Autumn beckons...and my feet and hands are cold. I love Autumn but I don't like the lack of sunshine through the day. At this precise moment it is chucking it down and rather chilly. We went out yesterday (Saturday) and had a little adventure but will post some pictures for you when I get my cable to transfer photos off my phone. We also went out on the 15th September to the Real Food Festival, London's Southbank and also had a little adventure there too. We saw The London Eye, The Embankment and I have got a lovely photo of Big Ben when we went over the Jubilee Bridge and there was a charitable rowing event going under us. I apologise for not putting up a new post in such a long time, my excuse is I have been too tired of an evening and just want to crash and knit. I have however, finished a Christmas project for F's Mum. She ordered 3 sets of the scarf & fingerless gloves because she wanted them as gifts for her friend and relatives. I just love the colours of the orange riot.

It's made with King Cole Riot DK and the Scarf is a pattern by Wendy Johnson called Tango 2 Shawlette. The gloves are my own design and I knitted them two at a time which is doubly quick. I have got another orange set to make and am doing a green and purple set now. F was working last Sunday and so I decided to do a little baking and made some fruit muffins. I finally realised that, after reading Lorraine Pascale's cook book, you should not beat the mixture too much for muffins cause that's what stops them from rising. (light bulb moment).

Well, that's it for now. Will try and post a bit more later in the week, At this moment in time my hands are so cold I may have to go and get my gloves to warm myself up. Have a good week everyone...

A change in the weather...creates a lull of needing sunshine when all summer we have been moaning 'its too hot and humid'. That about sum's me up at times, mainly because I don't like the humidity. Today, Monday 10th September 2012 starts off with an autumn breeze, leaves starting to fall off the trees, a threat of rain most of the day so far and a slight chill in the air. Sound's quite miserable doesn't it, but I love AUTUMN and it's my second favourite season. My first favourite season is SPRING and that's because the long winter nights and dark mornings soon disappear. I have felt under the weather today and have absolutely no energy so I decided to stay home and try to relax. Did I, sort of! I ended up planting this Dahlia in a hidden spot in the garden

just to try and boost my energy levels but that made me feel quite 'lethargic' so I came back indoors and did some knitting whilst slouching on the sofa with a cuppa. I feel quite tired and rough again, so am going to go and have a nap. I did however, forget to post the next two photo's for you to see. I brought the Dahlia and Conifer Tree home on Friday using a box to carry it and as soon as I put the box down, my eldest cat Tipsy decided to investigate.

Did I mention she is around 14 years old and really sweet. Has never ventured very far from the house and tends to mainly stay in our garden. She does occasionally visit next door's garden but any slight noise, she is back home again. I also meant to post a photo of the Conifer Tree (just to bore you a bit more)

I fell in love with this Conifer the minute I saw its bright green leaves poking out from the middle of a display of boring plain green conifers. We are going to wait to get a nice large tub to put it in for the patio. My partner F also decided to take some cuttings of the ivy that is growing out the front garden and ended up taking 120 cuttings...gord knows what he is going to do with them but they do look good. That's all for now, have a good day everyone and thanks for taking the time to read my blog...

Christmas Present No.3 is almost done. Just got a pair of fingerless gloves to make to go with it.

This is a pattern that I downloaded from ravelry.com and I have made quite a few of these already. I used King Cole Riot DK and always end up with around 40g of yarn so I don't like to waste it, cause its not cheap, and decided to have a go at making a pair of fingerless gloves to go with it and even more shockingly, I am going to have a go at doing the gloves 'two at a time on two circular needles'. Yes, I have lost the plot already because for the life of me could not remember how to get the second glove on the needles so I had to revert to my 'bible' for this kind of thing. I would recommend this book to anyone with some experience and not afraid to try new things.

Do you want to see my progress so far on the gloves...they are driving me mad but I am a patient girl and here it is so far.

I shall post an update later on in the week, (if I survive it). I am off now, sorry its a short 'post' but its gone 10pm and I am ready for bed cause I have got to go and earn the pennies tomorrow. Have a good week...

Blankets & Bulbs. The time has come to get my bum into gear and start my Christmas knitting and Crochet. I have finished Lily's Blanket....wanna see.

It measure's 49 inches square. I spent Friday evening completing the last two rows and then Saturday morning crocheting around the edge twice. I was going to do a single crochet stitch but decided to do a half treble instead and am very pleased with its outcome. I still haven't thought of a name for the block that I designed so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Moving on, F and I have been collecting 'bulbs' for the garden and F said he liked a bulb called 'Fritilleria' which is not cheap. We found some in Wilkinson's at the Heathway and everytime we go in there, we buy a couple more. They are £3 per bulb but I am sure you will agree, they are unusual and pretty.

I first stored the bulbs in the living room (in their boxes) but I kept noticing a horrible disgusting smell that I can only describe as 'POT'. For day's I was hunting everywhere thinking someone has been in my house smoking and I was ready to explode with anger. However, when I noticed my dog Tammie pointing her nose up at the shelf where the bulbs were I picked a box up and smelled it. OH MY GOD..they stink of POT. F said that they do smell quite bad but didn't realise how bad. So they ended up in a big plastic bag out of the way and the smell finally went.

I got this book out now to refer to when I start my next crochet project. I want to do something with cables in it and this book is so good for ideas. It's called 'The Book of Knitting and Crochet' and is edited by Thelma M. Nye. It's an American book and the ISBN Number is 1-8231-5031-3. It was first published in 1968 and I can recommend this to anyone who wants a good reference book of stitches. I don't like having more than one project on the go because it tends to become a UFO (unfinished object) but I think if I can sort out a knitting project to have in my bag when I am out, and a crochet project at home, it won't be too bad.

I have got 3 of these scarf's to knit using my King Cole Riot Yarn that I posted about previously. The pattern is a Wendy Johnson pattern and is called 'Tango & Two Step'. I have made a few of these and I prefer to call them 'neckercheif's'. I also decided that I would knit two scarf's at once, well, the lace part anyway. Oh well, that's it for now folks. I haven't been doing much other than work, family stuff and crafts. Take care and make the most of the light evenings and mornings cause it won't be much longer now and Autumn will be here.