Been a while... update with pics!

Update time!

Doggies...  Ike's going to the vet for his annual vaccinations tonight - that'll no doubt go down as well as vet trips usually go with him!  In recent news, he was left unsupervised for a few hours in my in-laws house and behaved the whole time, no food thieving, no destruction and no killing of the cat, so I was a pretty proud mum!  While we were there that weekend we went for a wander round Talkin Tarn, it was very cold but very pretty so I took a few piccies:

My two gorgeous boys together:

And then we met a little puppy - a 12 week old Wire-haired Viszla called Loca, who was very gorgeous but not keen on staying still for photos!  Ike was brilliant with her - he just had a good sniff and wagged his tail.  More proud mum!

Next up, knitting.  Been pretty productive this last few weeks since I finished that flipping shrug!  I've got started on the bolero for the multiple weddings this year, so far I have one sleeve and a shoulder so that's not bad going.  I've also completed a little something that is a birthday present for someone so I can't post a pic of that yet, and I've started a pair of socks for another someone's birthday too, so again, no pics.

Things I can post?  Socks for me!  Namely some Jeeves socks for me, knitted in some thicker wool than normal for socks bought for me by my brother and his OH for Christmas.  It's lovely and soft and knitting up really quick because of the thickness of the wool.

And, oh, go on then, it won't give much away to show what I've done so far on the birthday socks, since it isn't much, although in my defence I only started them on Sunday night!  Don't tell anyone I showed you though!

Next up, food....  Not a huge amount of excitement in this department really.  I did make some scrummy roast sweet potato soup with homemade bread the other week:

 But that's about it really.  Not helped by the fact that I keep forgetting to take pictures of stuff!

Music has been quiet too.  Choir rehearsals are trundling on in preparation for the next concert in April.  Band rehearsals are also pretty quiet - we're aiming for a concert in late May/June but nothing's actually booked yet.  I'm limited in how much I can play depending on the state of my back too, so I don't always get to rehearsals.  Plus the sax section has been decimated since the new school year started thanks to exams for the kids - last year we had 6-8 altos and 4 tenors, this year it's been an average of 3-4 altos and 1 tenor (me) which makes it so much harder to make a decent sound.  And I definitely can't manage to play all three tenor parts for Birdland on my own!

Nuff whinging - over and out!

It's done!

Yes, it's official, the endless Stocking Stitch Shrug (Rav link) is finally finished!  Some piccies:

 Isn't it pretty?  I love it, and it's so warm - although annoyingly the weather has warmed up this week so it's not as in use as I wanted it to be, but I'm sure the UK will oblige again very soon and get cold.

And, as an added bonus, because I didn't use anywhere near as much wool as the pattern suggested, I made some matching Musketeer Mitts (Rav link) too!

 Also very impressed with these - this is the most cabling I've done in one project so I'm really chuffed with how they turned out.  Yay! *Happy face*

And as a random added extra, because I don't think I uploaded this before, my Christmas cake (which, admittedly, wasn't decorated until after Christmas.  Whoops!):

New Year, new start

So, it's that time again - New Year.  Or, at least, it was a few days ago anyway, but work has been manic so I've not had time to update till today!

Christmas with the sin-laws was lovely, as always - far too much food and drink :-) but good company, good telly, and good presents, so you can't go wrong really!  Had some lovely knit-related gifts too - two Rowan pattern books, and 4 balls of snuggly gorgeous Rowan yarn from my brother - excellent choice little bro!  Also cooking gifts - the Great British Book of Baking and a pretty bun tin from my uncle, also excellent choice - I've made bread using its recipe, which turned out great, and some Yorkshire Teacakes, which, um, less so!  Nuff said on that front I think, but they did make a great bread and butter pud a couple of days later!

So, dog update...  Well, Ike's doing well, although he has moulted like crazy over the last few weeks, which has left the house looking like it's snowed indoors.  Good excuse for a new hoover in the sales before the VAT went up though!  Otherwise, the fur is looking great.  We've reduced his medication from yesterday on the vet's advice, so we'll see what happens now I suppose.  FOA continue to be over-run unfortunately - we're trying to reduce the number of dogs in kennels to bring costs down but there's so many furbabies coming in that it's proving rather difficult unfortunately.  The pre-Christmas auction and raffle both raised a lot of money though, which is helping.

