Christmas Exposition 06, pt 3

Lastly my friends, i did warn them they were getting knitted gifts they seemed suitabley impressed, they'll prob be less impressed that i am posting there pics but i dont care...

We will start with Marie (lawyer), she is going skiing on Saturday for New Year with her boyfriend (lawyer) and her lawyer friends, is all very posh and bridget jones like, i mocked, anyway i made her a balaclava which she kinda asked for but its a 3-way! ooh

first its a balaclava, modelled by me and marie

i think i was ill when i took these, dont judge my pastiness, also I'm Scottish

it can be a hat once again modelled by us both

Marie looks simple i look smug overall not good

finally a scarf, modeled only by me

I think this will reduce the overall poshness this is a good thing

Yarn is 2 different rainbow yarns

Pattern is here

Jacqui, jacqui is an art student, yet you would think so to look at her, she also has a black hat that makes her look like a homeless thus i knitted her a new hat which will embrace her art schoolyness for her final 2 terms!

Hate this picture look all doubly chinny, Jacqui however has adopted the chin up pose to avoid such things we do both have major red eye lending Jacqui a certain demonic quality...

Wool is assorted DK weight stuff in rainbow colours

Pattern is here

Kerrie, Kerrie was prolly least aware of my knitting, living as she does far away in oxford but she was i think the most impressed, possibly the element of surprise. I started a different bag but it involved the crochettin of 84 flowers thus i gave up and made this instead, i think its a nicer bag!

bag hastily taken back after unwrapping and photoed as it was my last thing i finished i was so relieved i wrapped it up and forgot to take a picture, also a grinning kezmoan with bag and wine.

Pattern is from Knit today magazine

Yarn is woolcraft DK in purple along with sparkly thread.

Katy, this i think was an example of careful what you wish for, Katy asked for a knitted bra Katy got a knitted bra.

yes those are my boobies KT refused to pose for me. She does like it apparently she is going to frame it!

Yarn is Sirdar Spree cotton chunky

Pattern i started with this but i had to fairly thoroughly modify it to get the size right, it says the pattern is for a 36D but when i tried it it was tiny, as it happens the finished product is a tad large but no matter

Louise, my flatmate and resident alcoholic in training therefore the only appropriate gift was this:

She's also a fan of the pink and fluffy

Yarn is cheappy acrylic from a pound shop and pink fluff from a bookshop!

PAttern is here

Christmas Exposition 06, pt 2

Oki part 2, grandparentals and Aunt.
Originally my knitting was only gonna extend to friends and parents and i would as normal leave the other family member gift getting to my mama but then my gran gave me her needles and i figured she should reap the benifits thus i decided to knit her something but then i thot i suppose i should knit something for the others too thus the knitting grew.

Firstly my gran as she started it all, now given i had little time and she has enough hats and scarfs and what not to cloth a small country i needed something small but non hat like. Simply knitting magazine provided the answer:
Bedroom set, lavender sachet and padded coat hanger cover.
Pattern from Simply Knitting
Yarn: Lana Grossa Soffice and Cool Wool 2000 in purples

Grandad, again with time contraints had to be something small, i decided i would bite the bullet and try my hand at some socks:

Yarn is Sirdar click in mitten and Stylecraft special chunky in lipstick
Pattern is here

Betsy, my Aunt, i went for novelty more than anything with this, she likes cats!

The pattern is here
Yarn is a combination of 1 strand mohair in pink and 1 strand of brown shetland wool from my haul from my friend's mum.

Lastly my papa, again i wasnt sure what to do, but i saw these and thot thye'd be good, will keep his hands warm when he goes to the horse but will also leave his fingers free for buckles and what not

Pattern here
Yarn is artesano alpaca inca cloud in teal and dusky black, i did them 2 tone as i wasnt sure I'd have enough black to do em all, as it turned out i was wise as i had 3 yds left when i finished!!

Christmas Exposition 06, pt 1

Oki i think the best way to do this is just to split it into sections and not give each a seperate post, so i have decided, will start with the parental gifts

Firstly father. Father is going skiing in April for the first time in his puff, thus i knitted him a balacalva type jobby with extras, he also requested redness so he can be seen when he skis off down a mountain side out of control, red will be easy for search and rescue to find. anyway here we be:

yes yes i look like a berk but no matter.

Pattern is this

Wool is Robin DK in red and blue

Had to use 6mm needles to get gauge, but this was oki as had circs and dpns in that and not whatever tha pattern calls for

I also got a bit carried away with the increases hence the largeness of the dicky!

Mother, mother likes purple. This does have less general reasonign except she saw the yarn and commented on it thus i knit it for her.

Oki, its a wrap as nicely modelled by the naked nintendo man plus a little close up for detail. I also got her a pin for it which took forever to find something suitable as it seems the UK arent so hot on the whole shawl pins as in the US, no matter i got one.

Yarn is sirdar firefly in midnight and the patterns is from a sirdar pattern leaflet

Parents check

Baking and sweater progress!

Today being boxing day is the night of my friends and i's annual night out, altho we have nights out at other times of the year we always go out on boxing night. The actual out going is preceded by present exchange and general snackery as such i have baked for the occasion

First i made festive biscuits, from the Nigella Lawson recipe on bbc site that is here bit over done but meh

I also made mince pies, well mince crumbles really, to my friends mums recipe I'm sure she wont mind me sharing:

250g butter

200g suger

1 egg

drop vanilla essence

500g self raising flour

Mincemeat

icing sugar for dusting

Cream together butter and sugar til smooth add egg and vanilla essence and beat together. Add half the flour and mix. Add remaining flour and work with a fork til breadcrumby, dont over mix. Put a desert spoon of the mix in a paper case the a teaspoonful of mince meat and top with another desert spoon of crumbley mix. Bake in an oven heated to about 180 C for 10 mins til golden brown. Cool then sprinkle with icing sugar.

