Terry Pratchett and the scarf outside No.10 Downing Street!

It doesn't get much better than that for a humble scarf now does it?!

Terry, you are an absolute star for being such a good sport. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If anyone has any pennies to spare and would like to bid on the scarf for the Alzheimer's Research Trust, the auction is now live here and runs until 17th December.

If you want to read my account of knitting the scarf whilst running the 2008 London marathon it is here

On T.O.P. of the world ma!

"T" is for tapering (that means reducing my mileage) ahead of the Hastings marathon in a couple of weeks. It will be my 5th and last marathon of this year bringing my total run, since I started marathoning 3.5 years ago, to 16 of which 12 have been run in the last 2 years. I can hardly believe that I've done it actually but I'm jolly glad I did as it's raised money for the Alzheimer's Research Trust and got some useful publicity too.

"O" is for Oregon which is progressing nicely. The Virtual Yarns wool is very different from the Jamiesons wool as it's all lovely and fluffy to start with, just as Marina had told me. I wasn't sure about some of the colours to begin with but am liking them more as it progresses. I've confirmed that I really am rather a slow knitter as I timed myself and it takes me 20 minutes to do a row. I shall never win a prize for being the fastest knitter in the West!

The yarn I need to start my lace project is still out of stock which is very annoying.

"P" is for the Press as there is going to be lots of stuff about Alzheimer's in the News over the next few days as Terry Pratchett is off to visit the PM to discuss the lack of funding for research into the disease. There will also be a press release about the scarf I knitted at the London marathon as it's about to go to auction. Hopefully it will raise some more money.

Lots to catch up with

As usual there has been lots going on with little time to blog but I've got a spare few minutes now so here I go. A couple of weeks ago we had a photographer round taking photos for Best magazine. Tracey is a freelance photographer and regularly takes photos of famous singers/celebs, having recently done a studio shoot with Britney Spears.

She wanted to take photos outside with just a hint of Christmas so she'd come prepared with a Christmas wreath, tinsel etc. The article is about the first Christmas after mum died, how we felt and how I got through it and will appear some time in December. They also asked me what we intend to do this year and as we do not have any family we are thinking of helping out at a homeless shelter so they didn't want the photos to be full of decorations etc inside the house as that wouldn't give the right impression.

Anyway, the weather was vile with winds gusting and heavy bouts of rain and we had to keep dodging back inside. In the last photo you can see part of the front garden where Mike has been playing with the digger! All those stones and bricks will be reused for edging somewhere.

I was wearing my Alzheimer's Research Trust as I always do for photo shoots but she didn't want me to display it so I wore my fluffy purple cardigan over the top of it so at least their colour was visible. I'm hoping that they will have mentioned the charity in the article but I haven't seen the final copy. Fingers crossed anyway.

We're busy decorating the dining room which is very exciting because it is the last room downstairs to do (except for the hallway but that doesn't count as a room!).

I had 2 little helpers the other day. It was raining and windy so Tango came to have a hop round.

Tinker kept a close eye on him. He's grown up with bunnies so knows not to attack them yet he still catches and devours the wild bunnies - not a pretty sight but quite natural for him.

Bunnies love to climb and it didn't take Tango long to investigate the steps!

My Oregon cardigan is progressing well and I will definitely try to take some photos of it over the weekend.

A warm head and hands

I managed to make the yarn last to complete these fingerless gloves to match the hat - and very snug they are too. I didn't use a pattern and just experimented which meant I ripped back 2 earlier versions. They are really warm.



So here's the start of Oregon. I'd forgotten that the yarn was in skeins so there's a bit of prep to do first.

I'm also going to run another project at the same time for a bit of variety (who was I kidding that I'd only have one project on the go at once!) and it's this beautiful Estonian Lace Stole by KnitYoga. I've just received my Addi Lace needles but the colour of yarn I want is out of stock so I've got a couple of weeks to wait. This is probably a good thing as it will give me a chance to get started on Oregon first. I haven't done any big lace projects for a few years so it will be a good challenge - and I do love a challenge!

A husband with happy feet

That's it, I've finished Mike's socks for the KAL! It was interesting to receive the clues on a weekly basis, not knowing quite how they would turn out and I enjoyed the pattern which was simple but effective.

For myself I would have chosen the cable version and I expect I shall have to make some for me at some stage. I should add that the colour is much darker and redder than the photos.

Anyway, they fit well and Mike was very good about trying them on when asked. They are destined to be bedsocks so he will have toasty toes this winter.

Now it's time I cast on the Oregon cardigan..............

A Beachy photo or 2

I've just been sent some photos taken at Beachy head by Tracey's husband Bernard. Thankfully this time he hasn't got me stuffing my face with hot cross buns!

This one was taken somewhere after the half-way point and I was still going great guns.




This was taken when I reached Birling Gap and my hamstring was cramping like mad. At least I'm still running in this one!




On the knitting front, I've just got the toe to finish on one of Mike's socks for the KAL so will be taking photos tomorrow.

Thanks for the kind comments about Bluebelle. Tango, the Orange Rex doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered that she's gone - men are so fickle!