Dedicated to CraftyPod

I sometimes think I don't say often enough how much I adore this podcast. It is awesome. In fact I'm thinking of making the tagline to my own podcast "It's not CraftyPod, but I like it".

The most recent episode was this woman who made her blog into a book. Now for me this is very timely. I have been thinking over the last few weeks how I've stopped keeping diaries in favour of blogging (and also because they were either boring or depressing). But it does mean that the only record of my activities is online and I'm beholden to blogger.com continuing to host it forever more. So I tootled over to her blog and saw that it truly is something worth keeping and also saw a couple more links on craftypod about how to do it.

So the summary of that last paragraph is that I went over to Blurb.com and downloaded their free software which, wait for it, makes a book out of your blog for free. I tried to do the whole blog in one book but it was over 400 pages (!) so have opted to start with 2005 and see how that goes. Is very easy to use and got the hang of it within 5 minutes. I am about 100 pages into my 7x7" blog book. One of the really good things has been re-reading posts past. Certainly lots to reflect on...

Have been doing bits and pieces of knitting this week so not much to report. A belated photo of Pooch's hat mark 2.

And some non-knitting for once. My purse was just about falling apart and so I went on Craftster and found a tutorial for a new one. Minimal sewing and very quick to do. Sewing on the popper took longer than making the main body. Have been using it all week and am really happy with it!

I do really like sewing but rarely do any nowadays that isn't mending. Made a nice change although naturally nothing beats a bit of knitting.

Oh god oh god oh god oh god

Would someone just give me a fricking job based in london that will be even vaguely interesting? Here follow some of the things I am good at but that by themselves don't seem to form any kind of profession:

• Project Management (I am a fully qualified PRINCE2 Practitioner - but this doesn't seem to count as I haven't yet had a chance to work on a PRINCE2 project or one with a budget more than £100k). Good with MS Project.
• Organising things. Anything - strategic overhauls, christmas parties, training courses, holidays, exhibitions, schedules, operational change etc etc
• Getting things done. I am completely A1 at getting things to happen faster than you thought they would.
• Public speaking. Small groups, large groups, auditoria full. CEOs, post-room boys, corporate, academic, not-for-profit. Subjects I know lots about, subjects I know little about, with slides, without slides. It's all good.
• Training - IT, soft skills, anything.
• IT - am the daddy of most Office software. Have developed websites, understand html, at a push can still remember some FORTRAN 90 (anyone who knows what that is can stop sniggering right now - it was useful once upon a time!). Photoshop. My speciality is fixing temperamental office printers/photcopiers.
• Adaptable - can turn my hand to most things.
• Flexible - travel not a problem (more knitting time - right?), hours not a problem (as long as averages as 40ish a week)
• Calm in a crisis. Patient with the passionate. Idyllic with the irritated. Afterall, I have a blog to moan on if someone is annoying me.
• Creative thinking. You want someone to think off at a tangent? That's me.

So come on...surely someone has got a job for me?
Meanwhile, knitting continues chez Byrne.

This volumous mass is the back of the fairisle jumper being knitted with proper shetland and evenything. I think it is waaaaaaaay too big but am going to leave it to 'mature' and then see what I think. Also, in the same way that the-car-behind-you-is-always-closer-than-they-appear-in-the-mirror, I am always somewhat fatter than I remember so you never know. I might have grown into it.
I realise I still haven't blogged about the wondrous UK Stitch and Bitch day last weekend. It was really really good. Much more like a gathering of friends than the mass of heaving shoppers to be found at ally pally. Much kudos to the IKnit boys and associates for their work and I'm very pleased to see they will be doing another one next year.
I spotted some tiny skeins of opal on one stand - I think it was Get Knitted.

Very cute but not quite sure what you were supposed to do with it.
The Shellac Sisters were there playing records (I seemed to know all the music they were playing which was odd). This particular sister was wearing a knitted dress that was just the most amazing thing I've seen. She very bravely submitted to my photographing her for which I'm very grateful!

The Dutch knitters tables were very well attended, in part because of the yummy food they had brought with them. They also had some amazing objects. Look at these mittens in blue and white:

I looked at them very carefully and I swear there wasn't a stitch out of place on either one. They really were beautifully made.
There was an amazing diversity of people at the show - proportionally loads more men than I saw at ally pally and the average age was much lower too. I suspected some were boyfriends dragged along but then saw these two getting down to some stitching and so revised that.

Of course one man was certainly not going to be caught there...he stayed home perfecting his pose for when he becomes a conservative MP.

So what did I buy? Well....I made a major investment in natural dye studio silk. I couldn't help it.

I plan a pacific waves shawl starting with the blue at the top and working my way down through the colours.
Also some lovely vintage patterns from the KCG Stand.

Some ToeFootSies sock yarn for me and my secret pal

And finally what started as this...

With free stitchmarker stuck on with a sticker...how cool is that?

and unwrapped into...

