Evergreen

Not hard to see where the name of my new waistcoat comes from.  you will notice a difference from the early sample below.  Off-setting the little trees but keeping the rows distinct led to a rather bitty design which was not doing it for me.  Curiously, tessellating the pattern gives it the movement it lacked and makes an all-over fabric, instead of rows.  I like this much better.

Now, I am not happy with the first pattern section above the rib.  this is the rib colour used as pattern on the main background colour and the level of contrast is not sharp enough.  I will cut one strand at the top of the section and unpick it before reknitting the rib.

At my knitting group a lady arrived with a large carrier bag containing the pieces of a heavy knitted cardigan which she had set aside in despair some five years before.  When she was trying to sew it up she realised that one front had one repeat too many before the armhole shaping, so was two inches longer than the other one.  Personally, I would have just pulled it back and reknit it, but someone suggested that it could be cut and grafted.  I was the one nearest, so I showed her what to do.  The following week I showed her how to graft the two sets of live stitches together, a sequence which does require some concentration if you have never done it before.  In the general conversation of the group it was quite difficult.  But she did manage to complete the garment, so I suppose it was a success.

At my new job at the local nature reserve we serve a mix of older couples out for lunch, carers with their charges and dedicated birdwatchers.  These are easy to spot because they always carry lots of kit: tripods, cameras, binoculars, telescopes.  And they dress differently.  But also, they are exclusively male, sometimes single and often in little groups of two or three.  They are not fussy eaters: bacon rolls, baked potatoes and cups of tea are all they need.

However, there is another type of customer altogether.  These are female and have selective dietary requirements.  We had already established that one was "Non-dairy".  She and her friend approached the counter again, eyeing up the cakes.  

"Is that one really sweet?" said the friend, pointing to  flapjack with caramel icing and covered in nuts and seeds.  The fact that it was actually labelled "Caramel Heaven" was apparently not a big enough clue.  She chose a large slice of Victoria sponge instead.

So, to meet the needs of these two, food need to be non-dairy, non-gluten, low calorie and look like a slice of Victoria sponge with buttercream through the middle.  Not a big ask then.