1)      Go to at least one knitting club a month. Done!

2)      Make at least one meal a week for me and the boyfriend (he does all the rest because he has more time!) Mmmmm. Well I’ve bought meals, does that count?

3)      Do not throw food away unnecessarily. Done!

4)      Complete 6 knitting projects. Glittens are done, and I’ve started on my Dad’s socks again.

5)      Save £1200. I’ve got cheques worth about £80 to pay in to my savings and I must remember to transfer my birthday money from my parents which is a start!

6)      Go to a place I’ve not been before.

7)      Do not start any more projects until my glittens and Dad’s socks are done.

8)      Buy a new camera. Old one currently working again!

9)      By a new Parker pen and write more in fountain pen.

10)  Leave school by 5.15 twice a week and chill on the sofa with the boyfriend. Done!

11)  Read 6 books a year, not including childrens books!

12)  Cook something new once a month. January’s; Maple Syrup Scones, Spicy Caramel Popcorn, Caramel Pudding.

13)  Update blog once a month. Done!

14)  Knit two or three baby blankets. One to be pinwheel blanket. All to be from stash/Woolly Thinking yarn. (L-M x 2, K x 1) Have cast on fro one of them.

15)  Learn to design socks.

16)  Wear heels once a fortnight. Well, I wore them round the house. It’s been too snowy/icy to wear them outside this month!

17)  Keep journal/start note book of these achievements to help with blog. Done!

18)  Take picture of the achievements, print and stick in/put on blog. Done!

19)  Write more letters. At least 9 a year. 2 Done this month so far.

20)  Do at least one national and one international swap.

21)  Learn to crochet more than a chain.

22)  Start Christmas knitting before December.

23)  Drink at least a pint of water or squash a day. Done so far!

24)  Take a packed lunch to school twice a week or more. Done so far!

25)  Spend more time on the sofa with the boyfriend. (One night a week, no knitting/computer/washing up!)

26) The boyfriend and I to go on one ‘date’ a month. Been out for a Sunday roast twice. Think we maybe need to venture a bit further afield next month.

27)  Get a cat/two cats/Kitchen Aid mixer. Well, cats aren’t allowed here for definite now, so it’ll have to be a Kitchen Aid for me! Unless we move house I suppose.

28)  Have at least one day a week wearing NO BLACK (undies and scarf/gloves don’t count) I kind of forgot about this one. I think I’ve probably done it, but will try more consciously next month!

29)  Fix handles on starry bag.

30)  Do at least one non-knitting crafty thing a month.

I’ve somehow ended up with 20 sections instead of 10… Hope it will stay flat. I actually much prefer the look with 20 sections so far, so fingers crossed it’ll work out ok.

Apologies for the rubbish-quality photo!

This is spicy caramel popcorn from smitten kitchen. I had to fudge it a bit, but it still turned out very well. I only had a cup and a half of caster sugar in the house, so it had to be bumped up with a scant cup of demerera. Also, I don’t have any pans that are deep enough (it bubbles up a lot) that aren’t non-stick (and therefore dark) so it was very hard to judge the colour of the caramel as it was cooking. I think it could maybe have done with a smidge longer.

This was easy and it’s really nice. I went for 3/4 of a tsp of cayenne so it’s got a good kick to it, and the sugar and the butter really compliment it.

Hmmm. So here’s my first attempt at short row toes. See the holes? So I’m clearly going wrong somewhere! I’m going to rip it out and try again, and if I fail again I’ll just redo it with the other toe that I know how to do (don’t know what it’s called; you just kfb to increase).

It’s for the Quickset Socks I mentioned in my previous post.

On the plus side, my gauge is spot on, proving I knit much tighter on circs than on straights.

Here’s my finished Glittens. Ravelled here. I love them! My plan was to make something that would enable me to use my iphone without the rest of my fingers freezing. I think you need the heat of your fingers to make the touch screen work; plasters stop it too, though I recently found out if you get the ones with silver in, it works!! Also, I’m forever having to take my gloves off to do up zips and laces at school, so these’ll be invaluable there too.

Initially, I made a little ‘lid’ for the thumb, butafter a bit of testing, it became clear that I actually use my forefinger more than my thumb, so I scrapped that and went for a normal thumb.

I finished with about 4 metres to spare, so that was lucky. I had planned to make an icord string to put through my sleeves (as an entirely practical measure as I know I’d be devastated to lose them) but now I think I’ll find a lovely ribbon to use instead.

