Christmas Eve

Well, it's Christmas Eve and instead of relaxing and looking forward to tomorrow, all I can wonder is whether I will finish the final pair of Christmas socks. I started them on Saturday and finished the first sock yesterday late at night. All I had done was knit. I reduced the number of stitches and rounds to make it quicker and knitted round and round, no fuss, no messing, no special features. I have never managed to knit a whole sock in two days, so I have cast on the second one today and am determined to finish the second one. This pair is for my Great Uncle and I won't see him until Boxing Day, so there is time but it's pretty much all I can think of at the moment.

The only other thing I'm thinking about at the moment is the Strictly Come Dancing final on Saturday night. I love Strictly and I always fall in love with one of the couples and this year it was Matt and Flavia. I did start off loving John Barnes, but he was knocked out a few weeks ago and I always love Anton du Beke, but he also wasn't in the final. In the past I have fallen in love with Darren and Lylia, Mark and Karen so it was inevitable that this would happen again this year. Did you see Matt and Flavia's show dance? It was amazing! They are amazing together. I really can't believe that Flavia actually goes out with Vincent Simone; he's no where near as nice as Matt and I really think Flavia needs to sort it and quick!

That's my Christmas Eve message. Back to the sock.

I can't sleep

I went to bed about an hour ago and realised very quickly I was having "one of those nights" where despite being tired the last thing I can do is sleep. I've not had one of these for a while but I know the signs early on and usually the best thing to do is get up and do something.

I'm feeling anxious about a couple of things at work and it's this which is keeping me awake. I haven't done anything wrong, but a recent decision at work has benefitted me but is going to upset others. I feel really guilty about it all and I'm expecting some hostility tomorrow. I'm also worried about next year's exchange because I haven't managed to fill the trip and I have to send the Germans the details on Friday and I don't want to run a half full trip. I have two days to generate more interest and get the deposits in. I know the exchange, like anything, ebbs and flows, but I've really promoted it and the interest has been disappointing.

Anyway, to counteract all this negativity and wondering in my head I decided to get up and look at the stash. Last Friday we had Knit Club here and I raided the stash and I was appalled at the state it's in and the number of "forgotten" yarns and projects I have. I have some lovely yarns and I cannot wait to start knitting some gorgeous socks for myself again. Lucy bought me a lovely skein of Natural Dye Studio sock yarn in pinks, blues, greens and purples and I cannot wait to get it on the needles. Thank you Lucy! The rummage didn't last long, because I quickly felt overwhelmed and remember "sorting out the stash" is a New Year's Resolution and cannot officially start until January.

I have finished the Jaywalker socks this evening, so I have only three more pairs of Christmas socks to go. Will I make the deadline? The next three socks are going to be plain old knit, knit and more knit, no pattern, just lots of stocking stitch. As lovely as the Jaywalkers are, I had to knit them on 76 stitches, which is 16 more than I usually knit. I'll post some photos next time and you will be impressed by the small amount of yarn left from these socks. I didn't waste any of the yarn. They do seem to have taken longer and being separated over my long weekend didn't help. Incidentally, I hadn't left them at work, but in the car of a neighbour, so they were only ever 200 metres from my house and not the 14 miles I originally thought.

The Unthinkable

I am not at work today - we all have a day off. I am just so happy. I got up at nine o'clock and thought "I'm not teaching Year 11" which is what I would normally be doing at nine o'clock on a Friday morning. I have been living for today for a few weeks now and I had intended to finish the Jaywalkers I am making for Ezzie's mum. For some reason, which I can't quite understand, I forgot my knitting at work yesterday and I am fuming at myself. I'm cross because those socks are almost finished, I am cross because I have no dpns in the house (the twenty or so I have are all in the bag at school) and I am missing my clicker which tells me how many rounds I have done. I cannot understand how I forgot my knitting. It's unthinkable and unfathomable. I know this gives me a great opportunity to finish Ezzie's pressies on big needles, but I don't want to. I was listening to Jeremy Vine today, but alas he's on holiday so it's not Jeremy presenting it and they were talking about long-distance relationships. I feel that I'm in one until I see my stuff on Monday. I can't wait until we're reunited.

Kaffe Fassett

I know that there are devoted aficionados of Kaffe in the knitting world and as I've only been part of that world for three years I haven't any experience of knitting his complicated and daring colour patterns. To be honest, I don't even know how you say his name. I say 'Café', the rest of you can say what you want. I know people who really don't like his stuff, but I'm strangely intrigued by his work. I don't want to wear any of his daring items, but I would love to put some of the colours together which he does.



With this in mind, I am so pleased to be knitting socks with wool which he designed. I bought the yarn from the Wool Baa at the weekend and cast on Sunday evening. I think the colourway is called 'Landscape Fire' and I just love it. It's not the softest yarn, it's not expensive, but the colours are amazing and I love the use of reds and browns with a dart of blue and green. These socks are for Ezzie's mum and I hope that she loves them the way I do. I've been on Ravelry a lot recently and I was keen to knit a different sock pattern. There are loads of pictures of Jaywalkers on there so I felt inspired to have another go and I cast on substantially more stitches than my previous failed attempt. Stripy yarn works so well with that pattern so I am just loving knitting with these stripes, colours and pattern because I think they work well together. I am definitely going to buy some more of this Kaffe yarn and combine it with Jaywalker and on that occasion the socks will be staying with me.

