Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw Roundup!

My life has been pretty much taken over by the Trailwalker 2009 preparations. One sprained but recovering ankle, a recent 20km hike, an upcoming smaller 11km hike and then it'll be the BIg Day.

I am terrified out of my hiking boots.

So I am here now to show you the roundup of all the lovely goodies up for grabs for the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

Fantastic, hey?

I am also lettng you know that I am closing the prize draw at 8:30am on the 18th of July 2009, as that will be the precise moment that Team Geek go forth to attempt 100km in 30 hours.

So if you haven't donated to take part, you've got under 2 weeks left! Hurry hurry!

And I leave you now with me, sitting way up near the end of Stage 7 with the Devil's Dyke pub just over the horizon - I swear, we could already see the damned pub, but I think there was at least one more hill in the way - with a spectacular view behind me.

And if you think I don't look tired, I'm obviously good at lying to you.

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 5

It's a little late in the night, but it's still Wednesday!

Which means it's time for me to show you the last of the prizes for the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

I came home one evening some time back to find an odd parcel on the floor. It was from Brighton, and it was from Jen, better known as Where's Wooly. 

And inside the package was this:

A handmade DPN case, with stitch markers and a Knitty badge!

Jen made this herself, and it is so very nice. And incredibly generous, too, as she donated this prize even though she had also made a donation on JustGiving.com!

And like the other prizes before it, it's for you to win!

So please, please keep donating and supporting our great adventure to do something amazing for an even more amazing charity that looks after some of the most amazing human beings, the Gurkhas!

Four weeks to go! We're scared, but we're going!

"Percentages Are Beautiful." - Jared Flood

I am somewhat lucky/unlucky.

I was lucky to secure myself a spot on Jared Flood's Plan Your Own Aran workshop, hosted by Alice at Socktopus on the 9th of June.

I was also lucky to get tickets to join an audience for a recording of QI, the nicest, cleverest show there is, with the ever-lovely Stephen Fry.

But we were then unlucky in that we didn't get into the audience for the evening that we were invited. They got full up, but luckily we were told we could ring up and arrange for priority tickets, because we couldn't make our initial invite.

So I rebooked our invitation. Unluckily, on the same evening as Jared's workshop. Because I'm an idiot, but also because there were only two evenings left.

Unluckily, last week my hayfever turned into a horrendous cold. This is why for those of you paying attention, it's Saturday and yet I am not out walking to train for Trailwalker. I am at home, diminishing stocks of Kleenex Balsam.

Luckily, I did not sneeze very loudly at all during the QI recording we finally attended. It was fantastic fun and I learned loads about the episode's chosen topic.

Finally, I am lucky in that my husband is Nick Irish. Because he felt sorry for me and booked me into Jared's other workshop, Seamless Sweaters.

Jared Flood. The Jared Flood.

I'd have been in awe if it weren't for the fact that while I was chatting to some of the other people taking the class, Jared walked right up and said hello to people he already knew - this was his third workshop hosted by Alice, and I think his fifth overall since Ravelry Day - and then turned to me and said, "I haven't met you yet. Hi, I'm Jared," and happily shook my hand.

He's quite a sweetheart. I think it's because he just exudes comfort. It's a good thing, because I was never really good at math and Seamless Sweaters had a fair bit of math in, but Jared got us comfortable with the subject in no time. Jared likes his numbers.

I mean, really likes his numbers.

So we learned how to construct a sweater seamlessly, from the bottom up. This had a lot to do with numbers and gauge and measurements, but also plenty to do with choices. We learned the various pairings and not-quite-pairings of decreases and knitted a swatch to demonstrate these differences. We learned a new way of doing a left-leaning decrease so that it better matched the right-leaning decrease.

Here's Jared showing us where things were on a standard V-neck jumper. He had this, a Cobblestone jumper as well as a gorgeous cabled caridgan with him, to demonstrate the various techniques and bits of math to us.

I think the only thing I really missed out learning with Jared was steeking, which he covered in the Plan Your Own Aran class that I had to miss. I could have gone along to the Hemlock Ring Blanket class, too, later the same evening, but I figured I already pushed my luck plenty with getting into this class.

Though it would have been nice to not have been a sniffling, sneezing mess all throughout the class.

