Crochet Complete and Scrapbook!

So, I've finally got some things to show you

Pattern: Inga's Haekelbeutel by Inga Joana Mertens
Yarn: King Cole Bamboo Cotton (1 skein each of the blue and brown)
Hook: 4mm (the only one I have not in storage)
Modifications: Other than using a completely different gauge, none.

Also, I've been doing some pages in my scrapbook. I'm as far as I can go now before the wedding!

I kept the Save the Date page nice and simple, it's a printout of the pdf with some embellishment.

This page was hard, I really wanted those three elements in there, so I had to fiddle with it for some time.

I think this is my first attempt to use a "template" on a CD I received with the DoCraft magazine. I'm pretty pleased with it, and I think my scrapbooking is progressing nicely.

I plan to purchase a chipboard "HOME" book to do something nice for the new house with. I'll get some new papers for that too.

(Untitled, again)

Well, we decided to accept the offer on our house, and offer on the place we wanted to buy.

They accepted!

So, we’re (hopefully) moving house very soon.

The new house is on the outskirts of a village; the village has a post office and a church, but no pub as far as we can tell! Though it’s only a short cycle from some other villages nearby where we know people. I’m quite excited about it now, looking forward to having a bit of space, both inside and out. Because it is three bedrooms, I can take over a bedroom for my crafty stuff without losing out on the guest room, which is useful! There’s so much scope for coolness.
I am trying not to get too excited at the moment though, until we have the keys in our hands!

-oOo-

In other news… There isn’t actually much other news. The wedding shawl is going well; I’m about half-way through from a number-of-rows perspective, but maybe only a third from a number-of-stitches perspective! It’s a pretty relaxing knit though, which is good!

I’ve done two more of the crazy workouts that my personal trainer has given me to do while he’s away in America. It’s going okay, I think. I find that if I push the cardio too much I can’t manage the weights, and vice versa. My aim is to get to a point where I can get through three circuits, or make it through two in 45 minutes; it’s taking me an hour for two at the minute which isn’t as fast as he’d like me to be going. It seems to be working though; I lost two pounds last week! I hope that I lose some this week too. We’ve been eating pretty healthily; I’ve been having fruit for a snack rather than chocolate, and three workouts a week.

We will not be getting three workouts this week, though. Well, unless we go on Saturday some time. The car has gone in to be MOTd and I don’t have a parking space at work any more. That means we’re getting the bus into work, and there’s no bus that gets us to the gym. In theory we could cycle there (it’s about 4 miles from our current house) but I’m not sure I’d want to work out when I arrived!

-oOo-

I must take a photo of my finished crocheted bag too, it’s in use as a bring-my-knitting-to-work bag right now, and is doing pretty well despite not being lined! I might not bother lining it, though I do have to keep anything that might fall through the holes in an additional bag!

Shoes, Shawl and Such

I have been eyeing up some shoes for a while.
They're designer (Kurt Geiger) and they looked (on screen) perfect.
I found a KG shop in Cambridge.
They didn't have the turquoise shoes in stock.
They let me try them in coral.
I loved them (I'm tempted to buy them in coral too!)
I decided to buy the turquoise ones online.
They didn't have them in my size online.
So I called the KG concession in Fenwicks in York.
They were very helpful and ordered them.
They came and were perfect.
And on sale.
So I ordered the matching bag.

No, I'm not showing you. You'll have to wait til next April for the photos! :P


I have also cast on for a shawl in the "dragonfly" yarn I got a while back.


And we're in negotiation about the house, which is scary and weird. We've had an offer, but not as high as we'd like, so we're not able to offer as much as we'd like for the house we want... ho hum. We will see.

Cakes and Flowers

Warning: Wedding Heavy Post!
Note: All these pictures have been taken from Google Image Search, I hope I haven’t infringed any copyrights.

I bought a recent guide to wedding cake and flowers. it claimed to be the “ultimate” guide, but with less than 10 pages on each flowers and cake, I think not.
It did have some pretty things in it, and has led me to consider my options further.
Fiancé and I are not especially fussed about having a massive cake. For some reason (a bit like my odd reasoning about heel heights I guess) I prefer cakes with three tiers. We’ve only discussed it a little, as we wouldn’t need to order the cake until around October (6 months prior) and I am still not sure whether I want to go high-end or not.

The cost of wedding cakes is quite high, considering what the constituent parts are, and considering how simple a shape, style and colour I prefer. I think I’d like a plain, smooth, round, three tier cake, white iced with (possibly) blue bands of the same fabric as the dresses.

I’ve seen some nicely dressed cakes with a few small flowers on them, which is something I would consider.