I'm working on another pair of socks this week. These little socks are for my nephew who was born on Saturday. My sister is going to call him Rohan or Rowan. She hasn't quite decided yet. I think she should opt for Rowan as it's a good knitting name, but I keep reminding myself that choosing a name shouldn't be affected by a wool company.




















I mentioned Ravelry a little earlier. I think it is amazing and it is incredible the amount of stuff that is happening in the knitting world. I read recently that women in their late twenties upwards use the internet most these days and it is not geeky boys playing computer games as you might imagine. Having been on this site, I know why women are dominating the internet, it's because they are investigating and posting on Ravelry. It's a monopoly. I really want to start using it effectively and catalogue the stash and stuff, but realistically that won't happen for a while because I have work and Christmas to consider. The Christmas holidays would be a nice time and I will hopefully have new knitting yarn to show off.

Anton du Beke

I know this isn't really knitting related, in fact it's not knitting related at all. But I want to share it with you anyway. I love Anton. He should be the next Bond. I want to dance with Anton. Next year Anton better get a decent partner. It's about time he won that Strictly show! I was trying to get a photo of him on here but it's not happening. According to Wikipedia he is single and I've told Ezzie that I've chosen Anton and he's okay as long as he keeps Granby.

Knitting Update

When I started my blog I wanted to post at least once a week. Sometimes you manage more, but for me once a week is a good and reasonable target. As you know, that hasn't happened recently, so I was determined to get back into my stride again and it is only six days since I put my thoughts out there in Cyberspace, so I'm doing well now.

The good thing about not blogging often is that when you do post, it seems you have been very busy and productive. I may not have been dedicated to my knitting blog, but my knitting has ticked along nicely and surely that's more important than the blog.

As promised, a photograph of my Secret Pal yarn. It is gorgeous and I cannot wait to knit myself some gorgeous socks in the new year with it. The colours are rich and the yarn soft. My Secret Pal really does have taste.

I've finished Ezzie's Saddo Socks and I think they look great. He hasn't tried them on because he doesn't want to spoil the moment he opens them on Christmas Day. Isn't that sweet? That, or he doesn't actually like them. I'm knitting him a couple of other Christmas presents but I won't mention them here because he does occasionally look at the blog and it would be nice to have some surprises at Christmas.

I'm working on a pair of socks for my Auntie at the moment. The yarn is by Spinning Bunny and it's called Treasure Trove. Such an evocative name! It's 50% Merino and 50% Tencel and the feel is fantastic. I would definitely knit with Tencel again. It's soft and shiny and lovely to knit with. She saw the start of them last week at the Stereophonics and liked them immensely. I've knitted them in the ubiquitous Monkey pattern. It's a classic and I love it.

Now for something a little different, just to make this blog different to any other knitting blog. A picture of the Hermit Crabs. My mum thought one of them (Eddie Large AKA Paul Calfe) had croaked it, but she managed to resuscitate him with some water. They're doing well and have grown lots.

I was going to post photos of my recent purchases but I have to go to the doctor's now. I'm in pain when I eat and that's just not right, is it? As important as the blog is, my health is more so especially when it comes to food. I love my food and I just can't be having this pain business.

Bad Blogger

I've not been into blogging recently. This has been due to fatigue at work, the lack of a working computer and a feeling that I am just out of it at the moment. I have been really busy and the relaxing Half Term I expected just didn't happen. I went to school three days and to France for the day. Shona came for the weekend, we dyed more wool and I feel like I haven't stopped recently.

Last night I saw the Stereophonics with my Auntie and cousin. We had a great time and they were very good. The Kaiserchiefs are coming to town soon so I think I might get tickets to see them as well. It had been a long time since I had been to a concert and I really enjoyed it. I felt like a youthful teenager again. Inevitably, we ended up near some drunken idiots but the music was fantastic and I have a new respect for the 'Phonics. They are very good live. I managed to do a bit of knitting waiting for the band but then the lights went very dark and I couldn't see a thing.

I've been back home today. Shona was on stage at the church bazaar and dressed as a fairy. It was fantastic to see people I've not seen for years. Shona was busy buying her Christmas presents at the stalls and I came back home with a chocolate cake for Ezzie baked by my uncle. I'm sure if I'd asked he would have baked me a cake but the money went to a good cause. I also bought some nice costume jewellery, which I always like. Sienna bought a knitted doll. I really admire that kid's taste. She isn't even three yet but she has an eye for knitting.

This week I received my Secret Pal parcel and I am mightily impressed. My Pal sent me some gorgeous pink and purple sock yarn. She has good taste! I'll post photos in my next blog which should be soon.