Here are the missing pictures from earlier!

Here are the rest of the pictures I tried to upload earlier. The first one is of big old me sitting and knitting in our hotel in Tunisia. I am working on the yellow mystery socks designed by Nancy Bush, called Foxes Faces, you can see some WIP shots below me.

So far, I have learnt how to do a Vikkel Braid, a Dutch Heel and I am about to do a completely different toe to what I am used to.

I realise that sometimes it is easy to get into a comfort zone with knitting and to become fearful of trying anything new. These socks reminded me of this.

The pinky orangey socks are my Nanners, designed by Wendy Johnson. I haven't got far with them yet.........bear with me!!!

Time to resurrect this blog!

I know I say it every time, but this time I am definitely back!

I have been doing loads of knitting recently, learning to machine knit, want to learn to spin and am, low and behold, pregnant again (!!!) and I want to blog it all here.

At the moment I am currently taking part in Sockdown on Ravelry where this month's challenge is to knit a any pair of socks or the mystery sock pattern designed by the lovely and very talented Nancy Bush in Yellow OR any Wendy Johnson pattern in any colour.

I have cast on two pairs of socks.......the Nancy Bush Mystery sock in my own hand-dyed yarn named 'Sofia's Sunshine' and a pair of Nanners, designed by Wendy Johnson in Krafty Koala yarn called Candystripper.

As you can see from my progress pictures (which will be added later when I can get the card reader to work again!). I have nearly finished the mystery sock which we now know is called Foxes Faces, as the lace does look a bit like them. But I haven't made much progress on the Nanners.

My excuse is this month we had our family holiday in Tunisia and although I took loads of projects and expected to get loads of knitting done, we were too busy running around after a toddler to sit still for more than five minutes.

Knitting and swimming pools do not mix well either so all I managed was a few rows here and there in the hotel bar of an evening while our daughter danced about!

The rules of Sockdown state that although you have to cast on before the end of the month, you actually have until the end of the next month to finish projects.

I think when I have finished the Foxes Faces I will blog a lot more about them as I have learnt so many new techniques while making them and loved every minute!!

I have quite a few projects in progress at the moment and I desperately want to get them finished so I can start doing some Christmas knitting and, of course, knitting for the baby!!!

I'm so excited about knitting for the baby. I didn't take up knitting again until after my daughter was born so I didn't have the joy of knitting little cardigans and booties last time round.

I have been exploring unisex patterns for the little one, who is due in February. I don't intend to find out the sex beforehand, we honestly do not care what we get as long as he or she is happy and healthy.

A few people have commented that it is shame I don't know either way so I can buy either pink or blue wool but I don't really like all that gender/colour business anyway. Plus, I hate baby shades and pastel colours so my little one will be a riot of colour when he/she arrives!

It is funny, as we were the same with our daughter. She wore every colour going rather than just pink, pink, pink. I am not very pink, pretty, girly, girly, so I thought she wouldn't be either.

She is now nearly three and everything she wears has to be pink, sparkly, flowery or princessy. She adores stories about princesses and fairies and loves pretty things. I don't know where we went wrong!!!!!

Honestly, though. If that is how she wants to be, I am happy to dress her that way. It is her decision. I want her to be happy and comfortable with herself.

My mother used to put ringlets in my hair, tie them in ribbons and make me fancy frocks on her sewing machine. I am sure I looked like a cherub but I felt really uncomfortable and dolling up was never me.

I spend a lot of time wondering what the new baby will be like. My Mam says you never get two the same. Well, in five months I'll find out!

Hopefully in five months I can make quite a few lovely things for both the baby and our daughter, I can't leave her out!

Hey guess what? I'm back....again!

Happy Monday Morning to you all!

I have decided to bring this blog back from the grave and breathe some life into it.

It is not that I have not been blogging, it is just I haven't been blogging here.

My other blogs are about travel, parenting, politics and other interests...........it is just I have decided I need a special place on the interwebz to talk about my knitting, dyeing, machine knitting and crochet.

No, honestly....I really am back this time!!!

Hi there folks,

I'm back blogging and hopefully I will be able to post with more frequency now......I have a new laptop and blogging is easy peasy on it! Before I would lose the will to live while my computer would consider my requests and sit on them for a while before having an attack of the vapours and shutting down completely.

Although I haven't been posting I have been knitting and crocheting - mainly for my muse, Beanie....hell, I've even been working on a few designs of my own, fancy that!

Pictured are a few recent FOs and a WIP....hope you like them!

I'm blogging again!

Okay, so it has been 5 months since my last post..............

...................why so long?

Well, I had a few issues with the blog, some technical and some external and decided it would be a good idea to put it to rest for a while.

But I feel now is a good time to return to Purl City, with a fresh head!

What have I been doing in the meantime?

Don't be silly, I've been knitting and crocheting, of course......mainly for Beanie, who is growing up fast!!!

Bang, bang! You're dead!

But only if your Ravelry name is Pippa and only in a Hat Attack yarntastic sense!

I knitted through the weekend (when husband and child permitted) to finish this bad boy and it is currently winging its way up to Scotland to knock Pippa out of Hat Attack.

Alas, I have already been slain by KraftyKoala whose hat is on its way to me.

I tried everything to stay in the game, I even emailed her assassin Perversia and asked her to hurry it up big time!!!

I am off to join the Zombie KAL now!

Interesting......

Q: What is your process when planning a project? Do you shop for yarn and then find a suitable pattern? Do you find your pattern and then go out to buy the yarn? Or are you stash-busting? If your stash is out of control, how did it get that way?

For me there is no set process! I shop for yarn all the time and quite often just buy it cos it looks and feels nice eventhough I have no idea what it will be eventually made up into.

Sometimes I do see a pattern I love and I have to buy the required yarn straightaway but usually I see a pattern and try to see what I already have in my massive stash that will work.

I am trying to stash bust at the moment as my stash is way out of control but it is hard because there is so much gorgeous yarn out there and I can't help buying it - that's why I have such a big stash!!