Good Bye & Good Riddance

I for one am happy to see the back of 2008. It has been a difficult year in this household & I've had enough.

In January I had an appraisal at work. I had exceeded my sales target by 214% so expected a pat on the back but instead got a total b*llocking for something very minor indeed. I nearly walked out there and then. I started looking for another job.

In February DD went skiing in Austria with her school & hurt her knee. She couldn't play football or swim for ages but went back to swimming. She's only just recovered from her injury nearly a year later. She has stopped the football.

At the same time as this Blue was in & out of the vets. I waited for DD to get home before we had her put to sleep She was 7 years old.

Not long after that we got Oscar & things started to get back to normal, albeit with a puppy.

In May I got really sick. So sick that I had to put both dogs into kennels for 10 days.

Fast forward to July. I handed my notice in after enduring bullying for over 4 years & had found a job locally. I took two weeks unpaid holiday in between jobs to cover part of DD's summer holiday. At the beginning of this time I had a nasty experience. I didn't mention it here as the police were involved. A police caution was issued and that's that.

Then 10 days later I got ill again

So I was in between jobs with a 2 week sick note due to the stomach surgery. I couldn't afford to be off work for 4 weeks (2 already taken as holiday) so started my new job a week later than originally planned and one week after surgery. I was in pain but didn't need to walk far or lift so managed with lots of pain killers.

6 weeks into my new job and it was announced that the company was to be sold. I was furious as I had left a job where I had been for over 4 years and now had no security so I started looking for another job. It went down hill from there.

Once the sale went through we had a 'pure survival meeting' and were basically told that if sales didn't pick up we'd all be out. Plus I was in an 'internal room' without any daylight and found that very hard. My line manager was now the site manager and turned into a little Hitler shouting at everyone including me.

The new company name was p8rnographic and I had a problem with it. I was finding the whole situation VERY stressful and with DH's support resigned at the beginning of December.

Then DH got sick and a few days after he came home from hospital we had to say Good Bye to Pam.

Yesterday just two days left of 2008 I had to take Annie to the vets as she was passing blood. She is still there as she has severe von Willebrands Disease. Today the news was better & hopefully she'll be home soon.

The good news is that apart from everything that happened above we're all ok. My weight loss has reached over 4 stone and I want to reach my target weight in 2009. I feel like a new woman and am running regularly with Oscar.

So in 2009 I'm hoping that we won't lose any pets. That none of us will get seriously ill & that I get sorted with a job soon. I have an exciting opportunity that will hopefully mean that the latter is sorted but I won't know for a few months.

I also intend to lots of knitting mainly for me

It's a hard life...

As an Airedale!

Merry Christmas

or should it be 'Merry Catmas'?

Good Bye Spam Cat

We had to say good bye to Pam today


Pam in July 2007 aged 16 1/2 years

She was a funny little cat and had a very definite character. She was one of three kittens that DH adopted 18 months before we met and the last of the gang. In our old house she lived in the garage and refused to come into the house. When we moved she changed totally and really enjoyed her time here:


Pam in the garden

She also took her role of 'big cat' seriously and taught the new kittens how to enjoy cat nip:


Enjoying a catnip whale

We lost her a few months ago and by the time we got her back 6 days later the experience had taken it's toll on her. She did pull back a bit but the experience had a negative effect and she aged quickly over the past 3 months.

I think she had a stroke whilst DH was in hospital as her back legs were a bit wobbly and she was eating with one side of her mouth. After she'd fallen down the stairs a few times we decided that the time was right to 'say goodbye'.


Pam much loved

Poor DH......

he has been sick this week, VERY sick. He has had a problem for the past two years after eating rich food or bread. I've been dieting for 15 months & this has really helped him.

He started throwing up on Monday after we had eaten with friends on Sunday afternoon. Then he seemed to recover & ate out again on Tuesday night only to start throwing up again on Wednesday.(I want to point out at this stage that it wasn't the cooking or food to blame as both friends are brilliant cooks). For the past two years DH has struggled with vomiting episodes after eating bread or rich food but this time it was really bad & far worse than anything he's ever had before.

