My Second Sock Selfie and Another Disturbing Image

Off to the U.K. for visiting, theatre going, shopping, art gallery viewing, fish and chip eating and general catching up and seeing what I’ve been missing (if anything).  I won’t dwell on a dentist appointment I’ve booked myself in for as it can’t all be fun I suppose.

I couldn’t go without showing you these.

Yes, these are the bottoms of my legs but what I’m really showing you are the temporarily abandoned but finally finished two at a time, toe up socks.  I am so in love with them that I never want to wear them.

Do you know what I mean when I say that?  If I don’t put them away somewhere safe they might get spoiled/dirty/lost/eaten by a dog.  Please say I’m not the only one.

Anyway, here’s another view where I didn’t have to put my legs up in the air whilst holding a camera at a funny angle, as you do.

Just in case you are wondering, I am not a master of intarsia knitting, this is the way the wool knits up.  It’s like magic!  I’m so chuffed they match although I did have some input into that.

Now that I have finished these, I can cast on for another project free of guilt.

I have been making dog bandanas like a crazy woman for the fund raising efforts of my local Dog Rescue group as mentioned in my last post and I have turned to festive fabric as one does at this time of year, such as these.

Whilst the trusty Stan was modelling for pet accessories in the hope that I would throw a ball for him at the end of it, I happened to get a disturbing photograph of him which revealed he has a much longer tongue than I gave him credit for.  It is a rubbish photograph of the bandana but I include it here for your edification.

I’ll be back in a week or so having hopefully replenished my wardrobe, fabric stash, cholesterol count and cultural education.

That Reminds Me – I Must Make A Lampshade

We have a new addition to the family but more of her another day.  Suffice it to say she needed some lady dog surgery and has had to wear a buster collar/collar of shame/cornet/lampshade whatever you want to call it, to stop her pulling her stitches out.  She is only a year old and full of energy so, after the first day and a half when she was effectively a zombie dog while the anaesthetic wore off , she has been driving me to distraction.  She has no apparent sense of having anything round her head so I have been poked and prodded in the legs by a cone of hard plastic, the paintwork on the walls is scuffed, she has scooped up mud (and worse) from the garden on the edge of her cone and smeared it on my rugs,  terrified the cats and captured the other dogs’ butts in the cone’s diameter all the better for a hello sniff.

On the plus side, it reminded me of something I wanted to do.

My Muse

We have had a standard lamp from Ikea for a while now which had a pleated, coolie shaped shade.  I hated it because those pleats collect dust like nobody’s business and anything that makes housework is not welcome  – I only allow Mr. T, the Madamoiselles and the furred family in the house under sufferance.   Mr. T. hated it for reasons he couldn’t actually articulate – I think it was just a man thing.

Anyway, a new lampshade was needed so I decided to make one yesterday.  I bought a kit.  I dug through my fabric stash and, because I was not alone in the house, and therefore not able to give vent to more eccentric choices, ended up with a smart, if conservative, linen and cream striped drum shade.  Very nice and very ‘study’ like – which is where it is for – but I couldn’t help thinking it lacked a little something.  So, this morning, I got out some of my typical French, traditional shelf edging and found some in linen with embroidered cherries.  I think it adds the finishing touch but, as Mr. T. had already left for work, it remains to be seen if he’ll agree.

When the lamp is switched on, you can’t actually see the design on the trim, just the shape of it, which looks good but I won’t bore you with another lampshade photograph for now – well, I’m bound to make another one now I’ve had a success!  I might even edge a few shelves with the remainder of the trim or I might add it to the others I have in my shop.

Just noticed this post is looking far too beige so, to brighten it up, here’s a little preview of the new addition.