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I'm back at work now, and my holiday seems rather far away already. My friend P came over for the final week of the holiday and we spent the week being tourists! When you live in London you don't tend to do the touristy things and I hadn't done the tourist thing since my parents brought my sisters and I to London for the week in 1987. P has never "visited" London as a tourist so we decided to spend a day visiting some proper London places.
We started by catching the Thames Clipper (easily the fastest way to travel to central London from here, £5 one way) to the Tower of London.
We started by catching the Thames Clipper (easily the fastest way to travel to central London from here, £5 one way) to the Tower of London.
We were a bit put off when we first got there as it costs £17 for an adult ticket! We debated it for a while before deciding to just go for it and i'm really glad we did. When I was paying they asked me if I would like to gift aid my ticket price, so I said yes, and if you do this they count your ticket price as a donation and thank you for making a donation by giving you a special ticket that gives you unlimited access to the tower for a year for free! £17 for one visit is alot, but £17 for the year isn't so bad!
We went around the tower, over the ramparts, into the White Tower and to see the Crown Jewels. You now stand on a moving walkway to see them - I remember walking around in a dark room as a kid, now it's all very high tech! We've saved some bits of the Tower to go back and visit another time with our tickets, but really enjoyed ourselves - P especially liked the displays of armour worn by Henry VIII, including one that had glasses and horns and was very steampunk looking.
After the Tower we went to St Katherines Dock
We managed to time our visit perfectly with the arrival of some very expensive looking private yachts, and hung around to watch the docks open and close and the boats sail in. I love that kind of thing and it was interesting to see how it worked. From St Katherines Dock we walked over Tower Bridge and into Shad Thames so I could show P all the amazing balconys that the Butlers Wharf appartments have.
The balconys look like bridges between the old warehouses, you get one half of the bridge and your neighbour across the way gets the other half. Every time I walk down there it reminds me of some of the art from the album sleeve of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.
See what I mean? After this we were pretty tired so we headed home to have Pizza and to plan what we were going to do the next day.
I enjoyed beiong a London tourist, which is kind of ironic given that the constant stream of tourists who get in your way when you are heading to a meeting and stand at the bottom of the escalator trying to work out where to go next while you are desperately trying to get off the escalator are one of my least favourite things about living in London! It's different when you know where you're going though...
- Location:on the balcony
Today I have spent much of the day sitting out on the balcony finishing off as sewing project that I started yesterday. I decided to make my Dad a camera case for Fathers Day (yes, I know, nearly a month late), so yesterday I headed off tyo get some fabric I thought he'd like and various bits and pieces I thought i'd need like some velcro and webbing. I did most of the machine sewing yesterday, and did the handsewing and finishing off today.
I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially given that I made thet pattern up and made it out of oilcloth, which i've never sewed with before. It was much easier to sew than I imagined it would be, and gives the bag a nice finish. I deliberately chose to use the oil cloth because I thought it wouldbe good for the bag to be fairly waterproof.
It has a padded divider inside so that my Dad can store memory cards and spare batteries along with the camera, and the whole bag is padded with 2oz wadding. I debated thicker wadding but in the end I think what I used worked pretty well and it's only supposed to be guarding the camera against knocks and scrapes anyway!
The yellow top stitching is partly decorative to match the yellow belt loops, and partly to disguise the stitching on the bias binding around the edge. I made it this way because the bias binding over the edge gives the case stability which I might otherwise have to have achieved with some heavy buckram or card. It looks good but it was a real pain to stitch on the machine! I gave up in the end and stitched it together by hand, but although my hand stiching is fairly neat, the holes and odd bits of stitching that had been created by my attempt at machine stitching were noticeable, so the yellow top stitching covers that up nicely and co-ordinates well too.
I hope my Dad likes it! I'm going to stay with my parents over the weekend to attend my Uncles wedding, so I will be able to give it to him then. No posts over the weekend as my parents are on dial up(!). Am trying tyo post more regularly, especially now that i'm on holiday for a bit, so will post what i've been up to over the weekend on Monday.
