I have ordered me some gorgeous sock yarn from Allison (of course) and look what came with it !!!!
Such a sweet, thoughtful gift and they really have cheered me up - I just sat there this morning hugging my yarn and grinning at my happy stitch markers. They are really well made and displayed, a treat to look at. I think I will be collecting some more of those later on in the year for various birthdays because I think they are ideal little pressies.
A huge THANK YOU Allison, this really made my day and the sock yarn is even more scrummy in life than in photos - now I need to find a suitable sock pattern to do it justice. I was going to go for plain rib and stocking stitch but I think yarn like this needs to be used for something a little more flamboyant - a lacey stitch or something like that. Might have to buy another book !!!!
Took Alex to his swimming class this evening - we sat there in the 70s building which has a corrugated plastic roof on wooden beams, so it was streaming with condensation and it felt like it would be dryer to sit in the pool itself. Alex was doing well until his teacher took them into the big pool - she made them hold the rail while she went with each one across the pool and of course Alex decided to let go and swim around - she panicked and shouted at him and of course that was it - he went into melt down in the pool - I had to go down to poolside and it took two of us to lift him out and quite a long time to calm him down. The poor teacher was shocked by his reaction, although she knows he has Aspergers, this is the first time it has impacted on his swimming and I think it frightened her a bit. It doesn't help that, although he is doing very well at school educationally, he has also picked up some shocking bad language from the other children and uses it freely. I keep telling people to ignore it as he will eventually get fed up if he gets no reaction from it, but it is very difficult to do so when he is f-ing and blinding and calling people names !!! But I guess that's all kids to some degree. He just does it more explosively.
His emotional development seems to have stalled - he only recognises two emotions - excited and angry. Although he knows the names for the others and can match them to facial expressions on a poster, he cannot link them with himself. This is a massive barrier but I am confident that we will crack it eventually. He is very young to have been diagnosed and statemented, a lot of children don't get diagnosed until they are 9 or 10 and have already been labelled as a naughty child or stupid.
I am currently knitting the Alan Dart chess set, and the board is enormous. So much so that I am going to make it into a piece of wall art as there is nowhere else to store it, and I think it will look good on the wall. I am going to put a little magnet under each square, as the pieces are all designed to have a steel nut in the bottom to add stability, so I can use that to stick them to the board - I think that will look good on a wall although it will have to be in a secure area to avoid them being knocked off by passers by and 7 year old hurricanes.
Also on the needles is a heart shaped boudoir cushion - designed by me. Actually the cushion is finished, I am now knitting loads of flowers to sew to it. I have added Lavender to the stuffing, and the idea is to cover the front in flowers. The back is a piece of red felt cut from a felted jumper and sewed to the knitted front. I am quite pleased with it, and I am planning to release the pattern through Ravelry - for 50p or £1 I think depending on how it is received. I think, with the Lavender in it, it will make a good sleep pillow to tuck down the side of your main pillows so that the soothing smell of Lavender will help you go to sleep. That is the idea anyway.
My sugar levels have stabilised although they are still too high at round about 14 to 15 mmol (ideally they want to be below 10) but they are considerably better than they were and I have lost weight as well - so bonus all round. I have started having my main meals on a side plate and I have found that I am still feeling full, so it is obviously a psychological thing as much as anything.
Last Saturday I went to the Hobbycraft and Creative Stitches show at Blue Water with my Mum. We weren't entirely impressed with the Hobbycraft side as all the stalls were papercrafts and we didn't think that there was enough variety. But the Creative Stitches part made up for that. There was the Under and Over the Sea exhibition there - the knitted tent containing all manner of knitted and crocheted under and over water stuff such as coral reefs, mermaids, a submarine, jellyfish, fish a sea monster, a shark and a fisherman - there was so much work in it and it was fascinating to walk through.
There was a goodly variety of stalls from cross stitch to beads and art to dyeing. Mum and I both took a class in working in pastels and produced a snowy scene with trees and people in it. I am really impressed with my own work and I am going to frame it. Tried to today but made a total pigs ear of the mount board so I am going to take it into town tomorrow to get it properly done.
I bought some amazing beads, in the shape of chrysanthemums, made from crushed gemstone mixed with resin. They weren't cheap, but I am planning to add them to a piece of knitted wall art. I will be running out of walls very soon :)
