Author: bryonyramsden

I’ve been tagged by Vy for the book meme. Here goes…
1. Total number of books I own?
I own many many many books. I have no idea of the numbers, but I do know that they fill the shelves and spill out everywhere else, that the shelves fill the 3rd bedroom of the house (a boxroom, but big enough to house a desk and a bit more) up to the ceiling, and that some of my books are sitting in a pile in the lounge because I got them for my birthday and I haven’t found space for them yet. The knitting/sewing books live in the lounge too, but they have shelf space 🙂 This is the problem with all libraries (space), therefore it isn’t surprising that librarians have that problem too…
2. The last book I bought?
That would actually be 3 books – Loop-d-loop and Ann Budd’s basic pattern books. Yum 😀
3. The last book I read?
Right now I’m reading The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials no. 2), and The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan (a non fiction one with some of her memoires and meanderings, borrowed from a colleage at work, while she’s borrowed The Bonesetter’s Daughter from me). I also have A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but I can’t bring myself to finish it – I loved the first half, but it really has lost direction and I just can’t be arse anymore! Life is so much more than books that bore you. If you want the last book I finished, then that would be Northern Lights, the first Pullman book that I borrowed from a friend, and made me obsessive. I plan on reading the last book of the trilogy next, and The Time Traveller’s Wife (can’t remember the writer right now), which I borrowed from the same friend as the Pullman. After that, I haven’t a clue, but I need to read the book version of Totoro and the Miyazaki book DB bought me, plus I’m itching to read The Master and Margarita by Mikhai Bulgakov, which my brother got me. And the millions of others waiting on my shelves 🙂
4. Five books that mean a lot to me?
I hate questions like these! 😉 This is more like essential reading by Bry. Errmmm, in no particular order:
-Any Jane Austen – well duuuh! Her writing is something I can turn to when I need saving. Remember when you were a kid, and nightmares woke you up? If you were like me, you read something till you calmed down, something that would sooth you and chase the nasties away. Austen not only entertains and stimulates me, she also manages to do that.
-A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. This book is just gorgeous. I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t be daunted by the number of pages (mine copy has 1000 ish, but I think there are some thinner printings). I could drown in this book. A soap opera for the intelligent (I don’t mean that soaps are for thickies or anything like that – I still rather like a bit of Neighbours when I can catch it :D, but it is a very high class, very intelligent and educated soap essentially). And you won’t guess the ending either…
-Halliwells Film Guide. Can’t live without it. I love films, and Halliwells is the best way to hunt something out, get a review without finding out the twist/conclusion (as the Virgin guide tends to do), or just prove that someone was in something crap (particularly when the web connection goes down and I can’t get to IMDB).
-The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. The first Carter book I read, which made me fall in love with her writing, and inspired me to an A on the creative writing bit of my English degree. Carter can be difficult, and almost abuse the reader, but at her heart are fun and a wry poke in the ribs to get your brain and arse in gear. Sadly missed.
Finally, after much musing, here is the fifth…
-The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson. Another magic realist, but this really is a gorgeous tale of passion, love, webbed feet and chicken in Napoleonic times 🙂 The first Winterson I read, and I still feel like it is the best. Another inspirational writer.
I think these choices, when I think about it too much, largely scream feminist in huge pink letters… I’m glad I sneaked in a bloke 🙂
5. Tag five people and have them fill this out in their blogs.
Ok, but I’m still young in blog terms, so I hope the people I pick don’t mind me scaring them – they might not remember me (I’m such a wee bairn), and I doubt I’ll reach 5 either. They’ll find out who they are soon enough, heheheheheheh!
Cheers Vy!

