In my hands

32 pattern rows completed, I'm still enjoying knitting this blanket, first row is my mixed coloured yarns, second row is plain coloured yarns, I've kept going in the cycle. The bottom still curls, hope I can sort that. I'm getting to the length I require if it is going to be used as a lap blanket, it's not wide enough for anything else.

My yarn stash is shrinking, this container is not so packed, I've been using all my small hand dyed shanks, this was the point of making this design. I'm still on my first 100grms of black yarn, all 4ply. The paper separates the yarns used in each row, ensuring I spread the colours throughout my knitting. 

There are loads of ends to sew in, I use a tiny rug latch hook, much easier and quicker, no threading yarn through needle eyes.

I have felt something was missing from my days, I do enjoy knitting and reading, my real passion is for cross stitch, last year I found a huge piece of linen, which I had forgotten about. I won't stitch it all, plans are forming for another mash up of designs, I love the challenge mixing everything up gives me, as always my starting plans are very loose, I adore this edging design, I already have made some changes to incorporate the flower motif I love, it will form the outer border, maybe a bit bigger that the original design and then have fun filling the middle. The original design can be seen here. 

I love this author, so far every book I have read has been great, a very different plot, she wakes up in a strange room, trying to piece the past few days, except to everyone else she is in a coma after an accident. I adore how she gives you all the answers in plain sight, and not until the end does all the bits fall into place. Book 31 read this year

I've had a couple of quiet days, I sat with the boys on Friday after school, whilst Molly had her swimming lesson, later daughter went out for tea with a few old work mates, both little ones went to bed and settled quickly. Saturday we had a day at home together, I did a bit in the garden, keeping on top of everything, later we both drove to daughters and shared a Chinese for tea, all three children ate well. Later at home another relaxing evening. Today I'm  doing nothing.

I'm in hubby's bad books, do you remember the fun the little ones had with the confetti balloons, they loved them when they popped over the Easter weekend, it's rained since then and now we have predominantly red and blue dots on the paving. Me saying I thought it looked pretty did not help at all, I suppose they should fade in time.

Inside

 My knitting is growing, I love the look, I have no use for another blanket, I have a few crochet ones, I will check them and maybe discard one. I have completed 17 pattern rows and used half of one ball of black, so I can do up to about 70 pattern rows, I still have plenty of coloured yarn left.

I have read books from this author before, another great book, I do love a good thriller, 3 couples all on holiday, all very different, thrown together when a woman is murdered, past lives catching up with them, lies, back home and things are still strange. Book 26 read this year.

I chose this book as it was free on my Kindle, same police officer as in previous book, a fall from a balcony, was it an accident, and why are all the new mums acting so strange, with a good insight into how the police follows through a case. Book 27 read this year.

My last magazine arrived this week, I won't renew the subscription, I have 24 copies saved for reference, I do like this practical magazine. Most of the free seeds were gifted to local schools.

17 years ago, we decided to have wooden floors in our hall and main living area, slate in downstairs bathroom, vinyl in the kitchen and laminate in our office (3rd bedroom), there was already tiles on our en-suite, these days my knees and back complain after washing them. So after a search through countless steam floor mops, we got this Shark, the two round pads spin and work together to scrub the floors, with three levels, super easy to use, every part of me is happy. This is not an ad, just my views on an item which works well for me.

It's been cooler and dull this week, so housework was done, I also got a new handheld steam cleaner, I used it on my clean shower, it got to places where my cloth could never reach, spring cleaning is going well here. For once nothing aches, I was able to do more in one session.

I did pick George and Molly up from school on Tuesday, daughter attended Will's school, his class had a project they wanted to share with parents, both little ones were good in my car, after tea mummy went back to their school for parents evening, Molly's teacher gave her a glowing report, Molly loves school and is doing well, she is still only 4 and has done so well. Georges teacher was happy with him, he is on his own path, different from his peers, he does try, but he does like to play as well. Again daughter was very happy, we chatted for ages, having 3 happy children makes her life much nicer, for now Will has stopped playing up in the mornings. 

I have picked up bugs again, George has a cold, he is a cuddly boy and loves his nana, I'm hoping I can shift the bugs quickly, I'm cold and tired all the time, yesterday was a lazy day and should be the same today.

