what a summer!!

This has been a fantastic summer for sport: the Tour de France was amazing, the Olympic Games were fantastic, the Paralympic Games were awesome and then to top it all off doesn't Andy Murray go and win the US open at Flushing Meadows?? It took him 5 sets and nearly 5 hours to beat Djokovic but by golly it was worth it! He's the first British man to win a major title for 76 years. (The last British woman was Virginia Wade winning Wimbledon in 1977, 35 years ago.)
The only downside is that football has become much less enthralling for me. I keep up with it but I'm getting irritated with the overpaid prima donna players, the moaning managers and the cynical fouls and play acting to win penalties.

We caught up with the Tour of Britain this week. Stage 3 set off from Jedburgh yesterday. We were there and stood within 10' of Wiggins and Cavendish. Borders Council were one of the sponsors and did a lot of work with the local schools and got all of the children involved.

Some of the children were chosen to ride out from the start a minute or so before the official rollout. It was tremendous to see the start. One day we'll see the finish of a stage and that will be massively exciting!

I've managed to finish my Lilybet socks uring LaVuelta de Espana ( the Spanish cycle race) even if they were supposed to be finished during the Tour de France! I'm very pleased with them, they're cosy and a very pretty colour. The pattern was well written too.

Here come the girls!

London 2012

The Olympics is a wonderful showcase for women in sports, and so many sports are represented too.
Team GB's first medal was won by Lizzie Armitstead in the Cycling Road Race. She took silver behind Marianne Vos of the Netherlands.
The first medal for swimming was won by Becky Adlington in the 400m freestyle. She won Bronze. The amazing Camille Muffat (France) won the gold.
The first Gold medal was won by Helen Glover and Heather Stanning (Rowing) in the women's pair.
These are all tremendous inspiring women, they work hard, they train hard, they are so dedicated, and I'm so proud of them.
They've been joined on the podia by the Equestrian Eventing team (silver). This is one of the few sports where men and women compete against each other. Zara Philips (HMQ's eldest granddaughter) is a valued member of the team as is Mary King, who is a classy lady in her 50's competing in her 5th Olympics.Tina Cook, Nicola Wilson  and William Fox-Pitt make up the rest of the team (We'll let him be an honorary woman!!)

We have more succesful women rowers (Kat Copeland, Sophie Hosking, Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger), cyclists (Victoria Pendleton, Dani King, Jo Rowsell and Laura Trott).
In Judo Gemma Gibbons won silver (78kg) and Karina Bryant won bronze (78kg+).
The women's football team won their group undefeated (beating Brazil!) and were knocked out by Canada in the QFs.
And the most golden girl of all : Jessica Ennis, who won the Women's Heptathlon on sat 4th. I cannot imagine how anyone trains for 7 different disciplines, but she does. A foot injury kept her out of competing at Beijing, but she has fought back and worked hard on improving her field events.
Anyone who has a daughter will be pleased to see these wonderful women, they are fabulous role models for our daughters ( and for us). Hardworking, dedicated, focused, classy women.

Brilliant and totally bonkers!



London 2012The opening ceremony in London on Fri 27th was amazing: a quirky, moving, funny exciting look at Britain. I was moved to tears, I laughed out loud, I pogo-ed around the living room.
After Beijing 2008's wonderful elegant ceremonies we wondered how we could compete with the stylish precision that dazzled the world. So Danny Boyle decided not to, he decided to play to our strengths and created a different show.

We had children's choirs singing Jerusalem (England) Danny Boy (Northern Ireland), O Flower of Scotland (Scotland, obvs) and Cwm Rhondda (Wales), there was the pastoral idyll of a time gone by transformed into the Victorian industrial age which then forged the olympic rings in iron and suspended them above the stadium.



HMQ- raising the bar for all pensioners

To a collective gasp of joy and disbelief we had HMQ as the best ever Bond girl "appearing" to skydive into the stadium with Daniel Craig.

 

We had a wonderful moving tribute to the victims of the London bombings (7/7/05) when 52 people were killed by terrorist bombs in London the day after London won the Olympic bid.
No one else would have pure comedy on display, but we did when Mr Bean joined in playing the Chariots of Fire theme with the LSO conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
And then the Olympic cauldron was  lit. There had been much speculation about who would do this, but no one could have predicted what we saw. Each of 204 countries represented at the Games carried in a large bronze petal, which were then put into the shape of a large chrysanthemum flower ( a nod to Beijing perhaps?). Sir Steve Redgrave carried the flame into the stadium but then passed it to a team of very young athletes, teenagers who compete at a junior level who then carried it around the stadium and they lit the petals. The torch was symbolically passed onto the next generation and they united the world. It was beautifully moving.
I couldn't get to sleep afterwards it was so much to take in, and I couldn't knit either while watching it.
It was wonderful. Thank you Danny Boyle for such a fabulous show.

