We are still saving to be married, but it’s going quite well.
My fiancé are planning on eloping next January, and we’ve been saving for it! And it’s going well! We know the sort of rings we want, the exact specifications, and will have them made for us when it’s closer to the date, and we’re still trying to decide what to do on our honeymoon. We just want a short vacation away, perhaps a few days or a week, and we want to do some fun stuff, though we really don’t mind.
A while back we got a good cash ISA savings accounts, but we’ve also been pretty darn diligent with our spending over the last few months so we’ve done pretty much all the work, but bank just makes it a tiny bit more. Nationwide Savings and Investments are also supposed to be okay, but we’ve never had any dealings with them.
Whichever institution you save with, it’s best to be up to date with savings news, though that’s pretty much good advice about most things. :D
I’m really excited to finally be seeing progress here, to be helping to bring about something that we’ve wanted for a long time!
I want to knit something for this, too. A pretty little shrug would be nice, though I’ve got no idea about a specific one. Whenever I find a shrug pattern, there’s always something I don’t like about it. I really want to make one, they seem so simple, but I have to find the right one, and I’m so damn picky! I suppose it makes sense to be that way when you’ve got limited yarn and don’t want to spend a whole heap on yarn for any old pattern. Oh! This one is quite pretty! Leaf-patterned Convertible Shawl, very nice!
Oh, and for your amusement, check out Tacky Weddings when you get the chance. So hilarious!
We happen to have one very noisy girl-cat!
She’s sitting in a computer chair fast asleep right now as my fiancé plays Civilization IV. I like the music from that game, and love to sit and knit and watch him play. Right now I’m blogging though… stated Captain Obvious! Anyway, our girl-cat is asleep in the chair I usually sit in. My fiancé just told me to stop tying and to come in to his study really quietly. After a few seconds I hear a high pitched breathing in wheeze/upset pipe sort of sound. Then she started twitching like she’s having a dream, but very violently.
My fiancé started patting her, talking kindly to her, and she didn’t wake up, but she stopped seeming fretful. She’s sleeping calmly now, but she’s now snoring up a storm. It’s a funny noise, one that I’ve caught on camera before, too. I’m glad he calmed her down, because she can be a very highly strung cat at times. We’ve had some thunder storms in the past week, and she gets all upset and hides behind doors or under coffee tables and such. It’s pretty funny. She’s a wee baby yellow-belly. :D
She’s not just noisy in her sleep, though. Oh no, she’s incredibly loud awake! For a cat that only weighs 5.3kgs – I measured her this morning – she’s awfully loud. If she wants pats, food, or to go out or come in, she meows a lot, and she meows loudly! If you move her, she meows, if you even look at her sometimes she meows. It’s really irritating at times.
Our boy-cat is so very, very quiet. He barely meows. Ever. Apart from the fact that they are both mackerel tabbies, and pick fights with each other, they couldn’t be more different!
Now for a knitting pattern! How about a cat bed! Maybe if she had a Dotty Cat Bed she’d be more restful? :D
Tags: cat, cat nightmares, cat noises, snoring
I want to learn a new knitting technique… Intarsia!
Intarsia or colourwork is a form of knitting where you knit with multiple colours at a time. Kind of like fair-isle, however the patterns aren’t so specific. With intarsia, you could have something like a Totoro portrait, or a knitted version of a stained glass window or a Jacquard cushion! Anything that involves multiple colours, basically, that isn’t a traditional fair-isle pattern.
It’s a very interesting form of knitting, one that often produces some amazingly beautiful results! So I’m really looking forward to trying it. So far I’m just looking at patterns that might work as a starter project. I don’t want to make anything too big, nor anything knit in the round, preferably, but I will knit in the round if the project I find is too good to pass up!
At this stage there are a couple of patterns that stand out, though I’m really not sure where to start. I like the Endpaper mitts, but they’d require being knit in the round, and it’s with very fine needles, and as a person who likes to see results fairly quickly, I think that is off putting. This Jacquard cushion looks like a fairly simple knit, but I’d prefer a different motif. Then there’s the Kauni Damask Understated Bag which is amazing, but looks too large and complex for a starter project. Same with the Thistle Vest, it’s lovely, but too large a starter project.
