Late Winter Blooms

I know that it has been along while since my last post - apologies once more - but not a lot has been happening here so far in 2014 apart from the incessant rainfall and roaring gale force winds that is.  My netbook decided to die on me in January which left me with a couple of weeks without a computer then we all caught the flu. So my Babette blanket was perfect for snuggling under whilst lying on the settee. Not much weaving has been done since the end of last year as I think my weaving muse has gone on a holiday to sunnier climes for a while, but I have been doing a lot of knitting in front of the log burner trying not to notice the lashing rain on the windows. 

I knitted this cardigan over the Christmas holiday period finishing just before New Year. It is a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern which I downloaded from Patternfish and is my first top down project. It was lovely to knit and I will certainly be using the pattern again. The yarn is some of my hand spun which is a rough blend of one of my own sheep's fleeces and some kid mohair. I spun the yarn quite a long time ago and I had tried knitting a couple of things before with it but wasn't happy with the results so I unravelled it. The stuff has been sitting in my stash for about two years and each time I came across it I didn't now what to knit with it. However after a quick swatch it turned out to be perfect for this project! And it knitted up lovely and the mohair should hopefully bloom a bit once I start wearing it. I just need to get some buttons.

Other knitting projects at the moment include a trio of Elizabeth Zimmerman items, two jumpers which have reached the armhole stage and one shawl which is halfway through. I have also done loads of spinning and drum carding trying to work my way through the enormous pile of fleeces that I have amassed before this years shearing is upon us. Quite what I shall do with all the yarn when it's spun up I don't know but I enjoy spinning so much I don't really care!
The garden is looking quite dreadful at the moment. It has been raining so much since the end of last year that the ground it totally waterlogged. Some of the border edges have been flooded several times. I just hope we haven't lost too many plants. Here are a few examples of flowers which are braving the elements at the moment here in my garden.

 

This double primrose has been in flower since Christmas.

 

 

 

 

Surely the rain has to stop soon? I find it hard to imagine myself mowing the lawn ever again! At least the evenings are getting lighter. I hope we have a dry Spring the year.