Setting up for the Degree Show

 

 The first instalment of three: all we could safely get in the car.

Even then, the rod for the biggest glove was snuggling up to the windscreen.

The big glove, and the one we call Matilda'.

One of the twins, and the small black one.

Six more to go, unless I don't show all of them.

Still trying to find a workable blog posting app to replace Bloggsy. Why does Blogger make it so hard to post on an iPad?

 

 

 

 

It's been a funny Easter.

Good Friday disappeared, who knows where, although I do remember the sun was shining!

Yesterday Wensleydale was invited to help the VHC and his dad do some plumbing, while his mum, big sis and I had a good discussion over coffee and carrot cake. Although it wasn't very Easterish, it was very enjoyable, just to be able to get together and be sociable, especially as the weather wasn't very inviting. And a new tap was safely installed.

Today we woke up rather later than anticipated, due to a failure to recall that the clocks were going forward overnight. There was beautiful sunshine and a dead calm - which wasn't quite what was forecast. About an hour later, the rain and wind arrived. The sun did come back occasionally, but now the rain seems to have set in now, and the forecast is for 70 kph winds overnight.

So we have pottered around in the house, which is what we tend to do on public holidays, anyway. Living on the edge of popular routes to the south and west tends to discourage venturing out on the roads at such times, especially when you're retired.

W. has been working on armatures for my remaining gloves, and I have made a To Do list, which is a tad longer than my usual three item lists. It isn't very legible in the photo, but you may be able to read the words 'Degree Show'. In two months it will all be over, much to my relief.

But as we have quite a lot of time off in the next two weeks, both from Uni and grandparenting, I want to get on the top of the boring bits like making sure the paperwork is up to date.

I'm glad to say I've managed to check off two things today - the first item ('Make a list'), and one about going through the 3 million entries on the Notes app, for things that need to be added to the aforementioned paperwork. (I may exaggerate about the 3 million. Slightly.)

 

 

 

 

I have also done some knitting, on what is positively, definitely, absolutely the last glove. It has been started from scratch twice, undergone radical pulling back of multiple rows twice, and gets unpicked every pattern row, even though I deliberately picked an easy pattern (Old Shell/Shale). Of course, trying to work even a simple pattern row while reading a Danish TV series is asking for trouble.

 

Tomorrow it will be back to the list, probably following up some of the artists people have suggested I research and I haven't quite got round to yet...

 

I've been procrastinating...

about posting, because I keep forgetting to take a photograph of the one glove plus armature which was actually finished (more or less) about two weeks ago. But as it's at Uni and I'm not, it won't get photographed till later in the week, supposing I remember this time...

However there is this: a nearly finished plain black glove, about a metre plus in height. My plans for this one include 'distressing' it with the embellisher, and then some darning.

Then there's these two: a hand on a three metre rod, and a two metre armature for the three metre hand. (This is for the very big glove which I finished before Christmas.) The armature is still under construction, as my fabricator is devising a system to weight it at the bottom - I'm worried it will fall over on someone at the degree show, although the staff seemed more confident than I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, some embroidery. You can probably see that I originally wrote 'February' but embroidered 'March' over it, so you can tell not much happened last month. The half hand on the left is my attempt at needlelace, and the less said about it the better - but I have been reading a book called 'Sloppy Craft'...

 

Two weeks gone...

but not much to show for it.

Apart from a new car, but that didn't require much effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As one of those weeks was half term, we went to Manor Farm, which did take effort, but was productive in terms of pleasure and information gained, if nothing else. (I now know how a milking machine works, and, more importantly, so does the VHC. He is very keen on knowing how things work.)

Manor Farm now has a mechanical cow, which I think the kids like almost as much as the real thing.

 

 

But in terms of Uni work, despite a lot of knitting, the ^?< €<*} present glove seems to be taking longer than any of the others, despite being shorter. I know that this is because it is much wider, covered in cables, and 'only' Aran weight wool, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. I was hoping to finish it today, I even began to cast off, but I've just tried it against the armature and it really isn't long enough. I feel a bit pressurised because it's Crits next week, and I was hoping to have a finished, complete with skeleton, glove to show, but that's not gonna happen. I think I'm still on track to have 'enough' to show in the Degree Show, but 'enough' may be 7 rather than 9.

