tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132807102012-01-26T17:37:35.421ZRamblings about knitting, books, gardening, history and anything else I feel like!Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.comBlogger3991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-46018055225256943912012-01-22T18:29:00.000Z2012-01-22T18:29:45.604Z

So, after rather a long week, which started with the burglar alarm going off at 5am on  Monday (don't ask, suffice to say, it wasn't a burglar...), I was delighted to discover on Friday that I've won a blog award! This is what it said: Liebster is German for dearest, beloved or favourite. This award is bestowed on blogs with less than 200 followers but deserve more attention.What a great way

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-63277059152912869662012-01-15T16:51:00.000Z2012-01-15T16:51:30.479Z

The OH thought my spiced parsnip soup bubbling on the hob looked like a slime monster's tentacle was about to emerge from it. I think he's been watching too much Doctor Who. See, it looks totally normal once it's been through the food processor and is cooling down ready to go in the freezer. Recipe here. This week has been a bit crazy - knitting group got hastily moved to a new location as

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-32100396016437097142012-01-08T17:35:00.000Z2012-01-08T17:35:47.121Z

I was back at work this week after the New Year break, but only for three days, so still had time to do what turned into mainly tidying things up. This is my sewing box, which I've been meaning to tidy up ever since I got it, about ten years ago (!), as it's a hand-me-down. I'm not sure how old it is, but I was rather alarmed to see very similar ones for sale in our local haberdashery for £50+!

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-61273229990218708212012-01-04T18:53:00.001Z2012-01-04T18:53:00.730Z

Can't review my Advent book yet, as it actually goes all the way up to Epiphany, so I'm still going! It's the incredible journey by Steve Brady. Also read in December: The Morville hours by Katherine Swift What a lovely book. Bizarrely I tried reading this when it was first published back in 2008 and didn't get very far with it, maybe because I wasn't really gardening then? Anyway, something

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-18225520416637874692012-01-03T17:00:00.000Z2012-01-03T17:00:25.584Z

I got quite a lot of knitting done over Christmas. So my list of WIPs isn't too horrendous, only four projects currently on the go - two of which are blankets (one of which is a long-term project, on the go since August 2006!). I've nearly finished the Isabella jumper, this has been the background project for much of the year, in between working on things for all the babies born last year, and

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-40331716344589027642012-01-01T17:02:00.000Z2012-01-01T17:02:12.680Z

And what a contrast with a year ago! We now have plants! And even more of a contrast with how it looked 18 months ago: I think that's what I've enjoyed about doing Garden at the Beginning of the Month, is seeing both how the garden changes through the seasons (bearing in mind 2011 was a weird year, with April temperatures that were like summer, a winter that wasn't a winter and an autumn

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-60991651209118207622011-12-31T18:33:00.000Z2011-12-31T18:33:55.474Z

We had a great Christmas. We put the tree up a few days before (we leave it up until 6th January), and also had a poinsettia that a friend had given us. The nativity scene was a little dwarfed by the knitted wedding figures on the mantelpiece. Obviously there were giant knitted wedding figures at the birth of Christ, not to forget the giant knitted robin too. And I did get the Christmas cake

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-10177975106601319822011-12-19T17:36:00.002Z2011-12-19T17:36:00.663Z

I can post pictures of some of my most recent knitting now. I made this jumper for a friend's baby, born at the end of November. I was really pleased with the pattern - the Seamless Baby Sweater by Sarah Stanfield, which I first saw on someone else's blog. It was a really fun knit, with just the armpits to graft and no other sewing up (always good). In fact, I knitted a large proportion of this

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-79692162032802289242011-12-18T12:35:00.000Z2011-12-18T12:35:53.677Z

 In no particular order, the slightly eclectic (eccentric?) range of books I got through in November. The living garden: a place that works with nature by Jane Powers. This was part of my leaving present from the old job. I read it once over the summer, then read it again! It has a nice, chatty style, with titbits about plants interspersed, with more detail at the end where there are suggestions

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-77623209458621816272011-12-17T17:52:00.000Z2011-12-17T17:52:23.438Z

I'm beginning to get caught up with myself. The warm weather we've been having meant the garden didn't stop growing when I thought it would, so I've been gardening at weekends when I thought I'd be doing crafty things and preparing for Christmas! As you can see, this shot from the beginning of the month shows that not much has stopped growing yet. At the point the photo was taken we hadn't even

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-30371681664232235752011-11-20T18:59:00.001Z2011-11-20T19:02:47.600Z

OK, so I know you're meant to make the Christmas pudding on Stir up Sunday, but I'm not making Christmas pudding this year, so I made the Christmas cake instead. I went for the cop out option, a box of ingredients from Waitrose. This really is incredibly funny - you don't even have to measure things, it's all just packaged up separately ready to go in the mixing bowl. Like they used to do it on

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-8069956827128442102011-11-08T19:00:00.000Z2011-11-08T22:04:13.364Z

This is the first of the pair of slipper socks for my nephew's birthday. Only took me a week to knit it, which I thought was good going! The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks, and it's DK 100% wool on 3mm needles. And I had to wait to post a picture of these, which I made last month. I have been busily knitting away on various projects, but most of them can't be revealed at the moment!

