Wool dyeing

Well i was ill all weekend with tonsillitis, my tonsils got so swollen that i had to go to the doctors on Sat and get some antibiotics so i dont die in my sleep like Colin said i would. Anyway, i didnt die in my sleep and, feeling much perkier on Sunday i have dyed one skein of smelly yarn. (It is still smelly and noone seems to know what to do about it ) The result looks like that
(I have actually knitted that little bit on two pens at work just to see how it looks knitted.) I think the dyeing was a success, now its just what to do with the smell...
And here is a picture of Unity's socks
And i have made those sock blockers all by myself!! I have cut them out from the kind of plastic they use in envelopes to make them stiff and put cellotape all around the edges so it would not catch. And voila, i have 3 sets of sock blockers without spending £60. I know, im great.

Friday

Well its Friday and i wanted to write about my current state of knitting. I have started on a dreaded Cobblestone monster pullover. It is not actually as hard as i thought it was gonna be (it's all in your head, its all in your head) but the progress is still very slow. I'll be lucky if i finish it in a month. Also yesterday i have unwinded that huge hunk of yarn my grandma sent me, and made 5 small skeins out of it, approx 120g each. I soaked them in a bath with wool soap and water overnight, and even though it does look a bit fresher, it still really smells of animal. I dont quite know what to do about that, i hope after i have soaked it in vinegar and dyed it the smell will go... Or may be it will smell of animal and vinegar.. Colin said to just stick it in washing machine, not sure about that one ether.

I have finished Unity's socks and very happy with the result. I'm also 60% done on Mother in Law Christmas Drops vest, and finally received the yarn i have bought on ebay for Josh's socks. Its Rowan Botany wool, sort of caramel color, 350g of it, so it will be plenty. I did actually take a lot of pictures in the morning, but in a blur of leaving the house (i didnt cycle because i feel mweh today) i forgot my camera at home.

Oh, there is one massive thing: I got mentioned on Rose Kim Knits blog, which i feel truly honored about. She is great.
Apart from that, the weekend is upon us and im just happy that we have no visitors planned this weekend, so may be i can take things slowly. Or slower than usual.

I have survived.

Here i am, in case you are wondering, i have survived the Batbirthday. On Saturday we went to the shopping center, and whilst Mommy was shopping, Leo had his face painted.



He supposed to be a Batman of course. Later when we tried to wash the paint off in the bath, he looked like this:
And then after 20 mins of active scrubbing he looked like this:
Even after i have used half a bottle of my make up remover wash, he still looked like he had eyeliner on. After getting out of bath he looked in the mirror and declared, visibly upset: "Now i dont look like Batman, now i look like a girl!" sending poor Colin into absolute hysterics laughing.
So apart from that i have made 2 cakes, a Batman cake and a carrot cake. The name of the first one does not imply that it was made out of Batman, it was all in design.



It looks really wonky on the picture but i was quite proud of myself, it took me a while to do the symbol.
I think the birthday itself went well. We were blessed with great weather, everybody turned up, there was (more) than enough food (i always seem to panic about that and make too much), kids had pass the parcel, music, pizza, cake and fruit kebabs, adults had chicken, sausages, salads, pickles (all sorts of different pickles) and lots of other stuff. I always tell people in advance that since we dont drink, we dont buy alcohol, so they come with their own if they wish to do so, otherwise we had lots of lovely juice and tea. Anyway, here are some more pictures:







So yeah, i think it was a success. It was my first kids party and i think i did pretty good.. Im just so happy that now all members of my family had their birthdays, now its just mine (which we never celebrate) and the Christmas.
Speaking of Christmas, i really need to start on Colin's bamboo pullover, but i am dreading it... Im finding any old excuse not to do it, knitting sock for Unity, then doing a bit on Mother in Law Drops Vest, planning to make socks for everyone for Christmas, just not touching the pullover. It would be my biggest project yet, and im scared......

