Friday 15 March 2024

Five on Friday - Show & Tell

Hello there, it's good to be back, I've been catching up with blog reading. Thank you for leaving a comment on my last post. Today I'm sharing my 5 random things. I miss the days of Tricky sharing the Five on Friday Posts. Has anyone kept in touch with him and his family? Have a lovely weekend everyone. 


1) A present for Christmas: a Janie Crow crochet mug. There were no knitting or crochet kits at the local yarn store last year. So I chose a mug for myself... I love it. A quiet sit down with a mug of Redbush tea, or Rooibos as it's called in store. Morrison's own brand is the best. 


2) One Skein Chevron Scarf. I've made several of these now, this one is the widest and longest. I originally found this scarf crocheted on Thistlebear's blog... another blog sadly finished, that I miss. 
Yarn: 100% recycled wool, Kingcole Wildwood Chunky. 
Crochet hook 6.00 mm. 
Pattern is free on Ravelry. 



3) Hat practice knit, far too big... massive! I'll have to re-knit before using the expensive Alpaca yarn. I donated it to the WI charity knit tree (decorated in hats) for Christmas. Depending on the size of hats they went to babies or adults in need.
Yarn: Stylecraft DK Khaki & Meadow. 
Pattern: Patons 



4) Crochet Ottoman Cover: using up all the yarn from @attic24 Lucy's Coastal Blanket  The Coastal blanket and Moorland Blanket by attic 24 are both my favourites. The coastal cushion, I made whilst on a crochet course locally, a few years ago. 
Yarn: Stylecraft DK 
Hook: 4.00 mm 


5) Crochet Willow Square: The pattern is from Jan Eaton's book. I've seen these squares made into blankets on Mitzi's Lazy Days and Sundays blog the link shows the winter one, there is an autumn one in her Crochet ta da cloud. Maybe one day I will do more of these, for now I'll keep ticking other projects off the list first. 
Yarn: Rico DK mustard cotton.
Hook 3 or 3.5 mm

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Some of these projects were shared on my Instagram account but I thought I'd put them altogether on the blog. 
Craft wise - I'm knitting the KAL dishcloth for Advent and a pair of socks for the WI April competition. 
Reading - I'm reading Sheltering Rain by Jo Jo Moyes for the book club. 

I've lost touch with a few blogs, either they don't write any more or... who knows. If you can recommend any interesting ones that still blog, I'd be grateful. Knitting is my main interest at the moment, with a little crochet, reading and cooking too. 
I'm blogging once a week for now, any more and I'll feel swamped again.  
Thank you for stopping by to catch up.
Ttfn
Cathy x

Sunday 10 March 2024

Why I Knit

Hello there, it's been a while... I'm finding I struggle with blog reading and Instagram together. So last week, I logged out of Instagram to stop the mindless scrolling session. I sign in most days but just once or twice only. How are you, I'll be trying to visit your blogs more, I've popped in now and a again. 

I've been listening to some Podcasts on Spotify whilst I cook, clean or knit, one in particular is the 'Why I Knit Podcast' by Dr Mia Hobbs @theraputicknitting on Instagram. It has made me think about
Why I Knit too. Is it just a hobby, calming or a social activity - though I rarely find people knitting except in a Knit & Natter group. There is lots of research on how it helps with mental health, so I'll not go over that. 
Do you'll leave me a comment at the end as to why you knit, crochet or sew? 


Knitting Journey - How it all began

As a child, my Mum and Nan were always knitting, so it was inevitable that I'd knit too. First my brother and I did some French Knitting with wooden cotton reels. Then Mum taught me to knit, it was very frustrating and I remember Dad getting cross with me as I was 'rude' to Mum, oops! I remember a small knitting starter set with plastic needles.

After a break, we tried again and I knitted a rhubarb pink doll with mustard gold hair. Dreadful but fortunately I did learn to knit. My Mum had a book similar to this one above, it had knitting & crochet techniques inside. There were no Youtube tutorials to help. I've always preferred to learn from a book, so I bought this book online. 

