Back to school

We succeeded in getting back to school in one piece. Gad loves his new high school and has enjoyed meeting new friends, teachers and tackling new subjects. Lily and Benjamin are back to their friendly and familiar school, happy to catch up with everyone after the summer.



This is my finished Loop Stitch cardigan in Knitpicks Gloss, a really soft sock weight merino and silk mix. I have four skeins left and am not sure what to do with them. The pattern came from an Vogue Knitting winter 2005/6. I have not tried it on, so I hope that it fits!


I have finally had time to finish projects that have been on the go over the summer. I made four baby jackets, but forgot to photograph them before giving them to the recipients, my gorgeous twin nieces, Offira and Tamara. Here is the fifth baby jacket made for a friends new baby girl. I decided to try the Baby kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. It came out very small and so I added more stitches and made a larger version. I was particularly proud of myself because I used some yarn from my stash. I have had it a while and have no idea what it is!



I now have loads of projects lined up. I have promised Oli a cardigan and have now received a copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Saddle Shouldered Aran Cardigan. It is quite complex as you have to decide on your own cable stitch patterns and follow her formula for calculating gauge and sizing. It was this that got me started on the idea. Now I have to swatch all the cable patterns I want to use in the round and then start calculating and writing out my pattern. Daunting!
I also want to knit a cardigan with the cashmere I bought in Florence, use some Noro Blossom to knit a tank top for Gad, make a throw and knit a lacey wrap. I really am going to have to prioritise.

We're back from Italy and I am slowly beginning to feel calmer about the whole experience. It was an interesting trip in many ways and the kids really had a great time. Arriving there was good as the weather was perfect, bordering on the too hot, but very bearable. We swam, read, played and generally had a relaxing time. I am not sure where it all went wrong for me. Perhaps staying with my in-laws was not a good idea, but I could hardly pitch up in Tuscany and stay down the road when they have tons of room. Anyway I had organised to meet up with a friend in Florence for a couple of days in the middle, anticipating that things might get a little tense between us. However, this also came at a cost because I had asked them to look after the children whilst I was gone. I think that they might have felt that this was a bit of a liberty.

Florence was lovely. I met my friend Mel and we wandered through piazzas and streets taking in the architecture and shops. Need I say more! On the knitting front we did well. Went to Campolmi Roberto Filati and Mel found some great yarn that is very similar to Colinettte Point Five. She bought 300 grams for 9.60 Euros. We felt that this was a real bargain. I indulged and purchased some gorgeous pale blue sportweight cashmere. I really splurged and bought enough for a sweater. It cost me around the same as buying enough Debbie Bliss or Rowan yarn for a sweater. I now have to decide what I am going to make with it. I love this yarn store because it has a wide choice, its very reasonably priced and you can buy yarn off the cone. We also went to Beatrice Galli but found that the woman in the shop was very unfriendly. She asked us not to touch the yarn. How can you buy yarn without fondling it first? The food was great, we found a fantastic restaurant in the Piazza Santo Spirit, You have to book a table in the evening if you want to sit outside. It is not too expensive and the food is good.

Mel left after two days and I met Oli who arrived for the weekend. He had to take a teleconference call before we boarded the bus up to Radda, so we spent the afternoon wandering in the Boboli Gardens. It really is a beautiful place and I visited the costume gallery whilst Oli was working. A great place to while away some time.

Postscript

Oh, I forgot to tell you about my stay in Pisa, overnight, before catching the flight to Barcelona.

After I had met up with my in-laws and deposited the children with them, I hopped in taxi to the hotel near to the airport. Everything was fine, ate dinner, showered, knitted and slept.

Next morning I woke up and had breakfast and then realising I had an hour or so to kill before leaving for the airport again I decided to look out on my balcony and decide whether to use the pool or not. I stepped out, the door closed behind me and clicked ominously. It had locked me out of my room! Thankfully I was fully clothed. I climbed over the railing to the next room, no-one in.

Looking down I saw a group of about 30 people congregating in the courtyard for a photo. I shouted down. After several attempts, they were German, I made myself understood. After being locked out for only about 20 minutes someone let me back in. I was so relieved.

Where do I begin?

