forgetful

finally made it to a Cambridge KTog this evening (have had to miss the last 2 or 3), took my camera with me and forgot to take pictures. Grrr. I blame the stupid cold/virus I have at the moment! Two new members along this evening (Morfydd, at work on Larry the Lamb, Heather making a cardigan for her daughter, due in January) as well as Jackie working on a very strokable mohair cardigan, Carole working on a cross stitch picture, Claire knitting scarves for the local night shelter and Liz at work on a Gryffindor scarf for a friend's 8th birthday. I finished off a short row scarf in Silk Garden for Graham, but he's decided that he might prefer one of the triangular scarves that I made in whitby. We'll take a closer look in daylight and see what matches his jacket both. He's not getting both!

talent

Life is so busy in the Wonderful World of Retail ^TM (superscript courtesy of Francesca) that I've barely glanced at my needles of late, and, to my great shame, I've *still* not taken pictures of my gorgeous gifts from the afore-mentioned Francesca, and from Elaine. Sorry, this will be remedied soon, I hope. But I have been keeping apace with people's blogs and am constantly awe-inspired by the talent that's out there. Ruth's had a horrid setback today, but just look at her latest hat and the mention she's had for her handspun. Liz has been exhibiting at the NEC and Anne has had a pattern accepted for the 2007 Stitch n Bitch calendar. Sue's been at work on the knit and relax stall at the NEC and is off again this weekend.

Time I stopped writing and started knitting, I think, though I do have an intriguing book on Influencing with Integrity calling out to me, too...

perquisites

Perquisite: n. 1. an incidental benefit gained from a certain type of employment, such as the use of a company car.

"Perquisites" how I love that word (and so much more than its more frequently-used abbreviation: "perks")! When I did my BA (as a mature student) I was taught history by an extremely gorgeous young man (swoon!) who had a real lust for the seamier sides of (historical) life. His x-rated, enthusiastic description of hanging, drawing and quartering will haunt my nightmares forever. One day I told my mother about him. From my description she said, "hang on, I remember him, he was at my graduation "(Ma did history with the OU). Evidently the degree congregation got particularly interesting when an extraordinarily attractive young man approached the stage. When the title of his PhD dissertation was announced the audience came alive in a chorus of laughter and cheers. As Ma says, who will ever forget such a striking young man who had worked on "Perquisites of the London Dockyards". (To my shame , I forget what century he specialised in...)

This post however, is not about the perquisites of the London dockyards, but about an unexpected perquisite of my job in the Wonderful World of Retail (incidentally, can anyone tell me how to add superscript in Blogger, so that I can add TM after the Wonderful World of etc?). I've taken on an extra sideline which means I have to work at HQ from time-to-time and just look where I got to stay! (Er, not in the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall, or by the shaggy inkcap/lawyer's wig fungus, nor on the road through Minster Lovell, come to that, but in the hotel pictured at the top. One day I'll suss out how to place the shots just where I want them, meantime I'm glad that Blogger has finally allowed me to upload images, have been trying to since Thursday pm.) I also got home to presents. Thank you emails have been despatched but have not had time to take pix...

Emma-Jane's Amazing Creations

Look what was waiting for me when I got back from Whitby...crochet stitch markers/stitch holders and a postcard from the amazingly talented E-J. The postcard shows one of her incredible pet portraits (I really felt as if I could stroke the fur) and the crochet markers she's made are utterly ingenious: by using a lobster claw fastening you can insert them into your last stitch (as you'll see from the picture below) and it won't come unravelled on the bus. Thank you, thank you.


But it is E-J's latest creation that has to be the very best, as you'll see.