Knitting Doldrums!!!!!

Afternoon,
its saturday afternoon,the sun's a shining and i am bored to bits!!!!
I know,I know...you are asking the question,how can a knitter be bored????
Well it all started yesterday.....and just carried on and on and on......
My darling hubs came home from putting flowers on his sisters grave in norwich ,and mentioned that the car was being a right wotsit as he couldn't get it into first gear................
so we left the car to cool down,and i went out and tryed it........AND WISHED I HADN'T!!!
When the car was still and the engine wasn't running,i could get into any gear i wanted,,,but start the engine and it just wouldn't go in...it was like wrestling a python....FORGET IT!!!!
And then to add insult to injury i broke my new sewing machine......and well there's a 3rd one about here somewhere in the last two weeks,lets see.....my son can't remember where he left his bag and bike after a weekend camping trip....my youngest ones kidney thats small has finally packed up.........and my daughters birth certificate didn't turn up until friday morning,three weeks late.
anyway,back to the matter at hand.....
last night i tried to put the car down the drive....when i got into the car i noticed something wasn't right but i still got in ,the clutch peddle dropped to the floor and didn't come back up,and the gears....FORGET IT ,NOT HAPPENING!!!!
So after ringing several garages in the area,turns out its the clutch plate gone...and because the multipla has a dual compression system on its gear box..the clutch plate alone is £188.99,the cheapest quote i have had to fit this is £595.99 plus vat and the most expensive quote i have had is £699.99 plus labour and vat....the problem is that i only have 6 weeks before the mot is due,and alot of garages won't touch my car as they are saying whats the point of doing the work,throwing money at it and it fails the mot....i know i have got to have a new windscreen and the insurance is going to cover it......but thats a bloody lot of cash to find in a hurry....so here's the dilemma i have...do i dump it scrap it and get another or do i persevere with it and cross everything that it will got through????
well its going to alocal garage on monday called willow tree cars,a man with some good advice,and very helpful too boot,,,he's advising that i have my car mot'd first and if its going to fail on alot then its time to scrap the car and get another one.....personally i am dreading it........
i loved my multipla and don't want to see it die.....
any way....thats why i am on a knitting downer....i love knitting but i can't seem to make up my mind on what to do ...i have got so many projects i want to do...but can't seem to get my butt in gear to do anything....so have made a start on a throw pattern thats in "the knitter" just to keep my brain ticking until the doldrums dissappear....i guess its a case of until tuesday morning we won't know where we stand with the most important thing in our lives at the minute....the car.
My mum and dad have done what they can to help....my dad bless him took me food shopping yesterday...and today my mum and dad bought me flowers to cheer me up......mind you they had two of my canary babies this morning....my mum is over the moon about the canary's ....for some unknown reason we seem to be the only people in the county that has canary babies and eggs ready to hatch at any minute....don't get me wrong we are by no means experts on canary's and what ever we are doing we must be doing it right.....its just shame that we have no idea what we are doing that is encouraging them to breed..........my canary girlie also has 4 eggs in the nest at the minute...........all we do is feed them a variety of greens and seeds,a cuttle fish and crushed egg shells on demand.......and thats about it oh and we give them a light misting every day and they can get to a bath every day and plenty of water.....they aren't over hot and aren't deprived anything...their favorite greens would have to be cress and cauliflower tender leaves.....and they do like a peice of apple or pear.........but thats about it....so at least thats going right for us t the minute thankgoodness.......but i do have o be honest,i m enjoying making the optical illusion throw,its the first one i have ever made and i don't have to think too much...and i can still watch the tv whilst i knit...tomorrow i am going to make a pair of socks on my knitting machine....my middle son has asked me to make him a pair of boot socks to wear under his steel toe capped boots for college as they have advised that because he's working with hot metal and welders that he wears no nylon and plumps for 100% wool as its fire retartdent....have got some lovely yarn,ready to go...i have finally got his measurements and i shall be at it in the morning.....my middle son is away at a friends this weekend,he's swimming and camping,and walking their dog,and genrally enjoying himself,and i say good luck to him.....i just hope he doesn't manage to loose another bike and school bag........but it can't be helped....he just has no long term memory........i can ask him to do something as simple as flush the toilet in the bathroom upstairs...and by the time he's got to the top of the stairs he's forgeotten exactly what i had asked him to do...if i don't write it down he won't remember....i am trying to get him into hospital just to find out why he has no memory....but time will tell......time will tell.......even he's beginning to worry,the unfortunate thing is that all of his college work was on a memory stick in the first rucksac he lost....so yet again we have to start again....its just as well i insisted on copying all of his homework onto floppy disc's from his laptop....i know my ex-husband thinks i am being a bit anal about his college homework but its the only way both he and i can guarantee that he will have his coursework to hand in at the end of the year.....what else can we do???both he and i have tried everything else and it just hasn't worked....he's on his 4th memory stick....and i have a sneaking suspicion that it might not be the last one he looses before the end of the year....but such is life at the minute the boys are going to cellege on the bus because although it isn't my turn......i got asked this morning to do a college run,because one of the other parents can't do the run...that means it would have been my 3rd run this month,and we are the ones on a fixed low income???????but i can't do it and there's nothing i can do about it...just cross everything and hope it goes alright......and maybe i will be a little happier by tuesday and then i can go from there.....right moan over!!!will post pictures of my throw in the next couple of days....as i have a feeling it won't take too long,i always knit faster when i am upset or nervous!!! BYE!!!

