FAB - Fanderson convention - TV21

On Saturday I took my eldest son to the Fanderson Convention at Bristol. This is a convention for all fans of Gerry Anderson. For those of you who are still in the dark, he is the creator of Thunderbirds, Supercar, Fireball XL5, Space 1999 and UFO to name a few. The convention took place over the weekend but we only went on the Saturday.

The photos are a bit blurred I am afraid. They were taken on the run. My son is autistic and we do everything at 100 miles an hour. He was so thrilled to be there because there were people that had worked on the original series. We also got to see Gerry Anderson himself, although we weren't allowed to ask for his autograph. They had models of various space ships and puppets but none of the main ones.

This is Sam Loover from Joe 90.

This is Parker from Thunderbirds

This is the cockpit from Thunderbirds. It is the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. But alas no puppets!

This is the Eagle transporter from Space 1999.

They had rooms with screenings of peoples favourite episodes. It certainly was an eye opener for me. The people running the convention were extremely friendly and it was well organised.

On the way back, while we were in Bristol, we had to stop at Get Knitted. It was almost compulsory. Although I couldn't hang around for very long, I had a lovely time. I squeezed loads yarns and looked at various pattern books and needles.

It was a lovely day out. I got to spend quality time with my eldest son, somewhere he really enjoyed going and where we were accepted.

Who won a competition

My son has won a competition for Sarah Jane's Adventures. He is going to London for the weekend to spend time with game designers and some of the Dr Who production team. How exciting! We are very proud of him.

Unfortunately it means that we cannot now go to the matinee showing of Dr Who Live in Cardiff on Saturday 30th October. I have three tickets. If anyone is interested let me know. The tickets could be yours.

I have now put them on ebay. Here is the listing.

Sock it to 'em

I don't know if I have ever mentioned the fact that I have three strapping sons and all of them love knitted socks. This, alone, would keep me busy knitting. As soon as I have finished one pair, another pair is needed.

In itself, it wouldn't be such a bad thing except that all of my sons have such large feet. They are sizes 17, 12 and 11 respectively. Yes, it is like knitting wind socks!

I try to keep a pair on the go all of time but sometimes, I don't really knit much of them. I should make a pact with myself to knit at least ten rounds of a sock a day but I know I am not that disciplined.

Here is my latest pair of finished socks in the largest size. I knit a very basic sock pattern but do them on 3mm needles instead of 2.5mm and extra rounds in the foot.

I try to use stripey yarn because it makes it a little more interesting. My eldest son only likes blue, my youngest likes really bright colours and my middle son just loves any that I knit him. Who could refuse to knit the socks when they are so well loved!!!

Button Love

I bought me some buttons.

I don't normally have a button stash and only buy them as and when necessary. I like to look for the buttons when I have finished the project. It is a treat for finishing!

I couldn't resist these buttons from a local supplier. The buttons are ceramic but I figured that if I was handwashing anyway, it wouldn't matter.

Look at these...

And these .....

And not to forget these .....

Do you have a button stash?

Wow it's October

Where did the last six weeks go. Sometimes, I think you get out of the habit of blogging and then lose a bit of confidence. But here I am. Starting again. Hopefully some of you are still around to read this.

I have been working on a test knit of the Garden Cardigan by Jennifer Thompson.

This cardigan was a pleasure to knit. The instructions were clear and straight forward. The photo is a pre-blocked one as the weather has been appalling. I hope that a lot of the irregular garter stitch will come out in blocking and the leaf pattern will be more apparent. I made this in Sublime Soya Cotton in Nettle which I bought in a sale at Get Knitted. I think, when I do this again, I will do it in a wool mix rather than in cotton. I think the stitches would be a lot more even (or am I kidding myself). I hope to post some more photos when I have blocked it.