WIP Wednesday With a New Project and an Old One

Here we are back around to Wednesday already.  I have something new to show you first.  My Hitchhiker.  So far I am really enjoying the knitting.  It's a nice simple pattern and so will be a good one for taking to my knitting groups and for knitting in the day when the kids are around.

My second offering is my Ten Point 5 blanket.  It's been on the needles for a while now and though I've always viewed it as a long term project I would like progress to be a little faster than it currently is.  So I've dragged it out, photo'd it in it's present state and, for the moment, I'm thinking of coming back to it every month or so hopefully with some progress to show.

You can tell just how long term a project it is as I knit a project bag for it before I even cast it on.

And in case you were wondering about the Shawl of My Own Invention.  It's here, in soak waiting for me to go block it when I've finished playing on the computer.

To check out other works in progress go visit Tami's blog and follow the links.

Seven On Sunday

When I discovered the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week a while back I also found a blogging group on Ravelry which I have joined.  It's very interesting to read and I've found lots of other blogs to read through it.  I happily lurking earlier this week when I happened on an idea of Goodgonegirl (from Rav of course) who posts 7 Positive things each Friday.  I think this is a great idea (and I'm not the only one) particularly for me at the moment and I'm hoping it will help me to focus on the good stuff in my life and not just the hard parts.

Now I was all set to post this on Friday but then Blogger had some problems in the day and by the time it came back up I was in chilled mode and really not wanting to finish sorting this post out.  And then I had an idea.  Instead of a Positive Seven Friday I'm going to have a Sunday Seven.  Not every Sunday but hopefully most Sundays. 

So here are this weeks Positive Seven

1) Our mini Guerrilla Knitting group met on Monday evening.  Really it's just a few friends who get together for a drink and as we all knit we bring our knitting along for the trip.

2) We had a lovely walk home from school on Tuesday.  Bean held hands with me and at the same time with either Eldest or Middle.  We got lots of squeezes and hand kisses and even once had to stop for hugs too.

3) It's rained, mainly over the weekend and there was lots of it which is brilliant for the garden.  I've spent the last few days watching lots of new seedlings poke their tiny heads above ground.

4) I have finally done something to start sorting my head out.  It's been a very hard last few months and I've finally had to admit that I wasn't coping well and so I'm getting a bit of help.

5) I have new stash.  And at bargain prices too so I was able to get twice as much as I thought I'd be able to.  I went shopping at Stash in the Araucania Clearance Sale which I was directed to by Stitched-Together and another Ravely friend.  My parcel arrived very quickly and I am very pleased with it.  Just need to get knitting it now.

6) We treated the boys to the Lego Pirates of the Caribbean game and they were so pleased to get it they were speechless.  This never happens normally and it was lovely to see their excited faces when they realised what they'd been given.

7) Eldest and I went to town Saturday morning to have a wander round the shops and of course we went for coffee and cake in Costa.  I love being able to do that with her just a bit of Mama/Daughter time gives us a chance to chat and relax without the chaos of home and household jobs getting in the way.

Work In Progress Wednesday

I really can't believe that it is Wednesday again already.  In fact when I got up this morning and staggered downstairs to make lunch for the masses (at 7.00 in the morning 4 people seems like masses) I was genuinely surprised to find that it is indeed Wednesday.  I think this sadly says more about my mental health at the moment than how fast the week is going though.

Anyway onto the knitting.  I've been totally swept up in the Shawl of My Own Invention which I have been hugely enjoying.  I have a picture for you but I'm afraid it's pretty similar to the previous pictures I am hopeful though that the knitting will soon be done and the shawl on the blocking boards.  Probably not for this Friday but maybe for next.

If you want to see me work in progress then follow the links from Tami's blog.

Visitors to the Garden.

We got some much needed rain over the weekend.  It's been dry for weeks and we've been watering the pots and flower beds every couple of days which is OK but we don't water the grass and that was starting to look rather dry and certainly not very green.

Yesterday afternoon the world dried out again and the sun came back out and you could virtually watch the grass growing.  I'm hoping that I'm going to see lots of seedlings coming through in the next couple of days now they've had a good drink.

