Updates!

It's been a while since my last post, apologies. It's the beer festival this week, so things have been mad busy with the run up to that. This year we've had lots of little problems cropping up and in all honestly, it's been much more tricky than previous years. Still, this time next week it'll all be over.

 

So the last few posts have been pretty text heavy, as I've not been able to show you what I've been up to. Everything went well with the Science/Space swap, and my partner seemed to like what I sent, which is always a bonus! So, here we go with the pictures:

 

This is all of the handmade stuff I sent my partner. A darth vader dice bag (close up below), some Mass Effect and Star Trek magnets and a beautiful cowl, which is lovely soft merino wool that I added beads to. The pattern is called Equatorial Nights (it's from Ravelry) and each of the beads is placed to represent a star in the night sky, as viewed from the equator. I really didn't want to send it off, and have a feeling I may make it again for myself!

Dice bag close up

 

And the cowl in all of it's starry glory!

 

I also sent of a few other bits and pieces, some chocolate, a Word mug, some yarn etc.

 

But I know what you really want to know is what I received, right?

 

A lovely project bag, a yoda zip bag, a scarf in space-y colours, chocolate, some lovely vanilla chai tea (soooooo tasty!) a book which I haven't started yet (halfway through the first Game of Thrones book atm) some wool and an AMAZING Worf bookmark. I had so much fun unwrapping everything! Now I just need to find a pattern for the wool...

Speaking of which, I found a beautiful jumper pattern the other day, and ordered lots of wool for it. Must knit faster... New project is on the needles - His Hotness. There's nothing to show except for stripes at the moment, so I haven't taken a picture yet. Once it gets a bit more interesting I'll post one.

I did get some more work done on M'aiq - here he is as of the end of June. Since then I've filled in all of the gaps on his face. Now I just need to do his hood!

The next task is going to be the Sprite Stitch swap - I know what I want to make, I've ordered what I need, now I just need to start it. There's a second item I'm considering making, but I'll see how the first goes and how I'm doing for time.

I need to go and chase beer deliveries now - wish me luck! I'll post after the beer festival, if I survive.



Freedom! Well, kinda

It's been a hectic few weeks. Unexpected work trips, illnesses and exams do not make for a fun time. However I'm back, I'm well and all of my exams have been done - and passed! Last weekend I went away with 13 friends, which was a lovely, much needed break. Now all I have to do is choose 60 Cheshire ales and design a beer festival programme, and sort out some accounts for the football club.... so I'm free-er than I was, but not completely free just yet.

I'm afraid I haven't much I can say on the crafting front. I've finished two items for the Ravelry Science/Space swap that I'm doing, but won't be posting pictures until they've been sent/received. I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch, so that's more stuff that I'll be making and not posting online. Once I've finished with the Ravelry swap items, I'll try to make a little something to post, so it's not too text heavy. I've been looking at M'aiq again, and I think he may be one of my next projects - I can't wait to have him finished and framed! I also have my secret project that I'm itching to start... Plus there are lots more squares I want to do for the GAL blanket... Oh, and a friend wanted some baby stuff making for her new arrival in Sept... I have a feeling that it's going to be a busy few months craft-wise!

So in summary - no new info, lots to make, pics to come next month. Yay!

Still here!

It's been a while since I blogged, and I'm afraid I haven't got anything new to share. I've been busy knitting for a Geek Swap on Ravelry (Science and Space themed) so I won't be uploading photos until that's all finished and received by the spoilee.

I've not been able to craft as much as I'd have liked either - I was planning to get loads done during the bank holiday weekend, but my boss lost his passport, so instead of crafting, I ended up flying to Venice on the Sunday, and meeting up with some business colleagues. I then had to drive from Venice to Strasbourg over 2 days (while stopping to meet customers) before travelling back by train on Wednesday. When I got home, I felt pretty rubbish, but assumed it was because of all the travel - turns out I'd picked up a nasty bug/virus, and I ended up being ill all of the following weekend (sleeping roughly 19 hours a day, impressive!). I'm almost recovered now, but still finding it tricky to concentrate on something for a long time, and staring at a computer screen isn't the most fun thing to do. No knitting has been done in over 10 days - unheard of for me! I'm hoping to get back into it this weekend.... however I've had to rearrange an exam, so I now have exams Mon and Tues next week and believe the weekend will be mostly spent revising madly. The boy is away with work this week (went this morning) so at least the house will be quiet and I can get lots done hopefully.

I'm really glad these are the last two exams of the year - it'll be so nice to get them done with! I still need to decide if I want to do next year or not. It seems silly not to do it, but there's a lot more work involved next year I believe.

I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch again - I had a long hard think, and I really don't think that I can do a larger swap justice, even though the time frame is longer than usual.

Right, I'm off to try and get better so that I can get some revision (and perhaps a tiny bit of knitting) done. I've seen lots of errors in this post and have changed them, but no doubt some have still got through! Toodles.

GAL squares

I promised some new stuff, so here are my first 2 double knitted squares for the GAL.

X-Men Square, front and back

And a pirate square, front and back.

 

Really enjoying the double knitting, but taking a quick break. Need to make things for a Science and Space swap that I'm doing on Ravelry. I've got a few ideas in mind, just need to get them onto the needles. Once the swap's out of the way, I've got another couple of projects in mind, including some baby stuff for a pregnant friend and a lovely little something for me!

Happy St George's Day!

