Friday, February 29, 2008

Okay, okay,

Okay, I get it, too much knitting content. (Is it possible? For the non-knitters, perhaps)

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that OH and I are looking to “change one thing” this year. Mine is regarding the way we eat, organic free range chickens and such. OH is also looking for a more natural and organic life, through goods. By goods I mean everything from toothpaste to mattresses.
Obviously switching to organic toiletries by throwing away everything you have is not very ethical – such a waste! (I talked about this with MIL at the weekend) I think that switching is a good idea, but it has to be done in a sensible way. Also, I’m pretty fussy about my toiletries!
Well, anyway, OH asked for lots of organic toiletries for his birthday, and now has organic soap, shampoo, toothpaste; the works! Even an organic roll-on deodorant (which smells fabulous, actually!)
As part of this move to organic, and also because our current mattress is a horrible nasty uncomfortable beast, we have ordered an organic latex-and-wool mattress topper from We Love Sleep - I’ll let you know what it’s like once we have slept on it. It is due to arrive on Tuesday. I’m quite excited!

No, I can’t resist one little bit of knitting content.
February is for Finishing ends today. I briefly considered March is for More finishing but there are new things I want to start.
I’ve promised OH some not-bunny slippers and have some really lush greeny-black yarn for them. Very exciting! I want to get on with the cross-your-heart square for the block a month crochet-a-long too, since the new block will be available tomorrow!
I’ve been working away on the Earl Grey socks for OH (as you saw a couple of posts ago) and they’re looking good. they’re such big socks though, compared to the stripe socks I made before which only took about half-a-ball of opal, these are looking like they’ll make it on to the second ball of the beige. At least Finishing February has put a stop to my Startitis! Even despite there being some lovely patterns in my calendar!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Yummy Sock Yarn...

Yes, enough to cover my ironing board... Including Opal And some hand-dyes (the two colours on the right are from Natural Dye Studio)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Well...

Things I was going to talk about in this post:
The Earthquake!
Yarn Harlot coming to the UK
Sock progress! sock on hand

But it's too late and I'm tired so I'm off to photograph some sock yarn, and then go to bed!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Don't panic

I do have plans for a lot of the sock yarn I mentioned yesterday.
You weren’t worried though, were you?
Here it is, for the sock-lovers among you…
{yarn picture to come, promise!}
  • one-and-a-half balls of Opal Feelings 1702 (~150g)
    I plan to use this for some pretty standard stripy socks at the moment, unless something else takes my fancy.
    The half-ball is to be used for the sock pattern that my discworld pal sent me.
  • one ball of Opal Lemon Sherbert (or something, it’s yellow) (~100g)
    This is going to become Jaywalkers
  • two balls of Wool Ease in Burgundy (~200g)
    This is going to be the Valentine Socks from my Stitch n Bitch calendar 2008. There might be enough for something else too
  • two balls of Cygnet woolrich 4ply (~100g)
    Is in the process of becoming Earl Grey Socks
  • one ball each of variegated green, brown and brown German sock yarn from the stitch&craft show. (~300g)
    If I'm going to do "peppermint twist" by Deby Lake (from Knit'n'Style magazine) I'll probably use the green.
    Leon has hinted that he'd like a pair in the brown, but they'll have to be pretty plain I guess
    The other ball might become Reverse Psockology(errata here)
  • two small skeins of beautiful merino from Natural Dye Studio (~100g)
    My SP11 pal, Crafty Drama Queen suggested that I might like to do the Monkey pattern (which is so popular on Ravelry at the moment) with this yarn
So some of the yarn still needs a project
  • one big skein of beautiful alpaca merino from Natural Dye Studio (~100g)
  • one big skein of Araucania (sp?) (~100g)
  • one ball of Opal Feelings 1701 (~100g)
  • one ball of Opal Rainforest Toucan (~100g)
  • two balls of Regia by Kaffe Fasset (thanks again Kietiekat) (~100g)
I also plan to make Hedera but I don't know which of the yarns to use for that yet. I also don't know whether the three balls I got from the show are variegated or striped.
All of the yarn not yet assigned is variegated or striped. No solids here. The Toucan really would make nice vanilla socks, because the pattern would be interesting enough on its own. I've seen this knit sideways too, which looks quite nice.
However, if any of you sock knitters have any patterns you'd recommend (not too lacy mind you, and with not too many cables...)
I think I'd quite like to do BMP which has space invaders on it. How cool?
However, it's stranded knitting, which I tend to pull tooooooo tight. Maybe it's not for me? though I did see an adaptation (on Ravelry, of course) into hats, bags, gloves, you name it! (punk rock back-pack with space invaders?)


