A week in the life: 19th March 2017

This week I have mostly been... a bit poorly. Nothing major, 'just' a sore throat, but enough that I've been going to bed a couple of hours earlier than planned, and getting up as late as I can get away with. And as a result the days have been shorter and I feel like I haven't got a huge amount done. Not nothing though, here's what I have achieved!

Working in a sunny spot

There has been sunshine! And while I did have work to do so couldn't go out and revel in it too much (it's still not warm, in spite of the sunshine), I did manage to find a sunny corner to do some work in one morning this week, which was lovely. I also treated myself to some new pens; my favourites are cheap Bic biros, and I was delighted to find a pack containing pink, purple, green and blue ones. No more notes in boring colours for me!

Pink socks and A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Second

My pink socks have been on and off the needles several times, but I think this time they are right. I'm now knitting them one at a time as knitting two at a time was affecting my gauge. The colour is wonderfully uplifting, but this is as much progress as I've made on these socks this week as I haven't finished writing the pattern, so some rounds require more brain power than my brain has seemed capable of this week. I really hope to finish the pair next week.

I am on to the second book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, and while I'm enjoying them I am not getting through them as fast as I thought I might. This may be a rare occasion when I liked the film (TV series) better than the book. The TV series is more fleshed out, while the book is very much the bare bones. I will read them all, but might be on a bit of break as soon as I've finished the second.

Swatcher's block. Cake cures everything, right?

Thursday was when my throat was at its worst, so while I tried to do some work at home - swatching - it just wasn't working. I decided to call it a day and went for a walk instead. As is often the case, a bit of fresh air made a huge difference, and I sat in a coffee shop for a bit knitting a swatch that did what I wanted it to, while eating a delicious bakewell tart.

Hot cross buns are always a winner

I know hot cross buns are available all year, but I only ever buy them around Easter. They're one of my favourite breakfast foods, especially when toasted. I'm sure I'll be enjoying plenty more of these over the next few weeks. At home when I was little we used to make hot cross  every Good Friday, and I think I might reinstate that tradition this year; nothing smells better than freshly baked bread.

Splish splash!

The weather this week has been a bit of a mish-mash, but my youngest was delighted when our walk to the shops on Saturday involved a fair portion of muddy puddles to splash in! These wellies have been a delight, and get many admirers while we're out and about; this weekend was their final outing as they're getting rather snug. We bought some new Paw Patrol ones, but they're just not as good.

Anyone for lemon cake(s)?

We had guests yesterday, so I picked up some cake while I was at the shops. Apparently I had lemons on my mind as there was definitely a theme! The lemon fondant fancies are my favourites and I always make sure I pick up at least one box while they're available. I am still baffled as to why Mr Kipling don't have three lemon ones in a regular box; the strawberry ones are just weird!

Homemade lemon drizzle cake

The lemons became a lemon drizzle cake, which is one of my favourites. I always use the recipe from Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell (I've just looked it up and it might be out of print. Boo.). I know several of my friends have bought copies on my recommendation, and I haven't had any complaints yet...

Monogamous knitting makes things grow faster, apparently

Yesterday I decided to work solely on my Sockmatician Sockalong socks as I want to get them off the needles. I went from the toe to the heel yesterday; apparently working on one item at a time means you actually feel like you're achieving something. Maybe I should do that more often!

What have you been up to this week?

A week in the life: 10th February 2017

This week hasn't been the best (hence the long delay between posts). We had the death of a close family member last week, and I had an job interview that I didn't get. I'm trying not to dwell on either of these things, but the week hasn't been as bright and sunny as I'd have liked.

The week hasn't been all bad though. Friends have come to my support, and a lot of my knitting work has been sample knitting with friends in pubs and cafes. This means I have finished the new sample for my Lynda socks (the pattern is currently out for testing, and the pattern will be available from my Ravelry store very soon), and am very near the end of the first sock in the second design of the collection.

Lynda socks in my size!

I've been working on a new blanket design too, and am now 40 rows from the end of the charted section and am delighted with how it looks. I'm really hoping to get the blanket finished by the end of the weekend (and then for some better weather so I can take some decent photos; it is sleeting as I write this and has been all morning).

