This is a phrase you will hear/see often should you happen to be travelling in South East Asia (mostly Thailand, I think); when you ask the salesman 'Is this a real Rolex', he'll say 'Yes, madamsir, same same, but different'.
Anyhoozles, I'm not trying to sell you a Rolex here, honest guv. I just thought the phrase was very apt when it comes to describing the "pair" (used in the loosest sense) of wristwarmers I've knitted. Because they are, you see, very same same, but different.
In evidence, I give you wristwarmer no.1 (apologies for out of focus and generally rubbish photos - they were taken with the iPhone because I was too lazy to get my camera out):
Wristwarmer no.1 was made following the pattern almost to the letter (admittedly I used slightly larger needles for the ribbing because I knit very tightly and made them only 10inches long where the pattern called for them to be 11inches.) In order to make the thumb "hole" you simply put a few stitches across the cast off edge at the top:
This is the ribbing at the bottom edge of the wristwarmer.
And this is wristwarmer no.2: Can you spot the difference(s)?
I knitted no.2 in exactly the same way as no.1. What made the difference was when it came to the sewing up. I cut the yarn too short and was left with an approx. 1.5inch gap in the seam. It struck me that this would actually make a great thumb hole
Wristwarmer no.1 was made following the pattern almost to the letter (admittedly I used slightly larger needles for the ribbing because I knit very tightly and made them only 10inches long where the pattern called for them to be 11inches.) In order to make the thumb "hole" you simply put a few stitches across the cast off edge at the top:This is the ribbing at the bottom edge of the wristwarmer.And this is wristwarmer no.2: Can you spot the difference(s)?I knitted no.2 in exactly the same way as no.1. What made the difference was when it came to the sewing up. I cut the yarn too short and was left with an approx. 1.5inch gap in the seam. It struck me that this would actually make a great thumb hole
And, indeed, it does. The only trouble is, the hole is nearer to what should be the bottom end of the wristwarmers, hence the thicker area of ribbing is now at the top and the thinner area ia at the bottom.
So, I now own a pair of same, same but different wristwarmers and I'm now knitting another pair which I will make up according to wristwarmer no.2. Sometimes going wrong is actually a good thing!
And here is relaxing with the Sunday papers
dungarees, pjs and a t-shirt for DC in John Lewis; a long cardi in Monsoon; a big cardi in Next; toys for DC from ELC; toiletries in Boots; and I had the same lunch in John Lewis three days running - brie and courgette soup - delicious; not to mention a coffee/biscuit break in Starbucks on day one, a coffee/cake break in M&S on day two and a coffee/shortbread break in John Lewis on day three. Could it be that I'm a little bit in love with John Lewis? I also saw Nigella Lawson in the flesh in Waterstones on Weds afternoon, but couldn't be bothered to buy her book and cue up to have it signed so I meandered round the shop trying to make it look as if I wasn't really interested in the fact that she was there and then snuck out the old iPhone to take a photo.
I will hasten to add here, that the hours I spent at the mall were while Mum was a) in hospital sleeping after her op and b) while she was at home resting. I didn't just abandon her; honest... In fact she made it quite clear that she felt more able to relax knowing that I wasn't sitting at home waiting for her to wake up - so that was fine by me!
Saturday afternoon I knitted on the train
And today I knitted in Costa.
this will change slightly as we are having a window to the right of the garage door in what will be the downstairs shower room.
This will change slightly as we will lose the window on the far right at the back of the garage; the window to the far left in the 'living' end of the family room will be slightly smaller, the doors will move along slightly to the left and there will be one large window to the right of them, making the rear elevation more symmetrical.
This will change quite dramatically. The wc to the left of the front door is going, making the entrance hall larger and more symetrical; what the architect calls here the 'kitchen' (at the front left of the house) will be the dining area and the door that he has through to the larder will not be there, instead that area will become a downstairs shower room/loo and will be accessed through the utility room. The extension at the back of the house will run further across to the right and will become the kitchen and family room. There will be a wall built across the middle of the living room on the right of the house; the front section of this room will then become the 'snug' while the back section becomes part of the family room. Are you still with me?! Hopefully we'll get some new plans from the architect soon and it will all make a lot more sense!
This will change very slightly in that the wall of the master bedroom will come further out onto the landing and we will lose the linen cupboard as the space is incorporated into the bedroom.
Waitrose; a bit disappointing at first glance, will have to give it another read to see if it improves
and a lovely conversion, although getting a little worn round the edges as rentals invariably do.
Monday we drove out to the coast at North Berwick. What a lovely, lovely little town. I'd like to move there, please. Or at least have a holiday cottage if you can arrange it? A wonderful beach where life and seaweed could be contemplated, 
cutesy little harbour and some great shops - what more could you ask for?!
magnificent ruined cathedral 
and castle and more fab shops. I'd also like to move there, please. Or another holiday cottage? Or perhaps I could go to Uni there? It's not too late, is it?! Made me kick myself for the decision I made when trying to whittle down which uni to attend where I resolutely refused to consider anything in Scotland or Wales or any polytechnics. Snob.
