It's been a funny Easter.

Good Friday disappeared, who knows where, although I do remember the sun was shining!

Yesterday Wensleydale was invited to help the VHC and his dad do some plumbing, while his mum, big sis and I had a good discussion over coffee and carrot cake. Although it wasn't very Easterish, it was very enjoyable, just to be able to get together and be sociable, especially as the weather wasn't very inviting. And a new tap was safely installed.

Today we woke up rather later than anticipated, due to a failure to recall that the clocks were going forward overnight. There was beautiful sunshine and a dead calm - which wasn't quite what was forecast. About an hour later, the rain and wind arrived. The sun did come back occasionally, but now the rain seems to have set in now, and the forecast is for 70 kph winds overnight.

So we have pottered around in the house, which is what we tend to do on public holidays, anyway. Living on the edge of popular routes to the south and west tends to discourage venturing out on the roads at such times, especially when you're retired.

W. has been working on armatures for my remaining gloves, and I have made a To Do list, which is a tad longer than my usual three item lists. It isn't very legible in the photo, but you may be able to read the words 'Degree Show'. In two months it will all be over, much to my relief.

But as we have quite a lot of time off in the next two weeks, both from Uni and grandparenting, I want to get on the top of the boring bits like making sure the paperwork is up to date.

I'm glad to say I've managed to check off two things today - the first item ('Make a list'), and one about going through the 3 million entries on the Notes app, for things that need to be added to the aforementioned paperwork. (I may exaggerate about the 3 million. Slightly.)

 

 

 

 

I have also done some knitting, on what is positively, definitely, absolutely the last glove. It has been started from scratch twice, undergone radical pulling back of multiple rows twice, and gets unpicked every pattern row, even though I deliberately picked an easy pattern (Old Shell/Shale). Of course, trying to work even a simple pattern row while reading a Danish TV series is asking for trouble.

 

Tomorrow it will be back to the list, probably following up some of the artists people have suggested I research and I haven't quite got round to yet...

 

I've been procrastinating...

about posting, because I keep forgetting to take a photograph of the one glove plus armature which was actually finished (more or less) about two weeks ago. But as it's at Uni and I'm not, it won't get photographed till later in the week, supposing I remember this time...

However there is this: a nearly finished plain black glove, about a metre plus in height. My plans for this one include 'distressing' it with the embellisher, and then some darning.

Then there's these two: a hand on a three metre rod, and a two metre armature for the three metre hand. (This is for the very big glove which I finished before Christmas.) The armature is still under construction, as my fabricator is devising a system to weight it at the bottom - I'm worried it will fall over on someone at the degree show, although the staff seemed more confident than I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, some embroidery. You can probably see that I originally wrote 'February' but embroidered 'March' over it, so you can tell not much happened last month. The half hand on the left is my attempt at needlelace, and the less said about it the better - but I have been reading a book called 'Sloppy Craft'...

 

Where have I been and what have I been doing?

1. Nowhere I don't usually go.

2.  a) Knitting. (Now there's a surprise.) What may or may not be the first glove of the degree show is finished - apart from getting a proper armature and support.

It's in double knit, and as it has taken me over four weeks to make it, and it's not really big enough (I ran out of wool), I have moved up to something a tad thicker.

Berber rug wool from Texere, on the biggest double points I own.

Of course a week after I bought it, Texere had a half price sale. 😢 So I ordered some more: 10 cones instead of 5.😊

b) Chasing up John Lewis to find out whether or not they'd delivered my new printer for click and collection (Yes! I had to chase up JL!), then collecting said printer and setting it up. The reviews on the website said it was easy to set up. They lied. It probably was easy if the disc in the box had the right software on it. Mine didn't. I ended up having to download the drivers, and even now it won't work wirelessly, but I can live with that.

It prints quite well, but it will be better when I can work out how to get it not to print in colour all the time. It may be time to invite the family techies round for fish and chips and technical advice. Again. 

On the other hand I downloaded El Capitan all by myself, twice, with only the minimum of swearing.

c) Adding more plaster to this.

 I gave up trickling diluted plaster down in a delicate manner, and plastered it on with a (very small) trowel. It's lumpy and cracking and I love it.

d) Sat in a traffic jam for 2 hours getting to Uni. Fortunately I allow time for traffic, so I still managed to get there in time to have some coffee and get to my lecture. Got to get your priorities right.

e) Being ill. I had a recurrence of the ear infection I had a few years ago. This meant that when I moved, the earth moved too, only more so, and it didn't stop moving when I did. Although Winchester does have a history of earthquakes, this was a very localised one, so I did something I've never done before and made an urgent appointment at the surgery. After a very thorough examination by a nurse paractitioner, my own diagnosis was confirmed and I came out with a prescription, and a flu injection as well. Not to treat the ear infection, but because it was a good idea. Just hope it's more effective than last years. 

I am feeling much better - still some problems with balancing, but the world is more stable. 

f) Making and eating cake. (You can tell how much better I am!) The little guys and their mum and dad held a Macmillan Coffee morning today, so I contributed a lemon cake and ate my fair share as well.

