28thirty...finished

By some miracle of modern science, the camera now works and I can show you what I finished at the weekend!







Ta da!!!!!!


No pictures of me wearing it yet, come on, let's not get too carried away! There's no telling when the camera will pack up again, so I did quick photos while the going was good!!

I made a few modifications.

1. I knitted the S size, but just before you cast off the sleeves, I left a few more on for the body than the pattern said. 260 instead of 244. This meant the sleeves were 55 sts each and the body was 150 not 142.

2. I knitted the body 4" long, not 3.5"

3. I wanted the sleeves billowy, so on ridge 14 (from the shoulder, not the neck), I increased 2 in the round (I knitted magic loop method on 2 circs) by K1P1 into 1 st twice after each ridge row (so it wasn't so obvious) until there were 71 sts. Then I did the K2P2 rows 4 times so the ends of the sleeves weren't so cuff like.

I used Cascade 220 in the Heathers with 5mm circs.

I'll try and get some of it in action tomorrow. In the meantime, the race is on for me to finish Portia before I go on holiday on Friday!

UK Swap Question 3

Is there a TV programme you watch religiously?
Desperate Housewives
Spooks
Big Brother at the moment!

What TV programme(s) do you avoid like the plague?
Those f***ing awful singing dancing performing programmes like the nancy one and so on. I hate them, they make me cringe. I don't watch a massive amount of tv, but I could watch most things to relax.


Is there a TV programme that you find works particularly well for knitting along to?
I can knit to anything except the singing dancing shit.

What was/is your favourite kids TV programme?
When I was growing up in South Africa there was no tv network so as a young kid we had no tv, but when we got back to the UK I watched Take Hart, the art programme, I loved it!!

Tagged!

Angie has tagged me in this meme that is going around at the moment.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was working for social services as a youth justice social worker. I had just finished my training at Leicester Uni and Lily was 6. Rob had just come back from working in the Antarctic.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?


Only 5??????? I have a perpetual list that moves between being next to my bed and on the desk downstairs! I'll pick 5 random things from it.

Sort out the irrigation system before I go away.
Deadhead the pots front and back.
Sort out the mountain of clothes on the spare bed that don't fit anymore.
Go over to my sisters to walk the dogs together (as she has my other sister's dog for the week)
Take photos of my finished 28thirty.


4)Things I would do if I was a billionaire

Give a lot to my family and friends so that they could all live somewhere they wanted and not worry about money again.
Give a lot to charities such as Cancer Research and also animal welfare organisations.
Buy a vegetarian restaurant.
Invest some.


5)Places I have lived

Surrey UK
Yorkshire UK
Cambridgeshire UK
Amanzimtoti, South Africa
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Badford UK


6) Jobs I have had

Waitress
Babysitter
Receptionist
Playscheme Leader
Bar Person
Drug Counsellor
Probation Assistant
Social Worker
I think there are some more, I just can't think of them!

I think most people have done this meme now, but if you haven't, consider yourself tagged and come and leave me a comment telling me how I can look at your answers!

Race For Life (I RAN 5k!!!)

We did it!!!! This Wednesday night a crowd of us (well there were thousands there altogether) ran and walked 5k for Cancer Research. It was the perfect weather and we raised a lot of money running along together in beautiful parkland. It made me laugh to myself, as it was all women. If you wanted to run through a crowd of slower movers, everyone was so polite..."excuse me, thank you, so sorry, are you alright", how funny! If it had been men, they would just have barged on through without even a grunt! Every time I felt like stopping, I would think of my mum and it would make me have a little sprint! It was so inspiring, reading the signs on people's backs. There was even a lady running for "my father in law who passed away yesterday". How brave was she? I had a tissue tucked in my waistband as I knew there would be some really sad stories, and sure enough there were. But it made us all run harder and faster for those that we remembered or who were going through treatment.





We had a big picnic afterwards, which was maybe the best bit!!! Nothing like a crowd of primary school teachers to organise a good spread!!!!!



The next day I was a little achey, but managed a jazzercise class ok, and ran yesterday. I think my legs have given up complaining now and decided to suffer in silence. I have got the bug for it now and we are running a local 3k in August and then hoping to do a 10k for Cancer Research in the Autumn.

I'm of to the gym now to run some more and then I'm finishing 28thrirty, only 4 rows to go!

