Summer startitis

Gosh, didn't realise it had been almost a month since my last post. Well, we have been engaged in no-kitchen eating out, decorating, sorting through kitchen stuff, and trying to freecycle unwanted kitchen items. There's not been that much to report.

See all those projects in that bag over there? Yes? Let's start something else instead... This is the definition of startitis.

Drops Pauline cardigan back in progress. Part of me wishes I'd skipped the every 4th row purl stitch bit, but it does give me the motivation to knit just another 4 rows, so maybe it's not so bad. The cardigan has lacey inserts on the collar and on the sleeves, I might knit a sleeve next just to keep myself engaged with it. Acres of almost stocking stitch is not my forte.

Granny square blanket, diagonally joining as I go. This one kind of fits in with the destashing - leftover yarn ends make great granny squares, and sometimes the prettiest squares come from the combination of thinner yarns (though they can sometimes be the hardest to work, as the yarn tangles more)... There's something about granny squares, they are a bit like Pringles, you can't just stop at one. I'm just working 6 rounds and then when I have enough for a diagonal, crocheting another stripe of squares together. The joining method was inspired by a puzzle from a book I had as a child, how to draw a grid without crossing lines and taking the pencil off the paper the least amount of times. I'm sure it's not a new idea though! If I had planned it, I could have randomised the squares a little better, but it is what it is. It will progress as I have cone ends to use up. The fun thing about crochet is how fast it grows.

The kitchen is now at the painting stage. I can confirm I have cream emulsion on various parts of my body - by the time I'd got it off all the brushes and rollers, it had set on me! There is a new roller blind on order, and the last thing to organise is getting a bifold door and finding a carpenter to fit it. The fitters from Wickes were very good, I would definitely use them again.

Freegle is very trying at times - 90% of the people on there are lovely and genuine - we passed our dishwasher and fridge onto grateful recipients. The other 10% seem to think it's some sort of free version of Amazon - not only do they expect the item for free, they expect it to be delivered. We're not far from a bus route. You want it, come get it (and BTW it's still not 12 months since my seizure, so therefore I am still off the road). The only exception I made was to deliver a table to a lady with two small kids and an incapacitated husband who couldn't leave them unattended. I'm sorry, but "plz can u deliver" with no explanation butters no parsnips with me. I'm just waiting patiently on another Warwickshire Air Ambulance label, and what hasn't gone already can go to them. I'm fed up of having a pile of kitchen stuff in the living room, so this weekend's task is to sort through what goes into the attic and what goes into the garage to be passed on.

We have the added complication of the local bin men going on strike, just when we could really use them taking away the leftover house stuff that didn't make it into the skip bag. To be fair, they've only dropped the recycling and green bin collections, but they are the fullest and of course it's the season for gardening so the green bin is already full and I've more weeding to do. I hope they sort it out soon. I suspect most folks will stop recycling this week as there's just nowhere else to put it.

Our offices officially reopened this week after nine months of refitting. It's not bad, though my window seat turned out to be a whole 4" of window. Still, someone was moaning they were too hot by their window so perhaps I got lucky in the end! I'm still dependant on getting a lift in with a coworker when possible. It's surprising how much thought has to go into planning a trip when you know the train is involved. I must wear comfortable shoes, to enable running for the train, and can only take or wear what I can carry. No loading the boot and taking too much into the office. I am known for taking the kitchen sink sometimes!

Last coat of paint tonight hopefully. Fingers crossed - covering up apple green is quite tricky!

Current mood: amused