Wowzer, wowzer, wowzer

I have been trying to post to my blog for three days now ! How frustrating - each time I've tried I've not been able to get into it to actually post - pooters drive me mad when they don't work ! Grrrrrrr.

So, I have been busy with my knitting. I have finished all the bits for the Diagonal Front Cardy - all I have to do now is block it and finish it off - why is that the bit that always takes the longest - the knitting of this garment has not taken that long at all, currently it has been sitting on the arm of the sofa for about a week waiting to be finished off - why can I not muster up the enthusiasm to get it done - is it the thought of having to transfer all those stitches that are on holders to bits of yarn and then back again ? is it the worry that I'll go to the trouble of finishing it off beautifully and then the sleeves will be too long ? I am currently contemplating the idea of sewing the sleeves up with a different coloured yarn, finishing off the cardy and seeing how it fits and then if it fits well, finish it off in the right yarn and if it doesn't undo those monkey length sleeves and do them again - what do you think ? A good plan non ? I am almost certain the sleeves are going to be too long - they seem to be of gargantuan proportions and my arms are not that long - I hate sleeves that hang off the end of your arms and you are constantly having to pull them up - especially on something like this that has no fastenings on the front and is bound to fall of your shoulders all the time - I think provisional sewing up will have to be done, or I could ruin my eyes even further trying to unpick the same coloured yarn.



Well, here are the finished component parts, I just need to get moving with the rest of it.

I have also been getting on with Ballerina - I have stalled a little bit on this one at the moment - it's not that I don't think it's lovely, it's just that all that garter stitch on 3mm needles was getting to me a bit and since I finished the Pink Dream I didn't have anything chunckier to alternate it with. Still I am well underway on the second sleeve and before long I'll be doing the last front and voila - just the finishing to do again ! I have joined an Hanne Falkenberg knitalong - but can't remember how to get the button to appear on my blog - my brain is really mushed right now. One lady on there has just finished a Ballerina and she did some different things with the finishing - doing a striped front band and cuffs - I really like it, what do you think ? Is is better than the original - here is the tinkered version



and here is a link to the original version - I couldn't post the picture here - don't know why BALLERINA

I really like the striped front band and think I'll give that a go.

Well, here is my Ballerina so far - so near and yet so far !



I have also - in my infinte wisdom started another Clapotis - I am not sure who this is for - it depends how it turns out. I wanted to knit it for a friend for her birthday, but I really think I'd like to knit her one in a snuggly soft yarn and all I had was some DK cotton from Texere in Delphinium. I really like the colour, but boy does it leak when you are knitting with it - I end up with blue hands every time. Also, it comes on a cone and I was merrily knitting away and came across a sellotaped join - so I just cut the sellotape out and rejoined the yarn at the beginning of the row and now you can clearly see a colour difference in the knitting. It don't think it will matter on this because once you have got all the dropped stitches in there it will break it up and you won't notice, but if I had been knitting a jumper or something I would have been very annoyed to get such a colour change - it's obviously a different dye lot and it really notices. I am enjoying knitting the clapotis again, it is one of those patterns that requires a little bit of concentration, but not too much and that is perfect TV knitting, not too boring, but not too demanding. Anyway here it is so far.



On another note, we went to see Status Quo last night and it was fabulous (let me just state for the record I am not a fan, but we don't get that many people coming to perform in Oman so you have to get your kicks where you can !) - I got to meet the band before the concert and got their autographs - who knew that they were so old and frail in real life ? still on stage they've still got what it takes - they knocked our socks off - James and I spent the whole night dancing away while our more sensible friends stayed on the side line complaining that it was too hot to dance - well you were gonna sweat if you stood still or not - so you might as well have a laugh is what I say - and we were drenched by the end of it. The concert was outside at the Intercontinental hotel and the temperature was about 38 degrees and over 80% humidity - who needs a gym ! I am knackered today though so Jacob and I are having a relaxing day - James has gone diving - more fool him ! It's tv and knitting with plenty of tea for me today - until this afternoon when Jacob has a Birthday party to go to from 4.00pm to 7.00 rather a funny time for a three year old B'day party don't you think ? Jacob is usually in bed at 7.00pm so it's going to be an odd night for him.

Oh yes - I seem to be having a problem with my blog - all my entries are being duplicated if you scroll down - you'll see what I mean - anyone got any ideas about how I can cure this ? Or do I have to start up my blog all over again ?

Well I'd better go - my knitting is calling me.

What a Relief

Well first of all let me just say that I totally missed the one year anniversary of my blog it was on 27 April it would seem - however other things were on my mind at the time I think - anyway Happy Birthday blog - I can't do anything exciting like giving stuff away, because I just can't get anything good here.

