New Computer!

This week has been a bit exciting for me as I finally have my new laptop computer! I bribed my way through a difficult week at work with the promise of this purchase, and now have it in my hot little hands. Thanks to some sound advice from a Twitter friend, I plumped for the Lenovo G550 with 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive and a decent speed processor. I'm getting used to Windows 7, and have found that it actually solves a few problems that have prevented me going paperless in the past. I am a scribbler and habitual list-maker, and this allows me to indulge these habits easily with the new 'Sticky Notes' app and screen capture. The 'Snap' funcion has been rather useful too when doing my accounts. I feel bored just thinking about that. Most importantly, I've been able to make my desktop look pretty as well as functional. This is the inaugural blog from the very machine. Ta da!

Pootle2 appears to appreciate it too, although not overly helpfully. Cats are renowned for their love of spreadsheets, I imagine.

In the name of balance, here is a recent snap of Tilly. She was a real troublemaker last night, making a run out of the front door and hiding under the neighbours car. They refuse to keep collars on (and ganged up repeatedly to remove them) and I haven't got around to microchipping them yet as they ordinarily are unable to leave the boundary of the house and back garden. After last night, an appointment at the vets is nigh. I should make it clear at this point that it was M's heroism that finally restored the kittens safely indoors.

We've had a couple of days out recently, one of which was shopping in Bath. Until a few weeks ago, I had not been to Bath for about a decade. I enjoyed it so much, I went twice is as many weeks! One of my favourite shops is All Saints, although my recent drift into wearing bright colours all the time meant that I do stand out a bit when I go in. My attention was caught by their adorable childrens range. You too can dress your daughter like Helena Bonham-Carter, or your son like an extra from 'The Road'. I have a few items of knitwear from All Saints that are perennial favourites, but can't say I've ever bought anything not on the sale rail.

I also discovered the Apricot clothing store. I already had at least five Apricot dresses, but purchased from other stores, not realising they had a whole shop all to themselves. Needless to say I spent a long time in there and bought six more dresses. They are mainly printed knitted dresses that are bright with interesting patterns and embellishments, and very flattering too. Paired with leggings, they make for a very comfy outfit which hides the bulge on a fat day (day..huh!).

It is also that exciting time again that is not only the few weeks between M and my birthdays (excuse for making all sorts of purchases and going out lots), but also when Wetherspoons thoughtfully mark the occasion with a beer festival. We are lucky that our house practically backs onto the pub in question, and they always have a good selection of real ales on. We particulary enjoy the beer festivals for their 'Try 3 Ales' offer, where you can but three different 1/3 pint glasses of ale for the price of a regular pint. Our favourite so far this year is the Double Espresso Wild Oat Stout, although it is quite rich, and I'm not sure I'd manage more than a half pint of it.

In crafting news, I appear to solved the problem of work sliding off dpn's whilst in transport. I have sliced up a plastic cork, skewered holes in each one and am using them as shown in the photo. One thing I learnt this week - it is surprisingly hard to find a wine with a cork these days. I knew screwcaps were becoming more popular now (even with the French!), but hadn't quite realised to what extent. The Observer had an interesting article a few months back about the future of the cork growing industry. Highly recommended.

I finally managed to finish the wallchart for a Christmas present. The initial idea was to make felt pictures with velcro backing to stick to the chart but several attempts to make them durable enough for repeated use were unsuccessful. It was with much frustration that I resorted to printed card with sticky plastic covering and stick-on velcro backs. With hindsight this was much simpler, and allows more labels to be made by the recipient in a matching style. I liked my pictures though. These were the four seasons.

Here's the finished project, with big pockets at the bottom for unused labels, and I've supplied a couple of round hooks to hang the chart on the wall by. Let's hope they like it!

Knitting galore

It's been a while again, neglecting my knitting and blogging duties by going and earning money. Sadly, it has to be done. I am lucky that I have a career I enjoy, but in moderation, as all good things. I have probably overdone it on the hours front recently, bribing my way through last week with promise of a new laptop PC that works at a decent speed. My poor old machine, labelled 'an older machine' by the repair shop just isn't up to the memory hungry media stuff to which we have all become accustomed in the past couple of years. It arrives tomorrow, and I am like a child at Christmas! My lovely better half is staying home to sign for it, and I'll spend the next two days working out how to use Windows 7.

In the midst of all this work and computer stuff I have managed to get at least some knitting done. I finished the tank top for M's birthday and he has kindly modelled it for us...

Safe to say never again as the pattern was infuriating. We got there in the end though. I have made a crocheted toy for a friend's baby, started making a felt wallchart for another friend, and almost completed a lacy scarf with my Misti Alpaca sock yarn I bought at Loop's opening party. I'm a little disappointed (to say the least) that I have run out of yarn with about a fifth to go. Horrors! Worse news is that Loop are out of stock, and won't get more in for at least a month. Patience is a virtue, Holly...

In other news I acheived local fame (ahem) by being quoted in a local paper article about the Stitch 'n' Bitch group in Weymouth. There was also a photo (unflattering, back only). I have been to two meetings now and really enjoyed myself. It's good to unwind after work and meet new friends. Twitter and Ravelry are wonderful sites, not just for spending hours telling people your every movement, but sharing knowledge of these groups and great buys available online. It was via @ThePurplePurler on Twitter I found out about this fabulous fabric. "Home Sewing is Easy" by Alexander Henry. I have treated myself to a few metres and plan to make a simple shift dress for a wedding in December. I have been asked to be official photographer which is a huge honour, but I am getting rather nervous at the responsibility. Of course, it will be lovely.

Felt Corsage

I promised I'd keep you updated on the felt flower, and true to my word, here it is. I finally finished it, and am really pleased with the results. Now to wait til Christmas to see if the recipient is as pleased! As I said I would do, I initially embellished and strengthened the felt with some freehand machine embroidery using metallic thread.

I then cut out the flower shapes. For the centre I cut a circle, and made 6 slits towards the centre to create petals. To give the petals a bit of shape, I sewed a small tuck at the centre of each one. There are 6 smaller circles making the layer below, and 2 leaf shapes to finish the design. I stitched the seed beads in place prior to assembling the flower, and attached a brooch fastener to the back of the bottom leaf once the corsage was constructed. Voila!

It looks pretty good on, I think.

Whilst I had the sewing machine out, I finally got around to making up my Clothkits Kiki for my Goddaughters birthday next month. We were recently clearing out my parents old house and unearthed all my old Clothkittys from the 70's with their clothes. I thought I'd put the lot together as one big present. No sooner was she made, was she on twitter!

We had a lovely morning on Studland beach today, with M's parents and our young nephew. Here was my contribution. Ahh!