Different levels of energy

Here is The Gorgeous One showing "calm submissive" energy in front of The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan. Hmm, if only he would do that when we ask him to!!

Yesterday I met Viv to pass on a bookcrossing book, and afterwards I popped into Stash because I had a £25 voucher that Colin gave me for Christmas burning a hole in my pocket. I had no project in mind, I just wanted to spend it!! This is what I came out with after adding another £4 in cash.

The first one is Araucania Ranco Multi in a pinky, yellowy, purpley colourway.

Then some Fyberspates 100% merino DK in bright pinks, yellows, greens and purples which makes you go "Oooo!!" when you touch it, and that's what sold it to me (aswell as Ann in the shop putting it in my hand in the first place! Naughty girl.)

And finally some Fyberspates 50% merino, 50% tencel sock yarn in muted pinks, blues and purples. There is a bit of a colour theme going on here methinks.

My energy was definitely "excitable" when I bought these. Like I said, I have no projects in mind for these yarns, most likely socks for the two sock yarns, but absolutely no idea for the DK. There is 220 metres in total so any suggestions are welcome.

Don't forget to watch Ashes to Ashes tonight, BBC1 9pm.

Holey gusset

I have just treated my first Reiki client and it seemed to go ok. You can read about it here.

The dog trainer came round on Monday evening and of course The Gorgeous One performed almost perfectly for her. We did some "clicker" training with him, and he did what he was asked when he was getting a treat for it. But I think he is pretty smart and knows when he isn't going to get a treat. So he was naughty again yesterday!!

I started a pair of toe-up socks using a mixture of this pattern and this pattern but was getting holes when I did the gusset increases so I frogged back and did them again using this method and they are really good. No holes. I am using my Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Jungle Stripe (purple & green), yummy colours.

I'm off for a coffee with a fellow bookcrosser this afternoon. I haven't seen her for about a year I think so that will be good.

Back in circulation

Here are some new pictures of "the gorgeous one" as christened by Clarabelle. He is certainly growing, probably to do with the peanut butter that we put in his Kong and as you can see he loves having his tummy tickled!



I did do a little video on my camera but it doesn't want to load onto Blogger which is a shame.

As you can see i didn't post for nearly 2 weeks so i'd better do a catch up. On Friday 11th I went off to have my finger and thumb sorted out. Got there, got in the gown etc, and then the doctor came to see me, and took one look at my blood sugar levels (as most of you know i have diabetes), and told me that they were too high and he wouldn't do the surgery, because if i got an infection it would be very nasty indeed. So that was that, I came home.

A few weeks ago at my diabetes check-up in Liverpool, it had been suggested that I maybe come into hospital to try to sort out my blood sugars. So on Monday at 5.30pm I got a call from the ward saying they had a bed and could I come NOW. Not in the morning cos they couldn't hold the bed, but NOW. So off I went and that's where I was until Friday evening. Things went really well, and I just have to keep it up now I'm back at home. It was quite strange being in hospital because i wasn't actually ill, so it was a bit like being in a hotel (although i definitely would not have been paying to stay there.) I was allowed to come and go if i wanted to, but I didn't actually leave the building, just went down to the shop a few times, and for a coffee with Colin when he visited. Anyway, hopefully when I get sent another appointment for my hands, I can now have it done.

So I had a lot of time to fill. I read Russell Brand's My Booky Wook. I quite enjoyed it really, although its not one to read if you are looking for a literary tome! I finished one Monkey sock and am almost half way through the second one. I'll save the pics for when they are finished. I had loads of compliments on them from the nurses, doctors and cleaners. Some of them thought i was some kind of genius to be able to make a sock. I thought I would get a lot more done and took another lot of sock yarn in case i finished the Monkeys but didn't get to use it in the end. It is next in the queue though! I also did a lot of word search puzzles and sudoku etc. And listened to a few Podcasts.

