Well, it's been a while in the making, but I'm very pleased to announce the arrival of:

Longdendale Yarns!

I have been hand dyeing yarn for a while now and have started selling it through a local bricks-and-mortar craft shop, Smithy Studios in Glossop (www.smithystudios.co.uk).  I have now set up a Folksy shop and a new blog, Longdendale Yarns, where there are also more details of what I can offer.

So from now on I shall be blogging over there - do please join me!  www.longdendaleyarns.blogspot.com

Crafty Giraffe, signing off...

Another essay, and WIPs...

Yes, I'm in that well-known coffee shop again for another round of me vs essay no 2.  It's not going well, I should be on number 3 by now, but number 2 just isn't inspiring me.  Ah well, gotta get it done.

In a fit of desperation and distraction, I've made a list of all my WIPs:
Rogue
LongForm
Lacy top
Celestine
Elvira
Cardigan for H
Seaweed Socks
Cowls x3
Celestine - nearly finished (and needs to be finished by the end of this week).  Cardigan for H - started three years ago, currently snoozing gently in the corner, but needs to be woken up, finished, and worn, before they are all too big for it.  The cowls are rapidly rushing to the top of the list as they need to be done by the end of term;  I finished one yesterday on the way home from the beach, but due to being very tired forgot that it needed a stretchy bind off, so I need to rip back the BO and do it again differently. Doh.  The plus side is that I need another ball of wool for one of them, which I will have to order, so I might stretch to a pair of metal knitpro interchangeables, because I want to try them out.  It's for research purposes you see.

We were on our way to the beach yesterday morning, Chris driving and me armed with the OS map of the area we were going to (Llandudno).  I quickly discovered that it's a two sided map and I was on the wrong side, which means opening the whole thing out to turn it round.  I was trying to do it whilst going along, until Chris forbade me because he couldn't see the road. (Honestly.  What do you mean, you need to see the road to drive?  It'll only take a minute...)  So I asked him to pull in at the upcoming petrol station, and got the 'can't you wait until we stop at the services?' answer (he was a bit cross by this point).  To which I repiled, but I need to see the map, if I change it I can look at it now, and to my surprise he said yeah, I see, it's a map, and stopped.  Sometimes we really do think the same :)

Working... or not

I'm currently sitting in Costa a coffee shop belonging to a well-known chain trying to cudgel my brain into producing something vaguely sermon-like,  but failing miserably because my mind is on other things - namely, my friend's new baby that I've just visited, and knitting of course.  The baby is gorgeous (so small!) but has made me realise that really I don't want another (though there's still a small bit of me that is very broody) - I don't think I'd survive.  I'll have to make do with lots of cuddles.  There's something a bit sad, but also a bit liberating, about realising that my baby days are passing.  Rebekah has finally worked out how to crawl, sort of, has stopped breastfeeding, and won't be a baby for much longer.  Steffie is just about out of nappies (yippee!) and will start nursery in September.  Hannah is already at school and getting more grown up and independent (when the mood takes her).  And so we will enter a new phase as a family.  And with it will come other pressures, like whether to work or not, along with Hannah's particular needs which are always there but change over time.  I've thought for a while that no stage is easier, it's just that the challenges are different, but slightly more sleep would be welcome.

But I digress.  I'm really excited about this KAL, I've never done one before and I have all sorts of ideas in my head about what I want to make, which may or may not be possible / sensible.  I also have a baby gift to finish and a few other small things to knit before the summer holidays, plus Rogue to finish off (I've lost my chart for the sleeves, and I really don't want to have to re-do it - it's all coloured in with notes on increases etc, so I need to have a good look for it before I can carry on).

Anyway I'd better get back to work before I run out of tea and laptop battery.

