It's my birthday!

Religious Interlude

I am not a religious person. I don't believe in God. I don't think there's something watching over us. I believe that this is it and when you die it stops. However I do recognise that many people do believe other things and while I don't share their beliefs I am interested in them and respect their right to believe.

Once in a while though, something happens that makes me want to spit. This happened this morning on radio 4. There is a big hoo ha from male churchmen in the CofE that women shouldn't be made Bishops. They want some amendment passed that they will be overseen by men and not by women.

I can distinctly remember when the decision was passed for women to become vicars. My step dad's brother's wife was a deacon and was very keen to be ...whatever it is they do to you to become a vicar. I actually had no idea that all that was being allowed at the time was that one step. I assumed that the decision was that the glass ceiling was being removed and women could now join men in the ranks. So when I heard about this latest idiocy I was genuinely suprised.

I hear arguments like "all the disciples were men so god only wants men to be in charge". Now as far as I know none of the disciples were kiddy fiddlers but the church seems to have managed to live with that one without spontaneously combusting. If God was this all caring all giving kind of person, would he really banish 50% of his herd from serving or communicating with him? Would he care at what distance they communicated with him from? Are prayers from women not heard by god, only prayers by men? Can women not hear what he says, only men?

Is God really a sexist? Are you seriously telling me that he might feel threatened by the presence of a woman? Or is this actually a bunch of weeds who currently have all the power not wanting to share? Numbers attending church are at rock bottom. Churches are shutting. They can't recruit enough vicars for the few churches they have. The church's reputation is bad enough without alienating the women and the enlightened men who can accept women in their lives without fearing castration.

There are many reasons why I don't believe in God. The kiddy fiddling is one of them. The idea that God would allow his believers to die in horrible ways in his name is another. His apparent intolerence of women, were another reason needed, would surely be the last nail in the coffin. If he did exist wouldn't he have had a word with the objectors and told them to get real? Terry Pratchett's book "Small Gods" talked about how God's thrived on belief and without belief they became weak and wispy. Maybe it's just that the Church has lost so many people now that he is saying that, it's just no one can hear him.

Here endeth the lesson.

I just want to add that I am not a feminist. I think everyone's equal. It's just a coincidence that in my experience women are generally better at everything.

All those little buggers

I have a mixture of PMT and justifiable homicide type irritation. First there's royal mail. Don't get me started on royal mail. Then there's the builders. Actually no, not the builders. They're nice. Practically naked in my kitchen, but nice. It's the company they work for. Then there's the air conditioning at work. Then , last not not least, there are the gang of little thugs who inhabit the estate opposite. I say little because they're all about 4 feet tall. They have in the past run up behind me and pinched my bum, wolf whistled me (seriously - I am not twice, not thrice, for four times their age) and now they have been throwing water bombs. After the second, which actually splashed me, I turned and walked after them. They ran away but at what age are they not going to run away?

Anyway, asbo's aside. I made an ipod cosy. Rock on.

Wedding and baby

Look at Laura's face!

I love this photo...kind of sums up both of them and how fun they are. She looked amazing and Gav scrubs up pretty well too. We spent the weekend in Burnford, or somewhere like that - you know me and geography. It was lovely to be there for the wedding but also good to see people again. I haven't seen some for 6 months, very well illustrated by the growth of the baby who rivals Pete for title of 'cutest'. Her name is Maya.

Pooch had offered to get her Mum some breakfast when she said "Actually, if you could just hold her for a minute." There followed a minute or two's pure comedy with the mum saying "ahh, well, maybe someone else..." before Pooch finally managed to get hold of the baby, the right way up and everything. Here he is looking really comfortable and natural (that's sarcasm that is). Maya was not very impressed with the whole manouvre but behaved with an elegant aloofness that will hold her in good stead should she ever date a computer programmer.

Meanwhile the librivox socks are continuing nicely and I have joined the Interweave KAL on ravelry. The group chooses a shortlist of 3 and you choose your favourite. I am going with the Winding Cable Knee Socks which is also a free pattern available online. I feel like I should be doing them in pink cotton but that wouldn't be comfy so am going to look for something else suitably delicate and girly instead.

