setters knits pop & other things

igfest

2008-09-22T08:02:00.002+01:00

It's not knitting, it's not pop but igfest was FANTASTIC!!!

I spent the whole weekend playing games round, through and in Bristol city centre - I am totally shattered, sunburnt, have lost my voice and may have broken two of my toes but oh my god, it was worth it... I had to crawl up the stairs to bed on Friday and Saturday night because I just could not walk any further.

It kicked off Firday night with Journey to the Middle of the Night - a chase across the city centre with people trying to catch us and stop us. I was so, so, so excited about this and have been for weeks now & suddenly for it to be here, I was scared that it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations. How wrong could I be? It was outstanding! We were emailed a secret location to start from and that was it - so nearly 200 of us set off from near Temple Meads towards Castle Park, where we found a nun telling us to find coins in the sand there and the evening just got better from there. I did get caught almost straight away but made up for it by catching 17 people - 7% of the runners on my own before joining up with the lovely Rhys for Team Turncoat!! We finished near the Ostrich pub about midnight & it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other as I had spent the night sprinting around Bristol, across roads, up hills...

After dragging myself out of bed on Saturday, I managed a full day of games - The Comfort of Strangers, Bad Taste Party, Rainbow Rain (that's me wiping a strange man's face!), Sneaks & Blaggers & the igparty. I could spend hours talking about all of these & pages of this - it was so much fun!! So briefly, Comfort of Strangers was a game using an bluetooth device to pick up other players - your team gave you life & the other team removed it - eerie in a crowd! Bad Taste Party - fashion police gave chase across Broadmead (!) to players wearing bad taste clothes - pretty risky in the centre as there were so many people with bad taste anyway!! Rainbow Rain - coloured water fight that descended into chaos when we were given powder paint to throw at each other :) Sneaks & Blaggers - snakes & ladders in a multi storey car park, sort of. Again I staggered home & into bed.

Not to be beaten, I went back Sunday morning for more playing - The Lost Sport of Olympia, Congestion Zone & Korean Lazer Ball. I had a lovely morning in Castle Park playing the first two games which were relatively laid and easy to enjoy. Then in the afternoon I met the lovely Rhys again who invited me to join Team Hat for the Lazer Ball contest - that's right we all had hats on - I looked very fetching in a NYPD hat!! The aim of this game is to score points by directing a laser into a circle on the wall - sounds simple, eh?? We were nearly beaten in the first round but made a massive comeback to win our first game & we were very popular with the crowd!! Alas in the semi finals we couldn't find our mojo & were beaten by the eventual winners!!

What a weekend - fantastic! Play, go & play more! If you see street games, go & take part, you'll love it...

Oh & if you want to see quite how mad we all looked - check out flickr!!

Taking over the world

2008-09-18T08:53:00.001+01:00

Our knitting group seems to be going from strength to strength - we used to meet monthly with maybe 7 of us, then we started meeting bi-monthly. Now we meet every Weds in Bristol city centre and last night there were 17 of us in the Watershed - check us out taking up 5 (!) tables. If you want to come along, here's the website with our future meeting dates on.

And there's Nina with a really cool frog and Katherine with the most fantastically coloured baby blanket in a beautiful star pattern. I have to say I really love my knitters - kisses to them all!!

Oh, and igfest is coming.....

i Knit London

2008-09-07T18:16:00.005+01:00

Crikey! It's been a busy weekend with I Knit 2008 & the River Cottage Autumn Festival!

So, yesterday Sarah & I went up to London to the I Knit Day & it was fantastic!! There were knitters & crocheters galore, there was yarn to fondle & buy & there was, wait for it, the Yarn Harlot!! She was absolutely brilliant - funny, intelligent & natural. We had such a fun day! I got to meet up with folks from the interwebs & KCG - hello there interweb friends *waves*

Then today we whizzed off down the M5 to see Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at the River Cottage Fair. I have to say it was very very muddy - just look at Mr Setters, doesn't he just look like a city boy?? Of course, I knitted both days but forgot to take a pic of me knitting in London so got a pic of me knitting in a much more rural environment.

Great American Adventure

2008-08-27T14:38:00.005+01:00

So it's been nearly 2 months since I typed anything - that's a sure sign of the rest of my life.... That is I've had been too darn busy to put anything up and we were away for 3 weeks.

We spent 3 weeks driving around the Applachian Mountains in south east America, travelling just under 2500 miles (which is 2.5 times the length of the UK!!) in about 10 days. We started in Washington DC & ended up in Memphis, passing through Virginia, Tenessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri & Mississippi. I mean we did end up finally in Boston which is in Massachusetts but we didn't drive through it.

