Nathan Returns....

I'll begin this post with a brief update on the whole cooking situation. Not because I want to, but because others have told me that it is necessary. OK, so Nathan told me I had to post about it whilst he was laughing at me down the telephone. It now appears that throwing my cold soup all over the kitchen floor early last week was merely the beginning of my problems. On Wednesday night I was determined to actually enjoy a hot meal so dashed out and bought a very healthy salmon and green vegetable thing. It was only a microwave meal - i've already made my culinary ineptitude quite clear, so I refuse to apologise for it! After banging, cursing and generally abusing the microwave for ten minutes, I phoned Nathan for some advice.

"What's up? I'm spinning."

OH are you!!!! Well PARdon ME for TRYING to feed myself!

After a few minutes of guided investigation it turned out that I had plugged the blender in, not the microwave. Mmmmmmm......... I wont bother to regale you with further stories of burnt omelettes and exploding pasta sauces. Lets just say that, come the weekend, I was more than happy to confine myself to salads. It's probably not a bad thing, really. I've just purchased one of those Wii Fit consoles in the hope that I can shift some weight in the next two months before my sister's wedding. Failure to do so will result in the construction or purchase of a male corset (don't think I wouldn't!). I dare say that there will be some stories to tell on this, so watch this space!

To return, loosely, to the crafting world.... I was ecstatic today to receive an award! The whimsical (and now my best buddy! Shallow? Moi?!!!) 'Oddsox' very kindly sent me an award for having a lovely blog! I never win anything! Nothing. I can't even win a tin of baked beans on a tombola so I am completely overwhelmed. Especially considering that I have not been blogging for any length of time at all. I'm also reliably informed that this will also be featured on Twitter. If it hadn't taken me about nine months to finally work out how to use FACEBOOK, I expect I would be more excited by the prospect! I mean, women conceive, grow and give birth to babies in less time than it took me to master it! ***Perhaps what I am most bitter about with my Facebook experiences is the fact that when I was actually able to comprehend what was going on, I realised that I didn't actually like it! What a waste of time!***And here is my award in all its glory:

Isn't that just wonderful? I don't wish to turn into one of those awful, gushing women (though I seem to have a natural propensity!) but little surprises like this really do make me feel welcomed into the crafting community. I just love it! I will, very soon, be passing on the honour, though I'm afraid this must wait for a short while because I have so much more to cover today. Anyway, Oddsox, I accept your award and wholly agree that I am simply fabulous! *Just playing in case anyone is considering sending me hate mail for complete arrogance*

Luckily my darling Nathan returned from Woolfest today, completely laden down with goodies. It really is true what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder. I have truly missed him. Of course, as an eternal realist I am also acutely aware that it will, more than likely, only be a matter of hours before I am berating him for not taking the bins out or leaving his wet towel on the floor or some such minor irritation. Hey, I cost a little more and I am quite high maintenance but I think I'm worth it!!!

And apparently he does too! Just look at all of the presents I was given upon his return! This gorgeous little item was sold to him by the British Coloured Sheep Society, courtesy of Carole Keats. I met Carole a few months back when a few of us descended on her workshop and spent many interesting hours discussing her spinning and weaving. Carole has a fantastic eye for colour and produces some of the most gorgeous yarns, particularly through her skilled use of angelina fibres which gives her items a fantastic sparkle. I am like a Magpie. Show me anything shiny and I'll be sure to like it. You can check Carole out on her website http://www.willowclosestudio.co.uk/ but you cannot hope to truly appreciate her skills without tracking her down on the UK exhibition circuit and actually getting up close to her creations. I'm a naturally tactile person anyway, but gazing at all of those carefully blended colours and oh-so-soft fibres always seems like an open invitation for me to plunge my hands in and have a rummage. It's a wonder that Carole lets me near her stock!

Nathan also bought me this fantastic title by Ruth Lee. I've thumbed through his Mum's copy many times when visiting her in Scotland so I'm pleased to finally have one of my own! This is a great coffee table book. Patterns can be so prescriptive at times and when you have one of those days where you feel that you need to break down the boundaries of knitting, this will be your inspiration. Or rather, mine! Go and buy your own!

Nathan also got me a lovely felting kit, but I am not going to discuss that with you now as I have a few ideas in the pipeline and wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. In fact, talking of ideas - does anybody else out there feel like a modern day Miss Havisham?! I am slowly accumulating so many supplies and vast numbers of patterns and ideas that I can see me very shortly being sat, enrobed in not an aged wedding dress, but a jumble of half finished knitted garments....by my side a table, not filled with a decaying wedding banquet but bags and bags of moth eaten yarn and yellowing pattern books..... Just me? When will I EVER have the time to do all these things that I plan? Nathan nearly slaps me every time I tentatively suggest taking up yet another hobby. Indeed, after our visit to Carole Keats I was caught looking online at triangle looms and was pretty much told it was him or the loom. Well, it is such a pain moving house, so I let him have that one!!!!

Evidently, Nathan spent quite a lot of time at the Woolfest with Julietta from http://www.knitshop,co.uk/ I met Julietta a while back and she is a most charming woman. I am so jealous that Nathan got to spend so much time with her as she is definitely somebody that I would like to get to know better. She stocks a prolific range of felting and knitting goods on her website and I am reliably informed that she is due to open her own shop in Central London in the coming weeks, so look out for her! I wish her all the very best in her new venture! As an aside, if anybody wants to try knitting with something that is durable, unique and amazing value (when knitted up it looks as if it should have cost an awful lot of money) then may I suggest trying Julietta's cotton/linen blend yarn. Really is wonderful stuff!

But goodness me! I keep telling all of you how wonderful other peoples things are. Mine are also very very good! Drop in on my Etsy/Folksy shop and browse around (or better still -buy! I have a corset to purchase, you know!) I should be adding some new items later this week. Especially since Nathan's Mum gifted me a tonne of pencil rovings (pictured below) which should look amazing when knitted up and felted. The muted tones of this fibre immediately made me think mock vintage, so I think I'll make some kind of felted handbag with vintage embellishments.

I think that's it for now really. I do try to punctuate my writing with the odd bit of humour, but when I begin to bore even myself I know that it is usually a good time to stop! Besides, now that Nathan is back I'm looking forward to a proper meal!

Until next time, my dears.....

M xxx