I finished my swatch when I got home:

From the bottom corner clockwise: paired k2tog/ssk; paired ssk/k2tog; slip 2 as if to k2tog, k1, pass 2 sts over; and slip 1 as if to knit, k2tog, pass 1 st over.

Amazing how different they look when you see them all on one swatch like that.

Unluckily, the day out to take the class finally did me in and I had to stay home from work yesterday with my stupid cold. And we had to cancel the training hike because my cold meant that two of us were out. But despite such dismal things, at least I get to be well fed by the hubby.

Thanks, Nick: fluffy pancakes with mascarpone, chilled mango and Little Scarlet jam.

And thank you, Jared Flood, for such a wonderful workshop and for giving us your time so generously.

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 4

Crap! It's Thursday!

Still dealing with the cold, and the tube strikes delaying my trip home have meant that Wednesday completely slipped my mind, but nonetheless, here is the next prize for the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

Not long ago Alice held one of her first ever trunk shows at Socktopus, and that was when I met the lovely Debbie of Skein Queen. We got to chatting about the mad thing I am doing with Trailwalker, and she said, "Oh, are you running a prize draw? Would you like something?"

And she handed me this:

A skein of Elegance in Dusky Passion.

This yarn is an incredibly silky-soft blend of merino, bambo, silk and nylon and feeling just absolutely amazing. It knits up to a chubby 4-ply - the label says 4 ply plus/sport - and there's 385 yards in the skein, so plenty for a luxurious pair of socks, or a delicate shoulder shawl!

And the colour! The colour is a beautiful mixof dusky pink, pink, peach and pale rust, and I utterly adore it. But I won't keep it. It's for you to win!

So keep the donations coming! I've got one more prize to show you next week, and then I'll show you them all again, and then it won't be much longer before I'm setting off with Team Geek from the starting point to cover the 100km to Brighton!

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 3

A quick one from me this fine Wednesday evening as I'm fighting off my ususal summer cold, but I can't possibly not share with you the next prize up for grabs on the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

The lovely Alice of Socktopus decided she wanted in on the whole walking gig, so she very kindly and generously donated a great little duo as an excellent prize:

A copy of Cookie A's brilliant book, Sock Innovation and a skein of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn!

As a lot of you probably know by now, Cookie A's highly-anticipated book is incredibly educational and beautiful that teaches so much about sock design. Everything from elements in a sock design, cable suckage, adjustments and pattern flow gets discussed in good detail, and of course, the patterns are all gorgeous and very interesting. And each pattern gives you tips o how to resize them to your liking, so you get to put to good use everything that you've learned in order to knit the socks you want.

And since a lot of the patterns in the book look best in a semi-solid yarn, we've picked out the lovely Artisan Sock from Hazel Knits for its brilliant colour and gorgeous feel. I'm knitting a pair of socks with it at the moment and goodness, is it ever squooshy! I'm really enjoying working with it, so I'm pretty sure it'll be well-received as a prize.

No walking shennanigans from us this weekend, as it's UK Ravelry Day but next weekend we'll be tackling 40km and the weekend after that, the dreaded double. Eep! Not long now before the real thing, so we're ramping up the training.

Thanks so much to those who have donated so far, and good luck to those who've put their names into the prize draw! It's getting really exciting now!

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 2

It's Wednesday again, and I have another prize to show you for the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

Way back when I was only beginning to plan my fundraising, I asked Diane if she wanted to contribute in any way, as she is very clever and talented like that. She said, sure. She'd think of something.

That something, my friends, is this:

A skein of her very own handspun!

Details of the yarn are on her blog here but I can at least tell you that it is Spunky Eclectic's very scrummy Corriepaca fibre in the colourway Riverwalk, which, as Diane pointed out, seemed incredibly appropriate!

Thank you very, very, very much, Diane, for such a beautiful contribution!

So what are you waiting for? This lovely handspun could be yours to knit, squish, cuddle, name, what-have-you and all you need to do is make a donation to the Gurkha Welfare Trust via our JustGiving site and I'll add your name to the hat!

Don't forget that to enter the draw you cannot claim GiftAid, and do add the line Trailwalker Prize Draw to your message so that I know you'd like to join in.

It has been big news for the Gurkhas in Britain this last week as they've finally won their long battle to gain the right to stay in the country after their years of loyal service. But just because it's all over it doesn't mean we should stop supporting them.

