Today I went on a trip with mummy dearest to John Lewis’s Oxford street. It was quite a big deal as it was my first visit since I can remember. I wanted to check out their crafts department and oh my! They have quite a collection and not just quantity but quality items. I was impressed after finding my local department stores lacking. I hadn’t really gone to buy more for a day out with mom. I did however pick up some Sirdar Click for some more Mary Jane slippers. It’s a lovely warm tan and should hopefully not get quite so grubby looking so fast as my cream ones. Then again they are my only pair and they get alot of use. Mom also bought me a stitch holder as I don’t have one and I got some thin ribbon to decorate something I am going to make with the remainder of the purple wool I have but I need a larger size crochet hook which I forgot.

You may be wondering why I have no picture of my newly acquired items. Well… I was out with my sis when I ran out of batteries so I popped into one of those 99p stores and bought some Kodak batteries thinking oh those would be good seeing as it’s a camera they’re for. Wrong! I took 5 pictures and the camera was on for less than 5 mins and the low battery icon was flashing! I couldn’t believe it. That will teach me not to want to queue in Argos. Oh well such is life I will get some more tomorrow.

The pinwheel sweater is, well… it’s coming along slowly. Once I doubled up the stitches twice it’s hard work keeping the stitches on my circular needles. I still enjoy knitting it but I very often have to pick up dropped stitches.

Oh and on the way home I stopped in Somerfield for some juice and found they started doing a very nice 100% juice drink yum! I normally put my 250ml’s in a drinks bottle and top up with water not only do i 1 of my 5-a-day but I get half my recommended water in take too in one easy bottle. I need a new 1ltr bottle though as the cap has broken off on mine. I wonder if they sell similar type reusable ones must find out. I chose the tropical flavour but they also have pressed apple and squeezed orange and pineapple, not concentrate, to choose from. I really hate “juice drinks” They make you think you’re getting something healthy only to find it’s full of sugar! A lot of times it’s not even clear that it’s not 100% juice. They package them the same as the orange and apple juice. So I was glad to find a 100% juice tropical drink. It’s very nice, almost smoothie like. Humph Somerfield should pay me for selling it to you all haha! Really you should go try some.

I kinda forgot what else I wanted to say so I’ll sign off now lol.

Woot woot!

The new phone and DSL got connected today. As I was coming home I noticed that there was a guy doing some work on the exchange near my house. So when I got in I checked for a dial tone and it was on. Called my sister to let her know my new number (Sucks I couldn’t keep my old one and it’s one messed up dialing code!) . then decided to turn on my router to check if I had DSL. DSL light came on so I hooked up the PC lol. Very happy now as I was facing a very lonely weekend on my lonesome and with no phone or net to bug people with lol.

I did enjoy the few days I spent at my sisters too. She had Leah for the week and we had fun painting at my sis’s boyfriends new place and running around like mad people in the park. (Video coming soon :)))

She loved her hat which I tried on her to make sure it fit. It fit perfectly! If anything it’s a bit big for her! So it was a happy error.

I also tried the pinwheel jacket on her and it fits nicely but I will need a few more repeats to get it how I’d like it. The pattern is still baffling me though. Might have to just fudge it.

Note the California stitch marker I some how managed to knit into my work! Silly me =)).

Also while I’ve been at a bit of a loose end I finally sorted a curtain for the cupboard in my living room. I even managed to whip up a cushion cover too! I think I did well on my mini sewing machine though I forgot to add a new bobbin at first lol.

A few more pictures I’ve taken but not added yet. Enjoy!

I really like how that last one came out even with the window glare.

Well I now signed up with Pipex/Bulldog and they say they can connect me by November so long as everything goes without hitch. Annoyingly they have put up their service charges but oh well it’s still the cheapest, fast broadband out at the moment as I don’t need the BT line. I begrudge paying BT, who I hate, 125 quid just to connect me. So fingers crossed Pipex are in fact offering service in my area.

I actually only came online to catch up on my emails and get the pattern for the pinwheel cardigan I intend to make Leah. I have however done all that and still have time, so decided to blog. Leah is going to grow up exceedingly spoilt I think lol. We all adore her. On her birthday she seriously had way over 50 presents not including what her mom got her. Every time I see something that she would look cute in I add it to my list of “things to make Leah”. She’s soon to have competition though as quite a few friends and friends of friends are pregnant now. I wonder if she will start to feel neglected lol. Still I’m quite sure she is still the only girl. Everyone seems to be having boys right now which is a bore for me as knitting for boys is boring. I like adding the flowers and frilly bits. I wonder how hard it would be to knit a tonka truck…

I’ve abandoned the cushion cover. I hate the new colour. It has this purplish tint to it which just doesn’t match at all. The other tan is a warmer colour. Maybe I will felt it and see what can be done with it after that.

