I covered most of the month in the November note so there's some space for reflections on the whole year + 2026 in this one. This was done totally on purpose. 😎
General:
Had an xmas dinner with some pals at Mallow - a last minute change from Bancone to accommodate ever more complicated dietary preferences and restrictions (maybe we ARE getting old...). Lovely as usual and I managed to avoid any mushrooms.
I'm so bored of the bougie xmas markets appearing left and right and filled with boring as hell beige pottery and candles. Does this shit sell?
Laura's house purchase went through and Belly moved to Brighton with her. 😭 My cat!!!!!
I'm finding it trickier than I'd care to admit to get to grips with my three new teams and figure out what they all need/where I can add value. Having some thinking space over xmas/ny period definitely helped and I even got some data together to back up my hunches. It doesn't necessarily help that the new portfolio I joined does governance quite differently - and more often, making me feel a bit like I'm on a running wheel...
I went swimming on the Christmas Day thanks to London Fields Lido being the best swimming pool in London, possibly the world. 8)
Playing/watching:
Quite a good month for boardgames culminating in finally playing Witcher: The Old World! \o/ Unsurprisingly it's one of the games with so many rules the whole group is in low spirits by the time the game finally starts, but we really got going in the end and I'm looking forward to a couple more campaigns at least. 👀
I rushed to finish Deep Space 9 after Netflix announced they're removing all ST which I'm pretty sure caused me some lasting psychic damage (not as much as reading 50 chapters of One Piece per day for weeks a few yars ago tho....). The high point of the series for me was definitely at the start of season 6, and I continued to enjoy all the Ferengi-centric episodes but overall I never warmed up to most of the characters. :( Dukat's short stint as a cult leader was one of the flops of all time, you can't just jump into mass suicide after ONE sus baby my man!
Crafting
I finished the jumper!
And got started on Lancer
I also did some planning for my temperature blanket (actually scarf), and ordered yarn for the second jumper. \o/
2025
Top 3 things that happened this year in no particular order:
learned to crochet
bought a flat
learned to knit
At work, things mostly kept chugging on. I did not escape the unrelenting presence of AI (in fact despite actively saying I am not interested in it I was, and continue to be, more involved in AI related related projects than most of people in my role - what gives?! 💀) but I think I managed to help teams deliver some necessary (infra wise) and sensible (for the users) stuff.
I continue to be frustrated with things changing post-pandemic which is increasingly giving an 'old man shouts at cloud' vibe. :/ Maybe it's the governance principles that need an update, seeing as I can't seem to turn the time back and get boards on the wall to have a standup around? 🤡
It's been a good year for crafting, gaming, and keeping up with friends. I hope I can keep all of this up in the next one \m/
2026
Goals
sort out my heating and plumbing (lol sorry to be boring but both are lowkey annoying me 😩)
pass DELE B2 🫣🫣🫣 and maybe go back to learning Korean after that?
learn to sew! and learn woodworking, or FINALLY go back to ceramics
The Japan/Korea holiday would be nice but IDK if I can make it happen. 😩 It'd probably be more likely if I got a lodger but living alone is so chill. For now I'm letting my heart win over reason on this one.
I'd like to try contracting outside IR35. I enjoyed the stability of the inside contracts and it felt important to get a mortgage, but now that's sorted I'd like to see if there's a difference? I can't really afford big gaps in employment (ideally any that are not planned holidays tbh...) though so it does feel like a bit of a risk. :|
Yarn: Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran in Dark Green
If there's one thing you take away from this post, let it be a cheer for Wild & Woolly and a wholehearted recommendation to visit them, buy from them, and attend their classes! \o/
The memory is slightly hazy but I think I signed up for November Sweater Club not long after my first intro to knitting class sometime this spring/summer... it seemed like I'd be well enough into my knitting journey to tackle it altho 5 weeks seemed like a stretch even then. The timing ended up being terrible as work travel, my mum's visit, and xmas dinner with friends prevented me from attending 3.5 out of 5 sessions. 🤦🏻 Fortunately Anna and Helen have let me squeeze onto a Sunday session once and I benefitted hugely from their guidance even in the little time that I managed to join, this definitely would not have happened without them. I also always felt welcome to pop into the shop for ad-hoc advice when stuck, or ask on Whatsapp. Once again, much love for Wild & Woolly!!
The process
I started the jumper at the beginning of November and finished it on 31 January (not counting weaving in the ends and blocking).
I hit a couple of snags - it took me a RIDICULOUS number of attempts to get beyond the first 20 or so rows. I kept screwing up the pattern (knitting when I was meant to be purling etc) and not knowing how to fix mistakes in prior rows + lacking the patience to go back stitch by stitch I'd just... frog the whole thing. You may call it a waste of time, I will pretend it was valuable knitting practice that enabled me to go faster later. 💀
Eventually I stopped worrying so much about one-off goofs and kept pushing through any uncertainty until I hit the point where I SKIPPED TWO STEPS IN THE PATTERN and couldn't figure out why none of my stitch counts aligned when I was splitting out the sleeves. 🙃 An absolute oof moment which stopped me from making any progress for 1.5 weeks. I did make two hippos in the meantime tho.
Even after unpicking stuff and following the pattern 'properly', the top part of my sleeves never reached the stitch count for my size - I honestly can't explain that to this day. Luckily I could try on the jumper by that point, and everything fit - maybe a bit snuggly in places (safe to say my body type is a bit different from the pattern model's 😬) - this turned out to be a blessing in disguise tho as the yarn REALLY grew after washing.
