Celtic cable neckwarmer

It's been feeling more more autumnal here the last week or so which always makes me want to start hunting out loads of yarn and new knitting patterns for some warm, chunky knits. Preferably quick projects like hats, gloves or scarves but with a bit of a challenge to them as well. I managed to find one to start with - the Celtic cabled neckwarmer - full of complex looking cables with a simple button fastening around the neck for a warm snug fit. No flapping scarf ends with this one, just a neat fit for a snuggly neck come winter.

And snuggly it is:) I don't usually like too tight fitting things around my neck but this one has such a snuggle factor and is so warm that I'm tempted to knit another just for me:) I'm thinking a strong red or a forest green maybe? It didn't take that long to make either - a few evenings of tv watching and this knits up a treat. 

The neckwarmer itself is about 20" in length and has a three button fastening to keep it wrapped around the neck. I used two strands of DK yarn on 5mm needles to get a rough worsted weight yarn as per the pattern instructions. It has a simple 1x1 rib border with the cable chart repeated to the desired length then another section of 1x1 rib with two rows to incorporate the buttonholes. It took only 4 repeats for my knit to be 20" although it did feel a bit of a tight fit. But the pattern did say lightly block first so I had fingers crossed that it would ease the fit to a slightly bigger size. I suppose I could just have reblocked it bigger if it was still too neat for me:)

Cable repeat

If you don't want a neck wrap then you could just continue the cable repeats and make as long a scarf as you wanted. I quite like this idea too and I did consider it for a while till the shiny buttons convinced me that a neckwarmer was really the only way to go! Still, I'm not sure how many guys would want this style:)) Happy to be proved wrong!

There is an errata in the pattern at the first buttonhole row - just a small one:) I noted the changes I made on my ravelry project page here if you are thinking of making this yourself or want more technical details of this knit. I personally didn't want to add any bigger sized buttons to this aesthetically and found the buttonholes then a little on the large size so if I knit this again, I might alter that buttonhole row anyway and bind off one less stitch per buttonhole for a neater fit.

So, first knit of the autumn is done. I haven't knitted cables in a while so I really enjoyed this knit. I'd forgotten what a lovely textured effect cables can give and it's been fun to watch the crossovers of the pattern appear as you knit. Hmm, now what will be next on the needles? I think I'll have to have a good look around for some inspiration - something with a challenge, hehe :)

Off to have a scout around - see you all soon!

Deep red habitat

Hello, hello! I've been sucked away into knitting for christmas land, where everything revolves around christmas television, nice munchies and speedy knitting as the deadline draws ever nearer - 12 days to go.....

But I have a finished hat to show you - a lovely deep red version of Jared Flood's (Brooklyn Tweed) 'Habitat'. I love this deep colour too! Even though I knitted a version of this hat a few years ago, it felt like a new pattern but it did seem easier this time around and quicker too. Does this mean I'm getting better?? Ah, ha, fate will slap me down for getting cocky:))

I wouldn't say I was totally in the zone knitting the cables or that it was a super quick intuitive knit for me on this occasion, but it was fast, only taking a few days whilst watching tv, which does tend to slow me down when I have charts to read as well as distract me.  But you do need to be doing something else as well when you try to cram a lot of knitting in before christmas:) For those of you interested, this was knitted watching Ice Age - (ah, Sid the sloth cracks me up every time;))),  the Mentalist and a few CSI's.

I do love the all over cabling on this hat and once the first few rows of pattern are done its easy to see if you are crossing over in the right direction - or not. Sometimes I catch myself expecting it to be wrong the first time - which in this case is just as well!! Just the one cross but at least I noticed straight away and not near the end! It was much easier to tink back a few rows than rip back two days work.

This yarn has a lovely lighter red fleck in it too which keeps the colour from being too solid but doesn't fight the cabling. One of the happy occasions where it's even nicer knitted than in the ball.  And if you look closely at the hat laid out from the centre, can you see the flower shape? Like a 5 star petal motif, very subtle though. What a clever pattern. I don't think I noticed this the first time around.

So another knit down, and I don't really want to think how many there are still to fit into the 12 remaining days..... I really should have a better plan for next year - but I say that every time ;)) Off I go for some more christmas tv watching. What shall it be next on the needles?

Brea bag

One of my christmas maybe's has made it on the needles. Last in the mosaic, the brea bag has been in my queue of lovely things to make for ages. I didn't know who it was going to be for then but now, pattern and person have gelled together and we are steaming ahead in knitting this one up.

