Aching all over…

Who would have though gardening was so painful? I spent the day on a team build up at Stanmer Park pulling weeds and I am sore today - even my knuckles hurt. It probably wasn’t helped by having a hike with the Brownies in the evening in the woods there though. I had a great time and pulling up thistles gives real progress so it was good to see the transformation at the end of the day so it was worth it. I also have a bag of Ragwort to try dying with and a lovely big bunch of lavender to dry.

Question of the Week 5 (and grafting woes)

Well here is my Secret Pal Question of the Week for this week.
1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday? I like having things to do, but nothing too frantic. I don’t really know where would be my favourite? I like having friends and family to visit. The trip to the Alps recently was great and I enjoyed the camping but I also enjoy traveling and had a great time in Rome a few years ago.
2) Where is one place you’d like to go? I’d love to go back to South America (I was 13 when I was there) or to go to India or China.

I’m starting to get a real backlog of almost finished projects. I have 2 pairs of socks that just need grafting as well as 1 Monkey sock. I need a chance to sit down with a lot of patience to do them all though.

I have Mail!!! And Pictures

Hooray - I got my first Secret pal parcel today. Fantastic yarn, beautiful soap, a sample size of Eucalan (I’ve wanted to try this for a while now) and a fantastic knitting gauge so I can stop guessing what size all my needles under 2mm actually are. Thank You Woolgirl… unless that was just to throw me off the scent and you had everything sent from the shop and you are really somebody else… if so, thank you!!!

I’ve also had my new Socktopus Sock Club package and have treated myself by ordering the La Digitessa kit from Yarnissima

Question of the Week 4
The “perfect sized” stash was a tough question for many of you to answer. Maybe these stash related questions will be easier:
1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”? I loved the Handmaiden Sea Silk when I made my storm shawl and I’ll have a chance to try the Wollemeise sock yarn (hooray) with La Digitessa to see why everyone is raving so much. I’ve not seen it for years but I also used to love Butterfly Super 10
2) What yarn do you never want to be without? Probably Noro Kureyon. I love the way it felts up and the colours are great. I’m drawn toward sock yarn at the moment although it takes up a bit more room than all the laceweight but the colours everyone is making are fantastic. I really need to learn how to handpaint yarn and use acid dyes. Most of the dying I’ve done is natural where you mix up the dyebath then simmer the yarn for ages. Lovely colours but not so good for variegated.
I’m thinking of looking into what books are available. I have the knitting version of the Dyers Companion so I might see if it is available over here.

PICTURES!!!!!!
I’m scarily behind on posting pictures so here goes:
Dyeing at the end of May

WKIP Day

The Alps

The Alps 2008

Just a quick summary - sorry its so wordy. I’m sure I probably have some of the river names wrong so I’ll fix them when the trip report comes out on the club website. You can see some of my photos from the trip there when it is updated in the next few days. You can see some of the great scenery if you check out the area on Google Earth and you can see some webcams in the area here.

Friday - Into town for last minute shopping/packing then off to Maidstone to repack everything into our friend’s car. By 3:00 we were at Folkstone to catch the Eurotunnel. An uneventful drive through France with little traffic and a nights sleep in a hotel at Nuit St George
Saturday - After breakfast, back in the car to continue driving. We stopped for lunch at Col de Lautaret and then it was off to Briancon for some groceries and then to the campsite at L’Argentiere-la-Bessee. The campsite was a bit crowded - 26 people on our pitch but the showers were great and it was right on the river’s Slalom course.
Sunday - After the usual faff the club headed down the river (the Durance from Argentiere to St Clements) and I headed off to the cafe by the take-out. Interesting ice cream combinations - Lemon Sorbet with Vodka. Not sure what the swim count was but everyone arrived safely. As the grocery stores were closed a few of us headed into L’Argentiere-la-Bessee fro dinner and had a great dinner in a cafe there then found a pub to watch the football. I think they must have felt overrun when the entire club showed up.
Monday - Probably the Upper and Lower Claree. A few swims at the get on and chase boating thoughout the day - by car - trying to keep an eye on the river for stray boats and kit. Luckily we got all the boats although I think a couple paddles were lost.
Tuesday - The Onde in the morning, again with a few swims. We were about to head down to the take out when we had to take one of the paddlers to the hospital in Briancon for stitches. Not sure what the afternoon river was but the takeout was at the canoe shop at St Clements again. We camped alongside a lake (don’t know the name) that night and had a great time swimming then heading to the restaurant on the other side of the lake. Great food, and a fun evening.
Wednesday - Off to the Ubaye valley with a look at the racecourse section of the Ubaye and a decision to paddle the upper Ubaye instead (I paddled this in July 1996 and manged to NOT swim - Hooray). I worked on my knitting and had a relaxing day at the get on before we headed back to Briancon to camp. The 5-Vallees campsite was quite nice with a pool and lots of space. We’ll be staying here for the rest of the week.
Thursday - The Durance again from St Clements to Embrun - a section that contains the famous Rabioux wave (I swam on the Rabioux once and surfed it - entirely by accident- in 1996). Got a lot of knitting done at the take out while getting covered by tree fluff. One boat lost but everyone was OK. Heading back to Briancon we drove back over Col d’Izoard (2361m) while the other card headed back to the campsite more directly for the pool before heading off to Briancon Old Town for dinner out. I was slightly defeated by the Raclette. Who thought you could eat so much cheese?
Friday - Not sure what rivers this was. I has a great time in the pool at the campsite
Saturday - Time to pack up and headed back over the Col d’Izoard to paddle the Guil, ending up at Chateau-Queyras. I went up to the Chateau went in and wandered around it. Well worth a visit. All ltoo soon though it was time to head home and after they finished the river we decided to go over another Col on the way back - the Col du Galibier which is higher up from Col de Lautaret and there is still some snow at the top of the pass. The road up didn’t have two lanes marked so i was holding onto my seat a bit. We did see 2 Marmots though, they look a bit like a cross between a beaver and a badger

Happy Canada Day

It’s not a holiday here, but Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians both at Home and all the Ex Pat Canadians as well. Long Live thedream.