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-55867488738433032922011-11-06T17:56:00.001Z2011-11-06T18:27:51.449Z

Hmm, slight problem. I now don't see the house/garden in daylight on week days. This was my attempt at Garden on the first of November using the flash. But you can't see much out there. [Incidentally, when the clocks went back last weekend - I remember the days when this was Wildly Exciting because if you were having a sleepover you had an extra hour in which to watch videos. Now that I am

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-26846421329565023762011-10-30T18:58:00.001Z2011-10-30T19:59:37.239Z

It probably seems like we've been zooming around the country a bit. We haven't really, it's more that it's taking me a while to update the blog so it looks like we're travelling around in a short space of time! Last weekend we went to Cambridge to visit some friends of the OH's. It's somewhere I've visited many many times before, but we went to two places I hadn't been to before. The first was

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-44676375535902132692011-10-23T18:55:00.000+01:002011-10-23T18:55:48.574+01:00

So, it's a month since we were on holiday in York, so this is just a round up of what we got up to. We left these two in charge of the house. We stayed at a cosy little flat, about 15 minutes walk from York Minster. It doesn't have such a dramatic setting as some cathedrals, but is still pretty cool! This shot was taken from the city walls, which we walked all the way round. Inside was very

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-69457686583523613952011-10-21T08:00:00.001+01:002011-10-21T08:00:05.663+01:00

The triffids have taken over! Actually, this is part of the Frieze art fair, which I inadvertently wandered into in Regents Park last week. This is the biggest rose I've ever seen. There was also a thing that looked like an empty loo roll tube, but made of concrete and big enough to walk through. As I missed September, here's the garden then... And in October...  Hmm, they don't look much

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-45205961036572333092011-10-20T10:38:00.000+01:002011-10-20T10:38:16.443+01:00

Coincidentally I've taken the week off work, and it just happened to have my birthday in it! The OH has had a week off too, and we have been catching up on stuff at home, having a new wall built and things like that. My birthday itself was cool, we went out for a meal the night before, as I had knitting group the evening of my birthday (you know, priorities). We had a trip to the garden centre

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-34603283567076466292011-10-10T17:29:00.001+01:002011-10-10T17:29:00.791+01:00

(or how I attempted to keep Surrey libraries going single-handedly). This was meant to be a post about books read in August. But now it's October and I'm getting more reading time on the commute to work so my list of books read is getting huge... This is more list than review! So, this is what I read in August. The book titles link through to LibraryThing, just cos I think it's fab. Wolf

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-62125811374522705732011-10-09T19:02:00.000+01:002011-10-09T19:02:18.004+01:00

I had intended to write a lengthy post about my second trip up north in September, when we went to York (and Newcastle) but haven't had time. Three weekends away or out meant I had a lot of gardening to catch up with last weekend, and I just haven't had time to sort all the photos out. But, we have another week's holiday coming up the week after next, when we're having a week at home, so I'll

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-3081981768264996892011-09-23T19:29:00.000+01:002011-09-23T19:29:06.429+01:00

Can someone please explain where on earth 2/3rds of September just disappeared off to?! This has been one very mad month. Between August and September I've had three incomplete weeks at work, thanks to taking a Friday and the Tuesday after the bank holiday to go to Greenbelt, then the week after I spent three days oop north at a conference for work. Then I had a WHOLE FIVE DAYS (shock horror) at

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4Durham, County Durham, UK54.7786923 -1.559605099999998954.7436238 -1.5968245999999988 54.813760800000004 -1.522385599999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-52607812741791476512011-09-04T17:56:00.000+01:002011-09-04T17:56:05.156+01:00

After a weekend away at Greenbelt I am now massively behind with blogging, reading blogs, sending emails etc. I've got about three blog posts waiting to be written, so here's the first: My drive over to Greenbelt, on Cheltenham racecourse, consisted of torrential downpours, interspersed with murky grey daylight, which wasn't the greatest encouragement to get there and get my tent up. The first

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-92073063590190961862011-08-14T18:47:00.000+01:002011-08-14T18:47:09.284+01:00

Thank you for all the emails and messages I've had checking that I'm OK, whilst the riots were going on this country. I was really touched! It was all a bit bizarre really, as I saw all the riot footage on the news and some of my work colleagues had an unpleasant time getting home on a couple of days, but I didn't see any sign at all of any trouble. I saw a lot of the reaction to it, the upset

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-19274364043785893592011-08-07T18:17:00.000+01:002011-08-07T18:17:19.516+01:00

I'm a week late this time, which is what comes of 1st August being a Monday and then going out several nights last week. I didn't go online much last week as I was out three evenings so am now frantically trying to get caught up with emails, blogs etc. In the big picture I don't think the garden has changed that much. I've pulled up the sweet peas as I didn't keep on top of dead-heading them so

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-2153294570353809302011-07-24T18:19:00.000+01:002011-07-24T18:19:00.944+01:00

When you read the synopsis of this novel, it doesn't exactly encourage you to pick it up and start reading. It sounds massively depressing for a start - the story is of a five year old boy and his Mum who are being held captive by a man (who also fathered the boy) in Room. And it's narrated by the five year old. Both of those things made me thing that it wouldn't be very good, and that it would

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-35929202415820677692011-07-17T16:41:00.000+01:002011-07-17T16:41:45.145+01:00

I enjoyed my ten days at home between jobs. The second week we had builders in installing our new downstairs loo. In the space of a week it went from this:  Which wasn't great, the taps and pipework were on the leaky side and brown was a really good colour for showing up every single little tiny bit of limescale (and as the water here is really hard there was a LOT of limescale). Plus carpet on

