General update and a problem with Bagpuss

Hecate has been busy posing, my sister came to visit today and was, I think impressed by the sheer energy of the kitten! It's the first visitor we've had and there was absolutely no sign of nerves, Hecate played and ran and jumped and showed off like the proper little madam that she is!









Kitten likes to help me on the computer by climbing up the back of the computer desk and appearing through the gaps!
It's just as well I hear her scrabble around before she arrives or I'd be rather startled when the head appears!
My sister colects snails, I've had tehse waiting for her but couldn't show them to you until I'd given them to her! They truly do look totally demented!
Sorting through my booksheleves I foudd this book from 1911, it's in great condition and full of wonderfully antiquated advice and guidance for the modern woman! I seem to think I got it as an unsold item from a book sale at work, I forsee many happy moments dipping into it. (I can't promise to follow any of its advice though)
A really nice find from Arklow, the gilt is very bright and complete, unlike earlier pieces with softer gilt that wears away, this seems to be quite a late piece from the factory.
One of the commemorative plates that I've been trying to get for a while, I was offered one for £30 but got this for a third of that which is good!
The sock, progressing because I'm stuck on Bagpuss - There seems to be a mistake on the pattern for the head that I haven't managed to work out - has anyone else had a problem with this?

Socks return

I've mostly been clearing rubbish out of the flat and doing many loads of washing, but these three socks are mates for three of my orphans. The outside two are newly cast on, Hecate did grant me an hours knitting time today, then she got fed up with me and went to sleep out of range of my clearing up manoeuvres.
Finally I found a coffee can with an inscription on it, almost all my others are plain shamrocks.
My eldest sister is up visiting my Mum this week, so I'm hoping i'll see them this week, on the last two occsaions that she has been here I've been poorly and haven't seen her. In addition I have a couple of family things I want to give her to look after, paintings done by my grandma in the days when young girls copied pictures of flowers. They were wrapped in bubble wrap when I moved and have sat behind teh TV ever since!

Knitting and kitten

I wouldn't look at this picture enlarged, it's incredibly blurry! It is, however, progress on a sock. In betweeen doing vast loads of washing and clearing out assorted boxes of junk I've got some knitting done.
Here we have the back and front of Bagpuss,I'm trying to remember where I put the toy stuffing in anticipation of my figuring out the pattern for the head.
Here we have the reason why I got knitting done, bless her, Hecate ran wild for several hours this morning then fell asleep on the settee next to me and slept the sleep of the exhausted kitten.
We do seem to be making progress, she isn't biting as much, and for at least part of the time that I'm in the flat she copes with being on her own and doesn't attach herself to my trouser leg!

Two tries at the day

The weekend had been going well, I've actually got on with sorting out the muddle in the flat, but this morning I went to make a loaf of bread only to find that my bread machine has stopped working, I was deeply unimpressed and went back to bed to sulk - anything that I achieved today was achieved after I got up the second time!
I've been busy sorting out my lounge/dining room, all the debris of planting up the seedlings that the slugs subsequently ate have been cleared up and thrown away and replaced by neat boxes of yarn. Hecate immediately had to check the stack out for me!

She thinks this box is now hers, she spent most of the day climbing in and out of it.
The patchwork has progressed further, but is now waiting for some plain fabric that is on order to act as background of the medallions I'm making.
More Bagpuss - the back has doubled in length and should be finished tomorrow - Hecate willing.
Hecate loves boxes, she climbs in and out of them, scrambles up and down them and if all else fails, chews on them!

Not a sock in sight today!

Given the choice of a comfy padded cat bed, a settee, an armchair and a double bed, you might expect Hecate to sleep on a cardboard box I suppose! She thanks Lixie for the kind words, as do I. It was my choice to end the relationship, but that doesn't make it any easier I find.
Rediscovering patchwork has begun, surprisingly Hecate doesn't seem that interested in me doing this, she attacks kniting, crochet and cross stitch but so far she has slept through me patchworking. I now have 2 ears for Bagpuss - including their linings and the back is begun, the plan is to give this to my Mum for her birthday - strange I know but she likes Bagpuss.
A rather tired piece of Arklow, poor thing has lost most of it's gilt, but I've never seen this shape of pot from there before.

One handed typing?

I am hampered tonight by a kitten who is sleeping in one arm - my downstairs neighbour is having a new bathrom installed and the noise of drills etc has kept Hecate on edge and awake most of the day. It hasn't made for a restful day off work for me either!
I've been emptying the room I use as an office/store room and have about half done it, luckily I'm off work all next week too, I've lots of sorting out to do including sorting through and finding anything that needs retirning to my ex as we split up recently.

