OK, ok I admit it - I am NOT a completer!

For some time now I have been thinking that I really need to sort through my stash of yarn and bags of UFO’s. There are loads. I know that. I am not a finisher. I love to start things - I love the idea of learning a new skill or technique, trying a new material or a new idea - but when I near the end of a project and all the new challenges have been met I lose interest and start looking for the next challenge.

Often this means the current project gets left in a bag as I move on to try the next new thing - I fully intend to complete the original project but I get sucked in and before I know it the new project is no longer new and…yes I look for something else.

These abandoned, unfinished projects sit in a bag in the lounge until I need to tidy up for visitors or something at which point they get cleared away into a cupboard “just for now” and then they really get forgotten.

When we moved into this house, 6 years ago, I had a couple of boxes of yarn and UFO’s and since then things have only got worse. So, SOMETHING had to be done.

As a sort of New Year Resolution I decided that THIS year I would finish these UFO’s…I thought that as a discipline I would make myself complete one UFO before I started each new project. I was pondering this when I became aware of the UFO Resurrection Challenge on Kat with a K’s blog. Perfect! So I signed up.

And today I dug out all the hidden bags and boxes and sorted through them (although I think there are probably one or two proving elusive and not wanting to be found so I’ll add them when they resurface) and made a list  - very scary!

Some of these were started so long ago I had forgotten all about them, some I don’t know where the pattern or the yarn came from. You will notice that many are fully knitted and only need blocking and sewing. The problem here is that I love knitting but hate sewing up..

 Those of a nervous disposition may not want to look but those who do I’ve added a UFO page

I will update this with my progress throughout the year but to start with here are two of the UFO’s I have made progress on this month -

Patons Symphony Sweater

A completed UFO already!!! This was unforgivable to be sitting in a bag as a UFO. It was knit, blocked and every seam sewn except one sleeve! So I sewed that seam this evening and - voila!

This is really soft yarn and a lovely comfy sweater. Just in time for the cold weather which is about to hit England!

I bought the yarn in Trago Mills in Cornwall years ago and knit most of it quite quickly.

Finished it about a year ago and sewed most of it up - don’t know why I didn’t sew all of it!

Someone once told me that when you write a to-do list you should always put at least one item on it which you have either already finished or are about to finish, that way you can cross it off and that motivates you more than having a long list of items with  nothing crossed off! So now I have one UFO ticked off!

Binary Scarf

Not so much a UFO as a current project that gets picked up and put down a lot. Started before Christmas and intended as a present for J but other Christmas knitting got in the way….now hope to complete before winter is over.

Pattern: knitty.com - Binary

Yarn: Stylecraft DK

Needles: 5.5mm dpn’s

Started: late December 2006

Hot-Socks Sockret-Pal Monkey

Finally, an update on these socks. One sock completed and I’m really pleased with it:

I promised a while ago I would post some pictures of the finished socks I knitted for my God-Daughter last week.

The yarn is Sockotta (recieved from my lovely Sockret Angel) knit on 2.5mm needles and the pattern was a patchwork of the cuff from Rolling Thunder on www.knitty.com and a scaled down version of the Golfing Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, model is my lovely G-D.

Sorry the colour isn’t brilliant I’ll try and get some action shots in daylight with the roller-skates!

On the needles at the moment- I decided on Monkey for the Sockret Pal Hot-Sox and they’re looking pretty funky -

I promised a while ago I would post some pictures of the finished socks I knitted for my God-Daughter last week.

The yarn is Sockotta (recieved from my lovely Sockret Angel) knit on 2.5mm needles and the pattern was a patchwork of the cuff from Rolling Thunder on www.knitty.com and a scaled down version of the Golfing Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, model is my lovely G-D.

Sorry the colour isn’t brilliant I’ll try and get some action shots in daylight with the roller-skates!

On the needles at the moment- I decided on Monkey for the Sockret Pal Hot-Sox and they’re looking pretty funky -

Hooray - it’s been a very long week….and Thursday we had a meeting with the social workers re the adoption progress. This meant I took a day off Thursday and then it was SOOOOO hard to get up this morning to go to work!

But, it’s Friday with two days of weekend ahead of me. So progress?

The Pink Beaded Roller Boot socks for my God-Daughter were completed but unfortunately not *quite* in time for her birthday on Monday. I did have one completed so she got to try it for size and it was perfect. I’m taking the completed pair round tomorrow so I’ll take a piccy then.

My second Shell Pattern sock for the Vintage Socks KAL is very nearly finished and so I should be posting completed pics tomorrow for those too.

