I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. Things have changed lately!
I've been back at work since last June. I'm working full time in an insurance company in Manchester. On the phones! It's been 10 years since I did this kind of work and it's a bit weird being back on the phones. I've had a lot to learn about insurance. It's one of those things that you get to be legal, but you don't think much about.
As it's in Manchester which is about 25 miles away, the commute isn't much fun. I made the decision to use public transport. Mostly because I'm a 10 minute walk away from the bus stop and probably a 20 minute walk away from the train station (that's if they can get their arse together and get the rolling stock to actually use the bend they put in for the direct link to Manchester from Burnley. I still have the car, mostly because if I want to go to Wales (and indeed anywhere outside of Burnley), a car is necessary. Also, the Mr. has the use of a van as part of his work and while he gets to drive it home, he can only use it to drive about on work related gubbins.
The foot is much better, although it does like to twinge in the cold weather.
Knitting wise, I've been in a mood to finish all the things, except the blanket mentioned in my last post. I have to sew them together and quite honestly, I can't be arsed. I think the sizes of the hexagons are a bit weird, but I will get round to it at some point.
I actually finished my Margot which I love. I didn't think I'd have enough yarn, but I have one ball left :D I even made it 2 inches longer :)
I've also discovered the fun of Craftsy. I signed up for Jacey Boggs-Faulkner's class called Spinning from Worsted to Woolen and also Jillian Moreno's class called Ply to Knit: Spin the Yarn you Really Want. I've only watched Jacey Boggs-Faulkner's class so far and love it. I've learned so much so far and still have a lot to learn.
I've also been thinking about podcasting. I'm not sure though. I'll have to plan it. I'd have to get a decent microphone first though and I'd have to decide how to do it, and how often I'd do it. We'll see - I'm not convinced I'd have anything interesting to say though. I am currently listening to a lot of British knitting podcasts though, so maybe that's influencing me.
I'm going to leave it here though, as I've been up since 5:45 and it's now midnight. Zzzzzz..
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
What is it with me and blankets?
New year, new blanket!
Now onto the next one. This time, crocheted hexagons, in creams, beige and browns.
We'll see!
In other news, the foot is slowly healing. I'm beginning to walk on it now. It's a bit sore. I finally have a physiotherapy appointment next week. I'm a bit nervous though so I don't know where I am on the progress scheme of things, although I suppose I am where I am.
Getting there!
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Yay
So 6 weeks has passed since I broke my right foot. It's a Lisfranc fracture of 2 metatarsals, with a break in 1 and a comminuted break in 2 for the medically minded. Bone 1 is my big toe and 2 is the toe next to it. Quite an odd fracture apparently, as it's commonly the little toe that's fractured in my type of injury (falling off a step).
Sitting on my arse all day has not been good for me mentally. I'm sure that if I was measured on the test that Doctors do for depression, I'd score quite highly. Whether that would have been enough for intervention, I'm not sure. I decided not to seek treatment for it (the potential depression) because I was more aware this time over and I knew that it had a cause and a light at the end of the tunnel for a cure. That didn't stop the anxiety kicking in, but I am dealing with that through meditation and distraction (more on that in a minute).
6 weeks down the line and I now have a boot fitted and I am now allowed to weight bear. I've been given some basic exercises to do, until the referral for physio comes through. I'm doing better than I thought I would. I am somewhat of a fidget and something I tend to do is wiggle my toes a lot, so when my toes were sticking out of the plaster cast, I have actually got them pretty mobile. It's just the strength in my ankle and foot now that I need to build up.
All of the stress has kicked my eczema up a notch with a massive patch under my cast, which I couldn't do anything about. I had it checked by the doctor who wasn't too worried - I however am quite concerned and think it's worse than the time I got antibiotics from my last GP in Nottingham. I've been given the OK to use my strong steroid cream on it though, so if it hasn't improved in a week, I will have to go to my GP and get some antibiotics. Gah, I hate Fluoxacillin, it gives me the tummy rumbles.
It was heaven to get it washed though. Think I might have accidentally pulled my sex face while it was being washed and scared the nurse :D
Naturally, as I've been sat on my arse, I've been watching a lot of TV. I'm addicted to Homes Under the Hammer. I never got into Jeremy Kyle - I think he's a bit of an idiot and I don't really get the show. It's the kind of show that shames it's participants and I have no time for shaming.
I lost my job too, which is a shame. I can't say I blame them - I was on a temporary ongoing contract which I was unable to fulfil. They were a retail company who need people to answer emails coming up to Christmas. I'm still a bit frustrated though, however I did get a call from an employment agency and I *might* have some more work lined up, starting mid January. My note runs out on New Years Eve, so I may need to pop and get another couple of weeks.
But, I need to be up on my feet and moving about and putting weight on it, so we shall see. I impressed myself by tackling TWO steps using a walker. TWO!! I'm still unable to go up the stairs in my house as I have a walker and not crutches, but we'll see what the physio's say when I go and see them.
I have been getting plenty of knitting done. I've finished a pair of socks, a crochet granny square blanket and have got considerable work done on the Mr's socks (2 at a time, toe up - go me!!!). I've stated and restarted multiple times a sweater from knitty in some sport weight SMC superfine merino fino that I got from John Lewis in a sale last year.
Oh, oh! I've got a new car as well. One that I've only been able to glare at through the window of my house. It's a Rover 25. I miss my unusual Pug though (a saloon 306, which are uncommon), but I won't miss it's hissy fits in the winter.
Now, it's time for dinner. I'm starving!!
Sitting on my arse all day has not been good for me mentally. I'm sure that if I was measured on the test that Doctors do for depression, I'd score quite highly. Whether that would have been enough for intervention, I'm not sure. I decided not to seek treatment for it (the potential depression) because I was more aware this time over and I knew that it had a cause and a light at the end of the tunnel for a cure. That didn't stop the anxiety kicking in, but I am dealing with that through meditation and distraction (more on that in a minute).
6 weeks down the line and I now have a boot fitted and I am now allowed to weight bear. I've been given some basic exercises to do, until the referral for physio comes through. I'm doing better than I thought I would. I am somewhat of a fidget and something I tend to do is wiggle my toes a lot, so when my toes were sticking out of the plaster cast, I have actually got them pretty mobile. It's just the strength in my ankle and foot now that I need to build up.
All of the stress has kicked my eczema up a notch with a massive patch under my cast, which I couldn't do anything about. I had it checked by the doctor who wasn't too worried - I however am quite concerned and think it's worse than the time I got antibiotics from my last GP in Nottingham. I've been given the OK to use my strong steroid cream on it though, so if it hasn't improved in a week, I will have to go to my GP and get some antibiotics. Gah, I hate Fluoxacillin, it gives me the tummy rumbles.
It was heaven to get it washed though. Think I might have accidentally pulled my sex face while it was being washed and scared the nurse :D
Naturally, as I've been sat on my arse, I've been watching a lot of TV. I'm addicted to Homes Under the Hammer. I never got into Jeremy Kyle - I think he's a bit of an idiot and I don't really get the show. It's the kind of show that shames it's participants and I have no time for shaming.
I lost my job too, which is a shame. I can't say I blame them - I was on a temporary ongoing contract which I was unable to fulfil. They were a retail company who need people to answer emails coming up to Christmas. I'm still a bit frustrated though, however I did get a call from an employment agency and I *might* have some more work lined up, starting mid January. My note runs out on New Years Eve, so I may need to pop and get another couple of weeks.
But, I need to be up on my feet and moving about and putting weight on it, so we shall see. I impressed myself by tackling TWO steps using a walker. TWO!! I'm still unable to go up the stairs in my house as I have a walker and not crutches, but we'll see what the physio's say when I go and see them.
I have been getting plenty of knitting done. I've finished a pair of socks, a crochet granny square blanket and have got considerable work done on the Mr's socks (2 at a time, toe up - go me!!!). I've stated and restarted multiple times a sweater from knitty in some sport weight SMC superfine merino fino that I got from John Lewis in a sale last year.
Oh, oh! I've got a new car as well. One that I've only been able to glare at through the window of my house. It's a Rover 25. I miss my unusual Pug though (a saloon 306, which are uncommon), but I won't miss it's hissy fits in the winter.
Now, it's time for dinner. I'm starving!!
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Oh bugger
Oops. Tripped up and broke my foot on Halloween.
Bugger.
No spinning for a while and I have to sit with my foot up for at least 6 weeks, possibly longer.
Ugh. I feel a bit bad because I've been in my new job for a grand total of a month and now I'm signed off by the doctor. I am struggling to get about, even with a Zimmer frame (I can't manage crutches).
I had surgery and had a plate put in and have been joking that I'm collecting a set (I already have one in my wrist).
I can't get up stairs without pulling myself up and even going short distances on the frame tires me out. I've frightened myself a bit because I've been neglecting my health a bit, so am overweight and am unfit (I have no upper body strength).
I can knit for short times but my leg is a bit sore, so my concentration isn't there.
So, I'm a bit fed up, a bit scared about the state of my own health and am worried about still having a job at the end of it :/
Blargh!
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Mojo
So I am enjoying being back at work. It's hard getting used to a different work environment and understanding what the policies are, but then that's going to be the same anywhere, I think.
I do sometimes wonder how I come across - some of the stuff I talk about is long winded and I do think I ramble on a bit. Or maybe, I'm just wanting to be liked, so start talking a lot of crap (or so I think!).
I'm not entirely sure.
However, I like the company I'm working for, I like the work, the day goes quickly and it's all good.
I'm finding that I've finished quite a few of my recent projects. I finished my Lightening Shawl and then I finished my Handspun Socks so quickly after I finished my Mabelle (look back a few entries for pictures), that all I have left is my 3 long term blankets on the go.
I am thinking of knitting another Mabelle. Well, thinking about it. I have lots of SMC Superfine Merino Fino that I got in a sale in John Lewis earlier this year. Thing is, the SMC is sport weight and Mabelle calls for DK weight yarn. So, I was thinking that I might use the general shaping of Mabelle and convert the stitch counts to the sport weight, then look for a stitch pattern in my Barbara Walker book. I am procrastinating though.
I've got some fibre on Doris the wheel - not for a particular project. I dyed some merino up with some onion skins, some of it mordanted, some not. I got green and reddish brown. I am thinking that I'd like to ply up the red brown stuff with some commercially dyed orange fibre of indeterminate origin (it was cheap!!), I was thinking 2 plies of the reddish brown and one of the orange. I am really enjoying doing 3 plies at the moment. The handspun socks were najavo plied to retain their colours and I liked the way the 3 ply came out so I thought of doing it again.
