On a more serious note........

See this spot?

It turns out it is a skin cancer!  I had the spot for a few months, at the top of my thigh, on the front.  When it first appeared I just thought it was a 'spot' and it would heal itself away.  Well, it didn't and so I got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, it might have been something more insidious and so I tackled it head on.  I made an appointment with my GP to take a look at it and perhaps give me a definitive yes or no or a reason for this 'spot'.  The GP couldn't say and so a hospital referral was made for me.

At the hospital, a dermatologist looked at it and again couldn't say definately what it was.  So a biopsy was booked.
This involves removing some, or, all of the spot.  For my appointment, the whole spot was removed under local anaesthetic and 6 stitches inserted into the cut.  The removed area was then taken for a check under the microscope to ascertain whether it was a skin cancer, and, if so, what type, and if all of it had been removed.


At my follow-up the consultant has advised me that it was a skin cancer, but one of the easiest to treat, if caught early.  They have removed all of the cancer cells associated with the spot and that is the end of that one....... BUT..........I asked him to check my shoulders for some 'sun-spots' I wanted looking at and whilst he did that he found ANOTHER spot/area that he was concerned about!! Eeek!  So whilst I was there a biopsy nurse took a tiny 'punch biopsy' from this area and it is being checked as I type this.  Depending on the result it might have to be removed completely or treated with a special cream.

So readers, please be careful out in that beautiful sun.  Wear a high factor suncream - 30 or above, stay in the shade during the hottest parts of the day and please, please, mummies and daddies - don't let your children get burnt by the sun.  Unfortunately my damage is done and I will have to live with it's effects but I can certainly preach about the dangers now,

Socks

I decided I needed to tackle something challenge myself.  I love crocheting my granny squares and hexagons, but I could do these in my sleep now.  I don't know what made me fall on a socks pattern, absolutely no idea, but anyhow, this is what I have done.  It's not through a shortage of yarn either.  These are using some of my DK stash.

The pattern comes from an old edition of Lets Knit magazine.

Well they seemed to turn out okay, even with all the colour changes - even if I say so myself!

These are slouchy socks or house socks.  A perfect fit and so warm and comfy.

The next pair are already on the needles, there is so much inspiration out there>>>>>>>>

I am officially addicted!!!

Lazy blogger

I have no excuses for my tardiness in producing any blogworthy news apart from the fact that I have felt a little lazy about hitting the Blogger button.  This stems from the last attempt at making a post which seemed to take  f o r e v e r  thanks to the foibles of Blogger and somehow I don't seem to have time in my days to get stuck on the PC tackling this job.  I have been busy during my idle hours (very usually between the hours of 7.00pm and 9pm when the days chores are over and I can switch off from the demands of the home and family.

I sorted out some yarns that were going to sit about not being created into masterpieces anytime soon and rustled up a stash/project bag a la Attic24.

The yarns were purchased when I started crafting once again about a couple of years ago.  They never made the project they were intended for, but now I am really happy with their purpose.  I used some 4ply yarn, doubled, plus a couple of dk colours thrown in and ta dah!

I have been stocking up on my yarn stash (photos to follow soon) prior to beating the minor VAT increase. (Thanks Mr Darling!)

I can't seem to resist a hexagon nowadays and this is going to be an afghan, don't know how big, I will just go with the flow until it feels right.

I really, really REALLY can't decide whether to frog this afghan!!.  This was my project last winter and took weeks to complete.  The yarn is beautiful 100% wool, it weighs a LOT and I still have not finished tying off the ends at the back.  I really can't decide what to do, but I know I am not in love with it for some reason.  I am fancying using the yarn to 'hex' it up with some different colours.

I have got two other aghan WIPs that I keep dipping in and out of, three cushion covers to complete and a hand-sewn English paper-pieced patchwork to tackle, so a busy Spring is ahead just trying to clear out the WIP cupboard.

Now do you understand why I feel 'time-pressured' for blogging?

Just thought I'd mention that we have had a teeny-weeny bit of snow too!

All that leaves me to do on this post is to say Happy New Year to all my readers and visitors and may all your days be filled with hooky, knitty, crafty goodness.

Sunday morning preparations

Sunday mornings are usually spent in my kitchen cutting, chopping and prearing everything in advance for Sunday Lunch. These cooking apples are going to be made into a scrummy Apple Crumble for pudding and a few stewed down to make the apple sauce to accompany the pork and trimmings I am doing for the main meal.