New blanket design in progress

The socks of doom are off the needles and only need their ends to be darned in before I declare them complete, and I have finally cast on a pair of socks for my husband: I had started knitting him socks in this yarn (a self-striping yarn by Mothy and The Squid) last year, but the second sock came out smaller than the first, so I'm knitting these two at a time in the hope that they will match!

My socks so far this year

The next few weeks may not be the easiest, but I have a few things to be looking forward to, including spending half term with my children, so it's not all doom and gloom.

What have you been up to over the past couple of weeks?

A week in the life: 31st January 2017

The past week has been full of many tiny moments that have filled me with joy, and as we're in the depths of winter here in the U.K., and the world's political situation is not what I would wish for, I thought I would share some of these moments with you.

A friend on Instagram has just started selling Jamberry wraps and held a little competition to identify the wraps she was wearing. I won! And received a lovely little package containing half a sheet of wraps (enough for a full manicure and pedicure) and a sheet of samples. I've not used the full set yet, but have used a couple of the samples as accent nails and am really pleased with how they look (they've had lots of compliments). If you fancy getting hold of some for yourself, head to Natasha's Jamberry page.

My friend Amy sent me an unexpected parcel containing two of the Enid Blyton parodies that came out for the Christmas market. I've just finished Five Give Up The Booze and loved it, so am very much looking forward to reading the second. The parcel also contained a ball of yarn sew-on patch that I will one day add to my camp blanket!

The postman has had a busy week, as I also received thank you letters from afar, including a parcel from Nikki that contained a book by Scarlett Thomas, whose work I love (I will confess to already owning the book, but it has reminded me that it's been a long time since I've read it, so I've added the new copy to the reading pile), and two mini balls of sock yarn to add to my sock yarn blanket.

Last week at my regular knitting group a friend noticed that my hands were looking rather dry and cracked, and when I next saw her on the school run she handed me a pot of handmade hand cream. It's working wonders. Another thing that is working wonders is covering the cut on my finger with micropore tape - it's enough to help my finger recover without stopping me from knitting! I'm glad I mentioned it on the blog, as the recommendation came from a comment on here that Rachelle left for me. This has also allowed me to make huge progress with my socks. I'm only working a stripe every day or two, but am getting through them - they're doing much better than they were a couple of weeks ago!

What little things have added joy to your week?

A week in the life: 19th January 2017

Another busy week here, so there's been rather more than a week between weekly posts, oops!

Last week was crazy busy. Last Thursday was my PhD graduation ceremony, so I got to spend the day prancing around in a silly hat and fancy gown (at one point I even had a wand! Nothing to do with the ceremony) in the wonderful surroundings of Durham Cathedral. I had a last minute panic about what to wear when I realised how little of my outfit would be covered by the gown, so made a dash to Next the evening before to buy a black dress, and had to buy a black jacket on the morning of the ceremony as it was freezing when I got up (and snowing, which was fortunately short-lived, but I did have to walk very carefully to the bus stop as I was in danger of falling over in my heels! The day was lovely, especially as my parents had come up for the week so they could attend.

Not everything last week was excellent; my husband was in a car crash early in the week, and while he's absolutely fine the car is not and has gone off to be scrapped. This has left me without a car, and while I live on a bus route  it's still a little annoying as everything is taking longer than usual. In addition my son and I have both been a little poorly, nothing more than colds, but enough to wipe us out for a few days. I think we're all better now though, and are starting to make progress on sourcing a new car, so things are definitely not all bad.

Over the past few weeks we've started reading the Harry Potter books to my son. We're only on the first (and might pretend for a while that the later ones don't exist as I'm pretty sure he'll find them scary), and I am loving revisiting the series. So on Saturday night I rewatched the first film (for vetting purposes). I'm not sure I've watched it since I saw it in the cinema in 2001 (?!), and it is as wonderful as a I remember, so that pleased me hugely. I'm looking forward to watching the later films.

I have managed to make some decent progress on some crafts over the past week or so. My finger has heeled (finally), and I have finished the first pair of socks of the year. They're in Regia Stripemania Colour, which is a DK weight yarn, and have gone in the gifting pile. I cast another pair of socks on the bus on the way to graduation, and even though that was a week ago I have made so little progress they're not worth showing!

At the weekend I got some long overdue pattern cutting done. I've been meaning to make a dress for my friend's daughter for ages, and when I finally got round to cutting the pattern out I realised I needed to cut out the largest size. Isn't the fabric lovely though? And as they live in Australia I don't need to worry about the baby keeping warm.

