Knitmedic

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 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!

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):

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.

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?

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?)

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!

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 :)

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.

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.

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

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.

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...

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.

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 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 :)

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

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...

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...

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!

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.

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...