What with all the baking going on here these past few days, we have been feeling quite creative. The hen house has been revamped and re-created, and so the hens have been moved into it tonight after some effort by the whole family this afternoon in the lovely sunshine to put the blessed thing back together. The air turned ever so slightly blue at one stage when the things weren't going the FH's way and I do believe that chicken pie was even mentioned......The hens will be very happy to get outside again in the morning, though, so it will have been worth it. Hopefully they will be inspired to get creative and lay some more eggs. Valentine's Day traditionally [according to UJ] marks the time at which they get going again!
The YFG has had her sewing machine going this evening and is beginning to make a bag which she has found the pattern for in a CathKidston book I bought some years ago. Glad someone is making use of it at last, I suppose! It is quite weird to be sitting downstairs by the fire and be made to jump by the sudden noise of her sewing maching revving up in her bedroom right overhead. I'll get used to it, I dare say - this Textiles GCSE is only just begun. She has scored an A* for her first project, so she is encouraged and keen to do more.
I have been looking at sock patterns again on Pinterest. Some people seem to move on to socks pretty quickly when they learn to knit, but I am still on my faithful hats and scarves. I have been thinking that it may be time to progress......I can't get the image of my grandmother knitting on dpns and making UJ's work socks out of my head and it looked really complicated, and she always muttered on so much at the heels that I am burdened with the thought that it must be really difficult. I know that the solution is just to try a pair and all will be revealed - and I am sure that some of you will comment and just tell me that it isn't that hard - but it is like the dreaded tax return, probably, in that the thought is much worse than the actual deed!
And I have been thinking about photography more too. I would love to take more photographs, and since the EFG got her new camera with her renewed phone contract last month, she has been taking some fantastic shots. I can't believe that such stonkingly clear pictures come from a phone camera these days, but they do. She took some lovely pictures at the cooking show yesterday that I will get her to email to me so that I can share with you.
We only have 26 days left in February, so maybe it can be my aim to be more creative in February. The girls will be working with me after school tomorrow on the menu plan for the month so that they can have more input into the month's eating. Will get that up as soon as it is ready.
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4 comments:
I first knitted socks some years ago and I can remember the trepidation I felt when I got to the end of the leg and had to knit and turn a heel. It's something that requires concentration and peace. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought! As long as you can knit, purl, knit one - slip one - pass slipped stitch over, knit 2 together, cast on and off, you can knit socks. Choose a plain foot i.e. stocking stitch and cast on really loosely so it will stretch without breaking in wear. (I find I prefer a k2p2 rib for the whole leg.) Mark your pattern in pencil as you go along, keep counting your stitches and put in stitch markers (I use a piece of differently coloured yarn) and if you go wrong, just unpick until it's right. It's a challenge but not too difficult; after all, learning to knit seemed daunting at the time.
I've never gotten the hang of knitting on dpns and I've been knitting since I was 5 (now 56). I've always wanted to knit socks and finally found an excellent pattern using 2 needles and double knit wool. If you want to give it a go the pattern is King Cole pattern number 3459. I'd recommend to knit a size smaller than you think because they do come out big (I'm a woman's size 8 and I make the largest child's size instead of the ladies size and they're still plenty big enough). The heel is a little tricky at first but I soon got the hang of it, and of course, with them being knitted on 2 straight needles, there are a couple more seams to sew up.
Thank you both for those words of encouragement. I shall have a look for that pattern, Helen x
Hi Morgan, I can recommend the pattern Helen suggests, I have been knitting it for quite a while. I can't knit with any more than two needles, just not that talented!
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