A whole lot of not a lot (aka the huge long blog update post!)

I think that pretty much sums up the last few months since I last blogged!

The last few months have been busy with the usual family things.  In March we went on a day trip to Crufts 2014 to show the kids the Discover Dogs exibition.  They have been studying different dog breeds as they are intent on us getting more dogs (Willow is 15 now and very much an old lady who sadly does not have much time left with us) They had a huge amount of fun especially seeing (and cuddling!) their favourite breeds!

The end of March also saw Oliver turning two - it still only seems like yesterday he made his rather speedy entrance!

April 20th would have been mum's 55th birthday and the second without her with us.  We arranged a family visit to the burial site in Lincolnshire and four generations of family were there - my granddad (recovering well since a heart attack earlier that month) and great aunt, dad, my sister with three of her kids and us six.  The burial site was followed by a trip to the local award winning ice cream parlour which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, given the 60 flavours ice cream on offer!

The week after was my 34th birthday.  Blah!  I still hate birthdays but received some lovely gifts from Carla including a gorgeous family tree drawing and we had a lovely day of knitting and cake - what more does a girl need!

Hmm, what else!  A few weeks ago marked our tenth wedding anniversary.  Sadly we had no funds for the renewal of vows we originally planned for this anniversary (or for anything else for that matter!) but sixteen years together, ten years of marriage and what feels like a lifetime of crap to get through, we are closer and more in love than ever ♥ (nb this does not apply when the husbeast is annoying me - then he is a knob jockey hehe)  We actually spent the day back in Leicester as Lee had an interview and the rest of us decided to hang out at New Walk Museum with the dinosaurs and mummies!

Hmm knitting wise, I don't seem to have many FO's to show for the last few months!  After many requests I started knitting Minecraft hats for the kids.  So far I have made two Creeper hats for Vaughan and Oliver using my own chart and intarsia in the round.  Rachael is having the same but in a Pink/Purple colourway and Harrison would like an Enderman hat although I've put the last two on hold until the end of summer so I can fit in some other projects (although the weather is that bad here at the moment they may be needed sooner rather than later!)

I was again totally taken with this years Crafts from the Cwtch Spring Knitalong which was the simple but gorgeous Miss Winkle by Martina Behm.  I opted for a skein of stashed handspun (not my own - acquired in a Rav destash!) and the easily memorised pattern lulled my knitting mojo back...I had been feeling rather uninspired to cast on a new WIP after ripping out two shawls prior to casting Miss Winkle on.  The end result is so pretty and has a subtle sparkle I couldn't capture - I love it!

Phew, I think that's about it...I'll update on current WIP's and life when I'm not balancing the laptop on the boobing toddler! I shall also endeavour to waffle on a more regular basis to ensure posts don't reach such epic proportions again!

Disappearing Days!

I swear my days and weeks are getting shorter!! There really aren't enough hours in the day and time passes in a blur of mundane chores, toddler (aka constant!) breastfeeding and very, very little sleep.
I've been insanely restrained and not cast on a new WIP despite my beads arriving for my next shawl.

I'm determined to finish the damn lovely blanket first and am just starting repeat 7 of 10 so the end is in sight!! Only 45 rows to go squeee!!

I had a dabble in a bit more yarn dyeing last week, with my rekindled love of gradient colours encouraging me to have a try at my own gradient yarn. I decided to play with some Kool Aid, simply because my acid dye stash is very depleted and a skein of Knit Picks Bare Fingering I had lurking in the yarn stash.

I divided the skein into 4 mini skeins (with the help of the kitchen scales and my new mini niddy noddy), without breaking the yarn and ensuring each mini skein was tied off well - I cannot untangle yarn to save my life!! It was then dyed with the following :
Mini skein 1: 3 sachets Peach Mango
Mini skein 2: 2 sachets Peach Mango/1 sachet Watermelon
Mini skein 3: 2 sachets Watermelon/1 sachet Black Cherry
Mini skein 4: 3 sachets Black Cherry 

(although for future reference…3rd mini skein needed less Black Cherry and 4th skein needed more to achieve a better red)

On the whole it worked okay!! A few areas where the skeins were tied had less dye saturation but otherwise worked well and can't wait to try again.

I still haven't got round to taking decent pictures of my last shawl (although today's weather would have been ideal) but it's had lots of wear. I realised again today I really need a green shawl as I had nothing matchy matchy for today's Hell Bunny dress! A dress which fits a tad less snugly as I have lost my first stone as of this week which is nice! The severe sugar cravings are still there but only occasionally succumbed to with the odd biscuit or nibble of chocolate (ok...and maybe a creme egg!) so whilst the weight loss isn't as fast as I'm used to at 3ish lbs a week, it is at least much more sustainable than starving myself!!

Rain, rain...

...go away!  Because I can't take any decent FO pictures until you do.  For now a rather naff iPhone pic of the finished "Eva" Anemone Fields shawl.

 

The colour is sooo reminiscent of Eva Didymos!  I'm loving the beads - which you can barely see in the photo and  am already planning my next beaded shawl hehe.  The Wollmeise (WD Rotkäppchen) I bought from a Ravelry destash has arrived and of the red yarn choices I have is the reddest red so is my current favourite to be cast on methinks.  Just to find some nice red beads now!

I am however determined to finish the green blanket of doom - aka The Hulk before I start anything else!  I've switched back to IC circ's as the huge extreme needles were killing my arms and proving too much of a temptation for the smallest one!  I have 4 repeats of the cable pattern left to do but may add more as I will have more than enough yarn and would like it as big as possible.  Here's hoping the Carpel Tunnel holds off...

Finally a FO for 2014

This last couple of weeks seem to completely disappeared, a blur of attempting to snatch a few rows of knitting, a few pages of a book (or sleep) in between the mundane household bits! 

Book wise I have finished the first three books of Bella Forrest's "A Shade of Vampire" Series.

I'm hoping to start book 4 - A Shade of Light - tonight and am looking forward to seeing where Sofia's and Derek's journey leads them, especially with the Hunters involvement!

As for knitting I have (finally) finished my Anemone Fields shawl.  After a LOT of weighing and calculations I took the risk of adding an extra repeat of the Anemone Fields section so I could use all the Laal Bear Shawl Ball - leaving me with a scant 6g left!  Still blocking at the moment but it's insanely pretty and I'm glad I went for beads instead of nupps - will probably be beading everything now!

I'm determined to finish the epic green cabled blanket next although the Heartfelt shawl is very much calling my name as a Valentine's knit!  I'm waiting to cast on though as I have a skein of red Wollmeise on the way before I decide between that and a few fabulous red skeins I've been squirrelling away in the stash!