Lastly, Sian's blanket, which was a saggy starghan, has been reborn as a crochet granny. Same yarn, very different design. Only 4 squares so far. Might be ready in time for christmas....2012.

Librivox Socks

I talked in a previous post about how I was doing this Librivox collaboration. My original swatch wasn't quite right but I rather liked it anyway.

So these are my librivox socks! The stitch pattern is a 14 stitch repeat...

row 1 = [p1 k2tog k3 (yo k1) twice k3 psso p1] repeat to end
row 2 = knit (if doing in the round, or purl if on 2-needles)

On 3mm needles using your average sock yarn one repeat lightly stretched = 6cm
My ankle = 24cm. Therefore....4 repeats!

So for the shortest and possibly laziest pattern ever....

Cast on 56 stitches.
2x2 rib cuff for about an inch.
Use the stitch pattern above for the leg by repeating the 2 pattern rows a few dozen times.
Heel.
Continue stitch pattern over top half of foot and plain stocking stitch over bottom.
Toe

Knit another one.

To make bigger/smaller - vary the number of purl stitches.

I've been doing mine on 2-needles. I'll post a pic here when they're finished.

A tender moment between husband and wife

Today saw a trip to Taste of London in Regents Park. It was disappointing -the stalls and people behind them were good but it was disorganised and too crowded. The organisers were hostile and despite an entry fee of £35 a head we got thrown out at 4pm so the next load of punters could be jammed in. The food I had was great but the crowds put me off going to quite a few stands. We spent quite a lot of time drinking cocktails at some vodka tent. I won't go again. This was one highlight though...

Don't they look amazing? We bought a pouch of them and Pooch is going to make risotto. I love mushroom risotto. As well as mushrooms the dream team was also present, a la Meado and Denning.

Ladies, they're available and 50% of them are actively looking for love. The other is kind of passively open to opportunities as long as I don't set them up. He hasn't done too well at the end of my cupidesque activites in the past.

Getting out of SE london was a bit epic today as the jubilee line was down. Getting back thought was worthy of a 3-page saga with supporting chorus. Had to wait 45 mins to get on the third boat that arrived because of the crowds. Only thing that kept me from garotting someone with my circular was having gone to the Liberty sale beforehand. Rowan Silk Cotton £25 for a full pack.

Am trying not to instantly cast on this since I just spotted it on Ravelry. Think it will be perfect. Also a full pack of Rowan Summer Tweed also £25.

They also had tonnes of kid silk crack for half price too. Never really liked it though myself so left it alone. Lots of other cotton though and a fair few other bits as well as masses of japanese tourists taking photos. Definitely worth a visit if you are nearby.

Today made me wonder, how many photos are we each in the background of that we don't know about? Or even in the foreground. Look at this guy for instance.

I was a bit squiffy by this point and so taking quite a lot of photos but there he was sitting in the middle of a space on a bar stool looking pretty suave and so on yet undoubtedly alone. The stool was in no man's land between the proper tables and the bar. Definitely not at the bar. Just standing there all by itself. Intrigued me. I once had my photo taken in Camden for a japanese fashion magazine (streetwear type thing they have nowadays in one of those free london evening papers - the yellow one, not the purple one.) I was with my sister Sian and I like to think she was impressed at my stylishness but I think maybe she saw it as further evidence of how fricking weird I looked. I never saw the magazine (in retrospect, was it a fashion mag or did I have my skirt tucked into my pants or did I look hairy or something more specialist?) just as I'm guessing that guy isn't into knitting blogs so will never see himself in public view. Er yeah, no conclusion to come to on that one.

Answers to questions in recent comments:
1. Yes, they are real.

2. Where is the baby cardi pattern from in the last post? It is from "Impact Moda Issue 7" available from McA Direct or their shop in Edinburgh. It is something insane like £7 (for one book!) but does have some lovely basic pattern in it for babies and toddlers. Are at least 3 other things I want to make and am teaching a beginner class (at work!) next week so will be perfect for that. Pattern is on Ravelry here.

