Flibbertygibbet

Today's post is brought to you by the letter...

B. BBBBBBB.  I got a new keybbbbboard. It's beeyoutiful, bouncy and best of of all, not broken. I accept full responsibility for drinking coffee in the proximity of the old one while not quite awake one morning... I killed just one key, the B. I mean, it could have been worse - a vowel, for example - and I expanded my vocabulary while avoiding words using that letter, it's been a long couple of months using the cut and paste function while trying to decide whether to spring for a new machine (this mac is a little old in the tooth though that's not necessarily a reason to retire it) or find another solution. The answer came in the form of the Bookyard, who sell Apple spares and I got a new keyboard for about £50 and fitted it myself, rather than paying the £150 I was quoted by two different repair shops in town.  I used to think "Why do I have complete crap like watchmakers screwdrivers cluttering up my house?" The answer is (a) to make jewellery like this and (b) to enable me to remove the metal plate beneath the mac's keyboard, unplug the old one and put in a new one in three minutes.  The service from the Bookyard was excellent after an initial snafu where they shipped the wrong model, but they responded to my email within 30 mins - at 11:00pm at night and it was all sorted out the next day. I may yet send them my titanium powerbook to see if they can do anything with it...

Lots of little adventures this week.  I was lucky enough to win a dozen cupcakes from Ella's Bakehouse, a chi-chi new bakery at 20a Covent Garden Market, where they specialise in cupcakes with a couture theme (the woman behind it used to be a model, the face of Versace, apparently)

 

 

They're yum. Very very yum in fact.  I brought them to the volunteers' meeting at Wilton's that evening, as I'd already brought baked goods to work once this week - and to my neighbours too.  I am luring the guy next door into a false sense of security, once he's hooked on the cookies I'll be asking for some help putting up the long awaited shelves in the studio. I baked like a maniac last week because my grandmother had fallen and fractured her hip (fine now after an operation) and I needed displacement activities.  Cue two dozen cookies, rye sodabread, and muffins.  Plus the sourdough that didn't quite work out (the sponge starter is hidden under Lotusen's cupcake teatowel below) which I'll be attempting again today.

 

I've been back to the Make Lounge (the more of observant of you may wonder if I ever leave) to do the embroidery class. Super sweet teacher whose name I've forgotten, eek, but you can find her via the ML's website. I started on a pillowcase using one of the Sublime Stitching patterns, Dutch-Russian but due to attempting time-consuming satin stitch on it, it's still languishing.  It's a supercute pattern though, and you can see another classmate's project from that pattern here.  So for some instant gratification, I cam home and did this: a quick cupcake onesie.

I'm still persevering with running, 3 miles every other day. I loved the physio I saw about my feet/shins/knees/hips (nobody can agree what it really is) the other day because the first thing she said when I walked in was 'So you're a runner' and then I realised she didn't think this was lunacy and rather was focussed on how to keep me running rather than simply telling me not to. Incredibly refreshing. She did suggest that after a spin class or any other time when I'm having problems with numbness that I should get someone to massage my outer knee and showed me how to do that - I can't quite imagine throwing myself down on the floor of the spin studio and saying 'You, here, now'... but otherwise the advice was promising.

Lots more weekend news to come but given the issues with Typepad recently I'll quite while I'm ahead. Though when I bitched about TP on Twitter, I got a swift response from someone in their technical customer service offering to help.  I'll be taking him up on that. Between the b key and procrastination, I'd become lax enough at posting and then the renewed technical issues, after the utter debacle earlier this year, made me wonder whether to just shut the blog down but now I'm a little more optimistic...

More than I thought

I mutter to myself 'well what will you blog about - you haven't done anything much recently'.  Upon reading the divine Lotusen's blog though, I realise that in fact I've been out and about quite a bit! (I'm the G that she mentions).  Here's the dress - not yet shortened but it's actually quite cool!  

I'm not sure that it's really designer, but this is what's on the label:

I've had a lot of freelance work on - I spent today repaginating a 500 page book, yes, all of it - and also the day job has prevented me from doing fun stuff like having coffee with Helen and the bub, bah. To say it's keeping me busy would be quite the understatement. That's also my rubbish way of saying 'I'm too braindead to fix the formatting problems here, sorry guys'.

London's climate has been temperamental, to say the least. Last night was cold enough to warrant pulling on the Misti Alpaca socks (long since finished though apparently never detailed here) and grabbing the quilt, though we've had scorchio days and too-hot-to-sleep over the last weeks too. I'm persevering with the running despite the weather (purchased shorts on Friday. Needed to wear thermal running tights on Saturday) and using the Nike+ is really helping, as I've mentioned before I am ludicrously competitive with myself. I get a little thrill every time Tiger Woods chimes out to tell me that I've run a new 1m PB. (9:11 - yeah, I never said I was Speedy Gonzales but I compensate with stubbornness)  If anyone else is using the Nike+ website, I'm Scampermouse on there. Come and say hello.