Scrappy blanket

 I'm rather pleased with my knitting, it's growing, I still have a few different shades to use, I have completed 7 sets and will do another 2 before reusing shades. This is one end, the clips are only used to hold the ends flat for these photo's. 

The middle section

The other end.

I am enjoying the colours on this, normally I would stress about placement of colours, this time I'm relaxed about them, there are 10 coloured patches on each row, with 26 stitches, I knit and turn on decreasing stitches to make the design, on the second row there are 9 full coloured patches and a half design each end, I am doing the half sections in an off white yarn so they all match. I am using all my 4ply stash yarn, only balls which have been started, I'm knitting using 3.25 circular needles, I have worked a system to ensure all the different yarns don't get too tangled. I've been really good and stitch all the ends in after each row, this is 8" or 20cms, so a long way to go. The real pleasure in this design is allowing me to use all of my 4ply yarns, some are slightly thicker, but it does not matter.

The boiler service man arrived at 8am on Thursday, we were ready for him, we always have to move the fridge/freezer to give him room to work, it was the same guy as in previous years, he was quick, clean and tidy, happily no issues to report. I had a sleepover at daughters on Thursday night, helping out with bedtime and breakfast on Friday morning, I missed this month's WI meeting, family will always come first.

Friday Will was happy to go to school, no disliked lessons that day, sadly George has mirrored Will's behaviour and daughter struggled to get him in the car, at school his 1 to 1 will come and help on bad mornings, they park in school grounds. Having a second person to help makes all the difference, both little ones get their me time and settle quicker at bedtime, George is at a stage where he knows what he wants, sadly he's not always able to achieve it by himself, he is mirroring Will, who at 9 years is going through an independent stage and not liking a couple of his school lessons, some mornings he can be difficult. Molly is still only 4, she is independent in most things, but still wants and needs her mum. As I have said before both schools are brilliant help, together we will get through this, we just need to support our daughter, I never want her to feel alone.

I'm posting this on Friday evening, I plan a lovely lie in tomorrow morning and have a me time, it's much needed.

Saving Doug

I brought Doug (from UP), home, he's a favourite of George's, he came here in a bin bag with all his stuffing separate, George and Molly were playing in their bedrooms quietly, mummy found the poor thing in bits, another job for Nana. I have done major surgery on his face he is all stitched up and back home, I did check all his other seams as well.

I do love this author, always a very easy read, Life can be good, but what do you do when people start hurting your family and yourself, well she does fix other peoples problems. Book 20 read this year. 

Another good read, I love how this author always has the answer in plain sight, so far I have never worked it all out until the reveal near the end. A couple goes to remote Scottish location to help save their marriage, will it work. Book 21 read this year.

It was world book day again this week, Molly has a growing set of books, all focused on people through modern history who has changed our world, she loves the book Queen Elizabeth by Racheal Riley, so here she is all regal, this girl loves to dress up, George went as Batman, Will went for an army costume. Molly has been queen before, seen here with George and Will as her guardsmen.

Will wanted a Hussars jacket for his costume, we used a blue fleece, I added golden stripes to the front, decorated the collar and cuffs, no swirly decorations on sleeves or buttons, I added epaulettes. I could only get cheap gold tape, which frayed and was a nightmares to stitch, I hate the finished item, Will loved it, most stressed I've been in ages. Far to ashamed to post any photo of my work here.

I have done more on my knitted blanket, I now need to stitch the ends in, I am keeping to my promise to do at the end of each colour section, as I have said before there is no rush to get this done, I am enjoying the process and that's the main point. It's not a project I enjoy doing in the evenings, I need to be able to focus and count without interruptions. 

I have watched Small Prophets, just 6 episodes, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the story, this weekend is the final of Pottery throw-down, we have enjoyed it again this season, we don't watch much TV. Hubby has enjoyed Silent Witness, which I never watch, I get annoyed how the main two, know almost everything and solve the mysteries, they just irritate me.

Crafting

 This is my starting point, these are the part used balls of yarn from socks, plus a couple packs of hand dyed yarn which I have had for years, it's a nice mixture of colours, I hope to use the smaller balls mainly and add colours where required, each of the new shanks should make 3 different colour patches. 

