It rained on Midsummer Eve, it rained on Midsummer Day and it rained again today! If anyone mentions the word "drought" to me any time soon, I may do them a mischief. I know I go on about the weather a fair bit, but when there is a seasonal element to your relationship with the Black Dog, a soggy summer is not very beneficial to your state of mind. I could quite happily ship all this rain to California, where it would be properly appreciated!
On a lighter, brighter note I have a finish and two starts to report.
The two headbands for littlest niece were finish finished the day before her birthday. When she opened her present, she put the first one (with the flower) on her own head and the second one (the lace one) on her sister's head. So I'm counting that one as a success. And my Mum really likes the leaves!
However, having finished Hermione's Socks last week and then the headbands, I had nothing left to knit. I still need to finish finish my handwarmers, but I had nothing on the needles, which made me very fidgety (addicted much?). So this weekend I started two new projects.
The first new project was my first pair of toe-up socks. As it is just over 3 months since I did the workshop on these, I had some problems with the cast on. My attempts at the Turkish cast on resulted in holey toes and my attempts at Judy's Magic Cast On resulted in bad language as I kept dropping needles and getting nowhere. So I went back to the yarn shop where I did the workshop and got the owner to show me how to do it again. And lo and behold we have a toe!
My second new project is "Hitchhiker" by Martina Behm. I have been waiting to start this shawlette for quite a while now. I bought the pattern on New Year's Eve but have only now found myself in a position to put yarn and needles together. It's called Hitchhiker because when finished, it will have 42 points. I'm using a lace weight yarn instead of the sock yarn it was designed with, so my shawlette will end up somewhat lighter weight. The pattern is nice and easy and I'm enjoying the process as well as looking forward to wearing the product.
And finally Baby Express. I think I've made some good progress on this since you last saw it and when the back stitching is all done, it is going to look very nice indeed.
I think that's everything for this post - I don't have any other news to tell you. So all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles!
It threw it down at the weekend, absolutely threw it down. Why am I having to wear serious wet weather gear in the middle of June? And it meant that our family barbecue on Saturday had to take place indoors, so not so much fun for the kids. Anyway, sorry this is a bit late but we had family visiting this last weekend, which was great. Baby snuggles with my cousin's 4 month old who we had only seen in photos before now - a lovely little boy who was very laid back about being cuddled by complete strangers. And she keeps the mittens and booties I knitted when he was born in the change bag!
Anyway, progress has been made. I have a finish and a part finish to report.
The finish is Hermione's Socks. I grafted the toe of the second sock and tidied up the cuff on Saturday morning. So I now have three pairs of hand knitted socks. The next pair will be toe-up socks, but I need to get my part finish completely finished first before I cast on.
The part finish was the first of the two headbands that I am knitting for littlest niece's birthday. Having blocked it to get the lace pattern to show better, I wove in the ends and sewed on the buttons. Job done! The second headband needs grafting together and the leaves and flower stitching on. The deadline is tomorrow night cos the birthday is Wednesday.
And finally Baby Express - having now met the baby it is for, I really want to get this finished. The engine is coming on nicely and I reckon I'm more than halfway there with this piece.
I didn't go to Slimming World this week because it was Patchwork Group, so nothing to report there.
I could really do with a good night's sleep, so I will love you and leave you, wishing all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your needles.
It's hard to believe that it is June already - where is the year going? At least the weather seems to be slowly coming to terms with the fact that it is supposed to be summer, so that's a plus!
If you look carefully at the left hand side, you can just see the first elements of the engine coming into being. I have also started to back stitch the track in that area. Plus next weekend I get to meet the future recipient. My cousin and her family are coming up next weekend so I'm looking forward to snuggling the little one.
I still haven't quite finished the second headband for littlest niece, but I have knitted a flower to go on it. I'm now wondering about a second leaf or a second flower and a second leaf. However I have less than 10 days left before her birthday so really need to crack on with this one and get the other one blocked and buttons sewn on.
And the end is in sight on Hermione's socks. I finished the last repeat on the foot today, so with a little luck I may be showing off a finished pair of socks in my next post. And then I will be casting on my first toe-up pair (if I can remember how to do the cast on I was taught at the workshop).
In other news, I have a new car! Things haven't gone quite as smoothly as I would have liked, but I now have a 58 plate Citroen C3, which drives very nicely, thank you. All I have to do now is pay off the credit card :-(
I also went to Slimming World this week and have lost 2lb, bringing me back down to 11 stone 8lb. And today I did the Race for Life to raise money for cancer research. I took my stopwatch and am pleased to say that I managed to walk 5km without stopping in 41 minutes 39 seconds, including the traditional sprint finish. If any of you have either done or are going to do the Race for Life this year, I wish you all the very best - major Brownie points!
Back to work tomorrow, so all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
I haven't blogged for a while, but hopefully normal service will now resume.
I have been away! I have actually been on holiday on a plane for the first time in over a decade. I went to Jersey with a friend and had a fabulous time. Admittedly from where I live, the flight was just up and then down again, but all the same it was nice to fly again.
We went to Durrell (Jersey Zoo as was), Mont Orgueil Castle, Elizabeth Castle, Jersey War Tunnels, the Glass Church, the Maritime Museum and Corbiere Lighthouse. We walked several sections of the coast and also from St Aubin to Corbiere (along a disused railway track). All in all, we had a really great time.
This is a view from Elizabeth Castle across the bay to St Aubin. The sea was that lovely greeny blue colour everywhere we went on the coast.
The consequence to all this is not a lot of progress to show on my knitting and stitching.
The morning of the day I went away, much to my chagrin, I discovered that I had miscounted the railway track a second time and it would have to be frogged. So I left it behind to be dealt with on my return, which I duly did. There has therefore been a limited amount of progress on Baby Express.
The actual headband of Headband 2 is currently on hold until I can secretly measure it round eldest niece's head to see how much more I need to knit. I have however knitted a leaf to be stitched onto the headband in due course. This did not come on holiday with me either.
Although Hermione's Socks did come on holiday, once again progress was limited. It was a bit difficult to knit while walking up and down cliff paths, so knitting only really happened while we were resting after each day's adventures before going out for our evening meal. However the decreases are all done and I am slowly working my way down the foot.
In other news, I went to Slimming World this week and have put on 1lb in the last five weeks, so am now 11 stone 10lb. I need to either lose weight or maintain this week or I will be out of my target zone. I have also spent some time this weekend hunting for a new car - positive thoughts would be much appreciated.
All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your needles.
Apologies for the delay in posting this. Somehow my work computer managed to catch a virus on Friday, which was a bit scary, and put me off going on-line at home for a few days. However I did take WIP photos so here is a catch-up.
The top border of Baby Express is now complete and since this photo was taken, work has begun on the side border. The baby is coming up to three months old and I really need to make better progress on this.
There has been progress on this headband, but not enough to be very obvious. This is another piece where I need to crack on, especially if I am going to knit a second one before mid-June.
And finally I am working my way down the leg of Hermione's second sock. I've got the pattern firmly in my head, so I just need to knit, knit and knit.
Saturday was Love Your Local Yarn Shop Day so I spent most of the afternoon and evening in my LYS. I also bought yarn which will at some point become a project and make itself known on this blog.
In other news, my blood tests came back "normal" so why am I still so tired? And cold - I wish the weather would sort itself out - you never know what to wear because it never stays the same longer than five minutes. Also I am so looking forward to the General Election being over - if one more person puts political junk mail through my door or knocks on it wanting to know how I'm planning to vote, there may well be trouble!
Anyway, all the best to you and yours, may the frog steer well clear of your needles, and may the sun shine on you every day.
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.
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.
