In The News: EU Politics in Knitted Form

Doing the rounds yesterday was this, one knitter's stance on EU politics. Going viral, the pictures reveal knitted dolls resembling Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy et al engaging in high level political negotiations. In another, my personal favourite, a knitted figure akin to Silvio Berlusconi hosts what appears to be a Bunga-Bunga Party. Could that be the beautiful but ill-fated Ruby the Heart Stealer?

Strange yet compelling, all at the same time!

Gotta Love Croydon

For years, Croydon in south London has been the subject of much ridicule. Despite incubating the talent of two world famous supermodels in the '90s, and hosting an efficient transport interchange and an IKEA superstore; the densely populated metropolis is more widely associated with featureless concrete commercial buildings and teen mums. To its credit and to my surprise, I discovered today that Croydon has a crochet square named after it! And here it is, papped nonchalantly on its creator's fair laminate flooring. Gotta love Croydon.

Mustering all my patience and courage, I plan to have a stab at a similar afghan granny square soon. Will keep you posted.

Before I go, here's a snap of mum's hat. It turned out lovely, don't you think? She's more of an old skool knitter so I don't think her pattern came from cyberspace. However, I'm sure if readers were keen to replicate it, someone is bound to have added a similar pattern to Ravelry's patterns section.

Reflection

Well, it's that time of year again when people start saying they're going to join a gym or give up smoking. Being the Doubting Thomas I am I usually struggle to feign interest when people tell me this; but then, with my empathetic side intervening at the last possible moment, I manage to utter a few encouraging words: "Good for you!"

With a fondness for reflection, I myself have been wondering, what will 2012 bring and what, if anything, should I change about my life next year?

Well, with 2011 going into my Room 101, I decided there's definitely space for a whole lot more fun next year and that's about as far as I've got.

And speaking of fun, once I've brought my PC back from it's comatose state (yes, it's still poorly and in need of a geeky once-over), I will be able to share pics of my new knitted footstool and mum's cosy hat. Yes, that's right, the pouffe is finished and it actually looks rather good!

Revelling in the relaxing and cosy bubble that is Christmas week, I have no qualms about enjoying a few more days rest before January rudely interrupts us all next week.

Have fun. Surround yourself with people that make you happy. Create things. Gx

Having a Cool Yule

Our Christmas Day went smoothly, with my mince pies and homemade ice cream receiving high praise! Mum completed a burgundy Donegal yarn hat, whilst I spent a couple of hours continuing to knit the pouffe. To my envy, mum also received a set of ergonomic Japanese crochet hooks.

Next week I plan to experiment with my fabulous new purple sewing machine, crochet and mochimochi (a Japanese word, meaning knitted toys) books. Bliss!

Here's my sister-in-law opening her presents on Christmas Day...

Step by Step

The pouffe is coming along lovely! I'm delighted by it's chunkiness and the texture reminds me of wattle and daub or something medieval. What do you think?

The Spectacle

"Oh what a night.." as the '70s classic goes. I got in at about 3am after a work night out so am blogging from my bedside as I smile to myself, recalling my evening of shenanigans. At one point last night I took it upon myself to enforce a strict podium policy, "If you're not here to dance, get off the podium!"

As anticipated, my rust coloured trilby was passed around the club as everyone tried it on. Seems I'm not too old to party after all. Oh dear.

Anyway, back to reality... Today is my last day off before Christmas so I really need to get the food shop sorted for the big day. I'm also planning my Christmas knitting projects so I can have a bit of a craft lock-in at home with mum.

I'm glad to hear that some of you have been amused by my invitation to go on Location, Location, Location. It is a shame that we can't do it and if I'd brushed up my knitting skills a bit more I could have used it as an opportunity for some blatant product placement... maybe..?!

Barking Mad

Yes, it's a dog's life! I spotted this in Crochet Patterns Today and just had to share it! I don't know where the phrase 'Pug Ugly' comes from but in my view, pugs are super cute. Having seen this knitted mini marvel I am inspired to make a pug dog of my own one day. Design by GurumiORama on Etsy.

