Another one bites the dust...

Yet again, another year is on the horizon, another year comes to a close.  I use this time to reflect on what I have achieved-this shall be short.  Craft-wise I have expanded my yarn collection somewhat, but some of it has gone towards making stuff.  Here are a few of my most important achievements:

1. Skirt.  The Noro skirt is actually finished!  The one and only garment (as in covering a significant amount of the body garment, I do not include hats) that I have actually completed!  It was a trial, I wanted to throw in the towel on numerous occasions but I persevered and I did it!  It has been worn twice-the first time no one noticed it as it was mostly covered by my coat.  This outing was merely a road test to ensure that I could wear this handmade thing and it wouldn't fail me by suddenly unseaming itself and falling in a multicoloured puddle on the floor.  The second wear was a blatant show off opportunity to one of my good friends who knits herself so I knew she would truly appreciate it's beauty.
2. Scarf.  The third scarf that I have made for someone who has actually asked for it and was willing to pay me.  What I regret about this scarf was that I never got the chance to photograph it properly as I gave it to the recipient the morning after I finished it and the weather decided to be rubbish and rainy so the natural light was atrocious.  I haven't seen it since I gave it away, admittedly I haven't seen the owner all that much but he told me that he has worn it but not often as he was worried he would snag it on something.  Mostly I was touched that he wanted to preserve it yet a significant part of me wanted to slap him in his face and say 'I did not spend all that time, knitting literally hundreds of stitches for you to come over all precious because you're scared the thing might show a bit of wear.  You don't see me behaving with such regard with the scarves that I wear, I am perfectly aware of the futility of trying to keep them as pristine as possible. The next time I see you it better be around your neck or else...'
3. Shawl.  Merely because it took over two months, instead of a week for the yarn to reach me.  The shop that I had ordered it from had a problem with their suppliers in Germany and the woman who I spoke to over the phone was very pleasant and honest and said she had no idea when it was due to arrive.  When it was finally posted through my door there were some money off vouchers inside the package so I was happy.  I started the shawl in October and have only finished it this week as I was distracted by other things.  And couldn't be bothered to wind the second skein needed.
4. Cushions.  My first attempt to make something more significant than a bow using Tunisian crochet.  The recipients were friends who had recently moved to London and uncannily they matched the colour scheme of their other furnishings without me ever seeing the place before I visited.
5. Mario mushroom.  Simply because it's one of the darned cutest things I have made.

In my online life I have joined Blogger, Twitter and Ravelry and have learned a lot, useful or otherwise.

What do I have to look forward to next year?  Off the top of my head, yet another four pound price increase by Network Express West Midlands on their Direct Debit bus fares, after the four pound increase in July, making an overall 21% rise in five months.  A trip to Paris, postponed from October.  Eating all the Christmas chocolates I received.  Drinking the delicious box of spiced redbush tea that my mother very kindly gave to me today-I have started early and just had a cup whilst typing this.  More yarn buying.  More making things-I have decided that I will try and make myself one garment a year, as a challenge to overcome the 'It's no longer sunshine and rainbows, I'm bored' barrier, a little tedium will do me no harm.  And hopefully selling what I make.

Tidying my room: Part 1-The top drawer

I have been off work this week.  One of the tasks that I had set myself was to tidy my room, as it hasn't had a decent clean for about a year.  I have had rudimentary 'can't find something so I'll have a little sort out so I can find it' moments but not a bin busting, broom sweeping episode that takes the whole afternoon because I get bored/tired so have a break every hour or so.

I haven't tidied my room.  I have been slightly lazy but my attention has also been taken by friends and crafting.  I am currently knitting a simple scarf in brioche stitch-yarn used is Lang Jawoll Magic, a lovely slightly fluffy sockweight yarn in purple, fuschia, green and peach. My 6 mm crochet hook is being used to create Kristin Omdahl's Alpaca Angel Shawl, but in a merino/silk blend DK yarn.  The Noro skirt is getting along well-the main body of the skirt is finished, the waistband knitted and I have been inventive and decided to add a few rows of garter stitch along the bottom to eliminate the natural curl of the stocking stitch panels, which involves me picking up around 700 stitches (300 so far).  I have also attempted to bake some ginger flapjacks but me being me I used a mix of coarse and medium oatmeal (instead of just medium) as I wanted some extra texture.  This resulted in the mix being too wet so I had to bake it for longer but I left it in for to long, ending up with flapbricks.  They are still edible, but jaw ache ensues after the first bite.

