Calendar Challenge - May 2011

My May page for Calendar Challenge.

A linky to other pages by other participants will appear at The Kathryn Wheel.

garden 2011 - update

courgette sown 18th March and radish sown 1st May

The courgette plant was ripped (bit dramatic?) from the pot during the high winds last Monday...

baby sweetcorn sown 20th May

Cucumber sown 14th April (luckily still indoors!)

Knitting - Poppy

Poppy by Ysolda Teague

Another Poppy for Sea Queen day.

I love this photo of a limbless body... as seen here and here from previous Poppies.

knitting - cardigan

my head may have been turned... Lady Chatreuse Sweater (Ravelry link)

iPad madness (part 3)

Some interesting app recommendations from the I Love My iPad group on Ravelry:-

Paprika as a recipe book - clip from website and manually add your own (shopping list and use as meal planner too)
Quickoffice ($9.99) for viewing, creating, editing Mircosoft Office documents.
GoodReader (£2.99) for reading anything!  Annotate pdfs and zoom in too.  I especially liked this bit of their blurb "The ability to mark-up PDFs opens up new doors to GoodReader users who can now use typewriter text boxes, sticky notes, lines, arrows, and freehand drawings on top of a PDF file."  Probably just the same as iAnnotate?

and one I forgot from my last list - Spotify.

iPad madness (part 2)

A list of apps for my iPad (once I have saved up hundreds of pounds....)

It comes with 18 apps... including Safari (internet browser), iBooks (organise and read books, pdfs, documents etc), Notes (for note taking using the on screen keyboard).

Other apps I think I may need are:-

iAnnotate PDF (£5.99)- for taking notes on my patterns etc.
Flipboard (free) - puts all my social media in a magazine layout
Note Taker HD (£2.99) - writing and organising handwritten notes (may need a stylus?)
TuneIn Radio Pro (£0.99)- for listening to the radio!
Blogsy ($2.99) or BlogPress ($2.99) - writing blog posts


I'm going to read through the I love my iPad group on Ravelry for more ideas...

100% wool felt

I'm investigating fabric to make some of the toys in the Wee Wonderfuls book...

a few of the toys use 100% wool felt although wool blends are ok to.  We use wool blends at The Woolly Brew (soft and cosy and economical!)  but I was curious at the choice within 100% wool felt...

Quick order to Blooming Felt, and a quick dispatch, delivered this shade card...

love the flower shapes!

very thick!

Is this too thick for doll making?

garden 2011 - update

tomatoes and basil  (sown 14th April)

courgettes (sown 18th March) radish (sown 1st May)

cucumber 14th April

mini veg plot - peas, beans, radish (carrot) lettuce

baby sweetcorn!

iPad madness (part 1)

My brother recently bought an iPad.  For him it makes sense, taking into account his lifestyle and current media needs.

He brought it up last week for a visit... and I am smitten...

I use a laptop (a 'new' hand me down from hubby) and to a lesser extent a desktop PC.  I use them for:-

• book-keeping
• photo editing and storage
• creation of packaging and documents
• word processing
• document storage (mostly patterns & tutorials!)
• email
• Internet use

My Internet usage is mostly:-

• Google Reader for the blogs I read
• home shopping - including groceries
• my blog
• The Woolly Brew
• social media - only Facebook really
• surfing!  I currently use and highly recommend Evernote for 'clipping' ideas and info
• news and radio and I've been watching/listening to a few videos recently too

My laptop is perfectly adequate for all of these.

Add to that, I don't like computer games (apart from solitaire on my mobile phone).  I don't watch movies or read fiction or indeed listen to music anymore and I don't have any desire to have 'facetime' with anyone.  And  I don't have an extensive social network to follow, like, share or tweet.... nor do I need to do much 'on the move'.

So why spend £399 on an entry level iPad (and £35 on a cover and maybe £20 on apps)?  Especially when I have no income and there are many more pressing things to spend extra money on...

And especially when I will only use it for things I already do on my laptop and paper diary....

er...  it will look nicer

Is that a good enough reason?



When I worked (a job that paid) and travelled, I had a Palm Pilot (circa 1996) and I remember being totally obsessed with that too and used it extensively for diaries and lists and note taking... I even learnt how to write using graffiti...

garden 2011 - update

broad bean (Sutton) 16th May

Whilst picking up some more big pots at the garden nursery I saw some broad bean plants... I love broad beans....

I'm now going to try and find some baby sweetcorn plants as Nearly School Girl is slightly manic about them and has me a wee bit addicted too... not sure how easy it will be to grow them in a container in a windy Fife garden.

Knitting - cable vest for a baby

I'm currently knitting a cable baby vest for sale at Sea Queen day.  I did have one on my original to do list but I have found myself knitting this simpler one!

pattern free from naturallycaron

The front is done and I've started the back, hopefully I'll finish it soon as Sea Queen Day is 11th June and we're in need of more stuff to sell!

Wee Wonderfuls by Hillary Lang

Amazingly this book was available through the library!

I've followed Hillary Lang's blog for several years, admired her stitchette patterns and even bought one of her patterns.

As a very (very) occasional sewer I couldn't justify buying the book so had an eye out for it in my library...

