Reporting back...

As the weeks pass, the fallout from the flooding is becoming more apparent.

We were not as badly hit by it as many other people, and we managed to carry most of our things upstairs in time, yet the noise and the heat that the dehumidifiers and huge fans produce are becoming increasingly difficult to live with. We have three dehumidifiers and fans dotted around the ground floor to get rid of any remaining water in the flooring and walls, and they have to be on 24/7. The house is soooo hot, and we are not supposed to open any windows so that the dehumidifiers can work most efficiently. Ack! Still, I shouldn't complain - in comparison to a lot of other people in this region we got off fairly lightly.

Which is why I'm moving on now to what I've been up to in the last two weeks:

1) First of all, I got a job!!! Yay!

2) tidied around the house and thrown a lot of things out that were either damaged by the flooding or that we discovered while shifting things and decided we didn't need.

3) Finally finished the baby quilt for B's little girl, shortly to be sent off to Germany with the baby cardigan:


I used Heather Bailey's instructions for Continuous Quilt Binding, and I love it - so much more neat than my previous efforts! I'm still not convinced of my wonky sewing, and if I made this particular quilt again I would choose some blue thread for the back of the quilt (not keen on the pink), but overall I'm happy with this.

4) Since I was in a finishing kind of mood I tackled a project that is so old I can't even remember when I first started it, although I'm fairly sure that the yarn came from Sherrill at Baa Bonny Belle (thanks again Sherrill!): my Jaywalkers:

I like them (and, as you can see, so does Bean), even though, due to the fact that I knitted half of one sock a long time ago, there is a change in tension, which means that one sock is just right, while the other (the one that was started first) is rather tight around the leg - looks like I don't knit as tightly nowadays... Still, as with the quilt, it's not enough for me to bother changing it and I do like the socks. Somehow the colours remind me of dark cherries, which in turn reminds me of my birthday when I was a child - we always had crates full of cherries in June. :-)

5) I won the birthday contest on Craftylilly's blog and received my price (arrived yesterday) - a beautiful skein of Duet sock yarn in the colourway 'best friends'. Thank you Jennifer, I love it!! Looks like I'll be knitting more socks soon. :-)

6) I received my Gimme Your Stuff swap parcel from Ankaisa in Finland:

It was full of lovely things - a knitting pattern booklet, some pretty yarn, some fabric, two fabric bags, and some pine soap in a cute knitted bag, Thank you Ankaisa!!

It's been a busy few weeks... :-)