Welcome to Kerrie's Place

Friday 28th February

Not much progress to report on the 2nd Duck Foot. Wayne and I went out here last night so I only got to knit a little bit on the train on the way home and then again this morning. I'm should still get it finished tonight. Next I'm going to start either the tiger feet or the zebra feet for another baby that is due any minute now. Anyone like to bet on how many of the patterns from this book I'll have made by Christmas? I'm aiming for in excess of 10.

I'm also working on a something special in Rowan Big Wool. Look at the difference between the 2 projects, little duck feet on 3mms and Big Wool on 12mms. What a contrast! I love it!



Hey look - Erin from Gigglechick is learning to knit. Go and offer her some support, her site is so funny, she always makes me laugh!

Tomorrow is get organised day in my house, I'mplanning to get rid of boxes full of junk that I have been accumulating for ages. I think I have about 100 paperback books which are going to go to the charity shop unless anyone wants them first. They are all farly new and most of them have been in the top 10 paperback charts at some time over the last year. I tend to read books once or twice and then leave them to die under my bed. Now that I've started knitting on the train I hardly read any more at all... Once I've cleared out some space I'm going to get my yarn stash super organised and maybe even ask Wayne to put some shelves up for me so that I can store my knitting books in a more organised manner. I don't know what has bought this mood on, I just woke up this morning in the mood for a bit of spring cleaning. A couple of months early but hey - don't stop me. I might not get in the mood again any time soon..

Thursday 27th February

I made a start on the Cotton Glace Duck Feet slippers and finished the first one on the train this morning. Yes people did think I was mad for knitting on a packed commuter train. And when someone asked me what I was making and I replied Duck Feet Slippers I'm sure my reputation as that mad woman who knits only got worse. Who cares though? For some reason I'm really enjoying knitting them despite the fact that they are knitted using 3mm needles (which I usually find too small) and the base is all moss stitch (which I usually find too annoying) But for some reason it has all come together and I'm enjoying this nice break from large complicated projects. The first one has come out sooo tiny. My gauge was spot on but it looks so small. Maybe I just can't remember how tiny newborn babies are... I should have the 2nd one completed by the weekend so I'll post the final pictures then. For now here is a nearly finished picture, doesn't it look cute!



The one thing that I think is missing from Zoe Mellors book is more pictures of the shape of the slippers as you are knitting them. I like to see a sketch of how the slipper will look as you are knitting it but she doesn't include any. For those of you who are equally obsessed with knowing what shape they need to knit, this is what the duck foot looked like on the needles. The bottom section is the moss stitch base, moving up to the stocking stitch top and then I'm about half way up the ankle cuff in this one. Does it make sense?



You've got to love the fast pants that Kristi made recently, Go and check them out. She has guilted me into getting my sewing machine out more often, I might try and have a sewing day on Saturday. I've got a pile of sewing projects which has been growing steadily since Christmas, time to get on with it I think. Its really hard to find time to sew, the machine is too noisy to use when Brooke is asleep and too dangerous to use when she is rushing around. I might let her and Wayne go out together for a while on Saturday while I play...

I booked tickets to go to Stitch 2003 yesterday, the show is on over Mothers day weekend this year so I got the ticket and a day to myself as the present. I've never been to one before and although I'm sure it can't live up to the fab time I had at both of the Knitting and Stitching shows last year I can't wait to go. I decided to go on the Saturday so that I could still get breakfast in bed and pampered on Mothering Sunday.

Tuesday 25th February

Just to prove that I do occasionally knit for myself :



This is the Colinette Giotto camisole that I have recently finished. It fits beautifully, I just need to block (carefully - it is such a delicate yarn) and sew in a couple of loose ends. As usual I changed the pattern in the book to suit my own tastes. I knitted it in stocking stitch instead of moss stitch and added a little bit to the length of it. It only took 2 of the 10 skeins that I bought, but I have a whole long line of projects just waiting for the rest..

I took a trip to John Lewis at the weekend and bought some yellow cotton glace to make the Duck feet baby slippers from the Zoe Mellor book. I was lucky enough to find the 2 skeins that I needed on sale at nearly half price! Not sure what I did last week to get so lucky but I'm not complaining, what a find! I also want to make the bumble bee slippers and I think I'll have enough left over from the ducks to make them with. I want to try and get at least one pair finished by the weekend.