The Brea bag pattern is designed by Norah Gaughan for Berroco and is a very quick knit as it uses two strands of worsted together. You don't knit this in the round though so there are a lot of stitches to cast on straight needles. Thankfully, you are constantly decreasing each RS row so the numbers become more manageable very quickly. I did check my gauge on this one before I started as this was a stash yarn with no bands but it was spot on! I'm quite happy if this comes out bigger but any smaller and its more a purse;)

I'm planning on lining this one too once I get the fabric I want on E-bay. I've already spotted a belt I can adapt as a strap/handle so all I have to find is a really nice button. Still searching but I have a bit of time yet;)

When I was cropping my photos, I suddenly thought how easy it would be to adapt this pattern into a hexagonal cushion. Just increase the repeated sections to 6 on circulars and no seam either!  If I bulked up the yarns I could get a really nice big floor cushion too. Or, make loads of hexagons and sew them all into a blanket/throw. One takes a couple of hours once you're familiar with the pattern and I'm sure I would get quicker with practice;) I imagine it would be quite heavy though if they were all double worsted weight.

With a bit of photoshop playing I've copied the full hexagon into a blanket pattern - Yum! Love the gothic style pattern the cables make and the bright red!! Maybe not so calming for a bedroom but it would look stunning as a throw over a sofa or chair, don't you think? But perhaps after the christmas knitting list is finished....:)

Dear Vivian,

Saturday

I collected my new chunky yarn for Vivian, hoping this time I will get gauge so we can get started. Isn't it nice? It looks even better than the picture on Ebay. (I always worry that the pictures online will be wrong and I'll end up with a really BAD colour:-)) But this one is lovely - just what I was looking for. And as the seller lived just down the road - coincidence or what? - she let me collect rather than pay a lot of postage and have the 4-8 business days wait, which was much appreciated as time is a-ticking for this here Vivian:)

So I started knitting pronto to see if I would get gauge....... YES:-)) First time too. Right size of needles and perfect gauge in both st st and seed stitch. Whew! The pics are a bit luminous as it was very late saturday night when I took these but proof positive before the big knit begins.

Of course, being impatient, I started casting on late saturday night, thinking it's only just a couple of rows and I'd feel a lot better knowing I've at least started. Ahem. Anyone who has already knitted Vivian or read the discussion boards on Ravelry regarding Vivian (which I had, no excuse), will know that the first 2 rows need a lot of concentration to set up and to get a feel of the structure of the pattern as this is knit in the round (i.e. back and the two fronts all at once on the needles with no seams).

Shall I show you the results of saturday nights hard work? Yes? It's quite impressive....:-)

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

Ta Da!!

Yup, a big pile of ripped back knitting. At this point, I went to bed! But I did learn a lot although at this point it doesn't look like it. I learned that the pattern starts on a WS row!!  (as well as don't start anything this complex when you are tired:-) Fresh day on sunday......

Sunday - sunshine!

Hiatus for Mothers day here in the UK on sunday. Very nice day visiting, lots of food and conversation - a nice break from knitting:-) I'll get back to vivian on monday, promise!

Monday - positive mood:-)

Cast on again, 188sts using the long tail cast on on 5mm circulars. This cast on is perfect for this pattern as it automatically sets the knitting up for a ws first row. Cast on fine, check. Row 1 WS row - I remembered:-) - followed each chart along the cast on row. Done. Go to start row 2 - problem.......

As you know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist! But I also like a bit of a challenge as well as a new project that pushes my learning skills. I haven't knitted a lot of garments using charts so I'm not really in practice as it were but I like to think I know the basics. Today's lesson in humility is refresh this knowledge often - or, to coin a very apt phrase,  use it or you lose it!

I had a little problem with row 2 as I had to start two of the 6 charts on row 2. But this didn't make logical sense as the rest all cable on row 4 and this would cable on row 5. Ysolda is a very logical and considered designer so this wouldn't happen. But I rechecked row 1 and it just doesn't mention these two charts. Hmmm. Time to call in the big guns - ravelry!

So yesterday, I spent a very pleasant afternoon chatting on the Vivian KAL on Ravelry where I got so much help! I was right, the cables do all cable on  row 4 - whew! BUT I realised that I'd been reading the charts from the wrong side and all the pattern  would be backwards.

Note to self: WS rows read from left to right

                              RS rows read from right to left

Yes, you know what's coming, don't you?

Yup. Another pile of ripped back knitting. But more lessons learned. See how positive I'm being?!

