A moment of Madness

I'm off on holiday soon with my family, most of whom are outdoorsie types who like nothing more than to be dripping wet, covered in mud and astride a bycicle with a seat like a razor blade! Me? not so much. I like my outdoor experience to be a little more civilised, leisurely walks, open air cafes, outdoor decks with stunning views where you can sit with your knitting and a drink (coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon and gin in the evening) You get the picture.

The problem about being surrounded by people who spend most of their free time outdoors is that they have a permanent tan. I am a typical Scots lass, blue eyes fair skin which is prone to freckles (in fact the only thing that disqualifies me from being on a shortbread tin is that I have brown hair not red) I don't tan, I never have and I suspect I never will so this year I decided that I would get a "Fake Bake". Good idea? you'd think so wouldn't you.

I trotted into the salon full of the joys of spring got chatting to the very friendly young woman who was going to give me my treatment (hang on, treatment! it's all sounding a bit serious) I explained to her that I have never had a tan and I only wanted to look lightly sunkisses, a healthy glow (rather than being as palid as Golem) and that my skin was dry in some places and normal in others, she assured me that solution number 9 would achieve just that effect and that I wasn't to worry this product worked on all skin types.

So brimming with confidence was I that I happily stepped int to the little booth where the compressor powered equipment was all set up. 15 minutes later I emerged feeling like I had just been given a coat of shellac and looking alarmingly brown. Again I was told reassuringly that this was just the guide colour used so that the "technician" knew that all exposed areas had been coated. So I left the salon with a pamphlet of useful advice on how to care for may new tan, it would develop over night and in the morning all the brown stuff would wash off in the shower leaving me with the desired effect.

During the evening I watched in horror as I went from pasty to mahogany! I lasted all of 4 hours before I fled to the bathroom for a shower and oh boy am I glad that I did. Even after using soaps on the banned list because the oils in them remove the fake tan I still look like an Oompah Loompah (from the original film with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka) causing great hillarity in the household. Oh and guess what, remember I said I had dry skin in places (namely my hands) they have turned out even darker than the rest of me!

Oh well at least I'm not at work and will spend most of my "Orange Period" in the company of complete strangers who I will likely never see again. From now on I'm sticking to my traditional blue/white complexion, and I don't care how many people go snow blind because of it. (there is no picture to accompany this post!)

52PPIV Total fail!

24 pairs, that's all I managed to do in the space of a year :( Still, not to be deterred, I've signed up for the 26PPii. I should be able to get through 26 pairs in a year shouldn't I?

Anyhoo here are my first pair

Summer Spirals made with Opal Cotton.

Ear Worm

"When you swim in the sea and an eel bites your knee, that's a moray."

I had to share this with you, its been going round in my head ever since I read it on someones Facebook status (thanks Ava)

52PP IV

Well its the end of the first week of the 52 Pair Plunge IV, and I have been busy getting some submissions ready.

The idea of the Plunge is to knit a pair of socks every week for a year so that you end up with 52 completed pairs by the end of May. Now I know myself pretty well, and I know that I will be distracted by some shiny new pattern for a shawl/sweater/toy at some point so my strategy for getting the plunge finished successfully is to knit like a maniac early on so that if I do fall off the wagon I have at least a couple of pairs in hand (enough to give me time to finish a simple sweater for example)

Here are the first of the pairs

1/52

Emily's Socks

These are made for my DD and are a UK size 2. I used Knitting Goddess 4ply sock yarn in a semi solid pink colourway and had lots left over soooooo.....

I used it to knit these I made some mods to the pattern to give these a picot edged cuff.

And last but by no means least, I knit some baby socks (thanks goodness for pregnant friends, these little fellas knit up in no time)

I don't need a psychic to tell me that there will be a lot more of these in my immediate future LOL!

Its been a while

Abject apologies, I have been missing in action for months now and its due to nothing more than my lazyness.

I have been knitting (They will have to prize my needles from my cold dead hands!) and cooking most of my spare time away.

I knitted this little fella with left over sock yarn, I think he turned out pretty well.

I've signed up for the 52 Pair Plunge IV, and as the name applies I will have to churn out a pair of socks every week for a year!! That along side all the other works I have in progress ( finally started a February Lady Sweater) should keep me amused for the foreseeable future and should provide a suitable amount of Blog Fodder.

As for the cooking, cupcakes have become a passion in our house since DD had a bake sale at school. They are so simple yet look so impressive. Also confectionery has been a theme with fudge, toffee and peppermint creams being the most requested items. I had a bash at a home made BBQ sauce which turned out really rather well, and should I be able to recreate it I'll share the recipe here.

Swallowtail Shawl

I made this Swallowtail Shawl (Evelyn Clark Designs) for my daughter using Wendy Happy 4ply, its the second one I have made and I prefer it to the first. Why? well its a matter of using the right yarn. The first one has yarn which has pooled instead of striped and I don't like it as much. Having said that, its 100% cashmere which makes it very cozy so it will be worn when the colder weather comes.

Disaster!!

My brand new spindle and slivers arrived yesterday (Yipee). Unfortunately, I was out watching our dear daughter in her drama group show and stupidly left my unopened (eagerly awaited) parcel on the kitchen table. Whilst I was out our dog decided that because she had been left on her own badness was the order of the day and ate the parcel!!!

I returned home to find the previously beautifully carded slivers of merino strewn hither and yon and the spindle chewed into several bits.

Am I impressed? NO I AM NOT!