The yarn for my celestarium is finished and is waiting for me to wind into balls, but I can't be arsed. I also haven't got the motivation to do any sums for the Mabelle and neither can I be arsed to knit any of my blankets, although I am knitting a bit of the handspun 10 stitch blanket as I go along.
I've got yarn there to knit the lovely gloves from knitty, but I need buttons and I can't be bothered with that either.
Gah. I hope this passes. I'm thinking that I could do a load of winding this weekend and catch up on a load of podcasts that I've got to listen to. I might even wind some sock yarn so that I can have a pair of socks on the go.
Someone give me a kick up the bum?!!
I do sometimes wonder how I come across - some of the stuff I talk about is long winded and I do think I ramble on a bit. Or maybe, I'm just wanting to be liked, so start talking a lot of crap (or so I think!).
I'm not entirely sure.
However, I like the company I'm working for, I like the work, the day goes quickly and it's all good.
I'm finding that I've finished quite a few of my recent projects. I finished my Lightening Shawl and then I finished my Handspun Socks so quickly after I finished my Mabelle (look back a few entries for pictures), that all I have left is my 3 long term blankets on the go.
I am thinking of knitting another Mabelle. Well, thinking about it. I have lots of SMC Superfine Merino Fino that I got in a sale in John Lewis earlier this year. Thing is, the SMC is sport weight and Mabelle calls for DK weight yarn. So, I was thinking that I might use the general shaping of Mabelle and convert the stitch counts to the sport weight, then look for a stitch pattern in my Barbara Walker book. I am procrastinating though.
I've got some fibre on Doris the wheel - not for a particular project. I dyed some merino up with some onion skins, some of it mordanted, some not. I got green and reddish brown. I am thinking that I'd like to ply up the red brown stuff with some commercially dyed orange fibre of indeterminate origin (it was cheap!!), I was thinking 2 plies of the reddish brown and one of the orange. I am really enjoying doing 3 plies at the moment. The handspun socks were najavo plied to retain their colours and I liked the way the 3 ply came out so I thought of doing it again.
The yarn for my celestarium is finished and is waiting for me to wind into balls, but I can't be arsed. I also haven't got the motivation to do any sums for the Mabelle and neither can I be arsed to knit any of my blankets, although I am knitting a bit of the handspun 10 stitch blanket as I go along.
I've got yarn there to knit the lovely gloves from knitty, but I need buttons and I can't be bothered with that either.
Gah. I hope this passes. I'm thinking that I could do a load of winding this weekend and catch up on a load of podcasts that I've got to listen to. I might even wind some sock yarn so that I can have a pair of socks on the go.
Someone give me a kick up the bum?!!
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Yarndale!
This last weekend brought Yarndale, a yarn / sheep / spinning / knitting / crocheting / crafting festival in Skipton. As I only live 25 miles away, it seemed rude not to go.
I had the most excellent news that I got a job and started yesterday, so felt that I was able to go and treat myself a little as it means that I'll have money coming in now. Yay!
I went with the intention of buying a swift, as the homemade one I had got damaged in the move, plus I left some bits behind. I thought that I might buy some fibre and some buttons as well.
I got there at about 11:30, after queueing for half an hour on the A59 and trying to find a parking space. It was absolutely packed out. The walk from where I'd parked was lovely, decorated with crocheted bunting, which was beautiful. I didn't know they had been collecting any, otherwise I'd have crocheted a few triangles.
It was very very busy inside, so I decided that I was going to do a circuit of all the stalls before buying anything and spotted a few bits.
Then after a break, I got down to some shopping. My first buy was some fivemoons sock yarn with stelina in it. It's called Artemis, but I can't remember what the colourway was, however, it spoke to me! I blame my cat, who is a yarn snob. He will sometimes sleep on the cat bed I knitted within the first year that I learned to knit. Problem is, it's acrylic and fun fur and he has a habit of pulling it out of his basket and snoozing in his basket instead. Plank of a cat.
Next up was a Sunflower Swift bought from Purlescence. My Welsh accent got recognised - to within 5 miles of where I was brought up :)
Then some alpaca from John Arbon Textiles. I got 200g, but he gave me a teeny bit more. It's so gorgeous! I keep on petting it!
Then I got some bargain merino and silk from Winghams. I just adore the colours on these - I got 100g in each colour.
I decided that would do me, as I have plenty to be getting on with! I came out gasping for a cuppa - I was too lazy to queue for a brew as it was so busy; I wish I'd taken my own.
Everyone seemed so happy and cheerful and it was great to chat to a few people. I did get a bit overcome with yarn fumes and debated pestering the Mr. to let me get an alpaca! They are so gorgeous, plus they make awesome guards.
I didn't get any buttons as it was so busy and I couldn't get to the stall I wanted to, but it's no biggie, as I can get them again.
I only went on the Saturday and was a bit gutted that I didn't go on the Sunday as apparently it was a bit quieter and a bit more chilled. Plus a few people that I knew were going. All in all, a great day out and good fun. I wish I'd taken coffee and sarnies and gone a bit earlier, but other than that, it was ace!
I had the most excellent news that I got a job and started yesterday, so felt that I was able to go and treat myself a little as it means that I'll have money coming in now. Yay!
I went with the intention of buying a swift, as the homemade one I had got damaged in the move, plus I left some bits behind. I thought that I might buy some fibre and some buttons as well.
I got there at about 11:30, after queueing for half an hour on the A59 and trying to find a parking space. It was absolutely packed out. The walk from where I'd parked was lovely, decorated with crocheted bunting, which was beautiful. I didn't know they had been collecting any, otherwise I'd have crocheted a few triangles.
It was very very busy inside, so I decided that I was going to do a circuit of all the stalls before buying anything and spotted a few bits.
I stopped to admire the animals. Lookit it's adorable face!!!
Then after a break, I got down to some shopping. My first buy was some fivemoons sock yarn with stelina in it. It's called Artemis, but I can't remember what the colourway was, however, it spoke to me! I blame my cat, who is a yarn snob. He will sometimes sleep on the cat bed I knitted within the first year that I learned to knit. Problem is, it's acrylic and fun fur and he has a habit of pulling it out of his basket and snoozing in his basket instead. Plank of a cat.
Next up was a Sunflower Swift bought from Purlescence. My Welsh accent got recognised - to within 5 miles of where I was brought up :)
Then some alpaca from John Arbon Textiles. I got 200g, but he gave me a teeny bit more. It's so gorgeous! I keep on petting it!
Then I got some bargain merino and silk from Winghams. I just adore the colours on these - I got 100g in each colour.
I decided that would do me, as I have plenty to be getting on with! I came out gasping for a cuppa - I was too lazy to queue for a brew as it was so busy; I wish I'd taken my own.
Everyone seemed so happy and cheerful and it was great to chat to a few people. I did get a bit overcome with yarn fumes and debated pestering the Mr. to let me get an alpaca! They are so gorgeous, plus they make awesome guards.
I didn't get any buttons as it was so busy and I couldn't get to the stall I wanted to, but it's no biggie, as I can get them again.
I only went on the Saturday and was a bit gutted that I didn't go on the Sunday as apparently it was a bit quieter and a bit more chilled. Plus a few people that I knew were going. All in all, a great day out and good fun. I wish I'd taken coffee and sarnies and gone a bit earlier, but other than that, it was ace!
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Spinning
So on Saturday, I went to my local spinning guild. I was the youngest there which felt a bit odd, but it was good to go and meet other people who spin.
I was a bit worried about going and couldn't figure out why. I realised that it was because I'm beginning to get to a place where I'm proud of my spinning. I had spun 100g of an alpaca and silk blend that I got sent as part of a swap and I najavo plied it and it's come out as a 4ply! It's pretty even and it's really beautiful stuff. I can't decide what to make with it yet, but I'm thinking a hat. I did have a Wooly Wormhead pattern in mind, but I realised that the stitch pattern wouldn't really show in the resulting yarn, so I don't feel that I'd be doing the yarn or the pattern justice.
I was worried, that my burgeoning pride in something that I've made is in that risky, fragile stage where I'm worried about what other people would make of it and I was worried that I'd get shot down for my spinning. Then I realised how daft I was being. It doesn't really matter how I got here or the path that I'll take in the future. It's more important to enjoy what I've made now and enjoy my talent as it is now.
I'm really enjoying spinning for projects in mind. I have the yarn spun up for my Celestarium, but I have another shawl on the needles that I want to finish that I've been trying to knit for the last 3 years. It's been frogged multiple times, but I'm now on the home straight! I have about half a pattern repeat and the border to knit and then I'm done with the knitting. It's just the blocking and photographs to do now.
In the meantime, I am spinning for a pair of socks, as once I realised that I could spin fairly consistent 4ply yarn, if I triple ply it, then I thought I could knit a pair of socks. I have some Easy Knits fibre that I bought at Pendle Stitches, that has some tencel in it. It's yellow, reds and purples and I figured that if I maintained the colours when spinning and plying, I could have stripy socks!
I'm really excited :)
I was a bit worried about going and couldn't figure out why. I realised that it was because I'm beginning to get to a place where I'm proud of my spinning. I had spun 100g of an alpaca and silk blend that I got sent as part of a swap and I najavo plied it and it's come out as a 4ply! It's pretty even and it's really beautiful stuff. I can't decide what to make with it yet, but I'm thinking a hat. I did have a Wooly Wormhead pattern in mind, but I realised that the stitch pattern wouldn't really show in the resulting yarn, so I don't feel that I'd be doing the yarn or the pattern justice.
I was worried, that my burgeoning pride in something that I've made is in that risky, fragile stage where I'm worried about what other people would make of it and I was worried that I'd get shot down for my spinning. Then I realised how daft I was being. It doesn't really matter how I got here or the path that I'll take in the future. It's more important to enjoy what I've made now and enjoy my talent as it is now.
I'm really enjoying spinning for projects in mind. I have the yarn spun up for my Celestarium, but I have another shawl on the needles that I want to finish that I've been trying to knit for the last 3 years. It's been frogged multiple times, but I'm now on the home straight! I have about half a pattern repeat and the border to knit and then I'm done with the knitting. It's just the blocking and photographs to do now.
In the meantime, I am spinning for a pair of socks, as once I realised that I could spin fairly consistent 4ply yarn, if I triple ply it, then I thought I could knit a pair of socks. I have some Easy Knits fibre that I bought at Pendle Stitches, that has some tencel in it. It's yellow, reds and purples and I figured that if I maintained the colours when spinning and plying, I could have stripy socks!
I'm really excited :)
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Brrrr!
It's getting a bit chilly here.
Just as well I've finished a sweater then right?!!