Now, Sonja at Knitwit Central has tagged me for this so here goes -

A- Available or single? No

B- Best Friend? Dawn.
C- Cake or Pie? Banoffee Pie pleeese
D- Drink of Choice? Tea or Semillon Chardonnay depending on my mood
E- Essential Item? my filofax - it contains my life and without it I wouldn’t know  where I was going or when!.
F- Favorite Color? Purple.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? hmmm - don’t really have either in England (I’m not entirely sure what Worms are - apart from the ones in my garden) can I say Jelly Babies - they’re sort of English Gummi Bears.
H- Hometown? Marlow, Bucks.
I- Indulgence? very long baths with loads of oils & candles.
J- January or February? February ‘cos it’s nearly Spring.
K- Kids and names? no (hopefully that will change this year).
L- Life is incomplete without? my wonderful hubby.
M- Marriage Date? 15th September 2001.
N- Number of Siblings? two younger brothers.
O- Oranges or apples? apples.
P- Phobias/Fears? flying.
Q- Favorite Quote? “I am a bear of very little brain and long words bother me”.
R- Reason to Smile? my friends.
S- Season? Autumn.
T- Tag three people! Tracey at Gwelva Kernewek, Jonathan at Life and TImes, and Nina in Norway
U- Unknown Fact About Me? there are very few unknown facts as I share everything with anyone who’ll listen but maybe blog-readers might not know that I’m vegetarian.
V- Vegetable you hate? sweetcorn.
W- Worst habit? I bite my nails down till they are painful.
X- X-Rays you’ve had? wow - loads of my back when I was younger (I have a scoliosis curve), my hand (to get my “bone age” whilst being treated for the scoliosis), my mouth at the dentist.
Y- Your favorite food? Cheese - any and all types
Z- Zodiac? Aries the Ram -and I am a typical Aries, adventurous & pioneering but also impulsive and quick-tempered.

Promise to post some piccies tomorrow

Thought I’d post some photos of my current WIP as the sun tried to come out this morning to enable me to take some daylight photos. It soon thought better of it and scurried back behind the clouds however so I’m sat here at 10 in the morning with the lights on!

First, a sock for my God-Daughter -

this is the Sockotta that I got from my Sockret Angel, I was going to knit something for myself with all my Sockret goodies but the colours just seemed perfect for socks for a 6 year old who is into Barbie and pink in a big way! She got Roller boots for Christmas (pink of course, with flashing lights in the wheels) and for her birthday this Sunday I wanted to knit her some nice cosy socks to wear with them.

I decided to knit stockings with a turn-over cuff, the cuff is adapted from the Rolling Thunder sock cuff at knitty.com - it has little pink beads. I then turned inside out and knit 2×2 rib for the inside of the cuff. The sock itself is in k3 p1 rib - like the Lichen rib sock from Knitting Vintage Socks that I used for my Socks that Rock.

I put in some decreases to shape the calf and have put in a Welsh Heel and am just working on the foot now. Not sure what sort of toe I will put in. She has quite narrow feet so possibly a pointed toe rather than a flat one.

Next, my January Challenge Sock from the Vintage Sock KAL

I’ve turned the heel on this as well and got quite a long way with the foot - about another 4″ before I can start the toe as I need to knit it a little longer than the pattern calls for. I knit another pair of these a while back to the pattern and they were slightly small for me (they were for someone else though so that was fine!)

Thirdly, although this is very nearly a FO - an afghan square

As you can see not quite a FO as I need to block and weave in the ends. This is a 7″x7″ afghan square for another swap I’ve signed up to, Crazy Afghan Squares. We each knit/crochet 4 Afghan squares and send them to 4 different recipients so everyone gets 4 different squares. This is the second time this has run but I was too busy with my charity knitting to take part in the last one. If it runs again I get another 8 so hopefully I’ll have enough for an Afghan throw eventually!

This was knit with Sugar ‘n’ Cream and is a honeycomb aran pattern - supposed to symbolise the bee and hardwork and it’s rewards.

So, on to my Marathon Training! I know this is a knitting blog but this training is going to be a big part of my life for the next 20 weeks so I want to record it somewhere. Yes, I’m doing a marathon - No, I am NOT running. One runner in the family (my mum) is quite enough. This is a powerwalking marathon called the Moonwalk run by a charity called Walk the Walk

Walk the Walk organise power-walk marathons to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and care. The Moonwalk is so called because it starts at Midnight in Hyde Park, London and walks through the night. It is mainly women walking - several thousand - and they all walk in decorated bras! That’s right, thousands of women walking through the streets of London at night in their bras!

