Oh my god! I finished!

I have actually completed the A-Z challenge!

A - Z socks

There were a few moments where I wasn't actually sure if I would; I got a little bit behind when we went to Italy - especially as one of the pairs was so badly written, I must've undone and reknit it several times.

But, it's done!

So, for the next week - until January 1st - there will be no socks on the needles! I am going to pay some attention to poor abandoned Sherry The Cherry and work on a lace cardigan I started earlier this year. If I had any sense, I wouldn't start another sock challenge in the new year, but work on the two blankets I have in progress (especially the sock one - I have LOADS of wool for that now!) but I can't help it! I WILL be casting socks on in the new year!

The socks along the bottom are extra socks that I've made this year (not including the pair I made for Claire as they've been sent) so in total I've made 32 pairs of socks this year!

I'll do a post in the morning showing all of the socks

Bit of a rambly post for you...

OK....sad news first.

Kim

Last week we had Kim put to sleep. He was getting very old, he was chronically arthritic and obviously uncomfortable. It seemed the best bet all round. I took him to the vet on the 14th and cuddled him as the anaesthetic was administered.

It was very quick and he was gone before all the medicine had been injected which tells me he was ready to go.

Unfortunately, he has not been the only loss. I got a frantic call two days ago from Mel asking me to take Auntie Ruth to the vet; Walter's mother, Midnight, had given birth and unfortunately suffered a prolapsed womb in the process.

By the time she had been found she was in shock, freezing cold and barely alive. There was blood everywhere and the baby chinchilla was dead - we don't know if it had been born dead or whether she just didn't bother with it in her pain. The fact that she allowed us to pick her up and wrap her in a towel and stroke on her way to the vets was all we needed to make the decision.

A very sad week really :(

So....complete subject change!

Look at all those presents!

How do you like my Christmas tree? It was put up on Dad's birthday which we now refer to as 'tree day' and there are lots of presents underneath it - some of them are even for me!! How exciting!

Bah Humbug!

As you can see; Vicky is very excited....Alex, not so much lol

We have lots of yummy food planned for Christmas Day and we're going to sit and watch a filming of Phantom of The Opera after breakfast on Christmas morning.

I've just passed the 5 month mark with my dreadlocks and wow it's all happening there! I started wearing a scarf when I went out as they were really quite messy and annoying, the scarf worked well although I think I looked like someone having chemo!

That's a wrap!

My hair was stiff and didn't move much - in fact it hurt to try and change the way the hair lay on my scalp.

What a mess!

Awesomeness

Then I got up one morning and all of a sudden I had this hair that was nice tight locs with blunted tips, the hair moves when I shake my head and it just looks so awesome!

Unfortunately, the purple had totally faded so I bought some L'Oreal dye called Black Cherry (which I've used before) and went over the lot. I love how it looks and feels and even though I bought new scarves to wrap around my locs today; I don't think I'll be wearing them much!

When I started typing this post, I did think it was likely this would probably be my last post of 2011, but I've just remembered that I've got to show you all the A-Z socks I have knit this year - I just have to finish the Z socks and then you can see them all together! It'll be about another day or two, so keep your eyes peeled!

Tree Day

Christmas Tree

Dad

Today should've been my dad's 61st birthday.

We have a tradition on his birthday now.  12th December is the day we put the tree up!

I think Dad would've liked this tradition.

Today we have put up the tree and spent this evening watching movies and drinking spiced rum with coke.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Snakes

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been introducing Albert to Star & Frank.

It's very nerve wracking, because the younger two look so small next to him and the thought 'WTF do I do if he strikes one of them?' constantly runs through your head!

Star exploring her new home

Well, it all went very well. They waggled tongues at each other, then pretty much ignored each other.

We put them together daily (trying to hold 3 snakes at once is hard!) for a couple of weeks, then this week we took the plunge and put them all in together.

Frank climbing the glass

Well, Albert spent the day looking mildly affronted that these two young whippersnappers had moved in with him and sulked in a tube because Frank stole the hide within the first half an hour, then he pretty much gave in and accepted they were there!

Star & Frank spent most of the first day exploring their new home and seemed delighted that they had that much space!

I spent most of the first two hours anxiously watching as I'd put them in on a Thursday and Thursdays are feeding days for the snakes.  I figured that if Albert was going to eat the interlopers; it'd be on a Thursday.

Eventually, I left them all to it.

