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home to alternative complementary health |
| Anne's finished projects 2003 |
| Socks (2 pairs): Socka Südsee socks for Chris' Birthday Fairisle socks |
| Finished projects 2002 (with links to archives with picis) |
| Socks (6 pairs): Variegated welly socks Pastel variegated Brown wool Lime green cotton Red variegated Light blue cabled, Cream gansey yarn. |
| Other items (3): Black jacket Red scarf Project Linus Stripy blanket |
| Anne's work on needles |
| Toria's Daisy Dark blue rowan felted tweed background and large but delicate daisy in rowan wool and cotton. Have finished daisy and entire front. Back half completed. |
| Socks for Mike Navy blue Opal wool with fuchsia / green / yellow / mid-blue snatches. Looks better than it sounds. |
| Fantastic sites for sock knitters |
| Socknitters homepage An amazing site including cyberclasses in sock knitting, patterns, tips, technical help and masses of inspiration. |
| Whippoorwillhill socks Another superb sock site. Check out the gigantic sock patterns index. |
| Heels by number by Wippoorwillhill socks, the maths and instructions for all heels. |
| Toe index Different types of sock toes to knit. |
| The Sock Drawer
The Sockguy, sock designer and knitter. always worth a visit. |
Katherine DeMoure-Aldrich
An amzing, inspirational sock knitter. |
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Got the date wrong yesterday - it was the 8th. Good day today, looking forward to some heating and hot water. Knitted Mike's sock on the train, found it quite therapeutic. Being Sunday, I got a seat, which made it really good! James' mini was suposed to be ready for collection, so Mike drove the Volvo up to leave it at tame mechanic's garage for its MOT. Started to drive mini back (having posted Volvo keys through letterbox!!) and mini lights went bum-up again, so drove back to garage with no lights (country lanes!) 7th February 2003 First day of my second batch of Pilates teacher training. Anatomy today, so not very interesting, nothing new. Some of the participants had done very little anatomy, so the day was for them. Plumber turned up, and was fantastic, according to hub. He has located several problems and thinks they will all be easy to solve. And he is a *very nice man*. He will be back on Monday afternoon, or, failing that, Tuesday morning to do the business. The other plumber we had in for a quote some time ago is now looking at a jail sentence for fraud. He was employed by the Glynde Estate near us (Glyndebourne opera house) to do stuff, which involved 140 boilers. He said they needed x, y and z doing, which was a lie, and what he did not realise is that they checked it all out and sued him. Yippee!!! Mike is building a big fire in the drawing room and I shall take my chicken cream in there (plus copious quaffs of wine) and knit. The build-up to the World cup is underway and I want to see the circus. I am wearing 3 jumpers and two pairs of socks, woollen ones. Oh yes, and a pair of jeans as well, in case you were wondering. 7th February 2003 Still no plumber. It is now less cold outside than it is inside. Kid 1 is snuggling up to a radiator at the university, kid 2 has been stranded at home because his car is in for a repair, so he is thumbing lifts to the gym for warmth and showers, and kid 3 has booked seats by radiators in all her classrooms and is beginning to take on hero status bestowed by her mates. I'd just like to mention that plumbers are rumoured to charge around £80 an hour around here. That's $128. Thanks to those who have sent sympathy and warm wishes! My daily (nearly) reading blogs have now been listed alphabetically, as even I was forgetting where I had placed them. Doesn't it look neat? If only I were so domestic in other arenas - like around the house ;-/ Still no plumber. Emma, are you ok? Your blog seems to have partly disappeared, like the side of a mountain falling into the sea. Oh dear. The cold is affecting my sanity. I suppose there wasn't far to go. The pictures are pretty, though. No plumber at all today. He phoned. Luckily I did not answer. Hub was magnificent. Mr. Plumber said he had not been able to come because of emergencies. Could he come tomorrow at 2pm? Hub told him he was a splendid man, and of course he could come then. I shall be in London. Am half way down the heel flap on Mike's second sock. Shall repair to the drawing room where enormous open fire is blazing, plenish (before replenishing) my wine glass, and knit. Toodle pip all! 6th February 2003 Still no heating - and no plumber. He is going to come apparently either this afternoon or early tomorrow. The worst is not having any hot water. We