The final product
After washing, the jumper fits just as it should according to the pattern and the pic and is super duper cozy. I've not worn it outside of my house yet as I'm worried it will be ruined, but in the spring I will probably give it an outing. ✌️😗
Overall, I can recommend the pattern! It definitely looks significantly more impressive than it actually is while employing as far as I can see only techniques that will go into any other 'standard beginner' jumper as well (knitting, purling, short rows, basic increases and decreases). I received many compliments on it even before it was finished, including on the WIP post!
It is fairly well written (if you can keep track of the steps 🙄) apart from a few bits like two different charts for raglan and them being written in a way that temporarily confused even much more senior knitters.
Finally, while I enjoy habing access to a number of patterns in a form I don't need to print for myself in a book, it had some logistical issues (flicking back and forth between three places that had different charts, carrying a heavy book if I wanted to consult the pattern on the go, feeling bad about writing in a book >___<).
I am super happy that I did this, and it really heped demistify wearables to me. I think sweaters are often built up as something hardcore, but apart from the cost of the yarn there's not that much to them - sure you can make a complex one with a tonne of stitches and changes but the same can be said about any knitting or crocher project. 🤷
What's next?
I jumped right into making a second one (for a friend) right after finishing this, and due to a draft publishing mishap it's already blocking, so.... 💅
@letlancersayswears: Let Lancer say cleanshirt! (and also fuck off) 🗣️
I wanted to participate and knew from the beginning it will be an amigurumi with a voicebox but it all only came together when @bleakoutlo said it'd be fun if Lancer was British. Lo and behold, Lancer with the voice of the most iconic rude kid on TV. Why search for a clip of a tween calling someone a wanker when a much more devastating call-out exists?
Tbf I feel like both the age range and the general vibe are quite perfect. Kris is not the borough and it's not their fault there's no schemes. 😩 And you can bet if Peep Show took place in 2025 those kids would be zooming around on clicky, beeping Lime bikes (aka the real world bicycles on fire).
Making of etc
Lines are:
Hey look it's cleanshirt.
How do you get that shirt so clean mate?
Fuck off cleanshirt.
MASSIVE credit to the person who posted audio tracks from all of Peep Show on Reddit. Version one was me recording with voice memo app from the clip and and then trying to eliminate clicking in Audacity - chopping the actual dialogue line improved this project by about 1000%.
Yarn used is Wool Dreamers Mota in dark blue, natural, and black. It was very easy to work with, I do wish I used a smaller hook than 3.5 because it is a bit holey in places.
I initially used a dog button which umm... worked. But it was massive and it could only handle one recording at a time, so three voice lines just played one after another. It was also super sensitive so breathing nearby would set it off and believe when I say attaching the head under those conditions was a _bit_ fucking annoying. Then I switched to this Talking Products chip module which fits inside better and plays a random voice clip - however it's not very dependable, it takes 5-10 clicks for it to work. 💀 Anyway, I attached the head with a very simple stitch in contrast colour so it's easy to take out the chip in case I want to try something else, change the voice lines or even batteries... I kind of expected plushie voice boxes to be a solved problem but it is surprisingly difficult to find something that just works out of the box.
I freehanded the whole thing but it's broadly a Bogusia type body with improvised head. I made the head way too small TWICE so if attempting something like this again my advice/note to self is: keep increasing stitches until it seems cartoonishly too large.
Using felt sheets kinda worked and kinda not, I think the mouth could be much better. At least relying on glue was destined to fail, I managed to stitch the spades on but the sheets I used were too thick to get a needle through when doubled up. His teeth actually fell off between the photoshoot and me posting this. 🙈
tl;dr
This was a fun project, and a pretty quick make if we don't count all the fuking around with Audcity and, surprisingly, iMovie (I had to put together three clips with the voice lines because Tumblr only allows one video...). It's still wild to me I can just freehand something and make it look vaguely like I imagined!!!
My first 2025 project and the last one - finished in the nick of time! From a tiny wonky crocheted dog, to my first jumper. Quite a significant jump in the number of stitches if nothing else…
...and like half of December. Not intentional but I guess it makes sense / leaves some space in Dec note for 2026 plans.
Work
Quite a lot happened work-wise, not least cos I had to go to Manchester and Bristol + we had quarterly planning for my old team, and the work on the SoW continued torturously (never try to buy SaaS product in govt if you value your sanity imo).
BUT as of 2 weeks ago, I moved to another portfolio and I'm now working with three pretty different teams (Data Analysis, AI & Governance, AI Coding Tools discovery). I've been trying to more consciously observe before jumping in... at least one of them is pretty self-sufficient which is great so I definitely don't want to affect that.
I'm getting a real chip on my shoulder about confict avoidance (in both professional and personal contexts).
Crafting
It's only through writing this note that I realised Sweater Club just started in Nov! I posted some progress pics on the side blog, it's a bit further along now (done with all the increses! 🥳). After redoing the neck bit no less than a dozen times it's been smoother sailing... the only visibily fucked up bit is where I had to do short rows - but it's also ideal placement for a statement necklace to distract with. 💀 Highly recommend the course to anyone who's thinking of getting started on a jumper, I may even do it again!
I took breaks from this big project to knit two hats (one with cables!!! and one in Malabrigo Rios (Diana) which was just so lovely to work with) and crocheted four small hippos. : ) I also finished NITW Gregg base, he's ready for his clothes!!
I started on the TOFT advent calendar but part lost interest part decided to focus on the jumper. 😅
I taught some more people to crochet (ish) grany squares. I think I'm getting better at it. :')
Watching/playing
Slowly making my way through Demonschool. I'm not NOT enjoying it but it's just a bit... bland? I am not invested in the story or characters but I'm getting enough satisfaction from figuring out how to get A grade in combat to keep going...
