TdF2012

I love watching the Tour de France: I admire the cyclists fitness, endurance and strength, I love seeing the French countryside and I enjoy getting to know the crazy characters who decide to do this epic race.
Obviously I'm cheering on Mark Cavendish and Brad Wiggins and I'm also getting to know the new kid on the block Peter Sagan who does mad celebrations as he crosses the line- Sunday's celebration was like a funky chicken and today he crossed the line impersonating Forrest Gump. It will be fun to see what he does next!


would HMQ wear this pink?

 My tour project is a pair of socks called Lilybet designed by Rachel Coopey. I like the pretty lace pattern, and the name is similar to Lilibet which is how HMQ is referred to within the royal family, so this is a little tribute to the Diamond jubilee celebrations.
I've enjoyed watching Euro2012, Spain were worthy winners. Italy were awesome against Germany in the semis but had run out of steam for the final and were comprehensively beaten 4-0. England did better than expected to get out of the group stages and lost to Italy on penalties in the quarter finals.


mosh pit mitts by Rachel Atkinson

 I've recently finished a hat for the Christmas shoeboxes and a pair of very quick fingerless mitts for myself. The weather in Scotland has been shocking of late: low temperatures and torrential downpours resulting in road closures ( even in East Lothian, which almost never has problems like this) then sudden heat. I never know what to wear! Still, I can get plenty of knitting done while watching some fabulous sport! It's a shame that Rafa Nadal has been knocked out of Wimbledon, but Andy Murray is through to the QFs so I can cheer him on while I crack on with my pretty pink socks.

sounds like a plan



"they seek him here"

One of my unannounced resolutions* this year was that whenever I finished a project I would knit a hat for the Christmas shoeboxes (Operation Christmas Child). It's always a scramble in Sept/Oct to knit a hat or two, yet I collect toys and stationery for the boxes all year round, so it makes sense to knit hats all year round too.

I knit "they seek him here" by Elly Doyle, in March, modelled here by Jen. It's a straightforward pattern and makes a good unisex hat.

After I finished Jack's (as yet unblocked) Alien scarf I rattled out another Ralph hat. This is a simple hat, suitable for all ages, which I've made a few times in various colours. It's good for TV knitting, particularly when I'm watching subtitled Danish TV programmes! (We're enjoying watching The Bridge at the moment, it's gripping)

It would be easy just to churn out basic hats from all the leftovers in my stash, but I want to have fun too, so today I cast on Cashmere Cosy by Loraine Birchall. Like Elly Doyle's pattern this was published in Knit Now which specialises in accessories and is a good resource for hats and cowls.

I'm not sure if I should choose some hats or socks for the Ravelympics (thank you for reminding me!) I need to choose something for the Tour de Fleece too, the Euros in Pol/kraine and Wimbledon. It might be a lot of hats. It will certainly take a fair bit of planning!

*my resolutions are usually unannounced, it's easier that way!

over the (blue) moon!

I'm over the moon, I've finally finished my pomatomus socks! It has taken me a while, but they're done. I have been finishing other stuff but an unplanned blog hiatus has left those projects to be unrecorded. But I'll remedy that later this week.

Manchester City fans are over the Blue Moon as their team won the Premier League ( on Sunday) for their first time in 44 years. It was very dramatic as either Manchester City or Manchester Utd could win the league. They had equal points and were separated only by goal difference. A win for City would give them the title, if they dropped points Utd could overtake them. Up until the last few minutes of the season it looked as though Manchester United would win as Man City were losing 2-1 to QPR. But in injury time Man City scored two extra goals and won the league. I could hardly knit for excitement!

D was delighted as Newcastle finished 5th on 65 points, Sunderland limped to the end of the season, finishing 13th on 45 points, which made Newcastle fans even happier to be 20 pts ahead of their rivals.
It was sad to see Bolton get relegated after their traumatic season. Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch in March, having had a heart attack. He has recovered but it has obviously been a difficult few months for the rest of the team. Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers were also relegated.

So after the excitement of the end of the football season I have the European championships, Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the Olympics to look forward too. Awesome!


* Blue Moon is the club anthem for Manchester City

and then I saw his face

and I'll always be a believer

RIP Davy Jones (1945-2011)

15-80-19

it's a birthday weekend round here. Jennifer was 15 on Friday and got lots of clothes and money (so she's very happy!), my FIL Jack was 80 yesterday and he got a balloon (and was very amused) and my son Jack is 19 tomorrow and is getting lots of stuff for his "best" bass guitar (strap, cables, a new hard case, and is pleased with that) and money (and is very pleased with that too!).
We all went for dinner at vin caffe yesterday- my inlaws like Italian food, and there's always a good choice for vegetarians too (Jen has been a veggie since Aug 2011) so everyone is happy. I tried queen scallops for the first time and enjoyed them , followed by roast vegetables and polenta. I've not had polenta before so that was fun trying something new.

I'm making good progress on the alien scarf too, 7 alien faces done so far. I just need to measure it against Jack to see whether I need to make 9 or 10 in total. My MIL Betty, who used to a fantastic knitter until arthritis in her shoulders meant she had to put the pointy sticks away, was very impressed with illusion knitting. I've been trying to persuade her take up crochet, as that's more of a wrist action and would not put any strain on her shoulders and she would have the fun of making things again.

a bargain!

I had to go for a mammogram yesterday and afterwards as I was feeling squished and tender I went to The Bead Shop to cheer myself up.
The business is doing well and has extended its range to include yarn (Rowan, Debbie Bliss etc) Cath Kidston fabrics and various notions.
I picked up this book Knit and Crochet with Beads by Lily M Chin for £5 ($7.87 ). There are some very pretty projects in it and getting a book for the price of a magazine made me feel a bit better!
I am amazed I'd didn't buy any yarn though, which just goes to show how fragile I was feeling! 

just an illusion

I managed to get to Knit and natter on Monday (I missed it in Dec and Jan) and it was good to catch up with folk and to meet some new people too.

I took the Alien Illusion scarf with me (plus the first Stitch and Bitch book by Debbie Stoller which has the original pattern). At first everyone thought I was just making a stripey scarf - and there's nothing wrong with that - until I held it at a different angle and they could see the alien faces! That got everyone talking and looking through Stitch and Bitch. It's brilliant that people who have been knitting for 30-40 years can still see something new and be intrigued by it.

Vicky, our friendly LYSO, who runs the group did know about illusion knitting and admitted that there was a pattern on Ravelry for a Tiger Wallhanging that she would love to do - when she is not knitting samples for her shop... Of course I had to have a look at it myself, and at all the other amazing designs available from Steve at The World of Illusion Knitting : from the Beatles to Harry Potter and from the Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe there is an amazing range of art work recreated in knit and purl stitches in a striped pattern.

I've got 2 alien faces done and think I need a total of 10 to get the scarf a reasonable length for Jack- it will look like a huge invasion of E.T.s round his neck!