It's Just an Illusion Caused by the World Spinning 'Round

This week's mugs have all been printed up and posted out and now I need something to distract me from April's Pop in a Box sub which has arrived this afternoon - and which I definitely can't open until the husband is home. Our collection is going well, we have 19 currently (not including the PIAB sub) although 3 of them are in Wales with my parents until they next visit. Last month I guessed that the Pop in a Box was going to be Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China and it turned out to be Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters. This month I'm going to guess that it's Age of Ultron Thor, I will let you know just how wrong I am in my next post :D

Anyway, I am going to distract myself by doing this week's blog post a little early. We're still posting squares from the music block of the list and this next one is very near and dear to my heart.

The first Christmas me and the husband were together, he bought me tickets to go and see The Flaming Lips at the Cardiff Arena. The Flaming Lips were a band that he really liked that he believed I would like too and he was 100% right; that night still ranks up there as the best gig I have ever been to, it was like a giant Christmas party with glitter, balloons and fantastic music. Then a couple of years after that, we used their song 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' as the first dance at our wedding. So I had to get them into this blanket somewhere.

Square 37: The Flaming Lips

It's the infamous Pink Robot!

I know that this is a bit of a girly square because it's so pink and probably would have worked better on my blanket (yes, I've decided to make a blanket for myself too - once I've got a few other crafty pieces out of the way) but I love it and the husband loves it and that's all that matters really.

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

Hey! Ho! Let's Go!

I signed up for the free month of Amazon Prime a couple of weeks ago because I ordered a lot of stuff from them and was too impatient to wait for the normal delivery time. A nice side benefit of this is that we've had access to Amazon Prime streaming and have been trying to watch as much as we can on there before it disappears again. So if you're wondering why this post is late, you can blame it on the brilliant 'Black Sails'. I also highly recommend 'Bosch', 'Toast' and 'Constantine' - the latter is made even better because of the hilarious way they keep trying to convince you that Constantine is from Liverpool (to be in keeping with the comic book) even though the actor has a blatant Welsh accent :)

I have run out of wool again - I really did think that 300g would be enough to do all the joining and edging but was woefully wrong. Unfortunately, the wool fairy is currently on holiday in Lanzarote and I can't buy the particular brand I need in Bristol, so I have to wait until she gets home and can post me some more. I've only got one row to add to the blanket though, so it's big enough that the husband has already started using it when he gets chilly.

Obviously, I'm still behind in posting the blanket squares on here so I can get on with that. Next up in the music block that I knitted up is The Ramones. They just had to be in there, there was no question about that really. I was originally going to do the classic Ramones logo with the eagle and names but in order to fit it into the size I needed, it would've ended up as a squashed mess. So I hunted through our CD collection and found the Pinhead Skull logo which worked out great because it was a design that could do double duty and also represent American Horror Story.

Square number 36: The Ramones.

Again, I'm happy with how this knitted up. It's simple but effective.

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

Breaking Rocks in the Hot Sun

I got a new tattoo yesterday and experienced something that I've decided to call 'tattoo-drunk'. The tattoo took about four hours, which is a bit unusual for a small piece, but it was an apprentice tattoo. That means that I was essentially getting inked by two tattoo artists; the apprentice and then the artist teaching her and who would step in to demonstrate certain techniques or help with problem areas. The tattoo itself is the Elven Leaf Brooch from Lord of the Rings and sits just under my ankle on the inside of my foot. Not the most pain-free part at the best of times and by the end of the session the endorphins were flowing freely and I was babbling away about anything and everything. I even have what feels like a mild hangover today.
I'm really happy with the finished result though and I will be going back for more work (from both apprentice and teacher - just at separate times, hopefully).

Time for the next square in the music block and no blanket of any self-respecting music snob (the husband's description of himself, not mine) would be complete without a square for The Clash - well, any british music snob anyway. I just had to attempt a chart for the iconic sleeve of their London Calling album and decided to experiment a little. Instead of copying it exactly, I used the colours of the writing as the background so as to make the main silhouette stand out more.

