Bartimaeus

We are not sure  how long our little list of jobs to be done while at the marina will take, or in what order. I was happy to crack on with knitting the mitts. Shane set about making dough and setting it to rise. 

My phoned pinged and it was an ex colleague from work alerting people that her baby, due in December, had arrived, last night. That has thrown the clinic work schedule as she had clients booked in for tomorrow and she had apologised for not doing a smooth work handover. It’s put me in emergency knitting mode too. I thought I had lots of time to get that cardigan done. All morning the phoned pinged with all the congratulatory messages on  the group chat. She had sent a lovely picture of baby Rose with a knitted hat on,  in the heat of the hospital. Wee heads need warming.

I reasoned that I should still press on with the gloves as the whole point was to be able to have them if I was cold doing stationary jobs that still needed my fingers free. Today was an example. Shane was keeping warm sawing wood and was just in a t- shirt, while I was feeling the air cool while he was sawing with the doors open.

Excellent timing by Shane getting the yeast set up before breakfast as he got his buns in the oven in time for lunch. A hot lunch for a change!

We  carried on with knitting and joinery but we also both wanted a change of scene so went for a walk the late afternoon. There was a milestone but I thought it not very handy to not let you know which direction to go. Luckily those weren’t our destinations and I wasn’t navigating.

We followed the signs for a public footpath. This took us through a field of sheep and then a cows’ field though they weren’t in the field at the time, they obviously were very recently. There were may fresh pancakes and the soft wet earth was well churned. It was a good job I had changed my shoes, and my trousers, before going out.

The farmer in his wellies was amused to see us picking our way across the yard, stepping on old tyres to avoid the worst of the mud. He was dressed for it. 

We got back before dark and continued with our chosen handiwork. Shane asked for help to drive in a screw. He had been wanting help to provide pressure and stability on the either side while he used the screwdriver inside the cupboard but the space was very hard to reach ( it would be easier without two thirds of a tandem in it but that placing that somewhere else was a job in itself) I was able to get the screwdriver in the right place, but not in a way I could apply force in the right direction. Then realised he could get his hand behind it as well as hold the board from the other side as long as I held the tool and pressed the switch, a slightly bizarre combination but it worked!

I have managed to finish the mitts, the patternnis in blue and called blueberry paws, but I have done in a different colour so perhaps elderberry or bramble paws is more appropriate. So perhaps tomorrow I will crack on with the baby cardigan and find out if I can knit with mitts on. The pattern has coordinating hat and baby mitts too, and winter is coming, but I am a bit behind now.