Thanks Kids!

Thursday and Friday (last week) were my last days at nursery. I was very sad to say goodbye to the children, I'd been working with them since January and had got quite attached to some of them. As usual I managed to embarrass myself by crying when the children's parents came to collect them, although one or two of the Mums cried too so I didn't look too ridiculous. It's hard being a student and knowing you'll never see them again. Normal teachers at least get to see them around the school and see a bit more of them growing up. I know, I'm too sentimental...


The children made me a card (more tears) and gave me some wine. One of the Mums gave me the flowers in the photo above and one little boy brought me a box of chocolates. I got lots of hugs too. I left this placement feeling like my hard work was appreciated. A lovely way to conclude my studies!

Cards and Chocolates weren't the only thing the children gave me. On Sunday afternoon I came down with Swine Flu. There had been a few cases at the school so it seems likely it came from there. I'm still shocked at how quickly I became ill with it. I went from being fine to hardly able to move in the space of 2 hours. I had a pretty high fever for 3 days and the worst cough I've ever had.

I'm feeling a bit better now and have been knitting like a fiend all day today. Of course just before I came down with the flu I had been having a massive cleaning and tidying fest. As a result all of my current projects are buried under boxes of books and dismantled furniture. I managed to find 6 skeins of cotton to knit a baby blanket pattern I've been itching to knit. But I can't show you yet because it's a gift.

Thanks for all of the comments about me finishing my Diploma and the new layout. It feels much like me now.

Freedom

I met up with a old friend today. She lives 300 miles away but just happened to passing through Newcastle on my first free afternoon in months. She brought me a little gift to celebrate my freedom (well really it was a very belated birthday present but we decided it could be a celebration of my freedom too.)


Scrapbooking papers and some stamps. I've tried scrapbooking and didn't really dig it. I don't have cute little kids or pets and I don't really go on holiday or anywhere else of interest- which leaves me lacking in material. Back in my school days I worked in an art/craft shop where I made greetings cards for sale in the shop. This was back before the scrapbooking explosion happened in the UK. Rubber stamps and embossing powders where about the limit of what was available. So I've never used pretty printed papers before- I'm really looking forward to spending a few hours experimenting. I'm so pleased everything co-ordinates as I'm really bad at picking colours which go.

There is a weird coincidence with these papers too. My new blog layout was a blog-in-a-box creation by Zoe Pearn. The papers... designed by Zoe Pearn too. They are both even the from the same Bloom & Grow range. Freaky!

A New Beginning

I finally got finished up at college yesterday. Barring any further screw-ups by the college, I've passed my diploma with good enough marks to take up my uni place in September. I'm so pleased to leave college and all of the negative emotions and anxiety I have about it behind.

Today feels like a new beginning.

What better for a new beginning than a new blog layout. I've been wanting to do this for a while. I really didn't like the old one I had. I did thing about starting an entirely new blog... but I couldn't think of a name for it. So I decided just to pretty up the old blog. Some things don't quite work like they did before but I really like it.
I hope you, my billions of readers, like it too.

Woolfest 2009

Thought I'd write a quick little post about Woolfest and share some photos of my purchases!
I wasn't really looking forward to Woolfest this year. I had so much work to do that it felt like the last thing I needed was a weekend away from studying. I've also had so little spare time or energy for knitting that I'd kind of lost my love for it.
In the end I'm really glad I went. The weather was lovely and it really did me good to spend some time with friends and look at woolly things. Looking at everything was really inspiring... I came away feeling really enthusiastic about knitting again. So really the best thing I got from Woolfest I didn't even buy.
That said, on to what I did buy! I didn't think I had bought much this year... but looking at these photos maybe I did...



The top left stuff I actually bought for a felting project. The bottom left was some dyed Shetland but I made it into yarn before I took a photo. The other 2 are some BFL and Falkland from FeltStudio. I would have bought everything on that stall if I could. It was all beautiful.



I wasn't planning to buy any yarn but when I saw these 2 colours of Manos Silk Blend I could resist. I think they will be a scarf for me.
I'm planning to make some of the buttons into Jewellery. They were very cheap and in colours I love... I just couldn't resist.
I also bought some un-dyed organic merino from Cold Harbour Mill- which is the most lovely soft merino ever. I attempt to dye it, but that never turns out well for me so maybe I'll just leave it be.

Short and sweet post... Just like my Woolfest 2009!

Mobile Blogging

Just testing out mobile blogging. I've almost finished my diploma. Hopefully this time next week it'll all be over! I went to woolfest last weekend, it gave me so many ideas for projects I want to make over the summer break. Hopefully I'll manage to share them here!

Toe-ups.

Not much time for knitting at the moment. I can't believe it took me almost a month to finish a pair of thick socks. I didn't knit on anything else when I was making these either so it really was a months total knitting time.

I ordered the yarn to make these in the library at college one afternoon when I was feeling totally fed up and had a huge deadline looming. I kept myself going by telling myself the wool would arrive by the weekend, the dead line would have passed and I could have a blissful Saturday morning knitting in my jammies. The girls at college thought this was hilarious- but then most things I do seem to amuse them... and vice versa.



Due to a family commitment in the morning and then an obsession over baking a raspberry polenta cake (which later, due to lack of polenta, turned into raspberry fudge brownies) in the afternoon. I didn't get to cast on the socks until I was at a friends house in the evening.
I knew I wanted these socks to be toe-up having learned my lesson about making socks with limited yarn previously. I forgot to take a pattern with me so had to use what I remembered from reading about toe-up toes and kind of make it up as I went along. It took a few attempts but I think I did a pretty good job.



I had issues with the heel too. I ended up with the foot much too long and so had to rip out the heel and a few rounds and then re-knit it.
Binding off was easy for the first sock.I used a stretchy bind off I think my grandmother must have taught me. It's one of those knitting things I just knew how to do when I picked up the needles a few years ago. I managed to slip over and sprain my wirst while knitting the second sock (well I wasn't actually knitting it at the time but you know what I mean.) I could knit (of a fashion) but it was too uncomfortable to bind off for some reason.



Details
Pattern: My own. CO 20 stitches using (I think) Judy's magic cast-on. Increased to 48 stitches total. Short-row heel. 2x2 rib on cuff.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Ticked Pink. 1 skein. I used every last bit.
Needles: 3.25mm DPNs
(Raveled here)

I've only got 7 weeks at the very most left at college. I'm hoping it will be closer to 5 but who knows. Certainly not anyone at my useless college. Hopefully after that there will be more time for knitting and writing about knitting. I can't wait to be free!!

Finishing

Sometime even seamless knits are hard to finish.



I just can't get these little flowers to look right. Wherever I put them they just look silly and out of place to me. Without them the jumper just looks too plain.

Oh well never mind, no deadline for this knit as it's just another for the gift stash. The pattern is very addictive- I've already started another.