Where did you go...

June??

I can't believe how fast June flew past! There's been very little in the way of knitting outcomes. Here's my embarrassing contribution for the month!
MissBlethersTheElder renewed her mobile phone contract and, of course, got a new mobile. As soon as she had her phone, she placed her request for a new phone cover. It's the ipod cover, by Irene McKisson and can usually be rustled up in a few hours... I used the left over yarn from MissB's accidentally felted socks and replaced the rib with a knit-one-through-the-back, purl one rib. It seems to be a stretchier rib and holds the phone in the case well.

I'm still plodding my way through the Sirdar Leaf Yoke short-sleeved cotton sweater. The pattern is very easy going and presents no real challenge. Currently, I'm working on the leaf pattern and am attempting wrap stitches for the first time. So far, so good! Hopefully, it'll be finished and blocked by my next post - and, even better, the weather here will have cooled sufficiently to allow the wearing of a cotton jumper without resembling a melting blob! Having a 'Celtic' pallor (some would say, deathly white milk bottle complexion), I'm no sun worshipper;o)

ooOoo

It's a pretty busy family month for us - with mum, MrB and I all having our birthdays during the month.

June 13th is MrB, my beloved's birthday. And where would a devoted, loving partner spend time on their true love's special day? Absolutely right, I headed off to Pembroke Dock (about 100 miles away) to spend the KIP day with Angie. Angie has posted some pictures from the day. I had a lovely time meeting, amongst others, Angie, Felix, Andreweaver and taliesin. It was wonderful to meet everyone and to spend the afternoon knitting, in both glorious company and weather. I did make it up to MrB though, stopping off on the way back to buy him a steak and birthday cake.

Mum's birthday was on June 14th and, as she's still in hospital, the 'celebrations' were more muted than they would normally have been. She did enjoy the strawberry gateau my sister took in to the ward though...

When my birthday arrived later in the month, I was thoroughly spoiled too. Look what one of my lovely workmates made me! And it tasted every bit as good as it looks:o) The kids developed semi-deprived looks, asking me "Why can't you bake like that?"
It's not for the want of trying, but I know my limitations (blush). MrMarks&Spencer produces the cake in our house - and folk who've witnessed my baking deficiency will vouch the recipient has had a lucky escape!

ooOoo

MissBlethersTheYounger (otherwise known as Miss SatNav) has spread her wings too and is the cause of much parental angst and separation issues at present ... of which she remains blissfully unaware;o) She has embarked on her first ever holiday without 'parental control'. MissBTY is currently spending the week in a static caravan, with 3 friends, in Tenby (West Wales). She is obviously having a wonderful time - deduced from her distinct lack of phone contact! Tenby is in a beautiful, coastal area of Wales ... though I very much doubt they are enjoying the scenery and continue to live a nocturnal teenage existence, sleeping all day and coming out at sunset!

Strong roots and fresh blossom

It's been a very difficult few weeks. My mum was taken extremely poorly and is now, thankfully, slowly recovering in hospital. Her tenacity and spirit to live amazing not only the family, but the medical team treating her.
Sadly, mum has missed seeing the Laburnum tree in full blossom, but will hopefully be home before it's past its full glory. Dad built their home and we grew up in this house. The garden is my parents pride and joy - and a complete pleasure to behold. Mum's usual vantage point is on the patio at the top of the garden, where she sits and issues horticultural instruction to dad! I'm not sure if it's clear from this photograph, but there are even large pots of potatoes growing on the patio. Dad was muttering about them being the most expensive potatoes he's ever grown (large tub planters, potatoes seeds, cost of the potting compost etc) - but, be sure, he'll be delighted to sit down with mum later to enjoy their crop.

MissBlethersTheElder and I travelled home to visit mum in hospital. The weather was unusually glorious and we took these snapshots from the car park in the town. Beats the view from a multi-storey, doesn't it?


Unfortunately our trip home meant I missed meeting up with Angie on her recent visit to Cardiff. I'm really hoping to sort that on Knit In Public day, next Saturday!

ooOoo

MissBlethersTheYounger had me chuckling this afternoon. Her older sister was planning to go out tonight to a 'themed' leaving-do. She needed to borrow a fluorescent pink net tutu skirt (apparently ALL the best dressed wardrobes boast at least one net froo-froo!!). DD2 couldn't find hers (which is no surprise as she is one of those kids who call the floor their wardrobe!). Several phone calls to her friends later, we located one ... and set sail to collect it to save her big sister some time later on. We wound our way round Cardiff, with me looking more and more bemused.... "Are you sure you know the way, MissBlethersTheYounger?" My youngest off spring boldly announces, "Course I do! This is the No 57 bus route". Heaven help us when she hits the roads for driving lessons. Maybe she should get a SatNav for her 17th birthday present?

Hot head!

Ever feel a little out of sync with the rest of the world? This could well be one of those moments for me... On the hottest weekend of the year so far, let me share my latest finished item - an angora tammy for MissBlethersTheElder!

