Happen it will!

You know that shetland lace weight that thought it wanted to be a half hap shawl - then changed its mind? Well it turned out that it wanted to be a hap scarf instead! This is from Sarah Don's The Art of Shetland Lace - new shell pattern - or new shale - think they're the same thing really!
I've made it long enough to fold over and go cosily round the neck. Now all I have to do is finish off all those ends..... and dress it. Just in time for spring. Ah well, spring can be chilly here!

Cakes!

There have been a few recently ... this is a good thing although the diet will need to start sometime soon!
First was my sister's Silver Wedding Anniversary when younger nephew did the baking bit and I did the decorating bit:

Then I spent a lovely couple of days in what turned out to real summer weather (in the Highlands in March!) with friends - so we needed a summery  cake with strawberries and cream!

And of course now it's Easter - so bunny rabbits and eggs and chocolate was required. I'm very pleased how this one came out - large and fluffly for a wheat free cake!

So that's us sorted then, though the rabbits didn't last long! Happy Easter everyone.

And he's here!

He's here - he's no longer legless or even armless - and he has eyes... he's not quite so happy with his nose but we'll just leave that one for now and see what happens. May I introduce Owen?

Sock it to me

There's something really calming about always having a pair of plain, easy to knit socks on the needles - all ready to go in their little project bag which can be grabbed and stuffed into a handbag at the last minute. You can knit them in the car and on the train and in the waiting room and all sorts of places. There's very little to think about with plain knitting, but the fab colours and patterns keep you going. So here's the latest finished pair - all purpley and soft.
 And I'm already on the second one of their successors - Don't think I could travel without a pair of socks on the go...

It growed!

So the blanket wasn't really big enough, and I did have 5 balls of wool left (and some odds and ends), so of  course it had to get bigger. I picked up stitches and extended it log-cabinwise, then added an icord edging. I don't know if it's how you're meant to do an icord edging but it seemed to work!

Mum's birthday Shetland shawl grew pretty quickly too - just over 10 days of knitting then a day to block it out. I love the way the colours wave in and out with the Old Shale pattern. It was great to do and I think she liked it!

Progress

Well the blanket got finished and has gone off down to my mum to keep her lap warm when out and about in the wheelchair - just waiting on confirmation that it's big enough before I use the leftovers to do a cover for the chair cushion!

I've finally got the New Lanark Aran project sorted out - after several froggings last weekend much to the amusement of everyone - I'm doing this:

But I'm using a broken rib pattern to give a bit of texture (k1, p1 on row 1 then purl row 2) and have decided against any waist shaping as I want a big comfy warm about the house kind of jumper. It's going pretty fast - the back is almost finished.

And no, Owen ain't ready yet. Watch this space!

Button up

So that's something new done this year - covering buttons! Poor Owen got put on hold til I could find 4 large buttons which would not cost a fortune (what is it with buttons these days?). Finally (and yes I should have gone there first) I got them in mum's button box - flat and just the right size. Apparently these go inside the legs and arms and work the joints ... Owen and I are both a little sceptical about how this works in practice. But at least I now know how to cover buttons!

Muffins and blankets

Bake number two from my Christmas book - Blueberry and Lemon Muffins - with a secret bite of cream cheese in the middle and covered in lemon drizzle - very nice indeed! And I learned how to use the whisk bit of my food processor (and where it was).

For some reason which I can't work out my thighs get awfully cold these days - so they really needed their own little lap blanket. Funnily enough I had some Christmas money left over and John Lewis had a sale on so some of the Rowan Felted Tweed Chunky came home with me and is now halfway to being a lap blanket:

I know this isn't quite in the Cold Sheeping 2012 spirit but on the other hand I didn't want to eat into any of the sweater amounts of yarn and I didn't have anything really suitable anyway..... honest. And this is reinforcing how great it is to buy something and start it immediately!

He that hath ears to hear

He that hath ears to hear ..... currently also speaking or seeing no evil! One leg is almost finished but I need to go on a  button hunt first as they're needed for the joints. But Owen is becoming more bear like every day.