It was my 40th and I'll cry if I want to...

...but it was a good day last Friday. I woke up to loads of cards and pressies and after being persuaded to come downstairs, had to run round the house breaking all the "You are 40" tapes criss-crossed over the doors! Yes, even the porch and my car were covered in them (as if I didn't already KNOW I was 40, I had to drive over to the Post Office advertising the fact!)

These were from Skein King

These were from my sister

My more-than-generous mother-in-law gave me 40 heart-themed gifts all separately wrapped, ranging from heart-shaped soaps to a knitted hearts hot-water bottle cover and this tin heart decoration:

My sister-in-law gave me this modern take on a charm bracelet by Thomas Sabo.
I have a mobile phone and my birth stone, peridot, on mine and I think the lemon's going to be next whenever I can get to House of Fraser.

And the fabulous alabamawhirly made my these mitts from SQ Lavish in a colourway called Sweetbird. I'm so chuffed with them, they're making me look forward to autumn!


Skein Prince made me this card from a kit he bought in Buxton when we were on holiday

And there were lots of other gifts - too many to mention individually - but thank you all, especially to Sandra at work. I very embarrassingly thanked her for the lavender bag, but she had so beautifully wrapped up a gold-leaf necklace in satin and lace that I hadn't realised there was more inside! Truly mortified!

I thought we were going to be going out locally for a meal on the night of my birthday, but no, turns out Skein King had other plans. We headed towards Oxford, then Swindon and the wonderful man had booked a couple of nights in a hotel in the Cotswolds.

It was fabulous. On Friday afternoon after he'd told me to pack, I was speculating about it possibly being a Travelodge by the M40, but it was far from that. The hotel was lovely, the food excellent, the staff were friendly and we fitted in a trip to the historic wool town of Northleach and also to Cheltenham. I want to live that city! One reason being, it has a Cath Kidston shop. I was in heaven and came away with this:

Because, as I've matured, I've come to understand and appreciate that old Confucian saying "One can never have too many needles or too much yarn." It appears right beside the one that says "There's no need to cry when you reach the age of 40 if you have love and friendship but not necessarily your original figure or hair colour." I guess I'm lucky to reach this ripe old age - many people don't have that privilege.

But, I also like the philosophy of Miss Piggy:

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye"

I'll leave you with that wise thought as I prepare to squeeze into my magic knickers for the Garden Party at the weekend - anyone heard a weather forecast?!!

Post-holiday yarn preview

Hello, my friends - back from holiday and looking distinctly peely waly (that means not at all tanned, which would be so unfashionable anyway) after a rainy, dreich week in Staffordshire - I've so much to say about the cosy cottage and the places we went and the inspirational photos to show you, but they'll have to wait.

First, I have some yarn to preview for a forthcoming shop update. I'm going to aim for tomorrow (Wed.) night, but I kindly request that you bear with me for getting the yarn posted out. If you are tempted to buy, it'll be a day or two til I can get to the Post Office this week.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin:

Frog Face in Wisp (cashmere/silk) - 2 skeins

Golden Caramel in Wisp (cashmere/silk) - 2 skeins

Java Dusk in Bamboozle (merino/bamboo) - 2 skeins

Forest Dream in Guest yarn (merino/silk) - 2 skeins

Coral Brown in Blush (merino/cashmere) - 1 skein

Rosy Cherub in Blush (merino/cashmere) - 1 skein

Smoked Salmon in Blush (merino/cashmere) - 1 skein

Raspberry Sorbet in Blush (merino/cashmere) - 1 skein

Dragonbird in Encore (BFL/nylon) - 3 skeins

Sangria Smile in Plushness (lambswool/angora/cashmere) - 2 skeins

Sweet Violet in Plushness (lambswool/angora/cashmere) - 4 skeins

Vintage Lavender in Opulent (cashmere) - 2 skeins

Norfolk Lavender in Opulent (cashmere) - 2 skeins

Cupcakes in Encore (BFL/nylon) - 1 skein

Seaspray in Opulent (cashmere) - 2 skeins

HUGE congratulations to Heather Douglas aka dollydimple for getting her luscious pattern for Lydia wrist-warmers published in the prestigious Inside Loop and thanks to her for mentioning that she used SQ Opulent in Seaspray. If you have your cookie filter thingy switched off, you may also notice an accompanying SQ advert which handily matches the colours of Heather's Lydias.

Finally, if my sister-in-law is reading this, she IS NOT ALLOWED to read any further. When she was over from Belfast a couple of weeks ago, she requested a Chevron scarf in SQ yarn after seeing my Socks That Rock one. It's her birthday on Thursday, so I actually got it finished while we were away on holiday (along with one Spring Forward sock in Encore - yummy yarn - so much for getting through three planned projects - gilraen, how'd you do it?)


Being an experienced Chevron scarf knitter, shall we say, I was aiming for the perfect colour combination and I'm really, really happy with it. I hope she likes it too.
PS It's in Blush cashmerino.

Wow!

All sold out! Except for one, very lonely skein of Aran silk. All packaged up and posted out, except for one which is going tomorrow.

But noone's allowed to buy that skein of Sweet Violet! I have an advert coming out in the Inside Loop in the middle of next week - more on that later - and there's not a scrap of yarn in the shop! And I'm away on holiday next week. But never fear - I'll be back and raring to go with lots more colours perfect for autumn projects the week after and believe me, I'm not complaining. Thanks for all the wonderful support.