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-46915242627290142962011-07-10T18:23:00.000+01:002011-07-10T18:23:44.577+01:00

Last week I finally left work. You may remember back in the dim and distant past of April that I acquired a new job. Unfortunately I also had the longest notice period in the universe so have only now finished the old job, ready to move onto the new one with a 10 day gap inbetween. I had a leaving afternoon tea at work - tea, miniature sandwiches and lots of little tiny cakes and scones.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-49367684652638723282011-07-04T22:03:00.000+01:002011-07-04T22:03:53.929+01:00

The garden's really beginning to grow up now. The nasturtiums I planted along the edge of the raised bed have gone a bit crazy so you can't really see what is behind them! And this is just from a different angle, behind the apple tree. Lots of the plants are covered with aphids (the nasturtiums are particularly bad), but, having done some reading about it, it looks like things should balance

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-31425588076386122092011-06-20T22:09:00.000+01:002011-06-20T22:09:47.165+01:00

Well, after the horror that was the RSC, we had a better day on Wednesday, exploring Alcester, a small market town dating from Roman times, about 10 miles from Stratford. This had a lovely centre, with loads of independent shops,lots of bunting still up from their royal wedding street party, and plenty of reasonably priced places to have a meal. We then went a couple of miles out of Alcester

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-75177998605581668682011-06-16T20:09:00.000+01:002011-06-16T20:09:35.745+01:00

The Help is a pretty amazing book. It's one of the few I've read recently that I literally haven't been able to put down. It's about three women in 1960s Mississippi - Skeeter, who is white and has just finished college, and Aibileen and Minny who are both black maids. Each has their own problems, Skeeter has a mother who is very keen to get her married off well as soon as possible, as well as

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-90100490959527270812011-06-12T18:38:00.000+01:002011-06-12T18:38:31.704+01:00

For our first wedding anniversary we decided to return to Stratford-upon-Avon for another week's holiday. We went there on honeymoon, but only got 5 nights away due to difficulties getting time off work, so didn't get to half the places we intended to. We booked to stay in the same flat this year as we'd liked it so much. We travelled down on the Saturday and found a lovely independent bookshop

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-61012997721973118652011-06-01T22:03:00.000+01:002011-06-01T22:03:44.418+01:00

The garden's beginning to look like it's finally coming together now we're in June. Things are shooting up (although not as much as if we'd actually had some rain!). I've also filled most of the raised bed in the picture with a perennial plant collection (72 plants!!) from JParkers, although mostly they're too small to be seen yet. Hopefully they will spread out (if we get some rain) and fill in

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-48052968934618583432011-05-30T21:57:00.000+01:002011-05-30T21:57:32.326+01:00

We didn't do as much this bank holiday weekend. For a start, it was shorter (only three days, unlike four last time round. Humph), and we're going on holiday soon, so there wasn't quite such an urge to go out and see things. We had a nice time though, pottering around the garden (update coming soon with Garden at the Beginning of June), some reading (update coming soon), a bit of wandering round

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-50662609992433214022011-05-19T22:07:00.000+01:002011-05-19T22:07:26.794+01:00

I got the tank top blocked, and I'm feeling rather pleased with it now. And it's in good time to be parcelled up ready for posting off to my nephew. I've also made some progress with Isabella - got the back and the front done now, and have three-needle-bind-offed them together. Still think this is impressively fast considering it's 4ply yarn. I love the stripes and the way the colours work! Just

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-36428813431682079142011-05-12T20:46:00.000+01:002011-05-13T21:44:55.314+01:00

May's reading group book was Remarkable creatures by Tracy Chevalier, and the first group book I can remember which was universally enjoyed - everyone gave it either 8 or 8.5 out of 10. Normally we have massive differences of opinion! It's a good read. It's about two women in the 19th century, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning, who become friends, despite the difference in their age and class. A

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-20233216914588179002011-05-09T21:41:00.000+01:002011-05-09T21:41:15.942+01:00

We took advantage of the second four day weekend to have another day out. This time heading over to explore Woking (not exciting, it was just a load of shops and a pretty grim shopping centre like any other town centre with nothing even vaguely historic beyond the war memorial we found outside. I suspect Old Woking may have been more what we were looking for!). before heading to Hatchlands Park

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-82614297218268957162011-05-01T15:59:00.000+01:002011-05-01T15:59:25.117+01:00

And this is the garden actually on 1st May, thanks to Sunday and daylight! It's changed quite a bit since last month, mainly as a result of the things we've been adding to it. I was sorting out my files on the computer and found this picture from a year ago, so you can see how much it's changed: I've taken a slightly more scientific approach now (!) and tested the soil after we lost a holly

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-21193181361701888162011-04-28T22:02:00.000+01:002011-04-28T22:02:42.680+01:00

The last few weeks have been a bit stressful as I have acquired a new job! I won't be leaving my current job and starting the new one until July, but I put my application in in March and went to a rather stressful interview (including having to give a presentation!), got offered the job the next day, then had to wait ages for paperwork to come through to confirm it. Anyway, I am really excited

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-72263210232950231042011-04-24T15:59:00.000+01:002011-04-24T15:59:20.003+01:00

