Wales 20080525-26

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted here. I've been using Ravelry to track my knitting projects and joined a variety of groups so my knitting information here is now obsolete. Things have been going well, still working at Orbit Housing working on a software development implementation, have been riding with several motorcycle clubs and friends, belong to several knitting groups and a monthly book club at Borders. Some recent sight seeing includes Foxton Locks (amazing to see the boats go through--also rode the motorcycle so this was a great day out), Alport Heights (with Caty), Rutland Reservoir on several motorcycle rides, and several days in Wales including Port Meirion (where The Prisoner was filmed), Conwy, Bangor and Snowdonia. The pictures on this blog are from this trip. Next weekend I'm spending several days in London with Brandy (who I used to work with in California) and her daughter. I'm sure we'll have plenty of pics for a future post! And this weekend is World Wide Knitting In Public Day so I'll be off to a local garden center's tea shop to knit with the Southern Derbyshire Knitters. Knitting, cake and good weather--it doesn't get much better. Unless I ride the bike to get there :-)

Christmas in Torquay, England

This area is beautiful. My resort was right on Meadfoot Beach in Torquay. Unfortunately a lot of the venues I wanted to visit were closed for the season but I was able to walk on the grounds in most cases. The biggest disappointment was that the boat tour of the Jurassic Coast was not running either so I'll definitely have to re-visit this area between March and October. Still had a very relaxing visit and had a good balance of knitting, reading, watching Christmas movies and sightseeing. And of course the traditional Christmas eve jigsaw puzzle.

What Kind of Cat Are You? Here's My Result.

What breed of cat are you?

You are a Maine Coon! You are larger than life, a gentle giant. You are independent, but very affectionate with your friends and family.
Take this quiz

I think that is pretty accurate for me. Take the quiz and see how yours comes out.

Not So Much Of A Knitting Weekend

Usually my weekend is filled with knitting and although I snuck some in (can't really go a day without it) this wardrobe was my main focus. I started as soon as I got home from work Friday, worked on it most of Saturday and finished up today. It is hard to believe it arrived this week as two flat boxes of boards and bags of hardware. It was a "deal" on the internet but did not mention assembly required so that was a bit of a surprise but my previous furniture building has been very enjoyable so I dived in. I am really happy with the results and the added shelving along with "closet" space are extremely welcome. English houses tend to have no bedroom closets, only a small hall closet if you are lucky unlike American houses with walkin closets, pantries, etc. Storage is one of the few things I really miss here. Now I have a reasonable amount of storage space and I must say it is rather beautiful as well.

Bayerische Socks Complete

This pattern was chosen by the For The Love Of Socks KAL for Oct/Nov. The designer did herself proud with this one! They are exceptionally warm and the pattern is simply amazing. I color coded my chart which made the pattern a bit easier to follow but once I got going it was not hard and never boring. It took a skein of Regia Color each, plus a tad! I ran out in the middle of both toes (I knit them two at a time on one circular) and instead of making a special trip to the yarn shop, I waited for our gathering on Tuesday night. That left me with a weekend that I could have finished up those UFOs but noooooooooo.

At work we are having a bit of trouble with the heating and my right hand gets very cold so I searched my new best friend Ravelry and found these fingerless gloves. I had the yarn in my stash and have been dieing to see how it would knit up. I love the colors and it is very soft. The snowflake pattern doesn't show well but is fun to do. I'm part way through the second glove and then plan to get back to a sweater that just needs sewing together and one that needs ribbon and lace but it all sewn together. So many great projects and so little time. I'm off to knit in front of the fireplace with a good movie. Heaven!

My Stash Is Coming! My Stash Is Coming!

I moved from California to the Midlands in England this summer. I could only bring so much on the plane so my yarn stash had to stay behind to be shipped separately. Now that I have found a house and am getting settled, my friend back in California has sent several boxes over the weekend including my yarn and cross stitch. It will be perfect timing to get a few sweaters done for the cold season. I can't wait!

Caitlin (Caty) is shown here curled up in the strap of my knitting bag. She has been thrilled with my most recent project - a mohair sweater - and keeps rubbing her face on it and purring loudly. One sleeve still needs to be sewn in and I will post a picture soon.

First Post--Completed I Love Gansey Socks

This week (18/9) I finished the I Love Gansey Socks for the Six_Sox_Knitalong that I joined when I saw it on another members blog and fell in love. Now I can get back to the sweaters that I put down to start them. Usually I knit one thing at a time, two at the most, but I ran out of yarn for one sweater so started the second one. I still have a cabled knit Christmas stocking that needs to be pieced together so I have a few UFO's to finish up and will post pictures as they are done although my knitting time has been greatly impacted since starting a new job a few weeks ago. Hopefully I can make some good progress before the next SSK sock is posted for October/November!