Back from a (almost) knit free holiday

Well I took along all those projects but all I knitted was a couple of rows on Icarus. This is the reason why.........

Before they left Isabel went into their local town where in the Oxfam shop was a notice asking for a kind person to sew up blanket squares!!
I use the term squares loosely - some had a corner missing and one had at least 5 sides none of which were straight. There were small ones and large ones. Some were beautifully neat but lots had ends toweave in. So that's how we spent our evenings and it didn't even get finished.
Aside from that we had a wonderful holiday. The cottage was huge. It could accomodate 10 and beatifully done out. The view from the front was stunning and baby rabbits. sheep and peacocks put in appearances at the back.
We visited Whitby and I went to Bobbins but only bought postcards befor we carried on to Robin Hood's Bay


We went to Filey where it was warm enough for a paddle

and into Bridlington where we had a ride on the eye.

Rosemary really wanted to go on the bungie/trampoline things but they turned out to be just for children so Millie went on instead.

The highlight of the trip was a day at 'Falingo Land' largly paid for with Tesco Day Out vouchers. This was the best fun. We all went on at least some of the rides, even my James. We got soaked on the Yellow Submarines and spun around on Circulator. We had a bird's eye view from the cable cars and jumped up and down with a large frog. There was a seaside adventure with Profesor Bubbles and I just loved the Rocking Tub even if it was a children's ride.



Then of course there were the animals



On Friday it looked like a seaside day again so we headed off to Scarborough and it was absolutely lovely.





I really really didn't want the week to end. I tried to soften the blow by breaking up the return journey with a visit to Helmsley, a morning coffee and scone in a farmshop/tearoom and a stop-off at the York designer outlet but it didn't really work. Not even finding there was a Scarecrow Festival in Stillington as we passed through.

Au Reservoir

We are off on our holidays tomorrow. Hurray!!!! Yorksire-land of sheep. There will be knitting. I hope to finish Icarus at least and maybe the Kureyon socks, or a baby hat for the Paul O' Grady appeal Millie will be coming up on Monday though and as I am taking her 'Making Things Box' I expect I will be doing plenty of cutting and sticking again. Auntie Isabel will be along this time though so she'll probably be commandeered.

Question of the week for SP12

Just found out about the question of the week and it is 'What is your favourite summer time drink?'
Well all year round it is coffee. I love a nice cappocino and those bottles of coffee flavoured milk drinks although they are a bit too calorific for me at the moment. I like ginger beer and I enjoy a green tea in the morning. I've never been a drinker of 'normal'tea but some of the herbal ones are nice. I also like elderflower drinks - presse or cordial.

W.I.P's

As nothing seems to have been cast off the needles as opposed to pulled to pulled off the needles and thrown in a corner, I thought I would round up my UFO's and shame myself into getting something finished. Even now I am remembering there is another sock somewhere and I also, in a Freudian kind of way, forgot the silk thing. Anyway - here goes - worst first:



What on earth is that? You ask. That is Stylecraft Sirocco which has been on and off the needles several times as it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be and I don't much like knitting with it as it is rather rough.



I bought this sock yarn at Wonderwool.It is one of Opal's

Hundertwasser

range and the colours in the ball were intriguing. I love the concept of basing yarn on art but when knitted up this one is just yucky.



More socks and I am making some progress on these. It is Noro Kureyon sock yarn I was sent in a swap on the Angelyarns forum. It's not the softest but I understand it improves on washing - either that or the wearer will exfoliate as they walk!



This is the Alpaca I bought at Wonderwool. The pattern is the flared cardigan in Studio 8. It keeps getting left because it seems a bit wintry.



Here is Icarus in a hand painted merino laceweight I bought years ago from Ebay. This is slightly in disgrace because having almost reached the end I realised a) i was going to run out of wool no matter how fast I knitted and b) I had a big hole just after the start of the feathers where I had somehow dropped a stitch. Frog tink frog........corner. only temporary though.



last of the ones that attended the camera call is the current favourite. Green (very)Rowan Wool Cotton from John Lewis at the last Knitting Coffee morning. I am making it up as I go along (ish) The edging is from Nicky Epstein's knitting on the edge. watch this space to see if any of these dear old friends make it.

