I'm determined to catch up with everyone over the weekend. This week, well, I watched an instalment of Welcome to Wrexham and did a little knitting with the yarn I picked up a few months ago from Aldi.
The rest of the week, well, there's been issues with the writing stuff and it currently looks like this.
Hopefully back soon.
Hugs and good health to all.
It's been a scattered couple of days. Whenever I started doing something, I've been interrupted. Today it was a very lovely man installing a new alarm system. I've got all sorts of writing stuff that I want to do, but I'm getting disrupted from, and I don't know if I'm coming or going.
I'm not impressed with the new yarn. I think I've been here before. I bought this yarn thinking that it was one solid strand with pretty bits. Instead, it's awful to work with. So far, it looks like this.
And I think I'm just under a quarter of the yarn in.
The smaller ball is much looser and feels significantly lighter.
I feel like if I knit it, it will be like my Everest - knitting it because it's there. It will be an achievement. I'm not sure that I'll want to wear it, as it's scratchy. I can't imagine using it as a decoration for anything, even though it's shiny. I don't bother with fancy gift wrap and I don't do much crafting apart from knitting. At this point, I wonder why I want to invest time in it, apart from the challenge, which I'm loathing.
I decided that I was feeling called to knit a blanket. I had a rummage around the back of cupboards and found a project that I abandoned a while ago. It's knitted in stocking stitch with two strands.
I've cut the yarn and I'm starting with new yarn, and I'll join it up and knit from the piece once I've got to the ends of the cones. I thought that the stocking or stockinette stitch wasn't working, and, besides, I wanted something to knit while watching Welcome to Wrexham, so I settled down to cast on loads of stitches. I haven't written off the fancy yarn yet, but I'm considering options.
Writing stuff - nothing today, but yesterday I posted an article in the Research and the Author series, which you can find here. I was reminded by a post on Reddit where inaccuracy in costumes had irritated a reader so that they couldn't finish the book. I thought that it was worth a quick mention that it's good to check on details, even if you think you know - I would absolutely got that detail wrong, but that's why I'm carefully vague about a lot of things.
That's 200g of yarn (no idea of the yardage), 32 inches long, around 81cm, and roughly the same wide. It's lovely and snuggly and I plan to use it.
Co-incidentally, look what arrived today after a moment of weakness.
I didn't realise that it was multistranded.
I guess that I'm making a scarf. If I can knit it, I know that I'll wear it, but that's if I can knit it. Wish me luck.
Hugs and good health to all
I wanted to do so much more today than I managed. Still, I've got some things to post. Perhaps the biggest event from last week was my washing up bowl developing a split in the base. I haven't got a dishwasher, and I don't have a second bowl to the sink, so I like to have a washing up bowl so I can dump the slops down the side of the sink as I'm washing up. DH leaves a surprising amount of coffee in his cup. If I was organised and sensible, it wouldn't matter, but I'm not organised and rarely sensible.
I ordered a fresh one online. I mentioned that I wasn't sensible. My sink is quite small, so I can't just get any bowl. However, I got a couple of sheets of kitchen roll, roughly measured it against the old bowl and folded it to size. Then I brought it upstairs where my knitting tape measure was and measured the kitchen roll. This was not a good plan. The bowl that arrived is amazing, waterproof, and fits easily into the bowl. Sadly, it's too small to hold one of our dinner plates.
This, to me, is two shopping opportunities. One is obviously to get a bigger bowl. The other is the possibility of replacing my plates. I broke a cereal bowl a couple of weeks ago, the pasta dishes are looking the worse for wear and at least one has a major chip - very visible when it's white pottery under a black glaze. The plates are also showing signs of scratches. And a smaller dinner plate is supposed to help with portion control, which I absolutely need. I ordered another washing up bowl, but I've held back on the table ware. The plates and stuff weren't expensive and we've had them a few years, but it seems a waste to buy new if we don't need to. But on the other hand... That was the drama of our weekend.
Writing adjacent - I got a chance at an advertising slot for a very reasonable amount on a YouTube Channel called AshLG. They run a sewing channel, and yes, I am not much to do with sewing but they are entertaining, pragmatic and cover a lot of historical and fantasy costumes. And the adverts, including my slot, are at 15:45 on this video.
I had no pics, but was determined to post, so I went out and spent a few minutes in the garden. It started like this.
It ended like this.
And I got nettled as I went, but while you can barely see the difference, I did more than nothing. If all I manage is five minutes at a time, it's better than no time at all. I wouldn't even have done that if it wasn't for this blog.
Besides, the lilac is gorgeous
The yellow rose is flourishing.
The tyre is from when I had the honeysuckle planted against the fence, years ago, back in 2015. They looked lovely when they were first done.
But time took it's toll, and most were evicted. Here's a pic from a few years later which is too cute not to share.
The tyre is the last left. Bear evicted it when he cleared out the honeysuckle. It will find it's way to the tip, but it's the pot that's the problem.
Many, many, many years ago, I planted a rosemary in there. I neglected it, and it became too entrenched in the pot, straggly and woody. I've been trying to dig the dratted thing out for ages, now I'm reduced to turning it upside down and hoping that gravity will kick in. I want to get the plant out, refill with decent growing medium and plant something new there. If I can't get the soil out, I can see me resorting to a hammer to crack open the pot and get rid of it that way!Here's hoping for more pics tomorrow. Thank you.
Well, it was a normal Wednesday followed by a normal Thursday.
Yesterday I started to pot up the two eau de cologne mint plants that I bought.
I want them outside the kitchen window to keep away the flies. I dug out two large planters, because they're mint and I know how it can get, and then dragged over a bag of compost that must have been sitting there for years. Or tried to. The dratted thing had already split and there were miscellaneous roots going through it. I still heaved it out, cut it open, flinched at the creepy crawlies, and split it between the two planters. They were maybe a third full, which is completely insufficient. Then it started to rain heavily so I gave in.
Today I found a coir brick in the walk in cupboard. It's one of those where you add water and the brick magically becomes soil.
That was this morning, it isn't soil but solidly brick like despite the water, and I nearly broke my neck slipping on the water I spilled trying to rehydrate the dratted thing - see, normal Thursday.
I'm full of the sniffles and fed up. I've got some other coir bricks, and if they fail, there's soil in the garden I can use. I'll have another go tomorrow.
I've done a little more on the emotional support shawl, and I'm feeling better for it. I've done about two inches, which is a lot for that many stitches, and hopefully I'll post a pic tomorrow.
Writing stuff - the reason why I've been a little distracted is I've been planning out some writing, and you can see my provisional plans here - Provisional Plans or What Might be Going On. But I'm guaranteeing nothing.
Hugs and good health to all.
I've not done enough on the emotional support shawl (superb name, Kirsten) to make it worth taking a pic, but I'm keeping on. Instead I took this picture.
It's at least ten years since I bought the greetings card, but I was sorting through things and it turned up. I dug out a frame and DH kindly put the pic in the frame and hung it up. It is so like evil cat. She could have posed for it, except normally she looked either angelic or evil. But the colouring is hers, and I can imagine stroking that incredible, silky soft fur.
Otherwise, it's been a quiet day with loads of writing stuff.
Hugs and good health to all.
