The Interrupting Sheep - a knitting blog

i want one of those. please.

2007-02-04T10:29:00.000Z

i've been pattern dreaming... following yesterday's knitty and magknits pattern explosion, here are some more things that i just HAVE to knit...

kim hargeaves' tender: http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/acatalog/TENDER.html
it's such a sweet, pretty cardigan. can i have it please?

and maybe the new rowan magazine too which looks bursting with fun patterns. only now i can't help but think of it as a quarter of tender, and i know where i would rather spend the money...

ok, time to stop window shopping, today i thought i might try and cast on for some socks...
x

just a quick hello...

2007-02-03T09:55:00.000Z

so, due to some very interesting stuff going on at work, it has been one hell of a week... enough to mean that i didn't get to go knitting on tuesday as i had planned to the stitch n bitch meeting. but instead me and my knitting friend at work sat in a pub with some other colleagues and did stitch n bitch A LOT. we just didn't think it was fair to impose that on the wider world. as a result of this and much more knitting in public, particularly on the tube, my so-called scarf has grown a lot and it's nearly there. i probably have one more ball to knit. i really love it! but am worrying because it seems to be getting a bit warmer every day and i don't want it to get so warm that it doesn't justify the scarf!

i have also given audrey a couple of outings and i love her! i think that the yarn might pile a little, but that's ok. i think i'll get a lot of wear out of her and am thinking of knitting some more in other colours. that seems like a waste of knitting time, but...

has everyone checked out the new knitty patterns? i'm liking waffle a lot but i know the low neck line wouldn't suit me and sadly i'm not at the point where i would know where to start fixing this. on magknits, i'm also loving tori. you may start to see a pattern emerging in my current knitting tastes... the peekaboo mittens are very cute too. all these inspiring designers, i'd love to be able to design my own things...

right, time to go start having a weekend!
have a happy one, everyone
becks xx

finally! an fo!

2007-01-28T10:05:00.000Z

i was beginning to worry that i wouldn't get an fo in january! but here i am, just in time...

world, meet audrey...

'hi everyone. this is a bad photo of me, please don't judge me on it. i am actually a deep, lucious red colour, silky soft and lovely. becks is feeling very pleased with herself because of me, but don't tell her i've actually turned out so well because the yarn is a dream to work with and the pattern is perfect. i don't want to burst her bubble...'

this photo shows off the colour much better, and also the neat armhole edging and the cute ribbing at the neck. isn't she lovely? i think so... : )

very happy with my first FO of the year. i started her just before christmas, knit the first side before new year and finished the front a couple of weeks ago. yesterday i woke up early and didn't shower until 2pm so that i could get her done. hoorah. i will wear her today when i go tap shoe shopping, which is a whole other story...

this is my next fo for the year, not even half way yet. my so-called scarf is my on-the-tube-at-a-stitch-n-bitch-and-pretty-much-anywhere project. i'm loving it all. the yarn, the colour and the fab stitch pattern that makes me look sooooo much cleverer than i actually am.

ok, now, those tap shoes...

see you later!

becks

stitch n bitch experiences

2007-01-18T22:10:00.000Z

i did it! i finally got out there and knitted with other knitters, firstly in a place where knitters aren't really meant to be, and then where they are.

the first night i met the london stitch n bitch group on the south bank. there were about 50 of us sat happily knitting away, passing the evening. i went with my firsnd kate and we met a lovely girl called nicola and had a fun night. it was slightly surreal and i think many of the people going to see that night's musical performance at the south bank found it slightly odd, but i like to think we were entertaining. it was certainly a good night though - cheap, fun, and relaxing with like-minded people. a good start to social knitting! i will be joining them again.

then the next night i went with some other people i'd that i'd never met and others i had to i knit london. i blogged about this a few posts ago and was happy to get the invite to go as it was really the kick up the bum i needed. what a great place! a cosy little knitting shop in south london. not too fancy, with (you won't believe this) affordable yarn! and some pretty special stuff too, including some silk beaded yarn and lantern moon needles that i just don't know how i resisted. again it was quite full, less people than the other but a much smaller space. everyone was very friendly and the shop owner didn't seem to mind at all that we were spilled all over his floor, or that i was knitting something i had brought along and hadn't paid anything, or that one of the boys there was actually doing needlepoint and not knitting at all. wonderful. i'll be going back there too.

oh. and i started my scarf. i'll post photos at the weekend. i'd call that a success.

yey.

love becks

ps any of you well travelled bloggers ever been to dubrovnik in croatia? i've just booked flights and now need a hotel! recommendations GREATLY appreciated.

a lurker...

2007-01-15T22:17:00.000Z

last week i went to john lewis, and the project is yet to come out of the carrier bag. it is a lurker. waiting for the right moment to emerge. that moment is tomorrow when i FINALLY go to my first stitch n bitch! there i will be starting my so called scarf, something on my one day list for a lonnnnnng time. and now i'm finally making it. i love that when someone writes a pattern it just waits there for you... until the time is right and the yarn is right and the place is right. i'll be knitting it in debbie bliss' soho. but not in soho. oh no. on the south bank. if you'll be there tomorrow, say hello!!!!! (i'llbe the one in a tangle of red yarn...)
becks x

stitch n bitch groups

2007-01-09T22:52:00.000Z

ohhhhhhhhhh... i just got last week's time out (i have subscription issues, don't get me started...) and i saw there was a sttch n bitch meeting at waterstone's piccadilly! i got all excited! and then realised it was last thursday and looks like it was a one off event : (
did anyone go? was it fun? i would have liked to go, i'd love to go to one but it needs to be central and evening, i often can't get anywhere till 7pm and the liberty one starts at 5pm... not ideal... i just joined this mailing list but please do give me a shout if anyone else knows of one - or if there are plans to meet again at waterstone's. knitting in my favourite shop? sounds like HEAVEN!
becks x

photos now added!

2007-01-06T11:24:00.000Z

ok, so i'm not pleased that i've had to upgrade and have a google account to be able to upload photos but it seems to be the only way. so i caved. and now my blog is interesting again! check out my photos in the last two posts below. at last.
happy weekend everyone!
x

happy 2007 everyone!

2007-01-05T21:27:00.000Z

back in the new year after a wonderful christmas and new year with all of my family. we shuttled from london to hull to madrid and it was lovely. lots of peeps, lots of fun, and lots of knitting! and lots of brilliant presents because i'm a lucky lady with a wonderful and generous family and husband who made me feel very very spoiled!!

on the knitting present list...
a copy of knitted flowers which i'm very excited to knit from. i've always wanted to knit flowers but the patterns i've found have always been for crochet, so this book is perfect. look out for some cute little flower pins coming here soon!

i also got modern classics by louisa harding because i LOVE her patterns and erika knight's classic knits, which is a beautiful book too.

lucky me also got bought some skeins of fine alpaca yarn in a deep rusty red colour which is beautiful!

yeyeyeyey!

and the actual knitting... i got a lot done! i took a new project, audrey from louisa harding's muse collection. i'm knitting it in a raspberry pink colour, in louisa harding's grace (a 50:50 mix of silk and merino wool). it's a nice yarn, soft and rich, although it splits quite easily, you have to be careful! so far the back is done and i've done about a quarter of the front. and i'm happy because it's SLEEVELESS! so once i'm done with those it's all but done! yey! i chose the pattern solely for the cables. is that crazy? yes. but i just got in to them and now i love them! and they look great on this sweater so i'm concentrating on that and not the fact that i have no idea what it will go with : )

here's some photos...

this is the scarf that got me on to cables. i'm starting from the very beginning here... it was an extended version of the cable scarf in one skein knits, knit in debbie bliss' cashmerino aran. it goes perfectly with my new brown and red coat and i love it. especially the cables! and this lead to...

and here's audrey! this is the front. the back looks the same. except complete! check out the lovely silky shine and the fab cables. woo hoo!

a close up of the cables. because i love them that much.

right, i'm going to go and make a hot chocolate. new year's resulution #4: eat less chocolate. but no one said anything about drinking it : ) in case you're interested, new year's resolution # 8 is to knit more socks! stay tuned for that one... and for photos. i will post some soon. promise.

becks x

back with an fo!

2006-12-17T21:39:00.000Z

so, due to the busy-ness of the last few months, i made a sad decision not to knit christmas presents this year. for the last two years i have stressed myself out making an abundance of scarves, but this year i decided some time around the end of october that since i had started, i shouldn't... instead i concentrated on other things, like work and sorting out my house (we decorated!). it's left me happier, but feeling a tiny bit guilty. and yesterday i went out with my family and my mum and my sister were both making scarves i had made them and i felt a pang of regret. but i know it was the right decision. see i couldn't just knit one. if i decide on a knitted christmas, i feel like everyone has to get something oozing with hand made love.

with one exception. i decided that if i knit for someone completely outside the family circle (expanded since i got married) it would be ok! and so, i have made one gift. they're for the lovely girl i sit next to at work, who often suffers from cold hands in our over-air-conned office.

look!

they're adapted from a pattern in one skein knits but are knit in louisa harding's grace, a much thicker yarn than the pattern suggests, 50% wool and 50% silk. purple is her favourite colour. the thing that excites me so much about these gloves is that i saw the pattern, then saw the yarn, and in the end decided to go with it, even though it quite clearly was way off gauge. that's right, i did something for the very first time - i reworked a pattern all by myself! alright, so it was just a rectangle, but i still did it, from my swatch, and i am stupidly proud of it because they came out perfectly! the only nervous bit now is that they fit me, but i haven't been able to measure kate's hands... i hope they fit her! otherwise i'll be knitting another pair...!

right, that's all from me! good to be back though. today was our first christm

as - xavier and i always have a fake one in the last weekend before christmas starts properly when i cook dinner and we flomp in bed all morning and give each other stockings full of presents etc. it's been a lovely day and has got me very much in the christmas spirit. so happy christmas everyone!

(hope your knitting is going well if you have been braver than me!)

becks x

i think i've forgetten how to do this...

2006-12-09T22:52:00.000Z

hello. do you remember me? most probably not... it's been that long. i'm sorry... but i have just realised how much i have missed this, and i need to come back... are there open knitterly arms for this kind of thing?

after 3 months of absence, i feel like i need some kind of excuse. but the only thing i have to say is that life kind of got in the way. and nothing even that major, just *stuff*. it started with a few days away, a birthday, work getting complicated, some house renovations... and somehow blogging was the thing that slipped. knitting didn't, not really. i've recently done some snuggly winter scarves, a pair of gloves, and i've nearly finished gloria. but i'm not christmas knitting this year, a sign of how busy things have been since i always knit something for christmas...

but hey, i was just reading sharon's blog and i was enjoying her stories of the knitting peeps she knows and i suddenly realised that i don't want to be a hoverer again! (oh yes, i've still been out there, watching...) i'm not promising i will be back every day. but i will be back a bit, and i will comment again, and i will show photos again. i need something to guilt me into getting through gloria's last sleeve!!!

it feels really good to be back. i will post photos and knitterly content soon.

xxx

"we interrupt this space of nothingness to say..."

2006-09-10T12:55:00.000+01:00

how the hell did i not hear about this sooner??!
http://www.iknit.org.uk/iknitlondonshop.html
has anyone been? has anyone got anything interesting to say about what looks like a VERY cool place?? i want to go! i need to start planning a trip, but would like to hear more first : )

ok, this isn't a proper post. my life has gone into overdrive... : ( seriously, i have complained a lot about work in the past, i know, but the last week has been hell to the point that i worked out that by wednesday morning i had worked enough hours for it to be friday night. depressing. worse is that right now i am sat in my study doing marketing plans when i have my cardigan sat waiting on the sofa feeling VERY neglected and a baby sweater that still hasn't had all the ends sewn in... the guilt...

i promise i will be back soon to talk about my cardigan that i love, the log cabin blanket (since you asked!) and camping on the isle of wight.

when i get my life back...

in the mean time, do let me know about this i knit london thing!

becks xx

my week in photos

2006-08-20T15:08:00.000+01:00

to make up for recent text heavy posts, today i am going to be photo heavy and write only a little. knowing blogger's unpredictability with photos, it will make it harder work. but everyone loves a good photo... [note. blogger is being a nuisance... this is as far as i can get... photos of other stuff will follow! promise!]

this week i celebrated this...

leo's baby jumper - all knitted up and now all sewed together, even the tricky hood (which really took some doing!).

now to get rid of all those ends...

i worked a lot on this...

this is gloria to date. as you see her, she is lounging around on my sofa. she has spent the week coming with my to work, making appearances on the tube and train, and has been worked on extensively. she has taught me how to stripe. i love her for this. (these colours aren't right, the flash bleached them out a little. they're much more vibrant and very autumnal... like the weather right now)

i learnt how to stripe without changing yarns all the time and so am joyfully free of too many ends :
LOVELY stripes! and lovely lovely noro yarn...

i am feeling smug about feeling one of my oldest UFOs:
[imagine a photo of a huge red clapotis here!]
this was my first ever clapotis. i finished knitting it well over a year ago. and i hated it. too big, too chunky, too much yarn. what would i ever do with that? so it stayed in my wardrobe, it's ends hanging out all over the place because i didn't love it enough to weave them in. and then i found it on saturday morning - and remembered the way my office turns my nails blue because it's so cold, and felt it's soft snugglyness, and realised its time had come...

i am spending too much time watching paint dry:
[imagine patches of red and cream on a wall here. they're different shades, but all look the same...]
we're painting our hallway. there comes a time when red paint just looks like red paint and you just stop caring!

and i'm running again:
[imagine running shoes here!]
i ran for an hour today, the longest i've ever managed, about 7.5km. for me, that's good! in a few weeks i'm running 10km so i have to get better!

ok, that's been my week. camping next weekend, so i'll be back after that!
becks xx

sweaters and stuff

2006-08-14T21:13:00.000+01:00

i've been avoiding posting because i don't like to write lengthy messages without photos and i don't have my camera at the moment, but then i don't like to disappear for too long either so i thought i'd better just pop by and say hello!

i've been a busy little knitter! i've finished the hoodie and have started seaming it up. it's casuing my no end of worry about the hood, though, as it looks like there's FAR too much hood to successfully attach to the back of the jumper. i'm trying not to worry about it, hoping that the impossibilities of attached 28 and 43 stitches together will just magically work out when i get to that bit : ) (anyone else knit this and have any tips??)

immediately after casting off, i cast on for gloria from noro. i have been advised that this pattern has it's tricky points too, so we'll see how that goes! i'd love to show photos, but as i say, no camera, so you'll have to hang on. i'm really pleased with it so far though. it's amazing how colour can be lifted by just a little other colour: the rusty orange of the main body has been transformed by the orange, pink, purple and green of the silk garden. i love it.

other than that, i also picked up a copy of the latest rowan magazine. i've spotted a lot of future jumpers etc in there! i think it's a good one... i'm also in love with the new tapestry yarn - luciously soft! and i thought the photo shoot they did with normal people normally wearing the patterns was BRILLIANT. i wish they'd do that every time. i completely understand that it's a magazine and they want to do wacky arty creative things like put beautiful people with orange curls in the forest and then make them wear a tartan skirt, crazy tights, three jumpers, knitted braces, gloves, ankle boots and a head band - but come on. do you really think that's going to make me knit that??!! do they think all knitters live on a pebbled beach / in the depths of a dark forest, or do they just not care whether we can really see ourselves wearing their knits? who knows...

ok, monday rant over! roll on tuesday...
becks xxx

cute baby knits

2006-07-28T23:06:00.000+01:00

hello!

it's frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriday! so i am in a stonkingly good mood. it's been a tough week at work, a little dull at times, and i'm looking forward to a good weekend and then starting afresh next week.

despite it being a rubbish-y work week, it's been a good knitting week. i've been knitting on the tube, in my lunch hour, and at home snuggled on my sofa. the result is...

a back and a quarter of a front of debbie bliss' hooded sweater from special knits. i love knitting baby treats and am so happy that xavier's friend's baby, leo, is nearly 1 so i can make a brithday present!

i'm using cashmerino aran, pale blue, with a strip of dark blue at the bottom, just to give it a bit of interest.

if all goes to plan, in the end it will look something like this:

how cute is that??? and if it really goes to plan, then i may consider a hoodie for myself next!

the yarn for my gloria is still untouched, i've decided to knit this one first. i'm slightly concerned about the feedback i've been getting about this pattern though, it sounds like a bit of a nightmare! i'm not great at adjusting things so hopefully there won't be too much frustration in my house in the near future!

in other news... i went to the kandinski exhibition at the tate modern today and it was spectacular. a really really interesting show that comes highly recommended to anyone in the area. his use of colour was also pretty interesting. do i sense a possible kandinski inspired something coming on?? or have i just been reading too much of the colour article on knitty today???

finally, i just want to gve a big shout out to the wonders of blogging. when i came back from my holiday i was feeling a little out of touch with my knitting. 3 weeks was too long and i was even wondeing whether i would ever find a project i would like again. i read some blogs. i was inspired. and last weekend i spent over 50 pounds on yarn. it's back... thank you to all the bloggers who appear in my links bit, i read you all avidly even if i don't always comment. you have saved me, but not my bank balance.

right, i have to go and get ready for the huge lie in i'm planning tomorrow morning by going to bed!!
becks xx

she knits, too!

2006-07-23T11:02:00.000+01:00

it seems that the gods of blogging (bloggods?) have decided this should not be a knitting blog. having stopped letting me post photos the last two times i wanted to show knitting related stuff, yesterday came the final straw... after 40 minutes of writing a post about knitting i went to click publish post and - the computer froze. good bye entertaining knitting content! hello very frustrated blogger...

i have been trying to think about how to get around this. one thought i had was to replace 'knit' with something completely unrelated, to try and fox those bloggods. perhaps... jelly. so i would have some completed jelly objects to show you today, for example. but then i thought that would most likely also confuse me and you, so in the end i've decided to say a little prayer that it won't happen again, save as drafts repeatedly, and just get on with the post.

so here goes!

today i finally have two finished objects!! hooray hooray hooray! for someone stuck in a knitting rut, this is exactly what was needed. yes, they are simple items, and yes, they were quick knits, but i finished some things and i like them and that is, essentially, what matters.

here's the first FO (it's the least impressive) but firstly, to show you that i wasn't lying when i told you that i had one knitting related photo from my holidays, here's the thing that inspired it:
ok, i think this is a crochet version, and it was one of 2, the other was dark blue. they lived in the little house we stayed in in tuscany.

now i'm going to show you my slightly less pretty and clumsier knitted versions. i feel like rolf harris - can you guess what it is yet???

ok, these are my versions. the orange one is now finished, i cast off whilst watching dead poet's society for the first time last night (raised a whole load more questions - what am i doing to make my life extraordinary??)

clues on what they are...

1. they are made with double knit cotton - thick enough to be... thick! but still flexible.

2. they are knit in seed stitch, making them quite thick and bulky.

3. they are flame coloured!

again - can you guess what it is yet?? yes, i know they are just 15cm squares of seed stitch, but they are my new pan handle grabbers. i have a huge pasta pan that is metal and unhelpfully has metal handles (who designed that??!) and i have burned so many fingers and tea towels moving it off the hob. not any more! hoorah. they were also super quick to knit, perfect for knitting on the tube (and a perfect distraction to the horrible heat down there) and i like the clashing colours. yey.

but, since they are actually just 15cm squares of seed stitch (don't worry, i'm not deceiving myself!) i also need to present a proper FO... meet ellie's bear:

i sewed her face yesterday to finish it off. three attempts. sewing on faces is HARD. remind me never to go into plastic surgery. seriously. ever. the eyes were the wrong size, the nose would have been bigger than the baby, the smile was VERY wonky... the baby would have had nightmares! but i think it got there in the end.

i like this bear, not quite as much as i liked leo's rabbit but quite a lot. some flaws are my fault - i only noticed that i made the sweater too short once it was finished and i just couldn't get the enthusiasm to make it again. but generally i think it turned out quite well. i'll be giving it to baby ellie on thursday. she's only about a month old, so i'm not expecting a huge response! but hopefully her mum will like it.

these two sets of fos were just what i needed. i have been struggling to be inspired with knitting recently, last weekend i was allowing myself a chance to indulge in john lewis and i spent an hour struggling over what i was going to knit. it was VERY scary. i was sat looking at patterns and the thought actually flitted through my head: 'what if i've lost my knitting mojo??'

and then i found something that made me happy - noro. i have never seriously knit with noro before, just completing a couple of booga bags a long long time ago. but i was just wandering around the aisles and i saw this book with Gloria on the front:

and my knitting mojo came back. yey! i know it's very hot right now. i know it will end up being a very expensive knit (despite managing to save money on the noro on ebay). i know it might even not look that good... but still, i really like it, i like the colours, and i like the simplicity of the pattern. so i'm knitting it and i'm happy. i'm off to get the debbie bliss yarn needed today!

alright, it seems the bloggods have forgiven me (perhaps for my lack of recent content and knitting content???) and i'll make it to a proper post. phew!

will be back again soon!

becks x

the grand tour continues!

