Knitting on an Island

Just a Quick Reminder

That I have moved!

You will find me at http://www.Guernseygaldesigns.com/personal 

Yup I went and got me my own domain ( at last) 

So please remember to change your RRS feed to my new address - I haven't seen a lot of people over there and I'm feeling lonely ;-)

We are on the Move!

I have absolutely no beef with Typepad. I have been with them since I first started bloging 5 years ago, but the opportunity has presented its self for me to move to my very own domain Guernseygaldesigns.com so I have grabbed it with both hands and jumped in with both feet. :-)

A lovely lady called Amy who is well versed in all this techo stuff has very kindly set it all up for me - she is going to set up a cart and everything so people can buy my designs direct from the website too - I tell you she is a genius! So if you ever need anyone to transfer you to Wordpress and set up a domain n all - she's your gal! - for a very reasonable fee of course ;-)

So you will need to update your feeds to the new blog address which you will find here

See you on the other side!

ETA: Oops we are having a few technical problems over at the new blog - RSS feed isn't there and the knitting on an island blog is down for maintenance I will let you know when things are fixed :-)

And Breathe Again....

It's been an interesting couple of weeks

Two weeks last Friday I was on a plane - totally unexpected - but a tearful phone call from daughter galvanised me into action and I managed to get on the last plane out of Guernsey and be at her house by late evening.

she's ok, it's just been a rough few weeks one way and the other and basically I persuaded her to cancel her plans for the rest of the week and come home with us for some TLC.

All this travelling meant plenty of knitting time and as one of my co workers was due to go on maternity leave last Friday is was a bit of a bonus

The result was

 

Sirdar Cardigan in newborn size in Sirdar Crofter mock fairisle DK on 4mm needles

Burp pad in sugar n Cream Worsted weight Cotton - on 4.5mm needles

Itty Bitty Baby hat Book - Basic baby hat - newborn size in Sirdar Crofter mock Fairisle DK on 4.5mm neeldes

Child's Placket jumper - Last minute knits Sirdar Snuggly DK on 4.5mm needles

and lastly

Baby bib ( modified version from the Mason and Dixon book) Sugar n Cream on 4.5mm needles

There has been more knitting and I'm one repeat into Evenstar shawl clue 4 too. I think I need to take a break and do a bit more designing - partly because it needs to be done and also because I have pain in my right shoulder and arm that I am fairly sure is from over work ;-)

Still I'm on holiday from school now til the middle of April. Time to spend with family over Easter

Have a lovely Easter, those that celebrate it. to those that don't - have a lovely weekend anyway ;-)

Can I just say.... Oww!

Not the post I was going to write, but I'm just back from a trip to A & E. You would never believe I used to be a dancer, I tripped over my own feet coming up the garden steps this morning after putting some washing on the line.

As they are shallow steps there was no chance to break my fall with my hands and I landed with all my weight on my right knee - on the edge of a concrete step. You know that sick feeling you get when something REALLY hurts? - yeah. 

Thankfully the prognosis is good, no breakages, just heavy bruising. Ice, Ibuprofen and gentle exercising of the joint followed by physio. The doctor was great, though a little too cheerful when he told me that it was going to hurt quite a lot for the next few days.

Still, this is here

So the plan for the rest of the day is to get Girasole off the needles - though it may be a while before it gets blocked, kneeling is a little - umm problematic at the moment.

Then it is on to finishing up the test knit of Moonfleet, fitting in clue 3 of Evenstar and then there is the matter of 3 ladies that I know who are all expecting.

I have ordered some Sugar n Creme cotton form the US and I may have gone overboard and bought Mason Dixon ( for the bibs and the burp pads) and itty bitty hats ( for - well the hats) and the plan is to make my travelling/lunchtime knitting all these little things for the next few months.

The main problem I have is that none of them know what sex they are having - so everything is going to be whites and creams and yellows ... yawn...

Picked up some pretty yellow DK yesterday to make a couple of shrug type cardis, an interesting conversation with several young mums about the most useful things that people knitted them flagged this one up. Lots of young mums use slings and papoose type things these days and while most of the baby is snug and warm, the arms tend to be waving in the breeze. Having that extra layer, just where it is needed is apparently just the thing :-)

So my plans for this weekend are fairly boring. Sit and knit and try to keep out of trouble. Shame the weather is so nice, I should really be out walking...

Tragedy Averted

A dramatic title no?

Well that was how we felt this time last week.

Our dog went missing

About 8 PM on Friday night he went out into the back garden and didn't some back. After about 20 minutes I realised he hadn't yet scraped at the door to be let back in - and as it was was a chilly night that was a surprise.

I went out to have a look and found that the side gate was unlatched and the Ben was GONE.

Now, it is difficult enough to find a dog that has a potential 20 minute start - which direction did he go?. But when the dog in question is black and it is pitch dark it is even more difficult.

