Phew - a hectic week........

Gosh can't believe its been a whole week since I last wrote on here! Its been one of those weeks, I have no idea where it went! Work has been a been busy, I'm trying to tie up all loose ends before I go on my holidays, but I'm getting there and have a fairly quiet couple of days ahead. It was the Christmas lunch on Friday and I indulged in my first and probably last turkey dinner of the season! It was a really nice lunch, my colleagues are all great and there is a really good atmosphere in the office, which is one of the reasons I don't think I'd want to change jobs! I have applied for another one, but its working in the same offices - mind you I am not sure whether it is what I really want. I'll do some thinking when I'm on holiday and make a decision when I get back - but you know what they say - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

We had the in-laws over this weekend for an early Christmas Day! It was really lovely to see them, although I still struggle to understand them! They have very broad South Yorkshire accents and talk quietly and with me being slightly deaf I really struggle to hear what they are saying. Still I’m getting used to it now and getting better at understanding! My parents came down as well for a bit and it was really nice to get everyone together, its also really nice when everyone gets on – have to say this is a first for me my previous in-laws were horrendous!

The knitting has taken a bit of a backseat lately, sadly. I have started to knit myself another hat in bright pink and black but haven’t got very far – been too busy! I’ll pick it up maybe later but think it will be resigned to “New Year” knitting projects! We still have to get ready for holidays and our friends who are coming to stay while we are away so more cleaning, bed changing, food shopping, Christmas present wrapping, card writing, packing………. The list is endless!

Hoorah! Hats away and some Christmas gems.....

I've been on a mission this weekend to finish the hat I started knitting for baldy, finish the hat was knitting for myself and get my "special" Christmas cards made! Of course there were other non-knitted things on the list, wrap my Christmas pressies, write my cards, get ready for the invasion of the in-laws next weekend and of course the housework (always bottom of my list!)
Anyway here are the pictures of us looking total prats in our new hats!!

I Usually make my own Christmas cards for certain people every year and this year I decided to combine my card making with knitting and knitted the toppers for the cards! I used Jean Greenhowe's mini Christmas stocking pattern for some of them and made-up patterns for a Santa hat (as I seem to be enjoying hat knitting at the moment!) and a Christmas tree. I've taken pictures of them (below) but as I am no David Bailey there is a quite a bit of light reflection on them!

Well that's my knitty bit done! I had a nice afternoon out yesterday with my friends Sandie, Dawne and Rayma. I had completely forgotten Dawne was coming over and got a phone call as I was acting as the taxi for Hollie (I'm going to get a sticker for my car saying "Mum's Cars"). It will be that last chance I get to see them all before Christmas, can't believe its getting so close! I really do need to finish that packing! Mind you I could if I could actually get into Hollie's bedroom to get her clothes out, as it is you can't see the floor for stuff all over it and heaven only knows which clothes are clean and which aren't! Maybe I'll just wash the lot and then at least I'll know! Oh well I'd better go and get further down my list of things to do!

Its a hatrick.....

Well the headline should read hat hell! I have been aimlessly flicking through patterns deciding what to knit next and really can't decide. So in the meantime I have decided to knit a hat for baldy! The thing is I haven't found a pattern I like so have decided to design my own for a beanie hat. So far so good, although I did attempt on circular needles at first but as I've never used them before I made a real mess of it. Oh well onwards and upwards! Its looking good so far but I might change my mind when it comes to calculating the shaping for the crown! I'll post the finished result on here when I eventually get it done and might even submit the pattern to Ravelry if people have a burning desire to knit it up!

On a general note, it’s been a funny week. Dear Henry has had a nasty ear infection and at one point I thought we weren't going to be able to fly, but with a course of anti-biotics he seems fine now, fingers crossed for Monday when hopefully he will get a clean bill of health and the go ahead to fly! That just leave Hollie and her list of ailments - bless her! Her knee and ankle are really hurting her now because she can't walk properly just yet with her broken toe! Oh well we’ll get there in the end (I hope!)

Had some good news today though, my friend who really hates her job managed to get the job she applied for in our office! I’m really looking forward to working with her again but I’m not sure that our boss knows what she has let herself in for!

Oh well back to the knitting, I’ll have to get this hat finished soon otherwise it will be Spring and not cold enough for baldy to wear it!

Counting down to Christmas.....

While our American cousins are enjoying Thanksgiving this weekend I'm on my countdown to Christmas (and me holiday!) Made a start on the packing but still have a few bits and pieces to get and then I’ll need to “spring” clean the house ready for my friends who are staying here while we are away!

I finally finished putting up the decorations yesterday, although I'm skipping the big tree this year. Good old Santa has now taken pride of place on my dining room wall! He is made from a needlepoint kit I bought some years ago when the kids were small, I took me hours to complete it but well worth the effort!

