Fun with the olympians

I was given the opportunity (by invitation) to go to Bucuresti and be a part of a ceremony for the Olympians who won medals. Bucuresti is a long way away but I really couldn't turn it down.... I have followed our gymnasts avidly though the Olympic games, being able to personally thank and congratulate them in person was a golden oportunity.

So I'm absolutely exhausted after my little jaunt off to Bucuresti. I left at 4am on Tuesday morning, arrived at 5pm, function at 6pm, then back to the station to get a train at 12.30am and arrived back in Arad, Wednesday 1230pm.

 

Not surprising that the folks there said I was crazy. 

 

However, it meant I  got to meet the gymnastics team. Here's a pic of Nadia and I with our gold medal winner, Sandra Izbasa

 

I look a little crazed due to sleep depravation.

Winner!!

Well, I realise I was supposed to post my winner yesterday, but I didn't manage.

I have however picked a winner.... yey!

This comment:

Lynda said...
Lots of great choices for sure! I really love the Gone Campin! Thanks for the great giveaway

raindrop1963 on Ravalry

So congratulations to Lynda (I'm about to write you a nice email)

It was nice to see some new people pass by my blog. Stay tuned, I will be holding more giveaways with mymemories.com soon.

New toys and a giveaway

Ok, so you all know I am not a 'scrapper' or someone who does scrap-booking. However, I do love having photo albums and while I usually subscribe to the boring store-bought slot albums, I had the fantastic opportunity to try out the 'My memories suite' digital scrapbook software from www.MyMemories.com.

I have to  admit, if I had known digital scrapbooking could be this easy I might have been on board sooner. It's a fantastic and easy to use piece of software. I managed to produce this effortlessly in a matter of minutes.... 

OK.... I'm a beginner but you can check out some other peoples use of this software in the mymemories.com gallery

And for those who just arn't that into photos.... you can make other things, like a new header ....

The good news is that I get to share the love....I will be giving away one full copy of the software in 2 weeks time. If you want to enter into the draw all you have to do is visit www.MyMemories.com and pick one of the digital paper packs or layout that you like, come back and post it in a comment. 

I'll be drawing a winner 2 weeks from today on the 11th of August. Have fun cruising around the digital software on the my memories site, I'm off to do some more work on my album....

PS....There's also a free promotional code on the right hand side for a 10$ discount with mymemories.com

Can I come back to blogland please??

So, probably no-one reads my blog any more.... but then, I havn't updated in 2 years so it's not surprising.

So, 2 years down the line, we have another child, Nadia, she's a bare 9 weeks old and thriving. Rafaela is a noisy (almost) 3 year old who is raring to go morning till night.

We are still living our busy life here in Romania, though, it has been busier with 2 little ones.... and we thought one was bad... ha ha.

Anyway, in celebration of my return to blogging, we will be having a givaway with some fabulous software from My Memories.... more on that next time.

Short and sweet but hopefully the first of my return!

Visiting

Well, part of the long silence has been due to our long awaited trip to Britain. Philip and I have not visited family and friends in Scotland together ever (I know, that's shameful isn't it?) and since we have a little girl, we thought it was high time we got ourselves over for a visit.

We drove all the way over with my parents... yes, that was a little nuts, but at least we got to see my grandfather, aunts and uncles and as many of our friends as we could squeeze into our short visit.


Rafaela loved meeting all sorts of new people and even though she was exhausted, I think she did benefit from it... OK so she probably didn't benefit from the lollipop someone gave her...



Philip got to enjoy a brief paddle in the sea



While Rafaela napped on the beach


We went to Loch Lomond with friends


We have loads of pics of Rafaela sleeping in different places, here are a couple of our favourites..

The beanbag nap


The Luton Airport nap

When we got back, it wasn't long till her birthday. Rafaela was 1 year old and decided it was the perfect time to start walking. She's been walking a week now and she's realized how much more convenient it is than crawling. It's really fun to watch he go. We'll post pics soon.

Bits and bobs

Well, I finished the Caera cowl, it knit up absolutely beautifully and I love how it looks, unfortunately I can't post a pic as I think the person due to receive it reads my blog. However, for all you ravelers, please feel free to peruse my pics here

I also, in a fit of sheer insanity, cast on something else, however, I believe it was a wiser choice of pattern... the dropstitch scarf, I have knitted it before, so I don't need to look at the pattern. Here's a sneak preview.



There was another pattern I wanted to knit and I checked the needle size required and I thought 3.75mm... no problem, I've got those needles. You see, a few years ago when I took up knitting, I bought about 30 sets of needles on ebay for £10 (in fact, it might have been more needles than that) and since then have completed my collection as I needed with bits and bobs, however, it seems that in all my knitting I have either never needed 3.75mm.... or I just made do with another size. So, I thought I would try out the new spectra flair acrylic tips from knit pro. They are much cheaper than the metal or wood tips which suits my 'bare minimum' price range. I ordered them a few days ago and was very happy when they arrived today... that's really fast delivery for me as they came from the UK.



I bought them at the ebay store of www.P2tog.com and I would happily recommend the shop to anyone as they were very efficient and well priced (items and postage).I can't wait to try them out!..... Oh yeah, and the little lady knitting card is a needle size conversion chart.

Last of all (then I will let you go) a while back I did a swap with a fabulous etsy shop. I received an email from Elizabeth, of Creations by Elizabeth, who was interested in a swap (involving nappies) so her end of the swap was these absolutely gorgeous fabric letters for Rafaela. We will put them on a little rail in her bedroom (once we have built her bedroom that is)


As you can see, there's a good reason as to why I don't get anything photographed these days!



Ok... I know I promised that would be it but just a quick not to say that I am having a sale on all my handpainted roving, just in case anyone is interested.

Outbacktus and Caera Christmas

Ok.... so I realised I never posted pics of the Outbacktus (lacy baktus) when it was finished, so here we are...


I love how it came out, it's a gift for someone.... and I don't really ever want to knit another one, it seemed stupidly difficult considering how uncomplicated the pattern is.

I also thought I would explain a little why I don't really knit (or blog) these days...

This is what just one wee section of my livingroom looks like after 10 minutes with Rafaela... Oh and she's making a quick getaway to mischief elsewhere... Multiply that by a house and you see my point.

All that said, I was feeling a little crazy last night, so I cast on a christmas knit. I would like to make a few knitted gifts for christmas presents so I thought I would get started (though, whether I get it knitted in time is another thing entirely)


This is the Caera Cowl which I am knitting in new lanark donegal silk tweed granit and cobalt. I love cables, I love how beautiful they make knits, but this was a prime example of why I should check out the instructions of a pattern more clearly before I commit to a knit. This is the description of one of the cable patterns

"C5B _ Slip next 4 stitches on cable needle and hold in back, K1; slip 3 of the 4 stitches on the cable needle back into the left hand needle; then (before knitting the stitches) bring the cable needle with the last stitch to front between the needles, passing to the left of the yarn: then k3 stitches from left hand needle; then knit last stitch from the cable needle."

Talk about a pain in the needles.... looks like I might have to concentrate a little while I knit this. Still, at least it's a cowl and not a whole jumper!