Fyberspates

Knitting

Well, the only little gripe I have about working for myself is the lack of knitting time. So this morning when I woke up at 6.15, I sprang out of bed and thought of the hour and a half of knitting I could do, so I am drinking tea, knitting my secret project for a submission, which Sophie keeps leaping into because I am knitting of a huge hank of the softest chuff chuff ever, everytime I am not looking she ends up in the middle of the hank, which is unusual for her, because she generally ignores yarn, seeing as it is everywhere, but she LOVES this stuff, thank god its all in the store room on shelves, lol.

Anyway carmella's mum and dad have come from spain to stay, and they bought me a tagine, finally, I have a flippin tagine, problem is, I got a book on moroccan cooking with looks amazing, but it calls lots of things tagines, I don't think the word tagine just refers to the cooking pot, so anyone point me in the direction of some nice tried and tested slow roast lamb recipes, with apricots or something similar that I can cook in my new tagine?

40 days to go

I think its about 40 days to go until Peru, I am not too good with dates and things. Sometimes it feels really soon, and then when I write 40 days it seems so far. I am getting so excited, this will be the biggest trip I have ever done, I just feel like taking an empty suitcase so I can fill it with treats, and samples.

I am also very excited today, I know, I am always excited, but I have some new blends of tops arriving early next week, which I can guarentee you will not be able to get anywhere, and I mean anywhere in the entire world. One of them is alpaca and silk, and another is baby alpaca, silk and cashmere, gulp, I have forgotton what the other one is lol! Its some serious stuff. I am getting a good range of blended tops now, and I am so excited about wonderwool, because I will have them all there for you guys. So, I have to get all my wholesale done in the next two days so that I can just dye tops when they arrive. *shiver with delight*. Now I just need a new spinning wheel, because my little crappy haldanes, is just not cutting the mustard, and I am ready to throw it out the window, so in the meantime, I am going to hunt out the last hand made drop spindle which claire made for me and take some of the silk hankies out of the shop, because they are just calling me......

Shame

So, you know when you walk in on someone who is meant to be on a diet and they are stuffing their face with a cream cake or bar of chocolate and they look guiltily at you as if you have caught them doing something criminal, well I'm like that, just not about cakes and chocolate. I'm like that about things that are made in china, or come from a huge supermarkets, lol.

So there is me supporting local shops, going and buying my tofu and Bio D washing liquid in refillable containers from the new health food shop on Clifton Street, buying fresh veges, from the local shop etc etc. And yesterday something awful happened.  I drove past EVIL Sainsbury's, and I was so blinded by the bright lights, that my van and I got sucked into its evilness, OH, the smell of the evil bread, and the ridiculously over packaged food, the taste the difference organic thick cut bacon, croissants, delicious butter that wasn't from Wales  the perfectly formed vegetables and fruit, what was extremely shocking was the only fruit I could find from the UK was cooking apples, everything else had been flown across the world, I even scooped so low as to have plums from some far flung country that probably will now  contribute to global warming, just because I wanted apple and plum crumble! Oh the shame of it. Now in the broad daylight I feel like a dieter who has eaten 10 chocolate eclairs. No really, I'm kidding, well, I kind of am.

As I sat down with my 'supposedly' fairly traded coffee and my taste the difference croissants, I redetermined my efforts to be an Eco warrior, starting tomorrow, just as soon as those bacon sandwiches have been eaten and that apple crumble has been polished off with a nice blob of evil, not locally produced cream. 

Beautiful spring day.

Due to some strict choices, that was the first proper weekend I spent at home, apart from shopping for paint and guitar strings and waffle makers, it was my first weekend at home for about 3 years where I wasn't completely exhausted. I cleaned, and washed and cleaned and washed more than I have ever ever done, because I am realising how much easier my life is when I am organised, and everything is in its place. The house feels fantastic, and I am so in the mood to do some decorating and every time I walk into the lounge, I can smell the daffy's that mum put in the window.

