There's a hole in my sock......

Dear Dina, dear Dina....

I unballed this pair of socks this morning to find this! I was shocked. They seemed fine last time I wore them but somehow this happening while they were being washed and dried and I never even noticed till now. This may seem totally insignificant to most people but I haven't been knitting socks that long, and this is the first time any of my socks has developed a hole. I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many holes that will be appearing over the next few months. Fortunately I still have this yarn for this pair somewhere so I will be repairing this at the weekend.

Is it time to come out of hibernation?

I've been on a course today in Durham which finished at 3pm. I was driving home in the sunshine and I started to feel cheerful. When I got home it was still light and I went out into the garden and looked at the shoots that have grown from the bulbs my mum and I planted in October. It feels warmer. The possibility that it might not be cold, dark and rainy forever suddenly seems believable. I can't wait for the Spring and Summer.

Thinking

I managed to restrain myself from working too much this weekend and had a rather pleasant time visiting the coast with Pinkphish and meeting up with my friend Jackie. I also had chance to do some more spinning using the rainbow merino roving I bought from Wingham.

I finished the two thinking dresses I was knitting in different colours. The pattern is from Miss Bea's Colours by Louisa Harding and the yarn is Rowan All Seasons Cotton. For some reason the blue one turned out about an inch shorter than the pink one. I think I followed the pattern the same. I suppose that's what you get when you knit a lot when you're tired.

I wish I'd taken some pictures at the coast because the sea was quite rough. So rough in fact that we actually saw some people surfing instead of just bobbing up and down in the water, which is all you really normally see.

I can't wait for the end of term now. Only two weeks to go.

In a spin

One of the things I bought at Wingham was 200g of this Jacobs roving. The colourway is called humbug and it is all natural colours blended together.

Following my recent frustrations with generally overspinning and plying yarn I decided to have a proper look at how my wheel was running. I spent quite a bit of time sanding the new bobbins and oiling the workings so that the belt turned them properly. The result is properly wound singles.

And sensibly plied yarn. Rather than the tight angry mess I had before.

I feel so pleased with myself. I can't stop looking at the finished article because it seems so implausible that I could have made it. I will really enjoy knitting it up. I think it is going to become a Christmas scarf for a man, so I won't give any more of my plans away.

I really want to spin some more but I must concentrate and get some work done. Hooray for me!

Sunday Woolly Sunday

So far my new year's resolution is going quite well. I've been working less and I definitely feel better. It may mean that I have had a few mornings when I have had to run round like crazy, but my weekends and evenings have been much improved. 3 days spent on a course, Y9 exams and reports are seriously testing me this week. I nearly caved in this morning and did some marking, but I stayed strong. Tomorrow I will have to work but hopefully that will set me straight till half term.

Last Sunday Becca, Emily and I drove down to Wentworth in South Yorkshire to visit Wingham Wool Work. We met my mum there and had a lovely time pouring over the books and yarn in the shop and the three sheds full of fibre in a range of colours. We also had a look at their selection of wheels. I was so excited in fact that I forgot to take any pictures of us.

I was especially happy to be on nearly-home turf. The owners were very welcoming and extremely tolerant of our endless browsing. I would definitely recommend a visit, whether you're a knitter or a spinner.

I made a few interesting purchases and manage to resist the urge to splash out on a folding Kromski wheel which seemed to overcome everyone else there. Photos to follow (when I get some daylight).

This was all followed by 3 days at the National Science Learning Centre in York playing with fun science experiments, then a couple of evenings spent playing with the Wii purchased by my husband. All in all I feel like I've had a rather self-indulgent week.

Like academics in a book shop

Last weekend Graeme and I took a trip up to Alnwick. We had lunch in the Alnwick Treehouse Restaurant which was lovely, but the main reason for going was to visit the amazing Barter Books second hand book shop. I can truly say I've never seen anything quite like it. It has an amazing selection of books, including many rare books and first editions. It's inside the old station and totaly fills the space.

I had a good look through some really old science books. I was hopefuly of finding some interesting knitting books but was sadly dissappointed to find that I had been beaten to it, leaving only a couple of horrible 80s colourwork books. I did find a lace edgings book that still had the needles attached that came with it. I also picked up a couple of general craft books which had some detailed instructions and diagrams for dress making and advice about potential gifts to make for any friend who "does for herself".

A work of advice for anyone who decides to visit Barter Books, and it is definitely worth it. The place is freezing so make sure you wear your coat. I was wearing my aran jumper and thought that would be enough. By the end I was shivering.

Boo!

Some topological magic. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket in its just-off-the-needles form.

And then in its folded ready to seam state. Only two short shoulder seems and the buttons to do. Now that's magic.

Seperated at Birth?

Based on the basic doll and various patterns from the Knitted Icons books by Carol Meldrum, made for Glittrgirl's birthday.