Yup, as warned I’ve had a shift from Movable Type to WordPress. This is largely because I wanted to do some stuff to my site and upgrade it to the latest version, only to find that MT have changed the licensing (ugh, I’m sure I’m spelling everything wrong right now!). DB did some hunting and found the lovely WordPress, which after playing around with it for a few weeks, I think it is rather good. No more rebuilding for me 😀 Also, WP make it miles easier to add pages and make pretty things, which will be rather nice when I get round to it.
It does mean that one or two things might have gone walkabout, so I’m really sorry if they have and you are hunting for them! Let me know if there is anything horribly wrong too – the site is designed based on my resolution on the laptop, which might mean that I’ve missed something and it looks evil somewhere else. Also I hope all the comments and stuff are still around :S
Anyway, since I went back to work, I’ve not done much knitwise, apart from start the bolero (oopsy daisy :D). I finished the back last night, and have literally only done the casting on for one of the front pieces. The back looks a bit big at the mo, as everyone has been saying, but I don’t think I’ll be able to tell properly until the front pieces are done as to what kind of fit it is. I won’t be posting pics yet, as the light has been rubbish recently (the weather has been gloomy as anything, but is supposed to be lush tomorrow and over the weekend. Hope so! I’m doing Race for Life on Saturday afternoon!).
Oh, and I got some of my grades back today, and I can now say that I am qualified to diploma level to be a librarian – hoorah! Naturally I can’t really say it till I get my cert and all that, and because I want to upgrade it to MSc next year, I won’t fuss much because the hardest is still to come, but at least I have a good grade for my research proposal in order to do next year’s work on it… Scary stuff…

Well, after much umming and ahhhing, I decided to give up for now on Lucky from SNBN. I frogged it a while ago realising that the size I was making would be too big (although the way I feel today, nothing will ever fit me ever ever :D). Apart from the fact that I have tons of things on the needles and should be good and finish them off, I decided to give it up, because I’ve kind of lost motivation for it, and have a lot of other ideas for things to make which would use up stuff I have sitting around with no projects to go with. It’s a shame, but it might help put me on the straight and narrow 🙂
One of the reasons that helped me decide the above was that the Spring Summer edition of Vogue plopped on to my doormat today 😀 For once the sizes seem to be of a size that will fit me (woohoo! A big move from the maximum bust size of 36 to 38 inches, which is still quite common in it, but less than it has been). I quite fancy the lace trim bolero, and I think some of my Jaeger Aqua might work for it (I’m swatching up this afternoon to try it before I get too eager). Thing is, I have no idea whether it would suit me. I think it would look nice with jeans or smart black trousers (i.e. work), with something plain on underneath, but whether it will actually suit my bodyshape is another question… It has most of the right stuff – sleeves long enough to hide the worst of the bingo arms (for you yanks out there, that means the wobble when you wave at the top of your arm – known as bingo arms here because of the distinctive image of ladies playing bingo and waving their bingo card when they win, plus a bit more than you might want to see), the size that will accomodate me happily, and enough length to it to stop it from looking too cropped. But I am short and fat. That bit might not work. Soooo, before I get too eager, you guys have seen some pics of me in stuff, although they aren’t brilliant, so your opinions will help a great deal as to whether it is worth making. Be ruthless if you like 🙂 I can take it! I have plenty of other options for the yarn because it is the kind you can use for loads of stuff at the mo, so it won’t be too great a loss to decide against it, but it just looks so pretty 😀 Even in the reclined position of evil that hides all of the shape and the way it hangs… Come on then, give it to me!

Woohoo! After many, many months, I have finally finished my first pair of socks. The second one is slightly bigger than the other, which is good because it has a better fit (I’m sure I mentioned that the first one I made was a bit baggy). Not massively keen on the pattern tho, as it leaves me with holes where the heel flap joins on to the rest of the sock (the bit when you pick up stitches). I think I’d rather pick up an extra stitch on each side and decrease twice as much on the first full round to shape the foot. Don’t know if it would work though.

I still have 45 ish grams of sock yarn left, so I might try using it on the trainer sock pattern in the new edition of Spun
Next up is an action shot of me in Bloom (and not a very good one at that). I look rough in it – I must be starting to show my age 🙁 Did I say I have one lone grey hair? That isn’t good for 28, although I’ve heard worse. But still!