haven't had hot water since Monday. I'm going to a friend to shower. Mike nearly killed himself trying to wash here with freezing water and ice on the inside of the windows (tee hee - took him hours to stop shivering) and the kids have been using the shower at the gym with renewed appreciation. Mike's humour ("Well, at least it's not happening in the winter. You realise this could be January or February... " ) is waning. Particularly since the attempted home wash. His sock is growing, but my speed has deteriorated with stiff fingers. We are fighting for the privilege of a lap full of Jamtart. She is not impressed with the domestic arrangements and has a permanent nest on our bed. I wish I could think of knitting, but all I can think of is how cold it is, and whether I can fit another jumper over the top of the ones I am already wearing. 5th February 2003 Oh ye gods, we have no heating here. The boiler is fine, but the motorized lift pump (which presumably gets hot water up to upstairs) got stuck on, now won't work at all. First one of the radiators upstairs didn't work, then the safety system kicked in and everything turned itself off. The upstairs radiator has no water in it now, either. The plumber, who was called on the evening of the 3rd, is supposed to be coming today. Don't hold your breath. Even when he does come, he will probably just take a look and tell us how long we will have to wait until he can actually fix it, and then tell us how much cash he will need in advance to get the bits. Bitterly cold or just bitter? Temperature is around freezing, wind is sharp. I am feeling both. 3rd February 2003 Mike's first sock is finished!! I have also devised a sheet in word on which I write down as I go what I do with the first sock, as I always seem to end up not knowing quite what happened at certain stages when I come to the second one. I really have only made room for the information I seem to need when I come to the second sock. I make socks up as I go along, anyway, so that they fit better. (Don't ask about the fairisle ones!) Mike's had to have the toe frogged twice. I have decided that he has odd shaped foot ends, but I didn't put it that way when he was trying it on. Here is the record sheet in html - use the back for fairisle or texture patterns. 2nd February 2003 We heard about the shuttle yesterday afternoon. So sad. It's predictable that something will go seriously wrong from time to time on such a high risk venture, but it's still terrible when it happens. Please let it not be due to another line of decision making for the wrong end - like the last time. The British press are commenting that decision making at NASA is now more carefully monitored as regards the principles applied, more people are involved in the process, and that this one was a 'freak' accident. I am finally going to do it! I am going to knit a pair of socks on two circulars. The Socknitters site has a brilliant tutorial, which I shall follow. I need two circular needles the same size (rummage, rummage, rummage) and two balls of wool. I might even use two different coloured balls, make the first sock of two pairs, then repeat the process. As I write, I *know* that is not a good idea. The appealing thing about this, is that you finish two socks at the same time, thereby avoiding the dreadful second sock non-starting syndrome. You're wondering what has happened to Mike's socks? Well, the first one is nearly, nearly finished, and I shall begin and finish the second before the two on one circular needle adventure begins. Better get knitting now :) 1st February 2003 Mike's socks have advanced to status of first one nearly finished. The book is also advancing, which is an excellent state of affairs, as my deadline is 11th Feb. I can't imagine how I managed without knitting when I was a teacher. All I know is that there was no room in my brain, my soul, in me, for anything but keeping on top of the job. Happier days are here. My GoStats counter does not seem to be keeping up with hits - i.e. it does not agree with my other webstats details which record far more. The referrers are also a bit odd... I don't think it is necessarily 24 hours... I'm not complaining, though. It's fun to see where people are coming from, and it's also good for visitors to move on to them. I wanted to order Sally Melville's Knitting Experience Knit Stitch book from amazon.co.uk and found that they cannot get it!!! Amazon.com says they are sold out. Does this mean it was so phenomenally successful that they are going to have to reprint? I hope so. Has anyone got the book - and is it as good as the reviews say? KnitDad Larry is talking about designers who influenced him. Made me think