Misadventures in Yarn Shopping...

I mentioned last week that my mum came to visit over the weekend. We had a lovely relaxing spa break on Thursday and on Friday we headed out to find a yarn shop.

I want to knit mum something for Christmas, but decided it would be best to consult rather than surprise her, to make absolutely sure I made something she'd like. So we wanted to go and look at some patterns and get the yarn.

We had an interesting time trying to achieve this goal *laughs* We headed to the first shop, but the roads have obviously changed significantly recently and the sat nav just couldn't cope. So we gave up on that one. The next one we did find, a tiny little place called "The Wool Shop". I did actually buy a pattern, but I'm not keen on a yarn shop that has all of the yarn behind the counter, I want to feel it and smoosh it before I decide to buy! Anyway, it didn't have what we wanted so we headed onwards...

To a house. Apparently the yellow pages app hasn't been updated in a while and sent us to a residential area. No yarn shop there. Next stop was Maidenhead, where the first shop we found may have been categorised as a yarn shop but appeared to only sell fabric *sigh* We really weren't doing very well by this point! However we did have a good look through some charity shops, where I found a couple of retro patterns to buy:

I want to make myself a cricket jumper in cream, with black and pink stripes, so I was pleased to pick up a pattern for that. Obviously there will be some modification required, but it should work. And the other pattern interested me enough to splash out 25p on it *laughs*

Anway, we decided to try one more shop. Which turned out to actually be a yarn shop... Yay ;)

Mum found a pattern, but they didn't have enough of the right yarn (no matter, the internet has already come to the rescue on that score). Plus she also picked up some lovely yarn in the bargain bin, £1 a ball:

We decided to try and find a pattern online for this, as the lady in the shop was really not very helpful at all.

More amazingly though, I didn't buy any yarn at all *pauses for everyone to get over the shock* I think it may be the first time I have been into a yarn shop and not bought anything and I was very proud of myself. They had some Manos del Uruguay (which I love and adore) in one of my favourite colourways, but I was strong and resisted. I have plenty of yarn ;)

So, our shopping expedition wasn't quite as successful as originally planned, but we got there in the end at least! The pattern I bought first is on the left, and mum's present pattern is on the right. Incidentally, this will be the last time I mention mum's present. It won't be a surprise as she knows what she's getting, but I think it'll be nicer not to see weekly updates on progress!

As this is turning into quite a long post, I'll save my stories of our knitting (and crocheting!) for Thursday *smiles* So please do pop back to see just how I got on with a hook for the very first time ;)

N is for...

Natalie, of course *grins*

I couldn't not post about myself this week, now could I?!

Travel
I love to travel... Well, that's not strictly true. I love to visit different places, see new things and all that good stuff, but the actual travelling part tends to be a bit of a pain *laughs* I've been extremely lucky to have been backpacking around Australia, lazing on the beach in the Maldives, staring in wonder at the pyramids and snowboarding in the Alps (and trust me, I really do know how lucky I am)

Hobbies
Well, it's probably fair to say that you know I like to knit ;) And I've mentioned recently that I'm trying to make time to read as well. As a bit of a homebody, those (plus cooking) are really my main hobbies. I used to fence when I was a teenager, but gave it up to concentrate on my exams. I also used to love horseriding, but don't get the opportunity so much nowadays. I write, although not as much as I'd like, and love to try various crafting hobbies too.

Colour
I love colour. I love bright colours, rich colours, neutral/earthy colours... In fact, everything but pastel really. It makes me happy (as you may have noticed from my orange obsession lately!). One of my favourite things about myself is my colour changing eyes... I have green eyes that change hue depending on my clothes and hair colour. When I had red hair they were a darker green, blonde hair makes them go almost yellow (or golden, if you want a nicer way to put it!). Some days they're more grey-green *smiles* Today, with a bright pink top on, they're kind of washed out but when I wear a blue top tomorrow, they'll go extra green ;)

Jobs
I have had a bit of job variety, working in supermarkets, restaurants and bars during my teenage years. Right now I work in Marketing and Communications (which sounds more fun than it probably is!). But my most surprising job was when I worked in security. I know, don't laugh! I may only be 5 foot tall, and weak as a kitten, but for a summer I worked as a steward/security person at various events across the UK. I worked at football matches, concerts, Glastonbury Festival, the Queen's Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace... I still find it surprising, but it was an amazing experience and I met some very cool people (including my favourite band. Oh, and Ozzy Osborne!)

Anyway, that's enough of me waffling on ;) Have a good Monday.

Finished Food Friday

This is a pre-scheduled post, as my mum will be visiting, so I haven't got anything fibrey or finished to share yet! But I have got something I made, as a present for mum...

