5 o'clock and alls well

We have had some pretty dismal days lately. Cold and wet with the smell of winter coming. Inside the Rayburn is lit and the yurt is warm and cosy. So what are the cats up to?

Fish


Painter


Manray


Marge


Jenkins


Ah to have such wisdom.

It feels like Christmas!

Just look what arrived in the post!!!!



I thought this must be the late birthday present my brother has been promising me, but no, it is from my Secret Pal!!! Isn't it wonderful. It has really brightened up a dreary day, full of fabulous ideas. I don't know where Nicky Epstein finds the time do all that knitting, have all those ideas and write so many wonderful books. I love it, love it, love it. Thank you Secret Pal.

In knitting news I finished the first sleeve of Rogue and blocked it to see if the guage was going to work.



Well is it? Well actually I don't know yet because after it dried I unpinned it to let it relax before measuring and Jenkins hasn't got off it since. He likes the ironing board - it gives him a good lookout at where all the other cats are.



I also had a sudden urge to knit some sock, since my SP9, Lorena, convinced me of the delight of hand knitted socks I have been acquiring a modest sock yarn stash. I used a hank of Colinette Jitterbug in colourway Jewel and decided to use the pattern printed on the inside of the label. Bad idea. Everything went well until I turned the heel and ended up with this...



A rather narrow heel and only 8 stitches on the needle when there should have been 16. For the veteran sock knitters amongst you here are the offending instructions.



However I am a mathematician (do you like the air of confidence I wrote that with?) so I set about a few calculations based on the fact that I wanted to end up with 16 stitches and replaced with this;

k21, ssk, k1
sl1, p13, p2tog, p1
sl1, k13, ssk, k1
repeat last 2 rows until all heel stitches are picked up.

That seemed to work, I am ready to graft the toe now, then on to the second sock.

Here's a cute photo to end with. Our cats generally give each other a wide berth but recently Marge and Fish have taken to cuddling up together, it's so sweet.

The Year turns

I have been busy and naughtily not kept my blog up to date - sorry SP. So this is a bit of a catch up.

After all the unpleasantness caused by the last posts slugfest I will decline from adding my latest wildlife photos. As peeps here will know we seem to now have an invasion of cobwebs and their somewhat large architects, but Rachel will be pleased to know I will not post pictures of ginormous spiders so she can open her eyes.

Or the dead moles left at the bedroom door. The cats never eat them and they lie on their backs with there paws in the air looking like they are sunbathing.

Jeni at Fyberspates has been bemoaning cream rugs and I understand her concern having to frequently washout blood stains caused by messy eating habits. I have to say though previously I had a multicoloured rug that disguised everything wonderfully; too well in fact. Given the choice I prefer not to get up in the morning and tread on a mouse's head I haven't seen. Or if I do see it to squash the gall bladder of said mouse underfoot instead - not recommended.

Well lets have some cat photos then. Here is Marge, trying to look dignified.



and Jenkins cleaning up after a drink.



The garden is becoming very autumnal, not many flowers left except a few gladioli.



And a bumper harvest of raspberries.



Which is turning into this.



Raspberry jam is my favorite and we are overflowing with raspberries (and pears which I don't like) this year. Unfortunately I can no longer eat them. The arthritis in my knees has been so bad I decided it was time for drastic action and I have embarked on an antiarthritis diet. I have cut out meat except fish and the only fruit I am permitted are apples, peaches, melons and bananas (which I don't like). I would say leave a comment and I will send you some jam but it is so heavy to post....

I have been knitting too. I finished this narrow shawl/wide scarf in Colinette silky chic, fandango and lasso.



I have to confess to not liking lasso at all and I am going of the Colinette fancy stuff that originally attracted me because I have an ooh shiny mentality. It drapes beautifully though and the colours are wonderful.

My second lace project, which is coming on nicely.



Branching Out in Malabrigo Lace weight, the most devinely soft baby merino wool in a semi solid green, gifted to me by Erqsome my SP10 spoilee.

And at long last I have been getting on with Rogue.



Unfortunately (have you noticed how often I resort to that word?) I didn't take the pattern with me when I bought the yarn and I bought DK (sport?) weight instead of aran (worsted). I think I have plenty so I am knitting a size larger and hoping that compensates. Well I can hope can't I?
And the So Called Scarf grows when I need to do mindless knitting.



I am a bit concerned I will run out of yarn as I think I only had one skein - a short scarf then.


The new Knitty is out and the things that have grabbed me thus far are the fitted zip up hoodie Roam (wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to afford to make it in gorgeously soft Malabrigo in one of their semi-solids?) Quite a few hats caught my eye: the super cute Flower Power (so many babies around too so a useful pattern), Pecan Pie (great for handspun or a couple of odd balls of Noro I have left) and Urchin (which looks like it might work well with Colinette one zero of which I have an abundance). The lace projects are also interesting too for when I need to progress on from the Branching Out scarf. Maybe I should make a Foliage to go with it.

Lastly I pass this every time I go to my spinning social days.


It is an earthship - a variety of eco house - that is being built locally by, I think, an american architect for a british family.

What a F**king liberty

You have heard me moan about the onslaught of the slugs demolishing all before them in the garden. Well outside is one thing. My bookshelf is quite another. I discovered 2 slugs procreating attached by a cord of slime to my treasured copy of Unexpected Knitting! So much slime. So much grossness. I was traumatised all evening!

It's obviously an insect time of year as I found these previously unseen-by-me caterpillars looking like they were in black leather and consuming only nettles. Carry on chaps!

Autumn is galloping upon us and the goats have been greedily eating the fallen pears. They are so funny to watch as they select ones to go in their mouths whole, then toss their heads back and roll the pear around their mouth until they can get started by getting the first bite in (life is hard without hands). Afterwards they smack their mouths and lick their lips - they are hilarious.

I had 2 great parcels from Fyberspates this week. Never mind the yarn, our biggest cat, Fish, would like to say a big thank you to Jeni for sending him the lovely paper bags to get in. As soon as they were empty he got in and stayed most of the day. He loves getting in bags and boxes even ones patently too small for him. When I make the bed in the morning (well usually the morning) he waits until I shake out the bedcover that goes over the duvet, then dives under (as in a parachute game) and will sometimes stay all day there.

Last Sunday I went to my first french birthday party (Elfie's - the daughter of friends) - what well behaved children. No feeding frenzy ripping open presents but everyone watching and complimenting each other.

Lots of party games too including a treasure hunt.

I did a market stall in aid of a local animal rescue last weekend. I dug out my stash of around 200 silk shirts. I originally bought these from a fabric recycler with the intention of cutting them into strips and knitting them. I have ended up selling a lot though, really cheap, as they seemed too good to cut up. I've had them for years now, though, and they are getting more and more creased (well I'm not going to iron 200 shirts am I?) so I think it may be time to implement the plan. Before I do if anyone has a hankering for a silk shirt let me know what colour and size you would like and I will see if I can help out. email maylindottanattiscalidotfr