BLIMEY!!!WHAT A WEEK!!!

Good evening,well things have been a bit mental to be honest,which is why i haven't written for a while............................................

I have been playing with my knitting machine in earnest this week,i have been l;earning tuck stitch as well as the more refined fairisle stitch....and believe me its taken some doing.....But i am getting there,i mean,its only taken me 3 years......not very long really(?)

Well this week not only have i been making tank tops,but i have been making cushion covers as well...

The cushion covers were a total improvisation and as i did the pattern via trial and error i was writing it down in my memory notepad,other wise i could go down stairs for a coffee,and when i go back up i could forget the whole thing!!!

Now i think i ought to begin at the start and finish at the end....

Here's how it all started for me....

I was a normal child(Yeah right!!!),very quiet and shy,and just a little bit lonely...i only ever had one or two friends,but i valued them,even if i never told them!!!

I attended st peter and st pauls church of England school,and whilst it was a little school in a small town,i don't actually remember much except my nan was the head dinner lady and i loved seeing her everyday...and i miss her everyday.....

But my knitting career started in the library at primary school at the age of 8....

We had a dinner lady called mrs.beattie,she was a little Asian lady who lived in a little cottage up the cansey in EYE,SUFFOLK.

She sat patiently and taught us to knit and crochet...she was the most patient lady i had ever met,and to this day i am thankful for the day i met her and she taught me to knit along with a few others....

One memory that sticks in my mind was a sponsored knit in that we did at school and to be honest i have been knitting ever since....

It started with watching my mother knitting dolls clothes for our dolls for christmas..................and jumpers for school,but my mum could never work out how to teach us,not because she wouldn't but because my mum worked days and my dad worked nights which made things difficult as mum was always tired...It wasn't until i reached adulthood i realised just how hard my mum and dad worked just to keep the family warm and fed......I suppose as a kid you don't think about things like that....you just think that's clothes and toys just appear out of thin air......and i never realised just how much my mum and dad did for us when we were little........and still do now i am a big'un.

So without the help from my parents and mrs beattie i would not be doing what i love everyday .....It gave me an outlet,a way of relaxing,a way of providing my kids with warm clothing as baby's and with toys,that if i had to buy from a shop i would not be able to afford!!!

And now at the age of 40 i am finally putting my knitting and crochet skills to use,for better or for worse....

But i have to say that without knitting i would probably be a gibbering wreck somewhere after my nth nervous breakdown...But knitting has allowed me o keep a clear head,keep my brain alive and design is now a major part in my life....But my favorite thing to do is to make clothing for little ones...i am currently having a go at designing cowl neck jumper for a little one,and its a case of ,,,pen,memory book,and knitting needles along with some delicious yarn,and a brain that gets very excited at the prospect of designing and drawing my ideas before making them...when i have made the finished item i like to post a design on e-bay to see how it sells,i usually make 5 and try to sell them and then i write out the pattern as simply as is physically possible to post on my blog as i don't actually know what to do with them....i don't know how to get them published either through ravelry,or through the mainstream.....but one day i WILL see my name in print,its just taking its time.......

