Wibbo's Words

Lost a few days

One of those nasty tummy bugs struck me down, meaning that this week ended rather suddenly on Wednesday lunchtime. I've started to feel marginally better today; think along the lines of 'alone and palely loitering' for an accurate description.

It's difficult to do anything with gusto at the moment, but before I was struck down (in my prime, so to speak, it was only the middle of the week) I took a pic of this book which had arrived earlier that morning. I've had my eye on it for a while and can report that there are some gorgeous buttons and fastenings in it, complete with good instructions and diagrams. I'm particularly taken with the Dorset buttons and the shirtwaist ones.

Whizzing along

Fairly whizzing along with the Shoalwater Shawl now I've changed from a Denise circular to an Addi Turbo. I'm halfway through the second repeat of the pattern and really pleased with how it's looking.

My sansevieria (mother in law's tongue) is flowering! This plant started off life as a tiny leaf cutting several years ago; the leaves now stretch between windowsill and ceiling and this is the first flower it's produced. Nothing spectacular to look at, but if I'm lucky there may be orange berries to follow.

Happy 80th, Ma'am!

photograph: Snowdon/Camera Press

Started

      

Pattern: Shoalwater Shawl, Evelyn A. Clark for Fiber Trends

Yarn: Fibreworks Hand Dyed 5ply wool, colour 18, on 4.5mm circular needle

Gorgeous yarn and a beautifully-written pattern are easing the way into my first experience of knitting something large on a circular needle. It feels a really weird way of working to a dedicated stick-a-needle-under-the-arm knitter like me and I'm not totally convinced yet by the Denise needles. The points are good, nicely shaped, but I'm finding that the stitches catch and drag on the joins and don't move easily on the cable. I'll persevere, though, and let you know my verdict later....

Finished

Scarf 14cm x 176cm using two skeins of Koigu KPPPM, colour 100, and 3mm crochet hook. Yarn colours are brighter (and nicer) in real life - purple, plum, jade green, lime.

More yellowness

   

The bowl on the left is a Bagley's pressed glass 'Marine' salad bowl; a design registered in December, 1934.

It's Saturday...

...and I don't have any work to do! No impending deadlines, nothing's urgent; I can please myself for a change. First on the list of Nice Saturday Things To Do - buy some flowers.

   

These are gorgeous; a really vibrant yellow with flashes of hot orange. They're in another of my favourite containers, a beautifully-shaped jug from a Swedish pottery, Nillsjo, with a dimpled green glaze. I've no idea how old the jug is and I know nothing about the pottery. I've Googled, but with no success.

What now? Probably a wander down to the library, a little gentle shopping, then feet up with a good book for the rest of the day. Oh, and possibly a smidgeon of chocolate later...

Flashing stash

Yesterday was Flash Your Stash day. This is the only personal stash information I'm prepared to go public with; the size of my stash will remain a deep, dark secret......

I look at this and realise how anally retentive I am - the stash is listed, described and has a code letter that tells me exactly where it's stashed. Work stash, though, is less organised because it gets used up so quickly there's not much point in putting it away!

         

Most of my work stash is pure wool DK of various brands; a length of each colour is on my palette and a series of stock sheets tell me how much I have of each one. There's nothing worse than running out of a colour in the middle of a job!