Ianto: The start and the end

Remember the start of Torchwood created by Russell T Davies, and how it all began? Fresh faces and new characters that were going to put a twist on the Dr Who series. Well imagine our pleasure to find out that not only was it going to be filmed here in Cardiff but the story was also going to be set in our great city as well.
Most people knew who Captain Jack was, due to following Dr Who, but the other characters were all going to be new.
















One of the characters we were introduced to was Ianto, played by Gareth David-Lloyd who to put it bluntly seemed to be a little light in the dynamic all singing all dancing department, when compared to Captain Jack, Gwen or even the main characters we all grew to love when watching Dr Who.
What few of us were prepared for was how Ianto would grow on us all and develop as a character in his own right.
Few of us were prepared for how he left the series this year in the week long run of "Children of Earth" that we were all addicted to. To watch Ianto die in Captain Jacks Arms as they both lay on the floor in front of the tank containing the ambassador of the "456".

Well fast forward to the present day in the "real world" of Cardiff Bay and take a walk to the front of the "Tourist Information Shop" front that serves as the main entrance for Torchwood and there you will see a shrine dedicated to Ianto by fans of the show. Over the weeks since the series aired the shrine as grown. The photo on the left was taken a few months ago when it was just starting. Last time I went past and the site was full of mementos, photos, flowers and sachets of coffee, sugar and coffee whitener in tribute to Ianto being the Coffee Boy for Torchwood. I didn't have my camera with me to record the full impact of the fans dedication.
I just wonder what the new series of Torchwood hold for us? When it does air I am sure I will not be the only one glued to the TV.

Tempus fugit

Tempus fugit is a Latin expression meaning Time flees and boy hasn't the last few months gone quick! I hadn't realised how long it has been since I wrote my last Blog entry. There has been some good times and some that have been tinged with sadness. I have been looking at the photos on my computer and trying to work out a time line to work from but that is proving a little elusive to my middle aged brain, so I am going to use the photos and tell you a little about them. I will try to start with the oldest and work forward but I am not promising to stick to it. Unfortunately the oldest I want to Blog about is also the hardest and takes us back a little further than I had first intended with this Blog. However it is now time to share what could not be shared when it was still fresh back in April to July of this year.

A Blanket for Jason

When I first started knitting just over a year ago I joined a group called Men who Knit and was amazed by the warm community of guys on the site who took the pleasure and time to share with others what they enjoyed most about knitting. This was a while before I found Ravelry. If you were looking for advice the guys would share their knowledge and point you in the right direction if you needed help. Well anyway I thought it was a wonderful place and just what I needed at the time when I was starting out.




One or two members of MHK stood out due to either their skills with the old sticks and string and others due to their kindness and generosity. One guy who stood out was Jason a young man who was very creative in many ways. Jason was musical and funny and made us all laugh. He would post things that made people smile and brought a shine to peoples days when they needed that ray of sunshine. I personally was just in awe of his knitting and the speed with which he could create a finished item. Often when finished, the item would wing it's way to a member of the group that Jason thought would appreciate it the most.

Imagine the groups horror when after a few week silence Jason posted to tell us that he had Testicular Cancer. Naturally our thoughts were with him and many members sent him their prayers and best hopes and wishes for a speedy recovery. A few members knitted him Chemo caps and asked that he keep us informed about his recovery.

What we as a group were not prepared for though was a new post a few months later to let us know that the cancer had now spread to the rest of his body and that at 30 his life was coming to a close. As a group it was as if we had been poleaxed. But in our frustration we knew we wanted to do something to show Jason our love in his short time left with us. One of the guys on MHK called Kyle put forward the suggestion that together we all knit Jason a comfort blanket.




Yarn of a suitable nature and colourway was chosen and we were asked to knit 72 squares to be posted to the USA for the blanket to be sewn together and sent to Jason in Holland as soon as possible. Each square was to be 8"x8" and made using the range of just four colours.

Squares were sent to America from all over the world and Kyle received over 200 squares in a matter of a three week period. Squares were chosen and each person who sent in squares was represented in the final blanket. I made four squares using techniques that I had never tried before. Jason's knitting had been inspirational to me in my early days of learning to knit and I wanted my contribution to be living up to that ethos and stretching me as a knitter too.

When I saw the blanket finished I was pleased to be able to spot two of my squares.
Kyle has blogged about the blanket and a little about Jason too. I am sure he would love you to read what he had to say.



RIP Jason, November 24th 1978 - July 4th 2009

Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival

Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival

Ben and I went to the International Food & Drink Festival on Friday 10th of July. My diet went out of the window as we worked our way round the stands buying scotch eggs, cakes and pots of jams and pickles.

The Handmade Scotch Egg Company sells not just any Scotch eggs, but meals in their own right. They aim to reinstate the humble Scotch egg as Britain's favorite snack food, producing quality food in an environmentally and socially responsible manner using only free range eggs and pork in their recipes.

We bought four eggs after first taking out a mortgage to buy them. At £10.50 for four they are not cheap.

Ceilidh
'Kay-lee' Based on a traditional Irish White Pudding recipe made with free-range Saddleback pork, bacon, barley, oatmeal, leeks and spices.

Old Stager
A traditional pickled egg, wrapped in free-range Saddleback pork and rolled in crumbled Tyrells sea salt and black pepper crisps.