During our travels we met the most fantastic people & saw things I never, ever imagined that I would see - fireflies, Graceland & a real live rodeo are the first to spring to mind.

Anyway - a little less conversation, a little more action as the King would say, so here's some pics.

Kittie fights

2008-07-08T14:00:00.003+01:00

It's been a hectic weekend here in the Setters household - Mr was away Thursday night, we were in London Friday watching the mighty Morrisey and then I was at the Knitting & Crochet Guild AGM in Winchester Saturday. On top of that Alan decided to go missing...!

He went out Tuesday and finally came back in about 3am Friday morning - just in time for us arriving back from London. He was limping and by Saturday morning his leg has swollen up and we couldn't get him to the vet. So this is what he looked like as he was biting his leg & making it really sore.

Yep - that's right, he's got a bandage on. He managed to bite so much fur off that he might need a skin graft!! What a simple cat!!

It seems that there's a new kittie on the block who has taken a dislike to both of mine as Millie was bitten a couple of weeks ago & her foot swelled up as well. So, I'm watching the back garden like a hawk to chase off any new comers.

The great reveal....

2008-07-04T09:04:00.001+01:00

What can I say but I LOVE it!!!

Broken nail

2008-05-25T17:07:00.003+01:00

Yeah, yeah - I know this doesn't sound very exciting but sometimes life just is!! And today I'm sporting a war wound, it's not knitting related but stupidly slipping whilst opening a car door - doh!!

My nails have been going mentally over the past few weeks & so I've been sporting lovely summery colours but this will have to stop for a couple of weeks until the break grows out. You can see from the fuzzy picture on the left that my nail was quite long but broken almost halfway down (ouch!) & then on the right - the morning after, no nail varnish, much less fingernail.

Life will go on as usual though & you won't hear me complain as it's been superglued together to stop me ripping the rest of my nail off....

I have been knitting as well. I've nearly finished my Central Park Hoodie & am on my first sleeve so I will have it finished in time for the winter definately. And below is a picture of my Greta - a moss stitch turban from Let's Knit magazine.

It's a very quick knit even though it's quite long but look at the difference in the pieces!! They were knitted from the same pattern & I thought I'd knitted them identically!! Obviously not!! Never mind, as I've sewn up the seam & it looks okay although I am going to add some more rows to the ends.

Weirdo

2008-05-14T09:26:00.003+01:00

We went to see The Charlatans last night at Bristol Academy, which is a fab venue as it's fairly small & the stage runs horizontally long rather than deep so you feel near the front pretty much wherever you are. This is a major bonus if you're 5'2"!!

The Charlatans were fab as usual - I think I've seen them about 10 times, I know that sounds like a lot but they play the Academy on every tour, so it's not that hard to manage to get down to the centre to see them. Tim Burgess looked good, like he'd lost weight which sounds mean but he had little hip bumps which put me off my dancing!

It was a funny gig because it hadn't sold out & so it kind of felt like a school disco as there was plenty of space to dance around in.

I don't have any photos or clips because I know I was there & don't need a crappy mobile picture to remind that I was or prove to anyone that I was but I'm sure there'll be clips on YouTube as there seemed to be a forest of mobiles.

Good news on the kitty front!

2008-05-12T16:29:00.003+01:00

Hurrah - both the kitties are feeling much, much better! Millie is back to her usual self, which means walking round the house, shouting for attention & Alan's nose is healing nicely although he's going to have a wicked scar.

Let's have a lovely tulip pic to celebrate, which I actually grew as well.

Poorly cats

2008-05-05T14:49:00.003+01:00

Both my cats are poorly & we don't really know why or what's happened!

Alan, who is a simple, timid boy has come in with what looks like a burn on his nose. Honestly, he is scared of his own shadow so I don't think anyone has burnt his nose but maybe he's sniffed something & got burnt. Although it looks awful he seems okay in himself.

Millie on the other hand is definately unwell. So that meant a trip to the vet & she's lost about a third of her body weight & has ulcers on her tongue so isn't eating. She's just sleeping & drooling & as her tongue is sore, she can't wash herself so you can imagine she's feeling really sorry for herself.

We think that they both might have got some concrete or lime or something on themselves & then licked it or something. I'm sure they'll both be fine so watch this space....

