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!
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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.
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Deepest darkest winter
Well, sort of.
It's started to get quite cold here these last few weeks. I am currently cwtched¹ up on my sofa with a massive cup of masala tea (ah, I do love living in Leicester!) with the fire on, studiously making a few bits of jewellery for a stall I'm having on Friday evening.
Yes, I'm making jewellery again. It must have been 2 years or so since I actually made any jewellery. I've made the odd stitch marker here and there, but no jewellery. The reason why I'm making again is that I'm thinking of moving so need additional funds to help. Plus my fella is a student nurse and doesn't make much money, aside from the odd shift at a nursing home through an agency, so it all helps.
I have been sorting through what I have made already and having a good look at what I actually think is any good. Trouble is, I'm my own worst judge, so I don't think I'm very good at it. Which is one of the reasons why I don't do it as much as I used to.
I have been attending the ABC in Leicester, which is known as the Alternative Bar Crawl. There are 3 different location and different events are held in each location, with a spin on vintage glamour, crafts, arts, comedy, music and creativity. When the call out for stallholders came, I decided to give it a go and have been making and altering bits and bobs to go on the stall. The event is this Friday, so I will let everyone know how I got on, naturally!
If you're in the Leicester area and fancy coming, please do! The event kicks off at 5:30 at the LBC Depot on Rutland Street at 5:30pm this Friday, the 16th December.
What I also came to tell everyone is that my friend Ruth has entered a competition to open a stall in the Haymarket in Leicester. She is a designer and tutor and would like to get everyone sewing and making things. I would love to see this happen. It's down to the public vote, so if you could see your way to voting for her, you can find out how to here. All you need to be able to do is login to youtube and click on the like button. Right, now back to fiddling with jewellery :)
¹ A cwtch is a Welsh hug, but with extra warmth. It's always given with love and care. It's a bit more special than a hug.
Yes, I'm making jewellery again. It must have been 2 years or so since I actually made any jewellery. I've made the odd stitch marker here and there, but no jewellery. The reason why I'm making again is that I'm thinking of moving so need additional funds to help. Plus my fella is a student nurse and doesn't make much money, aside from the odd shift at a nursing home through an agency, so it all helps.
I have been sorting through what I have made already and having a good look at what I actually think is any good. Trouble is, I'm my own worst judge, so I don't think I'm very good at it. Which is one of the reasons why I don't do it as much as I used to.
I have been attending the ABC in Leicester, which is known as the Alternative Bar Crawl. There are 3 different location and different events are held in each location, with a spin on vintage glamour, crafts, arts, comedy, music and creativity. When the call out for stallholders came, I decided to give it a go and have been making and altering bits and bobs to go on the stall. The event is this Friday, so I will let everyone know how I got on, naturally!
If you're in the Leicester area and fancy coming, please do! The event kicks off at 5:30 at the LBC Depot on Rutland Street at 5:30pm this Friday, the 16th December.
What I also came to tell everyone is that my friend Ruth has entered a competition to open a stall in the Haymarket in Leicester. She is a designer and tutor and would like to get everyone sewing and making things. I would love to see this happen. It's down to the public vote, so if you could see your way to voting for her, you can find out how to here. All you need to be able to do is login to youtube and click on the like button. Right, now back to fiddling with jewellery :)
¹ A cwtch is a Welsh hug, but with extra warmth. It's always given with love and care. It's a bit more special than a hug.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Ooops
Well, it's been a while. Sorry about that. Ugh, I need to clean my keyboard. Most of my key need a good bash in order to work, so apologies in advance for my spelling
What's new with me? Quite a lot.
I'm in a new relationship. I took a long time chatting to this one compared to my last one. Online dating does work, but it can be soul destroying. There's a whole new blog in that subject, I think. I dipped in and out of online dating for 2 years, talking to different guys along the way. Talked to some nice guys, some not so nice guys and received a lot of weird messages. I think the one thing I've learned is to be clear about what you want from a relationship, be realistic and figure out what's important and what's negotiable. Not an easy task at the best of times.
New guy is a fellow Welsh person, who is also living in the Midlands. Which is cool. We Welsh have a peculiar sense of humour and it's nice to be able to share that with someone. Things are going great.
I also did an intensive course in counselling. I did a course about 18 months ago over 10 weeks and although I got a qualification, it wasn't the right kind to go on with if I wanted to take it up as a career. My ex put me off doing the course, but after we split up, I took some time out to figure out what I really wanted to do (at the same time as I was thinking about what I wanted from a relationship), so decided that I wanted to become a counsellor.
