Blocking along!

Finally I finished my Spriteling KAL last weekend but need to wait to block it until I had been and bought some 'blocking boards' aka foam mats from Tesco (I think I will go and get a second set next week).

The sheen on this yarn is amazing and I love the colours so much, thank you Allison for dyeing the best yarn ever! I loved this KAL and really enjoyed it, the only issues with the pattern were when I was too stressed to concentrate properly (it was always billed as an advanced intermediate knit) and I found that in a couple of places you really needed to be on the ball to get it right so for me it was user error and nothing more. I will probably knit another of these at some point but I have a few things to finish first.

So whilst the blocking bug is still around I also washed and blocked my Amore shawl that I finished ages ago this is a 'Posh' yarn and the pattern was really easy and simple to do - the shawl has already been well worn over the winter by both Lottie and me (I have another on the needles for 'us' as well) and we love it.

Amore shawl:

This has been a strange week here as it has been AS level exams this week with 1 more after half term - lots of 'to and froing' and a bit of stressing. I have been knitting away on my 'Royal Wedding shawl' and am now half way across. More on that one soon...... Sxx

Turned into and odd week!

Last Wednesday I recieved an email about test knitting from Alice at Socktopus (I had volunteered ages ago) and so it turned into a very busy time for sock knitting I completed my test sock in a week and have now sent off my notes.

This was supposed to be my size but it appears that Jitterbug (the only one I had off the list) knits up a little larger than regular sock yarn - note the hairy leg belongs to 'him indoors'. I ran out of the colour I started with and as I only had small amounts of other colours this is how it turned out - not a hit as far as the yarn is concerned but the sock does not feature in the book I was only required to test and proof the pattern.

Tuesday morning was weigh in day and hoorah I lost 3 1/2lbs bringing me to a total of 5lbs in 2 weeks - I still have a long way to go but at least it is going!

Todays nightmare is having my kitchen units repainted they looked like this

Can you see how the knots show thorough? It makes the units look dirty but they aren't at all!

Poor Ted and I are shut up in the lounge while the painting and banging goes on in the kitchen - there isn't supposed to be banging so I am not sure what they are doing! Anyway I have printed out the final clue for spriteling and I am about to get going so will be off now, must see if anyone needs a drink first though or I will forget once I get knitting!

Odd day!

I am having a strange day today - not sure why but it definitely feels odd.

It started out with a trip to Stoke on Trent and a weigh in at Rosemary Conley (lost 1 1/2lbs) then I had a sneaky trip to Emma Bridgewater where I purchased 2 mugs (in Easter designs)and a union Jack jug (to go with my tea pot), followed by a quick trip into Tesco for a few bits. Once I was home we had a quick 300 cal lunch and then Dave went back to his office and here I am sat at my laptop feeling - I am not sure what!


I have been taking some pictures of my kitchen as there is a problem with the knots coming through the paintwork and found this picture from xmas I thought you might like:

This is Ted with a couple of his presents. The bone did not last for more than a few minutes though!

Sadly I need to retake the kitchen pics as the knots just look like my kitchen needs a good clean - this is why I hate them showing thought the paint as the doors look like I have just not cleaned them (which in this instance is not true). Am off to try again now - hopefully I will be able to show you what I mean!

Catching up with myself!

Sorry to have been gone so long but life got a little hectic, first there was Easter and then we were visited by 'inlaws' and Lottie came back and then it was the Royal wedding and the 'inlaws' went home again and then we had to pack up and trek back across the countryside. We stopped to draw breath and then back to school and work and tons of washing and unpacking to get sorted and organised again

So here we are and it is Thursday already! Before we went away I managed to block my Pi shawl but couldn't get a picture so finally here it is.......


Also before we went away I was almost finished with clue 2 of the Spriteling shawl but managed to make a mistake whilst sitting waiting with Lottie to get picked up (note to self do NOT knit complicated patterns whilst in an emotional place). At that point I was then against the clock as we had changed our plans and decided to leave home on the same day. Chaos ensued until the car was packed and we had set off. I left the spriteling behind as I wanted to get going on my Royal wedding shawl. I managed to also get my 'car knitting' to the point where it is no longer car knitting whilst we were on the way - I need to find another plain pattern to work on to replace it!

Whilst we were away I made ok progress on the Royal wedding shawl and I managed to complete all of the repeats of the first chart (more on this project soon). I was slowed down by the arrival of the visitors as much of my time seems to pass feeding them and making tea - does everyone else have this problem?

Once we were home again I fixed my mistake on the Spriteling and managed to catch myself up with clue 3 - the only issue I had with this was the last 4 rows trying to place the extra markers and working from the written instructions and not the chart (how did I cope before charts)!

So here I am caught up with my knitting and washing but not quite the rest of the housework! Did I mention that I hate housework??????