Happy 4th.......

........... to any readers from across the pond. Steven went off to day care suitably dressed this morning.

We had an early start this morning when three hefty young men arrived to turn this.......

...........into this............

Can you spot what has gone? Yes, the very large buddleia which was blocking my view is no more. I can see the Clee hills again, (when it isn't misty or raining.)The butterflies will miss it but I won't, and I can see a beautiful rose rambling along the trellis. Probably an English rose from David Austin. who is just down the road.

BTW, does anyone else get reminded of Monty Python when they encounter Tree Surgeons? NonPC now I suppose, but I do get the urge to start singing!

Thoughts on Terrorism

I heard on the news this morning that one of the men being held on suspicion of the recent car bomb attempts in London and Glasgow, was a hospital Doctor. It makes you wonder how someone dedicated to saving lives, could be plotting to kill people.

It takes me back to the 1970s, when I worked in a residential nursery, in London, and shared the care of six babies, with an Irish nurse, a pleasant girl, easy to get on with, kind and loving towards the children. She went on holiday and never returned. The next thing we knew was that the police were looking for her in connection with bomb plots. Her flat had been searched, and explosives found under her bed. As far as I know, she has never been found, although her boy friend was arrested some time later. I had great difficulty in believing that the person I had been working with was a terrorist bomber.

Back to more mundane matters. I have been working on the ASJ and made a little progress, the front bands are nearly complete and I've chosen the buttons. Just the sleeves to finish. Not much point in showing a picture as it hasn't changed much from the last time.

I got a little diverted by another BSJ (baby clothes are so quick to make!) This is intended for a village show later in the month. I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

Parcel sent

I sent off a parcel of jackets, hats etc. to Brigid, for Kisiizi this morning.

Notice that they are displayed on my lovely new conservatory floor!

I completed this set with the addition of hat and bootees, about a one year old size..........

.........and found some attractive buttons for the jacket, which are also easy to use, important when you are dressing children. Some fancy buttons are too awkwardly shaped to go through buttonholes easily.


The weather has been appalling the last few days, although this area has not had the bad flooding some places have. I'm unlikely to suffer floods anyway, being on a hill.

Recovered

Just about recovered from my visit to Gardener's World Live last week. I found walking around for about five hours, extremely exhausting. There were actually three shows, Good Food and Good Homes as well as the gardening show, too much to see in one visit. I did see some conservatory blinds I liked, but no furniture.

I'm afraid the ASJ is in the waiting area at the moment as I'm making a few small things for Kisiisi as light relief, and to use more of the stash, which seems to get no smaller.

I've completed another BSJ, double knitting, approx. 20" chest. I love the way this has turned out; the joy of this pattern is the way each garment is so different from the others, and you're never quite sure how it will look.

Now I have to find some suitable buttons.

I also have some tiny jackets, for the smallest babies, and hope to make a few hats.

The flooring in the conservatory is being fitted on Monday, so disruption again for a while.

Not much done in the garden this week, due to the wet weather, but here are a couple of pictures.

Peony Sarah Bernhardt, and Rose New Dawn.

June Garden

The garden is recovering from the ravages of the builders and looking at its best.

I'm afraid these days, due to lack of time and energy, my gardening has been of the 'studied neglect' variety. The principle is to pack 'em in tightly so the weeds don't have a chance to grow. In the past I've also planted a lot of 'thugs', like the Golden Marjoram, which has seeded everywhere and overpowered more delicate plants.

Still no flooring in the conservatory, but we did manage to eat Sunday lunch in there this week.

I'm off to Gardeners World Live tomorrow, which this year is incorporating a Good Homes show, so I may see some conservatory furniture I like.

Snap!

I've just completed socks for Steven and see on his blog that Colin has been using the same yarn and colourway!

The ASJ is getting very unwieldy now, so I need socks for when I KIP.

The jacket is now on two 40 inch circulars and I am about to start the body extension. It is starting to look like a jacket.

I haven't blogged for a while as life has been quite busy. It was good to meet up with Rose and Steph (briefly back in the Midlands) at Fiona's house last week, but sad that I had to leave early due to an unscheduled visit by workmen ( why do they never choose a convenient time to come?) The flooring in the conservatory should be fitted soon, then I can start to consider furnishings. I also have to get window blinds.

Chester and ASJ

I ventured a little further afield on Wednesday and visited Chester and had an enjoyable day there. I did the usual visit to the cathedral and walk around the walls, not the complete circuit although I have done that in the past.

I also shopped in the 'Rows' and, of course, visited Stash where a few small purchases took place.

