Wasted day

Our Electricity meter is due to be changed & an engineer was booked between 10 a.m. - 12 noon.

I say 'was' as so far (time is now 13.38) nobody has shown up. So I have stayed in on a beautiful sunny day for nothing & had to endure my neighbours horrendously loud voice & stereo

I could have gone out with the dogs, had lunch with a friend or whatever else I fancied doing. Instead I am now awaiting a call back as to the whereabouts of the missing engineer.

As of next week I am working 5 days per week so Friday lunch dates with friends are over & so is my 'own time'

If they still want to change the meter it will have to be on a weekend as I refuse to take a day off work for the engineers not to turn up & feel like billing them for my 'lost' day.....

Hamster on tour

Vince strutting her stuff


At the window


A girl needs her beauty sleep


Her Official residence

2/7/6 edited to add:


Thank you James

Playing catch up

As I lost the first weekend of the Knitting World Cup due to the Rowan Funky Socks Workshop I am a bit behind schedule. The first sock is finished & the second has just left the toe.

I was relieved today to discover that I was been unfairly hard on myself with my self imposed deadlines, as I mistaken thought that the final deadline was July 7th but Piglottie assured me that it's actually the 9th. Whilst sat at work today, wishing I wasn't there, I thought to myself how much quicker they would be knitted if only I didn't have to work. But I do so other things happen at a much slower pace

I'm aiming for a weird fish by Friday evening order that I can 'pick it up', as they say on the poolside whilst screaming for your child who is swimming their little heart out, at the weekend. Talking of the weekend, as of this afternoon, I now have very exciting plans. Susoolu has very kindly offered me the spare seat in her car & I'M GOING TO WOOLFEST

So I'll be able to work on Oriel as a passagner in the car (picture Susoolu as she drives) & have a fun time with fibre whilst DH & DD watch the football - with added whistle.

I know where I'd rather be

1st sock nearly there....

1st Oriel toe up sock

Stash Enhancement Exercise

When we went to Buxton on holiday recently my own 'agenda' apart from relaxing & chilling out was to explore the LYS's. DH felt the same re relaxing (not the LYS) but didn't mind accompanying me.

On the first day that we went into Buxton I explored a shop that I'd found last year called Sew In. A small shop that revealed Debbie Bliss, Rowan, Noro & more but unfortunately nothing that grabbed me. But I did splash out on two pairs of shoes - it would have been cheaper if I'd bought yarn

When we went to Bakewell last year I found two LYS but as it was a Sunday one was closed. The other stocked Debbie Bliss so I headed straight for it. The city I live in is a total yarn desert apart from Sirdar and a bit of Jaeger & I'd much rather chose the yarn 'in person' than via the internet. But my luck was out this shop had stopped stocking Debbie Bliss The staff told me that the other shop in Bakewell had now moved to Darley Dale which wasn't far away so off we went.

Heirs & Graces is primarily a quilting shop but also well worth a visit by knitters. It was my day off from Stashalong & I eventually came out with this haul:


200g Lilac Baby Cashmerino


Simple Living

I bought this book for the Debbie Bliss's Baby Cashmerino sock pattern but am not totally convinced re the suitability of this yarn.


Debbie Bliss Book 1

I bought this book as the yarns used in the patterns are resident in my stash so I thought it would useful.


Lana Grossa Mega Boot Stretch

DH wanted to know, when I returned back to the car, who the socks were for & whinged when I said me so I went back into the shop & bought another ball for him:


Lana Grossa Mega Boot Stretch


True Blue denim

I bought this yarn for DD as she wants to learn cabling & I thought of Marina from 25 bags to knit but that's on hold as she apparently doesn't like the pattern. It has better yarndage than Rowan Denim & is cheaper but doesn't knit to exactly the same guage. However I thought this would be ok for a bag. They also have other shades of blue some with sparkily lurex but I thought she'd reject these as too girly

I also bought a little bit of material for a special project & need to get over my fear of my ancient sewing machine.

Urghh *!?****

Why do DD & DH still believe in the the Dishwashing & Laundry Fairies??????

And mustn't forget their cousin the swimming costume fairy, who rinses the chlorine out of costumes to prevent them rotting & removes wet towels from bags.....

Oriel evolves

From this to this; which I think looks like a weird fish & was taken early yesterday evening


Oriel - toe & sole

to this:


Oriel - toe, sole & heel
the state of play this morning after an evening spent with Piglottie



Oriel - foot finished just the calf to go

Result of an evening spent in front of the TV watching films - maybe I should watch more TV......

