Holiday crafty progress

Well my time off work is nearly done. I'm back at work on Thursday for 2 days and then luckily I'm off for 6 days after that due to my roster and the end of the holiday year which means I have to use all annual leave.

The weather has been truly horrible. We had some snow at the start of the week and thereafter its been rain, rain and more rain. Still its Scotland in March and really its not that surprising lol.

As a consequence of the awful weather, there's been a lot of house based holiday activities. I have been spring cleaning which is not really my idea of fun but a necessary evil. I also have been spring cleaning and tidying my wardrobe so the local charity shops are going to benefit a little from my efforts.

I have been knitting a bit too. I finished my blue Monkey socks in the Sheldridge farm yarn.



I also have done a bit of internet shopping at the Yarn yard. Natalie had uploaded a lot of merino plus a lovely pattern for some lacy mitts designed by Jane. I started them as soon as the yarn arrived. This colour combination is Sooty cherry/Mysteron. I'm hoping to get them finished in the next day or so.



As well as the knitting, there's been some finishing being done also. I finished stitching You've been hatched by Teresa Wentzler in 2005 and since then I've been looking for a box to mount it in. I finaly found one in The Viking loom in York in November last year and yesterday I mounted it in the box top.


Today I framed up a Shepherds bush kit that I bought in Utah - Boo to you. The mount came with the kit and I had a frame made to size locally.



This evening, I'm continuing with the finishing kick. I started the finishing on Grape threadkeeper yesterday and I'm hoping to get it completed tonight. I'm working slowly on it as I don't want to mess it up.

February's crafty progress

Since my last post, the postal service has finally cooperated and delivered the Valentine's exchange that I stitched for Edgar. He is a fan of Quaker designs so I thought I'd stitch a quaker heart freebie for him. I used Gloriana silk in the shade Cranberry.






My only stitching finish for February was Autumn Silhouette, which I shared in my last post. I only started one project this month - Celtic heart by M designs. My parents celebrate their 40th Wedding anniversary in May and I'm going to stitch their initials separated by the Celtic heart design for them. Its a design idea that someone on the Wagon stitching board stitched for a wedding I think. My parents both like the stitching that I've done before and in fact quite a few of my framed pieces hang on their walls rather than mine due to lack of space.

Other than that I've still been knitting away. I finished a Clapotis that I started last year. Its knitted in Rowan Tapestry yarn.



I've also been knitting more socks alas not finishing a pair though but it should give me a head start for March.

This sock is in Lorna's laces shepherd sock in Rainbow.



And this one is the first of another pair of monkey socks in Sheldridge farm soft touch ultra, which is lovely to knit with in lacy patterns. I'm half way though the second sock and I might get it finished this weekend. I'm working on Saturday night and if the patients are sleeping, I can knit away.



After Saturday's night shift, I'm off work for just over a week on holiday which I'm in need of just now. I'm hoping the time off will give a chance to catch up with lots of household things that need doing plus just to get out and enjoy myself a bit. Last week I went to a local knitting group for the first time and really enjoyed it so I'm hoping to make a few of the meet up whilst I'm off. Oh and there's also a Craft show on at the local exhibition centre which I'm planning to visit too. The weather isn't looking too promising as there seems to be a chance of snow next week. We've only had a little bit of snow this year and I'm hoping we don't anymore.

Work, sleep, knit, repeat.

And throw a little internet surfing, a tiny bit of stitching too and that sums up life for the past month. There was also a rather nasty cold which floored me for a few days. Finally though the dark days of winter are starting to be over and it was actually light at 5 this afternoon. Its a downside of living in Scotland that the days are so short in winter, which is thankfully balanced out by long summer days.

There has been a little stitching in the past month. First off a stray Christmas ornament that I finished the stitching on in January and I did the finishing on yesterday. Its French country mitten by JBW designs on some Lambswool linen using Gloriana silk in Cranberry.