I hope my Dad likes it! I'm going to stay with my parents over the weekend to attend my Uncles wedding, so I will be able to give it to him then. No posts over the weekend as my parents are on dial up(!). Am trying tyo post more regularly, especially now that i'm on holiday for a bit, so will post what i've been up to over the weekend on Monday.
- Location:the balcony
- Mood:
cold - Music:Tour de France highlights on in the background.
It is the first day of my holiday!
Every year I take two weeks off to just chill out at home and enjoy the luxury of having more than one day off in a row. My two weeks this year started today and I have, as I told my church I would, spent most of the day in my pajamas! I did manage to get some useful stuff done - I dyed my hair, took the bins out etc etc, but most of the day was given over to relaxing.
Things I like about having a holiday:
- Lieing in to whatever time I want.
- Not having to plan my day unless I want to.
- Not having to cook! (our cook left so I have been cooking for forty people for two days a week for the last month)
- Spending time with the cats.
- Chilling out on my balcony at the end of the day.
Things I find difficult about being on holiday;
- Too much time to think! - Paranoia and hypochondria set in - need to keep my brain occupied tomorrow.
The cabbages are huge, despite the catterpillars best efforts, and the lettuces and runner beans are getting really big.
See, lettuces are practically taking over the hanging basket - I might try cutting them out in the next couple of days before they start to bolt. The runner beans are so tall, they've over taken the six foot canes, climbed up a cable on the wall and are now flailking around looking for more support in order to climb even higher. I secretly hope that they will find the drain pipe and make a bid for the roof, but we'll see.
See, lettuces are practically taking over the hanging basket - I might try cutting them out in the next couple of days before they start to bolt. The runner beans are so tall, they've over taken the six foot canes, climbed up a cable on the wall and are now flailking around looking for more support in order to climb even higher. I secretly hope that they will find the drain pipe and make a bid for the roof, but we'll see.
Sweetcorn - all plants doing well and appear to have cobs growing, so thats cool. Apart from the cats trying to eat the leaves the sweetcorn has been very low maintenance and so easy to grow - i'll definately try growing more of this next year. In the little trough are beetroot which got transplanted from their original place. They didn't like being dug up and moved but have pulled through and are growing well. The pepper and cucumber are also growing - they have flowers but i'm waiting to see if they grow any fruit.
Baby tomatoes! I've got loads of tiny tomatoes, so i'm really excited about those, they also seem to be growing well.
So, in general, catterpillars or no, i'm pretty pleased with how my garden is working out, and I love that my attitude to the balcony has changed. Last year it was just a bit of pavement outside my flat, this year it's become a lovely outdoor space that i enjoy spending time in.
Baby tomatoes! I've got loads of tiny tomatoes, so i'm really excited about those, they also seem to be growing well.
So, in general, catterpillars or no, i'm pretty pleased with how my garden is working out, and I love that my attitude to the balcony has changed. Last year it was just a bit of pavement outside my flat, this year it's become a lovely outdoor space that i enjoy spending time in.
Should be a nice place to spend some of my holiday!
- Location:The sofa
- Mood:
relaxed - Music:Papparazzi - Lady Gaga
I mentioned before that i'm trying to sort my balcony out. Well, i've finally got it to a pretty and acceptable state, including fully planted pots with flowers, miniture evergreens and vegetables! These are some pictures of the balcony last Wednesday when I finally finished planting everything.
Look, veg and plants and flowers in pots! It's looking quite good now, so much tidier than it used to!
Hanging baskets - they both have Lobelias and Lettuce in them, and the larger one also has a minature connifer. The Lobelias have really thirved in the baskets and in the pictures I took today are almost twice this size, as are two of the lettuces. I put these baskets up myself, and i'm proud of that - any time I use a drill I feel accomplished.
Stonehead cabbages and varied lettuces in a trough that I got down Deptford High Street for £2.50. Love Deptford High Street, you can buy virtually everything there. Also got some tomato plants in the small pot, chilli plant and frizzy lettuces in the green pot, and runner beans and clematis in the biggest pot. All have grown considerably since this photo was taken, the runner beans in particular, though getting them to climb was somewhat of a challenge.
