hiding the evidence

Uh-oh. Caught Knitting's been blowing the housekeeping (again) on fancy organic cider...

How's she going to hide the evidence before Graham gets home?

Yay! Problem solved thanks to Monkee Maker! This is the amazing bottle warmer that I won earlier this month. Thanks Kerry. The workmanship on this handy hidey holder is superb and I'm hoping to buy a bag from Kerry's shop very soon, but they keep selling out...

Why do I need the bag? Er, well, I've also been blowing the housekeeping on yumptious Hip Knits silk yarn from Sew Creative (blush).




ps Sorry about the rubbish photos. NB I don't really have a housekeeping budget to juggle. The real reason I have to disguise the cider is so that Graham doesn't drink it!

potty question...

I've been crocheting and felting small baskets/pots from my hand-dyed yarn over the last 3 or 4 weeks and I'm wondering whether or not to add them to my market stock. Do you think they would sell? (NB I haven't really been storing my make-up/beads/hooks in this set, Graham suggested I took a photo like this just to prove that they have a purpose!).


They do look rather, shall we say, "organic", and they aren't ultra-stiff. I love them but I'm not sure the shoppers at the stall formerly known as Cambridge WI Market would appreciate them. I'd appreciate your feedback and will review the situation next week. Whilst they're small, they have a minimum of 25g of yarn in each and I was thinking of pricing them at about £7.50-£10. the reason that I'm not keeping for myself is that I have some larger ones that I made earlier, and those are used for storing my makeup and beads.

from the back(b)log: SP package

Look at the exciting parcels that I received earlier this month! Inside were chocs (consumed almost instantly), a selection of teas, some soap (already in use) and

the most wonderful linen/wool sock yarn, composed of several ultra-fine yarns would together. I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

Thanks, SP (and sorry about the poor photos).

roses in November!

Graham picked these in our garden on 26 November. And my father picked a daffodil in his garden on 24 November.

curses!

Wasted quite a bit of time on the 'phone yesterday trying to get my card protection plan updated. The problem? I failed their security check. Apparently I gave the wrong password (oh no I didn't) and (wait for it) the date of birth that I gave was wrong. Despite assuring them that I was only born once they insisted that I was wrong. It was so surreal that I burst out laughing. I pointed out that they'd also got the number on one of my cards wrong! After several minutes of stalemate I suggested that maybe they'd let me add the correct card number on to the existing policy (even though they wouldn't let me cancel the incorrect cards), but that when the policy is due for renewal I wouldn't renew. The young man said he'd speak to a supervisor and ring me back in 5 minutes, which he duly did. "We'd like to suggest that we add the card but that we don't renew the policy when it expires". "Good suggestion" says I!

I can see the problem from their point of view. I could (if we explore the outer reaches of probability) have been someone totally malicious who wanted to cancel someone else's card protection. But the shock of realising that for the last 4 years I've been trusting this company with details of all my cards, my passport number etc and they'd entered much of that data incorrectly....That's £80 down the drain, that is. Grr.

Before I Clear the Back(b)log...

Before I even attempt to clear the backlog of pictures and thank you mentions that I owe I must make a

BIG PUBLIC APOLOGY to Isabella!

(You'll see why if you read her blog). So sorry to have vanished and I really am looking forward to receiving that most gorgeous yarn.

I've also finally got new batteries for my camera, so watch out for some picture posts (not before time). Meanwhile, here's why I've been so silent of late (apart, that is, from the mouldy after-effects of 'flu which mean I need to be in bed by about 8.30pm each night!).

I was back at work last Friday (not normally a day on which I work).

Saturday was a KTog.

On Sunday a friend and I went here. We enjoyed ourselves but felt that the venue was very overcrowded and that many of the stands seemd to be clones of one another. But we met a fabulous man using a vintage sock-knitting machine and came home with lots of inspiration for things to make. Interestingly, neither of us saw anything where we thought "I want one of those!". Instead it was a case of seeing, for example, lovely butterflies made out of felt, beads and embroidery and thinking "ooh, I could make a little felt owl brooch with tiny crocheted eyes"

Monday was work (and I also had an order to complete for a market customer).

