Au revoir

I have been dithering for some time about the blog and after much thought I have decided to put it into hibernation for now. Never, say never and in time I might come back to it but right now it feels like just another chore which needs to be done on my long long list of 'Things To Do'.

As every week rolls around with that guilty feeling of not having written a blog post I began to wonder why I was making myself feel bad about it. It felt like being back at school with that sense of undone homework hanging over you.

I'm a busy working mum and time to myself is scarce. When I do get half an hour to myself I would rather be knitting/crocheting or crafting happily withouth feeling bad about my pitiful lack of blogging.

I am still active on Ravelry and I know that a lot of you are linked in to me on that, so I am still around - just not here.

If you need me - I'll be over in the corner knitting - Au revoir.

Holidays and a sad tale

The Madmum household is back from a lovely half-term break in the Lake District. Staying in a favourite spot - Dunnderdale in the Western Lakes we had a wonderful relaxing break, with pretty good weather and some beautiful autumn foliage - before it was all blown off by the gale force winds.

The boys (now aged 5 and 6) conquered two more Wainwright peaks - Grey Friar and Harrison Stickle and had great fun doing so. We didn't get a great deal of photos as both myself and DH were busy holding onto a small boy to stop them being blown away by the winds but we did snap a few shots:


Please note, smallest son wearing his bespoke hat - "Mummy, I would like a hat with ear-flaps" - I couldn't resist the challenge.

So, where is the sad tale I hear you ask?
Just before we left for holiday I made myself a great pair of fingerless mitts which I was very pleased with. On our first days walking I realised that I had only packed 1 pair of boys gloves - gaaaah - and so to avoid tears and gnashing of teeth I leant DS2 my mitts. They covered his whole lower arm and hand and kept him nice and toasty. Somewhere between the summit of Grey Friar however, and our rest stop at Seathwaite Tarn he dropped one.

I now have 1 lovely mitt and need to hope that I have enough yarn left to make a new mate for it. Never mind, my mitt made a noble sacrifice in keeping a small boy warm and saved the day.

One a Day, but different

I am having a little break from my One-a-day project as I am starting to think that I need another lighter colour to balance out the darker colours I have chosen and I am reluctant to do too many more without assessing my options.

I have been spending far too much time online browsing the colour choices for Stylecraft Life dk, but after a few dodgy online purchases I don't entirely trust my laptop to show me an accurate colour. I'm thinking of a pale duck-egg blue or maybe a slate grey but I think I need to wait until I can get to my LYS for an up close and personal squishing (as it were).

So, instead I made myself a quick pair of cabled mitts using some Cascade 220 from my stash - a great little pattern and I was pleasantly surprised at how warm they kept my hands whilst doing the school run this morning.

And this little something is from my earlier Hexapuff mania. I was suddenly seized by the urge to start joining all the little hexi's together and hey presto - I am in love with these little squishy parcels once again. I was thinking about maybe making them into a little seat pad or cushion, but after seeking hubby's advice I am now going to go for the (lap) blanket option - it may just take me about 5 years to get there.

Blanket envy

Yes I know I should be working on my Shaelyn or finishing up a pair of little socks for DS2 (my first foray back into sock knitting after giving myself RSI earlier in the year), but the weather has turned cooler, the leaves are flying off the trees and my thoughts are turning to blankets - specifically these little beauties:

This

and this

and this

Now I do have some Noro Silk Garden in my stash but it is one of those brown/green/grey colourways which can look a bit muddy by itself. But I do have some King Cole Riot DK which was an impulse purchase recently. It has long colour repeats - like Noro and is single plied - like Noro, but the colours are a little less subtle - at least in this colourway.

The yarn is quite splitty to knit with and some sections are fairly loosely spun, but overall I quite like the effect. And if you are looking at something of blanket proportions, the King Cole option is decidedly more economical - always a bonus.

Anyway - a day off work sick with a head cold, some time on my hands and a new ball of yarn yielded this first attempt. I haven't really worked with mitred squares before and I love how quick and simple they are. One square like this is about 10 inches across so a blanket 3x3 would make a great cot/crib/pram blanket perhaps. I'm not 100% sure about the yarn yet but my sister is a childminder and her little ones aren't too fussy - lol.

WIP Wednesday

I don't usually stick to set days for particular posts but I thought I would add my Work In Progress Wednesday post for a change.

My WIP is the Shaelyn Shawl which is running as a KAL hosted by Paula of the lovely Knitting Pipeline podcast. This a new podcast discovery - I have found some really good podcasts recently and have been having great fun listening to them. The KAL is a really friendly one with lots of help and support over on the Ravelry threads.

The pattern is very well written and I love that the designer has included an annotated photograph of the pattern - marking the design features and adding little tips to help you 'read' your knitting and save having to constantly read the pattern and count rows.

I am using Rowan Felted Tweed DK in the Scree colourway - a lovely blue/grey mix and I love the way it is knitting up. At the moment this is my 'must-do' project and it is flying along.

Tuesday Tally Week 5

Up to 36 hexagons now and going strong I am pleased to report

I am currently having fun playing with the colours and am tending to work with the same three yarns for a few days, playing with the different combinations and seeing how they each look next to each other. I am loving the vibrant green - it looks a little more muted in my photos but it is really fresh and bright against the other colours. Then, when I run out of colour combo's I sit down and work rounds 4 and 5 to turn them into hexagons. Lots of fun, and a nice alternative when my knitting isn't going too well (The Warriston is still in the naughty corner)

Socktoberfest

Can't believe that it is October already. September has just flown by and here in the UK we are experiencing a most unseasonal burst of warm weather which is just joyous.

But it is October and that means just one thing to a knitter - Socktoberfest.

There is a Ravelry group, of course, set up for the purpose It isn't an official challenge/competition but more a general celebration of all things sock related.

I rather overdid things on the sock front earlier in the year and managed to give myself RSI, so I haven't made any socks for months. However I can feel myself being drawn back into the fold and find myself browsing socks patterns with a fury.

My Warriston is in the naughty corner - all done but sadly too tight across the shoulders. It fits everywhere else so I can only assume that I made a mistake in the yoke decreases somewhere. It needs ripping back and sorting out but it is has been too hot to pick up a mound of woolly jumper - so it will have to wait.

To amuse myself I cast on for a Shaelyn which is running as a KAL hosted by my latest find - a great podcast called the Knitting Pipeline. I am using some Rowan Felted Tweed from my stash in a lovely blue-grey (colourway Scree) but I need a small portable project too - hmm- maybe some socks would be just the thing