Knitting and Secret Pal updates

Since I’ve been away for a while I’d better work out what I’ve been doing….

Almost Done
Mosaic Socks - just need to graft both toes
In Progress
Rock and Weave Socks - Up to the toe on one and up to the heel on the other
Hap Shawl - Slowly moving through this one - still on the border
Petal Bib - Looks like it might have been thr right gauge… just need to do the ties
Started
Monkey Socks - Started on holiday and I’m up to the heel on the first one
Estonian Potpourri Shawl - Started on holiday - loving the pattern but I think I may need to switch to larger needles. Maybe 2mm instead of 1.5mm otherwise I may go insane.

I’m going to try and be good and not start my new Sock club Kit right away even though I REALLY want to.

I’ve been busy with my Secret Pal shopping and a little something is on its way.

Questions of the week:
(Week 2) As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?
I loved going down to the lake (Lake Bonavista in Calgary) where we’d spend the whole day on the beach swimming, making waterfalls, and working on my epic sunburns. I’m sure it must have rained sometimes and we can’t have been there every day, but it seems like it.

(Week 3) What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?
A hard one… I periodically look at it and think I might have enough but then force such unnatural thoughts away. I suppose if I had to limit it it would have to be as many as I really liked. I sometimes have a clear out of the ones that I just don’t love any more.

We’re Back

What a great week, The South Alps, not a cloud in the sky (until today) and gorgeous hot weather. When they left there were almost 50 swims (and two boats and a couple paddles missing) but only one hospital trip to get some stitches so so far a good trip. Some of the groups are still out there for another week.

I can’t wait to hop in a bath to get clean (not sure my feet will ever come clean). I’ll write more in a couple days but now I just need to get some sleep and figure out where all the camping gear lives. I’ve managed to drain both camera batteries and the charger is still packed so I can’t even download the photos from the camera.

Best Excuse so far…

The train company surpassed themselves today. The train was “Delayed because of cows on the line at Ham Street”. Maybe they came out to snack on the leaves on the line

Happy WKIP Day (and Happy 20th Anniversary Big Bash)

I hope everyone had a great time yesterday at WKIP Day. We made it down to the (mostly) sunny Brighton Beach and sheltered from the wind (I really wish I had taken a jacket. Thanks Sarah for lending me your sweater). I;ve now reached the heel on the Mosaic socks so hopefully I can finish them off this week.

The it was off to The Big Bash a friend’s annual birthday extravaganza. Fun was had by all, silly games were played, BBQing happened, and none of the Freshers managed to set themselves on fire doing flame throwing. I hope none of them actually managed to swallow the kerosene. I wore my Danish Scout Uniform and DH wore his Ventures Uniform (complete with the shorts that still fit and the sock garters from when he was a cub). I’m thinking Kilt hose now having seen them but I don’t know if he would wear them…

Happy Father’s Day everyone.

Check the Ballband first…

Apparently I am not a smart knitter today…. and not very good about my resolution to avoid yarn. Ok, at least it was charity shop yarnRowan Designer Collection DK Handknit Cotton in Shade China (267) a lovely blue. I saw it in the charity shop and thought, it would make a nice Petal Bib (Ravelry Link) for my nephew. My second Mosaic sock is at the point where I need to measure it against the first sock which is in the other flat tonight so it was a good time to cast on (rather than cleaning off the bed so we have somewhere to sleep). Lovely little pattern and I have just finished the short row shaping. Its a bit big though… I checked the ball band and this is a DK. I checked the pattern and it asks for Sportweight. Ooops. Its cute though so I might see about re-jigging the pattern and making the petals narrower the next time.

I’m having second thoughts about taking the Estonian Potpourri shawl as my holiday knitting. Intricate lace probably isn’t a great holiday knitting item. I might take the Bayerische Socks and a pattern for mini socks. I have a need for many miniature pink socks for a pattern I am evolving so this might be a better camping project. This way I’ll have something small and something a bit more complex to work on.

Unfortunately I am out of most of the ingredients below or I would definately be making one of these… Our SP12 hostesses have asked for our favorite summertime drink so I’ll share my current favourite (although tomorrow night is a friend’s leaving do for work and there will probably be Long Island Iced Teas and Margueritas involved).

Pimms and Lemonade with Berries
Quantities are somewhat approximate so adjust to your own taste.
Mix together in a glass and enjoy

1 part Pimms
3 - 4 parts fizzy lemonade (or Sprite)
loads of Frozen Raspberries (any other seasonal fruit -fresh or frozen an be added or substituted)
Slice of oranges/lemons/lime - whatever is available

The frozen Raspberries keep it cool (because I don’t have ice-cubes since there really isn’t the space in the freezer) and are lovely to eat with a spoon when you are finished.