Knitting - Sort of!

The Princess is making snail-like progress.  Whenever I think about knitting on it - something more important I need to do pops into my mind.  

Like the dishes. 

Or tidying the spare room.  

This would annoy me less if it meant that my house was now a pristine shining show-home.  But it isn't.  It seems I get distracted by something else  (usually paper, ink and glitter) before I actually do the dishes or tidying.

The Princess continues to defy all sensible construction traditions.  Having picked up the 865ish stitches for the wide border I had a moment of optimism when I thought "oh - at least I have the rows getting shorter to look forward to".

Wrong.

 The wide border begins with 865 stitches and 220 rows later it still has 865 stitches. 

Insanity.

I half-heartedly started working on this sock in the hope it'll spark the knitting fires.  So far, it's just resulted in a 3/4 finished sock.

In fact the most  yarn action I've had this week was inspired by some earrings that my friend the Caked Crusader pointed out to me - with the question "How cute are these?" And I had to agree they are darn cute.  (There are a LOT of really cute (and sometimes odd!) things there - the knitted knitting octopus is amazing  and there's a pattern!  The necklaces are sweet too.)

Realising that I had yarn (which at my current knitting rate was never going to be anything but yarn), and beads, I figured I could probably make a pair.  So I did.

Not quite as tidy as the originals -- winding little balls of yarn neatly is way harder than I expected it to be.

Perhaps I should take it as a good sign that while making my second pair, the temptation of little needles and small balls of yarn meant I started making these:

So maybe the knitting drought is ending!

This is not London

What is happening to my lovely city?

Over the past few days I read and watched the news with increasing sadness and disbelief as the senseless looting and violence has spread across the city.  As I went to bed last night the vandals were moving closer to home as cars were burned in nearby Lewisham and shops vandalised in Woolwich.

Today when I went to buy some milk I was surprised to see my closest Tesco closed, and then spooked as it became clear that all the shops along the road were closed.  I reached the local Co-op to find its windows smashed in - and heard the estate agent closing up his shop explain that the police advised all the shop owners to close up for the day as there was the possibility of something kicking off in central Greenwich.

At 2 in the afternoon.

I don't know what's going on and I don't know why it's happening.  I watch the news and listen to the experts try to explain it but realise it will never make sense to me.

What I do know is - this isn't London. Whatever is happening will pass and the goodness that I see in London every day will win out.

I know that because of photos like this one.  It was taken in Clapham this morning at an impromptu, Twitter inspired, London clean up flash mob.  Thousands and thousands of people are signing up to similar clean up groups around the city.

That is my London.

(Apologies for the lack of knitting content.  Not much to report in any event.  I have finished the Princess edging and just into the wide border.  Pics and details in next update.)