Circle socks finished

I finished these off yesterday

Pattern: Circle Socks by Anne Campbell (this is a free ravelry download so you need to be on ravelry to see it - sorry!)

Yarn: King Cole Zig Zag sock yarn

Needles: 2.5mm Addi lace circs using magic loop.

Mods: Only did 4 repeats of the circle pattern on the leg cuff.

Of all the beautiful sock yarns I have in my stash, I used this cheapy 50% superwash wool, 50% nylon Zig Zag. It isn't the softest yarn in the world by any means, but it was only £3.99 for 100g and I loved the colour. I'd say it will be quite hard wearing too and will probably soften up in the wash.

I think that Glass Slippers will be my next sock project but I will need just the right yarn to show the pattern off. I'd love to use this gorgeous Malabrigo sock yarn that Karen gave me for my birthday at knit group this week, but I think it may be too dark.

Perhaps it is time to use my Posh Yarns Eva

which I have had for well over a year. Or Green Eyed Monsters Gem,

hmmm, decisions decisions.

But for today I must seam my Red Cardigan, its been waiting over a week now.

August sock club

This is the yarn for the Wild Fire Fibres sock club for August. The yarn is called Fantasia and is 100% extra fine merino, colourway Lammas, a mix of browns, beige and white with a hint of an eggshell blue. It is not a colour I would normally choose for myself but I really like it.

Alpacas bite back!

Check out this story, they aren't as cute and fluffy as you think!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/8218853.stm

U2 360

(Photos in this post not the best quality as they are from my iPhone.)

Thursday morning we set off for Sheffield - in the rain. This was the view from the car on the M56 - nice!


As we headed over the Snake Pass it was still raining.


When we arrived it stopped and it turned into a lovely sunny afternoon. This is Sheffield town hall.


Colin had a drink in the bar of the hotel when we arrived, as the room wasn't quite ready, and he didn't have to drive to the concert as we were going on the SuperTram!


We set off just after 5 and got to the tram stop as it started to rain again. Colin ran back for the raincoats which we had thought we weren't going to need, and off we went. We had to wear the coats while we were queuing to get in as it was raining quite a lot and we were a bit worried that it was going to be 5 and a half hours of sitting in the wet! But as we got through the gates the rain stopped and the sun came out and this was our first view of the 360 stage, it was huge.


The first support band came on at 6 while I was pushing and shoving and spending far too much at the merchandise stall! I got a T-shirt and a very nice fleece which I was glad of later on when it got cold because apart from the raincoat I only had a thin cardi. The band were called The Hours and weren't bad.

At 7pm, Elbow came on. I do quite like Elbow but I wouldn't go to see them live as headliners. Their music is more to be listened to at home or in the background as it is not the kind of music to whip up a crowd. They were ok though.

Almost an hour passed, and then "Space Oddity" by David Bowie started and smoke started pouring out of the top of the set and around the edges, and everyone started whistling and shouting. As the track ended Larry strode over the walkway and started the intro to "Breathe" and we were off! There was a real mix of new songs and golden oldies like "Unforgettable Fire", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", and "Pride" and we all had to sing Happy Birthday to U2's set designwer Willie Williams who is from Sheffield and it was his birthday that day. (A bit of creative scheduling I wonder?)

And as it got dark the stage transformed into this.....


and this.


A brilliant show, but then U2 always put on a good show. Roll on the next tour!

The Broken Window

The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As usual Jeffery Deaver has produced a tense thriller, leaving you guessing right to the end.
All the well loved characters are back in the 8th book of this series, as they try to track down a killer who is using identity theft to choose his victims and then set up scapegoats for the murders to draw attention from himself.
Sadly one regular character does meet their demise in this book, but I won't give the game away!

View all my reviews >>

Birthday & subs

So last Saturday was my birthday, yay! Here are my prezzies.......

The book "The Silver Spoon" is brilliant. I've used it everyday since Sunday, mainly making sauces so far but I did make Turkey Stew with Mustard on Tuesday. Tonight I'm going to make bolognese sauce and already I can see it is going to be different to what I usually do to make it. There are no tinned tomatoes or garlic for a start! Interesting!

