Happy Saint Andrew's Day!

Best wishes to everyone, especially
Scots,
Greeks,
Russians
and anyone whose name is Andrew.

Lang may yer lum reek. 

Jaeger 4ply Alpaca Before Blocking

Here's my finished Jaeger Alpaca scarf before blocking. I'll give you all the pattern specs tomorrow when you can actually see the stitch pattern I'm talking about!

It's now all pinned out on the living room floor; something else to trip over.

I am missing knitting this already! It's like when you are reading a really good book - you want to know how it turns out, but you miss all the characters you got to know on your way through. I love the way it looks and the way the edging is scalloping up, drawn in by the lace pattern above.

All the project details tomorrow... 

Get yourselves some passports, we're going to Vienna!

Siegfried (left) and Sonya (right) will have to get cracking and apply for their passports as we're off to Vienna for Christmas!
These two tiny pups are our latest additions to the family and were bought to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.
The monkey, Santa Cruz, has already stowed away on trips to Rome and Paris so he is an old hat.
All this is history now as they are joining us on our five-night trip to celebrate Christmas in Vienna. We leave on Saturday 24th and I am so excited!!!
Jonathan has sold the cottage he lived in before we got married and I have talked him into viring just a little of the proceeds for a Winter Break. He was thinking of somewhere like the Canary Islands but I am so glad he went with my idea of going somewhere cultural. I am so lucky!

Knitting news? Kind of - I haven't really been in the habit of photographing works in progress, but I have been working on *Jaeger Alpaca 4ply lacy scarf *Heathery sock *KSH Jumper a little like Bay from Rowan 36 *Scarf with German "Softwool" from trip to Frankfurt in 2002(See, I told you I was lucky!). Been hitting the stash again! 

Well travelled Santa Cruz (or Toby Cruz) with his Roma earring. He wanted his navel pierced but I put my foot down. 

India has got a blog!

Decided to check out this Sunday Girls thing on at Mono last Sunday. Felt funny going to Mono on a Sunday. Tramway on Sunday, Mono on Tuesday is the usual deal.

Anyway, maybe I'm too literal, maybe when it says "from 3pm" I should arrive fashionably late, like 9pm or midnight or something. Well, to sum up, it was a bit of a non-event. By the time I left I had not witnessed any craft stall, any DJs, any live bands, any discussions. There was evidence of a baking stall though. There was one redeeming feature though, and it wasn't the cake stall, it was the fact that India or Midsummer Night's Knitter as some call her, was there. As you may know, when India arrives, that means the party has started!

She has succumbed to our subtle persuasion and has gone and got herself a blog! Although she is just starting out, she has text, photos, a weather pixie, links, counter, the whole shebang!
Call in to see her at http://twelfthknit.blogspot.com/ and say hello. Preferably in Gaelic!

By the way Heather, I did sling my Loopy scarf because I was finding it too hard to control the KSH on such big needles and the results were shockingly uneven. I would consider doing it again though. Just on big needles not enormous great ones.

Day out to St. Andrew's

Kathleen, Multidirectional Scarf, and Di Gilpin's shop, St. Andrew's


These past few days we have had some of that crisp, cold, clear weather with blue skies which lets you wrap up warm and get out and about, so J and I decided to head off for a run in the car.

Although this morning wasn't quite as nice we decided to make a go of it anyway and ended up in St. Andrew's. It was a lovely scenic drive up through the towns and villages of the Kingdom of Fife.

I quickly did my homework this morning when I heard where we were going and checked the internet for yarn shops, and came up with
Di Gilpin who has a shop in Burghers Close, 141 South Street, St. Andrews. After circling the town for a good while we found a parking space just beside the remains of "Blackfriars Abbey" and lo and behold, Di Gilpin's shop was just seconds away. Although the shop is up a close, it is easy to find as luscious yarns are hanging up on butcher's hooks at the entrance to the lane. Enjoyed my visit to the shop, which has a bazaar feel to it - what look like bargain baskets are just in fact the main stock. And of course, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. No prices on any of the branded stock, which includes Rowan, RYC, Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding, Noro, Lana Grossa and Colinette, to name the ones which jump to mind.
The only prices were on the handspun yarn and the knitted garments which Di Gilpin had designed. They were a little out of my league with a 120g skein of handspun cashmere blend at £56. Yes, my typing is not letting me down here. There was also a lovely cardigan with autumnal motifs like acorns and russet leaves which I really liked which was £351.50.

We had a good browse and chose some yarn for a Multidirectional Scarf for J, which will be quite similar to mine, although we went for Noro Silk Garden, which doesn't have the sparkly bits my Noro Aurora scarf has. Chenille yarn has always appealed to him so we bought some Rowan Chunky Chenille for yet another Multi-directional, in for a penny, in for a pound. Incidently, my Noro Aurora has barely been in my home for one month and now it is a finished object. My stashing days are over! No, I don't believe it either.

We did have a lovely day, although the nights are fair drawin in, as your granny would say, and we didn't have too long before the sun started setting and it became bitterly cold. We had just enough time and light to see all we wanted to see and take a few pictures into the bargain. Enjoy! 

Some of the colours in my Multidirectional Scarf made from Noro Aurora. 

Atmospheric shot of the ruins of St. Andrew's Cathedral and St. Rule's Tower, not even 4pm. 

J, rising tide, East Sands, St. Andrew's. Sporting a divine Wavy scarf. Trust me. 