In here are the rest of my 4ply yarn, there are only a couple of full balls, all the random shades are on the right, these are going to be my first choices along with the yarn in the above photo, the plain colours can be added if I require a different shade. I have pulled out 3 full balls which are handy to keep.

I decided on black for the contrast, so many of my random balls have grey and blue in, so black stands out. I could not find any locally, so I had to wait for delivery, I'm not in any rush with this, I can take my time and enjoy the process. The first row I have used my blended yarns, the second row plain colours, I think I will keep this mix, gives the blended colours space to shine. 

The smaller balls shown in top photo, are in my workbasket next to my chair, handy for me to use, I can also pop the balls I am using in as well, they can roll and jump as I pull on the balls and hopefully not fly onto the floor for Lilly to chase. The yarn in the second photo is in a plastic propagator lid from the greenhouse, it's big, so it can stay on the spare bed, we don't have anyone due for a visit in the near future. 

I got in a terrible mess with 11 different balls of yarn on the first round, by the second I had worked out a method which stopped most of the tangles, I am packing the colours for each row after use together so I can use all the different colours. I am stitching in all the ends after each 'row', it makes my work tidy and saves the horror of doing it all at the end. 

I will still have loads of yarn left over, I really want to shrink it more, these are mainly sock yarn, so tough and not so fluffy, there are some baby yarn which is soft and fluffy. I have seen a circular blanket which I am considering as well.

Finishes.

I've been busy again, daughter has her Christmas tree up, because George will not leave anything on the tree, she has only white lights on there, so for a bit of colour I made a Santa for each of the children. All three loved them, they now add colour to the tree. 

My brothers blanket is finished, once I got going on the icord edging I started to enjoy it again. I have stitched the long ends inside the corded edge, I'm glad it's finished as my brother arrives this week. 

I managed to remove the huge chocolate coin from this wrapper, I cut a circle of cardboard and added the gold ribbon to create a hanger, now I have another tree decoration, the blue bauble is one purchased from Libertys on our recent trip.

George was in his first nativity last week, he was a sheep, he is sat beside his best friend, whilst his 1-1 support lady just outside this photo, hubby went to watch with daughter, at the start he joined in, but got distracted watching all the other children. We were just amazed he stayed on the stage, he does not like crowds with people he does not know, he is just so comfortable at school. 

We took one of our igloo cats beds to daughters house for the kittens to use, in hope when we bring Lilly home, she can find comfort in it smelling of her siblings, as yet they have not got the hang of it, and so far Lilly is not interested, daughter now has 3 beds as another friend sent her cat bed for the same reasons.

It has been a really busy time, as well as our trip to London, we saw a George Michael tribute show, locally which was good, we also went for a Chinese meal, so we are both feeling a bit frazzled, but lovely quiet few days have helped us recover from all the excitement. 

I've just one gift to get for daughter, I would like something special for her, but have no idea yet what it should be, I have wrapped all the gifts already purchased and wrote our last card, Alexa has played my Christmas song list most days, so I am feeling very festive. We have ordered our fruit and veg, and only need to shop for cream, which we will get local. 

Hubby is out today, so I am going to get my sewing machine out, just one small task to do for daughter, then I will marzipan our cakes, all three of them and make the top decorations.

Crafting week

I have finally finished the crochet on my brothers lap blanket, I have clips along the top and bottom just to flatten the square joins, it took longer than expected. I have a green yarn to knit the icord edging, then I can sort all the loose ends, I'm really pleased with it. 

Hubby has been busy as well, I purchased these beautiful lamps in 2009 from BHS, they had a touch base, where you could have three levels of light, for me the best ever bedside lamps. A couple of years ago they started turning themselves on in the night, so we switched them off, but left them in place as we loved them. We are now ready to start working on our bedroom and the lamps came into our conversation, I really love these, so hubby took them to his garage and rewired them without the touch feature, and they are staying.

Daughter was checking George's school page and sent me this, I've covered the teachers name, so I'm famous, he is doing so well, smashing his start targets, we are all so proud of him. Can you see me in his masterpiece. He had his 5th birthday this week, it was a family affair, he will have a play session with friends this weekend.