Last night was the last pilates at our current gym. We've been going for at least a year now, and we're much improved. However, the gym has put up the prices and axed our pilates class, so we're off! We've signed up for a new gym which is still being built at the moment. It's due to open in April (so a month and a bit off! Woo!) and we've terminated our membership at the current gym as of 29th Feb. The new gym is a little more expensive, but the pilates classes there are going to be included in the price, which makes a difference. There's a pool in the same building too, which our present place doesn't have. I'm looking forwards to it. It might take a while to get back in to going because I've really slacked off of late. I need to start going again though, my weight has been reasonably consistent, but I think I've put on a couple of pounds and don't want to let it get out of hand. Under the flab I'm sure I'm pretty reasonably toned from the pilates. All I need to do is burn off some of the flab. I'll be getting a personalised program too, and I'm just going to have to be brutal and tell them what I do and don't get on with.
Will it make a difference?
One thing is for sure, I don't want to put on weight again. I think everyone has a weight that they start feeling icky at, and mine is 11 stone. (so I'd better get excercising!) but I was 12 stone (and the rest) before we moved house (two years ago...) so I know I don't want to go there.
I think that it was the moment when I couldn't fit into a UK size 12 that threw me. I'm pretty much spot on a 12 at the moment. The only trouble I have is that on shirts and the like I tend to have gaping issues on the boobs.
This is a new issue for me. Until half-way through my first year of uni I was a size 8 on top and a 10 for trousers and jeans. I wore a 32A bra. (trust me, that's small. Think gnat bites)
I've always had a J-Lo style bum, even before I hit puberty! I was a classic pear shape. I loved being able to wear kids T-Shirts!
Since then, I put on weight (as I said above, quite a lot - in fact, probably aroud 4 stone in the end, so doubled my weight over about 5 years)
(amazingly there are no full-body shots available for this one!) The one on the left is at my heaviest, the one on the right is after three months of going jogging regularly.
I'm about a stone lighter now than the one on the left, hopefully it's obvious! So, I keep looking at the pictures to remind me of why I should keep in shape. Yeah, I know, I should be doing it for my health not my looks, but hey - if I'm unhappy I'll be less healthy so I should work on that premise too right?

Monday, February 25, 2008

Confessions of a Yarn Addict

I’ve managed not to cast on anything new, only five more days of February to go! I have so much stuff I want to knit in my Ravelry queue! I’ve been adding some sock patterns, because I have rather a lot of sock yarn.

So, how much is rather a lot of sock yarn? Some of you will be dying to know (others will not care, I know this, I’ll talk about something else in a bit)
  • one-and-a-half balls of Opal Feelings 1702 (~150g)
  • one ball of Opal Feelings 1701 (~100g)
  • one ball of Opal Lemon Sherbert (or something, it’s yellow) (~100g)
  • one ball of Opal Rainforest Toucan (~100g)
  • two balls of Wool Ease in Burgundy (~200g)
  • two balls of Cygnet woolrich 4ply (I’m using this for OH’s socks) (~100g)
  • one ball each of variegated green, brown and brown German sock yarn from the stitch&craft show. (~300g)
  • two balls of Regia by Kaffe Fasset (thanks again Kietiekat) (~100g)
  • two small skeins of beautiful merino from Natural Dye Studio (~100g)
  • one big skein of beautiful alpaca merino from Natural Dye Studio (~100g)
  • one big skein of Araucania (sp?) (~100g)
I have a sneaky feeling I may have missed some, but I’m reasonably sure that that’s it!
1450g of sock yarn.
That’s 18 balls (so OH was right that there were more than 12, I was clearly in denial about my problem)
Maybe I'll take a photo of it all.

