Here I am

Back again.  I've just been busy with other things and not really had time or motivation to blog recently.  However I do have some news for you.  As you all know, I'm a real ale enthusiast and CAMRA member.  Well for a good few months now I've been considering becoming more active in our local branch.  There is currently a core of four or five people who do absolutely everything and I've been feeling that I wanted to help out in some capacity. So firstly, I have volunteered to work at our Annual Beer Festival which is being held this week from 19th to 21st, I'll blog about my experience on both sides of the bar at the weekend hopefully.  Secondly and the main thing, I have joined the Committee as Pubs Officer for Hull.  This actually is quite an undertaking and I'm not entirely sure I thought it through properly before volunteering!!  However, I will give it my best shot.  Basically I have to make contact with licensees of pubs in Hull and report to committee and members of any news or changes, current branch members often report any news to the pubs officer already so that will help.  I also would like to encourage some licensees to become more involved in CAMRA promotional campaigns such as the discount scheme to get more CAMRA members through their doors and other campaigns that run throughout the year.  Previously there just have not been enough people in the committee to do everything needed so I'm hoping to take some of that on.  Now this would take a very confident and self-assured person one would think eh?  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am neither of those things so this will be a challenge for me.  One I am looking forward to even though I am a little daunted by it.  Wish me luck!  The branch was also missing a proper webmaster due to the previous one having to give up due to work and family committments so Patrick has volunteered in that capacity too.  He has designed a new branch website and I'll link to that when it goes live.  It's been many hours of hard work but it's looking brilliant, we just need people to make decisions now before we can take it further.

In knitting news, my mojo went AWOL for a wee while but I've now finished the baby jacket for my work colleague.  I hope she's having a little 'un because this has turned out much smaller than I expected. 

I'm also halfway through the second of my Pretty Pink Bubbles socks.  I love these socks, the pattern is so easy and yet pretty.  The yarn which is Cygnet Wool Rich 4ply is a very cosy but I think it will felt easily so it will be hand wash with care for these.  I am also now determined to finish Maude Louise before I allow myself to cast on another thing.

I have a wonderful fella...

He bought me these lovely daffodils just to cheer me up. They smell as beautiful as they look.

Q & A

Kate at Haunted Yarns  linked me on her blog to answer 12 questions she has set for 12 bloggers (me being one of the twelve).  It's a fun idea so here are my answers.

1.Of all the projects you’ve knitted for yourself, which is the one that you wear most often?
Hmm...I actually wear most of my handknits fairly regularly but at the moment, I'm probably wearing my February Lady or Purple Greenjeans most often.  I do wear my shawls all the time in the colder months, I wear them as scarves under my coat and of course all of my hats get regular outings too :-)

2.What item would you never knit, even if you were offered a million pounds/dollars/euros to make one?
Crikey, I think I'd knit a cover for the Humber Bridge if I was offered that kind of money! Haha.  I can't think of anything I wouldn't knit for that but certainly there are things I just don't have any desire to knit.  Dishcloths/Facecloths for instance, I've done them but I really don't get all the fuss that some knitters make of them.  Another thing I really, really would never want to knit (or wear) is THESE!!

3.Do you have a favourite place to knit in your home?
In my house not particularly, though it's usually the sofa I have been known to knit in bed.  My favourite place of all is on Patrick's sofa in his house because it has a recliner so I get my legs up and I'm settled for the duration.

4.How long do you spend knitting per day?
I don't always have time to knit everyday because I work full-time.  I do find that work gets in the way of life sometimes ;-). On the evenings I can knit though, I do make the most of it.  I get cosy on the sofa once the dinner dishes are washed and any chores are done.  I rarely watch TV, so I plug a podcast or audiobook into my ears and do nothing but knit and listen until bedtime.  Some evenings that can be two or three hours if I'm lucky.

5.Do you have a favourite knitting (or other craft) magazine?
Twist Collective.  Hands down favourite, I read it from cover to cover every issue and although I've never got around to purchasing any patterns yet, I'm sure it's only a matter of time until I do because I have loads of them in my favourites on Ravelry.  I don't tend to buy knitting magazines because I think they are a bit pricey at around a fiver and I don't really have a fiver to spare very often.

