What’s On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?
A couple of Florabunda “Thank You” cards that I made by printing the design on the computer, and then colouring with my Tombow markers. The monochrome one has a very subtle touch of purple which unfortunately isn’t showing well on the photo.
My actual workdesk hasn’t seen a lot of activity in recent weeks, but thanks to our WOYWW hostess Julia, I am now fired up to work on my UFOs. Since I have the knitting bug at the moment, I thought I’d tackle the knitted UFOs first.
UFO time! Black sideways-knit jumper
Many years ago I made a sideways-knit jumper. This was in the early days of my pattern designing and I have got better at it since then. The waistband was added afterwards, picking up the stitches and knitting the rib. It was always too tight. It went in one of my UFO boxes to await corrective treatment, and stayed there for years… and years… and years… and… well, you get the picture! In the interim, I gained a lot of weight and it was too small anyway, so I had absolutely no incentive to do anything about it. Also, the neck was horrible. I had tried an experimental method on this jumper – “cut and sew.” This is a technique generally reserved for machine knitting. I used to have a knitting machine and it produced very professional-looking necks, but doing this by hand, it ended up a lumpy mess.
A couple of days ago I managed to get the ribbed band off the bottom, and after quite a struggle, trying not to cause any damage to the cut neck, removed the neck band as well.
It was then that I discovered that the whole garment was pretty misshapen. It seems that my tension got a bit off as I worked across from cuff to cuff, possibly because I added different colours that were also different thicknesses. Anyway, the upshot is, one side of the jumper is bigger than the other side! I really didn’t want to unpick the lot and start again (although I’ve done quite a lot of that, and it can be very satisfying) and thought that perhaps if I blocked it, I could rectify it. I pinned it out on my blocking mats and damped it very well. I rubbed and patted the larger side until the wrinkles began to flatten (partially felting it and shrinking it, I hoped!) and stretched the other side. I was hoping that once it had dried naturally over several days, it would be more evenly shaped. I don’t know whether it will go back to its former shape when it’s washed.
The other thing I discovered was that I had made the sleeves several inches too long. I am going to use the same trick I used on the purple circles jumper, inserting a needle into every stitch across the row and then ripping it back to that point, and re-knitting the ribbed cuffs.
This UFO is turning into a more complicated and lengthy job than I’d anticipated, but if I can pull it off, there should be several more years’ wear in it. I really like the design and the colour scheme. It was inspired by Islamic tiles.
Purple Circles Jumper
While waiting for the black jumper to dry on the blocking mats, I continued to work on my purple circles jumper. You will remember that last week I decided to remove the bottom ribbing which I really didn’t like (much too strong colour) and redo it. This is now complete, and I am thrilled with the result.
I discovered a brilliant technique on YouTube for casting off with an incredibly stretchy edge. This has made all the difference to the feel of the garment. I also have instructions from YouTube on how to cast on with a stretchy edge, if you are knitting upwards from the bottom (the usual way).
The stretchy cast off has a very attractive edge to it.
The other thing about it is that it does not have a ripply edge like some stretchy cast off methods, but lies quite flat, and when you stretch it, it goes right back with no distortion. The result is fabulous, and very easy to wear.
Having eventually got the neckline how I wanted it, I picked up stitches to knit the neckband. This also has come out very satisfactorily.
The yarn may look a bit thin and stringy. This is because it has come off a machine knitting cone and the wool has been slightly waxed to allow it to wok through the machine without snagging. I have got quite a lot of these machine cones (having done a lot of machine knitting in the past) and the appearance and feel of the yarn improves greatly with the first wash, fluffing it out somewhat, and making it softer.
I decided to work the neckband before beginning on the sleeves, so that I could make sure that it really did fit correctly. I am picking up the stitches for the sleeves and working them downwards, and it would be a disaster to discover that the neck wasn’t right if the sleeves were already on, as I would no longer be able to undo the shoulder seams and put it right.
