Hat's off to.....

Two posts in a couple of days? Well, at least my blogging inconsistency remains consistent;)

MissB is sulking that more of my blogging/knitting comrades want to adopt the dog, rather than her! Bless her, it should come as no real surprise ... look at Abbie, the mutt's cheeky wee expression, makes her so much more adoptable;) Anyway, here's slightly better pictures of the 2 hats (especially for dreamcatcher).

Sirdar Eco DK Lacy Beret

Sirdar Eco DK Lacy Pull-on hat

Knitted in one colour and minus knitted flower applique

Lacy pull-on hat crown

On the eureeka-moment knitting front, the end of the dirge that is the Blue Mile is nearing! I've just got the sleeves to sew in and then seam it up! Halleluiah!! It's a nice enough style but, OMG, what a drag to knit! However, pictures of my knitting nightmare should be posted by next weekend:) One wee disaster on the last leg... In need of legal stimulation (coffee!), I placed my knitting on the settee to pop off to put on the kettle. There it sat, resplendant on its Brittany Birch needles... Then the daft pup decided to take her favourite squeaking pig toy onto the sett ee for a good old maul and chew. Leaping like an Olympic athlete, she dived on to the sofa, landing straight on top of the Brittany needles, snapping one of them in two:( I'd to finish knitting it on lopsided, non-matching needles...

Angie ( http://jazzycrafts.blogspot.com) made my day, and got me blushing ... she's given me an award!

Thank you, Angie - I'm really chuffed and love watching what you're up to on the crafty front. Am off now to decide who to nominate others who inspire me and make my day too...

Knitting for ... pleasure!

Two weeks since I last blogged and just where to begin!

I've scarcely done any knitting over the past fortnight but have reflected a little on how I've used our hobby/passion over the past few months... Knitting, as I'm sure it does for many of us, has always been a source of relaxation and stress reduction for me - you become wholly absorbed in the creative process, don't you (unless its the dreaded Blue Mile jumper!!)?

SS2 had been living with us for the last 16 months or so. I use the word 'live' loosely as, to be brutally honest, it's felt far closer to 'survive' than anything else. I'm not going to go into specific details - but it does set the scene a little when I say I went into work in an acute mental health setting as a respite from our life here:( During this time, I often hid myself each night in the bedroom, knitting like fury and almost for sanity salvation, whilst remaining hyper vigilant to any sounds that came from outside my room ...

The long and short of it is that SS decided he no longer wanted to live with boundaries and reasonable rules and has returned to his mother's on a permanent basis. The change in our home is already amazing .... MrB and I can sleep during the night; MrB is able to go out to work for more than an hour at a time (helpful when you're self employed!); DD2 had her friends stay overnight this weekend; stress levels are way reduced ... We have had one crisis since though - MrB was admitted to hospital in the middle of the night last weekend with breathing difficulties. He was on oxygen and a nebuliser for much of the week but is now back home, armed with an inhaler. I'd to give him 'breathing/ inhaling' lessons when he got home - with both of us on the settee puffing away at our Salbutamol! Who says romance is dead;) PHEW! That's more than I planned to say .... but it's said! The other big change is that I'm knitting again for pleasure, rather than for sanity:)

That said, my paltry efforts to date have been these:

1) There's been some progress on the Blue Dingy Mile. Back and front are both done and sleeves will be cast on today.
2) DD1 asked for a knitted mobile phone cozy ... and here it is! I think it's a 4 ply Posh yarn - I snapped it up from a fellow forum member on Crafty Threads n' Yarns (Thank you, Pictish!). The pattern was designed by Nancy Mathews and is available at http://homepages.nyu.edu/~nw8/ . I made a couple of little changes - a toggle and plaited hoop were added as fasteners. MissB has requested another already!

I posted it as my January entry to the Crafty Threads n'Yarns new yearly challenge... rather than making a pair of socks per month, we are attempting to make any item with sock yarn.

Sounds great fun - though doubt I'll manage any more than my less-than-overwhelming total of THREE items last year:)

3) There's only the neckband and sewing up to be done on the Noro short sleeves cardi.

I visited the LYS yesterday to purchase an additional ball of the Silk Garden for the neckline. There was only the neutral, nondescript grey section of the yarn left from each of the original balls and I really want to have some of the teal and green on show...

My stashalong is going as well as always;) I succumbed and assisted Terri (http://terriknits.blogspot.com) with her de-stashing and bought the most beautiful Kilcarra arran (picture to be posted when the lovely squishy parcel arrives).

I've fancied knitting Pin Up Queen, from Stitch 'n Bitch The Knitter's Handbook, for some time and the delightful Murdo (http://piratepurls.blogspot.com) has helped me with library/pattern enhancement:)

I'd also been ogling at Sirdar's new Eco DK and had a smooze with it at the LYS. I fancied the Cabled Yoke cardi from the accompanying pattern book, but am less and less sure now. What do you think? To my mind the sleeves and the way the body attaches to the bodice looks a little lumpy??? And I am insightful enough to know that the Blether's body requires no additional bumps;) However, DD1 has placed a further order from the pattern book - the lace beret.

Fingers crossed and needles at the ready, we may have a FO by next weekend!

On the needles...

Sirdar Click DK Pattern 8954

Sirdar Click DK Yarn - shade 0147

Now that MissBlether's (DD1) future is secured at university, she has decided that she needs a new wardrobe to go with her student role. This from the girl who growled she would couldn't be seen in anything I'd knitted in this lifetime :)

The pattern is one of the new patterns released by Sirdar for their Click DK range, following the success of Click aran. The DK yarn is soooo soft and has a real sheen/glisten to it. It should be a dream to knit with - but I'm struggling with it a little. My slightly (???) obsessional traits leave me with a preference for having almost meticulous consistent tension, with repetitive even texture ensuing (eek, I can't help it ... honest!!). However, I just cannot get that with this yarn! And, given the fact that the pattern involves endless stocking stitch (22.5 inches ss with a pit stop of 3" of 1x1 rib), you can imagine my anally retentive struggle! DD1 has been snorting with laughter at my frustration with it...

Anyway, the back is now complete and I need stop avoiding casting on the front! If I don't crack on, she'll be graduating by the time I sewing it together:)