Comments

Yesterday while I was writing my post, I was thinking about how nice it is that each of my posts usually gets at least one comment. I know I have regular readers and they usually say something about my wafflings.

But I was secretly wondering when I would get a comment from a completely new reader, and blow me, but I got a comment from CJ about my Dog Whisperer musings. By the end of last night I had 2 more complete strangers leaving comments on the same subject (thank you to them), and the ideas they left have led me to join the Dog Whisperer fans Yahoo group. There appears to be a lot of very helpful people on the group, and I hope I can pick up some tips on being more in charge of The Gorgeous One.

We went to observe the dog training class last night and to be honest I wasn't overly impressed. It all seemed a bit wishy washy and was over in a flash. All the dogs there seemed to be able to do the tasks set already so there was no actual instruction as to what to do if they don't obey your command. We have arranged for the trainer to come and do a home visit for us next Monday though so we'll see how that goes.

(I have ordered Cesar Millan's second book "Be the Pack Leader" too but don't tell Colin cos I made a promise/New Year Resolution not to buy any books for a year or until my "to be read" pile is seriously reduced. I'm not counting this one though because it is for him aswell ;o) That's my excuse!!)

I finished my Monkey socks last night and have started a really quick project which I'm hoping to finish for my mum's birthday next Friday. I did some last night but I think it's coming out too small so I'm going to frog it and start again with a bigger size.

Lots of bits and pieces.

The Gorgeous One is very cute, and I have to accept that he is only less than 4 months old, but he can try my patience. We are going to watch a puppy training class this evening, (we can't take Charlie because she is fully booked but we are welcome to go and watch), to see if we can pick up any tips. I have been watching The Dog Whisperer on Sky. Wow, Cesar Millan is amazing. The trouble is I have been trying to copy what he does and expect miracles to happen, and it just don't work like that. I obviously haven't mastered the art of being "calm-assertive". And Charlie certainly hasn't mastered the art of "calm-submissive", not by a long chalk. I even bought and read Cesar's book cover to cover, but unfortunately it isn't a "how to" book at all. It is a very interesting and absorbing read though.

I think I have worked out how to add video to a post, so hopefully this will work.

I haven't heard anything from the hospital about a reschedule for my hands yet. On the blood sugar front, things are going well, I am seeing a psychologist who makes a lot of sense so I'll stick with him for a bit longer.

We had friends visiting briefly at the weekend. Dave who was Colin's best man and Huw who was an usher. They both trained as Clinical Psychologists with Colin. Dave came up from Reading and Huw from Exeter just to have a meal, stay overnight and jump back on a train at 9.30am the next day, a little bit worse for wear after a few drinkiepoos. Dave was absolutely chuffed when we offered him one of our spare Mighty Boosh tickets, so either he or we have to find one other now. And its still 10 months off.

Supernatural is back on ITV2. I have the episode recorded but haven't got around to watching it yet. Can't wait though, I have to see what happens to Dean after his deal at the crossroads to get Sam back.

On the knitting side of things, I am just decreasing the toe on my second Monkey sock. So hopefully there will be pics in my next post. The colours have pooled differently in each sock which is interesting as both balls are the same dye lot. I really like the pattern though and am just starting to get it in my head now that I have almost finished. But that means another pair may be on the cards and will hopefully grow quicker. I have some Lorna's Laces in pruple and green that I am going to use for my next pair of socks, which I may just do plain toe-up.

Well I have 2 bookings for Reiki tretments coming up. The first is a friend of Colin's who suffers with MS. I was supposed to see her on the day that Colin went in for his operation back in September and we have only just got around to rearranging. The second is a friend who is going to have a treatment to see what it is like and then maybe book some sessions as gifts for her mum and sister. Ooo, I'm a bit nervous but I'll be fine once I get going. Wish me luck!

No internet, aargghhh!!!

Phew, just had 2 days of no internet access at home, but its all fixed now. Its amazing how lost you feel when you lose it. Luckily I managed to get short fixes at work to check my hotmail.

Anyway I can now post this wonderful pic of The Gorgeous One, although after today he isn't too gorgeous, he's been a little bugger and really got on my nerves. Anyway here he is, everyone say aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

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!

Look at him!!!!

What a little cutie. I think he has filled out a little bit in the last week. He is showing off his new collar which although it was the smallest they had in Pets at Home is still too big even after making an extra hole. He seems to be getting used to wearing it, next step is to get a lead on him and try that out. We think we have cracked the night time thing now. He has been quiet for two nights on the trot now, and he is also very good when we go out and leave him for a while. I went back to work for a few hours this morning and didn't notice any howling when i got home.