6.Have you ever used knitting needles for something other than knitting?
No.  I've often been tempted to strangle people with my circulars though!

7.Have you ever – successfully – taught another person to knit?
Unfortunately not.  I've never even successfully persuaded anyone to let me try, despite many attempts with various work colleagues and friends.

8.What is your favourite flavour of crisps?
Oh it has to be Walker's Cheese and Onion...in a sandwich of nice fresh bread from the bakery.  Yum Yum.

9.Have you ever given up knitting for a long period of time (more than six months)?
Well I actually had a break of around 15 years but I have no idea why.  It wasn't intentional, I just stopped knitting.  I used to knit in the 1980's when I first had learned and because all women's magazines at that time tended to have a knitting pattern or two in them.  I had no idea of nice yarns back then and would just buy cheap acylic from our local bargain shop but I did knit some nice things, a Mohair jumper back in the day when they were ultra-fashionable which was envied by all my friends.  Then when my first son was born, I knitted clothing and toys for him up to around 1994 when my second son was born.  And then I stopped.  Like I say, I don't know why but I still feel guilty to this day that the only handknits son2 had were hand-me-downs from son1 :-(.  Then when I took up knitting again around four years ago I discovered Ravelry and my fate was sealed!

10.What makes you laugh?
I think it's easier to say what doesn't make me laugh really.  I can't bear silly 'alternative comedy' (alternative in this situation usually just means that it is comedy that isn't funny!).  I hated The Young Ones and Bottom and those kinds of things.  One thing I do laugh at which is to my discredit really, is other folks having accidents.  Now I don't mean big accidents obviously that would be horrible, but if someone trips in the street or walks into something I just cannot help myself from laughing.  Cute animals or babies doing comical things also can crack me up.

11.What is your favourite book?
I always answer this with To Kill A Mockingbird because Scout really is my favourite fictional character ever but really I love lots of books.  Little Women is another favourite.  I joined Goodreads a while back and I really enjoy browsing that and seeing other readers opinions and reviews of books I've either read or want to read.

12.Do you accurately know how much yarn you own?
I do put stash on Ravelry and connect it to projects I've knitted so I think I'm there or thereabouts with it.  I also have it all on shelves in my bedroom so I can see it.  I used to forget what I had, even though it was on Rav but seeing it all there inspires me to choose projects to match my stash.

So there we are.  Now I am supposed to choose 12 bloggers to ask my 12 questions to but I'm afraid I only have 7 so stand up and be counted

Pinkshoes
OzzyBlackbeard
Clicky Needles
Christine65
JosieKitten
Snoopydog
Squirrel

1. What is your favourite thing to knit?
2. What is your favourite yarn, fibre/colours etc to knit with?
3. Where is your favourite or dream holiday destination?
4. What is your best tried and tested recipe?
5. What are you usually doing, if anything, at the same time as you are knitting?
6. Any other hobbies or interests that you are passionate about?
7. Choose: Starter or Dessert
8. Do you have a favourite book?  If so, what and why?
9. If you could meet a famous person, either present day or from history, who would it be?
10. What is your favourite animal?
11.  What kind of music do you enjoy?
12, What makes you happy?
.

Socks

I seem to be on a bit of a sock kick at the moment having managed to finish my first pair of toe-up socks using the MUMTUS recipe . I did enjoy knitting socks this way actually and I've now got all enthusiastic about toe-up socks and been searching out and faveing patterns on Rav like there's no tomorrow!  However, as is the way of knitters, I'm sure the mania will pass as soon as something else pretty catches my attention.  Toe-up does seem quicker to me than the top down method and magic loop is easy to do, I love Wendy's magic cast on and I used Jeny's surprisingly stretchy cast off for the top.  Mason is delighted with his new socks and is currently wearing them to school and showing them off to all and sundry!  I just hope none of the neighbours looked out of their bedroom windows this morning to see me sitting in the backyard photographing my own feet!