Sweater KAL

Ok, so I'm doing Samurai Knitter's sweater KAL, and I'm really looking forward to it.  I have the wool (Melandra wool rich DK in a dark teal colour) and someone to make it for (Chris).
So, to answer the questions in the first post:
It will be a pullover with a high zip/ribbed neck and full length sleeves, and no shaping. 
No idea how long it needs to be, I'd better go find a sweater of his and measure it!
I might do hems for the cuffs and bottom welt, rather than ribbing.
I think I'm going to use the DK double with 5.5mm needles (I often do this for sweaters, so they don't take too long!).  Next stop - the guage swatch!

Short row shoulders

Or, why did nobody tell me about this before?  The pattern for Rogue uses short rows for the shoulders instead of a stepped bind off.  What a difference!  It’s doubly good because (thanks to another fabulous article by Techknitter) I’ve finally managed to do some decent short rows.  With hidden wraps.  The purl ones weren’t as good but still quite reasonable.  Wahey!

Knitting and other updates

Rogue is coming along, I'm just finishing the upper back now, and then I can move on to the much more interesting upper front.  As I'm changing the neckline (no hood) this could get very interesting.  Watch this space.

Cairn number 1 is finished, but its a surprise so no photos.  Cairn no. 2 is currently stuck in the design stages - I might need to dye some wool for the second colour, shame.  Celestine is also coming on apace but again, no details as its a surprise.

A friend and I visited Fairfield Yarns the other week, which is a fab place - yarn heaven!  Like one of those secondhand bookshops with floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall books and only tiny aisles, this was the equivalent for yarn, complete with old coning machines and something clacking away in the basement.  I came back with some woolly DK and 4ply to dye.  I've been skeining it up, but I really need to get on and dye it.  Trouble is, most evenings are either taken up with meetings or I'm too exhausted to do anything or the kitchen is too untidy.  Fridays are essay writing / sleeping days, so not much happening there either.  Ah well.

We have survived the chicken pox anyway (just about, just a few infected spots to go, yuk) and are now coping with the adult tonsilitis that has followed, so I'm not feeling up to much at the moment.  It has to be said though that quite a lot of knitting has got done in the last couple of weeks, so it's not all bad. (We won't mention the cleaning.  Again.)  This morning I have the house to myself which is rather nice, and yes, I have done some work.  And some washing.  Must be feeling better.

The wanging stage

Rebekah has reached the 'wanging' stage (as in welly wanging, to throw with force with not much in the way of directional aim).  Her current favourite activity is emptying a box of toys bit by bit and throwing them behind her.  She can get through a lot of toys like this, and create a lot of tidying up.  She does look very cute doing it though, with a mischevious grin and a contented look.  Wish I was one sometimes.

 In other (knitting) news, the new year has seen a plethora of new projects cast on.  Some are secrets for the present so I won't say too much, but the jumper is coming on well.  I went for Rogue in the end, using Wendy Mode chunky so that it doesn't take as long to knit.  Luckily there is a rogue veteran in K1S2 so I can ask questions etc.  So far it is a very enjoyable knit, but it has been temporarily snoozing of late as more time-dependent projects have taken over.  I also finished the first seaweed sock and cast on the second, but haven't got any further for the same reason as above.  I have a whole list of projects to do this year, so it could be a very knitty year (or a very frustrating one, depending how it goes).

New year, new jumper...

I'm still writing my essay, now nearly finished, but I've got distracted by thinking about my next major project.  I've been trying to de-bobble my favourite jumper but with little success; it's still my favourite jumper but it's not desperately presentable any more as it has pilled horribly.  I have also realised that if/when I am licensed I will need a) more smart jumpers, b) ones that don't have hoods so that they'll go under a cassock, and c) ones that will keep me nice and warm in potentially cold churches.  As most bought jumpers don't fit very well especially in the sleeve, knitting my own is the answer.  I haven't knit myself one for a year or two and this is a major decision both in terms of time required and cost.  But very exciting.