This brings me nicely on to flowers. We have visited a florist. I couldn’t breathe properly in there, my eyes were streaming and my head hurt, my nose was running. Basically, I had a very strong allergic reaction to the florists! I suspected that it might happen, but it really did confirm for me that I want silk flowers for the wedding. I’m not the only one in the party with allergies, and I didn’t think my allergies were that strong either!

There are other benefits of silk flowers. One of the benefits being that they last! I have an idea for the wedding flowers; I want to have the three bouquets (mine and the two bridesmaids’) made into arrangements. One is for my house, in a nice vase, as a memento of the day; the other to be made into a small arrangement to be placed on my Nanna’s grave. This might sound a little maudlin to some, but it’s something I want to do. I hope that there will be chance for me to go and put it there myself.
I don’t know what we’ll do with the buttonholes. I am sure we can think of something.
Finally the table centrepieces, these are going to be reasonably small – I’m not into ostentatious table decoration – I like to be able to see who is opposite me, and I assume that others do too! I’ve been collecting pictures from Google of those too.

I like the simplicity of some of the single flower in a glass type of arrangements, but it would need to be a big glass, or several glasses, in the centre of a round table. Though it might be nice for at home too! (I’d like to be able to use some of these at home, or give them to wedding helpers as a gift)

I’m also a fan of these fishbowl things. Simple, self-contained and attractive; these are nice and could be a variety of sizes I’d think.

Or there’s the usual vase-based stuff, with a squat vase this could be fine for what I’m interested in.

Of course, I will be discussing this with my fiancé, and probably posting several more witters for you here about it too!

Training, and not knitting!

This morning I was at the gym again. (I know, that’s no excuse for the chocolate I’ve eaten today. Diet is something I need to work on!) I have been working through the programme that I’ve been given by my Personal Trainer. It starts with some high-intensity low-weight cables. I like that; it gets my heart rate up. Once I’ve done that I do squats (I’m using a 15kg bar right now, aiming to get the form before I up the weight – do it light, get it right!) and dead lifts (also 15kg) and then clean-and-press (10kg) which isn’t the same exercise as the one we do in body pump. Then I have around 30 minutes of cardio work, which takes about 40 minutes including travel between machines and stopping to breathe so I don’t die.

I’m getting on okay with the cardio. It’s something I really don’t like doing which makes it a challenge. Even when I was doing quite a bit of running, I never liked that. I spend time on each of the static bike, treadmill and cross trainer. I don’t really like any of them, but I know that I need to get my cardio fitness up.

Still, at least I’m doing something in the gym, and it really does make me feel better for the rest of the day!
Well, until the aching sets in! I’m looking forward to a nice long hot bath!

On the knitting front, I haven’t been! I know – it’s a shocker. I bought a big bunch of new yarn recently – the pictures I took of it are rubbish!
Some of the yarn has plans. The bamboo is being made into a bag (as mentioned before), the Noro Silk Garden Sock is going to become a shrug, all being well. I need to do a bit of planning on that one, like deciding whether to knit it in stockinette or in garter – or something else! I don’t want to do any fancy patterns; Noro SGS is beautiful enough on its own.
The other Noro, I don’t know what I’ll do with that. I’ve been toying with the idea of some sort of felted thing, although it’s expensive yarn for felting with! Failing that, perhaps something smallish – a vest top or a shrug maybe. I have 5 balls, which is about 500yds I think. should be enough for a vest – especially if there’s openwork/lace somewhere on it.

A friend of mine kindly provided me with another herb! Yey! Now I have another variety of mint, Apple mint. It’s lovely, and was the other one I considered getting at Yorkshire Lavender.

So, it’s all good.

Lacey Fingerless Mittens

I’m having some bizarre issues with my Macbook, so I’ve been unable to post. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but I’ve been waiting to tell you all about my latest pattern!

Pattern:Lacey Fingerless Mitts by Tsuki (download now)
Sizes Available: S, M and L (though from feedback the small runs more like XS, the other sizes are about right)
Yarn:Violet Green, Sappho (70% merino 30% silk, colour pink ruby); yardage just over 150yds (140m) for the medium size.
Needles:2.25mm circs long enough to do magic loop, or 2.25mm dpns.
Other:you’ll need two pairs and one odd stitch marker, and a darning needle for weaving in the ends.
I enjoyed knitting these, and I hope you will too. Do let me know if you knit them – and if you like to knit for friends for Christmas these would make a lovely gift. Just click here to download the pattern and you’re away!
Thank you for reading!

Any feedback about the pattern (including errata) is very welcome, please leave a comment, or come find me on Ravelry – I’m Tsuki.

In which I get Personal...

...Training.
Yes, that’s right, I have a personal trainer. How wicked is that?

Originally I had organised to join a fitness class; 10 weeks, including nutrition and fitness advice, a programme to work to and group work. Sadly, there weren’t enough people interested in the evening class, so it was cancelled, but the trainer offered me 6 hours of personal training as a replacement. One to one personal training is not cheap, and this is bargain basement cost, so I decided to go for it.

