...life laundry

We went and ordered the carpets last weekend. They will be fitted in three stages over three weekends, starting at the end of October. The gap between ordering and fitting is time we have given ourselves to sift/sort/streamline our belongings, so that the task of emptying rooms for the carpet-fitters will be a little less challenging. I'm glad we're doing it this way (quite gradually). It takes the pressure off and makes it feel less overwhelming. The fact that I'm not missing any of the stuff that's been discarded (so far), and am enjoying the spaces that have been opening up on shelves and in drawers, is making it easier to keep going.

The weekend before last we went through boxes of paperwork - bills, bank statements, and other "important stuff". The stack of "things to file" got filed, the utility bills dating back 10 years and the warranties for electrical goods we no longer possess got shredded and burned along with a whole pile of other out of date documents. Husband reorganised his "man-drawer", untangling a virtual snake's nest of cables and leads with acronyms for names (USB, HDMI, SCART) while I straightened out my sewing drawer. (What stereotypical gender roles we do seem to have - eat your hearts out Theresa and Philip May!) We got rid of the last remaining video-tapes, and had a trip down memory lane with an old mix-tape cassette from the 90s. This survived the cull because we still have a functioning cassette player in the house. You can't beat a bit of Bryan Adams or Alanis Morrisette every now and then.

Last weekend I dug a bit deeper and went through all my old folders from training courses I've been on, and threw away everything except essays, learning journals and a few of the more interesting articles I'd printed off. Then did the same with two big box-files of work-related paper-work, notes, and information accumulated in a former job role. All good stuff, but (let's face it) I haven't referenced it in years. I kept some bits and pieces, but decided that anything really relevant has long since been assimilated into working knowledge and practice and the rest I no longer need. We gave away several board games we haven't played in years and husband bit the bullet and sent a stack of old Xbox games to the charity shop.


Yesterday I went through several folders full of knitting patterns I cut out and saved from magazines in the 80s and 90s! This was quite hard because they had an almost archive-like quality - really captured the styles and shapes of a bygone era (albeit an era when crazy bright colours, boxy oversized shapes and shoulder-pads were all the rage). I did keep a few old favourites and a few "classic" examples, but rationalised that as I still have my knitting book collection (which spans the last thirty years or so - Patricia Roberts anyone?) and my treasured Rowan magazines I can always get a blast from the past from them if I need one. See, I'm getting good at this now! 

Which is just as well, because soon I will have to tackle the really tough areas - craft materials and wardrobe - a.k.a. the 'Boss' levels (in old-school video-gaming parlance). "But it might come in handy/fit you again one day...But it cost a lot of money/you've only worn it once". Shudder. I have so much empathy for the people who feature in programmes like "Hoarders" when the voices in my own head start clamouring. 

In other news, my knitting has ground to a halt in the past couple of weeks. Although most of my energy has gone into the de-cluttering, I think it's partly because I've lost confidence in the cotton jumper I started, and don't like the way that the fluctuations in tension where I've put it down and picked it up again are so obvious in the plain stocking stitch fabric. 

Cotton is much less forgiving than wool. No elasticity. Even when I try to adjust/correct the the offending stitches it still doesn't look quite right. It will probably (hopefully) even out and look ok once it's been washed and worn, but it really bugs me in the meantime!

Speaking of bugs, this is a photo I took of an enormous brown moth that came clattering around the lampshade one night last week and was briefly captured in a glass before being released into the darkness. I couldn't identify what type it was, but it was a magnificent beast with lustrous, velvety, tapestry wings.

The beauty of photography nowadays is that you can take as many photos as you like without them occupying anything more than virtual space in an imaginary cloud. My current preoccupations are collecting fallen leaves...

...texture

...and capturing moments along the way - like this morning's walk:

The XXSCat dog demands a fair bit of attention too.

...bouncing back

We've recently taken the plunge and had measurements taken for new carpets throughout the house. The current ones have been in situ for over 17 years, and have finally reached the point where even the best carpet cleaner in the world could not restore them to anything approaching respectability. They really have to go!

