Friday Smiles 2022 :Week 44

It has been an 'ordinary' week here, but it is Friday once again so time for us to look back and find what has made us smile. Listening to the news broadcasts these days can be pretty depressing so it is more important than ever to find things to smile about, so I am starting with this very colourful piece of crochet that I have just completed. Just looking at it makes me smile.

It is a mandala called Asteria, and it was made with one of those gorgeous big balls of yarn that gradually changes colour. When I finished it I was only just getting to the lilac section and as I had intended that to be the outer layer, I decided to do one more tier of 'petals'. I used what I had learned of the designers method of increasing in the previous rounds, and managed to make one more without it curling up or pulling too tight anywhere. Of course my yarn then ran out just before I had finished so I used a small ball left over from another project which has given my mandala a dark purple outer edge which I think, finishes it off rather well. It is now being blocked, i.e., being stretched on my foam pads and pinned in place while I spray it lightly with water and steam it, so that hopefully it will stay in shape when I un-pin it. It is approximately 67 cm in diameter so I spent the morning trawling through countless web pages trying to find a hoop large enough to hold it. 60 cm is usually the largest ones, but I finally managed to track down a wooden one that is 70 cm so that should be just right. It will take a while to arrive from Germany but I will show it all again when it is mounted and hanging on the wall.

In the meantime I have made a tentative start on my big project for this winter, with the yarn Chris bought me for my birthday. It is again a colour changing yarn but this one moves rapidly fromn one colour to another over and over. It makes for some interesting confusion! This is the main colour and it is called Paris.

These two balls have the same die number, but as you can see, one is red and the other is pinkish purple. In fact the red one will become purple as I work further into the ball, and the purple one will become red!

Chris isn't sure he likes the pattern yet as it is five different motifs arranges fairly randomly so it is not symmetrical, and as we were both born under the star sign of Libra, we tend to like things to balance. But it is quite different for me so it will be a challenge and I hope I will like it when it is done.

There are four other colours of this yarn in my project, each with a place name, and as you can see in this picture, they all have two main colours within them.

The contrasts in Amsterdam are quite striking! I can see I will have to be very organised and keep the colours in separate bags, and the finished motifs, so that I can assemble it as per the layout provided, without losing my way.

During the summer I bought several plants to go in a large pot in front of our new fountain in the flower corner, but for some reason, none of them flourished. So in the end I bought a large succulent that looks a bit like an open cabbage.

It has done well in its pot but I didn't expect it to do this! Now I am wondering how tall it is going to get, and whether the flower buds will in fact open now it is getting cooler at night. It is almost as tall as me now. I looked it up on google and it appears to be from the family of Echeveria, of which there are many types, and this is probably the one called 'Gypsy'.

A couple of other highlights this week. Chris' eye operation went well and on Wednesday we went back to the doctor at his clinic in Vera, and he has signed him off, so that is a good job done and dusted.

I had a nice chat with our middle son Tom, who lives in Denmark and is moving to a different flat today. The views from his balcony are stunning. We will have try to arrange a visit again next year. This is in the city of Aarhus.

The sun has been shining most days and although the temperature has now dropped a little, it is still warm enough for my summer clothes. I did dig out a few dresses with short sleeves this week and one evening I even put on a light cardigan, but I was soon too warm and took it off again!

However today it has been more overcast and a little cooler so it was nice to see the sun finally break through at teatime. (Better late than never). No pretty colours in the sky but it looked lovely all the same.

And yes, I can see a dog's face coming down towards me. Can you?

I don't think Annie will be around today to link up with but I will visit the 'regulars' and see whether you have posted anyway.