January's end

It's the end of the month and so far so blah. I've coasted through the first month of 2011 without major highs or lows. In itself, something to be grateful for. But now, at January's end, things are starting to look up.

{gratuitous photo of what I'm slugging through at the moment}

I have joined yet another swap (this shit is contagious!) - a fun, silly, £3 swap! I'm in the process of getting stuff together but I tell you, a £3 limit forces one to be very creative. I am pleased to say I'm rising to the task admirably. Unfortunately, my partner doesn't do any dairy so the chocolates I'd been saving for a rainy day will have to be dealt with somehow. however will I manage?

Another really exciting thing about February is the Haruni knit-a-long which Heather of a tangled yarn fame and I are participating in. I'm really excited about this shawl as I'll finally get to take a skein of wollmeise for a spin!

I bought my first skeins of wollmeise 6 months ago and have been bent on acquiring more ever since, even though I've never used any and have no idea whether or not I like it! How ridiculous is that!

February also heralds longer days. Last week I walked past someone's garden where I saw daffodil shoots - made me so happy!

I completed my quilt design early last week and really should get on with cutting. But first I need to overcome my (clean) laundry issues i.e. clear it off the spare bed so that space can be used for laying out cut squares. What a drag. And now I'm out of excuses, I'll get to it.

There's a chance that the above won't be the final design but it gives me a pretty good idea of how many squares are required from each 'colourway'.

rocking my hand knits

Today's post is brought to you by Fridica. Who's holding a give-away for "accidental" photos of entrants wearing their hand knits.

I read that and thought, "Oh, this will be fun!", then went in search of some suitable photos from which to make a selection. By July 2010 (trawling through backwards), it began to dawn on me how tough this would be. But I wear my hand knit shawls ALL THE TIME! Surely there's a picture or two somewhere. Then I had a eureka! moment - Knit Nation, surely I wore something hand knit. But no (it was in my handbag)....Sock Summit? Nope, not wearing hand knits there either (though I was sporting a rather impressive plaster on my forehead). How the heck does one attend a big huge gathering of knitters without wearing any hand knits!?!?! what is wrong with me?

So I kept looking and finally found one pitiful (but hopefully passable) picture of my Laminaria and I. 

{in the grotto at Stourhead}

This was taken on a family visit to Stourhead, recently (and arguably) most famous for a scene in Studio Canal's Pride and Prejudice. 

{The Palladian Bridge and The Pantheon}

I've enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane. And whether or not I win the giveaway, I now know to take more pictures of me rocking my hand knits. I'll add that to the list of things to work on this year.

While searching for evidence of me in hand knits, I came across many photos from adventures I've been on and decided that rather than leave them on my computer, languishing until the 12th of never, I will blog about them. These may or may not be accompanied by words, but I will try to recall a few details of every picture. Perhaps I'll label them travel Tuesdays or wonderful Wednesdays or thrilling Thursdays. 

Perhaps not.

Oh, Elle's received her parcel so I've called a truce with Royal Mail. It did take them long enough though! finally everyone's received their xmas pressies.

not too silvery

Since K's wedding in November, I've rediscovered my love of make-up. As a teenager I only wore eye liner (make-up was against school rules and I wasn't too keen on the sticky stuff anyway). It wasn't until my 20s that I discovered full on make-up and I've never looked back. I was a pharmacy assistant at the time, and one day a customer asked me why I didn't "make my eyes pop". For all I knew she could have been speaking Martian!, Make my eyes pop? 

Anyway, shortly afterwards I met M.A.C and from the get go I liked their ethos of giving back through the M.A.C AIDS fund and that they recycle their own containers (with a little something for you) but mostly I adored their rich, intense eye shadows. by now you must  know how I lurve colour!

The other thing K's wedding brought my way is the perfect shade of grey. 

Beatnik is the ultimate grey; not too silvery, not too slaty, just right and you're guaranteed compliments when wearing it. Getting my hands on it was such a nightmare though: I tried to buy the bottle from the manicurist but she asked for £8 (2 quid more than full price) for a sixth of the bottle - daylight robbery! Having scoured the internet, I came across a bottle for $3.69 and placed an order before learning of the  $27 postage! so I kept looking. Eventually I found it on eBay UK, bought it and now it's winding its way to me here. 