3. Tawashi patterns. The octopus isn't by me - I got it in a swap but there is a list of Tawasi pattern on Ravelry in the Tawashi Town group forum. It may be one of those? The ones I made are the furry mitt (my own pattern) and the flower.

4. Whether or not it is summer in the UK at the moment is the start of a discussion likely not to end til the rain stops. And that could be some time. Actually it hasn't been that bad but apart from some lovely sunshine at the beginning of May we haven't been doing so well so far. Today being the first day of summer of course means that it is all downhill from here so expect a return to thermals any minute.

Librivox, Swap-Bot, ... and some other stuff (picture heavy)

I have finally got on with my part in a collaborative project on Librivox. It is a knitting book from 1800 and something called Exercises in Knitting by Cornelia Mee. Project Gutenberg freetext version is here for anyone to look at but it is written in old-school words and certainly isn't easy to decipher for modern knitters. Plus no pictures. So the Librivox group is updating the patterns and swatching and then recording. Deadline is 1st Oct and I am really excited about it! I've taken number 30, swiss pattern for edging mittens. Initial swatch without matched decreases...

Second, and my favourite, pairing k2tog and psso.

Lastly I tried pairing k2tog with k2 tog through back of loop.

I'm going to record on sunday. Woo ha!

Other things making me happy are the packages I've had from swap-bot. The all things red swap...

The socks are awesome - have worn them already.
Pants swap (well, we all need them right?) (mostly)

Newbie swap

I also took part in a swap on Ravelry for Tawashi. This is what my partner sent me.

So cool!!! Check out this little buddy...now lurking on the side of the bath looking menacing but cute at the same time.

I have been doing some proper knitting too though. I had a bit of an anticlimax when I finished the main knitting on Mermaid. I'm still not sure about it. I haven't sewn in ends or sorted the bottom edge or the fastening yet. I've bundled it up to think about for a while. This is it on me.

and then Pooch took a fancy to it.

Bit gappy at the back though.

I've also been to Edinburgh this week and so used the most useful google map in the world to see where I should go. Jenners is basically John Lewis when it comes to knitting. But McAree Brothers (also online as McA Direct) is another kettle of fish. That place is basically what every knitting shop should be. 3 charming staff, one male (shock), helped me out. Great selection. Good prices. Lots of specials. Lots of notions. Lots of buttons! i.e.

They also had a good selection of models knitted up and there was one I just fell in love with. It doesn't happen often to me but I immediately bought the pattern book and even the recommended yarn. Here it is.

I have cast on but not having swatched I think I need to go up a needle size so am going to frog and start again.

So yeah, phew, hadn't realised how much I'd done since I last blogged. Almost forgot - I also went to the stitch n bitch world knit in public event. Here we are in Soho Square.

It was good but as I joined later in the day it seemed a bit of an anticlimax. Didn't know anyone there but soon got chatting - you know how an enquiry about a sock pattern can bring people together!

Flower power, and the football begins

Quite striking, isn't it...

Only took about an hour. Free pattern. Is my second tawashi for the ravelry tawashi swap. It's quite a lot bigger than I though it would be. Might be worth trying one in 4-ply for more of a delicate facecloth type thing.

Also the bag came out of the machine and is looking pretty good.

I'm going to add some inside pockets as I am permanently losing things like keys and travelcard inside even the smallest of bags. It's a kind of mary poppins effect.

The first of the euro 2008 games kicked off yesterday - just in case anyone hadn't noticed. I did my bit by attending the portugal game in the portugese district of london. Before yesterday I didn't know london had a portugese district but judging from the mass celebration resulting from just winning the first game I can assure you it does. Pooch and his mates have set up a blog again (they did all this for the world cup) and here it is. You can see the photos of all the celebrations which were pretty impressive. In case you want to visit the portugese district is between vauxhall and stockwall down south lambeth road. The cafe we were in was great and somehow for about 10 people being there for 4 hours drinking beer, sangria and eating it came to £100. We gave them a lot more as we were sure they must have miscalculated but even so compare that with just one hour in a central bar and it's definitely a good deal.