2006-07-16T08:09:00.000+01:00

alright, so i'm going to see if blogger will let me pick up where we left off, somewhere on the drive to venice, we can even see the city floating on the horizon! so where's the car park??

can you make this one out? it's one of my favourite venice photos, two dogs going for a 'walk'!! what an incredible place venice is, i completely fell in love with it...

i know i'm only putting one photo per place and technically this is still venice, but look at it! it's one of the islands, burano, where they make incredible lace... apparently all of the women on the island make it, and every one only knows one of 7 stitches and the items just get sent around with everyone doing their particular stitch. what a knitalong that would be...!

then we drove for a few hours to tuscany, staying at greve in chianti, half way between sienna and florence. it was heavenly and perfect and it kills me to think it's out there right now whilst i'm sat here in my little london box... this was the view from the barn. the view from my window right now is a tree with someone else's house, identical to mine. sigh.

sienna, one of my favourite visited places. the cathedral in particular (and the newly discovered crypt) is amazing.

and this was florence. we went to florence the day after sienna, and i felt sad for florence because, well, to us it didn't really compare... but it was still amazing and won our hearts eventually. my enthusiasm that day was dampened slightly by the fact that the 20 mosquieto bites i had on my legs made my muscles tighten and made me look like i had the plague!! ahhhh, happy memories!!

ok, blogger seems to have had enough of photos again... you will be glad to hear though that the grand tour has not concluded! i will be back soon will knitting photos - bear is nearly finishd and today i go stash enhancing!!!

becks x

i'm back!

2006-07-15T12:40:00.000+01:00

hello strangers...

i'm back in the real world and thought it was about time i said hello!

it's been weeks, but it feels like months or years. i left you a newly wed, now i'm back from my honeymoon and coming to turns with the fact that i will now always just have to be a regular holidaymaker and wife!!! well, it's a good job the honeymoon was bloody good then, isn't it??

ok, here is where i feel i have to make an apology considering this is a knitting blog.

in a huge act of generosity to my new husband, i didn't take any knitting with me on holiday. it was supposed to maximise quality time, and it did : ) but beware that it makes this post rather light on the knitting content! this week i have been trying very hard to finish bear to show you, but i still need to sew on the legs and finish her sweater so that's not quite ready yet. my other reason for the lack of knitting content is that i'm going through a bit of a dry spell. i can't find anything to fire me up and get me going, not since the delight that was the sunrise circle jacket. but tomorrow i'm going yarn shopping and hoping to remedy this. if anyone has any motivational tips i'd really appreciate it though!

right, time for me to show a couple of pics... if you're only interested in yarn, you may want to look away now... (one knitting-y photo will sneak in, but it may not be enough!)

this is where we spent our first night in france. it was a beautiful chateau, but a bizarre experience...

drive through the alps was hugely impressive. slightly scary too!

we stopped off on one of the italian lakes for a couple days - ate amazing pizza and had a lot of lakeside fun!

ok, and here i'm going to take blogger's hint. apparently, no more photos! so i'll have to post the wonders of venice and lovely lovely tuscany later. and that solitary knitting post will have to wait! hopefully i'll be back soon with a fully completed bear, too!

good to catch up on everyone else's news, and thank you to everyone who left such lovely messages on the other post!

becks x

the most amazing day!

2006-06-24T20:37:00.000+01:00

a quick stop over at home before The (Honeymoon) Road Trip starts tomorrow and i am so happy i just had to share these. no doubt i will post many more photos, scattered over the next few weeks, but these are my favourites of all of the ones i've seen so far. it was the most amazing day, the happiest of my life. i didn't stop smiling! as i think these show...

i'll be back in a few weeks!
mrs becks xx

last post before... you know...

2006-06-18T07:51:00.000+01:00

hello!
this will probably be the last post before i get married on friday. woo hoo! i have been terrible at posting recently, you can imagine how my time has been taken up! but i have been around, reading people's blogs and seeing how other normal people live their lives as a little reminder of what my life might be like in a couple of weeks : )

today is our last day of relaxing before the big W, we're going to go on a picnic and pack for the honeymoon. i'm also going to do a bit of knitting! there hasn't been much of that lately so it will be nice.

here's what i've been working on...
it's a fun knit. as i've said before, i'm enjoying the moss stitch and i like the way the bear is coming together. i think the pattern has a few mistakes though, which don't seem to be on the debbie bliss corrections page. i'm wiggling my way through it making it make sense my way. i'm pretty sure, for example, that the leg i've knitted fits as shown in the picture, thus is the left leg. what do you think? funny that the pattern calls it the right leg, i can't make it fit properly that way...

"hello!" he's such a cutie i suspect it's going to break my heart to give him away. but the little baby girl who's getting him really deserves it, poor thing took 3 days to be born! yikes...

so today i'll be knitting his left leg, as the pattern calls it, but that i'm hoping will end up looking a lot like his right leg!

i'm also going to cast on for something new, possibly a clapotis. i'm going to raid my stash for something to take away but i'm thinking a clapotis from my hip knits silk will be good...

so that's been my knitting as of late. i thought bear would take a week max, but life won't let me have things my way at the moment, too much else going on... my only knitting moments have come during snatched moments of TV watching, mainly the world cup, and the occassional film, like when we watched the wedding crashers on friday - very funny! and made me think jen might be better off with vince, he seems very funny...

things stopping me knitting recently have been... my hen night last weekend. normally i would knit in the car for half of the 4 hour journey, but i drove the whole way there and back this time, so no knitting time. and because i usually knit for half of the journey i pay no attention where i am, which meant i spent half the drive saying to my sister 'this doesn't look familiar at all...'. it was a fun ride!

i just wanted to show a photo, mainly to show what my mean mum and sister did to me!

that's my mum and sister. and yes, i am wearing a bride to be sash (it flashed...) and a crown with my name on it. i'm a classy lady...

shame, underneath the dress was lovely! and i was particularly pleased with it because i took the straps up myself in one of my first ever sewing sessions. i don't think i'll be getting into sewing any time soon, i sewed myself way too many time for it to be considered fun!

anyway, we had a fun night and i was spoiled to another hen night with my friends from work last week too. we went to the comedy store in leicester square and laughed our socks off. highly recommended to anyone in the london area, it's a brilliant night.

well, that's all from me really! i'll be away for a few weeks now, a month really, as i go and become a missus and then indulge in some serious relaxation! i will be back with a normal life soon though and promise i'll blog much more frequently than i have in the last couple of months.

hope you all have a good month! enjoy the sun that's FINALLY here!

and see you soon!

becks x

ps. wanted to leave with some shots of my garden because i'm pretty proud! but the photos function on blogger just seems to have crashed... a shame, my geraniums are fab right now. ok, i'll go watch them instead...

baby time!

2006-06-04T12:49:00.000+01:00

no, not mine. that's a loooooooooong way off : ) but my ex-boss's first baby finally decided to join us last week, 11 days late! with all the lateness, everyone was expecting a little boy but she's a little girl - pink knitting, hoorah!
went straight to john lewis and now have the body and face of a debbie bliss bear made. it will look like this:
but at the moment it just looks like a little beige thing and isn't really worth the photo : ) it will be wearing a raspberry pink sweater instead...

it's a cute knit, i like doing toys, i think it's amazing how you can really construct shapes with knitting - already the bear has a little fat bum! amazing. it's funny though, looking at the book i thought the bear was pretty big, but when i was knitting it it seemed really small so i was a bit worried. and then suddenly i realised that the scale of the picture (left) was a tiny tiny baby and that i should probably pt the bear into proportion... now it makes sense : )

the bear is knit in moss stitch, something that i can't believe i've never knitted in before - i love it! hard work, but it looks fab! so generally i'm happy - the blanket has been put aside.

right, have to go do wedding stuff, i may not be arund much for the next few weeks. hen night next weekend and then a weekend off and then it's wedding time! woo hoo! will definately post before the big day though.

see you soon!
xxx

busy busy busy bee...

2006-05-27T17:24:00.000+01:00

hello! long time no see : ) i've been around in blogland, checking out how body parts are mending and how new little people are coming into the world. it makes me feel rubbish because there are clearly some people MUCH busier than me, but how come they find 20 minutes to blog and i can't?! rubbish me...

so, an update from me.

knitting has continued on the marvellous log cabin blanket... it's hard to see here, but it now covers my knees. it's still fun to knit and watch it grow, there's something very satisfying about finishing a segment. but boy does this blanket eat yarn. i should have thought this through a little more before i happily picked up balls of debbie bliss cashmerino aran...! i still love it though, so i don't mind. beginning to wonder whether i'll need to switch to circulars soon as it's almost too big to fit on my straights. yey! still loving mason dixon knitting for introducing me to this new knitting style, it's just fab.

that's basically where my knitting has been centred recently. my ex-boss is going to have a baby any time now though and i'm the only hand knitter she knows! well, if that doesn't deserve a trip to liberty for more yarn i don't know what does. i'm thinking of another super cute debbie bliss knit, and i'm kind of hoping it's a girl...

(yes, you did read that right, by the way, i have been converted from john lewis to liberty. i tried the new section in john lewis and it's just not going to work out for me. what a shame...)

and because i'm sorry for not posting earlier, here's some other bits and pieces that have been keeping me busy in the last 2 weeks...

planning my hen night, including finding the perfect dress to wear!

more dresses! getting my sister's bridesmaid dress all sorted (includes a moment of panic when the dress didn't really fit and then great relief when we found wonder pants that take an inch off you!). she's going to look STUNNING, my little sister...

arranging the order of service for the ceremony in three languages, including two different translations of the complete wedding ceremony. tomorrow i have to start putting these together!

and in case it seems like life is just wedding wedding wedding, here's proof i do other things sometimes too, like stay at work till 10pm whilst one of our top authors, Darren Shan, signs 2000 books in 3 1/2 hours. that's pretty good going!

but even that got a bit wedding-y...

so sorry all, i fear that nothing will be normal until after 23 june. normal service will hopefully be resumed then!

till soon xxx

really big elephants and stuff...

2006-05-14T09:28:00.000+01:00

good morning!

i last posted in a rush of excitement because i had discovered log cabin knitting with the help of mason dixon knitting. the excitement and joy of this discovery continues! i did indeed go shopping (and was very upset to see that john lewis has ruined it's yarn section on oxford st moving it from a big spacious ground floor area to a squishy corridor on the fourth floor! what's that all about?! surely there's more money for them in knitting than men's clothes?!) and bought a selection on red, orange, cream, brown and plum debbie bliss cashmerino with the aim of creating a snuggly, soft, not-to-girly-so-soon-to-be-husband-will-like-it blanket. this is what i have so far:

i really like it! it is indeed soft, snuggly, and manly as well as girly! but best of all the technique is just genius...

this is the back. you just pick up stitches! it's so clever, but so simple. why did i never think of this before?!

anyway, i love it so much and i'm so excited by how it grows that it's all i'm knitting at the moment, which is good because it's garter stitch all the way so zero concentration needed. i've been taking it everywhere, my most recent fav spot is by the south bank on a sunny friday afternoon, with a book and my knitting, enjoying being in london. *sigh* there's a whole week to get through before i can do that again!

so that's really my knitting news. sunrise circle jacket has had a few more wearings recently and has been attracting lots of comments, which is very nice! i do love it... i wore it out last weekend to this event...

yes, that is a giant mechanical elephant parading around the streets of london with a giant puppet girl sat on his trunk. isn't it amazing?! it was part of some street theatre from a frnech theatre group and was so odd i don't think i can really explain it, so i'll post a few pics because i think it's worth seeing...

this was the elephant and girl marching through the west end.

this hopefully shows the scale of the elephant, and you can make out the men in red coats who operated her, look in between the legs. they made the legs move, and you can see the dancers on the back.

it also sprayed water! since it rained all day, this didn't matter too much : ) the girl was taken off at the point and there was a puppet show! you can see her chilling out on a deckchair after dancing...

and this last one just shows how it kind of took over london - these cars had been sewn to the ground by the little girl in the night. you've got to love her finishing technique!

right, that's enough photos : ) going to go have a nice sunday with some gardening and a film and stuff. and probably some wedding bits and pieces. less than 6 weeks to go now! how exciting : )

will be back soon!
xxx

mason dixon knitting

2006-05-02T22:30:00.000+01:00

my copy of mason dixon knitting was waiting for me at work today. i managed to wait until i got on the tube to go home before i read it. and therefore it was there, on the district line, somewhere between hammersmith and embankment, that i had my lightbulb moment.
three words: log cabin knitting.
three more: i'm going shopping.

oh my god! it's so brilliant! so simple, but so brilliant! that annoying kind of simple brilliance that makes you feel slightly daft for not working it out all on your own. but at the same time you're so happy someone let you in on the secret that really you just don't care!

tomorrow evening, me and john lewis. it's a date.

thank you mason dixon knitting!

not much knitting...!

2006-04-30T11:50:00.000+01:00

hello!

since the end of the sunrise jacket the needles have been slow to move over here... i've picked up my cloud wrap again because i long to finish it for the summer, but it's a slow slow knit and i only got a couple of inches added yesterday. i'm trying not to start anything new because i can't afford the yarn, and am thinking i might need to start digging into my stash soon and seeing what i can do with it. i have 10 balls of red alpaca just waiting to be turned into something, so might see what comes of that. anyway, despite the lack of knitting i wanted to post as i've been so irregular recently and i really need to get back in the swing of things!!

this weekend has been taken over by more wedding stuff, it's beginning to take over my life! yesterday i went out with my only bridesmaid, my younger sister, and we had a fun day getting underwear and shoes to wear on the day. we need them now as we have dress fittings coming up in a week or so. it was a fun day and i'm pretty much ready now!

but we still have some little details to finish: we need to find a reading for the ceremony, and that's proving very difficult. we're going to use an extract from captain corelli's mandolin, one of my all time favourite books, but for our second extract we wanted to do something translated from french or spanish to tie in xavier's culture. so much harder than it sounds! so far we've had no luck, and i'm getting more and more frustrated! ny ideas welcome : )

that's all my news, just wanted to say one last thing. thank you to everyone's comments on children after the last post. you've all made me see that although children take over your life in a way you might be totally unprepared for, it can actually be a good thing : )

hope everyone else's knitting is going better than mine!
becks x

well hi!

2006-04-26T20:16:00.000+01:00

long time no... write. i'm a bad blogger. the good news is that i'm a good traveller, house keeper, entertainer and marketing exec, which is why i've been away for so damn long. sorry about that, i'm back now...

want to see what i've been up to whilst i've been away? ok!

yes, the sunrise circle jacket made it to paris. it was in the 20s... the sunrise circle jacket was mainly worn in the morning and evening : ) but still, it made it to paris! and it was great, such a delight to wear. it's instantly become my favourite ever knit. i fear i may wear it out so i'm seriously thinking of knitting another one!

i'd also like to say that if anyone out there is thinking about knitting this jacket but is slightly daunted by the pattern, don't be. it's really brilliantly written and easy to make. hell, i did it so it can't be that hard! the toughest bits were actually in the making it up at the end. it was full of things i've never done before: sewing raglans, making crochet chains, sewing up hems. a finishing mine field. but all accomplished in the end. i even mastered the crochet hook, which i'm considering quite an achievement. i'm no happy hooker, but i can make a button loop and that enough for me!

i also thought it might help people to see how i sewed up my hems. i expected this to take at least a week, there's so much of it! but i actually got them done in just 2 nights, so not as bad as i thought. and really not as hard as i thought either. i couldn't work out how to knit the hems in to the pieces so instead i just folded them over and sewed them down. look carefully and you can see them here (a slightly darker thread...):

and, the hem and seam or seam and hem debate was resolved by following kate's lovely pattern. well it hadn't let me down so far! i seamed and then hemmed. perfect.

so that's the story of the sunrise circle jacket! until the next one ; )

apart from knitting knitting knitting i have been busy with other stuff that has kept me away from the screen... my parents came over and spent easter with us which was lovely. we went to kew gardens and walked a lot, me and my mum went shopping and we went to a brilliant pixar exhibition. look out for that as i hear it's going global and it's absolutely brilliant - 20 years of pixar animation - hoorah.

then obviously there was paris which was great. i finally got to meet the little boy who became the lucky recpient of my much loved knitted rabbit. my thought process before we met him was: if he's cuter than the rabbit he can keep him. if not, the rabbit's taking a trip on the eurostar... well, let's just say the rabbit has stayed a lapin... what a lovely lovely happy boy! i woul post photos here but i don't want to annoy his mum and dad, so you're just going to have to believe me. he's yummy.

good thing we went and met so many couples with kids though (we met another the next day). i think until this trip both xav and i were wondering 'maybe we should have kids soon...' well, this trip was a BIG wake up call. kids are wonderful and i love them. but they COMPLETELY take over your life. no more going out for brunch (unless you're certain you can get back for nap time). no more normal uninterrupted conversation. no more just popping out. no more nothing without a baby / child. wow. it looks fun, but only when you're ready. and i just can't imagine that day just yet...! maybe one day the urge to knit clothes for small people will take over the fear thing, but until then i'll be pressuring my little sister to make me an aunt : )

ok, this is a long post so i'm going to go. just one last thing. it's not 8 1/2 weeks till the wedding. woo-hoo!

hope all's well with everyone, thank you to all who have been leavin comments recently, it's been fun to 'meet' you.

see you soon!

becks xx

really really quickly...

2006-04-19T22:27:00.000+01:00

i finished my sunrise circle jacket! i'm so happy! look out paris, here i come!!

this is a bad photo. it doesn't show off the lovely rich colour. or the perfect curves. or the way i have FINALLY knitted something that fits PERFECTLY. but i'm wearing it right now and really it couldn't be better. hooray!

proper post soon - i've been up to all sorts of stuff recently so lots to say!

but for now, it's bed time.

can i sleep in it?

xxx

happy weekend!

2006-04-08T09:35:00.000+01:00

hi everyone,
thanks for sharing stories of knitting in public after my last post, glad to see i'm not the only one who's knitting needles draw out comments! nice to 'meet' a few new bloggers from your comments too - always nice to kow that people read my weekend ramblings!

so, how have things been this week? well, i've been busy progressing sunrise circle, and have just posted about it here at the knit along, here's what i wrote...

so, how is mine going?

back? check
front left? check
front right? up to about row 50 - not far to go!

it's good, i've been able to think of other things like buttons and hemming. here are my dilemmas...

BUTTONS
i wanted dark wood buttons, but can't find what's in my head anywhere : ( so i found these two on the internet and thought i'd buy them and see what they're like. i really like both of them... stand alone (ie. not part of this project) my favs are the ones on the right. they're like long fingers! but i think they're too big for this jacket. which leaves me with the ones on the left, which i also like because they look like bamboo and there is a bit of an oriental feel to this jacket, don't you think? please do let me know your button thoughts!!

SEAMING
my other dilemma is how to seam. unlike the clever people who managed to hem the jacket whilst knitting, i've been left with 10 rows of hemming at the end of my pieces. i'm happy to sew them up, i think it's do-able (but will take FOREVER!) but i'm wondering: should i seam first and then hem or hem the pieces first and then seam. both seem to have their problems... i don't want to have to hem across seams, or seam across hems! thoughts and advice would be greatly valued : )

so that's where i am on the sunrise circle jacket. i REALLY want to finish this for a trip to paris the weekend after easter, but think my chances are slim. the seaming is going to tak a while... i will keep trying though! i have to finish this soon as i realised today it's FOREVER to seam. must keep knitting!!!

apart from that, life is very good at the moment. had a fab weekend last weekend for xavier's birthday. it was a nice relaxing weekend, we cooked crepes, took the monday off work, and went to a depeche mode concert, which was quite amazing - and i'm not even a fan!

work is still busy, but it's nearly easter and i'm on a roll of 3 consecutive weeks of 4 day weeks so it's not so bad. my mum and dad are coming to stay next weekend for easter and we have some fun things planned. we're going to kew gardens to see their spring display and we're going to an exhibition of pixar art at the science museum - should be an egg-cellent easter!!

and the big W? well, it's now 11 weeks away, the invitations have gone out, we've got some replies, and so far so good! today we're picking up ouur wedding rings and tomorrow we're going to sort out our gift list : )

ok, i'm going to go knit.
have a great weekend!
becks x

knitting in public...

