Serendipity or Don't Tell the Bride!

Don't tell the bride that I have taken time off from the wedding knitting to knit myself a cardi. I used some British Alpaca bought at Wonderwool last year to knit a pattern from Rowan Studio 11. It's the Cardigan with Ties but with three quarter length sleeves and in a totally different yarn with a completely different gauge.I managed to work out that knitting the smallest size would come out just about right and happily it did.


Here above is a detail of the lace part.
Serendipity, after trawling Ebay, Etsy and the Heanor Antique centre for a buckle, brooch or some kind of fastener as I didn't care for the bow at the front, I found this

in the staff room at work. A few of us had organised a charity sale/swap of costume jewellery and there, waiting for me was the perfect piece!. We have so far made over £80 with the sale to be split between Barnardo's and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (just because Isabel works there)

A package from my no-longer-secret-pal

My secret pal has revealed herself as 5elementknitr and I have received the final package which proved exceptionally suitable for me.



To start with gingerbread man soap, beads and needle holders. The hook is a stitch saver which 5elementknitr makes and sells through Etsy and just look at that.. the Yarnharlot calendar 'Never Not Knitting'! How brilliant is that?



Next, as well as personalising my stitchsaver she knitted me a pair of Fetchings in a lovely bluey colour. There are 2 bars of chocolate (well 1and a half now) and the black nylon is actually a tote bag which has folded up to nothing and hidden in a pocket in my bag. Actually so well hidden I forgot about it today and accepted a plastic devil in Tesco - I did pass that one on to a library user for book transportation though.


And then there was yarn! Soft, soft thick alpaca for a warm scarf to be got ready for the next cold snap. The sock yarn in the very beautiful colours is called Aspen and then there is a little kit to knit an assortment of designs with beads.

My thanks to 5elementknitr. She has been a great pal. Go and read her blog.

Please Explain

Having bought two plastic storage boxes I have just spent some time tidying my stash and I just want to ask 'WHERE DID THAT ALL COME FROM?????'

I don't remember buying all that!

A lot of it is part balls left over from past projects but that doesn't explain it completely.

I need more boxes.

Snow business

Well it is no longer news that there is a bit of snow around here - rather more than we are used to so no one is prepared. It started round here on Sunday and by Monday it was pretty bad. Luckily it was my day off and I only went out to feed the birds.



By Tuesday the snow had stopped and the roads were clear but I went to work on the bus because I was worried in case the local roads got bad again. I went to get my wellies from the garage - wondered why one was a bit heavier and found it held 3" of water! Dragged out my fake walking boots which I think I've had since the days of the Easter Hikes we used to go on from church about 15 years ago when it was guaranteed to rain or snow. I left by the front door and found I couldn't open the gate. Left by the back door and garage. Of course I had missed / not even tried for the 7.30 bus and the next one doesn't leave until 5 past 8. It's supposed to get into Nottingham at 5 to 9 so I knew I'd be a bit late so I rang in to say I'd be there by 9 (I start at 8.45) In the event it was more like 9.15 and I walked right into the middle of a ground floor staff meeting so no sneaking in there. Back before I left Heanor - half way onto the market place aka skating rink I thought 'what's that stuck on my heel' but on checking I found the sole of my boot was off from the heel to the ball of my foot!! I had some shoes with me but I knew they wouldn't cope with the snow so I had to sluther the rest of the way to the bus stop and hope and hope the pavements were clear in Nottingham - which they were. I managed to get the sole re-stuck in the shop across from the library and he only charged £1.00 for the charity box which I thought was brilliant- I had been worried about walking back from the bus as I knew I wouldn't get back until 8pm. I mostly walked on the roads though. I only saw 2 cars so I was quite safe.
P.S. Yes, that is me in the photo

Angel package

I have received a wonderful Angel package from Robyn, one of the SP hostesses. It is choc full of lovely knitty bits and bobs. She says she loves all the knitting notions and absolutely so do I.



Can you see, there are needles and stitch markers, notelets and a magnet, a sock blocker key ring, tea and gum to accompany the knitting and a needle gauge which was rather camera shy and hid while the camera was out. There are also patterns, one of which has gone right to the top of my post-wedding to-do list. She also sent Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanack which has been on my Amazon wish list for ages. I haven't read any of her books before but I have dipped into this and enjoyed it very much so far.



These nearly didn't get photographed too because they were in my ears! I love these Scrabble tile earrings and will wear them lots. This was a fabulous package and I thank Robyn so much for it.