Then this afternoon I finished Autumn Silhouette by Blackbird designs. I used Crescent colors thread in Pansy purple for my version and the fabric is some R&R reproductions linen in Light expresso.



There is another project which I completed but its for an exchange so I can't share it until it arrives at its destination. Its a little overdue already so I hope the postal service hurries up.

Most of my off time in the past month has been spent knitting. I've finished a pair of socks using the remains of a skein of Lisa Souza sock yarn which I had already used to make a pair of monkey socks. One skein of this yarn seems to go very far, partly because I have small feet.




I've also been doing some baby knitting for a stitching friend. Sadly work stopped me getting to a GTG to give the knitted items in person but I was able to send them to Joy who was hosting the GTG.

The hats are knitted from a pattern in the book Itty bitty hats which I've used before. The socks were knitted using some of my sock yarn leftovers and took about an hour to knit the pair. And finally a Tulip baby cardigan which I bought the kit from Socktopus, my current favourite yarn supplier. If you knit and haven't bought from Alice yet, I would recommend Socktopus very highly. Many of the yarns she stocks aren't available elsewhere in the UK and the customer service is second to none.












Tomorrow I'm back to work which is not much fun at present as my workplace is being renovated around the staff and patients by the world's slowest workmen. I've got a week off coming up at the start of March which can't come too quickly at the moment.

Back online

Tecnically I've actually been back online since the 5th but I've spent a fair bit of the past 2 weeks catching up on various places that I visit and working quite a bit too. Today was my 9th 12 hour shift since the 3rd of January. Everyone at work seems to have had some sort of cold so unsurprisingly I've started to come down with one too. I get the feeling this weekend will involve lots of lounging on the sofa and sleeping.

Whilst I was off line I got some knitting and stitching done.

I finished two pairs of socks - the first is in some Regia crazy sock yarn in shade 5404 which had already been knitted up into a sock and ripped out last year. I'm much happier with the second attempt.




The second pair is another pair of Monkey socks. Its one of my favourite patterns. The yarn is Lisa Souza sock in the colour Lime and violet.



I also managed to finish up stitching Grape threadkeeper by Chatelaine but as yet I've not done ths finishing. I might give it a go this weekend if I'm feeling inspired.

As well as lots of sock yarn, my knitting stash is the home to yarn for some bigger projects . I've been knitting the Central Park hoodie from Knitscene magazine since earlier last year. So far I've only finished the back. Its in Rowanspun aran which is a lovely yarn to knit with.



The other main big knitting WIP that I have just now is Neaty from Rowan magazine 42, which is knitted in Rowan Cocoon. I started this last week and because its a chunky yarn, its knitting up quicker. This is the back plus part of the left front.



Its not even quite 11pm yet but its time for bed for me. All these shifts are sending me to bed earlier than my normal night owl ways.

Happy Christmas everyone

Christmas day has just arrived in the UK so I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy and safe Christmas. I'm just about to switch from one ISP to another one with what is looking likely to be a few days in between due to the annoying behaviour of my current ISP and the festive season causing delays.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my Christmas tree with and without lights.

Whoosh

That is the sound of time flying by of late. My desire to blog wandered off last month following my desire to stitch which largely wandered off earlier in the year. My desire to stitch has returned thankfully as has the desire to post here. The lack of daylight here at present is making me want to sleep all the time but the shortest day has just passed so whilst the weather is cold and frosty, at least the days will get longer now.

Just after my last post, I spent a few days visiting York and I also went to the Harrogate knitting and stitching show. It was s cold whilst I was there and there was even a little snow. York is a great city to wander around on foot and there are lots of lovely shops to visit, including some knitting and stitching shops. The last time I visited, York Minister was being renovated but this year the work is nearly done so I was able to see it as it should be



During a walk in a park in York, I came across some very friendly squirrels who ran up to me and seemed to want to pose for pictures.