I’m in a knitting void at the moment, after finishing my throw I’m not sure what to do next! A colleague has asked me to knit her a scarf so I am on with that and another colleague gave me a pattern for a beanie hat which I think I’ll do next. I think I’ll have to get myself on Ravelry and look through the patterns to see what I can do with my ever growing stash! Since I found the wool shops in the town where I work the stash grows at an alarming rate!

Finally the epic is finished!!

It's been freezing here today with plenty of snow on the ground. I thought I would make good use of the cold weather and finish my epic throw - and here it is! The original pattern has 20 roses that you knit up and attach to the throw but I liked the pattern without the embellishments (well that's my excuse or I'd still be knitting it in 2010!)

This leaves me with the dilemma - what do I knit next? I have seen a pattern for another throw which is knit up in smaller squares rather than long panels. I like the idea of that as I can pick it up and put it down – saying that it will probably take me several months, if not years, to complete!!

In the meantime I’m going to knit baldy a hat to keep his head warm in the cold weather! He could have done with one today! I have managed to download a video I took of my son and hubby playing in the snow! Hollie was inside well away from the frozen stuff – mind you with her foot in the state it’s in she is better off indoors! She has an appointment at the Fracture Clinic tomorrow so we will know just how bad the break is. Fingers crossed she will be OK to fly as we are due to go on holiday in about three weeks time! Oh well here’s hoping…….

Brrrr its cold outside.....

Woke up this morning to a totally white floor, it had snowed overnight! It looks great, but it's really cold out there.

As we've had a bit of a white out thought I'd start putting my Christmas decorations up! OK so I know its a bit early but thought it might cheer Hollie up who is currently hobbling around with a broken foot!

I spent yesterday in a minor injury unit then was sent on to accident and emergency who confirmed it was broken! She has no idea how she managed to do it either! Bless, mind you with us flying off on holiday soon, it might just scuper things. Will have to see what the othopaedic surgeon has to say on Monday. Fingers crossed she should be OK to fly!

I haven't had much time to devote to my knitting this weekend so the epic is still not over! Still at least I have enough wool to finish it now!

The epic is almost over - but then..........

After taking a short break from my epic throw and dabbling in the art of crochet, I decided to get on and have a final push at completing the throw. All very well and good, but as I get to 10" of the boarder to complete, I ran out of yarn! Bugger!

So it seems that the epic will take a little longer to finish then expected! Still I am determined to get it done by Christmas, yarn is on order just waiting for it to drop through the door!

In the meantime my latest copy of Knit Today arrived and it has a fab tartan scarf, hat and bag set. I think that will have to go onto my list of things to knit, if I ever get me throw finished!

Crochet attempt...

For some strange reason I decided to master the art of crochet! Well I thought to myself "how hard can it be?"

Well for me, I have decided its impossible - I just don't get it! I think for now I'll stick with two pins, although the very nice throw I want to knit requires a double crochet boarder! Oh well, try and try again (not usually my moto!)

Knitting desert...

Gosh can't belive its been nearly a week since I last waffled on here! Its been a busy one at work with office moves, who'd have thought that an office move could be so much chaos! We moved on Monday and its still not finished - no IT or phones lines in some departments and to top it all the other knitters in the office have all moved to the other site so no more knitting gossips over a cup of coffee and a rich tea biscuit!

Not only that but this week has been a desert in knitting terms, not much time to do any! I did though manage a trip into town the other lunchtime and bought some more wool for my mini Christmas stockings, I wanted cream and metalic gold to make stockings to match my decorations. I did get some wool and have managed to make one, but that is about it! I am off into town again tomorrow lunchtime to see if I can find the wool shop that I know is there but I haven't managed to find it yet!

It is a busy week for Birthdays too! Its my Mum's today and when I rang her to wish her Happy Birthday I was greeted with a song that goes something like this:

"Happy Birthday to me, I am 23!"

Mmmm that would mean I haven't been born yet! Its also my husband's 40th on Sunday - he is already having his mid-life crisis so goodness knows what he'll be like when he actually gets to 40! There are some really funny cards out there for 40 year olds, but alas he wants a "soppy" one from me - well that's just tough cos the funny ones are much more fun! It was hard to choose which one!

As for the epic throw........ well it's still an epic! I will get it finished though soon, just have the edging to do!

Christmas knitting commences...

Well thought it was about time I started on my Christmas knitting now halloween is over and there is only 6 weeks left till we leave the country!

I found Jean Greenhowe's mini Christmas Stocking pattern on Ravelry and thought they would be a good place to start! I've knit 4 up today and they look great, I am going to use them as toppers for the Christmas cards I make this year - they are perfect!

My copy of Simply Knitting magazine arrived today and this month they have mini christmas ornament patterns in this month so will look at knitting some of them up. The plan is to make a garland with knitted ornaments on, not sure though whether I'll get that done as I am still dermined to finish my epic throw before Christmas and although I only have the edging left to do it still seems to be a slow process! Watch this space!

Kids, shopping and bargains!