for the non-knitters We bought a wine rack at the weekend. Now we have to buy wine to go in it. Haha. Really though, it’s nice and was very cheap.
We also finally bought a frame to put our masks from the masked ball in May 2006! We made the masks especially, mine has red-glitter roses drawn on (using a pin and some glue, and lots of patience!) and OH bought a silver-and-black mask, base-coated it white (two coats or so) then drew and painted the firebird. They’re both mini works of art, so we’re going to mount them in a box frame and stick it on the wall somewhere. I’ll have to reattach the feather I think.
Then we’ll add those to the pile of pictures we’re meant to be putting up! We also have to hang the canvasses I painted for the bathroom, but first I have to turn the middle one into a clock. Which means two things: deciding which colour wire to use (I have copper, gold and silver coloured wire) and figuring out how to mount the clock hands! We’ve got one of those little battery powered thingies, but we need something a bit sturdier than canvass to mount it on, so I can see a little improvisation being needed there.
And I still haven’t done the hem on the second pair of curtains.
Finishing knitting projects is just so much more relaxing! (I’m on the heel of the first of the Earl Grey socks!)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Discworld Swap!

I joined The Discworld "I'm just sending this box so my partner can have cardboard for their boots and I was guilted into putting stuff in it" Swap and today, special delivery no less, my parcel arrived... Discworld Package 1 And it contained all sorts of goodies! Discworld Package 4 Discworld Package 5 There's a cute swirly bag which is the perfect size for a sock project (or something else small)
There's a really funky tomato pin cushion
There are seven badges with flowers (mostly roses) on, which is quite nice since this year is the year of the three roses (I think) in Discworld.
There are some lovely easter choccies
There's a tag for my luggage. Do you think the luggage will let me attach it?
Addi needles and Kaffe Fasset sock yarn. OMG. I'm so excited about this that I almost broke my "Not starting anything new" pledge! The needles will be perfect for my more fluffy sock yarns which catch on my surina needles. There's also a sock pattern too, for anklets. I'm probably going to try that with the leftovers of my opal yarn.
A lovely card with one of those old knitting pattern pictures on, very funny!
Some body butter from the body shop (one of my favourites!) and some cherry cola lipbalm (yum)
But, the pièce de resistance: A Discworld mug with the witches (my favourite) on and the quote of "when shall we three meet again" on, which is from Wyrd Sisters, which is the book I'm re-reading now! I'm so pleased! Also, this can be added to my collection of mugs. I'm going to have to rearrange the whole shelf!

Thank you, blogless Kietiekat (Ravelry link) I'm really pleased with my parcel, I hope you like yours as much!

Friday, February 22, 2008

February is for finishing, part 3.

Okay, not technically "finished" as such, but I have now completed all nine of the pattern number three squares for the Sudoku blanket.
Three blue
Two pink
One purple
One black
One cream
One red
nine square threes

Monday, February 18, 2008

Knitting at lunch

Today I had a lunch-break. That might not sound so amazing, but too often I just stay at my desk and basically work while I eat. Oh, I’ll usually have a quick look on Ravelry and check my email, but I am still at my desk. Today I picked up the socks I’m knitting for OH when I set off this morning. I managed to knit about five rounds or so (that’s not very fast, I know, but still) and I felt relaxed! I figure that an extra hour a day knitting should make those socks happen some time this year at least!