I took him to the Doctors where he promptly collapsed onto the floor still vomiting into a bowl. The ambulance staff put him on oxygen before moving him swiftly to the local hospital.

We spent about 6 hours in A&E as the doctors tried to find out what was wrong. At one point they thought he'd perforated his stomach (I got REALLY scared at this) but the x-rays were fine. In fact everything was fine which was annoying as they couldn't tell us why he was sick. He was admitted on to the ward still in agony & spent 3 nights not sleeping as he listened to other throwing up etc etc etc ......

Eventually after an endoscopy revealed that his stomach was healthy the doctors concluded on Friday that he was suffering from Gallstones but we didn't find out until he was discharged last night.

He's now home & I'm so pleased to have him back. However the pain is still around but not to the same extent as previously. So I'm serving up VERY low fat meals & am prescribing lots of rest with short walks to get him moving again whilst we wait for an appointment with a specialist consultant.

This has come at the end of a very bad year. I'm afraid that I haven't written any Christmas cards & to be honest I'm not going to bother this year. I've just got too much on. More is to come tomorrow & then we've still got 9 days left in the year so I'm sure we'll have some other 'joy' to contend with soon ......

Irony.....

We're doing everything we can to reduce the amount that we as a family contribute to landfill . We recycle, reuse, freecycle & reduce our waste.

So why then did the bin wagon eat our wheelie bin this morning & make a bigger contribution to landfill?????

I've been advised to use black bin bags until our new bin arrives in a weeks time. I don't think it'll work somehow due to the cats.

Hmmmm have to see if the neighbours will let us put our small amounts of rubbish into their bins but they're all normally overflowing......

Book meme....

I found this on Spinning Fishwife's blog.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read (I'm going to asterisk these - Blogger doesn't like underlining)
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Post your list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.


1.Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling First four only.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare - Some
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan*
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Most of them anyway.
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

51/100 not bad but can you tell that I studied Literature at University?

Keeping warm

After this post DH & I decided to spend some of our saving on a Wood Burning Stove so that we could save on our fuel costs.

Wood Burning Stove*

Luckily DH was able to install it which greatly reduced the cost. So far we haven't had a problem sourcing wood & we're using the central heating for a minimal period each day just to keep the chill off the rest of the house.

I absolutely love the fire & am looking forward to being home over Christmas & having it on all day.


* Photograph courtesy of DD using HDR.

Blaaaah!

Not much knitting going on here at the moment as my life is cr*p. Things aren't going to plan with the new job but I daren't mention anymore just yet. Lets just say I'm VERY stressed.

This is going to be a Christmas present for my MIL & until yesterday it was hiding in a corner as I'd made a mistake. However it was solved in 20 minutes whilst on a coach to the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching show yesterday & is now back in favour.


Clapotis in Noro Kureyon Sock

Our home is a building site & DD alternates between being a wonderful, responsible & delightful young woman to being an absolute cow. I know that it's part of the territory with a teenager but I'm finding very draining.

Oscar has been ill with a horrendous bladder infection but he seems to be over it now. (If you look closely at his right foreleg you can see where his fur was clipped for the x-ray):


Oscar

We celebrated his first birthday on November 1st but he still behaves just like a puppy just a bit bigger, stronger & still very friendly.

ETA: 25/11/8

Well I spoke too soon. Poor Oscar is now on his third round of anti-biotics & has an abdominal scan booked on Tuesday. DD has Housemaid's Knee & I've hurt my neck/shouldar.

Joy

At last

I've finally got some knitting to show. It has been happening here but DH is so busy with everything including loads of jobs in the house that he hasn't had the time to take decent pictures. So recently the only photos that I've had up (apart from the ones of Pam & the Dishcloths) have been from my phone.


Lady Eleanor in Noro Silk Garden 264

It was started the day after I got home from hospital as I wanted an easy familiar pattern with a thick yarn but has been on hold for the past few weeks as it's now too big to be portable. I've got another project that I take out & about but more on that soon.....

Home at last!