Resolutions Revisited

As it's about half way through the year, I thought I would go back to this post I made back in January and see how I was getting on.


1. Read more books
I only seem to read alot on holiday whilst lazing by the pool. But I plan to read at home too. Probably not in bed, as it has a sleeping pill effect on me, but when I am fully awake and functioning.

Well, I am reading alot more books. That's not to say I have finished any of the ones I was reading when I wrote this in January!!! And I am still reading in bed. I feel like if I'm awake and upright and I get a spare hour (ha ha) I should be using it more wisely....for knitting!

2.Lose weight
In October I joined Weight Watchers and have lost 19.5 lbs. I need to lose another 11 lbs to be at my goal and am planning to do that before the end of February.


OK, I did this,and more, and have now lost 34.5 lbs to date. I have lowered my goal and now have another 7 to go.

3.Ironing
Now, I know this is a boring resolution, but I would rather poke my own eyes out with burning sticks than do the ironing.

My plan is to do the ironing as it gets dry. No more European mountains of the stuff lounging on my spare bed. NO! I'm doing it as I go along....AND....so far, so good. No ironing in my house at the moment!!!! (Watch this space)


This resolution I have sort of kept to. There aren't the piles of ironing there used to be. There are smaller piles, but they are getting done before people who live in this house run out of clothes. And I think that's good enough!

3. Vegetarianism
I have always been a vegetarian, since I can remember. My mum said I never liked the taste or texture of meat and I can't remember ever eating it. When Lily was born, although Rob isn't a vegetarian, we decided to raise her as one, because we worried about the sat fats, antibiotics, cruelty aspect ans so on of her eating meat. When she was 5 or so, and understood what meat was and how it came to be on the plate, we let her try it if we were somewhere it was for dinner, and, although she liked the taste, she decided not much later that she didn't want to eat it for her own reasons.

Now, I am getting on my soap box a bit about this one. Firstly..why oh why oh why do people who eat fish think they can call themselves vegetarian????????I mean, I know it's only a label, but it's like saying I'm a vegetarian but I do eat chicken now and then. WHY??????????? Why say you're one in the first place....unless it has some other special meaning to you, like it makes you a special person or something. I don't get it. Killing animals to eat, to me, is barbaric, whatever kind of animal it is.
I have never been an evangelical veggie, but this year, thanks to my very evangelical daughter, I have decided to become one. Don't panic, my knitting blog will not be the place I make you feel bad about what you eat, but in my day to day life, I plan to be voiciferous about the fact that in this country and many others, there are animals being kept in such cruel conditions and killed in inhumane ways and given all sorts of drugs and hormones to make them fit for your plates. And I'm talking fish, fowl and mammals. If you think what you are buying is ok, just because it sort of says it on the packet its dead remains have been crammed into, think again. It's been killed.
Sorry to rant on, but it makes me so sad, it really does. Rant over.


I have been more evangelical about this. Sometimes I feel a little scared by what I'm saying. My sister said it wasn't like me to comment on people's meat eating, so I have obviously been doing it. But I think, if you want to eat a dead animal, at least care about how it lived and how it was killed, and don't eat shrink wrapped shit from supermarkets. Go to a proper butcher where they will at least know this stuff. 2nd rant over.


4. Updating my blog
I am planning to blog more as I am planning to knit more!!

Oh yeah!!

5. Knit more garments

Check!! Back to School Vest, 28thirty, Juliet....need I go on??!

6. Finish Silver Belle

Whatever.

7. Finish clapotis
Oh, how I wish I'd never started that buggering thing. I will finish it though.

Maybe not

8. This year I am going along the lines of not suffering fools much if it is an effort or interferes with my own well being. I've never suffered them gladly, but this year I have decided not to suffer them much at all. Really, as long as I'm not rude, what's the point? Some people just want you to fulfill their own needs and insecurities and I'm not going there this year. I'm not mean about it, just aware of my own time being useful, I suppose.

I have managed to manage fools much better. And not suffer them. At all.

9. I have decided to set myself some fitness challenges this year. I do a fair amount of exercise, but don't have a specific target to train for. Well, now I have. I am going to do the Race for Life in the summer, in memory of my mum, and I am going to run it.

I ran a mile in January and did the 5k this week. Running!!!!! In 32 minutes. Phew. If someone had said to me this time last year I would do that, I'd have laughed so hard I'd have spat chocolate all over them.



