Completed works!

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm very proud to say that I have kept my New Year's resolution and completed nearly all my WIPs.

The funky soaker pants for my nephew are finally complete.  Little Alex arrived on 5 May and although these pants are still way too huge for him, his parents appreciated the humour (as I suspected!)  His Dad was a bit disappointed that he didn't arrive on the main Star Wars day (May the 4th), but took consolation that he arrived on another SW day - revenge of the fifth!  (think about it - groan, groan!)  I've still got to get to Sheffield to see him, which I hope to do very soon.

I've also completed some cardigans and tops:

Baby cardigans for forthcoming arrivals of friends

Pink shrug for those slightly chilly summer evenings (actually, where is summer?)

Really pleased to finish this one as I started it when I was new to knitting about 2 years ago and didn't know how to complete it, so my knowledge and skill level has obviously improved slightly!

Sirdar waistcoat - I didn't like the ribbon round the middle so changed it to the top.  This style is more me than the suggested pattern.

Very simple design, but I love this with a halter neck or vest top underneath, coupled with jeans.

Also knocked up some scarves quickly too:

This is a b'day present for my best friend (isn't until December, but I like to be prepared!)

I'm going to make one for myself in black too.

Love Sirdar Firefly yarn and love these 'large necklaces' which jazz up an outfit.

I got a load of sequins in my Christmas stocking and have been meaning to do something with them,

so while I was on a creative roll, I decided to jazz up the neckline of a rather boring black top:

Not sure how I'm going to wash this now though!


I'm also giving some thought on how I can organise my craft room a bit better.

As you can see, it is crammed with tons of yarn, beads, books and various other 'junk'.  I feasibly can't fit another large shelving unit in there, so I may have to put some of my books in the loft that I don't read anymore.  One to think about.

In between all this crafting, I found the time to go to the Waterbeach Feast and help out with the Waterbeach Community Players' stall.  We were lucky enough to find one of the few days when it didn't pour down with rain, although it was somewhat windy.

As usual, it was great fun, but the village was sad to say goodbye to our army boys as the barracks are closing.  We were treated to a march through the village:

Love the little dog in the corner!

Farewell lads

These kind of events always remind me of my childhood:

Aah, the old Hook a Duck stall

I luurrrvvvve bouncy castles!

The ole' win a cuddly toy

Hmmm!

I've also made sure to keep HP happy with some baking:

Apricot and sultana flapjacks

One of my faves - shortbread

And to keep me happy, I purchased some awesome shoes:

I thought these beauties warranted a BIG picture - oh, colourful shoes, how I love thee!!!

Back in the land of Blog

Well, I've been away much longer than I intended.  I've been off work ill for some weeks, not helped by the stress of having to work with some highly unpleasant colleagues.  A new job is most definitely called for!  I'll keep you posted on that one.

There's been a lot happening since my last post.

I went to Brussels to visit the European Commission for work, a trip I always enjoy because it means a Eurostar trip and in first class!


For those of you who have not been lucky enough to travel in Eurostar's business class section, I can thoroughly recommend it.  You get totally spoilt and you get a scrummy meal.

This meal picture was taken on my return trip when I came back in the evening, hence the cheeky little bottle of wine - well, it is all free!

I arrived in the afternoon on a quite pleasant but rather windy day (until the heavens opened in the early evening and we had shocking thunder and huge hail stones!).  However, at the time of my arrival, it was perfect for a nice stroll around Brussels.  I visited Grand Place,

which is home to my favourite chocolate shop in Belgium:

 
Of course, all that choccy has gone now :( but it was yummy!

Had a lovely meal out that evening with a colleague at a little bar.  I had some pork and pasta dish and it was to die for.

 J ordered a beer with his meal and we were rather impressed when it arrived.  This is what is so awesome about other European countries - you'd never get this in the UK!

I often find I get rather bored when I'm back in my hotel room though, especially on those occasions that I don't take HP with me.  The view from my hotel was uninspiring to say the least!