Another great book, it's an early title, another enjoyable book, a whole family has gone missing, an old friend of Rakers wants to know what happened to her sister. Set in Devon, with ties to USA, things unravel, people show their true faces, ending in Las Vegas. Book 80 read this year.

We had heavy covering of frost on Wednesday morning, the bird baths were frozen, my wildlife pond had no ice, it became a really sunny day, so everywhere looked good by lunchtime, I picked up loads of leaves, our neighbours oak tree is huge so we are getting leaves in our garden for the first time. 

Thursday morning I walked 5 minutes to our doctors surgery for a blood test, I walked in icy rain and sleet, on the way back, less than 20 minutes later it was snowing and cold, it lasted for an hour, too wet for any to settle, but enough to cheer the grandchildren. I have my long winter coat and duffle coat out, ready for whatever is to come.

This morning we have blue skies after a heavy frost again, we are all sorted before storm Bert arrives, just heavy rain and strong winds for us, I hope you are all OK, warm and snug inside, we have no plans for the weekend.

What are you doing?

 I saw it far too late, after a row of 12 squares and 3 grey squares of the next row, I noticed for some strange reason I used the wrong shade of pink, pale instead of rose, it did not look out of place, my brother would never notice, but I knew it was wrong. So 15 squares ripped out and rose pink used, I'm happy again.

This is Lilly, she is beautiful, I love grey cats, so she is perfect, daughter took kittens and mum cat to vets for a check up, all are OK. She is the smallest of the litter, which is OK. I had my first cuddle, which I hope to regularly do, so she gets used to us, daughter has one on our cat baskets, so when we we bring her home she will already be happy in her basket. Daughter has found homes for all five kittens, everyone is sharing the vet cost, to help out. 

I missed Wolf Hall the first time round, I watched the first episode of the second series on Sunday evening, it was so good, I decided to go back and watch the 6 episodes from series 1. I am watching every day, something I never do, it's made so well, even though I know what happens,  I can't wait for the next episode on Sunday. 

Our Spanish friends are OK, their small town is almost back to normal, the lower section was flooded, most of the homes there have garages on the ground floor, so not too much damage was done. Other friend in Valencia have a much harder task, the mud stuck to everything, once that is cleared they need an architect to check their homes, Spanish house bricks are very different to ours, they are hollow and much lighter, so many building now need checking. There is so much anger in the city, the centre, which was not hit so bad looks back to normal, main roads are open, but still many places need lots of work.

Hubby had his cataract removed and a lens put in place on Monday, a very different process than he had a few years ago, our eye hospital is away from the main hospital, it's very modern and very efficient. Hubby saw the optician only 3 weeks ago, and it's all been sorted, last time he had a few months to wait, this new unit has completely cut waiting times. Sadly his brother in Wales is getting near the end of a two year wait, he is still in hospital, due another operation on his leg, this time the hope is to have him home soon, he's been stuck in there for months. 

My back is much better, I've been doing small bits most days, I picked up leaves in the back garden on Monday, and a bit of weeding. I need to raise my netting over my broad beans, the shoots are getting big. We have had rain twice both times overnight, and lovely blue skies next morning, it is getting colder, which does not bother me.

Back inside

Molly had a sleep over on Friday night, she was very excited, recently both George and Will had sleepovers at Grandma's house, mummy dropped her off in the morning, we walked to the village, she chose a Disney Princess magazine where she could colour and use stickers. She was very good, asleep soon after going to bed and not getting up until 6.45am, which is later for her.

I've done loads to my brothers lap blanket, I'm hoping I will have the crochet finished this week, then I will knit an i-cord edging, I am enjoying these different colours, this is a very easy design to make.

Hubby has finished our stairs, I'm really pleased with the results, it's everything I asked for, at one point I thought he was going to give up trying to strip paint of the handrails and post, it was not an easy task. Once our bedroom is decorated (hopefully before Christmas), we can then have new carpet, already we have popped back some of the photo's, loads have been packed away, in this case less is much better.

Molly was also my helper in the garden, we planted all my tulip bulbs, mainly in two huge pots, we also planted a small pot of tiny tulips and some hyacinths in a pot for inside, we soaked ranunculus ready for planting Saturday. We ensured she had time to ride her bike around the patio section and have a game of football. Molly prefers to be outside, she loves to wear her garden gloves and has her own set of plastic hand tools, she helped to fill all the bird feeders as well.