Yum

Sweater update:

Since whenever i posted it things are progressing well, possibly the fasted sweater in the world! heres what i have so far:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

And relax!

The presents are done, the ones for xmas anyway. There all under the tree (another that i decorated) observe:

shiny pressies at the front are the ones from me

the finishing of the pressies means i can now turn my hand to things for me, thus the chunky sweater has been started, pretty:

Anyway stay tuned for the big exposy on the 27th!

Things

Going home for xmas today,thus i should at this point be packing/tidying/washing but well you know how it goes anyway i stoled this fron Ceallach more random info you dont need to kno

01. Seen the Grand Canyon nope, never even been to the states
02. Swam with wild dolphins nope, seen one int wild tho does that count?
03. Climbed a mountain does Arthurs seat or tinto count? i dont do hills
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive. Nope,
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid Nopes
06. Held a tarantula Egads no!
07. Taken a candlelit bath . I'm not sure, not a fan of baths.
08. Said “I love you” and meant it Yeah.
09. Hugged a tree not that i recall, tho when drunk who knows ;)
10. Bungee jumped would like to
11. Visited Paris. Yeah, i dont care for it
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea I watched from a swimmin pool, that count?
.13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise Stayed up all night certainly not sure about the sun part.
14. Seen the Northern Lights nope, one day tho
15. Gone to a huge sports game I dont think i have ever been to a small sports game.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa nope.
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables i belive so, possibly some taters
18. Touched an iceberg been to a glacier?
19. Slept under the stars in a tent?
.20. Changed a baby’s diaper never, i dont think i have even held one of the little buggers.
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon Nopes
22. Watched a meteor shower er maybe?
23. Eaten alligator yeah, hurrah for the highland show
24. Given more than you can afford to charity, erm maybe?
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope not that i recall.
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment regulalrly, usually when someone is trying to chastise me.
27. Had a food fight dont think so
28. Bet on a winning horse, only in games
29. Asked out a stranger my mummy told me never talk to strangers
30. Had a snowball fight uh huh
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can aye
32. Held a lamb most likely, have birthed cows?
33. Seen a total eclipse yup, we made pinhole doodahs.
34. Ridden a roller coaster frequently.
35. Hit a home run fairly unlikely
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking everyday of my life
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day I do it regularly
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment yeah, on the whole i have bugger all to complain about, i have 4 limbs and reasonable health
39. Had two hard drives for your computer aye
40. Visited all 50 states i have visited 0 states
41. Been to Austria twice
42. Had amazing friends still do, my friends are ace but mental
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country see above about strangers.
44. Watched whales I have, its was fun
45. Stolen a sign hello student! you have to do it to matriculate, didnt you know? unwritten rule no. 407.
46. Backpacked in Europe nope, i like to wash regularly
47. Taken a road-trip we dont really have enough country for a true road trip but yeah i guess so
48. Gone rock climbing kinda?
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach dont think so
50. Gone sky diving nope
51. Visited Ireland Northern Ireland yes
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love dont think so
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them nope.
54. Visited Japan nopes
55. Milked a cow Yes and ran the poo gauntlet.
56. Alphabetized your CDs yup and my dvds,
57. Pretended to be a superhero what do you mean pretended?
58. Sang karaoke Not in public...
59. Lounged around in bed all day again with the being a student...
60. Played touch football touch rugby?
61. Gone scuba diving no, kerrie has put me off for life
62. Kissed in the rain in this country there is rarely a choice
63. Played in the mud Yes, had fights in the mud too, Claire beat me up :(
64. Played in the rain again no real option
65. Gone to a drive-in theater I'm not sure we even have them
66. Visited the Great Wall of China No tho if father gets his way...
67. Started a business No, i'd like to dunno what in tho
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken We'll see
69. Toured ancient sites Pompeii?
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight nope, played other things tho
72. Gotten married not that i know of.
73. Been in a movie nope.
74. Crashed a party Yeah and i stole a dog to take
75. Gotten divorced again not knowingly
76. Gone without food for 5 days nopes
77. Made cookies from scratch Yep i will again soon
78. Won first prize in a costume contest Yes yes i have, i was a VW beetle
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice I might have, would need to consult the mother
80. Gotten a tattoo yups
81. Rafted the Snake River the where now?
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” no but when i get my nobel prize...
83. Gotten flowers for no reason nope.
84. Performed on stage Many times
85. Been to Las Vegas nopes
86. Recorded music dont think so
87. Eaten shark might of
88. Kissed on the first date define date?
89. Gone to Thailand no
90. Bought a house nope
91. Been in a combat zone not really no
92. Been in a marching band nah tho i am geeky enough
93. Been on a cruise ship Nope
94. Spoken more than one language fluently not fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror nope
96. Raised children HA I'd leave em on the bus.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour er no
98. Passed out cold nopes.
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country no
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over. I moved to Edinburgh for Uni?
101. Driven on the Golden Gate Bridge nope
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking pfft always, i talk to myself too
103. Had plastic surgery nope
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived nopes
105. Wrote articles for a large publication nopes
106. Lost over 100 pounds I think losing things is careless ;)
107 Ridden on a boat down the Danube River Again i might have
108. Piloted an airplane i flew a model one once
109. Touched a stingray dont thing so,
110. Broken someone’s heart prolly not
111. Helped an animal give birth Yes.
112. Won money on a T.V. game show nope
113. Broken a bone my wrist, running back wards
114. Dyed your hair frequently
115. Shaved your head been threatened
116. Caused a car accident nope.
117. Been elected to public office nope
118. Skipped all your school reunions I dont think we've had any yet
119. Built your own PC from parts more or less
120. Gone back to school technically several times.
121. Read the Iliad and the Odyssey I've tried man thats a struggle.
122. Ridden a horse lots
123. Eaten Kangaroo meat yeah
124. Had stitches nope
125. Toured castles in Europe been to many that count.
126. Had your picture in the newspaper the Lanark Gazette...
127. Eaten sushi Yes
28. Sold your own artwork to someone you didn’t know dont think so
129. Published a book nope.
130. Written poetry kinda
131. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears Nose
132. Fired a rifle, shot gun or pistol- yep, clay pigeon shooting
133. Had major surgery havent had any surgery and long may that contiue
134. Had a snake as a pet Nope
135. Gone on an African safari No do you know how many disease parasites you can get??
136. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild yuk yuky yuk mushrooms are bad and wrong
137. Visited more foreign countries than US states Dont think so.
138. Visited all 7 continents only been to the 1 i live on
139. Lived in a foreign country for more than a year nopes
140. Been swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans nope, the atlantic is bloody cold!
141. Been to Niagara Falls Canada side, nope
142. Lived on both sides of the Mississippi river nope
143. Sang in a foreign language in front of an audience . yep
144. Been to the Berlin Wall Yeah, tho post 89
145. Taught a child to read I worked in a school for a bit that count?
146. Been a DJ I have