Boardgamed quite a few times, between Arcanists, Ludoquists, my and friends house. I don't remember all the games but Finspan, Arcs with 4 players, and Mouseritter session were the highlights. \o/
Got and read Raging Clouds, Tower Dungeon vol1, Power Fantasy vol1.
Been watching Star Trek DS9 again: the Odo/Lwaxana sham marriage episode was lovely (A plot, what A plot? 🤩) - I really enjoyed all their eps so it's a shame it's maybe the last one? Idk if i'm looking forward to Odo/Kira dirge tbh. I've been quite suprised by how anachronistic the surrogate Kira plot feels. Maybe I should not be as surprised as I am by strange handling of the pregnancy or even possibly non-monogamous relationship from a series where LGBTQ rep is scarce but hmmm idk. Keiko is a queen tho, obvs.
Found a new fun niche videogame youtuber I enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/@early-tv
Other
Farzi and Lovage (only one of them had Punkys on the menu, you know they get my vote...) , Today Bread (walked in to hear the barista tell her colleague how the crocheted top she's wearing is actually child's and she found it in Berlin... ON THE STREET. Quality), Arepa & Co (unhinging my jaw to eat tequeños whole), Hai Cafe (sensational!), Carmelas (beaitiful pizza; people who agree to go to a pizza place and order only a tomato salad don't deserve my time and effort,
Mother came over. Only for a week but she was incredibly efficient with deploying full range of toxic words and behaviours so my mental health and self-esteem are pretty cratered (as is traditional for Christmas). That being said.... I feel like I get a decent amount of compliments from strangers on a regular basis but the lido lifeguard in total awe of my tats and going on about 'beutiful art on [my] gorgeous body' really takes the cake. Ma'am, I will remember you till end of my days. 🫡
I bought the Bordallo Pinheiro cheese plate with a fat mouse on top I've been coveting for ages.
Went to Kew Gardens Christmas display which was cute I guess, and ABBA holograms show which was neat. I like ABBA and the technology is impressive, despite the faces having that Assassins Creed cutscene quality. 😅
The Marie Anoinette in V&A is kinda underwhelming... the smell-o-vision with a change to sample prison stench was interesting tho.
My (ex)flatmate completed on her house in Brighon and moved today, taking Bella the cat with her. 😭 Our landlord wasted no time re-advertising the flat and as anxious as I am about paying the mortgage, being stuck in London rental hellscape would be so much worse... And I need to remind myself I did this alone, as a 1st gen immigrant with zero help from family, something to be proud of for sure : )
Next up
gotta plan for the 2026 temperature blanket.. altho now I am thinking, temperature scarf!? 👀
signed up for intro to sewing skills at Ray Stitch at the start of Jan
Real highs and lows this month, with a side of regrets. 💀 But I just managed to actually tech someone to crochet (she ended up with two rounds of a granny square) so that's a win!!
Work
DeliverCon - as usual I could only help out around my general work responsibilities but this time I got way more kudos than deserved cos two out of three actual organisers could not make it. 🤭 Sam did an amazing job as usual and the volunteers were fantastic. Special acknowledgment from me to Suzie, Karina, and Liz but everyone got really stuck in. :)
I managed to attend a full session on team's tendency to goldplace and how to get away from. While the group ended up talking about assessments, which is not that relevent to me at the moment, it's grounding to be among people from all sorts of places that have a similar problem.
Uncodebar - I've not been to a Codebar session for years and years - awkward! It's such a great org and the events were always so welcoming, I've just not had a tech 'project' for ages and I am pretty sure I will not become a developer in my lifetime with the genAI trashfire going on. Can I go and crochet?! 🙈 At the unconference, the talks were mostly quite techy or about getting into the industry, I enjoyed the one about managing stress and trauma with some good theory and actionable day to day tips. :)
Finally kicked off an alpha for a bit of functionality we did disco for this time last year and I was really hoping would begin when I was on holiday in Feb/March. :') There's a small win as we finally managed to convince steakeholders to go with commodity tech instead of building our own to prove users demand - this wouldn't have happened earlier.
I had a couple of chats about new contract opportunities
Strangely, all of them so far have been health-adjacent. I did not have a great experience working in the area previously, which tbf is made me quite apprehensive from the get go... I really wish I just went for one of them but I overthought, dilly dallied, and I am living to regret it. 🫠 A good reminder for me that I have to take those chances and step away from the predictable if it's just a false comfort - it makes me too uneasy to live like that anyway.
Anywhooo if you are reading this post I have updated my CV. ✌️😗 Fortunately something else that I think can work out came up over the weekend and I'm hoping to have a call with the recruiter on Monday.
Had some chats about potential permanent things as well, with promises of more flexibility in exchange for lower income but I don't think this is for me at the moment...
Crafts
I stepped away from actually making and finishing things to pick up new techniques I will feel guilty about not using.
Tunisian crochet (including colourwork) - fun on a bun, I got a set of hooks immediately after the session at Knit + Stitch show. 🤣 I will use it to make my 2026 temperature blanket!
Mosaic knitting - pressed flower kerchief workshop at Loop. I made some good progress on the spot, unravelled it to make it 'better' and continued to flop three times over. It's a cute and not too big project tho so I will try again in Nov.
Weaving - the workshop was meant to be on Cutty Sark but ended up in the museum, boo. It was cute anyway and I enjoyed learning how to weave on a small scale. Not sure what I could use something made on this sort of loom for (placemat? art?). Are you meant to make things in bits and stich them together? 🤔 I'd looooove if Freeweaver ran their winter coat course again. I had to use the Greenwich foot tunnel to get across (and back) which was quite thrilling in itself. :D I also learned about London Wool at the workshop which is such a cute idea. It only comes in neutrals which is not quite my vibe, but I'm tempted to get some anyway...