A couple of weeks ago I came across cute nail art on elephantJuice's beauty blog and have since kept an eye out for DIY nail art. I've found a few interesting things but need to look into these further. In the meantime I'm open to recommendations :-)

On the creativity front, I've finally decided on a pattern for my rotten bananas quilt. I'm still in the early stages of drafting and so far so good. 

This will be our summer quilt and truth be told I'm more than a little intimidated by the quilt. It's finished size will be 90" x 90" = 30 rows by 30 columns = 900/nine hundred/NINE HUNDRED 3" squares - some of which will consist of  two triangles. It's been 2 years of hmming and aahing but finally I feel I've the perfect pattern. 

Fingers crossed it's worth the wait, eh?

been so blue

My knitting mojo is still AWOL. This isn't such a bad thing as I've many other things to be getting on with. Also, my parents were visiting with us over the holidays and since the spare room is my sewing room, my sewing machine was put away for the duration so I haven't done any sewing either.

The parents left on Monday and I was saddened by their departure. Surprisingly so. We parted company in Leeds and on getting back home, I didn't have the heart (nor strength) to tidy up. And even after S and I were done tidying up a couple of days later, my mum's scent lingered in the spare room.

Yesterday we took down the Christmas decorations and put the tree outside (temperatures here are now in double digits). There is a certain finality to putting things back in place after the holidays; something about it marks the end of festivities and a return to the cold, hard reality of life in winter. Perhaps this is the reason I've been so blue.

But that won't do. Instead I choose to roll about in my Christmas presents like a pig in mud.

My sewing was well catered for:

{Michael Miller cotton fabrics: Espresso Birds of Norway, dumb dots, Espresso night owls & ta dots}

with fabric and a book I've had my eye on for a while. My initial thumb through is promising, I'll let you know how I get on. I already possessed half a yard of the Birds of Norway fabric but love it so much that I couldn't bring myself to cut into it! I'm hoping another four yards will help me overcome this hurdle.

A big theme for last Christmas' presents seemed to be gardening and regulars would know, I'm not a gardener. But needs must, hence:

and baskets:

{the metal basket is destined for laundry not leaves and dirt! c'mon, it's too pretty!} 

Both gardening books are packed with information and not just useful stuff but interesting things too! I never got on with biology - lost me at animal and plant kingdoms - and could never remember all those Latin names. I also couldn't deal with the yuck factor. Both mums are green thumbed and believe that gardening is something that S and I will enjoy. We'll see.

Also among my presents were the annuals/regulars:

{gift card, diary and a notebook with zippered pockets, transparent sleeves and dividers}

And finally, the lovelies:

{gorgeous handmade lavender + vanilla soap from Nicola! & other bits from S and from me to me:-)}

I'm feeling rather cheered up now but that could just be ideas for the fabrics buzzing around my head. 

I got no yarn, not a single skein. There will be no yarn until Knit Nation. It seems drastic but I will try to keep my pact with the Tea Tree Knitters. I have allowed myself some wiggle room though. In my Christmas kitty is enough for 2 skeins of yarn and because technically it's part of last year's Christmas presents, this isn't breaking the pact. As a certain wool bird was nowhere to be seen in December, I'll be visiting her nest over the next few Fridays. I believe that's my knit mojo i see in the distance, running back to me.

done enough?

Have

 you 

done 

enough 

today 

to 

earn 

the 

right

 to 

live

 tomorrow?

...and just like that

Another day, another year. And just like that, 2010 ends and 2011 rolls in. And for the first time in a long time I am not pinning my hopes on all a new year promises. 

Last year was good to me: I lived, I learnt, I loved, I laughed, I made new friends & got reacquainted with old ones, I am a better/calmer/stronger/happier person and feel grateful for all the big and little blessings that came my way in 2010. Of course there were major downers but when all is said and done, everyone I know and love is alive and that's enough for me. 

This year I have no resolutions other than to do better and be better.

Everyday.

Last year, there were moments days weeks that I failed horribly at this but before I got to the 'me bashing', I reminded myself to be kind to me and began again. This way, everyday is a new year - each day I have another 365 days to get it right. Overall, I took more steps forward than I did back and this is how I've grown. 

I hope life is kind to you in  20-eleven.