Is it spring yet?

So the clocks changed last night so technically it is spring but it doesn't really feel like spring yet! There are signs it's coming though and that is good. It nearly April, the nights are getting lighter, the sun can be seen more frequently, the temperature has risen a bit (some days) and there is the first signs of growth in the garden! This all makes me feel quite positive, I've had enough of winter, I'm ready to feel the sun on my face again! (Plus none of my coats fasten anymore, so it will be nice to not have to wear one!)

To help spring along I've been surrounding our home with little things like daffodils, Easter cakes and little chicks! I've also picked up some yarn in lovely spring colours and my new wip is very seasonally (more of that on Wednesday)

Is it spring yet? Is just one of the questions I've been asking lately, others include - is it nap/bed time yet? Is it the weekend yet? Is it time for mat leave yet?

You may be sensing a theme, this week has not been a great week sleep wise, lots of getting up for the toilet and then not getting back to sleep again. Everything is much harder when you're tired and I've really felt like I need a break or a rest or a lovely holiday to lie on a beach (that last one is never gonna happen!!) But today is the first day of spring, I had a good nights sleep and feel ready for action! Well maybe not action, maybe just a bit of pottering around, making lists, eating cake and a bit of knitting!

Just keep knitting...

Still knitting away on my Angus' monster sweater, just the collar to go! Hopefully tonight is the night! I wanted to do some more this afternoon but Angus wants to make cakes and really who can argue with that! 

Wip Wednesday - the late edition

This post is slightly misleading, mainly as I don't have a wip to show you. Don't get excited the monster sweater isn't finished, I don't have a wip to show as it hasn't really changed from last week. I have finished a sleeve and cast on another but the picture I took looks just the same as last week. As predicted having my in-laws to visit has hindered my knitting.

However, I can't complain as they have babysat for us twice and gave me several long lies. My husband and I made full use of the two evenings out, the first of which we spent at the cinema. We saw "Focus" which is the new Will Smith film. We were both really impressed with it! It was funny and smart and really kept you on your toes but without being to hard to watch! I love Will Smith anyway but this really good and I'd recommend to anyone. Our second night out was spent at the theatre watching "Shrek" the musical. This was fab! We are both big fans of the movies so we were hoping to love this and again we were not disappointed! My favourite character/actor was Lord Farquhar, he played the role on his knees and he really stole the show for us. He was very funny! The costumes were very good and characters like the dragon and gingy were very cleverly done. My husband and I had a great time!

 It's been a really nice week with my in-laws actually and Angus has loved spending time with them!

I do have one wip to share with you and that's my bump. This was me on Sunday at 25 weeks!

Well that's it for me today, next week I will have lots more to share as we will be back to normal! 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day in the U.K. was Sunday just past. My husband has always been pretty good with birthdays and Christmas so I was never worried that he would fail on Mother's Day! And this year was no different. 

First he got up with Angus at 6:15am and let me sleep for a further 3 hours. When they did wake me they brought a cup of tea and some pain au chocolat. This was lovely but there were also presents!

The first of which was this lovely Mother's Day yarn box from Devon Sun Yarns! (Turns out my husband is a very good listener) Inside the box was lots of lovely things including some gorgeous sock yarn. It's come out quite blue in this photos but there is quite a lot of purple in it too! Perfect colours for me! I'm not quite sure what I'm going to make yet but it will be something for me!

There was also a teabag and some chocolate which was very nice. The little pins are very sweet and I love the stitch marker! My husband and Angus also very thoughtfully chose me a card with knitted pictures, they know me so well! 

The second of my gifts was this little lot, which Angus made at a group he goes to, the cakes were eaten mostly by Angus but I love the photo frame and the handmade card!

I had a lovely relaxing morning and in the afternoon we went into town for a lovely walk down by the river and then for some coffee and cake! Although I had a white chocolate hot chocolate which was so yummy!

