Start at The End and Work Backwards

April has been a busy month! I was away for a whole week on a training course, and what with packing to go away and unpacking when I got back...
Anyway, I've been doing loads of things. Yesterday I went hiking for almost the first time this year. I started in West Hoathly and walked across the Bluebell Railway and around. Here's me by the railway line:

there was a train due in 20 minutes, so we didn't wait, but we did see several puffing through the countryside as we slogged up the hills and across fields. The best part of the walk was the bluebell woods, which were in full bloom with a carpet of blue.

While I was away on my course I did make some progress on the Bergere de France Cable Sweater, but since then I have got sidetracked into glove making. I received a request for some more gloves with a skull motif; here is the first one:

The second glove will have a smiley on the back. For these gloves I used Ann Budd's "Knitters Handy Book of Patterns". While adding the motif, I noticed again that as the unused yarn is carried around, it shows through a little bit in the black areas, and realised that it would be much better if I were to make the pattern go all round the glove. As these gloves are made to a the requirements of someone else, I decided to start another pair of gloves, for me, to try out this technique. You can see this glove at the top of the post. It has a frill round the bottom and a fairisle pattern band, with stripes on the thumb gusset. I've just got to the ring finger. Here's a closeup of the pattern.

I think that's come out much better. When I've finished these and the second black glove, I have a request for another set of skully gloves, and I am going to try designing a fairisle band with skulls in it rather than a skull motif.
Right now I've got two half finished pairs of gloves and a half finished pair of socks to be getting on with, not to mention a cable sweater.
As if that weren't enough, I've decided to have a go at dyeing! Not yarn, though, but fabric. I'll tell you all about that next time. PS for Catbert, here's what your fuschia pink skirt looks like at the moment.

To be continued...

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Here's Catbert at Covent Garden, showing off her Diamond Fantasy Shawl. DSoK the Intern and I travelled to London to meet her on Thursday, in order to collect our Christmas presents, which were tickets to the Lord of The Rings at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It was a great show, by the way, if you like LoTR I really recommend it. The sets are amazing. We stayed on for a Q&A session with some cast members after the show and I learned amongst other fascinating facts that it takes Galadriel two hours to have her makeup and hair done, and that the hobbit feet are comfortable to wear.

Sadly hobbit feet were not on offer in the souvenir gift shop, or I would have been sorely tempted.

Here is the shawl before blocking:

And after blocking - what a difference! I was afraid it would not be large enough but in fact it is a good size. I used a skein of Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino Dream in Fiery Fuschia, on 5mm Knitpicks Options, and knitted five and a half repeats as I was afraid of running out of yarn. I really enjoyed knitting it and would like to knit myself one now, maybe in a semisolid.

I've also started knitting the Bergere de France Cable sweater. Here's the first few inches of the back:

The Knitbert List - March

This year I thought we would have a change from Memory Lane, and have the Knitbert List. I got the idea from Jacquie. So I will publish a list of 10 things each month.

March's List is:

10 Favourite Foods:

1. Smoked salmon
2. Any other kind of salmon
3. Fish and chips (I prefer plaice, but cod is good too)
4. A mixed salad, with watercress and rocket, and assorted vegetables, and a garlic vinaigrette
5. Risotto (any kind - I had one with smoked haddock and chorizo last week, and I also like butternut squash risotto, mushroom risotto, asparagus risotto, well, you get the idea...
6. Pumpkin and Ginger soup (my favourite Hallowe'en recipe)
7. Creme brulee, which I think is a good test of a chef's ability
8. Venison. I once had a wild venison burger and chips, in Geraldine, NZ. Mmmm!
9. Roast Turkey
10. Chocolate mousse. Did you know that this is one of the lowest fat deserts you can have? No really, help yourself to seconds...

As it happens, I have been tagged by Fiona, which means I have to give five facts about myself. So there you are, ten facts for the price of five. I should really tag other people, but I'm still thinking about it.



Last week I finished crocheting my Romance squares for my Babette blanket, for the Crafty Threads and Yarns Quilt a Long (yes, I know it's not a quilt). I like how they have turned out, and I am currently planning my colours for the March theme, which is Hope. I've got some more Karisma from Scandinavian Knitting Designs on order.