When I went to get them all out 12 hours later for food, I was extremely happy to find that I still had 3 snakes!  They all had their dinner then immediately went back in the viv together.

As of this morning; all 3 are crowded into the hide together!

See that picture?

Do you know who that is?

THAT is George Lucas, creator of Star Wars knitting a SOCK!!!

Geekiness just hit an all new high!

Hello!

My name is Sam and I'm a Sockaholic!

As you can see, the blog has had a makeover - well, you can if you come here, but if you read through an RSS reader; you won't notice a change LOL.

There is now a second bar down the side - I did want two bars together, but I couldn't figure out how to do that! So, the bar on the left is all the stuff you're used to seeing and the bar on the right is all my finished objects and the reason for my Sockaholic claim.

That is my sock queue. All the socks I have seen and want to make. There are quite a few, aren't there.

277 pairs of socks, I think. My eyes kinda glazed over while counting, so I may be off by a pair or two.

I've worked it out. It takes me on average, a week to make a pair of socks. If I knit nothing but socks; it'll take me over 5 years to knit them all.

And that's if I stop looking at all the gorgeous socks on Ravelry and adding them to my queue!

But I am going to work through them....well, try at any rate! I will cross off the ones I make and fill in the progress bar at the top as I go.

I'm still planning to start the 52in52 next year. I have two more pairs to make from the A-Z challenge this year first and finish a test knit I am doing too.

At least the 52 pairs I knit next year will make a small dent in the list on the right!

Photos from the tennis!

So, I promised you lots of pictures from our trip to the Royal Albert Hall and here they are!

Blogger appears to have messed around with how things work since I last used it on a computer, so I hope this all shows up ok!

If you wish to look at the entire album of pictures (taken by Claire, Steve and myself) you can view them here

Andrew Castle practising

The scrummy Pat Cash

The funny Henri Leconte

Oh my......!

Congratulating each other

Claire & I knitting

Mansour Bahrami & Tomas Enqvist

Andrew Castle &  Virginia Wade

Live on air!

Richard Kracijek

John McEnroe!

Tim Henman & Alan Mills

Mark Phillipoussis

Jeremy Bates

Bates & Henman

Nan had hot water bottle!

Wow!

I didn't blog at ALL last month.

How remiss of me!

So thiis is going to be another one of those catchup posts where I ramble incoherently LOL. If you read my blog then you're used to those. If you haven't been here before; then I'm sorry!

So......let's start with the socks. I am up to speed with the A-Z sock challenge and I have two more pairs left to knit; Y and Z.

I have knit two extra pairs (I think) for myself, a pair for Claire, done a test knit and I'm currently test knitting another (knee high) sock.

I'm still planning on taking the 52 pair plunge next year - this is going to leave me with little, if any, time to knit (or spin) anything else! Which is a shame as the Double Knitting technique is trying to seduce me at the moment.

Have you guys seen this (rav link)?

It's totally amazing and I really really want to knit it! There's another one as well which is cats eyes that I want to knit too!

I was tempted for a while to blow the 52 pair plunge off for a year, but those rascally socks just keep calling to me!!

OK.......what else.......Alex is still battling his depression, he sees a doctor regularly and is on medication. The crashes are still bad, but he's trying his best to cope with them. He has recently decided to stay away from Facebook which I think is a really good thing as it was the root of a lot of his problems!

Kyle is now living next door with my mother - he had a huge fight with Alex and it descended into physical violence which left Alex covered in scratches and bruises and a slight concussion! We decided that him staying next door for a while would be the best thing for everyone concerned and him being there also puts my mind at rest; my mum turns 70 next year and I worry about her being on her own!

I got up one morning and went to turn on the vivarium light - which is the first thing I do every morning - and I noticed one of the vents on the back of the vivarium had been popped out. My stomach dropped and I immediately opened the viv and checked the hide.

Daffydd was gone!

We have searched the house, but we can't find him anywhere. I'm hoping that he has curled up somewhere and is sleeping as the house has been chilly, but now I've put the heating on he may still appear!

I am in the process of introducing Star & Frank to Albert at the moment, they seem completely uninterested in each other, so I shall put them all in together this week! Fingers crossed Albert doesn't eat them!!!

Dreadlock update: My locs will be 5 months old in a couple of days and are doing very well! The pink didn't hold so well, so I overdyed the whole lot with purple a week or so ago. I like the way it looks, but my poor scalp is suffering from the way I've abused it!

