He shoots!

He scores! he stays..
Thankfully!

Kenwyne Jones scored tonight against Fulham getting us a vital 3 points,taking us to 11th, but that will probably change tomorrow as there's 5 games tomorrow.

Kenwyne had signed a new contract today, rejecting advances from Spurs, much to the relief of all Black Cats fans as he's a tremendous player, fast, energetic, he scores regularly and he plays for the team not just for his own ego (and apparently, according to some people in the Post Office in Durham, where he renewed his car tax, he's very polite too!) .

While following the matches, I continued with J1's hat, picked up the stitches and started with the short row shaping and I also listened to some more back episodes of Stash and Burn. I love listening to Jenny & Nicole - they are so cheerful!

(not so) hard graft

today the cable band was finished and I tackled grafting for the first time. I'm quite pleased with how the cables have joined up in the band.

The instructions for grafting (Kitchener stitch) in Debbie Stoller's "Stitch 'n bitch" were excellent, very clear and understandable for a beginner like me.

I've tried the hat on J1's head and it seems plenty big enough, so now it's time to pick up the stitches around the edge to create the crown.

I find this a slow process as I can't seem to pick up the yarn with the needle and have to use a crochet hook to pull the yarn through the stitch and then pop it on to the needle. I get there in the end, I suppose.

Today I've been listening to Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse read by Mark Nelson, and available free on Librivox. I love it's gentle humour, and Mr Nelson reads it very well.

the best laid plans of mice and men

..gang aft agley..

We had our Burns supper tonight with our kids, with haggis from McSween's, Glen Struan whisky (Appletise for the kids of course!), shortbread and some verses from the Bard himself, only I got the words wrong for the haggis, instead of saying "Great Chieftain of the Pudding Race", I said "Great Pudding of the Chieftain race".
Oh the shame!

Happy 250th Birthday anyway Rabbie, yer no' lookin' bad fi' ye age!
& thank you to my son for playing Loch Lomond on his violin so well before D stabbed the haggis with a knife (not a skean dhu, as we don't have one!)

The quick cardie is done, the buttons have been sewn on and it has been blocked. Hurray! and very cosy it looks too, I think I'll have plenty of opportunities to wear it.

The BSJ hat is continuing nicely (now), I managed to get some more done on the cables today as I was listening to the football. the Black Cats must have played the most boring game of football ever yesterday against Blackburn Rovers (0-0), but then Cardiff and Arsenal also drew 0-0 today and Liverpool were 1-1 with Everton. The major upset was Swansea knocking last year's winners Portsmouth out 2-0.

Unfortunately Setanta have the rights to show the FA Cup games so even if Sunderland had scored I wouldn't be able to see the goal. Oh well, the pictures are sometimes better on the radio anyway.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Superbowl next week as The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Arizona Cardinals. It seems like ages since I've seen any American football, but it should be fun and it won't end 0-0!

riveting stuff!

The Frost/Nixon film was an engrossing study of two men trying to rejuvenate their careers: Nixon trying to get public sympathy after Watergate and Frost trying to rebuild his glittering TV career.

Sheen and Langella who play the TV man and the president give outstanding performances, and you cannot take your eyes off them.

The film only gives limited details of the Watergate scandal and the subsequent Senate investigation, Nixon's resignation and Ford's pardon of anything that Nixon may have done.

The film focuses on the interviews as almost a prizefight between two boxers who appear to be in quite different weight classes.

There is of course a bit of tweaking with the facts, the late-night tipsy phone-call from Nixon to Frost didn't happen, for example, but in an interview this week David Frost said he thought that the movie was pretty good, and got a lot of it right.

But, the American public got the trial that they craved, and as much truth as they were going to be able to get from Tricky Dick.

In some ways this is done as a Greek tragedy, Nixon's downfall is caused by the weaknesses in his own character, and the need to talk and the craving for money provided the mechanism for some of the truth to come out.

Absolutely riveting stuff, and very apposite to watch this in the week of Obama's inauguration, and as some political writers have said, ideal viewing for outgoing President Bush.

... and of course it was great to watch a film for grown-ups on the squishy leather sofas at the Dominion!

woot!

I'm having a night out with hubby tonight! woohoo! We're going to see Frost/Nixon at the Dominion cinema.

