It's My Day

Here at last - my birthday, and what a wonderful day I am having.

First thing I went for a walk along the beach.

The iron men in the picture are an installation by Antony Gormley called Another Place. Whenever I go down to the beach I take a little bag with me to collect 'treasure'. Here 's a pic of this morning's haul.

When I got back home I had a leisurely soak in the bath. The rest of the morning was spent watching my new DVD - Cat Ballou - I love this film - Lee Marvin is superb - so funny.

When the girls get in later we'll probably watch it again!

As a treat for my birthday I started a new project - Allure by Kim Hargreaves from Amber.

I haven't got very far yet as the mohair yarn refuses to behave itself and it took a couple of goes to get past the first row. I think I'll reduce the amount of ribbing at the hem so that I can get stuck into the lacy pattern.

Here are some pics of the projects I've been working on in the run up to my birthday.

This cushion is lovely and big and squashy. Great for when I'm knitting.

I originally intended to knit a flock of these sheep but only got as far as one! The pattern is Sheep in Sheep's Clothing by Frankie Brown and is a free Ravelry download.

This is Arthur the polar bear, he is wonderful. Polar bears are my favourite animal and I wanted to make a cute one for my birthday. The pattern for this will follow shortly.

Among my many presents I received Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel.

Lots of lovely sweaters and cardis in here, plus plenty of handy tips.

It's been a great week so far. On Sunday we went to see the new Alice in Wonderland film with Johnny Depp.

Lots of fun - Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen was great we all came home feeling sorry for her.

Darts is on the television on Thursday night and this weekend the Formula 1 Season starts. This means loads of knitting time.

Finally, I mustn't forget my Teddy bear who is the same age as me today. I haven't made him anything new this year but here he is wearing the duffle coat I made him last year.

I think I've probably aged better than him - but then again, I wasn't chewed as a youngster!