Season's Greetings

It's 4.30pm on 25th December 2009 - the turkey has been cooked and half of it eaten for lunch, the presents were unwrapped hours ago and we're just about to sit in front of the TV with our knitting and watch some Christmas afternoon telly.

Everyone in the Melody Household wishes you a Very Merry Christmas and a Joyous and Peaceful 2009.

And Another

Christmas pressie - this time a hat for Mum which I'm really pleased with:



Knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran in a stone shade (Mum's choice of colour). The pattern is Rambler hat from one of the Sublime aran booklets and knitted on 5mm rosewoods. The yarn is soft and squishy to use and knitted up into a lovely soft hat. I was fortunate to find the error in the pattern before the hat was completed which would have made the hat far, far too big! Watch out for the number of pattern repeats *wink*

I Get Things Finished - Oh Yes I Do

Yup, another something completed:



Although not sewn up. That might take another few weeks to do, heh heh...

And something that doesn't need sewing:

A scarf knitted in slip stitch rib on 8mm needles in Patons Symphony. A bargainous Christmas knit because I got the yarn in a Karma swap recently and it's knitted up into a lovely, soft scarf for a friend of mine.

Some of you may remember that I had a dreadful experience in the summer when my parcel of yarn was returned to the online shop because the courier service they use hadn't put a card through the door and I had to pay postage TWICE in order to receive my yarns as I asked for Royal Mail for the second delivery.

I placed an order a few weeks ago (you can see the spoils of my shopping spree in an earlier post) and was told that postage through Royal Mail was £7 odd and I paid the extra on top of the £6 courier cost. The order was a big one and weighed in at about 3.7kg kilos.

Today I've been told that to have a yarn order of just under 2kg delivered, the online shop are going to charge me a mighty £9.00 to have it delivered via Royal Mail. Er... no I don't think so...

So this is absolutely the last time I will ever use this particular online shop again regardless of their seemingly cheap yarns because the postage charge is above and beyond ridiculous. Online shops such as Modern Knitting charge a flat rate of £1.50 for your order unless the order is over £30 in value, in which case postage is FREE. I know where I'd rather spend my hard earned cash, thank you very much :evil:


At least this will help with the Stashalong Effort in 2009.

Big Little Melody's Letter to Santa

Each year the boys' school have a letterbox in which children can send letters to Santa and have them answered for a small fee (£1 per letter). It raises money for the PFA and school funds and children feel that they have written a letter to and received a reply from the Man in Red himself.

This is the letter that my wonderful 9 year old son wrote to Santa this afternoon in his best handwriting, complete with naive charm, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, and that brought a lump to my throat:

Dear Santa,
I love Rudolph and every Christmas eve I dream about having my own baby Raindeer. I am very responsible and caring so if you want you can send me a baby raindeer go ahead. If you want to send me one send it to (our address).

Ho Ho Ho merry Christmas
Can my baby raindeer be a boy.

From (his name)

PS: If you do put it on my bed please.
PS: Love your outfit.
PS: I know you have an invisible shield So nowone can see you.
Thank you

Two Things I'll Never Have

Yorkie bars and Man-flu. Apparently they're not for girls.

Rip and Burn

I've had a new gadget for my car - a wonderful new music system thingummy. My old one was transferred from my Astra into my current car and it doesn't owe me anything, so it's been upgraded for a funky new one. It has a radio which I rarely listen to anyway, a CD player hidden behind the front piece (which irritates me beyond belief because I virtually have to dismantle the whole system ) and a USB port which is by far the most useful thing on it. Except the lovely blue lights - they're very pretty.... and the sound is amazing....

I've spent a good part of today ripping tracks from the Chez Melody CD collection and downloading them onto a data stick to stick into the USB port. Mr Melody had very kindly, but uselessly, downloaded a few complete CDs; but navigating my way through the crap using the remote proved dangerous while I was driving one-handed and trying the change gear at the same time... *ahem*

I found tracks I'd forgotten about and I've had a brill time this afternoon reliving the past via the CD collection.
Favourite today: 'Build Me Up Buttercup' The Foundations, from times past long ago in the 60s.

Strange Week

In more ways than one.

Current state: puzzled and surprised

Fact: I am a Yarn Hoarder

I've not bought any yarn for months - 3 months according to my now deleted Ticker - so I felt it was time to go on a minor shopping spree. Did I say minor? *splutters* Well I'm sure it will see me through 2009...

