Shell's Pearls

Making holiday plans

2009-02-26T13:31:00.002Z

From November onwards when winter feels like it'll be never ending, and the thought of having to wear tights or socks every day for months is a miserable one, I start planning holidays for the coming year, to give me and my varnished toes something to look forward to.

The Turkey trip is a given - first week of May to the Asfiya in Kalkan - with Suzy, a pile of books, scrabble, cribbage, backgammon and the iPod full of favourites. The idea is to do not much at all and we're near on perfecting it.

In the summer, the plan is to stay in the UK and visit a Landmark Trust property. Beautiful historic buildings renovated and rented out as holiday homes, with the added bonus that dogs are allowed in many of them, so Bert gets to come too. The one we have chosen is in Ceredigion, West Wales near to where I spent many years holidaying as a child so it'll be cool to revisit vaguely remembered places.

Then in the autumn we are FINALLY going to Chicago to visit Frank Lloyd Wright and Carolyn. I am hoping to swap fish cooking tips for quilting ones, share tons of new music and get taken to the best bars and eateries in town. Is that enough notice for you Duff?!

Reindeer

2009-02-18T12:09:00.006Z

So just after Christmas Jack asked for a retro, slightly naff in a good way, reindeer jumper. Apparently all the rage amongst the trendy youth of south east London. Despite a growing list of knitting obligations it sounded fun and a bit of a challenge. He was also in the last chance saloon given that the last garment I made him has hung underworn and forlorn in his wardrobe:

After many assurances that he would indeed wear the new jumper, I launched into a pattern search and after amalgamating a few from all over the place, came up with the finished article:

Made with Garnstudio Drops Karisma purchased from Scandanavian Knitting Design. Such good value yarn!Excellent quality as well. I've been having a bit of a yarn splurge from Bruce and Birgitte and it is all fab so far.

I am glad to report that it's getting regular wear. So much so that I need to sneak into his room and extract it for washing.....

A la Duff, currently, I am....

2009-02-06T12:55:00.003Z

Eating: delicious fish from the Deptford Codfather, delicious meat from William Wellbeloved butcher, not so much delicious fruit and veg from Abel & Cole as the van couldn't make it up our snowy street on Monday. Substituting with fruit and nut chocolate.

Making: too much! Cardigan in progress for my mum, batwing jumper just cast on for Ally, roll neck jumper waiting in the wings for Mark. Assorted hats, scarves, iPod jackets... And yes, I know I need to take photos.

Reading: not a lot (see frenzied activity above). I am really missing out on reading by not commuting any more (although, London Transport, I am so not complaining about that). I have a stack of books waiting for their chance when I am on holiday....

Watching: seemingly every single cookery programme currently showing but especially the rather lovely Gregg Wallace on Masterchef, yes I have got 'interesting' taste in blokes :)
New series of Brothers & Sisters (yay!) and eagerly anticipated new series of Mad Men.

Listening: to new CDs by Earlimart, Loney Dear and Andrew Bird - all sourced due to great mixes sent over from Carolyn and Nipper. An excellent way of discovering new music - thanks girls!

We have tickets!

2009-02-06T12:37:00.005Z

I think I must have been the first person to get Homegame tickets. At a minute to midday on Sunday I was continually reloading until the 'buy tickets' button popped up. Given that as I write there are apparently still tickets left, I feel a bit shamefully desperate, but also given that I am obsessively organised and wouldn't have slept properly until I had a ticket in my grubby little mitt, I'll give myself a break.

The room with a sea view is also secured, so now it's just a matter of waiting 10 weeks......!

In knitting news, I have finished Jack's retro reindeer jumper (at a minute to midnight to be precise) which was speedily washed, spun and left to dry on the radiator (I know I know - 'dry flat' and all that malarkey) so he could wear it today. I didn't manage a picture before he ran out of the house but one will be forthcoming soon.

Weekend to-do list

2009-01-30T14:23:00.003Z

1. Make 3 bobbles to turn welsh dragon logo beanie hats into welsh dragon logo bobble hats. For Rich, Rich's sister and her partner. In time for the Six Nations of course.

2. Be in front of computer at one minute to midday on Sunday to purchase tickets for Homegame from the Fence Collective website.