Allez Wiggo!

What a brilliant Tour it has been!                                
Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the TdF in its 99 year history. He is an awesome athlete and a gentleman to boot: when some of the riders were affected by carpet tacks being thrown on the road and causing 20+ punctures (stage 14) he slowed the peloton down to allow last year's winner Cadel Evans to catch up.

He worked hard today on the final stage to ensure that Mark Cavendish won the sprint on the Champs Elysees. He has not only won the maillot jaune with style and class, he's also become a hero to the French because he respects the race and its history.

It's been fantastic to watch him, Froome (who came 2nd), Cavendish and the rest of the Sky team. It's amazing to see British lads come 1st and 2nd, and another Briton (Cav) win the final stage. That's Cavendish's 4th win in Paris and his 23rd stage win in the TdF in 4 years. Amazing, unbelievable, wonderful stuff. It's the 100th anniversary next year and I would love to be in France next year for any of the stages. I can dream.

I've not finished my Lilybet socks though- I thought I would get the first sock finished today but realised I'd made a mistake and had to rip back an inch on the foot. Then when I was watching the live coverage it was too exciting to be able to concentrate on my sticks and string so I had to put my knitting to one side. Hopefully I'll get this pair finished before the end of the olympics. Our cyclists are in action next weekend too. Allez Wiggo! C'mon Cav!!

TdF2012

I love watching the Tour de France: I admire the cyclists fitness, endurance and strength, I love seeing the French countryside and I enjoy getting to know the crazy characters who decide to do this epic race.
Obviously I'm cheering on Mark Cavendish and Brad Wiggins and I'm also getting to know the new kid on the block Peter Sagan who does mad celebrations as he crosses the line- Sunday's celebration was like a funky chicken and today he crossed the line impersonating Forrest Gump. It will be fun to see what he does next!


would HMQ wear this pink?

 My tour project is a pair of socks called Lilybet designed by Rachel Coopey. I like the pretty lace pattern, and the name is similar to Lilibet which is how HMQ is referred to within the royal family, so this is a little tribute to the Diamond jubilee celebrations.
I've enjoyed watching Euro2012, Spain were worthy winners. Italy were awesome against Germany in the semis but had run out of steam for the final and were comprehensively beaten 4-0. England did better than expected to get out of the group stages and lost to Italy on penalties in the quarter finals.


mosh pit mitts by Rachel Atkinson

 I've recently finished a hat for the Christmas shoeboxes and a pair of very quick fingerless mitts for myself. The weather in Scotland has been shocking of late: low temperatures and torrential downpours resulting in road closures ( even in East Lothian, which almost never has problems like this) then sudden heat. I never know what to wear! Still, I can get plenty of knitting done while watching some fabulous sport! It's a shame that Rafa Nadal has been knocked out of Wimbledon, but Andy Murray is through to the QFs so I can cheer him on while I crack on with my pretty pink socks.

sounds like a plan



"they seek him here"

One of my unannounced resolutions* this year was that whenever I finished a project I would knit a hat for the Christmas shoeboxes (Operation Christmas Child). It's always a scramble in Sept/Oct to knit a hat or two, yet I collect toys and stationery for the boxes all year round, so it makes sense to knit hats all year round too.

I knit "they seek him here" by Elly Doyle, in March, modelled here by Jen. It's a straightforward pattern and makes a good unisex hat.

After I finished Jack's (as yet unblocked) Alien scarf I rattled out another Ralph hat. This is a simple hat, suitable for all ages, which I've made a few times in various colours. It's good for TV knitting, particularly when I'm watching subtitled Danish TV programmes! (We're enjoying watching The Bridge at the moment, it's gripping)

It would be easy just to churn out basic hats from all the leftovers in my stash, but I want to have fun too, so today I cast on Cashmere Cosy by Loraine Birchall. Like Elly Doyle's pattern this was published in Knit Now which specialises in accessories and is a good resource for hats and cowls.

I'm not sure if I should choose some hats or socks for the Ravelympics (thank you for reminding me!) I need to choose something for the Tour de Fleece too, the Euros in Pol/kraine and Wimbledon. It might be a lot of hats. It will certainly take a fair bit of planning!

*my resolutions are usually unannounced, it's easier that way!

over the (blue) moon!

