Now the decorum of the wedding day has had a chance to sink in.... Here's the truth about what went on the night before the wedding....This glamorous stripper was not paid tons of money, she is in fact none other than my sister (matron of honour). In most of these pix we are dancing to "Is this the way to Amarillo?".  

WEDDING PHOTOS!

Just a wee taster of a brilliant wedding.

Blushing bride and groom in grounds of hotel.  

Wedding party. Good friend L, best man R, sis Meg, new bro Roger, bro John (giving bride away) and sis Anne (matron of honour) 

J and I at the reception venue, where we also spent two nights. Ready to head to church. 

As Meg's god-daughter I "caught the bouquet". Still going strong four days on. 

Wonderful weekend had by all

Just back from a brilliant weekend down in the Midlands celebrating Meg and Roger's wedding. Lovely service at St. Leonard's church Beoley and then a great reception at The Old Rectory, Ipsley. www.smoothhound.co.uk/hotels/oldrectoryhotel
We took over the whole hotel, which was wonderful as we had the run of the place. I was one of the last two standing, literally standing, out on the lawn at coming up for 4.30 am next day. Not being able to drive has its occasional benefits!
On the way back up we stopped off in Hambleton to see my father-in-law too.
Brilliant weekend because of the obvious grand occasion, and also for catching up with family.
Happy couple off for a fabby three week honeymoon now. Enjoy!

Awa' tae a waddin'. See ye in a few days. A' the best Meg an' Roger.

Socka Color Sock, good view of pattern. 

Socka Color Sock, good view of true colour. 

One, count 'em, finished object.

Hiya, after a very family oriented weekend (between visiting in-laws and mammoth telephone conversations with my own family) I do actually have a finished object to show.

I finally got around to grafting the toe of this sock. It took me far too long and far too many attempts to get it half-way acceptable looking, but it is done now so that's something. Grafting is not one of my strong points, shall we say.

It is made from Fortissima Colori Socka Color from Schoeller + Stahl in shade 2416. I really like the heathery shades in it. I'll try a couple of different photos to try to get over the true colours. I haven't get cast on its partner, but I think that could be ideal knitting on the long journey down to Redditch in Worcestershire next week for my sister's wedding. I roughly followed the Marrieta Rib Socks pattern from Lucy Neatby's "Cool Socks, Warm Feet", and added a cable and made a couple of other adjustments. I may feel obliged to tell you all of this again when I have finished the second sock, so please bear with me!

Also coming along is my Fern from Rowan 36 (see Tuesday August 30th for project details). I only have the right front to do now and with any luck I will get that finished this week. There was a lot of knitting in the left front, between the fact that it is a wrapover front and so covers about 2/3 of the back and the short rows which form the garter edging. I am sure that in actual knitting terms it is as much as the back, I certainly used up the same amount of yarn as the back. 1 1/3 balls of my Jaeger Odessa. I like the look of it, it is shaping up nicely. I hope those of you who are also knitting this are enjoying the process too.

Haven't got around to playing with my KoolAid this weekend, and probably won't get the chance now as I will be too busy swanning about in high heeled sandals in preparation for wedding next Sat.

Have a good knitting week!

Fingal's Cave, Isle of Staffa, July 2005. For your delectation. 

Concepcion and the yarns for Flora, Knitty Fall 2005 

Flora

As if I didn't have enough projects on the go, I have decided to join Heather as she knits her second Flora. http://dollydimpleknits.prettyposies.com/
I perused my notebook where I logged all my stash during the summer (took days to separate it all and mark it all in) and thought this would be a nice combination - Rowan Kid Classic #835, Rowan Kidsilk Haze #600 and Jaeger Alpaca #393. Originally I wasn't going to do the whole three strand thing but I've decide now I like the blended look and it has to be berry colours. Concepcion is helping me show the colours here.
Can't wait to see Karen's version of this too. She was finished knitting the main bit but still had work to do on the flower when I saw her at the Stitch and Bitch.

Gumersinda endorsing some KoolAid. Thanks Lilith!

Last night's meet-up

Look what Lilith gave me at last night's meet-up. More fun in store! I've a feeling I know what I'll be trying this weekend. Gumersinda is helping show it off.
By the way, did you know Lilith makes and repairs violins? www.greenviolins.com

Good fun at the meeting last night, saw some folk who haven't been there for a while and was catching up with their news and meet some new people who seem very nice as well. I worked on my Filatura di Crosa Pixel shawl which grows at a snail's pace as I only every touch it at Stitch and Bitch meetings.

For Linda A, my faithful commenter!

Linda A, who has been great for leaving comments since this blog began, was wondering what this shade of Rowan Summer Tweed was like to see if it would be suitable for a top she has in mind. I just about managed to describe it yesterday, but as they say, a picture paints a thousand words so I decided to run up a quick swatch so you could get a better look. You can see all the "rainbow drop" colours in it, but be aware my photography and screen resolution may not be giving you the perfect view. When I was looking for and working with the yarn for this wee swatch I was reminded about how totally tangle-tastic skeins of Summer Tweed can be. Take this into account when choosing, Linda, it is a short step from skein to bird's nest if you are not careful!

Rowan Summer Tweed shade 513 

J, Kathleen and a Jaeger Winter Ribbon top with awkward sleeves. Cream o' Galloway ice cream dairy. 

Jaeger Winter Ribbon

I have actually been knitting! I have finished one sock apart from the grafting, my least favourite part, and I have one back, two sleeves and a few inches of left front of Fern completed.

My friends at the Stitch and Bitch http://knitting.meetup.com/137 will testify to the fact that I did actually do a few rows today. Few being the operative word after pulling two clean needles out of my bag and leaving the raw knitting behind. I thought I had caught it all okay only later to discover a dropped stitch in the shawl collar edging and spending ages ham fistedly picking it up for miles.

