pog and em

Hello

2010-05-02T09:24:00.003+01:00

Hi.

Back after a long break.

birthday

2009-05-16T19:56:00.014+01:00

I had a birthday last week which unfortunately I had to spend at a meeting in Birmingham, so I had an official birthday the day before. I had saved a 2 for 1 voucher from Gardener's World magazine so went with my mum to Arundel Castle for the day. Its a pretty spectacular place - I dont know anything about the history because we were cheap-skates and only went into the gardens.

Beautiful wisteria.

And I think this is an apricot.

lacy crochet

2009-04-24T20:43:00.019+01:00

I crocheted a small bag to keep my crochet hooks in so I dont lose them. I used some thickish black cotton thread and the pattern is adapted from the hook case in Lacy Crochet - Kyuuto Japanese Crafts. The result is a bit short and also the the hooks fall through the holes. So, not well thought out overall (totally my fault for not bothering to follow the pattern properly and nothing to do with the lovely book). Luckily its exactly the right size and shape to keep my ipod in to stop it getting scratched in my bag. The evenings are light enough now to go the allotment after work for an hour. Still a fair amount to dig over and weed but we have potatoes, onions, broad beans, carrots and parsnips in the ground. Tomorrow I will take some pictures. In the meantime here are some tiny cauliflowers... aren't they sweet!

welcome

2009-04-21T21:22:00.005+01:00

My new niece is a week old. Welcome to the world Katerina :-)

Of course this means that the tiny blue cardigan will need some pink flowers attaching.

beans

2009-04-09T20:11:00.005+01:00

Broad beans on my kitchen windowsill.

I baked a cake today, in my new breadmaker. Its a bad idea - dont try it!

Also, I have been doing some knitting. Its a pale blue/green baby jumber. I will post a picture when its finished. My stocking-stitch always ends up in stripes of uneven tension. So on the back I tried to even it up by knitting the purl rows more loosely. Then for some reason I tried to knit the knit rows more tightly on the front. Im not sure why I thought this was not going to have some kind of bad effect on the overall garment. Tension is a tricky isnt it? Sometimes I think I should relearn how to knit from scratch but it seems like a lot of effort.

day off

2009-04-08T17:35:00.009+01:00

Lovely! Day off work today. I got a haircut and did some shopping. This morning I threw some bottles into my recycling bin in my front garden. My neighbour thought someone was smashing a window to break into my house so she called the police. She was just a bit jumpy after I got burgled a couple of months ago. I was pretty embarrassed when 2 police cars turned up a few minutes later. After all the excitement I cleaned my kitchen and dusted this shelf above the fireplace. I made the 2 crocheted jug covers ages ago. These are really handy, quick items to make for presents. My friend Nic gave me the tiny cup and saucer and the tile comes from my Great Aunt.

green

2009-03-31T20:08:00.008+01:00

All sorts of things are springing up in my garden. This clematis is growing at an incredible rate. With a bit of luck it will have big purple flowers in the summer.

I went to a willow and hazel garden structures course with my mum on Saturday. It was fantastic fun. Really hard on our hands though, my thumb nails are suffering this week. We made tall plant supports. The hazel provides the uprights and the willow twigs are bent round them and woven to hold the whole thing together.

The willow twigs were soaked for a couple of days beforehand to make them easier to bend but it was quite warm in the room so after a few minutes work they started to dry out. Here is my mum weaving one of the circular ties. We had time to make one of these teepees each and a sort of basket type plant pot.

So the clematis now has a hand-made plant support to grow up.

I will take some pictures of the finished articles in my garden soon.

pink

2009-03-21T12:55:00.005Z

I walked into town this morning. Along my road there are a few small apple and cherry trees clipped into hedges. They look so pretty. This one has been allowed to grow a bit more wild. I took a few photos at the beach too but the sun had already got quite high so they didnt come out too well. Might try to get up early tomorrow and give it another go.

In town I found a really great dress and a top in Monsoon - neither in my size. So just came home again.

yellow

2009-03-19T19:48:00.007Z

Tiny daffodils brightening up my dining room window.

I have been planning holidays recently. First is a trip to visit a friend in Holland. I'm hoping the bulbfields will still be looking good in May but they will probably be over their best. After that, a long weekend climbing Snowdon and then maybe a week away in the sun in June. I have to fit in a trip to Sweden to visit my new niece or nephew in there somewhere. The last couple of months have been very long and it feels great to have a few things to look forward to. Its going to be busy.

yarn

2009-03-19T19:32:00.003Z

Stardustshoes is having a giveaway of some really beautiful yarn and these handmade bags. Go over and have a look!

red

2009-03-13T18:50:00.008Z

My amaryllis is celebrating red nose day.