Square number 35: The Clash - London Calling.

I'm really pleased with this one. Yeah, the silhouette looks a little like a stick figure but that was unavoidable and I think it's still very clear what this square is; everyone I've shown it too has guessed correctly  :)

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

Take Me Away to Nowhere Plains

I hope you've all had a good week. Mine's been great. The vouchers that I mentioned in the last entry arrived in a swanky little tin and it turns out that I won £200. Thank you SFX! Me and the husband have happily spent that and I'll post a pic of our purchases once they all arrive.

Beside the unexpected spending spree, we've had a wrestle-tastic week. On Friday we went to a live show in Bristol run by Attack! Pro Wrestling. It was an awesome night and we had so much fun that we're definitely going to go again.

The Brothers of Construction vs Big Poppa Sunflower and the Love Making Demon

Eddie Dennis vs Daft Bump

Then Sunday was Wrestlemania. The husband booked Monday off work so that we could stay up and watch it live. We've got the WWE Network streaming on our PS3, so we could watch all the build-up as well this year.

If I'd thought more about it, I would've posted the wrestling square I made for the Blanket of Doom in this entry but I still haven't copied the chart to the computer yet. So we'll have to continue with the music block we've hit.The next band I've made a square for is The Pixies.

When I was in school, I was pretty obsessed with a Christian Slater film called 'Pump Up The Volume'; I can clearly remember listening to the soundtrack on my walkman during my art GCSE [with one side of the tape as the official soundtrack and the other side was songs that appeared in the film but weren't on the released soundtrack - yes, I was just that geeky] and The Pixies featured pretty heavily. But until I met my husband, I didn't know anyone else who listened to that type of music; my hometown splits pretty evenly into pop and heavy metal so grunge didn't really make an appearance, not even in my parents' shop. Since then we've seen then play live and in my soppier moments, I like to think that it's one of those things that shows me and my husband were meant to be together. Obviously, I had to make a Pixies square for his blanket.

Square number 34 - The Pixies.

The Pixies don't have an official logo but most fans use the flying 'P' as an unofficial one - and who am I to argue with fans? Anyway, it was either this or a monkey with angel wings ;)

I'm really pleased with how this one turned out; it's simple but effective and the yellow and black really pops.

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown

So I was checking my emails yesterday morning and I had one from my favourite magazine, SFX; a British sci-fi and fantasy magazine that we've been subscribing to for about 6 or 7 years but I've been reading it for about 12 years - which makes me feel really old. The email was from the editor telling me that I've won Amazon vouchers for participating in their reader's survey a while back. Which is awesome! I'm not sure how much I've won yet but I've already started doing some Amazon window shopping.

We've started collecting Funko Pop Vinyl figures so I'm definitely going to indulge in that. We've only been collecting since the end of February when we bought each other a figure for our anniversary, but it's already so much fun...and very addictive. We've even joined Pop in a Box which is a subscription for a mystery pop every month based on your preferences - we got Peter Venkman this month which was beyond perfect.

Our Pop collection so far

Bane doesn't play well with others so has his own shelf

 Also this week, the Wool Fairy [aka my mum] has been and left a wool bounty behind so I'm back to working on the Blanket of Doom. I'm on the final square, which is very exciting, and then I have to start on the Lattes and Lamas join. I've been reading the instructions and I think I've figured it out so keep your fingers crossed for me. Obviously, I'm a lot further ahead with the blanket in real life than what I've been posting here so I'd better get a move on and post the next square.

So far, there has only been one music related square which definitely doesn't reflect just how much music my husband listens to and how many albums he owns. [If I didn't know better, I'd swear that the fact my parents used to own a second hand record shop played a part in him deciding I was his future wife.] So to make up for this, the next handful of squares are all representative of his favourite bands and I'm going to start with his very favourite band of all-time.

