Birthday Swap

My parcel from the Crafty Threads n Yarn Birthday Swap came this afternoon!
I found a lovely pink rustling parcel and a pretty card with a lovely message inside from Terri...

And inside the parcel i found a piece of gorgeous sheepie fleece, a skein of Fyberspates Dream sock wool and a wonderful book with lots of advice on selling handmade goods.
The fleece is already earmarked for a kindle bag which i'll make once i've bought a hard cover for it :D

Thanks again Terri xx

Stitchmarker swap

I would like to apologise profusely for my absolute rudeness in not thanking the lovely ladies who sent me stitchmarkers! I have no excuse for not posting a thankyou on the blog - only that i have been sidetracked by poorly rats and a little of my own ill health - but that is still no excuse and i really am sorry!

I've received 4 sets so far and they have come from:
Jackie - she sent me a lovey set of blue glass millefiori markers
Lynda - who sent a deceptively lightweight purple set
Kim in Canada sent me the most gorgeous green stone set and a lovely notebook
Angie sent me some more millefiori, this time multi-coloured lozenges - they look good enough to eat!

I've not been at my pc for a while and the laptop doesn't have the relevant software so i shall sort photos out ASAP and that's a promise!

I haven't checked yet whether all my sets made it to their new homes, there has been no time for blog reading lately and i have lots to catchup on! I'm hoping to have some time tomorrow to catch up on the latest goings on... and i would like to thank you all for your messages of support since i posted about Freddie last week - it'smost appreciated *hugs*

A somewhat late posting!

This is the lovely parcel that Janice sent to me for the "Stitchmarker and mini-skein" swap over at CTnY.
I should have posted photos and thankyous straight away, but the camera wasn't charged and so the parcel got put to one side and then buried underneath WIPs and wool and i realise it appears i am making excuses but i have a terrible memory!
In my defence, i did thank Janice when the parcel arrived, i just didn't get round to photos ::blushing::

The stitchmarkers are ever so sparkly and are made with Swarovski crystals which catch the light beautifully.
I was trying to show off their sparkle in this photo but alas the battery was on it's way out again and i was doing it in a rush and so it hasn't focused properly :o(
If i get any sunshine tomorrow i will have another attempt ;o)

In my parcel there was also a lovely little cross-stitched keyring with a lovely little robin on it and a gorgeous mini-skein of orangey-goodness :o)

Thankyou again Janice, my apologies for the lateness in my posting!!

Third and final set for the Spring Exchange

These arrived from Cheryl, aren't they cute! little blue penguins with very sparkly blue and red acrylic crystals to match!

I really enjoy the exchanges, and i am planning my Spring sets already - the sets i sent this time were all Christmassy ones to tie in with the Winter theme. I used white tiger eye beads to represent snowballs, with red and green swarovski crystals and some really cute Christmassy silver charms - i really hope my partners like them :o)

Purple Sparklies from Joanna

Purple Sparklies from Joanna
Originally uploaded by franneyk

My second set of three for the Spring round of the Stitchmarker Exchange.
This set is lovely, lightweight, sparkly and i really love the lacquered mitten, it's so CUTE!

Thankyou Joanna if you're reading they're lovely :o)

Jacquie's stitchmarkers

Jacquie's stitchmarkers
Originally uploaded by franneyk

At last a photo! i finally co-ordinated myself enough to have the stitchmarkers, camera, charged battery and cables on hand!

They are gorgeous, i can't tell you what they are made from just yet as Jacquie is running a little competition on her blog and i don't want to spoil it for anyone :o)
If you want a set of your very ownsome then get on over there and tell her what you think they are made from in her comments :oD

Here are Leah's sparklies :o)

I do love a sparkle!

I might even put Christmas decorations up next year, just so i can hang this in the window :oD

Thankyou Leah x

Ooooh! Parcels!

My postie arrived this morning clutching padded envelopes for meeeeeeeeee! :oD
Firstly there was a set of stitchmarkers from Leah and she also sent me a lovely crystal snowflake which i will hang in the window above the radiator, the heat will send it gently twirling and the sunlight(which will return at some point) will catch it and make it even more pretty :o) The stitchmarkers are lovely, green crystals which look ummm... robust (?) but they are lovely and light, perfect for my sock and scarf knitting :o)
Thankyou Leah *hugs*

Then there was another envelope marked "beads" from Utah. My stitchmarkers from Jacquie as part of the swap on CTnY :o) They are gorgeous in lovely toning shades of brown with a marble/granite look to them but they too are lighter than they look :o)
I look forward to using them Jacquie, thankyou! *hugs*

Thirdly was a squishy parcel. Now, i know i said i was on a Stashalong, but i didn't buy it! I swapped it for a sockbag with Ann so as far as i'm concerned it's allowed :oD
The squishiness is 62g of Treehouse "Bloom" in a gorgeous sand and sea colourway and i have just under 500m to play with. Because it reminds me so much of the beach i want to use a wavy pattern so i'll be scouring my pattern books and Ravelry for some inspiration this afternoon :oD

Not a bad day for parcels all in all eh! It made up for yet another round of house tidying - if only i could keep the mess under control i wouldn't have to do such major tidy ups but c'est la vie, i can't knit and tidy at the same time and i'd rather be knitting thankyouverymuch! :oD

It's official, i can spell :oD

I Scored a 100%!

