I forgot to mention

that DD is much better today. DH took a day off to stay at home with her as I felt that I should go back to work after two days at home looking after her. She spent some time this afternoon doing a tap dance whilst wearing my best boots which was good news - far better than asking if she was dying on Tuesday morning.

She was flagging by 7 p.m. at which time she's normally about to start an hour & a half training session so no swimming until next week. A weekend away & lots of fresh air will sort her out.

Celebrating....

I finally finished the baby blanket last night. Tonight I've sewn in the ends & it's now sat in the washing machine waiting for the timer to kick in around 7 a.m. We're going away for the bank holiday weekend so I'm leaving it pinned out to dry whilst we're away.

It was a great feeling to finally start something with some colour as I cast on 33 stitches in Rowan Cork Very Berry to start Fay:


Rowan Cork Very Berry & Delight for Fay

We watched Supersize me this evening & my god it was awful. I knew that junk food was just that, JUNK, but this guys' liver was near death after a months exclusive diet of McDonalds. I'm going to get a Pedometer soon & increase the distance I walk every day. I've already worked out that due to DD's training schedule I can't really fit any other exercise into my life. But if it's not raining too heavily I have a 25 minutes walk each way to collect her from school every afternoon & want to walk the dogs more - if I can measure how many steps I take I know hope that I'll walk more.

Here's my progress in one evening:


Rowan Cork Very Berry & Delight for Fay

I'm taking it away with me for a weekend in the caravan so hope to finish it soon. I have two friends who LOVE orange so both will get one for Christmas. My SIL is also pretty keen on the colour but I may be fed up with the very simple pattern after two. The pattern for Fay can be found in The Cork Collection from Rowan (obviously).

DD is recovering & cooking

After a nightmare of a day yesterday my DD is finally feeling better. She managed to get through the night without vomiting. She had a dry toasted bagel for breakfast & kept it down with her medicine. After sleeping mid morning she's been on the sofa ever since. She had a few breadsticks for lunch & is now fed up at the sight of them. The doctor mentioned yesterday that she could have ice pops so I've been struggling to restrict her to a couple - with a few hours in between just in case her tummy couldn't handle them.

She's watched Lilo & Stitch, The Borrowers & is now watching kids TV.

I'm making some Armenian Soup from The Cranks Recipe Book. My copy was a 21st present from my best friend at the time & is now falling to pieces.

My SIL popped in the morning to see how DD was feeling & also brought my birthday present! It's looks fantastic & I can't wait to start using it. As DD has been sick I wanted to make a soup that she knows & likes but wait until she's better!

Now that she's getting better we can go away for the weekend. We'd planned to take the caravan to Scarborough for the bank holiday weekend but as she was sick had put it on hold. We're going with friends who have 3 kids so DD will have a great time. I intend to get LOADS of knitting done.

I managed a few rows on the baby blanket last night. I spent the whole day taking care of DD, washing, cleaning etc etc etc. Today I've had a bit of washing but have found time to sit down for about an hour. I am so tempted to abandon the blanket & start the Fay scarf in Delight & Very Berry but am so close to finishing it that I can't. I hoping to finish the blanket tonight as DH is going out.

The dogs have really enjoyed DD being sick as they get to come in & out the house all day. Normally they're shut up in the house whilst I'm at work (part time) & then one of them walks with me to collect DD from school. If I take them together they get too excited. If one is getting a cuddle from a child & the other one pushes in & could knock the child over so it's one at a time.

Very sick child

I've just taken DD to the doctors & she has Viral Gastroenteritis. She managed to eat a plain breadstick in order that she could have some Ibuprofen but then brought it back up again. She's very weak, is burning up, vomiting & has diarrhoea. Poor baby.

I've kept her in bed all morning but she's been a bit bored so I've read to her in between her sleeping. She needs to sleep & keep her fluids up.

The dogs were screaming this morning whilst DD was asleep so I raced downstairs to discover one of our neighbourhood cats Indie sat up on the brick pillar close to the back door - watching & taunting them. They were going ballistic. I got him off the pillar by pushing him gently with a garden cane - he thought I was playing & patted it. I had to shut the dogs up as DD needs to rest & Indie winds them up. They're outside currently gnawing on their marrow bones - very happy doggies.