Mmmmm. I also met up with Alice (who I keep thinking of as "The Socktopus" but in a nice way) on the following sunday and did an interview for the podcast which I hope you'll all like (should be out next weekend).
Thought SkipNorth had suffered a set-back when our home PC went for a burton and stopped working at the weekend. Fortunately I've got the spreadsheet back so those who have booked in the last few days will be receiving a confirmation from me shortly. There are still places but book soon to avoid disappointment...
So finally - a double whammy. Cupcake calendar AND a pithy quote.

PS: Don't forget about that job

On a day like today...

This year has been a bit different for me as I now have a soldier practically in the family. It's brought it all much closer than before. So, yes, there is a lot to say about the Stitch and Bitch day yesterday but for today I'm just going to leave people with the image above. If you haven't already done so you can donate to the Royal British Legion here.

Case of mistaken identity

Did anyone else think this was the same woman who played Juliet opposit Leonardo di Caprio's Romeo?

Wow, should have seen that one before. 3 x-men films? I thought she'd changed quite a lot. Only twigged when went to see Stardust.

Cute stuff all over

The cutest first....

Isn't he adorable? This is of course Pete wearing quite the snazziest handknit tank top I've ever seen. Spent yesterday in Romford with Nic and Andy who are both well. The pics are a little blurred as I didn't want to put my flash right in his face so you can't exactly see what he's holding onto - but it is the skeleton called Jack from the night before christmas! Andy got it for him the other day and Pete is obviously very attached to it already. Pete does this amazing thing where he looks at you with as if he's got his eyebrows raised and his expression seems to indicate that you've just performed a social gaffe. It's how I imagine oscar wilde would have looked if he'd come across a modern chav. It is terribly sweet and makes me laugh each and every time. Of course he also has the most lovely smile...

I had a lovely time in Romford and Nic and I managed to find a few crafty goodies along the way. Here's my haul:

There is a copy of 'Knitting' magazine there because, as I only found out after Nic spotted it, I am in it.

Above Lime & Violet! Not that I care about stuff like that of course. Ahem.

There have also been other goodies coming into the marital home - the latest parcel from my SP arrived! Woo ha!

The soap has reall loofah in it which I think is rather exciting. These especially caught my eye - aren't they cute!

I am a firm believer that one can never have to many stitchmarkers. And these ones are especially cute!

The yarn in the pic is Shiladair in a beautiful red but there was also one other skein - Dream in Colour Classy in blue lagoon.

Mmmmmmmmm. I was fingering this stuff in either IKnit or the 'other' shop on thursday but dragged myself away. Now I know it was the right decision! (The postcard under it is the portrait of Charlie Chaplin by Lee Miller. Amazing.)

I know what you're thinking - there's already been so much good stuff in this post. How much more can she possibly pack in? Well... the results of my dyeing have been making it into cake form.

I particularly liked some of the cotton. I'm just hoping the colours survives a wash - test swatch at the ready.

And finally two finished objects. A thick and robust scarf...

...and a pair of mittens.

The mittens are from Knitting Nature which is a really lovely book. They only took 3 hours from start to finish. Can see myself making them again in the future.

Just before I go things are hotting up for SkipNorth (knitting holiday extraudinaire!). We've got 17 people booked already with about a third of those being people who haven't been before. Lots of others have told me that you intend to book soon but don't leave it too long! Once the places are gone they're gone.

New shoes...

I'm pretty sure I started another post with this title just a few weeks ago but anyway...here we are again. As dame shirley sang "It's all just a little bit of history repeating."

These were bought with the specific purpose of replacing the green ones that lead to my having the MOST unpleasant wet feet experience ever at the weekend. Pooch wondered into the bathroom last night cradling them and calling me a mass of contradictions. He said the shoes were absolutely 100% me and yet didn't go with the knitting/fat pants aspect of me. A bit like the WWE and knitting I suppose. Anyway, I think they are rather snazzy!

Today was the 'arty' day of my holiday. I started it with a bit of embroidery on some mediocre black jeans I bought a few weeks ago. They fitted OK but weren't really inspiring me to wear them so half an hour later we have...

Can you see what it is yet? (Cue diggerydoo noises.) I think this photo illustrates very nicely the difficulties one encounters when one tries to photograph one's own leg.

The day continued with a trip to the V&A to see both the Lee Miller and Couture exhibitions. Now anyone thinking of going to see them both together I would suggest visiting the couture one first. Having not done this I came out of the Lee Miller exhibition feeling quite overwhelmed and in awe of a woman achieving so much during an age not terribly welcoming to strong-minded females. Something I didn't know is her photo essays and actual essays for Vogue reporting on the concentration camps during WW2. To have photos of jaw droppingly beautiful people contrasted with an equally artistic shot of a stack of cadavers - all people who had starved to death in one of the camps.

The Golden Age of Couture exhibition *was* very good. I think I might go back some time when it doesn't seem quite such a triviality.

