Looking for Cinderella

because the slipper doesn't fit me.

I finished the first of a pair of Cocoknits Ballet Flats last night.  I'd read they were a quick knit and even I managed to complete one in an afternoon/evening, but sadly, today it will be frogged because it's way too small.

I'm pleased with my choice of yarn, even if it did make the knitting a little more challenging than it need have been.  Or perhaps it concealed more mistakes/irregularities than a plain yarn would have done?  Anyway, it was from my stash and was ideal for the slippers, being practical dark coloured wool but with a bit of frivolity too! 

I like the way the toe is shaped and think the pleated front is worth the added hassle - it's not that difficult even if it took me a while to work it out to begin with.  The construction is clear and easy to follow and I had no problems.  I knit the middle size, supposedly for a US foot size 9.

But the decreasing cast off really put the lid on it and no way would my foot go into the slipper, let alone feel comfortable once wearing it.

I'll try again later.

Running away

On the way home from the office yesterday, I stopped at the supermarket, to pick up one or two things like milk, cardomom pods and some washing up liquid.  Oh, and a couple of sweaters. 

As you do. 

At the same time, I thought I'd look for a small memory stick on which to store a few holiday photos.  I saw the idea in the current edition of Marie-Claire Idees and as I have - ahem - a "few" holiday photos here and there (we actually have getting on for 20,000 on our online album), this idea hit the spot.

At the moment, I copy bundles of photos onto a CD-rom, having downloaded them from camera to computer, backing them up on an external hard drive.  The "everyday" photos tend to remain there on the external disk though I try to put each set of holiday photos on a CD, all together.  I used to create pretty labels for each CD but these days seem to grab a felt tip pen and scribble on the disk before putting it away. I quite liked the idea of having a memory stick for each trip, tied with a label and stored in a basket which might catch my attention now and again.  who knows, I might even look at some of them!

I thought - wrongly - that I'd be able to pick up half a dozen cheap and colourful 1Gb memory sticks and begin the process of copying photos, but as I stood there in front of a large selection of the things, I realised that things move on.  However much of a gadget girl I am, I accepted that on this occasion, I was a bit behind the times.

 

I can't remember when I last bought a memory stick - in fact, it could be that I never have.  I seem to acquire them here and there, mostly from work-related activities and though I have quite a collection of them, I don't really feel I can use any of them for my own personal stuff.  After all, I can still remember the embarrassed look on a presenter's face when she inadvertently showed the whole audience her holiday snaps taken on the beach instead of the intended powerpoint presentation!

The choice on the supermarket shelf was extraordinary considering this was a pretty average store and not a specialist computer place.  Here, the smallest memory sticks were 2Gb, priced at around the £7 mark.  4Gb seemed to cost not that much more - £9 or £10 say.  Then of course, the 8Gb were not that much more again.  I hovered for a while, mulling over whether to see what was available online and then I saw it.

Or rather, I saw an enormous box with hardly anything inside, but that little tiny thing was a jolly colour.  Yes, you see what captures my attention...

I wanted it. 

Yes, of course I bought it!

Those two square centimetres of purple plastic contain 8Gb of storage and though it wasn't quite what I was intending to buy, I could think of plenty of uses for it.  Above all, I couldn't wait to try it when I got home, for I couldn't quite believe that it would slot into a USB port as claimed.

That's when I realised that technology is moving ahead faster than I realise.  For this little bit of plastic doesn't just provide me with storage for my photos, a few tracks of music and a bit of entertainment to take on holiday with us. When I plugged it in, it opens up all kinds of possiblities because it comes with some software for saving passwords and doing other clever things.  For the first time in a while, I am a little bewildered by something new.  I find myself looking at the incredibly long list of options and so, for the time being, I'm sitting looking at it, wondering how to set it up and how it could change the way I work on baby laptop when we're away from home.  I'll admit to a slight (and surely passing) urge to stay the same, to reject the bewildering range of choices, to run away from something new. What's more, I know that before I turn around, these too will be old hat...

I very nearly said "Whatever will they think of next?"

But I didn't! 

A January weekend

 

Walking to the office in the pouring rain on Friday, I spotted these diamond-encrusted stems by the side of the path and simply had to stop to take a photograph.  It was a gloomy day, my mind was elsewhere for most of it and this simple thing was enough to lift my spirits and look forward to the weekend.

