Late Twenties...

Yep, I'm now 27. Late 20s, as my dear Mum pointed out to me. (Thanks Mum)

Normally I don't like my birthday, but for the first time in AGES I have had the day off work.

And Oh made me a cup of tea while I opened my cards, and then he cooked me Eggs Royale. For those not in the know, that's English muffin, smoked salmon, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. Yum! Lovely.

I also got lots of thoughtful gifts, from "Never Not Knitting" from both my sister and OH (I've organised a trade for one of them...), some lush toiletries from Soap and Glory, some music, a funny mug (I collect mugs) and this...

It's a swift or skein holder. From OH. It's lovely. He tells me that he looked on Ravelry (I allow him my password so that he can do exactly this) for where to get a good one from. Isn't he the best boyfriend? (Non knitters, imagine being knotted up in 400m of fine but strong wool which you want to be in a ball... this stops the knotting up - mostly)
We're going out for a Chinese later on, and then on to a New Year's Party.

I'm working on my 27 things I have achieved in my 27th year - I'll have it by tomorrow.

So, for 7 hours time, Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas

I hope that you all had a pleasant Christmas, if you celebrate it.
I had a nice three days with my sister, her fella, my parents, and my OH.
The picture above is us when we arrived next to the very tasteful Christmas Tree (really, my trees are always examples of the tree that taste forgot...)
We had a really nice curry made by notBIL (That's not Brother in Law) and my sister sorted out bits to go with, like naan bread and the like. Oh, and drinks, very important that. I had an organic fruit beer, which was very pleasant and went well with curry. We played silly games on the wii and had a pub quiz.
I was sleeping in the lounge on an air mattress, which was not as bad as you might think. We were up at a reasonable hour to open prezzies, after a cup of tea. I received some very thoughtful gifts, not limited to but including a one-person tea-pot-tea-cup from sis & notBIL, a sheep buff from OH, Shaun the sheep from my parents, and a secret santa prezzie from one of the Ravelry groups I'm in.
There is some really nice stuff in the box. There's a chocolate and cinnamon stick (eaten, sorry) some kool-aid (for dying yarn), an aromatherapy stick, some ribbon yarn, some cotton yarn, and a cup-holder. Really nice, and I have no idea who my santa is!
On Boxing day, keeping with tradition, we hit the sales. I didn't buy much, a couple of organic t-shirts from New Look, and a bread-maker.
Yes, you read that right - a bread-maker.
We've just finished our first (wholemeal) loaf, so I'll leave you with a picture of it. I hope it tastes as nice as it looks (and smells!)

It's Sunday, December 21st. I have no Christmas knitting to complain about, because I am not knitting anything for anyone this Christmas. After last year's still knitting on Christmas Eve, (don't even go there) I thought it was best. In the spirit of trying to feel more festive, I've tried a few things. I have a festive-smelling body scrub. I bought mince pies for my team at work (and had two left for Leon and me) We went into town on Saturday for the Christmas Market, which wasn't. Nope, still not feeling festive. I'm thinking about my 27 achievements of being in my 27th year... And whether I've achieved my 2008 goals... No, if you saw the post at the beginning of 2008, you'll know I've not managed to achieve those. Still, I'm not worried. I will have my 27. I'm good at spin.

Listen Very Carefully

I shall say this only once.

I have knitted a beret-ish hat, which coupled with my white wool trench made me feel like Michelle of the Resistance in 'Allo 'Allo.

It's very warm, being alpaca, and I like it (even though, I confess, it looks a little daft!) More Pics on my Knitting Blog

Sad News too, I have lost one of my Noro Gloves. :(
I may have dropped it when rushing in from the car last night.
We were at my parents this weekend for my Mum's birthday. (Happy Birthday Mum!)

I've started another knitting project, a shawl which I hope to wear to P&E's wedding in February.

Xmas Dress

So, on Friday I promised to show you my frock from the Christmas Party, and here it is. I took the pattern from the same dress as this one for a recent wedding was taken from. Instead of making it as a dress and a skirt sewn together, I made each panel the full length of the dress. The centre front panel's lacing doesn't add to the structure of the dress, it's just for show. I tried lacing it the other way up, but it didn't look as nice. The straps were a bit of a trial this time, and I have some sneaky bra-strap-holders attached to keep them hidden.
Construction issues aside, I did like this dress, and it didn't take that long to make. I wouldn't change it, I was pretty happy with it.

Also, you might notice that I've had a haircut. I know it's not that different, but there are two things to note. One is that, other than the blonde-ish bit near the front, it's my actual natural colour (that happens once in a blue moon, I dislike my natural colour. I guess at least it isn't grey, yet). The other is that my "parting" is now on the other side...

The party itself was pretty good. The band were reasonable, though they needed to turn up the mike on the lady singer a bit. The Wii's in the other room were always too busy, and I gather they were hogged by the same group of people all night. Tut. I got to dance to plenty of cheesy music, and generally had fun. The food (my only turkey this year, I suspect) was better than it has been in previous years.

