My UK Swap Parcel

Sorry for my absence but of late I’ve had very little ‘mojo’. I’m hoping to turn that all around by the arrival of my UK Swap parcel, courtesy of the lovely Emily who seems to have me figured me out to a ‘T’. Thankyou so much – I loved everything. I think I must have gushed over everything I opened and it kept getting better and better. Take a look for yourselves:

The parcel unopened

The treasure trove

All my goodies

Squishy yarn – some Schoppel Wolle sock yarn to feed my new skill and some Wendy Pure 100% Bamboo in purple (much coveted)

Magic Loop Knitting Booklet – I really want to learn this technique this year and was so thinking of getting the booklet

Lovely knitted Scarflet – Emily knitted this herself from yarn she received in a previous swap. Its gorgeous and warm!

So in conclusion I received:

• A knitting bag
• An Easter egg
• Some ‘Divine’ chocolate
• Schoppel sock yarn
• 2 x Wendy Pure 100% Bamboo
• Magic loop booklet
• Scarflet
• Whittards mango tea
• A butterfly mug (its beautiful, but I realise unphotographed – sorry)

I love everything I got. Thanks again Emily. I’m looking forward to knitting, drinking tea and eating lots of chocolate this weekend ;o)

Some Riddles…

…I heard on the radio and I thought I’d share them with you.

 1. A guy has 8 fish and 4 drown. How many does he have left?

2. I can’t be touched, seen or felt. I am a much debated subject and have my own type of music. What am I?

 Please feel free to leave your answers and I’ll let you know if your right. I might even be able to dig out something from my stash as a prize ;o)

Sock Knitting – Session 3: The Finished Sock

This post is coming to you late because…well…I don’t have a finished sock to show you {{*embarrassed*}}

Our last session was all about the finish. Our homework for the week had been knitting the foot, bar about 2 inches, ready to finish the toes. After decreasing my gusset I did an extra 25 rows (I only have size 3 feet). I carefully put them on and the sock reached the base of my little toe, so I thought that’s enough. Compared to most of the class I had a small knitted foot, but by stretching the fabric I convinced myself it would fit. I’ve figured out that my tension in the round is actually tight. Does this mean I’m going to have to start checking my gauge?! Oh ye of little patience. Tut tut.

The toes are all about decreasing and actually not difficult until you get only a few stitches on the needles…even then its more fiddly than difficult. I was a tad slow in class, so I still had a couple of rows of decreases to go before the kitchener stitch, but Jane explained it beautifully and I saw it demonstrated a couple of times by other members of the class. All in all the class was a more relaxed affair this week, with time for tea and cakes (courtesy of Gerrad and Jane) and discussions on other methods of sock knitting mainly magic loop and 2 circulars and touching session, when Jane brought out of her bottomless bag (how many goodies was she holding in there – I dub thee Mary Poppins of Knitting) the many socks she knitted and designed, as a means of showing us just what one can do. She also showed us some fingerless mitts she’d designed. The pattern will be available shortly from The Yarn Yard, free if you buy yarn or for a small fee if you don’t.

Back to my poor excuse of a sock. I debated, all the way home whether I should just finish it off, inspite of it not fitting and subjecting me to have hobbit feet (if I finished I had to wear it) of should I…dare I say it…rip the toes and increase the foot. I hate frogging work. Like I’ve said before I’m not the greatest at getting the stitches back on the needles. After a little umming and aahing, the perfectionist in me decided rather unwillingly to frog. I’m now trying very hard to get the stiches back on the needle. I may need to resort to asking my mum (yes she still has to fix things for me).

I thought I’d leave you with a picture of hobbit foot.

Coffee

I saw this on Monica‘s blog and had to give it a go. I love coffee, but too much doesn’t always love me. In the struggle to keep caffeine levels down, I’m trying to only have 1 at breakfast, and then switch to tea or juice during the day. My fav coffee shop is Esquires, but I haven’t managed to find one in Brimingham as yet. They make a mean raspberry mocha frappe. You should try it some time.

You Are a Cappuccino

You’re fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart – and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You’re the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

East Anglia Here I Come

I’ve been up since 5.30 am this morning and for no particular reason other than the fact that we received our foundation programme allocations today and I was in a tizz. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, training posts/jobs in Medicine are now nationalized like in the States. You have to rank all the places you want to go and then rank all the jobs you’re interested in. Although I’m getting used to Birmingham, the area you can be allocated to can be upto 100 miles away now, so I decided to relocate. As of August, I’ve been allocated to East Anglia and my jobs for the next 2 years will be based in Cambridgeshire; mainly Addenbrooke’s and Peterborough District General.

How do I feel about this? Partly relief (still commutable to London – yes I’m a big City gal) but a little sad to be moving now I’m making friends and constantly relocating is hard work! I have to start looking for somewhere to live…again. More importantly…are there any knitting groups in Peterborough? Any yarn shops?