This morning I had notification that one of the bookcrossing books I left on the Wirral 3 months ago had been found and journalled. It is this one.

So that's what I've been up to!

Cardi progress

My Drops 88-4 cardigan is coming along nicely. I have now finished all the cable-y bits and am on to larger needles and plain stocking stitch so it should grow quicker now. The little cables were driving me bonkers but I still have to do them again on 2 sleeves!! There will be less of them each time though, there were 14 of them across the body!!

Now I have a question...........I want to make a cardigan in a neutral colour that will go with purple, blue, grey, red, green or white (or any colour you can think of really!!!). What colour do you suggest? Please don't say black, I can't bear the thought of knitting with black, I think I may go blind, eek. (If you are wondering, these mentioned colours are all colours of tops I have which I would wear underneath the cardigan in question.) Please leave any suggestions in the comments.

Yesterday we went for a walk around the Marine Lake in West Kirby on the Wirral. Half way round we veered off up a side road to a cafe I had spotted on the way, called Sand's. We sat outside and the sun was so warm I had to take off my fleece!! While we were sat there I put a bookcrossing book on a chair at another table, and one of the staff had a look. Then she told someone else and they came and took it inside. Later in the evening I had a journal entry on it. Yay!! My catch rate on my wild releases currently sits at 18.9% so roughly 1 in 5. Not bad.

We had a brief discussion about how we felt about another dog. Colin's thoughts were "I'd probably have to do most of the walking etc, BUT they are lovely", "they are a commitment BUT they are lovely". Mine were, "you do have to think about getting home when you are out or arranging kennels if you go away BUT they are lovely". Hmmm, no conclusions there then. It is a bit too soon yet anyway, and we need to get Colin's treatment out of the way first.

Talking of which, it is going fine so far. The only effect has been that his arm is going a bit pink, but being a redhead he burns easily anyway so it looks as if he has caught a little bit of sun on one arm only. No tiredness or nausea so far, so he is happy to drive over to his appointments on his own for now.

I am Sooooo lucky

I am so lucky to have a wonderful friend. And the daft thing is we have never met. Our first contact was through a bookring that was running on bookcrossing.com. And then we became blogging friends. I won't mention her name as she prefers to stay anonymous if she can but she knows who she is and some of you know her too. Anyway, she sent me this Ilga Leja Diamonds on the Diagonal scarf out of the blue!! Just out of the goodness of her heart because I have had a dodgy time of it lately. What a sweet person she is. Thank you so much.

It is made with Posh Yarn in a wonderful mix of pinky purpley grey colours with a hint of a yellowy green. Gorgeous. And just the right size for this time of year when you don't yet need a really big scarf. In fact I shall wear it today!

No sign of my Lace needle yet so I shall carry on with the other project for the time being.

Thumb, books, BB8 & Boosh

(Lots of book links contained within....)

I thought I'd have a bit of a change, so have chosen a brighter template for the blog. Hope you like it. It feels a bit more summery!

So, I'm sure you are all dying to find out.......... ;o)

I was right all along, it is probably Trigger Finger (Thumb). I spoke to the GP on the phone last week and the X-rays and blood tests were clear. But he is going to refer me to the orthopaedic surgeons to have a look because it is restricting me from certain activities ie knitting! So I now have to wait for an appointment letter from them. Listening to the MRSA discussion on Jeremy Vine this morning puts me right off having an op though, but I should know better being an ex-hospital microbiologist, and the fact is the media blow it out of ALL proportion.

I finished reading The Divide a few days ago. It seemed to speed up towards the end and I did enjoy it. It was a shame how Abbie ended up in the situation she did. It is now packaged up ready to go to another bookcrossing person. In the meantime I read a quick little book called The Present by Spencer Johnson. It only takes an hour to read the whole thing, and is all about not worrying about the past or future, just living in the present. Easier said than done. Reading T's blog, I have ordered a copy of Nothing Special:Living Zen, which I think is in the same vein.