I had my first session on Monday, where the PT checked out what I can actually do. He’s pleased with the weight lifting, but (unsurprisingly) wants me to up my cardio rather a lot. Well, from nothing to about 20-30 minutes for this first fortnight.
It’s not so bad when you have someone telling you what to do, how fast to run, when to stop. I’ll see how easy that is when I’m doing it on my own. I need to do the program he’s set me at least 5 times before I next see him. Given that we’re off to visit fiancé’s folks over one of the weekends in between, that’s going to be hard – but not impossible – to fit in.

More about that...

As I posted yesterday, I’ve bought some new herbs. I don’t know where this desire comes from, but I love having plants, growing things in my garden is so interesting, so much fun, and the results are beautiful and tasty!

Last year, I bought a collection of herbs from B&Q. this consisted of (as seen in the green tub picture, left to right) chives, sage, parsely, oregano, coriander (which is an annual and died over winter) and Thyme.
Now I also have Dill and Coriander (both annuals), lemon thyme, oregano and French Tarragon, and basil (in the green pot, because he lives indoors) – these were all from B&Q too, and three (yes, three!) varieties of mint. I have peppermint, spearmint and garden mint. I am considering getting some apple mint too, which I really like. I love mint; it’s a great smelling herb, and pretty to look at too. I’m trying to learn the difference between the types of mint in looks, as well as smell (from the smell it’s easier!)
Fiancé’s mum picked up some chocolate mint, which she tells me chickens are meant to like. That has the most amazing mint-chocolate smell to it! She also bought some lavender. I quite like lavender, especially as it is a nice strong smell which can be used to mask the wool smell in a house full of wool!

I’m quite excited at the prospect of having a proper garden to grow things in. I like vegetables and salads and fruit – and I love the idea of growing my own! I could spend hours in the grow-your-own section in B&Q, or perusing in a garden centre.
I’m also looking forward to having space (and hopefully time!) for chickens. I will probably wait until we’ve settled in properly before introducing chickens – perhaps after the wedding (though we’ll see, I’m not usually that patient!). The main thing I’m worried about is being able to find someone to look after them when we go away, and as that would be for three weeks after the wedding, that’s quite an ask.
Chickens need to be let out in the morning, and shut away in the evening.

The crochet I flashed up yesterday is a new bag I’m making, Inga's Haekelbeutel (in German) (Rav link) – it’s a cleverly constructed bag made from granny squares crocheted together. since I quite like making granny squares, I thought this would be a great item for me to make. as usual, I’m not using the yarn called for. I’m not even using the weight of yarn called for! I might end up having to line the bag, which I might have to do 1) before I make it up and 2) by hand.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. My sewing machine, threads and most of my fabric stash never made it to storage (friends’ house – many thanks guys, you know who you are) so I should be able to line the bag without too many problems – though it might be as easy to do it by hand, though I detest sewing by hand, so I have to consider that thoroughly!
I have noticed that my newer squares are a bit tighter – I’m not sure if I’m crocheting tighter, or what. hopefully I can block them all to approximately the same size, prior to crocheting them together. I just have to decide what order to do that in, once I finish making the squares. I’m on 5 of 8 in the blue-then-brown pattern, I’m doing 8 others in brown-then-blue.

Herbs

I've bought some new herbs. We went to Yorkshire Lavender this weekend and there was a lovely selection of other herbs there, including some varieties of mint that I fancied having. Well, we also went to B&Q and I ended up with several more herbs, so on top of the six I already had, I now have some pretty new ones. I've also been doing some crochet...

Stuff

Well, the house is on the market. We were scheduled to have two viewings this weekend, but both were cancelled at the last minute. Boo. One of them will be rescheduled; the other was cancelled outright as they had bought a different house.

Oh well.

We’re going back to see one of the houses we’ve seen. I’ve also made a (short) list of other houses we could see. I haven’t done anything about it though! It’s hard to be positive about looking at houses when we haven’t even had a viewing yet. I know, it’s early days, but it’s so slow!

I’ve ordered some lovely yarn from Stash of Chester over the weekend. I have ordered some Noro Silk Garden Sock at silly prices, and some (more) Noro Kureyon. I wouldn’t have to do this if I had access to my stash. Honest. And it was 15% off sale prices – the SGS was half price effectively! What can you do?

I’m due to have my first personal training session on Friday morning. It was rescheduled from last Friday, which is a re-plan from the class I was going to do that there wasn’t enough interest for. I hope it’s motivational! In the mean time, I guess I need to sort out my diet. It should be a simple as cooking dinner most evenings rather than eating pizza, Chinese, curry etc!

