Knitmedic

The new blog

2009-01-21T21:29:00.000Z

Please come and join me at http://eclecticalmanac.wordpress.com - the new blog is going to be much better, I promise!

2008-09-22T09:33:00.002+01:00

I've decided to reinstate the blog - according to my stats I still get visitors every day, and now that I'm knitting again, I thought I may as well start posting again! Things have changed quite a bit in the year since I last blogged - I've become a mum (the little tyke is asleep just now) and have moved back in with my mother-in-law for the year while I'm off work. I now spend most of my time washing/changing nappies, feeding the baby, knitting and going out for walks or shopping (occasionally with amusing results when the boy wakes up screaming in the middle of a shop).

Re: knitting, I for some reason lost my enthusiasm for it while I was pregnant, probably a combination of working hideous hours and being too tired, and back ache if I sat upright for too long. Besides which, nothing was gonna fit me anyway so there was no point in finishing things. So I am now finishing off projects that have been in hibernation for 6 months or more. Here is #1 - the Twinkle Best Friend Cardigan:
FO: Best Friend Cardigan from Big City Knits
Yarn: 2 skeins Cascade Magnum bought in NY
Needles: 15mm

As you can see, no buttons as yet. I did buy some online but the colour turned out to be royal blue and clashes horribly. It fits well, but the yarn was getting eaten up so fast I was worried I would run out, and so made the sleeves and collar a bit shorter. I also thought it looked better without the bobbles so left them out.

There were a few mistakes as people have pointed out (also in the Chelsea Sweater I started last week) but it is a fun quick knit and fits surprisingly well for something that looks so small. I'm going to buy the buttons at the K&S show in a couple of weeks and will take some photos.

Other UFOs which I am working my way through are Cherry, Clapotis,Thermal and the Cable Luxe Sweater.

1) Cherry - all done except for setting in sleeves and doing buttons. Still doesn't quite fit though, so may end up giving it to my sister (the erstwhile Bikey, who sadly no longer blogs)
2) Clapotis - a few more repeats (I want it really really long - its going to be gorgeous wen its done)
3) Thermal - the killer knit - what possessed me to make a jumper in sock weight yarn? Even so, its all done except for one measly sleeve, I've GOT to finish it after getting so far.
4) Cable Luxe Sweater - gorgeous pattern, gorgeous yarn. I'm using GGH Cumba, which is a really lightweight aran, very soft and light and warm. I knit the whole of the body, but tried to increase the size of the cables down the body - didn't work. As Jughead said, they just looked 'squirmy'. So ripped out the lot up to the yoke and started again - I've got 10" more to go I think but it looks so much better.

It's Ramadan so everyone around me is fasting, but its hard to get the spiritual benefits when you're not fasting and can't get to the mosque in the evenings. By next year he should be in a nice routine (asleep by 7.30!) so I can do more, but then again I'll be working which will be another challenge.

I'm going to blog about craft shopping in London - I've discovered a few gems while out and about. Also I'm starting a dressmaking course in October which is very exciting - not touched my sewing machine in 3 moonths and need a kickstart!

Winter pattern round-up

2007-10-04T08:45:00.001+01:00

There are some amazing new knitting patterns coming out this season, which I'm dying to try. Here are my favourites:

1) Cable Luxe Tunic from Lionbrand

This is a completely brazen knock-off of a lovely Pringle jumper from last winter which caught the eye of many a knitblogger. No-one actually came up with a pattern from what I remember, until this came out. I saw it first on the incredible Posie Gets Cozy blog, and she's knitting it in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I was thinking of either Rowan Pure Wool Aran or some Jaeger Matchmaker Aran that Jannette has on sale in her Ebay shop. The jumper has quite an interesting construction - the cable yoke looks seamless but is knit a different way round to the garter stitch and body and sleeves. So what you do is knit the cable band and seam it at the centre back, then pick up stitches for the body and sleeves, and pick up stitches for the garter yoke. So simple, yet ingenious!

2) Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang

I absolutely loved this, even from the very intriguing first glimpses on the blog. Jug and a couple of others I asked think it looks 'granny' but the few I've seen finished on Ravelry look great, especially in Felted Tweed. I have a whole cone of Jaggerspun Zephyr DK which sits on the shelf and looks at me, willing to be made into this. However, I am quite put off by the number of people knitting this on size 3 needles - after Thermal, never again. Or at least not for a very long time.

3) Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang

Something small, interesting to knit and comfy to wear. That's all I ask. I have some Cashsoft 4ply in the stash in dark purple and beige to make these.

4) Drops Cardigan, according to Flintknits

My goodness this girl is talented. Everything she knits is gorgeous, and I especially love this cardigan - functional, textured, and stylish. I was thinking RYC soft tweed.

5) Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood

This was going to be Mr C's only-getting-one-in-a-lifetime jumper, but maybe he won't be getting even one so far. He does have half a jumper, but as I have sold the remainder of the yarn I think that one is heading for the frog pond. The Cobblestone looks good, but the miles of stocking stitch are definitely putting me off, although it might be the only way of forcing me to master continental knitting, I suppose. I actually bought some dark brown Kilcarra Tweed to knit this, as I was led to believe it was quite soft from other bloggers. But its pretty scratchyand will make my fingers sore when I'm knitting, so I thought I'd rather cut my losses and send it back. Maybe some Cascade 220 or Rowan Pure Wool Aran would be better.

I have some miscellaneous baby things to get on with, as well as my Pomatomus and Clapotis, both of which are in various states of incompleteness.

Btw, am I the last person to discover the wonderful Yarnstorm? She bakes, knits and writes books called 'The Gentle Art of Domesticity', besides having the most gorgeous blog ever. And she made a hot-water bottle cover in the right colours for the publisher of Persephone Books, who hardly anyone else seems to have heard of. Liz Hunt wrote an incredibly mean article about Jane in last Sunday's Telegraph (not a newspaper I buy) but she appears to be one of those embittered, cynical women who ridicule anything the least bit quaint and old-fashioned. Jane will be at I Knit on the 20th of October for a Crafternoon tea, if anyone is interested in coming along.

2007-10-03T05:58:00.000+01:00

I'm heading for a seriously stressful weekend - 3 days on call on an empty stomach! I was on yesterday as well, and while fasting wasn't too much of a problem, it does tend to make me a bit more intolerant of the usual ridiculous referrals to orthopaedics without x-rays, bloods or even a proper clerking by A&E. I even went to the great lengths (for me) of berating an A&E Middle Grade for sending me a patient that needed a cannula put in, which the nurses refused to do. On the other hand, I saw the sweetest old lady yesterday, and when I left she insisted on giving me a kiss on the cheek!

I am also the proud recipient of my first IRIS form - I'm not sure what it stands for, but it's basically an incident reporting form, which is used to report accidents and near-misses. My crime was just that I didn't answer my bleep twice, to put up a drip in a patient who couldn't drink and hadn't had any fluid the whole weekend. Instead of calling someone over the weekend, they had left it until Monday afternoon to be sorted out. The whole thing is a bit complicated and involved, but I think I have managed to prove myself innocent after all, so it should be ok.

Jug and I didn't blog about the Knitting and Stitch Show in Birmingham - that could be because it was a sad disappointment to us. We made the pilgrimage from Manchester only to find a fairly meagre selection of yarn shops and most of those the hippy handspun itchy wool or even worse, squeaky acrylic variety, so we mainly interested ourselves in the workshops. Despite owning a vintage Bernina, I haven't managed to use my vast supplies of embroidery materials yet so regretfully didn't end up buying much at all. I may get a chance to visit the London show instead, which is (from last year's experience) another show altogether. We did see some incredible felted art by Jeanette Appleton (who was very nice to us) - she makes lovely huge abstract landscapes by building up layers of felt in different colours.

On that note, I bought a painting for my flat. i'm not really a pot-of-flowers kind of girl, so I got something a bit more abstract. Unfortunately, Mr C is not at all keen on it. What do you think?

FO: Butterfly

2007-09-26T21:39:00.000+01:00

Pattern: Rowan Butterfly (short version)

Book: Rowan 37

Yarn: Kidsilk Haze in Smoke

Pattern notes: I knit thesecond smallest size, and threaded size 9/0 beads (I think) on to the yarn before I started. I didn't bother with provisionally casting on and then grafting the sides of the edging, but it would probably have been better to have had an extra stocking stitch on either end to make it easier to sew up, as other people have observed.

It fits pretty well after blocking, but after seeing everyone else's Butterflies I'd probably like to knit one in a burgundy non-mohair lace without beads.

Not much else to say that's not been said already, it's a lovely pattern and not really too hard (saying that, it took me three attempts to get the edging right!). I didn't touch it for a couple of months after knitting half of the second side, but picked it up again weekend before last to finish it in time for Jug's Knitsoc stall at the Freshers' Fair. I didn't quite get it done, but it gave me the last push I needed. I still have two straps to do before I can say it's really finished.

2007-09-14T11:28:00.000+01:00

I worked over 90 hours over the past week. Last night, I saw 9 patients in A&E, with broken arms, legs, fingers, wrists, spinal fractures and crush injuries. Before August, I had never done any orthopaedics. What I learned at medical school was negligible, and I was terrified of doing nights. Firstly, because I knew so little, and secondly, because I had no idea what it would be like to essentially be deprived of sleep, or to work completely alone with no support in a specialty you have very limited knowledge of. I dreaded the morning traume meetings, where you sit in the hot seat and present each patient to the consultant, and wait for your management to be picked apart.