Thanks to Leah, i found the quiz on her blog and i do love a spelling test.
I have to admit though i did struggle with occurrence as i thought it was occurrance over here and the -ence was American, luckily i picked the right one, i'd have been so disappointed with a less than perfect score!!
Leah is sending me some stitchmarkers cos the Winter round of the Stitchmarker exchange has just started and she's VERY organised!! I doubt they'll be here before Christmas but it'll be something nice to look forward to in the New Year :oD Thankyou Leah :o)

Busy busy!

What with going out drinking, finding a new knitting project to play with and deciding that my shit-hole of a house needs cleaning i've had little time for blogging! I also have sewing commitments to try and fit in and tonight is my nephews Nativity play which i am very much looking forward to - except the roads will be frozen and it'll be dark and i hate driving in those conditions!
So, new knitting project? I've sat and stared at my huge ball of Marble for months now and i finally decided it wanted to be a Lady Eleanor so i cast it on and have now ordered a second ball so i can finish the other half :oD
I am loving the way it's coming out with a patchwork effect rather than the usual stripe effect you see with Noro or Kauni (and another just because) yarns and it has really whetted my appetite for more modular knitting so once this is done i will be casting on my clamshell stole in a variety of toning sock yarns - got to use them up somehow!
I had a small count and i worked out i have roughly ENOUGH sock yarn now :oD
I can't possibly say how much as certain people read my blog occasionally and i get nagged about my stash enough as it is, but let's just say that i could knit a pair a month for at least a year, maybe even two ;o)
My CTnY and Ravelry friends obviously know differently, but shhhhhhhh - keep it under your hat :oD
As for the going out drinking, last weekend was our club Christmas do. We started off in Little Bay restaurant where i had pork medallions for starter with black pudding (never had it before, quite enjoyed it despite knowing it was made with pig's blood) and a slice of warm apple, braised beef with parsnip puree for main course and one of my favourite puddings of all time - poached pears with pannacotta. YUM! Only the pears weren't quite so yum as some bright spark thought that poaching the pears in mulled wine spices might be a good idea...NOT! Especially not when the smell of cinnamon paired with the taste of cloves is enough to make you gag :o(
Such a shame as it really spoiled my meal for me, but i washed the taste away with some Sambuca!! :oD
After the meal we all trundled back to our leader's house for some party, and it was good and there's nothing i can tell you about that as i was very drunk, i can remember laughing a LOT and drinking a LOT and staying awake until gone 6am because Bloke wanted to watch the boxing but i'm afraid the details have been vodkaad :oD
I've also been preparing for a Christmas card and stitchmaerker swap by buying lots of lovely beads, crystals and charms from eBay which of course takes quite a bit of time as there is research and comparing to do before a purchase can be made. One parcel has arrived already (sent Monday) and there are two more to come and then the fun can start! Bloke is out for his works do on Friday night so i have decided that rather than going out myself i am going to stay home and get busy as i have lots of stitchmarkers to make and i also wanted to make the cards myself too! My deadline for the cards is Wednesday so if i knuckle down to it this weekend i shall be fiiiiiiiiiiine! :oD

Famous last words - i expect to be panic buying cards on Tuesday :oD

Stitchmarker Pr0n!

I signed up for the Autumn swap, of course i did! I love to swap :oD
The green and red sets arrived yesterday and the blue arrived today, aren't they all GORGEOUS!

From LisaKnitty

From Marsha

From Mary
(who will have to remain linkless for now as she didn't leave me any contact details :o( )

My contributions to the Stitchmarker Swap

Here are the sets of stitchmarkers that i made for the swap. Unfortunately i am very late in sending (no surprises there!!) and they will go out either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, it depends if the delivery i am waiting for today turns up early enough or not!

The last of the stitchmarkers

have arrived :oD

And, my aren't they perrrrrrrrrdy! :o)

From Robyn, the swap hostess in Canada...

From Knitgirl...

From Marsha in New York - the stitchmarkers were on a gorgeous emerald green safety pin and she sent a lovely postcard too :o)



I MUST sign up for the next go-round, i really enjoy these stitchmarker swaps :o)

Thankyou to all the lovely ladies who sent their creations to me, and thankyou to Robyn for being such a great organiser :o)

Stitchmarkers part deux!

