http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/A Blog all about Crafting, Knitting, Infertility, Weight Loss and Life in General.en-UKMokoFeed10http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/af/889f7b51f597478913b1451adb476d_160x200.jpghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/ill-health-again-and-knitting-orders-7417442/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-11-20:/2009/11/20/ill-health-again-and-knitting-orders-7417442/Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:55:49 +0100 <p>Yet again I begin this blog with an apology. I know I said I would blog more regularly but my back has had different ideas. Yes, you guessed it I pushed my back too far and it went again (twice)...I have now learnt my lesson and am taking it really easy as I would definitely like it to be healed by Christmas...</p> <p>Backs are funny things (not literally)....you don't give them a second thought until you hurt them and then it is all you can think of. Every move I make hurts and sometimes even breathing hurts...Every couple of days I wake up during the night and am in agony, so have to take my strong painkillers which means that I sleep through most of the next day and nothing gets done....</p> <p>Take last weekend for instance, most of the weekend I felt okay...had to take the Ibuprofen but not the stronger painkillers...On Monday I had to go out and do some grocery shopping as we were running out of most things and hubby was working, so I got dressed, took some Ibuprofen and went out.</p> <p>Everything went okay until I pushed my back too far (again). I went to Wilkinsons to get some Christmas shopping then to Morrisons for the grocery shopping. Poundstretchers was next as I was in search of a baby doll to be a model for me (will blog about that next time). I then had to call at Farm Foods to get something for my tea as I had decided to have pizza and don't really like the ones pre-made in Morrisons.</p> <p>By the time I had left Morrisons I should have really gone home as my back was hurting, but no, I pushed it further and continued shopping. I then had to call at my parents as I had some photos which I had printed out for my father. He had just got home and had bought a new tumble dryer so I stayed to show him and my mum how to use it. Of course then my mum asked me to show her how to use her laptop (again) and then had to stop at hubby's work to drop off his food for tea. Whilst there my mum phoned me up as she was having problems with the laptop (again) and I had to call back there to show her how to sort it out.</p> <p>I had left the house at 3pm and did not get home until 9.30pm...A looooonnnnngggg day......</p> <p>The rest of the week has meant that I have been resting my back trying to get it to heal. Backs are slow healers.</p> <p>My Stitch'n'Bitch meeting was this evening so I had to get the four necklaces which had been ordered before my back went five-six weeks ago completed. I had only done one of them and after sitting there trying to get my head round the complex beading patterns decided to give two of the ones I had pre-made and were up on Etsy for sale, this only left one. I had major problems getting my head round the patterns and eventually found a really easy one and made that up over the course of two days, just in time for tonights Stitch'n'Bitch. The good news is, the lady who had ordered them loved them and totally understood the reason it took so long for her to receive them and I got paid.</p> <p>Why is it when you are ill you get loads of orders all at once and when you are healthy there are none. Just before my back went I was asked to knit 50 headbands, 2 dog sweaters and the 4 beaded necklaces...since then I have also been asked to knit a 48" cabled cardigan and of course the requests of baby cardigans off of my mother and sister.</p> <p>I got the two sample headbands knitted and they were approved and now need to knit 25 of them before Christmas....one of the dog sweaters is completed and I have started on the second which is a complex four sets of cables pattern and finished the beaded necklace order...Oh I have also completed one of the baby cardigans for my sister.</p> <p>All I have to do now is get the cabled dog sweater finished and knit all 25 headbands before Christmas...the rest can wait until the New Year...</p> <p>I have now got a new Laptop and that took some setting up as I had a million and one programmes to install on it. The first few days was a nightmare with it as for some reason everytime I ran the Windows Update it would mess the laptop up totally, which meant resetting it all back to the Factory Settings. Finally I sorted it out and it is working brilliantly.</p> <p>Next time I blog I will post some pics of what I have been working on and hopefully will have good news about my health, until then wrap up warm - preferably in something nice and woolly... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/ill-health-again-and-knitting-orders-7417442/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>healthknittingetsybeadinghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/ill-health-again-and-knitting-orders-7417442/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/past-miscarriages-and-ill-health-7250508/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-10-26:/2009/10/27/past-miscarriages-and-ill-health-7250508/Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:53:47 +0100 <p>I feel terrible that I haven't blogged for over a month, but life has really been hard and I have had difficulty trying to cope with it.</p> <p>The beginning of October marked the anniversary of the first baby which I miscarried back in 1997. Every year it hits me really hard and I always suffer severe depression around that time of the year and this year was no different. Or maybe it was....Having to cope with the anniversary was difficult enough but this year I also had to cope with finding out I wasn't pregnant (yet) again and also my sister showing her pregnancy scan pictures and my family cooing over them.</p> <p>I have always felt guilty over the miscarriage as I feel it was my fault. The reason I feel it is my fault is that I climbed on the toilet seat to close the bathroom window and I fell. The guilt has always been with me over this and I feel that it always will. I know it was an accident and I also know that I shouldn't have climbed up but it was freezing in the flat and I was there on my own until the morning, so really had no choice. I deeply regret my actions and wish I could turn back time and not do it.</p> <p>Since then I have had numerous miscarriages but none of them affect me as much as the first, perhaps it is because I feel it was my fault, or perhaps it was because it was the first, I don't know.</p> <p>I have also been finding it more difficult to cope with my sister's pregnancy...there has been arguments in the family about how I am coping with the matter and my parents feel that I am in the wrong for being so upset about it. I have tried my best to show an interest, but everytime I think about it it hurts so much and I have to try and stop myself from crying. As she has begun showing I am finding it increasingly difficult to see her as it feels like a slap in the face everytime I see her. </p> <p>All I can think is that it is so unfair that it isn't me pregnant. By rights it should be me as I am married and settled down and have been trying for a baby since 1997 and not forgetting all the babies I have lost. I know that this may sound selfish to the majority of you, but I have been assured from friends who are going through infertility that I am not and I have every right to feel like this and however I feel is okay. If only my family could understand this....</p> <p>I know that the closer she gets to her due date the more depressed I am going to get and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it as my parents keep informing me of the latest scan/baby items bought etc etc. Oh by the way last week I had 2 texts informing me she was having a girl, both from family who should know better.</p> <p>I really don't know how to get through to my family that it is not always okay to shove this pregnancy news down my throat as I am not always feeling strong enough to cope with it.</p> <p>The other reason I have not blogged is that 3 weeks ago I fell down the stairs (my eldest dog tripped me up whilst coming down them) and I hurt my back. Since it didn't hurt too much I carried on with life as normal..big mistake....a week later as I was climbing out of the shower I managed to twist my back and it totally gave out on me. </p> <p>I have spent the past fortnight lying on the couch not able to move without being in agonising pain (even when not moving)...I have taken so many painkillers and anti-inflammatories it is surprising that I am still alive. </p> <p>You will be glad to hear that I have now managed to cut back on the painkillers so that I am only taking them when I wake up and before I go to sleep. Every few days I wake up and the pain is back but definitely not to the extent of a fortnight ago. I have been told that it will take quite a while for it too heal properly and I should still take it easy and watch what I am doing as it could well go again if I am not careful.</p> <p>Of course I did not listen and on Friday I went out for the day to Cheshire Oaks to buy a new laptop as mine was acting up and was not suitable for the amount of work I do on it (it really could not cope as it kept locking up every 10 minutes). Hubby and I walked around Cheshire Oaks bought the laptop and then went over to Sealand Park to Hobbycraft as we had to wait for the manager of Toshiba to turn up to upgrade the memory on my new laptop. We then went back to Cheshire Oaks had some food and went back to get the memory upgrade. </p> <p>This is all I did, but by the time I got home I was in agony with my back (this was the first I had been out in a fornight). All weekend I have had to rest up but today my back was bad again and yet again I had to rest up.</p> <p>I am really hoping that it will get better soon as it is a nuisance as I can't do much. I have some knitting orders to complete and also 4 beaded necklaces to make. The knitting isn't such a problem now as I can sit and knit for a while but the necklaces are going to be a problem as it involves a lot of bending over the tray to do make the necklaces, so I think I am going to have wait until next week before I try and do them.</p> <p>I think that is about it for now...I promise to blog a bit more regularly now that I have got my new laptop (now that it is working) but I will blog about that next time..... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/past-miscarriages-and-ill-health-7250508/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>knittinghealthmiscarriagespregnancyleisurelifeinfertilityhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/past-miscarriages-and-ill-health-7250508/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/22/alpacas-and-spinning-7013763/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-09-21:/2009/09/22/alpacas-and-spinning-7013763/Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:03:20 +0200 <p>As promised, here are the pics of the gorgeous alpacas whose lovely fleeces I have bought. Aren't they adorable.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p30_08_09_16_28/3922852" title="P30-08-09_16.28"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/852/3922852_c43c32369d_s.jpg" alt="P30-08-09_16.28"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p30_08_09_16_28_01/3922853" title="P30-08-09_16.28[01]"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/853/3922853_f2d7150029_s.jpg" alt="P30-08-09_16.28[01]"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p30_08_09_16_28_02/3922854" title="P30-08-09_16.28[02]"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/854/3922854_50673882ab_s.jpg" alt="P30-08-09_16.28[02]"></a></p> <p>I have begun washing the fleeces and so far am really pleased with them, they are so soft and snuggly and can't wait until I get to try spinning them.</p> <p>As you will remember a while ago I bought a huge pile of welsh ewe fleeces and am still busy washing and dyeing them and of course spinning them. I think I am half way through the 30 fleeces (I hope so anyway). I have sent some to Australia, America, Canada and of course the UK and am going to be putting some up for sale on Ebay soon and also some of the dyed roving is up on my Etsy store.</p> <p>Here is some of what I have dyed and spun up on my Kromski Symphony.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010016/3922855" title="P1010016"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/855/3922855_7892945d87_s.jpg" alt="P1010016"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010018/3922856" title="P1010018"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/856/3922856_68da169773_s.jpg" alt="P1010018"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010019/3922857" title="P1010019"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/857/3922857_8580b2a757_s.jpg" alt="P1010019"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010089/3922858" title="P1010089"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/858/3922858_2ccaa32468_s.jpg" alt="P1010089"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010091/3922859" title="P1010091"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/859/3922859_45e30360dc_s.jpg" alt="P1010091"></a></p> <p>I am relatively pleased with how is has spun up. I admit that I am still a beginner at spinning so am still learning all the tips and tricks (despite reading every book going on spinning <img src="/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif" alt=":DD" class="middle" border="0"> ).</p> <p>I have begun spinning using the smallest whorl on my Kromski and am happier using this as the yarn is beginning to be more uniform and finer. I have also on the last lot of roving been spinning clockwise rather than the anti-clockwise which I had been doing, this seems to be helping as well, as the take up is a lot quicker than it was.</p> <p>All I need to do now is work out what I want to knit with this handspun yarn!!! I had thought of selling it in my Etsy store but I don't think anyone would want to buy thick/thin handspun yarn, what do you think??? </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/22/alpacas-and-spinning-7013763/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>alpacakromskispinninghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/22/alpacas-and-spinning-7013763/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/14/babies-6964439/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-09-14:/2009/09/14/babies-6964439/Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:20:30 +0200 <p>Three weeks ago, I went to Shrewsbury to see my cousin and his 3 month old twins (also so pick up some yummy alpaca fleeces, but more on that another time!!)</p> <p>This is the first time I have had to come face to face with babies since we began trying for a baby twelve years ago. I was really nervous and wasn't exactly sure how I was going to cope with having to coo over them and the possibility of holding them etc.</p> <p>As it happened, I did not really get much choice as I had only been there for 5 minutes when my cousin's wife handed me the baby girl whilst she carried the little boy into the house....I was slightly taken aback, but this was the perfect thing to get me over my nervousness of how I was going to cope. </p> <p>My father and cousin instantly looked at me to make sure I was okay, but as I had no choice but to hold this little bundle of joy I had to nod and say I was okay...</p> <p>The rest of the afternoon I constantly had one of the twins in my arms, and even had to feed the little girl and wind her. I was so sad when I had to leave as I just wanted to bring them home with me.