Finally, my biggest pots. Left to right - big terracotta pot has sweetcorn in it with some carrot and onion seeds for good measure. Little terracotta pot has a lavender thatr i've had since last summer, as well as a random rockery plan. Big metal ridged tub has some heathers, some more rockery plants and a lemon scented cypressa tree (which doesn't smell of lemon at all). Little blue pot has a Golden Globe hebe - my favourite outdoor plant ever, and that last pot has a sweet pea, a cucumber and a pepper plant as well as some beetroot and spring onion seeds.
So thats it, thats my "garden". I'm pleased with the way it looks and really enjoy sitting out there and surveying my handiwork. The seeds are just starting to sprout now, so i'll put some pictures up of that next time.
I do still knit by the way....
So thats it, thats my "garden". I'm pleased with the way it looks and really enjoy sitting out there and surveying my handiwork. The seeds are just starting to sprout now, so i'll put some pictures up of that next time.
I do still knit by the way....
- Location:the sofa
- Mood: hot
- Music:Big Brother 10
One of the things I love about my flat is that it has quite a large balcony. Admittedly, it doesn't have much of a view looking out as it does over a noisy pub, a cab office, a hairdresser and a Vietnamese DVD shop, but it is nice and sunny and a good place to sit out. i recently got a new table and chairs and a cool folding washing lone and it makes the space much more user friendly.
I love the washing line. I've bought a fair few things for my house in the time i've lived here but this has to be one of the cleverest and most useful purchases of my life. I cannot recomend this washing line enough! In the photo above it has two loads of washing on it and it still has space for more (but I had no more pegs!) and it is just really easy to use.
This is the it open and closed, so you can see how neat it is. I put it up myself which was a bit of a struggle on my own (especially since it rained halfway through!) but it was worth it for the sense of accomplishment I felt at the end!
The other good thing about the balcony is how much the cats love it.
See, Muffin loves the balcony! They only go out there when i'm in the house as i'm terrified that they'll jump onto the ledge and fall off (and if you think thats unlikely for cats then you don't know my cats!) so they spend lots of time outside when i'm at home. Most of their time outside consists of sunbathing (Muffin) and diggin in my flower pots, chasing feathers, chasing leaves and running away from the sound of sirens on the road below (Purdey).
I know that this post has absolutely nothing about knitting, so just to prove that I do still knit, albeit sporadically, here is a picture of my current sock-in-progress in the pansys of my hanging basket.
I have lots of pots and flowers on the balcony which is surprising when you consider how many plants I managed to kill during my time as a student. I seem to have turned over a nrew, green fingered leaf in the last few years though, and this hanging basket is the pride of my balcony. I'm even going to try and grow some vegetables in pots!
I mentioned before that I have been trying to get things finished. I have various projects sitting around, often with very little keft to do on them, and it seemed like it would be good to try and finish a few off. I finished Paul's socks (he wore them, he liked them), and i also finished off some socks I knitted for my Grandpa. I've not sent them to him yet, but they are knitted.
I put them off because I had to use some extra yarn of a different colour for the toe and I hated that this meant they weren't "perfect". they are done now though, and the toes really don't look that bad.
I put them off because I had to use some extra yarn of a different colour for the toe and I hated that this meant they weren't "perfect". they are done now though, and the toes really don't look that bad.
Pattern Spec:
Pattern: Gentlemen's Sock with Lozenge Pattern from Knitting vintage Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock.
Needles: 2.25mm
Modifications: Shorter ribbing than required. Reduced to fewer stitches over the foot. Ignored the random instructions about needles and did my own thing. Slip stitch heel added.
Pattern: Gentlemen's Sock with Lozenge Pattern from Knitting vintage Socks
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock.
Needles: 2.25mm
Modifications: Shorter ribbing than required. Reduced to fewer stitches over the foot. Ignored the random instructions about needles and did my own thing. Slip stitch heel added.
