Hmm......where does that bit go?

A busy week and weekend

Work
Hellishly busy week at work. A colleague showed me her contraceptive demonstration kit and if that doesn't put you off sex for ever then nothing will. Of particular note was one of the diaphragms - it was almost completely rigid and the thought of trying to insert it really made me wince!

Where I went
Went for a walk round Surrey Docks and Rotherhithe on Monday What a very strange place it is. Some parts, particularly those round the old docks, have been gentrified and now it's all quayside apartments with views over the docks and the river, but the apartments are very, very small indeed. Away from the dock areas it's still old council houses and flats which are quite tatty and also very,very small indeed. There are very few amenities - no newsagents shops, supermarkets, bars and restaurants. It looks like it's trying very hard to be Docklands, and failing. Still, it is an interesting area with a lot of history.

On Saturday I went shopping in Tottenham Court Road. That is to say, I hadn't entirely intended to buy anything - the true purpose of the trip was to have a look at various laptops and netbooks to look for one that would be suitable for internet browsing on the move, and also suitable for watching DVDs while crafting. I decided to go for a Samsung NC10 netbook (and also bought an optical drive for the DVDs) and spent most of Saturday evening setting it up.

On Sunday I went to the Make It! craft show at Farnborough "International" Airport (honestly, who do they think they're kidding). The round trip was extremely long - I spent just over 6 hours on various buses and trains.I went primarily to see if any of the many papercraft stalls could sell me anything for using with metal clay and the answer, in a nutshell, was no. I did buy a texture sheet and some cutters from the single, small metal clay stall. I bought a couple of bits and bobs in the paper line, and some black and red delica beads. It was a useful day though, because I now know what this particular show offers and can make an informed decision on whether to go again.

What I made
Further work on the crochet lattice scarf. Further work also on the floral filigree beaded scarf. On Sunday evening I cut up my first attempt at the Black Heart cuff, which I'd made with seed beads, and started again with the delica beads I'd bought at Make It!. This was the first time I've used delicas, and I must say that the stitching experience wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be. In metal clay class we had great fun covering our cork clay shape with some swirly patterns using clay paste in a syringe, and that will be fired in the kiln next week. The rest of the lesson was devoted to finishing off the layering project. Polishing a small piece with lots of crevasses and twiddly bits was difficult, and I wish we'd had access to a tumble polisher.

What I read
This week I read "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay. It sorts of covers the same ground as the first season of the TV series, and the TV series has a much. much better plot I have to say. But there is some good writing in the book, and Dexter on the page is a more believable character than Dexter on the screen. I'm currently reading "the Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton". More of this next week.

What I learned this week
That the sorts of people who make cards and scrapbooks are - perhaps unsurprisingly - just the same as people who knit, embroider and make jewellery. That is to say, for the most part they are white, female, middle-aged and middle-class.