Next week is more knitting, less cake, less sitting in traffic jams (I hope) and as little IT as I can manage.

Week 23

I knew I hadn't posted for a while, but I didn't realise it was quite this long! My excuse is that what I was calling a chest infection turned out to be flu, because just like almost everyone else who had the jab, I still caught it. And I still have the cough, sniffles and occasional wheezing. And no energy.

I have been getting into Uni, where  we had a special visitor.

I managed to escape extermination, and after a couple of tutorials, the trees have been replaced with hands - or possibly gloves. The final deciding factor was these, which turned out much better than I expected, if a little small. I find those odd little fingers strangely expressive. They look even better pinned to a wall.

 

So now I am researching, collecting photos, drawing (!), knitting and modelling hands and gloves.

I"m exploring different sizes and styles, before deciding what I am actually going to do with them!

On an encouraging note, I got told off by a member of staff because I didn't put anything in for an exhibition which is coming up. I really didn't have anything suitable - they had to have D-rings attached, which is difficult with knitting - but in the depths of my flu induced misery, it was good to know someone thought my work was better than I did!

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

I know I'm late, but I've just realised I haven't posted since last year. No excuses, I just never seemed to get round to it. It's not as if we've been that busy since Christmas, although there has been some extra grandparenting, which can be a little tiring, 😉

We had a good time with the in-laws to be on New Year's Eve, when we were treated to a Spanish meal, although it ended up with Welsh whiskey, which is becoming something of a tradition. The next time we meet them will be for the wedding. I am really looking forward to it, although I don't think we will be toasting the happy couple with Penderyn. I will also need to find something to wear...

Another tradition seems to be having a big clear out - never planned, but as it always happens around this time of year, I think it's become a habit. All sorts of things emerged: manuals for computers and phones we no longer own, chequebooks for accounts we no longer have, and an unused 2005 calendar.  On the other hand I can't find the 2015 one I'm sure I bought - presumably I'll find it in 2025...

The tree/hand knitting has continued. 

 

Binomial, Fibonacci and dreadlocked trees, one (unfinished) with a handful of hands, and a bunch of tiny pinkish prosthetics I'm not sure how I'm going to use. 

There has also been some ornament starting, although they  need beads, sequins and possibly a tassel.

Uni doesn't start again till the week after next, so we took advantage of a free day to go down to Bournemouth, have lunch at the Russell-Cotes, wander round the galleries, and take photos of the sea.

Today has been a flower day. As usual, our early snowdrops are out under the birch tree

And Wensleydale assembled our poppy, which arrived a couple of days ago.  It is bigger than I expected, and has a touch of mud and rust, which seems appropriate, really.

It doesn't seem much for nealy two weeks, does it? Perhaps too much drinking. Tea, that is.

Week Nine - Good in Parts.

But mostly not so good. In theory I had a hair appointment on Tuesday, but in between me learning that my hairdresser was off sick and the time of the rebooked appointment, his sick leave turned into garden leave. I knew he was moving on, but I only had the address of his new salon, no phone number, so that meant an unscheduled visit into town to book another appointment, but with someone else because he doesn't start there till next month. 

I was not at my best for Uni on Wednesday, because I had had a couple of insomniac nights. It was a messy day, with some changes of schedule, of which I had only a vague grasp. I have realised that although the organisation is pretty good, there are lots of things that 3rd years are expected to know, because, after all, they've been around for two years already, haven't they? And if you haven't, finding the right person to ask can be a challenge... Plus the place runs on what Wensleydale, who has some experience of these things, calls 'art school time', which meant I drove home in the rush hour. 😬

 

Friday was the day for sorting out hairdressers, but we made the most of it by having lunch out, so that was a good day. Until, at the end of it I realised that:

1. The scarf I am knitting for Babybel is going to be long enough ☺️ but

2. This meant that the big buttonhole I made in it is in the wrong place 😞 so

3. I would have to unpick it 😞 and so

4. It wouldn't be finished in time for...

Yesterday's Very Important Birthday Party.  I'm pleased to say that Babybel was pleased with her present - a chest protector - but then she did know what she was getting because it had to be fitted.   But, unfortunately,  Babybel's family are having a hard time at the moment and fate had decided yesterday was the day to throw yet another helping of s**t at them. Unpleasant rather than serious, so far, but they have had such a rotten time over the last couple of years, the last thing they need is more nasty stuff happening to them.

Today had been put aside for resuming essay writing. Perhaps because it's not been a good week, I wasn't really in the mood, so when Google decided not to find me many useful sources, Word decided to be uncooperative (no change there) and Big Mac decided to have a go-slow, I decided to make a book. 

 

It is a fascinating structure, but it needs:

1. A large sheet of paper.

2. Careful measuring.

3. Careful cutting.

I managed one out of the three. I'll let you guess which one.

Here's hoping next week is better... I will resume the essay at Uni, where they have real books! 😊 and a computerised system for accessing journals which I have not yet plucked up courage to tackle. Wish me luck!

After my problems with Blogger last week, I am trying an app called BlogGo. Not very sophisticated, unless it has features I haven't found, but so far so good.