KnitYoga

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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Birthday Goodies


First of all, thanks for all the kind words and encouragement in the comments to my previous post. It's these that are really keeping me going with my Olympic knitting.

It was my birthday recently and I thought I'd post about the knitterly related gifts I received so it wasn't just me admiring them!


As you can see from the photo above, I got two books: Alice Starmore's 'Celtic Collection' and Alison Ellen's 'Handknitting - New Directions'.

There are also two greetings cards from other knitters. The bear one on the left in the photo above is from Jan and the concertina type one (below) is from Katie and illustrates a virtual visit to a museum.


Each fold brings you to a different part of the museum with pictures appropriate to "where you're at". The text which travels along with your walk through the various galleries reads, "Pass through these portals and muse on an amazing array of collections, catalogues, cabinets of curiosities, dazzling treasures and unexpected pleasures to delight the senses."

Then there are bear buttons from The Button Queen, again from Katie. These are just so cute! Here's a close up!


Next, some Swarovski Crystal 4mm beads (200 of them in different colours). I won these on eBay for £8 and they're my birthday treat to myself.


And these beautiful handmade stitchmarkers were given to me by Mary-Lou. Here's a close up so you can see how special they are.


There are a couple of other things in the photo at the very top which aren't necessarily birthday related but, as they arrived today and they're from other knitters, I've included them.


There are two more of those wonderful Hikone Screen postcards from my secret pal and two sets of double pointed needles (dpns) that Penny of UKHK kindly sent to me as they were surplus to her requirements or, rather, they were a bit short for her liking. As using dpns is my next challenge, they've arrived at just the right time.

DH is also on a promise to buy me a knitting bag from Purlescence when their new stocks arrive. They have a fabulous array of knitting bags on their site if you want to take a look!

Thanks so much to all for the kindness and generosity shown. I feel thoroughly spoiled.

I'm really taken with the book by Alison Ellen. This book was on my Wish List and was also mentioned by Fred on UKHK recently. It has not disappointed. In my opinion, it rates alongside Debbie New's 'Unexpected Knitting' in terms of inspiration. To give you some idea of what's in the book for those who haven't seen inside, it starts off with a discussion of how the basic stitches actually work and this leads to sections on such things as multidirectional knitting including spiral squares, Mary Thomas's circular medallions, hexagons, octagons, short row circles, double cloth knitting, interlocked diamonds - the list goes on! Then, when it comes to colour knitting, fair isle and intarsia are, of course, discussed but then there are also diagonal stripes, diagonal fair isle technique, different stitches stripes, short row stripes, zig-zag, lacy, wavy and slip stitch stripes and slip stitch mosaic, etc, etc. There's a section on designing and calculating, too, including calculating stitches for a jumper and a chapter on projects illustrating some of the techniques in practice. This is just on a browse so I can't wait to have a proper read!

By the way, what is going on with the weather?? I awoke to a snow storm this morning!

I'll leave you with a photo of a couple of items my MIL picked up recently. These are little oval tins (about 3.5 by 2.5 inches) with jellies inside and I'm thinking once the goodies have been consumed, they'll make fantastic little containers for stitchmarkers and such like.


How does she find all these items that feature bears??? She always picks them up for a song, too! She waits until sale time (e.g. after Xmas) and then seems to pick up radio signals via her bear searching radar and zooms in on these unsuspecting little creatures. So, however much they try to hide, they end up in her bag and, eventually, find themselves with the rest of the huddle (or should that be cuddle or hug, perhaps) of bears here!

Well, now I must get back to my office work and then, this evening, as I've got nothing planned other than to stay in where it's nice and warm and do my Olympic knitting, I'll start the fourth broad border of the shawl after which there'll be the edging and sewing up to do.

15 Comments:

  • At 5:01 pm, Blogger Rain said…

    Happy Birthday! I hope you have a lovely day.

    You've received some beautiful gifts, I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of them.

     
  • At 5:24 pm, Blogger Wye Sue said…

    Happy Birthday :-)
    Lovely pressents, thanks for sharing them with us.
    Well done being on the last border, cant wait till next week when it is all over !!

     
  • At 7:11 pm, Blogger Mary-Lou said…

    Great haul! - and sounds like the shawl is going really well! Now it actually is The Day, Happy Birthday ...!

     
  • At 7:58 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Happy Birthday - the Alison Ellen book sounds fascinating.

    And a lot of other lovely goodies - well done :-)

     
  • At 9:08 pm, Blogger Unknown said…

    Happy Birthday, Hazel.
    I enjoy your blog very much.
    bw
    colin

     
  • At 10:56 pm, Blogger MandellaUK said…

    Happy Birthday, even though I'm checking in late. Hope you had an enjoyable day and enjoyed those well-chosen gifts. I love looking at other people's presents!

     
  • At 10:57 pm, Blogger Fred said…

    A bit late in the day I know but Happy Birthday! Can't believe I mention a book and then a couple of days later someone gets it for their birthday. Am going to give the interlinked scallops a go.

     
  • At 9:32 am, Blogger Seahorse said…

    Belated Happy Birthday! What super gifts! I have (and love) The Celtic Collection and have just added the Alison Ellen one to my ever expanding wish list!

     
  • At 9:52 am, Blogger Alison said…

    A very happy birthday to you! Sounds like you have a fantastic day lined up.. :) By the way... if choosing between a 'huddle' or a 'hug' or a 'cuddle' of bears.... I'd vote for "huggle". :) Lets all invent our own collective nouns!

    Alison

     
  • At 4:01 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    dear hazel,
    all my best wishes to your birthday...i've been on a business trip somewhere in the middle of nowhere: hotels without proper bathrooms, no access to internet, even my mobile didn't worked...but birds flu jut everywhere!
    i'm so surprised that there are certain areas in germany where you feel so lost without modern communication systems.
    i hope, you had a great day!!!!
    big hug!!!!!
    your secret pal.....

     
  • At 11:18 pm, Blogger Woolly Wormhead said…

    Happy birthday, Hazel! And that's some serious haul of goodies ;)x

     
  • At 8:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Happy Birthday Hazel!! I love your presents - you lucky girl!!!

    Have a great one - Much luv xxx

     
  • At 11:39 am, Blogger Daisy said…

    Wow, looks like you got some fab presents! Hope you had a great day & I'm glad you liked the buttons!

     
  • At 3:35 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    happy birthday! lots of fab presents... good luck with the last lap.

     
  • At 3:53 pm, Blogger Sharon J said…

    What absolutely fabby-dabby-docious birthday pressies! Happy belated birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day! And congrats are coming so far with the shawl - you put me to shame! You will take a picture of baby wrapped in it when the big day comes, won't you? Yes, of course. Silly question :-)

    ~Sharon x

     

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