Absent but with reason

 

So since my last post a lot has been happening. Both health and creatively. My being on the fodmap elimination diet feels like my gi system did a massive reboot. Absolutely brilliant except I'm getting quite bored of raspberries now. However gluten free brown bread is delicious and never gets boring for me. I've managed to gain more weight and my appetite has trebled at least. All good hey. Unfortunately my stomach is bloated by 11 inches over my normal healthy measurement so pj bottoms are now essential. I'm sure when everything has healed I will get a waist back. If not, who cares as long as I continue getting healthy right? There are more important things to worry about than going from a very athletic build to an apple shape.
I've been enrolling on lots of Craftsy courses and I really am enjoying it. Take a look for yourself.
I've now got a knitmeter which tells me how much knitting I do. Slightly scared by the honest amount this year so far. Almost 2000m of yarn just for january. Talk about stash busting or what! I set myself a rule that I had to finish a project before buying more yarn. Well I've been yarn shopping. Lots of Yummy yarn. Not huge amounts but enough to feel like I deserve the treat.

 My yarn that Sharon from fivemoons.co.uk arrived and its beautiful. Greens and purples on a stellina base 4ply. Happiness indeed. Yes it has a project lined up. I'll be knitting the Bayside pullover by Alana Dakos.

I knit a newborn baby sock and it is soooo cute!

The other will follow very soon. Second sock syndrome isn't remotely possibly when its so tiny.

I'll post images of all the fabric I've bought in a few days. One creative stash at a time hey!
So Keiras sparkly waterfall cardigan got turned into a snood. She loves it.

I finished a few more projects too.

 

Yeah, I dyed my hair bright pink!!!! Loving it. The chunky cowl was my present from my husband. It is a long cowl wrapped around twice, knitted in Malabrigo. Yey for softness.
The lilac bear is modelling a newborn cardigan I knitted for our friends. They had a baby boy and I couldn't resist the frog buttons.
Catch up part one done, more over the weekend my lovely people. Keep safe and do something to make yourself smile today. even if it's jumping in a puddle like a little kid when no one is looking.
Elspeth xx

Golden Elephants

Hi all,
Todays post is very mixed, creative wise I mean, sewing, knitting, designing etc.
So first things first, probably a decade ago my older sister gave me the beginnings of a skirt asking if I'd like it, being twenty one I hastily accepted because of two reasons. One it was from my big sister ( we weren't that close back then because she's so much older than me ) and two, I wanted to prove I could make a skirt on my own, never having been taught how. My mum and I did make a dress "together" when I was twelve, which involved me helping pin the pattern pieces and pretty much just watched as my mum did everything. It was a lovely pink and blue floral sixties pattern original. I loved it right up until I became a Goth when I was 16. Still, I felt with the sewing machine my mum had given me I could make anything, the fabric world was all mine. Well note todays date.......I'm now a thirty one year old wife and mother who loves crafting. I've not touched it until now because everytime I've taken it out to start on I wasn't feeling brave enough. It had got four darts for shaping and a back seam only. It was for a size UK 16 and I'm a UK 6/8 depending on my health that week. I'd attached so much sentimental value and put all the pressure on myself to get it perfect it became a beautiful piece of dread. Well, I decided we have about 50% too much stuff in our house and we're having a huge clearout. It was make or recycle to a charity. I took the plunge and Made The Skirt is has been crying out to become. It fits beautifully, I used a zip and elastic to accomodate my rapid sudden size fluctuations. I sewed hundreds of tiny golden beads onto part of the pattern repeat around the edge. I pressed it perfectly. Now I have a new skirt with memories and that has been made with much care and longing for it to be perfect. Not for my sister who gave it to me originally, but for me because I realised I deserve a nice skirt just like anyone else.
Also I finally explored the world of Craftsy. Online courses with videos are a lot better than I'd realised. I've signed up for a few knitting and sewing ones. My daughter Kimberly is now 10 and we bought her a small sewing machine for her birthday. It's a full machine just smaller than mine. Her sister Keira bought her a Jelly Roll of fabric, so we're taking the free taster class on making draw string bags together as a bonding activity. It's so much fun yet nerve wracking because I have to let go of the reigns and allow her to grow up into the designer she so desperately wants to be by taking this first step of letting her sew for herself. She's made a few felt toys before but this is her first machine project. Photos of our bags will come I promise.
My husband forgot how to cast off, so in my own best interests (he's knitted me a present for Christmas too) I showed him how again. Well I decided to turn my mini lesson into a lovely pair of Forget-me-not earrings. They're so cute.
Knitting includes my Heartbeat jumper I started by Martin Storey, I'm up to mid armhole of the back.  A blue baby cardigan called Zoom which I put frog buttons on. Very nice simple cardigan to make, I had fun because it was a knit I could daydream along to.
I finished my friends Wings Cowl too, red with beads in purple and red.
I've been designing some shawls too. I say some because I keep dreaming up ideas but then have too many or I feel the patterns won't blend well together on one shawl so I write another pattern for that particular design feature. So I've currently got three shawls mid pattern that I'm trying to knit up alongside everything else too. There really aren't enough hours in the day. Either that or I'm just feeling cheated by evolution for the need to sleep on a regular basis. Who knows!
My hair will be a bright shade of pink with some lagoon blue by the next post. I'm starting the procedure of change today. The only reason I've held off for a couple of weeks is that I didn't want to clash with my knitwear. Daft, but who cares right? If I like it and it makes me feel good, then I'll just clash happily. Besides I have a few purple, pink and blue projects lined up for this year.
I'm sorry about the lack of pictures, I'm having a glitch. Lots next time ok.
Take care of yourselves, keep knitting and sewing etc
Elspeth x

