May - the round up post and GG

May .....  we had a month of sunshine - quite hot at times, a Royal wedding, a full moon (couldn't see it due to so much cloud cover) and we are seeing the month out with some rather nasty thunder storms.

DH and I have spent a few days at the seaside.  My camera only came out once when I took a pic of Bircham Windmill.  So many sights in Norfolk we have seen before we didn't feel the need to whip out the camera and most of the time was spent at the holiday home resting.

 

We always visit Bircham Windmill when in the area to buy delicious bread and nice cakes.  There were so many house martins darting about this visit it was breathtaking to watch them - DH was able to try out his new binoculars and get a good view.  

 

Bircham Windmill is a super place to visit with lots going on during the season, you can stay there, bake yourself a loaf, or just visit the bakery/café/farm area.   There are often craft demonstrations to see.

 

 

Since we came home, I don't know where the time has gone to.  I haven't settled back into a routine at all and seem to be floundering.

I seem to have spent a lot of time bird watching out of the window at the feeders around the garden, such a lot of activity with babies for the blackbirds and blue tits and Mr & Mrs robin have been around a lot too. 

There has been a family of starlings with mamma feeding her little ones, I say little ones, they are as big as she is but still sit there with beaks open waiting for her to give them a tasty morsel from these coconut halves filled with fat/seeds.

I'm not keen on the magpies and jackdaws that shout and caw and scare the smaller birds away.  

DH is always pottering about outside and the plants are looking lovely now we have some spring growth and the greenhouse is filling up nicely with hopes of future goodies to eat. 

I've sat sometimes with needle and thread on my lap with good intentions, or knitting needles and sometimes a book but then all too soon its time to cook a meal or do something else and I haven't put in a stitch at all or read a page.

The only finish this month is the socks I showed you last time, one was completed and the other started, not a good show at all. These fit the GG rules (which you can find at Jo's blog, mainly anything you've been gifted or gifted to you) as the wool was a gift from Ann.  This pair are a gift for me!

A start on a cardigan for Isabelle, my granddaughter.  She asked for another red cardigan and the sleeves being simple they were knitted first - another tick for Jo and sneaking in last minute with GG for May.

The back and fronts are knitted in one piece with a lovely flower pattern so that needs to be started ASAP before she grows too much - here's a close up of the top right corner of the pattern, such a very different design, not one I had seen before.

 

Isabelle celebrated her 7th birthday at the weekend and is turning into a lovely and very bright young lady.   I know some of you have been visiting here before then and remember my excitement at being there at her birth.

The crafting collage for May is a bit sparse - just the one picture of the finished socks, and I've added a WIP of Just Nans High Hopes as I did get a couple of afternoons on it earlier in the month before I was away.

 

The reading collage looks a little healthier with 3 books read this month.

Fans of Jane Austen will love the Julie Klassen book, this is the second in a series.   Under A Pole Star was recommended to me, i did finish it but it wasn't as good as i had hoped.  The Glovemakers Daughter belongs to one of my book group ladies and i did like this one, a tale about the quakers.

A plan to visit your blog and catch up with you this afternoon so before i get sidetracked i'm signing off to do just that ....

Love and blessings to you all

Julie

Knit and share

We enjoyed a lovely sunny May bank holiday weekend.

I sat for a while outside under the umbrella putting a few stitches into Just Nan's High Hopes whilst DH was tending his garden.  I'll have to show you the JN next time as I have forgotten to take a snap and its far too dark this evening to do it now in artificial light.   The meds were not helping concentration levels so not as much progress as I would have liked.

I'm not happy with idle hands, I don't think crafters are, so a change of plan and I cast on some socks with the lovely soft wool sent to me by Ann (shared in my Gifted Gorgeousness April post).   It's delightful Madelintosh merino and oh so very soft, what a wonderful gesture from a very lovely lady to send me this beautiful wool.

For this pair I chose to try the Kali Kardia free pattern again from Helen Kurtz.  It's available from Ravelry and there are two differing stitch patterns, a rib one which I did last time and this time the alternative chequerboard pattern.

All was growing nicely when I took the picture to show after the weekend when I intended to blog.

It's grown even more now and today I took this picture of one sock completed :-)  

It's funny how quickly a sock grows when you add a row here and there.  They are a great travelling project or for waiting room knitting.  You do get some funny looks from people when you whip out a sock and often people will ask what you are doing.  I tell them where I learnt to knit socks and provide them with places to visit online for added help if they too wish to give it a try.   It does feel good to inspire others to learn a new skill, and in the strangest of places too. 

I wonder how many go home and think more about starting to sock knit themselves, or head off from their appointment to the nearest knitting shop to buy supplies? 

I never thought I would be able to knit socks myself and put it off for a very long time.  Yet now, I find them the most soothing of things to pick up especially during the last few months.

Love and blessings

Julie  x