Well I found my old blog again and what fun it was going back and reading the old posts. It made me realise how bad things are when I still have some of the wool I was talking about in 2010!

I have taught myself to crochet and did the blanket Moorland from Attic24 
Which is wrapped around Percy Pig who is a current travelling buddy in our camper van. 

I still knit and crochet. Currently have 3 things on the go as well as all the unfinished things in bags. I have added some pictures of thing over the years that I have finished and will add more photos as I pick this up again.

Baabel hat from Ravelry - I have made at least 2 of these and highly recommend them. A little knitted dress done in the round for one of my granddaughters who is now 8. George, Peppa Pigs brother - not sure why I did this but hey ho.

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Oh my

I can't believe that it has been 3 years since I blogged. Since then I have had numerous jobs, and still not found my "thing". I'm in the process now of trying to find a job that I love. Still knitting and also making an attic 24 blanket,  which I am loving. I have found a knitting friend at work, so it's nice to find someone who seems to love knitting as much as me. It's a shame because when you work full time you lose your passion because you haven't got the same time free. I have found "winwick mum" on Facebook and I spend a lot of time reading things on there and feeling inspired. I even started a sock yesterday and I have just done the heel today. I have got 4 grandkids now and I love them all. I can knit for the two little ons , 3 and 1 but the older two 8 and 5 not so much. I did knit them an Easter bunny to sit on a small egg. I will attach photos. I only have 3 of 7 children living at home, so life is a bit different now.
We have moved to a different area and have made a lot of changes as a family. Life has been tricky and difficult, but sometimes it has been my attitude to things. So hard to count your blessings, but I have lost two friends to cancer in the last two years and that is hard!  I try and be grateful, but it's not always easy. I am still trying to work out how to attach photos so will try and add some next time

Long time coming

I can't believe it was back in April that I last posted. I finished the Driftwood, but it didn't turn out great for some reason, I think it was because I used cheaper wool. My daughter, who I knitted it for, didn't like it, so I gave it to one of the other girls.

Since then I have been mainly knitting bits and pieces. A little pig, dishcloths, and doing a bit of crochet.

I had my op and I had a sarcoidosal mass behind my eye. I have been on steroids since June and have put on one and a half stone!!! I was fat anyway so now its awful I have had to go up a dress size, something I said I would never do.

I have been offered a new job, so hope to get a letter through the post soon to confirm. Its a bit of an employment bonus, as it could lead to further things. Who know.s

In an ideal world I would love to work for a knitting magazine, from typing up things and editing and knitting too, it would be great, but getting the opportunity is the main thing.

Anyway will try and put some pictures up soon.

Knitting Driftwood Again

I have been knitting Driftwood AGAIN|, and I have a photo to prove it.

This is a free pattern from ravelry. It is lovely to knits up quite quickly. It is supposed to be knitted in worsted weight, so aran. Anyway by mistake I ordered 4 Ply from loveknitting.com as I got distracted by the colours. So I have been knitting this with two strands held together. Its a bit fiddly at times, especially when you are changing colours, but its worked out so far so good. I think this has only cost me £10 to knit so far, so bargain. I went up a size as my knitting is slightly on the tight size. My daughter has tried it on as I have knitted and it is looking good. I am on the sleeves at the moment. They are knitted on dpns so they are a bit fiddly but I am doing other knitting occasionally too.

I had an operation last Friday on my eye. I had to go to Salisbury which is over an hours drive from here. There was a child before me so I didn't go in until 5pm after having nothing to eat from 7.30 am and having nothing to drink since 10am. I was only in about an hour, and came home with a fetching eye patch on. I was told to have a week off work, and not to drive for a week. I felt fine the next day so told my boss I could come back in, and then the swelling began!! I look like I have been stung by a bee on one eye, so I think I will be staying off work. I get my results on Friday of the biopsy. I am hoping that this week I get loads of knitting done, maybe even finish the Driftwood. As per usual, I have a lot of projects on the go, or at least that need to be finished.