After 6 days away from home Pam is back. She was found this morning in someones garage 10 minutes walk from our house. She's been checked by the vet who advised us to give her lots of tlc! She's so happy to be home & hasn't stopped purring.

Searching for Pam....

Pam

Pam is missing & was last seen on Sunday evening. We're doing everything we can to find her. She's nearly 18 & deaf. Please keep your fingers crossed that we find her quickly if she's still alive & if not at least find out what happened to her.

Forgotten dishcloths

Every now & then I do a small project but they don't always make it to my blog & these were forgotten about until now. Since Christmas I've made a few dishcloths mainly to try new techniques or play with colour & apart from one none made it to my blog so that is about to be fixed.

In the lazy days between Christmas & New Year I made a cloth for another knitter in a swap. I actually made two using the same pattern as I was experimenting with colours and then couldn't decide which to send. So I asked a few friends which one they preferred & this cloth won, was duely wrapped up & put in the post:


Ballband Dishcloth in Turquoise & Green varigated cotton

(full details are available on my Ravelry Project Page)

and this cloth stayed at home:


Ballband Dishcloth in Turquoise & White cotton

I added i-cords to both so they could be hung up.

(full details are available on my Ravelry Project Page)

Then I made a Garterlac Dishcloth which was good TV knitting:


Garterlac Dishcloth

and you can see a close up of the pattern here.

(full details are available on my Ravelry Project Page)

Finally I decided to be brave & had a play with crochet:


Pinwheel crocheted dishcloth

This pattern was loaned to me by a friend & was out of an old book that had belonged to her Grandmother so I can't link to it I'm afraid.

(full details are available on my Ravelry Project Page)

The dishclothes that stayed at home are being used to brighten up our foul kitchen but not really working as it's such a horrible room :(

So that's me nearly up to date on forgotten projects. I've got one more from last year but need to find the photos. My WIP's are progressing slowly but so far no photos have been taken so I've got nothing to share on those yet.....

Feeling the pinch.....

As I'm sure many others also experiencing we're noticing that things are getting more & more expensive here in England. The media are talking the country into a recession & everything is affected. I work in sales & have definitely noticed a reduction in market confidence in the past 6 months. Equally prices of almost everything have risen by a ridiculous rate mostly driven by the rise in fuel costs but wages aren't increasing :( Luckily my new job is just over a mile away from our home & for the first time since my operation I took my bike today rather than the car. DH travels to work on the bus & his fares have increased recently citing increased fuel costs as the cause.

Luckily we capped our energy prices just in time to escape the massive price increases from British Gas although we keep getting letters from them asking us to reconsider! I bought a Clothes airer last November & have already saved 2 1/2 times the purchase price in fuel bills so at least we can dry our clothes for free & utilise the otherwise wasted warm air from the central heating (when it's on). We're using Eco Balls & a Magno Ball as we're in a hardwater area & our machine was getting built up with limescale & kept spitting bits out all over the washing (hopefully this will keep it going a bit longer). A few hot washes with white vinegar has sorted out the smell from a build up detergent & the clothes are clean without detergent. I've also moved over to a Mooncup for both environmental & cost issues & am getting used to it. It's definitely more flexible than traditional methods, a lot cleaner & I'm no longer plagued with guilt regarding sanitary towels in landfill. A Wireless Electricity Monitor has led to loads of plugs being turned off & I've totally reassessed where I do our shopping & have got a lot cleverer about what I buy but then again I've never been one to waste food or throw money away.

Now the challenge is for DH to finish the small extension that he's been working hard on so that he can install a new efficient central heating boiler that doesn't leak or drop pressure so that our house is warmer, install new windows in our bedroom so we don't freeze this winter & for me to earn enough in commission to pay for it all. At least I have a decent yarn stash so that my 'habit' won't be curtailed


Long term we'd like a Solid fuel stove to warm the house & heat the water, re-insulate the loft as it's been badly done & new windows throughout but can't afford to have them all done at once.

Has anybody got any other tips?