Like me, Yarnstorm has been struggling with the unseasonal heat and its effect on her garden. Our tulips are already over, and I'm sure last year they were still on the go in May. We're having to water every night at the moment, which you just don't expect to do in April! It's got up to about 25° several days this week, which is just about over the limit where I feel comfortable (I get sunstroke

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-31802280696833468402011-04-20T22:01:00.000+01:002011-04-20T22:01:14.071+01:00

April's reading group book was The year of the flood by Margaret Atwood. I rather enjoyed it, although I was helped by the OH, who had already read it and hadn't liked it much, and who then discovered that it's a sort of sequel to Oryx and Crake. So I read that first, and I think it made a lot more sense because I'd done that. Both books are about a future event (apocalyptic?) that wipes out most

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-44776424346906635302011-04-10T21:58:00.000+01:002011-04-10T21:58:35.743+01:00

So the 4ply jumper isn't taking as long as I thought. I thought I'd be knitting forever, but the front is already finished: and I'm well on the way with the back. I'm pleased with the way the colours worked out too - the front above looks like I got the two sides of the neck to match colour-wise, except I didn't, I just kept going and this is how it turned out! I'm pleased with the Noro Kureyon

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-77176292841319996282011-04-07T19:12:00.000+01:002011-04-07T19:12:07.793+01:00

The clocks went forward onto British Summer Time last weekend so I could finally take a garden picture on the first day of the month when I got home from work! Things have suddenly started growing a lot outside. We've had weather much more like May, than April (it got up to 20° at one point) so things are suddenly growing in all directions. There's probably not a lot more visible in the picture

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-81319874243865430152011-03-20T17:28:00.000Z2011-03-20T17:28:25.337Z

Last May, when I had my final wedding dress fitting up in Newark, Mum and I decided on a trip to Southwell afterwards, where the Little Wool Shop is. One of those amazing shops that isn't very big and has a heck of a lot of lovely stuff in it. I was very tempted by various things, but loved a sample they had on display of Isabella, a Noro jumper. So I bought Noro Catwalk and 3 balls of Kureyon

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-11608471381814966682011-03-11T22:00:00.001Z2011-03-11T22:28:16.327Z

As promised, I have been busily knitting away, trying to get caught up with things that were meant to happen ages ago. This is the January square from the knit-a-block-a-month group. So only about 6 weeks late... This is almost exactly 50g of aran weight Pure Hebridean wool from my stash. And I finally finished my Out of Town in London Fog socks, from Iron Knitter, which were meant to be

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-23719351020766498782011-03-06T18:45:00.000Z2011-03-06T18:45:44.384Z

I have been doing some knitting, but I've hardly got any time to blog this weekend, so you'll have to be content with just the garden update. It's still not light enough when I get home from work to take pictures, so this was taken on 6th March rather than 1st! Again, it doesn't look immensely different from February or January! I suppose a bit less muddy as things are beginning to grow more.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-84211355607369201402011-02-28T21:45:00.000Z2011-02-28T21:45:35.330Z

My tomato seedlings have keeled over and died. As they were in the same room as the knitted dalek, I blamed it for their demise. See, it looks innocent in the photo, all cuddled up with Monkey and his offspring, but we all know it isn't really. Except I then realised I'd probably sown them too early, and then moved them on too early, so maybe it wasn't the dalek after all? Spring is definitely

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-14296582130664874442011-02-20T17:28:00.001Z2011-02-20T17:30:27.099Z

Yesterday I left the OH reading his paper and headed off into London. to meet several people from the Archers Listeners forum on Ravelry at a pub for knitting/crochet and some lunch.  followed by a trip to the Finborough theatre nearby, to see a play called "Accolade". The reason for all this? Well, way back in January, there was supposed to be an event that would Shake Ambridge To The Core (

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-78730290835621599292011-02-13T17:12:00.000Z2011-02-13T17:12:40.647Z

I got the tea cosy finished in time to take to church this morning and give it to the recipient - who loved it, thank goodness! It wasn't a bad knit, just tough on the fingers keeping the tension right. Still, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I put four pompoms on the top instead of two (looked more fun) and it fitted our teapot perfectly so should also be fine on hers. And I got started

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-79864425928967110722011-02-06T22:01:00.000Z2011-02-06T22:01:56.413Z

I've had a busy weekend and no time to blog, and this week looks a bit mad too, so I thought I'd just do a quick update of the garden at the beginning of the month (well, 5th Feb, still not much daylight when I get home from work). Not much has changed since last month. The OH painted the fence with wood preservative, and that's pretty much it.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-81802135958733503432011-01-30T14:59:00.001Z2011-01-30T15:02:37.775Z

If you've got a Blogger blog like me, have you tried looking at the stats for it (on the control panel)? Mine are most amusing. I can see which sites have referred people to me (usually Ravelry), what people have searched for on Google and then found me ("lopsided cake"!) and which countries the people who read my blog are in. Which seems to be a fair few scattered right across the world. The

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-13543554724547997902011-01-23T17:23:00.001Z2011-01-23T17:23:55.463Z

I bought some yarn. I'd seen someone else's copy of the March 2011 Yarn Forward mag at knitting group and liked some of the patterns, so the OH went and got me a copy. Then I bought the yarn for one of them on Saturday! It's Manos del Uruguay Maxima and is lovely and squooshy. See, I spent half of Saturday at Christian Aid HQ in London on a "Making London Diocese a Fairtrade Diocese" morning.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-63940015476430304782011-01-15T15:31:00.000Z2011-01-15T15:31:51.301Z

