You know that book I'm reading about getting along with your co-workers? It says that sarcasm is never helpful. I can lend it to you if you want.

I'm full of righteous, rational, if disproportionate, rage, and because, for the sake of my blood pressure, I am only speaking to people I agree with, so is everyone else I talk to.  I don't particularly want to talk about the reasons behind the rage that has led me to pour myself a soft drink, and fill it with gin, that are preventing me from ringing my father and yelling abuse at him down the phone, that has led to me temporarily abandoning the diet (I've lost a STONE people, a whole bloody STONE) and eating all the things in the house.  I'm on the verge of screaming "I BET YOU VOTED LEAVE YOU BASTARD" at anyone who gets in my way, or who looks at me, or who is anywhere within a mile of me.  The only tiny crumb of comfort I can find is that there will be a total destruction of our political system and we'll end up with different political parties and proportional representation, and then we'll have proper, actual democracy; and even though there'll probably be a complete break up of a union that has lasted for centuries and another civil war in Northern Ireland, it's all worth it because we are FREE and IN CONTROL again.  Hurrah.

Anyway, enough of that.  

Things that keeping me sane:

The Sewing Bee

Murder She Wrote

Sewing

Knitting

I've made a Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress in the same striped fabric I used to make our #teamcarter supporters tops.  It is delightful, even if I messed up the skirt a bit, and had to piece it together.  But it fits well, and is flattering and I love it, very much.

I've also made a Dolores Batwing t-shirt out of a not actually very stretchy jersey from Spoonflower.  It is much, much too small in places and is a pain to put on but it looks fine, so I'm wearing it on Friday for a do. I might have to remake the top for Lucy in the end, as I'm really not sure about it.

The third thing I've finished recently is the yellow Petrie top in Rowan Wool Cotton, and it is lovely, but much too cold here in Poundland to wear.  THIS BLOODY COUNTRY AND ITS STUPID STUPID WEATHER.

I'm in the middle of making a bright red Myrna cardigan as well, as part of the Outfit Along for this year.  So far, it is lovely; I accept it doesn't look like much here, but it is really gorgeous.  I've not made the keyhole this time, which has made no difference to it at all, I just didn't fancy it.  I'm just about on to the sleeves, and I'll make them tighter this time, the yellow one is too loose around the wrists, which is irritating.  The other parts of the Outfit Along will be a cherry print big puffy skirt - so a waistband and a Cambie dress view B skirt, and a Lark tee shirt in white jersey.  I've made one, but I should have cut a smaller size.  WIN.  Even Nigella is bigger than me now.  DOUBLE WIN.  There's still a long way to go, but I'm definitely shrinking.

Hey ho, I'm on strike next week; I can't go on the march but I will DO SOMETHING in order to relieve my dreadful rage.  I think I might join the Labour Party.  We will see.

From bad to verse

Friends, give me a moment, for God help us, it has come to this.
The evil that we do lives after us, the good is buried, and so it is with us.
The honourable Boris has told us that the EU was a wrong thing,
And if that's the case, then that was a fault,
And we have all paid for it.
For Boris is an honourable man; and the rest are also honourable men,
So we can speak now at the end.
The EU was our friend, faithful and just to all,
But Boris says it was a wrong thing, and Boris is an honourable man.
It brought many people home to Britain, and their labour helped pay for the State.
Was this a wrong thing?
When the poor cried, the EU helped; was this a wrong thing?
Yet Boris says it was a wrong thing, and Boris is an honourable man.
It thrice and more presented us with human rights,
Was this a wrong thing?
Yet Boris says it was a wrong thing, and, surely, he is an honourable man.
We are not here to disprove what Boris said,
But to say what we know.
We loved it once, not without cause, so why not mourn?
Our judgment has fled to the brutish beasts, and we have lost our reason.
My heart is with the EU, and I must wait for it to come back to me.
Bear with me.

One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.

