Sports Clubs and Homework
It seems like an age since I last blogged about anything...... I’ve been very busy back at work and getting Danny off to school in the mornings, and then back home for lunch and back to school in the afternoons - it’s been all systems go in the Melody household this week. Plus my oldest son Matthew who is now in Year Three has an increased amount of homework and lots of after school clubs that he wants to attend now that he is in Key Stage 2. He has joined the football club and the cross country club this week - he excelled in cross country, coming second in a race where all the Key Stage 2 children were running, and he is the youngest KS2 student in the school. Well Done Mattie!

First off on the knitterly stuff I managed to finish and sew together my bolero which I knitted in James Brett’s Marble DK. It knitted up to be a lovely soft cover-up and reasonably priced too! It’s obviously not a Noro creation, but I can wear this at work when the weather gets chillier:



















I also managed to finish off the raspberry mohair cardigan which is a total modification of an All Seasons Cotton pattern, but that has yet to be stitched together.

My Patons Cotton DK arrived from Kemps woolshop yesterday - well worth the wait too as it’s a gorgeous colour which is calledFoxglove. Unfortunately the light was poor when I took this photo and it's a touch wobblesome, but you'll get the general idea:















And I also received two books that I ordered from Amazon - Nancy Bush’s "Knitting Vintage Socks" book, and the other Ann Budd book, "The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns" that deals with sweaters only. John the Brit had several David Baldacci books in the package too, but I’ve no idea what the titles are or what they’re about. Heh heh.


I like the Nancy Bush book - not as much as Sensational Knitted Socks that I bought from Kai - but it’s a lovely resource book to have. The Ann Budd book? Hmmm. I’ve heard so many rave reviews about this book that I was desperate to get hold of it, but at first glance I’m disappointed in it and I’m sure that the Ann Budd book that Denver Jon sent to me for my birthday will have much more use than this one. The example sweaters in the book appear to be very dated to me I’m afraid, and look quite ill-fitting. ‘1000 Sweaters’ by Amanda Griffiths is a book based on the same principle where there are modular bodies, sleeves, pockets, etc but the designs have a bit more pzzazz; they’re more classic designs than in the Ann Budd book albeit that the sweaters are in DK yarn only and in a smaller range of sizes.
Just my opinion of course, but I think I’d rather stick to my little electronic knitting-shaping gadget rather than use the Ann Budd book, so I don’t think that this particular book will be used much if at all. I’ve already decided to knit Danny a pair of mittens for the winter months from the other Ann Budd book :)

Maybe this weekend I’ll be able to have a few hours worth of knitting or sewing, or maybe both. The past few weekends have been filled with children’s birthday parties, either hosting them or being invited to them, and we’ve already started inviting friends to play after school this early on in the school year. Why is it that all Matt’s and Danny’s friends want to come and play at Melody House?