Strictly Come Dancing at the NEC yesterday was fun and we enjoyed seeing all our favourites stepping out once again.

Interesting to see just which page Lynn kept  open in her programme.... 

Today we have a quiet day at home and Charlotte's Web is finished.  I struggled to work out how to crochet the edge - had the picture on the pattern been clearer, I could have worked it out, but as it was my crochet experience is insufficient to interpret all but the clearest of directions.  I mulled it over for a couple of days, thinking I didn't want a fringe anyway, before the light dawned and I set to work and completed it.  I'm glad I did - that fringe is a good way of adding a little weight to the edge and once it's blocked, it will be even better.

Thanks Nita for getting me going on that one - you are such a clever and talented friend!

 For much of last evening (when my eyes were averted from Gordon Ramsay's exploits in India*) the extraordinary shapes and colours of last week's anemones captured my attention.  I'd cut them short to go into a small round vase and yet they have continued to grow, some to over a foot high.  The magenta pink of the petals has faded, the deep purply black centres have taken on a hyacinth blue tone and the soft green leaves and stems set it all off so beautifully. I kept looking at them, noticing the negative shapes in between flowers and stems, creating some kind of composition in my head.  I'm not sure I'm ready to throw them away yet, thinking that whilst they keep their colour and shape, they are still beautiful.

*We recorded Gordon Ramsay's latest Indian journey on TV and have watched two of the three programmes so far. Can't bear the man, dislike the foul language and "attitude" but oh my, the Chicken Biryani I cooked from his book on Thursday was good!

Today

I didn't intend this to become a weather blog.  Neither did I mean to document the dull and frankly, rather boring, details of everyday life.  So, fired up with the enthusiasm that results from a re-entry into the world after almost a month of hibernation at home, it's time to place a marker or two about where I am right now, creatively speaking.

Charlotte's Web is taking shape nicely, though I've got to the part where doing one row takes forever.  With only fourteen more rows to go, I'm aiming to get it finished sooner rather than later, because I have these in mind.

Or possibly these.  Who knows, I might even knit both!

Yes, it's that kind of day.

The Christmas Journal is complete and resulted in a bumper edition this year.  Finishing all the details on that, including a couple of pages from Mark about his week in Umea means that my "paper" workspace is looking pretty good right now.

That could be because most of the creative output of the last few days has been taking place elsewhere.

Spotlight has been on the sewing machine, which has been red hot, creating one or two samples for a little project I'm doing with some online chums.

When not sitting at the sewing machine, I've been at my computer, working through an online class exploring the nether reaches of Photoshop.  Time to get the Wacom out and get scribbling.

But my first few pieces of work bore a fair bit of resemblance to Athena posters of the 1970s, so I went a bit off piste, preferring the result of yesterday's creation to previous efforts.  Sometimes, I find it hard to strike out and do my own thing when a class is as prescriptive as this one, but if I'm to learn anything from it, then I have to apply the processes learned in my own way.

 

 The weaving's fine.  I've got myself a copy of a more helpful book.

I now need to work on my posture, for I find that weaving for anything longer than a few minutes leaves me with an aching back.  Not having back trouble of any kind so far, I don't want to start now!

Finally, there's the piles of guilt.  The larger-than-expected quilt top, which I'm building up courage to deal with.  Can I realistically expect to be able to machine quilt it myself?  Should I identify a manageable means of handquilting it?  Or should I cut my losses and get it quilted elsewhere?  There's also the halfway house option, of getting it professionally basted and then doing the quilting myself.  Decisions decisions!

There's also a pile of christmas fabrics sitting on my bench.  Now, wouldn't January be the perfect time to begin on a  couple of small Christmas quilts for 2010?  I have plans for something simple here....maybe a stacked coin design?

Not to mention the piles of books.

Recent reading has been easy, difficult to get into but fine when I did, quick and very entertaining and currently, thought-provoking.  I have my next book group title still to get into, never miind the pile in the photo.

Finally, somewhere in the middle of all of that, there's work to be done.  After all, who couldn't fail to be persuaded into exciting opportunities to hear about the latest vision, presented by dynamic practitioners?

You mean to say you wouldn't be influenced by the venue, a local rugby club?

Out

We were amused by the creative removal of letters from The Bear Inn this morning.

OK, having been deprived of outdoor entertainment for so long, we are easily amused.