This is a childrens hat just completed....hurrah I finally made something correctly.

Bamboo Knitting Needles

So I've visited an online knitting store and bought more needles. Another bundle of 15 sets of varying sizes from 2mm upwards, made from bamboo.

I love wooden needles. The more they are used the more polished they become. The best thing about them is their lightness. Bad or weak wrists might find this type of needle easier to hold then a metal or plastic needle. To be honest I hate the feel of metal and plastic needles, and the sound of them clacking drives me up the wall.

As well as the wooden needles, I also ordered the cable needle required for making the hat (see below), and a yarn cutter which doubles as a necklace. I can't remember its name, however, since I am currently carrying my knitting project all over the country the cutter is going to be a wonderful addition to my jewelry kit.....it also looks lovely. I haven't heard of anyone else having one of these and can't wait to try it out.

This is my second visit to the Bamboo Knitting Centre who I find keep the customer well informed on the progress of their order with polite e-mails (one to confirm order and one to confirm dispatch). Delivery is fast, postage currently free in the UK (they also deliver to other countries including USA) and everything is well packaged. Of course I could be a little biased because I like their needles.

At the end of the day everything boils down to personal taste. Buy what you are going to use not what is going to sit on a shelf gathering dust.

I'll let you know how things turn out.

My Brothers Hat

Yea, I am doing well with my knit one, purl one,or what is known to knitters as the stocking stitch.....except that I have read a little more of the pattern.

According to it I need a cable needle for my cable stitch.

The air turned blue when I found out.....AND as I was in work at the time, heads turned, as my fellow slaves wondered what could cause a polite quiet knitter use words better suited for the old docks.

So I'm off to browse the online bamboo store for something called a cable needle.

Brown wool

I've decided to use the brown wool to make my little brother a hat for the winter. Unlike the shawl, where I had to learn to 'make one', the pattern I have found on the internet only requires me to knit one, purl one, in a way that will create (hopefully) a cable effect. Yea, I have my doubts too.

In the meantime the next issue of Let's Knit is coming out this week and I can't wait to see if they have any other items I can make and pass of as gifts to my relatives. I do suggest you buy the magazine as they have patterns for everything from people things to house things.

Whoever would have guessed that knitting could be so much fun.

Narelle Pattern - Lets Knit

During July I bought all the knitting magazines in Tesco to find the one that was easy for a beginner knitter like me. The Lets Knit! magazine was the winner and there are many patterns in it scheduled for future creation.

The shawl above is from Issue 9 and should have been knitted in a silk yarn. As I have a dustbin bag full of dreary red, brown and black unused wool (I am not in a position to buy new yarn just yet), when I discovered this multi-coloured (psychedelic bash your eyeball out) ball of wool at the bottom of the bag I knew it would do just fine....especially if worn with dark colours....a little black dress perhaps? The magazine even provided the needles. At 15 mm they are HUGE but certainly made making the shawl achievable, at my beginner speed of knitting, in three days.

I wonder if my sister in Denver would like it?

yellow scarf

This is the yellow scarf I quickly knitted for my neice. Tension is horrid, but at least it will keep her warm.

The Jumper

I finally finished the jumper and I am proud of reaching the end. Notice anything odd about it? Think its a little large for a 5-6 year old? As wide as it is long?

Mistake number one. When someone tell you that you need size 7 & 9 needles check if they mean UK size 7 & 9,or size 7 & 9 mm.
UK size 7 is a larger needle that UK size 9. 7mm needles are smaller than 9 mm.
Guess which ones I bought.

Mistake number two. Running out of wool. There was enough wool for the size of jumper I was knitting had I used the correct needles. However since I used needles that were double the size I needed more wool. Then there is a lovely yellow panel at the back similar in shade to the banding on the front.

The jumper was a birthday gift for my niece. I did send it to her along with a story about an aunt who cannot knit, a scarf, and some bought clothes.

I have not heard from them so I am guessing I am in the bad books again.

A Fatherly Update

Well after having more tests that completed the hospital tour of dads digestive system, I am glad to say they did not find any blockages or growths.

Unfortunately that still begs the question, What caused the agonising pains and swollen abdominal cavity which had him hospitalised in the first place?

As those in the know recall, even a sip of water caused him pain.

There are bats in my garden

Having two cats living with us you would think that flying creatures would tend to stay out of our garden. Fortunately our cats seem to prefer fish, mice and fly as their main diet. The fish being served 'al la Felix', and the other two items being fresh caught.

Last night we had new visitors, at least visitors I had not seen in years. BATS. From 10.30 pm onwards, these agile little flying furry critters, provided a charming Ariel display. Dashing and swooping after flying bugs, they were able to turn on a wingtip after an insect that was making a fast getaway.

As they would not stay still for an identification paraBatde, I can only assume they were either the Brown long-eared bat,or Common pipistrelle. Both these species are found in this general location.

I would have stayed and watched them all night, but one has to think of the neighbours, who might be a little concerned to see someone staring out over the interlinking gardens for extended periods of time!

Knitting Patterns for Charity

Once more I've been conned, sorry, convinced by my workmates to do my part for charity and do a little knitting for children around the world.

Being a beginner I can knit (k) one, purl (p) one and that's about all. Combining one row of knit and one row of purl I have a stocking stitch (ss) assuming I am knitting on the right side and purling on the wrong side.

A couple of months ago a friend of mine was watching the Paul O'Grady show which appealed to the knitting community for baby hat. Knitting is not something I have done since school, but the pattern looked easy (and was). Being the softy I am and the recipient of a donation of needles and wool I ended up knitting three baby hats. I admit I did not go as far as putting pompoms on the top of them, but they looked wearable.