All change

2008-05-02T10:12:00.007+01:00

Before I really start I'm going to say that I love my scooter - it's the absolutely best thing in the world. I've had a scooter now for about 9 years & it's fabulous for getting around in Bristol as traffic here is a nightmare.

This is my scooter & very lovely it is too! It's a 200cc Vespa so I actually do have my full bike licence even if my bike is automatic.

But today I took it in to be resprayed. I am so excited about it because I have to say that this dark grey really isn't me but because I bought it when the GTs where first released there weren't many colours, at least it's slightly metallic...

It also means that these stupid little dints & scrapes will be gone. I'm not going to say what colour it's going to be, you'll just have to wait & see! Oh yeah, the other one's my husband's!

Happy St George's Day

2008-04-23T14:30:00.002+01:00

So a little part of Bishopston is feeling proud to be English today!!

Euromillionaire!

2008-04-19T15:47:00.001+01:00

I won on EuroMillions last night!!

Alas it was not the £44 million top prize (what, you actually think I'd be blogging now if I had!!) but a massive £5.50!! It was a profit on the cost of my ticket so I cam very, very pleased.

Where did the year go??!!

2008-04-17T13:00:00.003+01:00

Wow - where has the year gone? It's already April & I've been a bit rubbish at updating my blog although I have actually been doing things without telling you about them.

So, I'll start with the knitting that I'm doing at the moment. I've been working on my Central Park Hoodie with James C Brett Aran with Wool, it's going well. The pattern is fairly straight forward & the yarn is lovely to knit with.

I've started & finished a pair of socks for my husband. These were knitted in Kaffe Fassett's designs for Regia Sock Yarn in Mirage Fog. They have a unique 'design feature' - for some reason I put the decreases for the gusset in the wrong place. It seems that it's okay & has worked as I just couldn't bear to rip them back.

And this shows them half finished & I think shows my tattoo off nicely...

My Pomatomus' are resting as I've had a bit of a disaster with them - I did have to rip back about 20 rows as I was losing stitches somewhere. So a brief hiatus for them, back after the CPH I think.

Next post, I'll update you on the other things happening in my life.

Lazy pancakes

2008-02-06T13:05:00.000Z

Well, it was Shrove Tuesday yesterday & I made pancakes. But not just any old pancakes, how lazy as you like pancakes.

I found this in the supermarket, I mean c'mon how hard is it to mix together some flour, eggs & milk!! But you guessed it, I bought it, obviously for market research purposes.

And it made very nice pancakes, which I ate with lemon juice & sugar!!

January Blahs

2008-01-21T14:14:00.000Z

Every January I feel blah and that's the only way I can describe it. It's not really the weather or taking down the Christmas decorations or the fact that it's my birthday but it probably is a combination of all of these.

I always dislike taking down the Christmas tree & lights & feel that everything looks really dreary when they're gone. I suppose I could put up less decorations so that I miss them less but I really doubt that will happen.

And I thnk with regard to my birthday that I feel blah as it's the end of my year & the start of a new one. I think that maybe your energy cycle relates to that so by next week I'll be back to my normal jolly self!!

I have however been keeping busy - we went to see AvP-R yesterday which was much, much better than the first AVP, I enjoyed it & have always been an Alien/Predator fan.

I've finished an baby jacket for a friend. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern, in Patons Washed Haze with the cutest button from House of Fraser.

Auspicious start to the year

2008-01-02T16:26:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a fab New Year's Eve, we had some great fireworks & we might have seen some aliens or maybe they were flares that someone else had let off - who knows??

Today hasn't been the best start to the year as I woke myself up during the night moving my dressing table across the room, I vaguely remember searching for something behind it. Then my alarm clock went off an hour early except it wasn't an hour early because I'd managed to put the time an hour forward during the night. I guess the rest of the year is going to be an improvement on that & let's be honest if that's the worst my year gets, I'm very lucky :)

I've been organising my stash over the past couple of days & updating my Ravelry profile to show my stash, so if you're on Ravelry, take a look.

I seem to have got a bit carried away with the purpley shades, so I'm probably going to exchange the Denim Aran for a more bluey-grey shade.

End of the year

2007-12-31T17:45:00.000Z

Well, that's it, almost another year over & done with - I wonder where the time goes as it doesn't seem like a year could have gone by so quickly?!

I thought I'd finish by showing you what's on my needles & I'm hoping to have finished fairly soon.

The purple item is a Rowan pattern - Nell by Martin Storey, it was a free pattern with Simply Knitting. However, progress on that is at a standstill as I broke my needle, well, I broke the joining cable of my circ, which is pretty disastrous!! And actually, the picture with the broken needle shows the colour a bit better - it's in between both those pictures, a very dark purple.

