Excellent plan!

Good heavens

I've written another blog post! Don't faint with the shock! I think blogging is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, not only because of lack of time, but also things like Ravelry and Facebook, which also seem to take some of the purpose away from blogging. I'm finding them both mildly (!) addictive, but also less time-consuming than blogging.

And I have been doing exciting things, like getting a new job! I'm due to start it at the beginning of December so that means finding somewhere to live and saying goodbye to Knit Lincs, Guides, the village church and my reading group. I will be moving vaguely in the vicinity of here:

Yes, it's Windsor Castle, but no, I won't actually be living or working there! It's just sort of vaguely nearby and it seemed a bit better than finding a photo of Slough, which, for some reason, makes me think of slugs... And the whole area seems to be lacking in yarn shops. But, hopefully, I will be able to achieve my main ambition of the moment which involves being able to walk or cycle to work again! No more epic car journeys across the country (well, until I decide to go and check on my house that is!).

I've had a friend to stay for the weekend and we did some walking in Sherwood Forest (no sign of Robin Hood) and Clumber Park:

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And I have been doing some knitting. Christmas stuff is well underway:

This is for Dylan, the Ship Ahoy jumper by Zoe Mellor, made with mainly Lang Yarns Merino, which is yummy and squishy and nice and not too-ridiculously-expensive. This lot was from Spin a Yarn in Bovey Tracey in Devon.

I added some extra fish on the back.

And baby bootees for a friend's baby. The yarn is some leftover Regia Stretch Colour 4ply, originally bought at Sew Creative in Cambridge.

And books. Well, I'm ploughing through Little Dorrit, which was for my last reading group meeting (last week) but I'm still only a third of the way through. I'm going for the long-term reading option, I think. And I still have a pile of books bought at Greenbelt to read, and I also know I haven't written a post about Greenbelt yet either. Oops...

Oh, and I went to see the Terracotta Warriors one day when I had a lunch meeting in London and a free afternoon. It's pretty cool, they have amazing faces, all with different expressions and hair styles! I just wish I knew more about the history of that part of the world, my knowledge is almost entirely limited to the Western world and I came away with an overwhelming impression of how little I know.

I think I'm going mad

Right, so I made a to-do list for today(Thursday) on Sunday night, just before leaving for work. Got home from work last night, looked at the list and thought "Who is Nigel?" and "Why do I need to ring him?".

And I still can't remember now!

Maybe it's time for another post

When I went on a summer blog break I wasn't sure if or when I'd be back. I thought I would be back, but possibly not. Anyway, I am going to carry on blogging, just in a slightly sporadic fashion, as there is waaaaaaay too much else going on at the moment to commit to something regular. (and, I know, I always did blog in a slightly sporadic fashion. Just now it's official, OK?!)

I've been making Big Life-changing Decisions, but they're not for public consumption yet, so I'll leave you guessing.

In the meantime, I've been up to a few things since I last posted properly. I've done the usual zipping around the countryside, I think I ended up working in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Norfolk this time, plus a week on a course in London, during which I had a whale of a time catching up with friends in the evenings.
(View from one friend's flat in Docklands)

I knitted some socks for me whilst I was there.

and gave another pair to Jenny, with whom I was staying.

and visited Rachel and Mark's twins, Alexander and Joseph

and their new baby, Luke.
and the knitting I did for them:






Then I went on holiday, which also involved zipping around the countryside, only a bit further this time, as I went to Greenbelt, on Cheltenham race course, along with my brother's family, some friends from my first degree, some more from Guides and a couple from school days.

then on to stay with Persephone and Esme and their humans in Bristol,

and then Morris and Minor and their humans near Exeter.



And then home via Stratford-upon-Avon and a friend's house in Solihull.

Oh, and I managed to fit in five yarn shops in four days, which I thought was pretty good going. I want to do a separate post about Greenbelt, cos it was totally fab, and now I'm all fed up as it's over, but that'll be a looooooonnnnngggg post, so I thought I'd post some piccies of FOs from over the summer, just to prove that I do knit as well as drive (although not at the same time).

The good thing about taking a car on holiday (yes, I know I could have gone on the train, and that taking the car, especially with only me in it, was a bit extravagant, and a sign that I'm becoming worryingly grown up, as this is the first time I've been to a festival and taken a washing up bowl) is that there' s plenty of room to stuff knitting into every possible crevice, and then buy more yarn on your travels.

Convenient knitting bag resting point on top of the tent in the car's boot.

And yarn purchases beginning to pile up on the back seat.


Picovoli was knitted at Greenbelt, plus a bit beforehand and afterwards. I'm really pleased with the way it fits and it was a very satisfying knit (and it's so cool being able to try it on as you go!). I used DB Cathay, which I had in a swop with Claire.

This is a section of lawn. Yes, I did say lawn, which was knitted during talks at Greenbelt as it was pretty mindless. It's off to join the rest of the lawn, alongside the knitted shed, at the Sleaford Arts Festival.

And a (very short) Matilda scarf, using up leftovers of Kureyon and Sirdar Snuggly Aran. This was knitted in other bits at Greenbelt.

And bought the yarn for the Ship Ahoy jumper for Dylan's Christmas present at Spin a Yarn in Bovey Tracey, then cast on somewhere along the way on the way home.


And that's it for now. There will be a proper Greenbelt post sometime, plus other stuff. And I might have some news soon (hopefully!)... But in the meantime I'm in London most of next week, and Wakefield most of the next so I'll post, erm, sometime...