Inspired by Project Spectrum

My SP has sent me another parcel Delivered to work so that I don't have to wait until the end of the week it sat there all day calling to me.


card from my SP8


Unopened present from my SP8


Present for DD from my Secret Pal


Presents from my Secret Pal


Bear Factory England hat


Emilano wearing his football kit with England hat!

Thank you so much SP. DD had to wear the crocheted flower & ribbon as a head band & is now bouncing around the house with her bear and a whistle courtesy of The Champagne Bohemian

DH is getting stressed & I'm wondering where I can disappear to with my knitting & new book.....

One strike on Stashalong

After doing so well for 2 1/2 months I've fallen but only by 100g
I've already had my free day this month (yet to be blogged about) but have just agreed to buy 1 ball of Opal Uni in black on the forum where I've been selling my excess yarn. It'll go wonderfully with the Opal Rainforest Zebra that I've been gifted for DD & will make a good contrast for the heels, toes & cuffs.

Now how to get her to wear either bare feet in the house or slippers with her socks......

Parcels

On Friday I collected the two parcels that were waiting for me.

The first was from Emily & contained yarn in swap for some Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed & the tweed collection in a recent destashing exercise. She sent me this for DD:


Red & Black Opal silk


Auntie Mart Angora - 'Strawberry Filled Chocolate'

Emily dyed this beautiful yarn herself, click here to check out the composition. There are more yarns available on her blog - check them out

The first two I knew about but this was a total surprise:


Yellow & Blue Opal Petticoat

Thanks very much Emily. I look forward to knitting with them all & once DD has worked out why I get cross when she turns her white socks black because she doesn't wear slippers with them she'll get some handknitted socks too.

The second parcel wasn't totally unexpected but the extra contents were. I had sent some Rowan Soft Baby to The Champagne Bohemian for her daughter. The parcel contained the remains of the yarn plus some extra goodies:


Opal Rainforest Zebra for DD


Cornish Fudge

plus some football treats to be used when watching the next England game. These have already been squirelled away by DD & all I can say is that I've asked her to blow the whistle only when England score Included was a little note with a special message in braile from BB which brought tears to my eyes.

So now DD has some black & red and black & white socks coming her way, one day, when the sock battle has been won. Thank you so much both of you

My sock yarn stash is growing far faster than I can knit them which has lead me to have another clear out. If anybody wants 7 x 100g of Sirdar Wow in lilac or 500g of King Cole Magnum in a deep red please leave your email in the comments & I'll email you more details including a photo of the yarn.

[edited to add that the King Cole Magnum has now found a new home]

Oriel

My Knitting World Cup project is Oriel from Sensational Knitted Socks .


Oriel

Susoolu taught me the Turkish Cast On & has been very supportive in my many attempts. I have now got the hang of reading the chart & am moving along nicely with it. My one concern is the heel but I'll deal with that when I get there....

btw - the 3rd stitch marker was caught on my life line so is hanging there until I've finished this repeat of the pattern which won't be for long.

Thanks SP

My Secret Pal sent me a little package a week ago but it has proven difficult to remove DH from the TV as he's been watching football every night which is why I've been without pics

But no more:


Hand made card

Then wrapped in hand made paper to match the card:


Sanctuary Manicure set

Perfect for repairing the damage done to my hands in the garden!

My pal is very chatty & I've enjoyed 'talking' to her. Her postcode was on the parcel & she lives very close to my where my Grandparents lived in London. I spent many years there as a child & have many happy memories of the area. I can't wait to find out who she is.

Mmmmm

I've baking all morning for DDs'school fair tomorrow. 4 big cakes plus my own recipe Cornflake buns that I did last year

[Edited to add Photos]


Crunchy Top Lemon Cake


Iced Orange Sponge


Spiced Carrot Cake with cheese & nut topping


Ginger Cake


After Eight Clusters

All recipes apart from the Cornflake buns are from Mary Berrys' 'The Ultimate Cake Book'. The cakes will be cut into 21 squares tomorrow whilst still in the roasting tins which make it easy to transport them. I'm happy with all apart from the orange sponge which has sunk slightly but it'll taste nice. DH has been trying to stick his finger in them all night so I've promised to make some more cornflake buns on Sunday to keep him quiet.