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....

Paris Jacket Finished


Hooray! I sewed on the buttons and finished my Paris jacket this morning:

I'm really quite pleased with this jacket considering that I had trouble with decreasing 2sts at the neck edge for the neck shaping and that it was knitted in one piece to the armholes which made it knitting it seem like an eternity. The sewing up was quicker though!

I made a couple of modifications - the sleeves are shorter and I used snap fastener at the top of the buttonband to ensure that the neck stays closed rather than gaping. There's a distinct lack of buttonole at the neckband in the pattern and it looked a bit odd with the neckband flapping open.

The jacket is knitted in Garnstudio Paris cotton aran, in shade 07 Heather which is real life in dark cerise colour, and it took just 9 balls to knit on a 5mm circular needle. I knitted the sleeves back and forth on Brittany birch needles and used little silver shank buttons that I had in my button stash. The ribbing at the waist gives the jacket a little shaping which I like. The yarn is deliciously chunky and cottony and I'll certainly be using it again in the future - even Matthew likes the feel of it against his senstivie skin!

My next project is yet another cotton cardigan for the warmer months (hopefully) ahead - I cast on the stitches to knit Seaton from RYC's Classic Coast last night, but I'm using the bargain Colorado cotton aran weight yarn that I got for a bargain price from Lidl last year. I'm going to knit it all in one colour though, without the striping and possibly without the ribbon tie at the waist:

Poor Neglected blog?

Well not really, I've been very busy doing other things and not much time to post anything that you might want to read.

The fifth week of TE2 is completed and it's my final week at my placement school next week. I can't begin to tell you just how much fun this placement has been and I know that I shall be full of sadness when I leave next Friday. I've already threatened to go back in on my days off!!

And I've just been a very naughty Melody and ordered some scrummy 4 ply and double knitting cottons from Get Knitted.... well, a girl needs her yarn fix occasionally!

Stash on Ravelry

I made a start today and took photos of some of my stash that I have on my shelf in my craft room. I only took simple straightforward photos and didn't go looking for interesting backdrops or anything as putting my yarn stash onto Ravelry is supposed to be for my benefit isn't it? Or is it? I have an Excel inventory speadsheet for my yarns, invented by me for me that tells me the information that I want to know. Do I really need to, or indeed have the time to, upload photos onto the World Wide Web to have complete strangers gawping at my stash? As it was it took nearly half an hour to upload six photos and describe six lots of stash... err, no thanks, I don't have the time for that!

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Repair

One of my many 'hobbies' is recycling and as a family we do try to recycle or re-use as much as we possibly can; I've been repairing Big Little Melody's school trousers off and on for what seems weeks now as the hems seem to be continually undone - what is that lad doing to his school trousers??!! Another pair found its way onto my 'repair' pile this morning *rolls eyes*

As items of clothing become too small or too scruffy I put them into a large drawer and every so often go through it and sort the clothing into piles. This morning I sorted out a large black sack of clothes to recycle in the textile recycling bin, another bagful for a door-to-door charity collection (that still has to collect said clothes bag from the doorstep) and yet another pile of too-good-clothes-to-chuck-out-but-are-too-small-for-Little-Little-Melody; I shall donate those to a friend with a young son who is much younger and smaller than Dan.

On the whole I was very pleased with the four cushion covers that I made from a piece of inherited furnishing fabric and I went on to make another two in pale cream self-patterned fabric to match the first four. The six cushions only cost me the price of the cushion innards which weren't all that expensive really.

I was really excited yesterday as I received my Round Robin Bag from Jacquie - Jacquie co-administers the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum with me - and she sent me a superb selection in her gift bag which I'm sure had the internal dimensions of a Tardis! Here's what I received from across The Pond. First, the bag stuffed with goodies:

And all the wonderful contents!

Jacquie sent me a ball of rainbow coloured Sugar 'n' Cream cotton which I intend to knit into a washcloth from for me, a dinky, pink highlighter pen, a small bag of Quaker Oats breakfast cereal and two herbal teabags (perfect for a February morning!), two sheets of the cutest penguin stickers, a sweet little decorate-it-yourself heart shaped box which opened to reveal the most adorable, delicate silver and turquoise stitch markers inside. I am truly overwhelmed with what Jacquie sent to me.

