Apparently I really am Sheldon

My family have suggested before that I have tendencies in common with the character of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. Even I've felt the similarities this week because our new sofas came and I just can't find 'my spot'.  I spent many happy evenings curled up in the corner of our knackered old IKEA corner sofa, knitting and sewing on projects while I watched TV.  So far I've tried four different positions on the two new sofas and I just can't get comfortable. They are very nice sofas and look much better in our front room than the dilapidated cat-shredded washing-machine-shrunk grubby covers and rock hard lumpy cushions of the old one. But they don't have my spot. I shall keep trying.

While shifting around uncomfortably, I did finish sewing in the sleeves of my Rowan Summer Tweed Cardigan. I was afraid it would be too small but it actually fits rather nicely at the moment. From prior experience I am expecting the yarn to droop a little over time but I think it will be a nice cardigan to wear to work. I just need to attach two ties to tie the fronts together. I do like this yarn, a mixture of silk and cotton that has a rustic dry handle and is very comfortable to wear. The pattern is a Kim Hargreaves design for Rowan, and I adapted it to eliminate the side and sleeve seams.

I also finished the Hewitt square of the GAA Afghan. Originally I wasn't going to knit this as the pattern shows it with multiple bobbles which I didn't like. But then I saw a square by another Raveler who had omitted the bobbles and it looked ok.  I didn't enjoy knitting it though due to the bizarre cable crosses across as many as 12 stitches which were quite fiddly.

I've now started my 19th of 20 squares which is the Salpekar square, which uses some clever tricks to create the appearance of a central cable panel with no obvious start or finish.

I've had a crafty weekend. Yesterday I went to a rag rug workshop to learn how to make a wreath. The tutor Lynda Kinnard was demonstrating various techniques to make a variety of flowers against hooked or prodded backgrounds.  I went with a prodded wreath and a Christmas theme and got on fairly well, I just have two more panels of background to fill in. The greens are a variety of cut up jumpers and the red is a cut-up wool coat from a charity shop.

The instructions say to stabilise the finished edges with glue, then cut out the wreath shape and add a backing.  You could use the same technique to make a rug but I'm not sure this is a hobby I would like to pursue.  For one thing a whole day of it made my hand quite sore because of the repetitive motion. But I enjoyed the day and I'm pleased with my wreath.

Today I had some lacemaking friends over and showed off my completed second miniature dollshouse lace mat.  It's turned out better than the first one although still far from perfect.  I've now started on some miniature shelf edging but there seems to be an error with the working diagram in the book so I need to figure out what to do.

I've finished touching up the paint on my Canadian dollshouse and it looks a lot fresher now, to me at least.  I've also toned down the Day-Glo red Disney effect on the 'brick' chimney by overpainting with various colours of acrylic, and cleaned off several years of accumulated grime from the plexiglass dust covers. I should probably sort out some issues on the inside before I turn my attention to the porch kit.

We went to see a local garden open for charity today full of spring flowers like narcissi, hellebores and swathes of snowdrops.  Very pretty and inspirational. Also they were selling plants quite cheaply so I picked up a couple more hellebores for my garden and three little pots of blooming narcissi for the dining room for now and I will plant them out when the flowers fade. It's turned quite cold again so I think I will be bundling up for my walk to the station tomorrow.