Here’s a sneak peak of the mittens I’ve designed. The pattern is due to be available at the end of the month.

In which I rant about HDNL

So, as you can see from my last post, I’ve been ordering shoes from online. The shoes I’ve had to return were actually no problem. HDNL delivered the Barratts shoes, Royal Mail delivered the ASOS shoes. Both were left with a neighbour. Success! Well done to both companies.

So, given my success, and the fact that I had a £10 off voucher for LoveYourShoes (Barratts) I decided to give the whole shoes online thing another go. I’ve ordered some fit-flops. (You know, the ones that tone your bum when you walk)

The first problem was with LoveYourShoes. for some reason the £10 wasn’t taken off. Why would I pay the shop price plus delivery when there’s a Barratts in town? I wouldn’t. I had to wait until the shoes had been shipped before they could refund me. What a good system that is. Anyway…

They use HDNL to deliver, which was previously a success. When they delivered to my house last Thursday, I was left a card suggesting I could go to Hull (35 miles away) or arrange a new date (when I’m at work), so I called and asked them to deliver to work. Technically we’re not meant to get parcels at work, but I’ve never had trouble with it before. They said that it might be too late to schedule the redelivery to happen on Friday, but that it should be updated by Monday.
On Friday there was no sign – I assumed that all was well.
On Saturday we went out in the morning, and when I returned there was a card from HDNL. I assumed that this was a different order – something else I’m expecting in the post.
On Monday there’s another card. I’m not expecting three parcels so I suspect that something is up. I call HDNL (at 10p a minute) again.
To their credit, the chap on the end of the phone was very nice, apologetic and helpful. He confirmed that they were indeed all the same parcel (I’m assuming it’s the shoes) and that the re-direct message had not got through. He told me he’d call the Hull depot and fix it, and that my shoes should be with me on Tuesday, or today at the latest.
Well, it’s almost 3pm (HDNL are at pains to stress that they could deliver any time between 7am and 7pm) and there’s no sign of my shoes. That doesn’t mean that they’re not here with the post room, but I suspect that they aren’t there either. So tonight I’m going to have to call them again.

I wouldn’t bet on them not having returned the shoes back to the sender. If they have, I’ll probably wait for my refund and then go buy them in store without the money off. Or possibly even from another supplier who doesn’t use HDNL.

At least with Royal Mail the depot is just down the road from my house.
Not Hull.

Shoe Fail

I ordered these:

but they had too high a heel - seriously, I can't walk in a 13cm heel. Otherwise they're gorgeous!

I also ordered these:

But they're not the right colour, they're not as blue as in this picture, they're much more teal/green.

So, no turquoise shoes for me, yet. Ho hum.

Interesting Times

lib•er•al

1. favourable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2. favourable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
3. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
4. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
5. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.

con•serv•a•tive

1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness
3. having the power or tendency to conserve.

I’ve been watching this year’s British election with much interest. I confess, I have voted in previous elections without really understanding the various manifestos. I think that my fiancé has been one of the forces behind me exploring what I actually do believe in, and lining that up with what the parties say.
Now, I’m not going to go all partisan on you; who I voted for is my business.

I stayed up on election night to watch the exit polls and early results. Like most people watching, I disbelieved the exit polls – the Lib Dems couldn’t have done that badly surely? So, when I got up the following morning and saw that the exit polls were pretty accurate, I was surprised. I was also convinced that there would be a Liberal – Labour deal; a Liberal – Conservative deal was just too unrealistic. Then it happened; Dave and Nick agreed to form a coalition.

We are now entering a new type of politics, which is a Good Thing. If this works, if it provides stable and productive government, it will be very exciting.

Though I confess, Oliver Letwin and George Osbourne worry me. Very Much.


Welcome to Lib-Con, please remember to wear your ID (wait, no – that’s being scrapped) and don’t forget to pack your nuclear protective gear (you’ll still need that, we’re keeping Trident – the minty nuclear deterrent)

All quiet

We had a busy day on Saturday, plenty to do!

First, we headed into town so that I could return the two pairs of shoes I ordered online. Both pairs of shoes were amazing, but the ones from Barrats were just too high heeled (13cm or 5¼” in old money) – otherwise they were exactly what I’m after! The ones from ASOS were the perfect height, style, shape, they were comfy, but they weren’t the right colour. I want a more blue kind of turquoise, and these were kind of teal.

While we were there, we also picked up a new shirt for my fiancé, a mirror for me (my other mirror is now making the landing look nice, which is great for the house, but not so good for me) for doing my hair in the morning, and collected a new watch strap in the post for him too.

Then, at about 1pm, we met our agent again. This time it was a lady who took photos of the house for use in the brochure and online. It’s all very exciting. We also handed over our key, as we’re hoping for them to do the viewings rather than us. My mum has suggested that this will not be practical, that we might have to do some viewings, so we will see.

