MAY ROUND-UP 🌈

These boots were made for walking 🥾

May has been and gone and what a scorcher! Another busy month at work. Lots of walks with clients, ensuring that they exercise but social distance as well!

Walking is great but I could do with it being a little cooler. However, I am sure I will be moaning when I am still having to go out walking and it is hammering down with rain 🤔

I sent 3 incubator blankets off to the warm baby project and received a lovely reply but they currently have enough knitwear so I will need to find something else to occupy my needles.

I decided to join the LKknitalong and did a couple of practice squares with yarn from my stash. I bought the correct yarn from LoveCrafts. It was so lovely I spent a week just admiring my purchase but I have finally done a trellis shell Square in the merino yarn. It needs a bit of blocking but quite pleased with myself. Three more squares to do! And the next patterns are available on Thursday 🤗

Looking forward to a bit of rain during June in the hope of reviving the dust bowl that is my garden.

Hoping everyone is keeping safe now that the lockdown is easing 🌈

Woolly wishes,

Jane❤️🧡💛💚💙🖤💜

SELF-HELP #33

An evening walk …

I have just returned from an evening walk after a day at work. It has been baking hot all day but it has cooled down a little this evening.

Scorcio 🌞

Since the announcement of a slight easing of the lockdown the world seems to have come out to enjoy the sunshine and get drunk. I was walking past a local playing field where a group called out offering beers. I politely declined. It is a worry because so many are going to have to continue shielding for a long time to come!

Anyway back to my walk. Look at these lovely dog roses.

And the blackberry blossom

So my walk is not as peaceful as it has been and there are certainly a lot more cars on the roads 🚗🚗🚗

Anyway back to my knitting!

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

SELF-HELP #32

Mainly gardening …

It is really hot here at the moment. My little patch of lawn looks like a dust bowl. But my pots and planters are still alive, although always very thirsty😄

And who would have thought just a few weeks ago my garden was drowning from river water due to the floods ☔

My lovely son B has been helping me by cutting down old shrubs and then digging out the roots. He has reclaimed this bit of border for me.

And just look at this lot I have got to get rid of!!!

So quite a productive day. A nice walk along the river after tea when the weather is a bit cooler, then a nice bath, a bit of knitting and bed 🌜

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

BANK HOLIDAY BLUES…

For some members of the family but not me 😎

Bank holiday Monday but frankly all the days seem to merge into each other. We have done some gardening as a family and sadly the bottom fell out of the pot that N was moving. He was not a happy bunny as he got covered in soil and then horror of horrors there were snails on the side of the pot 🐌

I came to the rescue, more for the sake of the snails than N 😂

My son, bless him, has sawn down a couple of shrubs for me while I have been pulling up nettles on the river bank. My arms are quite tingly now but I am pleased with the results and I got to chat to lots of walkers 😆

But most exciting of all my wool has arrived for the Let’s Knit KAL:

I am so happy and excited – I obviously need to get out more!!!

I am happy with my trellis shell square so will be knitting those up in this lovely merino wool but will have another go at the windmill square with yarn from my stash!

Wishing you a lovely Whitsun.

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

STASH-BUSTING #31

Still knitting …

Although I have hit the knitting doldrums I am still knitting – phew!

I have been using up some of my baby yarn stash and also passed on some girlie coloured yarn to a client who has been having loads of pom pom making fun 😄

I have 3 incubator blankets ready to post to the warm baby project but as I mentioned in my last post I am on the look out for something new!

I have persevered with the lacy square from the Let’s Knit KAL and I have a finished square that I am quite pleased with. It is rather grubby as this was my fourth attempt and I used the same yarn each time but practice makes perfect. I will say that this square has confirmed my suspicion that I may have missed a couple of rows on the windmill square!!!

Anyway I am going to take the plunge and buy the yarn to make the blanket. Obviously I will use wool from my stash to practice the stitches first and will do another practice run of the windmill square 😂

So still looking for knitting inspiration but will be taking a walk to the post office tomorrow to post my incubator blankets.

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

ADDING TO THE STASH

Temptations…

My knitting mojo is suffering from angst! I have nearly completed 3 incubator blankets, 5 inches to go on the ladder blanket.

I am still working so have structure to my day but all of the fun activities I take my clients to are closed. We did attempt zumba via zoom yesterday which was not entirely successful. I jumped around to Europop anthems but my client was not keen!

