Light at the end of the tunnel

Well, it's a bit of anticlimax really. I mean, getting to the end of the NaBloPoMo

I made it & remembered to blog every day for a whole month. I enjoyed it in an odd kind of way because I could just blog about anything & let's be honest, I have!

And because I've been knitting Christmas socks for ages, I haven't really blogged about knitting or pop, as I haven't been to any gigs for a while & I'm guessing that The Snow Queen & 42nd Street don't quite cut it.

I hope that I'll carry on blogging on a fairly regular basis although I think I'll try for a bit more knitting content or a bit more pop.

See you in December!!

News from a friend

I was going to write about the usual trivial crap & then I found out that one of my friends has been diagnosed as having breast cancer & is going into hospital next week!!

I don't think I can really write much today as I am a bit freaked out by it.

I just don't believe it!

I can't believe that I nearly messed up yesterday & missed posting so close to the end of the month. I know at the end of the month I won't post every day but I think that I will keep posting as I've enjoyed wittering on about nothing in particular!

As nothing very exciting has been happening, today is another cat pic day - Millie has now got a taste of internet fame & just wants more. Who am I to deny her?

close shave

Phew - I nearly forgot to blog today! I was in bed, tucked up with my hot water bottle & I woke myself up & came to write today's entry for NaBloPoMo. And what an arse that would have been so close to the end of the month!!

Back to bed then - see you tomorrow

Cloverfield

I'm very excited, I've just seen the 2nd Cloverfield trailer!

The trails for this started back in the summer, with the first trailer being shown in the US after The Transformers & the Unfiction forums went mental, with hundreds of posts appearing hour after hour & this first trailer being ripped to pieces & every little detail being analysed a thousand ways.

They were right - the film is called Cloverfield & it's looking good & creepy but we've got to wait until Feb 2008 & it's out on the 18th Jan in the US, so it's a fair bet that we'll know all about it by the 20th.

Arts and Crafts

I love the North Bristol Art Trail for a number of reasons, not least because I get to squiz* at other peoples' home.

So I joined in today, traipsing round the badlands of Bishopston, checking out the (mostly) over priced 'arts' & generally having a good luck at the houses that were open. And then I found this, which just took my breath away.




Obviously, I want to see other crafters getting on & making money from whatever it is that they do but come on!! This is just taking the piss! The yarn this person was talking about was cheap shit, pound shop yarn which feels lovely the first time you touch it but after about 10 seconds goes all yucky - argh, it annoyed me so much I had to go home!!


I did find some things that I loved - these bracelets, this jewellery, this jewellery and these prints & there's my wish list for the coming year.


*squiz - to look around in a very nosey fashion

Quick blog post

I'm visting friends today so this is a really quick post & it's something that I've 'found' over at glittyknittykitty.

What kind of knitting needles are you?

You are plastic.Futuristic, milky, and silky, you are willing to go where no crafter has gone before. You can do just about anything, with strength agility, and pretty colors to boot! While you are good at slipping and sliding out of sticky situations, remember to stay where and when you are needed. Don't overdo it on star gazing when there's earthbound knitting to be done!
Take this quiz!








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New project

As I've finished my cable rib socks I've cast on my next project, which is the BAWK hot water bottle cover in delicious Lang Mille Colori

I've put a picture of with & without the flash as I think the flash picture (right) shows the colour best & the non-flash shows the cables.

I cast on last night & it's going fairly quickly - I've made a bit of a mistake on the last cable as I was paying too much attention to the Mighty Boosh!! Fatal!!

Crikey, kitties!

I am so excited - Millie is on someone else's blog!! And not just any old someone but someone who has had her book published!!

Check this out - yep, I entered my 2 kitties in to Crazy Aunt Purl's cat sweater competition & even though we didn't win, we got a special grumpy cat mention. Go grumpy Millie!

Back to last night & we had a blast at Knit Chicks. We had our photos taken for the Short Encounter Festival, not that we had anything to do with it but we were there knitting as usual. Rain showed off her tattoos - you'll have to ask her about those. We were nearly joined by a gentleman who's table we took over but we couldn't quite convince him that we didn't bite. And I finally finished my one Christmas knit present, which is such a relief as it seems like I've been knitting it forever!!

So, here they are Cable Rib socks from 25 Favorite Designs by Interweave, knitted in Opal sock yarn.

