another year over (nearly)

goodbye 2010 and hello to 2011 (which has already started in Australia!).

2010 began with cold cold weather and too much snow and ended that way ( although it is a balmy 7C today- 14 degrees warmer than a week ago).

During 2010 I knitted :
5 pairs of socks, 5 hats, 2 scarves, 1 wallet, 4 washcloths, 1 baby blanket, 1 pair of oven pads, 2 pairs of mittens, 10 hats for the Innocent appeal, 1 teacosy and 2 egg cosies.
I crocheted 1 waistcoat and 1 cardigan.
I tried one new technique (double knitting)
I won three internet lucky draws- 2 books and a felted alien.

I watched a lot of sport:

the Winter Olympics was engrossing- who knew curling could be so riveting?

I was enthralled by South Africa's world cup, but not by the England Team's "performance" (I'm using that term in its broadest sense)

The Tour de France was very exciting. My SIL and her hubby have bought a camper van to be able to follow the race up close and personal next year. Yes, I am envious.

I've enjoyed watching my football team Sunderland settle into the top half of the table instead of being permanently in a relegation battle.

We went to London and I've still got a bit of a fangirl crush on the old girl.

We got stuck at Glasgow airport for 29 hours but finally made it to Madeira for some winter sun.

Jack went to Kenya and then he went to University.

Jennifer became a teenager and got a paper round to fund her clothes habit (she kept up her deliveries through the worst of the snow, impressing her customers and getting some very generous tips).

David had to travel about a bit more, wore his tux twice for awards ceremonies (which was exciting even though the team didn't win.)

I grew more fruit and veg- the potatoes, apples and raspberries were very succesful.

We made jam- lots of it.

We were amazed by the most bizarre election in UK history, and there is still muttering about the coalition govt, more student protests are likely.

We were thrilled to see the Chilean miners freed from the collapsed mine and horrifed when a gunman went on rampage through quiet Lakeland villages.

I started counting bees for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, packed shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and helped out at the Day centre in our village.

So what lies ahead in 2011? more knitting of course, less snow I hope, more sport, more bees, more voluntary work, maybe even some paid work? a trip to Orkney, my 50th birthday (eek!), my son's 18th birthday (an adult? how did that happen?), more goals for my team (and fewer goals conceded.). More swimming and fewer inches round my waist. More travel and fewer travel delays. More joy to the World and less tragedy. More kindness in the World and less poverty. More ways of generating renewable energy and less pollution.

Happy New Year to one and all, and may you all enjoy a happy and prosperous 2011.

finally, my own LEGO at Christmas

for many years the kids' letters to Santa were dominated by LEGO, but then they got older and wanted electronic stuff and guitars and clothes and money, so it's quite a while since any LEGO has come into our house at Christmas.
Until now.
D got me this fab LEGO head which is a storage tub, and now holds a lovely skein of yarn from my pal Erin in Texas. The head is about 26cm high (about 10ins), and 24cm wide and is part of a range of funky storage containers for kids bedrooms. Well, I'm still a big kid, so it's perfect for me! (and it goes perfectly with my lego head stitch markers)
The inlaws drove up on Christmas day when the roads weren't too bad and have headed back today as it's a bit milder (2C) but snow is expected tomorrow. We were so relieved that they made it!

I finally opened my ItsyBitsy swap gifts too and got lots of lovely fun stuff from my swappee BrooklynIrishGirl. The Christmas themed oven pads and towel were put to good use in the kitchen straightaway, the ornaments went on the tree and I'm using the stripey socks as bed socks to keep my feet toasty warm at night. Lots of lovely stuff, thank you!

