New year thoughts.

What a lovely Christmas that was. Time spent with family and friends, no rushing about, just relaxed and peaceful. Just the way I like it.

We didn't really 'do' much Christmassy stuff, the boys are adults now and do their own thing, I think it was the first Christmas where I didn't have any Christmas activities booked. The only thing I was missing was some long walks with the hound. Its our first Christmas in about 16 years that we didn't have a dog. I really miss having a hound around but our lives have changed and we are home less so its not fair to have a dog and then leave it on its own for hours whilst we work. There are 2 hounds on the distant  horizon, ( we both know the next hounds we want !) but the times not right, hubs and I are happy to wait.

As the year draws to an end I am excited to see what 2019 will bring, it promises good things and changes are ahead. 2018 felt like a waiting period, I drifted through the year, went off course in many respects and lost myself for a while. But I have pulled myself back in and am setting a course through the coming year. 2019 is set to be a big year, each step will be revealed as each hurdle is jumped, sorry to be secretive but there are lots of things that need to align and I need to keep myself in the moment or I will drift another year away.  The first change for the new year will put into action tomorrow, seems fitting that its new years eve ! 

I'll leave you with probably one of the best friend gifts I have ever received

Meet Harriet the hare.

My friend does mosaics as a hobby! , how blooming fab is this?  Pictures don't do it justice.

I absolutely love it..

Merry Christmas.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

I have had the loveliest couple of days just snuggled at home with the family. Yesterday was the first Christmas Eve where we didn’t have anything last minute to get done. It was a bit weird really!

I did the usual Christmas Eve cast on

This will be a pair of plain vanilla socks. The yarn is a gift-a-ball from Rosie’s moments. It’s full of little gifts that you find as you knit your way through the ball. What fun! This will be the first pair of Christmas socks for next Christmas. 

The next few days are all about the wider family, making memories and enjoying the company of others. I’ll jump back into the blog at the end of the week. 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy Christmas.

X

Done.

Had  a lovely evening yesterday when hubs met me from work. We managed to grab gifts that we needed, had a couple of drinks and walked around the Christmas market. It was lovely until we went to get off the bus near home and got drenched!

This morning I’ve done the food shop so now all I need is to get the laundry done and tidy the house and I’m ready for Christmas! We’re off out to friends tonight for dinner which will save me cooking and as they only live a 5 minute walk from us I don’t even need to drive.

I can’t believe I am alll done, I have surpassed myself this year!

Reasons to be cheerful.

1- It’s the winter solstice, blessings to you all ! This means that brighter days are ahead. I know that I’m done with dark days, I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark! 

2- It’s Friday............ Bring on 5pm and then Christmas can begin. Hubs is meeting me from work and we’re off out on a date night Christmas shopping trip, we know how to have fun on a Friday night! 

3- I finished the back of my Cornwallis sweater and have cast on the front, happy days...this sweater makes me happy.

And lastly, can you keep a secret?  I’ve been offered a new job!

Details when all the paperwork is signed, which maybe a while due to the season!

Advent spinning.

Managed to catch up with the advent spinning yesterday. I’m really enjoying this calendar. I’ve not done much spinning over the past few years so it’s getting me back into it. The colours are great, I’m hoping to make a 2ply yarn and will then knit it into a seashell cowl.

Here’s yesterday’s progress.

This is days 12-16 waiting to be spun up and the full bobbin from days 1-11

Still a bit thick and thin in places and the batts have little nubs which I have left in, but I like it. Hoping to get it spun on time to that I can ply it during the Christmas break. 

Here's a close up of the fluff from yesterday.

forgot to take a pick of the first one spun !

As much as Id like to do more spinning today Its off to work I go. New office day, still the same job in the same building, just down a floor to one which has had a makeover, will be interesting.

Advent knitting.

All is quiet here, everyone’s still sleeping. As usual I was awake at stupid o clock but am taking the opportunity to catch up with my advent knitting whilst watching some vlogmas videos. I have a large mug of tea by my side and am snuggled on the sofa. Pretty good start to the day I’d say!

I’ve managed to catch up with the yarn calendar , it’s definitley growing on me. I think I’d have been happier if it had started with the blue green and lilac as there the biggest blocks of colour. Not sure about that red section, but that just my colour preferences. The pattern is really easy to follow and I’m at the point where I know it so don’t need to keep referring back. Here it is with todays yarn included. 

I’m way behind with the fibre one but hope to catch up with that today as well, I’m aiming to finish both calendars on time! Can’t spin yet as it’s s pretty creaky old wheel.  Will update you with the spinning advent at some point. 

