Blog post from my phone!

I've just downloaded Blogger for my HTC phone, so I'm testing what I can do with it.

Here's what knitting I've been doing recently... hmm not sure that worked.

FO: Helena Cardigan for Isobel

I finished this ages ago but have only just got round to blogging it.

This is my Helena cardigan made for my niece Isobel in Artesano Superwash Soft Merino DK in Navy from Pack Lane Wools.  I made the 12 month size and that took 4 50g balls. 

 

This is my first proper item of clothing that I've knitted so I was quite worried about the sizing and how it would all work together.  This is a top down pattern with no sewing as the sleeves are knitted in the round.  It took me about 3 weeks to make and I'm pretty pleased with it.  The yarn was lovely to work with, very good stitch definition but it did make my fingers blue when working with it for a few hours.  Lovely pattern, very easy to follow and I only made a few mistakes with the lace pattern when I miscounted, I ended up using stitch markers at the end of each repeat so it would be obvious if I'd gone wrong.

Unravel 2011

Today I went to Unravel, a knitting festival in Farnham.  I wanted to find some yarn to make my first cardigan, I wanted it to be just right and I find it hard to get the right colour on the internet (I also like squishing skeins).  I've decided that my first adult sized peice of clothing will be a February Lady Sweater.  It's a free pattern from Ravelry, thousands of people have made it so I have high hopes of being able to make it without many mistakes.

So I spent a very pleasant hour or so browsing all the stalls in the Farnham Maltings and squished many skeins.  I narrowed my search down to Fyberspates, so many lovely colours and I've already made a scarf for my Mum at Christmas using their sport-weight navy yarn, so I knew it was lovely to work with.  Jenny on the stall noticed me umming and ahhing over two colours, blue teal and water, she came over to help me.  I decided on blue teal as it was the brighter of the two and before I had time to change my mind I'd bought 5 skeins.

It really is lovely, squishable yarn and I can't wait to get started.  This photo makes it look very blue, but it really is more turquoise.

You may spot a sneaky purple skein on the left, that was chosen for a special project which I'll tell you all about later.

New Years Resolution - Starting Cycling Again

One of my new year's resolutions was to start cycling to the train station again after a long and snowy winter break.  The snow started in November in Reading and I promptly stopped cycling the 4 miles there and back to our local train station as soon as it got a little icy.  I have visions of myself skidding round a corner on ice unable to release my feet and leaving parts of my knees on the tarmac behind me :-)  I had already stopped running, pretty much after my 10k race in October, so that meant I was doing no exercise at all.  This is bad and usually means by weight shoots up as I carry on eating the doughnuts and cake needed to fuel my non-existent activities.  But this winter it didn't, I didn't consciously eat less or change my diet but my weight stayed about the same regardless of my slobiness.

 

As the snow melted and the icy mornings became few and far between I knew I had to crawl onto my bike again otherwise I never would.  The first few days were very difficult, the hills seemed bigger and even the flat sections seemed arduous.  After about a week of solid cycling (the weather couldn't make up it's mind whether it was warm or freezing so this meant a few weeks of cycling one or two days only), I was back into my old gears of the previous winter.  Now, after cycling consistently for four weeks, I am probably back to my old self.  This bodes well for my next new year's resolution of starting to run regularly again in March (when the clocks go forwards) which I suspect will be tougher and bit more of a shock than this has been.

WIP: Dead simple lace toe-up socks

Happy New Year!!

2010 has most definately been my starting-to-knit-year, after finishing my first project in about 15 years (baby blanket for my niece) in May, I've gone on to knit the following:

• 3 pairs of socks (2 for me and 1 as a gift)
• 1 scarf
• 2 baby hats
• 1 phone sock
• 1 pair of baby bootees
• 1 hat and pair of matching fingerless gloves

That doesn't seem a lot but I've always had something on the go.  In 2011 I would like to knit my first peice of clothing, a cardigan for my niece and a cardigan for me (as well as lots of socks and scarves).

