roman sock

A lobster, Nefoundland yarn and some blogs

I have been using the gorgeous Newfoundland yarn that Monika sent me to knit up this little scarf. I paired it with a broach I made from a fossil bead I bought on etsy. It's the perfect accompaniment to the pouring rain that has been soaking Edinburgh for days. A little warm snuggly scarf guards against the cold and makes even the torrential rain seem fun!

I have also started this alpaca scarf. I love the fan pattern, its a bit lighter than the traditional fan and in this lace weigh alpaca is very soft and flowy. It is inspired by Moonstitches' Rhubarb scarf

In the spirit of the great blog show and tell, I thought I would share some of mine. I really enjoy reading everyones' and have added so many to my google reader that I'm struggling to get through them each day!

So here they are... Just a small selection (I love so many!) I have tried to give a wide variety not just my crochet crushes...

Kinoko : This young lady is making simply stunning things. What an eye! I think her Charlotte is just about the most ethereal thing ever crocheted. She has also introduced me to all sorts of new baking!

Moonstitches : I am in awe of this blog. Everything about it is just so beautiful. Her color combinations are just astounding, and the whole blog has the most glorious look and feel.

Queer Joe's Knitting Blog : This blog always makes me laugh! What amazing projects. I am not a knitter, but every post makes me want to learn!

Q.D Patooties: Just about the cutest bears known to man, and now crocheted sock monkeys! Who could want more.

Soto Softies : I am a bonfide fan of Maritza's work. It is just sheer joy. I have also been enjoying her new blog  Inside the Softie Machine that gives an insight into the world behind the amazing softies. 

Owlishly: I am also a long time Owly fan. Her new softie Lana is just adorable. A little girl dressed as a sheep. How astoundingly cute is that.

Figs with Bri: Every post from Bri just makes me drool. I wish I could have her eating experiences or one day try her food a single time. Even her photographs are good enough to eat.

Living the Simple Life I Want: I have a dream to live the simple life, and I am learning how to save and spend less from this blog. It really is an inspiration. As is Irish Sally Garden; although sometimes it makes me hurt, I just want that life so badly. 

Lucky Beans: This blog reminds me of my childhood. I grew up in Africa, amongst other places, and with every post I can even smell it when I read. It's amazingly evocative for me.

Craftybits: June's blog was the first I started to read. It has a wealth of knowledge on it, and is great for the beginner crocheter.

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As some of you may know... I have a new job and will soon move to a new city - though Glasgow isn't really that far away. I am going to really miss my old job and my colleagues, but I have this amazing photo to remember them all by. It was taken many years ago and no one can remember by who or where, but it is of a baby lobster just before it is released from a hatchery. How cute is that! Can crustaceans be cute? I think so. I guess it is a bit like me! Heading into the unknown.

Penguins can be difficult

I have been working away trying to make a baby penguin, but sometimes what seems simple is actually very hard. Gosh, I think I may have just learned a life lesson...while I remember.

I did my usual little doodle of this guy, but for some reason I just couldn't get him to come out right! So many, many, many versions later... and quite a few feverish crochet fueled dreams... here is the little fellow.

In a traditional icy environment acting in a traditional penguin way.

Suddenly transported to the tropics! A Penguin with a hunger for a different way of life. Clearly a lover of tropical fruit and relaxing days in the sun. Why put up with the ice and snow when you don't have to?

A penguin asking if his bum looks big?? Now I have seen everything.

Looks like he can wave too... Is there no end to his human-isms??

 

Soon he will be bundled off to his new owner. I hope he will make her happy.

I have the first free weekend for ages. So I hope I will be able to get a fair bit of crocheting done, and will try to get another pattern finished.

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I wanted to tell you a little about Marian, she a very cool 6 year old craft artist. Marian is preparing for a bone marrow transplant in March, and is working to raise money to keep herself occupied in a crafty way while she recovers, and then to help an amazing project called Caitlin's Smiles. You can read all about Marian's exploits on her blog: http://imacraftartist.blogspot.com/

She makes amazing snow globe necklace kits which recycle her medical supplies (The tutorial has even been published on Whipup.net) you can buy them from her mum's shop here: Purple Petunia (Amazing pottery too!)

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I also recently found this amazing crochet link: http://www.mypicot.com/ A wealth of gorgeous free crochet patterns ( Mainly lace, stitches and granny squares) Simple divine! 

Lots begun......nothing done

Somehow I have managed to start so many projects that I have got no where with any of them! How does that happen sometimes? I have spent a lot of time reading Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Let_Me_Go

What an amazingly intense book. It's set in a slightly darker version of the 1990's at a 'boarding school'. I think the wider plot is fascinating but it's the intricacies of those relationships that you form as a child that really astound me.

It brings back memories of how some people are so magnetic that the whole school or class revolves around them: how you can be totally blinded by someone; and when things that you make up eventually feel real. It's a great book! Well worth the read.

Natural fiber makes me go completely insane! I love it so much ... but my very very favorite is Alpaca. Honestly the word doolaly comes to mind. The amazing Monika sent me this little mountain of Alpaca and other fibers and I am in love. I could just pet it all day. Sometimes I wish yarn could stay this way for ever in a little fluffy silken balls, so soft and cuddly! In the mix was the most gorgeous yarn I have ever seen.

It is so silky soft, fluffy and warm! It's made from a Newfoundland Dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_%28dog%29. How cool is that! I love Newfoundlands and have always wanted one, but you need lots of land and water... I have neither.

There were other treasures too

This beautifully alpaca is from her own herd! All the yarn is labeled with the name of the animal it came from.

This is from Annika and Rudy

I am just overwhelmed! Thank you Monika!

