Where there's a will

Well.....I am now sporting a very fetching (not) hand splint having been taken to A&E a couple of Mondays ago by one of my lovely colleagues who decided that my continual wincing and rather grey/green palor caused by any use of my extremely painful left hand must warrant some medical attention despite my saying, through gritted teeth, that it would be alright soon! I guess that's what happens when you work with nurses.

I've no idea how, or why, but I have inflamed nerves and/or tendons which will take a few days to a few weeks to go. I'm determined it won't be weeks, cos it's too flippin' awkward. Anyone tried filling an electric kettle safely one handed? Never mind buttons, and as for knitting :0( I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms rather badly.

My woolly friend from ToadRockStreet suggested crochet since my right hand is ok, so I thought I'd give it a go (not sure why I didn't think of that, perhaps the knitting deprivation was too all consuming!) I'd recently seen an idea for a Tunisian Entrelac Blanket that I wanted to try, so....


Ok so it might be a slightly unusual way of tensioning the yarn - but hey it works! and by resting on a cushion on my lap and holding the yarn down against it I'm playing with stick and string again :0)

It heard me!

Finally! spring is here, the weather must have listened to my last post and today has been lovely, sunny and nearly warm (we won't mention the snow we had most days last week.)

DH had to work today so I went off for a walk on my own and I just love the way the sunshine makes this footpath really look like there is light at the end of the tunnel

And my knitting seems to think it is spring too as I have just finished
Leafymade with some Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran that has been sitting around for a while with the plan that it will keep my hair out of the way and the chill from my ears when I'm out walking but don't need a whole hat!

Spring? Where?

Dear Weather
I feel that I should bring to your attention the fact that, according to the calendar, it is now Spring. As far as I am concerned this should mean milder temperatures, green shoots, spring flowers and a little gentle sunshine. However, you do seem to have overlooked this.


I was not impressed that I needed 4 layers as well as a hat, gloves and scarf to go for a walk this morning


A light white dusting may look pretty but I do consider that it is unacceptable behaviour as we are well into March, especially given that this same weekend last year was so warm that we walked in T-shirts and rewarded ourselves with an Ice cream at the end!


I would ask you to spare a thought for the spring flowers who have every right to be blooming now and should not be expected to have to struggle on in these conditions.


And I was very unhappy to find that the bench where we like to stop for coffee was covered in snow and frankly rather unpleasant to sit on.


Now I know that things are considerably worse in other parts of the country, but this is the South East, and currently does not look much like the Garden of England and I do not think it is unreasonable to ask that, since I shall be walking a long distance in Scotland at the end of next month, you do your utmost to get your act together and behave in a rather more appropriate way in the next few weeks.

Yours sincerely
Cold and Muddy of Kent

March

I've just realised how appropriate it is to be posting my March dishcloth today
St Patrick's day Washcloth
It seems it's third time lucky for the year of dishcloths - I really like this one, and (as far as I can tell) there aren't any mistakes this time :0)

I've also made a March hare - well rabbit actually
A little friend to join Frankenbunny - I'm much happier with this one having made a couple of modifications (no false seam and slightly shorter)

In my non-knitting life, we have started building up the mileage ready for our holiday and yesterday DH, a friend and I walked from the Dome to the Eye in London (12 miles) getting in some practice. Coincidentally we are all walking the West Highland Way in a few weeks though our friends are going up as we come back! Nothing personal I'm told!
As you can probably guess from the way G and I are dressed it wasn't the nicest of days weather wise but we still enjoyed it and came home damp and tired but happy.

Frankenbunny

When I first saw the pattern of Hazel and Pipkin in Knit Today I immediately knew I had to make some for charity. I realised they were slightly stange little creatures but I wasn't quite prepared for how odd my offering would look....

but do you know what? He's really grown on me, to the extent that there is another little Frankenbunny on the needles in my lunchtime knitting bag. This time with mods to eliminate the bits I was unhappy about - particularly not doing a purl stitch to make false seams each side, I mean, why would you want a false seam on a toy? It reminded me far too much of the ladders I used to get when I first started magic looping. This next one won't be quite as tall either, but I may do the legs a little longer, and hopefully have enough of the main colour left not to need an odd foot ;0)


And as a little PS to the last post, I wore Simon Cowl whilst out walking this morning 'Over the hill and far away' as we call our 6 mile round trip and it was perfect! Beautifully soft and provided the right amount of warmth without getting itchy and no bulk to annoy. I'm a happy (Franken)bunny!

February - Dishcloth and disasters

Well it had to be hearts for the February dishcloth really, didn't it? There were several hearty patterns suggested in the Dishcloth Mania group for February and I chose

Grandma's Favourite Heart Shaped Dishcloth
Except it was coming out so small that I had to improvise a bit - and not necessarily that succesfully - oh well! it's only a dishcloth. Hmm, touch of deja vue there, I seem to recall saying that last month too. Lets hope March turns out a bit better.

February has been a very chilly month here in Kent, I am getting distinctly bored with being cold and was rather pleased when I finally blocked my

Color Affection Shawl
and wove in the ends as it is 75% wool and had been lovely and warm draped over my lap as I knit miles and miles of garter stitch.
I lovingly wrapped it around Doris (the dressmakers dummy) for a photo shoot and admired it, then decided to try it on for size - ahem! It's ok for Doris, she doesn't have arms getting in the way, it just wouldn't sit right and no wonder - it's 10' long, it's only 18" wide at the widest point, and so I either end up tripping over the ends ( or at the very least have them dangling out of the bottom of my coat - very tempting for 7 month old Hugo the pussy cat, as well as looking decidedly silly!) or I am so wrapped up I feel like a Mummy!
Once I have got over my disappointment I can see this one heading for the frog pond :0(

And then there is my

Simon Cowl
It's o-kay, and the yarn (Regia Bamboo) is lovely, but it isn't as big as I would have liked it - I had the amount of yarn the pattern specified but ran out long before I would have liked to, and as this has been sitting in my stash for at least 5 years there was no hope of getting any more. Unlike the Color Affection I will wear it but all the same....

And just as I was beginning to think I should take up doing jigsaw puzzles instead of knitting it was time to give the

Blanket Buddy
that I had made to a co-worker at the baby shower we held for her.
Bless her, she thought she was going to a team meeting only to find us lot with food, drink and gifts waiting for her! I had been slightly uncertain about the bunny but as it was opened to a chorus of "How cute is that?" I think at least that worked out ok.

A trip to Canterbury

Last weekend DH headed off on his annual business trip to the Fatherland to the Spielwarenmesse (International Toy Fayre) in Nuremberg and so as usual I found myself something different to do for a trip out.
This year, with no craft fayres on, I decided to visit Canterbury as I went there a couple of years ago with DD for a Uni interview and I've been meaning to go back ever since.

It was a bitterly cold day but I put on my 'silly hat' since I wouldn't be seeing anyone that knew me and headed off on the train.
After a lovely walk along the river

and admiring the old buildings

I headed into town to find somewhere to warm up

Once fortified I had a very nice browse around the shops and finally spent my birthday gift voucher (only had it since October!) on a book because it made me smile

though I am sure I will knit something from it either for charity - or one of the cute little sheep just for me :)

And then it was time to come home, and as always I found a way to keep myself amused on the way back