Patons Diploma aran in natural, Twilleys Sincere cotton DK in hessian and silver fern

Stylecraft Loop the Loop in cerise and Twilleys Freedom Wool in grey

Twilleys Spirit DK in a glorious humbug shade, RYC Extra Fine Merino DK in leaf green and Felted Tweed in Rage. Plus a couple of balls of Cygnet Superwash 4ply for good measure.

Colinette Prism in Fire, Tivoli Tweed DK in a stunning emerald shade and Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK in a luvverly bright, clear lilac shade called Cupid

Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky in Mink, All Seasons Cotton in Cookie and another bout of Jaeger but this time Roma DK in cinnamon

I have plans for all this yarn in the near future, honest! But maybe a stashalong in 2009 really is in order *wink*

The 5-Month Scarf

I finally finished something! A feather and fan scarf knitted in Tess Dawson Merino 4ply and knitted on 5mm needles. A bugger to knit as the yarn is black and I used Rosewood needles which are dark brown:



I do like it - it's long enough to loop round my neck and tuck through. I started in the last week of my PGCE and it's taken almost 5 months to knit. Thank goodness it's finished and not much sewing up to do either.

Likey!

I've Got Start-itis!


Q: What do you do when you want to start everything and your current WIPs are not encouraging your knitting mojo?

A: Cast on something new!

I trawled through some of my stash yesterday afternoon after Mr Melody had thrown half of it down from the loft (I can't get up into the loft - Melody and ladders don't mix too well unfortunately) and happened upon stash that I knew I had but had half forgotten. Does that make sense? I haven''t bothered to photograph my stash for Ravelry - I just don't have that much spare time on my hands - but have kept an Excel speadsheet for my yarns for well over ten years now. So I do know what I have but occasionally the lure of new and bargainous yarns on t'internet leads me astray. I say occasionally, who am I kidding? LOL!!

I found, okay went looking for, some vintage Patons Pioneer DK in a grey and cream mix that I thought would look great knitted up in one of the designs from the new Sirdar Eco wool booklet and last night I cast on and almost knitted the rib. I was sidetracked somewhat as I was watching Bill Bailey on Sky and kept miscounting my stitches cos I was laughing so much!

But I digress... I 'found' so much yarn that I wanted to cast on projects with that now I have a severe case of start-itis. I want to cast on for a couple of sweaters for the Melody boys, a few scarves with yarn that I've been sent in swaps, the one button cardigan in Sirdar's Relaxed Living booklet with an array of arans, the cabled slipover top from the new Sirdar Tweedie booklet and a feather and fan cardigan using Silky Look.

Do I have enough needles to cast on for everything at once?

A Sad Morning

I had to take the decision to have our wonderful fourteen year old Golden Reteiver to the vet this morning to be put to sleep; it's a decision that Mr Melody and I have been putting off for several weeks because we thought that maybe, just maybe, Max would improve. Max has had hip dysplasia since puppyhood and had OCD in his elbows as a pup which left him with decreased mobility in all four of his legs. He has been unable to stand to eat his breakfast this week and as I helped him out into the garden this morning, holding his back legs whilst he wheelbarrowed out on his front paws, I realised that his quality of life had gone and wasn't going to return. Unable to get up from lying down, and unable to stand for any length of time, the decision was made. Luckily the vet agreed that we had made the right decision and Max was put to sleep.

I shall miss that wonderful dog with the handsome head and the soft, floppy ears. I shall miss him a lot.

Oh Yes, We Have No Piccies

I seem to have a distinct lack of piccies on my blog don't I?? Off to rectify immediately.....

I Got a New Phone!

Just as well really because my old one has a habit of switching itself off, switching itself back on again and randomly dialling numbers from my phone book.... and can be somewhat embarrassing at times! There have been occasions when friends have phoned and asked what I wanted as I've left a message on their voicemail - completely unintententionally - and the message has usually been a lot of crackling, rustling and laughter as my phone has been merrily dialling away numbers on the phonelist whilst tucked away in my bag.

I literally walked into the Carphone Warehouse and announced I needed a new phone. I had just come out of Starbucks after having lunch with a friend and decided that I should buy a phone. I like spontaneous shopping and hate a planned purchase, so I must have been the easiest sale of the day yesterday. The chappie behind the counter was amused that I was so easily pleased; but then he hasn't had to contend with my crappy phone for months has he?

So if I send you a message over the weekend it will be because I'm so deliriously happy with my new Nokia. If I send a completely inaudible, crackly, rustling voicemail mesage, it's not me, it's my old phone dialling you at random. Right?

New Socks

Yay!! A new pair of socks for Melody!



