Wedding Bells Part 2

Wedding Bells Part 1 is here




We had arrived at the 'Black Swan' in Oldstead. 

It was a complete surprise to me - Dan had let out the clue that it was a Michelin star place we were going to, and that it was in Yorkshire - well there aren't that many - so I was pretty sure I knew where we were going (the aforementioned Star at Harome)  - however what I hadn't taken into consideration was that the Michelin awards had only been 5 or 6 weeks before, and this place had only just received their star - so I wasn't looking quite in the right place! 

Anyway, we arrived along a 1 mile long track from Bylands Abbey (you have to pass through an archway of the abbey to get to Oldstead so it's suitably theatrical!) and pulled into an L shaped courtyard/car park. It was rather unprepossessing to look at - quite homely - looking rather like some nicely done up farm buildings. We parked up and went into the reception where we were greeted by a lovely girl - very friendly and chatty - who checked our booking and took us round to one of the 4 rooms they have in this lovely 'Restaurant with Rooms'. 

I do think we got the best room - it had a 4 poster bed, and a cast iron roll top bath in the lovely bathroom (which had underfloor heating much to both of our delight!) mmmmm warm toesies! 

On top of that there was a bottle of champagne sat on ice. Fab! I always like it when an evening starts with champers! 

After sweeping round the room a bit and investigating all the luxurious trappings whilst consuming our champagne, we headed over to the bar of the pub. One of the really nice things about this Michelin Star restaurant is that it is basically a fabby pub, with a cozy fire, big tables to sit round, cosy nooks, lots of books, oh and excellent food! So down we went into the bar, and sat and chatted to the owners and staff, whilst having a pint. (Hmmmm Black Sheep on top of Champers; possibly a slightly dubious combination!) 

Anyway, we were in for an early dinner so we hurtled back to the room to change (it turned out we really didn't need to, but we glammed it up anyway!) 

We were booked in for the 7 course taster menu with the paired wines. Details here... http://blackswanoldstead.co.uk/menus/Sample%20tasting%20menu.pdf 

As always in a Michelin restaurant, the food and service were impeccable. This time, though, it was very relaxed and friendly - much less 'stiff' than some of the places we've been to in the past. This really suits the lovely location and slightly more chilled vibe which I think they're going for. 

Here are a few pics of the food - not all though - the camera went wonky in the middle :( 

All through the evening, Dan had my lovely engagement ring in his top pocket which he patted smugly at various points during the meal. 

"Go on, let me put it on" I kept asking.... I was answered with a pat of the pocket!!! 

To cut a long story short, I never got to put my ring on at all that evening!!! We finished the meal, and walked the 4 pages back to our room, and zonked out for the night. 

The following morning after breakfast (which was magnificent!) I was finally allowed to put the ring on! YAY! 5th December - official 'getting engaged' date! 

When we got home we started the lovely task of ringing up the folks and friends to let them in on the secret we'd been keeping since August!! 

No snow in crossflatts

It seems to have taken everyone else a very long time to get to work this morning. I was ok - only 50 mins. No snow in Morley , none here in Crossflatts and hardly any in between!

The hash tag #uksnow has been trending on twitter but i think that is more about wishful thinking than anything to do with actual snow!

https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23uksnow

So check out this website...it uses that hashtag to determine snow levels (you have to tweet a mark out of 10 and a postcode) and u can see the live UK snowfall

http://uksnowmap.com/

Hopefully I'll make it home tonight - I forgot my yaktrax!

Wedding Bells!

We were sat in Mark's Bar - Cucina - in Morley way back in the summer. Dan said 'I think it's time we got married' I burst into tears! We have been talking about getting married in the abstract sense for a long time. It's been complicated as we both have such differing beliefs and like such different things. This was the 'getting married in the specific sense'! I couldn't believe we'd actually got to that point.

So there was an agreement that it would happen, but not quite how, when or where!! One thing we did agree on though, that we weren't 'engaged' until a ring had been purchased.