I'm not overly keen on the yarn or the colour to be honest.  It is the Zettl sockenwolle from Lidl a couple of years ago, it is supposed to be machine washable but I know from experience of the socks I knitted for Patrick in the grey colourway...it isn't machine washable!!  They felted and would do a small child as a pair of boots!  I chucked them out after trying in vain to get them onto my own feet and realising that even if I found someone they would fit, they were so stiff and uncomfortable, said person would not wear them anyway.  Anyhow, I'll have to make sure this pair are handwashed.  I liked the colourway when I started knitting the foot but there is a bit of pooling around the heel gussett on both socks.  Then I tried to get a bit fancy and knit the leg in a 3 x 1 rib.  This was a mistake, far too much variegation to take any pattern whatsoever, they just look messy to me. 
 

Buoyed by my success in getting them finished though, I got a hankering to knit myself a pair of lacy pink socks.  Pink because I've had this yarn in stash for yonks and lacy because I had lacy in mind when I bought the yarn.  I'm really not a pink girl normally, it doesn't suit me at all.  However, for socks I can probably get away with it :-).  A quick search on Ravelry for toe up socks found me the simple lace pattern of Bubbles Down the Drain by Staci Perry (Rav link).  The description of how to knit the toe part seemed rather complicated in the pattern so I decided to go with Wendy's Magic Cast on and the MUMTUS recipe up until I reached the stitch count for starting the lace pattern.  As you can see I'm at about 3 inches and that is after approx 3.5 hours of knitting time, as I've remarked in the past, I'm not the fastest of knitters but I enjoy it and finish things in my own time so I'm not too worried about that.  I am trying to keep track of time on this project, just out of interest to see how long it actually takes me, in knitting hours to knit a pair of socks.  I'm really enjoying this pattern, it is a four row repeat with rows 2 and 4 being identical.  I find this spurs me on to knit a little bit more.  Rather than just stopping knitting, I tend to finish a four row repeat before stopping, so instead of "just one more row" it's "just one more repeat".

I think next up on the radar is Medici by Woolly Wormhead.  Patrick's sister Coral has knitted it for herself in Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend but only used 41g of a 100g skein.  She has very generously given me the rest of the skein for me to knit it for myself.  We'll have to make sure we don't both go out in them together though!

And the winners are.

After much pondering and trying to discover how many (or few) followers a blog has, I've finally decided to whom I am going to award the Liebster awards.  It was quite a difficult one really and in the end, I decided to go with what was in front of my eyes with regard to followers, if it didn't say on the blog, I've assumed there to be less than 200, if it did say on the blog, I've assumed that to be correct even though there are different ways to follow that may not show up on the blog itself.  As you can see, I've been tying myself in knots with this, probably unecessarily!

The idea is to put a copy of the award logo on my own blog and then to award it to between 3 and 5 other blogs and inform them via a comment on their blog, so without further ado, here are my 4 choices.
1. KateohKatie.  Kate is an American girl whose blog I started to follow after admiring her version of Maude Louise on Ravelry way back in 2009 sometime.  She's articulate and witty, I enjoy reading about her life and her knitting and baking adventures and she makes me laugh out loud sometimes.  She also has a very cute doggie called Roxie :-)
2. Squirrel. Shirley's blog is always enjoyable and she makes beautiful project bags which she sells on Etsy and Folksy.  Make sure you visit her and follow the links to her shops...not that I am enabling or anything!
3. JosieKitten.  Just a lovely blog to read. Josiekitten lives in a lovely part of the country and posts beautiful photos of where she lives, her knitting and also her delightful cat Florence
4. SnoopyDog.  Another lovely blog to read, Snoopydog is Josiekitten's friend and her blog follows a similar format and always cheers me up. Another one with a cute pet, Oscar the labrador is just gorgeous.

Please have a look at the above blogs if you don't already follow them, that is afterall the idea of this award scheme, to get us all to look into blogs we have previously been unaware of.

I do enjoy reading blogs of ordinary knitting folk like myself and seeing the photos they take of their knits, surroundings and pets.  Thank you to all of the above (and bloggers everywhere) for allowing me and others into your lives in this way.