I have had a new grandson, and I have knitted him a fluffy bear suit, now its too hot to wear it, and its too big for him, so I have lost the will to sew it up!! 

I was going to buy myself a new navy cardi for work. When I looked at the price of one, I decided to knit one instead. I have a great pattern which I know will work, even for someone of my large size. I have bought the wool, so now to finish what I have started.

Off to prepare tea now, never ending peeling potatoes and carrots. My least favourite job in the world.  Happy Knitting.

Time goes by

I can't believe that its been so long since I last wrote anything. But then nothing much has happened.

I have another grandchild on the way. It (don't know what sex) is due in about 2 weeks and all going well, it will be born in my house. My daughter wants a home birth, but at our home - probably something to do with mum cooking dinners everyday!!

I have knitted a fluffy snowflake chunky bear suit for the baby. The trouble is I have all the pieces to assemble, and then sew together, and I hate doing that, so I keep ignoring it, thinking it will magically get done.

I had some sad news that a friend of mine has got cancer. I said I would knit her a hat in case her hair falls out (as a joke), then she asked if I would knit her a picc cover. This is to cover someones arm who has a chemotherapy line in. Click on the link below if you want to knit one, I know people will be really grateful

http://popupwoolshow.co.uk/pick-a-picc-knit-challenge/

I have knitted mine in Riot DK wool, it does look really nice, I may even knit a hat to match.

I have been ruthless with my yarn, and I have sold a lot. I needed to buy a new laptop. I now have it all contained in one 6 foot blanket box. I have written down all that I have, and I am going to knit up the odd balls into hats etc for xmas.

Been busy working so I dont' get much time to knit now.

Got a problem with one of my eyes, and have to go and have a biopsy as I have a lump on my lacrimal gland. Still waiting for appointment  - good old NHS,

Will post some pics of finished picc line.

Christmas knitting

Not doing any!! Christmas knitting that is!! I have been knitting -dog coats. I know it sounds silly, especially as I haven't even got a dog. My boss has a dog, and she is really sweet, and she does wear jumpers.So I have knitted her one, but it was a bit big, now I'm knitting her a Christmas jumper, and I am sure that it will fit.

I have a new grandchild on the way, due in March. I will try and knit something, because its what grandmas do.They have decided not to find out what sex the baby is, so I will go down the white route. I would love to knit a cape, but I'm not sure if they would actually use it.

I have been ruthless and sold some of my wool. I needed a new laptop and I have so much, and I sold the wool for £100. So that was a good start. I felt bad as some had been in my stash since 2009, so it wasn't that precious. Most of what I have left now is non branded. Well I still have some Noro and some Socks That Rock, and I love them so I probably won't sell them.

I have my new laptop, and it's a bit weird to get used to, but I will persevere. Now I have to start storing my pdf knitting patterns again.

I am going to try and add photos of my knitting again.I always thought when I started blogging that I would do it regularly but life gets in the way, so I'm going to try and do a bit more of what I love, and thats writing and knitting.

Been thinking about writing a knitting novel, and have started it but not sure how/where to take the story so I'm going to try and do a bit of research. 

Anyway must go - I have a dog coat to finish. Happy Knitting.

Holiday

Well that was a great relaxing holiday - to top it all I also had knitting with me - which I managed to do in the shade. I finished a baby cardigan and then I has a sock to finish. Unfortunately I has left the patten at home - but thanks to the joy of Internet - I sent message to a friend and she typed out the heel flap instructions out for me - brilliant - so that gave me a bit more entertainment. Today is going home day so I have packed my knitting away - so left with reading and listening to music. Tummy feels bit dodgy on the day when due to fly home - fortunately my friend has Imodium so guess I will be taking that!! Been a great week away though- i have really really missed my lovely husband - we have never been part this long - and probably never will again - back on line when back in the uk

