<Made by Mojo>

Made by Mojo

When you change, people either change with you or they leave your life forever

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

First, an apology...

It is official - I have absolutely no manners. My Mum would spank my bottom for being such an ill-mannered quine! With all the excitement (!) the last few weeks I forgot to say who my Secret Pal was. It turns out to be Ali, someone of whom I am very envious as she lives on a barge in North Englandshire. I always wanted to live on a boat when I was down in London but instead we stuck to a boring flat instead. She has been a great Secret Pal and has spoiled me rotten. Without her I wouldn't have discovered Hip Knits silk, wouldn't have made another Clapotis (and OSW) with it, wouldn't have taken pictures and sent them to Kerrie at Hip Knits and wouldn't be having MY Clapotis on display at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace as one of Kerrie's samples. How excited am I at the thought of 1000's of people seeing the scarf?! To me this is the equivalent of exhibiting a painting for the first time. So, thanks Ali for your part in the whole thing. Plus Wally looks to be a lovely cuddly puddycat but then I tend to think that about all cats - even lions and tigers!

So, what else has been happening? We had a wedding the other week which was absolutely fantastic. One of the best things about Scottish weddings are the plethora of kilts on display. For those who think it's just a man in a skirt then they are so so so wrong. Kilts are wonderfully sexy and until you've seen a bloke walk past you with the kilt swinging as they've got just enough bum to make the pleats swish and a fine pair of legs...just drooling at the thought of it. The wedding ceremony was short and sweet (how I like it) and the reception was really fun. Not only are Willie and Lindsey lovely but so are the group of mates that we know through them. It sounds so naff but you could really feel the affection in the room for the pair of them. The ceildh band were ace (samba rhythms for Stripping the Willow) and I even got Robert up for a St Bernard's Waltz - even if I did have to lead as he wouldn't turn round for the waltzing bit! Lot's on tacky 80's music and good Scottish singalong tunes later. An ace night.

Willie & Lindsey (10 Sept 2005)

Picking up the car from town on the Sunday caused a bit of a sharp intake of breath when we saw lots of smoke coming from the direction of our house but once we got nearer we discovered that it was the farm behind us. These are the guys that actually farm the land around us. Turns out the guy had been welding in the byre in the morning and a spark caught something. The building was full of old tyres, machinery, etc so that's why the smoke was so black. Not nice.

Davidson o'Mains

As far as knitting goes I completed a little cardi for Isla next door's 1st birthday. It is so cute. It's from Knitty and I used Rowan Handknit DK cotton in Shell and Slick. Even as I was knitting it I couldn't believe how cute it was. As you can see, the original model is a bit shy...

Shy model!

I persuaded them to turn around later. Isla looks much cuter in it to be honest and it has gone down very well with Mum as I'm the first one to make Isla something a bit more cool and trendy and not quite so old wifey traditional knitting pattern that's been around since I was a kid...!

Front view of Isla?!

Getting all excited about my trip to London next month. It'll be the first time I'll have been back since I left the place in 1991! Not only am I looking forward to the Knitting and Stitching Show but I can't wait to meet up with Mandy for a good catch-up on life and "what's been happening with you" that you can't really do with emails or phonecalls. We're staying with a friend on her's so that saves on accommodation costs (couldn't really afford the trip otherwise) so I have to take some rowies down for Pauline so she can remember exactly why she left Aberdeen! Probably going to meet up at the V&A as we both get into London early afternoon and Pauline will still be at work then. Their textile exhibitions should get us in the mood for the rest of the weekend. Can't wait.

So what else is up? I won't go into the Scottish Enterprise and their planned survey's for the land around us as that will just get me mad at the moment until we get a bit more of the full story. Knitting wise? I've started on the Christmas present production line. My first hot water bottle cover has just gone into production. I want to get hold of some Artesano Alpaca so I can do a a few pairs of bedsocks for a few folk. After struggling to regain momentum on the "I Do" shrug from Knitty with my alpaca instead I've ripped it back and instead I'm using it to make the following vest from the latest Vogue Knitting. I've converted the pattern to knit it in the round as I want to eliminate seams wherever possible. Now if I can figure out my short-row shaping for the shoulder seams and do a bit of grafting or a 3-needle bind-off then it'll be sorted. Let the challenges continue...

Vogue Knitting - Fall 2005

posted by Maureen @ 8:05 pm

2 Comments:

At 8:58 pm, Anonymous said…

Wow, Maureen, I'm really impressed that your Clapotis is going to Ally Pally. In fact I saw your photo on Hipknits which gave me a nice feeling to know that it was something I had sent you. I think that this epotiomises the hole essence of Secret Pal where one act of kindness creates a unique opportunity and more kindness into the bargain! I've just received 500g of Hipknit's silk myself this morning which is also destined for a Clapotis for my sister but I'm hoping to get a OSW for myself out of it too!!
I hope you have a wonderful time in London and I can't agree more how sexy a kilt looks on a tight bottomed young man!!!!
At 10:31 am, Anonymous said…

Thanks for the clapotis, it arrived yesterday and I love it! I will make sure it is well looked after and that it comes back to you in perfect condition..

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