Forgive the state of me in this picture, I was shattered!

On Thursday; Mum, Alex, Isis and I packed ourselves into the camper and drove up to Kerry's. We camped outside Kerry's on the Thursday night then on Friday 2nd December, we left Alex and Isis with Kerry while Mum and I caught the train into London.

We met up with Claire and Steve and headed into the Royal Albert Hall to watch the Aegon Masters Tennis!

I saw Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, John McEnroe, Mark Phillipoussis, Andrew Castle, Mansour Bahrami, Peter McNamara, Fabrice Sontoro, Jeremy Bates, Richard Krajicek, Mikael Pernfors, Virginia Wade, Annabel Croft & Tim Henman.

It was absolutely awesome, we watched the afternoon session then Claire and Steve left, Mum and I stayed for the evening session which was originally billed to be John McEnroe vs Ivan Lendl, but Lendle pulled out so Richard Kracijek took his place. It was a really good match.

Unfortunately, the two matches in the afternoon both went to tie-breaks, so the invitational doubles with Bahrami (the main reason I had gone) was only on for half an hour as they had to prepare for the evening session. I was rather gutted, but got some fabulous photos.

I'll post them tomorrow when I can get access to the computer - it's one of the few things I don't like doing on the iPad LOL

But I did get this fab shot of Mansour Bahrami which I will post for you for now :D

So.......what've you been up to?

As bright as a bright thing

So a few days ago, I decided I was going to dye my hair!

It's all Zaz's fault really; she's a woman with long dreadlocks from a website called Dreadlock Truth. Her locks are waist length and - due to her fascination with mermaids - she recently dyed her hair green. It looks A-MAZ-ING!

I knew I didn't want mine all one colour though and on a recent shopping trip to Southampton with Alex; I found what I was looking for!

So I roped Vicky (Matt's girlfriend - she started a Hair & Beauty course in September) in to help and we started off by dumping a load of bleach in my hair.

I will admit; I was absolutely terrified! I've put a lot of work into my dreads - I love them, they are getting solid and feel more dreadlockish. What if my hair all fell out, or the dye looked really shit? What if the bleaching process made my locs break? What if it set my scalp psoriasis off?

We sat and we waited and waited. After half an hour, I went and rinsed. A lot of the hair was still quite dark, but seemed to have survived intact. We decided to apply another load of bleach and wait another half an hour.

When I rinsed, this is what I got!

I duly posted a pic on twitter - some loved it, Claire hated it LOL

The next bit was going to be a bit more tricky as I was going to be applying 2 different colours and couldn't just slap it on as I was used to.

We started off by applying the colour to the roots - almost immediately it became obvious that this colour wasn't going to go very far and I started to panic - I didn't want a whole load of blonde hair underneath.

Then I remembered some dye I bought years and years ago and had never gotten around to trying.

When colour number 1 ran out, we added colour number 2 to the ends of the locks that had been partially dyed with colour number 1.

Once colour number 2 ran out we blanket dyed the remaining locs with the ancient dye I'd stashed in my bedroom - we had just enough!

I sat around with all that foil on my head, too scared to move in case something broke and all my hair fell out.

Vicky was exhausted and went to bed and I was left to sit and worry on my own - well, the teen boys were there, but you know what they're like!!

I waited about 40 minutes then went next door to use Mum's shower - no, I still haven't had an electrician in to wire up my fancy bath so I can get the shower attached!

I didn't look in the mirror until after I got out, but from the amount of colour that ran down my body - I knew it was going to be bright.

I had decided to hop into the shower and do it that way as colour 1 was a lot lighter than the other colours and I didn't want any bleeding effect going on.

Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for colour 3 to do what it did!

So, first off, let me show you my hair!

Bright, isn't it?

Personally, I love it!!

Unfortunately, Mum's shower has now been stained blue - I used loads of cleaner on it and still couldn't get it back to white.

Then I saw my back - it was blue too. I could've cried!

I called Alex in and we scrubbed at it until we got most of it off. I got the hairdryer on my locs (it was gone 1am by this point) and dried them off.

Then I went to bed.

When I got up the next morning, the first thing I noticed was that my neck was blue again!

I couldn't believe it! I scrubbed again, I tried toothpaste, eye make up remover, handwash, perfume and T-Gel - I ended up with little more than a sore blue neck :(

We've come to the conclusion that this stuff is just going to leech onto my skin until it settles down, unfortunately this means I can't actually wear my hair down to show off the dye!

