Knitter UK

Harrow Demonstration

2009-09-11T21:40:00.004+01:00

I have a new camera, its a Panasonic FZ38, I have been out in the garden to have a go and the couple of photos I did manage have turned out quite well.

There is also a close up of my worst nightmare-a WASP, the mere hint of a buzz anywhere near me has me screeching and running around flapping my arms in terror.I wont put the photo on here in case it gives anyone the frighteners.

Police cars and vans have been racing up and down the road outside today as there is a big demonstration in Harrow outside the local mosque. It all started when there was a rumour(quite untrue)that the mosque was going to hold courts using sharia law.Of course the BNP had to get involved, anyway I am just mentioning it in case you blinked when it was mentioned on the news!The whole are has been heavily policed, its 10pm and I can still hear them, plus helicopters-its like WW3 has started.
cya

Winters Coming!

2009-09-06T14:08:00.002+01:00

With Autumn here already and winter coming int he not so distant future i have been thinking of my knitting machines again.They are up in the loft room, all ready for me to go up and get started on them, well-once the schools start tomorrow then I guess I will have no excuses anymore.
Having put aside completely all thoughts of knitting or anything to do with it-I think its time to get started again. Is there an exhibition on at Alexander Palace in October? I think i will have to find out and see if I can get there...though I definately don't need any more wool thank you very much!I wonder also if I should go and look at Ravelry-maybe they have kicked me out for non-attendance.
Hope all you knitters out there will forgive me for ignoring knitters world.

2009-03-22T09:58:00.002Z

Look what I got for Mother's Day! I feel truly blessed with the love of my children, and wish them long happy lives.

The whole day yesterday was spent wandering around Shepherd's Bush Market.We had lunch in an Arabic restaurant there, one of the girls slipped on a wet patch on the floor as soon as we went in. She hurt her foot but an ice pack helped to reduce the swelling, later it was fine. We got complimentary sweet and tea as compensation so I told the manager we would come back next week where it would be my other daughters turn to slip!

Today I shall spent time at home (for a change) and get some work done....although the sun is out so I might take a walk later on this afternoon.

Finished reading 'Baghdad Diaries' by Nuha Al Radi, a book in diary form written during the 1991+ downfall of Iraq.She is an artist who is well known and whose house was open to many people from Ambassadors to foreign reporters who will all remember her hospitality and panache. It brought back many memories to me of those times and also smile or two, especially when she describes making lamps out of bottles filled with kerosene with squashed dates as a plug which held a cotton wick. We had these all over the house-better and cheaper than candles they lasted for ages.

cya

Rubbish

2009-03-20T18:46:00.006Z

My neighbour, a woman with three children, has left first the sofa, then the rubbish bag outside her back fence since November last year. When the sofa appeared I asked her how long it would be there. I am arranging for someone to come and remove it, says she...then the rubbish bag, coat hanger and childs play board appeared. I asked her again, got the same reply. After a month I asked her to get the stuff removed that weekend. Nada-nothing...all in all I asked her about 4 times, sent my landlord too, but its still there. So now I get mad-called up the council and complained. Well-I warned you lady!

Today I spent most of my time on the phone trying to sort out a credit card payment. Last month I set up a standing order so I would not forget to pay the credit card (as I had the precious month) for £100. I got a call from them today asking me to pay immediatley as no payment had been received. What! On checking the details I find the money has left my account by standing order. Looked at the details, seemed fine. Called up the bank and they checked it out, yep money has gone out alright. It was as I was going through it with them we discovered that I had put the correct sort code in but the wrong account number for the card. Oh Oh, so the money is floating around somewhere in the either of cyberspace. They advised me to call the card company up and for them to check their holding account, which I did. Hope to hear soon that they have found the money, its a lot to just have it disappear.My bank says its not their problem seeing as I was the culprit, so cant refund the money. I have been grumpy ever since. My mobile would not charge either-all the calls had run the battery down. I found out later I was trying to charge it with the wrong charger grrr.Deep breaths now, take it easy.
Went off and had a nice long shower to calm down.

Here is Katya at 5 months, she has begun rubbing her gums a lot and crying so I guess those teeth are getting ready to pop out of her sore gums though mum and I cant see any swelling yet. Poor thing, she cannot get to sleep so Mum takes her out for walks in the pram to help her nod off. At least the weather is fine for now, I think Mum will go crazy though this weekend as its going to rain a lot, so the weather man says anyway.

Its been a while

2009-03-14T09:01:00.002Z

I realise its been a while since I posted. That's because I am still trying to get organised on the 'retirement' thing. When you are used to getting up and going out at 8am, then coming home at 7pm to eat, relax, watch some tv or get some washing in the machine (because here in the UK we have something called 'Economy 7'. That means you get cheaper electricity if you stay up half the night washing clothes).

I finished another online course 'Attachment Theory', passed that with 100% mark. Attended two short courses at the local teachers college 'Child Trafficking' and 'FGM' (female genital mutilation'). More info here:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/

Would you believe this happens in today's society, even in the UK (we passed a law against it in 2003).

Parents still take their children (from age 4-9 or so) out of the country during the holidays, back to their own country, be it Sudan, Chad, Egypt or one of the other countries mentioned, and have their child cut.Its a cultural thing which is so out of place in today's society.

I attend these courses because I am an approved foster carer. I do a certain number of courses for my CPD.

Its Red Nose Day time here in the UK. Red Nose is a charity that raises money for good causes each year. There are programmes on TV in which celebrities take part either singing or in sketches etc, you can find out more here:

http://www.rednoseday.com

so far they have raised over £57K and more is coming in, so if you feel you would like to donate........

I had a message from a lady wanting to know what yarn to use on the Knitmaster 700. Its a standard gauge machine, so you can use fine yarns up to a double knitting thickness but not Aran or really bulky yarns., hope this helps.

I've just been to visit a friend of mine in Hounslow and she showed me a book she had taken out from the library 'Knitting Patterns for Dummies', well I sat there drooling, came home and ordered it straight away online.Its full of great information for the hand knitter regarding patterns, yarns, needles, gauges, techniques etc. I am STILL, yes still trying to get my head around knitting on dpns! I can't believe I am finding it so difficult even though there are so many great tutorials, even videos, on the net. She thinks its because I am not yet able to concentrate. I do find that I jump from one project to another not able to really make up my mind what I want to do, then end up not doing anything at all!

My foster agency called today asking if I would take a newborn.I am so looking forward to it, bit apprehensive though. This will be my first placement. I will let you know how it goes, I am sure its going to be VERY interesting!

cya

Stand by Me

2009-02-20T12:48:00.004Z

Boys have gone back home now, we had a great 5 days together. Mum and dad brought them some great presents from Hong Kong too, so they were double happy.
This is what I got

This has always been one of my favorites, do listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

I am going to have a nice easy day today, no rushing around, just relax and do my own thing, maybe listen to some of my music....
Cya
S

A Day out

2009-02-18T16:43:00.003Z

We had a day out to Syon Park in Brentford. Took the children to the Rainforest there. Lots of animals and reptiles. That's me with the tarantula, her name is Carmen. The lizards were brought round when a show was done for the children so that they could see and touch the animals. The tarantulas were particularly interesting, sending some kids screaming back to mum! There are chickens too, one chased my youngest grandchild all the way down the road as he was holding a chicken sandwich-possibly seeking revenge!Emergency TLC was needed to calm him down after.
Its a small place,they used to have a butterfly house, but that got moved to Lincolnshire somewhere. Now even this is also going to be moved as there is a huge hotel and leisure complex being built on the site. They are looking for another site to re-locate to, we signed a petition to keep them in our area, hope it works, cant go to Lincolnshire every time.
Price is better than the zoo (I was shocked at the thought of paying £12.50 each for the kids and more for adults) This place has a family ticket (two adults and children) for £16, not bad. We liked the huge snakes and watching feeding time for the crocs and terrapins.
Cya
S

Valentines

2009-02-15T13:12:00.004Z

Yesterday was Valentines, as I am sure you all know. I hope you had a great time too. My DH cooked a nice meal after first presenting me with this lovely bunch of flowers, box of chocs and a bottle of champagne! We spent a nice evening together as the house is quite at the moment. Today the two grandchildren are coming to stay for 1 week as the schools are off, mum and dad are having some quality time together away. I am sure the boys and I can find plenty to do together.
Its a pretty dull and grim day today and I have a cold, so am off for a long how soak.
Cya
S

Time? What Time?

2009-02-13T14:42:00.007Z

Guess what I did yesterday? I got a call from my daughter 'Mum, now you have time, let's go somewhere. How about the Natural History Museum?'
And so we did-

Katya is now 4 months old, thankfully she slept through most of our treck through the museum, waking up near the end. When we left it had just started snowing, so we made our way to the underground station and caught the train home just in time to beat the rush hour.

I was pleased as punch to get another follower of my blog, thanks to all who have joined, I will try to make it as interesting as I can.

I am still trying to sell my extra machines. I put them on ebay, then on Gumtree. One person did get in contact but after several emails and promising to pay for one machine by several different dates, I became aware that they were wasting my time, so I stopped replying.They even asked for different specs, said they would come and pick up the machine, really wanted it etc etc. Either you want the machine or not but why pretend?

