Spots before my eyes.........................

The delightful Linz has nominated me for an award.....Richard Branson eat your heart out. It's the "I love your Blog Award" . I just want to say that I hope this does not lead to a plethora of people who knew me in childhood selling stories to The Sunday Post....neither do I see Murdo-themed Barbie-type dolls flooding Toys R Us....( although they would be a good profit margin for the manufacturers as they would need shedloads-less latex/plastic for the chest area than usual). This is a paass-it-forward-award....so the following are the "lucky" awardees I would like to pass onto...

a/Melody Knits ( a blog from a chief enabler of high repute and a wit to boot!)
b/Yarnsnob ( I learn and admire)
c/Gilrean ( this is the sock knitters' sock-knitter...wow!)
d/Kathleen Turner (really talented designer)
e/Yarnharlot ( Ok, I know it might sound smarmy but this IS my fave blog as I laugh out loud)
f/Yarnyard ( a blog that covers yarn to chickens to sheds...yes, sheds :)
g/Stolenstitches.com (check out her wonderful Eleanor pattern)
h/Probablyjane (amazing sock patterns and her blog is a great read)
i/The Cabled Climber ( a rock-climbing knitter)

THE AWARD RULES:
The rules/guidelines are as follows .1. Post this award on your blog.2. Add a link to the person who sent you the award.3. Nominate at least 4 other bloggers, and add their links as well.4. Leave a comment at the new recipients' blogs, so they know they got an award.

So why "spots before my eyes??? Well, Linz has a bit of a thing about Ladybirds...a bit like Bill Gates has a thing about computers.....so, as a thanks for my award, here's some Ladybird patterns I like........
Ladybug Mittens
Ladybug Pyjama Bag

Pirate return..............

What better date to resuscitate a Piratepurls blog than Talk like a Pirate Day.

Very little knitting done as my arm will take 18 months to recover...so can only now knit/crochet for about 15 minutes at a time. 15 minutes however, is infinitely preferable to no minutes at all :)

Falling down stairs and being a crock and watching the Olympics got us all thinking about exercise... I could watch this guy for hours Poetry in Motion........................................................................

Inspired by this and as it was Pirate's and Sinbad's Birthdays we got a good deal on a Trampoline . Sinbad has embraced exercising on it totally.....................see the uncanny similarities between him and the gentleman in the video??????????

Practicing so you you can swing from a yardarm must be taxing, it may also be contagious..even scurvy seadogs can be affected......

Anyway, some knitting has occurred...I finished off this top which was a top-down raglan. I looked at and adored the Leaf T shirt and the Rusted Root patterns…but decided I wanted something inspired by them but different. I used the Leaf T’s gorgeous lace panel :) ie/ a central lace pattern a squared neckline ..an eyelet detail (thanks to aztrichards) So after much wrong maths (ahem) and frog ponding…here it is. It doesnt skew in real life..I am just rubbish at photos! The cotton is nice to work with and is a really cheap knit! This was less than 5 balls of James Brett Kool Kotton.

I have started this pattern Baby Cables and Big ones Too by Suvi s.........loving it but I have found that if I join arms at point stated then it is too long in the body/skeeve spaces too big (possibly my row gauge)...so frogging back about 20 rows. Great pattern though...how gorgeous is this!!! I am using a cone of lush Blue Faced Leicester that I had in stash...its so lovely to knit with. I got it from this chap who is delightful...so is his yan. Anyone in Chester UK on weekend of the 27-28th September...he is having an open day.

I have also started a BSJ ( baby Surprise Jacket ). You can see lots of these lovely jackets here. I am using Yarnyard Sockyarn. Beautifully soft for baby but also washable for Mum. The 0-3 months size takes a 100G skein...so a nice change from socks!

This is an amazing baby pattenn by Elizabeth Zimmerman . It appears in her books "The Opinionated Knitter" and "Knitter's Workshop"...you can also purchase as a single pattern here. I believe that SchoolHouse Press will be releasing in the next few weeks an Expanded BSJ Pattern for knitters who who would like detailed instructions and “instructions for the “no-man’s-land” size of approx 7-10 year-olds (too big for the BSJ; too small for the Adult version.

One of the things I like about Yarnyard is that they sell 50g skeins...so great for colour work.

Lopi in my veins and we are not alone!