Monday - later on.....

I have cast on again, got past those tricky first two rows and feel like I'm making some progress, finally. I can actually see the pattern emerging now and I am much more confident about progressing. In reality, just minor blip in my memory! At least I had some really good help on Ravelry to make this a lot less painful than it could have been.

Now here is some progress for you:-) 14 rows of no mistake knitting. All cables slanting the right way, all present and correct. Soon there will be decreases and increases to shape the waist:-)) Just don't ask me to watch TV with this one, ok?

I've done some more detailed notes on Ravelry if anyone is interested - the kind of stuff we think we should know and don't want to ask if we can help it, but in truth would prefer a reminder of, kind of stuff :-)) If you're not in ravelry and want to know more details, just drop me an e-mail, happy to help. (But ravelry is such a lifesaver for projects like these, it would be worth joining (it's free) just for their help and support, never mind access to all the free patterns!!)

Back to Vivian now, nearly time for another cable row:-)

Food for thought

I've spent a lot of time lately surfing Ravelry looking for patterns for my lovely magenta yarn. There are so many out there that are lovely that it's hard just to chose one but I am pretty slow at garment knitting so I only want one complex cable knit on the go at a time. I've narrowed it down to three, problem is, I love all of these:-)

The top right is Ysolda's 'Vivian' cabled hoodie - just lovely with its complex cables and the shaping is to die for. I'm not saying I'll look like that wearing it but the pattern is certainly designed to flatter, isn't it? I've read up on Ravelry that it is a lovely knit, complex but rewarding so I'm excited to try this one out. Ysolda writes such well designed patterns this could be a real treat.

The orange jacket is designed by Classic Elite - the montera embroidered button jacket.  It is lovely too but I think I love the colour more than the style - although the buttons are definitely cute. But a possibility.

And the last one is the Fireside sweater designed by Amber Allison, that I considered knitting recently too. I love the chunky cabled look and how fitted and snug it looks as well. The collar is a nice touch too but I'm finding it hard to imagine in Magenta. Or maybe this would look lovely extended into a longer coat - over the hips? I'll have to see if it's knitted top down. If so, I can just continue with some increases over the hips:-) and knit till I run out of yarn.

But if I'm going to go to all the trouble to knit a long coat, then I have to bring Sylvi into consideration. I've been waiting to knit this since it came out as it is a big commitment of time, yarn and effort! But absolutely gorgeous! Even after looking at lots of other colour variations on ravelry, I just can't get past loving this red. Even loving magenta as much as I do, do I want a full length, in your face, magenta jacket when it could be knitted in this luscious red? Sigh. I don't have enough magenta to knit this either but I could get more before it's sold out..... Food for thought.

Little minx update

I've been knitting away at my Little Minx socks all week and thought it was about time to show you an update. The last time I mentioned these, I was unhappy with my choice of yarn and decided to use more subtle colour tones in the Almond zauberball. And I am so happy with the difference! The more solid bands of colour really let the twisted stitches show off don't you think?

You can see how the zauberball colour gradations are beginning to move across the sock surface as we get to the heel. I think this will still have a lot of tonal contrast going on overall - hopefully it won't have too definite blocks of colour.

This pattern is a toe-up , short row heel sock design with good links to tutorials if you need some visual help. This one is a simple W&T heel (wrap and turn) and all went nice and smoothly. This yarn is a bit splitty, especially picking up all the wraps so I tried hard to get a clean finish. Unfortunately, by the time I had finished knitting the heel insert, the colourway had changed significantly from reds to a more dominant brown shade. You can see the sharp line on the patterned section a few rows from the top. Sigh! After all the smooth subtle shading, it just seemed too obvious and very annoying.

I went away and tried to live with it for a bit but to no avail. So I decided to rip it back and try out an idea I had from experiencing this problem before. If I knitted an Afterthought heel, the tones in the yarn wouldn't be disrupted and I would have a lovely subtle sock again.

The afterthought heel is basically a knitted tube with only the toe shaped as you go. After you finish the sock, you add the heel section. You can do this two ways: cut a row of knitting on the st stitch side and pick up the stitches top and bottom of that cut row on two dpns/circular needles (favoured by Elizabeth Zimmermann), or you can add a row of waste yarn as you are knitting the tube, just where you want the heel to be placed, then after you finish the sock, unpick the waste yarn and place top stitches on one needle and the bottom stitches on another and decrease just like a toe and graft the ends together. It's quite hard to explain without how-to visuals and I found links to both versions if you want to try:

 Yarn Harlots afterthought heel using Elizabeth Zimmermanns cut version.

