Monday 16th July

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a refreshing weekend and are ready to face the new week.

Today I have eventually made it out of the house with my hubby. I had to pop to the surgery to fill in a sick line request and then we had a wee short walk, keeping the house in sight at all times as I could feel the panic rising the further away we got. Still, it is a baby step forward and that means a lot to me.

Now for some yarny talk.
I am going to call today Mailbox Monday as I want to share the fantastic box of goodies which arrived last week from https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RosiesMoments. As you may already know I received the June accessories box as part of my birthday present from my husband and I loved it so much I ordered the July box. Well, it arrived on Thursday and I was once again blown away.

All of this was packed expertly into the box and opening it brought forth lots of oohing and aahing all whilst grinning like the cat who got the cream. It was accompanied by an explanation letter which told the story of why Rosemary chose these particular goodies.

The first things I spied were the smellies, a gorgeous bath bomb in a cute wee beach bucket with a windmill on top and a beautiful handmade soap.

Then it was into the bubble wrap and two gorgeous trinket dishes appeared along with the cutest ice-cream progress keeper.

Finally came the yarn and pattern. The yarn is just sublime, the blue is 100g of M/C/N fingering weight and the multi is 50g of stunning Silk/Mohair lace weight. The accompanying pattern is for a sideways knit shawl using both yarns held together. I am sure you will all agree that this is a beautifully put together summer treat. Rosemary delivers worldwide and the August box is available to order now, just make sure you leave one for me to order next week.

See you tomorrow with a WIP.

Happy crafting
Mary

Sunday 15th July

Hello everyone, Sunday is here again and I hope you are all well. I am doing a wee bitty better this week but still haven't managed to get out. I have however been travelling around France with my hubby from my sofa as we are avid followers of Le Tour. We love watching the cycling but also seeing the wonderful Chateaux and the sweet little villages and other places that go past.
Last week I left you with the statement that I was off to shine my sink a la FlyLady. I did that and have managed to keep it shiny all week but alas that is as far as it has gone.

Now to knitting, I have so much to share this week that I have decided to go back to short daily posts so as not to bore you senseless.
So here we go. Since today is Sunday, socks it will be.
Today I will be casting on one of the test socks I mentioned last week. I received the pattern about an hour ago and after a quick perusal, I went shopping in my stash. After a rummage, I pulled out this beauty which has been maturing nicely for a few years. It is from the Seasonings Series by The Loopy Ewe and is the colour Mt Tinknomore which was a camp Loopy yarn from 2013. The yarn is 80% Superwash Merino/20% Nylon and was dyed for The Loopy Ewe by Lorna's Laces.

The pattern is a toe-up vanilla sock knitted on 2.5mm needles with an afterthought heel and I thought that this skein with the little mini would be just perfect. Now I have never done an afterthought heel before so this will be an all-new learning curve for me but I am up for the challenge and looking forward to it. So the time has come to find my needles, wind the yarn and make a start.

That's it for today. I will be back tomorrow with something else.

Happy crafting
Mary

Books in my ears.

1. The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell
2. Middlemarch - George Elliot
3. Head Shot - Quintin Jardine
4. With All My Love - Patricia Scanlan

I listen while I knit and always have a few on the go so I can choose which one I listen to depending on my mood.

Sunday 8th July

Hello, happy Sunday to all my readers.

Well it has been a tough week for me this week. My anxiety levels went sky high on Thursday as I was trying to help my husband fill in his claim form for PIP. It is so stressful and I ended up having to visit the GP where I broke down and admitted that currently I am not coping at all and was considering self harm to get the demons out. He was wonderful and after discussing possible options including beta-blockers to calm my heart flutters we decided on Diazepam for me to take as and when needed.
Throughout all of this of course, I had my trusty yarn and needles which helped me immensely. I could not cope with anything complicated but my Fading point has reached the side triangle stage which is mostly just decreasing garter stitch so was soothing and meditative.

I have also been working on my sock from my Rosie's Moments June accessories box. As I mentioned before the pattern was for cuff down but I have successfully managed to turn it around and am loving the resulting sock. I loved the mystery box so much that I have ordered the July one and also the Advent Calendar.

Talking of socks. my friend Fiona has some new sock patterns nearly ready for testing and she has asked me to be a test knitter for her. I am really excited about this and of course will share my journey with you.

Now to be perfectly honest it is not just me who is out of control, my home is also suffering due to my state of mind so yesterday I finally decided enough is enough and I signed up for FlyLady in the hope that I can get things back in order without my mental health suffering further. So today I leave you with a song in my heart as off I toddle to shine my sink.

Have a good week,

Mary

Mouldy Bread and Warm Bananas

We don't do heat very well in this household. The current heatwave is causing havoc with our fur babies and food supplies. We bought bread yesterday yet when I went to make some toast earlier it was already showing signs of mould appearing, and hubby went to have a banana and threw it down in disgust as it was too warm. We popped out to the local shop and it was just like walking into Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard, the shelves were almost bare. No nice cooling drinks, ice cream or cider to relieve us from the heat. Earlier this week I said on FB that I was glad we have an ice maker built into our freezer and I stand by that wholeheartedly. In fact, I stand by the freezer with the door open on a regular basis.  I also read earlier in the week to freeze water in an empty juice bottle for the pets to lean against to cool down, we have done that and also done ones for ourselves. Ah, the relief when you snuggle up to a freezing plastic bottle. We have our fan going constantly and are so thankful for it.
Now don't get me wrong it is wonderful to see the sun here and it will surely be doing our bodies the world of good replenishing our vitamin D supplies, cheering us up and livening our mood.  It's just being Scottish we are born blue and more used to dealing with howling wind and horizontal rain.
Anyhoo, that's all for now, enjoy the heatwave and I leave you with a picture of me and Jet taken earlier this week at work.

Mary

Sunday 1st July

Hello, and Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers. Can you believe we are halfway through the year already?
This week we have been having record high temperatures here in Scotland and I must admit knitting has been difficult in the heat and humidity. It has been happening though and I have to admit to being on a real shawl kick just now. I have 3 on the needles and another 2 lined up, so socks have been taking a back seat.
The first two on the needles are Fading Point and Geology which I have shown before and are both paid patterns on Ravelry, the third is a free mystery KAL, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/oshara-shawl-mystery-kal from designer SusannaIC and is available through the Interweave Blog. The KAL started on June1st, and I was a very late starter on June 25th but I have been sailing along nicely and have almost completed week 2. I am knitting it in Drops Alpaca in the colours, Dark Olive Mix, Lime, Dark Lime and Pink on 3.75mm KnitPro Zing needles.

The two I have lined up are https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summer-2018-shawl-kal by designer J. L. Fleckenstein which starts today and I have chosen this yarn,

The second is https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/3-color-cashmere-shawl by Joji Locatelli again a paid for pattern which I will do in the following yarn

I look forward to sharing more progress pictures with you soon.

Sadly no-one entered my giveaway last week so I have no winner to share with you. If you would like me to do another giveaway sometime please let me know in the comments and I will try to organize something.
That's all for this week, enjoy the sunshine and happy crafting

Mary