8 Sirdar Knitting Patterns

No more snow has fallen but it is still very cold. There is a silver lining to every cloud though as I have been staying home, wrapped up warm doing my Christmas knitting. As a lot of my friends prefer me to knit for boys I decided that it was time to refresh my patterns with some new ones. I sent away to McA Direct for these patterns as any orders over £10 come postage free which is great for someone housebound as I am. I chose 4 patterns that were more for boys and 4 for girls. What I like about the Sirdar patterns is that like the Kay Jones crochet patterns they usually size up to around 6 or 7 years old which means that the patterns can be used a few times. I do like to get value for money with my patterns these days.

I have almost finished the cardigan for Charlie. I am just knitting the shawl collar. As I have enough wool for his little brother I am undecided whether to knit the exact same pattern or to chose one of these new ones that also has a shawl collar. I also chose another hooded pattern as when I force myself to finish off the hooded jacket I started a long time ago I can knit another larger one in a different pattern as I could not bear to make another one in the same pattern. The only drawback that I find with the Sirdar patterns is that they always seem very long bodied so I always have to cut at least an inch off the finished length.

I am getting a little stir crazy to start some crochet but I must finish off the Christmas knitting before I dare to start any crochet. I am leaving my sister in law's crochet sweater until the last otherwise I will never knit my niece's black cardigan in time.

We have more snow forecast for the weekend which is a shame as I will need to go out at some stage for some food. The Farmers Market is coming again on Sunday for the last time before Christmas and I want to stock up on some meat for the freezer to use over Christmas. I don't have any potatoes, carrots or onions in store to make some warming stews for my dinners. This kind of weather always makes me think of big pots of stew or thick soups.

I hope to have finished off the shawl collar tonight so that I can at least show you one cardigan that I have made for Charlie for Christmas.

I hope that those of you with far more snow that we have in the UK stay safe and warm. We only have to get 2" of snow in the UK and everything grinds to a standstill. The councils are never prepared for it. I could understand if we never had any snow but we usually get snow every year. Some country areas have it bad they have 12 - 15" of snow which is a lot of snow for the UK.

Tinned goods vanish from the shelves as people panic buy as they know that fresh supplies are probably stuck in a wagon on a motorway somewhere. As long as I can get some staple things then I will be OK. I am not a fussy eater. Porridge is a great winter warmer at this time of year.

We Have Snow

We have snow. Not the kind of snow that most of the people in the US get but the 2" of UK snow that sends everyone into a frenzy. The UK is always so unprepared for even the slightest bit of snow.I am glad of my quite well stocked cupboard and stash of wool as I am going to be holed up indoors until the snow passes. I may finish up eating tinned peaches for dinner if the snow doesn't go away soon but at least I won't starve. I do have very good neighbours who will get me bread and milk if I run out.

I should have gone for my last physio appointment today but I wasn't surprised when the transport didn't arrive. The crew probably took one look at my snowy hill and decided not to bother. I rang the hospital and the physio said unless I felt the need for another session that she could discharge me over the phone. I think that now my knee with improve with time and normal usage so I didn't feel like I needed any more exercises.

A lot of my Blogger friends have been ill lately. I hope that all of you feel better soon especially Beverooni who is having a bit of a rough time of it lately and to Marge who has recently had an operation. Get well soon ladies.

I didn't finish off the hood on the long on the needles baby jacket. Instead I started a cardigan from a Sirdar pattern for Charlie. this is a bigger size and so will fit him. I do find though that Sirdar patterns have a very long body length and so have cut an inch off the length. I am using James C Brett Marble DK.

I am going to tuck myself up in the mohair knitted stole/wrap that Ambermoggie made for me when I had my spinal op and settle in for a bit more knitting.

Red Cosy Bedsocks

One finished pair of cosy red bedsocks. They make me feel warmer just by looking at them. red is such a comforting colour in the winter. I have started another pair so 2 pairs of bedsocks for the Sale price of £2.97p is a bargain. Plus they have the added bonus of being machine washable in case of washing disasters.

We are still snowed up although 2 of the cars in the street have moved this morning. I heard from a neighbour that a Tesco home food delivery van had been stuck at the bottom of the hill for 3 days but as I haven't been out I can't verify that. I do hope that he had managed to drop off all of his deliveries before he got stuck.I also hope that my neighbours cars have not joined the van and are also stuck at the bottom of the hill. I also heard that paramedics had struggled to get to an old lady on the hill next to my hill. I heard rumours that the struggle was in vain but I do hope not as although she is an elderly lady she is the kind of person who went out of her way to help everyone.

My neighbours continue to be brilliant. They have almost all changed over the last couple of years and my old neighbours have been replaced with young ones but they are showing the true British spirit in helping the elderly (me) so I have no complaints about any of them. One by one they have called to make sure that I am OK and see if I need any groceries etc which I think is lovely.

At least I have water which if you read the comments on my previous blog poor June has written that her street has a burst and they will have no water for a couple of days. I hope that they have given you a water cart otherwise you can't keep warm with a cup of tea or coffee. The UK is so useless when there is any snow. You would never think that we had ever had any snow before. People in the US and Canada cope so much better than we do but then they are perhaps not so penny pinching as our local councils and government are. The first photo is of my cousin John's house in British Columbia Canada. They have snowfalls that come up to the windows in the roof in winter so are used to coping in weather such as this. Bev in Utah has several inches of snow and I bet her local council copes better with it than the UK does. Everything grinds to a halt here.

I am staying in today. The postman has just struggled through the snow for the first time in days to bring me some junk mail. Thanks postie! You could have kept those letters.