Monday 31 July 2017

What I did at the Weekend

Friday

So this weekend I treated myself to a days holiday and had Friday off too. Happy days :)
I've recently gained an English Heritage membership through work, so I thought I'd make some use of it and go exploring.

My friend, her daughter, Lily and I found ourselves at 11am on Friday morning driving to Dorchester to find The Nine Stones. These are essentially 9 large rocks in a circle type arrangement that were placed there about 4000 years ago. No idea why, but there are only 4 of them that can be found in Dorset, UK. Lily was strapped into the harness (the meadow walk to get there was not pushchair friendly). She seemed to enjoy the trip...

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My friend also found a 4 leaf clover - which was pretty cool! I'd never seen one before.

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Also published my first chapter of A Game of Life and DeathSo that was pretty cool :)

Saturday

Saturday was a very busy day. Lily and I got up at 7ish, then went to swimming at 9am. She's really getting the hang of putting her face in the water - they encourage them to copy us so she's moving at her own pace with this one which is nice.

From swimming we went into Poole to meet a friend, which was lovely. Then we went straight from Poole into Bournemouth to meet some other friends for lunch at The Real Greek. We're a huge fan of high chairs in restaurants. Lily is also starting to develop a habit of studying menus...

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We've also developed an attachment to a travel sized version of "I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet..." which she now pretends to read and studies the pictures. So cute!
In the evening we then went to a friend's engagement party, which was lovely :) Lily was absolutely fascinated by the disco lights and promptly fell asleep in a faster manner than she does at home. How does that work exactly?

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Sunday

Was just a day of chilling, knitting and wine. Which I completed needed after the last couple of days!

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I'm going to give this very yummy bottle of wine from Lidl (on offer at £2.99) the credit for giving me the courage to finally learn DPN knitting.

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So that's all from me for today :) what did you guys get up to this weekend?
Love to you all and happy knitting!

MrsKirstyHoll

x

New Wip - Socks 1/12

Hello all - my name is Kirsty and I am addicted to knitting....

So, in all fairness, I've started another WIP because I needed a change from the shawl (garter stitch gets boring after a while) and I have finished the first yarn ball.

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This is currently on hiatus while I jump to my first sock knit of the year.



As it's my first project on DPNs I thought it might be best to start off on something small and easyish.

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In all honesty, it took me a good 6 rows in to actually get the hang of this. It took ripping the first attempt apart and restarting to work out what on earth I needed the 5th needle for. Once I got started though the length soon started adding up.

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By about row 5 it was feeling a lot less awkward knitting with about a zillion needles. Getting used to it now.

So my main yarn is Crofter 4ply baby fair isle effect from Sidar Snuggly (super soft). The pattern also wants some contrasting yarn for the heel - so we're swapping to Regia 4ply verigated for that. We'll see how these go. They might be for Lily if they fit, or they'll be donated if they don't. I can use this knit though to work out how much larger Lily will need it to be.

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We tried Lily on orange and lemon yesterday - each slice was quickly demolished. She is quickly becoming a citrus lover! Now just to try her on some lime...

Love to you all and happy knitting

MrsKirstyHoll
x

Friday 28 July 2017

Chapter 1: The Bodies in the Bog

Author's Note: Hello all and welcome to the first Chapter of A Game of Life and Death. This hasn't been professionally editing and I welcome all comments that aren't trolling. Love to you all hope you guys enjoy. 
My promise to you all is 1 chapter per week. 
Chapter 1
The Bodies in the Bog
The lonely figure at the window was sure that the universe as conspiring against him. He took the moment of serenity to study the reflection staring back at him.

William Novel’s head was still currently covered with an impressive mop of black hair. However, the slight lines that ran across his face betrayed the paths he had taken.

There was not that much that he could look forward to in the upcoming weeks. In a few days his Deputy, Cassie, was swanning off to a family wedding in Turkey. He was sure that his department would descend into chaos while she was gone. If Cassie called to extend her stay…. The team were useless without her. Two days was quite long enough for her to be gone.

It was if the raindrops on the window fore-told the horrors ahead. The clock’s gentle tick… tock…. tick… tock… seemed to be the only noise in the room.

Assistant Chief Constable Novel moved away from the window of his office. It was usually so easy not to care However, in this case, he knew that he could not do this on his own. This case was fuelling his dependence on the woman.