Speaking of New Years Resolutions, here's how I did on this years:

1. Weekly facial - FAIL
2. Finish what I start - PASS (if you don't count buying wool and then not knitting anything with it yet)
3. De-clutter - PASS (I have thrown out lots and tried to use stuff up before buying more - not wool though)

Not bad.

Next years resolutions are:

1. Start cycling and running again.
2. Learn toe-up socks
3. Read more books
4. Watch less TV
5. Be more sociable
6. Eat more healthily

I have high hopes that this time next year I will have acheieved all of them :-)

Highlights of my 2010 have been:

• Gaining a niece - Isobel Skye born in May and still as cute as ever
• Still living happily with Pete - Our 3 year anniversary is looming in Feb and I'm still as happy as ever :-)
• Starting a counselling course - Could be a new career for me, if I can get the coursework finished

There must be more but I can't think of them.

I hope everyone has a great night tonight, I'll be snuggling up with Pete and toasting the New Year in with a lovely bottle of wine I have stashed in the fridge.  I hope 2011 will bring more joy and happiness!

Sometimes I hate knitting

... usually just after I've spent over a week on a certain Christmas present and found I've mis-read the pattern.  The last 20 rows are wrong, there is no way I can frog it back and this is the third attempt (each time a different mistake).  I've had enough.  I've finished with knitting.  Well for a few days at least.

I quite fancy giving this a go.

From the incredibly talented Ysolda.

My First Pair of Socks

Tadahhhhhhh my first socks.

I’m very proud of them.  Made from Regia Design Line (cheap from Kemps).  I love the stripeyness.  They are a little big and the sole of my feet complain if I wear them walking too much but they are great house socks for lolling around.  I’ve nearly finished my next pair using an actual pattern, but they are top secret so no photos yet.

In other news, my first 10k race is this weekend.  I’m quite scared and very nervous, my training has gone very well and I’m sure I can run the whole way but I’m not fast and desperately don’t want to come last.  My next race after this one is a 5k Halloween night race, so I can relax a bit for that.  I’ll try to beat my last 5k time (31:30) but as it’s at night I’m not holding out much hope.

Cycling Anniversary

As of next week (Tuesday 14th September to be exact) I will have been cycling to work for 1 year.  This has been a huge change to my lifestyle and opinion of exercise not to mention a huge change to the size of my butt.  I used to struggle to fit any sort of activity into my daily life and dragged myself down to the gym, out jogging or slapped on a DVD at home with a mardy face and lots of grumbling.  It never lasted, I’d start each year, month, week, day with a resolution to get fit and may even have stuck to it for a while but I always reverted to my couch-potato self.

A new job and a cycle-to-work scheme (plus a rather over-active boyfriend) convinced me that I should get a bike and start to cycle the 4 miles to my local train station twice a day.  I got the bike in September (obviously) just when the summer had ended and the evenings (and eventually mornings) started getting darker which didn’t make the prospect of cycling up the massive hills an exciting one.  I used to dread cycling, I would think of any excuse not to pull on the lycra in the mornings.  I used to sit on the train home anxiously staring at the sky willing it not to rain.  This attitude didn’t get better as winter started. 

The icy roads and eventually heaps of snow stopped my cycling for 5 weeks over Christmas, but mid-January I braved the roads again.  This time around the mornings started getting lighter and warmer, the hills became easier and I started to enjoy my 20 minutes in the morning to see Spring waking everything up.  By the time summer came around I pulled on the old lycra without even thinking about it.  On the odd days when I did drive to the station I felt guilty and quite lardy and couldn’t wait to cycle again.

All this exercise (3 hours of cycling and 2 hours of running a week - ish) has toned me up and helped me to lose about a stone (6kgs) without really changing my diet.  I’m amazed that I’ve done it, I’m even more amazed that I enjoy it and I hope to carry it on with longer runs and maybe even a cycle or two at the weekends.  The moral of the story is, if I can do it anyone can :-)

Been bitten by the bug ...

... the running bug.

I started training for Race for Life at the end of March, giving myself a healthy 16 weeks to go from zero to 5km in a decent time.  I think I gave myself too much time, I missed sessions and took weeks off for no reason.  I finally got my head down and took it seriously a few weeks before.