It's Mabelle by Diane Mulholland and it's awesome! Before I started it, I had no experience of knitting sweaters in the round with a yoke. I have tried knitting baby cardigans before and hated the sewing up because I thought they looked untidy. So I just followed the pattern. She did say that if you wanted to, you could add in extra yoke decreases if you wanted the neckline higher but I just left it. Next time I'm definitely going to do the extra decreases because the neckline is a little low (visible bra straps!!). I can wear it with a t-shirt, but meh. The visible bra straps don't bother me so much because I'll not be wearing it in a work setting.
Knitting sweaters in the round is an ace idea. No sewing up! I am happy with it anyway :)
Just as well I've finished a sweater then right?!!
It's Mabelle by Diane Mulholland and it's awesome! Before I started it, I had no experience of knitting sweaters in the round with a yoke. I have tried knitting baby cardigans before and hated the sewing up because I thought they looked untidy. So I just followed the pattern. She did say that if you wanted to, you could add in extra yoke decreases if you wanted the neckline higher but I just left it. Next time I'm definitely going to do the extra decreases because the neckline is a little low (visible bra straps!!). I can wear it with a t-shirt, but meh. The visible bra straps don't bother me so much because I'll not be wearing it in a work setting.
Knitting sweaters in the round is an ace idea. No sewing up! I am happy with it anyway :)
Monday, 26 August 2013
I've moved!
So, I've moved to Burnley :)
Burnley is in Lancashire and I moved up from the Midlands - a good 3 hours drive. The move itself was relatively painless, with only a few hiccups along the way, although I don't want to be doing it too soon in a hurry.
I had to leave my job. The thing is, the commute was doing my head in - 45 minutes, but usually an hour, given the traffic. The diesel was costing me a week's wages every month (well, 4 weekly as that's how often I was paid) and as I was the only one working in our household, money was tight.
My life was so complicated; hence the lack of blog posts. I'd be out of the house for close to 12 hours a day for 4 days a week (including college) and then for 2 days I'd be pretty much doing half days, although I was good for nothing, especially on the Saturday as I'd have been up since 5:30 (but usually earlier, as if I was on my own, I liked to get in earlier). Sundays was my only real day to myself, which was filled with cleaning, catching up on college work, laundry and occasionally some knitting. I was rarely able to cook and although I cooked at work (I worked in a canteen), it's not the same as cooking lovely things for yourself.
The thing about the move is that I'm able to attend Uni up here as well. I've finished my certificate course in counselling and I'll be able to go on and do my masters degree. I didn't get in this year, which I have mixed feelings about. Part of me is relieved as I'll have a year to catch my breath after living such a hectic life for a year or so and part of me is a bit upset. It's for the best though.
The Mr. has a better opportunity for jobs up here. In the week that we moved, he had 3 job interviews. We've not heard anything yet, although I remain hopeful. It will make things so much easier when we are both working.
I've got some temporary nights work - for how long, I'm not sure - it's ongoing temporary. I can't say I'm keen on working nights, but I'm glad that we've got some money coming in. The money is a little bit better than what I was earning before, plus it's full time, plus it's closer, so less fuel costs, which will help. We still have some council tax to pay back from when we were living in Nottingham, but we overpaid our gas and electric so we should have some money coming back off them soon (although some of that will get eaten by the Mr's overdraft!), which will help.
What's cool is that we are paying the same in rent but getting a bigger property. In Nottingham, we lived in a top floor 1 bedroom flat which was basically 2 rooms. Now we have a 2 up, 2 down house, with a teeny yard out the back to call our very own! For the first time, I have my own herb garden. Well, I call it a herb garden, but they are pots of herbs bought at the supermarket. It's a little late in the year to be planting them outside, but we will next year. Along with some chillies and maybe some tomatoes.
The best thing though is that my sister lives just round the corner from us, which is ace. She's handy to have around, plus she makes ace cakes! It's fantastic.
We haven't done any decoration yet, because a) we aren't really sure exactly what we are doing and b) it's probably a better idea to wait until the Mr. has work and I have more secure employment. Not that we'll be spending a fortune of course!
I have located a few of the local knitting and spinning shops. There's a shop in Clitheroe that is a distributor for Ashford wheels and also has fibre. It was great to go in! I also found out that there's a knitting and spinning event called Yarndale in Skipton, which I'm definitely going to go to!!
The second best thing that happened as a result of my move? I now have my cat Hobbes living with me!!! Epic! When I moved in with the Mr. from Leicester to Nottingham (keep up at the back!!), I had been asked to leave the place I was staying and as neither of us could afford the estate agents fees to move, we ended up in the Mr's place - a teeny, damp, cold, depressing top floor flat. Not good for us, and unkind on the cat. Now that we have moved, we've been reunited. Damn, I've missed that cat! He's as twp as a sledge though (gotta love Welsh phrases, nobody says it quite like us), but great to have around.
I hope to be posting more regularly from now on too!! Perhaps with more pictures as well, although I have no idea where my camera is. Tucked in a box somewhere no doubt!
Burnley is in Lancashire and I moved up from the Midlands - a good 3 hours drive. The move itself was relatively painless, with only a few hiccups along the way, although I don't want to be doing it too soon in a hurry.
I had to leave my job. The thing is, the commute was doing my head in - 45 minutes, but usually an hour, given the traffic. The diesel was costing me a week's wages every month (well, 4 weekly as that's how often I was paid) and as I was the only one working in our household, money was tight.
My life was so complicated; hence the lack of blog posts. I'd be out of the house for close to 12 hours a day for 4 days a week (including college) and then for 2 days I'd be pretty much doing half days, although I was good for nothing, especially on the Saturday as I'd have been up since 5:30 (but usually earlier, as if I was on my own, I liked to get in earlier). Sundays was my only real day to myself, which was filled with cleaning, catching up on college work, laundry and occasionally some knitting. I was rarely able to cook and although I cooked at work (I worked in a canteen), it's not the same as cooking lovely things for yourself.
The thing about the move is that I'm able to attend Uni up here as well. I've finished my certificate course in counselling and I'll be able to go on and do my masters degree. I didn't get in this year, which I have mixed feelings about. Part of me is relieved as I'll have a year to catch my breath after living such a hectic life for a year or so and part of me is a bit upset. It's for the best though.
The Mr. has a better opportunity for jobs up here. In the week that we moved, he had 3 job interviews. We've not heard anything yet, although I remain hopeful. It will make things so much easier when we are both working.
I've got some temporary nights work - for how long, I'm not sure - it's ongoing temporary. I can't say I'm keen on working nights, but I'm glad that we've got some money coming in. The money is a little bit better than what I was earning before, plus it's full time, plus it's closer, so less fuel costs, which will help. We still have some council tax to pay back from when we were living in Nottingham, but we overpaid our gas and electric so we should have some money coming back off them soon (although some of that will get eaten by the Mr's overdraft!), which will help.
What's cool is that we are paying the same in rent but getting a bigger property. In Nottingham, we lived in a top floor 1 bedroom flat which was basically 2 rooms. Now we have a 2 up, 2 down house, with a teeny yard out the back to call our very own! For the first time, I have my own herb garden. Well, I call it a herb garden, but they are pots of herbs bought at the supermarket. It's a little late in the year to be planting them outside, but we will next year. Along with some chillies and maybe some tomatoes.
The best thing though is that my sister lives just round the corner from us, which is ace. She's handy to have around, plus she makes ace cakes! It's fantastic.
We haven't done any decoration yet, because a) we aren't really sure exactly what we are doing and b) it's probably a better idea to wait until the Mr. has work and I have more secure employment. Not that we'll be spending a fortune of course!
I have located a few of the local knitting and spinning shops. There's a shop in Clitheroe that is a distributor for Ashford wheels and also has fibre. It was great to go in! I also found out that there's a knitting and spinning event called Yarndale in Skipton, which I'm definitely going to go to!!
The second best thing that happened as a result of my move? I now have my cat Hobbes living with me!!! Epic! When I moved in with the Mr. from Leicester to Nottingham (keep up at the back!!), I had been asked to leave the place I was staying and as neither of us could afford the estate agents fees to move, we ended up in the Mr's place - a teeny, damp, cold, depressing top floor flat. Not good for us, and unkind on the cat. Now that we have moved, we've been reunited. Damn, I've missed that cat! He's as twp as a sledge though (gotta love Welsh phrases, nobody says it quite like us), but great to have around.
I hope to be posting more regularly from now on too!! Perhaps with more pictures as well, although I have no idea where my camera is. Tucked in a box somewhere no doubt!
Monday, 15 July 2013
Scorchio!
It's hot!! Wooooo!
The British are obsessed about the weather, because it can change so damn much even in the space of a day. We've had a desperately cold, late and wet spring and yay, we've had nearly 2 weeks of hot sun so far. Hot for us Brits is anything above 23c and it's been reaching 32c and averaging around 25 or 26.
So yeah. I've been drinking vast amounts of iced coffee. I've been making my own, because, well, reasons.
It's a bit fiddly, but so worth it (and so much cheaper than £3- £4 a pop at Costa / Starbucks).
So I get 2 bags of single estate coffee from Lidl. Seriously, it's so good and it's £2 for a 200g bag. Then I add 3 - 4 pints of cold water and then stick it in the fridge overnight. Make sure the coffee is completely saturated by water though. If you choose to grind your own (Lidl's has a kilo of Lavazza espresso beans for £9.99), then you could grind it fairly coarse. Which helps.
Then I sieve it with one of those plastic mesh sieves used for jam making, pressing the coffee a little to make sure I get as much water out as possible. This can take a while and can be a bit messy!
Then you filter it again, using paper coffee filters, muslin, or perhaps even a cafetiere / french press.
It's definitely worth doing the sieve thing, it speeds up the process.
That's your concentrate. It's lasted us a week and me and the Mr. have been having one a day, sometimes two. That was with 3 pints of water, but I reckon it'd be just as good with 4 pints. Once it's all filtered, stick it back in the fridge.
To make a drink, I put an espresso shot worth (or alter to taste) over a tall glass of ice, add some milk and you're good to go. If you like it sweet, add sugar, but it doesn't dissolve too well in cold drinks. However, you can get flavoured syrups that they use in coffee shops to make speciality latte's. I'm personally a big fan of gingerbread. I've since discovered that it's much cheaper to make your own, but that's for another day. If I want to make it a little indulgent, I add some single cream (not much, just a dash.
A facebook friend makes hers with coconut milk and if you want to make a Vietnamese style iced coffee, try sweetened condensed milk. I'd be interested to know what the non dairy alternatives are like - eg, sweetened soya milk etc. I know that some soya milk brands curdle in hot coffee, so I don't know what happens in cold coffee.