Something always has to go wrong at Christmas though- either a toy doesn't work, or a sweater doesn't fit. This year we'd got Jack a copy of FIFA 11 for his xbox which he was delighted with until he opened the box and there was no disc.There's not much you can do about this on Christmas day though.
So, on Boxing Day I decided to brave the roads and head out to the sales. I wouldn't normally do this, I'm not a fan of frenzied shopping, but I felt bad that my boy hadn't got his present. So I found the receipt, got my coat, hat and boots on, picked up the plastic case, opened the case and saw the instruction manual in a sealed bag on the LHS of the case and the empty disc space on the RHS. I absentmindedly took out the manual in the sealed bag, turned it over and there was the game disc!!
 Oh. My. Goodness!!
If I'd driven 20 miles to HMV and had a hissy fit over the missing game only for the sales assistant to flip over the manual to reveal the game....oh the embarrassment. Thankfully I avoided that.
Still, it gave everyone a good laugh, and I didn't have to drive to the frenzied sales. Phew!

Jack is such a dingbat though.

Hope everyone else has had a funfilled Christmas too!

let there be lights, Madeira #4

I love Christmas lights, all Christmas lights, whether they are classy, cute, simple or stupendous, even a bit naff and cheesy, so I was delighted to see the stunning lights in Funchal this year.

Every street has a different theme and they all look beautiful. I loved the giant floating angels outside the cathedral and the giant bauble which you can sit inside ( that's D beside the bauble to give a sense of scale)

Jennifer couldn't wait for us to come home and put up the deccies so she did it herself with help from her two pals Rachel and Ian. They did a really good job!Thanks guys.

After the frustration of Dalenni I decided to knit something simple and fun and have made a pudding teacosy.

We have some Xmas cups/mugs which are packed away with the deccies so they only get used at the right time of year, and now I have a teacosy to complement them.

This is a pattern by Nicola Inns  (modified slightly from the giant cupcake and mashed up with the puds eggcosy)   (http://www.trulyscrumptiousknittedfood.co.uk/) and which was in iss 2 of Let's Knit.

I'm making a couple of puds egg cosies for the season too, as Jack and I both enjoy a softboiled egg now and again. The other two are weird and think that eggs should only be used for baking cakes!

 I think I might make Nicola's original pattern later in the year, as I like the idea of having a giant cupcake on the table! Fewer calories certainly!

oh what a tangled web we weave,Madeira #3

when first we practise to deceive get our skeins in a knot.

I took a beautiful skein of Posh Yarn to Madeira planning to start on this Dalenni scarf (by Susannah IC) as a Xmas present for my MIL. On the Wed a.m. D needed to get some work done so he took the netbook to the lounge area to pick up the secure wifi signal (instead of the unsecured one in the apartment) and I took my skein to start winding it into a ball. I looped it round the top of a woodbacked armchair.
But he couldn't get a secure signal so he moved place. So I moved place and took the yarn, but not the chair , with me

Five minutes later we moved again. Then we went to the downstairs lounge, ordered coffee and tried again. Our waiter was very sympathetic to our predicament and said that it was all the same signal and was all secure.

We drank our coffee and went  back to our balcony. By this time the skein was fighting back and I had to loop it round the recliner and wind it from there. By the end of the week I'd just about wound up the whole skein, so I decided to swatch the yarn before casting on Dalenni. I made a tiny swatch, cast off, snapped the yarn and broke the needle! My lovely rosewood needle. Aauugh!!
So the yarn, the pattern and the broken needle went back into the suitcase.

I did cast on when we got back home, and realised that there was no way I was going to get this complex lace pattern done in time for Xmas. My MIL doesn't know that I was going to knit it for her, so I have bought her something else and will tackle it next year when there is less time pressure!

I did manage to finish Karin though. I did some of the seaming in the first hotel in Glasgow (Sun night) and gradually during the week I kept doing a bit more- when I wasn't tying myself in knots with lace-weight yarn!- finishing the neckline on Sunday afternoon while sunning myself by the pool. So even though I'd forgotten the button to finish it I did manage to wear it.

I'm consoling myself with the thought that I have something lovely to wear next summer and it just had a trial run in Madeira!