Can you see the non-deliberate mistake? I intended to make 'mistakes', but this was a real one, a row of cables all crossed the wrong way. But these gloves are all about life's changes, and sometimes life does cross your cables wrong...

I did find time to make a couple of junk books. I got bored with the hand theme, and instead picked up Alisa Golden's 'Making Hand-Made Books' and experimented with some of her suggestions. .

 

 

Where have I been and what have I been doing?

1. Nowhere I don't usually go.

2.  a) Knitting. (Now there's a surprise.) What may or may not be the first glove of the degree show is finished - apart from getting a proper armature and support.

It's in double knit, and as it has taken me over four weeks to make it, and it's not really big enough (I ran out of wool), I have moved up to something a tad thicker.

Berber rug wool from Texere, on the biggest double points I own.

Of course a week after I bought it, Texere had a half price sale. 😢 So I ordered some more: 10 cones instead of 5.😊

b) Chasing up John Lewis to find out whether or not they'd delivered my new printer for click and collection (Yes! I had to chase up JL!), then collecting said printer and setting it up. The reviews on the website said it was easy to set up. They lied. It probably was easy if the disc in the box had the right software on it. Mine didn't. I ended up having to download the drivers, and even now it won't work wirelessly, but I can live with that.

It prints quite well, but it will be better when I can work out how to get it not to print in colour all the time. It may be time to invite the family techies round for fish and chips and technical advice. Again. 

On the other hand I downloaded El Capitan all by myself, twice, with only the minimum of swearing.

c) Adding more plaster to this.

 I gave up trickling diluted plaster down in a delicate manner, and plastered it on with a (very small) trowel. It's lumpy and cracking and I love it.

d) Sat in a traffic jam for 2 hours getting to Uni. Fortunately I allow time for traffic, so I still managed to get there in time to have some coffee and get to my lecture. Got to get your priorities right.

e) Being ill. I had a recurrence of the ear infection I had a few years ago. This meant that when I moved, the earth moved too, only more so, and it didn't stop moving when I did. Although Winchester does have a history of earthquakes, this was a very localised one, so I did something I've never done before and made an urgent appointment at the surgery. After a very thorough examination by a nurse paractitioner, my own diagnosis was confirmed and I came out with a prescription, and a flu injection as well. Not to treat the ear infection, but because it was a good idea. Just hope it's more effective than last years. 

I am feeling much better - still some problems with balancing, but the world is more stable. 

f) Making and eating cake. (You can tell how much better I am!) The little guys and their mum and dad held a Macmillan Coffee morning today, so I contributed a lemon cake and ate my fair share as well.

Next week is more knitting, less cake, less sitting in traffic jams (I hope) and as little IT as I can manage.

Still Here...

and still knitting. 

Yes, I am knitting both ends at once. It's a long story - and a long glove.   

 Not much else has been happening. I've  had a series of what Babybel calls 'wrong days' - nothing major going wrong, fortunately, but not much going right. For example, the curtains were finished and hung - and, true to form, I've managed not to get the linings in straight, so the centre of each lining is slightly longer than the curtain. Harrumph.    

 Fortunately the VHC is very happy with them, and I got a special 'thank you' from him at his birthday party, despite competition from (more) Brio type trains and (more) Lego. He didn't get many other presents apart from Brio and Lego but was not in the least disappointed: in fact he was so preoccupied with building a truly amazing train track that he didn't eat his birthday cake. This is unprecedented: he is rather fond of cake.

Those are the VHC and his daddy's knees. I'll let you work out which is which.   

 (I made the cake. I will spare you the saga of making the cake. Let's just say it was similar to the saga of making the curtains, only stickier...)   

 The highlight of the week was a trip down to Walford to the 'Abode' exhibition, which foolishly I had thought would be furniture, but turned out to be mostly textiles/mixed media. Some names I knew (Caren Garfon, Debbie Smyth, Caroline Parrott, Betty Pepper), some were new to me (Hannah Sawtell, Ruth Allen). All good, and a bit of a fifties vibe in some things which I really liked.   

Despite the excellent work by these ladies, what both Wensleydale and I fell in love with was some plates. And bowls, jugs, cups etc. So much so that we came home and ordered some egg cups. We didn't need any egg cups, we were just in love. The range is called 'Eclectic Avenue' by a company called 'People Will Always Need Plates'.  Yes, They do. I really need plates like this.