At the moment I am not in a 'knitting' mood, so cant' post any pics of current projects. I still have a couple of scarves waiting to be joined, wish there was an easier way to do them. I suppose I could have done a tube thingy on the machines, but did not think of that at the time. Besides, the ribber is a right b*****. still can't work it out. Took it off completely until such time as I feel like getting to grips with it.

cya
S

2009-02-02T09:49:00.003Z

This is what I woke up to early this morning. Today was supposed to be my last day at work. Now I have to go in tomorrow-if I can get there.
Underground lines are suspended, buses have been suspended too. When I called my boss he thought the weather might improve later on, so could I make my way in if it did? Of course says I, then I snuggled down under the covers and snoozed. Best place to be in this weather.We have not had such deep falls of snow in 18 years (according to the weather man), perhaps a snowman in the garden?

Looking through my blogger list I was pleased to see Susy has changed her mind and started up her blog again, I always enjoy reading it, like the newspaper! Welcome back!

S

My Birthday

2009-01-21T14:21:00.003Z

Monday was my 60th birthday. I had a small family dinner though on Sunday, as I was still 59 and wanted to celebrate that, being 60 is not something I am really interested in-though I suppose I should be grateful to have go this far when both my parents didn't.
Monday morning bright and early I went to the post office to give them my Freedom Pass application (and one photo). Its the best thing Ken Livingston done as Mayor of London (was)initiate the freedom pass scheme where disabled (not me) or over 60's can travel free on public transport(except things like Channel Tunnel and long distant trains). Not during rush hour mind you, only after 9.30 on a weekday, this was changed to 24 hours one week or so before my birthday-lucky me!
My retirement is due to start at the end of this month, I wonder how I will get on?If I do get bored I can always start work again, no probs.
I finished the baby blanket at last-here it is;

I gave it to my daughter on Tuesday, what do you think of it?

Glad to see the new president of America has wasted no time getting things moving, I think that he has given hope to the masses, good luck to him-he needs it after the legacy he has received from George W Bush.

Bye for now

Sandy

Thanks Susan

2009-01-08T09:08:00.002Z

Thanks for the tip Susan, the transliteration was indeed set to Tamil-its a mystery how that came about, at least folks in the East could understand part of the title!

க்ரோவின் fast

2009-01-07T16:54:00.006Z

Well, there is definately something wrong with the title-can you see it? I put in the words 'growing' and I got க்ரோவின். Perhaps I should contact blogger to inform them, or learn to speak whatever language it is!
Babes are growing fast-here is Katya with mum and dad at her baby shower, she has grown more now, this was 6 weeks ago.

Any Yusef, now one year old;

They are so sweet, Katya smiles and gurgles at you. Yusef thought it might be a good idea to grab a handful of her hair-which surprised her somewhat. Luckily mum was on hand to prise those little fingers open gently.

That blanket I am finishing off, well, its progressing!

Its very cold these days, wrap up well if you are out...I read in the paper that its colder here than in Antarctic (us -10, them -7 )strange.

I guess there are colder places, like Canada perhaps? I heard it was about -25 there recently...so we dont do too bad then.

No machine knitting at the moment as my bedroom is being decorated so the machine has been folded away.

bye for now

நியூ எஅர்ஸ் Eve

2008-12-31T09:52:00.003Z

Dunno whats happening to the words in the title-I typed in New Years Eve and got some weird language-can you see it too? Tried to go back and do it again but it repeated, so I guess those gremlins have been playing around my blog again. Does anyone know what language that is?

I am at work today-in the dental surgery all on my own-the others have gone away on holiday or taken the day off-but not me......oh no, I come and sit here or I wont get paid.Answer the phone (if it rings) and do some paperwork. Roll on 19th when I am supposed to be retiring, hope springs eternal they say.
I have brought some knitting with me,and of course I can write some of this blog, answer emails and just generally surf the net for patterns, listen to youtube music videos.

Its pretty cold here as you can imagine, so I have put the largest heater on to warm up the place. Hope no one comes and rings the bell, I hate opening the door when I am on my own here, you never know who will walk in. I leave the tv on upstairs in the staff room so people will think someone is upstairs talking-just in case.We do have a few weird patients, perhaps they are all off sleeping somewhere warm.

Last night I went to see my grandson, it was his first birthday(that's him with me in my profile picture). I took him his present and picked up some bubbles in the supermarket (the stuff you blow), well he just loved it, fascinated by them he was. He is walking now and chatters away 19 to a dozen in his own little language.

I have joined yet more groups on Yahoo, this time for crafting and hand knitting (not that I get much of THOSE done on any day), but its always nice to get new ideas.
There is a workman in my bedroom, been working there for the last three days. I had a leak some 6 months back due to a blocked guttering on the roof and it got mouldy under the wallpaper. That's all been stripped now, bonding applied to the wall. The rest of the wallpaper is to be stripped and the room decorated-at last. I have been trying to get it done for 6 months...I still have to sleep there but I have asked him not to work more until Saturday. Then I can move into my son's room, he will be away for a while.I must say he is a very tidy workman, hoovers everything before he leaves and generally tidys up so I dont get stressed when I get in from work...marvelous.
I hope all of you have a great year in 2009. My resolution this year is to keep in better contact with friends and family, lose weight (JOKE!)and relax, just chill out and let things happen without me reacting too much-hey I am pretty good at that anyway. Everyone says I am too laid back-but then, if you go crazy at the slightest thing you only wear yourself down and make the situation worse. Settle down calmly to think things through and believe me the solution to any problem will not be far off.Trust me, it works-sort of.

S

Christmas

2008-12-27T16:57:00.002Z

Happy Christmas and the same for New Year as they say. My brother-in-law is in Gaza right now getting pounded by Israeli jets...so far 155 people have been killed, what a Christmas he is having!
I went to my daughter for christmas day, the rest of the family came and we spent a nice afternoon. Although I had BIG plans for christmas presents that I was going to MAKE this year (ha,ha,ha)it did not materialise, so I went out and bought some token gifts....maybe next year I will finally get round to it. I just realised that I have the following-one unfinished baby blanket for my grandaughter (now 9 weeks old) one unfinished bootee (ditto)one unfinished baby hat(have to get that enlarged/restarted it wont fit her soon).What a grandmother I am, useless.
My cold and cough have kept me in since christmas day-boring.
I hope you have all had a better christmas than I have, roll on 2009!

Iraqi Orphans

2008-11-18T13:56:00.002Z

Over the weekend my daughter came to stay with her 11 month old. She brought some info about the two Iraqi orphans we have decided to sponser. One is Ali (7), then his brother Yusef (4). Their father died of cancer two years ago, the boys have only their mother and and help from some members of her family to help maintain the children. Life is hard there, the £15 a month we are sending to help feed and clothe each child is a pittance. Only last week a cousin of my daughter-in-law was killed by a roadside bomb which went off in a crowded market in Baghdad. She was only 32, married with two small children, just a simple person going to work in the morning-taken in a heartbeat.There are 5 million orphans in Iraq.

I saw a Passap electronic on Ebay recently-starting at £155, now its something I have always wanted, but I dont have a lot of dough. I thought it would be a good idea to watch it and if the price did not go much above the starting price I would jump in and see. Well my friends, the bidding ended at £366, now that's a load of money even for a Passap, why, here in the UK you can get a fairly decent used car for that!I stopped drooling in shock.

Found a group of knitters that meet on the first Tuesday of every month in Harrow. Its at Grimsdyke Hotel, I went for a drive to suss it out and found it was a lovely hotel which used to be the home of Gilbert & Sullivan. If I remember, I will be attending in December-taking some photos to put on here so you can see what I mean.

I gave up on the one-piece baby jacket I had started a few weeks ago because I could not understand the instructions. Some ladies on my Yahoo group tried to help me-but I decided it was not worth the effort of trying to get my head around it-perhaps one day! I felt I was wasting so much time sitting in front of the machine trying to work it out when I could be doing something else, so off it came. I made another scarf-took me very little time and made me feel that I was being productive.
Cya
S

Blanket

2008-11-03T16:12:00.002Z

I have finished the bay blanket for the new princess. Now I have a notion to put some swiss darning on it to jazz it up a bit. Maybe some flowers or animals etc. And perhaps her name too, its been years since I did any swiss darning but I used to do it very well. I am going to copy some embroidery charts I have found in one of my books, if its cross stitch then I understad from the advice in the book that I should add one extra row every 4 rows so that the image is not flattened. I will take a photo when it is finished.
Cya

Its a Girl

2008-10-27T14:14:00.003Z

Here she is, the little angel. Born at a reasonable time of 2.51pm. She came into the world at Northwick Park Hospital birthing centre. I was impressed with the high level of care given to my daughter while she was giving birth, escpecially after all the negative publicity the hospital has received in the past.
She looks like her Pop, with some of her mums special features, like small well formed ears.She weighed 7lb15ozs, I was asked to cut the cord something I have not done before. Mother is home now and getting on with bringing up the baby, Pop is there too-its good that he has two weeks paternity leave from his job and is spending it getting to know his daughter. He is doing a great job of helping with the baby, changing her nappy-washing her cloths,cooking for her mother and keeping the house nice and tidy. She is very happy to have him there, not many fathers would be so helpful.
cya

