Where are they now? 2KCBWDAY4

I've given quite a bit of thought to this and I've had a look back at my projects on Rav and my socks in my drawers and hats in the hat bag etc and I've discovered something I have suspected for quite a while.

My name is Miffy and I am a process knitter.

Don't get me wrong I do love my hand knits and I would hate to loose any and I'll only knit for the worthy.  However having looked back over my project photos and at all my handknits there aren't any that I adore over and above any others.  None that stand out and have a tale to tell.  None that I wonder about their fate and where they are now.

Still just so there are some pics here are my first ever socks

And my first ever hat

And my first ever knitted item

Now the socks I could go and fetch now but the hat and the bag?  I have no idea, I'm guessing they are around somewhere.........

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches - What Me??????? - 2KCBWDAY3

If you ask poor Mr Miffy he will tell you that the one thing I am not is tidy. Not by any means.  Over our years together I have learned to be a little tidier and Mr Miffy is learning (this is a work in progress) to be more tolerant of mess. This untidiness of mine of course extends into my knitting too.  When I buy new yarn it will sit by my end of the sofa for a week or two untill I finaly get around to putting it somewhere that is not the middle of the front room floor.

Anyway as challenged by Eskimimi's Blog Challenge to photograph my storge here we go on a quick guided tour.

First up (top left) is my shelf on my side table.  This is supposed to be where my current projects live.  In fact you have caught it on a good day as I tided it out last week.  Normally it's full of bits of paper with patterns on and the bags from old projects as well as my needle case and DPN roll. 

Next (top right) is my downstairs cupboard.  Officially this houses WIP's that are hibernating and my needles, stitch markers etc.  It also contains my left over sock yarn and a small loom that Mr Miffy brought me once.

Bottom right is the bottom of my wardrobe where yarn destined to be knit up "later" is shoved.

The last two pics (bottom middle and left) are from the loft where in theory the yarn for which I don't have a project in mind is kept.  In practice though this doesn't work as I have no plans yet for the orangey yarn in the wardrobe but at least 3 of the yarns in the loft have projects allocated to them already.

Will I get anymore organised?  Being a realist I have to say no. I envy people who have all their stash carefully housed in boxes/shelves etc, all photographed and documented on Rav but I know in my heart I'll never get there.  And why worry?  My system of sorts works for me.  I can mostly find what I need when I need it (though I am always short of size 4 tips) without too much trouble and my yarn is safe and dry so really I'm not stressing.  Well not about that anyway.

From Here to There - 2KCBWDAY2

Well here I am on day two looking back from here to where I was knitting wise a year ago.

I have to be honest and admit that I haven't learned much in the way of new skills in the last 12 months.  What I have done though is grow in confidence in my knitting. 

I've taken to knitting shawls this year and the lace in them no longer scares me.  I am competent in the use of stitch markers and life lines, many life lines.

I'm getting quicker too.  Things that a years ago would have taken a month now only take a couple of weeks which means that I am looking to knit bigger items.  Shawls are bigger than socks honest ;)

I'm more relaxed about my end product.  I have a better understanding of how to correct mistakes and how to adapt my knitting further on to take account of previous errors.  It's nice to know that if I find a mistake some inches back I can rescue my project without necessarily having to frog back.  And if I do have to frog back I can just go so far and then stop and pick the stitches back up whereas I would often have had to frog the whole project and start over.

One thing have have gotten worse at is taking photos of finished objects and works in progress.  I used to be quite good at that side of things but along with not blogging on a regular basis I've stopped taking pics too.  I'm hoping that along with blogging on a more regular basis I will also start taking pics more often too.

Different Strings

I thought that I ought to try and get blogging again.  I acctually miss doing it I just don't seem to get around to it.  Hopefully the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week will give me a kick start, so here we go.

A Tale Of Two Yarns

Since I started knitting I've used lots of different yarns though it seems I do have a bit of a thing for sock yarn.  It's hard to choose just two to write about. 

My first is not so much a single yarn but more the type.  Of course I am thinking of sock yarn or what some refer to as 4ply.  From commercially produced skiens of Opal and Regia to indie dyed skiens of of the most amazing colours the range available is incrediable.  And of course sock yarn is not just for socks there are patterns for scarves, shawls (my current obsession), hats, gloves, clothes, toys and more.

My second choice is a particular yarn Collinette Point 5.  I adore how this goes from thick to increadibly skinny.  I am using it at the moment to knit a blanket. The blanket is a long term project, but when it's done I will have the perfect heavy weight blanket for my bed.

Tour De Fleece Day 1

I'm giving the Ravelry Tour de Fleece a go this year being as I've got a lovely wheel to do it with and some really gorgeous stash which I'll try and post in the next few days.

For starters I'm going to spin my February Fibre Club from Babylonglegs.