Gaming
FINALLY A GAME OF ARCS WITH FOUR PLAYERS. I was so lost in the sauce (aka cherry mead) that I forgot to take a pic but it DID happen. The difference was not massive but it was neat to finally use most of the board and the highest/lowest cards. I'd like to play with the leader cards at least one more time. We played Quacks of Quedlinburgh in the same session which was also fun. \o/
Ghost of Yotei. Good, fuelling my Hokkaido plans further (see previous post on this very blog!). I've not finished but I'm finished with it, if ya know what I mean? I enjoyed the gameplay a lot but I'm not motivated to see the story through.
Seance of Blake Manor - GREAT deductive game in the vein of Golden Idol/Obra Dinn, and perfect for Halloween! Really really enjoyed this and highly recommend.
Ball x Pit - tbf I thought this will be a bigger thief of time but it's not quite Vampire Survivors level to me. A relief!!
Watching
Good Boy - a horror film with dog protagonist, soooo good. Genuinely a good creepy horror but also sad. Fabulous performance from a very good boy actor too. :)
Bugonia - crap. Why did I expect anything else if I thought Save the Green Planet was crap? Idk. But still garbage film.
Cure (1997) - Elden Ring tie-in about dangers of smoking and gun (NO MORE GUN).
Wicked (the musical) - a friend invited me for her birthday, I ended up enjoying it more than I thought. Poor Dorothy was just a victim of Young Adult relationship drama. 😥 The actress playing Glinda was very good, supr funny. The big dragon puppet was amazing. The subplot about Elphaba's sister was probably the weakest/most boring bit.
General
I got stuck in a lift!
There's green parakeets living in the tree just outside my window!
I saw the sumo wrestlers in Chinatown!
I preordered an extremely whimsical lamp and got some half price paint at House of Hackney sample sale!
The weather was so nice at the start of the month it was still doable to have a sunny evening pint in the pub garden (time changed fucked that one, eh. can't wait for BST)!
I'm slowly finding local communities and activities. Not something I really invested in while renting (even tho I stayed in rented places for ages at a time!), as in I was more flexible with location of.. anything. It's nice not to have to travel very far for things, and since the other people are more likely to live nearby there's more general friend potential. : ) I might look around for boardgaming meetups...
Food highlights: pal's birthday lunch at Hawksmoor, meal with good friends at Merkamo (Ethiopian), biryani at a post office followed by a nighttime stroll around Barbican.
Food lowlights: Singapore crab - too much work for too little meat, I am sorry. ✋😔 I had decisively below average dahi puri two times this month as well, a knife in my heart (the heart of a dahi puri lover who could happily eat only dahi puri for every meal forever).
Next month
Quite a lot of travel for work...
Jumper workshops at Wild and Wooly! I ordered yarn and I'm bit annoyed it's not here yet. :/ I'm going to attemp the upstream jumper.
My mum is visiting at the end of the month so I really need to sort this flat out. m(-__-)m
I increasingly need to have something to look forward to - planning in the open to enable sharing of any recs (and maybe it will help other people too!). : )
Context
Since I did three weeks in Seoul in 2019 and spend 6 weeks travelling from Okinawa to Tokyo in 2024 my focus is outside of Seoul and north of Japan. While I wouldn't mind a few days in Seoul (I liked it A LOT), I'm not going to bother with Tokyo - by and large I found it underwhelming and had a nicer time in Okinawa, Fukuoka etc.
I'm planning to go in the autumn - October in Seoul was beautiful and spring in Japan rainy and sakura not all that so I am biased....
I can't drive and getting someone to drive me solo feels more awkward/dangerous than relying on public transport so I will rely on trains. If something is not achievable via public transport, unfortunately I will have to skip it. :(
I am more of a city/art/history person than a nature person, altho stuff like this is a bit appealing if only to be able to say I did it lol. Not relevant to this trip but someday I will learn to cycle and do Shimanami Kaido too. 😤
This is a goldmine (heh) https://www.japanrailclub.com/7-day-golden-kamuy-road-trip-hokkaido/ and I will def re-read Golden Kamuy before going 8)
If flying direct to Incheon is too expensive I will most likely go via Shanghai and spend a few days there - for some reason ticket prices are SO LOW??? I wouldn't mind going via Hong Kong either. I'm not doing Taipei for a third time in such a short span of time, as much as I love it. :D
Finally, I generally enjoy planning more than uploading pics/sharing what I've done afterwards. So this blogpost should also be useful a scaffold for that afterwards!
OMG all of your stuff is so good, the quality and detail seem incredible!
Would you mind writing a bit about how you make the plushies? Like what materials and tools you use, any things to watch out for? Did you learn by yourself? :o
Hi! First of all, thank you! ❤️
I don't know if my answer will be helpful to you, but I'll try. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm not a native English speaker.
I taught myself how to sew and crochet (aside from the basic skills I learned in elementary school handicrafts classes). When I got the Internet, I actively looked at photos and video tutorials on various websites. What inspired me to craft was that when I wanted cool plushies as a child, my parents couldn't afford them due to financial difficulties. So I started making them myself. Then it turned into a hobby that relaxes me after a hard day at work.
I don't have all those fancy modern tools. For example, crochet hooks and knitting needles were left to me by my mother and grandmother (my grandfather made some of them himself). Such rarities are not sold these days, lol. You don't really need anything fancy or expensive to create. All you need is a needle, thread, scissors, a scrap of fabric, and imagination.
