Catch Up!

Blimey O'Reily! Has it really been that long since I last posted?!?
Sorry about that - I must've been busy!

So what's been happening in the Land 'O' AoK? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
Lots of work... Entertaining guests... Fair bit of food tasting and a modicum of knitting.

Let's start with the knitting as that is what this blog is supposed to be about.
I finally finished the gargantuan task of knitting up the Cable Junction Cardi for Marlene.
Figuring out the placement of the cables was somewhat of a headache:



























Then came the crocheted trims:















but we were both pleased with the end results:




















I'm now working on two secret projects for a new book - can't show photos but will let you know more about it soon.

My new(ish) job has me machine knitting and playing with new stitches. I got an old Brother 950i from ebay and have been re-teaching myself as I go along. Any hand knitters out there who are thinking of getting a machine to speed up their projects, be warned - it may be fast but there's nothing like the relative calm of knitting by hand.

My fella's oldest bro and his ladyfriend came over for a short stay, unsettling the neigbours with their loud bikes and leather garb - heheheee!
Here's a shot of Bob on his steely horse in front of Spud:














Last weekend my friends from up North came for a visit. We all piled into Spud for a trip out to Lancaster County.
Face pulling and cookie eating kept us entertained en route:


















The reason for our journey? To see the fabulous, foot-stompin' band Hot Buttered Rum:












A nicer bunch of talented musicians, I have yet to meet.

They were playing at the Great Green America Fest, held at Bizarroland!! A strange mock renaissance town where I happened upon a real-life Wide Mouthed Frog!!


















Annabel got her face painted to look like a pink cat and we all ate home-made chocolate!















Taking of eating, there's been a fair amount of polishing off of yummy treats here at chez AoK!

Whole grain breads:














Parsley hummus:


















Crumb topped banana muffins:














and moist cupcakes:














Washed down with a fair few pots of Betty's tea:














That's all for today - posting those last few picks has made we hungry!
I'll leave you with a shot of painted eggs that my work-mate brought in to show us - they really brightened the place up!














HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY AMERICA!!

And a big, big thank you to my own Mumble Trimbles for sending chocolate and wool - you know me so well and I miss you :o)

Not a Chocolate Egg in Sight!

My chef is preparing Gingerbread Waffles. I'm drooling....

Last night he was whizzing around in our 70's stylee Brown and Yellow kitchen while I fought with a crochet hook.

This is what he made:






Stuffed Mushrooms - crunchy on the outside, moist, garlicy, butteriness on the inside...













Cherry Tomato and Asparagus Pizza -
All made from scratch.....










Oatmeal-Raisin-Chocolate Chunk Cookies -
All warm and gooey, straight from the oven.
(Look on the inside of the Quaker Oat tub lid for basic recipie, then just add tonnes more stuff than they suggest!!!!






While he made all that, I made this!






The beginnings of a collar for the never-ending cardi for Marlene....
I still consider myself as a novice crocheter as I haven't done that much of it and I much prefer knitting.




























I did manage to put these together though. A month or so back, I crocheted a couple of potholders for the Chef to match the kitchen.

























Little Miss Spoilt loves pizza, especially the tomato sauce, so much so that her nose is tinged a nice shade of orange from being dipped into her own bowl of goodness!









One of the other, many, undocumented projects I've got going at the mo is from the new Heartfelt book by Kim Hargreaves.
When I first saw the picture of this hat I thought it was knit so that the ridges were horizontal. I planned for it to be in stripes of Teal and Lime, but when I knit the swatch it became clear that the ridges were vertical and my plan for a vertical striped hat were put on hold... It looks nice in solid Teal. I can live with it.



It's not all been sitting around, eating homemade deliciousness and playing with yarn though...
Last weekend was so gorgeous that even lazy old me wanted to get out and enjoy some fresh country air.
We jumped into the little yellow car and headed for the Pennsylvania countryside. I should've listened more closely to the weatherman as I really didn't need the long johns, hooded sweatshirt and jacket and I really didn't need the fleece top and wool thermal that I'm still wearing in this picture!!
It was a lovely hike and I look forward to a long and sunshiney Spring and Summer.
Happy Easter, wherever you may be.

What a load of Waffle!

When buying a birthday present for your partner it's important to take into consideration the benefit you will get out of the gift.
This one was a winner all around!














Waffles for breakfast:














Light and fluffy inside, crisp and crunchy on the outside - Deeeeee-lishous!

Waffles for dinner:














Even Lucky get's in on the act!





HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! (Thank you for being fabulous!!!)

A Right Charlie!