Now that Becky has kindly sent me over the instructions that I lost for the Legende sweater, I'm going to pick it up again this week. I can't wait to see this completed and on Brooke, but I am concerned that although I extended the length of the sleeves and the body that it is still going to be too small for her. As it is knitted in so many pieces that are joined together I'm sure that I can come up with something inventive to make it fit. I'm sure that it is going to be gorgeous!

Brooke's first day at school went well, she was really tired last night and didn't want to get out of bed this morning. There were no tears when I dropped her off this morning, in fact she didn't even look back to say goodbye to me! Charming...

Monday 24th February

First day at "big school" today. Doesn't she look cute? It was an emotional morning, I did shed a little tear, 2 and a half seems so young to be in uniform. She was really excited until it came to walking through the door and then she didn't want to let go of my hand and cried when I left her. Within minutes though she had a glass of milk and a biscuit in her hand and was playing with the other children.



PS - this is not the cardigan that I knitted for her. I was slack at the weekend and didn't finish the arms...

Friday 21st February

The family that knits together, stays together. Don't you think?

Thursday 20th February

Here is the Cotton Glace baby top as it stands. The plan is still to leave it as is if the baby is a boy and to add some extra pale pink rows to the sleeves and length if it is a girl. I think that will work.



I should have it finished by the weekend which will leave me free to start one of the many projects from my list. Number one has to be the arms for Brooke's school uniform cardigan. Pictures on Monday of my little angel on her first day at "big school" in uniform. She is going to look soo cute. I'll post the pattern for the cardigan when I'm done, its made out of Patons Hip Hop which can be substituted with Rowan Cork and it's nice and simple to make.

While I'm in a patient knitting with cotton glace mood I might get on with the duck feet slippers from the Zoe Mellor book. I need to get these finished within the next couple of weeks as they are a gift for one of the girls who looks after Brooke at nursery.

And if I get time I might think about making a friend for my sister's chinchilla, Billy. Jen - this is a warning to you though, if I make him something lovely out of my Chinchilla yarn and he eats it I will let Brooke loose on him. Perhaps you coudl hang it on the wall outside of his cage where he coudl see it but not eat it.

I know I haven't got round to posting all the Amsterdam pictures yet but I thought I'd show you this one. I don't have many pictures of Brooke and myself as I'm usually the one with the camera in my hand. If you look closely you can see my A Capella (made by Kristi and sent over as part of a trade) and Brooke's faux Anny Blatt capelet peeking out from under our warm coats. It was so cold over there!

Wednesday 19th February

Woo hoo - 2 of my 3 ebay auctions have sold via the Buy it Now option and the last is bidding well. I've got my fingers crossed that one of the knitbloggers who is bidding on it wins, I'd rather it goes to someone I "know". Now I need to get the rest of my excess yarn on there and we'll all be happy!

I received a parcel in the post today from Alison, 4 Rebecca magazines and 3 skeins of Berocco Chinchilla yarn. Wow! Thank you so much Alison, I love the magazines and the yarn is soo soft. We really need to be able to get hold of more novelty yarns here in the UK I think. Brooke was just as excited as I was (bless her) and sat in the car squeezing the yarn and thinking up projects for me. Does anyone know where I can find an intarsia design for a cat? She insisted that I make the cream Chinchilla yarn into a cat. The only way I can think of to do this is to make a sweater with a picture of a cat on the front. Time to start searching through my patterns again unless anyone can help me out?

I finished the Giotto camisole last night and I love it. Just needs to be pieced together this evening and then I'll get some pictures taken for you. I've made a few things for myself now, although I do feel guilty when Brooke strokes what I'm making and says "you're making that for me" and I have to say, no sorry, its for mummy. With the arrival of the Rebecca magazines I think I'm going to have to start getting used to it, my personal wish list is growing by the minute.

Tuesday 18th February

In an effort to make some space for all the new yarn I have ordered, I decided to sell some of my existing stash on ebay. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it sells - I need the space and the money will help as well!

