BEAUTIFUL

Hi everyone

It was my birthday in March and I was spoilt rotten as usual.  My family are so good to me.  I'm very lucky.

Any body who knows me, knows I love yarn.  So my mum got me some very lovely red yarn from her local wool shop (which is situated in the Courtyard - Carrickfergus.)  Mum is very lucky cos she has 2 great wool shops in her town.  Where I live is lacking a bit in wool shops.  There is 1 wee shop, but it doesn't sell any of the fancy wool that people are used to now - to be honest that is probably a good thing, because I would be out a fortune.

Anyway back to the lovely red wool.

Isn't it just the nicest.  It has wee red sequins all over it.  I haven't found a project for it yet.  Mum reckons I should make some mittens.  Would the sequins get in the way though when your wearing them?  Let me know what you think I should knit.

I also got some lovely yarn this week when I was away on holiday for the night.  

My sister in law had gifted us a night away in a hotel in Arklow, Co. Wicklow for Christmas.  

I highly recommend taking a trip there it's so lovely and relaxing.

We went for a walk up the street the first day and from a distance and without my glasses on may I add (usually I can't see anything in the distance if I don't have my glasses on) I saw a sign for wool.  I was determent to have a look the next day before we headed off.  So the next day after breakfast I got my yarn radar on and headed out to see what delights where about.  I wasn't disappointed at all.  The shop was full of all the wool you could think of and more.  I homed in on some skeins of multi-coloured wool and found 1 I just couldn't resist.  I was on holiday so I treated myself as you do.

Imagine what it will look like when it is knitted up - just beautiful.  I also got to use my skein holder for the first time.  It works a treat.

I had my ball of yarn in no time at all.

This also doesn't have a project, but because of the beautiful colours and also the yarn it's self is so lovely to touch I was thinking of adding it into a blanket of some kind.

I can't wait to knit them up and show you all what I've created.

Cheerio till next time.

SOCKTASTIC

Hi everyone

So lets talk socks.  I have 2 finished pairs of socks to show you.

The first pair are knitted from cotton yarn that I purchased in Lidls of all places.  I fancied trying to knit a rib pattern.  I knit rib 1x1 for the cuff.  The pattern for the sock was knit 3, purl 1 for the round.  

My lovely mother in law had given me some of the same wool months ago which I used to knit a wee girls dress.  I still had some left over so I used it to add a bit of contrasting colour to the heel and toes. 

Next time I would use the contrasting colour to knit the heel flap too, because you can't see much of the colour on the heel.  

I have been loving wearing these.  They did fall down my leg a little, so I took some elasticated thread and weaved it on the inside of the cuff and secured it tightly so it wouldn't come undone.  It works a treat.

The second pair of socks that I have finished are a similar pink colour but with multi-coloured strips after ever 7 main colour round.  The pinky wool I used is a baby wool.  I wouldn't think you could get in your local wool shop anymore because I found it in a second hand shop and it looked quite old. (I find some great bargains when it comes to wool in my local second hand shops.  Give it ago I really recommend it.)  

They are shorter then the other pairs of socks I have knitted but I love them.  If you can remember the socks I knitted and gave to my mum they were knitted in the yarn that I used for the strips in these socks.  I had some left over so I thought I would give it a go.  I really like how they have turned out.  

I decided to just knit the heel with the main colour and use the mutli-coloured yarn for the toe.

I have a pattern written down in my notebook just to keep me right but they really aren't hard to master.  If you want me to blog the sock patterns please leave a comment and let me know.

I'm not knitting socks at the moment but I'm sure it wont be too long until I'm back knitting them.  I found it so pleasing and now that I have mastered knitting them to fit my feet its not so hard a job. 

Cheerio till next time.

  

KNITTING WAS ONCE A MALE ONLY OCCUPATION

Hi everyone

Once again I've been on the interweb and come up with a wee gem about knitting.

It's an article about things you might not of known about knitting - Like number 3. Knitting was once a male only occupation.

10 Things You Didn't Know About Knitting

Hope you enjoy this wee gem and let me know if there is any more things about stuff we didn't know about knitting or if you already knew some of these.

Cheerio till next time.

BARGAIN HUNTING

Hi everyone

My lovely mother in law came to visit me and the hubby today. She came to visit our new fur baby Reilly. He's a rescued cat from our local animal sanctuary. He fitted in the minute we brought him home. It's like he's been here forever.  

Our other cat Sally has been very good with him and just sleeps and eats and tries to ignore him. 

After we had gone for lunch with Jane, I asked if she wanted to go and bargain hunt in our local 2nd hand shops (this is one of our favourite things to do. We love to see what great bargains we can found).

I can't believe what I got. As a knitter this is such a great find and a brilliant bargain. I think Jane must be a lucky charm. 

I've wanted one for such a long time.  

It is a skein holder for when you are winding balls of yarn. Instead of having to get your hubby to hold your skein while you wind or instead of using the back of a chair. 

Can you guess how much I paid for it?  No.... Well I'll tell you. It was marked at £2 but when I went to pay for it. The shop had a half price sale on so I got it for a £1. What a bargain and the money goes to a good cause too.

Why not bargain hunt in your local 2nd hand shops. You never know what you'll find. 

Cheerio to next time

FABRIC OF BRITAIN

Hi everyone

I love BBC Iplayer and now I love it even more. 

At the moment (sorry not sure how long it will be on for) they have a programme about knitting - FABRIC OF BRITAIN, THE GOLDEN AGE OF KNITTING. 

This programme is from a year or 2 ago but definitely worth a watch for all you knitting lovers. 

BBC Iplayer Fabric of Britain - Golden Age of Knitting

Cheerio till next time