Whilst doing these preparations I love to listen to Carl Chinn on BBC Radio WM 95.6.  He is on air from 10.00 - 1.00pm and is a font of history regarding Birmingham and the surrounding areas.  He always manages to take me back to my childhood and early years with his reminincences (sic) and features of people, places and times gone by.  Today he had a gentlemen on his show promoting a book - In and About Aston.  I was Aston born and bred and this book features photos of old Aston alongside new photos of the same places as they are today.  All the local book shops have sold out of their copies apparently and Ted  has offered to send out copies that he has at home in time for Christmas.  So I called the telephone number that he gave as a contact and  spoke to his lovely wife Maureen.  I asked for the book to be sent and enquired about payment, thinking that a card might be requested. NO!.  Ted is sending the book out WITHOUT prior payment, just an invoice for a cheque to be sent upon receipt.  Now I love this faith in human nature and really hope that nobody who receives a copy of the book from him let him down with their payment, but blimey, in this day and age, who would take that sort of chance?  Perhaps there is a little bit of naivety going on here but I hope the spirit of Christmas lives on.

(apologies for the lack of links I am running on a tight schedule today regarding time)

Animals

Anyone with a 3 month old kitten will know all about the trials and pitfalls of attempting to put up and decorate the Christmas tree whilst the said kitten is in the same room!!
This is Jess, a new arrival at Neet Manor who is going to earn her keep by acting as Chief Rodent Control Operative (aka Rat Catcher)! You see keeping chickens also has some downsides and rats are the main bugbear. So hopefully once the rats get a whiff of Jess on the prowl they will clear off to pastures new and leave us free of their nuisance. Did I say she was a barn cat? Her Mum was a farm cat and did exactly the same job that we have given her, so hopefully rat-catching is in her genes. She certainly seems keen on the log-pile (aka Rat Towers) up the garden when she is outside, so we will see.


These lot seem comfortable - don't they? Introducing my 4 young chicks. They are 12 weeks old to be precise. I hatched them myself. The two brown ones are pure Welsummer but Dad was a bantam variety and the two grey ones are also Welsummer (Mum) but have a Brahma as a Dad. So they are all brothers and sisters and they roam for miles around the local area, always appearing for lunch and afternoon tea at the appropriate times!


These two are Marans, both hens, again hatched by myself and just coming in to lay for the first time. Chickens are comical characters as anyone who keeps them will know, they get into everything, (mostly stuff you would prefer they didn't) and will take liberties at every opportunity.

Hello Hexagons!

I have finally succumbed and tackled my first hexagon

I used the brilliant tutorial over here to get to grips with it. Be warned though, DO NOT enter the link if you CAN'T crochet or...... if you CAN, you will be doomed to a winter of fantastic inspiration, very addictive projects and some lovely sunny banter from Lucy.


Of course, now I have done my first hexagon I couldn't stop at that could I? So now there is a project in the making using only stash yarn (this is my goal this Winter - to craft with as little expense as needed).

Crochet balls - this time

To keep up with my 'colourful' mood that I am feeling at present, I have rustled up a few little crochet balls to dangle from my Christmas tree.


I will post a picture when they are dangling off the said tree.

How much do you like Cath?

Do you like her £30 more to pay for wellington boots with her name on? Yes £30!!



These are my boots that I brought this week from Aldi (UK) for a grand sum of £8!

They are IDENTICAL in every way, apart from Caths' colourway and spot design, but I think I can live with that one.

I spotted the difference when I was flicking through a free CK Christmas brochure that came with a magazine after I had brought my boots and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Felt ball delight

Take a selection of 100% pure wool (or any yarn that will felt if washed without special care or rovings especially for the purpose).


Wind into a ball, not too loose nor very tight. Here I used a bit of thicker yarn in the centre as the mohair I was using was very fine.


Wind into a nice ball that holds it shape well. I get to the size of a walnut, but you may prefer something larger or tinier (especially if you want beads)


Here are some more made using Garnstudio Drops Eskimo which is brilliant for felting.


Now felt the balls using the 'hand' method. You can use special needles to dry felt, but this way is very satisfying and relaxing. There are lots of very good tutorials out there on the Web describing this process.


Place the wet balls on a rack or something similiar to aid drying. Once they have dripped to the point of being damp, I place them along the back of a radiator and let it do its job.




Once dry you can sit back and admire your handiwork.......


Or you can get busy decorating and let your imagination run away with you.
These are destined for my Christmas tree.

Happy felting!

(PS- hopefully Blogger will allow me to post next time when I want instead of making me wait a week!! Grrrrr!)

Babette frenzy

This is a piece of work that just begs to be kept going. I started last Tuesday and have now done this whole section of the blanket. I am using Garnstudio Muskat yarn which is 100% cotton in glorious saturated colours. It is worked in treble crochet (dc in US) and uses the Target pattern from 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton. I have slightly altered it by only using 5ch at the corners as that suits my tension/yarn better and gives a tidier look. There is a Flickr pool dedicated to Babette Addicts and also a Ravelry group.