 January 31, 2004
New Magazine in the post
The new Rowan magazine arrived in the post this morning, along with a pile of bills and letters for the people who lived here 5 years ago. I bet they are relevant! I like a lot of the designs in the Rowan book, I haven't had a chance to go through it properly yet as its only 8.30 and Brooke is wide awake and running around like a mad girl. Maybe later when its nice and quiet I can sit down with a cup of tea and devour it. I started a pair of Alison's mittens last night. I've nearly finished the first one but I don't think 1 skein of Plaid is going to be enough for me. Maybe my hands are bigger than hers! Good job I'm going yarn shopping tomorrow isn't it?
Posted by Kerrie at 08:50 AM
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January 30, 2004
Odds and ends
When Wayne and I got married last year, I never expected that I would begin to turn into him. If anything I thought he may get more like me (impetuous, impatient, spur of the moment decision making yet and laid back) How scary to realise that in just a few months I really have cast of my Rycroft self and am turning into "gasp" an Allman.. Here's the evidence. 1. I'm no longer as obsessed about getting places on time. In fact, I now accept that we're likely to be late when we go out as a family and while it bothers me, its not as big a deal as it used to be. 2. I worry more about paperwork being piled up all over the house and shoes being thrown in the corner all mixed up. Wayne is definitely the more houseproud of the 2 of us, neither of us like doing housework but that has always bothered him more than it has me. (that's a polite way of saying that I'm scruffy!) Now, I'm getting almost as frustrated with our lack of space and storage as he is. I haven't quite progressed to turning all the tins around to face the same way but I'm getting there. 3. I use the word "thingy" more. As in "can you pass me the thingy please" or "I was talking to mum about going to see thingy" This used to drive me INSANE when Wayne used to do it but now, its one of my favourite words. 4. I'm more concerned about my yarn stash than ever before. Honestly. I keep looking at it all and thinking, "why on earth do I have so much. I'm never going to use it all. Perhaps I should get rid of it" before I slap myself and get back to normal. Help! What's happening to me! Its scary, I can tell you. But don't worry, I'll fight it every inch of the way. I decided that I would prefer to get rid of half the clothes in my wardrobe than my yarn if space really did get that tight, who needs clothes when you have yarn, right? I'll have lots of nice pictures to show you on Monday of all the little odds and ends I've been making out of my stash. I've been on a mission not to buy any more yarn until I've made it through a bit of what I already have. Hats, bags and mittens have eaten into some of it, now I have a few inches space to fill... PS - I'm being spammed with so many emails at the moment following this virus thingy* earlier on this week that if you send me an email with the subject, hi or hello - be warned - I'm not going to even look at it. Anything like that is deleted without opening so if you really want me to read your email, be a little inventive with the subject. * See?
Posted by Kerrie at 02:06 PM
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January 29, 2004
Snow photos
A whole group of snow photos for you. Anyone who is used to snow, bear with me. This is the most Brooke has ever seen in her 3.5 years so its very exciting for us!!
Here she is about half an hour later. Fast asleep on the sofa recovering from her exciting snow journey. Bless her...
Posted by Kerrie at 09:05 AM
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Snow day
We've got snow!! The UK doesnt seem to cope very well with any adverse weather and about 2 inches of snow that fell yesterday afternoon for us seems to have thrown us all into complete chaos. Brooke and I got home early yesterday, about 10 minutes before the snow started to fall. That gave us enough time to get wrapped up warm and head out to play. We had a great time, Brooke threw snowballs at me and we made foot trails in the snow, it was great. Photos later. Poor Wayne didn't have so much fun. He was working about 60 miles North of London and although he left work at 4 he spent the next few hours sitting in his car on the motorway as all the roads were closed. After turning around and eventually ending right back where he started (average speed of about 1 mile per hour) he booked into a hotel and stayed there. That meant that Brooke and I spent the evening together, we both slept in our bed. I had every intention of putting her to bed at 8 and then getting up again but that didn't work. We woke up at 7, warm and ready for a snow day. I decided to keep her at home today, she hardly ever sees the snow and its perfect snowman weather. I'm working from home and actually have a lot to do so I'll be trying to work and play until Wayne makes it home at lunchtime, then I can knuckle down and get on with some. Its been another busy week but once more I don't seem to have much to show for it. I finished 2 designs I knitted up that were submitted to Magknits. No real reason for knitting them, I just loved the patterns and couldn't resist it. They both look great and are hidden away so that I can show you them after the mag is published in exactly 1 month. Woo Hoo. I also finished the Time Travellers Wife. Excellent book, well recommended to anyone. I cried my eyes out at the end - I won't tell you if it was a happy or sad ending though - you have to read it. Knitting wise, I've been playing with some more hats. This one is my current favourite, a Noro Kabuto Bucket O chic hat. Gorgeous. You can see the detail more in this photo.