Now I’ve finished one of my projects in my must-finish resolution, I can cast on for something new. There’s two pairs of socks I want to make; Quickset Socks by Megan Marshall, and Monkey by Cookie A. I’ve been lucky enough to be given a beta copy of the pattern by Megan, and I’m knitting it in her Flinders sock yarn in shade ‘Bicheno’. She’s got an Etsy shop full of lovely things.

I’m going to be knitting the Monkey socks in some yarn I bought from Get Knitted a while ago. I’ve lost the label though so I’ve no idea who it’s by.

Inspired by this post, I’ve come up with my own list of resolutions for the year.

1)      Go to at least one knitting club a month.

2)      Make at least one meal a week for me and the boyfriend (he does all the rest because he has more time!)

3)      Do not throw food away unnecessarily.

4)      Complete 6 knitting projects. (1)

5)      Save £1200.

6)      Go to a place I’ve not been before.

7)      Do not start any more projects until my glittens and Dad’s socks are done.

8)      Buy a new camera. (Old one currently working again!)

9)      By a new Parker pen and write more in fountain pen.

10)  Leave school by 5.15 twice a week and chill on the sofa with the boyfriend.

11)  Read 6 books a year, not including childrens books!

12)  Cook something new once a month.

13)  Update blog once a month.

14)  Knit two or three baby blankets. One to be pinwheel blanket. All to be from stash/Woolly Thinking yarn. (L-M x 2, K x 1)

15)  Learn to design socks.

16)  Wear heels once a fortnight.

17)  Keep journal/start note book of these achievements to help with blog.

18)  Take picture of the achievements, print and stick in/put on blog.

19)  Write more letters. At least 9 a year.

20)  Do at least one national and one international swap.

21)  Learn to crochet more than a chain.

22)  Start Christmas knitting before December.

23)  Drink at least a pint of water or squash a day.

24)  Take a packed lunch to school twice a week or more.

25)  Spend more time on the sofa with the boyfriend. (One night a week, no knitting/computer/washing up!)

26) The boyfriend and I to go on one ‘date’ a month.

27)  Get a cat/two cats/Kitchen Aid mixer.

28)  Have at least one day a week wearing NO BLACK (undies and scarf/gloves don’t count)

29)  Fix handles on starry bag.

30)  Do at least one non-knitting crafty thing and month.

I’ve covered a hard-backed A4 notebook in some lovely Amy Butler fabric to keep my notes in. Due to not having a camera still, photos will be of somewhat rubbish quality until I get one, so apologies.

Somehow…I only just found out about KnitNation.

I’ve booked myself onto the Sock Design workshop with Cookie A (Cookie A!!!!!). I’m really excited already! One of the criteria is that we’re to have knitted at one sock that’s not instocking stitch. I’ve not done that. Neither have I knitted a top-down sock, so between now and then I need to do both! In fact, I’m still only half-way through my 2nd sock ever, so a fair bit of learning still to do.

The UK Ravelry day is earlier the same month but it’s faaaaaaaaaar away so I’m very glad to have found KnitNation.

There’s a thread about this here, on Ravelry.

There’s quite a lot of books, stories and poems that made me cry when I was little. And also many more that make me cry now that didn’t as a child! I loved ‘The Foolish Giant’, and found my old copy recently and was reading it to my boyfriend and couldn’t stop myself from choking up! This never happened when I was little. I have just got more of a wuss in my advancing year I guess!

As far as I am concerned, a good late night snack should;

• Need little or no cooking. Acceptable cooking includes eg toasting, melting or some slight heating and stirring.
• Contain few ingredients, none of which should require much prep.
• No more than one pan may be used.

Acceptable snacks include, but are not limited to;

• Toasted goods.
• Reheated leftovers.
• Cereals (including porridge).

In general, the snack should not be excessively healthy, though it may contain healthy elements. Hence a piece of fruit is not acceptable, but fruit trifle or carrot cake is.

 

A short but sweet one from me tonight as the computer isn’t free, so I thought I’d take advantage of my as-yet-unused iPhone Wordpess app. It all seems very clear and simple, but typing like this doesn’t give the same satisfying sensation that a real keyboard does.

Today was a lovely temperature, especially by 6pm when I left work. It was really chilly!

I am really looking forward to the fireworks in Oxford next weekend. I hope it’s clear and there’s a nip in the air. I’ll be taking my wellies just in case though!