The many moods of Mr Dog

Mr Dog, a shining light of optimism hoping that the new term will be easier and more enjoyable.

Mr Dog, green with envy for all the people who are still in bed at 6 am in the morning.

Mr Dog, angry because he knows there's another 6 weeks of getting up at 6 am to come before half term.

Mr Dog, relaxed because he is confident in his abilities.

Dickenson Pullover

I finally finished it. I can't say it is the most flattering look for someone of my figure, it also feels way too big, but I really enjoyed knitting it and it's really cosy and warm. It is the ideal jumper for keeping warm whilest working during the cold winter months and for going for walks on cold days.

I don't think I ever felt annoyed or resentful of this jumper while I was knitting it, even when I ran out of yarn. I do really like it, even if it does make me look very wide. I'm wondering whether dying it to a dark brown, navy or maroon might be more flattering. I'd appreciate some oppinions.

Shopping Bags

I did say before Christmas that I hadn't made many presents this Christmas. One thing I did make was a set of shopping bags, inspired by Kay and Amber's efforts (though not following the instructions), by a desire to use my neglected sewing machine, and by a rather nice Svalbard shopping bag bought for me by my mother-in-law. I'm quite proud of my efforts. They're quite sturdy. I was going to make some more but I managed to get my sewing machine jammed with the fur from the top of Christmas stockings. I'll get it sorted evenutally.

Working in a winter wonderland

It wasn't until I sat down and started reading other people's blogs today that it occurred to me that I should probably have marked the new year with some kind of end of year post. Maybe the fact that it hadn't occurred to me before is a measure of how much regard I actually pay to new year. It has to be one of my least favourite celebrations, mostly because of the enormous pressure to do something original and exciting, while getting ridiculously drunk. All this is topped off by having to kiss a lot of inebriated strangers. I find that nothing you do ever really lives up to expectations. The advantage of being older and boring and married is that I can now legitimately stay in with my close family, eat a nice roast dinner, drink bubbly and play pictionary. Very nice it was too.

For the first time in several years I actually have a new year's resolution. It is to work less during my own time. That means getting over my worries about lesson quality and trusting a little more to my abilities. Some of my best lessons have been ones I have spent only a short amount of time preparing. I've not made the best of starts. I spent today preparing Y7, 8 and 9 lessons in a highly inefficient manner, with about 50% of the time spent staring out fo the window and running over to take pictures of the snow. I do like to get ahead.

The snow today has been fab. Sadly it's now melting. It's 1.9 °C out there at the moment. During the middle of the day it was two or three inches deep and looked magical. The kids on the road were having a great time pulling each other round on sledges and having snowball fights. We don't get nearly enough snow these days. Although I don't want to grumble too loudly as I do have a long commute. Here are a selection of snowy scenes.

The Eye of the Storm

Today I'm enjoying the brief lull between Christmas and New Year. Our guests have left and we're here on our own for the day. I really enjoyed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It was quite relaxing and we went for a walk all three days instead of just sitting in the house. All in all a good Christmas.

The birds had a very good year. They got this lovely bird table, from my brother and his fiance, along with mountains of food (mmm meal worms). They're already using it although they fly off every time I get out my camera.

One of my favourite presents is this necklace from Graeme.

I managed to do some knitting. I finished my gloves.

I started a pair of Slippery Socks from Knitty in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino (Quarry Hill), that I bought at Windsor Button in Boston, MA.

I also spun some alpaca and started plying it.

I wanted to see how the yarn felt like to knit with so I started a thin, moss stitch scarf with it.

I'm still having a problem with overwinding the yarn when I am plying it, though my singles are coming out more evenly. I'm in serious need of some instruction from someone more experienced who spins with double drive. Because of the overwinding the scarf doesn't feel as soft as I would like. I'll keep experimenting until I get it right. Though I'm sure the new term will slow down my progress.

I hope you're all enjoying your Christmases out there. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Treats

What have I been doing with my week off, I hear you ask. Well the answer is pretty dull. I've been doing a bit of sewing (which is secret) and some present buying/wrapping (also secret). I've also spent some time in the kitchen making Christmas treats since both our set of parents are staying with us for Christmas. I iced the Christmas cake. I had to put icing stars all the way round because my icing covering was so uneven. I'm also annoyed with myself for placing the large star off centre. I was momentarily distracted while doing it and then it was too late. I think it looks OK. I can't quite decide whether to add some silver balls to the stars or not.

I'm also quite proud of myself for making my own chocolate log, filling it with homemade cranberry sauce and icing it too. I'm still a little worried about how it will taste but I'll find out soon enough.

People in glass houses...

...should keep an eye on their husbands.

This is our new greenhouse which arrived on Tuesday. It was a wedding present bought jointly with contributions from lots of different people. If you're one of them, thank you very much!

I have wanted a greenhouse for a long time so this is exciting for me. I've already started planning what I'll be growing in it, so I was more than a little upset when this happened.