The materials I use most often at the moment are plush (like Minky), fleece, felt, cotton and micropolyester yarn from various brands. You asked what the white fluffy Ralsei was crocheted from — this is Alize Softy yarn (super soft and delicate!). I make accessories (like the eyes) myself from polymer clay, draw them on paper and laminate them with tape, embroider them on a machine (I recently started learning machine embroidery and am still learning), or buy ready-made ones on marketplaces. Speaking of eyes, they make a huge difference. Even if you attach pretty eyes to a crooked, fluffy lump, it automatically becomes cute x'D
I very rarely use patterns. It's strange, but when I follow clear instructions, I end up with something completely awkward.
When crochet, I do it without patterns and don't keep notes. I constantly unravel and re-knit parts as I go. It's the same with sewing plushies. If something doesn't work out, unravel, rip, and redo it. Repeat until you're satisfied with the result. Yes, it's time-consuming and tedious, but I don't know any other way to get it perfect the first time, ha-ha. Because of this, almost all of my plushies and amigurumis are impossible to replicate exactly. This is a major drawback, don't do it. If you're creating something new, always keep detailed records!
Stay determined! ❤️
Below you can see one of my very first plushies, which was sewn many years ago from an old hoodie.
I did it again! I made something I had no personal use for but that some lovely person has adopted from me to use or care for. 💖
Also I went to a conference, but this post is mostly about the process of making the thing. :)
I try to keep my working process quite pleasant. [at Nagare Southbank].
I plotted all the patterns in a big workbook in advance, something I'm trying to be more disciplined about in projects which I don't follow to the letter.
Compare with the previous, contrast, and guess where I was losing my shit.
This infinity cowl (I used the pattern in the book) is made using patterns from the Edinburgh destination deck and using their free doodle alphabet. I improvised the University of Edinburgh tartan myself! I'd say that was the most challenging part of this project, tartan is quite challenging to replicate in knit and at this scale. Hopefully it is somewhat recognisable.
The other things featured are: Scottish Terrier, Highland cow, sprig of heather, thistle, Edinburgh castle, unicorns, sheep (Scottish Blackface and Hebridean colourways), Nessie + the name of the conference and 'Edinburgh 2025'.
All the existing Pacific Knit patterns seems to be 24 stitches wide, but the writing I plotted was minimally wider - meaning I had to improvise in bits. You can see in the first picture of this post, where I added a heart and some blank space. This was actually quite fun and gave me more confidence to do make my own patterns in the future, and try to adapt those made for other mediums (guess who got the Undertale cross-stitch book 👀).
I mostly used Jamiesons of Shetland yarn (spindrift). The selection of colours is incredible, but it is a bit scratchy even after 2 washes so I wouldn't necessarily use it for werables myself. They also recently decided posting Gen AI stuff on instagram is cool so mixed feelings here, but hopefully they learn from the outcry. I occasionally used Marie Wallin British Breeds yarn where I felt like the leftover colours I had from another project fit well.
Special thanks to Liz Catherall for stitching the cowl together, something I failed at after two bouts of blocking and the ends not being equal size. T___T Sewing is still my biggest enemy. Thank you 5ever Liz!!!!
Might be worth pointing out that quite a long time after making this, during a sock knitting workshop, the instructor observed that apparently I do not knit 'correctly'. 🫣 Obviously an item has been produced that functions and looks more or less fine (esp given my level) but apparently I would have problems purling... Which is still sus to me cos I did ribbing before but I *will* attempt to knit the right way for my next project. : )
Thank you Lucy for giving it a home. 🙌
Another view of the cowl.
Open Data Camp 10
As mentioned in the month-note while those are mainly about seeing old pals, this one was about seeing non-data ones and holiday/tourism. :p Sketchnotes and full schedule are available on the official site: https://www.odcamp.uk/ - so if you stumbled upon this post because you are into data just check that out, I will not make it justice. :)
Massive cookies, enough icing to drown in.
Format of the unicorn mandala session.
Post-its from Lucy's dashboard session.
I went to a session in every timeslot and they were all very good but my favourites were:
Data creatures by Eleanor (where someone mentioned the stinky fish workshop format - not quite useful for me right now as I don't think I'd fell 100% safe contributing myself but one I will keep in my pocket for when I get the team to that point!)
Unicorn mandala by Jyoti (it was fun to do something creative with others and admire Julia's humanities student patter. ;) Also it's another workshop format I may reuse! Nearly got into a convo about gender signifiers and representation here which almost made me list my flags and acronyms but it seemed like too much of a derailing - I'll wait for Queer Camp 💅)
Facts don't care about your feelings session by Lucy which may result in something tangible: https://github.com/open-innovations/dashboard (always neat)
the pub (probably talked the most about data here with good chat about UPRNs, National Data Library, One Big Thing training on data last year, as well as things like country living... y'all love to move to places where you need a septic tank and a homemade trench to connect to internet cables, apparently 😭)
I'm up to at least 3 regular readers who mention these notes to me IRL! Hi!!!! 🫣
I went to Open Data Camp 10, which I should probably write about separately so it can be linked somewhere, maybe along documenting the cowl I made (which has found a new caring home! 🎉). It was great to catch up with the usual suspects as usual but I feel like I also met a higher than usual number of fun new peeps (and completely forgot to take their names / other contact info) haha. Hopefully see them next time!? 😬
TBH the event was mostly an excuse for me to take some days off (I am very bad at this) and go up to Scotland (not been since maybe 2015? so I am also very bad at THIS), including to see my oldest friend on this island. ❤️ Seeing some stuff from our old flat (a plate, a pillow, a stool I badly painted) made me feel very melancholing and it's making me reflect on my life now that I'm back in London. Some sort of emotional hangover? 🥲 I'll be in my feelings for a few days/weeks still I think....
