Here I Go Again

Here I go again. Unravelling. I think that I have qualified for a degree in unpicking and unravelling by now. I think that it is fate paying me back for indulging myself in a bit of plain knitting and putting the striped knitting to one side. I had almost finished this sweater and when I came to stitch it together before I made the bands and collar I found that the sleeve raglans didn't fit into the back and front raglans. I have re-read the pattern and I don't know why they don't fit. I have made this sweater two or three times before in the past and didn't have a problem. Anyhow I have unpicked one sleeve back to the start of the raglan and will have to space the decreases out every 4 rows instead of every other for a while to gain the additional rows needed to make the sleeves fit. It's a good thing that it is chunky wool and so won't take that long to re-knit.

Today I will have to catch up on the housework. Yesterday I had reached out the mop bucket and was hoovering when I had an unexpected visitor. I love having visitors and the housework can always be done on another day. I haven't seen this friend since before I had my spinal operation so we had a lot of catching up to do. By the time my friend had gone I had lost the urge to mop. It doesn't take much to put me off any housework. I clean but I am not zealous about it anymore. When I was young and fit I was always cleaning and the house was spic and span but as I have got older and am not as fit I do sometimes wish that my house was like it used to be but I decided a few years ago that there was no point in making myself ill just for a lot of cleaning. My cleaning does get done but in dribs and drabs and probably not as efficiently as it used to. But then I have only myself to please and my friends understand my problems and turn a blind eye to my clutter.

The amaryllis is flowering for the third time. I think that this will be it's last time as it has now grown leaves and there are no more budding stems to grow. It has been a lovely Christmas present as it has given me pleasure at the kitchen sink for over 2 months. It's nice to see flowers on a dull and rainy day.

Today I am going to finish some housework and then hopefully manage to unravel and finish off this sweater and then maybe tonight I can force myself back to the striped cotton knitting once again.

Lisa on the Plinth in Trafalgar Square

This is Lisa a member of the Knitting Noras and a Calendar Girl on the plinth in Trafalgar Square last night. I watched it via my PC last night hence the poor quality of the photos.It's not easy taking a photo of a PC screen. She was promoting the calendar and speaking about After Adoption, Home Education and also reading a poem about Knitting. In between she entertained the audience with a display of poi twirling. I must ask her is she was ever in one of those dancing troupes when she was younger or a cheer leader as she twirled those poi like a professional baton twirler! If you click on the blog title I think you can still view Lisa on the plinth. Look for week 14, Tuesday 6th and the time of 9pm and Lisa B and that should find her. I found that I could barely hear her at times despite her home made megaphone. At least it didn't rain on her.

Today I am in the middle of a cleaning frenzy. Luckily it is fine and so my bedding is on the line hopefully drying in the small amount of sunshine that we have today. I am in my old cleaning clobber, no make up and hair in a pony tail so I bet I get visitors today. Why do people always call when you look a mess - or does that only happen to me? When the house is sparkling ( a rarity in my case) and I am looking tip top (another rarity) no one calls.

I have progressed with the black duster coat. It now has one arm. I always crochet the sleeves before I finish off the main body of the jacket as there is less weight to heave about when going around the sleeves plus it gives a better idea of when to stop crocheting for length if the sleeves are already in place. I have took a close up shot of the pattern merely to show you what I am up against trying to crochet with a moulting dog around. I will have to wash and hoover the coat before I can ever wear it. I feel like Nitty Nora and not a Knitting Nora as I pick over everything with tweezers to get rid of the stubborn dog hairs that resist a wash and hoover.

Time to return to my scrubbing of the cream leather sofa and my hoovering of absolutely everywhere once more. Time for a bit of cleaning music I think. Something with a beat like a bit of reggae or electro. I can't clean to anything with a slow beat! I will re- load the washer, peg out some more washing and have a cup of coffee first though.

Zip a de do dah Zip a dee ay, My oh my what a wonderful day, Plenty of sunshine coming my way, Zip a de do dah Zip a de ay!

Crazy ,hectic end to my day

The photos are part of the secret crochet that I did earlier in the month but could not post on my blog until the recipient had seen them first. These are made for Anna, our gorgeous Knitty Noras baby who attends almost every meeting and entertains us with her giggles and laughs. She is such a patient baby and we rarely hear her cry. I did these as a present for her not knowing that it is her birthday next month so she got an early one. I will post the rest of the photos tomorrow.

I had the idea for the sun dress from an old Lister's pattern but everything else is winged by me. The dress can be worn over a sweater or a T to make it suitable for our summers and as it is crocheted it will "grow" with Anna.

I felt so much better that this afternoon I decided to bottom the lounge. For those people unfamiliar with that term it does not mean that I butt scoot around with a duster taped to my nether regions. It's a Lancashire term for moving and cleaning under all the furniture, ornaments and mirrors, taking all the cushions off the sofa and chairs and cleaning under them, giving them all a good hoovering and then swapping them about to even up the wear (from chairs to sofa etc). Giving it a good do is another Lancy term. I had just finished up in a heap of sweat and wet hair ( I will try those remedies Ailsa) when my niece arrived with the missing wool. Great I thought. Shower. Night in front of the TV, Get Kath's jacket finished.

Not so. My friend arrived at 4.30pm announcing that not only had she come to dye my hair (roots) she had come to prepare the lounge for painting it in the morrow. Arghhh! This event has been planned on a "pencilled in " basis for quite a while now and whilst I am very grateful I just wished she had told me earlier before my frenzied cleaning. First words from her mouth - Gosh it's cold in here is the heating on? I bit my tongue from offering my body as a radiator. Her day will come. Miss cold blue hands will get her own central heating one day. As she is only in her thirties I hope I live long enough to mock her! She did my hair. Stripped the torn up piece of wallpaper in the corner that was my legacy from my darling cat Ollie before he passed away in October. She then had to leave for home but has left me with the task of moving as much stuff from the lounge as I can before she arrives mid morning.

I should explain that I can't bear to throw away any of my mother's units, occasional tables and ornaments so my lounge is rather cluttered. I have got used to the over furnished look but it's a pain at decorating time. In order to make the units light enough to move so that they can get painted behind I have to move my treasured ( but rarely played) collection of LP's, my mother's 60's tea set, her crystal and normal glassware plus my collection of knit and crochet books that I moved there only this afternoon!

It is now 9.30pm and I am at the move one thing then sit down for 5 mins stage. I think the lounge will get emptied tomorrow. Sometime as well as all of this I have to find time to walk Buster, find all the dust sheets from the loft, buy some white emulsion for the ceiling and sugar soap the gloss paint down. This would have been a breeze for me before my back problems but I am finding it hard today. I think I need a lie down now.

I know that Caroline means well. She wants me to have a nice clean lounge to sit in whilst I am recuperating from my operation so I don't have to worry about painting it whilst I sit looking at it. The only trouble is that it makes me want new scatter cushions etc and I am on a no buy regime at the moment. Hmm I wonder if there are any of my old size 22 tent dresses stashed in the loft that could be remodelled into cushion covers? I seem to remember that I used to have a passion for floral flowing things ( My Hyacinth Bouquet frocks as my son used to call them!)

Well back to the emptying. Wish me luck with the painting and I hope most of it gets on the walls and not on the carpet! I will be the one painting whilst seated on the low plastic gardening/kneeling stool.