Oatcake

This weekend I posted quite a lot of pictures of the wedding I went to and of the coast. I also took this picture of my Monday brunch.

For those who don't recognise it, that is a Derbyshire oatcake. It's not like the biscuity Scottish oatcakes, but is more like crumpet in texture. Tesco sells Shropshire oatcakes, which are similar, though slightly thinner and drier (not sure if that's just because they're prepacked). My mum gave me these ones, which I think she bought in Chesterfield (my parents live in the south of Sheffield). There's also a little shop in Sheffield, near the old markets where they can be bought. I don't often get to have them. I know it looks a bit plain and boring but there's something really comforting about putting them under the grill for a few minutes then smothering them with butter. Yum!

Anyway, when I went to look at my Flickr photos yesterday I found that the oatcake had had by far the most views out of any of my recent posts. The others are catching up with it now, but it made me wonder if there are some Derbyshire Oatcake fetishists out there who honed in on the photo.

Had a good time in the Forth last night. I could actually hear what people were saying and the place was much less smokey than normal. Really looking forward to WoolFest now.

Apologies for the recent lack of knitting on this blog. I am working on secret things at the moment. Pictures will appear soon.

Bank Holiday

Despite the bad weather yesterday, which included hail, the afternoon turned out to be quite pleasant. We went to Tynemouth and walked along the beach. It was 12 degrees C and quite windy. The waves were fantastic. Walking along the pier meant running the gaunlet of splashing sea water. We did OK on the way out but got a proper soaking on the way back. I tried to catch the waves breaking over the wall. My camera is slow to react and I'm just a bit unlucky. This is the best that I did.

Crochet Straight from the Sheep

The Sociable Traveller

Recently train travel on a Sunday has been rather unpleasant. Every week the time table is different and I often have to make 3 changes, taking over 4 hours to travel to Leicester. Yesterdays was the worst in a while, with a coach to Darlington, followed by a train to Doncaster, then a little regional train to Sheffield (the seats on those things always smell of sweat) and finally a packed Midland Mainline train to Leicester.

I have also noticed that I've talked to less people on my recent journeys and I am beginning to wonder why that is. I used to chat to at least one person per trip, but now people will hardly make eye contact with me, let alone chat. Is it because I now do this journey so frequently that I look like an angry commuter rather than an approachable traveller? Is my knitting reppelling people? Am I just so absorbed in knitting, or reading or whatever than I never give anyone the opportunity? The only thing I can see that is different is that I had my hair cut short, but surely that can't be it. Do short haired women look less friendly than long haired ones?

It bothers me a bit. I used to enjoy meeting people on the train and having a bit of a chat. Often I found that people would start conversations with me about what I was knitting or reading. It passes the time on. I hate the enforced silence you get when you're in such close quarters with strangers. Maybe I'll try harder to look approachable next time and see what happens.

Saturday's alright for...

For several weeks now I've been meaning to go along to the Cenutrion Knitters on a Saturday. It sounds like good fun and I'd really like to meet more knitters and actually be able to talk to them (rather than shouting at them over the loud music in Forth, on a Tuesday night). I think I've mentioned before that I feel bad missing out of spending Saturdays with Graeme when I am away so much. Anyway, I woke up yesterday morning and was feeling kind of twitchy, wondering whether to go out knitting or do something else. I finally came to the conclusion that Graeme was more important to me than knitting, which gives Graeme very high standing. ;) I'll have more time to go in September when I stop travelling to Leicester every week and since the group seems in a healthy state and unlikely to fold, I might as well wait till then.

So Graeme and I walk down into town, did a bit of shopping and went down to the Baltic. On the way I burned my mouth on a Gregs pasty and found some expensive (by my standards) Merrell sandals which I want to buy. The Baltic has this Space-Time tunnel on the top floor at the moment.
I quite enjoyed it but I don't know if it really lived up to the 15 minute wait. My idea of a spacetime tunnel is somewhat different from a wiggly newspaper/iron structure with lots of TVs in it.