Working on the neckband, I used a circular needle and knitted in the round. If you knit normally and are knitting with different coloured stripes, you get what is called a “jog” when you start the next round – a step in the stripe which is quite unsightly. I found some instructions how to avoid this, and it works a treat! You can see from my own knitting that there is no “jog” between the stripes. The whole thing will look a lot more even once it has been washed.
I have now begun the first sleeve.
This week I bought some adorable little stitch markers from Ebay. They look like miniature safety pins.
I was able to insert these at one-inch intervals along the edge of the front and back pieces for the required length for the sleeve top, and pick up a consistent number of stitches between each marker. I have always found picking up stitches evenly to be very difficult in the past, and this really helps.
Kitties
A very worrying event the other day – I could hear a lot of crying so went out to investigate. Lily was in next door’s garden! I called my hubby straight away and he went round and rescued her. She was very distressed, and later, was very clingy. The following day we didn’t let them out at all until my hubby had investigated the defences. There didn’t seem to be any holes anywhere, and he suspects she may have been able to climb up the trellis on the garage and get onto the roof and so down into next door’s garden, but we really don’t know. Both kitties are extremely excited by the garden birds and are in full hunting mode at the moment – and up till then they had not caught anything. All other considerations go out of the window when they are like this. My hubby has extended the netting a bit to make sure. The house next door has been empty for a long time and the garden is a complete jungle, and a real mess as well – he says there are old toilets and wash-basins dumped there, and lots of rubbish. The house was being let when we first moved here, and the garden was a mess then as well, but since that tenant left, it has just been left abandoned. It’s such a shame because it could make someone a nice family home. The owner did come round once, and gave my hubby permission to go in when he wants, to clear the overgrowth near our fence to prevent damage. Once, when Ruby got out and my hubby was out, I had to go round, and nearly fell when trying to rescue her, so we never let the kitties in the garden unless my hubby is at home.
Flying lessons
Yesterday we all spent the whole day in the garden. I had a very leisurely breakfast under the umbrella, and half-way through there was a tremendous rumpus and a huge amount of “pip pip pip” noises from a pair of blackbirds – their cry which denotes extreme alarm, and the kitties were both under a bush at the top of the bank and both birds started mobbing them. One of them hit the top of the umbrella and thought they were going to mob me, too! It was like a re-enactment of the Battle of Britain! These two blackbirds were clearly in the process of teaching their youngsters how to fly, and Ruby had caught one of them. She ran off up the garden with it in her mouth (still alive) and I caught up with her among the rhubarb in front of the garage. When I tried to get her to relinquish it, she growled at me!! She’s never done that before! She then disappeared amongst the bushes on the rockery. I went back to my breakfast and then next thing I knew was that there was growling from both kitties, behind one of the tubs on the patio, and they had both got the young bird (by this time, dead) and Lily ran off with it! She returned with it and took it underneath the bench right beside me and started to eat it. It was most off-putting, hearing that ghastly crunching noise while I was eating my breakfast so I called my hubby and he came and took it away and got rid of it. The poor parent blackbirds continued with their “pip pip pipping” for quite a while on and off during the morning but we couldn’t catch the kitties to shut them in and give the birds a bit of peace and quiet! Normally the kitties are our sweet, adorable baby girlies but on this occasion they turned into savage wild beasts! Talk about Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.
Both kitties were in a state of extreme excitement and later, they were utterly exhausted! Here is Ruby recovering.
My birthday
It was my birthday on Saturday (I am now 67! Yikes!! How did THAT happen?). My hubby had already given me my birthday present early, so that I could work on my knitting project – a set of circular needles with interchangeable tips.
He wanted to give me something on the actual birthday and said he’d got a surprise for me. He put his hand in a carrier bag and pulled out the very last thing I was expecting – a pineapple!!! I roared with laughter! Such a funny birthday present! He’d been shopping, and most of the normal shops were still closed, of course, but he went into Happy Apple, which is a sort of alternative supermarket that sells lots of whole foods and hippie stuff, and he found it in there.