On Tuesday my boss and I went to London, so that I could see the other branches of the shop I work for (A concession in Harrods, and a shop in Burlington Arcade). We also managed to explore Harrod's Christmas shop and Fortnum and Mason's food hall. And it was Burlington Arcade's Christmas Shopping Evening, so I got free champagne (bliss!) and saw this lady switchon the Christmas lights. She is so tiny that I am astonished that she didn't topple over under the weight of her (many) eyelashes...

Wednesday was work. But after work I spent hours online booking flights and a hotel for a trip here in December. (I've managed to book cheap, but incredibly long flights via Zurich, and the area the hotel is in isn't the most salubrious, but what the heck...) The main point of this visit is that my friend Tamy, who works in Singapore, will be at her parents' house in Vienna and the 2 of us plan to do Christmas Markets (hence my choice of webcam link), art galleries and coffee houses!

Yesterday was the market. The evening was spent tracking down flights to Crete for a friend who is staying with us, but wants to head home before fares shoot up too much!

And today has been spent coughing, sneezing and slowly registering the fact that my temperature is rather higher than it should be. So tomorrow, when I should have been going to a friend's art exhibition, will probably be another day here at home!

Despite the current exhaustion, I'm hoping to go to Girton College's advent service after work on Sunday. You may have noticed a Christmas theme running through this post (Country Living Christmas Fair, Christmas lights in Burlington Arcade, Christmas Markets in Vienna and the advent service). After 3 years of spending virtually every waking hour of November and December slaving away in a certain gift emporium, I'm determined that this year I'll get to enjoy the run-up! I'm going to pick up my old habit of reading favourite Christmas-y books (Under the Greenwood Tree will accompany me to Vienna; once back I'll be reading The Country Child) and, of course, I'll be blowing the dust off my many CDs of Christmas Music: I've got medieval carols, Victorian carols, rustic carols, carols from cathedrals, classical pieces associated with winter but absolutely no crooners or pop singers whatsoever at all! (Nothing against the crooners and pop groups, just that a certain gift emporium rather played them to death). Graham finds it rather funny that a pagan like me delights in Christmas, but I just like feeling part of centuries of midwinter celebrations (and the promise of lengthening days, yippee).

quince essential?

Yay! Crochet resumed yesterday (albeit interspersed by frequent naps) and today my voice is making a reappearance. Daren't risk the KTog tonight, though.


Thanks for all your good wishes. Graham said he realised how ill I was on Friday, when it struck him that I hadn't even mentioned crochet/knitting/yarn for over 24 hours. I did manage to read the Saturday colour supplement though. And I spotted something rather amusing. Do you remember that really awful review of Yarnstorm's new book a few weeks ago? The title was: "My recipe for happiness: no quince jelly". Well, it seems that many cookery writers are begging to differ. On Saturday The Guardian carried 2 quince recipes: Hugh Fernley-Whitingstall served them as a desert and another chef offered them as part of a salad. So the quince's rehabilitation has begun. And I'm sure that Jane's star is soaring after she appeared at the Stitch'n'Bitch day. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to that, as I'd already booked to go on a Nuno Felt Making Day at White House Arts, and needless to say, being bedridden, I had to miss that too, Boo!

Still, if I keep recovering at the current rate, I've got Saturday's KTog to look forward to! And I've just found some more oddments to make into corsages. I was beginning to worry that I might have to buy more yarn. (Ahem!)

time out...

thanks for all your good wishes. it seems as if I have genuine 'flu (for only the 3rd time in my life). today is the first time I've ventured out of bed for more than 10 minutes since thursday and after half an hour I'm sweating and exhausted, so back to bed I go.

But first I must report that Graham is an excellent nurse! And I'm really regretting going and doing my stint on the market on Thursday. isn't hindsight wonderful? since then I've been watching the clouds go by and trying to read...

normal service will be resumed asap!

poorly!

Lots to report, thank yous to send, presents to show off...but I've got a miserable fever (reading hurts eyes, crochet makes even eyelids sweat), so all will have to wait. Back soon with lots of pictures.