Daughter with friends took the children to a big firework display Saturday night, with a twist, her friends took them to a local carpark, where they could watch the higher section of the display, far enough away for George and Molly not to be frightened of the bangs, plus no entry fee and easy to jump in their cars and drive home. The friends has a child who loves the fireworks but not the noise and crowds, perfect solution for both families. 

I have pulled my back again, I decided to clean the bottom of our shower cubicle,  rather than getting inside I made just a silly twist, and ouch. Which with these dreaded grey days is not doing anything to help my bleak mood, at least I have a clean house, having dry days are good, but I do need to see some blue sky. I'm not reading, preferring to work on the lap blanket, plus there are a few more interesting things to watch on TV, time slips by, and hopefully my mood will improve or hubby will rightly lock me in the garage out the way.

This is our November

 5 little kittens, 1 grey, 1 beige, 1 ginger and 2 tabbies born on 29th October, it will be a while before we can work out which are girls and boys, I would like a girl, male cats roam, and I like the idea of having a cat which stays in our garden. Both Molly and George are not touching them, George spends loads of time sat watching them. Daughter got a kiddies netted side, ball pit, which will keep the kittens in and allow mum to escape if she wants and loads of old towels for them to lay on.

We all say we have the best grandchildren, but these three in the 'spooky' PJ's look adorable, oldest boy Will was not sure if he wanted to wear his, Molly and George now look like twins, people are always asking daughter is they are twins. Lovely and clean after their bath.

I have started my brothers lap blanket, I have a few more colours to add, these will go well in his sitting room, again very different colours than I normally use. I have purchased a few balls of yarn, but this is a Christmas gift, so it's not recorded on my stash list.

Christmas cakes are doing well, I used one recipe and made two smaller cakes for brother and daughter, our bigger cake will be baked later today, I have loads of dried fruit left over, as I purchased for 3 cake mixes and will only make two. 

It was days before we heard from our Spanish friends again, we knew they had no electricity, so did not expect to hear from them, they are all well and dry, their ground floor like so many others is a garage, it escaped the flooding as they were on higher ground. Still no electricity and very limited phone coverage, they cant get out their town, their new large supermarket, which is close to their flats is open for limited supplies, its a case of sitting it out. The huge issue in Spain is the ground is so parched so the rain ran off rather than soaking in and took loads of top soil with it. We are both shocked to see the devastation in Valencia, it's hard to match the scenes with our recent visit. Valencia has loads of street parking, which are always full, so seeing so many cars wrecked us not a surprise to us.

We have daughter and the children here today, so I have left all my Halloween decorations up until they go home, it's going to be a messy noisy day, filled with laughter and fun.

Finished

My first craft finish in ages, as the weather changes I am inside more, plenty of reading and craft time. This blanket is for a raffle prize, I used the yarn from the Christmas blanket I started last year, I had made some squares, I did not like how the different designs were all slightly different sizes.

This is made with Emu double knit, 100% acrylic, so it will be strong and warm, I used Tunisian crochet stitch, reels with instruction can be found on YouTube, you make each square, joining them as you go, I used 12 stitches and 20 rows, making 10 patterns up and across. I have made this design before using 4ply, for myself. The joy of this stitch is you do not have to turn your work, which is very handy when the blanket gets bigger. 

For the edging I decided to knit an e-cord design, it gives a lovely tidy edge and somewhere to hide the ends of the yarn, I was going to look for a contrast colour, then I had the bright idea of matching each square colour, which was fun, but gave me so many more ends to sew in. 

I think all the work was worth it as I am really pleased with the finished item, hopefully someone will use it and keep warm. I have plans to make another, my brother Martin has said he feels the cold in the evenings, so I suggested I make him one, I half expected him to laugh at me, but he said he would love and use it. 

For now all crafting has been set aside, we are in sunny warm Spain, without a raincloud in sight, it feels so good to wake up knowing there is no chance of rain, wear sandals and no coat. We are staying with Spanish friends, so lots of lovely food and laughter. I hope we can pop to Valencia, it's a beautiful city, so much to see.

