My Poor Baby

I have sad news today. My poor little cat was knocked down by a car this afternoon and killed instantly. I am totally devastated. She's been with me for fourteen years ... she was my adored baby and I...well...I was her housekeeper. I can't begin to describe just how much this hurts and how real this grief is. What has really touched me though is the amount of neighbours who have knocked my door today to ask if I'm ok and to tell me how sorry they are about my cat. Most of the time it seems that people are too caught up in their own lives to worry much about anyone else, but when people display that level of kindness and caring it sort of restores your faith in human nature.

Frog Princess

That's me! I'm about to start frogging something I've work hard on and thought I was making great progress with (sob!). I promised my sister a pair of knee high socks. I promised her I'd come up with a design of my own (not the basic sock anatomy you understand, just the actual pattern). I spent ages working out lacy patterns. One had too many stitches to fit in with the sock pattern. One didn't have enough. One didn't just look quite right. Try as I might, I just couldn't find a way to put into stitches the fabulous sock I could see in my head. Finally I came up with a very simple 2 row pattern that approximated what I was trying to do, and more importantly, my little sis loved it. So I steamed ahead and was halfway up the leg when she came back for another visit. Tragedy! It seems I'd done my calculations wrong and I didn't have enough stitches on to begin with...it's not going to fit and so the frogging must begin. Here is a pic of it in it's pre-frogged state..not a great pic mind you. *Makes mental note to brush up on photography skills*.

Completed Hedera

Finally got my Hedera(s) finished after frogging a few times. I'm really pleased with the way these have turned out , epecially the toe which doesn't seem to have developed 'donkey ears' like a lot of sock toes do. I wonder if this is anything to do with decreasing stitches on the final row.

They're now on their way to my brother's fiancee to keep her tootsies nice and warm :)

Hedera Horrors

Argh! My second Hedera is driving me mad! I should point out that I love this pattern, it's interesting to knit with each round different and it's so pretty knit up, but for some reason at the moment I can't seem to keep my mind on the pattern.

I should have finished the pair last night, but just at the end of the gusset decreases I noticed an error I'd made in the pattern right at the start of the gusset decreases. I sat examining it for about 10 mins while I did battle with myself....'no one would ever notice it'....'but I know it's there'...
In the end I couldn't bring myself to leave it, especially as I'm not keeping them but passing them on to my brother's fiancee, so a-frogging I did go. After ripping it back, I set the knitting aside for the night, deciding it would be better to come back to it fresh today. And indeed that seem to work, for this afternoon I picked it back up and was progressing merrily...or so I thought.

Just as I finished the last pattern repeat before the toe I realised I'd made the exact same mistake, but thankfully not so far back this time. I'm frogging again people...at least this time I only need to take it back one pattern repeat, and then I can finish it. I'm determined that it will be completed tonight!

The Joy of S.E.X. Part ll

More stashy loveliness arrived in the post this morning. Two balls of Opal Rainforest from Angel Yarns, one Owl and one Tiger. And a little extra surprise..a lovely strawberry sweet which is in my mouth right now! This will be the last stashy excitement that I'll have for a while, as I've put myself on a yarn diet until my considerable stash of sock yarn is used up. Oh dear...don't know how I'll cope!

My stash

WIP update

One Hedera has been completed and the second one is well underway...I'm halfway up the leg at the moment. I took the completed sock and the one I'm working on home with me yesterday when I went to visit my parents for 'showing off' purposes and to get a bit more done. They dutifully 'oohed' and 'aahed' over to my great satisfaction and I made a lot of progress on the second sock. Such was my joy at all this glory, that when my future sister in law popped in I produced the completed sock for her to see, prepared to bask a little more.

She fell in love with it. I think I've lost my hederas folks. It's my own fault for being vain lol.

I've also completed the back of my teeny aran jumper..this is knitting up very quickly and you're never bored working on an aran. I can't wait to get the rest of it done to see how tiny it is when it's all completed and made up.

I've been tagged by Fiona

Here are the rules:
Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

Ok...6 weird things....just the 6? lol

1. I eat orange sandwiches

2. I always salute single magpies and say 'Goodmorning Mr. Magpie, how are your wife and kids?' I get some very strange looks when I do this

3. I have terrible sense of direction, I used to get lost in a one-bedroom flat

4. I sleepwalk. To my kitchen. If there is chocolate anywhere in my kitchen I will find it when I sleepwalk....and eat it. My sense of direction is excellent when I am asleep

5. I am colour blind

6. I am afraid of snow.

I am tagging...

Knittings nice(http://happyyarns.blogspot.com/)
Millie
Jess

and uhm....everyone else I know has already been tagged :(

The Joy of S.E.X.(Stash Enhancement eXercise)

Today I am feeling full of wonderful stashy joyfulness! I got two squishy parcels in the post this morning. The first was my yarn from the Posh Yarn Sock Club (top picture). I have promised myself that any socks I knit with the sock club yarn will be kept for me and not given away to anyone who admires them....hmmm...wonder how long that resolution will last lol!

My second squishy parcel was some lovely purple Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn I ordered to knit a pair of knee high socks I'm currently designing (in my head) for my little sis. I couldn't believe that this arrived this morning since I only ordered it yesterday afternoon from The Woolly Workshop...I'm very impressed with the service and I'll certainly be shopping there again! :)

Dirty Stopout!

This is my baby. Since we moved house last year she's taken to periodically staying out overnight. I know that this is normal for cats, but it's something she'd never done before. She's also getting old...almost fourteen now, so when she does decide to have a night on the tiles it always freaks me out a little in case this time she's gone for good. She decided not to come home last night and I lay in bed awake for most of the night listening to the wind and the rain and wondering where on earth she'd got to and hoping that wherever it was, she was warm and dry. The reprobate was probably curled up in front of someone's fire enjoying smoked salmon while I lay there fretting. And yet I wonder....she certainly came in like a shot when I called her this morning. Currently she is purring like a motorbike and tucking into some food, but I bet it won't be long before she's going crazy to get out again.

It's hard to be the mother of a teenage girl....

Teeny Aran Jumper

Being a multiple WIP kind of girl, I also have a teeny (first size) aran jumper OTN at the moment. I'm knitting this for my boss who is expecting her first baby in April...better get moving on it fast!

Having a go at Hedera

I decided to go ahead and have a go at Hedera. I'd been waiting until I got some solid sock yarn, but this colourway in my stash caught my eye so I've just cracked on with it. Can't quite decide whether I like the colour or not.