I was really fortunate though, in having a couple of nice A&E SHOs on call with me, who I could discuss patients with, and being able to get a couple of hours' rest in between most nights. But I still feel proud that I survived as an Orthopaedic SHO - who would have thought it. And I have ten days off - which is fantastic during Ramadan - I don't remember when I last had such a long break whilst fasting. And Jug and I are off to the Knitting and Stitch Show in Birmingham tomorrow! I think I'd better get some sleep before though.

10 weeks

2007-09-10T13:36:00.000+01:00

Wow has it really been ten weeks? I was heartened to find that I'm still getting visitors to my blog, and thought it would be worth starting up again. To be fair, I've never been so busy in my whole life. I'm so busy, that until last week I didn't even have the energy or will to pick up my knitting needles. I moved house, entertained hosts of visitors, started a new job, learned a whole new specialty of medicine, my sister got married...I think I have enough excuses there. Oh, and my laptop died. The nice people at John Lewis gave me a new motherboard - it pays to keep your receipts.

Anyway, the wedding was lovely (I look horrible in the photos though - so tired!) and the bride and groom are enjoying an extended tour of Turkey. I'm on nights at the moment - funnily enough I have far more free time than I had working normal days, which is not at all what I was expecting. The weekend was much quieter than I thought it would be, to the point I was almost hoping for an interesting admission in A&E! I even managed to get some sleep AND leave on time, compared to the night SHOs in other weeks who have ended up staying til past 12pm (after starting at 8pm the day before). I shouldn't speak too soon though - it's supposed to be worse during the week.

Mr C is away on his MBA residential course - he's really been looking forward to starting the course, although I can't imagine why because the course material looks incredibly dull to me! I decided it would be nice to buy him a shiny new laptop, so I went for the Dell XPS M1330, which research tells me is a good one to go for at the moment. I got the red version (it's so pretty!) and Mr C firmly believes that I am buying it for myself really, and will hand him my scratched up old one in exchange as soon as it arrives.

His next-in-command has just had a baby girl so I have been doing some knitting at last, leaving more UFOs in my wake! It's just in the finishing stages now, so will take a photo and post it as soon as it's done. I've also made a start on Mrs Darcy using Sublime kid mohair, which is going relatively fast (compared to Thermal!).

General Ravelry and Merriment

2007-06-27T22:19:00.000+01:00

Ravelry is a fantastic concept. The very act of documenting all your projects (finished, unfinished, hibernating etc) and the horror that is the stash makes you look full in the face of your crazy obsession and actually take stock to some extent.

For example, I added my Lotus Blossom Tank to My Projects. I spent much of our South Africa trip knitting the thing, and it drove me mad. (And Mr C, he had to keep chanting 'Look up! Look up!' in the car so that I'd actually take in the scenery) I knitted and frogged the first few rows at least 3 times - because I kept twisting it. Then the lace stitch got me. But eventually, I got the hang of it, and it fit, and I finished the knitting part. But then, I couldn't really work out how to seam the arms up without messing the whole thing up, so I just left it. Ravelry made me realise I was being dumb. And so I finished it! After 6 months, it just took 2 days to complete. Here is the FO (and I even wore it to work yesterday):

Knit using South West Trading Company Bamboo, which is my least favourite yarn, I think. It was rough and made my fingers horribly sore after a few days of knitting. It does drape nicely after washing, but is still not beautiful and glossy, like some other bamboo yarns I have seen. Shame really, as I have a whole ball left.

In Spain, I knit my first Pomatomus. The pattern is easy to memorise (with a bit of checking the chart) and it was so MUCH easier to knit with bamboo dpns than the metal knitpicks ones! I'm using the metal ones for the interminable thermal sleeve and they keep slipping out, and you have to grip them to stop them falling out of the stitch as you knit and they are so painfully pointy....on the other hand the takumi needles are very comfortable, strong and have a nice point without stabbing you as you knit. Commiserations to Jughead for losing her Pomatomus, thus forfeiting the competition we were having for the fastest Poms.

Decorating the flat

2007-06-27T22:01:00.000+01:00

I have yet again taken a long leave of absence, mainly because I usually come home from work totally shattered and am not really prepared to apply myself to anything too strenuous. Also, as Mr C will testify, I have become obsessive about interior decorating, and finding things for the flat. I collected some photos in a file (some of which follow) but am frustratingly very limited by lack of space/money and is it really worth all the effort if we're moving in a year? I'm not really sure. But as this may be the only year Mr C and I have living alone, we may as well make the most of it.

We don't have a great solicitor and she's really dragged her feet all the way through, which is why the earliest we'll move is next week. That gives us 3 weeks to get everything ready before we move in! You're all welcome to pitch in! (Jug/Cow - you don't really have a choice in this)

Also congratulations to Bikey for graduating this year! After 3 years (and a year abroad) filled with delightful escapades she finally emerges from the cocoon that is Cambridge. I'm going down this weekend for the garden party and will also meet up with a good friend of mine whose sister just happens to be graduating from the same college. And there's also Esma's wedding to look forward to Sunday - should be fantastic, especially as most of the old uni guard will be coming! Fun!

2007-05-31T21:33:00.000+01:00

I am feeling quite pleased with myself for having swapped a late on call (which means a lie-in - yippee!) for a Saturday..which means I get a day off AND a lie-in, which is too fabulous. Work has been horribly busy, with many new patients just appearing as if from the sky at 5 minutes to 5 every day, who need clerking, blood taken and wounds looking at. We had one poor old lady with terrible rheumatoid arthritis, who had had most of her major joints replaced. Her knee joints had got infected, and were actually coming out through the skin, and now she will have to have both legs amputated at the knee.

We also get our fair share of IV drug users, who use up all the veins in their arms and then try to inject in the groin and end up with infections, heart valve problems, DVTs etc. The main problem we have is that if they can't find their veins, then we most definitely won't be able to..which means blood tests are a nightmare. It's also not the best idea to site an IV line, as its just one long stairway to heaven for them. Mr C's cousin works with IVDUs and has a totally different perspective on them, a more 'helping and healing' approach, you could say. But I say, so this is where my taxes go! Oho!

I have been knitting, although you wouldn't believe it from the stagnant state of the blog. Thermal rather destroys your will to live actually. I have finished the body which I am very proud of, but the sleeves are on dpns and are going veeeeery slowly. I caved in on my shortlived yarn ban and bought the gorgeous Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple pictured below. It is just lustrous. Isn't that a very onomatopaeic word? I bought it from www.dreamweaveryarns.com and they posted super fast and even marked it a gift! And it was super cheap as well. Shame they don't have a better selection though.

Thermal - that much took 2 months! The sleeves will take another two...

Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple

I'm going to blog about pattern and decor websites, which are my latest obsession next. Also my Spain trip - I'm sure it won't be as amazing as the Spain trip with Pink etc, but a holiday is definitely in order after 2 months of vascular surgery.

2007-05-25T16:28:00.000+01:00

I'm on call this afternoon..so far things are very quiet so I'm just hanging out in the mess waiting for something to happen. Jug, Cow and I went to see a recording of QI - the quiz show they have been raving about. Due to an unfortunate anomaly (they tell me) the panel made a lot of off colour jokes, but it was overall a Quite Interesting experience :) Completely different from the 'It's My Life' recording Fudge and a few other fellow mancunians participated in a few years back.

Forgot to say that before we went in, everyone had their bags checked in the queue. All was well until the security folks spotted Cow's ginormous and evil-looking metal knitting needles, at which point all three of us had to surrender all our knitting paraphernalia, as well as the boxed up yarn swift and ball winder they got me for my birthday. The two in combination, by the way, are the best and most clever inventions ever..so simple yet so effective.

I'm going up to Manchester at the weekend - its going to be a busy one - a uni reunion, a visit to Ilva to check out the hype, people coming over and what promises to be a fun night at Pink's, especially for all the young folk. I get to wear my new superstar black sari :)

New beginnings

2007-05-21T22:20:00.000+01:00

Blogging was becoming a bit of a chore so I decided to leave it for a few weeks, and work on Thermal instead. I've also been busy with buying a sweet little flat in Rochester (little really is the word) and then dreaming up ways of making it cool in the style of the flats in this competition. Mr C is being rather damping of my pretentions however, reminding me of unwelcome budget considerations, and the unwisdom of investing lots of money in a flat we will leave in just one year. In the intervening five weeks before we get keys, I have to find ways of getting rid of all the clutter that's gathered over the past two years, as well as getting rid of quite a lot of stash, as there is simply nowhere for it to go in the flat.

Rochester, where we'll be living, is an amazing spot. It completely reconciled me to working in Gillingham, which is frankly a Hole. From our window, by craning your neck you can see the tops of both the cathedral and the castle - admittedly the view is obstructed by a block of flats but what does that matter? Its only five minutes to the high street, which has an absolute glut of secondhand/curiosity shops, restaurants (nearly all of which are bangladeshi/indian, surprisingly) and beautiful old buildings. It would have been nice to have a garden, and to not lug shopping up three flights of stairs, but I'm sure we'll find a way of managing.

I'm now working in surgery - and am surprised to find that I quite enjoy going to theatre. I've only seen two operations so far, but got to assist both times (in a fairly minor way) which was good fun. Maybe I should set my sights a bit higher than the Little GP Practice on the Prairie after all?