Race day came around and I managed to only walk once for about a minute and ran the rest of the course, completing it in 31 minutes 30 seconds.  I was really pleased and after talking to people who know what they're talking about (Pete and Lisa) I signed up for my first 10km.  Feeling slightly mad, I found a 9 week training plan on the internet and started it last week, making myself (and Pete) and promise that I would do all the sessions. 

The first week was building up my running from 30 minutes non-stop to 40 minutes non-stop ... TICK!  Something has clicked, after I run for about 10 minutes my breathing settles down and it all becomes really easy.  Then, very gently, my legs start aching and joints start complaining until after 40 minutes I'm already planning where the ice packs are going first, but I can cope with that.  Previously it was my breathing that let me down, there is nothing worse than feeling like you're going to die whilst coughing your lungs up.  I think the cycling has helped a lot with cardiovascular stuff.

Week two of The Plan contained my first speed session (known as fartlek, incorporating faster running or sprints into the workout).  Two mile run, then 4 x 400 metres fast with 400 metres recovery inbetween each, then a two mile run.  My first problem is, how the heck do I know when I've run two miles?  Answer a rather nifty training route website which allows you to map out the route you run and it will tell you how far it is.  Second problem, where do I find a 400 metre route that I can go round again and again?  Answer, the next village has a village green which is handily about 400 metres around. 

To avoid this problem again and I can see myself trying to find a 600 metre circle for next weeks session, I have bought myself a GPS watch which does all sorts of funky stuff.  This will also help me to run 5 miles half at 70% and half at 85% effort (how the heck do I judge that without a heart rate monitor?).

As you can see, I have been truelly bitten by the bug and as I've just spent a stupid amount of money on a fancy watch, I REALLY do need to do all my training and complete my 10km in a superb time :-)

Booties, Clothes and Crochet

Wow, such a lot has happened over the past 6 weeks.  I've finally sold my flat and I mean sold, it's gone, I no longer own it, I am no longer a home owner.  It was a long slog filled with stupid questions from solicitors and waiting for other people to do things but it's over.  And what did I buy with the money I released?  A lovely new (used) car, I got rid of my 9 year old Seat Ibiza and bought a 1 year old Seat Ibiza, they are lovely cars and the new version is much more spangly.  I bought my car while visiting my family in Leeds, Isobel is growing so much and is quite a good baby (at least she was when I was around).

 

What a cutie!

I knitted some booties for her using Laughing Yaffle tiny temptation yarn.

The colour ranges from deep red to orange and will go really well with a red dress I bought her.

This afternoon while watching the British Grand Prix, I started a crochet granny square, my first ever!  I really want to make a ripple blanket with some lovely bright rainbow colours so I'm practising the basic stitches with some left over yarn.

Not bad for a first attempt.  This is basically a square of triple (UK) or double (US) stitch and it's kind of even and was quick to make.  I feel a yarn shopping trip coming along to buy some goregously coloured DK yarn.

Yesterday I had a fantastic day with House of Colour, I've already had my colours done (I'm a Spring, which means that bright, light colours look best on me and no black) and had a make-up class (using my colours and getting some tips of how to apply) so the final step was an Image Day.  My body shape was analysed and basically the consultant shows me what styles, cuts and clothes suit me using my personality as well as my proportions.  I have quite long legs and a narrow waist so should dress to emphasize them.  It was really good to have someone who knows how to dress people to flatter their body shape no matter what their size.  I analysed my lifestyle (how much time I spend doing things which require certain clothes) so I know what I need in my wardrobe to get the most wear out of everything.  I had a lightbulb moment when Alison (the consultant) asked me what it would be like to absolutely love every item in my wardrobe ... I said it would be like being on holiday every day.  Wow!  How wonderful would it to start each day with a wardrobe full of fabulous clothes for all occasions in colours and cuts which make me look great!  I can't wait to go shopping for clothes either!

Back to work tomorrow after a week off, not really looking forwards to that.  But it does mean I can shop during my lunch time ...

