A wintery wonderland with knitting

Friday we went up to Cumbria to see Mr Mog's aged parent and to stay over with friends for the night. It was very icy,snow everywhere and extremely cold. Most of the pictures I took came to nothing as there was a blizzard to travel in. I do have some pictures to show though.


This gives you some idea of the kind of weather we came home in. It became much foggier than this the nearer we got to home.
The trees are stunning in their naked beauty.
This is a path you can see from the road over Whinlatter,near Keswick.
The view of Bassenthwaite Lake from the top of Whinlatter.
Another view towards the top of Whinlatter .
Just an idea of the snow going over Dunmail Raise towards Keswick from Ambleside
Yet we also had some sunshine

This morning's view from the promenade looking over towards the Lake District Hills.

I received the above letter of thanks for the Hospice socks from St Johns. What it should have said was a big thank you to everyone who helped and encouraged this project.

I have been knitting for Yule gifts. A moebius cowl with a mixture of sock yarn, rayon glitter yarn and mohair hand dyed.

This cowl is for me and is made from some wonderful hand spun/hand dyed yarn that Artis Anne made me. Isn't it lovely? It feels so warm to wear.

These socks are made with blue faced Leicester yarn that I dyed, these are for a gift.
Then this morning we woke to magpies on the roof opposite. Just 2 here but there were 5 at one stage. I love magpies.

Socks to hospice and knitting

We handed over the socks to the hospice yesterday. I've told them that they are for the patients and their families use only. It was great to actually take them in and leave them:)
Here you see a picture of them on the table.

Very colourful aren't they?
Here I am handing them over:) Well my feline face had to be in the picture otherwise how would you know it was me?
Then there has been some knitting for Yule gifts
Firstly a more than single moebius cowl. I wanted to see what happened if I twisted more than once when casting on, It is actually rather warm and comfortable around the neck. Not a failure then. Yarn a mix of glittery rayon I believe, mixed with sock yarn and purple mohair.


Then a more conventional moebius cowl with just 1 twist. The rayon/sock yarn mixture but turquoise mohair added. Pattern a mix of stocking stitch/rib.
This is the BFL double knit yarn I dyed recently. Socks are for a gift also, I'd like to keep these but I'll make myself some once the frenzy of festive knitting is over.
I've been asked about next years projects. I'll be knitting with double knit or thicker yarns mainly because my hands are so bad at the moment that I can't feel fine yarns. Also for some reason they have decided to break out in excema once more:(

Labels for hospice socks

Thought you might like to see how the hospice sock labels look before they all go on their merry way to the hospice tomorrow:) A small sample of course as there were 37 other pairs to label:)

Next knitting?oh and socks another pair finished.

Here you see the beginnings of what will be my next knitting. This time for Yule.
I plied a strand of glittery turquoises from a cone(origin unknown or content) together with a skein of sock yarn I purchased from a destash that I've lost the ticket for. This is not properly set and the colour covered my fingers as I wound the 2 together. Mr Mogs swift made it so easy for me. This will be cowls,probably moebius.


This is the yellow BFL DK I dyed last week ready for socks.
A picture of them together ,just because.
These were the BFL DK socks I knit this week from hand dyed yarn again. I love the heel pattern
These were for me but I need to make some more Yule gifts for those who appreciate hand made gifts so these will be wending their way to someone else.
Jean have emailed you.
BW Wait til you see Mr Mogs post this weekend, FOTCR pictures just for you:) And the most wonderful gents toilets I've seen.