Yuck!

but naturally I had some knitting with me!

I managed to almost finish this scarf during this trip.  I've made it really long, not quite Tom Baker's Dr Who scarf, but not far off!  I just need to add the tassles and it's done.

Before I forget, the play, "Summer End" went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by nearly 250 people over 4 nights.  Not bad for a village amateur production.  It was great fun and brilliant to work with some lovely and talented people.  The only downside is that there are now some very embarrassing piccies of me and other cast members for all to see on the internet! ;) And no, I'm not including the link to these pictures!

I have also managed to complete a lot of projects in my time off as there was little else for me to do but knit, but I shall post some pictures on that in the next day or two.

Lines. lines and more lines

I've got more lines than a school detention (not that I was ever in those at school - I was far too good!)  Our play opens in less than 4 weeks now and nerves are rather fraught. 

We're performing "Summer End" by Eric Chappell (as you can see from the photo), who wrote the wonderful "Rising Damp" series.  I've got the support lead, so no pressure then!  Before that, I've only been in the chorus line of the panto, so I hope I'm up to the job!  Bit nervous about playing a woman in her 70s too - bit of a blow to the ego, that one :)

With all that going on, I must confess that all my crafting work has gone out of the window for the time being.  I still haven't really picked up enough since the last blog to get round to doing anything.  I've been working on a top for ages and there isn't that much left to do, so I really must crack on.  It was a pattern out of 'Let's Knit':

I'm making mine in a multi-tonal brown, but I'm not sure I'm going to include the bow.  I may team it up with a brown leather belt, but I'll see when the main body is made up.

This pattern requires many stitch markers.  I'm not a big fan of the shop bought ones, so I tend to make my own.  You can't really see them very clearly from the picture, but you get the idea.

Last week was the10th anniversary of HP's company.  It's has a small number of staff (about 6 or 7), but it's done/ is doing incredibly well.  The boss took them all out (plus partners - yay!) to Midsummer House in Cambridge last Friday.  I can thoroughly recommend it, as long as you can find someone else to pay - inexpensive, it is not!  We had private dining room, with champagne on arrival, followed by endless courses of magnificient food, washed down with fantastic wine.  I was so grateful for the chance to dress up and dine at such a wonderful restaurant (I've lived here for 20 years and have never been to Midsummer House), that I made the boys a celebratory cake.

Just a few calories in that, as you can probably tell.  It was a marble cake, fully covered in chocolate butter cream icing, decorated with Cadbury's Flake and then drizzled in white chocolate.  I've been assured by HP that it went down very well and was gratefully received.

 Anyway, to take your minds off cake (for those of you trying to abstain from the naughty stuff), I managed to get a picture of the lovely little black squirrel that lives in the grounds of my work place.  I took the photo through my office window, so it's not as clear as it could be, but I'm sure you'll agree that he's mega cute.

I'm back

Well, I didn't plan to be away from my blog for this long, but I've been feeling so fed up recently that I just haven't got round to very much.  Certain things at work have really been grinding me down - thank goodness I have a fantastic and supportive boss.  So, I haven't really got much crafting done over the last few weeks.  Been reading about it a lot though:

Got some great projects and ideas that I want to try, but not until I've finished all my WIPs!

Still, the 4-day break over the Easter did me some good and I was able to get a few things done.  I've nearly finished the soaker pants for my niece or nephew (who's due at the end of this month):

 Rather childish I know, but I thought it would appeal to my sister-in-law's sense of humour!

Made a few cloisonne bead bracelets for friends.  I made one for myself a few weeks back and it proved to be a hit; very simple but very pretty:

And made a big chocolate marble Easter cake for HP.  This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven:

I then melted some dark chocolate and added to butter and icing sugar and sandwiched the two halves together, before covering the top and sides with the mixture.  Then I added some mini-eggs (well, it is Easter after all) and then drizzled some melted white chocolate over the top.

 Bon appetit!  It was rather scrummy if I say so myself.