I also realised this week that I was about to run out of two marvellous cosmetic creams which I purchased in Singapore last summer. They are by a company called Skin Food, and they really work well, so I was a little worried that I would age ten years overnight, which at my time of life, dear reader, is no laughing matter. Skin Food is a Korean brand, and does not seem to be available in Europe. However, I found Sweet Violet's Gift Shop on ebay, and she stocked some Skin Food products. I emailed her and within 24 hours she was stocking what I had asked about, and some new related products which I most certainly will be trying. I am looking forward to receiving my order, as I'll be able to expose my skin to daylight again.

Catbert will be pleased to learn that I have restarted work on her Diamond Fantasy Shawl, and now have only two repeats to go. Go Knitbert!

A Right Shawl

Last weekend I took Catbert's Diamond Fantasy Scarf to a swimming gala. Now the thing about swimming galas is that mostly all you can see is a lot of splashing, and you can't talk to anyone because you either can't hear them over the sounds of the screaming supporters and the organisers' announcements, or you are being told to be quiet so the swimmers can dive off the side in peace. And they go on for hours and hours. They are ideal for knitting in fact. I confidently expected to complete another repeat at least. After two rows I saw I had made a mistake, and the pattern was one stitch out along the whole row.
What would have been the sensible thing to do? Yes, dear reader, I should have tinked back to the start of the row and sorted it there and then. Instead I thought "it probably won't show" and carried on knitting. I carried on for six rows. Each one looked less alright than the last. Finally, I came to the point where if I knitted another row I would be casting off 5 stitches, and I realised I would have to either rip back or forever hold my peace. It really didn't look right, so I began tinking. By the end of the swimming gala I was nearly back to where I had been at the start.
I spent most of the next morning with my teeth clenched and snarling "I'm knitting lace" whenever anyone came near me, trying to work out where the mistake had come from and how to fix it. In the end I worked it out, and began reknitting, and now I have finished the rows I had to undo and a couple more. I'm still really cross with it, so I've put it in the naughty corner and have been doing crochet for the rest of the week. It looks OK though! and it is going to be very, very nice.


I have finished the first Snowflake sock, with a variegated toe, and I really like it. I'll do the second one soon, no really I will.


Here's the crochet I have been doing, as part of the 2008 Quiltalong on the Crafty Threads and Yarns forum. Yes, I do know it's not a quilt. The theme for January was Snowdrops, so I have interpreted it in colour as crochet squares, using the Babette Blanket pattern from Interweave Crochet. My idea is to do squares from it each month, and have a finished blanket at the end of the year. The photo shows the squares so far, and the colours I have assembled. I will have to be careful not to use too many different colours, so it doesn't look a mess.

I've also restarted my crochet cushion with granny squares that I did last year on the flights to and from New Zealand. The first thing I have done is undo and redo one square, which I didn't think was quite right from a colour point of view, and now I'm going to crochet some more squares. I'll show some photos when I have made a bit more progress.

In Which the Week Ends Better Than It Began

Oh my, I wasn't in a good state on Monday was I? Well, it's Friday now and my cold is better, the weekend is ahead and I bought some yarn this afternoon. I got some Regia Crazy Colour, which looks fun, and some black St Ives sock yarn, which I think may be useful for some Skully Socks I have in mind...so things are looking up.


I had a bit of an Amazon moment, too, and I have "Favourite Socks" on its way. And aren't the Snowflakes coming on well? This one is up to the toe now. 100% of readers who expressed a preference were in favour of a contrasting toe (thanks Franney!) so that's what I've decided to do.

Soooo, what would I like to do in 2008? Mmmm, chews pencil thoughtfully.
As far as knitting is concerned, I think I'd like to do the following in 2008:

- Design something and then knit it
- Knit a lot more than I did in 2007
- Knit more socks using my impressive sock yarn stash
- Knit up some of my impressive laceweight stash
- Knit some cardigans and pullovers (maybe even ones I have designed)
- Knit some scarves
- Maybe knit a toy...or a Dalek
- Buy quite a lot more scrumptious yarn which I haven't bought before to replace what I will be knitting up (yeah right).

Most important of all, enjoy knitting and playing with yarn.

I do have a mental list of some patterns which I already know I would like to knit, but I think I won't list them, I'll let it be a surprise!

I'm also doing a Quilt Along on the Crafty Threads and Yarns Forum. The idea is to do a square each month around a defined theme. The square can be quilted or knitted. I do quite like the idea of making an afghan for 2008, with a square for each month, but after my catastrophic failure to qualify even for the Wooden Spoon award for Sock a Month 2007, I don't want to set my expectations too high. January's theme is Snowdrops, and frankly my brain hurts just thinking about it.