Mum-in-waiting

2008-10-16T09:52:00.002+01:00

My daughter saw the midwife yesterday, everything is fine despite her due date being on 11th October. The midwife asked her if she wanted to wait for another 12 days to see if the labour progressed normally? If not, she could insert some gel which would help the labour along (she was only 1cm dilated), the gel would take 48 hours by which time she should progress. S went for the gel-she is so large and heavy that she does not want to carry this weight around for the next 12 days, possible getting even heavier in the process.Pineapple is recommended to bring on labout, but she does not like it, sex
Baby is wriggling around all the time, we sit fascinated watching her tummy moving from one side to another. The last two nights have been constant trips to the loo and very uncomfortable for her. Her hubby took her out walking yesterday to see if that helped, she managed short 30 minute stints then had to rest.It brings back memories of when I was carrying her and her sister. I was so huge it was a nightmare getting around.
Phones are next to me at night, for when the call comes......hopefully soon!
I am joining the baby blanket strips together with single crochet while I sit in bed watching CSI Miami or New York, my favorite programmes!
Cya

Knitting-Looming-Machine Knitting: G-carriage magnets#links

2008-10-14T17:51:00.000+01:00

Knitting-Looming-Machine Knitting: G-carriage magnets#links

Lonely no more

2008-10-10T17:47:00.002+01:00

I got off work three hours early on Wednesday. By the time I got home to Harrow I had decided to get some more work done on the knitting machine. Making myself a cup of tea I went upstairs, sat down and off I went. The squares are white and pink knitted together in a strip, 60 rows to 60 stitches and 6 squares . In 90 minutes I was done. Will use Single Crochet to join them up and do the border with some other sort of crochet. Viola-baby blanket!
I think the knitting/crafting block that I have had for the past 6 months is finally lifting, I think of crafty things now and have started to PLAN projects again!

Time rolls on

2008-09-30T11:41:00.002+01:00

I removed the widget for my daughter's baby as it seems to be stuck on 19 weeks, her due date is 11 October! While she was in Harrow shopping centre car park last month waiting for her husband to open the car door to let her in something hit her hard in the left hip. Glancing round she was shocked to find a car, which had been left without the handbrake on-had rolled along and pinned her against the door of her car. Her husband ran round and, with the help of the security, managed to push the car away. She was sat in a chair and given some water, the security called the police and ambulance. She was taken to hospital and checked over, apart from shock and a pain in her hip she was fine, baby was monitored too, everything ok. It would have been an entirely different story if she had been standing with her back to the car-or her stomache exposed to the impact. While this was going on a queue had formed of cars waiting to pass into the parking bays and I can't believe the attitude of some drivers who have no patience, they were actually honking for the way to be cleared from a potential accident scene. She is fine now and looking forward to the birth.
I went with her to Northwick Park hospital to have a look at the birthing centre.Although they have had quite a lot of bad publicity lately we found it clean and very well equipped. The midwife looks after two mothers in the last stage of labour and two mothers in the early stage. She is quite interested in a pool birth so we found out more about that. I was under the impression (quite mistaken of course) that the midwife would be in the pool with her (yes, alright - you can stop laughing now). This is not the case, she is expected to deliver the baby under the water and then lift it out to place on her chest where the midwife will cover it to keep it warm and then due the usual with the cord etc.
I hope it all goes well, her husband is expected to run off at the first moan as he has been known to faint at the first sight of blood. We are prepared for any contingency! Midwife says the baby's head is engaged so its a waiting game now. My daughter called me at work at 9am on Monday morning and I was almost panicking thinking the baby was on its way!
I have decided to look around for another house to rent as my landlord would have to be kidnapped and held to ransom in order to get anything decorated or replaced. The place has not been redecorated for ten years except when we did the front room ourselves this year. There is so much to be done, I cant be bothered with it all.
The two lonely squares still hang on the machine.....
Sandy

Not been around much

2008-08-20T12:42:00.002+01:00

Hi all,
I have not been arround much since July when I attended the knitting exhibition. I found myself getting increasingly fatigued. Get home from work dragging myself in and the rest is history. Then, three weeks ago I came down with a high fever and general malaise as they say. Could not go to work the next day (which was Friday anyway), and thought I would shake it off over the weekend. No such luck, the fevers continued and my chest felt really tight. I dragged myself down to the doc who did the usual chest examination, declared I had pleurisy and put me on antibiotics/painkillers. A chest xray a week later revealed nothing on the lungs but picked up that I had an enlarged heart.Now I was starting to get scared, breathless most of the time despite an inhaler, weak and feeling a burden on all around me despite their best efforts. I went through two weeks like that. This week I am back to work, still take my time up stairs, but feeling better over all.
So, no knitting or anything else, I want to get 100% fit before I even think about crafting.
Cya

Weekend

2008-07-15T13:22:00.002+01:00

Saturday was the day of the Machine Knitting Live exhibition in East Croydon. I ourchased tickets through the internet for myself and my friend Pat. We have been friends for 20 years since we first met in Baghdad. She now lives here, same as me and she is also a mad machine knitter!
Now, Croydon is quite a distance from Harrow (where I live), so I had to work out how I was going to make the journey. I got a train from Harrow & Wealdstone Station to Willesden Junction, then changed for a train to Clapham Junction, then changed again for Eat Croydon where I met up with Pat.It took me about 40 minutes, then we got a bus 466 from East Croydon to Selsdon Road, and walked about 7 minutes to the John Ruskin College and the exhibition.
Its the first time we had been to the Croydon Show. I have been to the Bury (Lancashire)and the Nottingham Shows.

The exhibitors where spread out over several classrooms. The first one we went into had yarn being sold by Arnold Bennet, a guy who drives a van down from Lancashire. His yarn is weighed and bagged then priced. The yarn itself is not top of the range buy you can find bargains. He had some aran hanks weighing 500 grams for £2.50, so I got one of them (scarves), then I found some multicoloured double knit 750 for £3.00Its ridiculous prices but they will do for scarves and hats for christmas time.
I did not want to buy anything else as I really have to get rid of the stash I have at home before it takes over the whole house. Even Pat bought several types and spent about £7 in all, which she was well pleased with.
The fashion show was due to start, we made our way to the hall-packed out already. The lady had some trouble with the microphone and had to shout for the first 15 minutes but eventually got it sorted. Ladies in a knitting group were modelling their work and I must admire them, some wonderful suits, skirts and tops on show. The finishing had Pat spellbound, those seams were done so professionally she was filled with envy.
A cuppa tea and a scone next, resting our feet for a while then we wandered around to check out the exhibitors. I noticed there were not as many as other shows I had attended which was disappointing. Only one lady was demonstrating a entrelac technique. I felt slightly miffed, it would have been nice to see some other stuff demonstrated. I wanted to see other machines in action!Lots of patterns for sale and the usual needle retaining bars, needles and other sorts of stuff for all types of machines. I met three people from my Newbritnits Group (we had agreed to go wearing a feather to recognise one another)which was nice.
We left at 2.30 (from 11.00), Pat did not feel like walking down the hill so we waited for the bus for 10 minutes. When he came the driver told us he would be making a detour back up the hill to drop an old lady (already on the bus along with other passengers) to her home on the estate. I was left watching this big bus as he turned around in the narrow road, disappeared back up the road and turned right. 10 minutes later he came back minus the old lady and he shopping to pick us up.What service is that! Would you find this elsewhere, a taxi/bus? I noticed the driver refused to look me in the eye when I got on-I wonder why.
My daughter lives not far from Croydon so Pat and I got the tram to Mitcham Junction and went to see her and the baby, we spent the afternoon there, she then took us back home. A nice day out.
Sunday I spend in the garden doing a barbeque with my son, and tidying the house. It was a lovely sunny day so I got lots of washing done too, then ironed it all and put it away. I ordered some books from the internet about Attachment Theory, something I should read up on for the fostering.
Monday work as usual, evening went to see if I could do something with the knitting machine, got the ribber loosened and it slipped off onto the floor. I was fed up with it by then so took it off completely and put it away. I can use the main bed for now. I started to do a baby blanket then noticed the tuck stitch pattern had dropped some stitches mid blanket, ripped it all off again, unwound it and went to bed! I will try again one day this week, perhaps.
Ciaou

Keeping in touch

2008-06-20T15:48:00.003+01:00

I have a habit which you may or may not think annoying. I like to keep in touch with my family and friends. Not every day, but now and again. My sister left home when I was only a few years old and went to the USA. We lost touch as we both had such different lives, she moved around a lot throught the years and so did I. Most times though I was able to contact her. One time when I could not contact her, I called up the LAPD and asked them if they could help, I left my phone number with them. Three days later she called me.....that's what I call organisation. It was 25 years before I was able to fly to the USA and we met up again. She is in her 70's so the onus was on me to go rather than her to come to the UK.
We got on well and I am saving up to go again, California here I come.

My friends can always rely on me calling them or writing/emailing. Even friends I have made 20 years or more ago I try to keep in touch with. That's me!

Sunday is the Carlos Santana Concert at the 0'2 in Greenwich. It will be the first time I have ever been to a 'gig'.
I went to see Yusef Islam a few years back (Cat Stevens as he was known). I have been to see 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' when that was on in London, the ballet 'Swan Lake' once.