2006-04-02T12:46:00.000+01:00

hello!
hope everyone had a good week. thank you for your comments and wedding support - nice to know people are enjoying hearing about it : )

not much progress in knitting this week, i've been chugging along on sleeve 2 of the sunrise circle jacket, desperately getting to the fun bit when i get to do the circle! so far so good... in my desperation to get to the circle bit i'm doing something i don't do very often: knitting on my commute. i have a pretty good knitting commute, one 20 minute train journey and then another 20 minte tube journey each way. and happily because i'm knitting on circular needles this sleeve is making for very happy knitting. normally i don't knit on the tube because i think it's kind of smelly (!) but for now i just want to get through it : ) so i'm knit knit knitting away.

the funny thing about knitting in public is the responses you get, though. normally i'm a very closed person on the tube / train. i sit, i disappear into another world in my book and occassionally i miss my stop because i'm in such a closed off bubble. pick up a pair of knitting needles and it opens you up to the whole world though! take friday...

i'm sat on the tube, very much minding my own business, and a man (probably late 30s) sits down next to me. he too looks like a normal london commuter, headphones in, in his own world. until he sees me knitting. then he actually made the effort to turn off his ipod, take out his headphones and look at me to say 'wow, i haven't seen someone do that for 25 years. my old grandma used to do that'. then he chuckled and put his headphones back in. no questions for me, no nothing, but my knitting managed to get such a response that i burst his little commuter bubble enough to get him to laugh.

it got odder.

headphones man left, and in his place sat slightly smelly (it was very hot on the tube) 40-ish year old irish man. within seconds of sitting next to me he was saying how he didn't think anyone knitted any more. he asked me what i was knitting, and said it looked nice, and then HE TOUCHED MY KNITTING. just reached out and rubbed it between two fingers! i found that odd. imagine if i'd reached out and stroked his ipod?! anyway, i resisted the urge to yank it from him, smiled politely, and talked back to him a little, carrying on with my knitting. the next thing i know he's asking the woman stood in front of us whether she could do it too! turned out she could, but had never seen circular needles and thought i was crocheting. we ended up with a little knitting circle on the distric line. very strange...

it's funny the ways that knitting opens you up to people, don't you think?

right, today is xavier's birthday so i have to go do some celebrating. concert tonight! and best of all we're off work tomorrow!! the joys of a sunday without a go-to-work monday... : )

have a good weekend everyone
becks xxx

2006-03-27T21:35:00.000+01:00

woo-hoo! photos are back! so happy : )

wedding days are coming! less than three months to go now, time to start getting butterflies! we had a great long weekend with my mum and dad sorting bits out and organising cakes, flowers etc. and we also found... their cake topper! this kind of thing was all the rage when my mum and dad got married 25 years ago, and my nanna bought them this to go on the top of their cake. little did they all know that 25 years later their daughter would be putting it on the top of her cake!! we're having two cakes, one that will be pretty and flowery, and a chocolate cake, for me and xav since we don't like fruit cake. and yes, we've chosen to put it on the top of our chocolate cake in a fun but meaningful way. i'm beginning to enjoy this part of the wedding now, doing the little bits and pieces that are going into making it our day : )

now, for the photos you really come here for! knitting...

a LONG LONG LONG car journey meant i've made good progress on the sunrise circle jacket! take a look...

that's one completed back and one completed left hand side. the brilliant thing about this knit is that you don't get stuck on sleeve island! the not so good thing is the hemming that will follow because i wasn't smart enough to work out how to knit it in, but hey...

the gauge must be ok because so far it's fitting together (hooray!) but i am wondering whether really i should be knitting the 37" and not the 35" version... it looks kind of neat... but that's a good thing, right???

this is just a quick extra photo to show off the lovely curve of this jacket. i didn't think i would be able to knit anything this lovely, but hats off to kate, this is a brilliantly simple pattern. heaven knows how she worked it all out but it looks quite brilliant. yey!

ok, as i seem to be on a roll with blogger photos and as i've been trying to post this photo for over a week, here's one last shot. apologies if i get terribly wedding-y over the next couple of months - will try not to go on and on - i know what it's like to have wedding fatigue!!!

good night all,

becks xx

progress...

2006-03-24T23:50:00.000Z

sunrise cricle jacket: left side completed today whilst watching a truly awful film (the man who sued god). everyone elsein my family felt they lost 1hour and 36 minutes of their lives. i completed a measure perfect left hand side of the sunrise circle jacket. yey! hope to cast on for righthand side tomorrow... and expect the frog the back whren i get home. would you believe that now my row gauge is perfect? never mind, i'm loving this knit and want it to be perfect.

wedding: 3 months togo and all is done (almost!) men's suits chosen, flowers picked, day planned, hotel rooms chosen, photographer met and talked with and hair and makeup completely planned. i feel like a princess. which leads me to tomorrow's job: choosing a tiara! which then leads me to this, which i'm linking to in place of interesting photos...

photos will follow when 1. i get home and 2. when blogger likes me again.

till then, good night!
becks xx

what? still no photos?!

2006-03-21T22:32:00.000Z

blogger still won't let me post photos : ( it's making me sad! it's not just me, is it??
well, you'll just have to take my word for it that our wedding rings look lovely and that my sunrise circle jacket is growing just swimmingly! i'm loving the pattern : ) and i even joined the sunrise circle knit along (my first one) to really make the most of it. seeing completed jackets popping up is keeping me going!!
becks xx

best ever fo?

2006-03-19T10:06:00.000Z

hello! long time no see : ) a busy week, again, and now a lazy sunday, at last...

so what have i been up to in my busy-ness? mainly work which continues to drive on at a heavy rate, a little ballroom dancing (last class tomorrow and i'm really sad!), some knitting (and frogging!) of the sunrise jacket (photos in a sec) and yesterday i made my best ever fo...

(insert picture here when blogger finally lets me!!)

yesterday xavier and i went to hatton garden in london to make our wedding rings! i made his, on the left, and he made mine. and a damn good job he did too. i thought i wasn't going to be that fussed about a wedding ring, after all it's just a band, but when i put this on i suddenly realised i never wanted to take it off! how can i wait 3 months?!

it was the most exciting thing - we started off with a lump of platinum each and by the end had mangled it, heated it, twisted it, hit it, filed it, smoothed it and polished it to perfection, and all completely ourselves! i've never felt so proud and can't wait to slip it on to xavier's finger in a few months time. it makes it so special, and i would recommend this workshop to ANYONE. if you're getting married, go take a look...

ok, so what else? well, as mentioned i've been knitting and frogging and knitting and frogging the sunrise jacket. it's not because it's complicated, it's because i did things like forget one increase row on the sleeve or my gauge has been way off. i'm not minding too much at the moment. i want this jacket to be perfect, and with this in mind i will happily knit and then reknit and reknit until i get there. this may mean that i will have to reknit the back i've finished because my row gauge wasn't quite right... but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

here it is so far...

(surprise! blogger photos still not working... they'll follow soon!)

right, i can't stop sneezing but I CAN'T GET ILL because next week i'm the only one from my team in the office. sniff. so i'm going to go drink juice and wrap up warm. i won't be around much this week as i'm going to hull on thursday (part week in the office - woo hoo!) to do wedding stuff. i now have my shoes! and i have to see the photographer, castle, florist and cake lady. it's getting close now - and exciting!

hope you all have a good week
becks xx

: (

2006-03-09T22:50:00.000Z

oh dear... i've been knitting away happily this week, loving the wondeful sunrise jacket. except...
all looks good, right? wrong... the guage is wrong and i just can't fix it! the stitch count is perfect but i can't get the rows. as a result, it's now about 3cm longer than it's supposed to be at this point. but no matter what i try i can't get both the stitch and row gauge to work, so i'm just pressing on. i think i might live to regret it! but hey... on the plus side it's a fun fun fun knit, so if i have to frog and reknit, it's not the worst thing...! the yarn is growing on me, and there's jut the right amount of shaping to make it interesting. check out the fun darts that break up the rows of st st...

aren't the cute? is the gauge doesn't ruin it, this is going to be one cute jacket...
you can really see the yarn in this picture too. isn't it pretty? i reaally like it. i so hope this works!!

the other reason this yarn looks particularly nice is because i got a new camera! and i love it. i wanted a new one to take to my wedding and on honeymoon and thought ii'd get it now so i can record things like when we go to make our wedding rings next weekend. it's an olympus mju 700 and is fabby. look out for lots more snazzy photos soon : )

right, bed time but just wanted to leave you with one good thing that has happened recently that makes all of my long work hours worth it...

see, that's me on the left, and my partner in crime, kate, and in betweenn us the smiling man, sorry, boy, is wayne rooney! brilliant footballer and general england hero. got to shake his hand too : )

this spotting makes this week my bes ever celeb week, since last week i was at a thing with tony blair too! and we had a conversation (he said: hello and i said: hello back. words were exhanged. it's definitely a conversation... k?) at a world book day celebration. i'm easily star struck. things like this make me happy : )

ok - now really to bed, i'm exhausted.

hope you're all having good weeks - and roll on weekend!
becks xxx

sunday funday

2006-03-05T10:24:00.000Z

hello!
back again after a little while... with a new project!

this is so unlike me. i am usually very much a one pattern girl. i cast on, see it through and then finish off before starting anything, i feel better that way. but i've just got far too bogged down in ribs. the cushions and the sorbet halter neck top i'm working on will both (i hope) be lovely when they're finished, but they're just too dull to be fun. and where's the joy of knitting if it isn't fun...? sure, i'll stick with these two, but they're like... boring people that you see because you think you want to keep the friendship alive even if the meet ups aren't that great : )

then there's the cloud wrap. i have been working a little on this, see...

but does it look any different to the last time i showed you a photo? not that much... and there lies the problem. i knit and knit and knit and slide up the prettier than pretty little glass beads and it sparkles in the light, but it never gets any longer!! so whilst i LOVE it. i hate knitting it too...

so what's a girl to do?

how about this?

i logged on to ebay for the first time in my life, bought ten balls of debbie bliss' tweed and cast on for kate's sunrise circle jacket... exciting for lots of reasons:
1. it was my first ebay purchase - and was a bargain! this sweater will only have cost me 21 pounds!!
2. i love the pattern. at first i was completely overwhelmed, it's VERY long, but once you start knitting it it's brilliantly written and very easy to follow.
3. i love the yarn. ok, that's a fib because i find th yarn a little scratchy and difficult to knit with, but i do love the colour. this photo is much closer...

it's vivid turquoise, flecked with reds. fab!

at the moment i'm just on the back. i had made much for progress, but my gauge changed when i stopped knitting the swtach and started knitting the garment and ended up way off, and as i want this to be perfect, i thought it was worth frogging and starting again.

so, a happy knitter at last!

other stuff going on at the moment...
the wedding plans are picking up speed! we have last appointments with photographers, florists, the venue and the cake lady at the end of the month and now have lots of little details decided on. the only thing i'm now struggling with is flowers. i want tulips but my florist says it's not a good idea. but the last thing i want is roses - her preferred flower for working with. i sense a battle coming up!

wedding related, we've also started ballroom dancing classes! it's a lot of fun, but so much harder than it looks! i have a whole new respect for ballroom dancers now, they make it look so easy - don't be fooled!

right, this has been a quick and messy post, i'm sorry, i just didn't want to disappear for another week! will be back soon!
becks xxx

interweave knits and more

2006-02-19T09:46:00.000Z

i'm a very excited knitter this weekend because my spring edition of interweave arrived! postage means that i get it months after everyone else, and never quite knowing when it's going to arrive adds a real excitement to the proceedings : ) i thought it was a great edition and pulled out two things instantly that i REALLY want to knit...

sunrise circle jacket: pattern free here and designed by kate. i love this pattern, it looks so stylish. it also happens to be the longest pattern i have ever seen. ever. and therefore i'm worried it will be too complicated for me. but i don't actually care. this is one pattern i'm detirmined to try!

prairie tunic: also thought this pattern was very interesting, but also reasonably difficult. but this is what i need! time to step out of my comfort zone and into some really really nice knits! that it, if i ever finish the cushions i'm working on ; ) (yesterday was one year since i moved into my house. i failed on my mission to knit 4 cushion covers in a year...)

i was also very happy to see a tutorial on intarsia. i wanted to sign up for a class on this but when i tried it was fully booked - 2 months in advance! well now i'm going to give book learning a go instead.

that's mainly my knitting news. but i have photos of things to show instead!

firstly, introducing the serendipity cardigan...

wet hair really finishes the look...

a close up of the chosen button

and this is just because i was (for once) pretty please with my sewing together!

so, resolutions for 2006 are going well, garments completed and not a scarf yet knit. yey me!

i don't have interesting photos of my other wips as it's amazing how dull rows of rib can look. you don't need to see. really. i have caught up on my cloud wrap, and now it's just past the point where i had to rip it out after it all fell of the needles. and i have also made another pair of baby socks to make a bit more of a parcel for a friend...

they're debbie bliss' two needle socks and very quick to knit. they're provided welcome breaks from the very annoying rows of rib, but now they're ready to be packed off to the wearer. hope he likes them!

and that really is all of my knitterly news. in other news, i have made a new work objective to leave home by 6.30 at least 3 nights / week. this would see me get home around 7.30, a whole hour earlier than i do right now. i have to try to stick to it! it starts tomorrow when i have to leave early because i'm... learning to dance! should be fun ; )

happy sunday everyone
becks xxx

(ps. should have been having fun in brighton today but haven't gone because it's too...

CLOUDY! hehehe...)

2006-02-09T22:23:00.000Z

would you look at this? in an attempt to try and bring readers back to my blog (hello? are you there...?) i'm trying to post more frequently. even if the posts are text heavy and a little short. so here i am! on a THURSDAY. woo-hoo!

i'm here with a meme, stolen from caryn's blog...

Four jobs you have had in your life: babysitter, shop assistant at christmas time in an entertainment retailer (fun...!), marketing assistant at hampstead theatre and now consumer marketing executive at harpercollins children's books.
Four films you could watch over and over: love actually, when harry met sally, toy story, and shaun of the dead.
Four places you have lived: mickle trafford (near chester), wassenaar (near the hague in the netherlands), brighton and london.
Four TV shows you love to watch: friends, two pints of lager and a packet of crisps, who do you think you are and what not to wear.
Four places you have been on vacation: tanzania, america, russia and china.
Four websites you visit daily: yahoo.co.uk for email, bbc.co.uk for what's going on, my blog - to redirect to all of my links and the guardian.co.uk , thy have great stuff on there.
Four places you'd rather be right now: with my parents - they're on holiday in florida, on my honeymoon in italy, in bed, in 2001 - i was still a lazy student!!
Four bloggers you are tagging: please, take it if you want to, i promise i won't take it down if i count 4!

one last thing to say today: it's only february but i feel ready to commit - i have read my favourite book of the year, the one that i will rave about all year and encourage everyone i know to read. and yes, that means you : )

the history of love is incredible. please don't be put off by the (in my opinion) quite dreadful cover. looking past it you will find a very rare book, one that will at times have you smiling just for the sheer joy of being alive - and then will leave you with tears at the corner of your eyes. it's magical. i'll be reading it myself again shortly, probably once i finish what i've moved on to, arthur and george. i haven't read much, but i suspect this one could creep into my recommends list too. with all of this following the climax to the magnificent emperor series, what a great start to the year!

how was that? no knitting, i know, but i fear that writing about the ushion covers i'm working on might just be as boring as knitting them.

till soon!
becks xx

signs we are taking over the world...

2006-02-06T22:18:00.000Z

1. there was an article abut stitch n bitch and just general knitting in this week's economist. the economist! that's serious stuff. annoyingly it still said it was cool because julia roberts knits (the reason we all start...) but it also mentioned some blogs, including the yarn harlot. the article is here online, but you can only read it if you subscribe... never mind, i pretty much summed it up : )

2. i forgot to mention this in my last post... guess what happened in the two pints of lager and a packet of crisps episode we watched on friday? johnny (main character number one) knit 'swaddling' for his little baby! he started off knitting a romper suit (tricky), then tried to turn it into a cardigan (tricky), then tried to turn it into a poncho (still a little tricky), then a scarf (tricky) so he knit swaddling. funnily, the actor who plays johnny (ralf little) can't knit, so they had a 'mid-knitting' piece and a fully knit piece, and they had to cut in the scene where johnny picked up his knitting. i wanted to jump on set and say, 'i'll teach you!'

3. today i went to a talk called omd predicts in which our media buying agency at work gathered lots of media professionals together and asked them to talk about the future. one man was predicting 6 key trends to emerge in 2006. one of them was a rebellion against technology and a turning towards natural stuff and crafts. and knitting was flagged up as the major craft. well, with our blogs i'm not sure about the turning against technology thing, but i'm all for knitting rocking in 2006!

good night xxx

settle down, it could be a long one...

2006-02-05T09:56:00.000Z

hello! and happy sunday : )

it's been ages (as usual) and it's been a VERY BUSY WEEK. work continues to be highly demanding, but this week i managed to get a few more things into my 7 sets of 24 hours... visits from our elusive builder who has been promising to do some things in our house for 8 months... a crepe party at a friend of xavier's (yum!)... a bit of a dinner party... and on friday night we went to see one of our favourite comedy shows, two pints of lager and a packet of crisps, being filmed at the bbc. that was a brilliant night - it's so much fun going and seeing a show being filmed! in fact, if you live in london you should check out the bbc website now, see whether there's anything you fancy. i've just applied for more tickets : )

i've also got quite a lot of knitting done, including my first two fo's of 2006! yey me!

firstly, the serendipity cardigan...

this is from suss's hollywood knits, although you probably wouldn't recognise it! it looks a lot different when it's knit in a diferent yarn. i knit it in rowan's chunky print, brown, with a cream chunky print edging. it's joined with a simple wooden button. it only took about 10 days to knit.

i like this cardigan a lot more now it's finished than i did whilst i was knitting it. it didn't look that good on the sticks, but on it looks quite nice. sorry you're missing that shot, but i haven't been in the shower yet today and i'm not a pretty sight!! ; )

i just need to block it now and it's ready to wear! so will post those photos shortly.

and i'd just like to say an extra yey for the fact that this is a garment. that new year's resolution is going well!

fo number two for 2006 was started and finished in a weekend - cute baby socks!

these are debbie bliss' two needle socks from her baby knits for beginners book. i wanted something quick and easy but that would be a nice gift for leo, the lucky recipient of the rabbit, jumper and hat i knit over the summer. these socks were knit with baby cashmerino, and i like the pattern so much i bought more balls to make more socks!

they're also my first complete pair of socks!

sock close up...

see how neat they are inside?? i'm a big fan... : )

so they're my two latest fos. i'm quite happy withthat as a start to 2006!

i have also started some new projects too...

this is sorbet from ryc classic holiday.

looking through these books, and knitting with these yarns, i feel like i've come home a bit... i love them. i want to be hip and cool and like big funky patterns, chunky yarns and knitting with tree trunks, but i love the fine-ness and beauty of 3.5mm needles. and i love the softness of RY Cashsoft 4 ply. and i love the patterns in these books! some of them are way out of my league, but i still love them. very excited to see the new books too, thinking i'll be getting me some of those...

but anyway, back to this pattern. it's going to take me a while, i think. for once i am actually on guage with the pattern recommended needles (this is so unuasual for me that i knit 3 swatches before i even bothered to try the recommended needles - it just couldn't be true!), which are 3.25mm. i'm going to be here a while... but that's ok. it's a holiday knit and i'll enjoy it.

i'm also knitting it in xs because after i bought the yarn i saw some people complaining about the sizing. hopefully this will work out for me...

finally - oh yes, the cushions are back. when we moved into our house almost a year ago (!) i promised xavier i would knit 4 cushion covers for our lovely red sofas. we have 1... and one waiting to be sewn up. apparently that's just not good enough...! so i have been set a deadline - finish all 4 by our 1 year in our house anniversary or... well, there isn't an or, it's just supposed to be some kind of motivational tool...! and it's working a little. we bought the yarn, and i cast on for cushion 3 yesterday. i'm enjoying it a little as i'm knitting it on my brittany birch needles, and the yarn just glides over them, but it's 40cm of plain, unshaped knitting, front and back!! yikes...

so, that's what i'm working on right now. nothing that exciting, but plugging away on the garments thing, which is good! the only down side to it is that it's so expensive to buy enough yarn for anything... yesterday i went to try and buy some silk to knit the honeymoon camisole in and i realised i just couldn't. the yarn would have cost 70 pounds. i just couldn't do it, even though i had vouchers for the store. it made me sad and i can't stop thinking about it, but i think i did the right thing. even though the yarn was bloody perfect. no, definitely did the right thing... : (

for now i think i'll take a mini break from buying new yarn and i'll reassess after a couple of months. after all, i even still have a couple of hang over projects from 2005! mainly this...

this was my final cloud that i started in 2005, for me me me, a shrug sized one and with beads. can you spot the difference between this one and how it looked the last time i put it in my knitting box?

well, it's about 10 rows shorter, and it has grown an attractive set of orange needle ends...

i had a disaster!! and nearly cried last sunday... i have never ever used needle end covers before, not really finding them necessary. i don't have a cat, no one touches my knitting, everything always seems to pretty much stay put. what was the point? well, i have learned my lesson... last sunday i went to my knitting box and cloud had fallen off the needle, about half way through, and it had unravelled in a very uneven and scary way. i thought i was doomed and was actually even too upset to touch it until yesterday, i just scooped it all up, went out and bought needle point covers.

it seems that act redeemed me in the eyes of the knitting gods. i had learnt the error of my ways, served my dues at the john lewis pay till and was therefore ready to be rewarded. miraculously, the kidsilk haze frogged back several rows without sticking and tangling, and i am now back on track, having only lost a few inches. phew. i love this wrap already and was very very sad at the thought of losing all of the work i'd put in. looks like it will be ok though!

so, that's it from me! another busy week ahead, LOTS of work... slightly disappointing since i was hoping to win 125 million pounds on euro millions and be able to leave and go to cornwall and set up a little knitting and book shop, but hey...

hope you all have a good week!
becks

ps. loving this word cloud thing!!

sticking to those new year's resolutions!