Hello Cruel World...

In the end I took the rest of last week off, I just could not face returning. So this is my first day back. It was cold and dark when I got up this morning. I have a cold. I couldn't remember my password when I arrived at work (what am I saying? I could hardly remember my own name), so I entered the wrong one three times and was locked out of my account until IT could get around to unlocking it.

All the things I didn't have time to do before the break haven't got done by themselves, so I still have to do them.

I hate January.

I think I need to buy some yarn...

When I'm in a better frame of mind I'll post a picture of my first Snowflake sock, which is nearing completion. Should I do it with a contrasting toe as well, I wonder?
I'll also see if I can think of some objectives for 2008. Groan.

Fifteen Knitters on a Dead Man's Chest

Well hello there, and I hope you all had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas. I have been fortunate enough to be on holiday now since the 21st December, so I have comfortably settled into a routine of waking up late, sitting around with a cup of coffee and browsing the web. I am so not looking forward to the hideous awakening at 6.00 am on 2nd January and the realisation that I actually have to get up NOW and go to work.

Enough of these horrors, dear reader. As you can see, I have been using some of my time productively. The Skully Knucks are finished, and very nice they look too, at least I think so.

Triumph of the season, here are the finished Father and Son socks.




I have knitted a second set of repeats on Catbert's Diamond Fantasy scarf. She said coldly as she departed here after Christmas, having seen the state of it "well, perhaps it can be finished for my NEXT birthday". Well, perhaps.


And I have not been able to resist the temptation to cast on for the Snowflake Socks which are the December pattern from Sockamania. What am I like! I am using some Cygnet wool rich 4 ply in Lilac as the main colour, and a ball of Opal Lollipop as the contrast colour. The contrast is quite subtle, but I think will look very nice when finished. I am going to do one snowflake band around the top and a snowflake on the heel flap, I think.



I have been playing with teaching myself continental knitting over the Christmas break. I have mastered the knit stitch well enough to use it for the colourwork on both the Knucks and the Snowflake sock, so I have been knitting them with one colour in each hand, which is quite efficient. I have been practising knitting the Continental way with just one colour, as well, and I have mixed feelings about it. I have been knitting the Other Way (lever action I think my style is called, so not actually throwing, but yarn in the right hand)since I was five, so this new way feels a little awkward, but I suppose practice makes perfect. My tension is not so even with the new way as with the old, and there are some things (like ribbing, for example) which I know how to do easily with the old way but can't really work out with the new. I'm not even sure the new way will be faster, but having started to learn it I am reluctant to give up without mastering it and knitting something significant with it. I think what I really need is a tutorial from an experienced continental knitter. Any volunteers out there?

Right, better stop procrastinating and get on, I've got loads of stuff to do this morning and I haven't even had my second cup of coffee yet.

A Touch of Frost

This week, in the morning, the roof I can see from my kitchen window was covered in a thick rime of frost, as was my car. I recently acquired a new car, and I have sold the old one to DSoK the Intern. Well, when I say "sold" - he owes me the money for the car and his insurance, road fund, MoT and service. He's a student, you see. I should do a deal like this every day, I'd be rich in no time...
Anyway, the car I "sold" had a scraper for the ice and a car vacuum in the boot. It still does in fact. MY car, on the other hand, does not. I mentioned to DSoK that I would quite like to have these items back. He laughed, and said, "you need to chill, Mum". I tried to scrape the ice off today with my Tesco Clubcard, and it sort of worked, but the signature on the back is a bit blurry now. I think I'll need to buy a proper scraper. Maybe DSoK could get me one for Christmas!

I promised photos of my Ally Pally acquisitions, and here they are. Two gorgeous skeins of laceweight from Cherry Tree Hill - in shades Serengeti and Fall Foliage.




The red is a merino mohair mix boucle from Touch Yarns, and is the same kind of yarn I bought in Auckland earlier in the year, but in a different colour.


I think the Fall Foliage CTH would make a lovely Leaf Lace shawl - one day.
I'm focusing on finishing WIPs and knitting from stash at the moment. Thanks to a swimming gala I have one of the Father and Son Socks finished now, and the other is well over half way. The next project to be finished will be my Mystery Stole 3, I think - or Swan Lake as I now know it to be. Another project which is capturing my imagination at the moment is my crochet granny square cushion cover, because the colours are so nice.
And - a decision - I am going to knit another Ivy with the red Berlaine. I'm swatching now...