Cya

Its a Girl

2008-06-05T13:35:00.003+01:00

Daughter's scan was on Friday, its a girl. Everything so far is good, size, weight etc..all good. Its been a few years since we have had any girls so we are all excited.
The midwife said it is 95% sure its a girl but we shouldn't rely too much on that, there have been exceptions. What's that supposed to mean? I guess we will see on the day she is born!
Weather is good today and it looks like we are going to have a good weekend for a change.
I am getting the 'boys' to decorate my lounge at home, so far everything is in a mess and I have been sleeping around-going to stay at my daughter Y then to S my pregnant daughter last night. SO I did not have to look at the disaster back home.
Today though I have to go back, I feel like a bedouin wandering the desert!
Shame I didn't take a before and after picture to put up here (of the lounge, not me)!
As you can see, no knitting is being done. I want to try and change the furniture around in the lounge and make a space for my knitting machine, it might help if I can use it while I am with the rest of the family instead of upstairs where they keep calling me down!(when I do get to use it that is)
At the moment I have been having lots of trouble with the Keyto cabinet and folding the machine away inside. I just cant do it, something with the way the shelf is positioned. Looks wrong to me, so I have had some help from my Yahoo group and will try out their suggestions soon.
If anyone would like to take a look at the recent photos of the cabinet here they are:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15954624@N08

It seems some of the photos show the self on the wrong way, others the right way but perhaps with the sliding brackets on the front instead of on the back (I did take the shelf off and position it a different way to try again)-its all Greek to me!

If anyone has any suggestions?
Cya

2008-05-30T09:37:00.005+01:00

I promised you some photos of my trip to Spain, well here they are. These are sand sculptures on the beach at Torrevieja.If you want to see then enlarged, try clicking on the photo.
The promenade is a long one, we spend hours walking along visiting the shops. There are plenty of hawkers from Africa and Morocco selling 'designer' handbags and sun glasses.We bought several pairs off one guy just before the local police roared up in their police car and chased the hawker down the street, we decided to take off in the other direction, just in case.
One day we set of from the apartment at 10am returning at 4pm, just walking all through the town and the beach.There was a festival all day on May Day where ladies and gents in their cultural dress rode magnificent horses or danced in the cafes.
We found out where the bus stop and main bus station was and got a bus to Alicante town. There we visited lots of shops, walking miles around before getting another bus to visit an old Moor castle.We did not see it at first, its right in the middle of the town shopping area. We had to stop and ask someone where it was and we were standing right next to it! Here is a photo:

I thought visiting Al Hambra would be interesting, till I discovered it would take us five hours to get there by coach, so we will do that another time.

There was one down side to the trip, this was the dog excreta on the pavement. Most people we saw had either one or two dogs who were allowed to foul anywhere. We had to keep a vigilant eye to avoid stepping in anything.

We went to the local Brits Bar called Corkys on Monday which was quiz night. We won a booby prize for the lowest marks! It was great fun though.

It was a short break, only eight days during which we were supposed to be RELAXING on the beach etc. We went to the beach only once, my daughter did manage to go in the sea, but it was too cold even for her. As both of us are not sun worshipers due to the time we spend in Iraq and the temperatures we endured of 50degrees there, we preferred sightseeing to sunbathing. The only time we managed to relax was when we got back to UK, but then, that's what holidays are all about-fun!

Today two nice pieces of news, I have been approved as a foster carer and my daughter had her 20 week scan this morning-its a girl! We are very happy for her, as long as both her and the baby are healthy.

Cya

Boss Away

2008-05-28T10:58:00.004+01:00

The boss is away on holiday for a whole week. I am in charge, life gets easier when I am holding the reigns! I find that, as long as the work gets done, patients are seen on time and we dont forget to lock up and turn off the lights when we leave, we can relax in those spare moments throughout the day.He has left plent of work to be done and will be calling up in the next day or too to make sure we are on target.Easy Peasy.

A month ago my daughter, who lives with her sister, came home with a kitten. She is cat mad and always has been. The kitty was 9 weeks old and absolutely crazy. It would go rushing around the room, ending up by climbing up the curtains or suddenly appearing from the back of the chair you were sitting on to attack your head. It never hurt though, just wanted to play all the time. We got Chille several cat toys to play with, a soft mouse was the favorite. She would roll all over the floor with it.Unfortunately my daughter developed an allergy and asthma. After suffering a severe attack which had an ambulance call-out as she could not breath, it was decided that the kitty had to go. I called up one of the cats charities, a lady very kindly came and collected Chillie. Today I received a large packet of Purina Kitten food-a free sample I had sent off for when we first had the kitten. I shall call up the lady and see if she wants it for the kittens she has.

Time to get back to work!
Cya

Bank Holiday Weekend

2008-05-27T16:23:00.005+01:00

What have I been doing this holiday? Not very much. The weather has not been that brilliant this weekend.
One thing I did try to do was put the 360 away inside the Keto cabinet it sits on. Simple? I have two machines and two Keto cabinets. One can be folded away like a dream. The other one is giving trouble.No way, despite trying every way I could think of, with the help of himself who finally gave up in disgust after many caught fingers, was I able to get the machine inside the cabinet.Going from one room to another to check the direction of the slider and the way the machine was situated in the cabinet did not help at all. Now it sits on top until I can be bothered to figure out what to do. If anyone has a KETO cabinet and can give me some advice (perhaps with a couple of shots of their cabinet insides) I would be eternaly grateful.

Last weekend though-now there was a bit of excitement. I got a bit of a break in Gt Yarmouth, Caister to be exact. Caravan park near the sea. Lovely beach and hot sun, water too cold to swim though. I was with my daughter, her husband, my youngest son and himself. We had a great time, short but sweet. Something I would not mind doing again if the weather lets up.

This Thursday I am up for the fostering panel, fingers crossed!
Cya

Bank Holiday Weekend

2008-05-27T16:23:00.001+01:00

Knitting-Looming: Knitting Machines and the trouble with them, Plus Pocket knitter

2008-05-20T13:00:00.000+01:00

Knitting-Looming: Knitting Machines and the trouble with them, Plus Pocket knitter

Not a Gas Blast?

2008-05-09T16:11:00.003+01:00

I thought I would update you on the gas blast story, the media say it was not a gas blast but a BOMB! Well, I am rather puzzled as to how it could have been a bomb so powerful as to demolish three homes and severely damage other nearby properties, but leave no smell of cordite or other substance in the air?
What do you think?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080509/tuk-police-probe-purple-liquid-45dbed5.html

Gas Blast

2008-05-08T11:21:00.004+01:00

I just got back from Spain where I spent 8 days in heaven. Last night, sitting outside relaxing after a barbie (make the most of the weather while it lasts), I was shook by a powerful explosion. Not again, we haven't got over the last one yet(check out Friday 22nd February post), the flats are still in a state of repair! I ran out of the house where I found most of the street standing outside wondering where the blast had occured. It was just about a mile away, I joined the throng making their way there to see if we could be of any help. This is the devastation we encountered at 9.30pm! A gas blast had demolished two cottages killing one and injuring two. A third cottage was badly damaged, here is the link with a photo of the damage.

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5izDHjRQvgh3r1XcSheetzPo7s8lA

The gas company have been working in this area for a couple of months now, they have replaced the gas pipe that leads to my house and National Grid have written to me about replacing my gas meter. An appointment has been made for next week, the recent events are making me nervous. Suppose those poor victims of last nights blast have just had their gas meters replaced! I shall find out somehow, I dont think I can relax until I know that replacing the meter is a safe thing to do, not after two gas blasts within a month of each other!
Cya

2008-04-14T22:53:00.001+01:00

Here is is again with his mum, she brought him over for the weekend on Friday. He is getting so big, he also has a fine old temper on him especially when he finds he cannot get two fists in his mouth!Those gums are giving him trouble already, I reckon this will go on for a couple more months, how do we deal with that!

My other preganant daughter (one of the twins) has felt the baby move, she was so excited she called me up to tell me. She is due her scan on 24th April but says the baby is wiggling around all over the place. with twins in the family we thought it might be twins.One of her worries though is the bad publicity Northwick Park Hospital is getting (it just happens to be the hospital that she is booked into for the birth).Perhaps things will be improved by the time she is due in September.

Saturday I had two ladies come over for a meet-up. I got the machine set up in the front room (360) and made a nice macaroni cheese for lunch. Jean is the original owner of my Knitmaster 360 standard machine. Anne I have known for a good 20 years when I first met her in Baghdad, Iraq. She had two machines there, a Brother Chunky and a standard punchcard. I also had a Borther Standard machine there but forgot everything there was to know about it, well it was years ago.We had a great time trying out different technique. Jean showed us weaving, she had brought a bag which she had made by this method some time back and kept her current knitting project in. They spent time looking through issues of MKM which I have. It was such fun we have decided to met up again next month.
Sorry I did not take any photos of our meeting, perhaps next time.
Later on I tried some ribbing and found it worked out fine, except the end stitches started coming off grrr! I am determined to use that part of the machine no matter what, and I want to try the weaving again.
I have three students for the week from Holland so am busy seeing to them. Its good that they are out all day touring around with their coach.
Roll on 26th April, I am going to Spain with one of my daughters. Its the first time I have been to Spain. I will take lots of pics and will tell you all about it when I come back. There is no internet in the flat, but I am only going for 8 days and I am sure I can live without it for that long. Its to Torreivejas or somewhere on the Costa del Sol.I am trying to learn some Spanish before I go although from what I gather there are many people from the Uk there.
Cya

2008-04-06T18:59:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of photos of the Nottingham Show today. There was a fashion show, and a couple of lectures. I picked up a small amount of yarn so my pocket has not suffered too much. Mind you, I picked up loads at first, but managed to actually put some of it BACK, would you believe that?

