Normal service has resumed

Me again! Fingers crossed that Flickr is behaving itself now. Did you take a look at all those luvverly buttons yesterday? There are some really glorious colour combinations there. Too much choice! Talking of buttons, do you remember the button necklace Mr JK bought for me in Cornwall? It came from Button Love, and after a bit of searching, I discovered Alison's website. I emailed her a photo of the necklace and asked her if she could possibly make me some earrings to match. I was thrilled when she said 'no problem' and even more delighted when these arrived last week ........

Aren't they great? Alison was worried because they weren't a matching pair (she very rarely gets two matching ceramic buttons), but I wasn't worried at all. Look how well they go with the necklace .....

I've been working on my crochet bag this week in between school reports, and have now finished all the squares. The next task is sewing it all together. I love the bright, zingy colours!

It's rather an unusual shape when it's all sewn up so it will be an interesting job lining it. I'll have a look in my local fabric shop this week to find something fun. They have a really good selection there, so it shouldn't be too hard. Then, I'll be able to try out my New Sewing Machine! You remember I promised myself one once my reports were done and dusted. Well, they almost are, and Mr JK told me that I deserved it! I'm waiting for some comments to put on from a colleague, and I just need to read them through. So they are as good as done!! I had to turf Henrycat off his chair to put the box on it - you can see from the look on his face that he wasn't impressed!

My Jaywalker socks have grown too. I knit them (a little too enthusiastially it turned out) to and from Norwich this weekend, and then realised that I'd made the leg too long. I ended up having to frog about 10 rows! Never mind, the heel flap is underway now.

I bought some yarn whilst I was in John Lewis. A group of us on the Phoenix Knitting Forum are knitting squares for Knit a Square. I didn 't really have any yarn suitable as I wanted to use a yarn with a high(ish) wool content for safety reasons. So I settled on 4 balls of Patons Diploma. I hadn't realised quite how patriotic my colour choice was until I saw all the balls together! I'm sure that they will make some lovely cheery squares for this great cause.

I also bought a skein of yarn from Squirrel. She was trying to destash, so how could I not come to her aid?! It's from The Yarn Yard, and it's extremely bright and squishable!

I've just signed up for two swaps - the first one is on the Phoenix Knitting Forum, and is called 'Afternoon Teatime Treats'. I've already got a few ideas about what I'm going to make. The second swap will be my first on Ravelry, and I'm really hoping that my swap partner will be overseas, so that we can exchange some new yarns. The parcel has to include one or two skeins of yarn, a pattern, a handmade item of some kind, a summer-inspired recipe and some other small gifts. I don't know who my partner is yet, but once I do, you can be sure I'll be doing a bit of detective work on Ravelry to find out all I can about her! Watch this space!

I won't be blogging until after the weekend, as Mr JK and I are heading down to London after work on Friday. Depending on the weather, we thought we might head to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew on Saturday. On Sunday, we are going to Hyde Park for the Hard Rock Calling festival. Paul McCartney is the headline act, along with Crosby, Stills and Nash, Crowded House and Elvis Costello. I was planning a day of knitting in the sunshine, listening to the music, but have discovered this evening that no chairs are allowed into the arena - standing only! I can't say that I'm looking forward to 7 plus hours of standing but Mr JK has been desperate to see Macca for years! I shall try my best to take some sort of knitting in with me. Just hope that they don't count knitting needles as offensive weapons! Have a good week, whatever you're doing! xxx