Hen escapage! Retail Therapy and a spot of crochet

We had a bit of a mystery this week, a hen mystery!

Several times this week DH found at least one of the hens at large in the garden. He's not sure who it was because as soon as she spotted him coming around the corner of the house she came running up to him saying "help, I'm lost!" so he'd scooped her up and popped her back in the pen with the others without really taking note of who out  of the three she was.

One day we even had an egg on the path by the front door! Anyway, we checked the fencing and there were no holes so we could not begin to guess how she managed to get out......mmmm....mystery!

Anyway, yesterday I was having my breakfast here at my table and, looking out the window, I saw a hen teetering on top of the fence! She, that is Miranda, was attempting to get to the bird feeder that I had put up last Sunday for the little garden birds. I'd hung it from a branch of the Victoria Plum tree so that I would be able to see the little garden birds swinging on it while I am sat here at the table doing my thing. I'd filled it up with the mixed corn that we give to the hens, the same mixed corn the Miranda could have been pecking at right there and then if she cared to look down on the ground.

At that very moment my neighbour came around as we were going out for the morning so I grabbed my stuff and we went to investigate. By the time I'd got my boots and coat on and locked the back door Miranda was back down on the ground on the correct side of the fence as if nothing had happened! So I climbed up and took the bird feeder down and have hung it up round the back of the house. I reckon that she must have got out inadvertently as a consequence of her attempts at the bird feeder! anyway with the mystery solved my neighbour and I went off to Clevedon to The Spinning Weal for some retail therapy.

We each bought some white Blue Faced Leicester top, I also bought some bobbins and a sliding hook flyer for my wheel while my neighbour bought a really good selection of Corridale combed top which came in lots of fantastic colours, she got pink, plum and several blues. We had a really good time and the people who own and run the shop were both very friendly and helpful. As well as spinning stuff there was also a good selection of knitting yarns, fabrics and other fibre related crafty type items. I will definatley be going back:-)

My neighbour is so sweet; when we were driving back she produced this

from her bag as a present for me for driving us. Its BFL in lovely plums and pinks and I think I will knit a hat or maybe wristwarmers for myself with it as it is almost the same colours as the Fyberspates dk Scrumptious I bought with my gift voucher.

I've had a spin with some of the white BFL and it is lovely to spin with. I'm getting better at drafting evenly and more thinly and the plan at the moment is to spin two bobbins of 50g each and then ply them together and see what I get. My sliding hook flyer needed finishing so I have not used that yet but I have wiped it over with Danish Oil to protect the wood and it should be dry by now so I will assemble it to the wheel later and have a go with it.

Here it is just before I oiled it yesterday.

On the project front I completed my Garter Yoke Cardy #2; sewed on the lovely green buttons and wove in the ends.

Now I have completed it I have been toying with the idea of a Ripple Stitch Crochet Blanket. I haven't done any crochet for a long while but as I was doing some blog browsing recently I came accross Attic 24 where Lucy has the most marvelouss crochet. I just love her Ripple Blanket as do several other bloggers:-) and would love one for our bed........but......I have not completed the crochet blanket I started way back in 2006! It's a Snowflake Hexagon blanket hooked in Sirdar Aran with Wool and I have twenty-six of the required fifty-nine hexagons completed.

So, I dug out the blanket .......here we are.....

 and a little snowflake :-)

So for my New Years Resolution !

"I will complete this blanket"