GO!

 

 (Photograph used with the very kind permission of its owner )

My lovely friend Veuf Tricot has designed an awesome scarf in my semi-Precious Sock weight yarn, as part of his 'Ready, Steady, GO!' e-booklet, to help raise money for REFUGE, a charity which supports victims of domestic violence:) 

If you follow this link it will take you to a page where you can get more information on why. 

 

I have dyed 10 skeins of 'GO! Green', and they will be available to buy next Wednesday, 3rd April, 2013, around 8pm. All of the proceeds from the sale of these 10 skeins, will go to REFUGE :)

Even if you don't want to buy the e-booklet, or the yarn, please consider making a small donation, to support his wonderful efforts, via his Just Giving page

The e-book is available to buy now, on Ravelry, and you can also just get the singular pattern, should you so desire!

Growing Up!

Another year has passed, in a flash (as they tend to do nowadays) ... I am now the Mama to a 14 yr old and a 10 year old !

Both in 'double digits' ... something which Joel is very pleased about :P

You can't quite see it in the picture, but they are both wearing football shirts, Daniel sporting a Man Utd shirt and Joel a Man City one ... typical brothers !

They make me proud every day, and there is ALWAYS something to smile about at Casa Longlegs.

Whether it be Daniel's increasingly mature attitude to things that happen in his life, or the randomness of Joel's brain processes, and the hilarious things he says.

♥ ♥ Happy Birthday my Darlings ♥ ♥

I hope your year is awesome, and full of success and happiness 

Don't Fear the Reaper

Memento Mori ... Latin for 'remember that you will die', and an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death

I am particularly fond of Skulls. 

I wear a lot of clothes adorned with the little fellas, and own a few pieces of jewellery with skulls on them. I have been after a pendant like the one pictured above for a LONG time, so when I was browsing Etsy the other night (fatal place is Etsy you know) I just had to get it!! He came from this shop and was beautifully packaged and dispatched very quickly...

This might seem a little macabre for a Friday, but hey... I don't follow so many rules, as you ALL must know by now, hahaha!

For me, Skulls don't signify the inevitability of death quite so much. They stand to me as a reminder that everyone looks like that underneath their skin. 

So it doesn't matter how much money you have, how famous you are or how pretty you may be (for example) ... underneath, you are the same as me.

A reality check, if you like ... and we all need one of those every now and then, well I do, I pretty much live in my own little dreamworld most of the time!!

Aruba

The awesomely talented Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches has created this beautiful bandana with a skein of of my 'Perfection' Sock, as part of her 'Spring 2013 Collection'. 

I think you'll all agree how amazing it looks, I just want to reach into the picture and touch it!!

In the pattern notes on Ravelry, Carol says:

"This square bandana is knit from one corner to the other which allows the relatively simple slip stitch pattern to be worked on the bias for a really interesting effect. The project just begged to be finished with a fringe which is worked while you are knitting and unraveled at the very end. All you have to do is knot and go!"

On her Ravelry Forum, she's going to be hosting a Knit-A-Long over 3 months, so, you can buy all three patterns together now at a special pre-sale discount price, or wait until the patterns are released and buy them singly.  Any of you who are familiar with Carol's work will know her patterns are beautifully written. An enormous amount of work goes into their construction and the layouts are so easy to follow, my advice would be to take advantage of the pre-sale!!

(Both photos reproduced with the very kind permission of their owner, Joseph Feller)

Of course, I will be dyeing some 'Perfection' in a tealy/turquoise colour to coincide with the release of 'Aruba' ... and will put these in the shop, along with some pattern codes, so you can buy an 'Aruba' kit. Or, alternatively, I have 'Perfection' slots in the custom dye section of my shop, so you can order it now to have it ready for the pattern release, in the colour of your choice.

Whatever you decide, I really hope you all have a go at making it, even if it's just to sample Carol's work!

Il Fiume . . . The River

 

A test knit for my new base yarn, ‘LoveLace’, and a birthday gift for a very special friend of mine.
It is my own design, along the lines of the ‘Baktus Scarf’, cast on a certain amount of stitches… then, when you get to 50g of yarn, repeat the design but in reverse, so it is mirrored.
Heavily influenced by the ‘Swiss Cheese Scarf’ by Winnie Shih, with regards to the constructed circles, because as you all know, I am a little obsessed with constructed holes :P

The fabric the yarn creates is lovely, silky but firm to the touch

'LoveLace' was a complete dream to work with, and I am not just saying that because I want it to sell... *GRiN*

Of course, it took a little time to wind into a ball, (especially as I hand wound it, mainly in the dark, on a car journey up to see my Parents at Christmas)... hahaha :P

As I tell folks who might have trouble winding my yarns (as my dyeing process can be a little vigorous), it really is about the journey the yarn takes you on. 

Having the yarn run through your fingers, and seeing it emerge into a workable ball... and the thinking time this process provides in itself... 

For me this thinking time consists of excitement and impatience to get it cast on and trepidation as to whether I chose the right project for the yarn...

It truly is the beginning of a rewarding journey together, from skein, to ball and onto the knitting and ultimately to the piece of fabric that emerges.

Introducing ... LoveLace

My lovely Yarn Supplier, Mr Wool , got a new delivery of base yarns last week, including one base I thought might be very interesting... It's a 55% BFL-45% Silk 600m Lace... so, not quite sock weight, and not quite Lace...

 'Drrty Grrl'

I took it to my Thursday Night KnitClub, and there was a lot lot of discussion, mostly about what to do with 600m of light fingering yarn, haha :P... but the general consensus was a big Thumbs up with copious amount of fondling :D 
I am very pleased with it, especially as it doesn't smelly strongly of sheep, which has always put me off dyeing with BFL in the past.  We also decided on the name 'LoveLace' 
...I'll let all your imaginations wander as to why we came up with that name.... *GRiNS* ...

 'PetrolHead'

It is a bouncy, high twist two ply, very shiny too... I really like it's whispy qualities. 
Have yet to knit with it myself... but I definitely plan to!! Maybe another 'Swiss Cheese' Scarf... *ponders* ... with this colour :D

'Stingray'

It's going to retail at £15, and I'll be adding it to the shop shortly!!!

Skullies !!!!!

Big Skullies... perfect for larger projects :D

  

Little Skullies... for socks and lightweight projects!

The lovely, and very talented Emma of Atomic Knitting has restocked Babylonglegs with lots of stitch markers .... Skullies galore!!!!
A set or two might  find their way in to one of my numerous knitting bags... *coughs* maybe :D

I'll be listing them in the shop later... :D 

£5 a set... Bargain :D