Not much of a week

I've been off work all week. It's a throat infection that has been the culprit. Unlike most people that work thro' such illnesses I can't :(
I'm now feeling less shivery and achy thank goodness, and I've been able to get on with my secret knitting(when I've felt upto it), so I'm hopefully on the home straight with that now.
I think Audrey and myself need to do some spinning this afternoon as we have neglected each other a bit recently.
It's been so cold this week. Def a week of wearing knitted socks, gloves and scarves. We have even had the heating on!
Acupuncture went well. My right leg started while I was there and the acupuncturist positioned her needles to give me some relief. So got another appt with her on Tuesday, ready to go back to work on Wednesday.

I'm here, honest! (no pics as still need to sort camera out)

Omg it's been over two weeks since I last posted!!! What a two weeks, it's def had it's share of ups and downs.
First of all Bella has now been spayed, so no more kittens for us as she was the last to be neutered.
I also received my first SP11 package. I'd been waiting for some yarn in the post so you can imagine my surprise to get this parcel.
Inside was 2x50g Frog Tree alpaca chunky...very warm and squishy!
Geranium and orange soap from Neal's Yard..smells gorgeous.
2 beautiful little note cards.
A long tube of Belgian hot chocolate...the tin will be used for my DPN's once I've drank the hot choc!
AND 2 bars of my fave Green and Blacks choc!!!
Thank you so much SP I love it all!

Last weekend J took me to my sisters house...I was unable to drive myself as my back had decided to play up in a big way. Sitting for the hour and a half drive was pretty sore.
So I spent the first half of the week knitting and relaxing as I was unable to do much else :(
Wednesday I was brave and drove my sisters car(my back had eased) and went to visit Bev (http://www.knitting4fun.com/). I had a lovely day there and even stayed for tea...which was especially nice as I hate cooking for myself and so just forget about eating. It turned out that she had a stall a the Craft 4 Crafters show at Newark at the weekend, so I offered to help set up. Bev agreed but only if I didn't do too much. That's exactly what I did(help out that is) and I even went over on Friday to help a bit on the stall...I mainly spent the day needle felting and giving bits of advice about spinning and fibres. To top it all Karen (the girl that helps Bev on the stall) and Bev have asked me to visit their knitting group as well as help them learn to spin! How fab is that?!
Unfortunately I didn't sew up the baby clothes but I did make a bit of a dint into some knitting for my SP, as well as picking up a few bits for her last 2 parcels....I think they're more or less done now!
I came home on Saturday and naturally I felt tired.
Today I got up for work and ended up ringing in sick as I'm ear achy, head achy and neck achy. Sorry for whinging but I'm in a 'don't know what to do with myself ' mood! To add insult to injury my back has decided to start again.
So I've been dosing up on hot orange squash and having my beanie(wheat bag) attached to my neck for relief of my sore glands.
I've finally been banded(wages at work) only 2 1/2 yrs after I started! So that money starts in October and I'm just hoping my back pay is pretty quick after that as I want to buy a memory foam mattress. Then fingers crossed that will help with the old bodily pain. I've also booked an acupuncture session in the hope that that helps in the ways that conventional medicine doesn't!

They're going :(

Today is our last day with the kittens. Lily has already gone to her new home and Squeeze is going tonight when his new mum has finished work. It's really sad to see them go but at least we know they have fantastic homes. Their new families have already said they will stay in touch and let us know their progress. Each kitten has been told that they can come back to us if there's any problems!!!
I would post some really cute photos that I took last night but I'm still having problems uploading them.
This is def our last litter of kitts as Bella is getting spayed on Tuesday...no lie in for me on my day off!!
On the knitting front, I've finished the cheeky chino cardi but I'm leaving it until I'm at my sisters to sew it up. I've started knitting Denmark from Knitting on the Road in my hand spun and dyed red yarn. I've only done the cuff on the first as I've been doing some secret knitting for my SP...I can't say what until she gets the parcel(once I find a box big enough!) as I'm not sure if she's sussed me out yet!
A told J the other day that I must suffer from OKD...obsessive knitting disorder!!!! I have corrected him since and added an S to it...obsessive knitting and spinning disorder!!!...I think I could name at least few people suffering from this!!!
Just got 1 week left at work. It's going to be strange this week as C is off for a week, and as we car share we usually have a good rant about the day on the way home. So poor J will be listening to me going on instead!
My sis is def going away. So I'll be going to Nottingham with Audrey at the weekend. I may not be able to use her computer as she's been having problems with it, unless I can sort it out for her. I'm thinking of starting another item for my SP while I'm there....Chris do you think it's going to take long to do???
Oh, while I think on, there is another SOCK WARS! Yarn monkey has a different blog address, here it is http://yarnivation.blogspot.com/ . I did sock wars last year and met Jen thro' it. It was fun...have a go!
I must go and put tea in the oven......

Ta Dah!

Look what I got!!! Thank you to Jen and Chris for giving me this.

I'd like to nominate Laughing Mouse and Liz for this award for being a great mates!

Liz...I can't comment on your blog as you haven't got me as an LJ 'friend'...I've just created an account so I can leave you messages, please add me I'm 'woolydoodles', Ta!

I'm still here!

