Bits and Pieces

Bit of a mish-mash of a post today. I haven't done any baking and I have left my tortured garden alone this weekend - I've had to bring work home from work. Yuk! Knitting-wise, I'm doing lots of bitty projects - nothing to really get my teeth into.

I've finished a pair of socks for the BF - worn, and in the washing machine before I got a chance to photograph them... but you've seen enough pictures of non-patterned socks.

At the last couple of knitting group sessions I've been knitting Shaun the Sheep for Niece No 2. As you can see here, he currently looks like a couple of oddly-shaped dish cloths. This would probably knit up in a couple of days if I wasn't being a knitting tart and starting other projects.



Such as these "Sirdar - Escape" gloves from "TFS" book for my friend and colleague Alayne. I may have mentioned in other posts that I have spent five years in training to be a Consultant in Public Health. Last April, I was appointed to my first post (exhilarating and terrifying at the same time) and I actually started work in August - notice and HR.

When I started I was delighted to discover that Alayne was working there temporarily (we we short-staffed) and I was sharing an office with her. This was brilliant news - I worked with her over ten years ago on a couple of projects so there was that familiarity combined with the fact that she is an excellent Consultant. This took a lot of the fear away. :-) I have learned a tremendous amount from her and to be fortunate enough to have worked with her in my first year, in my first year has been a privilege.

We now have a full complement of staff so Alayne is escaping (despite our plans to barricade her in) and "Sirdar - Escape" seemed to be an appropriate yarn. The gloves rattle off very quickly so these will be accompanied with a scarf in some kind of (simple) lacy-ish stitch.



In other news... the cats finally went out last weekend. There is an end to litter trays in sight. However, they haven't been as enthusiastic as anticipated. I thought I'd open the doors and they would tear off over the fences. No such bloody luck.

Bandit, having been the intrepid explorer, will only go out if I leave the door open so she can race back in.



Smokey enjoys basking in the sunshine which is tremendous as he spent the first ten minutes of freedom with one paw in the house - moving around three legged. Since then, they have met nextdoor's cat Luna - who sat on the fence howling at them. They misinterpreted this hissing aggression and thought she had come to play. They're cute but stoopid. The three of them appear to be having a stand off.

They've also met Sid Vicious (our name for him) the Bengal cat who owns the street, the estate and quite frankly, the whole town. There was a glass door between them and I don't think the next meeting will end well for Smokey and Bandit.

This morning, Smokey was hissing at the fence.



Jake (AKA Baggy-Pants) was staring under the fence at him.



There will be more hissing to follow, I'm sure.