I’m feeling a bit grumpy about not being allowed allowing myself to cast on anything new until March. I didn’t think it would be that hard! I have three lovely projects I could be working on (socks, sweater, afgan) but I desire to cast on for other things! Not least something crochet.
I love my new crochet slippers. So does OH, so much so that he’s asked for a pair of his own! I have already ordered the yarn! More Cascade 220, this time in greeny-grey (black forest, 9405). I had plenty left of the pink from my slippers, so it shouldn’t need an extra skein for bigger versions. Also, OH doesn’t want them fluffy, so he’s not having any mohair in his. The Cascade 220 is lovely and soft on its own, so I’m not worried on that front! As the mohair is fine, I’m making an assumption that it will make pretty much no difference to the gauge of the crochet. So, all I have to do is work out how much longer than my feet his feet are, then work out how many extra chains that equates to in the case of the inner sole, outer sole and upper, crochet all six pieces and then make them up! Piece o’ cake! (!!)

In fact, Cascade 220 is currently one of my favourite yarns. I have no idea how it washes though. (I have visions of having loads of hand-wash only garments, which would be terrifying!) I’ll investigate (and perhaps knit a small swatch and wash it…) because I’m thinking of making a pattern called “Button Your Raglan” from my SnB 2008 Calendar. I don’t like the stripes but I do like the differently coloured waistband, cuffs, collar and button band. Currently I’m liking the colours that Cascade 220 comes in too. If I do use the Cascade 220 for the “Button Your Raglan”, I’m thinking of doing it in one of the following colour combinations:

Browns
MC = 8686 – Brown
CC = 9463 – Pumpkin
Pinks
MC = 9478 – Cotton Candy
CC = 7802 – Cerise
Greens
MC = 9430 – Highland Green
CC = 8267 – Forest Green
Despite my usual leanings towards pink, I’m feeling the brown one more. In any case, I’ll probably ask OH what he thinks, or maybe see if I can get a sample card to see the colours in the flesh wool…
My other thought was that I could maybe make it in cotton, rather than wool, and have it as a spring time jumper rather than a middle of winter one, as I’m unlikely to finish knitting it until Christmas at any rate. Hrmpf.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

February is For Finishing some more

I forgot to post about it, but I finished the first of the squares in my Crochet-a-long. The Dreamcatcher

But today I finished the Fluffy Not-Bunny Slippers! Fluffy Not-Bunnies sides Woo!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Bruges

I want to write about my holiday in Bruges, but without boring you to death going on about it, so this is pretty image heavy…
Bruges (or Brugge as they call it) is probably the most beautiful city I’ve visited (Okay, Paris is pretty, but Bruges is beautiful in a way Paris can never be) and the locals are amazing. Not only are they all friendly, but most of them speak more than one language! Amazing.
And you can walk from one side of the city to the other in half-an-hour (a bit like York…) – in fact it was a lot like Cambridge in many respects, with all its bridges and old buildings. Apparently Bruges is so beautiful that a German bomber commander decided not to drop any bombs on Bruges because it would be a travesty to destroy the city (they didn’t bomb Cambridge because there’s no industry there – whether this is actually the case for Bruges or not I don’t know, but it’s a lovely story)

So, here’s a potted highlights of the whole trip:
OH and I saw a beautiful sunset over Hull as we left on the overnight ferry…  Pride of York 05
We took the same picture everyone always takes of Bruges, and lots more on the canal boat tour on our first morning…  Photo everyone takes of Bruges
The room in the Jan Brito Hotel was amazing, and we got flowers, fruit, champagne and more as part of the package…  Room in the Jan Brito
We had fabulous food…
 Mussels
We went on a horse drawn carriage tour of the city (included in the package from the hotel)…  Bruges Buildings 101
And we went on a tour of the Halve Maan brewery which included a free beer each…  Brugse Zot x 2
We had a 4* four course dinner and then tea in front of the fire in the hotel…
 In the Lounge at Jan Brito
We upgraded our cabin on the way home to a much bigger one.  Cabin Homeward

