8th March 2015 - Spring is here ...

It doesn't look like it much today but on Friday afternoon you could see that spring had arrived in Ireland. Yesterday was a lovely day too; today has started off slightly grey but it might change later on.

They always have lovely flower displays and flower projects in St. Stephen's Green so I took the opportunity to take two quick pictures for the blog. It's beautiful to see the crocuses coming out and the daffodils.

I've actually changed my jacket - away with the winter coats, in with the thinner jackets and it's about time. Noticed thought that a button is missing and that I lost my head in Dicey's on Friday.

Here's the pictures:

Not sure what the "R" stands for but I think it's very creative.

Going to the antiquity market later today in Clontarf Castle. Maybe I pick up something nice.

3rd March 2015 - Back to the swimming pool

I decided it was time to go back to the swimming pool it being March and all. Finished work earlier today and headed to the wet. The result: my body aches nows but what can you do. With all the office work you need to do something and I was recommended to go swimming. So there I went, still the pool at Marian College.

Unfortunately the apartment purchase fell through (not getting involved with pyrite) so I'm still looking. Keep fingers crosses something comes up.

In the meantime and after a successful present handover for a newborn, I decided to use my big(gish) yarn stash and knit a blanket on my own - for my bed or future sofa. Wasn't too sure what to with the yarn anyway so I decided to put my own design to the test. Still going through the proof-reading stage of the pattern.

Here a picture of the current project, eight repeats of the blanket done and another two (if not four to follow). I have made a few rearrangements in my head and hope it will work out.

Going out for drinks on Friday and an early-bird dinner on Saturday - busy bee I am. If anyone asks - sheets are Penny's.

2nd February 2015 - Getting there ... eventually

So I've put some work into my pattern over the last days and I have to say I'm about 85 % complete at this stage. I ran my first trial-run of converting the pattern into a PDF and it's looking good so far, even though I'm not quite impressed with the size of the file (4 MB) and it will be even larger once I have the final picture. The blanket itself has been finished and is currently drying after soak in the sink. It looks lovely now and I can't wait now to take a photo of it once it's dry. It has turned out quite beautifully and it worked out exactly as I planned it. Now, I just hope that the recipients will appreciate it.

Had to go to the chiropractor today. I was out last Saturday and I was sitting on a chair without a back so my back was in bits. But he fixed it again. I can feel the side effects of working in an office, especially since I've changed jobs.

Didn't do anything wild over the last couple of days. Met a friend on Saturday and Sunday, went to the cinema on Sunday evening to watch "Big Hero 6" and I was in stitches laughing it was that funny. I can certainly recommend going, especially to those of you who like Walt Disney.

I wish you all a happy Monday and all the best for the week!

My alcohol-free strawberry daiquiri. You wouldn't be believe the amount of ice the bar tender stuffed into the glass.

26th January 2015 - Working the blanket

I've made great progress on the blanket. I'm close to having five repeats of my pattern done and I'm about half-way into my four ball of yarn. There should be plenty to get another repeat done and then work the separate top border. I was also thinking of knitting four leaves separate and sew them on it for a 3D effect.

This is how it looks at the moment (apologies for the bad picture, took it on my bed)

About three-quarters done. Another full-and a half repeats missing.

This is a close-up picture of the side border

Left border of the blanket. It has become a lovely detail on the blanket and the overall project is very quick to knit. Next time I might actually put in a border in the middle to break up the pattern a bit.

I hope to get most done tomorrow so I can start the border soon and have the whole project done for the weekend to give it a wash. Next, I have another pair of socks on the list and I have to find test knitters for the project. I hope to find a few volunteers. I might ask in work if they are interested.

Drove out late tonight to Lusk to help a friend with their car. Very short notice but I got the chance to drive a Nissan Almera. It's a nice car but I can't excuse the motor tax at the moment if I was to buy such a large car. I will stay with the Polo for the time being.

I was asked to cover a colleague's earlier shift tomorrow so I have to be in for 8:00am. Going to switch off the lights soon. A bit more internet stuff and then maybe I will add another line or so to my novel. I finally managed to find my voucher for my Kindle so I got another free book to read.

Yawn ...

22nd January 2015 - It has been a while

Over a year not to say the least. I had too many busy months, getting myself sorted, getting through college and the likes. I have changed cars and careers in the meantime; a very close friend had a baby girl who receives most of knitting now.

I decided today that it was time to revive my blog despite the age of its last post. Friends were already asking me whether anything was ever going to happen again on my blog. So today is the day, a new beginning and the New Year is still young, only 22 days old.

