A Walk In The Fresh Air

It was overcast, cold and a bit gloomy today, but OH and I decided that we needed some fresh air and exercise.

We drove to Doe Hill Country Park, which is at Tibshelf in Derbyshire. It appeared that we had the place to ourselves, as there was no other cars in the car park and we didn't meet another person the whole time we were there.

 Doe Hill Country Park is part of the five pits trail.  It is land that has been reclaimed from where the old pit stood and it links in with four other reclaimed pit areas.

This particular walk is not too long and has plenty of hilly parts to it. Today it was quite boggy in places as well.








We both felt quite invigorated when we had finished and didn't feel too guilty enjoying a latte and a scone afterwards.

Lists

I have always made lists.  When I was working I always made a long list of things I had to do, ticking them off as I did them and starting a new list when I got to the bottom of the page.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, as I have a lot of projects on the go, all unrelated. What to do first?   I didn't really know, so consequently moved from one thing to the other, making very little progress. 

Why don't I make a list, flashed through my brain.  So that is what I did.  I made a list.  On the list I itemised each project, what needed doing and in what order.  Do you know I now feel a lot better, more in control and calmer.  I can tick things off as I do them. It is so cathartic.

One of the things on my list I have been able to tick off.  The power of the list is awesome.

 

Daffodils to brighten up my day

Shopping in my local supermarket, pondering what to buy for dinner, I came across bunches of lovely daffodils. I love daffodils, they always cheer me up and make me smile.  I couldn't resist and here they are brightening up my day.

I am still working on my blanket.  Progress is slow and it is certainly a marathon and not a sprint.  I have now introduced the second colour stripe and have some idea of how the blanket will look when it is finished - I think of it as raspberry and plum colours.

 

A request for some crochet roses has made me come to a temporary halt on the blanket.  They are for a wedding bouquet and I have been experimenting with different hook sizes to get the best formation of rose.  I like the peach rose best I think and will now have to make several dozen of these in peach and white.  The grey is to mix in with them and I will be adding sparkly crystals and pearls to these flowers.

Next Project

Well I have finally started my next project. I am making a blanket in tunisian crochet. It took me a while to find out how to do this kind of crochet.  I eventually downloaded a great book to my kindle called Learn Tunisian Crochet by Tara Cousins. It is a really good tutorial and teaches six different stiches, with step by step instructions.  I found it very easy to follow and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn this type of crochet.

I have crocheted a few cushion backs in tunisian crochet, and really think they give a lovely finish to the cushion.

Here is my latest blanket - it has taken me several days to get this far, so I think it will be several weeks before it is complete!

Dog Sitting and Opening an Instagram Account

I have been dog sitting this weekend.  Here is Scruffy looking all relaxed.  I think he likes coming here as he gets lots of walks and games.

I have just set up an Instagram account. I must admit that I didn't have a clue how to use it but actually it is a lot easier than I thought it would be. In fact I much prefer it to Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. The only problem I have is that photos have to be uploaded from my phone and most of my photos are on my computer.

I find taking photos on my phone quite difficult. I can't seem to hold my phone steady whilst pressing the screen and most of my shots end up out of focus. Something I will have to address if I want lovely, sharp photos on my Instagram site.  Here is my link https://www.instagram.com/julieannr75/

What shall I make next?

What shall I crochet next is the question that has been playing on my mind for the last week. I have just finished my striped blanket, which I am very pleased with.  The yellow, orange and gold are very bright and cheerful.

I wanted it to have a special cover, so I decided to make a cushion cover for it.  This means it now has two uses; as a blanket, or as a cushion.  I am very pleased with the result.

Mulling over my next crochet project, and not wanting to be sat idle, my eye fell on a knitting pattern for a lovely baby blanket.  Now knitting is not my favourite thing to do - I much prefer crocheting - but I so loved the look of the baby blanket decided to give it a go.  All went swimmingly until I tried to knit whilst watching television. Needless to say I have had to undo most of my knitting. I have started again and have found that if I write down the repeat for each row, on a separate piece of paper, I can follow the pattern a lot more easily.  (Here's hoping).

Focussing my mind on the knitting helped me to decide on my next crochet project. I think it will be another striped blanket.  I have picked out the colours, but have yet to decide on a design.

In the meantime, will crack on with the knitted blanket, but will give the television a miss when I am knitting.

What's not to like

Knitting and coffee on a sunny afternoon - what's not to like?

I have been joining in with the Winwick Mum sock-a-long.  I have never knitted a sock before and it is something I had not even considered doing.  In fact I had rather gone off knitting in favour of crocheting.  However, my sister kindly enlisted me in the sock-a-long, so I thought I would give it a go.  Well after several false starts, I have finally made a pair of socks. Not perfect by any means, but a pair of wearable socks at least.  I never thought I would say this, but I have thoroughly enjoyed knitting the socks (using 5 DPNs - I didn't even know what DPN referred to before I started). Christine Perry is the inspiration behind the sock-a-long.  It is thanks to her tutorial that I am now competent in sock knitting.

Here is the link to her blog click here if anyone would like to give it a go.  I can thoroughly recommend it.   So, thank you sis for introducing me to this lovely event.