I have frogged and re-knitted the sleeves of the tiny baby vest. Now all it needs is a ribbon threaded through the eyelets around the neck. Will it be blue or pink??

Phew! thank goodness its Friday. And payday too. I have a horrible deadline at work in 2 weeks which is taking all my brain-power. Roll on the end of March.

I spend all day at work helping people, busting a gut and apologising if something is half an hour late. Today I asked someone at head office for a small bit of information. He didn't reply, just sent an email to a colleague complaining about me, and copied me in!!! Enough ranting, I'm going to get a glass of wine.

auricula

2009-03-09T20:03:00.014Z

Spring is coming, and my Auricula is flowering. I have been looking out for more of these in the garden centres around here but they seem to be quite rare. I love the contrast of colours in the flowers. They look like they are made of wax. I finished a tiny knitted baby-vest in white cotton this weekend. No pictures because I'm pretty sure I have to redo the sleeves even though I sewed it up already. The pattern says decrease over several rows towards the tops of the sleeves. That can't be right can it? I checked the pattern several times but I think I have to redo them anyway or the vest will cut off the baby's blood supply to its arms.

pants

2009-03-05T18:33:00.007Z

This morning I bent down to tie my shoes and my trousers split. Unfortunately I didn't notice until I was at work. I would have been less embarrassed if I hadn't been wearing bright purple pants. So I have spent the day walking backwards out of rooms and letting people past me on the stairs. The nice young man who sits opposite me drew a smiley face winking and stuck it on the partition. Oh god. This little chap is brightening up the geranium on my dining table. I am trying to resist putting plants outside. Some days are quite warm but then suddenly it gets cold overnight, frosty even down here on the coast. Its probably just about time to start planting seeds under cover though so I might get going on that at the weekend. Broad beans - yum!

cross-stitch

2009-02-27T19:01:00.006Z

Or to be more accurate: books about cross-stitch. I havent made anything from these beautiful La Croix et La Maniere books yet, just looked at the pictures. I saw them on Linnet ages ago but the postage from Japan is too much, so I eventually ordered them direct from the author (Monique Lyonnet)! And she signed them for me too. I have some pale grey/blue linen which is going to be ideal for a small stitched object.... need to look at the pictures one more time before I decide.

pancakes

2009-02-26T20:06:00.003Z

Maybe I should take some pictures of knitting from a bit further away! This is the beginning of Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. The yarn is pure wool and quite scratchy and thin. Hopefully it will soften up a bit.

My mum has come to stay for the weekend and brought lemon pancakes from Waitrose. Yum.

three on friday

2009-02-23T20:06:00.010Z

We went to a cafe after work. Beer/white wine for the grown-ups, icecream with chocolate sauce for the birthday girl. Izzy wore her new blue cotton cardigan with four tiny sparkly flower buttons . . its a perfect fit.

Saturday was the first warmish day this year. A good excuse to get down the allotment and start digging. We dug up our raspberry canes from the old allotment, trekked round to the new one with the plants in a wheelbarrow and planted them again. Hopefully they will thrive away from all the couch grass. Keeping fingers crossed.

i'm ready for my main course now

2009-02-11T20:34:00.003Z

alpaca

2009-02-10T19:57:00.009Z

My first time knitting with alpaca wool - this was 4 ply 100% alpaca from Yllotyll in Uppsala which I bought last year. Here it's in the process of becoming a pair of fingerless gloves. The gloves have since been joined by a 2x2 rib scarf which I made with the left overs so its a bit short. I love wearing them, they're really soft and warm,but I think overall I prefer knitting with cotton. The alpaca has quite a lot of give which I found annoying - probably just need to practice. The gloves are from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick and the scarf was inspired by Tiennie's 2x2 rib items.