Chieftain
Specially created with Burns night in mind,traditional Haggis with Saddleback pork.

Passion
Free-range pork combined with smoked bacon, fresh beetroot and tangy red onions.

Miranda’s Preserves was not a new stand to buy from, as we had bought from her at the Abergaveny Food festival last year. Now, that is a date to put in your diary for this year. The food festival takes place in September and is not to be missed.

This year we bought Lemon Curd and Apple & Mint Jelly from Miranda. She told us that she is only doing the Sunday at Abergaveny this year due to too many Jam sellers applying for stands. The organisers are not wanting to swamp the event with lots of Preserve sellers.

Another lady who we bought from was Emily of Emilys Jams & Pickles. From this stand we bought home made ground mustard with olives. Ben likes his mustards when it comes to pork pies and fresh ham off the bone.

My Biggest downfall was The Pudding Compartment Ltd, which was selling cheesecake. I don't normally enjoy cheesecake, but after a sample of the lemon one I had to go back on the Sunday to buy some.

I had been savouring the taste for two days and on my return could not buy any tubs to take home as they had truly been a fantastic seller. the owner was cutting up his display cheesecakes, so I bought a portion to eat at the market. Instead of sharing one with Ben to save on the rich pudding braking my diet, I bought two portions for us. I was only third of the way through my portion when truly knew this would have been better bought as a tub so I could have taken it home and savoured it for a couple of days, as it was so rich.

An actor providing entertainment by pushing his Babies round in a pram.

Banksy versus the Bristol Museum

Banksy versus the Bristol Museum

This is rather late, but it has to be written up as the Banksy versus Bristol Museum exhibition was fantastic. The exhibition of the elusive graffiti artist Banksy was suddenly unveiled last month (June 13th) with BBC newscasts coming live from the Bristol Museum the day before it opened.

Banksy who has been known to sneak a fake exhibit in to the Bristol Museum in past years has shaken up the dusty museum by putting more than 100 of his own artworks among it's real exhibits. http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Ben and I took our friend Lewis to see the exhibition in the first week it opened, and we were truly amazed at how inventive Banksy is. We had always known about his Graffiti but his sculpture and animatronics were some of the most thought provoking items in the show.

There is a main Room that houses a number of his most famous 2 dimensional art and it was well worth the one hour queue which most people face to get into the museum.

In another room, full of his animated sculptures, there's what looks like a living, breathing wild cat, I'm not sure if it is a cheetah or a leopard. A leopard may be mistaken for a cheetah or a Jaguar. When you see it from the back it is sat reclined in a tree. as you get nearer, and move round the cage you notice, with a chill, that it's been made into a fur coat.

The exhibition is open until Aug 31; admission free.

Yarn and diets

After seeing the photos from “World Wide Knit In Public Day” I could no longer deny, that I need to lose weight. I need encouragement when loosing weight, but am loath to go to a slimming club and pay money to see what my bathroom scales tell me once a week. However the thought of loosing weight and turning the slimming club membership money into Yarn made me a bit more excited.
A slimmer me and yarn with out guilt, I thought would be fantastic. The idea of loosing weight with an online weigh in was something that I put forward in one of the ongoing threads on Ravelrey's (You need to be a member to see the pages. I think) Cardiff Knitters. I haven’t posted back the following idea as yet as it needs input first. I posted the idea to The British Knitters group, as maybe they have the information and knowledge to help. We are a little group at Cardiff Knitters (only one week old) so need a wider opinion.
the info I needed to know was How much do Slimming clubs charge their members for joining? How much is the weekly membership charge? I know that years ago I was charged £10 to join and there after £4.50 a week. Ok I got the slimming books when I joined but I’ve still got them. My thoughts is that if the books worked then, they will still work now. no need to join again. Thats at least one load of money going into my “Yarn Jar”
The idea for the knitting group is that you make two money jars. The first you label “Yarn Fund” and the second you label as something else such as “Charity Fund” or “Husband’s Hobby” or something similar. On the weeks you loose weight or stay the same you put the slimming club charge in your “Yarn fund” jar. On the weeks you gain weight you put the slimming club charge in the other pot labled “Husband’s Hobby”.
The online weigh in will also offer people the chance to pass on tips and encouragement to others. The other thing is that there will be no point in telling porky pies, as we will be meeting up at the various Cardiff knitting clubs, so we will be able to see the success in the flesh as they say.
Oh and at next years WWKIPD I will be a little happier to see photos of me, taken from the side with out my knowing they are being taken.

Looking at other peoples Blogs and leaving comments is all very well but each time I log into this site in order to leave messages for others my own Blog screams at me for its lack of attention.
Tomorrow is World Knit In Public Day and I am going to enjoy sitting in the sun with friends outside the local Museum.
I'm still not sure what I am going to take to work on; my second sock or new wool to knit a tension square? The very thought that I am knitting socks is fantastic, as I only began knitting in October. The thing that makes my eyes bug though, is that I am seriously going to knit tension squares for a future jumper knitted in the round, with out a jumper pattern to guide me.
Giant steps seem to be the order of the day here.
I'm going to try adding photos here so perhaps I should try using an image of my first ever knitted project?
If all goes well then I will be back to do more. Perhaps my blog can be in two parts, a bit like knitting time travel; one post for a past item I made and one post for what I am currently doing in my life.