Its raining again....

Actually, it is not today but there is a HUGE black cloud looming over my head and I can't get it to shift no matter how many projects I have on the go, how busy I am, or how much procrastination there is in one day!

My DH is being threatened with redundancy, now this is nothing new with this company, which is why we are here in France. So its been this close before, the waiting to hear is driving me nuts, we have had to wait to hear how many? 60, then how many in each dept? it was 3 out of 9, now its 2 out of 6, which is the same thing. Not being chosen out of 9 just seems like it might be better odds though :0(

The other black cloud is my FIL has cancer in his esophagus, he finished chemotherapy a few months ago and now needs radiotherapy for a tumour in his brain, he starts that process today, this is when it is tough being so far away. My poor SIL is dealing with all the hassles and I know its tough for her and there is really nothing we can do to help, except listen.

Yesterday to keep me occupied I agreed to help Jamie with a jean design he was working on, now I know how I want things to look when I sew and can usually come up with something close.
Trying to get a visual picture out of an 18year olds head is tough, yikes.
It was fun, though that child procrastinates way more than I do.
They are all cut and ready to sew, except for two small things, we need to buy pink buttonhole thread for the top-stitching and someone has a social life that is way more important than sewing ;0)

I spun up the 12oz of Icelandic roving in Snow Squall from Amy, its 520m and 100m spun with a little of this BFL Galaxy Uranus.






I need to spin up the rest of the BFL and am going to knit something with them together, not sure what yet but something for next winter.

These are my attempt at crocheting and will decorate a bag with these fabrics.




Cobblestone is at the yoke and is too heavy to lug around, so I needed a nice portable project, cause you can never have too many projects on the go.



So this is it, a pretty shawl in the softest Silkwood pink angora bunny wool gifted to me last year by Yvonne. It has been waiting a long time to be this and the beginning is a great, almost mindless project, just what I need, more soon........

Guess what

Guess what arrived with the postman this morning, no, not my HK order silly, this




yep, this is the xmas parcel I sent from Scotland, it apparently couldn't be delivered on the 7th Jan and they left a notice, my brother says not and then they shipped it back to me on the 1st Feb, by the slow boat of course. So now here is the thing, do I try again to send it?



Cobblestone is a big black hole and is driving me crazy. I took the unfinished Cobblestone with me when we went away for a few days. Easy knitting, round and round and round and round and its not getting any longer, for 3 whole days it measured 12", I need it to measure 18, its my own fault for having a tall husband!!




When I was away I did knit a pair of socks for a 5year old, her new wellies were a little big, so they were a necessity, she then had to be prised out them to be washed as they were soooo comfy, it is nice when your knitting is appreciated.

The vogue cardi is coming along, I didn't take it with me as it involves counting, pastis/holiday/lots of people and counting don't really mix too well.




My brothers birthday socks got started too, he chose the Trekking colour from my Ravelry stash photos, I did buy it for me but I am letting him have it, I am not really short of sock yarn, funnily enough!


This came too this week, its some yummy Wollmeise sock yarn, the only problem is that I might have to hide the purple one from my brother ;0)



The weather is still not very Spring-like, very wet and still cold, perfect knitting weather, if only everyone would go back to school/work and give me peace ;0)



I must finish this sock, I am posting it here so that I HAVE to knit it, soon.....

Lost

Have you seen this Juliet?


Last seen wrapped in red shiny christmas paper and packed in a PO box along with another parcel containing a lovely dolly and new clothes.
If you see her please let me know, she did of course have the buttons attached and black crotcheted button-loops, thank you.
The xmas parcel is still missing so I have started on a new xmas knitting for my sil. I couldn't find yarn I liked for another Juliet so I decided to knit this instead. I am knitting it in Plassard meri-cach8 which is handwash only, sorry A, but is lovely, though does not like being frogged too much.....

The other knitting includes these socks from my handspun, they will be sent to my Dad as apparently they feel a little TOO woolly! Who knew that my guys had sensitive feet.....



