Hmm. My New year's resolution to update blogs more often hasn't gone that well so far. Oops.

Just finished my Christmas presents in time (had to get up at 730 to bind off my boyfriend's before he woke up!) I have photos of them in use somewhere, but I think I'll have to go on a hunt for them.
Moss stitch scarf for me brother, which I've been told was mistaken for a Ted Baker (ooh, swanky)














Tychus for my dad. Either my guage is still way off, which I don't think it is, or the guy Tychus was made for has a huge head. I only used 4 of the 5 sections in this.














Tychus No.2 for my boyfriend, minus the mistake I made on my Dad's seam.














So I'm back onto knitting for myself now! (yay!) The back and left front of Rapunzel are done, and I'm gonna start my gloves soon, which probably means they'll be finished by about May, and I've promised something for Clare's babber, which is due in February.

I got my last SP6 package in the post last week, which was lovely, especially as it included things for my Mexico trip (so thoughtful!) and a pattern that's actually been in my favourites for a few months without my pal's knowledge!
So, I got: a mosquito net, a sleeping bag liner, a massage thingie (technical term that), some lovely fruity candles, this corset pattern, some simple bag patterns, and a skein of Noro Blossom, which smells of lovely fruity candles and is wonderfully soft and squishy.




























Finally finished my socks after Christmas as well, they're keeping my feet nice and cosy right now, and they do look fab, but I don't think I'll be sock knitting again, far too much hard work for something that gets hidden beneath shoes.

Christmas presents started...

Oh God I've been a bad blogger. Well I didn't have the time to get on the internet, and then my Dad borrowed my digital camera and then I...ran out of excuses. Bad Hannah *slaps*

Well, last week (adding to my guilt at not displaying my loot to the world), I got another package from my Secret Pal:


I got:
A couple of cinnamon scented candles, being saved for when we put the Christmas decs up,
A pile of Sanctuary skin care products, looking forward to having an ounce of spare time so I can actually try them out,
A book token, which turned very quickly into the first of the Sacvenger trilogy by K J Parker,
and some lovely lovely Lindt chocolate which I can't seem to find anymore...


Thankyou again Secret pal!


Rapunzel is on the way, I've nearly finished the back and I'm loving every stitch, but it's had to be put on hold to start the Christmas presents.















So, first Christmas present started, and half finished is a moss stitch scarf for my brother, I reckon I should have this finished by the end of November. I hope.

Photos!

So, now that I can actually get some photos online, here is the finished Tempting (hoorah!)



















I can't believe how big the pattern is, I did a size smaller than I usually wear and went down several needle sizes for the top and it still slips about like crazy. It looks navy but it's really a teal blue.

And then this is all my lovely yarn from the knitting and stitching show :D Very sorry if you don't have broadband, far too many photos for one post.













Mystery cheapo £1 a ball stuff, no idea what I'm gonna do with this, the white stuff is really odd, feels almost like raffia.













Lovely neutral coloured yarn for a scarf for my brother.













Bargain grey Jaeger merino wool, probably for a jacket of some kind.













'Black Watch' lambswool from Touchyarns New Zealand, which doesn't photograph very well but has bits of dark green and blue throughout it. Ooh, gorgeous.















More lambswool from Touchyarns, this one's for Rapunzel and did look a lot prettier before I balled it up, but is knitting up perfect all the same. I started knitting on the train up to Norwich to see my boyfriend at the weekend and managed to make a grand total of 5 false starts. I think I may have underestimated how long it would take me to get used to knitting from a chart. Thankfully it clicked into place on the way back and I'm now a few inches in and totally in love.

And finally, my second package from my secret pal, all with an underwater theme. Except for maybe the sweets.
















So, there is: 2 pages of fishy cartoon stickers, for sticking on windows I think...please correct me if I'm wrong before I go and wreck my glass, 2 pages of metallic fish stickers - I'm vaguely thinking about holding a underwater themed party to raise money for the conservation project in Mexico so they'd be good for the invites, if I don't do that (knowing me, I won't), I'll save them for a photo album when I get back, - a candy necklace which I'm eating as I type (in the proper fashion of course, whilst wearing it), and a tropical fish inpired ball of sock yarn, which is most likely to turn into a pair of gloves, so I can show it off without removing my shoes!

Right, I'm now off to knit some more of Rapunzel in front of the telly.