This is all the knitting I can show you, a test knit of an ear for Bagpuss as I finally got the yarn for it and a second sock cast on in my bid to complete all the pairs I have started. I've done some more work on things for my secret pal, I'm not getting on as fast as I would like though.
This cup is a fair addition to my collection, although not in the greatest of condition.
This plate, however is in beautiful condition, I'm very pleased to add it to the collection.
This, however is my pride and joy at present as it is the 50th anniversary limited edition plate that the factory produced for the 50th anniversary of the pottery. There were only 1500 made and this is the first one I've ever seen for sale.
I bid on a job lot of 6 items because I wanted the two at the right hand side of this picture - to be hones the rest of the items were not great - I'm not even sure if they are worth trying to resell.
This one I'm afraid I think is particularly awful - made in Japan which is bizarre enough, but I have to ask myself why anyone would think this was a good idea!

The swimming kitten

We hade quite an adventurous day today, it's little wonder that Hecate was sleeping the sleep of the terminally exhausted kitten - early this morning - 2.30am to be fairly exact she followed me into the bathroom and managed to fall down the toilet - I'd forgotten to put the lid down and weight it down, by the time I'd got her out cleaned and dried her it was too late for me to get more sleep before I went to work.


Although tempted I did choose to rescue her rather than finding my camera! She's been totally hyperactive since I got home from work but is now safely sleeping on my bed while I type this.
She has experimented with getting in the back pack I use for work, I suspect she's planning on hitching a ride with me one day!
Look everyone - a pair of socks, I finished the tiger socks for my friend despite Hecate's help. I just hope they fit her now.
The 3 small dishes arrived today from Australia, they match the long oblong dish exactly and I think make a nice complete set.

Almost there!

I will finish this pair of socks this week! I just hope that they fit my mate once they're done! I have made one decision today, I had my hair trimmed recently so my plaits are shorter, as soon as I can I'm getting them cut off - Hecate has taken to swinging from them and hunting them!
I'm thrilled with these, they arrived safely from America today and match a small plate and vase that I have. They're only small, the saucer is 4 inches in diameter but in almost perfect condition.

The tiger marches on

I'm pleased with the progress on the tiger sock, I'd hoped to give this pair to my friend for her birthday, but that was in April, it should be finished by the end of the week anyway which isn't too bad considering how much assistance I get from Hecate. Last night I did achieve some knitting in peace as I bribed her with fresh mackerel which she enjoyed and fell asleep after!

This is another piece of Arklow's art pottery, it goes with some other pieces I have so although it isn't my favourite style I've added it to the collection, especialy as it is an unusual item.
This is far more to my liking, delicately decorated and adds to my shamrock collection!

Tiger sock again

The tiger sock has progressed a little more, luckily Hecate actually allowed me several half hours of uninterrupted knitting on Sunday. She even slept happily in another room for a while, she is only just 12 weeks old and tends to want to be able to see what I'm doing at all times. This results in her following me to the bathroom and me several times only just catching her before she jumped into the toilet! I now keep the lid down and a heavy book on top of it.
The back of my counted cross stitch - some progress has gone on, not as much as I would like and I can't show the front as I don't want anyone to see what it is until it is finished.

I picked up a French knitting bobbin cheaply recently and have thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering this from my childhood, I haven't any plans for the resulting braid, but it is fun!
I'm being taken out for tea tonight as a treat by a great friend of mine who knows that I've been going through a difficult emotional patch lately - I don't expect to get online to blog again until tomorrow as I'll be late home and apologising to a stroppy kitten!

Limping onwards

The second tiger sock limps on. Hecate has been practically attached to me today - helping with everything, in addition I've been knitting and sewing on gifts for my Secret Pal so can't show you what I'm doing.
My new plate from Arklow, only 4 inches in diameter and in perfect conditoin. I did type a better version of this, but when I pressed publish Blogger fell over and lost it all!

No knitting again

I've been looking for these! A certain fur baby had stolen the bag with them in and hidden them, now they've been found I can carry on knitting - except that she's asleep in my left arm whil I type one handed!



She's still keen on watching television. Also she tries to escape through the front door whenever it opens, a big no no until she has been neutered, innoculated and chipped.

My latest piece of Arklow pottery, I have more that matches it and some on it's way from Australia too. Luckily Hecate finds the packaging more interesting than the pottery!