Ginger Knits UK

I'm going from my damp flat to The Depths of the ocean on Friday night . I'll be teaching tiny squid knitting along with other Stitch London Stitchettes as well as marvelling at the bizarre creatures that live in the depths of our seas at the Natural History Museum. I pestered Stitch London to let me knit something for their specimen jars and they said yes. Here is my creation along with other woolly beasties of the deep! My fishy knit is a coelacanth (far left). You can read more about them on the Stitch London blog. I'm a natural history geek and have always loved the story of the discovery that a presumed extinct species was living in the depths of the Mozambique channel. If you're interested in enormous old fish with anal fins I can recommend this book. I'm pretty sure they sell it in the NHM shop. If you're at the museum on Friday night come and say hello. Lets hope the Bone eating snot worms haven't eaten the giant sloth by then.

We arrived home from Yorkshire today to find half our living room and kitchen were flooded. Our table, futon, PC (I'm writing on our dinky laptop), carpet and ceiling are damaged as well as some minor bits of electronic kit. This is very annoying but when I see images of the flood in Pakistan it really is nothing. Yes, it smells funky, yes, my favourite old, well travelled address book is damaged but no-one has died, we're not at risk of cholera or malaria and I doubt either of us is going to starve. Even the errant Black Cat wandered in safe and sound as if nothing had happened. MSF are working their socks off in Pakistan, setting up Cholera stations, proving shelter, clean water and medical care to some of the 14 million people (yes 14 million, hard to imagine isn't it) affected by the floods. This MSF water distribution truck provides water to victims of the floods who are displaced and in need of clean drinking water. Nowshera, 27th July 2010.  Photo b...

I've been here, there and everywhere this month. First was up to Edinburgh, then Stirling taking p/hop to Knit Camp. Then back to Edinburgh to visit friends and enjoy some of the fringe festival. I'm now in North Yorkshire spending a few days with my parents. Blog posts with pictures will be coming when I return to the big city and can upload photos. I'm having fun but do occasionally wonder if the Black Cat is still yelling outside my back door. I should set up a web cam to see what he's up to.

I've been busy over the last week taking p/hop to the Knit Nation festival in London. It was good fun but I'm still a little dazed from 3 full on days of talking to knitters. It was fab and I've met some brilliant people so I will share it in photo form. Here's our stand, manned by yellowpurplezebra and cybil. Bad pub photos from Friday night with Stitch London Stitchettes, WoollyWormhead, @julietillyflop (who makes fab knitting tea towels ) Babylonglegs, @knitterbird and Bionic Laura (who stayed with me and brought me some gorgeous Aran yarn from Ireland) There was a grout baby and also some tipsy yelling at Ysolda and Sazknits and Jess and Casey the marvellous people who made Ravelry when we spotted them on the way to the tube. On Saturday I made sure I had time to shop and bought some sock yarn from Renaisance Dyeing... ... creepily fabulous stitch markers from The Bothered Owl ... As well as a fab needle roll with Mexican Day of the Dead pattern I also bought some...