Oh so cold.

Tuesday morning, we did have more snow over night, but as you see we have missed most of it, which has disappointed Will so much. It was gone by early afternoon. It's just so cold, the house is lovely and warm, we are getting up later in the mornings, still giving me loads of time for reading and crafts.

Book 11, it was an interesting read, a book of 2 stories, the police and the bad guys, very honest as different people get caught up in the plot. It's one of a set, so other books would be easy to read as the same police officers will have a different case. I've now gone back to the last author to read the final 2 books written so far, for once I want to read what happens next. 

1st of SIL socks is finished, I am going to cast on the 2nd sock, should have done it brfore but I've been reading, his sock looks huge but the stretcher is for my size so not really working for his bigger size. 

I am loving my warm handknitted jumpers, I made this one a couple of years ago and have not worn it much, last winter was really mild. Please note hubby photo bombing.

This week is a stay at home, keep warm and find things to do, which for me is easy, I have so many crafts, knitting is top at the moment, but I have pulled another cross stitch WIP out to finish this month. I have to go out on Saturday for my covid jab, at 65 I was not expecting to be called anytime soon, but our local GP practice put a note on the local Facebook page in my age group (65-70) asking people to come forward for their jab, without hesitation I booked my appointment. 

Its a bad few weeks for my weight loss, I am craving sugar fixes, which for me means chocolate, and I am giving in to them, Cadbury cream eggs are top of the list, I normally try not to have these before March, but I can't resist them this year. Hubby is good, he not a chocolate person, but I see him shake his head every time I reach for a fix. 

Hubby and I were talking on how well/poorly we have been on various issues we wanted to change, we are pleased with stopping unnecessary 1 use plastics coming into our home, using our local shop is brilliant we take our own containers. We both are now wearing most of the contents of our wardrobe, reusing everything we can, less things coming into our home, we are not perfect at this, but much better than we were. But both agreed we are slipping on our meat free days, we both understand how much resources are required in the production of meat, we mainly eat chicken and fish, but we are not sticking to meat free days, so we agreed from 1st of March we would be vegetarian for 2 days each week, which is where we wanted to be, neither of us want to go fully vegetarian, but we both feel strongly on the need to cut back meat production. We do not eat such big portions, and often we get 4 portion and split them into 3 portions for us to share, we do have some lovely recipes, but hubby is looking for more, winter months with all the comfort foods had been harder for us. I do feel if everyone was able to be plant based 1 or 2 days every week it would help with so many things, including global warming, which would be easier than asking everyone to give up meat. The other subject I feel strongly on is the production of cheap food, it is very hard to value food which has cost so much to produce, but sells so cheaply, the amount if food wasted in the home, thrown out not used is discusting and I know most of you reading this do not waste food. But again if it cost more, the producers would have a fair price, the cost would match most of UK suppliers, less food miles, and less waste at home. Sorry packed my soap box away. 

What next

I have started another pair of socks, these are for SIL, he loves the socks I made him for Christmas and is always wearing them, he is working at home, so I said I would make a couple more pairs. I purchased the yarn last month, knowing he would love the bright colours. 

Books 1 and 2 of a new to me crime author, easy reads, not too gory, books 9 and 10 for this year, read on my kindle, next I will pick one from my library books. 

I made my jumper to use this hand dyed yarn, and sadly the shade in this yarn blended too much with most of the colours I used in the jumper just finished, so I did not used as much as I expected, so I will have to think of another use for this beautiful soft yarn. 

I have used this as a project basket next to my chair for years, but in truth, it's far too small, so I have changed the use and popped all my smaller books and patterns inside, now when George gets close to my stuff, it can be picked up in one move and looks much neater and tidy. I am now using a hand made bag made back in 2017, it's huge and perfect for the task. 

When it's cold outside your new handmade jumper with hand knitted socks are perfect, and when later I sit and read, I have my hand crochet lap blanket, I timed the finish of this jumper to perfection. Please note my hair is still looking good, I last had it cut in early December, it's now a long bob.

Another stay at home weekend, daughter popped in with a bit of shopping, our support bubble works both ways. Plenty of reading and knitting time, whilst hubby watched rugby on TV, he's happy Wales won their match. Hubby has had his cataract sorted in his right eye on Friday, it was a short procedure at our local eye hospital, the left does not need doing, so we are being careful for a while, already he says he can see much better. 

Monday we woke up to snow, just a very light dusting, which hung around all morning, not enough to settle, but enough to make Will very excited. I did have to pop to town, the car is due it's MOT on 16th, we called our local garage at end of Jan, they suggested we called back nearer the date, we called on Friday (5th) to be told they were fully booked until past the due date, not amused comes to mind. I popped to a couple of shops, to pick up a few items, and then back home, it was bloody cold outside ( soft southerner comes to mind, it was about -4)

So no plans to go out today, not sure if we will see Daughter and grandsons, today or tomorrow, plans are to stay inside in the warm, the temperature has dropped and with the wind it is cold outside. We had another sprinkling of snow last night, not enough to turn everywhere white, and it's very crunchy feels more like ice than snow. 