Isobel Skye McDonald

I spent this weekend in Leeds visiting my family, specifically the newest member of my family, my neice Isobel who was born on Tuesday 25th May 2010.

I gave my sister the baby blanket I finished in early May, she was delighted.  I also gave her the blanket bunny I knitted, she nearly split her stitches laughing so much (see the photos in my previous post to understand).

However Isobel seems to quite like horror bunny (note they placed him happy face up).

She's an absolute darling, very loud but lovely.  Karen and Magnus are doing really well apart from being rather dazed from lack of sleep, their house is very calm, they are going to be fabulous parents.

FOs: Phone Sock & Blanket Bunny

The finished objects (FOs) are coming thick and fast!

First we have my first attempt of knitting in the round on double pointed needles (DPNs).

I used Laughing Yaffle's Banshee yarn, I quite like the splodges of colour instead of stripes.

I've also finished a blanket bunny for my neice (who is due tomorrow!!).  I think I may have made THE most disturbing child's toy.

It gets worse...
This is the other side of the head which, quite by accident
(it has my tying off of the black wool).






On a brighter note, I treated myself to a set of needles so I don't have to worry about having the right size all the time.

How scrummy are they?

FO: Baby Blanket

I started this baby blanket for my sister's baby in January.  Four months later and I've finished my first knitting project.  It was really hard work, I didn't know it was going to take so long and probably wasn't the ideal first project.

I love the textures of each square and I think the border finishes it really well.

So, what's next?  I'm going to try knitting in the round which means I can make hats and socks without seams.  I'm planning a phone sock just to practise before starting my first pair of socks.

Yummy Sock Yarn

This arrived in the post this week.

How gorgeous are they?  From Laughing Yaffle and I can't wait to turn them into lovely socks and/or wraps/scarves. 

The baby blanket is coming along well, half way through the third border, I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

London Marathon

I'm watching the London Marathon as I type this, it's raining really quite hard in London which is a complete turn around from the beautiful weather we had yesterday.  I spent most of yesterday sat in the garden reading my latest book group book, more about that on my book group blog (subtle plug :-)).

I always find the marathon so inspriring, just watching the elites and how fast they effortlessly glide along fills me with awe.  My running training (which is nothing compared to even the slowest marathon runner) is going really well.  I had a sports massage last Monday which left me battered and bruised (but feeling better) so I decided to take a week off training.  I went out for a test run (literally) yesterday (in the glorious sunshine) and everything felt fine.  Just at the end I felt my hip beginning to ache to I stopped and walked.  I've still got ages before Race for Life in July so I'm quite happy to take it slow and steady.

My baby blanket is coming along leaps and bounds, I've sewn it up and I'm knitting the border in 4 sections.  I sewed the first border last night and it finishes off the edges really nicely.  The 2nd section is 30cm long, so only another 50cm-ish to go, maybe I'll get that done while watching the marathon ....

Arrrgggghhh my fingers....

My hands ache, knitting has broken me.  I've been spending my time off work trying to finish off the baby blanket for my sister.  This is my first knitting project, it's been great teaching me all the stitches and practising, I'm quite fast now.  The blanket is 30 squares of about 40 stitches and 50 rows, I started off doing about 2 squares a week gradually building up to 3 but even so I've been knitting small squares for 3 months now.  I've now just got 2 squares left which are stocking stitch with bobbles.  After then I have to block (wetting each square and pining them out to the correct size) then sewing them together before knitting the border and sewing that on.  Here's the bag with all my squares.

 Phew!

I can't wait to get it finished and I've been so good not buying loads of wool and I haven't started any other projects to distract me.  I can see the end of the tunnel and can't wait to start my first pair of socks with my Regia self-striping wool.  Here's my stash, complete with nosey cat.

In other news, I've been doing lots of batch cooking for the freezer, we probably have close to 20 meals in the freezer now.  I sorted out the lounge shelves so they're nice and neat without the heaps of crap we usually dump there.

Yes, this is actually better than it was before.

