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.