Pootling About

It's been a funny old week here in the josiekitten household. I have felt a bit blergh with the tail end of a cold that is refusing to go quickly and poor old Flo is recovering from an abscess on her tummy. We have no idea what caused it, but thankfully after a trip to the vet and two injections, she is much more like her usual self.

 

The weather has been lovely and we have been enjoying our daily walks, taking in the glorious countryside on our route. The farmers have been working hard in the fields, ploughing and sowing crops, and the birds sing to us all the way round!

 

 

I have been working on some test knitting and secret projects this week, so can't show too much and give the game away! I can share with you these gorgeous buttons which I shall be using to finish off one of the projects. Aren't they glorious? I bought mine here.

I'm test knitting another sock for my friend Kim. She hasn't been designing for very long, but is already coming up with some fabulous patterns. She has designed a pattern to work with some fun stripy yarn from Trailing Clouds. It's called 'Mind the Gap' and has all the colours of the London Underground. I'm using another yarn from the same dyer called Primary:Secondary and it's very, very BRIGHT!! Sunglasses at the ready?! OK, then, here's a sneaky preview of the yarn!

 

 

I finished another cowl this week - it's called Sculling and both the pattern and yarn are from Knitspot. The yarn is Stone Soup fingering yarn and is really nice - a little bit sheepy and woolly, and so soft after its nice long bath. I have already worn it a couple of times and I think it's the kind of accessory that is going to age beautifully.

 

 

I have a lot of projects waiting to start, so have spent a little time this weekend finding project bags for them all. Beautiful project bags are one of my little indulgences. I get mine from ThreeBagsFull - Michele has a real eye for picking great fabrics and matching them with linings and glass beads. I also help to moderate the group on Ravelry. It's an active group and we always have lots of fun things going on. We have a bag swap just started, so if you'd like to make some new knitty friends and perhaps start off your very own collection of project bags, why not join us. You can sign up until 1st April. Go on, it'll be fun to have you along!

 

 

Amongst that little lot are 2 cardigans, a pair of gloves, 7 pairs of socks, a cowl, a blanket and a secret project!! So plenty to keep me out of mischief, don't you reckon?!

 

As well as the sock I'm test knitting, I am also working on a shorter version of a cowl I knit recently. I'm making it as a gift for someone and will tell you more about it when it's finished. I hope to knit some matching mitts too if I have enough time this week.

 

 

The garden is looking lovely already. It makes me so happy opening the curtains each morning and looking out on our little patch of green. Mr JK is planning on cutting the grass next weekend and we also need to seal our garden furniture with Danish oil. It hasn't stopped us sitting down outside already though - last weekend we ate Sunday lunch in the garden!

 

 

 

Have you spotted Flo?! The tulip bulbs we planted last year are blooming now, we put them in tubs but perhaps we will put them in the garden in the autumn.

 

 

There's so much popping up in the garden now, I love this time of year. I spotted the first forget-me-nots today - they always remind me of my Dad.

 

 

Goodness, this has turned out to be quite a long post, hasn't it?!! If you're still with me, here's an apple, raisin and cinnamon muffin to tickle your taste buds until next time. I have started baking little batches of 6 muffins at the weekends using Lucy's Easy Peasy muffin recipe over at Attic24. The first batch I made were blueberry and tasted rather nice, but Mr JK said that he preferred these! Do you have any suggestions for what I could add to my next batch? I'd love to hear your ideas! xxx