Keep on Running!

Hello there! I'm a very proud josiekitten today. We have been in London for the weekend as Mr JK was running in his first ever race - the Bupa London 10km. Despite the heat (28 degrees Celsius or 82 degrees Fahrenheit), he completed the race in just over 90 minutes.

The elite athletes ran at the start, including Mo Farah, the current world 5000m champion. He was on his last couple of km as Mr JK passed him at his 2km mark! There was a great atmosphere down the Mall. It's the route of the London Olympic marathon, so it was pretty special for the athletes taking part. Imagine the buzz you must get running down towards Buckingham Palace with the crowds clapping and cheering!

In addition to the top athletes, there are plenty of fun runners, many of whom are raising money for charity. It is very inspiring and emotional to watch them pushing themselves for others. I spotted this trio in Dr Who garb - they must have been boiling!

I even told Mr JK that I would quite like to run the race myself next year. Hmmmmmmmmm, we'll see whether I was just getting carried away in the heat of the moment. I'm not known at school for my sporting prowess! I'm not even sure that I have a pair of trainers!! Here is Mr JK's race medal. To me, it's worth just as much as an Olympic gold!

On Saturday, we spent most of the day exploring some of London's finest museums - the Science museum and the V&A. I love the costume section there. I also managed to squeeze in a visit to Loop and bought three skeins of Juno Fibre Arts Alice sock yarn to knit a Color Affection shawl. I have finally succumbed to the lure of this gorgeous pattern. I decided to go with shades that would all blend in with each other. Here they are, snuggled inside their new home. It's a batik dragonflies bag from ThreeBagsFull, and was a gift from a dear knitting friend this week. I am hoping to get the yarn wound before we head off to Germany for a long weekend next week.

I shall see you after the Jubilee weekend. Have a great time! xxx

Animal Antics

There have been some animal sightings in the josiekitten garden this week! Firstly, a rather rotund blue owl flew in. He didn't stay long  - he then flew on to school to become our new mascot!

Of course, he wanted to meet Florence before he left. She wasn't overly impressed - I don't think she could give a hoot!!

Secondly, a squirrel has discovered that we have a bird feeder, and with no trouble whatsoever, he nipped up the pole to survey things from his new vantage point.

It wasn't long before he started on the bird seed. I am amazed at the agility of these creatures.

I think he intends to come back until he's completely depleted the bird seed. Poor birds, we'll have to see what we can do to make their feeders more squirrel proof, as they're not getting a look-in at the moment!

Back to the knitting, I have finished another plain vanilla pair of socks for my friend Zena, so I'll be posting them off to her this week. I do hope she likes them. The yarn is machine washable, so perfect for new converts to handknit socks!

The crochet ripple blanket is growing too. I think that I shall do a single crochet border around the edge in three different colours from the blanket, and finish it off with a picot edge if I can find out how to do it! I've seen a couple of very pretty ones on Ravelry with that sort of edging. You won't be surprised to hear that Florence continues to monitor its progress!

We are off to London next weekend as Mr JK is running in the Bupa London 10km race. The course follows part of the London Olympic marathon route which is quite exciting. I'm hoping it will be dry so that I can find somewhere to sit and knit! See you soon! xxx

Catching up

Hello again! I thought it was about time I showed you just what's been happening in my knitty-hooky world recently. The crochet ripple blanket is coming along nicely. I think that I will have enough yarn to do four colour repeats of all ten stripes, which should make it a useful size. I am going to need to buy some more yarn for the border. I can't quite decide what colours to get, so I'm going to browse a few finished blankets over on Ravelry for some inspiration. Progress is being closely monitored by Flo, you'll be pleased to hear!

I finished a pair of Roger socks for a friend. I've called them 'You'll never walk alone' since the recipient is an ardent Liverpool supporter. I used a Regia machine washable yarn as I don't think they'd get the handwashing treatment needed for some more luxurious sock yarns. I do like this pattern a lot, it fits very well and is easy to knit.

I've also been knitting away on a plain vanilla pair of socks and am on the heel flap of the second. I should have those to show you next time. Other knitting for another day includes my mink and cashmere cardigan (back, one sleeve and part of a front done) and a large cuddly owl which is going to become our school mascot. I've almost finished the body, ably assisted by 'you know who', who thinks that any yarn (especially lovely bulky yarn) belongs to her!

At least she looked sorry when I finally extracted it - somewhat mangled - from her claws and jaws!! How could I stay cross with her?!!

I received a lovely parcel from my friend Cathy in Canada. We have been swapping yarn and fibre for two or three years now. She always manages to find me something unusual. The sock yarn is local to her, using some Canadian alpaca. I can't wait to turn it into some socks!

I also received my fibre from Picperfic's luxury fibre club. It's a mix of merino, cashmere and silk. The suggestion is to spin it as a single and then knit a Citron shawl. It would look beautiful with the gradual colour changes.

I have been busy in the kitchen too - I made some focaccia bread using a recipe from the Hairy Bikers Great Bakeation. It tasted really nice and I shall definitely be making it again. I used genuine Italian olive oil from Jenny.

Last weekend I made a Bakewell tart using an old recipe of my Mum's. The pastry just melted in your mouth, it was really deeeeeeelish! (with custard of course!)  I'm making another pie today - chicken, ham and leek from the Hairy Bikers' pie book. I hope it's another winner! Here's last week's tart. Enjoy! xxx

Bring me sunshine

My goodness, what do we have here? Blue skies and sunshine! Yippee! Certainly cause for celebration in the josiekitten household. It's been such a gloomy few weeks, with the wettest April on record, and dull, miserable weather. So Mr JK and I wasted no time, and set out for a visit to one of our favourite gardens - the Old Vicarage at East Ruston. There is so much to see here, we never get bored. There are interesting archways and windows cut into hedges, drawing you deeper into the garden.

