Back To School

Yep Half Term's finished.

When we get back in tomorrow there should be a big change with the building. The new extension should be up ~ with a roof! We shall see!

What a week of contrasts.

One lovely sunny day, but for the most it's been dreary, foggy and rainy.

On a dreary day what better than comments from people to cheer you up, so when Louise from Ontario left a comment that she was making a Girly Shawl and might have a go at A Bit of a Frill as well, I had to have a look at her blog. She's been sorting her sock yarn stash and (oh my) has enough sock yarn for .......wait for it.............82 pairs!!!! Wow that's going some, I've got enough for 16 pairs and think that's quite a lot. You've made me feel a whole lot better Louise, I am now following your progress.

The other lovely lady whom always leaves a kind word is Teresa from Oregon. Two of my 'real' friends mentioned her this week and her kind comments and although we've never met and would probably pass each other on street I feel ~ like I'm sure many of you who follow her blog ~ I know her quite well. I know this 'virtual friendship' is in someways a bit weird but I love looking into her world ~ this scenery is breathtaking ~ I thought it was pretty round my way!

Isn't Blogland great?!!!!!!

I took a basket of Hand Painted to the Butterfly Knitters on Saturday.

It was lovely to see them all again and chat about MiJu the new yarn shop, and have a bit of a laugh. My basket had 10 skeins in it when I went and only 4 when I came back which is wonderful and I'd like to say a big THANK YOU, but it now means I need to get some more undyed quickly ~ I can't launch with just 4 yarns can I? so the web site will be a little later than I'd hoped. The good news is that it is mostly built now although not published.

I've come across some new Sirdar patterns. I make loads of things from Sirdar ~ some great patterns and these two are no exception. These are made in their new Summer Stripes DK which isn't quite me, but there is also Simply Recycled cotton/acrylic mix which I've been lucky enough to squish in Along Came Polly and can confirm it's very soft. The little cardi only takes 4 x 50g balls so maybe.....

...it's ok I've not bought it yet!

Well, I hope you have a super week and you get a bit of sunshine!

Byeeeee....Clicky Needles.

A Bit of a Frill pattern

Here's the pattern for a Bit of a Frill.

Sometimes yarns can be quite 'busy' and need something really plain to show them off.

My first Hand Painted came out a bit like that so I made this:-

100g of 4ply sock yarn.

I used Clicky Needles' Hand Painted! 424 metres or 463 yards.

3.75mm Circular Needle at least 80cm or 32 inches.

Finished size 50cm (20") down to the point 100cm (40") across.

M1R pick up the bar between the last stitch you knit and the one you're about to knit, bringing the needle from back to front. Knit into Front of this stitch.

M1L pick up the bar between the last stitch you knit and the one you're about to knit, bringing needle from front to back. Knit into the back of this stitch.

kf+b ~ Knit forward and back into same stitch.

yo ~Yarn over needle.

The shawl is knit from the neck down.

Set up rows.

Long tail or stretchy cast on 5sts.

Row 1. Knit.

Row 2. Knit.

Row 3. Knit

Row 4. k1 kf+b, k1, kf+b, k1 (7sts)

Row 4. Knit.

End of set up.

Main Pattern Section.

Row 1 (right side) k2, M1R , k1, M1R, k1, M1L, k1, M1L, k2. (11sts)

Row 2. k2 purl until last 2 sts, k2.

Row 3. k2 M1R, (border) k3, M1R k1 M1L (centre), k3, M1L k2 (border) (15sts)

Row 4. k2 purl until last 2 sts, k2.

Carry on increasing 4sts on a right side row at the borders and centre as set.

When you've got about 20g of yarn left start the frill.

Row 1. K2 *Yo K1* to last 2 sts K2.

Row 2. K2 purl to last 2 sts K2.

Row 3. As row1.

Row 4 As row 2.

Cast off sew in ends and block.

There are about 900 sts on the last row of the frill but I think it's well worth while!

There you go!

You can also download the pattern here.

Enjoy. Clicky Needles.

A day in Gloucester

Hello peeps!!!!

It's been a nice sunny day today and we (Mr CK, DS, DD + BF) had a lovely day in Gloucester.

Would you like to walk with us?

