princessdeia

One of my current obsessions is Afternoon Tea, which is very strange as I hate clotted cream, but there is something lovely about the tiered cake stands filled with finger sandwiches, cakes and scones, and of course drinking tea from a proper teapot! When I started to restart my 101 list, one of the things I was really keen to do was have Tea at the Ritz, reading  up about the experience online I discovered afternoontea.co.uk – a website dedicated to places to have afternoon tea in the UK.

The website list several places and I soon discovered several interesting twists on the traditional tea, from a Sex in the City themed tea to the Not the afternoon tea at the OXO tower. So, I decided rather than have just Tea at the Ritz, I would try three different teas.

The “alternative” tea that appealed to me the most was the TLSee at the Swissotel, a traditional tea themed around London landmarks! I noted they were doing an early bird special, so on Saturday we had afternoon tea as a late lunch. I have to admit, I had a bit of a sugar overload but luckily they supplied us with a lovely themed box to take the biscuits home in.

Tags: 101things, afternoon tea

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I seemed to have a bit of a slump over Christmas where knitting was concerned, now I am on a quest to get my knitting mojo back! First off I am determined to finish all the club sock from 2009 and before the Knit Love Club starts (which I think is the beginning of February). I am not doing too badly, I am on the second Socktopods sock, which I should complete tonight, all that leaves is the Mince Pie Mayhem socks to knit in three weeks. I was hoping to start some of the socks with the yarn I recieved over Christmas, but I think this is a pipe dream!

Then just to make matters worse, last weekend I fell in love with a pattern on ravelry and now all I can think about is the lovely Candy Stripe Jacket, I had a quick look on there website and discovered the yarn and pattern was available at Mrs Moon, which I found very exciting. Before Christmas, two of my local yarn stores closed down, which is extremely sad but also very fustrating, now I have an excuse to check out the new store. (I was pretending to be on a yarn diet for a few months again – but figured this was the reason to break the diet).

As well as planning all this lovely knitting projects, I also have another little project in the sidelines. For a few months now, I have been toying with the idea of setting up another blog. Somewhere to talk about my other crafts, and journey into domestic goddessness. When I set up this blog, it opened my eyes to the wonderful knitting community within the UK from fellow bloggers, to locally produced yarn and designers. Previously, I had been forced to read about all the lovely yarn American bloggers had brought at Knit Picks, or fabulous sock clubs, that I was too late to sign up for. I am hoping this new blog will do a similar thing. I have been reading numerous blogs with amazing recipes or party ideas. Where the supplies have all been brought in Walmart or the Dollar Store and I keep thinking there much be a British alternative, and I wanted to set up a blog to address this issue. So on January the first I jumped in at the deep end and started my new blog. I plan to keep this blog going for my knitting projects (although I think the knitting might feature on both blogs) and a more general blog.

Note: The layout of the new blog is a mess at the moment, I was hoping to create a new theme this week, but my laptop has died on me.

Tags: socktopods

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5. Create a Home Organisation System.
Over the last few weeks, I have completely organised our household, I have a nice folder with all my cleaning plans, useful information (size of the windows, tables, beds) for when I am shopping, and of course all those technical manuals! The de-cluttering is still going along slowly, it is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate.

The same website also runs a 16 week plan to get your house and family ready for the holiday season and it starts next month – which is pretty scary! But I am planning on adapting the plan to get us ready.

7. Boost My Income by £1000.
After carrying on with the advice from the moneysavingexpert website, I also started claiming back money I was owed – fuel surcharges from our recent trips to America and some bank charges, which sent the total over the £1000 mark. I think I am going to try and earn an extra £500 by the end of the year.

10. Book (or go) on a holiday in the sun!
Finally, we have got around to sorting out our summer holiday! It has been over two years since I have been near a beach and 15 months since our last week away, so next month we are off to Miami.

16. Drink a two litres of water a day for a month.
I have up coffee 8 weeks ago (yes I am counting the days), and cut down on all sugary drinks, since then all I have left to drink is herbal teas and water, as a result I have found it incredible easy to alter my routine to include 8 or more glasses of water a day.

20. Complete 5 random acts of kindness (Knitting related via the Ravelry board).
I have always loved the idea of RAK, this board on ravelry is similifies the process of brighting someone’s day. The added bonus is you don’t need to spend loads of money. The lovely ladies on the boards are looking for all sorts of things, and I managed to de-clutter a lot of my knitting supplies,  clearing out old knitting magazine, the freebies from the magazine that have never opened, some old acrylic yarn I was given and never used.

It is a board everyone should check out for the price of a postage stamp you can make somes day.

Tags: 101things

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I haven’t forgetten this list – I am just a little late posting it

Starting: June 8, 2009
Ending: September 16, 2009

1. Finally finish my Clapotis (and start another one)
2. Complete the Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred.
3. Start a home decorating planner.
4. Knit something other than socks or a scarf/shawl.
5. Organise knitting patterns.
6. Drink a two litres of water a day for a month.
7. Start a Scrapbook, including our extra wedding photos.
8. Watch all the seasons of Battlestar Galatica.
9. Visit Vinopolis.
10. Complete 5 random acts of kindness (Knitting related via the Ravelry board).

Tags: 101things, Add new tag, lists, ua

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Before starting my 101 list, I read the survival tips on the Day Zero website, written there clearly is “Welcome Failure.” What I didn’t realise was how spectacular I would fail! 30 days after my first deadline here is how the list currently stands.

