Got a wonderful parcel this morning all the way from Canada – my goodies from the Knit Kit Swap from my swap partner Dashenka. Here are some piccies of me opening my parcel excitedly (excuse the hair I’d only just got out of bed when my hubby called down to say the postman had delivered a parcel and I have flu at the moment)

All the way from Canada and it only took 7 days

tearing open the packet to discover the two yellow tissue paper parcels inside:

Inside the bigger of the two was this absolutely amazing wool from Manos del Uruguay. The colours are just so me and the ethos of Manos del Uruguay fits with my principals completely.

I had not heard of them before but the label explains they are a non-profit organisation of 400 artisans whose mission is to bring economic and social opportunities to rural women.

Oh – and there were candy canes tucked inside the skeins – yum! They will look great on the Christmas tree.

Opening the second packet revealed all this – a pattern for a Wavy Scarf from Dragonpine Designs at London Yarns (no photo so it will be a bit of a surprise as I knit), Some sparkly circular needles (I suspect Addis as I have some 8mm dpns that are similar?), a crochet hook. Was a bit worried when I saw this as I can’t crochet (see my post Jasmine ) but the hook is just for adding the fringe to the scarf (phew!)

Also in the picture – three little red Christmas stockings (my tree is going to be so lovely this year) and my favourite, a tape measure with a Canadian maple leaf on it. It will make me smile and think of my wonderful swap partner every time I use it.

Thank you so much…you can probably hear the squeals of excitement all the way over in Canada..

The sale date is next Saturday, 2nd December, so I’m going like mad getting as many items finished as I can.

Finished up the pixie feet this weekend, my best-friends kids helped me with the pom-poms and the reaction of them (and their mum) to the slippers was fantastic. Her little boy immediately asked if he could have the blue pair for Christmas – so I now have a commission to make a pair for him and one for his sister!

Here are the two finished pairs complete with pom-poms :

these were knit with wool dyed with natural dyes from www.thenaturaldyestudio.com in their Atlantic colourway

these were knit with Twilleys Freedom :

to finish them off I ironed on some Regia Anti-Slip Sock Stoppers to make them a little less dangerous for little people racing about on wooden floors!

I’ve also knit these items :

A curly corkscrew scarf in Noro Blossom and edged with a loopy mohair yarn from www.thenaturaldyestudio.com

Really easy – cast on 90 stitches with 7mm needles stst 2 rows then increase in every stitch. Repeat these 3 rows 3 more times then cast off.

I love the colours and the textures in this scarf

Another curly scarf this time knit completely with the loopy mohair in a lovely baby blue. This is so light and soft it just feels wonderful to wear!

This is a gorgeous little baby hat in Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran. The pattern is from Knitty and is called Miss Dashwood

It is wonderfully soft and the little earflaps are really cute.

Another scarf this is RYC Soft Lux Glimmer in Amethyst. The photos don’t do it justice as it has a gold metallic thread running through which makes it glitter and look really special.

The pattern was just 2×2 rib on 9mm needles over 20 stitches with a fringe added on at the end.

Finally the latest pair of Pixie Feet in the pipeline. These were fascinating to make. They are knit with more naturally dyed pure wool from The Natural Dye Studio . The colourway is called Magenta but pre-felting it is almost an orangey pink -

the tape measure is in to show how big they are pre-felting. After two 60 degree 1hr 17min wash programmes in my machine with Ecover wash liquid for Delicates the slippers are about 9″ long and the colour is now a fantastic fuschia pink (or magenta!)

After stretching and stuffing the slippers are about 9″ long in the foot excluding the curly two. This is about a UK childs size 13. I love this colour -

I just got delivered a bag full of felting wool to make more of these so check back for more pixie feet soon!

No post for ages, sorry – I’m (1) busy and (2) have my cough back (boo!!). As a cheat I’m posting a MEME borrowed from What’s life without a Martini?

