I’ve been keeping an eye on the housing market, not so much with a view to buy as with a view to understand where it’s going, and what kind of fluctuation is normal. That’s seeming an impossible task at this stage, because the housing market still seems far from ‘normal’.

There seems to be an awful lot of ‘remortgages going on, especially from Nationwide. I’ve got a friend who works for them and she’s told me that they’ve been doing a lot more of those lately. When I looked on the mortgage forums, though, there doesn’t seem to be any more chat about that sort of thing going on than there ever was, so I don’t know.

The whole mortgage lending issue seems interesting at the moment, with a bit of a slump according to the BBC due to people buying a lot during the stamp duty holiday period.

There does still seem to be a lot of buying to let house purchases going on, which I really do like to see. It’s nice to think people are building their own little financial empires! :D Far, far better than seeing people having to go through the ordeal of selling their property.

My fiancé and I take all this in, read about it, talk about it, and it’s still looking like a good market to buy in.

Now for a knitting pattern! I’ve noticed an irritating trend that whilst I’m knitting, my little ball of yarn will roll away as, I had it on my lap and moved, or I was knitting in bed and it rolled off the quilt when I pulled the blankets up or something like that. So I wanted a project bag, and what better than a gorgeous, adorable, little acorn project bag!? You knit with this hanging from your wrist and you keep your yarn in there! Fabulous! I can’t wait to make a few of these!

I do realise I complain an awful lot, but at the same time, that’s only because I experience a lot of discomfort! Today my joints are all still sore, and in spite of a big sleep, with an hour extra courtesy of my fiancé – thank you baby, love and kisses for you! – I’m still feeling like my big cloud bed is ‘the place to be’.

I’ve had a mild cold for… oh it must be at least a week, maybe two now, and it’s really wearing me down. Probably the last four nights in a row I’ve awoken to an asthma attack, which is a very upsetting and uncomfortable feeling. I think it probably hits around the same time as the coldest part of the night, that pre-dawn time when it’s just plain freezing! Our little house is quite snug and warm, but it does get cool over night, and Spring is still in it’s infancy really.

I suppose the nigh-on constant joint pain isn’t really helping either. It’s another aspect of the cold I’ve got, but it’s one of the worst. I’m not sick enough to justify staying in bed all day, but I also know that I’m just going to get worse until I end up that sick, and then I’ll spend a couple of days in bed, and finally start to get over this, but yeah, in the mean time, I’m very tender and lethargic.

I’ve not been knitting all that much, because I just don’t have the stamina, but that just leads me to think of small projects, like this very cute Ermer shrug. These little arm covers can be just the thing for many outfits. They really do make a nice difference, and really help with transitional seasons like Spring and Autumn. Right now I want to be swathed in a gigantic blanket, but when I’m feeling better I’m sure I could find myself wearing this.

My mother is a very good cook, and she has cooked for my fiancé in the past, a long time ago. He remembers a korma curry she made for him that, in spite of my best efforts, kicks the ass of mine. I find that very irritating, I’m sure you know how it is, you want to be able to cook for your love, to make them something truly delicious!

But alas! I tried to make him some lovely wholemeal scones the other day. Unfortunately all I had on hand was plain flour, no self-raising. Easily fixed! I just Googled how to turn plain flour into self-raising, found that it was 2 teaspoons of bi-carb soda to every cup of flour, and made up the batch of scones accordingly. The recipe I was using also called for a tablespoon of golden syrup, which made them smell lovely in the oven!

So I go to take the scones out when they are ready. They look nice, didn’t rise a lot, but that’s okay. So I cut one open, put some lovely margarine on it and put some strawberry jam on it – just the way my fiancé likes them – and then he starts to get this funny face as he’s eating it. He says it’s oddly bitter. Hmm, I think. I’ll try one too. I open another, put the margarine on it, then the strawberry jam on it, then take a bite. Oh. My. Faerie Godmother! It was horrible. It was so bitter it made my entire mouth feel odd, and ugh!

I was so embarrassed! They were terrible and all the rest went into the bin. I’ve no idea why that happened, but it actually happens a lot with my cooking. Really damn bitter. I’ve got no idea, but it’s very frustrating to try to make something nice for my love, only to find I’ve magnificently botched it.

Now, for this pattern, the second of the Afghan squares I really like. I’m thinking of combining this one and the one listed in the last post. I’m thinking it’d make a lovely blanket, 5 x 6 squares with alternating pattern, maybe with a nice border as well?