I did the Moonwalk in 2004 with my sister in law - here’s me at the start

and walking past the London Eye (about mile 19)

and here we are at the finish

We did the 26 miles in just over 8 hours which we were really pleased with, especially Jane who was having treatment for breast cancer just a few months before we walked.

This year I’m doing the walk with my mum, she’s a runner really but hasn’t managed to persuade me to run so I’ve got her power walking. We did a half-marathon last summer and managed to sign up for the Moonwalk which is on the 19th/20th May 2007.

Watch this space for details of my training programme - I really want to beat 8 hours this year.

Before leaving my in-laws in Cornwall today to come home I managed to complete my first pair of socks of the year.

These were knit with the Socks that Rock “Xmas Rock” wool that arrived in my Sockret Angel package on Friday (see my earlier post) and the pattern was the Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks.

I love the way this yarn has patterned up with the spiral stripes round leg and foot and the big pools round the gusset - and they are so comfortable. I’ve decided that the Star Toe of Three Points used in this pattern is my favourite toe - it obviously suits my foot shape as these are the most comfy fitting socks I’ve knit so far.

The rest of the day was spent on the A38, M5 and M40  travelling from Cornwall back home to Buckinghamshire in torrential rain-

This evening I managed to get a bit more done on my Vintage Socks KAL January Challenge Sock which is the Shell Pattern sock cast on at midnight last night! I’m knitting it in hand-dyed merino yarn from the Natural Dye Studio.

Progress so far is the cuff and 2 and a half repeats of the pattern in the leg.

Happy New Year to you all! It has just hit midnight here in the UK so it’s already 2007 - hope yours is a good one.

Spent this afternoon visiting a blogging friend in person for the first time. She and her family live 10 minutes from my in-laws where we are staying for New Year. I got the chance to see the socks I knitted for her daughters “in action”. I posted about these in December when I was racing to get them finished in time to post.
Here they are -

Thanks for a lovely afternoon to Tracey and her family.

My first knitting of 2007 is in progress, I belong to the Vintage Sox Knitalong group on Yahoo and we have a January Challenge to knit a pair of socks from Nancy Bush’s book in January - so I cast on at 1 minute past midnight!

This is the gang in front of the fire at Polvenna - from l at front; f-i-l, m-i-l, J’s uncle, me, J.

Off to drink more champagne now - happy blogging for 2007

We got our tree on Saturday and put the decorations up - here’s our lounge :

and a close up of my candle tree (a present from my m-i-l last Christmas) :

I spent most of Saturday baking (whilst DH was putting up the decorations). I made a mushroom wellington for my Christmas lunch (I’m vegetarian) which is now in the freezer until the Big Day, also made  mince pies and Christmas Cookies -

These were made with the cookie cutter and recipe sent to me by Sonja as part of my prize earlier this year.

The scarf I’m wearing in the pic was knit with the Fancy Fur which was also part of that prize (just to prove I have done some knitting!!!)

On the knitting front, as well as the Fancy Fur Scarf I finished the two pairs of socks I reported on last week (Fudge Sundae and Doctor Who) and sent them off to my friend Tracey for her children in time for Christmas. Hope they enjoy them Tracey! Unfortunately forgot to take pics of the final finished objects complete with non-slip paws - will have to get her to send me a pic of the girls wearing them.

Also knit up the Manos del Uruguay sent to me in the Knit Kit Swap to the wonderful wavy scarf pattern. Will take a piccy when the sun comes back (this may be about April) - it’s been thick fog all day here today and really icy this morning….brrrrrr scraping ice of the windows of my car before heading off to work has to be one of my least favourite occupations.

Anyway, back to the knitting - currently on the needles Binary for my DH, was hoping to be a Christmas gift but other items got in the way so it’s now an after Christmas gift. And also a pair of Opal socks for my sis-in-law.

Off to eat cookies and drink tea and snuggle up on the sofa….stay warm everyone.

Sorry about this but I’m going to moan to you again. I have just sat in my house since 8am waiting for Thames Water to come and survey our house prior to fitting a water meter. A girl called me last week to say they would be coming on 12th December between 8am and 1pm - so I booked a morning off work and sat here waiting for them…and waiting….and waiting.

At 1.02pm I called Thames Water to find out where they were to be told that there was a note on my file that they had cancelled the appointment for the 12th and rearranged for some time in January……however they neglected to inform me of this.

So I’ve lost a day of work just before Christmas (I’m a contractor so I only get paid for the hours I work) and will have to take another day off in January.

I’m fuming!!!!