Turkey

I am off on holiday to turkey tomorrow!! Very excited. It's my friends 50th birthday so we are flying off for some sunshine - I was going to take my knitting but I think it may be too hot- I shall see. Got plenty of books on my kindle and my sun tan lotion. Happy holidays 

All moved in

The move is over - thank goodness - talk about last minute. The original house we were going to rent didnt work out and literally last minute something else became available. We are in and unpacked - not the wool thought, that is still in the big bag and 5 boxes!! Waiting to unpack as I am going to do a ruthless clear out and sell some on eBay. Come to bed early as dont feel great. No Internet yet so having to use phone so must keep it short - not done any knitting for 5 days eek

Lovely day

We had a lovely day on Saturday, the rain stayed away and we had a great time. I danced my feet off and had such fun. My little girl looked stunning as did all my lovely family. Next on the to do list is another house move!!

Wedding day

Today daughter number 3 is getting married!! So exciting - going to hairdressers at 1030 for wedding hair do. Been awake since 510 and my little girl came in at 6 for last cuddle as a single lady. I just see her as a 2 year old dressing up in an old shawl over her head pretending to be a bride - and now she's actually getting married - no knitting today xx

Summer Lovin'

An

I have had to resort to using my phone to  blog as the blogpost site seems to be playing up. Summer was great but boy, did it zoom past. This is what we had for tea tonight - home made bacon and egg pie - I don't usually have any left bit tonight I made extra.

We have been swimming in my mums pool - even this week.

We have been swimming in the sea - it was lovely .

We have celebrated birthdays,

We have eaten lasagne at the local pub for a birthday treat - just me and my four girls - and yes it was yummy.

My best friend lent me her soft top mini for a few days. So I went on drives in the sunshine with the roof down with loud music playing and singing along - it was great.

And we have been planning a wedding as one of my girls is getting married in November - it's been busy, busy. I managed to fit in camping too- and knitting. I completed a cardigan, 2 dog coats, 2 berets, 1 floppy hat and I am attempting a crochet rasta hat (not going too well). Will do more photos of knitting next time x

Where has time gone

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. I haven't been knitting as much as usual because it's so hot. I'm not complaining, but I knit in mornings and evenings, as too hot in the day.

Started a new job about 7 weeks ago. I love it, it's doing admin work for an online shop, and it's really great, work with some lovely people too.

Been knitting a lovely jacket called Fifth Street Jacket, you can find it on Ravelry.com and I had a few problems with it, so emailed the designer, and bless her she emailed back really quickly, and the problems have been resolved.

One of my daugthers is getting married. Lovely. But this year in November aaaggghh. I did offer to knit her a dress, but she turned me down (glad really). She has already got her dress, and we got some lovely bridesmaid dresses from Debenhams, in the sale, with an extra 10% off, so that was good. My mum is making the little girls dresses, so all in all, so far, so good.

Been swimming a lot recently. Mum has an outdoor pool, so been up there to swim, and been in the sea 2 times this week, and hope to go again Sunday. It's lovely to go to the beach in the early evening when it's a bit quieter.

Been thinking about my stash, and wondering if it will ever go down. I have so much. I actually haven't bought any wool for quite a while, but I'm not knitting that fast either. Will have to have a think. Trouble is if you sell it on ebay, you lose so much money, and then have to pay fees too. Maybe I will knit things up to sell, just to cover the cost of the wool. Trouble is need to think about making small things now, for Christmas fairs etc, and hot weather doesn't inspire me that much.

Had to buy another car, as our lovely old reliable Galaxy, finally was not being cost effective. We sold it on ebay, and they guy managed to fix it, and apparently it's gone to Monaco to take part in some sort of banger rally, so a good way to go. We had it for years and had 187000 miles on the clock, so it served us well. The new car is a little car, but it's great for round town. The other little car has just broken down, needs a new water pump, so hey ho, always something.

And to top it all my youngest son, 9, fell at football yesterday and has fractured his shoulder, so he's in a sling for next 9 days til they can re x-ray. Oh the joys of family life.

