ET go home

MissBlethersTheElder was mooching about how cold she was feeling and requested a cardigan to keep her cosy. She sounds less and less the typical rebellious teenager with the"Bah! I feel NO cold and am wearing NO bloomin' vest, mum!". She asked for a February Lady Sweater and selected her own yarn. Now here's where we are sometimes at the mercy of our computer screens, isn't it? The yarn appeared a darkish blue online. I voiced some doubt at the time, given the subtle clue the shade was labelled 'Lavender'. MissBTE did not shift from her "blue" stance. Without further ado, please welcome Miss BTE's PURPLE cardigan;o)

February Lady Sweater - Part 2

Started 16/8/08 -Finished 5/9/08

Size: XXS

Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool
Skeins: 4 skeins = 880.0 yards (804.7m)
Colorway: 8888 Lavender

ooOoo

On the non-knitting front, I've been back at work for a week now and have started the new extended work pattern. The plan is that I work an extra 45 minutes daily for 9 days, then have every 2nd Friday off. To date, it's felt ok and it's amazing just how much you can get done when the office is quiet:o)

The appointment with the Sleep Clinic took place this week. I was sent home with the test equipment and spent Wednesday evening trussed up like a turkey! Let me conjure the scene a little ... 3 seat belt type straps wrapped round my middle, interlinked with wires monitoring my chest and diaphragm ... a wire going from the central box (attached to my tummy), down my arm to the middle finger, monitoring the heart. When we switched the bedroom lights off, it became very apparent that the finger monitor glowed red in the dark, similar to a small torch. This produced ET "Go home" giggles for us! The ensemble was accessorised with a set of racy nostril monitors attractively draped around my ears and taped to my cheeks and neck. No wonder MrB said "Not tonight, Josephine";o) After this round of night terrors (well the vision of me wearing it was pretty terrible!), I'll feel somewhat cheated if the results are negative!!

Had I known....

... that all I had to do to bring around some beautiful weather was to start knitting winter scarves, I would have started to produce the little woolly wonders in May!! MissBlethersTheElder had been bemoaning the cold and wanted something to cozy into - so I cast on a So Called Scarf for her. After a 'summer' of grim weather, we are now basking in a lovely Indian summer and it appears my knitted efforts are for naught (at least for this week).

So Called Scarf

Needle and yarn details:
Needle: US 11 / 8.0 mm
Yarn: Palette (100% wool, purchased at HobbyCraft, Newport)
How much: 4 skeins (50g)
Colorway: Very Grape

Pattern designed by Allison Isaccs

Lookie! I managed to link for the first time! Thanks to the lovely Franney and Jo for their linkage support;o)

A long time coming!

I visited Occupational Health at work the other week to have my regular bloods done to monitor the medication I'm on for the RA. My lovely colleagues there took one look at me and announced I looked blooming awful (just as well the old ego is not tooo fragile, isn't it?) and told me to take 2 weeks off work to rest. I've done as I was told - MrB only wishes he had the same gift of getting me to do his bidding;o). Some of those hours have been wiled away working through the endless pile of WIPs amassed over recent months (who are you kidding, Blogblethers ... several years!!)

One down, several more to go!

Noro Top with short sleeves

Designed by Jenny Watson in Noro Designer Mini Knits

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, Colour 264
Skeins: Pattern called for 4 but I purchased 5 skeins to ensure colour around the neck line
Size: L
Started: January 2008 and e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y finished September 2008!!

ooOoo

The lovely Aknita ( http://aknitasknits.blogspot.com) touched me greatly by nominating me for The Brillante Weblog award. Am not sure about you, but I never feel quite blog-worthy enough to be acknowledged in such a lovely way... H0wever, I just wanted to say thank you to Aknita for her support and friendship over the past few years and to say please head over to her site to see some of the most beautiful Forest Canopy Shawls you will ever see!


Without further ado, I'd like to 'pass on the honours' to some bloggers who brighten up my cyber reading!

The Rules:
The rules for award acceptance are as follows:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her website/blog.
2. Add a link to the person who gave you this award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other websites/blogs.
4. Provide links of the nominated websites/blogs.
5. Leave a message at each website owner that you´ve nominated.

My nominees, in no particular order, are:
1. a little fuzzy (http://alittlefuzzy.wordpress.com)
2. All fingers and thumbs (http://allfingersandthumbs.blogspot.com)
3. Clickety Clack (http://cyclingknitter.blogspot.com/)
4. fluffyknitting (http://fluffyknitting.blogspot.com)
5. Irish eyes (http://irisheyesknitters.blogspot.com)
6. Riggwelter's (http://riggwelter.wordpress.com)
7. two knits of ivory (http://twoknitsofivory.blogspot.com)

One day I'll master this linking business!

It may be September, but...

... it's cold enough for February!

Or, to be more precise, a February Lady Sweater. Pamela Wynne designed this pattern which has taken the knitting world (or at least, Ravelry!) by storm. Pamela has very generously made the pattern available, free, at www.flintknits.com. It's an extremely clearly written pattern and can be modified to suit personal tastes very easily.

I finished off this one recently and have made notes of the modifications I made as I went along:

Started: 19/7/08

Finished: 15/8/08

Yarn: New Lanark Mills Donegal Silk Tweed Aran in Cobalt

Quantity: approximately 650g

Raglan increases:
I replaced the original m1's to yo's instead. This eliminated the need to work with stitch markers.

Garter stitch yoke:
Added an extra 11 rows of garter stitch after the increase row to accommodate my "hearty beauties"!

Button holes:
Added a 4th button hole to draw the yoke in more at the chest and to create more shape at the bust line.

Eyelet row:
Removed the eyelets and used kfb instead as didn't want the small row of eyelets above the gull stitch pattern.

Gull pattern:
Completed 20 patterns of the gull stitch (4 row pattern) for main part of the body.

A word of warning to those who have not yet tackled this pattern, it's addictive!! You may have to cast on more than one. Perhaps a subtle clue about future "finish off" pictures to come, you reckon?

ooOoo

On a personal front, some good news ... The reason behind my trip home and the pictures from the last entry was that the girls and I were visiting my mum whilst she was in hospital. After an admission of more than 5 weeks, mum is now home from hospital. It's great that she's back home, with an increased support package which should bring positive changes for both mum and dad.