However, to calm myself I have been writing Christmas cards and baking mince pies and trying desparately to get in the Christmas mood. For some reason this year I am really not feeling Christmassy!

On the knitting front, I have almost completed the socks I’m knitting on commission for my friend’s daughters - here is one and a half pairs and the final sock is on the needles now-

The pair on the left are Opal Petticoat shade 1295 - as I’ve been knitting them they have been making me think of Chocolate Sundae ice cream as the colours are really yummy!

The odd sock on the right is Opal Rodeo shade 1152. This I call the Doctor Who Sock, partly because the stripes remind me of a Doctor Who scarf (that dates me to Tom Baker doesn’t it!!!) and also because the little girl it’s for loves Doctor Who.

The two little girls are very different and so the socks are very different too.

The Opal Petticoat’s are designed to come just below the knee whilst the Rodeo’s are to come above the knee. Here’s the basic recipe -  I may write this out properly at some point for those not familiar with sock knitting.

Fudge Sundae Socks

Cast on  60 sts and then work cuff in 2×2 rib for 7 cms (long enough to fold over if wanted) then knit in stst (with a purl seam stitch) until the total length from co was 10cm where I began the decreases for the calf shaping. Decrease 1 st either side of the seam stitch on every 6th row until 48 sts remain. Heel flap was knit on 24 sts, heel shaping to leave 14sts, 12 sts picked up each side of the flap for the gusset then decreases every other row until 48sts remain. Foot was knit until 14 cms long then a flat two - decreasing 4 sts every other row until 12 sts remain for grafting the two. The foot length in total is 18cm and 17cm circumference.

Doctor Who Socks

The Rodeos had 76sts co and 2×2 rib for 3 1/2 cms then worked straight, with a seam stitch, until total length is 19cms. Begin decreases - 1st row skpsso at start of row, knit 3 rows st st, next row k to last 3 sts, k2tog p1 work 3 rows st st. Repeat these 8 rows until 52 sts remain. Heel flap worked on 26 sts, heel shaping leaves 14 sts, pick up 13 sts either side of flap for gusset then dec every other row until 52 sts remain. Foot is worked in st st until it measures 17 cms then flat two is worked, decreasing 4 sts every other row until 16 sts remain. Graft toe.

Will post more pictures of my completed knitting later.

I had my stall at the local school bazaar this Saturday - not terribly successful. Unfortunately the organisers chose to put myself and the other sellers who had paid for stalls in a side room tucked away in the back of the school and put all the face-painting, tombolas etc in the main hall. Consequently I think a lot of people didn’t know that we were there …. there were some great stalls as well, a girl with wonderful handmade jewellery, another girl with ceramic plaques and nativity scenes…and hardly anyone came to look.

I also heard from a friend who had knit a load of scarves for her daughter’s school bazaar that the woman running the stall had sold them for £2.50 - the wool cost her more than £3 for each scarf!!! It seems that some people don’t appreciate hand crafted items and have no idea of the work that goes into them.

I had finished these final items over the last couple of weeks -

A Noro Blossom shrug (quite like this so happy if it doesn’t sell”); ladies socks from Knitting Vintage socks in Regia Stretch colourway “denim”; circle shawl in Noro Blossom; Felted handbag in hand-dyed wool; Shell pattern socks in handdyed wool; spiral scarf in handdyed mohair loop.

I sold 5 or 6 scarves and a couple of other items and made about £60…not very impressive for 3 hours. Did get 2 orders for pixie feet for adults though, so now have to work out the dimensions for those.

So I have a box full of hand knitted items to sell - I sent an email round at work yesterday and hope to sell some there and also at my hubby’s office.

To top my day off on Saturday I had taken a photo frame to hold a sign telling people what I was selling and that I would take orders for slippers. It’s a wooden frame that used to belong to my Great Aunt and usually holds my wedding photo. It was the only thing big enough to hold the sign that I had. It was right in the middle of my table but somehow the woman on the stall next to mine managed to knock it off my table an break the glass and some of the tack came out leaving a piece of wood trim loose -not happy.

And finally this weekend I realised that my spoiler in the Sockret Pal swap as welched on her end of the swap deal. After emails with the organiser and trying to contact my spoiler I have been assigned an angel….thank you angel whoever you are …..and to my spoiler if you are out there and reading this, I realise that sometimes life throws up situations that mean we can’t keep promises but it would have been polite to inform the swap organiser, and myself, as we would have understood if there was a valid reason. I’ve been sitting expecting a parcel for 2 months so it’s very disappointing not to get anything……

Moan over!

On the needles at the moment, I’m knitting socks for a friends child as a commission from her for Christmas.