annarella | handmade : beaded stitch markers and original hand knits, london

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monday, 31 july 2006

All in a day's work

From this dingy little junk repository...

... to a small yarn sanctuary where I can keep indulging in my favourite obsession...

... all in a day's work! Thanks Ferdie :) xxx

In case you're wondering, this houses all the yarn that I'm keeping, so hands off!

Home made yummyness!

Amongst all the painting, sawing, drilling and more painting... yummy sun-dried tomatoes and seeds bread was baked! :)

thursday, 27 july 2006

Someone has stolen your stash and all your books...

...now what are you going to do?

No, no, don't worry, it hasn't really happened. This was only a question posed by my SP hostess today...

So, what would I do? Mmm.... To be honest, the thought doesn't scare me all that much... you see, whilst thinking about how I'd panic and unavoidably throw up rather violently, cos the unthinkable had just happened, I started making a mental list of all the yummy yarns I'd feel entirely justified buying to cheer me up, money not being an object under those unconceivable circumstances..., and immediately I felt the soothing effect of yarn binging, lulling me gently in a fibre filled day-dream... so you see, it wouldn't be ALL bad, I'd just replace it all with better (read: more expensive!) yarn ;)

PS: but I'd rather it didn't happen though...

Just had to post a picture of last night's dinner... so yummy! Courtesy of Chez Ferdie :)

tuesday, 25 july 2006

Oops, I did it again!

I seem to have accidentally started two new projects last week... I swear, I didn't mean to... but it happened ;) However, before I get the WIPs police 'round my house, slapping me senseless, I should point out that they are both presents, so in fact, the way I see it, I should be rewarded for my selfless knitting :)

On the left we have something for Baby David which I actually started and got very close to finishing at some point before he was even born, merrily knitting the 6 months size, boldly believing he'd wear it like a sack by the time I was done... only to put it aside "temporarily" (you know where this is going, don't you?) and before I knew it Baby David is celebrating his first birthday (well not yet but soon). I can't believe the audacity! Honestly, what's he gone and grown for? So, my eyes filled with tears, I ripped and ripped and ripped till it was no more... and started again. I've given myself 1 week to finish it. I'm knitting the 1 year size. I shall not rip again. That's that.

I won't say what it is yet, as his mum is known to stick her head in once every so often and we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, now, would we?

I'm going to be much shorter with this, as dinner awaits.

This is an Irish Hiking Scarf for Ferdie using left overs from this coz I needed a portable project to work on whilst on public transport/park, you get the idea. Black is a bitch to photograph!

Right, I'm off to get some grub. Laters xx

sunday, 23 july 2006

I seem to have no shame...

This is why I'll need a slap on the hand next time I talk about buying more yarn...

Inspired by The Soapy Knitter, I took the plunge and dove into my stash yesterday to see just what I had accumulated over the past year and a half... and the sheer quantity of what I'd managed to store in my tiny flat came as a bit of a shock, I tell you!

I will admit to having forgotten about some stuff I had(!) so I came across a few surprises. Looking at all my stash I felt a decision had to be taken. Some yarns I am keeping either because I have a project in mind, or because they have a bit of a history and I can't bear to part with them. When I say "some yarns", you do understand I'm talking about a few grams shy of 9 kilos, don't you?

But I do have LOADS more which I've resolved to put up for sale as I've realised I will not live to be 250 years old after all. Some of the stuff is really nice, even if I say so myself, but there's only so much I can use up and I'd rather know that all that yarn has a chance of becoming beautiful and loved garments. I shall list them within the next week or so.

When I have time, I might even show you all my single skeins... approx a couple of kilos, give or take...

What I have learned:

• I must stop buying yarn just because it "looks pretty"
• There's no such thing as a "must-have" yarn
• I must stop buying yarn I don't have an immediate need for
• I must stop buying yarn until I have got all my wips off the needles
• The above is all bollocks!

friday, 21 july 2006

Check out my new site!

Hello People,

Notice anything new? {wink wink}...

No? Well, look over to the left for the new orange button (feel free to click it, it doesn't bite, trust me!), or head over to my new home page to see what I'm talking about (refresh your cache if you need to).

Seen? Well, what do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

I am just so excited to give you my new shop which is almost ready (online ordering system coming real soon, I promise). I have organised my stitch markers in neatly arranged categories, with lots of details on the materials used, which I'm hoping will make browsing through my goodies that much easier. If you can't find what you're looking for you can also search (d'you like the search by colour or shape? Nice, uh?!) or get in touch and let me know.

I've tested the site tonight, but as always with technology and stuff, things to tend to go awry, so if you find any wonkiness whatsoever, please do let me know. I'll be forever in your debt! ;) Thank you so much!

One final word before I go, and that's a HUGE public thank you to Ferdie, who despite all the moaning and complaining in the end always humors me ;) I'll spare you the tales of all my little whims and the dozens of features I made him develop for the site, only to change my mind after and scrap them despite him working hours on them... well, it must be love! :)

Night night xx

thursday, 20 july 2006

Thank you Secret Pal!