I forgot to photograph this superb specimen of pineapple-hood until after I’d eviscerated it with my special pineapple eviscerating tool.
You cut the top off the pineapple, and screw the tool down the central core. In one action, the tool removes the core (which ends up inside the tube), separates the flesh from the outer skin, and spiralises the flesh. Once you reach the bottom, you pull the whole thing out, and the spiral of pineapple rings is surrounding the tube. You remove the handle and slip the pineapple rings off. At this stage I cut it into chunks. You can then ram the handle of a wooden spoon up the tube to remove the core. On the plate in the above photo, you can see a hook-shaped tool. This is officially a butter curler, but I have never used it to curl butter! It has a serrated edge, and is the most brilliant implement for scraping out the remaining flesh from inside the pineapple skin in the form of pulp – very sweet and juicy. Nothing is wasted, and the skin goes in the compost.
If you are careful using the tool, you can remove the inside without making a hole right the way through. You can then put the pineapple chunks back inside the skin and rest the cut off top on top as a lid. This is a lovely way of presenting fresh pineapple as a dessert – you just remove the lid, and can spoon out the chunks.
The funny thing is, I saw the pineapple tool in the cupboard only a couple of days before my birthday and thought to myself it was high time I bought another pineapple, because I haven’t had one for ages, and then my hubby gives me one!
I am still enjoying this fabulous fruit. It is perfectly ripe and most deliciously sweet. What a fabulous present. I think this qualifies as Recipe of the Week for this week. I haven’t cooked anything different this week apart from some granola, and some almond biscuits which I managed to burn… I might share those when I make them again.
Birthday present to myself
In the photo you can see two of my posh kitchen knives from the set that I bought at last year’s County Show. The black thing behind the pineapple top is the special magnetic knife block they came in. One of the set is a chef’s knife which I don’t use very often because it’s really too short, so I have decided to buy myself a nice 8-inch long one of the same make. I have one which is about 7 inches long which is part of a cheap set of knives I bought several years ago and I use this to cut large, hard vegetables like squashes, but it is a very lightweight knife and the plastic handle is deteriorating. I am going to get rid of most of my old knives now. I may sell the short chef’s knife from the new set. The new one will fit in the block with the rest. It is due to arrive on Thursday.
These knives are extremely high quality and, I have to say, not cheap, but you get what you pay for. They are made of high-grade German stainless steel, and they have full tangs which go the full length of the handle, and a forged bolster for safety. They have a good weight to them and are extremely well balanced. When I first got them I kept cutting myself but I have been training myself in proper knife skills and doing much better with them now. There are some quite excellent YouTube tutorials from professional chefs and it’s a real pleasure to be learning how to do these things correctly. Over the years I have bought numerous chopping gadgets and one by one they end up in charity shops and I always return to my trusty knives and chopping board. I have a new, larger chopping board on order too. I do a huge amount of veg prepping and to have the right tools is essential.
I watched a YouTube video yesterday where a knife expert was comparing cheap and expensive knives and pointing out their various features, and he showed one knife with a Damascus forged blade that was an object of utter beauty – and he revealed that it cost over $3,000!!! That made me feel a bit better about the amount I am spending on my new knife!!
Birthday outing
On my birthday, my hubby took me out for the first time since the lockdown began. I was amazed how much greener everything was in the country lanes since my last outing. We went to Goodrington Sands and saw the boating lake where my hubby and his elderly friend play with their toy boats (“It’s not a toy, it’s a model” lol lol!!) and also hoped to see the swans and their cygnets, but they wouldn’t come out of the nest for us unfortunately. The swans that you can see in this picture are pedalos! The ducks are real, though.
We tried to feed the ducks but the seagulls got most of it.
There were lots of people about, and not too much social distancing going on, as far as I could see. There was a happy, holiday atmosphere, and people were using their beach huts (I love beach huts) and playing on the beach. Lots of dogs were romping about enjoying the sea and kids were playing. I filled my lungs with sea air and it was just great. Just look at that blue sky! Not a cloud in sight.