It has been a really strange month since I last wrote an entry. As I mentioned we are staying put, here in London. It was a difficult decision to make but on close inspection life in New Jersey is pretty similar to here, except we would leave behind friends and family if we went. The schools didn't impress us particularly and as that is a major sticking point, because of the offspring, we opted for good old English education. Anyway, I have spent the time undoing a lot of plans that we had made as we were very close to the actual move!

I also took the kids to Italy to spend a week with their grandparents, as we were of course leaving to live in America! I did a crazy thing and ended up dropping them in Pisa, catching a flight to Barcelona to meet Oli, who had a conference there, spending the weekend with him and then catching a flight to Florence to meet up with the in-laws and kids. Whilst in Barcelona I found this great little yarn store. It had some local yarn and some malabrigo, including the new lace weight that is appearing everywhere. It wasn't in such a great colour so I decided to leave it. I did buy this, however.

It is made from cellulose and looks and feels like silk. I am going to try dyeing it and seeing what happens.

This little lot is the smallish haul from the John Lewis sale. I was very good and didn't go mad, although there was a lot of great Debbie Bliss yarn. I just bought some cotton cashmere to make some baby jackets for the impending arrivals and more of the same for a cardigan for me.


These are two jackets I made for the expected twins (Did I say that my sister-in-law is expecting twins?). I used some Laines Du Nord Baby Star that I picked up in The Skein Attraction in Teaneck, New Jersey, whilst we were there on our relocation trip - the one that came to nothing!


Both jackets are the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It is a great pattern to try and very quick to get finished. Check out the Yarn Harlot's version here.


This is what I am currently knitting for myself:



It is the Loop stitch cardigan from Vogue Knitting, Winter 2005/6. I loved the texture of it and decided to knit it in Knitpicks Gloss. I had the order sent to a very kind friend in Washington as they won't ship to Europe. I will keep you updated on the progress made.

Back home

We arrived home on Wednesday, after a packed week of house hunting and looking at schools in Teaneck, New Jersey. We looked at loads of houses and put an offer on one, which was accepted. However, we didn't feel very connected. Instead we felt dissatisfied after visiting schools. As the week continued we started to feel concerned and then we realised that we didn't want to move from London. It was a very stressful realisation, as Oli had accepted a job there. We came back and have thought the situation through. We aren't going! Oli has flown to Brussels today to finalise arrangements for a similar post based here in London. We now have to tell everyone!

As you can see I have been a little pre-occupied and haven't done much knitting. Although I did manage to visit the local knitting store in Teaneck and purchase some needles, Elizabeth Zimmerman's surprise baby jacket pattern and some yarn to make it with. I have pictures of my finished badcaul socks to share and the beginnings of a hat. I will do that in the next post, I have to go and pick up the kids from school.

Frogging socks - the only polite way to say it!

I had such a hassle with my socks this week. I had put them down ages ago and I have not touched them, as I knew that I had to frog back and redo a short row heel that came out with holes in. I must have knit it about 4-5 times over on Sunday, when I finally had a brainwave and decided to look up an online tutorial. This one is great. It has a link to this which is also a great tutorial.Between the two I managed to finish the heel successfully and now I just have to finish both socks. I am knitting them together because I am not sure if I have enough yardage.One of them is on a circular needle, using the magic loop technique. I love it. The other is on double pins, not as fast.
This is the second sock that I frogged back to correct my short row heel. I think it looks better and it doesn't have a sieve-like appearance!
This is the first sock that I finished with a heel that is great, no holes etc, but it doesn't look as neat as it should. I can't remember how I did the increases on this one, but I am not frogging it in the name of neatness.
This one is the second sock, off my foot and looking fairly neat, although it is hard to tell as my camera is not taking good pictures - I tend to blame the tools!

All play and no work!

My last day at work was yesterday. The children were very nice and made cards and wanted to know if I would come in for any of the post SATs programme. I am going come in for their end of year presentation. Now I have to make a list of all the things I have to do before we leave in the summer.

It feels so daunting, but I know everything will get done eventually, with large amounts of stress to carry it along.

I need to get the house into a decent state in order to rent it out. I hope that there are families out there in Hendon that would like to rent a four bedroom house. The outside painting seems to be coming along and I hope that the house will look better once the orange paint has gone.




I must do an after picture too.

On the knitting front I am continuing with my cardigan in the sock yarn. I have nearly finished the back. I has been quite theraputic knitting plain stocking stitch, but I am ready for the challlenge of cables on the front.