</p> <p>Once I got home, it all hit me and I plummeted into depression. For the next week I just cried and hid away. The reality of my not having a baby and the thought of never having one hit me hard, along with wishing all the babies I have lost were here with me. Hubby did not really know what to say to me and to be truthful I really did not know what I wanted to hear. I guess there was nothing that anyone could say which would make me feel better.</p> <p>Last week I had a telephone call telling me that my cousin and the twins were down, so of course I felt like I had to go to my parents to see them. This time I had hubby with me and I was a bit moe prepared for how I would feel afterwards.</p> <p>As it happened there was a houseful as my sister and her boyfriend turned up, so it wasn't upto me to continuously hold one of the babies.</p> <p>As you can see they are a gorgeous pair of babies.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/sonny/3896686" title="Sonny"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/686/3896686_b24b01c4fe_s.jpg" alt="Sonny"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/jasmine/3896687" title="Jasmine"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/687/3896687_fca7530e24_s.jpg" alt="Jasmine"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/jasmine_2/3896697" title="Jasmine 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/697/3896697_6fc074d313_s.jpg" alt="Jasmine 2"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/sonny/3896698" title="Sonny??"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/698/3896698_c8a0c83c3e_s.jpg" alt="Sonny??"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/jasmine/3896699" title="Jasmine??"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/699/3896699_a04c158a9f_s.jpg" alt="Jasmine??"></a></p> <p>As you can tell, hubby and my sister had their photos taken, but once the twins had gone my father pointed out that my photo had not been taken with them <img src="/img/smilies/icon_confused.gif" alt=":-/" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>I really enjoyed seeing them both again and this time it did not upset me half as much as the first time, although hubby was slightly upset as this was again the first time he had come so close to babies.</p> <p>All of this has made us both realise how much we want a baby and in my case twins. I would love to have a baby girl and baby boy as then I would not have to go through all the fertility treatment and infertility in general all over again.</p> <p>If I can't have a baby I don't know what I will do and just the thought of it starts to bring on my depression and makes me sooooo upset.</p> <p>Hubby was so patient with the twins and my cousin and his wife both said I was a natural with the twins and would make a wonderful mother. Even I was surprised at how natural I found everything, from feeding to winding to calming them down when they started crying. The only thing I didn't do was change the nappies, this I left to the parents as I am sure I will have plenty to go through when I have a baby of my own.......hopefully.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/14/babies-6964439/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>babieslifedepressioninfertilityhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/14/babies-6964439/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/04/the-art-of-knitting-again-6886990/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-09-03:/2009/09/04/the-art-of-knitting-again-6886990/Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:07:06 +0200 <p>Last month I finally completed the "Shaker Style Throw" from the partwork magazine "The Art Of Knitting".</p> <p>I have been knitting this throw for around 12 months and am really pleased to have finally finished it.</p> <p>Here are the last couple of panels, before I sewed it all together.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010046/3856306" title="P1010046"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/306/3856306_a2f817a13a_s.jpg" alt="P1010046"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010047/3856307" title="P1010047"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/307/3856307_c560e95478_s.jpg" alt="P1010047"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010048/3856308" title="P1010048"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/308/3856308_62009e34f1_s.jpg" alt="P1010048"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010049/3856309" title="P1010049"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/309/3856309_8556c3aa57_s.jpg" alt="P1010049"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010050/3856310" title="P1010050"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/310/3856310_091b9c8d03_s.jpg" alt="P1010050"></a></p> <p>Sewing the panels together took forever and the two rounds of crochet took even longer (not helped by the fact that I am not very proficient at crocheting).</p> <p><strong>**DRUMROLL</strong>**</p> <p>Here is the completed throw. </p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010060/3856311" title="P1010060"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/311/3856311_ac4add1b75_s.jpg" alt="P1010060"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010063/3856312" title="P1010063"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/312/3856312_38c1590cbd_s.jpg" alt="P1010063"></a></p> <p>I am really proud of this throw and am looking forward to beginning "The Scandinavian Throw" which is the next throw that "The Art Of Knitting" was doing.</p> <p>All that is left is too find somewhere to put the throw, preferably somewhere that the dogs can't get too as they love to curl up in my knitted throws. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/04/the-art-of-knitting-again-6886990/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>craftsknittingshoppinghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/09/04/the-art-of-knitting-again-6886990/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/30/beaded-jewellery-6850854/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-08-29:/2009/08/30/beaded-jewellery-6850854/Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:51:22 +0200 <p>As those of you who have seen my Etsy shop will know, I make and sell beaded jewellery. For those of you who don't then you can check some of the jewellery I make in my Etsy shop at <a href="http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com">http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com</a></p> <p>A month ago, I decided to take some of my jewellery to my "stitch'n'bitch" knitting meeting to try and sell some of it, and I was shocked to not just sell a couple of the necklaces, but to also get commissions.</p> <p>I duly made the necklaces and here they are for you to see.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010067/3837822" title="P1010067"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/822/3837822_a59de25390_s.jpg" alt="P1010067"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010076/3837823" title="P1010076"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/823/3837823_ef6d959664_s.jpg" alt="P1010076"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010084/3837824" title="P1010084"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/824/3837824_37bd82dd3f_s.jpg" alt="P1010084"></a></p> <p>Once I had finished these I began a new design, but realised half way through that I did not have the correct beads, so undid some of it and this is what I left as I thought it looked really attractive. This necklace you will be able to find in my Etsy store soon.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1010104/3837825" title="P1010104"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/825/3837825_14d43866ac_s.jpg" alt="P1010104"></a></p> <p>The customer's were so happy with their necklaces that they decided to commission some more and also other ladies were so pleased with them that they have also ordered some.</p> <p>There are also going to be commissioned shortly as I have been requested to take in my beaded jewellery catalogue next time and also some other designs which I am able to make.</p> <p>I am really glad that some of my jewellery is selling as it seem like an age since I sold one and was beginning to think I was going to have to give them as Christmas gifts to relatives.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/30/beaded-jewellery-6850854/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>shoppingjewellerybeadingetsyleisurehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/30/beaded-jewellery-6850854/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/19/depression-6762455/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-08-19:/2009/08/19/depression-6762455/Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:23:16 +0200 <p>Those of you who have suffered with Depression will understand how I am feeling and those of you who haven't are soooooo lucky.</p> <p>My Depression has been coming and going for the past couple of years, sometimes it doesn't affect me very much and others (like now) it is really scary and I feel like I am in a big black hole and am never going to be able to climb out of it.</p> <p>I know why my depression has gotten worse right now (blame the infertility and PMS) but it still doesn't make it any easier. My GP's solution is Prozac and I really don't want to take it as it may hinder my chances at being able to adopt (if it ever comes to it), so it looks like I am going to have to try and cope on my own.</p> <p>I have begun taking St John's Wort in a hope that it will help. I am on day 2 of taking them and at the moment I am not seeing any difference. I have also begun taking Evening Primrose Oil to help my PMS, but again am not noticing any difference, but it is probably too soon to tell....</p> <p>All I want to do is go to sleep and not wake up until I feel better. The thoughts which are racing through my head are pretty scary and since hubby is working nights I am all on my own to cope with them when they are at their worst...</p> <p>As I am writing this, I am having to stop every now and again as my crying gets pretty bad. I have tried to explain how I feel to hubby but despite his trying to understand the best he can, he has no idea how awful it is, only someone who suffers with Depression truly knows how it feels, and right now it feels really bad......</p> <p>I made a joke earlier on about feeling as depressed as the weather (it has been pouring down with rain all day and is like a winter's day). The rain outside is just matching my tears....</p> <p>Friends have suggested my seeing a counsellor but as I know what my problems are there is no point and my track record with counsellors has not been very positive so I am very hesitant to go down that route....</p> <p>SOOOOO, Drugs and Counselling are not options, sooo what do you all suggest??????</p> <p>In the meantime, I guess all I can do is look forward to another day/week/month like today and hope that I begin to feel better soon and these terrible thoughts become good thoughts soon (before it is too late!!!!) </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/19/depression-6762455/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lifehealthdepressionhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/19/depression-6762455/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/15/the-lake-district-6726960/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-08-14:/2009/08/15/the-lake-district-6726960/Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:40:08 +0200 <p>Finally, here are the rest of my pictures from the Lake District from the end of June when I went to Woolfest 2009.</p> <p>The first lot of photos were taken from the hotel in Whitehaven.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/whitehaven_1/3788377" title="whitehaven 1"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/377/3788377_be0e4a7715_s.jpg" alt="whitehaven 1"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/whitehaven_2/3788378" title="whitehaven 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/378/3788378_b0cb05f1f9_s.jpg" alt="whitehaven 2"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/whitehaven_3/3788379" title="whitehaven 3"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/379/3788379_fed8774633_s.jpg" alt="whitehaven 3"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/whitehaven_4/3788380" title="whitehaven 4"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/380/3788380_10ed19f269_s.jpg" alt="whitehaven 4"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/whitehaven_5/3788381" title="whitehaven 5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/381/3788381_2c8f7a8b8c_s.jpg" alt="whitehaven 5"></a></p> <p>The next lot are from Keswick and as you can tell it was a glorious day. It was soooooo hot, you wouldn't believe it.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_1/3788383" title="Keswick 1"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/383/3788383_3755f474f6_s.jpg" alt="Keswick 1"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/kesick_2/3788384" title="kesick 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/384/3788384_9321d0d8e6_s.jpg" alt="kesick 2"></a><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_3/3788385" title="keswick 3"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/385/3788385_9cb3058e9d_s.jpg" alt="keswick 3"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_4/3788386" title="keswick 4"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/386/3788386_e56ad0524e_s.jpg" alt="keswick 4"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_5/3788387" title="keswick 5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/387/3788387_2aa494f09f_s.jpg" alt="keswick 5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_6/3788388" title="keswick 6"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/388/3788388_b59d1d7a32_s.jpg" alt="keswick 6"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_7/3788389" title="keswick 7"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/389/3788389_b5404c228e_s.jpg" alt="keswick 7"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_8/3788390" title="keswick 8"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/390/3788390_2dfe430ce9_s.jpg" alt="keswick 8"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_9/3788391" title="Keswick 9"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/391/3788391_39cfe19ede_s.jpg" alt="Keswick 9"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_10/3788392" title="Keswick 10"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/392/3788392_bce11579a4_s.jpg" alt="Keswick 10"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_11/3788400" title="keswick 11"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/400/3788400_ad7a050b08_s.jpg" alt="keswick 11"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_12/3788401" title="keswick 12"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/401/3788401_6a646bbb90_s.jpg" alt="keswick 12"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_13/3788402" title="keswick 13"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/402/3788402_82d710e6a7_s.jpg" alt="keswick 13"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_14/3788403" title="keswick 14"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/403/3788403_637835f64a_s.jpg" alt="keswick 14"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_15/3788404" title="keswick 15"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/404/3788404_5054dc51a2_s.jpg" alt="keswick 15"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_16/3788405" title="keswick 16"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/405/3788405_a120634694_s.jpg" alt="keswick 16"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_17/3788406" title="keswick 17"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/406/3788406_2931f287e8_s.jpg" alt="keswick 17"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/keswick_18/3788407" title="keswick 18"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/407/3788407_c634fad55e_s.jpg" alt="keswick 18"></a></p> <p>And finally here are the pictures from Windermere. </p> <p>We had such a lovely time sitting, eating ice cream looking at the lake that I really did not want to leave there and come home.