Heads

This evening I hd planned to give lots of info about wip - of which there are many.

But I am having a full on headache - probably in anticipation of going away tomorrow when I haven't really got back from going away last week. It's one o those heads where you are sort of stonned, removed from your environment, wrapped up in cotton wool, slightly deranged _ oh dear - not an evening for blogging. turn that pc off!

So no more bloggy until Sunday at the earliest, have a lovely weekend and I hope the weather stays nice, now shall I pack coats? What exactly are coats again? And why would I need them? I really feel most odd :o)

Annette does Della!

And, boy, she does her good! Go see this. Isn't it amazing?

I am so very very chuffed at how wonderful Della looks. I was thinking that I would try a different border for my Della - when I have a little time to knit it *rolls eyes* but having seen Annette's I think I will knit it as written with, perhaps, the addition of a central motif. Annette's looks so good.

I generally do think lace looks best in solid or semi solid colours and that Della goes to prove it. Having said that I hope no one who chose a variegated yarn will be disappointed as the original Della looked lovely too, but Annette's modifications to the original are finishing touches which are the icing on the cake.

Talking of cakes, off to my little sister's wedding this weekend coming and I've been in town with the incredibly "I-don't-want-to be-here" four year old and the "impossible-to-choose-when-I-don't-know-what-I-am-looking-for" 14 year old. After 3 hours of tantrums (me too) we came away with the perfect, stunning outfit for the 14 yr old (well she's a size 10 everything looks good on her) and the hot/bothered/cantankerous "I don't want to go to a wedding" 4 year old.

I managed to find a skirt for £5 (DD1's frock was a LOT more than that) and a pair of trousers which don't fit properly (am I really an elephant, when did that happen?). So, sewing machine out tomorrow to make a waist on the trousers as there are no belt loops to oik (sp?) it up with and God only knows what shoes I'll wear with the skirt.

I don't do shoes! DD has already amassed a vast shoe collection and she's only liked them for 12 months whereas in my 42 years I have managed to buy one pair of Docs, two identical pairs of trainers and a pair of boots that cripple me and are never worn. Now, if I liked shoes a wedding would be the perfect excuse but as I don't (in fact I hate shopping for shoes, they never fit and they make my feet hurt) I shall probably convince myself that the black Converse that DD grew out of before they got much wear, will do fine and turn up in those. Well... it's a long skirt no one will notice. Or, if they do ... will I care?

The skirt is ankle length and a light turquoise, the trousers are black and my one good shirt is white so I'll look like a waitress if I wear that :o)

Just wondering if I could knock a Della up by next weekend?

No, probably not!

Oh well, I think the Queen of the Waves might get an outing then, or maybe the Forest Canopy. I do like purple, in case you hadn't noticed.

More about the holiday another time, it was great and the extra sleep mended my dizzies, for now. It's lovely to have 'Terra' back being 'firma'.

dishcloth swap

dishcloth
Originally uploaded by Jam_mam.

Just a quickie before I go ... I received this lovely parcel of goodies from Knitty Witty Woo on the AY forum, thank you :lol: it's all great and really brightened my day. The stitchmarkers and phone charm are hand made and the handcream is a touch of indulgence I wil appreciate - the crytal is suposed to ward off evil - who could complain about that? Not me! Ward away LOL

Mag is here

Didn't have to wait to long as the Rowan mag arrived this morning. Taking it on holiday with me

This is me waving goodbye for a week, looking forward to some sleep as little C goes back to his main carer tomorrow and I am shattered, bot can that boy run! On the go from dawn til dusk and spots an open starin gate as 20 paces and i have to race to get there before him. I see a sprinter in the making. And loud, let me tell you about loud!

lovely lad though, bright as a button and chuckle, he can really chuckle.