Then there's my Pomatomus' which are looking pretty good even if I say so myself. I thought they would be harder than they are as the pattern is charted & I've never knitted from a chart before but it seems to be going okay. I only cast them on 2 days ago so I'm pleased with them - the pattern & yarn.

The only thing left to say now is Happy New Year & here's to 2008!!

I am Legend

2007-12-27T15:49:00.000Z

I've had a lovely Christmas which I spent with my husband & cats, eating & sleeping. And on Boxing Day we visited our friends & enjoyed a great day with them & today to round things off nicely, we went to the cinema to see I Am Legend.

I enjoyed the film, it was creepy, not enough of the monsters though & yeah, it had a Hollywood ending but by goodness, the book is bleak & depressing, so I liked the change at the end of the film. Here's the game from the site. I think it's quite hard as the time limit is pretty challenging but give it a go & see what you think.

And I finally saw the trailer for Cloverfield at last!! I am so excited about that - I could barely contain myself!!

Christmas Wishes

2007-12-24T12:09:00.001Z

Ta da - this is what I was cooking yesterday, a delicious Christmas ham. I am really pleased with it & it tastes as good as it looks! I would even go as far as to say it's my best one yet!

As it's Christmas Eve at last, Happy Christmas to everyone & a very peaceful 2008, I hope it brings you what you want. And for anyone who is still knitting, this is for you!

Even The Reindeer Are Knitting!

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the land

Every knitter was knitting, quite fast, with both hands.

New socks off the needles hung chimney-side there,

In hopes that they'd dry—just soon enough to wear.
The kitties snuggled purring in warm woolly afghans,

That square by square grew from bits, bobs, and yarn-ends.

And Hubby in his hoodie, and I in knit cap,

Sat desperately knitting, half-done gifts in each lap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

That our pointy sticks poked!

And THAT stopped all our chatter.

To the window we flew as though yarn were on sale

And pulled back the drapes, the view to unveil.
The moon on the gusset of our newly-knit socks

Revealed no holes that anyone might mock;

Just a miniature sleigh, not knitted at all,

And eight tiny reindeer—they were really quite small!
There was a little old knitter, casting on stitches so quick,

That I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick.

(Not my husband, my Nick, though he's a nice dude—

'Twas the REAL St. Knitster, all jolly attitude!)
Each reindeer had yarn and needles a-clicking;

Each was knitting and knitting—because the clock was still ticking!

They'd come here to help, with gift knitting gone wild—

To help with our knitting!—and so we both smiled.
More rapid than lace knitters those coursers they knit;

And The Knitster shouted names that had changed just a bit:
"Now, Cashmere! Now, Cotton!

Now, Llama and Linen!

On Quiviut! On Lambswool!

On, Mohair and Rayon!
To the end of the row! To the last stitch of them all!

Now bind off and cast off and then proudly stand tall!"
The Jolly One stood surveying his team,

As they grafted and backstitched to sew up each seam.

Each piece blocked by magic, and dried in a wink,

And soon every reindeer (each smiling, I think)

Had sweaters and scarves and warm mittens piled high—

And stockings, of course! All were laid nigh.
The knitting was done! Not a stitch out of place!

And St. Knitster looked on, a wide grin on his face.

Then laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

Then we heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight:

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Sandi Wiseheart - Knitting Daily

Christmas Spirit

2007-12-23T14:06:00.000Z

I'm getting in to the Christmas spirit & am going to start cooking Christmassy food in a minute but before I do, I wanted to show you all our Xmas decorations which we've bought from various holidays. I think they're a fab way to remember where you've been.

By the way, Portishead were fab & the new tracks sound pretty good, which is unusual for the first hearing but my goodness, the support band was terrible! I know most bands start off as support for someone & we've seen The Feeling & Razorlight as support but Team Brick was bad & it just reminded us of why we try to miss the support act!!

Early Christmas Present

2007-12-21T14:17:00.000Z

Way back in the summer, I asked my husband if he'd buy me a tattoo for Christmas & I must have asked him whilst he was having a funny five minutes because he actually said Yes!! So, I've waited & waited until yesterday & I went to have my new tattoo. And here's the photos of before & after, with a close up!!

My goodness, it hurt loads & it was only the tattooist, Kamil, being very quick that stopped me fainting!! I'm really pleased with it & can't wait to show it off this summer - look out Bristol!