3. Phone and hope that the lovely lady at the Grange still has a sea view room for said weekend.

4. Jump around the house with the sheer joy of having obtained Homegame tickets for the first year ever.

5. Calm down.

6. Watch and listen to numerous football matches. Hope my Fantasy team scores more than Suzy's. Roge is no longer a threat :)

It's been too long

2008-12-12T11:06:00.004Z

Blimey, it is really 4 months since I threw some words of wisdom out there? Where has the time gone? Well, mine has been going on music listening, mastering sock knitting, discovering Malbec and the joys of golf. Well, not really - I've swung a club around my body in an uncoordinated fashion a number of times on the driving range and sometimes connected with the ball. I am hoping for better in 2009.

But the main thing that has got me out of my blogging slumber is to report on the most magical gig I have attended in a while. James Yorkston and the Athletes, with Pictish Trail and Rozi Plain chipping in, and Malcolm Middleton supporting. Pretty promising you might say, but throw in the venue, St Giles Church in Soho on a chilly 'almost Christmas' December night, and the result was tear-inducing loveliness. If you have never seen JY perform you are missing out on something special. Go see him. And in the meantime listen to When the Haar Rolls In and his entire back catalogue :)

Music Maestro Please

2008-08-20T16:56:00.002Z

I've been very inspired by new music lately, and as a consequence have far too many unlistened to CDs piling up.... I promised to send some new stuff to Carolyn and as she is sooo good at her mixes I had a go at one for her and am pretty pleased with it (if I do say so myself). I treid to replicate in on a mixtape (below) and was reasonably successful. Those mixtape boys and girls have a pretty comprehensive selection. In fact the only band I couldn't find was my son's - Charly Brown - and given that they only really play in South London pubs I guess I can't complain about that...

Field Day review

2008-08-14T16:03:00.005Z

So we endured the rain in Victoria Park last Saturday for the second Field Day. Last year the weather was beautiful but there was one toilet (or so it seemed!), two bars, one food stall and about a dozen staff to cater to upwards of 5,000 people. Whoops. This year the toilet lesson still didn't seem to have been learned but beer and food were in plentiful supply. Anyway, enough already about the amenities, what about the music??

I was very much looking forward to seeing Laura Marling, despite the moaning I had endured from her on other occasions and her general stage awkwardness, but she is still a baby and her album is amazing so we will forgive her. She seemed a little more relaxed this time and played a pretty good set but it was pitifully short at near on 25 minutes. I was just getting into it, despite the raindrops dripping off my nose, and then she disappeared.

The rain eased off for Lightspeed Champion, and although I know I am in danger of going on about it, dryness definitely adds to the enjoyment of a band. He is at Green Man this weekend and I am pleased to be seeing him again.

Of course, the day's highlight was my current favourite obsession King Creosote. Right at the front of the stage for him and sweet harmonies from the Pictish Trail. How gorgeous can a man look in a hand knitted hooded cardi??

So it's off to Wales this weekend for more of the King, James Yorkston, Lightspeed, Badly Drawn Boy and The National (yay and super yay!)

A la Duff, currently, I am....

2008-08-06T09:29:00.003Z

Eating: everything that I buy - see rant below ;) Specifically, toasted fruit bread for breakfast (so much nicer than cereal) and a selection of interesting produce from Lidl and Aldi, my new favourite supermarkets. It's like when you go to the Carrefour in France on holiday and get ridiculously excited wandering up and down the aisles. And now I can do that EVERY WEEK!

Making: the last sleeve of this:

http://shop.interweave.com/Gathered-Pullover-P325C40.aspx

with yarn I ripped from a sweater I made too wide and too short. The spirit of recycling has really got me....

Reading: South of the River by Blake Morrison. He's is a local boy and there are so many humourous references to our manor. Only just started it, but it came highly recommended by my husband.

Watching: not enough apparently - the only stuff left on the Sky+ is my rubbish that nobody else wants to watch. I need a night in to catch up with Gladiators, Superstars and Location, Location, Location. Such quality viewing.

