Photos, crafts and Cambridge

[meridian_rose]

Christmas Cookies
Same recipe as we used for the Halloween cookies but with handfuls of dried cranberries. Which might have been good for basic cookies but the cranberries kept stucking out of the cookie shapes, dislodging heads and looking like serious injuries to the little men! (In fact a couple of the ones in this photo look slightly rude!) Perhaps more "Nightmare Before Christmas" than Yule but hey, we're huge fans of the movie and Tim Burton's gothic visions :D



Knitting
I've done a lot of knitting this year. Three hats for nephew Elliot (none of which yet fit!), a pouch/purse/glasses case type thing for each of my parents, a bookmark for Dave and these gifts:

Mouse for Susan – my sister loves animals, especially rodents. The pattern was for small decorative mice but I knitted it on large needles for a bigger finished item. He's stuffed with a dishcloth so he can be used as a screenwipe :D


Poncho for Elliot. I'd knitted a couple of squares and decided a blanket was too big a project; Susan suggested making it into a poncho instead


Scarf: I'm proud of my first scarf, which I knitted for me in the asexual pride flag colours



Cambridge photos. I was seriously unimpressed with Cambridge, full of potholes and puddles and busy roads. I took a few pictures of a cool sculpture and some churches/old churches now re-purposed, but I don't think I'd be eager to go there again. East is a bad direction for us anyway, due to the lack of motorways. There's a few places I'd to see like the cathedral in Norwich, and we've sometimes visited the beach at Great Yarmouth, but it's not our favourite part of the country to go to.

Comments

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

Ooh, pictures! I like icing Christmas cookies, but that may be more my sweet tooth than for the look of the thing.

I don't do so much knitting now, but it's a lot of fun, isn't it? Most people tell me they like it just because it's soothing, clack-clack go the needles, etc, but I'm more interested in complicated stitch patterns - lace like your lovely scarf, cables, entrelac (which even has a great name!).

I like the little mouse and poncho, too :)

Sad that Cambridge wasn't so fun. The pictures are pretty though :)

[meridian_rose]

The cookies are actually quite rich (and small) so they didn't *need* icing - but maybe next year we'll make some 'rounds' or larger stars and ice those :D

I got so much knitting done when I was housesitting, and when I was sitting outside in the garden in summer - especially when I had a headache and couldn't read, but could knit! It is soothing that way.
LOL, I only actually do knit stitch. I still get confused when I try to do purl. The lace look of my scarf is just knit stitch on giant size needles :D I have got a circular needle which I'm determined to use properly next year, and apparently that gives the same stocking stitch as if you knit/purl alternate rows.

I just expected Cambridge to be prettier. And more pedestrianised. Never mind. I've been to nicer places and I'm sure I'll visit others. The main thing was to meet up with Pris there, which was accomplished, so it's all good :)

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

It took me a long time to learn how to purl. It felt unnatural to me, and I kept wondering if the knit stitch is actually easier, but I think it's really that I learned it years before and then forgot!

There's really no substitute for practice, though. I purled a whole scarf (albeit a small one!) and after that I was as comfortable with it as knit stitch. Then you can do fancy patterns! Sometimes you need extra things like double-sided needles, to do cables, though.

I actually find double-sided needles easier to work with than the circular ones, maybe because all my circular needles are so long that it has to be a huge project to work. Otherwise the stitches won't go all the way around and the yarn protests and really it's not fun.

It will definitely do stockinette stitch, though, and I don't mean to discourage you!

Sorry to babble at you. As you can see, I like knitting :)

[meridian_rose]

I never thought I'd get the hang of knitting at all so I'm just happy as is- following patterns (I had to a bit for the mouse and found that frustrating enough) or worrying over stitches would take away from it being relaxing, at least until I get much better at it!
The cable on my circular needle is a bit huge so we'll see. Again, I think I'd just get confused and frustrated trying to keep track of multiple double-ended needles! But yes, the more I do, the easier it will get - once I get to the point where I'm bored of just knitting, it will time to try new stitches or actual patterns :D
And if I have questions I can bother you for advice! :D You should post pics of some of your projects so I can be awed and have something to aspire to :D

[meridian_rose]

Re Cambridge; Dave's friend knows it well as halfway point for his family since he moved to the Midlands and told Dave there is another 'half' of the city with the university which is much nicer. Oh well :D

[hrhrionastar.livejournal.com]

You know someone living in the Midlands? ;D

[meridian_rose]

LOL, I live in the Midlands, specifically the West Midlands. It was always a bit odd to think of The Midlands in the show as a magical place!

[dorothydeath]

LOL, the cookies. :D But a good recipe for Halloween. :D (BTW they look absolutely delicious! :D)

Awwww, the mouse is so cute! :D And your scarf is awesome! Looks so complicated and beautiful! :D The poncho is very nice too!
You're so good at it! :D
I keep thinking (for ten years now, lol) I want to knit a Slytherin scarf for myself but I'm not good at all so it's likely to stay a future project forever.

The Cambridge photos are very cool. :D Sad the place is not so much fun as it looks.
Where do you like to go? What's your favorite place? :D

[meridian_rose]

Thank you :D
The cookies did taste good!
I'm getting better at knitting but I only do knit stitch, so I'm limited a bit, but I can still make things like the mouse :) The scarf is just knitted squares on really big needles, giving it a different look, but I'm pleased with it. You should knit a Slytherin scarf :D
The 'nice' part of Cambridge is apparently the other side, where all the universities are, but we needed shopping and eating. I like Ross on Wye which is quite close, a seaside feel without the seaside which is too far. But Hayle, near beautiful St Ives in Cornwall is my very favourite place. I have Feelings about Cornwall but that's a story for another time!
HUGS