Not bad, eh? I think I have kept to the more important ones and the others, well, does it really matter? I am slimmer, fitter, and healthier in mind and body than I was at the beginning of the year thanks to these resolutions, so I must be doing something right!

SP 12 Question of the Week 3

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

This

Failing that, my perfect stash would be having all the colours and the yarns that I would ever love to knit in. Probably this would mean Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere, alpaca silk, well, most of her stuff really, in every colour it comes in, plus blue sky alpaca, again in every colour and also some rowan wool cotton for good measure, again, in every colour. Oh, and Malabrigo, in every weight and every colour. Not much to ask is it? I am working my way there, slowly but surely......

The 70s Ardvark

28thirty is really coming along now. As you can probably tell from the photo, I made a lot of modifications. The sleeve is the main one, as I wanted it to be flared as I thought it would suit the style and the stitch well, and I am really pleased with how it's turned out. It looks a bit 70s inspired, don't you think? I am 3/4 of the way down the second sleeve and have got the buttons to sew on. Hopefully some FO pics to follow soon.

Tonight is my Race For Life . I am feeling nervous, but know I'll be glad to have run it when it's over. We're thinking about doing the 10k one in the Autumn (gulp!) We are having a picnic afterwards as there is a crowd of us and we all have something to bring. My thing is pizza. I have eaten what won't fit in the box and am now regretting it. Let's hope I don't see it again later......if you know what I mean!!!

Wish me luck!!!! I think I'll need it!

UK Swap Question of the Week 2

Which three guests (alive or not) would you invite to a dinner party and why?

Well, this is difficult. I love having dinner parties and I love there to be about 8 people. But if I had to pick 3, first of all I'd chose my mum. She died in 1997 and I miss her so much. There's a lot that I would like to ask her. And a lot that I would like to tell and show her about me that she never knew. Second I'd invite Freddie Mercury. I don't really like Queen, but my mum absolutely loved him and we used to laugh that she would change her name to Chrissie Mercury. I think he would be a really entertaining dinner guest! Lastly, I'd invite Angela Carter. I love her books, especially the way she has rewritten fairy stories into sinister stories and I think she'd be an interesting guest.

If I had another dinner party, I'd invite Sid Vicious , David Bowie and Edie Sedgwick, just because I love them all.

SP 12 Question of the Week 2

As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?

When we came from South Africa to live in England, I found it really difficult to adjust. I came from a big family of 4 children, and never felt as if I was heard or seen. I was just Number 1 child as the eldest, and I should accept my lot and get on with it. My parents had extremely high expectations of me and I felt as if I was always singing someone else's song and never my own.

My step grandmother and grandfather lived in Hampton Court in a lovely house, opposite Bushey Park, near the Queen's stables and the palace and backing on to the river. Mary, my grandfather's wife, wass the most unusual and exotic person I had ever met. She spoke in a deep voice, with lots of "daaaaaahling" s in her speech and she suffered with insomnia, so never slept. She spent the nights painting, drawing, writing and reading. She made milky coffee, always with a saucer, and put toast, in triangles, in a toast holder, with small bowls of marmalade and jam. She was wonderful.

I was sent, every school holidays, to stay with them. I would go, on the train to London and then get the overland train, one of the old fashioned ones with the push down windows and the leather seats (like on Harry Potter) to Hampton Court, where Mary would pick me up in an old white Morris Traveller with wooden panelling.

My bedroom in their house overlooked the park and was mine. I could leave things there and they would still be there when I went back, which is something you couldn't do in my house.

Mary came from a theatrical background and had been married before to a playwright. Her daughters were grown up dancers with the Royal Ballet. We did fantastical things like wander round art galleries, eat lunch with theatrical people in pokey back street places and went to the theatre and ballet late at night and then for supper.We walked her dog, Mooshey, in Bushey park and got really close to the deer. We had deep conversations about vegetarianism (she was one too) and politics and art and other things I couldn't talk about at home.

Mary went, twice a day, to feed colonies of stray cats who lived in wasteland. When I went with her, she would talk to these ferrals as if they were her own pets, like she loved and knew them all. There were about 100 of them!

I lived to spend the holidays with this wonderful woman. When I went to college, she would send me letters and subscriptions to amazing magazines and perfume and silk underwear.

