EDINBURGH!!

We went to Edinburgh on Thursday and returned today. We stayed with our friends Pete and Lynsey, and their sons, Nathan and Jason. Hagos had a meeting in Glasgow on the Saturday and I thought I may as well take the opportunity for a wee holiday.

I had hoped to visit Coco and Handknit but Pete and Lyns have moved from Bruntsfield so I only managed to view the shops wistfully on the way into town on the bus.

On Friday night we went out to dinner along with Rik, our other friend who now lives in Edinburgh with his girlfriend Jenny.

Above is Rik. He is also a live sound engineer, touring the world.

And this is Pete and Hagos. Also known as Fuselage.

I think we were all rather drunk by this point, looking at the faces! By far the prettiest was Lynsey:

It was SO nice to see everyone again, and to meet Jenny for the first time, and to spend time with Nathan who is obsessed with dinosaurs, superheroes and pooh, and Jason who smiled all the time.

Valentine's Day Chocolate Cake Massacre

I made a Valentine's Cake, based on Nigella Lawson's Easter Egg cake, for Katy who I work with. Instead of scattering the eggs willy nilly, a la Nigella, I formed them into the shape of a loveheart.

Katy made coffee for everyone at 10am, and asked the room if they thought it was too early to have chocolate cake.

A resounding NO, of course.

Everyone had a reasonably-sized piece, and ate half of it before unbuttoning their belts and exhaling loudly.

The ingredients are mainly CHOCOLATE, with eggs, sugar, butter and cream. No flour whatsoever, so it's very mousse-like.

I should have taken a photo of it, but it was devoured before I got my camera out.

I'm home alone tonight as my husband has gone to do a gig with his band in London. Meg has been following me around the house and sitting on me at every opportunity since I got back from town. She'd got very close to my husband recently. She doesn't like change!

I got an email today from Meg's previous owner, Wendy. Meg started acting strangely over a week ago and we finally figured out she was on heat. Wendy confirmed Meg has never been spayed because they wanted more ginger cats. I emailed back to say I'd drop off the kittens in nine weeks' time.

I'm off to bed at 9.30pm tonight as I really need to sleep. I'll read a bit of The Moonstone before I drop off. Until then I'm knitting more of my purple beady socks, and watching, what else, Pride and Prejudice (BBC version, of course).

Purple Beady Socks

I've started on my next pair of beady socks. Not sure if I'll keep them for presents or for myself. I'm impressed by how quickly they knit up. The photo is a little blurry but is truer to the colour than the photos I took using flash.

I'm in my shed again today (Monday is shed day - I have a desk and lamp and books and electric fire and my laptop). I had acupuncture done on Friday and I've slept so well the last three nights. I last had acupuncture done about 15 years ago, and that was just a taster session. I really liked it. When I was leaving the shop (had it done at Neals Yard in Norwich) my balance had been affected and I fell against a wooden stand holding a book but I didn't feel unbalanced. Kind of felt like I was on a ship.

Anyway, between sleeping well and being disturbed by my little cat during the night (we think she's on heat!) I overslept this morning and got into my shed late so I've had trouble getting going today. And now it's time for lunch :)

Hasta luego.

Isn't She Lovely...

I figured out how to use my camera on Macro and practised it on my little kitty. She's been very aloof the last couple of days. Before that she was affectionate and friendly. Yesterday afternoon she and my husband shared the couch for a little snooze:

I've decided to do less knitting and blog-reading and more of something else. I've become too obsessed with knitting and reading other people's blogs lately. I particularly like Scandinavian knitting blogs, whether there's an English translation or not. I've always been drawn to snow and Scandinavian/Icelandic landscapes. I miss Scotland very much for the mountains and hills and lochs. The Norfolk landscape does nothing for me at all. The churches are lovely but I dislike the flatness. I like relief and movement and splendour and perspective.

I have one half-finished jumper, the fiddlesome 'Gemma':

I'm knitting it in the purple and red in the photograph, as shown in an earlier post. I also have the wool to make this:

I've put my wool in the photo too. The main colour will be dark purple, the contrasting colour will be green. I KNOW THESE COLOURS TOGETHER MEAN I WILL BE KNITTING ANOTHER PURPLE AND GREEN JUMPER. I bought the wool for this ages ago. There's just no getting away from the fact that purple and green go really well when knitted together :)

I also have the wool for three pairs of socks. And I want to make my Tapestry design. So I shall still be knitting but intend structuring my time better so I get other stuff achieved too!

