Innocent Smoothie 2012 Button Collection

This week has been a blur! I had great intentions of knitting loads of little hats for the Big Knit, but in the end, I only managed 8 this year. Belinda and Betty helped out with the modelling the 2012 Button collection!

 

 

What else has happened here this week? Well, the fire has been lit a couple of times, much to Flo's approval! She has decamped to her basket by the fire now, in the hope that it will be lit every day!

 

And when she's not in her basket or lazing in front of the fire, she has found another comfy place for a snooze - on my latest knitting bag!! Naughty cat!!

 

Have a good week everyone! xx

Dashing in!

Hello! It's another flying visit today. We are heading down to Portsmouth tomorrow for my Auntie's 95th birthday, so all our usual weekend activities are having to be condensed into one day! I have been busy with house things over the last week (more of that another time), so there hasn't been a great deal of progress on the knitting front. I have managed to finish another pair of plain vanilla socks for one of my University friends. We are meeting up in Bath (where we went to Uni) in three weeks time, as it will be 25 years since we graduated! Gulp! Where have those years all gone? Anyway, I still have one more pair of socks to knit before I see my friends. I shall make sure that I cast on before our drive south tomorrow - it'll be easy car knitting. Here's my most recent pair of socks, knit with the Zauberball that Flo took such a shine to last week!
 

 

A blogging friend, Lynne, has reminded me that it's Innocent Smoothie hat time again. I have taken part in the Big Knit for the last few years, although I haven't been as organised this time round. So I am challenging myself to knit 20 little hats before the closing date on October 1st. That will raise £5 to help keep an old person warm this winter. I'm using oddments from my stash and appear to have taken over the table in the lounge.

 

 

Hopefully I will have the 2012 collection to show you next weekend. Now that the nights are drawing in and the evenings are getting chillier, (sock wearing has begun again!) I have an urge to make a cosy blanket of some kind to snuggle up with on the sofa. Once I've finished my gift knitting, maybe I'll have a rummage through my stash and see what I can find.

 

 

I treated myself to a 'back to school' bag from Michele over at ThreeBagsFull. The fabric is so, so cute - it's called Snooze Owls. Look!

 

It even comes with co-ordinating ribbon and a cute owl bead!

Here's the bag in all its glory. I think it will be the perfect home for this year's little knitted hats, don't you? See you soon. xxx

 

What Florence did .....(or what a little cat can get up to in just half an hour!)

Oh oh, Mum's left her knitting on the sofa.

She's always knitting. I think I'll take it to her. She'll be so pleased.

 

Off the sofa, out of the living room - this is so easy!

Into the hallway, past my scratching post. Ooops! A big chunk of yarn just fell off the ball. Oh well, I've still got plenty so I'll just carry on.

 

Up the stairs I go. Carrying a ball of yarn in my mouth and climbing up the stairs at the same time is quite hard. Yikes! There goes some more yarn! Never mind, onwards and upwards!

 

 

Houston, we have a problem! I'm blaming the design of these silly Zauberballs - the yarn keeps slipping off in rather large amounts! I'm miaowing to Mum to come and help me, but I don't think she can hear me. Best I just sit here and wait for reinforcements.

 

 

I do like yarn you know. It's one of my best things ever!

Well, I've done all the hard work, I'm worn out now. Time for a nap! Miaow miaow miaow! xxx

All sorts!

Whoosh! That's what the last week has felt like! Term started on Tuesday, and since then life has more or less passed me by. Apologies if you have been waiting to see if you were a winner in my birthday blog giveaway. Mr JK drew out four names last Sunday - they were amandacake, spinthrift, busybusybeejay and QuantumTea. I have been in touch with all the winners and their prizes are on their way. Thanks to all of you who left me a comment - you have given me some great blog recommendations!
 

I finally got round to taking some photos of my Color Affection shawl. I bought the yarn from Loop the weekend that Mr JK ran his 10k in London, and most of it was knit on the beach in Kos. I do like it a lot, although I wonder whether I have been a little too conservative with the colours! Maybe I'll knit another one and be a little bolder with my colour choices!

 

 

 

I haven't quite worked out how I am going to wear it yet - probably as an oversized scarf, as I never seem to be able to keep things draped artfully around my shoulders!

 

I have been doing a little bit of spinning off and on. I started some BFL fibre the day that I went down to help Snoopydog get going on her spinning, and finally managed to get the yarn plied this weekend. I went for a 3ply yarn, and have ended up with about 180 metres of deliciously springy yarn. Not sure what it will be! I have lots of handspun like that, maybe it'll all end up being part of a blanket!

 

I have been busy sorting out a project for this term's knitting club too. I have settled on some garter stitch bunting that we can use to decorate the school corridors. I have set the children the challenge of getting as far as the Headteacher's office! I might see if I can enlist the help of some parents to make a little bit too, by providing them with a mini-ball of yarn - just enough for one triangle's worth. It could be fun! I made a few just to get us started.

 

 

Florence did some quality control testing for me today. One of the knitting projects from last year's club was knitting squares to make cat blankets. The squares finally got sewn together and I finished the blankets off with a couple of rounds of double crochet.

 

Both blankets were given a paws up, so we will be taking them to the cat sanctuary in the next few weeks.

 

I am currently knitting a pair of plain vanilla socks for one of my Uni friends. The yarn is a crazy Zauberball, and I do like the tweedy shades of purple a lot!

 

I have also dug out my mink and cashmere cardigan, and hope to make some headway with that again this week. I had forgotten how much I like the yarn and the pattern!

 

Guess who else likes it?!