Ages and ages ago, so long ago in fact that he couldn't even remember choosing the colour, I agreed to make my friend P a pair of socks. These were worked on in a burst of activity because I enjoyed designing the first one, and then abrubtly abandoned in a fit of excitement over some new project. They remained unworked on for about a year (sorry P) until I had a phase of finishing off old projects recently.
Here they are completely finished and posted and modeled by P. I sent them as a valentines present so having decided to finish them in time about a week ago, I had to work quite hard to get them done in time to post (P has relatively large feet). Sadly Royal Mail doesn't keep to deadlines in the same way, and the socks, posted in plenty of time for valentines day on Saturday, arrived today. :(
The apparantly fit very well, though P did express some surprise over this, much to my constrenation! He did somewhat redeem himself by explaining that "hand knit socks look different, the heel looked a bit funny", so i'll forgive him for his momentary questioning of my knitting skills, as he hadn't seen a heel flap sock before.
I'm pleased with hte way these worked out, and even more pleased that P likes them. I pointed out that he now has a knitted hat, a jumper and socks, so he could wear all three together if he wanted to.
Pattern Spec:
Pattern: My own - I called it "Serenity" because the cables are Firefly cables.
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeech
Needles: 2.5mm Purple pins
Modifications: None, it's my pattern.
I hope you enjoy wearing them P! Happy Valentines Day! Pattern: My own - I called it "Serenity" because the cables are Firefly cables.
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeech
Needles: 2.5mm Purple pins
Modifications: None, it's my pattern.
M xx
- Location:the office
- Mood: pleased
3rd post of the day - must be a record. Actually, it's a reflection of the fact that 3 years after I first got this blog, I finally learned (figured out) how to post pictures here properly, rather5 than through the rather torturous route I used to use that involved me blogging the pic from my flickr account. You'd think I would have worked this out sooner, but I didn't, and i owe the fact that I worked it out at all to Ravelry and the way you put pictures in posts there. Sometimes i'm just that dumb.
I never mentioned that I was busy making hats recently. I made a hat for my Grandpa for Christmas - I don't have any pictures of it on him, but I am told that it fits him and he is pleased with it. If he has snow anything like I have here then he'll need it for warmth, though if he does have snow thenI rather hope he's not venturing out at 89!
Basic mens hat from this pattern. I made one for my Dad last Christmas so I know the pattern works and also knew it was pre-approved as Grandpa asked for one the same. Please excuse the rather poorly staged photo - I finished this at my parents house over Christmas and had to leave it there for them to give to Grandpa so I took the pic on their stairs (as you do).
Second hat is a gift for P. P has been going for lots of walks recently and mentioned (hint hint) that his head was getting cold, so I knit him this hat to keep his head and ears warm.
Second hat is a gift for P. P has been going for lots of walks recently and mentioned (hint hint) that his head was getting cold, so I knit him this hat to keep his head and ears warm.
Yes folks, it's a hat on a stripy soft cat. The hat is cabled and knit out of Adrafiul Llama, which P liked at first but now thinks is a tiny bit itchy. He's wearing the hat anyway, because he's good like that (and because I made a huge fuss when he didn't wear hisjumper at first).
P in a hat doing a "thoughtful" pose.
I think it looks good on him, but I made it, so i'm biased like that. The pattern comes from "Knits to Share and Care" by the wonderful Gerard. It's a really good book, and has lots of very wearable patterns. I especially like this book because I designed one of the patterns! I never blogged about it because I wasn't supposed to put up pics of what I was knitting and i've talked before about how much I dislike blogging without pictures. This is my design:
"The Long and Winding Road"
Cabled socks - Called "The Long and Winding Road" because they are designed for walkers and repersent the different twists and turns that life can take. I was very pleased with them, and super pleased to have them in the book, and it's all down to Gerard. The book has been out since December but if you've not seen it check it out cause it's really good!
- Location:er, the desk...
- Mood: cold
I finished my first Harika sock. After quite a bit of tugging I did manage to get it onto my foot - won't be doing that again in a hurry.
It does look nice on though, so I think it will look nice on whoever gets these eventually. It also proves to me that going up to 2.5mm needles should be enough to make a pair fit. I saw a lovely pair by telynor at I Knit the other day - she made hers on 2.5mm and they would fit my feet no problems so I might make myself a pair in some pink stripy Regia I bought the other day from Web of Wool - similar set up, pink stripes, white background.