2007-04-07T23:43:00.000+01:00

Go Bangladesh! Who knew they would cause such a stir?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/6532691.stm

PS just went to see Amazing Grace with Mr C - a slightly schmaltzy view of Britain's role in abolishing the slave trade but fairly educational nonetheless.

Current projects

2007-04-07T15:58:00.000+01:00

Thermal blogged here

3mm needles ouch!

Rowan Butterfly cami - I've done one side, but haven't been working much on the other side, because I've been doing most of my knitting while travelling and the frill requires some serious concentration. I like this photo though - can you see the nice sparkly beads? It's not been blocked yet so it looks really small, but it will be pretty when it's finished. I saw a complete dress version in Downtown Yarns - I thought the KSH might be too hairy but it was gorgeous!

Best Friend Cardigan from Big City Knits by Twinkle designer Wenlan Chia: This is a super quick knit (especially in comparison to Thermal!). The yarn is Lamb's Pride Burly Spun which is quite nice and soft, but because it's a single ply I think it might end up quite pilly. Mr C hates the colour, which is called 'lemon drop' so this could be a nice cozy gift (Jug?) for someone. I'm making the medium, without bobbles and so far it seems straightforward. The size is actually fine (i'm a US4-6/UK 10) and I could probably have got away with the small size. Some people have said they're confused about which side the buttonhole should be on. Mine are on the right but then so are the ones on most of my cardigans so I'm quite happy to leave it as it is.

The photos below are from one day's knitting only!

2007-04-07T11:55:00.000+01:00

I really should update more often. By the time I get round to writing stuff up, its old hat - but never mind here goes:

New York (in pictures):

We stayed with my aunt and she has the most beautiful (and well-behaved!) baby. I bought my Nikon D40 as soon as we got there and took lots of photos of him.

We walked from the Rockefeller Center to Times Square at midnight, with the baby. The ice rink was closed because there was a private party going on and as we walked we noticed the street was lined with limos! We also stopped to eat some 'authentic New York pizza' - the place was run by Egyptians.

We went to the West Village and happened upon the Magnolia Bakery - they had these scrumptious looking cupcakes on display and we had to buy some. It was a bit messy, but worth it.

We did a yarn store trawl and this was the only one I managed to photograph properly - Brooklyn General. I'm going to do a review of the shops I went to later. This place was lovely - HUGE compared to the ones in Manhattan, and not just yarn - beautiful fabric and notions, friendly staff, vintage bits and pieces and lots of nice gifty things. Me and Jug spent ages in there. In fact Brooklyn in general was really fun, lots of boutiques and interesting cafes and shops.

Nasim's wedding:

Mr C's cousin got married! Congrats to the happy couple. It was a gorgeous day and a really nice venue. The photographer wanted to take a shot of the boys pretending to throw Nasim in the fountain in front of the hall. I got back from New York and on the same day it was the Nikah, the next day the mehndi and the day after the wedding. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all.

My new job:

From August I will be based at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent. Kent is supposed to be the 'Garden of England', but I think the Medway area is more like the compost heap. Chatham, about 5 minutes down the road, is apparently the origin of the term 'chav', but on the brighter side we might end up staying in Rochester, which is supposed to be a pretty Dickensian town complete with castle and cathedral. We should be going down at some point this weekend so I will let you know. The job itself shouldn't be too bad - orthopaedics (I'd better learn all my bones finally!), A&E and paediatrics.

I've been doing some knitting too - will post about it soon. Also have a look at my flickr photos - blogger compresses the photos so they don't look as good - anyone know how to fix this?

2007-03-24T03:17:00.000Z

We've been in New York for the past two days, and have mainly been spending time with our new scrumptiously fat little cousin and ticking off our many compulsory purchases while stateside. We all set out, baby cousin included, to Ellis Island but when we got off the metro it was pouring with rain. We spent most of the day with wet feet and our pictures were a bit on the dreary side, but it was still a bit surreal seeing the Great Symbol of freedom in person. In the end we wimpily opted out of further sightseeing for the comfort of new dry socks and went home.

My poor aunt has been inundated with parcels which I ordered while back at home. In fact I myself am a little overwhelmed by the vast amount of yarn I accumulated - it IS mainly knitpicks and thus bargain basement prices, but even so. You'll see what I mean soon. And tomorrow we are planning to visit Purl, who knows what excesses so great a temptation will lead to.

In unrelated news, I have no job and may end up in East Angular or some such place..most likely Gillingham in Kent, if I can persuade the deanery I must be within commuting distance of London. Which I do need to be, if Mr C and I are not to be torn asunder. The other options are unthinkable - Plymouth, Cornwall, Jersey and the Isle of Wight.

2007-03-12T19:30:00.000Z

I can't wait until I get my DSLR! Am trying to decide between a D40 and a D40x (if it's out by next week) - I've been playing with my sister-in-law's D50 and I love it..my photos turn out a hundred times better and I don't even know how to use any of the functions yet! And luckily, my Wollmeise parcel arrived today, providing great photo opportunities...This yarn is just so beautiful I feel like it would be wrong to wind it into a ball...

sock yarn

tiny and very cute samplers

More photos on Flickr. I feel like I've been at work forever, which I have almost - I've put in 48 hours since Friday morning! Working on a weekend is always a bit strange, because the hospital is eerily empty, especially at night. I got some interesting calls - there was one poor man who managed to fracture his hip when he lost his balance on the way back from the toilet, and a really brave lady who was dying but with immense dignity and patience. On Friday I was called to see a man who was threatening to jump out of the window, and it turned out that it was a patient I had seen over Christmas who had been given an antidepressant which unfortunately had the effect of making him incredibly anxious. I spent a lot of time talking to him and his family, who for some reason had remembered me as their 'nice little doctor' from the previous admission...it's amazing how a small encounter can really make a difference to people when they're sick.

Mr C bought me some flowers on Friday, which was a very nice surprise. I tried to get a picture but the DSLR was making my eyes go funny so I didn't persist for too long.

Knittingwise, Forecast is finished and the photo is below, full post on the KAL (I'll link later). Unfortunately the weather is just too good at the moment to wear it! I'm halfway through the Butterfly front, and am working on the LMKG Child's Placket-Neck Sweater for my cousin in NY, which needs to be finished by Friday. Will post them all once they're done..but for now I'd better get on with knitting them.

and PS. Kudos to Jug and Fudge for their production at the Royal Exchange. Pictures please?

2007-03-12T09:48:00.000Z

I failed again!! 5 minors and 1 major, which was going over a crossing when people had started walking on the other side of the road. I do realise that this is an Unforgiveable Sin in the eyes of most driving instructors so knew I failed, but it's still a disappointment. I had a vision of being 'surprised' by Mr C with a shiny new car on my return from New York but it is not to be.

Proper blog later.

2007-03-02T08:35:00.000Z

I'm in at work half an hour early today, trying to make reparations for the small oversight of forgetting the consultant's post take ward round yesterday. I was supposed to be in at 8am to see all the new patients, but instead I was battling with the wretched Butterfly pattern (it happened to be the only day in weeks I was actually up at 6 as well). She was, as expected, practically foaming at the mouth and proclaimed that she was 'absolutely furious' and basically told me to get out of her sight, which is always nice first thing in the morning.

What made things worse is that I thought I had lost the assessment form she had done for me last week, and if I had to ask her again it would have been less than glowing. Thankfully I found it at home - I was contemplating going through the recycling bin in the office this morning but I see the bag's been changed anyway so it would have been lost forever.

Just finished reading Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. I highly recommend it - I think it would be a great period drama as well if the BBC could be persuaded. The fact that the eponymous Arthur was actually Conan Doyle escaped me for the first forty pages but I got there in the end. I also went to see Music and Lyrics with Pink and Dazey last night which was pretty funny, despite the very disturbing Cora character.

The Forecast sleeves are finished - i just need to figure out how to seam them properly! My first attempt was definitely dodgy, and after spending weeks knitting I'm not going to ruin it with poor finishing.

I am also no longer NIPSA on Flickr! NIPSA is the Flickr equivalent of being a social reject. Your photos don't even show up in searches. I can't imagine why they did this to me...makes me feel just like George must have. Please click on my flickr badge at some point, and check my photos out.

2007-02-18T17:25:00.000Z

Take a look at my new shoes (courtesy of Mr C). They are completely delicious, but totally impractical.

Note the heel! 4" skyscrapers

Only problem is that they hurt, quite a lot. How much pain is too much?

Etsy

2007-02-16T10:51:00.000Z

Etsy is bad. But also completely wonderful. I just placed an order for the most beautiful things in the whole world, all handmade by the lovely etsy sellers. Jug and I are planning to set up an Etsy shop soon, we just need to get our ideas in order and make some beautiful things now. I bought some stuff from the Etsy version of One Good Bumblebee and some absolutely gorgeous roving, as I really want to try spinning in the near future. I might just venture out to the Handweavers Studio and see if I can get a drop spindle to try it out. I can't wait!

I've been enjoying my lovely annual leave (imagine! being paid for taking holidays..how ingenious) and have been doing not very much really. I've been knitting a bit, surfing a bit, and kind of sort of doing some exercise for a change. Although exercise is somewhat pointless if your sister-in-law brings back Cinnabons from her trip to Dubai! Went to my Arabic class yesterday, and I'm quite sure that I've actually regressed rather than improving over the past couple of months..maybe I just hate grammar.