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_1/3788409" title="windermere 1"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/409/3788409_66fa30fd27_s.jpg" alt="windermere 1"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_2/3788410" title="windermere 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/410/3788410_eb5d535cc9_s.jpg" alt="windermere 2"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_3/3788411" title="windermere 3"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/411/3788411_704e21a55e_s.jpg" alt="windermere 3"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_4/3788412" title="windermere 4"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/412/3788412_da1207b150_s.jpg" alt="windermere 4"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_5/3788413" title="windermere 5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/413/3788413_101676f6db_s.jpg" alt="windermere 5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_6/3788414" title="windermere 6"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/414/3788414_7ab50073b3_s.jpg" alt="windermere 6"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_7/3788415" title="windermere 7"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/415/3788415_2fe918d154_s.jpg" alt="windermere 7"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_8/3788416" title="windermere 8"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/416/3788416_3809ba5eda_s.jpg" alt="windermere 8"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_9/3788417" title="windermere 9"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/417/3788417_ec52ce9ba9_s.jpg" alt="windermere 9"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/windermere_10/3788418" title="windermere 10"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/418/3788418_113b0cc086_s.jpg" alt="windermere 10"></a></p> <p>As you can tell from the pictures, we had a brilliant time and are really looking forward to going back next June for Woolfest 2010...... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/15/the-lake-district-6726960/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisuretravellifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/15/the-lake-district-6726960/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/03/woolfest-6646254/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-08-03:/2009/08/03/woolfest-6646254/Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:25:42 +0200 <p>Finally, as promised, here are the Woolfest 2009 photos.</p> <p>As usual, there were loads of sheep and alpacas and the "sheep" for the auction were absolutely gorgeous and some went for mega money.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000932/3751152" title="P1000932"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/152/3751152_d3515ab259_s.jpg" alt="P1000932"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000933/3751153" title="P1000933"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/153/3751153_4e21c52eef_s.jpg" alt="P1000933"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000934/3751154" title="P1000934"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/154/3751154_1aa8f16d6a_s.jpg" alt="P1000934"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000935/3751155" title="P1000935"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/155/3751155_ac199ba8be_s.jpg" alt="P1000935"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000936/3751156" title="P1000936"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/156/3751156_fae4faa27a_s.jpg" alt="P1000936"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000937/3751157" title="P1000937"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/157/3751157_95bd3412c5_s.jpg" alt="P1000937"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000942/3751158" title="P1000942"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/158/3751158_f91de50d0d_s.jpg" alt="P1000942"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000943/3751159" title="P1000943"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/159/3751159_b752bb4a7d_s.jpg" alt="P1000943"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000944/3751160" title="P1000944"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/160/3751160_4546d8db66_s.jpg" alt="P1000944"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000945/3751161" title="P1000945"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/161/3751161_b91777261c_s.jpg" alt="P1000945"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000946/3751176" title="P1000946"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/176/3751176_c1789c2f2d_s.jpg" alt="P1000946"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000947/3751177" title="P1000947"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/177/3751177_969fa074f7_s.jpg" alt="P1000947"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000948/3751178" title="P1000948"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/178/3751178_8ab624d32b_s.jpg" alt="P1000948"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000949/3751179" title="P1000949"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/179/3751179_63851faba2_s.jpg" alt="P1000949"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000950/3751180" title="P1000950"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/180/3751180_a5454e2787_s.jpg" alt="P1000950"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000951/3751181" title="P1000951"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/181/3751181_57863d76d1_s.jpg" alt="P1000951"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000952/3751182" title="P1000952"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/182/3751182_4d44cc7f7c_s.jpg" alt="P1000952"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000953/3751184" title="P1000953"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/184/3751184_61d10a8a60_s.jpg" alt="P1000953"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000954/3751185" title="P1000954"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/185/3751185_4501c91472_s.jpg" alt="P1000954"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000955/3751186" title="P1000955"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/186/3751186_0cb45a55c3_s.jpg" alt="P1000955"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000956/3751201" title="P1000956"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/201/3751201_90cb781402_s.jpg" alt="P1000956"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000957/3751202" title="P1000957"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/202/3751202_690133f278_s.jpg" alt="P1000957"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000958/3751203" title="P1000958"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/203/3751203_c4b0666abe_s.jpg" alt="P1000958"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000959/3751204" title="P1000959"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/204/3751204_9a2924318d_s.jpg" alt="P1000959"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000960/3751205" title="P1000960"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/205/3751205_72270e324b_s.jpg" alt="P1000960"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000961/3751206" title="P1000961"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/206/3751206_0087255a6d_s.jpg" alt="P1000961"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000962/3751207" title="P1000962"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/207/3751207_fd8f61d4b2_s.jpg" alt="P1000962"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000963/3751208" title="P1000963"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/208/3751208_28f544cf0f_s.jpg" alt="P1000963"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000964/3751211" title="P1000964"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/211/3751211_3fcc05ce9b_s.jpg" alt="P1000964"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000965/3751212" title="P1000965"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/212/3751212_81a86ac843_s.jpg" alt="P1000965"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000902/3751043" title="P1000902"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/043/3751043_e5240fb1eb_s.jpg" alt="P1000902"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000903/3751044" title="P1000903"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/044/3751044_cd95abae6c_s.jpg" alt="P1000903"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000904/3751045" title="P1000904"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/045/3751045_6ba352d32e_s.jpg" alt="P1000904"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000905/3751046" title="P1000905"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/046/3751046_e3a466c4e0_s.jpg" alt="P1000905"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000906/3751047" title="P1000906"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/047/3751047_7451dcc911_s.jpg" alt="P1000906"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000907/3751048" title="P1000907"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/048/3751048_4bad413ba6_s.jpg" alt="P1000907"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000908/3751049" title="P1000908"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/049/3751049_0bc1eea788_s.jpg" alt="P1000908"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000910/3751050" title="P1000910"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/050/3751050_6ae804d0a8_s.jpg" alt="P1000910"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000915/3751051" title="P1000915"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/051/3751051_2e061b5c5e_s.jpg" alt="P1000915"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000916/3751052" title="P1000916"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/052/3751052_93a513b3e8_s.jpg" alt="P1000916"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000918/3751096" title="P1000918"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/096/3751096_6cd4ddf8cd_s.jpg" alt="P1000918"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000920/3751097" title="P1000920"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/097/3751097_d25f197eaa_s.jpg" alt="P1000920"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000921/3751098" title="P1000921"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/098/3751098_5c258028ff_s.jpg" alt="P1000921"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000922/3751099" title="P1000922"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/099/3751099_b0d54eef53_s.jpg" alt="P1000922"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000923/3751100" title="P1000923"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/100/3751100_221c92a473_s.jpg" alt="P1000923"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000924/3751101" title="P1000924"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/101/3751101_77b0eb0605_s.jpg" alt="P1000924"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000925/3751102" title="P1000925"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/102/3751102_3af11a576e_s.jpg" alt="P1000925"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000926/3751103" title="P1000926"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/103/3751103_09e27fae60_s.jpg" alt="P1000926"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000928/3751104" title="P1000928"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/104/3751104_76f149204c_s.jpg" alt="P1000928"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000931/3751105" title="P1000931"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/105/3751105_def51c5168_s.jpg" alt="P1000931"></a></p> <p>I had an absolutely wonderful day at Woolfest and bought some gorgeous "silk bricks" to spin and some silk/bamboo roving also to spin.</p> <p>There was such an array of roving it was difficult to choose which to buy and bring home with me.</p> <p>I used the "Ashford Spinning Chair" (which hubby bought me as part of my Birthday present) today and am really happy with it. Having a back on it really helps as having something to support my back whilst spinning takes the strain off of my back and I also found I spun a bit more evenly.</p> <p>Over the next week I will post pictures of Windermere, Keswick and Whitehaven and also some pics of my latest skeins of handspun/hand-dyed fleece. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/03/woolfest-6646254/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>spinningleisurelifehobbieshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/08/03/woolfest-6646254/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/26/black-sheep-of-the-family-6594310/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-07-26:/2009/07/26/black-sheep-of-the-family-6594310/Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:11:27 +0200 <p>Why is it that in some families one of the children will always be the "black sheep" whether they deserve it or not???</p> <p>The past couple month has been a nightmare. Firstly there was the "death threat" answer machine message, then there was someone targetting my Etsy shop and leaving me not very nice messaages and then there was someone actually targetting me via this blog (again leaving nasty comments). All in all I had to work out whether I still wanted to continue with my Etsy shop and this blog. You will be glad to hear that I decided to continue and to not let the nasty people out there get there way.</p> <p>Once all of this was dealt with I ended up being the black sheep of my family (yet again). I have had to put some thought in how I was going to blog about this as my family didn't want me to mention it on my blog, SO.....I have decided to blog about it indirectly.</p> <p>Most of you will know that I have been trying for a baby since 1997 and have gone through numerous cycles of IUI, Clomid, BBT, various natural pills and potions and finally the 2 cycles of ICSI and of course not forgetting the ten miscarriages.</p> <p>All of this has left me having to avoid pregnant women and very young babies. I say HAVING TO as it is the only way I have learnt that I can stay reasonably sane and not end up a blubbering wreck in the middle of the supermarket. </p> <p>I find seeing pregnant women and young babies very upsetting, SO, when I see them I turn around quickly and walk the other way and generally due my best to avoid them. This works for me and after speaking to various other infertile women on <a href="http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk">Fertility Friends</a> I have realised that it is not just me that has this as their coping strategy..</p> <p>What has this got to do with your being the "black sheep of the family" I hear you say!!! Well...something has happened in my family which means I am going to be coming into contact with a young baby and this set my depression off in a drastic way...I basically had a small emotional breakdown...I tried to explain to my family how I cope with seeing babies and pregnant women and how I was not sure how I was going to cope with it...My honesty therefore labelled me as being stupid, uncaring, and basically being awkward.</p> <p>I have hardly spoken to my family since which has upset me drastically as I now feel like the only way I am going to be able to continue on an even keel (emotionally) is to stay clear and keep my distance as they clearly do not understand "infertility". They have stated that they are aware how much I want a child and should simply "adopt" (as if this is the answer). I was also told that I had not had ten miscarriages and they were just late periods (nearly two months late in a couple of instances). </p> <p>The conversation I had which all of this came out was over a fortnight ago and it is still affecting me as my depression has struck severely and I now feel alone (apart from hubby who was very understanding)and that my family obviously do not understand how devastating infertility can be.