Knitting up a storms's version using the waste yarn technique.

I'm playing it cautious and avoiding cutting for now:-) As you can see, I have used some ochre waste yarn on the back of my sock. What is also really good about this technique is that if the heel happens to wear out, you can just unravel it back to the tube and reknit the heel with fresh yarn - cool, huh?

So progress so far? I have zoomed on from the afterthought line and have knitted about another inch or two since I took this picture. Hopefully with a few hours of knitting tonight, I will get this sock finished and the second one up and running. Oh, the reason the sock is folded in half is that as a rule of thumb without trying the sock on, the leg height is usually the same as the length of the sole. Once I get near the end, I try it on and see if I like the height and either start the rib or knit a bit more to suit:-)

So hopefully I shall be able to show you at least one finished sock soon:-) And if you fancy knitting this pattern up yourself, Karen has just released this on Ravelry here and even better, it's free! It's a lovely twisted rib pattern and a very good introduction to sock knitting and easy cabling. It doesn't take long to get into the pattern and before long, you have a complex and gorgeous sock emerging:-) Thanks Karen, for a very enjoyable knit!

Cornflower socks

Taking up a most of my time on the needles right now are these lovely cabled 'Cornflower socks' designed by Karen Scott. These aren't out as a pattern yet as I'm test knitting them but you may recognise the cable pattern from the grey and purple cornflower cowls I've been knitting. I love how this pattern looks so different on a much smaller scale - so intricate and detailed, lovely!

This sock pattern is for top down socks - a new thing for me as I've just kind of stuck to the toe ups really so far. So I was all excited to learn a new technique:-) The instructions are so easy to follow and the cable pattern is now becoming quite familiar to me. I can even watch tv now without losing my place in all the left and right twists! It's taking quite a bit longer than I expected to make progress with a full cabled pattern in sock yarn but I really think this is worth it as I love how its working up -and I'm also not the fastest cable knitter in the world. I really should learn how to cable without a needle as it would probably help the speed issue!

Anyway, back to the pics - I love these cables:-)) And I'm glad I decided on such a definite colour for these as it gives a decided punch to the sock I think. The yarn is one of my hand dyed semi-solids called 'flame red' but for some reason only weighed 98gms so I decided to keep it for myself:-))

Knitting all went fine till I came to the heel. Now, I generally understand the principle - you knit a heel flap, turn to get a base to the heel and then pick up stitches to shape your gusset so you can carry on with the cables down to the toes.

Nice close-up of the heel  so you can see it a bit clearer. It looks lovely and perfect now but I had a bit of a song and dance to get there - let's just say it was definitely a learning curve;-) I must thank Karen for patiently answering my frantic and confused e-mails over the weekend:-)) You're a star! And I've now got heel flaps 'sorted'. Whew!

So now I'm back on cables for the front of the sock and knitting away on the home run down to the toes where I feel I can manage the decreasing and grafting ok:-) I like the feel of going downhill though, that's a novelty! So right now, I'm in the happy state of free-wheeling down the hill, wind in my hair and enjoying myself till I get to the bottom and then I get to start again with the second sock. Yay! :-)

Knotty sweetgrass

Oh, its been a bit busy this week -unfortunately not as much making as I'd like but then sometimes, somethings gotta give:-) And this week, it's been more about stripping wallpaper and lifting floors than dyeing yarn and watching films knitting.

But last night, I put that right and sat down exclusively to knit and watch a film. Just knit. Nothing else for a little bit. And I managed to get something done to show you.

I've been meaning to knit up some of my variegated yarns to see if they are too 'busy' for cables and lace. Some yarns, like this one, Sweetgrass' are very subtle with the variegations so I was thinking it may just manage a cable if the pattern is definite enough. And these Knotty gloves by Julia Mueller (Laris on Ravelry), are just the thing to test this out.

When I first started in 2x2 rib, I was thinking 'nope, this is just too bitty and broken up,  no flowing lines of colour, but I'll just knit a little bit more, just to see....' Then I got to the cable, made a mistake watching Poirot on tv, ripped it back, fixed the mistake, carried on. Got to end of cable chart and admired my handiwork. 'Nice', I thought. This could work.....