Due to the inordinate amount of stuff we possess, the fitting of the new carpets will have to be done in three stages over three consecutive weekends, emptying one of the three upstairs and one of the three downstairs rooms each time. Trying to figure out the logistics reminds me of the puzzle with the fox, the chicken and the sack of corn. I'm hoping to use the whole process as an opportunity to rearrange furniture and lose some more of the clutter, so things need to be done in the right order.

Given that pretty much every room needs a lick of paint or a patch of woodchip somewhere, (so much easier to do when a room is empty), I'm anticipating a non-stop marathon of shifting furniture and DIY for at least a month, which should take my physical pain and exhaustion to a whole other level. At least when it's all over I'll be able to console myself by being glad that my everyday pain is so much more manageable than getting-new-carpets pain!

In the meantime I've been limbering up with a little extra walking, gardening and de-cluttering - the more you can get rid of, the less there is to move! Knitting has taken a bit of a back seat (my current project has stalled) but photography is keeping my creative juices flowing. 

Last weekend we had an early morning walk with friends and their dogs at the park. A long swathe of grass has been planted with meadow flowers and it's just incredibly lovely to look at. 

The colours and textures in these photos remind me of Gustav Klimt paintings. Gorgeous!

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt

Couldn't resist getting a few close-ups too.

Later in the week there was something about the light that made everything Day-Glo - like a final Summer flourish of bright acidic colour everywhere I looked...

...then, on this morning's walk, the light was different again. Autumn is fast approaching. 

Hawthorn berries, sycamore seeds and the first falling leaves.

The XXSCat dog had a lovely time tearing through the long wet grass, and is now having a well-earned rest at my feet.

...ups and downs

Taking stock of the past few weeks I realise I've been more down than up. My get-up-and-go seems to have got-up-and-gone, mainly because I've been in more or less constant pain from aching, arthritic joints, and I'm feeling rather sorry for myself. A small part of me has been trying to look on the bright side, or at least cling to the belief that there is a bright side, but mostly life has just seemed overwhelmingly hard, relentless and difficult. Work is particularly exhausting at the moment - mentally, physically and emotionally. Every week I count the days until the weekend, but the weekend never feels long enough and I'm often too tired to really enjoy it. "Stop the world, I want to get off!" pretty much sums up my recent state of mind.

I don't like being miserable and grumbly all the time so I thought I'd pause for a while this afternoon to cultivate my inner optimist and play Pollyanna's 'just being glad' game. 

Today I've been glad about the delicious things growing in my garden. Nothing tastes better than a handful of freshly picked berries.

Rhubarb, blueberries, the last raspberry and the first blackberries.

I've also been glad of the visual pleasure the garden gives me.

Rosehips, blackberry blossom and faded Honesty heralding
the coming of autumn. Fiery orange Montbretia and one lone
Clematis flower lagging far behind the rest. 

I'm glad that although I'm in pain it's only slowing me down, not stopping me altogether.

I'm glad to have a job that gives me independence and security at a time when many people are struggling to make ends meet. I'm glad that the people I work with are more like friends than colleagues, and that the work we do makes a difference in the lives of others.  

I'm glad to have a husband who loves me and makes me laugh every day, along with an XXSCat dog who reminds me to 'live in the moment' and be happy in it too.

...turquoise colour-pop baby blanket

The little blanket is finished. Just a very simple stocking stitch rectangle with a garter stitch border, it is nice and soft, and cheerful to look at. Turns out it could have been a medium sized blanket as I still have three balls left over, but I wanted to make it portable and pushchair/pram sized rather than a shawl or cot blanket. Found out last week that the baby is a girl, so I may have to make a few more bits and pieces before she arrives. 

This morning's walk was lovely. I got quite distracted by reflections of trees and sky in the puddles...

...then found this beautiful little feather, with irridescent blue bars along one side. Can't think what bird it could have come from, but it has made the crazy bird lady very happy.

