Whoosh!

And just like that, it's the last day of August! I'm not quite sure where this year has gone, but I was surprised when I read that the next Bank Holiday will be Christmas! While I am definitely ready for cooler weather, the thought of going to the supermarket (that's about as exciting as my shopping gets these days!) and seeing Christmas things on sale for the coming weeks, fills me with horror. My local Tesco already has the big tubs of chocolates on offer at the entrance. It's too much, too soon, especially given the current situation here in the UK with prices soaring. Many families will be struggling with getting essentials paid for, let alone all the extras that Christmas frequently entails. It will be very interesting to see how the next few weeks and months pan out with a new Prime Minister. I'm not holding out much hope though as they seem to be completely out of touch with what life is like for so much of the UK population.

Anyway, before I get carried away, I'll step off my soapbox and share what's been going on chez josiekitten. I have been working away on my odd socks and three of the four now have a partner. The fourth one is half done, and I'm about to start the heel flap.

I had hoped to finish my Bubbly sweater by Isabell Kraemer, but am still stranded on sleeve island! I plan to knit a few rounds of the sleeve each day so that by the time it's woolly jumper weather, it'll be ready to pull on. The photo below shows the sweater along with the unfinished sock. At the time, I was still knitting the body, but have finished that, including the ribbing. I decided against the brioche rib partly because I was worried about how much yarn it would use up and also because I just kept forgetting what to do! I'm very happy with the 1x1 ribbing that I did. I also added a round in the zingy yellow colour on the last round of the ribbing and used the same yarn to cast off with. I'll do the same on the cuffs I think and show you when it's finished and blocked.

I have bought some more Opal sock yarn - I just love their colours and the yarn washes and wears so well, it's perfect for gift knitting. These are from the Holidays range and quite honestly, I could have bought them all!

I won some books in an Instagram charity book raffle which arrived last week. The author is new to me - Miranda Dickinson/MJ White - and I'm looking forward to reading them both. I've been reading a lot more regularly this year, trying to make sure that it's part of my daily routine and I think I've read 32 books so far in 2022. I am aiming for 52 - one a week - if I can!

Flo has a new sleeping spot on me which isn't very helpful if I'm trying to knit. She always used to curl up on my lap, but recently she has decided that she prefers to stretch herself up my body with her paws on my shoulder! Then it's easy for her to headbutt me! You can't tell from the second photo, but I'd just moved her so I could carry on knitting and her tail was swishing like she was conducting an orchestra!

I'm planning to cast on two new things tomorrow. I have a group of friends on Instagram who formed a Knit and Natter group at the start of lockdown when we all knitted the Love Note sweater. The friendship has grown and we are all still knitting and nattering and are having two KAls - one to knit Joji Locatelli's Lone Skein Shawl (Ravelry link) and the other to knit Espace Tricot's Turtle Dove II. I'm looking forward to them both and it's always more fun when you're knitting along with friends. These are the yarns that I've chosen. The fingering weight yarn is from Life in the Long Grass and is a much treasured skein from our trip to Ireland back in 2015 when Mr JK was running the Dublin Marathon. The aran weight yarn is Drops Air and is beautifully soft and light. I absolutely love that deep green colour.

I also discovered a new self-striping yarn dyer and feel it's my duty to share with you! Andrea owns Spin & Blether and is so lovely; her yarn is gorgeous too and you can find it here! The colourway I bought is called Twelve Days and I think there might still be a skein or two left if you're interested. These will be my hospital knitting next week as I'm back for my next week of infusions. 

Talking of medical things, I had blood tests last week which left me with a cracking bruise, so I had a bit of fun with it on Instagram! I was also asked by NHS Blood Transfusion and Transplant if I would be willing to help them out by sharing my story to encourage more people to donate plasma. I benefit from this because my immunoglobulin infusions that I receive every four weeks are made from thousands of pooled plasma donations so other people's antibodies are given to me intravenously to boost my own immune system. It seemed like a no brainer to say yes considering that without these donations, I wouldn't get my infusions. Hopefully the more people that donate their plasma, the more will be available and the cheaper it will become.

Finally, another plea to consider voting for me along with your favourites in the British Knitting & Crochet Awards 2022. It's an honour to have made the final in the Favourite Charity Campaign with my Fibre 4 Fibres Fundraising for Myositis UK. I'm hoping to reach £30,000 in the next couple of weeks. You can vote wherever you live and you don't need to vote in every category. I'm in category 30 and would appreciate every single vote! You can find the voting form here. Thank you! xxx