Still out we went, we walked all the close roads, then switched to the cars and drove the further roads. No sign. We searched til midnight and then reluctantly decided that we would have to go home and hope that the silly mutt would find his way back. We barely slept, partly because we were worried about the dog and partly because we left the back door open so that if he did come home he could get in and it was freezing.

I lay in bed listening to the howling wind and the rain and panicking about how I was going totell the kids that the dog was gone - possibly for good - he has never been away for more than a couple of hours.

We were up again at first light and back out looking for him. Still no sign.

I phoned the local animal shelter, I phoned Animal Aid ( another local animal charity) I informed the police and I asked both local radio stations to put out "lost dog" notices.

By 8 AM I was on the verge of tears. Ben is about 12 years old, partly blind, pretty stupid and very timid. He had been missing for 12 hours and I was starting to fear the worst.

Then the phone rang. It was a lady who lives on the other side of the hill - not 500 yds form my house as the crow flies. She had found him! Wandering in circles in her front garden when she opened her curtains.

We dashed up the road to collect him - taking a large bunch of flowers for the lady in question. He was very tired, filthy - I think he must have found a stable to sleep in because he stank of horse manure - and his feathers were full of brambles and twigs.

The minute we got him in the door and had removed the worst of the debris with the aid of a pair of scissors and a lot of distraction methods ( he hates being groomed) he hopped up onto the sofa, stretched out and went to sleep.

He did not move from this position for 6 hours!

I didn't have the heart to wake him up for a bath - it had to wait til the next day.

I'm glad to say that he is fine. I think we were in a worst state than him. Within 24 hours he was back to his usual bouncy self - I'm not sure we will ever recover :-)

Every time I let him out I'm subconsciously checking the side gate - it will be a long time before I stop.

As you can see he is completely unaware of the panic he caused.

Have a good week.

Darn it! It's Just Not Fair

My Ravelympics are over :-(

I overcame the broken cables, I circumnavigated the lack of yarn but I have finally been defeated by my own brain.

The new cables arrived last Monday, the yarn Friday which gave me 2 days to finish. I seem to remember winding 3 of the skeins into balls while talking to my daughter on the phone, I distinctly remember thinking that I  only needed to do the one and that I would do it later on , when it was needed. I finished the main body of the shawl and started on the border today. Got nearly half of the way around - ran out of yarn - went to pick up the last skein from my work basket - nothing there. I check around it , under it . through it. under my chair - under the dog too - No sign anywhere.

Now. I could be misremembering and I may have balled up all the skeins, but the pattern says that you should need 1800 yds of worsted.  I was cutting it a bit fine with 1760, but I am nearly halfway round the border with the 3/4 of the ball I had already started and was confidently predicting that the last (and allegedly missing skein) would make it around the rest of the circumference just about. That is why I am so positive that the skein is hiding somewhere - I'm usually pretty good on gauge and yardage so I wouldn't expect to be 220 yds out.

Where is the darn thing!

It will probably turn up tomorrow - after the closing ceremony - bah!

Stalled

To use a very Guernsey quote - "Bugger!"

I'm stuck

My Girasole has been going sooo welll ( can you hear the sarcasm). Absolutely nothing wrong with the pattern, it is beautifully written and should be a joy to knit - and would be if not for the problems I have been having

1. I was going along swimmingly when bang! The cable on my interchangeable needles parted company with the tip, sending stitches cascading into oblivion ( yes I'm being dramatic, but I had 200+ sts on the needle and about half of them fell off - and it was a pattern row too)

2. After swearing copiously I grabbed a second slightly smaller needle to make it easier to rescue the floundering stitches. I carefully got them back on to the new needle and then proceeded to swap the tips for the correct size - Nope! For the first time ever, a tip was stuck and neither pleading or swearing would make it budge, so off I had to go in search of yet another cable and transfer all the stitches yet again!

3. So here we are back on track on a nice long ( 150cm) cable knitting away again, watching the women's downhill skiing when I glanced at Chart D - yup My inability to read a simple chart had resulted in completely forgetting to reverse the direction of the yo's in the middle and I had to rip back 8 rows of 280+ sts and put the sts back on the needles - yet again - sigh!

4. This pattern is beginning to feel cursed  - again I emphasise that the pattern its self is fine no reflection on the designer AT ALL. But having just finished chart D, correctly this time and just having doubled the number of stitches - the cable went AGAIN! Or rather, the new cable went too - grrr!

5. I managed to cobble together 2 shorter cables, with a connector that would hold all the stitches, but to be honest it isn't ideal. The connector keeps getting stuck and I am having to manoeuvre the stitches around the cable much more than I would like :-(

6. And now I have run out of yarn. I have 4 skeins of cascade 220 on their way from Webs, but they are somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic at the moment. so I have taken the opportunity to order some new cables from Get Knitted in Bristol that should get here before the yarn so that I can transfer the stitches YET AGAIN before the yarn gets here.

Still, I'm halfway through the 2nd repeat of chart E so I'm getting there

So it's back to knitting on the sample for Moonfleet It is looking good and being laceweight is putting far less strain on the joins so hopefully I won't be replacing any more cables...