Then oops! Was so busy following the chart I forgot to follow the instructions for the thumb gusset back at row 29 - rip, rip, rip. Thumb gusset now included. Really shouldn't watch tv when I'm tired and knitting something more than stocking st. I really should learn, it's not as if I haven't made that mistake before:-)

And I am now knitting away on st st!! Hurrah! I can just go round and around for a bit until I get to the fingers. And I do like the yarn in st st. The gloves are about 60sts circumference so it's easy to imagine this knitted up as a pair of socks too.

I modified the pattern slightly as I know from knitting gloves before that I need the pinkie lower than the rest of the fingers (stripey tonks). I knitted the pinkie and then knitted about 8 rows till I divided the remaining stitches for the final three fingers. And once the maths was worked out (and re-checked:-) just in case!), I sat down last night and watched 'Pirates of the Caribbean' - the first one - and knitted round and around the fingers and thumb till each finger fitted and then cast off.  

Still have the ends to sew in but technically one glove down, one to go......

Firestarter giveaway

Well, a week has passed already - that was quick! - and the first giveaway prize has finished. And the winner of the tootiefruitie sock yarn kindly picked at random by John at the Textile Blog, is..... Tom! I know you said in your comment you are on a yarn diet:-) but I hope you can squeeze a little tootiefruitie sock yarn into your stash! Please send me an e-mail Tom with some contact details so I can send this off to you soon.

I really enjoyed reading all your comments about your knitting achievements and although there could only be one winner last week, this week I've got a slightly different giveaway for you. There are two prizes for two separate winners, so when you comment please state which one, or both, you would like to be entered for - if you don't specify I'll enter you for both:-)

So, what is up for grabs today? Well, firstly we have have a pair of Firestarter Socks for you (pattern by Yarnissima). This pattern has lovely cabling detail running up the side of the sock and makes a feature of the ribbing on the heel and the upper part of the sock. These are knitted in my own hand dyed 'Orange Mango' which give you lovely graded bands of colour.

Yarnissima's pattern knits up in only one size - womens medium - which is stated at US 7-8 and European 37-38. Now I'm a 38/UK 5 and these once knitted up are slightly looser on the foot length than I would normally knit for my size. And because of the natural elasticity of the rib knitting on the heel, I think these would stretch to accomodate a good few sizes larger. They are also very generous on the calves - I know this is an area where some socks pinch as we are all so differently shaped;-) but I think this will fit most calf sizes too.

But if you prefer to knit your own socks or know you won't fit the firestarter socks, or if you are a bloke:-), I have here for you our second prize, a skein of stripey emerald green sock yarn just waiting to be turned into socks, or scarves, or gloves...... It knits up in small stripey bands exactly like the orange firestarter socks and is looking for a new home. This sock yarn base I'm using is very generous on the yardage. I knitted extra cable repeats on firestarter and still didn't use all the 50gms for one sock. I think I had about 10gms extra left. Maybe not quite enough for knee highs though!

So to enter this weeks competition, please leave me a comment answering this question - Within your own discipline, knitting, quilting, sewing etc, what materials or tools couldn't you live without? Are your addi needles the one thing you would rush back into a burning building for? :-) (Okay, your family and everything else is already safe!) Or would you be trying to cram all your yarn stash into bags as you are dragged out trying to find your precious Koigu?!

Please remember to say which prize, or both, you would like to be entered for. Again, this giveaway closes this sunday evening (16th) and the winner will be drawn next monday, 17th August. Good luck everyone and I look forward to hearing your answers:-)

Star crossed berets

After a little break, I'm back with some knitting for you. Not an intentional break, more one of those breaks where you suddenly go, I haven't blogged for week? No! That can't be right, but you double check and it is. Well, all I can say is time sure moves quickly when you start DIY! But I have a nice newly painted kitchen now. All the 'lovely' acid yellow paint is finally gone - not painted by us, I hasten to add. I like colour but even I struggled with this tone - bleh!

Anyway, after 4 days of DIY, I've been recovering from the knitting deprivation by knitting some quick projects - instant gratification:-) After I knitted the red star crossed beret in chunky yarn which turned out on the big side, I decided to drop down to aran weight and smaller needles to see if I could get the perfect fit for this pattern. And, voila! Nice weight, handle, drape and just enough slouch without drowning me in beret! If you want to try this smaller version, I used 5.5mm needles for the rib and 6.5mm for the cables and no modifications to the pattern. I did try cutting out some of the cable repeat and got a beanie look so I ripped back and knitted the pattern as is and it works just fine.

This yarn is a soft cotton mix from my stash, wendy fashion aran - long out of production I'd imagine - but it has a wonderfully soft feel and gives excellent drape. This pattern is very quick to knit up. I would say overall it took me about 3-4 hours watching tv so it could be knitted quicker if you were very focused!

