From bad to worse!!!

If you don't like moaning then click on another blog now. I'm feeling miserable and I've got every right to. LOL. My tooth abcess has gotten worse over the weekend. I woke up on Saturday with slight swelling to my cheek and as the day went on yesterday the swelling covered the whole right side of my face, right up to my eyelids. Then this morning, it's even worse with the whole area around my eyes very badlyswollen too. I look absolutely awful. And it's making me feel ill.

Spent all day in bed yesterday not able to eat. I started out being sick half way through my breakfast. This was while Em's sleepover friends were still here. Once they'd all gone and I'd washed up I fell asleep on the sofa and later moved up to bed. Simon dragged me to out local out of hours doctor in the evening (culdn't get to see an out of hours dentish). The doc said there was nothing he could do. But he did prescribe some extra antibiotics on top of the ones I already had. Then this morning I've been to the emergency dentish who said there is nothing he can do but carry on with antibiotics, take it easy and drink lots of water. Very useful.

I'm amazed how ill this has made me feel though. I had a similar size abcess in January but went to the dentist and had it drained. Unfortunately Ineeded a root canal and becausse of the root canal they can't drain it again which is why it's swollen my face like it has. My dentish thinks it's the same infection I had in January that's fleared up again.

With all this lying around you'd think I'd get some knitting done. Well, I didn't knit at all yesterday. I'm working on a larger size of the May socks for Sockamania as the original ones are a tad small for me so I thought I'd do a choice of two sizes. Got half the cuff done and need to get past the heel so I can write up the pattern properly. I prefer to work out numbers of st and what to do while knitting rather than jsut work it out on paper. I may see if I'm feeling up to sitting out in the garden and doing some knitting this afternoon. the weather isbeautiful. I'm leaving Simon to look after the house and the girls. The dental nurse at the emergency dentist this morning especially told Simon and Em they had to look after me and that I was to take it easy. How lovely of her. The house was still a tip after Friday night's sleepover party but I think Simon has tidied it up now.

Luckily I got some knitting mags on Friday so at least I've had some nice reading to do.

Hopefully I'll have some sneak previews of Sockamania socks tomorrow.

Toothache

Guess what? Yes I'm ill again (screams loudly!!!) Got another bad cold earlier in the week and still suffering. Was feeling a bit better yesterday but then in the evening I felt completely washed out again.

Also started getting a toothache yesterday. Thought it was just slightly inflamed sore gums but woke up at 1am and it was throbbing. Had to get up and take painkillers. Luckily I managed to get back to sleep. Just waiting for the dentish to open now so Ican ring up for an emergency appointment. Think it's an abcess again. I had a severe one in the same area in January - while we were in Norway. And the whole right side of my face ended swelling up. I ended up having a root canal that time. This time it feels like it may be the tooth next to it which is affected. I just hope it's nothing serious. I seem prone to abcesses and I don't understand why. I clean my teeth properly and use the little 'Te-pe' brushes to clean between my teeth.

We've got Em's sleepover party tonight so I need to be well. When Vanessa had her sleepover party 2 weeks ago I ended up in bed Ifelt so ill and Simon had to supervise the girls so I don't think he'll be too impressed if the same thing happens tonight.

I've still got the cake to decorate too. And I need to pop into town to get some more icing to decorate it and some jam to go in the middle. Also got stuff for party bags to get. So all in all, I'm not very organized. I really don't have time this morning to go to the dentist.

Good news - I've finished the first sock for Sockamania May. Finished the sock last night and just got to type up the pattern now. I'm only knitting one sock for photography and pattern writing and then I'll join the rest of the club and knit the 2nd sock during May. I've decided to do a toe up version of the sock too. I did the toe last night. I'm a bit worried about getting the toe up version done by May 1st as it needs a different pattern writing up too. And if I'm releasing the toe up pattern I'd like to do a toe up tutorial to go with it too. I've got pics done for a tutorial.Just got to write it up. So it all depends on how much I get done this weekend.

Better go and ring that dentist.

New socks

Here are my longawaited 'Speedway' Socks:

These are knitted up in Posh Yarn Lucia

And these are knitted up in The Yarn Yard March club yarn (these are the child/xs size for my daughter Emily).

They come in 2 sizes - child/x-small ladies (up to 7 in ancle circumference) and medium/large ladies size (up to 9 in ancle circumference).