Despite a very long day at work one day this week when I went into London, and a migraine on another day, I got quite a lot of knitting done this week. I finished off the second baby tank top - pattern made up as I went along. This used another 1.5 balls of Rico baby cotton soft DK, using up what was left in my stash. Then I cast on the Easy baby cardigan, from Knitting Pure & Simple, which has

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-47560908754508690252011-01-08T17:58:00.000Z2011-01-08T17:58:35.156Z

Something is beginning to come up in the garden - it still seems far too cold and early for anything though. I'm also perplexed about what they might be. I definitely don't remember planting any bulbs just there and am wondering if it's grass seed gone AWOL from an attempt to re-seed the lawn?!  Meanwhile, I've enjoyed watching the first parts of Alys Fowler's The edible garden  and Carol

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-69807527656906282092011-01-03T15:15:00.001Z2011-01-03T15:51:55.817Z

The OH thought the post about knitting was a bit boring (mainly because it was just about knitting, all of which he'd already seen being created) so I thought I'd go one better and write a post about things in saucepans. I've been taking advantage of having some time off work - 13 whole days, what bliss, time to actually DO things - to do some batch cooking and fill the freezer up ready for when

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-27507975137012257522011-01-01T17:57:00.000Z2011-01-01T17:57:38.621Z

A few months ago I planted some hyacinths to flower in time for Christmas - and they mostly just made it in time, although one didn't do very much at all! I love the smell of them in the house and it's nice to have something growing when there isn't much going on outside in the garden. I've also just planted an Amaryllis, which should hopefully flower within a couple of months. And by then

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-56430126843328560642010-12-30T15:54:00.003Z2010-12-30T16:01:53.568Z

I have been knitting busily away over the last few months, I just haven't posted about it. I had to put several projects down to get on with Christmas jumpers for the nephews. I'd stopped knitting for them for Christmas (too much all at once, whereas birthdays in December and May were much more do-able) but with wedding plans earlier this year and the house move birthday jumpers didn't happen

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-67541837781925226812010-12-26T18:42:00.000Z2010-12-26T18:42:30.413Z

Once again time went hurtling past and I haven't blogged for nearly 2 months! Oops. It has been a busy 2 months though (funny that I thought at the start of the year that once we'd rebuilt the house, moved into it and got married I'd suddenly have loads of spare time!). But I had a long weekend in Wales, visiting my brother's family, who  moved there last year. It was incredibly beautiful - with

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-65872300909498026222010-10-31T18:58:00.001Z2010-10-31T19:02:39.719Z

I have bits of half-written blog posts around. I haven't blogged for aagggggeeeessss, life got a bit in the way. Weird how when I had loads of time there wasn't that much to blog about, now that there's LOADS of things to blog about there isn't any time to blog... Anyway, I was going to review some books, but instead I'll just mention them a bit: August's reading group book was Paul Torday's

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-20949870473388481962010-09-20T20:58:00.000+01:002010-09-20T20:58:11.859+01:00

We got back a week ago from a week's holiday in Norfolk, but the complete insanity of the return to normal life has stopped me posting until now. Norfolk proved to be an inspired choice of location. We took an apartment about 3 minutes walk from Norwich Cathedral (we hadn’t realised it would be quite so close when we booked it!), right outside the Erpingham Gate to the Cathedral Close. We spent

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-78464623148578896032010-08-23T21:40:00.000+01:002010-08-23T21:40:24.701+01:00

Being a good librarian I decided to re-classify my stash. It was originally stored according to cotton, wool, acrylic and oddments but had long since outgrown this, combined with my Ravelry tags for it which date from when I was living in two different places so I still have yarn labelled "Slough" and "Lincoln" on Ravelry! This was very frustrating to my librarian brain, plus I could never

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-89429474797634696632010-08-17T22:01:00.000+01:002010-08-17T22:01:17.650+01:00

One of our wedding presents was some named rose seeds so with some trepidation we followed the instructions and planted them, and crossed our fingers some would come up. We had six seeds and the instructions were to plant them in a tray of vermiculite and keep moist and between 20 and 23°C (how do you manage to keep the temperature that exact during a British summer?!). Vermiculite looks

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-10443445702618373392010-08-09T21:19:00.000+01:002010-08-09T21:19:43.882+01:00

I finally finished Thermal last month, but haven't blogged about it yet. This was my long term project intended to keep me going through house-building-work, moving house and wedding preparations, and it certainly did the trick! The yarn is unknown 4ply probably wool that I bought way back on Skip North. There's still loads left, so I could have made it longer - I didn't dare when I started off

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-16506007930751476492010-08-04T21:00:00.000+01:002010-08-04T21:00:06.019+01:00

Saturday meant a visit to Knit Nation at Imperial College. After much cogitation about my ability to get up and into central London for a 9am class (the OH and I both agreed that this was an unlikely scenario) I decided just to get a marketplace ticket. In the end I'm glad I did, as I wouldn't have made it in for a morning class - I only just made it into London for lunchtime and it meant I had

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-55670605459194622722010-07-27T21:56:00.000+01:002010-07-27T21:56:34.316+01:00

