New site and goodbye to the old
I've finally moved properly!
You can catch me over here:
http://tangelledangel.comPlease make sure that you update your bloglines and your links to me, I'd be ever so grateful (cheesy grin :-D)
Hope to see you there!
Labels: General Ramblings
Short and Treat
Oh la la, such goings on.
Firstly, I should be moving my blog to another site fairly soon....watch this space.....
and if you fancy popping over and saying hello before I even move the bones of this one, here it is:
www.tangelledangel.comSecondly,
Isobel and I have been doing a bit of Plotting and Scheming, and eating of rock cakes in the midst of it all. Great cakes by the way Isobel!
So, you'll have to watch this space again.....for a little Treat ala Tea and Cakes and Tangelled Angel.
I'm excited, I love surprises...don't you????
Hope you like this one!!!!
Labels: General Ramblings, Yum
Coincidently.....
Remember
these?
I bought the pattern for them along with the wool at the knitting and stitching show in Birmingham last September.
I got them from
UK Alpaca, and thought that the pattern was their own one, loved them!
I knit them up and again loved the end result.
I ended up giving them to my friend Jenny, who admired them. She had just had baby
No.2 and I had gone visiting. Jenny thought they were lovely and would be great to wear when driving, in the cold mornings (they were!).
Is it because these items get praised that I end up giving them away to the person prasing them?
It was the same with my first pair of fetchings that I made,
Isabelle tried them on, and then declared that they would be great to wear when she goes running, which she does daily, in the cold air of Switzerland.
I gave both of these wristwarmers away gladly, as I know that they will be worn and loved.
So, I still had over 50g of the alpaca yarn that I bought in Birmingham left, and decided to make myself another pair of the wristwarmers.
Could I find the pattern?
No.
Not to be seen anywhere.
I thought I had the pattern living with the yarn, but it was nowhere to be seen.
So I decided to put it aside and wait until I came across it. I rarely lose anything.
So a couple of days later, I got one of my regular emails from Lion Brand, with their stitch pattern of the month, and decided to go into their site to find a nice stitch pattern to make a dishcloth from (forgetting that I have a fantastic book of stitch patterns that I was reminded about when I saw
Isobel's treasure trove last Saturday at
SnB)
What did I come across?
The same
Stitch Pattern that was used in my wristlets.
I wondered then did my UK Alpaca suppliers take the same stitch pattern to make their wristlets, or did they make it up?
Imagine my surprise then when I got my Simply Knitting magazine through the door (which I subscribed to last year and not going to subscribe to again as I don't usually knit from it).
I sat down with a cup of tea to have a flick through it...........and .......what?
Where did they come from?! There were my wristlets, staring up at me.
For this issue, the designer was apparently set a challenge to make a pair of practical fingerless gloves with 100g of UK Alpaca and this is what she came up with....is this a coincidence or is it a copy cat case....hmmm....wish I could find my pattern to compare notes!
Oh, and I know that she would be able to make not one but 2 pairs of fingerless gloves from that ball of alpaca!
Labels: General Ramblings, Weird and Wonderful
Its a wrap
calorimetry- do you ever see a pattern and can't rest until you have knit it and got it out of your head?
This was one of them.
I have been carrying a ball of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran around with me for ages, in my knitting bag (One of my many knitting bags!)just waiting until I got the Christmas knitting out of the way.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm a slow knitter.
Yes, I know that many of my knitting friends think I'm a fast knitter as I get a lot of projects done, Elaina thinks that I have a new project with me every time I meet her at our knitting group,but I'm not a fast knitter.
I knit small items that are fairly easy to finish quickly enough.
In saying that, I estimate that
calorimetry took me about 4 hours in total to finish, knit over 2 days.
Thats not fast knitting, is it? Its a very small item.
It is not without its problems, its very wide, probably too wide for me, although I love it.
My head isn't exactly the smallest heads either, so I think if I reknit this I would have to juggle with some maths and decrease my stitches and reduce the amount of rows I knit etc etc.
Idid reduce needle size as was advised by posts I read in Craftster, but I was eager to get it knit so didn't pay toooooo much attention..oops.
In anticipation of a challenge, cast on for
Bridie Sunday night.
This is the first cardigan that I will have knit since I was.. oooh, about 19 maybe?
So I'm a little nervous that I can actually do it, really.
I think the last large item I did was a shapeless jumper that I never wore after I finished it.
Oh, I did a cardigan for my Dad also.
Think he never wore it either.
So, Bridie will be a marker for me, a start (I hope) into knitting larger items.
I'm hoping not to bore you with the details as I knit it, not too much anyway, as I will be knitting other things also.
I may however, flash a bit of it if I'm feeling happy with the way its turning out ;-)
Here's hoping.
Labels: General Ramblings, Knitting
Hummf
I have a post all composed and ready to put up (for the last 2 hours) and blogger is just not co -operating with my pictures. And I really want to show you!
