Wimbledon is distracting me from my knitting

Here's a picture of a 30 year old.

Here's a picture of some knitting a 30 year old is working on.

Here's a picture of a birthday present for a 30 year old.

Today I left work to come home and work.  I had very good intentions but the Federer and a-Tomic matches thoroughly distracted me. Such exciting tennis, I kept flipping between matches.  By the time they were over, I was emotionally deflated and only tuned in to watch the last game of each of Murray and Nadal's victories.

I did write up the pattern for Bob (yes, shame faced, didn't do that before the holiday) which leaves me free to concentrate on working hard and catching up with the work that is at work.  Having a holiday might be more fun if it didn't mean all the extra work either side of it.  I suppose that would only encourage more people to be irresponsible slackers and actually have holidays ;) Work, work, work.  I enjoy my dayjob which is useful because I would be really miserable otherwise.

Happy birthday to me!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday! It was all a bit brilliant. Before my holiday, Karen and I concocted a plan to wear our fanciest dresses to work in celebration.  In my absence, she also managed to rope in the others in the office and we had an all day party.  There was quiche and cava and I brought cake with the fanciest candle I've ever seen. Even though it was excessively hot, we all managed to stay fancy looking all day.

In the evening I went out to dinner with my brothers and sisters and stuffed myself with thai food at my favourite restaurant.  I opened all my cards and presents and felt treasured all day.

Back home

Dirty, smelly and tired but I definitely had a lovely holiday in Rhodes. Starting with the end, the trip home was extended by several hours due to a reroute of the plane. It took two coaches, a plane, a train and my car/oven to get me home and now I'm sorting out washing and photos. I'm a bit incoherent and befuddled from lack of sleep so I'll watch some tv and maybe attempt so knitting before getting an early night.  The last sleep of my 20's!!!!!

Greece here I come!

Bob's winging his way to the magazine (or perhaps sitting in a royal mail sorting office) and I've spent the morning in the bathroom primping and preening so I can be reasonably ready to be seen in public in a bikini. I've also spent time with the tablet but I still can't get my films to play with sound so I'm disappointed.  I contacted the seller and they suggested that I'm using the wrong file types or wrong resolution but they didn't specify which I should be using.  So, I've emailed them again. I tried downloading moboplayer, an app for androids but that hasn't fixed it.  If I can't get it to work I want to get a refund as the main reason I bought it was to watch films on. I does play music (yes, I have the sound turned up, I'm not that dumb) and I can put books on it but these were only secondary functions for me.  Regardless, I will enjoy my holiday. I just need to buy some reisen chocolate chews and a killer sudoku puzzle book at the airport and I will feel properly in the mood.

See you when I get back!

So long, bob, and thanks for all the fish

Bob is finished and just needs taking to the post office tomorrow morning.  I'm worn out and hungry and grumpy with my little tablet toy as it doesn't want to play films, or rather it will but without any sound.  I'm going to keep trying to make it work and then I will sulk. I left it a bit late to sort out but I've been working overtime and finishing Bob and, yeah I did go to the cinema twice, want to make something of it? So I could have sorted the tablet already and then I wouldn't be flustered now because tomorrow I am going on Holiday! I'm not at all prepared, and don't even know what knitting to take but I bought a bikini and some tops and mini toiletries and a book from a charity shop so I'm sure I'll be fine. I need to do many things before I go including important things like packing and escorting Bob to the post office and less important things like playing on the computer.

Hooray for summer holidays when the weather here is cold and miserable!

New Pattern

My latest pattern has been published in Let's Knit, Issue 44.  It's a rectangular stole made from Fyberspates Scrumptious 4 ply and was designed with beginners in mind.  It introduces the technique of knitting an edging as you go, picking up stitches at the beginning and knitting them off at the end. The yarnover eyelets form an hourglass pattern that is repeated on the edging and in the centre of the shawl.  I didn't take any pictures of it before I sent it to the magazine apart from one when it was blocking.

I'll take far more when the shawl is returned!