Saying that, I did, of course, purchase the new Rowan magazine on Saturday and I believe it is a return to form. The last couple of magazines have been bizarre. More to do with the styling than the actual designs, possibly. Layers upon layers, making it difficult to figure out what it was in the photo that had actually been knitted. I LOVE KNITTING AND I LOVE ROWAN:

Altruistic Socks

I decided to give my beady bed socks to my mother for her birthday on Saturday. I'm not sure whether she'll like them, I hope she does. I've wanted to knit her something for ages but she can't wear wool on her hands so I thought socks might be the thing! For some reason feet and legs always look stumpy when photographed with socks on. I thought this was the best shot, though you can't see the beads so well.

I did a very quick embroidery of 'MUM' on the sole in blue wool, which probably won't last very long as I did it AFTER I'd sewn up the sock so it was very difficult.

I also got her some notecards.













And wrapped them in blue tissue with pink love-heart ribbon.

Bedtime Reading

I was trying to read Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow by Peter Hoeg but I mostly read in bed these days and the book was so dry and disconnected I got to page 50 and stopped. There was no great writing, characterisation, metaphors or insights.

I'm now reading The Moonstone, which gripped me straight away. I was in the mood for old-fashioned storytelling.

My all-time favourite bedtime book is The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The bite-size chapters are perfect and the story is superb. My memory told me the story is set in Edinburgh but it's actually set in London. Wishful thinking. Perhaps I was influenced by the documentary I watched on Deacon Brodie, said to be the inspiration for the book. Deacon Brodie was a cabinet maker who led a respectable-sliding-into-dissolute life, making wax impressions of his customers' keys then stealing from them.

Me and My Monkey

This is me working on the second beady sock with my little monkey beside me.

Sometimes she loves me so much she sticks close by me and follows me around the house wherever I go.

A second after this photo was taken she sank her claws and teeth into me! She's been getting very handy with her paws lately, ever since the cat flap was fitted.

As you can see, part of my day was taken up with me curling my hair. It took an hour and I like the result. I'd really like to have a 40's hairstyle.

We went into town for lunch today, then went to John Lewis so I could look at the wool (of course). I bought two balls of discounted Rowan Handknit DK for £1! The colour is Mango (which is obviously why it was discounted) but I thought I'd make myself another pair of slippers as my white ones have large holes in the soles and I have to wear little socks with them now to stop my feet getting cold.

They also had some orangy-yellow Cotton Glace for sale for 50p a ball. This evening I looked through my Vintage Knits book and considered what I could make. I thought about the Glace Vest or the Glace Jumper from the twinset before I came to my senses and realised I don't want an orangy-yellow jumper or vest!

Monday in the Shed

I'm doing the dreaded Tax Return today - not mine, my husband's. I actually enjoy doing it once I get into it, it's more the thought of it that I hate. So I have to make sure I do nice things alongside, such as listening to Just A Minute or I'm Sorry I haven't A Clue or Open Book online. Today I sort out the receipts (a huge bagfull), next day I itemise them, the next I fill in the form.

The photo above is of two drink-making things I really like (this is another small, nice distraction!). The love heart tea pot and cup I got from a disused railway station in the small town where I live. They've turned the station into a cafe and shop where you can buy all kinds of weird stuff like marmalade, gift bags, wardrobes, toys, etc, but it's all homemade or made on the premises or curio-type stuff. I love the station. The chocolatiere I got from my friend Lynsey in Edinburgh for Christmas. There is a really cool chocolate shop in Edinburgh where Lynsey buys the best drinking chocolate from: http://www.cocochocolate.co.uk/ so she also gave me some of that.

I thought I may as well also upload this photo of some bootees I made a while ago. They're from the 50 Baby Bootees to Knit (or some such title), I think by Zoe Mellor? The wool is Rowan Polar, left over from my big cardigan. I made them between bigger projects while two friends were pregnant, and haven't got any further in deciding what to do with them. They're really soft and lovely and, I think, a great design. I love the buttons too.