bye

I'm a member

Rowan Membership arrived this morning, yippee. Pin badge thingy... hmmm... where would I ever wear that? Guess if I went to a membership 'event/day thing. It pierced the other magazines/newsletter things in the package too. Blah! Not a well thought out inclusion Rowan. However very excited about this, unreasonably so. The Debbie Bliss club was such a disappointment last year. It closed not long after I joined - are they trying to tell me something? :o)

No mag though :o( guess that is coming separately as is the 'free' gift. Hope it arrives before I go away for a week. What knitting shall I take. Can't believe it but since frogging the Mystery shawl #4 I have nothing otn, nada, ziltch! OMG

I will be taking the 'project' Tess Dawson yarn and lots of books (knitting books, of course) to play with once little Miss 4 yrs is in bed, but an easy 'take anywhere' project would be good too, so I can knit whilst they play. Started my last pair of socks this time last year, maybe it's time for a new pair? After all I have plenty of sock yarn thanks to Dee's sock club. Or I could do my own Della, although not sure that's a 'knit anywhere' project. If I take the mystery shawl #4 I am unlikely to do much project so I think I will wind the Foamy Seas and abandon the idea of adapting the shoalwater for now and just do myself a straight version. I keep squeezing the Foamy Seas so it must be good, really looking forward to knitting with it. Ah what a dilemma! Such a hard life when your biggest concern is which of the many skeins to knit first and into what.

Reading this last night. I do love knitting, I do.

Bloggus interuptus

Photos of stash enhancement.











Baby Lucia Disguise

















Baby Lucia Denim








Baby Lucia Beau

Emily Swither

Emily Damson


















Emily Sailor

Lucia Matey














Eva Captain
















Middle Earth Yarns Foamy Seas DK











HipKnits Cashmere Lace in Majestic











Didn't get a photo of the Mystery Shawl ( got to row 59) before I have to frog :o( Tried starting that again and had to frog again, not a happy bunny. Sulking!

Where did that week go?

If proof were ever needed that small children interrupt blogging then that was the week that proved it :o) I can't believe it was last Friday that I put up the photos of Della.

Happily the knitting on the Goddess Knits Shawlalong has continued as young master shout-a-lot has been sleeping 10 hours a night. Unfortunately that is the 10 hours between 7.30pm and 5.30am! I had forgotten that there was a 5.30am! Anyway, the knitting continues and I am on row 56ish (no memory due to sleep deprivation) and whizzing along nicely. Contemplating changing to circs any day now. Not in any hurry to change as the dpns make it easy to keep track of the repeats and so far I haven't had to put in any stitch markers. Once I switch I will need them and with such fine yarn stitch markers are a bit of a pain. Not as great as the pain of frogging the blessed thing though so in they will go :o)

I received some lovely stitch markers as a gift with the yarn I bought from Middle Earth Yarns recently. The delicious DK Foamy Seas is for me :o) Ever since I gave the Shoalwater to my Auntie I have wanted to do another. I am not overly fond of triangular shawls so i am going to adapt the pattern and try to incorporate the shaping from the Queen of the Waves - not sure how that will work out, i can see how to add in repeats of the Old Shale pattern when knitting from the neck down but taking them out when knitting from the base up is a different latter. I think I may need a little space to ponder that one.

Meanwhile the yarn form Angel Yarns has arrived and the merino in cream will be gorgeous. Washable and soft and squishy, just right for babies, so I feel a traditionally inspired Shetland Baby Shawl is in order. I will work on the pattern whilst I am on holiday. I should also like to finish the baby shawl I started in the PY Helena a while ago. Since I had to frog back the border in order to get more yarn I have not made much progress in adding the border back on again *rolls eyes*, This is so nearly finished I really must get it done, it is beautiful yarn and will be a lovely heirloom project - once completed :o)

Off to be 'mummy' will add photos later.

Oh, nearly forgot to say, the HipKnits Yarn for my own version of Della has arrived and it is delicious. This cashmere is really nice to knit with and is so soft and warm to wear. Will photograph that too when C has a sleep.

