Whoosh...this is the summer going!

Hello,

Have you noticed? Or is just me that feels the summer, as always, is flying past! 

My job is a '52-weeks-a year' job so I do have to work over the summer, although I try to 

save as much of my annual leave entitlement as I can for the summer. I find myself trying to squeeze in days out and away with family and friends around work commitments. 

I do love the summer, I relish the opportunities to sit outside to eat meals  - eating 

breakfast outside feels so decadent, especially at 6am before I go to work, why is that?

I have to make the most of the longer (and hopefully warmer) days and spend as much
time as I can out of doors.

I am having fun knitting Rachel Coopey's Hartwith hat using Baa Ram Ewe's 

Titus yarn in Goathland. This is 4 ply yarn so for me it will take a while to complete this

 knit but there is something very soothing about knitting this cabled pattern.

 I have almost completed Susan Howatch's 'The High Flyer'. This is the second in a trilogy 

but silly me read book three first so I have in effect nearly finished the trilogy. It has been 

an interesting read although I have found the end of book 2 a bit laborious and tedious. 

This trilogy is being passed to a friend when read so that will be 3 more books off my 

shelf - YAY!

.I am joining in with Ginny's yarn along - please have a look at her great blog. 

Happy summer holidays to you all

xXx 

Yarn along....stockings and The Heartbreaker!

Hello,

Well I've been a bit quiet recently but I'm still reading and knitting, and today I'm joining

 in with Ginny's yarn along. 

Here I am reading 'The Heartbreaker' by Susan Howatch.  I've had this book on my shelf 

for a while (as you can see from the photo it is looking a little jaded) and as I'm trying to 

have a de-clutter I decided this was a book I would read and then pass on. I am quite 

enjoying it but I certainly would not bother reading it a second time so I'm just happy 

that I know this isn't going back on the shelf - yay, a bit of space cleared! 

The only downside is that I was about half way through this book when I realised that it is 

the third of a trilogy and that I have the two earlier books also on my shelf and of course 

haven't read either!! Doh! I was too far through this one to put it to one side to start with 

the first book, so I am resigned to reading them in the wrong order, oh well....

As for my knitting, I've just started my 4th (of 5) Osen Christmas stocking. Each is knitted 

in a different colour way in gorgeous Titus yarn, although I'm not sure this is quite an Osen 

stocking as I have changed the Fairisle pattern to my own design. Hopefully, as it is only 

just July, I should get stockings 4 and 5 completed in time for Christmas!

Happy knitting and/or reading!

xXx

'A Man Called Ove' nearly over, and Osen continues...

Hello,

Once again, joining in with Ginny's yarnalong. 

• Book progress: 'A man called Ove' nearly finished. I have enjoyed this more than I anticipated and it hasn't at all matched my preconceptions of it. It has even brought me to the edge of tears in a couple of places, the moments when Sonja puts her finger in Ove's palm. Why do I get so upset about that??

• Osen Christmas stocking: this is progressing quite well, helped by a long drive south last Sunday for daughter's football match. The slowest part for me is now knitted - just rows of stocking stitch mainly to come, with a bit of interest to be found with the after-thought heel.

• and why the use of bullet points and subheadings in this week's yarnalong post? Because I feel this is one piece of advice that I give over and over again at work as part of my role. "It's helpful to use bullet points, subheadings and white spaces to make it easier for the reviewer to read your sections". Yep, I've got the white spaces too. Clearly bringing my work home with me. Mmmm, maybe I need to get out more!

How is your knitting progressing? Are you enjoying your current read?

Hope you have a good week - daughter and I are crossing our fingers for some snow, even a bit of sleet would be very exciting, but I think we may be looking to the skies in vain.

Best wishes

xXx

Ove and Osen... yarnalong!

Hello,

Joining in with Ginny's yarnalong.  

Making slow progress with my Osen Christmas stocking. 

I think this is mostly due to my need to up my exercise and shift a few stubborn pounds, so when I have a few moments,

or half an hour, I take myself out for a short/slightly longer run/walk. I can't even blame Christmas for the extra weight 

I'm carrying because I did make use of the extra available time 

over the festive period to get out and exercise and as I was also very constrained with my Christmas nibbling, I didn't 

add any weight to the scales over Christmas - yippee!

At our book club we are reading 'A Man called Ove'. I really wasn't impressed with our choice of book and nearly didn't bother downloading it, but when I realised the kindle version was 

only 99p I thought I would give it a go and I have been pleasantly surprised by it. I'm not saying it is one of my top 10 favourite 

reads, or that it even makes my top 50, but it is amusing 

and surprising in parts.

 (I won't say more in case you decide to read it). 

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post - no imminent changes as daughter still has 18 months left at 

school, but no harm in planning ahead. 

And finally, daughter passed her driving theory test, just needs to get practising her practical skills a bit more!

Best wishes

xXx

Yarn along - Bad Pharma and Folksong scarf!

Hello,

Joining in with Ginny's yarn along, and because I am not working today for a

change I'm posting this surprisingly early for me on a Wednesday.

 

On the needles:

my second girl's chunky scarf in Sirdar Folksong.

This scarf is for daughter and so mostly gets knitted when she isn't around.

 

The first one I knitted for daughter was safely stored in my gifts cupboard but was

summarily called into service about two weeks ago. Daughter had been invited to a party

and had forgotten all about until a friend rang from the pizza restaurant for the birthday

 meal and asked "Where are you?"!

 

So we had to find a gift immediately and I suggested we gave this scarf as a gift.

Daughter of course hadn't seen it and said how nice it was, and asked whether it had been

intended as a gift for her. I had to admit that it was so I promised I would knit another one

for her. I think Sirdar have discontinued this wool but thankfully I managed to find

some more on ebay.

This should be finished in time for Christmas.

 

My book:

Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre.

Loving this book!

This book describes how data in medicine is misused and unused, and so doctors

 are making decisions, such as prescribing drugs without having a full picture of a

drug's efficacy and side effects.

Loved Ben's previous book too Bad Science, especially the chapter on Gillian McKeith.

 

Happy reading and knitting!

xXx