Listening: to all the CDs I bought pre-holiday, on shuffle. Johnny Flynn, Natty, Dan le Sac (Carolyn I haven't forgotten!) Fleet Foxes, The National. They're playing at Green Man Festival - sooo excited about that. But not so much the camping. Or the inevitable Welsh rain. Or Pentangle.

Waste not want not...

2008-08-05T16:28:00.001Z

As someone who prides herself on hardly throwing ANY food away EVER, I was shocked recently to discover that one third of the food bought in the UK is chucked out EVERY WEEK! How naive of me to think that everyone:

a) works out which days of the week they will be in for dinner - as they have obviously had their social life planned for some weeks ;)

b) plans the meals they'd like to have on those days

c) checks what items they already have in the fridge/freezer/store cupboard

d) writes a list of what food they need to buy before heading to the shops

Then I assumed everyone also:

a) froze any extra portions for another meal or,

b) took them to work for lunch or,

c) fed them to the dog!

So I have added a link to an initiative to try and get people NOT TO WASTE FOOD!

Now I'm off out for dinner with Suzy ;) And I promise to eat it all....

june mix

2008-06-20T09:57:00.001Z

Who's this Handsome Fella?

2008-01-16T14:26:00.000Z

Welcome to Bert, Berty, the Bertster, or Bertrand (for reprimand purposes) who arrived on 21st December and caused quite a few sleepless nights until he cottoned on to the fact that when we all disappeared to various parts of the house, and the lights got turned off, it was time for real bed. Not the type of sleeping that punctuates the whole day, but a good solid stretch of at least 7 hours. Now he has settled in, he is absolutely amazingly lovely and fantastic, as well as a bit of a show off...

Those appendages do cause me a bit of grief but he seems to like having them hanging around, so they're staying for now.

Preoccupation with Bert has caused a bit of a lull on the knitting front, but the tunic did get finished:

Given how critical I am about things I knit for myself, I am really happy with it and have worn it quite a bit. I've got quite a lot of yarn left over as well so I think I'll finally embark on some sock knitting after years of procrastination - that 4-needle business scares me!

Mutli-coloured progress

2007-12-13T14:51:00.000Z

The tunic is zooming along - so much fun to knit as it changes all the time. I have finished the front and back:

Loving the way the waist nips in (well, that's the idea anyway, for those of you lucky people who have a waist...) I made it a 4x4 rib instead of the K3, P6 suggested (as a girl who loves symmetry) and did the same on the sleeve, which incorporates a block of cheeky turquoise...

I really hope this looks as good on me as it does on the needles.

In other news, it's countdown to Berty's arrival. For anyone reading this who doesn't speak to me on a regular basis, you must be the only people unaware that we are retiring our greyhound next week, at the ripe old age of 6, to come and live with us. His retirement race is on Wednesday 19th at Romford and I am collecting him from the trainer on Friday 21st. I am SOOOOOO excited and just a little bit nervous, having only ever had self-sufficient cats for pets.

So of course, my main pre-occupation is what Bert will wear in this chilly weather. I am quite taken with these:

http://www.greytsweaters.co.uk/

but quite keen on making him something myself, so am currently researching a greyhound-sized pattern. Getting my priorities right as ever.

Return to blogging?

2007-10-30T15:33:00.000Z

A few weeks ago I was invited to join Ravelry (very exciting!) and it has rekindled my enthusiasm for showing off my projects. I am not promising super regular updates here, but I think I will start posting again sporadically when I have something interesting to say or show.

Following a visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show with (still) blogless Suzy, I now have a fair few projects in the pipeline and some lovely bags of yarn waiting eagerly to be used. I have started this one...

...after ordering the yarn from the lovely people at Scandinavian Knitting Design. The patterns are available free to download, the link to this one is: http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=102&d_id=1&lang=en, and although the instructions aren't quite laid out or written in a familiar way, I haven't had any problems with them. I changed the colours a bit to make it less blue, and have so far managed this much:

I also bought some more Noro to eventually make this:

I've been assembling a ball here and there of all sorts of Noro over the past few years when I see one I like, and now almost have enough for a jumper! This is alarmingly wide and short though, which won't do many people any favours so I think I'll do the smallest size width (for the first time ever!) and the largest size length. That should just about work, and will be good for winter with jeans and a vest.

