January Socks

Well my January socks are done and blogged and I am fairly pleased with them.

I have learned to do short row heels and I have done anatomically correct toes as well so two new techniques.

I have also learned that I do not like lots of white and sharp colour changes in my socks, and that I do not like using metal pins! Good job I brought the Harmonies then ;)

And here they are:

Day Out With Thomas

We have just booked tickets to go here to see Thomas The Tank Engine. We've been meaning to go for a couple of years now but have never quite got round to it however I reckon that this is the last year that DS1 will really look forward to seeing Thomas so we have made the effort and I have booked the tickets.

I am really looking forward to it.

A Beanie for Bean

Well here it is - My I-Cord Beanie


I am very pleased with how it's turned out. I did some mittens to go with it too



And here he is in his new stuff



He is looking a bit miserable as he was coming down with a cold at this point (which he has full on now) and it was first thing in the morning and freezing and he doesn't like being bundled up but I prefer to at least try and keep him warm.

Big Changes Ahead

Well it has been a busy week for the Miffy family.

DH had an interview on Monday for an LSA position here and he got the job! YAY!!!! I am so proud of him (even if he did anoy me last night ;) ) it will be a brilliant role for him. He will be working will special needs children and so will get loads of training in that area which will be excellent not only for his future job prospects but also for his current applications. The position was advertised to run Jan to July so even the timing of it is perfect. DS1 is going to miss his dad though and is playing up a little now he knows that DH won't be at home all the time. Still we are working through it and hopefully once DH has started he will settle into the new routine fairly quickly.

Other big news is that Baby Bean has taken his first steps, and he is so proud of himself. Crawling is still much quicker right now, especially when you are trying to escape from tots, but he takes a few more each day so I think I will soon have to say goodbye to my baby and hello to my toddler! Unlike when the older two left babyhood behind this time I am quite content to leave the stage behind. It hasn't been particularly hard going in any way it's just that I think I am happy with my (our) decision not to have any more children.

This week has been properly back to the term time routine. Sing and Sign on Wed and Tots on Thursday. It was lovely to see everyone again and to have a good catch up over some strong coffee (at least when I made it) and cake :)

On the knitting front I have started and finished an I-cord Beanie for Bean (sorry no pics yet) and I am working on the last thumb of a pair of mittens for him. I am going to do a long i-cord so I can thread them through his coat. I know he won't wear them but at least that way I stand a chance of keeping them.

Then it will be back to my sock. I am taking part in SAM5 and am at the toe of my first January pair. I am hoping to be well underway with the second one before we go to Centre Parc so I can finish it there and start the Feb pair while we are there. I am going to attempt the Lightening Socks from the first issue of Yarn Forward.

And I think that is about it for this week. Only a week and a bit to go to Centre Parcs which I am really looking forward to. We have booked a head and back massage each for DH and I, DS1 has a fencing session booked and DD and I are going to have our hair braided. Plus we are going to splash about in the pool and chill out in general for a few days. Bliss.

DS1's Tri Peak Hat

When i was knitting his first hat a while back I was trying it on his head while it was still on the DPNs and DS1 declared that he would like a "triangle head". So I showed him Woollys Tri Peak Hat and asked if he liked it. Def winner there so he choosed some colours and the wonderful Babylonglegs dyed up some yarn for it.

Doesn't it look gorgeous. And it knitted up beautifully too, I had to frog it after I had done about 4 inches cos it was coming up too big and unlike other stuff I've used you really couldn't tell that the poor yarn had suffered that. However I forgot to ball it as I frogged it so I ended up with a rather unusual knitting assistant!

Anyway having finally got going in the right size this was a really quick easy knit and thanks to a loan of Lottie's crochet hooks it was finished in no time and looks fab on the boy. He loves it!

Back to Usual

Well here I am first thing Saturday morning up with the kids watching kids TV and grabing a "semi" peaceful half hour on the PC.

I am back at work, the kids are back at school and the decorations have all come down and been packed away, oh and I have socks back on the needles! :)

I'm not a "New Year Resolution" kinda girl so I haven't made but I do have some aims for this year. I want to be tidier in the main which DH and I have started work on already. We are going to decluter the house room by room. We have far too much stuff and it just gets in the way so some of it has to go. We started on the front room yesterday as we took the decs down and it looks better already. There is along way to go though.

I have joined a sock KintALong where we aim to knit (and blog ) a pair of socks each month from Jan to June. Even I should manage this without too much problem. The first pair is well on the way I am already on the foot of the first sock so I am pleased with my progress. I am doing a short row heel pattern, these are my first short rows and I was totaly confused at first but I found some great how to instructions and pics on the web (sorry I can't find the link now) and all became clear to me.

I have done some more work on DS1's jumper so I only have to do another inch or so on the back before the decreases. It's a good job he's a slow grower he may yet get to wear this jumper ;)

I have other things planned for the needles this month too including an I-Cord Beanie for the Bean probably with 3 tails rather than just one. Lottie and I found some fab yarn for it when we went shopping last weekend. We had a lovely time wandering around time for a bit and then chilling out over lunch. I really, really needed the break by then having been cooped up at home all over Christmas. DH wasn't even annoyed that I brought yarn on my trip out.

On Wednesday I took the kids over to visit one of my best friends and we all had a lovely day. The kids played really well together and it was great to just sit and chat for a while.

Other brill things include the fact that I can go to Woolfest and my copy of Going Straight is on its way. Oh and DH ordered my my Harmony DPNs (sorry Lottie) and they are beautiful, I'm using my purple DPNs at the moment but my next pair of socks will be done on the Harmony's.

On a less brilliant note I ordered him Guitar Hero III from Play and between them and Royal Mail it has been lost and now we don't know when I will turn up! Grrrr

And I think that about brings me up to date for now. Hope you are all having a good start to the New Year and that it continues to be a brill year for you all.