It is rather comfy, and cosy, so a little too warm for summer, but it will work well on a breezy day. It also seems to sag at the neck a little after wearing it for a while (I’ve worn it a couple of days running, but it doesn’t smell – I promise!). I’m assuming it will go back into shape when I wash it. It better bloody do anyway!
I also have an extension to the stash (oops!). I got a lovely cone of yarn from Sue for a birthday gift. It is an eyelash one, but furry style, and so soft you wouldn’t believe! Most eyelash yarns I’ve seen are quite itchy or a bit funny feeling, but this is different.

The other one is Patons 100% cotton (a mercenised cotton), which I got 5 balls of. It’s to use for a pattern from Knitting magazine to make a t-shirt or a tank with a cowl neck. I haven’t decided which yet, but I discovered that it is supposed to knit to the same tension as the Jaeger I bought at Black Sheep – oops! Which means that I can knit both patterns, but just need to decide which to use first. I’m thinking the t-shirt is more versatile. Either way, I should really finish the shrug first (which is almost half done – yay! Just a few more inches and I’m halfway across the back), but I feel like making something to reflect the weather, and Kid Classic is maybe a bit much for when the sun comes, as it feels quite toasty when I try on the half shrug on one arm… Hmmm, not sure yet.
Anyway, here is a detail of Sue’s stuff that she got me from Uppingham Yarns. Yay!

Yay! I got a message from my secret pal 😀 Very cool poem, so thanks pal 🙂 I’m feeling giddy already! Am also v excited about buying gifts for my pal, and have bought loads already… I love buying pressies for people! It’s a shame I can’t see their face when they open it, but reading about it on the blog will be cool too 🙂
Also, thanks for the comments on Bloom and how to use up that Kid Silk Haze! For Lee’s attention, I made the largest size, but my row gauge was off so it came out wider (which is fine by me ;D). I don’t know if that threw off the shoulders, but I do know that given that it was knit side to side it shouldn’t have really made much difference. It looks fine while you knit it, but you can’t tell till you’ve sewn it up whether they are too big, unless you are much cleverer than me, which wouldn’t be too hard 🙂
I’m still not decided on what to use KSH on, and I still haven’t got an action shot, as the DB is away at a conference. I might wear it to work tomorrow though as the weather is awful at the mo, and I am seriously considering putting the fire on in addition to the radiators… Not good in June… I have to say I do like the idea of some little sleeves but I don’t think I’m clever enough to make something up like that yet. The best I can think of is maybe just casting on to match 3/4 of the arm hole size and decreasing on each edge to make a little cap, but the sleeve is a little bit capped anyway, so I’d have to decrease to follow the line of the sleeve. My brain hurts just thinking about it 🙂
Anyway, I just spent an hour making a list of links for someone at work, and another 15 mins veeerryyyy slooooowly composing this post, so I want to knit some shrug. The back is going quicker than I expected, and considering I haven’t done much on it, I think that’s pretty good. I’d like to get it done asap so that I can use it before it is hot, if that ever happens. Haven’t cast on for the second sock tho. I’m a bad girl 🙁

Dear Pal – just to let you know that hotmail is being over enthusiastic with junk mail at the mo – I’ve changed my settings, but if you don’t hear from me within a couple of days when you mail me, leave a comment here or mail me at my ntl email address. It’s the same as the hotmail one except you replace hotmail.com with ntlworld.com. My questionnaire is done though 😀 Let me know if you can’t find it, but it should be listed in recent posts even if it isn’t on this page.
That is the end of this public service announcement.
In other news, I’m moving on with the shrug, and have nearly finished the first sleeve. It’s not going to be a turtleneck though, so I’m going to play around and experiment. This will be the first time I have made a pattern up, but lets face it, shrugs are a good place to start because they don’t take much work to design for a really basic version. And this will be veeeeryyyy basic 🙂 I’m thinking that I’ll cast off a quarter of the stitches when I get to the arm pit, then change the ribbing to that I’m knitting 3 rows and purling 3 to making it stretch the right way across the back. It might look rubbish though, so I’ll have to be willing to rip back… I’ll let you know 🙂

