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Good Times

Last night at Colchester Stitch and Bitch it was buzzing. I think it was because it was a good turn out, Nine of us

Which is good as we are usually just Four of us. Anyone in the area are more than welcome to join us. We meet in Roxis’ next to The George in the High Street Colchester from 7.30pm till about 10pm. Learners are welcome there is always someone willing to help.

Knitting has gone well I have finished my cardigan. Also l most finished a blankie for best pals baby which is due in just a couple of weeks. It is so cute. It is knitted in Atesano Inca Cloud in cream and the lamb is done in charcoal. The pattern is from little knits . It calls for 2 x 50gm balls of the main colour but it only took one. I am really pleased I want to do one for my niece but felt I couldn’t run to the expense. I bought the yarn on line from Dragonyarns.com. The service was very quick ordered Sunday and received it Tuesday morning. there was one slight bug bare about it, they packed it in clear plastic, which I thought very dodgy, thankfully it arrived safely.

This Post was written on 2nd September 2009.  I shall add some photos when I have more time.

 

I have been busy Honest

Despite not blogging I have been busy since I came back.

Firstly I finished another pair of socks for my Dad. I did them in Regia 4ply in blues and grays. It is really attractive great for wearing with jeans. They will keep his tootsies warm in the winter.

On a recent trip to a boot sale I picked up some real bargains. I got 900 grams of a courtelle yarn with no labels, also some blue/ black sock yarn, it is Pingouin Sock yarn in 4ply. Also 100grms of green/black I thought they will be great for more socks for my Dad. The yarn is 80%wool 20% nylon, which is ideal. Anyhow the whole lot came to £ 5.60 talk about a bargain. At the same sale I got a cone of 4ply for more sock knitting. I am going to be busy!!

Anyway to get to the subject of this post I have used the dusky pink to do a cardigan for my self. It is out of the Rowan Magazine number 45. There some beautiful patterns in the book, a friend at the knitting group had it and I liked so much I treated myself to it. Anyway it is called Iris and knitted in Rowan Cotton Glace which is above my budget. So I used my bargain buy. I also am not keen on short cardigans so made it bit longer. In my wisdom I decided to knit the size 44cm but I should have gone for the size 40cm as it is big and the sleeves are a tad long, still it is a nice slouchy cardi.

I have cast on a pair of plain socks for DH well he keeps saying everyone has had socks apart from him, which is true. But in my defense he only wears plain black ones. How boring would that be! That is until we returned to the UK he went and bought some stripey ones. So on my next trip to town I found some kaffeeklatsch facet designer yarn in Regia in the same colours as some of them. So I have cast them on as a project to do at knitting club. Also did some in the car on the way to my Mum and Dads so they are growing, he doesn’t like long socks so they shouldn’t Take to long.

I have also cast on a shawl for my Mum. The yarn is lace weight Aplaca which I got 100grms of for £5 off E bay ( another bargain). I am having problems with pattern it is a bit unclear on the instructions well that is I am having a problem following them. It is a nice pattern with bead work but I think it will need to be frogged. So I am on the hunt for another design to do for her.

I recent joined the group Random acts of Kindness on Revelry.com. You idea is you write a wish list of what things you would like it doesn’t have to be just yarn. Anyway I asked for some lace weight yarn and fancy sock yarn. Anyway a kind lady in Norway sent me some absolutely gorgeous yarn. it is called Leisure Time Yarn it is 100% Australia Virgin Wool in a lovely cerise colour. There is 100grms so enough to make a shawl. It is hard to not start it but I will resist.

I am planning knit a cuddly blanket for my best friends daughter who is due to have her baby next month. It only takes 150grms yarn. It is Artesano Inca cloud in cream and charcoal. The charcoal is for a sheep’s head, it is so cute. So I wanted to do it in the proper yarn rather than substitute it. So I thought what the hell it is special so I ordered it from Dragon yarns on the net. I was really impressed  the service. Came the next day. But they pack it in a clear bag to post it. A bit strange I thought. It is so soft well worth paying for the correct yarn. I’m not so sure of the colour the cream is more the colour of natural Aran. Anyway I look forward to doing it will do when I have finished hubbies socks.

 

I Have Been Ill

It has been forever since I last blogged. In my defense I haven’t been well.
Since returning from Cyprus life has been hectic. We had so much to sort out. The financial side of things was a night mare with all the forms to fill in. More like books actually. So once the dust had finally settled the stress of the move, organizing the selling of stuff, booking flights, container, dogs flights, packing, then the actual move. With no where to move to, apart from staying at my sons for a while, which isn’t ideal when you have been used to your own space. Also with the animals you feel a burden even though he insisted it was alright. We then had to find a car. Also somewhere to rent that was willing to take us and our animals, which anyone living in the rental sector will know is no mean feat. After several disappointments we found our bungalow, which we are delighted with. It is situated in Jaywick, Clacton on Sea and is only five minutes from a fantastic beach. Far better than any of the beaches in Paphos. Also round the corner is a lovely park. It has a small river and ducks and moorhens to feed. Two play parks for children and an enclosed area for ball games. The best bit about it is that you can walk the dogs in it.

Also within walking distance we have a medical center, incorporating a dentist to. A Library, which I love having access to.  A Spar supermarket and a post office, what more could you want.

It is not an area we would have even considered but my DS lives here. We viewed such rubbish for the money Colchester. We decided to look in this area. We both really love living here and will look to buy once the villa has sold.

