Late night, morning catch-up, evening activities

1. An unplanned late night yesterday when the rain became torrential and aimed downhill as quickly as possible... The neighbours all pulled together again, we put out sandbags and bailed out where we could, with the result that our houses were basically ok.  I spent a while mopping up the dribble of water coming in through our front door so that no real harm was done.  So my early night became 1:30am

2. I enjoy our Christmas Eve tradition at work of having a cooked breakfast together as a team.  And I was ready for it after last night's activities!  It was also nice to have a relatively relaxed morning before finishing at lunchtime; I need to keep my phone on while I'm off, just in case, but it's good to have some time off for a while.

3. My current (secret) knitting project is coming along well.  I've made a couple of mistakes that were just too difficult to correct, but only I would know they're there... I've enjoyed doing a slightly more complex scarf/shawl project this time and learned a bit about shaping and patterning - I hope the recipient will like it.

3b. I've painted my nails red :)  - because it's a Christmassy colour, and because I felt like it.  They're quite bright though!

Working it out

1. A slightly stroppy day (I just got out on the wrong side of bed I guess!) which I hope wasn't too obvious, but I was pleased to leave work on a positive conversation.

2. Making progress on the current BSJ, and I think I've worked out how to have a neater edge around the neck while still adjusting the shape.

3. A half day tomorrow... making up for extra hours worked last week.

Clearing out and making something new

1. It was light and (just) warm enough when I got home to do a little more gardening. Only half an hour or so, but it all helps.

2. A relaxed evening meal before a week (month?) of busyness.

3. Trying out a new knitting technique. It felt very clumsy at first, but I'm beginning to get the hang of it now. I'm not making anything fancy, so it doesn't matter that the tension's quite random.

3 (brief) beautiful things

1.  The days are getting longer.  It's been daylight when I arrive at work, and daylight when I leave.  What a difference!

2.  I finished a Bandana Cowl yesterday, after only a couple of evenings.  I'm pleased with how it's turned out and it all helps with the destashing.  I've also blocked my Chinook Scarf so I'm doing quite well for scarves in lovely yarn.

3.  I'm enjoying the latest Thursday Next book.  I'm about half way through at the moment and looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Weekend highlights

Friday:
- I left work with the feeling of a good job done. It's been a busy week but with a fair bit of progress and without stress.
- Pizza with a friend. We knitted and chatted.

Saturday:
- lots of washing done
- lots of extra clothes sorted to get rid of
- lunch with a friend
- knitting while I watched a film on tv, with a wee dram of Glenkinchie to seal the day (Christmas present from 2 or 3 years ago)

Sunday:
- good company at church
- browsing patterns to destash my yarn mountain
- A came home from a weekend adventure with his brother
- a long chat on the phone with my friend. We compared notes on sorting out our houses.

Almost ready

Things are coming together...
- the scarf has been blocked, photographed, wrapped and given
- we made some granola for a breakfast hamper Christmas present. It tastes great.
- we've got the essential parts of Christmas dinner.
- half day tomorrow, Christmas lunch, then I'm off until the 2nd.

Almost there...

I hope I manage a bit more blogging now!

It's been an interesting evening...

1.  I've baked a marbled chocolate cake for my mother-in-law's birthday tea tomorrow.  I thought it was quite full in the baking tin when I filled it, but hoped I'd just about get away with it.  Not quite...

At least it tastes better than it looks!  I'll try to ice it tomorrow before tea, so maybe that will help.


2.  We heard an odd noise near our front door while watching tv.  When A went to look outside, he found that the bit of rendering which was bulging has finally fallen off.  At least no-one was there at the time.


3.  I was knitting the Red Leafy Scarf which I'm knitting as a Christmas present for my MIL, and feeling quite pleased that it's getting close to the point where I can start on the 2nd half.  Then I noticed I'd added a stitch a few rows back, so I've ripped back almost as much as I knitted (and there are still a couple more rows to unpick).  Ho hum!

Refreshed, relaxing together, restored

1. A short lie down when I got home (after sorting the dishes out) and I felt refreshed and ready to go again.

2. An evening with A's parents: homemade shepherd's pie was a treat for autumn, and I made some progress on the Any Yarn Scarf as we chatted.

3. He ran me a bath when we got home, and I enjoyed soaking in the bubbles. A chilled glass of white was an extra treat!

Catching up

1. We've had two visitors from our sister mill for a couple of days; it's been good to spend time sharing thoughts.

2. I knitted about 22 rows of the red leafy scarf while at triplet this evening: that's probably about 2"...

3. A was still up when I got home. It feels surprisingly strange to have a few minutes to catch up after 2 busy days.

Some happenings from the last week

Monday:
jet-lagged!

Tuesday:
a takeaway and board game with good friends - a fun girls' night

Wednesday:
forgot what evening it was, and was surprised when two children rang the doorbell.  Thankfully I'd thought ahead and had some wee chocolate treats ready to offer...

Thursday:
housegroup at our house.  I was feeling so tired beforehand, but picked up when everyone arrived and was lifted by our evening together.

Friday:
our friends arrived for the weekend, after a long drive south.  The house began to fill with fun and laughter.

Saturday:
We explored the Keswick Pencil Museum, bought some (more) yarn and visited Whinlatter for afternoon tea and a play in the adventure playground once the rain/sleet/hail had stopped.  We returned home to the welcoming smell of a slow-cooked beef stew, baked a lemon drizzle cake and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday:
tired!  not from visitors so much as too little sleep though...  It's been lovely to see them and get to know the children a bit better.  We're already planning our next meet-up.
I've cast on my next moebius scarf while watching the F1- this time for Grandma's Christmas present.  I found some soft sock-yarn last Saturday in just her colours, so I hope she'll like it.