I have found that I am better off at the moment – not putting as much petrol in my car, not buying coffee and not trawling wool shops. So I have treated myself to a couple of craft magazines. Now the problem with buying these is they are all wrapped up in plastic to protect the exciting free gift but this means you can’t flick through to see if you actually want to have a go at anything in the magazine…

I have bought a Mollie Makes which had a rainbow kit as a freebie. I was very excited unwrapping it but was sadly disappointed with the contents. A broad spectrum of crafts on offer but I probably won’t attempt any of them 😔

I have since bought a Let’s Knit which I have read from cover to cover. I feel inclined to do the monkey freebie and have taken an interest in the KAL. So much so I have priced the yarn on line and practiced the first 2 squares on wool from my stash. The windmill square is complete needs blocking but I think I missed a couple of rows!!! The lacy shell square has been thrown across the room and frogged twice, so nothing to show for that one!!! Probably just as well yarn shops are closed I might have rushed out and bought the wool to linger in my stash for months, possibly years 😂

I will reflect on the KAL. The benefit of doing it would be to learn how to do more lacy stitches but I might be unbearable to live with 😝 In the meantime I have started a beanie with a rather nice honeycomb brim and I have dug out some little Christmas card cross stitch kits. Variety is the spice of life so they say!!!

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

STASH-BUSTING #30

Who would have thought that I would get 30 posts out of my stash?

Still knitting for the warm baby project.

I posted 12 little hats last month and have since been on incubator blankets.

That is one check effect (blue, in the middle) completed, another check effect half complete (yellow) and a ladder effect half complete (again in blue). I got bored with the check effect which is why I now have 2 on the go – attention span of a gnat.

I have also been making little hearts with the intention of making another heart garland but I keep giving individual ones away with a little message attached so my second garland is a long way off 🤔

*If you look closely there is a strawberry!*

*Just for fun a chicken guarding the strawberries 🐓*

The garden is starting to look a bit tidier and starting to fruit. I usually do quite well for strawberries (touch wood) but the birds always manage to scoff the cherries, perhaps the chicken should be guarding the Cherry Tree?

Hope things are fruitful with you all,

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL♡♡♡

The nettles are back….

I arrived home from work last night and there was a parcel waiting for me. It was a handmade gift from my sister.

She is so clever. He has moveable arms and legs and looks really cute.

The nettles being back is not really a reason to be cheerful but I have been off today so have spent the afternoon clearing my part of the riverbank and I have chatted to so many people – all at a social distance of course!

Anyway back to my little bear. I am going to call him Spencer. The name Captain Tom was given to the bear my sister gave to the school where she works. I am naming him Spencer after a lady who was taken by this horrible disease. She used to test the Brownies for their merit badges. 😷

Hoping that you ate finding reasons to be cheerful?

Woolly wishes

Jane ♡♡♡

SELF-HELP #31

Taking matters into your own hands 👋👋👋

My partner has made himself a mask for when he is out shopping. I think he was fed up waiting for me to make him one.

And how did he make it?

He has used 2 men’s handkerchiefs, 2 rubber bands and a bit of tape. He can hook it over his ears, whereas the ones I have made are tied at the back.

Meanwhile in other news I have dyed my hair. There wasn’t a great deal of choice and I wanted red so here goes:

A bit brighter than I was expecting but an improvement on the roots. And hopefully my hairdresser can sort it out when she is allowed to reopen 😂

Have you been tackling anything yourself during lockdown?

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡

APRIL ROUND UP 🐰🐥⚘

Lockdown life ♡

April has been a busy month at work and then I have had to spend my time off at home with my partner and son. No trips to my local wool shop or Hobby Craft 😣

I have got my knitting mojo back after being in the doldrums during March. My partner became a grandpa over easter weekend so baby knits posted. Sadly we will not meet the new member of the family until the lockdown is over or eased?

I have been doing a bit of knitting for the warm baby project at Birmingham Children’s Hospital as well as finished off a few hats for a hoped for Christmas charity stall, pom pom joy 😃

I have jumped on the rainbow bandwagon and made a garland of hearts in rainbow colours as well as attempted to make a mask. I have actually made myself 2 masks for work. One is pretty good, however I used a tape with a satin finish for the second one and sadly it doesn’t fit as well as the bow slips a bit 😷

I have posted 12 teeny tiny hats to the warm baby project and have completed an incubator blanket and started a second one.

It is Thursday so I will be out with my frying pan and wooden spoon making lots of noise for my colleagues and the NHS.

Woolly wishes,

Jane ♡♡♡