Thank you so much Jacquie! I love everything to bits!!

It's Actually Sunday Today


Knitting from Stash? Isn't it strange that as soon as the words Stashalong or Knitting from Stash are mentioned my brain goes into hunter-gatherer mode and starts to collect yarns as if they are going out of fashion. I must have squirrel genes somewhere in my lineage! I noticed that RKM yarns have a fabulous deal on a couple of RYC yarns at the moment and I immediately wondered what I could knit in Soft Lux. I came up with Ariann from Chicknits and surprise, surprise I already have the pattern. Of course I bought some.....

It's half term holiday here and since I worked like a woman possessed to get my assignment finished over the Christmas holiday and then passed all three skills tests to boot, I'm having a bit of rest this week. It's not officially a vacation for us PGCE students, more like a Professional Study week, but since I passed both assignment and skills tests I think I deserve a few days off. So I got out my long-neglected sewing machine this afternoon and made four cushion covers - two with borders and two without as you can see here:



I've only had them lurking around since September last year before I started my Uni course, so it's great to actually have them done and sewn up. They make the living room look so much prettier and homely :)

I've Succumbed

and ordered a shedload of books from Get Knitted. I also ordered some of the RYC Alpaca that GK have on offer at the moment in the Lichen shade. I don't know whether or not they will have it in stock tomorrow when they receive my order 'in person' but I do know that I've wanted to knit this jacket for ages. Now that the yarn is on special offer, I bought the yarn to knit it.

Sprite has knitted Foxtail from the Rowan Tapestry booklet and now I'm wishing that I'd ordered the book along with the other books so that I can knit it too. I may just pop that book into my basket along with the others :-) as I can see this knitted in plain cotton double knit for the summer!


My head has been feeling fuzzy all day today and I think I have a cold starting. I've managed to avoid viruses all winter too. But Look! This cheered me up no end...I have another award on my sidebar! Sandrab from Sandra's Place gave me this award over the weekend, and I'm very grateful to have received it. I'll let you pop over to Sandra's place to find out why she gave it to me though. Now I have to choose other blogging peeps to give this award to.... I nominate Jo028 for this award as her taste in knitting is exactly the same as mine; except I'm not nearly as productive as Jo *wink*
Congratulations Jo!

Weekly News

My first week in my second teaching placement is complete - what a wonderful week I've had. Fab children and fantastic support from the school and my teacher mentor. What more could I ask?

We all had our first assignment back yesterday and I'm pleased to say that I passed at masters level so I can now go on to complete my second assignment at masters level as well to try to earn another 30 credits. This first assignment gives me 30 credits towards a masters degree which I am very pleased to have achieved. It was a hard slog over Christmas to get this assignment written and out of the way and I didn't have a very restful festive period at all. I'm very proud to have achieved what I have so far with two children and a home in addition to the constant hard work of a PGCE course.

I would normally celebrate by rushing off to buy yarn but as I promised to knit from stash this year I won't be doing that. I'll be buying knitting patterns instead!

Round Robin Bag Exchange

We're having a Round Robin Mini Bag Exchange over on the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum. The idea originated from Natalie of the Yarn Yard and the idea is that we each make a small bag and fill it with goodies to send on to a person on the list every month. I decided to sew mine as I have no spare time to knit a little bag unfortunately and with the wonderful Franney's help and advice, this is what I came up with. My bag is a little on the generous side as I didn't want it to be too small! Overall I'm really pleased with this mini - project and it was far quicker and easier to sew than to knit. The bag was made from remnant pieces from curtain fabric, so it didn't cost a penny. Not only quick but cheap too!

Confessing Stashalonging

Melody reports that she did indeed make a dent in her stash in 2007, with a net reduction of.....



3.5kg!!!


I would take a group photo of all the yarn I destashed and all the yarn I managed to restash, but I don't have a wide angle lens on my camera :?