Flo LOVES yarn! Several times this week, I have had to rescue knitting or balls of wool from her clutches. I suppose I should be happy that we share a hobby but ........  I have promised that I will knit her a little mouse from the leftovers of this yarn!

 

Time for me to skedaddle! Mr JK has just come in, so it's time for a mug of tea and a slice of cake. I made a German poppyseed cake this morning and it's delicious! Well, I had to test it to make sure it was ok for Mr JK now didn't I?! Have a good week! xxx

 

 

Made by my own fair hands!

I had a fun day yesterday to celebrate the end of the school holidays (where have all those days gone?!) I took the train to Cambridge and spent the afternoon at a quite delightful fabrics and interiors shop called CallyCo, learning how to make a purse. I'd stumbled across a link to the sewing workshops at the start of the holidays, and booked myself a place. I love all the project bags I have from ThreeBagsFull, and thought it would be fabulous if I could learn to make one myself.

The workshops are held in the cellar of the shop, beautifully fitted out with tables covered in pretty vinyl fabric. Each table had a sewing machine along with all the equipment needed to make a zipped, lined purse. Betty, our teacher, was lovely - so kind and patient. She showed us three sizes of bag that we could make and then it was back up to the shop to choose the fabrics. I chose some bright, jewel-like colours for the exterior and a spotty one for the lining. At this stage, I found it hard to believe that in three hours I'd have a finished bag to show off!
 

 

Betty took us through the making step by step, demonstrating anything that was a little complicated. She was so calm that she made it all seem very straight forward. We were given the option of adding some trim to the bag - I chose some ribbon, while others tried their hand at little pompoms and ric rac.
 

As well as helping us with the sewing, Betty kept us supplied with mugs of tea and delicious, squishy chocolate brownies. Mmmmmmmmmmm! By the end of the afternoon, each of us had finished our purses; they were all beautiful and we all felt extremely pleased with ourselves! I hope that I'm going to be able to make another one fairly soon to practise my newly learnt skills.

 

I added a little heart shaped button to the zipper tag, and also a beaded zipper pull.

I love the spotty lining too!

Now I just need to find a knitting project to go in its new home! See you! xxx

Birthday treats!

Hello again! Yes, I'm celebrating this week, as it's the 4th birthday of my blog. When I started it back in 2008, I didn't realise just how much enjoyment I was going to get from keeping a record of my knitting and other goings on in the josiekitten household! I quite enjoy looking back at old posts to see what I was getting up to! As a thank you to you, I'm having a little birthday giveaway. I've had a good rummage in my stash and found some lovely yarny prizes. Take a look!

 

From left to right, a skein of Great Northern Yarns 100% yak, a skein of 100% superwash BFL yarn from HippTopCloud, two skeins of 100% British wool from Angels and Elephants and a skein of supermerino, bamboo and silk from Stroud Wool. Mmmmmmmmmm!

To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is become a follower of my blog (if you're not already), and tell me about another blog that you like to visit. I'm always on the look out for new blogs to read. The giveaway is open to anyone and I'll post prizes worldwide! I'll leave the giveaway open until 9pm on Sunday and announce the winners early next week. Good luck!! xxx

Busy needles

It feels like ages since I posted some finished knitting. So get ready to feast your eyes! Earlier in the summer holidays I spun up a braid of Teddy fibre, a gift from Marianne. I showed you the cowl I knit before going to Greece. I used the remainder of the yarn to knit a simple drop stitch scarf. It shows off the beautiful colour changes perfectly.

 

The pattern is dead easy, and perfect for showing off the beauty of handspun yarns.

I also finished my second Citron shawl, knit with a skein of Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace yarn. This is a 60th birthday present for a friend, and I need to get it wrapped up and posted. I do like this pattern, even though the rows get a little tedious as the shawl gets bigger. I think it's worth it. I plan to knit a third one, beaded this time, for another friend.

 

 

I've finished another pair of plain vanilla socks for one of my Uni friends. This pair has some cotton in the yarn, so feels lovely and soft. They do seem a little big, so I might wash them and stick 'em in the tumble dryer for a bit. They will do as 'boot socks' anyway!

 

My last finished knit for today is the project I undertook for the Ravellenics (knitting Olympics on Ravelry.) I entered it in a number of events - beads, lace, shawl, one skein and stash - and was so pleased with myself that I managed to finish it before the end of the Games. Sadly, I didn't have the technology  to post my completed project in the different events while we were in Greece, so missed out on the medals for my team, Team Knitspot. Never mind, I am super-happy with the shawl, and that's the most important thing! I knit it using some yarn that I handspun during the Tour de Fleece this year.

 

The pattern I chose is Wandering Thyme, currently only available to BareNakedKnitspot members. I love the shape of the shawl, and am so pleased with how it turned out. The yarn is a mix of merino and bamboo, so it drapes beautifully. I had thought that the beads were too inconspicious, but have since decided that I quite like their subtlety! What do you think?

 

(Apologies for the creased top, I hadn't realised it was so bad until I saw the photos!!) I found the lace edging quite challenging and could only knit it during the day, when there were no distractions! But it was well worth it. I can see more beaded lacework in my future!

I am near to finishing my Color Affection, just the edging to go now. I also want to get cracking on my mink and cashmere cardigan. I put it aside for the summer, I just hope I can remember what I was doing all those weeks ago!

I am celebrating my Bloggiversary as The Woolly Adventures of  Knitting Kitty is 4 years old today! As a little thank you to you, my readers, I shall be having a giveaway later this week, so make sure you pop back! xxx