Tangled

I'm starting with the positive.

Some time before Christmas I showed some sneaky little pictures of some Christmas knitting here. Now they've been and gone and been merrily received I can do a g-r-a-n-d r-e-v-e-e-e-e-a-l.

First there was this.

Which turned into a crochet shawl for mum.

Ravelry details here.

Then this.

A hat for Big Sis' big squeeze.

Followed by these.

A couple of happy dishcloths for the lovely Gloria over at Canela Kitchen. A blogger who I was fortunate to be paired with for Amy's Christmas card swap.

But that's where the woolly wonders finish. I've gone off at a bit of a tangent and got myself in a right royal twiddle.

I decided that I could easily knock up a pair of socks for Big Sis in time for the big day.

I was only half way through sock one when I lost three of the needles.

I decided to fall back on my tried and tested 'easy armwarmer' pattern. 

One down one to go.

Now I know at this point there will be some of you thinking 'why doesn't she just get that other armwarmer finished and then think about starting something else?' 

I'll tell you why.

I'm a terrible flitter.

I saw Teresa's lovely diagonal crochet hotpad and at once requested the pattern. The lovely lady that she is immediately obliged and I had visions of snuggling under a diagonal afghan by the end of the month.

This is the result so far.

I'm sorry Teresa - I will keep trying!

But to top it all. The knotted turret atop the castle built out of confused yarn (I really don't know where that analogy came from). The project that I got so excited about that I sent off for some new interchangeable needles.

Was this.

Can you guess what it is yet?

How about now?

No? 

It's a miracle way of knitting socks that means you can knit two at a time via a magic loop.

Honest.

It's just having a few technical problems.

Anyhow I know the question you'll all really want the answer to. You're wondering what that metal wire type thing is loitering on the edge of my dubious quality photographs.

Do you really want to know?

Really?

Go on have a guess.

I'll tell you next time!

If I'm not completely tangled up in wool that is.

Oh dear.

Jane

xxx

Shhhhh!

I've been busy.

Organising squirrels.

Secret squirrels. 

Which means I can't show you this

or this

And there's no way I can divulge these little treats

No way Jose.

What I can show you however is this

?

A tray of onions.

After paying £2 for four teeny tiny caramelised onions at the weekend I thought I'd have a go at making my own. The recipe is easy. Just empty bag of onions and bung in to a hot oven. They're smelling pretty tasty.

What could possibly go wrong?

!

Wish me luck.

And shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Jane

xxx 

Just not feeling it ...

... are you?

I've been trying ever so hard.

Maybe it's the unseasonally warm weather we've been experiencing.

Or the fact that frosts haven't yet forced my pelargoniums inside.

But I just haven't got the Christmas bug. 

Not yet.

There are three separate Christmas productions going on at school.

And glitter abounds.

But even though the beautiful strains of 'The Snowman' keeps echoing down the halls  I'm still not 'getting it'.

This morning we received our first Christmas card. I've put it next to our gorgeous smelling mulled wine candle (I told you I was trying) on the mantelpiece in an attempt to ramp up the Christmas cheer - but no. Nothing.

The ingredients for the Christmas cake - usually mixed together with great competitive fervour in anticipation of winning our annual 'cake off' - are gathering dust behind the fruit bowl.

Don't get me wrong. I like Christmas. My singalong songs during December vary from anything between 'In the Bleak Midwinter' to 'All I want for Christmas - is Yoooooou' (for which I apologise). But I think that might be the point. It's still November.

I have many dear friends who already have presents wrapped and cards sent. But for me Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the mad dash around the shops hours before the big day. 

Something needs to snap into place. Just like the urge to plant seeds hits me in the Spring, and making jam is an absolute must in Autumn.

So what have I been doing?

Well I've made a couple of happy purchases.

Look at this set of pretty glasses. £2.50 for six!

Surely these will twinkle perfectly against the fairy lights on Christmas Eve?

And I had to snap up this sign for £1.

Who wouldn't want a knitted brassiere - that fits!

I've gathered the last of our apples.

Made lots of soups.

And been fascinated by the rate this hyacinth bulb has put down it's roots.

I've also been doing a bit of crochet. I love the idea of having a snuggly wrap around shawl for the colder evenings.

With a chunky wool and 7mm hook this is building up really quickly.

I've also been tempted by the new Rosie Mitts pattern by Pink Milk.

The embroidered rose detail is so sweet.

