ORANGE TIP!

Hello there! So sorry I missed you last weekend, but we disappeared off to visit family; making the most of the Bank Holiday extra day. Any chance to see Sophie and baby Jess is always acted upon very quickly.

This morning the weather was not great, but we ventured up to Whitlingham Broad for lunch and to give Oscar an extra swim and ball chase. Please bear in mind that he had already played, chased and swum here for an hour or so first thing this morning, with Mr Snoops. Being the boisterous young lab that he is, any chance of an extra ball chase is always well received.

Spring, that seemed so far behind only a few weeks ago,  now appears to be in full bloom and we spotted this pretty little Orange Tip butterfly as we strolled. Their bright little flashes of colour always lighten the heart. So pretty! Their wing underside is so cleverly camouflaged to the undergrowth. There were plenty of young goslings too!

It's been another very busy week at school, but I have managed to catch up on a few rows most evenings this week. I'm trying to get the little cardigan for Jess finished, before she outgrows the 3-6 month size that I'm making. She is piling on the pounds and the inches!

Here we go; progress so far. I have almost completed the first sleeve, so this little number should hopefully be ready to go by next weekend. The cable pattern gives a lovely thick, warm finish.

I then need to get the 'Christmas Day' socks completed, Cough, cough! The pattern is Anne Hanson's Movie Night Socks.

I seem to 'moan' most weeks about the state of non-relaxation that I perpetually find myself in, but by and large, I do enjoy my job, especially the goings on inside the classroom. We have been working a beautiful African tale called 'Fly, Eagle, Fly!' for the last couple of weeks.

It's a really beautiful tale about an eagle, brought up amongst chickens, who doesn't realise he can fly, until he is taken to the top of a mountain and as the sunrises and spreads its light and colour across the sky, he looks towards its beauty, reaches out his neck, spreads his wings and flies. It has a clear message about aspirations and achieving our potential, to 'lift off and soar', as described in the words of Desmond Tutu, who writes the forward. It's a truly beautiful book!

Happy week to you all!

HERE WE GO..... AT LONG LAST!

Phew!!! We're still awaiting the blind for the other window, which is being made from the same roll of fabric as the curtains.

The garden has also started to SPRING into action, at long last!

BOOTIFUL! I'll save the knitting for next time. Have a great week everyone.

A SPRING IN MY STEP!

It's been such a beautiful weekend here in the east. Let's hope it continues for quite a while longer.

We took a morning stroll around the lake. What a difference a little bit of sunshine makes.

Oscar was asking for a swim!

I bet the water was chilly!

Oscar didn't seem to mind though. His ball was swiftly collected and returned .......

....... ready for the next throw.

Coffee and cake followed......... and a Bonio for Oscar!

The afternoon was spent knitting in the sun. I've just completed the back of Lear. Although the four row pattern repeat involves two rows of cabling, the pattern is easy to memorise and seems to work quite quickly. It produces a lovely thick, warm fabric.

Nothing like a few Spring flowers indoors, either, to keep that spring in your step!

WHAT! ANOTHER F.O.!

How can it be that my knitting output has suddenly risen to a staggering, whole finished garment a week? Well, I guess the fact that I have been on holiday for the last two weeks and have seriously done very little of any use to anyone else, except knit, may have something to do with it. Yes, we've been away and come back and then gone away again, we've been out and about, celebrated the birth of our second granddaughter and the first wedding anniversary of our eldest daughter and her husband, mooched around the countryside and coastline of North Yorkshire, eaten too much yummy food and quaffed plenty of Black Sheep ale, BUT apart from these delights I have found the time to enjoy knitting. 

I am making good use of the Rowan 'Just Baby' book, as this is now the fourth pattern made from it recently. It's Dahl, in PINK, as promised! The body of the sweater is slightly shaped, giving it a more girly shape, as do the pretty borders. Again, I've used the recommended yarn, Rowan 'baby merino silk DK', this time in colourway 'flower'. 

I really like the simplicity of the neckline......

....... finished off with a pretty little button opening at the back.

It's now wrapped and ready to go! I love sending bits and bobs by post to little Sophie and imagining her delight (hopefully) as she opens her very own little parcel. Silly Grandma!