Hope you all have s peaceful Sunday doing what ever makes you happy. 

What else to do

On a wet windy Saturday than get the other tree done that’s what! 

I will admit to liking a bit of Chridtmas tat. Whilst we always have a real tree in the main lounge, hubs wouldn’t have it any other way, I bought a white tree a few years back. This one goes in the back room, I sit there alot with a cuppa and my knitting as it looks out onto the garden and I like to watch the birds ! 

I love it! 

The baubles  are fuchsia, turquoise and silver, totally different from the traditional colours on the other tree.I’ve sorted out all the old decorations, broken  and past their sell by date and I’ve not been left with much. I’m tempted to rush out and buy some but I know in a week or so they will all be in the sale, so I’m going to wait it out. Other than the trees we don’t really put much else up other than a few strings of lights here and there. 

Tonight I’m home alone so I’m going to find myself a christmas movie, grab a glass of wine and top up my Christmas spirit. 

Advent calendars.

This year I bought an advent calendar from Rosie’s moments. 24 little skeins and a pattern to follow. I will be honest the first few days I wasn’t sure if I liked it, the colours are not ones I would choose, but it’s a sparkly base so carried on. I am glad I did  it’s growing on me day by day. I’ve surprised my self by keeping up which is pretty amazing for me ! Pretty sure this will be finished by Christmas Day.

It came in lovely gold envelopes that you could hang on a little peg line, I opted out of that and have kept them in the box. There’s also some cute little stitch markers and other small treats popped in every other day.  I’m really enjoying it and love a little knit every night!

I also bought a fibre one from Siobhans crafts. it was mermaid themed so I had to buy it !

The little mini fluffs are gorgeous. There’s Rollags and batts, tips and roving, all in mermaid colours. Love love love it!  And I’m on track with it too!

Pretty dull picture, but I assure you it’s gorgeous! There’s 10 days on this bobbin. Aiming to do a 2 ply and then knit an old shale pattern cowl for chilly beach days! 

Pleased as punch with this years yarn calendars. Also pretty chuffed with myself as this post has been done on my phone! Trying new ways to help me keep on track with blogging. Will need to review how it looks on s pc in the morning and put in links for the suppliers, but this could be a major move in the right direction for blogging !

Peace.

My very first non working day of the new 9 day working pattern. What Joy.

Hubs and no 1 son are at work, no 2 son is at school. There is no background noise and all is quiet. Its bliss.

I took Junior to school ( 6th form college ) and came home and took no 1 to work, it was lovely, I love my boys and am getting to realise that time spent with them alone is getting scarcer these days.

Home for a quick tidy around, (its my non working day and non working it shall be !), and then the day was mine.

It is so nice to be able to have time to think without people around and a multitude of background noise. I haven't  even switched the TV on today. I have poddled about sorting out my stuff, namely catching up on some writing,  I'm doing the creative writing course again. I appreciate that its yet another course ontop  of my silver smithing one, but I love writing and its something I hope to do more of next year. I am even considering an Open University course in Creative writing. Not yet though, need to get rid of some more working hours .

Tonight I'm off to my silver class, I will admit I'm not feeling the love for it now.  I finished my silver heart

and love it.

Then it was onto the next project, we are guided as to what type of project as its all about learning different ways of working.

After a bit of faffing I came up with this for a  necklace

It took quite a bit of work to get those little twists done I can tell you. The next week our tutor was away and we had a stand in. It was a bit of a wasted week to be honest. I had to think of how to join them, no blooming idea that's why I am taking a class ! anyway I eventually got her attention and ended up doing something I didn't like, on her advice. Didn't like it so tried to rectify, which meant my lovely swirls are looking a bit battered. Hoping that tonight class gets me back on track. Hopefully out tutor should be back and she's fab. I did book  another course so I could continue on, but after rethinking what I have in my life, night class is not for me. I am so knackered after a long day all I want to do is go home. So I think I am going to just pick up day classes on a Saturday.  Maybe one every other month. I do love working with silver but am not sure its going to be a 'thing ' for me.. I much prefer my writing and knitting !

Talking of knitting, I am now going to go and knit for an hour before I go to pick junior up.

What a lovely day, shame I cant have more non working days.

Waving !

I'm still alive.

Life just seems to be overtaking me.

The change of office base into the city centre is nice but its making my days longer. I'm not complaining, I'm using the bus ride to read. But I leave home at 7 am and am not back until 6pm. Its a long day and I was starting to struggle. I had to really think about what I had to do, was doing and when , then prioritised what I want to do.

