I’ve not done one of these memes yet but this one made me laugh!. You google (your name) and needs and see what you get! Here’s mine:

Kirsty needs:
….to look at her relationship with politicians (well, I’m no Ms. Wark)
….to destroy the mattress (why??)
….to be taken to the vet (oh dear)
….more women with breasts (hmm?)
….$25,000 (yes please!)

Off to Ally Pally shortly - Yay!

You just have to go over and check out Sockbugs 57 pairs of socks! It’s a great shot. AND she’s got loads of links to sock patterns too! No excuse for not finding something interesting to knit here. Although I think I’m going for the Falling Leaves pattern from Knitty next.

Mist is moving along slowly but surely. Finished the left front this afternoon and have cast on for the right front…then it’s just a sleeve to go! The houndstooth capes and skirt are from September Vogue. Have always loved houndstooth! Here’s a shot from Catimini’s latest collection for kids. Their baby stuff is adorable. Love the colours and the texture of this jacket.

There’s a weekly regional BBC current affairs programme called ‘Inside Out’ and they featured a story on the knitting resurgence in London tonight. Check the story out
here.

Have been plodding along with Mist and am up to the armhole on the left front. It’s such boring knitting but at least I can do it without thinking and can get embroiled in telly! Not much concentration required.

Not alot of other crafting going on, lots of cleaning and gardening instead in preparation for Aussie visitors next week! Can’t wait for that - cherry ripes will be winging their way to me very, very soon!

I ordered the wool for Mystical Stripe from three different mail order companies and one of them is being incredibly slow. All I want is the LAST ball and am getting so annoyed about it that I might just go to JL and get it. It’s red, so I’m bound to use it up for other things anyway but it’s more annoying because I only need it for ONE row. I’ve been so motivated to get this pattern going that I’ve done the 34 rows each on two sleeves and the back now, having used all my 4mm pins in the process. AND I’ve also been knitting in the ends, which is quicker when you get used to doing it each row or two rows and the great thing about KSH being so fine is that you can knit it in alongside the rowanspun and it’s not that noticeable.

I joined up to Lolly’s Socktoberfest, so I’d better get knittin’!

AND have gotta make my list for Ally Pally this Thursday

The rest of the KSH that was on backorder arrived today, so I could continue with the wonderful, fluffy stripes. I decided last week (when I was being impatient) that I’d start a sleeve too, so here’s that progress along with the back. It has been easy to keep going with the same colour each time because you’re changing every other row or every row sometimes. Lots of other bloggers have talked about KSH snagging and not running smoothly on some types of needle. I have to say that it’s not been a problem in the least. The back is knitting up on vintage Aeros and the sleeves on vintage casein needles. The casein are the best, it just slides off really easily and the slightly fatter points help to keep the KSH together. I’m finding that I have to be a tad more careful with the Aeros because they sometimes only catch part of the KSH. I do have to confess that I’m not knitting in the ends and I will probably regret it………….

Here are a few on my parent’s alpacas. They’ve been breeding them for 5 years or so, maybe longer but my brain fails me. We always had animals of some sort while we were growing up and these are the latest additions to the menagerie. They do have names but they escape me as well. Maybe you can correct me here Mum? Anyway, I was reminded of them this morning because the ball of felted tweed I’ve been hanging out for, finally arrived! (It has 25% alpaca in it, you see) I can now proceed to the next two rows on Mystical Stripe. Not a very inspired post but there you have it. Oh, and Happy Birthday to Gill, Emm and Benny who are another year older today! How amazing that I know three people whose birthdays are on the same day. Remarkable.

I fancy finding a cape pattern this week and making a tweedy one for winter. There was a story on the Harris tweed weavers on Countryfile today. The wooden looms were so burnished from many years of use and it was fascinating to watch. They nearly went out of business in the 80’s and 90’s and it wasn’t until Nike put in an order for 250 yards for some shoe samples that things improved. It would be a tragedy if skills like these were lost. I like the style of the checked one at the bottom of the shot (from today’s Sunday Times Style mag) - simple lines and looks quick and easy. Am going to town on Tuesday, so will have a look in Liberty for a pattern.

Have had an inside weekend because I’ve got a cold……..general grumpiness aside, I’ve managed to finish the back of Mist and start the left front. Not too bad for week 5, I suppose. You can see the wrap-stitch shaping in the shot below with a new sock I started yesterday. I’ve got lots of this yarn from 21st century yarns and originally bought it to make baby stuff for gifts, which I have been doing but there’s lots of it left. Hence the emerging sock. It will be a bit of a ‘make it up as I go along’ thing. No plan other than to include many colours, mainly because I think each skein is only about 15g.

Terrible title but it had to be done! Have been a bit slow in finishing these but got them done last night. I made them a bit bigger and modified the pattern a bit to get them right for me. Am planning to do some more stripey ones with some yarn I have from 21st century yarns. Have also got about halfway up the armhole of the back on Mist. It was always going to be slow going but I’ve got to make myself do some every day or it’ll never get done.

I LOVE to cook and I was feeling a bit peckish this morning. DH had gone to work and I’d sort of missed breakfast….what about pancakes. Haven’t made them for yonks, they’re quick, easy and they never fail! This was my Nan’s recipe and is enough for two each or four if you’re hungry. I usually double the recipe for two of us.

Never fail pancakes
3 heaped TSP self-raising flour
1/4 tsp each of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar
1 TSP castor sugar
1 egg
add enough milk to dropping consistency

I like mixing this up in a large jug, so it’s easy to pour into the pan. Get a pan nice and hot and cook away. AND you’ve got to serve with maple syrup! Yum.