Le Tour de Sock

Le Tour de Sock is on Stage TWO and Stage THREE will be released in three of four days time.
I have just finished Stage ONE so guess I'm too late to win a prize, but I have so enjoyed learning new techniques. The top and heel are completely new to me, plus I have knitted very little in pattern repeats.
It has been SO SO hot I am glad I used wooden KnitPro needles to keep my hands cool-ish!
www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/plan-a  has been released for sale, originally the pattern was part of the registration for the Tour.

Roll on the cooler weather so I can wear them!

Round Robin Quilt returns

Some time ago I joined an International Round Robin link for the full reveal.

This adventure was new to me and I have so enjoyed taking part.
A block was sent to Julie the organiser, who then posted it at random to one of the group taking part.
The times were set for posting each round to keep everyone on track.

1] I received the elephant block and added the English Paper pieced hexagon border.

Christa's original block

2] Next the centre block with one border arrived and I added the half square triangle border

Allison's original block

 3] Finally this quilt arrived and I quilted it, added the backing and a hanging sleeve before posting it off to New Zealand

Laurina's original block

 4] Finally my original bird block arrived from the USA with it's new borders, quilting and backing.

My original bird block worked on by Liz, Julie and Glen

Another up & down week

I cannot believe the bad luck we are having at the moment, it seems to go on and on...

First the good news: I attended a sewing day at Bedford and worked on my fish quilt. It was a lovely day with just six of us, chatting and sewing.

Fishes taking shape.

The flooring in the kitchen was replaced and the fitter that damaged it paid the bill.

I also received my mini quilt from the Round Robin I joined on line, which I cannot show you yet.

On the flip side of the parcel from the USA containing my Round Robin quilt the person sending it had marked it as worth $20 and merchandise rather than worth $10 and a gift, which would have been more accurate, so I had to collect it from the Sorting Office and pay £13.50 customs!

My car that should have been mended on Thursday was cancelled the day before, even though the company had quoted for the repair and taken a £50 deposit. Chris managed to find someone else but it will be a replacement job and cost nearly £600!!

To cheer ourselves up we went for a Green Lane Byway day yesterday and were having a really nice day until the last lane before home. It was very rutted, a real roller coaster, and very overgrown, but we are used to that until a really deep rut had the wheels spinning and us going nowhere. Chris started to fix the winch to a tree and start the process of getting it out of the rut, so I wandered further along the lane. It was a really pleasant stroll for me until I came across a large [ and I mean LARGE] tree that had fallen across the lane and there was noway round it.

Eventually Chris managed to get out of the rut and drove to where I stopped him because of the tree, with some major effort he managed to drive over it and a little further on the gate was in view and the end of the horrible lane that had caused so much trouble. Gate locked!!!  We had to turn around and drive all the way back, including over the tree again. I was a complete wreck and the car is also damaged.  Name of the lane Hangmans Lane !

Chris winching himself out of a rut.

Arriving home we discovered the BT house phone was not working and the family had been trying to contact us as my cousin's daughter had sadly died that morning. What a day!

What a week of ups and downs

Sunday started so well as I went to church but then I hit an uneven curb in the church yard. The damage did not look too bad but it ruined my day thinking about it.

Monday
We took the car to a couple of garages for quotes both said the whole front section of the car needed to be replaced £756 and £700 were the quotes!!!
Tuesday
Chris did some research and found a specialist place that would actually repair the damage rather than replace the whole front section. Suddenly £350 does not seem so bad but an expense we could well do without.
On the same day the kitchen fitter called to fix a drawer that was not closing properly. He dropped a cupboard door and damaged the flooring, and although he will pay for the damage it means having a new floor laid, which meant a trip to Northants Flooring who still had the same flooring and will replace it next week. This also mean emptying the kitchen... does it ever end?
Wednesday
I went to visit a couple of the sisters from church with my companion Sophia and although the meetings were good it was a sad day as Sophia will be moving away and it was our last day together.

Sophia, me and Betty

Sophia, Sue and me

Thursday
My cousin John's funeral in Derby, the sun was shining , the church was packed. It was a day of remembrance for a really great person, friend and cousin, I will really miss him.

