Winter Woolies, the Repair Shop, and Up in the Loft.

 With my sewing machine away being serviced, I've been spending a little more time knitting.  Last week I came across a stalled knitting project and set to work finishing the two fronts, knitting with  some hand spun wool sent to me by my late friend Merilyn.

That didn't take too long, and now I'm working on the front bands.  I've almost finished them, so the next step is the neck band, and sew it all together.  Wonder if I can get this finished by next week?

On to the front bands

The weather is certainly turning cooler and my feet really feel the cold weather, so it's time to get my hand knit wooly socks out.   These are my lighter 4ply socks, I'm sure it won't be too long till I'm wearing my nice cozy 12ply socks.   And it's time to change the summer sheets to nice cozy winter sheets too.  I'm feeling the need to cast on another pair of wooly socks too, it's so satisfying to knit your own.

Wooly sock time

I have a handy small folding clothes airer in the garage, and I went to fold it up recently and a bit broke off the foot!  Bother - now I'll have to go and buy another one.  Then I remembered that there is a local Repair Shop who operate one Saturday a month in a local hall, so I popped down to see them.  As it turned out, I knew one of the handy fellows there.    Terry has been volunteering every month, ever since this handy service started about 5 years, but this was my first visit there. The men on the team looked at the problem, and it was soon repaired for me.  That was a bonus, I don't need to go shopping for a new one now - and worry about getting rid of the damaged one.

Checking out my folding clothes airer

This is such a handy service, with all sorts of skills on offer, including two ladies with their sewing machines set up, an electronic guy, and I noticed someone fixing the legs on a coffee table.  There is also a cafe available, so I sat and had a coffee and a scone while watching all the activity taking place in the hall.  I noticed that most of the clients were elderly, a handy service for someone like me who has lost their home handyman.  Anything that Robin couldn't do, he could take to the Menz Shed and get one of the retired experts to help him.

My daughter Nicky and Granddaughter Emma called to see me today.  I had asked the two girls to come and help me with things up in the loft "sometime"  and Emma decided that sometime had arrived.  I really didn't want to climb that fold down ladder, and climb through the hole in the top any more.  Quite a lot of boxes and crates were handed down to Nicky and me standing in the garage.  All the interior and outside Christmas lights were going to Granddaughter Megan, she is a real Christmas fanatic and has her own home.  Son-in-law would be really keen to get the heavy tarpaulin, Nicky suggested, so that went in her car  too.  Nicky took a good quality wheely suitcase from our overseas trips.  What I really wanted to get down were several crates of fabrics, mostly knits, which I will probably donate I think.  And a crate of baby and toddler knits I had made for expected great grandchildren.  It really was a treasure trove of long forgotten items, a long way from being completely cleared but every bit helps.  And Nicky left with her car full to bursting.

I had cooked a nice lunch, or so I thought, of French Onion soup with cheesy toast.  Emma doesn't eat onions, she told me, but had plenty of cheesy toast.  I had also made some rather tasty smoked salmon baby quiches, everyone liked those.  I didn't take any photos of the visit this time, never mind.  It was lovely to see them, and they were so helpful getting all that stuff down, some of it I couldn't remember at all.