Here's my new needles

Well here they are in all their glory...... My new needles from LaughingMouse. The photo doesn't do them justice as they are sooooo smooth. Thank you again LaughingMouse they're gorgeous.

Another wow element to this post is that I'm still feeling 'normal'. So much so I even had my 1st alcoholic drink in absolutely ages on Saturday!!!! AND didn't have a hangover Sunday...how good is that.

Today I've been to work and yes, I am tired and sore but I felt that good at lunchtime that I went for a walk. I ended up at Aberkahns(not sure of the spelling) and much to my surprise they now sell Regia sock yarn!!!!!!! I was very restrained and thought I'd better knit up my stash first........

I've started the shrug for C and am half way thro' the back so must get back to that....

AAGGGHHHH I'v been tagged!

I thought I'd avoided being tagged quite nicely. So thanks to Laughingmouse here goes.....

1. I was never allowed pets as a child with the exception of a fish called Debbie and a caterpillar called Important!? So I think I've more than made up for that now with 10 cats and a dog!
2. I can bite my toenails.
3. I worked in a whelk factory before going to university, packing whelks for 2 pound an hour! This was to save up for college.
4. I am Mel C.....Spice Girls?!
5. I moved in with J after only four weeks of meeting her!!!
6. My mum is a Brown owl(brownies) and my dad was a scout leader. I went on brownie and scout camps as a child. So I was a female at scout camp well before girls were allowed to join!
7. As a teenager I was a 'goth'....despite the fact I was told I was too happy to be one.

There its done.....I think everyone I know has already done this so I don't have anyone to tag :(
Right onto this week...
I've been at work as well as going out on BOTH my days off. I went out on Tuesday 3 times in the car on my own!! and on Thursday I had another fab bargain hunting day out with Chris...Thanks Chris for a lovely day.
Tonight we are off to a wedding. One of my friends at work has got married today. After the weird weather we have had this week I'm so glad it's been nice for her today.
AND I've finished another pair of socks for E. I made myself knit them up(they're knee length in DK)before doing any spinning...so guess what I'm doing tomorrow!!
Question is which fibre do I spin first?esp as I received my Fyberspates order for some dyed BFL yesterday and it's really yummy!!!

Another fab parcel...

Last week I received another fab parcel!
It was from LaughingMouse(my great mate from Stitchlinks). Inside was a kitty card(sooooo cute), a ball of alpaca yarn(yummy) and also some knitting needles she had made!!! Unfortunately no photos as the camera is playing up. The needles are amazing...so original, rustic looking rather than commercial! I love them...thank you so much LaughingMouse you really made my day!
I returned back to work a week ago and wow does my body feel it! I'm really glad to be back and have enjoyed it even though I'm very tired now.
It does help having a 4 day weekend!!!!

I'm mobile!!!

Well since my last post I've been much more mobile! Thank you to everyone that sent good wishes and kind thoughts, they were very much appreciated.
So I've still been off work this week trying to improve my back. I've even been doing some yoga, which I haven't done for a while!
I visited Chris(sorry not sure how to do links) on Monday. Yes, we chatted loads...that's actually an understatement. I think my nerves come out in the form of verbal diarrhoea!?
Anyway we went to her LYS which is closing down :( It's a real treasure trove. I managed to pick up..amongst other things... some pure wool dk(for my mates brothers socks) for 50p and 'Vintage Knits' for a pound!!!!! Yes you are reading correctly. I couldn't believe it. I think I spent about 26 pounds and came away with 2 big carrier bags FULL!!!! Thank you Chris for a lovely day.
I've also been playing with my spinning wheel, since my back will now allow me to do so(since Wednesday I think). I've spun up and Navajo plied some of my 'practice fleece' that Janet gave me. I was so surprised when I skeined it up earlier to see I've managed to get 134yds!!!...and its reasonably even. I'm so pleased, it also seems pretty balanced. That's just hanging and drying in the kitchen.
I've also spun(but not plied) some turquoise fleece Chris has given me. I spun it as it was rather than carding it and was pleased at how straight forward it was. So that's sitting on a bobbin waiting to ply.
I've also named my wheel.....AUDREY.....and she likes it too!!!! We are learning a lot together and enjoying it.
On the knitting front I'm half way thro' my second sock for my SP. I just need to get and do a few more things and then her final parcel can be sent.
Talking of parcels. I received a lovely parcel from my 'Sock Wars' assassin Isabelle in Sweden. We decided to do a sock yarn swap months ago. Anyway, my parcel contained 2 balls of rainbow yarn, some dark choccie and a gorgeous necklace which she had made for me. Its beautiful, all blues and greens with seed, tubular and felted beads! Thank you soooooo much.
Oh, I think J has decided the Conwy socks are hers as she's been wearing them to work this week!

