Fish & Flowers

On Saturday, after an uncharacteristically inexpensive trip to Hobbycraft (I spent 25p on ribbon for the bootees!) and before the big game, Mum and I dropped in on the St. Paul's Astley Bridge Flower Festival. The festival was to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Bolton floral group and part of the money raised will go to the Bolton Hospice. The church looked great with every possible surface covered with flowers. I loved the pillars which had been garlanded with hydrangeas and the pew ends which were decorated with lilies.

I also liked "Mary's Garden" in the Lady Chapel which was an installation rather than an arrangement.

My favourite piece was the memorial tree which had been arranged by the Bolton Junior club on which visitors could write a label and hang a red rose in an individual vase in memory of a loved one. I thought it was a lovely idea and the effect was stunning.

Also on Saturday I finally got the hang of Pomatomus after ripping back the first two rows a couple of times. It seems that actually reading the pattern carefully really helps. I'm a bit nervous about running out of yarn (due to the Koigu bootees) so I'm only knitting two repeats of Chart A for the cuff. I haven't decided yet whether to stick to the pattern for the heel. Short rows would be easier with just the four needles and use less yarn and I prefer the fit, but I'm a but nervous about going off pattern as Chart B looks very scary. I love the way the pattern is turning out too but the tension (due to the twisted knits I think) is still pretty tight so it's quite tiring to knit. It's never really a good sign when you can hear your wrists clicking alongside the needles.