Picallili.

That I make this is a measure of just how much I love my mum, because I hate the stuff! I hate the smell, I hate the taste and I pretty much hate making it too. But mum loves it so much. After I made it the first time she was so enjoying it and has said it is the best she's ever tasted (I know mums are programmed to say such things to their offspring, but others who have tried it have actually said the same). So how could I say no to making more?

But seriously, any recipe that involves boiling onions in vinegar just isn't right *laughs and shudders at the same time*

And that's not even the worst bit. Oh no. This is:

A mixture of mustard powder, water, flour and turmeric (I hate that stuff), into which one must ladle hot vinegar *gags* That's the bit I really hate ;) Plus, this stuff stains like nobody's business. [Side note, the colour is amazing and if it wasn't for the smell, I would totally be dyeing some yarn with turmeric]

Unlike most of the foodie items I post, I actually follow the recipe for this properly (well, 99% anyway!) so I won't post it here for copyright reasons. For anyone who would like to make this stuff, it's Delia Smith's Sweet Picallili from the Complete Cookery Collection.

Anyway, just to demonstrate how much my mum really does love this (and why I happily make it for her), compare the size of a regular jar for my uncle, to the jar for mum:

Seriously, she loves this stuff *laughs* There is also the added bonus that it lasts ages and ages, and the bigger the jar I make, the less often I have to make it ;)

More Presents...

Look what my mum bought me:

How cool *grins* I've wanted to try and learn crochet so that I can do amigurumi for ages, and now I have just the impetus.

Guess what everyone will be getting for Christmas *laughs*

Work In Progress Wednesday Number 13

Number 13 huh? Unlucky for some, but I'm not superstitious and I have some progress, so maybe not so unlucky *laughs*


The only project I've been working on this week is the blanket. I've really felt like knitting something so simple and mindless lately, so I decided to just go with it ;) I've done 2 and a half more sections since last week, and I'm still loving it.

I have also been using it to practice knitting by feel alone, as it is just garter stitch, and I can now knit it without looking. I'm quite pleased with this

Head over to Tami's for more links, plus it's her 52nd WIP Wednesday so go say congrats ;)

Pinterest

You may have noticed along the top right hand side of my blog, the social media buttons... One of which is for Pinterest. [For anyone who hasn't seen it before, Pinterest is like an online pin board, where you can pin ideas/tutorials/inspiration/things you found online and liked]

I've found, and pinned, some really cool stuff through it, and thought I'd share a few that I particularly liked. Click on the pictures to go to the Pinterest site, where you can click through to the website where the pictures originated...

First one (as this is a knitting blog after all) - how pretty is this gift wrapping idea?! Colourful yarn instead of ribbons, I love it *grins*

One of my pin boards is entitled "colour", I love colour and find it very inspiring and cheering. I'm also a big fan of children's films. How are they related, you ask? Well, check out rainbow Mike Wasowski below *laughs*

This next picture works either in colour or "for the home"... I've mentioned before about having one bookcase where the books are all backwards, well I also love this version - arranging books by colour:

I also am incredibly jealous of the size of that bookcase *laughs*

Anyway, that's just a few of the things I've pinned (or re-pinned), but there's so much cool stuff on there, from fashion to DIY to craft to food to home styles to... well you get the picture ;)

M is for... Many things!

[Side note: boyfriend's suggestion for this post was "M is for Monday. Ugh. The End" *laughs* Whilst accurate, I don't know quite how inspiring or interesting it would be for anyone reading!]

Unlike last week, I had too many ideas for this post, and not enough to say or show about any of them. So...




M is for My Mum, who is coming to stay with me for a few days this week *grins*


M is for Muscle pain thanks to all the cleaning and gardening I did in preparation for the above visit ;)

M is for Massages. Mum and I are having a mini spa break, with much pampering (my muscles are pleased about this)

M is for Many Minor Modifications to Man socks (more about that on Wednesday!)

M is for Menorca, Majorca, Malta, Margarita and Maldives... All places I have been to, beginning with M. My dad and I had a plan to do an A-Z of the world, visiting a country beginning with each letter. Some will be difficult/barely possible, but we wanted to try. I'm going to try and do it for both of us. I seem to have a fair few M countries already though!

M is for Metric - for some reason I switch between metric and imperial measurements (not in the same project though - that's never a good plan). I weigh things in grams, measure length in inches (for short things) and meters (for longer things) and generally have very little consistency in my approach. I've never been able to understand why.

M is for Mattress Stitch. I hate it. That is all (ok, I know it is amazing and wonderful and finishes things beautifully, but I hate doing it!)

M is for Making - I like making stuff *laughs* But you probably already knew that ;)