It was a busy summer so nothing really got done until we got back from Italy in September. At the end of September, remember that lovely hot weekend? We went into Leeds, had a lovely meal, and went looking in some of the nice jewellery shops in the city centre. Straight away we saw something which looked a bit like this one and we thought it looked just the ticket. I didn't want anything that looked too "engagementy" and I also didn't want anything which stuck out or I'd end up catching it on things; I'd be too afraid to wear it! Visions of watching a diamond pinging off into the distance!

After thinking about it that evening we thought why go looking for anything else when we both liked the one we had seen in Leeds. We planned to go into Leeds the next day & put down the deposit on it.

Literally, the next morning, just as we were about to go into town, I was looking on a website called Offbeat Bride which is a fabby resource for the 'non-bridely' bride (aka me) and I saw a picture of a ring in the adverts on the right hand side of the page

Well it was a picture of 2 rings - I'm not really a solitaire kinda gal but I totally loved the simple leafy band on the left. I clicked on the advert and it brought me to Valerie K Studio Etsy page.

Ooooooh it was ring heaven! I still liked the leaf one best and then I saw the leaf ring sandwiched between the 2 eternity bands. I *knew* they were mine. I showed Dan and said I really really liked them - they were a little bit different - we both loved that idea - nothing if not unconventional!

We then entered into the conversation with Valerie about gold and diamonds. All that decided we placed the order and then it was a matter of time to wait for it to be made and then to arrive in the post!!!

Valerie lives in Pasedina and so I had a nice little parcel tracking number which allowed me to see our parcel as it went from her local post office, to the central one, to LA, on the plane, to Heathrow, to Leeds, and then to the house!

The whole process took about 4 weeks but I would check the DHL website ohhh about 5000 times a day! In fact Dan sent me this fab cartoon from XKCD on the subject of online parcel tracking...

It's from XKCD.com a brilliant online cartoon - link below.

http://xkcd.com/281/

Yes, that was me. Still in Pasedina. Still in Pasedina. Still in Pasedina!

Anyway, it got here eventually and we set the date of letting the rest of the world in on the secret as being the first weekend in December.

We tried to organise something nice for that weekend - Barcelona, Edinburgh, Kinsale, but nothing quite worked out. 

We started looking closer to home, and then one afternoon Dan said 'I've booked something for Edinburgh'. ('Going to Edinburgh' had become our codeword for 'Getting Engaged'!!!) "oh really, where?" I replied. "Not telling" he said. So it was decided. I wasn't to know until we got there!!!

Last Sunday we got in the car and Dan gave me the driving instructions. Up the A1 to start with. I was convinced we were going to 'The Star' at Harome so I thought "Aha! I'm right" We got pretty close to Helmsley, and then turned off and ended up coming past Bylands Abbey we'd been to a few years ago for my birthday after a little stay at the Feversham Arms in Helmsley.

We came up to the Abbey, but then the instructions had us turning away from the Abbey and down a little road opposite...for about a mile.

It was very narrow - good job I drive a midget-mobile - and then we heard 'you have arrived at your destination', we were there! 

Part 2 to follow!

Sock Tutorial - Part 3

Gusset 


Look at your fantastic sock with its heel flap and heel! You are more than half way there. 

What's coming up...
You now have a tube with a ribbed top for the ankle, and now you have to knit the tube for the foot.


 The first part of this is called the gusset - go back to look at the sock from your wardrobe - 

- either side of the foot, at the side of the heel, is a triangular shaped pattern which joins the heel to the foot - that's the gusset. It involves a series of decreases on either side of the foot, and it will decrease the number of stitches back to the number of stitches which you started with. Why have you got more stitches though? Because in a moment you're going to pick up 8 stitches along each side of the heel flap - remember knitting the 16 rows of the heel flap where you slipped a stitch at the start of each row? - this is where we now pick them up. 

 So, what are we looking at - we have currently 16 stitches on the 'cuff' needle which we haven't touched for a while, and 10 on the 'heel' needle which you've just finished knitting on, with the 2 sides of the flap having no stitches at this moment on it at all. 