Sick house & Secret Project

Poor DD is really ill. She's been throwing up all day & visiting the loo. She's normally such a bouncy LOUD child that this quiet shadow of a child doesn't seem to belong here. I showered her before I put her to bed (early) & she shivered constantly. She wanted dinner & then managed to eat ONE piece of pasta - not my child at all.

So she's off school again tomorrow as she last threw up an hour ago. DH is also starting to feel ill - I hope he doesn't get as sick as she does as he makes an AWFUL patient ;-) I'll then have to take time off to nurse both of them.

I've finally finished the secret project - photos will be up when DH feels up to taking them.

DD is sick

She came home late last night after an exciting weekend with her Nana (DH's mum). We were woken up at 1.30 a.m. as she'd been sick in the night. She's been sick a few more times in a bowl so is off school today.

Luckily DH has lots of hours in the bank & is on flexi time so he can easily take a day off work.

It could be due to a combination of things: excitement, lots of coach travel, too many sweets (she doesn't eat many) & the fried breakfast that she had yesterday. Or she's picked up a bug.

Fantastic weekend

We went to Bradford yesterday to visit the The Colour Museum. It was really good & both DH & I enjoyed it.

He drove so I knitted Bratz ponchos there & back. It's great finishing things so quickly.

We went out in the evening with 8 friends to a vegetarian resturant & stuffed our faces. It's all you can eat & I chose the theme to be Italian with Mexican. We all got very drunk & DH had arranged for a huge chocolate cake to be brought to the table complete with candles & sparklers. We've already dug into it so no photos I'm afraid. DD will be getting some in her packed lunch tomorrow & I'm going to attempt to freeze it in slices.

DH got me some Addi Weave needles


Addi Weave needles

DD got me some beautiful stitch markers


Pearl stitch markers

Both were purchased from Angel Yarns

Tess Dawson who runs Angel Yarns also sent me a couple of pressies. DH took some photos but he isn't happy with them so click here and check out the Clover Yarn Cutter Ring & Inox Knitters Kit - Thanks Tess.

This is my favourite card & DH is going to adapt it into a logo.


blue dog card

Happy Birthday to me!

This a short one as it's my bd today & we're going out very soon.

I've just opened my pressies & yes there are some knitting related ones - pics & info in a day or so.

DD is going away for the weekend with my MIL on a speedway tour & is staying in a hotel for the first time. So we're childfree & going to make the most of it.

We're going to Bradford for the day & a meal with loads of friends tonight.

more soon.

OTN: Baby blanket

Here's the blanket that I'm knitting for my neighbours new baby daughter.


Sirdar Snowflake Chunky baby blanket in Candy Stripe

I haven't got much more to do but am bored bored bored. I cast on 108 stitches, the first & last 4 are garter stitch & the 100 in between are stocking stitch. I've have to rip it all out once already as I found a dropped stitch way down. I tried to pick it up but the stripes went a bit wonky so am using stitch markers this time to ensure that I don't drop any stitches. Snowflake is a pain to knit with & I don't want to use it again for a few months at least.

My DH has had trouble capturing the subtle colours but hopefully you can get a rough idea of what it's like. Next time you see it will be it's new owner hopefully sleeping soundly. She's two months old next week & is already teething much to her parents' surprise.

Secret Project et al

Tonight I started the final touches to a secret project which will be revealed soon. A new knitting friend who I met for the first time @ 'In Stitches' helped with the final stage & I spent the evening @ her house tonight & learnt loads.

Whilst watching her confidently do something I'm too scared to even try at the moment I knitted half a Bratz doll poncho in a fab patterned chunky that I picked up today.

I spent the afternoon distributing 'In Stitches' leaflets to Yarn shops in the City & of course couldn't come away empty handed. Luckily for my stash I only bought some ball ends for 25p each in great colours for the ponchos. I'm going to knit a heap of them & use them as presents for DD's friends - as long as they're into Bratz of course. DD to be expected isn't into dolls AT ALL. Harry Potter is more her scene, swimming (of course) & speedway (No Breaks, No Gears, No Fear motor bike racing) - not your normal girly interests.

Internet shopping

I've had a couple of exciting deliveries through the post in the past two days & wanted to share them.

