Knitting on an Island

Humbug!

I'm sick again - bah!

It's only a simple stomach virus, but for someone who usually so healthy it is really frustrating.

The Doc says I can go back to work on Thursday, so until then I am curled up in my chair with my laptop, a boxed set of Criminal Minds and my knitting.

I'm also working on the first week of an online teaching course that I am taking which hopefully will put me the position to offer online courses for some of my patterns in the near future :-)

In the mean time let me share my latest frustration

I managed to do this while trying the sock on - grrr!

I now have a set of 3, 7" 2.25mm Dpns and a set of 4, 5" 2.25" - really. irritating.

Off to watch another round of the BAU catching another serial killer - who knew there were so many ;-)

Well That Was an Interesting Day!

Yesterday was my bi annual visit to the big smoke ( London) It was a foul morning weather wise - heavy rain and cross winds - which made for an interesting take off - We were late leaving because of delays getting people through security - you would have thought we were in the middle of a war zone the way they were checking us over - my bag got checked over AGAIN ( though the security guard was a knitter and had no problem with my socks in progress)

Of course being late leaving Guernsey meant we arrived late at Gatwick, I missed my normal train and had to endure the tube at rush hour.

I arrived at the seminar only a few minutes late , but missed out on my keep me awake cup of coffee so by 11 am I was struggling a bit to concentrate.

As always the content was good and the networking with fellow technicians is invaluable - we exchanged lots of hints and tips on problems we may be encountering on our networks and enjoyed a good lunch too :-)

I had hoped to make a detour as far as Stash in Putney, but the time just didn't allow for it so it was back on the tube to try and beat the evening rush hour, then a whole 1st class carriage to myself on the Gatwick Express and a couple of hours wandering around Gatwick waiting for my flight - Typical! I allowed time to get through security and when I got there - there were NO queues! I was through in 10 minutes - they really need a yarn shop in Gatwick Duty Free.......

My colleagues at work are all now waiting for me to go down with Swine Flu after sharing my space with so many strangers - lets hope not :-)The weather this weekend is set to be awful again, so I intend to hole up with my sock in progress ( a new design I'm working on) and a couple of good books I picked up at the airport.

Oh and it wouldn't be a post without a picture so I give you my Just enough Ruffles by Laura Chau

Malabrigo worsted weight  ( just over a skein) colourway Candle wax - it's a bit more orange than the colour in the photo - worked on 5mm knitpick circular - It's a really easy knit, a well written pattern and well - it's Malabrigo so the yarn is fab :-)

It only took a couple of evenings, so if you are looking for a quick , but stylish knit for you holiday knitting I can definitely recommend this one :-)

Have a good weekend and stay warm :-)

News!

Just popping in to let you know about another book that will be coming out in January...

 

I've got 2 designs in this book

 

I Love Gansey - originally from the Six sock KAL group at Yahoo

and

 Gothic Temptress knee highs. Isn't the photography wonderful!

You can pre order it here

 

It's Been a while

But I have a good excuse!

I've been sick - apparently for a while, but like most women I have just kept going until the body said Enough!

The doc signed me off for a few days to try and shake this virus I seem to have picked up and I'm getting there slowly

The main problem for me is that I seem to have no energy. I'm quite happy to sit in my chair and knit, but any more than that is just too much effort - and that includes the blog ;-(

I have been knitting, but most of it is design work so I can't show it to you - but I have started a tank for me to wear at work - the weather has definitely taken a turn for the worst - it's not raining or anything - it's just cold...

I'm knitting Bramblewood

The yarn is another new one to me it is by Wendy , is called Serenity and is a wool /alpaca blend in a heathered grey.

It's growing quite quickly - or it would if I was knitting on it, but I'm deep in the designing and knitting of the next KAL for the Unique Sheep.

I've knitted one prototype - It's lovely,but I'm not happy with it so I'm doing another ( did I tell you I'm a sucker for punishment) :-)

Meanwhile I am spending the weekend doing as little as possible to try and kill this thing off - well that's my excuse ;-)

More Socks!

Was it really over 2 weeks since I last came up for air?