Friday is the big day for my hand op. I have to go in for 12.00 and they will be doing it sometime in the afternoon. So no knitting for a while after that.

Not that I have done any since Christmas, Charlie has been taking up all my time really. I did get a few bits over the hols though. I had the Stitch n Bitch calendar for Christmas and a voucher for Stash Fine Yarns. And my lovely blogger friend sent me a knitted cowl, which I'll post a pic of next time. Then I found out that Natural Dye Studio are closing their UK ebay shop so I got a couple of skeins of their Dazzle BFL sock yarn.
And then I got some yarn I have been lusting after for ages. Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock yarn!!! Colour is Jungle Stripe and it is gorgeous. On the needles at the moment I have a pair of Monkey socks in Regia Bamboo, another Clapotis in the yarn from China, and the Drops 88-4 is still not finished. I have half a sleeve and then the sewing up and neckband to do.

I got a couple of biographies for Christmas, Richard Hammond and Russell Brand. I have made a bit of a start on My Booky Wook, what a naughty boy our Russell is!!!

Happy New Year 2008

I have had quite a hectic Christmas Week really, with loads of great pressies and good visits with various people. I will catch up with all that later, but I just wanted to post the first pics of our new puppy Charlie.

We got him on Sunday 30th December (so just 2 days ago). He is a 10 week old male West Highland Terrier and is tiny! You can see the size of him compared to Colin's feet and arm.

So anyway, I just wanted to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone and lets have a blogging good year this year!!

Last of the Christmas knitting

This is it, the end of the Christmas knitting. A pair of plain stocking stitch socks for Colin. I started them for me but they are good "man colours" so he decided he would like them. Okay, they don't match but he's not bothered and nor am I. All I have to do now is hide them and hope he forgets about them for the next 6 days!!

I got tickets!!!

Whhhoooooooooooooooopppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! I have Mighty Boosh tickets!!!!!!!!! What a palaver. I am on a fan mailing list called Modwolves and we were told that all our emails had been sent to the promoters of the live shows so that we would get an email link and a PIN number to get advanced tickets. Some other Booshys I know got their PINs and 24 hours later when some of the tickets had already gone on sale, I still hadn't had a PIN or link!! I started to panic and went on the message boards, and nearly everyone had a PIN and some already had tickets. Anyway someone gave me a number to call and I got through easily and was given a PIN number. So Thursday morning more tickets were released at 10am, so I refreshed for about half an hour before just in case. Well, 10am came and the page flashed up, and I was in there like a shot.......at 10.04am I had ordered 4 tickets and it was all over and done with. I think I was one of the lucky ones cos I went straight onto the message boards and there were all kinds of problems and people moaning and wailing about screens going blank and not getting tickets and how it was all a shambles. Anyway, I got mine and they are for Dec 2nd at Manchester Apollo. Of course they are not physically in my hot little hands yet, apparently they are not being sent out till August! But hopefully they will come, and I am a happy bunny. I just don't know where we'll be sitting. Or who is going to get the 2 spare tickets!!!

Colin finished his radiotherapy last Tuesday, and his arm is already starting to look better. It looks like strange sunburn now with lots of peeling. He went for a check-up on Thursday morning and had a chest X-ray which was clear. This afternoon he has gone for a CT scan cos they couldn't fit him in on Thursday as we had to get to the airport to go to Ireland. We'll get the results of that in a few days.

So we went to Ireland Thursday afternoon. We stayed with Colin's dad and also saw his sister Fiona who lives 5 minutes away. And on Saturday we went to Niall's which is about an hour's drive south, and saw him and his family. He gave me something which is quite possibly something rather special............

Yeah, yeah, they may just look like a couple of drinking glasses to you but there is a story. Niall worked for Telecom Eireann (Ireland's BT) and when there are big concerts at Slane Castle his team were responsible for sorting out all the phones etc, so he had access to the backstage areas. In 2001 U2 played Slane and afterwards Niall was able to snaffle these 2 glasses from the room where they had all been drinking champagne from them. These glasses could very probably have Bono's saliva on them!!!!! Or Edge, Larry or Adam's! Knowing what a huge U2 fan i am Niall has kept these for me for 6 years!

Onto the knitting..........

I started a pair of plain socks in some Lana Grossa Cotton Fantasy sock yarn that I got from Stash's bargain bin. The colours are 812 - blue/brown/grey and Colin decided he would like them so I am trying to get those done for Christmas. I also worked on my Drops 88-4 sleeve in Ireland and have nearly finished the cabled bit so that shouldn't be too long to finish now.

