A bit of this and that!

We have been staying close to home this week whilst the kitchen work has been going on and apart from three days at work I haven't been anywhere.


I have however been busy crocheting and reading. Firstly a colleague at work asked me if I would crochet up a kit she had received for Christmas as she doesn't crochet. This proved to me a bit of a challenge as the instructions were in German and Italian only. My school day German is extremely rusty and I have never studied Italian but thanks to Google I managed to track down an English version of the pattern.  


The kit was for a handbag made out of Zpagetti yarn crocheted on a 12.00 mm hook. This proved very hard on the hands as there was no stretch in the yarn at all. The pattern was quite easy to follow (even though it was written in Pigeon English) but my poor fingers really suffered making this. I was relieved when this was finished and that my colleague was pleased with it - if I was making it for myself I would have preferred it with straight sides but I don't think I will go out of my way to make another!

Next I picked up my coastal ripple, this is easy to pick up and put down so has been ideal to work on this week. I can work on this when I am watching TV as well.

I was rummaging around trying to find something in amongst my wool stash (of which I have far too much) and I came across a pile of squares that I made when I was on holiday last year and had intended making up into a cushion.  I had totally forgotten about it and seeing as how it is a Springtime inspired cushion I thought I had better get on with putting it together.

I now need to finish the back and then take a trip to Dunelm Mill to buy a cushion insert so hopefully I will soon have another finish.

I have also been reading during January, quite light reading to relax me into my semi-retirement.

The books I have read are:-

Hello From The Gillespies by Monica McInerney

This book centres around Angela Gillespie who lives with her family on a remote sheep station in Australia who sits down to write her usual Christmas email newsletter but this year instead of the usual rosy good news type of letter decides to unburden her soul and vent about her life.  This letter was not intended to be sent but her husband, attempting to be helpful, clicked on send on the email while Angela was distracted dealing with an accident to her son.  The book deals with the fallout that the family had to deal with once the letter was sent. A fairly long book and a pleasant read with lots of twists and turns.

Broadchurch by Erin Kelly and Chris Chibnall

I read this mainly to refresh my memory as the second series has just started on TV. I was pleased that I did as I had forgotten quite a lot of the detail and think I am enjoying this series more because of the reminder. 

Recipe For Life by Mary Berry

An autobiography by the Queen of "Bake Off". An interesting read and each chapter was interspersed with recipes.

Hopefully my next post will be a "Happy Dance" post because my kitchen should be finished this week and we can get the house back to normal. I cannot wait to start baking again.