Viktor update



Lake Windermere

we had a lovely week in Bowness-on-Windermere, it was so sunny, D got sunburnt inner elbows! We'd expected it to be cool with some rain and had packed accordingly, taken our waterproofs but no sun cream.
We rented an 18th century fisherman's cottage which was very charming , and thankfully for Jen (and for our sanity) it had wi-fi.
I took my knitting, but it never got touched as I also got engrossed in  Pokémon Emerald. We all had Pokémon games with us (D had White and J had Black) assuming that the weather would be dreadful, as it often is in the Lake District. I didn't manage to finish my game though, although I got 8 gym leader badges I didn't get all the way up Victory road to take on the Elite Four. sigh. I might finish it next year, I suppose.

Our cottage was near this wonderful old pub The Hole Int Wall which was built in 1612 and serves a good range of local ales. I enjoyed a very pleasant Unicorn beer in here.

Now that we're back home, we've collected the dog from the kennels and moved Jack back through to Glasgow (one hairy hungry hound in, one hairy hungry hound out!), I can get back to Viktor. I think I need to do 3 cm before the cuff.
Jen & her pals saw Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part 2 yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. Jack and his flatmates are planning on seeing it today- they're suiting up, going for cocktails then going to see the film. o.0
I'd better get a move on with this sock, and if I can't complete the pair before seeing the film at least get one finished.

We love Bowness for its location and also because there's a good independent cinema there too. While we were there we saw Kung Fu Panda 2 which was ok, not as funny as Kung Fu Panda, but watchable, 3 stars ★★★ but only just. Then we saw Larry Crowne which is a sweet romcom with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. It was ok, only 2 stars though ★★.

I spent yesterday cleaning Jack's room (ugh) while listening to the Commons select committee questioning Rupert & James Murdoch (double ugh) about the phone hacking scandal which has left News Corp, the Metropolitan Police and the UK govt looking at best incompetent and at worst indulging in or ignoring criminal activity. Still, it put Jack's minging bedroom into perspective. It's not illegal(yet) to be untidy!

Joy of Sox

man, that's original, bet no-one has thought of that one before!


Anyhoo, I did finish knitting my first pair of socks in Bowness, and don't they look lovely?


I wore them for my "first" walk, and they were washed and worn again on our jaunt to Keswick. My FIL joked that I would never get lost wearing those socks, so obviously there's a safety element here too as well as comfy feet and delight in making something for myself.


I didn't exactly follow a pattern for these , so I thought I should for the next pair, so I'm using a pattern from Simply Knitting mag, which had a very detailed workshop on sock construction which was very clear & useful for novices like me.


This pair is again in Regia, but in a wool/ cotton mix. The colours are very suitable for the lakes, muted shades of greens, blues/greys with a touch of teal for the ducks and a reddish purple for the heather on the hillsides.



When we went to Kendal I went into the wool shop next door to the 1657 Chocolate house. It was a typical British LYS, a small shop crammed to the rafters with different yarns, and owned by one of the friendliest shopkeepers you could wish to meet. Branthwaite Yarns is well worth a visit. She had quite a range of sock wool so I got some for myself, D and J2.
D and J2 are getting the silk mix, browns and greys for him, peachy colours for her. The red white and blue is for me.


I've told J1 I'll make him socks when his feet are less pungent! Poor kid, but as he really wants a Death of Rats toy, I don't think he's that bothered.