Two-faced puppets...

This is a knitting/crochet/sewing blog and there are enough problems in my own country. So, I wouldn't waste column inches on a political rant; or would I?

Joking apart, it was a strange coincidence that I finished these two-faced puppets this week.

There are only 3 puppets. But they have 2 faces each and collectively portray fright, sadness, confusion, anger, happiness and worry. I have just posted them off to Knit-for-Nowt from where Clare will allocate them to a therapist who works with traumatised children.

Knitting the glove puppet part was very easy. Getting the faces right took longer. The shape of the eyebrows and spacing of the eyes were key to showing different expressions. I took my time when I had no other distractions. The perfectionist in me even made me move the eyes on one of the faces before I was happy with it. But, now, I'm pleased with how they turned out.

The heat wave is carrying on relentlessly here. We were promised thunder storms yesterday and I had all my buckets out in the garden ready to catch the rain. I think I felt a butterfly spit in my eye. Apart from that, everything is still bone dry. It doesn't make holding wool very appealing; so I have nothing on my needles at the moment. But I'm sure that won't last long!

Nothing much happening...

I don't have any finished items to show, so here is a photo of my latest charity shop find. It's a lovely little ceramic sheep and cost the bargain price of 99p. It usually sits on a low wall in my garden and makes me smile every time I see it. I'm intrigued by the little holes in its hands and wonder what, if anything, it used to hold in a former life. Any ideas?

While I'm on the subject of daft garden ornaments, here is a photo of some wise monkeys that found their way into my garden a couple of months ago:

After taking this photo, I heard that these monkeys don't tolerate the British weather very well. So I have now given them a good coat of yacht varnish and they look much better. I will bring them indoors for the winter months, but they are now waterproof and should shrug off most rain showers. Having said that, of course, my part of the UK hasn't had rain for about 2 months. Here is a photo I took this morning on Blackheath which is a good, healthy stroll from my house:

That is NOT a beach. It should be lush, green grass and it will be again when the rains come...usually as soon as the school holidays start!

The overpowering heat and little distractions such as the football World Cup and the Wimbledon tennis tournament have really slowed down my knitting needles. I am halfway through something that is still at the ugly duckling stage. It should be ready by the time I write my next blog post.

More hats for Operation Orphan...

We are going through an intense heat wave here in the UK. Comparisons are being made to the heat wave of 1976. That one was totally wasted on me as I was busy taking exams that year. So this year has been a bit of a shock. It hasn't rained for goodness knows how many weeks and temperatures have been above 30C every day for at least 2 weeks, with more of the same forecast. So what do I do but knit a woolly hat 😎.

I have knitted many of these in the past. It is very simple. I found the pattern on the Loving Hands website. I don't know whether or not it is still there, but it is called Ellie's Easiest Ever Hat and certainly lives up to its name. It is knit in the round with Aran wool. You simply change the needle size to make it fit a child, teenager, woman or man. I definitely recommend this as a quick, easy pattern.

I have added the hat to others and made a small parcel for Operation Orphan.

I try to send my favourite charities at least one parcel per year. This is a much smaller parcel than I would usually send. But I have been ridiculously busy this year with lots of visits from distant relatives, sorting sheds, trying to keep the garden alive, going to the gym etc etc.