knitting

I'm not doing any quilting at present due to working and days away but I'm knitting. Last week I spent 3 days in Edinburgh, spending some time with SofM and this coming weekend we are in North Yorkshire for a long weekend.

The above photo shows the start of a waistcoat (I've mislaid the pattern) but I am finding the cables hard on my hands so I am only doing the odd row here and there, also I won't wear this until the backend. 

It is being knitted in this!

The other thing I'm knitting is a little cardigan with short sleeves

The left front which is now finished and the right front is started.

It is being knitted in this!

2 new pattern books

The first of a pair of socks!

My pouch

My Mouthy Stitches pouch arrived last week.

My partner couldn't picked a better idea if she had tried. I've been into Union flag things since the royal wedding last year and with the Queen's Jubilee this year it is perfect! 

The back!

Me!

Looks like the cat's got the cream!

I got the job! I've known since last Thursday but there were a few official things I wanted to do first before announcing it on the interweb. I am now working a month's notice and hope to start on 16th April.

I have had a few ups and downs in my present job in recent weeks which has upset me greatly. I am now in a better position and will be leaving on good terms which I am really pleased about. It would spoil the beginning of my new job if things hadn't been sorted. There has been a lot of mis-information going on that put me in very difficult position and it has been a very unpleasant time.

My new job is as a Home Manager of a 48 bedded care home for clients with dementia. This is a promotion as I have been working as a Deputy Home Manager. The company I will be working for is the new company that has developed as a result of Southern Cross closing down in the Autumn. I am very exciting about it, there should be a lot new things going on and it is a chance to get older people's care right. It will be a hard job with a lot of responsibility, also long hours at first whilst getting to grips with what needs to be done in the home. I will also have a been further to travel but the job will be mainly Monday to Friday rather that shift work but there are up sides - a pay increase which is great as I haven't had an increase for nearly 3 years and a chance to make my mark and 'do it my way'. I feel I have to give it a go, I will regret it if I don't try.

It's funny how things work out. The interview for this job was done in 3 parts. First I had to go to a different home for the first interview with the person that will be my line manager. This person was our line manager for my current home a few years ago so knew the home I work in and knows that it is a very good home. I went for that interview 2 weeks ago when I was on holiday. It was arranged at short notice and whilst I was there it was arranged that I would go to 'my' home and do an action plan of things that need to be sorted (this is the 2nd part of the process). Normally they would contact the recruitment agency and arrange that date later. The 3rd part of the process was to meet the Operations Director responsible for the home. The recruitment agency rang me and told me that the Operations Director wanted to see me on the same day as I did the action plan, again normally I would have done the action plan, it would be sent to the Director and then the agency would ring me with a date for the other interview. When I got to the interview with the Director, another Ops Director was there. This person had been our Ops Manager for about 2 years before Southern Cross broke up (she got promotion) so I am known personally as is the home I currently work it. It was so nice to see this person and it boded well, especially as this 2nd Ops Director winked at me as I left.

I am one very happy, lucky girl. Whether I still feel like this in 6 months we shall see! 

Part of our back garden is on quite a large slope and at the top is the fence you can see in this photo. At the back of our houses are some very large Victorian houses with big back gardens and mature trees. This means lots of birds, especially as our neighbours have a large feeding station in their garden. Our upstairs windows are level with the sloping garden and the fence so when I am in SofM's bedroom (future permanent sewing room, currently temporary sewing room) I can spend hours watching birds.

The other day when I was in there this wood pigeon spent ages sat on the fence, it is a well fed pigeon so probably has a hard time to take off!

Wood pigeons are the commonest UK pigeon and can be a nuisance in towns and cities. In Northwich a lot of the buildings with wooden carvings on them have wire netting on them to stop them roosting and pooping. I'm not keen on them in our towns and cities, I hate the way they fly just above your head looking for food, also they can carry disease so as a nurse I'm doubly not keen.

Anyway this one kept me amused for about an hour and a half! 

 

Mouthy Stitches pouch

My finished Mouthy Stitches zippered pouch! A week late - I'm sorry, life got in the way. It will go in the post on Monday morning as I didn't finish it until about 2 hours ago.

It stood up.

The inside.

The scraps to be sent with it.

I think I will need to think carefully about entering into any more swaps. I love taking part, I love making something for someone else and I love receiving the swap parcel. I always stretch myself and this time I've learnt things about my relatively new sewing machine. But I find myself running out time because life takes over and it puts me under a lot of pressure. When I change my job I'll have less time as I will work over 5 days instead of 4 and at first I'll be working more hours.

There are so many quilts I want to make for friends and family, I think I'll will have to concentrate on those. If I can't quilt for any reason in the future I will regret not making quilts for those that are dearest to me. I may think about one of the Christmas swaps if there one about as I really love doing the Christmas swaps but I do have to think about how I use my diminishing time. 

This virus is hanging about, I've felt quite rough today, I'm glad I haven't to work.

Charity quilt day!

Last Saturday (before I went down with the lurgy) I attended Hartford Quilters workshop day. The very kind ladies historically spend a day or so a year making quilts for a charitable cause. This year they agreed to make some small lap quilts for my nursing home which I am very grateful for, especially as I've not been in the group very long.

These photos show where we had got up to by the end of the day.

The ladies could decide what pattern they wanted to use and a lot of them chose the railfence block that I'd used for my quilt (see last photo)

A lot of the fabric had been donated by a lady I don't know but I'm very grateful to her. 

You may remember this quilt. This is one of the 4 charity quilts I made last year but hadn't finished. I spend the morning quilting it, it just needs binding now. I've nearly finished hand stitching the binding on another and the 2 others need quilting.