The First sign of Spring...maybe !!

It hasn't been a hard winter by any means, if anything it has been unhealthily mild but it still lovely to see signs of Spring in the garden in the form of Snowdrops.As always they remind me of my lovely Mum (do we ever stop missing our Mums?)

Mind you its still early days and we could still get some harsh weather so its just as well I have finished my lovely shawl and on the whole I enjoyed knitting it apart from the oh so boring knitted border,it seemed to take forever to do. Saying that I will do this again as its a lovely shawl to wear and the grey will go with a lot of things. There are times when subdued colours are far more classy than the brighter ones I find and this will become a firm favourite I know.

On the needles now I have some socks for SIL and then who knows I have a few things I want to knit and I haven't touched any spinning for a few days so the wheel is calling me.

Keeping my word

Well I'm being good and adding FO as well as a WIP although they are in the wrong order !!
The first is my current WIP and I am loving it. I needed something which I had to concentrate a little on but not too taxing and this fits the bill perfectly. I need a shawl but I have gone off frilly beaded stuff (SHUSH I still have a WIP to finish of that ilk !!)and this pattern is called Winnowing and is perfect , I am doing it in some lovely 100% cashmere. This yarn is from my stash and I've had it years ,its very precious as they no longer produce this Scottish cashmere and I have been saving it for something special and I thought I deserved this at the moment.I made a cowl for Tony in this yarn and the more he wears it the softer it becomes so I can't wait to snuggle into this when its finished. Amazing how knitting something you know you are going to love can lift your spirits isn't it ?

Next is the tunic which I started whilst being away in the van ,this was such a quick knit and was finished in time for the lovely frosty sunny days we have been having lately.Not the best of pics and the colour is darker in real life.

I have made so many hats, gloves, cowls etc these last few months for craft fairs and gifts but I didn't have a pair for me .So I dyed this lovely alpaca silk blend yarn a gorgeous teal colour and these were done in a couple of night and are very cosy. Can't remember the hat pattern but the mitts are Susie's Reading Mitts. I like mitts and I think I will make myself another pair but this time with a flap that comes over when I don't need use of my fingers.

The list of exhibitors for Wonderwool has just come up and there seems to be more than ever this year;we are looking forward to it but I have to say I was very disappointed with the workshops they have this year and I'm not the only one to comment on this. They are all designed for newbies which is fair enough but you would have thought they could have at least one challenging one . Ah well we will enjoy the weekend whatever and it will be great to catch up with folks again. Roll on April and x fingers my health will have improved by then.

New Year New Beginnings

Another new year has begun and I never make New Year resolutions but I am going to try this year to take pictures of what I am up to . Having sold or given so many of my handmade things this year and no records of them has spurred me into thinking this way. I used to do this many moons ago when I first started my blog but somehow life became more hectic and of course that was all before Ravelry which ate big time into my online time. Now that I have cut back on Ravelry (still love it for patterns and ideas ) I am going to spend more time blogging like I used to .

We had a quiet Christmas this year as I was poorly and then we went away to our fav spot on Anglesey for the New Year and there without any distractions I finished Tony's jumper at long last.

He loves this pattern and I have already made him one in it before but he wants another !! but I am not doing dark navy for a while as its a pain to do patterns in it even with my daylight lamp. Any way he loves it and the colour does suit him
Next is a cowl I made with some hand spun camel I spun over Christmas and my SIL has fancied this so it will probably go to her for her birthday later this month .

Then I started this mindless knit which I treated myself to a few weeks ago . It was perfect for sitting in the van and I was able to read a whole book on my Kindle at the same time(love my Kindle, although the whole 'real' book issue does worry me at times).This should be finished in a couple of days I hope . I find this style of jumper perfect for winter and have another pattern (Idlewood) planned for the next one.
We did manage to go walking on the beach a few times which is always lovely but on the whole we did a lot of this....
and this .....
So I have started well , lets see how I carry on LOL.

I have a date for my pre-op now in a weeks time so it looks like things are going as planned and that I will have my op soon ; I so hope I am doing the right thing but I have run out of options.