Hard Times

Sometimes it just seems to go on and on doesn't it?

I am signed off again from workj, for at least 2 months so wont be back this last half term, which is good for my health and wellbeing, but a very weird place to be mentally, as at some point I am going to have to go in and bring a load of my personaly belongings home, maybe in the summer holidays, All most strange.
My Dr, who is wonderfully supportive, recommends I find a less stressful job - yikes.

So I am giving myself a few more days to try and calm down (I am very jittery at the moment and have been very tense all week, an impending doom sort of tense) and then start looking, including jobs out of teaching, but I know not what ... ideas?

As for the Hartlepool interview - when the Head started stroking the hair of the internal candidate without cracking a smile at the rest of us it was obvious where that bizarre day was going. And the hotel? I paid for two nights and left after one, simply couldn't bear another. Mums instead, for some much needed tlc.

This box of lovelies is for a test knit I am currently doing - and loving, will have to check with the designer about how Top Secret it is before giving any details. Enough for now to say I love the pattern, and the wool / cashmere blend is gorgeous.

I am determined to improve my spinning - I keep ending up with lively, overspun wool - not dreadfully overspun but enough to make knitting it up a bit of a pain. All that effort for very little - so I was much more careful with this little lot. It is a custom dyed 'Spin a Cardi' amount bought from the lovely Marianne picperficGreys, pinks, purples, black - perfic!

Very soft bfl, hence the halo on it, I plied with some cashmere and ended up with this:

 which although not perfect is much better than I have made so far. 3 skeins so far and about 150g still to spin. I have an idea in my head for a cardi design, so that's for maybe Sunday.

What else?

I think I posted a while ago about a quilt pattern I had seen in greys - and lo and indeed behold the little fabric shop here had several of the prints in. So did I buy it and cut out the quilt pieces? Or did I buy some and cut out a skirt instead?

Of course, a summer skirt - Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirt pattern, all pieces cut out the other evening and I sewed the front yesterday. My sewing mojo is in hibernation at the mo, but as it is very warm here and I need some summery skirts I plan on finishing this by tomorrow. I also have some flowery (pink roses on black) fabric so if it's as nice as i hope will make one from that too.

I am struggling to reassess and make plans for my life. Things need to change - work obviously being the priority as it is making me very ill. I suspect a new job will mean a house move, and that's ok. But it's hard, wondering where and how to make such massive changes. For now it's one tiny step at a time - this week that's decluttering (kitchen cupboards first and some clothes etc for ebay) and trying to calm down a bit. I also need to sort my physical health out, and at least get a swim in even if I can't manage the gym just yet - haven't been for over two weeks.

Tiny steps.

Finally

a post. Work, needless to say, simply got in the way.

I started teaching again on Monday, with the most explosively violent couple of days I have ever known, and I have been teaching PRU kids for quite a while now. The worst day by far - ever in my career - was Wednesday, utterly shocking and upsetting violence on a scale that left quite a few of us shaken. I left the staff meeting early to have a good cry in private, and had a hell of a struggle to get in the next day. But I di, so that's the first week done.

And there is some good quality work in their new books, as a teacher I needed to remind myself of that so spent a long time marking every book and making sure they were all up to date.

But enough of my shitty working life.

Knitting - very very little done this last week, but the second sleeve is almost done, and then it's seaming time tomorrow. I also want to make some pockets to sew on, a jacket - cum - cardi is no good without pockets in my opinion.

Still loving the pattern and the wool.

Not sure what I have lined up next, I might have a change of scene and use some of the Rowan Lenpur Linen I have, or the large amount of bamboo thats lurking upstairs. In black, of course . .. although I also have a cardi's worth of Rowan Cotton Tape, and was eyeing up a young woman's long loose cardi on the bus yesterday, I really liked it.

Sewing has also come to a grinding halt since the weekend - so much for A Craft a Day for the Month of May!

I did manage to get the front of my quilt all joined, so plan on sandwiching the whole thing together tomorrow, ready for the fun bit. I LOVE the colours in this, they make me happy.

I love this quilt: and the sewing shop in town has most of the grey fabric in stock - I am planning on making myself a summer skirt from the grey roses print, not cheap but very striking.

I love this photo.

As probably most of the world knows, our election became increasingly bizarre, and now we have a coalition government with a smarmy smug elitist prat and a self contradicting twit in charge of the country. As Gorgon le Brown has now gone (and his goodbye speeches had to be the most honest, light hearted ones he has ever delivered - and he looked like a man who had just shed 10 years with relief - hopefully Labour will now elect someone with a bit more people-power. It's pretty likely there will be another election in the next year or so, so it will be all change again.