In the afternoon we headed off to look at two houses which are for sale. Neither was the house for us we think. Both were nice enough, but there wasn’t that wow factor. I guess I’m looking for the feeling I got with my engagement ring and my wedding dress; I should want to stay there. I should be mentally putting our furniture into the rooms, and deciding on décor.

Swallowtail Shawl(ette)

I’ve finished my Swallowtail shawl. I’m really pleased with it, though it's not really big enough to be a proper shawl, more of a scarf or shawlette.

Here’s the knit down:
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Violet Green Merino 2ply Lace Yarn (I think it’s discontinued, sorry)
Needles: 3.75mm, 100cm long circs
Modifications: Used beads instead of working the nupps.
Notes: I used Kim’s mileage chart for the budding lace section, very useful.

Here it is before blocking (dimensions: centre back to tip 15”; wingspan 33”; tip to point 23”)

And after blocking (dimensions: centre back to tip 24”; wingspan 46”; tip to point 33”)



So, other news…
Well, the wedding-free-house-free weekend wasn’t. We’ve now been to see a mortgage advisor and got a mortgage in principle agreed. I hunted for turquoise shoes (no win). We went to see the jeweller where we got my engagement ring to ask about vintage wedding bands. It seems that there aren’t many – with the price of gold being as high as it is, people are having them melted down for the cash rather than selling them on which isn’t worth as much. We confirmed that I want a rather narrow band (2mm) and that we can’t justify the cost of having diamonds in it, and also that 18ct will be okay with my 15ct engagement ring. We also confirmed FH’s ring size, the width of band that he’d like (6mm) and the fact that his colouring suits a white gold band better than a yellow gold one. We looked into a house we liked, but sadly discovered that it’s sold, so back to the hunt for that.
Oh, and I signed up for a weight loss program and some body pump at the gym!

Sad News

I realised that I didn't pass on some sad news.
A few weeks ago one of our hamsters died. That's Rowan when we first got him. He and his brother (Aran) have been with us for almost two years now.
Rowan managed to escape about a week before he died. While I don't think this was the direct cause of his demise, I suspect it can't have helped. We found him trying to nest in my walking boot. My first instinct, sadly for the blog but happily for Rowan, was to scoop him up and take him home rather than take photos.

We miss Rowan, but his brother Aran is still fit and well. He's enjoying extra treats now (he especially likes fresh veg) and seems quite happy.

Transformed!

We’ve been sorting out the house for sale.
It’s ready.
Woo!
So, we turned this:

Into this:

This:

Turned into this:

And lastly this:

Turned into this:

I’m really pleased with the result. We’ve worked really hard to get it to this point, and I hope we can sell it! Now we have to find somewhere to move to!

(Also, I bought some shoes for the wedding. They’re turquoise. That’s all I’m telling you!)

A busy (long) weekend!

We’re trying to get the house ready to go on the market. It’s about 90% there now, I reckon. We need to do a spot of cleaning (like sweep the laminate and Hoover the rugs) and some bits in the yard. Otherwise though, it’s ready!
eek!
So, Fiancé is calling some agents to get them to come and give us a valuation. Once that’s done, we can put it on the market and have people come and view the place. While I’m sure we’ll get the people who didn’t read the advert (“we were looking for three bedrooms” or “we actually wanted off street parking”) I’m quite hopeful that we’ll be able to sell for a little bit of a profit. Given what’s gone on with the housing market and mortgages, I think we’re pretty lucky if we do manage to make a little profit!
So that means that we’re also looking for a property to buy. We have seen some, though they’re all sold now, while we’ve been watching the market over the past few months. Now I guess we have to get ourselves in gear and go on and look at some of them in person. I feel a busy few months coming on!

At least the weather seems to have picked up, which bodes well for the same happening this time next year (and the year after) for my (and my sister’s) Wedding.
As you know, I’m scrap-booking all the main events. I’m pleased to announce that I’m going to be creating three new pages shortly! Woohoo!
The first of those will be for the “Save the Date” emails, and then one for the venues – both now booked and, by this evening, deposits paid. The third page will be for our photographers, who we have also now picked.

I’ve also enquired about another dress appointment. I’ve only been to three actual shops, and though two of them had the right sort of thing, only one was right. I’m leaning towards going with that dress, for the least unknowns, but before I do I am going to see another seamstress. I’ve seen one seamstress, and I got a quote from her. The amount that I would be saving isn’t massive, and the risk of not knowing whether the dress she’s making is “the one” until only a few weeks before rests heavy on my mind.