I could try an argyle project, this Headband could be the perfect starter project! I think my cats would kill me if I were to try and put this little Kitty Cat Argyle Sweater on them. I wouldn’t mind trying this Harry Potter House Bag pattern, either. Gryffindor for me, Ravenclaw for my fiancé. Though I’d make his with the blue and silver, not blue and bronze. I know, I know, it was only blue and silver in the movies, but it was like that for a reason, you know? Blue and bronze tends to look muddy, unless you go for a very bright blue!
I love the scent that seems to be ubiquitous with Spring, some sort of budding green sort of smell.
I’ve seen lots of cute little birds in their tidy little nests and many a green bud on the deciduous trees and plants, and with that smell in the air I know it’s going to be fully Spring in a short while, and I’m excited! I love the idea of my fiancé and I being able to get out and go do some awesome stuff this Summer. I’m not really a Summer person, but in our part of the country it doesn’t get overly hot, just a nice mild warmth that’s very nice. I love snow and Winter so very much, but it’s fun to see grass again for a while!
Of course, you know what else it means this Spring? Cleaning! Oh, hang on. I mean Cleaning!? Gah! Hehehehe Yeah, I’m not big on cleaning, because when I start I tend to get really into whatever I’m doing. If I clean the bathroom, I don’t stop until that room is so clean you could eat off of the floors, walls, and ceiling. I hate cleaning ceilings, too, as I’m so short. My arms get tired holding up the brush thingie.
I suggested to my fiancé that we go and do some really fun adventure activity type things this Summer. We decided we’d try a few, and said that we’d put forward two suggestions each, so I’ve suggested Zorbing – where you roll around in giant inflatable clear plastic balls – and I’m also thinking of suggesting some Archery too. My fiancé said he’s interested in a day of Paintball – something he and I have wanted to do for the longest time – and Falconry, which would be so much fun I think!
All of those activities would be awesome! I’m also looking forward to, over the spring, getting much better with Spinning! Who knows, maybe by next winter I’ll be working with a wheel!
Now for a pattern, something spring inspired… How about the Spring Beret! Yep, that’s great! I am about to start work on a different beret, but this was a close choice for which I was going to work on!
Tags: activities, cleaning, fun, Sping
I’m learning to spin yarn at the moment, an entirely new craft for me!
So I’ve recently gotten a drop spindle and two bundles of roving, but the lady who I bought these items off of on Etsy also sent me an extra spindle and small bundle of Dorset wool roving and a sample of mulberry silk to try my hand at, so I’ve got what I need to start spinning, and I’m hugely excited. The two bundles of roving I bought both have an assortment of fibres in them, and are very high quality, so the small bundle of Dorset wool roving is just perfect to get the hang of the whole process with before I use one of the expensive bundles, and I’m excited to try the silk out too!
Before I started spinning I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos on how to spin, and it was extremely helpful, though it would be nicer to see some videos where the camera work is closer to the yarn so you can see how it looks. I was worried I was overspinning my yarn, but it turns out it was fine. So far I’m only a very small way through the Dorset wool, which makes me realise just how far the large bundles of roving will go!
I actually know little about what I do after I’ve spun the yarn, but it’s amazing to learn a new crafting skill and I’m really excited to think what I’ll do with the yarn I make! I’m looking forward to the little projects as much as the larger ones. I’ll use the wool I’ve been spinning to make something, even if it’s a tiny little purse! The silk, though, that I want to make a tiny pretty something, like a necklace or bracelet!
This pattern here, a leaf edging, I’ll make up with the silk. I can’t wait to work with it, it looks so smooth!
A friend of mine is being sued for something, and I feel like I’m watching an episode of Judge Judy!
Okay so here’s the back-story to this little vent of mine. A friend of mine, wife and mother of two, very respected, helps out with her children’s schools a lot, very friendly and nice, is being sued. When she told me this I immediately asked why!? She said that during all the cold weather, her car had slipped a little on the ice coming out of the car park near her children’s school, which meant that she bumped the car of another parent, whilst they were sitting in it. My friend had just started her car, and wouldn’t even have been going 5km per hour, and the other car was stationary, as the woman hadn’t started it yet, waiting for my friend to exit the car park first.