 

 

These ferns looked stunning with the sun shining through them - they've almost uncurled themselves.

The topiary has been cut into shape. I wouldn't want it in my own garden, but here it just fits perfectly.

The bluebells were in full flower, a real reminder that spring is here (better late than never!) We have a few growing in our garden, although not all of them are blue. A few rogue pink ones seem to have crept in from somewhere!

This pathway always seems magical to me - you almost expect it to lead to a fairy glen. It's the kind of place I would have loved to play in as a child.

This alium is just about to burst into flower. I do like these blooms, so majestic.

 

 

There are pots and tubs of flowers everywhere you look. These were some of my favourites, pink daisies.

And what do you do when you've been walking round for an hour or so? Enjoy a cup of tea and a piece of cake! Mmmmmmmmmm!

Call back in again tomorrow, I've loads of yarny things to show you! xxx

It was only a matter of time ....

It was only a matter of time before I started rippling! I have been a regular visitor over at Attic24 for a couple of years now, and did get as far as rippling myself a scarf. Inspired by Melissa's recent efforts, I am underway with some hooky business, crocheting a baby blanket for a friend. I'm using yarn from stash too - some Anny Blatt machine washable merino wool that I bought in Toulouse a couple of years ago.

The only snag is, a certain little cat seems to think it's for her!! Although she has complained that it isn't very wide! Oh dear, perhaps I'd better make one for Flo once this is done!

3KCBWDAY7 - Crafting Balance

Are you a knitter or a crocheter, or are you a bit of both? If you are monogamous in your yarn-based crafting, is it because you do not enjoy the other craft or have you simply never given yourself the push to learn it? Is it because the items that you best enjoy crafting are more suited to the needles or the hook? Do you plan on ever trying to take up and fully learn the other craft? If you are equally comfortable knitting as you are crocheting, how do you balance both crafts? Do you always have projects of each on the go, or do you go through periods of favouring one over the other? How did you come to learn and love your craft(s)?

My crafting time is split pretty much between knitting and spinning. I can crochet however, and would like to make a crocheted blanket at some point. I get my crochet inspiration from Lucy over at Attic24, and envy her bold use of colour.

I knit more than I spin, partly because my spinning wheel is in my craft room upstairs and I feel rather antisocial spending too much time shut away there. I guess I should move the wheel down to the living room. The only trouble is, Florence seems to think that it's a giant cat toy, there for her entertainment alone! Also, once I've spun a yarn, there's the temptation to start knitting with it. I spun this up last month, and want to cast on a Citron shawl. It feels incredibly soft, so will make a perfect extra layer.

I always have several knitting projects on the go, but with spinning, find that once I start to spin some fibre, I keep at it over several days until it's all spun. While I'm spinning, I'm thinking about the different fibres in my stash, and pondering on which one will be the next to be spun. I'd like to spin a sweater's worth of yarn at some point, it'd be amazing to knit one with my own handspun yarn. With knitting projects, I can leave some on the back burner for weeks (months, years!!!), without feeling guilty! Perhaps my spinning is more visible, plus there's something very enticing about spinning up some beautiful fibre - I always want to see how it's going to look in the finished yarn. I'd like to improve my sewing skills too - but that's a whole new ball game. Just give me a few more hours in my day! Roll on retirement!!

3KCBWDAY6 - Improving Your Skillset

How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.

At the start of each new year, I look back at the previous one, and set myself some knitting goals for the coming twelve months. I always have 'try to knit from stash' (just who am I kidding here?!) as well as learning at least one new skill. Last year, I felt that I got to grips with two skills that I'd struggled with the year before. The first was knitting lace. It doesn't come naturally to me, I find it quite difficult to 'read' the pattern and spot quickly if I've made a mistake and I need to literally chant the row outloud as I am knitting it!! So I gave myself a big pat on the back when I'd finished knitting Spriteling in readiness for Knit Nation.

I won't tell you how many times I had to frog back (lifelines were my best friend!!), but I was thrilled with the finished shawl.

Last year I also did a beaded knit, using the crochet hook method, and it was much easier than I thought it would be! I definitely want to do more beaded knits this year too. I beaded the last pattern repeat on a handspun Ishbel shawl. It was quite hard to part with this knit, but the recipient loved it!

I would really like to get to grips with some colourwork this year. I have some rather lovely yarns courtesy of the Natural Dye Studio Great British Wool club. Each one is a mix of 50% Blue Faced Leicester and 50% another British breed. So far I have four skeins, with two more still to come. They go together so well, I shall have to find the perfect pattern to show them all off. Any suggestions?!

Another thing I'd definitely like to get better at is reading charts. I much prefer the written instructions, and have dismissed some patterns simply because the pattern only came charted. I have bought myself a magnetic pattern board and hope that this will help me. Maybe I'll kill two birds with one stone and use a chart for my colourwork knitting. (I think that's how they're written isn't it? GULP!!)

These are only my knitting goals. Some of you may know that as well as knitting, I also spin. I am constantly striving to improve my yardage, as I am determined to spin enough yarn to knit myself a pair of socks! I'd also like to spin a greater variety of fibres, and will make that one of my goals during this year's Tour de Fleece. I have a rather lovely pack of British breed fibres, that could, all being well, turn into this!! So that'll be three birds with my one stone then, won't it?! Charts, colourwork and different fibres! You can be sure I'll be blogging about it Big Time if I manage to do it!