That appalling pun indicates that I have a finished object at last – woohoo! Bloom from Rowan 36. I was out on the raz last night, and while I didn’t drink enough to get very drunk and feel ill this morning, I was in bed about 3am and up and about by about 7.30am, so I am a tad rough and fragile today! No pics in action, but there are pics…

I used mostly Rowan yarns for it. Felted Tweed in Dragon (a dark grey green) for the body of the tank, and 3 balls of Kid Silk Haze and one of Jaeger Mohair Art for the blooms on the shoulder. Felted Tweed is lovely to work with – really smooth on the needles, soft on the hands, and slubby enough to be of interest without messing up gauge and the run of the fabric. It has just the right amount of give for a top like this too. Lovely stuff to use.

This pic isn’t really fully accurate for the colours – I think the first pic is closer. The Jaeger is a cream colour, kind of a nutty cream rather than vanilla and I used that for yarn B. The KSH used were 589 Majestic (the lilac for yarn D), 584 Villain (a dark reddish chocolate brown for yarn C), and 588 Drab (an olive green for yarn E – its from the ones for the lace cami from Weekend Knitting). The Jaeger was quite nice to use, but not as nice as the KSH. I’ve used it a little on the lace cami from Weekend Knitting, but this time it was doubled over, and obviously not in a lace pattern, and it was lovely to use. Very soft, and doesn’t shed any fibres, or doesn’t seem to. I’d love to make a little top out of it knit straight or something, but buying more stash and patterns to match it is not an option right now (remember I promised myself!)
It took almost as long to do the crochet as to knit it – I started crocheting yesterday and it’s taken me to the middle of the afternoon to finish. I still have pins and needles in my finger and thumb from gripping the hook too tightly on the bit with the size number raised on the handle (my own stupid fault admittedly) 🙁 I also had the same problem that a lot of people have had with the pattern – the shoulders were massive! I should have taken a before pic with me wearing it yesterday to check the sizing, as they were flopping all over the place. I used the same method as them – sewing a seam on my machine to where I needed it, trimming the excess knitting off, and doing a zigzag stitch to stop it unravelling. It adds bulk a little to the seam, but looks much better on that it did before! I’ve no idea how you’d fix the short row shaping for it, but I’d certainly add less stitches at the casting on for the arms, as I cut off over an inch each side of the seam at the worst bit, and a little less than an inch overall at best.
In general though, I’m pleased with it. Next things I want to finish are the shrug and the second sock. I bought a shrug (just a cheap material one) to wear last night and decided it was a rather good thing and that I looked ok in it, so I’m happy to get moving on the knitted one, and am already thinking about designing a simple stocking stitch one for myself with some of the stash.
Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for using almost full odd balls of Kid Silk Haze let me know – I know there is a glove pattern using one ball, and that I could probably make up a little stripy scarf or something, but I feel I might be able to give it more justice than that. It’s so nice I want to make it happy and wear it close to the skin instead of as an ornament like on Bloom. Oh, and btw I’ll be swapping from Movable Type to another blog provider although the web address will be the same. MT have changed their licence since I signed up, so DB has found me another one that is actually more usable and is easier to play with, so once I’m happy with its set up, I’ll switch over.