My in laws also arrived from Scotland o Sunday, so we all went out for a lovely meal to finish the day off

If it was Mother's Day with you I hope you had a lovely relaxing day too filled with treats! 

Wip Wednesday- the monsters are coming

(Image)

Well just one monster!

As today's title suggests the monster sweater is nearing completion, I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. I've made a couple of mistakes but I'm ok with that, I've cracked intarsia and that's fab! 

Here's where I am as of today

I have the sleeves to finish, the neckband and then just seeing it together. I am really hoping that next week I will have a new wip to show you and this will be a FO! We do have visitors coming at the weekend so this may hamper how much knitting I get done, but fingers crossed! 

A chocolate cake kind of day

On Friday Angus and I decided to have a quiet day, I'd been feeling pretty yuck all week with a cold and cough, so taking it easy was ideal. I asked Angus what he wanted to do thinking he might say play trains or make a tent but no Angus wanted to make a cake. When I thought about it, it was actually a great idea, a chocolate cake was just what we needed!

We just used a simple Mary Berry chocolate tray-bake recipe, nothing very complicated, really just a throw it all in.a bowl, mix it together and bake! However I think you'll agree it turned out pretty good and was very tasty! 

Also to say we had a very happy daddy when he came home to chocolate cake was an understatement, so win win really! I mean who doesn't like chocolate cake?!

10 tips for intarsia

I am pleased to say that I have finished the intarsia part of the sweater for Angus! I'm so pleased, I think it's going to look great when its a finished sweater. I thought that now I have finished my first piece of intarsia that it might be a good time to share some tips that I found helpful when doing this for the first time.

These are by no means all you need to know but they have definitely helped me, so hopefully they will help you too!

1. Watch some videos on YouTube so you get an idea of how it's supposed to look when you are doing it

2. Have a good look at the chart before you start and make notes at the side of you need too. Things like whether it's a knit or purl row

3. Make your bobbins before you start so you are ready to pick them up and use them

4. Keep bobbins close to your knitting so you dot get in a tangle

5. Leave a long enough tail to weave in when you change colours

6. When changing colours take the new colour under the old one, when working on the wrong side 

and this will avoid holes in your knitting 

7. Weave in ends to match the same colour. Remember to tighten the stitches when you weave in as it will improve the look at the front of your knitting

8. Weave your ends in as you go to avoid a tangle in the back

9. Block your finished piece of work. I don't usually block (lazy knitter) but I can see already that it 

will make a big difference to the finished sweater!

10. Don't panic, it's not as hard as you think and you will manage master it

I also thought I would share some of my favourite intarsia patterns too, just in case you needed some inspiration! These were all found on Pinterest. (Links below)

Sheep blanket

Star Wars hat

Reindeer sweater

Monster trousers

Heart bag

Penguin cushion

Wip Wednesday - monster sweater

I have been a bit quiet lately, my mum has been visiting and then the husband had a cold at the weekend which he's very kindly passed onto me. This has unfortunately meant that not a great deal of knitting has been done. However, I am really happy with what I have done.

I think I've actually cracked intarsia! After watching 3 YouTube videos, doing some reading and consulting a very knowledgable friend, I finally started this sweater for the third time on Monday night and look! It's a bit untidy but I think once I weave in the ends it'll be fine! It wasn't nearly as hard as I was fearing and I'm so happy with how it's coming along.

I was taking this photo this morning and my son Angus and I had this conversation:

Angus: baby hat mummy?

Me: no

Angus: baby blanket mummy?

Me: no Angus, this is going to be a jumper for you!

Angus: oh wow!

It was very cute but the way he went on you'd think I never made him anything!

Anyway that's all from me today!

And the winner is....

I am a little late with the winner of my giveaway, I don't know where the last couple of days have gone! Anyway I made a list of everyone who entered and did a random number generator and the winner is Andria! 

Congratulations!

Andria if you email me (sam_mcconachie@hotmail.com) with your address I'll pop your yarn in the post! 

Thanks to everyone who entered!