I finally got some dry weather yesterday to get hat wearing photos taken. The red star crossed has been waiting a long time. You can see compared to the pale purple one the red beret is a lot bigger generally and has a LOT of slouch! But, it's still fun and being 100% wool is very warm. Being fuller, I can also get it to cover my ears for wintertime weather:-) This one is staying mine. But I don't think I suit the purple tones as well so I'll save that one for a present. Yes, I am starting to think christmas - well, the weather is definitely saying Autumn to me so I'm automatically looking for warmer, chunkier yarns to knit with, which is a bad sign when you haven't really had much of summer yet! (in the UK).

But looking on the good side, all this rain means I can stay in and do more knitting. I have also finished another hat - pics tomorrow - and I have been dabbling with a mini tote and some stripey socks - yup, more of them. But they are more experiments than definite projects. If I like them then you may see them soon!

Until then, happy knitting!

Star crossed and Red tote

I've finished a couple of things over the weekend for you to see. It's all been knit, knit, knit for the last few days. The red star crossed beret is now finished - yay! It wasn't actually a slow knit when I got going - it was just the getting going that was the problem:-) The pattern is very easy, the yarn is chunky so it knits up quickly. You could knit it in a day or a couple of evenings at an average knitting speed - not like some of those videos I posted before! I could only find the pattern on Ravelry, I'm afraid, but if you are interested in a quick project then go join if you're not a member already. If you are, pop over and say hi - I'm tootiefruitie:-)

The other project I have been working on is a crocheted tote bag. The weather has been so rainy lately that it has been really difficult to get decent pics for you. I waited till today but it wasn't much better, so we'll just have to make do for now.

The original bag pattern was called summer sling tote, but as we aren't having enough nice weather for me to be needing a summer bag, I thought I'd knit a warm chunky one instead. The only problem is that the pattern has way too many stitches and increases so I once I got the gist of how the bag was made, I adapted it as I went for chunky yarn. I did remember to write the pattern down as I went though as I had to duplicate it for the other side of the bag:-) I'll put my notes together and write it up if anyone is interested.

As my bag was going to be chunkier, I wanted a denser fabric so I crocheted it in a smaller stitch to get rid of the holes. The pattern uses a double crochet, which I used, then realised this is a US pattern where a DC is the equivalent of a UK treble - or it that a half-treble? I'll check. No, definitely just a treble. ( Heres a handy chart if you need to convert.) - keep in mind denser stitches will need more rows to make up the same length.

The other addition I made to the pattern was to add ridges to the front panel of the bag. The ridge detail was added every 2nd row on the right side and all you need to do is crochet into the back of the chain instead of both the front and back loops of your chain. Simple. I really like the texture it gives although this chunky yarn is textured enough! A smoother yarn would show off the ridge details better.

I do love big bags and this is as big as would like to carry in this pattern but don't you think a smaller dinky tote would look rather funky? Smoother yarn, ridges, maybe stripes? Or embroidered or 3D flowers? Or knit it up with a loose stitch in wool and felt it so it shrinks into a dinky tote:-) Then decorate it!

I could play with this shape forever. It has such a nice v-curve that flows well and it is an excellent blank canvas to work on. You may be seeing more of these in the future.

And for everyone who wanted to see more than one eye and a bit of fringe, here is me modelling my nice new red tote. I must say, this is the best of a bad lot and the only reason I'm keeping this on my blog is to remind me to seriously get on with losing weight! Either the camera is lying or I'm fooling myself ever time I look in the mirror. 'Cause this isn't what i see! What is with the hair?! I softened the colour but I didn't know it looked 'washed out'!!! Back to the dye bottle and a bit of layering:-)

I'm not trying to be vain. You can feel super-confident inside and not worry too much what everyone else thinks but sometimes you need to feel good about yourself, y'know? I try to be positive in life but the one thing I really hate about having CFS is not being able to exercise much due to my lack of energy - and looking crap in photos and realising, yes, you have that extra layer, just sitting there. Sigh. And you can't do anything about it. It would be good if you could positively think it away:-) I'd patent that and become a millionaire!!!

Anyway, moan over:-) It's much better to live in the now and enjoy life (and not take too many photographs:-) And get on with the important stuff like, knitting, crochet, dyeing, spinning, embroidery, collage, buying yarn, fleece and fabrics and enjoying the making - the doing!

What are you working on just now? What is your creative passion?