Day 27.

About time I returned to the challenge of 31 days of blogging on a topic, as you know I have chosen to ignore the word consecutive. Well, my blog, my rules :)

So, knitting. Working on the principle that I wish to keep learning, both skills and knowledge I'm making a shawl so I can learn lace knitting. I started on size 5 straight needles, when I realised the total should be 195 stitches I searched out magic loop needles, fortunately had size 5, Ian helped me switch a long cable from other needles. Works better, especially as these Knit-Pro needles have a sharper point. The pattern I'm using is Forest Canopy Shawl.

The yarn is actually a sock yarn Stylecraft Aviemore 4ply, bought at Squires Garden Centre for just £6.00, .the colours should go with quite a few of my clothes.

To add to the knitting, did quite a few rows of Hexipuff whilst waiting at the Doctor's surgery for two steroid injections in my shoulder, decided exercise wasn't for me after that. To be fair, I expected the jab to be more painful than it was, even so to have full movement back will be good. Knitting doesn't cause any pain at all.

Thoughts.

Simple Woman's Daybook: 8th November 2011

Outside My Window ... grey, damp, raw cold. Funereal cold which was fitting as I attended the funeral of a parishioner today. He would have been 102 in a few days time.

I am thinking ... about the TV programme we watched about Christianity in Europe. Still available on iPlayer & here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01785f8/Our_World_Europes_Christian_Exodus/ 

I agree with some one who said that it wasn't so much they were against Christianity but against the man made church. It is all the regulations, who can and cannot take communion, the rules nowadays that seems to say that every service must be Holy Communion/Mass/Eucharist. Who decides? Why no morning prayer any more? Who decides about all the extra bells that jangle away during the services? Services? Surely they have become a performance sometimes with much annoyance if not everything is done 'right'. Although I cannot sing, I enjoy hearing hymns and 'sing' them inside myself if that makes sense. This links in with my theory that the fewer the congregation the longer and drearier the hymns - and no the theory applies to both modern and traditional hymns.  As an ordinary Anglican in that broad church I wonder if we have drifted away from what Jesus taught and those commandments about loving God with all your heart and your neighbour. Maybe it is me having doubts, for example, I no longer believe one goes to Heaven after one dies but as Wordsworth said "Heaven lies about us in our infancy" and maybe in all our life if we can see it. To me Heaven can be the views of and from Richmond Hill, it can walking and holding hands with my husband, or the scent of a rose in our front garden in November. 

From the learning rooms .. as Ian is not studying maths. at present he has been grabbed to make things for a Christmas tree. It has been decided that each group at church will decorate a tree and these will be around for all of Advent. Ian is well known, and rightly so, for his model making and woodworking skills so he has to make miniature hymn books for the choir tree. Not sure whether other decorations will be required but a brilliant prototype is ready for inspection.

From the kitchen ... we are about to prepare supper. We purchased locally produced Italian pasta from Waitrose so will be trying that. I intend to stew cooking apples.

I am wearing ... black East dress, charcoal grey Uniqlo cardigan and coloured scarf.

I am creating ... Hexipuffs. I have purchased new needles, then a new cable as the spare cable I had was just so long. Have abandoned temporarily the complicated cardigan. I had made an error and could not face unpicking about 16 rows. It happened at the same time as losing my hexipuff knitting, feel so upset still about that but exhaustive searches have revealed no sign of  the half completed hexipuff on magic loop in cotton yarn.

I am reading ... Henry's sisters, by Cathy Lamb. The first few chapters are not encouraging but I will persevere. This "worst read librarian" (quote) needs to read more fiction.

I am hoping ... the Cox's apple Pippin that we planted will prosper and grow. It was an offer from Copella Apple juice to encourage more of us to grow and eat English apples. Just had to purchase three bottles of Copella products, plus payment postage and packing.

 Tree soaking before being planted in the garden, mid way between two other apple trees.

Apple tree in the earth.

I am hearing ... Ian tapping away at his computer, as is his wont he is working on an Excel worksheet.

Around the house ... lots of clearing going on, have contacted Society of Indexers to see if my copies of The Indexer from 1981 can be of use to some one. Very friendly reply from the Society. Any one interested?

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ...  about ten days ago we went on one of the Strollers walks around Puttenham, a village on the Hog's Back and part of the South Downs Way. It was a good, if slightly challenging walk for me but I managed it. (My lung capacity is just below 40%) A coffee break had been planned. After coffee at Manor Farm café, we looked in the Seale Craft Centre. Lots of beautiful items for sale, there was very little yarn about 8 balls of this Pure Jacob double knitting of which I bought these three. 

I was so delighted as the church in Seale was where my great grandmother was baptised in 1855. As the church was open I was able to see and photograph the font that must have been used for Frances Barnes. According to the literature in the church the font was medieval although the church was remodelled in the later nineteenth century. 

