Sock it to me fungus and the 42 flowers

Here's where I'm up to with Pomatomus. The yarn is absolutely delightful to work with and I love the colours. The shade is called 'clover' and it really is the colour of red clover.

I'm enjoying the shell pattern too. Interestingly it's knit mostly on 3 needles to make it easier to accomodate the pattern and only changes to 5 after turning the heel.

It shouldn't take too long to finish now. This is my 3rd pair of socks and each time I've felt that it progresses really quickly after the heel. Not sure how much knitting I'll get done over the weekend as there's gardening stuff to do and I need to do a 20 mile run off-road on Sunday - the first of 3 in my schedule prior to the Beachy Head marathon in October.

Now for the fungus foray! It's definitely autumn now as they are popping up all over the place.

This one is definitely a Boletus of some description. I think it's Boletus edulis, commonly known as a Cep or Penny Bun and popular for commercial use, dried and used for flavouring in soups. I wouldn't eat it as I am uncertain and some Boletus can cause tummy upset.

It's about 7cm across and is growing in grass under an oak tree.

These are another Boletus - versicolor and are a gorgeous shade of red/brown. They are about 4cm across and are growing near the other Boletus.

There were others around but they had been nibbled by goodness knows what!



I put my clog in the photo to show the size of these beauties. They are Horse Mushrooms (Agaricus arvensis) which is an appropriate name as they are popping up all over the horses' paddock. They soon get nibbled by the wildlife.

The largest one is 15cm across. Aren't they magnificent?!

So where are the 42 flowers? They are wildflowers that I spotted on one of my runs during the week. I often amuse myself with spotting things en-route as it helps pass the time. I tried hard to recall all their latin names but had to resort to common names for several of them.

Every man should have one.........

....a digger for the weekend! We had some serious clearance work to do in the front garden and this was the most sensible way to do it. Mike was overjoyed to have a big boys' toy and took to it like a duck to water. We had a great weekend shifting stuff around.


To get rid of some of the spoil we had to take loads of it across the horses' field into the next one and that caused great shennanagins from the horses. Esther is surveying the scene with a look that says "I demand to know what you're doing!" Each time we crossed their field they came trotting over and tried to get through to the next field. Then when we shooed them off they pranced around snorting indignantly.

Anyway, we spent 3 whole days clearing stuff and now the heavy manual digging begins. GULP! I have been too cream-crackered to even pick up my knitting since last friday so I have only managed to knit the leg of the first sock. It looks good though (I should take a photo later....)



I spotted my tradescantia plant displaying transpiration perfectly this morning. If you look closely you will see little beads of water along the edges of the leaves. Beautiful.




Tinker is making an appearance because he's beautiful too and he isn't feeling very well so needs lots of virtual love and hugs. Poor little fellow. He's been to the vet many times of late and at 12 years old we can't help worrying. Paws crossed that he's OK.

In the pink

I put the balls on the table, closed my eyes, jiggled them around and then touched one to choose it. Highly scientific. So there we have it - pink it is! Here's what I've done this evening. Too soon to make out the pattern properly.

Ouch, crochet woes and a dilemma

The Ouch Part:

I've had this niggle in the back of my right heel for a couple of months now. It doesn't hurt when I run, except for a slight pulling sensation on the inside of the heel, but when I get up in the morning I can hardly walk as it's so stiff. It loosens off after about 15 minutes and then is OK. The same thing happens when I've been sitting down for a while.

Mary Massage Lady had a go at it a while back but to no avail so I had to go and see Alison my trusted Physiotherapist. She poked around trying to find the bit that made me go "OUCH!" but it was hiding. After a great deal of detective work she got it sussed: Retrocalcaneal bursitis, Calcaneal apophysitis (which is supposed to only affect children!) plus a very tight Soleus

My arches are very high and my heels curve inwards and the angle of my foot to ankle is not as large as it should be (we knew this already but it hasn't caused a problem until now). She asked if I'd been running more hills than usual but I haven't. I have noticed that I go up on my toes more than usual when doing off-road hills though. This explains why the Tibialis anterior muscles up the front of my shins have become extra large as they have had to compensate for the tightness in my calves.

She zapped my heel in 4 places with a laser which was really interesting. The machine registered a higher number when it encountered a swelling (steady boys!). In 3 places it registered around 30 but in the really sore bit it shot right up to 48. After that she taped my heel to help get it back on track but I just couldn't walk on it so she had to loosen it a bit. Also I've got calf stretches to do 4 times x 2 minutes a day to stretch out the Soleus.