And I’ve bought some yarn. It’s been a while; I’m not buying yarn at the moment without a proper project in mind. This yarn is turquoise, lace weight, from an independent dyer. It’s going to be a shawl/shawlette for the wedding. More than that I’m not completely sure, though I’m seriously considering Gail / Nightsongs, which is beautiful, or the Victorial Lace Today Lady’s circular cape in shell pattern (both Rav links). I am also going to knit myself a shrug. I’m torn between a couple of different options for the shrug too, but usually in a slightly heavier yarn.

2010 - Three months in...

We are one quarter of the way through 2010. How time flies! We’re also 13 months away from my wedding (and 25 months from my sister’s wedding!) which is very exciting.

Highlights of the past three months?


1. The highlight of January was getting engaged. In fact, that’s probably going to be the highlight of 2010 – and so close to the beginning of the year, how do we top that? (should I even try?),
2. Highlight for February would be publishing my first ever paid for pattern – Dangerous Socks For Boys - Click Here to Buy Now
3. Highlight for March is a tough one. I did enjoy our visit to the farm near FH’s parent’s, where they were lambing. Cute lambs! ,
4. Low point for the first quarter was definitely the car going bang (well, not exactly bang, but…) although the hire car was lovely!

Scrap-booking - Engaged

I have decided to keep a scrapbook of the run-up to the wedding, encompassing events from the day my Fiancé proposed to the day of the wedding (and maybe even a honeymoon page, if I have space!)

I've discovered, from my investigations into the craft world, that scrapbooking isn't simply sticking cinema stubs and train tickets into a big book (although it can be that); it's creating beautiful pages of memories to look back at in years to come. This appealed to me, not least because so many photos nowadays are destined for life in only digital form, they don't adorn the homes of their takers in photo albums or frames.

So, for me this project is as much about remembering all the fun (and possibly stress!) of getting engaged, planning the wedding, and getting married.

When we got engaged, FH (Future Hubby) and I took many some photos of the ring, both in the box and on my hand. I've printed a couple of these out, as well as some decorative writing (I know where my talents lie and handwriting is not one of them).
Then I thought it might be nice to include one, some or all of our engagement cards we've received from people (Thank you to everyone who sent us cards, they've been decorating our bookshelf these past two months!)
After some consideration I decided on just one card, which had a tasteful and beautiful picture of a couple dancing and kissing. (Well done Chris for having very good taste)

All of those items have now been combined into one scrapbook page celebrating our engagement.
Here it is for your enjoyment.

I'm pleased with my first attempt at scrap-booking, I'm sure I will improve over time and this book will also be a record of that.
If anyone who does this sort of thing has any hints, tips, recommendations for places to buy stuff, and all that jazz, leave a comment!

Excited!

I’ve been booking some dress-trying-on sessions for the Easter weekend.

I know roughly what I want. I know I prefer sweetheart necklines, I’d prefer a high-ish waist (I have a high natural waist) and I’d like some straps of some sort. I have some (many) pictures on my computer, and I’ll print out a few of them to take with me for inspiration for the dress shop clerks. I’m also taking my mum.

We’ve booked for one shop in Harrogate on Friday afternoon – after which we’re going for dinner at the venue we’ve tentatively booked for the reception. If the food is up to scratch and everything is generally good, I’ll be firming up the reservation. And then two more bridal wear shops on Saturday, hopefully with time for lunch in the middle.

Fiancé and Daddy will be coming with us to Harrogate – there’s a men’s section there too, and they have a good deal at the moment, so fiancé can try on a couple of (or more) suit jackets.

They’re going to finish (I hope) the kitchen on Saturday while I’m dress shopping with Mum. We might have time to go to monsoon or something for mum to look at outfits too.

Knitting Update!

It’s been a while since I posted any knitting, despite having finished a number of things. I’ve been quite busy though, between decorating and sorting out wedding things I haven’t had a lot of time to do much, and the time I find spare I either knit or sleep! I have finally taken photos of the second turn a square hat that I knit. I knit this one first: But it was a little on the small side for Fiancé, because of him having hair to squeeze under it. That one has now gone to my dad, who hopefully will get some wear out of it. And I knitted this one: for Fiancé. He’s happy with it (can you tell?) as it’s warm, big enough, and keeps the rain off too! it was a fun knit, and I got better at the jog-less stripe by the time I did this one! I’m considering making one for me too; though the weather is probably warm enough now to be hatless. That also means that the in progress phoenix (sorry about the PJ top there) will probably not be finished until it’s too warm to wear it. Boo. The other completed project is the socks for FFIL (that’s future Father in Law) – he is really pleased with them, both colour and fit. I’m glad. I’m thinking about making a pair for my dad next, well – after I finish the pair I’m knitting for Fiancé, and then finish the fingerless gloves I’ve designed but not knit. I’m going to get them tested as before, and they’ll be a free pattern when they’re done. The shawl is also well underway, I’m on the second half of the beaded (or nupp, as written) section. It looks really nice so far. I’m looking forward to blocking it and seeing how big it actually is. I’m also looking forward to wearing it! I’ll have to figure out an outfit to wear it with, perhaps on dress-down-Friday. Though it could be seen as quite dressy!