Resurrected and Refashioned

With Spring around the corner, I decided to resurrect the jacket in Garnstudio Paris cotton and I've made good progress this last week by knitting up to the armhole and dividing into two fronts and a back. Now that I'm knitting the parts of the jacket individually the jacket seems to making quicker progress! It's still on a circular needle although I have already finished one front already and I've almost finished the other so it will be finished for the warmer months after all.

Mr Melody's office has been selling off virtually brand new desks this week in an office move about, so Mr Melody secured three desks and three pedestals (medium sized three drawer cabinets) for the Melody family at a cost of £75 for the lot. The two Little Melodies have a desk and pedestal each up in the playroom/den to put their PCs and all their paraphernalia on and I managed to snaffle another for my craft room. It's much much bigger than the old table thing I used to pile all my crafting junk onto, but the pile of half-forgotten things I found under the desk was an eye-opener! Not wardrobe refashioning in the true sense, but an excellent bargain. I'm using the desk to put my sewing machine and overlocker on and the drawers will replace the tatty drawer unit in my craft room. A good thing really, as the handles fell off the fronts of the drawers recently and it's almost impossible to get the drawers open!! I can even sit at my new desk upstairs and use my new lappie on the internet, thanks to the power of WiFi. Utter Bliss.

Scarf Done!

Hooray Dad's scarf is finished!!



And I want to knit another scarf - FOR ME!! - in Tess Dawson Merino 4 ply in black, using a feather and fan pattern as I don't have a scarf to my name... wahhhh!! I thought that black would look fab with my new camel coat.

I've been rootling through stash this afternoon to locate yarns for the sweaters for the lads as I want to join the Bloke sweater knitalong on the Crafty Threads forum. Starting with small bloke sweaters seemed to be the thing to do I thought, to build myself up to knitting one for Mr Melody. He asked for a vest to play golf in, baggy to hide his tum but gathering somewhat into a rib, with deeper armholes for the arm/shoulder movement of the golf swing.... I did mention that I didn't have a magic wand!! *LOL* I'm knitting him socks to go inside his rigger boots when he's on site, so that'll shut him up for a bit *wink*

A decision has been made today and probably one that I'll regret for the next 12 months - I'm joining Terri and Piglottie to name but a few, knitting from stash for 2008. That made you sit up and take notice, didn't it??!!

The Season is Upon Us

Today is Christmas Day despite what the date says at the top of the post :? - Happy Christmas to Everyone!

Traditionally, I'm not keen on Christmas :( All the shopping for presents and food drives me to distraction. I'm hopeless at writing Christmas cards, never get them posted on time and run out of enthusiasm half way through my list :( This year, I shall do what I did with the boys last summer for teacher's leaving/thank you presents and donate my Christmas card money to a worthwhile charity. I chose Oxfam last summer, but have to think carefully about which charity to choose this year. We always donate a sum to charity for Lucy's birthday in January anyway, so may combine it with that for this year. We had a tremedously emotionally charged workshop/lecture from two counsellors from The Laura Centre in our last week of term, and I may decide to donate money to them this year.

Anyway - onwards ------

There is progress my friends! Only 90 rows on Dad's scarf until it's completed. We're visiting my parents for the day tomorrow so it needs to be done by then - do you think I'll manage to knit the extra 90 rows on this tedious scarf?! LOL!! Mum and Dad are coming to stay for a few days over New Year to look after the boys when I go back to Uni, so if the scarf isn't finished by tomorrow (which is highly doubtful) then Dad will have it for when they come down to stay.

I decided to do a bit of a Works in Progress round-up yesterday and took a few piccies of the knitting on the needles. So here they are.......

Possibly my favourite current WIP, a one-button jacket which I'm knitting in Patons Diploma Gold DK in a gorgeous plummy shade called Lupin. I'm currently knitting the first sleeve, although it's taken a bit of a back seat because of the scarf:

Progress on the Central Park Hoodie in Sirdar Highlander Aran in a beautiful, snuggly, deep red shade. This is fab to knit as it's relatively easy in terms of cabling, but not as mind numbing as pure stocking stitch!
You can just about see the cabling on this in-yer-face-red picture LOL!!