Ok, here are my answers to the secret pal questions.
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I’m a bit of one, but because of living in the UK, I don’t get to see any US yarns, so wouldn’t be opposed to any at all. I do prefer something with natural fibres in it.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I don’t spin, but I do crochet a bit. I’m in the middle of a crochet scarf from Rowan 36, but it is sitting and waiting till Autumn…
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
Not really, although I am asthmatic, so smoke is a bad thing, as are some cheaper perfumes. It leads to expensive tastes, but my bathroom shelf looks nice with the Chanel on it 😀 I also have a wheat intolerance (which I’ve only just discovered, so I’m trying to work out what I can and can’t eat).
4. How long have you been knitting?
I learnt when I was about 8 or 9 and knitted blanked for My Little Ponys 🙂 Then I stopped for ages, and only rediscovered it last Autumn.
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do – just look me up under bryonyramsden at hotmail dot com.
6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love vanilla, raspberry and melon. I’ve also been known to like a nice coffee candle 🙂
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
A little. I’m trying to avoid for the most part to lose weight, but I am really partial to Green and Blacks and Dairy Milk. Only if it is around the house tho!
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I like sewing clothes from patterns and gardening. The gardening is a bit lazy thanks to my studies, but I love raising chili plants if only for the colours and the variety. The sewing is a bit sporadic, but I love the idea of making something no one else haves 😀
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
The pc can play mp3s, and I also have an mp3 player (one for cds and one for mp3s themselves). I have quite a broad taste: some jazz (blue note stuff and some Louis Armstrong), some classical (Satie and Rachmaninov, but I also like Philip Glass and Michael Nyman), some indie (the Vines, Stereolab, the killers, Franz Ferdinand), some dance (Chemical Brothers, Fatboyslim), and some good old girly singer action (Kylie, Fiona Apple, Kathryn Williams).
10. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I love soft natural neutral tones. I have a really strong tendancy to wear black a lot, so when I knit I seem to be drawn towards colours more, which I feel weird doing but there you go. I suppose the best way to describe this is to say what I have in my stash – taupe, black, jade green, light yellow leaf green, dark mauvey purple, light lavender lilac, dark tweedy grey green, olive green. The lounge is done in a lovely almond white, with navy sofa and armchair, while the bedroom is done in soft light blues (with a nice creamy laminate on the floor). Never realised how many greens I had in my collection 😀
I despise neon colours. Be warned…
11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have one long term boyfriend, no pets, no kids (too young and fond of my money for that!). We do feed the birds in the garden though, and try and encourage some of the rarer species to feed as the UK is losing a lot of bird breeds 🙁
12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
Bloody hell! Just to get through it and have no regrets. A long reliable loving relationship, lots of frienships, and not have hurt anyone. No use for this quiz essentially…
13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I usually buy Rowan stuff, as, again I’m limited as to what I can get or afford. I have tried Noro – lovely effects but not that great to knit with, sometimes worth it for the projects. I also use Sirdar when the purse strings are tight. Oh and I have two hanks of Colinette Point 5 that I love using so far.
14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Eyelash yarn, even though I’ve bought it in the past, but that was just to experiment. It depends on the eyelash yarn tho – I like the fur ones, but not the neon ones with bits of string in them and stuff. I also hate knitting with pure acrylics, although again this depends – I knitted that cushion cover in Wow, and that’s an acrylic chunky velvety type thing, but I had that jumper I frogged in black acrylic chunky because the garment felt like plastic 🙁
15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Having too many projects! Erm, I’m into tank tops at the mo (see bloom from Rowan 36 for the type I mean). Otherwise I don’t have any grand passions. Just lots of wants from Rowan patterns.
16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m not sure again (sorry!). I definitely prefer garments, but I’d like to make a throw for the bed or the lounge when it gets chilly (there is a gorgeous one in Knits for the Home made in Point 5, that is simple but effective). I get bored by too much stocking stitch, but if I like the finished item enough then I’ll put the effort in. On the other hand, I don’t want anything knit up with stripes or lots of colours, unless its a bag (this is easier, saying what I don’t like!) or a scarf. Anything really fussy is bad, because I have a big bust, and lots of pattern on that is not good (says she who is knitting Lucky from SNBN!).
17. What are you knitting right now?
Ok, I have a list on the blog, but for now:
Bloom (rowan 36)
Lucky (snbn)
Lace cami (weekend knitting)
Point 5 herringbone scarf
shrug (scarf style)
A sock from Opal
A rug from oddments (see Erika Knight’s New Knits)
18. What do you think about ponchos?
Rubbish 🙂 I hate them – they look ok on some people, but in a year or two, those same people will be veeery embarrassed 😀 And they certainly don’t look good at all on me!
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
I don’t mind. Either is good if it does the job and doens’t snag.
20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Same again, although bamboo is more comfortable for me. Usually depends on the yarn I’m using.
21. Are you a sock knitter?
The one I’m knitting now is the second of my first pair. I’m not sure yet how many I’ll make, but I like looking at the finished one 🙂
22. How did you learn to knit?
My mum taught me 🙂 Many moons ago, and I decided that making big holes in the said pony blanket was rather clever of me 😀 She knitted all the time, hand and machine, so I really wanted to learn.
23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Oooooh, that’s a tough one… I think it would be my socks, which have been on the needles since before Christmas. At the moment its a bit unfair to judge me by that seeing as I’ve been studying rather than knitting! The others are recent enough to have been set back by the coursework, but the socks are just plain laziness/procrastinating in order to give the other projects priority!
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I like Family Guy and the Simpsons and Futurama (I bought DB the wind up Bender :D), the Mr Men (Mr Messy is the best!), Ranma and Totoro, and Rex the Runt. I think at the mo, Totoro is my fave.
25. What is your favorite holiday?
I’ve not been on holiday much, so I think the one and only hol I had with db would be that – the trip to Prague. Such a stunning place, and so welcoming – it felt like home as soon as I got there. Good beer too 😀
26. Is there anything that you collect?
I’m trying not to collect anything, as I want to get rid of clutter in the house a bit more. I think I’m just a yarn collector at the moment…
27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I’m a member of Rowan, so I get their magazines automatically, but I also buy the uk magazines Simply Knitting and Knitting magazine. I’ve a copy of winter Vogue Knitting, and the first 2 issues of Knit1.
28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
See my wish list on amazon for that. Its much easier! Although I haven’t added on there yet that I’d like any of the harmony knitting stitch guides. I’d like to learn more about how lace stitches and the like work so that, once I get used to using the Ann Budd pattern books, I can start designing my own stuff 🙂

