Better late than never, right?

Well, I know it’s late, but still I wish you all a very Happy New Year! May it bring you joy, contentment, inspiration and more . . .

I started a draft of my annual bit of doggerel, but it’s not finished yet. I’m hoping to have it done before it ends up being posted for the end of this coming December . . .

Our Mum came home from hospital after more than four months and we are all glad to have her here again. She is not out of the woods yet (but really, when are any of us completely out of the woods?) and with my RN sister here to take charge of medical issues, things are slowly settling into a loose routine. And I am very slowly beginning to catch up with blog post reading.

I haven’t done much crafting since last spring, really, but this week has seen me take up the knitting needles again to make a lovely ridged tea cosy for my sister (see picture above). I gave her my Aunty’s old Brown Betty teapot, as my sister drinks tea daily and for me it’s more occasional. I shall post photos once the two finished pieces are sewn together and the loop at the top added. The pattern is a tried-ad-true one from Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn. I had two balls of  this yarn in a lovely dark forest green that will fit perfectly, my sister tells me, in the ‘garden room’ she is planning to create once she is home in BC again. That room will house, among other things, a lovely round dining table with patented twin pedestals and two extra boards that convert it from round to a long oval. She also has an antique wardrobe that once belonged to our parents and it will grace the garden room as well. The colours will be mostly greens and browns, so having the green yarn on hand was quite serendipitous. On one of my trips to the Re-Use-It store with my friends the Crafties, I snagged a bag of Sugar ‘n Cream in various colours. I have already completed two potholders for our kitchen, as I want to retire the three made by my Aunty before they are worn out. I used the Idiot’s Dishcloth Pattern and made the pieces a bit smaller . . . and managed to create a few errors even in this simple piece . . .  oh, well . . .

I’m not sure now how I ended up at the Susie’s Knitting blog, but she had just the pattern I was looking for! You can find it here:  https://susiesknitting.wordpress.com/pattern-links/dishcloths/idiots-dishcloth/

I borrowed this image from her to show you what I mean.

I am hoping to add an original touch to the cosies (did I mention that, because I made the one for my sister a bit smaller to fit the teapot, I have enough yarn left, I think, to make a second one for myself? And if it isn’t quite enough, I have a creative solution waiting in the wings . . . I’m not telling, though . . . I think we are back to ‘Anticipation 301’  🙂

If you remember my Barn Cardi (so called so that I would not feel concerned about achieving perfection):

 

The picture on the left is my Aunty, who was always happy to model whatever I was working on. I miss her a lot.

I hadn’t felt like resuming work on it for a while, but today I dug out the project box with the cardi, the pattern book and some of the yarns. I’m planning  to resume work on the sleeves later this week, but first I need to complete the cosies . . .

So my friends, life is changed, but goes on down the new path, with a few dips and hummocks, as in all lives. I am finding small pleasures and great joys again and am once more listening to music nearly every day.

My brother in law who passed away in late 2014 introduced me to Sissel Kyrkjo, a Norwegian soprano. Here are two videos of her singing with the Welsh tenor Bryn Terfel:

And for the opera lovers among you, my sister introduced me to a self-taught young lady who will likely knock your socks off . . .

All the best to each of you and your friends and families. I expect to be back soon and hope to begin catching up with comments here and also with your blog posts.
Big hugs and much love to  you all . . .  ~ Linne