RUNNING FOR GOOD CAUSES......

It's been an exciting day today. We have been watching the weather forecast for the last few days and were slightly worried when the heavens opened up and the rain poured down at around 10am this morning. We had just arrived at the local agricultural showground to watch our youngest daughter run her first half-marathon. We had made the same trip last year and the year before, but then it was to support our son and his wife in their endeavours. It always rains!!!!

Today, all was good, as the rain stopped, the black clouds passed away and beautiful blue skies reigned for the rest of the morning. A rainbow greeted the start of the run.



Off they went!


We watched, had a cup of coffee, watched, had another cup of coffee, cheered, watched, laughed. applauded, watched ...........





....... for 2hours and 15 minutes......... until.....


...... Miss Snoopydog 2 crossed the finished line. She was ecstatic! She was excited! She was relieved!

Training had been solitary and hadn't always run to plan. Injuries had upset training plans. But at the end of the day a good amount of sponsorship money had been raised to help a school in rural Uganda, where she had worked as a volunteer for the summer after completing her studies at Bristol Uni.



Well done! We are very proud of you!

Knitting has made slow progress, but I have now completed the first of the pair of Jaywalkers that I making for a friend as a Christmas gift.





The colours are lovely but the yarn knits up very slowly! Hopefully they will be finished by next wekend.

So much for Christmas knitting. This is all there is so far. Oh no! Good job I didn't have too much planned for this year, after last year's manic 'got to get it done at all costs' mentality. I decided I didn't want to go there again this year, so anything extra I make will be a bonus. Maybe one or two tree decorations, inspired by my friend josiekitten and maybe the odd washcloth or two at the last minute for stocking fillers and that will be about it. I want to get my Rowan Cocoon jumper started next weekend, so ....... watch this space.

Have a good week everyone.

BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

.................. or rather, NOTHING TO REPORT! It's been that kind of week again. I've had so much school work to do, both at school and at home, that knitting and blogging have taken a back seat once again. We are off to take part in the monthly quiz at our 'local' in about an hour's time, so I thought I should at least come and say 'hello' before we go.

My knitting has been slow this week. I am trying very hard to finish the pair of socks that I am making for a friend as a Christmas present. Needless to say, progress has been very, very slow and not even worth taking a photo of :(.

My Cora scarf is also making slow progress and that's because I only have plastic size 7's and they are really yucky to use with the 'Colourscape'. It seems to stick! I do have a very nice pair of birchwood 7's, but they are so long that they get caught in the bend of my arm with every stitch. I think they must have been made with an orang utang in mind! So, at present, my poor Cora is on hold.

It's much the same story with my November socks; on hold until there are 50 hours in a day! I'll catch them up once the Jaywalkers for Jools are finished.

On a brighter note, a little packet of sock yarn skeins popped through my door yesterday morning. Such excitement! They were from my good pal josiekitten. So last evening, when I know I should have been getting on with the serious matter of Christmas sock completion, but not needing too much encouragement to bring Blankie out for an airing, I settled down to knit four more squares, one in each colourway. Here are the little skeins ....



And here is my Blankie +4!



I wonder if you can spot the four new squares that have been added from the little skeins. Unfortunately, there is only a tiny glimpse of the lovely green square visible. My bad photography to blame there! I didn't keep my eye on all four squares.

It did get me thinking, how it's such strange phenomenon and one that is not often to be found elsewhere, that each of my little squares has a name of it's own; a name descended from its elders in the form of the pair of socks that were made of the yarn. So, last night I knitted 'Eat your Greens' and 'Waving Sweetpeas' to name but two! Made me chuckle inside myself as I sat and thought about it. Probably a good job that I'm going out tonight, because otherwise I might hear you saying ' ........ Snoopydog needs to get out more!!!'

