Finished Hoodies

The baby hoodies are finally finished. They seem to have taken me ages to knit. I have knitted a 4" square and that is ready for the next time that the washing machine goes on. I can then tell whether they will shrink in the machine or not.

The wool in the bottom photo is from the Yarn Barn in Shaw. The Navy, yellow and orange is destined for 4 knitted hats with a duck motif on and the beige is for an aran type jacket for my London niece. I have cast on and done about 10 rows of the twisted rib with cables. The pattern is from the Knitter and all the cables are on a chart. As I have got older I find I am increasingly befuddled with charts and I do wish that they would give me the choice of written instructions or a chart. Once I fathom it out then I will write out the pattern long hand and then get on with it a lot faster. I suppose it depends on how you learned to knit. The younger knitters seem to prefer a chart but then their minds are a lot more mentally agile than my poor old tired little grey cells. I prefer a chart for fair isle type knit and crochet but just not for lace and cables.

Today I went up to Bolton to the Knitting Noras Knit Out. It will probably be my last one until the New Year as they are held on the last Sunday in the month and so the December one will be so close to Christmas that I doubt anyone will want to go to that one. The weather was atrocious and I got my trouser legs wet through and discovered half way there that my ankle boots let in water. I didn't actually manage to get any knitting done in the cafe today as I was chatting to a new member and to Sylvia who was there with her foster baby. It's good to get out of the house for a change even though the journey took a long time and I got wet through for both journeys. Sunday services on public transport are not as frequent as I would like and so I spent a lot of the day hanging around tram stations and bus terminals. My knee and back are now protesting loudly. I really must make more of an effort to lose some weight after Christmas as carrying this extra weight is making me breathless when I walk.

My flat screen on the PC has turned temperamental on me and so I think that I will have to buy a new one. It won't turn on half of the time and when it does I have a pale grey screen that gradually goes dark but still doesn't give me any pictures. I have to switch it on and off a few times to get a picture on the screen so that can't be doing the on/off switch a lot of good.

I woke up this morning to not only the cheeping of the smoke alarm (it chirps when it is too cold) but the aroma of cat widdle. Next door's cat shot in last night out of the cold and must have been taken short during the night. He is normally a very clean cat so it was a surprise to smell cat wee this morning. The trouble is that I can't find it. I have felt around the carpets but can't find a wet spot and as my sense of smell is not that good directionally I can't pinpoint which areas smells the strongest. I have squirted everywhere liberally with Fabreeze and pray that it will have faded by the morning.I will not be feeling as sorry for him on cold nights in the future if he is going to repay my hospitality with smells.

The meal on Friday was lovely. I go out to dine so infrequently that it is always a big treat for me. Unfortunately Louise could not come with us as she and the boys have got bad colds. She sent a lovely present of some scented candles and smellies for the bath for me.