Will post properly soon I promise

All questions have to be answered with one word

1. Yourself: sick
2. Your Boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): amazing
3. Your Hair: brown
4. Your Mother: friend
5. Your Father: funny
6. Your Favorite Item: photo
7. Your Dream Last Night: blank
8. Your Favorite drink: tea
9. Your Dream Car: non-polluting
10. The Room You Are In: cozy
11. Your Ex: sad
12. Your Fear: loneliness
13. What You Want To Be In 10 Years? family
14. Who You Hung Out With Last Night? husband
15. What You’re Not: still
16. Muffins: chocolate
17. One Of Your Wish List Items: zelda
18. Time: 8:52

19. The Last Thing You Did: slept
20. What You Are Wearing: pajamas
21. Your Favorite Weather: autumn
22. Your Favorite Book: Secret Garden
23. The Last Thing You Ate: ice-cream
24. Your Life: busy
25. Your Mood: bad
26. Your Best Friend: Dawn
27. What Are You Thinking About Right Now? this
28. Your Car: dirty
29. What Are You Doing At The Moment? typing
30. Your Summer: fun
31. Your Relationship Status: married
32. What is on your TV? candle
33. What is the weather like? wet
34. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
35. Who do you tag? Tracey

I haven’t posted any finished objects for a while and that doesn’t mean I haven’t finished anything – I just haven’t had time to post.

I’m still knitting away to make items to sell for Breakthrough and have just signed up for a stall at the Christmas Bazaar of my friends’ kids school on December 2nd so I’m on a deadline now!

Here are some photos of the items I’ve finished over the past week or so…sorry the colours are not good, I am not at home during daylight hours except at weekends – if weather is good this weekend I’ll take some daylight shots.

Anyway, here goes –

A couple of pairs of socks – Opal Prisma in a royal blue knit to a child size (around age 6/7 I think) and a really tiny pair of baby socks knit from the remains of the Opal Lollipop I knit my first every pair of socks from…I underestimated how much yarn was left so there was enough for the little bag as well. I may fill this with lavender or simply put the baby socks in it….

Toddler “elf” hat and booties from red & white double knit. This was some baby double knit yarn my mum donated to me, there is also some orange. I made a hat and mittens for age 5/6 years in red/white/orange stripes with some of it. This pattern was in a magazine I bought the other day and I thought it was fun!

Not too happy with the cast on edge of the hat as it’s a bit loose but otherwise it’s fine.

Two hats and a scarf from bright red baby aran. Colour doesn’t show in this photo at all- it’s a really lovely bright red, very cheerful!

One hat and the scarf are in moss-stitch and another hat as a cable pattern on the front. All are to fit age 2/3 years. The yarn is lovely and soft and cuddly.

Next some more Pixie-feet slippers, I love these. They knit so quickly and look so cute….this is the slippers pre-felting…

and after…

these two pairs were knit from Twilleys Freedom which is the yarn given in the pattern I followed. They only took one wash in the machine whilst the hand-dyed yarn I used for the other pair took 2. However, this time I put an old towel in to help the felting process.

They also turned out slightly smaller than the others. I need to make pom-poms for the twos and sew them on now.

Finally, two more fun-fur scarves, one in a mauve Lion Brand Fun-fur and the other in a deep red eyelash yarn from Paradise yarn in Turkey bought on eBay.

the red scarf is about 3″ wide and 64″ long, 6mm needles, 12 stitches, garter stitch till the yarn ran out - very stylish for Christmas. The mauve is about 5″ wide and 60″ long – 6.5mm needles, 14 stitches, garter stitch till the yarn ran out.

I’ll post some better photos when I get a chance. On the needles at the moment are a pair of socks from Knitting Vintage Socks – Little Child’s Sock in Regia stretch in a Denim colour.

Also, my friend had her baby so I really need to finish the border on the baby blanket and sew it on.

Just got back from the second day of our Adoption Preparation Course (for anyone who doesn’t yet know we are going through the assessment process to be approved to adopt). We have two more days next Thursday and Friday and if they are anything like this week I’ll be exhausted.

We’ve spent two days being told about Attachment, Loss, Child Development and discussing the issues in small groups and it was quite draining emotionally.

Anyway, after the hour drive home I had just sat down when the door bell rang and I opened it to find my neighbour clutching three parcels that had been left at her house for me!

Voila –

Clockwise from the top they are from Germany, America and Staffordshire and they each contain:

Parcel No 1 – from Germany

A HUGE sack containing 8 – yes that’s EIGHT – skeins of Opal Rodeo which I bought on eBay.

One of these is destined to become a pair of socks for the daughter of a friend (Tracey, I’ll take some close-up’s later and send to you)

…oh, and there were two little sweets tucked in the box…yummy

Parcel No 2 – from America

This is fantastic – a specially designed Sock-ret Pal Hot Sox yarn from Scout’s Swag and two really sweet little stitch-markers attached to them.

