Funeral for a Friend

I was so hopeful of Plums & Custard, so sure I had managed to bring my knitting under control and force the needles to do my bidding. It appears I was mistaken. This is the second time I have had to admit defeat and frog them. I am seriously upset, this is the second time I have had my arse whopped by one circular needle and 100g of gorgeous wool. Plums & Custard, I love you but I fear we have parted ways. I believe we need time apart, meanwhile I mourn your loss my purple and yellow friend. Perhaps when we meet again, you’ll let me know what you want to be … it sure as hell isn’t a pair of damn socks!

It could be Iain sabotaged our relationship, he has been jealous of our relationship. He has been waiting for me to cast on his purple perils.

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar

Things have been busy, or should I say my Bank Manager is slightly poorer. I had a slight splurge on books this month - I purchased 3 knitting books to further extend the library.

The first is Debbie Bliss’s Simply Baby. I really like her patterns and this contains the most amazing double breasted coat. It is so lovely I am going to knit it for my sister’s baby. Sue will totally love it and I seriously think it should be bright red. Anyway, I just have had to knit this coat, its so beautiful and, even better, I can knit it for my sister’s baby. There are a host of other gorgeous patterns in the book, solid Debbie Bliss and I shall enjoy working through the book.

The other two books are Beads, Buttons and Lace by Jennie Atkinson and Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael. These books are just so lovely but realistically I would need to have somebody else’s body for the designs to look great on me. However, Ms McGowan-Michael regularly sizes her designs for the larger gal and they still look totally wonderful, so there is hope for me yet.

Beads, Buttons and Lace contains the pattern for THE ultimate dressing gown. I was lent this book by Jess and have been incapable of wiping this design from my mind. Anyway, I have given up smoking and I’m not drinking at present (just a wee bit jealous of my sis) so surely I can loose weight to make THAT dressing down look amazing on me? The book does also have several other lovely designs and accessories all evocative of Hollywood glamour of the 30’s and 40’s and, whilst predominantly knitting based does incorporate some lovely crochet items.

Knitting Lingerie Style does contain patterns for knitted undergarments including an underwired bra but it does so much more than that. It provides a range of structured tops that will suit all shapes and sizes. There is also a selection of stockings and socks. Although some designs are quirky and will probably never make it onto my needles they are all pretty and slightly flirty.

Oh! I ought to include a word about Plums & Custard. I do believe the knitting fates are teaching me a lesson. Having turned both heels, I discovered a serious problem with my counting - one heel was wider than the other. Yes, 2 whole stitches wider. This also means that the top of the sock was also disadvantaged. After some stropping and debate I had to frog one of the heels. Damn, I thought I had two socks on one needle licked, afterall my last pair worked. It’s a bit sensitive at the moment. Jon, I still love your wool!

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Phew, it is the end of what feels like a very long week. It has been a week of deadlines - some achieved, some missed and some re-located to another day.

One of the worst was missing the newsletter deadline for the Gardener’s Association and, rightfully, this will be commented on by the other Committee members. However, I have agreed to pre-prepare some articles which will prevent this from happening in the future. Luckily, we have an open day in the village Trading Hut soon, so this will provide fodder for an article I can write and have available before time.

Tuesday night was the local SnB meet down the pub - yippee! Still not drinking - boohoo! It was fun seeing some of the other projects on the go. Jess is knitting some fabulous
Snowflake Lace Socks by Melanie Berney.

Simply Knitting magazine have organised a knit along detailed at the Simply Knitting blog. Elizabeth was using DT Craft & Design's gorgeous hand-dyed sock yarn. This is 90% soft alpaca and 10% hard-wearing nylon and is so lovely and soft I placed an order the next day for the Kool Aid dyeing kit. The service was excellent and I received the kit the next day.

I finished my version of My So Called Scarf and love wearing it. It is so soft to the touch and the stitch design reminds me of my mum’s coat. I am also working on Plums and Custard. This is the second pair of socks I have made using this yarn as I hated the first pair I made. I could probably have found somebody who would have loved them but I could not bear to part with them. There was no option but to frog and start again. Anyway, Plums & Custard is a plain pair of socks knitted simultaneously using the magic loop method. They are named after the colour way I am using. This wool is spun and dyed by Jon of EasyKnits.

We received the new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! this week and have been singing away and doing silly walks. Such fun.