Week Off

Today is the first day of my week off (including Easter, that's a total of 11 days off work).  I'm not going away but I'm not going to do nothing either.  I have a long list of stuff I want to get done, stuff which has been hanging around for ages and needs to be sorted.  I thought it would be interesting to see how much I get done.  Here's my plan:

• Friday 26th - Exercise DVD, food shopping, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Saturday 27th - Exercise DVD, make soup to freeze, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Sunday 28th - Yoga class, make chilli to freeze, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Monday 29th - Go for a run, shopping with Mary, spinning class, 3 hours knitting
• Tuesday 30th - Exercise DVD, bike service, 3 hours cleaning, cinema trip with girls
• Wednesday 31st - Go for a run, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting, make shepherd's pie to freeze
• Thursday 1st - Upgrade phone, exercise DVD, massage, Circle AGM, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Friday 2nd - Go for a run, make goulash to freeze, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Saturday 3rd - Exercise DVD, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting, make casserole to freeze
• Sunday 4th - Yoga class, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Monday 5th - Go for a run, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting

As you can see that's a lot to pack in.  The loft does need clearing out, it's full of my stuff from when I moved in.  I'm going to go through all the boxes, throw stuff out, keep stuff and sort stuff for a car boot later in the year.  I'm also going to spring clean the house, I'm a bit lax on the cleaning usually but a full blitz is needed to make the weekly cleans easier and more effective.  I'm also going to fill the freezer with healthy food, I'm usually too knackered during the week to cook anything from scratch so having a freezer full of meals is great.

I'll post again at the end of the week to see what I actually managed to do.

Right it's time for my exercise DVD so I'd better get dressed!

Relaxation and even more knitting

I've just come back from a gorgeous weekend at Ragdale Hall, a spa near Melton Mowbray.  It's become a tradition in my family, we've been going there once a year for about 7 years and every year I love it even more.  The atmosphere completely relaxes you as soon as you walk in the door, everyone serenely wanders around in white bath robes and slippers, people doze in comfy chairs, even the resident cat is chilled out.  The treatments are the best I've ever had, I've never had a bad experience there, all the girls are cheerful and polite, each treatment is perfectly done and I float out of each one even more relaxed than before.  In case you hadn't noticed, I can't recommend this place enough.

Back to the real world and back to knitting, which has become my life recently.  I've done 22 squares of my 30 square blanket, so close I can almost smell the finished article.  I've learned to cable, which was easier than I thought and I love the effect of it, it makes the squares nice and chunky.  My plan is to finish the last 8 squares in the next 2 weeks, then start blocking them (wetting, pinning and letting them dry so they become all the same size) and then sewing them together which will be very exciting as that's when they properly become a blanket.  Then it's just the border to finish and sew on.  I'm hoping to finish everything in 7 weeks which takes me up to mid-May.  Just in time for my niece who should arrive on 17th May (give or take a bit).

I've been a bit lax with my cycling recently, I've had a week off but am raring to get back to it.  I'm starting my running training in a few weeks, ready for Race for Life in July.  Pete, as ever, is doing so much more exercise than me.  His JOGLE training is going well, he had a week off work and cycled over 100km each day which is unbelievable and fantastic.  Tomorrow is the Reading Half Marathon which I'll be watching from Madjeski Stadium (might take my knitting).  Good luck to everyone who's running it including Pete, Gail, Fiona, Harry and Gill.

Knitting in earnest

Knitting has begun in earnest, I'm 10 squares into a 30 square blanket.  Here are some pictures of my work so far...

I've become slightly obsessed with knitting (as is my way) and I've already got a list of stuff I want to try including circular knitting to make socks...







I also like the look of these wrist warmers...











and bag...






Watch out friends and family, guess what you're getting for Christmas!

In other news, I've signed up to do Race for Life in July.  I'm going to train for it properly unlike last time when I went for approx two runs and then died during the race getting the quite pathetic time of 39mins59secs (and that was with a sprint finish).  I've worked out a 16 week plan which should mean I can run all of it in about 30 minutes.  I'll let you know how that goes when I start it in March (when it's light enough in the evenings for me to run after work).