Knitting

As this is supposed to be a knitting blog, here are two of my current WIPS: I finished knitting the front and back pieces of the Thinking Dress in Miss Bea's Rainy Day by Louisa Harding. It'a lovely knit, with a simple cable running up the centre front.
I think I may have managed to overcome my fear of knitting from charts while knitting this dress! It's knitted in Rowan All Season's Cotton. It's now going to join this knit on the pile of projects that need to be finished this weekend before I go to San Francisco on 10 March to buy more yarn, er, I mean visit Ellie and Tim.

This is part of a set I'm knitting for Jen's baby who is due mid-March. I'll blog it properly when Jen has received it, but I will say that it's knitted using Sublime Yarns Cashemere Merino Silk Aran which is lovely and soft and has a nice subtle sheen to it.
Finally, as I was talking about baking yesterday, I thought I'd blog this photo that I didn't get around to posting back in December when I cooked dinner for my office. I can't remember the name of the recipe but it's in 'Feast' by Nigella Lawson. If anyone wants to know more details I'll dig out the name of the recipe. I remember it's in the section called Dinner Party Cakes though.
Delicious!

It's been a long time... again

So, it's been ages again hasn't it? Yes, I admit I've been a very bad blogger. I have been knitting, but I've been doing other things too. Mostly I have been spending between three and 4 hours a day commuting to and from work. It sucks.

This weekend has been a welcome break from the monotony. I took Friday off work, baked muffins, had my hair dyed, and got a train up to York. In that order. The muffins were Snickers and Peanut Muffins from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' by Nigella Lawson. I made them as a thank you to Miles' family for allowing me to stay the weekend with them. Stupidly, I forgot to photograph them, but they looked, and tasted, pretty good. I guess the fact that they didn't hang around to be photographed is testament to that!

Miles and I had a nice meal in York on Friday night and a relaxed day on Saturday. We wandered through town and I took random photographs. I may have forgotten to photograph the muffins, but I did photograph the gorgeous looking cakes in 'Little Betty's Cafe'.

We didn't buy any though, I was too busy getting excited about the lovely Georgian shop frontage. I love that none of the window panes are rectangular. Charming.
We paid another visit to the fudge shop, and had a excellent demonstration of how the fudge is made. Then I bought some to bring home to Mumsie. I love the colours in this fudge:

After the fudge shop, we popped into 'Sheepish' where the owner greeted me like an old friend, and gasped when she heard me say I live in London: 'You don't live in York?! But you're a regular!' Oh. Now, how did that happen? While I was there I bought some Noro for my Secret Pal, and some very short 2.5mm Brittany Birch dpns that I'm hoping I'll be able to smuggle onto the 11.5 hour flight to San Francisco in two weeks. If I can't knit it's going to be a very looooong flight :o/

On Sunday Miles and I decided to cook breakfast. Well, I said I'd make some pancakes and he decided we needed bacon, sausages and onions to eat with them. I'm sure there's some (male) logic in there somewhere!

Here's Miles looking very domesticated, though a little scary, while chopping onions for my breakfast.

We went for a lovely short walk to the village store for local sausages then returned to cook them and the pancakes. I made the mixture and Miles flipped them. You have no idea how difficult it was to get a pancake action shot!The rest of the day was spent relaxing before I got the train home last night. I did manage to get a few rows of sock knitting done on Saturday evening while we watched a dvd but I haven't done as much as I would have liked recently.

I'm currently knitting the foot a the second sock of a pair I started, er, in November. I've finished the back and almost the front of a Miss Bea cabled toddler-sized dress, and I've knitted half a set of gifts for Jen's Mini-Impressionknits, due towards the end of March. I've also bought some lovely yarn and patterns recently, while spending large chinks of my Saturdays in Stash Yarns in Putney, which is my absolute favourite place right now.

Right, I'm going to go and do some knitting, and take some photographs of the projects on the needles, and some of the lovely yummy yarn I've bought recently. If I say that I'll blog tomorrow, will that make it happen?

I've missed blogging and it's good to be back. Next time, I promise there will be knitting. Or yarn, at least :o)

His, His, and Hers...

Text to follow...

...All I will say, is that the last photo is what happens when you give your exhibitionist boyfriend the opportunity to photograph himself. I am not responsible for his actions!



*WOW*