An apology and Femmes left

First I must post a sincere apology for my oversight. 2 of the pairs of socks were made for the hospice . 1 pair by Gourdon Girl and 1 pair by Jane's probably knitting. I am sorry, I just got carried away with the number of socks to go to the hospice. I hope you will forgive me. It is still same number going it just means that only 37 pairs were made by me. I had meant to post about the 2 pair and I was just so excited I forgot. There was no intention to take credit.
The socks are going on Monday morning to St Johns , watch out for photos later that day:)

Now to the femmes, some have gone but these are still awaiting a new home if anyone is interested?
Artemesia loves to paint at any time, she sketches her dreams in colour. Her colours bring joy to all who see them, in what ever media she works. She carries a replica of the Egyptian Goddess Bast with her, the goddess of the sunrise and protector of all who need her, especially women,children and cats:)
Mara carries hope and forgiveness. We have to try new paths sometimes and she goes with us to show the way. There is no right or wrong path, just what suits us.
Lorelee lives within the greenwood. She spends her days communing with the creatures of the trees and her nights in communication with the moon. She treads the world at dawn and dusk when the veils are thinnest. Dragonflies attend her, bringing their beauty and colour to the woodlands.
Firadella is fire ,creativity and joy. She also holds a key and hers is for the journey. There are many doors that we hesitate to open. This could be the key for yours. Spirals send new energies to our projects
Luciali balances her inner and outer selves as any Libran tries to do. The spiral at her neck reminds us that the path goes onwards, it isn't a closed circle. We don't have to stay in the same place. She helps us move on, all be it in our artistic self or our inner person.
Fellina adores her cat and it goes with her on all her journeys. A touch of earth grounding to counter all her fiery energy. Fellina brings out ideas and makes them happen.
Mayamei is of the earth and more at home in forests where she blends in easily. She brings strength to new ventures. The bees tell us that sometimes there is strength in numbers. In past times green was the colour for luck and for protection on new ventures.
Veelia is a shape shifting femme. The mask she wears hides her inner self and protects it from harm when she tries new things. The butterfly lends wings to her efforts and the cat helps her to stay grounded. She isn't afraid to move forward and embrace the new.
Serephina holds traces of Autumns glory, shown here by the oak leaf on her dress. She is a true fire or sun goddess. The bee and bee hive represent the sweetness of life and bees are a part of the great mystery in the way they journey to find pollen and return safely to the hive. The sun she wears is a foreseeing of the turn of the year at Yule and the return to the light and the warmth. Serephina brings hope,joy and fruition with her.
Kualina in honour of Kuan Yin the goddess of compassion. As an artist, her palette and brush are equally at home with fabrics,canvas or yarn. The crescent moon represents her inner spirit,at one with the moon. Kualina brings spiritual blessings and inspiration with her,

Luciana is named for the goddess of fate and luck and in her honour she wears the dice. Lady Luck rolls the ways of chance and fortune for us. She also wears the dice to remind us that we can choose our own road and we are not just dependant on the winds of change. A dice has many sides and we have many paths to choose from. Cats throughout time have been symbols of luck, especially black ones. The star is a symbol of what we can aim for.

I am always agreeable to trades:)

For Emma

Emma if you email me at amber(dot)moggie(at)virgin(dot)net without the brackets stuff for email you can give me your details for your prize:)

Final total of socks knit for hospice.Oh and a winner or two:)

Here you see in all their glory the results of a years knitting for the hospice. Go ahead and count them. Yes there are 39 pairs of socks ready to go to St Johns Hospice next week:))

Another shot of the 39 pairs just because Mr Mog took several pictures:)
I can't thank you all enough for the yarn donations and the encouragement throughout the year. I never dreamed there would be so many pairs back in January when I started. To think I hoped for 13 pairs back then:)
If I think of all the other knitting I've done, socks, shawls, hats etc for family and gifts I am so pleased that I could knit so many. They kept me going through Mr Mog's daily radiotherapy, they came on journeys to Wales and across England. Where would I have been without a pair of socks in progress?
These 39 pairs will bring much comfort and warmth I am sure. Each will have a card attached with washing instructions and a note saying that they were knit with the help and kindness of many people across the world
Thank you my friends.