I did buy a fair bit of sock yarn at the Knitting and stitching show but I also bought the book and yarn kit to knit Autumn rose by Eunny Lang, which is the loveliest fair isle jumper. I've never knitted fair isle before so this will be my challenge for 2008.

Earlier I mentioned that my desire to stitch has come back a bit. Whilst I was away, I got stuck into a couple of my long term WIPs and I've finished two recently.

Firstly Venice Windows 2



And then a Country companions cover kit which was left half done in spite of being very small..



At the moment, Christmas preparations are taking up most of my time outside work. I had big plans earlier in the year to stitch some Shepherds bush stockings for some of my family but that isn't going to happen this year. I've not even made up the stocking that I stitched for myself earlier this year. I did make a couple of presents though.

A stitched dress on a DMC doll for a small child of a friend. There wasn't much stitching in it.



And a little hat for the younger sister of the small child



The hat is from a book called Itty bitty hats by Susan B. Anderson and its got some lovely baby hat patterns. I knitted another one earlier in the year for another baby - the Little pumpkin hat



My Christmas tree is up and ready for the season. I've only got one night shift to work this week on Sunday and I'm off on Christmas day this year thankfully. Even though this is my 4th Christmas in my flat, I've never woken up here on Christmas morning. The first year and third year I stayed at my mum's and the second year I was on night shift. This year I've decided that I will wake up here on Christmas morning and go over to my parents later. All the family are going to my mum's for Christmas dinner so there will be a full house. Usually I premake myself something for Christmas dinner as I haven't eaten meat or chicken/Turkey for 18 years. This is going to be different as earlier this year, my dad decided to stop eating meat and poultry so there will be fish on the menu for the two of us. My dad has spent the past couple of years studying Buddhism and he now feels that eating animals is wrong for him. Its come as a bit of a surprise to us all as he used to eat all sorts of meat including Venison.

Lest we forget

Today is Rememberance Sunday in the UK and as such it is a time to remember those lost in conflicts past and present.

The person that I remember here is not someone I have met as he died longer before I was born. Indeed until this year, I had no idea of his extistence. I'm currently researching my pateral family tree and earlier in the year, I obtained my pateral Grandparents" marriage certificate. On getting the certificate, I discovered surprisingly that firstly they married in London (they were both Irish) and secondly that my grandmother's father had served in the army. My grandmother is sadly no longer around to ask and even when she was alive, she did not talk about her life other than the odd snippet so there is not anyone to ask about him.

So today this post is in memory of Private William Fitzpatrick of the Irish Fusilliers/1st Dorsetshire regiment who died July 5th 1915 around Ieper after only 3 months in the Army. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Happy Halloween

I'm running slightly behind myself today as Halloween is nearly over here. Nothing special planned here for Halloween other than a day off work and 2 episodes of Heroes on the TV. We are only just getting to the end of series 1 here and its almost my favourite program of all time. Just in case you are wondering, it is narrowly beaten for all time favourite by The West Wing, Doctor Who and Black Books.

Anyway autumn has arrived in Scotland. The weather has turned cold and windy. Oh and wet also. I actually like this time of year though as I'm not a hot weather person and at least you can dress to keep the cold out. The only downside is that its dark so very early. At the height of winter, its often dark until 9am and dark again shortly after 3pm.

Inspite of not having anything planned for Halloween, I decorated a book case that I have in my hall. I've got a fair few different seasonal bits and bobs and I change what's on it depending on the time of year.

Here is what it looks like right now.



I heard last week that Carla had received the Halloween exchange I stitched for her.



I had hoped to finish Happy haunting by Shepherd's bush prior to Halloween. I started it at the retreat last year. Here's where I'm at just now.



I did find the time to finish some appropriate coloured socks though



I hope everyone has had a happy and safe Halloween.

Where I'm at

Time has raced by during the past few weeks and I'm afraid my blog has fallen by the wayside. The combination of work, my sister's wedding, general life and the fact that my Ravelry invite arrived has taken up all my time. For the non knitting readers, Ravelry is a very cool social site for knitters, where you can chat to others and browse countless projects and yarns. Its a bit of a time sucker but lots of fun. My user name there is pjmck so if you are a member, please stop by and visit my projects.