I met a very interesting lady there who raises ALPACA, has the wool sheared, send it to the mill to be spun then gets it knitted into garments (see the rail of garmets in the photo above).The wool is very soft with lovely colours.

Cya

2008-04-05T10:27:00.001+01:00

On my way to work this morning (yes I know its Saturday but I do sometimes get called in), I saw these lovely blossoms.

I am off to Nottingham after work, it will take about 2 hours or so driving up the M1 motorway. Tomorrow, after the show we thought it would be a good idea to go to Sherwood Forest the home of Robin Hood, the famous bandit of England who robbed the rich to give to the poor. I do hope there are no more bandits in the forest, if there are it will be a case of robbing the poor 'cos I certainly aint rich!

Nottingham Castle shall be another attraction to visit, and of course I must'nt forget the town itself.

I will be looking for some cotton yarn at the show. Its the one thing I dont have, I wanted to make the baby some nice cotton tops for the summer.

Cya

NOTTINGHAM

2008-04-04T14:40:00.002+01:00

Who is going the the Machine Knitting exhibition in Nottingham on Sunday 6th April? I shall be there, have booked a hotel nearby from Saturday-Sunday.

Perhaps we shall be able to go and visit some sights in the Nottingham area, though the weather report does suggest we may be battling gale force winds and snow throught the weekend.

Maybe I should put the huskies in the boot just in case!

If anyone is going and wants to recognise me(or avoid me entirely :)) you can scroll down to St Patrick's Day. There is a picture of me and my partner in daft green hats.

2008-04-03T14:53:00.001+01:00

Today has been a quite day at work, only one dentist working so I have plenty of time to trawl the internet in peace. I brought my camera to work to take a few photos of my environment for you. This is were I am for 9 hours a day, 7 days a week and some Saturdays (tomorrow being one of them).
The traffic outside the window in Earls Court Road is always bad, but today its very bad.For some reason this morning police were stopping large vehicles, maybe searching them.
I have found lots of new blogs for machine knitters, have added them to the list on the left. Cya

Family

2008-04-02T07:51:00.003+01:00

Most of my time for the last week has been taken up with the family. My daughter and new grandson, now three months old came to stay for a few days. As usual I was ready with the camera!
My youngest son has an interview this morning for the PCSO, so fingers crossed.
I am off to work now, cya later.

A Useful Morning

2008-03-26T07:33:00.003Z

I made this on Sunday morning, a spur of the moment thing. After trying unsuccessfully for an hour and a half to use the ribber attachment for the 360 I decided to try the punch cards. I like it, what do you think? I would like to make a hat to go with it, maybe when I get a spare moment next time.
I have been coughing all over the Easter holiday.Finished a whole bottle of Meltus cough syrup in two days, didn't do much good.
Today I am back to work-so glad its only three days!
Cya

Snow in London, UK

2008-03-23T12:17:00.003Z

This is what I woke up to early this morning! I knew it was coming, but really did not think it would! The animals are in trouble, they think it is spring!
Cya

Finished at last!

2008-03-19T07:32:00.003Z

It has taken me 3 months to complete this project! I can't believe it, perhaps next time I will do large articles like this on the knitting machine, it would be a lot quicker(maybe).

Tommorrow I have taken off work(holidays) and also next Tuesday. I thought the Easter break will suit me more if it is longer. No plans as yet to join the masses who will all pile along the motorways this weekend. The air/rail fares are all increased due to the holiday so that the fat companies can rake in even more profit from Joe Blogs. Dont get me started this morning, I have to get ready for work.
Hope you like the blanket, looking around for something else to do now, one that won't take me as long :)

Cya

2008-03-18T06:54:00.002Z

Here is what I was doing last night in an Irish pub in Putney! That's right, celebrating St Patrick's Day.

It was a Craic to remember, the music was lively, crowd was happy, pub was heaving and today I have to go to work with a head on me, but it was worth it!

2008-03-17T10:35:00.002Z

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/australia.springsteen/index.html

Some people are VERY protective of their right to listen to whatever music they wish. I may be a grandmother but I still enjoy listening to B.B.King,Eric Clapton, Tracey Chapman, INXS, Queen, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Clash, Depech Mode, Elvis Presley (some)Led Zeplin, Pink Floyd,Jimi Hendrix,Linkin Park,Guns 'n' Roses,Beatles,Bob Dylan,David Bowie,Kurt Cobain,Fleetwood Mac,Joe Satriani,Bruce Springsteen, to name but a few.

I certainly would'nt go crazy if someone didn't like my kind of music, everyone has their own taste.

I have a good excuse for not finishing off the blanket this weekend, 14 for dinner on Sunday.....
Cya

2008-03-14T14:00:00.001Z

Its been a very busy week this week as I have had some students staying for a few days. I am now doing the border of the baby blamket, should be finished this weekend. I will post a photo. Then on to something new!
Meanwhile, here is something I wrote last Thursday:

REMEMBER ME

I held you in my arms whenever you felt bad
You said I was the best that you have ever had
but I could see right through you, it was only make believe
I stood there in front of you my heart upon my sleeve.

Someone else was waiting to come into your arms
Whispering your usual line, using all your charms
You could never understand why I did not crumble
As I watched you go away knowing all your tattle.

I can see into the future when the day will come
Alone and lost your thoughts will turn to the only one
Who made you feel so happy all throughout the day
The one you could not help but to betray.

Perhaps the two of us will still be a couple
I would'nt swear it though, on the Bible
When I feel strong enough to turn and walk away
I won't look back then, there will be nothing left to say.

:)

Nearly There!

2008-03-07T08:42:00.002Z

I measured the shawl last night 37.5 inches, the pattern says it should be 44' so not long to go! Although I find it easy to do in the evenings I have become a running joke at home when I get out my 'project'-those in the know make mention of the fact I have been trying to finish this since December and gleefully remind me of this. When I put the article on the floor and got the tape measure out, my other half suggested it was 'big enough now dear, that will wrap round any baby surely', one of my special glares forced him to retreat. ' The pattern says 44inches dear, and so it shall be, what's a few more inches now-soon be finished' I said. This received a knowing look......7 inches at one row a day will be a week.....we shall see!
I noticed the knitting machine has slowly been transformed into a clothes horse, must sort that out this evening when I get home. I am so glad its Friday at least I am not working this Saturday though my mind will be all over the place as I try to cram in all the things that I want to do.
I have found many interesting bloggers who have such busy days but still manage to create items of beauty both by hand and on their knitting machines. The list at the side of this page will take you to them, if and when I find more I will add them.

I leave you today with this to make your skin tingle!

I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair

DON'T GO FAR OFF, NOT EVEN FOR A DAY
Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

Pablo Neruda

No knitting

2008-03-03T11:28:00.002Z

I have been busy this weekend with the grandbaby and various. The crochet shawl is coming along nicely. I was brave enough to take it onto the train this morning as I came to work and managed to do some. Elbow room was limited but I feel as a project its been going on too long, the baby it is supposed to be for will be going to school by the time its finished!

Here is another of my best poems by Lord Byron:

WHEN WE TWO PARTED

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow--
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shrudder comes o'er me--
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee so well--
Long, long I shall rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met--
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?--
With silence and tears.

Poem Corner

2008-02-28T14:15:00.002Z

No knitting today, I have this instead, by one of my favorite poets Edgare Allan Poe;

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Earthquake

2008-02-27T10:49:00.002Z

Did you feel it this morning?The earthquake that shook the country? Two of my daughters called me early this morning, so excited at the event.I was dead to the work at that time of the morning, missed it. Saw it on the news though, wow!
Ok, that's enough for now, hope this does not happen more often, its the last thing we need right now, enough upheaval being brought by Brown and his lot!
Cya

Flikr

2008-02-23T15:23:00.002Z

Duh! I just realised if you click on the Flikr icon on this page, you will go direct to the site with the photos.
I promise to put up some free patterns when I get round to it. I have been to so many sites which have these and have found them very useful. I will get round to it I promise! Today is Saturday and I am working ALL day today-so don't hold your breath!
Cya
S

Gas Blast

2008-02-22T11:41:00.003Z

Last Weekend there was a huge blast just close to where I live. I woke up early in the morning when the doors and windows shook, I thought 'terrorist attack'!I heard police sirens, a helicopter, more sirens. Looking out the window I saw our road was blocked off by a police car to stop any cars passing. I put the telly on but there was nothing announced until 9.15am when a short report mentioned a gas blast in a block of flats in harrow.Well,I was out the door and round the corner like a shot and what a sight it was. The whle of the top florr flat had been blasted apart, the roof was hanging off, balcony gone, police and fire crews all over the place. Chaos reigned. Most of the occupants from surrounding flats had been evacuated and the area was sealed off. I took some photos and put them on Flikr, how to get them on here though is something else, but they are public so anyone an go and view them. Just put in Gas Blast and they should come up. If not then let me know, I will try to get them on here as well. I managed to get intervied by a reported for the Harrow Times, must look in that paper today and see if my name is in print whohahah.
I must remind myself to be more careful when I walk past my ancient gas cooker as the taps often get switched on by such a simple thing as a sleeve. I dont notice till I smell the gas! As it's a rented place the landlord is reluctant to be parted with his cash for such a mundane thing as a replacement cooker (or carpets, or paint), so until I blow the place up I have to put up with it.