1. Lose at least a stone in weight. – Fail
Although I have been making some effort to exercise (see  number two), my diet has been just awful this year.

2. Use the Wii Fit at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.  – WIP
Currently, I am easily managing to fit in two sessions a week, although I have to say I am getting a little bored with some of the exercises and think it might be time to look for a new game.

3. Find a decent Sugar Cookie recipe and make at least five varieties of cookies. – Success!
I managed to find a wonderful website, that sells cookie cutters in all shapes and sizes, with some great tips and ideas. Plus I have been buying every cookie cookbook I can find! I am still not confident enough with my baking to try them on anyone but my immediate family.

4. Reduce my stash by one mile. – Success!

1. Leyburn Socks, 2. Garden Trelis Sock, 3. Meret,
4. Jaywalker Socks III, 5. Vinnland, 6. Spring Forward

5. Create a Home Organisation System. – WIP
I have to say the one thing I have discovered from trying to make a system is that it is a definite “work in progress.” I started taking inspiration from the FlyLady system and also Cleaning Grand Plan, and am pleased to report the we have already made great headway with decluttering.

6. Manicure my nails each week and get them done professionally at least once. – Success!
This one has been a really easy item to keep up, I treated myself to a manicure at the beginning of the challenge and seeing my nail look nice for the week inspired me to keep them manicured! I was given a selection of Nail Inc colours at Christmas, that I should really make more of an effort to use.

7. Boost My Income by £1000. – WIP
This was probably a little adventurous for the 10 weeks  (or maybe it is because of the credit crunch), but I have re-assessed all our money looked for saving where I can. Maximised using cashback websites , loyalty cards started a change jar and I even managed to make £200 recycling our old mobile phones.

8. Do The Torres Bounce in The Kop. – Fail
This is the one I am going to have to admit defeat on, even though we managed to make it to Anfield, it is proving impossible to sit in The Kop! Plus on my two recent trips to Liverpool, Torres has been injured for both games, so we still haven’t been able to see him play. The season ends this weekend so this one will have to go on the back burner until August.

9. Go to the Museum in Docklands. – Fail
I really have no excuse for failing this… I had several chances to go.

10. Book (or go) on a holiday in the sun! – Fail
Although the sun did shine when we were in Brussels, it looks like that will be our only holiday for a while, we have both been extremely busy with work and are currently looking for a new car so the holiday is on hold.

I am not going to give up, my plan is create another list of 10 items which I will start in June. I will continue working on this list until then and carry over all of the failures.

Tags: 101things, lists

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The snow in London last week, made it the perfect time to finish all my works in progress I had floating around. First, I completed my Leyburn Socks, I followed the leg exactly as the pattern called for adding 12 rows of twisted rib and finished the sock with the tubular cast off.

As I seemed to be on a little roll, I then completed the Garden Trelis Socks, I have to say both these patterns as amazingly quick to finish, as most of the stitches are slipped.

Of course this best thing is I have managed to know reduce my stash by 860 yards.

Tags: 101things, Finished Project, Leyburn Socks

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aka Socks the Rock Knit along….

I first about this knit along on the Socktopus Board on Ravelry and I fell in love with the concept rather than a normal KAL (one pattern and any type of yarn), this along only uses Sock the Rock yarn, with each person using a different colourway so you can see all the effects. I am using Thistle in Medium weight on 2.75mm needles.
 

The pattern is the amazingly simple Leyburn Socks, as Yarnharlot mentioned these socks practically knit themselves. With very little effort I have managed to nearly finish one sock.

I have started writing my 11 major (life changing) things to do in 101 days, I found a great support/encouragement group on Ravelry and it even inspired me with a few ideas for my own list (watching all the films in the AFI Top 100 list). Hopefully this weekend I will have a major push forward and achieve a goal or at least headway on something other that decreasing my stash.

Tags: 101things, KAL, Leyburn Socks, Socks, Socks the Rock

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I have to admit, I don’t use Ravelry to it’s full potential. Occasionally, I will test out a new feature (I am currently loving the twitter status updates), but there are tools I never use. I tend to just use the project or stash tabs, and the forums. This weekend I decided to export my stash into excel – all done with the one click. After adding a quick equation, I discovered I have six and a half miles of yarn!

As most of this is sock yarn and I am attempting to decrease this stash by mile, I figured four pairs of socks and a hat (mainly because of the cold snap in London this month) is about 1760 yards.

Rather than digging into my core stash, I opted to start knitting with my newest yarn acquisition, the Scarlet Fleece I got from my Sosesaswa pal. Speaking on Sosesaswa before Christmas, Jen set me an extra gift as part of the swap, a handmade DPN case, some needles and stitch markers.

Tags: 101things, planning, Socks, sosesaswa, WIP

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I just love the idea of Mission 101. However I know I would never stick to it – but I know I need something to kick start this year and achieving some goals… So I am going to do it in stages. 10 things in 101 days, then hopefully create nine more lists making 101 things eventually.

Starting: January 3, 2009
Ending: April 13, 2009

1. Lose at least a stone in weight.
2. Use the Wii Fit at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
3. Find a decent Sugar Cookie recipe and make at least five varieties of cookies.
4. Reduce my stash by one mile.
5. Create a Home Organisation System.
6. Manicure my nails each week and get them done professionally at least once.
7. Boost My Income by £1000.
8. Do The Torres Bounce in The Kop.
9. Go to the Museum in Docklands.
10. Book (or go) on a holiday in the sun!

Tags: 101things, lists

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