Knitting away

So today I attended the end-of-year certificate night for my knitting class. It is organised by a community centre for adult learners which also offers a whole range of other courses for ridiculously low prices. Next time I'll try to do the dress-making course, if the class is not all booked out. Anyway, tonight they organised the ceremony to hand out all the certificates (not just for knitting, but for all the classes) including a gorgeous dinner. I was surprised to see the Lord Mayor of Dublin Eamer Costello (who's actually a woman, isn't it weird to be called Lord?) there who gave an introductory speech and handed out the certificates. She seemed like a lovely woman.
This whole thing reminded me that I never posted anything of what I made this year. I'm very proud of some of the things I made, I will probably set up a chain factory for Christmas to make hand-knitted gifts for everyone...
Here we go.

These are the first pair of hand-warmers I ever knitted. I was so excited when I made them, because they're so simple to make and they look really cool. I'm almost sad now that's too hot to wear them.


This pair was harder to make, but only at first. I didn't know how to do the lace. Thank the internet gods for youtube and the knitting-for-dummies videos.

This is probably the easiest thing you can make after a scarf. Should make a whole range of colours to go with different outfits.


and here's the scarf. You can't see it but there's a hole where you can slip the scarf in on windy days. I added the buttons on the edges, they weren't in the pattern.

If anyone fancy making any of these things, most of the patterns can be found on the web:
First pair of hand-warmers
second pair of hand-warmers
bow head-band
The scarf is in the Stitch 'n bitch book.

I'll keep you updated with future creations!

New Directions

Lately I've been trying to come up with a cool name for a new blog, a place where I could talk about other things beside books. About all the stuff that are going on in my life, about the music I listen to or the things I've knitted, or what my latest cooking experiment tasted like. I thought I wanted to leave this place for books only, although there hasn't been much of those here either.
But then I realised the easiest solution would be to just use this one. It's my blog after all, I can post whatever I want, right?
So yeah, from now on, officially, I will talk about anything, which will include books too (I could never give up those. Actually, I will post two reviews soon), but not exclusively.

Ever since I lost my job at the bookstore (oh yeah, another thing I never mentioned here...) I have had lots of time to dedicate to the things I love doing. Less reading and more "making". I'm editing my NaNoWriMo novel, which is due to be finished by the end of June, in order to avail of the offer for a free printed copy. I still very much doubt my ability to write anything close to good, but it's a good exercise and I'm taking it for what it is.
Also, only recently I've started to exercise again. I live just beside a wonderful park, and I've taken up jogging there in the morning. I like it so much that I have to stop myself from going every day. Apparently there needs to be a day of rest in between training. I'm increasing gradually the running time and I love to see how much I'm improving each time.
Then of course there's the knitting. I haven't made much lately, but I'm not giving it up. I can't wait to get those photos ready so I can show you the pretty stuff I have made.
More importantly, being unemployed meant that I could apply for a training course free of charge. I had been thinking of starting my own business for quite a while now, and here was my opportunity to make it come true. I won't talk about what it is until it's closer to being actually real, but I'm really excited about it. So now I'm still doing this business course, there's about a month to go and then there will be hundreds of things to do to make it happen. It will involve cooking, this I can say. I have long given up teaching. It was cool for a while, but it's not my thing. While I think this may very well be it.
So that's about it. I hope it's going to be fun:)
I leave you with some more videos of songs I've recently come to love. Hope you like them. xxx

"Old Times" by Whispertown 2000


"The ghost who walks" by Karen Elson


"Rabbit Fur Coat" by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins


and lastly, a band I'm loving lots at the moment. This song sounds so much like those cartoon songs of my childhood, and obviously I'm mad for it:)
"I'm glad I hitched my apple wagon to your star" by The Boy least likely to