Time is pretty much flying by at the moment. My job is really busy at the moment so I'm pretty brain dead when I get home hence the lack of posting here.
I have been knitting away. Here's my latest finish - Stevie by Sarah Hatton from a recent Rowan studio in Rowan wool cotton.
I've also been trying out some colourwork in the form of mittens. Mitten one is done so far. The pattern is by Garnstudio/Drops and was originally fingerless mitts but after the last two winters, I think mittens will be more useful.
I'm planning a relaxing weekend of crafting so hopefully I will have more progress to share soon.
The past couple of months have been quite busy with an annual stitching weekend away with friends, Knit Nation and just general life busyness.
Prior to Knit Nation, I had agreed to test knit some lovely new sparkle yarn from Old Maiden Aunt yarns, ready for it's launch at Knit Nation. The yarn is merino sparkle in the shade Dreich and the pattern is Undine.
Another thing that has been taking up my time of late is sewing. I grew up with a Mum who made a lot of my clothes. My mum spent many years working in clothing factories as a sewing machinist. I have sewn clothes in the past with her help but I decided recently that I'd like to try to sew on my own.
So far I finished a Wrap style blouse in some very basic black fabric. This was my testing garment to see if I could do it.
Last week, I moved on to a tunic top with a concealed zip. The pattern is Juliet tunic by Serendipity design studio. It was a little tricky as I had to adapt adjust the skirt part of the tunic to fit my hips and lengthen it. The having to lengthen the skirt section blew my mind as I'm really not tall, only 5ft tall. Usually I have the exact opposite problem. But it now fits really well.
My most recent finish was another wrap blouse from the same pattern. I've altered it somewhat at the arms and shoulders so it fits better.
I've also managed to frame up a recent cross stitch that I already had the frame for.
The only downside lately has been a further recurrence of my previous hand problem so my right hand has been strapped up in a splint for the past month or so and I'm currently having more physiotherapy to try and resolve it. Thankfully it seems to have improved over this weekend so I'm feeling a bit more hopeful about it that I was last week.
Well the Race for life was yesterday and it went very well. I managed to finish in 48 minutes 50 secs which I was very pleased with as I thought I was going much slower than last year but I ended up finishing quicker.
My Sister and I before the run.
Me crossing the line.
My sister, my mum and I after the run. My mum couldn't run this year but is planning to take part next year.
The post race scene.
There's still time to donate and win a prize in my Race for life draw. My donation page is at Race for life and I've listed the rules/prizes for the draw in my last post. As of tonight, including some off line donations that aren't on my online page, my total is sitting at £243, which I'm very pleased with. A very big thank you for all that have donated.
Just like last year, I'm going to be participating in the Race for Life 5km for Cancer Research. Its a 5km women runner only event for Cancer Research, the leading UK charity for research into the causes and treatment of all cancers. Cancer Research does amazing work and they have a great website full of useful and accurate information for Cancer patients and their carers. I use their site a lot in my work with cancer patients so its a cause close to my heart.
Last year Lilith of Old Maiden Aunt yarns donated a gift voucher for her webstore as a prize for a draw for anyone who donated to my sponsor page. I'm very pleased to say that Lilith has repeated her offer again and has offered some prizes for anyone who donates.
The first one is a kit for Fugue, a design by the very talented Kate Davies, knitted in lovely OMA yarn.
The prize is for the full kit. She has also offered a couple of skeins of her lovely merino sock yarn as separate prizes.
In addition, I'm offering a prize of a pair of hand knitted socks to fit the person who wins this prize. I'm hoping to have a couple of more prizes to offer which I will sort out in the next day or so.
So how can you win one of these lovely prizes. Well its pretty simple. Donate to my Race for life page using the link at top right of my blog page or visit my fundraising page to donate. Due to the rules regarding Gift aid, you can't gift aid your donation if you wish to be entered into the prize draw. Any donation of whatever size would be greatly appreciated. The race is on the 5th of June and I will keep the draw open for a week after the race.
The knitting production line continues here at the moment. The Baby Yoda outfit went down very well and the Father to be is very pleased with it. He went looking on line to see what I might be knitting for a baby that was Star Wars related and I have apparently exceeded his expectations.
I've finished the remaining baby knits and handed them over. The mum to be has promised a picture of the baby wearing the Yoda outfit once he makes his appearance.
