April 22, 2007
How much do I love my sister ?
.... apparently the answer is quite a lot.
In the words of Mark Twain "Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" (wouldn't you just love to be pithy like that ?) but I have been wishing I was dead ! Just kidding :0) This time of year is always horrendously busy at work for me and when I added in tidying up for my sister coming to stay plus her actually coming and staying - something had to give and it was knitting time. Boo.
I had a lovely time having my big sis stay for a couple of days - lots of shopping, tons of gabbing and the most fabulous meal here. (India, you'd love it. If you haven't been, GO ! They're really big on using local suppliers and have their own diver, gamekeeper, farmer, herb grower etc so they know exactly where everything is coming from.)
And I like to think that it was the excess of emotion caused by the wonder of that meal - as opposed to the consumption of a bucketful of excellent wine ( 2 day hangover folks. You know where I'm at !) - that caused my own personal car-crash moment. You know that feeling where your mouth is saying one thing whilst your brain is going NNOOOOOOO ! QQQUUIIEEETTTTTT ! SSSHHHUTTTTTUPPPPPPPP ! DON'T SAY THAT !!!!!! Which is kind of how I felt when I heard myself offering to make a copy of my sister's favourite sweater.
It's a nice sweater, don't get me wrong. But it's big and baggy, it's plain black, crew necked, stocking stitch and, gulp, fine knit. WHAT was I thinking ???? This may become the most boring project I have ever worked on. It's definitely a candidate for Ann's Slogalong but I just couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes and the trembling lip.
The original was bought from Sam Thomas - oh about, 10 bloomin' years ago ! It's now so worn and faded and holey in patches that the garden would be embarrassed if she used it for gardening in but she won't part with it. She loves it so much she even tracked down the head office details of the company who made it to see if that design was still being manufactured and sold elsewhere. This is serious sweater love. What could I do ? So send positive thoughts (and maybe some gin ?) as I embark on the marathon .......
Before I embark on the marathon, however, I have been doing a little bit of knitting on the scoop neck cardigan so next time I promise finished garment photos ! And, inspired by the sunshine, thinking about the teeniest bit of sewing with these fabrics
Wonder what I'll make ? ........
April 07, 2007
The Big Smoke - a picture heavy post !
After the nightmare journey from hell (25 mile tailback on the M6) I am back from my London trip and I have to tell you - I had the BEST time !
My sister lives in Kew, a really lovely part of London, so just being there was fab. Huge amounts of food and wine were consumed, lots of girly chat was chatted and a little spot (or two !) of shopping took place. Perfect ;0)
We took this mob to the wonderful Legoland which was great fun. The children were much braver than the adults when it came to the rides and we all got wet, ate loads of junk and nobody got lost. Ditto when we took them here. Perfect ;0)
I made time for a little recreation of my own when I met up with the gorgeous Amelia and lovely Rowan Forum friend, Jill, for an afternoon of knitting and chat at Stash Yarns.
It never ceases to amaze me that complete strangers can chat like old friends within minutes simply because we have a shared passion for knitting. I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon which was made even more wonderful by the location. Truly perfect ;0)
Of course, I didn't quite make it out of Stash empty handed ........
We have a little Malabrigo in Forest Green that I think may become these .........
some Artyarns Silk Rhapsody in fresh greens, pale blues and lilacs - and Silk Rhapsody Glitter in the most gorgeous olivey greens with just a touch of gold. These will become scarves so I'm on the lookout for the perfect patterns - I'm thinking Knitspot's Japanese scarf may be the glitter one ?..........
And last but not least, er, quite a lot of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk to make this. I know it's the wrong gauge but I want it lighter weight and I LOVE this yarn so I'm willing to do the maths.
So definitely no more stashing for me ........ at least until Woolfest. Probably. Maybe ........
In the interests of getting rid of some of my stash, I haven't forgotten about my little competition draw. Clearly too many of you know me too well. Of the 14 people who commented on my last post - NINE of you got it right. So what did I start ?
Well there was this
Turbulence, with some modifications of my own. You see the lovely silk sheen much better in this photo.
AND I started this -
The Noro Silk Garden Scoop Neck Cardigan.
Yes. I know. I really didn't need to start TWO more projects. I still have Venezia and countless others to finish - tho' I did finish both Lily's Hoodie and the sideways scarf I was knitting. I'm hoping that Lily's Hoodie will be published but if it's not, I'll put it up on this site as a free pattern - once I work out how to create another page to hold my free patterns !
Anyway not to keep you in suspense any longer. The winner is
What's she won ? Why this ....
Two skeins of my current favourite sock yarn from Kirsty at Piece of Beauty. This is good stuff folks !
So that's my stash downsized by 2 skeins ......... only several hundred more to go ! :0)))