So there we go. I'm not complaining. In fact as I sit typing this I'm being bathed in the most glorious winter sunshine. Mr K is down at the allotment adding finishing touches to the shed and I'm about to don my wellies and wander down with emergency coffee. 

I'll try and spot some robins!

Jane 

xxx

I've Finished a Thing!!!

Now just in case you think you must have stumbled in to the wrong blog I would like to assure you that it is I - dreamer of many things, starter of some and finisher of few - who has indeed completed 'a thing'! I bought this wool at the Bakewell Wool Gathering last year and swore I would have it all wrapped up and round my neck by December. What I hadn't considered was that it might be the following December. It's a wonderfully soft Blue Faced Leicester twist - not sure of any of the other details now as the ball band disappeared into the pale blue yonder many moons ago. 

The one on the left!

As you can see from this little chap this is not his natural colour.

Image courtesy of  cottontailcrafts.co.uk

It had been hand dyed a rich orange with a mottled effect. Because of this I decided to stick to a straightforward moss stitch. I cast on fifty five stitches on 4mm needles and just went for it. Obviously the repetitive nature of this became stultifyingly boring after a while, which may have explained it's absence from my list of priorities.

To 'tidy up' the edges I slip stitched around with a 4mm crochet hook, and added a little bit of extra detail with some teeny tiny loops at each end.

Overall I'm really pleased with it. It could have been a bit longer but to be honest it's snuggly, it's warm and it it's a perfect contrast for my new to me five pound coat!

Bad picture alert - it's tipping down outside
and  try as I might I can't get these colours to
ring true
- the coat is actually teal!

If Maud had thumbs they would both be up!

I'm busy beavering away at something else at the moment for which I'm trying to write a tutorial. Crikey! Hopefully I'll be able to tell all soon.

Wishing you all warm and well.

Jane

xxx

Thanks to all of you who contributed to my last post - stories are still appearing in the comments section so do go and have a look if you fancy a 'spooky' fix!

Catch up!

You'd think that my excuse for being absent for such a long time might be really interesting. Perhaps I've been hiking the Himalayas or rescuing rare sloths from the forests of Peru. In that case I must apologise. Life at the moment has just quietly been slipping by and before you know where you are it's the middle of August. 

Summer holidays always mean particular things for us. All year we'll discuss things that might need doing in the house and happily put it on our 'to do in the holidays' list. This allows us to feel like we are actually addressing certain issues in a methodical manner without actually lifting a finger. Needless to say the list is never finished. But we have been busy decorating. Want to see?

This is my favourite bit at the moment. Or at least it was until Mum told me it was the same colour as a double yellow line. And yes the picture is a bit dark and a bit wonky but I was trying to focus whilst sitting on the piano. Poor Jessie dog didn't know what was happening. I suppose I should have closed the lid first.

I don't have a photo of our living room but that's now a lovely sash red - strangely making me look forward to cold Winter days when we can light candles and have a crackling fire! And then there's the perennial glossing - yawwwwwwwwwwwwn.

Back to Summer!

We've had a fair few day trips. Last week we visited Biddulph Grange in a vain attempt to actually make use of our National Trust membership. It was beautiful. 

This bit however is always my favourite.

Although feeding the fish was a close second!

We also enjoyed a trip to Ludlow which took us through the most stunning Shropshire scenery. I thought of  the lovely Dorothy as we passed the turn for Blists Hill. We bought sweet peas from the market - aaaaah the fragrance - frequented the charity shops (for that is the law), and wandered along past the castle to the river. I wish I could show you the pictures but no - they are stuck on my little iPad thing and I haven't got a clue how to get them off. They are very nice though! 

 Back home the obligatory holiday jigsaw is taking up the kitchen table.

Anyone else enjoy a good jigsaw? Mr K is baffled by them and can not understand why you would spend so much time putting something together that ultimately gets taken apart again!

 And crochet? Ah yes there has been a little of that. Inspired by Jennifer I decided to make a start on the Flowers in the Snow blanket. Now bear in mind that my half finished king size ripple is approaching it's third birthday you might have thought that I would concentrate my efforts on getting that finished but no - not me - I delved into my stash and happily started crocheting little round flower things.

Only one hundred and fifty to go!

Other than that there isn't much more to report. Poor old mum hasn't been too well and is waiting for a pacemaker, and poor old Jessie dog is still struggling with her arthritis. But we're lucky - some of the news stories of late serve to prove that.

So there we go. An uneventful catch up perhaps but a catch up nonetheless!

Hopefully next time there might be something more exciting to report.

In the mean time - what would you do with this marrow?

Jane

xxx