Positivity...

Wednesday 2nd January 2013

Podcasts I'm listening to are: Books on the Nighstand, 2 Knit Lit Chicks, Cast on, Commuter Knitter Podcast, Electric Sheep, Knit Picks Podcast, The Knit wits, Knitmoregirl's podcast, Knitting Brooklyn, Knitting Rose Podcast, Robinznest, Subway Knits, TheKnitGirllls, The Yarniacs. I also listened to another one recently but haven't decided yet if it's a keeper yet. The rest above are all available on iTunes for free and are a lot of fun to listen to, but I did discover that I cannot work on anything with cables in while listening to 2 Knit Lit Chicks because I laugh too much and forget which way I'm cabling ha ha.

Audio books for me are brilliant. I love reading on my Kindle while I knit simple repeats etc but I find listening to books is great for when I'm needing to watch every row on lace etc. Right now I'm listening to 'The Wolf Gift' by Anne Rice. I have all her books, some as duplicates in paperback and hardcover, some collectible 1st editions. So I feel justified listening to her work too. I do have another nine or ten audiobooks to listen to at some point too. I'm letting them stock up so I can just choose one at random and my monthly subscription downloads from my wish list on Audible.

Right this minute wips include: Panache (pictured below) Vintage, which is a blanket I'm making for my friends who are expecting a son at the beginning of April. I've made a few hats already. Baby boy cardigan in blue worsted / aran weight yarn for some other friends whose son is due on 1st February. This afternoon I plan on casting on Hearty. It's a big mega chunky sweaty by Martin Storey. I'll be using this yarn plus some leftover green for the heart.

The Christmas gifts I received this year were amazing. My husband gave me not just the Addi Art Swarovski needles, he also gave me the new iPod Nano in purple with 'One stitch at a time...' engraved on the back. So chuffed!!! My oldest daughter Kimberly bought me 4mm Signature circular needles, my middle daughter Keira bought me a collection of comical miniature sheep on a display, hilarious. My youngest daughter Niamh bought me a Signature cable needle and a skein of Flamboyance Meteor Yarn, Sparkly purple! which of course was wound straight away and I cast on Panache. A shawl pattern Niamh chose on Ravelry. I was spoilt and it felt amazing.

Hangers on from Christmas are pretty much going to keep until next winter I feel. I gave other gifts in leau don't worry I'm not mean. It just became a chore and not so much fun. My girls loved their gifts though.

I've also signed up for a few Craftsy courses for this year too.