On the way back to the car, we passed a lot of palm trees. I love the texture of the trunk of the tree, with the branches trimmed off, and looking upwards through the palm fronds against the bright sky.
It was such a lovely birthday – simple, but fun. We ate our meals in the garden and enjoyed the kitties – and my pineapple!
I hope everyone had a good week and managed to make progress on their UFOs.
well happy belated birthday, and glad you got out to enjoy some sunshine! you are so resourceful with your recycled knitting! have a good week Helen #3
Oh my goodness. Knitting on such a high level. I think I will never be able to do such, I can’t even get the heel on my sock I started months ago. lol. I guess you never have a dull moment? It is so nice what you describe about your surroundings. WOW. Love your cats !!!
Thank you ever so much for sharing!
Happy WOYWW
Mariane #8
Love both of your jumpers and the darker one is definitely worth rescuing as it’s too beautiful to spend its life in a drawer! I was very interested to read of the loose casting on/off techniques and am definitely going to check this tutorials out as mine always end up being too tight. Thanks for the heads up!
Hugs LLJ 5 xxx
Happy belated birthday to you, lovely lady! What a perfect day for a trip out. Those blue skies we’ve been enjoying lately have been astoundingly lovely and coupled with palm trees & sea air, what an absolute tonic it must have been after weeks of house arrest.
Your knitting has me in awe, I wouldn’t have a clue where to start but both looks wonderful and I’m sure you’ll get that beautiful one fitting perfectly before too long.
I love that your husband surprised you with a pineapple, I’ve got a man like that, too!
Our boys have been terrible lately, they ganged up with next door’s tabby cat yesterday, raided the rockery and killed a family of mice, playing with the corpses for hours. Don’t you feel awful when they kill birds? Your two are so gorgeous, what a worry to have that wilderness next door to you. I hope the landlord manages to sort it out before too long. I had to giggle with your description of being dive bombed by the blackbirds, you’re a wonderful writer.
Have a lovely day, I hope your morning is less grey and damp as ours is. xxx
Hi Shoshi. Well… what a lot has gone on this week for you. The knitting looks great – well done for sorting all the issues… What naughty kitties – yes, I know they are only doing the natural thing… still don’t like to see it though. A great big ginger cat made its way into my garden the other day and sat staring at the bluetit nest box! He/she didn’t get any tea, tough, as the birds stayed schtum!!! A beautiful birthday treat – glad it was such a great day.
Take care. Stay safe. God bless.
Margaret #1
Happy WOYWW and Happy Belated Birthday. Your method of dealing with a pineapple sounds brilliant. I very rarely buy one, as it is so much hard work to chop up – a tin is about my limit! Milky the Cat, despite being 13 and having a few health issues now, is still a Champion Hunter. She catches mice every day, and will bring them indoors quite often (we close the cat flap periodically so she doesn’t always have free access into the house). She also catches birds. grass snakes. moles, rats and a large pigeon is her record! The main reason why we stay in this house (which is too big for us and I struggle with all the housework, plus the stairs) is because of her. She loves being on the farm and would never settle having to be contained. I hope to move to a smaller bungalow when she is no longer with us. You are so clever with your knitting. I would definitely give up on both UFOs. I love your photos from the trip out. Here in Wales we are still pretty much on full lockdown. There are less restrictions on exercising (hubby can do his long bike rides again, as long as they start and finish from home) and people can meet another household outside, as long they are from the local area. I do feel safer, especially in far west Wales. The most I have done is go to one of the local towns to collect fish & chips (they have a Click n Collect service, so they are literally passed out through a hatch in the door and no contact with anyone). Ali x #23
Well I am always amazed at how many projects you can manage to complete/start or simply create in a week. The jumper you have finished is amazing and the one you are working on appears a true challenge. But, it looks like you have a strategy and that is a very good first step. Happy birthday and lovely to see you were able to get out an about. Hello to the kitties.
