So, this is the laziest NYE yet.
Today I went to Bristol with Ray and Andy. We wrote to the bag of nails pub, which has cats!
We popped into two other pubs and had a look around the cathedral too.
Traff picked me up from the train station, to save me the walk- which was pretty romantic really.
He made a giant home made pizza and we watched mall rats. 😁🎉
We braved the cold and dreary weather to test Traff's new board on the Thames.
Definitely worth it as we had a bit of an explore.
We need to find a longer route.
We were mooching at Tea and mashes when Tea got home from her party.
She decided to fix Traff's hair.
Once fixed, fenella decided to sleep in it
Today has been brilliantly chaotic.
Traff and I had planned to be super organized and leave super early.
Neither of these things happened.
I ended up being 2 hours late to meet Tats, so we decided that rather than trying to get to Stowe landscape gardens, we'd go to Houghton house for a mooch around.
Then we headed to coffee and art for mint aero millionaire shortbread and coffee. It's so much colder here than at home. I guess it's because it's so flat so the wind can travel so much more easily.
We had a look in the salvation army charity shop - I got a new designer jumper and a tweed dress. Tweed dress is a bit weird, but better than it sounds.
Traff and I went for dinner at El Picante. It used to because take away truck but the couple who run it make awesome food, and about a year ago they bought the restaurant.
It is soooooo good.
We spent the evening at Tea and Mash's watching Eddie the eagle on TV and petting fenella.
Fenella is very chilled, but not as violently affectionate as Marley.
Today was another lazy day. I'm loving the gap between Christmas and New year!
We had a lie in until 10am. Tbh, we watched CSI until 2am so it was a good 8 hours rather than an epic rest.
Tracey turned up whilst I was still in my PJs after a slight communication breakdown. We went to M&S for new pillows.
I am so excited for a floofy pillow rather than a pillow pancake.
I was invited for dinner at Rue's house, which was very exciting.
Traffic dropped me off so I was able to drink some wine 🍷.
Rue made steak and rice and roasted vegetables and sooo many sauces! I wish I could cook like that.
Boxing day was super lazy!
I did an online John Lewis order with my Xmas vouchers, fed Albie, watched sooo many episodes of CSI and did some cooking!
CSI started early. Marley got up at 5.30am, we fed her, then watched 2 episodes of CSI in bed. Had another nap and finally got up around noon.
I made an epic lasagna for dinner- truly my finest work.
Work organized a trip to the Harry potter studio tour, so we went!
It's Christmas themed at the moment, with the Great hall dressed for the Yule ball and fake snow everywhere!
I'm feeling very festive now 😁🎄
I'm pretty sure I posted about entering the "vintage treasures" competition run by bath fashion museum back in September.
I posted pictures of a few of my favourite items- corde 1940s handbag, 1930s dancing shoes, Edwardian corset...
And the handbag won!
I had a really lovely parcel of goodies arrive yesterday- I really have been spoilt in the run up to Christmas!
We arranged back few months ago to go out on Friday night for Tracey's leaving do and Dahks retirement do.
We failed to realise that this was the final Friday before Christmas- so the bars and pubs were jam packed, as was the restaurant.
We had a lovely meal and a good catch up.. and a bit too much wine..
I got stir crazy. I moved all my sewing and crafting stuff upstairs so that the house looked tidier.
And then I thought to myself, "before I hoover, I could move some furniture around..."
So, I moved the DVD unit to behind the sofa, the drawers behind the sofa upstairs and then the 6ft book case to where the DVD unit was.
And now there's a big gap by the TV so I might move the record player.
Then I washed all the rugs and dusted the surfaces.
By the time I hoovered it was gone 2pm and I was still in my PJs.
I had a wash and went into town to pick up my Amazon parcel which is for my parents for Christmas.
It was supposed to come last Wednesday to a drop off point but the driver lost it. 8 days later it still wasn't there so I cancelled it in a huff.
I bought Marley a fancy turkey cat food from the pet's corner shop. ( It's a bit more expensive than online, but I like that they have loads of choice and are independent).
Traff and I went to John Lewis to collect a replacement present for my parents- it ended up being £30 cheaper!
