Q and reports of my death

The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, but only by a bit :)
I've been down for the last two weeks with the eeeeebil cold from hell, so everything has been very quiet. It[s not been swine flu at least, and it's not gone down to my lungs. I am nearly cleared from it now, just in time to go back to work tomorrow...

I had intended to skip Q in the abc-along, but then dinner yesterday came to my rescue, and I finally have the energy to write something coherent, take pictures and prepare them, even if it's a bit late. Mmmm, food. So there is another recipe for you. I have a feeling S will be another recipe, so stay tuned!

Q is for Quick Chicken

- Halve a chicken breast per person and slather it with pesto.
- Wrap a slice of unsmoked back bacon around each piece and put in an oven tray.
- Add a splash of olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and plenty of cherry tomatoes.
- Bake in the oven (about 30 min at 200C (fan), or until the chicken is done)
- Eat! (with some pasta or couscous)


It's really easy food to make, and I find it ideal for entertaining people. The preparation is really simple and quick, and the end result looks quite fancy.

Balcony progress shoot

Stressful things need to be offset by showing off pretty things.

My Hanami Stole. I still have one or two more basket weave repeats to go, but it's slowly growing.

Elena's cowl. It's only missing weaving in the ends, and blocking. You may recall I started making this to reach her after not having talked to her for months. I've still not contacted her, because it's totally scary. But I have her cowl. I hope to give it to her before winter.

The second of the Bluerose socks. I'm halfway down the heel flat. It really is a quick pattern.


I'm also putting together a small pattern for the brain, which fills me with excitement. A pattern! Mine! Even if so small.

P is for P Meal

A "P meal" is what Alex and I have when we are tired and don't want to bother with dinner.

1. Get some pasta

2. Some prawns and peas, frozen for convenience!
   

3. Boil it all together (6 minutes for pasta, 3 minutes all together)


4. Add some pesto



5. ...


6. Profit!

Yarn and brains

This past Sunday, as it was the last weekend I was going to be in London for a while (Alex has finished his placement and is now back home!), I headed out to I Knit. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed, mainly because I was expecting a much bigger shop. Most of what they had was animal hair, and then a bit of cotton. I was starting to become disheartened, when I found this.

Habu silk and stainless steel yarn (rav link). I about fell over, and in love. So I now have plenty of stainless steel yarn, and plan to make myself some chainmail.
Ok, perhaps just a shawl.

It has stainless steel! *squee!*







Oh, noes, the flying brains are attacking!

It is a common joke between Alex and I that, if we found each other's brain lying around, please try not to kick it, just pick it up and dust it off a bit. So I made a brain as a silly surprise for when he got back. Does it even look like a brain?
     
The brain is made using hyperbolic knitting, the basis of which is just simply to knit through the front and back of every stitch to make it grow hyperbolically. The spine and bulb are some i-cord with increases (can post exact instructions if there is demand for them). I promise it looks more like a brain when you actually hold it, but I found it very difficult to capture its brain-ness in the pictures!

Two steps forward, one step back

Two steps forward

Finished off the first of my Bluerose socks, complete with anatomically correct toes.

Bound off the top of Elena's Ice Queen. Once I actually read the instructions properly, it was all much easier.

One step back

This weekend, I discovered that Demeter was not as finished as I thought. That centre split for the neckline is not centred, so there is some unravelling to do. I don't yet know what happened: current options are me messing up the counting or choosing the number for the wrong size (or something excitingly different).

Two steps forward

I have two specialist referrals to deal with my tiredness problems.

I have new meds to try. They may not work, but at least I'm doing something rather than waiting for the appointments to materialise themselves.

One step back

Anxiety is creeping back, and it just makes everything more difficult. The tiredness doesn't help it, and everything has the potential to overwhelm.

At least I'm still ahead on the game!

O is for Obsolete

When I was in Spain last weekend, my parents and I tried to look for a public phone, as my mother's mobile had run out of battery and we wanted to call my brother (my father doesn't have a phone, and mine is from another country).
It was difficult. With the ubiquity of mobile phones, they are becoming nearly obsolete. There are, however, two public phones on the short way from my house to the supermarket :)



I tried to take a picture of a floppy disk to complement this O, but couldn't find any in the house. However, I still remember even the 8-inch and 5¼-inch floppies. They were nearly obsolete even when I came into contact with them. And now the 3½-inch has followed them, and I don't have any.