Category: Geeking

I’m back!

I did say I was going, didn’t I? I’ve been off in Manchester at the TRA Meet-Up 2007, which was the best con evah. Seriously. Actually, it was more like a pilgrimage than a convention – it wasn’t the kind where several hundred fans are packed into a hotel for a weekend and queued past actors. Which, hey, I’ve been to plenty of and enjoyed very much! But somehow this was better: there were just 50 or so of us, and we visited various filming locations, “met” the Camberwick Green puppet of Sam, and got to sit in the Cortina! So yes. Pretty much the best Life on Mars geekfest possible. There was even a party with fab 70’s style buffet food (and a pub quiz) on the Saturday night. The girls who organised it really went all out and made it a seriously memorable weekend for everyone, plus I met some lovely lovely people. Whee!

I got back down from Manchester on Wednesday evening at…. late-ish. I had to hang around in London for a while to avoid the rush hour – I did think about braving it, but I didn’t really fancy possibly standing all the way to Hastings with my backpack on. I was wiped out when I got home, so I kind of fed the cat and fell into bed at that point. Since then I’ve been (a) recovering and (b) working. Or is it the other way around? Nah, maybe not. ;-) I’m just in the process of ploughing through my email, so if you’re expecting to hear from me… I may be gone some time! Oh alright, I’m being over-dramatic. Hopefully I won’t take very long – at a quick glance I see I have mail from my SP to answer *waves*.

In knitting stuff, I did get a fair bit done on the train journeys, which was nice. I made my second Fetching, and a good start on my first Hedara sock. More about those later when I have photos to prettify the post. Listened to plenty of knitting podcasts, too, which enlivened the whole travelling thing. Hoorah!

I got my Yarn Yard club parcel yesterday, too. :-D I don’t think I mentioned last month’s, which I loved as well. This one is scrummy – I won’t describe it just yet in case there’s anyone reading (is there anyone reading? At all? *g*) who’s in the club and hasn’t had theirs. But it’s bright and delicious, and there were sweets in the package as well! Yum!! I think I definitely do want to use the accent quarter skein for toes and heels this time. I’m just not sure whether to make plain stst socks or do something with a little bit of a pattern / texture. I’ll think on it. And post photos in a couple of days when I’ve taken them.

Right now, though? Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Die Wolle!

Also! Ich kann nicht gut Deutsch spreche, aber wolle ich für einer blog Eintrag es versuchen. Ich habe aus BockstarkKnits einen Preis gewinnt! (And really, me writing this in German is silly, since the fab Kris who runs the site is actually an American expat.) Letze Samstag, es kam mit der Post: eine handgemacht strickendes Projekt Tasche, und ein schön Strang das grün Sockenwolle. Klasse!
So, yeah, if you didn’t get that, or are still in hysterics over my crappy grammar (please feel free to correct me, because I know I’m rubbish but I’m trying to re-learn!), what I’m trying to say is that I won this fabulous sushi-pattern handmade project bag and a skein of German indie-dyed yarn (from Tausendschön) in Kris’ last competition on her site. They arrived in the post last Saturday (yes, I know, I’m slow at posting about it!), and I love them :-) So hey, here’s a photo:

Mein Preis aus BockstarkKnits!

Close up of the inside - click for a larger versionI love the contrasting lining of the bag… and it’s kinda cool to have a fishy one, because woe, I can’t eat sushi (or any kind of seafood) because I seem to be allergic to it. But at least now I can look at it! Also, check out that lovely green yarn. I don’t know if Kris knew this before she sent it, but I loooove green, and this is a particularly yummy shade.
So in conclusion – yay! Thank you Kris! Vielen Danke!

Oh! Excitement! I won!!!

Duh, I know what I wanted to say! I AM A WINNA! And stuff like that. To my huge excitement, I won the prize draw that Kris ran on Bockstark Knits for a handmade sushi pattern project bag (kind of ironic, since fish makes me ill, but I’m quite happy to look at the stuff, after all! *g*) and a skein of German indie dyed sock yarn. Bweeeee!
I am a happy bunny. Tired. But happy!

[Listening to: Sticks and String – Show 12 – ]

Brain: unravelled.