...something different

I'm back at work tomorrow, and I can't say I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off. The older I get the harder it is to hit the ground running! Still, we've made the most of our week off and even got through most of the jobs on our household to-do list. 

Over the past two days I've also been getting crafty, designing and making a decorative clip-on accessory for turning a napkin into a bib! My friend's getting married next Saturday, and she's worried about spilling food on her dress during the wedding breakfast, so I said I would make something pretty and bridal to hold her napkin in place. This is what I came up with:

It's a white organza ribbon with pearl beads in shades of blue (to match the bridesmaids' dresses) threaded on to it, with clips at both ends. It goes around the neck and then clips to the corners of the napkin to hold it in place over the bosom area! I made the little beaded/embroidered felt corsage to match the flowers in her bouquet (sunflowers and thistles) and attached it to the clip on the right hand side as a finishing touch. 

It may not be everyone's notion of bridal chic, but my friend has a great sense of humour and it's a pretty but practical solution to a genuine problem! Plus the ribbon can be removed after the wedding and the corsage can then be worn as a clip-on brooch.

The best thing about this project was the creative thinking and problem solving involved in making it up as I went along. I had some fluffy purple novelty yarn that I knew would be ideal for the thistle head, and spotted the green knobbly bead when I was shopping for the pearls. I used a wire beading needle with a collapsible 'eye' to thread the yarn through the bead and then wrapped the 'stem' with green embroidery thread. I Googled 'thistle leaves' to get a rough idea of the shape and then cut them out freehand along with the sunflower (two overlapping circles with petal shapes snipped into the outer edge). Once I'd sewn the bead 'seeds' to the centre of the sunflower I soaked the leaves and petals in watered down Mod Podge to make them a little stiffer and more durable. This worked really well, and helped add a little 3D curl to the petals. I originally drew the veining on the leaf with a Sharpie, but decided it would look nicer picked out in backstitch. I used a darker yellow Sharpie to give depth to the petals, but in hindsight I think watercolour paint would have been better for adding shading/detail to both leaves and petals, especially if applied while they were still damp. 

Next time that's what I'll do. I enjoyed this little project so much that there will definitely be a next time. Maybe not for a bridal clip-on napkin accessory (it's kind of a niche OOAK item), but definitely for a pretty little beaded/embroidered felt brooch. Just imagine this in brooch form:

Delicious! But for now it's getting late, and I have to be up early, so here's a serendiptous rainbow-tinted photo from this morning's walk at the park, and then it's time for bed. 

...time off

It's Friday afternoon and we're coming to the end of a lovely week of time off from work. We've checked out the charity shops and mostly managed to resist bringing more stuff home - apart from...

...a spotty scarf, a wooden block picture puzzle to go in my bag of tricks for work, and an ancient knitting encyclopaedia - illustrated with drawings, not photos - with the most delightfully twee front cover. I did try hard to resist the knitting encyclopaedia, as I know the chances of me actually referring to it are so remote...but that cover! It was only £2.99 after all...and just look at that cover!

We've had a walk at our favourite local park, formerly a golf course until a couple of years ago, when the Council decided they could no longer afford the upkeep. Now the cultivated flower garden in the middle of the course contrasts beautifully with the meadow grasses left to grow unchecked on the fairways.

We've had a trip to Ilkley Moor with friends on a cloudy, overcast day - perfect weather for hiking up hill and down dale.

We've had a couple of quiet days, mooching around the house, doing laundry, catching up on odd jobs and cleaning. I hemmed two pairs of page-boy trousers and put darts into a bridesmaid's dress for my friend's wedding. Renewed contents insurance. Applied for a new passport. Worked through the stack of paperwork and unopened letters that tends to accumulate when we're working. Whilst hunting for a stapler I came across a stray bag of wool that had escaped the stash-slashing cull, tucked away on the bottom shelf of a cupboard. 