Now i really should get my shecht together

Scavaging and lurgie

I'm ill boo hoo. Its xmas it goes with the turf. Anyway, i went home at the weekend. Went avisiting my friend and her mum presented me with 2 large bags of wool then Went to visit the grandparentals and did me some scavaging got a nice haul of vintage patterns all in all this is what i got:

Not bad eh! Need to take some pictures at some point of some of the more interesting patterns...

On Saturday night i went to the launch of the Cheeks for Charity calendar which is raising money for my mums RDA group, its kinda calendar girls stylee with horses, if any one wants one let me kno!

Sunday i came back to edinburgh via some ski slope knitting tried to take a picture of my dad doing his thang but this was all i got

The rest of the week? I've been snottery and knitting woo

Theivery Pt 2

Quizzes stolen from String

What is your level of knitting experience?

You're a knitter. There's no turning back now; soon you'll have calluses on your index fingers and double-points rolling around on the floor of your car. There are still plenty of new things you can try, but you have the basics down pat.
Take this quiz!

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.
Take this quiz!

What Kind of Yarn are You?



100% WoolYou are hard-core, all aboot the knitting. The feel of real wool is what your fingers crave. Knitting is cool.
Take this quiz!

Theivery Pt 1

Christmas doodah stolen from glittr

NAME: Fee
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate all the way, nog just doesnt appeal
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped,
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I have coloured as seen below, i like garish
4. Do you hang mistletoe? nope i wouldnt know where to get it
5. When do you put your decorations up? Used to be the 16th, as its fathers birthday, will probably be about then this year at home, as for here when i think i can get away with it
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? spuds roasted taters
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: possibly getting my ala carte kitchen i seem to remember that for some reason
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was i believe 4, no doubt mother can correct me if thats wrong. I was to recieve a my little pony nursery, which my father left the box for in the utility room despite mother saying no dont do that she'll guess, father says dont be silly. I guessed, mummy why did santa leave the packaging, er er, there is no santa is there mummy, er well eh no...
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No, its my gran's birthday, she may get to open a gift.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Redonkulously anally, i have to do it the same order every year, i blame my mother, lights go on them tinsel then the baubles and chocolates and the star goes on last
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Snow is ace, sledging!!
12. Can you ice skate? Well i managed it once, havent in years tho apparently i am next week, shall be an experience
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? probably my first bike, that was quite exciting
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? er, i suppose i should say the whole family shenanigans but i see them regularly so its not exactly a rarity
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Trifle, would have to be trifle
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Either father and i texting across the living room about loosing the will to live or boxing night out with my friend
17. What tops your tree? A star, gold plastic here, red and gold tinsel at home, i think
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? well see its about 50-50 i like recieving obviously but i also like giving someone something i know they will really like, or at least pretend to til I'm gone
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? calypso carol
20. Candy Canes... Yuck or Yum? there good but only for short periods, they tend to get very pointy very quickly too.

Things i forgot about the other day and some other things, a recap if you will

Firstly:



How evil are you?

Good to knowOki, yesterday xmas came to our flat, i finally got round to puttin up the tree yay tree:

Normal flash free fuzzy light

I went out this morning and bought some shiny shiny bamboo DPNS oooh there like chopsticks, on the way i passed the shop where i nearly bought the chest and took a picture, yes i stood in the street taking pictures thru a window with my phone who wants to say something? anyway, isnt it pretty

I meant to say the other day that while i was at home i remembered i had a little doodah that would solve my i-cord issues. I present penny the pig:

Put in wool twist the base and instant I-cord! hurrah!

Its been a long time

So havent posted much, I've had exams but now they are over and i can knit knit knit!
Generally exams were ok, hopefully i shall pass them all. It did strike me the other day that i have done all my exams with the same pen, right from Standard Grades to all the ones I've ever sat at uni, is that strange? Its a pen my dad's friend, who died earlier this year, gave me years and years ago its almost like a little tribute i suppose anyway its not very exciting but here it is:









As well as exams I've been doing me some shopping! Firstly i bought a new stash box cos the ones i had were rather full I nearly spend £80 on a proper wooden pirate style chest but decided that would be foolish and wrong so i spent £17 on this one:

In Situ

Already filling up

Then i bought things to fill it with. First i was at home and went to New Lanark where they make there own wool and i got this lot:

The red and black is bound to become this
and possibly a jumper for my mum the grey will become this for madam demando.