These are from Elspeth and they are such a pretty colour, the camera does them no justice! They are just the right size i think for shawl knitting, they aren't too heavy and they are nicely and round so they won't get tangled up in all that lovely lace :o)

Thankyou Elspeth xXx

I shall go and find a nice spot in the garden to take a piccie when the sun makes one of it's rare appearances today. It can't make it's mind up out there, it's really warm but cloudy, then it's cool and cloudy and then all of a sudden the sun will burst out and it's so bright you go blind! I popped out to the doctor's and thought it was quite cool so i flung on a shruggy-cardy thing which is really thin and i was sweltering! Still i got 4 rounds done on the Sassy socks while i was waiting so that's good, and there's a fair chance that i'll actually finish them before the end of the month too *lol*

In Can 'o Peas news: The 15th repeat is DONEDONEDOOOONE! *YAY* \o/ \o/ <~~~ me dancing *lol* I have 20g of variegated yarn left and my mini-skein of nearly-solid green, the edge pattern is another 8 rows so theoretically i have enough of the variegated as the last repeat took 10g and was also 8 rows. I'm putting in a lifeline anyway, just in case anything goes wrong with the edging but to be perfectly honest the rest of the shawl has gone so well that i doubt there will be. I've got the hang of reading a chart too which is good and is something i wanted to do and i picked up a magnetic board from my LYS the other day too. It's only a smallish one, not A4 like i wanted but it was only £3 so i shan't complain :o)

Right then, onwards and upwards!

More mail!

from_mityka
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

LOOK! I also received another parcel with my second set ofmarkers. These onescame from Mityka all the way from Hungary! Not only did i get a beautiful set of glass and pearl markers, she also sent me this gorgeous crocheted choker which i really love!
Thankyou Mityka, i am wearing the biggest smile right now! :o)

I got mail!

from_kaybee
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

And what beautiful mail it is too!
First up we have these stitchmarkers from KayB in Ireland, they are beautiful amber shades and one palest frosted pink. She also sent me a photo, and if that's the view from her kitchen window then i am incredibly jealous!
Thankyou KayB, i love my markers :o)

move away please, there's nothing to see here!

Someone has stolen my mojo man!! I can't craft *sobs*
You'd think with all this convalescing time i'd have got loads done, but i just can't seem to settle on a project :o( I started a dishcloth while i was in hospital, didn't finish it though cos i didn't like how it was turning out - it was an experiment with mitred squares and picking up the stitches to knit the next square rather than sewing them all together at the end but it went wrong *lol*
When i came round from the anasthaetic and went back onto the ward i was too woozy to do anything except doze off and wake up continuously - the morphine helped with that nicely :oD is it a good thing to enjoy taking morphine?? i'm happy to report that up til now the news is good, nothing too nasty going on that we didn't already know about, i am just waiting on some histology to come back which should be in a week or so and then i don't have to see the doctor again for three months - WOOTWOOT! I've been struggling with this convalescing thing though, i hate having to leave off doing things until Bloke comes home so i end up doing them myself and then feeling rough... BUT i am accepting responsibility for my actions and i don't want sympathy for hurting myself, just for the initial surgery please *giggling*
So, this weekend we are off camping, and i am under strict instructions to TAKE IT EASY! so i'll do my best ;o) Actually i think it will be hard. I enjoy setting up camp and usually do it pretty much on my own, except for putting the awning up so sitting down and watching other people do it is gonna be a toughie!
I'm taking a pair of socks to knit, a tam to crochet and a dishcloth to knit in case i can't concentrate on anything else. I think it's this headache, i just can't concentrate, i am finding it difficult to read too :o( It seemed to ease off for a few days but now it is back with a vengeance so i wonder if the painkillers i was taking for my sore tummy were also helping my poorly head? Something to discuss with the neurologist in June anyway.
Goddddd, must stop whinging!
I've made another dishcloth, this one is the Four Corners one, but i really don't like it, the holes seem way tooooo big that form the corner to middle lines but as it wasn't for me i had to be happy with it and send it on it's way to Germany ;o) i've sent LOTS of parcels this week and it felt really good to be surprising so many people :o)
I've sent a set of stitchmarkers for the "Stitchmarker Swappydoodle" at CaftyThreads, a parcel to my SP (obviously can't say what it is in case she reads this blog by some freaky coincidence *lol*), i've also sent some needles off to Germany that i bought in Lidls which is weird as Lidl is a German company but they didn't have any in their stores *lol* and i also sent 2 sockbags off which were on offer at CraftyThreads :o) There's only one left now from the 4 i originally listed, two have gone to new homes plus a larger version of the dinky gingham bag which i am using myself as it's perfectly dishcloth sized :oD
I feel sure there was something else that went off but it's escaped me for the time being... my memory really is rubbish!!
Well, i hope you all have a wonderfully spiffing weekend, i know i will! *hugs*

Stitchmarker Swappydoodle

Stitchmarker Swappydoodle
Originally uploaded by franneyk.

So, i joined another swap! This one is at Crafty Threads and it is for a set of erm... stitchmarkers!! *giggling*

The deadline is April 20th, which is just as well cos i have to find a source for the perfect *thing* to put on the set i am making for my recipient :o)

In the post yesterday i found these Swarovski crystal stitchmarkers from Chrissy, aren't they beauuuuuuuuuuuuuuutiful!! And wasn't she quick off the mark!!
The swap is anonymous so Chrissy left me a clue - she said she lives close to the newest canal to be built in England so i did a quick search on CraftyThreads just using the word "canal" and got ONE result which was Chrissy saying "if i weighed 10stone i would run naked down the canal" *giggling* so i based my guess on that, and i was RIGHT! YAY! It's just as well too, because despite a Google search i still don't know which canal it is or which was the most recently built!!
They really sparkle and catch the light, i can't wait to use them!!