Wedding news - booked our honeymoon last night! Hurray. And by the end of this week we will have booked our photographer, car and DJ for the evening as well. We bought lots of vases at the weekend for the flowers on the tables at the reception. They only cost £2 each and this way we can either keep them or give them away to family members as a momento of the day. Its all coming together. I did have a dream about the wedding last night. I dreamed that Brooke didn't want to wear her bridesmaid's dress so I walked down the aisle with her in jeans and her Timberlands. I had also managed to get mud all over my dress and my hair was falling out the clips that I had put it in. All in all I looked a mess. Luckily I woke up before I got to the front of the church otherwise I'm sure I would have heard Wayne saying "look at the state of you!"

Knitting news - I will finish the Giotto camisole tonight and plan to get on with the cotton glace baby cardigan. The baby isn't due for another 2 weeks but I keep remembering Brooke arriving 2 weeks early and spoiling all my plans for a relaxing couple of weeks maternity leave. I have to finish these 2 projects before I'm allowed to play with my lovely new Rowan yarn which is arriving any day now. Its the law!

Did anyone else have to wait ages to receive their copy of the new Rowan magazine? I only just got mine at the weekend, having waited (not very patiently) for it since I first saw it in the shops. I always assumed that by being a Rowan International member I would be one of the first people to see the magazine. Obviously not. There doesn't seem to be too many things in it which I am desperate to make, a couple of the summer tweed patterns look OK but nothing that jumps out and grabs me. Its a shame when the anticipation has been so high and then the magazine feels like a bit of a let down. I did love the article about Zoe Mellor though, I love her designs and I would love to own one of the patchwork yoke cotton glace cardigans in the magazine. Not sure I'm patient enough to make an adult size garment out of this yarn though, the baby cardigan seems to be taking long enough for me! Have I ever mentioned that patience isn't one of my strong points?

Monday 17th February

So I'm back at work today (thank goodness) with a million things to do. I had a really bad week last week, vey depressed and couldn't pull myself out of the fog. Luckily this little parcel arrived on Friday afternoon which picked me up a little...I'm impressed that I placed the order on Wednesday and had the yarn in my hands on Friday. Great service!



10 skeins of Giotto, gorgeous yarn. It is a Cotton Rayon blend which is currently becoming a camisole for myself and I want to make everything else in the pattern book. Although the yarn is not cheap at £6.20 per 100g, most of the patterns only call for 3 or 4 skeins. This means that the 10 that I ordered will probably stretch to a camisole, cardigan and sleeveless top. The cream yarn in the middle is a pallette pack of mixed Colinette yarns, this is destined to become a suprise for someone - maybe a shawl or a throw. Finally the wigwam ends are just gorgeous, they are no longer doing the creative thread packs of single yarn but the lovely people at Colinette were able to make this up for me. I've got a million things planed for it.

Progress in other knitting... I'm stuck on the Phildar sweater for a few days, will pick that up again next week. I started a cotton glace baby cardigan which should be finished this week. It is a teal colour which is destined to have pink bands added to the end of the arms and body if it is a girl. If not it can stay as is!

I'm determined to shake off the depressed feelings of the last week or so and get back into it this week. I've got so many things to think about that I need to just snap out of it and get on with it. This is the week for it, I promise!

Wednesday 12th February

So, having spent the last 2 days laying on my back at home I've managed to get lots of knitting done. I had my first cable experience on the Phildar jumper which worked OK. I was really useless to start with and unpicked so many rows I lost count but I really got into the hang of it at the end. I've finished both the arms, couldn't get a great picture but I posted a new one on the left. Now I seem to have lost the piece of paper with the instructions for the front and back (they were on a pull out section in the magazine) Need to find them before I can get on with it.

I finished the first strip of the blanket. (again picture on the left) Brooke has been wearing it like a scarf and was really disappointed when I told her it wasn't for her. In fact she guilted me into making her these slippers :



Don't they look cute? You may recognise them from Zoe Mellors book. The pattern is for a 6 month old but Brooke loved them so much that I fiddled with the pattern and made them for her. Instead of 2.5mm needles and cotton glace I used 4mm needles and 2 strands of DK. I added a couple of extra stitches to the width and rows to the length and they fit just right! I also made the soles in stocking stitch instead of moss stitch. I thought that moss stitch may not be too comfortable for her to walk around in underfoot (the original design was for babies who wouldn't be walking) If I made them again for a walker I think I would reverse the stocking stitch so that the "wrong" side was on the bottom and the "right" side was on the soles of her feet. Next time...