A pair of plain vanilla, 60stitch, UK size 3, stocking stitch socks in Regia Cotton Surf colour, shade 5414. Knitted with Knitpicks wooden DPNs (the brightly painted ones). They were quite tricky to use on the cotton yarn which sort of stuck to the needles as it was knitted so they weren't my most favourite pair to knit.

Another pair done!

Birthday Girl!

Another year older, another year .... wiser? Well I'm not sure about the wiser but I certainly feel my age today!

I've had a standard Melody birthday in that the boys were far more excited than I was and wanted birthday cake for breakfast. We did have cake this afternoon though and the boys bestowed gifts of chocolate and flowers, that they had chosen themselves, upon me. They helped me to eat the Galaxy and laughed at the birthday cards that they had chosen. Littlest Melody was so thrilled with the birthday card he had chosen he kept opening it up to giggle about it. Some witticism about too many candles on the cake and setting my hair alight. Hmph! Cheeky Monkey!

I had some fab gifts - I had spendoolies from Mr Melody and the Melody Parents (which has been duly spent on a gorgeous selection of woolly delights already and some saved for the next yarn splurge), a gift voucher to spend at Cucumberpatch from Pictish and a gift voucher to spend at Socktopus from Terri, neither of which were expected and therefore a real treat. Murdo had already sent me Kim Hargreaves new book "Thrown Together" back at the beginning of August for my birthday but also sent an unexpected parcel of lovely, green, variegated yarn which is truly scrummy and will make a lovely winter jacket.

Piccies tomorrow when I have a bit more time!!

I've had a truly wonderful birthday and have been well and truly spoiled by my friends and family - thank you everyone, I really appreciate you thinking of me and your gifts brought a lump to my throat.

And if by any chance anyone from work happens to be reading this - yes, there will be cake tomorrow *wink*

I've Got Alot to Say!!

What a few weeks it's been. I went back to the dentist last Tuesday for what I thought was going to be the last appointment on my root canal filling but unfortunately it wasn't the case. I had the maximum amount of local anaesthetic allowed and goodness knows how many injections into my mouth and gum, had anaesthetic directly into the tooth again, and I could still feel the pain as the dentist poked around in my tooth... oooya...

The dentist explained that I still had part of the nerve left in one of the roots and popped in more of the 'stuff' to kill the nerve. The result is though that I have to go back yet again to have the third part of the root canal filling done and hopefully the bit of nerve that was remaining will be well and truly gone by then. I never 'numb up' properly at the dental surgery anyway, especially when work is done on my lower molars, and can always feel a small area of the tooth that the dentist works on; usually I relax and block out the pain somehow but I just couldn't be that brave last week!! I even apologised to the dentist for being a wimp!! And unfortunately the high dose of anaesthetic made me feel quite unwell that evening and the following day, with a nasty headache and feeling sick and light headed and I really hadn't been prepared for that :(

So - next appointment in the half term holiday - boy I can't wait *rolls eyes*

Fortunately, a couple of days before my experience at the dental surgery we'd met up with Murdo and her gang for a car show in Stafford at the Stafford County Showground. Murdo has a vintage Triumph car (don't ask me what type! LOL!) and we went along to look at and admire all the other cars on display. The boys had a whale of a time with the PiratePurls and they now want to buy a vintage car to rebuild in the garage with Mr Melody. Looks like the only part I'll be playing is making the tea and taking biscuits and juice out to the 'workshop' then!

But by going up to sunny Stoke I did get the chance to pop into Knit 2 Together, or Cucumberpatch has it's known on t'interweb. Biggest Little Melody volunteered to come into the shop with me and was treated like a VIP by the lady in there, who asked him questions about which shade of yarn another customer should choose for a baby boy's cardigan, tested yarn out on the back of his sensitive little neck to see if it would 'itch' and generally heralded his visit with great attention and fabulous customer service.

Of course, after all the value added attention, Biggest Little Melody was even more keen to buy some yarn for himself and chose seven balls of Patons Smoothie in black - he wants me to knit him a black hoodie with long sleeves. He had originally insisted that he would only wear cotton next to his delicate skin (!) but was persuaded by the Smoothie as it is indeed soft and silky. And 100% acrylic.

I also bought seven balls of Stylecraft Pure Wool DK in a gorgeous colourway, Berries, that I've admired onscreen many times. I haven't got a project in mind for it, but seeing it in the flesh made it jump into my basket (a basket that BLM had found for me in the shop I might add!), along with a ball of Opal sock yarn in a shade I'd never seen before and two balls of Regia sock yarn for a pair of socks for Mr Melody and some feather yarns for scarves for me as I don't possess a single scarf. And a huge button, LOL!!

