Tour de France

Yet again I'm celebrating the Tour de France by joining in with not just a knitalong, but a spinalong.
Le Tour starts today, in the knitalong I'm part of Team Rabbobank and hopefully aim to knit lots of small items, think earning points, think sprinter so Green Jersey contendor.
In the spinnalong I'm part of Team UK and Team Yarn Yard and as a newbie spinner am classified as a Rookie. The aim of the Tour is simply to spin a little every day. The plan is to document this using Daily Mugshot, I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get that working but am about to have a go.

Meantime, go Team Rabbobank!

Secret Pal 14 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love BFL, and most wool, I'm also a bit of an Alpaca fiend. I don't really dislike anything accept the nasty stuff (fun fur and crunchy acrylic I'm pointing at you).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a Knit Picks options set that I have the zip up case for, all my rarely used and small collection of straights are hidden away in a pringles tube!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I taught myself to knit using the internet and books last february, I'm probably an intermediate knitter but will give most things a go.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
My Etsy favourites are here and here I've also got some yarns in the favourites (stash) section of Ravelry that I'd love to get my hands on!
My Amazon wish list is here
5. What's your favorite scent?
I like fresh smells, I loathe cinnamon and vanilla.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Not so much a sweet tooth, I love most sweets, but chocolate unfortunately needs to be the expensive stuff to get me going. Doesn't have to be really dark, just good quality with unusual flavours, I developed a real addiction to this stuff a while ago.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I do spin, though I only started a few months ago, I have a sewing machine that I use ineptly and have painted, though not for ages.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
As a child of the 90's I am a true indie kid, though sometimes pop is good too. I'm really not a music buff and listen to just about anything, though I particularly love the spoken word and have almost as many hours of audio books as I do music.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I do love purple, but have lots of purple in my stash right now, I'm also a hot pink fan, but most of the time I love colour.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Just me myself and I, no pets allowed in my current flat :(

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves yes, hats yes, mittens definitely, ponchos are a big miss!

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love fair isle, socks and lace. I've just made 8 scarves in a row as presents so I'm off those for now!

13. What are you knitting right now?
I literally just cast off, I think I need to get a garment on the needles in an effort to reduce the amount of yarn in the stash beyond a single ball at a time!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars, wood for larger sizes, metal for smaller. There was a snapping incident, it's still painful to talk about! All my needles are up on Ravelry though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
The swift is handmade by my Dad and a little wobbly but functional. The ball winder was second hand and again works though I'm not sure for how much longer!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Not that old, I started a sock yarn blanket a few months ago but I'm only knitting squares on it using yarn I've made something out of so I see that more as a slow growing project!

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
I love all holidays, I'm a teacher so I get lots of them! I've had some wonderful Christmases and some pretty rubbish ones, but the same goes for all holiday trips I've been on (we usually go away at Christmas)

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Nope

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I've just pre-ordered Enchanted Sole by Janel Laidman, considering how many socks I knit I do have very few sock knitting books, apart from Eclectic Sole I don't own any.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
How to stop time to fit more knitting in!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am a sock knitter, I'm a UK size 5 which is European size 38, standard sock patterns fit!

23. When is your birthday?
27th June

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
hilltopkatie

Everything in the garden was lovely...

Good job too. I am stuck at home as a suspected swine flu case. Three days off sounds wonderful, but not if you're confined to the house with nothing to do. That's a slight lie, I've been busy knitting and spinning, and have even pulled the sewing machine out. I have done my year end Rainbow accounts and sorted out changing lots of addresses, however I am now ready to be allowed contact with other living beings again! I am still waiting for test results to come back, hopefully they will arrive today...

Meantime here's the garden-
Mum gave me a courgette she had potted up and it's positively thriving, as are the lettuces, radishes, rocket and cress. The nice man across the road also gave me a couple of spare tomato plants. They need potting up in bigger pots as they're very leggy but I need more compost, and need to be allowed out to get it!
At the bottom is a peg bag that I made yesterday, it's rough and ready but will do the job perfectly well.

Woolfest

It was my birthday this weekend and as my birthday treat Mum and I went up to Cockermouth in the Lake District to go to Woolfest. I spent lots of my birthday money on some lovely wool and fibre.


There were also lots of sheep on display there, and as they proved popular last time here are a few more...View slideshow

This is a ram called Bruno... he thought he was human and liked to have his face scratched....