I've planned a couple of things this year:

• Buy my house/apartment - still looking
• Publish at least one knitting pattern that sells at least one copy - in development as the IT world would say
• Loose weight - check! Already lost one size since last November, hehehe
• Knitting up my stash - well, getting there, there are certainly more pairs of socks to be received as presents, all for a good cause - getting rid of stuff
• Publish an e-Book - this is an interesting one. I still have so much crap in my head and the xBox360 has never been fixed, so I spent some of my free time writing and yes, I've managed to start two novels: first one, a science fiction novel, currently about 180 pages long and fantasy novel, about 50 pages long. Depending on the mood I continue writing either of them. I hope to publish via Amazon (by the way: I got a Kindle last year, so I'm reading a lot more than I used to).
• Make new friends! I put this one last cause it's already happening!

My first knitting pattern: I've decided to settle on a baby blanket. I'm pretty creative and had a couple of ideas in my mind. Last weekend I finally settled on pattern. So far I've knitted the border and picked up my stitches for the main part, while at the same time I working on the side borders. It's going to be pretty plain but I like it so far, 100% cotton and it's for my friend's brother who is expecting to become a daddy next month. It's his and his wife's present, so I just hope they like it and I might sell a copy or two. Ravelry will be my platform for this. It has a great community and I may find my test knitters to help me find errors in the pattern. I'm writing out the instructions as I knit the blanket, so far so good.

Right, now I have a novel that calls me and a couple of free knitting patterns left to check out. In the meantime, just have a look at this picture.

Hope to catch you soon again!

By the way: I working from Linux on this little computer and I love it! I also love my Chromecast ... too much stuff to watch on Netflix though, can't make a decision ...

Having a quick read of my old posts. What the f*** ... ?

24th October 2013 - Bad luck

It looks like I am in for some bad luck. My phone is now also acting up. I went to the Pavillions in Swords today to get it checked out and to enquire about upgrades as my contract is up soon. The last time I went in I was told to come around November to look into upgrades. I was hoping today to already start the process of getting a new phone. It turned out that:

1. My phone does not have a two-year warranty- thanks to the company producing it.
2. My phone upgrade would mean spending €200 on a new phone - and I just paid for my motor tax which was for the same amount - new phone = motor tax for 1 year
3. My mobile phone service provider has changed their price bands due to the 4G roll-out, meaning I have to either pay more for the same package or get less service (in this case mobile broadband) for my phone at the current price I am paying.

This p***** me off and I thought it was worth writing a post about it. As the warranty has expired, I decided to go for a repair. I am having problems charging it and I have the bad feeling it's the charger unit in the phone that's broken - which means it's more expensive to get it replaced than a new battery. With my current streak of bad luck (see Xbox post from 20th October) it's both.

I left my office number with the shop, as they promised to give me a call tomorrow.

I've decided to keep my current phone. The upgrade fee is just not worth it at the moment.

So, end of my ranting.

Liebe Oma,

eine Karte ist auf dem Weg zu dir. Ich wünsche dir alles Liebe nachträglich zum Geburtstag.

Habe dich sehr lieb.

Nadine

20th October 2013 - I think she is dying

A couple of minutes ago, my xBox started having issues again after getting her fixed a while back. First I had black spots all over the screen. Thought, I just give her a reboot - did that - Error 74. Had a bit of a google on this. Funnily enough, I left her switched of for a couple of minutes, now she seems back fine again. However, some people say that once these things start, it doesn't stop.

I got her fixed a couple of weeks ago: firstly the graphics chip went last year (which explains the *puff* noise I heart when playing Mass Effect 2 - middle of the Miranda mission, was close to tears). When I got her back, she worked fine through the rest of ME 2. When I was finished I started part III of the Mass Effect triology (wanted to find out what happens with Garrus anyway and half my crew in the game didn't survive part 2). First time I saw these black spots showing up. Gave her back for repair. This time it was something with the main cable connection.

I am just writing this post to more or less remind myself that my beloved xBox 360, almost age 6, bought back around 30th October 2007 (that was about a month prior to the Assassin's Creed 1 release), is indeed on her deathbed. Sounds terrible coming from a human being, sobbing after a piece of hardware, a toy - but still, we shared some good times.

Now that she is back online, I might just give a go again. Only started playing Bioshock and it actually is a quite an interesting game. Still don't want to know what's going on in that creative brain that developed that game.

30th September 2013 - Long break

Sorry for staying quiet for so long - I even got complaint emails. I started college again last week so it has been busy and the gym takes up a good bit of my time as well. Happy to report though that almost all Christmas presents are done. However, I have decided not come home during the reading week in Trinity College, the way I did last year. There are loads of things going on at the moment, really have to get myself sorted and settled back into college.

Looking forward to tomorrows lectures.