(They will also testify that Heather's version of Flora is AT LEAST as nice as the one in the picture below, and some of us are all the more determined now to have a go at it.)

Thanks go out to Carol on the Rowan International forum for explaining the edging on the shawl collar. The picture in Rowan mag 36 is very nice, but from it I wasn't even aware there WAS an edging on the collar, which is partly why I couldn't get my head around it in the pattern. There is a little loop edging every couple of rows and some short rows to flare out a little to make a little flounce and to compensate for the fact that garter stitch is not as tall as (reverse) stocking stitch. Thanks India ;-)

In the absence of any knitting to show you, I will include the before picture of a top which is in pieces on the back of the couch. I knitted this last year in Jaeger Winter Ribbon (long discontinued apparently) I had bought from ebay. I based it on Wavy which is in Rowan's Cotton Tape collection, with plenty of tinking thrown in. Anyway I have never had much wear out of it because I never really liked the way I sewed in the sleeves. I have taken it apart to try to fix it and I hope to show you some new improved after pictures in the near future.

This picture was taken at the Cream o' Galloway ice cream shop, Mull of Galloway, on a visit to see my mother in law.

Plenty of photos on PC

To save me bugging J every other night to ask if I can borrow his digital camera and then take advantage of his good nature by getting him to load them all on to "my" PC, I have copied a whole load of holiday pictures so that I always have something to post. So, be prepared for arbitrary pictures of jellyfish on beaches near Scarisdale Point on the Isle of Mull and other random images. Apparently there are far more jellyfish now due to the rise in temperature of the Gulf Stream because of global warming.

Jellyfish Cove, Isle of Mull 

The new Knitty is up and I really fancy this modestly named "floraBEAUTY.jpg" See the pattern at sorry, link won't work, at the Knitty website anyway!

I did not knit the back of them either! 

I did not knit these gloves! 

Sanquhar gloves

What do you think of my Sanquhar gloves? No, I have not been hiding my light under a bushel, I did not knit these. I stole them (bought for £4.59) from an ebay seller. They are beautifully made from pure wool using two strands of yarn -which is barely thicker than sewing thread- held together. The colours are a bright cobalt blue and a sky blue and they fit just beautifully. Thank you kinlochstuie ! And to think I was all chuffed with myself for making mittens from 6ply sock wool. I am inspired to learn and improve!

I have pondered about whether to post my Alexandra Park pictures from Saturday in the light of the tragic news unfolding there this week. I have come to the conclusion that it would serve no purpose whatsoever if I don't post them. So here goes, my park photography. This is my Rowan Big Wool felted bag. I made up the pattern as I went along (urbanDK) and used my Addi Turbo Circs. Basically a rectangular bottom, pick up the stitches all round then make a tube. The rim is Big Wool Tuft. After washing way too hot for way too long, Voila! a felted bag. I added bamboo handles from getknitted and a wee brooch from Accessorize. When I showed J this picture he was dumfounded that I would photograph a brown bag against brown earth. I could see his point!

Yes, the same Alexandra Park where they just found a baby's body. Come forward and get some help, mum. Rest in peace baby boy.

Wrath of the lion, Alexandra Park fountain.

Emmeline cardigan; Kid Classic; Rowan 28. 

Coming out of the closet

Hi there, and thanks for all the comments on Fern, Odessa and Kid Classic -Fern seems a popular choice and I'm keen to make a good job of it so I can show you all.

With this blog the news of my addiction to knitting has gone global. Now, everyone who will care to listen knows I love knitting, but I think the blog has been a bit of an eye-opener to the uninitiated as to how obsessed I and my fellow knit-bloggers are. I have come out of the closet. Apart from the odd bit of ribbing (boom boom) from some quarters, it has all been good clean fun and my friend from work has finally asked me to teach her to knit. I think this is something she has been working up to for a while, and she has finally taken the plunge. She's is learning the ropes by making a small mat, and then she wants to go on to a scarf. Go for it Anna!

In my home neighbourhood I have come so far out of the closet that another few dozen locals saw me "styling" my knitting on bushes in Alexandra Park again today. Was a good day for walks in the park so there was quite a bit of through traffic. Also great day for drying 5 tonnes of washing out on the line (new washing machine arrived last Tuesday -yay!)

I took quite a few 2005 knitted goodies and knitting supplies with me, but I'm not showing you them all today, I am rationing them so they will last the week even if I don't take any more pix I'll still have blog photos. :-)

I don't have much progress on Fern or my sock to show you so I took my Emmeline from Rowan 28. Aah, the lovely Emmeline. I knitted it in Rowan Kid Classic, the recommended yarn. This is amazing for me, almost unheard of. Anyway KC is not discontined, but the main colour I used is, so I got it for a very good price at the last Hobbycrafts show at the SECC. I got the contrast colours from http://www.englishyarns.co.uk . I finished this earlier this summer and I am really pleased with it, it is very easy to wear and is smart enough for work. The only differences between my version and the original pattern is I went up 0.5mm needle size for fit and I took the bell ruffle from the bottom and included it on the sleeves as well. I have fancied that design for literally years, but I finally got the impetus and the means to make it this year.

I first got into Rowan with book 29 which co-incided with my discovery of the then newly opened Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow. Being so fond of that mag I bought the one before, with some really lovely classic designs. I don't know if it's association with rediscovering knitting or what, but those two are just about my favourite Rowan books. There have been highs and lows since, but the rest is history...

Bell ruffle on Emmeline sleeve. 

Close up of hexagonal buttons on Emmeline. 

Trying out a technique. Beautiful pups. Look at Conche in the middle.