Lower down there were some paintings made up of a series of coloured squares. You've got to admire the patience of the guy who painstakingly filled in each tiny square in the special order, but really it looks no better than noisy radar data plotted on a pastel colour scale. This picture makes it look better than it actually was.

My favourite exhibition was the photogrphy one (Sam Taylor Wood). Some fantastic images of people. I thought of all of them it was the most interesting and accessible to the general public. I particularly liked the stop-motion films of fruit and meat decaying (fascinating), and the shots of people mid-sommersault.

Another interesting one was a movie, showing people in the pub. At first glance it looks like a still, because no one is moving, but then you realise the cigarette in the foreground is smoking. Bizzarre to look at. Definitely worth a visit. You should pop into the coloured square too and thank heaven you have something a little more useful to do with your life.

In the evening I made an aubergine bake and we watched Eurovision. I was hoping Lithuania would win, but Finland winning was almost as good. Any group who sings about the day of rockening and the arockalypse deserve rockognition in my oppinion.

Subversive Cross Stitch

Isn't it amazing what you can discover on a trip to the Baltic Mill. http://www.subversivecrossstitch.com/

Professor Branestawm

We were having dinner with some friends last night and the conversation got around to old children's books and tv shows we remembered from our childhood. Dave made some reference to someone being like Professor Brainstorm and I suddenly remembered the series of books I borrowed from our local library about this skatty professor character. It turns out Dave had been read the same books by his dad, but Graeme and Krista had never heard of them. I decided to do a search to this morning for some more details. After some confusion I worked out that it is actually spelt Branestawm, not Brainstorm. They were written by an actor called Norman Hunter and began life as plays on the radio. I found a few of the original illustrations online. Here is the professor himself:

You can read more about the books in the Hitch Hikers Guide

I remember really liking the books. I borrowed some of tapes from the library too and listened to them repeatedly. I wonder whether I was attracted to them because I liked science and inventions of if I liked the stories and they encouraged me to be interested in such things. I'd love to read them again. It does seem a bit self-indulgent to buy myself childrens books. I might have a look for them in town later. I could always save them for younger visitors to enjoy.

Pants

I think I am going to have to write this off as a bad week. The job interview really started it off badly (I'm guessing I haven't got that since they haven't called. Just have to wait for the letter.). All week I've been feeling very hormonal. I keep forgetting things, getting confused and feeling miserable, angry and emotional in turn. On Wednesday my friend's baby son was rushed into hospital to have some metal removed from his lungs. It turned out to be a piece of wire. Who knows how it got there? He does have a fondness for putting things into his mouth. It was quite worrying for a while. He's fine now, thank goodness. I think next week will be better. I don't have any job interviews to do which is always good.

Anyway, I think all this has affected my knitting. I've been wanting to knit the Tendrils pattern from Knitty as a present for someone. I wanted to do it without the beads because I didn't think the recipient would be keen on them and after all the pattern says "the stole could be knit without beads for an entirely different look". I had trouble geting started with it due to my mood. I've knitted a few rows now and after um'ing and ah'ing for a couple of days I've decided just to scrap it. I don't like the colour or the look of the pattern knitted this way. I don't really want to spend the next couple of weeks working on something I really don't like.

I'm not sure at the moment whether to frog it and make something else with the yarn or save it in case I feel like it later. Perhaps anything I'd started while I was in a bad mood this week would have been doomed to failure anyway. I'm going to start afresh with my knitting and my mood.

Worrying Hannah Persecution

My cousin Gill sent me this link today www.killhannah.com. I am now wondering what she's been typing into Google. Beware Hannahs everywhere!

My First Cable

After a long time of avoiding cable projects through some misapprehension that it would be difficult, I finally decided to have a go. I started knitting a cable cardigan from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book 3 weeks ago and I finished it off this evening.

It will soon be winging it's was to Graeme's niece Isla, in Surrey. I hope she likes it. I'm not really sure what the fashion concious babies are wearing this season.

