Friday 30th December - Getting into training...

Just two days left to set myself up for the New Year - oh, now that it is heading to the end of today there's even less time left...

I'm making a clear difference between New Year Resolutions and Good Ideas

The resolutions that I chose more than five years ago have served me well and I have no intention of changing them. I've managed to keep them without too much difficulty, and so enjoy the nice warm glow this gives me that I'm not going to risk upsetting that. They are;

Eat chocolate several times a week.

Deliver, otherwise put by, two bags of stuff for the charity shop every month (size of bag and quantity of contents not important).

Keep on with writing a page in the diary at the end of every day. My bright yellow 2023 Moleskine page-day diary is all ready for Sunday evening.

Now Good Ideas are an entirely different matter. If one, or several don't happen in any day, or in any week - well, that's life. It's just an idea.

It is a good idea to eat more fruit, and having a fruit smoothie every day would be one way.

It is a good idea to eat more vegetables, so how about a side salad with lunch (main meal) or supper?

It is a good idea to be more active, so trying to do the 5 minute balletbasedmovement videos everyday is a way to achieve this. Also aiming for a daily total step count of more than 1500, even more if possible, would go a long way to maintaining a minimum level.

I've been practising the Good Ideas all this week to be ready for Sunday. So far so good...

Thursday 29th December - getting through the lists

There are so many half finished things on my list that I'm having difficulty doing anything...

So I am trying to get one thing done and dusted each day.

Today I will almost certainly finish The Second Sock. I'm whittling down the number of stitches as I get closer to the toe. Then i need to have a close look at The First Sock; I'm fairly sure I  need to redo it from the heel onwards. It's a good job that I'm more of a 'process' person than a 'product' person. 

Them, I really must finish the December Postcard Project.

And finish making and sending New Year cards. I was given a Hobby craft online course as a birthday present, and I chose 'Brush lettering for left-handers'. It was an excellent course, and writing the cards is giving me plenty of practice, I've had a few lapses of concentration from time to time;

I said I would send detailed notes on the recordings a pupil sent me before Chrismas. Each set of notes takes me heading for half an hour. I've done the Debussy Arabesque and the Chopin Nocturne, just a Schubert Impromptu and Scarlatti Sonata to go. I should get on with this.

I've nearly finished the January 'print and post' newsletter. One section to write, and pictures to source.

An hour's concentration would see off most of these tasks.... what's stopping me?

Ah, but it's still Christmas;

We are lighting the candles on this tree 3very day at lunchtime.

Wednesday 28th December - Smoothies and Salads

 I'm  making good use of two of the Christmas Presents.

Today I made my first ever smoothie in my new smoothie maker. Ta-da!

Following the instructions I used 80g of frozen mixed berry smoothie mix, whizzed up with 150ml water instead of the recommended apple juice. It came out very thick and very cold. This was easily fixed by adding hot water from the kettle. I think I will also add a teaspoon of honey next time just to sweeten it a little. 

The other present was a wicker basket of salads from my brother. 

'What do you want for Christmas?' he asked at the beginning of Christmas week. I remembered that we had forgotten to add salads to the supermarket order, so that's what I asked for.  I knew he would look out some interesting items, and sure enough there were a couple of heads of radicchio, some heritage tomatoes, ENORMOUS scallions, a selection of bright shiny peppers, lettuces, limes and a bottle of wine. Hooray!

So we have been having salads with our meal. Yesterday it was radicchio, tangerine segments and walnuts, today mixed green leaves. 

Seems a good way to improve my consumption of fresh fruit and salad.

Tuesday 27th December - Various things...

 I'm feeling pretty pleased with what I've done today.

The '5 minutes stretch and mobility' session for today for one. It is my least favourite of the six videos, focusing on hip and leg stretches, ow ow ow! It includes the one I think of as the 'Long John Silver' stretch, where you pull your leg up behind yourself like this;

'Breathe in,' she says. 'And go a little further on the out breathe if you can.' I can't, not yet. Just to clear up any confusion,  that's the teacher, not me in the photo above.

