The Catch Up, Anniversary Edition

Hello! It seems we hit a bit of a blogging burnout back there. There was a tangible sense of freedom in making the decision to put it down for a while, to not have to make sure that we had photos of all the things we were up to. We just wanted to get on with life and the pressure to document had become just that, a pressure.

Almost 1 year later, and conveniently 3 years since our first post and I've found myself wanting to write again, planning posts in my head. So, here are a few photos we've taken in our absence while I wonder what to write about first...

[Southwest Coast Path, North Devon; Birdwatching at Hardwick Old Hall; 

The gardens at Hardwick Hall; London Nightscape; Selfie at the British Museum]

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Done, finished, complete!

Yes, it can only be the bathroom!

While we knew we were going to be squeezing a lot of this work in around the rest of life, I don't think either of us predicted it would take three and a half months! To be fair, most of the last month has been dealing with the things that didn't work first time. Finally though, we can say that it is finished. Finito. Done. Hooray!

First up though, a reminder of the "before" photos:

 

And now it looks like this:

Worktop with countertop sink and plenty of storage

Draining board for lots of bottles

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How Not To Design A Knitting Pattern

Over Christmas I started knitting something new. Not just a new project. Not just a new yarn. I started to make up a new pattern. Obviously (I say obviously - turns out this was only obvious to me in hindsight) this hasn't been as straight forward as just knitting from someone else's pattern; I'm trying to design some gloves, and am pretty sure I've gone about it all the wrong way. There are plenty of guides out there on how to write a knitting pattern, but from my limited experience I give you:

How NOT To Design A Knitting Pattern

1. Guess

If you're trying not to design a knitting pattern then guessing is a great way forward. Need to know how many extra stitches to add as you work the base of your thumb, and how many rows you need to increase those stitches over? Don't take any measurements and definitely don't work out your gauge. Guess! That way you can have the joy of knitting your thumb many times over.

2. Be Indecisive

You may have a rough idea in your mind how this might look and that's plenty to get you started. By no means should you swatch variations on your pattern to see how it affects the look before you start knitting properly. When wondering whether the pattern would look best over 30 stitches or 40 its best to not decide until you're part way through making the finished article, and then to go for 35 instead.

3. Design purely for you

Because if it fits you, of course it will fit everyone else. No thought at all is needed on how to produce different sizes or shapes to suit different people.

4. Just Start Knitting

There's nothing more conducive to getting the design right than thoughts of "I've just come up with a new way to do this, but that would mean undoing what I've done". Having a half finished project on your lap will always inspire you to stick with what you've got rather than making the right decision - perfect for the non-designer.

5. Don't knit at all

Finally, ignore your new pattern design. Don't think about it for months at a time. That way the fairies will come and design it for you. Guaranteed. Knit a jumper instead.


P.s. Yes, I've done all these things. Yes, it could be a while before this is an actual pattern. I now have a glove that might one day have a matching pair, was reworked many times in getting this far and is wonderfully soft and warm. It might also one day resemble the final pattern. I'm now going to take some measurements, knit some swatches and remember that I have an engineering degree - logic should be my forte, not an afterthought (I blame Christmas)! Shame it's no longer really glove weather, maybe I'll just knit something else... just for a little while of course...

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Weeds or um, harvest?

I was really hoping that this would be a finished bathroom post, but a kerfuffle with the flooring means its still not quite finished - though a lot closer than last weekend. Instead we've been getting on with other things, including returning our conservatory to a dining room rather than a workshop - removing large quantities of dust as we went. Happy days!

Joe recently inherited some demijohn's from a friend who no longer had use for them and has been contemplating thoughts of homebrew ever since.  When he came home from work one day recently to find me tackling the stinging nettles that were threatening to take over part of our veggie patch it all seemed simple... nettle wine!

So he popped the nettles along with some sultanas, sugar and yeast into a brewing bucket and left it to fester on the kitchen side for 9 days the result at the end of which was this...

...which has since sat on the side for another week or so. It has clarified a lot in that time which makes a huge difference to how drinkable it looks but it has another few months sitting to do before the final verdict!

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Big Cables and Little Ones Too

Finished!

All done, it took a little longer than hoped, but then life has been busier than planned. The pattern was very straight forward to follow and well written, the yarn is lovely; soft and cosy, and its a nice fit. What more is there to say, except perhaps, what's next?

I'm definitely a one project at a time sort of person. My knitting time is limited and the busier my knitting bag is the less time each thing gets. For the most part I'd rather work on one thing and have the satisfaction of a finished project, than to try and complete lots of knits at once.

Except when a more exciting project comes along. Then, for example, I might finish a jumper and discover half a glove in the bottom on my knitting bag. Shame it's not really glove weather anymore isn't it?

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On going backwards and other such things

We realised, with great joy at the thought, that this weekend is the first of five weekends at home. That's five consecutive weekends with only a few bits and pieces in the diary. With a burst of enthusiasm we've made ourselves a list of projects we'd like to work on, almost certainly more than we'll get done - but its good to have aims in life!

First things first though, the bathroom. You may have noticed we've gone quiet on that one, and that's because the project has gone quiet - in fact with no help from us it's been going backwards. We've hit two snags...

Where the sink was....

The first is that around a week after rejoicing in the final fitting of the sink, we discovered that it was not to be the final fitting after all. A very slow leak appeared, coming from a manufacturing fault in the sink itself rather than our plumbing. This one has been really frustrating as plumbing leaks we can deal with (usually by applying a hefty dose of silicon sealant), but a flawed sink means it had to come out and be sent back for a replacement, damaging the finish on the worktop in the process.

Getting ready to refinish the scuffs and other damaged caused by removing the sink.

Our other set back is that the paint on the wall in one particular corner has started to react. Slowly but surely its been bubbling and peeling until we could ignore it no more.

Since the corner in question is the one nearest the bath and shower we debated if humidity was the problem. We stripped off the dodgy paint, made sure everything was dry and applied a fresh coat - and within a matter of minutes it started to bubble up again. Oh.

After the first coat of base coat the bubbliness was still coming through a little
- not very easy to photograph though!

Time to pull in the big boys. Over the course of the weekend we've applied several liberal coats of Base Coat by Polycell - the same people that make Polyfilla, which is supposed to seal in whatever is behind and allow you to paint your colour of choice over the top.  So far we seem to be winning - but we'll have to keep an eye on it.

So this weekend has been re-painting, re-varnishing and putting up the mirrored cabinet that arrived this week.

Forward progress at last - fixing the new medicine cabinet to the wall.

In other news, we've taken the old bath to the tip, revealing the lanky grass that's been hiding underneath it, and bonfired away some more of the bits that have been covering our patio. Oh and Lemon is having her first broody spell of the season - we had a couple of warmer days apparently and she was off, hunkering down in the coop at every possibly opportunity - eggs or no eggs. So starts the annual battle of wills....

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A Charity Shop Find

A couple of weeks ago we were at a wedding, and found ourselves wandering the streets of Wells between the service and the party in the evening. Not one to resist a charity shop we popped into an Oxfam book shop and left again 10 mins later with a copy of 365 Reasons to Sit Down and Eat for the princely sum of £2.99. It's a recipe for every day of the year, some interesting, some intriguing
and some downright odd!

We certainly wouldn't religiously follow it every day - it would produce the most random of menus - and the first recipe we've tried was from September. (Yes, we were feeling rebellious that day, why do you ask?) It was a hit though - gnocchi with mushrooms in a white wine sauce. We were after a quick meal at the end of a day of DIY, so bought the gnocchi and just made the sauce to go with it. Not the healthiest of meals, but certainly rather tasty.

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