Square number 33: Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine

Before I met my husband, I vaguely remembered Carter USM as a 90s band that some of my friends liked but I didn't really know very well. Mostly I remembered them as that band who attacked Philip Schofield on the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. Now, I've seen them live and I have nine of their songs on my regular playlist. I also managed to get my husband one of his favourite Carter USM t-shirts signed by both members of the band.

I decided to base the Carter USM square on that t-shirt and album design and I'm over the moon with how well it turned out.

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

That's How I Roll

Many years ago, when we first got together, I made a meal so horrible that my husband banned me from cooking. True story. But lately I've had a hankering to bake stuff - I blame The Great British Bake Off for this.I've made a few batches of biscuits and some mince pies in December then we received a food mixer for Christmas from my in-laws so I wanted to break it in by baking an actual cake. My husband's been hogging the mixer to make bread (not that I'm complaining about that) but I finally got a chance to use it Monday night while he was distracted by The Walking Dead. Armed with this recipe for Lemon Drizzle Cake I took over the kitchen and here's my result:

It rose loads so I probably need a bigger tin to bake it in and I had to cook it for 20 minutes longer than the recipe stated before the inside was cooked which meant that the outside burned a little bit...but, man, it tastes amazing! I'm so proud of this, it's the first cake I've baked since I was in school.

On the crafting front, I'm still awaiting new wool to complete the two remaining squares on the Blanket of Doom so the knitting has been put on hold until Monday when the wool fairy (otherwise known as my mum) visits. In the meantime, I've started a cross stitch project that I've been wanting to do for a while. It pointless me posting any pics of it yet as I've only just started and I doubt anyone wants to look at random dots on a big expanse of white but I'll post some when I'm further along.

Even though the blanket's on hold for now, I still have a load of squares that I haven't posted yet so here's the next one. This square is taken from a game that's a huge favourite of me and my husband and is one of the first games I ever played (he talked me into it when we first got a PS2). I'm talking about Katamari Damacy. It's an insane and addictive game with a soundtrack that worms it's way into your brain and stays there for weeks. We love it! So it had to go onto the blanket.

Square 32: Katamari Damacy

I originally knitted this up in purple with the katamari in a pink, blue and white colourway wool in order to try and sum up just how bright and colourful the game is. But it was just too busy and you couldn't see the pattern, just an multi-coloured blob on a purple background. So I frogged that one and grabbed my bright orange instead which I paired with a more sedate green to accentuate the brightness of the orange. I really like this combination, it clashes but in a good way.

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.

I Am Not Expendable, I'm Not Stupid and I'm Not Going!

Good afternoon. I hope everyone's okay out there this week. It's been a week of illness here, unfortunately. I've been battling a nasty bout of food poisoning and Merry went to the vets for a operation that should hopefully stop her having any more infections. She's been coping a lot better than I have.

Just look at her, all perky and working the bits the vet had to shave as if she chose to have her fur like that the whole time. Whereas I've been mooching about in my pyjamas and dragging my duvet around with me as if I'm Linus from The Peanuts.

Needless to say I haven't done much knitting this week (seriously, even knitting has been making me feel nauseous), which is a shame because I'm only 3 squares away from finishing all the squares for the blanket of doom. It's probably karmic punishment for getting all cocky about that in a conversation last week. I'm still quite a bit behind on posting the blanket squares on here though so I can just go ahead and post the next one.

This square's a little strange for me because even though I'm not a fan of all the same stuff as the husband, I do at least know quite a bit about them. Blake's 7 is a TV show that I'm really in the dark on. I did try watching it back when we first got together but only made it through two or three episodes. My husband really loves it though and I couldn't leave a fandom out just because I'm a bit clueless about it. Luckily, the show has a pretty simple logo so it was easy to make a chart without having to do too much research.

Square number 31: Blake's 7

This is a design that I made for my own personal use and is not endorsed by or being used by Lamas and Lattes or the official Geek-a-long blanket. I am merely a fan of their project and have decided to make my own version. Don't forget to visit the Geek-a-long page to show your support for the official Geek-a-long blanket project which is raising money for a great cause and if you'd like to donate to that cause then please visit The Child's Play Charity here.