I have been very strict with myself and haven't allowed myself to start anything new while I've been doing this. I decided 2 active projects at a time is enough. Though I suppose the sock has been somewhat neglected since I didn't bother to take it to Leicester last week. Anyway, I'm now allowed to start something new, which is always fun. I do have a bit of a queue of projects waiting to go. The first being a little bag to go with my outfit for my cousin's wedding in two weeks time. I think I might crochet it for a change. Shouldn't take too long anyway.

Tomorrow I have my job interview at the British Geological Survey. Wish me luck...

You know it's Summer when......

you sit outside for your lunch and then by 6pm you are covered in heat rash and eczema. Who can blame me for forgetting sun cream in early May? Grrr.....

Missing the boat

For a few weeks now I've been trying to get myself to the Centurian Knitting and to the Knit and Natter in the Cumberland Arms, which both take place on a Saturday. I really want to go, but one of the things that stops me is that I've either just arrived back from a week in Leicester the day before, or I'm just about to leave for a week in Leicester the day after. We're often busy during the week when I am in Newcastle and it seems wrong to miss out on the opportunity of having a day out together.

Anyway, yesterday we ended up doing nothing in particular and so I thought I'd pop along to the Cumberland in the afternoon and meet up with everyone. Admittedly I got there a little late (about 1.40pm) because I got a bit carried away with my lunch, but there was noone there. :(   In fact the only people in the pub were the bar staff. Not a knitter in site, which is pretty bad form since it was on the events leaflet. All was not totally lost because Graeme had walked with me to show me the way from the City Stadium (Ouseburn Park), so he stayed and we had a drink in the beer garden. Not much knitting got done though.

I freely admit this was all due to laziness on my part for not walking down to Centurian to meet people. This is just typical of how my life seems to have been for the past few years. Wanting to be in several places at once and missing out on one thing for another. Maybe that's just what being a grown up is like.

I think I'll try again another week and see if I can actually catch someone there. One good thing was that I've been meaning to visit the Cumberland Arms for a long time but never made before. I quite liked the place. I think I might try and go one evening to see what it's like with customers.

May the forth be with you

Happy Star Wars Day everyone.

My mum informed me last night that at two minutes and 30 seconds past one this morning it would be 01:02:03 04/05/06. Something which won't happen again in our lifetimes. I thought it was worth celebrating but unfortunately I missed it because I was fast asleep.

Clover Cardigan

I never had chance to mention the clover cardigan I knitted, which is now finished. I finished it last weekend (it nearly made me late for Leanne's Birthday meal) but I needed to block it. The trim was sticking up at a funny angle at the back.

I never appreciated before how hard it is to take a picture of yourself wearing a jumper/cardigan.

Socks

I've known how to knit since I was a kid, but until recently the only knitters I'd ever had any contact with (or rather knitting-related contact) were my mother and grandma. I liked doing lots of different crafts so I didn't really spend that much time on knitting in particular. I only started knitting in ernest during my PhD and I didn't really begin to meet and talk to other knitters until after my PhD had ended.

One of the things that surprised me most was the number of people that are obsessed with knitting socks. It's easy enough to think that sock obsessive bloggers may just be total weirdos in real life, but when you meet seemingly normal people who are into you start to wonder what's going on.

I find the whole idea bizzarre. Socks look like such boring garments to knit, with nearly all of it being stocking stitch and the added boredom of having to do two the same. I also have issues with knitting in the round. I knit the Scottish way, with one needle stuck under my right arm, the left needle moved around with my left hand and my right hand free to move the yarn. I find this way really quick, but it means that it's difficult for me when I can't stick the right needle under my arm.

Anyway, after avoiding it for a long time and one aborted attempt, I decided to give it a proper go. After a slow, frustrating start I am beginning to get the hang of it. To my irritation I actually like it.

Is this the start of a new obsession? It could be socks, hats and mittons for everyone this Christmas.