Then I decided to pull out my bag of Colinette odds and ends and see what I could make. Kristi was asking for ideas as to what to do with the Wigwam ends I traded with her and I decided to experiement. Look - its a summery headscarf!



The pattern is posted on the left under the new "patterns" section. It was really simple to make and only took about an hour or so. I added some heart shape beads onto the ties and a bell at the end. It is a little bit small for Brooke and she is too distracted by the bell to keep it on her head anyway! Maybe I should have left that off. The picture on the right shows the colours much better than the one on the left. I love how Colinette's colours are so bright..

Since then I've also played around and made a couple for myself. I'll get Wayne to take some pictures later so that I can show you. I got really adventourous and lined one of them with a jersey material, I love the way it came out!

Tuesday 11th February

Have you seen this new yarn from Colinette? It looks gorgeous. And true to form I had to order a few skeins and one of the pattern books. As soon as it arrives I'm going to knit myself this top. I love the neckline and the way hangs, wonder if I would be brave enough to wear it as a dress?? Probably not although if you had the right figure and the confidence I think you could get away with it..

Monday 10th February

We arrived back from Amsterdam on Saturday which was also Wayne's birthday - Happy belated Birthday darling! I won't tell you how old he is (its a bit of a sensitive subject) but he was a good sport and wore the badges Brooke bought him all day including on the flight home. Its amazing what you'll put yourself through to keep a 2 year old happy isn't it?

We had a fantastic few days away, what do you think of when someone mentions Amsterdam? let me guess, the red light disctrict and their relaxed attitude to soft drugs. Am I right? Well Wayne and I are probably the only young couple to have visited Amsterdam and had a fantastic time without having anything to do with either one of these. We spent 3 days in a beautiful, clean, child friendly city with more character than either of us expected. We arrived at the airport on time and I used my fantastic Dutch (?!?) skills to buy us tickets to the station. We got off the train about 20 minute later and checked the map to make sure we knew where we were. After we found our place on the map (remember that bit - it gets funny in a minute) we decided to get into a cab as Brooke was asleep and heavy and it looked like a bit of a walk to the hotel. Very friendly cab driver but he couldn't understand the name of our hotel. Eventually Wayne got the address out of our bag and the driver frowned and said "oh - its in Amsterdam!" Err yes, where are we? "You're about 50 km away, in Leiden." Oh. Ok. So we turned around (much to the amusement of all the other cab drivers) and got back on the train to Amsterdam. What can I say? I left the directions to Wayne after that!

Everyone told us that the best way to see Amsterdam was to go on a canal cruise. So we did. (There will be lots of pictures early next week when I get them all organised) We were lucky enough to be travelling outside of peak season so apart from the downside of being extremely cold we were one of only a handful of people on the boat trip. Here are some facts that you may not know about Amsterdam (as told to us by our tour guide)

1. It is the capital of Holland.
2. Due to the fact that property is so expensive a high percentage of Amsterdam's population live in Houseboats on the many canals.
3. Approx half of the houseboats are illegal (unlicensed) but they are tolerated as the tenants have nowhere else to go.
4. The entire city is built on water. Millions of wooden poles form the base of the city.
5. Many of the houses are sinking as the wooden poles slowly sink. (we saw a number of houses that lean either to the front, back or either side.
6. The cities canals are cleaned 5 times a week... 7. ...this is necessary as about 70% of the houseboats are not connected to the sewage sysyem. That's right folks - as our guide said "swim in it if you have to but please don't drink it." 8. Cycling is the most popular way to get around and approx 25000 bikes a year end up in the canal.
9. Every single dutch person we met spoke English.
10. Their tram system is efficient and reasonable.

Brooke was so well behaved the whole time we were there. We ate out in a different restaurant every night from the reasonable Italian where the waitress fell in love with her and bought her dessert with a multitude of brightly coloured toys in it (pictures to come), to the posh Grasshopper steakhouse where she sat quietly on the leather chairs and ate the most expensive portion of meatballs she has known in her little life to the chinese restaurant where she ate plain chicken and rice and entertained the customers by singing Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (with actions.) Everywhere were went was fantastic with children, no-one minded bringing exra bread when she ate it all or providing her with food that wasn't strictly on the menu. It was great...

