Just in time for summer...

Gosh Gail, this is most kind of you to be knitting me a nice cosy blanket. Thank you so much. Is it nearly finished?

Bertie! No!

What's the problem Gail?

You know perfectly well Bertie that it's not a blanket for you, it is a new jumper for myself. You even posted about it back in January. Now please shift over and let me get on with the knit-one-purl-one crew neck.

A FEW DAYS LATER 

Oh well done Gail. So you have completed your nice warm jumper just in time for summer.

To be honest Bertie, I am not sure here whether you are being sarcastic or are making a realistic appraisal of the weather conditions to be expected in a typical Scottish summer. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt...

PS The good news is that we have made it across to Torridon to check up on the cottage and, for one day at least, the sun shone warmly. 

Camouflage?

It's been cold and grey in Aberdeen this week, and I have spent much of the time snuggled up on the sofa beside Gail, closely monitoring the progress of her latest knitting project.

Hmmm, it seems that Gail has started on a new jumper for herself. The colour reminds me of our Scottish landscape in August, when the hillsides are resplendent with the purple glow of heather.

I wonder if Gail intends this new garment as camouflage? With a fair wind, she should have it ready to wear for when the heather comes into bloom later this year! 

I too would like a purple sweater - perfect attire for a spot of deer stalking, don't you think?

Happy Nature Friday friends! Here are some more old pictures of me out and about in the heather-clad hills.

Thank you once again to the LLB Gang for hosting this our favourite blog hop. Do jump aboard! 

Accurate predictions

Well in this household we've given up trying to forecast the spread of The Virus, or the results of a certain Election, but I am pleased to report that my friends who on Monday predicted I would look 'pawsome' in my now completed Nordic jumper were absolutely spot on. 

I'm sure you'll agree.

Now where are my Christmas party invites...?

A snowflake? Moi?

Forget about the Covid-19, it was a weather enforced lockdown here in Aberdeen this weekend.

So it seems Gail is knitting me a new winter jumper, with a Nordic theme. 

Mind those pointy needles please!

OK, let's have a closer look.

Hmmm. I hope no-one is going to start calling me a 'snowflake'...

Knitting assistant Bertie gets bored

It is absolutely not my fault that Gail took for ever to finish the woolly jumper she started knitting back in the Spring...

In case you were wondering, I did not get in the way, I provided support.

Finally, courtesy of a very rainy weekend, the apparently never ending task was complete.

And thank goodness there was still time for a damp Sunday afternoon romp around Millstone Hill. 

Such fun while it lasted.

Sadly last week's snow melted away too soon into a mess of muddy sludge, so the focus chez Bertie has turned to domestic matters. 

Did I mention already that Gail is knitting me a new jumper for Christmas? I am pleased to report that, unlike the sweater worn by one of Gail's colleagues to the work Xmas lunch, mine will not feature mating reindeer, nor indeed any other symbols of dubiously tasteful seasonal 'fun'. I offer you a sneak preview of the work in progress.

Oh and talking of fun, I have to say I did enjoy seeing Gail's friends Margaret and Jeffrey, who came round to our place on Saturday night. Not only did Margaret bring me some delicious biscuits, but she left her handbag open so I was able to excavate a treasure trove of tissues while everyone else was distracted by the pork fillet with homemade stuffing which Gail served up for dinner.

Although I was not offered any of the pork at the time, I have high hopes that some of the leftovers pictured below might make their way into my food bowl very soon. 

Toodle pip!

Bertie (ever the optimist).

Thank you Sheep

So it was my first visit to the Torridon cottage for, like, ages, and I hastened over to my Shetland sheep neighbours to show them my new jumper and to thank them for providing the wool.

To be honest, they didn’t seem that interested or impressed, although gauging the expression on the face of a sheep is perhaps not the easiest thing.

Then,  I spotted these wee fellows hiding behind their mum, and learned that they were only a few hours old.

Gosh, have you ever felt in danger of being out-cuted? Gail was all ooh and aah and look at the little lambykins.

Being of a more practical bent, I was already planning a colour scheme for next year’s sweater.

PS In case you are thinking, Bertie, now Spring has arrived perhaps you might be a little too warm in that woolly sweater, I would like to point out that on Sunday morning when I woke up there was a sprinkling of SNOW on the grass in our cottage garden...

Finished at last, but is it "Sunday best"?

The spring flowers might be peeking out here in Aberdeen, but the icy winds still have bite. Thank heavens Gail has at last finished knitting my new Shetland wool jumper (with Fair Isle pattern detail).

It is very manly, I'm sure you'll agree.

The yarn for my new knitwear comes directly off the backs of a small herd of Torridon-based Shetland sheep owned by Julia Marsh. It has not been dyed or otherwise messed around with, and so should be perfect outdoor wear for a roughty toughty terrier like me, don't you think?

So I was quite surprised when Gail said, "Bertie, we'd better reserve this jumper for Sunday best". Especially when I comprehended that "Sunday best" implies clothing that has to be kept clean and smart as if we were going to church (which, I need hardly tell you, we never do).

Well my idea of the best sort of Sunday is to bounce into the wilds of Scotland, where devotional activity involves appreciating the shadow play of the low northern light across the heather-clad hills, the tinkling of a burn as it tumbles over speckled granite boulders, the earthy smell of the lush, damp and fern bedecked forest floor…

For this one needs eyes, ears, a nose, and energy a-plenty. Smart Shetland sweaters are, I guess, optional.

Too much woolly thinking?

I expect some of you have been wondering, whatever happened to the Shetland wool jumper Gail is supposed to be knitting for yours truly?

And thinking that if a certain person does not get a move on, then it will be summer already.

Well I guess we can cut Gail some slack on the timing issue, given that what most of the world would deem winter wear is entirely appropriate for our Scottish so-called summers too.

But a recently overheard phone conversation between Gail and a friend gave me new cause for concern:

"It's boring knitting something straightforward isn't it? I like a bit of a challenge, to keep my brain in gear while I'm on unpaid leave from work to look after my mum. So I downloaded some 'pattern generator' instructions from Ravelry and the first thing you have to do is measure your dog and calculate the number of stitches appropriate for his size. Then I decided it would be nice to have some decoration across the back and I found some instructions for a child's cardigan and took the Fair Isle design from that. Only it needs six colours and I have only four so I had to rethink it a bit".

Now all this would be fine if we were talking about someone whose knitting output has, over the past thirty years, amounted to more than one hat, one doggy sweater and one bicycle seat cover. But we are not.

To compound my worries, I then caught Gail watching a YouTube video titled 'Five ways of casting on'.

Like, call me an knitting ignoramus, but this is pretty basic stuff, is it not?

Well finally, earlier this week, Gail swung into action with the needles and yarn, and amidst much cursing, she at last succeeded in casting on the 70 stitches using some fancy schmancy technique suitable for edging a ribbed collar.

A few rows later...

Er, Gail, are you sure you got your sums right? That will have to go over my head you know.

What's that they say about not giving up the day job?

A couple of days on, and things are looking a bit more promising. The colours - totally natural, no dye involved - are quite manly aren't they?

Unfortunately progress has again stalled 'cos a certain person underestimated the amount of yarn needed so an emergency order has been placed with Julia of Hand Knitted Things.

Maybe it'll be ready for my 6th birthday...