New Year, new skills

Nearly two weeks into the new year and I've just finished the last year's sock orders. Before I start building up the stock for next year's supply to No8 Johnston, I've decided to lean to crochet using the traditional method - using the hook in the right hand and managing the wool with the left. Yesterday involved lots of less than satisfactory practice. Today I started the 'Learn to Crochet' CAL in earnest  and after nearly a full day think I am now getting the hang of the chain, double crochet, half -treble and treble. It still fills cack-handed to be holding the wool with the left hand rather than the right (as when I knit) but it's getting a little easier. Apparently the rectangle I'm making is due to become a cowl. Assuming,  that is, I don't get bored with it and rip it all out and make some more socks with the yarn.

Six months in.........

It's been rather a matter of pride that I have been so busy since I retired in July last year that I've barely had time to post on Facebook let alone up-date my blog, but I must do better this year. I've never been one for a hard-copy diary, but it is nice to keep a record of activities and of course craft finishes, to look back on. Audible the audio-book company sent me a note to say that I'd listened for over 41,000 minutes to audio books in 2017 - and added 39 books to my audio library. What this doesn't tell you is that while listening I've made three quilts, about 70 pairs of socks, a couple of advent calendars, pin cushions, notebook covers, tee-shirt yarn rugs, cooked dinners, ironed my way through the wardrobe and written emails, letters and Christmas cards. The joy of not having a television!

Since before Christmas I've been listening to the Stephen Fry narration of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series and very enjoyable it has been too. Since the start of the New Year I've been doing a little crochet - a cowl (mystic waves by "Stitchin' Mommy" ) and a hat, for a friend who kindly produced some lovely ceramic advent numbers for me. The yarn is Lion Brand's Unique in 'Jewel' colourway. Unfortunately one of the four balls was faulty and had no 'tweed' effect - which is why it became a hat and not part of the infinity scarf/cowl. Back to socks now though and book five - The Order of the Phoenix. 29 listening hours!

Winter woollies on....

July and much of August so far has turned out wet and cool - with monsoonal showers and short periods of warm sunshine. As a result of the less bright days I've been drawn to knitting more than sewing and have  found any excuse to buy more sock wool, despite the size of the existing stash. So parcels of For the Love of Yarn hand-dyed sock yarn, Mothy and the Squid hand-dyed sock yarn, and a whole range of commercial sock yarn picked up from my first visit to Karelia House a wonderful wool yarn and fabric shop near Aberfeldy.

 

I've also been turning 25 old seamless mostly white tee-shirts into yarn to knit into bedside mats. Who knew old tee-shirts could be up cycled in such a creative way? Not convinced yet that I have found the right gauge of needle -- I think I need something slightly smaller, or possibly to use the yarn double. I dyed them all 'Bermuda Blue last month and pressed them before cutting into bias strips about an inch wide. Should be a fun project!

Fresh beginnings

The 7th July has come and gone and I'm now officially retired. As one might have expected the weather has also changed from warm and dry to cool with a lot of rain. The gardening plan is rather on hold! None the less it is good not to have had the alarm clock on for the last few days and to feel able to do as I please. What I have 'pleased' to do is to start a bullet journal as a way of tracking plans for the month including all of those tasks which have been neglected due to work. So the clearing out of cupboards and bookcases is under way, the washing is up to date and the ironing close to being so. The windows have all been cleaned and the house is in a good state of tidiness. Not that retirement should be all housework -- that would be just changing one sort of work for another unpaid version. I plan to spend at least a part of each day on craft activities. And yesterday was wool winding. A strangely satisfying task with a pleasant whir of swift and wool winder. Especially pleasing as it was happening on a Monday!

The last fling before the next thing....

So the 5th July.  I'm in an Aberdeen hotel the night before my last piece of paid work before I retire.  All the preparation is done, and the invoice three-quarters completed ready for the final additions on Friday.  The sending off the invoice and updating of this year's accounts will be the last proper work that I do, from lunchtime on the 7th I plan to be well and truly retired!

I've collected the final printed labels from the graphic designers/print shop and spent a pleasant evening a week ago packaging up and labelling all the socks I have already made.  I do hope that the 'Made in Stirling' shop will want to stock my products but if not I shall find a craft fair at which to sell them.

But socks will be mostly an evening occupation.  Through the summer I hope to get the garden sorted out -- pretty much rebuilt really, and also to go through the house thinning out 'stuff' and reorganising as I go.  I have no doubt that the paper bin will end up very filled and I shall also have a lot of shredding to do.  Some redecoration may be necessary thanks to the ministrations of Wee Hamish and Archie, and once the winter comes I shall be happy to get back to some quilting.

Before then of course, there are a few jollies to enjoy - a short trip to Wales to help with house-packing, a week-long trip to the Faroe Islands for a knitting and stitching holiday and a couple of visits to London to be wined and dined by friends.

And the days creep by....

So I am now down to only 21 working days before the big day, although in my head, having had THAT birthday I am thinking that I should be retired already.  It's odd, how the approaching cut-off time has me seriously procrastinating about doing pretty much anything that's not driven by a work related dead-line.  I find myself saying 'I'll do it when I retire' about everything from the garden to the ironing, from car servicing to the filing.  I've been making mental lists of all the things I need to sort out when I stop work and that is a very long list indeed.  I am still awaiting the final artwork from the designers for the new activity - actually selling the socks that I make (purely as an exercise in recouping the investment I have made in yarn over the years), something I am hoping will be done before the 7th July.  I am mentally compartmentalising the before (mostly work-related tasks, like prep, delivery, travel and finance admin) with after (house, craft, holidays, garden, friends) tasks and projects even though for the last 42 years these have been (mostly) comfortably intertwined.  I wonder whether I have been foolish in agreeing to do some small pieces of work for one of my clients over the next year and whether I should have made a clean break.  Time will tell.

In the meantime there are a couple of nice things to look forward to - a visit to Stobo Castle spa, a long weekend in Lisbon and a couple of good films.  And books, lots of books!  Some of the good stuff started on my birthday with a delightful visit to the Edinburgh Botanical Garden.  May is such a great month to have been born - I love rhododendrons and azaleas and the true blue Himalayan poppy.

The 19th May and only 29 working days until I retire, not that I'm counting or anything!  The 7th July is my last official working day after 42 years! Admittedly I've allowed myself to be persuaded to do a tiny bit of work for the University of Stirling next year -it is only ten minutes up the road and it is a repeat of things I've already done. The weird thing is that when I tell them that I'm retiring people ask "To do what?". My plan is to live in my house, something I've done surprisingly little of over the last five years, catch up on housework, decorating, gardening and importantly get back into some creative endeavours like knitting socks! I'm also looking forward to spending a bit more time with the cats....