By enlarging the pattern one of my nieces or nephews is going to get a larger version for Christmas.

www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/P/paulogrady/children.html

Simple patterns like the one at the Paul O'Grady Show link above are easy for beginners like me, however it is interesting to note that easy to follow patterns are hard to come by. At this level of knitting I do not want to spend money on purchasing a pattern I am not going to be able to use in the foreseeable future. To this end I have been searching online for free patterns.

www.oxfamireland.org/shops/knitting.shtml

Oxfam Ireland has some easy to follow patterns for fingerless gloves, hat with peak and a hat with ear flaps.

Knitting for charity is something that anyone with a pair of needles can do. As the long nights will soon be drawing in, why not prepare for them by taking up knitting and using up those old balls of wool.

Scan Results?

Dad went to the Doctors today to get the results of his Barium scan from two weeks ago.

He has had recurring abdominal pains, loss of weight, bloating etc which last month (June) culminated in a week long stay in the Ulster Hospital.

His visit took under two minutes. The length of time it takes to say. Sorry but it will probably be another two weeks before the results arrive.

Two weeks? Well that's OK, the lag time between making an appointment and actually seeing a doctor is two to three weeks. If you want to see a doctor urgently go down to a hospital.

Aww Don't they look Cute.

William, Dorothy & David all standing in one of the Mountsteward Estate gardens. The gardens are well worth a visit and open year round. The Estate is managed by the National Trust and overlooks Strangford Lough.

Mike is the person behind the camera. Poor man forced to take pictures of those three siblings.

Bill, Mike & Dot stayed with us for a few days at the beginning of the Roulston Reunion. As a surprise Bill's wife Naomi, who had been having her own family reunion, managed to come to us a day earlier than planned. We did not tell Bill. On the morning she was to arrive I chased him out with Dad, Mike and Dot to visit Mountstewart. The plan was that I would join them after a couple of hours exam revision. Bill's face was a picture when she appeared. Their reunion brought tears to our eyes. Ah Love.

Green Pepper

Dad is proud of his veggies.
Today it is the turn of the green peppers.
The first two of the season, grown in the comfort of the greenhouse.
Admire!

Reunion June 2008

Don't you just love reunions? A total bunch of misfits of all ages gather together to tell stories of their misspent youth, achievements and future dreams. Its all about showing oneself in the best light in the attempt that, when you leave, people will remember you fondly.

Or in my case its 'to hell with presenting the best image', as I dress warmly and comfortably for a trip to Donegal. The weather is one where, closing the curtains and curling up in front of an open fire with a book and a mug of hot coco, wins hands down against gales, rain and smiling for the umpteenth photo. I admit that stopping off at Marks and Spencer on the way down was perhaps not the wisest thing to do, especially when you are being pressurised to 'just grab something' (remember that ghastly yellow jumper?).

OK so I'm eccentric, but hey, at my age I need a hobby and what better than to laugh at the world as they try and emulate their neighbours. Perhaps to the casual inspection I look like an overweight gloomy cow, but trust me inside I am giggling away at anything that tickles my fancy.

But back to the reunion.
Due to June just being one of those months that is so bad you can only cry in dispare, we only managed to get down to the reunion for the tail end couple of days. I'm told everyone had a wonderful time.

Cousins day was nice. We all sat round listening to jokes, songs and stories. It was like the last page of a story, all cosy and yet a little sad as you know that these smiling faces surrounding you are never going to be in the same room again. Time waits for no man.

Saturday we said goodbye to a few of the family (Just an evening in your company? That's not enough time spent with you, grr). Then off we trotted to drive along narrow roads looking for a fish festival. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue sky, blue sea and secluded sandy beaches. After clinging to the edges of cliff hugging roads we ended up in a pub. No music, but there was an oyster opening competition. Guess who won! Ha not me, cousin Helen was suckered into opening 8 (approx) oysters in a timed competition. Two nurses against each other. Go Helen! If you had been fortunate to put your head around the corner you would have heard the polite encouragement of the Roulston clan as they screamed, clapped and laughed. It took a while but we got the locals to join in the encouragement. Once Helen had beaten the other girl we naturally screamed, clapped and encouraged the other nurse. At the end of the competition we learned that there was only a second between the top two girls with Helen coming first. Many congrats Helen. On a side note: Raw oysters and champagne might be nice, but raw oysters on their own are cold, salty and slimy. Give me the pearl any day.

Saturday afternoon it grew gray again as the sun vanished behind cloud. Feeling adventurous, we went for a drive along the coast to have a close up view of the waterfall we could see from the cottage. Following the road further on round, it took a turn away from the sea up a valley past mountain sheep. Being total nutters we carried on along this road after the tarmac ran out, following a bumpy trail....one of those ones where there is a mound in the center with mature grass growing....rather like a grass verge in the middle of the road. The road went up a steep sided hill and off into the distance marshland. Its an empty damp place, where bog Cotton flutters in the chill breeze, and swallows dance and shadow the car as they catch the bugs disturbed by our passage. I admit being unnerved when the electric poles we were following suddenly stopped, but a signpost at the end of the road turned us towards civilisation again. Off-course the sign post, being in Gaelic, could have been pointing the unwary traveler towards the edge of a cliff, but we took the chance any way.

Sunday we cleaned up, packed up and went home. As we went over the Glenshane Pass we left behind the remaining relatives, the dark grey rain and moved into warm sunshine.

Many thanks to Aunt Dot for managing the Herculean task of getting all her bothers in one place at the one time. It was nice to see everyone enjoying the get-together.

I think the next reunion should be in Australia although I am not sure how the brothers, sister, spouses and children are all going to fit into Bill & Naomi's playhouse.