I realised this weekend, I think maybe I have the tendency to surround myself with people to stop me feeling lonely, after about 3 hours of being alone this weekend I stopped feeling the urge to ring someone up and comfort me, and started to really enjoy it, and then I was amazed at the things I had time to think about when I was alone, and actually had some really profound realizations  about a few things in my life, I wasn't expecting that! They are a bit too deep to share, but blimey I am feeling so damned good today, my head is clear and I am ready for some serious work.

So happy spring cherubs, I hope you all feel as ready as I do to have some hard working fun :-)

PS, this is my idea for my kitchen, this is how it looks at the mo:

And this is the little tester I did, you won't be able to see any of the natural wood when its finished, and it will certainly lighten up the kitchen, I am loving it, but its quite labour intensive with the two colours, any thoughts?

 

Sunday Bliss

So, I have lots of things to do in the house today, including painting some sample doors in the kitchen, because I hate my wooden doors, and its such a gorgeous kitchen, that if it was made lighter it would just be a complete delight. I have my samples and now I just have to try out some different colours, I'll post some pics tomorrow.

To start with though this morning I tried out my new waffle iron I bought yesterday, I've been wanting one for ever and ever, and yesterday felt like the right day.....

Home made waffles, fresh coffee and the Archers. Bliss!

I decided to stay at home.

Ahh, I was to tired to drive, so I'm staying at home this weekend, but I did go and buy some paint samples this morning for the kitchen, and have trialed it out on one door, it look cool, I'll take pics in the morning to show you, I also bought some teal paint and some gold for the wood work in the bathroom, very exciting.

Also I'm gonna spin some silk hankies tomorrow, they are just too good to sell, lol!

Talented family

So, normally my working week doesn't seem to really have a beginning or an end, but its the first time in ages where I was so tired last night, and I couldn't wait for it to be Friday, I am actually going to have the weekend off. I am going to see family, and take my knitting, I have to finish a pattern, and thats it, but its fairly mindless knitting. But I'm not there yet, I have alot of dyeing today and lots of labeling to do, but my god, I am going to go for walks, eat Sunday lunch, and sleep in.

Do you want to see a picture of my new cupboard that my uncle built me in the bathroom? Well you are going to anyway...

My bathroom is rather on the large side, the size if a bedroom actually, alot of the houses in Cardiff tend to have bathrooms downstairs and then only bedrooms upstairs, my house has been chopped around out of recognition, but thats why I love it, anyway there was a flimsy cupboard in there, but I have so many people come and go in my house that I have a serious amount of bedding and towels, and no where for them to go, so now I have my new large airing cupboard, its so gorgeous,

Sorry I should have put the loo seat down, but anyway...

I can't wait to go and sort the whole room out now, but I need to do my work, and its Carmella's room to clean so I will resist, she was painting baskets white last night at 11.30 so we can put all our bits and pieces in them!!! I am getting a major itch to decorate, now we have started things it kind of makes you want to keep going........

Then my Auntie Marylin sent me a pic of a scarf kit of mine she knitted up, its really gorgeous...........

Pretty isn't it...

stuff

Uncle still building, mum still organising, man coming for very important meeting at 2pm, gulp.

I need my knitting.

Tuesday

The weather is so gorgeous here, so blimin gorgeous, would like a walk,  but the dye pot is callling ...........

My little head is spinning.

Well, mum came today with my uncle peter to do some tidying up jobs in my house, things like filling holes and building cupboards, and mum bascially deconstructed my entire dyeing space and reconstructed it into something which is pretty damned amazing. She has the most incredible ability to organise, which I obviously have not inherited, but I almost don't want to dye because I don't want to mess it up, lol. Anyway I am very very grateful, and chuffed.

I am mildly anxious though that I have a million deadlines to fullfill this week, so its going to be a week of very long days, still thats ok, I will look forward to the weekend.

So, what do I do first, finish my article for a magazine? Dye the wholesale orders, pack the other orders and 70 sock clubs? carry on knitting a design for another magazine which is due in the next week or two?

Cup of tea and a nap anyone?