Gah!

Today I am irritable!

Not just grumpy and short-tempered, I'm full scale, head spinning, skin turning green and clothes ripping (actually that's probably just my pie-arse and thunder-thighs) downright unreasonable irritable!

People have not been helping in this matter.

On the plus side I have shown some personal growth. Last night some idiot at a concert bumped into me spilling half my pint over me then just walked away. I did not chase after him and deck him. Now that is maturity - if it happened today I am not sure that the outcome would have been the same!

Still working on the log cabin blanket at the minute but it is beginning to grow - pictures to follow soon!

It has been such a long time since I last posted a blog! I don't even know where to start! Let's see...

Well those socks that I casted on are still in the same shape that they were back in March I am sad to say. I plan to get back at them at some point but it may be some time as I have become the master of unfinished projects this year! So far on my needles I have:

• the socks
• the premature baby hats
• a newborn cardigan
• a baby twig-cabin blanket
• a newborn knitted set containing cardigan, hat and booties (for my expected cousin)
• a cat blanket (don't ask!)
• a blanket for myself
• a scarf
• an aran cardigan for myself
• the granny squares

In addition to that little lot I have the wool ready to go for:

• 3 baby blankets
• 2 scarfs
• 2 newborn cardigans
• a cardigan for a little girl
• fingerless mittens
• more pairs of socks than I will probably wear in a month

On top of that I also want to knit:

• another scarf for myself
• a navy-blue cardigan for work

It is not all bad though! I have in the course of this year completed:

• 5 baby blankets
• a baby cardigan
• a newborn cardigan
• a scarf
• quite a few of the premature baby hats

I think I might need to get my act together!

I also in recent weeks have tried my hand at some baking (and before you ask, YES, the house and the cooker are BOTH still in one piece!). Going down the domestic goddess route I have made my own christmas cake (and it did involve almost as much swearing as the casting on of the socks) which is currently sat in an airtight container waiting for december! I think what does not help is that I have gone back on the dreaded diet and therefore have developed that obession for food (or that which I cannot have - proper rebellious child - thank-you cognitive behavoural therapy and transactional analysis sessions!) but on the positive side if I cannot have it then when it all goes wrong I will not make myself sick!

So yes the diet is back on and so comes back all the OCD, the moodswings and all those fun things from last year! I must admit I have found it a lot harder this time that last and I have found that the weight is a lot slower to come off but thankfully I have got that determination again and so I am going to see it through to the end (and longer!). Thankfully I am back with a really lovely group all of whom have also done the diet before and gone back so we all know what one another is going through!

I have temporarily stopped the pole dancing just until I lose some more weight but that is something that I plan to go back to (when I can lift my fat backside up again!).

I have also this year purchased a sewing machine! It was just so pretty and I could not resist! There I was walking through John Lewis minding my own business when it was just there calling out to me. I tried and tried to resist, I even managed to walk away, leave the shop and carry on with the rest of my shopping, but well... I could not think of anything else and so in the end I just HAD to go back and get it. Since then I have taken it out of the box, looked at it repeatedly, shown it to Grandmother Raddish for approval.... and put it back in the box! It has been 14 years since I last sat in textiles class using a sewing machine and to be perfectly honest I was not very good at it back then, so much so that I once took my sewing project (a plain and simple cotton shopping bag) home to complete at the weekend and when Grandmother Raddish (a professional in the sewing field) caught sight of my "creation" she immediatley unpicked the whole thing and started it again. Still I am determined! I am going to take up Quilting (because I am just so good at finishing my knitting projects so why not take on some more!) and become a whizz at sewing.

This time next year I shall be a domestic goddess (although I wouldn't hold your breath!).

We did have some fun and games over the summer months with Mother Raddish developed appendicitis which resulted in a number of hospital and A+E visits over the course of a couple of weeks! Thankfully she has now fully recovered and I have to say that visiting the hospital from the other (general public) side has provided me with a new perspective. I can honestly say that neither myself, the patient, or the other members of my family can find any fault with the care that she received! I do have to say however, that when you are not the one in A+E who is either unwell or working, that it is such an entertaining place (especially at 2am Saturday morning).

Ah well that is enough rambling for now! Will not leave it as long next time!