Happy New Year!

Gosh it's been ages, hasn't it! Sorry, I am still alive, just life back teaching Juniors is far more hectic than I remember it. Either that or I'm more aware of what I should actually be doing to be effective...;-)

Anyway, here we are in 2009. For those of you worried that the Ravelympics were too, much, I'd like to assure you I made it through. I finished the Swallowtail Shawl and the Chevron Scarf I'd cast on for.

During the experience I learned:

I love watching the Olympics, especially as GB doesn’t field a soccer team so the BBC shows lots of other sports!
I can knit nearly 7 foot of scarf in 11 days (as well as working on 2 WIPs)
I can focus on a deadline and not be a butterfly brain
I can’t relax enough to knit at my Mum’s (hence on one WIP finished, not the hoped for 2)
I REALLY hate embroidering details (as witnessed by the fact that I didn’t touch Pondemonium at all)

At the beginning of September, I went to London to the iKnit Day, meeting up with Sock Knitter Extraordinaire, Mad Engineer and Mrs Pink from the Knutsford Knit Group. I actually went to Grant and Cutler, the foreign language bookshop first (just behind Oxford Street), and had fun there, then went on to the Royal Horticultural Halls ( a short walk form Victoria station) for the show. I think I was overcome by yarn fumes, to much to my friends' amusement, because I went a bit scatty. Squeee!

Whilst I was trying to pay for some gorgeous yarn at the Socktopus stall, I realised I didn't have my bank card.... ho hum. One quick phone call established that I had indeed left it at the bookshop (Doh!) who had kindly put it in the safe. I ascertained the closing time and agreed to go back on my way home to collect it. After a quick bit of lunch and meeting up with Mrs T (my first ever blog meet up, poor girl was not very well!) I went to stand in line to get in to the main attraction, the talk by the Yarn Harlot herself. For some reason that I still can't put my finger on, I looked in my bag for my purse.

Nope.

Not a sign.

Imagine the scene - a queue of (predominantly) women, snaking around a building in drizzling rain. Buried in the middle of this queue is someone turning the entire contents of a knitting bag and some shopping out.

Yep. That was me. By the time I was finished, all WIPs were so tangled it looked like I'd kept a cat in there for a while.

Re-tracing my steps, I discovered my purse at Socktopus... where I had put it down to ring the bookshop to see if they had my card...

If I had a brain I would be dangerous.

Yarn Harlot was good, though. Many knowing glances were exchanged between SKE, ME and Mrs P as we sniggered our way through the talk.


Stephanie always starts here talks by taking a photo of her sock in front of the audience, so here is my photo of my sock as she takes here photo of hers.



Her photos are here. We are in the middle photo of the audience, six rows back on the right hand side as you look at it, but you can't see us. Our backs did make it into Simply Knitting magazine's right up, though. (Way to go girl! Matches my photo being on the front of Mathematics Today or some such journal back in 2005)

Anyway, after the talk, we decided to queue up for the book signing. Or more accurately, SKE, ME and Mrs P queued up whilst I tried to break the land speed record for crossing London to retrieve a bank card. I made it back in time and got Stephanie to sign my book and she even posed with my sock

The rest of the term passed in a blur, but thankfully without a Christmas play this year (the upside of life in Year 3)

I've cranked out a few hats, not touched any socks really since I finished those in the Harlot's hands and made a lovely jacket out of Noro that I don't have a photo of. I've also been on a crochet workshop and made a little bag that I gave to A's niece.

And finally...

During the last few months, several people, myself included, have been trying to sort out a long-running problem with a yarn company, who shall remain nameless here. As an offshoot, we've taken part in a gift exchange.At the weekend, the parcel arrived at mine and I chose these three things:

Some circular needles, a kit to make wrist warmers and some Fortissima sock yarn and a pattern. Thank you!! I replaced these with a Socks That Rock Raven Clan yarn, some Posh Yarn Cecelia laceweight and a little sock book and posted it on to the next person. A little yarn love can go a long way!