</p> <p>No matter what happens in my family it is "always" my fault, it has been like this since I was a child, it is always me being awkward, or spiteful, no matter what the situation is.</p> <p>As the situation now stands I feel like I need to keep my distance from my family, at least until I can get my depression dealt with as I don't have the physical or mental strength to cope with anymore arguments. </p> <p>I know that I am going to have to come to terms with having to see babies etc and I can't spend the rest of my life hiding from them, but at the moment it is something I just can't do and I really need to concentrate on keeping myself sane and building my mental and physical strength back up...</p> <p>All of this stress has had a detrimental effect on my health, for the past couple of weeks I have been getting terrible stabbing pains in my left side where my ribs are along with getting shortness of breath. This has been coming and going and I should really go and see my GP but trying to get an appointment is like mining for gold and to be honest I really can't be bothered telephoning my surgery every morning trying to get an appointment as they don't have pre-booked appointments anymore apparently and along with everyone else have to phone after 8.30am to get an appointment. </p> <p>As for now all I can do is concentrate on beating this depression again which is more difficult to do at the moment as yet again I have found out I am not pregnant and have to suffer with severe period pains alongside all the other aches and pains..... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/26/black-sheep-of-the-family-6594310/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lovehealthlifeinfertilityhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/26/black-sheep-of-the-family-6594310/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/17/people-who-leave-comments-6536504/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-07-17:/2009/07/17/people-who-leave-comments-6536504/Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:01:57 +0200 <p>The past couple of weeks I have noticed peopl leaving me not very nice comments and I always feel that "if you have nothing nice to say don't say it". I wish some people would think in this way when leaving comments.</p> <p>The latest comment was from someone who basically disagreed with my having IVF (see previous post). In my temper I went and replied to the comment and then proceeded to their website and left a nasty comment in their guestbook.</p> <p>The website was <a href="http://www.hiddenbible.com">. The person who left the comment also left an email address as <a href="mailto:pigs@poo.com.">pigs@poo.com.</a></p> <p>It now transpires that the owner of the website now denies leaving the comment, so I apologise to them and I have no objection to them deleting the comment I left.</p> <p>As I have no way of finding out who actually left the comment as they left false information in the contact boxes, I cannot do anything about it except delete the comments.</p> <p>I disagree with everything which is on the website whose address was left by the commenter but it is their right to believe and publish what they like and believe in (as long as they don't try pushing it down my throat like Jehovah Witnesses in my area).</p> <p>People can believe in whatever religious beliefs they want to as long as they don't try pushing it onto me, hence why I am against Jehovah Witnesses so much as they are a nuisance where I live and now I just don't answer the door to them.</p> <p>Anyway, I will not go on about this matter again and will be deleting the comment left in a few days (will just let you have a chance to read it first so that you may comment on it if you so wish) and again I apologise to the owner of the website....</a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/17/people-who-leave-comments-6536504/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lifereligionhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/17/people-who-leave-comments-6536504/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/07/nasty-evil-people-6468931/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-07-07:/2009/07/07/nasty-evil-people-6468931/Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:46:45 +0200 <p>This post is going to be all about the nasty and evil people whom are out there.</p> <p>Just over a fortnight ago I went to Woolfest up in Cumbria with hubby. We set off on the Friday lunchtime and came back on the Sunday evening. I will post photos in a couple of days, just need to alter the sizes of them as they are too big to post at the moment.</p> <p>We stayed up in Whitehaven and had a lovely meal on both evenings and had a wonderful time in Woolfest.</p> <p>Everything had been brilliant, even the heat didn't bother us too much. The problems began when we got back and I checked the phone calls which we had received since we had been away. </p> <p>There had only been one and we didn't recognise the number so went and checked whether they had left a message. They had so I listened to it. At this point I was devastated.....Someone had left a very nasty message saying "you're going to die in 7 days".....</p> <p>I telephoned the number which it had been left by to see whether I recognised the voice, but didn't so hung up. After speaking to hubby and my father we decided the best thing would be to telephone the police, just in case anything happened.</p> <p>The police were not really bothered and said someone would come out on the Tuesday afternoon (I telephoned them on the Sunday evening). I said this would alright as I still assumed that it was a hoax call.</p> <p>Hubby went off to work and I settled in bed to check my emails etc when at 11pm I received a telephone call from my mum informing me they had just been woken up by firemen banging on their front door. Apparently someone had telephoned the fire brigade telling them my parents house was on fire and there was a lot of smoke....There was NO fire.....</p> <p>My parents told the firemen about my phone message and they said they would contact the police to tell them about the hoax call. I decided it would be best if I telephoned the police again just to be on the safe side as I was home alone and was now beginning to feel scared...</p> <p>The nice lady from the police said she would send someone to see me straightaway as it was now going to be dealt with as a "death threat"...</p> <p>Shortly after a very nice policeman turned up and after listening to the phone message and hearing about my parents hoax fire brigade call he got onto the police station on his radio.</p> <p>For some reason whoever left the phone message for me had not witheld their telephone number, so the police were able to trace who made it. I did not know the gentleman whom the telephone number was registered too, so the policeman said he would go and visit the address and deal with it. He said that he didn't think he would get an answer as it was a well known drug-user who was well known to the police and was a renowned "walk in burglar" who was constantly in and out of prison...</p> <p>This did not exactly make me feel any better as most drug-users are very unpredictable so spent all week terrified and totally on edge. Finally on Thursday evening whilst I was out at my stitch'n'bitch the policeman called and told hubby that he had gotten hold of the person whom had made the call and it was kids (apparently) and they had made numerous telephone calls to other people around where I live. They also denied making the telephone call to the fire brigade (it was made from a phone box) so not to worry as they believed the two calls were not linked. </p> <p>I could not believe it, to me they were definitely linked as my number is ex-directory and it was too much of a coincidence for the two incidents to happen over the same weekend but there was absolutely nothing I could do.</p> <p>The 7th day which I was supposed to die on was Saturday so I was still terrified up until the end of Saturday. As you can tell I am still alive and nothing happened but I am still being very wary and security conscious (although hubby would say different as somehow I had left the passenger side window of my car open on Sunday afternoon and we only realised this afternoon. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem but we have had really heavy rain every night and the passenger side of my car was pretty flooded, including the back passenger side. Oh well, these things happen <img src="/img/smilies/graylaugh.gif" alt=":))" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p>On top of all of this the busybody whom left me the comment about reporting me to Interweave Press for selling the "Tilted Duster Cardigan" which I had knitted and then decided to sell as it is too big for me and I don't like it has reported me to another designer whom I was selling two pairs of socks which I had knitted too big for my small size 3 feet.</p> <p>The patterns for the socks were free patterns an I honestly did not think anything of selling them as I had taken the time to knit them and had bought the yarn for them, but the designer felt differently and I had not very nice messages on Etsy from her threatening to report me to Etsy and have my shop closed down if I did not remove them.</p> <p>I replied to her email telling her that it was just one pair of socks from each pattern which was knitted for myself but were too wide for my small feet and I was just selling them to recoup the cost of the yarn, also telling her that I was trying to raise some money to fund my IVF treatment as I had been trying for a baby for over 12 years and had over 10 miscarriages during this time. She was not happy and emailed me back telling me I was still selling them commercially and I had no right in selling them anyway.</p> <p>This woman is obviously not a christian and had had no problems having children or known anyone having problems having children. I could not believe how nasty and evil some people can be. </p> <p>I had thought of stating her name and website and finally decided not to as I did not want to give her any free advertising from this post, although she does not sell the patterns which I knitted and does not knit and sell the socks made from the patterns. The only details I am going to give is her Twitter name which is Sulaw and her ravelry name which is Susan. This woman is obviously a hard hearted woman who only cares for herself and God will judge her in his own time for the cruelness which she dealt me... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/07/nasty-evil-people-6468931/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisureknittinglifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/07/nasty-evil-people-6468931/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/04/copyright-on-patterns-6449398/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-07-04:/2009/07/04/copyright-on-patterns-6449398/Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:43:01 +0200 <p>This is going to be a short post as I have had one heck of a week (those of you on my Facebook and Ravelry friends will know all about it, for all others I will post about it next week).</p> <p>The reason I have decided to write a post on Copyright on Patterns is due to the fact that a busybody left me a comment which I duly deleted (as per my right since I own this blog).</p> <p>This busybody decided that it was their right to intefere in my business and report me to Interweave Press/Knitting Daily as I had knitted the "Tilted Duster" Cardigan and duly put it up for sale in my Etsy store.</p> <p>I am fully aware of the copyright issues involving knitting patterns and copying them or knitting the garments and then selling them for profit. As far as I am aware it is not illegal to have knitted the garment for yourself, duly finding out it is miles too big or that you don't actually like the fit and then selling it to recoup the cost of the yarn, as is the case on the "Tilted Duster Cardigan" in my Etsy store.</p> <p>There are a couple of garments in my Etsy store which were knitted for myself then duly realising that they do not fit correctly after many hours of hard work and I have decided to sell them purely to recoup the cost of the yarn. These garments are only ever knitted once (I only ever knit a pattern once as I get bored very easily) and therefore not sold for profit or knitted to sell. These garments may end up being placed in a charity shop, where they will be selling for profit (even though it will be for a good cause), so are the charity shops breaking the law!!! Perhaps I should just bin the garments!!!!</p> <p>This busybody obviously thinks I am doing something wrong as they stated they have reported me to Interweave Press/Knitting Daily and I am duly waiting for an email from them to which I will inform them that the garment was initially knitted for myself but as it did not fit I decided to sell it.</p> <p>What are your thoughts on this, should I simply bin the garments which I have made for myself and after hours and hours of work find they do not fit me correctly, or am I in the right to put them up to sell??</p> <p>One last final point I would like to make, I have never stated I have designed these garments, I have simply stated that they are hand-knitted by myself and I never knit multiple garments out of one pattern, either for myself or to sell (life is too short to re-knit a garment, hubby's ribbed jumper is the exception in this and was only re-knitted to prove my love for him). Also as you will tell from the prices I sell my hand-knitted items, they are so cheap as I just want to recoup the cost of the yarn used. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/04/copyright-on-patterns-6449398/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lifeleisureknittingetsyhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/07/04/copyright-on-patterns-6449398/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/22/a-peek-at-what-is-to-come-in-my-etsy-shop-6359026/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-06-21:/2009/06/22/a-peek-at-what-is-to-come-in-my-etsy-shop-6359026/Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:46:20 +0200 <p>Whilst I was going through the pictures on my camera I realised that I never posted the ribbed jumper which I knitted hubby twice!!! Yes you heard me correctly I had to knit it twice!!</p> <p>Those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning may remember that a couple of years ago I knitted this jumper for my hubby for Christmas. After spending hours and hours of work on it a couple of days before Christmas I finally finished it and popped it in the washing machine on a cool wool wash as per the yarn label. Disaster struck and the jumper stretched so that it would fit a giant.</p> <p>I was devastated and after numerous emails and letters to the yarn company, they finally sent me replacement yarn to reknit the jumper. As you can imagine it took me quite a while before I plucked up the courage to reknit it, and this is the outcome.<br> <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000801_copy/3618880" title="P1000801 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/880/3618880_d82465650e_s.jpg" alt="P1000801 copy"></a></p> <p>I thought I would let you see what I have up new in my Etsy shop, also what will be uploaded into my Etsy shop in the next couple of weeks.</p> <p>I know they are more cold weather items than warm weather, but here in the UK you can never tell what the weather is going to be like!!!</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000654_copy/3618879" title="P1000654 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/879/3618879_6dde4c3175_s.jpg" alt="P1000654 copy"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000826/3618881" title="P1000826"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/881/3618881_89cbf64ba2_s.jpg" alt="P1000826"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000834/3618882" title="P1000834"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/882/3618882_64adae2b51_s.jpg" alt="P1000834"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000860/3618883" title="P1000860"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/883/3618883_279df1f40d_s.jpg" alt="P1000860"></a></p> <p>I hope all you lucky dad's had a great Father's Day!!