My friend got out and spoke to the other driver, apologising, and swapped all their car insurance details in spite of there not being any damage, even to the paint on the bumper bars. A fortnight later she received a letter in the post, telling her that the driver of the other car was suing her for physical trauma caused by the car accident, saying that she’d not been able to work for a week, and was possibly going to need more time off.
My friend was stunned, appalled, and is intending to fight it in court. We think she’s got a good case, because she took photos of where the damage would have been had there been any, for the insurance people, so that’s good. I mean, if there’s no external damage to the cars, how can this lady say that she’s got internal damage!? When my friend rang her car insurance people they asked her to get a quote from one of their authorised people, but when she told them there was no damage to either of the cars, they told her there was no need for any further action.
We pretty much think that this piece of work lady has been on one of those silly websites with ‘personal injury calculators’ and just made some symptoms up, faked it with her doctor, then trotted on into some two-bit law firm with personal injury claims lawyers and is seeing what she can get. Seriously, the legal profession must be appalled at these people just as much as my friend and I are.
Okay now I have vented over that, I’ll speak of better things… knitting! Today’s knitting pattern is Ice Queen! Hehehe, yeah, I’m totally poking fun, but this is a very beautiful pattern anyway.
I love to wear jewellery, and one of my favourite types happens to be my fiancé’s favourite for me too, bangles!
I’ve always been a bit of a jewellery nut. I didn’t get an allowance or pocket money but when I would go and stay with my aunt each holidays, she’d often have some sort of odd-job for me to complete to gain some spending money. She lived in the capital, and things always seemed more interesting around her place than home, so I’d set to whatever job she’d have for me and get my meagre spending money, which to me was huge!
I remember one year she’d let the grass grow in her yard till it was taller than I was! Then she paid someone to whipper-snipper it down, and she paid me to collect all the long grass stalks and pile them against the fence. Her yard was HUGE and she paid me only a couple of pounds for this, but I was happy to do it and when it was done, she’d take me to one of those little cheap stores that has a little of everything, and I’d buy up a heap of cheap pewter jewellery.
I cringe now and some of the things I’d wear as a child – a giant fairy pendant, for example – but my appreciate for jewellery isn’t diminished. So, in my opinion, there’s a few kinds of very good bangles. The sets of fine gold bangles where you wear around ten or more are very pretty, as well as wider metal bangles that have a nice motif or cut-out work is good too. I love wooden bangles, as well, as they are often so very beautiful, and solid stone bangles are very nice as well. I don’t like plastic ones at all, and wire-wrapping holds no appeal either.
The knitting pattern for this post is an absolute no-brainer with this Swatch Bangle pattern. I’ve not tried this myself, but I hope to at some point. :D
It’s sad when you see a nice town go down the tube thanks to some really bad behaviour by a small few.
When I first moved back to my home city nine years ago with my fiancé, it was the place I remembered from my childhood. Known for being particularly cold, historic, and pleasant, it was a great place to live and I was proud to have suggested to my fiancé that we move here. But in recent times it has changed dramatically from what it was.
There is a sky-rocketing crime rate, and you can’t pick up a local news paper without hearing about another series of shop-font windows being smashed, or teenagers stealing cars or something like that. It’s utterly insane, and frightening. We’re in a smallish city, about an hour out of the capital, and right now my fiancé and I feel like we’d be better off moving to the capital to ensure we aren’t robbed… again.
Oh yes, I recently discovered that my fiancé and I’s mountain bikes had been stolen, by little hoodlums who’ve got a reputation for stealing bicycles and even going so far as to strip the bikes down and swapping over parts to make them less easy to discover or trace… I mean really!? And these hoodlums are all 12 or under, and they’re already thieving and are well known across the city for it…
The other reason that this all bothers me is that the local judicial system just isn’t cutting it. These people who are getting into brawls – or randomly attacking people – are getting 2 or 3 month suspended sentences! That’s insane! There was a news story recently in my city of a child, 14 years old, who was on probation for previous offences, being in court for multiple counts of burglary which culminated in the theft of a car which he drove into a factory and stole from as well, being given less than fifty hours community service and not even being put on probation again as it ‘hadn’t dissuaded him previously’!? I mean come on, what’s with the lameness of that!? I think that kid should have had not just the book, but the entire encyclopaedia thrown at him!