It is very cute!

Goldilocks (a red cape is also included to make her Red Riding Hood!)

gorgeous yarn hair and pattern for matching doll quilt

comes with a pattern for a girl's apron

There are lots of other designs - boys and animals -  but the girls are my favourite.

However Nearly School Girl has picked THIS!

Not quite as cute and a little obscure... oh well...

There is a flickr photo pool here.

Sewing on Leaves - update

leaves originally stitched 13th October 2009

weaving

These little balls of yarn are for weaving on a paper plate...  inspired by this idea at That Artist Woman.

I'm going to try it out with Four Year Old (if she ever stops digging in the garden) and then try it out at her nursery.

Not sure if it will work out but an egg box filled with centre pull balls looks good....

it's back

Blogger has been AWOL for the day.

Slightly concerned about the outage... 

This is a test post from my brother's iPad!

Let's try and insert a photo.

Oops needs a work around.....

to do list update

(not including Kingdom of Adventure or The Woolly Brew)

knit my other handwarmer since my chunky ones are looking a bit manky
knit more stuff for Sea Queen! - URGENT!

• finish cable bag
• knit a baby jumper
• knit a childs hat 
• knit another doll - not sure which one.. Poppy/Rosie or Dolly or something different...

hexagons:-

• do more with my hexagons
• crochet hexagons
• teeny tiny hexagons

make up a photo frame for Four Year Olds 5th year photos!

make something special... now very very overdue....
do more on my cardigan... I'm going to wash and (discretely) wear my swatch

read my new books!

gut the front garden - weed, lift the roses, dig, add some manure, plant some shrubs...

shrubs donated by Father in Law

dots

I'm loving the dots on my May Calendar Challenge page.. I keep adding more... depsite the fact I have lots of other (more) important stuff to do...

knitting - newborn cardigan

newborn cardigan with short sleeves for Sea Queen

A free pattern using gifted yarn.  Less than 50g!

Knitted top down and seamless.  My new favourite way to knit!

For the Sea Queen stall on Saturday 11th June in St Monans.

cardboard challenge

at Tinker Lab found via Artful Parent

"...I asked them (and their children!) to create anything they like using at least one cardboard box. The project would be executed by children, but grown-ups were welcome to facilitate and/or collaborate if the mood struck. Links to my twenty-two collaborators can be found at the end of this post, and I’d encourage you to do a little blog hopping today (or save this for when you have some time) and bookmark those posts that inspire YOU."

from Tinker Lab

garden 2011 - update

courgette sown 28th March and radish sown around it on 1st May

peas, beans and lettuce sown 14th April.... some planted out

peas planted out

knitting - cable bag

Cable bag for sale at charity stall for Sea Queen

Pattern (and free bag handles) from Simply Knitting issue 64

neverending list on Ravelry

I have just noticed I have marked over 400 patterns on Ravelry as a favourite....

better get knitting...

knitting - cardigan

So... my Mother in Law gave me some DK yarn - 400g of acrylic, unknown brand and yardage.

I am toying with the idea of knitting this cardigan (inspired by the top down seamless bliss of Four Year Olds new cardigan)

peggy sue

Concerned by the scale of the project (my usual preference is for something small and fiddly) and my loose gauge, I have done a tension swatch...

 

The gauge listed in the pattern is:-

21 sts x 28 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) in stockinette stitch.

 

Being a loose knitter I reached for 3.5mm needles and got this gauge...

21sts x 29 rows

 

Jackpot?  I was going to measuring continually as I knitted anyway to make sure I get it long enough.

I haven't washed the swatch yet...


I've also just noticed it's short sleeved... Mmmmm I'll need to extend the sleeves too.


My other concern is the wear and tear on the acrylic yarn...  I remember reading somewhere (probably on a Ravelry forum) that you should not only wash your swatch but you should also pin it to your clothing (in a high wear and tear area - like under your arms) and wear it for a day or so... then check the bobbles...

 

 

to do list update

(not including Kingdom of Adventure or The Woolly Brew)

knit my other handwarmer since my chunky ones are looking a bit manky
knit more stuff for Sea Queen! - URGENT!

• finish cable bag
• knit a baby jumper
• knit a childs hat

hexagons:-

• do more with my hexagons
• crochet hexagons
• teeny tiny hexagons

make up a photo frame for Four Year Olds 5th year photos!
knit one doll for a 3rd birthday... like this one... and this one -  overdue  not going to happen

make something special... now very very overdue....
have a look at this... a free online professional photography course at HP  who am I kidding!
do more on my cardigan...

start planting up my petunias (and giving them away!)

read my new books! 

 

knitting - cable bag

cable + moss stitch = a few mistakes

This will be a cable bag  to sell on our charity stall at Sea Queen day.  Nearly done....

calendar challenge - May 2011

My May page for Calendar Challenge

I can't believe I'm on the fifth month and still going strong (hope I haven't jinxed it now...)

For this page I stamped over it with a flower stamp and black paint, I drew some flower shapes on top and also on separate sheets of paper to cut out.  I used the end of a paint brush to make some dots (and have since added some more with a pen..)

Can you tell I'm excited about a night out at the end of the month...?