East Sands, St. Andrew's, late afternoon. 

No finished objects to show you yet

As I've no knitting to show you, I'll give you instead another gratuitous Scottish travel shot.
Kathleen in Inverary, May 2005.
(I think my hair isn't growing and then I look back at pics like this and see it is!) 

Noro Aurora - only in the stash a few weeks and already becoming a multi-directional scarf. 

Regal Silk- slowly becoming a Multi-directional scarf. 

Multi-directional Post

Enjoyed Saturday's Art Exhibition in Kirkintilloch. Our friend Debbie was exhibiting and volunteering there and had invited us along. We didn't buy anything but there was some lovely work there and I was really impressed by the church where it took place. It was really like a small cathedral really. What really blew me away was the exquisite, modern (1980s) stained glass.

Also enjoyed Sunday's stitch and bitch in the Tramway. I can't believe Jacqui is leaving us for the northern lights of old Aberdeen. I'm going to be helping out with some of the admin for the Stitch and Bitch group for a few months. Looking forward to learning the ropes.

May I say how beautiful Madeline's Multidirectional scarf is shaping up to be. Knocks mine into a cocked hat. (Not fishing for you to contradict me here, it is a genuine opinion.) The colours are jewel tones and have a glow about them. It really shows off the structure of the scarf too.

I now have two on the go, the original one in Noro Aurora, and I have been inspired to do another in my silk yarn from Get Knitted in an attempt to get a colour glow like Madeline. If you remember I was talking about making it into a Clapotis. Now I am leaning more towards Clapotis in my Soy Silk. Watch this space. J has asked for a multidirectional in muted blues and grey in a chenille yarn. I'll see what I can rustle up, but I may have to go shopping!

International night

Had a lovely night on Thursday with some friends from here and there. Had a wee dinner party with the Spanish Assistant from my school (Monica from Galicia) and her flatmate who I had never met before but was lovely (Audrey from Nantes). Also represented were Burnley and the fine hamlets of Auchinloch and Moodiesburn. The Welsh contingent couldn't make it.

Had a great night with plenty of food, wine, laughter and banter. What more could you ask for? Must do it again soon.

Any knitting news? Well, like Madeline (MadKnits in sidebar) I am doing the Multidirectional Scarf. I admired Heather's (Dollydimple in the sidebar) at the SECC and she talked me through how it's done so I am making in-roads on it with my Noro Aurora from K1 Yarn Boutique (you guessed it, sidebar).
Not the softest but I'm enjoying the way it's turning out.

Paltry progress to report on Heathery sock no#2. I don't have full blown Second Sock Syndrome as such, but I certain have a mild condition when it comes to the second in a pair.

Have done a few more repeats on my 4ply Alpaca scarf. I have high expectations for this, it's shaping up really nicely.

Haven't cast on anything major since I finished Fern, although Bay from Rowan 36 is a contender, as is something in All Seasons Cotton from Rowan's Classic Knits for Real Women, or words to that effect.

Must dash, off to Kirkintilloch to a local Art Exhibition. Apparently it's fairly bijou this year, but I'm sure it's still well worth seeing. x K 

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for the lovely comments about Fern. In particular the colour seems to be big hit! It was nice to have a chance to model it myself rather than ask my regular holly bush to stand in. You get a much better idea of the shape of it that way, and those nice compliments about the colour suiting me were an added bonus. Having a wee get together tomorrow, so may wear her then.


Now if you like this book , you'll LOVE this website . It's a site featuring lovely pictures, advice, cautionary tales, FO, contentedness and general wall to wall knitalong scarfiness. Factor in a few hours to look at this, I had a bit of a lost evening after I came back from Stitch and Bitch at Mono last night, just getting carried away browsing.

An art student called Estelle was "documenting" our knit and chat last night for her research and a forthcoming assignment. Glad to be someone's muse :-) 

Finished Object

This is Fern in all her Alexandra Park glory!

Knitted in Jaeger Odessa DK, shade 163. Mohair, and "polyester metal". Used 7 balls; it has got great yardage.
Bought the yarn from Black Sheep Wools at the Creative Stitches fair 2004. See Carol, I do use up some of it! When are you getting a blog by the way???

Taken from Rowan 36, went up 1/2mm needle size for fit.
I am pleased with it, although as you can see I need a wee ribbon or something to make the first wrap lie flat on the inside. I did know that of course, but I wanted to make the most of a short dry spell to get out to the park and get the photos taken.

Thanks to J for taking the photos and thanks to Strictly Come Dancing for making the seaming a bearable process!

Edge facing inwards like the magazine photo. 

Back view of Fern, Alexandra Fountain. 

Side view, bit bunchy but you get the idea. 

Fountain fishes. 

Separated at birth? ;-)

Fern by Kim Hargreaves. Rowan magazine 36. plus Esmerelda on window ledge. 

Fern by Kim Hargreaves. Rowan magazine 36. 

Many Happy Returns India!

Our pal India (when you gettin a blog?) has turned a round number today.

Happy birthday my dear!

Looking forward to toasting it with you soon. x  

This WAS Loopy from Knitty

Loopy from Knitty Fall 2002 Mark Two.
In sky blue KSH and DB Maya colour 05.
Novelty effect, but decent yarns used.

Too hard to control, way too uneven and here's the clincher -
not loving the look of it.
Looks like that stuff soldiers use.
Camouflage netting.
Off to frog pond.

Sneak preview. Full size (park?) picture coming soon. x K