Now to break up the dreariness of that post, I have to post a cute safety knitting pattern. Mini Traffic Cones are a great way to encourage your cat to only stay in the safe zones, no, that’s not right, play with these little toys! Yep, that’s right, though no cat nip, now, as it’s not fair to drug your animals for fun.
I blame eating a cooking just after breakfast on looking at Epicute!
So yes, I was looking at Epicute after breakfast today, and then I just had to have a biscuit afterwards. The blog made me very hungry, in spite of my nice breakfast! It’s funny how just looking at these interestingly crafted foods can make me hungry! It is really amazing to see the level of finesse some of those foods exhibit, and I think the bento boxes look awesome! Nice to see some that are healthy in there, too!
For all those out there who look at I Can Has Cheezburger but not all the rest of the sites, I strongly recommend you check out a few of them from their newly added page of links. I personally prefer the ‘win’ blogs and the ‘cute’ blogs. Checking a blog like Daily Squee can make your day just that extra bit happier, which is quite lovely.
So what’s been happening in your world? Mine’s been quite nice and relaxing for the last week, which has been wonderful. I’ve been loving all this cold weather, though my fiancé is missing the more moderate temperatures of Spring and Autumn, which is understandable given the cold, but I really love it!
It’s also given me a lot of time to get some much needed knitting done! I’ve finished the knitting for my fiancé’s fingerless gloves and scarf in the Dapper Heringbone stitch, and they look great – he’s most looking forward to the gloves. I just have to block them all and then sew up the gloves as I knit those flat. It’s pretty exciting. Now I’m about to start work on the Leafy neckwarmer and the cowl of my own design! OOooo! For a knitting pattern today I’m going to have to go with a cute food, so how about this adorable knit onigiri – Japanese rice ball. I’ve never tried an onigiri, but I reckon it’d be very tasty. :D
I was looking at what’s going on with the housing market here in the UK the other day, so I thought I’d write about it here!
First up, it’s amazing the amount of incorrect keys you hit when you’re sneezing whilst typing. Hilarious. Back to the topic at hand, now. Sooo, prices look to be… umm, pretty bad, actually. Property prices seem to be falling still, which is surprising, but then again, with the internet, perhaps my information is old. I’m not sure, because I keep hearing news about repossession or about people having problems with repossession possibilities.
There’s information out there for people to avoid or stop repossession, but it seems that often it’s too little too late. I don’t know, it makes me more disinclined than ever to actually buy a house. Sometimes it seems like renting for a while, a long while, is a good idea. Mortgage deals are getting out of hand again, in my opinion, I mean, 90%? Seriously? Way to not learn the lesson at hand, people.
Yeah, my fiancé and I will be renting for some time to come, and I’m more than happy with that, really. It gives us the freedom to move if we want to without all the stress of either selling or renting out to other people. I’d rather be less stressed than that. It really seems like people are kidding themselves that we’re as through the financial crisis as they want to believe. We’re still in the midst of it, sure maybe not rock bottom, but we’re still pretty close, and acting like we’re not, handing out 90% mortgages, is just perpetuating the problem.
Knitting pattern time! I’m still chilly – see pattern choice for previous pattern – so I’m going to link this dress pattern. It doesn’t really have a name – one of DROPS design’s patterns – but it’s a warm looking dress. All you’d need is a nice pair of tights and you’d be set. That and months to knit the pattern! :D
Well, that may not be precisely what’s going on… but anyway…
Okay so run down just in case you’ve missed all this, which would be bloody amazing because the story is everywhere, but here it is anyway. In mid-December, Google noticed that someone was trying to attack it. No news there, that happens all the time, however this was a very skilled and very targeted attack on their corporate site, and email accounts of many humanitarian workers in China. Google traced the attacks and found that they also targeted companies in the media, finance, and defence areas.
Some news stories have even suggested that the attacks have hit companies that currently hold defence contracts within the US. Google hasn’t come out and said that the Chinese government is behind the attacks, but the the level of sophistication, and Google’s reaction, people have pretty much assumed that the attacks are backed by the government.
