I am a weak human being...

I know I said that I wouldn't get anymore Christmas decoration craft stuff until I had used up the stuff I already had.  I realise that my actions today make me a weak person.  I know that I was only meant to be going to get some glue.  I know that this should not have taken me 2 hours at Hobbycraft, and cost me nearly £24.  Oh screw it, I had FUN!  And I'm really enjoying making these decorations and experimenting.  You'll get the idea when I mention that I've not even knitted a stitch yet today.  This is what I got today:

Also, again in my defence, I didn't buy any wool, or any knitting patterns, which is a big thing for me! 

So, my efforts today are:

The last one here was an idea that I got for my lecturer today.  She was wearing a necklace in this style of pearl beads threaded on ribbon.  I was mesmorised by it and kept staring at it!  It was so simple and elegant, and I thought it would make a lovely alternative to tinsel in my quest to make a homemade decorated Christmas tree.  This started as an idea to make a few things for my tree and have a little fun and a break from my knitting.  But it's taken on a mind of it's own.  I'm really enjoying it! 


I had a really fun tutorial today.  It was about ECGs, the last in a series of four being giving by some middle level doctors.  It was fun because we were doing various scenarios.  Case 1:  Dave goes.  Is stumped.  Lecturer says he can phone a friend.  He chooses me.  I answer flawlessly (Lecturer visibly impressed!) .  Case 2, after discussing a few points:  Hannah picked to answer.  She gets stuck.  Lecturer says:  "Alright then, you can phone a friend, but not Ashleigh".  Oooops!  Was I showing off too much?  Maybe a little.  But it was fun!  It also reassures me when I can demonstrate that I wasn't a complete loser and dounce that failed.  Later on, she kept on asking questions, and we came across one that no one could answer, so I had to ask if I was allowed to answer.  I know that this might sound a little vain, but it was a fairly relaxed and light-hearted atmosphere, and the other students are all pretty cool about me having failed, and I didn't get the impression that they minded!  And I don't always get it right.  I often just get used to blurting, or giving it a go.  They don't always remember that I get stuff wrong every now and then, they just think that I'm a fountain of knowledge.  I keep on getting approached about revision techniques and what I did last year.  It's flattering in a way.  I do try to tell it as it is though, and point out what I think were the mistakes that I made, so I give a balanced view of what happened.  I feel that I owe them at least that.

My arm is still hurting.  It looks a little like this, or maybe even a little worse!:

Right, back to my knitting.  Gonna try get a couple of rows done before bed, whilst I watch stuff I sky plused earlier.

Christmas decorations!

As I've mentioned in earlier blogs, over the last week or so, I've been accumulating random beads, card and ribbons with the intention of creating some Christmas decorations.  I didn't really have any idea of what I was going to do.  I had spotted some ideas in a hobbycraft (as in the shop) magazine, but didn't really like all of them, or want to do all of them.  My collection of oddments ended up looking a little like this:

So today, I decided that I should try make some progress on it.  I know that it's over a month till Christmas, so I shouldn't really be thinking of putting up a tree anytime soon... but there are several reasons I think it's justifiable to be thinking about making my Christmas decorations:
1) I live alone, so am responsible for no-one else's home asthetics!
2) I live alone, it's nice to have something to cheer me up, and what better than a colourful tree!
3) I live alone, so it's nice to have projects to work on to keep me occupied and not lonely
4) I live alone... have I flogged the "I live alone thing too much"?
5) It'll take me a while to make the decorations, so it's not like I'll be putting the tree up anytime soon
6) I won't actually be spending Christmas in my flat here in Bristol, I will be heading home to Derby.  So that means I miss about 3 or 4 days of the pre-Christmas period and some of the days after.  I need time to enjoy it!
7) Haven't got a tree yet, so will need to buy one before I can get too carried away....
Can anyone guess what I was thinking about whilst making my first attempts at decorations?  Speaking of which, here they are.  I've been making them very organically and just seeing where my hands lead me!  Any suggestions or ideas will be greatly received.

My swine flu jab is still giving me hassle.  Mainly just the local reaction.  I suppose that this is just my body mounting the necessary immune response.  But that doesn't mean I like the hot, red, tender lump on my arm, and the fact that my arm has been aching all day!  Grrr.  I've had the seasonal flu jab before, and it's not given me problems like this.  I was relieved when I was talking to some of the other Med Students today and they seemed to be having similar if not worse experiences.  I still say getting vaccinated is worth it, and I know that some of my friends don't really agree with the concept, I'm all for it!  It's for the greater good in my case, I'm around so many frail people that I wouldn't like the responsiblity of being a disease vector destroying my patients!  Also, worse case scenario, either in my capacity as a medical student or a nursing assistant, the NHS could be more heavily dependent on my services if swine flu really hits hard.  Just doing my bit, and in a selfish way, don't like being ill and missing things and feeling lousy.

And on to the next project!

Yeah, I know, it sounds like I'm rather obsessed with this knitting malarky!  I'm glad you're getting the idea!  I got some really cute little buttons and the cardie is finished:

So, as one thing finishes, the need for another project arises!  Yay!  I had a bit of a root around my bulging craft box whilst I was trying to tidy up a little and decided I should actually use up some of the random balls of wool that I have.  A couple of months ago, I made some strippy gloves for some little hands, and wanted to give them a chance to choose their own colours, so I brought several 50g balls, and didn't use them all, and obviously the colours that I did use didn't get used up.  So I have decided that my next projects should be an attempt to use some of these up, rather than wasting it, AND spending more money buying more wool.  As much as I love wondering round the wool shops and wool departments, it's an expensive hobby - it seems that my tastes are becoming more refined and experimental!  And the variety is a bit overwhelming as I want it all!  Hehehe!  My next project is.... a green strippy sweater for my (well, "my") baby boy, Connor.  It feels like ages since I last made him something.  It's a really cute pattern, very simple with a twist.  The pattern is from the same book that Rowan's second cardigan was in, I want to do most of the patterns in here!

And on to the rest of my day.  I rushed in for my first thing in the morning teaching, even though it was such a hassle, and I was seriously sleep deprived after last night.  It was a struggle!  And the fricking consultant hadn't written it in his diary so didn't have time to do it!  Grrr!  So annoying.  So I went button shopping instead.  And also went and got my swine flu jab.  Really don't want to get ill this winter, so a little discomfort now is infinitely preferable, whatever happens this winter with regards to the swine flu "epidemic".  My arm is a little uncomfortable right now, but not too bad.  Hopefully that'll be as bad as it gets.  A couple of my friends have felt a bit lousy the next day, so fingers crossed that I get to avoid that!

Well, that's about it for today.  Gonna make the effort to have an earlier night tonight!