</p> <p>I hosted a barbecue for my father and hubby and of course my mum to celebrate Father's Day. As per usual, it rained and we ended up eating it inside. Why is it that whenever I plan a BBQ it always rains!!!!</p> <p>HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/22/a-peek-at-what-is-to-come-in-my-etsy-shop-6359026/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisureshoppingknittingetsyhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/22/a-peek-at-what-is-to-come-in-my-etsy-shop-6359026/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/14/life-6304358/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-06-14:/2009/06/14/life-6304358/Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:13:02 +0200 <p>Why is life so crap????????</p> <p>Yesterday morning my father came to see me all excited with the news that his nephew's wife had given birth to twins. He went on and one about how pleased he was for them and what great news it was, blah, blah, blah.</p> <p>All I could think was "BITCH", "why isn't it me". I know that I sound like the bitch here BUT they went through medicated donor IUI exactly the same time as I went through my last ICSI cycle. You guessed it their first try worked and my second try at ICSI did not. To make it worse they had only been trying for 18 months as they then found out they would need a donor. I on the other hand have been trying for 12 YEARS, had six cycles of medicated IUI, 6 cycles of Clomid, months and months and months of charting my BBT, used ovulation kits, even had a lap and dye test and not forgetting the 10 miscarriages and the 2 failed ICSI cycles.</p> <p>Life is just so unfair. This last ICSI cycle really hit me hard as I went into it before I had fully come to terms with the failure of the previous ICSI cycle and the miscarriage which proceeded it. Everyone else seems to have just forgotten that it is still just over a month ago that the cycle failed. I am due to start my periods any day and am going through major PMT at the moment.</p> <p>I of course had to say what great news it was and how pleased I am for them and act as if it was the best news in the world when all I wanted to do was curl up and cry. Of course I am pleased for them but it would really help if people had a bit more tact when they tell me these things and perhaps even thought how tough hearing news like that would be for me.</p> <p>As I am writing this I am breaking my heart crying as hubby and I have just had words on the phone as even he doesn't understand how bad these things are affecting me.</p> <p>I cannot imagine my growing old without children but at the moment I don't think I can cope with the tests which I have to go through. One of which is a biopsy of my uterine lining which is done whilst I am wide awake and without any pain medication. I also don't know if I can cope with keeping trying for a baby. </p> <p>I just don't know what to do anymore. I have told hubby how I feel and he has simply said that we will stop trying then, as if that answer is so easy. I don't know how I can live without a child and I also don't know how I am going to keep trying for a child. Catch 22.</p> <p>On top of all of this I have just had an email from a lady whom I have been machine knitting a cardigan for. She liked the pink lace cardigan in my Etsy store and asked me to knit it bigger. I have spent all week knitting this cardigan and invoiced her for the cost of the cardigan ($30), the cost of the postage and a fee of $20 to cover the cost of the wool and the hour spent re-working the pattern to her size. A grand total of $64 (£34ish). She had paid me through Paypal and then sent me the email stating that she was not happy having to pay the extra $20. I have replied back to her explaining that in total it should have cost in excess of $147 (£90) so she was getting it at more than half price and if she was not happy I would refund her and try and sell the cardigan in my Etsy store.</p> <p>So far I have not heard back from her.</p> <p>I have worked it out that I will have spent in excess of 15 hours work on the cardigan and been paid £20 for it. This makes it just over a pound an hour. Definitely below the mandatory hourly pay rate.........</p> <p>AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!</p> <p>Sorry, I feel better after that <img src="/img/smilies/graylaugh.gif" alt=":))" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Well, I will love you and leave you now that I have burdened you with my problems and will have to try and make up with hubby once he gets home from work. Just as well I am hardly going to see him this week as I have a feeling my PMT is going to be really bad and the best thing I can do is spend plenty of time on my own............. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/14/life-6304358/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>icsiivfcraftslovelifeinfertilityshoppingleisureknittinghealthhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/14/life-6304358/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/latest-knitting-order-and-other-goodies-6286657/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-06-12:/2009/06/12/latest-knitting-order-and-other-goodies-6286657/Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:27:35 +0200 <p>My latest knitting order is off a lady who likes the pink lace machine knitted cardigan which I have on Etsy in a larger size. I of course said it wouldn't be a problem....I was wrong.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/lace_cardigan/2160062" title="Lace Cardigan"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/062/2160062_6e33a2055c_s.jpg" alt="Lace Cardigan"></a></p> <p>I have cast it on a total of six times and every time I have had a problem and had to start all over again.</p> <p>The first time I cast on knitted 20 rows and then dropped a stitch and it ran all the way down to the bottom of the cardigan. With it being lace I had no chance of picking the stitch up.</p> <p>The second and third time the same thing happened. </p> <p>The fourth time I cast on knitted the first two rows of stocking stitch and then realised I was knitting the wrong size.....AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH</p> <p>The fifth time I cast on the correct number of stitches and as I was knitting the waste yarn it all fell off....I had of course ran out of waste yarn mid row and it fell off.</p> <p>The sixth time I was hoping was going to knit up okay as it was now Wednesday afternoon and I had promised the lady I would have the cardigan completed and in the post to her by Monday. I knitted the first 60 rows with no problems and left it for the night as I was feeling quite tired.</p> <p>This evening I thought I would knit to row 158 which is when I needed to change the stitch pattern. I was on row 120 when my knit carriage didn't seem to go across correctly, but all the stitches had been knitted to I continued.....this was a big mistake.....A couple of rows later I noticed that two of the stitches hadn't knitted off and had actually come off of the needles......Yes you guessed it the two stitches ran all the way down to the bottom of the cardigan.</p> <p>I couldn't believe it, it is now Thursday and I haven't managed to complete even the back yet, there is no way I am going to be able to complete the cardigan by Monday as I cannot work on the knitting machine for very long as my back and Pancreas begin to hurt, so the maximum time I can work on the machine is half an hour.</p> <p>I decided to leave the cardigan until tomorrow and will hopefully have peace and quiet to work on it as for some reason when hubby is in the room with me everything goes wrong. He is definitely a machine knitting jinx.</p> <p>This afternoon I decided it was perfect weather to wash a couple of the fleeces which I had gotten from my cousin last Christmas. Hubby was wandering around looking bored so I thought I would enlist his help.</p> <p>This was a good move on my part as usually I have to stand on tip-toes to wash them in the kitchen sink and even then have to stretch and wash the fleeces in very small amounts which taken me forever.</p> <p>In and hour and a half hubby and I managed to wash two of the fleeces. I skirted them (got the really dirty bits off) and hubby washed and rinsed them, I then took them outside to put them on the homemade rack which my father and hubby had constructed.</p> <p>I am looking forward to dyeing these fleeces over the weekend as I have purchased some dyes in gorgeous colours.</p> <p>I am dreading having to start this cardigan again tomorrow, so please keep your fingers crossed for me that seventh time is the charm!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/latest-knitting-order-and-other-goodies-6286657/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisureshoppingspinningknittinglifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/06/12/latest-knitting-order-and-other-goodies-6286657/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/machine-knitting-and-my-etsy-shop-6171324/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-05-25:/2009/05/25/machine-knitting-and-my-etsy-shop-6171324/Mon, 25 May 2009 01:22:12 +0200 <p>First of all I thought I would show you what I have been machine knitting over the past 6 months. </p> <p>The first is a baby shawl in a lovely baby blue. It didn't take long to machine knit, but....the fringing is something totally different...it took me hours.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/lace_baby_shawl/3535805" title="Lace Baby Shawl"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/805/3535805_7a68263981_s.jpg" alt="Lace Baby Shawl" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>The second is a cardigan which I made a couple of years ago and only found a short while ago. The picture does not do it justice as it is a very intricate pattern done on the garter carriage. </p> <p>The garter carriage is an accessory which you can get for the Brother Knitting Machine and it does the purl stitch on the right side which the knitting machine on it own is not capable of doing (unless you manually purl the stitch). </p> <p>The garter carriage chugs along across the row on its own and it takes an age to do one row. I am sure I could handknit a row by the time it goes across one row.</p> <p>The cardigan also has a zip which was the first time I had put a zip into a handmade knitted garment. It wasn't so difficult but I think next time I will try and use the sewing machine to stitch it in place as my handstitching leaves a lot to be desired.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/garter_carriage_cardigan/3535806" title="Garter Carriage Cardigan"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/806/3535806_8c7ce8a249_s.jpg" alt="Garter Carriage Cardigan" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>The shawl is already up in my Etsy shop and the cardigan will be up soon.</p> <p>For those of you who don't know I have have an Etsy shop in which I sell handknitted and machine knitted garments, beaded jewellery, beaded stitch markers and now some hand dyed roving all ready for spinning.</p> <p>You can find my shop either by clicking on the advert at the top left of this post or by going directly to <a href="http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com"></a></p> <p>Since I have had my Etsy shop I have not sold many things so thought I would ask you my dedicated readers what you would like to see in my shop. Would you like to see children's clothes, more dog coats, men's clothing???</p> <p>Please leave me a comment letting me know or email me at <a href="mailto:knitterscarlet@aol.com">knitterscarlet@aol.com</a></p> <p>I would dearly love to know as at the moment I feel like I am not making what people want to buy.</p> <p>I would also like to have your comments on how I can improve my Etsy shop.</p> <p>On that note I will leave you in peace and look forward to hearing all of your comments.</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_wave.gif" alt=":wave:" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/machine-knitting-and-my-etsy-shop-6171324/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>etsyeconomyknittingleisurelifeshoppinghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/25/machine-knitting-and-my-etsy-shop-6171324/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/19/the-icsi-cycle-failed-6138738/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-05-18:/2009/05/19/the-icsi-cycle-failed-6138738/Tue, 19 May 2009 00:08:09 +0200 <p>Firstly I would like to apologise for not posting on Friday. </p> <p>On Tuesday I began bleeding and by Fridy morning I knew for definite that the ICSI cycle had failed and my two little embryos had died.</p> <p>All the same I had to go through the Pregnancy Test which was of course negative.</p> <p>This news has really hit me hard and I am devastated. I have spent most of the time since Friday crying and trying to work out what I had done wrong. I can't work it out as I think I did everything possible to keep my little embryos safe inside of me.</p> <p>God can be so cruel and at the moment I don't believe there is a God as if there was one surely he wouldn't have put me through this heartache again.</p> <p>On the day of Embryo Transfer the doctor had said that if this cycle did not work then she would refer us to the Miscarriage Clinic. When hubby ran the hospital to tell them the cycle had failed and asked for us to be referred to the Miscarriage Clinic he was told that since my past miscarriages had not been confirmed by my GP then we could not be referred. This has hit me really hard as I was relying on the Clinic being able to tell me why I keep losing all of my babies.</p> <p>The best they could offer us was a follow up appointment with a Consultant to discuss my ICSI cycles.</p> <p>I am hoping that if he will not refer us then we can get an appointment to pay privately to see the Miscarriage Clinic. This will be the last hope I have to try and get pregnant.</p> <p>I really don't know where to go from here. I so desperately want a baby and to fall pregnant but fear that this is never going to happen and I don't think I could carry on without having a child. I feel that this is the reason I was put on Earth, I have felt like this since I can remember.</p> <p>As I am gong to need all the money I can earn to fund my next cycle of ICSI I am going to be offering a 10% discount up until the end of June on all items in my Etsy store which you can find at <a href="http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com"> <a href="http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com">http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com</a></a>. All you have to do is to purchase the item you want and before paying email me with the discount code "Tinkerbell" for an amended invoice.</p> <p>I will be putting up more goodies in my store over the next week or so, so please keep yours eyes peeled. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/19/the-icsi-cycle-failed-6138738/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ivficsiinfertilityhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/19/the-icsi-cycle-failed-6138738/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/11/friday-is-d-day-6093963/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-05-10:/2009/05/11/friday-is-d-day-6093963/Mon, 11 May 2009 00:36:02 +0200 <p>The saying "Infertility is like being on a rollercoaster" is definitely true, especially the two week wait.</p> <p>After going through infertility for nearly 12 years, numerous cycles of Clomid and IUI and now my second cycle of ICSI I feel I have the experience to totally agree with the saying.