Hey ho.

Much more to come, hopefully tomorrow - I plan on a day at home, sleeping, knitting, sewing, tidying up (a few weeks back at work and my house looks like the IRA have been in. Twice.), and more sleeping.

Happy weekend!

Time flies like an arrow...

fruit flies like a banana. Groucho Marx, I believe.How fast is it going to go after Easter, when I am back at work?! Yikes! It's been six months, a long long time (and I have very much enjoyed being at home)and I have mixed feelings about going back - I do love my job but not this particular one, I work with some of my closest friends who are wonderful people, will be good to be back with them every day, and I need to get my brain working again.The rest? Hmmmm, will get back to you on that!
Very positive meeting though this morning.

And my union chap, who is lovely, is going to get in touch with local literary wotnots, to get me involved and help me get ideas about self publishing.

This little bunny was for a friend in an Easter swap on Ravelry, it's a pattern from the Little Cotton Rabbits blog - great fun to knit.I used Rowan 4ply cotton - I usually avoid all cotton like the plague but this was soft and lovely to knit with - unlike the very splitty Sirdar 4ply cotton I used for the head!





And some pretties - I treated myself on payday, not a big splurge but I love all of these (from Accessorize). The pink scarf in particular, have worn it every time I have been out, and the brooches are on my mac. Twinkly, yay!


And this, Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. If ever you visit Leeds do do DO make time to find Rose&Co. It is tucked away in the Victoria Quarter, the beatiful designer shopping area near Harvey Nix. At the moment their window display has the be the prettiest in town, towering cake stands piled with bath melts in whites, silvery glitter and pinks, totally over the top girliness! Will have to get a photo before they change it, it's lovely.
The shop is set out like an old fashioned apothecary shop, with a very 1940s / 50s styling, crammed with yummy bath and body treats, unusual perfumes, quirky jewelry, and lots of things you didn't know you absolutely HAD to have!
Upstairs is a hairdressers, and downstairs is a fabulous dress shop, filled with top stitched pointy bras, frou frou frilly knickers and huge bouffant layered petticoats, gorgeous!
Go on, spoil yourself and have a visit.
PS it's also very close to the best chocolate shop in town, Charbonnel et Walker .... ;-)

Not a huge lot to report today.
Had my Occupational Health assessment which was a bit bizarre - I had been warned by a couple of people that they try to put the onus for your illness on to you, so I was prepared - work has made me ill, nothing else and I was ready to stand my ground.
And it almost came to it - she was rather officious and very abrupt, so I sat, said my piece very calmy, looked her in the eye and was ready to ask why she was being so rude.
But after I had described work, and how dangerous it was becoming she changed her tune, and went from one extreme to the other, ending up showing me photos of her ex on her work computer (WHAT??) and photos on her camera of her partner (WHAT AGAIN!!).Most peculiar ...

So that's another box ticked, meeting next week and hopefully part time after Easter. Utter dread, that's me!

Knitting - am playing about with a pattern idea for a bag, I like it (obviously) but am unsure about copyright - if I adapt a particular cabled leaf pattern that I have seen on several things, is that OK? Lordy.

Ideas are bubbling in my feather filled head for another book (equally craptastic as the first), but time, never enough time - what the hell will I do when I am back at work! Argh! Don't they know I want to CRAFT, DAHLINK!

grumpy old cow...

...thats me

a mix of the summer holidays coming to an end (where did it go?), back to school nerves (sheer horror / terror / confusion / disorder / panic), a run in with a patronising cow when i tried to return a (very expensive) cardi that was shedding so much it was coming off in lumps and making me sneeze (its got mohair sweetheart, its what it does, you should read the label) to which my reply was can i have head offices number please, i am not your sweetheart so please dont patronise me, and where on the label does it say this garment will shed all over the place, ruin what you are wearing underneath and make you sneeze

cow
and with my luck today she will be my one and only reader
in which case - i think you are a patronising cow
so there

ahem

on a knitting front:

have started this beauty:

from this lovely assortment (the rowan is as dark a charcoal grey can get without actually being black, i would have preferred black but this is leeds and one takes what one can get)

(unless its a very moulty expensive cardi)

have finished one side front (and how confuseled was i? AT THE SAME TIME increase 5 million stitches whilst standing on your head listing to the left AT THE SAME TIME decrease 3.456 whilst whistling the national anthem AT THE SAME TIME blah blah blah

got there eventually, 2nd time around
and one sleeve almost done, loads of snowdrops to sew up later on... love love love the colours together

knit. stay sane. knit. drink wine. knit. and ignore patronising cows.....