Good news is I can still run on it but not off-road for a day or so. Hoorah!

Crochet Woes:

I have been trying to find the solution to joining the flowers I made using the Lazy Daizy loom. Firstly I used 2 strands of mohair together which looked quite good but wasn't quite firm enough for the effect I wanted. I ripped it before thinking to take a photo, DOH!





A rummage in my stash found this yarn from the early 1980s! What I don't like about it is that they now look like granny squares and whilst I love granny squares it wasn't the effect I wanted. Plus I don't like the light background. Hmmmmm.






Then I remembered this brown chenille from a cardigan project I didn't like. The colour is nice and dark to show off the flowers but I think I need to adopt a more freeform approach to the joining. More experimenting lies ahead!




The Dilemma

I decided to make another pair of socks before embarking upon a big project and decided to have a go at the Pomatomus Socks by Cookie A. So I duly wound the yarn into 2 balls. But as I did so I fell in love with the colours so much that I didn't want to hide them away as socks. It's just that I can imagine the yarn as the background for a pair of gloves with a Fair Isle pattern.

So, I went and dug out the pretty yarn that I won in Amelia's competition. But again, I could see this as gloves or even a hat.

Decisions, decisions!

There's been plenty going on......

There's been curtain making, crochet, counted thread cross stitching, gardening, running and some knitting too. I completed the Magic poncho weeks ago but haven't got round to photographing it yet.

Here's my first ever Monkey Sock by CookieA. I realise that I am probably the last person in the blogging universe to knit them but I have been slow to catch the knitted sock bug.

I deliberately used the same yarn as she did to take me out of my comfort zone even further as I wouldn't ordinarily choose fluoro yellow or green. As it happens, I rather like the colours as they are jolly.

I found the pattern very easy to memorise and they are great for newbie sock knitters as the pattern is well written.

None of us are free until all of us are free

I'm not really into political protest and stuff but it was hard to watch the amazing display of the opening ceremony for the olympics in Beijing without thinking of Tibet.

I feel it is important not to forget the situation in Tibet and to support those who struggle for their freedom.

Beverly at PoMo Golightly is having a contest.

You can win some pretty nice yarn from Pippi KneeSocks, so please take a look.

Why I do what I do

I found this on You Tube and it moved me and made me remember why I get up at 5am on a Sunday morning to go running for 4 hours come rain or come shine.

Next year's fund-raising will be even harder as the credit crunch and rising prices really start to bite so I'm trying to work out what my challenge will be. The Ridgeway 85 miler keeps beckoning............It needs to be something tough so that people pay attention and ask why on earth I'm doing it.

Odds and ends

I took this photo of the bridge in Bodiam whilst out on my run on Sunday. The river floods each year and this year it was as high as the top of the arches!








There was a 'Classic Car' show and fair there too so we popped along for a look. Lots of cars from the 60s and 70s that we remembered from growing up. There were also lots of veteran cars too and this one had to be photographed; not because it was the most remarkable or beautiful car there, but because it has a lovely sassy lady sitting in it. The car was a Hudson from around 1930 and a man looked longingly at it and remarked "beautiful!" to which the lady replied "yes, and the car's not bad either!" She was an elderly lady but she still had a lovely twinkle in her eyes.
There are always lots of stalls and attractions at these sort of things and there was a birds of prey stand with lots of owls and a falcon. This little chap was eager to have his photo taken. He's a Barn Owl, one of our native owls.






Inbetween weaving in the squillions of ends on Autumn Rose I have been having fun with my Crazy Daisy maker and this is what I've produced. I'm going to join them all together to make a scarf. I've just been using up leftover bits of yarn in my stash and managed to find some good matching colours.

Now I've got to crochet round them all to join them.

It's all over bar the blocking

At last, Jamiesons delivered the long-awaited yarn and I could finish off the neckband. Obviously I couldn't wait to weave in the ends and block it etc before I tried it on!

Initial reaction is good. When I'd tried it on before doing the neckband I had felt that it was way too wide across the shoulders. Indeed, several people had commented that theirs kept slipping off their shoulders. So I boxed clever and did some small decreases at each raglan point and that seems to have made the difference. I'll take close-up photos when I've blocked etc.

There is a bit of bagginess above the bust along the raglan line and I think that perhaps the decreases didn't taper quite enough for my shape. Maybe that will even out in the blocking anyway. We shall see.