So that's it for me football-wise but it does leave me with quite a bit of free time as Pooch has committed to watching all the game again (same as during the world cup). I am slowly planning a cross-stitch representing my current point in life and had thought about challenging myself to do it while the football is on. I dislike watching cycling about as much as football so the tour de france KAL is out too hence my looking for my own challenge. But I think I'll enjoy it more if I don't stress about it so I'll just carry on getting the pattern sorted and then see how far I get before it all finally finishes in a few weeks time.

Finished objects and nearly finished objects

First up the crosswalkers are finally finished.

I do love these but my god they took a long time. I found them amazingly boring to make. Very simple pattern though so good for a beginner looking for something a little different to the usual.

Next up we have the shrug I decided I couldn't live without. One sleeve is done and pinned in place now. One more and sewing up to go. Modified the pattern a bit since way edging was done sounded bit like hard work. Is a Debbie Bliss pattern but came free from Prima. And on ravelry.

In the washing machine is my third felted bag. I made the pattern up as I went along but my idea was to make it look vaguely wave like with a chevron stitch. Don't think it has quite worked as intended but I like the effect. Is a blue and green variegated roving from Wingham. This is it unfelted.

I love looking at the stitches close up to see how the colours come together and change as the pattern moves round.

Lastly I've started another sock - look how far its come in a few days compared to those crosswalkers!

It's loosely based on the spiral method Heather was blogging about a while back. When I saw there was a KAL for spiral socks on the yarn yard group on ravelry I thought it must be fate and jumped to it. I've used some silkwood sock yarn that was a very bright pink and some lovely purple that I made my jaywalker socks out of. I really love how it is looking so far.

Now I've blogged I have to go onto the Royal mail site and make yet another complaint. It is just one thing after another with them nowadays. I put in an official complaint 2 weeks ago after 3 parcels were lost between the postman leaving the card here and the delivery office. Now I've gone down there for the third time to get a parcel I have a card for and they still can't find it. Another card was left on thursday telling me to go and collect the parcel 'tomorrow' as in yesterday and they can't find that one either. It's really tedious. And you just hear nothing from customer services. Everytime I go down to the delivery office it is different person. I guess the staff turnover must be pretty high but then that's not really suprising. The only thing I can think of is to pay (£50!) for 6 months for a PO Box. This still means I have to go to the delivery office to pick things up but on the other hand the postman will never take it away to try and deliver it which seems to be where the problems are occuring. £50 though to get my post delivered because they are so incompetant they keep losing it. I'm pretty pissed off. And are they just incompetant and losing my stuff or is someone there actually stealing it? It doesn't exactly encourage trust but then there's no alternative so I basically need to get used to being screwed.

Flu

Have had real pukka flu! I think. Anyway, was too feeble to knit or even crochet for three whole days which I think counts as some sort of major personal health disaster. The post yesterday was due to be followed by a proper one but ran out of puff. Much more human today and no good reason for not going to work tomorrow so back I go.

DB shrug almost finished - did ribbed edging today sat in front of 'Clash of the Titans' on TV. Narrowly escaped having to watch 'Sleepless in Seattle' which Pooch claimed to genuinely like because it 'makes him feel nice'. Not sure if that means warm/fuzzy nice or Meg Ryan nice. Either way is disturbing. Also started another felted bag. Pics to follow.

Tawashi Pattern - Furry Mitt

I tend to crochet in the round by spiralling rather than joining seperate rings before starting a new one. It means things tend to lean to one side in a diagonal type way but that doesn't really matter in this kind of thing. Spiralling means that when you get to the start point of the row you just crochet straight on into the next stitch and keep going round and round.

I used Peaches and Creme Worsted and a 3.5mm hook to give me quite a firm fabric. My mitt is roughly 10cm wide. Make bigger or smaller by chaining more or less stitches.