In that time, my daughter came home for a brief visit, we both celebrated our birthdays - she is no longer a teenager - and I have been knitting to help with the stress of trying to keep a whole schools IT running between two of us :-)

I showed you Fangs for the memory last time - I have another sock for this KAL and it is coming out tomorrow ( so I'll give you a sneak preview) ;-)

The sock is simply called Eric

The yarn was sent to me a while back from Laura at the Unique Sheep and in honour of the sock pattern she has called it Eric's Eyes.

But who is Eric? I hear you cry

This is Eric ;-)

1000 year old Vampire from the True Blood series by HBO based on the Sookie Stackhouse books

The pattern was inspired by a remark in one of the books that Eric had remarkable blue eyes. The side panels have his name written in ancient Viking runes and the cables are meant to evoke the ropes on Viking Dragon boats - Geeky - you bet :-)

Knitted in Sushi Sock by the Unique Sheep on 2.5mm needles.

The pattern is free and will be available on the Scary sock Group on Ravelry sometime tomorrow.

Hopefully I will be back again a little more frequently - see you soon

It's All About Socks.....

Although my blogging has been sadly sparse of late, mainly due to pressure of work, I have been busy on the knitting front as always :-)

I have more new designs

You may have seen this book around?

 

Yeah I've got one in there too :-)

 

Last of the Red Hot Lovers

Lots of valentine cables and lovers knots - these were such fun to design. They went to the publishers over a year ago so you can imagine my surprise when not only did the socks , but also a complimentary copy of the book arrived ( which of course I scoured from cover to cover - there are some fabulous designs in there I want to knit - just need to find the time! whaaah! ( yes I am whining a little).

This is the problem that I am sure many designers face when what used to be their hobby begins to be your job. You are so busy designing, swatching and test knitting you own designs you never get time to knit anybody else's :-)

I have yarn for three vests for work - I also have yarn for 3 T-shirts that I was going to knit for the summer ( not that we had much of a summer this year) I wonder if I will actually get any of the vests knitted...

I am determined to try and may cast on one of them this weekend as my carry around project. I'm working on the prototype of Enchanted Wood Shawl for the new Mystery KAL in January and that requires access to the laptop for the charts and a stable surface to put the beads and the crochet hook on, so not the easiest of travelling projects:-).

My current travelling projects are  finished.

There will be a new shalwette design in the next week - just need to do a photo shoot on the beach  and the other project you can see below

Fangs for the Memory

A top down simple sock with a garter st short row heel and toe and two little fang holes just above the ankle.

This is the latest challenge sock in the Scary Sock KAL on Ravlery

Knitted in Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle Merino/Nylon
Colourway: Venus on 2.5mm Dpns

You can get it here

It's a free download so enjoy :-)

Have a good weekend

Now Up For Sale!

Just popping in to let you know that the Secret Garden Shawl is now up for sale on Ravelry!

Now that the KALers have all the clues we have formatted them all into one pattern for those who missed out the first time

 

Knitted in fingering weight yarn on 4.5mm needles

The sample is done in Unique Sheep Luxe Gradiance colourway Peacock

The pattern takes 300g of yarn and works on the pi principal where you work increase rows between the lace patterns.

Perfect for an adventurous beginner or intermediate knitter

$7.00

available here

Sorry the buy now button doesn't seem to be working

Toddling along

Went back to work on Monday - bit of a shock to the system :-)

Things are, as usual, a bit mad, trying to get all the new IT in place before school resumes - we're not going to make it - some of the equipment we ordered hasn't arrived yet so the chances of building 11 PC's from scratch and then building them and 8 laptops onto the network., all in one day are to say the least - slim.

Still, on the knitting front, and especially the designing front, things are flying along. I have finished the shawl for Yarn Forward - sorry no photos it's a stealth project. I finished a sock design for the Unique Sheep RAM club  ditto on the photos :-( and I have started designing a series of socks for the Super Scary Sockfest - this is back for a second year and I have 4 socks in progress for them - think vampires and monsters and things that go bump in the night :-)

I can however show you the 2 patterns that are in the new Knotions issue

Moon River Stole

Beaded heavy laceweight - Valley yarns Colrain lace.

and

Lacey ribs cardigan

Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in Pure Magenta on 3.25mm needles and yes that is me hamming it up :-)

I also have had the idea for a series of lace scarves inspired by the beautiful tutus worn by some of the prima ballerinas in some of the worlds most loved classical ballets.