I've just received a PURPLE parcel!!!!!

Look what the postman has just delivered.......

A PURPLE parcel!!!!!!

...look what I found inside....

4oz wool(corriedale and romney), viscose, tussah silk, cut bombyx silk and tussah silk noil signature blend roving from Crosspatch Creations in Plum Loco......mmmmm yummy!

Burt's Bees healthy hand kit...I've always wanted to try this... yippeeeeeeeee

A lavender sachet bag...i lurrrrrvveeeee lavender.

Aura Cacia Lavender Harvest aromatherapy mineral bath...can't wait to use this!

Green and Blacks ginger organic dark choc...my fave!

Dagoba organic chocolate with lavender and blueberries....mmmmmmm sounds lovely, cant wait to try it!

Sunspire organic dark chocolate covered coffee beans....how did you know I love these.?!....I forgot to put it on my questionnaire!

2 packs of Pop Rocks popping candy...cool, I've not had popping candy for years!

A skein of...wait for it...drum roll.....Socks that Rock in Walking on the Wild Tide...this is a club colourway and not available to the general public so I feel really honored!

Also a gorgeous card too with yarn on the front. All this was wrapped up beautifully in lavender tissue paper and packed in a lavender box.

I feel sooooooo spoiled..it's really touched me :)

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH KEYLIME PLY, you've made my day!

.........I now want my back to get better to spin the roving!

Thank you!

I'd like to thank everyone for their good wishes regarding my back. I ended up in casualty earlier as I couldn't cope with it any longer. The staff were fantastic....even finding me a cubicle quickly so I could lie down! However the diagnosis has now been changed from inflamed disc to muscular. Now I'm happy it's nothing serious but it's still b@$$#y painful!!

I discovered, much to my relief that I can knit lying down! So here are the finished Conwy socks. I'm really pleased with them but if I knitted them again I would use a 'normal' toe decrease. The pattern asks for a k2tog 4 times evenly over the round and so produces a pointy toe. I don't know, maybe it'll grown on me!

Saturday we had our last day of sunshine for the time being. I decided to start to wash my fleece I was given. I knelt in the back garden and got the fleece out of the bag. My neighbour's children thought it was great..."...wool from a REAL sheep!!". It really tickled me.

Above is my makeshift drying rack for the small portion of fleece I washed........a broken maiden(clothes horse) over a washing basket. It worked great!..since then I've managed to wash the rest of it in small batches, so just waiting to be able to spin again to try it out!

I couldn't resist this photo of Maddy that J managed to get of her sunning and shading herself at the same time.

OW!

Friday I felt a twinge in my mid back and thought nothing of it. Since Saturday I've been in what could be said rather a lot of pain to put it mildly. I tried to go to work Monday but was sent home after half an hour!
Managed to get an appointment with the emergency doctor on Monday night and he came to the conclusion I've got an inflamed/swollen disc !!!! aaagggghhhhh I really don't want that :(
Anyway due to the strong painkillers I take for my ME and fybromyalgia all he gave me was some diazepam to relax my muscles.....consequently I've been sleeping a lot!
Saw a GP from my practice on Tuesday and asked for a physio referral so I'm just waiting for that now.
Sorry for going on but I've not been able to do any spinning at all....and knitting has been difficult as I can't find a comfortable position to sit in. I've managed to knit a little bit and turned the heel and done most of the gusset decreases for my Conwy socks.
Anne...the Conwy pattern comes from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush....its really straight forward just a 4 row repeat(I only had to frog it as I didn't realise there were calf decreases...duh should have read the pattern properly!)
Right off to lie on the sofa........