Must go and do some knitting now it's cooled down.

Trying new things

I have been knitting a few different things recently and this is one of them. This is a pattern from AK Traditions and its from huggable friends. I'm really pleased with it. It's not supposed to have a mouth but I'm still in two minds about it.

Then the other bits and pieces are this little bird

Then there's this little mouse 

And a little outfit for my grand daughters toy 

Just been in holiday for four days camping in my mum and dads back garden and it rained but on the plus side I did loads of knitting!

Catch Up

Sometimes you wonder why things happen, and then you just get on with it. We moved into the house we are in, and what a disaster. It's damp, and we didn't realise til we were well and truly in. Clothes in the built in wardrobes were wet, where the wall was running with water. There was mould growing on the wall, and turning into crystals too.

We contacted the estate agents, and to cut a long story short, we have had to have the heating on constantly, low, to dry the house out. Also we have had to ventilate the house too, which we have been doing, and four weeks on it's starting to dry out, with a heating bill of £90, which we have had to pay. I'm a bit annoyed really, because the damp wasn't our problem, it was here when we moved in, and got worse when we moved in. We actually found out about the previous tenants that they hadn't had the heating on at all, so that didn't help. Now we are just waiting for a plumber to come round and put some thermostat valves on the radiators, so we can turn them down. Been waiting three weeks now. After contacting the estate agents for the fourth time, we have been told that the plumber is coming,  but when, who knows??

The good news is that I have been knitting. I have felt like being ruthless with the amount of yarn I have got. So I have started knitting these dishcloths again. They are so easy to knit, that the pattern is in my head after knitting 5 one after another. The thing is I do use these too, and they are quite hard wearing.

Then there's this little baby, that's been sitting patiently in my stash, waiting for me to finish. I have sat and knitting almost everyday to try and get on. Now I have looked at it closely I can see a mistake grrrr. Now I don't know whether to unpick it back - yet again, or just put up with it. My hubby (a non knitter) didn't notice it, but I will. Basically on the, button band, about 1 inch above the needles there is a discrepancy in the pattern. Either I am using the wrong needles, but the stocking stitch looks fine. Or my tension is wrong. It's only the button band, it's annoying. And this has been sitting around for 2 years waiting for me to finish. I have learnt from this, FINISH THINGS STRAIGHT AWAY. It's ok having a couple of projects on the go, but when you leave something, this is what happens. I am in a dilemma. Will it just sort itself and droop a bit when it's left to rest, or am I kidding myself. If I keep on knitting regardless, then I can't just go back and undo this bit because it's all knitted in one piece. If I do unpick it, whose to say it may still not knit up right, and I would have to upick about 4 or 5 hours worth of knitting. But will I always wear it, and be annoyed by that bit. I'm not gonna put it away and think about it, I am going to have to think about it today, and sort it out today.

Back to work tomorrow after working 2 days the week before last and 1 day last week, as I had children off school, and no childcare. Now it's back to three day week again. I have been trying to resist temptation as Kemps aka www.kempswooshop.com have been emailing me with their tempting offers of wool. So many times have I put things in the basket and then quickly turned off the screen. I mean I have a 6 foot trunk full and three vacuum bags under my bed. I must learn to just say no. I have no room to store any more wool, so I have to knit up what I have, and plan what to knit with it. I have a lot of odd balls, so I can just crochet a blanket with it, as they do get used in our house. Trouble is I like the brightly coloured ones, and most of my yarn is dark, and I am NOT going to buy yarn just to contrast a blanket, that's such a waste.

I looked back at the blog. Still not finished Driftwood, still only the neckline to do. Maybe next time I am on here, I will have done it, but don't hold your breath.

We're in!

We are in. We moved last Wednesday and now we are all unpacked. I didn't finish driftwood, but I only have the neckband to finish. The new house is great. I haven't got Internet yet so this will be short. On the sleeves of Aran cardi so that's getting finished soon. Must go but I will be back!