Anyway, I seem to be back with a vengeance! Off to the Pigalle Supper Club tonight to have dinner and listen to the lovely Kathryn Williams.

I give up....

2007-06-26T16:09:00.000Z

Before I started this blog, with the encouragement of my Maddox knit-a-long partner and super blogger Carolyn, I wondered how it was possible to be organised enough not only to have a life, but to have the time to write about it as well. I have come to the conclusion that, for me at least, it isn't. I have started feeling guilty that I am denying my few readers any interesting updates and pictures. The guilt is diluted by the fact that I see and speak to those few readers at pretty regular intervals (Carolyn I promise to email more!). So for now, it is bye bye blog. If I find more time in future months I may start again. I leave you with my current favourite things:

My new job
The Rotherhithe Tunnel
Marks and Spencer Moroccan-topped hummous
Wimbledon
20/20 cricket
Liberty's revamped yarn department
Camper 'twins' sandals
Bye for now.

It's been a while...

2007-05-21T13:13:00.000Z

For a blog supposedly about knitting, I have been sadly lacking in progress and news. If this were a travel blog, I could regale you with tales of the marvellous time I had in Turkey a couple of weeks ago with Suzy. The wonderful food, warm sunshine, cold beer, victories at Scrabble and cribbage, extravagant handbag purchases.... We thought long and hard about slipping our knitting into our luggage in case of inclement weather, and the one cloudy day we had would have been much improved with Sarita at our side. We have since been making up for a knit-free week though, and I am pleased to announce the completion of Maddox (more later) and the start of something new...

My husband (who is known as Roger, and has been a bit miffed at the lack of a formal introduction) has decided after decades of playing cricket, that he really would like a proper traditional cricket sweater. Our friend Philippa dug this cheesy 'catalogue man' pattern out, which fits the bill perfectly:

I decided upon Rowan RY Cashsoft DK, which has a beautiful feel and is perfect for a husband who is a bit sensitive to scratchy wool. So far a sleeve has been started, and we are very pleased with it indeed.

Maddox was sewn up, washed and left to dry flat in yesterday's sunshine. Buttons need to be added and then it will be modelled and photographed. I think I am going to like it a great deal, but won't really be able to wear it until after summer. Carolyn's might be finished by then though - mwhahaha. What progress, oh transatlantic one?

I have to get the boasting in where I can, as I am losing the Sarita race by a sleeve (a technical term, a little like 'a short head' in racing). As Suzy doesn't know how to finish hers though, she will have to wait for me (while I finish the whole of the cricket sweater - or is that a bit mean?)

In non-knitting news, gig tickets have been secured for three exciting events. Firstly, Brett Dennen at the Water Rats this coming Friday. He is a current favourite on the Shell iPod - really looking forward to seeing the ginger one. Secondly, the Electric Gardens festival in August which, at the tender age of 39, will be my first camping experience. Finally, Suzy got on the ticket buying bandwagon today - Regina Spektor at the revamped Royal Festival Hall. She appears to be completely bonkers so an interesting evening is in store.

Knit club and Champions League final on Wednesday. Can life get any better?

2007-04-23T14:32:00.000Z

Spent the weekend in creative pursuits - knitting, cooking and nurturing plants. I am once again attempting to grow sweet peas (pot with wigwam cane next to crazy lily plant):

I never give them enough water - apparently it is impossible to over-water sweet peas! - so they always look a bit bleached out and ragged by mid-Summer, with a meagre flower crop, and I am left feeling guilty at my flower murdering efforts. So, buckets of water this year I promise. The lilies on the other hand, just hang around as dormant bulbs all through the winter with no love at all, and then come bursting into life.

I was invited to Helen's for supper on Sunday, as both our husbands are away in snowy regions, and I offered to provide wine and dessert. Luckily the wine I plucked from the bottle rack in the fridge was one of Helen's most favourites. And as it was a weekend night, I thought that arriving with a Marks and Spencers tart was a bit lazy (but, Cheryl aka Queen of Puddings, a perfectly acceptable mid-week offering). So some Jamie Oliver chocolate pots were made, accompanied by his orange and polenta biscuits. They looked a bit mis-shapen and messy on the greaseproof paper :

But once assembled with a chocolate pot.....

