New Arrivals

Announcing the arrival of Trey and Jenson – twin boys born a week ago – brothers for Archie and new cousins for Adam and Ruth. Obviously we can’t let their arrival go unmarked, so today I’m posting off these:

The nappies (and the changing mat lurking just underneath) were made by my next-door neighbour, and I made the bootees.

And today the view from the back of the house was much prettier than the other day:

It’s cold though!

Update: I now know the twins’ middle names – we have Trey (probable spelling – his father hasn’t decided yet) Elijah, and Jenson Neo. Mother and babies doing very well – it was an easy labour – the hospital strongly recommended an epidural in case there were complications, but they were delivered vaginally some 7 painless hours after Lindsay arrived in hospital, and were home the next day.

Snowy Fun

Thanks to Denise for this one. – Build your own snowman!

I don't find this altogether flattering...

CHIMAERA

You are a chimaera. A
chimaera is a monster with three heads, usually
a lion, a goat, and a serpent. The chimaera is
a very interesting and mysterious creature. The
serpent is often interpreted as a symbol of
evil and deceit. On the other hand lions
signify courage and honor, and goats could
symbolize sustenance and prosperity. Overall
though the chimaera is the ultimate symbol of
mystery and the supernatural.


Which mythical creature resides in your soul? (11 Results + Pictures)
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Light a candle

Thanks to Maggi Dawn for this – it takes about 5 minutes – you get to light a candle in cyberspace.

I don't do November...

I’ve decided (thanks to Ruth-who-is-Ruth’s-godmother – mother of Isabel-who-is-my-goddaughter) that I’m “run down”. I’ve not been well since the middle of October – I’m not ill, well, not particularly, but I’m not well either. But it will be December soon, and that means lovely things like the end of term, and Christmas, and holidays, and time to mess around with the family.

Anyway, I have an FO to report – the scarf for Helena, my other goddaughter (twin sister to Alex-who-is-getting-the-PC-Plum-scarf):

It’s my sideways-knit garter stitch scarf. I’ve loved doing this – although I frogged the first attempt as I’d got a bit too enthusiastic about inserting colours randomly, and my tension was all over the place as I’d used it as an exercise in practising knitting continental style (is that what I mean? – with the thread in my left hand instead of my right hand). Anyway, to make sure I didn’t go mad with colours again, I did this:

I remember my parents using a similar method to arrange threads when planning a weaving project. (More on their weaving in another post.) The thing I really enjoyed with this was the way that garter stitch completely messes up the planned order. I realised that if I put two threads so that they were separated by 2 more threads, on one side of the work they came out next to each other, and on the other side they came out apparently 4 rows apart. Anyway, I had great fun – I used mostly Sirdar CountryStyle, with some Rowan Lurex, some random shiny acrylic I got from my mum, and I twisted in a few threads of KSH – and I think the result is suitably pink and sparkly without being utterly nauseating. It’s a fairly skinny scarf – only 4 inches wide, but isn’t that trendy right now?

Now for other stuff – I’ve noticed that some people post pictures of the sky on their blogs (it’s probably supposed to be done at a specific time on a specific day of the week, but hey!) – so here is the sky as it was here at 3:30 this afternoon:

But that is very boring, so I thought I’d get a bit arty in the garden. So here are some shots taken around our (currently much-neglected) garden:




I can’t decide which of the first two I like best – I love the stark silhouettes of the first one, but I also love the effect of using flash outside at dusk.

And, finally, the view from the bottom of our garden:

It’s dull, grey, miserable and boring, but still special – that is the local hospital, and just underneath the crane is the maternity unit where both Adam and Ruth were born. I never had a home birth, but I did have an “in sight of home” birth – both times I could see our house from the delivery room (not that I was looking at the dramatic moments!)

Oh, and I’ve fallen in love – I need some Kauni

Oh, and finally, finally – thanks to Denise for this Well, I guess if you can knit a womb, you can knit a digestive system!

Not another one...

You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.