The knitting group has slightly fallen by the wayside, maybe that's because the alternate weeks thing needs a bit of thought. It might be better to have it the frst Wednesday of the month or something similar, so that people know it will definitely be on when they turn up rather than wondering whether it is or isnt on that particular week. Next week it's definitely on and I will be spreading the word!

Enough internet now, my back hurts. That stupid Etsy!

2007-02-11T15:45:00.000Z

This week I:

- booked tickets to New York - I love Delta airlines! Not only are the tickets a bargain, but you also get an unbelievable 45kg weight limit EACH..and I am going with two sisters and my mum :) Only six weeks to go...(which reminds me, must check my passport)

- went from this...

...to this.

- finished the body of Forecast which is looking great! I'm a bit worried I'll run out of yarn though, which would be a bit of a pain as I probably won't be able to match the dyelot again..I knit the bottom ribbing using 5mm needles instead of 3.5mm as suggested, partly in an attempt to use less yarn! It still needs some blocking though.

- knit furiously to try and finish a scarf that Mr C's granddad (known as Nana) asked for. It's made with DB Cashmerino Superchunky and he specified that it had to be 9 inches wide and 'tight weave' so is being knit on 7mm needles...the pattern is from someone's blog but I can't remember who! I think Yarnharlot.

- discovered the true horrifying madness of my stash (some of which is being sold off to make room for stuff from NY):

2007-02-01T14:22:00.000Z

What a morning! Got up slightly late (7.45am, usually leave the house at 10 past 8) and decided I would take my time and catch the later tram. The trams were delayed anyway, so I decided I was going to make some progress on my second Slip up Sock which I started yesterday. Got on the tram, carried on knitting. Got to East Croydon, looked up, then continued knitting. Took the finished first sock from my bag to admire it and compare with the second, then put it down only to realise the tram had started going BACKWARDS, so I was basically back on my way home again. Of course I got off in a big hurry, leaving the finished sock I know not where, only realising about fifteen minutes later when I was on a different tram.

Obviously there are many other things of far greater intrinsic value that I could have lost, for example my phone, PDA, stethoscope or purse. But it's still very very annoying to lose that damned sock! It was the first one I ever knit! And also its far too embarrassing to ring up Tramlink lost property and ask them if they've found a sock! I just about managed to send them an email, but I simply will not talk to a real live person about it, to have them laugh at my loss would be just too much.

So I was late to work, minus sock, and I've just found out that my lovely projected trip to Spain/Morocco in March is now off because I can't get annual leave at the same time as Mr C. Life is hard.

Edit: since then, I found out I failed the pharmacy exam for the THIRD time (!) and will have to resit it again...and by far the most enjoyable event of the day - I was taking blood from a patient using a butterfly needle and after much gentle persuasion and coaxing we managed to a) convince him to let us take blood ('what is this a punishment for? what did I do to deserve this?') and b) take the blood (it was really difficult). I pulled back on the syringe plunger and the stupid thing popped right out, so all the blood went all over me! All down my scarf and trousers...I was covered in it. It's amazing how much mess 5mls of blood can make. Spent the next half an hour washing it all out and am now sitting in damp clothes.

Too much ambition

2007-01-30T16:25:00.000Z

Any html/xml whizzes out there? I can't figure out why my sidebar drops down to the bottom of the page! And so much love and attention I put into creating all the buttons too. I've decided I like new Blogger after all - so much easier to add in page elements! I have the best brains over at Blogcrowds working on it, but any help in the meanwhile would be appreciated.

I failed another driving test. This time I got 18 faults! I honestly don't even know why - I thought it all went pretty well, and the one thing I thought he was going to fail me on he didn't mark me on. Anyway, I've decided that 2 crem forms = 1 driving test from now on, that way I feel a little bit better about it.

Also, anyone want to buy me a DSLR? I really really want one, now I've seen how beautiful everyone else's photos (on flickr) are! It's such a trial trying to get good at everything - knitting, crochet, sewing, driving and now photography..where will it end?

2007-01-26T20:38:00.000Z

Just spent several very frustrating hours trying to change my template over to a very swish new one I found..but it doesn't seem to like blogger beta very much! Makes me wish I hadn't switched over..I can't find a way of switching back so I'm a bit stuck.

Good news
- someone has posted on the Kidsilk-along blog!
- it's Friday and the hateful working week is over (although I'm going to be examining medical students tomorrow from 9am for a mock osce)
-I'm back to where I was on Forecast before I frogged it

Lindsey tagged me for a meme - also my first one :) So here are six weird things you didn't want to know about me:

1. I HAVE to have lipbalm with me wherever I go - if I forget it at home, I have to buy some, no matter what. Or resort to bizarre alternatives, which I won't go into.
2. Knitting (this is seriously weird in my world) People do a major double take when they see me knitting on the ward!
3. I am allergic to my alpaca cardigan (not knitted by myself sadly) - I couldn't work out why I was getting so wheezy all of a sudden until I took it off when I was out at dinner one night and recovered..but I still wear it anyway, it's lovely and warm
4.Speaking of which, I am always cold. In Winter I have to have 2 jumpers and a winter coat on at all times, and I keep the jumpers on indoors!
5. I had FIVE wedding receptions and 3 pre-wedding parties! Including the infamous pink-and-black party..
6. I read the Amityville Horror when I was seven, and every paranormal book I could find (I mean I knew about doppelgangers)

I think that is definitely enough to go on with.

I tag Pink, Cow, Jug, Mr C, Fudge and Dazey! (Although strictly speaking Mr C doesn't knit, but how else can I convince him to post?)

2007-01-24T21:51:00.000Z

Snowscene at the tram stop yesterday

All of a sudden I'm half way through my house officer job and it's time for FY2 (foundation year 2) applications! In fact the deadline is next Thursday! It's complete nonsense though, e.g. one of the questions is give an example of when teamwork has broken down and what you have learned from the experience, and so on. I really don't see how this can be used to decide our futures, even for one year. I'm going to try and stay in London, even though supposedly I should be applying to darkest Kent and Sussex as I've already spent this year in London.

I failed a driving test last Monday. After HUNDREDS of lessons, I was convinced I would be fine on my test, even though I was actually more nervous than I usually am for exams. On the day, I did all my manoeuvres beautifully but got a couple of majors..erm by accidentally putting the car into reverse instead of first gear at the lights! I was hoping the examiner hadn't noticed a small thing like that, especially as it was only a second before I realised, but he was a real tough cookie. I've got another one coming up, so I hope I pass this time inshallah. Especially as my instructor charged me £75 for one lesson and use of her car during my test last time!

I cooked ebi chilli men from the Wagamama cookbook yesterday, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! Almost like the restaurant version, it could probably have done with more chilli though. I had a horror movie moment halfway, when I put the homemade chilli sauce in the blender, and hadn't sealed the top properly - not only was it very red, it was boiling hot, so I was painfully scalded (thankfully recovered now) AND had a huge mess to clear up! We were in Brighton last weekend and had a really nice thai meal and now I'm quite tempted to have a go at making a red curry, if I can find a decent recipe - any recommendations?

Also, I have just discovered Bloglines - I'm a bit late to the party but it is just brilliant! If you read more than 3 blogs regularly than it's definitely worth subscribing (it's free). You subscribe to all the feeds you're interested in and every time a new post appears on each blog you can read it in Bloglines.

PS My post about Forecast is here

2007-01-14T08:51:00.000Z

I have had my first taste of today's litiginous (if that's the word I want) society and how its likely to affect me as a medic. Every day at work, we have a handover meeting at 9 which is attended by all the Elderly Care doctors from consultants down to house officers. At the beginning, one of the consultants announced that she wanted everyone to look at a drug chart she was about to pass round and could whoever prescribed the lorazepam own up. Horrifyingly, it was me - and I was asked to see her afterwards in her office, while everyone sat in tense silence..It was a prescription from a night shift a month ago, so I couldn't even remember the circumstances - maybe the dose was wrong? I had no idea.

So anyway, she called me into her office and then told me (in a nice way) that she had received a formal complaint from the family about the prescription and that I had written nothing in the notes to say why it had been written, and that if I ended up in court one day it would be completely indefensible. It was an extremely unpleasant way to start the day, and not something I'm likely to forget too quickly! When on nights, nurses often shove drug charts under your nose and you just write things up without thinking. I had had the impression sedatives could be written up much like paracetamol and the like, but this clearly wasn't the case. So rom now on, there will be no more shortcuts! Another of the consultants who I have been working with recently came up to me afterwards and very kindly said it was a minor mistake and that he thought I was a very good doctor from what he had seen, which was reassuring.

Otherwise, I have been getting on with knitting Forecast, which I will post about later. It is just beautiful so far! I also went to see Last King of Scotland with Mr C, apart from some gratuitous dodginess it was an excellent portrayal of Idi Amin and the atrocities in Uganda - Forrest Whittaker is an incredible actor! The storyline with the Scottish doctor is a bit improbable but it's so well done that you can see how it could have happened. Mr C is an education - I would never have thought to watch a film like that if it wasn't for him!

Projects and plans for 2007

2007-01-02T18:02:00.000Z

This year I decided to make a list of all the things I aim to do during the year.
1. Arabic - I'm doing the Ibn Jabal Intermediate course at SOAS and have forgotten everything I have ever learned, so look like an absolute dunce in the class. Which is very embarrasing, as the teacher is my cousin's brother-in-law. Besides which, I'm always incredibly tired after work so am struggling to stay awake during the lesson. I'm planning to catch up before class starts again next week, and actually gain something from the teaching for the second half of the course!