Ravelry has completely eaten my brain. And my life. LJ went down the other day, and I totally didn’t notice. I used to live on that site. Not any more!! Seriously, it’s because I’m going through all the setting up part – once that’s done, it won’t be so time consuming. Not that I’m not having fun, because I am! *g* Plus, I’m getting organised at the same time, which is always good.
Anyway, it’s Blogathon day tomorrow, so I’m off to bed to get plenty of sleep in! I shall try and stop by tomorrow morning to do a sort of preparatory post.
Also, I have to remember to go and pick up some new batteries for my camera. It’ll kind of scupper my plan to take and post pics of my knitting throughout the 24 hours if the camera is dead, won’t it?…

Ravelry

I just found out, via the Posh Knitters group, that if you’re waiting for your Ravelry invite you can now check your status in the queue on their site. So I did! And….
“Found you!
* You signed up on June 3, 2007
* You are #6286 on the list.
* 72 people are ahead of you in line.
* 12965 people are behind you in line.
* 32% of the list has been invited so far”
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Only 72 people in front of me! Soon! Soon I can go and play ;-)
(But for now, I’m off to continue reading That Potter Book. I’m trying to take it slowly and savour the thing…)

I went to the animal fair

So, once again I’ve been mainly too busy to knit, as I’ve had my friend staying (we had a brilliant time), and then my aunt sadly died (she had cancer), so there was her funeral in Blackpool to go to – one of those bitter-sweet things where it’s not an occasion you want to be happening, but it is nice to be with the extended family. *sigh*
Once I was back from that, I was working on Purdyshop.com, which is an online store for handmade designer glass jewellery, belonging to one of my best friends. We got that finished and open on Friday – hoorah! There will probably be a few small tweaks needed, but all in all I’m pleased with it.
So, that means I have time to do other stuff again. Like knitting! In fact, as soon as I’ve finished writing this entry I shall be parking myself on the sofa with an mp3 player full of knitting podcasts, BP, and the Monkey socks. Yay!
BP needs a sleeve sewn on, then I have to pick up again and knit the edging. So, nearly done! At long last!! As for the Monkey socks, I’ve just finished the first one, so I’ll be casting on No. 2 once BP is finished. I really enjoyed the first one – I made a couple of slip ups due to not paying attention, but nothing disastrous. I’ll post pics of the process soon. I was going to do that tonight, but I’m impatient to get back to the actual knitting, so they’ll have to wait. Oh, except I already do have a photo of the first sock uploaded to the photo album when it was only a few rows ‘old’. I’ll put that in here then – here you go:

Continue reading “I went to the animal fair”

Must post more often!

I reeeeally have to remember to post here a bit more often! Heh. Although, I don’t think anyone’s exactly keeping an anxious eye out for my posts or anything! *g* Christmas is coming, as it does (once a year or so). I’m off to visit the parents for the period, but this time I have … Continue reading “Must post more often!”

I reeeeally have to remember to post here a bit more often! Heh. Although, I don’t think anyone’s exactly keeping an anxious eye out for my posts or anything! *g*

Christmas is coming, as it does (once a year or so). I’m off to visit the parents for the period, but this time I have a new and shiny way of getting there: I shall be driving down. In my own, brand new, rather spiffy, car! Woohoooo! I’m dead chuffed – I shall be collecting it tomorrow, and setting off for ‘down south’ on Tuesday. Would have had it sooner, but there have been a few hitches along the way, so it’s a bit of a miricle I’m getting it at all, I think. I’ve actually had my driving licence for more than ten years, so it’s about time I had my own car, don’t you think? Hee!

The one thing I’m not looking forward to about the Christmas period, of course, is that my Xandermoggy has to go to the cattery while I’m away. I hate that bit. :-( But I can’t take him with me, cos Phoebe (queen of Mum and Dad’s house) would not be impressed. And he is quite content in the cattery – he settles down really quickly and everything. He’s such a good boy. Awww.

Still thinking about the comments system thing. Maybe I’ll just change from Blogger altogether, and install Moveable Type instead. Hmm. Guess I’ll keep pondering on it.

Now I’d better get back to work – I’m making most of my Christmas pressies this year, and I’m not quite done yet. It’s a new thing that I’ve learned to do for this, so I shall quite possibly post pics of what I produced. After Christmas, obviously, or that’ll give the surprises away. Off I go, then.

Happy Christmas (or relevant seasonal holiday that you celebrate) Everyone! :-D

Back from Germany.