This cotton jacket is on hold until spring! It's a Garnstudio pattern in Paris aran weight cotton in what looks like red but is in fact a heathery cerise.

And of course, the tedious ribbed scarf... need I say more?? LOL!!

I'm knitting it in 4 ply sock yarn on 4mm needles - the best thing about it is knitting on these fabulous Surina needles - yum!

This New Year I don't want, or need, too many WIPs on the needles as I don't feel that anything is ever accomplished when only a few centimetres are knitted on each item. I'd much rather have one or two projects on the pins and get them finished quicker. It also means that I can cast on something new without feeling guilty!

All that remains for me to say is HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY, PEACEFUL, PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR.

Maybe next time I'll confess and tell you where I stand with my destashing vs stashing figures.... or I may just leave you to guess.... *wink*

A Stressful Fortnight

Poor 'Big' Little Melody. He's been through the wringer this past fortnight, with suspected scarlet fever and tonsillitis and, just as he was recovering, he picked up a nasty cold virus that knocked him for six. The poor little lad has had one of those very high temperatures that's lasted for about five days in all and another sore throat along with a bunged up head and nose :( I think we've visited a GP of one sort or another four times in the last two weeks (twice the other Friday when Matt was so poorly with his tonsils/rash) However, this afternoon has see his temp approaching normal and his eyelids don't look so swollen and red - a turn for the better?


Last weekend we did manage to get out of the house as the boys wanted wheels for their Lego builds and we ventured into the middle of Leicester. We passed a Shelter charity shop on the way there and I spotted a fabulous camel coat in the window. As we passed the shop on the way back to the car, I popped in and asked to try it on. I was a bit nervous as I haven't really asked for things to be taken out of shop windows to try on before!


The photograph doesn't do the coat justice as I took the photo with a flash in very poor light... but.....Voila! A wonderful BRAND NEW Marks&Spencer wool and cashmere coat with the tags still on and it fits perfectly. A size 12 petite so I don't even have to shorten the sleeves. It was a pure bargain at thirty quid and helps out Shelter to boot.

I found out later that Shelter often have M&S end-of-line garments for incredible, bargainous prices so I might just have to pop in there again on the way to buy more Lego wheels *wink*

Neglected Blogging

I know I've neglected my blog of late - apologies where they are due! I'm at home today - on a Friday of all days - as the Biggest 'Little' Melody has some sort of virus or could have the start of tonsillitis. I took him to the GP this morning whose first thought was scarlettina (oh boy!!!) as he had developed a rash under his skin this morning as well as high temp, sore throat, swollen glands, headache and vomiting from yesterday.
I must have looked a bit shocked as I said
"I thought it was probably a virus when I saw the rash??"
We have a deferred script for the 'good stuff' from the Doc, so he'll either recover on his own or need antibiotics!

I promise I'll take photos of the projects that I'm 'up to armholes in' over the weekend as I don't have the time just now. Little Melody wants a lettuce and salad cream sandwich.... yeuk!! Only a sick child could order something like that for lunch.

Clothes and Powerpoint

I have to confess! Last weekend I bought *new* clothes with apologies to Wardrobe Refashioning. I needed a few more sweaters for the colder weather we've been having recently, and I just haven't had the time to knit any as quickly as I needed them. I needed some good sweaters for TE1 and I bought a long black skirt as well. I like my long navy skirt a lot, so I bought an equivalent black number that will look good with my suede boots that I bought earlier in the year.

I started Wardrobe Refashioning at the start of September although I joined the WR blog on 1st October. So I have actually completed my two months as I'd completed a month before I started. I think that 'work' clothes are excepted anyway, so I don't think I broke any rules.

Powerpoint. What a Wonderful Creation. I've spent years trying to avoid this software, not having any use for it really before now. I've just made a Powerpoint presentation for my lesson tomorrow and produced resources from it too and all I can say is 'WOW!!' LOL!!