These attacks come on the back of Google deciding that they would stop censoring their search results as China demanded they would have to do to be able to operate within the country. This was a very controversial decision on Google’s part, and I think many people are very happy to see it overturned. However there are now fears that, with Google pulling out of the country, the censorship of information for the Chinese people will be even greater… and that’s pretty crap.
Google isn’t the only company to be testing China at the moment, and it’s interesting to see these pushes on China’s demands all occurring at the same time. Companies that sell raw iron ore – used to make steel – usually sell around half their yearly product to China, and last year China used this buying strength to set the iron ore price for the year at a less than great rate to iron ore sellers. This year, iron ore sellers – Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – skipped China and went straight to Japan, completely leaving China out of price negotiations for the year. That’s massive considering the proportion of sales that go to China.
In another aggravating move to ol’ China, the US has just signed a deal to sell over 200 missiles to Taiwan, something China expressly ‘asked’ the US not to do, and now they are rather persnickety over it. I have to say, I really do enjoy seeing countries say no to China. I don’t approve of their censorship, and other practices going on throughout the government, so I like to see the playing field evened out a little.
Oh, by the way, China does have it’s own set of hackers, who are often very patriotic – which leads many to believe that they are in fact sanctioned by the government – and lately these patriotic hackers have set themselves the task of defacing Iranian websites because Iranian hackers attacked one of China’s biggest search engines. If you’ve found this whole thing interesting at all, then please read this news story, because it brings up so many breaches of security perpetrated by China that I can’t mention them all here!
Okay now for a knitting pattern. How about a blanket? This pretty Sutter’s Mill Throw Blanket, to be precise. It’s chilly in my part of the world, and I’d like to have this blanket on my lap right now!
Tags: China, Google, Iron Ore, Knitting, news, Weapons to Taiwan
Thankfully it isn’t me, but I can see many in my town suffering under the weight of debt.
I mean, I only care because people have been doing it tough for a while now, and all these loan places promise people the instant gratification of getting what they’ve needed for a while, right now, but then in the end, they pay through the nose for it!
I think people need to be really smart with how they’re spending at the moment. I mean, I know the nation needs us to spend, to get the economy back on it’s feet more stably, so that’s understandable, but these loans are just pouring people’s money into the pockets of some already heavily lined pocket owning people! I like to take note of how the economy is doing before making big buys, so I like good, easy to understand, finance sites. This is money is alright, and easy for anyone to understand, but I also like to look at this site for news, and pay attention to all the stuff on personal loans!
If you’re considering any loans and such, go to a regular bank. It seems that people who don’t, and go to those nasty little loans places, go in part because they know they won’t be turned down but them, but would be by a bank. If that’s the case, don’t do it! There’s a reason the bank won’t loan money to you! You’re not in a great position to pay them back! Debt is serious, and it’s pretty much what crippled the world’s economy, so I’m super careful to avoid it. If you are, though, it’s good to get advice on debt from others who are in the know about it, they may be able to help.
Now off the wretched topic and onto something else! Knitting patterns, yay, woot! I think the opposite of debt crappiness is comfort, so here is the Regal Comfort Shawl, rather pretty in my opinion!
Those of us who craft are usually inspired to do so, but how? What inspires you to be crafty?
Hmm, I think I’m inspired by necessity, in many cases, as with a little side project I’ve decided to make for myself. You see, a little background to the project… Whenever I’m in town, I take my mobile phone so my fiancé, who’s at home, can call me and we can discuss stuff like what I’ll pick up from the supermarket, how long till I’ll be home, how much we love and miss one another, how frustrating that lady who was yelling at her children on the bus was, you know, that sort of thing. Often he’ll call me so we can discuss something, but my phone will be in my backpack, and with all the noise of the shops and people around me, I’ll not hear it. It can be really annoying for him, and occasionally worrying if I’m way later than I intended to be.
So, I thought to myself, I’ll fix this situation, and started carrying my phone in my hand all the time. Yes, that’s a little tricky, though. So, next flash of inspiration! I’ll knit a lanyard! Yep! I’ve got some lovely nylon braid, fairly strong stuff, so I’ll make an icord lanyard out of that! So that’s one way that I get inspired.