My ASJ is progressing, a little more slowly as the first enthusiasm has worn off. Also, I discovered a dropped stitch and had to frog several rows. However, I am approaching the neck shaping. Here is the progress in the last few days.

While I was in Chester Cathedral I bought this .............
.......... a copy of the Green Man misericord which I thought would be appropriate to hang on the wall in the new conservatory.

Garden

Not a lot more to show on the ASJ, although it is progressing, if a little slower, so I won't bore you with pictures.

We had a pleasant afternoon out at a local garden which was open yesterday. It was lovely having tea on the lawn, and the weather was perfect. So was the chocolate cake ;)








In my garden, the robins are busy feeding several speckled youngsters, and looking a little harassed. Its a pity they didn't find somewhere more photogenic to perch.

I don't seem to have much success in encouraging the blue tits to use my nest box, unlike Roo whose BF has rigged up a camera in her box. I think mine must be spoiled for choice, as every garden round about here has a box.

Progress

The ASJ has made progress. I'm finding this an easy knit so far, although I have hit upon a snag. I started the diagonal increases on the first instead of the second row, which means I may not be able to make an invisible join when I start knitting the sleeve extension.

In reply to Helen's comment, the ASJ is worked on a different principle to the BSJ and you need to have the pattern as the size is based on your stitch gauge and your personal measurements so is different for everyone.

There is also progress on the conservatory which has now been plastered and has electricity.

I've also had someone to measure up for flooring to cover the mess the plasterers made.

The bad news this week is that I have strained a muscle in my back. Lots of lovely sitting and knitting you may think. But no, I still have the same household chores to do, Steven to feed and bath, just at half the speed. Hopefully, the Ibuprofen will start to kick in soon.

A.S.J.

I am taking the plunge and joining a knit-a-long to make Elizabeth Zimmermann's Adult Surprise Jacket. I've collected together various colours of DK wool that I have in my stash, found a 40inch circular needle, and worked my swatch to check my gauge.

The pattern is in the Opinionated Knitter.

A quick calculation says that I will be casting on over 400 stitches, which is more than a bit daunting! Hope I don't fall by the wayside and it ends up as a UFO. However, my bugbear is sewing up, and there is very little of that in this pattern.

Sad news

I heard yesterday that a distant relative has committed suicide. I didn't know Lynne well, we only met occasionally at family gatherings, but she appeared to be a happy, well balanced girl. She leaves a devastated husband and two teenaged children. That side of the family has had more than its fair share of tragedy recently. Of the people in this happy family group, three have taken their own life, none were blood relatives to each other but only connected by marriage.

Finished

Yes, I've managed to finish some knitting, and it was the socks, Steph! They are being worn as I type.

Not quite finished, but heading that way, my conservatory. There is still the internal plastering and electrics to be done but it is taking shape and I'm very pleased with it.

UFOs and WIPs

Oh dear. I looked at my basket of WIPs this morning and despaired. I'm sure some of them are going to end up as UFOs if I don't get cracking and complete them.

Trouble is, I'm bored with them all and longing to cast on something new. I really must discipline myself and finish something, probably the socks, as they are nearest to completion.

It's here........

......... at last! The much anticipated Yarn Forward magazine arrived this morning.

I haven't had much time to look at it yet, but there are some interesting articles, quite a bit on socks and a charming baby Kimono. I can see a long session with a cup of coffee, once Steven is fed.

The conservatory build is progressing with the minimum of disruption, although access to the computer has been limited. Hopefully, construction on the top should start on Monday.

I was told to keep off the wet concrete (goes without saying). When I returned from a visit to the wheelchair clinic with Steven I found this.......
......a row of prints leading to and from the back door! Too small to be any of the builders, further investigation proved it was a neighbour who was looking through the kitchen window to see if I was in! Although she swore the concrete was dry.

Out with the old.......

.........in with the new, hopefully. Yes, tomorrow work is starting to replace this.......

with a brand new conservatory, twice the size, and rotproof!

The main problem I'm going to face is that my computer room is on the right and to get to it I shall have to take a flying leap from the kitchen door, in the centre, to the door on the right. I shall probably be faced with a large hole especially while the foundations are being dug. This means I may not be able to use the computer for a while. My washing machine is also in this area, so no washing will be done.

Now Steven is getting some respite care, I'm managing to get out more. Yesterday, my mother and I spent the afternoon at Wightwick Manor, a national trust property in Wolverhampton. It is a late Victorian house and a shrine to William Morris. Very OTT but somehow it works.

The gardens were not at their best, despite the early spring, as nothing much was flowering except the wisteria.

