Sunday 26 April 2015

Tired but progress made

I'm currently waiting on some blood test results to see why I'm so tired all the time - could be the thyroid problem back again, could be anaemia again, could be something else.  Whatever it is, I'm fed up with it cos trying to knit and sew when you're yawning your head off only leads to frogging the next day.

However I have pushed on through and made good progress this week.

 I got my mojo back after last Sunday's tinking session and motored on through to finish my first Hermione's Everyday Sock by Friday night and cast on the second one straight away.  The ribbing is all done and I am onto the leg of sock two.  I have checked with fellow knitters and the heel flap is inside out on sock one, but I know what I did wrong and will get it right on sock two.

I also got the whole of the middle section of the top border finished on Baby Express.  My intention is to do the next two sections of border and then to move back into the centre to stitch the engine, before finishing the border and doing the flowers and baby's name in the bottom section.

I've also made progress on littlest niece's headband, but need to measure it and do some calculations before moving on.

In other news, I went to Slimming World this week and discovered that I'd put on 1lb over two weeks, so am up to 11 stone 9lb.  Some work is needed on the healthy eating front to lose the necessary 2lb to get me back to target.  Unfortunately the tiredness doesn't help because I end up just eating what is quickest rather than what is healthiest.

All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.


Monday 20 April 2015

And life plods on ...

So do you want the good news or the bad news?

The bad news is that the dodgy part on the car can't be fixed, nor can it be replaced.  I can't have a new one cos they don't make them anymore (and besides it would cost about £1,000 plus) and I can't have a secondhand one cos these computer chip things are coded to the car!

The good news is that I finally have the car back (after a week and a half of walking to work and back) and it still works (for the time being).  So the plan is to carry on driving it and work on buying a new one before the MOT runs out on this one on 21 June.

On the crafty front, the bad news is that I didn't get my sock finished.  I did the first 9 rows of decreases and then decided to try it on.  Well, the final 10 rows of decreases was not going to be enough to cover the entire length of my big toe.  Sunday morning was spent tinking back all the previous 9 rows so that I could put in some more pattern repeats.  Unfortunately, after all that tinking, I lost my sock knitting mojo.  Just have to try again this week!

The good news is that I stitched the whole of the sun on Baby Express (except his eyes) and including the backstitch, and got started on the next section of border.  All the wretched French knots in this piece will get done at the end.


More good news in that I made progress on the first headband for littlest niece.  There is still a way to go and these needles are not good with the cotton DK, especially when doing the k3tog stitches.  I also managed to measure eldest niece's head at the right angle for a headband, so I do know what I'm aiming at as they are very similar sizes.

I was supposed to be going to Wonderwool Wales this coming weekend, but all of the problems with the car mean that I have put it off until next year.  And I am definitely going next year whatever happens!

Right, I'm tired and grouchy so am calling it a day.  All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.

Sunday 12 April 2015

Weird Weather Week

Sun, rain, sun, rain, wind - especially wind (and rain) today!  It really has been a trifle up and down this week.  And tomorrow?  Who knows?  I'm hoping for decent weather this week because my car is in the garage waiting for a part to be fixed down in London.  It went in on Wednesday morning, so there has been a lot of walking going on the back end of the week, and more to come this week.  If anyone else says that exercise is good for you, they are going to get a punch on the nose.  It just makes me tired and grumpy, and also makes my nose run.

However, despite the changeable weather, I do have progress to report.

Yesterday morning I cast off my Cabled Handwarmers, so now they need blocking and sewing up.  A close look will show you that somehow there is 1cm difference between the bottom rib sections on the two pieces.  I am not quite sure how this happened, but am hoping that no-one will notice when I'm wearing them.  I'm not calling this a finish until I can actually put them on.

Moving on to Baby Express, I have completed the whole of the next border section.  The intention for this coming week is to stitch the sun in this top right hand corner.

On Hermione's Socks, I've turned the heel, picked up and knitted the gusset and also knitted most of the foot.  I just need to compare it against one of my other hand knit socks to decide if I am ready to do the toe decreases.  It would be nice to get this sock completed this week.

And finally a new start!  Youngest niece will be 7 in June so I am knitting her a set of headbands in her favourite colours of lilac and violet.  This is supposed to be violet but the colour hasn't photographed well.  I'm knitting them in 100% cotton on 3.5 inch needles.  So this is the first couple of inches of the first headband.

In other news I went to Slimming World yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks.  Those 3 weeks include going on conference ("No calories on conference!") and family Easter Sunday lunch.  So the fact that I put on 0.5lb in that time is absolutely fine by me - I'm up to 11 stone 8lb, but still within my target limits.

All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.

Monday 6 April 2015

2015 WIPocalypse - April Full Moon

I didn't post last week because I had been away on a family history conference and the do on Saturday night coincided with the clocks changing, so what is normally a very late night became a very early morning.  By the time I got home again and got caught up with myself, I thought I might as well leave posting until this week because the conference week didn't produce much in the way of progress.  And yesterday was Easter Sunday, which meant a family get-together and late coming home, so here I am today.

This is what I have achieved over the last two weeks on Baby Express.  I have stitched the relevant section of the train tracks, but not back stitched them.  I have also done most of the last section of border, but need to fill in the white dots with a pale blue thread.  Baby will be two months old next week so I really need to crack on with this.

This picture shows that I am working on the heel flap of Hermione's Everyday Socks.  I'm reasonably convinced that I have made a mistake and done the heel flap the wrong side out, but never mind - let's call it a design feature.  I have actually done a lot more work on this sock today, but you will have to wait to see that.

And finally the Cabled Hand Warmers have made an appearance.  Since I got back from conference, I have done about four cable repeats on this piece.  I do need to measure it again, but I think that I am not far off finishing the cabled section.  I'll look good wearing alpaca hand warmers in the middle of summer :-)

In other news, I haven't been to Slimming World for two weeks.  Whether I get there this week will depend on the car situation as it needs some more work doing on it.

Back to work tomorrow, so here's all the best to you and yours and may the frog steer well clear of your needles.