Glimpses of Blue

In amongst the gloom, the relentless rain and the mud, news bulletins full of floods and Coronavirus and the climate emergency, I am trying to find glimpses of spring and good things to come. I don't think I've ever wanted winter to end and spring to come as much as I do this year. Everywhere is muddy. The garden is squelchy underfoot, the grass desperately needs cutting, and I'm desperate to get out there and start pottering and tidying up. But I am trying to remember to look up, in all senses. 

There was that dog walk at sunset last week. It had been the first dry day in what felt like weeks (probably was weeks, to be fair) and I went over to our usual dog-walking fields and had the place to myself. It was totally waterlogged, but wonderful to stride around on my own, throwing a ball for Ziggy. And so beautiful. I felt elated when I got home, a reminder of the power of some fresh air, exercise and vitamin D to improve your mood.

Storm after storm have brought down many trees, including one round the corner from our house. The council cleared it off the road and left it all, half chopped, in a pile where it will probably remain for some time. I don't know what kind of tree it was but some of the twiggy branches with their furry catkins came home with me, so be arranged in amongst the daffodils (not bored of them yet)...

and just in a vase on their own. I picked up another bigger piece which I think will make a wonderful Easter tree.

One upside to this turbulent, ever changing weather is the rainbows.

This one I saw yesterday seemed like the clearest rainbow I've ever seen.

The shadows are pretty too.

I recently had printed a photo I'd taken of a boat on a flat calm, misty day down at the beach. I ordered a mount (I like this place and have used them a few times in the past) and put it in a frame I bought for £3.75 from Wilkos. I'm really happy with how it came together.

I've just finished this book and cannot recommend it enough; good characters, good plot, a proper page turner. I couldn't put it down at the end, and I am glad to see the author has a nice long back list for me to turn to! 

I tried these white chocolate and berry coconut mountains from The Little Swedish Kitchenand they are good. A bit like macaroons but with sesame seeds and ground almonds as well as coconut. Perfect to go with the 4 pm cup of tea when I get in from work.

I'm crocheting myself a pair of wrist warmers from here (I stumbled across it - the pattern is in US terms but very easy) and I'm enjoying it a lot. Basically they fit which, after the jumper, is all I want from a crochet project.

Thank you so much for all your compliments and tips on my jumper in my last post. Such good advice, I will definitely size down in future projects as well as going down a hook size. 

Wishing you all a happy, stress free, sunny week. 

Sensum Sweater

Just one week back at school and work, and it's like we never had half term. The days are rushing by in their usual chaotic fashion but the evenings are lighter all the time which makes the world of difference.

Luckily it's still cold enough to wear the finished crochet project I have to share with you today: the Sensum Sweater by Eleven Handmade, who's Goldenrod Sweater I crocheted last year. I love her patterns. I think she has a clever designer's eye for crochet garments, and uses colours and shapes that appeal to me and are the kind of clothes I like to wear. 

This was a challenging pattern, with a repeat of treble and puff stitches that increases and decreases across the jumper, creating a sort of zigzag pattern.

Counting is involved and at times it was hard to visualise quite where it was all going but  - and I found this with the Goldenrod jumper - the pattern is good and you just have to read carefully and do what it says.  

I especially love the way the pattern works on the sleeves, and how they gather and puff out at the cuff.

The cuffs and hem are all worked by crocheting into the back loop only of a htc stitch, giving a gentle ribbed effect.

I couldn't easily find the suggested yarn (Lion Brand Scarfie) so used Rico Essentials Mega Chunky Wool in colourway 001, using 10 balls which I bought with a birthday gift voucher. I did a swatch test and decided to use the hook both yarn and pattern specified, 6 mm, which in hindsight I think was a mistake.

In terms of sizing, the pattern gives you four options which I took to be small, medium, large and extra large. I'm 5'11" and wear a UK size 14 so chose large. The jumper is absolutely enormous, as you can see. I worried for a while that it was just too big to actually be wearable, so what I did was gather up the side seams and secure them with running stitch, making the sides a couple of inches shorter than the front and back.

This makes a big difference to how it looks and feels when I'm wearing it. The sweater still hangs down a little at the front and back but I find it easier to wear, and it works with skinny jeans and leggings. On the plus side, the pattern is just gorgeous, it's incredibly warm, the yarn washes really well with no issues (important for such an impractical colour!) and I have received many compliments when wearing it. Most people seem to think the oversized shape is deliberate, and it is, but maybe not quite so oversized. When I make another - and I will definitely make another - I will go down a hook size and possibly make myself a medium rather than a large. 