Amazon Arrival

Last week I mentioned that in the sock euphoria I had after my first class, I became sock obsessed and whilst surfing the net impulsively bought two sock books. Well they’ve arrived and here’s what I bought:

Both books have some gorgeous patterns, which may be a little(to put it mildly) out of my league but I’ve already bookmarked a couple which I think a beginner might be able to attempt. I’m not sure about sizing etc so I might have to read the sizing guides again in both books.

I wonder, do people have favourites from these books…I guess I could always check out Ravelry.

Sock Progress – Week 2: I heel later

I followed the instructions given to the latter (and promptly lost them?!) and have now finished decreasing the gusset. So, on with my homework now – finishing the foot, short of the toes. I’ve no idea how many rows that’ll be, so might have to try them on – let’s hope there are no disasters if I do.

Progress pic so far:

Sock Knitting – Session 2

This week I travelled down to London on Friday night, stayed with the ‘rents and consequently enjoyed a lie in. Today dawned a sunny yet chilly morn and saw me bundled up in my scarf and gloves on the way to IKnit for my second sock knitting session, determined to brave the ever scary ‘heel’.

Jane had prepared detailed work sheets for us, ‘…unravelling the mysteries of turning the heel.’ The session was divided between: creating the heel flap, short row shaping to create the heel, picking up stitches for the gusset and decreasing. Yes, the terminology did have my head spinning for a bit.

Heel Flap

Who knew that this was done on 2 needles, as if knitting in the flat?! The process involved some rearranging of stitches on the needles to begin with, but once the manoeuvring was done we followed a very simple pattern of Sl 1, K 1 and then, purling alternate rows. 30 rows later…le flap

Short Row Shaping

Not my first time doing short rows, but definitely the first time I’ve understood what I was doing. I was a couple of rows short of finishing my heel flap, so the I practised this and the rest of today’s techniques on one of Jane’s socks. I couldn’t bear ripping out all the hard work – knowing my luck I’d be back at the cuff! The shaping allows us to create the cup of the heel.

Heel Gusset

By picking up stitches on either side of the heel flap and more rearranging of stitches later, I have a heel gusset. The true test was doing this all again on my own sock and trying to remember everything I was taught. Thankfully I have a very detailed worksheet to refer back to. I’m currently at the stage where I’m decreasing the gusset. Once done, my homework for the week is knitting the foot, bar two inches for the toes, ready for next week’s session.

I still maintain that heels are scary and I’m so glad I had someone talk me through the various steps. I’m not sure I’ve done a perfect heel but I’m now further than I’ve ever been in my attempt to knit socks.

Besides concentrating on heels, I’m beginning to understand how to read my own knitting; how to tell the difference between a knitted stitch and a slipped stitch in a piece of work, how to tell how many rows of heel flap I’ve done (scroll up and take a look – the big ‘v’ represents 2 rows) and how different decreases slant to the right or left (SSK – right stitch over left and K2tog – left over right). I’m not just learning how to knit socks, I’m learning a whole lot more!

UK Swap Topic of The Week # 5: Anticipation

What kind of Spoilee are you? Are you paranoid that it’s not being sent, or lost in the post? Do you want it to arrive quickly? Or do you enjoy the anticipation? Sitting and pondering when it will arrive…and anxiously waiting for it, close to the deadline?

Hmmm…I think I’m of the paranoid variety of spoiler; both of the package getting lost in the post and that my recipient will not like it or that’s its not enough. I can’t seem to win with myself.

In terms of being the recipient I love the anticipation, so long as the package isn’t in my possession. I’m not so great once it’s arrived on my doorstep – a bit like a child on Christmas day! Enough said ;o) I’m not too fussed about it arriving early because it gives you time to get to know your spoiler and vice verse. I love the anonymous notes, e-cards and emails. But being the last one without a package isn’t fun either.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines – you either love it or you hate it. I’m not sure which category I fall into, but let’s just say I’m a romantic at heart. Flowers, chocolates, candles…yes I’m a sucker for it all. As a child I think I dreaded the day – I didn’t have a stack of cards arriving on my doorstep and there was always an off the books competition between the girls at school to see who had the most. I think at that age, my most constant valentine was my dad! Bless him )

This year I had an extra special present all the way from the USA courtesy of the Valentine Swap and my partner Katherine. I don’t have an email address for you, so if you’re reading this, thankyou soooooooooooooooo much. I loved it all.

All my goodies arrived in this:

She’s spoiled me with 5 skeins of yarn:

• 2 x Cascade 220 Paints
• 1 skein of Arucania Ranco Solid
• 1 skein of Crash into Ewe – cannot begin to describe how gorgeous this is; purple with silver running through it
• 1 x Bazic Wool, superwash

Talk about stash enhancement! And that’s not all. There were other goodies:

• Coffee
• Chocolates
• A fridge magnet
• A Fibretrends sock knitting pattern
• 4.5mm Clover needles – the tips have sheep holding hearts on them
• A wire rose

 

 

I have been more than thoroughly spoiled…and the day has just began!