I'm really pleased with them even though the cables are slightly different over the heels because I forgot to do one set of them. It was a enjoyable & easy pattern to knit which I think would suit both men & women.

SnB

Just got in from Knit Chicks - lots stitching, bitching & knitting tonight! So much more about that tomorrow with photos of a finished object! I know, what a surprise from me but I've finally finished something - check back tomorrow for proof!

So, here's some lazy blogging with more cat pics...

Any dream will do

We went to see Joseph & the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat yesterday & it was brill!! My husband has been looking forward to it since about March & we were watching the TV show.



We had Craig as Joseph, Keith as the Narrator & Chris B as a brother (I can't remember which one) - Craig & Chris were good but Keith was brilliant! He was so much better than he was on TV, he held the stage & was fab. In fact, Keith reminds me of John Barrowman.



Everyone there seemed to enjoy it, the lady sitting next to me was rocking! She knew all the words, sang along, did the hand movements, everything - if you happen to be reading this, you know who you are!



Go & see it if you get the chance! And watch out for all of these as I think they'll all go on & on in musical theatre.

Deep breaths

Hmm, I'm not sure what came over me yesterday. It's going back to Worthing I'm sure!



Anyway, normal transmission today - check out the Cute - feeling stressed, angry, grumpy or generally hacked off with everyone in the world, after looking at these pics you won't be any more.



Also here's some more of my stash - I've taken to hiding it all over the house....

Family

I have a difficult relationship with most of my family. Well, I say difficult when actually what I mean is no relationship with them! I'm the oldest of six children & I manage to speak to just one of my brothers - the one I visited this weekend. My dad died when I was quite young, I have no aunts or uncles to speak of & no grandparents alive & the less said about my Mum & our relationship, the better. I'm not complaining, just saying how it is.

So, to go back to Worthing on Friday, on my own was really hard. I left home on the evening of my last A-level & haven't really looked back & it's kind of like Worthing has stayed mostly the same.

This is my little brother, Toby & his two boys. When I see him with his kids, I can't believe that he's younger than me! He seems so grown up.

And this is the whole family - Toby, Daniella & the 3 children. I'm so proud of T & D & what they've acheived - they have 3 beautiful children, a lovely home & a mad dog!

Namesake

I'm at my brother's house today in Worthing & we have been Googling ourselves to see what we can find!

And we found this - I am shocked! Obviously, it's not me!!

Stash secrets

I've started taking photos of my stash for Ravelry but can't upload the pics til next month as I got over excited & put some of my holiday pics on Flickr!

But here's a taster of my stash as a whole - I have lots of projects in mind.

Frosty, frosty garden

It was surprisingly chilly this morning & when I opened the bathroom window I could see the frost on the garden. I never cease to be amazed by this as I grew up right by the sea so hardly ever saw frost or snow - I get excited at just 1mm of snow!! Whereas my Northern husband just laughs at blizzards & says things like " When I was a lad, we had snow up to the roof top"

I've been busy today uploading some holiday photos on to Flickr as I'm visiting my family over the weekend & it will save me taking my laptop - here they are. There's not too many as you can only upload 100MB for free.

An ordinary day

Just a regular day today, nothing that exciting!

However, I am going to mention two things that I think are noteworthy. The first is just how much I love the changes of the seasons - the different light at this time of year, the high, think clouds that give the day a 'fuzzy' feeling and the shorter days. Obviously, I will get bored of the shorter days very quickly, so don't remind me about this in February!!

Also I heard about this on the radio today. I really believe that if everyone does their bit that we can change the world for the better although I try really hard not to get on my high horse about it, some times I do. This isn't one of those times (really). The Disc Drive campaign is easy to do & although I'm not great at donating to children's charities, young carers are one cause I will help. I think everyone could probably go through their Cds & DVDs & find one or two that they no longer watch or listen to - go for broke, it's nearly Xmas & you'll probably get some new ones for Xmas!!

Xbox update

Grump, grump, grump - I have to send my Xbox away to the Xbox hospital.

First, I have to wait for postage labels, then I have to arrange for the courier to pick it up & then wait 15 (!) working days to get it back!! I'll be lucky to have it back by Christmas!

I am soooooooo frustrated about it as I really do love playing on it - Halo 3, Oblivion, Gears of War, you name it I'll try it. I think I need to take a couple of deep breaths & go back to the game sites I know & have loved before they were usurped by the 360, namely jay is & kewl box. I know I can easily waste my life away on the Xbox but I can just as easily waste it away on PC games as well. I'm starting to feel a bit calmer about it all but I may start to stress about it when I haven't been able to kill a few Brutes for a while....

