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Thursday 22 September 2016

Plantar & Paintbox

Hi,  I wanted to write on my blog today but was not sure of the content especially when I have not really done much this week.  I have been off work, as mentioned in my previous post, as Annual Leave and cannot believe how quick this week has gone.  I have spent a lot more time with my Grand Child which I have loved and Frank went to work up till Tuesday.  We went to my steroid injection yesterday and I was getting quite nervous because of remembering the pain from the needle before but I was a brave girl.  

We sat in the waiting room for about fifteen minutes, Frank did a crossword in the Metro newspaper and I got my knitting out.  When we were called my stomach turned over a bit but knew I had to give this a try.  Anyway, it went better than I thought and it hurt for barely a second.  I was told by the specialist to not go out for at least a week and to limit my walking until the pain has eased but today, I could not believe it.  I got up this morning and did not walk like I needed a walking frame, it was tender and sore but nothing like before.   

This morning, Frank popped out for a few hours to see his family, Emma and baby went out shopping and my son went to work so after a few hours of pottering around, I sat down with a cuppa and knitted on my blanket whilst watching The Grocery Girls Podcast who are from Canada.  After about an hour, I got up and prayed that I could walk ok and my goodness, I only had a little bit of discomfort under the arch of my foot.  I also went for a little walk to the top of my road and back again and it is working like magic.   

The specialist said that after 3 days the crystals from the injection will cling to the connective tissue of the plantar and will start working on repairing it.  At this rate, I will be back to normal in no time at all.  So, all I can say is if you have suffered from Plantar Fasciatus and been suffering for a long time, please go get a referal.   I have been advised not to jog anymore which could cause more trouble as I get older so I will go back to my walking soon and maybe even invest in a bike.  

So the knitting,  my blanket building is going very well, here is a photo of my progress from yesterday, I have added another block today but will show that later. 


It is just garter stitch and feels so soft because of the alpaca in the yarn.  I am now incorporating my Rowan Summerspun which I have two skeins of and also my Rowan Creative Linen.  They are all matching greens and oranges which is very autumnal.  I will keep working on it until I have ran out of the Rowan yarns that I have in these colours and then will probably just purchase some of the Creative Linen to do a border.

Now, the next bit of news was rather exciting because the postman knocked yesterday afternoon while I was happily knitting away in the garden.  Frank called me into the living room and there were 3 big pink packages from Loveknitting.com.  I did not order anything at all but Frank was smiling from ear to ear and when I opened them there were these lovely yarns called Paintbox Collection.

You can just about see the amount that I got, 50 balls of gorgeous soft acrylic yarn in pastels and autumn colours.  He said it was a bargain and could not resist.  I was smiling from ear to ear too and felt so spoiled.  Frank thought I could start a winter project so I am definetely doing something in crochet.  I am thinking about the Flowers in the Snow blanket but with a black background like Tilly Trout is doing.  I will decide later but want to look at my craft books first before I decide.  

I am determined not to start anything else until I get the Autumn Blanket done first so there will be steam coming from my needles.   

Well, that is about it for now.  Dagenham has been warm, chilly, rainy and now chilly again.  It is just after 7pm and I am going to get a cuppa and a few little chocolate treats and rest for the evening. 

Have a good evening and I will report back later!






Monday 19 September 2016

Maltesers at the ready!!


Hi, back again and only got a little bit to show for my crafts.  I am getting closer to my appointment for the horrid injection in my foot and today (Monday) is the start of my week off work.  I have accrued enough annual leave to take a week rest so today, I had a little lay in and then me, Emma and Magic went to Upminster to get a few bits out of Marks & Spencers.  I love the fruit out of M & S, it is such good quality and ready to eat straight away which is what I like.  I also wanted to go into Roomes for one of Franks birthday presents.

Emma had never been there so we looked in the baby section, the candle section which has got lots of lovely Yankee Candles and would love to purchase some but cannot burn them because it effects Franks breathing.  I did have scented plug ins but they had to be chucked out too. Anyway, I managed to get the wallet I wanted for Franks birthday and it was £28 which hopefully will last him for a while.  I bought him a wallet a year ago, in fact, I bought two from Amazon and unfortunatley, when he went to start using the second one, the credit cards would not fit in the slots.  Rather annoying because it was not cheap, so I may try and snip a bit of the stitching and use it myself!

We came back around lunch time and I did a little bit of pottering around, got dinner done early and now finding the time to put up a blogpost.  I then intend to sit with a bit of chocolate and a cuppa.

