Some Knitting At Last.

Hello!

I am still here, in one piece.  

Life seems to have been rushing along at a pace, one blink of the eye and it's nearly the end of September.  Things have been hectic at school and the only thing I'm fit for in the evenings is a gin and tonic. 

I have finished my Reversible Sock Yarn Hat.

It was cast on provisionally, one side completed and then the other.

I had chosen the maroon yarn for the second side to complement the first and intended to make it plain.  The second side however was boring me silly so I added the blue stripey oddment.

Strange how stripes seem to make knitting go quicker, before I knew it I was done.

I've also finished the crochet 'Lucy Bag'.

 I went the whole hog and added buttons to the flowers.  It's not lined yet, I need to find some fabric.

 With these projects finished off, I was looking for the next challenge.  

I had lovely array of Rowan Felted Tweed, which came to me 

via my friend Romain's sort out.

I could picture what I wanted to make, a stripey cardi.   "Ooooooo" my work colleagues would say, as I swanned around, "that's beautiful."  I would smile smugly  and reply "It's Merino and Alpaca." My little knitty world would be happy.

Unfortunately I have been unable to find the perfect pattern.  

I can see it in my head.

A 'flappy' cardi, no buttons, maybe some pockets, but despite much prevaricating and searching through Ravelry and the like, I still can't find it.

So, the Felted Tweed has gone back into the stash.

I've had two more failed cast-ons (tension, bah!) but, finally I'm going for Abalone which is a waistcoat.

It's knitted in one piece and then grafted together on the shoulders.

For this I'm using some British Breeds Jacob Grey Aran. Possibly not as luxurious as the Silk/Merino yarn which the pattern suggests, but this yarn has been in my stash for nearly 4 years, so I'm pleased to be using it.

The aran has a pleasantly 'sheepy' smell and although it is a little course, I think it's going to be really warm, so useful in the Autumn days we're currently experiencing. 

So all in all Happy Days. 

 My ankle is still hurting but at least I can get shoes on now and looking on the bright side, it's only 3 weeks until half term.   Woot!

As always, have fun and keep smiling.

Byee...............Clicky Needles.

Pete Reed, Olympic Hero

Hello there!

I'm giddy with excitement right now because Mr Clicky, me and DS have just been into Stroud to see Pete Reed the gold winning Olympian.  He was in the Coxless Fours Rowing Team and won gold.

He came out of The Subscription Rooms

 and got onto the open top bus, complete with outriders and a samba band.

 I cheered loudly, much to DS' embarrassment.  His Mum and girlfriend sat down next to him looked very proud.

I really enjoyed the Paralympics and Olympics, the athletes were so inspiring.  I watched whenever I could, so to see Pete and his medal was fabulous.

Back to school last week, it was lovely to see the kids again  ~ but how tiring!  We went on a trip to the Black Country Living Museum as our 'Wow' which gets our Victorians topic rolling.  

The sunrise that morning was beautiful. 

The children had a great time learning about life 'in the olden days' and went into houses, down the mine and experienced what a school would have been like.  I however, had a less fun as I fell off a kerb and twisted my ankle. Ouch! 

I got it x-rayed the next day, luckily it wasn't broken.  The advice was 'to elevate' which was just what I did.  I elevated my foot on my steamer chair in the sunshine.  I've been hobbling around ever since, but the swelling is going down now.

My knitting mojo seems to have deserted me a bit but I have got my squares finished and sent for August.

My gardening mojo has also evaporated but I think has a lot to do with the weather.  The red germaniums in my lovely stone trough are about the only thing looking good at the moment.    

Unfortunately you can't see them right now as they have a fridge freezer plonked in front of them waiting for collection.  Yes, our fridge freezer decided to pack up on Saturday night. *Sigh*  Luckily we didn't have to go on a mad eating fest, we do have another freezer in the garage.    Mr Clicky and me went after work one night and bought another one to be delivered tomorrow, thank goodness.

So that's about it for now I think, I've got lots of blogs to catch on so I'll settle down with a cup of tea.

Bye for now..........Clicky Needles.