My only other comment at this stage is that perhaps bust darts could have helped under the bust rather than relying on the stretch and cling of the fabric for the fit. Just a thought, but I suppose that might have been overly complicated given the already complex patterning.

Here's what I made with the leaven I've been preparing for the past few days. It's a French Sourdough loaf and it smells divine. I wish it would hurry up and cool down so we could try a bit!

Quackers

Mrs Duck has done it again. Last year she managed to hatch 9 little 'uns but this year she surpassed herself and produced 11. Awwwwh!

I knew she'd been sitting on eggs as she's been coming up for feeds at odd times of the day and coming to look for me so I can feed her. This morning she came bustling up from the pond with them following in a neat line, all fluffy and sweet.


I put some mixed corn out for them by the barn. It always amazes me that they instinctively know what to do with it and they all got stuck in straight away.

Mrs Duck allows me to come within about 4 feet of them when they are so tiny but as they grow they become bolder and follow me into the barn and even take grain from my hand.

She makes quiet quacking noises to keep them all together as she needs to keep a watchful eye out for crows and magpies. I hope she manages to keep them all safe until they are old enough to fend for themselves. As I type this I can hear her out on the driveway with them, no doubt familiarising them with their surroundings.

Crazy Daisy winder

So here it is. A little circular disc with a knob in the middle which you twist to make the spikes come out.






You start a daisy by laying the material (ribbon, straw, thin strips of fabric etc) across the face with the end facing downwards. Wrap the material, from left to right, round the spoke at 12 o'clock and bring it back to the bottom. Wrap it round the bottom spoke from right to left. Take the material back up to the top and go round the spoke to the right of the first one then back down to the spoke to the left of the first bottom spoke. This is the wrong side of the the finished flower.

Repeat these 2 steps all the way round until you are back where you started. You can go round another time if you want a fuller flower with more petals or you can just leave it with single petals, as I have done here.







Now all that's left is to secure the petals and finish off. I've used a contrasting colour of Raffene. You just insert the needle behind the petals and tie a knot. Then pass the needle from right to left under 3 petals of the flower, bring the needle back up then go back under the last 2 petals and pick up a new petal to the left. It's rather like doing backstitch in sewing. I've gone round twice in this flower.

Then you just finish off the end (you can glue it down or just leave it loose, turn the knob to retract the spokes and remove the flower. Ta da!

There are lots of photos of crazy daisies and looms on flickr

On the knitting front, I'm just knitting a quick poncho using Sirdar Reflection using massive needles and garter stitch. Should be finished tomorrow with a bit of luck.

I was just rummaging around......

...when I found this lurking in my oddments box. I can remember mum using it to make flowers when I was little so it brought back happy memories. I also found some raffene, which is artificial raffia and was all the rage in the 60's for making summer handbags.


I couldn't remember how to use it but thankfully the instructions were in the box. This is what it produces. Quite sweet really and it made me want to make an openwork bag from them.

I haven't quite decided what to knit when Autumn Rose is finished but I think it will be a quick and easy project such as socks. But don't worry Marina, then I'll be starting the Oregon cardigan! I've also got some sewing and crochet projects in mind. Too much choice really.

Steek cut, grafting done, twiddling thumbs.........

First I had to deal with the underarm sections. The 2 sets of stitches were left on holders ready to be grafted using Kitchener stitch. Anyone who's joined the sock making craze will know how to do this but some people might be daunted by it. Don't be, it's really quite easy once you get into the rhythm of it. Basically, you're just recreating a knit stitch so the pieces are joined seamlessly. The are lots of tutorials on the web and most knitting magazines include step by step pictures in their 'How to" sections.


This is what it looks like when complete. Nice and neat.


Then it was time to take a deep breath and cut the steek. I read and re-read Alice Starmore's instructions then read and re-read Eunny Jang's instructions (which were just the same!). Only thing left to do was cut. So I did. The world didn't come to an end, my stitches didn't all unravel in an untidy heap and my jumper now looks like a proper jumper!

Now I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for Jamiesons to send me another ball of 'Sunrise' which I need to finish the neck edge. I've picked up all the stitches and knit a row using old gold but I haven't enough Sunrise to finish it. I phoned Jamiesons on Monday to order some more and was told it would be with me some time next week. Some time next week? Yes, I was told. It has to be processed through their Accounts Department. So, for one ball of wool to come a few hundred miles from Scotland to the South of England takes over a week. Words fail me! Oh, and the lady I spoke to was dour and offhand. Boo to Jamiesons.