I love the Dominion, we get to sit on leather sofas, and can put our feet up on leather pouffes! Ah, the luxury!

I've finally sewed the buttons onto the quick cardie and it is now being blocked on the spare bed. I've never blocked anything before, but it is supposed to improve the finish. We'll see!

lucky 7

on the 7th attempt I managed to get the cabling pattern to work (it would have been spooky if it had been the eighth attempt! 8 is the lucky number on the Discworld).


The pattern changes from a sensible straightforward cable, using a mix if C4F and C4B, to a sequence of wavy cables made with c3F and C3B. As I'm using a slightly finer yarn than in the original pattern, the narrower cables did not really stand out, so I ripped back to try again with the the C4F & B's.


That was where my problems began, for the life of me I could not get the cables to work and make the necessary stitch increases at the same time. I was so boggled by it, I was even dreaming of cables in my sleep (which makes a change from my usual mad dreams, which have no practical value whatsoever!).

Liz kindly posted me a link to Grumperina's site for cabling without cable needles, which was interesting and calmed my frazzled nerves. I stuck with my pretty purple cable needle though.

I don't know what I did differently last night, but it did finally start to come together, so I completed the first repeat instead of doing my Spanish homework, (which I had to do this morning after breakfast. Just as well my kids weren't there to see this shocking aberration!).

Thankfully, my homework was up to scratch, but we learnt a new tense today , the conditional tense "I would etc", so I'll have to work a bit harder on this week's homework, a mini essay on Querría ser (I would like to be).

After all this faff with cables I might just write ¡Querría tricotar muy bien! (I wish I could knit well).

aaargh!

the mad cables will not defeat me, even though I've had to rip back three times so far.
buggrit ! millenium hand and shrimp!

history in the making

"My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors."

"We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. "

"This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. "

"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

It's the first time that I have listened to the whole speech of the newly inaugurated President of the US. It's estimated that more than a million people crowded into the streets in front of the white House to be there, and millions more watched it around the world too. Amazing stuff. he gave a good speech, but I was more moved by the benediction of Rev Joseph Lowery:

"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around. When yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

progress & sadness

the first section of cables is done , and I'm pausing for a moment before I take on the mad cables.

Now that I've done 6 repeats I'm just getting the hang of the pattern before it changes (typical).

At the weekend one of my childhood heroes moved on to the great art studio in the sky: Tony Hart who presented VisionOn and Take Hart and HartBeat, who introduced the world to Morph (the first success for Peter Lord of Aardman animations).

Tony Hart was so positive and enthusiastic, he was a delight to watch. He encouraged so many people to be creative and set the standard for subsequent art programmes like SmART and ArtAttack!

God bless him.

7th dimension

I listened to the dramatised version of Terry Pratchett's Mort on the BBC iplayer today. It was terrific!

"Mort" is January's book for the Pratchgan so, while I continued the BSJ hat cable section, I mulled over how to represent this story. I have a rough sketch done for last month's "Equal Rites", and got some yarn from Woollybacks last week to get started on it. Ally thinks I'm totally bonkers, comparing different black yarns, for Granny Weatherwax, Death and potentially some for the Assassins. However, it keeps me amused.

I hadn't realised there was so much good drama on Radio 7: Wyrd Sisters is on too, there's a Edgar Allan Poe story "The Gold Bug", and Richard Matheson's "I am Legend". There's plenty to keep me going for ages. I might never watch the TV ever again (except when Numb3rs is on of course!). I think I might need to buy a digital radio though, so that I don't have to use the pc or Freeview to access all this fabulous drama. All of a sudden, I don't mind paying my TV licence (although of course I will mind when I have to renew it in October...the fickleness of human nature).

The PL table remains tight: only 2 points separate Bolton at 13th with 23 points from West Brom at 20th with 21 points. Spurs drew 1-1 with Pompey today, lifting Spurs to 16th with 21 points and pushing Boro into the relegation zone. The bottom five clubs all have 21 points. I can't remember the table ever being as close as this! I'm going to have my nails chewed down to the knuckle before the season ends. Hope I can still hold my knitting needles!

I'm making good progress with J1's BSJ hat.