Then the new knitty came out and i decided i wanted to knit these which called for a trip to John Lewis to get the wool, while there i had my usual rake in the bargain bin and found a ball of RYC soft tweed in lilac and offered to knit my mum a hat with it which is why i have these:

As you can see the xmas knitting is progressing, I now have a full 2 weeks for solid knitting, or at least i did until i got a phone call telling me i was getting the new Zelda game so thats the knitting down the pan.

You may have guessed by now i have a lot of knitting planned, shall we list all i plan to do? lets why not!

Christmas knits wise i have 3 to finish and 2 to start (oh yes i got told the wool for one of them may not be in before xmas so its on hold)

1. Chunky print jumper of own designing
2. off the shoulder top from Simply Knitting
3. Long gloves in kuryon
4. fetching in multicolour peter pan
5. cabled beanie hat
6. Pirate bag
7. Dream swatch scarf
8. Twinkle Toes
9. R2D2 hat
10. Mothers hat
11. Sweater for mother
12. Bag in Sari Silk

I think thats everything i may be wrong, and no doubt the list will be added too!!!

You know you are a true Scot if...........

1. Ye can properly pronounce McConnochie, Ecclefechan, Milngavie,Sauchiehall St , St Enoch, Auchtermuchty and Aufurfuksake.
2. Ye actually like deep fried battered pizza fae the chippie.
3. Yer used tae four seasons in wan day.
4. Ye canna pass a chip/kebab shop withoot sleverin when yer blootert.
5. Ye kin fall about pished withoot spilling yer drink.
6. Ye see people wearin shell suits with burberry accessories - pureClass!
7. Ye measure distance in minutes.
8. Ye kin understaun Rab C Nesbitt and know characters just like him,inyer ain family.
9. Ye go tae Saltcoats cos ye think it is like gaun tae the ocean.
10. Ye kin make hael sentences jist wae sweer wurds.
11. Ye know whit haggis is made ae and stull like eating it.
12. Somedy ye know his used a fitba schedule tae plan thur wedding daydate. BARCLAY!!
13. You've been at a wedding and fitba scores are announced in theChurch/Chapel.
14. Ye urny surprised tae find curries, pizzas, kebabs, fish n chips,Iron-bru, fags and nappies all in the wan shop.
15. Yer holiday home at the seaside has calor gas under it.
16. Ye know irn-bru is a hangover cure.
17. Ye learnt tae sweer afore ye learnt tae dae sums.
18. Ye actually understand this
19. Finally, you are 100% Scot if you have ever said/heard thesewords:-
how's it hingin
Clatty
Boggin
Cludgie
Pished
get it up ye
Wee beasties
Erse bandit
Amurny
Away an bile yer heid
Peely-wally
Humphey backit
Ba'-heid
Baw bag
Mocket
Mingin
Dubble nugget

Hurray for My Daddy!

So much happened yesterday, i would of told you about it yesterday but stupid blogger took a dislike to my pictures!

Anyway, firstly we took my dad skiing, he was far better than he makes out, mother and i had planned to wait in the cafe but it didnt open til half 10, this was half 9 and father was only skiing for an hour. Then we thot Ikea do free tea and cheap breakfast at about this hour, so we went to Ikea got our free tea and 95p breakfast. All good, then we figured we best go collect father again but on the way back across the car park i spotted these:

PONIES!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!

PONIES!!!!!!

Are they not possibly the cutest things ever?? Why they were in Ikea car park I'm not entirely sure, possibly something to do with Christmas.

After collecting father and a brief trip to Costco we went to our main destitnation of the day, The Crafts and Gifts for Xmas show. I had a list of things i wanted to get, all of which i got, plus extra expect the wool i wanted. Here be what i got:

Another ball of Rowan Chunky print cos it was cheap and may be needed for the eventual sweater, Some black chiffony ribbon for the Noro armwarmers, red ribbon for an Xmas knit and sparkly thread for an Xmas knit. Also a ruler which one cross-stitches the design on, I thot this funky, tho i plan to only put bees on it, my mum happened to get this free cos she was buying lots.

I may not have got the wool i went for but i did get this:

Yep its Sari Silk, mmmmmmmm pretty. My dad bought it for me! He's so lovely! I was all like ooh pretty, he asked could i use it (ha could i use it) i said yes he purchased! However in the act of the purchase I became a crazy knitting person who accosts random strangers and offers knitting advice. There was a woman looiking at the yarn and asked the woman at the stand what you coud do with it, she said knit a scarf but you would end up with banding of colour due to the nature of the beast. I accosted woman and suggested patterns that were on the online and told her that she should work 2 balls at the same time to avoid banding oh the shame!!

Hurray for Mr Postman

Have just come home from uni to find a parcel waiting for me containing:

Yep lovely Noro, Kureyon shade 159 which will ultimately become these however not all sunshine and roses as the package did not contain the other wool i ordered which i need for a Xmas knit, hopefully it will arrive soon!

Have realised that my mother is the oly person which reads this with any regularity this does not exactly make me the coolest kid in blogland! Nevermind. It does also mean that she gets sent into spirals of panci when i make throw away comments about studying and threatens to chain me to desks and what not!!! I am big enough and ugly enough to manage these things dear!

Going craft fairing 2moro so hopefully i will have new and shiny things to show afterwards.