I got this from ebay last week, 150g of sock weight Kauni yarn for a grand total of £4.20.

And what did I do when I was opening the packaging with scissors?
Then I tried to wind the skein by myself and it has all ended up as two small balls, 2 large balls and one lovely knotted mess that I am trying to unravel, ulgh!

On other knitting things I have been chuckling along to the limenviolet podcast that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. They are just 2 American women talking about knitting but some of the things are funny. They record it in one of their houses and she has a couple of mad dogs who you can hear breathing or running around in the background. In one episode they fell about laughing cos the dogs were humping, and in another the husband came in to get the dogs out and he was chasing them round the room wearing just a pair of boxer shorts with hearts on them. Good job this is not on a webcam!

On TV I am getting excited about the final of Strictly Come Dancing. My favourite, Matt is through to the final but I think he will have a job on to beat Alisha. I don't know how the winner is decided, by the judges or the public vote?

Tomorrow morning I am going for another pre-op appointment about my thumb. I guess it has been a while since I went before but it shouldn't take too long as I can't see that anything has changed. Then the op is on Jan 11th.

Jaywalkers

Just a quick post to show off my completed Jaywalkers. I'm pleased with them, but the yarn wasn't the softest in the world.

Now I shall get onto the second sleeve of my Drops 88-4 and probably cast on another pair of socks. You should always have a pair of socks on the needles.

Stitch markers

While I was out shopping yesterday I popped into the bead shop and for a change it was empty and I could see all the beads without having to try to peer over the shoulders of much taller than me teenagers. I thought I would make some more stitch markers because if i am going to make another Clapotis I will need a lot of stitch markers. These are the markers I made this morning......
and individually................
I think the dice ones are my favourites. I could only get small jump rings so most of these will only fit up to 5mm needles (fine for the Clapotis), but I did have some larger ones left over so I have made some of them to fit up to 7mm. Plenty there I think, and some may end up in other people's Christmas stockings!

Bah humbug!

It has been over a week since my last post. I was sort of waiting because i didn't have any photos of anything, but I can't see any photos happening in the next few days either so i thought I'd just get on with a new post anyway. Does a blog post need photos or pictures? I'll admit that I do tend to look at blogs if they do have photos than if they are just plain text. So I'll not be expecting many readers today!!

So what has been happening this past week? A bit of planning for Christmas. The mad "buying presents and getting them in the post" rush has been averted this year because we have decided to go down south to visit my folks on 27th Dec for a couple of days. I have still been doing a bit of shopping though. I am finding it really hard thinking of presents for people this year. I remember when it used to be that if you wanted something you waited until Christmas or your birthday to get it, but these days if you want something you just go and get it. Then when people ask what you want for Christmas, there isn't anything you want. And when you ask them, they can't think of anything either!! Grrr. And wandering round the shops just doesn't inspire me either. I like to get things that are a little bit different for people, not just the same old thing. But everything in the shops is the same. I guess I could have knitted everyone unique gifts but what with my hand problems this year, and the fact that I want to knit stuff for myself, it wasn't practical. I also think that you only get the benefit if you knit for people who appreciate the work and effort put into it. Like other knitters. I have made a couple of things for other knitters. And something for my mum.

I was in town today wandering aimlessly. It wasn't helped by going to the optician first thing and being informed i needed new glasses which I will have to wear all the time instead of just for driving. Varifocals!!! But "THAT BIRTHDAY" isn't until August!!! Yet I'm getting varifocals!!! The price tag was a bit of a stunner too, I won't say how much, but it was round about "that birthday" times ten. Yikes!!!

We are also going to Ireland for a few days next week to see Colin's family. His 6 weeks of radiotherapy finishes on Tuesday, can you believe how quickly that has gone. But you should see the arm, red doesn't start to describe it, and the heat, phew! We were joking the other night that I wouldn't need to shave my legs, i could just let him singe the hairs off with his arm. He was supposed to have an appointment with the consultant tomorrow but it has been postponed until nest Thursday. We think it is for a scan. Fingers crossed for that.

We had our works meal on Tuesday night. Well as me and Colin are strictly speaking the only employees of our company it would have been a bit sparse but we asked various people who rent the offices from us so there was a total of 7 of us. Unfortunately the food wasn't brilliant, so we will try elsewhere next time. It wasn't bad by any means but not inspiring either.