Firstly I finally succumbed & bought some Rowan Magazines. I had bought 2kg of Rowanspun Aran in Shark half price in the January sales & some Rowan Cork (Turbid - grey & Delight - orange) which was 20% of its original price. I then had to buy ‘The Cork Collection’ & ‘A Season's Tale’ for patterns but was still looking for other Rowanspun Aran patterns so that I choose the right ones.

On a forum a lister mentioned a design called 'Sophie' in Rowanspun Aran so an email volley later & I knew that it was in Rowan magazine 30. I wanted mag 32 anyway for the Cork patterns & found a fantastic offer on the Rowan website.


Rowan Magazines

Secondly I want to knit Chill in Turbid Cork for my DD & also some Fay scarves with the leftover yarn. I HATE the colour orange but have two friends who love it. So I bought some Very Berry to team with Delight & some Dawn to team with the Turbid for Fay.


Cork & Addi Turbos

Just to further increase my spending spree I also splashed out on some 8mm 40cm Addi Turbos with which to knit the Fay scarves.

My DH had great fun taking the photos!

Trouble with my DD

I've got trouble with my DD @ the moment. She's currently having swimming lessons with school & is BORED. She swims for our local swimming club & isn't the best swimmer in her squad but for a 9 year old she's fanastic.

She's in the top group with school doing widths & last Friday with school they managed 7 x 5m widths. She also got told off last week for doing racing starts. Tonight warming up they did 60 x 20m lengths at the beginning of an hour & a half long Club training session

I got a call from the Deputy Head of her school yesterday. She explained that DD had to do the swimming lessons as it's part of the curriculum etc etc. Apparently the coach has complained about her attitude - she's stroppy & bored!

I've told DD that I don't blame her but that I can't do anything about it. She has to put up with it, smile, be nice to the coach & be grateful that she's had the opportunity to learn how to swim properly. I mentioned to her Club coach tonight that she had threatened to 'Accidently on purpose leave her costume at home' & he roared his head off.

She's got another 8 sessions with school & in her opinion it's a waste of time getting wet :-)

Why blueadt?

I've often been asked why I use blueadt as a username for general webby stuff so I thought I'd explain early on. I have two rescued Airedale Terrier bitches called Blue & Annie. Blue is so named as my DD was 4 years old when we got her & loved the TV programme Blue's Clues so the pup became Blue. Annie joined us a year later & my DD wanted to call her Magenta (Blue's best friend on the show) but I refused. I knew that I couldn't call the name when recalling her - I shuddered at the thought. I've always like the name Annie as in Orphan Annie so we now had Blue & Annie.

AireDale Terrier is often shortened to ADT so blueadt was born. I did it initally to reduce spam to a popular web based email system but now use it for everything.

Blue & Annie

Here they were modelling two scarves that I knitted last year (LtoR Blue wearing Wendy Shimmer in Lagoon & Annie wearing my DD's Sirdar Fizz boa in Bronze) for a competion about 'Pets in Knitted things'. They didn't win but it was fun taking the photos.

First post

Hi

I'm new to blogging so will learn as I go.

I've got a few things on the needles at the moment & have a LOT of projects that I want to start:

OTN:

1. baby blanket for my next door neighbours baby in Sirdar Snowflake chunky Candy stripe. I've already ripped it out once so am now using markers to count the stitches. I cast on 108, knitted 4 rows in gs with a 4 stitch gs border. I've got about 20cm left to go.


2. Simple ss scarf with a gs border in Wendy Shimmer in a deep shade of purple - but I'm bored of it so haven't touched it for a while.


3. Also currently playing with some cotton with I found in my stash last week - 1kg of chocolate & 800g of cream. I'm knitting swatches to work out what size needles to use & will wash the squares to see how it copes in the washing machine. If it's ok I'm going to make a patchwork throw loosely based on a design in
   Debbie Abrahams blankets and throws to knit

I set up a knitting group called 'In Stitches' recently & four other people turned up to the first meeting which was a big surprise. We had a great time & the time flew by. We're going to be meeting once a month for now but maybe more if it gets really popular.

Anyway my bed is shouting my name as I've got to get up in 7 hours :-(

blueadt