Nothing doing

I got a few more packs of tulips bulbs, these 3 for £5 at B&M, I wanted the mixed pack of mini bulbs, hubby chose the other two packs. I do really have enough tulip bulbs for next spring, I won't plant them until next month, tulips should be planted in November, all mine will go in pots.

I have my early combined birthday and Christmas present, it's going to be handy on our forthcoming trip to Spain, the promise of an easy transfer of data from my phone to the tablet, was not as easy as they promised, the verification code was sent to our home phone but arrived after the time limit on the code. It's mostly set up now, just a few things for me to sort, hubby has some books to add from his family kindle apt for reading when away. 

My blanket is getting to a good size, I have the length I wanted, so it's just a cast of making squares until it's an oblong, then I shall make a small knitted boarder in a contrast colour. I am going to have some yarn left over, I am hoping maybe enough to make another, it's such an easy design to make. 

Daughter is now free of covid, she had a horrid time, Will was unwell Friday morning, Molly picked up a bug from pre-school and George had a bad cold and cough, so they all stayed home on Friday and Saturday, snuggled down together, because of covid we stayed away. Sunday they were all feeling much better so she took them to a local park to run around. Today the boys are back at school, Molly can't go back to pre-school until tomorrow. 

We popped to Aldi, it's not local to us, they had their wooden toy event and daughter hoped for a gift for Molly, apparently most of the toys sold out the morning before, when they were put on sale, we did get a few bits, but we don't think it's worth the extra drive to regularly shop there.

I managed to plant my over winter broad beans, all I have left to plant are tulips which will be done in a couple of weeks. I have also sorted all the ingredients to make my Christmas cakes, again in a couple of weeks, I am hinting at hubby, he should make another batch of mincepies, I am also thinking of making some eccles cakes,  hopefully my sister and her partner will visit in November, he loves them so I want to bake them for him as well. 

The heating as yet is not on, we have used the boost to warm the bathroom for evening showers, not used it yet in the mornings, our bungalow is warm, I've sorted my boots back out, sandals are not yet packed away, hopefully I can wear them again on our upcoming trip. We did not see the northern lights here, we did look.

Just another week

 This is just 30 minutes after another huge deluge, we had heavy rain all through Monday night, no thunder and lighting, which was promised, we had heavy rain storms Tuesday morning, they didn't last for too long, but they came one after the other. For the first time I can remember in 15 years living here, we had a huge puddle just outside our gates, it did drain, just the amount of rain falling so quickly. 

I have done more on this lap blanket, it's such a simple design, using just 7 shades makes it very uncomplicated, it grows quickly as the yarn is double knitting weight. It is now the width I want it to be, I just need to add length, I work on this most afternoons, as I want to get it finished.

I have ordered my blog book for 2022, as expected I got the discount I was waiting for, in fact I got a very good deal 50% off the book plus free shipping, so I saved £64.44, the book cost me £55.45, which is the cheapest I paid in years, normally with such a good discount you normally still have to pay postage. My 2023 book is no where near finished, so I can wait until next year to publish it. These books are only for me and my grandchildren, who love to see their photo's in a book. 

Hubby has done a good job on the stairs, it's not finished yet, just the gloss to do, we removed all the photo's of the grandchildren and I've packed them away, we have a few things to hang on the wall, our new light fittings are again very simple, it's going to look very uncluttered. 

Daughter came to visit on Wednesday with Molly, both boys were in school, Molly is so very different without George, she wants to know everything, and is non stop chatter. George has settled into school much better than we expected, he is talking and being understood more (mainly because Molly is not there to talk for him), and is already following set books and starting to write letters and numbers, when I visited on Tuesday evening, he got out his reading bag for us to look at his school books together. Daughter had a parents evening chat with Will's teacher, he has settled into his junior class and is doing well, so daughter is a happy mummy, who sadly is full of cold, now positive for covid. 

We have had rain every morning this week, happily there is nothing to do in the garden, hardly any leaves falling, we just sit inside and watch the tiny birds, our feeders are very busy. I'm not complaining as the events from Florida are shown on TV, we are so lucky not to have flooding issues.

With George at school and Molly enjoying pre-school 3 days a week, we don't see our little people enough, we are both very happy they are all enjoying their new lives, we have a hole to fill, we have a few things coming up, but for now it's home alone.