Everything starts somewhere...

As the late great Terry Pratchett wrote, "Everything starts somewhere...". This very much feels like the start of something. I have a need to mark out the start of 2016 as a proper Beginning.

New Years always bring a feeling of renewal, of starting afresh, of new beginnings and better resolutions. But this year is a little bit different. I (and indeed the lovely fiance too!) started a new job on the first Monday of the year. Mine is very different to where I was. From a clinic in central London where appointments with patients would last hours and courses covered weeks, to rooms in offices in Surrey and Slough where appointments are 30 mins including paperwork time. I'm also working by myself. And for rather long days, up to 12hrs at a time.

This is all rather a big step forwards. The long days mean I spend 3 and a half days at work (unfortunately including Saturdays, so parkrun is lost to me). Giving me plenty of balance with my 'life' days - Mondays and Fridays no less! The lack of time and energy over the latter part of last year to do anything creative/fitness related is related in the neglect of this blog. I'm very hopeful that now that I have so much more 'life' time, I'll be able to do a lot more of the things I love.

I'm planning a lot of knitting, sewing, crafting, wedding prep, running, swimming, cycling, workouts. I've already started!
I have big goals for the year. There is another marathon to run. Triathlons I want to enter. Things I want to make.

But I'll save the goals for another post. Today I just wanted to place my finger, and say 'here is where the journey began'. I hope you'll come along for the ride

Celebrating 3 years

It's (again) been a little while, and much has been happening. Two major themes today; sewing and running.

But since this is the knit and run blog I should probably fill in an update about what's on the needles. I've got a Lichen and Moss scarf that's gone into hibernation now that I'm confident I won't need it any time soon (well, as confident as I can be with British summer weather). There's a Liala that gave me a bit of a mental block before I worked out there was an error in the instructions - and being crochet and therefore not my most experienced yarny craft it took me a while to accept that I was indeed right and the pattern wrong. But this has also given way to the latest project; an Echo Flowers Shawl in a beautiful maroon colour (technically 'Loganberry') for a friend's wedding present.

As for sewing, my little brain is full of plans. Myself and the fiancé were out touristing this week (hooray annual leave!) and dropped into Foyles…where I bought a lovely little book called The Secrets of Sewing Lingerie. Instantly wanted to make it all. Started fairly simple and wanting something to celebrate our 3 year anniversary I made the 'Boudoir Blushes' camisole and french knickers. And I'm pretty darn pleased with how they turned out.

It's all about the bike

Since I last wrote, my weekends have been dominated by the bike. My sister had signed herself, her boyfriend and me up for a 45 mile charity ride in Kent the first weekend of May. The lovely fiancee was invited too, but there was the small problem that he didn't own a bike. Or at least not for long…

On the road again...

...I can't wait to be on the road again…

I used to cycle quite a lot. In London it was my transport of choice - more reliable than the tube, often faster than buses, and free! I used to cycle to uni, and to various hospitals for placements. I enjoyed it. Battled through the winter weather, gloried in the brief summer sunshine. But it was only ever to get from A to B. Which meant a couple of things
1) I would always have a rucksack full of the stuff I'd need when I got to B. Namely a change of clothes, and some food.
2) I would be trying to get there as quickly as possible. Cycling in London amongst the commuting pack turns the journey into a quietly deeply competitive race. Surely with everyone going about their own private cycles and concentrating on not getting hit by cars/buses/lorries/crazy van drivers/seemingly blind pedestrians you can't really race? Think again. There's a whole system of points out there, and trust me, it rings true.

Spring is here...

I know Spring is here. There's a couple of tell-tale signs…

1). The sun. It's back, and glorious.

2). The spring flowers are coming, and they're also glorious.

3). I get inexplicably faster at parkrun.

Good news everyone!

Hello poor neglected blog!
I've been gone for a while and many, many things have happened…but I'm hoping to be back here more regularly now. Because in terms of knitting and running and sewing and crafting I'm going to have a LOT to write about.

One week ago, on Valentine's day, the lovely boyfriend asked The Question.

2014; a vintage year

Ah, in the blink of an eye 2014 was gone and 2015 is charging eagerly ahead. I'm always one to get sucked into buying a nice new note book and writing very neatly some utterly unattainable resolutions. But 2014 has been an absolute vintage year, and I'm actually keener to look back on it in awe than to wipe the slate clean and start again. Here's why…