Still Knitting After All These Months

Despite many distractions over the last few months, I have been steadily knitting away at my Colinette waffle throw, which is now finished. You can see it in use on my sofa in the photo above. Here it is from the back:

This throw is from the Toast and Marmalade book, and I found it to be a straightforward knit which was good to carry around for knitting at events and in odd moments.

I have only got five or is it six WIPs at the moment, so I have gone straight on to Mr Knitbert's socks (which I started in March, in New Zealand) and we'll take it from there. Here's the two socks, I knitted them both on two circulars until I got to the heel flap and then it seemed simpler to knit one at a time.

It is now getting cold and dark in the mornings and evenings, and I am experiencing a desire to knit warm winter sweaters. I would like to start Poppy, which I have a bag of lovely Noro for, and I also have a strong desire to knit a Central Park Hoodie in my lovely red Donegal Tweed, and a Bergere de France cable sweater, in some lovely soft red Berlaine.

Then this weekend I visted Catbert and we went shopping together. I found a nice wrap top in a lovely apple green, but it was not as nice as the Ivy I knitted at the beginning of the year. I decided I would like to get some more Patons Diploma Gold in Thyme, and knit another one, but John Lewis did not have any in the right colour. Then I thought perhaps, in the spirit of stashbusting, I would knit another one in my red Berlaine. I formed a cunning plan to knit the BdF cable sweater in some very nice pale mauve possum merino yarn I purchased in New Zealand, instead. However, then I realised I still won't have a green wrap top, so maybe I will have to buy some Patons DG anyway. Oh well...

I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally a few weeks ago, and bought some gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill laceweight merino (only £18 per skein, how could I not?) and some Touch Yarns boucle in a delightful red colour. Photos of those next time. Oh yes, and I bought a kit from The African Fabric Shop to make a quilt (see sidebar for their website). Their fabrics are stunning, and as you can imagine I desperately need another addictive craft hobby.

The Dog Ate My Router

Well, hello, dear reader, I'm still here and still knitting; well, still purchasing yarn, anyway! I don't know quite what happened but I've just emerged blinking into the sunlight and realised that a month has gone by and I haven't posted here. I do have a sort of excuse, because I have been having problems with my wireless router. In fact, I now have two wireless routers, and as far as I know they both work fine. I'll tell you all about it in a while, but first let's get up to date with my knitting.
Last weekend I was staying with a friend of mine, let us call her Dogbert, who also likes to knit. On Saturday we drove from her house to Colinette's fabulous factory shop in Wales, where we met Aknita, The Cabled Climber, Melody Yarns and murdo from the Crafty Threads and Yarns forum. Dogbert and I spent a happy morning at Colinette, and I might have bought a few things (whistles nonchalantly). Oh well, OK, since you are twisting my arm, here they are:

This is the Toast and Marmalade pattern book, and the picture you can see is the Waffle throw, which is made from 700g of Colinette Giotto, a rather lovely ribbon yarn.
I decided that I would like to have some simple things to knit up quickly in lovely colours on large needles, as an antidote to Mystery Stole 3, which I am progressing with (slowly) which requires quite a lot of attention. In fact if anyone speaks to me while I am knitting it, or in fact looks as though they are going to speak, I have to start aggressively counting out loud and saying things like "yarn over, slip one knit one, pass slip stitch over, knit two together, I'M KNITTING LACE, knit seven....YES?)

Here is one set of colours I bought for this throw, these ones were from the bargain bin (the other colours I bought weren't though!)

and here is the throw just started. It does grow quite quickly so it is a bit larger than that now. Yes those are Lantern Moons, what of it?

I also bought some Giotto in another set of colours to knit a second Waffle Throw. These are all new colours and I just adore them.The dark one is called Sable, and has black and a deep purple in it, lovely!

Some Prism in colourway Windfall to knit the ballet wrap from Interweave Knits Winter 2005 (makes mental note to self - must renew my sub to Interweave in time for the Fall issue which is imminent, I think),

and some gorgeous, soft, silk Tao in moss, which is to crochet the Sweet Chestnut scarf from Colinette's Arboretum book. The plan is to crochet this on the aircraft because yes, dear reader, Knitbert is travelling again. Next Saturday I am off to Singapore for a week to join Mr Knitbert who has been there for three weeks so far this time. It's a thirteen hour flight, so should be just about right, and I'll have my granny squares as a backup.

