socherryknits

Yep - we made it!! I'm over-stimulated to the max so I'll probably not make a lot of sense... Seen so many things in the last day that it would take a year just to document it all. The top pic is the arrivals board at Narita Airport. The 2nd pic is the Welcome to Japan sign. We were delayed by over 3 hours in Amsterdam which made it quite hard going initially. First stop [naturally] was Tokyu Hands. We've only scratched the surface of this immense amazing shop - a pic of my new goodies above: Some felt buttons, cool Kana and rabbit stickers, lots of Japanese pencils advertising sweets, an amigurimi [sp?] how-to, a knitting pattern book, and a Clover bag-making template thingy. Just so cool! They also had earthquake proof sticky stuff to stop your TV falling during quakes, with accompanying simulation earthquake display to prove it ... *gulp* Also bought a big transparent umbrella a-la Charlotte in Lost in Translation - I've always wanted one and they're everywhere. ...

*emerging blinking into the sunlight from Ravelry * yep I'm still here. It's taken a while and I'm only 3/4 through uploading my stash, 3/4 through uploading the WIPs, and barely 1/1000 through uploading the queue works. I've been having fun with swaps, and chatting on the forums. Anyways, back to knitting [and crocheting this week] - I've been motoring on with Pinwheel Sweater; I'm loving the colour choices. I had hoped to have this as part of comfy, cosy plane outfit but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen now. Luna Moth has stalled for the moment. Miller's has given up on trying to sell yarn, and everything is bargain bin. Picked up six balls of Sirdar Click [it has some wool in it...] for 50p a ball - thought it would be perfect for a wrap for work as it is machine-washable. This is one of the stitches from Ripple Stitch Patterns called Delicate Lace. I love crochet for the fast return - I started this on Friday evening, and have been wor...

I'm in !!! And it is as good they say... I'm going to be busy cataloguing my stash/needles and projects See you soon! Elaine x

My invite to Ravelry You signed up on June 13, 2007 You are #8643 on the list. 190 people are ahead of you in line. 15838 people are behind you in line. 34% of the list has been invited so far So close!!

... is Pinwheel Sweater. Which had made it as far as the sleeves before I realised that I had an extra yarn over about mid-way through the 2nd yellow. I put it down very gently in the yarn room and closed the door on it for a day or so until my emotions had moved past wanting to set fire to it. There is really no way around an extra yarn over with this kind of pattern - an extra yarn over in Icarus was resolved by a darning needle and some matching yarn. With Pinwheel however, this makes the segments have unequal stitch numbers, and the cool funky twisty-turness of the segments means that any plan of dropping down to fix such errors are impossible. I took back out of the room and glared at it for a couple of days over my Summertime Tunic [simply round and round stockinette] but the yarn over remained defiant and glared back. And so, I took a darning needle and threaded contrasting yarn a row below to make an after-thought lifeline [since this worked so well with Icarus]. It was mighty ...

I've had so many wips, birthday pressies and knitty news of late that I didn't even know where to begin with blogging, and consequently there have been few posts lately. After a period of avoidance I realised that I was being a bit silly ... knitting is supposed to be fun, not stressful. And I'm only 938 invites away from the supreme organisational powers of Ravelry that will help me to feel more in control of my obsession. And so, one at a time I decided ... starting with the utterly stunning Handmaiden Sea Silk that I bought from K1 Yarns with birthday vouchers from my work colleagues. As you can see it has sat in my stash for a minimal amount of time [the time taken to free the needles from Icarus] before becoming a wip. Handmaiden Sea Silk is a Canadian yarn made of 70% silk and 30% SeaCell [made from Seaweed that has magic properties for your skin] It's colourway Moss, is the most sumptious knit and is becoming the Luna Moth Shawl [free pattern from elann.com]. I...

I've been away for a couple of weeks doing this; Icarus ! My first ever lace shawl, and I have been bitten by the lace-y bug! I've heard the Yarn Harlot speak of the 'magic' of lace blocking , and now I too have experienced the magic ... and it is AMAZING! [although I had to wear a plastic on my thumbs for the next couple of days after pushing all those pins into the carpet] This shawl chose me - I went to see Sunshine at the cinema [alright, but mince for the last 3rd of the film] and the spacecraft was called Icarus. Random knit-blog surfing after the film found me at Mirum's blog . I love the design - it's Icarus ' frame with the feathers having melted to the ends. I used handpaintedyarn.com's laceweight - colourways Bombon and Sunshine Yellow. Like Icarus, I too began in a cocky manner, convinced of my success and confident that I didn't need lifelines or stitch-markers to mark pattern repeats. I learned my lesson [along with how to tink lace and...

Presenting .... : Bedtime Bear! Made for a work colleagues 1 year old little girl. Pattern: Simply Knitting Magazine, Issue 13 April Yarn: GGH Amelie [now discontinued, but still available at Loop] Skills learned: First time making a knitted toy and embroidering onto knitted fabric. Modifications: None - had to knit blind as I had no idea how it was going to become a bear until nearly sewing up time. An added label on her bum! I wanted it to look like the old-fashioned style bears, but with the more modern yarn, and I hope she loves it.

I was home in Elgin at the weekend and got to chatting with my mum about knitting and one thing led to another and doll's clothes, our baby clothes, knitting magazines etc. got pulled out of the attic. There is so much to blog about that this is post 1 of 2! Above is a cardigan my dad knitted for me when I was born [pic of me in it below]. It's blue not because they were expecting/hoping for a boy, but because blue would look OK on a girl, but pink maybe not so much on a boy. My mum helped by casting on and off, and seaming the sleeves, but other than that this is all my dad's work! This was knitted by my great-granny for a doll - although there are pictures of me in it. A doll!! Look at the work in it - I could never give so much for little girl's doll, and I took a lot of photos of it - Fair Isle is next on my list, so I was entranced by this stunning cardigan. Reverse photos ... This pink shawl was knitted by my granny for my mum when she was a baby - it was cream th...

Finished! Pattern: Free - Bernat Cotton Crochet Market Market Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton 3 balls Skills learnt: All of it - brand new to crochet. Modifications: The strap originally went the other way, but I felt tote-style made it lie better - it just felt twisted the other way [see pattern link] I'll be taking this with me to Japan as it expands and therefore can fit lots of yarn. Not an awful lot else to say really... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Encouraged by K1 Yarns and Sarah , the boy and I visited the Lighthouse this weekend for the Scottish Show / Six Cities exhibition. There were lots of cool things to look at and think about - in particular someone's suggestion to improve the entrance to the Mitchell Library by covering over the gaping motorway hole with a lovely flat green space. So simple, but such a lovely idea. He wrote to the relevant authorities but no answer as yet ... Anyways, we climbed alot of circular stairway steps to get the top of the Lighthouse tower - I had to be persuaded, and had I not been wearing my pedomoeter the boy probably wouldn't have got me up there [no pedometer = wasted steps]. It's amazing how a different perspective can shed a whole new light on a place [click for giant pics]; The Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art [spiky pointy roof] The formidable Gorbals Towers How did they get there to tag this? A lovely roof garden - bet they love all the people staring at them from the Ligh...