But I only managed to knit for one hour on the train from York to Hull. The rest of the time I was either too excited, too cold or too drunk (or on occasion, a combination of these) to knit.
On that same knitting front, the Earl Grey socks were going really well, I had done the first pattern repeat when I noticed a boo-boo that wasn’t fixable (in the cable no less) by me at any rate. So I ripped it back, and I’m on the ribbing again. Boo. This doesn’t count as starting something new though.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Knit night, Holidays and house plans

Last night I went to knit night with FunkyFlower who I knew (in an online way) through Ravelry, who I first met on Saturday at the Yorkshire Knitters gathering in Borders in York. I didn’t get much of a chance to chat, but she seems nice! The other ladies there were entertaining to listen to, general chit chat mostly. The two hours flew by, and I managed to complete the colour pattern on the Manly Sweater and so now I’m at the armholes. Well, I’ve not successfully done armholes before. It’s just casting off a bit on each end though, so it should be fine. It doesn’t specify whether to do a knit-one, knit-another-one, pass-the-first-one-over kind of cast off or a knit-two-together slip-stitch-back-to-left-needle kind of cast off. I don’t know what difference it would make to how it looks, so I’ll probably go for the first one. Unless I find a good reason not to.
We also did a spot of card making (I failed to photograph them, sorry) for MIL and my sister’s OH.

My Sister is trying to lose weight at the moment, if you have chance surf on in and tell her good luck. She’s doing well! We all know how difficult it can be to lose weight, especially when other things happen like new jobs and moving house!

And I’m counting down now – we’re off to Bruges!
We booked it a while ago, a trip on a P&O ferry to Bruges (via Zebrugge) for OH’s birthday. (Well…)
We originally hoped to go on the Eurostar, but after the trains to London and the waiting and spending a whole day travelling, it really didn’t seem worth it. On the ferry we board in the evening, have dinner and then sleep on the boat – less time wasted! Then we arrive in Bruges early enough for breakfast, and check in to the hotel. (We’ve already checked and they’re more than happy to let us leave our bags if the room isn’t ready.) AND as part of the deal we get a four course romantic dinner, champagne and chocolates, fresh fruit and flowers in the room, a horse and cart ride… how fantastic does it sound? I’m so excited! We set off on Sunday, so we’ll have time to pack on Saturday.

In other plans, OH and I have been talking about our plans regarding the house. We basically have two choices, cut our losses and move somewhere else or sort out the things that bug us in the house (and get it ready to sell at an unspecified time in the future) like the kitchen and the yard. Well, we’re going to stick around and keep the current house for now, but do the things we need to for it to be nice.
I do have a “vision” of what I’d like the yard to be like. I’m less sure about the kitchen at this point. I’m not suffering from itchy feet any more about living in the same place for too long at least!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Knit Blog Stats

I’m still working on the sweater for Leon. I don’t know if I’ll take it to tonight’s knit-night or not though. Yes, I’m off to a knit-night which happens around here once a month. If I enjoy it I will try to keep going all things being equal.
If I don’t take the sweater, it’s socks, fluffy bunnies or sudoku blanket squares. Any of those should be fine. We’re having some trout for dinner. It’s already prepared and such, so all we have to do is cook it. we’ll have some random veg with it too I guess.
I posted my sister’s mittens today. They should be there soon. I hope she likes them. I completed the second one in an afternoon (after the re-doing of that first cable) which I thought was pretty good going.
I haven’t done that last round on the dream catcher square yet. It’s sitting on the cabinet next to my bed, but I keep reading “Making Money” (Pratchett) instead! It’s pretty good. I’m still not sure whether I like the Moist character or not. The Golems are fab though. And the wizards are pretty entertaining in this one.

I installed Google Analytics on my blog (yes, here) about a month ago. Want to see some statistics? Well, tough, I’m putting them here anyway.