Anyway, I made a cat-shaped doorstop based on her sweet elderly kitty. :3 It took a couple of tries to approximate the markings, I think they are not perfect but decent. I'll write it up the process separately.
I went to whopping three crafting workshops this month: knitting a massive blanket on my arms, knitting a little sock on DPNs (what the everloving fuck... cables please), and sashiko embroidery. All were interesting in different ways, I think I'm least likely to make another giant blanket but I went with my Product Manager who thinks it'd make a fun team session so maybe speaking too soon. 😅
I also started a beret for my mum, amigurumi Greg from NITW (I'm trying to find a willing victim to make him a leather jacket....), and been faffing around with some lovely yarns I bought in Edinburgh trying to figure out how they behave knitted / crocheted and what they'd be nice for. : )
Watched One Battle after Another (very good), Some Like it Hot (classic; wish I lived closer to the Arzner Cinema!), played Hades 2 (the plot goes mehhhhh) and Silksong (motherfucking platforming will make me pop a Vessel).
Ate at Miga (justified hype, don't get the pancake because it will stuff you up), Adoh (not the best kothu roti I've had but still very good), Facing Heaven (INCREDIBLE and fully vegan the cauliflower is fucking amazing, it rewired my brain). Some pretty mid stuff in Edinbugh (couldn't be bothered and only had a coffee with someone else) but very nice stuff in Glasgow with vegan haggis and best mushroom sandwich ever seen in 13th Note being the highlight. In conclusion vegan restaurants always knock it out of the park. 💅
Nothing special to say about work, apart from the fact that after 1.5years in the same environment I am beginning to feel quite in a rut. :/ Not up for serious search at the moment tho so I will need to find another way to blow up some portion of my life (esp given my Scotland-induced crisis), stay tuned I guess?!?! 🤩
UP NEXT
Knitting and Stitching Show - I have a couple of workshops booked including two tunisian crochet ones. Very excited to learn about that:)
I passed my Spanish end of unit exam so off to B2.1 which Instituto Cervantes very generously calls 'Advanced level' 😳
I will need to eat all the jollof rice that I made with all my tomatoes.... and also pick up the rest of the tomatoes..... pay no attention to the fucking mess in the background of the tomatoes........
Short one this time as to everyone's (mostly mine) shock I actually managed to buy this flat!!!!!!
The Flat
Among the packing, paperwork, moving, and doing adult stuff like selecting an energy tariff, any spare creative energy is being spent trying to find a kitchen table that's good for crafts and boardgames. 🤔
I've not even been to my cemetery-allotment yet!
It's ex-council with everything that brings but honestly space-wise it is an incredible deal in London, and the location is so good for me (the lido), plus the roof access, plus the unexpected allotment...
My seller was THE LOVELIEST too, left me so many white goods (inc a brand new fridge) and prepped so much information. It was not the smoothest process in the world (I offered at the start of the year) but by herself she made it so much better. 💖
Work
August = annual leave zone. Nevertheless, the team finally released the AI feature so a bit of a win (I have generally very little interest in AI stuff and despite the novelty it's EXTREMELY NOT FUN to work on if you're in a profession that has to deal with all the governance 🫠 goodbye to AI things for me, only CMS template iterations and retiring services now pls).
Watching and stuff
Eddington - Fine. It's no Beau is Afraid. Advertising it as a pandemic movie is very misleading imo (more of a BLM film if anything). Unironically loved Emma Stone character's art, her character is definitely the most interesting in the film too - wish it was centered more on her.
The Matrix - I've never seen this in cinema!!!!!! Such a fun film and the trans angle we gained in the years since it came out is the cherry on top. Still, I do wonder about Sandra Bullock version... I went to Everyman Chelsea to see this, the cinema is honestly _incredibly_ lush and cozy (I think there's like... 10 seats total). You wouldn't believe the dramatics around their free drink and popcorn offer tho. General public don't be a bunch of miserable geezers challenge [Epic Failure].
Motivated by the move, went to a couple of Westminster institutions I neglected to visit through the cumulative decade+ I lived there, like The Cinnamon Club (fantastic) and Sapori (enormous portions, how can you not love a place with mismatched wine glasses? also we glugged out this wine in 30 seconds flat - so good!).
Cat 🥺
Special section for a goodbye to my flatmate's cat, my squeaky sweetie pie cutie patootie that I will miss so much now that I've moved out. 😭😭😭😭 At least I can pop in for a visit as long as they're in London and maybe she'll stay with me when the owner is on holiday but it's SUCH an adjustment after nearly 10 years with her around. 🥺 No more cat for size with crochet! 😭
If you have a cat you should get it some purr pops.
Next month
Some Like it Hot at the cinema with some pals, Scotland, knitting socks, knitting a giant blanket, finishing crocheting a cat for a pal in Scotland, sofa arriving, unpacking?????!, making the most of the lido that is now 10 minutes away, end of unit Spanish exam... somehow I don't think I'm getting into much of a routine this month. orz
I'm finally writing this because I should be packing. 💅
Food
I don't think I went out more than usual but definitely remembered to take photos...
In no particular oder:
Regency Cafe is changing hands as the original owners are retiring. Apparently the new ones want to franchise it, including in Dubai and uhhhh....
Mamapen at the The Sun & 13 Cantons after a friend said she's going back in less than a week after her first visit. I will be back soon as well.