So, we will have to wait until it gets over its hissy fit, and gets back to normal.
Hummf
I have been expanding my blogging reportoire to check out some bloggers that do other crafts.
One of my new favourites (and just happens to be Irish too) is the
Irish Craftworker.
You must read her blog, I mean, check out
this and then have a look at this,
I love this ideaSo, in the meantime, thanks to
The Skirt who pointed me in the right direction with what I thought was mother of pearl in the last post.
Check this out instead -->
New Zealand PauaLabels: Blogger, General Ramblings, Inspiration
Thanks friends!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has dropped by my blog in the last year, left a comment or emailed me in relation to my blog.
I have made some lovely friends through this blog, and hope to continue those friendships and hopefully make some more in the next year.
So thanks from me, Ronnie and Reggie.
Labels: General Ramblings
One Year today!
It is a milestone.
It is a marking of the passage of time.
It was a year ago today that I stumbled into the blog world, taking ever decreasing faltering steps, and finding new ways to express myself, through my knitting, photo's and the web.
During that year I have had 356 comments, and since I started counting my traffic, I have had 7,928 visitors.
I started looking back to see how many items of knitting I had blogged about (there have been several unblogged items), and when I got to 7 Hats, 1 cafetiere cozy, 2 curly wurleys, 2 bags, 2 tea-cozy's, 1 winter muff, 4 scarves, 1 wrist warmers, 1 pair gloves, 2 facecloths, 1 pair socks, 1 pair fuzzy feet, 1 pair bootees, 2 pairs of baby socks, and 1 shackle cuff...... .......I stopped.
I had only reached April 06 at this stage, from January 06.
That's 29 items in 4 months.
Wow.
I must take some time to really go through and see what Ive done in the full year.
This year, I'm going to be a bit more selective in what I knit.
I'm going to knit for ME, that's my goal this year.
There are several patterns in the offing that I'm just dying to cast on for.
Some of them are larger items, like the Bridie cardigan from
Anna Bell that I have
swatched for and have sitting waiting for me to start with.
I probably should swatch for that again to make sure my tension is still the same.
(The pattern is not available at the moment on her site, but I have heard that it will be added at some stage soon.)
Some of them are smaller items, from books like Mason Dixon Knitting, Knit 2 Together, and many magazines that I have earmarked patterns as to do's.
Of course, there are always the baby knits, which I will be doing this year again....2 more coming up...and there are items also that I've wanted to knit for people that I will be doing, but I will be focusing on challenging myself a bit more.
If you look at the items I've listed above, they are almost all fast knits, almost instant gratification. I need to start something that I know I'm not going to get finished in a week, or less, that I know that I'll be a bit more challenged to commit myself to.
Of course, this will lead to more boring posts...like- look here's the start of a sleeve...a week later- look here's another part of a sleeve, or if I'm getting it- here's a complete sleeve!
I'm sure that I won't fall back on just having one item on the needles at the one time though, I probably will have that quick knit(s) ongoing at the same time.
Can't see one item only on the needles now, can you?!
Oh, can't forget that I've also learned to spin in that year, bought my spinning wheel and have sold some of my homespun on ebay!
Woohoo!
To celebrate, I'm now going to have a cup of rooibus cirtus tea, from
Suki Tea and then tonight I'm going to join
Holly at her knitting group. See a bit of the world!
Labels: General Ramblings, Knitting, Spinning, Weird and Wonderful
Nollaig Shona from Baile Atha Cliath
Happy Christmas to one and all!
I hope you have a fantastic few days and don't indulge toooo much of the egg nog and mulled wine.
Here are a few Dublin Christmas tree's and decorations.
Labels: General Ramblings
A few of my favourite things
Okay, here's a bit of a different post from me.
I've been reading a lot of crafty blogs recently, and can't get over the amount of cool decorations that are being made in blog world!I must be totally void of imagination, because a lot of them look so easy and I keep thinking, why didn't I think of something like that!
Here are a few of them, my favourites so far:
- jezzeblog does some amazing ink cartoons and knits fab small dolls
- Tania is the source of lots of inspiration for me. Just look at her latest WIP!
- julieree -more inspiration, along with her sister’s book blog booklog where she has a great thing going on for the Christmas season, namely the advent blog tour!
- shimandsons has some cool paper globe decorations plus other great ideas
- Tiny Happy makes some beautiful childrens cloths. Oh to be able to sew!
- Little Birdshas the most amazing amazingly easy (looking) Christmas tree pattern that seems to be springing up all over the blog world. Go make some and show me on your blog!!
So, what are your favourite crafty blogs this time of the year?
Labels: General Ramblings, Inspiration
What to do when you are under pressure to finish Christmas presents
What to do when you are under pressure to finish Christmas presents
Cast on and knit myself something.
Pattern: Elven Pointy Hat
Sticks: Size 6.5 circulars
Method: Totally magic loop
Time: Ahem clears throat about 5 hours
Satisfaction?: Guaranteed!