The space bar on this PC is dodgy so excuse words that are stuck together that I didn’t notice haha. I type very lightly so forget “stomp” hard on the spacebar when it comes to making spaces.

I’m bored and cold now so gonna go home. We’re having a movie night so I should go clean etc. Can’t do too much cos I injured my wrist but it should warm me up!

It is actually turning out to be a lovely autumn but on the coldside.

Anywho byes!

I’m trying my best to write in here everyday which was my new years resolution but enough said about that!.

I’ve joined the knitters across britain in knitting little hats for help the aged. It’s a campaign by innocent smoothies and sainsbury’s and I found out about it from Val at DottyCookie So far I’ve made three and their pretty fun to do quick projects. They even have some patterns if you’re not sure where to begin. I however made up my own after the first go.

Voila! Les petits chapeux
(Or little hats xD)

Im off to my sisters now, for dinner yum yum. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I’ve been browsing blogs again today and am starting to feel rather untalented by comparison! Everyone has wonderful looking homes too, such as Olivia @ Pink Lemonade Boutique and Claire @ Reddy Made. You already know from my link I love Little Cotton Rabbits too. Although I am myself surrounded by home made goodies I still feel somewhat inadequate. I really want a proper sewing machine NOW. Seriously… someone buy me one. It’s my birthday in less than 5 weeks any who.

Saying this though I have had not one but three orders for Neapolitan style MJ’s from various family and friends. I also have a sneaking suspicion a few more requests will pop out in the near future. I know I love mine dearly and have barely taken them off since they were completed. I have made a start on a second pair I’ve named Purple Buzz. These are made from some left over Courtelle I had. I have pictures which I will update with a little later. Silly me forgot to edit them. I still have almost a full ball of the purple courtelle as I was set to make a baby jumper but changed my mind. Although I’d dress my own child in head to toe purple unsure Linda would want her little boy as such lol. So swapped to cream.

Photoshop is irritating me by switching me to it every few seconds. Prolly telling me to edit those photo’s already :). So I’ll do that and edit this post with them tout suite! (*)

PICTURES!

The last one is a present for my friend Janneke who visits but doesn’t comment (Bad Janneke) who had baby Mike a few months ago. It makes a very cute keyring since he can’t fit in those now haha.

Ok I stopped being lazy and last night before I went to bed I managed to take some pics they’re a bit dark due to no natural lighting but oh well.

Starry presents 2 finished items and a bethany bunny update :))
Without further ado:

First off my Neapolitan Mary Janes. I kind of looked at a few different MJ patterns and tried to make my own. I have wide feet but they’re small so I had to make some adaptions. I may share the pattern I used it’s fairly simple if you can crochet as well as knit but can be completely knit too.

They are SOOOO warm. I forever have cold feet. Even with 2 pairs of socks I normally am freezing but I can get away with wearing these now. I normally wear my house Ug style boots but they’re not so good for curling up on the sofa. Maybe cream wasn’t the best colour to make them in but I’d like to be able to see when they’re dirty so I can wash them. I may have to knit a few more once I get some more wool ofcourse.

They are knit in a machine washable Sirdar wool blend and are trimmed in mercerised cotton to stop the “neck” part getting lose and flappy. They took around 10 hours to complete start to finish.

Pretty in Pink Kimono Cap – Another pattern I invented myself when bored and wanted to try circular knitting. It’s supposed to look vaguely like one of those japanese traditional caps. The inside is crocheted and it’s made from the same wool as the kimono obviously. It really is a nice pink but doesn’t photograph too well I guess lol.

Bethany Bunny! – Ok I stuffed her body and one arm and ran out of fluff for the second arm so she’s awaiting more fluff. Meanwhile though I started on her dress though I can’t finish till I know how her arms sit. I plan on making her a t-shirt/blouse too.

Then there was Rubens birthday last saturday. Here he is with the cake I made him:

What am I working on now? Well I still have the never ending cushion cover, leahs hat (need more wool), more christmas decs, 3 hats for my sister and that’s just knitting. I still have to finish decorating the kitchen, get someone to sort out the garden and run maintenance on ALL the sites I manage. I hate doing maintanance it’s so boring. I spose work isn’t always meant to be fun but still.

Oh and I just got my Sunshine buddy back out.

But it’s doing an odd half hearted jig. I guess it’s not sunny enough to properly power it lol, it’s amusing watching it struggle though haha.

Ok I need to get some kind of food, byes

P.S. Anyone know how to rotate videos? I took some short clips on my digi camera but ended up sideways lol, HELP!