Yep, I’ve been pretty quiet on blogland this week. I’ve skimmed through most of the blog posts in my reader but haven’t responded to them all. So if you didn’t hear anything from me, sorry, but I have been reading.
So what have I been up to? Well, remember the last time you were in constant pain for a solid week? Not enough to stop you functioning, but enough to make you very very tired, all the time? Well, that’s been my last week.
Sat, I succumbed after my trip into town, and curled up on the couch to knit for the afternoon. But I did rouse myself enough to go out with a friend to a local pub quiz. And it was confirmed that I am crap at pub quizzes. Especially those aimed at people who have been living in the UK for years, if not their whole life.
Sunday, I had friends over. We had a belated “xmas” meal and exchanged gifts. I got an awesome interchangeable needle holder. And I’ve just realised I forgot to take a photo, and it’s upstairs and I can’t be bothered to go get it right now. Perfect colours for me and just what I need. I had been considering trying to make myself one. Getting one as a gift was a much safer option 
While my friends were here, I brought out the pile of fabric I had compiled for possible alien colours for my space invaders quilt. One of my friends does graphic design for publishing, so I figured he had to be helpful for picking colours . His first move was to pick out all the Kona solids and discard the rest. His comment was that they were shiny and popped up from the matt-ish black background better. Of course, this might just be because the Kona fabric was the only ones that were not prewashed. I’ll wait and see what they look like after I’ve washed them. But these were the colours he picked:
Still really hard to photograph with any colour accuracy. So, ignoring the purple on the left which I’ve had in my stash for ages and will be used for the bonus ship, the greens are: emerald, jade, candy green, pond and ice frappe. He was suggesting the three lighter greens with one of emerald or jade as the darker colour. But I still think the jump is a bit much, so I’m thinking of using both emerald and jade and dropping ice frappe.
Of course, if these lose their “shinyness” after being washed then the Bella solids and other ones I have are back on the table and I can probably get a smoother gradient.
Originally, I was wanting more teal greens for the aliens, and was then going to pick more royal blues for the home bases and gun. But if I do go with these colours, then I think I’ll go with Kona turquoise and peacock.
It will be interesting what the Kona looks like after washing, because if the Bella really is a flatter colour, then that will be the black I buy.
Wednesday night saw me baking 3 dozen cupcakes. Enough to take to the meet up at the local craft store on Thursday evening, and to take some in to work. Well, I wasn’t completely happy with how they turned out so I baked a batch of brownies on Thursday morning before work. Thursday evening was a blast. There were many of us there, all who don’t do Valentines day (and no, we weren’t all single). Lots of fun, chatting, cake and brownies (as I wasn’t the only one baking) and a very small amount of knitting.
And what have I been knitting off and on this week? Well, remember the birthday yarn I bought on my last trip to London? Well, I’ve started to turn it into one of these.
It’s going to be scrummy to wear. And I’m still loving this colour.
Other highlights of the week… I got a message from my brother. He and his fiance love the shawl and really appreciated the thought and time behind it. So they haven’t been crossed of the hand-knit gifts list . I’ve also continued to jog and have been out three nights this week. We are now in three weeks of an eight week program to be able to jog 5Km. I’m finding it’s much easier to do with someone else than relying on being able to make yourself go. Oh, and I’ve booked my holidays from work for later this year. Five weeks off in Nov/Dec. i have lots of fun planned and it will be my last big spend before I get serious about saving for a house deposit. I’ll tell you all about my plans in another blog post. This ones getting kinda long.
And this weekend? Well, since I’ve been so tired all week (and still am), I’m planning a quiet one. I have some work that I have to do before Monday, but otherwise my plan is to dig out my winterkist quilt and put in some quality sewing time. In between the naps. Basically, this is one weekend where I’ll be minimising my interaction with the outside world and just recharging.
Hope you’ve all had a good week and have an even better weekend.