Yummy yum-mah!

I would hate you to think that all this activity got in the way of some serious knitting. The Tommy vest is finished, and just needs some buttons. I am amazed that I don't have two buttons the same in the right size, given the collection that I seem to be building up, so a trip to Liberty is in store.

I also decided not to deviate from my non-blocking technique, so started to pick up the button bands and collar for Maddox. Here she is in pieces, not looking particularly attractive:

Hopefully by the end of tonight she will be her gorgeous finished self. Carolyn - with all the gigs has been attending lately, I doubt that you have caught up! Very pleased that you liked the Decemberists gig though - aren't they just the nicest bunch? And definitely the most attractive 'Colin' I have ever witnessed.

That brings me to the end of my bumper post, except to say that I am hopelessly addicted to a new Aussie drama series called Love My Way on a channel I had never even heard of before - Five Life. I was similarly smitten by The Secret Life of Us, which had the same star Claudia Karvan. Because, of course, they only have about a dozen working actors in Australia.

Easter activity

2007-04-11T12:00:00.000Z

I reckon every weekend needs to consist of four days - enough time to do all the chores and still have hours for knitting. A much better work/life balance. So apart from gardening, football and rugby watching, and eating lots (curries, chocolate and hot cross buns - great combo), much progress was made on the creative front.

Here is the first sleeve of Sarita:

I wasn't certain about the distribution of colours at first, and thought I wanted the orange to be more prominent, but looking at it as a whole I am now very happy. I think any more would have been too much, and I love the green. Both our Saritas will look very different from the pattern!

I also made a start on this cute baby vest from the Rowan RY Classic Bambino book:

Here is the back, and a close up of the chunky cable and moss stitch. I am making it in the colour shown in the book (for once). The recipient will be baby George - a work colleague's 4-month old.

All pieces of Maddox are finished, ready for button bands and collar. It is quite curly at the edges so I might block it first (major confession - I never block anything I just wash 'em after sewing up...). Does that make any difference? I haven't ever really known, and I don't know what I would block on to anyway. Does one buy a special board for that sort of thing? So, I am giving Carolyn a chance to catch up whilst I agonise over finishing techniques!

Off to Suzy's for knit club tonight, so more progress photos tomorrow. Oh, and I leave you with another installment of the Shell and Roge fruit selection...

A new take on Sarita

2007-04-05T12:22:00.000Z

So we all convened at Suzy's house for Wednesday night knit club - delicious meatballs, raspberry and mascapone tart, wine, exciting cricket commentary of England's last ball defeat to Sri Lanka on the radio. There is a vicious rumour that 'knit club' is just a front for an evening of indulgence and gossip - ha! To set that straight, here is Suzy's blue/pink Sarita:

A very different proposition indeed. And I've just realised how much these clash with my blog colour scheme!

Shell and Katy

2007-04-04T09:32:00.000Z

Taking photos of yourself in jumpers is harder than it looks....

So now you know what I look like, and my choice of necklace, and even how Katy complements my skin tone ;)

Then, from one extreme to the other, now you can see how Katy's colouring blends beautifully with our living room...

But now you can see her a bit better, although I had to crop off the 'eyes shut mouth open' face from Jack's photo. That really didn't do Katy any favours.

So on the whole I am happy with her. Sleeves are nice and long, body is just long enough. Neckline a little too low without a vest (seems a bit inappropriate to have acres of cleavage in a fluffy weekend jumper!) and the bottom half is a bit baggy - I did the biggest size to accommodate the bosoms but maybe should have cast on the next size down for the bottom section and done some increases towards the armholes. But that is a general problem with all my tops - I can't blame Katy for an out of proportion body.

Tonight I am going to prepare my skeins for Sarita. Suzy has had the benefit of a long train journey and some creative working practices (which basically seem to involve putting off any impending work in order to race ahead on the first sleeve). I need to catch up! Not that knitting is a competitive business of course, sisters. I will remember to take the camera this time before she winds every pesky skein into a less photogenic ball.

And Carolyn has promised me an update on her Maddox - pictures please!