Taking a new needle, insert it into the first ss at the end of the row nearest to the last stitch you just made on the heel needle as you can see in the picture...

Close up...see the larger stitches at the end of each row? These are the slipped stitches you did when knitting the heel flap. Insert the needle underneath both loops...

Yarn over...

And then as if this was just a normal knit stitch...pull the yarn through...to create a new stitch on your needle

That's your 1st picked up stitch. 


Put the needle into the next "start of row" slipped stitch, 

yarn over and pull a stitch through. That's 2. 


Continue along the side of the heel flap until you have 8 stitches. So you now will have 3 needles in play. The cuff, the heel, and now one side of the heel flap. 

8 newly picked up stitches along the bottom...cuff needle (16 sts) on the left, heel needle  (10 sts) on the right

There will be another needle needed for the other side, in a minute! 


Knit along all of the stitches on the cuff needle...

Cuff needle stitches knitted (along the bottom) - 8 newly picked up stitches to the right - heel needle at the top.

...and then you need to pick up 8 stitches as before, continuing up the other side of the heel flap - you might need an extra needle here (my set of dpns has 6 needles and the extra couple come in handy at this point!!!) but you could use a cable needle or even a normal needle, temporarily until we do a needle reshuffle. 


So you end up with 4 needles, with 8 stitches on either side of the heel flap, 16 on the cuff edge and 10 on the heel edge. 

Cuff needle at the bottom, heel needle at the top. On the right needle are the 1st set of 8 sts picked up, and on the left you have the 2nd set of 8 picked up stitches.

The use of stitch markers 


The use of stitch markers is very necessary in sock knitting - you slide a marker onto your needle in-between particular stitches and then this reminds you to perform certain actions before or after each marker. In this case the stitch markers will mark the place for the decrease stitches either side of the foot for the gusset. 


Tip - stitch markers never go on the wool, they always go on the needle. Each time you come to a marker, you just slip it from the left needle to the right and carry on.


Prepare 2 stitch markers (I use paper clips or even a little loop of another type of wool in different colours.) We are also going to reshuffle the stitches so they are back on 3 needles. 


So holding the sock the right way up (rib at the top, heel at the bottom) place a stitch marker over the top end of each of the 2 heel flap side needles, 

and slip a stitch on to the end of each from the cuff needle - this is to stop the stitch markers from sliding off

 - the white arrows show where a stitch has been moved from the cuff needle to each of the left and right heel flap needles to anchor the stitch markers on those needles. That leaves 14 sts on the cuff needle and 9 each on the 2 heel flap side needles. 


Next we are going to do a needle shuffle so that we split the 10 sts on the heel needle equally between the 2 heel flap needles. This will reduce the needles back down to 3.


So knit 5 stitches from the heel needle onto the right heel flap needle - putting 14 on that right side flap needle. 

Then move the final 5 stitches from the heel needle onto the left heel flap needle.

14 stitches on each needle. 42 in total.


Note where the 'tail' is - remember the yarn which marks the beginning of the 1st row - this should be in line with the gap between the left and right heel flap needles. Remember this gap between needles is the end/start of a row/round.


So now we begin the decreases for the gusset... 


This is what you will be doing...


Row 1- . Knit to within 3 stitches of the 1st marker - k2tog, k1, slip the marker onto the other needle knit the remaining stitch on that needle (that leaves 13 stitches on that needle), and then knit to the 2nd marker, slip it from left to right, k1, ssk2tog. Knit to the end of the round.


and I'll show you the step by step pictures.

This shows it with the work laid flat.

This shows it from the knitter's eye view

So knit up the left needle until you are 3 stitches away from the 1st marker







then Knit the next 2 stitches together...

Knit 1 and you come to the stitch marker. 

on the left needle

on the right one

Pass it from the left needle...


to the right one...

...and carry on knitting until you reach the 2nd marker - this means knitting all across the top/cuff needle...




and starting down the right side heel flap needle. 












