Hola 2011!

Belated Happy New Year!

Ahem... I know... It's really embarrassing to say Happy New Year in the third week of the year. I wished I could have written my first blog earlier but I have many good excuses reasons for that.



We went to Egypt for 9 days. It was awesome! I was deeply impressed by inspired by the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The trip was full of fun even Egyptians basically don't knit and I couldn't find any souvenir yarn to take home.

After I came back in early January, I started studying and working on my Computing assignments. I am taking 4 courses this year. Three of them have monthly assignments. They are not impossibly difficult but there are quite a lot to read, research and write. Anyway, after working quite hard for 10 days, I managed to finish and hand them in last weekend. Yeah!



We then went to buy some skiing apparels for our skiing trip. I did skied twice or thrice in Japan and indoor sites. But they were all half-day trips. This is going to be my first skiing holiday. We will arrive the French Alps on Sunday noon and stay there till Friday afternoon. Hope I am not going to break my legs or arms... fingers crossed.



I also went to see a GP for my thumb, which I hurt a month ago. It still hurts. Any attempt to straighten my right thumb only results in agony. No. I meant AGONY. The doc has written me a letter to refer me to a hospital clinic for further consultation. Haven't picked up my letter yet. So don't know how long I have to wait though.

At the moment, I try not to spin. Or not too spin too much. I had been a good girl and stayed away from my wheel for quite a while, until...



... a beautiful maple lace weight spindle from Wildcraft arrived. The shaft is made of maple timber. A piece of red maple leaf is embedded in the resin in the top whorl. Simply gorgeous. I couldn't spindle.



I took a few grams of Corriedale (or maybe Falkland?) scraps out and spun right away. The spindle is so feather light (about 24 grams) and spins like a breeze. Great balance. If it was my first spindle, I probably wouldn't have bought my wheel out of frustration.



Last but not the least, I finally cast on my first project in 2011. It's a Hedera in Wollmeise Twin WD Kornblume (it means Cornflower) for the Knit Love Sock knitalong on Ravelry. My green Marlene was almost done, but I wasn't too happy about the size so I will rip off the toes off to reknit and add one more pattern repeat. Will try to do it later though. Now I am feeling like to start a new project! :)

Three Parcels

Before looking at the parcels, let's talk about weather. (People said Brits love to talk about weather. Though am not a Brit, do in Rome as the Romans do, right?)

We finally have had the first snow of the season here in London. It started at about 2am when I was binding off my Echo Flower Shawl. At first it was just flurry or very light snow. I took this photo at about 6am.



But it hasn't stopped snowing for the whole day. Became heavier too. It's another photo I took when I went out to PO at four. I haven't been in London for too long but I bet it's still a bit abnormal to have such a heavy snow in late November? I remember the first snow last winter was in mid Dec.



It was only a five-minute walk from the post office back to home. But I already got half buried by snow. Quite glad that I did put on enough layers before going out.



Okay. Have talked enough about weather. Time to talk about parcels!

(1) The first parcel is the one arrived this morning. Yay! Christmas comes early! It's a Sliding Jumbo Flyer for Ashford Traveller wheel. I also got 3 extra jumbo bobbins. They're from Sheila of Handspinner.co.uk. She not only has the best price (among 6 online shops I've checked) but also offers super fast FREE delivery. I placed my order on Monday morning, they're already with me on Tue at 9am. Very very impressed. I think I'll try them out tonight. Wait... or am I supposed to wait till Boxing Day before I can play with my pressie?



(2) The second parcel is... sorry to disappoint you, it's not a knittery one. They are the textbooks I need for my study. Usually I use Amazon.co.uk or Bookdepository for books. But I found them cheaper by two independent sellers sold via Amazon Market Place. The saving was quite significant. They cost £90 on Amazon but I only paid about £68 now.

However I found some light scuffs and bent corners on the front/back covers on both books. They look perfectly fine and brand new otherwise.Maybe that's why they were sold at discount? I don't really mind a few imperfections. I would still have bought them even if I knew it earlier. But I think it'd be a better business practice if the sellers have mentioned it earlier in the descriptions.

(3) The third parcel is the one I sent out this afternoon. It's for Socktopods Secret Santa Sock Swap. So if you're participating in the swap and haven't received your parcel yet, it can be yours! Please don't click into the following spoiler link to ruin the surprise. For those who aren't in the swap, feel free to have a peek... :)

I am quite nervous about the swap. It's my first time to do a Secret Santa Swap, I honestly don't know what to expect or what people are expecting. After seeing the photos of other parcels on Ravelry, I feel mine doesn't have enough non-knitting festive goodies. Have to admit I was a bit upset about it. Hum... Fingers crossed. I hope she'll love what I picked.

By the way, I really love the yarn I gave away. Almost can't part with it. I'll need to restash it as soon as I have chance.

Wednesday

I have had a pretty busy day.

After finishing up my application form this morning, I headed to C Wharf to lunch with DH. We had Birley's salt beef brisket sandwiches again. For some unknown reason, it didn't taste as good as it was. But still yum I guess.

At around half one, I went to Russell Square to submit my app. Geez the admission office was so crowded. Lots of people were doing last-minute app like I do. :P The lady said they should notify me the admission decision in 4-6 weeks. Fingers crossed.

I then took a bus to Waterloo as I always prefer going home by Jubilee line than Central -- the long walk in Bank to DLR platform isn't usually pleasant. Also I wanna go to iKnit to see if I can grab a needle gauger. My old one miserably disappeared. Plus I am interested to get a copy of Spin Off. Unfortunately none of them could be found there. I was so well behaved and just left empty-handed. (honestly I was tempted to get an Easyknits Sushi Roll but didn't find the right colour I loved there)

I arrived home at around half four. I was supposed to work on my Crow Waltz Shawl but my heart and hands had another idea... I finally got half braid of a Wildcraft Superwash English Wool Blend top spun up. Havnt decided if I should do two-ply or Navajo chain-ply yet. Let's see how I feel like tomorrow! But I think I should really do some more knitting tomorrow. I am far behind my Christmas pressie schedule!