The town below him stretched out for as far as the eye could see. All the streets below were a hive of activity with streams of people like ants on the ground. He could not remember the last time a case had affected him so much. Novel had been in the force two decades – usually it was possible to maintain the required emotional distance.

The call had come that morning. He had only been in the office an hour and his normal cup of coffee – black – had once again gone cold.

His desk phone rang, the piercing sound breaking the customary still silence of the morning. He calmly reached out to receive the call. It was probably his mother.

It was a female voice, but definitely not his mother.

“Chief, we got another one.”

Novel did not immediately reply, “Sorry, what”

“I’m Sarah Lucas, from the basement – seriously Sir, you need another coffee. They found another poor sod. The Sergeant recon’s same MO as the one last week.”

“Where did they find this one?”

“Peat bog. The one behind the shopping mall. It’s about an hour from here. Pathology recon she’s been in there since spring.”

“Many thanks. Someone from my team will call you if I need anything else.”

Last week they had found a body in a bog on the local heathland. A local peat cutter had called the station in a blind panic.

The body of a young woman, still unidentified, was lying in cold storage in the station’s morgue. There were no records marching her prints or DNA on the database. She had been naked, there were signs of strangulation by a rope – although that was long gone – and both her eyes and her nose had been removed. Even for an officer with as much experience as Novel, it was difficult to stomach.

Looking around the office, he spotted Cassie at her desk staring intently at the screen. She had obviously been here a while and was probably the source of his coffee.

“Cassie, you should have been more organised and booked your extra baggage allowance already. I need you for a few hours.”

She look up in surprise at the interruption, but nodded in reply.

“Another body in the peat bog. Did you fancy coming with me to take a look? I was hoping a look around the area might give us a better insight and make some individuals be a bit more ‘on the ball’. It does not feel like the investigation is moving as quickly as I would like.”
She flashed him a quick grin before grabbing her cot, “I could do with a field trip! It feels like I never get out of the office these days.”

They were met at the entrance to the outer cordon by a young officer. The rookie took their names for his notebook and bravely reminded them that they were not authorised to enter the internal cordon. Novel narrowed his eyes and was quickly placated with the information that he would have a pretty good view of the scene. The pair were also notified that the photographer was still around if they wanted to look at the crime scene images.

“PC Matthews is it?”

A quick nod and a hurried “Yes Sir” followed.

“Do me a favour and radio the Crime Scene Manager. I want a briefing on what has been happening here.”

The order was hurriedly carried out and a red faced female crime scene investigator appeared from a white tent. Novel and Cassie moved to meet her at the cordon tape.

“Afternoon Sir,” she greeted, fishing her notebook from her pocket, “PC Matthews informed me you would like a briefing?”

Novel nodded, “Have you gathered anything yet that would be useful to our investigation?”

“Not much yet I’m afraid,” she replied, sounding apologetic, “she was found by a dog walker this morning. However, the bogs are so acidic they tend to destroy evidence that would have been there. The photographer has been down here for the last few hours. Got some good in-situ images of the body. We’re just waiting on the private ambulance to move her and then it will be up to the pathology lot. I will send a few of my guys with the body to keep the chain of evidence. To be honest, I think there is only the slightest of chances that there will be DNA. Your best bet will be investigative leads.”

Novel briskly thanked the woman. He then called over one of the junior PC’s that was still hanging around to guard the scene. Opening his wallet, he gave the PC a crisp £20 note and told him to go and get everyone a coffee. He was sure the team could do with some defrosting.

“What’s the plan?” Cassie asked, rifling through her pockets to find a previously abandoned hair-band. Smiling with success, she proceeded to secure her long mousy brown hair behind her head.

“A door-to-door of the local area. I want anyone who even smells suspicious down at the station by the end of the day. We need a solid lead. I don’t want any more bodies.”

“Shall I get someone to re-interview the dog walker?”

Novel nodded, there was certainly no harm in it. The person may have seen something.

His thoughts were interrupted by a young woman with a camera – she looked fresh out of college.

“Sir, I was told that you wanted a preview?”

He responded with a brief nod and was handed a brightly lit LCD screen. The first image he came to as a wide angle image of the peat bog – a context shot. After locating a right arrow button he started flicking though the images.

After a few clicks through he paused again at another image. Whoever had done this to this woman had stripped her of her humanity.

He tilted the camera so Cassie could get a better look. Her face grimaced and turned a slight tint of green.