So wee are trying to justify buying some. Like a dinner service's worth. Unfortunately we have rather a lot of china already: my grandmother's tea service, my aunt's tea service, my mother-in-law's tea service, and two complete(ish) dinner services of our own, best and every day, of which we only ever use the latter. But if we give the dinner services to the sons, and sell the older stuff (which we'd been planning on doing anyway) - we'd need some replacements, wouldn't we? And we'd have some money to spend on it, with any luck. (The inherited stuff is not immensely valuable, but tracking similar stuff down on Google suggests we might get something for it.)   

 So, when we've got rid of the 20 something bags of books, which someone from a charity which I won't name was supposed to contact me about and hasn't, and accumulated enough boxes and newspapers to pack it all, and got my MIL's stuff down from the loft - I'll take a sample to the recommended sale room's valuation day and keep my fingers crossed!    

Life goes on

as does knitting.

 The end is in sight, as there isn't much yarn left on the cone. 

Work on the HandBook continues too - and here is proof that I don't always work in orange. (Curse you, autocorrect, when I type 'orange' I mean 'orange', not 'Orange' or 'oranges'! And I don't mean 'means' either....          

 

There is a little more work that needs to be done, but not by me. Tiredness, plus stress, plus an unfamiliar car park equals  a scrape.

Updating: knitting, Advent decorations, and hands

Still knitting...

I think it will be about 3 metres long before I run out of wool. Then I shall have to start thinking about buttons - those little bumps you can see at regular intervals on the right side of the cuff are buttonholes. Fifty four of them and counting. I have a lot of buttons - I inherited 3 women's button boxes - but probably not enough of the right size and colour (whatever that is) even if I don't worry about them being all the same. I suspect EBay will be my friend.

 I've also got round to making another Advent decoration. I was sure she was going to end up a complete disaster, and I did make two bodices, two skirts and two pairs of wings, but in the end I quite like her. (Her wings aren't really wonky, though, and it reall life they curl back elegantly, as the sequin waste was on a roll.)

.         

And I've been playing around with a pleasing discovery in a Staples sale bin. Half a dozen disembodied hands.

Photograph them and app them with Flip-o-matic and you get lovely patterns. (Flip-o-matic always sounds to me like some thing Gromit invented.)

The most entertaining part of the week, for my audience but not me, was me trying to scan my hands. (It might have been even more entertaining if I'd tried to scan other parts of my anatomy, but hands were a big enough challenge for one day.)  I wanted to scan to Big Mac (copying would have been too easy!) which is about two feet to the left of the scanner: getting them closer isn't feasible.

Scanning my right hand was relatively easy. Except that the overview scan kept cutting off my finger tips, so I had to adjust it, using the mouse with my left hand. Fine tuned click and drag it wasn't.

Scanning my left hand involved crossing my arms. It dawns on me now that as it's a wireless mouse I could have moved it - but I would still have had to turn to the left to see the screen, even after I'd remembered that I could rotate to see it better. 

I couldn't solve the other problems:

1. My hand getting flattened on the platen, so it looks quite squelchy on the scans. (Good job I didn't try other parts of my anatomy...)
2. Not being able to get the back of my hand flat to the glass, so my thumbs are just shadows on the scans.

However, a bit of playing around with my favourite app, iColorama, and I got some passable results. My hands aren't really this wrinkly, honest.

Can you spot the (not so) deliberate mistake?

Not these. These were not mistakes. Weird, but not mistakes. Even the unfinished yarn ends which have felted together are deliberate. 

I may have shown you the left hand one before, but I've felted it a bit more since then. It was originally a tree with hands for branches. Now it's a glove with gloves for fingers, and has therefore, become the first of my unwearable gloves series. The glove on the right was intended to be unwearable right from the start. It was going to have a long tail (knit till the wool runs out) but I got bored and added a frill (increase in every stitch till the wool runs out). The result makes me think of a hand growing out of a brain. I am seriously beginning to wonder what is lurking in my subconscious and what will come out next. Especially because of what did happen next...

You may have noticed that all my samples so far have been made in neutral colours - because I was thinking of skin tones. However I've been pondering on using colour - after all, they are gloves, not hands. Or are they?

