Another completed scumble!!

Hi fellow needle tweakers

At long last I have finished my latest scumble - Orange Sorbet!! This one has been a lot of work and admittedly I haven't always been in the mood to make it. Made with 4ply on a 3mm hook it didn't 'grow' very fast. But see the results for yourself ..
















..and now for the close ups ..












Unfortunately my photographic skills have still to improve, but at least you get an idea of some of the design.

Check out knitonthenet.com for crochet this issue, (issue 7). I am patiently waiting for the book 'A Stitch in Time' by Susan Crawford and Jane Waller due out soon!!

At the moment I am making myself a scarf, hat and mitts, (I am just coming round from a viral infection and I have had shocking earache in both ears, need to wrap up methinks!!). I am using Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in Golden Sand.

At the mo I am making the scarf edging. The scarf is knitted but I haven't decided on the mitts and hat yet! The scarf is worked on 6mm needles. The yarn is just lush, it's beautiful!! I will call my set Butterscotch, half the fun of crafting to me is deciding on a name for my creations!!




... and finally a little close up of the flowers my wonderful man has bought me when I was suffering!!!!







Catch you all soon
love Cathy xx

Life is never just black and white!

Hi everyone, I'm back,

Still unpacking, house is lovely, feeling all settled in now!! Currently doing secret things with yarn. All will be revealed soon!!

I have done a couple of projects lately which I can show, this is one .. Jessie's chullo!!

The picture isn't very clear, due to the black hat and my lovely daughters black hair. She is usually reluctant to wear anything which is knitted, because she relates it to images of old ladies and old fashioned things!!
Guess what - SHE LOVES THIS - yeeha, result!!! This was made from Sirdar bonus chunky, on 4mm needles, and the pattern was due to a kind, sharing person on ravelry!!


















As we are experiencing the credit crunch I found this Sirdar Zanzibar yarn in a sale!! It was around a quarter of the original price and I bought a few balls of blue and red. I made one scarf on 8mm needles and plain garter stitch. I need to decide what to do with the rest. I have sensitive skin and find it almost impossible to wear 'hairy yarn', this is very soft and light, and suits me. I have to mention that if mistakes are made using this yarn - it is a beast to undo!!


I am still working on my cardigan using Sirdar Escape, I have finished the back and the fronts, it's an easy pattern, but time consuming I aim to finish it after the secret work!!








I can't wait for the next issue of knitonthenet and of course the new book, by Susan Crawford and Jane Waller, ' A Stitch In Time', both due out soon.
In the meantime I have work to do!!
Catch u soon, needle tweakers,
love Cathy x

Four more sleeps to go....

Hi everyone,
Well four more sleeps to go, to the 'move', I'm stressed, excited, energised, exhausted. You name it, I feel it. Still a lot of work to do, this will be my last blog for about a week I guess!

Took some pictures of my garden before I leave ...

The first picture of my passion flower is very sentimental. I lost my friend Mavis just over four years ago. She was a Minister and she was going to perform our wedding ceremony, she sadly died of cancer a couple of months before my wedding. She showed me the passion flowers in her garden, so I got one. I am leaving this it has grown so well it would be criminal to try and move it.




I haven't a clue what this one is I am no gardener but luckily my in-laws are!











Meet Clementine!!












This is made from 3 1oz balls of the Patons and Baldwins vintage stuff I mentioned in the last blog, done on a 3.50 and 2.50 hook it has come out really well.










I stuffed the button with a little scrap yarn, to bulk it up, together with an ordinary button. I am told that years ago home made crochet and knitted buttons were stuffed with scrap yarn, in case the garment was in need of repair or alteration later, wartime meant frugal days indeed!!
This is a closer look at my pattern:







It is a very simple filet lace one, I didn't want anything too thick.

Got to go now still loads to do.
Happy crafting tweakers, will broadcast soon from the new house.
Take care
love Cathy xx

For those about to rock ..... and crochet!!!

Haven't managed to blog for ages, still packing and sorting things out. Hopefully the move will be done in a week or so!!

I had a little reprieve last Monday ..

Went to see Nickelback at the MEN Arena, Manchester, they were AWESOME!!! We only got home at 2.00am and we were working and the kids were at school the day after!!

The gig was well worth getting in late for!!













NICKELBACK YOU ROCK!