The new boss's baby arrived - and it's a boy! (I'm about two weeks late with this post but she doesn't read my blog so who cares!)
As I was in the olde country when the baby shower and parties and all that good stuff happened, I thought it would be a nice jesture to whip out the old needles and work up a groovey outfit to keep the young 'un snuggly. Steering myself away from my usual choice of neon brights I went for a subtle black n white combo with a hint of grey and green for trims:


I hope to be rewarded with a snapshot or two of Master Charles sporting this outfit - and if I get my wish, I'll be sure to post the shots here.







In even older knitting news:
Here are some of my other recently-ish finished projects, now all safely sent to their new owners:

















A stripey, chunky, brown beret for me old college mate, Jill. I haven't seen her in flippin' ages - probably because we are both a bit rubbish....








Next up are a pair of Knucks for Annabel's Dad who works as a horse masseur. It was a bit tricky getting all the letters of his business name onto only eight fingers but I was quite chuffed with the results!






Annabel's Mum got one of a series stripey beaded hats that I made from some beautifully soft Tilli Tomas stuff. (I'm still waiting for photos of Annabel and Shae wearing the ones I made for them last year - tut tut! Don't their mothers realize that I only knit them stuff so I can show them off on my blog?!?)





Like my nephew here. Look at that happy boy as he is forced to wear a hat his Aunty made for him and smile for the camera! Good boy. They'll be marmite-toast and a yogurt coming your way for that stella modelling job, (if you ask the grandparents, that is.)











Baby Sarah's Mum still hasn't received her package. Oooops, sorry.... I need to get it together before the kid turns 25! So Lisa, if you happen upon this blog by accident, I made a couple of things for your daughter and I have been meaning to get them to you, Thank goodness that you have so many other reliable friends besides me!! (Baby Sarah gets one of the aforementioned hats and when it finally arrives, will you take a photo of her wearing it - please??)




Marlene - I have resumed work on your cardigan. I was just past the armhole of the first front when I thought it looked a bit odd. I was using the wrong sized needles - arrrrrghhhhhh!!!!! I ripped it out and cast on again this afternoon. Sorry about the delay.....(and for being an idiot!)

After Christmas and the messy visa stuff and moving house and the new job, I still haven't really had the chance to have a decent look around Philly - but one thing's for sure - IT"S NOT NEW YORK!!!!!
I miss NYC and my friends and EVERYTHING!!!
One good thing about being outside of Manhattan is that I now live in a HUGE house and have a room soley for my stash!! Strangely enough, this is the only room I have yet to organize...... hmmmmmm... wonder why that is?

Love is.....

Meet the new love of my life. Tastey, crunchy, deeeelicious! (no affiliation..etc.)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

Initial Baby Blanket

After almost six months after it's conception, I have finally managed to get this pattern onto my website!!!

















It took me part of last weekend and most of this one to get it all together, (as I had forgotten almost everything I had learnt about web design since the relative calm of last summer!)

Knit in Rowan Wool Cotton it's a fabulously snuggly blanket for all seasons.

Get yourself a copy of the pattern from my website and knit up a personalized blankie using the Initial Charts for the central motif.

Coming soon(ish) - A matching cushion cover - ooooooh!

Answers, (roughly)

Locations from the last post were:
1 & 2: Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia - Thanksgiving Day Parade, (outside of the hotel we were staying in).
3: The Barn, upstate NY, (sadly, no longer home).
4: Liberty of London.
5 & 6: Carnaby Street, London.
7: My little place in London, (oooh....OK, Buckingham Palace).
8: The London Eye.
9: The Houses of Parliament.
10: The Clock Tower being squished from The Eye, (idea blatantly stolen from Sweetgirl!)
11: View of some of London from The Eye. (Shame about the cloudy day.)
12: Across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral.
13: Le Moulin Rouge, Pigalle, Paris.
14: L'Arc de Triomphe, Paris.
15: Le Tour Eiffel, Paris.
16: Le view from under said Tour.
17: Le Notre Dame, (front view).
18: Le Notre Dame, (side view).
19: Centraal Station, Amsterdam.
20: Houses with nice shutters, by a canal, somewhere in Amsterdam,
21: Fella on bridge, (by the houses with nice shutters), over a canal, somewhere in Amsterdam,
22: Heaven!!!! (Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.)
23: Huge golden Miffy, Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.
24: Wall of Miffy book covers, Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.
25: Miffy's House, Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.
26: Dick Bruna, Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.
27: ? Dick Bruna Museum, Utrecht.
28: A frozen canal, somewhere in Utrecht.
29: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham.
30: Castle wall behind Robin Hood's statue, Nottingham.
31: A cafe in a gym somewhere near Twickenham in southwest London.
32: The US Embassy, London. (spent way too much time there!!!!!)
33: The GPO Tower, (is it called that or is it the Post Office Tower??), London.
34: Euston Road, London.

How many did you get out of 34?

(stuff about knitting to follow - promise!!)

Where in the world is Heather Dixon?

The last couple of months in pictures for my 100th post:




































































So, who can name all the places I've been to recently?