very sad day

After the mayhem of the Christmas food shop, I spent the afternoon at a funeral. One of DD's swimming coaches died recently. He was a fantastic guy & had time for every child in his squad, very patient & caring with a great sense of humour & fun.

He died in his sleep in the early hours of the morning aged 42. His daughter had turned 18 the day before he died & his son is 16. His wife was so strong during the funeral & held on tightly to her children. Both his parents were there - it must be awful to bury your child.

Hundred of people attended & the funeral was absolutely packed, the aisles full & more people stood outside. He had a Harley Davidson & loved his bike. The hearse had a biker escort as it travelled from his home to the Crematorium & it looked fantastic as they roared by.

My lasting memory of him was last Christmas when the kids had a fun session. He was in the pool with them playing water polo & had about 12 kids hanging on his back, neck & still went after the ball carrying them all. Striding through the water with a huddle of kids hanging off him - they all adored him.

Along with his wife, son & daughter he leaves Keith the cat & Mabel the dog.

Getting ready for Christmas

DH & I have finished work - Yipee!!! DD finished school yesterday & is hyper. The tree is up (last Sunday), cards have been posted & all I've got left to do is wrap presents which is happening tomorrow morning whilst both DH & DD are out.

I've hardly been knitting recently as I've been really busy & have a bit more to do before finishing the Chain Mail scarf in Sirdar Firefly but it won't take long.

We've just come back from a trip to the supermarket & I want to know why do people turn into complete idiots behind a trolley??? I'm fed up with having a trolley shooved against my butt whilst I was stuck behind someone else, pushing harder will not make me move if I've got nowhere to go. And to the woman who crushed 3 knuckles on my left hand as she rammed her trolley into a space far too small - your card is marked, I'll be looking out for you next year!

back on track...

Thanks everybody for your kinds words. I'm ok now but am sporting a wonderful bruise which is so striking that DH called me a Zebra last night! I had already promised a friend that I'd give her dog a wash & blow dry on Sunday so did it plus my two. I was standing all day so it wasn't too bad but by the time I got to work on Monday & had to sit at my desk all day - I was in agony. However I'm not going to take time off unless I'm really sick & painkillers are useful things.

The kids knitting club at school was fun tonight. Susoolu wasn't there tonight as she has a migrane - I hope you're feeling better soon. I had 5 kids including DD & they all had a great time. It was a race to finish their finger knitted scarves but all but one were finished & the one who wasn't is a friend of DD & is coming to our house on Thursday she can finish it then. After Christmas they'll be back on to two needles & I'm still trying to source some decent yarn in nice colours for them. If anybody has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I've been watching recently how people come across my blog. Most are from other blogs or searches on a variety of search engines including Google. Search terms are normally knitting or Airedale related but there are a few others:

To the person who regularly visits by searching 'blueadt' I'd like to say hello and am wondering if I know you - if I do please let me know who you are.

However to the person in Canada who used the following search on Google:

lick my instep

Forget it - I definately don't want to know you. I can do many things but feet isn't one of them!

Ow

I fell down the stairs this morning & am very sore. I had got up early to feed DD before taking her to an 8 a.m. training session & trying to be organised, carried a basket of washing downstairs with me to get the weekly wash marathon started.

DH was still in bed so I didn't put the light on. We haven't got any carpet on the stairs due to ongoing building works for the past 17 months & half the step is taken up by planks of wood (skirting board & archtrive). Carrying the basket in front of me I miscalculated & went flying.

My butt now sports a huge bruise & I admit to crying & nearly throwing up due to the pain.

So the Christmas tree hasn't been put up & neither have the outside lights. It hurts to walk, sit or lie on my back so I'll have to sleep on my side tonight.

With two weeks to go until Christmas my DD is gutted to be the only child in her class without a tree up

My Jaywalker

is back on track thanks to Cara - I suppose it was a bit brave/silly (delete as appropriate) to do a patterned sock as a second ever pair of handknitted socks but I will get there eventually.

Jaywalkers stalled...

After a mad panic on Friday when I decided that the Jaywalker sock wasn't going fit my size 7 (UK) foot, I have now decided that it will allowing that the pattern creates a very 'snug' sock (but where on the foot do you measure to get the 9" measurement????)


Jaywalker in Opal Rainforest Tiger

When this photo was taken last night I had just finished the heel flap & tonight whilst DD was swimming I turned the heel & picked up the stitches for the instep.

So far so good...

And then I hit a problem.

I'm knitting the sock on two 30cm addis & the pattern is written for dpns. After working row two of the pattern at the front of the sock repeating twice, I then picked 18 stitches along the heel flap & now I'm stuck.

The pattern reads:

"K12 from the heel needle. There are 21 sts on needles #2 & 3, 30 sts on #1 & #4.

Round 1: Work to 3 sts from end of needle #1, k2tog, k1. Work instep sts in established pattern (round 1 of zigzag pattern). K1, ssk at beginning of needle #4, work to end."

I've sat down with a piece of paper & still can't figure out how I transpose the pattern written for dpns into a pattern for two circs. I have the required 102 stitches & now need to decrease for the instep but can't work out where.

Can anybody who has knitted Jaywalkers on circs help me out????

Finished objects & the Big Reveal continues...

Ages ago I knitted Daisy in Pattons 100% Cotton for a pregnant Airedale loving friend in Canada. The cardigan has been finished for a while but needed some flowers sewing on which means a delay as I don't like sewing. But finally I've kicked my butt into gear & it's finished:


Daisy

The Entrelac Shawl which was intended for the same baby is however still unfinished I should have chosen this project more carefully as entrelac in 4 ply does NOT make good poolside knitting.

However I do have something else to go in the parcel:


Purple Velvet Ribbon Tie Bootees

Knitted in Jaeger Baby Merino & the pattern is from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit as is the pattern for these:


Regia Passion Textured-Cuff Booties

These were knitted in Regia 6 ply sent to me by my SP5. I had some bits left over as I had to buy another ball due to running out of yarn on my first pair of socks, so put them to good use. As I'm using left overs I couldn't get them to match but I think they look cute anyway. Typically the first one was knitted a while ago & the second today whilst sitting watching DD swim at a gala. During this same gala I also sent a text message to a certain person as today being December 4th was reveal day - I've been spoiling Lixie & I think she's enjoyed it