Back to work on Monday, so won't get as much knitting done next week :-(  Unless the yarn for Girasole gets here pretty quick I think my Ravelympics gold could well be in jeopardy - never mind it's not life threatening - it's only knitting....

Half Term Madness

Yipee! It's half term and I have a whole week off!

The fact of the matter is it is going to be far too cold to do any work in the garden - the ground temp is only a few degrees above freezing and the wind is decidedly cold - according to weather forecast we are in for a week of rain and winter showers - so all in all perfect knitting weather

Just as well really, I seem to have gone a little mad on the old commitment front as you know.

Just so you can see where I have got to

Evenstar clue 1 done!

Unique Sheep Eos on 3.25mm needles - started with 5" rosewood dpns now on a 60cm knitpicks interchangable.

Talking of which, I sort of fell off the wagon a bit this week. Evenstar uses the same size needles as my next KAL design Moonfleet. I only have 1 pair of 3.25mm needle tips and rather than keep swapping the tips back and forth I would treat myself to an extra one. Well.....

I thought I would take the opportunity to try the Addi Lace needles and popped over to Jimmy Beans ( who I use a lot) and put a circular into my cart. I thought I would have a quick wander and see if there was anything else that I would like - after all you have to think about postage when you are shipping things all the way across the Atlantic ;-)

So.... somehow a Namaste Monroe in red and a Namaste wallet in lime seemed to fall into my cart and are also on their way to me as we speak - I put up pictures when they get here.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ( well the bungalow) as most of you knitters will have realised that the Winter Olymipics have started and that can only mean one thing - Ravelympics!

At the very last minute and in a complete moment of madness I decided to make Girasole ( rav link) in worsted - blanket size - in. two. weeks. mmmm

So anyway, I've cast on in the full knowledge that I don't have anywhere near enough yarn - I have more on order from Webs ( yes I know - also across the Atlantic)  in the hope that it will get here in time.

So far

Charts A & B done. I started on plastic 5.5mm needles - a little small but by the end of chart A I was already onto my interchangables (6.5mm) so it wasn't worth going out and buy a set - I very rarely use needles over 4.5mm at all.

Cascade 220 paints colourway #9844 - sooo descriptive ;-)

So for the rest of the week I can concentrate on Girasole - clue 2 of Evenstar isn't due til Friday and I'm waiting for the beads to arrive for the sample knit of Moonfleet 

So if you will excuse me I have a blanket to knit - in two weeks - what was I thinking....

Breathe.......

Wow!

Where did the week go!

Last weekend I was frantically checking over TEW to make sure there were no more glaring errors and her we are a week away from the end of the KAL!

In the last week, I have endured a 2 day school inspection, a server crash, Formatted and put up for sale a sock pattern, finished off the sample for my 10 shawls in 2010 shawlette, Finished my TEW and charted all the lace designs and started swatching for the next KAL design. - Phew!

As you can guess, not a lot of housework got done - but I did manage to keep up with the washing, so we didn't run out of underwear

Oh but we did have one day completely without water - mains burst further down the hill and because we are at the top - no pressure , not a drop - thankfully, it was not a washing day and the water board bless them had everything repaired and tickety boo by the time I got home from work.

So all in all an eventfully week. I hope all my American friends are keeping warm - hopefully there is a little of that snow left for us?

Spring is trying to show her head above the parapet, I have seen the odd flowering tree and clump of early daffs around the place but never when I had my camera around so you will have to put up with a photo I took this time last year :-)

See I told you spring was on the way!

Have a good week

This week I have mainly been.... Swatching

Especially if you consider my Enchanted wood as one giant swatch :-(

We have been finding a few faux pas in the pattern - mainly caused by having to split the pattern up into manageable, readable chunks - plus deciding to produce written instructions at the last minute.

Now my charting software does a great job of producing written instructions - apart form the fact that this shawl is mirror images on either side of the central decrease.

Now that's fine apart form the fact the I'm having to repeat the instructions backwards from the end and substitute left and right leaning decreases as I come to them -  a little like dancing ballroom in heels and a very long dress ( very easy to trip up)

Still I'm managing to stay one step ahead of the game and make changes as they are needed - you would never believe that this pattern has been test knit not once but twice. I now have at least 3 people knitting ahead in case of trouble so hopefully would should catch everything...

As I said I have been swatching

 Lots of swatches for lots of designs destined to be submitted for consideration for a new book.....

Also about to be swatched for Evenstar by Susan Pandorf. a mystery laceweight circular shawl starting mid February.

Painty at the Unique Sheep has dyed me up a special Gradiance colourway in their Eos silk/merino yarn

Silver through to a light pewter colour - beautiful!

The first skein is wound ( along with a huge 130g skein of the same base in a different colour) ready for more swatching.

The huge skein is for the next KAL shawl. The book is chosen, I'm playing with charts and soon, very soon I will be casting on the prototype....