Now this gorgeous yarn is handspun and was sent to me, along with these divine stitchmarkers (which she made herself),
by Noo, as part of the Crafty Threads and Yarns "one skein" swap. Isn't that a lovely parcel? I am so pleased with it, and it is the softest, loveliest yarn you could ever imagine, and in those beautiful shades of sea green. I think I'm going to make it into a scarf.

One final new acquisition and then I'll stop for now. I'll tell you all about the router tomorrow, I promise. When I met murdo at Colinette, she brought me....a set of Knitpicks Options! which she had been kind enough to include in her order from a friend in the States. They are sooo lovely...I have wanted some for a while now, and am delighted with them.

The photo at the top is me at the start of a walk I took with DSoK earlier this month, which involved a lot of rain, as you can see...but it's been lovely this week so far, fingers crossed that summer is finally here.

In Which I don't Visit Woolfest After All, and Mr Knitbert's Computer Makes a Funny Noise.

Well, first of all, I am alright Aknita, thank you for asking. And look, I finished my Ribby Shell! I'm rather pleased with it, I must say, and I have plans (and yarn!) to knit another (although possibly not time...). Here's a back view:


So, what's the story about Woolfest, I hear you ask? Well, Mr Knitbert and I drove like the wind last Friday evening (although respecting speed limits obviously) and apart from a little traffic around the M25, we reached Southport just before dark in a very respectable six hours, including a stop for food. Aren't those M&S Simply Food things on motorways just fabulous? What a brilliant idea!

We spent a convivial evening with our friends, and retired late, awaking the next morning to steady rainfall and severe weather warnings. Over breakfast we considered our options; drive for another two hours in the rain and then visit Woolfest in the rain, or stay in Southport and spend the day with our friends and their family? They did not think they would like to visit Woolfest if it was not going to be a gloriously sunny day, and I could see their point (they don't knit). So, in the end, we decided we would prefer to stay with our friends and we went shopping in Southport, which is a delightful little place, and Mr Knitbert had a Significant Haircut.

I was sorry not to get to Woolfest, but I will try again next year, and I did have a lovely weekend. I wish I could say that not going had saved me money, but that's another story!

While I was away, Clue 1 was posted for the Mystery Stole, and since then Clue 2 has been posted as well. The first two clues were looking gorgeous in the photos posted on the Group, so I was quite excited about beginning mine. I think the pattern looks quite Elvish, so maybe the theme is to do with Lord of the Rings? Anyway, I got started yesterday afternoon, finally, and here is where I had got to by yesterday evening:


As a reminder, I am using Cherry Tree Hill laceweight merino (gorgeous to knit with) in Wild Cherry, and silver-lined amethyst beads, which look just perfect with the colours of the yarn. The pattern is very well written, and the charts are clear, and I am really enjoying knitting it so far. I have got to row 50, so am just about to start charts B and C of Clue 1. I am hopeful of catching up with Clue 2 by Friday, although I do think that any thoughts I might have had about knitting Catbert's (late) birthday present or finishing Mr Knitbert's socks, or even starting some new socks, or...well, you see what I mean.

I should also confess that two weeks ago I went into a fabric shop and bought fabric to make three skirts, for which I have first to design the pattern pieces. I don't know what I was thinking of! Except that I really want to make these skirts because they will look so gorgeous. Certainly not of the amount of time I actually have available, that's for sure! I'll post some pictures of the fabric next time, and maybe a sketch of what I am going to do with it.

And finally, for Mr Knitbert's army of fans, a story about his computer. Two weeks ago, I was woken up very early one morning by a dreadful rattling sound coming from the computer room. "What the **** is that awful noise?" I asked grumpily. I am not a morning person.

"It's my computer," replied Mr Knitbert, gloomily.
"What's wrong with it?" I yawned. "And where is my coffee?"
" I don't know," said Mr Knitbert, despondently. "I think it might be the CPU cooling fan." Needless to say, dear reader, the side was already off the computer and there were screws and tiny screwdrivers everywhere.