My favorite knitting needles have to b the finds i get out of charity shops...i ADORE the short aero needles,they always have a history when i buy them 2nd hand....i romantically like to think that somebody else has loved them before i got my sticky little hands on them.......but my absolute favorite beyond everything else would have to be the second hand bakelite knitting needles that can be got for as little as 29p per pair from the pdsa charity shop in DISS,NORFOLK.

I do have a particular taste for brittany needles too,i love the way that silver birch feels in the hands,and the way that they are so flexible and warm to the touch.

but here's a selection of items that i have hand knitted....

And well,this is just me...and that's it!!!

diary of a knitter...........

Morning!!!

Well last night was a bit of a trial.....The daughter has been shifty in the last few months...she hides in her bedroom,she's rude,she shouts at everybody even if they look in her direction....she spends up to 1 1/2 hours in the bathroom at any one time,and she spends most of her time sleeping or moaning,or ranting at everybody whether they have done something or not.....She is constantly nagging at her brothers,,even if they breathe wrong!!!!

anyway....Last night she had to go to the doctors about her temper,and because she has boyfriend she wanted to go back onto the pill.......she spent most of yesterday morning screaming at me to write a letter for school so she could get out of school early......and to be honest i had been up about 20 minutes,hadn't even had a coffee when she started........

She started her shouting episode at 7am and was constant right up until 8.30am..the stupid thing was that the letter had been written the night before and had been sitting on my desk infront of her all the time...instead of apologising ,she just grabbed the note and stamped her way out of the door screaming that she was going to school...the door slammed....the windows rattled....and the snot went to school............and peace reigned!!!

yesterday was a catalogue of disasters....not only am i having problems with the daughter but my car is acting like a teenager as well...i managed to snap the cambelt......I was REALLY,REALLY,REALLY happy,NOT!!!! I took it to a local garage and crossed my fingers......luckily it was fairly easy to fix on a multipla,and it cost me £129.99,Don't get me wrong i know its cheap but its a lot for us to loose in one go.........

I finally managed to settle down to my knitting at 6pm last evening,have decided to make a specialised hat from my aran and gansey pattern book,,its very interesting its by gladys thompson,and its called patterns for guernseys,jerseys,and arans,have decided to attempt the childs hat in the back...it needs concentration,but its making my brain tick...and its the one sensation that i love......have been busy this week as i have decided to sell my gear on e-bay for a little cash here and there,i have got plenty of watchers,so with a bit of luck at least one of them will put bids on ready to sell.....this week i have put 6 lots of hats ,scarfs and gloves on this weekand a one complete garment as well we will have to see how things go...I would love to find the right thing that would sell all year round,but the funny thing is that i have managed to sell two lots this morning;here they are;-the rainbow hat and gloves i personally like,maybe i will have time to make myself a set by the time next year gets around...isn't it odd?? i always manage to make for everybody else but i never get around to doing something for myself....still never mind i will get their eventually......

bye!!!

Diary of a knitter.........

Good morning,

Well this morning woke the world with a massive row in our house.....the kids were bickering and my littlest one was going to school early to take part in a class for sat's where he has breakfast at school.....and a little extra help for the next lot of year 6 exams........

My partner is having a shouting fit at my daughter as she lied about having packed her bag the night before but hadn't.......my son for the first time in ....well ever had packed his bag last night and done his homework....You could have knocked me down with a feather!!!

Anyway,the family are all arguing and as for me???

Well there i sat watching and listening to my familly arguing and within a few seconds i had sorted them out,and picked up my needles for an hours knitting......... am attempting the most complicated socks i have ever done..they are beautiful to look at but very difficult to knit and requires some concentration and a half!!!!

Last night i spent two hours on my knitting machine and managed to make 3/4 of a cardigan,but have never knitted with 2 ply so getting the tension has been trial and error every time,my knitting machine never came with any instruction manuals so its been experiment after experiment to get it right....so far i have mastered the ribber atatchment and the main bed....and fairisle and its a case of suck it and see.....I am going to use this blog spot to chronicle my journey through my knitting machine and knitting trials.........................

have managed to use my machine to make....... and enjoyed every moment of it!!!I have decided to place all of my machine knits on the web to sell,they are currently sitting on my page on e-bay,i wanted to place this on to see if it would sell,and to see if it was good enough quality to be noticed.........

well its time to go for the moment,

will talk later.helena.