Posted by Kerrie at 07:41 AM
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January 28, 2004
Blanket backed
Look at the backing I chose for the beautiful patchwork blanket. I think it co-ordinates really well with the patches and the stretch of the jersey fabric is just right.
Mum sewed this for me on Sunday (thanks mum) She used an ingenious method of placing brown paper on top of the knitted squares and sewing through the paper when attaching the backing. She then tore off the paper afterwards leaving a beautifully seamed blanket. Perfect. She won't thank me for sharing this picture but I couldn't resist. Here she is having a little rest after all that sewing. Hee hee hee.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:35 AM
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January 26, 2004
Lazy Sundays
Its official, I had the laziest day ever yesterday. Got up at 9, lay on the sofa doing jigsaws and reading the Time Travellers wife (thanks for the recommendation Carolyn - its FANTASTIC) went back to bed for a nap at 12, got up at 2 just in time for dinner and then spent the afternoon laying on the sofa reading more of the book, some of the Sunday papers and knitting the band section of another Bucket O Chic. The book is great, I don't usually buy hardbacks but persuaded by Ms Girlreaction, I made an exception this time and I'm glad I didn't wait. I bought the book on Saturday morning, started it that evening and now I'm on page 299. The verdict - I read too quickly. My mum sewed the backing on the blanket for me yesterday, it looks gorgeous. I took lots of photos so I'll show you how that looks tomorrow.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:27 AM
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January 24, 2004
Yay!
Now I'm happy, thanks to Jill Liz for searching out the poem. I can't believe I've been looking everywhere for it and they found it so quickly, probably I was too hung up on it being a Keats poem. Off to mum and dad's now for a restful evening and a whole day of relaxing tomorrow. Perfect..
Posted by Kerrie at 05:22 PM
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Poem Search
I've been trying to find a poem for ages now, but I've recently decided to pull out all the stops to find it. I remember reading it when I was at school studying A Level English Literature. I always thought it was by John Keats as I can remember him being one of the main poets that we studied but I'm beginning to wonder if I was wrong. Basically the poem is a tribute to his wife. The first line (and maybe even the title starts) "and you Helen, what would I give to you?" Its all about what he would give to his wife if he had the power to turn back the clock. He'd give her "youth, all kinds of wonders and the truth" I remember it being described to me as his tribute to his wife, his acknowledgement of the poor way that he had treated her and all the hard work she had done for him over the years. I seem to think it was written towards the end of his life but I can't be sure about that. Its a beautiful poem but do you think I can find it anywhere? I've searched on line all over the place, under the first line of the poem, under Keats - everywhere I can think of but I just can't find any reference to it. I remember that it wasn't one of the more famous ones - whoever the poet was - but its annoying me that I can't find it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Any idea who the poet was, what the title of the poem is or where I might find a copy? I'll offer a fibre prize to the first person to point me in the right direction. For some reason it has suddenly become really important to me that I find it!
Posted by Kerrie at 01:53 PM
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January 23, 2004
Thank crunchie its Friday!
