Amber's new hair/glasses!

Amber has now got her new glasses and has also decided to go red! I'm not sure I like her hair but ....

Latest finished objects

These mitts are for the AY mitten swap - I hope they're OK!

I made this bag for my mum's best friend's 70th birthday but I really like it and don't want to give it away!

My blasted daughter!

I don't think Amber will see christmas - if she doesn't get her room cleared up she will definitely meet a sticky end!

I have been on at her for so long I can't remember and it just gets worse/ David and I spent a couple of hours up there yesterday afternoon and it doens't look any different! Amber, incidentally, was dyeing her hair at the time. I have even threatened to call in the 'How Clean is Your House' team!

Now, however, I have given her an ultimatum - it gets done before the end of sunday or everything gets shovelled into bin bags and taken to the tip regardless of what it is (laptop excluded of course). The amount of time is not as long as it seems - she's at school all day every day, we have Knit 'n' Natter on saturday and we are going to a special remembrance service on Sunday in Forest Row for all those who have passed away in the last year.

I have told her that all the cuddly toys are to be sorted out and taken to the charity shop and she has to go through everything else.Dad and my sister keep on at me about my untidy house, as a lot of Amber's stuff is downstairs but I can't even think about tidying up until I have somehere to tidy it to!

My finger!

As all you from AY know I currently have a painful trigger finger - the ring finger on my left hand. This is the fourth one I've had and it's got really bad really quickly so I know that when I go to the doctors on wednesday I am going to have to ask to be referred to the hospital which will mean another op.

I had a double op last year for trigger finger release and carpal tunnel on my right hand and only had two weeks' notice of the op as they had space then - otherwise I would've waited nearly six months. Trouble is I haven't got my mum to help me any more and I know I am going to have to rely on Amber for help with bathing and hair washing! I can still picture my mum rushing about trying not to get my hand wet!

Big problem is though - I have sooo much knitting to get on with at the moment -

Mitts for fingerless mitten swap (Angel Yarns)
Own design bag to sell
Mitts for Amber
Mitts for Amber's friend Emily for Christmas
Bag for Knitted Knitting Bag knitalong (Angel Yarns)
Something for another pressie for Christmas (can't say what in case the person in question reads my blog!)
B4 bag for Auntie Ann

Oh dear! When it's all written down in a list it looks worse!

Look wot I got ...

... at the Textiles in Sussex exhibitio in Lewes yesterday. I got some lovely handpainted 4ply yarn from Ann, a person I know through Knit 'n' Natter, a ball of Crystal Palace Kid Merino in Roses to go with the Fjord for some mittens, a cotton bag, some buttons for Auntie Ann's B4 bag, a copy of Interweave Knits Holiday special 2007 and a swift (loving modelled by Ryan)

We had a lovely day out and Amber made some felt balls. She also did some more silk painting and spent loads of my money!

Christmas pressie!

I was talking to Auntie Ann last night and she mentioned my offer to make her a felted bag for christmas, she has suggested that she pays for the yarn and I give her my time and expertise!

Trouble is, she wants the same colour and patterns as my B4 bag but larger! So I have had to hunt about to find some suitable yarn and have come up with Manos del Uruguay in shade 7570 which is greys and black.

I think I am going to run out of time before long!

Amber has another hamster

I'm afraid I caved in this morning and we now have two hamsters - one of each. We've had Smoky for a few weeks (he replaced Sassy who has gone to that big wheel in the sky) and now we have a little lady called Sunny.

Needless to say, Smoky has caught on to the fact that he has a possible mate and is desperate to get to her ( they are in separate cages)

I must be mad - Amber thinks she is going to make a fortune breeding them!

jo xx

Amber

Just had to share this lovely photo of my daughter modelling my scarf - she looks happy for a change!

Nice quick knit!

For a nice quick knit I definitely think mittens are the ideal project. I made a sumptuous pair yesterday in RYC Cashsoft chunky which is lovely to handle although it does split a bit, possible for the mitten swap on Angel yarns.

You'll all be pleased to hear that I have started another bag at last!

Garden Gate Scarf .....

.... modelled by my dad!It's a ONCE IN A BLOOMOON DESIGN, made using Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran, Rowan Pure Wool aran and various oddments of other sran weight wools I;ve used for felting.

Typical!!

