acechick

Welcome to Fanø

From the big ferry to the little one, from Esbjerg to Fanø.

The sat nav had a hard time with the water.

And wasn't the journey worth it?!

Our little cottage:

We stayed at Sønderho Kro, the most delightful inn on all of Fanø!

The food was astonishing. Our cottage came with a small fridge, but no kitchen. which was lucky as the restaurant is famed.

And the inn was just so gorgeously styled! A photo opp from every angle.

ships ahoy!

Usually a 20-hour+ journey would take us most of the way home, this time we got as far as Fanø, an island off the coast of southern Jutland in Denmark.

We caught a ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg and then another short ferry to Fanø. We could have driven overland, crossing at Calais and motoring through bits of France, Belgium, Holland & then Germany, saving about 5 hours from the journey. But the ferry was to be an adventure!

We got off to a slow start. Trying to ensure we got there in plenty of time, we found ourselves in Harwich (which is actually still just in Essex, not Suffolk as I had thought) looking for a quick lunch. And really? Harwich is a hole. Near the port was a large Morrisons (chain of supermarkets on the, er, lower end of the scale) where we picked up some snacks and grog.

And was the only option for a pitiful lunch:

Fred had chips and egg, I had the children's nugget option. I think we both regretted it.

Once at the port, we joined the first queue. And in true British form, we waited. And waited. And when the queue started moving, it was the far left one (we were in #4) that moved and no more. Then people who arrived late automatically joined the moving one and we were left shaking our fists and cursing the continentals (as I mentioned, true british form). Fred got out of the car and looked for someone to complain to (go aussie) and it turns out that no-one was running this stupid show.

The first obstacle was the border and ticket check. Car rego recognition thingies meant they knew who we were and that we had a dog and two bikes. We scanned Rosie and presented our three passports (!) and were directed to the second queue. I say 'directed', but it was really a bloke in a safety vest gesturing behind him.

We thought we had scored prime position, only to discover that we were meant to be in the priority queue (combo of having dog and more expensive ticket).

Is this whining bothering you? It annoyed the crap out of us. We just wanted to get on board and get the adventure started! Which of course we eventually did after more whining from all involved (excluding Rosie).

Once onboard, we were immediately given the option to upgrade our cabin for about £80. We had booked a Sirena class, which was small and had two facing sofas that folded out to single beds. While contemplating this option, we were told that the new cabin would have wifi, so we were sold.

The Fancy cabin was more like a dodgy motel than the cramped previous offer, we were thrilled! PLUS, there was a lounge thrown in. Heaven!

Perhaps not as thrilled with the accommodation was Rosie, who was stuck in the car. We were given three visiting opportunities.

Luckily, she wasn't scarred by the event.

A finished project!

Sort of complete... just waiting for the buttons to reappear.

As discussed, the problem I have is finishing. Which in knitting speak means sewing up all the pieces to make a whole.

How beautiful are these side seams?

On the not so good side are these sleeves.

Unfortunately only one side out of 4 looks good. I think they're going to have to come out.

Next on the list to finish is the qiviut jobbie. But I've hit a snag (the edging), so it's been put aside. With nothing else to keep me occupied, I finished off the socks! Yes, it was just a cast off, but of the tubular variety! It took all of half an hour.

With one project actually finished, I felt justified in starting a new one. It's Colinette's Perugino throw in hot pink thanks to Purl Pirate's recent clear out.

Doggyride

Rosie, at the ripe old age of 14, is finally being treated the way she expects.

It's been a long time since she was able to come cycling with us.

Now she can keep up!

With the wind in her nose it's like she's doing the running herself.

But without tiring herself out.

The hardest part is getting out at the pub.

We leave for Denmark on Wednesday, catching the ferry/driving and taking the bikes.

ETA: Seems that we've had this idea before.

clavicle update

My 12-week post-accident x-ray doesn't show much progress:

The doctor mentioned "non-union" and that I'll need a CT scan before my next fracture clinic appointment in 6 weeks.

Which is all quite surprising as I have no pain, a good range of movement, and have even been using (light weights) under the supervision of my trainer.

So I wasn't really upset when I got the news. Googling changes all that.

Dr Google tells me that I'll deffo need surgery now. And that it is quite painful. Actually, I need to step away from the computer as I'm making myself feel sick looking at all these ghastly injuries.

WHY oh why didn't I just have the bloody operation all those months ago? I was so smug thinking that I'd dodged a bullet, when in actual fact I just put off the inevitable.

shame compounded

In typical fashion, rather than competing a project, I have chosen to waste time.

I'd even prefer to compound my own shame rather than meet a deadline.

Post of Shame

I have a shameful secret. I don't finish my knitting projects.

Every one of these bags represents an unfinished project. Some need only a cast off, others require inspiration. Mostly they need me to get off my arse and just do something.

How did I get to this pitiful state? Mostly distraction: a pretty new yarn or pattern catches my attention. Or maybe it gets tricky, like the fluro orange 'Penelope' beanie which got ripped back more times that I can remember. With this I got into difficulty with the decreases. Brioche stitch nearly broke me.

The plan is to showcase each in turn, and hopefully I will be embarrassed enough to actually complete them. Pester me if I don't.

And here I start with Blithe:

So close, yet so far. Ran out of yarn with the end in sight. Luckily, the lovely Carol from Liberty gave me some of her leftovers, so will get back to this shortly. yes, I said get back to.

When I ran out, I needed something to occupy my fingers so picked up the Scilla Cape (aka unnamed qiviut project). Which itself got ripped back to the möbius collar and re-knitted.

RESOLVED: I will put down the Scilla Cape and finish off the Blithe top.