I can’t wait to start knitting this as I really want to see what it knits up like.

…oh and inside the tissue was a whole load of little glitter bits which are now all over my lounge floor. Thank’s Susie!

Parcel No 3 – from Staffordshire

This is the November issue of Simply Knitting which I somehow missed. My local WH Smiths carries about 2 copies.

I bought October and there was an advert for this issue with a picture of that cover pattern for the tie-front cardi which my mum really liked. It’s knit in Kid Classic which I love so this could be a Christmas present…

It also has a wonderful pattern for a pair of lacy “toe-socks” and a pair of stripey over-knee toe-socks….both these may be destined to live in my sock drawer.

At the moment I’m knitting like mad for my items for Breakthrough which I am probably going to be selling at the Christmas Bazaar at our local primary school on 2nd December.

This week I’ve knit another couple of pairs of Pixie Feet which are now waiting to be felted. A couple of hats and a scarf from some lovely bright red Baby Aran – size 6-12 months and one of a pair of toddler socks from some the Opal Lollipop left over from my first ever pair of socks.

Tonight I hope to finish the second Lollipop sock and then over the weekend maybe another pair of pixie feet and another felted tote bag. Also hoping to knit up a few more fun fur scarves.

Will post some pictures over the weekend to let you know my progress.

Anyone who’s been reading my blog for a while may remember a post last month entitled “I Won!” in which (in danger of hyperventilating) I related how I had won a competition set on Sonja’s blog Knitwit Central

Today I am even more excited – my prize goodies arrived and they are fabulous – look!

This is the parcel and my fevered attempts to open it with the kitchen scissors (yes I am in my dressing gown…the postman came early while I was getting ready for work…I was late!)

and this is what was inside :

so much stuff!! Where do I start?

Ok, ok, calming down – breathe….

So, firstly there was a ziplock bag full of yarn and also a rose scented pot pourri wax which made the bag smell wonderful when I opened it and which has fragranced the yarn!!

First out of the bag was some sock-yarn and it is beautiful, just the colours I love. This yarn just screams autumn at me….

The yarn is from Italy and I’ve been thinking all day about a possible pattern for it. I’m thinking Falling Leaves or possibly the Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks….hmmmm

Next, a ball of Lion Brand Fancy Fur in black with slubs of red, yellow and orange and a ball of Bernat Galaxy in a burnt red/orange.

These two are just crying out to become a wonderful scarf!

Finally on the yarn front was this – Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Cotton in a deep burgundy.

I have to say that all these yarns are completely new to me and, apart from Lion Brand, all the brands are new!

I’m not sure what to do with the Sugar ‘n Cream at the moment – any suggestions gratefully received.

Also in the box was another little ziplock bag which containing a calendar with shots of “Scenic North America”, two packets of Kodak stickers and a fridge magnet with a “W” on it.

Finally tucked into the box was the t-towel (dish-cloth?) at the front which is a lovely bright gingham with a recipe for cookies stitched to it and a snowman cookie cutter tied on! The snowman will hopefully be very happy in his new home hanging in my kitchen with my other cutters – I have already an angel, a christmas tree, a bell, a star and a reindeer but no snowman.

I just want to say thank you SO much Sonja – this package was wonderful and everything is just so perfect for me….have you been spying on me? Everything is just the sort of thing I would buy myself.

These yarns are definitely becoming things for me which will make a change as usually I’m knitting for everyone else.

I’m off to hunt for patterns now……

…gunpowder, treason & plot.

In my home town of Marlow, the Sunday nearest Bonfire Night is the date for the running of the Marlow Half Marathon and in the spirit of the day the race is started not by a flag or a starting pistol ……no, it starts with Guy Fawkes setting off a rocket. The official timing starts when the rocket goes “Bang”

The 5th of November is “Guy Fawkes Night” in the UK and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks and bonfires on which “the guy”, an effigy of Guy Fawkes, is burnt.

Guy Fawkes was part of a conspiracy in 1605 to blow up the English Parliament. The conspirators were catholics protesting against persecution of their religion and were driven to take violent action, hoping to kill the King and members of the Parliament.

Would you trust this man with matches?