- Location:still in the office
- Mood:
curious
Top: 9pm last night, bottom: 9am this morning. Where are my plants?
Snow on the fire escape!
The mission looks quite pretty in the snow.
Snow on cars - I had to sort of wade through it to get this photo.
Looking towards Canary Wharf - you can't really tell in this photo but the Canada Tower has snow on the top.
I love the snow, I think it's magical but I might feel a bit different if I had to go out in it! I don't think i've seen snow this deep since I was quite small, certainly not as an adult. There is something about snow that brings out the child in you no matter how old you are.
Looking towards Canary Wharf - you can't really tell in this photo but the Canada Tower has snow on the top.
I love the snow, I think it's magical but I might feel a bit different if I had to go out in it! I don't think i've seen snow this deep since I was quite small, certainly not as an adult. There is something about snow that brings out the child in you no matter how old you are.
- Location:the office
- Mood:
bouncy
Purdey located a bag of catnip last night and spent a blissful few minutes rolling around in it. Catnip - crack for cats.
- Mood: amused
It definately doesn't fit me. Hopefully it will fit someone I know - not problem with width on foot, just can't get it over my heel :(
I also have some puckering on the heel flap which msy or may not be a guage issue. Probably is - I knit tightly so chances are it is my error rather than an error in the pattern It looks ok on my make shift sock blockers so i'm going to see if I can try it on a foot tonight and see how it looks when it is filled in 3D, as it were. I think it'll probably be ok.
It annoys me though. I technically haven't made a mistake here, I just knit a bit tighter tan the pattern designer and now its not quite perfect. I hate it when things aren't perfect. If I couldn't make my knitting look good and if my tension and eveness of stitches wasn't as good as it is then I don't think i'd be able to knit because it would always bother me that I wasn't good enough.
One of my traits as a child was that if I couldn't pick something up and do it reasonably well straight away then I wasn't interested in spending time learning - I either want to be very good or not do it at all. This is why I don't play a musical instrument - I couldn't get ithe hang of it on the first couple of tries and I didn't want to bother if I was only ever going to be mediocre, so I stopped trying. This is probably also why I can't drive.
Perfectionism is a bad thing - yeah you get things to look nice but at what cost to your sanity?
Anyway, heres the first sock just past the gussett shaping. I like how the colourwork looks.
- Location:the office
- Mood: (very very cold)
Very fun knit, and I love watching how the changing colours change the look of the pattern.
These are knit in Regia Canadian Colours Vancouver and some plain white Regia for the contrast colour. I'm using my new Kollage square needles and love they way they feel to knit with - definately my favourite sock needles so far and they hardly bend at all!
I'm entering these as my Sockdown! January entry in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group in Ravelry. this is my first entry (each month you knit a pair of socks along a certain theme). Maybe i'll actually finishe these on time!
- Location:the office
- Mood:
creative
It took a long time, not least because I had found a glove with evidence of moth activity and I checked every ball in my stash for the same evidence. Fortunately I found none. Apparantly the moths would rather eat the cat scratching post than my yarn, and that's fine by me! All evidence is now treated and removed, but we will be monitering the stash with care.
Stash still organised by colour as I think that looks pretty, but now also organised by type of yarn. Bottom 6 cubes are sweaters worth of yarn. Middle three cubes are odd one or two balls, top three cubes are sock yarn. Sock yarn is organised by type - middle is solida and semi solids, left is varigated and right is self striping. This system works for me, and looks pretty.
I plan to knit more and play The Sims less in 2009.
M x
(The Sims was my 2008 obsession - they have many houses now, many babies, have been turned into vampires, been abducted by aliens, have great great grand children and have mastered the secret to not ever aging. I feel like i've done about as much as you can do with computer characters in a game.)
- Location:the office
- Mood: cold
- Music:take that - The Circus (Love it!)