After the ribbing comes the first weird cabled part which is knitted onto a crochet cast-on and simultaneously joined to the hat.

There's only been twice so far when I've CF4 instead of CB4, so I'm happy with that! I made a mistake with the first cast-on thinking that was supposed to be a temporary crochet cast-on too, but then I realised that I might need to increase the ribbing to fit J1's head, so really its a useful mistake.... (when will I learn to read a pattern all the way through before starting, hmm?)

I'm using one of the football stitch markers from Erin to mark the beginning of the hat, and I've had to put beads on the ends of the dpn's so stop the stitches falling off while I'm doing the cable.

When I started the cable I was listening to Stash & Burn and also picked up another knitting podcast Doubleknit with the twins Erin & Jessica in Seattle. As well as knitting they talk about films and books and have an interesting mix of music too.

The football has been awful to listen to today: Sunderland were beaten 2-1 at home by Villa, after taking an early lead (and Villa's first goal should have been disallowed and they shouldn't have got a penalty either, mutter, mutter); the Toon were marmalised by Blackburn 3-0 (and they didn't help themselves by getting a man sent off and Joey Barton arguing with his own team, the idiot), and Boro lost 3-0 to West Brom. The bottom half of the table is so close: Bolton are 12th (23 points), ahead of the Toon, Sunderland and Pompey (13th,14th & 15th) only on goal difference, then Blackburn and Boro are 16th & 17th with 21 points, only ahead of Stoke & West Brom on goal diff. Spurs are currently bottom with 20 points but they play Portsmouth tomorrow (which could be very interesting as Harry Houdini takes on his old team and Tony Adams takes on his old boss, and both teams are desperate for points).

I enjoyed the football more on Wednesday when I listened to Southend take on Chelsea in the FA cup replay, and could just enjoy the game without the emotional trauma.

Sometimes it's just too stressful being a fan!

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?*

*hello , how are you?

Spanish classes started again today and my brain was like mince, I could hardly remember anything.
Preterite tense? What's that? I had meant to get my books out this week and refresh my memory, but of course that didn't happen, and now I feel as thick as two short planks!
Oh dear, I'd better behave myself and get some work done before next week! I've tried to make myself feel better by printing out a sheet of special characters so that I can put accents and tildes into my blog and into forum posts.
Well, it's a start.....

lady in red

Your rainbow is shaded red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a passionate person. You appreciate energetic people. You get bored easily and want friends who will keep up with you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

my big softie!...

no, not my dog, it is the quick cardie, it just needs 2 big buttons to be finished.

And just in time too, as it's freezing today.

I finished it yesterday and started the swatch for J1's BSJ (Bloody Stupid Johnson) hat. The Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn feels lovely. I also did a mini swatch to practise the complicated cabling.

While I did this I was listening to "Bleeding Hearts" by Ian Rankin on audio. It's not a Rebus story but about an assassin who realises that someone is trying to kill him and sets out to find out who & why. It was too gripping to listen to while faffing about with complex cables, so when I cast on properly I'll listen to Jenny & Nicole on Stash & Burn, I'm sure they'll help me out if I get stuck! (it's an ep about hats anyway so it's quite appropriate!)

While I was walking the dog today I saw a stunning bullfinch, he was a vivid cherry red (sadly, I didn't have my camera or phone with me, so this is a stock picture from British Garden Birds), and stood out among the bare branches. We get a lot of green finches and chaffinches in our garden but rarely a bullfinch.

On Sunday I saw a sparrowhawk swirling over the trees, it's wingspan was huge. I love seeing the bird life around here, it's wonderful to see and hear them in the woods. I must explore more of the woods (with camera) in the spring.

it's cos he's taller

D lasts an extra 10 seconds, bah!

D could survive for 54 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

it's not long is it?

I could survive for 44 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

put the clocks back..

it's still Autumn round here!

My copy of Interweave Crochet, Fall 2008 (from Paviyarns) arrived today, and I loved reading it. Most of the stuff is way beyond me, but there's a hat and scarf that I can tackle (pictured) and a cabled top (also pictured) that I aspire to. ( I'm nothing if not ambitious!)

Inspired by these Autumn colours I decided to clear up some more leaves in the garden. I meant to do it yesterday after lunch but then it rained and the wind was blowing a gale so it seemed like an exercise in futility.

