One down, two still flying

I was pleased to hear that the bag sent to the US has landed right on target, and hope that the Canada and Australia ones land soon.

In my frenzy of tidying yesterday I discovered located no fewer than THREE boxes of fabric. There may be another giveaway on the cards, any suggestions welcome.

The knitting stash will be raided, very soon, for pale coloured yarns. Although Deb's suppliers have generously offered some free yarn I intend to use some of my stash for the Angel babies project. I may have some white, if there is any, from the freebie yarn to lighten my blankets. I only have a small amount, leftovers from some long forgotten make.

The first Regia sock is done, it is just like the ball band illustration to the heel start then it changes completely. Thisis because i used the heel pattern from "Vanilla is the New Black", a paid for pattern on ravelry by Anneh Fletcher. It has become my Go To heel, it is a perfect fit for both Francesca and the SO and is a dream to knit.
Although I do like the afterthought heel for speed and the opportunity to add a splash of contrast colour ( and use up leftovers), the Vanilla heel is my favourite. I will have to content myself with adding a contrast cuff and toe.

The ball showing the waste yarn, it is a centre pull.

The ball band outer.

The inner side shows each stage with brief written instructions.

The finished sock, as you can see the colour pools at the heel turn but it is not a problem as the second sock will  (it better!)  be identical.

I have had a very kind offer of a peg weaving loom and will be making a phone call later to discuss a swap. The loom for  sock knitting assistance, always happy to talk knitting, it sounds like the perfect deal from my side.

Nothing much left to say today except that the new apple tree looks very perky this morning. It is 5 years old and has flowers just opening, if any get pollinated and set fruit I will take all but 1 on each branch off, after the June Drop of course. I am impatient to have the fruit but do not want to spoil next years crop by overworking the tree this year.

It is on semi dwarfing root stock so will not become unmanageable in the years to come. I chose all my  fruit trees on either dwarfing or semi dwarfing root stock for the same reason. I have done my fair share of climbing up fruit trees that were taller than the house. I will be able to reach all these from ground level or at the most a set of low steps.

Time to enjoy the cuppa that has just materialised beside me. Oh the joy of magic in the house.

                         TTFN                                        Pam