A Forest Full of Canopies ;-)

I remarked on Ravelry the other day that I really ought to buy another copy of this lovely pattern ;-) I've given up counting how many I've knitted it, but you know they are all so different it never really seems as though I am knitting the same thing..................

None of these is in my possession any more, as ever, they have gone to say "get well soon" or "thank you for having me" or something of that ilk.

So, here are 4 FCS's, not in any particular order, knitted using a variety of yarns and all rather different.

First up is one that was knitted with around 70g of Old Maiden Aunt merino yarn # Dreich.

This one using Fiddlesticks Country Silk # Desert Sand

This one using Artesano Inca Cloud. I particularly like this one. It was difficult to photograph the colour accurately though.



And finally this one, using yarn from the Unique Sheep # Hobbiton.

I don't just knit these of course ;-) Next week I'll show you what I'm up to at the moment. 

And once again, thank you to everyone for entering my competition. I am so pleased that I have returned to my blog. I may not blog as prolifically as I used to or respond to everyone's comments, but I do appreciate them all.

The Marathon Man

3 hours 5 minutes 17 seconds

This was the time in which DS ran the London Marathom this weekend. We are so proud of him. It was not an easy run as the weather was very warm, but it was a personal best time for him which is a great achievement.

We managed to see DS three times during the race. First of all we headed down to Surrey Quays, where amazingly we bumped into friends from home, then on the Canary Wharf and finally to Westminster before meeting him at Horseguards. Here are a few photos of the day.

A wonderful effort by so many people.

And finally, the lovely PixieMum has received her prize. How fitting that her daughter should have taken part in the marathon too. And just to show what a small world it is, we discovered that we have a mutual knitting friend. Awesome!

And the Winner is........

PixieMum! Thank you so much to everyone who entered my little competition. I allocated you all a number this morning, and just entered the relevant information into a random number generater and voila!


Random Integer Generator


Here are your random numbers:



15

Timestamp: 2011-04-01 12:01:21 UTC

Thank you to everyone who commented, and encouraging me back to blogland. PixieMum, I'll just go and leave a post on your blog and ask you to email me. Well done!

Life, The Universe and Everything........

..... or a Hitchhiker scarf ;-)

Mine has 42 teeth so it's a proper Hitchhiker, and I must say that I am really pleased with it. I used exactly one skein of Sweet Feet from Artist's Pallette Yarns # Sweet Pea which was a colourway from the 2009 Socktopus sock club. I bought a second skein of this, and currently have a pair of Monkeys on the go, although I have a distinct case of SSS.

The bamboo gives a wonderful drape.

I used size 8 Aero needles. It's lovely to have finished something that I really like!

Don't forgt my bloggiversary competion is still on the go for another week until March 31st!

Under the Sea

More holiday photos, and all self-explanatory. The Red Sea is awash with coral and marine life, and it's stunning.

All taken from the jetty here

Although we were a bit taken aback by this

Mind you, it's not all marine life!

More photos to follow!



Didn't we Have a Lovely Time.......

..... the week we went to Egypt :-)

When mum died last year, I went through a whole gamut of emotions. First of all there was guilt, guilt because I wasn't there, worse still I was away in London having a lovely time at Knit Nation. Then there was anger because her last year had been such a hard one. That was followed by relief (and then guilt again for feeling relief) that her struggle was finally over - because it was a struggle towards the end. Most of all though there was just an overwhelming sense of loss, and a great void in my life. It's all taken it's toll.

I've also had to come to terms with a permanent rift in my relationship with my brother, although ultimately this actually has been a very positive thing if that doesn't sound odd. We've always had an up/down/on/off relationship, not having to work so hard at something has been very liberating and far less stressful.

Finally I am able to feel very peaceful about it all. This has been helped no end by a family holiday in Sharm el Sheikh. I'd wanted something that we could all do together to remember mum, closure for all of us really, and deciding to go on holiday was the best decision I have ever made (almost!). As you might remember, mum loved her garden. The hotel was beautifully landscaped, and at first I would think "mum would like this" or "mum would like that" and then gradually I just felt that she was there with us, enjoying what we were enjoying, and that was a very comforting and healing thing to feel.

So, time for a few holiday photos. I'll probably make a couple of posts rather than overwhelm the thread. We stayed at the lovely Reef Oasis Blue Bay Hotel, and I'm afraid we didn't set foot outside the complex for the entire week!

First of all, there was the sunset as we flew into Egypt

Our lovely view of the pool from our room

Wonderful towel art!

Beautiful flowers

Here I am with my youngest DS - wearing my beautiful Sweet Pea shawl made by the lovely Franney



And with my beautiful daughter

And with Mr A

This was our favourite sunbathing terrace with a fabulous view

Another view from the terrace



And to end with for now, another sunset

More photos to follow in a few days!

I Love Days Like This!

How lovely to return home from holiday to comments on my blog - some from old friends and some from new faces, and all very welcome :-)

I have just returned from a week's holiday in Sharm el Sheikh which was wonderful, and I'll tell you all about that in the next few days. I want to write about today first though, while it's still fresh in my mind.

This morning DD and I went to church to listen to her banns being read for the first time. What a wonderful way to start a day :-) There are 10 weeks and 6 days to go now until the wedding, not that I am counting or anything, but I am so excited.

I hotfooted it from the church at Eastnor to Droitwich, where the Droitwich Half Marathon was taking place, and arrived in time to watch DS1 complete the course in a personal best time, of just over one hour and 22 minutes, taking 30 seconds off his previous personal best. We were there with two of his old schoolfriends and their wives (it doesn't seem five minutes since they were all 7 years old never mind being married with wives but there you are) and have all been for a lovely pub lunch together, reminiscing about old times and generally enjoying each other's company.

And to cap it all, Liverpool have beaten Manchester United :-) Life doesn't get any better than this!

DS is on his way back to London now and some of the best photos are on his camera, but here's a flavour of the day for you.

Edited to add this lovely photo which was in Rob's camera. Don't you just love it!

Next stop London and the Marathon on April 17th. I am very much looking forward to another lovely weekend.

Bloggiversary Competion

Some four years ago today I took a very tentative step into blogland. I had no idea how long I would blog for or  indeed whether it would be my one and only post. I've been thinking about my poor neglected little blog for some time.

I spent a long time reading through four years of posts the other day and decided I'd missed my blog a great deal. So what better way to return to blogging that to have the almost obligatory bloggiversary competion. So I've put together a little package of goodies which could be yours - all you have to do of course is leave a comment here on my blog during the month of March. And every comment made will earn you an entry into the draw. Simples!

With a Little Help from my Friends

Hopefully this is the first of many posts this year, that is if I can get my head round some of the changes here on Blogger ;-)

It's been a busy few months since I was last here. Life has gradually returned to something approaching normal but I have to say it has taken a while. I think I was on automatic pilot until Christmas, but I have definitely turned a corner now. Planning and getting ready for my daughter's wedding in May has been a most enjoyable way to concentrate the mind. And work keeps me very busy indeed.

I have been knitting a little, and for anyone who might be interested everything can be seen on my Ravelry projects page. This however is my latest FO, it's the Falling Leaves Wrap which seems to have taken me a very long time.

Several people helped me in the making of this by sending me their leftover yarn, you know who you are and thank you again. The yarn was a club yarn in the 2009 Socktopus sock club and is Toddy from The Yarn Yard a lovely mix of merino and nylon, great for socks and equally lovely for wraps too :-)

 

I used 4mm Aero needles and around 1.8 skeins of yarn.