The first two colours - Flamingo Pink and Indigo Violet by Directions - are absolutely fine and I have had no problems with them at all. It's the Blue Velvet by Special Effects (the really dark bits) that's causing all the problems!

I'm going to go and wash it again in a minute then give it a good rinse in cold water with a bit of vinegar in to see if that helps at all.

Well....it works on fibre!

WBankers

I bank with Lloyds TSB. I have banked with them for years! I have several accounts, the kids all have accounts and I have a credit card - all with Lloyds TSB.

Several years ago, Matt wanted to start using his account when he started college. Due to the fact it hadn't been used; the bank had registered it as dormant. All they required was us to attend the bank with some form of identification.

We went down, showed his passport, a button was pressed and Hey Presto! the account was working again.

Same thing with Alex a year or so later.

This year, Jess has started college and needs an active bank account. One Monday (about 3 weeks ago) I went into the main branch on the Island with Jess and her passport.

Naturally, we ended up dealing with the idiot who didn't seem to know what he was doing! He took a scan of J's passport and then spent ten minutes farting about on the computer and phone before telling us that the department he needed to speak to were busy. He said he would sort it and call us later that afternoon to let us know what her account number was for college.

He didn't ring.

I stormed back into the bank the following afternoon, he was chatting and laughing away with colleagues. I marched straight up to him and declared "You didn't phone!"

He had to go and find the paperwork and then spent another 35 minutes on the phone and computer (while dealing with other bank staff who kept dropping things off at his desk) before telling me that Jess needed to go back into the bank so that he could call the correct department! I stood and gaped at him for a bit before reminding him that she had been in the bank the day before and he'd told us he'd sort it!

But no, she had to go back in herself. She was told when she went in on the Friday that her account number, debit card and new PIN would be sent straight out and would be with her on the Tuesday.

Friday we went back in to get a print out of her account number and demand to know why her card hadn't turned up! He clicked a button then told me it was on it's way.

I was not at all impressed with this.

Today I received my credit card statement. My minimum required payment for last month was £159.54. I pay £50 a week and have done for years and years.

This month my last payment of £50 went in after the 'pay your money by this date'. So I was £9.54 short for two days.

They charged me £12!

I immediately called them and asked if it could be removed as it was last time the calender and my payments didn't match (about 2 years ago) only to be told "We don't do that."

"Oh yes you do!" says I and we argued for about ten minutes before he graciously, like he was doing me a fucking favour or something, removed the £12 charge - he said "We'd only do it once in a while though and we won't do it again for at least 6 months". I told him that it had been a damn sight longer than 6 months since this had last happened, he said that's why he'd removed the charge and that I must pay the minimum amount required each month.

I yelled at him and told him if he got a calculator out, he'd see that I've actually paid more most months (especially in a 5 week month) and maybe a big top bank like them should learn to be a little bit more flexible before hanging up.

I wonder if that £12 will show as refunded on next months statement......

As you may remember from previous posts; I sleep on the floor.

I started doing this after going camping in Scotland and sleeping really comfortably all week.

That was several years ago and I have slept on the floor ever since. From time to time, I'll sleep on the sofa - usually when my back aches.

I have a theory that my back adapts to whatever treatment it is currently receiving - be it physiotherapy or medication and the treatment stops working after a while.

My back has been aching loads lately, I've had to sleep more propped up to try and relieve the pain!

A short while ago, I stayed at Debs' house and slept on a sofa futon in her spare room. It was really comfortable! Due to the fact that things got very uncomfortable, I decided to buy myself one.

I had a voucher for Argos that gave me £20 off if I spent over £200, so I went in and ordered. The next day Argos tweeted that they were doing a 15% off all indoor furniture on top of all other offers. So I bitched and moaned on twitter and within four hours I received a phone call telling me that I would be receiving a cheque refuding me £54 - 15%! Very happy!

I had a week to do some rearranging to make room for this sofa/futon in the craft room.

I started with this. I just stood and looked at it at first, wondering where the hell I was going to put everything.

I started out by moving my armchair out of the room (this photo was taken after I'd done that) - that's gone next door to my mum. Then I moved Sherry The Cherry and the new Joy into the front room.

As I no longer need to pack all my bedding into a chest in my room (the sofa/futon has underbid storage!) I packed all my fleece into that. This freed up a large tub (the kind you use in the garden) which I dumped all my sock yarn into. I packed and rearranged and shifted stuff until I had made enough space.