My view of arty naturally includes knitting so I went on a journey to two yarn shops. I try not to be mean on this blog. So I shall merely say that the second one, IKnit, was really good. I found myself almost magnetically attracted to cones of habu silk in an amazing dark pink....even now I feel myself wincing that I came away without them but it's just as well since I didn't have a pattern in mind for them. Instead I came out with The holiday Interweave Knits and a Jean Greenhowe (I love it that they stock them). I got the Knit 1 at the 'other' shop.

Then just three balls of yarn from the bargain bin.

There are a couple of thing I'd really like to make. I've got elann silk mix that just wants to be this:

I'd still want to make this even thought it is a Teva Durham:

And this although I'm not sure it would suit me really.

Yesterday saw me dyeing like crazy with a the result that this is still inhabiting most of the bathroom.

The big purple mass at the front is a load of boucle I got about 3 years ago and which has been sitting refusing to speak to me all that time. Now I know it is destined to be the EZ Pi Shawl!

Podcast!

Episode 11 is up.

Where does the time go?

Here I am on day two of my holiday and I realise I haven't blogged in months, weeks, a week maybe, and nor do I have much to show for the last two days.

Last weekend saw the handover of the everton top for the baby due at the beginning of December.

I'm not actually that pleased with it as it looks a bit rough and ready but I do like the little button closure at the back.

I have also been doing some ebaying and so have pattern books arriving most days. This is one that I have been ebay stalking for a while. I know this is sad but it became a kind of personal goal in life to make it mine since I have been pipped at the post about 5 times. It's the cover dungarees that I really love with the little bow on the front. So cute!

I have also started the shilasdair kit I bought at ally pally. It is using their blend which I think is wool, cashmere and a dash of angora and I have to say it is practically creamy in consistency. I am not enjoying the actual knitting as the pattern looks simple but is actually bloody awkward.

I have also been winding skeins into balls like you wouldn't believe. This is the softest laceweight that I got in the US. Colourway is called fog.

It really is lovely. I had bought a leafy shawl pattern but I am just not sure about this colourway with it.

This morning I made it for the first time to the Foyles knitting group and had a good knit and natter. Definitely a good natter. I didn't contribute much as I was the newbie but it was very entertaining and they were very welcoming. Then lunch with my sister and then a foray into covent garden to buy what turned out to be.....gold trainers. Gold! After a very unpleasant wet feet experience on sunday I finally realised the pumas I got from TK Max 5 years ago had done their duty and should be retired. I will have photos for the shoe hungry out there next time I can find my camera.

Tomorrow promises to include lots of dyeing as I still haven't tried out the dyes I picked up at ally pally and because I have been meaning to do some for ages. I am now skeining yarns ready to be soaked overnight. Is going to be mainly wool but I bought some cotton dyes a while ago and still haven't used those so I have a couple of balls of dishrag cotton sitting about which I plan to transform.

Very lastly, I have joined bookmooch.com which I would recommend. You list your unwanted books and those that you'd like to receive. Then people request your books and you post them off and then you request another person's books and they post them to you and you get points for sending and lose points for requesting and so basically it all balances out nicely. You can list knitting/crochet books and there are a few on there listed by others. Some people have also listed magazines which seems a good idea and I will be adding to my listings soon. In fact I only joined yesterday and have already had requests for two books and asked two people to send me theirs. Bonza!

October catch up

One of the things I like about the CraftyPod podcast is that she has these periodic catch ups and so that is what I'm seeing this post as. I have been a bit of a lazy blogger recently and there really is quite a lot to share.

First we have a little bit of jewellery. One of the things that held me back from spending my limit at ally pally was the thought that I already had one of everything. That 'everything' included a necklace kit from one of the fabulous bead stalls bought at last year's AP. So out it has come and we've got this far.

I think it's rather pretty and is pretty easy to follow.

That spurt of jewellery making saw me get out a few beads I had been maeaning to make into a bracelet for a while. Queue my yarnstorm moment...

and a slightly more practical shot of memory wire creation:

I got the beads in america earlier this year. I am always a sucker for polka dots and I just adore these little ones.

That is the non-knitting content out of the way. So now two finished objects to show off. We have the bag...before felting:

and after felting:

No real difference to the untrained eye but looking rather good nonetheless. Will get its first outing tomorrow.

The second are the fabulous socks using the custome dyed yarn Fabienne gave me during the last secret pal round. I have worn them already and they are perfect - the yarn is wonderfully smooshy.

Then (well I did say there was a lot to catch up on) there is the mermaid which has hit a wall because I've screwed up the colours. The light pink just isn't working and looks positively dirty next to the other two which definitely work together. I was thinking maybe a dark blue instead. Thoughts?

And finally the current WIP next to me on the sofa, a scarf. Yes, I know it's a bit boring but I'm a knitter and I need a scarf and so I'm knitting one. Not to make it too boring I'm using this pattern from ravelry and the texture of it really is pretty amazing.

Made all the better by the coordinating needles. Oh go on then, another yarnstorm moment...