2006-01-28T11:07:00.000Z

hello!
this is going to be a boring photo-less post, i'm warning of that now, but i will do photos tomorrow : )

firstly - thanks for those happy christmas messages! we had a lot of fun and got great presents and it was really JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS. we even went for a boxing day walk the next day to walk off our excesses. fab. as i say, brill presents all round, including a really thoughtful one from my mum and dad. they got my a 1940s knitting books (hilarious, will try to show some of the photos later) and money to go your shopping. it sounds like the easy option, but in fact was a BRILL BRILL BRILL present and i can't wait to spend it all! i might actually use some of it to go on this course. i would love to learn fairisle, and it's a course with the same teacher from the last class i took at loop, who was brilliant. hope there are still some places left! soon i'llbe knitting brilliant things like this and these... right?!

happily, everyone loved their christmas presents, and we were like the new scarf family when we went out on 'boxing day' in the yorkshire cold. and i was worried people wouldn't wear them because it's practically spring. no chance! so a success at christmas - hooray.

apart from that, my recent time has been spent finishing off my cardigan (just one more sleeve to sew in - and i must say that this has been one of my best seamed prjects yet - hence the header for this entry - seaming properly and carefully was one of my resolutions!) and wondering what to start next. at the moment, i am plumping for the honeymoon cami from knitty. yes, i know it's not the weather. but... do you see in the description: the perfect little fun/sophisticated top to toss into a honeymoon bag packed for italy. it's like it's been designed for me. i have honeymoon fever at the moment, desperate for a holiday and longer for venice / tuscany, andi quite fancy knitting something special for it. so that's where i'm at. i might knit it in silk, though, to make it a little more special. anyone else tried this?

ok, i promise photos later, but right now i need to go shopping. i have a dinner party tonight and as of yet no food!

see you soon...
becks xx

it's christmas eve!

2006-01-20T13:06:00.000Z

no, that's not a blip oj your computer screen flipping to archive. it's finally time for christmas tomorrow, father christmas will be coming and filling my stocking and everything : ) with all the christmas-ness, i won't have time for my usual weekend post, so i thought i would grab two minutes at lunch to do it now instead.

my only update is that my cardigan is not a jigsaw on my sofa, waiting to be all sewn up! it was the quickest garment i ever knitted, taking less than a week to get all of the pieces done. i still have major issues with the patterm, and i'm still not sure about the colour (i don't think i'll know until i throw it on with a pair of jeans...), but generally it's a good thing to start garment knitting with again. and generally i like it. i just need to sew it up! it's always the bit i dread, eventhough i've got pretty good at it. and it's the perfect thing for me to try one of my new year's resolutions out on: to not sew up shoulder seams to tightly! look out for photos soon...

also look out for photos of smiling christmas gift recepients! i hope so : ) there's going to be an awful lot of scarves being given out over the next few days.. good job they're talking about a cold spell coming over from russia!!!!

see you all soon!

becks (who, by the way, is loving her new shoes and feels a lot like a masai warrior every day now on the way to work...!) x

ps. thank you to those who replied with advice on my blog! i haven't had chance to look it over yet, but i have taken everything on board and will be looking to remedy it next week!

techy help?

2006-01-15T13:31:00.000Z

just a quicky... i've been browsing on the knitters ring and found this blog. i suddenly realised - hey! that's what my blog should look like! but it doesn't... the text column is very narrow, and the sidebar annoyingly drops all the way down the side. why? i've looked at my template but html confuses me... can anyone help?
thanks,
becks xx

it's weekend!

2006-01-14T18:47:00.000Z

woo-hoo! and i'm enjoying myself. because i'm not in the office, mainly, but hey! that's reason enough!

another busy week - but a good one. lots done, the boss i love got made a permanent member of the team, and i found out two good friends are about to move back to visiting distance again. hooray!

i've also found time to knit knit knit! take a look:

this is the serendipitous cardigan from hollywood knits. flick through this link on the amazon look inside feature and you'll see julianne moore wearing it to get an idea of the finished product.

so far...

it's a hugely fast knit. to get gauge i'm working on 10mm needles (in bamboo! i was so happy to find 10mm bamboo needles! i hate plastic and these are a joy!) and i'm just zooming through it. i only started this on tuesday and already i've done the back, left side, and half the right. i do have some issues with it through...

firstly, i realised why i don't do garments that much. i'm a wimp. if i can't find the suggested yarn, i struggle to find something else, and of course in the uk it's almost impossible to find the suggested yarn unless it's a rowan or debbie bliss pattern. so although i loved the autumnal cardigan the pattern is shown in, i ended up with rowan chunky print, in brown with a cream trim, just so it's not all brown. it's a nice yarn, but it's not as lovely as the autumn leaves one julianne got to wear in the photos! and it's very... brown. i'm not sure it's good!

the other issue is with the pattern. it's a very simple cardigan with no shaping, so the only issues were ever going to be the neck line and shoulders. but what an issue! i know my row guae was a little off, but i swear the pattern is wrong and it's not picked up anywhere on the corrections website. according to her maths you end up with a minus number of stitches! not good at all. luckily i'm a more confident knitter now i'm been doing it for 2 years (can't believe that!) and i've been able to come up with a solution - but i'm alazy kind of girl who thinks i shouldn't have to!

but hey, despite all that i'm sure it will probably knit up to be a good wearing it with jeans sweater. and it's a sweater! not a scarf! and that's the main thing : )

other things to report... wedding stuff progresses! this week's progress: we booked ballroom dance lessons! we're going to learn to dance for 5 weeks, and then hopefully will follow on with more courses. should be a lot of fun! plus we booked to make our own wedding rings. this was xavier's idea, and it should be lovely. we'll be going in march to make them and hopefully have a very fun day! and my mum has got her wedding outfit. she's going to look amazing... so, things are coming together, slowly but surely, and even with about 5 months to go, i'm feeling pretty calm!

i just wanted to share one last thing before i go... as part of my new year's resolutions i am trying to lose a bit of weight. i have been eating far to much chocolate (and generally far too much!) and spending too long at my desk and things have been... spreading (!) recently. not good for a bride to be! so i haven't eaten chocolate for a long time now, and i've eaten a lot of fruit, and i'm getting there. but today came phase 2 - time to tone! look at what i got...

they are fancy trainers that (apparently) make you walk like a masai warrior, thus correcting bad posture, stregthening all of your muscles, and toning your calves, thighs and bum! they sound like a minor miracle - i can just wear them on my way to work (it's about 20 minutes walking time), change into normal shoes in the office, and then walk back in them. sound good? too good to be true??? i hope not. i really need to do some serious exercising but life is too busy to fit in any swimming, or running, or cycling at the moment. i have my fingers crossed for these... the marketing material they come with it really cracking me up though - check this out:

yes. i am sure that wearing these shoes i will become exactly like a masai warrior. my living room will suddenly start to feel like the african plains. i love it : )

right, time to go wobble down stairs in my funny shoes and eat. hope everyone's well and having a happy happy weekend! and if you are, please leave a comment to say hello. apparently it's national comment week!

becks xx

so much to say, so little time : )

2006-01-08T18:55:00.000Z

hello all,

i'm so sorry i've not started the new year better! i've been a very bad blogger, not even having the time to drop by people's blogs and wish them a happy new year. but i'm back now, and hoping to get back into the swing of things!

i think i've caught up a bit on christmas and new year - it was a quiet and thoughtful 2 weeks in france with little celebrating but lots of family time, which was important. christmas has hopped along a bit and will now be celebrated on 21 january when we're all meeting up at my parent's house and i'll finally be able to give out my christmas knitting!!

the new year has arrived equally quietly, i can't really believe it's 2006 already! i have made some resolutions, all of which i have so far managed to keep! i haven't eaten chocolate in ages, and i've stopped picking at the skin on my fingers, an annoying (and ugly) habit i've had since i was about 9. that's a record for me... and i can now start properly looking forward to my wedding. hey - i get married this year! it's very exciting : )

with the wedding coming up the house has become full of this kind of thing...

this book is INVALUABLE for anyone planning a wedding - i would recommend it to anyone planning a wedding or who wants a nice gift for someone who got engaged. it has pages for you to fill in with all of your wedding details so you can keep everything in one place. hopefully it will make planning a doddle!

the fun bit of the wedding stuff is still happening: the honeymoon!
we've now found where we want to stay for a couple of nights on the swiss/italian borders, we're going to a little place called cannobio in a hotel that looks LOVELY! inspired, i went sale shopping today and got lots of honeymoon clothes too - look at this lot - and look at the 70% off tags! hoorah! i can't wait...!

i've just been stalling here, putting off admitting how much yarn i've started the new year with... it started well, i reduced my stash lots with things like...

this cute little bag called molly which i got the yarn from at ally pally ages ago. i know, the bamboo handles are too small, but other than that it's finished. it's knit in cherry tree hill (?) yarn and i loved it! especially the colours, which are reds, pinks and purples. it's so vibrant, i just can't wait to find the right size handles and start showing her off!

(this was my french amusement when i couldn't understand the TV...)

and this. yes, it's ANOTHER cloud. but this one's a bit different. first and foremost because it's for ME! secondly, because i'm knitting the bigger size that can be wrapped around your shoulders. and thirdly because i've added some beads to the pattern. this is very exciting because i've never beaded before! it's very subtle, i've just added quite a few to the frill at the bottom and then they're scattered through the rest of the wrap. this look pretty though, and are giving the wrap a little extra weight which looks like it might reduce the need for blocking, so i can keep the fuzziness of ksh. so so far, so good! although i'm taking it slowly, it's really going to be a spring / summer wear so i'm in no rush.

with all that coming from the stash, i needed a little enchancement in france though... yarn is so cheap over there! want to see what i got?

this pillarbox red 100% alpaca came from a little shop that xavier's family call ali baba's cave. it's packed with crafty stuff, and in amongst the acrylic i found this, and very cheap too! i was very happy, and promptly bought 10 balls. no, i don't know what i'll do with it. i just thought i would but enough so that i could make something proper because my number 1 new year's knitting resolution is: KNIT MORE GARMENTS.

i'm such a scarf addict that i can't promise that i'll keep this resolution, but i'm trying! look what else i got...

a phildar shop just opened in the town xavier lives closest to. i'd never seen phildar before, and completely fell in love with their patterns and promptly bought 2 books. of course, i can't for the life of my understand what they mean... but i like to think that one day i might and that the lovely (and cheap!) wool that i bought might one day become the cardigan it was meant to be : )

not satisfied with this and wanting to start a garment i 1. have a pattern for and 2. can understand the pattern, today i also bought this:

it completely undid all of my hard sales buying : ( but it's going to become a sweater i've wanted to knit for ages: suss' serendipitous cardigan from hollywood knits. the book annoys the hell out me ('it looks great of my friend julianne moore' - no one likes a name dropper!!) but i really like this cardigan and think i'd wear it a lot so i'm knitting it anyway, in rowan chunky print, brown, but with a couple of cream rows at the bottom, just to lighten it a bit. it looks like a quick knit, so look out for the first proper fo of 2006 soon!

right, that's all from me. i'm very hungry and have to go cook before the last 2 episodes in season 1 of lost tonight!

just wanted to say a big hello to everyone though. thanks for dropping by and leaving messages - work has been so crazy that i haven't been getting home till 9/9.30 and that doesn't leave much time for blogs, but i'm hoping things will get better soon.

becks xx

happy 2006

2006-01-03T23:15:00.000Z

happy new year, world!

thank you to everyone who left me a comment on the last post, i was able to check my emails in france (on a dial up connection!!!!) and it meant a lot to have all of your thoughts.

we got back to england late last night after a somewhat muted christmas period, and i was back at work today. funny how it feels like you've never been away!

it was a good break, relaxing, although difficult at times. and i have lots to catch up on! like the 20 balls of yarn i now have (it's stash replenishment...!). and the two books of french knitting patterns i picked up from the new phildar shop where xavier's family lives (can anyone help with how to read a french knitting pattern?!). and the bag i got made (ok, at the moment it's still a B. A. G. but i'll be seaming soon!). and my first go at beading. phew.

unfortunately it's 11.20pm now and i'm breaking my new year's resolution by not being in bed so my updates will have to wait (such a tease...) but did just want to say hi and that i'll be reading some blogs and posting in the next few days.

wishing you all a happy new year!
(especially you, xavier, since i just found out you read this sometimes...!)

becks x

happy holidays everyone.

2005-12-21T17:55:00.000Z

this might just be the hardest post i've ever written. i can't think of any others i have started so many times before deleting and starting again.

i want to say happy christmas to everyone, a few days early and a little sorrier than i might have been writing. xavier's wonderful wonderful grandmere died this morning in hospital in france, so christmas is on hold until mid-january now, and family time is in place instead. even though she was 92 and had been a little ill for a while, it's come as a shock and we've had to go into action mode to make everything ok, so we'll be leaving for france a lot earlier than planned, first thing tomorrow morning.

so i won't see you all now until 2006!

to everyone reading, i hope you have a happy christmas. i've enjoyed 2005 very much, and have found it a good year for making new friends through the blog. i'm sorry not to have been able to email you all christmas greetings, but i am thinking of you all, wherever you are, and hoping that you have nice relaxing christmases and a wonderful year in 2006.

in memory of lucienne, the lovely lady in red.

christmas dance of celebration!

2005-12-17T10:53:00.000Z

i have finished my christmas knitting! i am doing a little jog of celebration as i type. that's not easy. it involves wiggling my shoulders and legs...

as i speak, my nanna's cloud is blocking next door. i reduced my cloud time from 6 weeks to 2 weeks over the course of the 3 that i've knitted this christmas, and it now seems like the perfect gift. shame everyone is getting it at once! just hope everyone getting it loves it as much as i do.

now, i am able to do something i've been dying to do for ages... knit for ME! but i feel lost! i haven't done this for ages! where to start?? fingerless gloves with lorna's laces (can anyone recommend a good and easy pattern?) - my own cloud wrap - the silk clapotis - or those damned cushions i've been promising xavier i'd finish for MONTHS? the choice is a little overwhelming : )

will post photos soon - in the mean time, have a good weekend everyone. we're celebrating ou own fake christmas this weekend, and that means treats (we went to the theatre last night and are going to see the foo fighters tonight!), christmas dinner (we're going to borough market right now to buy some good vegetables!), and PRESENTS!

till soon xxx

christmas has landed...

2005-12-11T19:46:00.000Z

look at me! back after only a week! and getting into the christmas spirit. i'm very pleased to be back so soon - but it does mean i have slightly less knitting to show. hence the festive photo instead. i'm ashamed to say i didn't even knit the poor sheep's scarf... i was a busy bunny last week - a knitting class on sunday, narnia premiere, xmas party at work, and my mum and dad have been visiting this weekend. it's been quite a week! and as i'm sure you can guess it didn't leave much knitting time. remind me next time to start my christmas knitting round about july!!

first things first, the narnia premiere was brilliant! there was no walking down the red carpet, some things are reserved for VIPs only... but there was a glam cocktail party, an excellent film (go see it!) and a few celebs - paul daniels, lenny henry and james mcavoy were on my list, but our lucky narnia project manager met tilda swinton! and i got to wear The Dress...

ok, this is at the end of the night, when i got home, after walking through the rain and after a couple too many glasses of champagne and after running for my train. but i think i scrubbed up pretty well : ) it was definitely the right thing to wear and a brilliant brilliant night : )

now on with the knitting! where to start? how about with the knitting class at loop on sunday? if you remember i booked this forever ago, in september with some birthday money! so it had been a long time coming - but so worth the wait! there were 6 of us knotting all daylong, learning new techniques and sharing hints and tips that i'm sure will prove to be invaluable.

my two favourite new skills from the day were...

Cabling

can you see them? two little cables running down each side. proper ones too! i was very happy to discover how straight forward cables are - they will no longer put me off!

Beading

sheep is kindly modelling for me as i couldn't get a good close up non-fuzzy shot, but believe me, there are beads in that there yarn. i'm so so happy to have learnt this. i know it's super simple, but until sunday it was a mystery to me. no more! i am going to bead like hell in a project very soon...!

other tips i picked up... how to weave in ends as you knit so finished objects an actually be finished the same knit you cast off (i will be forever grateful for this advice from the brilliant teacher, linda marveng) and how to pick up stitches with a crochet hook. why did i never think of this before? i thought it was a stroke of genius, and then i just read about this little invention that looks even better!

apart from those lovely new skill squares i have also been knitting like a maniac trying to finish christmas. i am now left with my last scarf. grandma's cloud scarf is blocking in the spare room and as the stitches fly off my needles on my nanna's version i'm left wondering how many clouds make a storm??

do not adjust your monitor. yes, this is exactly the same thing as i have knitted every day for the last 3 months (it feels like it...!). and yes it is growing, slowly, even if the huge ball of kid silk haze that never goes down doesn't look like it : )

right, that's all from me. i'm going to go and have another go at reducing the size of that skein...!

see you later!

how did 2 weeks pass??!

2005-12-03T09:36:00.000Z

so that 6 week blur before christmas has finally begun. i will never remember the time between my last post 2 weeks ago and january the 3rd. it will feel like 3 days but will mysteriously be more like 6 weeks. i don't know how i'll keep up, and i'll spend the whole of january recovering.
i'm sorry i haven't posted in so long, i'm sure most people have given up on reading the thoughts of such a bad blogger! unfortunately life has just kept me away from my computer. i'm only here now because i (oddly) had a dream about bird flu! i woke up all stressed and knew i wouldn't go back to sleep so thought i would cram in a bit of blogging instead.

so what have i been so busy doing?

work work work. that's the first thing, and that makes me sad! it's still so crazy since my old boss left and i can't see it ever getting back to normal. the work load seems to have trebled and i feel like i'm running to keep up. on the good side i am getting noticed for the good work i'm putting in. on the bad i'm always exhausted and get home late and grumpy, and this continues into the weekend when i feel like i have to do lots of good things to make up for my miserable week! i just hope things will get better in the new year...

the work thing has been made worse by the fact that i have been doing some other stuff after work, which means i have to leave on time some days - which just can't be done!! i've had some fun though : ) good times recently have included...

* starting my christmas shopping - just a couple more presents to get!

* going to see the wonderfully brilliant jamie cullum play at the magnificent royal albert hall

* going to see the amazing amazing amazing franz ferdinand play at ally pally (this was one of the best nights of my life! a bit sweatier than my last trip to ally pally, but hey!)

* going to the cinema again - we got a bit out of the habit but are trying to get in again so have recently seen the constant gardner aqnd the beat that my heart skipped. i loved the first, but was slightly bored by the second. i'm now eagerly awaiting the march of the penguins!

* going to see the lion, the witch and the wardrobe at a sneak preview screening 2 weeks before anyone else gets the chance! it's amazing - and is making all of this hard work in the office worth it. i feel so proud to have been involved...

* and then going dress shopping because i got a last minute invite to THE ROYAL PREMIERE!! i have never been more excited about anything. it's at the royal albert hall next wednesday and prince charles and camilla - plus heaps of celebs - will be there! unfortunately it's black tie - and i'm a jeans and t-shirt girl. i don't own anything that could even be described as being for a tie event, never mind black tie. so last night me and my sister hit the shops - and thank god it's party season! i needed the whole caboodle: dress, shoes, bag, jewellery. want to see how it went?
i got the first dress i tried on. it's the definitive little black dress. i feel like my mum when i wear it. no way am i old enough to pull this off. but somehow i am and it makes me feel like a glamourous princess!!! i love it : ) it's chiffon, strapless, ruffled across the bust and with a tiny row of beads underneath, and then it just drops down, skimming the body but not drawing any attention to all of the extra chocolate i've been eating because of my work stress. it floats just around my ankles. i adore it. and i NEVER thought i would say that about a dress. hoorah! (and sorry for the bad photo - eventually i'll post one of me in it which wil be much better : )

this is the black wrap i got to wear with it. i know i will look like a widow at a funeral. but i will be a classy widow who will get repeated wear from her clothes. and that's what counts. it's all embroidered and sparkly at the ends - lovely!

i really needed to buy everything. until yesterday, the only pair of heels i owned was a pair of black ankle boots that just didn't cut it. but look! heels and everything! i actually like these shoes. i have never really like a pair of shoes in my life, so this is something. and look at the bag! it sparkles too. i'm so excited...

but also nervous. every time i think about it i get the worst butterflies because i'm worried i just spent £150 on completely the wrong thing. it's such a big event i'm so worried people will know i don't really belong there and think i'm some kind of cocktail party fake. but yet it's the most exciting thing i've ever got to go to in my life! i think i might go mad before wednesday...!

you may be able to guess that with working late and having a bit of a social life and christmas shopping constantly, knitting time has not been at a premium, and at a time when i really really need it to be! but i have made some christmas progress! last time i wrote i had completed 3 projects. this has now, urm, rocketed to... four!!! woo-hoo! now everyone on my a+ list has got a present!

there's very bad light here, i'm sorry, but you get the picture. it's a dark grey basket-weave scarf with a seed stitch border, from stitch n bitch nation. it was my first ever go at both seed and basket weave and i enjoyed both thoroughly. there's a picture below of the close up of the stitch pattern. it makes a nice scarf, i think. just hoping it's not too girly - in the book it's a girl modelling it and it was made for designer's mum... don't tell dad!!!

here's the pattern - great for a not-too-bulky-or-home-made look, which should go down well with my dad. also quite pleased with how complicated it looks considering how simple it is - hoorah!

now i've moved on to my a-list. on this were my grandma, who has always been really interested and supportive in my knitting, and my nanna. i started on grandma's first. i'm doing her another cloud scarf, because i love my mum's so so much, but in blues. it's the variegated ksh and it's lovely! i was worried about how it might knit up but i think it looks quite fab. i'm hoping to get this one finished today. it's been my on-the-tube knitting for the past couple of weeks and has grown quite well so fingers crossed for finishing today so i can cast on for nanna's (the same, but in lilacy-purple).

and that's what i've been up to.

i'm also getting into a bit of communal knitting! i have taught my new work colleague, kate to purl and she is now knitting her dad a scarf for chirstmas! she previously knew how to knit, so the purl lesson wasn't that hard, and she's picked it up really well and is storming along a k2p2 scarf for her dad. go kate! together we've set up a little stitch n bitch club at work, and have got 2 more people learning. i've discovered i'm not the best teacher though. everyone else in the world i know knits english style, whilst i'm continental, which is apparently harder to grasp and impossible to teach. at least i leaves me to knit away in peace whilst everyone else is trying to explain how to hold a knitting needle!

and tomorrow i am finally going to loop to have my first knitting class! i'm very excited about it, i figure it will be a great way to meet people and a lot of fun. i'll let you know how it goes!

ok, this post has taken me nearly an hour. i must try to do this more frequently so that a. it doesn't take me an hour to update and b. people actually get the end of my posts!! i will be in touch again soon, and i am keeping up with people's blogs... becky has knit a lovely silk clapotis and i'm now thinking of knitting my silk one when i go to france for new year because i'm so inspired! colleen has finished a lovely backyard leaves scarf. tracey has knit THE LOVELIEST BOLERO. And Caryn has finished the oldest WIP i've ever seen : ) and it's lovely. see? i do still catch up when i can : )

till soon,
becks xxx

it's sunday!