2. Embroidery - my City and Guilds course, which I started with such enthusiasm, has fallen by the wayside somewhat, so I really need to concentrate and get the first few chapters done so I can get to the actual embroidery part. I am also hampered by having a very basic plasticky sewing machine which won't do anything I want it to (and it's not me because I was doing fine on the weekend course I did at City Lit a few weeks ago) I really want this Bernina machine although it is really just a jumped-up school sewing machine, so I am loath to spend that much money on it (£425!).

3. Cooking - I have a vast cookbook collection, and love all of them like brothers, but never seem to get round to the actual cooking part, apart from the odd cake now and then when we have relatives over. So I plan to start cooking more regularly and learning all the old bengali favourites like biryani etc, as well as cooking from all the amazing books I have, like the Wagamama cookbook, Arabesque and Mangoes and Curry leaves (which is the most beautiful recipe book ever by the way)

4. Knitting
Specifically, I plan to make the following:

This lovely wrapover cardigan from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2006. I would have made it in the colours they suggested but I can't find them, so maybe a more practical grey and plum or something.
Gemma, from one of the Rowan magazines. I am making it in black Rowan Calmer and a dull mauve 4ply cotton called Ardour, just because a nice Ebay seller included a ball as a freebie when she sent me the stuff I bought, and I only needed to buy three more :)

Cherry by Amelia of My Fashionable Life. I'm going to make it in Debbie Bliss Cathay in a nice silvery grey, although I've seen a really pretty version in purple as well.
Birch Shawl - another Rowan pattern. I will be making it in KSH in Smoke, which is a medium grey. This version is by Sweetgeorgia

Forecast from Knitty. I joined the knitalong - my first one! I'm doing mine in a forest green. I love this pattern - I will be making this next as soon as I have finished the Louisa Harding Cable cardigan I'm making.

I'm planning a lot of other things too, including Jaywalker socks, gloves, the anthropologie inspired capelet, the Stitch Diva Simple Knitted bodice and a Leaf Lace Shawl but we'll see how I get on. I should mention I already have yarn for all of the above except the wrapover cardigan! So no more yarn for me for a while.

5. Crochet - at least learn how and make a few simple things. I'd love to make Short and Sweet from SnB Happy Hooker but it's probably ambitious at the moment. I did learn how to do shell stitch the other day which I'm quite proud of so maybe it's not all hopeless.

6. Health - I used my juicer for the first time yesterday! It's been sitting around for weeks - it all seemed too daunting. But the juice was good and I ate more fruit than I usually get down me in a week, so I'm planning to keep up with it. Probably not in the mornings though, as it took me forty minutes to prepare the fruit, juice it all and then clean everything up again! I should start doing some exercise too..going to see Swan Lake has inspired me to find my New York City Ballet again :)

Knitting for a change

2006-12-23T18:40:00.000Z

Emel is out! Apart from one unfortunate picture of me, I'm very happy with the whole feature, and hope that if you've read the article and arrived here, you'll try it out. The listings at the back of the magazine say alternate Tuesdays but it's actually Wednesdays.

I've been doing quite a bit of knitting, but not much blogging about it as there has been far too much going on lately, what with being on call and other joyous news which I will reveal when I get the go ahead...

First up, the Lotus Blossom Tank:

This has been knit by lots of people in Blogland, and has it's own knitalong which I isilo'd and put on my PDA to take to South Africa. It was really useful, as the pattern sizing was a bit problematic, as well as being too short. After several incredibly frustrating false starts, including twisting the round (twice!) i got underway nicely during all the long drives in Cape Town. Mr C got fairly frustrated, as I was trying to work out the pattern instead of taking in the scenery.

Anyway, this is how far I got in S.A. :
Actually, I got onto the stocking stitch section, but you can see all the lotus blossoms/alien heads popping out there. I've forgotten what modifications I made now, but I think I cast on 120 stitches and then increased a bit when I got to the stocking stitch. You can see the lace pattern more clearly in this photo:

I still can't figure out how to seam it properly because the shoulders are decreased to a point which you then sew on to the front - my finishing isn't the neatest and I worked hard on this so I want it to be perfect! Any ideas?

It's actually a nicer red than in the photos - not pillar box red but brighter than in the photos. I had a whole ball of the yarn left (SWTC bamboo in fiery red) so decided I may as well make sleeves. It's just getting quite boring now though - and my knitting is starting to look sloppy as I'm working on double pointed needles. Anyway, it should all be over soon so I can get onto more fun things.

Mr C in his hat from Morocco (not knitted by me) and his lovely, cuddly Rowan Plaid Irish Hiking Scarf. I steal it from him sometimes as there is absolutely no itch-factor and it is REALLY warm. The pattern is available online although it's just a basic rib and cable scarf.

Cape Town in Photos

2006-12-05T21:00:00.000Z

I think our Cape Town trip is best summarised in pictures, as I am totally worn out after 2 weeks of being on call nearly every other day.

Boy in Langa township - on the township tour, we encountered local people going about their daily lives, shopping, washing clothes, working etc. This little boy stood outside our car window and just looked at us speculatively, probably finding us as unusual a sight as we found him and his surroundings.

Memorial dedicated to the Guguletu Seven, activists that were killed during the struggle against apartheid. Yet another example of the shocking recent history of South Africa which I only really became aware of on this trip.

An example of the brightly painted houses in the Bo-Kaap district of Cape Town, traditionally a Cape Malay, or Muslim area.

Even the side of the road is beautiful. We stopped on the way to Simonstown at this beautiful spot for a few minutes. Most of the road by the coast is flanked on one side by mountains and on the other by sandy beaches and the sea.

Boulders Bay African penguin colony, near Simonstown. It was a gorgeous day, and it was quite surreal to see so many tiny cartoon-like penguins basking in the sun, almost perfectly still, while we watched from afar. At another spot, we took photos literally face to face with a penguin.

Butterfly in Kirstenbosch Gardens, the first botanical gardens to gain UNESCO World Heritage status.

Ferns in Kirstenbosch garden

2006-11-16T18:39:00.000Z

Cape Town is amazing so far - unfortunately not much time to blog right now, we have better things to do :) Yesterday we went to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years..the journey took around 45 minutes by boat, on a stomach-churningly rocky sea, but was really beautiful. We were shown around the prison by a former inmate, who was there for five years for protesting against the apartheid and who suffered the most horrendous torture. That, and the township tour we went on today, really opened my eyes to the reality of apartheid and the impact it had on millions of people here. It's amazing how much you can miss if you're not paying attention - I was hardly even aware of all this stuff even though it was all in disturbingly-recent times.

Tomorrow we will be going up Table Mountain, which is the highest point in this area so should be able to take some amazing photos if the weather's good. I found an incredible bead shop with all the beads under the sun so will bring some over for those who are interested.

Also South Africa is great for muslims! The tourist information centre in Cape Town actually has a prayer room for muslims, all the main fast food outlets are halal including KFC, Macdonald's etc and there are lots of muslims around..which makes us feel quite at home. This is despite having to always be a bit on the ball with locking doors and parking in safe areas and so on which seems to be part of daily life here. We haven't had any problems so far though alhamdulillah.

Let me know if there is anything particular you want, although so far there hasn't been much I've wanted to buy, as most souvenirs seem to be creepy wooden masks or elephant/lion/giraffe associated items.

First knitting meeting!

2006-11-10T11:53:00.000Z

Thanks everyone who came on Wednesday, it was really good fun :) I don't think there was a lot of teaching going on what with all the cameras flashing continously though..

I got there about 5 minutes late - the journey from the hospital is horrendous, but when I went upstairs (it was held in Barakah near Brick Lane) there was no-one there! But it was ok, it's just that everyone was late as usual. People did trickle in one by one, and eventually we had seven around the table, all set up with needles and wool ready to knit. Dazey, Pink and Eco had all done some already, but we had a complete beginner there (not sure if I should mention by name so I won't) and we were attempting to teach - I forgot how hard it can be to get the hang of it at first :)

Barakah does really good smoothies, and altogether it's a really good venue for the meeting, especially as Thursday evening they have a tafsir class at LMC which Mr C plans to start going to, so I can go home with him. I'm not sure whether we should make it a weekly thing or fortnightly, because I'm also doing the Ibn Jabal arabic class at SOAS on Thursdays. Unfortunately I've forgotten all my grammar so look like a complete dunce in the class :s but hopefully some revision will sort that out.

Off to South Africa tomorrow! I have been abusing the goodwill of my team at work and gone home early the last couple of days but haven't packed properly yet so am planning to disappear yet again. One of our Outreach nurses is South African and she gave me some tips for places to go. I'm a bit concerned about the whole safety aspect and am taking the (slightly paranoid) precaution of taking my own cannulas and needles! Maybe I should take a giving set and some fluids too to leave in the car...

2006-11-07T23:58:00.000Z

I was attempting to crochet some flowers this morning, when Nana walked in and switched on the TV, flicking straight to his favourite Bangla channel. After a few minutes, he got bored and walked off, leaving on some endless infomercial type ad. The next ad that came on got my attention though, it was advertising the miracle product that is Rupa Omri (I think that's what it was called anyway). Here are some of the fantastic testimonials:

"Before no-one would give me a job, but since I started using Rupa Omri, my boss wants me to marry his daughter and has given me a promotion!"