After much trawling of ravelry I have settled on doing Rogue, which I have long admired, but without the hood (for cassock reasons) and also without the pocket.  I've already test knitted one of the cables to check that I can actually knit them - and I can, dead chuffed!  The final decision is which wool to use, and I have just ordered some samples this morning.  Like I said, very exciting.  One caveat though:  I have to finish the cup o' tea first so that I can use the needles.

Essay writing

I am currently in the throes of a major essay writing moment - my first assignment for the Reader course is due in on Saturday.  So I've been frequenting a certain coffee shop (that has free wi-fi) every morning since Monday, leading to much disgruntlement of the husband, as he is having to do the childcare.  I guess I have probably left it a little late, but life, as usual, got in the way of all my good intentions.  And as it is unpaid, my 'work' comes a very poor second to everything else.  Including other people's computer games.  Ah well.

In the few off moments I am continuing with the sock, which I am enjoying, having given up for now on the clapotis, which I wasn't.  Don't know why, as I'm on the decreasing rows, the yarn is lovely and I'm really going to enjoy it once it's finished, but the pattern just doesn't seem to do it for me.  I will finish it one day, hopefully soon, so that I can wear it.

The snow has gone, being replaced by a rather dull greyness,  but at least the cloud has lifted a bit today and we can see the hills again.  Walking home from the station at lunchtime was actually rather pleasant.

Anyway, better go do a bit more writing elsewhere.  Ah well.

Merry Christmas!

Well, the replacement Christmas trees never happened, but we now have our big one back much to Hannah's relief.  The knitted decorations were excellent:

There were all sorts, from fluffy baubles to proper tiny socks.  Very cool.

We have had a lovely Christmas at my mum's, lots of rest and food, and lots of presents to be unwrapped.  We are now back home and I have an essay to churn out by Saturday, so I must get my brain in gear.

Merry Christmas!

The week of elving

I am particularly enjoying SouleMama's week of elving this week.  Today is fabric gift bags, which I love - I did a few last year and hope to do more next year, but this year I just don't have time.  Also there were little trees made from fir branches stuck in clay - memo to self: try this with the kids!  Our Christmas tree has disappeared to be with lots of others at a Christmas tree festival, representing the knitting group and therefore covered in knitted decorations.  I am greatly looking forward to seeing them all at the weekend.  In the meantime, and to help Hannah with her 'we need to get ready for Christmas don't we Mummy?' fixation, we need a substitute, and these look like a great idea.  I'll have to get out and see what branches I can find.  I'm thinking a big one for decorations and little ones for the kids to glitter.  We haven't had the glitter out yet this Christmas, and we need to. I feel a glittery making moment coming on.

Presents, birthdays, Christmas, etc

Yes, it's that time of year again.  The birthday season goes a bit bonkers and then Christmas arrives.  So we had Hannah's birthday party on Saturday, which went well as far as I could tell.  We had a rainbow theme, and we had it in church so there was plenty of space, and we had craft, games and food, all the things that Hannah likes in fact. (And glow sticks.  Not very eco, but we do like them.)  I went with the decorate-you-own (brown paper) party bag, which may be a bit different but I think they enjoyed it.  I did have fun doing everything in rainbow colours, even down to the food.

So now I need to think seriously about Christmas presents and get them sorted. Another one came from the book man at toddlers today, so that's another one in the bag so to speak.  Well literally actually, as wrapping this year is courtesy of more of those brown paper bags, suitably decorated of course.  I'm tempted to put a little 'please recycle me' message on the bottom, but that might be taking it a little far.  It just seems daft to me to smother things in paper and sellotape just so the paper can be ripped off, and then it can't be recyled because of the sellotape and who can be bothered to sit and cut off all the sellotape-y bits on Christmas Day? (Ah yes - that'd be my mother, we used to reuse wrapping paper when I was growing up, until my sister and I banned it.) Anyway, I'm trying paper bags this year, and hoping to enlist the help of sundry small people in the decorating.

Better go and make (yet another) list.