</p> <p>So far this cycle of ICSI has been quite straight forward, no real illnesses, not many side effects from the medication, even the egg retrieval went straight forward (the anaesthetic was plain sailing, no vomitting and severe pain this time round).</p> <p>Up until the egg retrieval it looked like we would have approx 20 follicles (10 on each side), but we were told that there were only 4 eggs. This was very worrying as last time we had 5 eggs and this time round I was on a higher dosage of Menopur. We weren't told whether these eggs were mature so I did not sleep that evening and was really glad when the embryologist telephoned me early on Friday morning.</p> <p>She had good news, out of the 4 eggs, 3 were mature and 2 had fertilized, which was better than last cycle as then we only had 1 which fertilized. The embryo transfer was arranged for the next morning, so we quickly arranged to stay in the hotel in Heswall, repacked the bag and set off.</p> <p>After a lovely meal we went back to the room and relaxed and had a reasonably early night. As I was still really nervous and worried in case the 2 embryos did not make it through the night I did not get much sleep. This was worsened as there appeared to be a stag do in the hotel and from 12:30am through till 4am lads were running around, shouting and slamming doors, oh and don't forget the cheering!!!!</p> <p>When we were checking out we mentioned this to the receptionist and as the hotel had a policy of refunding you if you do not get a good night's sleep we got our money back. </p> <p>So once we had breakfast we set off to the hospital. After waiting around for around half an hour we were called through to the transfer room and spoke to the embryologist. The 2 embryos had made it through the night and we had one 4 cell embryo and one 8 cell embryo. We were really surprised about the 8 cell embryo as last time it was a day 3 transfer and it was only 8 cells then and this time it was a day 2 transfer.</p> <p>The embryo transfer went really well, no pain and we tool a couple of pictures of our little embryos which I nicknamed "Tinker and Bell" (Tinkerbell).</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/embie_2009/3494171" title="embie 2009"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/171/3494171_498f727da0_s.jpg" alt="embie 2009" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/embies_2009/3494172" title="embies 2009"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/172/3494172_1ffc5455bc_s.jpg" alt="embies 2009" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I am now just over halfway through my two week wait and up until Friday was feeling reasonably positive as everything had gone so straight forward. For some reason since Friday night I have been having problems staying positive. </p> <p>I keep getting pains in my right ovary and in my cervix. I don't know whether these are good or bad signs and I am beginning to panic. This week is going to feel like a year and I can't wait until Friday so that I can test to see whether this has worked.</p> <p>I really hope it has as I don't know what I will do if it doesn't. I have bonded with these little embryos and speak to them on and off all day long urging them to hang in there and snuggle up for 9 months. I love these little embryos and to me they are my little babies all ready, I want both of them to make it and I would be the proudest mother of twins on earth.</p> <p>I don't want to lose anymore babies and say positive affirmations to myself whenever I feel negative. </p> <p>I deserve to be a mother.<br> I will be a good mother.<br> My babies are safe in my womb.<br> My babies are going to keep growing in my womb.<br> I am going to have a positive pregnancy test on Friday.</p> <p>I keep trying to envision a positive pregnancy test but everytime I get a picture of the digital pregnancy test in my head it say "not pregnant", so I really need to work on this to make it say "pregnant".</p> <p>If you pray then please pray for me that my little babies will stay with me as I desperately want them to keep growing.</p> <p>I will update you again once I have tested on Friday.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/11/friday-is-d-day-6093963/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>infertilityicsiivfhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/05/11/friday-is-d-day-6093963/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/17/infertility-update-5957852/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-04-17:/2009/04/17/infertility-update-5957852/Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:00:31 +0200 <p>Finally here is my Infertility Update.</p> <p>As you will know I am now in the middle of my second ICSI cycle.</p> <p>I thought this time would be easier as I knew what to expect, but no, it is just as difficult. The injections are more painful and I seem to be getting a lot more bruising on my stomach from them.</p> <p>The Buserelin hasn't really given me an upset stomach, but I think this has something to do with my taking a high dosage Calcium tablet everytime I eat.</p> <p>On Tuesday we went for my baseline scan and they were reasonably happy with how my uterus is looking. I was still spotting from my periods so they weren't too sure whether to wait until Saturday to start my Menopur injections, but after looking at the scan pictures a bit closure they decided that the bleeding was coming from around my cervix and not my uterine lining, so I had my instructions to start the injections today.</p> <p>They have upped the dosage of my Menopur to 375iu (5 ampules) and I was a bit concerned about how I would cope with the side effects.</p> <p>I can tell you that I had every reason to be worried as I had my first injection this evening and it made me really ill. I have had bad stomach cramping and my hot/cold flushes have hit with a vengeance. I also didn't manage to keep my tea down which hubby was not impressed with.</p> <p>In general I suppose this cycle isn't going too bad if you disregard the lack of sleep and the lack of appetite.</p> <p>I am constantly tired and just want to sleep and am hardly eating (to hubby's dismay). I just want to cry all of the time and feel so lonely and depressed. I know I am supposed to stay positive but it is getting really difficult to do. </p> <p>My immune system is low again and I am really worried about having a Pancreatitis attack as I have been getting Pancreas pains most nights since starting the Buserelin and don't know what to do to stop them as I cannot take my Co-codamol and can only take Paracetamol which doesn't do anything.</p> <p>I have to go back for my first stimulation scan on the 24th of April and I am hoping that the follicles will have grown better than last time so that we will have more embryos to put back which will mean a better chance of falling pregnant.</p> <p>I guess in the meantime all I can do is try to eat and sleep more and to try and stay positive.</p> <p>Wish me luck!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/17/infertility-update-5957852/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>infertilityhealthivficsihttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/17/infertility-update-5957852/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/11/swallow-falls-in-betws-y-coed-5924683/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-04-10:/2009/04/11/swallow-falls-in-betws-y-coed-5924683/Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:50:25 +0200 <p>On Monday it was hubby's birthday. As he was going to his Amateur Radio meeting in the evening I made us a nice meal and we agreed to go out for the day on the Tuesday.</p> <p>On Tuesday morning we set off early to go upto Swallow Falls by Betws Y Coed. It was a lovely day and we had a nice and relaxing drive up there.</p> <p>As you can see we took a lot of photos (and these are only the ones which made the shortlist). I hope you enjoy looking at them.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000728/3399036" title="P1000728"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/036/3399036_c241885ea3_s.jpg" alt="P1000728" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000729/3399037" title="P1000729"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/037/3399037_445d6c9c1d_s.jpg" alt="P1000729" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000730/3399038" title="P1000730"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/038/3399038_20f2c15900_s.jpg" alt="P1000730" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000734/3399039" title="P1000734"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/039/3399039_8316d82113_s.jpg" alt="P1000734" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000737/3399040" title="P1000737"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/040/3399040_7cf5548758_s.jpg" alt="P1000737" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000741/3399041" title="P1000741"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/041/3399041_fda5c4d9ec_s.jpg" alt="P1000741" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000743/3399042" title="P1000743"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/042/3399042_fdea96c075_s.jpg" alt="P1000743" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000744/3399043" title="P1000744"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/043/3399043_bfb6e5d070_s.jpg" alt="P1000744" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000745/3399044" title="P1000745"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/044/3399044_1f7078e10c_s.jpg" alt="P1000745" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000747/3399045" title="P1000747"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/045/3399045_a50f3e8f92_s.jpg" alt="P1000747" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000748/3399058" title="P1000748"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/058/3399058_441fe5690f_s.jpg" alt="P1000748" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000751/3399059" title="P1000751"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/059/3399059_1b890227ed_s.jpg" alt="P1000751" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000752/3399060" title="P1000752"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/060/3399060_b2bf14c76e_s.jpg" alt="P1000752" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000755/3399061" title="P1000755"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/061/3399061_88441b2070_s.jpg" alt="P1000755" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000756/3399062" title="P1000756"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/062/3399062_e223572367_s.jpg" alt="P1000756" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000757/3399063" title="P1000757"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/063/3399063_e3106b9151_s.jpg" alt="P1000757" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000758/3399065" title="P1000758"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/065/3399065_5e2f177bb4_s.jpg" alt="P1000758" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000759/3399068" title="P1000759"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/068/3399068_348ed26a4e_s.jpg" alt="P1000759" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000760/3399069" title="P1000760"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/069/3399069_c6e6691f63_s.jpg" alt="P1000760" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000763/3399070" title="P1000763"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/070/3399070_8e759f8b16_s.jpg" alt="P1000763" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000764/3399071" title="P1000764"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/071/3399071_0282652969_s.jpg" alt="P1000764" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000765/3399072" title="P1000765"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/072/3399072_36e59e43be_s.jpg" alt="P1000765" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000766/3399073" title="P1000766"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/073/3399073_d3764e5f13_s.jpg" alt="P1000766" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000767/3399074" title="P1000767"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/074/3399074_fa7e920363_s.jpg" alt="P1000767" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000768/3399077" title="P1000768"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/077/3399077_6b583905fb_s.jpg" alt="P1000768" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000769/3399078" title="P1000769"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/078/3399078_c7f669b4a5_s.jpg" alt="P1000769" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000770/3399079" title="P1000770"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/079/3399079_24e771ce50_s.jpg" alt="P1000770" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000771/3399080" title="P1000771"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/080/3399080_4873e89b13_s.jpg" alt="P1000771" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000773/3399081" title="P1000773"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/081/3399081_6eeca2e7fd_s.jpg" alt="P1000773" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000774/3399082" title="P1000774"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/082/3399082_b330e32162_s.jpg" alt="P1000774" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000775/3399083" title="P1000775"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/083/3399083_a59fe713a4_s.jpg" alt="P1000775" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>It was really beautiful watching the water and even the masses of people who swarmed around us didn't ruin the peace and tranquility.</p> <p>I would definitely recommend you going to visit it as it is truly something amazing to see.</p> <p>Once we got back to the car we set off on a mystery drive. It was a mystery as we had no idea where we wanted to go so just turned down roads which looked interesting.</p> <p>On the way back we did go through Ruthin, so we stopped at the Craft Centre. I was rather disappointed at this Craft Centre as there was nothing to see. There was a little gallery at the end which you could walk around and they sold some very expensive hand designed silver jewellery but apart from that there wasn't much. Most of the units were empty or closed, so it was a real shame.</p> <p>Finally we got back home and as it was late we decided to stop at the Thai Restaurant for a meal, but out luck had ran out as it was closed so we settled for an Indian takeaway from our favourite Restaurant.</p> <p>As the Thai was closed we agreed that we would go for a meal on the Wednesday, which we did along with my father. We had a really good time and my father also really enjoyed it (he didn't stop making us laugh all the way through).</p> <p>All in all it has been a long week and now I am really worn out. </p> <p>My hubby must be the only person on the planet who gets to celebrate his birthday for three days instead of the usual one. I hope he doesn't expect this every year!!!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/11/swallow-falls-in-betws-y-coed-5924683/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisuretravellifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/11/swallow-falls-in-betws-y-coed-5924683/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/05/thursday-s-fire-5896323/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-04-05:/2009/04/05/thursday-s-fire-5896323/Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:34:37 +0200 <p>On Thursday afternoon, just as I was sitting down with my friend for a catch up and cup of tea there was a knock on the door. When I answered it there was a friend of the family who lives down the road from me who was very flustered. It was at this point that I noticed there was a lot of smoke and ash floating around. </p> <p>You guessed it, he had come to inform me that there was a fire in our back field. I thanked him for coming to tell me and he assured me that the fire service had been called.