Back to the weekend & we went to see 30 Days of Night - I really enjoyed it. It's dark, brutal & the vampires are weird looking & speak their own language.

Red ring of death

It's the ring of death on my Xbox 360!! I love my Xbox, I'm careful with it, I dust it & talk to it & still it's died on me!

I'll be back tomorrow - I just need some quiet time to cry in the corner

Stitch n' Bitch Day UK

Yesterday was the first UK Stitch n' Bitch Day & it rocked!

Rain, Sarah & I caught a horribly early train from Bristol & made our way across to the venue to find lots & lots of lovely, happy knitters....

There was Debbie Stoller talking to Rain - just 2 degrees of separation!

We listened to Jane Waller talk about this book & although she has given the patterns all in wool, I think loads of them are lovely & could easily be substituted for more modern, soft yarns.

It was a great day & fabulous to see so many people knitting & chatting about knitting - more please next year & even better, a Bristol S n' B Day - watch this space!!

Darn it!

Darn - all the hard work I put in preparing a post yesterday for today hasn't paid off as the post appeared as an edit of yesterday!!

Well, I guess that's an important lesson learned for me. This will have to count as my entry today even though it's very short.

However, the last part of yesterday's post is really today's!!

Here's another cat picture as you can never have too many. I think it shows just how I feel at the moment!!

Lazy Blogging - Kitty Cats

Just look at these gorgeous cats - how cute can they be? Their names are Alan (all black) & Miss Millie (black & white), they're brother & sister & I can't imagine not having them. Yeah - I know, this is absolutely the laziest blogging!

PS In the Shadow of the Moon was brilliant - really interesting & the astronauts seemed very humbled by their experiences. Go & see it when you get a chance.

PPS The I Knit event was FAB! Loads of knitting & chatting with a lovely atmosphere, I hope there's more to follow - pictures to follow.

Spilt time

I'm in two minds as to how to write my blog - do I talk about things I've done? Or do I talk about things I'm going to do? Or do I just blog away in both the past, present or future & let you decipher it?

Who knows?

Anyway, this weekend is fairly busy, which is quite unusual as I like to take it easy at the weekends & find time to play on Xbox Live. But we're off to the Watershed tonight to see In The Shadow Of The Moon, which I think will be great on the bog screen.

And then tomorrow I'm off to London with some of the Knit Chicks to see Amy Stoller! I am very excited about this as I don't think she comes to the UK often. We're going to the I Knit event, so more about that on Sunday as I'll be back late tomorrow - don't worry I'm sure I'll blog something to stay up to date with NaNoBloMo!!

And then on Sunday, 30 Days of Night is calling - Josh Hartlett fighting vampires - how can it get any better!! And shopping for a wedding outfit & looking at new kitchens - phew, what a weekend.

Knit Chicks

I know I haven't blogged much about my knitting even though it's a big part of my life. I knit most days, usually whilst watching TV but I have been known to knit in parks, in pubs and on the train!

My favourite thing to knit is socks as I find them fairly straight forward, quick-ish and easy to carry around. I think I've knitted about 5 pairs and have a couple of odd socks that have stories attached - maybe that's for later in the month!

Anyway, as I enjoy knitting so much I am obviously a member of a knitting group, well, I run the Bristol Knit Chicks, I always feel a bit embarassed to say that as I don't feel like I do very much to run the group but I suppose I send out emails remniders and organise knitting in the wild in the summer, so I get to be the person in charge. I also manage our 2 (!) websites, this one & the Knit Chicks one, which I set up if people wanted to post pictures of their finished objects.

And here's two of the Knit Chicks doing their thing - sorry everyone else but the pics I have are TERRIBLE! When I take some better ones, I'll post them, I promise.

So, I was out last night with all my knitting friends and the Watershed was surprisingly busy and who else should we see but the NaNoWriMo'ers as well! Everyone's doing it!! So, here's a shout out to all the NaNoWriMoers writing up a storm this month.

Blogging in the wild

This is Setters blogging live from the Watershed as it's Knit Chicks this evening - yes, I know that this page is very lame but at least it's there & people can find the group if they want too!

I'm not going to write anything else as I'd rather be knitting & chatting or stitching & bitching, whichever takes your fancy.