Saturdays are not the best day to try and spin on for me normally there always seems to be alot going on and today has been no exception, there was cake baking in the morning for DD's cake selling tomorrow morning and some shopping to fit in as well as badge sewing (I know I've had them ages) so DD's Brownie sash was uptodate for her sleepover tonight.  Hmmm, wonder if she's asleep yet LOL.

But I got there in the end and grabbed a few minutes to start on the glittberall.  So here is todays effort.

OK so there's not alot there but it is a start.

Robin Hood, Robin Hood Riding Through The Park......

I took DD and DS1 to see Robin Hood in our local park last night.  We took a pizza picnic and the lovely Picklesmum and her DH and DD came and joined us with their picnic.  The sun stayed out and we had a fab time chillin out on the grass and watching the show.  I did take the camera but didn't take any pictures in the end but you can see some pics of the show here, and yes DD and I are on some of them as are DS1's legs. 

Theatre in the park is getting to be an annual event and I love it, mind we were lucky with the weather this year and last.  We are very lucky to have an active group who support our park and make sure that lots of stuff is put on for the locals to enjoy.

Chillin

Just thought I would share a quick pic of The Boy enjoying the recent sunshine.

Good Friends

I was reminded this week of how good my friends are to me by a wee present that came in the post.

I have four of these gorgeous buttons and now need to find something to knit so I can use them.
Thanks Sarah :)

Handspun!

Well I thought it was about time I posted some more knitting so here is my first handspun, as in spun by me, project.


The colourway is Babylonglegs Olivia which was a present ages ago but I just could not get on with my spindle so it's had to wait till I got a wheel to use.  The black is some that Lottie gave me to practice with.

The end result isn't the most even yarn.  I started on 12mm needles with 15 stitches and due to the yarn getting finer and finer I ended up with 8 mm needles and around 20 stitches!  I am very pleased with the result though as I learned alot during the process about spinning, plying and making knitting stay more or less the same width and the Gorgeous Girl does love her new scarf.

Mmmmm

DS1, who BTW wants me to refer to him as Ninja Boy, has been asking to make some rice crispy cakes for a few days.  So I was a good Mummy thing morning and while DH was out I thought we'd have a very quicking cooking session.  If you can call melting some chocolate cooking.

They are of course delicious, well they're made of Green and Blacks dark chocolate so they ought to be.  The Gorgeous Girl and DH aren't too sure about them but the rest of us like them.  I also made some using the dark chocolate and cherry bar that came in NB's easter egg.  Very yummy indeed.

Bluebells

A little later in the season than we normally aim for we managed to make it to Burbage Common last weekend to see the bluebells.  Most of them were going over, they must have been amazing when they first came out but we did find some still.

And the kids had fun wandering around the woods.

Though Bean wouldn't pose with the other two for a pic.

Late Anniversary Present

DH and I celebrated 10 years of marriage last year and this spring we have been given a late anniversary present.

We honeymooned in a beautiful hotel in Wales and in the grounds was a small wood with loads of horse chestnut trees so DH and I collected fallen chestnuts and took a bag of them home.  The next spring some of them sprouted so we potted a couple up and now have a horse chestnut tree of our own.  I sometimes worry a bit about it as I've never been too sure about leaving it in its pot but it seems to do well although it's obviously smaller than it would be if we'd planted it in the earth and till this spring it had never flowered.

This year however we have a flower, I waiting now to see if we get chestnuts......

Life is a complicated thing

Just when I think things are settling down and we might get some plain sailing for a while chaos suddenly descends on us.

The Gorgeous Girl spent five days in hospital at the end of last month which wasn't anywhere in my planning! She woke in the early hours with tummy ache which didn't get any better over the day and by lunch time I knew in my heart that something was wrong so we sorted out a doctors appointment and off we went. By 6.00 pm sitters for the boys were in place and we were off to hospital. GG went down to surgery at 12:45, only a bit scary as they normally stop all surgery, bar serious emergencies, at 12.00.

We got her back, minus her appendix, at about 2.30.

We then spent 5 days in hospital, as it was a "nasty" (seriously that was the technical term they used) appendix and was leaking yucky stuff into her, so she could have a course of IV antibiotics.

GG ready for her first lot of IV antibiotics.


Back on the ward just after the op.


GG on the hospital roof.


It was a very sobering experience being in the children's wards. It's very unpleasant hearing the tiny babies and little children crying and knowing that there is little anyone can do to explain to them what is happening. I felt blessed that GG, at 9, is old enough to understand what was going on, why she couldn't eat or drink and what was about to happen to her.

DH and I took turns to stay with her at night so it was lovely to get her home so that we could all be together again.

She's recovering well and is back at school now but still has another week before she's officially allowed to gradually start back on physical activity.

It's That Time Again

Where I realise that it is almost forever since I last blogged and so I try to fit all my news in one post. I think somehow despite my good intentions I will never change.

