Es Ee Ex

There's been major S.E.X. happening round here this month. Maybe there's something in the air, what with it being spring and all.

I actually blame Mrs Stashbasket for suggesting a sock-a-month challenge.

Once the challenge was underway I soon realised my stash needed a little bulking up.

Luckily, thanks to birthday money and payday I have been on a very exciting Stash Enhancement eXpedition. I've explored online yarn stores, real-life yarn stores and have even kept my personal shopper busy and now my sock stash is looking incredibly lovely.....if a little greedy!

Of course, as well as all that S.E.X. there's also been plenty of knitting.

I managed to finish these lovely lacy socks that I cast on way back in January. I knitted the cuff of one sock between January and April and then got stuck in and did the rest in just over a week.

The pattern is Waving Lace from this book.



A recent appointment for work led me so close to a fabulous local yarn shop that is was rude not to pop in. I came back out with three balls of very pretty pastel yarn (plus one or two other things) that was perfect for a Baktus scarf for the naughty Minx.

Not wishing to leave Monster out of the knitted goodies I've got another pair of mindless stocking stitch socks on the go - using my new square dpns. These needles are fab - a bit metallic smelling at first but the squareness of them is incredibly comfortable to knit with and doesn't leave my hands cramped up.

Now, it's onto the real goodness. Some idiot managed to find a lovely looking pattern on Ravelry for The Stashbasket/Moogsmum sock-a-month challenge that was deemed to be just perfect for May.

That idiot would be me.

Mrs Stashbasket, as is her enviable style, got stuck straight into these babies and has already turned the heel on her first sock and is now well on the way to casting on sock 2.......and May isn't even here yet!!

Once I realised this I had to cast on too. Five times, as it turned out!

Don't be fooled - this sock is not as sweet and innocent as it looks. It messed with my brain so very much that I may have sworn a little tiny bit. I may even have felt very slightly close to tears. I endured a most stressful evening of knitting this blessed thing, only to find I'd suddenly found an extra six stitches from somewhere.

As we all know, knitting is a most relaxing hobby .....when it goes right!

It would seem it may be fifth time lucky and I'm very slightly nearly almost just about possibly starting to enjoy them.

Happy knitting........ahem.......

xxx

This and that

I'm not being terribly imaginative in terms of themes for my blog just lately. So, rather than procrastinate further whilst waiting for inspiration to strike, I may as well just get on with it.

There's been knitting - of course. Lovely knitting if I do say so myself. Beautiful yarn combined with a pattern I now love (after hating it at the first attempt) has led to these delicious socks - my Polly Jeans:



I also finished off some very simple stocking stitch socks and am now onto the foot of some rather gorgeous Waving Lace socks. My sock drawer is beginning to look decidedly healthy!

Some knitters, when faced with a drawer full of handmade socks, might be tempted to start passing on the product of their labours to family and friends. I'm a very selfish knitter, however, and like to keep them all for myself!!

I can always buy new furniture with bigger sock drawers :o)

Other than knitting, the Easter holiday has included visits to family, my baby daughter's big 9th Birthday and several days of me being stuck in bed with a yucky sickness bug (this included Minx's birthday :o( ). We've enjoyed a glorious day at the park with friends, a long and lazy slouching about kind of a day - or two - and a couple of special days out.

Special day out no.1 was spent with my lovely chum Trashy and her gorgeous children. We met up at a weird 'Sculpture Park' up near Salisbury - weird because no-one else seemed to be there, picknicking and photography were definitely not allowed and it was entirely unclear as to where we could or could not walk. Coupled with having to enter the place through a set of electric gates, it was all very mysterious!





We picknicked out of the boot of the car - as is our style :o)



Then we fled the park in favour of a leisurely wander around nearby Stockbridge - where it was much more obvious where we could walk and had both public toilets and locally made ice-cream!



Special day no.2 was yesterday and Minx's belated birthday treat. A day out at Legoland Windsor. We queued lots. We managed a few rides. We walked lots. We queued some more. All courtesy of Tesco clubcard points :o)

The highlight for me was without doubt the fantastic Lego models throughout the park. I love Miniland - with it's amazingly detailed models of London, Amsterdam, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Brussels, Paris and Denmark, not to mention the space shuttle launch pad, Edinburgh and Caerphilly castles and an Abba concert in full swing!!



Monster's overriding ambition is to become a Lego designer when he grows up and a peep through the glass doors into the model makers' workshop only served to strengthen this ambition. He has spent all day today up to his ears in Lego :o)

I''ve spent my day up to my ears in housework and ironing. Is it just me or does the whole house descend into utter chaos when the children are off school?

Tomorrow it's all back to normal. Shoes are polished. The car is loaded ready for work. School dinner notes are done.

I'm now going to round my holiday off with a few more rows of knitting.

xxx