 

I'm spending far too much time on Twitter lately, mainly because it has introduced me to lots of interesting people and places, both conceptually and IRL and all of the following was introduced to me via Twitter.  The zeitgeist nature of it coupled with the fact that it seems increasingly to translate to real life, intrigues me wildly.  On Saturday I went along to meet some Tweeps (ok sorry - the terminology drives me insane, I can't really bear to say that) to meet some people from Twitter at the Crafternoon at The Old Queen's Head in Islington. I'm halfway through making a Measuring Tape Rosette from a kit I got there - I have to say my only gripe about these craft kits is that the thread supplied is usually crap - in theory I'll finish it at home. Ahem.  I did teach someone to purl though.  Halo polished.

In the evening it was off to Wilton's Music Hall, with some of the knitting crew thankfully as time with them recently has been far too curtailed, to see Tiny Wallop's Phantasmagorical Extravaganza.  It was utterly hilarious - to the point where my cheeks were aching from laughing so much - tinged with the sense of buttock-clenching fear that comes only from Audience Participation with us all trying to judge which strategy worked best to avoid being chosen - look at the performer, or avoid their gaze? There's one more night, which is Saturday 18th July, if you're in London. Come! Catherine Rose, the magician and mind-reader who opened the show, was amazing too. I want to know how she did that with the table.  Even when the hall is dark, Wilton's is a magical place, currently raising funds for renovation, so you should pop along and 'drink for charity' - patronise the bar if you're in the area.

 Finally, again via Twitter, this is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages and I now feel the need to purchase the kit. If you don't like profanity with your pastry or are exceptionally easily offended, there's no need to click here. 

Just a quick one to say...

Apparently some folks tried to enter the draw and found they couldn't leave a comment. So if you'd like to be included, please either leave a comment or send me an email to boutique [at] flibbertygibbet [dot] co {uk} with the subject 'Race for Life Draw' and I'll add you in. I saw that some people left donations on the JustGiving site (thanks!) but I don't have any way of retrieving your details from there unfortunately so please let me know who you are so I can include you :-)

Draw will take place on Wednesday!

Baby steps

You might remember that I had grand hopes for doing some fundraising running this year.  These haven't totally faded but I've had some technical issues - with my feet. I'm going to take myself to the doc this week to get it sorted. 

So lets start off with baby steps, which will still be plenty of effort - the I Knit Ravelry Group are putting a team together for the Race for Life on the 6th of May and the sponsorship page is here . 'Race' is a fairly elastic description of the event as I personally expect to be sauntering with perhaps a short burst of plodding towards the finish line if all goes well. Whilst knitting. This will be interesting.  Ooh, what should I knit? I know what I'll be knitting with - see below... and with whom, hopefully if she gets let out to play early enough...

I think it's going to be really good fun and it will be great to do something with knitters to support knitterly friends who've been affected by cancer. If you fancy joining in, coming along on the day, joining us in the pub afterwards (that's part of the plan, right??) or adding some cash to the total, then please do!

As a little incentive to encourage you to mosey on over to the fundraising page, I'm doing a little pink giveaway.  **Leave a comment to enter**.

The main attraction is a skein of super squooshy lovely sock yarn - produced by the very talented Jon at EasyKnits and he has very generously thrown in a £10 gift voucher for the winner too! In theory I'll be knitting socks on the course using the skein I bought for myself. 

I'll do the draw after the race on the 6th of May. Should my sewing machine recover soon (mutter mutter growl) there will also be a non-knitterly something. In pink, natch. 

The Is-It-Or-Isn't-It-A-Mushroom beret

Yeah, more knitting.  Really, what's going on around here?  I'm having problems with my sewing project, that's what's happening.

This is for a friend - long story about it initially being her Christmas present and then I went for the scarf instead because she'd scored an adorable beret from her flatmate who works for a fashion retailer, it's a one-off sample and very cute. 

But then she said she'd love another one.

Sorry for the blurry 'traditional dirty myspace photo', as Lucy calls it.

It's knit in Rowan Big Wool, a freebie pattern from Simply Knitting I think - the issue that came with the 20mm needles that the pattern calls for. It knitted up like a pointy fairy toadstool, so then I blocked it with a dinner plate inside and it developed magic elastic tendencies and would have fitted a small child inside. But miraculously it sprang back rather nicely to more of a Portobello shape.  Once the ends are woven in, it will be delivered to complement the scarf. 

I am also the very lucky recipient of the remainder of the beeyoutiful scientifically-handdyed yarn that Lucy made her gorgeous socks from - I'm really intrigued to see how my version will knit up with my tension and ahem, lack of general knitting precision, plus the fact that they will be on much smaller needles than my last couple of pairs.  But they will be the most beautiful treat for me.  Thank you Lucy! My plan for knitting this year is to cast on a number of smaller projects and be able to bounce around between them, ideally always with something small ready to pop into my bag. 

