The past week has included updates from my Mum about the activities she engages with each day at her new care home. It has been lovely to hear her talk about painting in the garden and taking part in a variety of exercise classes. This morning I have added a small project to my needles because I want to join in with one of her activities. She has started knitting a poppy for a Remembrance Day display. Last night I was able to give her a couple of top tips about how to make sure her stitches were not too tight when she asked me what the term was for ripping back a couple of rows. I am not sure she used to call it frogging, but I heard her say “Well yes then, I have frogged a couple of rows and will carry on with it again tomorrow”. I am pleased she is going to finish it and will take her a crochet hook to help her pick up dropped stitches more easily on future projects. Since she was the one who taught me to knit all those years ago it feels good to be knitting something alongside her which will be part of a larger whole.
The pattern for my knitted poppy is from ‘100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet’ and I have to say the knitted field poppy pattern is a lot easier to follow than the crocheted oriental poppy pattern. I tried that one a couple of times and it really wasn’t working for me, so I’ve stuck with the knitted one.
In other projects I am still working on the 4-ply version of ‘What Do Points Make?‘ and look forward to wearing it at some point! My time knitting per day is still reduced from what it was and I am being very conscious of my posture while knitting. On a related note, the osteopath is pleased with my progress and my appointments are down to one per week.
We saw an elephant hawk moth caterpillar in the garden when we went to deadhead the roses yesterday and I knew Sue would take a photo of it because she has been waiting to see if there would be one this season. I turned round to take a breather to see Sue sitting next to it on the ground talking to it and watching to see where it was heading. Last year we could see it each day on a slightly different place the fuchsia bush and this year it has headed for the border and can no longer be spotted.
Sue has been noting her countdown to her 100th blog post (and she would love people to sniff the air where they are and tell her what it smells like!) and it made me wonder how many posts I’ve written. I recently had a notification of my 5th anniversary of my website (I got things done during lockdown!) and I know that I started my blog in September 2020. Checking my dashboard tells me that I have 248 published posts and this one in draft. So next week must be my 250th blog post! Crumbs.
There are a few more events this year that I need to remind or tell you about:
14th September, Yarn Gathering, Daniel Owen Centre, Mold, CH7 1AP. Free entry. I’m one of the organisers and also an exhibitor.
27-28th September, Yarndale, Skipton Auction Mart, Skipton, £17 + £2.50 booking fee for a day ticket, £32 +£2.50 booking for a weekend ticket. I’m teaching a moebius workshop on the Saturday and exhibiting all weekend.
18-19th October, Woolly Away, Manor of Groves hotel, Hertfordshire, £495-£595, including meals, accommodation and ‘toolkit’ for the weekend including items for all the workshops regardless of which ones you select to attend. I’m one of the guest tutors at what promises to be a smashing weekend retreat.
13th December, Yuletide Yarnies, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, SY1 2SZ, £5 in advance, £7 on the door.
That’s all from me for today – catch up with me next week for blog post no.250! Take care, K x