Drive-by blogging

Well, we are in Scotland after the worst drive over ever, I have left my new apartment half unpacked, I have yet to hand-over the old apartment and things are just plain nuts. My father-in-law is very ill and that meant a mad dash across to get here, we are still waiting to speak to the consultant, so things are pretty much still up in the air. It did mean in my haste to pack and leave, I arrived with not much knitting which meant I did need to buy some yarn! Luckily my brother-in-law and his girlfriend are expecting a baby so some baby knitting was in order. I bought wool to knit 3 or 4 things from a Debbie Bliss book, that I can't find a picture of, so take my word for it, its very cute.

So far I have managed to catch up with India and spent a lovely day hanging out, sewing and spinning, yep I had my first spinning lesson and I am hooked, it was amazing. I don't have any photos and my first yarn is far from perfect but I love it. I still have lots to fit in including a trip to Coldspring on my way back through England, anyone been there recently?
Must dash, time up.......

Only weather

I am distracting you with some weather pictures as there is nothing else going on here. This is the last morning I will have this view of the Chartreuse from my bedroom, my new view is of Chamrousse, I think.
I might be offline for a few weeks as even although I am actually only moving to the next block but one away, my new internet/phone connection is going to take about a month, that's right, 1 month with no internet. ick!
The moving is mostly done, right now I am in the old apartment, with computer, which is good, but no coffee machine,which is bad, I do have a kettle, but no teabags.
So I made my coffee in the new apartment and walked over here with it. Luckily I didn't meet any of my neighbours, take-away coffee is an unknown here.
I bought 4 dress patterns, which arrived yesterday, they are the reproductions of vintage patterns, 3 from 1957 and 1 from 1960, so some dress sewing is definitely on the cards once the boys leave for Scotland.
My Mum and Jake left on Wednesday and unfortunately got held up at the airport due to technical problems, so my poor Mum spent 12hours at the airport here and then they had to spend the night at the airport in London to catch the first flight to Glasgow, nightmare!
I hope that doesn't happen to the boys when they are travelling alone.
Okay, I am off to finish packing.......and dream of finding some knitting time, or even my knitting!

Drive-by

I dislike packing, I really dislike painting, I hate grouting, as for cleaning, its downright bloody awful.
I have no nails left, no time to knit or sew and someone took ALL my knitting books away first, so I can't even have a little planning session, to figure out my next project.
Is it possible to have creative/craft withdrawals? The only knitting I have is the hanging around, plain jane stockinette sock and I am on the 3rd one BUT its sooooooooo boring.
I have also finished, finally the birthday cable sock, with the HUGE mistake in it, the first one is still in London, it had a huge mistake so the second one had to match. I did think at the time it looked a bit funny but I had no time to check it out. That's what you get when you don't print the big colour picture for the pattern and you don't knit it on 2 circs as per the pattern!!

wispy

It is official, I do love Wispy, its warm light, pretty and I love wearing it. I can see it becoming a staple in my wardrobe and I would probably consider knitting another, just not in Summer Tweed!
The combination of Summer Tweed and moss stitch gave me chronic hand and wrist pain. When chatting about it with some Liberty Rowanettes, the consensus was that you either loved or hated it, I am in the hate camp.
It is a shame as it comes in such pretty colours too.


Wispy took a little trip to Ikea, no photos though, I did see some fab storage items and especially liked this table, it has a perfect yarn as art drawer with glass. I just may have to go back and get it!

The packing is coming along, though I am occasionally side-tracked by a ufo, I do have a pile of sewing wip's and I have thrown out and rearranged lots of stuff. Apparently I am the only member of the family moving out next week as no-one else has packed any of their stuff yet! I do keep giving them the countdown but apparently a week is LOADS of time and it will only take a few minutes!
My Mum is coming to visit the day after I get my new apartment keys, she is bringing her marigolds, no sun-worshipping/sight-seeing for her, she will be set to work. So her and I might de-camp to the new place and leave the boys to it.
One of the reasons I am looking forward to moving is that the new place has no fitted kitchen, okay it does have ugly tiles but it does mean that I can get this out of storage, I am looking forward to using it again.