And now for an update on Tappan Zee...you know it was finished?  Well, I decided that it wasn't and frogged the border to knit extra rows.  The more I tried it on, the more I felt that it wasn't working as a cropped cardigan.  The yoke is too patterned and it looked top-heavy and unfinished.  So, I unpicked the cast-off and frogged the garter rows, knitted a few extra rows and put in an eyelet row which I think makes it look more 'finished'.  I then re-knit the garter rows and cast off.  So, I present to you..... Tappan Zee, in Adriafil Soffio Plus.

These pretty buttons were from Textile Garden.  The service, communication and delivery were excellent and I'm sure I'll buy from her again.

So, next up for me is to finish Mason's second sock!  I started and finished the first one in record time for me back in September last year.  These are the MUMTU (Mash-up Magic Toe-up) socks and I've just turned the heel of the second sock so am onto the leg now.  I'm hoping to get these off the needles by the end of the weekend.  Then, I intend to finish Maude Louise at long last before I allow myself to start anything else.  Get me being all disciplined!!  I've just managed to talk myself out of buying some extremely cheap Noro Silk Garden at Knit Night tonight so I'm feeling particularly proud of my willpower.

That's all for now folks, see you next week with some finished socks I hope!

An award and an FO

I'm very pleased to have been awarded the Liebster Blog award by Clicky Needles.  Clicky's blog is always a pleasure to read so check her out if you haven't already.

This is an award system between bloggers with less than 200 followers.  The idea is that when you have received the award, you put the icon on your blog and then have to award it to between 3 and 5 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers themselves, you notify them by a comment on their blog and announce the winners on your own blog.  It's a good way of publicising blogs and also finding other blogs that may interest you.  I'm having a bit of a think about who to give the award to, a problem I'm finding is that most blogs don't show the number of followers, so how do you know how many they have?  I'm going to have to hazard a guess I'm afraid and hope for the best!  I'll hopefully have made up my mind by next week and will post the winners then.

The other news is that Tappan Zee is now finished.  It just needs a light block to even out the stitches, I'm really pleased with how it turned out in this yarn.  Modifications I made were to put a garter edge on the sleeves to match the neckline and bottom and to omit the diamond pattern at the bottom.  I also finished it off shorter because I wanted it a shorter length.  I can't believe how far that yarn seemed to go.  I had already knitted Meret out of it and used less than a ball for that.  I've now finished a cardi that is supposed to take 700 meters with less than 600 meters!  My next mission is to get Maude Louise finished and done with before the weather gets too warm to wear it!!  However, for some odd reason I have a hankering to knit a toy of some description next.  I've no idea why because I'm not one for cuddly toys or nic-nacs around the house so I've no idea what I would do with it once finished but still, the notion keeps nagging away at me.  A nice bunny or teddy in some lovely Wendy cotton dk I have stashed seems to be the general train of thought. 

Rightio, I'd best get back to work now.  See you next week, with the winners of the Liebster announcement and hopeful a progress report on Maude!

Memories

One of my things I want to do this year is to sort out my huge family photo collection.  I have, like everyone else, hundred of photos.  As well as the plethora of miscellaneous digital images on various CDs, portable hard drives and memory sticks, I have hundreds of physical photographs, going back to my own childhood and even earlier as I was a bit of a family historian a few years ago. I intend to start with the digital ones, try to sort them into some semblance of order and put them into folders on an external hard drive.  Already, I'm feeling daunted by this and I've only looked at one CD!!  The memories this is going to turn up will be fun though.  Such as this one

The son in this photo is now 17 years old!  I had knitted this jumper for his elder brother and it had been passed down to him.  They were both fans of the children's tv show Tot's TV and this pattern leaflet had jumpers with each of the characters and toys to make too.  I have to say, I was immensely proud of this at the time :-)

And this picture of my two boys looking like they actually love each other!

And then there's this....which I have to say looks more realistic than the previous one!

So, on with the sorting out.  This could take quite a while!  I'm sure I will enjoy it tremendously though.