I have also been cracking on with lots of design work, especially this week as I'm back into the normal routine. I am about to cast on a new blanket, and am halfway through a pair of socks. Nothing to share now, but there will be soon.

This week I made an Instagram-enabled purchase. I've been following Yarnistry for a while (I mentioned them in my Christmas gift list last year), and earlier in the week she posted a photo of her new glittery dinosaur stitch markers. I was completely powerless to resist, and was delighted when they arrived in their holographic posting envelope. And I love them. They'll definitely be used on the next project I cast on.

Last night I made an impromptu visit to the cinema. I'd seen trailers for La La Land, but not with the sound on, and knew I wanted to see this film. It's a romance and a musical, set in present day Hollywood about a wannabe actress (Mia) and a purist Jazz-enthusiast (Sebastian) who dreams of setting up his own Jazz club. I loved everything about this film. The set piece at the start really gets you in the mood for the film. The whole thing is beautifully acted, and the costumes are wonderful - there is so much colour in his film. It is strongly reminiscent of old-school musicals, with the likes of Doris Day, with both ballroom and tap dancing. The film is about the power of dreams and ambition, but also how these can be interrupted by real life things like having to pay the rent. The ending of the film is wonderful, yet it made me cry so much! This film is one I will watch again; it's perfect. 

The film also left me for a hankering for a dark green silk dress and a new red handbag. In fact I loved Mia's whole wardrobe, in its pallets of bright primaries. The school run this morning did, however, remind me that while floaty dresses may be suited to the Hollywood climate all year round, they're not practical in Durham; it was freezing this morning!

That's it from me this week. What's everyone else been up to?

A week in the life: 8th January 2017

I've decided that this year I will try and post a few more progress shots of projects, rather than just declaring them done before I show pictures, so thought I would start by trying a little round-up post for the week.

This week has been a busy one, with the kids going back to school and nursery, and I've had lots of little bits and pieces to catch up on that didn't get done over the holidays. I have enjoyed being in one place for the whole week and not having to travel the length of the country.

My main project this week has been a sample for a new design for a magazine, so I can't show you more than these two pictures (it's seamed, and is purple), but now that's done, and I have been working on some things I can show you.

I've been working on my Toft chameleon. Progress is a little slow as I can't work on him while I watch TV (I have have to look at crochet all the time, and as every round is different, it takes a lot of concentration). I have made it to the neck, and finally made a start on stuffing him yesterday, only to realise that I really ought to have started that step rather earlier! I had to use the blunt end of a knitting needle on the inside of the piece to poke the stuffing into the tail, and then the pointy end of the knitting needle to shuffle the stuffing around from the outside of the tail to give it a good shape. So fiddly! But worth it; the tail looks pretty fab now.

My out and about knitting is the pair of socks I started during the holidays. I've not made much progress, but feel I ought to get cracking on them as they're currently housed in a Christmas project bag, and I don't want to hunt out a more seasonally-appropriate one.

Annoyingly I've injured my 'pushing finger' (the one that I use to push the stitch off the needle when I've finished the stitch, so I constantly have a plaster on that finger (it is healing, but very slowly, occasionally I forget about it, remove the plaster, then promtly stab myself again and am back to sqaure one), which is starting to get annoying. Hopefully it'll be better soon.

Yesterday I cast on a new project: a jumper for me! It's a reimagining of the Antler cardigan I cast on last year, then decided that I wanted it to be a jumper instead, and a bit bigger. I have knitted as far as the elbow on the first sleeve, but the only photo I have shows way to much of the chaos on my living room floor, so I'll wait until I've done a it more before sharing any photos.

I have managed to stick to my target of reading for 15 minutes every day (though not necessarily by going to bed earlier - I slept for longer into this morning than I meant to, oops), and have finished my first book of the year: The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan. I started reading the book over Christmas, and enjoyed it. It's part of the Rosie Hopkins' series (not that it matters - there's a series summary at the start of the book), and is a light, easy read. The surprises start pretty near the start of the book, so there's not much I can tell you about the story, but it's lovely and heart-warming, defintely one of the better examples of chick-lit out there.

Hope you'vbe had a good week this week. What have you been up to?