Have decided i am gonna rethink one of my xmas gifts tho it will involve bobbles, not 100% convinced on that front but we see.

yes I am horribly Lax

I know this whole posting regularly thing has been a bit not happeny has it. This is because my life is very dull, and whenever i think of somethng to post i get distracted and it flies from my tiny mind like some other sort of flyey thing.I also have been kinda otherwise occupied with a) my new found obsessive Knitty chatroom dealings (hello folks), b) knitting like a demon as my progress bars will attest, c) alledgedly studying tho i really have done less of that than i would like, thus i am disallowing myself to knit for the next to days to do some hardcore study, we'll see how that works out.
Yesterday i was at home, i went to the dentist, no fillings required woo and indeed (copyright g. muncie) hoo, i then got my hair cut/dyed which while it turned out nice was a bit traumatic as the girl litterally grabbed hunks of my hair and started visciosly hacking at it, to say i was scared would be an understatement.
I may be about to completely disregard one of my planned christmas knits and do something completely different but we will see in due course.
Now i will go and do some studying and try not fall asleep (v-tired, my being at home not being able to breatheness kept me awake half the night and then had to get up v-early to come back here)

100 things about me

Yep i like bandwagons


1. I am essentially ¾ Scottish and ¼ English
2. I am a Lanarkian by birth
3. I’m in third year of University
4. I study biology but don’t know what I am doing my Honors in
5. Its taken me 3 attempts to get to being close to actually finishing a degree
6. Previously I did Software Engineering and Artifical Intelligence and Landscape Architecture
7. My art skills are average at best
8. I am more or less the only person in my family/circle of friend with any computer savvy thus I am techie guru to one and all
9. I love bargains and they love me, first place I go in a supermarket is the reduced section
10. I drink an inordinate amount of tea 5-15 cups a day
11. I’ve never been outside Europe
12. I have been to the majority of European countries
13. I dislike Paris, quite a lot
14. I really like Iceland
15. I love Italy
16. I aim to retire to a Tuscan villa
17. Or if I get very rich, Capri
18. I like boats, one day I hope to own one
19. I have what I reakon is mild OCD about the house burning down and have to check the cooker etc is off before leaving the house or going to bed, if I don’t I have to come back and check.
20. I once won an art competition to go for a trip on a lifeboat
21. On paper I am very intelligent
22. In reality I am a bit ditzy
23. I was a typical horsey child "mummy mummy I want a pony"
24. I grew out of my horseyness, then mummy bought a pony
25. Mummy would sell me before she would sell the pony
26. I have a stupidly bad allergy to the pony and all ponies in general, and people who have been near ponys ie my mother
27. I love trivia quizzes/gameshows/pub quizzes
28. My head is filled with random useless facts which spill out occasionally
29. I can’t however remember what I had for dinner the previous evening
30. My hair hasn’t been its natural colour since I was 10
31. I was baptised on Christmas day
32. I am an only (human) child,
33. I have 1 equine sibling
34. My mum taught me the basics of knitting, cast on, knit, purl how to read knittingese, but oddly not how to cast off
35. Otherwise I am entirely learned from the online
36. Both my grans were avid knitters, possibly where I get it from
37. I love root beer more than any soft drink, despite it being hard to get in this country
38. I still have 3 grandparents
39. I miss my gran and think about her most everyday
40. My favourite food is Macaroni Cheese, I could eat it every meal of everyday
41. Except the tinned stuff that’s just wrong
42. Cheesy Pasta (kraft dinner) should be bad and wrong but its oh so good and right
43. I use the expression "bad and wrong" way more than I should
44. I am not a particularly girly girl
45. Pink and yellow are my favourite colours
46. I think things that are shiny
47. I am a big fan of all things coconut
48. There can never be too much cheese in my life
49. I have moderate musicality and occasionally attempt to play guitar bass and violin
50. I like pretty much any sort of music I have the most eclectic ipod of anyone I kno
51. I am the practical one in my house/relationship I do the fixing and the DIYing
52. I am a fairly voracious reader I can get thru a book in a couple of days
53. I read a lot but never really anything of great substance
54. I prefer dvds of tv shows than films
55. I will watch an entire season of a tv show in a day given the chance
56. I am notoriously untidy but can usually find things when pressed
57. Except my knitting stuff that is very anally organised and catalogued
58. I hate mushrooms, they are the spawn of the devil
59. I have never had any sort of dancing lessons in my life apart from the mandatory ceildah dancing at school, of this I am proud
60. I used to collect sachet of sugar
61. I may or may not be asthmatic
62. I don’t watch any soaps
63. IF made watch soaps I ask lots of questions and am usually made leave the room
64. I have gargantuan feet, size 8
65. I rarely wear pretty shoes, they are usually too small
66. I choose comfort over style
67. I wish I was a pirate
68. I tend to cry like a baby at films/tv
69. I prefer sweets to chocolate
70. I don’t care for Irn Bru, possibly the only Scottish person that doesn’t
71. I do however have a strong love of red kola
72. I have somewhat of a phobia of flying things (birds, butterflys etc) but only if they come straight at me
73. The butterfly thing comes from having a bloody great moth (about 6 inches or so) landing on my head when I was about 4 years old at the butterfly farm
74. When I was 7 I went to London we went to madame tussuads, I was scared into hysterics by the chamber of horrors bit and had to be taken out, my dad still hasn’t forgiven me
75. When I was very small my dad looked after me in the summer holidays and I cried for my mum the whole time
76. He got his revenge by firing me out of the buggy onto the tarmac (accidentally before you get worried, I was in the buggy he was trying to get me to sleep by running along the road with the buggy, the wheel hit a pot hole and I went flying) This head to road collision may explain a lot
77. I have the balance and grace of a new born deer
78. I have always given my pets "normal" names usually boys( Steven, Andy canaries, Fred (to be fair had his name before I got him) cobain (who turned out to be a girl and had babies..) hamsters, Zac and Bailey the mice, Hector the fish)
79. I nearly did vet med and as such have a lot of random vet related experiences eg I birthed a calf,
80. I have a jacket that I got when I was 9 that still fits me
81. I would quite like to live on an Island
82. I walked early and talked late, the doctor was worried I was retarded
83. I was once part of a team that won a maths competition
84. I am a big geek
85. I have a worrying quantity of kitchen gadgets
86. I strongly believe that the potato ricer may be one of the best inventions ever
87. I have 10 piercing, 1 in my nose, 5 in my right ear and 4 in my left
88. I have a tattoo of a celtic knot on my right ankle
89. I would like another tattoo
90. I don’t do Christmas cards, ever
91. I often find myself inner monologuing in the style of JD from scrubs but less witty
92. I probably would marry Zack Braff, hes not really good looking but there is something about him.
93. I grew into my allergies not out of them
94. I don’t mix well with others a lot of the time
95. When I cook I go for big portions, I get this from my mum
96. I could be thinner, but I am lazy and like food too much
97. I like going to the cinema on my own
98. When I go to the cinema I always feel like I should leave after the trailers
99. I love trailers
100. I didn’t think I was interesting enough to get to 100.

