I was recently talking to a friend of mine, who, it turns out, has been quietly going to the gym every morning at like 8am, doing an hour of exercise, and then getting on with her day. She says it makes her feel great, gives her energy for the entire day and boosts her confidence. […]
…this weekend has been full of writing a paper, and trying to untangle this yarn that I dyed a few weeks ago. It is patons cotton which I over-dyed with two shades of red, and which I intend to turn into this top from the excellent DROPS Design range of amazing patterns. It is extremely […]
Today – what joy – some lovely sweetness in the post from Wazz who noticed my strawberry shortcake post and on the basis that no woman can ever have too many button badges, made this from a sweets-bag: What joy! I couldn’t resist some more photos of the strawberry stitch-markers and I am planning some […]
This post is actually going to begin with a walk I took yesterday. This was the first time I have recreationally gone out for a walk, in my favourite walking spot, since my surgery. I went without crutches for a wander by the canal, and got a lovely recording of the weir, which I’ve been […]
I am trying to master the art of the yarn overs: I have also bookmarker for myself: The beginner’s guide to charted lace knitting This means that at the end of today when it is recreational knitting time, I have everything I need to commence with the Moonlight Sonata! I love the Internet.
Few things delight me more than the sight of our strawberry patch in summer. The strawberries are wild ones that were growing when Mark moved here and year after year they colonise more space in the front garden and produce bowlfuls of tiny, impossibly sweet little strawberries. They are very fragrant – reminding me always […]
The Moonlight Sonata Shawl that I so blithely cast on at the Oxford Bluestockings KAL last weekend is proving itself to be my knitting nemesis. The problem could be that I have selected a yarn that, while utterly gorgeous, loves nothing more than to obscure stitches and cling to itself in inscrutable clumps of yarny […]
Today is my friend Caroline’s birthday. Caroline is wonderful and I am super glad for her presence on the planet today in particular. Caroline is a great improv-knitter and has made such wondrous items as the knitted vegetable bunting including a knitted turnip: …and the anatomically correct knitted heart: You can see in this photograph […]
I noticed this on Lara’s blog, and immediately felt the need to create a Messy Tuesdays version of the questionnaire and photomontage, using the magic of flickr toys. This is what the amazing Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker generated out of my flickr search answers: This is how it works: The concept: a. Type your […]
I made it a personal priority to go and watch this year’s must-see movie and have to admit to feeling a bit deflated this morning in the aftermath of having seen it. I’ve decided to try and write a bit about the film… some thoughts, some recollections, to try and unpack my feelings. I’m wondering […]
This is a thank-you post to everyone who has sent me/given me lovely things during this time of recovery from surgery. Firstly a massive thanks to Liz for the wonderful stitchmarkers she made for me and the visits she paid me out here in Reading. Secondly, thanks to Skeinqueen for custom-dyeing the own and the […]
I have been wondering a bit about the potential ‘negativity’ of the Irritate-O-Meter, and asking myself whether it really is actually ‘negative’ to focus on the sounds that people find difficult in the everyday soundscape. From reading my PhD document, it ought to be obvious that I am all about finding new ways of celebrating […]
The event last night at the Vaults was amazing. It was really great to get a sense of how people might respond to questions like ‘how do YOU prepare the perfect cup of tea?’ or where people might place irritating noises along the irritate-O-meter. See it there, covered in post-it notes… All the voting on […]
I might get to finish my Jaywalkers…
I have just finished making the irritate-O-meter. This device is simply a measuring tool – like a thermometer – for gauging the level of irritation illicited by certain sounds. The idea is that whenever the Fantastical Reality Radio Show is conducting live interviews or hosting events, we shall bring along the irritate-o-meter and a host […]
Trying to reply to Needled’s recent post about button badges and failing to muster up adequately the words I wanted to find for the comments box, I abandoned that idea and decided to write a post on the subject instead. Like Needled, I find that button badges are nostalgic objects somehow associated with summer fetes […]
I am on a sock-knitting binge. This is fuelled in part by my desire to clothe my feet in the loveliest of handknits once they come out of bandages, and in part due to the excitement of the lovely Liz having her new Hopscotch sock pattern up on Ravelry for all to download. Having myself […]
Dear BBC, I am writing to you about the knitted Adipose baby pattern that you ordered to be taken off the Internet because you were worried about how its presence online may affect your commercial interests. As a knitter and general fan of cultural commentary and civic participation, I have to officially disagree with your […]
I posted a while back about Messy Tuesdays and The Fantastical Reality Radio Show. Now the official website is up and running, I am calling out to all for submissions! I have to arrange interviews with anyone/everyone who wants to do a Messy Tuesdays interview; anyone in the Oxford/Reading area, leave me a post and […]
I plunged feet first into the Jaywalker pattern. It has knit up to be luckily a perfect fit for the ankle and the foot, but I went on for too long and now I need to rip back as the sock is too long! To accompany me whilst busy knitting, I made a couple of […]
The Reading knitting group Sticks’n’String continues to grow! Yesterday, through complete coincidence, everyone present was knitting socks. One of the best things about knowing other knitters is learning how many different ways there are to make one type of garment. Here are our various socks: Me: Jaywalker pattern, 2.25mm bamboo dpn needles, Lorna’s Laces in […]
Last week I didn’t do a Messy Tuesdays post because I had a falling-out with The Man over my untidiness and it felt wrong to celebrate or affirm the joy of mess when it was so obviously having a negative effect on my favourite person. So this week I have mostly been tidy. …like I […]
At the moment I am obsessed with blues and greens. I lie in bed thinking about blues and greens. I go into the garden and drink in all the blues and greens that I see there. I take photos of different blues and greens; of weather, of leaves, of clouds, of the sea. I plan […]
Lately I watched a spree of films with knitting scenes in them, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Shipping News and Ladies in Lavender. To recap each of the actors in their respective knitting scenes; in Breakfast at Tiffany’s we see Audrey Hepburn knitting in the famous ‘I may be knitting a ranch house’ scene, in […]