Another first! This is the first pic with my new camera. I bought a panasonic with a good macro lens but its also small and light.

no photos

2009-02-03T20:51:00.004Z

So I was all ready to post some nice photos from my new camera... the burglars have taken the lead to connect to the computer! They left the camera but took the lead, dammit. So I have to go and buy a new one tomorrow.

i'm back

2009-02-01T13:46:00.003Z

Finally. I got burgled at the beginning of January so have been without a laptop for a few weeks. The insurance company have come through with the money now so here is my first post from my brand new one! Its fab. And very shiny :-) No photos yet as Im only just up and running. More soon, including photos of knitting.

floor

2008-12-01T19:37:00.007Z

I've got a shiny new hall floor. Here's the before photo, complete with dust, splinters and broken tiles:

and now look at it! Pretty fantastic isn't it.

Must try not to ruin the effect by parking my bike on it and leaving loads of shoes lying about.

I finished off my back-tack projects last week and they are all posted off. I took a few photos of the items I made but they came out really badly out of focus. I will post them on the back-tack site but I'm not very happy with them. I hope my swap partner Murali likes what I have made for her.

november

2008-11-07T17:14:00.004Z

Christmas has come early in my house. My Christmas cactus is in full flower.

No time to write any more now - have to get dressed up warm and go out to watch fireworks!!

new

2008-11-05T18:34:00.004Z

Lots of new things around here. I have a wireless mouse which means I can switch off the over-sensitive touch pad on my laptop which was driving me mad, and I have a small table from a junk shop to put my laptop on.

Also I have a enormous new tv. Im very lucky!

Picked these fungi in the forest in Sweden a few months ago. We dried some of them and brought them home to England.

Aren't they cute?

half-finished

2008-10-26T11:44:00.006Z

Lots of projects - all half-finished. I ran out of supplies for a few of them and unfortunately the ceiling fell down in my local needlework shop. I think they have it sorted now so I can go tomorrow and buy beads, crochet cotton, Danish flower threads and double-pointed needles.

I really need to finish stuff before my week off from work in November so I can concentrate on putting down a new wooden floor in my hall and finishing off all the half-finished diy jobs around here!

This is my front garden. No flowers visible at the moment as it's moving into autumn and I haven't got around to planting any winter pansies yet. Another job for my week off - its going to be busy.

grey

2008-10-19T10:38:00.004+01:00

Its a grey, cloudy day here today so I feel like looking at a sunny picture. This was taken at the opera house in Uppsala on my recent holiday. The whole design of the building was very Swedish; clean lines and blocks of colour, and there were 360 degree views of the city from this gallery. Unfortuately I didnt go there to listen to any opera. Maybe next time. I have started on my back-tack knitting project after a trip to my lys in Shoreham yesterday. Also I have ordered 2 beautiful books from La Croix et La Maniere. Hope they get here soon - I cant wait.

socks

2008-10-12T17:01:00.008+01:00

Finished my first pair of socks (we wont mention the brown socks started somewhere around 1978 but never finished). I cast these on very tightly and after a couple of rows had some problems moving the stitches along the needle. Ripped and restared more loosely and now they are v baggy! They are more like slipper socks and are very warm being made of Rowan Tapestry which is mostly wool. I like them!

Em is feeling better today. She had to stay in all yesterday and was very cross about it!

back-tack

2008-10-11T13:57:00.009+01:00

I am taking part in the back-tack swop. It's the first time I have done one of these. Haven't decided what to make yet but whatever it is will be a secret so wont be appearing here until later. Im also busy making stuff for our Christmas craft fair at work. This is the second year we have held a fair raising money for Water Aid. I am planning to make some small items like hair bands with crochet flowers and maybe some gloves or something if I have time.

Em went outside this morning and came back dribbling. I was worried she had something stuck in her throat so we rushed off to see the vet. She is fine now but still dribbling a bit. The vet thinks she probably licked a frog and it tasted bad. Silly old cat.

shoes

2008-09-28T09:56:00.004+01:00

I had a shoppping trip to Brighton yesterday. I just finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan and loved it so I wanted to buy the dvd. Saved myself £20 by shopping around so I felt completely justified in spending £120 on shoes!! Chunky Fly sandals and Rocket Dog boots.

The photo is detail from a building near my brother's house in Uppsala, Sweden. I never got around to blogging about my recent trip there but have been saving up this photo. It looks like an iced cake. I love the flowers.

busy..

2008-09-23T19:57:00.011+01:00

..finishing off my crocheted bag. I was so disappointed in the bag when it was finished, it really wasnt how I imagined it and so there are still 2 ends to sew in. I think the blue looks quite harsh so its destined to stay inside the house and become my knitting bag - containing half a sock, but more on that later. Em was wondering what the fuss was about.

