English Diamond Quilting Pattern revisited

I did another swatch of the English Diamond Quilting Pattern from Barbara Walkers Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  This time using a contrast colour on the yarn over rows.  This does give you a stripe across the background and more unfortunately I ended up with lots of loose ends.  I'm sure there is a way to get over this if I think a bit  more.  The other problem with this pattern is that it curls badly.  This can be eased by making the Yarn Overs really loose.  I also might try wrapping the yarn over twice, that would be even more effective.

I'm sure something could be done with this.  Not sure what.

A Bakelite Button

Bakelite Button

I love buttons and collect bakelite.  I got this button from a lovely lady at the Shepton Mallet Knit and Stitch show.  She has a shop in Bath - Jessie's Button Box Ltd at the Antiques Centre in Bartlett Street.

This button is smooth and shiny and such an elegant shape.  Cries out be sewn on to something special.

E is for Excel Spreadsheet

English Diamond Quilting Pattern
From A Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Barbara Walker
A Slip Stitch - has possibilities, but tricky to stop it curling up

  E is for Excel Spreadsheet
(part of the A-Z meme for An Accidental Knitter )

Now don't get alarmed.  It's not as bad as it sounds, this won't be a spreadsheet tutorial.  I am finding that I love Slip Stitch the more I do it and have started a collection.  I have set up an Excel spreadsheet with the following headings (I'd love to hear if you think any other information would be useful) :

Reference No. - Yep, a reference no. and each colour variation on it has a subset no. (001a, 001b)
Name  - I am finding stitches without a name, so that's interesting too
Source - Where I found it
Pattern Rows Repeat
Stitch Multiple
Notes - just thoughts and ideas it generates
Date I swatched it -
Swatch details - Yarn, Needle size and no. of stitches cast on
Date I blogged it

Where the source is a bit obscure and might get lost I type out the stitch instructions into a Word Document headed with the reference no.

I photograph the swatch and put the reference no. in the file name

And I put the swatch into a binder, so I can touch it and love it.

Weird Huh?

Catching water

My new Pride and Joy.  A cattle trough my Dad bought for me at a farm sale for a tenner.  It had holes in the bottom, which is why it was cheap.  My chap, The Man Who Can, mended the holes and we put it beside the garage.  He found an old piece of cast iron down pipe which he painted his favourite Bedford Green and it now catches rainwater off the garage roof.   Really useful in this dry weather as I have some lime hating plants in pots and they cannot abide our tap water.

I grew some Ox-eye daisies and Comfrey from seed and have planted these around it.  Insects love the Ox-eye daisies and the Comfrey is good for the compost.  I've also planted a Virginia Creeper to grow up the side of the garage.  Hopefully the creepy-crawlies will like that and the wrens will like the creepy-crawlies.

The plants are just getting established, but I hope it will all end up looking a bit wild and natural.

The cropped top thing

Still moving on with this sleeveless pullover I am designing.  Got the front done and know how I am going to do the back.  Not at all sure about what I am going to do at the neck edge and I suppose you should work that out before you start knitting.  But, hey, where's the fun in that?

I'm rather pleased with the way it's coming along, even if at the end I don't like it on me.  It's shaping exactly as I want it.  The photos don't quite bring out the colours.  They are very subtle and a bit heathery.