2005-11-20T09:36:00.000Z

Happy sunday! i'm very happy it's the weekend : ) it was a loooooooooooong week, but now xavier is home and we can get on with fun things again. except it's so damn cold here that all i really want to do is stay in bed all day. i certainly wish that at least i could be knitting for me right now, knitting some lovely gloves, a nice hat... but christmas knitting is dictating EVERYTHING! i'm getting good results, but i wish i'd started just that little bit earlier...!

so, since i don't have that many great things to show today, i'm going to say hoorah to some pieces other people have been doing and that i think are fab! if you haven't seen woolywarbler's winter gnomes yet, you must go. they're adorable! i also love amelia's new cardi/jacket, jess. it looks so simple and classy (but then i love all of her designs...). and finally look at this beautiful sweater by diana. it's seeing lovely projects like these that makes me keep aspiring to be a better knitter.

in my non-knitting life, guess what i did yesterday? i booked my first thing for when i'm a mrs. it made the wedding feel really close (even though i was booking for something miles away!) we got tickets to see robbie williams play at wembley stadium in september 2006 and i'm so excited!!!! i'm such a huge fan and got to see him quite a lot when he was just a little star starting out after take that, but since then it's been hard to ever get tickets. but yesterday we did it! it will be a brill early birthday treat - and so odd to be going as a married lady. guess i won't be marrying robbie : ( !!!!

anyway, i really shouldn't be here, i really should be knitting (preferably in bed!!) so i should go. just wanted to check in really so it didn't look like i'd disappeared again! oh - and after all that talk about my birthday - here's what it says about me (thanks for the link to this mj! i also found out what kind of holiday soda i am, but i think those delights could be saved for another day...!)

enjoy your weekends!
becks x

Your Birthdate: September 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride.
(THIS IS REALLY TRUE - IT TENDS TO DEPEND ON HOW HIGH MY SUGAR LEVELS ARE TOO...)

Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing.
(DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE, BUT WHEN I'M HAPPY MOST PEOPLE TEND TO ENJOY IT...)

When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it.
(NOT REALLY, USUALLY JUST FORCE FEED ME SUGAR OR LET ME SULK FOR 20 MINUTES, I SOON COME ROUND!)

It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious.
(KIND OF TRUE, NOW I THINK ABOUT IT. ONCE I GET THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD THEY TEND TO DWELL, BUT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN THAT OFTEN!!)

Your strength: Your warm heart

Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions
(THAT'S TRUE... SOMETIMES I WISH I WAS A MAN - THEY SEEM TO BE MUCH BETTER AT THAT!)

Your power color: Black
(HOW DEPRESSING!)

Your power symbol: Musical note

Your power month: February
(IT'S COMING UP!!!)

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

i haven't disappeared!

2005-11-18T00:10:00.000Z

so this was The Plan. xavier goes to madrid for 3 days. i stay at home. i knit, i blog, i generally catch up on all of the stuff i don't do so much when he's here. then the 3D world went and got in the way : ( this week i actually had a full calendar, something every night. that doesn't happen often, it was exciting! but it meant i didn't get much knitting or blogging done... so i'm sorry for disappearing just like that. i'm back now : )

want to see what's happened since i've been gone? ok!

basically, i've finished 3 christmas presents now! yey!

CHRISTMAS PRESENT NUMBER 1...

magine wrapped around the neck of this lovely beautiful lady (do you like how she's wearing pink? i chose the photo well...!) she's my mum and i hope she's going to love it! heck - if she doesn't i'm having it! it's my new favourite thing i've knitted. i got a bit bored knitting it, it's true, but the pattern is lovely and it only takes 1 ball of ksh! i like it so much i'm knitting one for my grandma and one for my nanna!

there's the pattern in close up. i got it from the ally pally knitting show, free from the get knitted stall when i bought a huge stash of ksh. one ball knits up a scarf, 3 does a wrap. it's a very repetitive pattern, but a very simple lace one that i would recommend to anyone. i love the results!

CHRISTMAS PRESENT NUMBER 2

This time imagine it on this lovely lady. she's my sister and she deserves something special. so she's getting £30 worth of debbie bliss super chunky cashmerino knitted up into this super simple but cute scarf. it's not the longest of scarves, and hangs round your neck rather than swooshes, but i like the look with a demin jacket. it's enough to snuggle with.

the pattern was soooooooo quick to knit and so easy. i think it took my longer to attach all the bits together than it did to knit it! hoping amy likes it : )

CHRISTMAS PRESENT 3

Ok, i can't show you this one... the lucky recipient might stumble across it. but let's just say i'm happy with it.

and now i'm working on 4 and 5 - another scarf in ksh but blues for my grandma (she's very into my knitting) and a basketweave scarf in dark grey for my dad. and there are 5 weeks till christmas. i really have to stop having a social life. and i also have to stop my mum saying: 'so what are you knitting at the moment?' does she not realise you shouldn't ask a knitter that in the 3 months before christmas?!

one last thing before i go to bed (i won't be able to get up tomorrow...):
THANK YOU SECRET PAL. i have been so bad not writing to thank you but i got your latest parcel on monday and i'm so lucky! i can't believe you got my lornas laces yarn! and that bamboo stuff is lovely! i've already earmarked the lorna's laces for some nice fingerless gloves as my office pair are starting to make me look like fagan. if only my christmas knitting would end!
photos will follow...

right, good night all.
becks xxx

Remember remember the fifth of november!

2005-11-06T22:21:00.000Z

(even on november 6th...)

isn't it just like being on blackheath celebrating guy fawkes night? i know...

photographing fireworks is so hard! but trust me, this was an AMAZING display. i love fireworks, and i love that we celebrate the failure of the gunpowder plot in such a nice way : ) it's really one of the best days of the year. the more time we spend in autumn, in fact, the more i am sure it's my favourite season. kicks off with my birthday, then all the chocolate you can eat and fun with pumpkins at halloween, and then the joy of standing outside and watch the sky glow. plus knitting doesn't seem so pointless. hoorah.

i actually wanted to post to show you this though:

i felt bad for not having a photo in my last post, and since now i am finally finished with the scarf and it's just blocking, i thought i would show you. i'm also excited because this is the first time i have blaoked with pins. now i've done it, i can't quite remember how i did it before! it's kind of hard though, you'll see i had some problems and i really hope the scarf doesn't dry with spikes all down the edges! hardest of all was trying to work out whether it was even all the way down (that and finding enough floor space in out tiny little house!). i really need a blocking board. does anyone have any suggestions on what i can use and where i can get hold of one? it seems to be hard in the UK...

but i'm pleased, see how the pattern has opened up?

heck. that looks VERY wonky. i hope that's my bad photography skills.

if anyone knows ANYWHERE i can find a board with gridlines for blocking please let me know. i think i really need one : )

now go back up to the other photo. see those little tiny red bits of plastic on the right? my water squirter shattered, mid-squirt. i was blocking the scarf by laying it all out, wetting it and then pinning it and then wetting it more. and half way through the firtst wetting, it exploded. not good. i also need a new water squirter...

oh well! that's one christmas present finished! what a good weekend. i've now started the last strip for my sister's plaited scarf . it's chocolate brown. the whole thing is beginning to resemble some kind of choclate covered strawberry and cream sweet. yum.

have a good week, everyone, and thanks for your kind comments. i know i owe emails, and i'm sorry i've been so slow at them, but i really do appreciate your kindness.

becks x

a bit about me

2005-11-05T09:59:00.000Z

it's been a worse week this week than ever before... so much work! and so little time for anything: knitting, cooking, spending time with xavier... it's all suffering.
and so i have nothing new or interesting to show you! which seems very sad! no photos, nothing.
but i don't want to disappear off my blog, so here's a meme i found on my secret pal's blog and thought i would do for myself and then pass on to find out more about you!

have you ever...
1. smoked a cigar - no
2. crashed a friend’s car - no
3. stolen a car - no
4. been in love - yes
5. been dumped - no
6. dumped someone - yes
7. taken shots of alcohol - no
8. been fired – no
9. been in a fist fight - no
10. snuck out of a/your house - no
11. had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back- no
12. been arrested - no
13. made out with a stranger - no
14. gone on a blind date - no
15. lied to a friend - probably...
16. had a crush on a teacher- yes
18. seen someone die - no
19. been on a plane - yes
20. thrown up in a bar - no
22. miss someone right now - yes
23. laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes
24. made a snow angel - yes
25. played dress up - yes
26. cheated while playing a game - yes
27. been lonely - yes
28. fallen asleep at work/school - yes
29. used a fake id - yes
30. felt an earthquake - no
31. touched a snake - yes
32. run a red light - yes
33. had detention - yes
34. been in a car accident - yes
35. hated the way you look - yes
37. been lost - yes
38. been to the opposite side of the country - yes
39. felt like dying - no
40. cried yourself to sleep - no
41. played cops and robbers - no
42. karaoke - no
43. done something you told yourself you wouldn’t - yes
44. laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose- no
45. caught a snowflake on your tongue - no
46. kissed in the rain - yes
47. sang in the shower - yes
48. made love in a park - no
49. had a dream that you married someone - yes
50. glued your hand to something - no
51. got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no
52. worn the opposite sex’s clothes - no
53. Been a cheerleader – no
54. sat on a roof top - no
55. talked on the phone all night - yes
56. ever too scared to watch scary movies alone – yes
57. played chicken fight - ?
58. been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - no
59. been told you’re hot by a complete stranger - no
60. broken a bone - no
61. had a 3-some? - no
62. dipped snuff? - no
63. lived overseas - yes
64. Ever passed out/fainted? - no
65. blown bubbles in the wintertime - no

why does it make me feel like i haven't quite lived enough...??
anyway, would love to know your answers!

today i am trying to move on one more step in the wedding plans by going bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister. once we have her dress, i will knot the colour theme, and then i can think flowers and cakes and invites and everything like that. so fingers crossed for a good day!

we have booked another part of our honeymoon: 3 nights in this hotel in venice. i'm VERY excited. now we just have switzerland and france to book!

ok, that's all the good stuff in my life right now. i'm going to go eat chocolate (been doing A LOT of that recently!) and then go meet my sister. wish us luck!

becks x

ps. happy fireworks night! big display in blackheath tonight and i'll be there so pray it doesn't rain!

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-30T18:52:00.000Z

meet Jack. he's a bright kind of guy. terrible teeth but real sparky and has a real glow about him.

happy halloween everyone! i know it's officially tomorrow, but i won't get chance to blog then, i'm sure, so i thought i'd jump in a day early. everyone seems very keen to get going early with halloween anyway, there have been parties all weekend. jack is our contribution. we made him on friday and are very proud of him. i especially like his ears...

starbursts! (until 10 seconds before this picture was taken there was a little snail on a suicide mission crawling through the ear towards the flame. we rescused him moments from death...)

i don't think halloween is as bigger thing here as in the US, but it seems to be catching on. when i was a kid i used to wear a bin bag and go to my mum's friend's houses for sweets, but i've noticed 3 halloween parties around us here now, and that's new. the houses must go straight from halloween decorations to christmas!

anyway, that was very non-knitting, but just wanted to share because jack has made me smile : )

this week has been a manic one. there hasn't been much knitting : ( i didn't want to share it last week because i was still upset but it's been so busy because my boss has been made redundant, so we're a person down at work. i'm sure most people have been in similar situations at some time or another, so you know how it can feel (both on a personal and professional level), and you can understand why there hasn't been much knitting! there has, however, been a lot of late nights.

i've tried to have some fun though! work hard play hard, right?

as a result, pink fluffy cloud has become...

it's just over half way, and is taking me a while. i love it though. the more i knit it the more lovely the pattern looks...

(thanks for your comment, rita, but i can't share the details on the pattern, i'm afraid. i got it from the get knitted stall at the ally pally knitting fair, so maybe you could try emailling?)

what else have i been up to? today i went to the magnificent wildlife photographer of the year show at the natural history museum, which is amazing this year. i love the show every year. my highlight this year was this lovely photo of polar bears. take a look, you can actually see the whole exhibition online!

last night i also went to the cinema, to see broken flowers. i wasn't that impressed...

and finally i have been planning more of my honeymoon! but more of that later...

right now i have to go and eat my (slightly burnt) lasagne.

will be back soon!

becks xx

fluffy pink clouds

2005-10-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

ta da! don't you just love how a little ball of pink fluff can start to become something beautiful and lovely and light and fun? so much potential! and it's so great helping the ball to become what it was meant to be : )

yes, i am currently seeing pink clouds, high on my latest bit of fun with kid silk haze. it's knitting up to the pattern i got from ally pally with the yarn into cloud scarf. i'm liking it very much...

that's a close up of the pattern. i like the simplicity of it...

and check out the cute ruffle at the ends! lovely : )

it's for my mum for christmas, pink is very much her colour. i just hope she likes it!

well, i wanted to start this post on a high with nice pics and all because things are a bit tough at the moment at work and just wanted to concentrate on the positive : ) i won't bore you with all the dull stuff, which means i won't be around that much because it's all i really want to talk about! fingers crossed i'll be back feeling much more cheerful soon. right now i have to go and celebrate the fact that it's still sunday by stuffing myself silly with ben and jerry phish food watching lost.

g'night!
xxxx

where was the health warning??!!

2005-10-15T17:45:00.000+01:00

i just got back from an exceptionally brill day at ally pally and the knitting and stitching show. what a day! i have never been to a show like this before and i think my novice attitude (buy buy BUY!) showed... i was so in awe of all of the stuff there, i walked around with my mouth open (catching flies...) and touched pretty much everything!

my only negative thought is that places like that really should come with a health warning: "entry into this arena means you may lose all of the contents of your purse. you will have no recollection of how this happens. you may not even miss the cash that much"
come to think of it, half way through the day there was an announcement about pickpockets working in the area - maybe people thought their money had been stolen when really it had just flown out of their hot little hands. very possible...

all of that hype has really built up my purchase photos, hey?? ok...

now the thing about the knitting and stitching show is that it's not just knitting. if it was just a load of knitting stalls in a huge room i would probably have shown more restraint. but instead you have to fight your way through many stalls of embroidery, lamps, beads, jewellery, cross stitch... it goes on. but the fact is that... i just want the yarn. at times it feels like the little yarn stalls are just islands in oceans of cross stitch kits but then BANG!

suddenly there's get knitted! and in 3d!

i've never been lucky enough to get to bristol so to be able to feel the get knitted yarns was such a treat. it was my favourite stall by far (and i think one of the busiest). best of all were the lovely free patterns that they were giving out with purchases. it led me to get 2 skeins of cherry tree hill yarns. they're sock weight, but i am going to use mine to make a cute little bag i got the pattern for, and the other is for my secret pal.

that's my yarn. it's going to be a cute red square little number with bamboo handles. lovely!

i'd never seen this kind of yarn before and it was a treat : ) it was displayed next to lorna's laces though and it REALLY made me want to buy that... but it was just a tad too expensive for me. i wanted to buy some other stuff to : )

get knitted also ended up being a terrible influence on my latest addiction.

behold the bag of shame...

there are 6 skeins of ksh in there... it wasn't my fault though! sue has the most lovely lacey patterns and you can knock up a scarf in 1 ball or a wrap in 3! and i just thought, that might be easier than river for my mum... so i bought her the cerise pink yarn, and i'm making me a wrap from the turquoise. i don't know how the other 2 balls got in there... honest...

but come on - was a ksh addict like i have become ever really going to be able to resist these? i will start my mum's cloud shortly and keep you updated, of course!

after the wonders of get knitted, many more rows of sewing stuff began, with just the occassional knitting stall. nothing really turned my head again until web of wool, which was packed with lovely lovely sock yarn.

given my recent stash additions, sock yarn was probably the one think i really didn't need.

but red stripey socks? yes please! it was a lovely stall and the people were super helpful. i'll definietly be visiting the website for future sock buys! now i just need to crack on getting through a few pairs!

finally my last purchasing stall came up, the brilliant hip knits. i have always fancied their silk yarns but have never really wanted to buy without seeing them first, a combination fo money and not wanting to take the plunge with a new yarn type that way. i've never knit with silk before, you see. it was therefore LOVELY to get to go and squish away at the silk until i had decided that would be my big treat of the day.

this colourway is fantastic - bright and cheerful and wonderful. i love it! i bought just over 300g. apparently 300g is enough to make a reasonably sized clapotis, so i may make another one with it, but i'm going to look round first. would be good to hear of any suggestions??

so that's it, that was my day. i broke all of my rules (thou shalt not buy anything you can buy over the internet. thou shalt only buy different and interesting stuff. thou shalt certainly not buy any more sock yarn. thou halt not indulge in more ksh) but it was worth it. there were some other brilliant stalls there too, take a look at tracy's post, she's much better at describing than me! best of all, i didn't succumb to either the debbie bliss or rowan stands. yey me.

if anyone sees me going near a yarn shop again in the next year, shoot me.

10 much happier things about my day!

2005-10-14T22:52:00.000+01:00

well good lord. how miserable and feeling sorry for myself was i when i wrote my last post?! i just re-read it was was cringing. i'm very rarely like that, and tend to find the best thing to do when i am is to go to bed. shame i didn't do so about half an hour before i wrote it! never mind - you'll be glad to hear i am much happier today! (although still considering eloping : )

so why am i happier?

1. i am tearing through my secret present knitting thing super fast. i'm knitting with rowan cashsoft aran and 5mm needles and getting through a ball a day-ish. 3 balls down, one to go. it's a beautiful yarn and i absolutely adore how it's knitting up - so very soft and a bit like a marshmallow, but still quite solid and not at all fluffy. am i discovering the joy of cashmere? well, it's a delight, anyway : )

2. almost finishing secret project means i am also closer to starting new project, river for my mum for christmas. last weekend i bought this:

kidsilk spray (yes, i am addicted...) in regal. it's a mix of cerise and lilacs and i hope will look beautiful. perhaps for a lace project i should have chosen a simple plain colourway, but this just jumped out at me as perfect for my mum so... we'll see how it goes.

3. it also means i'm close to being able to start ruffles again, which i was really enjoying.

(there was meant to be a photo here to show how ruffles is starting to look like my curly hair, but blogger has given up : ( you'll just have to imagine!

i am seriously loving this scarf, and the handpaing original yarn rebecca sent me is amazing. hoorah.

4. possibly the best reason of all to be excited is that tomorrow i'm going to the knitting and stitching show at ally pally. take a look at tracy's post and you'll see why i'm so excited! it sounds amazing. i'm taking cash and hope to come home poor - but yet oh so rich in woolly goodness...! will post all about it : )

5. but the reason i'll be telling xavier i'm excited is because he comes home tomorrow. i've missed him LOTS and am very glad he's coming back : ) but i have to get to luton all on my own! yikes! i'm not such a confident London driver...

6. i'm also pretty happy because it's friday. it's been a looooooooong week and i'm ever so tired. but it's friday! so i will be staying up stupidly late to watch a tv programme i love at 12.30 and WON'T be setting my alarm tomorrow (although i expect i'll wake early from yarn-induced excitement!)

7. ok, now i'm starting to struggle. i'm happy because... today i found boots i love! again, blogger won't let me post photos but they're lovely, really. and the reason this makes the list is that i have been AGES trying to find winter boots. the brief was: black, flat, and that fit. but could i hell find a pair of boots that did up?! after several humiliating experiences in shoe shops i had almost given up trying to keep my calves warm, but then i found my dream boots. they're by dr. martens. good sensible shoes. my mum approves.

8. you know what? i'm feeling so happy i'm not even going to get hung up on getting to 10 : ) i think that list was good enough.

hope you're all feeling good too!
becks xx

10 things about today...

