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I just have to share this talk by adventurer Alistair Humphreys. Inspiring, engaging – and very funny! Watch it with a cup of tea and a biscuit, or a cup of coffee and a croissant if you’re feeling a bit continental this morning! Then maybe we should get out our own maps and notebooks and plan something a bit mental for the coming new year
  Seeing stars  The back Grey, miserable winter days aren’t conducive to good photography, but they’re pretty great for snuggling under a quilt and getting on with making a jumper a la Sarah Lund. The back is finished (needs blocking obviously) and the raglan wasn’t too painful to make up, it looks the part anyway – fingers crossed that the sleeves will fit in it when I get that far! I’ve made a good start on the front too and hope to have it finished in the next day or two. Have you been watching series 2 of The Killing? It’s the only thing I watch regularly on tv, I find most things are complete rubbish. Although having said that, I do enjoy watching Young Dracula with Kim – ooh it’s compelling! Lots of twists and turns with a big dose of humour and darkness thrown in. Anyway, back to The Killing… there was a lot of speculation over what the latest jumper might look like (forget the plot…). It’s red and cosy in my opinion! And guess what, unlike the last one there’s even a ‘lookalike’ jumper pattern on the Radio Times website if you’re interested. Me, I’ve got a whole load of unfinished projects to wade through first! It’s been busy week, but I’ve got more to share so I’ll be back soon. Stephie courtesy of doubling up my accrued Tesco Clubcard points (a supermarket scheme for those not in the know!)…  750 watts of raw power!!!! I’m not usually in the least bit excited by kitchen gadgets/tools, but when you can get home at gone 10pm and fancy a piece of cake, realise you haven’t got any, but can knock one up in minutes…  Tasty! What’s not to like?! Banana and Walnut Loaf(recipe from the back of a Tesco walnut packet!!) Ingredients
Method
Great with a good cup of fresh coffee
 Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Stephie
It’s happening. Needles are clicking, the brain is whirring and Linda’s Sarah Lund style sweater has begun. After about 4 hours knititng I have something worth showing you!  Seeing stars!
 Love the way you can see the stars on the reverse too  Checking for shape Trying to work out how to make this hasn’t been the easiest task for me since it involves rather too much counting!! I got fed up with adding up wrong all the time and decided to make it ‘by feel’ instead, something I’m much happier doing. I seemed to manage to get the height correct by measuring, but getting the width right was a bit of a joke. If I’d knitted the width by ‘stitches per inch’ (from my sample) it would be about 50 inches too wide – no word of a lie, ha, ha!!!!!! I decided the best method for me would be to make a paper pattern and try and follow that. Probably not conventional for knitting, but I’m a sewer and making up clothing patterns has always been relatively straight forward for me (despite the measuring!) – and I’ve noticed that in general knitting pattern shapes are somewhat easier than sewing pattern shapes. Take the front and back for example, bar the neckline, a jumper seems to be pretty much the same both sides – trust me, a shirt definitely isn’t. So, anyway I decided to work to a paper template.  My unconventional knitting pattern! The general shape is taken from one of Linda’s favourite well-fitting jumpers, but the Lund sweater is going to have raglan sleeves. So I’ve got to make that bit up. Yes, I’m shaking – but I’ve got a few more rows before I get there yet! Stepie Well that’s to say look what I got in the post, though it’s not actually for me.  Yummy! I got a bit excited when I ripped off the brown paper packaging and discovered this mound of soft loveliness inside – all ripe and ready to be turned into something that resembles the Sarah Lund junper. You might notice the new Fairisle sample (the last one was dark on a light background), it looks great this way round – more defined I think. I can’t wait to get going, but first there’s the small (and scary) matter of designing the jumper itself (not the Fair Isle pattern – that bit was easy!!!)… If you like the yarn (Artesano alpaca/wool in aran weight) you can buy it online at The Wool Bar, or if you live in West Sussex you could pop into the store, I’m told they’re extremely friendly and helpful Wish me luck! Stephie Has it really been this long since I was last here? You know that in my head I’m always writing to you, right? Sometimes I think you must get totally bored with me and you need a break from whatever it is I ‘write’, but that’s not the reason I haven’t been here for a bit. It’s been half term and the week before and during was mostly taken over with this stuff:  L E G O It’s the bane of my life. I find it everywhere: the kitchen, the sitting room, my bedroom, even the bathroom and my bag. The Danes have a lot to answer for. My son Kim tells me an “amazing” statistic: there are more than 67 Lego bricks per person on the planet. In my opinion Kim has far more than his fair share: there must be millions of people out there with zero Lego bricks. It took me days to clear it out of his bedroom so that I could decorate it. The stuff was everywhere, in every nook and cranny and more than half a tonne of it scattered on the floor. I was not a happy mummy. With the decorating done it took all my resolve to pick it up, sort it out, box it and put it back on his shelves and anywhere else I could find room for it. But this is stuff he’s played with literally every day since he was able to hold a Duplo brick. More than a decade. I can’t really begrudge something that’s been a major factor in his creative development. Can I? I guess not, but I think that when I run, I might well be running away from it!!! And I definitely need something else to focus on. Like making hats. I got a bit carried away with these. Simple and very quick (for me!). 4 of them done and dusted and put away for Christmas presents. In 3 days I made 4 hats. Now that was escapism.  Different shades of Rowan's Colourscape Chunky 100% lambswool  This is a hat for a child - hence the big pink button! I found the pattern on Ravelry and bought it here on Folksy. If you want something simple, quick and satisfying this is a really easy pattern to follow I’ll be back in the next day or two with news of my marathon training programme that I started this week – the next 6 weeks are going to be punishing, and it’s got nothing to do with running!!!!!! Stephie |
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why. |
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