March...ing along into early Spring with all of the weather. It is time for fun, florals and a clear out.

Baking - Scones for mothering Sunday and continuing my table vase challenge this week with more daffodils.

 

Having - a spring clean in the wardrobe department. The doors would not close so I knew it was time for a sort out. There is only one way to do this in my opinion and that is to empty it completely and only put back what I really want. I did a charity shop run and some homemade gifting to friends.

Loving - the snow fall. We are a family of sledgers! We are very fortunate/unfortunate, depends how you look at it, to live on a high ridge. There is always good snowfall and plenty of slopes.

Considering - what to do with my fruit cage. I am really disappointed. How can something so holey that cost £500 collapse in a flurry of snow! Bloke says he can fix it.

Looking - at another rainbow. With so much varied weather in March we have been looking at a lot of rainbows.

Disliking - Thursday. Had an oestoepath appointment and then a flat tyre. I couldn't get the spare off the back door of my Jimny and had to ring the nearest tyre place to come and rescue me. I was filthy by the time the guy arrived and he did it in 10 mins. He looked at my dusty clothes after I apologised for not changing it myself and said, "God loves a trier!"

Crocheting - with my youngest. She is making a crochet jumper for herself and I have been sewing in the ends.

Finishing - our community bunting. My girls, and a few peeps at the craft club I run, have been making bunting....loads of it. It has totally cleared up my scrap fabric pile which is a joy to me. My part was to attach it all to the tape.

Ta Dah!

Making - a start on those mini skeins by learning to fade. OK, so my first green fade wasn't great but the next purple to blue one is awesome. Always happy to learn something new.

Finally the view on our second smaller snowfall.

I am off to check out your blogs, I am more of a reader these days than a commenter but be assured I am still checking in. Jo xxxx

 

End of Winter

Am I right in assuming if you live in the UK you have had enough of Winter? I have. I always feel like this around the end of February or beginning of March because I like to get into my garden and greenhouse to plant some seeds and look forward to the growing season. We don't have lambing to deal with this year so I don't even have a distraction.

I have squeezed in another knit before the lighter nights when my evenings consist more of dog walking and gardening rather than sitting on my backside knitting. I always feel at my most unhealthy at this time of year.

This is a bit of an mash up wool wise but I wanted something to knit straight away. The pattern is a simple tank from Erika Knight which I picked up in Ippikin for £1. The yarn was in a sale bin in the same shop but there was not enough to make a single colour version.

Anyway that didn't stop me and I managed to get 4 grey and 3 purple to make a randomly striped one. The back is all grey and the front is worked in such a manner that the random stripes worked up until I ran out of grey. The yarn is an exceptionally smooth merino. It is called Adriafil Bucaneve. I had it for £2:50 a ball!

I managed to sort the flipping hem issue on this top because the pattern is structured so that you pick up the ribbing at the end rather than starting with it. I dyed my chewing gum grey white shirt purple but the jury is still out on whether this is a good combo.

My mind is definitely turning to warmer weather. I bought a pack of mini skeins last year at Wonderwool Wales - it was one of those pretty purchases that happens on a whim but the brain power needed to actually decide what to make with it almost outweighs the joy I had at the point of buying it. You can't help making these kinds of choices; you are a slave to them if you love wool. The pack was reduced from £44 to £10 - that is what did it!

Anyway, I sorted out my wool basket and found a few balls of Drops yarn in a neutral colourway and deciced to try my hand at some colour fading. The pattern I landed on was a simple summer vest from The Knitter magazine. Not sure how it is going to work out yet but you know me, I will just keep knitting. 

Are you ready to get outside? Jo xxx