Too much to talk about

2007-04-03T15:05:00.000Z

Unlike Amelia who is not sure what to talk about, I feel like there are so many things in my knitting head, I don't know where to start, so I'll just launch into a stream of consciousness and see where it ends up...

1. Katy is finished, and was worn in public on Saturday to see Charlton secure a narrow victory over Wigan and move a step closer to Premiership survival (apologies to any transatlantic readers who don't have a clue what I am going on about). I have taken some pictures and will post tomorrow once I retrieve the camera from husband Roger's desk at work (I don't have more than one husband, I just don't think I have mentioned his name on the blog before).

2. The final sleeve of Maddox is almost done, leaving the rather wide button bands and a sizeable collar. How YOU doin' Carolyn? (That was my great Joey from Friends impersonation - could you tell?)

3. We (Suzy, Dori and myself) had a lovely trip to my favourite shop on Sunday for delicious afternoon tea - oh and some yarn purchasing of course. I bought the remainder of the yarn for Sarita, and Suzy bought all hers, in the winter colours predicted. Photos of that in the next post. I also bought yarn for a cute baby vest, and Dori bought yarn for her first project. Too exciting! She is having her first lesson tonight in Suzy's knitting parlour. I'm sure some red wine will be needed to ease the process.

4. Finally I leave you with an image of my current shoe lust from Camper...

What Katy Did

2007-03-26T11:50:00.000Z

Well, she almost went and got herself finished...

This is the lovely deep rib knitted in rounds for the neck. I am a big fan of the "V' neck style of shaping with the decreasing either side of the two central vertical stitches. It appeals to my sense of neatness! Two rounds to go before sewing up.

What would you think if I showed you this...?

Yay - new project time! I know you will be glad to see I am sticking rigidly to my 'colours' - it makes life so much easier - all clothes match each other, which is a big plus in my book. Changed a bit from the original to include more oranges (and a green!) I am desperately keen to get started but will chivalrously wait for my knit-a-long partner, blogless Suzy, to purchase her yarn. As a 'winter' person she will be picking black, grey, purple and blue, with maybe a cheeky pink thrown in for good measure. I will take a photo of her range so you can see just how colour incompatible we are!

Oh, and as I was arranging the yarn on the kitchen worktop, I couldn't help sharing with you how beautifully neatly my husband arranges the fruit selection...

You can just imagine how neat the inside of our fridge is...

hurrah - weekend coming up...

2007-03-22T11:27:00.000Z

With work seeming like more of a chore than usual at the moment, bring on the weekend please so that I can:

1. Watch my boy Happy Jack playing two gigs. Charly Brown on Friday night and a farewell Little Big Band set at the Hob in Forest Hill on Saturday afternoon. Jack has been playing with them for a few years now, and along with fab drummer Elliott (also of Charly Brown fame), bows out this weekend to allow younger (and smaller) boys and girls to take to the stage. He has learnt a massive amount from band leader and Muso Supremo Suliman, so a big thank you to him for being an inspirational teacher to all the little rascals.

2. Visit one of my favourite local pubs with my favourite local people to watch England put on an inevitably disappointing performance against (European? I think not) Israel. A masochistic activity I know, but somehow we're always there....

3. Console ourselves, after the above performance, with a yumalicious meal at a top local restaurant - but which to choose?

4. Practice my alto sax scales. Two weeks in and I am loving it - lessons with our 'personal music teacher' Suliman - and although not quite up to Lisa Simpson's standards yet, I am hopeful of a rendition of the Pink Panther theme tune some time soon.

5. Finally finish my Katy (half a sleeve to go!) so that I can wear it before the weather realises it needs to fast forward back to spring.

In other knitting news...

2007-03-15T13:54:00.000Z

I decided that I needed to get a few thing finished (or at least progressed) before I launched into Maddox, including a 4-ply beaded cardigan as a present for my mum which has been on the needles for far too long. It looks fab and fitted beautifully - the pictures I took of it on a hanger really don't do it justice so I'll try and get a shot of it being modelled...

Much progress also made on a Debbie Bliss Katy jumper for me in an obviously delicious smelling shade of orange!

Only a sleeve to go and then I can start something else!

I give you (at long last) - Maddox!

