Sunday 17 January 2010

A Little Bit Of Sun And A Little Bit Of Green

This week has seen more snow which lead to more wintry photos, finally on Friday morning the thaw began. The daytime temperature climbed to a tropical 4 Celsius and everthing dripped steadily. School still had huge amounts of snow piled up from the pathways being cleared. Yesterday we had lots of rain and many of the local roads flooded. Now the snow's all gone and the garden has returned to green, even the bamboos have recovered from being bent in half. I hope the bay tree will recover as well as it is still leaning over. The fat balls I put out earlier in the week are being visited regularly by a Robin and a couple of Bluetits. This time last year we had to stop bird feeding because our garden was invaded by a huge rat (shiver) the council pest control officer said we and the neighbours had to stop feeding the birds because the food contained vitamin K which helps rats to combat any poison they eat. Finally it was run over on the main road and so for the rest of the year we haven't dared put any food out and gardening gloves have been worn for even the smallest jobs in the garden. I am hoping that this year the problem will not return and that we can enjoy the garden again. Last week whilst clearing the huge amount of snow off the car and from around it (with Tony's help) I managed to hurt my back. All week it has been painful and at times things like getting out of the chair, or picking something up that I have dropped, have reduced me to tears. But perseverance in moving have paid off and today my back feels a marked improvement. Thank goodness. On the crafting front I started knitting a pair of wristys from a pattern on Knitty.com. Sometime ago I bought three balls of Stylecraft 4ply because I liked the colour,
I intended to use it for wristys, scarf and hat but it kept splitting. I finally decided to use the yarn double as the tension swatch was close to Aran yarn. I changed pattern and chose this one, also from Knitty. The initial wristy was too long for my liking and I found that the cables came too far up the arm to be seen, this may have been because of the different tension/yarn. So I made the second wristy with a shorter row count between the last cable and the base of the thumb, this resulted in a much better finish as you can see the cables on my wrist. My next project is the scarf and I have promised to show my friend at work how to cable. I'm off to buy some tickets to a knit and stitch show coming our way soon. I hope you have a good week, happy crafting. Jane x

8 comments:

LauraRN said...

I LOVE the snow pictures-- so peaceful looking-- but vicious to your back! So sorry- I hope it sorts out soon. I think the wristlets are lovely. And the color is delightful.

Feel better soon!

Willow said...

I'm so glad your snow is gone and you can get around again, with an umbrella and wellies. The wristys look great. I started knitting a pair, put them down to work on a sweater and now I wonder if I'll ever get back to them!

The Blonde Duck said...

That's a pretty color!

I watched the Holiday last night--those pictures remind me of where Kate Winslet lives.

Elizabeth said...

It is chiropractor season around here - snow is heavy!
Your poor back.

Funny, we here in Canada have gotten little of it so far, the Powers That Be are spreading it around this year!

I like the wrist warmers.

Little House By The Sea said...

I love the wrist warmers, well done.
I dont know if you saw my last comment but I was wondering if you are able to give me some advice on a cross stitch pattern?

Sarah x

The Blonde Duck said...

Queen Bitty appreciates your admiration.

raining sheep said...

Hi Jane, glad your weird weather is improving and that everyone can get on with their lives again :) I am liking those knitted wristlets. Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

The wristy's are beautiful, a lovely pattern and very pretty colour.
I enjoyed reading your post, especialy the lovely description of your garden. I felt I was curling up with a good book reading it. Your photographs are lovely too, particularly the beautiful snow scene at the top of the page.
I am concerned to hear You have had such awful back pain though. Have You seen a doctor or physiotherapist? I think You did the right thing in keeping mobile to prevent it from ceasing up.
I hope You feel better and pain free soon and that You have a nice weekend.

Hugs xxx

Sumea