Guess what I found on ebay?

Original Patons and Baldwins yarn. Patons Double Quick DK knitting yarn in 1oz balls. As the ball band says its all wool. I couldn't resist it. It reminds me of yarn my Nan used to knit with donkeys years ago. It is so nostalgic for me!! I will try to think of something vintagey to make with it!!








I have finally finished my loopy shawl, take a look!









I decided on a loopy fringe to funk things up a bit!! Waddya think!!


Things are a little frustrating right now, even though the house moving process is going well I still am feeling anxious. I have frogged quite a bit in the time I have had for crafting, it was a relief to finish 'loopy' as I then felt as though I had achieved something! Well I have to go still a lot of organising to do.

Catch you all soon
love Cathy x

Healing amigurumi!

I have been nursing a corker of a cold for the last couple of days, and we all know how rotten they make you feel. I have been in bed most
of the time, so no housework or packing has been done!

I have been looking at all kinds of amigurumi on Ravelry and they always cheer me up. They range from real life objects to total fantasy objects. This little fella is a picture from my Annie Obaachan's Amigurumi book. I think he's a gecko, my Jess wants me to make her one that size. Yeah course I will babe, and I'll visit the optician pretty soon too!! I have to say the more I see of amigurumi the more enchanted I become. It is so absorbing and creative, each piece of work is unique!
I wish I had discovered it years ago.










I have frogged my Escape and started a pattern with it, the contrast stripe is an odd ball of purple Debbie Bliss dk from my stash.

It is a cardigan designed by Hilary Mackin called 'Blackberry Tweed' and was published in the March 2005 edition of 'knitting' magazine. It is a four row mock cable pattern which is easy to do and grows quickly, (I am all for that!). I have made this before in a lovely mottled chocolate colour with a plain brown stripe, I put it in the dryer and forgot about it, how many of us have done that!! It didn't shrink widthways but had a dramatic effect on the vertical aspect, I was so annoyed at myself after that. Another lesson learned the hard way.

Now I will have to move myself and try to catch up on things.

Bye for now,
Cathy x

Packing and paperwork!

Hi everyone

Apologies for not blogging for a while, I have had some excellent news. Our house is sold and we have found another one. For a few days it was like being on an emotional roller coaster, we had fallen in love with a house and not sold ours. I had a few sleepless nights and on the fourth night I couldn't sleep with excitement. The family are delighted too!

I have started packing and had to be selective with my stash!! A lot of it is packed away.
It is a wee problem deciding what to leave out. As usual I have several projects on the go!

I am crocheting another shawl in my favourite pattern, previously made in jade and blue, photographed earlier in my blogs. Once the first set of rows are completed it can be done without the pattern and is a joy to make. The one I am currently making is in a pale mustard colour in a cotton blend dk, the colour is actually called 'corn'. I bought this in a sale a while ago. Strangely enough I bought a dress in a sale and it has the same colour in it. A perfect combination!!









A new yarn shop has opened a few doors away from where I live now, I was there on the opening day, as a blatantly obsessed yarnie should be!! This is what I got ...

Its a dk yarn called 'Escape' by Sirdar. (There might be a little pun there!). It is self striping and the colours are very rich. I had to go for green because I love it!! I am making a very simple cardigan. I need to have projects that are very easy as my mind is very distracted!!! (I am soo excited!!)




This is Ethel she is one of the amigurumi I made in Wales. I love to make these.












I made this little cat for a girl at work who is leaving to go to university. Good luck Shabs we will miss you!!!









Thats all for now folks, keep tweakin
love Cathy xx

A welsh tale ..

We had a lovely break, the weekend weather was great, hot and sunny!!


Nick and Jess on the beach!!


















Then this happened ..

Heather, on the beach in lots of rain!! We had intermittent heavy sunshowers for the rest of the week! All plans for sunny days out were scuppered.








We did manage a trip to Portmeirion were the series 'The Prisoner' was filmed. The weather was very wet and windy and cold. It is a beautiful Italian style village, on a clear day its gorgeous. On
a wet day its like this ...













A cute little visitor
came to see us
when we went
for coffee!!!







Sunset on the sea in North Wales - gorgeous!







I made four amigurumi friends while I was away, will get photo's soon. The change in weather reminds me to make warm and cosy things for the coming months ahead.

Bye for now Cathy x