Hope you all had a lovely and relaxing Easter!

Birthdays and guilt

A couple of my friends have had birthdays this month and at a loss what to get them, they each got some hand-made jewellery. 

AJS, the friend I made the cuff for (see the last post) absolutely loved it.  It looked lovely all wrapped up too:

AJS is a graphics designer and artist and her presents are always so beautifully wrapped, I wanted to do her proud.

My other friend, V, turned 50 a couple of weeks ago.  She doesn't like anything fussy, be it clothes or accessories, so I wanted to make her something I thought she'd actually wear, so she got a crochet and beaded necklaces, which fortunately she really liked:

Poor HP has been a bit neglected recently, what with me shut away in my craft room making presents and rehearsals for the spring play, so I made him some cupcakes at the weekend:
 
You can't really see in the picture but these had green icing, with silver glitter and sprinkles.  I really want to upgrade my camera, but I've got other things I need to save up for first.  May go on the birthday and Christmas list.....

I've been feeling really guilty about how many WIPs I currently have.  I made a list on Sunday and there are 13!  Really, 13!!!  That's pretty bad!  Some only literally need to be sewn up or have buttons added.  I packed away everything when we moved last March and I'm still unpacking my stash boxes now.  I think I've got all the unfinished projects together and am determined to finish them all before I start something else.  I've got some gorgeous rainbow yarn to make a jumper which I can't wait to start so that's my incentive.

First up, I'm going to work on my short sleeved cardigan as this will be perfect for the spring and summer months:

Again, the piccie isn't great, but it's a gorgeous green with flecks and the style is very me.  I just need to make it up, finish the neckband and edging and add a button.  I have a different project for tea and lunch breaks at work - something that's easy to pick up and put down - and that's a short sleeved jumper.  I've lost quite a lot of weight since I started it, so it will either have to be worn with a belt or I may give it away *sigh*.

Finished cuff

I finally finished the black cuff for A's birthday at the end of the month and I'm very pleased with it.  It's the first one of its kind I've ever made, so I was a bit worried how it would turn out. 

I'm not sure the pictures really do it justice.  It was a real labour of love, but I think the birthday girl will like it.

White February

Most of the country seems to have had snow, even here in Cambridgeshire and we often escape it.  My folks didn't get any in the West Country though and my Mum was most disappointed.  Not much fun getting into work on Monday, but it sure was pretty on Sunday when the snow was all fresh and unspoilt.  Managed to get out and take a few piccies around our village.

 The church looked so pretty but sadly my camera just didn't do it justice.

  

This weather is the perfect time to wear two of my Christmas break knits - a glitzy and a loopy scarf.  I got the yarn as a pressie and it was good fun seeing how they developed on the needles; very simple to do but very effective end result:

As the weather was so bad on Sunday, I decided to stay in and get on with some crafty bits.  I made HP a lemon drizzle loaf (a bit of comfort food in winter is always a must!) seen here before and after drizzle has been added:

I also decided to crack on with a friend's birthday present.  Her birthday is at the end of this month and the time is just creeping up on me.  She really wants a black cuff bracelet and I must confess this is the first time I've made one.  I made the 'frame' out of 20-gauge wire:

and then started the knit section of the bracelet with 28-gauge wire which wraps around the frame.  She wanted something quite simple, so I've added just a few black seed beads to give the bracelet some texture:

I'm a bit worried that the knit section is too long for the frame.  Wire always ends up so much longer than you think it will when you knit with it.  I'm hoping I can wrap it enough to look okay - we'll see.
I'm hoping to get it finished this weekend but attaching it is the fiddly bit so that may take some time and if it is too long then I may have to start afresh!

I also made another pair of stud earrings (sorry the photo quality isn't very good)

I may have to put some of my crafting on hold for a while as I'm in a play in May and I have a lot of lines to learn.  Very exciting but very nerve-wracking as it's my first big part!

Hope you're all keeping safe and warm in this cold weather.