2005-10-13T00:06:00.000+01:00

1. i realised for the first time this year that it is really autumn now. the floor was covered in golden leaves. it makes christmas knitting seem well and truly justified.
2. despite this, it was about 20 degrees outside.
3. i only know this because i watched it on tv. now the nights are getting longer i rarely get outside during sunlight. i never get a lunch break, and i'm tired of it.
4. i knit a lot of my secret knitting project. it's not an interesting secret, it's just a secret because it's a christmas present.
5. i got bored of knitting my secret project and wanted to start knitting river. i bought the yarn at the weekend and will try to post photos soon. it was hard to fight the urge to cast on.
6. i had an argument with my mum about the wedding. this is our second wedding argument in a very short period and we don't seem to be able to talk about the wedding at all any more without tensions building. my thoughts: we should elope.
7. today is the 4th day of xavier's trip to madrid and i now miss him a lot and i want him to be at home again. even though he's quiet, i miss the noise of two people in the house. i also really miss the hugs. and i don't go to bed early enough when he's not here.
8. i'm hoping the fact that i miss him accounts for the fact that i cried at a stupid movie tonight. runaway bride. it's so silly. but i cried twice. i can't believe i just admitted that!
9. my question for today is: why aren't richard gere and julia roberts married? they're such a sweet couple...
10. finally, i forgot my cousin's birthday. it was katie's birthday today, happy birthday kate. i forgot because i knew her birthday was 12th october but in my head it's still the start of october, not mid-october. where is time going? it's making me a bad cousin...

there you go, 10 things about my day. i don't think any of them were good things, really. i'm feeling terribly fed up! but i'm looking forward to the show at alexandra palace on saturday! it's definitely what's getting me through a really crazy week...

night night xx

another christmas present found!

2005-10-08T10:32:00.000+01:00

blogs are the perfect inspiration. i just stumbled across these photos of river and now i know what i'm making my mum for christmas : ) it looks beautiful knitted this way (as an ingenious scarf), i think, and i know she'll love it.

i also need to say another thank you! i have been spoiled yet again, this time by the LOVELY becky who has sent me the HUGEST roll of cotton angora in the world. no photos just yet, but it's really beautiful, a dusky rose colour that will make a lovely cardigan. and she also included some elastic-y sock yarn, so next time i knit socks my feet won't look for big! thanks becky : ) a brill parcel : )

happy saturday everyone!

all text and no photos a boring blog makes.

2005-10-06T22:05:00.000+01:00

but this one's not boring! oh no sir-ee!

i've been gone ages. i've been working LOTS and have been really tired... but despite all of this, i have lots to report! from secret pal to socks to scarves. are you ready? really? i have a feeling this is going to be a long one...!

so, last weekend was the wedding of my aunt and her new husband. not The Wedding. that would be mine in June : ) just a wedding. but a lovely one all the same! if you can remember that far back, this is what i was getting addicted to crack silk haze for. want to see how it turned out?

this is not a great photo... the wrap looked much better when i didn't have my arms wrapped across me and what am i doing with my leg?! but you get the idea.

i was really really pleased with this wrap. it kept me snuggly warm for the whole day (even in the freezing air con!) and made me feel special. and it impress my grandad's many sisters. so yey!

and how i love kidsilk haze night... i still have some left over and am pondering over what to do with it. i love it so much that i just can't take it back. the anticipation of knitting something else with it is almost too much : )

the wedding itself was lovely, a nice intimate family thing with a beautiful bride and lots of dancing. it really made me realise how close The Wedding is and how much there is to do though! i came straight home and made some bridesmaid dates with my sister! only 8 months to go!!

the wrap wasn't my only weekend fo! alright, it kind of was. but i have an f! yes, i finished the first half of my first ever pair of socks...

woo-hoo! a sock! real and proper and knitted by me! i'm very pleased. it fits and everything.

see?

(a little bit of me was surprised and disappointed it fitted - is my foot REALLY that BIG?! apparently so...)

i was pretty pleased overall - the heel worked nicely, i think, and it fitted my foot really well, especially considered it wasn't fitted to me. i must have a very medium sized foot!

the only things that wasn't so good was the toe grafting. i think i did it too tightly. that's always my problem with seaming, no matter how i do it. with sock two i'm going to try much harder!

yes, i am already on sock 2. i have discovered that there is no better way to commute to work than sock knitting. short rounds make it quick and easy with good progress. short needles mean you seat buddies don't hate you. and four needles mean you look smart when you knit. i like that : ) therefore from now on i will always be knitting socks on the way to work and home. i may need to buy more sock drawers...!

so - socks and shawls. what else? i may continue with the s theme and move on to scarves.

it's very unusual for me to have more than one project on the go at a time. i'm really a dedicated one-at-a-time kind of girl. but at the moment i have 3 things on my needles!

you'll remeber that in my last post i had a christmas panic and went out and bought yarn. well this is what it's turned into so far...

i like it A LOT. i'm knitting it in the suggested debbie bliss cashmerino superchunky and the result is a giant marshmallow type thing that i want to sleep in. my only concern is that a ball doesn't go that far, so it's not going to be a long scarf, but that's ok (i hope!) i'm just waiting for the final ball to be delivered - it's going to be chocolate brown. then i'll get that knitted up and the whole thing plaited together and then it will be 1 christmas present down, 1 billion more to go!

so that's two things on my needles, what's the other?

well that starts with my shopping trip with becky a couple of weeks ago when i got...

3 skeins of debbie bliss maya - but nope, i'm not knitting a new clapotis (much as i want to!)

opal tiger feet sock yarn (but no! i'm still on my first pair of socks, remember? although i am keen to see how these stripe up...)

lilac fluffy yarn (but no - i'm not sure what to do with that yet, i just thought i'd try laines du nord!)

and...

three new books! and that front one is where the answer lies! i am knitting ruffles from scarf style in some yarn that rebecca sent me AGES ago and that i've been saving for something special because it was so damn beautiful...

as you can see, it's very early days! but i'm starting to get a twist and i think it's going to be fun.

i'm knitting it in Brown Sheep Company's mohair and wool mix and the yarn seems to work well so far.

and i know what you're thinking. with this going on, how can you say you're panicking about christmas? but i am! this is actually an experiment to see if i like the pattern enough to knit it for my mum for christmas : )

that's almost it for me for the day (finally! i hear you say...!) but i need to finish on one last 's' and that's spoiled. i have been VERY spoiled recently. i got to buy all of the lovely bits and pieces above with birthday money. and then when i went home for the wedding my grandma gave me all of her old knitting books - and they're FANTASTIC (photos of those another day - i have to save something! but trust me, the photo of the knitted skating suit deserves a whole post of it's own...). and then today, when i really didn't want the day to start because xavier was going away and work was going to be LONG i went to the post office to collect a parcel and found this...

secret pal 6 has well and truely begun! thank you sp, i loved all of it.

there's some new sari yarn, some other ribbon yarn, some beautiful painted knitting needles sock yarn to feed my new obsession, plus a lovely postcard. well done sp! i loved everything! isn't it amazing how someone who doesn't know you can get it so right?!

right, now i have to go to sleep. it's been a long day, and xavier is away so i won't sleep properly tonight. thank you for getting this far! and i promise i will be a better blogger in future : )

good night xxx

it's nearly CHRISTMAS!

2005-09-27T22:42:00.000+01:00

guess what i just realised? after tomorrow, when i get paid, there are only 2 more pay days till christmas.
it's scared the pants off me.
this year i wanted to give lots of hand knitted gifts and now time i running out!
so i did the only thing i could. i just bought yarn.
3 skeins of debbie bliss cashmerion superchunky to make my sister the lovely plaited scarf that's in the new debbie bliss home book (i've looked online for a photo but can't find one - i''ll take one later). i'll be knitting it in pink, chocolate and cream and hoping it's a super fast 8mm needles knit!!
just wanted to spread that little bit of christmas panic : )
love becks xx

bad-photoless-but-happy blogger!

2005-09-26T22:59:00.000+01:00

just a quick update from my weekend of knitting goodness! but a photoless one since i'm on the wrong computer - photos to follow!

i had such a lovely day yesterday! i finally got to meet the lovely becky of mooknits and we went to the fabulous loop (if you live any where near london and you haven't been there yet, go now!) and we rubbed shoulders with debbie bliss and i bought nice things and it was fab!

debbie bliss is every bit as classy and elegant as you'd expect from looking at her lovely books - just as i expected she would be. we didn't talk to her. suddenly in that situation i realised all i had to say was: 'i knit your rabbit'. and that just wasn't going to cut it. so instead i admired from afar and bought some of her yarn (maya, but not in a red colourway! instead i caved and bought the blue and purple one i have been lusting after for ages - photo will follow!) and her new home book - mainly because i liked the cute plaited scarf and funky gloves patterns - and because i like her stuff generally. it's a nice book, nothing ground breaking, but nice.

i also stocked up on some more sock yarn (the opal nature sock yarn i mentioned before, in the tiger stripes colourway - inspired by my trip to the zoo!!!) and some fluffy lilac yarn to try out different patterns for a scarf for my mum for christmas. and i bought books! i got the rebecca special kid mohair magazine, which is just full of the scrummiest patterns, although they look a bit confusing! does anyone else find the way rebecca patterns are written up a bit bewildering? and i bought scarf style! this came highly recommended by becky and one flick through it on the train home showed why. it's full of lovely scarves, and the section on the back is really inspirational for a still resaonably unexperienced knitter like myself. i might buy this book for everyone i know : ) and everyone i know will be getting a scarf for christmas!!!

best of all though was getting to meet becky and spend the day talking yarn in such a lovely loop-y environment. it's only a small shop, but it's so friendly and inviting and you really just feel like pulling all of the alpaca and cashmere off the shelves and curling into a ball in it. it's heavenly. and how great to be there with someone who also appreciated it's loveliness! xavier isn't really in to yarn shopping... there were a couple of very dedicated husbands in the shop, advising on colours and alike, but i'm not blessed with one of them. that's ok. he irons. and as long as there are people like becky around to share the joy it's not so bad : )

photos will follow!
good night xx

so excited!

2005-09-24T18:00:00.000+01:00

hello!
ok, today has been a very dull day. i have cleaned the bathroom. woo-hoo! it's not exiting...
BUT
tomorrow i am having a very exciting day! i'm going to loop to meet debbie bliss and my secretp pal 5 buddy, becky! there will be some stash enhancing and sock knitting and all sorts and i can't wait : )
watch this space to find out how it's gone tomorrow!
becks xx

i'm 24!

2005-09-22T22:53:00.000+01:00

hello!
birthday has come and gone and i now consider myself mid-20s. i celebrated in (my) style with a fab day at the zoo! it was so much fun. now why do people laugh when i say i went to the zoo? i can only think it's because they haven't been for so log and have forgotten how much fun it can be to hang out with friends like these...

this is one of London Zoo's three giraffes. she's the oldest and her skin has got kind of baggy... but she still has the most strong bendy lips you can imagine! you should have seen the work how lips and tongue were putting in on that branch...

these cuties are meer cats. normally we just skip past these, but look! they had babies! ok, you can hardly see, but under that pile of fluff there's a mum being hugged by her babies. this is why i love the zoo. every time there is something new to see and be amazed by.

but these are the real reason i love the zoo. we spent an hour with these guys, the funniest thing in the zoo and definitely the best. we first met them when i adopted them for xavier for christmas a couple of years ago. then they lived in an old and listed and very funky penguin house. but it turned out that actually they longed for a more penguin friendly home, so when they were temporarily moved to a pond whilst their home was being done up, they started to mate like crazy and do other pleased penguin things! so now they live in a lovely pool and spend all day dancing in the water. it's amazing to watch. i also saw a talk there whilst they were being fed that made me love penguins even more...

things to love about the penguins.
1. they mate for life. we were told about fred, who was the partner to the oldest penguin at the zoo until she died aged 36! he went into mourning and stopped eating so didn't build up enough fat to moult that year and so spent two years with the same feathers and looked like a real scruff bag. happily, fred has now moved on and is having his first egg with a 6 year old!!

2. it's almost impossible to tell the sex of penguins, so you have some brilliantly named couples: steve and stan have just hatched their first egg!

3. they're just so playful. it actually made me type an email to xavier when i went back to work on wednesday saying 'i want to be a penguin'. i was having a very bad day...

and one last thing you might not know - you know those emperor penguins that you always see in big groups on TV? did you realise they're HUGE. almost as big as a person! you just don't realise because they're always just stood in the middle of white snow with nothing to scale them against. incredible.

ok. enough with the penguin trivia. i may have to call this blog the interrupting penguin if i'm not careful. just one more zoo related thing to get off my chest.

until recently i was a little anti-zoo. after going to africa and seeing animals in the wild zoos just seemed a bit mean. london zoo has changed all that for me, so i just wanted to say a little yey to them. it's an old zoo, but they do the most amazing things for animals. they love them so much and do everything they can to make them happy (see penguins for a case in point!) but more importantly are working so damn hard to keep species alive. and they do all this as a charity, keeping the animals, running the tiger conservation scheme, everything. it's really amazing. so don't be put off by the zoo tag! they love animals really, and it's a bloody good day out. you should go : )

ok, rant over. knitting time!

i was a very lucky birthday girl and got lots of money to buy yarn. how lucky considering i have a trip to loop with becky this weekend to meet debbie bliss! rather than just go in there an blow the money, i am really tying to think carefully about what i want. so far i am going to buy:

3 skeins of debbie bliss maya in a red colourway, possibly number 9. this is to make another mini clapotis because i absolutely adore mine in the green colours, and i want another one!

some kidsilk haze to make more wraps. my mum saw mine at the weekend and now she wants one too...

some of the new wildlife inspired opal sock yarn. my sister once told me i wear my personality on my socks. it's horribly sad but true that my socks are the livliest bits of my wardrobe. and i want to make some of these!!

i might also pay for the course at loop i've mentioned before...

any other recommendations of good yarns to try not i have the splurge capability would be good! i don't have any patterns in mind at the moment, so am very open to ideas : )

my final bit of news is that i also got alterknits for my birthday. i wasn't really sure what to expect, i'm never sure about alternative knitting books but this one just really appealed. and i think in the end it was a good choice. i'm not sure i will knit any of the patterns, although a couple interested me, but i was quite inspired by some of the ideas about knitting garments in mismatching yarns and things. it's a pleasure to read!

right, that's all. this is a huge post... i'm sorry! i got a bit carried away. i always seem to do that! i don't know how you sensibly short bloggers manage it. i wonder, does anyone ever actually get this far down my entries?! if you do and you're reading this - thank you : )

i'll be back at the weekend to report back on debbie bliss. for all london knitters, she's going to loop this sunday between 2 and 4 and it should be good! even if you just go for a trip to the lovely loop it's worth it... maybe i'll see you there! if you do come, please say hello! i'm terrible at faces, but i'll be the one with the crazy frizzy hair : ) and i'll be the one with my secret pal 5! how exciting!

till then...
becks x

blues free sunday!

2005-09-18T17:33:00.000+01:00

welcome to a blues free sunday : ) i have tomorrow and tuesday off work so this is a happy happy happy sunday indeed : ) i even stayed up late to watch stupid TV last night and don't care that i haven't done anything exciting with my day (buying decking cleaner really doesn't count...)
yey.

it's been a very good weekend really. this weekend is open house weekend in london, where buildings that are normally closed to the public throw open their doors for free so people can have a good nosy around. i am a hugely nosy person, so this was perfect for me!
we went to westminster and to the bbc world service building. seeing inside bits of parliament was amazing, we say the 900 year old hall (the only bit of the parliament building that survived a fire that destroyed the rest of it, before big ben was built) and the newest bit, a stunning glass construction. totally contrasting pieces that somehow work perfectly, it was a real treat to be inside and now i really want to pay for a proper tour of the whole place. seeing the bbc building was also interesting, but didn't have the wow factor that parliament had, even though we queued for over an hour! the pic is of me, pretending to be an mp outside the oldest bit, by the way... i felt truely inspired!!

then today i have just been flomping and not doing much. i have knitted lots though! prepare for knitting photos - shock!

here's the latest on my wedding wrap...
you can see it's coming on quite nicely, i think if i manage 30 more repeats it will be wearable. the only problem is that i'm now... bored! i love the yarn, i love the look of the lace, and i love the feel of it all knitted up, but it's just got a bit dull... oh well, i'll stick with it, i'm sure it will be worth it.

there's a lacey close up for you, but it's on a cream background - not so good! but hopefully you get the idea. it's pretty...

less knitting on wrap has also been driven by renewed interest in my socks! i love knitting socks!!! they're not looking brill, but i'm pleased with the way i'm discovering how they're put together and how your turn a heel and everything. i had been dreading reaching the heel for ages because so many people had said: 'you're knitting socks! but they're so hard! you have to turn heels and everything!' now when you don't know what turning a heel actually entails, people saying that is quite scary, but when you're going it and you realise it's just a few short rows and then picking up stitches, it's nothing to be scared of at all! as you can see, much progress has been made...

these definitely deserve to be called 'soc's now, don't you think? ok, don't look too closely because the heel isn't great and there are a few ladders where the needles hae joined, but i think for a first go they're ok. i don't know if they'll fit! but that's kind of not the point of these ones. i really just want to be able to say: i knit socks! and to get practise so my next pair is much better.

so, that's my weekend. tonight i'm watching lost. tomorrow i'm helping my sister move into her first london home (she's been living with us for about a month now, so we're sad to see her go, but a little happy to be getting our home back : ). tomorrow it's also one whole year since xavier asked me to marry him, so we'll be celebrating that too. then on tuesday it's my BIRTHDAY! i celebrate birthdays : ) i can't wait. we're going to the zoo! hoorah!

see you later!
becks x

ps. what's happened to my blog again?? does anyone else have annoying blogger sidebar problems without doing anything to your template??!!

ooooooo - classes!

2005-09-15T23:05:00.000+01:00

hello!
what's this? a mid week post? what's happening to me...???
i've been a bit rubbish recently, not posting photos or anything... sorry! this weekend i will do that, i'm not doing it today, but at the weekend i will show wrap progress. it's getting there...
i just wanted to say ooooooo though and draw london knitters' attention to the great new classes at loop. yes, the lovely loop that i never stop raving about it running some knitting classes, and they all look amazing:
Experimental knitting sounds inspiring, sock knitting sounds like just what i need, and master knitting techniques sounds just wonderful - all those things that i think are just beyond teaching myself...
i would love to do some of the longer courses, but i think they're just too expensive for little poor me... i completely understand the price because there's a lot of knitting in there! but i can't quite afford it... i could manage the master knitting techniques one though, it's 30 pounds for a whole day class and it sounds excellent...
How to master Aran knitting and read cable graphs.
How to do beading
Start a lace sampler: record lace stitches in knit samplers.
Newer techniques: Ladder, Gather and Spiral knitting
Finishing techniques: Short Row Shaping, 3 needles cast off, I-cord, Mattress and Back stitch, picking up stitches.
But i'd really like to know from people who have taken classes before - do you think it's really worth it? and is one day really enough? i don't have a lot of money but i know i wouldn't normally get taught things like beading and i'm really keen to try it... what do you think?
and on that thought i'll go to bed!
good night all!
becks x
ps. also - a special hello to my secret pal! thanks for getting in touch! i look forward to getting to know you!

oh and...

2005-09-10T12:52:00.000+01:00

sorry! this would have been so much easier if i had just written one loooooooong post. but hey.
i just found out about knit.1 magazine. can anyone in the states tell me anything abut it? looks like it's only sold over there at the moment, but it looks kind of interesting... any thoughts?
Thanks!

secret pal 6 questions and things...

2005-09-10T12:05:00.000+01:00

told you i'd be back : )
ok, after enjoying secret pal so much, mainly because of the wonderful jerri lynn who spoiled me greatly and the very sweet becky who i got to spoil, i decided to do it again. it was a tougher decision this time - after all there's christmas and my recent severe lack of money! but i've decided it's worth it! i loved it last time, and i just want to have one more go...
so, here are my sp6 answers...

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
i'm a snob... i love good quality yarn, it's my one real indugence in life!

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No, at the moment there's only really time for one hobby in my life i'm afraid...

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
nope - lucky me!

4. How long have you been knitting?
about a year and a half, after someone at work taught me. i can't believe i left it so long without doing it though! i can't imagine not knitting now!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
no, but i am can tell whoever wants to know what books i'd like : )

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
i like green scents, my favourite perfume is un jardin sur le nile. nothing too sweet and nothing too floral.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
oh yes. but i'm getting married in less that a year and have a dress to fit in to! don't tempt me!!

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
i like to cook, but that's really it. i don't have much time for anything else...

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
really everything. to give you an idea in the next few months i'm going to see jamie cullum, foo fighters, depeche mode and franz ferdinand.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
i like: silver, blues, purples, reds. nothing too pastely and sandy colours look TERRIBLE on me : )

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
i'm getting married next june so there is a man in my life! but no kids, and no pets. just the two of us...

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
to be happy ith a wonderful family, and perhaps a bookshop one day.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
anything by rowan and debbie bliss, but a fantastic yarn shop opened near me recently and i am discovering new yarns, like ggh. i prefer thinner yarns than big chunky ones though... except for for scarves. and hey - this is a winter sp! so scratch that. i love everything : )

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
cotton...

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
i am just discovering socks and can see those becoming obsessive. i also love to knit scarves. boring i know, but i love them! i'm also obsessed with discovering new yarns at the moment, things i've never knit with before.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
as i said, scarves. and wraps. and shrugs. and jumpers. and socks. oh and i just knit a little rabbit and enjoyed that, so also stuffed toys. hell. i love knitting everything! except maybe cushions. big squares are a bit dull, aren't they?

17. What are you knitting right now?
my first pair of socks and a wrap to wear to a wedding.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
i like them, but this year i'm more into wraps and shawls.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
straight, although i'm not against circular. now i'm knitting on the train i can see they certainly have their uses!

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
bamboo all the way...

