So, what's been going on?
Well, I've been busy. I did some embroideries last year and was on the hunt for fabric to put them on. I'd tried quite a few when I was given an "old blanket" perhaps for the dog or the bed. It was perfect! I cut it in two, removed the original edging (that kind of silky stuff that was all the rage decades ago but feels almost slimy) and got to work.
First was a nice blanket stitch around the edge to bring the colour on the reverse to the front and then using the same yarn to sew down my patches. Under each patch is a small bit of wadding just to keep the fabric raised enough to feel the embroidery.
Blanket 1 is done:
I am definitely going to add to this but first I need more white cotton to embroider onto.
I'm taking part in another "mystery sock" pattern, this is clue 1:
Clue 2 involves cables and is taking me time. I've knit cables once and not on tiny needles in sock yarn. The main time consumer is re-reading which one crosses which way.
Jo spent most of last week in Oban and Inveraray. I was hoping for the new trike bits to arrive seeing as they said "expected early arrival on Monday" and we hoped they'd come over on the Tuesday ferry. Nope, they came over on the Sunday ferry, the same one Jo came home on!
He did buy me sock yarn though:
So that will become a present for him :)
The trike! Oh, the GB of a trike. I (possibly stupidly) thought I could easily change out the crank and chain while Jo made dinner. Well, I did manage that, but only because it takes two hours to make dough, let it rise, make sauce and finally make pizza. The air might also have been a bit blue towards the end.
The beginning was fairly easy. Prop bike on bricks, remove chain housing, remove crank and chain. What I hadn't realised was that the new crank did NOT come with a new pedal. So I got the spanner and tried to remove the old pedal. Then we got the hammer. Finally, after a little Googling to check we were going the right way, we got the 8 foot long pole. Leverage at its finest! After a few turns with the pole it was possible to use just the spanner. Once out the pedal easily screwed into the new crank. New crank easily went on. Too easy. You know how I mentioned the old teeth had worn?
This is a brand-spanking new chainring:
Note the squared off tips to the "teeth" and how they are all uniform in size.
Now look at the old chainring:
Note the absence of uniformity and the pointedness of the "teeth". Yep, "used to it's full potential" is one way of putting it. So, due to wear, the old chain was a bad way of measuring the new one; I was two links short and had to do some fiddling. I then put the chain on the back ring, draped it over the front and started turning the pedal to slip the chain on. Not going. The end result was a serious loosening of the back wheel so it would slide forward far enough to slip the chain on. Then followed the realigning of the back wheel and tightening of nuts.
Jo had ordered a new chain guard, quite a good idea as the old one had been ground down in places by poorly seated chains. Little did we realise it would be a necessity.
Yep, the old chain guard would not fit on the new chainring. This is where the air started to turn blue. I had tried the new guard but the new design means it is a right PITA to fit. There's a bit that's meant to just slip into the end of the two main parts. On the old design it did that easily; on the new design you have to juggle all three at once because if you try and secure any one part the other two won't play. Still, I did it, I adjusted it so the chain didn't rub and had a lovely dinner.
The next day Jo told me it rode wonderfully.
So now we have these bits sitting about:
Not sure if they can just be put in the bin or if someone might like them for some modern art. Possibly excepting the guard; they're pretty much useless.
Today. Today has been wonderful if mentally knackering. The weather has been spectacular:
The livestock have had chance to begin drying and even enjoy the sun.
The cable laying boat (I assume, I couldn't check AIS while I was out) was busy:
I was with ten others learning First Aid. I hadn't done it for 13-14 years and was actually quite impressed at how much I remembered. I will admit to being one of those "annoying" ones that asked questions and perhaps got a bit giggly in the afternoon! But it was great and the instructors were excellent and very happy to answer questions.
When I got home I spotted the moon!
A little manipulation later and...
Hello moon!
There are also these cuties across the road:
Most unimpressed about being in bags but probably happy to be dry.
That's about it really. I'm still helping at An Iodhlann and we've gone through quite the quantity of credits updating the records. The person currently funding that is most likely unimpressed at the rate we got through them but seems glad at the outcome.
Finally, I shall leave you with some snipe and hares:
TTFN.
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