I then spent time trying some free hand Embroidery with transfers, crocheting Granny squares to make into a waist coat (donated the squares) and cross stitch before returning to knitting. I used to take these crafts to an elderly lady called Queenie and she'd say 'what have you brought today.' I loved Queenie, she always made me feel welcome, a haven of peace and tranquility where crafting happened over a cuppa tea. 

Second Sock 

Improving Skills 

Having moved and then married, I took up knitting again and made 2 jumpers, that were wearable but short. This time it was my husband who interpreted patterns for me. He's got the ability to think clearly and read what it says ha ha, rather than me guessing what I think the pattern means. I've since learnt to do tension squares and adjust the pattern, adding an extra 2" for length. I then knitted several items for my Niece and Nephew, baby items are great as they're small. Also a matinee set for my boys.

Whilst living in Kent, I set up a Needles & Lace group, a few ladies met once a fortnight with various crafts using knitting needles, crochet hooks or lacemaking such as bobbin lace. Fast forward to Lincolnshire and after another group (not run by me) folded, so I joined the church Craft Group in town. I'd not joined previously as the boys were small and it clashed with the school run. When locals' wanted a Knit & Natter group in the village, I started one in the local pub. 

We'd been running for over a year, when we thought it'd be fun to add in challenges each month. One of those was to knit socks. I'd had a go before, knitting a pair from a Debbie Macomber pattern, in the Blossom Street Fiction series of books. I'm definitely still learning, this is my fifth pair and each pair is more 'correct and better fitting' than the last. Winwick Mum has been fantastic with detailed tutorials and advice. I couldn't get the fit right around the ankles. I now cast on less stitches and it fits snug. Having a short list to work through, lots of practice and asking for help is key.  



Fish & Chip Jumper


Social Knitting

I've joined in with a few KAL (knit-a-long), a Christmas table mat for Advent and at present a dishcloth for Lent. The official KAL is a shawl but I chose the alternative. I gained the yarn for the dishcloth from the Craft group, where people donate unwanted craft items. I've joined in with a few Attic 24 CAL (crochet-a-long) blankets. But mostly I knit and crochet whatever I feel like. 

I often have a washcloth on the go, they are small and portable, often with a basic repetitive pattern. Ideal for Knit & Natter, when you can't concentrate on complicated patterns. I'm working my way through this Dishcloth knitting book, also some crochet cloths sometimes. The pink washcloth is from another book that I borrowed from the library. It's called Knit Yourself Calm  There are some lovely simple patterns for different abilities. One of the ladies was interviewed on the Why I Knit Podcast. 

Using up yarn from my stash, I'd bought this yarn and a darker ball to teach my two boys to knit. Thankfully they've learnt, though they'll say they've forgotten. It's never easy to teach people to knit or crochet. I helped teach some crochet to the WI ladies craft group, we had a lot of laughs whilst teaching them new skills. There are four groups that I can go to, the WI group meet bi-monthly in the evening, the two local ones I rotate, as they're on the same day. The one in town, I drop in if I'm shopping that day. 




Why I Knit

Since setting a goal to knit for 20 minutes a day, I look forward to knitting, finding it relaxing. It definitely stops the mindless scrolling, so for that alone it's good. It's just as enjoyable as a social activity at Knit & Natter as to knitting with the TV on, or whilst listening to a story. Joining in with Knit & Natter groups, KAL & CAL has improved my understanding of patterns. There is always someone who can help. If it wasn't for the group, I'd have given up on knitting socks. 

I tend to have several projects on the go at once, some say it's because they need different things from different patterns. For me, I guess that I just have too many things on the go at once. I always try to focus on a top 3, simply because some things are too complicated to knit at Knit & Natter. 

I'm not sure that I use it for my mental health as I just think about knitting as a hobby. I do however notice that I'm never still, when sitting down in the lounge I'm always doing something eg writing a list, craft, reading, scrolling or admin stuff on Facebook. Knitting allows me to stop, no thinking, no fidgeting just calm and relaxing. 

WIPS (work in progress) 
A washcloth - small portable that needs little concentration if the pattern is simple.
A pair of socks - determined to get the fit right, for WI monthly competition to make socks. 
A dishcloth - for the Lent KAL Facebook group. 