Another is when I see a garment that I really like, on the catwalk for instance, and I’ll ponder a heck of a lot about how to make it. Like years ago I saw a lovely skirt on a catwalk, it looked like a lovely wool, much like a beige picnic blanket, that was asymmetrically hemmed, and bias cut. Beautiful! I tried to make it with a woollen blanket, lined it, FAIL! But I was inspired, and I’m still inspired to one day make a skirt like that. So that’s another of my inspirations… I think for me it is often a case of styles that have always appealed, and taking up the chance to make them. I love capelettes, always have, so when I got the chance, I was inspired and I’ve made four now, with fabric to make two more. So what inspires you in your craft?
Okay now for a pattern, ridiculously simple, yet here it is, an icord lanyard pattern. :D
Tags: inspiration, Knitting, Sewing
This little Ninja dog caught my attention on Cute Overload earlier today, so I’m going to blog about his awesome ninjaness here.
So yes, I was looking through all the cute pictures on Cute Overload and there was a post on this awesome Ninja Puppeh by the name of Boo. I had to learn more about this awesome little dog, so followed the link to a news article about him, talking about his ninjaesque exploits. By the way, the name of that site there, Asahi, means ‘mourning sun’ in Japanese, and is the name of a very popular beer over there, that’s actually pretty nice.
Anyway, Boo the Ninja Dog is a Pekinese of nine years, whose owner, 66 year old Atsushi Nishi, dressed him up as a ninja for a period costume parade back in 2008 called Oharame Jidai Gyoretsu. Since then, Boo’s owner has continued to dress him up as a ninja because so many people react so well to him and seem to love seeing a small dog dressed as a ninja.
He’s pretty cute, I have to say, and the name Boo is great. Boo in this case is in reference to the Tibetan word for sun, but I’m predisposed to like the name Boo because of the miniature giant space hamster of the same name from Baldur’s Gate II.
Just in case you are interested in meeting Boo in person, you can usually find him trotting around the grounds of Kiyomizudera temple or Nijo Castle, both in Kyoto, where his owner, a tour guide, often has him in costume. He’s also got his own blog here, though it’s entirely in Japanese and incredibly garish.
Okay so now for a knitting pattern, well, it had to be ninjaesque today, so I’m going to make it a link to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pattern because the turtles are totally cool. Donatello was my favourite – go us geeky and creative types! – whilst Raphael was my fiancé’s favourite – go the witty and loyal types! – so finally, here’s the pattern on Ravelry!
Tags: Boo, Ninja, Ninja Doggie
Seeing as I’ve been knitting so much, I thought I’d blog about knitting, rather than not blog! :D
Soo, I’ve really been sporadic with my blogging of late. I think it’s the holiday season, I’ve been very sporadic about doing my housework too! But I’ve had the very strong urge to knit and game… that’s about it. :D
So, knitting. I finished the scarf I was knitting for my fiancé, though it needs to be blocked still, but I ended up not needing the fourth ball of Patons Jet that I had so I decided to make him some fingerless gloves to go with the scarf. Simple ribbing wrist band, with the same stitch as the scarf for the hand. I’m knitting them flat and will sew them up afterwards. It’s been such a lovely yarn to work with, I’m looking forward to knitting with more alpaca and wool blends in the future!
I was in my local opp shop looking for something for my fiancé – a nice glass dish to hold crystals in as the felt bowl I’d made him was soon being rather crowded by all the crystals I kept buying him! – and happened to find an unused ball of yarn, wool, mohair, and alpaca, for .50p! Woots! It’s a nice teal coloured chunky yarn, and I’m going to make a cowl out of it – yes another one! – but this time with a pattern of my own devising! The last time I set out to make a pattern I never finished, but this time I shall, dammit!
As for gaming, I’ve been playing Heroes of Might and Magic IV with my fiancé for the last few days and it’s super awesome! I know it’s old now, and I do prefer a lot about Heroes III over IV, but it’s still a great game that I’m really enjoying. The trouble is, which faction to play as!? Order of Nature!?
Okay now for a pattern… How about a cute felted wizard’s hat? My mother made me one of these when I was a little girl, but out of card and covered in a pretty fabric that matched an adorable dress she’d made me from a full sized ladies dress from an opp shop. I loved that dress up outfit!