ETA:

We're keen Freecyclers, shop at the local Farmers Market & I'm planning to start growing a few vegetables next year when I've cleared some space in the garden. Plus a water meter is going to be installed when the extension is finished. All our lightbulbs are low energy & we're trying to teach DD not to leave lights/PC's/TV on when she leaves the room.

'Dales do Dalby

We're on holiday & I'm starting to walk them again. I'm a bit slow & can't yet do the 4 miles that I normally do but I managed 2 this morning. I think the fact that I've lost nearly 4 stone in the past 11 months & am a lot fitter than I used to be has helped a lot. Thanks for all the emails, texts & comments. I'm knitting again & have two new wip's but more on those soon.....

Sore....

I was rushed to hospital on Thursday night with intense pain & it turned out to be a ruptured ovarian cyst & appendix problems so both were removed. I'm glad to be home as hospitals aren't a good place to rest & recover but at least the pain relief is good. I was so pleased to have the morphine!

Luckily DH is around so he's looking after me, the dogs & DD when she surfaces from her pit/bed.

So I won't be starting my new job tomorrow after all!

Ahh

I've now got just over two weeks off before I start my new job. So lots of walking the 'dales, spending time with DD
(who has been a lot better recently), gardening & of course knitting. Now all I need is some sunshine!

Ongoing stuff & a lesson learned

My life has been a bit complicated in the past few months & it's all starting to get a bit much. However I have resolved one 'drain' on my energy & found myself a new job
I now have just one week left in my current employment & then two weeks off before I start my new role. I have been unhappy for at least the past two years but as my job was so flexible around DD & very close to home it was hard to find another with the same 'flexibility'. I've done that now & after 4 hours of interviews in one day (phew!) left with a job offer & a big smile on my face.

I've told the 'big boss' exactly why I was leaving & the person concerned has had a 'talking to'. It's sad that he's continuing to make other people unhappy but at least the MD is aware of what's going on now.

DD has also been giving us grief but that's part of the territory with a teenager (or pre-teen as she doesn't turn 13 until October). We've been attending parent courses to learn how to deal with her behaviour but that has had the unpleasant side effect of dragging up all the 'crap' I endured as a child in the hands of my mother. DH has likened it to a deep festering wound long buried so I'm trying to bury it again maybe slightly healed if that can happen.

So this brings me onto the lesson learned:

Don't, whatever you do, start a sock (or pair of socks) when you're feeling down & depressed. My judgment must have been clouded as I had already swatched in ss & cast on the number of stitches accordingly but of course the socks weren't to be knit in ss!


Uptown Boot socks in KPPM: to be frogged :(

Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM 044949
Needles: 2x 60cm 2.25mm Knitpicks circulars

Verdict: I adore the pattern & enjoyed learning how to cable without a cable needle. Equally the yarn is gorgeous but the two together don't work with my feet.


Uptown Boot pattern close up

The cabling pulled the fabric in too tight & if I increase the stitches to the required amount it doesn't work with the pattern. Ho hum....

So I think found another pattern for this yarn & will be casting on very soon. However I'll going to do a round of purl on the knitting I've already done & swatch the new pattern before I frog & cast on again.

Handspun Scarf

Handspun Scarf

Pattern: Yarn Harlot's Handspun Scarf
Yarn: 386 yards (3.9 skeins) of Noro Cash Iroha
Needles: 5mm
Time Taken: October 2007 - April 27th 2008 with a few big gaps in between knitting.


Handspun Scarf

This scarf had been intended as a Christmas present for my Dad & was nearly finished in time. However he then went abroad just before Christmas for a few months so it sat in a corner unfinished. He's now back in the country & loves his scarf.


Handspun Scarf

The yarn was ideal for this pattern as it's single ply really suited the stitch pattern & was so soft after washing.

More soon

There is a lot going on here; mostly good but definitely stressful. I'll be able to reveal more soon but in the meantime here's my latest knitting project:


Baby Ribbons Blanket in King Cole Smooth DK

A friend of mine is due to have her baby in five weeks & doesn't want to know the gender so I have chosen a combination of colours which are neutral but hopefully still attractive.