Star Baker

Here are my mince pies!

Other news today - you'll already know this if you follow me on Twitter - the Hubs and I have been invited to go on Location, Location, Location! The only problem is, we can't move at the moment so we will have to forego fame and fortune with Kirstie and Phil. In case you are wondering; yes, I am a bit gutted.

However, there has been plenty to amuse me over the last few days as I seem to have inadvertently turned into some kind of celeb magnet! On Saturday I ran into Linford Christie and today I met Jessie Wallace (Kat from EastEnders)! Micro G glitterati indeed. Upping the ante, I'm secretly hoping I'll bump into Brandon Flowers from The Killers tomorrow, but somehow I don't think that will happen. Hey-ho!

More crafty news on its way later in the week.

Tangled

My eventful week is now drawing to a close as I sit in a local Thai restaurant waiting for my aromatic starter (if I tell you which restaurant it is, it won't be a well kept secret anymore!).

A great deal of time has been invested in untangling my newly beige yarn today and I'm glad to say, the pouffe is now half complete!

As well as working full-time I've also been busy meeting people about other vacancies on my day off so I can't wait to put my feet up after Christmas Eve.

This morning I baked two batches of pecan mince pies in preparation for Christmas Day. Despite taking a risk and using a recipe from my Recipe Spinner iPhone app, I have to say, they taste rather good! "Who ate all the pies?!" I hear you cry. Well, actually I scoffed three or four, all in the name of science of course.

Better go, I can smell my starter!

Put your feet up

This week I spotted textured knitted cushions in both John Lewis and Laura Ashley, but of course I enjoy the challenge of making my own unique pieces.

Here's an update on my latest project... I've finally made a start on my foot stool and have included images below of the newly dyed yarn and my first few rows: 35 stitches in garter stitch on circular needles. As you can see, it's very dense and chunky so will hopefully be really thick and hard wearing when it's finished. I can't remember whether I included a link to the pattern previously, but here it is just in case. The pattern suggests stuffing it with duvets but I plan to use two pillows instead, depending on how large it is.

Well, I'm off to a Christmas pub lunch now. Enjoy your day!

Cold on the outside, warm on the inside

Isn't it lovely when someone else's good fortune brightens up your day? I can at last report that baby Willson has been born. A healthy baby boy! Bonnet and mittens will shortly be in the post to 'mum', a good pal since my teens.

My beige yarn is now ready to be transformed into a pouffe and I spent this evening crocheting another navy DK bow to match the one I made.

Thanks to the festive season and the quick witted folk I've met at work, I'm feeling pretty cheery this week. Friendly banter... surely one of the simplest pleasures in life?

Manic Monday

Busily blogging before I start work! The two hanks of yarn I dyed yesterday came out beige but that's ok as it will still be more practical than the natural ecru tone that it was before. To get a strong colour I will have to use two or three packets of dye in future. It's quite exciting dying wool, I think I will be doing a whole lot more of this! Crochet with Raymond gives some fab examples of what can be achieved with a little patience and elbow grease. My yarn is still drying in the bathroom so I won't be able to start knitting the pouffe until later in the week now.

In terms of 'paper work', I also stumbled upon some free origami patterns on the web yesterday so will endeavour to make some hanging Christmas decorations when I get the chance. Hopefully I can squeeze this in between making mince pies and writing out Christmas cards, phew! I'm so looking forward to having a few days at Christmas to work through some projects, mum also plans to  make something on Boxing Day so we'll have a little production line going on.

Craftacular

Christmas is fast approaching! It's been great to hear about Craftacular in Bethnal Green on Sunday and all the other craft fairs taking place between now and the 25th December. If you haven't already lovingly crafted your own unique stocking fillers, you would have been spoilt for choice at Craftacular.

On Sunday I will begin making a knitted stool. The pattern for the pouffe looks very simple, so fingers crossed! As I mentioned before, I may dye the natural coloured yarn I have first. Hopefully it won't shrink too much, otherwise what's intended to be a stylish piece of home furnishing will end up the size of a pin cushion instead. Will keep you posted...