SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW......

................ SKIES ARE BLUE! So says the song. Sadly the skies are NOT blue here in the east of the country. It's been a particularly wet and windy weekend, but yesterday, we did awake and open the bedroom curtains  to this marvellous sight. I just love a rainbow and this was a spectacular one. The glimmer of sunshine needed to aid the process, didn't last for long and I made the easy decision to get my schoolwork done early and then snuggle down to a day of knitting and relaxation. Heaven!

Oscar made the decision to stay under the covers!

 I had time to notice the ripening red crab apples just ready for preserving...

.....  and these beautiful autumn crocuses (Colchicum autumnale) in flower.....

...... and watch the birds feeding; mainly blue-tits and finches.

I managed to finish the Jules socks that have been on the needles since the middle of August. They are for my eldest 'lovely girl's' boyfriend's sister :) She has size 10 feet, and boy, did I notice the difference in the quantity of knitting required. I even broke into a third ball of Regia!

The pattern was very well written and easy to follow and I just love the waffly pattern. It suits a solid or semi-solid yarn perfectly. Hopefully they will be winging their way to their new home sometime this week.

Today, I picked up the Pomatamus socks that I'd begun on holiday. I had noticed that I had split the yarn and also YO' d incorrectly at the start of the pattern. It really wasn't that obvious, but I knew I just had to rip back and start over again. Here's how the pattern was looking....

....but here are the errors....sorry about the lack of focus! I can' re-take, as I've already ripped back :)

The pattern is not difficult, but you do have to concentrate, as each of the 22 pattern rows are different. Hopefully, I will regain my place on this one later this evening.

Whilst busy relaxing, I noticed a new sock KAL on my pal Josiekitten's Ravelry page. It's the 'Through the Loops' Mystery Sock 2010' designed by Kirsten Kapur.

 It  'kicks off' on October 1st, with the first pattern installment of five. Kirsten recommends a solid or semi-solid yarn, so I chose a skein from my stash (pat on the back for Snoopydog!). It's  'KNITWITCHES' Blue Faced Leicester with nylon, which has been there for a while as I didn't think I liked the colour too much. But, once wound into a lovely little yarn cake, the subtle colour changes are really lovely.The yarn is beautifully soft too.  I just have to tell you, after last weekend's wool winding fiasco, that there were no probs with the yarn winder this afternoon, Josiekitten!!!!!! Oh ****** I hear her cry! What do you think?

During the week, I received a lovely parcel from Josiekitten. She had been keeping her beady eye on the Ravelry shop pages, on the lookout for the arrival of a new batch of 'Ravelry in London' tote bags. They were only available at 'Knit Nation' to those people attending the last night party. We were not there on the last night! We loved the bags! Thanks Josiekitten, the bag is just fab.

So, maybe I found 'the land that I dream of once in a lullaby' this weekend! A 'land' of doing not very much. It doesn't happen very often, but it's sooo sweet when it does.

Sophie was very pleased that her Grandma was enjoying a relaxing weekend....

Hope you've had a good weeekend too!