I still have one sock to finish for my mum, I knitted the first Monkey ages ago but can't seem to get into any kind of rythmn with this one, soon Mum I promise.
I have been sewing and have some new t-shirts all ready just to be ironed. Jamie has just to sew the buttons on to his designer-copy shirt, its very cute. We bought some fabric to make a couple more, I think he is going to cut them out today.

Today I am going to do a little laundry, ironing and then some more sewing cause the sun is shining at last. It is still freezing but there is hope that spring will soon be here.

I am still nagging to get my not received order from Hipknits resolved and there is a thread about it on Ravelry here. I am hoping it will be sorted soon.........

Juno

I did indeed finish Juno on time to wear it in Scotland, unfortunately there are no photos, so this will have to do.




I do love it and it is very warm and cosy. Just what I need as its freezing here, surely it must be nearly springtime?

My most recent handspun is this
Amys december fibre, Party dress, its very loud and will need to be socks.




The yarn that was bought in Scotland was some yummy Jamie Possum handpaint in Bush Harvest colour, this will be some fingerless mittens for ME.



I also bought some sock yarn which I thought my brother might like, he doesn't its not purple enough apparently and he needs to have something a little louder but not the Party Dress, its too loud!



Other knitting includes this handspun sock, which is a little overspun, so a bit hard, it is the Goblins Eyes from the fibre club.




I am off to the, not so local lys, today with a new girl in town, I have to find yarn for another boobholder, this one for my cousin, she loved it but not red. I wore mine and the red shoes to the craft fair and caused a little bit of a stir, some people just don't know how to talk about someone behind their back without them noticing......



Sorry Amelia but my Mum cut some of my shoes off, so its just nearly a photo of the shoes and cardi together

C is for

coast,



one of the very first things I like to do, no matter what the weather, is to walk along the beach at home. I have to say when I visit it is usually very windy but it still has to be done.



When coming in to land at Prestwick the pilot was giving us a weather report and said it was a bit breezy. I don't think so, its either calm or blowing a gale, I don't think we do breezy on the west coast.

This picture worries me a little as this used to be all sand and now there is an awful lot of rocks showing and all the sand is gone!

D is for





dogs of course, here are some pics of my very favourite labs, it is a shame that Jonah and Nelly never see each other. She is such a character, I am sure she would prod him into action. Here she is chasing some pesky seagulls, one of her favourite pastimes.

And of course who cares if you have a dirty face, its fun to dig!


And a small reminder that dogs are NOT allowed on the sofa ;)



I apologise for the lateness of this post, yes I finished Juno, photos coming right up and I bought a little yarn in Scotland and I will be right back.....

just keep knitting......

The 2 x 2 ribbing of Juno is coming along, I really want to wear this cardi when I go home in a weeks time, so far I have done the fronts and back and about 1/4 of a sleeve, think I will make it?

I do of course want it to match a skirt and t-shirt that are not yet made, the skirt in fact is still a little idea bouncing around in my head and am not sure how I will go about it. Of course this is not really a problem is it??

I am enjoying being away from home, except for the lack of sewing machines and bits and bobs, like a ruler and a niddy-noddy, well I can't pack everything, I only have a little car and it was full of boys and dog!

The dog who lives in the house has abandonment issues, so I have been trying not to leave her for too long, so far she has eaten a plant and sicked it up on the doormat. Emptied the bin as I stupidly forgot the child lock on the cupboard one night AND stole and ate 1lb of cheddar that a boy left on the table......cheddar is a rarity and a much loved treat, so she was in the bad books that day.
Not sure if she shared it with Jonah or not, he wasn't telling, apparently she had cheese breath and he didn't but I wasn't getting that close.

I don't have any photos of current wips, I have washed and dried my december Party Dress fibre and boy is it bright, next up some lovely green batts for someones birthday.

I will leave you with some photos of parcels that arrived recently, this came from Amelia in exchange for a skein of yarn the same as the one she lost.
Gorgeous stuff, the lip gloss is particularly yummy and the bath thing smells divine.