Well, the receipts aren't sorting themselves, as I'd HOPED, so I guess I'd better do it :)

One Beady Bed Sock

One Beady Bed Sock complete!

I love it; the wool (RYC 4-ply cashsoft) is really soft and comfy and feels great. I love the beads too and it didn't take too long to make (one week of not really trying) so I'm very happy with it.

I find knitting and wool and colours so uplifting and relaxing and exciting. It's an antidote to anything horrible and reinforces all the good things in life.

We went out to an Indian restaurant in Norwich last night with my friend and her husband and had a really nice time. They're both from Newcastle so, obviously, they're lovely people.

I'm having another much-needed lazy day today. Will go to Sainsburys to get shopping and potter for the rest of the day.

Tapestry Design (by ME)

This is a drawing of a design I want to make using the Tapestry wool my secret santa gave me for Christmas (aka Vicky). I'm not so good at drawing, so the sleeves are disproportionate to the body.

The 'cross' parts of the design will be in moss stitch (possibly double moss stitch), the 'line' part will be rib (giving the Empire Line effect) and the 'plain' part will be stitch stitch. The bottom of the jumper will probably come down to the top of my thighs.

I don't want to start knitting it straight away as I want to finish my beady socks and my Alpaca socks first, but I'll probably begin it after that and have it for next winter.

As Vicky bought me two different colours of Tapestry I thought I'd choose the redder wool as the main colour and use the one ball of greener wool for the rib.


I also thought about designing something using different yarns and think Jen's design on her xtreme knitting blog looks gorgeous.

I'm also intending to buy a sewing machine imminently and want to make myself some summer skirts, pyjamas, bags etc. It's my Christmas present from my husband but with Christmas visiting and flu getting in the way we haven't had time to go shopping.

I also have to say CONGRATULATIONS to Vicky for finishing her hat. I helped her with the cast on and with the flaps but she did the rest herself. I wish I'd taken my camera into work yesterday to photograph the finished item but I didn't believe we'd get it finished (it took very little time). Will try to get a snap of her next week. She was really pleased as she has huge enthusiasm for starting projects but also the need to see results quickly so the hat was an ideal size of project (Big Wool, 15mm needles) and this has really encouraged her to carry on.

Alpacas Rool!

I couldn't resist this Alpaca wool when I saw it; there were other great colours, I liked them all and will probably buy more.

I've decided to knit socks in-the-round with them, once I've finished my red socks on two needles.

After finishing my two jumpers I want little projects to tide me over for a while.

I'm so happy it's Thursday because that means tomorrow is Friday and Friday is Bacon Roll Day, as well as being the last work day before three days off :) We get the bacon rolls delivered. It will probably be my last for a while as I need to get onto my no bread, low GI diet again.

I've also designed a great jumper I want to make using the Tapestry wool my Secret Santa got me. I'll draw a decent-ish picture and post to let you see what it's like but it has an Empire Line and is quite Jane Austen-esque.

Today I sat with Vicky while she knitted her hat (the same as my Big Wool hat). She's knitting hers in two tone pink. I started her off as she hasn't done too much knitting, did the increases for her, then left her to do the st st. We're hoping to get it finished tomorrow.

And tomorrow night is Quake night!

Beady Bed Socks

I'm knitting Beady Bed Socks from the Rowan Home book. Except I'm making them shorter than the recipe suggests because Anna made them to the book's specifications and the rib isn't wide enough to pull up the length of your leg. I cast on really loosely too and it just comes above my ankle so I shall knit SHORT socks, which is fine. I'm using a gorgeous red, RYC Cashsoft yarn.

I wanted to make little socks for my friend Nathan but I'll have to check out the pattern I have. I have a reindeer motif that is cute and a tradition with my Godson.


We are also drinking Glenmorangie, to remind us of home and to see in the New Year! We bought a measure yesterday in John Lewis.

We watched White Christmas yesterday, which we usually watch on our anniversary but we were busy this year. It's one of my favourite movies (my favourite is It's a Wonderful Life).

Then today we played our friend Pete at Quake, an online fighting game. I haven't played for ages, neither has Pete but it was so much fun.