This week has seemed so long to me, I'm relieved that its Friday and also that I'm working from home today. That is such a nice relaxing way to end the week, especially one where I have to work tomorrow afternoon as well. :( Oh well, it doesn't happen often so I shouldn't complain toooo much - right? I haven't been knitting much this week, I picked up the 2nd sleeve of the ribby gilet earlier on in the week but put it straight back down again. I've been working on a version of one of the Magknits patterns that's come through and every spare minute in the evenings has been spent fiddling away in dreamweaver to come up with the perfect design. Its a lot of fun but very time consuming. I've decided that Sunday is going to be progress day. I'm planning on knitting all day and would love to get the arm finished. Unless anything else calls to me like the patchwork baby blanket that is 3/5 complete. We'll have to wait and see. Lots more ideas for patterns coming through for Magknits which is great. I'd love to see some mens designs or plus sized patterns so if anyone has anything that's pretty much ready to go - give me a shout. I'm up to 11 good patterns now that I have all the details for but more is always nice! No photos today, I left the camera cable at work yesterday. Carolyn sent me a little parcel of yarn which I picked up this morning. Some Cascade 220 which I've never seen before but looks like fun and a couple of skeins of leftover falaise. Brooke enjoyed playing with it in the car on the way to work, she was pretending to knit with her fingers and make a mermaid out of the falaise, don't kids just have the best imaginations? One other thing that I might just try at the weekend is to make a needle holder. I loved the one in the Stitch and Bitch book and then seeing Leigh's new addition this morning made me want to get out my sewing machine and yarn stash and see what I can come up with. Maybe photos next week if I do get around to it. Have a good weekend....
Posted by Kerrie at 10:06 AM
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January 21, 2004
Hats and Amsterdam
This is the purple hat that I made for Brooke last week, its a simple Rowan Big Wool hat with a pom pom made from Colinette one zero. It came out really big but I like it like that, it keeps her ears nice and warm. I was going to add earflaps to it but it didn't need them in the end.
I finally got round to uploading the Amsterdam pictures from the weekend, we tried to take her on the plane as hand luggage but it didn't work. We took a photo of her sitting on this statue in Amsterdam airport and when we got home found a similar photo taken last February. Hasn't she grown in a year? Other news, do you remember this dress that I saw in Baby Gap before Christmas, fell in love with but wasn't prepared to pay £30 for? I planned to knit it for her myself out of stash oddments. Well, this idea was all very well until I went into GAP again a couple of weeks ago and saw it on sale for £6. Although my general rule in life is not to buy something that I could make, this time I made an exception and snapped it up. What a bargain!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:59 AM
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January 20, 2004
Amsterdam
So, our trip to Amsterdam on Saturday was a short but good one. You may remember that Wayne, Brooke and I went for a few days last February (mental note, must get my pre MT archives into a more current looking template!) This time we just went for a day, the weather was FREEZING and as soon as we arrived in Amsterdam it was raining. This time we managed to get on the right train going in the right direction, a big improvement on last year! We decided to do a boat trip first and spookily enough we ended up on the same boat being driven by the same man as last year! He wasn't quite so good with his guided tour bit this year, maybe he is getting bored with his job! Luckilly after we stepped off the boat it had stopped raining and Brooke had fallen asleep so we decided to sneak a walk around the red light district. Wayne and I must be the only young couple to have spent a few nights in Amsterdam and never been to the famous red light district. Well now we have. All I can say is that its probably a lot more interesting if you visit at any time other than lunchtime on a cold miserable saturday in January!! Jenna was particularly impressed with the shopping, she spent a fortune and ended up with millions of bags to carry. Brooke bought a Barbie toy and Wayne and I just bought lunch and dinner. We got back to London at about 10.30pm, all tired and ready for bed.
Thanks for all the kind words and emails about Magknits, I'm glad that you're all as excited as I am about this! I can't wait to show you all the lovely designs and other things that we've been working hard on. Think I need to get a countdown thingy going!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:06 AM
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January 19, 2004
Lucky me!