I'm over the moon, I've finally finished my pomatomus socks! It has taken me a while, but they're done. I have been finishing other stuff but an unplanned blog hiatus has left those projects to be unrecorded. But I'll remedy that later this week.

Manchester City fans are over the Blue Moon as their team won the Premier League ( on Sunday) for their first time in 44 years. It was very dramatic as either Manchester City or Manchester Utd could win the league. They had equal points and were separated only by goal difference. A win for City would give them the title, if they dropped points Utd could overtake them. Up until the last few minutes of the season it looked as though Manchester United would win as Man City were losing 2-1 to QPR. But in injury time Man City scored two extra goals and won the league. I could hardly knit for excitement!

D was delighted as Newcastle finished 5th on 65 points, Sunderland limped to the end of the season, finishing 13th on 45 points, which made Newcastle fans even happier to be 20 pts ahead of their rivals.
It was sad to see Bolton get relegated after their traumatic season. Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch in March, having had a heart attack. He has recovered but it has obviously been a difficult few months for the rest of the team. Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers were also relegated.

So after the excitement of the end of the football season I have the European championships, Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the Olympics to look forward too. Awesome!


* Blue Moon is the club anthem for Manchester City

and then I saw his face

and I'll always be a believer

RIP Davy Jones (1945-2011)

15-80-19

it's a birthday weekend round here. Jennifer was 15 on Friday and got lots of clothes and money (so she's very happy!), my FIL Jack was 80 yesterday and he got a balloon (and was very amused) and my son Jack is 19 tomorrow and is getting lots of stuff for his "best" bass guitar (strap, cables, a new hard case, and is pleased with that) and money (and is very pleased with that too!).
We all went for dinner at vin caffe yesterday- my inlaws like Italian food, and there's always a good choice for vegetarians too (Jen has been a veggie since Aug 2011) so everyone is happy. I tried queen scallops for the first time and enjoyed them , followed by roast vegetables and polenta. I've not had polenta before so that was fun trying something new.

I'm making good progress on the alien scarf too, 7 alien faces done so far. I just need to measure it against Jack to see whether I need to make 9 or 10 in total. My MIL Betty, who used to a fantastic knitter until arthritis in her shoulders meant she had to put the pointy sticks away, was very impressed with illusion knitting. I've been trying to persuade her take up crochet, as that's more of a wrist action and would not put any strain on her shoulders and she would have the fun of making things again.

a bargain!

I had to go for a mammogram yesterday and afterwards as I was feeling squished and tender I went to The Bead Shop to cheer myself up.
The business is doing well and has extended its range to include yarn (Rowan, Debbie Bliss etc) Cath Kidston fabrics and various notions.
I picked up this book Knit and Crochet with Beads by Lily M Chin for £5 ($7.87 ). There are some very pretty projects in it and getting a book for the price of a magazine made me feel a bit better!
I am amazed I'd didn't buy any yarn though, which just goes to show how fragile I was feeling! 

just an illusion

I managed to get to Knit and natter on Monday (I missed it in Dec and Jan) and it was good to catch up with folk and to meet some new people too.

I took the Alien Illusion scarf with me (plus the first Stitch and Bitch book by Debbie Stoller which has the original pattern). At first everyone thought I was just making a stripey scarf - and there's nothing wrong with that - until I held it at a different angle and they could see the alien faces! That got everyone talking and looking through Stitch and Bitch. It's brilliant that people who have been knitting for 30-40 years can still see something new and be intrigued by it.

Vicky, our friendly LYSO, who runs the group did know about illusion knitting and admitted that there was a pattern on Ravelry for a Tiger Wallhanging that she would love to do - when she is not knitting samples for her shop... Of course I had to have a look at it myself, and at all the other amazing designs available from Steve at The World of Illusion Knitting : from the Beatles to Harry Potter and from the Mona Lisa to Marilyn Monroe there is an amazing range of art work recreated in knit and purl stitches in a striped pattern.

I've got 2 alien faces done and think I need a total of 10 to get the scarf a reasonable length for Jack- it will look like a huge invasion of E.T.s round his neck!

