One happy cat

After 3 weeks with us, Dudley has finally been allowed out. With much trepidation I opened the patio door - he looked up at me as if to say "Can I? Can I really?" and then wandered out. I waited with baited breath, but as soon as a strange noise startled him and he dashed back indoors I knew it was going to be ok. He has spent the last two days exploring and repeatedly coming back for reassurance, so he`s a happy cat and I`m happy too. He thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine today and took a nap on the bench after the exertions of bringing me my first present - of the feathered variety!

Knitting bag

Having frogged the knitted knitting bag, I have now finished a patchwork one instead
My bags invariably come out bigger than expected but at least I can hide everything away in it. Being an economical person, this was made from the remainders of some old jeans that I bought at boot fayres last year to create a previous patchwork bag, and was lined with some left over material from a summer dress I made for DD when she was a toddler.


Last night I cast on for my firefly shawl. it must have been a bit late for me, I kept dropping everything, needles, stitches, the lot. I finally managed to knit 3 rows and the needle fell out - there was no way I could pick up the stitches properly, they ran and messed up the cast on, so I frogged and started again. If I`d have left it unstarted I might never have got going again, I hope it was more an indication of how I was at the time rather than how the whole shawl is going to be. I think DH might have summed up how I felt about firefly last night when he asked "are you sure you are supposed to knit with that?!"

An interesting day

Not something you do every day, but DH was able to get tickets for Prime Ministers Question time, and so we took a trip to London yesterday. After two lots of airport type security and being frisked twice, we took our seats in the public gallery. I was very interested to note the diversity of subjects ranging from Iran`s nuclear capability to Senior citizens bus passes in Lancashire. And it amused me how the `Honourable Friends` asked the questions to feed the PM lines whilst the `Honourable Gentlemen` did their best to annoy. And no, I couldn`t knit in there - all our baggage had to go into safekeeping and we were only allowed in with what we stood up in.

As far as knitting goes, what little Dudley the cat has allowed me to do, (and he is sitting on my lap as I type) has been undone, I had decided to knit a knitting bag,
I was using up some of my stash, so ancient it had no yardage on the ball, but I figured by weight there should be enough, however having done less than a quarter of one side and used up a sixth of the wool, I could see this wasn`t going to work!
So I frogged it, and out came the sewing machine instead.

Not one, but two....

finished objects! Having finished DD`s shawl, I wasn`t overly impressed... it didn`t look that much like the picture on the pattern! I`ve never really been one to block my knitting - having knitted on and off for the last thirty odd years (eeek! that makes me sound old) I can probably count the number of items I have blocked on the fingers of one hand and still have some fingers to spare, but do you know something, I am now a convert (thanks to the wise ones on the knitting forum). I really wish I had taken a before picture, so next time when I get lazy and doubt the need I could look at the difference it made, but I didn`t so I`ll just have to look at the after photo and remember the before.
The Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton was quite nice to work with on some balls but others split quite a lot, even though it was all from the same batch and dye lot.



My other finished object is in lace, and was rather difficult to photograph. I know it is the wrong time of year for angels and no, I haven`t been doing it since christmas, I just needed a simple straight forward project to get me going again as the main project I was doing was driving me up the wall, and had the window been open, it, complete with lace pillow would have been launched through it, but this little angel was just what I needed and I have gone back to previous project and now wonder what all the fuss was about!.
The glass heads were the clever idea of our lace teacher, who not content with the wooden variety so easily available, approached a glass bobbin maker and commisioned him to make some, they were so popular amongst the members of our lace group that she had to reorder a second batch.

I am not sure how long it will be before I can finish anything else as Dudley, delightful as he is, is such a cuddly cat and we all know how well young cats and knitting go together, it makes me wonder why we knitters have them? He is gorgeous though, and after a little minx whose idea of fun was sinking her teeth into your ankles as you passed, and a previous decidedly uncuddly cat, Dudley is a joy to have around, even if I can`t get much done with a cat in my arms!

A new addition to the family!

May I introduce Dudley, the newest member of the family -

His joining us happened all of a sudden really, initially after losing our last cat a few months back, I was so devastated that I said `no more` , much to DD`s dismay. However, unbeknown to me she had been looking on the website, and unbeknown to her (just lately) I`d been looking in the local paper and we both came across this handsome chap and it suddenly felt right - whilst at the same time DH had decided he might quite like another feline friend too! As we had had a home visit last year all it took was a phone call to Rescued Animals in Need , a quick visit to meet him, and this delightful chap was on his way home with us. He is so friendly, having some time to make up for I think as he was found abandoned and has been with the resuce centre for a month, and while they do a sterling job, it`s just not the same as having your own family.

Although he is thought to be between one and two years old, I still felt he needed a toy, so out came the needles and a little friend was born. He is just too whacked to play with it right now (and so am I!) as he spent much of last night crying as his people had gone upstairs to bed and left him! Hope he likes it when he`s had his cat nap.

W.I.P.

And I don`t mean on the knitting front either. I have just come to the conclusion that creating a blog is rather like having an intellectual conversation in a foreign language when you only have school girl knowledge. So this blog is very much a wip, and I am hoping to learn more as I go along - but at the moment even the explainations in help don`t actually make a lot of sense to an only vaguely computer literate person such as myself - oh well, will have to enlist the help of 13 year old DD I suspect!



On the knitting side of things, I`m getting on with DD`s shawl in Sirdar luxury cotton - black of course, and am quite enjoying the fact that each row is getting shorter than the last!


A trip to the charity shop this morning has provided me with more work, in addition to a small ball of white dk cotton(25p) which I will add to my collection for Erica Knights hexagon throw which was in SK recently( I never seem to use the specified yarn), to my delight I found an old Patons pattern for Bertie Bassett for only 10p!


Now as this was my Dads nickname for many years, and as he is notoriously difficult to buy pressies for, I shall be clicking away with those needles - plenty of time before his b`day though.

Those dratted chicks!

Why dont I just keep quiet? I made one of these little devils for fun,( except I hated doing them) but then DD put in her order, one for each of her friends for easter! I made seven, and just as I was congratulating my self on finishing and giving a big sigh of relief -DD announced she needed just one more :-)

Anyway, thats me all over, I get far more pleasure from making things for other people and they all went down very well and half of them already have names! (not what you would expect from teenagers so it just goes to show ... )


Well I`m one of those lucky people that work term time only. So I`ve now got two weeks off for easter (and already DD`s bored) but I`m having a whale of a time! I am spending so much time trying to decide what to do, that I haven`t actually done anything yet.