Two New Jumpers!

I thought it was about time I actually showed some knitting on here. This is my 3rd TV jumper, which I'm very pleased with. I sewed it up on the way to Scotland and was able to wear it on Christmas Day.

When I finished knitting it I vowed never to knit another TV jumper again. It was supposed to be something to knit while watching TV but I became obsessed with finishing it and because it's 4-ply it took AGES. I'd love to have a ginger and midnight blue TV jumper but maybe I'll wait a year before beginning it.


Of course, this is the main reason I'd like a ginger jumper - to remind me of my little sweetie cat. This is her new favourite position to sleep, beside the storage heater!

Meg and I are home alone today. Usually I go into town with my husband on a Saturday to have lunch but I've had a horrible cold since we got back from Scotland. So husband has gone into town by himself to spend his Christmas vouchers (I have a voucher for John Lewis that I'm very keen to spend). I feel a bit grumpy about having another cold (third one in four months) but there's nothing I can do about it.



This is my plaid jumper. Difficult to photograph, mostly because I'm grumpy, I think. I wasn't sure about it after I'd finished it, then went on to wear it for about four days. Now I really like it, though the batwings take a bit of getting used to. I like the wool (discontinued, but at a bargain price on cucumberpatch) and may buy more of it in a different colour either for another jumper (more conventional shape) or to make a copy of a skirt I saw in a Saturday supplement last weekend. It was a knitted, longish A-line skirt with two square pockets on the front. I think if I knitted it up on smaller needles it would work.


Some random shots.

Okay, I'm feeling quite rough now so will stop here. Just one more thing before I go. I used to do a lot of beading about ten years ago, inspired by my friend, Kerstin. I haven't done much since knitting took over but while in the sewing shop the other day I saw some polished shell and Japanese square beads that I bought and made into a necklace as part of my sister's Christmas present:

Works Christmas Outing

We went skating last night for our works Christmas outing, then went to Pizza Express and drank much wine. Skating was great fun. There was much talk beforehand of falling over and having to eat pizza with wet trousers but we all managed to stay upright and no one had to eat with wet pants.

Vicky (she's on the left, I'm on the right) turned up wearing red high heels, cream denier tights, and a pencil skirt. She suffered our derision with good humour (she's like Tigger in Winnie-the-Pooh - irrepressibly bouncy and optimistic) until she took to the ice and we discovered she shares 99% of her genes with Jane Torvill.

I was lucky enough to have her as my Secret Santa and she had bought me two balls of Tapestry, which I was VERY pleased about, and she was kind enough to point out they were different colours.

Final photo, as it's so good. Anna (far right) is another knitter and also sews (she made my patchwork knitting needle case earlier in the year). Joyce took the photos, having decided at the last minute NOT to skate after talking all of us into it in the first place.

Knitting news: I've finished my Plaid jumper, will post photos soon. I wasn't sure of the batman shape initially but wore it into town then didn't take it off for four days. It's really cosy. I love the Plaid wool. I've also almost finished my 3rd TV jumper, just have to sew it up. I'm hoping to take it with me to Scotland for Christmas.

HAPPY CHISTMAS!!!

Christmas in Norwich

Some photos of the place I live:

I took a walk into the market square last night and enjoyed seeing the Christmas tree lit up, and all the houses on the main street had Christmas trees and lights attached to the outside of their buildings. There were stalls and a fairground ride and a hog roast. Then I came home and watched Nigella Lawson's Christmas programme and wished I had some mulled wine!

The best news though is that my husband arrives home on Sunday after working in America for two months. I'm SO looking forward to seeing him and having him home for three or four months.

Cats At Home

I don't have any knitting to upload (though I have two jumpers that won't take long to finish) but I wanted to post, and my cat friend Meg is figuring large in my life at the minute as I'm in the process of fitting a cat flap for her.

I will DEFINITELY fit the cat flap at the weekend. I didn't realise how complex fitting a cat flap was (though I'm sure when I actually get down to it it will take about five minutes!).

First of all I bought a magnetic cat flap, as we have two Norfolk terriers living next door, and my neighbour reckons the smaller dog can fit through cat flaps. However, when I got the magnetic cat flap home I realised it has a deep tunnel attached that is integral to the magnetic mechanism.