Even after additional attempts to persuade the CSI’s to let his into the crime-scene, Novel was still denied access.

Damn the chain of evidence and contamination prevention to hell and back again. It was no use unless they could get a strong case together and get it to court.

Having finally done all he could before the forensics came back, it was time to head home.
The sun was beginning to set on the front lawn as he shut the door behind him.

“William, darling, hang your coat up! I don’t want you getting it dirty if you are wearing it tomorrow!”

Novel felt the shiver run down his spine. That name was a curse that had haunted him from childhood. His mother was the only one who was still allowed to use it.

“You’re home late.”

“Mother, my job is not exactly 9-5!” he shouted back, was taking off his shoes and neatly leaving them on the show rack by the door.

When he had started out on the force he had not foreseen that he would still be living with his mother at 45. Novel was single, although he had no desire to be in a relationship with anybody.

Other people were just too complicated. His dad had left them in his teens and so leaving her alone had never been an option.

Over dinner that evening it was suggested, again, that he should take time off work. However, Novel was convinced that leaving the department would just leave behind a trail of chaos and destruction. He would never be able to find any paperwork – it would all be moved in absence.
He was once again one of the first into the office.

The first few stages of an investigation always seemed to be a waiting game. He needed the information the labs would hopefully provide and still could not understand how they took so long.
Later on that afternoon, thanks to a budget allowance for a new DNA comparison unit, he was able actually get some useful information.

“So what can you tell me?” he could only presume it was Sarah at the other end of the internal phone line. For some reason she had obviously been assigned to his department.

“The preliminary run was provided some useful results. Flagged a Jane Doe profile that we picked up on a drugs raid. It’s been sat on the system for a couple of years. It was stored on the national database.”

“Cheers Sarah. Can you tell them to go ahead with another couple of runs? I want to ensure an eager defence lawyer can’t tear us apart if this goes to court.”

“Sure thing. Bye Sir.” The phone line cur and the call ended.

Figuring that this might be a good time to input these results into the internal system, he logged himself in and typed in the update.

Phone call from Sarah Lucas. Reported that the DNA collected from Jane Doe matched an unknown sample collected from another scene. The scene was a raid on a drug den – case number = B23067

One his update had asses itself into the internal system, it brought him back to the main dialogue page. This allowed him to see a general time-line of the events in order of input.

Case numbers = G56096
Operation name = Butterfly
Lead Officer = DCI Peters

9/10/2013 08:43:41
Member of the public (Mr Samuel Whithall) called to report that he had discovered a body while walking his dog in the local heathland.

9/10/2013 09:32:26
PC Matthews and PC Rogers arrive on scene and set up inner and outer cordons. The CSI team also arrive on scene.

9/10/2013 15:09:04
The CSI team report that little physical evidence was found on the body. Waiting for pathology report.
DNA evidence has been submitted to the lab with high priority status. Thy will contact ASAP upon completion.

10/10/2013 17:35:16
Phone call from Sarah Lucas. Reported tha the DNA collected from Jane Doe matched an unknown sample collected from another scene. The scene was a raid on the drug den – case number B23067

10/10/2013 18:05:34
Requested that members arrested as part of the investigation into the raid come in on a voluntary basis. Mark Stranton has agreed to visit the station tomorrow morning.

Novel was lost for words. The sudden dust cloud in his head, caused partially by shock, took a couple of seconds to clear.

At some point his tea had developed the ability to function independently.

He would have to continue to keep a careful eye on them – it might be a fluke.
Pulling out the android powered phone he kept in his back, pocket, he let himself wonder at the marvels of modern technology. These new phones allowed him to be so time efficient.
Pressing the record button – a smile diagram of a microphone – he recorded his text message to Cassie.

“Who’s interviewing Mr Stranton?” he then checked the screen to make sure that the text appeared correctly on the screen. It had. He pressed the send button.

Within a few minutes the phone vibrated in his hand.

I’m in the viewing room. Interested?

No. Busy. Keep me updated though.

Novel found the file on the raid and set his computer the task of printing it. After a few minutes of shouting at the printer – it was a wireless printed and highly unpredictable – the blasted machine began to slowly ‘warm up’ before sheets of paper appeared in the ‘out try’. He imagined it mean he had some decent bedtime reading tonight.

