Back To The Blog!

Its been too long since I last blogged, but I'm hoping to get back in the swing! I think I put off blogging because of the time it takes, I'm so slow at typing. So I'm going to try to do shorter posts, but saying that, this ones probably going to be quite big because of all the pics!

I've really lost my knitting mojo at the moment, well ALL my mojos seem a dim and distant memory at present. Hopefully the lighter, longer days will lift the gloom and I'll feel more up to doing things. I have done one quick knit. I realised a few days before we went to Prague that I didn't have a hat, so a quick dash to my LYS ensued! Using Woolly Wormheads Rolling beret pattern, I quickly dashed off this natty little hat in Sirdar Peru. When I say quickly, I MEAN quickly! It materialised before my eyes. And it kept me nice and snug on our weekend away.

We went to Prague with my brother and his wife. Flying from Newcastle, the flight was only an hour and a half so we were there in no time. We stayed in a gorgeous pension not far from the Old Town square. The beautiful old buildings were everywhere, a real mix of Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau, I think I wandered around open mouthed at the sheer size and number of them.


The old town square was breathtakingly beautiful and the cafes in the square breathtakingly expensive, but we did go into one just to experience the atmosphere.

While we were drinking our coffee, a guy with a pair of scissors, cut our silhouettes! Mine was very flattering so I bought it!

Ian's didn't look like him at all, it looked more like Benny Hill, so we had to get that one too!

It was chilly at times and Carol bought a hat to keep her ears warm!


This is a view of Prague castle from the Charles bridge.

The Charles bridge which we crossed en route to Prague Castle, was gorgeous with religious statues along the parapets and arts and craft stalls dotted along its length.

Every view was spectacular and I took hundreds of photos, most of which I won't inflict on you but a couple of favourites, first the astronomical clock which was stunning

but Tyn church in the square was my favourite of all, not just during the day when it looked so imposing and majestic, even when I got all arty and took black and white pics

But also at night, when all the turrets were lit from inside, it looked like a fairy tale castle. The photos aren't very good but to give an idea I'll post just one


I would definitely recommend Prague, but make sure you wear comfy shoes, there's a lot of walking!

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We Have The Power!

The power of electricity that is! Electricity that we didn't have from 10.30am Thursday until 2.30 pm Friday! It all started when I noticed smoke coming from the cupboard that houses the electric meter and fusebox thingy. I was very calm and switched off the electricity at the mains, then got on the phone to Ian and squealed like a girl!

An electrician was summoned, but as it was 5.30pm by the time he arrived, he could only make things safe and promise to return the next day. So out came the candles! OOhh, lovely I thought, a quiet evening knitting I thought. Wrong! How the Victorians managed to do their delicate, intricate needlework by candlelight I don't know, I couldn't see a thing! So an early night was the answer......to SLEEP of course!!

Finally by 2.30pm the next day we were back on the grid. Little did we know that another problem was brewing. It was discovered by Kate, who desperate for a shower, dived in that evening. All I heard were the screams, as the freezing cold water hit her!! Somehow, the electrician had managed to wire us up wrongly, which damaged a circuit in the boiler, which meant a plumber joined the happy family on Saturday morning, to fix the boiler!

Thankfully we are now sorted. Very grateful that I was in when the smoke appeared and even more grateful it didn't happen overnight.

While Ian was sorting out the boiler problems on Saturday, I went off for a girly day with Carrie Anne, Becky and Bev to MIMA, a modern art museum in Middlesbrough. We had a wonderful day in the company of Felieke van der Leest, a brilliant artist who uses crochet and knitting in her jewellery.

This pic was taken during the afternoon workshop, which followed the morning lecture. It was a great way to explore freeform crochet, and we had a good giggle too!



This was the 3D heart I crocheted without a pattern, just making it up as I went, it's not great but I enjoyed the process. The cafe in MIMA was lovely and we just had to have a couple of visits!

I even managed to get a few rows of sock knitted while I was there, so all in all a brilliant day! This is the very sock, though I am much further on than the picture now.

I'm also really enjoying the Pirates hat, thank you for your helpful fairisle tips. I started off poorly, mainly because I didn't read the instructions! And because I didn't read the instructions, I tried to follow the chart in the same way as I had in previous lace patterns and then couldn't understand why the pattern wasn't working out! Duurrrrrhh! Then the penny dropped, I was knitting in the round! After a few choice expletives and reading of the pattern, I managed to get going.

It was so exciting to see the skulls appear! So, so far, so good! Eventually!

I don't know if anyone has seen the Walls sausage adverts with the dog trying to pinch the sausages, but I love it cos the dog is a Border terrier, the same as our beloved Alfie. So when I saw they were giving away an inflatable 'Grizzler' as he's called, I just had to have one. I waited over 6 weeks and it came today. I blew it up........and was horrified! I have never seen such an ugly, frightening thing in all my life! It's horrific!

It actually doesn't look too bad in the photo, but it would frighten kids in real life! Just to show what it should look like, I took tried to take a photo of Alfie and Grizzler, but Alfie was scared of it!

So it's been quite an eventful week, though most of it I'd prefer not to repeat! Hopefully I'll have a bit more time ( and electricity) to catch up with everyones blogs and plenty of illumination for knitting!!