What about you,  do you knit?
If so Why Do You Knit?
Thank you for visiting x







Saturday 6 May 2023

Five Minute Gardening


Tip Toe through the Tulips!




View of the Wolds from my kitchen window


 




Hello there, how are you all? We've been away on holiday to the south on England. I'm slowly catching up with reading all your blogs. Today we had a street party with the neighbours, to celebrate
King Charles 111 Coronation and new home welcoming. There are several of us new in the close, so it was good to chat with them all. I took some Millionaire Shortbread, I made mine with gluten free flour, which was good as a lady was GF. I've put my favourite recipe, I've not found it online, the ingredient quantities vary but this one has simple and memorable weights. 

We've been trying to do at least 5 minutes a day gardening, we have lots of weeds and untidy patches. 
I don't want a show garden, no perfect lawns here, but I would like it tidy and manageable. I borrowed this book from the library and liked it so much that we bought a copy. The book is divided into the 12 months with general advice on plants and chores. Each week the idea is to cover 5 main categories: Spruce, Chop, Nurture, Fuss and Project. Obviously you may chose to do more than 5 minutes. If you do commit to the 5 minutes a day, Laetitia says your garden will become tidy and stay tidy. To me that sounds great, now where are my gardening gloves? 

 Take care everyone and have a good Bank Holiday weekend if you're in the UK.

Friday 21 April 2023

Five on Friday



Hello there, I hope you are all well, thank you for visiting last time. A Five on Friday post today. The week has gone by so quick, we had the Village Pop In at the hall, I took some crochet, my friend provided some homemade cookies, that her daughter baked. It was also the AGM at the village hall, apart from myself, I noticed that only the committee members seem to attend this. 

One: After work today, I managed to get a haircut which I was pleased about. I returned all my library books except The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. I picked up a book for next month's bookclub - Something Wilder by Christina Lauren. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel is this month's bookclub read. I'm struggling with this one, I had great plans to read a chapter a day... it hasn't worked. I've finished Village School by Miss Read, restarting the Fairacre series. I've read some of this series but not all of them. 



Two: Angus has been to the groomers for a shampoo, a trim and nails clipping. Not too much, just a good trim for a Goldie, all the long bits around the feet, tail area and scruff. When he gets wet and muddy, he always looks bedraggled and messy, making it hard to clean him. As you can see he's more of a pincher than a retriever. 


Three: Kettle on, cup of tea and time to be cooking dinner. This isn't my usual tea preference but whilst I'm cooking dinner I like to try different ones. This one is nice and spicy with: ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper. Usually I drink Morrison's Rooibos tea, which at the moment seems permanently out of stock. The family drink Yorkshire tea but I went off that a long time ago. 



Four: Is 2 a collection? I'm not planning on buying more pot holders, but they do make handy cloths for the oven grill. King Charles lll Coronation 2023 to go with The Queen Platinum Jubilee 2022. I saw all the Coronation merchandise in the shops, but didn't fancy buying more stuff.

The decluttering is still happening here, today a new unwanted gilet left the building with some popcorn from Aldi, some Christmas cards - dreary scenes - no idea why I bought them! They were a bargain though! Also some mattress and pillow protectors as I'd bought new ones for Johnny's bed. A few other bits were in the bag too. Progress is progress.  


Five: Another dish cloth / wash cloth, Gramma's Dishcloth (Grandmother's 2nd Favourite)  pattern on Ravelry. This pattern is for a symmetrical knitted cloth. I am having trouble with this cloth (top left - cast off corner), no matter which pattern I knit, the cast off always looks too long. Any ideas knitters!? 
Yarn - Drops Paris, Recycled denim 100% cotton.  

That's all my news for today, take care everyone. 
Bye 
Cathy 

Friday 14 April 2023

Knit & Natter - Show and tell


Hello there, I hope you are all happy and well. Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post. Today is a bit of a show and tell of finished knitting & crochet projects. 