I bit the bullet and asked to drop to a 4 day week, I had a resounding no on that one, However when I asked why and questioned the decision, giving my rationale,  they agreed that I could do a 9 day fortnight (every other Monday off ). Tomorrow is my first non working day ! The last 2 weeks have been a bit of a stretch as I had to make the hours up before my first non day, but what a feeling.

I can't describe how much happier I feel already, It means that I am not trying to crush everything into a 2 day weekend. I get to slow down and hopefully have more time to myself. I don't really seem to have done much other than read!  Tomorrow I also get to take junior to school and no 1 son to work, not a big thing, but I rarely get to do that these days.I am becoming more aware of how grown up the boys are getting,  they are both adults now and I want to make the most of any time with them before they leave home. junior will be off to university next year !

Knitwise I have been working on my cozy memories blanket and loving it, its such a great comforting knit. I now have a whole 2 rows done. Then I cast on my Cornwallis sweater, I even swatched for it ! We're off to Cornwall for my birthday in February and I really want to wear it there ! (That's my excuse for casting on another sweater!)  I will confess I also cast on another shawl! I really shouldn't have but I wanted to knit some bright cheery yarn as its been so dark, dull and wet!  I will take pics tomorrow  and do a WIP Wednesday for you. So I have 3 projects on the needles, all of which I am enjoying knitting. The other WIPS are out of site.

And that's it really, just a normal boring predictable life, I really don't know why I blog !

I will leave you with  some street art that caught my eye on a dull day.

WIP Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday, halfway through the week and the weekend is in sight.  The weather has been glorious here, such a shame I have had to be sat in an office, but the early morning commute has been lovely.

This week saw class 3 of my silversmithing course and I am onto a new project. A pendent. The next project is a chain so though I might as well have something nice to hand from it.

The previous week I had drawn up my design, it may look simple but I am no artist, took a while to get the shape right. Then came the cutting out

Not bad for a first attempt. Spent a while smoothing off the edges and the inner heart

then it was onto the design

really not happy with it, luckily nothing is attached as yet, time to change tack, I find it quite difficult translating my idea to the object as I have no idea how the process goes.I have a week to rethink how I am going to get a wave like design on the flat surface, its meant to represent my love of the sea ! Any silver smiths out there?

Weekending.

Back to trying to reclaim the weekends for living, rather than housework. Hubs was working this weekend and I had a whole heap of things I wanted to get sorted in my little pink den. First up was to empty my lovely WIP box

I bought this last year and love it, I am a bit of a neat freak, and like to see all my little project bags lined up inside, sadly it had become a dumping ground and there was allsorts in there, I did manage to find my kindle charger though. All the project bags got pulled out, needles were put back in their cases, patterns back into the file and completed projects put to 1 side to be blocked. Only 2 shawl/scarf/wrap thingy's so not too bad.

1 project had to be ripped though ,Not quite sure what possessed a larger than average knitter to cast on a boxy sweater, especially with that amount of stocking stitch.  Love the yarn so that been popped back into the storage bin until I decide what to knit with it.  After my little sort of here's how many bags I emptied.

6 lovely project bags just crying out for new projects, do I really need that many?  I now have order in my WIP box, and pulled out my Carbeth to finish as the next project.

I love this pattern, no idea why I put it down. Took a bit of untangling as I'm using 2 strands of yarn together, (using up stash ), then a bit of working out where I was with the pattern. The sleeves are looking a bit skinny, but the underarms still have stitch's on holders so am hoping it finishes up ok.  Decided then that Id done enough sorting/ tidying so sat down with Carbeth and caught up on some of the programmes I had recorded whilst waiting for hubs to come home.

Then we were off out, socialising, living, having fun on a Saturday night, whatever next. Boy did we have fun, we went to see a show, Saturday Night Fever

We met up with our friends before hand , had some food and a few beverages then went in.

WOW, what fun, its a great show, bought back so many memories. The actors were amazing the singing and dancing was so good it got you up out of your seats. The best bit was they had ' The Bee Gees' singing the songs with a band on the stage, It was fab.

Today is all about getting the essentials done (ironing, laundry, bit of housework) then having a relaxing afternoon knitting on my carbeth, before sharing a home cooked Sunday roast with the family.  I'm hoping my back will be sorted by next weekend as a walk through the woods is calling me !

Catching up.

Where has the week gone? Time just seems to be running away from me.

I've still had a lingering back pain and tummy issues which have made me feel yuk. But I was back at work and grinning through it. I've reduced my food intake and have cut out foods that I think upset my tummy and so far it seems to be working, I've actually had 2 reasonable nights sleep these past 2 nights.

I made it back to my 2nd silver smithing course and finished my ring.