The recenly hyped Breadstall - fine but Pizza Union is undefeated for me.
Bancone and Pophams for pasta, both as good as usual.
Nagare, Big Kid Ice Cream, Flat Iron, Mother Mash, probably other incidental places.
Very VERY sadly I'm always around way too early to get anything from HoHo. :( One day!
About town
Leigh Bowery exhibit at Tate Modern - fab show about an extraordinary person, with pretty iconic wallpaper too.
Tooting Bec Lido - it..... made me appreciate London Fields Lido much more for sure. 🙃 Like yes, the length is nice (it's 90m rather than 100m like I heard tho) but the facilities are quite horrid with only tiny lockers that require you to bring your own padlock, most changing rooms not closing and people just leaving all their shit on the ones that were. It's also absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It's also the only pool I've been to that had a security bag screening??? Like many things, I'm glad I've tried it or I'd be left wondering but there is zero reason for me to go back...
Flat is nearing completion / exchange so I went to see it again (since it's been *six bloody months* T__T). Turns out that apart from everything else that's great about it I get access to mini-allotment space at the edges of a 300 year old cemetery, with a space for BBQ as well. Should be on track for late August / early September move as well so I'm stressing about getting everything sorted and part of it into self-storage cos there's not even enough space for all the boxes in my room.
New tat! Well, extension to an existing tat (same artist, the faded bit). And a future tatoo inspo from a 2500 year old mummy?? 👀
Played Arcs again, but still with 3 people. A 4 player game may never come to pass. :|
Work
the thing I worked on finally got announced officially and we can talk about it yay
still trying to get another thing from my old team released before i can whole-heartedly be on the new one - it's pretty annoying and distracting. my PM will be on leave after this week so I definitely need an out urgently
a took a single sick day (first one since I started contracting) and all I could think of was how much it's costing me. bad attitude, yes. am I EVER doing it again unless i'm literally fucking dying - no. 🫣
there are few things i hate more than hybrid meetings esp when i'm in the 'minority' - and two happened within the week when i was one of 3 people in a room with a dozen dialled in, and vice versa (4 people dialled in inc me, bunch in a room). horrid experience tech-wise (hearing, being heard, having actual conversation, seeing what the reactions are, who is even participating!) and just super uncomfortable.
speaking of meetings, I am firmly in the 'meetings ARE work' camp but people whose first reaction to everything is getting a 5+ person meeting in drive my batty. cease and desist. 🥲
Crafting
most of my time was spent finishing off a mitten and an infinity cowl. It is honestly pretty remarkable how far I've gotten in both knitting and life overall because it's become pretty clear to me that I can't count to 10. Next thing I do will be less colourwork (so flashy, so fun) and more increasing/decreasing and cables etc (so tedious, so pragmatic). But I do have a bunch of crocheting in the meantime.
Postman Pigeon. He's been appreciated by the new owner but also identified as a penguin leaving me with mixed emotions. 😅
Woobles Corgi
Started on a baby Phoenix for a competition but I want to make the cat doorstop I think I mentioned before for my friend first.
Signed up for a fuckload of workshops and courses in the autumn/winter from knitting improvers to sweater making. How am I gonna squeeze my pottery studio membership hours in?? (The answer is less sleep of course)
Watching
This month had a bit of a theme going - how fun, right?!
It was vehicular disasters. 🫣
I've been meaning to watch s2 of The Rehearsal for a while and it SO delivered. The first shot of Nathan looking through the window of a plane among a fiery blaze sets up to be a masterpiece and it all pays off in both the Sully episode (I waas crying out of laughter and because I was overcome with emotion *at the same time* at one point) and Nathan vehemently denying the autism allegations. Just incredible television.
I rewatched s1 as well which was still emotionally devastating. I wonder if that little boy is doing ok now.
For fans of the accident recreation/root cause genre, some recs:
Disaster Breakdown https://www.youtube.com/@DisasterBreakdown (most directly related as it focuses on air accidents. Chloe is such a good narrator, always humanises everyone involved, and I increasingly look forward to seeing her dresses too.)
Plainly Difficult https://www.youtube.com/@PlainlyDifficult (I particularly enjoy the train and nuclear-related ones here)
Fascinating Horror https://www.youtube.com/@FascinatingHorror (my personal OG, everything from fires and parking lot collapses to theme park accidents)
While I was at it I watched Departure (s1-3) on Netflix, where every season is about one accident (plane, train, ferry), shlocky af. And Crash in cinema as couple of places seemed to be running Cronenberg retrospectives.
Other stuff I saw:
half of Severance season 2 before I got fed up with the glacial pacing and stakes seemingly being mostly Mark / Helly (sorry but idgaf). good luck to everyone who will keep watching this for 7+ seasons that keep getting progressively worse and avoid answering any questions.
M3GAN 2.0 (more Terminator for the girlies than horror vibe of the previous one but very fun, get a feeling it was majorly fucked by the distributor :( )
Friendship (fine film but the audience laughing hysterically at every. single. line. was so weird, i am so sorry)
Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (not one of my favourite Almodovars but well worth seeing at cinema. Sold out three times so maybe we'll get a fuller retrospective 👀)
Videodrome (long live the new flesh)
Weapons (slows down in the middle - 2 or 3 characters are not exactly crucial so focusing on them was a bit meh - but the ending is just incredible. maybe my 2nd fav horror of the year after The Monkey 🤔
I stopped with Star Trek for a bit (I still find DS9 characters to be quite.. dull? uncharismatic? I don't particularly crave to see more of them either way). But I just watched the ep with Trill toxic yuri earlier today so consider my interest renewed.