I treated myself to a tiny bit of yarn from Posh Yarns http://www.poshyarn.co.uk/. It is my absolute favorite colour. I am not sure what to do with it yet. ... It's bad to buy yarn without a project, isn't it....

I also have this on the go...

 

Tortoise Power! And a Manta Ray Pattern

At last the Manta Ray has emerged for a peek around. You can download the pattern here: http://littlegreen.typepad.com/romansock/a-manta-ray.html

He is easily the simplest of all my patterns, and takes about 2 hours to make - the extra time just because he is a tad bigger. The two of them together look really cool! I need to make a whole shoal. The pattern has the instructions for the Manta Ray only, but I'll soon put something together so that you can make some fishy friends.

I spent my teenage years in Greece, and one of the two things most people don't know about Greece is that it is choc-a-block full of tortoises. We used to have them in our garden, and would take out all our leftover veg to feed them with. Sometimes you would even find abandoned babies, these we would raise ourselves feeding them on softened cat biscuits. They seemed to like it!

Seeing them in all stages of development was just incredible. I liked to lie down on the grass and get my face right up close to one and feed it. They would tug the food right from my fingers and look at me with these very wise but playful eyes. (The other thing is that it snows)

Crochet Along  http://crochetalong.wordpress.com   is all about the granny square this month. So I wondered if I could combine the Granny square and the tortoise. With these results.

On the chicken subject yet again. I watched Jamie's Fowl Dinners on Friday. What an astounding program. It totally changed the way I thought about the process of farming animals. I had no idea that they culled all the little male chicks with gas. It was so emotive, but as a meat eater I felt it was my duty to watch it and to try to understand truly what goes into the food on my plate. http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/jamie-oliver/jamies-fowl-dinners/

Serious Chicken

I know this blog is usually full of fun and frolics... but Hugh’s Chicken Run has incited me to action. The food industry is complicated and perverse; I should know, analysing it is my bread and butter. I agree wholeheartedly with Hugh, we should all try to buy free range. Making food go a little father and respecting the fact something had to die to feed us, should be second nature. And making sure that creature had a good life, well that’s just human.

However, there was one point that I felt was missing from the program. Retailers just want to make money and they are as happy making their profit from free range meat as they are from standard products. If the demand from consumers is there, retailers’ shelves will mirror it.  If Tesco with their 1000+ stores saw uplift in demand for free-range meat, it would fundamentally change the way meat is farmed for us to eat.

We have the power to change it. Consumer power!!!

Sign up here: http://www.chickenout.tv/

In less serious news...

I was very excited to see that q.d.patooties is going to have an Easter parade! How cool. All the details are here on her blog: http://qdpatooties.blogspot.com/2008/01/1st-annual-softie-easter-parade.html

I also got two most exciting packages in the mail!

Thank you so much Vanessa and Comfits!!! I am truely spoilt. Vanessa, you should recognise lots of the darling craft bits you sent me, in posts to come.

A ray in soup

I once had an exhilarating experience with a ray...When I was very young, my parents took us to the Maldives, before it really became a popular tourist destination. At that time, the hotel on the island we visited was just a couple of huts on the beach. It was a glimpse of paradise that has stayed with me always. I can still see the plethora of beautiful colours, bright yellows, greens and reds. The classic combination of the azure blue ocean and the white sand has been immortalised many times, but it truly is a sight to behold.

It was a trip of many mishaps. I lost the specially purchased underwater camera (then spent the rest of day crying and swimming around randomly trying to look for it), my dad was bitten by a Grouper (Then my Mum claimed that Groupers don't bite, and went to investigate herself- where she promptly got bitten too). I managed to get a rather large amount of sand in my ears that took years to grow out. But it was fun!

One day I was snorkeling along looking at brightly coloured fish, when slowly the sea bed turned dark. At first I looked up because I thought it was a shadow, but soon I saw it was moving - a massive ray. I have never felt quite so dwarfed and certainly never so humble. I watched it swim of into the distance, knowing that I would probably never get to see anything so amazing again.

 

So this little chap was inspired by that ray. He started of like most of my work does, as a little doodle, and soon grew into a (badly) crocheted first draft. Although, as soon as he was finished, I realised I had made yet another mistake. Giraffes have blue tongues and rays have different mouths! Now I will have to rework it. Oh well. As my Great Oma said if you don't use your head you use your legs!

I had a pivotal taste reawakening at lunchtime today. I had forgotten how heavenly this nectar of the gods was. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup...

Takes you right back to being eight. And only 200 calories a bowl! Why did I ever stop eating it!

The Caterpillar Box and Friends

First of all, big thank you to you all for making my year just so amazing! The friendship, encouragement and advice has meant the world to me. I wish you all the most amazing year of your life yet!

Here in Scotland they often say you need to start the year as you mean to continue. So I thought I had better get a little organized. But being me, I need help. So, on cue, here comes the Caterpillar Box.

It is a series of boxes that I can keep my bits and pieces in that can stack up high or just stay small. I rather like it, and it has been very useful so far. A veritable Mary Poppins: it makes tidying a game.

Now the Caterpillar boxes need what can only be described as a spoonful of sugar, because it was starting to be all organizing and no fun. So appeared the Butterfly Cake box. I love cupcakes, but for me the true star of the show is the butterfly cake. They might have exactly the same ingredients but I always thing they taste just a little bit better.

It is made from three layers, with a particular purpose in mind - to keep my very little safety eyes in.

Finally, because we all need to grow up a bit, there is the Flower box. It is a tiny bit more elegant but equally useful. I think i will put my earrings in in it.

So this is how I have been spending my new year so far. I also went to see the Golden Compass last night! Incredible.... not very loyal to the book, but what an emotional whirl. Thrilling! Though I left feeling that it is incredibly unlikely that we will see the next two books, as the plot has been distorted so much.