AND I went digging around at the back of the shop and found two packets of All Seasons Cotton in the Heart colourway, the pink variegated one that Murdo had asked me to grab for her, at a completely bargainous price! Phew!! I've been up to other yarny adventures this week too but more of that later.

So all's well that ends .....well? As we were halfway between Stafford and the yarn shop I suddenly realised that I had completely forgotten to get what I had originally gone into the yarn shop to buy! Maybe next time we're in Stoke eh? LOL!

Normal Service will be Resumed as Soon as Possible

Oh dear what a week it's been and not in a good way :(

I didn't feel quite myself last weekend - I had a thumping headache on the left side of my head and my left eye was swollen. The left hand side of my face hurt too - around the jaw joint so I thought I'd been spending far too much time surfing and had a bit of time 'off'.

By Tuesday the pain in my face was bad. And I had a funny little niggly pain in my gum. Very odd :?

By Wednesday morning no amount of painkillers were helping. Even the diclofenac left over from my hip sprain earlier in the year didn't have any effect. Time to call the dentist I thought, to rule out any possible infection in my gum. I'd had an X-ray on my teeth at my six monthly dental check-up, there couldn't be anything wrong surely?

Oh there was... big time.....

I had, and still have if I'm honest, an abscess under the tip of the root of my molar on the bottom left of my jaw. And it bloody hurt.

Luckily I have an amazing dentist who discussed alternative treatments with me and I went for oral antibiotics with a review appointment two days later, but when my temperature started going up and I felt like death on legs there really was no option. Yesterday I had to nerve removed from the dead tooth and I am in pain no longer! I still have the abscess (I can still feel it to be honest) but the oral antibiotics and antibiotics shoved down into the empty tooth are doing their stuff and at least I feel human again.

I only need the final bit of root canal treatment for my tooth to be 'mended'. And my wonderful, empathetic dentist has squeezed treatment in before I start my new job at the end of the month. What amazing dental customer service eh?

So I haven't done much knitting this week - it's hard to knit with your left hand permanently attached to the side of your face to try to stop your pain.... :))

A Small Destash and Progress

I would like to buy myself some New Lanark Aran to knit Cassidy, the new pattern from Chicknits, but due to financial constraints (ie, I have no cash!) I have to destash some yarn to buy more suitable yarn for the cabled hoodie. I have already sold some yarn to a forum buddy and am looking to sell these two to make up the required funds....



I'm selling my Rowan International Gift of six full balls of Rowan Denim DK in shade 229, Memphis, dyelot 28B8 and pattern for the knitted messenger bag which I received as part of my Rowan International Membership a couple of weeks ago. It's in pristine condition and would be asking £10 for it plus postage. Leave a comment for me if you'd like to buy :)

Secondly, I'm selling three balls of Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK in shade 016, Grape, dyelot number 6562. This is a scrumptious sqidgy yarn in a lovely drak dusky pink shade which was destined to become a Big Wave scarf from one of the Sublime books but then wasn't ever cast on. I'm seling this for £6 plus postage which is a snip considering it is currently selling for £3.65 per ball at Get Knitted:



Again, leave a comment for me if you'd like to buy, but be quick cos I'm listing these on the forum as well.
eta - all sold now
Progress continues on he Sirdar Buttoned Hoodie that I'm swooshing up on the knitting machine. I'm now handknitting the ribs and all the major pieces are complete:



and an update on the kitties.... both Cocoa and Pepsi take a well-earned nap





cute!!

Two New Kitties

Our two new arrivals! We thought that they were two girls but now think differently. We possibly have two boys but we're not sure as yet :/ Maybe the vet will enlighten us! So they don't have names this evening because we had two girl names lined up for them.... ho hum. I'm sure another evening of being relatively nameless won't hurt LOL!

you want piccies??

Of Contacts and Kittens

I had to visit the optician this lunchtime - my eyes have been constantly sore and itchy and I've had to wear my specs most of the time but can't focus up close in them, a sure sign that summink ain't right. Well the optician has given me the bad news that my prescription has changed significantly after staying the same for what seems like years, that my contact lenses have left a red area on my cornea as they are longer permeable to atmospheric gases (namely oxygen!) and are past their sell-by date, and that my eyes have changed shape. This could of course all contribute to my lenses being very uncomfortable to wear and therefore I haven't been :? thereby giving my eye strain. The upshot is that I have chosen a new pair of specs frames and they will have my new prescription in them - hurrah! I have a contact lens appointment in about ten days' time so I'll know whether I'm forever destined to wear specs or I'll be in a new pair of better fitting, new prescription, gas permeable lenses again!