Self- deception? hmm yeah.... I'll  not think about that too much!

forget-me-nots, Madeira #2

                                                    travel fail

On this year's mini jaunt to Madeira I managed to forget to pack the following items:
my toothbrush (but not D's)
skin moisturiser (D had his though!)
Portuguese phrase book (but I had my Arabic lessons on my mp3 player)
pink flip-flops (which I had been so delighted to buy a few weeks ago)
hairbrush (D forgot his too)
Euros in small change (we never exchange Euros back to sterling as it's so useful to have the small coins for vending machines, tips etc. Not as useful to leave €20 in coins back at home)
teabags and instant coffee ( awfully British I know to take tea on your travels! But we were staying in a self-catering apartment and while we didn't plan on cooking any meals it would have been nice to have been able to get a quick cuppa)
eye make-up remover ( I remembered my waterproof mascara though!)
a shoulder bag/rucksack for during the day (my pretty lavender leather evening bag is not so good for carrying suncream and a bottle of water.)

I hope I'm never put in charge of some epic exploratory journey, like Scott of the Antarctic - we would have the dogs, but no sleds!

I think I'm getting worse as I get older - I used to forget all kinds of things when travelling with the kids- nappies (diapers), kids sun glasses, extra blankets and once, amazingly, my own underwear.

I hadn't forgotten the stunning view from the balcony though, nor the many shades of blue and green that sparkle through the Atlantic. Having grown up with the North Sea as my only experience of salt water, and learnt to appreciate its many shades of grey, the Atlantic is quite lovely in this part of the world.

Unforgettable even.

snow joke! - Madeira jaunt pt 1

we set off for Glasgow on Sunday 5th and planned on staying overnight at the Holiday Inn before catching our flight at 8.45 am on Mon 6th. David's secretary Jean had given us this tip (thank you Jean!) as driving to Glasgow at any time can be a bit of a slog, and even more so when you have get up at stupid o'clock to get there. The roads were reasonably good at this stage, as Glasgow had had less snow than Edinburgh and the Lothians.

We got the car into the long stay car park, had a beer in the hotel bar and settled down for the night. I managed to get a bit more of the seams done on Karin while watching Any Human Heart on tv. Jim Broadbent is excellent in this.

On Monday a.m. we had breakfast in the airport , and boarded our plane just as the rain started to to look like snow. Heavy snow. At 8.45 a.m the tug pushed our plane back ready to taxi to the runway and then we stopped. The sudden blizzard had closed the runway and the pilot had to return us to the docking bay.
Oh well, a minor delay we thought. The cabin staff gave everyone coffee.

At 10.00 am, still at the docking bay the cabin staff gave us breakfast and the Captain said they were expecting a gap in the blizzard to allow the runway to be cleared and reopened.

At 11.40 am we were all sent back into the terminal as the flight was delayed till 2pm and the Capt thought it would be good if we stretched our legs. Long airport corridors are good for yomping along and getting the blood circulating!

At 2pm we re-boarded the plane and watched with interest as the ground crew de-iced the plane. At 3.30 the Capt prepared to be pushed out by the tug again and we watched the plane next to us begin to taxi to the runway where it stopped. The light levels were falling and only the central landing lights were visible (the side lights were still covered with snow) so any flight covered by BAA rules was not able to take off. At 6pm we got off the plane again. (but we had to leave our luggage in the hold, so I couldn't make any further progress on Karin)

Thompson, our holiday company, were going to put us up for the night in a hotel in Glasgow, but the blizzard conditions in the area had caused parts of the M8 and A80 to be closed and buses and drivers were in short supply. At 9.50pm a bus finally came for us, and we went to the hotel. Another beer and D and I crashed out in a warm and thankfully comfortable bed. We found out later that some companies did not take their passengers to hotels and the passengers had to camp out in the terminal. They had to rely on the Red Cross to issue them with blankets! (that is shocking on two counts, 1. Thomas Cook passengers weren't looked after very well  and 2. The Red Cross has to help? Glasgow Airport doesn't?? BAA doesn't??)

