In which Melody Finishes More Items and Casts on Two New Projects

A few more finished items to show you.... first, Tide:



Knitted in Patons 100% cotton DK with Brittany Birch needles, using Louisa Harding's ‘Tide' cardigan pattern. I fudged the sizing on this as I used a different dk yarn with a different stitch tension. This fits so well and was interesting to knit, and I have the yarn out of stash already to knit another! Again in Cotton DK but a lovely mid-lilac shade this time

Next up, Vanessa:



Knitted in Sirdar Denim Tweed DK yarn with Pony Pearl needles and using RYC's Vanessa pattern from RYC Art. I knitted the size 36 size, without fudging anything except maybe the row tension which I knitted as is. I absoutely adore this! I also have yarn for this out of stash and want to knit another one, or maybe two, three, four.... LOL! I have taken some Patons Coral DK in the Vanilla shade out of stash holding, which is a cotton mix yarn, and will look fab knitted up as Vanessa I think. I thought about knitting another Vanessa in Brett's Kool Kotton, but wanted another sweater with that summer melange kinda look.

For my next trick - I cast on for the Drops short sleeved jacket using Garnstudio Paris cotton aran in a gorgeous colour called Heather, and also cast on stitches for one of the cardigans Alva, in the Colinette Banyan booklet:



The Paris yarn is a superb dark cerise-pinky-purple in real life, and it's easy to knit in one piece on Addt turbo circular needles, much to my amazement as I don't like circulars or metal needles generally. The stitches are nice and even, and there's none of that nasty rowing out business that happens when I use bamboo needles as it did with the Grace jacket I finished earlier this year. Which just so happens to be next on the list to sew up!

I'm also knitting Alva in James Brett pure merino dk, and it's an absolute joy to knit with. I chose the merino because I don't possess any Colinette AT ALL! Hopefully that will be rectified on holiday when I have promised myself a day off from Knitting from Stash to visit the Colinette millshop in person. I quite fancy some Cadenza but which shade? Who knows!

A Good Day's Work

It's been raining pretty much all week except for a few good sunny days, and I've been able to get the laundry down in the laundry basket to an acceptable level again. All this rainy wet weather means drying the washing inside though except when it's been sunny! I still have TONS of ironing to get through though, but I've been able to do almost three hours' worth of ironing in the past two days amongst everything else, so thank goodness for days off work!

The boys have been doing some cookery this week - they made twelve cupcakes before lunch today. They are both really quite good little cooks, and made excellent cakes! They love messing about in the kitchen, which as a mother of two boys I'm really pleased about and give them every encouragement. Hopefully they will be able to cook themselves a healthy meal and not have to rely on takeaway junk food when they finally leave home in years to come!



Just to tempt you, here are a few cakes that the boys decorated....

Totally Finished Objects!

Yay! As promised, a couple of totally finished objects. I've obviously had the sew-up bug this week as I've finished sewing up three knitteds. The third - Louisa Harding's 'Tide' cardigan - still needs a button and button loop, so until it has that it won't appear on the blog as a TFO.

Here are the two totally finished items:



A wrap cardigan in peacock Sirdar Country Style double knitting yarn that I fusion knitted on the knitting machine and by hand, and the Valentine sweater in Red Sirdar Denim Chunky that I knitted in February this year. The sweater has turned out really well, and I'm glad that I didn't throw it into the textile recycling bin as I had threatened! The wrap cardigan is okay and I will wear it, but I'm not sure that I'll ever knit another :? However, I'm already planning Valentine sweater number two in vintage, black, chunky yarn ;)

Officially Unemployed

It was officially my last day at preschool yesterday - so I have officially joined the ranks of the unemployed of Great Britain until I become a student again in September.

I had an amazing amount of leaving gifts from parents, children and other staff and teachers, and I'm still overwhelmed by their generosity. I had a few pieces of beautiful jewellery, a great Scholastic Circle Time book and a children's music and rythmn book for my teaching practice, chocolates by the boxes, plants, flowers, a stunning gemstone keyring to promote success (which knocked me for six it is so beautiful), a lovely mug and bowl set to warm my teaching practice food and drink in, pampering gifts such as bath bombs and lavender salts, pens, and loads of cards and warm wishes for my future.

I am, indeed, officially unemployed.

I've been asked to cover at preschool for a day in September though, before my preliminary teaching week starts - so I shall be revisiting quicker than I'd anticipated!

Knitting stuff - I've been sewing stuff up madly this week, probably due to the lack of enthusiasm for knitting and my general feeling of unsettled-iness. I have managed to sew up two garments, and they look fab! Even the rubbishy Valentine sweater that nearly went into the textile recycling bin doesn't look all that crappy after sewing it up! Piccies 2moz I promise....

Last Day at Work

It's my last day at work tomorrow :( and I'm feeling very sad at the prospect of not going back to preschool in September.

We had our summer party this morning for all the children, and it seemed so surreal, the fact that I wasn't going back next term.

I'm feeling very unsettled at the moment.....

Closing the Shop

I have made a decision about the eBay shop that I've been running for a number of years and have regretfully come to the decision to close the shop at the end of July. With all the new things that are happening in September, I just won't have the time to wrap and post parcels like I do at the moment, and the doors of Melody Yarns will close permanently on 27th July.

I will still be stash busting and listing yarns in auction listings though, so don't forget to pop by and see me, will you?

Alexandra Palace

I have made a decision not to buy any more yarns until I go to the Alexandra Palace knitting show in October this year. If I keep buying yarn at this alarming rate, I won't be able to buy anything while I'm there cos I just won't have the dosh!

I shall save my weekly yarn allowance, and sell my destashing items on eBay to hopefully raise some more cash, and we shall see how much I can raise to spend there.

In the meantime I will make a wishlist for Ally Pally and any yarns that I want, need or just plain fall in love with, shall go onto the list. And then I'm going to buy the lot at Ally Pally :))

The only exception I will make is new books in August (I can't live without inspiration!) and any new needles that I need to start or complete projects.

I already have a wishlist that I keep on an Excel file on the computer. It's not that long that I need an Excel file you understand, but it makes me happy knowing that it's there *wink*