More of the same

Nothing really new this week because I've only been working on existing projects that you've already seen.   I did go to a bobbin lace day yesterday down in Bletchley which was quite pleasant. It was well attended with perhaps 100 ladies (and two gentlemen) working away on various crafts, four traders, a raffle table, tombola, sales table, and refreshments. I took my second dollshouse lace mat project and managed to finish it including the sewings, so I just need to trim the ends and hide them. This second attempt went much better than the first time, I only broke one thread and managed to make the joinings at the end without breaking any of the starting loops. I've chosen my next project from the same book which is a 1/12th scale lace edging for shelves on a Victorian kitchen dresser, and I wound 10 pairs of bobbins for it. From the suppliers I picked up a tiny .5mm crochet hook, and on the sales table I got some back issues of Lace magazine, a little booklet on Bucks Point lace, and some lace pattern books.  We also received a goodie bag which has a few little projects and patterns in it which was fun.

On the knitting front I wound some yarn from a skein to start some toe up Lallybroch socks from a pattern I bought at FibreEast but I've only knit about an inch.  TV knitting has mainly been a square from my GAA Afghan, the same square I've been working on for several months which I'm not really enjoying. A few more inches and it will be done then I have two more to knit.

I also finished the second sleeve for my Rowan Summer Tweed cardigan and have blocked the sleeves and the cardigan body. I'm not sure if I've been too clever knitting the smaller size to combat the way this yarn tends to droop, it's looking a bit small overall and I'm not sure it's going to fit but we'll see once it's dry..

I haven't done any dollshousing this week but I've been procrastinating with purpose as I've continued to fix up and tidy up our real workshop.  It's not looking too bad now, and I've called the electrician to get onto his queue of work so he will come and fit some more sockets around the room.  You can see I've unpacked the table saw but still haven't read the instruction booklet. It's really cold in this room, it's got damp brick walls and a damp brick floor and the wind whistles in through gaps around the window. We will have to look out for some second yoga mats at boot sales to put down underfoot and look into expanding foam to fill the gaps.

I didn't do any sewing all week so today I made myself do a couple of hours and sew the borders together for my Let it Snow quilt which is becoming increasingly unseasonal as the spring bulbs start to come up outside in the garden.  I haven't sewn on the top and bottom borders because I need to make the final four corner snowman applique blocks.

It's turned a bit warmer today, 10 degrees although still quite windy.  We went out and gave the garden a good tidy up, collecting up the dead leaves and trimming off dead stalks and dead sedum heads etc. It was such a warm winter that the plants got very confused, some things were blooming in December that should have been starting to bud now so I don't know if that was it or if we will get another flush of bloom on things like the cherry tree.  I seem to have had my usual bad luck with the c 450 bulbs I planted - there are a lot coming up but probably less than 100. And the slugs are doing their usual number on my primroses which are just chewed husks dotted here and there around the garden. But we've got some lovely clumps of snowdrops and several crocuses opening in the intermittent sunshine, and some of the miniature narcissi are blooming. The magnolia tree has lovely fat buds on it so I'm looking forward to its gorgeous flowers, and the forsythia has lots of flower buds growing. The photinia tree we planted last summer hasn't grown any taller yet but it does have attractive new growth glowing red against the main greenery all over the tree, so hopefully it will shoot up a bit this year.