Golf balls belong to the dog - also stashed as they're
hidden from prying human eyes when the cupboard
door is shut!

I think I must have inherited it from someone as I can't imagine myself ever buying it - it's 100% wool in a really uninspiring beige/grey colour, and quite scratchy in texture. It's still in the cupboard as I type, but its days are numbered because the deciding factor in the keep/discard debate is that it is hand-wash only and therefore kryptonite to me...except that the hoarder in my head has just whispered - "So you could felt it into some kind of beige/grey/wooly thing - like a bag or some slippers..."

This is the same inner hoarder that said, "Use the 20 yr-old turquoise/green cotton yarn with little blobs of bright colours for a baby blanket - don't get rid of it just yet!" Sometimes the hoarder is right - the blanket is now coming along nicely. I've gone for stocking stitch with a simple garter stitch border around the edge. I really like it, - it's bright and jolly, and I think it will just get softer and more comfy with age. So there might be a stay of execution for the beige/grey/scratchy wool too, if the right felting project can be found.

Today we went to Nostell Priory for another walk.

Another really lovely place to be, filling my head with light and space and natural beauty that I can bring to mind when I'm back at work and feeling stressed.

I always feel a bit sad when a period of time off is drawing to a close. But there are still two more days to go, and there are a few more things to do before we re-enter the world of work. Top of my list is a bridal accessory I promised to make for my friend, details of which will hopefully follow in due course...

...reality

A few weeks ago, riding high on the success of my stash slashing endeavours and my new-found resolve to become 'someone who sees things through', I decided to embark on a 'proper' knitter's project, using a beautiful pattern and some equally beautiful yarn. In my head I imagined that this would be the start of a new phase in my life as a knitter. From now on I would no longer need to buy knitwear because all my jumpers and cardigans would be handmade from gorgeous natural fibres - wool, silk, linen - and I would look and feel wonderful in them.

So it seemed perfectly reasonable to use this lovely yarn:

Laceweight Malabrigo 100% merino wool -
"When you experience Malabrigo Lace Baby Merino,
you connect with a special place of the world"

To make this lovely cardigan:

Hannah Fettig - Featherweight

Right from the start the project was dreamy. I loved the seamless top-down construction and the ease with which it could be adjusted according to individual preference - a little longer in the body, a little wider in the collar? No problem, just go for it! Soothing, rhythmic stocking stitch gliding effortlessly from the needles, row after row after row. Even picking up stitches for the collar was simple - 2 stitches for every 3 rows - no maths needed! The finished cardigan really did feel light as a feather and so soft against my skin, and the best thing was - it fit me perfectly! 

I wore it the day after it was finished, and even planned to get my husband to take a photo of me wearing it, I was so pleased with it. 

"Maybe I should wash it and block it a little before taking pictures. A really careful hand-wash in barely lukewarm water with a splash of wool wash, a couple of gentle squeezes before and after rinsing, and then dry it flat on a towel - it will look even better!"

Or not. 

The reality is that the instruction "hand-wash only" has always spelled disaster for me throughout my whole entire life, and all the positive thinking and new beginnings in the world will never change this fact. I don't know what I do wrong, but whenever I attempt to hand-wash anything, however careful I am, the outcome is always the same - a ruined garment! I don't know what possessed me to think that this time would be any different.

So now I have a slightly felted, somewhat shrunken, much less wearable cardigan that will probably become completely unwearable after just one more wash, and all the joy has gone out of it (sad face emoticon). 

However, positive-thinking new-beginning Me (happy face emoticon) has decided that all is not lost and that this whole experience can be reframed as a lesson learned - I just need to use machine-washable yarns in future! The reality is that it's another completed project under my belt, regardless of its longevity.

Better yet, I still have two and a bit left-over skeins of the most gorgeous indigo baby merino lace-weight yarn that (in my hands) instinctively shrinks at the first hint of moisture, so I can play to my strengths and make myself one of these fabulous felted scarves. 

Les Miserables - Cynthia Parker