12 in 2013 Projects is a group I joined on Ravelry. You make a list of 12 projects you want to create this year and work your way through in any order you like and chat about it with your fellow Ravelers. It's a very supportive bunch and I'm really excited to be a part of it. My list didn't stop at 12 though, it's actually 23 projects. I couldn't choose between them. I have all the yarn in my stash ( which makes qualification) for all the projects so I can just pick and choose. My hubby Dave helped me piut each projects' yarn, pattern etc into bags, then into clear tubs. That way I can see what I'll be creating without having to constantly rummage.
I'll post photos as I knit along. So much fun.

Plus this year is my year. As a family we agreed that I will be designing and creating a range of knitted pieces and working on my books for children, to that end, we upgraded the techy stuff in our home so I can just work my noodle off :-) ( I love smileys)
I've done a little charity knitting too this year,

Health update, well now, um big pile of negatives for GI really, new though is that I have a partially deflated left lung again due to my tear re-tearing when we were sorting through things on boxing day. OWCH!!!

Anyway, I have one wish for you all this year, be happy with yourself and remove negativity as much as possible. Yes we all have bills to pay etc but I mean for example, I had pink hair for a few years because the colour helped with my depression, so in a weeks time it'll be pink and pale blue for fun and to be happier. Have a think of something simple, very cheap or free and safe and have fun.
Take care Elspeth x
P.s I finished my socks

Where to begin...

Hi folks,

A lot has happened since my last post. So I want to fill you all in on some of it.

My health took another nosedive unfortunately and the various medications I'm on aren't working the way they're supposed to, which sucks. My consultant won't actually do any more tests and I've been told to get help somewhere else basically. So a lovely friend has put me in touch with a Gastroenterologist in Canada to see if he can shed some light on why I'm so sick all the time. Fingers crossed, although by the time my file reaches him it will be the end of January.
In an effort to help myself I've decided, with the full support of my dietician, to try the FODMAP diet. Google it folks, my brain understands it is to do with the level of fructons, fructose and poly-ols entering my larges intestine which causes havoc. If it works then great stuff, however, I need to be able to eat more than 300grams in a day for this to be a realistic approach. My weight has dropped again and my calorie intake is worse again because my symptoms got worse. Because we don't know what's wrong we can't do anything about it and so the viscious cycle begins again. AHH!!!

So during this dreadful time my Christmas knitting list has shrunk. Not through finishing items though. I've had to turn around to myself and basically accept that I can't knit as much or as fast as before. Therefore, of the 7 items remaining, I finished one pair of mittens and have decided to just try to finish my daughters gifts. Kims Noro jumper has only about 12 rows left on the back before I start the front ( I know, never getting that knitted in a week, this I accept ). Keira's waterfall sleeveless lacey cardigan is actually growing quite nicely, I worked on it monogomously today and got another eight inches done.
Thing is, I haven't knit Dave anything, (my hubby) yet I've knit one male friend a hat and another male friend a hat and matching fingerless mitts.

 Cringe for the guilt. I wanted to knit him some fingerless mittens to match his zauberball hat, I just haven't cast them on yet. The shame. I'll cast them on after Christmas, then there's no pressure of a finishing date and this is England. We pretty much have chilly weather for six months of the year, we haven't hit the coldest part yet either.

Anyway, I've been catching up on all my podcasts, audiobooks, films, tv episodes etc recently. I've really hidden in the sand for a while I'll admit. Podcasts that have really cheered me up have been the Thanksgiving episode of the 2 Knit Lit Chicks (iTunes) and The Knit Girllls video podcast, both of these podcasts had me laugh out loud which felt good.
I've been geeking it up and watching the marvel films in order of timeline setting, so starting with Captain America up to The Avengers Assemble, so much fun !!!
I've finally caught up with the end of season 3 of Downton Abbey, no spoilers escaping from me though. Just that it doesn't disappoint. Can't wait for the Christmas special, yey.
Audiobooks, well, I'm listening to The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice. Dave bought me the hardback for Christmas last year, but I just haven't been able to find a way to keep it propped open to read. Hence the audio instead, plus I have got another eight audiobooks to listen to too. All good though.

Yummy yarn time. Today I signed up for the first years quarter of the fivemoons Artemis Sock Club. So very excited as it's my favourite sparkly yarn, I'd knit everything in it if I could afford to. I'll post photos of each instalment, I plan on hopefully doing the full year.