The British are obsessed about the weather, because it can change so damn much even in the space of a day. We've had a desperately cold, late and wet spring and yay, we've had nearly 2 weeks of hot sun so far. Hot for us Brits is anything above 23c and it's been reaching 32c and averaging around 25 or 26.
So yeah. I've been drinking vast amounts of iced coffee. I've been making my own, because, well, reasons.
It's a bit fiddly, but so worth it (and so much cheaper than £3- £4 a pop at Costa / Starbucks).
So I get 2 bags of single estate coffee from Lidl. Seriously, it's so good and it's £2 for a 200g bag. Then I add 3 - 4 pints of cold water and then stick it in the fridge overnight. Make sure the coffee is completely saturated by water though. If you choose to grind your own (Lidl's has a kilo of Lavazza espresso beans for £9.99), then you could grind it fairly coarse. Which helps.
Then I sieve it with one of those plastic mesh sieves used for jam making, pressing the coffee a little to make sure I get as much water out as possible. This can take a while and can be a bit messy!
Then you filter it again, using paper coffee filters, muslin, or perhaps even a cafetiere / french press.
It's definitely worth doing the sieve thing, it speeds up the process.
That's your concentrate. It's lasted us a week and me and the Mr. have been having one a day, sometimes two. That was with 3 pints of water, but I reckon it'd be just as good with 4 pints. Once it's all filtered, stick it back in the fridge.
To make a drink, I put an espresso shot worth (or alter to taste) over a tall glass of ice, add some milk and you're good to go. If you like it sweet, add sugar, but it doesn't dissolve too well in cold drinks. However, you can get flavoured syrups that they use in coffee shops to make speciality latte's. I'm personally a big fan of gingerbread. I've since discovered that it's much cheaper to make your own, but that's for another day. If I want to make it a little indulgent, I add some single cream (not much, just a dash.
A facebook friend makes hers with coconut milk and if you want to make a Vietnamese style iced coffee, try sweetened condensed milk. I'd be interested to know what the non dairy alternatives are like - eg, sweetened soya milk etc. I know that some soya milk brands curdle in hot coffee, so I don't know what happens in cold coffee.
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Funny how time flies...
I can't believe that it's April. April!!!
I've not had a huge amount of time for knitting and spinning recently, because I am spending about 12 hours a day out of the house 4 days a week, and 8 hours out of the house 2 days a week. Add college work into the mix and a bit of housework and I'm stressing.
It's not been easy lately; the fella is out of work so the pressure is on me to bring enough in to pay the bills. He was a student nurse, but had to give up the course because of money issues and he was struggling to do the actual course. He's had 6 job interviews in 6 months, which is pretty good. Especially when there were 1700 applications for 8 jobs in a new branch of Costa just up the road from me.
I really hate my flat. It's small and messy. We have been struggling to heat the flat because of money so when the boiler packed in at Easter, it was annoying. Yesterday, the guy from the boiler repair place came out and condemned the boiler as the flue is leaking exhaust gases into the flat, which means there was carbon monoxide leaking into the flat. Fuck! Luckily, I don't think the boiler itself was hugely faulty when it was actually lit, we just couldn't get it lit. As the flat is damp, our windows are open a teeny bit to allow the air to circulate (we think it's condensation more than anything), so thankfully, neither of us has any symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
I saw my family on the weekend as it was my nephew's 21st birthday party. It was great to see the family and I got to dress up in rockabilly style clothes as it was a rock and roll theme. I felt rough though so didn't feel up to much and was a bit anti social :s
On the way back, I persuaded the fella to take a diversion to The Threshing Barn and I got some really nice yarn and fibre. First up was some 70/20/5 merino/nylon/sparkle hand dyed yarn
Then 100g of Corriedale in purple, green and red. To match the Corriedale, I got 100g purple merino to ply with it.
That was gonna be it but then I saw a 500g bump of a blend of alpaca, llama and merino for £25! All natural colours. Yay!
I've not spun with alpaca or llama before. This should be entertaining!
I'm really looking forward to getting involved with that, but I've just started spinning for my celestarium so it'll have to wait. I have no idea what I want to do with any of it, other than the yarn, might do some socks with that. I can never have enough socks :)
I'm also working through a bit of old stash to make room for new. I'm also working on wips as well, seeing as though I have 2 blankets, 1 sweater, 1 shawl, 1 pair of socks and a hat on the go. I would like to get 1 old project finished for every new project that I start. Having said that, my blankets are a long term project so I'm not worried about rushing to get those finished. Perhaps I could spend a couple of weeks working on one of them for every new project I start :)
I have finished the sock pattern I've been wittering on about for ages, but it probably only makes sense to me. I am not brilliant at writing sock patterns it seems, mostly because I can knit a sock from memory, so when writing out a pattern I leave out the really important stuff that's obvious to me that wouldn't be for a newbie sock knitter and I feel a bit uncomfortable about releasing a pattern that's going to annoy some people. We shall see :)
Back to the knitting methinks :)
I've not had a huge amount of time for knitting and spinning recently, because I am spending about 12 hours a day out of the house 4 days a week, and 8 hours out of the house 2 days a week. Add college work into the mix and a bit of housework and I'm stressing.
It's not been easy lately; the fella is out of work so the pressure is on me to bring enough in to pay the bills. He was a student nurse, but had to give up the course because of money issues and he was struggling to do the actual course. He's had 6 job interviews in 6 months, which is pretty good. Especially when there were 1700 applications for 8 jobs in a new branch of Costa just up the road from me.
I really hate my flat. It's small and messy. We have been struggling to heat the flat because of money so when the boiler packed in at Easter, it was annoying. Yesterday, the guy from the boiler repair place came out and condemned the boiler as the flue is leaking exhaust gases into the flat, which means there was carbon monoxide leaking into the flat. Fuck! Luckily, I don't think the boiler itself was hugely faulty when it was actually lit, we just couldn't get it lit. As the flat is damp, our windows are open a teeny bit to allow the air to circulate (we think it's condensation more than anything), so thankfully, neither of us has any symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
I saw my family on the weekend as it was my nephew's 21st birthday party. It was great to see the family and I got to dress up in rockabilly style clothes as it was a rock and roll theme. I felt rough though so didn't feel up to much and was a bit anti social :s
On the way back, I persuaded the fella to take a diversion to The Threshing Barn and I got some really nice yarn and fibre. First up was some 70/20/5 merino/nylon/sparkle hand dyed yarn
Then 100g of Corriedale in purple, green and red. To match the Corriedale, I got 100g purple merino to ply with it.
That was gonna be it but then I saw a 500g bump of a blend of alpaca, llama and merino for £25! All natural colours. Yay!
I've not spun with alpaca or llama before. This should be entertaining!
I'm really looking forward to getting involved with that, but I've just started spinning for my celestarium so it'll have to wait. I have no idea what I want to do with any of it, other than the yarn, might do some socks with that. I can never have enough socks :)
I'm also working through a bit of old stash to make room for new. I'm also working on wips as well, seeing as though I have 2 blankets, 1 sweater, 1 shawl, 1 pair of socks and a hat on the go. I would like to get 1 old project finished for every new project that I start. Having said that, my blankets are a long term project so I'm not worried about rushing to get those finished. Perhaps I could spend a couple of weeks working on one of them for every new project I start :)
I have finished the sock pattern I've been wittering on about for ages, but it probably only makes sense to me. I am not brilliant at writing sock patterns it seems, mostly because I can knit a sock from memory, so when writing out a pattern I leave out the really important stuff that's obvious to me that wouldn't be for a newbie sock knitter and I feel a bit uncomfortable about releasing a pattern that's going to annoy some people. We shall see :)
Back to the knitting methinks :)
Monday, 4 February 2013
Oooops!
Bloody hell, I did not realise that I had not blogged since September last year.
In my defense, I have been so busy with college and all sorts of other stuff. Just before Christmas, a friend from college passed away suddenly. I was gutted to lose her and am even sadder for her 7 year old son and her partner. I will always remember the fun we had, laughing and chatting.
Being skint and having next to no money for gifts, I decided that I was going to try and make all of my Christmas gifts by hand. Firstly, I was going to knit them, then I realised I had 16 gifts to knit. No. That wasn't going to happen. I think I managed 7. The rest, I made using ideas from Pinterest. I got cheap mugs from the pound shop and then knitted cozies for them. I got some pretzels and then dipped them in melted dark chocolate and bagged them into clear cellophane bags.
For my vegan friend, I made homemade Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Nom! I also got some cheap mason jars and made homemade sugar scrub. Sorted!
I did enjoy it, but I found it all got a bit stressful in the end. Next time, I think I may try making things like lotion bars and lip balms. It was my vegan friends birthday on Thursday and he requested homemade bath bombs, so I now have the kit to make them too.
I also had college work, as well as trying to hunt for a new job and I felt myself getting incredibly stressed. I had to drop the job hunting. My fella is now looking for work as he is now not at college. It's been 4 months and he's had 4 interviews, which is a start, but no joy yet. It's been a bit of a struggle to survive on my own wages. Driving from Nottingham to Leicester for work doesn't help, but I'm struggling to find work that will allow me to go to college. I plan to do my Masters after this (although, given the current financial situation, I may have to defer it a year until the fella gets work), so will need to reduce my hours. We will definitely need the fella working for that.
So yes. Stuff happening. LOTS of stuff happening and not nearly enough knitting for myself. However, I am knitting the Mr a pair of cabled slipper socks with leather soles and then I'm going to spend a month or so finishing the projects I have started (2 pairs of socks, 1 sweater and 1 shawl).
I do have a couple of blankets on the go, but I'm taking my time with them. There's no rush at all for them. I have another granny square blanket, a 10 stitch blanket in random bits of handspun and a Beekeepers Quilt. The Beekeepers Quilt is being done in scraps of sock yarn in random colours, as is the 10 stitch blanket. They are the kind of blankets that I can pick up whenever I like. I have two of then stored in the wardrobe in the bedroom when I'm not working on them. The Beekeepers Quilt is made of hexipuffs, which I cast on using Judy's Magic Cast on, then graft together once knitted and stuffed (I am saving my scraps of yarn to stuff them with). I am knitting them on 2.5mm needles, which is probably not a good idea. I'm toying with the idea of making a 20x20 square with them, then knitting a back and adding a cushion pad and some buttons, just to test the sewing together. I'm afraid that using the technique described in the pattern, that it'll fall apart. Plus as I am using the 2.5mm needles, they are smaller and are taking ages to do. So, we will see how I get on :)
I will be back with pictures soon. I hope :) Right now, I'm knackered and need a shower before I go to bed :)
In my defense, I have been so busy with college and all sorts of other stuff. Just before Christmas, a friend from college passed away suddenly. I was gutted to lose her and am even sadder for her 7 year old son and her partner. I will always remember the fun we had, laughing and chatting.