When you get to the 2nd marker, pass it from left to right needle....

Knit 1 stitch after the marker and then, SSK2tog which is described in Part 2 - making the heel.


Continue to knit all the way down the right side heel flap needle until you are at the end of the needle...and the end of the round.


You have completed ROW 1 of the gusset. Your stitches have reduced by 2 - from 42 to 40. 

Looking at the work, you will notice that you did your decreases on the side of the stitch marker which is nearest to the heel (at the bottom in this pic) but of course as you go round the row in a clockwise direction, the decrease is done *before* the yellow marker, but *after* the white one. 


In this set of rows, every other row is a 'decrease by 2' row like row 1, and the in between rows are just a pure knit all the way round. So...


Row 2 knit all the stitches in the round


Repeat rows 1 and 2 decreasing until you have 32 stitches in total (ie 10 rows altogether.)


When you finish, make sure you end with a row 2.


Your sock should look like this...

Note that the decreases you have done create the triangular shaped gusset on each side. It looks like a proper sock! Yay!


Carry on to Sock Tutorial Part 4 to finish off the sock.

Sock Tutorial - Part 2

This tutorial is part 2 of a sock tutorial. Part one is here.


Heel Flap
What's coming up...
This next bit involves a bit of back and forth knitting, and will continue the shape down the back of the heel. The trick to this section is to remember to slip the 1st stitch of each row (S1) this means pass the stitch from the left needle to the right one without knitting it, which leaves a little loop on the end of each row - this will come in handy for picking up the stitches of the heel flap to continue onto the foot, later on. You will also have to shuffle stitches round from the original needles to accommodate the heel flap. Effectively you'll be splitting the circle of 32 stitches in half - the front half (16) which you can ignore for the time being, and the back half (16) which we'll be knitting back and forth to create the heel flap. 


So, Prep Row: knit 8 stitches off the 1st needle...

Here you see the 1st 8 stitches knitted. Depending on how you set the needles up initially, there will be 2 or 4 stitches left on the needle. Don't worry about these stitches, you will be moving them on to the cuff needle for safekeeping shortly. 

...and now, TURN your work. 

Row 1: Slip one stitch and then PURL 15. You'll be going back over the stitches you have just knit, then beyond them. Note the 'tail' which marks the middle back of your sock should be in line with the middle of this purl row. 

After finishing the purl row, you will have your needles loaded as above. The  stitches you just purled will become the heel flap. The other stitches can be placed onto the cuff needle for safekeeping until later.

So, the stitches you have on this needle now will form the heel flap section - it's a good idea now to shuffle your dpns so that you have all the others on a separate needle or needles, or a stitch pin to keep them safe.  You should have 16 on the 'active needle' and 16 on a saved needle (this bit is often called the cuff) 

TURN your work again and 

Row 2: Slip one stitch, then KNIT 15. 

Continue back and forth repeating Row 1 and Row 2 remembering to slip the 1st stich of each row until you have completed 16 rows, ending with a knit row (Row 2). You'll have 16 stitches on the needle. 

This is after a few rows

So now you have completed the heel flap, and you should have a piece of work which looks like this...

Rear view - note the tail, middle back

Front view - cuff needle at the top, heel flap (active) needle at the bottom

Heel
What's coming up...
Now we're going to turn the heel - traditionally this has been billed as the most complicated piece of the sock but once you've done it once you'll realise it's all smoke and mirrors!!! 

It's achieved using a technique called 'short rows' this is where you'll continue to knit and purl back and forth as before, but whereas normally you'd knit to the end of each row before turning and coming back, you stop before the end of the row, and turn and come back so you end up knitting more on the middle stitches than on the outer ones which makes it bulge out in a heel-like fashion. Clever!. Because this is the continuation of the heel flap, you need to remember to slip the 1st stitch of each row too! 