I can't believe it is already the 4th episode of The Mighty Boosh tonight. It has improved every week so I have great expectations for tonight's episode. It's been great having a double dose of Noel on a Thursday night, but sadly it is his last night on Buzzcocks tonight.

I have been catching up on a few podcasts. The knitting ones are really good for listening to while knitting. I found a new one called Lixie Knits It which is an English one rather than American. She sounds quite sweet but goes a bit bonkers sometimes especially when her husband gets involved! Also the Lime & Violet podcast. Boy can those two talk! I've only listened to one episode and there are 48 so far!!

As for my knitting I am still working on the Drops 88-4. I have finished a sleeve and am leaving the second one to take to Ireland. So I am back onto my second Jaywalker for the time being and am getting near to the heel flap. I have an urge to start something else as well though. I am waiting for some yarn from ebay for another Clapotis which I am going to make wider than the first one as I am getting 10 balls of yarn so should have plenty. I don't know what the yarn will be like though, its one of those "unknown yarn impulse ebay bargain purchases for a tenner from China" type things so i hope it is okay when it comes. Their feedback is good and it says that it is 100% wool so we will see.

I'll stop now as I have thought of something I may have photos of tomorrow, so I'll post again then.

Canal, gloves & hands

Sunday morning we went for a short walk along the canal at Christleton. This is the view facing one way........
And this is the view facing the other way.............
Some strange bloke decided to get in the photo...oh no, hang on, that's Colin!!

These handsome fellas were trying to round up some lady friends but they weren't too interested!
Yesterday I finished off Mandy's Miss Potter gloves, so that is the Christmas knitting finished and I can knit my other Jaywalker.

I am also getting an itch to start another Clapotis (correctly pronounced Clah-poh-tee apparently, I thought it was Clap-oh-tiss, but what do I know!). And I am swatching for a Mr Greenjeans.

I shouldn't really start anything at the moment, cos my operation is on January 11th. Some people have commented on whether I really need to have the op seeing as I am back knitting again. The fact is that the break did give the hands a rest and they are not sore when I knit but I still cannot bend my left thumb or right little finger. This causes problems with everyday things like writing and opening jars etc so yes, I am still going to need the surgery. But thanks for your concern!!

Knitting podcasts

A few weeks ago I was talking about my iPod and how I had discovered podcasts. These were limited to podcasts from radio shows I like, like Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand. Well, I have been on iTunes and found knitting podcasts. So far I have only tried a couple of them. The first one is called pointysticks by Christine Selleck. She hasn't updated recently but there are a lot of back issues to listen to. It is not all necessarily about knitting but somehow I can listen to Christine wittering on for an hour or so. She has a very southern USA drawl (she is from Texas) and her voice is strangely soporific. There is even music on there that I quite like or at least don't go "Ulgh!" and fast forward. From that podcast I found Cast On by Brenda Dayne. I didn't like the voice as much on this one and I must admit to drifting off a bit and not quite listening, but I have only heard the first episode so will persevere.

What is bizarre about listening to a knitting podcast is that you aren't really learning anything because how could you learn anything about knitting from just audio? You have to be shown a technique to see how it is done. But they aren't about that. I guess they are really an audio version of a blog. Both talk about what they may have read about knitting, LYSs they have been to and what is on their needles at the moment, and any challenges they are facing with their WIPs. The first episode of pointysticks starts off talking about Jaywalker socks which I'm doing at the moment, so it was really topical for me.

To find these podcasts just go to iTunes, which is free to download, and type knitting podcast into the search box. Or you can use the links above to go to the websites and find the links from there. You don't need an iPod to listen, you can just listen on the computer.

Talking of Jaywalkers, I finished the first one yesterday.I am now starting on the second one of these
in order to avoid second sock and second glove syndrome. So the sequence is 1 glove, 1 sock, 2nd glove, 2nd sock. Seems to be working

Jaywalkers, Mike's hat & zoo

Here is the progress so far on my first pair of Jaywalkers. I really like how the stripes are working out, but I'm not sure if it is that Tiger-ish, apart from the colour. I have finished the gusset so it is a straight run down to the toe.

Mike was really chuffed with his Tundra hat and wore it around the office for a while. Goodness knows what his wife said when he arrived home with it.
Finally a couple more photos from our zoo trip on Sunday. I forgot to look to see what this bird was but the birds tend to get neglected in favour of more exciting animals so I thought I'd make this one feel loved by taking its picture.
And here are the lions enjoying their lunch.