I've not blogged for nearly a year, but It's NaBloPoMo, so I thought that was the ideal time to ressurect this and continue my campaign to bore any one who cares with my knitting. I stopped blogging because life got way too hectic last Christmas and once you've dropped something it can be hard to find a slot for it to fit back into again!
I'm not going to do a recap of the last year, that would bore even me. Instead i'm going straight to the current knitting projects.
I'm not going to do a recap of the last year, that would bore even me. Instead i'm going straight to the current knitting projects.
Peacock socks. these were supposed to be for my Grandpa for Christmas 2007. Ooops... I've got only one toe left to do so I guess I should finish these. I have no real desire to do so simply because I ran out of yarn, meaning that I have to knit the toes in a different but co-ordinating yarn. I hate that these aren't perfect now so am struggling to motivate myself to finish.
The Dublin bay socks are my most recently worked on project. I like the pattern - incredibly easy to remember and effective in its simplicity. I don't like the yarn. It's Hip Knits sock yarn and though I qite like the colours (and love them all balled up) it keeps breaking and the end result feels a bit shiny. I will persevere though because ultimately I do like to see things through.
The Tendril is a cardigan from a Rowan pattern book, knitted in RYC Luxury Cotton, now sadly discontinued. I love the idea of the finished cardigan, and I quite like knitting it, but it was taking me too long, so it is currently sitting in a corner and thinking about what it's done. I've got the back and most of one front done.
So thats my knitting. There has been other knitting, some of which I can't show here yet, but all in all it's not been a productive year knit-wise. I'm hoping I might get more enthused now it is so cold!
Mithranstar
So thats my knitting. There has been other knitting, some of which I can't show here yet, but all in all it's not been a productive year knit-wise. I'm hoping I might get more enthused now it is so cold!
Mithranstar
- Location:The Office
- Mood: cold
When I hadn't heard from my Sockapalooza pal for a while, the very helpful Alison sorted me (and everyone else who hadn't recieved any socks) out with a "Sock Saviour". Sock Saviours are people who very generously offered to knit a second pair of socks for peple who hadn't recieved their sockapalooza socks.
I did recieve my socks from my original pal, but only after my saviour had started knitting a replacement pair for me - she very generously told me that she would send my socks anyway, so I recieved socks from two pals!
My saviour was Beate, and she knit me this absolutely fabulous pair of Firestarters!
Not only did she knit them, but she dyed the yarn herself and the colours are just perfect for me! I love the mix of bright blue and purple!
I've been looking at this pattern for a while and considering knitting it because I just love cabled socks and these have particularly pretty twisted cables down the sides. I might still knit a pair, but i'm sure they won't be as nice as these!
I didn't take a picture on my feet (I don't remember why) but they fit me absolutely perfectly! I'm so impressed by how both peopple who knit me socks managed to make them fit so well without having my feet there to measure!
Beate, thank you so much for my socks, I love them and I wore them to I Knit London and showed them off to anyone I could corner! I'm sorry that this thank you is rather later than It should be - life has been a bit hectic and rather stressful, but I really love them and am so grateful that you stepped in and knit these for me!
I'm putting together a little "Best of British" parcel to send to you to say thank you for your generosity, so do watch out for that in the post!
Thank you again,
Mithranstar x
- Location:the sofa
- Mood:
tired - Music:"She's so lovely" - Scouting for Girls
The day started early for me as I had promised to come and help out on the door with the tickets. When I arrived Craig was setting up the river, and there were a few people milling around. We got ourselves sorted out (I was on pre-ordered tickets), and suddenly all these people appeared and started queuing! By the time the doors opened at 9.30am there was this big line of people almost out of the door of the hotel!
From that point on it was all systems go as Vicky, Lynsey and I distributed tickets and Phil monitered the door. And it was a constant, unrelenting stream of people! I saw so many cool knitted garments that I recognised, and I must admit I did point to the occasional person and saythings like "ooh, My So Called Scarf", "Ah, thats a nice Arisaig" and "did you use the normal colours of STR in your chevron scarf?", fortunately they were all ok with me exclaiming over various items of clothing (I suspect because they were doing the same thing!).