We parked in Gloucester Docks which is undergoing lots of regeneration. This piece of art is new since I've last been.

That's my gang at the bottom!

Firstly we went to the Army Careers Office for DD + BF so they could get their applications rolling. The office is in the right hand warehouse.

We walked past the Glosters Museum with the little tank outside.

When we finished at the recruiting office we split up and me, Mr CK and DS went to find Gloucester's newest yarn shop, opened this week. It's just at the entrance to Gloucester Cathedral parking, so if you can find the Cathedral (it is hard to miss!) then you can find Miju Wool.

They have Sirdar, Stylecraft, Katia and Rico, notions and gifts. We had a nice chat with the lady, Michelle, unfortunately her friend and business partner Julie ~ hence the name ~ wasn't in today.

What a lovely rainbow of colours.

When we came out we walked through the grounds of the Cathedral which is well worth a visit.

Up to Gloucester Cross next, this is where Eastgate, Northgate, Westgate and Southgate streets meet. We had a spot to eat, did a bit of general shopping and then carried on down Southgate Street. Above Bakers the Jewellers you can see a striking clock with figures called jacks, representing England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales the one in the middle being Old Father Time. I think they strike every quarter of an hour, certainly whist we walked past.

As we carried along Southgate Street we came to Robert Raikes' House ~ he set up the first Sunday School.

We stopped to buy these steel toe-capped boots (for me to garden in, I did once stick a fork in my foot!) and then .....

............back to the docks to meet DD + BF at the car.

That concludes our tour of Gloucester, hope you've enjoyed it as much as we did!

With good light today I got some pictures of A Bit of a Frill Shawl but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that reveal!

Bye for now.................Clicky Needles.

Yukky Weather.

Hello all.

It's been a very damp, foggy and dreary week so far.

We've been tootling around doing some bits and pieces.

I went to Knit and Knatter at Along Came Polly on Tuesday ~ great to be able to go and relax in wooly surroundings with the added bonus that TWO skeins of my Hand Painted Yarn have sold!

There were a few Girly Shawls being made as well which was so exciting.

Waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy.

When I got home I got down to some more dyeing.

Fuelled by this cake and some Comic Relief Maltesers, I managed to dye my last 5 blanks.

They are all drying at the moment, nearly ready for the best bit, rewinding and skeining up again.

Some more excitement to share, I have finished my shawl.

I'm going to call it A Bit of A Frill.

I am quite frilly sort of a girl and I really like it. I'm just teasing you here, I'm going to try with some better pics tomorrow.

I took it to knitting group to make myself finish. I was grumbling and complaining about it when my ever helpful friend M pointed out 'Well of course, you've got 900 stitches there.'

Mmmmm, yep she's right but I think the finished result is worth the 900 stitches. Judge yourselves when I do a reveal!

I came down this morning to find these in the living room today.

They are DD's wellies which she got as a Christmas Pressie. They were in the garage but DD has decided they 'were a bit lonely in there' so they've now taken up residence in the living room ~ I wonder how long they'll take to get into her bedroom.

I've also been working on my website this week, I will of course, give you details when it's up and running.

Mr Clicky Needles has the day off tomorrow so we're having a day together.

Hope you have fun whatever you get up to.

Bye for now........Clicky Needles.

Phew! Half Term

Hello folks.

It's time for a rest.

I'm not sure why we (kids and teachers) all get so worn out coming up to half term but we do.

Maybe it's because we have a date to aim for, just keep going and then drop.

The whole school has had Africa as a topic this term culminating in an Art Week last week. The children were mixed up ~ so all ages working in groups together ~ they made Egyptian Necklaces, Adrinka Tiles with clay which are from Ghana, Kenyan sunset pictures and Batik cloth panels using flour and water paste instead of wax.

It's been very tiring for adults and children alike.

Added to that the builders are making loads of noise cutting blocks, driving diggers past the windows all day and eating cake which we're supplying them with (to keep them sweet!) We've had to clear some areas as well because a section of the roof is being removed this week.

It's all go.

The children in the class I (mostly) work with have also made these African masks.

If you look in the background you can see the map of Africa which they reconstructed, learning about their country on the way.

On the knitting front not much has happened.