I don't usually think of myself as a person who wins things. That may be because I don't enter competitions very often but that's another story. I did enter Wendy's competition last week just because I thought the yarn was just gorgeous and I knew exactly what I would make with it. Well, what do you know? I won! Woo Hoo! 200 yards of handpainted dk/light worsted cashmere yarn is on its way to me now. I can't wait to get started on the twisty rib ribbony vest top for Brooke that I'm imagining. How lucky! Talking of lucky, I received a copy of the latest Rebecca in the mail on Saturday. Thanks Kath! I'm in love with the diamond patterned Pulli mit Rhombenmuster that is design number 35, I would love to make that this year. The other pattern that really touched me was number 25, Jacke in Apricot. This is a beautiful pale pink cardigan that uses ribbing and eyelets to create really interesting shaping. I think my German needs a quick lesson before I attempt to translate that one though.
Posted by Kerrie at 02:16 PM
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January 18, 2004
Its all happening!
Phew, its been a busy couple of days. I was all set to post here on Friday with news about a new venture that I've been working on when I lost my internet connection just after lunch and it didn't come back. Then yesterday Wayne, Brooke and I took my sister to Amsterdam for the day as a birthday treat (Happy Belated Birthday Jen!) We had a fab time but the day was really really long. We were out of our house by 5am and didn't get back until 11pm. Brooke was good all day and we all slept well by the time we got home and crashed in our beds.... So that brings me up to Sunday morning. Time to tell you all what I've been working on for the last few months.
Its a new online knitting magazine, the first edition is going live on 29th February this year. (Its a leap year, why not make the most of it?) I've been running around trying to find some good designers / authors and lots more at the same time as signing them all up to secrecy. Its been loads of fun but I'm glad that I can now tell you all about it. I'm still working hard on the design, learning millions of things every day. I'm glad that I'm trying to do most if it myself although I've had some good help from friends. Alison made the button for me and Amy designed the logo. Thanks guys! Brief magazine details : - It will be published twice a year, at the end of Feb and the end of August I'm sure there's loads more that I could tell you but lets leave it at that for now. If anyone wants to ask me a specific question or has an idea that they just can't wait to share then send me an email and we'll talk. Or click on the button link and go and look at the website, there's not much there at the moment but I'll be adding to it every day. Also, although the designs are already in for the first (Spring / Summer) edition, there is always space for more. If anyone has that perfect idea all ready made up and photographed then let me know, if it fits in with the style of the other submissions then you could be in!
Posted by Kerrie at 11:38 AM
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January 15, 2004
Randomness
Not a lot to say today, just a few random thingys : One of the cutest images that has come into my mind in a long while was when reading a comment from Chelee on Kristi's blog yesterday. She said that one of her friend's husbands reads to her while she knits! Isn't that a cute idea? I can just see it now, Wayne and I on the sofa under our wedding blanket. Me at one end knitting and he at the other end reading to me. How romantic. (It will never happen. Not in this house!) Sarah Winsor emailed me last week to ask if she could send me some odds and ends of yarn to add to the collection for Brooke's school. Her 2 boxes arrived yesterday and I can't believe how generous she was! If this is odds and ends then let me see the rest of your yarn stash Sarah! A massive thank you for the donation, I'll be taking them into school tomorrow. But she did say I could keep the Noro Kabuto for myself, I think there are 3 skeins. What to make? A hat or multidirectional scarf? I can't remember who it was that posted a photo of their stash recently which prompted me to think about photos. This is most of my yarn stash in the bottom of my wardrobe. (notice how squashed the poor clothes are!) I say most of it because if I claim that its all of it Wayne will start jumping up and down and pointing you to the other little bits that are around the house. They're not much, a drawer here and a bag there but he's sensitive about these things! Love him. Not that I feel the need to justify how much yarn I have but the big white bag on the left is all fabric. There, isn't that so much more acceptable now? Oh, the box at the bottom is also full of yarn - its not just the bags... This is my WIP basket. Its looking really purple right now isn't it? You all know about the ribbe gliet zippe thing, the chunky purple is about to become a new earflap / pompom hat for Brooke as her current ones are too small and the purple Mission Falls at the back, I'll tell you all about that soon. The knitted fabric at the back are the first 3 strips of my blanket I started last year. Must finish that some day! Again, these are the majority of my knitting books(don't you love the wedding bears that sit on top and look after them?) although I do have a few more piled up on Wayne's shelf. I'm itching for a good sort out although I think that will have to wait until we move to a bigger house where I can have my very own yarn cupboard. Wow - for someone who didn't have much to say I sure managed to talk a lot! I've got a secret to share with you tomorrow, come back soon!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:03 AM
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January 14, 2004
New Rebecca
Bonne Marie posted a link yesterday to the new Rebecca mag. Doesn't it look great, I think its out already, time to place my order I think!
