Brownberry Yarns & Let's Knit Competition

Right after my update on the Sock Wars IV on Wednesday 3rd, I received a late package...I was a little dubious as to what it could be...could it be the end of SBL ? I turned the package over and found the return address and exhaled a sigh of relief...it couldn't be those dreaded 'death socks' as it was from 'Brownberry Yarns'. I had entered a competition in the 'Let's Knit' magazine and won a fabulous prize of Artesano Inca Mist yarn. This was my prize winning package !I was very happy with my winnings but the generosity of some people is just so unexpected especially with such kind words and actions...I also had an extra beautiful ball of Rosarios Bio Bamboo added to the stash...so thank you so much 'Brownbery Yarns', your generosity is much appreciated and I can't wait to knit something up from these yarns.

WOW Check out the fab Freebies

WOW...These patterns are just fabulous...you've just got to go have a look !

Store Link:
http://mochimochiland.com/shop/

There is also a page with lots of freebie patterns too just to greece your pins so to speak before going off and just having to buy all those fabby patterns.

My favourites have got to be the toilet roll as I have a fasination with toilets which started (or rather I blame it on) a good 20 years ago when I was a secretary in a general hospital. The General Manager decided to do a 'toilet audit' and I had to type all the details, stick the photographs and generally compile this book on toilets within the hospital. I never seemed to be able to look at a toilet in the normal way ever again. I'm always thinking it could have improvements or how is that going to work when its been designed for someone who needs wheelchair access etc., etc.,...

... Just think how elated I was to find the toilets or rather holes in the ground when we arrived in Saudi Arabia. I was in my element. Don't worry, not all of the pictures are suitable for blogging and I have practically exhausted my facination with the loos out here now after 6 months.

Just Subscribed/Joined .... 'Knitting'... Ravelry...Garnstudio

Just subscribed to 'Knitting' magazine but botched up the delivery address but hopefully will be able to sort it out when I buy my 'green card' for the internet phone and can telephone them to put it right... far too keen to get everything done in one go now the internet is up again.

Also just joined the Garnstudio forum on Ravelry.com ... brilliant ! Ravelry was definitely worth the wait… I only waited 3 days but it did go up to about 7 days and then back down to 2, so I guess it depends on ‘the hype’ at the time. I’d still have waited 7 days though knowing that its worth it.

There are so many projects to get you motivated and you can also find knitter/crocheters in areas near to yourself. I’m finding it a blessing as I’m not in the UK anymore and have managed to find knitters (not quite in the same area) pretty nearby’ish.

I also find it pretty interesting to find how others got on with particular projects and sometimes they add their own slant on things or even give advice if errors have been found or just slightly improved on a particular area that you also find more appealling or suitable.

My advice is get on there, you’ll love it

Right, kids been at a party, hubby been on a quiz night and meat raffle duty, me supposed to be recovering from lots of dental work so I suppose I'd better get of this 'pooter' before they all come home !

Garnstudio ... Got to Make

Not been doing much knitting as been trawling the net seeing as we've had it up and running since last night... oh the excitement... oh how sad is life nowadays that we don't feel happy unless we have the internet... anyway I digress...

I love Garnstudio for their patterns and yarns. I've only bought once before from Ally Pally when I last went but am going to get me some of that Fabel for this divine jacket and also to make another pair of socks !
http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=111&d_id=1&lang=en

Scamp's Favourite...

... another basic rib by Kate Atherley from her Wise Hilda Knits blog.



Have finally finished this pair of basic rib socks but this time I didn't follow the rib pattern all the way thru and stopped at the cuff. I also made them on a larger needle as I am a very tight knitter and found that they were a better fit for me.

I am wearing the socks non-stop to see how they wear... made from 100G OF KING COLE ZIG ZAG SOCK YARN IN RHAPSODY

Update: 31 March... well I've worn them everyday and washed them (obviously several times) and the verdict is... perfect hardwearing with no sagging or shrinking. Will definitely buy this yarn again.



I just love this pattern and will keep coming back to it !

Latest Addition

Just love this pattern from 'Wise Hilda Knits' ... perfect everytime. These ones were knitted in Wendy Happy 4 ply Bamboo yarn in Gemini, which is beautifully soft and looking forward to finding out how they wear.

I thought I'd try to incorporate a bit of the stunning scenery out here in Saudi but it was a bit difficult so I took this pic at the compound swimming pool during my husband's diving lessons. Wanted to catch the palm trees in the background but it was just too sunny and I couldn't quite see what I was snapping. Will try again tomorrow at the beach in my abaya !

Onto the next pair which are going to be an alpaca mix... I found the 100% alpaca not really hardwearing enough and a hole appeared pretty quickly... The mix should be about right this time.

Heart Sox

Here's a pattern by 'Soxie' for a pair of special socks... for her or for him ?

Link: http://www.soxie.com/valentine.html

Toe Up Knitted Socks

Well I said I want to make a pair of toe up socks and have been trawling the web for different instrucions and found this rather interesting one from the Knitty site called 'The Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula'

Link here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTuniversalsock.html

Its probably a little advanced for me right now but I'll certainly come back to it as it gives a lot of scope for designing your own pair of socks and learning how to write up a pattern for them... oh how I'd love to be that advanced !

If anyone has managed it after only making a few pairs do let me know how you got on.

In the meantime I'll look for a basic toe up pattern from my favs and on the net !

SIMPLY KNITTING MAG ... WOW

Ok, I'm still waiting for my Simply Knitting mag (no 51) to be delivered.. well brought over from the UK by my hubby but in the meantime those fab girls have uploaded some great patterns for celebrity socks. This is great as I've left my back copies in the UK in storage and only have the latest 2 issues with me... so a big big thankyou to them for this one:

http://www.simplyknitting.co.uk/resources/simplyknitting/SimplyKnitting.CelebSocks.pdf

TO DO LIST

Knit the 'Feet First' socks by Debbie Tomkies from the 'Simply Knitting' Pattern obtained from the magazine's own website: www.simplyknitting.co.uk

Knit the 'Lacy lovelies' from 'Knit to day' Issue 29, page 40

Knit another pair of socks from the fabulous patterns by Hilda from her blog,
Wise Hilda Knits: WISEHILDA.blogspot.com
Just finished one sock from her 'Basic Ribbed Sock' pattern

Knit a pair of 'toe up' socks

Knit socks on 5 dpn's (mastered the 4 dpn's but not on the toe up version yet !)

Knit 'Falling Leaves' socks by Jeanie Townsend