Next time, Beads, Anne Rice, Sewing and my knitting wish list for next year.

Just a note to say, Happy 10th Birthday tomorrow to my Kimberly, Love you sweety xxx
I'm proud to call you my daughter.
Bye for now folks, Christmas Eve??

Ok so I've spent all morning seeing seed beads onto my oldest daughters Christmas stocking. We use pillowcases in our family. I completed my youngest daughters last year and made a start on my middle daughters. So today has been sewing father Christmas on his sleigh with Rudolph with 2 mm beads. She loves it so far. Photos on next full blog post. Bye for now. Elspeth x

Gently Drizzling...

Sunday 2nd December 2012

I've been a very busy knitter these last few weeks. I finished and shipped my Holiday Swap package. Great fun KAL, you knit gifts and include a few goodies for a swap buddy and make friends in the process. I made mug hugs and a large coaster / pot holder for a family and included typically British biscuits and tea etc.
I knit a few Christmas cards for people, I've also made another Christmasy toy. A snowman.
My Christmas knitted gift list is shrinking gradually. I finished another two hats, restarted Kimberly's jumper because I would have run out of yarn. So she's having a shorter jumper with wave border around the bottom. Still using the Noro yarn though. She's worth it and look after her clothes so i know both her sisters in turn will get to wear it in the future too. I only have 7 of the 23 gift knits left. So today I'm working on my nieces mittens. They're the Urban Necessity pair on Ravelry. I'm halfway though the Debbie Bliss ones I'm making for my other niece.

I also decided I didn't like the bolero I was knitting for Keira, So I'm making her a lacey waterfall cardigan instead. I feel much happier with both of those projects now, I just hope I'll get them finished in time for Christmas.
I've been working on an old pair of spiral tube socks on and off too. Mostly off though ha ha.
I'm knitting a test shawl at the moment. The cast on stitch count is a lot...... crazy stitch count but it'll be beautiful, I'm using bluebell coloured yarn and blue iridescent beads. Stunning. When i'm allowed to post the shawl I will I promise.
The Leftie shawl I was making for a friend for her present is very slow going because I'm daft enough to have decided it would be fun to knit the whole thing in lace weight and add beads to the tabs. Not a mistake I plan on again, it is beautiful though. Scarlet Cashmere with wine red merino. Lovely.
I was working on a second shawl for the 2 Knit Lit Chicks KAL. However, it was starting to become less fun and more of a ticking bomb. I've just rolled it up on the needles, put it into the project bag and zipped it closed. After all my gift knitting it will be fun to finish.
I bought several new knitting books from Amazon this week. All ones I've been waiting for. I've done the whole going through and marking down what I want to knit. About 3 years worth of knitting then ha ha. Never mind. Although, one of the books was 'Knitting In Circles' by Nicky Epstein. I'm in love with this book. My plan is to knit my way through the circles and join them up to make blankets, pillows, garments etc. I love the variety in the book.
I've joined another group on Ravely, It's 12 in 2013. Basically you chose 12 patterns to knit next year, they can be whatever you like, and you knit them. Then post a photo of the finished piece on the thread. I have so many projects I keep putting off because something else jumps in front. So I have 15 on my list. I know too many, however, I feel I'll be more likely to succeed if I allow myself an option as I work from 1 to 12.
I'm feeling very lucky and spoilt today though. My husband bought and gave me an early Christmas gift. Behold, the Addi Art needles. They are filled with Swarovski crystals. Can actually be knitted with and have been a wish of mine since I first read about them a few months ago on an Australian Web Site.

They're beautiful.
Apparently they're doing a collection of different sizes so I'd better start saving hey!!!
Lastly I'll leave you to knit in a festive mood by showing you how I painted my nails to keep my Christmas cheer up.

Take care everyone, Elspeth x

Gaelyn in training

Elspeth Campbell (@ElspethC81) tweeted at 11:43 PM on Sun, Nov 25, 2012: Teaching my kitten to sit on my lap while I knit equals happiness http://t.co/RC8b9a5V (https://twitter.com/ElspethC81/status/272847899744948224) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download