Monday 14th November - Random Comments

 It's King Charles' birthday today. He's 74. Me, I'd rather be retired, living my own life (as I am) doing what I want to do (as I mostly do) whenever I please. I hope he's allowed some peace and quiet on his birthday.

https://creativecommons.org/resource/birthday-cake/5045502202_41476791a4_o/

my birthday celebrations started earlier than usual when we met up with son and daughter on Saturday. We have nearly finished the Guy Lian chocolates - rationing ourselves to only two at a time, a couple of times a day, and Himself is fettling the Advent candle so it will stand up straight in the holder - it is the holder that is wonky, not the candle. These little creatures are watching my every move while I teach piano from their cozy egg-box home

I might make them their own special Christmas tree in due course.

The cat is beginning to look a little less moth-eaten; I my perhaps have trimmed off a little too much fur when trying to removed one of the clumpy lumpy bits;

but if I carefully smooth her fur down (rather in the way that our chemistry teacher at school arranged his hair) I can hide the bald spot quite well.

I've been hunting round the internet for a knit-a-long project for Advent as I so enjoyed the one I stumbled across last year. It was at www.buttercupminiatures.co.uk; every day through December I received an email with about ten rows of pattern across 30 stitches - just enough to go with a cup a coffee in the morning. This year their knit-a-long is for create a miniature jumper for a 1/12 size doll - not what I am interested in doing at all. I shall have to see what else is out there, or maybe create my own from the various pattern books I have.  

Maybe a different Christmas motif using up my double knitting stash... hmm. There are loads and loads of free charts (cue 'lost in space music') out there on the web.

I did make a very successful (and incredibly warm) scarf using two balls of yarn, of plain, and one multicoloured. I knitted it in the round, on a circular needle, using charts I found on the internet. Maybe I'll do something like this again. 

This was two different colours of King Cole Riot. I think I used two balls of mixed greys and one of random bright colours - another time I would use a uniform plain colour for the background as a couple of times the two colours merged and the pattern was indistinct.  

Now I've been looking... I'm liking the idea of 2 balls of Sylecraft Life (£3.50 for 100g) and King Cole Magic or Beech (£4.59 for 100g). My fingers are twitching over the 'add to your basket' button,  but luckily for common sense I need to start a piano lesson in 7 minutes.    

It was 96 stitches round, as I remember, so that would be about 4 rounds per day - a project to last until Easter, I think, Christmassy motifs at one end, Candles etc through February, early spring bulbs, and then Easter?