Lily-the-Dog

My Secret Pal for round 12 mentioned that she hadn't seen a picture on here of Lily-the-Dog so I thought I would remedy that.
Here she is sniffing out chocolate in a previous swap

And here she is looking rather suspicious



She isn't keen on the camera and is a bag of nerves at the best of times. Except on bonfire night when the fireworks can be as loud as you like and she takes no notice. However if someone walks past the house it is frenzied barking!
Her favourite position is on the back of the settee. I took her for her booster jab at the end of April and the vet suggested she needed to loose a little weight. Apparently she had been 20k when we first transferred to that practice. I weighed her on the way out and was shocked that the scales read 55.6. It wasn't until I took her back yesterday and she was 23.6 that I realised I had weighed her in lbs the last time.Duh! Still she has done really well to lose 2k in such a short time without really noticing. Although as she sheds enough hair to knit another dog most weeks it has probably all gone up the vacuum cleaner!

Upsie

The time came round again for Tot's time at Attenborough! The trouble with doing something regularly is that it seems to make time fly as it comes around again. This month we were looking at minibeasts which didn't appeal to Millie's friend Other-Millie and she kept running away screaming. Other-Millie's Mummy wasn't keen either but hid it better. We were having a good time and I even found a newt under a log. Then, halfway up a slope I found myself total stuck and off-balance, hanging backwards,just about horizontal and then toppling over backwards and rolling down the hill. Fortunately Other-Millie's Mummy was the only witness although questions were asked about the large patch of mud on my skirt. What nobody knew about was the large patch of mud on my leg! There must have been brambles too judging by the scratches on my arm. Of course I swore I was perfectly fine and at the time I was. I went a bit achy afterwards though.

Secret Pal Questionaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I prefer natural fibres, particularly alpaca. I'd really like to try some of the newer plant and milk based yarns, I just haven't got round to them yet. I don't at all like novelty yarns such as eyelash and boucle

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Some special ones are in a felt vase I made at a workshop. Dpn's and circulars are in a special basket given to my prospective son-in-law at the end of his gap year when he taught English somewhere in Indonesia. The rest are in an old knitting bag bought by my elder daughter with the collusion of my late mother about 22 or so years ago.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Since I was about 6. My avatar is a genuine black and white snap of me around that age. I am pretty adept at most things but not so hot on colourwork.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Amazon

5. What's your favorite scent?
I like single flower smells, especially rose.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Oh yes. I love dark chocolate and ginger

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I don't spin but I enjoy wet felting and I love the idea and and the ingredients for paper crafts.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I don't really listen much to music. I prefer audio books.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I seem to be very fond of greens just now but I also like blues and teal. I think yellow is the only colour I avoid.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am still married to my first husband. We have 2 grown-up daughters and one granddaughter. We also have Lily-the-dog living with us.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves yes, mittens yes, hats not so much, ponchos...........not even the first time around.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Socks of course, cardigans, shawls,

13. What are you knitting right now?
Icarus shawl, alpaca cardi, socks, cup holders for 2 colleagues I saw juggling take-away coffees in the lift today.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Very much

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
It really depends on the project but I like my needles as short as possible.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Unfortunately not

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Probably about 3 years

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Vintage knitting kit. Badges for my sock project bag.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Interweave Knits, Knitting, Simply Knitting, Let's Knit, Yarnover. I like magazines but I think it's time I cut down!!
I'd love to try milk yarn. I like any kind of knitting nick-nacks such as the tin of knitting- girl mints I was sent from America.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I want to improve my fair-isle

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes I knit socks. I am an English shoe size 4 continental 37
23. When is your birthday?
May 2nd

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes. It's Mazzam