A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

"Into every life a little rain must fall" and it certainly

has, these last few days but earlier in the week .....

This was our garden, basking in the sunshine.

If you look very carefully, you can spot the blackbird

sitting on the top of the wooden sculpture.

The blackbirds are nesting in the climbing hydrangea,

round our kitchen window. He is patiently waiting for me 

to go inside, so he can feed his babies.
So I did!

My post this week, is for tying up a few loose ends.

My fairisle went to it's new home and I am delighted 

to say, it fits. One happy man!

I managed to repair the sock, I mentioned last week.

I carefully unravelled and cut out the chewed bit.

I then picked up the stitches at the top and bottom of the hole.

I still had some of the wool, I made the socks from. 

I knitted across the stitches on the first needle 

and using stocking stitch, I completed enough rows to cover the hole.

 At the end of each row, I knitted or purled, the last stitch

 together with the edge stitch of the hole.

It took a couple of goes before I was happy with it.

When I reached the other row of picked up stitches, 

I grafted them together.

Pleased with the result, I think!

I finished and sent off my crochet mandala to Yarndale

and.......

successfully bid on ebay for this little, vintage tool.

It's called the Handy Knitting and Crochet Guide and was

made in 1936. Not only does it keep a count the rows but 

 increases and decreases and how many times.

It also has a needle gauge down the side and a ruler 

at the bottom. 

A very useful addition to my knitting equipment. It will

make all those bits of paper, on which I usually record that

 information and have a tendency to lose, redundant.

Of course it's only as good as it's owner .... you have to remember

to move the little arrows, every time. Mmmmm!

All in all, a very productive week.

Enjoy this Bank Holiday Weekend, everyone!