Wet and Wild

Nice weather for ducks!

Seriously, what is going on with the weather?  Yesterday saw us experiencing a burst of heavy rain and swirling winds which lasted about 20 minutes.  A good couple of inches must have fallen in that short space of time and the drains just couldn't cope with it.  You could see the water bubbling up through the manhole covers!  Fortunately, this time we escaped and our back patio didn't end up under 6 inches of sewage as has happened previously, but the road outside our house was under water for some time.  I did cringe a little when I saw these children playing in the water, especially as they were shouting 'It stinks!'

This week has turned on its head a little.  I've ended up coming down with some kind of virus/infection which has knocked me for six.  I'm off to visit the Dr's today, I wouldn't normally bother them as I don't 'think' I need antibiotics but I don't feel well enough to go to work and I need a Dr to confirm that (insert rolling eyes here due to work's sickness policies).

How's the weather with you?  Is it just the UK that is experiencing this odd weather or are other places battening down the hatches too?  I'm now keeping my fingers crossed for some sunshine and warm weather as my patio plants are really looking like they need it.

My Sunny Spread Ta-Dah is in the pipeline.......It has taken three days for it to dry!!!!  I now need the weather to behave today so I can get some photographs of it draped somewhere green and lush outside!

One a Day Project - Tuesday's Tallies

Time for Tuesdays Tallies again.  I was hoping to have a Ta-Dah for today, but time and work were against me and i just didn't get the border finished on my Sunny Squares last night.  I'm not going to share any photos of it as it really is just a few stitches away from being complete and I'd quite like to leave the big reveal for when it's all done.  In the end I decided to stick with the squares I already had.  I only needed to unpick two larger sets of 16 squares, which left me with 12 sets of 4 squares each to rejoin together.  That all sounds a bit muddled but all will be revealed very soon.  It's such a great feeling to be finishing a project, but it also means I get to chose a new project for my One a Day.

Okay, time for a confession - I have a huge stash, seriously huge stash of yarn.  And it really is time I started to reduce this stash.  So, my next project is going to one which will see this massive selection of cotton/acrylic yarn into a blanket.  I'm not totally sure what pattern/design to go with yet.  I will most likely pick single coloured granny squares of hexagons and much as I love join as you go, I think I will join them when they are all complete with a slip stitch join as I find it helps to give some stability to the finished piece.  I may not use all of the colours, the reds, the dark purples and one of two of the darker oranges may not be included which will give me a softer colour palette than normal.  This is obviously a long term project, there is some serious yardage of yarn there.  Whatever I pick will be fairly small, so the chances are I'll be doing two or three squares/hex's a day.  I'm planning to drag it all back out of the cupboard and weigh it all as I thought it might be fun to see the weight reducing as I work away at the pile.  For those who might be interested the yarn is a mixture of DK weight cotton/acrylic blend - there is James C Brett Kool Kotton and Cotton On, Sirdar Calico and Drops Design Cotton Light.  The last one is my favourite :)  I'm hoping they will all work together, some are thinner and the texture of the Kool Kotton is very different to the others but hopefully it will al work out in the end.

Time for the fun bit! If you would like to participate in 'Tuesday's Tallies' please add your details below, remembering to use your the link for your post rather than your blog. You don't have to leave a comment (although it's very lovely when you do!) and it would be great if you could visit some of the links too. If you are participating please could you link back to this post :)

Dishcloths

My four year old took the photo above, can you tell?  

Prior to declaring myself on a no new yarn ban I had made a little sneaky order from the US.  I know some folks aren't so keen to order from the US but I have ordered from there lots of times and have no worries about doing so.  This order was small in terms of money value so I wasn't overly concerned about customs fees but it is worth bearing in mind if you decide to give it a try.  My order came from Bernat and arrived in just a few days.  I guess the title of my post gives my yarny package away somewhat but just in case you overlooked that bit, my delivery was of oodles of bright , colourful dishcloth cotton.  I am hoping to turn these into various styles of cloths to go in our newly, but not yet, finished, bathroom.  the idea being that each member of the family can have their very own washcloths.  I cast on a really simple cloth last night called Nubbins Dishcloth and so far so good!  I like pooling so will be very interested to see how this looks when it's finished.  I can't decide which way it's going yet, can you?

