Resumption of normal service

Until my brother in law phoned on Sunday morning and invited me to tea, I had every intention of posting my usual update.  However the chance to spend time with my nieces and not have to cook was something not to be missed.  So here we are, normal service to be resumed.

I said in my last post that the Delft pieces would have to go on hold while I concentrated on getting on with the Cat in order to hit my 1 August deadline, and so there is no picture to show you.  

The Cat however is showing progress despite another change of plan.  Instead of working across the bottom, I have now decided, having finished the bottom left hand corner including the backstitch (but not the pesky French knots which will be done last of all!), to work up the left hand side to the top. The dark bit sticking up at the top left is the beginning of the Cat's ear, so maybe it will look more like a cat in the not too distant future.  Now that the Delft is on hold, this piece is also getting attention at lunchtimes and in the evening as well as on Sunday mornings.  The only problem is the poor quality daylight that we are getting recently as it makes it more difficult to see the different colours on the chart and to gauge which hole the needle should be going through.  I do wish that this chilly grey rainy weather would go away and leave us some proper summer sunshine!

I also made some good progress on Carnation this week, having managed to get well into block 4, thanks to the way the colours were running.  This week should hopefully see the completion of a third row on page 2.



However there are a few complicating factors.  In addition to my regular Tuesday night Pilates session, Thursday night is Patchwork night (but I should get some work done on the Cat), Friday is the Great British Tea Party for Marie Curie and at night I am babysitting (possible/probable distraction of the TV - not having one at home, I tend to seize the opportunity when babysitting).  Then Sunday is both Fathers Day and littlest niece's birthday.  In addition to that, I have a funeral on Wednesday and have to make cakes for Friday, as well as taking the car to the garage again!  On the bright side, my colleagues are both back tomorrow and I will no longer be doing three people's jobs!  Well, I shall have to take each day at a time and it is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend again this weekend, so I shall sign up and see how it goes.