Angora Tammy

The yarn was bought on our recent trip to Wonderwool Wales - from Easter Bunnies/ Crafty Angora. It's so soft to the touch, especially the grey yarn. Once the knitting and sewing up were done, the hat had to be dampened and then was popped in the tumble dryer, on low setting, for 10 minutes at a time until the desired size is achieved. I did confess it might have been me responsible for the blocked filter that MrB adeptly cleaned later, muttering "bloomin' dogs"!

......

Great news too for knitters in Cardiff - a new local yarn store opened on Thursday, called Big Knitters (located at the top of Wellfield Road, by the junction with Albany Road). Although a compact shop, the owner has made best use of the available space. They carry a pretty range of yarns - Rowan, select Sirdar, and a french range of yarns. However, consumer opinions are being sought about other ranges to carry. It'll be exciting to see what develops.

A number of Welsh Raveler's met up there on Saturday and we'd a really lovely morning - browsing patterns, touching yarn, chatting ... accompanied by complementary coffee and yummy homemade cup cakes. Apparently, there are plans for a monthly cupcake session and also to hold a weekly group when they're a little more settled. I got the new Sirdar Juicy pattern book and cast on the Leaf top in soft green Calico last night. Normally, I detest knitting in cotton. The lack of 'give' in cotton niggles me and I struggle to get an even tension over the body of a garment. However, Calico has me converted and it's a joy to knit with.

......

DD1 came over the other weekend and we took the dogs a walk along one of her favourite routes. It's a wetland nature park, located on the outskirts of Cardiff and makes wonderful use of the old canals sited there.

Don't let these 3 'innocents' fool you! They're deliberately trying to look like it wasn't them, barking and howling, when DD1 and I briefly popped into a hyde to watch the wildlife.
The one below in yet another Blethers classic photography moment! I was really excited to spy a heron in one of the wetland areas, and tried to save the moment for posterity. There is a heron in there....
If you've got 20/20 vision, you might spot it!

Wonderful Wonderwool Wales

Last Sunday, the girls and I headed off to Wonderwool Wales at Builith Wells. I'd hoped to leave about 9.30am to ensure that we got to spend a reasonable amount of time there - browsing, drooling and enhancing stash!! However, I'd forgotten to take into account DD2's inverted daily life structure at the moment - sleeping all day and awake much of the night! So, maybe hitting the road at 10.30am wasn't too bad, all teenagers considering!

Here's what I bought!

Dream in Colour Smooshy ~ November Muse

Artist's Palette ~ 2 Smootherino 4 ply and Buttersoft DK Grey Crafty Angora and Peaches and Cream Cotton

The show was well worth the travel and had a wonderful array of yarn and fibre suppliers. A very brief roll call of honour includes:

• Fyberspates
• Artist's Palette
• First 4 Yarns
• Natural Dye Studio
• Laughing Hens
• The Woolly Workshop
• The Old Piggery...

For those who had nerves of steel enough not to further enhance yarn stashes, there were spindles, looms, needles, books, buttons, fabric, felted items and a lovely selection of stitch markers. DD1 bought a lovely set of Russian Doll stitch markers, made by Atomic Knitting, for my birthday. There were alpacas, angora rabbits and sheep there to keep the younger folks happy (Truth be told, I reckon we ALL oohed and ahhed over the livestock!).

And for those who would not yet be converted to yarn love, a food fayre was sharing the same venue - with a wide range of delicacies available, including cheeses, sausages, scotch eggs, luxury steamed puddings. And a stall selling a range of ciders ... a couple of which are chilling in the fridge at the moment!

Unfortunately we missed the fashion show and the workshops (teaching a range of knitting, crochet, embellishment and button making techniques). There's always next year...

Gardening, not garter stitch!

There's still no knitting of mention going on. However, DD1 and I had a wonderful time last Sunday at the Royal Horticultural Society show in Cardiff. The weather was glorious, and matched by the beautiful array of plants we saw.

Knight Rider tulip

We were able to buy all 19 stems at the end of the day for a bargain price of £5 and split them between us.


Stunning Clematis in full bloom. I'd recently bought the dainty purple one on the top right of the picture. It's still to be planted in the back garden and am really looking forward to seeing it become an established climber.
The bronze and golden colours used in the displays below were stunning. The flowering plant is a Hellebore (I think!).

There was a beautiful display of bonsai trees. The Japanese Maple (below) was planted in 1955 and still less than 2 foot tall. The colours and form of the tree was stunningly pretty.

Spring blooms...

And, of course, the obligatory Welsh rugby player, scoring a try - completely planted out!

..............

Tomorrow promises to be another wonderful day out. I'm off to Wonderwool Wales, a yarn and fibre festival held annually at Builith Wells, Powys. It's a 2 hour drive each way from Cardiff and the girls' eyes are bulging at the prospect of being ready to head off at 9.30am on a Sunday morning! I think the only reason they've agreed to come is they've caught wind of cider and food being available on the same site! Photos will follow!