There's one more stitch that you need to know which is a ssk2tog (slip stitch knit 2 together) - it's just a slight variation on a k2tog which just makes the stitch lie the opposite way to a k2tog. To do a ssk2tog slip the 1st stitch, then slip the 2nd one...slide the left needle in the front of the 2 stitches you've just slipped so it looks like you're ready to knit them together...yarn over and complete the stitch. 

 So... 


Turning your work after the final knit row of the heel flap...

Row1:  Slip 1st stitch, p9, p2tog, p1, turn 

Here I'm just in the middle of row 1 - I've done the S1, and the P9, and here I'm in the middle of the p2tog just before the P1 

And here we are with that p1 completed. That's the end of this row. Ignore the 3 stitches still on the left needle. Turn the work.

OK work turned. Ready for row 2 

Row2:  Slip 1st stitch, k5, ssk2tog, k1, turn


So, Slip your 1st stitch, and knit the 5...then... 


ss2tog is where you slip the 1st stitch from left needle to right

     then the 2nd one is slipped

then slide the left needle into the front of the 2 slipped stitches so it looks as though you're in a 'ready to knit' position


Finally, yarn over to complete the knit stitch.


Do the final Knit 1 stitch to complete that short row...and turn the work


So, I think you can do the next 2 rows with no pictures...(clever you!)


Row3:  Slip 1st stitch, p6, p2tog, p1, turn 
Row4:  Slip 1st stitch, k7, ssk2tog, k1, turn 

Can you see the pattern yet? Each row, you slip one and then keep knitting or purling until just before the gap left by the previous row's ssk2tog or p2tog, and then you either ssk2tog or p2tog across the gap, then you do one more stitch of whichever sort, and then turn.

If you were knitting a full size adult sock they don't usually write down each row , you'd just keep going until you take in all the stitches - with this little sock, there are only 6 rows in the heel so I've detailed them all. 

Row5:  Slip 1st stitch, p8, pk2tog, p1, turn 
Row6:  Slip 1st stitch, k9, ssk2tog, turn 

There should be 10 stitches on the needle. AND YOU HAVE JUST TURNED A HEEL!!!!

Continue on to part 3 for the gusset.



Sock tutorial part 1
Sock tutorial part 2
Sock tutorial part 3

The Birds

We put out a small fortune in bird food each week! It has been like a feast for our garden birds since I got my jazzy bird feeder last christmas - the feeder has 1 hanger for seeds, 2 for pellets, 1 for fat balls and one for a fat block. In addition, it also has a tray for scraps and a bowl for water.

They love it!

Over the last year we have had a few really nice birdy pics using Dan's jazzy Cannon Eos mounted on a tripod in the lounge.

Funny thing is, there's a particular bird food mix which we get from the RSPB which is called 'Peck n Mix special' (groan) which they go completely mental for.

So, this morning I put out a bit of the peck n mix on the feeder tray...and this afternoon they descended (as they usually do) like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds.

Excuse the vid quality - I was sat in my chair photographing my knitting...

There were at least 30 birds, and they ALWAYS do this when we put the peck-n-mix out!

Sock Tutorial - Part 1

Socks! You might think they're hard - but really, if you can knit, purl and count, then you're well on your way to being able to knit a pair. I have been knitting baby socks for new baby nephew Tom, and thought I'd take you through each bit step by step, as I do it.


It's in 3 parts


Sock tutorial part 1
Sock tutorial part 2
Sock tutorial part 3

----------------------------------------------------------------------


The creation of a pair of socks can be broken down into several parts, each with its own focus, but if you concentrate on one at a time, in no time you'll find you're stitching up the toe! 

Basics

Get a sock out of your wardrobe, have a good look at it.

It's made up of 2 tubes - one for the ankle and one for the foot, joined together with a bend in the middle - the heel - sealed at one end - the toe, and open at the other - with a ribbed band. In between the two is a tringular piece known as the gusset. Each of these bits is knitted in turn, separately. 

