one good apple

Despite the fact that I’ve been on holiday last week I feel like I haven’t stopped at all.  Prague was amazing, beautiful architecture and fascinating history.  We must have walked for miles, up hill and down dale, eaten our own body weight in dumplings and actually appreciated how mild it is in England at this time of the year – it was hat, glove and scarf weather over there as my mum showed by modelling my self-made hat which is stretched out of all shape but deliciously warm and doesn’t squash my fringe,  

Suggestions that she resembled Benny in Crossroads were not appreciated.  On the home front, Sheldon the turtle from Knitty is coming along great, he’s a lovely pink colour and will be part of Ella’s birthday present.

He has been surprisingly easy to make – I wasn’t sure about him when I started but I actually enjoyed seeing the shell pattern develop and even though he currently only has one leg he’s already a hit with those who’ve been introduced to him.  I’ve also been working on my socks with the yarn gifted to me by my secret pal, which are so soft I can’t wait to wear them.  I’ve been told to expect another parcel this week so I’d better get cracking with them so I can post about them. Yesterday was another lazy Sunday – flea market then Sunday dinner.  Only problem was we forgot about the clocks going back and ended up outside the market an hour before it was due to open!  Well, we couldn’t stand outside in the cold and wait could we?!  One egg and sausage on toast later and we were ready to go…  And here, dear reader, is what I found,  

The shot glasses were £1.50 for four and even though I’m not even a shot drinker I couldn’t resist.  The frames are holding two of my purchases from Prague – a Much painting and a picture of the Golem created by Rabbi Loew in Prague’s Josefov.  There was so much lovely touristy stuff to buy but I still didn’t manage to spend all my pennies and ended up buying Toblerone in the airport on the way home.  The diet starts today…

I am officially on holiday for a week - hurrah!  Had the most incredibly strrrrressful day at school yesterday and practically ran out the door at the end of it giving thanks to the half term gods and wondering how the hell I’m going to last until Christmas…  I spent last night photgraphing my yarn stash and uploading them all onto Ravelry along with my needles and hooks.  I’d forgotten how much yarn I actually have, most of it 4 ply that was given to my mum by a friend who used to own a wool shop.  Other than socks I’m at a loss of what to do with it - answers on a postcard anyone?!

I am also in a mild state of Christmas panic at the moment after seeing how far along my secret pal is with her Christmas knitting.  She is roaring along like a steam train whereas I am plodding, and dragging my heels doing it at that.  I think my problem is that I like making things for menot other people, it goes back to being a spoilt brat before my sister was born I think, Larkin was right about your parents *^_^*

I have been thinking about what to make for the younger member of the family though and have been whipping up some little cupcakes to possibly go to my niece.  She likes sorting things into piles and naming things so a huge pile of these should keep her happy for at least twenty minutes on Christmas day!

I’ve also been looking at Sheldon from Knitty for the baby - her mum likes handmade stuff which is quite lucky!  I pink one, I think…

I’m off to Prague with my mum this week too - a trip we were meant to take in the summer but my step dad got ill the day we were due to fly so it was postponed until now.  I can’t wait, I haven’t been on holiday with my mum since I was a horrible teen and I don’t see much of her now I’ve moved away so it’ll be good to catch up and get spoilt!

The beer festival in Manchester was very weird - only one tent - and a bit of an anti-climax.  Luckily one of my friends went to uni in Manchester so she knew all the places to go.  We ended up in an underground bar that used to be a public toilet listening to Neil Young and drinking far too much ale.  I stumbled back home, passed out and had a VERY sore head in the morning.  Going to a 40th birthday party tonight and have decided that I will be matronly and sensible, especially as I may have to cope with Sunday dinner cooked by the boy’s mother tomorrow, a meal that is not for the faint-hearted…!

I’ve been absolutely exhausted this week.  It’s started getting darker in the mornings and its made such a huge difference to how I feel when I get up in the morning.  I’ve only got one more week of term left too and that’s a sure fire recipe for feeling tired.  At least the end is in sight!

I’ve been doing a lot of painting lately after John bought me a canvas and some acrylics a couple of weeks ago.  Hardly DaVinci but they make me smile,

My secret pal socks are coming along nicely, I’m going to Manchester later on today to see my best friend so I’ll work on them on the train.  I love getting the train as I’m always the driver at home and driving means that you can’t stare at scenery or people, just the road and the road and the road…  Plus when I get there I’m going to the beer festival which is another great reason to not have to drive home *^_^*

We also got a new addition this week - John’s niece’s hamster.  He’s called Rubus and very skittish at the moment but he and Donald are getting on like a house on fire so I think he’ll be happy here.  We nearly ended up getting another bunny this week too but eventually decided against - there’s not enough wallpaper in the house to cope with two of them!

I have plans to spend all day tomorrow knitting and crocheting so I will hopefully have something to show for it tomorrow evening.  Happy Saturday…!

Another lazy Sunday, making the most of the reasonable weather while we still have it. We spent the morning in a local flea market, parting with our hard earned cash in small doses. We took John’s nephew Dan along who is great fun, mainly because he isn’t yet at that awkward teenage boy stage and will do pretty much anything you want him to for a giggle. A case in point…

I also rooted out a throw that I’ve been working on - the edging in blue is all that needs finishing but I was desperate to see what it would look like all together so I sewed the edging that i have finished onto the main pink part of the throw in order to make it look like this,

And my socks using the yarn from my secret pal, it feels gorgeous, can’t wait to wear them… 

Here’s the quilt I was talking about earlier in all its clashing glory,

I think I’m going to try and find a single duvet in Asda and sew it into the cover in order to use it as a counterpane or some such thing.  In fact I’ve been buying so much knitting, crochet and sewing supplies that we ended up taking a trip out to Ikea a few weeks ago and buying shelves to store everything!

Other exciting news is that I’m now on ravelry - my username in emilylikesto - feel free to add me and look at the stuff I’ve got on there so far!