Phew - busy day

So, today has been a bit of a hectic day but in order to keep up with the blogging, here's something that's a little bit late for Halloween!

You Are A Vampire

You have a real thirst for bliss, and you consider yourself a true hedonist. And you're not afraid to walk alone in life, if it means getting what you truly crave. You truly enjoy entrancing people. Not to mention the ensuing pleasures of the flesh. Your tastes have been called decadent and bizarre. You usually give in to your temptations, no matter how primal Your greatest power: Your flawless ability to seduce and charm Your greatest weakness: Human flesh You play well with: Werewolves

Try the quiz here

Guy Fawkes Night

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”

It's very autumnal at the moment, which is apt as it is Firework Night. It's been beautifully clear weather with blue skies and crisp breezes. All the leaves are changing colours and falling quite quickly.

We went for a lovely drive up the Wye Valley yesterday, past Tintern Abbey and up to Monmouth - the scenery was stunning. Every season is so different up this valley, which one of the reasons I love visiting there.

Another reason I enjoy seeing Tintern Abbey is that it reminds me of one of my favourite films - 28 Days Later.

Finally....

Ravelry, Ravelry, I finally got my Ravelry! (you have to imagine that to the tune of Happiness)

I got my Ravelry invite today!! This is me !! I am SO excited & ran round the house clapping & shouting & then had to explain to my husband what it meant. Obviously, he wasn't excited. I haven't spent any time on it yet as I'm too busy this evening but I will be there properly soon.

In the meantime, here's some more evidence that I do actually knit - my Clapotis. The yarn was Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb in George Town, a beautiful pale blue, turquoise and lilac colour way.

My husband bought the yarn for my birthday & then I wore it on holiday to Rome & someone actually asked me if it was a Clapotis & whether I had made it myself - that made my holiday!

In fact, here's a picture of me wearing it in Rome as well.

Busy, busy

We've lived here for nearly 8 years and had the whole place redecorated, carpeted, new wooden floors and a wall knocked down but have we bought curtains for 2 of the rooms?

Like I said earlier in the week, I seem to be having a 'spring clean' and tidying and de-cluttering each room slowly. Today I decided to get the curtains and blind for these 2 rooms and went to Ikea.

Now you may think that this would be hell on earth on a Saturday but I was very prepared, having looked at the catalogue and chosen what I wanted, and then I was very focussed when I was in there. I could tell there where a lot of people there who thought it would be a good idea 'just to have a look'. They were shilly-shallying around, very slowly, not really looking at anything and I'm sure they'll all spend loads on the useless things that Ikea can tempt you with - I know I've been there!!

In the end I bought a pair of plain curtains for the middle room, a white blind for my office and a light (mine's got black plant prints on) for the living room to encourage me to keep the table tidy.

So, I'm very pleased with that. I managed to get rid of about 25 old cookery books as well that I have never used.

Free Rice

I was going to talk about knitting & probably still will but I found this today & wanted to share it. Basically, you guess the meaning of a word & when you get it right, the advertisers pay for 10 grains of rice to be distributed through the United Nations World Food Program. This has got to be a good thing - go check it out!!

As I'm going to be blogging every day, I guess now is a good time to show off some of my finished items. I'm going to start with the second thing I ever knitted which was a lace scarf, not the best idea ever as I found out afterwards that I was twisting all my stitches - nothing like a challenge eh?

So, here it is, in all it's glory in the wild. The pattern was a free one from Get Knitted with the Kidsilk Haze to make it . It may have been 1 or 2 balls, it was a while ago & the colour is discontinued now.

Check out that lovely frill - I think that's my favourite bit of the scarf!!

Day of the Dead

Happy Day of the Dead! I'm not sure that it's quite the right thing to do but I like the idea of celebrating death once a year, to celebrate I made Fave Dei Morte or Beans of the Dead - they're meant to look like broad beans but don't really. And it's also Samhain, so happy new year as well. You can also see that I'm quite happy mixing up my beliefs and religions.

For me this feels like a better time of year to have a new start as everything is dying back and preparing for winter, the traditional New Year allows feels like a time for staying still and recuperating.

So, I've started lots of new projects that I can talk about over the coming month, which is great news as I've just signed up to NaBloPoMo , which means I have to blog every day for a whole month!

Including weekends!

Be prepared to read about the most mind numbing minutia of my life!