Silence is golden

For the past few weeks we've had 2 visitors here at Stash HQ....my sister and her Westie.

My sister only knits in my presence so that I stop nagging her about how great a hobby it is, how you can make the item you see in your head exactly as you imagine it etc. So in the above photo, she's keeping me happy by knitting a mitt. 

She actually finished them, and was rather chuffed with herself (as you would be) so she started another pair. The yarn she used was Stylecraft Cabaret in Rainbow and they're really pretty.  The yarn has a strand of metallic thread running though it which makes them shiny...thats probably what drew her attention to them in the first place actually.

As for the pattern, it had to be something easy that she could follow without too many complicated stitches and no purling! So one pattern sprung to mind - Ysolde's garter stitch mitts.

Even I managed to rustle up a pair or two of these. There are 2 pairs of these, honest. For his I used Adriafil Knitcol and knitted the pattern up as written. For mine, well I've a thick wrist so I made the mitt a repeat wider and it fits well. As for the yarn, well I received this skein in the Christmas swap a while ago and thought that it would make perfect mitts - its Fine Fish Yarns DK in a lovely blue called Innis.

The gruesome twosome left on Wednesday and Friday, so the house has been very quiet without them. Himself keeps looking for Gibbs and is a bit disappointed when he remembers that he's gone home (seems he was a bit mopey which is a victory for us, lol) and I've a mitt to fix for the sister.....but I am getting loads done on my shawl.

I did get new yarn this week, all the way from Australia, but I'll leave that for another day.

Max

A few weeks ago, in the looming days before World Wide Knit in Public Day, the hubby and I took a little trip on the Stenaline from Belfast to Cairnryan. I had gotten very cheap seats in the St Patrick’s Day sale (and, with hindsight, I should have bought a few more seats) so it was a very cheap day out.

He packed his book and I, obviously, packed my knitting - there were still a lot of creatures to create for the WWKIPD!

While on the trip we got upgraded to the very posh Stenaplus all because the captain couldn’t let us on the bridge (It’s a long story)!

So, we’re sitting in Stenplus in our big swirly leather chairs drinking the free wine (well, he was, I wasn’t) when something happened

From my needles a little ladybug was born!

 

This is Max.

Max is rather a shy little ladybug.

Shy but with a curiosity about the world around him. He stared out the window trying to work out where he was.

All that looking and staring didn't help him, go he tried logging into the ships computer....

But that didn't work. It drove him to drink!

And donuts

Ahhh! Tartan biscuits! Scotland must be involved!

He wondered if this magazine would help

Ah, he could see land! But he still didn't know where he was.

Luckily Max met two other ladybugs, Marcus and Marian. They told Max that he was born on the journey home from Scotland 

And that he would now be living in Northern Ireland!!

Max, Marcus and Marian moved into our house after that journey. I would like to say 'and they all lived happily ever after' but alas that's not true.

Marcus and Marian went to our World Wide Knitting in Public Day and spent the day playing games with the children...and they never came home. 

Max likes to think that they're having fun playing every day....maybe one day he'll see them again.