Posted by Kerrie at 10:27 AM
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Ribby Gilet Zippe Update
I picked this up again last night after a few days of ignoring it in favour of the lovely blanket. Here's a quick catch up as to where I am on it : Back - done So there is not a hope in hell of Brooke wearing it out on Saturday as planned but that's OK, it should be finished early next week I should think. Now all that remains is to find a zipper that will fit it properly and we're away.
Doesn't the small half of the front look cute? Its so teeny I hope I can tell the difference between it and the zipper facing when it comes to making it up, it looks as though they're going to be about the same size!! Well maybe not quite... I'm always suprised when knitting sleeves how long and how much yarn they seem to take. In my head, a sleeve is a fairly small part of the project but they always seem to take ages. This one looks really long as well, and its not even a raglan! I measured it up against one of her other sweaters and it may be a little long but we can fold it back, I'd rather that than 2 short. Wayne and I both have ridiculously long arms so poor Brooke didn't stand a chance did she?
Posted by Kerrie at 09:28 AM
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January 13, 2004
Got spare 50p?
So if anyone is feeling flush after Christmas and New Year and has 50 pence or 1 dollar to spare you could do worse than to donate it to Geoff. You see, Geoff (AKA "tube geek" and "Bananaman") is more insane than most normal people. He decided he wanted an iPOD but didn't have a spare £250 lying around to buy one. So what do you do? Take out a loan? Save your pennies each week? Buy it on your credit card? No. Obviously the next step is to ask 500 people that you may or may not know to donate 50 pence each to him so that he can buy one. You've got to admire the sheer nerve of it. Go on, donate some money to him. As an added bonus you get to choose one song that he will upload to his iPOD in your honour. Pick something really naff - you know you want to. I used to work with Geoff and yes, he is crazy. If you do donate, tell him Kerrie sent you. And while you're over there check out the photos of the US army guy in IRAQ who donated, some people are crazy!!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:10 AM
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January 12, 2004
R-i-p
Since I decided to join Alison's rip-along I added another couple of possibilities to the RIP pile. First is this Phildar copacabana tank that I made last year. It grew far too much widthways even though I thought I had allowed for this in the swatch. Not sure what version 2 of this yarn will be but I love it! Planning to rip tonight. Next is the original Brooke and Becky knitalong dress. I made this using Colinette Chrysallis yarn and although I loved the pattern and the dress she has never worn it. It never seems to be quite the right time. Although the Chrysallis was the same gauge as the GOA it is a lot heavier which means that the dress is too warm for summer but not really warm enough for winter. I have lots of GOA in my stash now so I think I'm going to rip this one, use the Chrysallis for something else and make her a replacement out of GOA. I'll rip this one later in the week. So that should keep me busy for a couple of nights. It will be nice to get the yarn back and have the opportunity to use it for something else.
