Monday 11 May 2015

I Haven't Been Slacking - Honestly!


Aurora

Well I've had a bit of a break from blogging but I have been quite busy. Enjoying myself mostly, on a Panama Canal cruise!  Now I will post about that later as there are lots of photos to upload. Meanwhile above there's a photo of the ship Aurora which was very nice.  It's docked at Puntarenas which was not quite so nice!

Anyway since I got back apart from the washing & ironing, I've been quite busy trying to finish a crochet blanket I started a couple of months ago.  If I'd had room in the luggage I would have taken it with me on the cruise but it was quite bulky & heavy. We only had 23 kg of luggage for a 23 night cruise which needed posh frocks (for me) plus a dinner jacket & a suite for Eric so I took a shawl pattern to do.  I knitted it for two weeks, didn't like it & pulled it out so I had nothing to show for my time spent knitting on the ship. 

My time wasn't totally wasted though.  I went to Spanish lessons which were great. I joined the ship at the end of March when the ship was doing its final leg of the world cruise it had started way back in January. So I only had three weeks to catch up with most of the other passengers who had started when the ship, left Southampton in January! Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it & we had a great laugh with the young Spanish tutor who had a wonderful sense of humour. 

So now I really need to keep the Spanish up. I had planned to learn some Italian on the cruise for my two trips to Italy in the summer. That went by the board though like the knitting. So apart from trying to finish the blanket, that's on the cards for the next couple of months.

Anyway this is my progress with the blanket so far:


10 of these done!


10 of these done!



Now for the bad news. Only 5 each of these done because I've run out of wool! Never mind the flowery centres are finished so the easy peasy bits are left to do. Well apart from joining the whole caboodle together which I'm dreading.

So will have to order more wool this week. Hopefully it will eventually look something like this.



I changed the colours as I don't do pink & I made it in wool not cotton.

I'm nearly always amazed at how good camera photos are. Bearing in mind I've never bothered to find out how to use it I just point it at the thing & click. It's great, no having to upload the camera photos, they just go. Just like magic!

Wish it was as easy to learn Italian!




9 comments:

  1. I love your crochet blanket. It will look lovely when it's done. I used to crochet when I was about 10 years old but I think that by now I've forgotten how to.

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  2. good that you posted a catch up for us all, I was wondering what you had been up too. I love the colours of wool you have chosen, so pretty. I am awful at other languages...

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  3. You have been busy , but bet it was fun.
    I never did learn to crochet . you are so smart and learning two new languages.
    Glad for your up date.

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  4. That is going to be one pretty blanket. And learning two new languages - now that is amazing!

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  5. I'm often amazed at the quality of your photos and have wondered what camera do you use? Good for you learning new languages, English is enough for me!

    I much prefer the colours you've chosen than the pink and cream. That should keep you busy!

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    1. Thanks Joey, it's just the phone, I can't believe how good they are. If I really looked into the instructions they could be better!

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  6. Sounds like you have been extremely busy. But it sounds like a lot of fun was also in the mix of things. I don't knit, tried it once and can't seem to get the hang of it. Use to crochet a lot, but for some reason haven't been doing much of anything. In fact, I have one container on legs that has been sitting behind and to the right of my chair for almost two years. I'm surprised Abe hasn't asked me when I plan on moving it. LOL

    The Granny Square throw you are making looks lovely. I've never made anything from wool. I like to be able to throw the items into a gentle cycle on the washer. So keep stitching and make sure you saw a photo when finished. Keep practicing your new languages.

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    1. I love wool it's so warm & looks good for longer than man made fibres. Most wool nowadays can be put into a hand wash cycle but have to say I don't trust washers. I'm an avid hand washer stuff lasts so much longer.

      Just hope I can keep up with the languages this summer.

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  7. wow i'm envrious - i would love to travel for that long ...23 days...how wonderful! that is gonig to be such a beautiful blanket. love the colors. i have got to take a tutorial on line and learn how to crochet. I did an easy stitch way back when ..30 years ago but forgot how to crochet.

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