The videos come from an online ballet site 'for seniors' and feature the instructor and her mother - anything Mum can do I ought to be able to manage, surely? Anyway, I rate her classes very highly, and was doing them Every Day until.... oh well. Time to start afresh!

I also went out into the garden. The snowdrops, usually flowering for Chrismas Day, are a bit late. That's not surprising after the very cold week.

Daffodils looking promising too

I didn't take a picture of the broad beans. They are drooping horribly, and judging by the look of the stalks I don't have much confidence in their recovery. 

I've upped my daily step count target to 1500; not much, I know, but it's still a bit cold for enjoying a walk. Quite simply, I don't manage to go fast enough to stay warm! I do try for closer to 2000 per day; I've set the target for 1500 to be surer of reaching it so that I get the 'happy happy' message on the app. I'll get going on my evening 'walking on the spot' regime to collect the couple of hundred steps I need before bedtime.

Meanwhile, we've just had supper (a wonderful plateful of scrambled eggs on toast, with grated cheese melted into the eggs, accompanied by all the leftover roasted veg from Christmas Day fried up in a bit of butter). I'll just sit here with my small glass of ginger wine for a little while first.

Boxing Day 2022 - A Day of Peace and Quiet

Well, at least so far. It's 5pm. Himself went out for an hour in the afternoon and came back just as the temperature started to drop, making his ears tingle. It's nothing like the cold that our Canadian friends have been experiencing, thank heavens.

There was a cold, calm sunset; the sky clear on the Eastern horizon and the bare branches of the trees looking as though they had been drawn in black ink.

I've closed the curtains and lit the candles. 

I'd put the gas fire on low, but as it is over 30 years old and we haven't used it for maybe 10 years I think that might be unwise!

It's been a knitting Christmas. I started this cable sample scarf earlier in December but haven't added to it recently when I wanted to try and learn how to knit cable patterns.

When we got home from taking McCavity the cat on Christmas Eve, I felt too restless and distracted to settle to anything complicated.  We cleared away her feeding bowls etc, and then I just took needles and yarn and cast on 100 stitches and started knitting round and round and round and round...

Finally,  I was pleased to get these bendy double pointed needles which were on my Christmas Wishlist. These socks have been on-going since the beginning of 2022 and the bendy needles do make it easier.

This is the second version of the second sock. When (I won't allow the word 'if' to flit across my mind) I finish it, using my new super needles, I will go back and redo the first sock in the light of what I have learned from persevering with this one.

I mentioned (did I mention it? I'm sure I must have done?) I've got a new phone? It has a diddy little stylus so I have been able to create this post, tapping away one letter at a time without too much hassle. 

Christmas Day 2022 - Hodie Christus Natus Est

Christ is born today!

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee! 

Also, I note from the weird diagrams on my new phone that sunrise is three minutes earlier than yesterday, and sunset is a minute later.

Another reason to rejoice!

Saturday 24th December - A Strange Day

We said goodbye to our remaining cat this morning. She was heading for 20 years old, in reasonably good shape, but we had seen her back legs growing weaker this year. Today was the day they gave up on her; we had an early appointment with a strange vetinary practice as our usual one was closed. The vet we saw was just wonderful,  gentle, careful,  proficient and everything was as good as it could be.

Ah well. You know this day will come when you bring the kittens home, and when the time comes it is a good and beautiful thing when you can ease them from one world to the next.

As I stood shivering and waiting for Himself to bring the car round I took these pictures to remind myself that Spring will come;

I hope you have been enjoying the Great Advent Antiphons. I find them extraordinarily hopeful to reflect upon.

I am enjoying the sweet taste of the last of the Advent Calendar treats. Tomorrow- as the cowboy Carol goes, 'There'll be a new day beginning from tonight"

Happy Christmas 

Advent Cowl 2022 - Christmas Eve Saturday

 

You could be wearing your cowl in less than 15 minutes! I swapped to the contrast colour fo the bind-off row, but it's up to you. 