On the move - AGAIN

Well it looks like we are moving house again. We moved into our current rented place in July 2011, and now the time to move on has arrived. We are going down to a 3 bed house, because the downstairs living area will be so much better for us as a family. I feel a bit overwhelmed as we have just over 2 weeks to pack up, and clean etc. I'm looking forward to being able to keep my wool downstairs, so I can get to it when I want, instead of traipsing up and down stairs. I do like the thought of putting things away etc, but its just so much to do.

I am on the last sleeve of Driftwood, so I WILL try to finish it before I move. I am also knitting the second front of aran cable cardi, so must get on. Will check in again soon.

Spots before my eyes

I was woken up this morning, by my 9 year old son, showing me spots. Yep, you guessed it - he's got chicken pox. Quite a few in his hair, and the rest seem to be appearing as the morning goes on.

I then realised it's a work day for me. Hmm, I may not be able to go in, hmm a day knitting and baking, and being "just a housewife" again. But no such luck, my lovely hubby is able to work from home today, and my boss said it's ok to work with the client, so I will be off to work in half an hour.

Driftwood got put aside for a bit, while I knitted baby bootees and mittens, for a friends grand daughter. I have picked it up again, and have almost finished one sleeve. The only annoying thing is that I had to buy 2 more balls of Rowan Alpaca Cotton and they cost me £12 including postage, so annoying, but I have to finish it now I have got so far along.

Went to visit an old friend last week, I probably haven't seen her for  year. It was so lovely to catch up again. She's one of those friends who you can totally be yourself with, you don't have to worry about what you say, and we had such a lovely time. Then to top it all she gave me a big laundry basket full of yarn. What a brilliant friend, and some knitting needles, and patterns too. Sadly, her mum had passed away, and she was a prolific knitter, and I have now got some of her consdierable stash. I don't need it, but it would have been rude to refuse!! Already I have been scouring ravelry for ideas, especially as there is some vintage mohair in there too. Happy Days.

Lots of ideas going through my mind at the moment, about what I want to do. I do enjoy my job (I'm a personal carer for a client with MS) and it's really good fun at work, we have some good times and good conversations. But long term I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. In an ideal world I would love to work for a knitting magazine, or work in the industry. But I am under no illusions, I am not that amazing at knitting, I'm good enough, but not exceptional. Plus the fact I still have 4 kids at home 17, 16, 13 and 9, so I still need to be around for them. I have looked into piece knitting, but to be honest it doesn't pay, and I can't actually commit to finishing things, because with kids you know they can be ill anytime.

Anyway time will tell. Hope you all have a good job. I am off to work now. Happy knitting.

Happy New Year

Well, where had the time gone. Yet again, I haven't kept up with the blog. I am doing really well with Driftwood. It's finished. Well I still have to do the sleeves and the neckband, but the majority of it has been done. It will actually fit me, but not sure if it will suit me, as it makes me look like a barrel. Now I am under no illusions, I know I look a bit like a barrel, so I don't know why I suddenly thought that horizontal stripes would suit me, but hey I will learn one day. I think I will try and lose some weight (yeah I know, you have all heard it before), maybe this time, I will do it. It would be so nice to be a size 16 (in non elastene jeans), and it's not undoable, but I have to make it happen.

For Christmas I got a lovely book of animal knits hats. I have spent a fair bit of time making an elephant hat. My kids have refused to wear it, but someone will, I'm sure. I have sewed the trunk on, and then realised it was on wrong. I am just about to try again. I have one more ear to knit, stuff and attach, and then it will be finished. So here goes. I will post pictures when done.

Happy New Year to you all.

Driftwood

I am really enjoying knitting this I am trying to do a few rows each day if I get time. I don't think it will fit me but if it nearly does I WILL lose weight to get into it because I love it and the colours too. Today has been a stay in say because it has rained all day. My hubby is out all day so I was home alone with 2 bored boys, ended up going to macdonalds to break the day up then to the library for books and DVDs so all ok now.picture of progress so far with driftwood