Lunch on the walk was one of the best. We had a copy of the menu for The Good Intent pub in Puttenham so orders were telephoned ahead for our party of 8 so when we arrived about 2pm our only other consideration was the choice of drink to accompany the excellent food. Only downside of the day was the heavy traffic jams we encountered on the A3 coming home and for me, rather achy bones for a couple of days. Worth it for the exercise, fellowship and laughter these walks give.

Well, I guess I've said enough, sorry for rambling on folks.

Good news

Well, Mount Ironmore calls but first I must give some good news to all readers of my ramblings and announce that daughter Martha has been successful in her search for a position as a Newly Qualified Solicitor. Her CV had been despatched to all parts of the legal universe. On Tuesday last week she spotted an advert, contacted agency, sent CV, invited to an interview on Monday (three other candidates were interviewed on Friday) and yesterday was offered and accepted the position.

This was the first position for which she applied and her first interview in an area where all the signs show few vacant positions.

Sufficient to say she will be in Sussex-by-the-Sea so moving out of the family nest and go with our blessings to a new part of this land. Many thanks to all my contacts who have offered leads, contacts, advice and help.

Also this week son and his wife move to their new home in Aylesbury, so pleased for them too.

Now a big mystery. Why is the hexipuff I am knitting going so wrong? I have undone it so many times, it is the 14th not as I initially thought the 13th. I have used the yarn before, it is Jaeger woolsilk so easy to use for it doesn't split. Will keep going, because I like a challenge.

Just a quick couple of pictures to show the nests we uncovered when we had a big pruning session in the garden. Plans are underway to keep garden low maintenance as Ian will be studying even more next year. Today he has paid for M208, next year's 60 point course that sounds like a radio station with the Infra-draw method. Keynsham Maths anyone?

Back soon, nearly time for The Archers.

PS: as of Wednesday evening I sat quietly and have finished the errant hexipuff. Then on the principle of getting back on a bike/in the water/on the horse I started another puff and had reached the magic 40 stitches at the end of the 10pm news bulletin. So, one knit row and then it is decreasing and downhill.

Hexipuffing

SaturDAY, August 20, 2011

Simple Woman's Daybook: 20th August

Outside My Window ... sunshine after some very heavy rain. From the front of the house it is a cloudless sky now, a couple of hours ago it was heavy rain.

 

I am thinking ... I will need to do more at home so Ian can study, he does a lot of catering and we shop together, I viewed it as a break but he cannot afford such long breaks now.

From the learning rooms ... much planning by Ian as to how much time to spend on his TMA and how much on revision. 

From the kitchen ... Ian has made his famous chocolate brownies.

I am wearing ... black jeans style trousers, grey and white horizontal striped top and charcoal grey cardigan.

I am creating ... Am making good progress with cardigan and have made my first hexipuff

 

I am sure the yarn snobs will not like this acrylic but all the materials, yarn, needles and pattern were a gift and I think the cardigan is looking good.

I am going ... to try and help daughter with her job search. She has been waiting a while to find out if her firm would keep her after she qualifies, eventually she was told that she wouldn't. Gather this is usual, trainees are taken on, paid minimum Law Society wage, given much responsibility and then once qualified that is it. Two months isn't long in today's world to find a newly qualified post, especially as solicitors at the top of the tree are not retiring so no space at the bottom of the ant heap.

So, if any of you lovely people reading these ramblings know of vacancies in any part of England for a NQ solicitor who has trained in area of private law and commercial law we would love to hear from you. Martha has experience of conveyancing too; she has good IT skills as worked in web hosting company in sales and recruitment, also in retail. As you know she ran in the London Marathon and raised nearly £4,200 in memory of her friend who died aged 27 from this disease.

I am reading ... The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Finding it interesting but it is a battle between knitting and reading.

I am hoping ... Martha finds work and that there are no more delays with Adam & Juliet's house purchase. The solicitors for the other party have delayed the move by a week, there are only two in the chain and absence from work has been booked around the move.

One of my favourite things ... learning new skills. Well I have learnt Turkish cast on and how to cast off using 3 needles. All because like so many I have joined in the latest craze on Ravelry in creating Hexipuffs. They are stuffed honeycomb shaped pockets, 3" across and can be joined together to make a quilt from a pattern one can buy and down load, created by Stephanie Dosen. Here is my first, and so far, only one!

I used the alpaca wool from which my jumper and beret were made, although the pattern suggests left over sock yarn. From reading the acres of print on line on this subject I think any 4ply will be fine and I am sure clever people will make them different sizes from heavier yarn.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... well, today is last day of the week but looking ahead am catching up with friends next week, giving a talk about Breathe Easy.

Not sure why some text has blue background but will leave it as I'd like to try another hexipuff - they are supposed to take half an hour to knit. Maybe that's when more than one has been attempted