Today has been brighter and calmer and now 5 bags of leaves are on the decking waiting to go the recycling place and I think I can still clear another 3+ bags of leaves. I only have a small garden , but there are a lot of mature trees behind us, so our garden seems to collect all the leaves in the village.

We suspect that some small creature has been burrowing in the compost bin, and D is not sure if it's a rat of a hedgehog. I tried to get our dog Megan to sniff the heap and identify the wee beastie, but she was indifferent. Usually she reacts to animal scents and she gets very excited if she sees a frog, a cat, a squirrel, a rabbit, a horse or a bull. Her indifference suggests that none of these have been burrowing (I might have noticed a bull, but maybe not...).

When she sees mice or birds in the garden she watches their antics but doesn't get excited, so it could be mouse nest. I'm hoping its a hedgepig, but I better be careful when I go out at night with the dog I suppose ... ( not that she'll do anything, not unless it is a bull!).

I was listening to Spinningerin's latest podcast and was amused to find out that spring has sprung in Texas already and that she is planting seeds. Good grief, I had better get a move on and get to winter!

I've also enjoyed listening to The House of the Seven Librarians on Podcastle, a great story for anyone who loves books and libraries. There's a really good serial about Neo-Dolphins called "Temptation" by David Brin on Starshipsofa which I'm enjoying too, I love the mix of poetry, fiction, genre history and science fact on this podcast, it's very well put together and makes the leaf clearing a lot more pleasurable!

seams to be nearly done

( groan... sorry for the awful pun)
the quick cardi is very nearly finished, the first photo shows the two sleeves, these are only elbow length, and the second photo shows them attached to the shoulders and the fronts attached to the back.
I only have the 2 side seams to do, and to get two big buttons.


I have a ball (and a bit) of Softie left so I'll make some matching arm-warmers, but that will be after I've made J1's hat. He has been taking close interest in my progress as he wants his cool Discworld hat pretty quickly.
I supppose I should take that as a compliment!

cold comfort

not a great day for football : 46 matches across England, Scotland and Wales (in all competitions) were cancelled due to frozen pitches, but thankfully the North East of England was spared the worst of it, the Tees-Wear derby went ahead and the Toon hosted West Ham.

Both games were draws, Boro took the lead just before half time our Ken getting the equaliser in the 82minute (his 7th goal this season, boy is he good!).

Little Michael Owen got Newcastle in front, but West Ham are doing well under Gianfranco Zola (not Emile Zola, as previously blogged!) and they soon equalised and then got ahead, the Toon needed a young'un, Andy Carroll (20) to keep them in the game.

The 300 th match at St James's Park ended 2-2, but at least there was a match for people to see, some fans travelled from Manchester to Portsmouth to find the game cancelled and others travelled from Blackburn to Fulham to have the game cancelled one hour before kick-off.

That must be so annoying. You would think that the amount of money poured into the Premier League that decisions on pitches could be made before people travelled for 5-6 hours (mutter, mutter, tsk,tsk, credit crunch, mutter,mutter).

The quick cardi is progressing nicely: the left and right front edges are done and I've cast on 1 sleeve, not far to go now!

Still enjoying Making Money while I'm knitting & it's fascinating to listen to while the news is filled with doom and gloom: Woolworths* shut up shop on January 5th, Zavvi, Whittards, Viyella and The Officer's Club are in administration , M&S are shedding 1,000+ jobs, Nissan are shedding a 1,000+ jobs. The stories just keep racking up.

This will undoubtedly be a worse recession than the early 90's and maybe even as bad as when Thatcher became PM, although not quite as bad as the soup kitchens of the 1920's. Why is it going wrong in Ankh-Morpork? The banks are messing about and fleecing the investors. How very prescient of Sir Terry Pratchett!

* my first proper paid employment was with Woolworths in 1977: I was a Saturday girl and earned 80p per hour rising to £1/hr when I was 18. I felt rich!

Making Money

sadly, I'm not making it myself, but I'm listening to this brilliant book by Terry Pratchett while I walk the dog, make the dinner, knit etc. Stephen Briggs narrates and he does a good job of the voices of the men in the mint. Great Stuff!