This is from Jacqueline in exchange for swapping dye lots of some other yarn,

this was my thank you and its just my colour, there was also a box of amazing truffles but they didn't make it into the photo as I had to hide them, they were of the non-sharing variety! Thank you both very much.
I'm off to get back to the dogs and the knitting, more soon......

Holiday....

It is indeed the february "ski" holiday, two whole weeks of children home from school.
We are currently hiding out at a friends house, a few kilometres up "the hill", it has a fab view over the city and is very calm and peaceful. This is in part due to the fact its a big sprawly kind of house and when the kids disappear, you can't hear a thing, bliss. So I have been spinning, knitting and catching up with some british telly. Now considering I haven't seen UK soaps since 2002, what on earth is going on in Emmerdale?
It is the house where the dogs think the sofa belongs to them, so yesterday I did spend quite a bit of time sandwiched between a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Labrador, it was a bit chilly, so I think they were just trying to keep me warm. Of course as soon as I moved they just spread out a bit, cheeky dogs....
I finally started knitting Juno from Rowan 40, I bought the yarn for this, Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in a lovely blue colour, on a shopping trip at Libertys with Yvonne. It is knitting up pretty fast, though the yarn is a bit hard on my hands, I am hoping it will be better when washed.
I finished spinning up my december fibre from Amy, it is very bright and will make some more very loud socks. No pics though. More soon......

Germs

Thank you all for your well wishes from the last sick post, I forgot last post, sorry and now we have been hit by yet another virus, I am sure the air filters at Dh's work, where it is supposed to be a "clean room" are knacked.
He catches everything going at work, then is sick all weekend and contaminates the rest of us. I tried so hard not to catch it, extra vitamins, echinacea, willpower, all to no avail.
Jordan managed to get better to go in to sit his mock exams, though he did stress himself enough to have a few nosebleeds throughout the day, lovely.

So apart from the lying around I have managed a little knitting, I finished this,



to match these shoes.




You might remember that I went off to dye some roving, seen in this post and then spun it here, well it ended up like this.


These are a gift for someone who will appreciate their subtle colour.

I am having to re-do a couple of christmas presents as the lovely Royal Mail lost a parcel I posted in the new year. I posted the parcel from Scotland as I thought the problems of lost parcels might be La Postes fault but it seems not, all the parcels I posted from France arrived safe and sound, I still have some parcels outstanding from a UK company but that is another fight.
So the problem now is, do I re-do the same thing or do I do something different, I think I might need some Ravelry-ing for some inspiration.

I have also managed a little more on my Marie Antoinette socks but I really need to concentrate, which I was not really capable of for most of the week, I hope to get round to finishing up this one this week. I do need to cast on some mindless socks and I MUST finish the other halfs boring black jumper.....sometime soon.


I have some thank yous and photos to post for some mail I have received but I have to get it all together, so thats next.

B is for........

bum, bottom, behind (you) and boobs!

I was very late with the letter A and as this month has been panto all the way, B just had to be this.
Jordan was a great sport with his costume and discovered that having a huge bum and boobs, really got in the way.
Though did make a comfy seat when relaxing between scenes!


The panto was fabulous, everyone worked so hard and the kids had a fabulous time, after they had overcome the nerves.




So after all the panto nonsense, sewing bizarre things, I managed a little knitting and finished these delicato mittens from Knitspot.



and this, and am never, never knitting another shawl in black mohair, yuk, it wasn't for me or I would have never finished it!



I started these Marie Antoinette socks, which I think are soo soo pretty and of course will be mine.....



I got this months fibre from Amy and ordered a little more as I love the colour.


This little skein of handspun is for a swap organised with the french spinning forum, I am very worried as my swap partner is an expert spinner, I hope she likes it, I knitted my first washcloth and sent some soap from here and of course chocolate to make up for the beginner spinning.



