Finished!

Here's the photos as promised

First the February Lady Sweater knitted in New Lanark wool bought this time last year on my annual visit to Glasgow. I had a limited amount of yarn so knitted the sleeves first and then the body until I ran out of yarn. I added more buttons than suggested as they were so special!

I loved the idea of the Damson shawl but in it's original size it only makes a small neck scarf for me - so out came the 5mm needles and the aran yarn and this is the end product - it still needs blocking but is a much more useful size for me - it took 7 balls of Debbie Bliss Stella yarn

Wonder what will be next off of the needles, I have a couple of wips that need knocking into shape but fancy starting a new project

Made it!

Yesterday saw me complete the February Lady Sweater for my Olympic challenge - I knew I wanted something that would come to top hip length - the challenges were to see if I had enough yarn and how much the pattern would grow when I washed it.

I enjoy knitting lace but Gull Lace makes my wrists hurt and after a arthritis flare in the middle of the games I knew it would be touch and go to see if I could make it.

The yarn I was using was from a cone and still had a lot of grease in it, the smell was very strong and I found I could only knit it in short bursts or sitting outdoors (you get some funny looks knitting outside in February in the UK!)

Its been washed and rinsed at least 5 times and the yarn now feels much softer. As soon as it's dry I'll take photos. I'm happy with the hand made buttons that I bought at Brighton and the fact that I've added more button holes. I think I may even have achieved the desired length - can't wait to try it on.

I'd rashly promised I would also enter the Ravelympics WIP Wrestling and stated I would complete Damson - not the original version but one enlarged by using Aran weight yarn. It seemed like a good idea when I started it in August but I couldn't face working on it after Kate died and it's been languishing in the pile ever since.

As this was my project for Team I Knit I worked on it on Thursdays (knit night) and wouldn't allow myself to do any more until I finished the FLS. In all of my calculations the thing I had forgotten was how much larger it would be and how never-ending those last rows would feel. I scraped in under the finish line just before midnight on Sunday.

This one still needs washing and blocking but will have to wait until the sweater is dry.

What's next on the needles? Some plain and simple, mindless garter stitch to sooth my frazzled nerves - I do not like knitting to deadlines!!!

I'm Late

for a very important date - the end of the Olympics is nigh and I've a ton of knitting still to do!

I'd been over optimistic of my capabilities and committed to two projects. The February Lady Sweater which I stand a chance of finishing as I've completed the sleeves and am now knitting down the body - if my wrists will allow me to continue with gull lace. That stitch plus aran weight yarn on a sweater knitted all in one piece is taking it's toll on my joints.

The second project is to finish Damson - a gain I'm nearly there, I just need to find where the last ball of yarn is hiding!

No Knitting Friday and yesterday, Matt and I enjoyed a short break in Essex and spent a day at Colchester Zoo - I could have spent all day watching the sea lions, sitting in the viewing tunnels under the water and watching these animals was one of the most beautiful sights I've seen for a long time.

Excuses

The blog has been quiet for a few reasons:

I've semi-retired and life seems to have got busier and with less routine.

I ran out of things I could blog about (secret knitting)- soon to be revealed.

The situation re work and pension took up a lot of energy to resolve but the money has now come through.

I've been off visiting shows - Brighton and ExCel

I've been catching up with friends- Jan, Liz, Jen, KCG, Nic, Lixie and others

I've been saying "Goodbye" to a friend - Les - what a wonderful funeral to celebrate his life. Everytime I hear Waltzing Matilda I will think of his grin, the braces and his woodworking skills

I've been planting trees in my sister's memory - we used to climb them, scrump fruit from them, make dens in them. We also had fun chopping the old ones down to make firewood. Cherry trees were planted last week, this week it's the Silver Birches.

I've been knitting for the Olympics - I started the February Lady Sweater using yarn bought from New Lanark Mill last year. I started well but hit the wall with arthritis on Friday and am only just getting to bend my hands again. So will I be able to finish it? There's a lot to do and only a couple of days left - this might be the year I fail.

I lost the camera battery charger - spare charger and battery now ordered which should mean I find the originals .

The blog was inaccesible for a few days due to a saga involving fire drills and foam - I didn't ask Polly for further info - that alone was enough to make me shudder!

when things go wrong..

they do so spectacularly!