Yesterday was a gooood day. Firstly I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace and spent, um, £82 on yarn. Oops. Budget out the window a bit. Secondly Tempting got her first outing and received many a compliment from total strangers, and thirdly, I got back home at 7 laden with bags, to find a second package from my secret pal! This lot should keep me going for at least 6 months.

O...K... I don't seem to be able to put any photos up at the moment so I'll have to show off all my goodies next time. Nuts.

Just enough time for a great meme I found on Stacey's blog. Paste "(your name) needs" into Google and list the best 10 results.

Hannah needs...

...so much expensive care

...a home and a good daily walk

...to go into the tunnel and face the prisoner

...to apply lots of make-up so she can perform in her latest dramatic role

...to sleep now, she cannot feel her feet

...more than Taggert can offer

...an intermediate to advance confident rider who is gentle on the reins

...a little sister from China

...to be naked at all times, eats kebabs

...puppets

Hmm, I should really be less lazy about updating this blog, particularly when SP6 is going on.

Tempting is finally finished (Yay!) and it actually fits this time (Yay!), but I can't find my camera, so no pictures yet (Not so yay!). I've also made a start on sock number 2, mainly so I can get another project over with before I go to the Knitting and Stitching show. Less than a week! Eeee!

My wonderful secret pal sent me Rowan 34, which I've been trying to get hold of on ebay for ages (thankyou again!), so I'll have to look for some yarn for this when I'm there:

















Mmmm...fairytaley. Not sure what colour to do, I don't really wear light colours that much and the pattern would probably be lost in dark colours.

I'm also very fond of these, so if I get my way I'll end up with far too many cardigans and no money.




































And last but not least, I started learning to crochet last night. My sample is laughable as I didn't realise I was missing out a stitch at the beginning of every row, but it's sorted now, and I reckon its not half bad for a first attempt.

It is complete!

Tempting is finished! Well, ish. It's so lovely and soft and I want to take it to bed with me and other things I should be locked up for, but it's a little loose so I'm going to attempt to work backwards on the last 5 rows and re-do them with smaller needles. That should be fun. Photos when I can actually wear it without fear of it falling down and showing my bra.

I finished the knitting part of the Sirdar Frenzy bag at work today and brought it home to sew in the lining, which I havn't bothered to start yet. I still think it's horrible, but my mum, work collegues and random customers keep coming up to me and saying 'isn't that cool', so I shall hold my tongue and call it 'not my taste' rather than 'hideous'. Each to their own I suppose, there are probably many knitters out there who think the yarns I knit with are boring.

And Secret Pal's underway! Yay! I've already emailed my pal, and got a musical e-card (which made me jump out of my skin, I wasn't expecting it to suddenly start singing at me!) from the person spoiling me, and I'm off to buy my first gift tomorrow, if I can actually find what I want. All very exciting :D

Secret Pal Questionnaire

New boss has changed her mind and now says I can't knit at work unless it's for display pieces (fair enough really, since I was effectively advertising yarn they don't sell), so my lovely yummy debbie bliss knitting has been replaced by horrific Sirdar Frenzy. Ok, horrific is a bit much, I can't look down on anyone for liking it, but it's really not my taste. And it's so bloody annoying going through the whole piece afterwards pulling all the strips out! I spend longer doing that than the knitting!

I did manage to finish one sock before my work-knitting was stopped, but I'm not taking a photo yet in case it tricks me into thinking I'm finished and don't need to do a second one. Not entirely convinced I'll do socks again, it seems way too much time and effort for something that no one's going to notice.

So, despite the fact the Secret Pals haven't been announced yet:

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I used to go for the acrylic stuff when I first started because it was cheap and pretty much all I could get, but I've since decided that I may as well have nice yarn if I'm going to put a lot of time and effort into something. Provided I don't start knitting fast enough to bankrupt myself.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No, neither. Can't really see me spinning, I'd possibly learn to crochet for edgings/lace etc.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Nope. Unless you're planning to send me Elastoplast. None too fond of smoke though.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Since just before last Christmas

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes....I think....I will update with that later. ETA: Found it! Here it is.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Um, not much of a fan of bath products, I just go for whatever gets me clean really. As for nice candles, they look very pretty, but because of that I can never bring myself to burn them so they just sit around for years gathering dust.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
Oh yes. I eat far too many sweets. Anything fruity/gummy/fizzy/generally yum is gooood, as is copious amounts of milk chocolate (as long as there's no nuts).

