whilst sunning myself outside Costa. So the plan is to finish the "sailing" sock (as you can see little progress was made on my sailing trip!) as this will make a pair and turn the heel on the SOS sock and the Kaffe Fassett socks by the week-end. Let's see how I do as I do have another WIP I would like off the needles by Wednesday and another parcel is due from Debbie Abrahams in the next day or two.
Can I watch the rest of the Andrew Murray match at Wimbledon?
Happy Knitting
XX
Last night David and I went to see Elkie Brooks at The Corn Exchange.
Elkie Brooks is one of the most successful and popular singers the UK has ever produced and is still proving to be one of the most powerful and versatile vocal talents of our generation. She performed some of her classic hits, blues, jazz and a song or two from her forthcoming album. It really was an electric evening with Elkie and as the Guardian says "Still One Of The Great British Voices".
My knitting came too and good progress was made on my Kaffe Fassett landscape earth socks and after grafting the toes earlier today I have
Blithe is almost there. I need to give her a press and sew the buttons on.
Happy knitting.
x
It is that time of year again when we have our annual sailing event.
Tomorrow I shall depart for Gun Wharf, Portsmouth.Please pray for sunshine over the next 24 hours.
Our programme is a pretty full one
Tuesday 10th June
1700 hrs Drinks reception at Portsmouth Harbour Yacht Club
1900 hrs Bareboat skippers take over their yachts. Crews of skippered yachts meet their Sunsail skippers and stow kit onboard yachts, safety briefing on board
1930 hrs Coaches depart for HMS Warrior
2030 hrs Dinner on board HMS Warrior
0000 hrs Coaches depart for Port Solent
Wednesday 11th June
0730 hrs Regatta breakfast at the Portsmouth Harbour Yacht Club
0830 hrs Skippers briefing at Portsmouth Harbour Yacht Club
0900 hrs Return to yachts and depart for practice sail in the Solent
1100 hrs Race one
1230 hrs Lunch whilst racing (crews to make their own arrangements)
Continue Racing
1630 hrs Return to Port Solent and depart yachts
1700 hrs Prize-giving buffet served in Portsmouth Harbour Yacht Club
1730 hrs Depart at leisure
As you can see from the Programme, on the first evening we will all be taken round to the famous battleship HMS Warrior, moored near
I take socks with me to pass away the overnight stay at a local hotel. I let the men sleep on the boat and join them for breakfast early the morning after!
Let's see how much progress I make!
Happy Knitting
xx
I took the day off work on Friday as I had a few things to sort for the week-end. One of which was casting on my socks for the journey north.
Yes I have been to Holmfirth for the week-end and yes another Rowan Workshop. We couldn't have wishd for better weather - it was glorious. Plenty of sunshine.
This time it was Beaded Knits with Debbie Abrahams. The workshop was good for knitters who could already knit and purl and wanted to have a go at knitting with beads. We covered the following techniques - how to thread beads, how to read a beaded pattern and how to knit with beads using the slip-stitch method.
We had the choice of a project from from Debbie's latest book 25 beaded knits
to start knitting, or could knit up a sample swatch of one of the projects from the book of our own choosing. Debbie had on display knitted samples of most of the projects in her latest book.
And
David and I meet up with Liz for breakfast at The Old Bridge Hotel. Rowan put on a spread for lunch - they have a new caterer who brings the food in then last night there were 9 of us who met up and went for dinner at Bengal Spice the local Indian in Holmfirth. It was a lovely evening and still light when we came out of the Indian just after 10 which made for a pleasant change.
Pop back soon for a glimpse of Blithe in all her glory.
Happy Knitting
xx
These are my "Chelsea" socks! Knitted using the Kaffe Fassett regia "mirage" yarn. A little dull for this time of year - definitely autumnal colours. That makes 2 pairs towards the
Yes I signed up to the 52 Pair Plunge II at the very last minute. If I excel myself in the Summer of Socks 2008 this should not be beyond me!