21. Are you a sock knitter?
at the moment i'm a 's' knitter. i hope to progress to being a sock knitter in a few weeks.

22. How did you learn to knit?
my first boss taught me before she went to live in america. she taught me the basics, how to cast on and knit stitch, the rest came from books, and from making a lot of mistakes.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
i have a scarf i started that's about a year old. i don't know why i haven't finished it, i really like it...

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
this question puzzled me last time too. i don't think i have a favourite animated character! my favourite animals are: dogs, elephants, and sheep. and penguins.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
christmas! i love winter generally. i love snuggly jumpers and scarves and big coats and gloves. hoorah.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
apart from all things knitting, no.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
my lovely sp set me up with an interweave knits subscription for the last sp! but my first issue is yet to arrive...

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
i just saw this on the latest knitty and it looks good... i generally love all yarn books, just to look at them and dream i was that good...

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??
Trinket by Kim Hargreaves - a possible introduction to beaded knitting...

so that's me. happy to answer more questions by email, so ask away!
right, there's a bit of a cricket match on that i have to go watch, so see you later!
becks x

i just had to say...

2005-09-10T10:24:00.000+01:00

how much do i want this bag????
so much that it hurts...!
yes, the new knitty is up, and full of more things for me to drool over and want to spend stupid amounts of money on. heck, i even quite want this dog knitting book. and i don't even have a dog in london...!
that's all, i just ad to share the bag. it's delicious.
till later!

just checking in...

2005-09-07T23:31:00.000+01:00

hello all,
it's being a crazy crazy week! work is manic at the moment, i'm not getting home till 8.30 every night : ( and the wedding is starting to kick off too. can you believe that there is a hotel conference the same time as the wedding - so ever hotel in the area is booked out?! and we have to house 50 guests from france and spain. no problem! we're now in the middle of putting together friendly packs to encourage people to come and book now. it's so stressful! keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end : )
now you would think that working till 8.30pm would be bad for knitting - but it's actually led to something different for me. i now knit in public! i can be seen sitting happily on the picadilly line, knitting away on my wrap. at the moment it's an evening only thing, just because the trains are so packed in a morning, but it's kind of fun! i like the looks i get on the train - some people look like they want to talk to you about it, others just look bemused - and i'm getting a lot done! so my silver lining wrap (that's what i called it, because it's kind of like a cloud) is coming along nicely! there are a few pattern inconsistences here and there that are driving me mad, bt i just have to put my virgo tendancies to one side when:
1. knitting with kidsilk haze (so unforgiving!)
2. knitting quickly.
i'll post photos soon, but right now just imagine a longer one of the one below : )

right, time for bed! hope all's well with everyone!
becks xx

busy needles!

2005-09-04T22:33:00.000+01:00

hello!
i'm having a busy knitting weekend! at last! what am i up to? well...
firstly, i'm now 'away with the mixer' (one of my dad's sayings, an odd one, means the same as 'cooking on gas', another of his sayings - perhaps 'doing very well' in the normal world!) with my dpns! hoorah! it really did just click! take a look...

every night before we go to bed we assess how far through being socks they are. today we've decided they are most definitely 's', just 'ocks' to go! i love this yarn though, and am very excited by the way the pattern emerges as you knit along. i think it makes me look cleverer than i am : ) i can also see how sock knitting can become addictive. i love how quick they are! ( i know it doesn't look quick - it's hardly a week's worth of knitting, but after my very slow start i certainly feel like i'm racing through them now : )

very unusually for me, i also started a new project this weekend. i'm really normally a one-at-a-time girl, but this is an emergency.

yesterday i went shopping for a wedding i have at the end of the month. it's a day-into-evening wedding and i just had nothing to wear, until i found this:

it's a really beautiful silk top, but the photo is terrible, too dark... it's kind of stormy sky grey with beautiful beading:

but can you see the problem? i said this wedding was the end of the month. well, although today was gorgeous and sunny, i have a feeling it's not going to last now it's september... by september 30th i fear it could even be cold! hardly summer vest weather...

so, i was walking around bluewater, happy with my top but slightly worried about goosebumps (i'm really a practical kind of girl and prefer comfort over style any day : ) when i thought - i know! i need a wrap.

and so began a big dilemma. last month i spend over £100 on yarn. this month i promised myself i would happily knit my socks and use my stash for any extra knitting. but you know how it is. sometimes nothing in your stash will do! and so it was with this wrap... somehow i ended up in john lewis buying...

rowan kidsilk haze night. in silver.

it's so worth it.

i'm turning it into a wrap, basically an adapted scarf pattern i have with very very simple lace, just enough to make it look cobwebby and light and pretty. it should look perfect with the top - i just hope i can finish it in time!

i've never knit with kidsilk haze before and i am finding it quite a challenge. i'm not really good at paying attention to patterns and often find myself unknitting things when i've made mistakes, but i have learnt the hard way that that's just not possible with kidsilk haze. mistakes just need to be ignored! it's worth it though, it looks so beautiful, and the silver thread really makes it special. so much better than just buying a wrap from accessorize. IF I FINISH IT!

so why am i blogging? i really should be knitting!
good night!
becks xx

hello becky!

2005-09-02T23:15:00.000+01:00

this is a special message to my secret pal, becky, who i just sent my last parcel to, directing her here to 'meet' me.

hi becky!
it's nice to e-meet you at last! i just wanted to say hi, and to thank you for helping make sp5 so fun. you've been a great pal to spoil, always posting photos and being so kind to me on your blog. it made me want to spoil you even more! so thank you. it's been great. and i'm very happy to have 'met' you! even if you are now moving to oman... damn it, i nearly knew a knitter near me : ) well, i hope we will still stay in touch. i can help keep you stocked up on yarn, and send jacob children's books and things... hoping we'll stay in touch anyway : )

(now go see becky - she's lovely : )

i'd also like to say a hopeful hello to my sp who has been so kind to me. i still don't know who you are, sp, but i'd love to find out! let me know!

lastly, i can't blog without sending my thoughts to the people affected by hurricane katrina. every day we turn our tvs on and watch the horrors unfolding like some kind of film. but at the end of the programme, we can go to bed and be safe and dry. my thoughts are still with you all, hoping the madness will end soon. what is happening to our world?

good night xx

socks and tents and big big rocks...

2005-08-30T22:50:00.000+01:00

hello!
good news on all fronts!
1. i am a camping convert : )
2. i am getting used to knitting with 4 needles!

want to hear more? ok!

we got back from our first camping weekend yesterday and i can honestly say it was one of my bestest holidays. i LOVE camping! i was a little nervous before i went (would i like sleeping in a tent? would i sleep? would the site be ok?) but all fears disappeared the moment we arrived. up popped our 2 second tent...

and we were ready to go! ok, now i know that some campers would say that a pop up tent isn't really camping... but trust me, after 7 hours in a car it seems like the best thing like sliced bread. 20 minutes after arriving we were already out exploring the area, having fish and chips and generally falling in love with cornwall.

i won't bore you with all the details of everything we did, i'll just say that we were far too busy to knit, i'm afraid! there was too much walking / exploring going on for double pointed needle stress...

see...?

but fear not! there are knitting photos hidden somewhere in this post! on the journey back i got my gauge swatch knitted up (twice, i needed bigger needles - thank god! 2.5mm felt like knitting on tooth picks!) and then cast on for my sock. and then i frogged it. and then i did it again. and does it count as frogging if you're just undoing cast ons??? eventually i stopped when we got here because i took over the driving...

(stonehenge... amazing, but more incredible that 5000 years on STILL no one can work out what it's for!!)

good job i stopped anyway, otherwise there would have been some major knitting-rage and some embarassing traffic announcements: 'traffic is stopped on the M25 because of a mad woman wielding small knitting needles and tearing her hair out'. it wouldn't have been good...

anyway, when i got home i tried again (and frogged again), and then tonight something clicked! i don't want to tempt fate here, but look!

ok, i know i'm only four rows in, but this is a huge achievement. yey me!!!

did anyone else find dpns this hard when they started...?

well, i feel happy at least that i am sharing those two or so common blogging experiences, camping and socks. i don't know if i would have tried either of them if i hadn't heard of so many happy campers knitting away, so thank you to you all!

night,
becks x

and so the socks begin!

2005-08-25T23:29:00.000+01:00

tomorrow i go camping baby!!! woo!!! i'm very excited : ) and slightly nervous. we have prepared for every eventuality apart from nice, warm, sunny weather. we have new waterproof jackets, wellington boots, warm sweaters and bed socks. if it's warm, we're screwed : ) i can't wait!!!

in anticipation of my days of relaxation, i have cast on for my swatch for my socks... i'm using opal yarn, and am trying the recommended 2.5mm needles, although i usually have to go up a size. they're so tiny i'm scared of breaking them! i'm not sure how i'll handle the whole 4 needles thing, but i figure this can be a weekend of new experiences : )

i'm very happy to be on holiday and to just worry about socks. i know it's just 4 days away from the office, but right now it's exactly what i need. yey!

if anyone else is about to start their first pair of socks, let me know! i'm sure i'll come back from cornwall very ready to share the panic!

have a good weekend everyone!
becks x

urm... can i keep him?

2005-08-23T23:55:00.000+01:00

meet the latest object of my affections...
he's debbie bliss' rabbit from special knits and he's just so so cute.

my first ever stuffed animal has been knit for a special friend of xavier's who has just had his first baby. baby leonard is two days old and has an amazing life in front of him. he's half russian, half spanish, lives in paris but may move to london. welcome to the world, baby leonard! it's going to be an exciting one for you!

as a welcome present, leonard is going to receive a sweater and hat i have showed before, and this little bunny. i'm hoping he's going to be a bunny kind of guy...

about the pattern:

this was my first toy knit and it was harder than i thought. knitting the bits was easy and quick, mostly done on the journey back from france this summer, but putting it together was like doing a really hard jigsaw! satisfying though. the pattern was clear and good (well done debbie bliss!), although i couldn't find any of the recommended yarn in a nice shade so i ended up knitting him out of the new rowan baby yarn. i think the final result is good. to get gauge, i knit him on 5mm needles.

do you want to see some more super-cute photos? ok...

i never thought i would find it so hard to give up something i knitted... kave to keep reminding myself he's not for me!

right, well past my bed time.

good night!

i'm here!

2005-08-21T22:57:00.000+01:00

it's been a while : ) i didn't want to post until i had some photos, because i was afriad people would get bored and stop coming. but then i never got around to taking any! i have stuff to show: my loop purchases from last week, the scarf i made in the week for my sp, and progress of the rabbit i'm making for the now-born baby (welcome to the world, marcos' son! look out for your first bit of mail soon!)... but i get home so late at night and it just never quite happened... and then yesterday i was out all day, and today the same, so it hasn't happened again!
but i DO have some photos. because the other thing i have been busy doing this weekend is planning the honeymoon for next july! we have decided to mix the Victorian style grand tour with a 21st century road trip and will be taking our little polo on to the continent for two weeks. we will spend a night in france, a couple of days in switzerland, and then we will hit italy with a couple of days in venice and then a week in a beautiful little hotel / bed and breakfast in tuscany. this weekend we found where we're going to stay and booked it.
do you want to see...?

this is the outside of the barn bit, an apartment we'll be staying in...

this is the view that convinced us it's where we want to be!!

and this is the traditional tuscan love nest that will be home for a week : )

it's in the greve-in-chianti region, so we'll be exploring florence, sienna, luca, and everywhere from our little base. it seems like heaven! we're so excited!!

and now for a word on my knitting...
at the moment there's not much going on! this week i knitted up a fluffy scarf for my secret pal's last parcel, but apart from that i have been attempting to put together the rabbit i've been knitting since france. it's really tricky! but i'm getting there. i just have to put the face together now. and then make the pom-pom tail! any one any advice on making pom poms? i've never made one before.

i also went back to loop today to get some sock yarn! the lady there, susan, is super nice and got me the yarn from her stock cupboard before she'd even priced it up and put it on the shelves. i will certainly be going back regularly. i got yarn plus some double pointed needles, and now i have to work out how the hell to use them!!! they scare me to death! but i thought they'd be a good camping project, so i'll see if i can get started this week.

knitting related photos will follow soon, i promise!
becks x

in praise of loop : )

2005-08-14T23:09:00.000+01:00

what a wonderful day! today i discovered my new favourite knitting store. sure, i have no doubt john lewis will still be my last minute stop for essentials, but today i went to loop, the new yarn store in islington, north london. as a south east londoner, it's quite a trek for me. but it's one i think i will be making regularly : ) it's a sweet, small little store, with one wall FULL of different yarns and then scattered all over there are things knitted by designers, books, magazines, knitting needles etc. the yarns were AMAZING! ok, probably your standard US stuff ; ) but for the UK standard they were beautiful. for the first time i say ggh yarn (WOW!), blue sky alpaca (SO SOFT!), colinette, plus ribbon yarn in a store, and various other goodies. i think susan, who owns the shop, must have thought i was a little mad as i touched every ball...! i made up for it by buying some ribbon yarn for me (secret pal - that's your fault! i had never seen it until you sent me some and now i love it!) and some things for my sp. there will another parcel soon...
i would have liked to take photos to show you, but to be honest i was a little embarassed. but it was GREAT! and so worth the trip. best of all, it's only just started and will improve with more stock as time goes on. on wednesday, they're getting sock yarn, for example. guess where i'm going next weekend?! london knitters - go now! you'll love it : )
it's also true that debbie bliss is going on 25 september between 2 and 4. she will be showing off two new yarns and there will be samples, and some new patterns too. sounds good! anyone else fancy going...?
becks x

spreading the news...

2005-08-14T10:56:00.000+01:00

i'm so excited! i just found out that debbie bliss is going to be at new yarn store loop in north london on 25 september! after months of jealouy that we never get cool tours like yarn harlot's in the USA, i am so happy that i'll get the chance to meet one of my all time favourite designers : )
more details here, plus i'm going to loop for the first time today so i'll try to find out more. hooray!!!

beaming : )

2005-08-13T17:39:00.000+01:00

yesterday i wore my shrug to work and by the end of the day i was beaming from all the lovely lovely compliments i received : ) it's never happened before so it was great...
my boss made me do a little twirl in the office so she could see it properly, and then evey time she walked past me she said: 'it looks so professional!'
then another girl said it looked shop bought
and then when i went out for drinks two other friends didn't believe i made it! they said every hand knit they've ever seen is bulky and uneven. clearly they have never experienced the joy of cathay : ) the brill thing is that it's not just a delight to knit, it also feels WONDERFUL to wear.
joy joy joy!
i also think i opened a few people's eyes about knitting. it doesn't have to be all ugly jumpers in acrylic after all...!
tomorrow i may go to loop shopping. i'm very excited to try it as i've never been anywhere like it before, and i think the website looks wonderful. i might do a bit of sp shopping... and a bit for me! the shop even got a write up in time out this week. they said that knitting had become a thing that was being reclaimed from old people, like macs, and that loop was a great example of this. must be 'cool' if time out recognises it! anyway, it's a long trek for me up to islington, but i'll try to make it.
happy weekend!
becks x

i'm back!!

2005-08-11T19:52:00.000+01:00

it's been a while, but, like after most holidays, it doesn't quite feel long enough ; )

what a lovely holiday it was! 10 days of carefree happiness! it started long ago when my lovely sister came to visit and we went to a jamie cullum concert, and then moved up a notch when we took rolo our polo to france. xavier has family there and we got to go and stay in his dream cottage for just over a week. it's just by the sea and quiet and it gets so dark there! it's wonderful...

this is the house, the sea is just behind it. we stay in the bed room on the left, where you see the window in the corner in the roof, and it has shutters on it and when you close them that room actually stays dark until you open them again. this means you can actually sleep after sun rise!!! it's magical!!! (those who constantly wake up at 6.30am will know what i'm talking about...!)

of course, being his family home there were a few other people around too! it was his cousin's wedding, which is one of the reasons we went over. now since it's less than a year till our wedding, i'm so nosy about weddings now! it was great to go over to france and see how it happens over there, and how different everything is! it's odd things, like how a civil ceremony is all about the law, and how the bride doesn't have a big ta-da moment, but instead just turns up in a car park... but the main thing is exactly the same, it's just about two people who love each other lots getting it together, and that's just lovely : )

(see happy wedding pic for proof!!)

so when we weren't wedding-ing it or sleeping (we did A LOT of that) or getting fat eating crepes, what were we up to?

well, brittany, for those who have never been, is stunning. i happen to think that my man has his house in one of the best places, in a tiny billage called Primel which has some beautiful coastlines and is perfect for late night walks and sunsets, but also for rock pooling, which turned out to be a lot of fun this summer!

here's a photo taken last new year in case you don't believe me...

really really really beautiful, i'd recommend it to anyone.

plus there are lots of other lovely places around too, so i got to climb over lots of rocks and basically act like a kid again. and that's FAB.

and of course, there was LOTS of knitting time! i'm actually very excitied to write tonight as i have several FOs to present!!! hasn't happened in a while, i know...!

firstly, the cathay shrug i've been working on for forever! this one had a time limit, it HAD to be finished for the wedding, which gave me a couple of days when i arrived. luckily, i managed to get it all knitted up the day before we left so it was just finishing to do, and, although i had several arguments with a sleeve, i got there in the end. and i was thrilled! (especially as the day of the wedding was the one day it wasn't gloriously sunny whilst i was away, and whilst i was sad for the bride and groom, i was very happy for me!! selfish knitter...!)

do you want to see me wearing her? ok!

on the whole, i think it's pretty much as good as i could have made her. getting the sleevs into the arm holes was a bit of a struggle, but i was really proud of the picked up stitches bit as that was the bit that nearly made me too scared to make her! the only thing i would say is that maybe she's a bit too small, but really not so you would notice. i was beaming with pride all day! and best of all i KNOW i'm going to get a lot of wear out of this one.

(sorry for the funny formatting, but scroll down for more!)

but i promised more than one fo! so here we go...

a baby sweater and hat! the hat is adorable! and a super quick knit too. and the jumper is lovely too, cashmerino mix and lovely and soft and again a quick knit.

i love the patterns, they're both debbie bliss patterns and are so simple and yet look really nice and classic. i think i'll knit these for everyone i know having a baby! and really hope the people i've knit these for love them...

(ps. i haven't darned in my ends for the sweater yet - don't worry, it's not some tragic fashion statement!)

the big thing that happened during the holiday was that i realised that i am becoming a proper knitter. watching other family members knit over the holiday, i realised whilst some people know to knit, they can knit and purl, there's a difference between knowing how to knit and actually being a knitter. if you know how to knit and purl you can knit, but it's the details that take you up to that next stage. it's knowing that baby clothes shouldn't be made out of 100% wool. it's taking the time to seam up your garments properly and not just turning them inside out and sewing them together. it was a wonderful moment and gave me the confidence to tackle a pattern labelled intermediate!! so now i'm working on a cuddly rabbit for the baby - should be quite a parcel!

and i can't just go without saying one final thing...
THANK YOU SECRET PAL!
when i got home i realised i had missed a parcel delivery and was hoping it might be another secret pal parcel and it was! i have such a considerate pal. she sent me some of her favourite yarn, which is really really beautiful wool that i've never seen before, plus a book on felted knitting, which i've never really experimented with but am very keen to try, and some stitch markers! good bye scraggy bits of knotted yarn! now i have proper stitch markers!!! it was the perfect wayto cheer those post-holiday blues... THANK YOU!

right, that really is all from me now. i hope blogger doesn't crash!
will be back with more normal sized posts soon : )
becks xx

summer holiday!!!!!

2005-07-31T23:10:00.000+01:00

woo! tomorrow i'm finally going on holiday! it's wonderful for many reasons...
- because i won't be at work (much as i love my job, this is a GREAT thing)
- because it means that for two consecutive sundays i won't get the dreaded sunday blues (that includes today, which has been GREAT)
- because i finally get some time with my lovely man away from the stresses of work
- because i will get some very good knitting time
- because i am going somewhere BEAUTIFUL where i will eat lots of delicious crepe and walk by the sea
hooray!
but now it's 11.13pm and this girls has to pack!!!
see you when i get back! (hopefully with a completed and worn shrug, a baby hat, baby socks, a baby jumper and - my latest addition to my knitting list - a knitted bunny toy!)
becks x

hello goodbye!

2005-07-28T18:23:00.000+01:00

this is such a quick post, and i'm annoyed because yesterday i went shopping and bought lots of lovely soft yarn and really wanted to post about it today and show photos but then my sister sprung a surprise - actually, tomorrow we won't be arriving at your house at midnight, we'll be arriving around 7pm on me at 10.30pm last night, so she'll be arriving soon and i'm still an hour away at my desk at work! yikes! so no time for blogging, and certainly no time for photos... what a shame : (
what did i buy? afraid i've built it up too much now! but basically i'm going to france in 3 days and since i will no doubt have finished my bolero shrug within a day of being there (hope so, i need to wear it to a wedding!), i needed to have something i could knit afterwards (for those who don't realise, i'm going to go and stay with my inlaws, and when i'm with them all i do is knit since they don't really speak english and i don't speak spanish or french...!). i decidecd to try this need in with the need of a friend of ours who is due to have a baby in a month and would like a hat. i figured i could probably do a bit better than 1 hat in a week of almost non-stop knitting time! so i went to john lewis after work and get a debbie bliss baby knits for beginners book. i know that's a bit basic, but the designs are beautiful! classic and simple and lovely... and then i spoilt myself to all the expensive debbie bliss yarn she recommended - i think there was some cashmerino aran, some cotton and some baby... something...! anyway, enough to make the cutest most adorable tiny pair of socks (10000 times probably! they're so small!), a very sweet little baby hat and a lovely little boatneck sweater. they know they're having a boy, so i got clues for the socks and hat and a lovely pale grey for the sweater. he's going to look yummy. just hope i can pull it all off! they'll be my first ever baby clothes!
so you see, pictures would have been lovely. but hopefully i'll have sone great finished object pictures for you soon instead : ) including my shrug! which is going swimmingly! picking up the stitches wasn't half as bad as i thought, parly due to the fact that i put in a stitch marker after i picked up every 10 stitches - heaven knows what i would have done without that! so easy to lose count! and made the 'knit until the last 100 stitchs... knit until the last 88 stitches...' so much easier too. it's definitely my tip for this pattern...
becks x

i wish that i could...