Not forgetting her new baby sister, Jessica, I have Lear ready to cast on; same pattern book, same yarn, only this time in 'rose'.

It's the pretty cabled cardi you can see on the cover of the book. I'm not sure how my patience will stand up to lots of cabling, especially during a first week back at school. It was this pattern that first drew me to the book way back last summer and the yarn has been hanging around for a while too, so it only seems right that I get a move on with it.

I did promise a few kitchen shots, but time has once again beaten me. I will try to post a few during the week. I now HAVE to do some planning for the week ahead. I am an expert in school work procrastination. Have a good week!

........ AND RELAX!

Hello there! Phew! After the whirlwind combination of the end of term and little Jessica's arrival, we are now relaxing in our regular cottage hideaway in north Yorkshire. As you can see, Spring is slowly beginning to appear up here and we have felt the sun's lukewarm rays; so life affirming after weeks of snow, ice and dull winter coldness.

We had quite an eventful trip up here on Friday, as Mr Snoops absentmindedly began to fill up the tank with unleaded rather than diesel. This led to a two hour delay in our journey, as we had to be taken by breakdown truck to  a recovery depot for the tank to be drained!!! He was not the most popular!

The lengthy journey did give me time to complete 'Potter', the cute little romper for baby Jessica. It's from the Rowan 'Just Baby' book. I realised that if I didn't get a move on, it wouldn't fit her!! I used the suggested yarn; Rowan baby merino silk DK. It's very soft and great to knit with.

Hope she likes it!

From the same book, I've cast on 'Dahl', a pretty little girly sweater for Sophie, so she's not feeling left out. She is a great fan of pink in all it's varieties and I promised her I'd knit a PINK one!

The plan is to try to finish this before we arrive home on Friday. Watch this space to see if I succeed. I may find time to post a few finished (well almost) kitchen pics too.

BEAUTIFUL BABY......

Well here we are then! It all happened on Easter Sunday. Little Jessica was born, weighing in at 8lb 15oz. Our darling Sophie is already an adoring big sister. So, as you can imagine, not much knitting has been done this last week.

We are off up to the cottage in North Yorkshire on Friday for a week and I promise to have something cute to show on Sunday evening. For now, I'll leave you with one more sweet shot....

NO NEWS.....YET!!!!!!

Well, the due date for Sophie's little sister to be born has been and gone. So, anytime soon we should have some exciting news! In the meantime, yet MORE blankiness is going to have suffice. I am beginning to feel that the compulsion to make blankets may be on the wane. I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing, as I still have two blankets that remain very much in a state of unfinishedness. One of these aforesaid blankets is for the aforesaid baby........ when she comes! In a word, the blanket mojo needs to at least keep working for the next couple of weeks or so. The other hibernating bit of blankiness is my longterm sock yarn blankie project. Perhaps I'll wake him up for a quick photo shoot; just one picture mind! We don't want to get our hand bitten off for waking him from his slumber, now do we. If I am in luck, I'll give you a peek at the end of this post. peek at the end of the blog post. Fingers crossed, he will oblige.

Well, back to the pretty little cuteness that is this little blankie soul. It's made from the remains of the yarn for the 'Sweet Baby Blanket ' that I finished a couple of weeks ago.

It looks rather larger than it actually is and I'm not at all happy with the border, which I made up in haste (a little too much haste methinks), so as to get done. However, as the blankie is intended for little Sophie's 'baby' ( her special doll), I don't think it will matter too much. I just don't have the time to undo and redo.

I needed to miss a stitch  between the trebles on the blue or red round, I guess and then my final round would have fewer clusters and, in turn, would have been a little flatter.

I think Sophie will like the ruffled edge just the way it though and that's all that really matters.

You get a bonus sneaky peek of the new kitchen too! I'm not going to show you more until it is fully finished off. There are still curtains, a blind, the glass hob splash back and microwave to be fitted. So you'll just have to wait a tiny bit longer.

Well, there we go. What do you think of my sweet little doll's blankie with the 'ruffley' edges?


Oh, just before I go,  here's a rare shot of that little known or seen blankie beast, the 'Sock Yarn Blankie'. Make the most of it, because you won't see him again for a while!