Avebury

The boys have been a little, erm, hyper recently, so we took them out for a nice long Sunday ramble yesterday- at least, that was the plan. Instead, they dragged me up a steep, muddy and grassy bank, and down a steep, muddy grassy bank until I fell in a panting, breathless heap at the front wheel of the buggy and begged for mercy. Pretty much a typical day, then.
The banks were surrounding the largest stone circle, Avebury which is as breathtakingly beautiful and spiritual as I remember it. It's still one of my favourite places, and there's a beech grove just inside the circle where the boys could have stayed for hours, just sitting, under the trees, enjoying the crisp autumn day. Truly magickal.

And in knitting news, Samus is going well and now has one arm. Pictures will follow, eventually.

Dum de dum, dum de dum

As you know, Doctor Who is a BIG deal in my house. Having formerly been married to an obsessive fan, I have two small boys with an avid interest in the programme and a recreational hobby for the grownups is taking the michael out of it.
So, on the wettest morning of half term, we packed the children (and my mother) on a train to Cardiff- a whole different country- to go and look at Daleks. And it was absolutely fantastic. The boys loved the exhibition, daleks, cybermen and all, and the grownups loved Cardiff bay. And Skye, bless her, just sat and watched the world go by with big blue eyes.
If you're ever in Cardiff bay, I heartily recommend a little place called Kemi's (which is in the craft at the bay centre) for lunch. We had paninis, which were huge, or soup- tomato and butterbean- which was spicy, hearty, filling, and probably the best thing I've eaten all year. Absolute bliss, and a truly fantastic day out.

And so the end comes... with candy.

Well, my sock wars socks came today- or to be precise, they came on Tuesday. And I love them. They're soft and comfortable, and bless her, came with a packet of candy for the boys and some stitch markers. Absolutely fantastic.
I've actually really enjoyed doing this, and am totally up for another one, should I ever get the chance.

A couple of FO's

So, first of all I managed to prise the knitting needles out of Skye's grubby little firsts and finish the socks. No kidding, I know now why Yarn Monkey calls them socks of doom. I love the colourway, regardless of what anybody else thinks. And THEN I whipped up a little hat for myself (a chunky lace cap, apparently) from a pattern someone linked to on MDC many years ago) out of the magic ball of yarn, trimmed with a little of my handspun.
And then I discovered that the faeries have eaten all of my stitchmarkers, and I need them for my next project.
BTW, my mothers birthday was Thursday, and Samus was not finished. It is her Xmas present instead, but this means that I'm short of knitting time for the next few days, seeing as I have to knit something else (less secret) instead.

An enemy in the ranks...

Well, sock wars socks mark 2 are here- and I have to say, I love this yarn. It's german, Schoeller and Statt (sorry for the spelling, the ball band is downstairs and I'm not) in very warm autumnal colours.
What I don't love is the honking great big mess that my adorable (hah) daughter made when she decided to pull the needles out of sock 2 and then crawl around the living room eating it. Bah, humbugs. It's taken me three days of perfectly good knitting time trying to get gauge on this blasted thing (its original knitter was a bit random with her gauge) and then this happens.
I really need a sulk smiley on here. Oh, and my socks are currently somewhere over the Atlantic- though where, I couldn't tell you. I reckon they'll be here by the end of the week.

The magic ball of yarn turned into...

a very pretty midnight garden peacock type of thing. I love it. It took a LOT of work (and some very purple cuticles) but the colours are exactly what I was hoping for- maybe slightly darker than I'd planned, but dark is always good. It's going to be a hat, and a cuff for a matching pair of mittens. Bonfire night is coming up, and that means that I need something to protect my hands from the sparklers. Hee, hee, I can't wait.
I hadn't realised, but autumn comes earlier to the west side of the country. I was looking for some interesting berries to dye some roving with, and almost everything has blown over already- there's only haws, hips and crab apples left, and a very few sloes. It feels very very autumnal today too- windy and blowy.

Magic ball of yarn

Isn't it bonny? I wish I could spin like this- it may be thick and thin, but it's thick and thin with consistent wpi along the length (I checked) and really rather nice to touch and to play with.
It's a present from the Magic Ball of Yarn swop (wrap goodies inside the yarn, as you knit, presents fall out) on MDC from laprettygurl, aka Pauline, who spun it herself. I've used all of my Christmas present opening skills to remove everything possible from it- and eventually reskeined it, to find that the only thing I missed was three stitchmarkers. I NEED a ballwinder so badly.
The body of Samus is finished, and I'm on to the arms. I don't know if I'm going to finish on time, though- it may have to be an Xmas pressie.

Steady does it

Samus is going slowly. Very slowly. It's the acres of stockingette that are dragging on me, plus the fact that now my daughter is mobile, I can no longer go to the park, sit her in the buggy and get a couple of hours knitting time in whilst my boys play. That, plus the fact that there's 160 stitches in a row, and I knit more slowly on circulars: I don't know when I got into the habit of tucking my needle under my armpit, but I notice when I can't do it.
Life continues on here. My father-in-law is conscious now, but terribly confused and in a certain amount of pain- and the blood tests are still not showing better results, so we have no idea what to expect any more. The waiting is pretty hard on Steve- if you're reading, please keep us in your prayers.
We took the kids to Cotswold Wildlife Park last weekend, which was very very cool in a kitsch and camp kind of way. Imagine, if you will, a traditional English stately home, with impeccably kept front lawn. Then, if you will, imagine half a dozen zebra and a few rhino roaming around on the front lawn. Incongruous? You could say that. Despite that- and the weather- we had a wonderful time. Skye now has an infatuation with monkeys and penguins, Isaac was crying over the otters calling to their keepers, and we all got very very wet.
Other than that, it's a very quiet week. Oh- one other thing. My victim in Sock Wars is organising a knit-in the weekend after next. So check out her blog- lots of cool ideas for charity knitting- and if you're in the area, go along. That way, I won't feel so guilty about having sent her socks in the mail.