Feeling Ropey

My chest hurts and my voice is so deep it sounds like I'm smoking 40 a day. I think I might have a touch of what the boys had last week *rolls eyes*

I've got tons of planning to do this weekend and I've had some bonkers ideas for lessons while the house was quiet and my mind was on other things this morning (like knitting!) , so I just need to tone them down a bit, make some resources and all will be well.

I found out that my placement school that I'm in at the moment has a knitting club - how cool is that?!! It's held during Tuesday lunchtimes and I thought I'd pop in this coming Tuesday as it will be the last time I can go to it seeing as it's my last week of TE1. But our tutor is coming over on Tuesday to chat to our mentor teachers and watch us teach, so I may not have the opportunity to sit and knit for a while. Which is a shame 'cos I'd love to take my pins, knit and chill with the kids!

Projects ----- I'll take some photos later on and post them up here I promise!

Fewest Amount of WIPs for Ages

Funny how things change isn't it? Last weekend I was bemoaning the fact that I had become a conscious incompetent, and in the middle of this week I'm high on teaching adrenalin. A few days maybe, but so much change.

Indeed, the profile of my Work-in-Progress count has also been a-changin'. I currently have the fewest WIP count in months with only 4 WIPs and one of those is on-hold until next spring. Things might be getting finished Chez Melody.... but I wouldn't recommend holding your breath......

Introducing Las Vegas Socks.

Here they are, my latest pair of socks for the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns Sockamonth challenge:



My socks haven't been produced on a monthly basis at all, I've only managed to complete four pairs this year and that includes two pairs for the Little Melodies.
Mr Melody has ordered a pair of golf socks for the next pair that I knit, so I can't see those being knitted before the end of December can you? Not the long, knee-high, plus fours variety you understand, just a pair of normal length men's socks, but handknitted by moi. I'm seeming to remember that he wants them to be some sort of blue so they will be boring to knit by anyone's standards. Maybe I can inject a touch of colour into them without him noticing *evil grin*

I've done some thinking and reflecting about the first week of TE1 this morning and have come to the conclusion that I'm now at the stage of learning where I have BIG clues as to what I don't know, rather than the blissful ignorance of NOT knowing what I don't know, iyswim? I think it's called something like Conscious Incompetence or something equally derogatory! But I'm happy with the fact that I've taken steps towards Unconscious Competence this week, and that has to be a huge step forward, doesn't it?

Fireworks, Kinaesthesis and and Las Vegas Socks

Las Vegas socks are finished in time for November draw, we're off to a firework party at Loughborough Uni this evening (the boys want hot dogs... bleugh!) and I went to a Kinaesthetic Maths workshop this morning. Oooh, and I shopped in Loughborough this afternoon as the biggest Melody Child has grown so much and his arms have grown so long that he's outgrown his school sweatshirts and needed all new. It's only when I got home and ripped up my ticket for the Kinaesthetic Maths workshop for recycling that I realised I could have popped it into my Professional File under Development of Subject Knowledge. Bah! I'll have to sellotape it together I s'pose!

What a dangerous life I lead, eh?

Kim Socks Complete

Aha! I *knew* I would do it!

I've had a shedload of trouble trying to upload the photos to the PC. The image program threw a wobbler and wouldn't fire up so my piccies have been trapped in my camera all weekend. Mr Melody is useful sometimes, and just dragged the photos across to the PC directory using Explorer. Who knew you could do that??

Et voila! My pink Kim socks in all their pink loveliness:

Next Step - TE1

The next stage of our PGCE starts in earnest next week with the start of our first teaching experience, lovingly known as TE1. I obviously can't blog about which school I'll be at, or about anything that happens whilst I'm there due to confidentiality policies; but if you see a slightly perturbed student teacher over the next three weeks, frantically knitting a sock, then it could be me... couldn't it?