The door panel is only half an inch thick so it would've stuck out quite far on the outside. So I got a refund, did some research and eventually bought an infra red cat flap.

I've got everything prepared (drawn the template on the door, fitted the correct drill size to the drill, borrowed a Jigsaw, etc) so I'm hoping it will only take a few minutes once I start cutting. I'm concerned about the infra red key being quite big for a 3/4 size ginger cat but hopefully she'll figure it out and realise it's to her benefit.


This is Pudding Pie Alley. When we first moved to Norfolk we were told to park in the market square, go down Pudding Pie Alley and turn left.

There was a notice in our neighbours' window, which read, "All is well, and all shall be well".

The village where we live (or town, as the locals insist on calling it) is a totally lovely place. The disused station has been turned into a teashop and curio-shop. If I have a day off and feel like escaping from the 21st century I love walking down there and getting away from it all.

There is also a new cafe called V's cafe, which is well-decorated, has a rotating cake cabinet and sells bespoke baking accessories. There is a library, two butchers, a health food shop, a corner shop, a Post Office, and even a rather strange clothes shop.

I love the place I live in. It has a completely good feel about it. I feel safe and happy here. Though it is rather sleepy!

Baby Footwear

I can now reveal some baby footwear I've been making over the last few months for my friend Leonie who just had her baby. I started knitting when I found out she was having a boy. The socks and small boottees are taken from 50 Baby Boottees... I think it was Zoe Mellor who did the patterns. The white boottees with roses are from a pattern I got from the library by Erika Knight, they're actually the same as my slippers.

I also made a small beaded bag to put them in, which I forgot to photograph. I sent them off yesterday.

My friend Anna has been making similar items to sell at a Christmas Craft Fair at the end of November. I might try to make a few more and sell them too.

I've almost finished my 3rd TV jumper, which I'm very excited about because it's gorgeous. Maybe next weekend. And in the meantime I've started on a Rowan Plaid jumper that I liked from Magazine 39 but didn't want to spend £50 on the wool! Well, plaid has now been discontinued and is being sold at a bargain price on cucumberpatch. I bought six balls of Bramble for £21!!! I've almost finished the front because it's knitted up on size 8 needles.

I'm going to my friend Sophie's tonight for a knit-in and DVD evening. So will hopefully make good progress there. Should have both jumpers finished in next two weeks. I'll also upload my bodyless sleeves at the same time.

Sister time

This is my sister, Jacqueline, and her husband, Robin. They came to visit me last week (from Scotland) while my husband is working in America for two months.

We went out for the evening to Wagamama's in Norwich where I had my usual vegetarian hot sauce noodles.

Jacqueline did a lot of shopping while she was here and kindly left me a box of presents when she returned home.

I had hoped to go skating too but with all the shopping and board game playing we didn't manage to fit it in.

We played Risk and Yahtzee and drank Port, but didn't quite manage to get on to Pictionary this time.

Jacqueline is a demon Monopoly player and used to make me play Monopoly with her every day in the school holidays and, being 7 years younger, she won every time. She's still very competitive.

This is the ice rink in Norwich, which is very festive and is erected every year at Christmas outside the library.

My work colleagues and I have decided for our Christmas work outing this year to go skating first, then head into Pizza Express for food. We just didn't feel like another turkey dinner!

We have to do it on 21st December though as almost every other date was crossed out with previous engagements.

Thumbs!!!

Here are my finished mittens!!! :)

Two thumbs are all I've managed to knit in the last three weeks. At least my 'current projects' number is decreasing. I now only have two on the go and two waiting to be started so I can almost buy new wool for a new project.

Even better news, I now have a new digital camera so I can take better photos. My lovely husband brought it back for me as a present from America.

I'll probably replace all the previous photos I've taken as the quality is SO much better.

I also took a photo of my whole winter wear again as I didn't really manage to get my hat in the last shot:




I shall look quite the dandy walking around town with this lot on. I should really take a photo of me wearing something, maybe I will.

Nothing much else to report. Meg arrived home the other day with a tiny slug crawling in her fur. My husband managed to save it and put it back outside.

Okay, I really don't have anything else to say. Ciao!