Back Safe and Sound.

Hello All.

Well I arrived back in the UK safely, and this flight was only a little late.  I came back on an A380, the world's largest passenger plane, with roughly only a third of the passengers.  

We boarded and the cabin staff made an announcement telling us we could sit wherever we fancied as there was a lack of passengers.

 I didn't need to move because I already had a row to myself, the next seat proved to be useful as a drinks tray.  Can I point out here I only asked for a Gin and Tonic, but was given more. 

Sadly though, even with my seat fully reclined, sleep on this night flight, proved elusive.  It took a week to get back into the correct kilter, I was definitely off.

In my last post I promised some knitting news.  With all the airport waiting/flying/not sleeping I finished off my Pink Guacamole socks.  

I love that I have got two pairs of socks from 100g of yarn.  I also think I like these mash-ups more than the original.

That lovely stripy Drops cardigan took a turn for the worst.  

The sleeves were far too tight, I thought it might turn out ok when I joined them to body ~ bottom up pattern ~ but unfortunately it didn't.  The next size up was only two more stitches on the sleeve, not much in 4ply, so it has been frogged.  

Instead I have found a new pattern called Climb Every Mountain by Heidi Kirrmaler.  It's a kind of poncho/jumper thing.

Progress on that is a bit slow because I visited my lovely knitting pal Romain the other day.  We had tried to meet up before I went went away but she has had flu and is still feeling a bit rubbish.  She had, however, started a Diagonapples scarf, the pattern calls for Appletons Tapestry Wool.  It is a garter stitch scarf knit on the bias using lots of different colours.   When I saw her's I was hooked; we are both using 4ply mini skeins rather than tapestry wool.  

My mini skeins came from the Wrigglefingers stall at Wonderwool, last year,

and the year before.

It's going to be bright, that's for sure.

Romain gave me little present too, a key ring with a some mini crochet hooks on 'in case of emergency.'  How cute!  I'm putting my car keys on it.

I was looking randomly through Pinterest the other day and was led to some cord (I can't remember how I ended up there, but that's Pinterest for you.)  This came from Amazon, there are some lovely colours there, I was planning to use it to re-thread some old necklaces that had broken.

Whilst I was looking for said broken necklaces, I came across some little wooden beads that I had.

I spent the next twenty minutes or so making a new jolly necklace, which I'm wearing now.  The broken necklaces?  Not sure where they are.

The last thing to show you are these lovely wooden cotton reels I picked up the other day in Stroud.

They are sitting on my desk, I'm not sure I will use the cotton but for now I'm just enjoying them.

Well, that's me for now, I'm sure there's a whole lot of things that I should be doing...........

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

P.S.  As I was finishing this post I received this picture from Mr Clicky from our apartment just outside Chicago. 

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the balcony in the sunshine. It had been warming up nicely.  He's not happy.

San Diego I Love You

Hello All

Mr Clicky and me had a wonderful weekend in San Diego.   This was my first time to the west coast of America and I loved it.   The streets had palm trees as I had imagined and the sun shone.

There were beds of Bird of Paradise plants which smelt divine, unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to snap the hummingbird drinking the nectar.

We loved the beautifully sculptured street lights.

The first morning we awoke we found a huge cruise ship at the bottom of the street.

As San Diego is a port there is a rich maritime history.  We spent several hours aboard the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier decommissioned in 1992 now a museum.

There were all sorts of planes on the deck, juxtaposition to the shiny tower blocks behind.

The ship was vast.  There were more planes stored in the hangar deck.

We took the guided tour of the bridge or The Island as it is known in Navy terms.  Looking out you can see two currently serving aircraft carriers across the bay.

Through this porthole you can see the bridge over to Coronado Island which was to be our next destination.

We took the ferry over to the island and walked to the beach.  It was stunning.

The sand sparkled; I dipped my toes in The Pacific but it was a bit chilly!

We sat on the beach for a while watching groups of friends playing football and Frisbee and caught an Uber back across the bridge to our hotel.

The following day we took a bus to the zoo.  I'm not too sure about zoos but the panda sitting in a tree consuming a huge amount of bamboo was worth seeing.

The red panta was kind of cute too.

Animals aside, the park had some interesting flowers

and a cable car, which was pretty high. 

It afforded some amazing views back to the city.

Of course, we didn't spend all our time sightseeing, there was lots of good food, and cocktails in the sun.

Back on the harbour side we watched some mariners working in the rigging of a tall ship.

They were all on safety harnesses but working about 30 feet up balancing on a rope over the sea is not my idea of fun!

At sea level two sea lions had chased shoal of fish into a dead end and were dipping and diving around them.  They didn't even seem to be catching the fish just chasing them.

All too soon our Sunday night flight came around and at the airport there were some art installations.  This one of course, caught my eye.  It was mostly knitted with some crochet as well, it reminded me of jelly fish but maybe it wasn't at all.  Unfortunately there wasn't any information about it.

That trip was last weekend and this Saturday night saw me back at O'Hare checking in to fly back to Heathrow.  Mr Clicky dropped me off, and I bought a few bits and pieces in the shops and waited for my flight.  The plane arrived, incoming passengers disembarked and our crew boarded ready for the journey.  I waited and waited and then a tannoy announcement let the passengers know that there was a technical fault on the plane that was being worked on.  This amazing sunset kept people occupied for a while, but things were starting to get restless.

 I sat and knitted from the toe of my sock to the heel and we were offered a food voucher because of the long wait.  I found myself in the bar enjoying a gin and tonic (food? no!) with two fellow passengers and eventually we were told that our flight was cancelled.  By now it was 11pm and we were offered hotels and food vouchers.  