And the kittens headline? Only 25 hours until we pick up our new additions to the Melody Household - two adorable girl kittens from a friend whose cat had a litter recently. We've chosen names which I'm not allowed by Melody Children Rules to tell you *rolls eyes* and in any case they might be swapped round to fit said kitties once they arrive. I promise you I'll show you piccies tomorrow when we take ownership, but for now we're off to the pet shop at the retail park to buy a vetbed fluffy mattress for them :)) I'd better store my needles and yarn safely from now on eh? LOL!

Seaton Finished

At last I have finished sewing up my version of the RYC Seaton: without stripes and in Lidl's aran weight cotton that I bought last spring. I only used 8 balls to knit the cardigan and at £1 a ball works out to be a bit of a bargain.

I had to reknit the front bands as they were too floppy knitted on the larger needles suggested in the pattern and steam pressed the cardigan after sewing it up as it was a bit on the small side, but I'm now very happy with the result.





The yarn is 100% cotton yarn in a dark grey, mid grey and white mixtured yarn which knitted beautifully on Brittany birch needles; the outside photo shows the shade better I think. I chose oval, grey shell buttons and grey satin ribbon to complement the variegated yarn; I'm sure this will become a wardrobe favourite!

A Few New Projects


I've been planning knitting for a few months now - now I have time over the summer to knit a few items up and this is what I've been up to.


I started the Buttoned Hoodie for the Sirdar Simple Knits knitalong held on the Crafty Threads forum - it's design F - a simple stocking stitch cardigan with a hood and I'm using a light sagey green shade of Sirdar Country Style DK from my stash called Linden Green. I actually have 17 balls of this shade in stash but I'm likely to use about 9 or 10 of them. I'm leaving off the kangaroo pockets cos I don't like them and I've rewritten the pattern to knit it on the knitting machine. I've already completed the back and one sleeve and I only cast on at 4pm yesterday afternoon! Speedy knitting with the help of 200 needles ;)

New project - Sirdar Buttoned hoodie in Country Style DK

I also started a feather and fan scarf a few weeks ago in the final week of Uni but frogged it because it was too wide. I cast on again using fewer stitches and I like the way it's working out :) I knitted a few more repeats last night but shouldn't have bothered because I found a mistake part way down as I came to put my kniting away and didn't have the patience to frog it back.... I'll do that this morning when I'm colouring my hair!

Another new project - feather & fan lace scarf in Tess Dawson Merino 4 ply (black)

New Stashalong?

A bad time to decide to embark on a new stashalong? The beginning of the new Winter yarn season! Yarns and shades discontinued and on sale at ridiculous prices, new and exciting pattern books and yarns being launched by large spinning companies, and the lure of cool Autumn and Winter months just around the corner of Summer.

Newly Qualified

I never thought that Friday 4th July 2008 would ever come. The hard work, the challenges, the lack of sleep and the adrenaline seemed to take over at times. But time moves on its own mysterious way and I found myself sitting in the Fraser Noble Hall in the School of Education at Leicester University, with the other students who were about to become newly qualified teachers, about to receive notification that we had indeed got to the end of our journey in becoming newly qualified teachers.

I was so relieved to have passed that I actually went to the Summer Ball on Friday night. I hadn't bought a ticket thinking that if I failed I wouldn't be going. And I couldn't trust myself to buy a ticket in case I tempted fate and failed as a result. I had to rush out on Thursday evening to buy an outfit! It all came good in the end though and I thoroughly enjoyed the ball. It was a fitting end to the long year and rounded off our incredible journey nicely.

I woke up this morning feeling like I should get up early to do some planning or paperwork and it was quite unsettling to realise that THERE ISN'T ANY TO DO! At the moment anyway.

We at last found time to visit my parents yesterday, who I haven't seen for nearly four months. It's too long isn't it? And as went on Saturday I just HAD to pop into K2tog in Wolstanton. The nice lady in the shop even kept the shop open for me whilst I ran from one shop to the other down the road (the shop now has two premises, about 200 yards apart). Oh how the people of Wolstanton laughed as a yarn mad woman careered down the road demanding Summer Tweed.

I made the decision to visit mum and dad every month now that the PGCE is over. If only to visit K2tog on Saturday once again ;)

Stash Acquisiton Time

Blogger has at last decided to play so here is all my newly acquired yarn for your delectation.....

Bargainous Lana grossa sock yarns from Get Knitted

Kid Silk Haze in Vino to knit Tender from the Kim Hargreaves Nectar book

Who can resist temptation from Jannette's Rare Yarns?