Now I did mention a contest didn't I?
There are 39 pairs and 2 people guessed correctly
Emma and Perran.
We had a draw from those 2 as it was going to be 1 prize and Emma won. congratulations Emma please contact me with your address:)
It seemed a little unfair that Perran didn't get something so I will be sending a prize winging her way also. Congratulations Perran.
Commiserations to the rest of you. There is always next year:)

Final pair of socks for the hospice done:)))))

Here you go , the final pair of socks for the hospice year of socks. What do you think?
Yarn was a mixture and came out beautifully purple. Shoe size 4, 36?
So guesses are now closed on the number of pairs of socks and I'll let you know the final score tomorrow when we get them all out of the drawer and photographed. It is too dark now.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the generous donations and help received throughout this year. I'm very pleased with the amount of socks knit. After all it was supposed to be a lunar year of socks, 1 pair for each lunar month. That would have given me 13 pairs of socks and at the beginning of this year I'd have said it would be a struggle to do that number.
Yvonne have you any idea what you unleashed when you started me on the slippy slope to sock knitting last October?
Next years hospice knitting is definitely going to be a scarf, hat and fingerless gloves for each lunar month. Or is it? Who knows how many we will end up with.
As always donations will be very gratefully received.
Thank you again

Dyeing for socks and (almost ) end of year of socks.

I've done a little dyeing.Mainly to recreate the yellow merino/tencel I did a few weeks back for the Solid socks KAL. It seemed silly to get the dye pots, steamer et al out for just one skein. I have struggled past few weeks knitting in sock yarn due to its fineness and to my poorly hands.
It seemed a good idea to go up (down?) a gauge if I wanted to continue with the sock knitting after this year of hospice socks. I love Blue faced Leicester yarn, it is so soft and knits up beautifully. As I managed to procure some of this at Andy's open weekend it made sense to dye it. After all a moggie can't knit with nude yarn. Colour is far more exciting.

As some of you are aware I was running short on yarn for the yellow socks, I had almost the whole foot to knit on the second sock and a small amount of yarn. So I stopped knitting until I could get more yarn to dye. This came this week so it was first in the pot. Funny thing is that after dyeing it I decided to continue knitting the sock with the knowledge that today when the yarn was dry I could carry on. Guess what? I finished the sock with around 4 foot of yarn left, so didn't need this second skein. It will be part of the prize for the person who guesses the number of pairs of socks for the hospice correctly, or is nearest. Tencel does make the yarn shine when it is dyed and these 2 shades of yellow go so well together. They are perfect for cheering up a dark day.

However-- when starting to dye a friend rang and I was rather distracted going back to the pots. Instead of dyeing the tencel I inadvertently took the wrong skein out of the soaking water and voila the same colours on BFL. I love this and it will make cheery socks for me I think.
Here you see the 2 skeins together.
Then I did the second skein with red and yellow but boobed, I only steamed for 20 minutes instead of 30. This made a more faded effect, still lovely in my opinion.
This one is my favourite by a long chalk. I love the muted brightness if there is such a thing? I've wound this and it is on the needles as we speak, also socks for me.
More pictures of them ,just because.
This was the original merino tencel for the solid sock KAL. Finished last night, to fit a size 4 ladies shoe, is that 36? Not sure. I patterned these and I'm very proud of them.
As I'm sure many of you know, I've done far more pairs of socks for the hospice than I started out to do. Thanks in no small part to all the generous donations I've received. Thank you for those. With this in mind I am finishing 1 pair I have on the needles then I'm going to present them to the hospice, probably end of next week. There will be pictures:) I'll count them up and let you know who won. They are going to the hospice as gifts for the patients. As many of you have said this is a far better idea than the hospice selling them, for 2 main reasons. Firstly if they sell them in their shop they may not get what you and I think they are worth.
Secondly I think it will be a good Christmas gift for the hospice patients, don't you?.
I will be attaching little care cards to each pair with washing instructions. After all we don't want them felted after all the hard work creating them.
What about next year do you ask? It will be a set of hat,scarf and fingerless mitts each lunar month so watch this space. Donations will be appreciated thank you:)
And yes for the hospice again. My third year.

Feast or femmes?