I called Mr Clicky and caught a taxi back to our apartment.  The alternative flight offered was 9am Sunday morning which wasn't too attractive (I'm not not keen on 4am rising) so we phoned British Airways in London and I'm now booked on a  Tuesday evening flight.  The waiting around at the airport was a drag but chatting with strangers good fun, and I am having a few unexpected days more here, not so bad.

That's me for now.  Next post, knitting news, not all good. 

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

A Ta-Dah!

Hello Folks!

I have had a good knitty week.  I've finished my Purl Soho Sweater.   Blocking was a little hit and miss without any blocking boards or pins and just a few damp towels but it came out fairly well.  The jumper is a bottom up knit, knit the body, then the sleeves and join them all on the yoke, grafting the underarm stitches at the end.   There is no ribbing, just roll back cuffs and neck.

The shoulder shaping was simple to do but looks lovely.

Although the pattern has no waist shaping, I most definitely do, so it looks quite curvy when I am wearing it.

Can I wear it right now?  No, because, of course, the weather has warmed up too much!  I'm not really complaining, I sat on our balcony enjoying the sun this morning, although folks south of Chicago had more snow today.

I am currently working on another top up pattern.  This is a Drops pattern, a cardigan in 4ply; Drops Delight and Drops Alpaca.  This is the body, I'm on the second sleeve.

I also have some plane knitting socks on the go.  I made the one in the top of the picture last year, Drops Fabel in the guacamole colourway.  I'm making another pair but with cerise pink for toes, heels and tops thus enabling me to get two pairs from one ball of yarn.  I am using magic loop rather than five needles for these, and I have decided that magic loop is (for me) the best way of knitting on a plane because you can't drop a needle down the side of seat.  2.5mm needles are really difficult to fish out of a seat mechanism, ask me how I know.

The pink guacamole socks will be in my bag for a trip we are taking next weekend to San Diego.   It's a five hour flight so I will need something to keep me busy.  I'm hoping for sunshine when we arrive but to be honest, I'll take anything over 15 degrees F (60 Celsius).  

That's me for now, have a good week.

Clicky Needles

Knitting To Keep The Cold Away

Hello All.

I arrived safely in Chicago O'Hare last weekend although I could have done without a two hour wait in immigration.  I have never seen the hall so full of people and so few staff to deal with them.   It has been really cold here, one day -20 degrees C (-4 F) incidentally, the coldest March day on record, so I have been keeping cosy inside our apartment.   The piles of ploughed snow from the polar vortex are still around.

I bought some Drops yarn in the alpaca sale before Christmas from Woolwarehouse and got it shipped here, so had a lovely parcel to open when I arrived.  Contained within was, Nord in various colours, for something stripy

some Nepal for something cabley

and some more Nepal for something plain.  

As you can see I am quite a long way through on this one.  It is a Purl Soho pattern, rather imaginatively named Purl Soho Pullover.  I started it right away because I certainly need a thick jumper.  The yarn is a really deep inky purple and has some interesting shaping on the sleeves and shoulders.

I've also been doing lots of reading and listening to Radio 4 plays to fill my days whilst Mr Clicky is at work.  Mr Clicky and me even went to the gym in our complex today.  If you know me I'm sure you will be laughing at that, I'm even a bit surprised myself.  We had it to ourselves and spent half an hour getting sweaty, I might be back there tomorrow.

That's me for now, I've just realised I now have stash both sides of The Atlantic!

See you soon........................Clicky Needles.

Some Finished Things and Some Not.

Hello Folks!

It seems quite a while since I actually finished something large, here I present my aran slipover.  It's made in Patons Wool Blend Aran 63% Wool 37% Acrylic, which had been in my stash for a while.   It is warm and comfy and lovely.   The pattern from Sirdar.

The yarn isn't particularly soft and squishy but it's not harsh either and it it has a lovely sheepy smell.

This is the second slipover I have made to this pattern the first being in 2010 before I was even blogging ~ was there really a time? 

I made the neck shorter this time. 

I made the ribbing a bit longer and didn't join it.  Next time I make this pattern, and I'm sure there will be a next time, I will knit the ribbing much longer.  It was a pleasure to make and is also a pleasure to wear.  Nothing fancy but sometimes that's just what you need.

 I have worn it loads already and it is already packed to go to Chicago with me, as temperatures out there are chilly, nothing like the springlike sunshine we've been having.  I depart tomorrow morning and I'm all packed and ready to go.

I have also finished my Groovy Shawl.  Made in one ball of Stylecraft Batik Swirl,  I just love the colours.   I've blocked it lightly as I didn't want to loose the grooves too much.  

The thing not finished is a jigsaw of London that I started.  I very much enjoyed sitting down with  cup of tea and popping a piece or two in.  Mr Clicky and me lived in South London for four years and I was trying to complete it without looking at the picture.  As you can see I made the River Thames in the middle but didn't complete the rest, so I've put it away to do another day.

 My flight is at 12 noon tomorrow but I need to leave here at 6.30 am, so an early start.   I have, of course, a sock started for airport/plane knitting, a book to read and some Radio 4 plays downloaded to listen to on my iPad.  I have three jumpers worth of yarn waiting for me at our apartment ~ good old Woolwarehouse and a Drops Alpaca sale ~ and I am also packing a half completed cardigan so I should be well occupied when I get there.   I will spend a month there and then come back to The UK to help with Miss Clicky's Wedding, and then at the end of July for 18 months or so.  Well that's the plan, but things might change.

My next post will be Stateside, I'm off to see what else I can cram into my suitcase and as I'm well under the weight allowance, more wool perhaps?

See you soon..................Clicky Needles.