Knitting Outdoors

I'd forgotten that I did an interview with Dr Kate Davies at the back end of 2009.

I thought it was going to appear in an email newsletter from Rowan so imagine my surprise when I bought magazine number 47 and flicked through its pages to see myself inside!!!

The article is entitled 'Knitting Outdoors" and talks about how knitting being a pursuit for indoors is a relatively modern idea.

There's a link to the Alzheimer's Research Trust's website and to my fund-raising page too so it's absolutely brilliant for the charity.

Thanks Kate!

Here I am sporting the shawl and mitts whilst hiding under my New York hat, so-called because I bought it many years ago on my first visit to New York City. It's purple fur fabric and it always makes me smile.

A Scarf, a Shawl and Some Snug hands

As Mike is busy working today I can't get him to take photos of me wearing them so I've just taken these interim snaps!

The shawl and matching mitts are Andrea's Shawl and Mitts by that talented designer Kirsten Kapur, except they aren't Andrea's, they're mine!

I'm going to add some purple amethyst chips and some green glass beads dotted along the bottom of the patterned areas for a bit of sparkle amongst the hairy mohair.

The purple yarn I've used has been sitting in my stash for years so it was about time I found a use for it. I finished them just in time to nip into London a couple of weeks ago and I wore them with my green cord jacket. I was very pleased with the admiring glances they elicited.


The scarf, which you can't see properly is one of my favourite stash-busting-using-up-bits type to which I have added some flowers I made using my old Crazy Daisy flower maker.

I left a generous length of yarn at each end of the scarf so that I could plait it into sections. Then I made some crocheted corkscrews of differing lengths and added them inbetween to get a luxurious effect. It will show up better when I get Mike to take a photo of me wearing it.

On the running front I've had to take this week off as my body feels as if it's realigning itself after the accident. I've done lots of stretching to help it but my neck, shoulder and right leg are still sore and stiff, plus I've got a dull ache in my lower back. I'm hoping that a session with a Physiotherapist will sort ti out for me. I was doing well with my marathon schedule before so I'm not going to panic - well not just yet!!!

Just when you think it's safe to feel content.....

Life comes and bites you on the backside. Quite literally as it happens.

Mike has been making good recovery, thanks in no small part to the skillfulness of Mary Massage Lady who usually inflicts pain and suffering on my tangled body in order to keep me running.

On Monday, he saw her again and he'd made such good progress that we decided to celebrate by taking a trip to a village nearby for some lunch and a wander round the shops.

It was a clear, bright and sunny day. Perfect for a little jaunt. We were happy and carefree.

I can't bring my self to write the full and horrific details of what happened on our journey, but we never reached our intended destination. Rather, we found ourselves exchanging details with a lady (who had been driving the car in front of us) and the driver of the HGV that smashed into the back of our beautiful car. Suffice to say that the driver of the HGV was driving too close to us and too fast to be able to stop when our car and the car in front braked to allow another vehicle to turn off the road.

Thankfully, no-one was injured too badly although I bore the full brunt of the crash as the HGV driver, realising he couldn't brake, tried to steer to the right of us and in so doing transferred the whole 10 tons weight of his vehicle onto the rear off-side of our vehicle when he hit us. I felt a massive shock through the whole of my body. Thankfully, Mike hardly felt a thing which is testament of the safety features of our car.

Our car is a write-off and is now sitting on our driveway looking so sad, just waiting to be taken away for scrap.

I am nursing a very sore pelvis, hip, leg and right arm. There won't be any running for me until I feel much better. Thankfully I had been running well beforehand so I'm hoping a short lay-off won't have too much impact on my schedule.

Hey ho, at least it was only the cars that were written off.