More furniture has been bought since this picture was taken

 

Dolly’s Hoodie

If you have read my blog before you will know about our little rescue dog Dollie.  She is a sweetie.  Anyhow she feels the cold bless.  So I had bought yarn recently at the market to do her a new coat.  The yarn is James C. Brett Marble Chunky, and is a nice yarn to work with.  The pattern I decided on was Drops design, free of course!!  It would have been better if I measured her first as mark I didn’t fit, so I had to frog it and start again.  So I did the second size, with a slight modification to the length so as to cover more of her back.  She seems well pleased with it and was more than happy to pose for her photos.  Arrrrr…

She isn’t keen on having the hood up, and being her mummy I don’t like to upset her!

 

Hand Dyed Yarn

It has taken me a long time, but I did promise to say more about the hand painted yarn I bought at Frating.  It was dyed by Lucy.  She has her own website www.thebearnecessities.blogspot.com her shop can be found here http://bearium.folksy.com. Her yarns are beautiful.

The yarn is 100g approx 350m and Pure New Wool in 4ply, and it is luscious.  I hear socks calling…..Well you guessed it already cast on the Pomatomus Sock by Cookie A puplished on the knitty website.  Watch this space for how they are coming on.

 

Knitting Clubs

Well truly getting settled been to two knitting groups.  The first was way back on 25th April and Frating Village Hall and was organised by Lucy and Nadia so many thanks to them for taking the time and making the effort.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  They had massive tables where people had put there unwanted knitting related items for other people to help there selves to.  I got a some magazines, a free child’s knitting pamphlet that came free with Knitting Magazine, with some lovely childrens knits in.  A knitting Calender that was free with Simply Knitting.  A glove pamphlet from Knit today, which is gloves, (this is in readiness for next winter, I might add), and another pamphlet from Knitting which is knits for boys and girls.  I also bought some hand dyed yarn (more on this in a later post), as there where some people selling stuff too.  Everyone was so friendly, also people had made such an effort, making cakes, donating cakes to have with tea and coffee.  Because it is a paying venue there was a nominal charge of £1 each, which is nothing compared to the hours of fun had by all, which numbered around 25, ladies, no men braved the occasion.

Not a brillant photo but you get the idea…..

The second one was the Colchester Stitch and Bitch, it is held on every Tuesday in Roxis, next to The George on the High Street, again a very enjoyable evening, will try and attend every week now I am back…

 

Back in The Land of the Living

Well after a long break, with the move from Cyprus to England, we are finally settled.

It has taken some time, our biggest problem was finding some one to rent to us with the dogs.  They allow children but not dogs, one wonders why this is the case, some..note some, children can do far more damage than dogs.  Anyhow finally found a cute bungalow, with two bedrooms, conservatory, garage, workshop, and potting shed a manageable garden.  Very close to the coast so ideal for walking the dogs.

Our container arrived and with some help from family was unloaded in just 40 minutes, wow!!  Then the unpacking began.  It has been an expensive expercise, as we needed to buy a cooker, our fridge freezer, a tall one wouldn’t fit in the kitchen so we had to buy an under counter fridge, and a freezer to stick in the garage.  Also we needed a new sofa, one of ours was not at it’s best, a new dining table, as we couldn’t risk bringing the marble one from Cyprus, it may have got broken.  A new bed, one of ours had seen its bed, the mattresses were fine so that saved a few pennies.  A new hoover, got the Dyson 25 for animals, the one with the ball, it is brilliant.  I could suck harder than the one we have in Cyprus, it was awful, I used to have to get down on my hands and knees to do the mats, and it would take about 15 minutes to do one.   Anyway well impressed with the new one, we have the two dogs and the cat, so it is important to be able to hoover up all the hair.

We also had to get a new car.  We managed to pick a 2002,  Golf which is a smashing little car, just what I wanted a small car with 4 doors for getting the animals and my grand daughters in and out of.

We are all most sorted out now, just bits and pieces to put away.  It has been a stressful time, but hopefully now we can settle down and enjoy being back home, near the family, where we are needed……

 

Cyprus in the Spring

We went for a walk around the block with the dogs today and I took some pictures of the wonderful wild flowers that are around just our area where we live.

There are tons more, these are only what I found around the block from where we live, it is an amazing time of the year, the air is filled with the orange/lemon blossom, it is the best time of year hear, once the sun and heat comes it becomes a very arid dry landscape.

 

Fingerless Gloves III

Yes you guessed it, I am hooked on knitting these fingerless gloves.  They are so quick, and can be made with less than 100g yarn.  For this pair which is for my Mum, I used some Sirdar Toddler Aran.   It is a nice colour in some lights it looks green, then in other beige.  The pattern I found is called Cafe au Lait and is designed by Paula Mckeever.  It is actually for DK yarn, but I used what I had in my stash, I used size 5mm needles to knit them and I love the result.

 

Walking The Dogs

Today we decided to give the dogs a break and take them for a nice walk up at the Kouris dam.  It is so lovely up there, the sun was shining and it was a lovely break from all the packing.  Did I mention we decided to go back to the UK now.  Well we have.  It has been a hectic time, booking the dogs and cats flights, the shipping, our flights.  Selling off stuff we don’t want to take back, the car.  Also trying to find somewhere to rent, that will take animals.