Leading to lots of references to elves and pointy heads by my dearest boyfriend and leading me to thinking that maybe he should be calling me (at times) --->
| Your Elf Name Is... |
 Grumpy Cartwheels |
Labels: General Ramblings, Knitting, Pointy Hats
Etsy
Well. I discovered this fantastic site a while back and have since grown to love it. I've bought a couple of items only recently from it for Christmas presents, and today took the massive leap of creating my own shop!
2 hour it took me to list some items on it but here we go....here's the link and I'll be adding to it as I can...wish me luck!
Ok, blogger is behaving strangely tonight, but here is the actual link which will get you to my shop...-->
http://www.sweensie.etsy.com
Tangelled Angel
Labels: General Ramblings, Inspiration, Weird and Wonderful
Dublin in the rare ole times
Its been a busy week for me.
I've started a new job and I've also been mysteriously struck with
Isobel's cold, even though I haven't seen her for a while. Hmm, do you think these things can be passed on over the internet?? So I haven't really be on form for blogging much.
I have been knitting though, but not a lot, haven't really felt like it much lately can you believe. I think a lot of it is due to starting new projects (despite trying to finish WIP's before doing this) and trying to get gadge several times and then giving up and moving onto something else. Not giving up exactly, just not having the patience to do it there and then.
There are also certain projects that my cats have a field day with, for example if I knit with straights they go mad for the end of the knitting needle, take it as a personal attack.
Looking all innocent cuddled up together
Its easier to knit with dpn's or circulars as a result, although I do confess to preferring knitting with dpns and circ's anyways.
I think the lack of knitting is also down to wanting to knit so many items at the moment, the list I have in my (forgetful) head is just getting longer and longer at the moment. Some of the items I'm wanting to knit are small quick items like Christmas decorations, and some are a little larger and some again are larger still. I recently became the proud owner of the Mason Dixon Knitting book and also Handknit Holidays and I think I want to knit almost every item in both of them (slight exaggeration going on there, can you tell?)
I have been doing a little bit of spinning though
I am very happy to be able to tell you that I have listed and sold a couple of my skeins on ebay recently! That'll go towards starting to pay off the credit card debt.....or maybe just the knitting related credit card debt even......what I'm I saying, its all knitting related practically!!
I have just started spinning a batch of the Blue faced Leicester fibre that I got from Jenny and Warren at
Craftspun, and apart from the fact that I have to lock the cats out when I'm doing it,(they like it too) and the fact that its so fine that it leaves little particles all over my trousers, I'm really liking it. Its so much softer than the fibre I usually use which is lovely to work with, not that the other fibre isn't nice, its just different and a different experience to spin. Its similar in feel to merino but much easier to spin. I'm spinning it up in its raw colour and will then dye it I think. I'm going to ply the first batch together (I like plyed) but may try another batch and not ply it
Oh, what are these photo's all about? This is the River Liffey in all its glory. To the right you can see the Ha'Penny Bridge and the the left is O'Connell Bridge. Just thought they were nice sunny wintery pictures. Jim Bob up above there is one of the seagulls that frequent the boardwalk. His name isn't really Jim Bob, you know, I'm only kidding... ;-)
Labels: General Ramblings, Spinning
General ramblings
Check out this
Funny knitting story that I found in a blog I was perusing. I would give that woman a clap on the back, I would!
I received my Winter Interweave Knits during the week, surprised because I thought it wouldn't get to me until late. I have only had a flick through it so far but at the start of the magazine is an article that caught my interest:
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is a fantastic place to visit if you are ever in the vacinity.
Meanwhile, for those of us who don't have the means to get down there this weekend,
check this out!
Yes, your very own knitting section of the V&A, online. Including some free knitting patterns of old. Its amazing what is
still in fashion these days!
Labels: General Ramblings, Inspiration
Be good and have some lovely days with family and friends
Cast on and knit myself something.
Pattern: Elven Pointy Hat
Leading to lots of references to elves and pointy heads by my dearest boyfriend and leading me to thinking that maybe he should be calling me (at times) --->
Its been a busy week for me. 
There are also certain projects that my cats have a field day with, for example if I knit with straights they go mad for the end of the knitting needle, take it as a personal attack.
Looking all innocent cuddled up together
I am very happy to be able to tell you that I have listed and sold a couple of my skeins on ebay recently! That'll go towards starting to pay off the credit card debt.....or maybe just the knitting related credit card debt even......what I'm I saying, its all knitting related practically!!
Oh, what are these photo's all about? This is the River Liffey in all its glory. To the right you can see the Ha'Penny Bridge and the the left is O'Connell Bridge. Just thought they were nice sunny wintery pictures. Jim Bob up above there is one of the seagulls that frequent the boardwalk. His name isn't really Jim Bob, you know, I'm only kidding... ;-)
Indiana Gothic