So, we started looking into life insurance protection last year, but then when all the really nasty financial issues hit we just couldn’t afford it. We’re getting back on our feet now, and soon we’ll be able to afford to go ahead with all this, but it’s a little… well… it’s a little much. It’s difficult to organise, so we’re going through one of those companies that look for the best deal for you. I bet they don’t really look for the best deal for you, though, because you don’t have to pay them, so they’re obviously getting commissions from the insurance companies they refer people to.

So, we want a family health insurance plan that covers the both of us, and any possible children we should have. We’re both usually quite hearty, so our premiums shouldn’t be all that much, but yeah. I’m not quite sure about the differences between public and private health insurance, and they’re are a few companies with some stupid names, like BUPA healthcare, and Zurich health cover but that’s beside the point. I’m not stupid, I can guess the major differences, but the little ones I’m less familiar with.

I’ve been looking over the healthcare reform that the Americans are currently looking at adopting, and I think it would be better for them. I remember watching Sicko, the Michael Moore documentary about the American healthcare system and well… it’s terrible! I’m so glad that our system is the way it is, but insurance still helps.

For a pattern today I’m going to list an Afghan square that I’m considering making for my fiancé. I’m thinking of making him a big lovely Afghan, and like these two designs from a 12 month – one square per month – Afghan, but I don’t like any of the others presented so far. So I’m thinking of just working multiple squares of those two up, but I’m still considering the project. It’s a surprise though!

The DVD had been sitting there on the shelf where we keep our DVDs for I don’t know how long. My fiance wasn’t too interested in watching it, and to be honest, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic to begin with. I mean, I’m always enthusiastic to be watching a Miyazaki film, but in comparison with some of the other Miyazaki films, I wasn’t expecting as much from Ponyo as I had from others.

So my fiancé knew that I did want to watch it at some point, and as I’ve got a cold, he offered to sit down and watch it with me just for me. So we set up the couch with blankets and pillows and snuggled in to watch the movie. It was fabulous! A beautiful film! I was really, really impressed and I enjoyed it from start to finish!

The story centres around a little girl goldfish named Ponyo, whose father is the keeper of the ocean. Ponyo travels to the surface, where she meets a boy named Sosuke, who saves her from being stuck in a glass jar, and then decides to keep Ponyo. Ponyo is very happy with this arrangement, but then her father turns up and takes her back. She decides she’s having none of this, and exerts her own considerable magical ability to get back to Sosuke. What ensues is a easy-paced adventure, that’s very fun to watch. It’s surreal, and crafted so well.

The imagery was beautiful, the voice acting great, and the relationship between Sosuke and Ponyo is so lovely. It’s just adorable, and my fiancé and I were enthralled the entire time the film was running. It was just so much fun, so wondrous, so… magical!

I love that about Miyazaki’s film making. You’re scooped up in a comfy basket and whisked away to a different realm. The characters are created with such realism regardless of if they’re the keeper of the forest Totoro, odd spirit-like No-Face, or cute little Mei, off to run her errands.

Now, for a knitting pattern, it’s of course going to be fishy inspired! So you can have your own bottom of the ocean, swirling with fish, here’s an adorable fish blanket pattern. So lovely!

I am very, very angry about this. Here’s the story. 11 tigers being held in the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Liaoning province have died in the past three months. That’s 11 Siberian tigers, a species which has around 300 left in the wild. You know what they died from? Malnutrition. Let me really bring that home; these poor animals have been subsisting on a diet of chicken bones. For months. They’ve been kept in small iron cages, with no room to move around and exercise.

Two other tigers at this same zoo have also died recently. They were shot by police after attacking zoo staff. I wonder why? A manager from the zoo said the tigers had ‘died of various diseases’ because of course, they are pathetically trying to lie their way out of the situation, and say that they were actually taking good care of the animals.

This zoo is so hard up for cash that it’s actually closed down, and the owners are trying to sell it off, with no success. At this stage, I think the owners should be put into those small cages, and told to live on chicken bones. I have a universe of contempt for the despicable act of cruelty to animals, and the disgustingly feeble attempts by this group to pass the buck and say that these beautiful animals ‘just died’ with a moronic shrug of the shoulders is just insult to injury at this stage.

One hopes that this might lead to stringent investigations into China’s practices regarding animals, however one would have to be an imbecile if they were to believe that would help. This is a country whose currently engaging in propaganda campaigns for itself on Twitter. Ugh.

I’m utterly appalled by this. These were beautiful, wild animals, who deserved to be free, not caged until they died of starvation. As I said, I wish a taste of their own medicine back on those who made this happen.

For a knitting pattern today it’s going to be a tiger. This one is warm and snuggly and a perfect gift for a child.

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!

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

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’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!