Later that day the hoover was in the computer room and appeared to have been used (I was amazed that Mr Knitbert even knew how to turn it on). The hoovering made no difference to the noise, however, so Mr Knitbert decided that as long as he started the computer up, let it run for a few minutes and then restarted it, it worked OK. This worked for two days and then he began having to restart it three and even four times, and it was still making an awful noise. I was getting very grumpy by this time. The constant restarting of the computer was delaying my morning coffee.

He then decided that it was definitely the CPU cooling fan, so he ordered a new one. It came two days later by the first post. I heard the sound of him running downstairs to sign for it, and then running back upstairs to the computer room. The next thing I heard was the sound of someone walking very carefully down the stairs as if they were carrying something heavy. Well, in fact, the computer was being carried down to the conservatory to be fitted with its new fan. Half an hour later it was back, and Mr Knitbert switched it on, saying "Tada!"; alas, prematurely. The ghastly rattling sound started up again.

"Hmmmm," said Mr Knitbert thoughtfully, "it must be the power supply". We had a spare one of those left over from a problem with DSoK's computer a few months back (would you buy a second hand computer from this family? I wouldn't), so he went off to find that. I should perhaps mention at this point that the last time something like this happened to Mr Knitbert's computer he replaced the cooling fans, the CPU, the motherboard and then the sound and graphics cards just for fun.

The next morning I woke up at a normal time to a blissful silence from the computer room.
"Oh, " I said, "you fixed it! Was it the power supply then?"
" No," he replied, "it was the second hard drive." Sure enough, there it was, in its little tray, cluttering up the desk. And there it still is, and will probably stay until I clear it away.

Swatching in My Sleep?

Well, despite a rather hectic week in which I seemed to get home completely exhausted every evening, I have knitted another Mystery Stole swatch in the Cherry Tree Hill laceweight merino, blocked it and chosen some new beads to go with it. I have no idea when I did all this! Maybe I have finally learned to knit while I sleep. Anyway, here is the yarn now wound into a ball, and the swatch. I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn and I adore the colour, which I think is not too variegated to show off the lace pattern, so my choice is made. I ordered three new packs of beads from e-beads, some jet beads which are black and shiny, some rainbow beads which are light coloured, and some silver-lined amethyst beads which are just right!


Here is a close up of the swatch and the beads on a neutral ground. The beads look quite black in this photo, but in reality they are dark purple with a little flash of silvery purple where the silver lining is. They are absolutely beautiful.
I have an idea that I would like to use the jet beads with some grey laceweight. One day.
I have knitted another two inches of the Ribby Shell, but it still looks like a featureless tube, so I haven't taken another photo. I hope to get to the front and back later this weekend. And I have done precisely no sock knitting, I really have to do something about this as I will be expelled from the sockamania KAL if I don't join in this month, and I think I should be in line for the wooden spoon as far as knitting a sock a month is concerned. *Hangs head in shame*. So, Anni, I promise that I will at least start July's sockamania socks.

I was away from home again earlier this week, in Paris this time, and for once it was a sultry 30 degrees C and did not rain. While I was away DSoK the Intern tried several times to call me, and continued to leave messages on the answering machine. I avoided returning his calls as I was fairly sure he wanted to borrow money, but following a plaintive text message on Friday afternoon I decided I was a Bad Mother and gave him a ring. Well, how wrong could I be! He certainly did not need to borrow any money. However, he did want to arrange when we will drive up to collect all his stuff so it can be stored here over the summer. He also reported that he had been tidying his room for two weeks and it still looked a complete shambles. Mmmmm. I wonder if we have the same definition of the word "tidying"?

In Which I Meet a Mysterious Stranger, I Mean Stole, and Mr Knitbert Completes a Gardening Task

Before any of that, I was reminded this week that I should never travel in June. Actually, I don't travel very much at all these days, which is by choice, but a few years ago I used to travel very frequently for work; at least one or two trips a month. June was always a peak time, as people want to get things done before the summer holiday season starts. For some reason, there often seems to be a sudden change in the weather around mid-June, from warm and sunny to wet and cold. Time after time I would set off, thinking that my destination would be warmer than the UK, only to find myself shivering in flimsy summer clothes as I disembarked from the aircraft, or picking my way across a sodden car park in the p*****g rain, in unsuitable strappy sandals, on my way to collect a hire car. One year I remember that the temperature in Paris all week was 10 degrees(C)lower than it had been in London. Of course I never had so much as a warm cardigan with me, let alone a coat or umbrella.