The Diamond Queen

"For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen- God bless her" Jim Corbett

Today is the 60th Anniversary of two significant events: the death of King George VI and the accession of Queen Elizabeth II.
George VI had to become King when his elder brother Edward VIII renounced the throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson. His reign was short and covered the most difficult time of British history- the Second World War. He died at a relatively young 56.
Today, Elizabeth II is a sprightly 85 and hopefully will be head of state for many years to come. Whatever your views on whether Britain should have a constitutional monarchy or not, Elizabeth II does the job well and is respected around the world.
I've been lucky enough to attend two events where HMQ has been meeting local people and I was impressed at how much time she spends talking to people and how well briefed she is. It's not easy meeting so many starstruck people and she handles it will grace and dignity.
So, today I raise my mug of tea and say
God Save The Queen!

aliens, vampires and ghosts

I've started swatching for Jack's Alien Illusion scarf. This swatch is in his first choice of maroon and black. The alien shows up quite well when the swatch is viewed from an oblique angle but I think I'll still swatch in lime green and black to give him a choice.


 I was making good progress, or so I thought , on my Landgirls top until I realised that the right front and left front didn't quite match. GAHH!!   I ripped it back, started knitting again, then decided that I needed a break from the dark jade green wool and Landgirls was put back into the knitting bag to think about what she had done.

So, on with Alien Illusion, in a trad scarf style , not a looped scarf style. Jack is not known for being fashion forward...

I'm enjoying listening to Bram Stoker's Dracula at the moment. I've never got into the Twilight series (too silly, too sparkly) but I used to love watching Christopher Lee as the Count- a proper scary vampire! Heather Ordover at Craftlit is doing Dracula at the moment, and it is pretty spooky stuff. The original novel is in epistolary form (letters and journals, rather than a 3rd person narrator, or the omniscient author's view) and there are some terrific voices there for Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Lucy Westernra etc. I particularly enjoy Dr Seward's journal which, as he recorded it (on wax cylinders?) rather than wrote it has been produced with an authentic scratchy sound. Dracula is a fantastic study of the late 19th century scientific mind (recordings, photographs and telegrams form  part of the story) battling medieval superstitions. It's fabulous!

Over at Forgotten Classics Julie is covering Genesis and Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart . Hughart's novel is set in an ancient China that never was and features Master Li and his sidekick Number 10 Ox trying to find a rare elixir to save the lives of the children of Ox's village who are all in a coma. Master Li has to be clever and cunning as he tries to outwit the powerful people in his way and even has to tackle a dancing ghost. It's very, very funny and well worth a listen.

So, I'm surrounded by strange beings at the moment and hopefully the knitting will behave itself! 

Plus ça change, plus c' est la même chose..

..the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The latest BBC drama Call the Midwife, based on the memoirs of a new young midwife Jenny Lee (Jennifer Worth) in London in 1957, is a gripping moving tale, full of sentiment but not sentimental. It was tough in postwar Britain, giving birth could be fraught with danger, midwives did a tremendous job in caring for the mothers-to-be and in bringing new life to the world.
Even these days with ultrasound scans and localised pain relief giving birth is a demanding exhausting process and a happy outcome is not guaranteed. I was really grateful that the midwives supporting my two pregnancies were so good at their jobs and that J1 and J2 were delivered safely.

I'm impressed with the acting in Call the Midwife: Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris and Judy Parfitt (all playing nuns) are on top form as you would expect, Jessica Raine as the lead Jenny Lee is totally believable, but the surprise of the show is Miranda Hart (best known for her comedy roles) who is tremendous as Chummy Browne. 

I've made good progress on my landgirls top as I've been watching this, despite being in floods of tears while I'm watching!

when I grow up I want to be Diane Keaton

Sometimes, you choose a film because you just need to watch a comedy even though you don't have high expectations for it. Then you have a brilliant evening, are totally charmed by it, have a really good laugh and the frustrations and worries of the week just get washed away.
Morning Glory is such a film. We watched this last night. I enjoyed watching Rachel McAdams as the lead, but I was blown away by Diane Keaton. She's 65 now, still steals the show and looks amazing. Well worth watching 4 stars ★★★★.

We've recently watched Thor, which was a reasonable superhero romp (Chris Hemsworth is very easy on the eye *ahem*), 3 stars ★★★; Rango, which was much funnier than I expected 3 stars ★★★; Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, which was ok, but it would have been better to watch this when the kids were young, 2 stars ★★ and Paul, which was hilarious. I'll watch Simon Pegg in anything. 4 stars ★★★★.

Jen saw Mission Impossible 4 at the cinema yesterday and thought it was brilliant so we might just have to have a jaunt to the cinema to see Simon Pegg in that too.

Galaxy

this week I finished a snood/cowl for Jen, knitted in King Cole Galaxy.