I have visitors to the site from all over the world. Here’s the breakdown:
CountryPercentage of visits
United Kingdom65.28%
United States23.77%
Canada1.89%
Europe Including:
Netherlands (1.51%)
Sweden, Spain, France, Croatia, (0.75% each)
Switzerland, Lithuania, Finland, Turkey, Czech Republic (0.38% each)
6.42%
Rest of World:
Philippines, South Korea, Japan, (0.75%)
Australia (0.38%)
2.64%

How cool is that? Of all of those users, there are three browsers and three operating systems in use. Notably, the statistics suggest that not all Windows users use Internet Explorer. There’s nobody viewing my blog with Netscape Navigator (am I surprised?).
Internet Explorer counts for 56% of my viewers – there are 39% of you using Firefox and the rest on Safari. (Firefox/Safari users – do things look screwy in your browsers?)
A massive 90.94% of viewers are running on Windows of some description (it doesn’t break it down further than that), 8.68% of you use Apple Macs (hello!) and the rest (less than 1%) use Linux (again, it doesn’t tell me what sort)
One of the viewers is using dial-up to connect to the internet.

The top ten search phrases to get here are:
  1. grown shop (5 times)
  2. someone's calling you (3 times)
  3. tsuki (3 times)
  4. 3x3 rib hat knit pattern (2 times)
  5. pseudocode vending machine (2 times)
  6. tsuki yarn (2 times)
  7. "cobble dogs with" (1 time)
  8. "sirdar ocean" blog (1 time)
  9. "someone's calling you" ringtone (1 time)
  10. $ do || not found yoda (1 time)

Okay, I’ll stop boring you with stats now. I might celebrate when I get to 500 visits though! Woo!

Monday, February 04, 2008

What's the matter - are you Chicken?

I have picked up the Manly sweater again this morning, only time for a row and a half before work, but it is back as my current WIP. Well, it’s the one on the sofa anyway. I had a bit of a sort out of my knitting hold-all thingy last night. I took all of the random yarn I bought over the past month or so and stashed it properly in my yarn chest. I have too much yarn for it to properly fit in the chest, so I need to get knitting (or think up a new way to organise the yarn – I’m sure there’s a better way!)

I have only one set of sock-needles, they’re fabulous surina wood. They bend rather than snapping, which is good. I have been considering getting a second set, but I am not sure about it. (If I do, I may go back to knitterbabes on e-bay because they do kits with yarn, needles and markers at a really good price)


I don’t usually talk about *issues* on my blog, but I wanted to talk about my New Year’s Resolution, my Change One Thing.
I have been discussing with the OH about why resolutions fail, and as advertised for the Boots campaign, Change Just One Thing is the answer. If you try to lose weight, eat better, exercise more, quit smoking, keep the house tidy, wear nicer clothes, spend less. . . it becomes too much.
So, my one thing? well, I watched Jamie Oliver’s special about chickens. I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chicken Run. I realised that I had two choices, stop eating chicken all together, or be a lot more picky about my chicken (and eggs).
I can’t describe, to anyone who hasn’t seen the conditions that a standard chicken is kept in, how horrible it seems. These fast growing chickens who never see daylight and are killed (wasted) because they’re a bit small, or because their poor little legs can’t support their grotesquely huge bodies. They live in a barn which is never cleaned out, eating and eating for 23 hours a day. It’s barbaric.
I would like to say that if it were any other animal we’d be more caring, but sadly I don’t think that is true.
Now, there is a new standard, called Freedom Foods which is a little better. It’s still not perfect, the birds still never see the outside world. It’s a more affordable option for those on a budget though, and it is probably the future of mass-produced chicken.
So, what about other options? Well, my preferred choice is Organic, as certified by the British Soil Association. There’s more to this than just the birds eating organic meal, they have to be free to roam in mottled shade (bushes or trees) and have a safe shed for the night time. they use slower growing birds which don’t have the risks of their legs developing too slowly for their weight.
If you want to read more, there are articles like this one at WhyOrganic. I’m sure that there are some opposing views, but I have no links to them. (Sorry, not very balanced I know).
So, where was I? Oh yes, my resolution. I will not buy any chicken, duck or other poultry, or eggs that have been intensively produced.
Now, there’s a bit more to it than that, of course. I’m also trying to only buy outdoor reared pork, lamb and beef, and all with the British Farm Standards mark (that little red tractor which means “farmed in the UK”). In the case of poultry it should be organic – that’s the only way to ensure the standards. (If I can get organic pork, beef and lamb I will!). I’m only buying British vegetables (which means that I’m eating a lot of root vegetables at the moment!) and in some cases organic (usually leeks at the moment!).

