07/04/2008

Hiya Hiya

I am still here.....and actually on holiday in France with the so slow dial-up making it impossible to do anything but the minimum. I shall catch up with you all when we are home because even opening a blog is a five minute wait and leaving comments impossible.

It was touch and go whether we came because I had that lurgy that the rest of the UK bloggers seem to have had - really bad fluey chesty thing and each time I coughed, which was often,I worried that I would be "unsettling" my eye again but my consultant reassured me before we set off so I was able to relax about it (a bit).

We'd planned to come to France for Easter but I was feeling far too ill to travel and only just made it here in time for my sister's birthday - her 60th. My daughter Kate made a beautiful sunflower cake -




and it tasted as good as it looked too. It was a very moist, rich chocolate cake almost more pudding than cake and a lovely way to finish a super celebration meal cooked by my niece. She's just recently started keeping chickens and quails and so quail's eggs featured very nicely in the meal.

The Regia bamboo raglan has been finished for a little while but I've only just been able to take a modelled shot-

It's colour Ethno and 3.25mm needles. The only difference between this and the first one I did is that I shaped the neck so that the front is lower than the back and so the whole neckline fits much better. I will write out the stitch count and roughly what I did when I'm back with my proper pc next week.

Number 3 is in the pipeline - in fact almost finished. It's a v-neck in lace weight pure cashmere - more details next week.


Have you seen Hiya Hiya circular needles? When I saw them mentioned on Franney's blog here I knew I'd have to try them. I've only found one UK stockist - Knit'n'Caboodle and they have a fantastic range including those hard to find 2.25mm and 2.75mm in seven different lengths too.

They are stainless steel and less shiny than Addi turbos which is a good thing for me because I find I get dazzle if the light isn't just so. The needles are the same length as the Addis and the join is as smooth. I think I probably prefer the cable of the Addis but not enough to prevent the HiyaHiyas being a clear favourite.



I hardly dare mention my bad back amongst all my other health issues but this reached the point where I needed some sort of outside help. I've had a bad back of sorts (haven't we all??) since I had to lug 14month old twins upstairs together more than 30 years ago but whatever I've got now is different and I think caused by some awkward action to get into bed over a mound of pillows designed to keep my eye in one position. And I've had it for over two months now.
I don't get constant pain but when I do certain twisting movements I get such debilitating breathtaking pain making moving impossible until the spasm has passed and then I'm left feeling weak and sweating.....

I'm going to see a bio-kinesiologist today. Hmm. No, I'm not sure what one is but he was recommended by my French neighbour and his bad back and his wife's have been much improved by Bruno. If it doesn't help I shall see the gp when I get home......

......speaking of which there should be some lovely Malabrigo laceweight waiting for me to do another stole test knit but more details later.....

9 comments:

Kai said...

glad you're having fun in France! Love the cake and the top looks fantastic.

Good Luck with the back issues...

Unknown said...

Lovely top, and I am drooling over that cake as my favorite nibble is chocolate cake (sigh) as my weight shows!

Anonymous said...

France sounds like a great time. That cake is unbelievable! Your daughter is very talented... Glad to hear you are doing well.

Arianwen said...

Wow the cake was fantastic. The image of you carrying 14 month old twins up the stair made me think of falling down the stairs carrying my two and headbutting the front door.It was new years day they thought it was hillarious as neither one touched the ground I was less than impressed. The joy of two at once. hope your back is soon mended.

florencemary said...

What a fantastic cake - seems a pity to have to cut into it!

Interesting to see 'my socks' knitted into a sweater! It's a great fit on you and I know there's a lovely feel to the yarn as well (my socks unfortunately are just a bit too big - I think my son has bagged them!).

Enjoy your break in France and hope the back improves soon.

Joy said...

What a wonderful cake :-)

I do hope you get some relief from your back pain. I shall wait with interest to find out how you get n with the bio-kinesiologist.

Anonymous said...

Love the cake. Ejoy your time in France. I know all about back pain and I do hope you get some relief from it.

Probably Jane said...

What an elegant jumper.
The sunflower cake is spectacular.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday!

KnitYoga said...

Oh, wow, that cake is amazing! I'm glad it tasted as good at it looked! The Regia Bamboo raglan came out great! Hope you can get your back sorted out soon.