Yay! Happy birthday to me 😀 I’m not modest…
Had a v nice day, after it started a bit blah. Lots of my gifts are still in the post (or on Amazon’s shelves still), so I wasn’t really expecting much really, but my friends have excelled themselves, as have my work mates 🙂 Bless them. Lots of funky stuff, including the latest Stereolab album (a rarities one with 3 discs and one dvd, which is fab) from DB with some mystery gifts to come, The Master and Margarita (a book I’ve wanted for ages), some Green and Black 70% choccy from my brother. Lots of luxury goods from everyone else 🙂 Hoorah! Looking forward to spending some vouchers at the garden centre and Space NK (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Space NK). Yay!
Have just had a yummy meal cooked by the lovely DB, and am now lounging with a glass of red thinking about my expanding but happy stomach…
Anyway, I also think it is about time to post my Secret Pal answers 🙂 I’ll do it in a separate post so that it is easy to find. V exciting 😀

I can’t believe it. I finally made it through and have just submitted my last assignment of the year. I’m done until next year when I conduct my research. 3 and a bit months of total relaxation (providing I don’t have to redo any essays!). Lovely 🙂 I always panic until I get my email confirmation of the assignment being received, and pages being printed and the like (distance learning courses still carry all the fears of not making submission deadlines and all that), so I think I’ll still be in a state of agitation till next week, but for now, all I can do is sit back and wait for them to arrive 🙂
And clean the house while I’m not in work.
And wait around for DBs mp3 player to be delivered.
And… Knit 😀 Yay! Although my hands ache a bit from all the typing up on the laptop, so I might need a rest from it. I always feel at a loss for a little while once I finish studying, because the urgency has suddenly disappeared. Even though there are always loads of things that I like doing that I have to put aside while I study, I forget what they all are as soon as I’ve clicked on that little send button. My mind just goes blank for a few days, and I struggle a bit to direct myself. Then it just suddenly clicks. And come September I’ll be struggling to get back into studying again.
But for now, I’ll just luxuriate. Start learning Japanese again. I won’t retain it once I start studying again, but I enjoy it. Knit all those projects up that are sitting in the box. Use up the stash. Start running again. Read the books that are piling up on the shelves borrowed from friends, and then read all the ones that I bought too, or have been given as gifts. Dust off the PS2 and nurse it back into use (poor little PS2 🙁 Much neglected as of late).
That should keep me going for a while 🙂