Here Comes The Summer -

Woo-ooo, Here Comes The Summer!

Hurrah for The Undertones! Thirty-odd years on, I still find myself singing this one at some point during the sultry hell that is the British Summer - usually while out frying eggs on the pavement.

School closed on Tuesday, after 3 days of end-of-years jollies for the kids, including school trips, the disco, and Sports Day, which was a Gladiators-style challenge between staff and students. I did not join in, partly because I wasn't asked, and partly because I had serious misgivings about the whole thing. Far too many opportunities for harm, given the nature of the little hoodlums. I did have several offers, mainly from the Yr 10 boys, to take me down. Ummm, boys - you do realise I'm Irish? 8 years military? and the body-building/power-lifting thing I did that 15 years on still has me looking like a drag queen in a frock? Frankly I don't trust myself to stand there and take it like a good teacher if one of them decided to assault me for real. So I don't put myself in that situation.

I have plans for the summer - swapping bedrooms with the Offspring, for a start. They are about the same size - his current room is very slightly larger. I did some calculations and figured out our furniture would fit better in his and vice versa, and since ours is further from the living room there'd be less chance of him being disturbed by conversation, tv, etc. I have to paint out the feature wall in our room and put a mural on instead (Thomas the Tank Engine?), then totally repaint his room for us. I've arranged to borrow an overhead projector from school for the mural - I just need to sort out printing a suitable image on acetate. Quite looking forward to it, though I've no idea how to keep IBC out of the way while I do it!

I wanted to say a few words on the subject of converting flat knitting patterns to knitting in the round. But I think I shall write a knol on the topic. A list of my knols are on the sidebar, just below my pattern(s) - please note, not all are complete!

So, dear reader, to knitting: the Hoodie for IBC is completed. He calls it his 'special coat', bless. And two more pairs of socks, one in the Aston Villa colour scheme, the other a simple claret rib with a stocking stitch heel, toe and footbed. The final pair in AVFC colours - a ribbed Fibonacci sequence pattern - are on the needles as we speak. After that, we get onto other colours, woo-hoo!











I have also completed the Presto Chango for my colleague. I made the 6m size because she told me her medicos said the baby would be about 10lb. I did speak briefly of my own experience of expecting a 14lb+ monster - multiple scans, hysterical midwives (my favourite knitting tape measure is the one dropped by the midwife as she ran out of the room shouting for an ambulance*), planned inducing, etc., only to pop a medium-sized 8lb-er, but she was not having any of it, she was having a big un. I held my peace as it was announced in briefing that she had had a 6lb 3oz boy... At least the Presto Chango will fit him - eventually!

I've since begun a second Presto Chango for my niece. It'll be different. I'm doing it more or less in the round, with lace sleeves, and the inserts will obviously be different too. No pics yet.

That's about it for now

TTFN
K

* - Max bump size at full term: 40-42cm. My bump size with 3 weeks to go: 48cm. Cue a fortnight of to-ing and fro-ing to the hospital, observation stays, more flippin' scans. I went a little crazy, as detailed in my LJ... starting here...