</p> <p>Just to be on the safe side I decided to telephone the fire service myself to make sure that it had actually been reported and to let them know that it was bordering my property.</p> <p>As there wasn't much my friend and I could do we continued with our chat etc.</p> <p>Hubby went outside with the firemen and took some photos and periodically came in to update me.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000707/3384228" title="P1000707"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/228/3384228_7013b30dd5_s.jpg" alt="P1000707" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000709/3384229" title="P1000709"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/229/3384229_7ca545ee8b_s.jpg" alt="P1000709" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000710/3384237" title="P1000710"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/237/3384237_990c3a2b73_s.jpg" alt="P1000710" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000711/3384239" title="P1000711"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/239/3384239_52b364e35c_s.jpg" alt="P1000711" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000712/3384242" title="P1000712"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/242/3384242_2124fc747e_s.jpg" alt="P1000712" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000716/3384243" title="P1000716"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/243/3384243_4f67c8e488_s.jpg" alt="P1000716" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000718/3384244" title="P1000718"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/244/3384244_45cacd692d_s.jpg" alt="P1000718" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dsc01000/3384177" title="DSC01000"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/177/3384177_77032a9ce9_s.jpg" alt="DSC01000" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dsc01001/3384178" title="DSC01001"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/178/3384178_974c5a052e_s.jpg" alt="DSC01001" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000697/3384179" title="P1000697"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/179/3384179_bee419c825_s.jpg" alt="P1000697" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000698/3384180" title="P1000698"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/180/3384180_4092694d4b_s.jpg" alt="P1000698" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000699/3384181" title="P1000699"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/181/3384181_958e01091b_s.jpg" alt="P1000699" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000700/3384182" title="P1000700"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/182/3384182_6365854050_s.jpg" alt="P1000700" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000701/3384183" title="P1000701"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/183/3384183_1bc521e5cf_s.jpg" alt="P1000701" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000702/3384202" title="P1000702"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/202/3384202_767491252d_s.jpg" alt="P1000702" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000704/3384203" title="P1000704"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/203/3384203_f03ab1f126_s.jpg" alt="P1000704" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000705/3384204" title="P1000705"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/204/3384204_0cd6517eb6_s.jpg" alt="P1000705" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000706/3384205" title="P1000706"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/205/3384205_8a908e9a20_s.jpg" alt="P1000706" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>At one point the fire did get quite close ot the house and I got a bit worried, but when I saw the firemen standing around with cups of tea then I knew things were under control.</p> <p>It took the firemen over four hours to deal with the fire and appeared to be in control from the the moment they arrived.</p> <p>I am glad to tell you that no one was hurt and the smell of the smoke has now gone from inside the house, although the burnt patches in the field next to the house is a stark reminder of how bad it may have been. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/05/thursday-s-fire-5896323/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/04/05/thursday-s-fire-5896323/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/31/mother-s-day-5868611/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-03-31:/2009/03/31/mother-s-day-5868611/Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:31:35 +0200 <p>I had a lovely Mother's Day, thanks to my hubby.</p> <p>I had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers (which I was given on Saturday) and on Sunday I had a couple of lovely cards, one of which was from my beloved dogs.</p> <p>On Saturday evening he took me out to our local thai restaurant and had a lovely meal. </p> <p>As you can tell from the pictures we had a lovely time.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000619/3370374" title="P1000619"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/374/3370374_5364b25e12_s.jpg" alt="P1000619" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000620/3370375" title="P1000620"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/375/3370375_a8755f192d_s.jpg" alt="P1000620" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I couldn't resist having some pictures taken with my gorgeous flowers.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000621/3370376" title="P1000621"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/376/3370376_627e7d99d9_s.jpg" alt="P1000621" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>As you can tell even Dino got to enjoy them with me.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000622/3370377" title="P1000622"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/377/3370377_abffcbf551_s.jpg" alt="P1000622" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000623/3370378" title="P1000623"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/378/3370378_3b12784f2a_s.jpg" alt="P1000623" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000624/3370379" title="P1000624"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/379/3370379_2eecc12072_s.jpg" alt="P1000624" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>As you can tell Dino was worn out by the end of it all and was ready for his bed.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000629/3370380" title="P1000629"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/380/3370380_b928fb78fa_s.jpg" alt="P1000629" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000630/3370381" title="P1000630"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/381/3370381_0824cd3a3a_s.jpg" alt="P1000630" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>Too show I wasn't too drunk I even managed to get a quite "arty" picture of hubby enjoying the pink champagne.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000641/3370382" title="P1000641"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/382/3370382_3c090061f7_s.jpg" alt="P1000641" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know that my ICSI has begun. We picked up the meds last Thursday and started the injections on Thursday evening. I don't want to say too much about it all now as I would like to dedicate a post to it. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/31/mother-s-day-5868611/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisurelifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/31/mother-s-day-5868611/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/21/knitting-and-hypnosis-5799379/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-03-21:/2009/03/21/knitting-and-hypnosis-5799379/Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:00:19 +0100 <p>Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all my lovely readers who left supportive comments for me at the very difficult time I have been going through. I really appreciate all of your support and feel truly special in having such kind readers.</p> <p>Last month I took part in a study on how knitting whilst listening to a hypnosis mp3 can aid weight loss.</p> <p>Every day for a month I listened to an mp3 which had suggestions on getting you to eat healthier, drink more water and move around more. Whilst listening to the mp3 I knitted on a scarf which had an easy stitch pattern to memorise.</p> <p>I chose to knit the Yarn Harlot One Row Scarf first which was very easy and aided in my concentrating more on what was said in the mp3.</p> <p>Here is what my scarf ended up like.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/one_row_scarf/3338558" title="One Row Scarf"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/558/3338558_e9db0c35dc_s.jpg" alt="One Row Scarf" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>The second scarf which I completed was the Eton's Scarf and again it was a very easy stitch pattern to remember.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/eton_s_scarf/3338560" title="Eton"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/560/3338560_fbdb22dedd_s.jpg" alt="Eton" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>Unfortunately I did not lose any weight as I found out shortly after completing the study that I had been pregnant, but it did help relax me and I found I drank more water.</p> <p>If you want to find out more about hypnosis you can contact Kathryn Beck who organised the study via her website at <a href="http://www.imaginehealthandwellness.com/"></a>. </p> <p>Kathryn is a lovely lady and is from France but as you can download her mp3's to listen to the distance does not really matter. I would definitely recommend anyone interested in hypnosis to have a look at her website as she offers mp3's on a number of subjects including infertility and her prices are really reasonable. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/21/knitting-and-hypnosis-5799379/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>hypnosislifeknittinghealthhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/21/knitting-and-hypnosis-5799379/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/04/miscarriages-5695322/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-03-04:/2009/03/04/miscarriages-5695322/Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:06:05 +0100 <p>Today the worst thing that could happen happened to me, I had a miscarriage at nearly six weeks pregnant.</p> <p>The exciting news was supposed to be my announcing I was pregnant, but it was not meant to be.</p> <p>This morning I began bleeding and by teatime it was all over. </p> <p>The trademark pulling pains which feel like someone is trying to pull your uterus out of your cervix along with the cramping and then the final stage of passing the tiny grey foetal sac in a very large blood clot (sorry for being gross).</p> <p>I am devastated <img src="/img/smilies/icon_cry.gif" alt=":'(" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>I had been putting off the pregnancy test until tomorrow which for some reason had been the day we had decided was safe enough to actually have a positive test. Now I wish I had done it last week, at least I would have had some time to have enjoyed being pregnant instead of not being sure.</p> <p>All I can think now is what did I do wrong, was it all the walking I did on Saturday, was it because I processed and touched raw sheep's fleece, the what if's are endless.</p> <p>I have spent most of the days in tears and the other half being really snappy and disbelief. At the moment I just want to go to sleep and not wake up for a long time.</p> <p>Hubby spoke to Liverpool with regards to our next cycle of ICSI this afternoon. I am not sure whether I am going to be strong enough to go through the treatment but it is what hubby wants and we agreed that we would.</p> <p>It's not the treatment itself so much (although it is very gruelling) but the thought of it failing and having to go through this all over again. I know I should be positive but it is really difficult to do when I have just lost another baby. I had just started to get over losing my little "popcorn" in December. I have only just gotten the strength together to finish sewing the little bear together and he looks really cute sitting in my living room where I can see him every day.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/pppcorn_bear/3288431" title="Pppcorn Bear"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/431/3288431_166fd831c6_s.jpg" alt="Pppcorn Bear" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I feel empty inside again and it feels like a piece of me is missing. I just don't believe it has happened again and I don't understand why these little babies don't want to stay with me. Perhaps I don't deserve a baby, perhaps I am such a horrible person they don't want me to be their mummy.</p> <p>Last week I was constantly dreaming about a little girl with long strawberry blonde hair. She was lost and was crying and was covered in dirt but no matter how hard I tried to get to her to hold her and tell her it was okay I couldn't, she just seemed to get further and further away from me. Perhaps this dream was telling me what the outcome would always be. I now feel like no matter how hard I chase my little baby it will always be out of reach... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/04/miscarriages-5695322/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>infertilityknittinglovemiscarriagehealthlifehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/04/miscarriages-5695322/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/03/yaaayyyyyyyy-some-knitting-5682791/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-03-03:/2009/03/03/yaaayyyyyyyy-some-knitting-5682791/Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:52:07 +0100 <p>I have finally gotten round to finishing off some of my knitting projects and even took photos of them.</p> <p>I have been meaning to take the photos for weeks, but for some reason couldn't find the time to do it, but you will be glad to see that they are here for you to drool over.</p> <p>These socks were made out of Harry Potter's "Dumbledore" sock yarn and the pattern is "Horcrux" which for those of you who don't know Harry Potter is the fianl Hurcrux which is Harry Potter's scar.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000369_copy/3282895" title="P1000369 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/895/3282895_46efaa0b9e_s.jpg" alt="P1000369 copy" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>This shoulder shawl was made out of free yarn which I had from the "Yarn Forward" knitting magazine. The pattern was also free and it was a really quick knit and is very pretty.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000449_copy/3282896" title="P1000449 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/896/3282896_38804043ad_s.jpg" alt="P1000449 copy" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>This scarf was made out of some yarn from my stash and is again a free pattern from the "Yarn Forward" knitting magazine. It was originally made to put up in my Etsy shop, but my sister saw it and fell in love with it, so I sold it to her instead.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000453_copy/3282897" title="P1000453 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/897/3282897_826cfd47e2_s.jpg" alt="P1000453 copy" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>These socks did not really come out like I wanted them to. It was my fault really as I decided to try knitting them with some yarn from my stash which happened to be Double Knitting which was a bit too thick. My way of thinking was that they would make smaller socks, but for some reason they have come out too wide. I haven't quite decided whether to put them up for sale yet or whether to keep them for myself to wear around the house as I really love the heart pattern around the cuff.