Or course the grass and flowers haven't been the only things to enjoy the rain.  Middle and Bean were fasinated with this snail and spent quite sometime encouraging him to slide onto their stick.  Normally I chuck snails into the composte bin in an effort to keep them away from my plants but I let this one just crawl away on his own.

 Of course the snails haven't been the only visitors to our garden.  Mr Miffy and I spotted these littlies one evening last week.  At this size I can cope with spiders quite well it's when they get bigger I tend to run away.

I took Bean outside to see them the next afternoon he was very impressed by the tiny spiders but less keen when they started casting their webs to get carried away on the breeze.

This Weeks Progress aka WIP Wednesday.

I've been really pleased with the progress of the Shawl of My Own Invention I'm loving the way the colours are coming out.  The bright green is seriously bright!  I'm sorted too with the pattern now so I think this will just be a case of knitting away until it is done.  Saying that though each row is over 200 stitches at this point so, as I'm not the fastest knitter, it takes a while to get through a row so I'm tending to only pick it up now when I've got a decent stretch of knitting time.

I've not got any pictures of progress from the Blue Bamboo (at least it's got a name now) as although I loved my swatch my swatch did not love either of the patterns I had in mind for it.  I had cast on (264 stitches) and I knit 6 rows during the Royal Wedding before deciding it wasn't working out.  My fabric was just too dense and was eating up the yarn and I knew I would never have enough to finish the top.  So I am back to swatching again, this time on bigger needles.  Fingers crossed eh?

To see other folks progress go visit Tami's Amis and follow the links.

Turning of the Season

It's very nearly the end of our Easter holidays in fact Mr Miffy went back to school today.  I'm missing him already, it seems a bit odd me and the kids home without him.

We've been very lucky this year, I think partly because Easter has been so late, and the weather has been fab.  The kids have spent hours out in the garden just having fun and mucking about which has been lovely.

Mr Miffy and I got out in the garden again this last weekend and so there are now tubs planted up with lettuce, radish and carrots.  The mini plot in the front garden has been planted up with beetroot.









Eldest and I also put some nastertians in her flower garden so grow around her willow tepees.


I love this time of year the garden is really waking up now as the new seasons comes alive.  I feel myself becoming more alive too.

I love lots of things about the winter those long afternoons curled up with a blanket knitting.  Walks in the snow.  The fact that I don't feel guilty for putting my PJ's on at 6.30 in the evening and settling down for the night.  A hot water bottle every night and my big heavy duvet on the bed.







However for all that there comes a point where I really need for it to stop raining and brighten up.  For the garden to dry out so I can hang washing on the line without needing to put my wellies on first.  For the flowers to bloom and the green to return.  For the smell of fresh cut grass and spring flowers.  For me to be able to leave the house without layers of jumpers and coats and gloves.

So here I am welcoming the turning of the year and looking forward to the coming summer and even more warmth yet I know by September I'll be longing for the nights to draw in so I can go back to my winter hibernation.

WIP Wednesday - Show and Tell

Well there is progress to show you with the Shawl of My Own Invention.  Not as much as there could have been as I frogged back all I had done before and started over.  My first effort wasn't quite working for me so I had a bit of a re-think and started over.  I'm much happier with how it is going now.

My second piece of show and tell for this week is a swatch. I don't normally swatch but as I'm hoping that this yarn will turn into a top I will want to wear I thought I had better make the effort this time.  I am really loving the fabric this yarn is producing so I'm hoping that this top turns out well.

To check up on other peoples progress this week go visit Tami's Amis and follow the links.

Woodland Walks

Well we've been making the most of the weather again this week.  It seems to be on the turn so we wanted to make sure we got out and about while it was still sunny,  Plus the Bluebells are out in full bloom at the moment and there are a couple of local places where they can be found.

We met up with some friends and went to Burbage Common on Monday the scent of the flowers was amazing and we had a lovely time wandering around the woods.  Ond advantage to it being so dry for so long is that we could wander off the main paths through the woods without our friends little one struggling in the mud.