Having had a rather wet Easter holiday the weather has finally picked up and so I am sat in our conservatory relishing the sunshine and chilling out before the term time madness starts again at 7.00 am tomorrow morning.

Being able to use the conservatory is still a new treat for us. For several years now it's been the toy room for the kids but now they are growing and stairs aren't an issue so much we spent a very busy day putting the bunk beds back together and sorting the boys room before moving toys upstairs. The result being that the chairs are now back in use as chairs rather than toy storage. It's a really lovely place now to sit and knit or spin or read of just chill.


Of course there has been knitting and now spinning to show you so here are some pics.
These are my Wildflower Socks

And some I did for the Gorgeous Girl, though I can't remember the pattern name now.

And a hat I made for DH that has been kidnapped by the Gorgeous Girl.

And a Medici for me from Woolly Wormheads latest book Twisted Woolly Toppers, well worth investing in there are several hats in here I intend to make. The Medici is mine but GG is modeling for me.

And some spinning, this is from a Glitterball brought from Babylonglegs, I really enjoyed spinning it and I'm hoping that there will be enough here for me to make a hat.

New Toys

During half term Lottie and I visited the wonderful Sarah and as well as coming away with more yarn I also brought home some fibre and something to spin it on.


Isn't it gorgeous! And with some practice I am getting the hang of her now and have managed to produce some not too terrible looking spinning.


Mind I've got to work out how to ply it next ;)

Gappy!

DS1 has had a wobbly tooth for a few weeks now but this morning I finally persuaded him to give it a pull and out it came.

This means we can now use the beautiful box that I got him to use as a tooth box. I'd been on the lookout for a suitable container for a while and found this whilst hunting for a birthday present for my friend Sarah.

It is from Tree Gems on Folksy. I was looking for buttons (which I also got) at the time and when I saw the gift boxes I knew I had found my tooth pot. It was a fantastic service too, quick postage and beautifully wrapped. The envelope smelled gorgeous of wood :)

So here we are all ready for the Tooth Fairy to visit tonight.

Catching up again.

There's been lots going on in the Miffy household of late and I've been slack and not made the effort to blog again so here I am with a bit of a catch up.

DH spent the first week of term in hospital and not back in work teaching and then a further two weeks at home recuperating. Bean had flu, again! He was really floored by it and I was very grateful to have DH at home so I could leave him with Daddy whilst I got stuff done.

There's been lots of knitting of course. Mainly on socks for the kids and "The Infinite Cat Basket". No photo's of the cat basket yet but once I have it finished I will blog about it, promise!

No sooner did I get everyone back to school/playgroup it was half term and they were all at home again. We had a good week. DS1 went to a football course everyday and DD did a cookery course the last 3 mornings of the week. That was very yummy indeed, she brought the recipes home with her so there are a couple that are going to be repeated at home. She is very impressed with her cooking skills as are her Dad and I. Oh and it snowed.

And then back to school yesterday hopefully with no one being ill this half term. I'm already looking forward to Easter though.

Petrol Presents

Now both these items have been gifted I can share photos, not that I took many. Both were knit for a very good friend of mine who was so happy to get knitted presents that she wasn't bothered at all that both her Christmas present and her birthday present were late. You really can't grumble about that kind of friend. Plus it gave me a brilliant excuse to buy more yarn :)

First up is Eslica a hat by WoollyWormhead. I even did the cable bits without the cable needle thanks for the tutorial that WW wrote. I was very pleased with it and it looked fab of J when she wore it to tots on Thursday. It was knit with Babylonglegs DK Merino.

Given that J's birthday follows Christmas by about two weeks I figured the perfect present would be a scarf to go with the hat. Back to Babylonglegs again and this time PetrolHead DK sock yarn, a new base for Sarah. Its gorgeous and softened beautifully as I knit it up. Given that yarn overs aren't my favourite thing the simple pattern kept my attention whilst still allowing me to watch TV, perfect!

There has been plenty of other knitting going on but no photos yet. I was hoping to do some today but rain stops play so far, still at least apart from the remnants of Peter there isn't any snow/sludge/ice left so for once I'm not mad at it. Snow is very beautiful when it first arrives but it's no fun when it's been around for a week and is hard packed and slippy on the paths.

Housekeeping

I belive this says alot about my housekeeping skills. I was just reading the Dye Studio Diary and scrolled down to this post at which point Bean says "Mummy's kitchen" Well thanks for that, I didn't think I was that bad.

Meet Peter

So named by DS1.

The kids really enjoyed the snow in the end even though it did get in the way of some family stuff when it first started which they weren't too pleased about. They built Peter all on their own and I was very proud of the way they worked together. They had a great time too.

Whilst it has been very pretty the slush is making life with a pushchair hard work so I'll be glad to see the back of it now.