About 11.30ish Esther came out to reliveve me so that I could go look around and I got to venture into the hall of yarn and wonder around all the beautiful stalls!
Every thing there looked beautiful, the colours somehow brighter for being next to each other, and the choice was a little overwhelming! I wondered around the stalls, went to say hello to Jon, Roy and Sue at their stalls, saw Alice, Diane and Emmms at the Socktopus stall and generally soaked up the atmosphere.
Actually, it was the atmosphere that I liked the most about the whole event! It was lovely to be in a show where everything was about knitting, rather than the more generalness of Ally Pally, and the stalls somehow seemed more intimate and friendly in this smaller setting. There was a real feeling of meeting to shop and knit with friends.
I suppose the difference is that this show was organised purely for the love of knitting. Ally Pally is great, but it feels very commercial, whereas the Stitch and Bitch day had knitting as its focus and felt less about making money and more about having fun knitting together.
It was a brilliant day, and it was topped of with some brilliant purchases and gifts! In the top photo, left to right, are "Titsi" from Easy Knits, "Marmalade" from Oxford Kitchen Yarns, and "Plum Custard" from Easy Knits again! I bought the Titsi, which came in a kit with a lovely sock pattern and was being sold to raise money for breast cancer research. The Plum Custard was a lovely and generous birthday gift from Jon of Easy Knitter fame - he told me to pick out a colour, and I had to go for this because I love the rich contrast of the colours in this yarn! The Marmalade is for the November Mystery sock Pattern on the "Sock Knitters Anonymous" group in Ravelry. It is dyed by a little company why do dye in their kitchen, and is very nice.
I love supporting small local dyers, and I think i'm going to try and buy mostly from small British companies from now on, partly because it reduces the carbon footprint of the yarn if it's not being flown in from America, but mostly because I really like the yarn and want to support british suppliers! I love Easy Knits yarn, it's one of my favourites, and this new yarn looks very nice too.
The second picture is of a gift from the lovely and talented Sue of Knittiotherapy. She hand makes these bags for your knitting and they are just perfect for a small project or socks. There is even a little pocket inside for stitch markers etc, and elastic to store your needles in. I love my bag, thank you so much Sue!
All in all I had a wonderful day - even tidying up in a mad rush was kind of fun! Thank you Craig and Gerard for a brilliant time!
M x
- Location:the office
- Mood: cold
I just put the hat on Purdey's head and she sat for ages with it there, up until I wanted a photo, at whch point she moved.
Is this your hat? Do you recognise it? I know the chances are very small, but you never know!
Mithranstar x
ps: i've photographed my Stitch and Bitch day purchases so hopefully will be able to write about it properly tomorrow!
- Mood: tired
It's very cold here, so as well as my girls snuggling together on the duvet for warmth, i'm also about to put my heating on! Along with the Yarn Harlot, I spend the Autumn waiting as long as possible to put the heating on. When I lived in a house it was to save money, now it's just the principle of the thing!
Today I am cold enough to admit defeat and tell myself that no amount of personal pride is worth being this cold for, besides, no one else cares! The heating went on tonight.
Mithranstar x
(Yeah, I know, no knitting content. I wanted to post something before the day ended to keep mostly on target with the blog-a-day thing. It's a lame post, and I realise it. Must try harder...)
- Location:the sofa
- Mood: cold
- Music:don't know, something on "The Hits" by some band i've never heard of
I'm going to blog about this day properly during the week, because it deserves a proper post and I know i'm too tired to do it justice tonight! What I will say is that it was a fantastic day and Craig and Gerard did an absolutely fantastic job of organising, hosting and generally being stars!
Thank you so much for such a great day guys, everyone I talked to really enjoyed themselves and we all agreed that the atmosphere there and the feeling of meeting up with like minded people was unlike any other show. The stalls were fantastic (everything looked so natural and well produced), the people were lovely and I can't think of a way I would have preferred to spend my 29th birthday!
Hope you are both enjoying a well deserved rest, and i'll look forward to "debriefing" in the pub on Wednseday!
M x
- Location:the sofa
- Music:"The Heart Never Lies" - Busted
