melarnomade

Iknit Weekender

2009-09-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

my oh my...two months have flown by - but another day to discuss that one....

Last weekend I was proud to join my knitty sisters at the annual extravaganza that is the Iknit Weekender. Outcast had an area all of our own over the two days to show what we get up to.

KnitWit, KurlyKnits and Gillian were up on Friday, whilst Bombella, IndigoSkye and myself took over on Saturday.

We had a giggle and managed to escort Bombella safely on the Tube without any mishaps :)

It was an enjoyable day - quite a bit quieter than I imagined but pleasently so. Some purchases were made ;-).

Highlights for me were the beautiful building itself, the Royal Horticultural Hall has stunning architecture and features, Bombella getting giggly over her photo opp with Ysolda and some not so Innocent hats!

Skeinqueen was there with Alabamawhirly and Kiknits lending a hand - well done ladies :)

So whats next?

Let Me Ease Your Day arrives in Reading on tomorrow, 19th September. We'll be outside Picnic from 11 - 3pm. Come and join us who knows you may get a knitted cuddle!

on perseverance

2009-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been challenging and its nice to come out at the end and feel glad that perseverance was a major theme.

On the work front 8 hard weeks of work have paid off with our company winning the biggest pitch of our whole existence. Its been a hard slog and it wouldn't have happened without everyone persevering and supporting each other through it.

Today was a lesson that persevering doesn't just benefit you. I took part in the Cancer Research Race for Life in Reading this morning. It was tough going but I felt a big sense of achievement, and in amongst the messages of support I received from my friends was one which reminded me how important it is to persevere and continue battling on - an old friend for uni's mother passed away from cancer 9 weeks ago.

A special thank you goes out to everyone involved in organising the event which does so much to support the vital research taking place.

On the knitting front I was delighted that my dear knitty friend and fellow Outcast, AlabamaWhirly, has taken the plunge and is releasing some of the patterns for her gorgeous range of hobo gloves in to the big wide world. Long have I spent ogling these gloves as they appear on Ravelry!

So I decided to have a go at the Anarchy mitts and after a few cast ons and ripping, they were finally ripped and put to one side. I firmly believed that I was a numpty and I would not be able to get the hang of multi colour knits.

But I decided to persevere and instead cast on, in my opinion, one of Whirly's simpler patterns, the Ripple Handwarmers and so The Training Mitts were born. And guess what? I got the hang of two colour, two handed, stranded knitting and the mitts just flew off the needles.

The main colour is Golden Teal - Blissful by Skein Queen and the yellow contrast is Vincent's Apron - Jitterbug by Colinette

I finally got something knit up out of my SQ stash - such a gorgeous yarn!

Hopefully when I go back to the Anarchy mitts it won't be too hard and maybe, just maybe, I may have persevered and will have a pair of anarchic mitts to keep me warm in the chilly Autumnal mornings.

browniness

2009-06-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

All of my personal knitting is running to a specific colour theme at the moment - browns and earth tones.

Is it an indication of my mood at the moment? The normal associations for these sorts of colours are sombre, dull, neutral, plain etc. but how I feel at the moment is very different. I'm very settled in to my flat; very much a homebody - out of all of the characters from The Wind in the Willows I identify a lot with Mole - and I miss home when away too long yet I'm enjoying what life brings me!

Earth tones to me are about comfort, richness, depth, reassurance and grounding.

What I've chosen to make with all this rich and sole warming colour also reflects the effects these tones have on me. A couple of wraps and some very anarchic mittens...

an inspiring Saturday

2009-05-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday was spent in London at the V & A, where I finally managed to make time to see 'Hats - An Anthology by Stephen Jones'.

It was so good and I must have been the only person in the very crowded space who was taking as long as possible to ogle all of the pieces on display. It was too hard to pick a favourite, but I particularly liked the collection based on nature (as well as the knitted ones!)

I then moved on to the Fashion room, which I enjoyed equally. Lots of photos were taken but the only one worth publicising is the Tracy Emin bag:

The Fashion room was also playing host to 'Future Fashion Now: New Design from the Royal College of Art' which was awesome, full of amazing pieces. In particular Lea Carreno's work caught my eye, some of the pieces on display can here

Needless to say I had a good browse round the shop and as well as treating myself to a book on Vivienne Westwood (hero) I found these adorable buttons that were too cute to pass by:

It was always seems to me that I forget how much I get out of going to museums and other treasure troves until I've actually been again. On as hot late May day, it was a pleasure to stroll around the cool marble corridors.

test post

2009-05-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

How cool to be able to blog from my Iphone

busy weekend

2009-05-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

as well as getting this baby up and running I've also managed to getting some knitting time in - including my first beret, making a squashed (unintentional) St Clements cake, as well getting to grips with the housework (less said about that the better).

Its been a lovely bank holiday weekend and it finally feels like the first tendrils of Summer are creeping up and holding on :)

and so we begin

2009-05-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

I think its going to be a fun ride!