The more I walk the English countryside the more I am in awe of it, and the further I walk the more respect I have for these men who have such gregarious strength and solid nature. I can't wait until I get to meet some of them when we do the final walk. We'll probably get overtaken!

Meanwhile, yes, there has been knitting and spinning, but more spinning. My mojo is finally back!

Trailwalker 2009 - The Prize Draw, Pt. 1

Well, now's the time for it. This is the Trailwalker 2009 Team Geek Prize Draw!

For the next four Wednesdays I'll be posting up a new prize each time that you will have a chance to win when you take part!

As I've written before, as part of Team Geek myself and three intrepid friends are going to attempt 100km in 30 hours on the 18th adn 19th of July 2009 to raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The Gurkhas, of course, have set the record for this jaunt by taking a mere 9 hours and 50 minutes.

In doing my part for our fundraising efforts, I'm going to run a prize draw. Yarny and fibrey goodness could be yours!

If you would like to take part, just visit our JustGiving site at http://www.justgiving.com/teamgeek and you can even leave us a mesage of encouragement. Be aware that donations that are made as part of a prize draw cannot claim GiftAid.

If you do donate to take part in the prize draw, please include the line Trailwalker Prize Draw as part of your message.

So, on to the first of these prizes!

The lovely Jools at Spindlefrog has kindly and generously donated this beautiful Luxury Spinner's Set in the colourway Magic Spell. You get approximately 1 oz. each of Angora, Baby Camel, Kid Mohair, Baby Alpaca, Mulberry Silk and Cashmere.

It is ridiculously lush and squishy! I just can't tell you how gorgeous it is.

She has also included as a separate second prize a $30 gift voucher to spend at her Etsy shop.

Many, many thanks, Jools, for your generosity and support!

So what are you waiting for? Start donating, follow our training adventures at Team Geek's blog and look forward to next Wednesday when I show you what else is up for grabs!

I Be a Bad Blogger

My life has been mostly consumed by preparing for this great big Trailwalker event. Last weekend has been the only weekend in a while where I've not found myself trudging around somewhere, nursing sore calves and looking at OS maps. I've been racking up the miles, and I'm getting better, but I am still so terrfied by the full 100km.

But there has been knitting. I'm still working on Lindsay's much-delayed birthday present - though having seen it in progress, she approves of said gift - and have started a couple of other things.

I finally decided that it was time to join the revolution against the establishment - or something like that - and not knit sock club socks if I don't feel like it. Bearing in mind, I still want to do the top down socks, but I'm currently wary of toe-up socks, because I still can't seem to cast-off on the cuff loosely enough for my comfort.

One thing happened when I made this decision: I got all excited about knitting again. I started poring over patterns again. I looked at my queue. I cleared my queue a little. I bounced around my stash. Lace! Socks! Pullovers! Baby things! It was all fun again.

And the freedom! I pulled out a skein of yarn that I'd already had wound, a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Sock in Tiziano Red, and searched for a pattern. After finding one, I cast on.

And then decided I didn't like that pattern enough to make it with this gorgeous yarn.

So what did I do? I looked around some more.

Some things, though, are pretty inevitable.

Thirty, Part Four: April's End and Another FO

So on this, the last day of April - and therefore, the end of my month-long celebration, as it were - let's recap what happened.

The day after my surprise birthday party, Mummy Irish came down with my lovely bean bag chair, and took away the unwanted furniture in my office. All of which eventually led to my new office, which I am loving so much it's untrue.

The same evening, Nick took me to the Barbican to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform music from their over-75 years of performing music for film and television. When the first notes from the horn section at the start of the Superman theme came up, I swear I was tearing up. I love the LSO. As a film geek, I have every right to.

On the 8th, my actual birthday, I was at work. But Nathalie had sneakily got a cake and we had a little sing-song and cake-eating session with the knitting group. Later that evening Nick took me to one of the nicest dinners I've ever had at the poshest place I've been to, L'Autre Pied. It was incredibly delicious and a fantastic treat, probably not to be had again for a very long time.

Exactly a week later, Nick, myself, Diane and her lovely hubby Neil - whose birthday is also in April - met for dinner and then walked across Hyde Park to the Royal Albert Hall, where they were screening Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, in HD.

And the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing the entire soundtrack. Along with the London Voices and the London Oratory School Scola. All three performed in the original recording of the soundtrack.