Bind off. Weave in ends. You have finished!

24thDec

Here's my cowl; it is not lying completely flat because I took it off to photograph it! 

Here are the complete instructions which I shall add to the 'Pages' section of the blog. If you have any comments or suggestions or advice I would be glad to receive them.

Happy Christmas!

    

COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADVENT COWL

Finished size – 15 cm by 56 cm. This fits like a loose collar of a jumper. For a looser a fit around the neck, add 8 stitches 

YARN AND NEEDLES

I used 45g / 65m of Drops Alaska Aran weight in dark blue for my main colour, and 20g / 42m of Drops Alaska Aran weight in off-white as my contrast colour.

The ribbing was worked on 4mm circular needles, changing to 5mm circular needles for patterns. The needles have to be 40cm or 60cm long. (the stitches are a very ‘cosy’ fit on 40 cm, and more spaced out on 60cm needles). You could use dpns; I personally find circulars much easier.

You will also need a marker to mark the beginning of a round – I use a loop of entirely different yarn.  

You can use a mix of colours for main and contrast to use up scraps – just join at the beginning of the round, and weave in the ends at the end. If you don’t have enough of the main colour, you could use a contrast for the ribbing.

KNITTY GRITTY

Read charts from RIGHT to LEFT starting at the bottom.

Each day has one or two rounds. Always slip the beginning of round marker. I find it convenient to stop one stitch short of the round, otherwise the marker falls off the needle overnight.

Blank squares are main colour and * squares are contrast colour.

Repeat the pattern to the end of the round. Patterns repeat over2, 4 or 8 stitches.

Do not break off the contrast yarn between patterns but carry it up between rounds. Usually the floats, where the yarn is carried loosely along the back of the work, will never be more than 3 or 4 stitches.

You will find that the pattern will not match neatly where the rounds meet, because you are knitting round and round in spirals rather than rows. Once you have finished the whole cowl, you can sort of gently pull and encourage the knitting at that point, especially if it is wet, and persuade the pattern to line up better.

ABBREVIATIONS

K – knit.     P – purl

K2tog – knit two stitches together to decrease.

Ktfbl  – knit through front and back of stitch to increase, or use any method you prefer.

 

								Round		Date
Bind off. Weave in ends. You have finished!										24thDec
K1 P1 round								Round 33		23rdDec
K1 P1 round								Round 32
Change to 4mm needles and K1 P1 round								Round 31		22ndDec
(Knit 11, K2tog) 8 times 96 stitches								Round30
	*		*		*		*	Round 29		21st Dec
*		*		*		*		Round 28
								Round 27		20thDec
*	*		*	*	*		*	Round 26
	*	*	*		*	*	*	Round 25		19thDec
*	*		*	*	*		*	Round 24
								Round 23		16th Dec
		*			*	*	*	Round 22
	*		*			*		Round 21		15th Dec
*		*		*				Round 20
	*		*			*		Round 19		14th Dec
		*			*	*	*	Round 18
								Round 17		13th Dec
*				*				Round 16
*	*		*	*	*		*	Round 15		12th Dec
	*	*	*		*	*	*	Round 14
*	*		*	*	*		*	Round 13		9th Dec
*				*				Round 12
								Round 11		8th Dec
	*					*		Round10
*		*			*		*	Round 9		7th Dec
	*					*		Round 8
								Round 7		6th Dec
*		*		*		*		Round 6
	*		*		*		*	Round 5		5th Dec
Change to 5mm needle; (K11, Ktfbl) 8 times; 104 stitches								Round 4
Knit one round in k1 P1 rib									Round 3	2nd Dec
Check again for twists, and place beginning of round marker. Knit round in K1 P1 rib									Round 2
Join in round without twisting stitches and knit one round in k1 p1 single rib									Round 1	1st Dec
Using 4mm circular needle cast on 96 stitches.