I am so pleased with it, not bad for a first attempt. Next up is a pendant, I'll try to take some pics at the next class, although I do feel a bit of an idiot as no one else seems to take pics of their work.

I've managed to get halfway through my Mark Manson book

I'm really enjoying it, its certainly getting me to look at things a different way and I love seeing the looks on peoples faces on the bus when they clock the title !

I've been knitting up a storm in the evenings, managed to get 1 sock off of the needles and have cast the next on

Looks a bit weird but I can assure you it fits fine, just needs a wash and a block.

My shawl is now off of the needles but its raining and dull here so cant get a good pic, here's the pic you should have had on Wednesday had I actually managed to do a WIP Wednesday post

I will be honest, I am glad I got this off of the needles, its been loitering for too long and I fell out of love with it. Pretty sure after a wash and block it will be fine. 

My goal this week is to get the 2nd sock done and then go pull out another WIP to finish, the yarn and pattern book came for the Cornwallis, and I am just itching to cast this on.

Cornwallis

I bought Drops cotton merino, (it was  cheaper) and the colours are calling me to cast on. So far I have managed to resist. I have my Carbeth cardigan to finish and my sheltered poncho to finish, both garments that I really want to wear, this will be cast on after that though,

Wonder how quick I can knit?

Hello October.

Hello October.

I love this month, I love the changing colours, the chill in the air and wrapping up in layers.

We have a couple of life 'social'  things to look forward to this month, but other than that I want to start to snuggle in for winter.

The start of the month always sees me planning, I do love to plan and write lists! I am a very goal based person, I need to have things to aim for or else I just drift aimlessly. Winter is a time that especially draws to my inner couch potato

First up is to sort out my books, I have just finished reading Sally Red shoes

and loved it. Its the story of a mothers grief and how she finds her way back to life through meeting 2 extraordinary women. I loved the characters in this book, they are the sort of people I would love to meet. I enjoyed the writers style and the descriptors and scene setting. Its not a  fast paced book, it rumbles along, It was a book that I was able to pick it up and put it down . I had sort of guessed the ending about 2/3rds through, it didn't spoil it, but I would have liked a bit more depth to the end of the story. Its difficult too say to much without ruining it if you want to read it.

I have piles of books to be read, but am in a bit of a dither. I bought a whole heap of non fiction books to read and haven't really touched them,

so October is about trying to read at least 1 of them.

The choice from the pile is:

This is my commute read, I did start this a while back and then put it back on the shelf, If I don't crack it this time its off to the charity shop.

The following  2 will be my bedside reading books, pick up and put down style:

I've been following The fat of it, a women I admire, and she has read a ton of books and this was one of them. Thought I'd give it a go. I'm still trying to address the body thing, diets just don't work for me so I am trying to figure out how to adapt to a healthier way of eating whilst loving the body I have. That includes wearing what the hell I want to, without fear of fat shaming !. Anyway enough of that this is a crafty blog !

Then lastly, just because I liked the look of this book in Waterstones is this little beauty.

So that's books sorted, onto crafting.

Knitting wise I am still trying not to cast on anything else till I get at least half my projects off the needles. It's so tough, I really want to cast this

Cornwallis by Martin Storey.

I might have ordered the pattern book and yarn, (I did opt for a cheaper yarn) hopefully it will take a while to arrive and I can continue to focus on getting the selected 2 knitting projects from last week off of the needles. One of the main goals this month is to not spend any more money on anything craft or book related, no wool, no fluff, no books, no nothing. Zip, zero, Zilch...

The 2 knitting projects that were chosen last week as wips to finish are still on the needles, (you'll get a WIP Wednesday post to update you)

Have done a fair few rows of this so it may well come of the needles this week.

Haven't touched these at all !

Hoping at least the shawl will be off the needles this week and sock no 2 cast on.

I'm going to be good and not set my self any other craft goals this month, I want to focus on getting the knitting out of the way as its starting to bug me. I want to try being a monogamous knitter for once, not a fickle hand in many project bags type of gal !

I did have a bit of a Eureka moment whilst watching Joanna Lumley's Silk Road journey last week, as to why I think I am stuck in a rut with my crafting. (This blog post is already way to long to go into it now. )I'm really enjoying this series,( I will admit to a fan girl crush with Joanna) , how fab is she. I never tire of watching of her. This particular series is really inspiring me, I love learning about the different the cultures and  how they influenced the places along the silk route, Fascinating stuff as is Michael Palin in North Korea, Great to have a couple of programmes to watch and knit along to! I am trying to reduce the amount of crap I get sucked into watching on the TV, but do need a bit of TV knitting throughout the week.

So here's to a good new positive month, and a fond farewell to September.