Training for September #4 and a new toy

Pre run munch: salt and vinegar crisps
Post run munch: dinner - I think it was sausage pasta
Time of run: 5pm gogo go ji
Distance: not far
Time: 20 mins
Category: hurty leg
Feeling: weepy

Tuesday's run was a bit upsetting as I already started in a bad mood and then my leg seized up and I came home and internally raged and wept at my miserable luck. I had hoped running would cheer me up but I had to fall back on The Big Bang Theory and my lovely knitting group. By the end of the evening I was feeling much better.

On Wednesday, I had to suffer the indignity of working for almost the whole day but I did get to eat cake at my Mum's for lunch.  Big sister came round in the evening to finish off a lovely new bag for me.  Really it was too late at night for sewing in a straight line and everything seemed rather difficult but I gave her a big bowl of ice cream.  We also talked about our trip to Japan that is due in November and we freaked out a bit at how expensive it was becoming.  I went to bed and had nightmares about knitting Bob wrong, as I'd also had a wobble over how close the deadline is.

Thursday was a busy, busy day.  I'm deputy at work and this week I've been in charge which mostly means pretending to tell people what to do. And staying late. And sometimes getting in early. I did manage to sneak out in time to get to town and have dinner and go to my lessons. I didn't have time to open my NEW TOY which is also a BIRTHDAY PRESENT and actually WORKS!

It's a

Tabtech M009S 2GB Google Android Tablet PC - Cheapest 2.2 Android Tablet works with Flash 10.1

 

and it was cheap and it works! I was worried it might all be in chinese or really confusing but it was fine.  I charged it up for a few hours before I became suspicious it wasn't charging properly so I turned it on and had a poke around.  It came with a stylus but I was also a little suspicious the stylus would damage the screen and my finger works fine.  At first the tablet wouldn't recognise my wifi so I turned the wifi off and on again (basics!) and then it detected it and I put in the password and then I went on the internet.  Simples! I've downloaded a few apps and need to check it plays music and films but that will have to wait as Bob is getting jealous again.

Bag number 2 is finished

It was touch and go for a while - the sewing maching wasn't really onboard with the project but we pushed on through. I did have to put on washing up gloves to remove the needle that was wedged in the fabric at one point and bigsister Elfyn was very perturbed by the whole process.

The new bag is on the right - it's full of interfacing and doesn't have handles but is very lovely and pretty.

Gadgets

I'm thinking of buying myself a new gadget and I'm a bit confused about whether to buy the super cheapest that might only speak chinese and essentially, kill me by not working properly, or pay more so I wouldn't need a stylus but might be getting the same thing in all other respects.

I had a grand old weekend with Bob although I left him at home on Sunday, taking instead an easy project to do in front of dvds. It was supposed to be a picnic but the weather turned and it was grey and drippy all day. I did buy a new umbrella from Primarni for £3 and it is soooo cool. I also took a trip to PC world to fetch my sister a shiny pink laptop and I think that is where my idea to get a tiny tablet pc came from. Netbooks looked fun too but they're more expensive and who needs a keyboard these days?

The little project is a phone cosy for a friend at Japanese. Speaking of japanese and gadgets, there was a 3d tv in one of the shops showing 3d Nikko - Nikko ni okii otera ya jinja ga arimasu! But my sister wasn't interested and the shop was excessively hot so I didn't get to stay for very long.

Ok have ordered a gadget or two, have been on internet for faaaaar toooooooo looooooooong, so really don't need another gadget, must get back to poor neglected Bob.

Training for September #3

Pre run munch: cereal and half a banana
Post run munch: other half of banana, chocolate cereal bar from my 10k goody bag
Time of run: 10.30am gozen ju ji han
Distance: 4ish km
Time: 37 mins
Category: Roses in bloom
Feeling: hot and sweaty

I'm typing this at 5.50 - I can barely type I'm so excited about the mid season finale of Doctor Who that's on in less than an hour! I'm normally at my sister's so can't watch it as it's too scary to have on around the children's bedtime so I record it.  Today I'm at home, I've just polished off a smoothie, I've been to the supermarket, I've got Bob with me and I'm all twitchy with anticipation.

