All things woolly

Looking back over the recent posts it appears that I've made no mention of any of the knitting I've been doing since the start of the year.  Its not been a lot compared to other years but there has been some.

I finally got my stash cupboard sorted and can now see what I have.  I really shouldn't be buying any more yarn for some time....

These are the projects that have found their way off my needles

Balaclavas for the boys

for Claire

Holden shawl for Rachel

Easy Street shawl

Shawl I made up using odd stitches and
using Northern Lights yarn

Saroyan scarf using WYS Aire Valley Fusion aran

Yarn purchases from the Edinburgh Yarn Festival

Ten stitch blanket using WYS Aire Valley Fusion aran

for Jessica - using Stylecraft Special DK -
pattern Stylecraft 8980

Ode to Pinstriping - for Sara

Another Ten stitch blanket is currently underway.  This one is for Gus.  I'm using up blues and greens from my stash for this one.  It is chunky weight, I use as many strands as I need to get 7 wraps per inch. I'm a bit anal about completing each round in the same colours so have to judge my quantities carefully, not so easy as it gets bigger

I also have the yarn to make Gus a new hooded cardigan but as yet to get that one started.  So much yarn so many possibilities......

The Garden

For the last few weeks we have been concentrating on the garden, I shared with you the before photos at the end of my previous post. We have dug a mountain of roots and stones. Existing plants have been moved around. Two new seating areas created, and lots of new plants installed, with more to come.  I never seem to come home these days without a plant or two in tow.  How I wish I'd taken more from my old garden

Lots has been going on outside........

just a few of the many

second trip to the garden centre

start of a herb garden to the side of the house

Old family bench installed in a quiet corner -
lots of perennials added here can't wait for them to
get established

The wrought iron from the old glass doors does duty as
 trellis.  A huge Choisya was cut hard back here, and is
now starting to sprout back (thank goodness),
same goes for a rampant clematis and honeysuckle

Old and new - I've since added lots more perennials

This area is still a work in progress -
there will be grass back to the fence

There is now a small veg patch to the left of this shrub
and I've started planting around the small patio

That's where we are in the garden. I've also planted up a border of roses in the front garden and there is an area to grass seed there too, but I'll save that for another day. It will never be as grand as Station Rd, but once done will be more than enough and easy to maintain before and after we go off on our travels.

Next up will be a knitting update, until the next time

Finally, before and after

Finally we have waved goodbye to the last of the trades people and the house is ours. We still have pictures, photos and the like to sort and hang but otherwise we are done inside.  The garden is another matter, a work in progress, but with new fencing installed the garden is secure and private.  We had all the conifer trees removed.  There is lots of soil to move around and to level out, and also lots of tree roots to dig out. We also have the front of the house to sort, replacing some timber on the garage and painting the door.  Peter wants to replace all the guttering for white too, so as you can see we have plenty to be getting on with.  So what have we done?

The kitchen - before

and after

The back sitting room - minus light fitting and curtains, we still need to choose those

- before

and after

The lounge - before

and after, archway and fireplace removed

Cloakroom - before

and after

Hall and stairs - before

and after - the space under the stairs has been utilised and we now have lots more storage space here

closeup of carpet

Bedrooms - before

and after - cupboards were built into the eaves space to give us masses of storage without using any floor space

Bathroom - before

and after

We have gone for a palette of greens, greys and blue adding touches of colour here and there.  All the walls were painted in Dulux white mist, the carpets in the lounge and bedrooms - grey.  Tiled floors in the bathroom and cloakroom, also grey. Amtico in the kitchen, also grey but on the cream spectrum.  The hall and back sitting room have parquet flooring which we discovered under the old carpets.  The back sitting room has our old sofa so the only room thats not too grey, but as I said, still not got curtains for this room.  We installed vertical blinds for extra privacy as the lounge window is over 4m wide and it's a bit like sitting in a goldfish bowl, also its gets very hot and sunny so at least the new sofas won't get damaged. It's a much smaller property than we had before, but with the changes we have made feels roomy and to be honest we don't miss the old place, apart from the barn and the garden - though we'd have no time for all that now. We are really happy with how it's all turned out, but not keen on doing it again!

Front -

Garden - before

after the trees came down, see the fences we were left with, the trees were hiding just how bad they were

new fencing installed

watch this space for the after photos..........