"Now, no-one believes I'm South Indian, after only one month the difference is amazing"

"Before my husband was too embarrassed to take me out because he's fair and i'm dark, but now he takes me out all the time! I feel so beautiful"

And so on. It was absolutely ludicrous, and quite blatantly racist. The idea was, if you aren't fair, you won't get a husband/wife, a job, friends or any respect from society. I was so appalled that when the number flashed up on the screen, I decided to call and give them a piece of my mind. It was a good thing I was so worked up because I was caller number 11 in the queue, as the automated American voice kept telling me. Imagine that - 10 people actually wanted to buy this junk! The wait was only 4 minutes supposedly, but strangely kept getting longer and longer so that after 20 minutes (I ironed my clothes and had tea while waiting) there were somehow seven minutes left. I did plan to put the phone down but then I kept thinking of that poor South Indian bloke (you're South Indian! That's how you LOOK! Deal with it!) and decided that justice had to be done on behalf of all the melanin-challenged of this world.

When I finally got through, some poor woman on the other end was subjected to (what was for me) a tirade about my disgust at Bangla TV showing an ad like that in this day and age, and how it was racist and so on...She was fairly bemused at all this, and attempted to remonstrate with me, pointing out the myriad advantages of the cream and also the 100% money back guarantee. This didn't go down too well with me, and when it came to the point where I demanded the ad be removed from our tv screens, I heard a tiny click on the other end of the phone. And then a dial tone.

It was quite liberating having a hissy fit, being normally a fairly mild-mannered person, especially in such a worthy cause (Pink will remember another occasion in Birchfields Park when I released my Inner Lion). I urge you all to write a letter of complaint to Bangla TV, or better still, call 0800 066 4522 (i think) and have a pop at them yourselves.

City Knitting - new group starting Wednesday!

2006-11-05T21:12:00.000Z

I am forced by circumstances to begin my knitting group before I'm quite ready, but I'm actually quite excited about it now! Please all come along on Wednesday - you will get a free knitted corsage for coming (first ten people only, although I think even that is aspirational), just email me at azmiat@yahoo.co.uk and I will give you venue details etc. The reason the venue isn't quite decided is that the first meeting is going to be photographed for a well known Muslim lifestyle magazine and I think they want some kind of arty venue which hasn't been sorted just yet. It will definitely be in Zone 1 and somewhere easily accessible.

Although there will be a lot of Muslim girls, it is not intended to be exclusive in any way and I would welcome people from all backgrounds, in fact the more diverse the better -I'd like it to be a way of promoting friendships between communities as well..but let's see if anyone turns up first before making any grandiose plans :)

Don't worry if you have no experience, for the first few meetings everything will be provided for you to practise and then you can choose your own pattern and buy your wool and make your own creations.

Finished: Rowan River shawl

2006-10-29T21:57:00.000Z

Finished my Rowan River shawl in time to give my mother-in-law on Eid..unfortunately I had left one of the 7mm needles in Manchester last time I visited and had to wait for Jughead to bring it back to London...so I had to catch up a week's worth of knitting in 2 days! I cast off, washed and blocked the shawl the night before, finishing at 3am..but it looked so much nicer once blocked it was worth it.

Pattern: Rowan Magazine 39 - River Shawl
Needles: 7mm

This pattern was easy enough to follow, but I kept ending up with the wrong number of stitches, which was very annoying. Not being a neurotic perfectionist (or anything like one) I just kept adding or subtracting stitches to get the right number again. I think I got away with it, as the pattern still showed through after blocking. However, a more complicated lace pattern would probably defeat me at this stage!
Here are some pictures:

Ray came over on Friday and we took him to see the Shaolin Monks show at the Peacock Theatre. Some of the stunts were incredible..walking on knives and doing handstands on two fingers..or should that be fingerstands..anyway, highly recommended. I think they've added on a few dates so there's still time to catch it before the season ends.

Yesterday we all went to Eid on the Square, which was a big gathering in Trafalgar Square. The turnout was excellent, and our very own Nazeel was the star performer. He did very well mashallah despite suffering from a cold. It was nice to see his backing singers as well, all familiar faces from Manchester :) Afterwards we had all the blogging world over, including Pink, Dazey, Giddy A, Dentist and Routed! Along with their associated husbands and brothers. Was great to have everyone over finally, after two years of marriage!

Jughead and Cow have discovered the lovely Wool shop in Stockport, I am incredibly jealous of their LYS the lucky things...but I think more yarn is the last thing I need right now anyway :)

seriously disturbing

2006-10-20T11:29:00.000+01:00

This seems to be doing the rounds but click this link for some very freaky knitting...
http://www.yumlum.com/galleries/knitwear/knitwear_art.htm

A Productive Weekend Part III : Stash Enhancement

2006-10-20T07:19:00.000+01:00

Here are the photos of my haul from the K&S Show (see previous post):

New Erike Knight 'Glamour' book, which has some really beautiful and wearable patterns, Vogue Knitting Summer 2006 and Interweave Knits Summer 2006

Dyed wool tops bought by Jughead, she donated some of hers to me

FuseFX fibres (can be melted to bond fabrics, create texture and bond angelina fibres); Angelina (hot fix and normal); Soluble film and Wireform (bad photo sorry!)

Beads from the most amazing bead shop...not quite as great as the one we found in Spain but good value and selection..Pink I got your Eid present from here! But you have to come over if you want it...

Again, not a great photo (I took a better one then deleted by mistake and can't be bothered going back upstairs and getting them all out again). But these were my favourite buys - hand dyed silk habotai, Oliver Twists 'Two of a Kind' hand and machine embroidery threads, Oliver Twists 'One-Offs' in the most beautiful jewel colours and a bag of 'Short Ends'..most of which are perfectly good for embroidery and so a complete bargain at £1.50 only :)

UK alpaca, Lorna's Laces (first purchase - it's absolutely gorgeous! and much softer than the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock I'm using at the moment), Silkwood 4 ply mohair blend.

Close-ups of Lorna's Laces and Silkwood yarn

I think that's everything! Somehow spread out it looks like a lot but I did try and limit myself as much as possible...I worked out it will take me at least a year and a half to get through all the yarn I have so I think it's time for a yarn 'fast'!

I've been approached by a writer for a well known Islamic lifestyle magazine who want to publish an article on knitting..although so far I've mostly been following other people's patterns I thought it would be a good opportunity to knit some simple items e.g. drop stitch scarf, or a felted purse and include the patterns so that people can try things out at home. I'm also planning to set up a club in London so if you're interested just drop me an email (my email address is at the bottom of the blog).

And finally a gratuitous picture of my gorgeous little cousin :) He (yes really) may look sweet but he kicks a mean football...

A Productive Weekend Part II: K&S Show Review

2006-10-17T22:58:00.000+01:00

Jughead and I headed off for the Knitting and Stitch Show bright and early on Saturday morning. Despite waking up at a ridiculous time for a weekend, I managed to make us late and we missed the early train, but still managed to get to Ally Pally within a reasonable amount of time. There were still plenty of people queueing for the shuttle bus from Wood Green station. I was struck by the over-representation of middle-aged middle-class ladies, but I guess that's what you might expect. That doesn't make me one!

There was no queue getting into the exhibition though, which was a relief. The first thing we saw when we got there was this great knitted Ferrari (as modelled by myself):

spinning wheel - just like in Sleeping Beauty!

Gorgeous old Chinese skirt, made by village women who weave and pleat the skirts themselves using ancient techniques. They weave ancestral symbols into the designs and then place them over a bamboo frame and sew all the pleats into position before placing the whole thing in a bamboo steamer until the pleats are set. I saw a silk version of this skirt (above is cotton) and was completely in love...but the price tag put me off being an ex-poor student and all. We spent ages talking to the man who owned the stall, who told us about his travels in China, the Islamic heritage there that he had witnessed, his visits to Rajasthan and his love of textiles from all over the world. It was truly inspiring.

Knitting-wise, there was Rowan, Colinette, Sublime, Fleece Artist, Habu, Cherry Tree Hill, Tilli Thomas, UK alpaca and many other brands. I especially liked Fyberspates and the Silkwood yarns, even though I don't think I would use hand-dyed yarns for big items because the colours jsut form pools. I got some lovely sock yarn though. UK alpaca was great quality stuff and looked very nice knitted up, especially compared to some of the rather rough and ready handspun yarn that was on display. Although I was really there for the knitting, I love textile art as well..I wasn't expecting there to be that much as I read somewhere that there was just loads of cross stitch which is generally very twee and naff..so I ended up buying embroidery supplies too.

Top to bottom: variegated threads; Jughead at her masks for cloth dolls workshop with Barbara Willis; Embroidered Knot Garden by Owen Davies whose workshop I attended - didn't get too far with my garden but gave me some good ideas

I loved Gilda Baron's stall, she is an amazing artist. Have a look at her website it's really cool. In fact I went and bought her book from Amazon and got it today. Her work looks incredibly intricate but when broken down into steps seems doable. I'm going to try out her techniques and see how far I get with them. I also rediscovered by rayon embroidery threads from Morocco ('they're pure silk!' more fool us..but they were good value anyway) and vintage wood pulp and cotton threads I bought in Cornwall which should be put to good use. I also did another workshop on how to use angelina, shiny fibres which you melt with the iron to get all kinds of effects.

There was loads more stuff but it was all 'Do Not Photograph' and 'Do not Touch'. Boo. Some of the graduate pieces were worth a look but to be honest we totally ran out of time what with shopping and workshops. It was a fantastic day though - I think Jug and I will be regulars. Go to the Harrogate show if you get the chance and do all the workshops you can, they are really worthwhile.