In addition, they had super middle class carol singers, accompanied by a pianist on a baby grand.
There were also free mince pies.
I do like a John Lewis shop 😁
I booked a bit of time off in the run up to Christmas- yesterday was my last 5.50am start of 2018!
That feels so good to say!
I finished two crafty projects- I finished the scarf I was making for my Mum for Christmas. I also finished my sequin skirt from the Pinterest pattern I posted- the one that had a blood sacrifice from Tracey.
I've also prepared the pieces for a few more projects, but I'm waiting to start those.
I've ordered a desk and a chair from Gumtree to make myself a sewing room in the back bedroom. I'm fed up with sewing on a coffee table that falls over every 5 minutes. So this is a good start for bigger projects in 2019.
I've also finally watched 'gone with the wind' so that's another film to check off of the two watch list.
I had a few chores to do today too- I had to go and restring a violin so I got a nice cycle ride out of it too.
This weekend was a pretty lazy looking one originally, but it ended up with us seeing plenty of people- Jenni and Therese came to town on Saturday, so we tried to brave town with the sideways rain. We made it to the Italian deli, but not much further.
Ace arancini though!
In the evening vwe went for dinner with Roz, Marek and Akua so I'm feeling like I'm back in the social loop.
On Sunday I decided to have a go at making the skirt pattern I posted. Tracey came over to do some marking.
All very safe and easy.
And then I somehow managed to see Tracey's finger. So gross. Basically there are two lessons here:
Keep away from clumsy people who have sewing equipment.
Keep your fingers out of the way!
So, we continued the marking in A&E.
Incidentally, I also did not finish the skirt.
From here:
http://crochetkitten.blogspot.com/2012/09/bavarian-crochet-in-rows.html?m=1
But there's a really good stitch tutorial here:
https://www.thestitchinmommy.com/2015/01/bavarian-square-tutorial.html?m
it worked in rows, but traditionally it is worked in the round. The resulting fabric is textured and thick, yet still drapes really well. It's perfect for all your fall projects!
I'm going to spend the next two weeks focusing on this unique stitch so we can go over how to work it in rows and how to work it in rounds. Today's lesson is Bavarian crochet in rows. Next week we'll cover Bavarian crochet in the round.
Note: This pattern has been updated to change "hdc" to "sc," which we feel results in a more closed square.
Bavarian Crochet in Rows
Special Stitches:
4-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 4 stitches, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the fourth fptr, yo and pull through all 5 loops on the hook. 4-fptr cluster is complete.
5-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 5 stitches, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the fifth fptr, yo and pull through all 6 loops on the hook. 5-fptr cluster is complete.
8-fptr cluster. Work a fptr over ea of the next 8 tr, keeping the last loop of ea fptr on the hook. After the eighth fptr, yo and pull through all 9 loops on the hook. 8-fptr cluster is complete.
Beg Ch: Multiple of 8 + 2.
Row 1. Sc in 2nd ch from hook, *skip 3 ch, (4 tr, ch 1, 4tr) in the next ch, skip 3 ch, sc in the next ch, rep from * across.
Change colors if desired.
Row 2. Ch 3; turn. 4-fptr cluster over next 4 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp, *ch 3, 8-fptr cluster over next 8 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * across. Ch 3, 5-fptr cluster over next 5 st.
Row 3. Ch 4; turn. 4 tr in top of first cluster, sc in the next sc, *(4 tr, ch 1, 4 tr) in center of next cluster, sc in next sc; rep from * across. 5 tr in top of last cluster.
Change colors if desired.
Row 4. Ch 1; turn. Sc in first tr, *ch 3, 8-fptr cluster over next 8 tr, ch 4, sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * across, ending last rep with a sc in last tr.
Row 5. Ch 1; turn. Sc in first sc, *(4 tr, ch 1, 4 tr) in center of first cluster, sc in next sc; rep from * across.
Change colors if desired.
Rep rows 2-5, changing colors after each odd row if desired.
Abbreviations
beg beginning
ch chain
ea each
fptr front-post treble crochet
rep repeat
sc single crochet
st stitch
tr treble crochet
yo yarn over