Tried Again

2008-02-08T14:00:00.000Z

Oh HELP! I tried last night to just caste on and knit a few rows with the flippin Knitmaster 700, and tried and tried. It seems to drop a couple of stitches here and there, also when I did succeed to do a couple of rows I noticed it knitted on the right up to the middle '0' but not on the left. Yes I know it got something to do with ME and the way I am mis-reading the instructions. I was so tired, the day had been spent with my daughter and the baby. He was fretting a lot, she was getting tired and short tempered.He had been circumcised in the afternnoon so was not very happy for the rest of the day.Perhaps I should have left the machine till Saturday when my good friend (who has been a machine knitter for so many years) is coming over in the morning to show me some techniqes. I just wanted to get a bit of ME time, oh well.
I had a driving lesson last week. The instructor was very happy with my progress getting me to do three point turns! I was out in the traffic, driving along as if I had been doing it for years. Ok so I did forget to look in the mirror sometimes and did tend to go too fast (he said 'you dont have to keep up with the car in front dear-that's 30 mph, you should stick to 20mph - as a learner).I have another one this week too, perhaps I will be awful this time (beginner's luck runs out).
I have to find a place to move the 700 to as next week I have a couple of students coming for a few days, the cabinet takes up too much room, I wish I had a bigger house.
I am waiting to be approved as a foster carer. All the assessments have been carried out so it will be sometime very soon. I applied over a year ago, it's taken this long to get everything sorted. Once I am approved I shall be able to either cut my hours to part time working or quit altogether, I think the latter is looking increasingly tempting.
My crochet baby blanket is coming along nicely. Looking at the unstructions again I see I should have about 112cm in width, as I want to give it to the new mother next week I must move like the clappers to get it finished on time, which I doubt unless God in all his wisdom puts another day in the weekend!
Bye for now

Big Yawn!

2008-02-04T10:04:00.001Z

CIMG0410,
originally uploaded by sekelund.

Here he is, just over one month old and already has everyone running around at his beck and call. He has lost some hair in the front so resembles a little buddha.
He hates anything cold touching him screaming in rage when it does, he loves the water. This weekend he and his mum & dad stayed over with us, I noticed he now follows movements with his eyes and listens to you speaking. Bring a camera into view and he concentrates on it, he is certainly not camera shy!
So, you can see why I have not managed to get anything done on the knitting machine. His mum did mention that he does not have any cardigans (hint, hint) so perhaps I will find the time....... somehow.

Flickr

2008-02-01T11:46:00.001Z

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

First Attempt on 700

2008-01-24T13:27:00.000Z

I thought I would attempt a single motif on the knitmaster 700. I followed the instruction book by fitting the bits that go each side of the carriage (l & R), then I found those tiny orange and white plastic bits to fit on the needles, then I had to put small bits called yarn seperators. One row looked ok, the next caused the carriage to jam mid-way,had to take everything off again, gave up for now.

I went to get my daughter (the new mum) and the baby to bring them back to mine as the little man has not been sleeping at night. She wanted to have some help with him. I was able to get him settled and he was fine at about 1am, as long as I had him to my shoulder tapping his back. Off like a little lamb he went, attempt to put him in his bed though-now that's another matter. Do babies have built in sensors in their backs or something? As soon as I put him down-ever so gently-the legs started going and the wailing started.This went on for about two hours, and he is only a month old. Poor girl had fed him, changed him, fed him again, winded him but no he would not settle. At 5am we decided it was time to deploy the big guns and his mum went and made him a bottle. He woolfed it down like milk had just been invented, finished the lot and promptly fell asleep. I winded him and put him down, he slept till 8.30am.I had to get to work so left them both sleeping at 7.45am. Babies, I love them to bits, can't wait to get back home this evening. I hope he manages to sleep better tonight though.

Cya

Birthday Girl

2008-01-20T20:32:00.000Z

It was my 59th birthday yesterday and I had a truly wonderful time. My daughter (one of the twins) arranged a surprise party at her place. All the family came, a cake was produced and the grandchildren and children all sang 'happy birthday'at this the three year old promptly burst into tears insisting it was his birthday to! So we all sang 'happy birthday' to him, he then tucked into his cake quite happily.
TODAY i even had another party at home for my partner's children,the little one was present, he whispered to me as I went to blow out the candles on (yet another) cake; yesterday was my birthday nana,but today its yours!Priceless!
Saturday I spent some timer in the morning hoovering the 700. I took all the needles out,put them in a jar with the surgical spirit and some oil, shook up and left them for an hour then put them all back. I think it has improved the performance. I forgot to take them out in batches of 10 to replace them differently,they seem happy enough though.
Next-when I get some much needed ME time, is to do some knitting on it.
Work tomorrow as usual, I hope I have a better week than last week. The steady repetition of 'who is your dentist?' (Ehm I dont know) 'What is your date of birth', 'when would you like an appointment?'all take their toll on me as I say it about 50 times a day. It's boring.
Cya

Comparing the Knitmaster 360 to the 700

2008-01-16T11:20:00.000Z

Had a look last night at this machine (700)
Set it up with the ribber and compared it to the 360 I have.
I noticed the knitradar slot is larger and takes a full size pattern instead of the 360 which takes only a quarter of the pattern. The carriage is much easier to use, gliding effortlessly even with the ribber arm connected. The 360 is quite different, with the ribber arm attached it is harder to move along the carriage, causing some strain in the shoulder and upper arm.
I replaced the sponge bar which was totally flat with the one from the 360 (as a temporary measure). Then I caste on, the first row dropped a couple of stitches, so I undid the row and caste on again, same thing happened.Tried twice more, no different. Tonight, when I get home from work I will try a different caste on (like the e-wrap) and see if the stitches are dropped. I examined each needle and could not find a reason for this, the carriage was set according to the manual. If it still drops the same stitches I will replace them.
The toolbox lid will not open no matter how hard I tried, perhaps there is a knack? Then again, it may just be stuck, I don't want to break it...as it was getting on for 11pm I decided to call it a night.

Its been a month

2008-01-14T11:18:00.000Z

Wow, its been over a month since I added anything to this. Ok so I have been busy, working full time, new grandson, other events which keep me busy.
I do have a life you know. Friday I went to the cinema and sat through 'I am Legend' I did jump quite a bit throughout the movie because the soundtrack was so loud, but did not think much of the film itself.
Sunday I collected a Knitmaster 700 from a house clearance.It came with several boxes of bits and pieces, magazines and hand knitting patterns. Cabinet, ribber spare needles, tools etc etc. I was wondering if it was a later model to my Knitmaster 360? Its in very good condition, a bit dusty. I will clean it up and probably see if I can sell it on,the whole thing was destined for the skip.
No knitting has been done, I have been crocheting the baby blanket, its something I can do while I am relaxing in front of the tv, difficult to do that with a knitting machine!
Cya

A new Beginning

2008-01-02T13:45:00.000Z

Happy New Year!
I hope to be able to stick to some very important resolutions this year which are;

1. Lose weight!
2. Go and see my sister (74) in USA
3. Save some MONEY.
4. Do SOMETHING on that darn knitting machine!

My grandson was born on Sunday 30th December 2007 at 5.36am weighing 7lbs 9oz. I was so thrilled to be present at the birth. He is the first child for my daughter and I wish them both a happy healthy life.
This is my 8th grandchild, there are 4 boys and 3 girls from my two eldest sons, the birthday list gets longer and longer. I have to make a note of everyones birthday in wall calenders, diaries, internet calenders and my mobile phone just so as I remember.
This should give me incentive to use the knitting machine-it should, should'nt it?

The weather man says we are going to have Siberian winds blowing through England from this afternoon onwards which will bring ice or snow. I hate both as I always manage to slip and fall in either. Being heavy as I am, I do go down like a ton of bricks.

Bye for now

Last Day at work!

2007-12-21T09:45:00.000Z

Ahh, sweet. Today is the last day at work until 2nd January. My boss tried to get me to come in on Monday and just sit here doing nothing, for which I would have been paid of course but there were several reasons why I resisted.

1. I have a rotten cough/cold
2. My two grandsons are coming down tomorrow to stay with me for a week.
3. I still have not got all the christmas presents and I have not even put up a tree yet!
4. My youngest daughter is due to give birth round about this time.
5. I dont want to work.

Yesterday I had an emergency patient who was down in London after having travelled from Yorkshire for...can you guess? The very same BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN concert that Sue is going to. This lady and her husband said it was a brilliant time and well worth the ticket money. I can't wait to read what Sue writes about her experience there.