Amsterdam has lots of open spaces and parks, unfortunately we didn't get a chance to visit them all properly. We did make it to the Artis zoo which Brooke loved. I have mixed feelings about zoos... On the one hand seeing Brooke's face as she runs up to all the animals and asks what they are and what noise they make is priceless. Seeing her petting the sheep and pigs in the petting zoo was gorgeous and hearing an African parrot repeating everything she said to her made me laugh for hours. On the other hand, the monkey who was happily lounging in the front of his enclosure before we walked over, promptly climbed as high as he could, sat down in the far corner and turned his back to us before putting a box on his head made me feel really sad. He couldn't have been more obvious with his need for privacy if he had tried. So my mixed feelings about zoos remain, but Brooke had a great time.

We stayed in one of Amsterdams Best Western Hotels which again was hugely child friendly and reasonable. The only problem was no heating in the entire hotel on Friday night due to an accident with some building works but on the whole the hotel was more than adequate.

If anyone is planning on visiting Amsterdam in the near future and would like more information or a recommendation, let me know. Otherwise you can check out the Timeout guide which gives you loads of useful information.

Lots to report on the knitting front but I think I'll wait a couple of days to show you some pictures, I'm at home with a bad back at the moment so learning to knit while laying down is a challenge!

Tuesday 4th February

I didn't knit a stitch yesterday, how on earth did I cope? Brooke and I went out to meet a friend after work and by the time we got home I just about had time to get her in the bath and tucked up in bed before collapsing in front of the TV. We started to watch the Michael Jackson thing on ITV1 - what a strange guy..

I did manage to get a few rows done on the train this morning but my goal of finishing the first strip of the blanket before going to Amsterdam is not going according to plan. I still need to finish half of a spotty square and a stripy one before we go. Its not looking likely. Unless I'm in the mood to stay up late tonight and crack on with it, we'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to take any knitting with me to Amsterdam, its going to be a complete break for all of us. We're planning on visiting the zoo, doing some shopping, taking a boat trip along the canal and generally enjoying ourselves and having a good break together. Little Brooke is so excited about going on a plane, I think that will be the highlight of the whole trip for her. I'm fully expecting her to spend the 3 days in Amsterdam asking when we are going on the plane again! I'll be taking my digital camera with me so I'll post some pictures when we're back next week.

In the meantime I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Brooke in a sleeveless top that I made for her last year out of a chunky wool blend yarn. It came out way too big so she is only just wearing it and the heart didn't turn out quite right but I still love it. And more importantly, so does she!

Monday 3rd February

Becky says that February is for pink. I think it is for stripes! I didn't manage to knit any of my Legende jumper this weekend, but I made a good start on the blanket - looky here! Don't you just love the colours, this is going to be one bright and cheerful baby blanket. I'm going to keep the spotty / stripy squares as a border all the way around the edge. In the middle I'm thinking of some plain cable squares together with some that are divided into 4 or even 8 smaller different coloured squares..



The main reason that I worked on the blanket is that I didn't have any quiet time to concentrate fully on the cabling on the Legende. The blanket is simple stocking stitch and intarsia which I can do at the same time as watching tv, chatting and looking after Brooke.

I also found another picture to show you, this is a teddy bear that I made for Brooke when I was pregnant. He was bigger than she was when she was first born - of course now she towers over him! He is a bit tatty from being loved so much and carried around all over the place but I think this adds to his charm..



We went shopping on Saturday and I bought yet more yarn from John Lewis in Bluewater. I got some more oddments of cotton glace to add to my collection and also a ball of Polar which was reduced from 6 pounds down to only 1 pound as they had lost the ball band and it had come unwound. It is a pale blue colour and goes nicely with a charcoal grey ball that I already have at home. I think I might make a cushion cover out of the 2 of them, when I've finished my current list of projects that is!

I've decided to learn to crochet. (Like I don't have enough to keep me busy at the moment!) Inspired by Melissa's scarf that she has just finished I ordered some books from Amazon, partly using a gift certificate given to me by Julie. It may be easier for me to sit on the train in the mornings and crochet squares than it is for me to get the needles out and knit. I never seem to have enough room...