Tag Archives: fingerless gloves

Bexhill, Hastings…and a little bit of knitting!

After last week’s London adventure you’d think I’d retire for a rest, but no… the very next day we were packing the car to set off to the South Coast for a couple of days in the Bexhill/Hastings area staying with elder son and family. It was an eventful start. While I was away Higgins had tried out his ‘Super-Dog’ impression, leaping off the arm of the chair shouting at a passing jogger and landing painfully hard on his little stumpy legs and pulling a muscle. This involved a trip to the vet before we set out, a rigorous examination to check nothing desperate had been done, and instructions to make sure Higgins took things easy, and No Running About…

What? We were on our way to stay with his favourite little boys, who live in a house with a garden full of squirrels….

After a long day driving, Friday is not a good day to travel, Higgins had had the equivalent of 24 hours bed rest and was even less likely to do what the doctor ordered when he arrived, but a lot of effort was put into nursing care…

We had a peaceful morning on Saturday, with a spot of craftiness…

and a trip to the park in the afternoon…

but the next day it was pouring…

Not a day for the beach for anyone.

We spent the morning with a little bit of knitting…

you just see how helpful Higgins was being!

In the afternoon however, we donned waterproofs and headed to Hastings…

I love the area around Rock a Nore in Hastings with it’s strange black fishing huts, and despite the rain found Claire Fletcher‘s great little studio opened for the afternoon full of beautiful bits and pieces, and one I had only that morning been reading about in a copy of Coast magazine…

When the big black doors in the photo are opened, you see this!

After a little wander around in the teeth of the wind and rain…

….we reached the Jerwood Gallery which I’ve wanted to visit since it opened.

It’s an amazing exhibition space, and although it is controversially built next to the fishing area of Hastings on The Stade , the sympathetic design means it sits comfortably alongside the black sheds. Inside, the large plain windows frame the surrounding views, making the town part of the exhibition…

I now wear the badge I bought in Claire’s Studio with pride!

And I did manage a little bit of creativity of my own…You don’t think I went away without my knitting did you? Unable to find the pattern I made my fingerless mitts from a couple of years ago (if you remember, Higgins ate them!) I devised a new pattern of my own. Very simple, (and I could knit in the car too, obviously not while driving!)

but with lots of scope for embellishment…

…and so good I made them twice!

I’ve written the pattern, and it’s available for free here, if you’d like to make some too.

So I’ll leave you for now with the link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour, and I’ll be back soon…x

Telling ‘Tails’! – The Dachshund Creed

The Miniature Dachshund Creed

1. If it’s in my mouth, it’s mine!
2. If I like it, it’s mine!
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine!
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine!
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way!
6. If I’m chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks like mine, it’s mine!
8. If I saw it first, it’s mine!
9. If you are playing with something and put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it’s in the same house I’m in, it’s mine!
11. If it’s broken, it’s yours!

Now, here’s a little reminder of the Higgins appeal…

…the laid back attitude…

…and inquiring mind…

The enquiring mind which led a little nose to poke into the pocket of the jacket I had hung over the back of a chair – well there could have been dog biscuits – and find…my gloves…these fingerless gloves..

Pretty, aren’t they? Well, they were…

Not now, however…

Hmmm…

Then there were the cushions. Cushions which were admired in this picture…

Where the damage to the covers doesn’t show. I had a set of these, very cheap, I couldn’t have made them for the price, but pretty. And right from when he was very young Higgins would first suck, then late chew the corners when no-one was looking. When I thought he’d grown out of this baby habit, I remade the covers. Huh…who was I kidding.

There’s just one left now, it’s Higgins very own cushion.

I expect it will become very boring now, very quickly!

Still I though he could redeem himself by helping with the draw for the 150th Blog Post prize. I thought he could use this hat…remember this hat?

The way he did last year when he drew the winning ticket for That Elusive Line.

But no. When I walked in the door holding the hat in my hand he released the springs in his bottom and BOING! BOING! BOING! all he wanted to do was to chew it to bits. I had all the tickets printed and ready…

and I did try make the tickets more interesting than the pink fluffy felt but it took two of us to corner him to get the hat back.

In the end, once the hat had been forgotten, I invented an extremely exciting (for a dachshund) game with little bits of paper until he suddenly picked one up and ran with it. Result!

So one lucky person is about to absolve Higgins from absolutely all the above charges. (Although I do get the feeling that all you out there are mostly on his side anyway!)

And who is that lucky person? Well, Alice, and your artistic director Raymond,it’s you! Congratulations! It’s lovely to think that a little piece of Norfolk will be winging it’s way to New Zealand.

I do hope you like it x

The End of the Summer

I don’t think there’s any getting away from it now, do you? I’ve hung on to the bunting for as long as I can but it’s looking awfully frayed and windswept now and as I sit here in the studio listening to the wind howling and the rain lashing on the roof I can see all my little flags are wrapped round and round the tape like little sausages.

I’m trying really hard to be positive about Autumn. I’ve been looking at lovely blogs with gorgeous autumny images so I know lots of you out there enjoy thi time of year, but today isn’t one of the better days! Still, I musn’t grumble. We’ve just had a couple of days in the west and the weather was glorious and I have some great pictures of Bristol and Bath to show you soon.

I’m rather happy to discover I can knit in the car! Reading makes me queasy so I hadn’t bothered to try before but because I’ve had a hook or needles in my hands so much lately I found I was horribly fidgety on the car journey so I gave it a go. I’d already had a panicky moment when I realised that heaving a basket containing 17 balls of wool across the country to someone else’s house might be a step too far. I had a couple of balls of this lovely wool…

…which had been part of a birthday pressie, it makes me think of blackberries and heather.

I also really needed a new pair of fingerless gloves. (Somebody small and black and four legged having eaten my last pair…)

: Friendship fingerless mitts by Sophy T O’Donnell

I was happy to find this pattern on Ravelry and it works very well. Number one was knitted up on the journey there – and in odd moments when I wasn’t having delicious cuddles with my newest little cousin, and the second one polished off on the way back!

I do have a little flowery prettiness to show you which I captured before the rain and wind set in today. I have some wonderful sunflowers which have been in a vase for days and are still going strong…

The cosmos grew to ridiculous heights before deciding to flower but they are lovely now and also last well when cut.

Next year I must get more Zinnias. They are so jolly, and just go on and on…

Dalias too, although there is the slug problem as you can see….

A great big pompom of hydrangea…

…and fuchias too…

I can see there is a bit of overkill on Planet Penny pink going on here but I discovered a self sown nasturtium hiding in a corner…

I’ve been really pleased with the sunflowers I grew this year. So much better than the single flowered monsters which are a novelty but don’t do much else, the multi flowered ones have gone on and on despite the wind and rain.

…and I still have roses. I hope the remaining buds will open and not get spoilt by the weather.

While I’ve been typing this, Higgins has given up completely on the great outdoors. He really doesn’t like wet weather and hides in his bed if anyone mentions walkies. Like this…

Yes, he’s really there. Under two blankets and inside the mattress cover. You’d never know. But, if I say the magic word…’Bickies’… he suddenly appears!

I’d better go and get that bickie now don’t you think? And one for me too…and a cup of tea! Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to enter the draw for a chance to win a jolly pompom bunting garland to brighten up your day! x