The pattern will be availabe for purchase later today or tomorrow (probably tomorrow as got to pick kids up from school any minute now) for £3 via Paypal.

They can ofcourse be knitted in any 4ply/fingering weight self striping/variegated sock yarn.

I'm coming on quite nicely with my Sockamania May socks after changing the pattern slightly again a couple of days ago - no more changes now I promise ( that's a promise to myself because if I cange it again I'll go nuts).

I'm not very well again. Came down with another bad cold on Monday. Struggled a lot yesterday and felt very rough. This morning I felt awful and ended up sleeping most of the morning. Feel a lot better for it now though.

Summer is here!

and we went to the beach today. Didn't actually go to the beach to sunbathe all day. We went down to one of our local beaches, Seaton, to walk the dog. And afterwards we got our beach chairs out of the car and the girls had brought their swimming stuff and we spent a couple of hours relaxing. The girls went swimming (it was freezing) and even managed to drag simon in (he cheated though and wore his wet suit). I spent most of the time sleeping in my beach chair. Very relaxing and I think I may have even caught a bit of sun.

Feeling less 'blah' now. My energy has improved a bit as has my stomach. But despite having slept on the beach this afternoon I'm surprisingly tired.

Got some wonderful pics of some gorgeous socks today and it's killing me that I can't show them but they'll be revealed in a few months time.

Not making much progress with any other knitting either at the moment. I've changed my mind about the Sockamania May socks as teh pattern and yarn don't go together so I'm doing something different but not sure what yet. Better get on with it hadn't I, May is nearly here. I've done the rib cuff and that's about it. LOL. Watch me panick next weekend.

Off to have a cudde with Em now and get her off to bed.

Have a happy knitterly weekend everyone!

Blah!

That's how I've been feeling this week - realy blah!! Whatever that means. I've been tired, fed up, feeling sick on and off, no energy and I've had diarrhoea since Monday. I'm getting really fed up with this now. Simon keeps saying I hsould go to the doctor but I jsut can't be bothered. They never do anything anyway.

Okay, enough about that. I'd hoped to show another pic of a FO today. I've nearly finished another pair of socks - my Spring Harvest pair and i've no idea why it's taking so long to do. I was determined to finish it today but its still not done.

And I cast on for the Sockamania May socks today. I'd decided on a pattern, test knitted the foot, typed up the pattern. I started, did the toe then changed my mind and started swatching with new stitch patterns again. What am I thinking???? I haven't got that long to get it done. I've changed my mind about a dozen times today and frogged umpteen times as well. I'm now half way through the cuff. Still not decided on a stitch pattern for the leg. About time I did really.

And just to cheer myself up a bit - have a look at this:

Isn't the yellow one a sunny and cheerful colour. These skeins are all 'Emily' from Posh Yarns. I've cast on for a new version of the 'Ocean Waves' shawl in the blue/green/purple colour and I love the way it's knitting up. Was supposed to have taken a pic today but forgot. Oops. Will get one tomorrow. Not sure why I cast on for a new shawl as i've got two (or is it 3) otn already. But this yarn was calling to me. 'Emily' is really nice to knit with. It's a very stretchy, springy yarn. I really like it.

Presenting 'Carmen'

Its knitted in Posh Yarn's Sophia 4ply. I've been working on this for a while now but the knitting has been a bit sporadic but this weekend I cast aside the socks and decided to concentrate on getting this shawl finished. I wanted a large, triangular shawl whihc was lovely and cozy to wear and this certainly fits the bill perfectly.

It measures 70in wide and 33in high and is so light and soft. It took 4 skeins (55gr skeins) of Sophia 4ply (200 yds per skein so that makes it 800 yds in total). And yes, it's my own design and hte pattern will be available for sale.

The pics are taken on a UK size 10 short model making the shawl look even bigger. I just love this shawl. It's been worth the wait.

Here it is pre-blocked this morning:

And decorating our fence:

Got another Posh Sophia shawl otn in a different design but got to finish off some socks first.