Goodbyes

Just a quick one, to say my goodbyes just in case i dont survive Leo's birthday on Sunday. At the moment, there are 5 children including mine and 14 adults. Yup, you hear that right, 14 adults. That includes my entire family, and some parents of the kids. Poor them, they probably have never met so many Russians in their lives. So although i initially thought about just making some pizzas, now it looks like a full-blown barbq, so lets pray that weather stays. Lets not forget we are in England and weather here is unpredictable at best of times....
Oh well, all that said, i refuse to get stressed about it, so im cool as a cucumber and we are making a trip to cash and carry. I dont actually know what i will make, so im hoping inspiration will strike me there. Im just set on Batman cake and cookies, but now it looks like i will have to make some pecan roll as well.
May be i am a little stressed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARrrrrrrgghghghghggh

thats better.

Another weekend

Im happy to report that i have survived this weekend, even though i did have my doubts if i would. And i even did most of my chores, including washing (a lot) ironing (a lot) and cooking. On Sunday we had guests in, new people from the meeting, with their three children, all boys. It was another attempt on our part to accuire friends with children and something in common with us. And I'd personally say it was a success. But i guess we'll see that if they invite us back or attempt to meet up again. I made a lime garlic ginger chicken hotpot and a pecan roll. Here is a picture of the roll:
It split on the side but it still was yummy. They had wine, we had tea. Children watched Star Wars. We talked about cabaret, Barry Long, Buddhism and local schools.

We have finally done the Batparty invitations, so im quite looking forward to making Batcookies and Batcake for Leo (Batman,) birthday on Sunday. I know one boy will come for sure (our next door neighbour), I hope the rest will come too.. It would be good for us to meet other parents as well, we have been living in South London for a year and a half now, but made only very few friends. Working full time does not help with social life...

Aanyway, i took Leo to the hospital today for his ear check up, and unfortunately he is not better so they will have to put grommets in, its a small operation that i was told was quite routine. Didnt stop me from feeling terribly sorry for him and tearfully pressing him to my chest with a big hug. Aaaah poor baby. He was so good in a waiting room as well... Sniff sniff sob... :0(
Oh by the way, grommets are little tubes that are put through the ear drum to help hearing and stabilize the pressure. Hospital put us on a waiting list, they will let us know when they have a date for the operation. On a positive i'd have to stay at home with him for a week after that, and
it is considered a sick leave and not a holiday so i dont loose my holiday days. My mother just gave me "Baking with children" book so we can make a lot of cakes and cookies with Leo. It will be great.
Just to finish this post on the positive, here is a video of Unity walking. She falls in the end, but she didnt cry and was very brave, got up and walked on. All together now: Aaaaaaaaah!

Cocksberg?

Here is an example of Metro news.

Giant ice penis - is climate change to blame?

Thursday, September 11, 2008

If there was any doubt about the terrible threat that global warming poses to humanity, then it can now be dismissed - as this shocking photograph proves that climate change is turning icebergs into giant penises.

I laughed long and hard. I guess in the view of global recession, war, murders, hurricanes, floods and general devastation, it is a good thing to think about ice penises. Thank you Metro!

Power and things

Today i have heard word "power" more than in the whole of last year. I had a big client in, and i mean, Big, Huge kind of client. He is an art director of a very influential fashion and lifestyle magazine, photographer, illustrator, basically one of the most influential people in the industry. And, he is great! I actually really enjoyed working with him. And that makes a change from me going " oh just give up" to the photographer. (And yeah, i do get into trouble for saying that.)
So anyway, he was saying how he'd have all the text written for the article before the images are shot. And then, after the whole article put together he'd just go: "I dont like the way that first letter looks against that background. Why dont we change it to say "M" or a "W". " And you know what? They would have to rewrite the whole thing so it can start with M or a W. Now, that is power for you. Speaking in narrow fashion sense of course.


Aanyway, i wanted to post couple of pictures that i think are pure inspiration in the sense of color, for wool dyeing ( if i ever get around to it).



The last two are my beloved orchids. Loooove orchids.
And last but not least, here is a picture of my sweet dumb cat Maneki.