This week....

This week I started the hypnotherapy study. My chosen study was on stress. Of course, I’m not easily influenced. But decided to give it a go in any case as she needed the volunteers. I basically don’t have to do anything different other than knit with the added mp3 to listen to. So picture this…I’m sitting there, knitting and listening to the following…”feel the smooth tools in your hands and how easily they move through the yarn. You are in control, you are in control every day, take 3 deep breaths and feel your body relax, blah blah.” Funny thing is, I found myself breathing deeply almost instantly when someone cut me off in traffic. So maybe it works? Who knows? I have a whole month of listening and knitting to do. And technically should be relaxed BIG TIME! Hey, if it works, I score. If the whole month is going to be like today, then I can deal with being relaxed! The scarf for the study is about 2” in and I actually like the pattern. There is enough variation not to bore you to death and easy to memorise. I doing the 1 row handspun scarf pattern from the Yarn Harlot. Get it here. The yarn is also working well with the pattern and even the Rockstar likes the pattern.
My vintage sweater is still on the sidelines for a bit. Oh, I nearly forgot. I made a shopping bag over the weekend, well over 2 days, to be exact. It’s the Crocheted Eco-Friendly Carryall by Patons and is an easy crochet string bag. Maybe a bit boring but the finished product is nice. I already have 2 others who want one too. But first I’ll have to look for some cotton type yarn that is local. The peaches colours aren’t really what they want. ( Boo to them!) So the bag is one of those that expand and EXPAND and E-X-P-A-N-D-S. You can stuff any amount of stuff in there and there is always space. I used the white, turquoise and lime green balls. I think I used one whole ball of white, half a blue and nearly all the green. I may choose another pattern for the other two-I can’t decide.



And on urgent request, I made the intended dishcloths from the Lily & Cream. One down, one to go. I haven’t used any specific pattern-just made up my own simple pattern of k3, p3 to create the block effect.


In SA news, we took my mother to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. We arrived really early for some breakfast at the restaurant. It is really lush there. Green lawns, indigenous plants and trees. They have laid it all out very well. One section is all about useful plants and have little stories of their traditional uses. Other are dedicated to proteas, Erica and cycads. Very nice. Here are a few pics to drool over.










Maybe I’ll work on the vintage sweater tonight. I want to see some serioud progress on this and won’t allow it to zzz in my bag.
Oh and a little video. Cape Town is also known as the Cape of Storms due to strong winds from time to time. This was taken yesterday. Note that the car was stationery ( i.e. not moving due to peak traffic) and the camera was resting on the steering wheel ( hence not moving either). The movement that you see is due to the gale force winds!! And it was a stinker yesterday-over 30 degrees. Go figure. ( Oh I just realised that you can hear my Mandarin podcast on the video. Hahaha!! )