Not exactly portable knitting!

I went to Olympia yesterday and I saw these needles and just had to have a go! I bought them from here






Here is my first go at knitting with them using 12 strands of various colours of acrylic yarns. I am making a blanket/throw for Charlie's bed.



And here it is next to my sock!



And lastly to give you an idea of scale next to a 4mm brittany birch needle measuring 28cm end to tip!


I enjoyed my day out at Olympia although I find the ammount of knitting stalls is always a little disappointing. I did make good use of my day with a few well chosen purchases. Obviously the extreme needles are a big hit, but I also bought some yarn. 4 balls of unknown German sock yarn, and 20 balls of Jaeger Roma in colourway 014:Lavender.
I also bought craft paper for Charlie to use in her card making, and a Japanese braiding kit from here. I am going to use the idea with the Girlguides while we are on camp in May.



Easter weekend saw us visiting the Grandchildren in Hastings and here is a rare photo of myself and Ella.

Proud Moment

I must be the proudest Mum in the London Borough of Croydon! The show at the Fairfield halls tonight was amazing, and we had seats in just the right place to be able to see Charlie clearly all the way through. They performed a special piece written for them by a local composer based on recycling, animal conservation and saving the planet. Then at the end they did a medly of songs within the theme of heroes, including some Bond themes and some Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff. It was amazing to hear (and see)over 500 kids singing together and enjoying every minute. It brought tears to my eyes.

Didn't we have a lovely time

the day we went to Bangor.





We travelled to North Wales on Friday to vist the University. It took ages to get there due to lots of other people driving cars, vans and lorries up the M6. How dare they be on the road at the same time as us! Add to that a number of incidents on the roads it took us 7 hours to get there ( with two short "facilities" stops along the way).
We arrived at the Youth Hostel 5 minutes too late to have dinner, so went into Bangor to find an eating place for some fast food.
After a sleepless night we got up and DH dropped Em & I in Bangor before he and Charlie headed off to drive through the mountains. We walked through the city centre before heading up the hill to the University. Unfortunately we had the wrong site, but were directed to the right site by a very friendly security person. It was only a 25minute walk (or stagger) to the right place and we got there in good time. We were then treated to a very pleasant buffet lunch followed by an entertaining introductory talk about Bangor University School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science. Then we went on a bus tour of the city ending up at the Halls of Residence. Many of the Halls at Bangor are in the process of being updated and those we were shown were much better than were available when I was looking at Uni's 20+ years ago! It was then back on the bus to the Sport science block where we were shown around the laboratories. What amazing equipment they had.
The afternoon ended with us having a chance to discuss any questions we might have with some of the staff. We were able to find out more about the dyslexia services at Bangor, and the qualifications obtainable during the 3 years at Uni.
Then we were picked up by the "Mountain" climbers and we drove back to the Youth Hostel to watch the Wales / france Rugby match. It was a thrilling match with a fantastic final score! (Wales won-of course) By now we were ravenous and so made a dash in the car to Llanberis where we enjoyed a good nosh at Pete's Eats. This well known Cafe ( well known among walkers) does a realy mean plate of Chilli & Chips, which went down really well after a hard day visiting the Uni.
Sunday morning saw us packing up and heading for home. We took the scenic route back via the A5 and saw the snow on top of the mountains. Once we were on the motorway however we had a reasonable journey home.
The back caused quite a lot of discomfort during the weekend and I was relieved not to be doing the driving. This also gave me a chance to do a little bit of knitting in the car on the way home. When I wasn't "high" on painkillers I managed to complete 1/2 a sock. I have used the basic Fyberspates pattern which came with my first purchase of sock yarn, and which I have used for every sock I have knitteed so far, but adapted it to knit a basic lace pattern on the sock. (Photo to follow)

I went into work this morning for a couple of hours to get back into the swing of things. It was Ok, and I was so pleased to see all my friends. The last month at home has been terribly boring and lonely. Thank goodness for the internet. I have spent many happy hours reading other peoples blogs. Thankyou to all those knitting bloggers out there who have kept me sane over the past month.

Golf birthday cake

I have just got round to loading this picture onto the lap-top. I baked it and decorated it for my husband to celebrate his 60th birthday in February.
It was fun to make and decorate. I haven't made a "Proper" birthday cake for years. In the past I have created all sorts of things from sponge, including the Thunderbirds Tracey Island, Thomas the Tank engine, Postman pat's van and even a severed hand!! If I can find the photographic evidence I will try and scan it into the computer(but don't hold your breath)

Having just looked back over some of my previous posts I realise I never admitted what happened to the silky look cardigan I was making over Christmas. Well, it is now on the frogging pile as it was wider than it was long, and although I am a little on the plus size it swamps me.
I also have to admit to another purchase. (must keep it quiet as hubby doesn't know about it ) I was in Hobbycraft in Maidstone on Tuesday and they had some Rowan DK yarn 1/2 price. Well you can't miss an oportunity like that can you? I bought a few balls, enough to knit a long waistcoat, and so my stash keeps growing. At this rate, if I live to be a hundred I will never run out of yarn!

I have just made another e-bay purchase, Not for me this time. Mike had his eye on a dinghy to use to get onto his boat. He currently uses an inflatable which is great to use occasionally but is not big enough to transfer gear and bodies from "shore to ship" and vice versa. We are now the proud owners of a solid dinghy and outboard motor. Now we have to name her! The big boat is called VOLANTE and the inflatable is called the MOODY MOLLY (named after the make of the big boat and our dog!) The new dinghy now needs a wacky name. Any suggestions?

knitting upside down

Knitting flat on your back is difficult, but not impossible. I have just finished a pair of socks knit using some yarn I bought on E-bay from Angels and Elephants, colourway Candy Floss. I conquered the second sock syndrome by knitting both at the same time on two sets of DPN's. I.ve now cast on another pair using Regia 4py.I tried to do some of my Freedom spirit cardigan but this was too heavy to handle upside down!

I made some purchases on Amazon last week, including Mason Dixon Knitting which I promised myself ages ago but never got round to buying. I also bougt Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl McPhee and The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. I am thoroughly enjoying The Knitting Circle.

Emily passed her driving test two weeks ago and since then I haven't seen much of my car. At least I can't drive it myself at the moment so it's working out OK. She is currently looking to buy herself a car and spends a lot of time on the internet researching diffferent makes and models.