Lazy Day

I'm having a bit of a lazy day today. Simon has gone back to work today, he's been off since 30 March. It's been nice to have him home for a nice long holiday during the school hols. Em has gone to a gymnastics/trampolinging clubwith ehr best friend today. It goes on all day. And Ness has a friend around for the day. The girls have just finished making Ness' birthday cake for her party tomorrow. I got to lick the bowl and had to get the cake in the oven quickly as i could have eaten all the mixture. It was yummy. They're making choc sponge cake and will be decorating it with choc frosting and marshmallows. Normally Imake novelty cakes for the girls' birthdays but Ness was very keen to make her own. I got the ingredients out and explained how to make the cake but the girls did all the weighing and mixing.

Got some yarn soaking in vinegar outside. I'm really keen to do some hand dyeing. I'm dyeing a skein of cashmere which I don't like the colour of. And two skeins of Helen 4ply from Posh (cashmere isn't Posh). The Helena Ibought in a creamy colour so that I could dye it myself. It's been lying around for ages waiting to get done.

done some photos this morning of some gorgeous yarn. I knitted the foot of the May Sockamania socks and although I'm happy with the pattern etc I'm not happy with my knitting and I'm starting again. I did the first foot in Yarn Yard and although I lvoe the yarn I've done a few socks in YY yarn lately and fancy a change, but I can't decide.

Shall I go for this pale blue Posh Saskia:



This gorgeous Posh Emily:






Or stick iwth the original choice, this equally gorgeous YY (yes it's the solid from the March (?) club yarn - Natalie dyed some more for me.) The YY is on the right. With the Emily in the middle and Saskia on the left.





And I've been trying to choose some prize yarn for May's Sockamania. I was thinking of these two skeins of Silkwood sock yarn





or the pale blue Saskia (if I don't choose those for the May socks themselves).

Although while I was waiting for the pics to upload I checked my pm's on Crafty Yarns and Chrissy has offered to donate some prize yarn so there may be something else completely.

This beautiful Posh Sophia 4ply arrived today. No plans for this yet. i'm just going to be drooling over hte colour for a bit.





Oh, and a sock. This is the one I knitted at Spring Harvest. The yarn is Posh Lucia.
Look at this gorgeous skein of Shaefer 'Elaine' that Kerrie from Hipknits sent me to play with. It's for a felted bag creations. Not sure what yet but I got it out today to get some inspiration.

Knitting in the Big Top

I've finally gotten around to getting the photo of me knitting in the Big Top at Spring Harvest off the camera. I look dreadful. And that's our friend, Dan, in the background. Not sure if he knew he'd be online but that's what you get for clowning around. My friend, Clare, took this pic and Simon took another pic of me knitting but it looks awful. I'm doing something really weird with my eyes.

I didn't knit a lot in the Big Top as the seating was awful but I did knit on the last couple of days for the main celebrations. We had some friends around this evening who we went to Spring Harvest with and John said that of the 7 years they've been to Spring Harvest this is the first time he's ever seen anyone knit in the Big Top.

We're planning to go again next year but have to go to Skegness as the Minehead Spring Harvest doens't fit in with our school holidays. It's a bit annoying to have to drive to the other end of the country but at least Simon will be happy as he was born in Lincolnshire and we can visit his aunt at the same time.

Had our first BBQ of the summer today. Invited some friends around and had a lovely time. Kept the food very simple, sausages, burgers and bought salads etc. Icecream and melon for dessert. It was gorgeous and it really felt like summer is just around the corner.

Sockamania is going brilliantly. I decided on 25 members to start with. No reason there can't be more really but I just wanted a manageable number for the first month while I work out how to do bulk e-mailing for the pattern. I never dreamt I'd get anywhere near 25 anyway but there are now 19 signed up. If you want to join pop along to the blog to sign up.

Yarn Addict's Sockamania KAL

Fancy joining me for a new sock knitalong? Then e-mail me on stashaddicts@hotmail.co.uk. Check out the Sockamania Blog for more.

This is the idea of this club - I will send out an exclusive Anni Design/Yarn Addict sock pattern each month (sign up by the 10th May to receive the first month's pattern). Yes we start in May by the way. There may be bonus patterns on some months but the bonus patterns may not be exclusive to Sockamania (ie they may be offered for sale on my website). The Sockamania patterns will be exclusive to the kal and will only be available to current members. You cannot get previous months' patterns. But 6 months after the pattern was offered as a KAL pattern I reserve the right to release the pattern for sale on my website.There will be a different theme each month covering topics like lace, cables, fair isle etc. You can use any yarn you like although I will make a recommendation to go with the pattern (all yarn recommendations will be available to order from online stores).