On Thursday afternoon, I had to go to Amsterdam to attend a training course on Friday. Guesss what? The weather in Amsterdam was appalling, so as soon as they had got us settled on the aircraft, the pilot announced that owing to air traffic delays because of the weather, we would be taking off two hours late. Normally this would not be a problem for me (see Last Train to Knitville) but can you knit on an aircraft? Well, that would be no. Luckily, I have plenty of knitting podcasts on my iPod to keep me occupied.

When we finally arrived, Amsterdam was swathed in a heavy curtain of rain under a lowering grey sky and it was freezing cold. Unsuitable strappy sandals? Oh yes. Flimsy summer clothes and no warm jacket? Of course.

As it happened I enjoyed my short visit anyway; I stayed in my favourite hotel, the sun was shining the next day, I met up with some colleagues I hadn't seen for a while, and I even had time for some shopping before I returned to the airport to catch the flight home. At which point I learned that bad weather in the UK had caused air traffic delays and the return flight was delayed by an hour. Aaaaargh! So I am seriously thinking of taking an emergency crochet pack with me next time I fly...

Last weekend I discovered Pink Lemon Twist's Mystery Stole 3 Knitalong. The Mystery Stole idea seemed so much fun that I joined up, and I have been receiving 200 mails a day ever since from the MS3 Yahoo Group; I have had to switch to receiving digests! There are 1800 odd knitters signed up at the time of writing this post, and going onto the group is like going into a huuuuge room full of people all chattering about the same thing, it has an amazing energy. At the moment, everyone is asking questions about what yarn to use and in what colours and whether or not to use beads.


For once, I am going to knit this from stash; I am using some Fyberspates kid mohair laceweight which I bought from Yarn Addict last year. It is in a colourway called Martian Sunrise. There is a swatch pattern already posted, and here is my swatch.


It has beads in two different colours sewn along the bottom edge, and I have decided to use the copper lined crystal beads from e-beads, which are on the left.
Or have I? Since writing this I remembered that I also have some Cherry Tree Hill laceweight merino in stash, in a lovely red colour called Wild Cherry. This morning I got it out, and here is the skein:


I have wound it (all 2400 yards of it) into a ball this morning, and now I really love the colour and I think I may have changed my mind, so I am going to swatch with this too. In which case I'll need different beads. Oh, well...

The first clue is being posted on 29th June, and the KAL is open to sign-ups until 6th July, but you can read all about it on her blog at the link above.


Well, it's not exactly a DIY project, but it's a bit more than mowing the lawn...
I planted a buddleia in our front lawn about five or six years ago when it was very small and spindly, and over the years it has grown rather large. In the summer, it had started spreading over the edge of the garden and intruding into the space where the neighbours park one of their cars. For the last two years, they have pruned it a bit and I have pruned it a bit, but it just kept on growing, and last week I decided that it had to come out.

We removed all the branches first (in some cases with a saw) and then started trying to dislodge the roots with a spade and fork. There was a tense moment when Mr Knitbert managed to spray earth all over me, including in my hair, which I had just spent hours styling. I explained, quite calmly and reasonably I thought, that I would probably have to go straight back inside and redo my hair. I'm afraid Mr Knitbert's reply can only be described as unsympathetic.

We continued digging, and after a while with little progress, Mr Knitbert decided that he would use the car to pull the roots out. This was quite exciting! We tied some old webbing jackstays around the shrub and Mr Knitbert attached the other end to the car somehow. The car inched forward, the shrub leaned over and then after a while the webbing snapped and the shrub sprang back to its original position.

We returned to digging, and this time managed to loosen, and then extract, the shrub and most of its roots. I am reasonably sure that even an inch of buddleia root will simply grow back to an enormous shrub in time, but for the moment the neighbours can park without fear, and Mr Knitbert can claim credit for finishing a gardening task.



And finally, here's my progress with the Ribby Shell. I have done 10.5 inches, so only 3 inches to go before I can divide for the front and back neck. I know it doesn't look very exciting yet, but it will...I tried it on and it fits well, which is good, so I am looking forward to completing it.


The next project (apart from MS3) is for Catbert, and it will be in this yarn, which is Lucy Neatby's Celestial Merino Dream in Fiery Fuschia. I must say I love the colours. I am going to be using Sivia Harding's Fantasy Shawl pattern, which can be done in a scarf size with one skein.