And to round off the series of wedding/honeymoon posts, only getting-on-for-two-months-since-we-got-married, here are my honeymoon purchases! First of all from the Yarn Gathering in Coventry. 7 balls of Grignasco Merino Gold in burgundy (and one in grey which isn't pictured). This is  really good value, machine washable 100% merino wool. Hopefully to make the Essential Cardigan, from Interweave

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-13976089279026924602010-07-23T07:59:00.002+01:002010-07-23T13:33:06.341+01:00

You may remember, back in the dim and distant days before our wedding, the absolutely fantabulous evening when we went to the pub for knitting group, only to be presented with a knitted cake (from Staines knitting group) and a blanket, made by the Ambridge knitting circle. Yes, I know this was a million years ago now, we have after all now been married for a  whole nearly 7 weeks. And I promised

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-72232269360309967862010-07-11T19:20:00.001+01:002010-07-11T19:25:45.410+01:00

And finally, I blog about the honeymoon! Life has been totally mad since we got back home (nearly a month ago now!). Work has been really busy and I've been working late a bit, and clearing up after the wedding, and sorting out stuff like wedding photos and writing letters and things like that! And trying to get caught up on some gardening whenever the weather cools enough to let me spend any

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-83746619172444840372010-06-16T21:48:00.001+01:002010-06-16T21:58:25.275+01:00

Well, where should I start?! The wedding was truly awesome. The service and reception went even better than we had hoped for and we've had so many lovely comments since from people who clearly enjoyed it nearly as much as we did. The service was in my church, with plenty of friends involved - we were married by one of my former housemates and another, Farli, preached a fantastic sermon (she

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-9551550154645006822010-05-31T22:21:00.000+01:002010-05-31T22:21:37.527+01:00

Last Tuesday I had one of the more overwhelming evenings of my life. I already knew I'd got a special parcel on its way to me (it got as far as our front door on Monday and was retrieved from Staines post office on Saturday. No pics or further details yet as it is Something For Wearing At The Wedding and therefore cannot be revealed as the OH reads this blog). The others at knitting group had

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-55799316510277621442010-05-21T18:43:00.003+01:002010-05-21T18:43:00.474+01:00

I still go to a reading group once a month. It's a nice group with a mixture of working and retired people in it so a good mixture of ages and life experience. We choose the books from a lengthy list supplied by the library, basically of books they have multiple copies of. Last year's books weren't too good, but this year's have been a bit better. In March we had Lionel Shriver's "The

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-4538834093437992192010-05-09T19:40:00.000+01:002010-05-09T19:40:17.787+01:00

We had a bank holiday last weekend for the May Day holiday, so the Monday off work = bliss! . We decided to have a day off from frantic gardening/unpacking/wedding preparation and went to Twickenham for the day, where we'd been assured there were plenty of independent shops to look round. Very true, but unfortunately most of them were shut for the bank holiday! Still, we had a good wander

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-4798698632062853032010-05-03T19:36:00.001+01:002010-05-03T19:39:16.763+01:00

  I've been juggling things around a bit. When I first started reading people's blogs and blogging myself (my first post, a fuzzy photo of some Adriafil Stars yarn, seems to have been towards the end of May 2005), way back in the dim and distant past of five years ago (where did that time go?!) I used to read blogs over breakfast before setting off on an endless journey to the back of beyond, not

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-13560399723696538202010-04-19T18:26:00.001+01:002010-04-19T18:29:27.925+01:00

Yes, once again I haven't blogged for a while. Life kind of got in the way. We've had an incredibly busy couple of months, mainly getting the new house sorted and moving into it! The house is looking lovely. We went from this to this in the bathroom: This is what the bathroom looked like when it was mostly in piles in the study. We disappeared behind a very large pile of boxes during the

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-84492870593299219842010-02-07T18:11:00.000Z2010-02-07T18:11:08.257Z

I haven't really gone missing, I'm just not quite sure where the time is going. We've been going to marriage preparation classes at church, which are hysterically funny. And also planning the wedding in odd moments of time inbetween doing things to the house. We spent ages getting quotes from builders for the work on the  house, and all the snow delayed things too. Weddings and building work seem

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-52943581412641517612009-12-20T16:20:00.001Z2009-12-20T16:22:21.348Z

The WIPs on my Ravelry project page are gradually reducing in number. I seem to be so slow at the moment at finishing things off, but I suppose there's quite a lot going on, so it isn't really surprising. The Jitterbug gloves that I have so far failed to picture on here are finished. Just in time for the snow on the journey to work. I was very glad I had them then as they're lovely, warm and

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-77618025523077584552009-11-19T21:25:00.002Z2009-11-19T21:31:42.781Z

Oh God, I haven't blogged for a month! Absolutely typical. You get a lovely new camera for your birthday, for the first time ever you can take proper piccies to put on your blog, and you promptly start running around like a headless chicken with no time to blog and play with the lovely new camera. A lot has been going on. Not only the small little things like trying to plan a wedding for next

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-66403594525262430332009-10-18T17:57:00.001+01:002009-10-18T18:28:47.656+01:00

I am feeling spectacularly old and wrinkly (and don't mention the sagging bottom) today as I've just turned 30. The horrors of wrinkledom/sagginess etc were somewhat assuaged by a great day with the OH and some rather groovy presents! Although he did refuse my request to get cracking with the birthday cake at midnight last night (he seemed to think sleep was a better idea?!) I did get a chocolate