Tuesday morning we enjoyed a tasty cooked breakfast at the Swallow Hotel then waited for the buses to take us back to the airport. Originally we had been told the buses would be there at 7.30, but of course traffic problems and staffing problems meant that the buses didn't reach us till 9 a.m.

Back at the airport, we were at our departure gate at 10 am, looking at our snow covered plane and guessing that we wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. We were right! So, time to yomp around the airport again for a couple of hours. Who needs a gym?
It was a shame that my knitting and crochet projects were in our luggage as I could have put the time to good use! I did manage to spot some more Innocent hats though and got myself one shaped like a pineapple. I think I'll have to be a little more inventive with the Innocent hats next year.

At 12.39 we were back on the plane, watching the ground crew de-ice the wings again and only waiting for the luggage of the people who had decided not to continue with the flight be removed from the hold. Finally at 2.11 we took off. Huzzah!!

Off to the sun and away from the snow!

no surprise there then!

Snow continues to fall.

England doesn't win World Cup 2018 bid, it goes to Russia, even though England's bid was technically better (stadia, infrastructure etc) and less risky (matches would be well attended and personal safety would be very high).

And the competition for 2022 will be held in Qatar. In the desert. In the heat. o_O

I'm so fed up with the snow that I was scrubbing the kitchen clean yesterday!!

Now that is surprising.

counting down to Christmas

the Advent calendar is on the wall and the pockets filled with choccies- Jen is being very good and only taking half each day leaving the other half for Jack for when he comes home from Uni (which should be on the 9th).

We've had this calendar since Jack was 4. One year, I carefully choose 24 little toys to put in the pockets for him (Jen was just a baby and didn't get anything)- he was furious- didn't I know it was meant to be sweeties?? I haven't made that mistake since!

The advent tree is up too, and Jen gets to put up the daily deccie until her bruv comes home and then they can fight over them! This is from an Alan Dart pattern in Simply Knitting a couple of years ago. These will be the only decorations on display until mid Dec (why yes, I am a meanie!)

In the meantime we are watching the weather as it steadily gets worse and wondering if we will get away on Monday at all. There's 20" of snow here now and the schools are closed till Mon 6th at the earliest.

Oh well, at least the power is still on and I'm still making progress on Karin.

colder

D dug us out of the house today and we managed to get the car down the side road onto the main road. We felt stir crazy!! (that's him taking the dog for a walk, even she's fed up with the snow- it's too chilly round her nether regions I think!)

We have 18 ins (45 cms) of snow so far (and that's not the height of the snow drifts) and there's more to come (sigh).

To cheer myself up I've been watching the penguins at Edinburgh zoo frolicking in the snow, they're having a fab time, as are all the children who are missing school again.

I didn't do too badly with my trial run NaBloWriMo- 26 posts for 30 days. I'll try harder next year!

c-c-c-cold !

yet another blog post about excessive snow in the UK! (sorry folks, but there is a lot of it, and it's about 6 weeks too early. It's still November, and should only be cold and damp)
Jen's school is closed today ( can you hear those teenagers cheering?) as there has been 20 cm of snow over the weekend, plus another fall of 10cm last night and it is still snowing. D and our neighbours cleared our little side road yesterday but it is covered again and although the snow ploughs are clearing the main roads they won't clear this till last.

But my main concerns are
a) how will my parents get up here safely at the weekend to look after Jen? My Dad is 80 and determined to drive the 120 mile journey from Durham (stubbornness must be genetic!)and
b) how will we get to Glasgow airport on Sunday to fly to Madeira? I need some sunshine!
The forecast does suggest that there will be a thaw towards the weekend (yay!) and even today Glasgow airport is working normally, even though Edinburgh airport is closed. I will be monitoring it very carefully!