Not so sure about the 'going out' now, as I can hear the wind howling and the rain lashing against the window panes. It started off as a lovely late November morning. The sun was shining and I grabbed my camera to 'snap' the bluetits and finches on the bird feeder this morning, before settling down to some work ready for school tomorrow. Needless to say, they had all vanished by the time the camera was ready. I caught this little chap on the fence though. I think he's a regular, because I have photographed him before in the same position on the fence. He sits there for ages! Don't ask me how I know it's him, I just do.



Here's a pic of our garden, also taken this morning. Sorry about the poor quality. I was rushing; feeling guilty that, here I was taking pics when I had lots and lots to do. It's called procrastination and I'm an expert!


Anyway, the work did get done, and I've had time to come and say 'hello' and I'll enjoy a swift pint and a natter with our friends over at the quiz. So all's well!

Have a good week, whatever you're up to!

OCTOBER AFTERNOON ........ IN NOVEMBER!

Hello there! Sunday evening has come around again. The weekend seems to have flown by in a blur of wind, rain, schoolwork, washing, ironing (yes, I do some!), schoolwork, visiting, schoolwork and .......... YES! Some knitting! The weather was so appalling yesterday, with very strong winds and heavy rain showers lashing against the windows, that I decided to 'button down the hatches', get my jobs done, curl up on the sofa and KNIT! Don't get me wrong. I'm not really complaining about the weather. In fact, I'm thanking the rain for giving me every good reason to snuggle down for the afternoon with my 'October Afternoon' jumper and the gorgeously squishy Colinette yarn. I had three quarters of the second sleeve to complete, all the borders and the dreaded sewing up. Do you know what? I did it!

Today, as Sunday morning dawned clear and bright, Mr Snoopydog and I strolled down into the city to change library books and have our usual Sunday 'al fresco' coffee. We nearly always 'coffee al fresco' despite the often inclement English weather. We consider ourselves to be of the hardy type, who don't mind too much a downpour of rain, or a gale, or a snowstorm. Oh yes, we much prefer the lovely warm sun to be shining down upon us as we coif, but to breathe in the great outdoors is always infinitely preferable to sitting inside, at any time of year. On the way home we stopped of at John Lewis to buy some buttons for the aforementioned finished garment. I have looked for buttons a couple of times since beginning my cardi, but found nothing that seemed exactly right. I matched about ten different buttons against my yarn today. Although I had a definite preference for something small, simple, brown and wooden, when it came to the crunch .... they just didn't look right. You'll see what I finally chose in the pics coming up.

I am really pleased with my finished cardi. Even the sewing up looks flat and neat! The Colinette yarn was gorgeous to work with and beautifully coloured. The pattern was easy to read and accurate and the sizing perfect.
Here it is!




I loved the moss stitch neckband and front bands. They are narrow, lay absolutely flat and just do their job!


Sorry the next pic is a little weird; I'm not good at taking pics of myself whilst looking in the mirror to try to see what I am taking a picture of!!!



I have two skeins of this lovely yarn left. What shall I use it for? Mittens, gloves? I 'll have to decide.

I hope you like it. It's not my normal kind of style, but I had already tried three patterns and frogged each one, because either the yarn pooled or it just didn't suit the pattern. This pattern was written for the yarn, so it did suit! I like it!

Needless to say, there has been very little progress on either my 'November' socks or the 'Jaywalkers' for Jools. I must finish both pairs and my 'Cora' scarf before beginning anything else. What will you bet that that DOESN'T HAPPEN! I have that bag, full of gorgeous Rowan Cocoon that I showed you last week ................................. We'll see!

Have a good week everyone! :D

NOT MUCH ABOUT ANYTHING.......

Here we are again and how busy have I been this week!!!!!!! Not had time to let my feet touch the ground. I don't need to go into the gory details, but this week has been mega mega mega busy. The week to come looks pretty chock-a-block too! So, on a positive note, all that means, is that I have to be particularly well organised (not one of my strengths!) and use my time very economically (not good at that either!) and delegate more frequently (definitely no good at that!)............. or retire :D

What I'm really trying to say, is that knitting has not really progressed very much this week, again. I have got on with my October Afternoon cardi and have now completed the back, both fronts and about one third of the first sleeve. I don't have any pics to show you because I am really hoping to be able to show you the finished garment pretty soon. Wishful thinking, I know! I will just show you a reminder though .... lovely Colinette yarn!



