YAY! YAY! And thrice i say YAY!

I have just done the dividing row on my BPT!! :oD

I have to say, it has been a slog and a half to get there but i feel so much better now it's done!
I now have two sleeves on holders and one body ready for some straight knitting, no increases just a few cables (did i mention that i love cables?) and in about 4 inches i can do some decreases :oD

The joy of dividing my BPT is somewhat taking the sting out of losing my beloved sock... i have still had no joy from phoning the pub, tried 4 times again today but to no avail, it is constantly engaged! GRRRRRR!! I did completely forget to phone Tramlink though so that is a must for tomorrow morning before i head off for a Natural History adventure :oD
For those that don't know... you mean you haven't heard? I took my lovely Rattlesnake sock out for a show off on Thursday and i am now unable to find it! My poor gorgeous sock, left to defend for itself out in the wilds of Croydon... if it dropped out of my bag on the tram it might even have ended up in Wimbledon... oh the shame! :o(

I will get round to blogging more holiday piccies but i keep putting it off and now my memory of holiday events is blurring ::ooooops::: but i must do it or else i will forget completely!!

I might cry!

Lookit my handsome sockie, in't he gorgeous!

The toe even looks nice!

And as for those cables, well, i could gaze on them forever...

Only, i can't look at this sock again because i have LOST it!! :o(
I took it along to the pub last Thursday for a little show n tell and when i went to get it out of the bag at the weekend it wasn't there!
I've rung the pub but the lady i spoke to ssaid she wasn't aware of any socks being found :o(

I know it's only a sock, i know i can knit another one, but that's not the point!

Rattlesnake Creek... will you marry me?

Rattlesnake Creek Sock One
Originally uploaded by franneyk

I am in love with my sock ::lol::
The yarn, the colour, the stripes, the pattern, the fit... everything is perfect! But then seeing as everything is not perfect with the other two i had to have one come out right didn't i? :oD
Look how well the stripes matched up after i'd done the heel flap and gusset pick-ups, they are almost perfect! <3

Socks update!

Muscari sock
Originally uploaded by franneyk

The Muscari sock has three lace repeats done and is waiting for a heel - although i think it looks more like lavender flowers .:wink:.

Rattlesnake Creek has had 5 cable twists altogether and i am now halfway down the heel flap - haven't done one of those for a while! .:lol:.

Finally the Allsorts sock is making progress up the foot, and i am happy to say that the pooling has evened out now and the sock is looking good enough to eat!

So... we are off to Peppercorn until Sunday, if i can lay off the beer i might get some knitting done... like that's gonna happen! .:lol:.
Keep your fingers crossed for us that the rain lays off for at least today and Sunday, there's nothing worse than bringing home a soggy awning or pitching in the rain!

Be good people and have a FAB weekend! :oD

Rattlesnake Creek Socks

Rattlesnake Creek Socks
Originally uploaded by franneyk

This was my progress one hour later! Two more cable crossings plus 5 set up rows, now i'm ready to start the heel!

Rattlesnake Creek Socks

Rattlesnake Creek Socks
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Do rattlesnakes play cricket??
I would love to say i planned the thin stripes round the bottom of the ribbing but i didn't! I absolutely love it though :oD

This is how much i did last night while i tried to figure out if it was a hard or intermediate pattern... i've decided this is the intermediate cos it doesn't take much concentration whereas the lace of the Muscari will probably require me to pay close attention as it has increases and decreases and different stitch counts.

Of course, i realised this morning that once i get to the feet they all become easy, cos i only do stocking stitch feet! :oD

Shame isn't it, i shall have to cast on more socks to compensate :oD

oh dear

i may have just finished the most gorgeous thing i have ever crocheted, and i don't get to keep it! I'm not sure i can let it go to it's new home, i am totally in love with it and i really hope that it will be just as loved when it reaches it's new home next week.

I'm being a good girl, it's currently soaking in some wool wash stuff and then i will be blocking it to show off it's beauty even more!

Ahhhhh, i love it when a plan comes together! ;o)

My "current" project list is now:
SKP2008 Jacobean socks - must be fhinished by the end of April
Lavender Blankie - must be finished by the 13th May
Crochet Block blankie - must be finished by the time the babies arrive! Anytime after the 20th May if i remember rightly?
2 baby hats to match BSJs and possibly booties too if there's enough wool left - ditto 20th May?

Happy Tuesday!

Well, here we are, still no pc, but i have dug the laptop out of retirement and am willing to ignore the slowness and tiny keboard in favour of being able to get online whenever i want :oD

So, anyway... knitting news...
Absolutely no progress on the SKP socks :o(
Only 4 rounds of knittingto go on the Lavender Blankie and then it's two rounds of crochet casting off! YIPPEE!! I have to say that altjhough i have really enjoyed knitting it and wathing the feather and fan unfold i am getting a bit bored with it and i am glad that i am soon to be done :oD
No more progress on the BPT yet either. We had company this weekend so not much knitting was done at all! Once the Blankie is done i shall concentrate on the socks and get them finished and then i want to finish my hoodie!
We are off to a VW show this weekend with camping on Saturday night and i am quite looking forward to it. It's one of the shows we went to last year and although it was only a small local show it was a lot of fun and the camping was lovely and relaxed and that was the show that we were visited by a local cat! It was quite bizarre!