Waiting

I wouldn't describe myself as a very impatient person, but I'm not really all that good at waiting for stuff. If I am working on something myself I like to get it done as soon as I can. I don't do it at the expense of quality but if I've got a definite goal to reach I'll work until I get it finished. So, I find it hard when I have to wait for other people to do things, especially when there's no reason for the delay.

Some people might find this a bit sad, but since I found out that Debbie Stoller was bringing out a Stitch n Bitch crochet book (The Happy Hooker) I've been waiting to be able to buy it. The UK release date was Monday 24th April. It if officially out here now. I called Waterstones and Borders at the start of the week. They both have copies on order but they haven't arrived. Every time I ring they suggest I ring the next day but still nothing has arrived. Now I feel slightly cheated. 3 months of expectant waiting has come to nothing. It shouldn't be a problem really because it's not like I am planning a massice crochet project which relies on having this book or anything. I just know I'll enjoy reading it. I feel like I've been denied a treat I was promised. I hope it arrives soon. I think I'll phone some Newcastle bookshops and ask them to reserve me a copy when it comes in.

(Before anyone suggests it, I know I could order it online but I know it would either arive in Newcaslte when I was in Leicester and end up getting sent back or something or it would arrive in Leicester when I was in Newcastle and I'd end up having to wait an extra week for it anyway.)

Just in case anyone was wanting to see the finished toffee crisp here it is

We ate the majority of it last night at Atousa's house along with Jafzilla. Jafzilla tasted quite like an authentic jaffa cake (I know it doesn't look that good). The toffee crisp was nice but the toffee wasn't quite runny enough. I think the toffee crisp was actually the most realistic of the two. Anyway, we learned some valueable lessons for next time. Pimpin'

Update on the Happy Hooker: After ringing round a few bookshops in Newcastle I finally got someone at Borders to ring the suppliers and find out why SnB Crochet hasn't arrived anywhere yet. It turns out they are reprinting and they won't be done until the 7th May. I don't know if some places have it and some haven't or if nowhere in the UK has it. Pretty stupid way to carry on if you ask me. How hard can it be? It's already been out in North America for a month.

Procrastination

This week I am trying for the title of Queen of procrastination. I don't think I am quite there yet. I think at the moment I am just a Dame of procrastination, or a knave of procrastination, since I have actually done some work today. I am trying to write a paper and for some reason nothing is coming out. Maybe this is all part of the organic process of writing and maybe my brain is actually doing something while my attention is elsewhere. At least I've managed to fill the remaining holes under the bay window so we can paint them later. I've also made a lovely list of materials I need to make various secret baby items. I have browsed a number of knitting blogs and am currently trying to stop myself from looking at online yarn shops. I haven't stooped so low as getting my knitting out, but that might be due to the boring 52.5" of 1x1 rib on 13 stitches which I meant to be knitting, rather than my will power. I am now going to concentrate for 20 minutes.

p.s. I am loving my new short hair and am wishing I'd had it cut months ago.

Holiday Withdrawl Symptoms

I was feeling pretty gloomy yesterday morning. Post-holiday blues coupled with PMT. It's strange to go back to it being just the two of us after being with my family all week.

Easter Sunday is a weird day. Everything is shut like at Christmas, but unlike Christmas it isn't required that you spend the entire day couped up with your family, stuffing your face and watching rubbish on TV. So, what to do? We had various chores that needed doing around the house, but most of them required a trip to a DIY shop (which was shut). It was sunny outside. Graeme suggested we go along to the coast, to Seaton Suice where it might not be so crowded. I think this was partly a move to combat our coastal withdrawl symptoms and partly to put a stop to my tidying (I moved all his shoes).

I'd only been to Seaton Sluice once before. My memory was that it was a bit grim. I was quite surprised when we got there. The beach is lovely and long. The sand is redish. At the northern end you can see the wind generators on Blyth peer and some other industrial stuff but it doesn't look terrible. We had a lovely walk along the beach, all the way to the windmills. On the way back we stopped in at the icecream parlour. I was curious to see what it was like. About 7 years ago, when I was in halls of residence, I knew a girl who used to go on about how nice the icecream was there. I wondered if it lived up to her discription. It was good icecream. Not too sweet. I had a scoop of lemon and a scoop of fruits of the forest. Yum! I recommend it. They also do fish and chips, which looked tasty.