There would appear to be some femmes vying for your attention,so without further ado may I introduce:-

Kualina in honour of Kuan Yin the goddess of compassion. As an artist, her palette and brush are equally at home with fabrics,canvas or yarn. The crescent moon represents her inner spirit,at one with the moon. Kualina brings spiritual blessings and inspiration with her,

Serephina holds traces of Autumns glory, shown here by the oak leaf on her dress. She is a true fire or sun goddess. The bee and bee hive represent the sweetness of life and bees are a part of the great mystery in the way they journey to find pollen and return safely to the hive. The sun she wears is a foreseeing of the turn of the year at Yule and the return to the light and the warmth. Serephina brings hope,joy and fruition with her.
Oya is the Goddess of changes and this femme is named in her honour. She helps embrace change in all its forms, and is a guide on the path you choose to take. The star reminds us that reaching for the stars is the best way to journey. If we fail there are other stars to break our fall.

Birgita personifies the elemental energies of fire. The timepiece she wears reminds us that there is never enough time if you wait for the right moment. You have to live in the now, don't wait- for tomorrow never comes.
She is a loving goddess as the heart shows and her totem is a cat for comfort. She brings a reminder to seize each day and live it to its fullness.

Sulina is a water femme, She brings the ability to honour our emotions, both tears and laughter. As so many do, she wears her heart where it can be seen and sometimes bruised. Hopefully her presence will strengthen your resolve and heal any tears. The fish show us that we can swim, even against the tide if need be.
Veelia is a shape shifting femme. The mask she wears hides her inner self and protects it from harm when she tries new things. The butterfly lends wings to her efforts and the cat helps her to stay grounded. She isn't afraid to move forward and embrace the new.
Mamaseti holds a key. Where is it for? That is for you to find out. Could it be the key to your creativity, your imagination? A key to an inner self? Only you know what her message will be. Her cat gives her the ability to travel lightly through the world.
Mayamei is of the earth and more at home in forests where she blends in easily. She brings strength to new ventures. The bees tell us that sometimes there is strength in numbers.
Fellina adores her cat and it goes with her on all her journeys. A touch of earth grounding to counter all her fiery energy. Fellina brings out ideas and makes them happen.
Luciali balances her inner and outer selves as any Libran tries to do. The spiral at her neck reminds us that the path goes onwards, it isn't a closed circle. We don't have to stay in the same place. She helps us move on, all be it in our artistic self or our inner person.
Firadella is fire ,creativity and joy. She also holds a key and hers is for the journey. There are many doors that we hesitate to open. This could be the key for yours. Spirals send new energies to our projects.
Morgan is of water. Emotions can be hard to put into words as she knows so well.Sometimes she feels as if she is swimming against the tide so the fish remind her that she has the strength to do so. Her totem is a mermaid, part of the earth but at home in water and ruled by the moon.
Lorelee lives within the greenwood. She spends her days communing with the creatures of the trees and her nights in communication with the moon. She treads the world at dawn and dusk when the veils are thinnest. Dragonflies attend her, bringing their beauty and colour to the woodlands.

Mara carries hope and forgiveness. We have to try new paths sometimes and she goes with us to show the way.

Artemesia loves to paint at any time, she sketches her dreams in colour. Her colours bring joy to all who see them, in what ever media she works. She carries a replica of the Egyptian Goddess Bast with her, the goddess of the sunrise and protector of all who need her, especially women,children and cats:)
Luciana is named for the goddess of fate and luck and in her honour she wears the dice. Lady Luck rolls the ways of chance and fortune for us. She also wears the dice to remind us that we can choose our own road and we are not just dependant on the winds of change. A dice has many sides and we have many paths to choose from. Cats throughout time have been symbols of luck, especially black ones. The star is a symbol of what we can aim for.

I hope you like les femmes. As always should one resound with you,please do contact me. They are all ready to go to pastures new. I would also remind you that they are decorative items and as such are not suitable for children's playthings.
Thank you