It's tricky isn't it, making sure the clothes you crochet and knit fit you properly? I'm still learning so much about this but it's a learning curve that I'm happy to climb. I suspect that my crochet tension is quite loose so I think going down a hook size or more is always going to be a good idea for me. But I'm not put off, if anything I want to crochet even more clothes, especially while I'm not buying any new. Some summer tops would be nice, perhaps in cotton.

Right now I am making myself a pair of wrist warmers. I've just finished one and am happy to report that it's a perfect fit. :-)

Spring Flowers, Spring Cleaning

Half term flew by in a rainy, muddy, but largely happy blur, seemingly over as soon as it started. I don't know where it went, it's not like we did anything or went anywhere in particular. John was working. Bella was away a couple of nights on a school trip to Disneyland Paris (which, no surprise, she loved). Angus had a friend to sleep over. We filled our week with haircuts, dentist appointments, play dates, coffees and catch ups with friends and family - all the things there is never time to do during term time - and of course I did some cleaning. 

Working full time outside the home, I just about manage to keep on top of the most cursory housework during evenings and weekends: things like changing the beds, vacuuming, washing the floors, running a duster over surfaces, doing the bathrooms etc. John does a lot too, along with probably half the cooking, and most of the food shopping. But the school holidays have become my time to do a bit more cleaning. I usually give one day over to it and I don't mind it really, in fact I find the unhurried sorting time quite therapeutic. I make a coffee, put the radio on and do things like scrub the oven, clean the insides of the windows (the window cleaner does the outsides) and all the picture frames/mirrors, sort out cupboards, wash rugs and cushion covers. I always feel better for it. 

We went out when it wasn't raining, and sometimes when it was. Children still need some fresh air and a change of scenery, as do adults.

I'm getting itchy gardening fingers, and want to get out there and start to tidy it up a bit. It's much too cold, wet and muddy right now, but I'm looking forward to some milder, dry days when I can go out there and potter a bit, inspect the plants and pots, see what's dead, what's growing. I bought a cold frame on sale recently, needing somewhere to start off my sweet pea, cosmos and foxglove seeds. All that money I hoped I'd save on not buying plants this spring spent on a cold frame - the irony is not lost on me....

But despite incessant battering from the elements, there is blossom on the cherry tree and it's glorious. 

Having not bought any fresh flowers since probably last September, I have made up for it in recent weeks with daffodils and tulips. I can't help it. They jump into my trolley.

I spent most of last Sunday in the kitchen, baking chocolate and cardamom biscuits, blondies, flapjacks and a marmalade cake. I took nearly all of it into work yesterday because it was my birthday over half term and school tradition dictates that you bring in cake when it's your birthday, a habit I certainly enjoy partaking in. There's nothing better than popping down to the staff room on a rainy morning to get a coffee and find a table filled with cakes, doughnuts and all sorts of treats because it's someone's special day. It's the little things.

By happy coincidence, John was off on my birthday and we had a really lovely, slow family day at home. I got up late, opened presents and cards, did some crochet. 

John baked me an orange and almond cake and my family came round in the afternoon.  He said, do you really need a candle on it? Yes, definitely yes. Later, the four of us went out for a curry which was so delicious and a really nice treat. 

John gave me a beautiful leaf print by Danish artist Monika Petersen which he'd had framed. I love the way the white and gold contrast with the greeny-blue wall.

This cookery book was a nice surprise since we'd been talking about it (we both really like Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen book) and I hadn't realised that she had this book out - and a TV series too, I think. I haven't cooked from it yet but there are lots of very inspiring and doable ideas inside.

My mum and dad helpfully gave me some new clothes (gifts being exempt from my "no new clothes in 2020" mission) which I'd carefully chosen, sensible things like layers and tops, items I could wear to work under a dress or with jeans at the weekend. They also gave me this beautiful maranta leuconeura Prayer Plant, a houseplant I'd had my eye on for some time. I love the way the leaves move throughout the day, rising and falling, or opening and closing slightly (hence the name I believe, like hands in prayer), but I really adore the pink stripes running down the dark green leaves. Nature so often has the best colour combinations. 

Now we're back at work and getting back into the swing of things again. As it's Shrove Tuesday we'll have pancakes for pudding tonight. I'll make the thin, traditional ones and eat mine with lemon juice and sugar, although I predict Bella and Angus will smother theirs in chocolate spread or golden syrup. Hopefully not both.