First up, another pair of tiny shoes in Yoda green
And a Ten stitch blanket in some James Brett marble chunky
Karoline asked in the comments, what pattern I used for the light saber in the last post. Well I used this one that I found on Ravelry. Its really just a jumbo felted icord.
As well as the baby knitting, I've also managed to finish knitting something for me. The Pattern is Milkweed by Laura Chau and the yarn is Handmaiden Camelspin.
I was hoping to perhaps get some stitching done this weekend but my body has managed to conspire against me. On Friday night on my way home from work, I managed to trip up on the stairs and on my way down, I put my hand out to save me. Unfortunately I put out my right hand that I fell on last year and I also had my keys in my hand. I've managed to flare up the previous injury again. Thankfully I can knit/write and type but anything that involves pinching my thumb and first finger together is uncomfortable and painful. That rules out stitching for a few days until it settles. Hopefully it will settle soon.
Today being Star Wars day, I have a very appropriate knitting finish to share. One of my work colleagues is due to have her first baby very soon. Both she and her husband are fairly geeky (like me) and her husband is a huge Star Wars fan. When I mentioned that I planned to knit some things for the baby, she was very keen and the idea of some more non traditional knits appealed to her.
So I knitted a outfit very appropriate for a new born Jedi - Baby Yoda Hat and sweater with felted baby sized light saber
I knitted a couple of other things also
Tiny Shoes designed by Ysolda Teague in Old Maiden Aunt Sock yarn in Lon Dubh
And one of my favourite baby knits - Little pumpkin hat from Itty bitty Hats
I'm in the process of finishing a blanket and some baby socks, pictures to follow. The Mum to be is finishing up work in a couple of weeks so I'm planning to get the baby knitting finished for this weekend so I can hand over the gifts next week.
Time seems to have been a bit of a blur since my last post at Christmas. Lots of things going on - lots of knitting, beading and some sewing. I have one less tooth that I did the last time I posted as the dental problems I posted about last time got much worse and I was pretty ill for a few days. When you combine that with lots of horrible weather, work stress and lots of other things including an issue from my last job, it adds up to several weeks of me not really coping with life so well. I had a very down spell which I've thankfully come out the other side of now.
Life is onwards and upwards now and I'm looking forward to some time off that I've got coming up courtesy of the Easter Holidays and the Royal Wedding. Hopefully that will mean lots of knitting/sewing/general crafty time. Meanwhile here's a picture of the Laminara shawl that I finished in January. It definitely converted me to Estonian lace knitting. The yarn is some Shetland laceweight that I bought at the Iknit day 2 years ago for the bargainous price of £2.99 for 640 metres.
Several things have kept me from posting lately. They can easily be summed up in three words - teeth, snow and work. Work has been very busy with training someone new. Ongoing problems with one tooth has meant 6 separate dental appointment, 2 different dentists and 2 days in bed very unwell. Thankfully things seem to be settling now and I have a dentist I can trust.
As for the third thing, snow. Well this has mostly been the view out of my window for the past few weeks. Britain has had a very severe winter so far. The snow is a little less deep now but its been very cold where I live - the high most days is around -7 C and its been falling to -12 C and lower at night.
I will leave you with some pictures of wintery Paisley. Firstly the view of Paisley Abbey this afternoon as the sun went down.
And a picture of the old mill building at the end of my street. The river is only partly frozen today but earlier in the week it was completely frozen over. I was hoping to catch site of the otter that has made its home in the river of late but no luck.
Finally I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.
...making jewellery. Before cross stitch or Knitting came into my life, I made jewellery. As a teenager, I made very 80s earrings and bracelets and its the first crafty thing that I remember buying the supplies for myself.
Over the years, its come in handy for presents and to make something that's just right for a special occasion. A lot of the pieces I make tend to go to my mum and sister. On Friday, I went with my mum and aunt to the local craft and stitching show and my mum saw some red and crystal beads that she thought would go perfectly with an outfit that she has made for herself for a special occasion that she is going to. So I offered to make a choker, bracelet and earring set from them.
Whilst I was on a jewellery making roll, I thought I would use the left over beads plus some others from my bead stash to make a few more things plus a long overdue beaded watch that I had promised my sister and also one for her MIL.
The weather has been pretty miserable here so it has been a mostly indoor weekend except for visits to the supermarket and the gym. This week I'm really looking forward to the second part of a class that I'm taking at a local craft shop. The class is about learning to use resin in jewellery for making pendants and other items. Last week we learnt how to make up the resin, how to pour it into moulds and how to imbed items in the resin. This week we are learning finishing techniques.
