Back, with colour. And feet.

Green beans, almost ready to plant up in the greenhouse.
Flowers, lots of lovely flowers.
The traditional chubby feet on table knitting pics.
Sunshine.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Of mice and body parts.

This has been sitting on some blocking. I know not why. But it made me smile everytime I looked at it.

This has been sitting on the windowsill - yet still I rather like the headless one.

Better photos to come asap. When did it start getting dark at 2pm??? 4 or 5pm yes, perfectly fine, but 2? What's that all about! And it's cold, wet, grey and generally yuk, real November weather. November should be banned (except for any of my friends who have birthdays in November, in which case it is a jolly fine month indeed).

The said blocking - a jumper I started knitting a few days ago from this rather lovely book - it seems to have slipped beneath the Ravelry radar for some reason, yet I really like it - for once I want to knit about 80% of the things in it rather than one or two.

There is a dodgy looking chunky dress, but apart from that pretty much everything else looks wearabubble. Plus they are seamed which I prefer, knitting round and round and round and round is boring and hurts my wrists. Seaming is fun, knitting things in sections is fun. Some of the patterns here:

The one I am knitting is the third along in the grey section. It screams out to be made in a soft, lovely wool but tough, I am knitting it with Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed, which (going by comments on Rav) seems to be a love it or hate it wool. I love it, I love the tweedy rustic look and feel of it.
It won't look all flattering and stroke-abubble as the photo but I think (hope) it will make a warm, cosy jumper for at home. Mine is shorter, jumper rather than dress length. There are a few mistakes in the pattern so far (how? How do books get published with more than one error?) but it is a fast easy knit.

I love the jacket (5th along in the greys).

Sleevies blocking overnight.
See that pin box, the pretty one?

Do NOT pick it up when it is upside down. Thassall.

I spotted a dropped stitch when I was several inches into knitting, hence the pin - I tried picking it up with a crochet hook (the stitch, not the pin, Picking up the pin is easy) but it looked messy, so will catch it in when I start seaming. Rustic. Very rustic.

I need to get back to Christmas and swap making / knitting . sewing etc, but definitely needed to have a cardi or jumper on the go again. Knitting little things is great fun but not as rewarding as summat to wear.

That's all for now, will leave you with a picture of the body parts which are now felted and drying. Hopefully I will have a pattern ready by the end of this week.

Brought to you by the colour PIIIIIING!

Today I feel almost awake - had NO sleep for a couple of nights but managed about 4 glorious oblivious hours last night, so I am just on the right side of overtired. I do think  snooze is due soon though, and am at the Drs later this afternoon.

The sun is out, not convinced it will last for long as I have put the washing out and everyone knows that is the signal for the gods of rain to do their funky thang. But it's fab to have some daylight.

The garden - yes I am fraid MORE garden piccies are coming - is a bit bonkersmad. The fleurs are loving it, the veggies not so much, In turn, the SLUUUUGS are loving the veggies. They appear to be mutant cyber slugs as they are oblivious to the slug pellets etc and just keep coming back. Teeny tiny ones, huge ones, snails galore, yuk.

The cabbages are religious cos they are holy. Sowwy.
The mint and cabbages are about the only things thriving, the peas, beans, broad beans all scoffed. Buggerit.

But there is pinkness galore.

Some natural.

Some not so natural.

The pinks I waffled about the other week are thriving thankfully - the 'fakes' and the 'real' ones both look and smell amazing.

Real                                                                                                                                      Fake

When I was a tot both nan and mum's gardens were full of the 'real' ones, all the borders were crammed with them, the smell was so lovely. The older I get (snort) the more I seem to be consciously or subconsciously choosing plants from my childhood. Tis great that such treasured memories can be triggered by something so every day as a plant.

Seeds from mum's garden = yellow poppies galore.
There are even poiple fleurs, which clash wonderfully with my manky door.
Brace yerself -

Pretty.
And FUUUUUGLY:

In my defence, your Honour, it is a rented house. The door and the godawful fekkin carpet are NOT of my choosing. I am still trying to decide what colour to paint that bloody door. Mum suggested red which I said would clash with the red bricks.
Mum's reply:
'But you don't have many red bricks.'
Erm. The ENTIRE HOUSE is red brick, in a street of red brick houses.
If it was my own house I would paint it a deep rich raspberry or a zingy chartreuse.
Daughter says paint it black. Deffo don't want white or blue.
Or grey.
Daughter is sanding it all down tomorrow and if tis dry will undercoat it. So I really need to decide on a colour pretty damned soon!