A few hours later he was sat at home in the lounge. His mother was watching a game show on the television. The large LCD screen helped him to see the faces of the washed up celebrities in clear precision. After being handed a hot chocolate, he dug the printing out from his bag and began to read through it.

June 2012
12:00pm
Witness statement of PC Davids
The team and I were deleted from entering due to dangerous electrical wiring. We have entered the property using a key provided by the owner. I was entered the property from the front entrance.
Upon entering, I was not aware that the occupier is present. However, I was aware of an overpowering smell of what I presumed to be cannabis. I was instructed by the leading officer to go with my partner into the kitchen. It did not appear that the kitchen had been cleaned and the remains of a number of microwave meals covered the kitchen surfaces.

Novel chuckled to himself and decided that he was probably wasting his time. It still amazed him how many landlords did not flag up the low electricity bills on their properties. Drug gangs had a horrible habit of circumventing the mains electrical box to compensate for the amount of energy required to propagate drug plants. However, this did come with a huge risk of self-electrocution.
He took another sip of his now lukewarm hot chocolate and carried on reading until the early hours of the morning.

Around 11 the following morning, Cassie wondered into the office with two steaming mugs of coffee. She placed one mug of coffee on Novel’s desk and made herself comfy with the other on the sofa.

“How did the interview go?” Novel asked, taking a swig of his coffee.

“Stranton spoke a lot of hot air. Tried to make himself seem more significant. There were a couple of names that could lead somewhere. DCI Peters seems to be on top of things.”

“Good. It’s his first big case. Did you notice the significance of the name of the dog walker yesterday?”

“Samuel Whithall?” Novel nodded to confirm she was correct, “He owns a couple of rental properties – but is on a suspended sentence as a a few of them were being used as drugs dens. I wonder why he wasn’t just locked up?”

The flare of intelligence from the team that had occurred earlier in the week had apparently finished. This was a fine example of why taking time off was a bad idea.

“Have you read the internal system notes?” There was a nod, “Did you look up the case file I reference?” A negative, “If you had, you would have known that our Jane Doe wondered into one of those drug dens during her existence.”

Novel could only admit that he was disappointed that Cassie had not made the time to read the document. Her mind was obviously distracted by this wedding fiasco. Not great timing for an off day.

Cassie stared at him. He watched as the light switched on behind her eyes. Novel grinned – at least someone else in his team was awake.

“I’ll call him in for questioning again – tell him we just want to run over his statement…” Cassie quickly made the call to the front desk to set it all in motion.
Within an hour the man was in an interview room and the pair was quizzing him. The usually gave this task to a DC or DCI. However, Novel figured that Cassie could do with the practice.

“Chief Inspector Novel does not believe in coincidences, do you?”

The man before them paled significantly.

When he had previously visited, the ‘dog walker’ had performed the role of distressed witness remarkably well. However, today that masked appeared to have been effectively removed.

“So Mr Whithall, I don’t buy that you couldn’t have any idea about what was going on,” Novel noted the beads of sweats dripping down the guys forehead, “we are therefore of the belief that you were the cause of these girls having such an untimely demise. After which, we believe, you helped orchestrate the cleanup. Although, we still don’t get why you then reported finding one.”
There was a long pause.

“I didn’t kill nobody! Stranton had me van for a bit! Our lot had taken his during the raid… I was just helping him get back on his feet…”

“Have you got any evidence? I’ve got both witness statements linking your van to both scenes.”

“Stranton got a speeding ticket while I was in the US, I have the paperwork that proves I was out of the country. I lent him the van because I didn’t need it you see…”

“Who were the girls Whithall?” Novel pressed again. The man opposite him was currently fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket, “one of the girls we’ve found can be places alive in your property around the time of the raid.”

“Have you spoken to the guys? I mean, she might be a girlfriend…”

Mr Whithall had finally cracked.

Within a few hours a solicitor had arrived. The now rather nervous looking man had realised that he was moving into hot water.

After a long discussion, his solicitor agreed that a detailed and helpful confession would probably be his best option.

The two girls had been homeless strays that the gang had picked up off the steets. They had paid for their keep and would never have been reported missing When the place was raided, they had to hide with other members until everything died down. It turned out that Stranton had done a ‘clear-up’ job as he found them.

Even though the team suspected that the unfortunate young woman had been sexually assaulted – there was no evidence to prove it.

Whithall called that he had not become aware of the horrific final ending of the girls until he enquired about them a few weeks after the raid. The second body had only been reported because Stranton had not paid Whithall for his silence on the matter.