A very knowledgeable friend kindly helped me out with my tax return this past weekend which is another load off my mind and to-do list.  We've tentatively agreed to do the next one in April, as soon as it's due, to get it done and dusted - how very grown up.  I'll trade her expertise for her choice of yarn, possibly from Art Fibers, and get my boss to mule it back from San Francisco the next time he goes over for work (their store is relocating; but their website remains open during the move) or from somewhere else that doesn't ship outside the US perhaps.

A little scheduling around here is doing me the world of good - earth-shattering changes are yet to be discerned but I feel like I'm making a little bit of solid progress towards all the big things I mentioned before.  Managing to bring lunch to work four out of five days this week (good for finances and healthy eating); finishing projects; working insane hours but with a purpose.  Almost running a few miles - with some walk breaks to protect my poor shins - almost every other day is tiring but really making things easier overall.  I'm attempting to plan time around working and freelancing to see friends and I'm looking forward to a meet-up with a couple of particularly favourite ladies this weekend, and also getting to visit some precious new and almost-new babies soon.  Long may it last. Hope whatever you have grabbed on to for this year is working for you too.

2009: The Year of DIY

DIY - Don't Involve Yourself, Do It (for) Yourself.

There's so much to be finished around here and I really hope to be able to share some of that soon.  A typical Aries loves bouncing into shiny new things but projects that take weeks or indeed months to complete don't always get finished, or not within the original timeframe.  Then I beat myself up about it, as I loathe missing deadlines (I almost never do this at work - this is mainly in terms of doing things for myself in the best cobbler's shoes tradition).  Towards the middle of last year I started thinking about how I might change my spots, and Nanowrimo cemented this because I was really pleased to win it but wished I'd planned in advance and written something more structured during the time I had.  I wonder if I'm reluctant to finish things in case they don't pan out the way I was hoping.  Anyway, enough sofa psychology.

So in 09, I've got essentially:

• a three to six month project (something ambitious for my current knowledge level,  and for someone else, but I'll have professional help and I'm really excited about the possibilities involved)
• a six month target (encompassing two tasks during two different periods of the year; somewhat career-orientated; but I have everything I need for this one),
• a ten month long progressive goal (already on the go)

These will overlap, are all demanding, yet potentially so rewarding.  I'm going to try to plan to meet these goals.  I actually don't really quite know how yet.  But everything on the horizon is very personal and intensely important to me. 2009 has potential to be... well, interesting.  Busy, for sure.  It will mean saying no to some - possibly many - things, but hopefully not missing out in the long run.   

Already I'm coming up against trying to clear up projects from last year; more lurgy; (exciting) work related demands; trying to spend time with family and friends; and knowing far too many Capricorns, hah (hello to the two new little ones under that sign, Darcy E and Lewis R! Lovely names, peeps).

This is a supremely bad picture even by my standards (but the "learn to take better photographs" has been put off until 2010 or 11) but it's a birthday gift for one of the Capricorns who said she was cold in the office.  I got the idea from the Purl Bee's Eleventh Hour Scarf and used 12mm needles and some chunky yarn doubled, which Claire scored at Adrienne Stash Doyenne's last yarn swap for me. It's long enough to knot once and sit cosily.  It's bit like a seagrass mat made of yarn but very warm and snuggly at the same time and the good news is that the b-day girl loves it. 

A completely ludicrous plan - aren't they the best ones?

You know, I'm a lucky girl. I'm very happy to say that there are lots of you very gorgeous people, including many of the people I link to on the right, who are good friends of mine in the real world, in my neighbourhood, my city and beyond.  Then there's some people I 'know' through cyberspace, and yet others who pop in occasionally, quietly and drift on.

One of our lovely ladies, Tash, passed away earlier this year and she's been in my thoughts a lot this week for various reasons.  Another lovely knitter friend just told me she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and it has made a decision for me.  I'm sure you're aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I want to do something to distract myself from thinking about why crappy things happen to good people, I want to make a financial contribution. I want to push myself, because I can.  So I intend to run the London Marathon next year to support a breast cancer charity.  It's something I've been thinking about but the sponsorship part of the whole endeavour put me off, to be honest.  It's as much of a challenge as the actual run.  The running part?  I'm not insensible enough to think it won't be really bloody hard.  But sure it wouldn't be any fun otherwise, now would it?

But I'm going to give it a go.  The first part of the challenge is actually getting a place.  You can read more over  here [Edit - comments over there were a little cranky but seem to be ok now.  Also if you'd like to link to either post from your blog, please do!] and I'm going to send the charity that link as part of my application, so it would be great if you could check it out and maybe leave me a comment - whether you're a friend, a cyber friend, a knitter, a crafter, a reader or a lurker (especially a lurker! come out!) , and you'd like to give support, advice, or good old filthy lucre - well all donations accepted*.  Go on, make me look good... the charity makes the decision around about the end of October.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*  obviously won't be looking for pledges for actual real cash until I get a place (think positive!)