The plotters gathered 36 barrels of gunpowder and hid them under the House of Lords. However, several members of the plot began to have second thoughts realising that innocent people may be hurt or killed including those sympathetic to the catholics. One member of the plot is through to have sent a letter to a friend warning him to stay away from Parliament on November 5th.

Acting on this letter, the King’s forces stormed the cellar where the gunpowder was stored, Guy Fawkes was in the cellar was caught, tortured and executed.

“Excuse me, which way to Parliament?”

To this day, the reigning monarch only enters Parliament once a year on the State Opening and before the Opening the cellars under the House of Lords are searched by the Yeoman of the Guard.

On the night that the actual Gunpowder Plot was foiled, November 5th 1605, bonfires were lit in celebration and the day has been commemorated in that way ever since on Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Night.

Being English we never quite let on whether we are celebrating the plot being foiled or Guy Fawkes trying to blow up Parliament!!

My mum ran in the Marlow Half Marathon (yes she is mad and runs all the time!)

This is me seeing her off at the start:

and meeting her with a cup of tea at the finish (that’s my dad and my little brother behind us) :

This weekend was lovely and sunny during the day, but very cold – I love this sort of weather. Really clear and bright and bitingly cold so you have to wrap up warm and get out there.

The acers in my garden looked gorgeous in the sunshine -

but Simpson has decided that it’s too cold outside for him and curled up on the sofa with me –

A selection of “fun fur” scarves – if you would like one of these styles in a different colour just drop me a line and let me know!

Keyhole Scarf £7

A lovely scarf with a keyhole in one end through which the other end is tucked to secure it.

This scarf can be worn two ways, to the left it is wrapped around twice to give a cosy look or wrapped once and worn long for a more dressy look.

This scarf is approx 90cm/35.5″ long and 7cm/3″ wide but quite stretchy.

Long Stripey Scarf £10

Lovely stripey scarf, long enough to tie at the neck or wrap around neck once.

This scarf can be knitted up in several other stripey colours or in solid colours.

Dimensions: approx 1m/39″ long and 15cm/6″ wide.

Skinny Scarf £5

A long, skinny scarf – very trendy at the moment. The scarf is very skinny and the nature of knitted fabric is to curl up and give the impression that it is a tube.

This one is knit in a slightly variegated fun-fur but can be knit in any colour – just ask!

Dimensions: 160cm/63″ long, 7cm/2.5″ wide when flat, 4cm/1.5″ when curled

 Feather Scarf £7

This is another skinny scarf knit in a “feather” yarn rather than fur, this one has a “keyhole” 15cm from one end

This gives a different effect to the fun fur and this can be seen in the detail shot below.

Again, this can be done in lots of other colourways.

Dimensions: 120cm/47″ long by 4.5cm/2″ wide.

Payment terms: I prefer payment by paypal (international customers must pay with paypal) but will also accept UK cheques and cash.

Postage: postage and packing with the UK will be charged at £1.50 for each scarf. For international postage costs please contact me.

To buy: please email me indychick_uk@yahoo.com

All proceeds to Breakthrough Breast Cancer

This is a gorgeous little cravat or scarf in a lovely yarn – Noro Silk Garden is made in Japan and is 10% Wool/45% Silk/45% Kid Mohair and is dyed in shades evocative of nature.

This scarf is in shades of pink and blue and would be a wonderful addition to a winter wardrobe being equally at home with jeans or a little black dress.

Dimensions: length 96cm/38″, width 11cm/4″ at the widest points

Price: £15

Payment terms: I prefer payment by paypal (international customers must pay with paypal) but will also accept UK cheques and cash.

Postage: postage and packing with the UK will be charged at £1.50. For international postage costs please contact me.

To buy: please email me indychick_uk@yahoo.com

All proceeds to Breakthrough Breast Cancer

A long scarf with an interesting pointy shape and diamond pattern details. The main colour is Rowan Yorkshire Tweed in a lovely pink with tweedy flecks. The diamond patterns are alternating colours of cashmerino aran in red and dusky purple.

This is a real statement scarf.

Dimensions: length 180cm/70″, width 17cm/6.5″ at the widest points.

 Price: £15

Payment terms: I prefer payment by paypal (international customers must pay with paypal) but will also accept UK cheques and cash.

Postage: postage and packing with the UK will be charged at £1.75. For international postage costs please contact me.

To buy: please email me indychick_uk@yahoo.com

All proceeds to Breakthrough Breast Cancer