Weekend and some maths

Fairly uneventful few days really. I went to the parental fold on Saturday to go to "the biggest christmas markets in scotland" er woo, wasnt the most exciting just the usual over priced "crafts" and food, we bought only food. Then discovered to my mothers absolute horror that her computer was broken methinks dodgy power supply. This results in my mother having been (until going to work this morning) internet free for over 24 hours, she had to lie down in a darkened room and breath into a paper bag. I was only at home for the day and my mate was giving me a lift back ot edinburgh at about 6 on saturday night i got a text asking what the roads at mine were like, i was like eh fine? thinking that she meant were they busy due to all the roads in town being shut for markets and other reasons it wasnt til my mum suggested looking out the window that all became clear, this is the view from the back door (its dark thus not a great picture)

We got back to edinburgh fine tho, despite my sieve like brain causing mass panic among the parentals "yes yes I'll let you kno when i get back to edinburgh" "ooh shiny thing lalalala"

Went to my friends armed with my knitting to much oohs and aahs (always nice) i even got asked how much i would want to knit somethin for my friends dad, so despite the abuse for being an old woman clearly people are impressed.

Sunday on a continuation of i am actually 86 not 23 i went to bingo with my mate. We were experiencing a certain level of bingo fatigue as they had changed the format slightly and much to our great disappointment th £2.95 sunday roast seemed to have disappeared, we had been looking forward to it for weeks! To add insult to injury neither of us won anything.

We do appear to be having some odd weather at the mo, i was thinking on my way to uni this morning that while it wasnt anything like warm it was considerably warmer than it should be given that december fast approaches. There does seem however to be a good portion of the good old wet and windies, last night one could of been excused for thinking there was some sort of hurricane going on and correct me if i am wrong but edinburgh not that prone? tho i do reakon i live on/beside the windiest street certainly in edinburgh if not the world.

Now the promised maths, was trying to work out earlier some sorta knitting schedule to ensure that i am finished by xmas. For my biggest project i need to do about 3 inches a day which i reakon to be about 24 rows at 150 odd stiches each, closing in on 4000 stitches a day! As well as this i need to crochet 4 flowers a day, not to stressful and do all the other things i have on the go as well as the small matter of exams in 2 weeks that need studying for. I can see this being a full time occupation!!

Shiny things and a conundrum

This is in part things that i have bought today (well 2 things). I have just been late night shopping, which as far as i am concerned is quite exciting the whole shopping in the dark with all the lights etc, makes one feel quite festive, this may just be me being a bit weird however. Anyway the purpose behind this was that Boots were having a special shopping event that i thot could be quite exciting, I was wrong, there were some free snacks that was the highlight. All was not lost tho as i went to see my mate who works in Schuh to get a disc off her as she wants me to print stuff off for her (I am the local tech support guru within my family and friends) and she said to have a look around while she fetched it as she can get us discount. So i looked, me being me i went straight to the reduced section and found these, are they not fabby?? so red and shiny! Also much bonus she got discount on sale items which correct me if i am wrong is quite a rarity in the old staff discount world. So i got fabbo new shoes for £8.50! I dont need new shoes but i dont care.

The second exciting thing i bought today, my ticket for 2moro nights Euromillions draw, £120 million will be mine oh yes! The first thing i will buy? probably some Noro yarn.

Now as you may or may not know I live in Edinburgh, a fairly cosmopolitan place by all accounts. IT can be a bit random tho, I live over the road from the Conference Centre, which generally has some event or another on which is why i often come home to sights like this (v-bad photo taken out of my front window) note red carpet and torches. There has also been the past few days a dude standing outside playing the bagpipes at 8 in the morning and again at night, at night not so bad but do you really want woken up at 8 in the morning by bag pipes?

I have just found some finished knitting i can show you that i had forgotten about, I dont think it really justifies its own post which is why i am just sticking it in here. Its a bracelet (fairly obvious) knitted from silver wire with beads and stuff threaded onto it, Its a kit by Twilleys, that i bought myself for my birthday from my boyfriend (ie i dont know what to get you here is my card get ye to the internet and go wild) and i think its quite funky, note also my funky Wii wristband, yeah i am down with the kids...

Lastly my conundrum, I have all these cheesy football tubs (and an oreo one) That i dont really wanna throw out as i feel they would be good for storing things in but i dont know what, any suggestions? I am also thinking that with a bit of creativity they would make nice gift boxes for some of my pressies but i dunno, thots?

I should point out at this junction that i have eaten most of the contents of these in about the past 10-14 days and therefore heart disease may be just around the corner but i have been writing essays etc which really does call for vast consupmtion of junk food!