Hmmmm - any suggestions?
I half like muted greens but a bit dull. Would depress me before I even opened the door I think.

OOh - knitting is happening. Sox. Wool has been bought. Fibre is being spun. Shawls have been finished.
Piccies tomorrow all being well.
Table sold and hopefully collected Thursday.
Sewing machine is in use.
Hurrah!

Wet Wet Wet

Not in a Marti Pellow stylie sadly (phwoar!).
Piddling down, weather here in the UK in general is dire, lots of flooding, a lightening strike this side of the country and gales. Not good. Lashed it down all yesterday and all night, looks a touch better today so far but still very windy.

So perfect knitty weather!

The pink beady shawl is almost finished, am aiming to get that done by tonight - I repeated the middle section and maybe didn't need to, it is looking quite large! Piccies to come when the world brightens up a bit.

The living room revamp is moving on - at the moment it is in the 'almost finished' chaotic state.

Posh eh.
This set needs selling asap, have had some interest but no response to my reply yet. As my new old table (makes sense to me) came last night I really need to sell this lot quickly, it is looking a bit like Steptoe's yard at the moment.
The little set of drawers is painted and painted and painted, and ready to be titivated:

Nicely naff and bland at the moment but I have ideas (has had another coat of paint since this was taken). They involve my printer which is out of ink, so please hurry up Mr Postie and deliver the new ink! The tall cabinet behind this one is next in line but a much bigger job, I plan to cover the bottom door with vintage photos.

My sense of style is very muddled lately - once upon a time I had a fairly clear idea of what I liked Then I maybe grew up a bit and it all become so much more complicated!
I like neutrals very much, these sorts of things:

Neutrals with pinks, bliss. But thanks to my landlord and his absolute lack of taste I have this godawful carpet to live with. Yuk. One day I will invest in something better, even if it's a huge rug over as much as possible.
But as well as neutrally I also like this sort of thing:

Gorgeous.
So I am half plannning to have white painted dining chairs with patchwork seats. Maybe.
Things I do like and that are achievable are these:

Easy. Painted bottles and jars, similar coloured blooms. I really like this.
And this:

Apparently these are cheap artificial flowers in water - I suppose it would also work in a gel of some sort.
(All piccies taken at random from my piccy folders, sorry there are no credits).

Right, my knitting is calling me softly - be right with you my dear!

Enjoy the weekend.
Toodles.

Pah.

Still ill and will have to admit defeat and ring the Dr tomorrow I think.

In the meantime, the sun shone all day today (rain forecast the rest of the week I think) so have some pretty piccies.

Peony Rose, the first time I have grown these. These were free plants (well, postage to pay) and are gorgeous. This one went from bud to fully open in the space of a couple of hours this morning. I love the heavy yellow pollen against the delicate petals.
And these - just look at the colours! How fantastic is the splash of yellow!

Love love love.

The tiny garden is currently full of these, what I would call fake pinks. REAL pinks to me are the heavily scented - er - pink flowers that my mum and my nan always grew. I have a tub od them in bud, but these little loves flower every year in all shades of deep red and pink. Today when I had an hour sitting on the bench I realised that they DO smell lovely - not quite as strong as 'pinks' (dianthus) but very lovely. So my little charity shop find vase is now full of herbs and pinks from the garden, tis the simple things that make one smile.

Kniting has happened on and off - a small shawl from the lovely wool my mum bought for my burpday.

Very straightforward and clearly written pattern so far, at some point I want a long deep v shaped shawl but these smaller ones are great for wrapping round your neck. And of course relatively quick to knit, bonus.
The only problem has been the beads. I ordered pink and silver from Debbie Abrahams, arrived quickly, perfect colours. Threaded loads randomly and happily knittyknitknit - then realised all the colour had come off the pink ones!

I emailed about it and have had an immediate reply, apparently some of last years faulty batch seems to have been sent out this year, so hopefully something will be sorted out.

Frustrating but not a crisis.

