Happy New Year! - BÚÉK!

(Now back to the sponge factory...)

(Ideje visszamenni szivacsot pakolni...)

Secret Pal 16 Questionnaire

9th January - sorry was too busy in the last week, only completed this now. I'll be moving today and dont know when can i get internet again, hopefully in a couple of days :)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like?

I like superwash merino - simple and effective ;) Couldn't warm up to bamboo or nylon content but dont mind acriliyc if its soft enough.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a needle case or two for my straigth ones, the circulars usually hang from a nail on the wall :D

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I learned to knit when i was 11 but took it up seriously only 2 years ago. I'm intermediate in lace a looser when it comes to get something to fit or get the exact size.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Used to have, under the name zmihalik (but havent used in a long time)

5. What’s your favorite scent?

Light, subtle flowery scents like lily of the valley; cinnamon, cherrie

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I love cakes and icecream :) Not a fan of candies and cant stand liqourice .

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

Embroidery, cross stitch, beadwork, learning to sew too :) No time for spinning, busy knitting :)

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I dont like club, mixes and rap but everything else i do. Old style rock, world music, even classics :)

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?

All shades of blue especially azure, turquise, and darkblue; i like autumn colours too, dont like pink and neon-bright colours.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

About to move in with my boyfriend (today!!) No pets yet, planning a kitten soon

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes please. I have plenty of shawls and scarves but lacking in mittens...

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Lace shawls. Beautiful, quick, can use a one-off expensive yarn, and no worries about the fit :D

13. What are you knitting right now?

A hoodie for myself.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

I'd like to very much!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Circulars, wooden or metal. Dont like bamboo, too sticky for me.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes, both, but they arent the greatest :(

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Ancient. Three years maybe?

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?

Christmas, christmas :)

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Yarn, needles, books, yarn...

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I'd really like a skein of Sock that rock yarn... I'd like one of EZ or B. walker's books, or Estonian lace, or Susan Lewis's book on lace or something from Yarnharlot... No money coz of mooving :(

I'm not a subscriber but i buy Simply Knitting every month (lightens up grocery shopping to get aknitting magazine too )

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?

Make garments that actually fit and arent way too big.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I was before the shawl-fever kicked in and want to go back :) Size 38 (eu) or 5,5 (uk) - medium usually fits :)

23. When is your birthday?

14th september

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID? Yes, i'm shadowbat there too :)

Decisions, decisions - Melyiket válasszam

... avagy itt a piros, hol a piros :D

Number 4 is the most likely candidate, brightened up with a shot of white :)

New flat, new snow - Új lakás, új hó

Early this morning we signed the contract for the new flat. This will be the second place i live since i moved to england 5 years ago, and this is the second time we had snow this year 8the first time lasted for a week :P) The nerves with the paperwork and workplace problems in the last two weeks pretty much took away the exitement but it was still a very good feeling to have it all settled. I had to fire up the boiler - 'coz i'm good with boilers - ha ha... Took a couple of hours to warm up, though a breakfast did help to feel less numb of the cold. We tried to ring up the landlord too as according to the contract we have to ask his permission for any redecorations but he didn't answered - P thought that's good as it means he doesn't really care what we do. So we did some measurements - until i broke the tape measure, then sampled a few paints in the bedroom where the wallpaper looks actually quite bad, so can't think that the landlord would have problem with that being taken care of.
Around one o'clock it started snowing, which was looked quite pretty and really cold considering how close we are to the seashore - and not some protected estuary but the actual North Sea. Wind was blowing from the direction of the shore blowing the snow paralell with the ground. We started to think about getting to move in spite of all this as we knew it can get really bad at least considering public transport. Well we've been a bit too slow (or too quick?) because we just missed a bus, then for about an hour, there were no buses nor trains going, and the snow just kept falling. When finally a train came and did depart too the snow was almost over but i was so numb that even the hot shower weren't enough to warm me up.
Then in the evening the girls tried to convince me to go out to dance - well i'm really not in the mood for clubbing and definately don't want to stick my nose out of the door until i don't have to at tomorrow morning.Hopefully i wont be numb then.

Left in the cold - Hidegen hagyva

Without heating or hot water for two weeks, including a week of snow and freezing temperatures. My boiler started to break down about a month ago and gradually got worse. Took a while to chase down the plumber and then convince him that yes, the booiler really does what it does - apparently, this type aither works, or breaks down completely, while mine does turn on sometimes, but mostly not. So showers are totally out of question, and the flat cooled down to about 12 °C too :P Good thing i have fond memories in having to wash using a basin from summer holidays spent at my godparents house, before they built a bathroom for they house and had only a bedroom, a kitchen and an outhouse. Otherwise i would feel really angry for spending the majority of my wages on rent and bills and feeling miserable in a cold flat.
I have a small fan heater which warms up my bedroom nicely, tho the lounge never gets really cozy being bigger and with horrible insulation, and of course it eats up electricity at 2 pounds a day rate. 3 if i'm home and need it during the daylight hours.
Plumber spent quite a lot of time on it on thursday, and couldnt fix it, so now he has to talk with the manufacturer, and hopefully he will fix it on monday. I can't have more time off for plumbing - in fact i'm facing a disciplinary on monday for missing too much time, had a warning from earlier, and as i stayed home to get my broken boiler fixed, now i'm on the official stage. Great. Hopefully i'll have to face only my manager who already gave me a tell-off but if the the other boss is there it will be harsh. Had the last three days off and as the prospect of this kept popping up my had i couldn't really enjoy my holiday. And it also annoys me that they couldn't just wrote off that day as holiday - i guess because my boss is sure we were off for house-hunting on that day :P

Luckily there are some things that can keep me happy despite the antarctical conditions and bitchy bosses, amongst them is having a coffee at starbucks and knitting :) I actually got an order, from my cousin's wife. She said "make me a shawl like yours " :) She has a black and white checkered coat so tought black would be nice with that. Finally i had an excuse to try a twinkle yarn, and even tho it turned out lighter (not black with sparkly flecks but light and dark grey) she liked the yarn so hopefully she will like the finished shawl too.

-5

Azt hiszem rekordod döntöttünk, legalábbis mióta én itt lakok, ilyen hideg tuti nem volt. Még jó hogy péntek van :)

I think this is a new record, this is the lowest ever at least since i live here. Good thing its friday :)