Life's ups and downs

Life is a bit hectic at the moment. The beginning of the new University term is looming so I am spending my time preparing for the Autumn round of teaching. Last Saturday was a welcome break from this. I attended the inaugural meeting of the Priory Beaders. There are 20 members so far and we meet in Stanpit Village Hall on the outskirts of Christchurch. It is a lovely venue with great views across Christchurch Harbour towards Hengistbury Head. The Beadworkers' Guild are celebrating their 10 anniversary in 2009 and to mark this occaision they have asked each of their members to make a beaded bead. These will then be made into a giant necklace, with the aim of getting into the Guiness Book of Records for the longest necklace in the world. It will subsequently be auctioned for charity. As most of the Priory Beaders are members of the Beadworkers' Guild we decided to spend our first day together making beaded beads. For those of you who are wondering beaded beads are just that - beads made out of smaller beads. They can be hollow or have a wooden core. You can see some superb examples on the BeAdfinitum web site created by Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour. I am in complete awe of their talent.

Some of my beaded beads

The weekend was also spent knitting a second Marsan Watch Cap for my Other Half. He liked the first one so much that he asked for another. I used differnt yarn this time and to my utter frustration it has turned our shorter than the first one. I will now have to partially unravel it and reknit it. Grrr!!


Spurred on by my good friend 'A Girl in Winter' I have cast on for the February Lady Sweater featured on Ravelry. It has an intriguing structure in that it is knitted in one piece from the top down. This has the advantage that you can try it on at any point to check the fit. I will let you know how I get on.


Finally after a lovely, relaxing weekend disaster stuck. On Sunday evening I bit into an oatcake and broke a large chunk off one of my teeth. It just goes to show that eating low fat food really isn't good for you. I am sure that it wouldn't have happened if I had been eating a chocolate digestive! After an emergency visit to my dentist yesterday I emerged with a temporary filling, another appointment on Monday and a bill for nearly £100. That was a very expensive oatcake!

Back again!

I have sadly neglected this blog over the last few weeks. I had some more time off from work - to recharge my batteries before the onslaught of the new academic year. I took the time to concentrate on my beading and my other creative work. I have decided not to post any pictures of my passion flower vase until it is finished, which hopefully should be quite soon. I have also been trying very hard not to be seduced away from beading by the knitting bug. For that last few evenings I have been obsessively knitting a scarf. The yarn is a beautiful skein of Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend which was purchased on a trip to London with my friends. The colours are gorgeous and I am really looking forward to wearing it. Every time that I do I will be reminded of that day spent with three wonderful women, 'Chesh', 'P.' and 'A Girl in Winter'. It was filled with laughter and friendship. I have never had a large circle of friends and I really cherish the ones that I do have. I am not really an outgoing person and I think that it probably takes people a while to get to know me. I am really glad that I have these three in my life.

My Other Half wanted a hat so I looked on Ravelry and found a great pattern to knit him one. It was fun to do and only took me a couple of evenings. However, he wants another one and a scarf and gloves too. I now have lots of knitting projects queueing up in my head. I need several lifetimes to get through everything that I want to do. If only I didn't have to go to work! I am just kidding - I love my job, but it would be nice to have some more creative time.

'Marsan Watch Cap' from Ravelry

And finally - Autumn is on its way. there is a definite chill in the air. Last weekend I glumly contemplated my sparse winter wardrobe and tried to steel myself to go shopping. I would normally rather stick needles into my eyes than shop for clothes - I absolutely loath it and usually end up totally depressed and disheartened. However on my way home recently I saw these boots and fell in love (virtually unheard of for me!) Now all I have to do is persuade my Other Half that they are worth every penny!