Catching up...

Sorry for the long break from posting but I have been struggling a bit with my arthritis. Quite frankly by the time I get home from work and cook a meal I am just about ready to go to bed. I have done very little knitting and beading recently as I have been having problems with my right hand. My GP suspects that it is carpal tunnel syndrome and I am going to Poole Hospital tomorrow morning for some nerve conduction tests to establish how bad it is.

Although I have not been feeling up to doing much in the evenings I have been trying to get out and about at the weekends. I have also made a couple of things since I last posted, although my progress has been slow.

Three weekends ago there was a bead fair at Poole Arts Centre. I went along and met up with some of my beady friends. It was great to see them all and to catch on all of the things that they have been doing. I bought a few beads and a couple of patterns from Oaktree Crafts. As a result I have made a butterfly brooch and some beaded beads. I am particularly pleased with the 'Jewel Beads' and will be making them into a necklace, with some lampwork beads and pearls. Pictures to come in my next post. I have to bead in short burst at the moment due to the fatigue and problems with my hand, but I am determined to finish them.

I made some fingerless mittens for a friend. It was my way of saying 'Thank You' to her. Over the last couple of years she has given me numerous lifts and fed me on a number of occasions. She is one of the three women who I count as my closest friends and I am grateful for all of their help and support over the last 12 months.

She greatly admired a pair of Veyla mittens that I made for myself last winter and so I decided to make her some (Ysolda Teague's patterns are great fun to knit - if you haven't tried them yourself you really should). I was really pleased with how they turned out and P was thrilled with them.

I am going to leave it there for now. In my next post I will tell you about a couple of fascinating exhibitions I have visited in the past few weeks and progress on my necklace.

Life is full of surprises

Early last week I had a nice surprise. I was literally going out of the front door on my way to work when I found the Postman on my doorstep bearing a large parcel. I just had time to open the mysterious cardboard box quickly before leaving. This is what I found -

A yarn swift. At the beginning of December I ordered a Sunflower Swift from Brownberry Yarns with some of my Birthday money. They are handmade from a mixture of beech, ash and sycamore with a solid brass spindle. A 'Girl In Winter' has kindly let me borrow hers in the past, and I loved it so much that I decided to buy my own. The bad news was that as they are handmade to order there is a waiting list, therefore I might not get mine until the end of February. So imagine my delight when it arrived early. It really is a beautiful object, skillfully made, built to last a lifetime, and a delight to use. I have bought a ball winder so I am all set to wind my skeins into lovely sqidgey cakes of yarn.

I have been so tired recently, a combination of my arthritis and the weather that my beading has virtually ground to a halt. This only a temporary set back and to try to jolt myself out of the malaise I took some of the beads that I bought at Bijoux Beads in Salisbury recently and made a quick bracelet for myself (it is based on one that they had on display in the shop). Now that it is done I am not sure if it really suits me. However, it has got me thinking and I have come up with some more variations on the theme, using beading stitches rather than stringing.

I have also created wire links with some heart beads and headpins which will be incorporated into a necklace. They seem very apt given the date.

On the knitting front I have been making something as a gift for a friend. All will be revealed in due course.

FO's and a Grand Day Out

Over the past week I seem to have hit a bit of a hiatus where making things is concerned. This wasn't helped by my contracting a really revolting head cold, which doesn't show any signs of going away and has turned my brain to mush. So I decided to make something straightforward and mindless, that I could knit without thinking too much.

I finished knitting a green version of Woolly Wormhead's Limpetiole beret a couple of weeks ago and wanted to make a scarf to go with it. I looked through Ravelry and my own books and magazines and could not find anything that I liked so I decided to improvise my own pattern. The scarf incorporates half a skein of Manos del Uruguay, left over from knitting the hat, with some scraps of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and some Mirasol Tupa. I am not going to pretend that this scarf is a completely original idea. There are lots of ready made scarves in the shops, and a few patterns where the scarf is made lengthwise but most of them use linen or herringbone stitch. I decided to make mine entirely in garter stitch.

If you are interested in making your own version this is what I did -

Materials
Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend - 80 grams (Shade 7325)
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino - 60 grams (Shade 340016)
Mirasol Tupa - 50 grams (Shade 817)
5mm circular needle (at least 120 cm long - 47 inches long)

Finished dimensions - 6 inches (15 cm) wide and 65 inches (165 cms) long, excluding the fringe

Making the scarf
Cast on 260 stitches using a long tailed or similar stretchy cast-on. Working in garter stitch knit the following sequence -

Cashmerino - 4 rows
Manos del Uruguay - 4 rows
Tupa - 4 rows

I repeated the above sequence 5 times and then ended with 4 rows of Cashmerino. I deliberately left 8 inch tails, rather than darning them in, when joining in and breaking off yarn which were later incorporated into the fringe. I cast off with the 5mm needles but very loosely.

To make the fringe I cut 16 inch lengths of yarn in all three colours. I put one strand of each colour together and folded them in half. Then, using a crochet hook, I pulled the loop through the edge of the scarf where two colours join and pulled the strands through the loop to make a half-hitch knot. I repeated this on both ends of the scarf. I then trimmed the ends level and it was ready to wear. I did not need to block it.

You can experiment with different colour combinations and numbers of rows, using whatever scraps of yarn you have to hand. One side of my scarf is striped and the other has a more blended effect. I really love the effect of the two next to each other when the scarf is wrapped around my neck. Of course you can also make it shorter or longer, and vary the width. Whatever yarn you choose I would recommend using a needles one or two sizes larger than normally recommended for the yarn to give it a nice drape. My finished scarf is soft and squishy and very warm. I love it!