My boys all have plans to spend their summer in Scotland, so it looks like we are driving over to see them and pick up Jake at least. Jim suggested a little yarn crawl through England/Scotland, I just might have to take him up on that, any suggestions?
If I owed you a package they were posted today, but my little notes to go inside are still here, oops!!
Back to packing......one week to go.

Bonne Fete de Maman

It was mothers day here yesterday, so we had presents, flowers, chocolate cake and strawberries, and of course an I.O.U for a t-shirt that is going to be made for me.
I have no idea where he got the idea that IOU's were okay for presents....must stop teaching my children bad habits.

In order not to have a re-run of the christmas fiasco where no-one ordered my requested book, I did indeed go ahead and order them myself, so here they are in all their loveliness, as yet they are free of any post-it stickers, but there is still time before they make it into a box.



There is bad news though, Jamie was not allowed to do his work placement with me, just to clarify, it is compulsory they spend one month working in the alteration/sewing business to complete their year, when it comes down to it I would rather he worked with me, passed this year and moved up, than his other choice, which is leave school and find a job completely unqualified. Lots of chances there!
It is a shame as all my friends have already told me they will gladly bring all their mending/alterations round. These are jobs I usually say a polite no to, I would rather make a new pair of trousers than replace a zip!

My other bad news is my copy of Interweave is lost in the post, not that I need distraction or a new project, so you all have to stop making cute stuff like this, I REALLY want this.

A really bad picture of my lovely flowers, sorry Jord......

It's June

No really it is, though you might have trouble recognising it from the weather we have been having. Storms, freezing rain, wind and snow at 1500m. I of course in my wisdom, well it was May and sunny, have packed all the winter coats etc, so we had a mad dash one morning to find where they were. We have no heating as it is communal and turned off at the beginning of May and on at the beginning of October. On top of all that I have caught the cold and need my hot water bottle which is packed somewhere! So here we are nice June weather in France.



No knitting time, or sewing or anything else I have been packing sorting and trying to find a job placement for no1 son, so not easy.
He has decided if he doesn't find one he is leaving school, so I am kind of desperate. Desperate enough to suggest to school he could stay home and sew for a month.
Which I have to say is not an ideal solution for lots of reasons, least of all we are moving in the middle of the month, second I love him dearly and he drives me completely insane.
On the up side I think he might learn more and feel more fulfilled if he sews for himself rather than spend a month learning how to do repairs and alterations. School are considering this as an option but it has to be approved by his sewing teacher, I really need to be a business, qualified, blah,blah,blah!!
Of course I can teach him how to replace zips and hem trousers too but I do feel he has to realise that what he has is a talent and not everyone can see things how he does, or put things together how he does. School is so negative and I'm afraid its pulling him under.
Oops forgot to say, thanks for all your comments I haven't got back to anyone and I apologise, sorry.

Distraction

Shhh, I am supposed to be packing boxes or throwing things out or making dinner or something equally as boring. I thought I would share the rest of the yarn I bought in London with you, partly because if I don't document it here I might move and forget what I am doing with it.



So first up I bought some Rowan Damask to knit the lace shrug from Lace Style, so that is soon cause I want it, NOW!! Well actually not right now as its rainy and only 13 deg, seeing is it was 31deg on Friday, its a little bit of a shock to the system, there was snow on the mountains this morning.



Next up some sock yarn in gorgeous pink, that will be for me, of course.

I also bought some yarn to knit Juno from Rowan 40?, but had to leave it behind as there was no room in the suitcase!



And this sooo pretty, no idea what it will become but for now I can just admire its loveliness.