Next
Moving. 🤞
Booked to see Eddington as soon as it releases, I am very hype - Beau is Afraid is one of the movies of all tme.
Little beaded necklace workshop at Palestine House.
I took an intro to knitting class on 16 June and have been practicing diligently since!
None of the stuff is blocked yet (I've not got space for that at the moment) but in order we've got:
my first swatch from the workshop - no idea what is happening there at leat 60% oft the time
my first project after, a hat based on a pattern from TOFT magazine. Done in 8/8 DK cotton (as pleasant to knit with as it is horrible to crochet with!), in purple instead of whites/blues as I have obscene amounts of the purples for whatever reason
mittens from Marie Wallin - the yarn was a bit of a nightmare getting used to but I persisted. 😤 Here's a pic of the first one I made on. One thing I'd say it's definitely quite disappointing to be paying almost £80 for a 'kit' and not get a nicely printed pattern. :/
themed infinity cowl based on Pacific Knit co pattern and Edinburgh doodle deck made using Jamiesons sprindrift yarn. Still two panels to go. I will post separately on the process once done, tbh it's five times as much work as I expected. 😌 Some progress pics here.
Doing something with increases / decreases would be good huh. I signed up for sweater/cardi making class from Oct so if I don't get round to it by then it should help.
Despite first coming across Woobles on Reddit (either r/crochet or r/craftsnark idk) where they're commonly derided as overpriced ugly spawns of Satan, I've always wanted to try them. So when I got an Insta ad announcing their arrival in the UK via a royal Corgi bundle I smashed that add to cart button super fast, so that my brain did get any chance to interrupt the process.
Like, as someone who's been crocheting for over 6 months now do I think a tiny crown or cape kit for £4 is good value? Of course not. But since it was all packaged into a bundle, I managed not to think about it. 🫣
The form-factor of the corgi itself is obviously very cute already but the accessories elevate it to new planes of kitschy adorableness.
Anyway, the pitch for Woobles is that they make learning how to crochet easy with video tutorials and special non-splitting yarn.
I am fundamentally not a video tutorial person so thankfully a written pattern is available, but checking the vids with my recent beginner hat on - they seemed very clear, well shot, and presented at a good speed (not too quick, not too slow). 👍
The yarn (cotton tube with filling) is definitely more beginner friendly than TOFT's alpaca or chenille I've seen other patterns use. It reminded me of the kit that finally made some things click for me from Tricotez-moi (selling at comparable price and with tragic, half translated instructions). There was also plenty of yarn in all the kits, I think I could easily make another wee dog out of what I've got left. Contrast to TOFT beginner dog and cat kits which I felt provided very little yarn (I had to buy extra for the cat), especially considering theirs tangles and splits much more so a beginner would have considerably more wastage.
The main kit also comes with a 4mm hook. This was def a weak point and I quickly switched to my own 3.5mm Tulip hook. When I watched the Elise Rose comparison of hook surfaces using a profilometer I thought it was an exaggeration but the difference is actually REALLY stark.
Also 4mm was too big for IMO - there'd be stuffing poking out of poor Lizzy's every orifice. 😭
The only issue I had with the written pattern was how it dealt with colour changes - I miscounted way more times than I'd like to admit for a pattern this simple.
Overall - this is a nice kit, very good for a beginner thanks to the clear videos. If you have a britaboo in your life who wants to learn to crochet (or you want to crochet something for), this is a very nice option. Get them a smaller, good quality hook separately tho.
Will I buy more Woobles? Probably not, after 6 months of crocheting I feel like I am beyond things they offer (esp at the price point). I wish I had access to them back in January tho!
I've spent most of the last few weeks knitting (and planning knitting) which is fun but it felt SO nice to make a proper little guy again. : )
Incredibly, this was easy and so I don't have very much to say. 🙂↕️
It's obviously a pattern by Bogusia, made for a friend of a friend. Grey body yarns are DK from TOFT and all colourful ones apart from yellow are Ricorumi cottons. No clue where the yellow came from, I just had a bit of scrap.
Main things I could have done better: due to change in yarn type and weight there's some gap between the colourful bits of the body and greys. It's not very visible especially with the tie on, but feels a bit sloppy. Despite adjusting and frogging twice the jacket does not feel perfectly.
This is one of the patterns that don't have an alternative fantasy costume, but a paladin seems like it would've been a popular choice:
Despite the overwhelming beigness something about this Conservationists pattern grabbed me enough to finally subscribe.
The value is relatively good for TOFT (for once it came with *loads* of spare yarn) but it’s a shame it’s in such boring neutrals. 😴
What I did not realise, and what I’m beginning to really resent about TOFT, is how much sewing it will involve. It definitely doesn’t seem impossible to make the front leggies in one piece with smart inc/dec or even short rows, and the shell did not have to be all separate bits either… Overall I can’t help but feel like they’re making things easy for themselves when I could be guided to become a more competent crafter.
Anyway, several people saw me making him, including my Spanish teacher who went crazy for him (and therefore I’ve let her adopt him), and another person who requested a green version - SO much more fun to make.
I did not give the green guy eyelids or snappy mouth and that + colour makes him look younger? 🤨
Traditional cat for scale + a preview of my third turtle-related project this month which was a cosy for a real tort. I will make a separate post when it’s tried on later in the summer, while it’s not a human wearable I’m still wary it may not fit. 💀
Obvs this was also the month where we got a lot of Gerson awesomeness, very fortuitously Bogusia’s next pattern seems to be a turtle so with minor adjustments there will be a turtle-related project #4 by the end of the year! 🐢
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