Posted by Kerrie at 10:51 AM
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Blanket goodness
Doesn't it look gorgeous? Spread all over our armchair - its so warm and snuggly. I spent a good hour last night watching TV all wrapped up in it, so comfortable. Brooke loves it as well, she keeps asking if she can sleep with my new special blanket. I'll try and get some photos of her snuggled up in it later for maximum cuteness! I can't begin to tell you how touched I am at all the hard work that has gone into making this blanket. I feel very honoured to have friends like Carolyn, Alison, Kerstin and Becky who organised the whole hen party / blanket project for me. I also feel honoured that so many of you who didn't / don't even know me took the time to make a swatch and submit it for this project. Thank you. I've had a really good time this weekend playing with the strips of squares that were put together and sewing them together into a blanket. If the backing had gone according to plan yesterday I would have been slightly happier but I think I made the right decision to leave it. Lets not get caught up in the should'a, would'a, could'as, that doesn't matter - all that matters is that I LOVE IT!!! More photos to follow as I get the backing sewn on and sneak some snaps of Brooke making the most of its toasty warm goodness. Amended to add : Before you all think I'm some kind of seaming wonder woman, I was sent 9 strips of 7 squares and some loose squares. All I did was make one more strip and then join all 10 together. No way would I have been able to join all 70 squares together in one weekend. I may be speedy but that would just be ridiculous. Second amendment : There seems to be some confusion around the finishing of this blanket. It wasn't a surprise to me when the blanket arrived in strips for me to finish - Becky and I had emailed about it at great length. I was fully prepared to choose the layout of the final blanket myself and it wa slots of fun!!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:24 AM
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January 11, 2004
Blanket sans backing
You know what, I procrastinated all day about sewing on the backing to this beautiful blanket and then I decided not to. Actually, I started and sewed 4 squares before wimping out. Its not my speciality and I was nervous about ruining all the hardwork that you great people put into the blanket so I decided to know my limits and quit. I'm going to ask my mum to help next time we visit - she's much more sewy than me. Know your limits - that's my advice for the day. I'll show you photos of the completed blanket tomorrow as it will be a couple of weeks now before it gets backed and that would be mean wouldn't it. I'm not about to take the backing off the 4 squares that I did manage so some creative laying out of the blanket is needed. Off to play cameras now.. Hope you all had a good weekend, mine has been really busy but good. Blanket goodness, what more could you ask for on a cold January weekend? Amended to add : PS - List of those who contributed on the left hand side. A photo will accompany this tomorrow and I'll add names to it as I finish going through all of the cards. I'm also trying to email everyone to say a personal thanks but that's taking time! I appreciate your hard work so much - I've been really touched with this!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:50 PM
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Thanks guys...
With all the comments and emails I'm doing well at establishing which square was made by which person. I bought some pale blue jersey material yesterday (100% cotton in keeping with the rest of the blanket) and I'll be sewing it to the squares this afternoon. Photos tomorrow, can you wait that long? As yuo can imagine my other knitting has suffered a few set backs these last few days, I'm looking forward to picking up the Ribbe Gilet again tomorrow. I've had fun playing blankets though, seaming can be very theraputic you know?
Posted by Kerrie at 09:40 AM
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January 10, 2004
I need your help
OK - I'm moving on really well with this wedding blanket. Its all seamed together and I just need to get the fabric for the back sorted out and find out who all the squares are from. That's where you come in.... In the section below are 5 pictures of the blanket strips. At this point I had 2 strips of 7 squares each sewn together. Where I know who contributed the swatches I've included their name. Where there is a space it means I don't know who contributed it. I've tried to give an indication of the swatch where the photo isn't clear. Bear in mind there are 70 squares here and nearly as many notes. Matching them all up is virtually impossible unless a very clear description was given (eg yarn, colour and style) or initials were sewn into the swatches or a note was pinned to them. I've managed to work out about half of them in this way I think. So if you contributed a swatch, or if you know someone who did, take a look at the photos below and see if you can help me out. I want to know where each one of the swatches came from. Thanks! You can expect finished pictures on Monday / Tuesday if you're good this weekend. Strip 1
Strip 2
Strip 3
Strip 4
Strip 5
Huge apologies if I've got any wrong, I spent hours this morning with the cards and the blanket all spread out on the bed. Please correct me if I've assigned you to the wrong swatch or someone elses to yours. Thank you. You can either email me (address at the bottom of the page) or leave me a comment with the strip number and description of your swatch. The ones that say 1 of 4 etc belong to a lady who sent a lovely little card and 4 swatches. They are all from one of the Miss Bea books, I indentified 3 of them (I hope) but not the 4th. I was also unable to read the name in the card (my grasp of other people's handwriting can be terrible you know!)
Posted by Kerrie at 02:49 PM
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January 09, 2004
Get seaming!