Yes, I am a geek. But it was glorious and we've already booked for next year when they do THe Two Towers.

Then, most recently, there was Wonderwool. But I'll get to that eventually.

As you can tell by now, Nick has spoiled me silly this year. But I spoiled myself, too, as I was very lucky this year and received birthday money from both my parents.

So I bought yarn:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Cobalt Bloom, Downpour, Citrine, Lucky, Rooster Rock, Kaw Kaw and Seal Rock.

And I bought fibre:

Southern Cross Fibre Polwarth in Thorny Devil, Budgie and Byron Bay.

I also bought myself spindles, but they're currently delayed. I'll showcase them when I get them, if I don't get too absorbed in playing with them, that is.

But as with most brithdays, sometimes, you realize that you've changed just enough that you really want something that you normally would never consider as a necessity.

Like say, a new handbag.

My mother would be so proud. Her little girl, finally buying her own handbag. Honestly, when I told her I was going to buy a handbag, I could almost hear the tears of joy.

And meanwhile, on April Fool's Day I cast on a non-club pair of socks. There was a knitalong going on for STR yarn and the pattern they chose was Alice's own Shur'tugal. And I did know someone to whom I owed a pair of socks, and so fate had decreed.

Pattern: Shur'tugal by Alice Yu (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Covelite
Needles: 2.5mm on 80cm cable

This was a lovely, easy pattern to do and everything about it was pleasing: how the pattern flows from the ribbing and drops neatly into the heel flap, and how easy it was to memorize the pattern. The yarn is fantastic to work with and has a lovely feel to it. It's squooshy thanks to all the little cable crosses, but the fabric also feels very firm and strong. I think these socks will last a good long time.

And they're all ready to be wrapped up and gifted.

Thirty, Part Three: Surprises

I am not usually the most suspicious person. Things I get suspicious about are often rather factual or concrete, like perhaps a blip in my accounting, or someone's reasoning behind why they prefer one technique over another, or when someone it ourightly lying and I'm keen enough to perhaps raise an eyebrow and doubt their veracity.

My husband, I do not suspect of much at all.

But on Friday the 3rd, I headed over to Nathalie's with Michelle, where they said we would be having a little party for my birthday because Michelle was going away on holiday on my birthday, so a little Stash party would be in order.

I got there, found that Nick had arrived a little earlier, and then jumped out of my skin when a bunch of people yelled "SURPRISE!" and pelted me with balloons.

And there were Alice, Diane, Ruth and her boy Brian, Kerri, Lucy, Yuvee, and Chantelle.

So between Nick, Chantelle, Michelle and Nathalie, I got my first ever real surprise birthday party.

Of all the people who turned up, it was Chantelle who I least expected to be there, on account of her living and working in Swindon. She'd taken the train down just for the evening. I know I keep telling you why she is awesome, but you can see how I never seem to run out of reasons.

So there was lots of food, lots of talking and catching up, and lots more food. Everyone had brought something, which meant there was plenty.

And I had the best kind of birthday cake.

A birthday cake made up of lots of little Arianna cupcakes!

Nick had ordered the cupcakes in three flavours: red velvet with cream cheese icing, coffe with mocha icing and my favourite, chocolate with raspberry icing. Yum! Just as yum are Nathalie's homemade macaroons, which I utterly love and I was so happy that she'd made some for the party.

L to R: Nathalie, Lucy, Kerri, Chantelle, Ruth and Yuvee.

Alice and Deuce.

And unlike most years, I was overwhelmed by presents. I mean, I normally get a couple from Nick and then my parents send me money so I can buy my own - which I have, but that's for another post - but it was so nice to receive unexpected presents from fantastic people.

AllSpunUp fibre from Nathalie; photogprahy books from Chantelle; a knitted mug from Alice; Fat Face voucher from Michelle and a little notebook from her daughter Natalie; chocolates and Socktopus vouchers from Kerri and Lucy; cashmere (!) and the Majacraft sillyfast whorl from Diane.

Yuvee got me a copy of The Intentional Spinner, by Judith MacKenzie McCuin, and Ruth said she'll get me some yoga classes.

All of which are beyond wonderful, but still nothing compared to having an actual birthday party and having all your friends around having a fantastic time.

Thank you so much, all of you.