Glory Box

2007-12-15T16:15:00.000Z

Woohoo - I'm very excited!! I managed to get tickets to see Portishead tonight in Bristol!! The gig was announced last Friday whilst we were rushing off to my sister in law's wedding & promptly 'sold out' within minutes.

After agonising over whether to pay a stupid amount for tickets on Ebay, I decided to call the venue & check for returns, which they don't do BUT the lovely man who answered the phone said very cryptically "Call this number, they may have tickets, they may not" I'll called & lo & behold they had tickets at face value!! Yippee!! So, my words of wisdom for anyone who thinks a gig is sold out are always ring the venue & check because there's always hope.

Whilst I was looking at Ebay yesterday I found 10 reasons this blogger loves to knit socks - I would have to add that buying yarn for socks is relatively cheap & so pick me up for under £10!!

Post wedding blues

2007-12-10T19:16:00.000Z

It's been a perfect weekend - my sister in law got married on Saturday & it was wonderful - pics to follow.

But in recovering today, I found this & it made me giggle!!

Rocking around the Christmas Tree

2007-12-02T17:57:00.000Z

It's been a vile weekend weather-wise but I just don't care as Christmas has arrived in our house.

We went to see Mamma Mia last night & it was absolutely brilliant. It's a real feel good show with songs everyone knows the words to. Admittedly, the story has to stretch a little bit to fit those songs but who cares - the winner takes it all!

Then today we put our Christmas tree & decorations up then settled in to watch It's a Wonderful Life!

Light at the end of the tunnel

2007-11-30T19:03:00.001Z

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

2007-11-29T21:57:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-28T21:54:00.000Z

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

2007-11-27T23:33:00.000Z

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

2007-11-26T22:02:00.001Z

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

2007-11-25T22:22:00.001Z

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

2007-11-24T19:13:00.000Z

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

2007-11-23T21:20:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-22T15:28:00.001Z

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

2007-11-21T23:20:00.000Z

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

2007-11-20T18:26:00.000Z

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

2007-11-19T16:07:00.000Z

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

2007-11-18T17:48:00.000Z

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

2007-11-17T12:09:00.000Z

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

2007-11-16T08:42:00.001Z

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

2007-11-15T16:46:00.000Z

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

2007-11-14T16:31:00.000Z

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

2007-11-13T17:41:00.001Z

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

2007-11-12T17:03:00.000Z

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

2007-11-11T20:49:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-10T21:58:00.000Z

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

2007-11-09T15:28:00.001Z

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

2007-11-09T13:22:00.000Z

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

2007-11-08T09:06:00.001Z

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

2007-11-07T21:57:00.000Z

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

2007-11-06T20:36:00.000Z

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

2007-11-05T21:30:00.000Z

“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....

2007-11-04T17:14:00.000Z

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

2007-11-03T18:17:00.000Z

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

2007-11-02T20:40:00.001Z

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

2007-11-01T11:29:00.000Z

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!

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T16:47:00.000Z

Sometimes I wonder if I should plan things at all. Yesterday I got ready to out to visit some of my companies as it was a lovely day and I could have driven round the Cotswolds and went out of my front door to find.....

I couldn't believe it - how annoying! It's not so bad as it's a company car so it'll get sorted out by someone else but my husband was meant to be driving to Leeds today for a wedding oufit fitting, so he had to get the train instead.

Anyway, as it's Halloween I made the cats dress up in their outfits, which I will let you judge whether they approve of.

I think they both look gorgeous!!

Could do better....

2007-10-29T17:16:00.000Z

That's me - could do better!

So, although I was on holiday for nearly a month touring the North West of America, my blogging has been a bit rubbish & intermittent to say the least. Just to show that I was really away and that I took my knitting along, here's a picture of my husband & I in the Californian redwoods & me knitting in Central Park - yep, both the West & East coast for us this time!!

My New Year resolution (for Nov 1st) is to blog at least once a week and also to learn how to transfer pictures from the camera to PC.

Watch this space!

Stop, drop and roll

2007-07-25T17:27:00.000+01:00

Apart from the fact that the mix was horribly wrong with hardly any vocals, The Bravery were great. Especially as the Thekla is a teeny venue which is completely different from where we saw them last - Madison Square Garden supporting Depeche Mode!

The singer was giving it his all and we just didn't have a clue what he was singing about, I suppose we'll have to wait for the album to actually hear the songs.

Wet weekend

2007-07-23T09:43:00.001+01:00

Well, it's been a really odd weekend.