Knitting continues apace - I managed to finish 7 mini stockings for gift tags, so not everyone got one I'm afraid, which feels like a bit of a failure, but I reckon 7 in a week isn't bad going.  I think for next year I'm going to start earlier, and knit a bunch in co-ordinated colours to make a garland.  I'm about 4-6 inches away from finally finishing the Stocking Stitch Shrug that I've been working on for ever and a day, hurrah!  I laid it out on the sofa last night to measure it, and it does look big - no wonder it's taken a long time!  If I'm well behaved and don't knit anything else, there's a chance it might be done for the end of next week, which will feel like a massive achievement!  Over Christmas I also finished the first sock of Circle Socks, which looks great, and I've done about half the leg of the second sock - this will get more attention when the shrug is finally finished, although it is much more portable that the shrug now so it's going out and about whereas the shrug is strictly home knitting only now.

And finally food (since there's been no music going on over Christmas)...  As mentioned above, I had a bash at some more bread last week, which again turned out really well (no pics I'm afraid, I forgot!).  The teacakes were decidedly less great. they didn't rise at all for some reason, I don't know what I did wrong...  Finally cut into my Christmas cake last night though (pic to follow) and it tastes great but is a little bit dry, incredible really when you consider how much booze went into it... How strange.  Other culinary delights over recent weeks have included bread and butter pud made with the flat and doughy teacakes, which was yummy, and a big batch of mince pies that went with us to the sin-laws, and went down really well, so can't have been that bad! 

The bad news is that I'm restarting my diet from last year - my little brother is getting married at the end of July, and I will not be the fat unmarried older sister.  I'll just be the unmarried older sister, which is bad enough, and more than enough ammunition for me to need much gin to get through the day with my grandparents telling me that I'm being left on the shelf, without them telling me I'm fat too!  I'll still be doing cooking, just healthier stuff!

Over and out!

Whoops, been too long again

I've just realised that I haven't posted for a few weeks.  Sorry!  And unfortunately, I haven't got my camera with me, so this will be a photo free post too.  Can't win 'em all, as they say...  It's been manic the last few weeks (hence the lack of general rambling on here) what with concerts, get togethers and what have you!

Music first...

It's concert season, although since I'm only doing one group at the moment it's not as bad as it has been in the past.  SBS did a great Advent Service on Sunday 5th December in Old Malton Priory, after battling our way through the snow to get there.  It was flipping cold though - multiple layers throughout were most definitely needed!  We then did a Christmas Concert on Saturday 11th December at St Chads on the Knavesmire which again went really well, even if our lovely accompanist Ray did lose the last page of my duet with Lizzie - I think we bluffed our way through it!  All that's left now is Carol Singing this coming Thursday, which is a little different to normal - we're singing at the Manor Care Home in SB, then the Three Cups pub!  Might make a bit more of an effort to get there than I was originally planning!

Next up, knitting...

Thanks to the mania in other areas I haven't managed to get quite as much done as I would have liked.  The shrug continues apace (now at c. 75cm of 91cm - getting there!), I knitted a quick cowl for my friend who has been asking for one for weeks, and I'm still going with the first sock of Circle Socks, which is almost there - I've done the leg, and turned the heel, just working on the gusset now.  I've also started making little mini stockings, which are ultra cute, which I think I'm going to use as gift tags for presents, if I can get my rear end in gear to make enough of them quickly!  Only took an hour to do one (tops), so shouldn't be impossible.

Cooking...

Christmas cooking is now, of course, in full swing.  My Christmas cake is made, just needs a bit more alcoholic soaking, and icing, and it will be there... Hmm, still some way to go I think.  Made my first batch of mince pies last week, which went well, except I left them in the tin a little too long and had to gouge some of them out with a spoon.  Whoopsie!  Still tasted nice though.  I have a vague plan to make more of them to use as gifts for a couple of colleagues and my grandma.

And finally, doggies...

