Ok, during these odd times, I developed a sore throat sitting on the train on the way home. It gradually got worse as the night grew long. 2:00am found me trying to book a doctor appointment and 5:30am found me talking to the wonderful person at the Covid 19 hotline. 10:00am found me at the testing station and now I am in isolation until I get a result.

The whole time, before I had the test, I kept thinking of places to visit once the test was done. I then realized I was doing exactly the thing I had pointed out to others about. I reminded myself I could get fined if I didn’t go straight home and isolated. So here I am.

I am determined to finish this hat I am making. I am not going to frog it again. I wish I could have finished it to wear tonight, Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere. Happy All Hallows’ Eve.

Not sure why I sat on this for so long.

Publishing patterns always seemed daunting. I have a friend, a wonderful enabler who encouraged me to explore my capabilities. We had plans to work together to present me to the wonderful world of knitwear design. She goes by the name of Raxor (pronounced Razor). She is the first Gippy I ever met. That, to the Un-initiated, is a cross between a Goth and a Hippy. It is not hard to be inspired by her beautiful range of colours and textures of her yarn.

I was helping out at a wool show she brilliantly put on. I let her run the show and I enjoyed looking after her stall. Next to me was a textile artist Claire Djuve of Djuve Knits. She had a lovely range of knitwear and wool. I fell in love with Crofter and like all crazy yarn-a-holics, bought one skein… after looking at it for a couple months I finally decided to knit a pair of socks. String Bean was born!

I have been lazy and when COVID-19 hit, hopes and dreams seemed to be put on hold. Now, during one sleepless night, I thought, “what better place to put it?” It can be found on Ravelry as well. Please enjoy!

Download the String Bean 8ply .PDF file

We didn’t know what to expect, it being a $3 ex-rental DVD – it was a pleasant surprise. It featured songs from The Byrd’s, The Beach Boys, Roxy Music, ELO and David Bowie performed as the soundtrack to a school play of *Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

*Yes, yes, Christopher Marlowe actually wrote or co-wrote many of (if not all!) the plays attributed to Shakespeare, but there you go.

Getting closer to the end of June and I am sure tired of those baby blankets. I have started a top out of Crofter from Djuve Knits.?I am making Derecho from Berroco and I hope it keeps my interest up and I finish it quickly.
This being said, we heard from HR today that we will not be back in the office in July as first planned. It is a decision I am happy with as I am sure this COVID 19 won’t be going away in a hurry. I get a little more down time to do more knitting and spinning. I was considering joining a Tour de fleece Group as I got some amazing oatmeal bluefaced Leiscester roving to spin and I would like to knit a jumper to honour my recently passed friend Linda.

Speaking of friends, I collected (to ‘babysit’) a painting done by my amazing friend Sharon West. She is such an amazing artist and to have another of her works in my home is such an honour. Have a look then check her out on instagram; sharonwestartstuff
I have always admired Sharon’s work and it is quite inspirational, in fact I was planning to use it for some of my next designs. Of course it won’t feature nudes but then again, anything can happen when a design takes me to places of dreams.

My wonderful cousin sent a picture of little niece Ilara. She is seen here cuddling up under the blanket my sister and I made for her.

I think it was this blanket that made me decide I was not keen on making blankets out of squares. It is a bit like patchwork, why cut up a large piece of beautiful material into a pile of small pieces,only to sew them together again.

It just doesn’t make sense and appears to waste a lot of time. I know there are people out there who disagree with that and I understand where they are coming from but still…

Ok, I am signing off now and will do a little more knitting. Chat soon. Thanks for reading.