It's still half term.  It's still freezing.  People in the North are laughing at us in London, as June comes in with hideous weather.

We went to Northampton today, which was lovely until the last minute, when it took 3 HOURS to get home.  The M1 didn't work, the North Circular was fucked, and it seemed like a good idea to go through Harlesden.  Note to self: don't do that again, but then, at least we kept on moving and we listened to many, many hours of Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  Hurrah.

Anyway, I've spent this evening sewing and listening to knitting podcasts, and I've made two things.

First up, a Delphine skirt, by Tilly and the Buttons.  I really like this A-Line skirt and made a tartan one last year, which I slimmed strenuously to get into, and is now too big on the waist and fits well on the hips, so let's call that a win.

I bought some stretchy sparkly demin from Ealing Fabrics in Hanwell for not very much money, and I cut out the same size as before, which is a triumph of hope over experience, and lets hope it fits properly.

The photo doesn't do the gold sparklyness justice; it is really lovely and shiny and would be loved by the girls, but bad luck, it's mine.  The waist band has a polka dot lining, and I'm really pleased with it.  I've made the waist smaller by an inch by doing a lapped zip, and it seems to look OK, so yay?  I'll wear it tomorrow and see how it fits.

The second thing I made tonight was a Dolores Batwing Tee-Shirt, in a purple strawberry jersey that I bought for a dress for Hattie, and after I'd cut something out, there was tonnes left, so I made something for me and something for Lucy, which brings the cost of the fabric down from a bit more than I should have spent, to the actually quite reasonable, as I've got three garments out of 2 metres.

I think I need to wear them together and get some modelled shots. Or maybe pop them on Nigella and see how they look.  I'm pleased with them both.  Yay for sewing.

Cher, I don't want to do this anymore. And my buns: they don't feel nothin' like steel.

I need this gif again:

I haven't blogged since Easter.  So much has happened, but most of it has been pretty dull and to do with work, so I won't go into details.   The kitchen is completely done, bar a few shelves, and most of my STUFF is back from storage, although there's still a lot of fabric languishing in the unit, waiting for me to get around to it.  I've made lots of things:

a jumper for Hattie,

two identical dresses for the girls for the May Day celebrations at a local tennis club,

a Bettine dress for me,

a plain, dull white tee shirt for me (and cut out a slightly more exciting turquoise one)

 and a jumper for my nephew.  It's all go.

I also participated in MeMadeMay2016, but lost the will to photograph myself daily, so didn't.  I do wear handmade clothes all the time, and using May as a way to work out what I'm missing in the wardrobe, and it turns out that I need more plain stuff.  I've got a denim skirt cut out waiting for me to get on to it, and some more plain tee shirts, and some more things planned as well.

As far as knitting goes, the Audrey in Unst cardigan is MUCH MUCH TOO BIG, which is a combination of exciting and frustrating, so I am torn between wanting to finish it and give it away, or ripping back several hundred hours of my time and reclaiming the wool.  The wool is nice, but not that nice, so I think I'm going to finish it up and try it on and see.  It's hard to second guess the size, and it's too big over my running stuff, but might be OK over something else.  We'll see.

I've run, walked and cycled nearly 200 km in May, which is extraordinary, and I'm very pleased with myself.  I bought some new trainers which gave me sore feet and the terrible grumps, until I replaced the inner soles with Foot Balance massively overpriced, but simultaneously well worth it ones, and ran up a hill without stopping yesterday.

We've been all over the place in April and May - we went down to the Isle of Wight to watch a friend run around part of the island, and Simon and I have been in Chichester watching a VERY MUCH OF ITS TIME musical version of Travels with my Aunt (which is a kind review, as it is a new musical, reflecting the values of 1969) (I really enjoyed the frocks, the shoes, the singing, the dancing and the jokes, the Sierra Leonian accent, not so much) but it was good to go and see it; we've had two teenagers living with us for a few days, which has been an education, and I've drunk an awful lot of gin.

There is no more to say.