Squeaky Green

I have been using Squeaky Green shampoo bar from Lush. It is good for the environment and doesn't use palm oil products which is good news for orangutans. Most of their habitat is being destroyed for palm oil plantations. And it is a half decent shampoo too.

Hat, zoo, and eels.

Mike's hat is finished. This was a different yarn to the one I made mine in and shrank more vertically than horizontally, but a bit of blocking has done the trick. It is just about dry and will be handed over to Mike tomorrow. Hope he likes it.

In other knitting, I have finished one Miss Potter. I have decided to just make one pair though, in case I get fed up of the pattern.

We have a friend called Paul who we know from our student days. He is originally from South Wales but now lives in Fife with his wife Audrey and their 2 year old son Elliot. Every now and again we get a phone call from Paul, saying he is about half an hour away and can they pop in. Somehow we are usually in and not busy. It has become a bit of a standing joke. When I got home on Friday there was an answerphone message asking us to call him on his mobile. He was in the area but wondered if we were doing anything on Saturday. They were down for a family party in Lymm but were going to come over to the zoo, so we arranged to meet them. And here they are................The fourth person is Paul's niece Katie. We had a lovely day wandering around the zoo. It was very chilly though, and I should have taken my Tundra hat, but Paul came to the resue with a hat for me. Here I am wearing it, and discovering that one of the chimps has been named after me, hah hah.
Here are some leaf cutter ants doing their thing and carrying chunks of orange peel up to the top of the tree trunk. (Click the picture to see it better)
They also have prairie dogs where you can go through a tunnel and pop up inside a dome in the enclosure..........
Well Kate Garraway got voted off Strictly Come Dancing last night. At last!! It was getting a bit silly keeping her in as she was dreadful. I'm still not sure who the winner is going to be, but I think Kelly, Alisha and Matt have a good chance. Also been watching Long Way Down with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on Sunday evenings. They are travelling from John O'Groats to Cape Town on motorbikes through Africa.

Have you seen the film Team America - World Police? It is all done with string puppets but is definitely NOT for kids. When I first started watching it I though it was rubbish but I stuck with it and it turned out to be really funny. A p**s take of Tom Cruise films like Top Gun. Check it out if you haven't already.

I'll leave you with a little song..........
"Eels, eels, eels, eels..............Eels up inside ya! Finding an entrance where they can........."

Boosh Day!!! & op date

Yay, Mighty Boosh series 3 starts today. I've just listened to them on Jo Whiley in the Live Lounge. They sang Love Games and the Soup Song. Chris Moyles let me down this morning by saying he doesn't like them!!!!!!!!!!

I have a new date for my hand operation - 11th January. Better get all my WIPs finished by then!! I am about half done on Mike's hat, 10% done on the jaywalkers, 45% on the Drops cardi, and I have decided to make 2 pairs of Miss Potter mitts for Christmas presents. Yikes!

Additions to the stash

Last Tuesday at work, I was looking at my page on ravelry and one of the guys who rents a room from us saw my Vince hat and wanted to see it in real life. So on Thursday I took it in and when he'd tried it on he asked if I could make him one!! He reckons his daughter will steal it though. But I went on ebay and found this...........
They assure me it will felt at 60 degrees but I'll swatch first. Also last week I got this from ebay.............. It is 75% BFL/25% nylon sock yarn called Tiger Stripe and I have started a pair of Jaywalkers in it............
Then I discovered Angels & Elephants (again on ebay) and ordered these............

The first one is called Candy Floss and the second one is called Tamar. This is 100% shetland sock weight.

On Sunday we went up to the Lake District. A couple of friends were renting a cottage for the week to do some walking and they invited us to go up for a night. So we went Sunday morning and got there about 12.30 just in time for a yummy pub lunch. In the afternoon we went to visit Fairfield Mill near Sedbergh. There was a working loom and water wheel and lots of handmade crafts to buy. There were also displays of the history of the mill and the Terrible Knitters of Dent. All the way round there were baskets of yarn, but it was all for display, very frustrating. But when we got to the far end there was a shelf of "mill ends" and I grabbed these...........
There is over 1200g of fingering weight yarn there, goodness knows the yardage, all for £6!!!

The awful thing was we also had to share the cottage with this creature..........This is Molly, ain't she cute? Sadly, Mandy wouldn't let us keep her!

This is the progress so far on the cardigan. One more front and then the sleeves. Not looking forward to doing the neckband, I have read through it and it sounds a bit complicated, eek!
Two days to go to series 3 of The Mighty Boosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!