HipKnitsProjectClub

Della is revealed

- a close up photo at the Project Club Blog. I couldn't get a really good photo showing the stitches as it was windy out in the yard the day i took these and I needed to post it to Kerrie so she could get the official photos done and the pattern written up and out to the members.



Here's an action shot :o) Told you it was windy.





Plus a closer view (unstretched and preblocking) of the stitches of the main body of the shawl.


I really enjoyed knitting this, the deadline meant I had to keep at it, so it took just over a month of knitting every night, I had a week off for my head cold so I recon approx 3 1/2 weeks in all. Not bad going. Some things didn't work, I remembered why I should use stitch markers and lifelines and wondered why I hadn't! My pattern writing/adapting skills need some work *blushes*. I love lace (well, we knew that one!). HipKnits cashmere lace is gorgeous to knit with. It is soft and springy and it knits up like a dream. When you wear it it is surprisingly warm for something so light and floaty. It blocks well and can be vigorously stretched when wet without breaking (phew!) and variegated colours do work for lace (sometimes).

And my next project is ... lace :o) It's the Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl.

I have chosen my yarn - Gasp! PY Cecilia in Ivory from my obsession/stash and it is going to be gorgeous. I have the skeins caked and ready to go. just need to get to grips with casting on for a shawl knit from the centre out, before Elizabeth Zimmermann that would have been impossible, another thing I have learnt from the wonderful ladies at AY forum.

After that it will be Project Club Socks - off to invest in some Lucy Neatby DVDs on sock knitting, well, i needed an excuse :o) Meanwhile I am taking the Tess Dawson yarn on holiday to get some experimenting done. I'll let you know how I get on.

thank you for the comments about Tom, it's all a bit involved to go into here, was it a real rejection due to the high number of applicants? Was is prejudice? We'll never know. Kerrie posted a link to this article earlier in the week and it really made me wonder how she would have coped if her baby had been born with a disability. At one point she says

didn't think about any of this before I got pregnant. I wanted to have a baby.
Her colour and culture were immaterial then. But self-flagellation is not useful. I have more pressing concerns. I am now the mother of a 'black' child, even if she is more the hue of weak tea than espresso. This is a role for which I am utterly unprepared. Part of me thinks I should be playing sitar music to her in her cot, mastering pakoras and serving them dressed in a sari, but that would be fantastically fake coming from me.

Well, none of us think carefully enough about what would happen if our child was different, but some differences you can predict and some you actively choose them; some differences are given to you without you ever expecting them. But hey, Lady, if you are unprepared for a black child don't make babies with a black man. Oh, that's harsh isn't it? And if you can't cope with a disability, then don't have any children at all. You never know what you are going to get when you cast that die and it is telling that our first question on hearing of a birth is "is the baby alright?" She's only speaking what people think after all. But we are none of us really prepared, you just have to step up to the plate, Lowri, you have no choice now, she's here.

I remember howling in the night the day we first got Tom's diagnosis, but then the next day you have to pick yourself up and say, well, this is who he is and who he is is just the same as who he was the day before, the only thing that has changed is that piece of paper. That diagnosis. And that piece of paper gives you power, because it gives you knowledge and you can now go out and seek the truth and seek advice and find out about what you are dealing with. Maybe the two situations are not analogous, i certainly don't mean to imply that I in any way consider race to be a disability. Society prejudges both group nevertheless.

Actually, i don't consider disability to be a 'disability' in the way that society does either. It's just a different way of being human, no more, no less valid than any other way. But it's times when you suspect that people's judgements are based on the colour of skin, or on the piece of paper, that you have the reality of society's opinions thrust upon you and then you wish for a different society, not for a different baby! Nothing to do with the mirror.

If you need to do your grieving, do it, get it over with, have your howl and then pick yourself up and focus on the important thing in all of this, the important child, who relies upon you for it's guide into how the society is and how best to navigate it. Read this and stop whinging! I'm not entirely unsympathetic, I'm impatient with you, you can do better than this. I guess i am a lot further down the road that's all.