She died when Lily was 2, in 1994. She was suffering with dementia and had moved into an old fashioned nursing home. I went with my mum and Lily to see her. In her confusion she suddenly had a moment of lucidity and looked at us and said "Hello dahlings", and a tear fell out of the corner of her eye.

She died shortly after that visit. I will never forget her for making my teenage years so much more bearable and my holidays so wonderful. She was what I looked forward to most about the holiday break.

28Thirty aka The Ardvark Jacket

I like knitting this, it's a good tv knit. Pretty straightforward and not much concentration required. Apart from the fact that I seem to have ended up with more stitches that required when I lost the sleeves. Oh well, I don't think it'll matter much. I have also decided that the sleeves would look better to be flared at the ends and so will increase as I go down them. I love the ridging, I feel it makes it look kind of ardvarky!



Other news...we are going away soon, so have employed a company to come and feed the cats. Basil is so old now (19) and on such a lot of medication that he needs to be in his own surroundings as he does get confused and I need to know he will be given the medication properly. Kate, the lady who will be doing the job came to meet us and basil yesterday. She is lovely, and has said she will massage his feet every day, because he likes that! She will also water the plants that don't get watered by the irrigation system and tend to the tomatoes, aubergines and french beans I am growing. I feel a whole lot better about going now! Plus, she used to be a psychiatric nurse, so she will fit in down this road very well!!!!!



Lily found out today that she has been accepted onto the American Exchange with her school. They are only taking 25 students and there were about 60 applications, so she is really pleased!!! Emily, who she has been paired with, will come here to stay with us for 2 weeks in November, and Lily will go there for 2 weeks in April next year. I'm sure there will be a lot of emailing going on in the meantime! The school they exchange with is in New Jersey. I am busy writing a list of various yarns and needles that she can bring back with her. Nothing like being organised!

I have been asked if I would be interested in training as a Weight Watchers leader. My leader, Jo, thought I would be good and asked her training coordinater to come to the meeting the other week and see what she thought. I have had a chat with her and Jo and am attending an information evening at the end of the month before I make a decision. I would love to do it, and I am very flattered, but not sure if I have the confidence to stand up in front of a lot of strangers. And what if my group put on every week and were rubbish at losing weight? Not sure I am ready for the responsibility!!!!!

We are hooked on Big Brother already here. Rob is pretending he's not, but I can see him watching! What I want to know is this. Where do they find such a bunch of wierdos from??? Mario has to go this week. He's just scary. Especially with Lisa's lipstick on. It was scary enough on her.

So sweet, maybe mad!

I had my first gift from my UK Swap pal! She saw that I would love to be able to crochet, but that I could only make granny squares. She noticed that the Babette blanket is listed in my Ravelry queue and she sent me the pdf!!!!

She thinks that I can make it!!!! She said if I can make a granny square, I have all the skills I need to make the BB. Now, is she right or deluded?? (Sorry Swappal!) I am now filled with a new love of crochet as I am going with her confidence in me and I shall be studying this pattern and making it click in my brain. I so love the blanket, and if she thinks I can make it, she might be right.

Wish me luck. It may be finished in time for Christmas. Who knows which year! But what a lovely thought!

Thank you Secret Swap Pal!
x

Drops Cable Bag is a FO!

Hooray, I found the time to finish it and to get Rob to take some photos as well!



I like it! By a small accident, the handle is the exact right length, and the colour is gorgeous. It is a really useable size too!

The lining was a bit of a pain to do as the top is so much narrower than the bottom. Let's just say it wouldn't win any neatness competitions and let's hope I never need to find anything small in it in a hurry.



The eskimo wool is really heavy, which enables the bag to stand up on its own.

I made a couple of mods
A deeper garter st edge at the top to enable me to use the big button, and I only knitted one handle instead of two.

Pattern: Drops Cable Bag (free download)
7 skeins eskimo colour 30
5mm circs
Heather Bailey Freschcut fabric for lining
Total cost approx £18



We had a great walk this afternoon, and I took some pictures, I'll post them tomorrow if I can. We walked through some beautiful countryside. Funny how something can be on your doorstep and you don't even know it's there!

Look at that!! No blogging from me for a few days and then 5 in one day!!!!

