This week's distractions

DD1 and I have been to Borders! What a lovely environment to daunder through, mulling till your hearts content ... over Starbucks and cake. Bliss! I'm about to start Small Island by Andrea Levy. The book, according to the back cover, is set in England in 1948 and "explores a point in England's past when the country began to change... handles the weighty themes of empire, prejudice, war and love, with a superb lightness of touch and generosity of spirit".

DD1 is reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter, written by Kim Edwards. The blurb on the back says "It should have been an ordinary birth, the start of an ordinary happy family. But the night Dr David Henry delivers his wife's twins is a night that will haunt five lives for ever. For though David's son is a healthy boy, his daughter has Down's syndrome. And, in a shocking act of betrayal ... "

On the knitting front, there have also been several book purchases and these are currently winging their way from Amazon and a seller in the States. All will be revealed when they arrive ... Oh blessed Post Office workers - I don't really have an issue with your grievances, but am so looking forward to receiving my 'books with pictures - of the knitting kind' when your action is over!

West Side Raglan is cast on and so far is being a delightful, hassle free project. It's the first time I've used Manos del Uruguay and it won't be the last! I love the slightly slubby textures and the colours in the variegation. I've made some modifications to the pattern and have fingers crossed that it'll all work out! I've used circular needles to knit the back and front ... anything to avoid as much of the dreaded sewing up as possible!

West End Raglan in Manos

There is progress too on Tide, pattern by Louisa Harding, in The Beachcomber Bay Design Collection. The yarn is Garnstudio Muskat - an Egyptian cotton which creates a really pretty drape.

Tide in Muskat

MrB remains in the 'sulky corner', huffily maintaining that 'satin's where it's at in the land of bedding'. Of course it is, hun ... if you like cold feet, like to live dangerously entering and leaving your sleeping area, can cope with your partner and the cyber knitting world giggling at your naff taste .... So, in order to maintain marital relationships (without getting married!) of any description, I'm appeasing MrHuffles with a new pair of socks;) This is the Baby Cable Rib sock pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and the yarn is one of the Trekking yarns. I love the way its knitting up and the muted colours ... I'd like it even better if I could remember the yarn's blessed name!

And just to prove there's been no enhancement of my photography skills since my last entry, here's my most recent failed arty-farty shot! You've gotta give it to a girl for trying in the face of ongoing skills deficits!!And finally, I'm now in Ravelry, having received my invitation a couple of days ago. I'm angieknitsagain there - please come and say hello when you're online there! My thoughts on Ravelry?? Well ...

1. It's huge!


2. I love seeing the patterns knitted up in different yarns


3. It can be really helpful seeing patterns modelled on fellow knitters. ie. REAL humans with lumps and bumps just like mine!


4. It's already added about another 20 patterns to my 'HAVE to knit before I die' (melodramatic, moi???) list


5. It's led to increased friction between DD1/DD2 (I don't like wool, mum!) and I. I see a pattern that I want to knit but they don't want to wear it:(


6. Although a wonderful resource, I'd miss the interaction of forums and blogland too much to spend all my time on Ravelry. Besides, I need to spend some time KNITTING rather than merely ogling knitted projects...

Wooly warmth

There's a definite nip in the air which has seen me scurrying for woolly warmth! Despite my 'extra padding', I feel the cold terribly and become an even more miserable, cantankerous old biddie when chilled;) The heating is switched on in the evening and I am spending cosy nights browsing through patterns to keep the cold at bay. The West End Raglan is destined to hit the needles next. The pattern was purchased from Yarns by Design ( http://www.yarnsbydesign.com) and I really recommend them. The pattern wung its way across the Atlantic very quickly and the seller was really helpful. One other plus point for this particular pattern is that it comes with directions for both worsted and chunky yarn - so, plenty of scope to sub a variety of yarns.


I'm planning to use this - Manos del Uruguay (Shade 8891). Isn't it just glorious?? I love the muted autumnal shades and this worsted yarn is so soft to the touch! I bought it on eBay from alpacaandcats, Peak Wool store, who's an absolute gem. I'm hoping that she doesn't mind me plagiarising her photo!

DD1 has had an eventful week - she started her university course on Monday and is looking somewhat shell shocked by the experience! She also re-sat her driving test on Friday and passed!! Bless her - you have to give it to her, she IS a trier!! Brief conversation took place on Friday evening as follows:

DD1: "Don't suppose there's any chance I can borrow your car, mum?"

Me: "Nope!"

I'm not really being a horrid mum (though the kids might debate that!). We had priced the insurance on mine and MrB and I nearly required hospital treatment when we were given the quotes! So, it'll be off to the auctions soonish to find a Group 1 insurance rated wee run-around for Madam ... and be warned, she's hitting the roads of South Wales shortly!

Her stressful week was heightened when she had a flash of insight about our similarities ... "Mum, I'm getting just like you. I'd rather be warm than trendy". Please take a few seconds to console this mother with a battered ego and grossly reduced self image;) I'd naively reckoned that, since I'd lost a bit of weight recently, I was looking relatively nifty for a 44 year old! Heck, I'd even bought a skirt from Miss Selfridges (It does have an elastic waist but I'm ignoring that fact for now!) and a jumper from Top Shop! Obviously my daughter reckons differently (lol)! She has realised that there is a weather anomaly on the University of Glamorgan site though. No matter how clement the weather conditions are anywhere else in the UK, her Uni sits on a polar zone - and its either perishing/windblown or hammering it down with rain! Her list of required knits has grown and I'd better be faster on the needle than I have been! She's taken to wearing homemade socks on a daily basis....

These were completed recently and worn the other day. There is a moral to the 2 photos below. The first being - don't let other half loose to buy bedding! He'll come back with kinky satin stuff that (1) is not cosy; (2) means you constantly have to soften the skin on your feet or the sheets snag (too much information??) and (3) should come with a Government Health Warning! You jump in to bed wearing a satin nightie and shoot straight across the bed like a human cannonball, landing in a very unglamorous heap on the floor!! What IS wrong with flannelette, MrB????


The other lesson learned was that I need to take photography lessons! I tried to go all arty here and its not quite Lord Lichfield quality, is it? The yarn is Regia Surfer. It has a lovely sheen and is softer to the touch than Opal yarn.Finishing off with my 'mutton dressed as lamb' theme here, I've succumbed to another current trend and bought a pair of Crocs! These little beauties were purchased on eBay (nope, I don't have eBay shares ... but maybe I should!) for a bargainous £18.99. Shoes can be a real nightmare for me - various joints on my feet flare up with the arthritis, so what's comfy one day can feel like walking on glass the following day... I'm not sure if I'm a Croc convert yet, but they'll be just dandy for our forthcoming SUMMER holiday (in October!!). However, the Crocs have incited powerful feelings in the Blethers household - everyone else hates them!
I came home from work the other night to find MrB trying to convince the pup that my Crocs were, in fact, a chewie bone and encouraging her to gnaw them!! It's just as well we're not married, I'd have divorced him then;)

PS. Can anyone help me please? I can't seem to get my pics to be 'clickable' to enlarge over the past couple of weeks ... and haven't a clue where I'm going wrong. Any suggestions about how I remedy this??? Thank you!