about who has been an influence on me. Like Larry, Kaffe Fassett started me designing my own knitwear, first mimicking his designs fairly closely, then branching out to create my own 'Kaffe Fassetts'. I learned so much from that process, but now I couldn't look another Kaffe Fassett in the eye again. I must have made between 15 and 20 pullovers for myself, DH, children. Before that I was designing my own shapes and putting together different yarns to see what would happen. I swatched and swatched and swatched!!! Right at the beginning, it was Phildar that set me off. I had never seen decent patterns until these appeared from France. We were tortured by Patons and Sirdar man-made fabric, non-fitting DREADFUL styles, which I would never, ever, ever have made. Just after I discovered Phildar, Patricia Roberts made an entry into my life (only via patterns and yarns), and I developed a love for 4ply. Did anyone else ever do the grapy cardigan in woolybear shetland 4ply? Or the cotton 4ply sweater with cables, boats and nautical emblems? I have to admit it now: I have lost - yes LOST - all my Patricia Roberts pattern books. Thrown out? What was I thinking of? I just don't know. After that it was Sasha Kagan followed by the Rowan setup and Kaffe Fasset. But wooooaaa! Stop! Somewhere in there, between Patricia Roberts (where are you, PR?) and Sasha Kagan, *Marion Foales* made an entry into my knitting life with her one (and only) book Marion Foales Classic Knitwear. I have no idea how many times I knitted the kids' Sweatshirt, first in the sizes she gives, then enlarging it as my three grew out of the largest size. I made some of the other designs as well, always achieving a superb fit and, yes, classic design. I learned more from Marion Foales than from Kaffe Fassett in terms of fit and design, (KF does colour, not fit!) and still go back to that book, now dog eared. It is superbly well bound, with a navy cloth cover embossed in silver, and a paper frontispiece glued on. I still intend to knit a sweater and waistcoat from it. Where are you Marion Foales? |
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January 19-31 2003
January 01-19 2003 December 24-31 2002 December 7-23 2002 December 1-6 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 
 Previous | Next Get a GoStats hit counter Hits registered since 7th January 2003 |
| Leave a comment by clicking on the 'knitbackchat' button ... or just email me |
 Explore a quality, original, independent web site here: Bagatell Blog about knitting in Norway. Theresa is dynamism on legs. At least I assume she has legs, I've never seen them. But she is knitting fuzzy feet felted footwear at the moment, so we might see them soon. |
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| The best publications in association with amazon.co.uk. Click on the title for information and to order today |
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How to Knit: Debby Bliss This still seems to be the best book for beginners - you CAN learn how to knit using this one. |
The Knitting Experience Book 1: the Knit Stitch
Sally Melville The first in a series starting with garter stitich. The Knitters across the pond are raving about it, talking about "charming, clever designs", "classic, modern, hip" and "great sense of style". Absolute beginners and seasoned knitters are smitten! US shoppers click here: The Knitting Experience Book 1 |
The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges
Ann BuddThis book delivers exactly what it promises. Ideal for those who want to design a look of their own, but would like a basic pattern - a template - to follow. Knit hats, mittens, socks and sweaters in any size, any yarn and with any texture or colour pattern. US shoppers click here: The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns Ann Budd |
 The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques Nancie M. Wiseman Indispensible techniques for finishing your knitware professionally US shoppers click here: The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques |
 The Sweater Workshop: Knit Creative, Seam-Free Sweaters on Your Own with Any Yarn: Jacqueline Fee (new edition) Takes you through the entire process of making a sweater. Fantastically clear and simple instructions. Peek at the amazon.com link below to see inside the book and to read the reviews. US shoppers click here: The Sweater Workshop: Knit Creative, Seam-Free Sweaters on Your Own with Any Yarn: Jacqueline Fee |
| Software for designers |
| Knitware Design The best programme I have found, and excellent value. |
| Moran software Fantastic sock knitting software for any foot size (shape!), any pattern toe up or top down |