Being skint and having next to no money for gifts, I decided that I was going to try and make all of my Christmas gifts by hand. Firstly, I was going to knit them, then I realised I had 16 gifts to knit. No. That wasn't going to happen. I think I managed 7. The rest, I made using ideas from Pinterest. I got cheap mugs from the pound shop and then knitted cozies for them. I got some pretzels and then dipped them in melted dark chocolate and bagged them into clear cellophane bags.
For my vegan friend, I made homemade Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Nom! I also got some cheap mason jars and made homemade sugar scrub. Sorted!
I did enjoy it, but I found it all got a bit stressful in the end. Next time, I think I may try making things like lotion bars and lip balms. It was my vegan friends birthday on Thursday and he requested homemade bath bombs, so I now have the kit to make them too.
I also had college work, as well as trying to hunt for a new job and I felt myself getting incredibly stressed. I had to drop the job hunting. My fella is now looking for work as he is now not at college. It's been 4 months and he's had 4 interviews, which is a start, but no joy yet. It's been a bit of a struggle to survive on my own wages. Driving from Nottingham to Leicester for work doesn't help, but I'm struggling to find work that will allow me to go to college. I plan to do my Masters after this (although, given the current financial situation, I may have to defer it a year until the fella gets work), so will need to reduce my hours. We will definitely need the fella working for that.
So yes. Stuff happening. LOTS of stuff happening and not nearly enough knitting for myself. However, I am knitting the Mr a pair of cabled slipper socks with leather soles and then I'm going to spend a month or so finishing the projects I have started (2 pairs of socks, 1 sweater and 1 shawl).
I do have a couple of blankets on the go, but I'm taking my time with them. There's no rush at all for them. I have another granny square blanket, a 10 stitch blanket in random bits of handspun and a Beekeepers Quilt. The Beekeepers Quilt is being done in scraps of sock yarn in random colours, as is the 10 stitch blanket. They are the kind of blankets that I can pick up whenever I like. I have two of then stored in the wardrobe in the bedroom when I'm not working on them. The Beekeepers Quilt is made of hexipuffs, which I cast on using Judy's Magic Cast on, then graft together once knitted and stuffed (I am saving my scraps of yarn to stuff them with). I am knitting them on 2.5mm needles, which is probably not a good idea. I'm toying with the idea of making a 20x20 square with them, then knitting a back and adding a cushion pad and some buttons, just to test the sewing together. I'm afraid that using the technique described in the pattern, that it'll fall apart. Plus as I am using the 2.5mm needles, they are smaller and are taking ages to do. So, we will see how I get on :)
I will be back with pictures soon. I hope :) Right now, I'm knackered and need a shower before I go to bed :)
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Back!
I haven't posted in ages. Sorry! I do have a good reason though - My trusty laptop died and now I have bought another. The old one had a dodgy battery anyway and the power socket / power cable stopped. It was crackling when it was plugged in and it wouldn't start at all. Thankfully, my college stuff was backed up onto dropbox, so I could just borrow the fella's laptop and then continue with my essay writing.
I got very stressed over that laptop. I struggled to get it written and it felt very bad. However, I did pass and I'm onto the second year of the course. I am finding that it's hard, but it doesn't quite seem like me at the time when I'm doing it. I'm always amazed by what I've achieved! What is cool is that I'm recognising things in others and myself. I'm getting there and feeling a bit more confident in myself.
I've just had a few days off work and I've been knitting for most of it. In between baking bread, visiting vintage fairs (I will have to photograph my spoils!) and making crumpets anyway. I'm very glad that I have a slow cooker. I was able to chop some veg, fry off some sausages and then set the slow cooker and then get on with some knitting.
I've been watching some of my Mark Thomas collection. I have some of his stuff on a hard drive here - the Sex, Filth and Religion gig and the Mark Thomas Comedy Product. I also have a couple of the Dispatches things he did, which was good. I have his Serious Organised Criminal on DVD. Met him once when I saw him tour his Walking the Wall gig when I was with my ex. Brilliant stuff! I did turn into a bit of a fangirl when I met him though because he's just brilliant. He signed one of my books :)
Life is good. Marillion have a new album out and me and the fella went to see them live last Friday in Sheffield. It was a fantastic gig, but the venue was a bit cramped. I think normally, they aren't so full, but this one had too many there. I heard that normally Marillion gigs are sold to 80% capacity to allow us a bit more room, but I believe the venue was sold to capacity.
The gig was my favourite, apart from the venue issues. It was also my 7th. It was my fella's first h era Marillion gig and he enjoyed it too. The new album is very proggy and feels like a bit of a return to their roots. I love it - wonderful stuff. I've been listening to it a lot at work and it's been nice to listen to something different at work.
I will have to do a photo entry soon, with photos of some of the work I've been doing. I'm off work again in a month. Hopefully I'll be able to get some Christmas knitting done. Yes, I'm Christmas knitting, after a few years of sanity. I'm just going to knit as many socks as I can, or perhaps some of my Flossies as gifts. I was thinking that they'd be nice in a 4ply yarn, with a slight adjustment for stitch counts etc, and then maybe some beads instead of the bobbles. Hmmm. I am already picturing the yarn and the beads. I think this could be promising. We'll see :)
I got very stressed over that laptop. I struggled to get it written and it felt very bad. However, I did pass and I'm onto the second year of the course. I am finding that it's hard, but it doesn't quite seem like me at the time when I'm doing it. I'm always amazed by what I've achieved! What is cool is that I'm recognising things in others and myself. I'm getting there and feeling a bit more confident in myself.
I've just had a few days off work and I've been knitting for most of it. In between baking bread, visiting vintage fairs (I will have to photograph my spoils!) and making crumpets anyway. I'm very glad that I have a slow cooker. I was able to chop some veg, fry off some sausages and then set the slow cooker and then get on with some knitting.
I've been watching some of my Mark Thomas collection. I have some of his stuff on a hard drive here - the Sex, Filth and Religion gig and the Mark Thomas Comedy Product. I also have a couple of the Dispatches things he did, which was good. I have his Serious Organised Criminal on DVD. Met him once when I saw him tour his Walking the Wall gig when I was with my ex. Brilliant stuff! I did turn into a bit of a fangirl when I met him though because he's just brilliant. He signed one of my books :)
Life is good. Marillion have a new album out and me and the fella went to see them live last Friday in Sheffield. It was a fantastic gig, but the venue was a bit cramped. I think normally, they aren't so full, but this one had too many there. I heard that normally Marillion gigs are sold to 80% capacity to allow us a bit more room, but I believe the venue was sold to capacity.
The gig was my favourite, apart from the venue issues. It was also my 7th. It was my fella's first h era Marillion gig and he enjoyed it too. The new album is very proggy and feels like a bit of a return to their roots. I love it - wonderful stuff. I've been listening to it a lot at work and it's been nice to listen to something different at work.
I will have to do a photo entry soon, with photos of some of the work I've been doing. I'm off work again in a month. Hopefully I'll be able to get some Christmas knitting done. Yes, I'm Christmas knitting, after a few years of sanity. I'm just going to knit as many socks as I can, or perhaps some of my Flossies as gifts. I was thinking that they'd be nice in a 4ply yarn, with a slight adjustment for stitch counts etc, and then maybe some beads instead of the bobbles. Hmmm. I am already picturing the yarn and the beads. I think this could be promising. We'll see :)
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Ground control...
Doing this earworm tracking thing is interesting. It seems that my earworms are nowhere near as random as I think they are. It seems that songs from adverts and / or documentaries are getting into my head and staying there.
It's all good though, at least I'm not getting any really annoying stuff in my head. June's earworm playlist is here if you fancy a listen.
I successfully managed to avoid yarn buying today. I am doing what the Knitmores call stash cultivation, which means that you build a beautiful stash. My current stash is lovely, but I must remind myself not to buy yarn because it's on sale or because it's cheap. I have plenty of yarn at the moment that I'd like to work through. 2 sweaters worth, 2 blankets worth, several pairs of socks worth, and several shawls worth. I would like to spin for a sweater though, but would just like to improve on my spinning first though. Having said that, it's getting so much better than what it used to look like.
By the way, here is my Vortex shawl project page (so you can see the link to the pattern), with pictures as promised. I love the way the colour variations in the handspun yarn swirls with the pattern. It sort of looks like what I imagine a vortex to look like.
I am really happy with it, naturally! I really think that the yarn suits the pattern and vice versa.
The 10 stitch blanket is still ongoing and I'm happy with the way it's going. I'm aiming for random colours and something that's a bit shabby but lovely. Not that I think my work is shabby, but I want random.
It's all good though, at least I'm not getting any really annoying stuff in my head. June's earworm playlist is here if you fancy a listen.
I successfully managed to avoid yarn buying today. I am doing what the Knitmores call stash cultivation, which means that you build a beautiful stash. My current stash is lovely, but I must remind myself not to buy yarn because it's on sale or because it's cheap. I have plenty of yarn at the moment that I'd like to work through. 2 sweaters worth, 2 blankets worth, several pairs of socks worth, and several shawls worth. I would like to spin for a sweater though, but would just like to improve on my spinning first though. Having said that, it's getting so much better than what it used to look like.
By the way, here is my Vortex shawl project page (so you can see the link to the pattern), with pictures as promised. I love the way the colour variations in the handspun yarn swirls with the pattern. It sort of looks like what I imagine a vortex to look like.
I am really happy with it, naturally! I really think that the yarn suits the pattern and vice versa.
The 10 stitch blanket is still ongoing and I'm happy with the way it's going. I'm aiming for random colours and something that's a bit shabby but lovely. Not that I think my work is shabby, but I want random.
Friday, 15 June 2012
Things...
Just a few things to tell you about this evening:-
- I am participating in the Ravelympics this year. I am in Team AMBAA (Ankh Morpork Bad Ass Artificers). I am participating in the WIPS wrestling, with 3 WIPS to complete and a sock pattern to publish during the Olympics.
- College is going well, I am enjoying it. Lots of things going on, which is hard for me to talk about on a public blog. I would like to, but it's not really appropriate. As it is a counselling course, I have to open up to my fellow students and perhaps reveal stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily, as do they. Because of this, I wouldn't want to share information about them on the internet. My real name is on this blog and it would be quite easy to find where I go to University and therefore it may be easy to work out who is whom, if you already know some of the students. I will perhaps, write an entry about how the course is changing me at a later date. Once I've finished the first year :P
- I was doing job hunting, at the same time, but was getting ridiculously stressed, along with the driving to and from work. I don't get in until 8:30 ish some nights, so find it hard to search, then apply for jobs and do college work at the same time. I have decided that I will wait for college to be done and then spend my summer applying for jobs.