I had planned to cast on another pair of socks for July but have now changed my mind & instead will concentrate on various WIP's in the hope of finishing some....

Out of the Fire.....

Toe up bed socks

Yarn: Chameleon Colorworks Evolution in Flamingo Sunrise.
Pattern: David's Toe-Up Sock Cookbook (Ravelry link) with the Stansfield 30 stitch pattern plugged in.
Needles: 2 x 60cm 2.75mm Knit Picks Circular needles
Time taken: June 13th to 28th 2008.


'Stansfield 30' Toe up bed socks

In my last post I mentioned something with this pair that I wasn't happy with. Well now all is revealed:


'Flashing' issues in Evolution

I absolutely adore this yarn & would like to Thank Alice for the yarn as a gift The yarn was suitably squidgy for a hand knit but I can't imagine doing anything else than wear these socks in bed so bed socks they are.


Toe up Stansfield 30 bed socks

Spot the problem

I'm not impressed...

Not quite stash....

As soon as the Cho' 7 socks were finished I started swatching for the next pair.


Chameleon Colorworks Evolution in Flamingo Sunrise

This yarn has been 'camping' in my stash since last October. I say camping as it never actually made into the stash properly & instead has been resident in a basket under my side of the bed to be retrieved regularly, stroked & pondered over.


Chameleon Colorworks Evolution in Flamingo Sunrise

It was a gift last year from Alice of Socktopus & is so utterly gorgeous it's unreal.


Evolution socks
Again toe up two at a time, is there any other way for me


Chameleon Colorworks Evolution & Stansfield 30 pattern

I'm using the same pattern (Ravelry link) as before but have instead of a standard rib have inserted Stansfield 30 stitch pattern. I wanted a pattern that wouldn't detract from the beauty of the yarn but that also had a ribbed construction and I think I've found it.

I had to keep a close eye on the yarn last weekend when Arianwen of The Silverspider Presents came to stay as she took a shine to it I can honestly say that it is one of the nicest yarns that I've used & wish that there was a 4 ply version. However I have found a lace weight version ....

Toe-up Cho' 7 socks

This pair of socks have been finished for a while but the resident photographer has been rather busy with work & hasn't actually been here a lot recently. He's just gone away again for a week so it's just me, DD & the animals but before he left he very kindly took the required pics so that I could finally reveal them:


Ribbed toe up socks in Bergère de France Cho'7

Pattern: David's Toe-Up Sock Cookbook (Ravelry link)

Time taken to knit: May 24th - June 8th 2008.

Yarn: 100g of Bergère de France Cho'7 (Ravelry link) in J6499.

Needles: 2 x 2.5mm Knit Picks 60 cm circulars

Modifications: As usual I didn't stick to the pattern 100%. They were knitted two at a time & I changed the toe to make it rounder & blunter. I worked a 3x1 rib so that I could concentrate on the construction of the sock. This yarn doesn't have a fantastic yardage as it's between a 4ply & DK weight but 100g gave me a short pair of socks which are perfect for wearing with walking boots or trainers in the spring & summer. I really like this yarn & would be very happy to use it again.



Ribbed toe up socks in Bergère de France Cho'7

Now I thought that my Pink Flamingos were comfortable but these have beaten them hands down. It's the first time I've used negative ease & I'm a convert.

Another first is the heel construction which I LOVE. The only reason I sometimes do cuff down socks is that I hadn't found a heel construction that I was totally happy with on toe-ups & didn't always feel confident in changing patterns. Now I can just plug a stitch pattern into this pattern & away I go


Ribbed toe up socks in Bergère de France Cho'7


ETA: NovaKnitter asked about Negative Ease. Hopefully this link will explain it fully.

Walking

DH has found a new use for his hiking stick: carrying 'sacks of cack'. Not surprisingly DD, the dogs & I are keeping well behind.

And then he went back for more....

Luckily we've got a hose pipe....

Happy pup

Oscar has discovered mud!

Latest project

A pair of toe-up socks using a heel technique that I've not tried before. Details etc soon...