Mmmmm Muffins

When I worked part time there were always freshly baked cakes or cookies in the tin, but increasing my hours made it hard to find time for that anymore. Then DD started baking after school - how lovely to come home to the scent of freshly baked goodies, but now she has started working full time too. However yesterday I suddenly had the overwhelming desire to cook so I looked in the fridge, whipped out my cookery book and made

Raspberry and Chocolate muffins
and rather yummy they are too.

And talking of being domesticated, looks like I might have to rewash my skeins of cotton

Dudley looked so comfy, and by the time I found him they were hairy anyway so I left him to it - that'll teach me to put things away in future ;0)

What's a girl to do?

Much to her delight, DD has recently acquired a car. Now it might be an older car, but it is hers, all hers.
It happened all of a sudden when FILs old next door neighbours, now in their late 80s decided to give up driving - well that is Mrs P decided that Mr P was going to give up driving - and she wanted someone to buy the car who would look after it. They have had it from new (1995) with only 30K on the clock and she didn't want some 'boy racer' to have it, so she was rather pleased when FIL suggested DD might be interested. It doesn't have power steering but DD's arm muscles are coming along nicely and it has given her more independence and saved the difficulties of her and I working different hours.

And having got her car she decided she would like a blanket to go in the boot, stop everything sliding about and that she could whip out for improptu picnics with friends or when looking after the nieces. Have you any idea how difficult it is to find a blanket these days without paying a fortune? So the obvious place was a charity shop (and we were lucky on the 4th attempt, and an absolute bargain at .... £1.25!) Anyway, in the course of our search I came across
500g of Jaeger Contemporary Cotton, now what is a girl to do? It would have been rude not to have bought it, now wouldn't it? So I got busy and frogged, skeined and washed the knitted parts

and now have to decide what to do with it - but even if it ends up as a pile of dishcloths (which I don't think it will) at the equivalent of 25p a 50g ball it doesn't really matter.

On the knitting front I have just finished a Baby Blanket for Bonnie Babies (a quick word of warning in case you click on the link in public - the site has music straight away, annoying music at that)

This is the second time I have used this pattern, and it won't be the last. I love the mindless garter stitch centre and then the lace border, which I knitted on, adds some interest just as I have had enough garter stitch, but is simple enough to memorise (and easy enough to 'read' the knitting) after only a couple of repeats.
I can't think of many other patterns I have enjoyed enough to knit more than once.

It's behind you

Or Cat and Mouse

DH and I had a few days off and being at a loose end decided to pop up to London for the day on the spur of the moment (living in a town with a Railway station only 50 minutes from London definitely has it's advantages). With no particular plan in mind we put on comfy shoes and bought sandwiches en route to the station and set off, we thought we would just follow our noses and stop, start or turn off where ever it took our fancy, and what a great day we had.

Our first priority on arriving in London was to find a coffee stop and there just so happens to be a nice Costa upstairs in Waterstones near Charing Cross station which fitted the bill perfectly and once fortified with caffeine a quick use of the facilities was in order before embarking on our adventure and having a strange sense of humour the notice on the door rather amused me

Obviously some of the clientele of the book shop need a little help!

Anyway using the principle of 'that road looks interesting' and 'let's turn down this one' we wandered round and came across the Covent Garden Bead shop (though DH had his doubts that this was by luck) and later on found ourselves in Soho Square
Where we decided to eat our sandwiches which was fine until DH brushed a crumb off his lap and four million pigeons descended from no where.
Saville Row followed, and I was fascinated that you can look over the railings down into the basements and watch the tailors at work. Burlington Arcade was so interesting, especially the antique silver and then further along we spotted Liberty London
which I have always wanted to visit, so in we went - well, if you are ever in that area it is well worth a pause, the building is amazing inside as well as out, and apparently uses the wood from two ships. The materials and haberdashery sections were wonderful, but at £35 + per metre I could only dream, however DH did buy me
a cute little cat money box.

So where does the mouse in the title come from? Well, like all knitters with the prospect of sitting on a train for best part of two hours I took my knitting needles and yarn with me and made

Captain Cat-Battler
having seen the appeal (via Ravelry) for Mice for Cats at Battersea Dogs home.

Mice for cats at a dogs home, now I really have lost it ;0)

Finish-itis

Not that I am complaining, but I seem to be suffering from finish-itis ! Not only did I finish my lace angel (in the last post) but I have just finished off two other things, firstly there is the One Row Lace Scarf


Made from one ball of Colinette Lasso which I p/hopped and I think the colourway was Jay, it was a strange yarn to use, and certainly not easy if you had even the slightest roughness on your hands as anything caught, but the end result feels very nice and makes the perfect spring/autumn weight scarf.

Then I got around to darning in the ends of Damson which I am sure by now everyone knows is by Ysolda Teague.



The yarn was Woolcraft Superwash Sock Yarn which I received in my birthday swap on the Crafty threads'n'yarns forum. The colours are so lovely, all my favourites put together (though the photo, as is so often the case, doesn't really do it justice). The thing that was disappointing though, was that despite having more meterage than the pattern called for, I ran out of yarn before I could do the edging and consequently it curls a little despite a severe blocking. Oh well, it's still lovely and will be used quite a bit what with the air conditioning at work having two settings - off and fridge!

I think I may have just realised what has caused this bout of finishing - could I be putting off knitting the little jacket I have started for a co-workers bump? Once again I am asking myself why on earth did I choose a pattern almost entirely in moss stitch when I hate the stuff - hey ho, maybe one day I will learn - but then on the other hand ..........