I do have to get 2 new tyres next week, they did not have the ones we wanted in stock, car passed its Mot, so very pleasing. On a better note our local doctors surgery has invited all over 65 for their covid jab, mine is booked for Saturday, they are ahead of most other places. 

Another finish

My jumper is finished, I used Drops Baby Merino 4ply and knitted in the round, the pattern was for DK, but I managed to size it correct using another 4 ply neck down knitted pattern. I'm glad I stuck with 4ply, this is a very warm jumper, I changed the design from a short sleeved short summer jumper into a warmer style. 

I decided to make the sleeves my own design, I had to ensure I cast off enough stitches to not make the cuff bulky, the sleeves were 90 stitched round and I took them down to 60 stitches, but could only decrease once finished with the patterns, I love the pink and blue on each sleeve.

The underarms on a knitted down jumper can be tricky, often there are gaps as stitches stretch, so as I was sewing in the ends I did a darn along this area to ensure there are no thin patches.  

So the finished jumper, not to everyone's taste, but I do love it, the fit is good, the colour design sits together when worn, so for me this is a win. I would use this pattern again, the details can be found here, but the style is very different than my jumper. 

Having made a knit down jumper knitted in the round, so there are no stitching up to do, which I always hate and I never make it as tidy as it should be, these are the ends I had to sew in after all the colour changes.

I really love this soft yarn, it's 100% wool and with being baby wool it has less lanolin, which always gives me issues, so I am able to wear for longer. I used about 100 grm ball of each colour, which means I have loads left and could make another jumper, for now it's all back in my stash. 

I started knitting on 20th of January, so a very quick knit, the only shaping was on the yoke down to the sleeve separation and at the bottom of the sleeves, the pattern was so simple, just 6 rows of 1st colour, add 2nd colour and work 7 rows of 'k3 1st colour, k3 2nd colour', repeat until end, then 6 rows of 2nd colour, just ensuring the loops at the back are not too tight, I could knit whilst watching TV. In our 3rd lockdown having plenty of time, I knitted most days, it grew very quickly. The hardest part was ensuring I got the size right as I was using 4ply and not double knitting yarn. I did not over think the colour selections, what to put where, I did use 7 shades the original design only had 5, I had planned not to use the blues, but they added to the design. The back neck fits perfectly, the design uses a German turn and add system, which builds the back neck higher, it does feel much better. 

So my 2nd finish of 2021 is a success, and just in time for the cold weather due this week.

Blooms inside

I have popped these silk flowers back into this jug, it sits on the kitchen window sill, and add a bit of colour, these flowers are 3 years old, when not in use I store them in huge plastic bags to stop the dust getting in, they are in storage longer than they are out. The last of the Christmas greenery is packed away, it was Candlemas day earlier this week and old traditions says all decorations should be removed by this day. 

My new Orchid, purchased last week is looking good, it was signed as having 2 stems, but this was one of many with 3 stems, I love white Orchids, these will bloom for months and make the £7 spent on the plant very good value. The 2nd photo are the resting plants in the corner of the sitting room next to the patio doors for light and behind our sofa for safety. 

My nastie (cactus) jar is doing well, I made this a couple of years ago, when you could pop to a shop and purchase items. The 2nd plant is my coffee plant, these were purchased as a small plant in a coffee mug, they were crammed in and I decided to see how far I can get these to grow. 

Plants in our sunny office area always do well, I have tucked the string of pearls in Betty's hair back up, I would rather wait a bit longer for her hair and have really thick strands. The 2nd plant is my baby pineapple plant, I purchased the mother plant and the small fruit did not fair well, but the plant had babies, this is the best so far, I have 1 other in the greenhouse.  

It's a beautiful sunny morning after heavy rain in the early hours of the morning, it's still cold and we have been promised it will get colder over the next couple of days, there is snow in our weather forecaste, but I am not expecting much, we are shielded from most weather by the Isle of Wright, we last had snow 2 years ago and then not much. 

I am hoping to knit more on my jumper, I have just the rib on the body to finish, not my favourite and I intend to make the rib longer, to match the style of the jumper, the patter was for a short summer jumper, mine is a long winter style. I have caste on another pair of colourful socks, and I have started another book. 

Not much happens here, no visit's as hubby has a hospital appointment this afternoon, so we have stayed at home and not seen anyone. We do spend time watching the small birds in our garden, their feeders are always full, so they know a visit is always good, I can spend hours looking out at our garden.