Purl's On The Move

A very quick post today because, Dear Reader, I am PACKING. I have been packing since lunchtime and so far I have a mountain of boxes and one tiny room is nearly empty. I have until Wednesday afternoon to pack for the move and then I am on holiday for 10 days and the day after I get back from the holiday I am moving.
I can't imagine how I will get everything into the pitifully inadequate number of boxes I have, or how I can do it in the time available.
Thanks for listening. I'm off to do some more now.

Oh, and last week The Intern became a Graduate Consultant. I have finally got the camera back from him, and here is a taster - I promise I'll sit down and write about it properly in a few days.

Jam Tomorrow...

...jam today, jam for years and years I should think. We went back to the PYO farm last weekend to get raspberries, and I made them into jam that very day. The next day I defrosted the strawberries and made strawberry jam (and remembered to take some pictures). I decided to get sugar with pectin in, to be sure of a set, as I had read that strawberry jam is sometimes difficult in that respect. I strolled over to Sainsbury's and when I reached the sugar aisle I couldn't get to the jam sugar as someone else was anxiously loking at it. They noticed me hovering and moved aside, and when they saw me putting 3 bags of jam sugar in my basket they asked me if I knew how to make strawberry jam. I most certainly do! I said proudly. I hope my advice worked, otherwise I guess they might be waiting for me at Sainsbury's next week with their ruined jam to pour over me.
So, here's the jam being poured



A row of lovely clean jars being filled.


I ended up with 9lbs of strawberry jam and 7 1/2 lbs of raspberry, (with apologies to anyone who lives in the 21st century. I can do kilograms and all that, I've just never done jam that way). And in case anyone thinks I'm going to be guzzling it all myself, I have started giving it away, but I do keep some for me and very nice it is too.

NEXT TIME on Purls in the Pool: Queen of the Waves update and I also hope there will be some exciting news!

In Which I Finish a Crochet Project

After six weeks of intensive crocheting, here at last is the Tess Dawson Floral Summer Shrug. It is really a very simple shape, basically I crocheted a rectangle and then joined up the two ends into a tube with more crochet, leaving the centre open to be the body.



I really like it, and it is light and comfortable to wear, too. I could get into this crochet lark. Oh well, now for a knitting project. I'm going to cast on for the Queen of the Waves Shawl by Ilga Leja, using this absolutely gorgeous merino tencel custom dyed for me by the lovely Natalie at the Yarn Yard. *Drool*



Excuse me, I have to go and wind it into balls RIGHT NOW.