This month's copy of Let'sKnit finally landed on the doormat and as usual there's quite a few patterns that I want to do. I think I'm going to have to limit my time on all the forums that I frequent so that I can get more done...........hmmm. But can I really do that when I find them so funny and interesting? I'll have to set a timer!

some goodies in the post!

the postie brought me two parcels today full of lovely goodies from Stash Fine yarns and Pack Lane Crafts (prompt service from both companies! thank you!).

I had a lovely time squishing them all. There's Debbie Bliss Rialto & Stella in there, Jaeger Ascot and some Rowan kidsilk haze.
It all feels wonderful!

The quick cardi is coming on well, that's both left & right front completed, now I have to pick up stitches and knit on the edges.

I want to get on with this so that I can start on the BS Johnson for J1, although I might be less keen when I get lost in those crazy cables!

shopaholics

or not, as the case may be.

D and I rarely shop together as it becomes a miserable experience for both of us; houses and cars we choose together, the rest is usually done separately. Today however as he's still off work he decided to join me in a mini-jaunt.

Our shopping lists were very different: I had to get J1 a woolly hat & some new black sweaters for school (the ones that he said he didn't need last week, well, it's cold now so now he does) and D had to get a replacement washer for the shower. Yup. One washer.

It was a lot more difficult to get plain black sweaters from the men's dept than to get a small circle of black rubber! It seems that all the new spring ranges are in the shops (spring???? it's snowing outside!) and black is not a featured colour, and it's no use looking in the school wear section for a 15yr old boy who's 6'0". However we did manage to find one sweater in Mark & Spencer ( thankfully the right size) and one in Burton's. At least he'll be warmer tomorrow.

We also got him a beanie, which D had to try on by proxy as we needed something that was a bit loose on him so that it would encompass J1's copious hair. I'll have to bite the bullet and knit him a BSJ.

Not a Baby Surprise Jacket, but a Bloody Stupid Johnson hat by Sarah Lilly ( from Knitty winter 2007). Johnson is a Discworld inventor, but unlike Lancelot "Capability" Brown, Bergholt Stuttley Johnson invents things that work a little too well, or not at all, or they confound the laws of physics ( or all three, all at once)

So I've ordered some damson coloured Debbie Bliss Rialto from Pack Lane Wool & Crafts and that will be on the needles as soon as it arrives.

My faster than the speed of light cardi is continuing apace: the left front was completed yesterday and I'll rattle away at the right front tonight.

My attempts to save the UK economy continued by ordering some Jaeger yarn (£1.20 per 50g!!) and some Debbie Bliss Stella (£1.94/50g) from Stash, and a copy of Interweave crochet from Paviyarns.

Well, D spent £1.48 on 3 washers (and was mildly irritated that he couldn't buy just one), so between the two of us, we've done our bit for the economy today. Hurrah!

Speedy!

I may have to change my blogger name to "Susethefasterknitta- Ifsheusessoftieyarn" as I can't believe that I've completed the back of the cardi already.

Yes, I know it's a thick yarn, and yes I know that I'm using 10 mm needles but this is amazing! (well, to me anyway!) I must seek out more fat yarns ! And fat yarn sock patterns too.

Well, the kids were back to school today and it was still dark when they left the house at 8 am for the school bus. I scoured some charity shops for knitting books but to no avail, I might have to try further afield to track down some bargains.

I've been looking for a copy of Interweave Crochet magazine , and I can't find it locally or at Borders, but I can get it from Pavi yarns in Alnwick. I especially want to get the Spring 2009 issue as a Ravelry pal, Jodi of Little Freak Yarns , is having a pattern published in it.

I need to get practising with my hook though, so as well as the Pratchgan I've signed up for a Secret Sister blankie swap on Ravelry to make a lap blanket for my "secret sister". This will be a good excuse to practise lots of crochet patterns, and to have a purpose for them.

So, its back to the fat yarn to get this ridiculously fast cardi made to keep me warm whilst I get hooking!

so long, farewell,

auf weidersehen, goodnight...

it's time for the Christmas decorations to be packed away till next Christmas. Although of course, traditionally the deccies come down on January 5th for Epiphany, it's back to school/work tomorrow and it's so much better if everyone helps out!