I also did quite well in the book dept recently as it is Mothers Day on Sunday I was determined to not miss out again like Christmas, so ordered early! I'll show them tomorrow.



I leave you with this, what do you think, chicken, tulip, crown? .......
Oops almost forgot am almost finished Wispy, she is blocking and tomorrow I will tell you how much I love/hate this project......

Tagged

Well I have been tagged (twice) for the random facts and Polly is right I do need an excuse to not think about packing, so here goes.

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.



1. I have a terrible memory, I use notebooks all the time, trouble is I quite often can't remember which notebook I wrote the thing I need to remember in...
I can't remember authors, film titles, actors, I spend ages reading the first pages of books when buying new ones and hate when they change cover pictures to make me think its a new book.

2. I love peace and quiet, I very rarely choose to listen to music, not even when driving, in saying that, I always have to listen to someone else's choice of music in the car and in the house and love when it is turned off!

3. I have been sewing for about 26years, I started working in a fabric shop on a saturday when I was 15, I have fabric that I bought then, it has handwritten remnant tags, I can remember who the handwriting belongs to.

4. I am terrible at going to the post office, I always have something waiting to be posted, I think it stems from the having to queue to complain about the many missing packages since we moved into this building.

5. I hoard everything, I am regretting that now as I pack to move, I am being ruthless, really, and time will tell when I get round to unpacking it all in a couple of weeks.

6.I am scared of going to a hairdressers here, I have been once and it was awful. I have not had my hair cut since last August, it needs all chopped off, its boring. Everywhere else I have lived I have had a friend who was a hairdresser and its always been fine. I need to go home for a visit to get it cut, I need something new.

7. This year I will have been married 20 years and this will be the 9th house I have lived in, I am kinda tired of moving around.

8. I LOVE shoes, love, love, love them, I have no idea how many pairs of shoes I have, maybe I should count them when I pack them, or maybe not!!
I love it that my niece is a shoe addict too, with absolutely no influence from me, its genetic, isn't it Mum!!

Now who to tag, think lots of people have done this so here goes, Rebecca, India,Heather, Yvonne, Susan,

Stash removals

Remember when you are buying, wool, fabric, beads and stashing them all over the house/apartment, when you are moving they all have to come together somewhere, somehow and right now thats a pretty scary prospect!

We think we have a new apartment which is near enough to not need a removal van, so the fun/packing commences. I might take this opportunity to document the wool that lives here OR and this is more likely, I will just take the biggest box I can find, throw it all in there and unpack it when everyone is at work/school. The slight problem is the severe lack of storage/cupboard space, trip to Ikea anyone?

The other problem is the 70's kitchen tiles, these I really think I am just going to work with, so to add to the fabric that lives here already, I am on the hunt for some very 70's retro fabric with orange in it, any ideas, and the nearest Ikea doesn't do fabric so thats out!



I unearthed a patchwork project the boys and I have been working on for my niece for about, cough: ahemm, 3 years, so when you are working on something from a pattern, DO NOT pack it away without the pattern, otherwise you will be forced into doing one giant fabric jigsaw and then having to listen to other peoples opinion about said jigsaw as they step over pieces to re-arrange it.


So I think we are about done with it, just needs to be put together.....another day.

nothing happening

There is nothing going on around here except apartment hunting, no sewing, minimal knitting on a plain sock for car and bus journeys and waiting around and thats IT!

I saw 2 apartments today, one is fabulously gorgeous and is downstairs from me, it is TOO small and the other is bigger and has a teeny wee room for sewing and the decor is ICK. 70's yellow and brown tiles are never going to make a comeback in my book, so can I live with them short-term? It is empty right now so we need to decide, like, yesterday and I can't. If I take it we have to move in 2 weeks, I can't pack my stuff in two weeks, never mind a whole house......

Moving on, I bought some wool when I was away, well you all knew that, I was shopping with Yvonne, how could I come back empty handed.
Silkwood sock yarn in yummy purples.