2007-03-14T13:10:00.000Z

Finally up and running on Carolyn and Shell's Maddox knit-a-long. I am finding the Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky very lovely to knit with but Carolyn you are right - it doesn't go very far! I'm glad I was persuaded to buy all 20 balls in the Liberty sale pack, and not the 18 suggested in the pattern.

A sleeve completed and almost up to the armhole shaping on the back. Think I am going to have to work on my camera technique though...

February review

2007-03-06T17:33:00.000Z

In honour of Carolyn, a list-making Piscean after my own heart.

Shell and Suzy - aka clever but clueless (thanks to Jack Johnson for that great summing up lyric) - once had the idea of a "spot on.com" website where we would basically give our opinions on what we had done, seen, eaten, listened to etc in the course of our days. Thinking that we could impart our wisdom and excellent taste on the world at large... ;) Sadly the name had already been registered and the idea sort of died. So, apart from the knitting stuff, this blog could sort of become the "spot on.com" that we never had. Anyway, I digress - here are the highs and lows of February.

Gigs
Went to three, and by far the best was The Decemberists at Shepherd's Bush Empire. A sitting down, singing and smiling so hard your face starts to hurt type of gig. Beautiful songs beautifully played and sung, and they enjoyed themselves so much. In fact I think Level 1 of the Shepherd's Bush Empire might be one of my favourite places to be, as we saw The Cat Empire there soon after, although it was impossible to sit down with the beats those cats were throwing out. Plus the whole of Aussie West London in one venue - we were seriously outnumbered! On the subject of Shepherd's Bush, which can feel like a bit of a gastronomic desert for those not well acquainted with the area, we have found this little gem called Albertine's, a pretty accurate review of which can be found here. Because when one gets to a certain age, the idea of a meal and a decent bottle of wine become a little more important than catching the support band. The disppointment of the month was John Martyn at the Roundhouse, although the refurb job is fantastic, the company was lovely and the ice ceams after at Marine Ices were as good as ever. I should know better than see old blokes churning out their back catalogue to make a few quid - are you listening Bob Dylan? - but as Solid Air is such a wonderful piece of work, and he was supposed to be playing the whole thing from start to finish, we were really looking forward to the gig. Sadly he growled and slurred his way through a load of pretty unrecognisable tracks, and apart from the odd glimmer of his old self, it seemed like he was just there to pick up the cheque.

CDs
As a self-confessed girly swot I naturally had to learn off by heart the newest Decemberists (The Crane Wife) and Cat Empire (Two Shoes) releases before the gigs and can happily confirm they are both FANTASTIC! Also getting a lot of listening was Liam Frost and the Slowdown Family and Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope which is a bit too quirky for me in some places but has some wonderful tracks. Jamie T's Panic Prevention and Just Jack's Overtones were in the mix as well - so many new CDs, so little time!

In other news, film attendance was a bit disappointing - only managed to see Notes on a Scandal and found it uncomfortably skin-crawlingly excellent if a little far fetched. Judi Dench was superb and I reckon would have won a load of awards if that pesky Helen Mirren hadn't have been around.

Otherwise, ate interesting food at Magdalen (sliced pig's head, anyone?) and tried to finish up a cardigan for my mum that seems to have taken about 3 years to complete. Pictures soon!

Hey, did you happen to see the most beautiful shoes in the world...?

2007-02-28T13:43:00.000Z

Well hello there. Gosh, here I am with my very own blog. Another thing achieved before I reach 40, as well as trying to learn to play the saxophone, but more about that another time. Yes I know, it has taken me quite a while to get with this concept - hell I only got broadband at home two months ago. I got my arse kicked by Carolyn though for being one of her only blogless friends. So, as we were supposed to be doing a Maddox knit-a-long together I thought it was only polite to be able to show her how much I was beating her - mwahahaha!

Anyway, you are probably wondering - what a strange title for a post about knitting. Well, I also wanted to kick off my blog with some unbridled consumer lust (start as you mean to go on I reckon) and introduce you to Elvira sitting patiently in my wardrobe for spring to arrive. How gorgeous are they?

So, what to expect from Shell's Pearls? Well, lots of knitting progress (hopefully!) and musings on whatever takes my fancy - music, books, food and a healthy dose of shoe purchasing. You have been warned...