Then I washed the floor!

I knew the table would also have to come out - that was also destined to go to my Mum's; I stole it from her in the first place LOL, but I left it deciding I would do it the following morning.

When I originally ordered, they told me delivery would be between 12pm and 6pm, then yesterday I received a text telling me between 1pm and 3pm.

This morning, at 8am, they called and asked if they could deliver between 9am and 10am! They had woken me so I was slightly fuzzy, but said that was fine.

Then realised I had to get up, get dressed, move the table out and resweep the floor (I always sweep again after washing). I managed to get all that done in time!



It not only fits, I've even made a space larger than was required! It's very easy to fold it down to a bed, is quite firm but comfortable.

I'm looking forward to sleeping on it tonight!

Socks! Socks! Socks!

I think I'm obsessed! I've thoroughly enjoyed knitting all these socks, even though I've knit nothing else and done hardly any spinning whatsoever! In fact, I've even knit extra socks!

So next year I'm setting myself a challenge and it's a totally bonkers one! I'm going to follow the theme of four different sock groups from Ravelry.

So, there's the 52 Pair Plunge - that's 52 pairs of socks knit in one year - one pair a week.
Then there's the UK Sock Knitters A-Z Challenge, the Sock Knitters Anonymous AND SolidSocks (I won't be actively participating in the 52 Pair Plunge as they start in July and signups are already closed, but I still aim to do 52 pairs in a year!)!

Now, the A-Z Socks cast on goes 'live' every other week, so either pair 1 or pair 2 would also have to begin with the letter A (the pattern, I mean).

As well as that at least one of the pairs I knit in January would also have to be Flora or Fauna Themed/Designed by Erica Lueder/January's Mystery Sock for SKA AND one of the pairs need to be Black/White/Grey or any mystery sock ever designed.

Luckily SolidSocks only change their designer every other month, but the colour does change every month.

So in theory the first pair of socks for January 2012 could be a pattern that begins with A, designed by Erica Lueder and knit in black! That way, all I would have to worry about is knitting that pair in the first week, so that I can get all other socks knit in time LOL

Clear as mud, right?

Anyway, the pic is a pic of the spreadsheet I've spent this afternoon designing for my sock challenge next year.

Yes, I know....I'm a sad muppet!

But I'll be a sad muppet with warm feet!!!

The one where I got asked to do a review!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Marianne, asked if I would be willing to review a new bag design she had come up with.

I jumped at the chance - after all, who doesn't love a new project bag, right?

Marianne calls it her Little Dumpling and you can see her photo stream here.

So, this bag arrived on the Tuesday after August bank holiday and I was immediately enamoured with the skull fabric she had used.

It's quite a nice sized bag and I wondered how much I'd be able to squeeze into it - I do like to carry a lot of junk stuff!

I decided I would take it along to bingo the following night.

The bag has a front pocket which closes with the two buttons on the front, and the top of the bag closes by 3 buttons spaced evenly along the top. The handle is turned which I had not come across before.

I must admit, I wasn't sure about the buttons to close the bag at first; I thought they'd be a complete pain - but they're surprisingly not fiddly, they do up quickly and easily.

Marianne has also put a pocket on the inside and it's absolutely HUGE! I can fit a blister pack of medication, my bingo card, some money and my bingo dabber pen in it!

In the main bag itself, I managed to squeeze everything you see on the right; my glasses case, two sock projects (200g of fingering weight yarn, 2 x 80cm circular needles), my row counter on the star keyring, my bingo pen, my bingo card, my pills, my scrunchie and the little doohicky I can hang my bag off!!

It stays done up nicely once it's full and is being carried - even with all my junk stuff in it!

At first I was going to suggest to Marianne that she offers this bag with a flat base as I prefer a bag to stand up, but I discovered this morning while taking these photos that it does stand up! Give it a little squish and the clever corner seams flatten out and it stands quite nicely. I've taken this last picture with my camera lens cap in front of it to give you an idea of the size of the bag and yes, it's standing unsupported.

I don't know how much Marianne is planning to sell these Little Dumpling bags for, but the cost will be worth it. The attention to detail in her work is amazing! The fabric for this bag has been doubled throughout, there's a fancy heart stitching across the top of the pocket, a large pocket inside (which would easily fit your iPhone or HTC in) all immaculately seamed and pressed, she's even included a little keyring to attach your carkeys/row counter/etc too!