One of my friend's is in desperate need of a hat, she has very curly hair and tends to wear a manky old fleece hat when she's camping but it's really horrible so after some research ihave promised to make her this rather fetching cowboy hat and i am very excited at the prospect of ordering some New Lanark wool to make it in YAY!
Of course, all we have to do now is narrow down the colour choices... we are down to four ::lol::

progress report

I shall be taking photos just as soon as i find the camera - i believe it is still int he camper where it stayed all weekend! We got a compact camera especially for camping trips and yet we still don't get it out and take photos, nightmare!
Annnnyway! My main three projects on the go at the moment are:

• BPT - i am on row 42 of the yoke with 36 to go until i divide for the arms and body :o)

• Lavender Blankie - i am on round 96 with 13 rounds to go until the two cast off rounds :o)

• Jacobean Socks - not much progress :o( I am halfway through the second diamond of the first foot, i am not knitting on them for 15 minutes a day as i had hoped :o(

I plan to rectify the soc situation today and will work on it exclusively for a whole hour! I need to get the pair finished by the end of April as that is when the new pattern comes out!

My computer is still dead. I have a couple of things left to try before it goes off to an expert but it's a bit tedious fiddling with the pc when i know i could be using the time to knit! ::lol::

Happy April Fool's day by the way - did anyone get you good?

I have succumbed!

and cast on for my BPT ;o)

I am knitting it in Sirdar Bonus Aran, i have three 400g balls so i should have plenty! I will be modifying the sleeves á la knitosaurus cos i love long sleeves and thumbholes :o)
I got a bit confused for absolutely no reason when i was working out my cable rounds and increases and things - i need a cheat sheet as i find it impossible to count rows and keep track of where i am so i just have a little list so i can tick off each row when it's done :o)

The Lavender blankie has 20 rounds to completion, but i have over 450 stitches per round now and can only manage one pattern repeat before i get mind numbingly bored of working on it ::blushing:: I have a very short attention span, what can i say!

The Jacobean socks are making progress, i have one and a half pattern repeats done now and am trying to work on them for 15 minutes a day just so i can make some progress on them.

I'm feeling much better now, thankyou for your support and kind words. My chest has eased off and i am having far less coughing fits than i was at the weekend, which is just as well because tomorrow afternoon we are off camping! YAY! My first camping trip of the year and the first of MANY camping trips we have planned for this year! The van is ready to go, i just need to go to the supermarket tomorrow for sausages and bread and rolls and maybe some cake ;o)
Oh, and milk! Mustn't forget the milk! ;o)

A WIP update!

Just for me really ;o)

Aussie BSJ - 22 stitches before decrease, next up is knit 3 rows straight then the increases start

Lavender Swirl Blankie - round 68 (there's a total of 109 rounds as the pattern is written but i will probably do more as it is only 21" across at the moment and i don't think it will be big enough. It should be easy enough to work the pattern out though - i think!)

SKP Jacobean socks - round 12, first repeat of large chart - i'm having to really concentrate on this project as i am not at all confident at chart reading and i have to follow three separate ones!!

The BSJ is my main concern as it needs to be finished by next Wednesday ready to go off to Oz and i want to get a hat made as well!! I am optimistic though as i'll be spending at least 8 hours in a car as a PASSENGER! this weekend so theoretically i could get the BSJ finished and a hat started :o)
There is a two month deadline for the Jacobean socks so i am not too worried about rushing them

I am going to have to experiment with my crochet hooks and find one the right size to finish that off, the bone hook still hasn't turned up, despite repeated pleas to St.Anthony ;o)
It's such a shame because i feel like i have lost my momentum with it now, it's been so long since i worked on it and i was really enjoying it too... hopefully it won't take long to get back into it and i only have 3 blocks to do and then it's end-sewing-in and joining and edging and it's done! :oD

SKP2008 - first toe

SKP2008 - first toe
Originally uploaded by franneyk

I finally have socks on my needles! ::YAY::
I hadn't realised just how much i'd missed knitting socks and it really feels good to be doing them again :o)

This is the Jacobean Sock from Julie Persinger and is the first sock in the Sock Knitters Pentathlon. There will be five patterns in all, and they will be released bi-monthly so i have two months in which to finish this pair - the quickest pair knit took nine hours!! I don't think i am even in the running for quickest knitter ;o) i doubt i could even sit and knit for nine hours in the first place!!

I've used Judy's magic cast-on as recommended and it is SO easy, i do enjoy knitting toe-up socks. I shan't be doing two socks at once though, the patterning will be enough to keep me interested and although i can "do" two socks at once, i don't really enjoy it so i am going to stick with one and enjoy the knitting :o)

I am using the HiyaHiya 2.25mm needles again and it doesn't feel too bad, i think they felt too short on the merino because it's thicker and i needed more control over the needles. We shall see though, i haven't knit on them for any length of time yet and my hands will soon tell me when they've had enough.