Linking up with Nat at Threads & Bobbins for another Sunday Sevens….
- Autumn has well and truly reached South Somerset and with it comes frost. Crunchy, beautiful…and cold!
2. Still, it was nice to light the fire and put the Christmas decorations up again for another Christmas Present Workshop. At least the weather felt more in keeping than last week’s workshop.
3. Seven more children (including No.2 and No.3 Sons) donned festive hats and spent a day making as many gifts as they could, before wrapping them up ready to put under the tree in December.
4. Socks, however, take rather more than six hours to knit. Little pleasures like my favourite stitch marker help to keep me going.
5. Tada! The second pair of Christmas socks finished.
6. I also finished Teddy’s matching jumper and hat. All I need now is to find a teddy bear that will fit said jumper.
7. We popped up to the flat to do a bit more work. I say a ‘bit’, but it’s all relative and we actually spent two days solid doing remedial works. Another couple of days effort should see it ready to put on the market.
8. Relatives were kind enough to put us up overnight as the flat currently has no furniture in it. If you look carefully, you’ll see Tess going nuts at her reflection in the mirror, daft dog.
9. Another clear, frosty morning saw us making the most of it by walking through the woods from Alfred’s Tower to Stourhead.
10. I know this photo was in my last post, but this is in context.
11. Just look at that sky!
12. Back home to a roaring fire and PJs, although I kept my socks on!
13. We took The Boys to ‘Flip Out’ in Bristol for No.2 Son’s 13th birthday on Saturday.
14. Basically, it’s a warehouse full of numerous trampolines on floors and walls, together with foam pits and foam gym ‘horses’ for Parkour (free-running).
15. Within five minutes No.2 came over sporting a sheepish grin….
16. ….Yep, he’d knocked a wobbly tooth out.
17. Luckily there was a café on site so I cast on another pair of Christmas present socks and managed quite a few rows in two hours.
18. Not the best photo as he was too eager to blow the candles out and eat the cake….
19. Sunday saw No.3 and his dance partner come 5th out of 35 couples in a 4-dance format competition.
20. My eldest came over for the afternoon and we had lunch followed by supper and a family film, during which I added to the latest socks.
See you next week!
Sewchet 
November 5, 2018 at 11:24 pm
Now that’s the first time I’ve seen #3 and his partner looking less than ecstatic after a dance competition – were they perhaps simply exhausted? The socks are looking very nice. Does the yarn self stripe or are you changing colours? #2 is shooting up isn’t he. Soon he will be 6 feet and towering above you! And finally I have to say I love those first clear frosty mornings when everything is crisp and crunchy and the air is still and the sky is blue. It’s my second favourite season 🙂
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November 6, 2018 at 8:19 am
Well spotted – he was a bit disappointed at the diminutive scale of the trophy!! It was a different format and, where they’re usually judged individually on each dance, here it was cumulative and only the total score counted. He felt they had worked extra hard for a tiny trophy and didn’t even have the individual dance scores as feedback to see which dances they could improve on. I had to point out that 5th place over ALL the dances was an amazing result considering they usually achieve one or two medals over four dances. I’m using self striping yarn for all the gift socks. It’s funny, non-knitters are more impressed with self-striped socks which are in simple stocking stitch, than the complicated patterns which are best shown off in a single coloured yarn. I save the latter for anyone who knows a bit about knitting and will appreciate the amount of extra effort that’s inevitably gone into them (like you!). Yes, both boys are shooting up actually – its just that we don’t notice No.3 getting taller because the height difference between them stays the same. You’ve described the day of our walk exactly – that weather is just perfect and lifts the soul!
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November 6, 2018 at 7:30 pm
I love the way you parent! But he was quite right about not getting the feedback for improving. I’m looking at these colourful sock yarns thinking I need to go simple to start and leave the fancy stitching for when I’ve turned a heel successfully – which is the usual place I get lost. Baby steps 🙂
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November 6, 2018 at 7:53 am
Coming along very nicely for the happy holidays. 🙂 And the gifts keeps rolling in. Well done on all the sock knitting, they are just perfect.
Happy birthday (a bit late) No. 2 son, and congrats to No. 3 son and his partner, they are as adorable as ever.
Gave a great week, and enjoy!
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November 6, 2018 at 8:27 am
Thanks Joey, I’m planning a day of present making today as I panicked a bit this morning when I realised we’ll be moving soon and I won’t have access to my sewing machine for a while! I’ll keep my knitting needles out, though, as they don’t take up much space and I’ll need something to do with my hands in the evenings or I think I’d go a little bit mad:)
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November 7, 2018 at 8:45 am
A present making day!! That sounds fabulous, I love the idea. 🙂
I understand about packing and moving, so much that you can not do, and have to wait for until you are settled again. Fortunately you can still knit and crochet, that will keep you sane 🙂
Even though the move is getting so much closer now I am excited for you too. The new place is already so lovely, and I look forward to see how you make it your own.
Happy crafting and present making then. 🙂
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November 8, 2018 at 10:53 am
We haven’t even offered on the new place yet as we need to sell the flat first. Fingers crossed though!
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November 8, 2018 at 12:24 pm
🙂 I will keep my fingers crossed too then.
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November 6, 2018 at 8:01 am
Wow a teenager in the house- good luck! Love the picture of your dog in the mirror. How dare that other dog chase her around.
Those socks look very smart- both pairs.
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November 6, 2018 at 8:34 am
Tell me about it! Luckily we’ve been there before with their four older brothers and sisters so when the constant happy chatter morphed into unintelligible grunts it was no big surprise! He still turns back into a little boy to play with his little brother though – away from the eyes of the ‘grown up’ boys at school, of course. Dogs are so funny when they spot their reflection; I was half expecting her to run towards my image in the mirror too. Self striping yarn makes for a great-looking pair of socks, yet I don’t have any in my personal collection…..
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November 6, 2018 at 5:21 pm
The tooth pic was very lovely – thank you for that 🤐
You and your perfect socks! I’ve turned my heels but something went a bit awry and there are a couple of spaces (Ok, holes) .
I love the little teddy jumper almost as much as the child size one – don’t forget to show us it being modelled once you find a bear of the right size,
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November 8, 2018 at 11:06 am
Knew the freshly shed tooth would be appreciated! The holes can be avoided easily – just look for a YouTube video on the subject of short row heels. There are several ways around it. I’ll be sure to show a pic of the the jumper on a Teddy….if I ever find one with the right size head AND length of arm.
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November 7, 2018 at 2:33 am
Lovely updates, and super frosty photo! (Rarely see that here, and miss it.) But is that a *piano* I spied?! Do they play? Are they musicians?? Your knitting is lovely and often I wish I lived in a colder climate and had more reasons to knit.
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November 8, 2018 at 10:59 am
It is indeed a piano, a baby grand, in fact which is played often, although she wouldn’t refer to herself as a musician. Living in a region which has distinct seasons means we certainly do have a valid excuse to knit!
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November 8, 2018 at 9:00 pm
Musician or not, glad she plays often!
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November 9, 2018 at 2:53 pm
love the socks!
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