Knitted Kittens Halloween

Here's the new Halloween themed poster designed by Sophie Daniel for the next Knitted Kittens on the 6th November. OK it's a few days after Halloween but Sophie has really managed to catch the spookiness of the season. Hope you can make it x

Charity Squares

We have decided to do a bit of charity work at Knitted Kittens to bring the group together and reach further into the community. We have decided to make knitted/crochet squares to stitch together to make blankets for The Society of Abandoned Animals based in Stretford, Manchester. More details can be found here: http://www.saarescue.co.uk/

Knitted Kittens artist Sophie Daniel has made us a beautiful poster with more information if you would like to get involved.

I've started making some squares already, please contact me if you would like some more information.

I have already contacted them and they would be really grateful for as many blankets as possible, even one would make a difference so please get knitting.

Knight Bus Scarf and Mittens

Since completing my PhD I've managed to do quite a lot of knitting. One of the projects I've been working on is my winter scarf and mittens. I wanted to make a simple ribbed scarf with some super chunky wool so I raided my stash and found some violet blue and black Big Softie. It's so soft and satisfying to knit with.

I also found this beautiful violet colour wool in my local yarn shop, it was a little bit pricey but I reasoned that I would be wearing these mittens every day in the winter so could justify paying a little bit extra. This picture doesn't do the colour justice it really is beautiful purple blue, it reminds me of the Knight bus from Harry Potter.

Here's a pic of me on the actual Knight bus from when we went to the amazing Harry Potter studio tour earlier this year. This was so cool but don't want to say too much as I don't want to ruin any surprises but I would recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Potter or any film fans. 

Viva Voce

I am pleased to announce that I have passed my my PhD viva with minor corrections. Over the course of my PhD I have faced some difficulty from others, especially within my own university claiming that my work was not good enough or placing unnecessary obstacles in my way. However, because of this it has given me the strength to believe in my work and myself, also giving me plenty of practice defending my research.

 Picture from the trial in Alice in Wonderland

Luckily for me I had a very pleasant and (almost) enjoyable viva. I had two fantastic examiners who I hold a great amount of respect for and they gave my work the attention it deserves. Not only that but they completely understood what my research is about as some of the problems I have faced has been due to a lack of understanding of the subject area, so it was great that my supervisors knew the right people to contact to examine my work.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the support and guidance of my supervisory team. I would like to say a big thank you to Dr. Gill Green and Dr. Rachel McLean, they have changed my life, thank you xo.

Bit of Knitting

I've made this cardigan and bear for some friends of mine who are expecting a baby. They live out in Germany so I will post them out later today. The cardigan is a little bit wonky but I hope they like it anyway. It was my first real garment I have ever knitted so thought I would start small and simple.

 
Although I have now handed in my thesis I have decided to keep this blog running as I would like to continue documenting the things I am making and the various projects I am involved in. I am currently looking for a research position but as times are tough and highly competitive in academia right now I am not overly confident I will find something any time soon. I've pretty much accepted that I will have to take an unrelated job to make ends meet but I still intend to continue research and projects on the side so hopefully when the perfect position pops up I'll be ready. I am under no illusions that this won't be difficult but my research is based on who I am so I will continue to make, explore and write.

Thesis finally completed

My thesis is finally completed and handed in. It was actually finished last week but it has taken a while to sink in as it's the end of three years work and hopefully the start of something new. It's still unbelievable but my viva is booked for October 2nd so fingers crossed I can get through it.

 

Knitted Kittens September Poster

Here is the new Knitted Kittens Poster for September 4th, upstairs at the Ape and Apple Pub, Manchester (poster was created by Sophie Daniel). You can find out more about our group by visiting our Facebook page

I'm actually at the end of study and hope to hand in my thesis this week! Hopefully after it's done I will have a bit more free time and should be able to do more interesting things and write more blog posts. More details to follow...