The advent tree pattern by Alan Dart (in Simply Knitting magazine) came with a chart for the order of putting on the tree deccies and a label for the box file! so now they are all packed away in their box, alongside the fabric advent tree and carefully put in the cupboard under the stairs so that I have no excuse for forgetting about them!

At least next Christmas I wont be knitting like crazy to get the little decorations made on time, although I'm sure to be making something else at the last minute!

Brrrr! I'm a big softie!

so the decision was made to cast on the quick cardie from Sirdar's "Big Softie Knits for Beginners".

January and February can be very cold months and I don't like the cold at all! (why was I born in the UK, why not in Spain? or Texas?) With this in mind, I thought I had better knit something quick and thick to keep me warm and then start on some woolly socks.

I'm using some red sparkly needles which were a freebie from Let's Knit and the darker shade of blue from this range. J2 still wants the polo neck sweater but the meringue shade hasn't arrived yet.

I've loaded up "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett from Audible onto my mp3 so I'm set for the next few days!

It's good to be getting into a routine again: yesterday I listened to Craftlit and we're starting "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" which I'm ashamed to say that I've never read and I live in Scotland too! I know it won't be like the TV or cinema versions, in the same way that there was a huge difference between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Hammer Horror versions of her Romantics story.

The third round of the FA cup started this weekend and Sunderland managed to beat Bolton 2-1. It's ages since we've had a good Cup run, and I love the romanticism of the FA cup, small clubs can get drawn against the big clubs & can do well. The Toon were in a goalless draw with Hull.

Today, it was Nottingham Forest (Championship strugglers) who beat Manchester City (The Richest Club in the World ©) 3-0 and Chelsea were held 1-1 by Southend (13th in league 1).

We've only won the FA cup twice, in 1937 and 1973. In 1973 we were the underdogs , up against the mighty Leeds. My Dad & my eldest brother got tickets for Wembley and travelled down for the match, more in hope than expectation and Mam made them a red & white striped banner with a black cat appliqued on to it.

They had a fantastic time in London while we were glued to the TV at home. I've never forgotten the excitement of that day.

Bob Stokoe, SAFC manager 1973.

The Light Fantastic

we watched part 2 of "The Colour Of Magic" last night, which is the continuing adventures of Rincewind & Twoflower in "The Light Fantastic" and today I finished my knitted square representing that book.

The square shows Great A'Tuin flying through the multiverse with the discworld on his/her back towards an unusual red star with 8 odd spherical-ish shapes in the heavens around it.

We enjoyed part 2 very much, Cohen the Barbarian is in this part and rescues Bethan from being a virginal sacrifice (and she is not pleased!), Death gets fed up with having near Rincewind experiences and the eight spells from the Octavo get said with dramatic consequences. Excellent stuff! We were delighted to see Terry Pratchett knighted in the New Years honours list too. Arise Sir Terry!

I have only one wip now, my Passionflower summer sweater (so I can leave that for a bit!) and can now mull over whether to cast on some socks or a cardigan for myself. It's pretty chilly at the moment, so either would be appropriate. I have the yarn to make a softie sweater/cardi , which should be a quick knit, and tons of sock wool, so I shall ponder this serious question after dinner!

I need to read the next book in the Discworld series "Equal Rites" and start on the next square too. Oh, the pressure!

Ne'er Day 2009

had a great time at the Cameron's party last night, 5 people were dressed as pirates (including J2 and me), the Roberts' turned up as a Wizard of Oz ensemble (Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West and the Cowardly Lion), 4 men were in kilts, there was a good fairy, a bad fairy, superman, Mary Poppins, a ship's captain, a ship's funnel, two cats , a spotty dog, a hula girl and characters from Still Game and Coronation St.
it was good fun and great to catch up with some people that I hadn't seen in a while.

it's the beginning of the year so time for some resolutions..........

Knitting - try out some cable patterns and a simple lace wrap. Try to crochet something bigger than a small toy.

Health - regulate sleep and lose 21lbs

Finances- things will be a bit tighter this year so care and control need to be exercised!

Exercise- try using a pedometer to monitor dog walking and gradually increase the distances walked.

Spanish- do more than the minimum!

all that should be easy ( hahahahaha!)