Busy, Busy, Busy

This week has been an extremely busy week, and there has been very little knitting time unfortunately. Last weekend was my turn to plan for the forthcoming two weeks at preschool , so I was busy with that; I somehow managed to plan myself to spend the whole week making gingerbread biscuits with 30-odd preschoolers....

I helped with cookery club and helped in class 1 at the local primary school on Wednesday morning and lunchtime, then went to have my hair trimmed in the afternoon. Thursday morning saw me at work again, and then in the afternoon I was back in class 1 helping with a sewing project for Christmas. With all this sewing and cooking I sound like a Domestic Goddess don't I? :-? On Friday it was work in the morning again, and then I took my oldest son and two of his classmates to a Cross Country meeting against other small local schools; Matt did very well and finished half way down the field, so I was a very proud mummy considering that he's probably one of the youngest runners for his academic year.

This weekend I have been catching up with all the inevitable washing, ironing, food shopping, cooking and bathroom cleaning that I haven't had time for this week - oooh and I made a fancy dress costume for a friend's son yesterday. It's amazing what you can make out of a piece of black fabric!!

I have to write end of term reports this weekend and ensure that everything is up-to-date for the children in my Key worker group who are moving onto primary school after Christmas - I'll be doing that this evening no doubt.

So in all, there has been little or no progress with my current WIPs this week, but I've done a bit more on the teacher's Big Wave scarf that I promised to show last time then didn't. I did however, start a mini project that is quick and easy to do and this is one of a pair ~ the Diamond fingerless mitts, or handwarmers, by Ruth of KnittingBloggyBlog ~ and my progress on the Big Wave scarf in Sublime Merino DK:




Ruth's pattern for the Diamond Handwarmers is here

I'm knitting them in Patons Diploma Gold DK in a gorgeous denim blue colour, and they are knitting up nicely. The pattern is extremely well written, and the finished mitt is a superb fit. The only problem is that I can see myself wanting more of these mitts, and one ball of Diploma will be enough for one pair. A little while ago, as I was clearing more yarn stash out, I eBayed just one solitary ball of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK in black and sold it for 99p. I'm regretting that now, as it would have made a fab pair of Diamond fingerless mitts :(

Lastly, a quick peek at what the postie brought me from Stash Fine Yarns this week:



Quite honestly, the Jaeger Natural Fleece was something I've wanted for ages and in this colourway (Bordeaux), and at 3 for the price of 2 I'd have been silly not to buy it, wouldn't I? The 'Modern Classics' book by Louisa Harding is so wonderful that I've read it from cover to cover every day since it arrived I think. There are some gorgeous designs in it and there are only around three that I wouldn't knit for myself. An excellent bargain considering the price of individual knitting patterns these days.

Catching Up

Oh dear. Well I managed to break my Stashalong for November when I bought some luscious yarns from my LYS last Saturday. I just couldn’t resist buying a pack of Sublime Meino DK in Redcurrant and a pack of Sublime Kid Mohair in Smoke Blue. I've been thinking about buying some of this yarn for a while to be honest, and actually seeing and feeling it in the shop tipped me over the edge. I also bought three balls each of Sublime Merino DK in Grape and Alabaster to knit Christmas presents for the two Class 1 teachers at my son’s primary school, which is what I went into the yarn shop to buy in the first place! I originally bought the Pistachio colour in the Kid Mohair, but decided that the colour was too pale and just wasn't me. The owner of the shop was very kind in letting me exchange it for the Smoke Blue - thanks Gwyn!

The Sublime Merino DK is gorgeous to knit with and is beautifully soft and squidgy, but it’s loosely twisted so I have to be careful knitting with it or it splits slightly. This is the progress so far on one scarf:

The Sublime Merino book says that the scarf can be knitted over a weekend, but does that mean 48 hours straight knitting without going to bed? I've almost knitted the first ball of the first scarf, so I should be finished in time for the end of term.

I also bought the new Louisa Harding book "Modern Classics" this morning from Stash Fine Yarns. I can’t wait for it to arrive as I’ve had a quick squizz here and the designs look exactly the type I love - classic pieces with timeless appeal. I’m so excited, I can’t wait for it to arrive!!

New Beginnings

A new era has dawned for both myself and Jacquie from Jacquie’s Journal. We launched our new message forum for crafters of all types on 5th November 2006, and the forum is so new that we are still within the first twenty-four hours of its launch as I write this. It’s an exciting time for both Jacquie and myself, and we are both excited to have got the forum off the ground so quickly. Our special thanks go to Paula for giving us the chance to make this happen. Thank you Paula.

It’s a forum where people who enjoy different crafts are invited to come and chat about knitting, crochet, embroidery, paper crafts, dressmaking, tailoring, cross stitch, tapestry, jewellery making, weaving, spinning, and ... the list is endless!
Why not come and see for yourself - we are at:

crafty threads 'n' yarns forum

and we’d love to hear from you!