Birds

Before I went into hospital last week I went shopping. I love Paperchase and decided to treat myself to a little notebook and some pencils. I need colouring pencils to colour in my submission sketches. My old ones were cheap and not very nice and this little tin was just so pretty.

 I nearly managed to convince myself that I needed a new overnight bag in this print too. They had a bag that was just the perfect size for overnight or weekend trips. Not that I go away all that often but I struggled to walk out without that bag. I decided in the end it was too pricey.

I suppose I should tell you all about how my op went. Last Wednesday I had my gall bladder removed by keyhole surgery. I went in at 7am and was wheeled in to the theatre before 9am. I did struggle to wake up. I was very sleepy and kept wanting to go back to sleep when the nurse kept talking to me. I forced myself to try to stay awake because I thought if I slept too much in recovery they wouldn't let me go home. I've had several operations (most of them fairly minor) before and have had 5 general anastethics before, this was my 6th one. I usually feel quite sick afterwards. I did tell the doctor that and they gave me a new drug with which there was less chance of being sick. I also had anti-sickness drugs. And it worked. I didn't feel sick at all. By 2pm I was dressed and getting ready to go home. We got home at 3.30pm, just before Em came home from school. I didn't expect to be home that early at all.

I had 5 little cuts all over my tummy. The nurse said I had 4 but she obviously didn't count them. The wounds are all healing nicely too. Most of the soreness has gone now. I'm a bit bruised still. I'm still tired but trying to do a little bit more.

There is a bit of a birdy theme to this post. On Monday I started thinking about which knitting I'd take on holiday (we're going on Thursday). I decided to cast on for a shawl using Quince & Co Finch. All their yarns are named after birds and they're gorgeous. I designed Vines in Lark. The temperatures have nose-dived this week so perhaps Vines ought to be on your easter knitting list. For Cappuccino Stripe I used Quince & Co Tern and for the Wayfarer Mitts  I used Quince & Co Chickadee. If you're looking for a Quince & Co stockists in the UK, Loop in Lotenndon stock the full range (they've got a website too).

The latest Quince & Co I'm trying is Finch. Finch is a pure wool 4ply. It's very soft and is beautiful to knit with. This shawl is knitted in garter stitch with just a bit of lace here & there and this yarn is perfect for plump garter stitch.

The plan is to use 2 colours. I love silver grey and think it goes perfectly with the Leek green. The idea was to cast on for this and kind of get the plan for the shawl worked out. But once I started I just couldn't stop. I've now knitted over 100 rows, used up over half the silver yarn and increased from 6 to 217 stitches. At this rate I'll be finishing it before we go on holiday.

 As this was supposed to be my easy, take along holiday project, I need another one. So I've chosen a new sock design. These socks are a little bit different from anything I've done before and that's about all I'll tell you about it for now.

 I'm knitting stripes and have chosen two recently dyed shades of Super Merino Socks, one of my favourite yarns for socks, in shades 1312 (very dark navy, violet and black) and 1305 (light blue, violet, lilac and pink).

I need to decide on which other knitting to take too. I'm planning to take a bigger laceweight shawl which i need to cast on before we go. I may need another little shawlette too, especially if I finish the Finch shawl. More about holiday knitting next time.

Want to learn to knit like me? Then sign up for my next online Continental Knitting with Norwegian Purl. Registration is happening now. Read what Sarah thought about the course when she tested it for me.

The Whitsand Bay pattern is becoming popular. Today it's been on the Ravelry's Hot Right Now Top 20 list, looks like it's dropped off now though. At the moment you can pre-order the pattern for £2.40. The pattern will be available tomorrow. Don't order it if you're a Lace Lovers Club member though, you'll get the pattern in your first parcel. Lace Lovers Club parcels will be posted tomorrow. I'm planning to drive tomorow for the first time since the op. I'm being careful and the plan is to drive in to town to take the parcels to the post office. It's only a few mins drive and I won't be going over 20-30 miles per hour.