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000493_copy/3282898" title="P1000493 copy"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/898/3282898_07ab0afdbc_s.jpg" alt="P1000493 copy" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>The past month I have been twice to a new Stitch'n'Bitch knitting club half an hour's drive away. They are a lovely bunch of ladies and the only thing which is putting me off a little bit is that it is mostly crochet that they do and I don't really like crocheting, but I guess as they are a nice bunch I will keep going.</p> <p>The meeting is in a yarn shop and it is really difficult being surrounded by gorgeous yarn for two hours and so far I have been really good and have not succumbed to buying any. I can't promise to remain this good though, but I will try.</p> <p>Last week my Merino wool came from "White Lies Designs" in America. Joan who runs the company is brilliant and she hand-dyes the yarn herself to go with her patterns. I will take photos of the yarn next week and will unveil the pattern which I will be knitting up with it along with some other pictures of things I have knitted and hopefully some really good news....</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/03/yaaayyyyyyyy-some-knitting-5682791/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>leisureknittingshoppinghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/03/03/yaaayyyyyyyy-some-knitting-5682791/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/20/falling-down-the-stairs-and-valentine-s-day-5618028/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-02-20:/2009/02/20/falling-down-the-stairs-and-valentine-s-day-5618028/Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:33:55 +0100 <p>Last Friday morning I got up and whilst going down the stairs slipped half way and hurt my back quite badly. Hubby is blaming it on my wearing socks but I am blaming it on not feeling too well in the beginning. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_confused.gif" alt=":-/" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Anyway, the past week has been spent with my being in agony every time I move an inch. My back is a bit better but is still hurting and am getting the feeling every now and again of something moving in my back and a sharp pain at the same time. I am hoping it is just whatever got knocked when I fell is moving back into place but if it continues I will have to go to see the doctor.</p> <p>Last Saturday was Valentine's Day and I was given a lovely bouquet of flowers.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000473/3252425" title="P1000473"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/425/3252425_b824596603_s.jpg" alt="P1000473" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I was also given a bottle of Bollinger Champagne.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000475/3252426" title="P1000475"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/426/3252426_5b651c517c_s.jpg" alt="P1000475" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I was also taken out for a gorgeous meal and as you can tell from these pics I was the one drinking.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000477/3252427" title="P1000477"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/427/3252427_bd6ca2940c_s.jpg" alt="P1000477" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000483/3252428" title="P1000483"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/428/3252428_7f715d210e_s.jpg" alt="P1000483" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>We had loads of fun and I practiced some modelling poses during the meal, I thought my pouting was quite good.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000484/3252429" title="P1000484"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/429/3252429_c44a494826_s.jpg" alt="P1000484" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000485/3252430" title="P1000485"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/430/3252430_9dd7c2e68a_s.jpg" alt="P1000485" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/p1000488/3252431" title="P1000488"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/431/3252431_f7278b9fd6_s.jpg" alt="P1000488" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>By the time we got home my back was hurting again and after a quick back massage with some out of date Ibuprofen Gel drifted off into a peaceful sleep.</p> <p>The rest of the week has been spent with my lying on the couch and not doing much.</p> <p>Since hubby didn't get as much of a romantic weekend last week as we would have liked tomorrow night is going to be a takeaway and sharing the bottle of Champagne and this time I promise not to drink all of it myself. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/20/falling-down-the-stairs-and-valentine-s-day-5618028/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>loveleisureentertainmentlifehealthhttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/20/falling-down-the-stairs-and-valentine-s-day-5618028/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/13/spinning-update-5563544/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-02-13:/2009/02/13/spinning-update-5563544/Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:49:52 +0100 <p>The past couple of weeks I have been really busy washing and carding English Sheep Fleece. </p> <p>For some reason I thought it was a good idea to have bought 30 English Sheep Fleeces off of my cousin for a pound each. I thought I could resell them on Ebay and make some money, but once I saw the state of them and how poorly they had been shorn off of the sheep I realised that this was not going to be possible.</p> <p>The problem now is what do I do with all of the dirty, smelly fleeces which are in my father's garage.</p> <p>I had no option but to start washing them and sorting them out as once my IVF starts next month I will not be able to go near them due to the possibility of miscarriage if I fall pregnant.</p> <p>These fleeces are off no normal sheep, they are huge, smelly and filthy. These sheep certainly liked the dirt and mud.</p> <p>These two pictures show three of them drying on my patio.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/drying_fleece/3228846" title="Drying Fleece"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/846/3228846_5c60b2ded7_s.jpg" alt="Drying Fleece" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/drying_fleece_2/3228847" title="Drying Fleece 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/847/3228847_6df0f0437a_s.jpg" alt="Drying Fleece 2" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>One of the fleeces I decided to try dying with Kool Aid (a drink from the USA which you add water to). They came out quite well and I am looking forward to trying to spin it up.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/kool_aid_dyed_fleece/3228848" title="Kool Aid Dyed Fleece"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/848/3228848_08fa3fe632_s.jpg" alt="Kool Aid Dyed Fleece" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>As I am now inundated with fleeces to spin I have decided to try and sell some of the dyed tops in my Etsy shop. So far I have not sold any, but it is still early days and I am hoping to put some more up soon. Hopefully I will get good enough to try space-dying or even trying varigated dyeing.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dyed_welsh_ewe_fleece/3228849" title="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/849/3228849_37e896a5c5_s.jpg" alt="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dyed_welsh_ewe_fleece_2/3228850" title="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece 2"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/850/3228850_21b801bec2_s.jpg" alt="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece 2" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/dyed_welsh_ewe_fleece_3/3228851" title="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece 3"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/851/3228851_4673f26e18_s.jpg" alt="Dyed Welsh Ewe Fleece 3" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>Last Tuesday a lady I met on Ravelry came over to give me a spinning lesson.</p> <p>We spent a lovely couple of hours eating Victoria Sponge Cake, drinking tea and chatting. We even found some time to do some spinning on my Kromski Symphony Spinning Wheel.</p> <p>I was really pleased to be told that I am spinning correctly and was given some spinning tips. The one thing I was advised to do was to spin on a smaller ratio to try and get my yarn finer which is what I want. This was definitely a success and the other tips were to pre-draft the roving before spinning and to hold the roving further away from the orifice of the spinning wheel so that it gives you more time to draft the fleece before spinning.</p> <p>With all of this knowledge safely stored in my brain I spent the next day happily spinning and plying the last of my pink and cream fleece into skeins. On Wednesday evening I came down with a dreadful migraine so my spinning came to an abrupt halt.</p> <p>I am really pleased with the outcome, what do you think??</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/spun_welsh_ewe_yarn/3228852" title="Spun Welsh Ewe Yarn"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/852/3228852_81b660eb3e_s.jpg" alt="Spun Welsh Ewe Yarn" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I have decided to spin the Aqua colour Welsh Ewe Fleece next and have made a good start and have half a bobbin full already. </p> <p>With hubby being back at work tomorrow I am looking forward to doing lots more spinning as I really want to get the aqua fleece spun up and also the dark green spun up so that I do not feel so guilty when my IVF begins and I cannot spin my lovely fleece anymore.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/13/spinning-update-5563544/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>topsspinningdyingfleecerovinghttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/13/spinning-update-5563544/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/06/a-quick-reminder-about-valentine-s-5516851/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-02-06:/2009/02/06/a-quick-reminder-about-valentine-s-5516851/Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:44:10 +0100 <p>This is just a really quick post to remind you all about Valentine's Day which is again on the same date as every other year, the 14th of February which is a week Saturday.</p> <p>An extra mention to all you men out there who have a partner/wife/girlfriend/fiancee etc etc. Us girls love to receive Valentine gifts. The more the better and the more expensive looking the better. </p> <p>To ensure you get a table at that exquisite restaurant make sure you book it now, if not now the moment the restaurant opens as take it from me they book up really quickly. </p> <p>The same goes for the florist's, plan what flowers you are going to get now. If you're not sure go to <a href="http://www.interflora.co.uk"> Interflora </a>and have a look. I know it is customary to purchase a dozen red roses, but have you thought about some other rare flowers you can get or even the many different types of roses or even a mix of roses and orchids etc etc.</p> <p>Chocolates is also a good gift, none of those boxes of Milk Tray etc, try some lovely Thorntons or Belgium Chocolates, they look more expensive and if you get them wrapped up it will be a lot more appreciated.</p> <p>Another good gift is jewellery, if you want something really unusual which no-one else will have or be able to get then check out my store for some of the lovely necklaces which I sell. They are all one-offs as once that colour/style is gone, it is gone for good. You can find them at <a href="http://www.knitterscarlet.etsy.com"> Knitter Scarlet</a>. If you order a necklace before Tuesday then you will get a 10% discount, just email me before you pay and I will send you an amended invoice. (Hubby please note do not buy me one of my necklaces as I know how much they cost and where they come from, a lovely crucifix on the other hand would be nice <img src="/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif" alt=":DD" class="middle" border="0"> )</p> <p>As for THE card, the more verses and romantic the better. A woman loves all the verses and even my father doesn't go wrong without even wearing his glasses, he just looks for the card with the most verses in it.</p> <p>Now for you women, have you thought about some sexy silk underpants as a gift for your partner/husband/boyfriend/fiance etc. How about some lovely aftershave or if they have a sweet tooth some nice chocolates. A bottle of champagne or sparkling wine chilled for when you get back from your evening out with some nice smelling candles in the bedroom for some romantic lighting and some sexy underwear will definitely be appreciated. Stockings will be a must along with some high heels. Give them a lapdance or a striptease to finish Valentine's Day that they will never forget!!! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/06/a-quick-reminder-about-valentine-s-5516851/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>valentinelifeshoppingleisureentertainmentlovehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/02/06/a-quick-reminder-about-valentine-s-5516851/#commentshttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/01/31/knitting-daily-dvd-series-100-review-5479005/tag:knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk,2009-01-31:/2009/01/31/knitting-daily-dvd-series-100-review-5479005/Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:06:56 +0100 <p>As promised here is my review on the Knitting Daily DVD Series 100.</p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/knitting_daily_dvd_100/3190407" title="Knitting-Daily-DVD-100"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/407/3190407_09b78d0be6_s.jpg" alt="Knitting-Daily-DVD-100" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <p>I purchased this dvd set from America as it is not available here in the UK. It is $39.99 which is not bad in itself for 4 DVD's but.....The shipping is $30 and then when it gets here in the UK you will probably have to pay customs charges (I did), so it gets quite expensive. In saying this I thoroughly enjoyed it and am really glad I purchased it.</p> <p>The DVD's are NTSC so will only work on a stand along DVD player which will accept Region 1 DVD's. The good news is that if you are reading this then you obviously have a computer or laptop with a dvd player so you can watch it on that (I did).</p> <p>The DVD's are in 13 programmes and each programme is in 5 sections:</p> <p>Getting Started<br> Designer Spotlight<br> How To<br> You Asked It<br> Knit-Along</p> <p>They are hosted by Eunny Jang, Kim Werker, Liz Gipson and Shay Pendray. Each programme has various guests which is really interesting to see what they actually look and sound like.</p> <p>The 13 programmes are entitled:</p> <p>101 - Luxe and Luscious<br> 102 - The Sweater<br> 103 - Amazing Lace<br> 104 - Quick and Chunky<br> 105 - Cozy up at Home<br> 106 - Exploring Cables<br> 107 - Almost Edible<br> 108 - Special Occasions<br> 109 - On the Surface<br> 110 - All about Texture<br> 111 - Chase the Chill<br> 112 - Fabulous Felting<br> 113 - Oh-So-Fine</p> <p>All in all it is really interesting to watch and you learn lots of new techniques, tips and information. You also get links to free project patterns from the Knitting Daily TV website at <a href="http://www.knittingdailytv.com.">http://www.knittingdailytv.com.</a> </p> <p>I would definitely recommend you ordering this dvd set and I give it <strong>*</strong> (5 stars).</p> <p>You can go and buy the dvd's at <a href="http://www.interweave.com/knit/dvds/knitting-daily-tv-100/default.asp">http://www.interweave.com/knit/dvds/knitting-daily-tv-100/default.asp</a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/01/31/knitting-daily-dvd-series-100-review-5479005/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>shoppingknittingleisurehttp://knitterscarlet.blog.co.uk/2009/01/31/knitting-daily-dvd-series-100-review-5479005/#comments