Really enjoyed my retail therapy today with one of my best mates. Would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't had a phone call in the middle of Primark from my darling teenage daughter asking me to meet up with her so she can get her ear pierced! Agggghhhh kids, is there ever any respite? Despite my protests we did meet her and I took her for her ear piercing then sent her on her merry way. She still rang me several more times to complain about her ear ache!

Didn't do a vast amount of shopping, though I did get a bargain dress for an astronomical sum of £1! OK its a summer dress but as we are jetting off to the sun this Christmas thought it would be ideal! I might even start thinking about packing soon, or maybe not! Really must start thinking about Christmas shopping though, I haven't done a thing yet and I'm usually nearly finished by this time every year!

Finished the day off with a lovely meal at Chiquitos then after several more hone calls from my daughter picking her and her friend up and bringing them home! Kids - they drive me insane! Need to do some knitting to calm the nerves - on with the epic throw......

Almost there.....

Its been really cold up here today, definately a good day to stay in and get some knitting done! So I did just that!

I finally got round to taking a picture of my epic throw, it seems to have taken me forever to get this far. Today though I was determined to get it almost finished, and the good news is -I did!

I managed to complete all the long panels and even managed to get them sewed together (which is the bit I really hate doing) and all I have left to do now is knit up the lacy edging. That shouldn't take me too long the pattern is only over 7 sts so even I think I can do it fairly quickly although there is a mistake in the print of the pattern! I tried knitting it 3 times and each time I was 2 sts too short - I thought I was going mad! Still I worked it out and have managed to knit up several pattern repeats already! Mind you that will leave me with an epic sewing up job (groan). It'll be worth it in the end though!

Tomorrow I am off into town for a bit of retail therapy and a break from the kids, husband and my epic knitting project! Think I might pop into our local wool shop though - I mean once this project is finished I'll want to get stuck into something else!

Knitty dilema......

Well despite the clock going back an hour making today an hour longer then normal, there still aren't enough hours in the day!!

I had my day all planned out, I was going to devote it to my epic throw project determined to get it finished before Christmas. Alas I am getting itchy fingers, there are soooo many lovely projects out there I want to get on with my mind started to wonder and I am now planning my next epic throw distracting me from my current project!

On top of that my long awaited Ravelry invite appeared in my inbox! Woo hoo! I couldn't wait to get started so I ended up spending more time attached to my laptop then intended! I've only scratched the surface but I think I'm going to like it on there.

I have also had the trials and tribulations of running round after teenagers who seem quite incapable of doing the simplest thing for themselves. The only phrases they seem to know are "food"; "money"; and "lift" and go completely deaf when you ask them to take their dirty pots away, tidy their room or even put the dirty washing in the wash basket! Bless 'em - good job I love 'em to pieces or I think I'd be completely insane!

Needles to say I didn't quite get as much done on my current project as I wanted to what with planning my next project, Ravelry and the kids still I might just get it finished in time for Christmas - Christmas 2009 that is!

Its Friday!

Phew the end of another chaotic week! We are all moving offices at work so I have spent the day packing up my stuff ready for the move, I never knew I had so much rubbish in such a small area! At least I have a week off now to return to the bedlam after half term!

I'm still working on my epic bed throw, it is looking really good now I've managed to sew some of the panels together! 5 panels down, 2 to go and then the massive edging job that will need doing once its all sewn up! I am determined to finish it this week, although you know what they say about the best laid plans.......

Another one of those days!

Phew, finally the end of one of those chaotic days! I planned to have a nice chilled out day with my needles finishing off my lace throw, alas this was not meant to be!

My darling daughter announced that it is her friends Birthday tomorrow and could I make her a mobile phone sock for his present! Great at this rate it will be next winter when I get my throw finished!

Still I can’t complain too much, it was a knitting project she wanted me to do and it gave me an excuse to leave the ironing, for an hour or so anyway! So after my routine taxi duties to the kids I sat down and got my thinking cap on and my stash out! I was quite pleased with the result I have never tried two colour cable before but I think it worked well (although my photography ain’t so great!)

Anyway that was another one down (I’ll write the pattern out and post it when I get round to it) so back to my ever growing throw, which I hope I’ll get finished soon!

Finally more time to knit.....

At last the monster project I've been tied up with at work has ended! No more late nights means more time to devote to my latest knitting project, which has been a bit neglected lately!

It seems to be taking me forever to get my gorgeous lacy throw finished but I'm getting there slowly but surely! I'll post a piccy on here of the finished article but that may still be some time yet! I'm about halfway through though but there is loads of sewing up as its knit in panels, that's the worst bit - I'd much rather be sat with my two needles clicking away watching the soaps (eek that sounds really sad!)

Let the waffle begin.......

Despite reading other peoples blogs, I never know what to put down to start with! I guess I could go on for hours and hours about me, my life, my knitting, my kids, my job, etc etc but that would be really really boring!

Instead I'll just leave it here for now and add posts as I go!