Happy Knitting
xx
all sewn up and has even had an outing
Well I like it.
My "Chelsea" socks are coming along just fine and an evening with Lenny Henry has helped my progress. I was only glad he didn't spot me knitting! Ever since he burst out of our TV sets in the mid 70s Lenny Henry has risen to become one of Britain's best-known and loved personalities. Comedian, impressionist, singer and serious actor, Lenny's appeal is classless and ageless. With his new one-man show Lenny Henry delivers an electrifying mix of stand-up and character comedy guaranteed to blow your socks off. As the Daily Mail said it was "Stunning, a complete blast".
Pop back tomorrow to see how the "Chelsea" socks are coming along.
Happy Knitting
xx
I have finished another pair of socks in the Kaffe Fassett sock yarn range. These are the Landscape Fire ones.
Lovely colours
I really like these. I must get back to my "Chelsea" socks now which I have to say are a little bit dull compared to these.
Happy Knitting.
xx
Three pairs of finished socks
Opal Prisma, Schoeller & Stahl Fortissima, Kaffe Fassett Regia Mirage Caribbean
That brings my total number of pairs of socks to 5 for the year. 3 pairs currently on the needles but with a Bank Holiday looming and a few hours in the car one of my May goals may still be achievable.
Happy Knitting
xx
Today I was lucky enough to sopend the day at Chelsea Flower Show.
The show is held annually for five days in May. It is held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea and has been since 1913. This will be the 85th show to be held at this site. Originally known as the Great Spring Show, it was first held in Kensington in 1862
This is the ultimate event in the gardening year. It sets the latest gardening trends, features the newest and most desirable gardening products and creates an explosion of colours and scents.
RHS staff, exhibitors and contractors start planning for the show 18 months in advance. Work is already underway for the show in 2009. It takes 800 people three and a half weeks to build the show. Construction of the show includes 5km of piping, 185 toilets and enough canvas to cover six football pitches. The Great Pavilion covers nearly 12,000 sq m. Around 250 new plants have been launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show over the past four years. 17,000 sq m of turf is re-laid after the show. The showground covers 11 acres.
There are around 600 exhibitors in total. The show features around 50 gardens and more than 100 floral exhibitors in the Great Pavilion. International exhibitors come from countries as far away as the Sweden, Barbados, Sri Lanka, France, Holland, Germany, Australia, Jamaica, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago and Zimbabwe. Some exhibitors such as Nottcutts, Kelways and McBean's Orchids have exhibited at the show since its early days.
Among the top garden designers creating show gardens this year are Jinny Blom, Andy Sturgeon, Diarmuid Gavin, Sarah Eberle, Marcus Barnett, Philip Nixon and Gabriella Pape and Isabelle Van Groeningen.
David and I started the day with breakfast at the Bistro Restaurant which offers the best views of the show overlooking some of the major gardens. We had to book in advance and good job we did - it was very busy. I did a few rows on my "green" sock that I cast on on the train. The reason for "green" was becasue Chelsea was very much themed around green. This is Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn in Mirage colourway.
There was a bandstand in the picnic/seating area in Ranelagh Gardens. At different times of the day we were able to listen to Jonathan Ansell, Jive Aces and The Guards Association Band. We took a few breaks here to give the legs a rest. You can walk a few miles around the show!
I managed to take rather a few photo's. I will share a selection
Has someone left their knitting in one of the gardens?
All in all we had a fabulous day and my knitting enjoyed the day too!
Happy Knitting
xx
200 miles and 9 hours of knitting time later I think I have the perfect excuse to cast on a new pair of socks. The yarn had to have green in it and there is a reason for this - all will be revealed. I have chosen the Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn in Mirage colourway with randon colour splashes.
Well I thought the yarn had a lot of green in. Pop by tomorrow and we shall see the real thing all being well.
Happy Knitting.