First is a Fish & Chip Jumper, the details are here, I've spoken about these before, several posts labelled in the cloud (right side of blog). My church run a Craft Circle, essentially a Knit & Natter session once a week. Some people knit strips of 2 x 2 Rib, changing colour after about 8" of knitting. The colour change is repeated until it's the length of the Communion table - around 130cm. The lady in charge (not me) takes all the strips home and sews them together to make blankets. 
If anyone wishes, they can knit the Fish & Chip jumpers or vests as they are sometimes called, with a matching hat, these are all collected by the Salvation Army. They are sent abroad to Countries in need, for babies that would've been wrapped up in news paper. 


Second is a Knitted Miss Marple Scarf, I knitted this for myself but as it is knitted in Aran weight yarn, it is very thick and large in size. 


I wanted to photograph each section of the Lent Scarf with its description. I have blocked each piece but the ends are rolling in already. The reflections on Lent tradition of fasting or giving up, are rooted in Christianity. I'm not going to copy out the full reflection, just a simple explanation of the pattern and what it represents. If you wish to knit your own Lent scarf, here is the free pattern on Ravelry. 

The red square was the sample piece to check tension. The tree has since been enlarged by the designer to make a stand alone Place Mat or dishcloth/washcloth pattern on Ravelry here to purchase. 
I chose to do all my sections in different colours, some choose one colour, the best one I saw was in 3 colours with different coloured dividing holey rows.



Dark blue - Dove representing Peace.


Light blue - Diamonds representing - Glimpse of light. 


Cream - Stars and Sea, Wonders of  Earth's Beauty.


Gold - Fence - Justice, hope.


Lime - Growth, Tree woodland, creation, good.


Jade (the colour looks blue but it's a green/blue) - I Am, Jesus


Grey - The Cross 

Happy Easter 





The 2 knitted dishcloths are from this pattern book. 



The mauve crochet cloth is a mat, being half acrylic it's not suitable as a washcloth or dishcloth. 

I'm off to knit another dishcloth. 
Bye 
Cathy x










Grandmas-dishcloth-grandmothers-2nd-favorite 

Saturday 8 April 2023

Thrush Green - Miss Read


Hello there, I hope you are well. Today I want to show you some photos of our trip last October. I posted them on Instagram but wanted them together here on my blog, as a reminder of our stop over at Whitney, Oxford UK. 
We hired a motor home for 5 nights to visit family in Hampshire, staying in The New Forest. Breaking the journey, we stopped at Bicester on the way down and back again, taking Angus our Golden Retriever with us. There is a short walk in the campsite, handy for dogs wanting to stretch their legs. 


I've always loved Miss Read's books, in particular the fictional village of Thrush Green. It's based on the town of Whitney. Miss Read (Dora Saint) stayed in Whitney during the war, pushing her small daughter in the pram, up and down the high street. She gained much inspiration for the Thrush Green series during her stay here at Wood Green, North of Witney. Some places in the books, the author has added eg a school and a church at the Southern end, which she later burnt down.


I was fortunate to win a map of the area on a Facebook group live chat, pointing out key places in blue ink (real names in black). The Thrush Green series is my absolute favourite, I'm reading through the Fairacre series (purely fictitious village) at the moment. It was a joy to find the places circled in yellow on the map, I'm easily pleased. 







Back in the Motor home eating dinner, the news was on TV, we couldn't believe it... Whitney was on the BBC National News! The film crew interviewed people in the high street, business premises and finally here on the green facing the church - St, John's in the book.






                             
The Fushia Bush café: now named the Curry Paradise, is where the villagers gathered for a cuppa or light refreshments. I enjoyed all the storylines around the café, not only were plans discussed to grow the business, friendships blossomed and village life thrived. 


The Fushia Bush proved hard to find, we knew it was called Curry Paradise from the map. The place was so busy, we were guided by the bow shaped window, tall 3 storey building with a chimney. There was some searching up and down the road. 




Behind these bins (I couldn't move them - very busy high street) lies number 94 where Miss Read stayed during the war. 




We finished our walk down the High Street at this point as we needed to be on our way. Hopefully we'll visit the other end of the high street next time. 

Have you been inspired to visit places that you've read about in books? 
Do let me know. 
Bye for now
Cathy




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