Data, Detectives and Dodgy Embroidery

Craft Part 2 has begun! Having discovered a small hole in my favourite grotty cardigan I decided to make it bigger, edged it using eyelet hole stitching and added petals and leaves with fishbone stitch. I am quite pleased with it! I am also rather startled by the amount of positive comments I have received for it, my favourite being 'Miss, you've got a flower on your bum!', as well as by the number of people who said they would have no idea how to do it. I guess I still naively think that everybody learns to sew in childhood - I should know better!

I have completed Detective Badge so have made a slideshow full of information about my favourite detective, Albert Campion, whom I have loved since a teenager after seeing Peter Davison portray him in a BBC series. I have since read all the original books by Margery Allingham many times. I made a slideshow rather than a scrapbook as I am trying to declutter the house and am not fond of scrapbooks really.

I have discovered the books of Caroline Graham on my library audiobook site, and am working through them. The books are the source of the 'Midsomer Murders' television series, and are much more nuanced than portrayed on screen. The writing is exceptionally good, and the characters excellently written. I particularly like that Sergeant Troy is considerably less likeable in the books than on TV, and that Joyce is a completely inept cook and doesn't give a damn about it! Their daughter, Cully, is much more arrogant and less likeable too. DI Barnaby has a softer side too, with interests in watercolouring and horticulture.

The clause of solving cases was trickier; I have included solving the codes of National Cipher Challenge last Autumn, as I managed to complete 17 out of 20. The last three were fiendish and I did try but never managed to crack the codes. The challenge always takes the form  of an espionage mystery, with two parts each week; one part is from the point of view of the people telling the story, Harry and Jody, and the other part is the story itself. There is always an historical basis, and the story is always exciting. Next I did an online escape room via Google Forms with a Harry Potter theme, which was pretty simple but fun. Finally I did another online escape room that was somewhat more challenging than the HP one; this wasn't particularly difficult but I wasn't giving it my full attention so went wrong a couple of times. Luckily there were hints along the way! Good fun, and I shall use them with my codebreaking club at school.

I finally finished Conscious Consumer by knitting two cowls for presents; I had made one for myself and my Mum admired it but wanted it in a different colour so got one for Mother's Day, and the other is for a colleague who also admired mine and is leaving for a different job soon. I'm getting more interested in knitting again thanks to RBC, and have learned to 'knit in the round' on circular needles for this pattern. Not as hard as it looks, but do make sure you get the correct length of wire between the needles - if it is too long you have to faff about more!

The March Challenge - 'Be A Hero' was completed just in time; I completed 'My Powers' in January, so that clause was easy! I drew myself as a superhero which I found hard as articulating what I am good at and do well has never been easy. The random act of kindness was tricky as opportunities haven't really come up; however, I bought a couple of Kitkats for a couple that I saw sat on a damp path looking miserable, but they had gone when I returned (so I ate the chocolate....), but I did then buy a bunch of flowers for a colleague that I don't know very well who was having a tough week. Learning about International Women's Day was interesting, as was learning about Intersectional Feminism. I had no idea what the latter term meant, and now feel better informed. Finally I listened to the audiobook of 'Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men' by Caroline Criado Perez. This was not a "shouty feminist" book, but was in fact extremely well written and thought provoking, and delved into the lack of data about many issues affecting women across the world, much of which seems to be an oversight rather than a deliberate method of making life for women more difficult. Fascinating, and a book that should be widely read and acted upon positively.

 

Rebel Cup points this month: 16 (3 merit badges, a monthly challenge badge,  a quarterly challenge badge, organised a rebel meet up, and a soup donation).