Still working away on Karin my summer weight cardi (which is really weird considering the view of my garden) I'm onto the first sleeve now. I really want to be making something aran weight though, so that I would be warm underneath my knitting!

making progress



left front and back

I finished the left front of my Karin cardi today- yay!
I've had to adapt the shaping a little to accommodate my womanly figure, but as long as I make the right front the mirror image of the left then everything will be fine.


East Lothian Council held an Multi-faith blessing service tonight at St Mary's Kirk, Haddington for the Council, the Councillors, the employees and the service users led by the General Secretary of the Edinburgh Inter- Faith Association.

We heard from representatives from the Church of the Scotland, the Hebrew Congregation, the Roman Catholic Church, the Baha'i community, the Humanist society, the Hindu community, the Muslim community, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Sikh community. It was fascinating to hear English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Sanskrit all giving the same message of peace and shared humanity.

What was also good was to see all these faith leaders working so well together, their mutual respect and ease in each other's company and the fact that they were sharing cars to get back home. If only this could be replicated globally!

at a secret location,

somewhere in the Lothians, Santa's grotto is busy processing hundreds and thousands of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. In 2009, 15,000 boxes were shipped from here.

I went along today with the 32 boxes from our church to help with the process .

Some of the other helpers were RBS employees who are encouraged by their employer to participate in some kind of community activity.

It's an enjoyable task ensuring that each box has a good mix of jotters, pens, pencils, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, sweets toys and a woolly hat, and pushing in some extra toys and treats into any fulfilled corners.

The charity gets a lot of boxes for girls, but not as many for boys aged 10-14, so in future years I'm going to concentrate on donating more for the boys and see if I can encourage some others to do the same.

I could only do an hour today, as I had to take Jen to the dentist, but I'll be back next week to do a full shift. It was such fun, such a cheery atmosphere.

I'm back to doing some crochet now, less that two weeks to finish Karin- I'd better crack on!

so that's why!

we've visited Barcelona twice over the Christmas/New Year celebrations and have been puzzled by the little figures having a poo which are placed at the side of the Nativity. We've tried for years to find out what they are and why they are so carefully placed on the edge of the Nativity, with no success so far.
But now I know!

They are called caganers which is Catalan for *ahem* shitters (sorry, some sources cite it as "fertilizers") and are to bring good luck and a prosperous harvest next year,
or they might be to symbolise Christ's humanity,
or they might represent all mankind, in that Jesus is for everyone,
or they might represent the fact that God will manifest Himself when he is ready, whether we are ready or not.

Or, it might just be the Catalan's earthy sense of humour.

Traditionally they would be dressed in traditional Catalan costume, but often now they are famous figures, such as the footballer Lionel Messi as in the photo and have become collectible figures.

I'm not sure if I would want to collect lots of little figures with their pants down, but I'm glad I know what they are now!

The Flying Scotsman

well, almost.

He isn't 18 yet, so he's still a child even though he's living 60 miles away in Glasgow.
He isn't Scottish, although he's lived in Scotland since he was 2.
He didn't fly, he used the bus.

But, apart from all those qualifiers, it was a flying visit from our undergrad son this weekend- he called in yesterday, dropped off his washing, and disappeared again 30 minutes later to help some friends with their live gig in Edinburgh. He came back today at 4.45pm, knowing that dinner was at 5pm (roast chicken & Yorkshire pudding, followed by apple crumble & custard) and left again at 6.15 with a bag of clean laundry and a rucksack full of food!

Students, eh?

One of the things that went with him was a parsnip & maple syrup cake, a variation on carrot cake, which is absolutely yummy. The recipe was Catherine Berwick's prizewinning cake  on the BBC Goodfood website. Definitely have to make another one of these ( especially as Jack has run off with half of the first one!)

wrapped and ready to go

We've put together two Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes ourselves and another four from the donations from some of the older people in our church.