I wasn't sure what colour, but when I came across a big skein of  red yarn in a charity shop, I grabbed it. It felt like wool, and £4.50 for 800 grammes was a bargain. I like red, and I'd been very impressed by Louise Bourgeois' paintings of red hands at Southampton Art Gallery last month.

Of course, because it was a skein, I had to get out my swift and nostepinne. I know I shouldn't set up the swift in this ramshackle way, (that's not the deliberate mistake), but the stool is the only thing I can clamp it to. It actually reminds me of this. 

The image of the yarn on the swift is a more accurate colour than the others.

I thought I would only wind off about half of it to begin with, but I had a comfortable chair, I was enjoying the process, and I just kept going. It made me realise how important to me it is that I do these things by hand, in the old way. Wooden tools are nice too. But I don't think my foremothers had Radio 3 to keep them company.

I knitted a tiny sample and washed it - yup, it's wool - and started a glove. It wasn't going to be an unwearable glove, but one of a Louise Bourgeois inspired pair. But when I'd finished it and was sewing in the ends I realised this had happened.

I knew the stitch count was off when I got to the fingers, but just thought I'd miscalculated. Obviously my subconscious was telling me to stick with the unwearable gloves...

Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier

Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier.

It is, by my calculations, 4 weeks until we put up the exhibition which, for the part-timers, is the final part of this year's course. (Where the heck did that year go?) By now, I should be coasting gently towards the end, finishing off pieces for exhibition, making sure my supporting portfolio is up to date, and planning for a well earned break.

Am I? What do you think? 

I spent the first semester procrastinating by pretending to be working on the essay, but since the switch from trees to gloves, I keep having ideas. And I keep having tutorials in which other people make interesting suggestions. And I keep following them up. So that small but beautifully formed body of work which I thought I was going to produce (ha!) is, in reality, a collection of unfinished bits and bobs reflecting a series of wild goose chases.

For example, I think I mentioned the suggestion that I bought a lot of cheap gloves and used them to explore ideas. I started sewing them together without really thinking about it, and ended up with a short tube, which I didn't think I wanted, until I'd unpicked it. (Unpicking tight black stitches in black gloves in dim light is not a good idea and resulted in frayed cuffs and tempers.) (I've just read the previous sentence, and think I should make it clear that I wasn't wearing the gloves. That would be silly.)

Then I decided that a tube was probably a good idea, so I had to start again. The trouble is that sewing magic gloves together is both boring and difficult, which leaves to procrastination. Such as blog writing.

Here is the tube in progress on the right, and the remaining gloves on the left. Unless I decide I want a longer tube, in which case it is about half the remaining gloves. Then I have to decide whether I want an erect column of gloves, or a hanging cylinder, and go and consult one of our excellent technicians about how to achieve it.

My tutor suggested that I tried stuffing one of the gloves with fleece, and shrank it. So I did. I think you can probably work out which is the shrunk one. Interesting, but I don't think I'm going to stuff 4 or 5 dozen gloves with fleece, unless someone has one to spare - and even then I don't think I've got time or a big enough washing machine...

I had another tutorial last week - we are encouraged to book tutorials with all the members of staff.  I was enthusing about Louise Bourgeois's wonderful bronze hands - and was told to try copying them. Apparently copying is good, and trying to be original isn't, which was a bit of a surprise.

So here are two Bourgeois knock-offs. The single hand has yet to be felted, and will join two or three others. They are slightly more expressive than I expected, but somehow I don't think I'm going to be able to pass them off as genuine. 

And finally, some small gloves for an enlarged version of this. 

On a good night, I can make two of these, but looking at them in the photo I think I'm going to need a lot more than nine. Better get those needles clacking...

Weeks 25 & 26

have been busy, hence the radio silence. We have had two Visual Marks Sessions: a standard one last week, and then this week an excellent workshop with Cas Holmes. So although I have a lot of Uni work, today was scheduled for two VM activities as well: following up the CH workshop, and this, which  is one of the challenges our mighty leaders delight in giving us. 

 

In case you are wondering, it is a drip mat for a plant pot. Or it was. Not saying what I have in mind to make, but as you can see it involved a shisha/sequin. It is a long time since I sewed on a shisha, and the last time I did it, I cheated and used shisha rings. So, I have forgotten how to do shisha stitch. It took many attempts to get this far.