Will go to Part III tomorrow: The Stash Enhancement. Also, my new second career!

A Productive Weekend Part I

2006-10-17T22:19:00.000+01:00

My weekend started early, I made a quick exit from work (2pm! apparently all the patients were ill just after I left, but that was the SHO's problem) and met up with Jughead at Victoria. We then headed to Liberty, one of my favourite 'look-but-don't-buy' places in London:

Gorgeous roses and baby pumpkins at Paula Pryke Flowers

Then we found Designer Dentist and Pink and went back to Liberty for more browsing and inspiration. We went to the interiors section and all dreamed of the beautiful houses we will never be able to own at current market prices:

from top to bottom: flocked chandeliers (I couldn't take a better picture for fear of being ignominiously sent out on my ear); metallic lampshade; close-up (sideways) of metallic lampshade which in my fanciful way I imagine looks like mountains and sky and sand; the Christmas shop - just like Santa's grotto!;mohair lace scarf which Jughead plans to make.

After all this excitement, it was time for iftar. We met up with Dazey, and went on to Pizza Hut for some much-needed refuelling. A Muslim girl who was there with a friend offered us each a potato wedge from her plate to break our fasts, a great example of the kind of bond and generosity that Islam creates. We also happened to have a Muslim waiter, who told us we could go and pray Maghrib downstairs. As I have no other photos, here is Pink eating her cheesecake with a knife as the waiter wouldn't bring us any spoons:

Don't kill me, Pink!

It was really nice to meet up with everyone, especially Pink and Dentist as not seen either of them since the wedding! All seems to be going swimmingly in the Dentist household, I am so happy for them both :) and very jealous of Pink going off to Korea to buy everything in sight!

This concludes Part I, the photo uploading is doing me in...but Part II (the Knitting and Stitch Show post) is not to be missed...

Some knitting updates

2006-10-04T13:40:00.001+01:00

I have been doing lots of knitting, mainly on Mr C's Rowan Charley jumper which is a neverending nightmare - I mean I should have known that a man's jumper which takes 14 balls of wool to knit would be tedious in the extreme. It's looking ok, but close-up the stitches don't look very even so it looks a bit 'home-made'..in fact at one point I was thinking of ditching the whole thing and selling off the yarn on Ebay. But I am persevering and hoping it will turn out all right in the end, and if nothing else it will be a nice comfy jumper to wear around the house!

Here are some pictures:

This is about 3 balls of wool's worth of knitting..am now half way through the fourth after as many weeks! I decided to knit in the round to avoid seaming so it feels like it is taking twice as long to make any progress.

Here is a close-up of the cable pattern down the middle, it looks better in the photo above but I think it's quite a cool pattern and is very easy to do.

Mr C's hat, made using a pattern from Stitch'n'Bitch by Debbie Stoller, a gift from the Cow . I made it with Rowan Big Wool and a stripe of Rowan Plaid, which I'm going to use to make a scarf as well. Excuse the less than flattering photo, and please be kind to my poor husband when commenting.

And finally Bikey's Rowan Eowyn erm..sleeves? They aren't really a definable item of clothing but they are very fluffy and pretty and warm. The cabling is v simple and I just changed the lace pattern on the sleeves as the one in the book (Rowan 38 I think) wasn't really working for me.

Modelled by the Elegant Bikey herself :) Apologies for the dodgy photos I am quite ashamed of mine after seeing Sweetgeorgia's pictures, they are well worth a look.

I have enough for another pair but will probably knit in the round to avoid seams..I have some 8mm dpns but they practically make me arthritic as the wool really drags on them so will have to see if i I can pick any up at Alexandra Palace next weekend.

2006-09-29T19:58:00.000+01:00

The first thing that happened today was that I left my bag on the tram. It wasn't until ten minutes later, when I was safely on the bus to work that I realised what had happened, and I ended up ringing Mr C in a 'what should I dooooo?' panic, for which he sensibly advised me to call Tramlink and ask them to look for it. This done, I started thinking about what was in there. My PDA. My stethoscope. A ball of wool. Some bamboo dpns. All completely indispensable! I was gutted, especially when they called back and said that it hadn't turned up.

Then, one of my patients (let's call him Mr W) ended up being very sick - so sick that he had to go to theatre for an operation. Without being too technical, he had perforated his bowel because it had become completely obstructed and overloaded with faeces. I decided to go along with Mr W and watch the procedure - an opportunity to learn something and also reassure him that someone familiar was there. For the first time in my life, I scrubbed up (after much prompting from the very nice theatre nurses) and actually got to assist and see things properly. Unfortunately it was not the nicest task considering what the operation was for - his bowel was full of soft stool which had to all be cleared out. The outcome is also not very optimistic but we're hoping for the best.

My other patients all being well, I didn't do much during the afternoon. Ramadan is going very fast because of work, can't believe a week has gone already. My sis will be coming tomorrow for a few hours and I'm going to see if we can get any other people to join us for iftar, as I haven't seen anyone yet, although we now have Dazey and Pink in London supposedly!

Oh, and happily my bag turned up after all and was sitting patiently waiting for me at Tramlink in Croydon. See, Croydon isn't full of thieves and stabbers after all.

works in progress update

2006-09-25T21:35:00.000+01:00

Ramadan mubarak all :) it came on a bit suddenly, but so far has been good, Mr C and I have been toddling along to Croydon mosque for Tarawih, which is really nice. It gets very hot and stuffy, but the crowd is very multicultural and the recitation is nice. It also happens to be directly opposite to the hospital I work at, which is very handy. Yesterday there was a kerfuffle (spelling?) outside about half way through the prayer, and once there was a break I had a look outside - there was a whole throng of beardies about to start fisticuffs! It was madness, but thank goodness they all went away...Shahab, my co-house officer, tells me this is common practice in Croydon, and can be over the smallest issue. Where is the unity?? Maybe it's a Croydon thing, I certainly haven't seen a disgraceful scene like that in Manchester.

Anyway, other than that it's good. Hospital life has been eventful, but I keep forgetting to blog when the interesting things happen. We have had lots of lovely patients and some mad ones, such as the man who asked for another two glasses of barium (a foul tasting dye given before x-rays) because it improved his digestion. I am trying to avoid work during Ramadan, but if today is typical, that isn't going to be achievable.

So let me update on my works in progress (or just about progressing, in some cases):

Rowan River

This is going to be a present for my mother-in-law, so for goodness' sake don't any of you go telling her. It's quite an easy pattern, but scarves and shawls always get rather boring. The redeeming factor is the gorgeous Kidsilk Night as showcased below.

See isn't it pretty? I want to finish it before Eid so I can give it as a present, so I'm making myself do 10 rows every day. Not done today's yet, so will have to go and do them in a bit. The pattern isn't very obvious without blocking, but it's a zigzag going all the way along the shawl. I'm going to block it to death after knitting so it's nice and wide.

I have lots more stuff to put on but for some reason blogger is not letting me upload any more pictures so I'll try again tomorrow.

Btw much qudos to Jughead for her Knitsoc at Manchester Uni! Get a blog or a website going asap so we can find out what you're doing..and make sure you buy some good magazines and pattern books with your membership money so I can benefit :)

I heart Graham Rawle

2006-09-13T23:12:00.000+01:00

If you get the chance, check this book out (I found a copy at Waterstone's):

It's a graphic novel, and the entire text of the book is made up of words and phrases cut and pasted together from 1960s magazines. It hurts your eyes after a bit, but it all surprisingly makes sense and is a really funny and interesting read.

I haven't got the book with me, but there are some really great lines which I love. The protagonist is a total bimbo but I'm only 20 pages in so not quite sure where it's all going yet.

Graham Rawle's website is worth a look too - is it just my bizarre sense of humour or is this actually quite funny (see below)?

I was thinking of buying one of these Lost Consonant print things, thinking they were a very reasonable £2.00. Of course, they are actually £200 each so I might have to pass.

Coming next: A post about Blythe, my favourite plastic gal pal!

FO: Rowan Clyde from Magazine #38

2006-08-30T20:31:00.000+01:00

I made this gorgeous little bag and took it to Designer Dentist's mehndi at the weekend (congrats on a lovely wedding btw!) - it didn't go with what I was wearing but I wanted to show it off :) It was very easy to knit - I think it was done in a weekend, and it was also an excellent first felting project. Since I started knitting, I've been planning to felt something, but discovered that no-one in the house knew where the washing machine instructions were. Everyone just shoved the clothes in and set the machine to '4', whatever that stood for, and things seemed to come out fine. Anyway, after several fruitless and bootless phone calls and emails to Ariston, I found the manual after all, and successfully felted the bag pieces. This is more than can be said for the R2 Fuzzi Felt clutch I made, which I unsuccessfully tried to dye and felt. Despite supposedly being designed for felting, it came out looking exactly the same as it did going in. I've decided it's just going to have to be a dustcloth instead. Anyway, here are the pictures of the Clyde bag:

...and a more detailed picture of the flowers

Pattern : Clyde from Rowan Magazine #38

Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran, Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply, Kidsilk Haze

Beads were from Ebay (size 8/0 silver lined amethyst seed beads) and fabric for ribbon from John Lewis. If you're in John Lewis on Oxford Street, there's one which has been made up on display and it looks beautiful.

coffee break

2006-08-10T11:40:00.000+01:00

I can't believe this - I actually have a break for the first time in the middle of my working day..what bliss. The past week I have hardly had the time to eat or sit down other than to do paperwork. On Tuesday night I did my first on-call, which was terrifying. My SHO (Senior House Officer) was around until 9pm so that was fine, but from then til 1am I was totally alone, and getting bleeped left right and centre about sick patients! We have one who is a bit loopy and she was trying to assault patients and steal cigarettes from them, so I wrote up some sedation for the first time.

