Tea & Possibilities Episode 48: Neverending Sock

INTRODUCTION

You can find me on Instagram and Ravelry. We also have a Ravelry group!

Today’s tea is honey, ginger and lemon - I've got a terrible sore throat and I hope it's just my hayfever and not a summer cold! We have a tea recommendation thread on the Ravelry group, if you're looking for something new to try.

WIP'D UP

I have a FO!
Christmas Colourwork
Pattern: Selbu Mittens by Skeindeer Knits
Yarn: The Knitting Swede Spartan DK in London Fog and Samarkand

I'm SO happy with how these turned out - blocking works like magic! I forgot to mention that the lovely Dianna Walla gave me some tips. She spotted that my floats were twisted together and recommended that next time I don't pass them underneath each other every time - this is what was causing the yarns to twist around each other.

I have Finullgarn and the pattern to make Ysolda's Milet mittens, which I'm now super excited about.

Just a couple of WIPs this week:

Rich's Vanilla Socks
Pattern: How to Knit Socks by Meanwhile at the Castle

Yarn: Regia Arne & Carlos Pairfect in Aalhus (9092)

Once these are finished, I'll be casting on Rich's birthday socks in West Yorkshire Spinners in one of their Country Bird colourways - Mallard.

1st Birthday Booties
Pattern: Watermelon Booties by Olivia Kent (Hopeful Honey)

Yarn: Paintbox Cotton DK in Slate Green, Champagne White and Lipstick Pink


I might have to frog these - unless someone can recommend a photo-blog or video on crocheting booties?

I've had a few knitty excursions over the past couple of weeks so I have some goodies to share!

I spent the day with Rachel of Crafty Historian and we visited Wild & Woolly, Knit With Attitude and Sew Over It.

I picked up some West Yorkshire Spinners Christmas yarn at Wild & Woolly, in the Holly Berry colourway, as well as some Cayenne Pepper for festive heels and toes (also handy in case I do run out of the red on Rich's socks!).

At Knit With Attitude, I bought the JK Rowling Craftivists Changemaker card. I'm going to pop back and pick up Malala Yousafzai and I'll frame them both for our gallery wall.

I didn't get anything in Sew Over It, but it was a lovely place to browse!

This weekend (the day before I filmed) I went to Fibre East with Amy of Stranded , Katie of Inside Number 23 and Eli of Skeindeer Knits.

I had such a lovely day with my lovely friends and I bought some treats too!

A notions bag and beans on toast progress keeper from Jibbyroo Sews
A beautiful rainbow skein from Felt Fusion
More Christmas yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners, this time in Candy Cane (oh dear, sensing a theme here...)
A beautiful project bag - which I now know is from Wool Mouse!

Amy also delivered my Tits Out Stranded skein, which makes me super happy! Find out more about the Tits Out Collective on the Countess Ablaze website.

I made a list of things to buy later including a skein of the Midnight Sea by Third Vault Yarns; several skeins from The Wool Barn for a potential Vertices Unite; and some favourite Triskelion Yarns colourways for a future Sweater Quality.

Phew! More stash than knitting this week! Must try harder!

KNIT & NATTER

TRIGGER WARNING
I'm going to talk about some women's health issues I've been having over the last few months and if this is something you and or a loved one is experiencing at the moment, you might want to skip this section.

Please also see a GP if you have any worries at all! 

I've mentioned that life has been busy lately - and it has! New job, extra jobs, a new training schedule and lots of socialising. It all saps the knitting time.

But there has been something else going on that I didn't want to talk about at the time because I was far too in it. Now that I have some definite answers, I wanted to share my story in the hope that it will inspire you to understand your normal and get checked as soon as you notice something is wrong.

I went to the GP after a couple of irregular periods expecting to be told that it was due to coming off the pill. Instead I was sent for various tests that all came back clear with the exception of a scan which found a cyst.

I was referred to a gynaecologist who said that I'd need to have it removed, I could lose my ovary and that we'd need to find out if it was malignant.

Cue gut clenching fear. I was convinced something terrible was wrong with me. I then had to have an MRI which was awful as I'm quite claustrophobic.

I'm super happy to say that I've since had the all clear. My cyst is not malignant, but it does need to be removed. I was really lucky to catch it as I only had two irregular periods and if I hadn't been tracking closely, I might not have noticed.

Take care of yourself and I'll see you soon for another cup of tea,