HAPPY DAYS........

Good evening! Hope everybody is happy, happy, happy! I can't believe it's Sunday evening and time to go back to school tomorrow, after the haf-term break. I've had  a lovely relaxing week, with family visiting last weekend, a couple of evenings out with friends, the usual catch up on haircut and dentist and then ....... chillout! Time to catch my breath and get down to some serious knitting. What's new! I hear you cry. Well, nothing, I would agree, but the previous few weeks had left me feeling as though I was whirling around, on a fast moving fairground ride, that didn't ever stop. So, I've taken a deep breath, relaxed, picked away at my reports bit by bit (finished them this afternoon!) and all in all had a thoroughly pleasant week doing not very much. Just how I like it!

The photo above was taken on Tuesday evening as Mr Snoops and I walked Oscar around the lake at our local water park. The sunsets are always stunning over the water, but this one was particularly so. Another seven or eight minutes and the sun and the colours had more or less disappeared. I'm always too shattered on school evenings to go with him, but sights like this remind me that I should sometimes make a little more effort.

Luckily, the sun has shone on us most of the week here near the east coast and so much knitting has been done al fesco. As you can see, I've finished the little kaftan hoodie for Sophie that I began a while ago. This Debbie Bliss eco baby pattern was a very easy knit, albeit lots of pretty boring stocking stitch. It's made from organic pur cotton and will perfect to pull on on chillier late summer evenings.

I love the little side slit openings and the fact that it needed no buttons or fastenings of any kind. The book is one of three I've collected to send up to Sophie from the 'book fairy' in the next week or two.

I was determined to complete one of my WIPs during the week, and once that was achieved, I then turned my needles to what I was really planning on getting going on, Anne Hanson's 'Boxleaf Triangle'. I'm using the gorgeous yarn from my Knitspot 'Autumn in Full Colour' group swap partner Cathy. The yarn is absolutely gorgeous and knits beautifully, with virtually no pilling, but a lovely sheen. It'a a mixture -65% wool, 20% mohair, 10% nylon and 5% silk. It seems to be a perfect combination for shawl knitting. Here it is so far.

The pattern is pretty to memorise once you get going and as you can see, I have put in a lifeline every ten rows or so, just in case I make a major unrectifiable error! I don't leve every lifeline in, I tend to leave two at a time and remove to reuse the bottom one each time, checking for any unnoticed errors first, of course! I'm making the large size, as there is 250g of yarn.............yummy, yummy!

Just to show willing, I did make six jars of marmalade too! Made whilst the sun had gone in!

Washed and ate some strawberries too!

Aaahhhh! Just the perfect way to spend a relaxed half-term at home. So, am I ready for school tomorrow? What do you think? See you next week. Have fun!