I have brought my baby blanket in to day so I can sit here and crochet a bit, its fairly quiet with only the one dentist working and I have cleared my work for the week.

My NVQ level 2 in Customer Service has now been completed thanks to the government's Train to Gain initiative, and I didn't have to pay a penny. I had the last assessment yesterday, now all I have to wait for is to see if I have passed.The assessor was very confident about the outcome so I am not worried.

Talk to you again soon.

What I am doing now

2007-12-12T21:23:00.000Z

This is the baby blanket I am crocheting. Darn cat, he knows he is not supposed to get on the bed!

No much knitting getting done!

2007-12-12T12:13:00.000Z

I have just not been able to find the time to get anything done on the knitting machine. Each day is flying by at work, then when I get home its gone 7pm, eating, washing dishes, tidying up etc all take time, so its 9.30 by the time I can manager to get some time to myself and I really have not felt like going upstairs and starting anything on the machine.

What I am doing though, is going to bed about 10pm, watching the tv and doing some crochet work. I have started a baby blanket in dttr stitch, I find it quite soothing to sit and do this for a while.

Last night I did a bad thing, I put a dvd on of a movie someone had lent me. According to them it was one of the best they had seen, so I thought I would watch it for a while. It is called 'Perfume', don't bother! It was one of the worst films I have ever seen.I watched it through to the end though, hoping it would get better-it finished at 1.30am, so I am half asleep at work right now.....naughty.

Now, one thing is puzzling me about a certain position of the needles when you do short rowing, its called HOLDING position. I know you have to bring the needles out fully but how will they stay out? I think I have to set the carriage somehow for this. Looking in the instruction book has not done much good ( that's no surprise as I am totally unable to comprehend anything written down regarding this machine) so I wonder if anyone would take pity on me and explain it in layman's terms?

Christmas looms, is anyone going away for a bit of a holiday this Yule Tide? My daughter is due to have her baby round about then, so we are all awaiting the dreaded 'call in the night' to rush to her side. Everything else has been put on hold for now.

I am on Facebook, some of my friends have voiced concerns over this site and their personal information getting misused. I have several photos there, and of course links to my friends. I wonder if it is worth the effort now, perhaps I will close the account, after all I have this blog and I have a Yahoo one, how many do you need!

Bye for now

Correction for video link

2007-11-30T12:52:00.000Z

http://tinyurl.com/2zmzw9

This will get you to the video-promise!

Short Row Technique

2007-11-29T11:59:00.000Z

Here is a link to Heather Brown's short row technique which I found very useful.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2039025821

Teacher arrested over Teddy Bear

2007-11-26T15:33:00.000Z

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2947734.ece

Perhaps naive teachers who go to these countries should learn more about the customs and cultures they are to be teaching in. The old saying 'when in Rome' etc is good advice.

Remember the furore over the Danish newspapers?

Do we really need to put ourselves in situations like this?

K&C Pct Health Superstar Awards

2007-11-21T13:58:00.000Z

Yesterday I was proud to accept an award from the local Mayor for the category 'Highly Recommended' in the annual awards ceremony in Royal Hospital, Chelsea. I thank all the patients who have nominated me or this award.
There were many categories each one receiving an award for their efforts within the NHS.The £25 worth of John Lewis vouchers will come in handy too!

I made a hat, stocking stitch and fairisle. I did not do the usual swatch so deserve everything anyone can say about me and hold my wrist out for a slap, now I must find someone with a large enough head to give it to, maybe for Christmas.The main thing was though-I did it!

It is plain for all to see that I don't like following set rules or steps and always want to jump into the deep end, it's sink or swim with me. I will work things out the hard way because its the only way I can learn-by experimenting. Yes I do have all the instruction books-lots and lots of them, and I do sit and trawl through them if I have the time. Still, I am happy with things as the are, there is progress of a sort.

I am being assessed for fostering.Its not me who is being fostered though-its me who wants to become a carer. This is something I have wanted to do for some years. So far everything is ok, its taken months and months, patience is something I have and waiting does not bother me in the least. Yawn.
Cya

3rd Project Completed

2007-11-02T14:12:00.001Z

This is the 3rd thing I have done so far. Its a scarf for my brother, it's his 65th birthday in two days time. He did not want a long scarf and anyway, I dropped some stitches at one end. It was too frustrating trying to rip back so many rows (using the ribber I did not see the mistake till about 12 rows past), so I took the work off the machine and finished it. Its long enough I think!

Ribber Set Up

2007-10-29T15:42:00.000Z

Saturday himself and I managed to set up the ribber for the Knitmaster 360. I then managed to clean and oil it. (While I was in the shopping centre I went to the £1 shop and bought three Microfible cloths, these are great for wiping over the machine as they dont leave any lint).
I managed to work out how to caste on and also did a few rows in rib, reading the manual I was able to do another type of rib (transferring the stitches with the double eye thingy).
Ok, so far so good....now to get something done, but what? My brother wants a scarf and I have found some nice flecked 4ply in my stash. Shall I try to use the ribber to do one, or just the main bed/ Any ideas?
I want to do SOCKS on the machine=its a must, so perhaps that will be my next project (after the scarf).

I have NO IDEA at all how to do socks, I must study more and understand the techniques involved, it looks utterly frightening.
The thing is this...why, after so many years of non-productiveness have I suddenly and without warning become all CRAFTY.

I rushed out and bought a knitting machine, trawled through Ebay and purchased a WHOLE SET of bamboo circular knitting needles and then Crochet Hooks.

I joined about 20 different groups on the net-incuding some for QUILTING (which I have never done in my life).

I wonder if this is some sort of mental breakdown. I spend the whole day at work searching through the net for free patterns to photocopy and take home to file away in folders and files.My boss would have a FIT if he knew what I got up to, and I must admit I do feel very guilty about it-but, here's the rub...I cant STOP!

I wonder if the is any sort of support group like the AA, say KA (knitters Anonymous)to help people addicted to their knitting machines.

It would not be so bad if I was managing to churn out loads of different garments with all the mass of yarn I have. I have only done ONE scarf and ONE baby blanket in THREE MONTHS.

Is anyone else out there like me!

None Knitting Today

2007-10-26T09:23:00.000+01:00

As I have not been able to get near the machine, here is a picture of Harrow schoolboys. If you come to Harrow-on-the-Hill on any Sunday, you can see these boys wandering around in their Sunday best after coming out of church.
I find it a lovely spot at night, when the whole of London is spread out below you. Harrow is a great place to live, the green places are all around, there are still dairy farms. Last year we were able to go and visit lots of places in Harrow that had been opened up for a weekend to the public. One was a house built of special corrugated crates!It doesn't sound very interesting but the whole design was magnificent.
There is a downside to Harrow, what town doesn't have one? The Harrow bus centre is a place to be avoided in the evenings because of the groups of youngsters that hang around there. With the weather getting colder, its a warm meeting place. The authorities play certain types of classical music over the intercom-perhaps to soothe the troubles away.
What happened to all the youth clubs? There is nowhere for youngsters to go these days except the snooker halls or the pubs-and there are more pubs in Harrow than anywhere else. Lots of nightclubs too. Harrow used to have a bowling alley but that has been demolished, apartments are now being built there, the nearest one now is in Acton.
I used to go dancing at St Josephs Church Hall (Archway) on a Saturday night or Hammersmith Palais and Leicester Square, or Whisk-a-go-go in Soho in my younger days.
I remember it as a fun time, we didn't get drunk-in fact we didn't drink at all except soft drinks (too young). Cliff Richard was going on his 'Summer Holiday' (God how I hated that guy then-still do), PJ Proby was doing his thing and Frank Ifield was yodelling his head off-he would probable get pelted with anything that came to hand these days, but we lapped it all up.
Enough reminiscing, this must bore you to tears-but thanks to anyone who has managed to get this far without falling asleep!
I promise to stick to the knitting next time!

Dishcloth Disaster Movie

2007-10-19T10:55:00.000+01:00

On the subject of dish cloths.....DP was in the kitchen last night tidying and decided the dish cloth would benefit from being boiled for a while to kill the bacteria. DP then goes merrily off to bed!Woken up at 3.30am by smoke alarm and house full of smoke from smoldering dish cloth in black pot!
The whole house smells of smoke and its seeped into everything, the curtains and anything wooly including all my cones. I hope the smell will go eventually.
Now me, I put it in the microwave because its quicker with no chance of me going of and leaving it to BURN.

The baby blanket is finished!

2007-10-14T20:01:00.000+01:00

Here are the pics of my first project of wich I am very proud. Never thought I would actually manage to get something done....what next!!

Eid

2007-10-13T19:31:00.001+01:00

Today its the Eid holiday after a month of fasting. Although I have fasted in the past and particularly when I lived in Iraq, during the hot summer in over 50 degree heat its no fun. Here its a lot cooler, but its not the same.The atmosphere is different.In iraq its a time of togetherness, families meet up in the evening to break the fast, its very social. The Eid then becomes exciting, new clothes are bought for everyone, laid out ready for the Eid morning. Then the day is spend doing the rounds of relatives, the eldest first be it Mum and Dad or eldest brother/uncle granpa etc.Everyone is greeted for the Eid, the children are given money. Here I find its not the same, something is missing from the excitement.
I have finished the baby blanket, at the moment its blocked out on the board after having been steamed. When its dry I will take a photo as its my second project and something I am proud of doing in my own way.