I now have a place (conditional upon a reference from work, but that's a formality) at Uni on counselling course - Certificate in Higher Education in Counselling. It's a part time course over 2 years. If I pass, I can apply for another course, which is a Diploma which is another 2 years. The course starts in January Yay!!
I have designed a sock pattern, but I've yet to finish writing it up. I don't really like writing sock patterns (on the basis of this one pattern!). I think it's because I really enjoy knitting socks and can knock up a pair of stocking stitch / ribbed socks quite easily from memory. It's tricky to have to think about the steps involved when I do them automatically. I will try and get the pattern written up soon, but I can't promise it'll be any good or comprehensive though. I'm crap at following sock patterns as well, because although there are some amazing sock patterns out there, it means I have to deviate from what I like doing. Which is probably quite good for me actually :)
I am somewhat addicted to spinning lately as well. I really want to become a better spinner. For some reason I'm convinced I'm not as good as I could be so I've been trying to practise. There are spinners guilds locally, but they tend to be on far off little nooks of Leicestershire, or meet on a Saturday (and I work on a Saturday). I am spinning somewhere between laceweight and 4ply (the yarn gets thicker and thinner) and my yarn is still slightly slubby. Although it is getting more even as I practise. I notice it's dependent on which fibre I spin with too. BFL comes out lovely and smooth, while the Shetland and silk blend I spun with is more slubby (lumps of silk, usually) and fuzzy (that would be the Shetland then).
Think I need to check out some videos on youtube or something. Not now though as it's 1:30 am and my bed is calling me :)
What's new with me? Quite a lot.
I'm in a new relationship. I took a long time chatting to this one compared to my last one. Online dating does work, but it can be soul destroying. There's a whole new blog in that subject, I think. I dipped in and out of online dating for 2 years, talking to different guys along the way. Talked to some nice guys, some not so nice guys and received a lot of weird messages. I think the one thing I've learned is to be clear about what you want from a relationship, be realistic and figure out what's important and what's negotiable. Not an easy task at the best of times.
New guy is a fellow Welsh person, who is also living in the Midlands. Which is cool. We Welsh have a peculiar sense of humour and it's nice to be able to share that with someone. Things are going great.
I also did an intensive course in counselling. I did a course about 18 months ago over 10 weeks and although I got a qualification, it wasn't the right kind to go on with if I wanted to take it up as a career. My ex put me off doing the course, but after we split up, I took some time out to figure out what I really wanted to do (at the same time as I was thinking about what I wanted from a relationship), so decided that I wanted to become a counsellor.
I now have a place (conditional upon a reference from work, but that's a formality) at Uni on counselling course - Certificate in Higher Education in Counselling. It's a part time course over 2 years. If I pass, I can apply for another course, which is a Diploma which is another 2 years. The course starts in January Yay!!
I have designed a sock pattern, but I've yet to finish writing it up. I don't really like writing sock patterns (on the basis of this one pattern!). I think it's because I really enjoy knitting socks and can knock up a pair of stocking stitch / ribbed socks quite easily from memory. It's tricky to have to think about the steps involved when I do them automatically. I will try and get the pattern written up soon, but I can't promise it'll be any good or comprehensive though. I'm crap at following sock patterns as well, because although there are some amazing sock patterns out there, it means I have to deviate from what I like doing. Which is probably quite good for me actually :)
I am somewhat addicted to spinning lately as well. I really want to become a better spinner. For some reason I'm convinced I'm not as good as I could be so I've been trying to practise. There are spinners guilds locally, but they tend to be on far off little nooks of Leicestershire, or meet on a Saturday (and I work on a Saturday). I am spinning somewhere between laceweight and 4ply (the yarn gets thicker and thinner) and my yarn is still slightly slubby. Although it is getting more even as I practise. I notice it's dependent on which fibre I spin with too. BFL comes out lovely and smooth, while the Shetland and silk blend I spun with is more slubby (lumps of silk, usually) and fuzzy (that would be the Shetland then).
Think I need to check out some videos on youtube or something. Not now though as it's 1:30 am and my bed is calling me :)
Friday, 17 June 2011
p/hop
I have been aware of the work that p/hop have been doing for a while. These guys are truly admirable.
p/hop stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. There are knitting patterns that have been donated by people, which you can download and then make a donation to them based on the hours of pleasure that you will get from knitting up the pattern.
They have been raising money for Medicines Sans Frontiers / Doctors Without Borders, whose work has been amazing, especially when you think of the disasters in Japan and Christchurch lately. For more information about what MSF does, click here
They have raised in excess of £25,000 so far and their target is £30,000.