Bargainous Sirdar Blur

Bargainous Sirdar Yoyo, Country Style DK and Silky Look DK - all for school stuff

Almost There

And you would never believe how exhausted I am. It seems a lifetime ago that I started my PGCE but this coming week will be my final week at University as a student and then it's out into the big, wide world as a year 1 class teacher.

I finished my third teaching placement on Friday and came out with an overall grade of Good in my final report; I was observed by an external examiner last Monday despite the fact that I couldn't swallow and could hardly speak to my class as I had raging tonsillitis!

My Professional Development Portfolio is up-to-date and completed for the final hand-in on Tuesday.... what am I to do with myself in the evenings now?? LOL!

I have piccies of new yarns but Blogger is being extremely silly and won't let me upload photies. No fair :(

Another Post Without Piccies

Shame on me.

I put my latest yarn acquisitions away this afternoon and realised that my stash is getting out of hand again. There is just too much in the wardrobe in the guest room and on shelves in my workroom. But if it's there it's not up in the loft where only Mr Melody dare venture to retrieve it.

But I have made a some progress with Blaze and am almost up to the shoulder shaping on that and I re-wrote the instructions for Candy from a previous Rowan magazine (35 or 37? I'm not sure) to knit on the knitting machine. That should use up 500g of cotton yarn nicely :)

Blogger Tip :-/

A tip on logging into blogger - if you appear to have forgotten your password, just make sure that you've typed your login name correctly..... seems to work..... *cough, cough*

Now, where were we? Ah yes. TE. It's going really well for me. Only three more weeks to go and the end of TE3, the days of being a student teacher coming to an end. I haven't had time for much else other than planning and preparing lessons; last night saw me printing, cutting out and laminating number dinosaurs from Sparkle Box (which is now, incidentally, 100% FREE) for a whole day lesson of maths. The children are carouselled around activities and lessons in the reception base of my TE3 school and I was teaching maths all day today to three different groups. Tomorrow I am teaching literacy all day, although the way I've just spelled (and edited that!) leaves a lot to be desired. Nevermind eh....

Yesterday turned out to be quite a strange day in more ways than one with lots of memories being brought back to the surface; if you were part of that you'll know what I'm talking about.

Whilst back to the real world, one of the problem I've noticed with the lappie on my knee is that I do get extremely hot whilst working. A small price to pay for being able to watch rubbish TV though. Ho hum... heh heh.

Getting Used to the Lappie

I'm slowly getting used to the laptop and although the screen is a lot smaller and seems m-i-l-e-s away from me the slimlines of the laptop have left plenty of free space on what was a very cluttered desk.

I have had plenty of luscious yarns arriving over the past few weeks and have actually got around to loading them onto the laptop today. How easy to upload photos with a little slot in the front of the little darling machine! But I did notice that my previous photos were not taken across to the laptop with the backup data that was transferred :( ho hum. But I'm sure that they can be retrieved somehow, someday.

Photos!! Here goes ;)

Jaeger Merino Chunky in Auburn and Extra Fine Merino DK in Coaldust both from Cucumberpatch

Jaeger Siena in Black and Ocean from Celticove

Jaeger Aqua DK in Blue Agate and Tide from Celticove

Pack of Patons Cotton DK in Rust and a ball of 4 ply in Rosewood from one of my favourite eBay sellers

Violet kit in Soft Cotton 4ply from Kim Hargreaves - wonderful!

And Hush in Denim DK again from Kim Hargreaves - well worth the wait!

I really love all the yarns that I've received over the past few weeks and can't wait to start knitting it up.... but there's always a catch. I have, in fact, ordered more yarns this week from EKemps and from New Lanark Mills and to be truthful.... I've ordered enough this year and feel that I must stop buying yarns. The yarn has often been an incentive or reward for something to do with the course whether it be an assignment handed in, a teaching placement successfully completed and let's face it, I don't drink, smoke or go out clubbing! But enough really IS enough.... :-/

Changing Over the Computer

The desktop PC died this weekend :( It's been a faithful piece of equipment since the start of the new millenium and I'm sorry to see it banished into the wide blue yonder (alternatively known as the cupboard over the stairs, affectionately known in our house as 'the priest hole' and no that's not an innuendo ;)) but the deskie was becoming far too unreliable and began to lock at the most inopportune moments.

I'm writing this blog entry on my laptop which will replace the old deskie in the study. There will certainly be more room on the desk thanks to the lappie's slimline figure..... lol!

I will be taking photos of my new yarn acquisitions tomorrow and trying to upload with lappie so I'm sorta crossing my fingers that it will work.

One thing's for certain -my typing hasn't improved by switching computers!

Interview!

Well it happened.... I got a job!!!