Uses: approx 30g worsted cotton, 3.5mm hook.
Finished size: 10cm wide by 14cm tall
sc = single crochet

INSTRUCTIONS

Chain 30 and join in the round. ##Keep the inside facing you while crocheting## This is very important because the loops for the loop stitches always form on the back of the fabric.
1st round: Work one round in single crochet.
The first 15 stitches are now 'the front' and are the stitches you are going to work the pattern stitch across.
LOOP/FUR STITCH:

1. Insert hook into next sticth as usual. Using finger of free hand pull up the yarn to form a loop of the required size (I used about 1.5 inches but is up to you). Using the hook pick up both strands of the loop and draw them trhough the stitch.
2. Wrap the yarn over the hook and draw through all 3 loops.

2nd, 3rd and 4th round: Loop stitch 15, single crochet 15
5th round: Work whole round in single crochet.
Repeat rounds 2-5 three times more. Your mitt should now resemble a tube about 11cm tall.
You're now going to decrease 4 sc per round to form the top of your mitt.
Next round: (1sc, sk1, 11sc, sk1, 1sc) repeat once more to reach end of round.
Next round: (1sc, sk1, 9sc, sk1, 1sc) repeat once more to reach end of round.
Next round: (1sc, sk1, 7sc, sk1, 1sc) repeat once more to reach end of round.

Next round: (1sc, sk1, 5sc, sk1, 1sc) repeat once more to reach end of round.
Turn mitt inside out and close top either using whip stitch or by using a line of single crochet to join the remaining stitched. Fasten off and sew in end.
Done!

Tagged...

I've been tagged by Nickerjac...

The Rules

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago

I was 19, ending my first year of Uni doing my BSc Physics at Kings College London. Madness was pretty bad and was a bit dippy. I'd have just finshed my end of year exams and decided that a joint Maths and Physics degree wasn't for me. Would swap to 'just' physics in a month or two's time.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)

Cough, sniff, try not to be sick, bath, bed. I'm really living.

3. Snacks I enjoy

Chocolate! Blue bounty bars especially at the moment. And kit kats.

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire

Buy a house with a craft room, do a graphic design qualification. No hang on, wouldn't need to do that because I wouldn't have to work. Go on a world tour fo all the knitting shops...

5. Places I have lived

Born in Margate, lived in Herne Bay all of childhood. In London have lived in Finchley Road, Camberwell, Leytonstone, Leyton, Stratford, Tottenham Hale, Dollis Hill, Willesden Green, Willesden Junction & Canada Water.

I tag... RoxyKnits, PurlPower, Knitting on the Green, and Jane.

Steptoe and Son live again

This actually happened outside my flat on saturday. I don't want to come across as a curtain twitcher but it was too funny not to stop and watch.

When I first came across them I walked past on ym way back to the flat. They had obviously just lost stuff off the trolley and were putting it back on again. They were almost done and just setting off again. Then disaster strikes....For reasons Pooch and I were unable to fathom they kep trying to go over the bumps.

Each time they went near the bumps the whole lot keeled over and they'd start again. For the first couple of times the younger bearded guy just stood and watched. Not moving, not saying anything. Meanwhile the drunk older guy ranted and raved at the injustice of the universe. As they finally headed off Pooch and I were both singing the Steptoe theme tune...

Anyway...have rejoined SwapBot after about a year away. Looks to have got a lot more cliquey since I was last there but am being more selective about which swaps I've joined. I did fall for a stitchmarker swap though and have done pretty nicely out of it. Looks at these babies!

Yum! I also treated myself to a new 4mm denise single. Mostly because I keep running out of cables. I do love my Denises. Definitely my favourite of all the interchangable sets I've had. Woolly Workshop of course - where else?! Still my fave online shop.

I was surfing etsy the other day and came across some circular needle holders. I rather fancied one but didn't fancy the $48 price tag. Ta da!

I made little shrinkydink buttons for each pocket so I could see what was in it. I literally only have these 7 needles since I always use my Denises but they come in handy for the smaller things sometimes and magic loop.

Finally, another treat in the post. Two tawashi books!

Joined the Tawashi group swap on Ravelry. Thought would splash out so my swap partner gets some nice ones. OK then, and for me too!