Shawls

Despite feeling as though I hardly sit down to crochet just lately I do seem to be getting a few projects finished. More accurately though, I probably start two projects for every one that I complete. For example, I’ve just finished the Fern Shawl and started the Arrows Down Shawl as well as another Gin O’Clock Cardigan.

I came across the free Fern Shawl pattern (by Jan Power) whilst trying to find something suitable for one or two balls of Louisa Harding Pittura yarn. This was the yarn I picked up in Jersey after deliberating over colours for a while. It’s four ply and has a suggested hook size of 3.75mm. I worked this Shawl with a 4mm as per the pattern and it works out absolutely spot on for just one 100g ball with just a few metres left over. Blocking made a huge difference. I did my best with pins but ideally for the long side edge I could have done with blocking wires.

The Shawl was intended for Mother’s Day but when I missed that deadline I put it to one side for a while, only picking it up again because the weather turned warm and it seemed a better idea to work with something fine. I’m glad I did because it looks absolutely perfect on Mum and she can pull off scarf, shawl type things all year round. The colours really suit her.

I treated myself to the Scheepjes whirl in Blueberry Bambam when we first discovered our cool local yarn store. I say cool because there are definitely several types of yarn store. I’ve been in plenty where the main stock is aimed at women wanting to make baby items only. It’s such a shame because there’s so much more to be made with yarn! We used to have a yarn shop that was probably the other end of this spectrum and only stocked the most expensive stuff. Sarah at Number Four has something for everyone and keeps up with the latest trends. It’s absolute heaven in there after relying on mail order or visits to other cities for so long.

The Arrows Down Shawl is by Atty and available on LoveCrochet.com. It caught my eye because it is wonderfully geometric, without flowers or frills! I thought it might be a bit of a challenge too but it is actually quite easy once you get going. It does require a bit of concentration, I’ve frogged half a row when I’ve missed a treble but I could probably have left it and got away with it. There have been quite a few slubby cotton fluffy bits that I’ve had to just trim off as neatly as possible and work into the stitches. I had heard about this but even on this fine gauge it isn’t too much of a problem. I’m hoping the scarf will go well with jeans, it ends with a navy colour. I’m in no hurry with this one. The journey will be a leisurely one!

We had a gloriously sunny start to the week and I took the opportunity to start Harvey off with phase one of the sheering sessions. He will sit or lie down patiently in the kitchen on a big towel for quite a good length of time but his brain doesn’t quite work the same for a towel on the decking in the garden. He was somewhat distracted by pigeons, Riley casually strolling by with a large stick in his mouth (little devil) and neighbourly noises. Once or twice I managed to grab him mid escape and encourage him to sit a while longer. He’s lop sided with his hair cut for now but I’ll even it up on our next sunny day.

The day after Harvey’s hair cut and Riley’s mini trim just so that he didn’t feel left out, I was sitting in our sunlounge with a morning coffee when a little sparrow hopped down onto the deck and started gathering dog hair. I wish I’d had my phone nearby but I knew that if I moved he would fly away so I could only watch and marvel at how much he could carry in one little beak. Imagine a tiny Harvey fur lined bird nest somewhere, probably not too far away in one of our big trees or unruly hedges.

J is due to start driving lessons very soon. He was actually old enough at the end of last December but he’s laid back and chilled and didn’t apply for his provisional licence straight away. When he finally did mention driving lessons and M made some calls for him we found all the decent ones were booked up. M could quite easily teach him to drive but just hasn’t got the time and we haven’t got a suitable small car. My jeep is getting on in age now but it has a powerful engine so it’s not an ideal vehicle to learn to drive in. Although E leaves her car here when she’s at uni she’s made it clear she hasn’t purchased it so that her little brother can learn to drive in it and I can’t say I blame her really, besides he’s extremely tall and the car in question is extremely small.

This driving thing comes under the banner of things I really never thought would roll round and b****y terrifies me. I keep saying daft things like, well it wasn’t so dangerous when I was your age and therefore you need to be much more vigilant about other drivers. I feel this is true because I was able to drive from Sussex to Cornwall the day after I passed my test and no one thought anything of it.

M had a birthday this week. It came right in the middle of an intense court case. He’s been travelling a lot and is pretty tired and in need of a holiday. I donned my rarely worn apron and put together a special salad which involved pasta and pesto sauce and various other amazing concoctions using random salad ingredients. OK so it wasn’t Nigella but it’s been tricky trying to cater for kids who are hungry at 5 and a husband who arrives home at random times according to the whim of a judge, particularly as M is the head chef in this household. Last week I managed to burn sweet potato fries. I may have slightly over cooked a few other things too. All I can say is, man this oven cooks so much faster than suggested times (and perhaps I need to stop doing twenty other things while I’m cooking too). There was birthday cake too but I know my limitations and that came from good old M&S.

Since E had an unexpected pocket of time in which to study without lectures she came home again and we’ve been out and about every single day. It starts with a ‘shall we pop out for coffee’ and ends with a few other little visits. On the one hand it’s been nice to get out and on the other, just interacting with people in shops with E beside me just serves to remind me how many times they ask a question and I’m completely unaware they’ve even spoken. Pretty much every time E will say, do you have a loyalty card, do you want a bag, did you find everything you wanted today? (oh please!)

I know that when she goes back to uni today I will be returning to my hermitic ways. My only ventures out of the house will most definitely be in the direction of the single track country lane that takes us through two small hamlets and comes out in the middle of nowhere and not even many of the locals here seem to use it much despite the footpaths being on the ordnance survey maps, and despite it being a nature lover’s paradise actually. There’s nothing like sharing the joy of two bouncy dogs leaping out of the boot and charging down to the water on a hot day. I’ve never owned a Springer that doesn’t charge miles ahead but always keeps coming back to check you’re still there, these two are no exception. Harvey goes the furthest, completely out of sight for most of the time. Riley always seems to have one eye permanently on me and comes back more frequently with a ‘god isn’t this wonderful and I’m so glad you’re still here’ kind of expression on his face.

In fact I’ve just taken a break and been out with them. It was cool but sunny and absolutely deserted except for one friendly farmer in a truck who did his best to avoid a dizzy dog who has no car sense whatsoever. Harvey was doing laps in the river at the time, looking intently for a pebble I threw in. They are now very grumpy with each other for no apparent reason so it’ll be one on the deck in his bed in the sun and one in the kitchen in the sunny patch while they both dry off and cool off. There’s also a sunny patch with my name on so it’s a toss up between laundry, food shopping, housework or crochet. Tricky one!