- June's earworm playlist is here. I am aware that there is a song that is on May's playlist too, but the song has been lodged firmly in my brain since late May. I am finding that there are certain songs that are like that. This month's song that appears to be on repeat is Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen.
- I have cast on a ten stitch blanket. It started off looking a bit crap and now looks a lot better I'm not convinced by the middle bit though. We shall see. I'm doing it in handspun yarn. Yay!
- I have startitis. I want to cast on all the things, but I have college work to do, so can't really. I am planning on spinning the yarn to do a top down raglan, after knitting a Vortex in handspun yarn. Pictures soon, I promise! Plus I have the yarn to knit a lovely cabled jumper, plus more yarn to knit another jumper or cardi, so we shall see. I want to learn to knit more garments like sweaters and cardi's and overcome the fear of measuring myself and calculating how much yarn I need and where to put increases / decreases.
- I am wide awake and it is nearly half past midnight, but I have to be up at 6:30 in order to get to work for 8am, so I really should go to my gwely (that's Welsh for bed!), so on that note, Nos Da (Good Night!).
- I am participating in the Ravelympics this year. I am in Team AMBAA (Ankh Morpork Bad Ass Artificers). I am participating in the WIPS wrestling, with 3 WIPS to complete and a sock pattern to publish during the Olympics.
- College is going well, I am enjoying it. Lots of things going on, which is hard for me to talk about on a public blog. I would like to, but it's not really appropriate. As it is a counselling course, I have to open up to my fellow students and perhaps reveal stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily, as do they. Because of this, I wouldn't want to share information about them on the internet. My real name is on this blog and it would be quite easy to find where I go to University and therefore it may be easy to work out who is whom, if you already know some of the students. I will perhaps, write an entry about how the course is changing me at a later date. Once I've finished the first year :P
- I was doing job hunting, at the same time, but was getting ridiculously stressed, along with the driving to and from work. I don't get in until 8:30 ish some nights, so find it hard to search, then apply for jobs and do college work at the same time. I have decided that I will wait for college to be done and then spend my summer applying for jobs.
- June's earworm playlist is here. I am aware that there is a song that is on May's playlist too, but the song has been lodged firmly in my brain since late May. I am finding that there are certain songs that are like that. This month's song that appears to be on repeat is Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen.
- I have cast on a ten stitch blanket. It started off looking a bit crap and now looks a lot better I'm not convinced by the middle bit though. We shall see. I'm doing it in handspun yarn. Yay!
- I have startitis. I want to cast on all the things, but I have college work to do, so can't really. I am planning on spinning the yarn to do a top down raglan, after knitting a Vortex in handspun yarn. Pictures soon, I promise! Plus I have the yarn to knit a lovely cabled jumper, plus more yarn to knit another jumper or cardi, so we shall see. I want to learn to knit more garments like sweaters and cardi's and overcome the fear of measuring myself and calculating how much yarn I need and where to put increases / decreases.
- I am wide awake and it is nearly half past midnight, but I have to be up at 6:30 in order to get to work for 8am, so I really should go to my gwely (that's Welsh for bed!), so on that note, Nos Da (Good Night!).
Friday, 18 May 2012
Today, I saw music in the sky...
I have finally figured out how to copy the URL to May's earworm playlist. It struck me after talking to someone the other day that not everyone knows what an earworm is. An earworm is a song that randomly gets stuck in your head. It's fun if you can infect someone with a tune.
It's here on Spotify if you fancied listening to it, It's just a record of the songs that seem to go through my head. I can't promise they'll always be traditionally earworm like (in other words, cheesy), but they are genuinely the songs that get stuck in my head.
As an aside, did you know that one of the most common earworms isWitchita Lineman by Glenn Campbell? Heh.
Incidentally, one of my own earworms probably comes from hearing all about Rebecca Brooks getting herself arrested for perverting the course of justice / phone hacking. The track is Paper Lies by Marillion. Of course :)
Just thought I would come and share. It's not complete yet, so come back and have a listen later on in the month if you fancy it.
It's here on Spotify if you fancied listening to it, It's just a record of the songs that seem to go through my head. I can't promise they'll always be traditionally earworm like (in other words, cheesy), but they are genuinely the songs that get stuck in my head.
As an aside, did you know that one of the most common earworms isWitchita Lineman by Glenn Campbell? Heh.
Incidentally, one of my own earworms probably comes from hearing all about Rebecca Brooks getting herself arrested for perverting the course of justice / phone hacking. The track is Paper Lies by Marillion. Of course :)
Just thought I would come and share. It's not complete yet, so come back and have a listen later on in the month if you fancy it.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Oh dear
I keep on meaning to write here, but I get distracted. I am so busy these days. Work is utter, utter madness and it's doing it's best to totally send me a bit bonkers. I have moved to Nottingham with the fella, but am still working in Nottingham as I didn't manage to get the transfer I wanted. As work is thin on the ground, I couldn't just afford to jack in work, especially is the fella is a student nurse. So, it's a case of commute to work and college while looking for work.
I am keeping myself sane with a LOT of knitting and reading. I've been rereading the Robin Hobb books that I have. Only thing is, I left book 1 of The Liveship Traders at work on a Saturday and by the time I'd gone back in on a Wednesday after a bank holiday weekend, the book had gone and nobody claims to know where it is. I reckon it's been binned 'cause I can't find it and the bit where I'd left it had been tidied.
Grrr. I know it's my fault for leaving it there, but who would bin a book? Madness. I am taking a break from that while I figure out what happened to it and whether I'm going to get another copy, so am reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies instead.
I have visited a couple of yarn shops in Nottingham. The first, I went to a few weeks ago. It's less than a mile from my house and tiny. The lady who owns it seems awesome though. I may try and get to the knitting group she goes to once I've started work in Nottingham. The second, I found by accident as we were visiting one of the larger Tesco Express stores - we needed to top the fella's phone up (he's on Tesco mobile and if I buy the top up at a Tesco store, I can use my staff discount - £9 will buy him £40 worth of credit!). I spent a while chatting to the lady and it seems she's not long been open - 2 months or so. She's slowly building up stock, but she has a lot of the luxury yarns there. I ended up buying a skein of Fyberspates scrumptious laceweight in a dark blue / petrol colour. It's gorgeous but expensive. £15.95!, but then there are 1000 meters in the skein, so that's a really fabulous shawl.
I also have a mad idea to spin for a blanket. A round blanket. Using the exact same pattern that I'm using for my handspun shawl (Vortex, on Ravelry if you're interested). I was thinking that I'll do 8 different colours and do a section in each colour. We shall see though :)
I was also thinking that I seem to have this thing where I have at least 1 earworm a day and I thought it would be interesting to track them, so I am creating a playlist on Spotify that has all my earworms in for every month. Obviously, this month will be a shorter one as I started late, but I have had at least 3 songs meander through my brain today so we'll see. I note that I can share playlists via facebook and twitter, but I don't know if I can get a direct link for them so I can stick it here. Would be interesting though! I will share at the end of the month on Facebook and then see if I can get the direct link off there :)
In the meantime, I am off to make it up to the fella. Apparently I was shouting at him in my sleep last night but I have no recollection of this. Ooops. In my defence, apparently I was telling him to stop snoring. Seems legit to me though :)
I am keeping myself sane with a LOT of knitting and reading. I've been rereading the Robin Hobb books that I have. Only thing is, I left book 1 of The Liveship Traders at work on a Saturday and by the time I'd gone back in on a Wednesday after a bank holiday weekend, the book had gone and nobody claims to know where it is. I reckon it's been binned 'cause I can't find it and the bit where I'd left it had been tidied.
Grrr. I know it's my fault for leaving it there, but who would bin a book? Madness. I am taking a break from that while I figure out what happened to it and whether I'm going to get another copy, so am reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies instead.
I have visited a couple of yarn shops in Nottingham. The first, I went to a few weeks ago. It's less than a mile from my house and tiny. The lady who owns it seems awesome though. I may try and get to the knitting group she goes to once I've started work in Nottingham. The second, I found by accident as we were visiting one of the larger Tesco Express stores - we needed to top the fella's phone up (he's on Tesco mobile and if I buy the top up at a Tesco store, I can use my staff discount - £9 will buy him £40 worth of credit!). I spent a while chatting to the lady and it seems she's not long been open - 2 months or so. She's slowly building up stock, but she has a lot of the luxury yarns there. I ended up buying a skein of Fyberspates scrumptious laceweight in a dark blue / petrol colour. It's gorgeous but expensive. £15.95!, but then there are 1000 meters in the skein, so that's a really fabulous shawl.
I also have a mad idea to spin for a blanket. A round blanket. Using the exact same pattern that I'm using for my handspun shawl (Vortex, on Ravelry if you're interested). I was thinking that I'll do 8 different colours and do a section in each colour. We shall see though :)
I was also thinking that I seem to have this thing where I have at least 1 earworm a day and I thought it would be interesting to track them, so I am creating a playlist on Spotify that has all my earworms in for every month. Obviously, this month will be a shorter one as I started late, but I have had at least 3 songs meander through my brain today so we'll see. I note that I can share playlists via facebook and twitter, but I don't know if I can get a direct link for them so I can stick it here. Would be interesting though! I will share at the end of the month on Facebook and then see if I can get the direct link off there :)
In the meantime, I am off to make it up to the fella. Apparently I was shouting at him in my sleep last night but I have no recollection of this. Ooops. In my defence, apparently I was telling him to stop snoring. Seems legit to me though :)
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Happy days
I have just finished the work for college. I submitted the work last night and was glad that I got it in on time. I am thoroughly enjoying the course. It is taxing and draining but I am really happy that I'm doing it. I am aware of myself changing - I am a lot calmer and understand a lot more about myself. I have another 4 modules to go, spread out over 2 years so I do wonder how much I'll change.
I still feel like me though, just a more secure me, if that makes sense. I am both excited and a little scared about the prospects of becoming a counsellor.