I wore it on Saturday when we went to Salisbury. It was bitterly cold and I was glad of my new scarf and the Limpetiole hat too. We had a really good day, despite my cold and the fact that my leg was rather painful by the time we got on the bus to come home. We went to one of our favourite places in Salisbury, Fisherton Mill. They sell beautiful items created by local craftspeople and the upper level includes workshops occupied by a jeweller, a milliner and a weaver plus an art gallery. They also have a great cafe which sells wonderful home cooked food. We both had a bowl of their lovely carrot, coriander and lentil soup served with freshly baked bread. Just what we needed on such a raw day. Afterwards we paid a visit to Franklins in Fisherton Street where I bought some King Cole Baby Alpaca DK in a lovely shade of green, called Lichen, to make some gloves.

My final port of call was Bijoux Beads on the edge of the Market Square where I bought some beautiful beads and some thread - more of that in my next post.

Happy New Year

I am only too glad to be saying goodbye to 2010 and starting a new year afresh. The last twelve months has seen us sadly losing two family members and a major health challenge for me. I am not normally one to make resolutions but this year I have broken with this and resolved to face the year ahead with optimism.

Christmas turned out to be very stressful as my Mother was taken seriously ill on Christmas Eve. What was originally thought to be a heart attack turned out to be blood clots on her lungs, a complication from recent surgery. Luckily it was caught before it could become life threatening and she is receiving treatment. She was a bit annoyed at being forced to spend the Christmas period in hospital but to my delight she was discharged on New Year's Eve. The hospital staff were great, doing their best to make Christmas fun. She enjoyed lots of festive food and even went to a carol service on Christmas morning in the hospital chapel. She will need many months of treatment and careful monitoring but she is on the mend.

I had been looking forward to time off over Christmas after a long and stressful three months at work. I had a list of projects to make and things that I wanted to do. Instead I found myself on an emotional roller coaster. The result was that I didn't achieve anything. I feel as if I need another week off to recover!

It has not been all bad. I have had some quality time with my OH and time with friends. On Boxing Day we went for a walk by the sea. The pictures above don't really give a sense of how cold it was. I was well wrapped up but my face was completely numb by the time we finished walking. However, it did give my OH an opportunity to play with his new camera and it gives you a good view of my hand knitted hat. It is 'Rose Red' by Ysolda Teague, knitted in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend yarn. It is super cosy as I can pull it down over my ears so I have been wearing it very frequently over the past few weeks.

I know it is usual to take some time to look back over my achievements during the past twelve months. I am not going to do that instead I want to draw a line under 2010 and look forward rather than dwelling on the past.

Short Break

I will be taking a short break from blogging until the New Year. Unfortunately life is a bit difficult at the moment and I need to divert my attention elsewhere for a while.

My Mother has been taken seriously ill and will be spending Christmas in hospital.

I hope to return in the New Year. Have a really Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Christmas!

Today was not a good day in some ways. I woke up in pain and the bitterly cold weather has moved in again. We managed to go out and do some food shopping on Saturday but the journey back from the shops was stressful. We faced a 10 minute walk on sheets of ice and compacted snow to get home. My OH was great as usual and carried most of the shopping bags. He went out again in the snow today to get a couple of things that we had forgotten to buy. On his way back home he fell heavily on the ice. Luckily he only suffered some bruises and did not break any bones.

This weekend has had its good points too though. My OH made a lovely lemon drizzle cake to cheer us both up. Also he spotted some yarn for sale in a local charity shop. On investigation I discovered a bag of very good quality chunky yarn, enough to make a sweater, and a skein of hand dyed double knitting wool. I bought both for just a few pounds.

This afternoon I sat down to write the last of my Christmas cards. However, I discovered that I was a bit low on cards so decided to make some of my own. During my various City & Guilds courses over the past 5 years I have collected quite a range of paper, card, ribbons, beads and sequins. Now seemed like a good time to delve in that stash and do something useful with it. So I sat at the dining table in my living room and made some cards. It was quite strange sitting there creating Christmas greetings with the snow falling steadily outside, but strangely comforting at the same time. The resulting cards would not win any prizes but I am quite pleased with the way they turned out. I only hope that they get to their respective recipients in time for Christmas.

Knitted hats and other cosy things...

Following a suggestion by Crafty Cripple I have attempted to recharge my creative batteries over the last few days. I have been browsing through Ravelry and also through my yarn stash. It is small by most knitter's standards but big enough for my very small flat. It was great to sit and look through my collection. Many of the skeins have been purchased on special days out with my OH and dear friends so it was soothing to think back to where and when I bought each one.

I came across two skeins of Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend in a lovely mix of blues and greens and some Malabrigo Worsted in a glorious purple colour called Velvet Grapes. With the bad weather approaching again I am now knitting a hat with the Silk Blend. It is a Woolly Wormhead pattern called Limpetiole. I hopefully should have enough left over to make a scarf.



Limpetiole by the lovely Woolly Wormhead

As for the Malabrigo it will probably become a shawl/wrap. I have had Hawthorne by Susanna IC in my Ravelry Library for a while now and the Malbrigo would be perfect. The only worry is whether I have enough of it. Oh dear, another excuse to buy more yarn!

Hawthorne by Susanna IC at Twist Collective

On the beading front I have just received the latest copy of Interweave Beadwork. So I plan to settle down tomorrow evening with a mug of hot chocolate and have a browse. So watch this space!