It is not often that David and I venture out on a Saturday evening however yesterday evening we were lucky enough to get tickets to see England's oldest and best loved traditional Brass Band, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. They were performing at the Corn Exchange as part of the Newbury Spring Festival.
Music included Festival Music by Eric Ball, Henry the Fifth by William Walton and Music for Battle Creek by Philip Sparke - the Sparke piece is the 2007 English National Brass Band Championships Test Piece performed by the Band when they won the title at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is probably best known for providing the soundtrack to the film Brassed Off, which then went on to be nominated for a BAFTA award.
The evening was fabulous and my knitting enjoyed it too.
I began the concert with this
and when I arrived at Caffe Nero earlier today I discovered I had made a fair bit of progress during the concert
and when I was ready to leave Nero's even more progress,
2 hours and 2 grande americano's later I might add. It is surprising how time flies when you are having fun. Bradley enjoyed it sat reading his Star Wars and Dr Who book's.
In fact this is two Saturday nights in succession. We were also lucky enough to have tickets for the opening night of the Spring Festival last Saturday when we saw Clare Teal. Another excellent evening which my knitting also enjoyed.
Well at least I am making progress with one of my May knitting goals - get sock WIPS down to 1 pair.
Happy Knitting
xx
Further progress has been made with Glint. I have just pressed the pieces of knitting so I can begin sewing up.
The summer tweed which my mum bought me for my birthday has been transformed in to a nearly finished garment
I even have a button ready. I just hope it works with the buttonhole!
Happy knitting.
x
The knitting for Glint is finished, just the sewing up to do. Not today though! I don't think it will take too long to sew up so perhaps tomorrow evening! First I need to recharge the batteries.
Rain is forecast but I want Glint to be ready for when we have our next batch of "wall to wall" sunshine. This Friday would be good for a bout of sunshine as I have an afternoon at the the races.
I am also making good progress with my sock WIPS. The next 6 weeks are looking extremely busy with various trips here and there so need to get the sock program sorted to cover all eventualities - whether my travels be by car, train or even on the water!
Happy knitting
xx
Recently I was lucky enough to win 6 balls of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran yarn on eBay.
A beautiful deep burgundy with flecks of red, green and purple and I shall be knitting Demi.
This will be lovely for the autumn and will feature in my knitting plans later in the year.
Meanwhile it is back to current projects - I have goals to meet in May and need to focus on them!
Happy Knitting.
xx
What a fantastic week this is turning out to be. Warm and sunny.
A slight deviation on the knitting projects though. The sunny weather got me casting on
Glint from the Kim Hargeaves collection
It is a quick knit and should get plenty of wear if this warm and sunny weather continues. It is knitted in Rowan Summer Tweed and I am using the oats shade. The back and half the left front are knitted.
Talking of summer I am thinking about whether to sign up Summer of Socks 2008. This is a two month knitalong that starts on June 21st and ends on September 1st. During the course of the two month along, you can knit as many or as few socks as you like.
I think it will be fun. The closing date is 15th May so not long left to decide.
Happy Knitting.
Another pair of socks off of the wip list thanks to me little helper, Bradley, this morning. We sat outside Caffe Nero's. Bradley had a glass of milk, I had a large coffee as did my mum.
Bradley
Then it was back home after a swift visit to Tesco Metro's as David and I weere lunching with a couple of friends Kostya and Laura.
We went Blubecker's where they do a wonderful roast chicken! The weather was ok, warm enough for a handknit so
Devon Stripe got her inaugural outing
Devon Stripe is from the RY Classic Coast book and knitted in the cotton jeans yarn. I used the same colours as in the book - canvas, sail cloth, jute and madras.
Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday. The weather forecast is for light showers which is no surprise as it is the annual Crafty Craft race here in Newbury.
Happy Knitting
xx
Anyway it is a new month and time to start the monthly goals. So here goes for May - starting gently
Away we go - 31 days in May including 2 bank holidays! Only 28 days left.