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-44696027221016802572009-10-17T18:04:00.000+01:002009-10-17T18:04:24.187+01:00

I have been knitting (a little bit) but where does the time go?! And what on earth have I been doing with it? I've just found a recipe website that's a little like Ravelry. It's fun and seems useful - great potential for looking up veg box type recipes, or things to cook with meat when you don't know what you're doing (= me). There are separate US (or North American?) and UK/Irish versions, I

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-89141443559993771532009-10-08T21:51:00.000+01:002009-10-08T21:51:39.717+01:00

The OH and I (and the rest of my family) have just finished a completely mad round of house moves/sales/purchases. My Mum sold her house last week, which was the home I lived in until I was 18 before I left to go to university, and where I temporarily lived again for a while in my mid-20s. This is the last bowl of pears I'll have from the pear tree that was planted in the garden when I was born.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-58873830505094333662009-09-24T22:07:00.003+01:002009-09-24T22:10:41.256+01:00

Possibly the strangest looking cauliflower I have ever seen showed up in yesterday's veg box. I think this one beats even that purple one from a few years ago that perfectly matched my knitting.

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-33704861309554336722009-09-20T19:36:00.000+01:002009-09-20T19:38:09.523+01:00

After last week's incredibly dull conference trip to Cambridge it was nice to return yesterday for a more relaxed visit to meet some of OH's friends. We wandered along the Backs and watched the punts going past on the Cam.The friends came equipped with small children, which also necessitated a trip to the park to play. Both the OH and I got dragged into playing on the train (as we had real train

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-12425757799450099092009-09-13T16:37:00.002+01:002009-09-13T16:49:09.687+01:00

Yesterday the Iknit Weekender beckoned. I was worried that all the yarn would have already disappeared as it started on the Friday, but I needn't have been anxious. The Royal Horticultural Lawrence Hall had plenty of stalls with plenty of yarn left, plus plenty of room for plenty of knitters to sit and knit. I may be wrong, but it felt like there was more space to sit and knit this year, although

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-62594652883593045412009-09-06T16:12:00.002+01:002009-09-06T16:55:22.200+01:00

Well, now I've calmed down a bit from the BIG Lincoln adventure - the getting engaged bit of it, which was definitely the MOST exciting part. And got fed up with answering questions about dates (no idea), wedding dresses (don't care, but I do want to knit a shawl), where it's going to be (not in Lincoln) etc, it's time to blog about the other bits of the Lincoln adventure. Thank you for all the

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-19581152808232627172009-08-22T18:52:00.002+01:002009-08-22T19:03:16.490+01:00

Just got back from a week in Lincoln with some exciting news - the OH proposed whilst we were away and I accepted!It was all very exciting and very romantic. Unbeknown to me he spent some time thinking about the best place in which to propose and when we went into Lincoln Cathedral on Monday evening he waited until all the tourists (and my Mum) had disappeared from the cloisters, before getting

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-78852568113934130672009-08-14T20:22:00.012+01:002009-08-14T23:22:13.276+01:00

See, person in recovery from swine flu experiences a rapid easing of the symptoms on receiving 15 balls of yarn in the post. And also starts wearing a slightly silly grin.Thanks to the sale at Celticove these did actually arrive a fortnight ago when I'd just gone back to work after swine flu and was totally out of umph. They really helped to cheer me up. 15 balls of Mirasol Sulka in sage (which

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-25082616006864606882009-08-07T20:01:00.005+01:002009-08-07T20:35:17.674+01:00

Before getting started on new things I've been trying to get some of my WIP pile cleared. Several projects had got put on one side because I didn't want to sew them together whilst moving, or I didn't have anywhere to block them whilst moving. But I've been steaming ahead with some finishing.I started this tea cosy way back in March, intended for a friend's birthday in April. Fortunately I

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-9292357577664253212009-07-28T20:19:00.000+01:002009-07-29T07:16:54.960+01:00

Yes, both Monkey and I succumbed to swine flu last week. Fortunately the Other Half hasn't caught it (yet) as he was kept very busy doing the shopping, cleaning the house, supplying bananas and providing TLC.Mine hasn't been too bad. I'd been feeling a bit funny for a couple of days, just tired really and had been having early nights, then fainted in the library last week! Ironically I'd actually

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-82784362672522042352009-07-18T16:43:00.003+01:002009-07-18T16:52:36.055+01:00

I'm a bit out of the loop with podcasts. I didn't have time to listen to any for ages, but now I've got about 30 minutes of commuting time every day I've resurrected my Ipod.Cast On still seems to be around.I'm still catching up with the last couple of episodes of Lixie Knits It.I got hopelessly behind with Lime & Violet but they still seem to be around too.Can anyone recommend any more knitting

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-82372109249736530942009-07-10T21:47:00.011+01:002009-07-11T22:19:24.445+01:00

The house move has been accomplished.Between us we had three lorries. The Other Half had 63 boxes of stuff, I didn't have quite as many, but still quite a few. We had boxes stacked everywhere. We had to have a one way system to get round the living room.Thanks to the Herculean efforts of the Other Half, all the boxes have been unpacked and removed by the removal company. Oh, and Monkey's

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-85724625072202411602009-06-07T18:18:00.004+01:002009-06-07T19:34:18.765+01:00