I have downloaded the Molly Weasley's Gift sock pattern, even though I was looking at the shawl patterns. There are some gorgeous patterns available, so if you see something you like there, please consider downloading the pattern and making a donation.
Thank you to the organisers of p/hop and a big thank you to the designers for donating their patterns.
p/hop stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. There are knitting patterns that have been donated by people, which you can download and then make a donation to them based on the hours of pleasure that you will get from knitting up the pattern.
They have been raising money for Medicines Sans Frontiers / Doctors Without Borders, whose work has been amazing, especially when you think of the disasters in Japan and Christchurch lately. For more information about what MSF does, click here
They have raised in excess of £25,000 so far and their target is £30,000.
I have downloaded the Molly Weasley's Gift sock pattern, even though I was looking at the shawl patterns. There are some gorgeous patterns available, so if you see something you like there, please consider downloading the pattern and making a donation.
Thank you to the organisers of p/hop and a big thank you to the designers for donating their patterns.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Happy
Today, I am happy. Had a weird couple of days at work, but all is good.
It's my birthday in just over a week and I'm thinking that it would be fun to build a temporary fort (or as I used to call them when I was a kid, a den) out of blankets and other random things and then drink beer and play daft games.
We need some kind of doorbell. Or password to get in.
Ideas on a postcard please!
It's my birthday in just over a week and I'm thinking that it would be fun to build a temporary fort (or as I used to call them when I was a kid, a den) out of blankets and other random things and then drink beer and play daft games.
We need some kind of doorbell. Or password to get in.
Ideas on a postcard please!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Retail Therapy
So yesterday after a mammoth 2 hour telephone conversation, me and the boyfriend have decided to have a trial separation. Urgh!
Naturally I'm quite sad, because I can't quite see it working. I'm working on the assumption that it's not going to work out. I think that we both want different things, plus the age difference is a bit of an issue for him (I am 32, he is 44 in 2 weeks). It's been one of the most reasonable break ups I've had, so I'm not in a terribly bad way, I'm functioning but I'm just sad with an added dose of pmt, because my body loves me :)
So, I comforted myself last night with pizza, Crabbies ginger beer and the Eurovision song contest. I loved the Moldovan entry, they were wearing pointy hats a la Harry Nilsson's The Point. This morning, I had to drop my housemate off at work, so decided on a bit of retail therapy and went to the car boot sale in Saddington.
I ended up buying my third copy of Willy Russell's The Wrong Boy, which is one of my favourite books. The other two, I've lent to people and I've never got them back or registered them on bookcrossing and released them in the wild. Cracking book.
I also bought a glass perfume bottle. I don't think it's particularly old (from looking at the stopper), but I love it. It was £10 and I loved the other stuff on her stall, but it wasn't at boot sale prices, as a lot of it was proper retro and vintage stuff.
I also got a couple of bone china teacups for £1. They are beautifully simple and are a little thicker than the one I already have. I do love them though :)
Then I went into Dos Hermanos for brunch, which was tasty, but now I'm sleepy. I think I will have a nap, then onto the job hunting.
Naturally I'm quite sad, because I can't quite see it working. I'm working on the assumption that it's not going to work out. I think that we both want different things, plus the age difference is a bit of an issue for him (I am 32, he is 44 in 2 weeks). It's been one of the most reasonable break ups I've had, so I'm not in a terribly bad way, I'm functioning but I'm just sad with an added dose of pmt, because my body loves me :)
So, I comforted myself last night with pizza, Crabbies ginger beer and the Eurovision song contest. I loved the Moldovan entry, they were wearing pointy hats a la Harry Nilsson's The Point. This morning, I had to drop my housemate off at work, so decided on a bit of retail therapy and went to the car boot sale in Saddington.
I ended up buying my third copy of Willy Russell's The Wrong Boy, which is one of my favourite books. The other two, I've lent to people and I've never got them back or registered them on bookcrossing and released them in the wild. Cracking book.
I also bought a glass perfume bottle. I don't think it's particularly old (from looking at the stopper), but I love it. It was £10 and I loved the other stuff on her stall, but it wasn't at boot sale prices, as a lot of it was proper retro and vintage stuff.
I also got a couple of bone china teacups for £1. They are beautifully simple and are a little thicker than the one I already have. I do love them though :)
Then I went into Dos Hermanos for brunch, which was tasty, but now I'm sleepy. I think I will have a nap, then onto the job hunting.
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