Lately my knitting has not been going well. I tried to use up a ball of alpaca to make a little triangular necker. I find these useful for wearing about the house when the heating isn’t on. I have a mustard coloured one that has been much admired and those I’ve gifted have been well received. However my latest effort is just too small, I may give it to Elodie’s doll Baby Jonas. I also knit some fingerless gloves for a friend using up stock, they seem enormous so I am hoping he has extra large hands.
However my knitting experience is looking up since I discovered and ordered sock wool from Northern Yarns a wonderful ethical supplier of goodness.
The ball band tells you everything you need to know about the British wool and recycled nylon. I can vouch for the soft silky texture and beautiful shades, my lovely parcel even included a quality tea bag to get me started.
Now that January is over I feel much happier. Sunday morning bright sun was streaming into the kitchen and the nights are getting lighter. Several other things have lifted my spirits lately.
Most importantly I discovered last week a box of 6 mince pies in the cupboard. I thought we’d finished the many half price ones MrFF bought after Christmas. Of course I take no notice of use by dates so this is special.
I am immersed in literature. Last year I read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall then Bring up the Bodies, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed once I became familiar with the many characters. I wanted to read the third and final book, The Mirror and the Light, which in the paperback edition I borrowed from the library 3 weeks ago has 875 pages of small print. I managed to get maybe a third of the way through before fortunately being able to renew for another 21 days. I have to admit it’s hard going, I commit to reading for an hour or two in the afternoon then more when I go to bed, on both occasions I usually fall asleep. The Cromwell trilogy is such a wonderful work of literature recognised by 2 Man Booker prizes, I’ll feel like a winner myself when I finish, at present I am almost half way. However I had notification that a book I reserved a while back is ready for collection. I have about 10 days to collect it then 21 to read it, I doubt I shall be able to renew it. The pressure continues.
We were at a family Sunday lunch last week to celebrate my brother’s 75th birthday. My lovely grand nieces were there and, I assume after the success of baby Jonas’s blanket and hat, I had a request from Isla to knit red wellingtons for her Paddington Bear. I explained they would not be water proof which was accepted, in fact I knitted a pair of long red baby socks and posted them off to York. I am now knitting from stock fingerless gloves for a friend who I noticed had holes in those he was wearing.
And my final lift was finding bargains in a charity shop half price sale. I’ve been looking for some smart black trousers for ages and found them last week, not the greatest fabric but with a little stretch they are flattering yet comfy. On a roll I also found a FatFace cotton tunic top with pockets. Total cost of outfit £7.25, the socks are models own.
The photo was taken in front of the new full length mirror, my friend says it makes me look fat and I should return it. For clarity the trousers are size 10 the top 8.
who is finding this January particularly tiresome. World events do nothing to lift the gloom but the days seem so grey and foreboding I cannot wait for spring.
The decluttering is not going well, it gets worse before it gets better. I put a few Rowan magazines on eBay with not much interest, they are now in sorted piles in the lounge.
MrFF who has a completely different decluttering technique has turned the office into a bomb site. For 11 years I have reminded him that we have no way of listening to the hundreds of CDs we keep. I thought progress was being made when I found him sorting through them this week. Wrong, this was just the first pass, he was merely looking at them and didn’t have time to decide if he was keeping them. Most are back behind the curtains in the lounge, a few are now on the office shelf and 3 went to the charity shop along with a some DVDs. That was quite a logistical exercise as first they had to go into a box then next day be transferred into a bag so I could carry them. Only handle it once is an alien concept to some people, decluttering it seems is alien to us both.
But credit where it’s due after 11 years of asking I finally have a full length mirror in the penthouse. It’s fixed to the inside of the cloak cupboard door in the hall. It’s lovely to be able to see my lower body and know what my shoes look like with an outfit.
After an iPad update I can no longer upload photographs, we have spent half the morning trying to sort this and given up.
Next day MrFF has fixed the photographs but not without raised voice and more stress.
My attention was recently drawn to a newspaper article titled January is an ideal time to declutter your house. How true, here in the penthouse we were holding a festival of clutter as I struggled to find places for our gifts. Many of these are edible and have been supplemented by MrFF’s post Christmas bargain buys, like 20 more mince pies. Over consumption and storage on my hips isn’t an option so there’s been some cupboard reorganisation, not necessarily of the logical kind, I keep forgetting where things are.
We are hoping to get the penthouse recarpetted this year but it’s alarming to think how we’ll need to move and dismantle furniture in very limited space to accommodate the fitters. MrFF sensibly suggested we should redecorate before the new carpet, not our favourite pastime, then we agreed we could update some of the old radiators before the decorating, what fun we shall have.
At least a little yarn has been used and left the building. At a family party over Christmas our youngest grand niece 3 year old Elodie was happily wheeling her dolls push chair containing baby doll Jonas around the guests. I like the name, she chose it herself. Sadly Jonas was wearing only a short sleeved legless body and had no bedding. He has now as I made him a soft cotton blanket and had enough yarn left over for a hat. I originally intended using the yarn to make dish clothes but this is a much better solution.
Not so new me, I am feeling a bit jaded after all the festive hoo ha. Today we opened the blinds to snow and minus 5 degrees. MrFF was up and out early as he had yet another doctor’s appointment where they arranged further blood tests for tomorrow.
Last Monday before we headed out for lunch with friends he received a text from the surgery saying his recent tests showed him to be pre diabetic, an explanatory leaflet was attached. Both abrupt and surprising, he’d been out that morning to stock up on beers that were on offer for new year, I didn’t ask if he’d kept the receipt.
Saturday we were back to York for a surprise 40th birthday party for our niece. It was especially nice as it started at 5 pm so all the grand nieces, the youngest is 3, could attend, they were still going strong when we left around 10.
Apart from the potential diabetic situation MrFF is back to normal. He managed a 15 mile group walk on New Year’s Eve with no ill effects, looks better, he is eating well and mostly healthily. We have not started the Christmas cake yet
This morning I managed to motivate myself to take down the Christmas decorations and while MrFF was returning them to the loft I got him to bring down the boxes of my old Rowan knitting magazines that I packed away years ago. I love these gorgeous magazines and bought them regularly, I have I think 32. I actually knew someone who bought them even though she couldn’t knit and just looked at the pictures.
I plan to sell them once I’ve checked if any are of great value, I have do this one but I am not sure I believe the price. Could it be an extra happy new year for me I wonder.