Me and the fella are flat hunting. We are looking for places in the Long Eaton / Beeston / Stapleford area (Nottingham), so I am leaving Leicester. He is a full time student nurse and as I am studying part time, it makes sense for me to move there. We have seen one or two places. We very nearly got one place but my fella was waiting for a letter from the NHS Bursary people to say how much he received, but the letting agents / landlord didn't want to wait. There was something quite fishy about the whole situation - the person who I was dealing with said there was someone else interested in the property, but the other people in the office said there was no interest whatsoever. When we viewed the property, it had been empty for 4 months, so not much interest in it at all! The letting agents said they definitely had found someone else for the property when questioned. Ho hum. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get a call back in a week or so to ask if we are still interested in the property. So very tempted to say maybe, but for a reduced rent.
Oh! When we did view the property, there was another guy there doing a viewing at the same time as us. Most unprofessional! It wouldn't have bothered me if we'd got there and someone was still viewing it, or someone was coming to view it after us - but to book 2 viewings at the same time on the same property? Not good!
We have arranged a viewing on another house that we like today. We shall see how that goes. It looks to be a nice 2 bed house in Beeston, really close to all the amenities. Right now, I'm a bit worried about the money situation. I will have to do a lot of travelling initially as I will be travelling back and forward to Leicester until I can find work in Nottingham and with fuel prices as they are, that's not good. I will probably be spending the time off college getting my CV into a few places - I am finding that flat hunting, college and work are all enough right now and I don't want any additional stress. However, while I'm not at Uni, I can spend the next 2 weeks or so responding to job adverts.
That's another thing I'm learning. Better time and stress management. I am kinder on myself. Once I've moved and settled in, I will definitely be able to job hunt more effectively, but given how I spent about a year sending CV's off to different places, I'm thinking that there are so many people applying for jobs that it's hard to get noticed. I don't want to get too despondent though!
Heh, that was a bit of an essay. I came here to talk about something else entirely. I was watching Sunday Brunch, which is a clone of Something for the Weekend, with the presenter / chefs doing a bit of cooking and a bit of interviewing. I was watching it with a cuppa as I waited for the fella to get out of bed and they had someone on there - a trendspotter - talking about knitting. My ears pricked up!
When her segment came around, she showed these knitted trainers that someone had done. Really!! They looked better than I imagined they'd look to be quite honest. They had proper rubber soles and everything. She then went on to say how knitting is now cool and how it's not just for grannies.
I don't quite know how to feel about this. After all, I hate the Shreddies adverts - "knitted by nana's" or being so damn stereotypical but I dislike how knitting is portrayed as cool because certain famous people knit. As an aside, I couldn't tell you one famous person who knits. Meh. For me, I knit and spin because I love it. I love the process (most of the time, when I'm not cocking up a simple feather and fan pattern and have to unravel a weekends worth of knitting!!) and I love the product. I love being able to make something. I love seeing things grow, stitch by stitch. I love seeing the fibre I spin turn into yarn and then into a garment. I love letting the yarn speak and tell me what it needs to be. I love the fact that I've not bought any socks in 5 years because I've always got a pair on the needles. I love the surge of excitement that I feel casting on, then casting off and blocking. I love meeting other knitters and talking about projects. Even if the person is someone I don't really know, we have knitting to talk about. I love the feeling of yarn in my hands and I love the wide range of colours you can get.
I can see how a surge of interest in knitting is going to benefit me as a knitter (new products, new patterns, new books, new magazines etc), but I don't know if I like being labelled as a granny (I'm 33!!!!), or someone who is just doing it to be cool or on trend (I loathe that phrase with a passion!). I don't know if I like being labelled at all. I'm just me, doing my thing.
Maybe it's to do with the feeling that I don't like having attention drawn to myself, which is odd, coming from someone who did some guerilla knitting and will gladly knit in public, but then I don't knit in public to get attention. I just do it because I want to rather than to elicit a response. We have some odd reactions from people sometimes, when they see us knitting; from outright laughing at us (WT everloving F??), to people asking if we are a group and can they join, people saying how lovely it is to see people knitting, to people asking for a knitted thong (this really did happen once), or people saying "You're knitting. Why?". It can be quite disconcerting to be in the middle of a row, concentrating on your stitch pattern, or in the middle of a conversation about Being Human / Dr Who etc to have someone butt into our conversation to say something like "I know you're knitting, but what are you doing?" It can feel a little rude or intrusive sometimes, but I've never seen it done with any malice. Most of the time, it does make people smile - perhaps they had a family member who used to knit things for them.
It goes with the territory, I suppose. If you knit in public then you are bound to attract the attention of people who will either think that it was something that grannies did years ago, or that we are doing to be cool. Perhaps the problem here is whether I am too concerned with how people see me.
Food for thought!
I still feel like me though, just a more secure me, if that makes sense. I am both excited and a little scared about the prospects of becoming a counsellor.
Me and the fella are flat hunting. We are looking for places in the Long Eaton / Beeston / Stapleford area (Nottingham), so I am leaving Leicester. He is a full time student nurse and as I am studying part time, it makes sense for me to move there. We have seen one or two places. We very nearly got one place but my fella was waiting for a letter from the NHS Bursary people to say how much he received, but the letting agents / landlord didn't want to wait. There was something quite fishy about the whole situation - the person who I was dealing with said there was someone else interested in the property, but the other people in the office said there was no interest whatsoever. When we viewed the property, it had been empty for 4 months, so not much interest in it at all! The letting agents said they definitely had found someone else for the property when questioned. Ho hum. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get a call back in a week or so to ask if we are still interested in the property. So very tempted to say maybe, but for a reduced rent.
Oh! When we did view the property, there was another guy there doing a viewing at the same time as us. Most unprofessional! It wouldn't have bothered me if we'd got there and someone was still viewing it, or someone was coming to view it after us - but to book 2 viewings at the same time on the same property? Not good!
We have arranged a viewing on another house that we like today. We shall see how that goes. It looks to be a nice 2 bed house in Beeston, really close to all the amenities. Right now, I'm a bit worried about the money situation. I will have to do a lot of travelling initially as I will be travelling back and forward to Leicester until I can find work in Nottingham and with fuel prices as they are, that's not good. I will probably be spending the time off college getting my CV into a few places - I am finding that flat hunting, college and work are all enough right now and I don't want any additional stress. However, while I'm not at Uni, I can spend the next 2 weeks or so responding to job adverts.
That's another thing I'm learning. Better time and stress management. I am kinder on myself. Once I've moved and settled in, I will definitely be able to job hunt more effectively, but given how I spent about a year sending CV's off to different places, I'm thinking that there are so many people applying for jobs that it's hard to get noticed. I don't want to get too despondent though!
Heh, that was a bit of an essay. I came here to talk about something else entirely. I was watching Sunday Brunch, which is a clone of Something for the Weekend, with the presenter / chefs doing a bit of cooking and a bit of interviewing. I was watching it with a cuppa as I waited for the fella to get out of bed and they had someone on there - a trendspotter - talking about knitting. My ears pricked up!
When her segment came around, she showed these knitted trainers that someone had done. Really!! They looked better than I imagined they'd look to be quite honest. They had proper rubber soles and everything. She then went on to say how knitting is now cool and how it's not just for grannies.
I don't quite know how to feel about this. After all, I hate the Shreddies adverts - "knitted by nana's" or being so damn stereotypical but I dislike how knitting is portrayed as cool because certain famous people knit. As an aside, I couldn't tell you one famous person who knits. Meh. For me, I knit and spin because I love it. I love the process (most of the time, when I'm not cocking up a simple feather and fan pattern and have to unravel a weekends worth of knitting!!) and I love the product. I love being able to make something. I love seeing things grow, stitch by stitch. I love seeing the fibre I spin turn into yarn and then into a garment. I love letting the yarn speak and tell me what it needs to be. I love the fact that I've not bought any socks in 5 years because I've always got a pair on the needles. I love the surge of excitement that I feel casting on, then casting off and blocking. I love meeting other knitters and talking about projects. Even if the person is someone I don't really know, we have knitting to talk about. I love the feeling of yarn in my hands and I love the wide range of colours you can get.
I can see how a surge of interest in knitting is going to benefit me as a knitter (new products, new patterns, new books, new magazines etc), but I don't know if I like being labelled as a granny (I'm 33!!!!), or someone who is just doing it to be cool or on trend (I loathe that phrase with a passion!). I don't know if I like being labelled at all. I'm just me, doing my thing.
Maybe it's to do with the feeling that I don't like having attention drawn to myself, which is odd, coming from someone who did some guerilla knitting and will gladly knit in public, but then I don't knit in public to get attention. I just do it because I want to rather than to elicit a response. We have some odd reactions from people sometimes, when they see us knitting; from outright laughing at us (WT everloving F??), to people asking if we are a group and can they join, people saying how lovely it is to see people knitting, to people asking for a knitted thong (this really did happen once), or people saying "You're knitting. Why?". It can be quite disconcerting to be in the middle of a row, concentrating on your stitch pattern, or in the middle of a conversation about Being Human / Dr Who etc to have someone butt into our conversation to say something like "I know you're knitting, but what are you doing?" It can feel a little rude or intrusive sometimes, but I've never seen it done with any malice. Most of the time, it does make people smile - perhaps they had a family member who used to knit things for them.
It goes with the territory, I suppose. If you knit in public then you are bound to attract the attention of people who will either think that it was something that grannies did years ago, or that we are doing to be cool. Perhaps the problem here is whether I am too concerned with how people see me.
Food for thought!
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Yarnbombing
So I've been a busy bee lately. I've been doing some yarn bombing, along with lots of other enthusiastic knitter volunteers! It's the Leicester Comedy Festival, which is sponsored by the TV Channel Dave.
Our task was to create lots of little bits and bobs to cover some of the statues and bollards in the city centre.
It got spotted by the local paper, and some of our work can be spotted here
We are really pleased with it! Unfortunately, it clashed with a demonstration from the EDL and a counter demo by the Leicester group of United Against Fascism so we were a bit worried about it (the EDL came to Leicester a while back and tried to trash the place). Some of the bits have gone missing - like the scarf and handbag that the Thomas Cook statue was wearing. If you'd like to see more pictures, check out the #cheekyknitting hashtag on twitter.
I never got to see most of my work as I've been househunting - I've been asked to move from my shared house. This is ok though, as me and the fella have been planning on moving in together for a while, so it's all go. I've also now started my course at Uni - I'm doing a Certificate of Higher Education in Counselling. It's all going swimmingly, but then I would say that now when the deadlines for work are about 5 weeks away. Plus it's reading week this week. I have a few books already and I plan to get to the library on Thursday morning so I can get some reading done.
I also took part in the KGB (Knitting Guerilla's from Birstall's) Valentine Day yarn bombing. I was working when they were putting their hearts up, so popped down this morning. I must say, they did a fine job! Have a look at their blog to see how they got on. I took a few of my own photographs this morning, but with an iPhone camera as I forgot to pick my own camera up as I left the house!!