I would heartily recommend this bag and if you'd like to buy it, it will be available in Marianne's etsy shop very soon!

I'm sorry.....

I'm sorry I haven't been here, I'm sorry I haven't posted.

Things have just been SO hectic!

I'm still furiously knitting away on the A-Z Sock Chellenge - I'm currently working on my R socks and I've also managed to knit Claire a pair of plain socks and last week I knit Kai-Mei socks for myself!

It's becoming an obsession! Even when I've finished the socks we're supposed to be knitting, I just want to knit another pair of socks! I have 42 sock patterns saved on my iPad, several sock knitting books and some queued on Ravelry that I haven't bought or downloaded yet!

I haven't considered a shawl all year!

Things have been quite hectic here lately. I can't remember if I've ever posted about Alex and his mood swings, they're something he's fought with most of his life. They're a way of life for us and when something is a way of ife; you assume everyone knows about it!

Alex has always suffered from mood swings, this has affected many things - most noticeably his education and his ability to retain friends (kids just aren't emotionally or psychologically equipped to deal with a friend who goes bananas every couple of months!) He's seen doctors, paediatricians and counsellors. None of it helped and one 'expert' wrote a letter to our family GP stating that Alex did not suffer from depression!

Well, we decided at that point to just try and cope on our own and to the most part, we have. But as he's gotten older, it's gotten harder and several months ago it got a whole lot worse.

To cut a long story short; his latest crash didn't just last a week or so as it normally would - it started about a couple of months or so ago and didn't go away. He has had suicidal thoughts and fought with (and lost) the majority of his friends.

He's had an emotional breakdown.

I took him to our GP's office and they immediately referred him to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), as it was Friday evening and there isn't an under 18 crisis team here, the adult team was on alert for him all weekend until we could see our GP again and push the referral through on the Monday morning.

CAMHS saw him within two weeks. They have referred him for 'talk therapy', have confirmed that Alex is bi-polar and are debating what medication to put him on.

He has good days and bad days, on good days I can leave him, go out and life is relatively normal.

On bad days, I don't leave his side!

Chinchilla on the run!

I've had Walter for about a month now and he's adorable! A right little character!

In the evenings, I have to remove his food bowl from the cage for the night or he pulls it off the side of the cage, throws it to the floor of the cage and then jumps into it - as it's a metal food bowl and the floor of the cage is bars like the sides; it makes a godawful noise!

He's very sociable and comes to me whenever I open the door, will eat from my hands and most of the time; I can stroke him (especially if I distract him with food).

But I can't pick him up!

He'll sit on my hands & chew my sleeve or jewellery or food if I have some in my hand, but if I try to hold him; he jumps away. I've watched Mel - she puts her hand in and just grabs hers, he struggles a bit, but then calms immediately. I asked Auntie Ruth how she holds hers (she has four), she puts her hand in and picks them up under their bellies - if I try that; Walter just jumps over my hand.

I can catch him, but it takes a minute or two of chasing him around the cage and then when I've got hold of him, he struggles. He'll relax for about 10 seconds, then struggle, then relax for a bit longer.

I tried giving him a treat when I've got hold of him, but he won't take it.

Should I just stick to putting my hands in the cage for now, or should I persevere with chasing, catching and holding him - when will I know when I can pick him up? If I persevere with catching him, should I hold him until he's calm (kinda like flood therapy) or just hold him for a few seconds?

As I've said, other than trying to hold him, he's adorable! He chitters to me and loves when my hands are in the cage, if I could climb into the cage, he'd be all over me - but I'm too scared to get him out of the cage unless I can hold him in case he jumps down and runs away!

Following in her mothers footsteps

I was watching a video on YouTube today about using the Twist and Rip method of dreadlocing hair.

Jess was watching over my shoulder and was inspired, she went to work and several hours later; she looked like this!

I think she looks great and I hope she keeps them!

I've got about 9 beads in my hair now, all the original ones I bought at Woolfest, then I ordered this lot from here.

The little white one, top right, was sent as a freebie along with the five that I ordered - isn't that fab!

I've scattered the beads throughout my hair and I love how it looks today - all wild and messy!

Got Jess to take a photo of the back of my head so I could get a good look at it - it's locking up nicely now!

The beads are holding well, there are loops and knots and it's still changing daily! If I'd known it was going to be this easy to dread my hair - I would've done it years ago!