I was having a Venflon (those plastic things that go in your veins so drips can be put up) block during my finals, and was a bit nervous about doing them for real as the doctor..and in fact couldn't get them in until yesterday, when I magically got two in, both first time! Apparently, the trick is to make people think it's their own fault if you can't get them in, by going in and shaking your head and telling them they have bad veins :) so now you know.

Rowan 40

2006-08-06T00:02:00.000+01:00

Checked out the new Rowan magazine today (No. 40) in John Lewis. Nothing really caught my eye except for this beauty:

It's a whole ball gown made of Kid Silk! I'm sure this must be absolutely beautiful in real life, but knitting a whole dress-worth of such fine yarn would be a nightmare. Also, incredibly expensive £7.25 x 28 I think! The magazine photos are even prettier. If someone wants to make me one, they're most welcome. Until then, I'll stick to my current WIPs i.e. Branching Out from Knitty and a request knit from Mr C(my DH)'s grandad - he wants something to keep his legs warm.

2006-08-05T09:55:00.000+01:00

Knit your own digestive system here. I can confirm the pattern is anatomically correct!

Stash check

2006-07-30T22:47:00.000+01:00

Have just been having a deep and meaningful with my sister on MSN about knitting (we acknowledge that we are strange) and have realised my stash is crazy. My problem is, that I go to yarn shops (I have no LYS :( at least, not one which has anything I want to buy) without a clear idea of what I need, so I end up buying a bit of everything I like. And I generally don't like to buy more than one or two skeins of each thing either, which means I can't make anything useful anyway.

More for my reference than anything else, here is a list of my stash as it stands right now:

Noro Kureyon, 2 skeins (one of which is hopelessly tangled), destined to be a My so-called scarf
Colinette mohair, 1 ball, which is part-knitted into a lengthwise feather and fan - 202 stitches casted on! What a nightmare that was..and now I'm not sure I like it
Louisa Harding Impression, 1 skein
Louisa Harding Kimono angora, 1 and a bit skein
Louisa Harding Kimono Ribbon, 2 skeins (yep I like her stuff)
Debbie Bliss Cotton angora, 1 skein
Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, 2 and a bit skeins, maybe for a Brea bag
Rowan Biggy Print, 3 skeins in a nice cherry red
Rowan Big Wool, 1 skein in black for a hat for my DH
Rowan Big Print (I think), 2 skeins for a scarf for my cousin
Rowan Plaid, 2 skeins for a scarf for my DH
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for Fetching, for my sister
R2 Braid, 2 skeins in pink, which I don't really like, maybe I'll dye it black and use it for the strap of my Brea bag
Circo from handpaintedyarn.com, 3 skeins
handpaintedyarn.com 2 skeins laceweight pure wool in Lavender for a Rowan Butterfly (but I only need one I think)
handpaintedyarn.com 1 skein laceweight wool in Lettuce (which needs to be dyed too
handpaintedyarn.com thick and thin wool in Damask, 1 and a bit skein
GGH Soft Kid in lilac, 1 skein
Plissard Pichenette mohair, 1 skein brown and one in jade
Mixed bag of colinette scraps
knitglobal undyed fleece yarn, 1 skein
Cherry Tree Hill supersock, 1 skein, which hasn't come yet
Be Sweet magic balls, not come yet

I think that's it! I have ten weeks to get through it all..

FO: feather and fan scarf (with pattern)

2006-07-30T20:31:00.000+01:00

I have been knitting this scarf forever. I bought 2 skeins of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora in this colourway and a pink (will put up the pictures later) and didn't really know what to do with this one..in the end I decided to try a feather-and-fan scarf thinking that the variegated yarn would be suited to the pattern. It was, but the relatively fine gauge of the yarn meant that it took ages, and it's not the most interesting pattern to follow! I think I ended up doing 60 or so pattern repeats. However, because there was hardly any memorising to do, it was a good knit to do when out and about.

The yarn feels beautiful, and is lovely to knit with, even though it tears very easily - it didn't matter with this pattern but I used it to make some mittens and I had to be really careful when frogging to make sure i didn't destroy the yarn. On the other hand, I didn't need to bother finding my scissors :) I'm not sure I agree with this review though - the angora fibres float around and really got in my nose and throat!

It was also my first attempt at blocking anything, I haven't really needed to before as I haven't tried any lace patterns before. It was really easy to do because the yarn is quite stretchy, and was also only slightly damp after rolling up in a towel. The only thing is I didn't have enough pins. Also will have to warn my DH to watch his step when he comes home!

Anyway, here are the pictures, and a pattern if anyone needs it:

Pattern: Feather and Fan scarf

Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono angora, 2 skeins (70% angora, 25% wool, 5% nylon 25 g / 124 yards)

Needles: Clover (I think) Bamboo needles 5mm

This is a four row repeat pattern
Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: Knit all stitches
Row 3: K2, k2tog 3 times, (yo k1) 6 times, k2tog 6 times, (yo k1) 6 times, k2tog 3 times, k2
Row 4: Knit all stitches

Cast on 40 stitches, then follow 4-row pattern as above until scarf is long enough
Cast off

Being blocked on my bedroom rug

A close-up of the pattern

FO: baby booties

2006-07-30T14:52:00.000+01:00

I was positively yearning to make these baby booties from the first time I saw them in Baby Bloom by Erika Knight, which, by the way, is an excellent book for baby and maternity projects. I found some Patons DK cotton on sale at 75p in Knitwits in Penzance, and finished one booty (how do you spell it in the singular?) the night before we left Cornwall and the other in the car on the way home. They were a quick-ish knit, but a little bit fiddly with all the picking up of stitches. Also, weaving in all the ends and mattress stitching the booties up took almost as long as knitting them!

I think of all the things I have knit so far these seem impress non-knitters the most - now I just need someone to have a baby so I can give them away!

As you can see, they need a bit of pressing and I need to stitch buttons on, but otherwise they are ready to go.

2006-07-29T23:20:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, DH and I took a trip to Cornwall. We stayed here by the way, which was great apart from a few things:
1. It's a new build apartment, therefore not exactly a character-filled cottage
2. There was building work going on next door, which woke us up at 8am every morning
3. The sink! Damn that thing - it blocked even if we poured water down it, and needed plunging all the time
4. It's walking distance to nowhere - you need a car to visit anything
Saying that, the place was still brand spanking new, and a great base for touring Cornwall. We visited Fowey (pronounced 'Foy') which was a really beautiful little village, as well as St. Austell, Mevagissey, Charlestown, Penzance, Malazion, Newquay and Land's End! The best thing was that Cornwall has plenty of yarn shops! I found a very useful list here. The best shops were in Penzance - in fact here are some pics of me standing outside said shops:

Good selection of yarn including some unusual ones like South West Trading and Hipknits, interesting buttons and other bits and pieces. They have lots of swatches knitted up to give you an idea what the yarn looks like too.

Again, good selection, but most things are behind the counter so it's a bit hard to just browse and feel up the yarn (my favourite part!), also this shop sells other crafting things, such as a selection of beads. They also have knitted-up garments, which are expensive-ish, but no more so than you'd expect considering the price-per-skein of some wools, especially Rowan! They have Lana Grossa and (i think) Opal sock yarn kits which would make good gifts.

And I went to a place in Newquay, the Spinning Wheel on the high street. It was ok, but the selection wasn't as great as I thought it would be, mostly Wendy yarn. Saying that, I quite liked the Wendy Pampas yarn, maybe for a simple baby blanket or something, as it's washable and similar in gauge to Rowan Big Wool. The St. Austell wool shop wasn't worth even going into, but I have a suspicion that I didn't go to the right place.

I also went through the charity shops with a fine toothed comb in search of knitting needles, wool and pattern books! I got a great selection of vintage buttons and knitting needles at one charity shop, where they were so pleased to see a young knitter that they let me have 5 pairs of needles for only 5p! Certainly beats the John Lewis price promise. I got this really pretty wool for 20p at a charity shop as well - it's lovely but I definitely think it needs a nice bath before I get to work on it.

I have no idea what its made of, or even what the yardage is, but I'm going to try Branching Out from Knitty with it. I think I have cast on for BO 3 or 4 times with different yarn, but none of them worked out. I think this will be a nice weight and it has a mohair-y fluffiness about it (you can't tell too well in the photo) which should make it quite pretty.

Intro

2006-07-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

After three months of knitting, I have finally got round to starting a knitting blog, and it happens to coincide with the start of my first real job as a doctor. I started knitting properly during my finals, as a way of relieving 'stress' (although I don't think I was putting myself under too much pressure really) and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking up pretty knitting needles in the middle of the night and jumping at noises which might mean that my parents had woken up and were about to catch me!

Now I'm living with my husband in London and am disposing of my already huge stash as fast as I can so I can stock up again at the Knitting and Stitch Show! I've got my ticket already and have sufficiently enthused my little sis to convince her to come along as well.

Anyway, in the next couple of days I will be posting my WIPs and FOs (there are a few already) as well as posting some reviews of yarn I have used and links that I've found useful. Please link my blog if you like it!