Poorly Car

Our car is poorly. Back in July 2007 you may remember me posting about our new car. The little Polo has been good to us for the past almost-three-years; starts first time, even in the snow. We had some work done on the breaks and the exhaust, but nothing unusual for a car that age (it’s an N reg).
But, on Monday night on the way home from knitting, as we got back to the street, there was steam billowing out from under the bonnet. Eek!

We’ve called a mechanic. He’s (so far) proven to be a nice man. He’s going to pick up the car and then have a look for us. The current thoughts (both from him and my dad) are that either there’s a coolant leak, (I’m sorry captain, we cannae go to warp, there’s a coolant leak in engineering), or the head gasket is broken. I don’t know what a head gasket is, but it sounds expensive. I’m told that in order to replace one it takes a lot of work and taking the engine apart a bit. That also sounds expensive. I hope it’s a coolant leak, and an easy to fix one at that.

The pattern for my lacy mitts design is ready for me to start test knitting. Unfortunately, because all of my knitting stuff is “in storage”, I only have one set of sock needles which I’m using to knit some socks for Fiancé. All that this means is that he’ll get them super fast! I bought some lush yarn (neither photographed nor in my Rav stash yet) to make them with (because all my yarn is in storage), a Violet Green merino silk blend, in a lovely dusky red. It’s not a solid colour entirely, but has lots of hues of dark red and dark pinky red. It’s lush; I really can’t describe it and do it justice! I’m pleased with the pattern so far. If there’s yarn left over I might make another one of my lace bag too.

Designs and Decorating

I always have ideas for new designs clamouring for attention while I do other things. Even while I’m knitting I’m thinking of new knitting designs. Or when I’m at work, so many ideas appear!
There’s a school of thought which says you should write them all down. Every single idea you have. I’m a bit disorganised, so the chances of me having an appropriate notebook to do that is slim. However, I believe that an idea which is good enough gets lodged in my brain! I have a bunch of ideas which I haven’t written down for things which will eventually be made. Or, as in the case of the wedding invitations, I’ve designed them in my head, and even scribbled a sketch on the side of some meeting notes, but not actually made them, or really done much towards making them!

-oOo-

We had quite a productive weekend, my folks were up and we did some painting, some cupboard building, and cleaning. (I say we. I’m afraid with the cleaning Mum did pretty much all of it, while I did some ineffective tidying. I’m rubbish at that sort of thing!)
We’ve also bought some paint for the bedrooms. If I’m honest, they’ve needed a lick of paint since we moved in. The walls are magnolia, just magnolia. Which isn’t interesting and means it looks a bit “rental”. We’ve not gone miles away from magnolia though, I’ve bought warm magnolia for above the dado rail. In an effort to make it look a bit more chic, I’ve bought some warm beige for below the dado – kind of a milky coffee colour. (Photos to come, eventually!)
We’re going to do the same colour scheme in the back bedroom, which is currently also magnolia. I have to re-paint the ceiling in there too. I’ve also got the woodwork to paint in both bedrooms too. Nothing too fancy, we’ve got some matt wood paint (rather than gloss) in a colour called cotton white.
I’ll try to remember to take some photos this evening (or set my fiancé on doing so while I’m at knitting!) of the paint, and the painted door! the bathroom door needs sanding down now, and another coat of paint is required. it has already made a big difference to how the bathroom feels when you’re in there – though we can’t shut the door at the moment as there’s no handle!

-oOo-

Of course, that meant I got no knitting done! I do still have two weeks to finish the socks I’m knitting, and I’m well on the way with those. I want to try them on again; I’m getting close to where I need to start the toe. I’m aiming for a shoe size larger than I wear, so I’ll start the toe a few rows later than I normally would.

Dangerous Socks For Boys

So, I heard back from Knitty, and though it was a lovely email, it was a rejection. However, for the small sum of £2.50 Dangerous Socks for Boys could be yours! Just click on the link below and (hopefully) you'll be able to download the PDF. It's via paypal, I believe. Just click the link: I wanted to create some socks for my boyfriend that were manly enough for him (no lace, nothing too fancy), comfortable enough to wear in slightly warmer weather and most of all interesting enough that I didn’t get the dreaded second sock syndrome!
I also wanted a pattern that I could knit while on the move – something I could commit to memory easily. Thus, the Dangerous Socks for Boys were born, though the only danger is that you might want to keep them for yourself rather than give them to another boy in your life. The cuff ribbing is designed to flow into the main pattern, though it can easily be replaced with k2p2 rib. The central ribbing flows down the heel flap, helping it to hug the heel when worn. The blue sock is shown with k2p2 ribbing, the brown sock is shown with patterned ribbing.
(Click to see larger versions) So go on, treat the boy (or man) in your life to some dangerous socks!