What kind of yarn are you?
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Self Portrait Tuesday

Exploration of identity…

I’ve been thinking a fair bit about this one – who am I? I am a mother, a wife, a teacher, a knitter, a Christian, a Coeliac, a physics graduate, a cook, a pianist – all these things and many others, but although they are all boxes into which I could be put, they don’t capture me entirely. They all impact on my everyday life enormously (well, all except the pianist bit – we must tidy the front room so I can get at it!), but there is more to me. I am also messy, enthusiastic, irritable (more so at some times than others), inconsistent, loving, capable, bigger than I would like, beginning to go grey… I wear my hair scraped back into a ponytail and only ever wear makeup when I’m going out somewhere special. I start new projects with great (obsessive?) gusto, but find it difficult to finish them. I love Jesus, but frequently cringe at others’ expressions of faith (I’m pretty much cringing at “I love Jesus” ). I am also a (reluctant) camper, a (very infrequent – much too infrequent) rambler and once, just once, I dressed up in a bin bag to go to a show.

And right now I’m being the neglectful mother of a poorly boy – I must go and spend some “quality time” with him…

_How_ little knitting time?

Christmas Countdown

Gulp! I’d better get off the computer and back to those needles!

Jumping on the bandwagon

OK – so everyone’s doing it, but I’ve decided to risk revealing myself as a Billy no-mates. Here is my map – please add yourselves.

Yet MORE WsIP, and I love my postman

This week I’ve had 3, yes that’s THREE parcels of yarn – the first one was the yarn for this PC Plum scarf for my (very nearly) 4 year-old god-daughter’s twin brother:

I’m rather pleased with the pattern (although this does rather smack of the – ooh look, I used a different yarn to do the same thing as everyone else – I must publish it!!” – I wanted a very quick knit that wouldn’t curl, so I opted for chunky yarn (Elle yarn from Dianne’s Knitting Yarns – the best source of cheap (and not too nasty) yarn I’ve found online), and am knitting it up on 6mm needles using Mistake Rib. I will write it up properly when I’ve finished (and know how much yarn I used!) The same parcel contained yarn for the scarf I’m also going to knit for my god-daughter herself, but that is only in my head as yet, so no pics (it’s going to be a length-wise knit garter stitch scarf in pinks with a few bits of blue and oatmeal to stop it being too nauseating – although I’ve even bought some lurex for added sparkle!)

The second parcel came from Get Knitted and contained the aforementioned pink lurex and my very first ever ball of Kid Silk Haze, which I’ve already started to finish off my Curly Whirly Scarf

That doesn’t show the label clearly enough – so here’s another pic:

I can see what all the fuss is about, and may launch into a full-blown addiction (just hoping I can get my other projects out of the way first). (Oooh, and I also got a Get Knitted pen and a lolly )

Then the third parcel arrived today – this time from Laughing Hens – this was beautifully wrapped in pink tissue paper, tied with a blue ribbon:

Inside the pink tissue paper were two balls of Noro Silk Garden for my International Scarf Exchange scarf

I have finally fixed on the scarf too – it’s definitely going to be this one – I’ve seen it knitted up in Silk Garden on someone else’s blog (sorry, can’t for the life of me remember whose, so can’t attribute it), and it looked wonderful.

So am I making any progress with Adam’s jumper? Well, yes, I am On the last few inches of the second sleeve, I’ve finally managed to work out how to hold both threads at once – one in the RH, and one in the LH – and I’m fairly steaming along. (Well, in comparison to my old “drop one thread, faff around, pick up the other thread, curse at the tangles” method I’m positively zooming!)

Other stuff – it’s been busy week – and we’re all suffering from various lurgy’s again. Adam was coughing away last night poor love, Ruth is coughing a bit, although not badly, John is full of mucus and it hurts when I breathe and my stomach is not at all happy. And it’s time I went and got some lunch organised – scrambled eggs I think (or maybe boiled – although getting the timing right for all 4 of us, two of whom want just-runny cool eggs, one of whom wants a just-runny hot egg, and one of whom wants a fairly-runny hot egg – scrambled are looking so much more attractive… )

I keep finding these things..