The bigggest thing that happened since my last post is that my little sister got married. If you've read my blog for a while, you will know that the wedding had to be postponed as the groom's father became very suddenly and seriously ill. A few days before the new wedding date, we got some superb news as the liver cancer he was diagnosed with, has been successfully removed with no signs of cancer still remaining and his liver is functioning normally. Everyone was so very relieved and happy.

However the day of the wedding was not without drama. The groom's mother had to be rushed to hospital by ambulance on the morning of the wedding and after tests, was found to have had a stroke. Sadly it meant she could not attend the wedding and the groom's father missed the ceremony. He did join us for most of the reception. The registrar gave special permission to film the ceremony and after the ceremony and pictures, the bride and groom took a short trip to the local hospital to see her. My sister said it was a very surreal experience. Its not often you see a bride with a groom in a kilt in the middle of a hospital.


Here are the happy couple plus best man and bridesmaids just after the ceremony. I'm the middle bridesmaid with the dark hair.



And here is the happy couple cutting the cake.



My sister along with my parents on the right and my dad's cousin and his wife with me at the front.


Inspite of the drama, which also included the 4th bridesmaid pulling out of the wedding at the last minute, the day was lovely and lots of fun. My mum made the wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses and she was thrilled to hear lots of compliments. I applied the beads to the dresses as my mum can not hand sew due to arthritis. Everyone seemed to have a great time and the groom's dad managed to enjoy himself inspite of his wife's illness. She is now thankfully back at home and well on the road to recovery.

At the weekend, I received a lovely halloween exchange from Suzanne.



I've been managing to do a little stitching. I stitched a fob design that I got at the Shepherd's bush retreat last year.





And I managed to stitch a little scissor case design.



I've also been knitting away at more socks









Apologies if there are any spelling mistakes in this post. I finished night shift this morning and I haven't been to bed yet. I'm trying to stay up as last week I completed mucked up my sleep patterns and ended up sleeping during the day on my days off. Which is not so good when you have things to do when you are not working. Plus its a little antisocial when the rest of the world is awake.

Good things

There are a few things which are making me happy just now.

Firstly the back is behaving itself with me back at work now. The first week back was awful and there were a few tears of pain. There was also a few words exchanged with my boss re inappropriate work schedules. But it seems much better now as I have a few holidays to use up so I'm only part time at work for the next few weeks. And then I have a 2 week holiday off so full time will not come until late September.

Exercising is going great. I'm still enjoying the gym and keeping up the twice weekly sessions. Best of all I've lost 5 kgs (11 lbs) in the past 4 weeks without dieting.

I received a lovely exchange from Melissa on the SB BB



I sent her this fob in exchange



I spent the weekend stitching and finishing the Red lace needlebook by Drawn thread.

Here's the front



And the back



And the inside



I also finished my first pair of socks for August. They are knitted from Lorna's laces shepherd sport yarn in the shade black purl.



On a slightly odder note, I'm more than a little happy that this weekend Apple are opening their first Scottish store this weekend. I switched to a Mac nearly two years ago and I've become a big Mac fan since. It also means I'll have somewhere to go to get my Mac or ipod fixed if any problems occur and somewhere to buy Mac software and accessories locally as the only local place just now is John Lewis.

The good thing about this time of year is that all the yarn manufacturers are releasing their new yarns and designs. I got my copy of Rowan 42 recently and I've been drooling over some of the designs and new yarns. After lots of looking, I decided to treat myself to some of Rowan's new yarn Cocoon to knit the design Neaty from Rowan 42. I've got my eye on a few other things but I seem to have developed a bit of a yarn stash so whilst I'm not putting myself on a yarn diet, I'm going to try to use up some of it. Famous last words I think.