Farewell Rose

Today our Beatties' Knit-Chat group said goodbye to Rose, our leader and mentor. She is off to pastures new at RKM wools in Shrewsbury and I'm sure some of us will be keeping in touch.

Yuca's children had joined us as it was school holidays, her daughter already knits and her son kept us entertained with 'cats cradle'.

Easter Flowers

Not much completed knitting to report, lots OTNs but not finished.

So here are some treats from the garden.

The Pulsatillas (Pasque Flowers) always make a good show at Easter. I originally had red and blue varieties too, but they disappeared and left only the white, which seeds happily in the gravel.

These pale blue Muscari (Grape Hyacinths) are not as prolific as their darker relatives unfortunately, and are multiplying very slowly.

Most of these are growing close to the house and are likely to be trampled when work starts on the conservatory, so I think I shall have to pot them up until work is finished.

NEC

On Thursday I was at the Sewing for Pleasure show at the NEC Birmingham. I got the impression that there was rather more knitting content than last time. Of course, I broke my yarn diet, with a modest stash enhancement ............

The Alpaca sock yarn, from Web of Wool was particularly yummy.

Edited for Steph - The unlabelled yarn is from Riverside Spinning, handdyed merino . The man selling this had no website, he said he only sells at shows. It was very reasonably priced and he also had mohair.

I stopped briefly to say hello to Yvonne, Fred et al, but I was with my cousin who is mainly a cross stitcher and had a different agenda, so we moved on. I did take along a knitted Teddy, who has been languishing under Steven's bed for several years, to join Shaun the Sheep's PickKnit. I didn't contribute towards the Knitted Garden, but thought I should donate something this time.

Respite

Things have started moving on the respite care for Steven. Two lovely ladies arrived on Thursday evening, bathed and fed him and got him ready for bed. Unfortunately he then 'played up' all evening in the only way he can, threatening to be sick, so I was kept busy. Hopefully, he will start getting used to new carers.

On Sunday, they came for the afternoon, so I had a meal out and visited the new Cold War exhibition at RAF Cosford, very interesting, free, and bliss for young boys (and girls) if they are interested in aircraft, rockets etc.

As for knitting, two items have floated to the top of the pile of WIPs.

The sock is making slow progress as it is my KIP project. However, I'm now past the heel.

I've also started a new top for Steven. It is going to be a raglan Hoodie, but I'm not sure that the self striping yarn is the best choice for this design as there is no way the stripes will match up.

Here is progress so far..........

.........and the yarn is.....

Pure wool, machine washes like a dream, and the first sweater I knitted in this is still soft after two years of machine washing.

Now must take myself into the garden to mow the lawn, the sun is shining atm but rain is threatened later.

Just in time

I managed to complete this at the weekend.

Just in time as it happens, baby Harvey arrived on Saturday. According to his Grandad, he is a big lad at 8lb. 12ozs. so it was lucky that I decided to make a larger BSJ as the others would have been too small. So a parcel will soon be winging its way up to Yorkshire.

I will soon be invaded by builders as I am having a new conservatory built. The
Garden Room, Large Porch , I have at present, has started to rot and it's doubtful if it will last much longer. So, a good opportunity for a bigger, more comfortable room and another knitting area!

Here are a couple of before photos. As you can see it is a dumping ground at the moment so must get on to Freecycle and unload some of the unwanted junk. However, the chair was made by my Grandfather as a nursing chair when I was a baby, so I shall be sad to see it go.

New Jacket

Here's a picture of Steven in his new jacket from Rackety's.

I saw this firm mentioned on Emma's blog and thought it would be ideal for Steven. It looks like a conventional front fastening jacket, but actually fastens at the back, so is much easier to get on and off. He also has a foot muff, but will probably not need it until next winter.

Updating

I've been updating my links, much easier with Beta. Mind you , looking at the list of blogs I check regularly, I think I need to get a life! I've also changed the template.
Nothing much to report on the knitting, another BSJ, still waiting to have shoulder seams stitched, and buttons attached ...........





and some progress on the 1940s jumper.







I'm feeling the urge to cast on for a sock as I don't have one OTNs at the moment, and this won't do.
I'm still on the yarn diet, although the stash isn't noticably reduced. I have made one book purchase with birthday money. There are one or two patterns I might try, though not, I think, the cover design!



In the garden pool things have gone very quiet. After the flurry a few weeks back, most of the frogs disappeared. A few have come back but no frantic passion and no sign of any frogspawn. I'm sure I've had spawn by this time in previous years so what's the difference this year?