Sandra de @11
Belated birthday greetings. I do like your purple circles jumper. With regard to the empty house next door, it might be worth contacting the council as they may be able to contact the owner.
Another very interesting post, love all the knitting news. The new ribbing on the purple spot jumper is excellent, as you say, so much better. The black jumper is gorgeous too.
Your story of the kitties and the blackbird reminded me of a time one of our large male cats caught a magpie and dragged it round to the neighbour’s garden to eat it. She was furious and went on about it for weeks . . . . wouldn’t accept that it was Nature at work.
I have heard about Goodrington Sands and had hoped to visit when we came next time, unfortunately we have no idea when or if we will be down your way again so I really enjoyed the photos. A lovely way to spend a birthday!
God Bless you and yours
Christine #26
HI Shoshi, I recall a number of years ago having a similar moment with one of our cats- I was sat in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and could hear a crunching coming from behind a curtain covering the front of one worktop. Thought nothing of it at first, assuming the cat was eating his dry food, then realised the noise was coming from the wrong place. Pulled aside the curtain to find said cat with his head buried in the reamians of a wood pigeon he’d caught! Pigeon was probably 3 times the size of the cat, he was only young! Quite agree that knives are a product where you get what you pay for, and I hate knives that squish instead of a clean cut. We watch videos on You Tube from a blacksmith, he’s British, but emigrated to the US last year, and have watched him make Damascus steel blades. They are a work of art, and so much time and work goes into them.Stay safe,Have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #12 X
Many Happy Returns- sounds like a delightful birthday from gift giving to the ride out. I like the sound of that pineapple corer/slicer/everything’er. That seems to be the perfect tool and how lovely to have the perfect shell left to serve your fruit in. You could fill it with something nice and cooling like lemonade and pineapple juice later and serve it with a couple of long straws.
Your knife set sounds very much like the one I have. A friend bought me mine one time when we went over to America to see her. It was a lovely gift but i did know how much she paid for them and was a bit taken aback at the amount.
Oh dear, the kitties showed their instincts as cats I guess but after all the delightful antics we usually see and the adorable way they snuggle together it seems alien to their nature for them to be hunters.
Stay well and safe – my first journey out since the beginning of March will be the 1st July for the postponed Pacemaker check. I dread going but I have to do it and have to go out some time.
Take care
Neet 9 xx
Wow what a great post title!! You had me intrigued right from the first. Your knitting UFOs look wonderful (and challenging!) but I am sure will be worth it. I realy do love the colours and patterns on your sideways jumper – they look like they shouldn’t go together but they really do! I hope it turns out OK for you. Now those naughty kitties! Oh I can’t believe the eating of the bird under the table at breakfast time! I had to laugh though I probably shouldn’t have. We are having a great time watching all our birdie visitors and the fledglings in the garden. Thankfully our old lady can’t move fast enough to do any damage though her tail twitches dangerously sometimes when she is pretending to ignore them. I think they know and are actually taunting her knowing they can easily get away. I am so glad you had a lovely birthday and managed to get out – it looked like a lovely day. I get out for a long walk most days but early when there aren’t many about. Judging by the mess in theparks they are mobbed later in the day. Driveway visits are also becoming the norm – if I’m out I might knock and chat from the drive for a few minutes, it’s nice to see people face to face. Happy WOYWW, stay safe, stay well, Cindy #25
You certainly had lovely weather for your birthday outing Shoshi (belated happy returns). The knitting is looking really good. Love the new UFO you are working on. Hope the blocking solves the problem for you. Meow (or should I say boo hiss lol) to those busy kitties. STay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #4
Lovely cards. I had to smile at your story of the Jekyl and Hyde kitties – cats are born to hunt and there is nothing we can really do about it! Your knitting is amazing. Take care my friend. I hope you have a good week. With love & God Bless, Caro x (#7)
Many happy returns. A perfect weather day makes a birthday special for sure! Well done indeed on the UFOs, seriously don’t think you can give me credit for the momentum you’ve got going on the UFs. They are looking great, I love the side knitting pattern, kinda like entrelac. I love the idea of a rib start that isn’t tight, one of the things about jumpers that makes me shudder! I can see why the palms are attractive to you. We had one in the front garden of our Spanish home and I’m definitely over them. The slightest breeze and the sound in the fronds was like rain…more than once we’ve all jumped up and started gathering cushions and towels by mistake!!