The crafting I have been working on is a knitting project using my Rowan Frost yarn in orange and green and am sticking to it.  I really really want to start another project but want to be a one project on the go kind of girl!   So, here is a little sneak peak of what I am doing...


I keep laying down the 3 blocks that I have knitted on the floor to decide on how the placement of the blocks are going to be but I keep changing my mind.  I am on the fourth block and am now realising that I do not have as much of the green colour as I do of the orange colour.  However, the dilema did slide away because I have Rowan Linen of the same colours which I am going to include too.  Phew!!

Tomorrow I have decided is going to be a crafting and podcast day or at least, that is my plan.  The weather is going to be a bit rainy so hopefully, nothing ruins the plans.  

I have been watching The Grocery Girls podcast which are two sisters that live in Canada and they are knitting shawls which are absolutely beautiful.  Tracy knits the shawls so quickly it amazes me.  I am also preparing to watch the rest of The Bakery Bears a little later and also Round The Twist podcast.

Oh well, I am off to get myself a drink because I have started on the Maltezer chocolates already.  Here is a photo of Tipsy snuggling up to Frank whilst he is reading.  Hope to write again soon!



Sunday 11 September 2016

Back on the needles

Where do I start about my knitting mojo disappearing for a while.....was it because of stress, because of the humid weather we have been having lately, because I just cannot concentrate on anything or just feeling old and lazy!   I really do not know why but at last, after spending many moments at work and at home in a daze of thoughts of different ideas I decided to kick myself into action again.   

Unfortunately I think a lot of it has to do with the pain I am having to deal with in my feet every single time I decide to move around.  I ended up getting referred to the hospital who said I have a severe case of Plantar Fasciatas and because I have left it so long (over a year) it is going to take a long time to heal.  So I have been told, not advised, but told that I have to stop walking long distances and use public transport, I have to keep off my feet for long periods of standing (basically sit down more) which means my weight is going to go up a bit and to never ever jog again.   Why me!!!

It is just not fair, I loved jogging!   So to cut the story short, I now have an appointment on the 21st September to go get a steroid injection in my foot, from the underneath (ouch!!) which is going to hurt like hell and then got to be on crutches for a few days.  So, bang goes my nice week off with Frank and going out to different places and instead I have to stay in and not do much.   Hopefully I will get more crafting done.

So here is my first design project for a while that has got my mojo back.  I have not written up the pattern yet but I do hope to get it done soon.


I have decided to call it Waiting for Christmas and is a crocheted cowl using a soft and silky 4ply yarn that wraps twice around your neck.  I did not want something that was too long and bulky but a cowl that would sit nicely on top of a coat done up to the neck or slightly open.  It is warm enough to keep the chill off but also not too warm to give you another hot flush.  

I then decided after finishing the cowl that I should start using my stash and one particular stash was purchased in 2013 at the Craft fair in Olympia, London called Namolio.  It is a 4ply yarn, 100% wool and rather itchy to the touch.  I purchased 2 skeins of it that were already caked up and I started knitting the Violet Waffle hat that is on Ravelry.com.  I also wanted a project for my bag so that I could knit on the bus to work, during my lunch break and on the way home.  It was a rather easy knit and I decided it needed a pompom too.  





It only took about a week to knit and although it felt itchy at first to knit with, when it is a completed project, it is cosy and warm and not itchy at all because I definetely would moan about that.

The next hat I started the same day, straight after completing Violet Waffle.  This one is called Elementary Geometry on Ravelry.com too. 



This had a slightly different style which involved a bit more concentration.  It is a free pattern and the original pattern said stocking stitch for the rim which you fold in half and join but I did not think it was going to be firm enough to stay on so I decided to do a 2 x 2 rib, fold it in half and then join it.   

This hat took the same amount of time again and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  My head is 23inches in diameter but I knitted the smaller size because of the ribbing and I am glad I did.  I love the slight slouchy effect and the way the pattern decreases to the crown.  I would definetely do this again.

I still have another cake of Namolio to use and will knit up a matching cowl to go with the two hats but first, my Rowan Frost yarn has been looking at me for almost 3 years to be knit into something, so I have started something else that I can knit on the bus to work, it especially helps to concentrate on my knitting when the bus is full of teenage school kids who are rather loud and irritating. 

I still have the large crochet scrap blanket on the go and pick it up now and then, especially when the weather starts getting cold.  I really do not like the humidity we have been having and although the past few days has been better, there is more of it on the way.  I just cannot wait for Autumn to arrive properly so I can a) get the warm coats out, b) get my shawls out and c) go back to my walking after my foot has healed!!

I am off to do some more knitting, watch The Antiques Roadshow and to drink a nice cup of Tetley Tea. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!