Knitted dog jumper

So I know the title gives it away, but could you guess what this is from the above photo?

What about now?
Its a dog jumper for my sisters little dog, Ellie.  'im outdoors says it looks like a weird big sock.  Its taken forever to make! (a good 6 months)  I even had to visit my local knitting shop for help on a couple of occasions.  And very helpful they were too - you wouldn't get that in Hobbycraft.  My main problem was keeping the ribbing going round the leg holes, but I got there in the end.

The only problem with Ellie is she is a very black dog and impossible to photograph.  But I think you get the idea.  I'm not sure how much it will get used, but it was cool to make something with a purpose in mind and have it work.

Novembers writers group

So today was the last writers group meeting for me this year.  There is a meeting in December but I'll be somewhere else (more about that later).
Only three people got to read their work out as there was lots of discussion, but that's the point of the group and I think we all found it useful.

All three pieces were great, Avril's made me cry, but I loved the poem best of all.  A cheeky, rhyming, shocking piece which made us all laugh.

I didn't have anything to share today, and as I've got a bit of a cold, that's probably for the best.  I can't help but wonder if my writing phase is done?

This months homework: 

Use the following as either the starting line or the inspiration for a story or poem: Bah humbug!

Passing on the knowledge

I'm very busy at the moment.  Lots of different crafting projects (although nothing I can report on just yet) and a honeymoon to prepare for!
So it was really nice to spend a lunchtime this week passing on my knitting knowledge to a work colleague.  Her ultimate aim is to knit matching cardys for her little girls, and with a little practice I don't see why she couldn't do that.
But what was so nice was this was how I learnt to knit.  This time last year my very good friend Katie, sat down with me and some wool and got me started.  Before long I had myself a hat, and I haven't really stopped since.  I think one of the things I really love about knitting is how I can do it sat on the sofa while 'im outdoors watches TV or plays on the xbox.  I don't have to put down newspaper or wait for anything to dry.  I don't have to take a day off work to do it, I can just knit a single row while waiting for something to cook, and put it down again.
This year I have finally learnt to knit, and I can't really see me stopping any time soon.

Halloween pumpkins

My sister threw a halloween party last night.  Its not really my thing, but she needed some help with the decorations and as I love a bit of painting I agreed to help her out.  
It was pretty straight forward really - she supplied papier mache pumpkins from Hobbycraft and left me to get on with it.  They didn't look too bad and were a lot lighter than real ones.  I hope she keeps them for next year.

October writers group

Wow what a turn out!  Its amazing what a little bit of advertising can do.
So on one hand not so good as less people got to read their work out - an hour isn't very long; but on the other hand we had some really good discussions, which I think can sometimes be more helpful.  After all although the group is here to help writers write better it is also here to help writers not feel quite so lonely.

The best past of the session, after all the good writing, was the comment from one lady who said she was stuck writing the big thing she's working on and starting to hate it.  But after the last session she started thinking about the homework and all these ideas came to her so she wrote them down and remembered how much she enjoys writing.  Hooray!  Now that is what the group is all about.

This months homework:  Use the following as either the starting line or the inspiration for a story or poem: And the blood red poppies flowed from the window and filled the moat…

Onion skin bookbinding

This weekend I did this year's craft course - Onion Skin Bookbinding.  I've promised myself that I can/should have one craft course a year, be it a day, a weekend or a week and this weekend was a real treat.

It look place at Otter Bookbinding where the lovely Marysa looked after us, while Ben of elbel libro bookbinding showed us how to create these amazing bindings.  With a small group of 4 and with everyone else being professional bookbinders I could have felt a little out of my depth, but everyone was lovely and happy to help if there was something I was unfamiliar with.  I even got to have a go with the beautiful guillotine - it made trimming the books effortless!

I had a brilliant weekend and as you can see produced some lovely little books.  I've learnt so much and its given me lots of ideas on how I can continue with my own books.

The square binding is my favourite and I can feel a project coming on - although I think I'll need a bit more practice before its good enough for that.

It's a shame it's back to work again tomorrow - I would happily stay home and make books...

Things to do with carrots

On Saturday 'im outdoors dug up all the carrots which have been busy growing all summer.  There were a lot and it felt like it took me all day to scrub them clean!
First I made myself some sweet carrot chutney although I cut this recipe by half as I wasn't sure how it would work out.  It smelt wonderful as it simmered, but I will have to wait a couple of months to try it at its best.

The rest have been turned into soup, an old recipe from one of my Dad's old cookbooks, or they will be by the end of the week.  Even my huge vat couldn't deal with all the carrots, and to be honest there isn't room in the freezer either.
There is something very satisfying about cooking with your own grown food.  You know exactly where it has come from, what has gone into it and it just tastes better.  I would have used home grown onions in my soup but we'd already used them all.  So one bag of potatoes and some beetroots left.

Running4Women Windsor 10k

This weekend I ran my 4th race this year, the Running4Women Windsor 10k.
I was due to run this with my sister but she had flu so I ran alone.
It was actually a really lovely little event.  We ran round Windsor Great Park on smooth paved roads and only the odd cyclist to content with.  The sun shone and in fact it was a little hot in places.
As I had been expecting to run with my sister I had not trained as hard as I should have, so to come within 18 seconds of my 10k pb isn't bad - 0:55:55.  Maybe with the correct training I'll beat it!
With less than 700 ladies running and a well marshaled route the whole race had a brilliant atmosphere.  I'd certainly be happy to run here again; maybe next time sister will be well enough to join me.