Sweetcorn

Yes, sweetcorn - what Hannah wanted for snack after school today.  I was flabbergasted.  And between them they ate the whole tin. What well brought up children!

In other news the jumper for Chris is finished - I'd take a photo but the camera has run out of charge and we can't find the charger.  Also, and I got very excited about this last night, I have finished turning the heel of my first ever (adult sized) sock - wahey!! I get the sock knitting thing now I think (though I haven't done the second sock yet). Again I'd have taken a photo, well, actually, I'd have taken lots, so perhaps it's just as well we can't find that charger.

Snow, and other things

Just to report, we have finally joined the rest of the UK in winter with a heavy snowfall. I had to use my crutches again to walk up to toddlers - I'd forgotten how much arm work they require and my arms really ache now!  Chris and I both have a cold so we're taking it in turns to be pathetic on the sofa while the other one sorts out the kids.

Yesterday Zoe took me to Chester which was lovely, it reminded me of other old market towns I have spent time wandering around, but I love the double decker-ness of the rows, and with all the decorations and the cold it felt very christmassy.  Then we went on to Stash Fine Yarns and oh what lovely woolly things - I finally saw Manos Maxima in the wool as it were, and they had a jumper knitted up in it, mmm, want one!

Pressies

Fairly manic weekend, but hey, what's new?

Anyway, I finally managed to do some shopping with my birthday money.  So I bought two knitting books, a little bit of yarn, and my very own niddy noddy (so I don't have to borrow Michelle's any more - thanks Michelle!).  I am greatly enjoying the books, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, and the Yarn Harlot.  Very different but very entertaining.  I've promised to lend the Yarn Harlot to Bridget when she has the baby.
It was great as the different parcels all arrived together so it was like having a second birthday! The yarn is some silk sari yarn which I've always wanted to try, the colours are beautiful but it stinks so I'm going to have to wash it before I do anything with it.

Next on my list are a ball winder and a swift - great baby occupying tools as well as for winding yarn.

One plan down, three to go...

Well, I was a good girl last night and I now have a Baptism Plan - it's really not as complicated as I think (just wait till next week and I have to put it in to action).  I also managed a bit of sweater knitting, and today I did a bit on the sock at Oasis (and got some nice comments - thank you!).  That was my favourite kind of morning, knitting, endless refills of tea, baby asleep and good company.

Plans

I need a Plan.  Actually I need two plans.  Hang on, make it three (or four).  Better get planning!  What has brought all this on?  Well, its that time of year when everything starts coming all at once.  I am another year older (my birthday is mid-October) and that has always been my sign that I need to start thinking about Christmas.  Nowadays between October and Christmas there are two more birthdays, and this year is even more eventful.  So we have Rebekah's baptism followed by Chris's birthday, then there's Hannah's birthday (complete, this year for the first time, with a proper party) and then it's Christmas.  Interspersed are all the other events like carol services, a christmas tree festival and possibly a christmas labyrinth.  Add an essay due on 1st Jan, and I think I've got my work cut out for me over the next couple of months.  Hence I need a Plan.

So the Plan is: make the plans.  Then do them.  Simple really.

I think I better start with the baptism, for which I need to organise lunch, and I could also do with getting ready presents for the family members we will be seeing.  That would be being super-organised, not something I normally am.  Here goes: stage one - lunch.  stage two - presents.  Stage three - keep knitting to remain sane!  So off I go for a spot of thinking about food, followed by a bit of knitting.

The knitting is another story.  I'm making Chris a nice thick warm jumper following Elizabeth Zimmermann's directions in 'Knitting without Tears'.  I've just joined the arms to the body and I'm starting the colourwork on the yoke - definitely the interesting part.  And I might just get it done in time for his birthday; at the moment the rounds seem very, very long.  It's got to the stage where it's not generally portable, so for knitting out and about I have discovered the joy of socks.  Having experimented with baby socks, I've now started a proper adult sock, and unlike previous attempts, I am a) enjoying it and b) getting somewhere - wahey! Very chuffed. And very portable.  And housed in a lovely project bag (thanks Michelle) so it's a double whammy of knitting in my handbag.

