I have been commissioned!

A friend of mine who has recently been ordained, asked me to make her a stole for Advent. Today I went to get some fabric for the project and now I can't wait to get out the sewing machine. It's nice to have a project to work on. Well, I have been knitting and spinning but I really like to have a project that is going toward something important. Plus I get to be creative and make what ever I want!

I should have enough fabric to create more than one so maybe I'll be giving out more than one this year. They are super easy to make and so fun to create. I made a pink one for my internship supervisor so that when I left, he could wear it to have some female representation up front. Pink isn't exactly a seasonal color, nor a color I identify with, but it was fun to make.

It's creative time!

Join the Army....of Women!

Unfortunately, there are some things I cannot do whilst living in England. But YOU can do them! Join the Army of Women and do your part to help researchers find out more about breast cancer. I plead with you, as someone who can't join for the next two years, do it for me! You could call it a birthday gift...since my birthday is coming up:)

Click here to join the Army of Women

Our first visitors!

Today my dad and step mom are coming today for a little visit:) YAY!! I love visitors!

I'm Dyeing...My Handspun!

Yum! Doesn't that look like a nice pot of purple noodles? Well, it's my first batch of Kool Aid dyed yarn. I used grape and black cherry. We'll see how it turned out soon enough! And my kitchen smells like fruit...well, chemically altered fruit.
This is my second batch and I used cherry, lemonade, and orange. It's on the stove right now. I think this one will go to my friend Kellen who was the first person to request my hand spun yarn. And I didn't even know he was a knitter! Brilliance.

This one is for Sarah...yes, that's you, Montana girl!

Take a look at this!

And a little closer just for clarification....
That's right! I found the grave of Jane Austen! Well, I had read somewhere that she was buried in the Winchester Cathedral but when I was there I forgot. But thanks to Victor for reading the brochure and finding this special occasion. So now, Sarah, when you come visit, we have yet another Jane Austen sight to see! And make sure you bring Kari and Katy with you.
And here's a photo of the Cathedral from the front:

I figured out a solution to my problem...ok, my dad figured it out

Yes I am a 29 year old independant woman but sometimes I do get good advice from my dad. I was talking to him yesterday about the outrageous cost of notarization in the UK and he wondered out loud if the nearest AFB could just do it for me. So I made the call this morning and even though I need to drive two hours there and two hours back, it won't cost me much more.

I really need to get into miliatry mode!

You're not going to believe this

I got my voting ballot the other day via email like I requested but that isn't the unbelievable part of this post. I have to get the ballot notarized in order for it to count. Seems legal, right? Well, to have anything notarized in the UK it will cost me 141.00 Pounds. Now let's do the math:
141.00 x 1.71949= 242.447

Yes. ladies and gentlemen, it will cost me $242.45 to vote in this November's election. And believe it or not, and exchange rate of 1.71949 is REALLY GOOD! So, should I pay up or succumb to the fact that my one little vote isn't really going to make a difference?

The Victorage

Well, I don't have inside photos yet because it's still a mess, but here are some outside photos of the house. We live in a semi-detached and our front door is on the side through a little gate.

Our front/side door.

This is our back yard (or back garden) and it's a bit overgrown in this photo but we have recently had it trimmed. Now, it looks nothing like this.

This is just one of the MANY spiders that hang around our house. I hear that they come inside during the cold weather!! The number one fear in England is spiders. However, none of them are poisonous but I wouldn't want them hanging around my living room either. YIKES!

Bristol, Bath and Nottingham

What a weekend! We went to a few places and they were all pretty fantastic. I have a few photos and I've been thinking that I should set up a photo gallery on one of those photo hosting site. I have a Flickr account but I only have knitting on it to upload to Ravelry. But I'll see what I can do. Here are a few of my favorite photos of Bath:
I didn't actually go into the Jane Austen center because I'm waiting for Sarah to come visit. But until then I'll be reading my first Austen novel:)

This was a beautiful day!

The Abby with Jacob's ladder on either side. It was ginormous.

And now Nottingham photos! We met up with a friend who spent the last two years in Germany for the Robin Hood Beer Fest. His sister and her husband live in Nottingham and they were great hosts. I have a feeling we're going to be meeting up with them on a regular basis.

Andrea, John, Katie, Victor and Robin

At the Beer fest! Victor, Katie, Bryan, Andrea, Penny and .... this is horrible that I can't remember this girl's name!!!

England's oldest pub: 1189! The guys would have a drink here before heading off to the Crusades...which is also sort of sad.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir, three bags full!

Ok, maybe not three bags, but yes that is a full fleece in that garbage bag. Apparently I am the new spinning sensation in Portchester. I joined the Spinners and Wool Crafters association at the Portchester Parish Hall on Wednesday mornings. It is fantastic and I just love spinning. Today was my second day and the ladies were amazed that I've been picking it up fairly easily. I don't know why, but it really does come to me easily and I really like it. Plus, I bought some Kool Aid to dye my first yarn and I can't wait to see what it will become. Here's a photo of my wheel (on borrow) and the first skein of wool I've spun:
My handiwork up close. If you know anything about yarn you see that I have a bit to learn about ply:)
So this blue bit of fleese is in the new bundle I got today from the fellow Lutheran in the group. It's fresh off the sheep and I'm just wondering what this blue stuff is? My job is to clean the whole bunch and then I'll be able to run it through the barrel.
That's what I've got for today. I really love spinning and if you have a request for some hand spun yarn I would love to be able to fill some orders...who knows, I might just start my own business?! However, for you knitters that I know and love, you'll just have to put up postage!!

The Big Knit and Mock the Week: good times

I've been knitting little hats for The Big Knit! They will go on Innocent smoothies to be sold during the cold months and they will help keep old people warm this Winter. It's so fun and wonderful because I have all these little left over bits of yarn and nothing to do with them. I highly recommend checking it out!


Victor and I have been watching British TV and it's pretty amazing....well, not really amazing but sometimes it's really funny. Our favorite show by far is Mock the Week. Here is an example of one bit that is dear to my heart.



If you want to see more just go to YouTube and search Mock the Week. We love them.

I realize that I've posted this video twice already but I just realized the other day that Balloon Fiesta is coming up and I'm going to miss it. Bummer.

Now that we've been in England for a month I'm beginning to go through all those moving feelings again. The ones that I hate the worst are the "I don't have any friends" feelings. I tried to join up with a football club last night but the directions I got were not great at all. It's a long story of me driving around a neighborhood for a half hour trying to find the pitch. I was so frustrated I almost broke down crying in my car. But really, I just wanted to be around people my age who are involved in things I like to be involved in.
I joined the Spinners group in Portchester and they are a really nice group of ladies but they are older than my parents and some even able to be my grandparents. They're fun, they're nice but it's not the same as having friends from my own era.
And of course I know that it takes time to make friends. When I was in Albuquerque I had a friend through the Air Force who lived down the street and that was great! But we don't really have that here. On the other hand, I really like that we don't live near a base because it is great to live away from all things American.
Do I sound like I'm complaining? Well, I'm not really downhearted about the whole thing, I just would like some friends:) So that means that YOU have to come visit!! Unless, of course, I don't know you then that might be a little awkward.