I've finished my two squares for the friendship blanket this month ~ autumn colours in garter stitch, so I'll be getting them in the post.

The stocking stitch shawl I'm making with my hand dyed doesn't seem to have progressed much, mainly because I keep unravelling the border as I run out of yarn. I will crack it, it's starting to make me mad!

I'm in the middle of dyeing more sock yarn, so if the light gets better (it's very dingy because of rain and rubbish for taking photos) you can have a sneaky preview. I'm hoping to get a web site up and running soon.

Right, DS is going to help me with some winding now (he thinks he's playing on the PS3!)

Have a good week.

Bye for now.......................Clicky Needles.

What a Fun Weekend.

Hello There!

We had a lovely weekend with B and S in London.

We haven't seen them since November, so it was great to catch up. We exchanged Christmas Presents and B got her shrug at long last.

We left the boys ~ Mr Clicky Needles, S and DS to a Saturday afternoon of Six Nations Rugby and gaming and had another fantasy shopping trip to Ikea. B very kindly got me this green fleece throw ~ I just love the colour and it goes really well with our brown sofa.

I got myself some rather nice fake Gerberas for 39p each ~ bargain!

As usual when we see them, we laughed and giggled and drank a bit and laughed again.

As promised I stopped on my way home tonight to get the piccys of the wild snowdrops around here.

These are just under a hedgerow, as you can see they look wonderful, they certainly brighten up my day. I got some strange looks from fellow travellers but I think they were worth it!

On the knitting front, I'm just making my 2 squares for February's bit of the Friendship Blanket, one was completed in the car on the M4 and M25 and I've just cast on for the other now. It's quite nice just to knit again, as I've not managed to get much in with all the dyeing that been going on!

Hope your week is a good one.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......Clicky Needles.

Here's what I've been up to!

Hi there.

As I said I've been a busy bee of late.

I've been dyeing some more sock yarn.

So here we go, a Ta-Dah!!!!!

When I took my original skein to show Lucy at Along Came Polly she agreed to stock it so I've been making labels and getting them all ready.

We're seeing how this lot go and maybe I'll sell them through my blog as well.

I'm really quite pleased with colours.

Thanks for all the comments which I love to read. Kat is obviously right saying Safari is the reason for the screen view and not the Mac (duh). On the top left hand corner of the bookmarks bar there is a symbol which if you click, allows you to view all your top sites.

Hope that answers your question Kat!

On the question of the Mosaics I create them using a Flckr account which you can then link to Big Huge Labs. Upload the pictures to Flckr, tag them and then use Big Huge Labs to make the mosaic. I am making this sound easy but I do find the process all a bit frustrating, but anyway have a go!

We're off to London to stay with B and S, hope your weekend is good fun too!

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee Clicky Needles.

I know, it's Tuesday.

Hi there folks.

I seem to have been a busy bee of late and missed my usual Sunday post altogether.

It did mean however, when I turned on the Mac on Monday I had all these blogs to read. The very clever Mac gives me this view and a little star in the corner if a new post has been made, so I've had a nice time catching up on everybody's news.

I saw my Mum and Dad on Sunday and the orange Girly Shawl I made for Mum matches her orange jumper perfectly (which fortuitously she was wearing!) so we were both pretty pleased.

I'm very excited about putting the pattern for the Girly Shawl on Ravelry, it's gone into quite a few queues and of course, my pal Romain has made it too.

I'm currently making another shawl - this time just in stocking stitch using this yarn.

I'm pretty darn pleased with this too.

Why? I dyed the yarn myself!

with the birthday pressie dyes that Mr Clicky Needles gave me.

Although the wind has been gusty to say the least, signs of spring are around. When I drove to work on Thursday morning I saw a hare and as I drove home some Snowdrops had magically appeared. I will stop and take some photos they are so lovely.

These signs made me venture into the garden and I found an early Hellebore.

I've still not got any Daffodils though, being on top of the hills, this bunch came from Tesco's bargain bucket for 50p, something sunny to cheer us up.

Pupils and adults alike at school are looking forward to half term, only 2 weeks to go! I'll hopefully have some news for you next week which will explain why I've been busy.......but you'll have to wait for a bit!

Have a good week...............Clicky Needles.

January Mosaic

A few days late I know but better late than never.