Ike continues to look brilliant now that his skin has recovered.  We were a bit worried that he might be starting to shed but it seems to have stopped again for now.  Knowing our luck he'll start again right on Christmas!  We went on a walk with some of the others from Friends of Akitas at Newmiller Dam near Wakefield which was lovely and relatively incident free.  It was great to catch up with a couple of friends who I've not seen in ages, and meet some new faces too!

On the doggie front though, FOA do have another crisis on our hands.  There are currently 8 Akitas in pounds across the UK that are at risk of being euthanised if we do not find rescue spaces for them (there were originally 9, we've lost one already :( ).  We have managed to negotiate spaces for 4 of them, but the other 4 are still very much at risk.  If you know anyone who could foster or adopt one of these beautiful babies, please do get in touch with me at becci@friendsofakitas.co.uk.

Off to do more stocking knitting now... Over and out!

Update with pictures this time!

So I finally got my rear end in gear and took some pics of my lovely new socks!  Which, by the way, I am actually wearing today under boots, despite them being intended as chunky stay-at-home socks, because it is that flipping cold!  It's not going to get above 0 degrees C today at all.  Cold.  Anyway...

The socks...

They are snuggly and warm and lovely!  Admittedly, the left sock has one cable twist missing on the inside, and a bit of a ladder on the outside where I didn't manage to join closely enough, but they aren't going to fall apart, and I think for a first pair of socks I've done well!  So much so, that I've now got another sock started on my newly acquired circular needles using magic loop, in proper 4ply sock wool, which I'm very excited about!

The shrug is trundling on slow as ever - if I actually get it finished before winter is over it will be a miracle!  I am taking it with me when I go away this weekend though so fingers crossed I will make some decent progress.  The cowl for a friend has been a little bit abandoned this week if I'm honest, but I will crack on with it next week.

And in non-knitting news, I made the best bread of my life at the weekend!

Yummy scrummy!  Not the best picture, but it was beautifully golden brown on top, and lovely and fluffy inside - perfect.  One day I'll be brave enough to try something other than plain white bread!

Ike's SA has all but cleared up, which is fantastic after so much hard work.  We had a check up at the vets this week, and in the vet's words "Wow, I never expected him to look like an Akita ever again!" :)  I think that's about as good as it gets really!

Some before and after shots of the handsome chap...

Early August, when the SA was at its worst:

And this week:

Much better, I think you'll agree!  And, what with the cold wintery weather we have just now, not before time either.

Knitting news

So I've finished my first sock - how exciting!  It is, I will admit, a little tight, but it does go on!  Whoop!  There is a little ladder down the side of one heel where for some reason I just couldn't get the stitches to tighten up, but I can live with that.  Will get started on the second one very soon, then I have a plan to get some sock yarn and make some proper socks to go under shoes, instead of just ones to wear round the house.

Also on the needles at the moment are a cowl for a friend that has requested one, in a dead simple but pretty lace pattern, and my never-ending stocking stitch shrug that is taking forever to knit up!  At this rate winter will be over before it's finished!  I am planning to take it with me to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks to knit on the train and in any free time I get so you never know...

Went to knitting group again last night - just my second time - and got to know some of the people a bit better, which was lovely.  They're a suitably mad bunch so I fit in perfectly!  I almost don't want Tim to restart band rehearsals on a Monday because that would mean I can't go to knitting...

What a week!

So I managed to damage my back (again) a couple of weeks ago, which has rather affected everything else that I do.  Sitting on my office chair at work causes stiffness unless I get up and move about every 30 minutes or so, I can't walk the dog for longer than 30 minutes, and even then I get shooting pains down my legs, and worst of all, it made taking the choir rehearsal last night very painful.

Our usual MD is on his jollies last week and this, so I was left in charge as usual, meaning that the rehearsals are considerably lighter hearted than MJW's!  But I have to keep standing, and sitting, and playing the piano, and waving my arms about.  Ouch.  Suffice to say I was in desperate need of painkillers and an ice pack by the end.

Hasn't stopped me knitting though!  Following a trip to the wonderful Houghton Hall Garden Centre last weekend to browse (as if!) I've got some scrummy soft wool to make socks, which I've started, and am very excited about!  Pictures to follow (when I've taken them!).