Flexi-retirement is great, I'm already feeling more relaxed and the knitting is going well, so what's the problem?

The major issue is that my employers "forgot" I was retiring and so have not started the process to release my pension - this could be interesting when the bills start coming in and there's no money to pay them. Anyone want to guess what date this will be resolved? Perhaps I ought to run a sweepstake..

I've written a few choice emails, had words with key people and counted to a hundred several thousand times.

First Day

Yesterday was the first day of my flexi-retirement - today I'm going back to work - think this might take some getting used to!

I started the day yesterday with a long list of all the things I "needed" to do. By lunchtime I'd achieved 1 task so hastily recalculated my day and assigned the other tasks to the "some day soon" list and sat down to knit for a few hours and made some small progress on the Ivory Leaves jacket. I'm trying to clear the decks ready for the Winter Olympics as I think I may have been rash enough to state I'll do at least 2 events in the Ravelympics and have to start swatching for the main project even if I can't cast on until the opening ceremony ( 2am in the UK 13 Feb)

Thanks to Penny from the IKL group I had enough yarn to finish Citron at the weekend, it's now had a wash and is having a gentle block. I knitted it using Zauberball which is a heavier weight yarn than the original, combined with my loose knitting this looks to have made a decent size shoulder shawl for me. Photos as soon as it's dry.

The other thing that demanded my time was a new phone - I've switched to an iPhone and am now totally confused with what I've transferred where - think I need to book some time with the nice people at the Apple store!

Countdown

Only 3 more working days until I go on flexi-retirement!

I'll be working 2.5 days a week and plan to spend the rest of my time tackling the backlog of things I want to do. The knitting list is beginning to grow longer, the pattern books are being thumbed and yarn is being wound into cakes.

Matt keeps dropping hints about household stuff, home cooked food, clean shirts, ironing, that sort of thing - somehow I think he is in for some disappointment.

The last two days have been painful due to an abscess in my jaw, I had emergency treatment yesterday and feel somewhat better but it's amazing how pain affects my knitting gauge, I've just ripped out two days work.

There is some progress, I nearly finished Citron but ran out of yarn 6 rows from the end. A friend has promised me a partial ball she has left over so I'm hoping to get it finished this week.

Whilst waiting for that I've started knitting Ivory Leaves using Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran that I scored in the £5 mystery bags sold by Kemps before xmas

New Beginnings

Well if the start of 2010 is anything to go by it will be a quiet one and I'll have plenty of time to knit!

We were invited to one of my sisters but Mum was tired, I had a hacking cough and Matt was running a temperature so we decided to stay home. They both dozed off and on and I sat there quietly knitting. Matt stirred and went outside for a cigarette, that woke Mum and she went to the bathroom and that's where they were when the fireworks went off and I realised it was midnight!

There are no major resolutions this year; no grand ambitions to use the stash, lose weight or whatever - just a few simple guidelines I intend to follow:

a. To make more time to enjoy family and friends.

b. To continue fostering the love of knitting and its creativity by volunteering my time at events and online wherever possible.

c. To knit / crochet more and to allow my creative side more freedom.

d. To continue learning.

e. If possible support some charity with knitting and/or crocheting

f. To be grateful for all of the joy that comes my way.

This seems a good way to start out the year, yes?

Out with the old...

2009 is coming to a close and I'm happy to see it go - it has been a difficult year with the loss of my sister Kate in September and more recently a cousin's death. New Year's Eve day was spent at his funeral.

There were good times - August saw Matt and I have a great holiday in Devon and then we had a trip to Boston in November. We managed some good weekends away meeting up with old friends (Glasgow in March, Portsmouth in August come to mind). I became a Great- Aunt in June and in October celebrated 33 years of work and 28 years of marriage!

There has been knitting - the first few months of the year was baby blanket season, 6 in total! Other projects have mainly been small and portable as I've been unable to concentrate on much. The new job in September has eaten into my leisure time which is why I'm looking forward to the changes.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2010

2010 has the promise of good things to come - Matt has a job and is due to start work next week and I have had my request for flexible retirement granted and will be working 18 hours a week from the 18th January - I'm looking forward to trying to get on top of all the outstanding chores so that I can then focus on reducing the stash pile by finally tackling all of those projects on the needles