Not (quite) an epic fail

Well, sort of. I heard back from Amy, the editor at knitty.com. She told me that, as I suspected, I had only sent her my headshot and not the rest of the pattern details. However, she has asked for me to resend the details, so I might still be in with a shot! Woo!

-oOo-

We spent last weekend moving all of our superfluous stuff from our house to the house of some friends in a large van. It was a long wheel based high top something or other! It was pretty big anyway. I didn’t drive it because I couldn’t reach the pedals and we couldn’t figure out how to move the seat any further forward! We also took a van-load of things to the tip, so we have much more space at home.
Now the real fun begins (sarcasm) because we have to tidy, sort, throw away some more things, tidy some more, sand, paint, dust, sweep, Hoover, tidy, stick down, cover up and generally make the place look like it should.
I want to get it on the market by the end of March – with some luck we might even be able to get people round to see it over Easter that way. Perhaps that’s ambitious, but we’re so close to being ready, all it needs is some commitment, elbow grease, and me not to get ill or injured!

-oOo-

The shawl I’m knitting at the moment is coming along, although I’m not spending enough time on it. Lately I have been watching a bit of telly in the evenings, which isn’t conducive to lace knitting for me. So I’ve been mostly knitting some stockinette socks I’ve been making. These are a surprise gift for someone, who fortunately has feet a similar size to mine (one size larger, so should be an extra few rows before I begin the toe!)
To add interest (and, as it turns out, speed) I’ve been knitting two at a time on one circular needle. (I think I mentioned that already!) Which is working well for me!

Epic Fail?

On Sunday I went to a vintage wedding fair. Truth be told, I was a little disappointed, though I don’t know what I was expecting, I think I expected something larger. Anyway, there were some lovely things there, and I consolidated my desire for a fifties style wedding dress. I like the way A-line skirts look on me, and the masses of underskirts. A long time ago, not long after I met my fiancé, we went to a fancy dress party. We decided to go as “fifties kids”, so he wore tight jeans and a checked shirt and I wore a circle skirt and a fitted v-neck cardigan.

(You can’t really see the coolness of the skirt in that picture!) I love dressing up!

There’s a chance that I’ll find something in a traditional bridal wear shop, so I’ll be doing the trek around those at some point. Probably with my Mum. It should be fun, though perhaps a bit daunting. I’ve managed to find pictures online of the sort of thing I’m looking for. The other thing I’m considering is getting something made especially. That would be cool.

The main thing I’ve changed my mind about is the colour. I was thinking about having a green dress (after seeing this knitted one on Rav) but I’m not sure that they’re wedding-y enough for me. While I want something practical-ish, it should be obvious that it’s my wedding day – right? So I’m almost certainly having something white (unless I change my mind again) – though I’m also hoping to have an accent coloured sash (and possibly shoes…)

-o0o-

We’re continuing to pack up things in the house. He’s ordered a van for us at the weekend, and we’ll be using that to ship some stuff to our friends’ house – they’ve kindly agreed to store some stuff for us. This also gives us even more reason to sort ourselves out as we can’t trespass on their hospitality forever! We’re also going to take the opportunity to get rid of some of our larger items that we no longer want/need. This will cause some fun in the interim, as we will not have enough sofas for visitors! That said, I’d rather that be the case than for the place to be a mess!

-o0o-

I’m still getting a fair amount of knitting in amongst the chaos! I’ve been working on the two-at-a-time socks for FFIL (that’s Future Father In Law) and I’m about a third of the way down both heel flaps. It’s going quite well, considering. I’m a bit apprehensive about the picking up of the stitches around the heel flap, but I think I know what I’m doing. I am kind of making up as I go along, which is fun.

I haven’t heard back from Knitty about my sock pattern. I have a suspicion that I had a bit of an epic fail with my email submission, which may mean that I can either (1) submit again for the following issue or (2) self publish and submit another pattern another time. I’ll be sending a note to Amy of Knitty before I do either! (I have done that)

The cardigan is going slowly. When I’m knitting at the moment it is mostly the socks, or the swallowtail shawl that I have on the go. Because it’s a triangular shawl that means that each pattern repeat takes a little longer than the last. I’m quite excited to get on to the next section though, for the beads! I’ve got two options on the bead front

Image not mine,

borrowed from e-beads.co.uk - an excellent business

who shipped my beads really fast a

nd didn't charge the earth

for either the beads or the postage!

On the left, metallic iris purple, on the right, silver lined amethyst.
Both are very pretty, and remarkably similar! I’m not sure which set I’ll pick yet, but I like both! Both sets match my yarn too!