So if anyone happens to be passing my front door this weekend they are bound to find me seaming together my lovely wedding blanket. I had hours of fun last night playing with all the strips and started seaming some of them together. Its looking just beautiful. I hope that I get it finished this weekend so that I can show you the piccies on Monday, then I just need to sort out some kind of backing for it, that may take a little longer. Shame you don't all live around the corner from me, we could have had a seaming party. Oh well, it will stop me from getting into trouble! PS - I'll get the countries added to the GSRB list this weekend as well..
Posted by Kerrie at 09:46 AM
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January 08, 2004
psssst
I added a little list of all the European GSRB people on the left under the links. If you want to let me know when you've received the box and sent it on I'll change your colour so that we can see where its been. I can't remember the list order that I chose, so I'll move people around as I hear they've got the box!
Posted by Kerrie at 12:01 PM
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Post, lovely post
I picked up a very special parcel from the post office this morning. Look at the size of the box!
I let Brooke hand over the ticket in the post office and as she gave it to the man she said "please can we have my mummys knitting parcel" That girl knows me far too well! I didn't have time to spend going through the box but I took a quick peek and it contains all of the lovely swatches that people made for my wedding present. Yay! I did take them out and have a quick look but I plan to spend at least an hour on the sofa tonight looking at all of them. I'm going to shop at the weekend for some material to back it with and also decide on the order that I want to seam the strips of squares together in. There are also a few loose squares that I want to include, I think I know what I'm going to be doing Saturday afternoon this week! There was also a packet of cards and notes that were included with the swatches. I haven't read through all of them yet but the ones that I did look at on the train were lovely. I'll be getting a list up here of all the people who contributed (if I can read all the handwriting that is!) and taking lots of photos of the swatches, strips and finished blanket as soon as I can. For now I'll just say a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to this project!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:24 AM
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January 07, 2004
GSRB
The European Stash Redistribution box went out earlier this week, there are 14 stops along the way and only about half of us have blogs! This is what I included to start the box on its way :
2 skeins of Phildar Alpages, 2 skeins of Jaegar Baby Merino pink spot and 1 skein of Colinette Fandango. Hope the next person on the list likes at least one of them! I'm sending yarn out of my house at an alarming rate at the moment, I've got 2 auctions on ebay that are doing OK. I've sent out a couple of trade parcels and taken 2 bags to Brooke's school for their art and craft classes. Before you start to panic that my stash might be dwindling down to nothing, don't. Trust me, I could not buy any yarn at all this year, keep knitting at the same rate and still have stash left over. That might not be a bad idea actually.. The ribby gilet zippe is zooming along. I'm at the armhole shaping of the 2nd piece of the front which is so tiny its a joke! We're going out on Saturday 17th for the day with my sister to celebrate her birthday so I'm hoping to have it finished and ready to wear before then. The tricky bit is going to be finding the right sized zipper. I feel a trip to John Lewis coming on..
Posted by Kerrie at 09:41 AM
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January 06, 2004
Gilet zippe
Thanks for all the kind comments about the Giboulees disaster yesterday, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes back and will be checking all the lost property departments along the route. I'll let you know if I get a happy ending. In the meantime I've been working on Brooke's Ribby Gilet zippe that I started last week. I'm loving this pattern. Its so small, so ribby and so much fun to knit. I'm obsessed. Its comforting me since the loss of Giboulees and has become my new favourite project to work on. This is the completed ribby back.
This is the ribby large front (its aysemetrical don't forget so the 2nd half of the front is teeny)
Doesn't it look like fun? Its so small and skinny now but the pattern shows the model wearing it with the rib all stretched out. I'm not sure how to block it, what's the advice of all the people who made Bonne Marie's ribby cardi? the colour didn't photograph too well, its actually more like the original colour that you see in the magazine instead of bright purple. I got exact gauge using Rowan Wool Cotton and 3.75mm needles. No chance of running out of yarn here, I have 6 balls and the back took exactly one. Exactly. I had about 3 inches left over after binding off the last stitch. See, this project isn't going to be jinxed at all. I hope!
Posted by Kerrie at 08:52 AM
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January 05, 2004
Giboulees R.I.P
Its a sad day here at Kerrie's Place. I'm mourning the loss of my favourite and also most jinxed WIP - the Giboulees sweater. Just to remind you, this was the pattern I was working on.
