Friday 31 January 2014

Not so subtle...



Mr Golightly & I are about to set off, again, on a big adventure.  This picture may give you some clues as to where we're going... or this one:


Yep.  Rome... again.  I love Rome.  I'm pretty sure we're going to have an excellent time, and Mr G has finally caved in & agreed to visit the Vatican Museum - given that we went into St Peter's Basilica the last time we were in Rome & the world didn't come to an end, it should be fine.  We're using these guys, and doing this tour, which goes for four hours, and hopefully there'll be a bar nearby I can collapse into after four hours of standing up!

I will try to post some pics as we go along, especially if I come across something interesting like this again!

Ciao for now!!

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Not Myrtle...



I hate that particular bit of rhyming.  Not sure why, but anyway... here's a couple I made earlier...



I made this one earlier in the week, and although he was a lot less fiddly than the guys above, he lacks pizzaz, and most importantly, a shell.  So, I had a bit of a rummage around in my files, and found this:


and so I made a couple.  The smallest size is the original pattern, and I just used my printer to up the second size to 125%.  Mine tilt forward a bit alarmingly, and I don't like the way the belly drags on the ground, so I'll be doing a bit of an adjustment to the pattern to stop that from happening - I also don't like the way the legs & belly are three separate, very fiddly pieces, so I'll be making a new middle piece to fix that.  I've got it printed at 150% as well, that I hope to make today.



They don't take a lot of fabric - in fact, I made the first one from a couple of 10" squares, but the second one, being a bit bigger, needs either two identical 10" squares for the body, or a fat quarter.  The rest of it you could certainly make out of a couple of 10" squares (the shell is lined).  I used safety eyes, rather than french knots.  The instructions are pretty good though, and for an experienced sewist, maybe an hour's work - the perfect gift for a small person.  

Ciao!

PS - the original pattern for Erin's turtle came from PurlBee - here's the link:

http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2013/9/15/mollys-sketchbook-myrtle-the-purl-turtle.html

Monday 6 January 2014

Click *here* for new blog...

Oh, have I missed it?  Apparently there some events between 17th November and now.  Who knew?

Things shuffle along, you know, Gentle Readers, like they always have.  I have been at the new job for 2 months now and it's not brilliant, I have to say, but that could just be me.  It's quite possible, although in my life I've had rather a lot of jobs, and I've never had the problems I'm having with this one.

Mayhap I'm too old to be changing jobs?  I've had a year now for every week of a year (that's 52, in case you couldn't work it out), and yet, I feel no older.  Well, mentally.  Some part of of mentally.  A very small part of mentally feels exactly the same as it always did.  Other parts (knees, hips, feet) feel like DREN (yes, I'm shouting!) and I want them to go away, along with the 10 kilos I put on since about July last year.  That's why my feet, knees and hips feel so bad, of course, but the larger parts of mentally are not letting me get up to sort them out.

I'll get through it though, and when I think about other friends who are in a much worse state, I know I should just shut up and keep taking the blue pills.

Some pictures, for those who are still reading, and not yet sharpening the razor blades:


How good is this?  Mr Golightly did a bridge climb in late November with his mate Dr Box, and we all stayed at a swish hotel in town, and thanks to the magic of Google, I can now present this wonderful pic for your delectation... not just one, but two cruise ships, and if your eyes are very good, Mr G & Dr B up there on the Bridge.  Hah!

That's a better way to start the New Year.

Ciao!