Tuesday 12 July 2005

Summer highs and lows

Yes, it's that time at last. The WIPs I've been threatening to finish have finally had their last stitch sewn, their last end woven in. So, in order of finishing, may I present my youngest daughter wearing her Rainbow in the Sky Crochet Poncho:


I'm happy with this as it fits her beautifully; she thought it was going to be the same size as her sister's, i.e. a little too big for her. Plus I didn't get hung up on the fringing this time as I remembered how painless it was when I finally got round to it last time. ;-)


And next - it's a Peachy Bolero! I stayed up late last night to finish it as I wanted to wear it to work today:


It's this first time I've made a bolero type cardigan, and I'm real pleased with it. The Linen Print feels lovely to knit with and even better to wear. The sizing from my Knitware pattern came out exactly as I wanted, as did my front shaping which I basically guessed by eye and marked out on the pattern front.

I'm a happy bunny; 2 FOs in 1 post. Pardon? What about Angel? Well that would just be too much. ;-) I do have to keep a little seaming on the go, otherwise I'd be able to knit all evening. And that just wouldn't do would it?!

As for the weekend, it was packed full of events. The main one was the local City Show which we visited on Sunday as it's within walking distance form our house. We walked around for 3 hours with the girls, but still had to go home before seeing everything as my youngest daughter had a party to go to.

The show was very family-friendly this year (unlike previous years) and much extended. We even saw our butcher there who was in a tent with other local butchers showing how to dry-cure bacon, make sausages, etc!

Then we spotted a farmyard animal section, which of course had masses of sheep with a demonstration every hour of them being sheared! Sarah Beth was going to ask if she could have some of the fleece - did you manage to get hold of any? There was also a huge tent with loads of sheepskin rugs dyed some wonderful colours (my favourite was a deep rich purple.)

It was glorious weather, really hot and sunny, and has been since. Only one problem - yesterday I saw the first dreaded wasps of this summer in our garden. I can't begin to explain how much I hate wasps. I've had 3 horrible stings (ok not many but they hurt!) so far; check out these weird scenarios:

1) Stung on the palm of my right hand at the base of my thumb by a wasp which was sitting on the washing line (eh?) while I tried to grab the washing as it started to rain; how swollen do you think my hand got?! That critter escaped too..

2) Stung on the back right side of my neck at the top of my shoulder multiple times in one go (grrrr) by a wasp which managed to get stuck in my hair (which was tied back in 2 bunches at the time!? Go figure!) whilst in the fridge section of a small local supermarket! I had to flatten that beast against my neck by hitting it repeatedly with my hand before it would stop stinging me. The other shoppers thought I was having some kind of fit until they saw my neck..

3) Stung on my left calf in bed at 5:30am by a wasp that had crawled under the duvet and sat on my leg, then stung me when I moved in my sleep - aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh! DH squashed that evil monster double-quick.

Now can you see why I hate them so much? I have no problem with bees but wasps are in a different, evil league. Well who's idea were they in the first place?! I think I may put up half a dozen homemade wasp traps around the garden very soon, and I even have muslin and stick-on velcro to make window & door screens so that we can get some air without inviting in masses of wasps. We had no less than 3 nests in our house when we moved in 10 years ago, and had to get Rentokil in to get rid of them. Now there was a brave man!

Anyone else had any horrible stings?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Both your daughter and you look really lovely in your new FOs. I've seen linen print in the shops but wasn't sure about how it would knit up but your Bolero looks fab! As for stings - a friend was also stung going to bed when we had a girl's night out! I hate wasps too, especially as they seem so attracted to me but I haven't hear of any ways of trapping them. When in Scotland at the weekend I saw my first "Midge Machine" which looks like a small patio heater power by calor gas. It seems to attract them and then trap them in a bag inside, which had thousands inside (yuk). There may be a similar things for wasps?

Anonymous said...

Your FOs look great. Very trendy (both!) and what little girl doesn't want a poncho - she looks like the cat with the cream!
I loathe wasps, but have never been stung, just once by a bee. I think it's because they have the ability to repeatedly sting, and (I think, not an expert) they are more easily roused to sting. Last summer was crap here in london for wasps, all over the place!

Dawn