...............
DD1 sent me a somewhat bizarre text this week whilst I was at work, asking if she could come home for the night to sleep over. No, she was not missing her mum drastically - nor had a fall out with her boyfriend. His pet snake had escaped and she was not returning to the flat till it was re-captured!

One, two, three ... not out!

The deafening silence here tells you how much knitting success I've been having recently;o)

Fetching

in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Fetching, by Cheryl Niamath, appears to have been my last project that went as intended. The yarn was a dream to work with and I'll happily use it again for some future project. The pattern was very clearly written and the cable work was a really nice re-introduction to cables after too long a break. The construction of the thumb was different and I feel my finishing was a little less elegant than the method used in the Cranford Mitts.

Now more of my knitting disasters!

Firstly, remember these? No Purl Monkeys, hot off the needles for DD1. She wore them once and her boyfriend laundered them....

One of the sad pair now looks like this! Doesn't it look a truly sorrowful wee sight?? And this is the young man who wants to marry my daughter;o) I've soaked it several times and with Herculean strength, and much cursing, managed to get it loosened enough to force on to a sock blocker. I reckon it's a lost cause though ...

To con'sole' myself, I cast on another pair of socks. This time I planned to make the original Monkey pattern, by Cookie. I trawled through my stash and came up with the perfect yarn - a Fyberspates yarn in soft muted shades of yellow, brown and natural. Perfect! This was the 23rd pair of socks I've cast on and, as I've not yet got a pair to my name, were to be mine, all mine... The pattern's wonderful and was flying off my needles. As the length of the foot grew, I tried them them on - or tried to:o( They don't fit my clod hoppers without the risk of cutting off all blood supply to my feet! So, once SSS has been addressed, these may well become the replacement pair for DD1's lost socks!

Next, I cast on Ribby Yoke sweater using Sirdar Eco yarn. How wrong could this go?? Well, true to form I did balls this one up too! For anyone else who starts this project, don't be an eejit like me and misread the pattern:

Work in st-st (throughout) work 89 rows dec 1st at each end of the next and every following 8th row...

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but such a shame it is hind and not fore sight in my case! The pattern was NOT telling me to decrease on the 90th row as I initially interpreted it... Frogging back 102 rows of very soft, slightly fluffy yarn is not fun! The project is now back on track with the back and nearly all of the front done.

The Eco yarn was ordered online and delivery was going to take a couple of days. Could I wait? Nope! Startitis was raging - and I cast on a Climbing Vines sweater. I love this pattern and had been itching to try it out. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be itching, wearing it! I used some Kilcarra aran that I'd stashed away. Now, the pattern is stunning... The yarn is lovely - but not something that you'd wear next to your skin, unless you have some serious masochistic streak or a very thick vest:o( It's not the pattern at fault, or the yarn - it's the dunderhead knitter that put the two together who's entirely responsible. If anyone can tell me that Kilcarra aran softens up dramatically in the first wash, I'll be delighted. If not, it's to the frog pond for this one too and the Kilcarra will become an outdoor type garment which the yarn currently appears more suited to.

They say that things happen in threes, don't they?

Empty sock drawers... and nest

MrB is a wonderful man, but not a subtle one! He's been bemoaning the sad state of his sock drawer and pointed out that it had been quite some time since any socks had been knitted with his size 8's in mind!

Regia Havanna Socks for OH

I used Cookie's Monkey pattern, minus the lovely lace work. However, the pattern also creates super easy plain socks. The picture below probably depicts the colour of the Regia yarn more closely... and MrB is happy that his drawer is a little less depleted!


Talking of empty drawers, there have been other experiences of a similar nature going on in the Blethers household over the past week or so - empty nest syndrome has struck! MsBTheElder moved out, having rented a lovely 2 bed roomed flat with her fiance. It feels really strange not having her here .... though in some ways, we've actually spent more time together than we would have normally. She was always rushing in, to rush straight back out when she lived here!

However, I awoke to a message yesterday morning in which MsB texted in an audibly sorrowful tone that she had been up all night being sick. She very readily agreed to a visit from mum to administer damp cloths. I didn't even have my coat off before she suggested we go back home to assist recovery in her old bed, with the dogs round her ... and access to TV!! She stayed overnight here and I drove her back to her new address at lunchtime and promptly returned to her new settee and attentive partner... It was lovely being 'mum' again, even for the one night (but don't tell her I said so!!).

............

My dad and I share a love of orchids and fuchsias - though he is much more talented and successful with his green fingers... Dad's birthday is tomorrow and he'll be 70 years young. I know we are mostly all biased about our father's ... but he is truly a remarkable man who provides round-the-clock nursing care to mum, despite his own health issues.

I've yet to share with him my recent discovery of how to succeed with rejuvenating orchids...

... completely ignore and neglect them, and they come back to produce beautiful flowers! This one had been abandoned on our bathroom window sill and look what it's produced (despite me!). There was a 2nd stem but it didn't develop as it got frosted against the glass when we had that really cold snap.


No doubt, it'll receive the same loving care as before once it's finished flowering!