The Traditional Princess

You are generous, graceful, and practical with both
feet planted firmly on the ground. You tend to
be a little on the old-fashioned side. You
value home, hearth, and family life and love to
be of service to others.

Role Models: Snow White, Maid Marian

You are most likely to: Discover a hidden talent
for spinning straw into gold.


What Kind of Princess are You? – Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Now that's a relief!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

International Scarf Exchange

I’m stupidly excited about this – I’ve got my “pal” all lined up, and despite all my good intentions to finish my other WsIP first (fat chance!), I cast on this evening. I’m making one of Hazel’s Curly Whirly Scarves , and I’m just up to the 8th row – 400 stitches is a lot! However I’m not sure that this will be “the one” – my pal has requested a long scarf, and this isn’t really. Oh well, never mind, either I can use it as my angel scarf, or I can give it to someone else.

Life has become a bit dominated by scarves – not only have I got scarf exchange ones to think about, I’m knitting dh’s illusion scarf (slowly), and I’ve had a request for a PC Plum scarf for my goddaughter’s brother (I’m thinking broad black and white stripes – I’m going to have to start paying attention to Balamory!) So of course, I need to make one for my goddaughter as well – I’m thinking a sideways garter stitch scarf in pinks and purples with a little oatmeal and some lurex. (She’s almost 4 – it’s got to be pink and sparkly!)

Quite close really...

You Are 34 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view – and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what’s to come… love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You’ve had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You’ve been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

I’m really 38 – nice to know I act nearer to my age than my shoe-size (size 4)!

Video

Have a look at this.

Thanks to Jessica at Rose-Kim Knits for this.

Get voting

Hazel over at KnitSpeak has opened the voting for her knitting abbreviation pics competition – please vote!

Thank you!

At last - a proper knitting entry

I promised myself that I’d do a “proper” entry today. I also have a large pile of marking, but I have things to report!

Exhibit A: An FO!!

Finally it’s done – and with matching bootees from Zoe Mellor’s adorable knits for tiny tots. I have mixed feelings about this book – I like a lot of the basic ideas, but I’ve found a few mistakes in just this one pattern (too many stitches on one row, and no finishing instructions) – I was interested to see one of the Amazon reviewers also found mistakes; and some of the patterns are very fussy for a small child to wear. Having said which, I do love these bootees – I even suspect they may stay on for longer than the average 10 min.

The jumper itself was saved from a last-minute final frogging when I realised that I’d forgotten to put a buttonhole in the neckband, by some careful dropping and picking up of stitches. (Don’t ask me exactly what I did, but there’s a buttonhole there now!) However this made a much bigger buttonhole than any of the others. I decided to turn this into a feature, and found this in Sew Creative. (Yes, I went again yesterday – more on that later.)

So, having achieved an FO, it’s time to take stock of my WsIP:

Working from left to right we have:
Another pair of bootees, using yarn left over from the jumper set above, this time for one of my SIL’s twins who will prob arrive within the next month. I’m using the same pattern as before, but instead of putting in coloured spots, I’m purling them on a stst background. The effect is very different, but it works. And because I’m a little scared that I’m going to run out of the red, I’m knitting them both at once – one using the “outside end” and the other using the “inside end” of the yarn.

(Under that we have someone’s Christmas present, so I’m not going to say much now!)

Next we have the Linux Illusion Scarf I’m knitting for John (after he slightly embarrassedly admitted that yes, he would really like one ) I bought the wool online and the colours have turned out to be more similar than I expected, but it seems to be working anyway. It’s very relaxing (apart from the ridiculous amount of tinking I’ve done because I can’t count – call myself a maths teacher… )

Then, finally there’s the second sleeve of Adam’s Norwegian jumper. I’m finding that really painful to knit now – I’ve been using gorgeous, gorgeous Rowan wool cotton for Edward’s jumper, and to go back to acrylic is nasty Still, it’ll be fine when it’s done, and he’s getting excited about it.