Here are my pictures. Shame the quality of some of the pictures wasn't so good, but hey, it was cold and I was using an iPhone camera. I got home to find that my cat had found the remainder of the red yarn and had a good play with it so had yarn bombed the house. Cheeky little sod!
In the meantime, I am working on getting some of my jewellery onto Folksy, plus I'm looking into buying a domain name as well as getting a page on Facebook. Keep an eye on Folksy as items will be trickling on slowly but surely. I've been pinning some of my favourite items onto Pinterest too, which is my new addiction. Pinterest, that is, not bragging about my own stuff, which is something I'm not very good at!!!
So yeah. All good fun, but I'm very busy, but I'm enjoying being busy!
Our task was to create lots of little bits and bobs to cover some of the statues and bollards in the city centre.
It got spotted by the local paper, and some of our work can be spotted here
We are really pleased with it! Unfortunately, it clashed with a demonstration from the EDL and a counter demo by the Leicester group of United Against Fascism so we were a bit worried about it (the EDL came to Leicester a while back and tried to trash the place). Some of the bits have gone missing - like the scarf and handbag that the Thomas Cook statue was wearing. If you'd like to see more pictures, check out the #cheekyknitting hashtag on twitter.
I never got to see most of my work as I've been househunting - I've been asked to move from my shared house. This is ok though, as me and the fella have been planning on moving in together for a while, so it's all go. I've also now started my course at Uni - I'm doing a Certificate of Higher Education in Counselling. It's all going swimmingly, but then I would say that now when the deadlines for work are about 5 weeks away. Plus it's reading week this week. I have a few books already and I plan to get to the library on Thursday morning so I can get some reading done.
I also took part in the KGB (Knitting Guerilla's from Birstall's) Valentine Day yarn bombing. I was working when they were putting their hearts up, so popped down this morning. I must say, they did a fine job! Have a look at their blog to see how they got on. I took a few of my own photographs this morning, but with an iPhone camera as I forgot to pick my own camera up as I left the house!!
Here are my pictures. Shame the quality of some of the pictures wasn't so good, but hey, it was cold and I was using an iPhone camera. I got home to find that my cat had found the remainder of the red yarn and had a good play with it so had yarn bombed the house. Cheeky little sod!
In the meantime, I am working on getting some of my jewellery onto Folksy, plus I'm looking into buying a domain name as well as getting a page on Facebook. Keep an eye on Folksy as items will be trickling on slowly but surely. I've been pinning some of my favourite items onto Pinterest too, which is my new addiction. Pinterest, that is, not bragging about my own stuff, which is something I'm not very good at!!!
So yeah. All good fun, but I'm very busy, but I'm enjoying being busy!
Monday, 2 January 2012
Oh Hai 2012
I have done this survey before, but decided to do it again.
[1] What did you do in 2011 that you have never done before?
-- Errrrrr. Oh! I cooked a roast chicken! Sad that I've never done it before but, I'm glad that I did it and will do it again.
[2] Did you keep all of last years resolutions?
-- Don't make 'em. I just have ideas of what I want to do.
[3] Have you any resolutions for next year?
-- I want to do more spinning with Doris, more cooking and more having fun.
[4] Did anyone close to you give birth?
-- Nope
[5] Did anyone close to you die?
-- Nope
[6] What countries did you visit?
-- None
[7] What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn't have in 2011?
-- My own place.
[8] What dates in 2011 will remain etched in your memory and why?
-- May 15th and June 21st. When I first started talking to the fella and our first date, respectively.
[9] What was your biggest achievement of the year?
-- Realising that diets make me so very unhappy, but cooking makes me happy. Drop dieting and start cooking.
[10] What was your biggest failure?
-- The failed relationship with my ex. But it was for the best.
[11] Did you suffer any illness or injury?
-- Nothing major. My skin is really unhappy at the moment. Steroid creams and strong creams for the win. It feels like I'm fending off eye infections as well because of the dry skin under my eyes.
[12] What was the best thing you bought?
-- Probably the slow cooker and the cooking books.
[13] Whose behaviour merited celebration?
-- M's. For being altogether quite lovely.
[14] Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
-- I wouldn't go as far as saying appalled and depressed, but there have been one or two people that certainly irritated me. I shall leave it there, as it's a public blog and all that :)
[15] Where did most of your money go?
-- Living. I actually didn't get much yarn. Still working through the stash.
[16] What did you get really really really excited about?
-- Going back to Uni. That reminds me, I must ring up and pay them tomorrow.
[17] What songs will always remind you of 2011?
-- Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
Video here, but be aware, it's NSFW!
[18] Compared to this time last year are you :
a)Fatter or thinner? About the same
b) Happier or sadder? Happier
c) Richer or poorer? About the same
[19] What do you wish you'd done more of?
-- Laughing. Although I did a fair amount this year. I want more fun this year. I'm going to make my own fun!
[20] What do you wish you'd done less of?
-- Working, but it has to be done.
[21] How will you be spending Christmas?
-- It's been and gone. I spent it with family and loved it.
[22] How many online friends did you meet for the first time?
-- None!
[23] Did you fall in love in 2011?
-- Yes :)
[24] How many one night stands?
-- None. I don't do one night stands.
[25] What was your favourite TV programme?
-- Probably the Great British Bake off (hah, not for the squirrel nuts either!). Or True Blood series 3, also Torchwood was ok. I've not seen Sherlock yet.
[26] Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
-- Hate is a strong word, so no.
[27] What was/were the best books you read?
-- The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I devoured them.
[28] What was your greatest musical discovery?
-- Uncle Frank! Saw them live at Summer Sundae and can't wait to see them again. The singer is local to Leicester and has worked with the Fun Lovin' Criminals :)
[29] What did you want and get?
-- A place at Uni to study counselling.
[30] What did you want and not get?
-- Um. A lottery win??
[31] What was your favourite film this year?
-- I didn't go to the cinema much this year. Not as much as I would have liked.
[32] What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
-- I went shopping. I had a date with the fella the day after and had just got over a hangover :)
[33] What one thing made your year more satisfying than 2010?
-- I got out of a relationship that wasn't good for me.
[34] How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
-- Alternately scruffy and glam. Depending on whether I'm leaving the house or not. Am rocking the PJ's and henna on the hair look right now.
[35] What kept you sane?
-- Knitting.
[36] Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
-- Heh. I have a thing for James Macavoy. Not that he's been in much this year.
[37] Which political issue stirred you the most?
-- Phone hacking by tabloid newspapers, the strikes and the riots.
[38] Who did you miss?
-- Being close to my family.
[39] Who was the best new person you met?
-- M.
[40] Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
-- Be yourself. Do what you love. Anyone who tells you otherwise, should be ejected from your life, pronto.
[1] What did you do in 2011 that you have never done before?
-- Errrrrr. Oh! I cooked a roast chicken! Sad that I've never done it before but, I'm glad that I did it and will do it again.
[2] Did you keep all of last years resolutions?
-- Don't make 'em. I just have ideas of what I want to do.
[3] Have you any resolutions for next year?
-- I want to do more spinning with Doris, more cooking and more having fun.
[4] Did anyone close to you give birth?
-- Nope
[5] Did anyone close to you die?
-- Nope
[6] What countries did you visit?
-- None
[7] What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn't have in 2011?
-- My own place.
[8] What dates in 2011 will remain etched in your memory and why?
-- May 15th and June 21st. When I first started talking to the fella and our first date, respectively.
[9] What was your biggest achievement of the year?
-- Realising that diets make me so very unhappy, but cooking makes me happy. Drop dieting and start cooking.
[10] What was your biggest failure?
-- The failed relationship with my ex. But it was for the best.
[11] Did you suffer any illness or injury?
-- Nothing major. My skin is really unhappy at the moment. Steroid creams and strong creams for the win. It feels like I'm fending off eye infections as well because of the dry skin under my eyes.
[12] What was the best thing you bought?
-- Probably the slow cooker and the cooking books.
[13] Whose behaviour merited celebration?
-- M's. For being altogether quite lovely.
[14] Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
-- I wouldn't go as far as saying appalled and depressed, but there have been one or two people that certainly irritated me. I shall leave it there, as it's a public blog and all that :)
[15] Where did most of your money go?
-- Living. I actually didn't get much yarn. Still working through the stash.
[16] What did you get really really really excited about?
-- Going back to Uni. That reminds me, I must ring up and pay them tomorrow.
[17] What songs will always remind you of 2011?
-- Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
Video here, but be aware, it's NSFW!
[18] Compared to this time last year are you :
a)Fatter or thinner? About the same
b) Happier or sadder? Happier
c) Richer or poorer? About the same
[19] What do you wish you'd done more of?
-- Laughing. Although I did a fair amount this year. I want more fun this year. I'm going to make my own fun!
[20] What do you wish you'd done less of?
-- Working, but it has to be done.
[21] How will you be spending Christmas?
-- It's been and gone. I spent it with family and loved it.
[22] How many online friends did you meet for the first time?
-- None!
[23] Did you fall in love in 2011?
-- Yes :)
[24] How many one night stands?
-- None. I don't do one night stands.
[25] What was your favourite TV programme?
-- Probably the Great British Bake off (hah, not for the squirrel nuts either!). Or True Blood series 3, also Torchwood was ok. I've not seen Sherlock yet.
[26] Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
-- Hate is a strong word, so no.
[27] What was/were the best books you read?
-- The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I devoured them.
[28] What was your greatest musical discovery?
-- Uncle Frank! Saw them live at Summer Sundae and can't wait to see them again. The singer is local to Leicester and has worked with the Fun Lovin' Criminals :)
[29] What did you want and get?
-- A place at Uni to study counselling.
[30] What did you want and not get?
-- Um. A lottery win??
[31] What was your favourite film this year?
-- I didn't go to the cinema much this year. Not as much as I would have liked.
[32] What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
-- I went shopping. I had a date with the fella the day after and had just got over a hangover :)
[33] What one thing made your year more satisfying than 2010?
-- I got out of a relationship that wasn't good for me.
[34] How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
-- Alternately scruffy and glam. Depending on whether I'm leaving the house or not. Am rocking the PJ's and henna on the hair look right now.
[35] What kept you sane?
-- Knitting.
[36] Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
-- Heh. I have a thing for James Macavoy. Not that he's been in much this year.
[37] Which political issue stirred you the most?
-- Phone hacking by tabloid newspapers, the strikes and the riots.
[38] Who did you miss?
-- Being close to my family.
[39] Who was the best new person you met?
-- M.
[40] Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
-- Be yourself. Do what you love. Anyone who tells you otherwise, should be ejected from your life, pronto.
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