My pink Kim socks are almost finished, with only the toe shaping to do now. I think I'll be able to finish those by the end of October *wink*

Both the Little Melodies have been suffering with a nasty dose of croup each this week and have both been marched down to to the Out-of-Hours surgery in our local area at unsocial hours of the night/evening. It's unfortunately a common occurrence at this time of the year, both boys appearing to have suffered quite badly this time, with both of them either losing their voices or sounding like Darth Vader without having to wear one of those voice changing masks. Luckily it's been half term this week, so they were able to drink plenty of water, take their time recovering and sleep during the day if they wanted to, which is the best cure for any viral infection I think.

A sure sign of them getting better was earlier this evening, when the littlest one asked
"Could you ask Mattie to stop killing me please?"

Aren't children wonderful? LOL!

Grace Finished

My Grace jacket from Rowan magazine 26 is now completed:

I didn't make any modifications to the pattern at all and I'm fairly pleased with the way it's turned out. I have noticed that there is a fair bit of 'rowing out' occurring within the stocking stitch which I don't like and I'm sure that it's due to me using bamboo needles for this project. I've come to love working with my Brittany Birches and feel spoiled by them in many ways; bamboo needles are just not the same anymore :(

I'm particularly pleased with the collar on this jacket though. For some reason the moss stitch edge to the collar appeals to me. A close-up to show you what I mean:

Feeling Very Tired

I'm feeling very ratty and tired today - I finally managed to get to sleep at 4am this morning due to the intensely irritating sound of Mr Melody's snoring. There are times when I wish I could stick a DPN into him....

BUT! I have almost sewn my Grace jacket together that I finished knitting in the summer/ spring/a long time ago and it will be ready for showing on my blog this week I hope.

I've made more progress on my Kim socks too and the gussett decreases are done. Only 10cm more to knit on the foot and the toe shaping and I'll have those completed as well.

I realised last week on my TE1 visit (to my first teaching placement) that I really don't have enough decent jackets or cardigans to wear in the classroom. I have enough trousers (okay, they do need shortening I'll admit) and skirts that I can wear, plus an abundance of tops. But very few cardigans, sweaters or jackets. My aim is to knit myself a 4 ply fusion knit cardigan or long sleeved top this week or next weekend, but in the meantime - any suggestions for a nice, casual but smart jacket or cardigan that would be suitable for the primary classroom?

Still Wearing Pink

I'm still managing to wear an item of pink clothing per day in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month, although for those who know me in real life the pink may not always be that obvious. Did I mention pink underwear? LOL!

I was very pleased with myself I managed to achieve a 96% score in a Maths Audit this week and I think I might choose Maths as a specialist option on the course. I would be bonkers not to after all.

Knitting News:
I decided that since Natalie of The Yarn Yard was offering no one but TWO prizes for the October Sockamonth Challenge, I should try to knit a pink pair of socks and finish them in October. Natalie is offering the standard 'finish the socks' prize and an extra prize if your socks are pink. How could I refuse? So the Kim socks from back in February have been resurrected, and here's the progress so far:


Funny how it took over six months to finish the lace cuff on the first sock but just over a week on the second..... *shrugs* I think that knitting on two circulars is a bit of an acquired 'feel' though; at first it feels really awkward and ungainly, but on going back to the circulars to knit the second sock, I knew instinctively how the needles should feel and what I should do with them, so maybe this is the reason for the seemingly speedier second sock. And I want to get the pair finished for the 31st October deadline obviously. How's your pink sock knitting going?

Three Hours of PE This Morning

That's all I'm saying.... LOL!

Rippit, rippit, rippit!

The first assignment has been finished and handed in. *sighs of relief all round*

There hasn’t been a huge amount of knitting done at Chez Melody but this week has seen me going for a haircut. I was beginning to look like a Yorkshire Terrier my fringe was so long! I've also been making costumes for the boys for Book Day, when all the children at the boys’ school were invited to dress up as their favourite book character. Lots of late night making, sticking, cutting and stitching was involved in said costume makery.