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Saturday afternoon, which was okay. You couldn't go and see it as a stand alone film though becasue it didn't really end anywhere, I think you need to have seen all the other films or read the books.

Then we went to Nando's for dinner. Never been before. Again it was okay, the chicken burger was very nice but it was a bit fast food-ish for a sit down meal really.

I also had a cheque from my mum which I put towards my new subscription to Yarn Forward magazine. I have every issue right from the start so I thought I may as well subscribe again and save myself the price of two issues a year. My first issue and free gift arrived yesterday.

The free hat pattern is quite nice actually so that will go on my Ravelry queue!

After Colin met Eddie Izzard on Tuesday, he booked us tickets to go and see him in Liverpool in November!

Marathon Man

Some of you may know that Eddie Izzard is running 40 marathons around Britain for Sport Relief at the moment. Yesterday, he was running from Wrexham to Bromborough on the Wirral, and Colin noticed on Twitter that he was running up the A41 around Chester yesterday afternoon. So he went to see if he could find him. And he did! He offered him some water and had a quick chat before he went on his way.



If you want to you can sponsor him here

The Silver Spoon by Phaidon Press


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So far, I love this book. I have only attempted some of the sauces from the first section so far but I know that this book is going to get used so much more than all the "celebrity chef" cookbooks I have. This one is a real cookbook and as far as I can tell, covers almost anything you would wish to know about Italian cookery.

View all my reviews >>

Twisty and Fidget

Ok, I got my photographer on the case and can now show you my two FOs.

The first one is a little neckwarmer. I started this while I was procrastinating over the seaming (not that there is much) on Twisty. It is a very quick little knit and the buttons I got from John Lewis are perfect.

Pattern: The Fidget by Robin Dodge
Length: 23cm
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Classic Alpaca - colour 3806m - 2 strands held together - used under two balls.
Needles: 5.5mm KnitPro Harmony circulars
Mods: none

The second FO is my Drops jumper/vest thing. Yesterday evening was very warm and it was not comfortable wearing this for the photos. It is going to be lovely and toasty for the winter for work though.

Pattern: Drops 115-24
Size: small
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Eskimo - colour 49m - 7.2 balls (the pattern says 6 but this is incorrect)
Needles: 9mm KnitPro Harmony circulars
Mods: none

I decided not to go for the Titania top in the previous post, but instead have made a start on another Drops pattern (there are hundreds of them and they are ALL free). This one is pattern number 100-2 which I am calling Red Rib. Strangely, looking at the measurements, I need to make a large in this design(?). I don't mind if it is a bit big in the end, it will be a great snuggly cardi for the winter, as it buttons right up to the neck.


I am using DK yarn rather than aran, so have had to swatch and go up a couple of needle sizes.

No photos

I have TWO finished projects that I'm dying to show but I have no photos yet. Actually that is a fib, I do have a photo of my Twisty jumper but I took it with my phone and it is not modelled and basically I don't like the picture. I want to show it in all its glory. The other project is a little neckwarmer that I made from the Fidget pattern with two balls of Drops Classic Alpaca that I got with my extra ball of Eskimo. Oh, I do have photos of the newly acquired stash.

This is the Drops Classic Alpaca, now used up


And this is Drops Karisma which I don't have a project for yet,

but may make this pattern, Titania. I'm a bit worried it might make me look fat though! That lace panel round the middle is what worries me as I have a bit of a "spare tyre" in that area!

I can't believe that it is already a year since my 40th!!! I will be 41 on Saturday. Yesterday we decided to go up and see what all the fuss was about at Liverpool One and so that I could find something for Colin to get me for my birthday. We ended up in the same shops we would normally go in here in Chester, namely Costa, Smiths, Waterstones etc. I did pop into John Lewis for some buttons for the Fidget, and they were amazingly cheap for JL. I got 8 for just £1!! Anyway I decided I would like to do more cooking so Colin got me a copy of The Silver Spoon which is a HUGE Italian cookbook. Oh dear, he's going to be expecting all kinds of culinary delights now!