Autumn

Autumn feels like it's really here. After a misty murky start the sun came out so we ventured out for a walk along my usual route from my house.

It's not very often that you can see a tree with yellow and red leaves, and this one is sat right by the tram stop, no doubt being ignored by all the commuters.


Others however are losing their leaves pretty quickly, it won't be long until the branches are bare.





I've had mushrooms growing out of a tree stump by my front door all week but I've not quite got round to taking a photo and of course they are now rotting and no longer pretty. They were never on the scale of this specimen though.



At times today the sun was blindingly bright, it really felt like winter, the bright blue skies, but with a sun that's incredibly low in the sky.



Lot's of berries everywhere, including on the holly tree's outside my flat, hopefully there will be some left by Christmas this year!

Socks

I love hand knit socks. In fact I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like hand knit socks.....
They're beautifully warm, but don't make your feet sweaty and you can do things like this-



and this



and even this!



Not something you'll ever get in the shops!

However all that knitting with little yarn, on little needles can seem a little scary so maybe a thicker yarn and a thicker pair of needles might help first time sock knitters.....
The wonderful people at p/hop have just released a new sock pattern in DK wool.  I've not knitted it yet, but the next time I want a pair of man socks it might be just the ticket!

Wow!

Isn't this just fabulous!

Photo by Annie Bee

I found it via the Knitty Blog, and immediately fell in love. Don't you just want to touch it, and look how it even makes a grey day seem cheery!
The bridge in question is Cambridge Ontario, and over 1000 knitters contributed knitting to the project.

Happy Birthday

My Dad is 55 today, this last year has seen a lot of changes in my parents' life. A new house, retiring, becoming dog owners..... but some few things don't change, my Dad has always been there for me, and this last year has been no different.

Here's to many more days like this, Happy Birthday Dad.

Final secret pal parcel

My final secret pal parcel arrived earlier this week and was certainly worth the wait.



A pattern book, some badges, and a cone of beautiful bamboo, mohair silk blend.
Even better, the card contains flower seeds so next spring I can just use bits of the paper to grow some beautiful plants. Now I just need to not loose the card before next spring!

Showtime

One disadvantage of living in the city is that you miss out on all the things that only happen in the rural areas. One of the things I really missed is the local show. You know the sort, the WI, the giant vegetables, the raffle, tomobola, bran tubs, and rain!
Someone posted a link on Ravelry about a local show on the outskirts of the city and even better they had a knitting class. All through my childhood my Mum used to enter the local shows where we live with her flower arranging, and now I could do the same but with something I was good at!



I won the grand sum of £3, just about covering the cost of entering this and 2 other items, and my entrance to the show! My only disappointment that all the knitting was folded up to take as little space as possible so most people had no chance to see why this won!


In all other ways however the show didn't disappoint.
There was the obligatory childrens class of "An animal made from fruit and vegetables" in which I was very sad to see this lovely chap didn't win a prize!



Another childrens class with some bonkers cupcakes



Giant vegetables!



Produce galore



Even a brass band!


I have now got my show fix until next year, now I had better get knitting so I can enter something equally spectacular!

Back to work

Work is going fantastically well. I'm really enjoying each day, and although I end the day tired, I do arrive each morning looking forward to the day. DEfinitely a good thing, especially when you think about last year!

I'm also enjoying teaching myself new things. I bought a loom over the holidays, and am now busily teaching myself how to weave. HEre's my first scarf using the sample yarn that comes with the loom!