For or against them?
My fiancé and I got to talking about those ‘naked scanner’ things they’re still trialling in Manchester Airport and whether we thought they were appropriate or not, so I got to looking it up afterwards.
My initial reaction was like that of many fellow Brits, disgust at a government gone mad with how far it can invade a person’s privacy and that sort of thing, though my fiancé was a little different in his reaction. He said that he would prefer being able to just be scanned rather than have to be searched if the occasion should arise, and I can agree that I too would feel the same way. I think that the regular metal detectors should be used in airports, but that if the need should arise for a specific person to be searched more thoroughly, then they should be asked if they would prefer to have the full body scan, rather than the physical search, I don’t think that these ‘naked scanners’ should replace the regular ones, but a ‘next-step’ if something is iffy about a traveller.
Whilst I was looking up that issue to find the BBC article, I also found a few other things along the same lines that are interesting. Britain has the greatest amount of CCTV cameras per person in the world! No other country has them in the same kinds of numbers per capita that we do! It also seems to do very little for us! Though I’d guess that criminals would be caught more often, even if they’re not deterred by the cameras. That just makes them seem stupid… here’s hoping they all win Darwin Awards. :D
New technology with GPS vehicle tracking is also being implemented, but this is mostly for businesses, I think. I don’t actually have a problem with this, I think it’s a good idea for family vehicles, too. How nice would it be if, say, someone was missing? You could look this up and find out where the car was, maybe they ran off the road and just knocked themselves unconscious? Or if your car was stolen?
RFID tracking, however, seems inappropriate to me. Well, wrong for companies to be able to put into products to see who is buying them, that’s just whack and a serious invasion of privacy for no good reason. See, that’s the defining point as to whether I’ll personally say something is okay or not. The reason behind it. With the ‘naked scanners’, CCTV cameras, and GPS vehicle tracking, there are all security reasons for implementation; they can help to keep us safe. The RFID tracking, however, is purely for commercial purposes, and therefore not appropriate. If this technology was being used to keep tabs on potentially dangerous items, guns and chemicals, now that’s a brilliant idea if I do say so myself!
Okay, now for a knitting pattern. In keeping with the reason behind this post, I’ll link a knitted toy aeroplane. :D
Tags: airports, full body scanners, Knitting, security
This year I’m going to focus on my crafting and really get somewhere!
I’ve been knitting for about five or six years now, since the Winter of 2004, I believe. The last time I saw my mother, she came to visit my fiancé and I because I asked her to teach me to knit. In that time I’ve made a fair few things, but I’ve rarely challenged myself. I’ve done a little cabling, but nothing really complex, nor have I really attempted lace. Two things I’m going to rectify this year! Dammit!
I’ve got a whole bunch of cowls lined up, that I’ve been wanting to do, and I’ll do those very soon. One is a cable sort, with a mildly complicated leafy pattern at the ends. Beautiful! Then I’m creating one from an oak-leaf cable chart, that’s very impressive! I’m also making a lovely quilt-stitch cowl, which is exciting, and that will leave one ball of dark purple alpaca/wool blend that I’m considering either a lace pattern or a complex cable pattern… not sure which, yet.
I also really want to get that lace shawl made, and I want to make a shrug, too. I want to make a few more complicated items, large ones, preferable, like a full sweater or cardigan or dress! My mother in law bought me some knitting magazines for Christmas – SQUEE!!! – and there is an adorable little Summer dress in one of them, which I want to make!
Tempest is a shrug pattern from Berroco that I’ve always wanted to make. It looks so lovely and drapey, much like Panobo which is another I’ve always wanted to make. So here are both! Perhaps I will make one or both of them this year? :D
Tags: crafting, Knitting, resolution
The Holidays are all done now, but it’s been a good Holidays, so I’ll give it a wrap up post to send it on it’s way till the end of this year!
Wow, eh? Wow! A new decade! My fiancé and I have been having fun making jokes about not having done things this decade. Like, I’ve not had a glass of juice this decade! Or, just after midnight yesterday, I’ve not had a shower this decade! :D Silly, but fun!