I hope you get you side knitted jumper sorted, I like the pattern. Your circles jumper is coming along nicely.
Yes kitties can a bit Jekyll and Hyde, they walk a fine line between worlds sometimes, but we love them just the same. Happy Birthday for last Saturday. I can’t eat fresh pineapple, it makes my mouth sore, but my husband loves it. Sounds like you had a lovely time out on your birthday. love Angela #30
Gorgeous knitting and always love to see the kitties. Have to be quick tonight as we’ve had a leaking boiler today and so I was late getting started on this. Take care and wishing you a happy creative woyww, Angela x15x
Happy Birthday for Saturday and glad you had a lovely day, Went to Goodrington sand some time ago as my sister lives in Paignton, Loving your jumpers you are clever, Thats the thing about cats you cannot stop the way they are.
Take care stay safe and well,
Happy Birthday Shoshi! What a wonderful day you had, and the pineapple looks delicious! When you were talking about putting the pieces back into the skin, the first thing I thought of was “is she going to fill it then with Vodka?” That would be yummy! Or maybe a liqueur!
Your projects are coming along nicely, I LOVE the black sweater! You Tube is such a wonderful thing, isn’t it? How did we ever learn anything before?
Lily and Ruby are just being cats, chasing and sometimes eating birds is what they do. I have been lucky, Mittsy has never caught a bird yet, and Inky did a few years ago, but she gave it to us still alive, and it recovered and flew away. Mittsy has found a few mice, however, and those she can eat if she wants, but never seems to bother. This morning they had another altercation with Papa fox, but when I went outside, he had his back to them (we think he was watching his kit) so he may not even have known they were there. I chased him off and hopefully that will keep him away for awhile.
I haven’t made the lentil soup yet, but I did copy the recipe with intention to make. I will let you know when I have done that! My dad was a gourmet home cook, and when he passed we found many many knives of all kinds, so my brother and I divied them up. I think I got the best set! I’m starting to run low on granola as well, and will probably make some this week.
Have a great week, stay safe, lots of love and cuddles to those troublemakers of yours! Lindart #32
Hello Shoshi! I left a really long comment when you first published this post but when I tried to post it I got a message telling me that I wasn’t permitted to perform the action and another telling me that I’d already posted a comment. As my comment is showing up I can only assume it’s got lost in the ether.
Fingers crossed this time is better!
Many happy birthday wishes, I’m delighted you were able to ge some sunshine and sea air in that gorgeous part of the worl you live in. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. What a change now!
I love that your husband surprised you with a pineapple, that’s the kind of present Jon would give me, the little things,huh?
Your story about your beautiful but naughty killer cats made me giggle and about you being dive-bombed by birds. Ours have been on a mouse killing spree this week and have wiped out an entire family.
Your jumpers are gorgeous, you’ve got a great eye for color and design. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to rescue that black one.
Much love to you. xxx
Happy Belated Birthday wishes, Soshi. Let’s just say they extend your day 😉
What a fun husband. I love the pineapple and those knitting needles. Good show! I can’t knit past a straight row but admire those who can.
Oh, those cats! That’s why mine are not allowed outside. Tabby, my youngest, killed one of my chipmunks last year. No more outside for her! The other 2 haven’t been outside since they were adopted and brought in. Tabby does still try to sneak out but she was a timber kitty who found her way into our yard/ hearts.
Take precious care & Creative Blessings! Kelly #29