This morning's run wasn't entirely planned but I woke up early and it was quite cloudy but not too warm.  I really enjoyed seeing all the roses in bloom.  I saw at least six different colours but maybe more like ten.  It helped me keep going for further than I thought I could manage in the warmth.  I think I'm going to have to start going either earlier or in the evening.  I was fairly dripping with sweat when I got back which must be good and cleansing and all that but I spent a long time in the bath to feel properly clean.

Last night I was looking through all the films I've recorded and was very surprised and happy to see I had Princess Mononoke. I had just been reading Haikugirl's post about the Ghibli museum in Tokyo and mentally adding it to the must see list for my upcoming trip.  I thought, it's a shame I haven't seen any Studio Ghibli films, I must try harder, then, Boo! there it was, along with My Neighbour Totoro. Animations aren't the best films to knit to as the artists have spent a long time creating a world they want you to immerse yourself in but Bob was at a st-st stage so we both managed to enjoy it.  I really enjoyed it! The story is full of conflicts and noone is simply good or bad.  It's very different from a Disney film.  The progression of the story wasn't (for me) guessable.  It reminded me of the books I've been reading by Diana Wynne Jones which almost brings me full circle because she wrote Howl's Moving Castle, adapted into an animated feature film by... Studio Ghibli!

#ff

I've been planning a trip to Japan for a long time.  Ever since I got back from travelling in 2007. I spent 10 days there out of 9 months and 9 days wandering round the world and every day (except the awful Wednesday where everything was shut and I kept catching local trains instead of fast trains so I was stuck ruminating on the mistake of not checking what day it was today) ranks in the top days of travelling.   I think it was partly because Japan is such a contrast to rest of Asia that I had spent time in - months in India, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and the Philippines.  Where they were hot, Japan was cold, where they were dirty, Japan was clean. No one tried to hassle me to eat at their restaurant or stay in their hostel.  No one begged for pennies or sweets. I heard no shouts of "hello mam" or "eskool pen".  If I wanted, I could manage for days with no human interaction at all, buying everything from vending machines.

Japan is a complex place, no doubt about that.  What I saw as a tourist was a very beautiful slice of it and barely scratches the surface but that was exactly what I wanted at the time and is really all I want now.  I don't expect tourists in England to be concerned about binge drinking, unemployment and teen pregnancy when they're riding the London Eye and I don't intend to overthink the problems of Japanese culture while I'm trying to take in the largest wooden building in the world.  Hint: it's pretty big.

This year, I've started following some blogs on Japan and as it's #follow friday I thought I'd share them. I can't remember how I came across the first one

Budget Trouble

but I'm glad I did. On Fridays, there is a Show Me Japan feature which led me to

Haikugirl

Ichigoichielove

and latterly

Spooning with a Schoolboy

These are all written in English, or both English and Japanese, and if you're interested in Japan are all worth a look. I've just noticed that Haikugirl has a link to her site about Kitkats.  Kitkats in Japan are soooo much more interesting than in the UK!

Bobogamy

I'm being monogamous with Bob and while that means the deadline shouldn't be a stress issue, I'm lining up projects for when it's done. I've signed up to go to a uni reunion at the beginning of July and plan to wear the dress below but though I could knit a new top.

I've bought the pattern for Simplicity cardigan which ties at the front but now I'm wondering if that will fight with detail on the dress. I'm excited about the reunion although I only know two other people who are definitely going and I'm a bit concerned there might be people there I don't want to see but all in all I am excited about it. I need to book train tickets and a hair cut and might try to see friends and their new baby on the way back so it will be a full weekend.  I'd also like to knit something for the new baby so if the reunion is awful, I can always hide in my room making tiny booties.

I don't remember when I put my dinner in

So I don't know when it will be ready but it's probably about now.  It's beginning to smell good so must be nearly there. I think I'll curl up with Bob in front of a film tonight.  I'm spending a lot of time with Bob and am pleased with my progress so this is a very positive relationship ;) I might have to do some ironing and ds playing instead for a little while but they aren't best done in front of films.  I thought about going for a run but left it too late and didn't really want to go anyway.  I've learnt that I'll go if I want to and won't if I don't and not to worry about worrying about it in between times. There's no point being a grown up if you have to do things you don't want to do all the time!