Towards the end of WW2 by mother was pregnant with me and my father wanted her to go and live with her sister as he was away in the war. Strange thought to be moved from the relative safety of a village to the center of the City of Leicester but Mum went and I was born with sandbags at the windows in the local maternity hospital a ten pound breach! We then lived with my Aunt and her three sons, John being the eldest.
Friday
Oh joy a happy day...

We had arranged to meet friends Christa and James, here on a visit from the USA, at Cambridge Botanical Gardens. Some years ago we stayed with them in Paducah while I taught lacemaking to a group she belonged to and visited the famous Paducah quilt show.

It's funny how with some people you meet you just feel at home with, the talking never stopped and it was a really nice get together.
Having never visited this Botanical garden before we wandered around the grounds and although the drought we are going through meant all the grass looked like a desert it was a wonderful place and I would like to go again with more time and in better weather... not SO hot!

Loved this pond

Flowers are so amazing 

The greenhouse has a long corridor with greenhouse rooms leading off from it, each displaying different Countries plants.

Chris entering the jungle?

Today is Saturday and I need to do jobs this morning that have been left all week, and then intend to watch Wimbledon tennis and Le Tour de France this afternoon.

Little and Large

It is hard to walk in my garden at the moment for tiny frogs are everywhere, but do you think the'd stand still for a photo?

Mr/Mrs Frog enjoying the pond

A tiny baby frog smaller than my finger nail!

Enjoying the hot weather

The sun seems to be constantly shining at the moment, which is great to look at but rather too hot for me. Another very early morning walk before the heat of the day is as much as I can manage.

This horse only seems to move out of the tree shade for food, and I don't blame him.

A family BBQ on Saturday evening ended with the girls playing with sticky bubble kits, a most enjoyable evening.

Plus the table was groaning with food and Richard did a great job at the BBQ.

Socks and tennis

While watching Wimbledon tennis I usually sit and knit, so have managed to complete yet another pair of socks...

Pattern: Let It Shine by Sarah Youde

KnitPro Symfanie DPN needles

Yarn: Walk Collection tough sock 75%wool 25% nylon colour Nomad

I'll always know which is my left and right foot

Tomorrow sees the start of Le Tour de France and also Le Tour de Sock an online/Ravelry group I have joined based on the actual race with stages and teams etc. My needles are ready and so is my yarn for the release of the first sock pattern at about 2pm local time tomorrow.

IAM July meeting

Seven of us got together for the July IAM meeting. Lots of chatter and some craft work as usual.
It was a really nice day with delicious desserts provided by Penny.

Star attraction of the "show and Tell" was Jenny's hand made quilt
Really beautiful.

Temple visit

On the road nice and early to travel to the Temple at Newchapel. Not a good start when we discover the M1 is closed for part of our journey and the trip involving the M40 and M25 [ commonly called a "car park"] takes us just over three hours.
Chris has music to listen to and a book to read in the peaceful pretty grounds, while I go into the Temple for a couple of hours. Worldly cares are left at the door and a calm peace takes there place.
An extra bonus is meeting a couple of sisters that I know and have not seen for some time.

Chris and I meet for the packed lunch I managed to make at 6am! under a tree overlooking the Temple... Peace perfect peace.

The entrance to the Temple

Standing in the gardens.

Another quilt on the washing line

Today is the start of Wimbledon, and I love watching the tennis. This calls for an early start to my day so I do not feel too guilt spending the afternoon watching the TV [and knitting].

First job, another quilt in the wash, this quilt was made quite a few years ago and will be on Eleanor's bed for when she stays here overnight. I seem to remember the pattern was from Judy Laquidara and it is one of my favourites, I love the colours.

This is half of the quilt, the only way I could get it on the line.

Next 'job' a walk to get my steps in. We decided to go along the railway line again and in the past I have struggled to get to the W but today I managed to walk one post past it! 4470 steps clocked up which is brilliant for me and my knee replacements!

Aiming for the W [whistle]

A heron looking for its breakfast