For some reason I can't add any links, either blogger is playing up or someone has kindly updated something on my computer, I do love it when the tech guy thinks he is doing me a favour....sheesh! Ooops, all fixed, sorry dear it was blogger not you...

Now here is a worrying thing, after the panto one day someone asked me if I had made Jordans costumes and would I be interested in doing a dress for her mother, now looking at these costumes, do you think it shows my work off to its best?
Or do you think she wants her mum to look like a Pantomime Dame????

Off to do some clearing up and organising, my house looks like you could stir it with a stick and I have 12 people coming for dinner tomorrow.
Have a fun weekend, happy knitting......

A is for

Alpaca


This little piece of fibre was sent along with my order from Jeni, it spun up soo, sooo soft.

I am running way behind with everything, I spent the last week sick, with this horrible gastro virus. I have not been that ill for a very long time. The only good thing to come out of it was the little bit of weight that I lost.....

So the panto costumes are coming along with lots of help from Jamie, his new machine is pretty cool, I am a little jealous.

I did manage a little bit of knitting, I started these, with this handspun

and they are looking lovely, pics soon.

Its Panto Season

Christmas was a very quiet affair, New Year in Scotland was great, I got to meet up with some lovely people and spend some time doing things I love.
Like taking this mucky faced girl to the beach!

This is Nelly, she is Jonah's little sister and belongs to my Mum, she is a very sweet girl. This is Jonah sulking as he didn't like his xmas bow too much.....




We came back home with some horrible bugs so have spent the last week with 4 sick guys, I am avoiding everyone, as I am determined not to catch the various lurgies they are all carrying. I am not a very good nurse, I just want them to die quietly in their rooms, take the meds and get better soon.

We are in full panto mode, learning lines, oh no, you aren't, oh yes, you are, at least I am learning lines, not sure if Jordans are sticking in his head though.
We have done the undergarments for the costume, so far we have used a foam football and a foam rugby ball, you can use your imagination till I get pictures!

I finally finished the Christmas knitting, only a little late!



I haven't finished Jims birthday jumper though, I did show him all the parts so he now knows about it, so no more secret knitting, phew.

I am going to organise my wips and sort out what I am going to knit for me, very soon. And I have a couple of sewing projects to do once all the panto stuff is out the way, more soon.

Way before Christmas I signed up for the Pay it Forward on Heathers blog.
Here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift (probably not knitting) to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I will do this within the next 6 months.

And finally, a little spinning, this was my reward for doing all the laundry, a little spinning in between loads, well I had to have something, I hate holiday laundry. This is the bfl I dyed with the ladies from the french spinning forum, I have about 200m 2ply, drying, I think I will knit something for my friends birthday as it is very bright, pictures soon.

bad blogger

I have no idea where the last few weeks have gone, things here have been nuts, people sick, people off work, working stupid shifts etc, etc, my normal routine is all to pot.
So very little knitting going on, as I overdid both the knitting and the wirework when I was beading and as a result have a bit of tendonitis.
I am currently knitting just a little at a time as it still hurts, though not as much.
I am so behind with xmas shopping and really am not in the christmas spirit at all.
I have nothing for no3 son, poor boy and the knitted monkee he asked for still only has one leg!
I did manage to find this for no1 son, yes it is his, though I have had a little play with it and I think I might just love it.
It is very old and was a complete ebay bargain from an extremely old lady, who was very sad to see it go but happy that someone younger was going to love it.
Jamie not me ;0)




And I finally went out wearing my coat at the same time as someone else was home to take photos, he is of course the worst photographer in the house and this is really the best one out of about 30 photos.
I have been wearing my coat loads as it is freezing here but no snow.
I do need a hat though.



Hope you are all finished your gift knitting, I will be by the time I leave on the 29Th, I am sure.
I now have to go and plan food, I asked the boys to help, so they used up a whole pad of post-it notes in about 7 different books and it looks like I am supposed to make 29 different kinds of cake!
I'm off to have a little catch up with you all, tchao.....