Novel was once again convinced by the stupidity of the human race as a whole. That would be one
arrested for murder and one for trying to prevent to course of justice. They never learn.

“Case closed?” asked Cassie, tidying the last of her papers into the filing cabinet.

“There is always the chance of another poor soul…” Novel replied. He had already set some of the new recruits on the task of locating the girl’s families.

“I could do with a drink. Will be on fruit juice and water for the next few days. Care to join me?” she questioned while pulling on her coats, “I don’t know how I’m going to cope with the marriage questions every 5 minutes sober…”

“Of course. I wouldn’t want you mistaken as an alcoholic.”

He did not make a habit of going out for drinks with his staff. Cassie was the only exception to the rule. They had been working in partnership since she had joined the force 15 years ago. He had mentored her throughout her career – just to ensure there was at least one competent member on his team. She had followed in his tailwind and had quickly risen through the ranks by filling in the position that he left vacant.

The local pub (the “Magic Dragon”) was only a few streets away from the station. It was a dark old pub with fading leather seats.  They proceeded to make themselves comfortable with a whisky in the farthest corner from the door.

Cassie began to fidget, “that guy by the door is watching us…”

Novel flicked his eyes in the indicated direction, “I arrested him nearly 2 decades ago. He’s not been out long, apparently he picked up glaring as a new hobby.”

“Remind me again why we drink here?”

“The drinks are cheap. So who’s the wedding for?”

“My cousin. She’s marrying a friend of her father or something. It has all been arranged, but she’s still excited.”

“So how’s the boyfriends? Mike…. Mark…. Matthew… What’s his face….”

“John. We spilt up 4 months ago.”

“So I’ll avoid any drunken declarations of how much you adore him? Good. Staying single now then?”

“For as long as possible. As soon as I get a partner my mother will want to know when the wedding is. The cat and I are perfectly happy together. Are you still alright to feed her while I’m away?”

He had forgotten about that demon cat. Why he had ever agreed to be within 10 meters of that thing he had no idea. His mother probably liked cates… she could do it. Cassie only lived a few streets from him.

She slowly rose and dropped a set of keys next to his now empty glass.

“Fresh food twice a day…. Change litter if it smells…. I’ll see you in the office on Wednesday. Wish me luck!”

He nodded as a way of formal goodbye before she turned the left the establishment. After a few minutes, he too rose and exited. The patrons all glared at his retreating back with a sense of hostility.

It was only the barman who seemed to truly wonder why this man continued to enter his pub when he was so clearly unwanted by the other patrons. There had only been one face that he had seen in the crowd that seemed to contain anything similar to a smile – that gentleman had left the pub earlier in the evening.

Upon arriving home he informed his mother that she had a cat to feed. Her response was in the negative. Novel signed in resignation and warmed up his dinner in the microwave. He would have to feed that blasted cat on his Saturday evening.

Edits made: 1/8/2017: Feedback:  there are two written mistakes. ( he was
sat at home on the lounhe), I think it should be written ( he was sitting at home on the lounge) and ( I was entered the roperty) which should be written (I was entering the property). Also after the full stop there should be 2 spaces. I hope that helped.

Thanks Christina :) 

Work in Progress Update – Pikachu

Just a quick update tonight ðŸ™‚ I just wanted to share with you my progress on the Pikachu I am crocheting from Sunshine Sugar n’ Cream Aran weight cotton yarn.
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To be honest, it’s looking larger that I thought it would – which isn’t a bad thing. It will make the toy more substantial (it’s a Christmas present for Lily). The Sunshine yellow shade also looks fantastic – I’m also going to have to order some more off Amazon before I can progress any further though as this used up a lot more yarn than I thought I would.
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The shaping of the body looks good. There is a distinctive head and body shape to it, which will hopefully become more pronounced as I add the features. Those are the next job when the yarn arrives!
That’s all from me at the minute. Trying to prep for the launch of Chapter one of my Novel tomorrow!
For participating in the 7th Annual Charleston Sports FestGiven this day 13th of June in the year 2020.
What are you all making at the moment? Would love to see your current favourite WIP – post in the comments below ðŸ™‚
Love to you all and happy knitting!
MrsKirstyHoll
x

Friday Night is Go Go Go!