Hello!! I got back from two weeks in Germany yesterday, visiting Noxy and Luna. Had a most excellent time – there was much silliness and laughter, watching of movies, appreciation of the pretty, reading and reccing of fic, and of course, going to Ring*Con. It was absolutely brilliant to see the two of them, and … Continue reading “Back from Germany.”

Hello!! I got back from two weeks in Germany yesterday, visiting Noxy and Luna. Had a most excellent time – there was much silliness and laughter, watching of movies, appreciation of the pretty, reading and reccing of fic, and of course, going to Ring*Con. It was absolutely brilliant to see the two of them, and it was also kind of spooky how normal it felt to be all hanging out together… and it completely sucks that we’re not near enough to be able to nip round to see each other at weekends or anything. Humph. But we’ve pledged that we’re going to visit at least once a year if not more often, and made a weekly chat date. *sigh* It’s brilliant that we were able to meet each other through the net and all, but it’s at times like this that I really wish that distance and travel weren’t so much of an issue!! Heh.

I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned it here yet, but I’ve been made redundant from my old tech support job. Which I’m looking at as a positive thing, because I’m now going to take the opportunity to move back into the music world, and start teaching again – hopefully full time, this time. Voice, Clarinet, Recorders, Theory, and beginner Piano. I’m also going to be completing my Teaching DipABRSM, and I’ve signed up for the first course towards a DipMus at the Open University because I fancy a few more letters after my name ;-) Hopefully, I’ll continue on to actually finish my degree in the long run. Shock!! Anyhow, I’m feeling pretty happy about doing this – music really is my Thing, you know? (Eloquently put, hmm?) But much as I love messing around on the computer, and playing with websites and technology and all that, music is what’s in my gut, my soul, the thing that makes me feel (corny as it sounds) whole and real when I’m doing it. And I always really enjoyed teaching – as much, in a different way, as performing and writing.

So there we go, that’s what I’m going to be up to in future, all going well! I’m pretty much set up to start teaching from home, and I have a couple of other possibilities to look into as well. I do, however, really need a car. Urgh. Help? ;-) I’m going to have to do some temping to keep myself going financially, I think, so I’ll hopefully be able to save some money towards getting mobile. It’s either that, or see about getting a loan. Don’t really want more debt, but…. I do need a car!! Damn.

And to change the subject again, here’s last week’s friday five:

1. List five things you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year.
(Does this mean 2003 or 2004? Hmmm…. let’s say it’s this year.)
– To have started up teaching music pupils.
– To have a definite car-getting plan!
– Get a washing machine (does that count as an accomplishment?)
– Be back doing some kind of actual work!
– Get off these damn meds.

2. List five people you’ve lost contact with that you’d like to hear from again.
– Christina
– James
– Ian (Bernard!)
– W (what am I like?)
– Eddie

3. List five things you’d like to learn how to do.
– Play the guitar.
– Car maintainance stuff.
– Ride a motorbike.
– Fly (as in, a plane)
– (Can I save this one for later?)

4. List five things you’d do if you won the lottery (no limit).
– Buy houses / cars / presents for my family.
– Get a car, a motorbike, a boat, a plane.
– Go on a massive world trip to visit all my friends.
– Technology. I would go completely mad with the lovely lovely technology. Mmmmmm.
– Find a damn big house / estate / building and make it into a fabulous fandom house or apartment complex or something, with permanent accommodation for a group of us, plus rooms for people to come to stay… and a big cinema, a library, a highspeed network / net connection, and an octagonal music room with all the instruments and schtuff I / we could ever want…. *vbg*

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
– Read.
– Sing / play music.
– Breathing exercises.
– Walk.
– Spend time with friends, vegging :-)

Sleeeeeeeeeeeping!

Sleeping like the dead

Well, obviously, no, I’m not sleeping now. But I did sleep. And sleep, and sleep. I conked out at about 6pm on Sunday, after having some food and faffing around the house a bit, after the ‘thon ended. When I woke up, it was 12:30pm on Monday. I wish my body wouldn’t keep doing that. Very disorientating. Bleh. Plus, it worries the parents, since they’d been ringing me and I’d slept through – usually the phone ringing will wake me, but not when I have these periods of really heavy, long sleep. Do hope it can get sorted out soon. But anyway. Blogathon! Completed! Woohoo! Am pleased :-)