There will be a prize draw each month for any socks finished by the last day of the month - you have to post a pic to qualify for the prize draw. The prize will be at least enough yarn for a pair of socks but there may be extras thrown in. I'll provide the prizes, but as this is a free club/kal if you would like to contribute a yarn or related prize please e-mail me.I'll do some tutorials to go along with the patterns too, so if you're inexperienced please join and I'll help you all I can.

This is a fantastic way of trying out patterns you may otherwise not have tried and learn new techniques. I'll try to include new techqniques for heels, toes and sock construction from time to time.

This kal will run for an indefinite time period but you can ask to be removed from the kal at any point. Also if you don't take part (ie post a pic of that months sock) for 3 consequtive months your membership will be cancelled. The reason for this is that I'm limiting the membership to 25 people to start with and don't want inactive members filling up those spaces. There may be more spaces offered as the months go by.

If you've been working on the socks but don't have time to finish them you'll still be an active member but will only qualify for the prize draw if you complete the socks in the designated month.

Any questions or to join, please e-mail me on stashaddicts@hotmail.co.uk

I'm back

Hi, we're back from our 6 days at Spring Harvest. We had a fantastic time. For those not in the know, Spring Harvest is a Christian holiday/conference that lasts for 6 days and there are 5 hours of kids/teen clubs a day, bible teachings, seminars, worship, celebration and more going on every day. We stayed at Butlins in Minehead and got to use all the Butlins facilities too. The girls loved the swimming pool and fun fair.

We hardly saw Ness while we were there. We went with several other families from our church and there were 4 girls in total aged between 12 (Ness) and 14 and they all hung out all the time and went to their clubs, swimming and late night concerts together. It just felt so safe there we were happy for Ness to havea lot mor efreedom than she has at home. The girls both loved it. We got so much from it too.

The worship and celebrations services were fantastic. The music was just so wonderful and being in the Big Top with around 4000 people (not sure if this is true, but I was told it seated 4000) singing and praising the Lord was just amazing. And yes Ido have a pic of me knitting int he Big Top. Just got to try to find my camera first.

We had some amazing speakers including Steve Chalke (who led the daily bible study), Mike Pilavachi (from Soul Survivor - not sure if I spelled his surname correctly), Lyndon Browning (?), Ian Coffey, and Nimms O? (can't remember his surname either but he was just fantastic). Not sure if I got all or any of the names right but all the speakers were amazing. It was our first time at Spring Harvest but it won't be the last. We may have to go to Skegness next year though as the Minehead one have dates whihc don't fit into the traditional Easter holidays, they're suited to the new 6 week term holidays and Cornwall haven't changed yet so it'll be a long drive to Skeggie next year. Simon doens't mind as he was born near there.

We went with a group of 7 families which was fantastic. We did some things together and a lot of things apart and it was great to know so many people there and spend time with people we don't normally see much.

Got home last night and I've been exhausted all day. Spring Harvest is a lot of hard work and I didn't do half the stuff on offer. I watched the Bible Study on the TV in the chalet, went to the late morning teaching session and evening celebrations and one afternoon seminar and a couple of late evening things, one was a comedy show with Joe Fisher and the other one a concert with an American singer Sarah Kelly who has the most amazing voice and her songs were just truly wonderful.

On the knitting front Ididn't get as much knitting done as I'd planned, managed to just finish one sock and start a 2nd. Spent a lot of time working on a sock for a submission but hte yarn and the pattern don't work at all so had to restart it when we got home yesterday with a different yarn. Just got half the foot left to do. Have't got quite the look I'd hoped for. It's already been accepted fora mag so just hope the editor is happy with the new version.

This evenign I decided I'd had enough of socks and picked up my Posh Cashmere shawl whihc I'd hoped to finish before Spring Harvest but I'm not even half way yet (although I'm almost there). Got to get more focused about my knitting. Got to finish the submission socks and the other pair I'm working on. Then I've got at least 2 cashmere 4ply shawls that need finishing (my own designs) and my VTL shawl (yes the dreaded Victoria shawl, still not decided what to do about hte border but it doesn't need to be finished until end of May now.

In too much pain and too tired to write anything more now. Although I've got lots more to tell. Will be back tomorrow (maybe).

See ya.