Nothing to do with knitting but I thought I'd show the rye flour leaven that I'm preparing. I always make my own bread and love trying different recipes. the leaven is used instead of manufactured yeast and takes a few days to prepare. This is what it looks like on day 3 and it should be ready to use in a couple more days. It already has lots of lovely bubbles and has a slightly sour smell.

The strangest looking jumper in the world!

At last, I've finished the body! I must say it looks really weird at the moment with the little pouch dangling under the neck steek. Anyway, I've just got to join the 2 underarm sections, darn in some ends and then cut the steek (eek!).

Then all I've got to worry about is whether I have enough 'Sunrise' to finish the neckband as it looks rather a small ball now.

It's my birthday again!

I can't believe how quickly the years seem to pass. It really doesn't seem 12 months since I was running the South Downs Marathon on my 50th birthday yet here I am again, one year older and probably non the wiser!

I've already had a special weekend and have been treated to visits to garden centres (gardening is my passion) to have a good look round and purchase the odd plant or several. Then last night, Mike and I made a scrumptious curry together. He had a chicken masala, I had a mushroom dish and we shared a mixed vegetable bhajia with pawa rice (using a recipe from our next door neighbour from our previous home). It was lovely but I still feel stuffed.


We both went to the gym this morning to try and work it off. I have taken a few days off running as I have niggly groin strain that's been with me for about 18 months now. Of course, if I hadn't done 7 marathons in the last year it would undoubtedly have healed much quicker!



This morning's post brought a lovely surprise - a package from Amelia who had a blogaversary draw to win some yarn. It was beautifully wrapped with a pretty bow.

This is what was inside. Sundara sock yarn in the shade 'purple clover'. The photo really doesn't do it justice as it is several different shades of pink. This photo shows our native purple clover and the darkest colour in the yarn is really close to that. It's beautiful and so, so soft. I think it will have to be my next project when I finish Autumn Rose (which is progressing well).

Back to where I was

Phew, just got back to where I was before I had to rip it. Hubby asked to have a look at it and asked, rather tentatively, if the sleeves were going to be long enough. I explained that they are meant to finish just below the elbow and he was most relieved as he'd been worried that I hadn't done them long enough when he saw me attaching them yesterday. Bless him!

Froggies!

Oh deary me! It was all going so well, too well in fact. I finished the second sleeve of Autumn Rose and had joined the sleeves to the body and worked several rounds. Then I noticed I'd made a mistake in the pattern on one of the sleeves on the 3rd row - I was on row 7. I tried to ignore it but I knew what I had to do as it would bug me too much if I didn't. So I ripped back 4 rows of squillions of stitches and I'm about to go back and do them all again.

That'll teach me not to do complex patterning whilst watching a film!

So much going on

Oh dear, it has been a while since I wrote anything but I've just been so busy! Here's the nearly completed lampshade with its crocheted flowers. I think it makes it look really jolly. It's taken a lot more flowers than I anticipated so I reckon I've got about 6 more to do. I have to alternate between crochet, knitting and sewing as I get bad pains in my forearms/shoulders/neck. I've also been doing a lot of gardening as the weather has been glorious.


Yesterday I took some of these (Elderflowers in case anyone is wondering)...........

....and turned them into this. Elderflower cordial, which is an essential ingredient for a happy summer. The recipe I used is here and is really easy.







Here's where I'm up to with the Autumn Rose sweater - half way up the second sleeve so I should be joining it all together to knit the top part soon. Yippee!







This magnificent foxglove has made itself at home on top of an old horse manure heap and it looks so beautiful that I can't get rid of it yet.







Tinker helped me make some new curtains by holding the fabric taut whilst I hemmed them!









2 random photos now from a run last week. This little colt was only a few hours old when I snapped him and his mum. He was all gangly and wobbly with the sweetest little face.






This is a dirt track that I ran along. It looked so pretty with the cow parsley frothing over the edges. I love the tiny flowerlets that go to make up the umbels and the ferny foliage. When I was nearly home from this particular run I got a phone call from Emma at the Alzheimer's Research Trust asking if I'd do a live interview on the BBC News Channel with Emily Maitliss. So I had to get washed and changed quickly and head off into Tunbridge Wells to the BBC Studios there. There has been a lot of publicity recently because of the King's Report which basically says that not enough money is being put into dementia research and that there will be a crisis in the next generation if we don't act now (because people are living longer, the incidence of dementia with increase). I just hope the Government starts to take notice.