I got my second parcel from my fab Secret Pal yesterday. The first thing I thought when I opened it was how lovely it smelled! Thanks for a beautifully scented surprise, Secret Pal!

Notice how it all matches my new blog's colour scheme?? Spooky or what? I think my SP and I are really on the same wavelength! I truly can't wait for the reveal!!!

For those who like details, we have a bar of plum soap (yummy!), which smells gorgeous, 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora and one skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk which I'll admit to having stroked on my every visit to John Lewis!! Thank you Secret Pal!

And now I am syndicate-able...

...aka, you can now subscribe to my RSS Feed thanx to Ferdie who sorted this out for me (no specifics plz, I have no idea what he's done).

And since we're on the subject, I thought I'd let you in on a secret, and that's my total and utter unawareness of what rss feeds are and do. Until now that is. You see, this week, by pure accident, I came out of the rock I was crawling under and discovered Bloglines* or I should say: I stood (sat) there in amazement at the idea of having one little page showing me updates for any of my favourite blogs. Gone are the days of typing a blog address only to find out there's nothing new! I mean, where the hell have I been to have missed all this? I should add that, although I've been making my living creating sites for several years now, never have I had the need to investigate all this feeds business before... honestly, best thing since sliced bread, me thinks!

* I'm not on commission, I swear! ;)

wednesday, 19 july 2006

Must... not... let... it... go... to... my... head...

I'm in Simply Knitting again this month! They've featured my Web site in their August issue (page 77) which hasn't yet come out in the shops here... am dying to get my hands on a copy, but I guess as the subscribers have already received it I will need to apply some restraint for a few more days.

But, really, isn't this just superfantastically wonderful??? I can hardly believe it!!!

Thanks to Louise and Amelia for bringing this to my attention, yes, I am always the last to know anything!

A peek of things to come...

Lady Marmalade is done, finished, finito! Yeyyy! I seamed the last sleeve last night, tried it on... and it's great! So glad to have finished it and also to have used up stash yarn (patting myself on the back) :)

Have realised that I now owe you pics of three, yes three sweaters, so I'll try and take them at the weekend, weather permitting... cos you know, as much as I love you all and want to entertain you with picture filled posts, I also like to keep my mental sanity therefore no matter how hard you beg, I'm not going to wear woolly jumpers in 30+ degree weather for your amusement, and that's that ;) x

PS: anybody noticed a theme in my latest chromatic choices?

July competition

The more observant readers will have noticed that we're already halfway through July and I've yet to put something up for grabs for my July giveaway, well done for noticing ;) I haven't forgotten, but rather had an idea... as it's summer, the heat is excruciatingly beating down on us and sane people would rather sit in their gardens with a cold drink, than stare at a computer screen and enter competitions... I'm going to do a combined draw for July and August (deadline end of Aug), of course the prize will reflect that, so no worries. Sounds good? Will post the details soon. x

monday, 17 july 2006

We have a sleeve...

I cannot believe it's been a whole week since my last post! I spent very little time in my studio (read: in front of my computer) last week due to meetings and stuff and I s'ppose there hasn't been an awful lot going on lately anyway.

I am happy to report that I have at last completed the back and front on Lady Marmalade (yeyy!) but I'll spare you another picture of miles and miles of stockinette stitch and am now very close to having the sleeves done as well, as you can see. Which is just as well because KidSilk Haze has officially become my least favourite yarn to knit with. I've never been its biggest fan from the start, but after a few weeks of experiencing it first hand, I'm hating its fine-ess, its fuzziness and the fact that I have to watch every single little stitch as they all attempt the big escape from my needles (quite successfully too, I might add).

As I didn't fancy myself and a tapestry needle to sew all the seams, I adapted the pattern to knit in the round which worked out very well for the body. When it came to the sleeves, I started with a 40cm circular needle, which was fine for the first few rows of the frill where you have 100+ stitches, but then became WAY too large to knit the actual sleeve, so to keep the round construction, I switched to DPNs... Now if you've ever tried and successfully managed to knit KSH on 4mm DPNs, then you're a better knitter than I am and I bow to your skills, as after 15 VERY frustrating and LONG centimetres, I gave up and started again knitting flat.

This second attempt, however, allowed me to knit both sleeves at the same time (as I normally do when knitting flat), so it wasn't all bad and more importantly having tried on the little bit of sleeve, I felt that it was too baggy for my liking, so I rectified that as you can see below. Now it's nice and snug just as I like it :)

Oh, and I thought I'd add a second colour for a bit of interest around the cuff area (I just can't seem to stick to one idea, can I??).

monday, 10 july 2006

I don't believe it!

No prizes for guessing what's missing... well, that's how I found my bike at the weekend... not only did somebody nick my old and worn out saddle, but they had the nerve to to steal the seat post too...uh???! Thanks for leaving the rest of my bike in one piece, though...

But, nevermind, a quick visit to the bike shop round the corner produced a spanking new saddle which turns out to be much more comfortable than the old one, but still, the cheek to steal MY stuff from outside MY house!

However, by the time we got that sorted it was too late to cycle to town as planned, so we went and vegged out in Greenwich Park, instead

where I caught up with Lady Marmalade.

saturday, 08 july 2006

I give you... Blossoms!