I'm sorry it's been ages since my last post :(
I'm having probs with attaching photos.....I have got some lined up of the sugar almond yarn and of some BFL I've spun this weekend. It's the blue/green/yellow from my previous post, I've got about 112yds out of 100g and I've 2 plyed it as well.
I was good by not spinning until I had just got the button bands to do on the cheeky chino cardi!
J and I went to the stitch and craft show at the GMEX in Manchester yesterday. Like the last one it was pretty dire unless you are seriously into card making. There were only 3 'decent' knitting stalls and I did pick up a few things I wanted although the main thing I went for I couldn't find...it's a pressie for my SP. So I think I'm going to have to order it online. After we had finished at the show J and I went to Canal St for a scrummy meal. It was really nice to sit and relax in surroundings that are extremely gay friendly....for anyone that doesn't know Canal St is the Manchester gay village area.
This is about as exciting as this week has got! Oh well I'm off work in 2 weeks supposed to be looking after my sisters cats but she doesn't even know if she's going away now! I'm still going to go down for a few days tho' as I want to pop over and see Bev.
I have been given an award by Jen and Chris....Thank you very much I'm very touched! But as I'm still unsure as to put it on I'll leave it for another post.

Pictures at last!

OK as promised, here are the long awaited piccies. This is the fleece I spun up and dyed with 'pretend' Koolaid(2 green, 2/3 cherry and 2/3 tropical(orangey)). J now wants this yarn for socks for herself!
This is the BFL I dyed using acid dyes. I'm really pleased with the colours and how they have merged. So I'm looking forward to spin these once I've finished the Presto Chango(see Shoeless blog for the pattern) and a cardi from 'Cheeky chinos' for the new baby's older sister...for my preggie mate from work.
A FO!!!! This is the yarn I was gifted from Angora Anne...she had dyed it herself. She did send me a lovely pattern to knit. I tried it but toe up socks are really not me, I much prefer to knit cuff down. Anyway these are my Monkeys on my brand new sock blockers. I had been asking around about these and decided to get them from Get Knitted as there was some 4ply soft there that I wanted to knit I Love Gansey sock from SixSockknitalong.
Here is Squeeze in his favourite place......the scratching post. He likes to play 'King of the castle' with it!
Here is Lily being cute. They never fail to amaze me, they've weaned themselves, learnt to drink water, regularly groom, used the 'big boys and girls' tray rather than their little tray and basically cause havoc!!!!!
This week has been really nice so far. Chris invited me to a Guild 'meet' at a lovely lady's garden on Tuesday. Apparently this happens once a year that she opens her garden for guild members. We had a lovely afternoon spinning. I managed to ply the sugared almond....pics next time as it's drying at the moment. I managed to get 270yds Navajo plyed, so there's enough for some DK socks. The garden was beautiful, it was like something out of a novel. It was so quiet and sitting in stunning surroundings it felt like I was on holiday! A real secret garden.
After having a long day out on Tuesday, yesterday I was shattered to say the least. At lunchtime I had a wander to Abakhan and picked up some Welsh Mountain top....yes you read correctly Abakhans selling spinning fibres!!!!! It is pretty kempy and with the dark fibre you would expect from Welsh mountain, but it is softer than I thought it would be. So I thought at the very least I could do some dyeing with it!
I also managed to have a look around for SP11 gifts...........
Talking of which I had an email from my pal today. She sounds really lovely. I'm so looking forward to spoiling her!
I'm off now to have another stab at Presto Chango...the sooner it's finished, the sooner I can start the cheeky chinos cardi, the sooner I can start spinning my dyed fibre!!...That's saying that I stick to it!

SP11 and dyeing!

OOOO it's the start of SP11 today. I've received the details for my down stream pal...I'm really pleased with the match. We seem to have an awful lot in common! I have lots of ideas of what to send.
Just waiting now for my upstream pal to get in touch.....I'm really looking forward to getting to know both people.
I changed my medication on Friday after an appalling week of pain. I decided to draw on my skin exactly where and when I got pain so the doctor could see what's going on. Well, I was covered in pen marks at work...I looked a real sight!!!! The doc has decided it is my tendons that are the problem due to the fybromyalgia :( So he's changed my meds and I'm now getting pain relief via a patch on my arm. It has made a difference and taken an edge off the pain so it's more bearable. Also I've not needed my other tablets as much and been more 'awake' so that is a real bonus!!!!
Today I've been playing with dyes! I received some BFL roving yesterday and thought I'd give it a whirl. I was very good and mixed all my dyes into squeezy bottles(no drips) and wrapped all the wool up once I'd coloured it. I steamed the cling film wrapped wool and now I have 100g of blue/green and 100g of red/blue/purple. I'm really pleased it's worked out well with minimal mess.
Sorry no pics as camera is still out of batteries.
I finished the felted bag for my sis. I love it but we will have to see what she thinks of it.
The monkeys are now onto the feet and I'm being very strict about not casting on for anything else before I finish them.
I've started spinning some sugar almond coloured wool/nylon. It's spinning like a dream. I've split each length into 8 and there's barely any drafting needed. I'd better finish it soon as I'm going to want to spin my newly dyed roving when its dry!!!
Update on the kitts.....they both know their names and will toddle over when called! They are really cute and their little personnalities are really showing thro'......Weaning next!!!