It rained like mad on all day Friday & locally there has been loads of flooding. My husband was stuck in Swindon for 10 hours. 10 hours!! That's like being in purgatory, I suppose the upside is that he did get home on Friday as he thought he might have to sleep in the station.

The last Harry Potter book came out Saturday & I rushed to the library to get my copy. Obviously, I read it immediately. And yes, it was worth waiting for!!

And then we went to see a film that I was very excited about for two reasons - Transformers. I grew up watching the cartoon before school and loved it then, so this was part of my childhood. Also there was a trailer shown in the US for the new JJ Abrams film, which I was busting to see. BUT as it was a preview of the film, there were no trailers, we even waited right until the end of the trailers to see if was going to be on then but no, no sign of it! Hmph!! Oh, yeah, the film was absolutely enjoyable, the effects are great and the story okay.

Tonight we're off to see The Bravery on a boat - that's right a boat. It always makes me feel a bit queasy for the first 30 minutes and then I seem to forget where I am.

Flying ants

2007-07-19T11:13:00.000+01:00

Urgh! I hate flying ants.

There's always one day a year when they swarm and come out, flopping around on the pavement and flying clumsily around in the air.

They make my skin crawl and creep. I feel myself starting to panic when I see them.

I'll be staying inside today.

no broadband = no blog

2007-07-05T14:30:00.000+01:00

What else can I say?

We've swopped to Sky & our exchange couldn't take it, so we've been net-free for the past few weeks.

Tragic...

Heartache & Heartburn

2007-06-05T09:27:00.000+01:00

We went to see John Shuttleworth last night - http://www.shuttleworths.co.uk/ He's a comedy singer, which sounds dreadful but really isn't and is absolutely hilarious.

He sings about jaspers (wasps!), food and his Y reg car!!

Over the weekend I made a start on my baby knitting, not for me! For South African babies who used to go home wrapped in newspaper.- this is the project http://www.freewebs.com/babypackproject/ As soon as I finsh, I'll put up some pics.

Sock rage

2007-05-28T14:16:00.000+01:00

Finally a knitting post! But it is an angry knitting post!!

My favourite thing to knit is socks - I love them. They are quick, easy & really portable so I can take them wherever I want. In my eyes socks are the perfect knitting project.

So, when I started this pair of socks I thought it may be a small challenge but I'd be okay. How wrong could I be!

Firstly, I couldn't read the pattern & neither could anyone at my knitting group, then I didn't bother swatching as this was my 5th pair of socks & IO knew my size & had to rip back 3.5 inches of knitting as I couldn't get the sock over my ankle.

I managed the wavey edge cast on & a new type of heel - check out the photos.

Next I had to work out how to pick up the pattern again after the heel, I picked it up, ripped it back, picked it up, ripped it back, put it down, phoned a friend, took it to knitting club! And finally decided to just pick up however I liked & hoped for the best.

The good news is that I'm halfway down the foot now but I'm not convinced about the pattern, when I've finished, I'll post some more pics.

Reverend and the Makers

2007-05-22T21:34:00.001+01:00

They ROCKED!!

The gig was great - I thought these were better than the Klaxons even though the venue is pretty ropey.

Watch out for these - I think they'll gonna be big.

PS Photos on their way, Brownies honour.

Out on a school night

2007-05-15T17:19:00.000+01:00

This week is a busy one - we went to see the Klaxons yesterday night and they rocked! http://www.myspace.com/klaxons They were more punky than I thought they would be as they're being hyped as nu-rave but I had a good time.

Although for the first time ever I was soaked by a flying drink - if you can imagine a cartoon of someone having a bucket of water dropped on them - that's what happened. One minute I was standing there, minding my own business, the band came on and then whoosh, soaked wet through!. A lovely young man gave me his sweat band to help dry off the water, which was very sweet but I was dripping wet for the entire gig.

Then tomorrow is knitting night http://www.freewebs.com/bristolknittinggroups/ - this is us! And then we're going to see Reverend and the Makers http://www.myspace.com/reverendmusic on the same night - great!!

I'll let you know how it all goes, with pictures, later in the week

Phew, at last

2007-05-06T10:43:00.000+01:00

Well, I've finally got round to creating my own blog.

I've been thinking about it for about, erm, 18 months. I think quite slowly sometimes - it took my 3 years to decide what tattoo to get.

I'm not really sure why I've created a blog, it's not like my life is super crammed with exciting things but I thought I'd give it a go.

So, let's see what happens...