A trip up west and reaffirmation

I shall explain the reaffirmation part of the title. Back in January I started this teeny tiny blog with hopes to be able to turn it into something special, I saw myself as Anne Frank and Debbie Bliss all rolled into one. It was to concentrate on wool and knitting by me and wood and crafting by my better half. Fast forward ten months and it has had a meagre three or four posts by me and very little interest (shock of all horrors). Now a hell of a lot has changed in the stratosphere that is my life such as; the fiancé has moved to the west coast of Scotland and is currently doing an apprenticeship as a Forrest crafts person with the forestry commission, I have a new job with Connexions doing guidance for young people, but mainly we live separate lives.

All that aside this week I spent up in Scotland at the kintyre peninsular with rich and it inspired something deep within me to give this another go.

In honour of that feeling and my roller coaster of other feeling this page will be changing quite a lot and I will become the Anne Frank of yarn... Eventually!

Lors scarf

So this is a lovely little picture of the scarf I handcrafted for my sister. As this is the first thing I've made for my sister in general and especially for her birthday. Also because this lady is a mother and a vixen and I really want to show her off.

The sad reality and lor's birthday

Ahhh new year, the smell of fresh starts. The buzz of excitement that anything is possible. It's an electric time people are fresh from their breaks. They have full belly's and new toys to play with. (insert picture of new toy here).

However a whole two weeks into January and the NEW YEAR has a very different feel. You suddenly hit the ground running and run out of steam very quickly. Reality hits home, you wake up and smell the mocha-chino. Or at least that's what happened to me. "I'll start a blog" I said. "I'll keep it up to date" I promised. "I'll knit more and learn more".

Well the first two weeks might not have been perfect trying to fit in blogging, knitting and a 60 hour working week has been hard. However here I am and once again raring to go.

Two little projects I have been working on are going marvellously. I have just finished a huge chunky knit, green circle scarf for my sisters 30th. Lor's birthday is exactly 21 days after christmas and is always so stressfull, the shops are still full of the dregs of sale items and i am always soo broke. This year though no such thing i was prepared begining of december, started over the holidays and had it cheaply and lovingly finished off today by sewing in the loose strands. Secondly I have finished two patches for my granny blanket. But more on the later.

I was wondering how much the rest of the world is pie in the sky, pigs will fly and believe themselves to be wonder woman-esq as in they can take on three thousand different responsibilities and hobbies and have time for them all. Or is it just me?

To put two faces to the name

And a little shot of the beginner, beginning at the beginning!

And it begins

So as I was saying on my earlier post about my need to become a skilled craft person. This element alone has its own plan which starts with a beginners blanket, containing all of the stitches I know of stitched into squares and stitched together. And on the 1st of the 1st 2013 I have already made a start on this, see.

First day of the year and first blog post

Welcome, welcome one and all! To the 1st, all new, shiny and exciting knitting blog created, courated and collated by Rachael Emily Punton and with a few directional hints, tips and maybe a collumnist position given to my fiancé Richy Daniel Barrett aka Bazza, who makes fantastic things out of wood. Together we make Bazza bear and little bear or soon to be Mrs bear. Now darlings let me explain some things. Firstly it's a fresh new day on a fresh new year and I feel anything but fresh. It is 2013 and inevitably the year I shall turn the dreaded twenty six, my LATE twenties, the 26 - 30 box on forms. As it is such an important year in that way I make a deffinate decision to make some of those loose dreams (urgh cheesy) firm realities and more specifically goals that I shall meet. But to keep this short Im going to aim not to babble, however by saying that I have already babbled thus defeating the object, oh dear. The following are said goals, get them out the way, before I  babble again. So here it goes. 

You guessed it. Create a blog... Become a blogger... And presently  a technological queen and so forth. 

Secondly actually become good at a craft that I have fooled people into thinking I can do for the last year, that being knitting foremost followed by crocheting and macramé-ing. The first I have never developed any further than beginner, the other two well I haven't really reached any stage and quite possibly won't. 

Thirdly join as many knitting groups that is possible, realistically that means pluck up the courage to go to at least one, specifically the knitting group that resides at Armley mills museum. The most amazing old woollen mill ten minutes from my front door. 

These wooley resolutions excite me and are also very achievable, I mean look I'm achieving one of the three now, fantastic! This blog shall track my progress. these goals were set not through slurred lips after sipping on whiskey out of a hip flask after the stroke of 12.00. No no no, they were planned and premeditated around two months ago, set up so that come the first of January 2013 (today) it's all systems a go go.