This is what happens when your husband gets back from his work Christmass doo at 11.30 pm and goes out to do a full inspection of the new greenhouse. Fortunately we have two spare panes of glass and he wasn't hurt. In retaliation I plan to break all his presents as he opens them on Christmas morning.

I love Wingham Wool Work

I had a vague memory of buying the yarn for the Dickenson Pullover (see last Tuesday's post) from the Wingham stall. I sent them a sample and a letter and the lovely people called me yesterday and said they'd found a few more hanks of the same in their stock and would I like to buy some. I can't tell you how happy I am. I had a nighmarish vision of knitting some kind of Frankenstein jumper with a different yarn or having to frog the whole thing. I am saved from the horror. I don't imagine the yarn will make it here for Christmas, but I don't care, because it's still a good Christmas present to get.

Hooray! I made it to the end of term. I feel totally exhausted but it's so good to be sitting here on a Sunday night knowing that I don't have to go to work tomorrow.

Friday was a half day in school and pretty pointless. I did recieve a few gifts of wine and chocolate from the children in my form class. One girl gave me this huge hamper of bubbly, truffles, a champagne flute and a small Christmas cake. I feel like I deserve it. They've been hard work.

When I got home I decided to get in the Christmas spirit by getting out all the decorations and lights. I couldn't manage to lift the trees into the house myself so I ended up having to wait till Saturday to do the decorating. They're not large trees but they were already in the garden when we moved in so they were free. One is in good shape and the other is a bit out of proportion. I like having a living Christmas tree. So far there has been minimum shedding of needles too. Graeme was feeling left out when I was taking photos and wanted to be included.

I also spray painted some pine cones that we picked up last week while out walking.

I finally finished these rather dull plain socks, from the hand dyed (by Lucy and I) blue faced leicester yarn I got from WoolFest. I started them in September. I should have finished them weeks ago but I was found them very boring to knit. I wasn't feeling up to anything more complicated at the time. Knitting them on 2 mm needles didn't help.

I usually only allow myself one sock-weight project at a time, so finishing the socks left me free to start making myself a pair of gloves. I'm using the Hooray For Me pattern by Marnie MacLean. I decided to make the fingers full length for warmth. The yarn I am using is Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch. I like the way they're turning out. Hopefully it'll be relatively easy to match the colour sequence for the second one.

It occurred to me this morning that I've been quite selfish with my knitting this Christmas. I think I've only made one thing for someone else. Usually I make something for most people. This term has been so tiring I just couldn't face a string of deadlines in my knitting. I wanted to keep it relaxing. Maybe I'll start some projects for other people with next Christmas in mind and keep them till then.

Running Out

I don't have enough yarn to complete my Dickenson pullover. I don't know how. I had about twice the suggested weight of yarn. I know it's not the suggested brand but it's a similar weight and knits to tension. I only have enough for just over one sleeve. You'd think I'd know better by now.

Please take your seats

Yey! It's now December. There's only two weeks left till we break up for Christmas (God bless private education). That's 10 more times I have to get up at 6am and drive into school in the dark this year. Woo hoo!

Last week's trip to Harrogate completely wiped me out, so yesterday we had a relaxing day at home. I had a good clean round, so I no longer feel like everything is filthy. Our new sofas arrived. We've only been waiting 5 weeks, which in sofa ordering terms is pretty good. I can't tell you how many years I've spent wanting a comfortable sofa to sit on. During that time I've been the temporary owner of various pieces of revolting student furniture (one containing fleas and some very hard places where you could nearly knock yourself out if you sat down too quickly), part owner of a very short, cheap sofa and latterly of my DH's rock hard, low backed sofa. During the last few months in this house we've also been enjoying a variety of garden furniture. So you can imagine my excitement at receiving this little lot yesterday morning.

You'll notice that despite now having a variety of places to sit Graeme still chooses to sit on the floor. If you look closely you'll also notice that he's watching Strictly Come Dancing even though I've only just come into the room.

We also did a bit of gardening yesterday afternoon. I finally consigned the sweet peas to the brown bin. Amazingly they have still been producing flowers, despite a couple of frosts. I decided they weren't going to make it much longer and I don't get much chance to be home in the light to do this kind of thing. I cut off the last ones and stuck them in a vase.

After a trip to the new Sainsburys (oh the excitement), I had a go at felting using some of the roving I had bought from the workshop to make some felt balls. I didn't quite get the hang of it at the workshop but they're looking quite good now. I think having hotter water probably helped.

Last but not least, I finished the back from the Dickinson Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2007). I'm using some chunky spun wool I bought from Wingham Wool Work at WoolFest 2006. It came in 2 big 500g hanks. I've never been quite sure what the yarn wanted to be. I've been feeling really cabley at the moment and this pattern was ideal for the yarn. It's taken just a week to do the back, which isn't much bearing in mind how little time I have. I hope the rest is just as quick.