I almost forgot to show you this! I completed this quick one skein scarf whilst on holiday last month (doesn't time fly??). It took a total of 99g of HipKnits aran silk in the Peony colourway. You may recall that I wasn't sure about the colours though, as much as I thought they were really beautiful, I couldn't see myself wearing this scarf (too much yellow and white), but don't worry, this story does have a happy ending... for I gave it to my mum who seemed to like it (however with the scoarching whether they've been having in Italy, I suspect it'll be a while before they will start wearing clothes again...)

wednesday, 05 july 2006

So, what have I been up to?

Honestly, I don't know where my time ends up, one thing is for sure, there ain't much of that around here! I seem to spend my days chasing my tail, making lists upon lists (then I need a list to prioritise which list I ought to look at first...) and all I got to show for it is only the enormous, and rather unnecessary I realise, amount of stress I create for myself.

So, all this blurb to say that if I owe you an email or if I've promised to do something for you, I'm sorry, I WILL get it done, but there's only so much I can fit into 24 hrs. Secret Pal, you're on my list, sorry I've been such a crappy spoilee lately... :(

One thing though, I have been knitting some, my latest project is a stashbuster YEY!! On the left is a sweater I started the other week in KidSilk Haze from my stash, following a free Rowan pattern (can't find the link, sorry), aptly christened Lady Marmalade, which I've modified to knit in the round, meaning I had to cast on the grand amount of... are you ready? 484 stitches! Yep, you read correctly! I won't tell you how many times I counted the stitches, every time coming up with a different count, but I think in the end I got it right. This is probably going to be a long term project, no matter how quickly I try to knit, it just does not grow, but then again I am knitting with thread, so any progress at all is something, right?

Handmade glass goodies

Last thing before I shoot off to bed, I just have to show you these beautiful objects d'art I received today all the way from Singapore courtesy of super-talented Etsy-er LingGlass. I already know you're going to hate me for posting this link, because I promise you, once you see what she makes, you won't be able to resist and will want to buy all her items for sale. Go and have a look and have your credit card ready... and don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

monday, 03 july 2006

I did it!

Whooo hoo! My Race for Life took place yesterday, in Blackheath. What a day, people! The heath was absolutely packed, around 10,000 women took part in the race, which was something pretty amazing. It was all very emotional as well, the thought of so many affected by this deadly disease, the thousand of sheets pinned to the backs of so many runners, sporting names of relatives and friends for whom they were racing was very touching and I admit to having shed a few tears, but it would have been hard not to.

The only let down was actually the weather, running in highs of 31° is no fun, I tell you, especially if you have low blood pressure and there are NO TREES offering a little shade, none! But the thought of why I was running kept me going and provided much needed motivation, ultimately it was really nothing compared to the efforts endured by cancer sufferers. So, I did it!

Of course I didn't take my mobile phone with me during the race... and of course Ferdie & I lost each other at the end... not something I would recommend when you're dying for a wee (yes, well, I had drank loads, hadn't I?), you're under a burning heat (no sun protection... what was I thinking!???), there's thousands and thousands of people all around you and your other half has your phone, money and keys to your bike!!!

On a more serious note, a HUGE THANK YOU to all my incredible sponsors, your generosity has been extraordinary, helping me raise a whopping £267.50 which is pretty impressive and way beyond all my expectations. So, on behalf of Cancer Research, thank you so much! My sponsorship page will remain open for the next two weeks after which it will be taken down, so if you would like to donate to Cancer Research UK, you can still do so, but please hurry! :) And thanks again!

I'll leave you with some random shots from the day :)

saturday, 01 july 2006

A Saturday in London

Between the Gay Pride celebrations and the footie, London was a total mayhem today... the atmosphere seemed electric and what a welcome change to see Soho closed to the traffic and street parties going on. However, it was a little too much to endure, what with the heat playing havoc on my fragile nervous system, we took refuge in Cavendish Square gardens (do they have a proper name??), where we had an impromptu pic-nic, vegged out, read, knitted (me) and read some more.

For whoever might have missed this, yarny sales are on at the moment, with John Lewis starting theirs today (and Liberty some time in the week), so in I went to see what I could loot... but have to say, it was all a little disappointing... Kid Classic was reduced (yey!), but the only colour they had in was a yucky yellow, then I found some Louisa Harding Angora thingy that was also on sale, but only the one colour, which had too much green in it for my taste (interestingly enough the two colours I do like were at full price). If you're planning to go and spend some dosh, then you will find a LOT of Rowan Big Wool, Biggy & Chunky Print and Yorkshire Tweed in various weights. I was told that Liberty have got pretty much the same stuff on sale, so I didn't bother checking it out. I was after something DK/aran weight so that didn't do it for me.

I did however come away with 500g of Cashsoft DK in a vibrant magenta which will become some sort of cardi/sweater. I'd like to show off the beautiful softness of this yarn by doing something texturised which won't make me look like a beached whale... I was thinking something vintage-y... any ideas would be appreciated :) Thanks!