So, how was your Christmas? Ours was very good! My fiancé’s mother decided to give us lots of surprising gifts, including a sound system and huge juicer for my fiancé, and a sewing machine and overlocker for myself! I was so shocked… it was awesome! I’ve been using the new machines, and they sew like a dream! Much easier to use than my old sewing machine, and much, much more that I can do with them! I’ve got more than forward straight-stitch! :D
I’ve been sewing that faux fur cape, again. Got it to the point where all I have to do is sew together the lining and outer together at the bottom, which is, unfortunately, a really irritating thing. Because the whole bottom of the cape is bias cut, it’s really hard to get a smooth line together, and this leads me to be very irritable with it so it’s sat for three days with nothing happening, even though I’d done nearly all the sewing the day before that and was SO CLOSE to fishing! Bah! Anyway, after that I’ve just got to iron down the seams and then sew on the clasp. So pretty close to being finished! It’s very, very weighty, perfect for a really cold day. I feel like a gigantic diva in it! I just need one of those stupid little turbans! :D
I’ve also been knitting away and have nearly finished my fiancé’s scarf. I’ve only used three of the four balls I bought for this, otherwise it’d end up a three meter long scarf and that’s just silly. So with the last ball of yarn I’m thinking of making some fingerless gloves to go with it, a ribbed cuff with the herringbone stitch over the hands, I think.
Anyway, now for a pattern and then I’ll pack this post up! Hmmm, I think this Helvellyn hood is very cute!
I’m referring to the way financial matters are being reported and talked about at the moment, heck, even financial ads on TV are becoming more depressing!
I’m not one to stick my head in the sand, I know that the economy in the UK, hell, the world economy is still pretty much broken, but what I don’t get is why so many different groups think they can turn a profit from this by trying to make people feel worse about what’s already happened… I mean, have you noticed the amount of ads on for financial protection, or insurance ads! There’s a rise in ads for mortgage life insurance cover as well as critical illness insurance deals.
I agree that going through some financial planning at this point might be a good idea, and obviously keeping up your health and home insurance, but please do look at home insurance reviews before signing up with one of those companies that are selling their insurance by scaring you into feeling guilty for not having their insurance because you’ll probably die in an accident and leave your struggling family with no means to survive. At least, those are the ads I’m getting in my town!
I’m serious about that, before signing up to anything financial related, visit the money supermarket to check how that company does in comparison with all the rest. It’s hugely important to not sign up to anything that’s just going to bite you in the bottom two months later!
I know that we Brits need to climb out of a rather deep financial hole still, but getting all doominous gloom about it won’t make it any easier!
Okay lets get off that depressing topic and move onto something less depressing… knitting! The pattern I’m linking would make anyone feel better should they have a pair of these totally awesome and cute Elf Shoes! Aren’t they adorable!
Definitely pushed! We nearly overran our monthly limit, which considering just how many gig that is, it’s a bit of a shock!
We’ve got about the best internet connection you can have short of fibre optic cabling, which is just awesome. It makes you not consider just how much you’re downloading, because usually it’s so damn fast. We do go through a UK ISP, however we don’t use BT or one of the bigger companies. I think that’s why we pay less, because our company is smaller and therefore has to use a cheaper price as a draw card.
We don’t have one of those business broadband and ADSL lease lines, though it’s pretty much the same in terms of download, just slower upload. We also use a VoIP service so our phone works through our modem, which I’ve always liked, but you do have to be aware that in case of power outage it won’t work. A lot of businesses are setting up their telephones online now days, but even with the higher demand it’s still much cheaper than regular phone lines. I have to say, though, I want a fancier phone, ours is still bugging me with it’s ultra quiet ring volume. One of these digital dect cordless phones would do the trick, I think.
Anyway, back to what I’d wanted to talk about in the first place! We’ve recently been buying movies online and downloading them, iTunes and another site offer this for good prices, and it’s always so tempting because you can set it up and a few hours later you’ve got a bunch of movies! Without having to go anywhere! I also like that you can get HD films like this. We have a download limit of 50 gig per month, and we’ve got about 1 gig left for the rest of the month! That’s ten days! Oh noes… @_@ Hehehe
Okay now for a knitting pattern. This is just a cute little Christmas Tree Ornament that would be a good stash buster, which is always handy!