Today is St George's Day, a day for the English! It does sadden me slightly that there doesn't seem to be much English pride about, except for when the football is on. Perhaps it's just me and my circle of friends... anyhow. Every year, some of my uni friends get together for a St George's Day BBQ. Lots of fun is had, lots of meat cooked and eaten, and patriotic songs played. It's good fun. After making cupcakes for St Patrick's Day, I wanted to do something special for St George's Day. Plus the uni guys love when I bake.

I had an idea for a cake, and it kept me awake one night. It involved cooking 5 layers, then chopping and swapping. Surely there was a simpler way to do it. Then it clicked - I could do it using 3 layers. No, 2 layers would be enough! And a dragon... there should be a dragon.

With the cake idea floating around in my head, I thought I'd have plenty of time before the BBQ to make it. My plan was to go and make it at my mums - she has a fancy Kitchen Aid, and a dishwasher. Alas, time disappeared, as it so often does. It was the morning of the BBQ and I was still debating whether or not to bake. I went out to the shops, and came back with eggs. The bake was on!

Here's the finished cake (and yes, even though two people called it a dinosaur, it's most definitely a dragon. Wings are difficult to make out of icing!)

 

 

At first glance, you wonder what amazing idea kept me up all night, don't you? It looks like a normal, everday cake (with shiny red sprinkles). But wait! Look what appears when it's cut open! 

Yep, the English flag. I'm so glad it turned out well! Plus it tasted pretty nice. Time constraints meant that I had to use shop bought icing, and I did have to go to the shops a second time after buying eggs as I ran out of butter. Lesson learnt - be more prepared. I've already been asked to make one when England have a football match, hopefully that will turn out slightly better!

New projects on the horizon...

I've been hard at work trying to finish off the second sock, and it's finally done! I forgot to turn the sock the right way round before closing the toe, so the second sock looks a bit funny, but for my first pair of socks, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

One of my oldest friends came around at the weekend, with some exciting news. She's pregnant! She's excited, her husband's excited, and I'm excited for them. They also made my day, asking me to knit for the little one, which I thought was nice of them. They were saying how they'd love a knitted blanket, and I asked if they'd considered a crocheted blanket. I showed them one I made ages ago with some green/blue variagated baby yarn, bordered with yellow and white sparkly yarn, which they loved. As it was something I'd made with no particular purpose in mind (it's not big enough for an adult blanket, and I kept meaning to add to it but kept getting distracted) and they said it was a perfect size for a baby, I insisted they took it home with them.

Now that I've finished my socks, what should I make next? I did buuy some (more) wool last week, with a project in mind, but I fancied doing something a little bit smaller first (and haven't decided what baby items to make for my friend yet). A while ago, I stumbled across a blog called Lattes and Llamas, who are doing a Geek A Long double knitted blanket to raise awareness of Child's Play (a charity also supported by the members of the Sprite Stitch forum). The blocks they were making looked good, and I thought I'd give double knitting a try, using their handy video tutorial to make a bookmark with hearts.
Here's the finished piece! (without the ends sewn in, as I haven't got around to that yet)

You can't tell, but I took these photos within seconds of each other... I'm really happy with how this came out, and have begun my first square - a pirate skull in red and white. I'm hoping this project will help me to reduce my ever growing stash! It was a bit tricky to get the hang of double knitting, but now I've got it figured out it's getting easier.

Right, I'm off as the knitting group are doing a yarn review for a magazine in the pub tonight - and it's me that has the yarn and the information! Wish us luck. Hopefully next time I'll have a finished pirate square and my new project on the go!

Cake and Bake show

Sometimes I blog about the events/places I've been to and that's what I'm doing today!

I asked my mum if she wanted to go to the Manchester Cake and Bake show for her birthday, as she enjoys baking. The answer? Yes please! So off we went. I took the day off work, and we went to Manchester Central. I'd been there in the past (University fairs) and didn't remember it being all that big (I think I've been spoilt by visiting super huge European fairs with work). It opened at 11, and there were lots of people there at 11.20 on their way in. They had a huuuuuge walk around the side of the building to get in (I think they were expecting much larger queues over the weekend) but it was fantastic once we were inside, very roomy and not too crowded.

We spent the day wandering around, and watched a few demonstrations on the Dr Oetker stand, which has given me lots of ideas! We'd also booked seats for a couple of the professional shows - watching Rosemary Shrager cook an apple and a chocolate tart was a brilliant experience. She was hilarious, and my mum really enjoyed watching her cook, and also got a signed copy of her new book. Just to add - mum made one of the tarts from her new book, chocolate and raspberry, and it was delicious! We also watched Simon Rimmer making a lovely looking rabbit pie, and a vegetarian filo pie. The day wasn't just about pastry though!

There was cake. lots and lots of cake, and lots to go with cake as well. Here are a few that I loved and took photos of, but it is only a few - I'd probably break the internet putting up pics of all the cakes!

 

 

I think one of the highlights was watching the elephant cake being decorated. The Cakebomb team were fantastic, they were happy to answer questions and were brilliant to watch. I was amazed looking at pictures of the elephant on the Sunday. Details can be found here http://cakebomb.me/

 

There was plenty to buy as well, and I came away with some lovely red, white and blue glitter... St Geroge's day is around the corner, and these could come in handy.

 

Would I go again? In a heartbeat. Which is great, as after making brandy snaps with the 2012 GBBO winner on stage, my mum won 2 tickets for the event in London! I left the event with lots of ideas, and now I'm off to see what comes of them!