I then started another bookcrossing book I had called The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. I got to about page 100 and abandoned it. It was all a bit bizarre and I just couldn't be bothered with it. A shame because I really enjoyed another of his books called Bloodsucking Fiends. I had never heard of Christopher Moore before I read that one. I have read 2 others, Practical Demonkeeping, which was similar to Stupidest Angel, but which I did read to the end, and Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, which I really enjoyed. So this author is a bit hit and miss with me I'm afraid. 'Angel is now off to a bookcrosser in New Zealand to keep it moving because it had already travelled quite a bit before I got it.

I am now reading The High Lord which is the third of the Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan. I'm not usually a fantasy fiction reader but having read the first one I really wanted to read all 3, which I will have done when I finish this one.

The only knitting related stuff I've been doing lately is reading blogs and putting together a package for my "CTnY" Summer Birthday Surprise recipient. If my "sender" is reading this by the way, please feel free to send me knitting stuff as my hand will get sorted and I'm determined to get back to knitting again soon.

Well, car crash telly-wise I am sorry to report that once again I am watching Big Brother. Every year I say I won't but I do. I didn't watch the one with Nadia in it though, and everyone told me it was so good I think I'm afraid to miss another good one. This year it has been ALL arguments. It does seem to have changed a bit in the last couple of days now that there are another 4 guys in there. Not sure I have an opinion on them yet but I thought the YMCA was very good!! I'm also wondering if Billie has been to Naboo's shop and bought one of Vince Noir's wigs!

Talking of the Boosh, the latest news I got was that series 3 is written and it is in pre-production, with filming due to start in July, woohoo!!

Edit: How spooky that I mentioned bookcrossing in this post - I just got an email telling me about this book I released a year and a day ago. But how did it get to Orlando, Florida?????

X-rays and books

This morning I went for my X-rays and blood tests. I have to wait about a week and then go to my GP for the results. I had some knitting on the coffee table which kept tempting me so I have now put away all my knitting out of sight so I can't be tempted to do "just a few rows to see how it feels".

I finished "No Humans Involved" by Kelley Armstrong. I enjoyed it, but prefer the werewolf ones. She is gradually getting through all the characters in her previous books and giving them a book of their own. This one was about Jamie Vegas, the necromancer.

I have now started "The Divide" by Nicholas Evans. He's the guy who wrote the Horse Whisperer. I thought this was going to be a bit like that, but not so far. There has been a body found in the ice on a glacier and it is a girl who was on the run for murder. That's as far as I have got. Colin bought me this for Christmas and I have bypassed it on my shelf for a couple of other books since then, but I felt guilty about not reading it because he bought it for me.

Whilst I was at the hospital I released this bookcrossing book, so if anyone is in the area and fancies it, go, go, go!! I didn't actually read it so I can't tell you if it is any good or not, sorry!

£20, thumb & books

Wahey, this is my 100th blog post!!!

I have had a reply from Burton Manor, where I went on the knitting day. They said they had had a number of negative comments about the course, and sent me a £20 voucher. Of course that is very clever of them because it means I will have to go on another course there to benefit from the £20. They're not daft are they? I'm not sure what Chris wrote in her complaint but they want to discuss her taking a course for them.

I'm struggling a bit with the self enforced no knitting. I have been reading instead and read The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter in a couple of days. It is not what I would normally read but it is a bookcrossing book which I have had for over a year so I thought it was time to read it and get it moving again. I am now 100-odd pages into The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell.

Thanks for the laceweight pattern suggestions. I have decided to have a go at the Spring Things Shawl and have downlaoded the pattern. I think this will be a long time in the making though. Somehow I managed to get involved in another knitalong in the garnstudio forums, and I also have my Fab Lace cardi and 2 bags to do when I get back into it. I don't think there has been any improvement in my thumb so far though, so I may have to go longer than a week!!!