Anticipation....

There is knitting (a modest amount) and marking (a lotta lotta) and work and children and rugby all occupying my time.

But.

Tomorrow, there is some thing to look forward to...

an afternoon and some treatments booked at Stobo Castle (no less). [We sent the mother-in-law to Stobo for a treatment a year or so ago - local girl Susan Boyle was there..]

Me and my man. Relaxing and lapping in the pool. 

I'll take my knitting (of course)....

Ripple Blanket (FO)

This afternoon was notable for 2 reasons: Scotland won a remarkable rugby match against Ireland in the 6 nations, and I finished rippling this blanket for the bean.
It's been a loooooong time coming - I think I started it in May 2012, but the bean and I both agreed that it is now big enough.
There are a few ends to see to, but that shouldn't take more than one evening.... Apart from one ball of Rowan handknit cotton - it was made entirely from the stash, gobbling up almost 1kg of yarn in the process. The navy yarn is reclaimed from an old cricket sweater of mine which I made about 20 years ago(!) I held the yarn double to compensate for its age and diameter... It's not perfect by any means, but that won't affect its comfort and warmth giving properties. The bean seems to approve, and quickly tried it out for size.

Beanies (FO)

Life here is proceeding very slowly: the wheezing and coughing enforcing a glacial pace of life. An hour or two of activity - and then rest.

Evenings seem to be best for doing anything - and last night I finished the second baby beanie for 2013.

The multi-coloured one matches my fingerless gloves, so I think I'll hang on to this one ready for the arrival of bean no. 3....

Sick bed

All is quiet. The house is devoid of hustle and bustle. It's just me and my cough.

In bed together, wheezing. Looking out at the blue sky and sunshine.

There have been some short bouts of knitting. When the thought is not too exhausting.

I predict a quiet week.

Progress

As is usual at this time of year, my weekly routine is shaped largely by my teaching. I am teaching third year undergraduates, from a range of professional disciplines and the preparation and marking and organising and thinking about what we are going to do in our classes each week takes time: lots of time.

But I'm trying to make time to finish a few projects here and there too. When I'm out in town, at work, on the bus, or at midwife/GP appointments I take a small project with me. It's usually socks, but recently I've switched back into baby beanie mode. 

When I'm at home, I try and concentrate on one of the bigger projects in the WIP pile. At the moment my main focus is the crochet blanket I am making for the bean. 

He's been complaining - rightly - that it didn't take me long to make a blanket for his sister, but his blanket is taking ages. Trouble is, I've almost run out of one of the yarns. Such is my desperation, that I am in the process of weighing the ball before and after completing a stripe in order to work out just how many more stripes I might eke out of the remaining ball, and how much bigger I can make the blanket without having to change the design. It might just be enough... keep your fingers crossed.

Six

The bean was 6 this weekend. 


We celebrated as is customary - with cake (a chocolate Victoria sponge, just in case you are wondering)

Happy birthday, my bright and funny boy.  When you were 1, you looked like this.

Now you look something like this..

We love watching you grow. We love you.

Christmas Socks (FO)

2013 is proving to be fairly productive, and there is another FO to show even before the first month is ended! (2012 what *were* you doing?)

Some socks - for me. This yarn was a Christmas gift from my MIL, (although the labels got a bit muddled and my son ended up opening it...), and I thought it would make good winter/boot socks, so I rattled some off.

Pattern: generic top down socks

Yarn: Wendy Roam Fusion 4 ply (about 60g) in 'Heath'

Time taken: started and finished January 2013

The colour is truest in the bottom photo, a pleasant pinky, orangey-yellow heathered yarn. I've worn them already, and can report a pleasant squashy and warm experience just right for snowy January days. it's noticeable how much thicker and bouncier these new socks are compared to the rest of my (handknit) sock collection. Then again, I notice that I made this pair - the oldest socks in my current collection - in 2007! No wonder they are getting a bit thin (but still no holes).