Have just finished Not Another Chevron Scarf and looking forward to starting three new projects on holiday (and then just spotted gorgeous stripy Kaffe Fassett - he who signed Miss Violet's boob - cardigan in latest issue of Knitting magazine - nooooo, must resist!)

Anyone want to see some Yarn Pr0n? Look what a fantastic friend sent me:

Precious, precious Wollmeise. That stuff's selling for a fortune on eBay. But not this skein. Noooo, not for sale. Sale requests denied. Destined for needles!

Shop update preview

I've got darks, I've got brights, I've got zingy and zesty, I've got blues and I've got reds, some old friends, some new colourways - everything to add some cheer to a dreary British summer. But I don't think you'll like it - best thing is NOT to lurk around my shop tomorrow evening... yucky old stuff!

Here's the preview.

Starry Night in Blush (merino/cashmere)

Sweetbird in Blush (merino/cashmere)

August in Plushness (lambswool/angora/cashmere)

Pink Lady Apple in Plushness (lambswool/angora/cashmere)

Bluebell Woods in Plushness (lambswool/angora/cashmere)

Fragrant Stocks in Lavish (4 ply cashmere/silk)

Norfolk Lavender in Lavish (4 ply cashmere/silk)

Chocoteal in Mellow (6 ply cashmere/silk)

Rainforest Pool in Bamboozle (merino/bamboo)
Inky Periwinkle in Bamboozle (merino/bamboo)

Sangria Smile in Encore (BFL/nylon)

Reykjavik in Encore (BFL/nylon)

Zest in Encore (BFL/nylon)

Missy Snuffle in Entice (laceweight merino)

Thanks so much to everyone who joined the Squee! sock clubs for autumn. The Plushness club is now full but there are still a couple of places left in the Encore club - let me know if you're interested.

I finished the Ribbed Lace Bolero which I knitted in Manos Silk Blend, but it's already been snaffled:

We had some very special visitors this weekend - my mother-in-law, nephew and my sister-in-law who'd been very ill earlier in the year and has made a full recovery. It was so great to see them as they don't make it over very often for several reasons including fear of flying! We had a quietish weekend just catching up with lots of food and wine and playing for the children. We recently discovered this bizarre field within half a mile of the house which has this weird crop - at first we thought it was bamboo but could it be elephant grass? Anyway, it has a right of way through it and is great for hide-and-seek!

Sock Club reminder

Don't forget - if you were in one of the Summer sock clubs, you need to let me know by tomorrow noon BST if you want to sign up for the Autumn club (further details here) after which, if you weren't a member last time but would like to join, drop me an email and places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. I won't be collecting Paypal payments til nearer the end of August. Hope everyone who wants to can join in the fun!

Important business first. Have been dyeing today and here's a little tempter:

There's some Plushness (of course), some Blush, some Mellow, a bit of Lavish, quite a bit of Encore, a small bit of Entice, a little bit of Endure and some yummy Bamboozle (merino/bamboo). I'm aiming for a shop update early next week, then go on holiday the following week.

A couple of weekends ago, our friends were up from the New Forest and we went for a dander in the woods. Their little girl was wearing these "knitted" wellies.

How cool are these? Don't know if you can see it, but the stripes are a knitted print. I want some!

Friday night was cinema night with the girlies. We went to see Mamma Mia. Almost as good as the musical which we saw in London last year. How mortifying though - I came out with mascara all over my cheek where I'd been sobbing at the song Slipping Through My Fingers. Gets me every time - even writing this, I can feel the tears welling up, mad woman that I am! But it's not in a sad way - more in an appreciate-every-moment way.

Right, I've pulled myself together now! The weekend was spent welcoming Skein Prince back from Scout camp and all his lovely washing (I held my breath as I unpacked his backpack). We'd been to IKEA and he came back to his "Big Boy's" room so's he has somewhere to study when he goes to secondary school.
Spent ages in the wardrobe department agonising over what to get, but by the time we got down to the warehouse, we realised we couldn't carry more than a loft bed and a desk on the roof bars of the car without it collapsing, so he'll have to make do with the lovely orange falling-apart pine one for the time being. It was raining on the motorway on the way back and bits of cardboard were flying off from time-to-time as it got soggy. By the time we got home, half the cardboard was gone and we'd nearly lost the instructions and the screws and bolts! I was in my element flatpacking away - I do like a bit of flatpack construction (I am verging on the eccentric as you may have guessed!)

Monday was his birthday.
And he got a surprise trip to Chessington World of Adventures. He had a fantastic time and went on all the scary rides. I, however, like rollercoasters, anything fast, but nothing high. This is what happened when I decided to be brave and went on a big ferris wheel:

Pure and utter terror - and completely irrational. He had to sing me the "Think of Fluffy Bunnies" song to calm me down. Look at the delight he's taking in my fear!

Nice gentle log flume - much more my style! Or Professor Bubbleworks - now that's a good ride! Though was disappointed it has changed from being a fizzy pop factory (not PC enough) to Imperial Leather soap factory (get the advertising in.)

I took the plunge this week and joined the modern world of youth by signing up for Facebook and Plurk. Look me up if you're on there. Debbie Orr on Facebook. Skeinqueen on Plurk. My yarn is going to be one of the options you can choose from in the Send Yarn application on Facebook - if that means anything to anyone! It's the completely useful application where you can choose from photos of several gorgeous yarns to send to a friend and say "I heard you frogged that ugly fair isle sweater... Here's some new yarn to get started on something cool for me!" Who said Facebook wasn't useful!