Sod's Law (and other more positive events)

First the good stuff
1) Yaay, I posted my swap parcel yesterday and Danielle got it this morning. Bless, she's already blogged about it! I'm so glad you liked everything, I had great fun putting it together and knitting Kiki, hopefully when I pull my finger out, you'll get a pic here...

It was a freebie pattern that I found on Ravelry, you can see it here.

2) I met another new friend through Sock Madness, we've got a neat little barter system going where I send her Fox's Party Rings (in volume) and she's going to recieve some Knitpicks yarn and post it to me gratis! Oh, it got into a big conversation over on Ravelry about biccies, I haven't even bothered with them in a few years but I remember them well, particularly Cafe Noir!

3) I've now got 4 pairs of booties, 4 hats and 2 cardis to take to Skip North , so a goodly haul.
ditto picture...

These were knitted by a lovely lady in our knitting group. Aren't they sweet?

Now the not-so-good stuff
Anticipating the need for clean things, I loaded up the washing machine on Sunday...That began a week of marinating washing as the water would not exit the machine and my man who can couldn't as he was struck down with flu! His replacement arrived this afternoon and after emptying the drum (NOW I know how!!) and checking the pump, unearthed a penny and the pump worked again. A cheap callout, everyone was happy...except the week-long marinated washing was somewhat fragrant. Don't forget that both dirty and clean water had been swishing around the drum, nothing left it. So, After setting the machine to wash again, I went out to post American biccies, buy Mother's Day prezzies (another plus!), pet yarn etc. etc.

On my return, frustratingly, the washing machine was almost exactly as it was pre the substitute man-who-can had called, there was water in the drum AGAIN and it had to be got out manually AGAIN! Being mz DIY (not!) I proceeded to use my knowledge gleaned from the guy, undid the hose, bled out the water, tipped up the machine and tried the rubber bladder-y thing in case anything else was trapped...nothing. I couldn't get the clip back but as replacement man-who-can (or replacement of replacement, I'm not quite sure) will be arriving tomorrow to have another look, I've just saved him a bit of his job. At least I managed to get the door open, get the still fragrant (I'm not kidding!) washing out and spend the best part of an hour showering it in the bath to try and reduce the smell and wash out any powder residue. Then, it went in a box to the MIL's for a rinse and spin and finally it's drying on the rack...so we will have socks, just not much else!

SO, I'm left with a machine I can't trust, it works sometimes but not others and a need for clean clothes and a timescale...answer...fall on the generosity of relatives and friends! Hence, one washload will be at the Mil's, one or two will be done at Ma and Pa's when we celebrate both Bro's birthday and Mother's Day (UK). Another load will be done at my friends, she who also likes ironing to my undying gratitude ;) Anything needed for next weekend will have priority and I'll press the tumble dryer into action to cope with all the drying.

So, all in all, a busy time of it. And that's before it gets manic next week, something happening every day! I'll be going to Haworth for the rest! (and the yarn!).

On another posotive note (got to finish on one of them!), I've been stash diving ready for Sock Madness, the requirements list was posted his week so I've been choosing...

...These are a choice of laceweights which will be knitted 2 strands together. I'll be combining the top one (Knitpicks laceweight- vineyard heather) with one of the Posh Yarns below it, either Cecilia Cobweb or Eva laceweight depending on gauge I get on swatching.

And this is the selection I've pre-wound ready to choose from. There's Posh yarns, Colinette Jitterbug, Socks that Rock, Rowan 4ply and more. The excitement's definitely building!