This was a present from Yvonne and is Silkwood angora bunnyfluff, soooo soft, thank you.
More later..........

update

When I was gone, the tech person in this family decided that our computer needed upgraded, I really am not computer savvy, so I like things to stay the way they are. This computer is not even one year old and I like the programmes I use to stay the way they are! HA!
So since I have been back I have spent lots of time wrestling with things that either don't work at all or are completely different.
Each morning I sit at the computer and have a video chat with my Mum while we drink our coffee, its a very nice "ME" time and I love that with my bluetooth headset I can get up and find my knitting and answer the door etc and still chat.
It of course is not compatible now, the new headset is clunky and for some reason that no-one can figure out the mike doesn't work with messenger but does with skype!!
I have had to re-sign in to everyones blogs in order to comment and the new programme to download my photos doesn't allow me to do stuff I like doing! So needless to say I am a little "annoyed".




Knitting- not much achieved here this week at all and its Friday already, these socks got toes at last they are my first picot hem and they are a perfect fit. The wool was a gift from Heather, who needs some commiseration on gauge issues, so go on over and say hi.


I started the second sock for my brother, here is the first one and I was sweating while finishing up the first as I had just 10" of yarn left, phew!
Wispy is still in the London bag as I made a mistake while chatting at Libertys and have to take it back a bit.

I saw a big apartment yesterday but it was fuel heating, very expensive, no double glazing, old windows and the owner is apparently a pain to deal with, there was no park nearby and no garden and only one parking spot. It did have fab big rooms, high ceilings and enough rooms for the boys to have one each. I'll keep looking.

Embroidery

Embroidery is something I have done little bits of and I do enjoy playing around with thread or silk ribbon every now and then. I am not very good though and its just as well I like the rustic look.

This is Jamies latest project from school




and a close up.



Its very cute and he did want to give it to my niece but I am tempted to frame it, he may never choose to embroider something this cute again!

I had a fabulous day out watching the boys and Jim climb, we did get a little lost finding the wall and ended up walking straight up the mountain for a bit, which did nearly kill the very unfit among us, mostly me.



This is the view from the top so it was kind of worth it.
Turns out the wall was about 200m from the car in the opposite direction and not UP!
Someone was playing with my camera when we were out so I did end up with a couple of hundred pictures of various views and rock crevices.

My baby ended up tied to a tree for some of the afternoon as he decided that straight down might be quite good to try out!




No news on the apartment hunting front, I have one maybe two to see tomorrow and then we have a meeting with our landlord on Friday, which I am not looking forward to. I have no idea what else she wants me to say I am trying my damnedest to find somewhere, so we can move before the heat hits and maybe we will still get to go on holiday too.

I'm back

Well I had a fabulous time, the princess was sick poor baby, so it meant she had to stay home from school and play instead. Which did mean she didn't want to go to school on Thursday but she was better and I had a date with a knit/shopping friend and a meet up at Libertys to go to. I had a busy day and had a very quick mad dash around Stash and found some yummy stuff of course, pics later when I sort out the camera.



I got to see the yellow socks in their natural environment




and I knitted my fastest pair of socks ever, 24hours for this pair, well they are only small, they ended up being worn with the purple crocs too, to complete that hippy chick look!

Today is a public holiday so I am off to watch my boys do some outdoor climbing. I am hoping the sun comes out though or I may be very cold. Jamie is staying home to do some sewing, his latest project from school is very cute, I'll share later, but I am very impressed.

Still running around

I finished an outfit for the princess, which I hope she likes, its very bright BUT it is trousers which are apparently a bit of a no-no at the minute. See that is what happens when you are 3, you get fashion conscious!

I am almost packed, I do need to pack some knitting projects, I need something for new baby girl, so something fun and cute and quick.