I’ve been feeling a little jaded with my knitting projects this week, possibly due to late night commitments, and have frogged a couple of things. I frogged my 2x2 cotton cardigan as I was totally bored with all the ribbing and couldn’t face knitting the tedium that is 2x2 rib throughout the winter. Then I also cast on, and almost immediately frogged, a cabled hoodie in Sirdar Spree chunky yarn. I love the hoodie pattern, but I wasn’t overly fond of the off-white colour of the yarn I’d chosen to knit it in. I have managed to knit some of Dad’s scarf on the station platform however and cast on the stitches for a Central Park Hoodie - only a year behind everyone else!



Here is the beginnings of the CPH resting upon its own project bag that I made earlier last month. It's a piece of Laura Ashley fabric that I had left over from a project some years back, and all I had to do was stitch the sides and add a drawstring. So much prettier than a tatty plastic carrier bag that I usually haul my projects around in.

100 Posts!

Would you believe that this is my one hundredth posting onto my blog? A cause for celebration maybe.... pop by and leave a comment for me!

Until I realised that this was posting 100, this entry was going to be entitled "Pretty in Pink" as it is 1st October and the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. I usually buy an item of Tickled Pink clothing to support the Breast Cancer Awareness charity, but as I'm an official member of Wardrobe Refashioning I'm unable to do that this year.

Instead, I will pledge to go through the whole of the month of October wearing at least one item of pink clothing to support Breast Cancer Awareness. This morning I'm wearing a pair of pink stripey socks, a pink hoodie and pink underwear. And here's the proof!



Righty-ho - back to my assignment. I probably won't have time to blog this week as I have several study type things to work on, so I'll catch up with you all next weekend. Have a good week!

Oh Dear - More Unravellings

Not only is there a pile of garments waiting to be mended in my workroom/craftroom, but Mr Melody and I went through his clothes this morning and put a whole lot of stuff into recycling. White shirts that have been in the wardrobe for months and the collars around the neck have gone yellow, shirts that are past their sell-by-date and a pair of his pure wool work trousers that I noticed had a tear in the pocket fabric that wasn't mendable. I've popped a lot of the boys' socks into recycling too as Dan's feet have grown so much in the past few months he's outgrown them!

My invite to join Wardrobe Refashioning arrived this morning - trust me to find the People Tree website just a few hours before it arrived. Sheesh *rolls eyes* There's some fabulous stuff there....

My refashioning tasks this week will be to mend the trousers in my craft room and to mend my combats where the pocket ripped and the button came off.

On the knitting front - I frogged my 2x2 cotton cardigan last night; I decided that I could free up the needles and concentrate on a chunky cardigan for the cooler months ahead.

Falling Apart

It's one thing to buy cheap and cheerful clothes from the supermarket and to think that we've bagged ourselves a bargain, but it's quite another thing to find that these items of clothing start to fall apart after being worn for only a short period of time. This week has seen it's fair share of clothing falling apart in the Melody household: I have already mentioned that two pairs of Matthew's school trousers have been put into repair (my crafting/work room!) which joined a pair of Mr Melody's trousers that need the leg seam repairing. But I've found to my dismay this week that a pair baby cord combats that I love have lost the cordy bit on the inside of the legs due to friction :? and the fabric has become thin as a result, and the hood of a cashmere hoodie (again bought from a supermarket chain and not handknitted) is parting company with the neckline and I've spotted a dropped stitch.

We all went to a sports store yesterday evening to buy Matt a footie top as he plays football a lot now and needs this type of sports clothing, and I was taken aback to see the amount of non-sports clothes on sale at the sportswear store. All cheap and all cheerful. No, I didn't buy any non-sports stuff as I'm currently trying hard NOT to buy clothes just for the sake of it, but I wonder how long it would take before they start to fall apart too?

Very Little Progress :(

I have a bit of progress to report on my Las Vegas socks - I'm up to the gusset pick-up on the second sock. Although I can report that my first assignment is in first draft phase at the moment, awaiting quotes and references where appropriate.

I managed a few more rows on the Alva cardigan and Paris jacket but that's about it this week.