Then, as you can see, I spilled red bush tea on it.

Fortunately, the other side is OK, so I shall turn it over and have another go when I feel up to it. Possibly after my first drink of the day. White wine doesn't stain.

My Cas Holmes related work for today was to paint backings (below) for what I'd done on the day (above) - I decided they needed one after I got home. I managed to achieve that without mishap. Tomorrow I will attach the collages and try to pluck up the courage to add some machine embroidery. Mishaps cannot be ruled out.

 

The Uni highlight of last week had been the crits (critiques). Yes, really! I can't remember if I wrote about the previous  one, but it was a bit demoralising, so I was a tad nervous about this one, especially as it was a Friday afternoon. But the tutors were really positive and encouraging, with lots of suggestions about where to go from here.

Which led to an outbreak of lunacy in the garden. It was suggested that I think about putting my hands/gloves/prosthetics on poles. (Don't ask. I can rationalise it, but I'm trying not to overthink things.)

So yesterday we pottered off for a walk in the sunshine at the Hillier  Gardens, coffee and cake in the cafe, and the purchase of canes in the garden centre.

And the final task on the list for today was to put the gloves on the poles, stick the poles in the lawn, and photograph them. I was expecting the pole-pushing to be difficult, but one of the advantages of having a lawn which  is mostly moss is that the first few inches are quite soft. (After that it's chalk, and you need a pick axe.)

 

If the neighbours didn't already think I was nuts, they do now.

Week 23

I knew I hadn't posted for a while, but I didn't realise it was quite this long! My excuse is that what I was calling a chest infection turned out to be flu, because just like almost everyone else who had the jab, I still caught it. And I still have the cough, sniffles and occasional wheezing. And no energy.

I have been getting into Uni, where  we had a special visitor.

I managed to escape extermination, and after a couple of tutorials, the trees have been replaced with hands - or possibly gloves. The final deciding factor was these, which turned out much better than I expected, if a little small. I find those odd little fingers strangely expressive. They look even better pinned to a wall.

 

So now I am researching, collecting photos, drawing (!), knitting and modelling hands and gloves.

I"m exploring different sizes and styles, before deciding what I am actually going to do with them!

On an encouraging note, I got told off by a member of staff because I didn't put anything in for an exhibition which is coming up. I really didn't have anything suitable - they had to have D-rings attached, which is difficult with knitting - but in the depths of my flu induced misery, it was good to know someone thought my work was better than I did!

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

I know I'm late, but I've just realised I haven't posted since last year. No excuses, I just never seemed to get round to it. It's not as if we've been that busy since Christmas, although there has been some extra grandparenting, which can be a little tiring, 😉

We had a good time with the in-laws to be on New Year's Eve, when we were treated to a Spanish meal, although it ended up with Welsh whiskey, which is becoming something of a tradition. The next time we meet them will be for the wedding. I am really looking forward to it, although I don't think we will be toasting the happy couple with Penderyn. I will also need to find something to wear...

Another tradition seems to be having a big clear out - never planned, but as it always happens around this time of year, I think it's become a habit. All sorts of things emerged: manuals for computers and phones we no longer own, chequebooks for accounts we no longer have, and an unused 2005 calendar.  On the other hand I can't find the 2015 one I'm sure I bought - presumably I'll find it in 2025...

The tree/hand knitting has continued. 

 

Binomial, Fibonacci and dreadlocked trees, one (unfinished) with a handful of hands, and a bunch of tiny pinkish prosthetics I'm not sure how I'm going to use. 

There has also been some ornament starting, although they  need beads, sequins and possibly a tassel.

Uni doesn't start again till the week after next, so we took advantage of a free day to go down to Bournemouth, have lunch at the Russell-Cotes, wander round the galleries, and take photos of the sea.

Today has been a flower day. As usual, our early snowdrops are out under the birch tree

And Wensleydale assembled our poppy, which arrived a couple of days ago.  It is bigger than I expected, and has a touch of mud and rust, which seems appropriate, really.

It doesn't seem much for nealy two weeks, does it? Perhaps too much drinking. Tea, that is.

Weeks 15 and 15a

Weeks 15 and 15a

Sorry to go AWOL, I've been a bit busy.