I obviously can't go into details about where my new school will be but I went for an interview on Monday and was offered the job on the day *big grin* I can't believe that I've been so lucky to get a job on the first interview; it's quite a surreal experience.

I have to spend the next few months knitting like mad and making myself a wardrobe of teacherly knitteds. And reward myself with a mountain of luscious fibre of course!

Half term next week and I can't wait to have a few days off. The Little Melodies are off on half term break as well and it will be lovely to spend some 'proper'time with them. Although I spent a bit too much time with them last weekend when Mr Melody went off on his annual golfing weekend and left me with the two hoodlums. Usually I enjoy being on my own with my boys but the pressure of preparing for the interview, preparing lessons and taking the lads to three parties between them over the weekend was a bit too much on my ownsome. I obviously came out at the other end of the weekend unscathed, the boys and I did have fun together, but the washing basket is still overflowing and the house is still a mess {:-(

That's why kids have lots of holiday from school - to give teachers well earned break! LOL!

Another FO

Which would be cool except that it's hideous on me. I started this cardigan jacket back in October 2007 so it's taken over six months to knit and stitch together, then when it's finished it doesn't suit me at all. The collar is too low, the body is too tight and the sleeves are too long. Added to that the body is too short. Pictish is right when she says that we can't try out knitteds on before we cast on :( Boo hoo. The offending article has been washed and is currently drying flat upstairs in an effort to make it feel better. I have very little hope.....

Melody's 'Lupin' Jacket

Knitted in Patons Diploma Gold DK in shade Lupin - 8 balls used

Pattern no: Patons 3324

Knitted using 3.25m and 4mm Pony Pearls needles


No news really this week except that Danny has had a nasty bout of tonsillitis but is now fully recovered. And I find this morning that one side of my throat is sore. Very sore. Down by where my tonsils used to be. This is a bad sign. A very bad sign. My throat must be better by tomorrow as I start seven weeks of TE3 and I can't afford to miss time with pharyngitis.

Another Assignment Bites the Dust!

Yay!! My 5,000 word assignment on children's errors when counting in tens to one hundred is printing off as we speak (or I type). I deserve a Kim Hargreaves kit as a reward for all my hard work, but which one to choose??

Hip, Hip - Oh No.....

I've had a really, really bad week this week and it all started to go wrong last Friday on the way home from lectures. I saw the train in the station and I ran to get on it before the doors closed which has happened to me in the past - you're left standing on the platform with your train moving out and you not on it. I wasn't running that quickly or wearing high heels or anything daft, but my right hip exploded in a red hot shooting pain. How I got onto the train and sat down, then managed to get off the train and get to the car and drive home, is a mystery in itself. I ended up at the walk-in medical centre and then in major injuries in the hospital's casualty department, crying with pain and the doctors thinking that I'd fractured my pelvis :(
I have evidently sprained my hip though - I've torn either a muscle or ligament and it's not been fun at all.

The pain has been almost unbearable this week - walking has been nigh on impossible and the codeine prescribed by the hospital has left me dazed and sick. I did make an improvement, or so I thought, towards the end of the week when I was able to walk round the house without wincing with every step - my own GP changed my painkillers to diclofenac when I went to visit her yesterday and they've worked much better than the codeine so I haven't been feeling so sick and knocked out as I did.

I've been told to rest my hip and not to do anything too energetic. But feeling slightly better this afternoon I popped into my local mini-Tesco to pick up some food for dinner with the boys on the way home from school. Bad decision! I parked on the car park and walked into the supermarket and picked up a few bits and pieces. The pain walking out to the car was unbearable once again. I shouldn't be too surprised though - the doctor did mention that she expected it to be a good four to six weeks for the sprain to heal completely.

So - no disco dancing moves for me for a while eh? You just can't watch Hannah Montana without wanting to get up and dayance! *sigh*

The Pendulum Swings in the Other Direction

No yarn has arrived Chez Melody since my last post, I have made headway into several projects and finished a couple as well; I've also been destashing yarns on Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns and have several listed on eBay. Not bad eh?

I often see patterns that are advertised as 'knit in a weekend!' but just what is the definition of a weekend? Is it an actual two days or is it 48 hours worth of knitting? I gave myself a challenge over the Easter break to knit a cardigan in 48 hours. Okay, I did cheat a bit and used the knitting machine to knit the stocking stitch bits but it was justified I think as the usual 'weekend' patterns are often sleeveless numbers or scarves, so I didn't think that cheating was necessarily a bad thing in this case!