The boxes are ready for the service tomorrow, then I'll take all the boxes from church ( 20+) to the warehouse and I'm going to help out at the depot this week too- the volunteers call it Santa's grotto, and I can't wait to join in the fun of checking the boxes ready for shipping.

meet Ralphette

phew!
finished just in time for the shoeboxes.
Another hat from Sirdar's Ralph pattern, but made 2/3 size to suit a child's head, and made a little feminine by using pink for the stripes.
And I've only just managed to blog before midnight too- this NaBloWriMo is harder than I thought! I missed the official blogmonth in October, so I thought I'd have a trial run for next year. There's no way I'd try to write a novel- NaNoWriMo, knit a sweater- NaKniSweMO, or grow a moustache this month- Movember! It's hard enough writing a few paragraphs every day!

Little Ralph



Little Ralph and Innocent hat



the stripey beanie, Little Ralph, is finished and now I've cast on Ralphette, a more feminine version in that the stripes are pink rather than custard yellow.

The Ralph pattern from Sirdar is so straightforward to make, and works well in most dk yarns, I think I'll use this for a lot of my charity hats.

The Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are nearly full- we put in jotters, pencils, pens, toiletries (no liquids), toys sweets (no chocolate) and a woolly hat or scarf or gloves. They get sent away this weekend so anyone wanting to contribute anything- e.g. a handknitted hat or scarf get in touch in September 2011 for next year's boxes, or you can make a donation to cover distribution costs at Operation Christmas Child.

While I was out shopping today I saw some of the Innocent smoothies with their hats. I bought two, but Jen has run off with the pink/purple one as her phone felt a bit chilly! It was lovely to see the hats in the wild. I would have taken a photo but I'd forgotten my phone, sorry.

ladies (and gentlemen) who lunch

As I'm feeling a lot fitter and healthier these days, I've decided to help out at the Lunch Club again, acting as a volunteer serving the soup, sandwiches, tea, coffee and cakes and clearing up afterwards, and of course enjoying my lunch too with the club members.
They are a lively, cheery bunch, and I know a lot of the older ladies from church. I didn't get a chance to play dominoes this week or get on with any of my knitting, but I may well do next week.

I've put my hook to one side for a moment, been stash diving and I've cast on another Ralph hat (in a smaller size) to go into the Operation Christmas child shoeboxes this week.
 I enjoy putting the boxes together and have been given lots of donations to make up extra shoeboxes. People are be so kind and generous

better late than never

while I was clearing up leaves today I saw this lovely bloom in my garden. I wasn't expecting to see anything other than the winter jasmine in flower so I was thrilled to see this pretty little thing.

I normally keep a record of everything that I've planted and where I've planted it, but at the moment I can't find my notebook- I must have had a moment of madness and tidied it away- so I can't remember what it is.

It brightened up a tedious job though!

three cheers!!!



Nedum Onuoha gets the first goal

 Hurray!#1

I got a little distracted from my crochet yesterday while listening to my team play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.





Asamoah Gyan gets the 2nd

  
Last year Chelsea walloped us 7-2, this year we were hoping to get a draw, but we won! We won 3-0! It was a dazzling display, and Chelsea were lucky that it was only 3-0, their goalie Cech kept out 3 more.



Danny Welbeck gets the third

Chelsea won the league last season, they hadn't conceded a goal at home this season, normally Stamford Bridge is a fortress and the visiting teams quake in their boots. Not this time. It wasn't only Sunderland fans who were delirious with delight at this result- the big teams (Manchester Utd, Manchester City, Arsenal & Tottenham Hotspur) were pleased to see Chelsea's lead at the top of the table cut to two points,making the title open to more challengers. We're more than a third of the way through the season and the table looks interesting, only 5 points separate Bolton in 5th place (19 pts) and Wigan in 17th place (14 pts)- a good result for any team can make them rocket up the table. Sunderland are 6th (19pts) and we're all cheering madly- even though I couldn't concentrate on my crochet at all!

Hurray! #2

The  Burmese pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on Sunday. She has been a political prisoner for 15 years. Even though her party won the elections in 1989, the military junta would not allow the result to stand. It is hard to imagine how anyone could remain so dignified and peaceful in the face of such outrageous contempt for the democratic will of the people. But she has, and she remains a potent symbol for peaceful revolution.

