Good news, sad news, sailor jerrys and a rasberry.

Well, what a week its been since I last made my pledge. A health scare, a riot, a dear friend losing a dear friend, topped off by a raspberry in my face and I'm drinking sailor Jerry's as I write.

So where are the hearts?
I started as I promised, one for each day, but as the days became filled with sadness and worry, the hearts stopped flowing. Knitting seemed so inappropriate, in the grand scale of things, hearts were the last thing I wanted to think about...
Now I think about it they should've been the first. What does a person need more than a heart when they are sad, a gift from a friend, a brightly coloured heart shaped comforter to snuggle up to, or throw at the person who's upset them. (that one would of course be filled with something heavier than the usual cushion fluff) and may be used as a suitable weapon against rioters.
  
So here they are, the ones that I did before I gave up, stay tuned for the ones I will do now I have re-alised their significance.

Id forgotten that knitting isn't just about two sticks and some wool and perhaps something nice at the end. Its about distraction, calm, creation and ultimately smiles.
I received a gift today from a very good friend, passed over from a relative of hers. It was a bag full of knitting needles, some wool and some projects half finished, waiting to be made and worn.
That brought it home to me, once you start, even if you stop, you can still bring joy to others,what could be more exciting than something already half way to being worn.

 I'm itching to get on with them, not stuck halfway through, in a jumpery sort of way a metaphor for life I think.

A naughty story

Ok, here we go. Day one of the heart challenge, and who would've guessed it but I was lucky enough to get a lovely story to tell you with this one. First things first, the heart ....

Next things next, the story.....

So there I was sitting on the bus on my way home, putting the finishing touches to the pale blue ensemble above, when the chap sat next to me tapped me on the shoulder and asked what I was knitting.

I tried to show him that it was a heart but I don't think he was convinced, to be fair it was on three needles at the time and slightly scrunched up half in half out of my handbag.

He then went on to ask "would you like to hear a naughty story?" Now generally when someone asks me this kind of question on the bus I run a mile, get off at the next stop and then walk a mile, but on this occasion he seemed a sweet old man so I nodded cautiously with a tenatative smile.

"Well" he said "My mum was a big knitter when I was a child, we would come home from school and sneak in as quietly as we could because she would be knitting, listening to the radio, making tea, and (when we well off enough to own one) watching televion all at the same time." Talk about multi-tasking! "Anyway" he said " one year she had knitted me a pale blue V neck jumper, with long sleeves and everything!" (Picture a massive big smile on his face. "It was to be my christmas present, but I didn't want to wait, I had a dance coming up with a special young lady that I knew would be there", so he said..."and here's the naughty bit"...."I stole it out of her wardrobe, wore it to the dance, and then put it back in the wardrobe and pretended to be surprised on Christmas Day!"

All I can say is let's go back to those days where stealing a jumper becomes a naughty story and where tennage boys are proud of their mothers for their ability to keep them warm and snuggly in a jumper made to match their eyes."With long sleeves and everything!"