I have done a little shopping for the boys then they are on their own! I am sure they won't starve. So far I don't have a shopping list to bring back which is unusual. Maybe they have grown out of eating Pot Noodles! I am sure I will end up with a list by the time I am coming back.

The big question is can I turn this yarn



into these socks before the I come back?

Pheeww

Sewing something important for someone else is always a little bit scary, I am always very glad when it is all gone and the person is completely happy with their garment.
So the dresses fit, she was happy and now I can breathe easy.





So this is my new skirt and t-shirt, I am almost finished a pair of trousers too, they are pale blue to match Wispy who is still very much in an unfinished state.
I am still hoping some kind of miracle might happen, like suddenly tomorrow will have a whole other 12 hours to it, or the fairies will come and pack my clothes AND they will be the right clothes for the right weather in London. It could happen!!

Fanfare please.

I'm done, two dresses, two shrugs, one handbag and a pair of earrings.




She is coming by to pick it all up tomorrow afternoon, so am keeping my fingers crossed everything is okay.




All I have to do now is finish up something for me to wear when I am in London.
I am hoping to pack in a little knitting time when I am away with at least a trip to Libertys.
Wispy I am afraid is not going to be done, though I may take it with me to finish up there, I have half a sleeve and one front to knit.
I am hoping to love it when I am finished as I definitely don't love knitting with the Summer Tweed.
Off to whip up something to wear, back soon.......

Saturday sky

Okay, I know its Monday my excuse is I took the photo on Saturday and had no time to post it.

Dress progress



It needs a final fitting and the zip put in, the bad news is she loves it so much she wants another one made...BEFORE Friday!! This is doable if I don't finish knitting the cardi I wanted to finish, I leave for London on Saturday morning and I want Wispy to come with me.....
Unfortunately not sleeping is not an option, I am useless when sleep deprived!

No time to knit

Things here have gone a little haywire and on top of helping backstage at the school production and sewing a major cocktail dress, I have just received notice to quit our apartment. So am running around like a headless chicken, even more than usual, normal service will be resumed when I stop long enough to do anything worth posting!

Sock yarn

I was so excited to receive this the other day, I have huge amounts of time drooling over Jessie's yummy colours, not to mention checking out her blog for fowl pictures.
Problem is I want to knit these socks but the gauge gods are laughing at me and after 3 different sets of needles I have given up for the moment.
With temperatures at 24deg I don't need any kind of socks right now anyway.
My poor feet had the first sandal outing yesterday and I have two blisters to prove it, lovely!



On the knitting front I am trying to finish this cardi right now, but the attached i-cord is kicking my butt and this is the fourth attempt and its staying, I have just realised that I forgot to leave gaps for buttonholes, so it will have some alternative closure, to be decided later! It is a bit bright but I am sure it will be loved.

I am working on a BIG sewing project for a friend of a friend, she needs a dress for an award ceremony with her company, it is apparently some big do in San Diego. I am just waiting for her to come and be measured and have the toile fitted and then I get to cut up the hugely expensive, irreplaceable fabric, which is always kind of scary!

I found out recently that my brother had been reading my blog and had noted that I mentioned I MIGHT use the Trekking for his next socks, it is his birthday really soon so if he is going to get socks, I really have to start them, I could always write him another IOU!! Or they could just be late, why break the habit......

A little more sunshine.

This is for all of you who still have snow and spring hasn't arrived yet.





Sunshine shrug for the princess knitted in alpaca/silk dk, colour Orange Grove about 55g on 4mm needles.



Next up the almost finished fairy princess dress, I need to sew on some trim to hide the ugly sewing, (I hate lycra!) and it probably needs more sparkle, which I will let her stick on herself.




I am still slogging away on the lovely Wispy but oh how I hate double moss stitch, especially in Summer Tweed. I am on the 2nd sleeve and have one front to do. I have started a new project to ease the boredom, oops had to be done, more tomorrow.

The next bit is for Granny, the fashion student on his way out and his new shooooz!!