A Week Off!

I was off work last week; I was on holiday!

Hubby and I had a lovely week, we visited his folks, my friend, and the Quaker Tapestry. We also did a little shopping. My parents visited my house and helped us to extend the chicken run.



One of the chickens, we think it was Willow, laid a massive egg



It was a whopping 96g! The normal size egg on the left is just under 50g, so 96g was amazing. When I cracked it to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, it turned out to be a double yolker! Yum!

I bought some fab new boots (I’ll try to remember to post a picture later) in the Kurt Geiger sale, and we managed to find some shoes for my mum to wear to my sister’s wedding in April. Phew.

And amongst all that, I even managed to get some knitting done!
I’m competing in Nerd Wars again, so I should be completing plenty of knits, crochets, and maybe even some spinning.

First, I made this tiny shrug.



Pattern: Improvised raglan with lace panel on sleeves
Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono Angora
Needles: 4mm
Modifications: n/a
Verdict: Love it! It’s cute and perfect for keeping shoulders warm. I knitted it for a friend of mine who was in hospital at the time.

Then, I made this super cute baby jacket



Pattern: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Stylecraft Life Aran
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: None!
Verdict: This was a nice pattern to knit, not too difficult at all. However, I wouldn’t knit it this way again. I found seaming it to be quite frustrating. The bottom of the jacket curls badly, and I don’t think blocking will fix it. This irritates me. The cuffs also curl. I do like the ribbed front, but the nature of ribbing is that it pulls in, so in hindsight I would make the first and last ribs 4 stitches wide rather than 2. I would probably also slip the stitches on the collar section to make the edge a bit neater. Of course, if I make all the changes that I’m currently thinking I would make, it wouldn’t actually be this jacket pattern at all! Maybe I’ll create a new pattern, and then write it up.

There are a few projects still in the works! Not least, I plan to make Tirrold finally. It’s my Nerd Wars dissertation this round! So I need to cast that on too.

Darn! I think I need some more time off to get all this knitting done! (I wish it was the case that I got more knitting done on holiday, but I’m not sure that I do!