I don't even have a sock to show you; not one! Can you believe that... despite the fact that I now have three pairs on the go and my sock stash mountain, or rather volcano, is threatening to erupt and completely bury my home unless I keep up the steady, relentless progress of sock production at a rate 'X' number of pairs each month. Or, of course, I could just stop buying beautiful, squishy, snuggly, hand-dyed, gorgeously coloured, natural, sheep stuff! That just isn't an option I'm afraid. Although, I guess Mr Snoopydog might try to insisit, if he ever did decide to become an intrepid explorer and set out to discover uncharted territory in the depths of our now vacated, adult children's bedrooms. He would discover a few new species, but I don't think he's ready for all that yet. We'll just keep quiet and keep knitting. Oh alright then, I will just show you my 'November Broadstairs ..... Long Ago' sock, as far as it's got.







I'm liking the colour dispersal and the yarn is fabulously soft, but I'm not sure about the pattern. The little bobbly bits are supposed to stand out in one colour but they're not! Oh naughty yarn! Or is it 'naughty pattern'? I don't know and I don't have time this month to spend ages searching again. I did have a quick (turned into 40 mins) search on Ravelry this morning for a better pattern for the yarn. Mr Snoopydog had got up early and gone to his allotment to plant garlic and bring home veg supplies for the week. I had got up (late!), showered (long), looked at last evening's panic driven 'November sock' starting in the clear light of day, made a cup of tea, poured a glass of Innocent Smoothie (banana, coconut and pineapple - the best!), logged on, checked out patterns that used a cast on of 64 stitches (so, I didn't have to frog the whole of my labours) and ................................... drawn a blank! There WAS no other pattern crying out to bond with my yarn. So, it's just gonna have to be OK! Sticky up bits sticking out or not, the yarn IS very pretty and lovely to work with.

As if I don't have enough on the go at the moment, I just have to show you the yarn that I just had to bring home last weekend, along with a pattern book to keep it company.



I absolutely adore this yarn. It is soooo soft. Last year at around this time I made three Rowan 'Haven' scarves; one for me and one each for the two Miss Snoopydogs. It is just the most perfect 'I need to feel warm and snuggled' yarn and great to work with too. I haven't quite decided yet which of two patterns I'm going to make. I'll let you know next time. As a little clue, the picture on the front cover of the pattern booklet is one possibility and the other is a very simple, round, low necked jumper. You'll just have to wait to find out!

Well that's about it. 'Pretty poor' I hear you say. 'Yes, I quite agree!'

Oh, just before I go, take a look at one last photo! This morning, Mr Snoopydog and I made our pretty regular Sunday morning stroll down into the city for an al fresco coffee. In our part of the UK it was a really lovely November morning. Mr Snoopydog commented that 'we'll be having a short winter if this weather keeps up'. He's right! Both the willow and the magnolia tree in our garden are still full of leaves. Unheard of! We are both full of 'bah humbug' at the moment. I remain so until December 1st and Mr Snoopydog until..... ummmm... Anyway, as we walked up to our regular coffee shop, right in the heart of our beautiful city and right beside the magnificent city centre church........ low and behold, in all it's glory, this enormous Christmas tree had been erected.




It still has its netting around it's top half and the metal barriers are in place to stop anyone getting too close; it has no baubles and it has no twinkling lights. But, against the backdrop of a clear blue November sky and next to the magnificent church of St Peter Mancroft and beside the City Hall where this year's Act of Remembrance was taking place and amongst so many war veterans with shining campaign medals on display............. do you know, it made me feel gleeful. It made me smile and look forward and feel proud and thankful and excited and glad to be here at this moment in time.

Have a good week everyone! :D