To begin at the beginning. Week 15 turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. The lecture we were expecting was cancelled, but as the essay really was finished, printed, bound and ready to hand in, I couldn't take advantage of the extra time for last minute revisions. So I handed it in, both paper and electronic versions (that was the challenging bit), drank coffee, and grabbed a quick tutorial/feedback on the crits. I found it demoralising at the time, but when I'd calmed down a bit, got a good night's sleep, and reread the comments, they weren't too bad. I am less sure of what I'm doing than I was a month ago, but I think the staff would think that was a good thing...

By that time, however, we were bracing ourselves for The Visit. It was Mr & Mrs Cheese Minor's 10th wedding anniversary, and they celebrated with a couple of nights in Berlin. Which meant that the little guys celebrated by coming to stay with us.

I'd spotted that Winchester City Mill, which is one of the VHC's favourite places, was having a milling day, so we went to have a look. This might not have been a good idea on the Sunday before Christmas, but the local buses  were remarkably quiet, unlike the park and ride. We bought  flour at the mill, and made bread the next day, before heading to Mottisfont for their Nutcracker trail. 

As we expected, the little guys loved the trail, especially the automata - and the ice cream (!) in the outdoor cafe. (Wensleydale and I opted for tea and cake.)

And on the third day, we headed for the Winchester Science Centre. Unfortunately their Christmas show in the Plantetarium had finished, but the little guys were quite happy with the usual one, plus plenty of time to explore the science exhibits. The cafe is good too - some of the best sandwiches I've had, and very generously filled.

You may be surprised to see no mention of Manor Farm in this itinerary. We had planned a visit, but Babybel didn't want to go!

After the little guys went home we needed time to recover, so we were glad to have no more social engagements till the 26th, when Babybel ran her first Boxing Day race with her mum and dad - 3 km in 20 minutes 'without stopping'! She wasn't first, but she wasn't last either, and she was so proud of herself!

The quiet time allowed plenty of time for sampling trees/hands/branches. (Second left is the beginning of a branch, whatever you think it looks like!) I've also been researching some artists recommended by my tutor, who seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of contemporary art. 

I also made some Christmas ornaments. I came across this lovely idea too late for this year, but I worked out if I started straight away and made two ornaments a month, we could have our own Advent Bough next year.  So next year the fortnightly ornament will replace the weekly book - I just hope it doesn't fizzle out like the books did. This is the last book, a variation on the palm leaf book I made earlier. 

 

For the ornaments, I chose a colour scheme of red, rust, yellow, dark blue and cream - which is not a good idea when you want to make Christmas trees like this. As it turned out, I didn't have enough suitable green buttons, and barely enough cream ones, which is why my tree is an odd shape. I have a lot of buttons, but I was surprised how many of them were shank buttons, which wouldn't work.

I made a couple more ornaments, as you can see, from ideas here and here. My intention is that they will all be different, more or less.

We have a few more quiet days now until New Years Eve when the soon-to-be Spanish branch of the family ( that is, soon-to-be family, they are already Spanish...) are coming over for a few days. Then we hit the ground running again when term starts again. Must get more rest!

Week Ten: Coming to Conclusions

Well, sort of. 

The scarf for Babybel did get finished, and was delivered the day after her birthday. She was nicely greatful, and wore it for school. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo.

This vessel/branch is finished, and blocking on the end of a carpet tube. Except that it didn't shrink as much as I'd hoped, so it will have to visit the washing machine again. I had intended that the ribs would twist round - but as you can see, they didn't. However,  I will not be knitting it again.

This bit of playing around finding  trees on a used colour catcher is finished. It was intended  to go in a sketchbook, but Wensleydale has decided it should be framed. So maybe that isn't finished either.

We had a tutorial on Wednesday and I was instructed to stop farting around with samples and start a trial tree. Well, not quite in those words, but that was the gist. I've done some research into how to hold it up - anyone know where I can buy that tubing they bury cables in? - and I would have started knitting after I'd finished the brown thing, honest, but I can't find the wool. I think it may be in the car, which is in the garage, but I'm too lazy to go and look. So I'm making a s****e, just as a stopgap.

The essay isn't finished either, but it is a lot closer to being finished than it was before the weekend - so close to completion that I am experiencing a great sense of relief. I have no idea if it is any good, but my ambition is restricted to getting it finished and handed in on time. 

So, a better week than last week: let's hope the improvement continues.