Quizzing Intermission

So a breif recce into my mind with some fun quiz results, mainly i will admit quizzes stolen from other blogs, kudos to them. I may return later with a proper post but as its my day of very little is likely to happen. so my quiz results:

How Old You Act: 86

You're a bit of an oddball, but I can't say that that's a bad thing. You think clearly, and you may be a little more involved in life that takes place in an age group older that yourself, and have friends from an older generation as well.

How Old Do You Act?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Fairly expected given that i knit and go to bingo etc, everyone does say i am about 86.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Quite the shocker of the result as English, as you may have noticed, not my strong point, when attending pub quizzes i get made to write the answers so everyone can have a good laugh at my attempts to spell, especially a certain Carribean Island with a green black and yellow flag and a penchant for rice and peas!!

You are 65% English.

Getting there. You may wish to pay attention to the world around you.

"And did those feet
In ancient times,
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
In England's pleasant pastures seen?"

Well, no, but it's a cracking good tune.

How English are you?
Create a Quiz

Quite alarmed at this as clearly I am Scottish, altho i do have some English/Yorkshire blood in me but not that much! I also think one of the questions was wrong as Land of my father is the Welsh national anthem (i know this i watched, i say watched, i knitted in the same room as the Wales game was on last night)

Your score on this personality test was 65%

Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

Personality Quiz
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Does this mean I have 65% of a personality? where is the other 35% am i incomplete??

You are 90% genius to useless knowledge!

You're a well rounded individual, who knows a thing or two about everything! Very Smart, I'd say borderling Genius! I bet you could be on Jeopardy, and maybe one day even beat Ken Jennings, we'll let's not go that far! Congratulations you are one of the chosen few!

General Knowledge Quiz
Take More Quizzes

Go me and my random knowledge, clearly why i am a ninja in the realm of the pub quiz!

You Are 61% Genius!

You scored fairly well, but there is room for improvement. It doesn't seem that you are a genius, I'm afraid. Better luck next time.

The Genius Quiz

Tho clearly I am not a genius...

You are 45% geek/nerd.

You're as much of a geek as the rest of the world. You're normal! Be happy. Or don't be. Get a soft drink and read some Ctrl+Alt+Del.

How geek are you?
Take More Quizzes

Again quite surprising, i am usually was into the 80s on the old geek tests, the fact i kno that is probably indicative.

Pirate or Cowboy? Your Result: Garrrr! You be a no good pirate lover! You love everything about pirates, except the sometimes questionable hygiene. The open seas, the hot pirates, the freedom, the hot pirates, swashbuckling, did I mention the hot pirates? You would rather spend time in the crow's nest than swabbing the deck. You have a flair for the dramatic, the unusual and find your self saying "Garrrr!" at least once a day. So, go ahead and get that Jolly Roger tattoo you always wanted and remember the first rule of being a pirate- First pillage- then burn.
YeeeHawww, I see cowboys over the next horizon!
Pirate or Cowboy?

Yeah i cheated on this one a little, but clearly pirates are way cooler than cowboys!

Things that didnt try to kill me, things that taunt me and other stories

Ok so today we have a bit of a mish mash that kinda follows on from yesterday. First of a picture of the stained glass i made, as i was at uni for all of the daylight hours today i had to use a lamp for generally shinyness hopefully you get the drift, it does need washing to remove the numbers and stuff, note the presence of a ball of wool!

Next a slightly dodgy photo, had to take it on my phone as camera was entrapped in bedroom with sleeping boyfriend who as previously discussed doesnt take kindly to being woken. This is the large pile of pills i have to take! On a similar note I remain skeptical about whether i actually have asthma as my peak flow is around the 500 mark despite the "normal" for my age and height being 470, so asthmatic eh?

I realised this morning that i can post something in a knitting related vein, that which is taunting me from atop the wardrobe (where i keep my ever growing stash). Wool i have bought/been bought to knit things for myself but can't actually do anything with until after finishing all my xmas knitting. Left of the picture a selection of balls my very kind friends bought me for my birthday, not 100% sure what it will become, possibly a selection of fingerless gloves. Right the pink is RYC Cashcotton to knit the holiday pattern in Octobers Simply Knitting magazine, off the shoulder number. Top the multicolour is Rowan Chunky Print, very very pretty, got it at a craft fair last month for less than half price, £29.99 for 10 balls as aposed to £67.99 which was much pleasing as its very nice and i so would not have paid that for it, it will eventually become a sweater of more or less my own designing (with the aid of a computer program) watch this space as it goes.

Am currently waiting the arrival of my celebratory dominos, got both my essays handed in today and have written my last practical write up thus all my coursework for this term is finito!

I think thats all i have to report today probably for the best after yesterdays epic.

Also well done to Karyn for spotting yesterdays title as being Monty Python. My next reference spotting question, the category title, should be fairly easy.

