Friday Smiles 2024 Week 8

Friday again and the sun is still shining, despite orange and yellow alerts on the forecast page for rain, storms and a deep drop in temperature. So we will wait and see what the weekend brings. But in the meantime we will continue to enjoy the warmth and sun. I have even shed a layer of clothes because it was so warm sitting outside to eat lunch yesterday, though I know I will probably need it again in a day or two.

The garden is enjoying the sun too. This morning I noticed several buds on my fresias out in the front yard. It is way earlier than I usually see them. Also the jasmine is again bursting out with more flowers every day. You can see here just how many buds are on it. The lovely perfume fills the house when I open the window in the morning.

This is the poinsettia we thought we would plant out after it had sat in a pot all through the Christmas  season 2021. It hasn't grown a great deal but it still looks really healthy and now some of the leaves are turning red. I am hoping it will continue to grow and thrive.

I have been having fun getting to grips with the laser cutter a friend lent me. I bought some 15mm bass-plywood and a few A4 sheets of 3mm birch-plywood. Here are just a few of my trial runs. I cut a small square from the thinner wood and then engraved a picture of Leo. This started out as a photo so I had to learn how to use Gimp to change it to a black and white line sketch and remove the background before I could engrave it. One thing I learned is that it was a mistake to cut this against the grain of the wood, so next time I will turn the base around first.

Next I tried cutting out a couple of plain shapes. It took a lot of passes and the 'smoke' and fumes were not very pleasant, but fortunately I was able to work with the window wide open. You may just notice that I lost the tip of the music note tail, by being too impatient. Another lesson learned. Hopefully I will have a completed project to show in a week or two.

It really made me smile when I took in this parcel from a courier yesterday. I had ordered the wool for a new project and the only place in Europe I can order it from is the Netherlands. The postage was high, but as it was a big order I decided to accept that. They always send their orders in these boxes. I wonder how many others have smiled at it as it travelled across to me?

And of course, what was inside made me smile even more. I took this photo in bright sunlight but although the blue and grey are pretty close to their true colour, the third one is not orange as it looks here. It is a shade called 'tomato', and has a much pinker/redder hue with just a hint of orange.

Right now I am busy working on my Tunisian crochet hexagons. I chose a much better contrast colour for the second one and the pattern stands out well. Here it is on my blocking boards, to make sure it is the same size as the first one.

Tonight I will finish the third hexagon. I used a varigated blue wool for the contrast this time, and it has worked well. You can see why I need to block them. 

I am happy to have got the hang of this technique, but the blue main colour splits very easily, which is a nuisance. Also these are made with 4ply wool and I much prefer to work with Double Knitting weight, so I will be having a go at a motif with the new wool in a day or two.

Today is my 'baby boy's' birthday. He is actually thirty seven but he will always be my baby. Born when I was in my fortieth year, (which was considered unusual in those days), I was always grateful to have such a healthy and happy baby. He completed our family and has brought lots of joy to many people, with his music.

It was also my sister's birthday yesterday and she was eighty-nine. So a very happy birthday to both of them.

Now I will get ready to link up with Annie's Smiles in the morning, and get outside in the sun for a while.