Eeek, it's nearly a month since I last posted! How did that happen? Well, once again, exciting things are happening. I will be leaving Slough far far behind on Thursday this week, to move to Staines with The Other Half. I'll be very happy to leave Slough behind (there is currently a pile of dog poo sitting outside the entrance to my block of flats, plus a lovely smell of excrement, and I found a

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-34762901941978346112009-05-10T20:28:00.002+01:002009-05-10T21:02:40.276+01:00

I had a tough 24 hours in Italy with work last week. After the trauma of an 8.05am flight from Gatwick (which meant getting up at 4.30, and catching a train at 5.25. Ouch) to Pisa and then two different trains, I arrived in Lucca a bit too early so was told to go and sit in the square and get a coffee whilst I waited. This, of course, was extremely challenging and tough. I sat in this square, the

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-45368374359380436122009-05-03T23:07:00.001+01:002009-05-03T23:09:34.187+01:00

I'm off to Get Knitted at the end of this week to do a course with Farli and Penny.On the day I'll get 10% off anything I buy in the shop, so it seems a bit silly for the yarn diet to be in operation that day, doesn't it?I need to decide what I'm looking for. I've wanted to make Maude - from the Inside Loop for ages, so I think I'll go with yarn for that (her?). So I need either 1890 yards of

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-77582902232600094382009-04-23T21:29:00.001+01:002009-04-23T21:33:19.488+01:00

I've been admiring things on Etsy for a while, but the dollar pricing put me off, especially once the exchange rate began to move in the wrong direction (for me).Then I read on Nic's blog about Folksy, which is like a UK version of Etsy. And I got hooked stalking things on that. A couple of weeks ago I bought a couple of things from Nic's shop, NicsKnots, pictures below: A needle roll for DPNs

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-86818471683506134882009-04-12T17:35:00.000+01:002009-04-12T19:09:26.665+01:00

The eagle-eyed may have noticed a massive decrease in the amount of knitting I've done over the last two months. There is a reason. Exciting things have been going on in part of my life that appeared to be in terminal decline. And I'm very happy about it. ;-)Yes, Monkey and the nephews are no longer the only men in my life. Actually, are they men at all? One is a knitted monkey and the other two

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-12783844717902555472009-04-07T20:19:00.005+01:002009-04-07T21:20:44.726+01:00

... "Lullabies for little criminals" by Heather O'Neill? I'm meant to be reading it for Reading Group next week, but I'm not getting very far. It doesn't sound cheerful from the plot summary in the link above, but I'm not even that far yet - only on page 25! I just can't be bothered to pick it up and read any more of it.I finished reading "The believers" by Zoe Heller last week, and I'm wondering

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-71696976463312018702009-03-26T21:20:00.000Z2009-04-03T19:00:50.137+01:00

These are the activities from the last couple of weeks of Love Life Live Lent:Make a list of things you want to say sorry to God for, say sorry, then throw the list away.Haven't got round to this one yet.Buy a coffee and give it to someone on the way to work.This one seems to be aimed at commuters & I don't pass anywhere to buy a coffee on the way to work. So I made coffee for my colleagues

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-22205896160218707932009-03-22T20:47:00.004Z2009-03-22T21:12:14.357Z

I recently took part in the Happiness Swop on one of the boards on Ravelry. The idea was to send a small present to one of the others. Kate sent me a parcel containing these: A groovy tin containing a row counter (She says you put your needle through the hole with one bead for row 1 of the pattern repeat, and move it for each row. For row 11 you put a safety pin in the bead's space, and the

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-78057577453326911892009-03-16T20:31:00.006Z2009-03-16T21:05:33.872Z

I got a letter this morning, saying that my portfolio has passed and "inviting me to join the register of chartered members of CILIP"!! YAY!! OK, I also have to pay another £20 for the privilege of joining the register. I can't quite believe it's finished, especially as I wasn't expecting to hear back from them for several more months. Now I get to put "MCLIP" after my name. Tee hee.Oh, and I've

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-62099935625314734722009-03-13T15:00:00.001Z2009-03-13T15:03:50.056Z

I finished reading "The road home" by Rose Tremain for reading group. Links to a review in the Guardian, LibraryThing and the Orange Prize website (it won this last year). I was a bit disappointed with it, I think because I'd been expecting great things from Tremain and I don't think it was up to that level. The story follows Lev, from an unidentified Eastern European country, who comes to London

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-33641529686519559232009-03-03T21:53:00.001Z2009-03-05T21:02:13.576Z

After much cogitation I decided to "do" Love Life Live Lent this year. I considered giving up chocolate, but decided (charitably) that this would be unfair on my work colleagues, who would have to work alongside me in a chocolate-deprived state for several weeks. Last year's carbon fast attempt was fairly disastrous - I ended up having so many accommodation problems in Windsor that I went away

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-81865801786424221192009-02-17T21:34:00.005Z2009-02-19T20:22:08.791Z

I had a pretty amazing week away last week. It started with a very nice Saturday, including knitting at Diane's and a trip to Stash in Putney, where I bumped into Nickerjac, Grit and Michaela.Sunday I drove over to Chelmsford to stay with some friends, then onto Center Parcs at Elveden Forest on Monday. I was sharing a lodge with these two: Yes, the nephew sprogs are getting BIG! And my brother,

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13280710.post-49824563744095863612009-02-17T21:32:00.000Z2009-02-17T21:33:15.798Z

Go and get your bit too!

Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00275774175643207235noreply@blogger.com0