SP 12 Question of the Week

What is your favorite summertime drink??
That's difficult. I love diet cherry coke, with loads of ice in it. I'd like to think I like cold Pimms, but alcohol has a funny effect on me and makes me feel sick. I love the odd sip of ice cold rose wine, but it has the alcohol effect also. If calories were no object, I would have pineapple and coconut juice, or a coke float. Or a blue slushy, or a McD's banana milkshake. Or a mango frescati. Anything but water! Yuk!

UK Swap Question of the Week

What are you doing to participate in WWKIP day on Saturday?
Not much to be honest. I shall be knitting in a small public gathering of Rob, Lily and Flossie.
What is the strangest place you have ever knit?
Next to the pool on holiday. I would like to lie and say something really exotic, like on top of Mount Everest. But I haven't. Yet. There's always time!

Drops cable bag...progress at last!

Since sewing together the bottom of the bag, it has changed shape and I am really liking it. The big hole in the picture is the buttonhole and I have a ginormous ruby coloured button to sew on. I love the colour of the bag too. Sewing it up was a bit tricky as the yarn is like candyfloss. One too tight pull and it just separates.

I have decided to line the handle too, in the same Freshcut fabric, as in my experience, knitted handles just get longer and longer and you don't dare put too much in the bag after a whil, so I thought this would give it some support. You need it if you're my bag!



I am hoping to finish it tonight. Mind you, it's Father's Day here today, and we are off on a 10 mile walk in a while, and then off out for dinner, so it might be tomorrow now. At least you don't need the use of your legs to make bags! There's a blessing!

SP 12 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love most Debbie Bliss yarns, especially anything with some cashmere or cotton in it. I love alpaca yarns as well. I am a real soft freak and so it has to pass the cheek test with me. (Face cheek, not the other one!) I'm not too keen on scratchy stuff, as some 100% wools are. Noro is a bit hit and miss for me as it does seem to retain its itchiness, even though it can be washed out. I need to love it to knit it!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

A shoe box...yes, I know. Oh, and a rolled up bit of pelmet. My circs hang on a hook. Sad but true!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting since I was about 12. That's 31 years then (gulp) My mum taught me and I knitted garments for myself when I was at school and college, so I think pretty advanced. What I don't know I can pick up pretty easily from You Tube, thanks to Cat Bordhi!!!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Not really

5. What's your favorite scent?

A few! Mainly anything fresh, woody, lemony, not really flowery and not really lavendery.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I am 60% made up of Cadbury's milk chocolate. But now I am dieting, I love low cal cookies, or anything else not high in calories or fat.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I sew, quilt, felt, make stitch markers and cards. I haven't tried spinning, although my SP11 pal did send me a drop spindle, but I haven't tried it out yet.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Who knows? I am a techno geek, so ask my daughter!

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Love muted colours, especially greens, pinks, blues and so on. I'm not keen on orange or yellow.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I live with a husband and a 16 year old daughter. We have 1 dog, a whippet lurcher, called Flossie who is my baby, 1 elderly cat, who is 19-Basil, who has been with me since he was 9 weeks old, through chemo and everything else, and a giant cat who we think is a dog trapped in a cat's body. That's Max. We inherited him from one of my youth justice kids when I was a social worker. He is not ours out of choice, but as been with us 11 years and we can't get rid of him. Our latest plan is to send him to uni with Lily when she goes!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I do wear scarves and hats.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I love knitting bags. I do like knitting jackets as well, but they get boring for me. I love knitting scarves too.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Just finishing a bag. A pair of socks. A scarf. A jacket. A blanket. A jumper. Just a few things, you know!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Depends what I'm knitting. If it's small, circs get irritatingly tangled for me. I love them all, not that keen on plastic, but I don't discriminate too much! Knitting is knitting, whatever there is available to do it on!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes, thanks to my extremely unsubtle dropping of hints to my husband last christmas.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

OMG, I'm ashamed to say probably about 20 years old.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Laying on a beach or by a pool, reading books or knitting, and then good food and good company in the evening.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Apart from yarn???? Like what? Oh, actually, I do like buttons.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Can't think of any off the top of my head.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I wish I could crochet. All I can make is granny squares. I have been shown, and I have bought books, but my brain just can't compute it. I need someone with a ton of patience to sit with me for a couple of days and help me!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I have knitted socks in the past and am knitting one now, but I wouldn't call myself a sock knitter. My feet are a UK size 6, normal width. And I'd love someone else to knit me a lovely soft pair!!