Now, I am sure that some of you are thinking, if you’re so concerned about the animal welfare, why aren’t you a vegetarian? which is a fair question.
By being vegetarian I would be making less of an impact in the marketplace and also making a massive impact (lifestyle and health) upon myself. I like eating meat! I believe that if I switch to organic this is making more of a statement that stopping eating meat. Think of it like this:

If I normally buy a chicken grown in hideous conditions in a small shed for £2.50 (the shame) then I’m putting £2.50 into the industry I dislike.
If I don’t buy any chicken at all, I am simply not spending the £2.50.
If instead of buying the nasty chicken I buy a free range organic chicken for £6.00 then I have put an additional £3.50 into the market. This then affects the amount of profit that the shop I bought the chicken from makes, which in turn affects what they buy in to stock.
If it is seen to be profitable to rear chickens (and other animals) in a better environment then more shops will buy in these types of stock and then more farmers will be able to afford to switch to organic (or at least free range) and therefore we’ll all have much tastier chicken! (Trust me, it’s got lots more flavour to it!)

I should admit at this point that I do have a soft spot for chickens. I think that they are such lovely creatures. They can be friendly too, you know! I hope one day to have a couple of laying hens (I don’t know about owning my own meat-chickens, I would probably get too attached) and if I do they’ll be of a crazy breed!

Here’s an example of the kind of chickens I like
 Chatsworth Chicken I saw this one at Chatsworth house. It’s cute isn’t it? I especially like the feathered feet!
I also like some of the other breeds, but the fluffier the better! Haha.

So, anyway, that’s my change one thing. I’m going to extend the one thing every so often (when I think I’m ready!), so for January it was just only buy free range chickens and eggs For February it’s Only buy Organic Free Range Poultry and Poultry produce, only buy UK farmed meat and vegetables
I hope one day to be able to source all of my yarn locally too. If I ever get round to learning to spin there’s a vague chance that I could spin my own yarn from UK fleece! How nice would that be? I gather that you need 5 acres to grow your own sheep though, which is probably a bit out of my reach. Angora bunnies are a different story…


Other links that might be of interest if you want to find out more about farming and animal welfare in the UK. I’m not saying I agree with everything said through these links, just that they make good reading for a perhaps more rounded view…
Welfare standards for Chickens certified “free range”, “freedom food” and “organic”
The Guardian – The Green Way to Eat (the comments are hilarious!)
Biodynamic Farming

Sunday, February 03, 2008

February is for Finishing… and I have already started!

I’ve finished my first project, ends and all. It’s the Fetching for my sister, check out my knitting blog.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Meeting of Knitters

Today was the planned meet-up of Yorkshire Knitters from Ravelry. Woo! Several of us met up in Starbucks in Borders and sat, crafted, drank and chattered. It was good fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
From there we went on to Sheepish to shop! I bought a Noro pattern book and one skein of Silk Garden Light (yum) for some gloves. My current gloves are getting a bit old. I like most of the patterns in the book and I like the yarn. But, of course, I’m not starting anything new until I’ve finished the other projects!

I have made progress on that front, I have completed the first Fetching of the pair (see pic in sidebar) and have done the first cable of the second. Then I realised (while in Borders) that I had cabled it backwards (C4B rather than C4F) and I thought I could cope with it, but it turned out that I was wrong. So I frogged and began again. I’m now back to the first cable of the second one, this time cabled the right way.
Yey!
And OH bought a new casserole dish today, which is lovely and big. Plenty of room for more than two people worth of stew. Smashing!