So, starting this Friday night, I will be posting my novel – A Game of Life and Death – chapter by chapter on here and Wattpad. This is one of my main goals to get this novel out there this year, so please like and share the heck out of this. What I’m really after from this is feedback on writing style and form. Then I can have a good basis to launch future works from.
This will be totally free and then, once I’ve collected feedback and edited, I’ll put a copy on Amazon for a small price to help start to fund materials for blog posts.
For participating in the 7th Annual Charleston Sports FestGiven this day 13th of June in the year 2020.

Thanks for all of your support so far! Keep an eye out for an extra tab appearing on the blog on Friday. This will contain all the links to read the chapters both on here an on Wattpad. The chapters will also be posted as blog posts as well, so you’ll also have email alerts as per usual.
Love to you all and Happy knitting!
MrsKirstyHoll
x

Progress Update Number 2

So Lily/bubs/Munchkin is now 6 1/2 months old. To me that is just insane. We are currently outgrowing our 6-9 months clothing in favour of 9-12 month (all the food appears to be powering her height increase). 
We that in mind, I thought now would be a good time for another progress update.

Dear a probably very tired me,
You’re now the mother of a nearly 1 year old bubs and you’re at the end of what was probably the most challenging and rewarding year of your life. Fingers crossed you managed to not lose bubs anywhere… in which case win! Honestly, if bubs is happy and healthy by this point then this has been successful year. Bubs should have also had most of the Harry Potter series read to bubs already ðŸ™‚
Bubs has still not been left or lost anywhere (happy days). Harry potter series not happening yet. We don’t have nearly enough patience unless it’s fluffly or textured.
Hopefully by next year the blog will have also grown. In 2016 we hit the 100 followers milestone, the plan is to double that by the end of 2017. If we can get there then that would be awesome. With the arrival of bubs I would like to start earning a little bit of money off the blog so that I can start funding advertising and get the blog it’s own URL. With bubs there is unlikely to be any money to self fund much. The hope is that I can do some guest blogging and potentially get some paid gigs out of it. If I am funding my own craft habit by the end of 2017 then the other half will reward with serious brownie points ðŸ™‚
So we’re up to 129 followers, which is pretty stead on with the progress. Hopefully this should go hand in hand with me posting more. It’s also great writing practice for me if I can blog 6 days a week. 
So on the job front: the plan is to start back at work around the end of March/ beginning of April time line. By then bubs will be about 3 months old and should hopefully be sleeping through the night (fingers crossed). The plan is then to start hunting out a promotion at work by about the middle of the year. My plan is to have a career, being a working mum is going to be really hard, but I know it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Attempted for a promotion, got an interview but not the role. Disappointing, but the feedback will be really useful for the future and my current role means I can spend more time with Lily, which I’m really enjoying as she gets bigger. 
By the time you’re reading this, that book will be finished and actually published on Amazon. Because this is getting seriously ridiculously stupid if not as if this is still not done by now you have definitely need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror. This has now been in editing for half a decade and it needs to be published.
This is something I’m starting from August. It’ll be posted in chapters on here and wattpad in a bid to get feedback. Hopefully we’ll get proper release early December. 
I don’t have any massive hopes for my knitting this year (I’m pretty sure that in my sleep induced haze I’ll be struggling to count rows and stitches). But if I can get in a few cute knits for bubs then all will be well. The plan is also to really improve my sock knitting – I’m thinking by now I’ll have knitted at least 12 pairs (1 a month on average). They’ll have been good sized travelling companions this year and I will hopefully have a few cute pairs of pretty socks. Recently I heard of a woman who donated a load of blankets she’s knitting to the Salvation Army, so that would be cool if I could have some spare knits by now to donate.
The knitting (and now crochet) is actually going a lot better than expected. This has definitely been my sanity saver! 
#Edit to knitting plan (Caused by my addiction to buying yarn!)
– Finish the Red/Blue Pram Blanket Done
– Finish the knitted patchwork blanket Done
– 12 pairs of socks The plan with this one is to do a little set between balls of wool on the shawl. 
– This jumper for bubs. It’s mainly ribbing and stocking stitch – so not a massive stretch of the imagination to get this finished! Need to get this knitted as it won’t be long until it fits her!)
– Get started on this pattern for bubs This ones for when she’s a bit bigger. But she’s growing a lot faster than I predicted.
By now you should have actually completed your first 10K race. After having to put the first one off from April 2016 (turns out that exhaustion was due to bubs!) you should now have got your fitness up enough to be able to run 10K again. If not then I am very disappointed as I feel like the exercise will help keep the stress levels to a minimum and keep some sort of sanity together. You’ll also be going climbing at least twice a month in an attempt to tone up some core muscles again – and climbing is super fun.
#Edited Run Plan:
June/July = 5K Race – Completed.
The rest of the races may get pushed until next year. I don’t have the time or the energy to do much running. However, now we’ve got Lily moved into the cot we might see. 
August = 10K race – Need to book.
End Sept = Half Marathon – Need to book, but would like to do the New Forest one
Nov/Dec Time = Marathon – Need to book
Financially I would really like to reduce how much I spend. If I could do that then we could save a lot more. So hopefully by the time I’m reading this I will have some savings and reduced how much I’ve been spending. But fingers crossed… I might have even be able to siphon some off for yarn…
We have a new budget in place. We’ll have to see how that works, but I do now have a set amount of money for me stuff. Need to get used to learning to budget with that. Hoping I can use it to help with the blogging. 
So future me, I hope you’ve managed to at least meet most some of the above. With bubs keeping you busy I imagine you’ve had some sort of serious adjusting to do. But fingers crossed you’ve managed to stay on top of most of it!
Bye me and I hope you’ve had an exciting 2017!
MrsKirstyHoll
So that’s my half year touch base. Starting to think that I might have bitten more than I can chew this year. But it’s so hard for me not to have things to do. Need to work on that.
Need to prioritise knitting goals, blog and writing in terms of me stuff. 
Love to you all have happy knitting
x