Last weekend I drove to North Wales to camp with some friends, build fires and climb Snowdon. Sarah organised the trip, and she was right; there was no rain left in the sky by saturday. Perfect camping and walking weather and the views from the top were incredible.

beach

2008-08-09T20:11:00.006+01:00

The Riviera? No, Worthing on the only sunny day in the last couple of weeks. The umbrellas would suggest a typical British summer day with sunshine and ice-cold wind! But it was warm enough for icecreams.

I had a lovely day today. Em decided to sleep on my lap for the first time since she was a kitten, so I sat and crocheted all afternoon. I finished off all the squares for my bag - there are 16 of them. Now I just need to crochet them together.

Yesterday I went to a friend's wedding over in Arundel. It was a lovely day - we sat out on the terrace overlooking the castle and drank a few glasses of Pimms. Pink roses from the table decorations - now on my fireplace.

baby jumper

2008-08-07T20:56:00.003+01:00

I finished this little baby jumper last week... not sure what happened to blogging between then and now! Things have been busy here with a wedding party for my brother and his wife, and trying to keep control of my allotment and garden. There's another wedding tomorrow too, the allotment girlies have been embroidering some serviettes for the happy couple. Just finished at the last minute, and discovered we have been working to different thread counts. Oh well. The jumper is from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. Good fun to knit, especially the patterened band. I cheated a bit and just used 2 colours. Debbie's version is much more complicated and beautiful. The colours look very washed out in the photo - really must make more effort with the camera. The recipient doesnt know whether she is having a girl or boy... obviously Im hoping its a girl or its back to the knitting shop for me. Em is doing a lot of lounging at the moment. She had a cat sitter last week and was fed far too many biscuits :-)

finished

2008-07-21T19:59:00.009+01:00

Hooray the tablecloth is finished and hanging on the line. I'm sort of happy with it. Wish I had totally planned the pattern before I started and not just found the centre and got stitching. I hope Ted and Eliz will like it anyway.

I found a half finished, forgotton crochet project earlier today. Its a bag made from crocheted squares. I started it on the train to Liverpool a few weeks ago and have done 9 out of 16 squares so far. The yarn is variagated blue and green cotton called Eko. It looks very cute but I dont have a photo yet.

Instead here is a pic of a cushion cover I finished a while ago. The pattern is from Erika Knight's Essential Crochet - one of my favourite books.

harvest lunch

2008-07-20T20:45:00.008+01:00

We dug up some spuds today at the allotment. Also picked some courgettes, broad beans and carrots and then cooked them all with a roast chicken for lunch. Blackberry and strawberry crumble cake for pudding. Very yummy. The tablecloth is almost finished. Can't wait to wash it and see what it looks like all lovely and ironed and clean. Em likes sitting on it so its a bit grubby. Its also grubby from me sewing it with sticky chocolate cake fingers! I'm already thinking about the next project. Definitely knitting - I've had enough sewing to last me a while. I have about 10 things queued on Ravelry but I might ignore those and make a cardigan for my friends little girl. Not much time for gardening today, but I did manage to cut the grass. This is my back garden a few weeks ago. Please ignore the piles of rubbish :-)

wireless

2008-07-17T20:05:00.007+01:00

I ordered wireless internet... cant wait until it gets here. Hopefully it should make the whole process easier. At the moment the last thing I want to do when I get home after sitting all day in front of a screen is to set up my laptop!

Yesterday was allotment day. I have had a plot with some friends for 4 years. This year we have taken on a second plot. Here is how it looked a couple of weeks ago...

It's a meadow!!

To be honest, it doesnt look a whole lot better now, but we will be there on Sunday with our strimmer.

It comes with a free shed :-)

tablecloth

2008-07-14T18:58:00.006+01:00

Here it is then I had some problems with the photo - I just have a point and click digital camera and I think it was on the wrong setting for close ups. Never mind, you can see the general idea.

The pattern is adapted from a Hardanger embroidery book I inherited from my great aunt Dorothy. I sort of made it up and took bits from different patterns in the book as I went along. I think you can tell that if you see the whole thing!

making things....

2008-07-13T11:06:00.008+01:00

.... that includes knitting, crochet and sewing!

I'm working on a tablecloth at the moment. It was for my brother's wedding but he went and got married too quick so I'm sewing madly to get it finished in time for the party. Show you a photo next time.

In the meantime here is a pic of em. She doesn't like posing for photos :-(