72 Hours After The Event

Knitwits Yarns knitwitspenzance.co.uk
www.justgiving.com/TheHopsons

We're all starting to settle down and all our "stuff" seems to have pretty much returned to its rightful home (apart from the boys' clothes, obviously, which are strewn around their rooms) and I've done 2 half days in the shop and we're all feeling absolutely knackered!! FB confessed to a little zizz this afternoon - must be his age - G went for a bike ride with his uncle!

In answer to tinebeest's comment - yes, the sweater was "to the wire" - I finished it at 11am on Saturday (having stayed up 'til midnight sewing it up) and the boys crossed the line 2 hours later. I wasn't sure about the neckline but everyone else seems to love it so I'll leave it as it is. It's currently in the window of the shop.


















The pattern is going to be available as "The Help For Heroes End to End Sweater" and we'll donate £1.00 to H4H for every pattern sold. Just give me a week (or probably 2) to get the pattern written up and some better photos done. You could, of course, do it in any colour and, if you're Scottish, you could do it in blue and white with the Cornish flag as a pocket (or you could leave the flag/pocket off completely). You can just see the H4H colours on my left front and, obviously, if you were "end to ending" for any other charity you could chart out their logo/colours there.

It's quite a big knit and lots of moss stitch so I still can't really believe I finished it - it was, after all, almost entirely knitted in laybys and supermarket car parks!

So - what would we have done differently had we known?:

- don't take little strappy summer tops. If the sun comes out (and it's a big if) you can buy a cheap summer top from one of the endless supermarkets you'll be visiting;
- prepare for the worst weather you can imagine (even if you're doing it in the "summer") and, hopefully, you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you're not pleasantly surprised then at least you won't be disappointed;
- take Wellington boots with you - trainers get very wet in soggy grass;
- definitely do it by campervan - that worked really well;
- take twice as many inner tubes as you think you'll need and a couple of spare tyres for good measure;
- if you break a chain don't bother to try and repair it (unless you're an expert) - save yourself time and energy and find the nearest Halfords;
- don't bother taking a barbecue - not because the weather will be lousy but because you'll be simply too knackered at the end of each day to bother faffing around barbecuing food;
- don't bother to take chairs for sitting outside - see above re barbecuing for the reason why;
- do stay in good campsites - you won't have the energy to faff around showering in the van;
- be flexible with your planning - half of those campsites you planned to stay in will either not exist or not be in the right place at the right time;
- avoid roadkill at all costs.

Finally - do book yourselves a holiday for when you've finished - you'll need it.