The pink coating had started fading even after being threaded.

And pretty much all gone.

Some house changing going on at the mo, much as I love my dining table and chairs they were a mistake and simply too big for this tiny room. So only fleabay it has gone and hopefully will sell, I don't expect to get back what I paid for it but anything around £100 will do. I won a replacement folding table (one of those old carved heavy wood ones) and have Plans.
Plans have already started with a much loved but dark wood set of drawers:

why yes it is a mess. Thank you.

No I couldn't be bothered to move the telly.
Yes I did paint just half of it last night.
Yes I do do things spur of the moment.
I am planning all white with maybe birds and eggs on the drawers. Or old keys.
Then there is the matter of the front door which is in absolutely dire need of painting but I don't know what colour, Piccies to come when I dare (it is seriously awful at the moment).

So things have been happening, and things are Planned. Just need a bit of a break in this illness thing please.

Toodles.

Today's post

will be brought to you mostly by the colours pink and .green.

Been a rough week healthwise, but never mind - more ooman today thankfully (have been doing Olympic worthy sleeping and it seems to have helped).

The crochet throw thingy is growing slowly but surely - more slowly than surely I think. I am really enjoying it - no need to look at a pattern, no need to jot anything down as I go, just round and round, finish, start another. Bliss.

I joined most of the ones I had finished and couldn't work out quite why it looked such a pitiful piece of messy tat:

Surely this was how I did it before? But no - I have crocheted them but just a single chain running like a - well, like a running stitch. Yuk.

So I unpicked this lot - thankfully it just pulls out easily - and started again, this time with a treble crochet.

I think it's a treble anyway - the idea was to have the deep pink joining all the hexagons and showing on the top of the seam, as a raised pink row.

I know it isn't perfect but I am really pleased with bit - miles to go still! The chunk that's complete (and ends sewn in on the reverse) is about a cushion size. So if I get really bored I can at least make it into a garden cushion ;-)

Even the scary dayglo PINK is bearable in small amounts:

Considering this is so cheap I think it looks pretty decent.

Knitting wise, the grey cardi of despair and swearing continues. Once again I came unstuck trying to follow the chart and instructions from the pattern, I think I tried 4 or 5 times to knit a front and gave up, went back to 'my' written out version and that's been much better.
I really like the pattern itself, and love the waist shaping (done by decreases and increases on the fronts and back, not in the side seam) but bloody Nora it's a pain in the derriere. Plus this happened on the back:

A chuffing great ruffle. I don't mind ruffles, in fact I rather LIKE  ruffles - but there wasn't a ruffle in sight in the pattern! Hopefully it will smooth out when blocked and worn.

Hmmmm. I know the trailing vine pattern is going to open when blocked, but I really do hope it looks better finished than it does at the moment. Back, one front, one sleeve finished so far. Hmmmm ....

It has rained here every day and every night for AGES AND AGES AND AGES. So I haven't been any further than the bin for a while - haven't been out of the gate since Tuesday (not sure if that's because I have felt so ill, or if I have felt so ill BECAUSE I haven't been outside). Managed to grab 15 minutes last night when it stopped raining to plant out some more bits, including cabbage seedlings and some parsnip seeds.

I have things potted inside, the spider plant spiderling and the Mexican Hat plants are still alive. I also planted some lemon pips in the vain hope that they might sprout:

I don't have many rooms, so not many windows - so the poor living room windowsill is now a mix of 'nice' things and plantpots.
This beauty has just started flowering:

Pink and green, perfect.
My mum has my nan's old flowering cactus and it is an absolute beast of a plant, seriously huge! This is only small, but it flowers beautifully every year.

I bought a few of these, and a longer multi-tiered version instead of a hanging basket by the front door. Haven't tried them before and I need to buy some plants to go in, but hopefully they will look nice against the walls. I am running out of ground space so thought I would start going upwards!

And something nice to end with for today, the blossom tree of unknown heritage is still in full bloom - it's such a shame that the weather's been manly as I think it's just about past it's best now and will start to drop soon. Usually I manage to get more 'outside' time with it by now, and get to smell it properly. So I cheated and brought some inside:

I doubt it will last long in here but it is so pretty, such delicate shades of pink (and green). Must take some close up photos and try painting one day ....

Enjoy the weekend.