2005-07-24T09:42:00.000+01:00

sleep past 8.30am on weekends...
switch off and not think about work when lying in bed trying to get back to sleep
work a four day week
knit like a maniac so i could finish my shrug!!!

did you get that i'm a little annoyed that i couldn't sleep late today? woke up thinking of things that don't even exist. how i love work stress : )
anyway, got up to knit and just checking blogs before i start and noticed a request for more photos... well, i like to give you what you want : )
here's what i'm working on at the moment

i know you can't see that very well, but it's the front, back and one and 3/4 sleeves of my cathay bolero! i got much of the second sleeve finished last night during meet joe black (when an odd film!) and hope to finish that bit today so i can then start picking up the 10000000000 stitches that make up the edging. so far so good!

right, i'll go get back to it... a rainy day here in london today so no excuses!

becks x

slowly but surely...

2005-07-23T15:19:00.000+01:00

so, my blog is beginning to look slightly more like it should! links are back(although i think my typing has caused a couple of slips, must take a look at some links...) and i've found my images of what i've knit again. phew! it's been a rubbish week as i use my links to check people's sites, so i've been completely out of the loop for ages! catching up this weekend...
it's been a rubbish week for other reasons too - london came under attack in th most confusing way, with no one really sure of what's happened and leaving us all in a state of confusion and uncertainty again. sadly though, there was also a sense of 'here we go again'. everyone just got on with it. no one minded when people stared at each other's rucksacks, no one minded when the tubes got a bit messed up. it scares me that this could become the normality.
other news! i am STILL knitting my shrug, and am now worried it won't be ready for the wedding i'm due to wear it to in a couple of weeks. must knit like mad this weekend (in fact i'm just doing this in a very quick sleeve break - i hate the second sleeve!) and hope for the best!
i've decided that after knitting this i'm going to knit some baby clothes. i haven't got any patterns, so i'm going to have a good look around and get a couple of books. no, this isn't my way of trying to tell you something! i just have a few friends in that baby place right now and i could do with a bit of light relief after knitting big objects recently. i already have had a request for a hat, and i want to knit a toy too. AND i want to knit some socks. this is a scary moment for me as my only experience with 4 needles was a bad one... i need to try and conquer it though! i love the look of the socks that are springing up on various sites at the moment and my feet are beginning to complain that they don't have something lovely to enjoy!
last thing is that i have just set up another blog. Big read little read is my new blog where i'll be writing about books i'm reading, both adult and children's. i usually get through 1 or 2 books a week, and working in children's books i usually have a couple of children's books worth mentioning too. so take a look! (just one post on there at the moment, on the last family in england, so maybe check back later... ; )
right - back to that sleeve!!!!
becks x

how stupid was i?????

2005-07-19T23:06:00.000+01:00

oh dear... it was supposed to be an innocent exercise in giving my blog a new look... why when that little blogger warning flashed up did i click ok? now look what happened! i lost all my formatting, all my links, everything... it's like frogging, except i lost the pattern : ( well, on the good side i like the new look! it looks summery : ) although i won't be changing to keep up with the seasons... and i do have some of the links written down, so hopefully i will (over several weeks) be able to build the interrupting sheep up again. i might just make a mental note never to do anything risky after 11pm, though!
hope all's well with everyone, i will be checking your blogs again as soon as i can find them : )
night night xx

2005-07-17T18:59:00.001+01:00

hello from a warm and sunny summery london : )

i have had the most lovely weekend... very little knitting, sadly, but lots of fun with my wonderful parents who came to visit us from up in yorkshire. it's the first time they've been since we got the house in shape with furniture and everything, and it was lovely to have them here. we had lots of fun, some thai food, a day in cambridge yesterday, and then a walk through greenwich park today. this is them, looking lovely and cheerful in cambridge. it's actually taken just before we did this...

yes! we punted in cambridge! this is my dad showing us how it's done, but me and xavier also hadd a go and it was so much fun! we laughed so hard... i recommend it to anyone! (you'll notice also that my cathay top got it's first public outing in cambridge and punted it's way down the river cam - it was very exciting to be wearing something i made - still gives me a thrill!)

now they've gone and i'm feeling a bit sad... but hey, i'll see them again soon! and in the mean time i have this to look forward to - we booked our first camping trip! look out cornwall, here we come! we're heading down for the august bank holiday and i can't wait : ) any advice from experienced campers would be good though, we're a little nervous too!

one last thing before dinner - does anyone have any ideas what could have happened to my blog, why it could have gone funny like it has with my side bar dropping down? i haven't done anything to it, it just went odd - any ideas why?

keep enjoying the sunshine!

becks x

2005-07-13T23:20:00.000+01:00

yikes! a post on my knitting site that is actually going to have knitting-related content! i know this may come as a shock, some may wish to avert their eyes...
so yesterday i was having a terrible day at work, so very chaotic, and then to finish it off i had to go and take back concert tickets for the rem concert i was really looking forward to but that got postponed until next saturday. i can't make that sadly, my parents are visiting (happily!). so, i was in town and i just thought - i'll just pop into john lewis (for reasons that shall remain secret since there's another little parcel in the mail to my sp today!) and there it was! the john lewis yarn sale! it was hilarious. i had 10 minutes before the shop closed and i was like a mad woman rummaging through the bins, desperate for purchases.
look what i ended up with...

rowan polar in bright red. this, i discovered last winter, is my favourite snuggly winter scarf yarn and i think bright red will be just lovely this winter! in fact, see how much i like this yarn...

yes, i bought some blue too... like i needed more blue and red yarn : ) but they were only a couple of pounds a ball! i just hope i bought enough, but i think 3 balls was ok last winter...

then i also wanted to get something new. i figured sale time was a good time to buy new yarn. so i got this...

it's jaegar mohair art, in a silvery pink colour. i'm thining it would might be good for a first lace pattern, although i'm a little scared of it. it's so fine and cobwebby! any good pattern suggestions would be fab : )

so, that was how i ended my rubbish day, on a sale high. today was actually even worse. i won't go into the details on why, i'll just say that that magical world of narnia is losing it's shine!!

hope you're all well and having happier days. hey - at least we have sunshine!

becks xx

2005-07-10T20:38:00.000+01:00

look what i did today! yes, this is me just after running 5km for cancer research. it was the biggest race for life in london, with 10000 women running and walking around blackheath park and it was great to be a part of it. after the horrors of last week, it was great to be involved with something GOOD. i finished in 38mins, which i was thrilled with, and raised about £200! yey! (yes, me, becky, the girl who was ALWAYS last at cross country, have a medal for running!!!! london 2012, here i come...!)

what else today? well, i've been reknitting my sleeve on my shrug. annoyingly on friday night i realised that during some knitting the yarn had split and one stitch was ver very frayed and thin. i decided to frog back to it, about 30 rows, but i'm terrible at frogging so it took pretty much all of yesterday! still, i'm back on track now.

also yesterday, i went to crystal palace. what an amusing place! it's the site where the crystal palace of the great exhibition was moved to after it's stint in hyde park for the big show. now the site of the palace is a bit of a mess, but there is a lovely park. it's just the oddest park in the world though because it's full of lakes and ducks and... the most enormous models of dinosaurs! turns out the victorians were the ones who named dinosaurs and started to recreate them from fossils and they wanted to fill a park with models of what they thought these dinosaurs looked like so people could see them when they went to the crystal palace. so now crystal palace park is i think the only place on earth where you can feed the ducks in front of an enormous victorian representation of a dinosaur. just bizarre. i wish i'd had my camera... maybe i'll go back for it : )

right, back to my shrug sleeve... back on the tube tomorrow for work. see how things are getting back to normal? giant dinosaurs and all?
becks xx

2005-07-09T12:24:00.000+01:00

hello everyone,
i know that my messages have been full of sadness in the last few days. i also promised that i would try to bottle up some of this gritty london spirit and try to get myself back to normal. so here goes, a little attempt at normality...
first, a big THANK YOU to my secret pal. today she sent me an email telling me she has subscribed me to interweave knits! such a generous present, and something i'll be enjoying long after this particular secret pal finishes, so thank you so much sp! i'm really thrilled with it, i've long been slightly curious about this magazine that everyone gets so excited about and now i can't wait to get my first edition : )
second, i'd like to share a little joy about... loop. how long have i complained about the lack of good yarn stores in london? and then yesterday i stumbled across a yahoo group called south london knitters, which seems just wonderful and which i promptly joined. then this morning i was looking through the message boards and i found someone talking about this mysterious new store about to open called loop in islington. well, take a look at this: http://www.loop.gb.com/index.html a north london yarn boutique, no less! this is wonderful!! i am so so so excited!!!!!!! and can't wait to go shopping. unfortunately it won't be for a little while as i have my parents visiting on opening day, but i could always visit the next weekend. hooray hooray hooray!
how was that at normality?
i hope everyone else is getting through this ok too. going to go out today and try to get away from things a little. and then i really feel like next week will be a fresh start.
again, 1000000000 thanks to everyone who has messaged in the last few days. i can't begin to explain how it's felt to know there is so much goodness out there when the world feels full of evil. you're all wonderful : )
becks x

2005-07-08T16:24:00.000+01:00

it's funny how a blog becomes like an old friend, don't you think? maybe it's like when you're a kid and you keep a diary. i used to keep them obsessively between the ages of about 13 until about my third year of university. that's a long time! i only stopped when xavier was around a lot, and then i found i didn't really have the time to write so much. there's just something great about committing your thoughts to solid words.
sorry, i'm just trying to work out why i have felt the need to write so much in the last couple of days, and to read other blogs too. maybe it's also that i feel very alone. of all the people i'm close to, i'm the only one who went through this. everyone else was safe in hull or york or italy (my lucky sister on holiday) or anywhere but here. so it's good to read the blogs of others who might feel a bit of the way i feel, londoners, new yorkers. and it's great to read all of the words of support. it's good to know the world is thinking of us.
today, looking out of window, it's startling for it's normality. i didn't go to work today. i woke up so detirmined to go, so certain that i'd show these terrorists i wasn't afraid. and then i turned on the tv and watched the news and realised that actually i'm still very afraid. so i called my boss and had a chat and she said that i should be at home, and that yesterday she would have sent me home immediately if there was any way of me getting there. apparently i was completely white all day and shaking like a leaf. i don't really remember... so i wimped out and stayed at home, working. tomorrow i will venture underground, most likely xavier and i will go together. i think it will be easier that way.
i'm so proud of london though. as i say, it's an incredibly normal day. somewhere around kings cross they are still taking bodies out of the wreckage, but london is carrying on. the trains and tubes and buses are all running, people are busy getting on with their lives, the g8 has continued in scotland. i honestly believe that the terrorists have failed in what they wanted to do. i don't think they just wanted to kill 50 people. i'm sure they wanted to ruin our lives, to disrupt this city and turn it upside down. but they really haven't. we're shaken, and it will take a while to get our confidence back and trust the city again, i'm sure, but i'm also certain that we will manage it. i'm much more positive today.
tonight i pick xavier up from the airport, and then the weekend starts. with it a whole new attitude and the start of getting over this. maybe next week there will even be knitting photos : )
becks xx

2005-07-07T20:28:00.000+01:00

hello everyone...
people have been so kind today, sending me little messages and emails, that i had to come back properly, now i am at home. thank you to everyone who wrote, at times like these it really really means a lot to know that people are thinking of you.
i feel like i have somehow been involved with most of the recent terrorist attacks. during 9/11 xavier was in washington (thank god not new york) and there was a horrible 2 hours when i couldn't reach him because the phone networks were down and i had no idea whether he was near the pentagon and the plane or not. then there was madrid, where xavier comes from and where we visited 2 days after the bombings. with the elections going on we saw first hand the extreme upset caused to a country by terrorism, even if the people say they won't be defeated by it. the spanish people and party politics practically tore the country apart. but it still never felt anything like this. even when you feel close to something, it is nothing like losing the security of your own home. everyone in the world has the right to feel safe at home, to walk around and feel ok and secure and like they belong and are safe. until today i felt very much like that in london. i don't know the streets that well and still get lost very quickly and easily, but it was home and i was safe here. i got on buses and tubes and felt fine. i am so so incredibly angry that someone came in here today and took that away from us. it's like the bubble i was living in has burst and now i feel almost like a newborn baby, suddenly seeing the real dangers of the world for the first time. i had to get a bus part of the way home today. work were excellent and arranged cars for us all, but i couldn't get all the way home like that. i hate that when i was on the bus i was looking at people for the first time wondering if their rucksack was going to blow us all up. no one has the right to make people feel like that, not in their homes or anywhere.
of course, my thoughts are really with the people that aren't just feeling anger today but pain and grief. i can't believe the death toll wasn't much higher, it's a real credit to the exceptional emergency services who have saved people's lives today. but it won't be any help to those who have lost someone today, or who are injured, and my thoughts are with all those people. london is with you...
but it's happened now, right? it's a day i think we all knew would come, after madrid it had to. and now it has, maybe we can stop looking over our shoulders all the time. either that or this is the start of something much much worse. i don't know how we'll move forward from this, as a city, but i know we'll manage it, because we're strong. terrorists won't destroy us, or our society, or our culture. we will be here long after their extremist views have died out. if this is a war now, we will win it. there is no place for terrorists in this world.
i can't do this anymore, i'm so drained! i just need to sleep i think. again, thank you to everyone. you have no idea how much your support means, especially with xavier away (how i miss him!).
good night all, may tomorrow be a much brighter day.
becks x

2005-07-07T12:58:00.000+01:00

i just wanted to say that i'm ok... thank you to anne and my sp for checking on me - i hope you're ok too anne. it's shaken me up like hell! but luckily i usually get to my office at about 9am, and today stepped off the tube safely at about 8.58am, blissfully unaware of the hell breaking loose underground. xavier is safe too, he's working in madrid for a few days. at the moment i can't take it in, and certainly can't write about this. i feel like i've lived in a bubble for years, and someone just burst it, and now i'm just a bit lost really.
will write again soon, and hope everyone else is safe.
becks xx

2005-07-05T23:20:00.000+01:00

hello!
just a quick post today because i really should be asleep by now : ) just had to post a thank you note to the lovely rebecca though, because when i got home yesterday i had a fabulous parcel waiting on my mat that actually made me want to move to america (take a look below - the blogger photo thing isn't working tonight so i'm back with hello!). thank you so much Rebecca! i really wasn't expecting such a lovely prize (i guessed what she was knitting a few weeks ago...). and this yarn is so perfectly me, particularly the colours. i'm just dreaming of what to make with it now - any suggestions?
honestly though, when i see yarn like this it makes me want to weep my way across the atlantic and settle down in the states. for the sake of my bank balance i probably shouldn't, but it's such a delight to discover such heavenly yarns, so soft and airy, and in such incredible colours! it makes the bright pink yarn my mum always used to knit scarves with when i was a kid look positively dull.
in other knitting news, i have just cast on for sleeve 1 of my shrug, and have knit about 2cm. it was a toss up on whether to start the sleeves or start the picking up stitches for the edging (for those who don't know this cathay pattern, you have to pick up 100000000000000000 stitches all around the edge of the cardigan. anne did a fantastic job) but i decided to just plough on and leave the picking up until last.

2005-07-05T23:19:00.000+01:00

behold the beauty of the brown sheep company yarn...

2005-07-05T23:18:00.000+01:00

and finally... yesterday was 2 years since xavier and i started living together : ) can't believe how quickly it's gone, and how little time it takes (in the grand scheme of things) for two lives to become so interwoven that you can't begin to imagine them apart.
Take a laugh at my hair cuts, but praise the man by my side. he's just wonderful.
see you later!
becks x

2005-07-05T23:14:00.000+01:00

Day 1!!!

2005-07-05T23:13:00.000+01:00

a year ago (but feels like yesterday!)

2005-07-05T23:12:00.000+01:00

2 years on and happier than ever : )

2005-07-03T16:42:00.000+01:00

wow.
ok, i'm tired. i'm still slightly hungry. and i can't get used to the fact that i can now just go to the toilet whenever i want. but live 8 was INCREDIBLE.
it was a day that started at 9am (when we arrived at hyde park) and (sadly) ended over 12 hours later when we had to slip out of the park early to catch our last train. it was a day when i got to listen to my music heroes, u2, rem, coldplay and robbie williams. i also saw some of my favourite comedians, peter kay, ricky gervais and those lovely little britain chaps. and i discovered bands i didn't know i liked, travis and the killers. and completely non music related but i also got to compare david beckham and brad pitt in the skin to see who was cuter...

brad pitt...

or...

david beckham?

(for the record, david got my vote... brad looked kind of old and very tired...)

i could go on for hours about such an amazing day, as you can imagine : ) but i'll sum up like this...

HIGHLIGHT

Robbie Williams. I'm a big fan, and to see him perform here was amazing. he stole the show and could have gone on all night. and to hear 150,000 people singing angels was AMAZING.

LOWLIGHT

Mariah Carey. What a diva! i can't believe that in a concert for africa she came on stage with her masseuse and demanded water constantly and a mic stand and was just generally a diva. and her songs killed the atmosphere. such a shame...

STRANGEST MOMENT

elton john in duet with peter doherty for children of the revolution. how very very odd. that and when kofi annan came on stage. i don't think anyone really believed he was really there, and that we were being addressed by him. crazy.

FUNNIEST MOMENT

ricky gervais doing 'that dance' from the office with 150,000 people singing the tune. hilarious. that and the first moment we got on site through the ticket barrier when suddenly everyone was running across hyde park to get to the front. looked so funny i couldn't run for laughing. we did pretty well by the way - 4 rows back.

WILL IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

i hope so... the messages were strong and clear, with sting's rendition of every breath you take particularly moving. i hope the g8 were watching. if they were, i think they'll find it very hard to ignore.

hope you all enjoyed watching it too!

sorry it's not a very knittingy post, i don't have much knitting news! i could post more photos, but i have 55 of every act and to be honest it would just get dull : ) i will post some of my knitting soon though - cathay shrug is definitely coming along! and i got a lovely brooch to wear on it to the wedding i'm going to, all sparkly. so now i have to finish it!

see you later!
becks x

2005-06-30T12:56:00.000+01:00

hello!
hadn't written in a while and was just browsing the net and reading a lot ofg blogs so i thought i'd just say a quick hello! what's happening in london? not much this week. working hard and then coming home and frantically knitting my cathay shrug. it's going well and i'm pleased with it, but i'm dreading the picking up stitched bit. i'm not very good at it, and there are so many to collect! but it should be ok... i would post a photo using the new blogger function i've just noticed (and am very excited about! no more images just lost as seperate posts! hello - you were great - but this looks so much better...) but i'm at work, and to be honest it's not that exciting to look at just yet. just a back and a side that i finished last night. tonight i'm starting a sleeve to try and make it a little more varied!
apart from that i am looking forward very much to live 8 on saturday and constantly checking the weather to see if it's going to rain : ) hope not! saurday is also good because my secret pal should be hom aorund then, so i can post her her next parcel. it's so exciting to send as well as receive!
alrighty, time to get back to it.
will post again soon, hopefully with photos of me and robbie williams / chris martin at live 8!!!!!
becks x

2005-06-26T21:53:00.000+01:00

hello!
after a nice LONG weekend i just thought i'd post a few photos. they're not of knitting, i'm afraid, because it would be quite dull of me to just show you 28cm of cathay that is the back of my shrug. so instead below is a mini-photo journal of my day at the wireless festival of friday, with new order and moby playing. those two were fab! especially moby. i had a brill time!! although we had a scary moment when new order were on and we got sucked into the mosh pit. normally i quite like a bit of a jump around, but this one was full of very drunk, rather old, and very large men! i thought we might get squished so we had to sacrifice our front row spot for a few rows back... you'll see from the photos below that we still had A LOT of fun though! next week it's live8, hoping that will be as good!
we also registered for our wedding on friday. it's cracking us up how much fuss you have to go through to get married. you would have thought deciding you want to commit to someone for the rest of your life would be the hard bit, but no... we've given notice in greenwich, where we live. now the papers have to go up to harrogate, where we're getting married. and then they get displayed for 6 weeks just in case anyone thinks we shouldn't get married. we also have to go through a similar fuss in france and spain, and then we can get married. phew! still, less than a year to go now, time to start getting excited! it felt very real when we were in the registrars room, with a little explaination of what marriage is tacked to the wall. it gives me butterflies : )
right, i'm going back to my knitting. today i've spent some time working on a parcel for my sp so not much knitting has got done and i really wanted to finish the back of my shrug tonight. maybe tomorrow!
good night all, enjoy the festival...............