On Tuesday we went over to Market Bosworth Park another of our favourite walks to feed the ducks and wander round the woods there.  You can see how much the weather has cooled by how many extra layers everyone has on in these pics.

Egg Hunting

Well I thought I would share a few pics from our annual Easter Egg Hunt. 

This year has been especially fun as the weather has been good enough for us to have the hunt outside.

Mr Miffy and I with help from the Easter Bunny hid various eggs

and other presents

around the garden

and then we let the kids loose.

They've had great fun hunting their chocolate (I think Middle is almost as excited by Easter as he is by Christmas)

and of course eating it.

Before I go here is a special mention for Eldest's Easter Duck named Lady Duck who she made at her last Guides meeting before the holidays.  Sadly for Lady Duck she didn't make it to Easter Sunday.

Hope you have all had a good day anyone else get lots of chocolate?

Bright and Sunny Work In Progress Wednesday

Well now Middle's bedtime socks are finished I've been able to go back to my Age of Brass and Steam shawl relatively guilt free.  I say relatively cos I owe Eldest a knitted elephant (from back when I first started knitting) which I really should find a pattern for and make a start on.  See now I have mentioned it here it should motivate me to get a move on with it.  I did think I had found a pattern but the crochet ears are putting me off.  I am clueless about crochet and therefore uber impressed by anyone who has mastered it.

Anyway I digress, I am here to share new pics of the rather bright Age of Brass.  I am loving the Crazy Zauberabll, the shawl is almost finished and I am still to find the end of the colour repeat.  I thought I had got there on Monday night but now a flash of the blue has appeared and I have realised that the colour repeat has still not occurred.

There is only about 38g left on the ball now so I have taken to weighing it every couple of rows so I can be sure that I don't run out before I have finished the final section.  Because of using sock yarn not DK I've been able to add a full extra repeat and then a smaller repeat which is the bit I am working on now.

I have also started work on A Shawl of my Own Invention.  This is a pattern of my own which I've been mulling over for a few weeks and finally decided to make a start on.  I'm using a ball of Jarwoll which was gifted to me and which I wanted to do something for me with.

It's going to be very simple and I am quite sure that when I've finished it I will find that someone else already wrote the pattern ages ago and if I'd only searched better I would have saved myself the trouble of thinking it up myself.

To check out other peoples Works In Progress go visit Tami's Amis and follow the links you find there.  There is some really brilliant stuff to see.

More Pondering.

Well Friday afternoon brought us to the end of the spring term.  Hurrah, two weeks off!

We decided to get stuck in with our "garden pond" project as the weather has been gorgeous so Saturday saw us off to the garden centre to get some cobbles to go over the bricks.

Before putting the cobbles in however we got all the bricks back out so that we could create some bigger spaces at the bottom of the pond for our wildlife (I'm sure something will move in) to live in. 

We've made a nice space at the bottom and then made sure that there are several access points for the creatures.

Next we arranged the cobbles and pebbles on top and then we decided that we needed some more.  I'm sure you would agree with us there.

So Sunday morning we were back to the garden centre for more cobbles and for some pond plants.  We've filled the pond with the contents of the rain barrell so we weren't too worried about letting the water stand for a while before planting.  Fingers crossed the plants won't be worried either.

They look pretty happy so far.  They are all plants for shallow ponds and I'm hoping they'll spread a bit and if they get as tall as their labels suggest they can they make quite an impression.

I also got some gone over bulbs at a bargain price so they have gone in the heap too and while they won't last long this year hopefully they will come up next year and we'll have lots of bright yellows to welcome in the Spring.

Do you like the beginings of our of wicker thing?  We were gifted the willow last summer and it's sat about waiting for us to work out what to do with it.  Mr Miffy had a moment of insperation and got creative.  Most of our willow is too dry to weave in now but we shall be able to get more in a couple of months so we'll weave some more in then and the pond corner will get a bit more shade then.

Now we just need to sit back and let the pond do it's thing. 

Still there's plenty more to do in the garden over the next few weeks, the baskets need to be done and what veggies we do will need buying and planting up too.