Life seems to be going by very quickly at the moment hence the lack of blog posts. Work is keeping me really busy plus I've been out and about socialising a bit more lately, which has been nice.
There has been some knitting finished.
Purple socks for one of the Race for Life draw winners. The pattern is Angee by Cookie A. I've concentrating on sock knitting this month for the Socktoberfest KAL
And some simple gloves in Colinette jitterbug that are coming in very handy now winter is starting to make an appearance in Scotland.
On Sunday, I spent the day at my mum's learning to sew something based on a top I own. My mum spent most of her working life working in clothing factories and bridal shops plus she has always sewn clothes for herself and the rest of the family. She was showing me how to use a top that I own to make a pattern to make another top. She then helped me to use the pattern to make a top. I'm pretty pleased with the results. She helped me a lot with the sewing also as the fabric was pretty tricky. I can see more sewing in my future.
Late July, I took a trip down to London for Knit Nation, a fun show of classes on knitting and spinning plus a great marketplace. The event was held at Imperial college in London and I stayed in the student halls. The other big attraction for me in the area was the chance to go back to the Victoria and Albert museum. I think its my favourite museum. I took a ton of pictures which I've made into a slide show below.
Imperial College itself was a lovely venue for the Knit Nation event.
I loved the glass panels outside.
The market place opened on the Thursday evening with a preview night. Most of the early arrivals headed for the Wollmeise stall.
The stall was pretty crowded but mostly good natured. I'm not very tall and I got jostled a little in the crowd plus at one point, I bent down to look at yarn and before I got up again, skeins of wollmeise yarn started falling on my head. Ironically in the subsequent two marketplace days, you could walk right up to the stall for good parts of the day and browse in peace.
On the Friday I took a all day class with Cookie A on top down sock design, during which I completely forgot to take any pictures. The class was amazing and Cookie A is a very inspirational teacher. I have a sock in progress which I designed during the class that I'm knitting away at very slowly.
Another fun aspect of the weekend was the Ravelry pattern on the Saturday night which was a lot of fun. Jess and Casey from Ravelry were exactly how I pictured them and bought lovely project bags as a gift for the attendees.
The whole Knit Nation experience was really good. Alice and Cookie A and the volunteers all did an amazing job of organising the event and making it a lot of fun. As did all the stall holders who did well to keep functioning seeing how long the event was. It was sad when it was all over.
Life has been a bit busy lately for a variety of reasons.
First up, the final total that I raised for Race for life was £250, which I was incredibly pleased with. The voucher for the OMA yarn was won by Anna from my knitting group and I'm busily knitting a pair of socks for the sock prize winner. Time has slightly run away from me lately but if you donated and I haven't been in touch yet, I will be as I would like to give a little something to everyone who did donate.
Work has been keeping me busy. I can't quite believe I've been in my new job for 9 months already and it all seems to be going well. They've been pretty understanding with hospital appointments as the thumb problem that I had earlier in the year has continued to cause difficulty and I've been attending physio sessions for the past two months. Again I have a delightful thumb splint to wear and will probably have to wear it on and off in the future as my physio has discovered that the injury was aggravated by the fact that I have hyper mobile thumb joints. Its not just the thumb joints but also my ankles. The ankle joint effect has caused me to fall 3 times in the past couple of months so I've been a bit bruised and battered.
Thankfully the thumb problem has not stopped me knitting although it has affected my ability to stitch at times. I have finished a couple of things, including a long term sock WIP.
Oh and there was also my annual stitching weekend with friends in there, a trip to London from Knit Nation, a visit to the Knit Camp market place and a Ravelry meet up picnic but more on them in the next few days.
Well I survived my race for life and managed it in a not to shabby for me 50 minutes. I managed to run in bursts, which I was pretty pleased with.
Here's my mum and I prior to the race. The Race for life is for Cancer Research UK for all the different cancers they research. They seem to put a big emphasis on pink and breast cancer, I guess because it is a women only run. So there are a lot of people wearing pink. Not me however. My Mum is wearing a t shirt printed with pictures of friends and family affected by cancer.
We were joined in running the race by my sister and one of her friends. My sister is the only with the red hair.
At the finishing line.
And my sister, Mum and I after the race with our medals.
Big thanks go to everyone who has donated. I'm going to do the draw in the next day or so and will be contacting those whose name is drawn to see which of the prizes they would prefer.