So, you’d think that all that, with 2 scarves to come for the International Scarf Exchange (I’ve offered to be an angel) would be enough, wouldn’t you… but if you were concentrating above, you’d remember that I went to Sew Creative yesterday… and I succumbed to this Opal sock kit:

...It’s really pretty, and it’s got 5 little skinny DPNs that I didn’t have, and it’s got really lovely stitchmarkers, and you know I need to learn to love stitchmarkers, and, and, and… Oh, and yes, those are 2×2mm circular needles in the background – I figured that if I bought them I could have a go at knitting socks on 2 circular needles sometime.

Oh, and because Fi says that the perfect post has an FO, cute pics of children, and a recipe recommendation, I’m including a pic of Adam with the collage we made of Daddy yesterday:

I did most of it, but with lots of instruction – all the fabric was his choice, apart from the fake fur slippers (you’ll have to click on the pic to see those.) And I’m sure you’ll all enjoy all the very realistic mess we’re sitting in – to be fair most of that is bit bags that we were using to find fabric scraps.

Oh, and I need a recipe tip:

We know this as “Piffle”
1/2 lb rice
1 onion
2 oz currants
pinch sugar
2 tsp vinegar/lemon juice
1 pt hot water
tsp marmite
1/2 lb corned beef

Fry rice in a little oil, add ion, fry a little more, add currants & water mixed with marmite. Add rest of ingredients. Cover & cook for 20 min over low light, until liquid is all absorbed. Add meat. Sever with chutney or soy sauce.

Now I MUST GET ON WITH SOME MARKING!

Another one...

Some of this was hard – I’m surprised I made it to the 76th percentile.

Hello Edward

Just had a phone call from my friend Debbie-in-Sweden – Edward was born last Sunday – so not George after all, but at least I don’t have to embroider flowers all over the distinctly boy-looking jumper!

I’ll post some pics once I’ve got buttons…

It was so good to speak to her, I miss her so much.

Another silly

You Are A: Lamb!

Peaceful and gentle, lambs have been used in religious imagery for millennia. Lambs are baby sheep, an animal tended by shephards since the dawn of history. As a lamb, you tend to stay together in a flock and graze on grassy land. Lambs don’t mind being led and tend not to go off on their own.

You were almost a: Pony or a Mouse
You are least like a: Kitten or a TurtleWhat Cute Animal Are You?

Sunshine food...

I’m feeling grim – I’ve had some sort of stomach bug since the weekend, and finally succumbed to a day off today (I hate taking time off work). I’ve pottered, and not really done much, although I did get to Waitrose to pick up some milk (I may not feel much like eating, but the rest of the family still does… ) – and that was a happy trip as I met David from church who had a big bag of knitting needles, crochet hooks, some Sirdar Countrystyle yarn and an embroidery frame in his car for me – it was less happy when I nearly passed out walking across the carpark

So I spent the afternoon seaming George/Esther (renamed Froggit – I’ve completely given up on the hood – my one and only attempt wasn’t fun to make, and looked rubbish, so it got frogged). I’ve discovered that I like seaming. I’ve only just discovered doing it “properly” using mattress stitch, and I love the way the stitching just disappears. Now – who can find a fun way to weave in the ends?

Then I went and picked the boys up – Adam is a very very tired and stroppy boy this evening. It’s really hard to be patient with him when he’s rolling on the floor whining “I don’t want to” (about pretty much everything).

So, having decided to have pumpkin risotto for dinner (we had half a butternut squash from our garden in the fridge) I found myself looking at this in the pan. And it made me happy.

Anne needs...

... a group of at least six people
... the loo in the middle of Coldplay
... to not be allowed to have attack dogs
... to be capable of dealing with referential opacity
... to know everyone’s schedule is going to be
... to be at least pardoned for the crimes she didn’t commit
... to quit demanding so much from me and be thankful for all she has
... one more week to put together a single, concise example
... money to secure a lawyer
... some sleep now

That was fun – type ”[your name] needs” into Google and select your 10 favourite matches. (Unfortunately lots of people have been doing this – and so there are lots of results from people’s blogs – I chose to ignore those.) I leave it to you to decide which of those 10 is the most appropriate. I can’t attribute this to any one particular person as I’ve seen it all over the place.