And now for something completely different

So i have decided in the style of other knitters blogs and as i have nothing knitting related i can post til 26th december that I'm gonna start posting non knitting stuff, ie general banalness about my life in general, i will try and do this as often as posibble but i have the attention span of a gnat so we will see. Anyway here goes.
First off, well i would like to say i nearly died yesterday just for the drama of it but sadly thats not true. basically my asthma and i had a little falling out which resulted in my going to the hospital (but only the out of hours clinic ie the doctor was shut). I'm not even convinced i am truly asthmatic but after doing soldering on Saturday (stained glass making with my family as a v-early xmas pressie for my dad get me and my craftyness!) and afterwards i was v-wheezy and less able to breathe than i would like, tried ye olde inhaler (old being the operative word twas out of date, sure that wasnt good for me) did not a lot tried going to bed, didnt sleep terribly well or at all so by 10 to 8 on Sunday morning i had had enough (see what i mean about drama, it was less life threatening more pissing me off...) I phoned the nice NHS 24 hotline, kudos to them btw most friendly and helpful (its there job my boyfriend said but i dont care they were nice to me) and they got me an appointment at the hospital clinic place.
Unfortunatly for him i decided that i would get my boyfriend out of bed on his ever rarer day off (retail manager run up to xmas you get the picture) needless to say he wasnt overly impressed at being woken at 8 but at least i had a reason, as he put it his thot process was "for fuck sake fee, why is she waking me up this better be good" "I'm going to hospital" "ok that'll do" our trip to the hospital was an adventure, new bus route (yes i went on the bus much to my parents outrage, coupled with the fact that i didnt tell them i was going til i got back, didnt wanna panic them) new hospital, I'd never been, he apparently likes hospitals he says its cos they fix people i say its cos he is weird. I got to be nebulised that was kinda exciting in a tv hopsital drama kinda way, he got to look at all the equipment and be all boy-y. We also had fun trying to get my pulse rate to change i had one of those pulse moniters on my fingers. So anyway i got given steroids and antibiotics, always a fun thing as i am allergic to penicillin and a bit clueless as to what i can take hence this conversation:
Doctor: are you allergic to any antibiotics?
Me: penicillin
Dr: ok, have you had ampicillin before?
Me: Um I dont know i have at the liquid yellow stuff that tastes kinda like icky banana?
Dr: ooookkkkk we'll give you ethrymycin

So i have many pills, i have to take 9 yes 9 pills of a morning and the antibiotics 4 times a day with food, i object to having my food intake dictated what if i am not hungray at regular intervals eh?

In other less dramatic news, i have nearly finished my last essay of the term, on drug resistance in parasites for those of you who care which is good, you would think this would mean much xmas knitting time sadly i also have the small matter of 3 exams before xmas and this being junior honors year they actually count, however i have a plan which will hopefully mean i can knit and study simulatneously more on that later.

In even more recent events in preparing to write this and having my 4 o'clock pre antibitoic snack i managed to drop a slice of toast philadelphia side down on my keyboard, oops.

In conclusion (too much essay writing) I apologise firstly for the large amount of brackets and the length generally my life isnt that interesting so in future i imagine things will be shorter! I also think you should know that this was written whilst listening to assorted TV themes what that says about my mental state i will leave to you to decide...

Ps spot the movie reference in the title and win win win.

Kitty Sweater with Pattern!

So in a momentery deviation from Christmas knitting i have come up with this. Its for my friend who recently moved to Aberdeen but was down for a visit and requested knitted goods. Seeing as he has also just got a new kicken called Poppy, i designed this, thats right i designed it all my own self, seeing as its chilly in Aberdeen. So without further ado pictures and the pattern, if you have any problems, let me kno and I'll try to fix them, be kind its my first pattern. Any feedback would be appreciated, so comment away.
Poppy Cat Sweater

Size

Domestic Shorthair (common or garden moggy)

Materials

MC: any colour you like really of a DK weight yarn, prolly about 50g, certainly much less than 100g
A small amount of red, black and green DK yarn

4mm straight needles
4mm double point needles

2 small stitch holders (I used Kirby grips)
2 bobbins (clothes pegs work well)
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle

Gauge

4inx4in= 22st x 30 rows in Stocking Stitch

Pattern

Abbreviations

K knit
P purl
St st Stocking Stitch
MC main colour
RS right side
WS wrong side
st stitches
kfb knit into front and back of stitch (this increases by 1 stitch)
pfb purl into front and back of stitch

Notes
The motif can be worked intarsia if liked, I just wove in the lagging strand as I went.
I have included both row number and inches so knit as you prefer
Before you start wind 2 bobbins of MC to give 2 separate smaller balls

Collar

Cast on, 44 stitches on straight needles, work 1x1 ribbing (K1P1) for 1.3in/10rows On last row kfb 1st stitch and every 5 sts, 53 sts

Body

Work 2 rows St st then for the next 13 rows kfb on the first and last stitches on RS rows and pfb on the first and last stitch of the WS row 81sts

Work 8 rows even, 21 rows from start of St st, finishing with a RS row, next row (WS) purl 39 stitches and then start motif as indicated on chart

Work 6 rows (28 rows from start of St st section) nest row purl 9 st slip 7 st to stitch holder, then with the first bobbin of yarn purl 49 st, incorporating motif, slip 7 st to stitch holder then with 2nd bobbin purl to end. This forms the leg/arm holes

Work these sections separately for 1.8in/14 rows ending on a WS row

Next row k9, cast on 7, k49 (again incorporating motif), cast on 7, k9 all with the main ball of yarn this closes the openings.

Work even until St st section measures 8.2in/62 rows
Work 1x1 rib for 1in/8 rows cast off.

Sleeves

Both worked the same.

With RS facing using double points slip stitches from stitch holder to needle then pick up and knit another 33 st evenly around sides, total 40st
Place stitch marker to indicate start of round
Work St st for 0.5in/4 rows
Work 1x1 rib for 1in/8 rows
Cast off

Finishing

Sew in all the loose ends and sew up centre seam.

***Update***

Poppy has recieved her sweater and apparently she is most chuffed with it. I was also sent pictures of her in it, so by special request here we go (I didnt take these, they were taken on my friends phone so the quality isnt great but you get the idea) Isnt she a cutie? Shes just a babby so its a little big on her just now.

New and improved!

Since i can't be posting that which i am knitting for christmas i have added some wee progress bars to let y'all kno how its coming along.
As you can see i have a lot to be doing!! Thankfully the majority are small things

I do have a non christmas item on the go as you see so that will appear soon.