Yes I brought more knitting patterns

….To be fair they were in a charity shop.
The story started with my husband needing a lift into work. Having to drive all the way into town and, needing to buy some shopping anyway, I thought I better make use of the journey.
While I was down there – not having had time for breakfast before we left the house – Lily and I thought it would be rude not to try out Delfino Lounge (a new cafe/bar that’s opened in town). So we ordered there veggie breakfast and a coffee for £7.95. The price was worth it when we started eating. The veggie sausages were so good and not the horrible cheap ones Weatherspoons has started serving. I am also in love with the mini bean mug and the spinach and red pepper side – not something I’ve seen anywhere before.
Lily was very good and sat in her highchair (that did need a clean before use) attempting to eat the menus, my phone, the table (I didn’t understand that either) and her face cloth.
While hunting through the charity shops I found this amazing King Cole collection of Catwalk knitting patterns for £1.99! I also picked up the needle toppers for £2.49. Thinking they will look adorable on my lace needles!
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So these are are a few of my favourite patterns in there…
King Cole Catwalk Collection
So, as usually, I have a few things to add to the knitting list… But the instructions look pretty simple and I’m looking forward to when I can get to choosing yarn for these!
That’s all from me tonight! I’ve not long got back from work and I could really do with catching some Z’s (or at least chilling with my needles before bed).
Love to you all and happy knitting!
Mrs Kirsty Holl
x

Baby Clothing Sizes

Motherhood is absolutely the most exhausting thing I have ever done. So with normal, everyday choices, I really need things to be simple. I’ve just spent an hour convincing a giggly 6 month old (in between yawns and suspiciously tired looking eye rubs) that she really needed to sleep.
Hope that really helps the point hit home.
What I need to be easily able to identify is, as now, when she has a growth spurt that all her long sleeve tops will not fit her any more.  This is actually not the case – because they are all different sizes. It was worth for 0-3 months in terms of differentiation, but I don’t currently have access to the data.
Let me give this some perspective. Babies clothing is usually found as: Newborn (we never fit in those), 0-3 months (we grew out of these really quickly), 3-6 months (way to many things with labels still on), 6-9 months (the stuff we’re just starting to box up), 9-12 month (what should have been winter stuff but will now need to be worn over the summer) 12-18 months and so on.
Within this are variations on what weight limit the shops classify as the average weights your babies will be. To give you some idea here is some data from my 6-9 month collection in my washing pile earlier:
Tesco F&F: 20ib (Height: 74cm)
Mini Mode: No weight (Height: 68-70cm)
JoJo Maman Bebe: 6-12 month. No height or weight measurements. (but its from a dungaree style dress so it will fit for a lot longer)
Disney baby and George (ASDA): 21ib (68-74cm)
Disney baby (Tesco): 20ib (Height 74cm)
Mantaray at Debenhams: 21ibs (Height 74cm)
Next: 21ibs (No height)
Pep&Co: 21ibs (No Height)
Mothercare: 20ibs (No height)
Which is a complete pain as you can end up with a couple of weeks growth use between one shirt and another. Which means you have to filter through your washing as they grow out of things.
Lily is at a point where she loves to wiggle. Trying on every shirt individually is just not usually an option. So I need to be able to do bulk removals of clothing into the loft. Currently I have to leave the pile growing in a box for 2-3 weeks while she grows out of the bigger stuff and starts to be able to fit into the smaller stuff of the next size up.
Why can’t shops just start to mirror up on their sizes?
I ask – why can’t shops use the weight limit as their sizing for babies? This would make my life so much easier. At least it would also be clear then when I purchased the clothing how long she might be in them for.
I’m not really asking for that much – am I?
What are your thoughts? Have you ever been annoyed at children’s clothing?
Love to you all and happy knitting
MrsKirstyHoll
x