Nubbins Dishcloth

0
Thanks to all of you who stopped by yesterday and who gave your opinion on what I should do with my Sunny Squares.  It's seems that you all thought I should complete another 16 squares so that's what I will be doing this week.

The Return of the One a Day Project

I'm so excited to be returning to the One a Day Project.  I had a project all lined up but yesterday I started having wobbles.  I had spent some of the day tidying up my Ravelry page and was quite astonished at just how many outstanding projects I have on there.  So instead of introducing a new project I feel I really should tackle some of my UFO.  Here's where I need your help, I've decided I really must finish my Sunny Squares blanket.  BUT, I'm having a dilemma - do I unpick the squares I have joined (I have 48) and rejoin them in one piece or shall I carry on making another block of 16 squares, then join them ready for a border.  What do you think?

For those of you less wobbly than me, time for the fun bit! If you would like to participate in 'Tuesday's Tallies' please add your details below, remembering to use your the link for your post rather than your blog. You don't have to leave a comment (although it's very lovely when you do!) and it would be great if you could visit some of the links too. If you are participating please could you link back to this post :)

Once in a Lifetime

Yesterday was a busy day. Myself and Imogen headed off early in the morning to see her through her second grading for Taekwondo.  She did herself proud and is now a yellow belt and already looking forward to her next grading in a few months times.  It's a long morning for a few minutes of showing her stuff, followed by a presentation.  Here she is proudly showing her certificate and her new belt.

Later on in the day the Olympic Torch was due to make an appearance in our home town.  I was simply bowled away by the turnout, but I imagine a lot of people were thinking along the same lines as me, in that we will probably never get to see this in our own country again.  It was truly magical, the atmosphere was amazing and everyone was really entering into the spirit of it.  If the torch hasn't reached you yet, please do go and watch.

There were numerous Police bikes and cars involved in the procession.  Lots of the bikes had streamers and flags attached and they rode really close to the crowds tooting their horns and turning their sirens on.  One police car even had it's own Oylmpic Torch hanging out of the front window which you can just make out in the photo below.

I was a litte disappointed that George, my nine year old, pronounced the whole thing as boring, but everyone else had fun.  Especially the girls, the two older ones I sat on some railings for a good view and Pippa was with Daddy waving her flag proudly.

Today is a catch up day, I have mountains of washing but the sun is shining so that's a good start.  And this afternoon I am hoping to hop on the bike for a short ride while my other half is at home to look after the little ones.  And finally I am really excited to be back tomorrow for the One a Day project - I can't wait!

New Beginnings

I'm sorry to have disappeared for a little while again.  Life in the 'Gingerbread House' gets rather busy at times and when that happens there seems very little time for blogging.  I've still managed to squeeze plenty of yarny time into my days.  Crochet has taken a little bit of a back seat for a while.  I have rather a lot of blankets in various stages of unfinishedness while i satisfy my urge to knit.  I've also been indulging in rather a lot of yarny shopping therapy.  My yarn stash now occupies various cupboards and drawers in almost every room downstairs.  I am trying to spend a little time here and there sorting through my stash, photographing it and adding it to my Ravelry database before packaging it up and storing it in some kind of organised fashion.  So far, I have been concentrating on the newer yarn but eventually I  will have to tackle the yarn I have had for a little while.  I have also decided that I really need to go not just on a yarn diet but a complete and utter yarn ban while I work my way through my stash.  I've also realised I spend way too much time browsing patterns in Ravelry instead of actually being productive, so I am slowly building up a workable queue of patterns and matching them to yarn in my stash.  I am much more monogamous as a knitter than a crocheter and it's very unusual for me to have more than one project on the needles.  
I am hoping to return to hosting the One a Day Project next week, so please do come back on Tuesday to see what I am working on.  It's something a little different from my 'usual' crochet, but you will have to wait until Tuesday for a look.  I really hope some of you reading this are still working on One a Day projects and will join in with my link party next week.

Thank you for stopping by x