Matthew has somehow managed to rip the side seam of his school trousers and the hem of another pair has come adrift, so there's mending to be done this weekend. The trousers are in good condition and there's no way I'm throwing them out just yet.

Strangely, I 've just removed a comma splice from one of my sentences when last week I didn't even know the term existed....

Las Vegas Socks for September Maybe?

I've just sat and typed out my post for today and the whole lot disappeared into the ether - sheesh!

For some reason Blogger appears to be a pain in the rear this afternoon as my delete key wouldn't work a few minutes ago.

Anywhoodle, here are my Las Vegas socks which will possibly be finished in time to enter into the September Sockamonth challenge on the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum:

I managed to miss the train by about five minutes a couple of times this week, so I took the opportunity to grab a polystyrene cup of train station tea, whip out my sock yarn, DPNs and sock bag and knit. Sheer Bliss.

I might have to miss the train a couple more times to get these socks finished by the end of September, and as these are my third pair, I might be in the running for a bronze award.

Student Life

Uni life has already started and we have assignments to write and plans to set out. I'm tired, I haven't had dinner yet, but I'm happy :) I've discovered that wearing my contact lenses all day in hot and dry environments doesn't result in particularly comfortable eyes :?

I also found this week that socks are very useful to knit on station platforms whilst waiting for trains. I promise I'll take piccies of my Las Vegas socks to show you at the weekend. Denver Jon would be proud as he sent me the yarn last year all the way from Colorado just up the road from Las Vegas.

On to Refashioning News - I have done a little refashioning since taking my pledge - I shortened a pair of navy chinos for Mr Melody and he's already worn them several times to play golf in. He's been to the office in them once as well, as he now informs me that chinos are perfectly acceptable in his office environment.

Preliminary Placement

Phew! Busy.

I spent Monday to Friday this week as a Student Teacher in my preliminary placement at a local primary school.... I had a fabulous but busy time working with Key Stage 1 children and have enjoyed it immensely. I have loads of notes to type up.

Lectures start on Tuesday morning at 9.15am sharp.

Ooh! Ooh!

I forgot to tell you that Jacquie awarded me the Rocking Girl Blogger award last week..... how could I forget!!! I've been coveting that award for ages, and when I finally get one, I forget to tell you all *rolls eyes*

Thank you Jacquie! Now all I have to do is figure out how to add the button to my sidebar....

And now I have to award the button to five other bloggers, but I fear that they have all been nominated previously :( Here goes nowt:

1 My darlingest, best cyberbuddy Denver Jon of Colorado Knits who has a blog no more. Jon was the one whose blog I read every day and who got me into blogging in the first place. So thanks matey!

2 Jo from I'd Rather be Knitting - she knits some fabulous stuff and we seem to have the same patterns on our 'to-knit' lists. But she finishes lots more than I do!

3 The blogger who showed me Wardrobe Refashioning - Joanne from Don't Talk Just Knit - you gotta love a girl who refashions

4 Murdo and the Pirate Purls cos I love the nutty, orange, lab-coated muppet to bits, and I love her Perfect Paparazzi Pirate Purling girls too (and happy bithday for yesterday to the eldest Pirate)

5 Fegrig - not a Rockin' Girl Blogger as such (then neither is Denver Jon of 1 above, but we gotta have equal opportunities here guys) as he made me laugh so much with his dog-walking antics today. I hereby award both Fegrig and DJ a *cough* Rocking Boy Blogger button each. Bring it on boys....

It's Refashioning, Jim. But Not As We Know It.

Not refashioning in the true sense of the word admittedly, but our cream leather sofas and chair were getting a bit grubby and looked bleugh, so last Monday I cleaned the leather with hot water and washing up liquid and made some more cushions from fabric that I already had in stash. I made one cushion cover from pale cream cotton with a smidge of lycra in it; it's not plain cream, it has white figured flowers all over it but the pattern is difficult to determine with the camera. I had intended to make flowery cushion covers for the sofa this week as well and got as far as getting the fabric out, but fate intervened once more and I found myself in class 1 for four days solid and helping out by being nursery nurse cover for the week.