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
Can't think of anything really. I get a sense of satisfaction from sewing things, but it takes a great leap of motivation to actually get started. Same with drawing/painting, which I could really do with some practice on.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Film soundtracks mostly, I like music that reminds me of something. I also like classical music, mainly the melodramatic kind (O Fortuna, Night on Bare Mountain, Hall of the Mountain King), and as for popular music, I'm not really sure how to classify my tastes...there's a list in that profile up there. I don't think my computer's really up to much more these days, the noises it makes tend to drown out whatever music I'm playing anyway. Just waiting for it to explode really. I have got a Hi-MD Minidisc player though.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
Mainly blues, greens (dark) and purples. Black, white, grey, brown and red are good too. Maybe what I don't like would be easier. I look horrible in yellow, and orange and pink are a bit iffy if I can't try it on first.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Still living with my parents at the moment. My little brother Jack's just gone to uni (my LITTLE brother's gone to uni before me, how humiliating) and there's also a useless spaniel who sits and snores at us all day.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Err..what?
Short term: earn enough in my gap year to go do conservation project in Mexico and holiday in America next summer.
Medium term: get a decent grade at uni (costume design) and get into a job I enjoy.
Long term: get married and have kids. Inflict genes on world in general. Raise army.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Not really been knitting long enough to say I have a favourite. Probably DK weight though.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Fun fur. Bleh. And the James C. Brett stuff I'm using at the moment, I keep finding knots in it.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Learning new techniques! Since learning the basics I've taught myself lace, cables, circulars and DPNs. Next up, fairisle and designing.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Jumpers/cardigans. For me, because I'm greedy :P

17. What are you knitting right now?
A lace shawl, a big roll-neck jumper, a pair of socks and Tempting

18. What do you think about ponchos?
Most of them I'm fairly indifferent about. A couple are ok but I'd rather spend my time knitting something I know I'm going to like.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I'm loving my circulars on Tempting, but I have yet to discover how easy they are on a average jumper with normal sleeves. I may get scared and go back to straights (I can pinch them off my Mum that way)

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Aluminium or plastic, I tend to be too tight on wood.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Probably not, see above.

22. How did you learn to knit?
My Mum taught me the basics, then I expanded on that from books and the internet.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
About 4 months I think.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Anything underwater, especially turtles, penguins and huge shoals of fish.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Vacation holiday or special occasion holiday? Um vacation wise, the dive holiday in Tenerife I went on in June, special occasion wise definitely Christmas. I instantly turn into a little kid when the sparkles go up. And the food! Oh my god the food.......

26. Is there anything that you collect?
No, unless too many books count.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
None, I can only get Knitting and Simply Knitting where I live and I wasn't overly keen on them.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
See the Amazon list, once I get it working...

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another?
Most of the patterns I want are free, but I have been lusting after this one. I don't intend to spend £10 on it since it's in Rowan magazine 34, but so far people keep outbidding me on ebay and I don't want to pay full price when there's so many free patterns I want to knit.

ETA: 30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?
Ankle: 8"
Foot circumference: 8.5"
Foot length: L9.5" R9"
Is that all you need? I've no idea. I like thick socks I can wear with my walking boots, since I don't have enough of those.

Sleeves and Secret Pals

Finished one of the sleeves for my huge jumper, I think my guage (or possibly the instructions, as I did actually check this time) is off since I magically reached the required length without doing the block of work even I was supposed to do. Oh well, at least it wasn't something important I missed out.

Also been having great fun stabbing myself with DPNs for the first Tempting sleeve. Gah! Why are they so long! What on Earth are you going to knit on DPNs that needs to be that big? Socks for yetis? I think I've more or less got it figured out with minimal puncture wounds now, and worked out that you can work into the back of the first stitch to avoid big ladders. Cunning eh?

And since I've been having trouble with DPNs, it makes a great deal of sense that I just did my guage for Broadstreet Mittens. Of course. Not supposed to be starting this till one of the others is finished, but the yarn is calling to me. It looks like cookies and cream!












And finally, I've just signed up for Secret Pal 6. Eee, v. excited about this, though I imagine I'll waste lots of money buying stuff for myself while shopping for my pal. Not good.