As you know I am an insulin dependant (Type 1) diabetic and have been for over 32 years. Well this week has been dreadful!

Monday I had to go to the doctors to try and get my new insulin cartirdges sorted out, but he couldn't help me so I ended up with prefilled syringes again (can't see the dial very easily).

Tuesday, I felt dreadful all day - my blood sugar was really low and I kept feeling sick.

Wednesday and yesterday, my blood sugar was high - naturally.

Today, I am going into Crawley and guess what, it's dropped really low again! I can't do my norming jab until I've eaten or I will start shaking about all over the place so, it's choccy biccies for breakfast!

I am having a flu-jab tomorrow morning and I bet it'll be all over the place again!

Camera problems

My blasted camera has gone wrong! I've only had it since january so it's still under guarantee and I have to send it back to the company I got it from. It's such a pain because I've nearly finished my scarf now and there's no telling how long it'll take to get sorted out! So I've order two others to choose from.

Saving Up!

My ex-husband is giving me an extra £5.00 per week as he no longer has to rent the TV for us (dad gave us his old one) so I have already started saving for Ally Pally 2008! I am also determind to stop spending so much money every month on rubbish, ie things I don't really need and yarn that's taken my fancy and when it arrives I don't know what to do with it!

I told Aunti Ann last week that I wouldn't need any more yarn for ages and then bought some yesterday to make some more mittens (Patons Caress - sooo soft!), and I am also looking at getting some more sock/4ply to do the CTH Kimono of Many Colours.

I am planning a trip to the show held in Brighton in February - trouble is David will be with me but he can be useful for carrying bags!

Ryan took some pictures of yarn swifts to school yesterday to show is Resistant Materials' teacher, he is currently learning about and using wood, and he could probably make one for his big project next year. Oh well I suppose I can hang on until then!

Inspiration ......

.... hit yesterday and I managed to note down TWO bag designs!

Trouble is Amber started to elaborate on the second one and nearly sent my brain into overdrive!

Garden Gate Scarf

Am getting on with this project now but don't like knitting with Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran - it's quite coarse and not really soft enough for a scarf but I don't really think I will be wearing the scarf as it is a bit of a showcase piece! It is going in the Knitting Group's display in the window of East Grinstead library.

I have done four flowers and three stems so far and I need a minimum of 6 so I think I will see how it looks with 3 on each side to start with.

Amber has tidied her room and I had three HUGE loads of washing yesterday, and two armfuls of plastic bottles for the recycling bin!

Look at my lovely haul!!

I bought loads at The Knitting and Stitching Show.

Two Noni bag patterns - Adventure and Carpet Bag

CTH Kimono of Many Colours pattern

Yarn Forward Fall 2007 mag

Black.White/Greyish blue sock yarn to make Amber some mittens

6 balls of Cascade 220 in a purple shade for Chris Bylsma BRAVO bag

Hip Knits Silk Scarf kit to make the scarf in Vogue Knitting 25th issue

Colinette Perugino Throw Kit

Beads

Various sock yarns - Jitterbu, Fyberspates, some from Web of Wool, CTH Supersock to make Kimono patttern

3 balls of felting yarn from Knitting4fun to design my own bag

Namaste Vintage Knitting bag (already paid for only had to collect)

Pretty bangle for Amber

and I ordered a Bobble & Bramble bag kit (Fabulous Felted Bags pattern) from Jamiesons of Shetland.

I also still have some goodies to come from Woolly Workshop, as I arranged to collect an order from them and it had been stolen!

Needless to say I had a lovely day

Latest finished project

Fingerless mittens in SWTC Karaoke, shade Wild Cherry. Quite enjoyed making these and they were really quick. Trouble is I think Amber wants some now!

Am going to Ally Pally for the Knitting and Stitching Show tomorrow, have loads of money to spend and can't wait!

Amber

It seems Amber is not in a good place at the moment - she is not coping well at achool or emotionally and things that have happended to her since february 06 have had a marked effect on her.

Her father announced that he had been to a TV studio as his sister had 'found' him via the Tricia show (Channel 5). Amber was only 10 and this completely turned her world upside down - she discovered she had loads of family she didn't know about. This would have been hard for an adult to deal with let alone a ten year old, and her primary school showed no interest in her or the problem at the time.

Then my OH lost his mum a few weeks later.

This march (07) we lost my mum - I lost my rock, my best friend and my kids lost the only granmother they knew.