When we got back near the carpark we topped to fly my lovely Seahouses kite.

I felt much better when we got home. We had shark steak for dinner. I bought them in Craster,at the kipper factory. I've never had shark before. I quite liked it. I did it in an anchovy, mushroom and white wine sauce, with new potatoes and steamed baby spinach.

I didn't feel so bad today. We ended up doing the chores I mentioned. We began preparing the render at the front of the house for painting. I planted some heathers in pots to put at the front with U1 and U2, our yew trees. Then we had kippers for tea, with brown basmati rice and grilled veg (corgettes, bell peppers, onions and tomatoes). We bought the kippers from Craster too. I found out last week that kippers were 'invented' in Seahouses. Someone left a fire burning over night by mistake in a shed where some split herring was hanging. In the morning they found the 'ruined' fish. Someone tried the fish and found them to be quite tasty. The kipper was born. Mistakes aren't always bad.

Graeme finished off the rollmops and salmon pate we bought from Seahouses for lunch. That's all the holiday food nearly gone. We just have a piece of smoked haddock left. Then it will be back to normal (sigh!). I have to say, I really enjoyed my holiday. I don't think I've felt so relaxed since I started writing my thesis, over a year ago. I still have tommorrow off, then it's back to work. I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck into the paper I'm writing. Wonder how long that will last. :)

Packing

Things to take on a weeks holiday:

1. Clothes, toiletries and other boring things

2. Books to read. This time it's The Shipping News to start off with and possibly something borrowed from Graeme's collection which I haven't chosen yet.

3. DVDs to watch (Howel's Moving Castle and The Joy Luck Club)

4. Completed pieces of and stuff to finish the clover leaf lace wrap cardigan from SnBN. Only 1.5 sleeves and the edging to go.

5. Terrible brown chunky knit cardigan I knitted over Christmas which turned out about 5 sizes too big and looks awful on me. I intend to pull it to bits, since no sane human being is ever going to wear it. The yarn is a pretty cheap wool, acrylic blend. I will either make a smaller skinny jumper that actually fits, or use it to make some cushion covers. I have come to the conclusion that chunky doesn't suit me.

6. Six skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk in a lovely blue-green colour (forget the name). I might just sit and stroke it. I almost don't want to make anything from it in case I mess it up, because it's such lovely yarn. It makes me think of shallow sea or a calm lake on a lovely warm day.

7. Assorted needles and the usual knitting accessories.

8. 101 knitting stitches book (or whatever it's called) and other assorted knitting books for browsing and inspiration.

By the looks of it I am going to spend the entire week knitting. Maybe appropriate if the current weather is anything to go by. We're going to Beadnell on the Northumbria coast. I think there are a couple of wool shops in Alnwick so I can alwasy stock up if I run out. ;)

Meant to go down to the Cumberland Arms this afternoon and meet up with some of the North East knitters, but Graeme rang me to say that he's finished the work he needed to do, so it looks like we're going to set off early. By the time I'd have arrived the pub it would have been time to come back. Hopefully I'll make it another time.

I don't think I've been so excited about going on holiday for ages.

Emergency Vest

OK. So this is my emergency vest. I am very proud of it. I searched high and low for a top to match that skirt for a wedding I was going to and eventually knitted my own. It was kind of a last minute thing. I began it last Thursday at 10 pm and finished it on Saturday morning at 11 am. The wedding reception was at 7.30 pm and I had a million other things to do that day. I made the pattern up as I went along, which meant I could actually increase properly to accommodate my ample bosom. I think I might make some proper straps for it when I have a bit more time and yarn (I was running out by that point).

Some detail

I think I might knit a few more things for myself, but next time I'll allow a bit more time. The lesson I learned from this is, if you know what you want then knit it yourself because the chances are noone will have done it for you.