WIP Wednesday.

 One of the bonuses with being in lockdown is the amount of knitting time.

This week has seen me restart my Joining bees and things sweater.

much happier with it now and swapped the white out for oatmeal, thought the mustard was more yellow, am thinking I might see what it looks like for the bee bodies.

Unfortunately I seem to have a slight reaction to Shetland wool, I end up with runny itchy eyes when I'm knitting. Its Shetland wool and has tiny little wool fibres that seem to like making their way up to my eyes. Hubby did suggest I wear goggles when knitting it.  I will persevere as it may be ok when its been finished and soaked.

The other item I have been working on this week is my litmus cowl.

It's a wonderful sparkly yarn from mothy & the squid, the picture doesn't do it justice, [dull grey and raining here] and is great for the Patten. I really love wearing my stripy litmus so am looking forward to getting this one finished .

Mixing it up.

 Life continues to tick over, lockdown continues. 

I really don't do much other than work, college work and knit, although this week I thought id mix it up a bit and pull out my spinning wheel and crack open a new bag of fibre. This is the first 50g done. Aiming for another 2 ply sock weight yarn.

Really enjoying how its plying up so far.

I love the colours of this its called Kingfisher. Though it pretty much matched the view out of my back door on Saturday.

The fibre is from Spin Jones, I am a bit of a sucker for her fibres!

In other news both sons have taken over 1 night each to cook, they must be bored !No 1 son cooked a chicken and garlic cous cous meal and junior made a beef chilli, both very nice. This week no 1 son has decided to make Tuna and sweetcorn patties and junior wants to do steak, new potatoes with veg. Its interesting to see what meals they choose and I can see a pattern emerging already.

Today I had to deliver a presentation for my work course, luckily passed so now I only have 2 pieces of work left and I am finished. This is the last work related course I will ever do as have really struggled to find the motivation to do it after sitting in my box office working for 8 hrs a day all week, sitting there for more hours to then do course work has been really difficult, but I'm getting there and will be pleased I did it when its over !

This evening I think I may well spin a little and knit a little, hubs is on dinner duty !

WIP wednesday.

 This week its all been about the 'Joining Bees and Things' cardigan. I bought the kit and joined the knit along with Purl a Row.

[photo from pattern page on ravely]

 I never had any intention to wear it as a cardigan and I just don't do cardigans. I gambled on being able to convert the pattern to a sweater, easy enough right?

nope......

Actually it was easy enough how to omit the steek stitches and work in the round for a sweater, but realised after knitting this much that the row change runs right up the middle, and as I wont be steeking to make a cardigan, its going to really annoy me. You can see how its a bit wobbly and not really very nice. So I have ripped right back to the rib and changed it so that the row change will run down the sleeve rather than right down the front centre.

I was also unsure about the white, its a bit too white for me, so am contemplating swapping it out for an oatmeal colour, or, maybe a mustard colour? it is called Bees and things, what are your thoughts?

oatmeal or mustard? or, I could just do the body of the bees in Mustard?

This is not an afterword knit, I have to concentrate too much, so will ponder until Saturday and then crack on.

Quiet times and dog teeth.

Time is certainly whizzing by. 

I am glad I still have the routine of work to shape my week or else I feel it would be like a lazy Sunday all the time. Not much has happened since my last blog post, and I will be honest with you, my life is very boring at the moment. 

I seem to have fallen into a gentle rhythm over the past few weeks. I feel quite calm and rested. The angst I was feeling has disappeared, maybe its just acceptance of things I can't change and making the most of my time at home. Walks have been very local and have seemed very busy. More people out walking in our neighbourhood, which means more dogs which as you know Frank the hound hates.  

Poor Frankie boy had to go into the vets and have a number of teeth removed and a lump on his eyelid removed. He had an overnight stay but has recovered well.  Sadly he has to go back for more teeth out. He's an older rescue dog, so not unexpected but not covered by insurance... good job we love him and had the funds to cover it. 

Hello Friday.

I am so glad I had a shorter week , this week has flown by. I am seriously considering if I could cut my days to 4 ! not sure it would be financially viable at the moment though.

I have read  loads this week. I have got into the habit of reading after work. I used to enjoy my commute home from the office as I would get to read and lose myself in a book after a day of work.  Well I seem to have got back into that habit, although I'm not commuting  as we continue in a lockdown!

I finished my first book of 2021 , I had a few books gifted to me so started at the top of the pile 

and have just finished 'A year at The Chateau', I loved it, but then I love the TV series and now want to go back and watch the first series all over again. The book is written between them and reflects on how they found, bought The Chateau and the following year, culminating in their wedding. 

Next up I am about to read 

The Starless Sea, it was recommended to me so I hope it lives up to it, the cover alone is gorgeous. Another gift from Hubs from my Amazon list. The forecast for this weekend is cold but dry, I shall fit in my daily walk and then I think it will be a weekend of cosying up on the sofa and reading my book.

WIP Wednesday.

This week has been about easy relaxing knits. 

I loved knitting my litmus cowl so have cast on another, I had this gorgeous mothy & the squid yarn for blooming ages, years actually, and just couldn't find the right thing to make with it. 

The picture doesn't do it justice but its glorious shades of blue turquoise and greens and it sparkles... Its called Frozen Forest. The litmus cowl is just perfect for it. I cant wait to wear it...

Last weeks WIP, the woven chevrons has been put away

I have knit more on it, but not sure I like it now. The shape is hard and the colours jarring. I'm not enjoying knitting it so its gone to Hotel WIP for a while. Such a shame as this was my first and probably my last westknits yarn kit, i'm on a 2021 yarn diet....

Rainbows.

 Even though I was anticipating this new lockdown, it was still frustrating when it was confirmed.

I have worked from home, full time, continually since the very first lockdown in March last year. I know I'm lucky that as a nurse I get to work at home and can do my job virtually, but its just not the same. I feel like I'm stuck in groundhog day. It also doesn't help that I am now going to be the only adult out of 4 at home working for the next 6 weeks or so, and my plans to escape for a few nights for my birthday next month has now been moved to later this year.....Arghhhhh  

I do realise that there are other people in a much worse situation than I and I really don't want to make light of it, My last year has been  a truly horrendous on a personal front  and this is my way of dealing with it. Having a little rant and moving on, hopefully. I had hoped that 2021 may have started off with a bit of a lighter note but it wasn't to be.

I am grateful that I still have a job, my husband and sons are all safe and well and home, I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboards and I can afford to put my heating on,  I'm blooming freezing. On the bright side vaccinations have now started so fingers crossed we shall beat this virus at some point in the not too distant future.

So today felt like a day for colour and rainbows... luckily I can improvise

My new set of rainbow highlighters, I do love nice stationary, makes my desk look pretty and brings a smile to my face !

Handknit rainbow socks to keep my feet toasty...

and my handknit cowl, not quite a rainbow but its doing its job of making me feel snug.

Hello 21 !

 All back to 'normal here' decorations are down and I'm gearing up for back to 'work' tomorrow.

It was a lovely quiet Christmas, I did miss the wider family and friends but it was nice to have some uninterrupted time with the boys. As is custom I ate and drank far too much but the scales happily showed I didn't put on any weight! Must have been the walks I managed in between.

Despite still being restricted by Coronavirus I am more positive about this coming year. I have given up new years resolutions and just have the aim to stay healthy and happy. I do anticipate further lockdowns and restrictions until the vaccine is well underway but I have grown accustomed to being at home more and am not so focussed on my next holiday or breakaway. I quite like the poddling around the house and doing some redecoration along the way. 

One of my early morning chilly walks.