Islington Mill

I had a great day out yesterday. I went to a Knit Out at the Islington Mill in Salford with some of the Kings Arms knitters. When we eventually found the mill and how to get into it we sat around on sofas knitting, crocheting and generally having a good old chit chat. Well come on - you know me - never short of a few words. The sun was streaming in through the mill windows and it was lovely and warm. The next project for the knitters, after the raffle, is a SHED jumper. Find out more about that by clicking on my blog title to take you to Artyarns blog.

It felt so good to be confronted with a couple of flights of stairs in the mill and to be able to walk up them without a problem. A few months ago they would have felt like climbing Everest. It is only at times like these that I realise how far I have come in the last couple of months since the op. It feels so good to be almost back to "normal" My knee is 90% better and my back is better with every day that passes. I feel so energised and positive most days.

Also on the Artyarn blog are photos of the finished knitted squares for blanket for the OXFAM appeal that some of the Knitting Noras also helped to work on showing it hanging in the Beluga Bar during the Labour Party conference. Plus photos of some of the knit and crochet street art that Rachael and Sarah have been involved with for the Islington Festival. These photos show the items draped around various signs in Germany whilst Sarah was there on a visit.

Rachael took photos of our Knit Out so no doubt they will appear either on their blog or on Kings Arms Facebook sometime soon.

I finished off a crochet baby cardigan in pink random whilst I was there but gave it to Rachael without taking a photo - typical me so that is one garment that will not be featuring on my Flickr or Ravelry.

The pink curly wurly scarf pictured on here is one that I made from a pattern that Sylvia got for me from Stockport. I didn't have a picture on the pattern so it was a make it and see. It's very nice but not me at all so I will be donating it for the breast Cancer raffle. It took 200 grams of aran and is very easy to make.

Today I am going to try to crochet the squares of Vicky's shawl together. It has languished on my spare bed for far too long. Once I stop in the middle of things I need a good kick to restart again. I have stopped having more than a couple of projects on the go at any one time. These days I usually like to work my way through an item until it is finished. I do admit to always having one knit and one crochet project on the go as it gives my hands a break. I had my carpal tunnel op a couple of years ago due to RSI and so am always conscious of trying to vary my hand and wrist movements if I can.

I am off now to make a coffee and wrestle my wobbly blocking boards downstairs.