Hurray! #3

Paul & Rachel Chandler, the British couple who have been held hostage for 13 months by Somali pirates have been released and will be home soon. They are very brave, resilient people and have endured so much. I hope that they are given time to adjust to their new found freedom.

Three very different things to cheer for, but all important in their own ways.





guiding lights

at out village church's Remembrance Sunday service we generally have the local Guides, Brownies, Rainbows, Scouts, Cubs and Beavers in attendance with their flags and  poppy wreaths.

They look so young and innocent, so bright eyed and optimistic. Today one of the guide leaders took the children's talk and told them about her own grandparents' experiences during WWII. Her grandfather was in the RAF and her granny was a landgirl. Then she told them about how the Guides had helped with the war effort- collecting jamjars so that rosehip syrup could be made (a vital source of vitamin C when food was rationed), knitting for the troops, whitewashing kerbs so that people could find their way along darkened streets during the blackout. Children like themselves helping wherever they could.

You could have heard a pin drop. 

Later, at our village war memorial as the children laid their wreaths and Reg and Hugh played their bagpipes there wasn't a dry eye in the congregation.

Nor should there have been.

a little bit closer

I finished the back of the Karin cardi today-yay! It looks and feels lovely.

and in my mini shopping jaunt to Edinburgh today I found some flipflops too- and they were reduced in price - double yay!

Madeira is just that little bit closer!-yay, yay, yay!!!

water babe!

I'm getting so excited about my jaunt to Madeira that I've bought myself some new swimwear- on the left is a straightforward racerback swimsuit, but on the right is a tankini!

It's 30 years or so since I wore a bikini, and while it's much easier to get bikinis for the boobalicious amongst us than it ever used to be, I'm not quite up to showing the world my stretchmarks from having two kids. So I have bought this fab tankini from Bravissimo for a more glamourous look than I'm used to.  
It has a soft integral bra which will keep my assets under control while I enjoy the indoor and outdoor pools at the Royal Savoy in Funchal. I just need to get myself some flipflops for walking around the pool area and I'm set! I suspect that flipflops might be harder to find than decent swimwear, but I shall have a scout around in the sport shops in Edinburgh and see what I can find. I've only got 3 weeks and 3 days so the pressure is on. We don't often have poolside holidays, so splashing out on good/pretty swimwear is a first for me.

I'm making good progress with Karin- I'm up to the armhole shaping on the back and it looks and feels lovely. All being well it will be completed on time- woohoo!

Remembering, with gratitude

It was the war to end all wars,

sadly it didn't.

But we are free because of the enormous sacrifices made by our soldiers, sailors and aircrews, by the medics and the nurses who risk their lives to support the armed services.

I'm grateful for what was done, and for what continues to be done for us .

waist-ing away

I managed to lose a little bit of weight over the summer (12lbs) and found my waistline again, which was nice. I'd still like to lose another 12lbs but that's harder to for me to do in the winter months, so I'll just have to try to not put the weight back on.

I realised today, when I started on the waist shaping for Karin, that this is the first garment that I've made that has needed waist shaping, so I'm quite pleased to have unearthed that part of my bod!
The back is coming along nicely, and is working up quite quickly (I'm almost halfway up the back) so it should be ready for my winter sun jaunt- hurray!

that'll do nicely

my winter sun cardi, Karin, is coming along nicely, the pattern isn't complicated so it's good for crocheting along to a football match commentary.

Sunderland are doing nicely too: we managed a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspurs tonight.
Spurs are a good team, they play in the Champion's League and recently beat Inter Milan (the current champions) 3-1. As we don't usually do well away from home( we haven't won away from home yet this season) let alone in London, this draw felt like a win!

Of course, our new hero, our record signing  (£13m)Asamoah Gyan got the equalizer. He's worth every penny and doing very nicely too.