Next Christmas Party is my Department's do next Friday. This is coupled with some work stuff, so will be less fun from that aspect. However, it's all paid for by the company, which is nice.

After that there will be the traditional Christmas Curry, then Christmas at my sister's. We're due to be home on the Saturday and then back to work for 2 days (joy). I should be off on my birthday, and have to decide whether I'm off to a New Year do, or sticking to my original Chinese meal with a few friends option. I wouldn't want anyone to have to choose between me and our other friend (whose party it is) so that's a bit of a dilemma. That said, as I'm at work from 9am on the 1st (yes, you read that right, 9am on the 1st January) then I don't really want to be out getting completely ratted.

Brief...

Christmas Party tonight.
I have made a dress this year again! I'll put some pics up (hopefully) tomorrow, unless either I fail to get any good ones of me, or if I'm too hungover. If the former, I'll take some new ones, if the latter then it might be Sunday...

Just waiting for my lift now, and we have to book a taxi for coming home at some point. I've had a G&T and we have a bottle of wine on the table for OH and me.

I'm actually quite excited!

It's only a little bit of snow...

Earlier in the year (close to Easter) I wrote this post in which I quoted (or mis-quoted) a song from Terry Wogan.


It’s December now, we expect the weather to be less pleasant than the rest of the year.
For some reason, when it snows the entire country goes crazy.
Here in York we’ve had about 2 inches of snow at the moment. It’s already melting. Frankly, I’m disappointed as the met office promised me 6 inches and snow drifts.
And yet, chaos? It’s 9:34 and I reckon about half of the people on my floor at work aren’t here yet (which is unusual).
In true British fashion, it is all anyone is talking about (and indeed, I’m blogging about it, so I can’t really take the Michael there.)
I’ve just been to the BBC weather page and read the warning, and I think that the televised news is scare mongering a bit. The 20cm that has been forecast (that’s almost 8 inches in real money) is for high ground with only 2-5cm (up to 2 inches) forecast in low lying areas and cities. Pah. That’s nothing.

I don’t know why I’m complaining mind you, I don’t really like snow that much. It’s cold and makes everything else cold. If it is snowing then it sticks to clothes, getting them wetter than rain would. Snow piles up and then gets stomped into mushy slush which then freezes and becomes a death-trap. Oh it looks pretty for about five minutes before the rush hour. Then there’s flinging snow. People seem to like the idea of throwing filthy compacted balls of ice at one another. They call it fun. I call it horrible, and stay inside with a hot drink.

[as an aside, every time I type a br tag, for a new line, I keep putting brr. Funny, if you’re a geek]

I just take comfort that we’re in a part of the world where large amounts of snow don’t usually happen. I admire places (like in parts of Canada) where snow is normal for three months of the year where everything doesn’t stop.

It doesn’t seem that long ago (though I think it was last year) that we were complaining that the very hot summer was buckling railway lines.

Can you spare £2?

If you can, go to Ramblings of a Yarn Junkie and click the link to donate it to her sister's skydive in memory of their mum.

It's a touching post, and I can't even imagine how those sisters must feel. I've been lurking on the blog for a while after coming across Shirley on Ravelry.

Go on.

Curing cancer is something we can all believe in. And if you're not bothered about that, go anyway - you can win some nice goodies.

Nothing else to say

I gather (from my sister) that I pretty much just blog about knitting.

And it's true, I don't blog much else these days. With good reason.

If I were to blog about my day you would all be bored to tears (rather than just those of you who aren't into knitting being bored to tears).
If I were to blog about work you'd all get depressed from reading it and I'd probably write something I shouldn't and get fired.
If I blog about what I do the rest of my time, when I'm not knitting, then my blogs would be about going to the gym and shopping for groceries.

Ah well, I'll try to be a little more inclusive. Nobody but a knitter (or the long suffering partner of a knitter) can really understand the knitting thing.

So, in an effort to not discuss knitting...
Oh, wait. Is sewing out too?

Seriously though. We did go back to the gym over the weekend. It takes up a chunk of the day which is always disappointing. I wasn't as badly out of shape as I thought I was - I managed 10 minutes running at 9kmph, squat 20.4kgs (45lbs - an olympic bar) without issue, did some shoulder presses, chest presses, lunges and bent over rows, all at the same weight as my last session at the gym. I don't know how motivated I will be to do the same programme each week mind. Staying motivated is very difficult, especially with the cold weather and the dark nights. But motivated I must stay if a heffalump I don't want to be.

It doesn't help that I self-vet these posts so much. At least knitting isn't controversial.

Anyway, sod it. I'm off to bed where it might be a little warmer than the current semi-Arctic state that my living room is. Not that the bedroom is much warmer and I still haven't convinced OH that the 4tog duvet is too thin, but since the other option is 13tog...

For those who are interested in the knitting, my hat is coming along well. Will post when I have pictures.

At least I have a hobby, and I'm less stressed as a result of knitting, which makes the world a better place. :)
Edit: Actually, I do have another thing to blog about, which is ethical/environmental shopping. But I'll save that rant for a day when something has annoyed me into action.