restarting

1. The clearout continues... we took some more junk to the skip on Sunday (this time from the garage) and the brown bin is full of branches.
2. My own sorting-out has started too... I'm trying to relearn how much I should eat each day, and maybe lose the stone I've gained in the last year or so.  Not a diet (honest!) but "recalibrating" my thinking to know what a reasonable level is - I'm hoping it will help me to readjust so that I can stabilise at a good level.
3. And I've restarted knitting again after a long break over the Christmas holiday.  There's a 2nd mitt to finish after its friend was made last December, and the last piece of the garter stitch blanket when I don't want to concentrate on counting stitches.  And I've got 2 takers for handmade items in Pay it Forward 2012.

Satisfying

Quite a happy day today...

• laughter at work
• progress for the QC improvements
• good plans for activities in the conference I'm arranging in April
• Andrew has been working hard in the garden
• 4 wheelie bins filled and ready for collection tomorrow
• the mini-skip is almost overflowing
• one batch left for me to do next weekend
• and then a relaxing evening at home

Encouragement for interesting times...

encouragement from this morning's songs:

"We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, You're the giver of life"

and

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning,

new every morning,

great is Your faithfulness, O Lord,

great is Your faithfulness.

based on Lamentations 3:22-24
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him"

first week back...

• quite busy at work
• but I've been encouraged that we've been able to get on well together while pushing to do better.  I love feeling that I know so many people there and that when I walk around there are lots of smiles.  We work hard, but it's a good place to be.
• back to the routines (mostly)
• my prayer triplet met again for the first time in 3 weeks, and I was back to my Pilates class too; thankfully our teacher was quite gentle on us for the first session after Christmas - next year may be tougher!
• we had friends over for tea last night
• Andrew made beef in Stilton sauce, which was delicious
• Caroline had made a German apple cake - also delicious!
• and today we set up some more bits and pieces for the house
• a roofer to look at our roof and the rendering at the front of the house
• new curtains for our spare room
• more old stuff cleared out which was hidden in the desk drawers
• the skip is arriving on Monday to start clearing our garden of rubbish
• and I also got new headlamps for the car - they hadn't failed, but they looked pretty close!

Moving forward

I started the day feeling quite low - I'm not keen to get back onto the treadmill of working full-time and trying to keep up with life... But we took another baby-step forward by arranging to sort out our bathroom floor, and we've sorted out a load more stuff to move on. As much as possible is going to charity shops but some of it is just beyond usefulness. Now we just need to work out what the crack is behind my bit of the wardrobe... (and replace the cladding on the front of the house, and fix 2 windows, and get the roof checked out...)

One step at a time...

2011 makes - part 1

Baby-boom
I started the year half-way through making 4 baby blankets for friends who were expecting new arrivals. The first was born in Autumn 2010, one on the 30th December, his cousin in January and one nearer Easter. It's a bit of a cheat showing them all as 2011 makes, but I was so pleased with them that I can't resist...

Bliss Blanket No. 1

made for baby Tim, and my first attempt at entrelac. I loved the simplicity of the design, and enjoyed making this blanket (I must have done, because I started another afterwards). The yellow yarn was slightly thinner than the other 3 though, which made for a messy transition to that row each time, but not so that anyone else would mind.
Finished October 2010.

Patchwork Blanket

made for baby Grace, and probably my favourite of the 4... I loved the mitred squares, and that the stripy sock yarn made the blanket so much more impressive than it was difficult. I'll happily do another one day.
Finished late December 2010.

Mitred Square Blanket

made for baby Robyn. I enjoyed making the squares (using a pattern from the Mason-Dixon book), but found the edges were curling up quite badly when I sewed them all together. I tried putting a reverse-stocking stitch border on to see if it would balance out and it was just-about ok once I'd blocked it twice. Quite frustrating though, as I loved the colour of this yarn.
Finished January 2011

Bliss Blanket No. 2

made for baby Simeon (who's mum is a talented knitter). This time I learned from the yarn-weight difference and used two shades of the same sock-yarn. The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I was pleased with how it worked out.
Finished February 2011.

I also made my first Baby Surprise Jacket for the first-born of a friend at work.

I did much of this while travelling to/from London by train for a few days' holiday. The garter stitch meant it was a good pattern for knitting on the move, but there was plenty to keep my mind occupied with the shaping. I loved the way the yarn striping worked out (Sirdar baby crofter) and I'll happily make another of these one day. Next time I might see if I can work out the I-cord edging.

how to start the year

Two fabulous ways to start 2012:

• watching the New Year's Concert from Vienna
• we've applied for the draw for next year's concert tickets... you never know!
• climbing Barrow Fell with our friends
• it was very windy at times, but didn't rain
• the views were well worth it
• and it feels good to start the year in the fresh air