Well - after almost nine hours of actual knitting, this is what I have to show for it and I'm really rather pleased:

I've also managed to finish my first ever crochet-project-with-a-purpose - a new washcloth for myself. Worked in pink Patons Supersoft cotton DK with a 4.5mm crochet hook, I made the pattern up myself to a certain extent: it's a plain old granny square with two rows of double crochet around the outside *grin* I even managed to crochet a little loop so that I can hang it up in the shower to dry when I've finished washing with it!

Seaton continues to make good progress too. I'm nearly to the shoulders on the back piece. Maybe the colours are a little patchier than I would have liked, but I really don't want to frog and knit two row stripes *shrugs*

Confessions
All this time at home on Easter holiday hasn't done my purse any favours! I showed you some of the stash that Mr Postie had delivered, so here's the next part....

Yarny stuff:
Eight balls of scrumptious Twilleys Spirit DK yarn to knit a scoop necked sweater for next Autumn, a couple of balls of cotton sock yarn from one of my friends over on eBay, ten balls of Tess Dawson merino DK bought as part of Terri's destash and fifteen balls of New Lanark silk and wool mix DK in cobalt. Yummy!

And I bought some Jane Ellison books - the two Mirasol collection books and the two Arauncania books along with the Noro summer leaflet and Rowan Studio nine - I need patterns to go with the yarn! That ball of Opal is the same one as above - it sneaked into the photos twice!

What the Blazes....

I’ve been eyeing up both Peace and Hush from the Kim Hargreaves Collection for a few weeks now and even though I have destashed and sold several lots of unwanted yarn on the Crafty Threads forum, I still didn’t feel comfortable buying two knitting kits because of the price of each kit. Then Pictish pointed out that Blaze is almost the same style as Peace and I was converted!

I cast on for Blaze yesterday evening, albeit a little late at about 10.30pm, but half the moss stitch border is already done. I'm knitting using Patons 100% Cotton DK in shade Pomegranate with 4mm Brittany Birch needles, my weapons of choice at the moment. It would appear that Patons Cotton DK and Cotton 4 ply are underestimated yarns and I’ve found them mainly being used for dishcloths and washcloths on Ravelry, which is a real shame as the yarn knits, washes and wears wonderfully as proven by my Tide cardigan that I made last year. Tide has been in and out of the washing machine and is still soft and easy to wear, with the added bonus that it can be steam pressed to perfection.


Blaze has appeared twice in Rowan publications but under different name: once as 'Cheer' in Rowan magazine 32, the second time as 'Blaze' in Rowan's 'The Pure Wool Collection' as shown in the photo above, but they are both the same Kim Hargreaves design. Which of course leaves me free to buy Hush with a clear conscience *big grin*

I had cast on the stitches for, and knitted two rows of rib for, a CPH in Stylecraft Harvest aran but decided that I really don’t want to knit it at the moment, so it came off the needles just as quickly.

More things have been arriving at the Melody House this week, but I’ll wait until my next post to tell you about those *wink*

Happy Birthday, Little Melody!

Six years ago the Littlest Little Melody was three and a half hours old and we were exceptionally pleased and very relieved that he'd turned up in one piece. Today he has demanded baked beans on toast for his lunch, ripped open his birthday cards with a vengeance and made an array of unique robots with Lego. Oh how the times change!

The Postman Came Again
Yes, he did! Lookie:










Three lots of Garnstudio Safran cotton in superb, citrus-y, spring colours to knit two ribbed tops and a fitted jacket, two lots of RYC Cashcotton DK (in the pool and geranium colourway) from Celticove as it was on sale and at a bargainous price *wink* and ten skeins of Colinette wigwam from Aknita on the Crafty Threads forum cos I want to knit Sam from the now discontinued Portmanteau booklet.


But now the talk on the Crafty Threads forum has turned to New Lanark Mill yarns and I'm STILL tempted by Kim Hargreaves kits. It never ends does it?

A Week of Deliveries

This week the postman has worked hard to deliver lots of goodies Chez Melody and here is what he brought:

A lovely selection of goodies from Hanne in the Round Robin Bag Exchange - the sheep tape measure is just too cute for words!







Some glorious lime green Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk double knitting yarn which I was going to whizz up into a classroom cardi but I think it's just too special to use in the classroom







And a whole bagful of cottons from Get Knitted - two lots of 4 ply cotton in pink and blue and one lot of it in the DK weight in grape. All for summer stuff for me :-)















And the postman will be working hard this week too let me tell you *wink*

I did get Mr Melody's Rigger Boot socks finished and the ends darned in this month - knitted in King Cole Merino DK in shade graphite, they are lovely, thick and cosy for wearing inside his safety boots when he's out on site. He seemed pleased when I handed them over anyway....