Progress: at work, exercising, and knitted

1. Interesting discussions during this morning's meeting; although that did mean we over-ran by an hour and a half!

2. Pilates was hard work but much better than last week. I like the weeks when I see an improvement in what I can do.

3. The crocodile scarf is growing again after I ripped it back at the weekend. I've added about 32 rows without shaping so I hope it will be a more sensible length now. If I do another I can always make it longer for the older boys...

Shopping, lunching, relaxing

1. A clear, sunny Saturday - perfect for a trip to the shops for bits and pieces we need. We were shopping for a couple of birthday presents, and found some nice ideas.

2. Lunch at Cafe West. I enjoyed my jacket potato (I'm possibly addicted to jacket spuds) and A had the Soup with Wigg (a bread roll made with caraway seeds).

3. A very lazy rest-of-the-day. I've been feeling quite tired lately so took the chance to be very lazy.
Although I did manage to get two loads washed and almost dried outside, and knitted most of a crocodile scarf...

I'm going to have to rip back about a third of the scarf though: it's nice, but the pattern isn't long enough even for the wee boys I'm planning it for. Tomorrow I'll go back to lengthen the middle section - good job it's chunky yarn!

Getting ready, inspiration, new techniques

1.  I feel I'm making some progress with my to-do list at work at last... just as well when I'm going to be on holiday next week :o)

2.  I bought a couple of books with my birthday money, and they arrived today.  One in particular looks fab:
The Knitter's Life List.  Full of interesting ideas and inspiration about knitting-related things and much bigger than I'd expected.  I'm looking forward to browsing through the lovely pictures and ideas.

3.  The Snug baby jacket is growing nicely.  I'm half-way through the 2nd sleeve which means it's now a recognisable jacket.  I'm enjoying the almost seamless design and looking forward to the next stage - picking up the front stitches and casting on for the hood.

Baptism, catching up and lots of garter stitch

1. It was my nearly-5-year-old godson's baptism today: a happy day. He didn't like getting water on his face but didn't complain. I was very proud of him.

2. We took a walk around the harbour in the afternoon. I appreciated the fresh air, and the chance to discuss a couple of worries. The relaxing was topped off by catching up on an episode of The Great British Bake Off: a feel-good treat.

3. I started my latest knitting project, which I've made myself wait for until the previous project was finished (last night). I've made a lot of progress today (all of the back and part of the front) and I can't say I'm too sorry to have completed the many rows of straight garter stitch. The more interesting bit starts tomorrow (removing the waste yarn to pick up the sleeves!)

A holiday reminder

I bought a couple of balls of wool in Kirkwall while we were there: A local Aran-weight yarn in a silver-grey. Ever since, I've been trying to decide what to make from it.

The make had to be for me (the souvenir aspect of the yarn would be lost on anyone else) and probably a circular scarf, since that was what I originally had in mind when I bought it.

Yesterday I cast on. I've chosen another moebius scarf, this time slightly shorter and chunkier, with a simple lace effect for interest.

I'm already about half-way! I'm amazed at how quickly it's progressing, although perhaps I shouldn't be since I watched most of the Paralympics opening ceremony while I knitted last night...

What a show!

surreal, funny, touching, very British, with a stunning finish

- James Bond escorted the Queen by helicopter to the stadium, so that "she" could parachute in
- Mr Bean playing the bass note for Chariots of Fire
- "Abide with me" sung in memory of the 7/7 victims
- Good music
- the Olympic Flame transferred to hundreds of copper petals to make a dramatic cauldron

And even though I'm not in a team for the Ravellenic Games I still cast on for my next project. All garter stitch, so I don't need to concentrate, and portable for the travelling I'll be doing in August.

The knitting's done...

...but lots of sewing to do! (and then some more knitting for the edging)

It feels good to have knitted the twentieth square:

Still knitting

1.5 squares left to knit... and 1 to partially unknit to fix my earlier laziness. Fifteen squares are now blocking, ready for the big sew-up next week.

The big question is: which design to use for square number 20?

Too busy knitting to blog!

I had a brainwave on the way home from our anniversary holiday. Why not finish the silver/grey blanket squares into a wedding present for my brother? It could be a picnic blanket, throw or something to snuggle under in the evening on the patio. And it's more personal than something shop-bought.

A great idea... if I'd only thought of it earlier! I counted the completed squares when I got home: 7 (I'd hoped it was 9 or 10). But still do-able if I crack on.

So far (9 days later) I've completed 18 1/2 blocks out of the 20 needed, although I've still to unravel part of one to fix a weak spot. I've got about 3 weeks left, so all my "spare" time will be knitting, blocking, sewing and binding.

I'm enjoying the challenge, and I think it should look good when it's complete. My wrists might be happy when I finish the knitting part though...

Mist, a near-miss and the end's in sight

1. The mist was swirling around the house as I Ieft this morning, and was still there in the evening. Very atmospheric.

2. The phone rang at 5 to 5, just as I'd switched off my computer. I answered it... and only needed to take a message. I clocked out just before 5 :o)

3. I've almost reached the end of the straight section on my Clapotis scarf.  I'm pleased that it's grown so quickly (scarves usually take ridiculous amounts of time for what they are) and I'm looking forward to wearing it.