101 things update

[miss_newham]

August has been a long, quiet month with plenty of spare time to knock some more things off the 101 things list. Thus!

22. Crochet a granny square.

I've been trying to learn crochet from Sarah (good!) and from a book (not so good!) but it wasn't really sticking in my brain, so I went to a one-off class at a place called Tea And Crafting in Covent Garden. Their website makes them look twee as hell but actually it was fine - I just sat in a room for three hours while two helpful young women taught crochet to a bunch of angry knitters, and by the end of the evening I could make a granny square. Now I've made four and started a fifth! I don't know what I'm going to do with all these squares!

37. Do a random course at City Lit.

I went to a watercolour class. It was really good! We poured paint and water all over the place and made exciting abstract sunsets! I would like to do more of this!

67. Go to a classical music concert.

I went to the Proms with mrs_leroy_brown and it was jolly good. We saw an orchestra playing some stuff by French composers, including 'Bolero' by Ravel which was awesome and should be about an hour long, though I have not been able to take it seriously since I saw Le batteur du Bolero which is supposedly a film about an orchestra playing 'Bolero' but is actually an eight minute close-up of the drummer's face. (Recommended - he has an excellent face.)

70. Visit the Heath Robinson museum.

It's in Pinner! It's very small, but really interesting!

97. Make rye bread.

Done! I thought this would be difficult for some reason, but it's just like making any other bread except with rye flour. So there you go.

Comments

[kittenesque]

These all sound so fun! I think in terms of granny squares, the most simple thing to do is make a blanket where it's just a HUGE one that you keep adding rounds too (it starts off fast and gets slower as it grows but it's a good winter project cos eventually you get to sit under it while you are making it)

[miss_newham]

Yes, a blanket is probably the way forward - I already have a few, but it does get cold in my flat in the winter, so I can probably use another one! I imagined that a giant granny square might look weird, but now I've googled it and they're actually pretty cool. Hmm!

[nou]

Until I was an adult I had no idea that people ever made granny squares smaller than blanket-size. (I also had no idea how to make them not do the sagging-in-the-middle thing that all the granny-square blankets at my parents’ house did.)

[nou]

I seem to remember land_girl has made some beautiful things with granny squares. Though I may be misremembering.

I don’t think you’ve seen my completed Lizard Ridge? It’s 100% beautiful and I’ve actually accumulated enough Kureyon to make a second one; I just need to work out who I like enough to give one to, since I’m not sure my house needs more than one.

[miss_newham]

I don't think I have! That looks very you, not just cos it's purple! Sometimes I knit things and decide who they're for afterwards; things take on their own personality while they're being knitted (she said waftily).

[nou]

I finally found the picture I took of it! It has an extra row and column now because it was too small for the bed. (That’s Toby’s bed in the spare room — he saw me working on it and asked if he could have it on his bed. Which is fine by me, since I scrumple up the duvet multiple times a night while asleep, so if I put it on my bed I would probably end up all tangled in it.)

[katstevens]

Good old Pinner. I learned to do reverse parking in the M&S car park there as it was right by the test centre. My Mum however has beef with that car park after they fined her for being a minute late back to the car or something, and refuses to return.

[miss_newham]

I liked Pinner! I've developed an appreciation for a well-heeled suburb now I live in one too. It had the twee-est police station ever, and a vegan cafe! Though we went to Caffe Nero instead.

[lathany]

My favourite classical music concert was in the Barbican one December when they did 1812 with cannons. As you might guess, I particularly liked the cannons.

[miss_newham]

Heh, I'm not very good with sudden loud noises, that might have been a bit too much for me! Cannon operator for an orchestra sounds like a good job to have though.