Think Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker and Cinderella. Think laceweight yarn and beads it's going to be so much fun!

The first one all ready to go - I'm just waiting for the beads to arrive to start swatching.

While waiting for the yarns and the beads to arrive for these and another secret shawl KAL design for the Unique Sheep (I told you I was busy) I have been knitting on a little something.....

Aestlight - Ravelry link

Knitted on 4mm Knitpicks options

Yarn: Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock - colourway Gold Hill

This was a lovely thing to knit - I started the garter st triangle whilst travelling to see Daughter in the UK - nice easy aeroplane knitting.

The pattern is very well written - though I did have a bit of trouble with the border chart - it read from left to right not right to left and somehow my brain couldn't wrap it's self around this so I finished up using the written instructions instead. Not a criticism at all, just an observation.

I'm thrilled with the result - I have just a very small amount of the yarn left , it took 2 skeins for the smaller of the two sizes and will look great with my work clothes.

I'm making the most of the late summer sun at the moment and spending as much time as possible on the beach while I can - knitting in hand of course!

Hope you all have a great weekend - it's a long one here. The work starts again in earnest on Tuesday and the pupils are back on Wednesday - eek!

Playing Hooky

Hi guys feeling a smige guilty that I haven't been updating the blog recently, but I have been so busy!

The Knotions designs are finally finished and sent off to Jody for tech editing - not a moment too soon - I think the new edition is out on Friday. The rush to finish the cardigan left me with the problem of
a) writing up the pattern in multiple sizes in a rush - thank goodness Jody is such a good tech editor and spots all the infantile errors I make and
b) We were left doing a photo shoot on one of the hottest days of the year! It may have been 6.30 pm in the shade in the back garden, but it was not the time to be wearing long sleeved 100% wool - so when you see the photos in Knotions if I look a little flushed you know why :-)

We are also coming to the end of the Secret Garden Shawl KAL - the first few shawls are done and the in progress photos in the Secret Garden Shawl group on Ravelry are so lovely - I can hardly believe everyone is knitting my design.

In fact the shawl has been such a success we are going to do it all again in January with a new themed winter shawl :-)

In the meantime I have been knitting a few bits and pieces..... I am designing a Faroese shawl for Yarn Forward, A sock of the Unique Sheep RAM club, a party top for Knotions and for the last week I have been virtually living on the beach ( what a life!)

I did also start this
Aestlight ( Ravelry link) in Lorna's Laces Gold Hill colourway - the centre is done - I'm now onto the Birds eye lace border - it's a lovely pattern - a no brainer which is just what I need.

As you can probably see it is sitting on my netbook - my Acer finally bit the dust after 5 years of valiant service and I had to rely on the Asus 901 for a good 3 weeks while I waited for my new laptop to arrive.

I'm a very lucky lady - I chose a Dell laptop to replace it, put in the specs I wanted and left it to hubby to order it - he upgraded my spec to top of the range everything and last week this arrived.
Cherry red Dell Inspirion laptop with the extra large battery and top of the range graphics. All my data and programs have been transferred ( thank the lord for backups) and I am lounging in my chair typing away on a full sized keyboard after three weeks of trying to type on a half sized one - yay!

I'm back to work on Monday - don't know where the summer has gone- Intend to try and spend the rest of the week on the beach so if I'm not around you know where I am ;-)

I'm Weak

I am supposed to be knitting on the cardi for Knotions but a little something arrived in the post yesterday

Along with a little spool of this

Add a pretty clasp, a pattern for a bead soup bracelet and a couple of 00 needles and a couple of hours later you get this.....

the colours are much richer in person - deep browns, golds, grreens and even a little deep red

This one is called deep forest - there are others - be very afraid - my deadline is looming so I MUST. NOT. ORDER. MORE.........yet.

these little pretties came from Earthfaire