My Stash & Knitmaster 360

2007-10-09T23:20:00.000+01:00

Various

2007-10-08T14:37:00.000+01:00

Fashion Show Participant
The Hall

Group Tops

Old sock machine

2007-10-08T14:21:00.001+01:00

2007-10-08T10:17:00.001+01:00

We drove up North from Harrow along the motorway without any problem. The show was being held in the Castle Leisure Centre which also had a swimming gala on, so parking was unavailable. we managed to park in Moss St a few blocks away. The size of the gym was huge, we wandered around looking at the usual exhibitors. Pattern books and patterns where on sale, I was not impressed by the fact that a simple photocopy of 'Knitting Machine Maintenance' was selling for £5.95.
Lots of yarn as usual which I could not resist buying even though I have a wardrobe full of the stuff. One seller even gave me a whole pack of yarn for free I had bought so much from him. I got some sock yarn, I want to try this on the machine. There was a lovely gentleman there and his wife who had some of the old type sock machines. He kindly posed for a photo which I shall post later on.
There was a fashion show where the ladies showed some truly marvelous creations. Sideways knitted skirts and costumes, tops, jackets in jacquard. Photos are coming too.
The drive down was uneventful, no delays on the motorway as we had left early.
I received a call when I was about halfway down from my eldest to say that a glass door had fallen on my 4 year old grandson and he was in hospital. He was given a ct scan because there had been some bleeding from his ear, nothing was found thank goodness. The hospital were keeping him in overnight for observation. He is a very hyperactive child and always gets himself into mischief, but I am so glad he is fine. I went to see my daughter-in-law straight away, she was weepy but relived that he was not badly injured. The glass had not broken but the door was heavy, she had pulled him out from under it. What a dreadful shock it must have been for her.

Saturday

2007-10-06T09:26:00.000+01:00

Working to day from 9-2. We have a Hungarian dentist who uses the surgery to see patient interested in going to Hungary on a sort of mini holiday come dental treatment trip. He is an implantologist. The patients who have been there so far have come back very happy with the trip. Its cheaper than here (compare £2000 per implant here to £800 there and you will get the picture). Plus of course you have a nice break, hotel with spa, horseriding, golf etc and they will refund the return flight, what more can you ask?

Last night J came to show me some more on my knitmaster, the e-wrap caste on for one and some of the other punchcard patterns, knit radar and how to measure swatches with the green ruler. This might seem old hat to many but for a newbie like me its all Greek!

I went ahead and made a scarf for DP right there and then in a very nice tuck stitch in a black yarn I had bought from one of the shows. Now that I have made something I am eager to get back and start something else.

When I get back from Manchester I think I will take a photo of the machine and maybe the scarf and post it here.

The acupuncture yesterday hurt more than previously, but it is being such a great help to me that I am glad I agreed to have it done. This was the last session, doc said if I felt the pain was coming back to call and book a 'top up' appointment.

Ni circle line this morning, or bakerloo, post box is full to the brim with letters uncollected.

Work,Work, Work

2007-10-04T15:10:00.000+01:00

I work in a dental surgery. Its a very busy place and I am the practice manager. We have three dentists and two dental nurses.
Many of our patients live in the area and have been coming here for years. Some have moved away to far off places like Wales and Hull, but they still come back here for their yearly check-up, that says a lot for our dentists.
Our nurses are from Kozovo and Iraq, they are very friendly professional girls who always put the patient at ease.
I start work at 9.00 and work through the day until 6.00pm, then I have a 40+ minute journey on the underground. I am luck in that DP picks me up most times from the station and takes me home, there he very kindly gets me a coffee and I can relax while he gets the evening meal ready. Rarely do I cook, he is the main chef, shopper and general all round handyman at home. I don't know what I would do without him,
We have been together now for four years despite the objections of some of my own children. I could not envisage life without him, his consideration, kindness,love and empathy are balm to my stressful life.
I have only to say 'can we?' and its done, he drives me everywhere without complaint. The knitting machine idea was accepted without any objection on his part. He took me to pick it up and we brought it home and he set it up. Then he drove me to different places (after doing research on the internet) to by yarn. What more could a girl want than a companion who travels life's road with her, sharing their life in peace and harmony? Yeh ok, he does sometimes get a bit picky but then-so do I and we always end up friends as we discuss other options to the problem.
Oh well, enough now, where was I?
I don't have any pets although I am fond of cats and dogs etc. Being away from the house I don't want to leave a pet at home alone, I know they need company too. But I often wonder if, when I am retired in a couple of years time, I should get one.
I have been knitting since I was a child. At school I had one of those cotton reels with four nails banged into one end and I wove long sausages of wool, turning them into table mats or small articles for friends and family. I made baby clothes for my own children and jumpers for myself, the only sweater I ever made for my then husband he never wore so I did not repeat the effort.
After 30 years of marriage, I decided to call it a day, enough of the life both I and my children had been through. Time to spend the rest of it in peace doing the things we wanted to do without being constantly berated and abused by someone who would eventually end up alone, without friends or family around him simply because he was too self-centred and egotistical to understand.
Life is not about control, its about understanding and sympathy, loving and needing, caring and companionship amongst others.
My decision taken, I moved on with the rest of my life. My children began to come out of their shells and make decisions for themselves, marry, have children and enjoy their new found freedom. They also moved on, away from the father who had put them through hell all their life. Some of them cannot discuss their past because it is too painful for them, others were able to cope better because they had married and their partner took a lot of their mental anguish away, being sympathetic and understanding. They have been blessed in their marriages and I thank God for that. I could not have stood by and see any one of them in a marriage where they were abused in an way.
My youngest daughter is pregnant with her first child, she has been married for 5 years. I hope all goes well with her in December when her child is due.
My grandchildren are a joy to me. 5 boys and two girls. I see them rarely because some are living in the North and I work such long hours. But we chat often when we have the time and get together on the holidays.
I am looking forward to making something for them on the machine.
I still have friends from years ago who keep in touch sometimes. One of them is a machine knitter and I often bend her ear with my knitting problems. She is due to have an operation on 24th, I hope all goes well for her.
My eldest daughter has decided that she is going to get a motorbike and ride free and wild. This is the one time that I am going to put my foot down very firmly. The thought of her dying in a road accident leaves me cold.I just can't let her do it, she has always been headstrong, doing whatever she wanted-independant from an early age and getting herself into all sort of mischief.
She suffers from depression at times and feels her life is not worth living. I understand why, I want to be there to help her through these times, but she just thinks she can't bother anyone with her problems. 'Its ok Mum-I have to work it out for myself, you have enough troubles of your own' she says. I tell her I am always willing to listen even though I can't do much to help at least she has someone to talk to and a shoulder if she needs one. My heart breaks to see the pain in her eyes sometimes and I want to take it all away, ease her life.
Time to go now, I am getting too sad.

All About Me and my Knitting Machine

2007-10-02T14:24:00.000+01:00

I live in Harrow, UK. Mother of many and grandmother of 7 (8th on the way).
A lovely place to be because of the green open spaces around us, low crime rate and general peacefull atmosphere.
Recently I purchased a knitting machine from a lady in my area. I went with DP to pick it up in the car.
Altogether the machine came with a ribber, intarsia carriage, Keto cabinet, lace carriage, colour changer, various machine knitting magazines, patterns, knitradar instructions, punch & punchards, full instruction manuals and last but not least punchard pattern books. A veritable cornucopia of goodies.
Setting it up was no problem though we did have a hitch with the cabinet (which had been taken apart for transport) finally it looked like it was ok.
A trip around Hounslow and Watford secured some cones of yarn for the great experiment to come.
With some help from my new friend I was able to learn the techniques of threading up the tension mast and casting on. A few rows of stocking stich were then produced and other ways of casting on/off were demonstrated.
I purchased a couple of videos as further help (not wanting to keep ringing my friend up with many questions and cries of 'I cant do this help').
I was amazed when trawling through the net just how many groups there are to join all over the world. I found groups for different makes and models of machines from Brother to Bond and Knitmaster.
Patterns-I was printing and printing the free patterns I found for all different things, hats, scarves, baby things etc. I must have filled a file within a few days. It got to be like a madness, first thing in the morning there I was searching the net and feverishly printing of reams and reams of patterns.
Thank goodness I have calmed down now and limited myself to one or two a day or I would not have the space for all these pages. DP watched me in amazement filing these papers away each day and finally told me to put them straight into a folder on my laptop, much easier and less bulky. Of course, I knew that!
Soon I will be able to post some pictures of my machine Knitmaster 360, and maybe by then I will have at least one article to show.
You Tube have videos of machine knitters showing various stages of garments and different techniques which I have found very useful. I did not know that socks can be made on my machine-thats something I must try.
Various Bloggers are also active in informing the world that they have machines, showing their wonderful and sometimes absolutely amazing garments is something I look forward to finding each day.
Perhaps I can link to some of them, that would be something would'nt it?
Time to go now, I will post some more soon.