That said - I have been online shopping today and it felt wonderful - I haven't bought any yarn for ages and it felt so good to give that debit card a yarn bashing - so what did I buy - well first of all I bought some gorgeous Aran Weight Cashmere from hipknits in the Summer Pudd colourway - I cannot wait to get my grubby little paws on this yarn - I'm going to knit a Clapotis from it - I was going to do it as a gift but frankly my determination on this point is already wavering and I only ordered the yarn a couple of hours ago - I think I may have to find something else to knit the gift Clapotis in as I've been coverting a purple one for ages - I think that purple Clapoti ( is that the correct plural ?) look like fields of lavender and I know a cashmere Clapotis is not that practical in Oman - but what the hey - we are hoping to go skiing next year if I'm not pregnant by then and it will be very useful then - well that's my excuse for keeping it and I'm sticking to it !

As well as the fab cashmere - I made some great purchases from Get Knitted, some Artesano Alpaca Inca Cloud in Oatmeal (for a Ruffles scarf, another useful piece for Oman) and Teal for random baby wear at some later date. I also ordered some Hip Knits sock yarn in Bouquet - which is fab. Not only that I ordered a few pairs of the Brittany Knitting needles and a copy of the Vogue Spring magazine.

I haven't bought so much knitting stuff in years and it is wonderful to have done it. I'm planning a few more purchases when I come back to the UK for my summer break at the end of June. The down side is that I won't receive any of this stuff until I'm back in the UK, so that is a bit of a wait - but it will fabulous when I do get it, well worth the wait - that cashmere along is making me drool !

I am making good progres with the Debbie Bliss Diagonal Front Jacket, I have finshed the main body and one sleeve and have started the second sleeve - I'm looking forward to getting it done - it was supposed to have been finished during the Olympics afterall. I think it's going to be a fab wear in the UK and once I've finished this it is back on with the Ballerina.

Right I'm off to knit, just put away that debit card and keep me away from the computer I'm feeling dangerous !

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave a comment for me. I really appreciate your kind words and thoughts, it means a lot to me to know that people are thinking of us. I am doing OK actually - I truely feel that it just wasn't meant to be and I would much rather the pregnancy end earlier rather than later and although 15 weeks is quite late, it's not so bad really. I know that we will have another baby soon and all I can do is hope that all goes well next time. I am so grateful for all that I have, especially my wonderful husband and fabulous son - they are the best and have really got me through this. I know that there will be good and bad days, in fact it seems to be that there are good and bad hours, but things will get better and I'm staying very positive about the whole thing. It could have been so much worse and I'm so grateful that it wasn't. Everyone in the hospital was lovely and in fact the hospital was lovely - we had a private suite with our own living room and bathroom and it was so much better than being in our local hospital in England - Pembury - which is frankly a poo hole - that is where I had Jacob and I was out of there as quickly as possible - I could quite easily have stayed in this hospital for a few more days, it was like being in a hotel !

So, on to knitting - I am now steaming along quite nicely on my pink dream - I have finished the body and am just about to start on the sleeves. I bought a lovely blue t-shirt the other day and I am currently having a bright orange linen skirt made and I'm thinking these three items together will make a stunning outfit - well if nothing else you'll be able to see me coming !



I have to say that I really did not enjoy knitting the bottom part of this cardy on circular needles - I found it really hard work and very slow indeed - since I've switched to straight needles for the upper part of the body - progress has been much better. Only problem is that I find DK cotton quite hard work to knit with it does seem to make my right elbow ache. Still I can't wait to get this finished - unfortunatley I won't be able to wear it for a while as it is currently 43 degrees C here - I'm coming back to the UK on 30 June though and I'm preparing myself with thoughts of thermal vests and wearing my cosy knitted cady. I hope it isn't going to be too cold when we are back. It's more Jacob I'm concerned about - he really feels the cold now and is always making me turn the air conditioning down - so I think he is going to need lots of layers when we go to Blighty.

I have also made progress with Ballerina - I'm half way through the second sleeve, but I forgot to take a picture, so you will have to wait with baited breath for that one ! I find I need a break from Ballerina every now and then - it is quite a slow knit, especially since it's on circulars, although I have to say 3mm circulars are much easier to handle than 4mm - who would think that a mm could make a difference, but it does - I don't think I'll be attempting anything above 4ply on ciruclars again.

Right I'm off - got to sort out my clothes - I'm in a funny place with clothes right now - I'm obviously not going to wear maternity clothes - that would be too depressing, but my normal clothes are a little snug - I'll manage.

Some Sad News

I am sorry to have to tell you all that on Saturday I went for a pre natal check up and found out that we were expecting twins. Very sadly there were no heartbeats to be found - something had gone terribly wrong. I have been in hospital and been sorted out - just the emotional side to deal with now - which is greatly helped by having my lovely little Jacob around.

Just wanted to let you all know.