I had a very long chat with Amber's teacher at a Year 8 Briefing evening last night and showed her a letter I had stopped Amber from sending to her father as I felt it would show how Amber was feeling inside. I did write a note last week as Amber wasn't coping with some lessons and it seems that this helped her teacher discover who had written an annonymous comment during a Citizenship lesson about being unhappy. I feel better about the situation now that I have got her teacher and the Head of Lower School involved as I feel that maybe we can get some sort of help for Amber.

You may be wondering why Ryan wasn't so affacted - he has never known his real father as I was dumped when five months pregnant.

My shawl is finally finished!

Well, I finally finished my Side to Side shawl last night and it is enormous! But it will be great for warpaiing myself in when I get cold!

I am going to get on with the fingerless mitts for Beth but I've already frogged once!

Been norty!

We went to dad's yesterday and I went into Village Crafts in Forest Row for some buttons for the Knitted Knitting bag I am GOING to make, and I bought some RYC Cashsoft Chunky in a gorgeous purple shade to make some fingerless mitts. I bought 2 balls and am hoping it will be enough but I have a sneaking feeling I will need 3!

The end of my shawl is still eluding me too but I am DETERMIND to get it finished today!

My shawl - grrrrrr!!!!

I am making a gigantic shawl at the moment and it doesn't seem to want to be finished! I keep knitting, and knitting and knitting but I don't seem to get any closer to it being finished! I know why it' s taking so long - I've got several other things that are desperately waiting to be done - fingerless mitts for Ryan's best friend's sister's birthday which is actually sunday but she knows her pressie will be a bit late, the bag for A Knitted Knitting bag KAL, and my Bloomoon Creations Garden Gate Scarf which I want to put in the window of East Grinstead Library (Knitting Group Display)!

The shawl wasn't meant to be as big as it seems to be getting either! I am making the Cabin Fever Side to Side shawl which is knitted in four quarters, using short rows - so the first quarter is important in the finished size. Well I just kept knitting and knitting, thinking it's not big enough yet and so now its gigantic!

What a clown!

Ryan thought he would use my new scarf as a prop!

Winter Warmers

My Winter Warmers parcel arrived yesterday! I got some beatuiful Middle Earth sock (!) yarn in shade Tiger Feet, a sock (!) pattern, needles to make socks (!) some stitch markers, some shortbread and a lovely soft twirly scarf, and I have to say a big thank you to Janice who, it seems, is trying to get me to change my ways and knit SOCKS!

Got a call from the school ...

... to say Ryan had been fighting! It seems there is a boy in one of his classes who has been calling him (and others) not very nice names and even been sending nasty emails on the school computers. A lot of the boys in Ryan's year had been egging Ry on to 'sort this boy out' and inevitably it has got him into trouble.

Ryan is the most easy going boy you could wish to meet - not like a typical teenager at all, and it takes a lot for him to get angry. In fact I think I've only ever seen him really fly three or four times but because he is so tall for his age, he usually gets the blame. In this case though, his head of year is going to do some investigating into both of their school histories.

What a morning!

Woke the kids up at 7.15am. Amber eventually appears downstairs at 7.42 crying that she has to do some homework to be given in TODAY! I quickly log on and find some pics of China/chinese things and print them off. Then I realise it's 7.58 and the school bus is due up in the village (5 min walk) and Ryan is still not up!

After a lot of shouting/swearing/carrying on they both run up the hill, and I follow a couple of minutes later to go to the shop - luckily there was no sing of them so I can safelu assume they managed to catch the bus! I had already decided that I would bit the bullet and pay for a taxi to get us ALL into town (I'm going in later by bus).

They've got an inset day tomorrow (teacher training) and I think Ryan's girlfriend is coming round, so I don't espect there will be any problems getting up tomorrow! And thursday Ryan has to get the public bus into Crawley for college but he can catch that outside the house.

The end is in sight!

I've had a really good weekend with regard to progress on my shawl, and I am not nearly 3/4 of the way through!

Amber has had two friends staying at different times of the weekend, one friday (see Ryan has a girlfriend) and then her best friend, Emily, stayed saturday and then again last night but it seems she should have gone home last night! They did tidy Amber's room last night - hoovering at 11.00 pm! In a way it makes my life easier in that Amber is not so much of a pain, but ....!