La Sagrada Familia

Inside the nave of La Sagrada Familia

one of the most amazing enthralling iconic buildings was consecrated as a church by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday.
Work began on this church in 1882, then Antoni Gaudi took over as architect in 1883, and changed the design to an unusual organically influenced plan. Hopefully this extraordinary, beautiful church will be complete in 20 years time, approx 100 years after Gaudi's death.

The columns in the nave are unusual, in that they do not follow classical straight lines. The columns seem to be shaped like trees and looking up to the ceiling is rather like looking up to the forest canopy and seeing the sky above.

We've visited Barcelona 4 times since 2003 and we always visit La Sagrada Familia, admiring the beautiful complex structure and Gaudi's work.

Hopefully it won't be too long before we visit it again.

and now for something completely different

the hook is out and I've been swatching for a summer weight cardigan, which seems odd as I've been whinging on about the cold weather lately.

But in four weeks time D and I are going to Madeira for a week, (we're staying in my parents timeshare while they stay here and look after Jen and the pooch. Aren't they kind?) . So I want to make myself something to throw over my shoulders in the evenings, and this design, Karin by Annette Petavy, fits the bill (from Inside crochet issue 8)
I've swatched in Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino (swatch on the left) and Patons 100%  cotton (smaller swatch on the right) and I like the drape of the cashmerino better for this design.
I'll have to work hard to get it done in 4 weeks as I have two hats to do and I have to finish Jack's Felix mitts in that time (the first is nearly complete). I hope that I'm not putting the front, back and half a sleeve into my case!

PS. Did the title make you think about Monty Python? Good!

rain stops play

I must be getting old.
My village always has the firework display on the Saturday nearest to Nov 5th as it is the PTA which organises it and more parents can volunteer to set everything up at the weekend (although the fireworks are done by a professional company). But it's raining, and while I don't mind standing outside in the cold, I don't like standing in the rain. What a wuss! So, no playing with glowsticks for me. (although I can the fireworks, and it sounds very good!)

The scarf is finished and blocked and looks very pretty and feels very, very soft and squishy. The photo doesn't do the shade of green justice- it's more of a Christmas green than it seems here. I can get this gift wrapped and sent off this week, which is good as I'm often late with my swaps!



Gyan scores

I was knitting on a fingerless mitt (Felix)for Jack this afternoon while listening to the football, and got a bit distracted by my team.
We beat Stoke 2-0 which sounds good, but the second half was riddled with controversy: our former hero Kenwyne Jones scored for his new team Stoke, which would have made the score 1-1, but then it was ruled that it hadn't crossed the line. Hmmm, perhaps that was because Cattermole stopped it with his arm. So it should have been a penalty and he should have been sent off, but it wasn't and he wasn't. So still 1-0.
Then Stoke had one of their players sent off and our new hero Gyan scored his second. So a win, but a bit of an embarrassing one, and I managed to knit the thumb in the wrong place and had to rip it out.
Not sure if I should attribute that error to age or the rain. Hmmmmm

plots and plans

today the UK celebrates Bonfire night  commemorating the time in 1605 when Guy Fawkes was found underneath the House of Lords before he had time to light the fuse and assassinate King James I (and VI of Scotland). 

 Guy Fawkes, the hired gun, is the name that is remembered but most people would struggle to name any of the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot : John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Grant, Sir Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham.

We shouldn't forget them- they didn't like the political system and tried to blow it up. Tsk tsk! Not a very British thing to do.

D was in London on business today and took some of his team to the V&A museum for coffee before they came back. While he was there, he bought me this lovely Union Jack scarf (in black, white and grey)- very stylish and very appropriate today!

... and because some plans should work out, I finished knitting the lace alpaca scarf today too- but now I need to block it.

I managed to get quite a lot done on it yesterday while watching the Bourne Identity on dvd, although I had to stop once or twice when the plot got a bit complicated. I couldn't help admiring Matt Damon in his sweater too!