23. When is your birthday?

May 12

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

fluffyknitting of course!

Knitting in the Sun and other weekend delights

This is my 28Thirty. Coming along now, I have got to the top of the sleeves and about to separate and do the body. It's a quick knit, which I like and I love knitting with Cascade 220. I have been enjoying the sun today and sitting on the patio getting on with it! Rob's been at work today and Lily is recovering from a big night last night, so me and my dog have been chilling!

Lily's big night last night......she, Rob and her friend Charlotte went down to Wembley to see Foo Fighters with this....

and they really think it!! We all helped in the making of it, and then they carried it, and the extremely long bamboo canes it was on all the way, only to be told when they got there that they couldn't take the canes in. So they had to hold it up instead and hope Dave noticed it. They did get their photo taken with it by Radio 1, though, as Zane Lowe was outside!

So exciting, though, was that 2 members of Led Zeppelin made a guest appearance, and so Rob was really chuffed as he blares them out of his car the whole time!!!!

I took Flossie on a long walk, as I am wearing a pedometer at the moment and I can earn extra points from it...which came in very handy as I needed them for popcorn as I went to see Sex and the City last night. It was sooo good. I was never a great fan of the series, but the film was really good!

Drops Cable Bag is finished, just waiting to be sewn up and lined, which I shall do this week. I am planning to reassess my New Year's Resolutions soon too, as we are reaching the halfway point in the year. I can't believe it!!!!!

UK Swap Questionnaire..the rest of it!

Part Two: Your Favourites
What is your favourite colour?
Hmmm, difficult. I love greens, mainly lighter, brighter ones also pinks, more muted ones. I also love blues, soft ones and purples but not really lilac. I suppose I love mid tone gentle hues of most colours.

What is your least favourite colour?
I'm not keen on orange or wine/burgundy colours, or too strong colours. Not keen on yellow, although I do love a creamy yellow.

What scents/smells do you like? What don’t you like?
I love vanilla and cinnamony smells, warm cosy wintery smells. The smell of sweet baking. Also fresh citrusy smells. I'm not keen on flowery smells, although I do like rose.

How do you like to pamper yourself? (bubble bath, hand creams, massage, manicure)
Yea, any of those!!! I love to be stroked and pampered... the more cream the better! Especially my hands and feet!

What goodies to you like to eat? (chocolate, biscuits, sweets,crisps etc)
Yea, any of those too!!!!! I'm a Taurean, so pampering and eating and loving nice things are my core essence!!!! I love Cadburys the most, and cheese knik knax which you can only get in South African shops are my top faves! I don't like dark chocolate at all or Turkish delight, or wafery things.


Do you prefer tea or coffee while you knit? Any particular kind?
I don't really drink tea and coffee. Sometimes a nice skinny decaff cappuccino or a straight hot chocolate.

Do you listen to/watch anything while you knit? (TVshow-Along, movies, music, podcasts, audiobooks)
I normally watch tv or I knit in the garden.

Part Three: About you, Living & Past-times
If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be (and why)?
I would be alpaca. I'm soft and I love to be touched but if you stretch me too far I become nasty! I also come in a range of lovely colours!!! And in a variety of thicknesses!!!

Where do you live in the UK? (General idea not address)
Cambridgeshire

Have you always lived here, or did you grow up somewhere else?
I grew up in South Africa. In Amanzimtoti.

What is your favourite place in the UK?
Apart from my garden on a sunny day, I would say anywhere that involved the beach, hot sun, comfy sun beds and a good book.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I'd like to visit the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

What other hobbies do you have?
Gardening, reading, cooking, writing, exercise, cars

Part Four: The Theme

I love this picture. It's my garden and I love the feeling of it, and the colours, greens, pinks and purples and the blue (that you can't see) that is shining above all of this and making it grow. I planted my garden too from a bare patch of earth and I love the feeling of knowing that everything growing in it is because I put it there. Apart from the bloody willow tree that self seeded itself and I can't get rid of!!

Final Part:
Any allergies/preferences (fiber-wise or treat-wise)?
I am proper (!)vegetarian, so nothing edible wise made from animal or fish products. But I do knit with animal fibres.
Anything we missed that you’d like your partner to know?
I'll let you know!!!