Another skill which is quite easy to learn, is knitting 'in the round' - now there are many good videos on youtube which will teach you how to do this, and in my opinion, the best way to learn something is to have a reason for learning it - and so, lets use this sock as your reason to learn! I shall talk you through the basics, but you might feel the need to practice a round or 2 before embarking on the sock. I have to say that my 1st attempt at knitting on 4 needles was the 1st sock I made and that turned out OK!

Usually you use a 4 ply wool for socks, a nice thin one, and slim-ish needles. I'm using debbie bliss baby cashmerino and 2.75mm double pointed needles (dpns). You can probably go up to 3.5mm - but I'd suggest you don't worry really about the gauge for this first pair, and just get the hang of the sock - then you can worry about sizings and stuff for your next pair.

So lets get started...

Rib 

Using just 2 of your dpns, cast on 32 stitches.

Being careful not to twist your stitches, spread the 32 stitches onto 3 dpns - I'd always recommend an even number on each needle, so 10, 10 and 12. Doesn't matter which needles.

In normal knitting, when you've finished your cast on stitches, you turn the work around and continue back in the other direction...for knitting in the round, you continue from the last stitch onto the 1st one. 

To do this, bend the 3 needles into a triangle, so the 1st stitch and the last are nearly touching - be careful not to twist the stitches! 

You can see the 1st stitch which has a tail - keep an eye on the tail - this marks  your starting point.

You will be doing 8 rows of K1 P1 rib.   

Taking a 4th needle, insert it knitwise into the 1st stitch that you cast on...that's the one with the tail...and knit it using the wool from the most recent stitch pulling REALLY tight as you put the yarn over. 

This is what it looks like after knitting 2 stitches.

Because the thread was coming from the last stitch - this has the effect of joining the 3 needles together. For the 1st few stitches after the join, pull the wool really tight, much tighter than you'd normally do. 

About half way along the 1st needle. The best way to deal with knitting  on multiple  needles it to totally ignore the ones you aren't currently knitting on and just concentrate on the 2 'active' ones. 

Continue along the 1st needle in K1, P1, and when you get to the end of it, you'll have freed that needle of stitches. You should have a wobbly triangle of stitches on 3 needles. 

If you have put an even number of stitches on each needle, you will start each needle with a knit and end each one with a purl. I think this is easier!!

Start ribbing the next needle, remembering again to pull the wool REALLY tight for the 1st 2 or 3 stitches on the needle. Continue onto the final needle, remembering about pulling tight for the 1st 2 or 3 stitches on each needle.

This is what you get at the end of the 1st row - usually there's a bit of a looser thread between  the 1st and last stitch - to counteract this, make sure you pull really really tight for the next few stitches.

The 1st 2 or 3 rows of knitting in the round are always very awkward even for the experienced knitters - you just have to persist. Concentrate on the 2 needles in your hands, ignoring the other 2. When you get to about row 4, you will notice that the work starts to resemble a little tube, and at that point it becomes much easier. 

Tip: remember that your starting point will be between the 2 needles which have the tail of wool which marks the start of your cast on row! This 'tail' will end up in the middle of the back of your sock. Keep an eye on this tail's position in order to make sure you're completing a full row/round each time.


Notice how there is no turning of your work in knitting in the round, you just get back to your starting point and then you keep going round again! 


So continue like this for 8 rows of K1 P1 rib.

This is my sock after the 8 rows, with the red arrow pointing to the  last stitch completed and the white arrow showing the 'tail' which marks the beginning/end point, and so I can see that my final stitch completes a full row.

Ankle 

After your 8th row of K1, P1 rib is completed, you can then continue in the round with 16 rows of Knit - note that because you're not turning the work, 'stocking stitch' doesn't mean knit one row, purl the next - just knitting every row gives the outside of your sock the smooth finish we're looking for!!! 

Make sure you finish at the correct point, in line with the 'tail' So now you must be feeling good - I bet your sock is looking quite sock-like. 

Continue on to the Sock Tutorial Part 2 for the Heel.

Sock tutorial part 1

Sock tutorial part 2

Sock tutorial part 3