Well, perhaps more accurate to say Lopi is in my airways, my bed, my husbands underpants. I kid you not. As much as I love knitting with this yarn it sheds as you go along. I tend to knit in bed of an evening (doesn't everybody??????) and there is now lots of little blue fibres to prove it. OH was "tolerant but concerned". Once it found it's way into his underwear his concern increased. To try and give him perspective that there were worse things that could invade underpants than lopi, I showed him this. Sadly it gave little solace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYAlB1Kxayc

Thankfully the cardigan is now finished. It's the Ski Jacket from Veronic Avery's book "Knitting Classic Style"

I love the pattern but found the following

• chart key incorrect. A=main colour. The chart itself is accurate it'sjust the key that is out.
• buttonband as written would appear on mans side of a cardi




• 
  




• I lengthened body and sleeves by two inches, as my arms are reminicent of an Orang and I wanted a jacket as opposed to a waist length cardi.

I also have finished my Headigan hat. This is knit side to side and is a really enjoyable knit. I used less than 1 skeinWensleydale Longwool Aran and less than 1 ball of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora. Despite me not having a "hat-face", I love this hat. However, do you see any similarities?? Note to self re must de-fur those eyebrows. Live long and prosper.

On an extra-terrestrial theme...have a look at this blog!! This wonderful blogger has produced a crochet pattern for the newest DR Who aliens, the Adipose Babies ...less than 24 hours after they appeared on the TV. Amazing!! I hav been informed by the Piratepurls that they want one each...so will teach them to crochet their own!!
http://audm.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/who-are-you-calling-a-geek/#comment-91

In between planetary exploration, I also joined a KAL using New Lanark yarn. This is unbelievably good value yarn ( £1.00 for Double Knitting 50 gram ball = 132 yds / 120 metres ). I am using the Donegal Silk Tweed mix and subbing it for Felted Tweed to make the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. My tension using the New Lanark was different from the original yarn (21 stitches on 3.75mm needles) so I am knitting the smallest size to accommodate for this. Hopefully I will get a 38 inch chest. Swatching was interesting as the yarn "blooms" slightly after washing and the feel and handle much improves. It's not a scratchy yarn but is not super-soft. I do think it is wearable against the skin after washing. One thing, if you do buy this yarn I would invest in a sample card for £1 as the colours look different on my monitor.


Here's my progress to date...just finished the garter rib and onto the ss. Not sure about continuing with the faux seam :(

It's not just me who has been busily knitting. Both the Piratepurls have been knitting over Easter. They both completed the Easter dishcloth from Kenyetta Davis. She very kindly let them be test knitters... ( a pause for motherly pride of a 9 and 10 year old being test knitters)...and they found the pattern well written and fun to make. Kenyetta's piccie is better than mine!

They are now knitting two of Barbara Prime's patterns. The rabbit with a hoodie and the Puppy Dog

Back from advising NASA.....

OK...advising NASA is not strictly true BUT it sounds a lot better than back from a backlog of workstuff.

Got quite a few knitting and crochet things finished, just as well 'cos then I fell down stairs at work and couldn't knit for nearly TWO weeks. That's made me realise how obsessive I am, I have been like a cat on hot bricks. The Doctor in casualty/ER looked at me as if I was concussed when I kept asking for his best estimate of when the pain would stop as I had a shawl to complete.....

Anyway.Finally finished the Bodrum Airport socks. This is a nice partern by the Yarn Harlot. They look nothing like her "Earl Grey" pattern, as the pattern ended up in lost baggage....so they are "sortof" her pattern but aren't. The Harlot is SERIOUSLY funny....hubby is now used to me laughing at the laptop and saying, "Oh that Harlot"....he was originally worried that I had been subsumed by a cult and was speaking in Old Testament tongues...nope...one of the wittiest blogs I've read.

On the topic of The Harlot...she is coming to the UK. At the risk of sounding somewhat sad...I am REALLY excited about this, especially since a very, very kind friend bought me the ticket as a surprise. You know who you are. I am sure all of you knitter-types know Yarn Harlot as a clever, witty knitter-blogger...but..just in case you have also been working in sub-space for NASA, here's her blog.
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/
Do not take a mouthful of liquids whilst reading or your computer my be at risk.

I have also been crocheting and finished two halter tops for the Pirates. Bargainous cotton aran from Texere, so less than a fiver a top.


The pattern was very easy to follow and comes from here. http://mypinkzebraboutique.com/zebraboutique/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=49&products_id=552



Also finished a Sweet Pea crochet shawl. This was also a stash-buster, using a lovely mercenised cotton 4ply I got from my last holiday in Turkey. This is a nice pattern but if following the pattern from "The Happy Hooker" please note their are errata. http://www.knithappens.com/snbhh-errata.pdf

After that it's plain sailing. Pattern is also available here
http://www.nexstitch.com/pat_sweetpea.html