Thursday 27 July 2017

W.I.P Pikachu (Crochet)


So the above just got frogged because I forgot to count stitches and ended up with twice as many as I needed. That was about 6 hours work (don't judge :) I'm new to crochet). So it was a rather heartbreaking realisation.

My first attempt at this adorable Pikachu was using this cotton yarn. Fairly good price on Amazon - although I did find it frayed really easily. I'm definitely not recommending it for beginners.

Personally, apart from finishing off the stash yarn, I won't be using this again. DK weight but needs about 3.5mm hook to be even slightly usable. If anyone can suggest any recommended patterns for this I would welcome as I have a few balls of yellow, red and black to use up.
Now using this yarn:
Aran weight sugar n cream. Happy days. 3.00mm hook. It's the same brand as I used for the dog and I should have started with it really.

This is where we are so far. Much more shaping this time! Definite progress

And from above...

This project seems to be a pick up and randomly put down type of in progress work. If I'm honest, I do find this rather frustrating. But it's my own fault because I keep changing the bag it's in - I was only able to get these photos by tidying my lounge and finding the last bag I took this to work in.
So locating it means I can hopefully make some progress on it this weekend while I'm curled up on the sofa recovering from the flu. Today I took my first sick day for 2 and a half years. Not a brag, just a general observation that I hate being sick and that I usually have a pretty good immune system.
Immune system - you have let me down. What's really annoying is I'm going to miss my brother in laws stag do (a Total Wipeout style assault course).
Hopefully this might make some progress, we're both off this weekend so I might get a chance to recharge.
Love to you all and Happy Knitting!
MrsKirstyHoll
x

Christmas Knits - Inspiration Wanted

Hello all, I'm in need of some help!
So I'm after some Christmas knits inspiration as this is the first year I've actually got fast enough at knitting I might finish something!
I'm thinking along the lines of: Blankets/hats/scarfs/shawls etc. Ideally it's would be good if it didn't need sizing.
Or just suggestions of yarn I should knit with would also be fabulous. It would be fun to try something new :)
Thanks for any advice!
Love to you all and happy knitting!
MrsKirstyHoll
x

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Wednesday 19 July 2017

WIP – Terribly Simple Shawl



So this is a super easy knit that I was inspired to do after seeing A Tangled Yarn’s blog post a few weeks ago. The pattern from Caitlin Ffrench got screen-shootted into my gallery and stored for a latter date.
I got bored and went rifling through my stash (mainly to see if I could justify buying more yarn – turn out that a no-go currently… damn). But what I did find was about 5 balls of cotton textured yarn which have little bobbles all the way through. Honestly, I only brought them because they were only 99p a ball…. Then I had no idea what to do with them…
…Until now.
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I’m going to be honest, I love the effect it’s making – the textured yarn seems to match up really well with the lack of any interesting knitting pattern – but its so uncomfortable to knit with. This is a knit that needs to be done, as apposed to one to fall in love with. This is the first me knit I’ve done for a long time. It’s going to be my first shawl and I will take it to work with me – the aircon is freezing and it’d be nice to have an additional layer to hand to wrap around my shoulders!
The plan is to increase the size of the circular needles every 10cm or so to see what happens. Should also mean the long rows knit up a bit quicker!
That’s all from me for tonight. It’s been a long couple of days and I need to get some sleep!
Love to you all and happy Knitting!
MrsKirstyHoll
x