Home again

Hannah has had her op, and has bounced back (as young ones are wont to do) and is running around like nothing has happened.  She is on a soft diet for two weeks and is eating a lot of tinned spaghetti letters, ice cream, jelly and cheese as we struggle to find things that she both is allowed to eat and will eat.  Bread is out which is one of her main foods.  She is being very good about the restrictions especially as we are having to eat things in front of her that she can't have - we are all avoiding crisps though, so we'll be that much healthier for a bit!

I am getting towards the end of the Mystery Item I am making for later in the summer - more details will be forthcoming after the Event has taken place, just in case certain people read this!  I am on the last repeat of the pattern, but I think I will do one extra repeat to make sure it's big enough.  It's progress has been helped by a certain amount of stress requiring knitting therapy and a bit of quiet hospital time.

I've finished quite a few items in recent weeks, starting with blocking the pinwheel blanket and finishing the yellow Endive at the beginning of the month,

The pinwheel blanket, blocking in the sunshine.  Sunshine, when was that?

another darkside cowl,

The first darkside cowl - bad light but you can see the stitch pattern; the second was the same but purple instead of lilac.

a couple more skeins kettle dyed with food colouring which was interesting and great fun, and a bit of it knitted up to see what it looks like. 

Kettle dyed wool on the stove - actually this one didn't work but subsequent ones did.  I just like the reflections in the pot!

Oh, and a hat for baby Sophie's birthday.

Ants in our pants

...well, actually, in our kitchen.  Eek!

We've had the odd ant running around for a while now,  but today was something else.  The ants have been sprouting wings and today when we got back they were swarming (is that what they do?) all over the floor. They appear to have been nesting under the fridge.  Now we don't mind sharing our home with a few things (slugs for instance have taken up residence under the sink since the cold weather in the winter) and after my experiences with ants in South Africa (think long columns of ants on the kitchen worktops and ants on the patio crawling up your skirts) British ones tend not to bother me. I apologise to ant lovers everywhere, but we had to do something, so the kids and I were banished to picnic in the living room and then to Michelle's (thanks Michelle!) while Chris pulled everything out, cleaned up and put down ant powder.  So our kitchen is now the cleanest its been probably since we moved in, and I haven't done what I was going to do this afternoon, namely pack for Hannah going into hospital tomorrow.  Yep, just what we needed the day before that.

So tomorrow we hopefully take H in for the op on her palate [crosses fingers, prays, etc].  We have to phone the ward at 8am to check there is a bed for her.  I hope there is because we have prepared her as best we can (without scaring her witless) and this is good timing school- and holiday-wise.  All being well she will have the op on Thursday.

In other news Rebekah has started on solids and has taken to eating like she should have been doing it all along.  After weeks of looking longingly at our food she now has her own, and is already on two meals a day.  This means the breast pump has resurfaced (last used in those heady days of engorgement about four months ago), as the method of preparing her meals starts with 'first milk the cow'.  With my boobs rapidly becoming dispensable again I am definitely feeling that my baby is growing up too quickly.

Tools of the trade...

I just picked the baby up out of her seat to find she's been sitting on a small green plastic spanner.  Poor child, her sisters keep giving her toys to play with so she ends up surrounded by plastic fruit/magnetic letters/pipe cleaners/lego or whatever.  She doesn't usually sit on them though.

I have lots of photos to upload so hopefully I'll have things to show soon - lots of knitting has occurred, some of which has even been finished!

Finally two bits of important news - important to us that is: 1. Hannah has a date for her palate op - 28th July, which is, agh, soon [pulls scared face]; and 2. Hannah has her revised statement through and has got 25hrs support a week for school next year - yay! that's full time!