I will leave you with this
A beautiful flowering cactus sat in my kitchen window.
Today I met up with a friend who brought me a lovely present
A bag for my sock projects
and she was wearing this
Saffy - a Kim Hargreaves design from Denim People
Another project for the to-do list. It is getting ever longer!
David and I went to see Rick Wakeman at The Corn Exchange here in Newbury last night. I of course took my socks with me and now have the following
Doctorfish from the first opal rainforest collection. This is a collection whcih explores the exotic birds, beasts and butterflies of the rainforest.
Tomorrow I will be posting my goals for May. I think maybe I should give myself a knitterly treat at the end of May if I accomplish them!
For now I am off to bed with my new book.
xx
One of my goals each month will be to knit the squares for the Debbie Abraham's Mystery Blanket.
I am enjoying the project although I got off to a slow start as I was nervous of making mistakes! Anyway I got going at the beginning of March and now think it is absolutely brilliant.
This is the first-ever Mystery Blanket Club but there will be a Mystery Blanket Club 2 which will commence at the beginning of 2009. I am on the priority list for Mystery Blanket 2, which will be a totally different theme, yarn, colours and everything else from the current one, and it will also be an exclusive one-off design, never to be repeated.
This evening I was lucky enough to attend a Champagne Reception for The Bruce Trust. An unaccompanied Male Voice Harmony, 7-in-a-bar, were performing their repertoire which included songs from the Beatles and the Beach Boys as well as great comedy numbers, songs from the theatre and some beautiful ballads.
A lovely way to end a very busy week but then how pleased was I to come home and discover Kim has officially launched her new book Nectar. My order has been placed and I am really looking forward to the book arriving - tomorrow would be wonderful but that may be asking a bit too much. I am sure it will be with me early next week.
I will reserve judgement until I get the book but am the moment I think
Breeze
will be first on the needles followed "quickly" by
Tender
I have yarn for both in 2 colours so I have to make that decision!
This week-end I am hoping to do a little planning with my knitting. Last year I began the year by saying I would knit a pair of socks a month and I stuck to it.
A few knitters that I know set themselves goals for the month and I plan to do this for May and will see how I get on. To start with they will be small goals but hopefully once I get in to it my goals will grow!
I would also like to give my blog a freshen up but that is a goal I will not achieve quickly left to me as my IT skills are still developing!
Tomorrow we are due some warmer weather so I am hoping I can get some decent photo's of Blithe which I would like to have finished by Tuesday evening - a goal!
Happy Knitting
XX
Ok here are a few of my single socks
Believe it or not there is a method to my madness and they will all have their friends before long.
My Garden
Well I think these are just beautiful.
x
Kim's summer book is coming soon NECTAR. The word is it will be with us Friday and could have some patterns from her spring collection - 0ut of the Shadows. This would be great for the spring / summer knitting as there are several of the designs in this collection that I like.
Especially
Breeze
and I have some denim in my stash.
Blithe is coming along. The front and back are finished and I am almost done with one of the capped sleeved.
As well as a bigger project I always have socks on the go and at the moment there are a few socks on the go. Last year I set myself a challenge to knit a pair of socks a month. I managed the challenge and gave them all to David for his Christmas. So 2008 sees the challenge all over again but I must say I would like to knit more than 12 pairs this year. David's birthday is at the end of February and so I knitted a couple of pairs for his birthday. One of them was using yarn from the Opal Rainforest collection - ladybird. Following these socks I had a request for another pair. I could only get some more ladybird sock yarn in 6 ply and so here they are
Ladybird Socks
A while back I promised a photo of Maggie. I did get to wear her to the races but forgot to take a photo so here she is at the Garden Centre busy knitting
on another sock!
Kaffe Fassett sock yarn
Whilst the husband enjoyed his
toasted tea cake
Happy Knitting
xx