This is a pattern from Knit Now, a UK knitting mag which specialises in accessories rather than adult garments. The designer is Sam Parfitt and I like her quirky, contemporary style. The dropped stitches were a bit fiddly as the yarn has quite a fuzzy halo, but a small sized crochet hook helped me to drop the stitches all the way down. This is the first time that I've done a pattern with dropped stitches and I like the effect. I still have almost a full ball of yarn left so I may have to produce a pair of handwarmers for Jen.

Next in the queue is a scarf for Jack:  Alien Illusion Scarf, by Shetha Nolke from the original Stitch and Bitch book. I've been promising him this scarf for a couple of years, so I'd better ignore all my wip socks and make this for him. I don't know if he wants it as a standard scarf or in the new style of loop scarves (where the ends are joined to make a loop). I've not done an illusion pattern before so I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out.

While I wait for him to get back to me I'm going to focus on my landgirl top. I feel as if I have too many UFOs and need to finish some stuff!

Galaxy, aliens and UFOs? This is a bit sci-fi this post!!

old tech, new tech

My plan to move-around-a-bit-more-quickly-than-usual to music is going well, this is the 4th day in a row that I've used a Rosemary Conley exercise tape. This is the video that I used in 1994 when I was trying to get back into shape after having my first child.(He was born in 1993 so I had a lot of catching up to do) It's at a fairly basic level, which is what I need just now.

I also got a sports watch today which not only has a pedometer on it, but comes with a heart monitor band so that I can see how my fit my heart is becoming. I haven't tried it yet, I've only just got the watch set up!!
I know that serious sporty people use i-phone apps to tell them when to speed up, slow down, change the length of their stride etc, but that seems a bit too much for me just yet. I plan to use the watch to help me with some power walking. Although I walk my dog everyday, it tends to be a gentle amble through the woods. Megan has a mild heart condition now and has to avoid over-exertion, but still keep to her usual length of walks and speed. So when I start my power walks it will be without her. The weather in Scotland is against me at the moment- we've been battered by strong winds yesterday (gusts of over 100mph) and today it is raining heavily. It does put me off going for any extra walks. At least we haven't got the snow yet, thankfully.

The snood for Jen is coming along well. Knitting is pretty much old tech, and doesn't burn the calories, (although it can prevent snacking)Huzzah! Sunderland are now 10th with 24 points! My team winning? that's good for my soul!

a good start

the new year has got off to a good start- I've done some knitting, some exercise, watched some excellent tv and my team won too!



Ji Dong-won scores!

I've not had much to say about the football this season because it has been truly awful. All the confidence seemed to drain away from the team which led to the manager Steve Bruce being sacked on 30th Nov. I thought he was reasonably good and had done sterling work in the last two seasons, but things were not going well. The new man, Martin O'Neill, has turned things round, winning 3 of his first 5 games, including beating the league leaders Manchester City on New Year's Day!! So at the halfway point we have 21 points from 19 games and are 13th. This is not an exciting place to be, but not a terrifying one either!

Last night I watched Sherlock with D and J1, and we all really enjoyed it. I loved the first series but this was their first ep. It's gripping, fast paced and witty and I can't wait till the next ep! ( The Hound of Baskervilles! woot!)

I got out my knitting too and made some progress on a snood that I'm making for Jen. I had hoped to get this finished before xmas (sigh), but as the cold weather hasn't really hit us yet, (yay!) she still has plenty of time to wear this through Jan and Feb.
And I used my exercise video again today- it's not really high impact aerobics, it's really moving-about-a-bit-more-quickly-than-usual in time to music. Still, it's a start!

2012- a reboot

where did 2011 go?
It is a truism that when you get older the years go by more quickly (or when you're over the hill, you pick up speed!).
Looking back I don't think I've done as much knitting as in previous years:
I completed the Seraphina sweater for Mam; a hat for Belarus, a baby hat and a second beaded Eton cap for Jen's pal; Innocent hats; 2 scarves for the church fundraiser; a pompom baby blanket; some fingerless mitts for Jack and ONE pair of socks for myself. ONE PAIR. That's shocking. (There were a few washcloths for swaps too.)

I think the reason is that I've been wasting too much time on Facebook. Despite cutting out the online games I've been wasting too much time reading daft status updates. I've only blogged half as often as in 2010 too! Sheesh!!
So as well as the usual "eat less, move more" resolution I'm going to make an effort to have less facebook time and more sticks-and-string time.

I've nearly finished a pair of baby bootees for baby Briony- (UGG boot style) I just need some buttons and poppers to finish them off. So along with these I'll reboot my own daily life and try to have a more productive year both knitting and blogging!! (I've already used an exercise video today-yes a video not a dvd- so I'm making progress on the moving more bit!!)