Here's the sorry tale of the jinxed sweater. Don't read to the end if you're feeling emotional, I could cry at the moment... I bought 1 skein less than the pattern called for as I wasn't going to make the large turtle neeck. After making the back and the first sleeve it became apparant that this wasn't going to be enough. I was going to run out of yarn. So I got more yarn. Not a major problem, it was a different dye lot but again - I could live with that. I decided to make the front out of the new yarn and the sleeves and back out of the original. I start working on the front, get to the armhole shaping and can't remember how many extra rows I added to the back to take into account my long self. So I decide to get the back out of the WIP basket and measure. Its not there. I spend a few days going insane before finding the back hiding in Brooke's wardrobe. (don't ask) So then I happily knit away on the 2nd sleeve. I love these sleeves. They are bell shaped, extra specially long, the edges curl up beautifully and they are just perfect for me. I keep trying the completed one on without it being seamed, just retsing it on my arm and enjoying it. This morning, I decide to take the front to work on the train and at lunch. I'm still a couple of rows away from being ready to shape the armholes and because I haven't counted the rows on the back (ask Alison how hard it is to count the rows in this yarn!) I pack the front and the back so that I can measure them. Get on the train, meet up with a friend, actually get a seat and gossip all the way to Liverpool Street. Get up from the train to discover that my bag containing my knitting and book has gone. It was on the floor in between my feet. Someone else must have picked it up by mistake when getting off at an earlier stop. My sweater. Its gone. Someone else is going to get to work, notice they have an extra bag and look inside before thinking "huh, a half knitted sweater. Why have I got that" I don't have a good feeling about someone handing it in. They'll probably toss it in the rubbish or something. What a waste. How sad is that? I'll check with Liverpool Street Lost Property at the end of the week just in case.. I honestly felt like crying. If it had been my purse I could have cancelled all the cards and got them sent through again. Hassle but it would have worked out OK. Not much I can do about this though. So, now I have 1 completed arm. 1 half arm and a couple of skeins of yarn. What to do? Make a shrug? Order more yarn and try AGAIN for the sweater? Use a different yarn for the body? Help. All I'm going to do tonight is to pack the yarn up and hide it away at the bottom of my stash, I don't think I'm up to looking at the sleeves every day. Sob sob sob.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:59 AM
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January 02, 2004
All about plans
This was one of the Phildar magazines that I bought in Calais last month. I love a lot of the patterns in it but decided to cast on for this ribby "Gilet zippe asymetrique" shown in the middle of this page. I'm using Rowan Wool Cotton in a purple slightly paler than the picture shows and 3.75mm needles, its knitting up nicely. This was one pattern that Brooke and I both liked. She also likes the heart design on the same page but instead of making the entire sweater I think I'll just borrow the intarsia design and use it elsewhere. I also picked up this new Layette booklet (and sent one over to Leigh) There has to be some designs in there for another Brooke and Becky knitalong don't you think? My personal favourites are the fluffy cropped sleeveless Neige top on this page, this cropped striped cardigan and either of the designs on this page. I also have my eye on this hoody sweater from the Irlandis magazine, anyone else planning on making that next year? As you can see, I've started the year with a whole heap of plans. First I need to finish off the Giboulees sweater (I'm so excited about FINALLY getting that one finished) and then I'm free to knit through some of my stash. I'm selling a lot of yarn on ebay tomorrow, my seller id is kerrie_rycroft (surprised??) if anyone wants to check it out. I need to make room for the lovely Rowan sale shopping and possibly fit in the yarn that I might buy on a repeat Phildar visit to Calais. If I can fit it in that is!! Inspired by Melissa, I knit a pair of legwarmers in front of the TV on NYE. Chunky black yarn, 7mm needles and 2x2 rib made the time pass quickly. They are the warmest things EVER! I'll post photos as soon as I can persuade my photographer to stop laughing long enough to take the picture. He just keeps slipping into songs from FAME whenever he sees them. Have you ever tried taking a picture of your own legs? Its not easy at all....
Posted by Kerrie at 06:07 PM
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