Back to the bedroom...it is still a mess.  Yesterday evening I decided to make a dent (more like a slight dimple) and attacked the top drawer of my chest of drawers.  This is the one that should contain socks and underwear and I had been having trouble trying to shut it, so the full box that has been in my room since I moved in had become an extension of the drawer and I used it to lay my tights on top.  My aim was to be able to fit everything into the drawer AND shut it so the salient part of the task was to remove everything that was neither socks or underwear.  I never realised that I had so much stuff that was neither socks or underwear in that drawer.  I can't remember everything but most of it went as thus:

1. A small box of matches-England's Glory.
2. 16 used batteries from my mp3 player and handheld sewing machine-5 AA, the rest AAA.  Varying brands, mostly cheapo.
3. The plastic case of a crochet hook.
4. A receipt for some earrings I bought almost three years ago from Claire's.
5. 2 clips used for sealing vacuum storage bags.
6. A tube of seed beads.
7. 2 bottles of home fragrance oil-one strawberry, one passionfruit.
8. A bottle of essential oil-peppermint
9. 2 bottles of nail varnish-one turquoise, one pale and neutral.
10. A mini bar of strawberry chocolate.
11. A spare button for a dress.
12. A packet of Simple face wipes (mostly used).
13. A packet of baby wipes (barely used).
14. A bottle of basecoat/nail hardener.
15. Old earrings that had discoloured.

Pretty impressive eh?!  I wonder what else I shall unearth on this journey...

More musical musings-here are a few songs that I am currently listening to, whether I like it or not:

1. Absolutely love: Miguel featuring J Cole,  'All I Want Is You'
2. Guilty pleasure: The Wanted, 'Heart Vacancy'
3. Hideous: Katy Perry, 'Firework'

Old habits die hard...but new ones may sometimes form

Let's get the bad news out of the way first...more yarn stash additions.  In this case, it's not so bad as the yarn that I have bought is destined to be knitted up in the near future AND given away, instead of being destined to live in my yarn box.  The woollen string in discussion is nine skeins of Rowan Silky Tweed, seven in a wonderful deep green-blue shade called Inky, flecked with olive, aqua and turquoise and the remainder in Flamenco, a warm brown in shades of sienna with oatmeal, orange, terracotta and varying grey flecks.  The colour and variation of the yarn, along with it's softness (a blend of lambswool and silk) and it's cheapness (reduced from £5.75 per skein to £3 per skein) meant that it was irresistible.  And masculine enough to please the recipients of my knitting, who are both male.


When considering what I knit I am of the accessory breed-hats, bags, scarves (many, many scarves!), mittens- things that are relatively small that I can easily improvise and not worry about size.  Okay, so hats and mittens do have to fit but at least I can try them on whilst creating them (if the hat is made top down).  But recently my attention has be turned to the world of garment knitting, a much more skillful task.  The few attempts I have made with garments have never resulted in a finished item, either I got bored and never finished knitting the pieces or I finished all the pieces but didn't sew them up as I find it the most tedious part of the process.  It is very rare that I see a knitted garment and think 'That's amazing, I MUST knit that', it's usually more along the lines of 'That's amazing, but I so can't be bothered to knit that'.  This perpetual line of thought was halted by my perusal of Noro Volume 26 and spotting the skirt that I have mentioned in my previous blog.  I am currently on the fifth panel and have almost ran out of yarn so progression has halted.  Knitting this hasn't gone completely smoothly, I followed the very obvious typo in the pattern and ended up with too many rows on the second panel, which I then had to correct on the third by doing fewer increases.  Overall this hasn't changed the shape of the skirt too much and I am very pleased with how it looks.

The Noro skirt

Yesterday I purchased a knitting magazine I had never seen before-Verena Knitting.  According to the cover it is 'Europe's top knit magazine', which has now been translated into English (albeit for the American market).  Never had I looked through a magazine and wanted to make so many items.  What I like about this magazine is that it looks at knitting with a fashion eye, but all of the pieces are completely wearable, bar one or two heinous eyesores.  These are the pieces that I definitely want to make:

Isolde-shift dress with pleat, welt and cable detail

Fritza-shadow knit tunic

Temple-button up vest with rib panelling and asymmetric lapels

Sorbet-simple wrap cardigan with garter stitch bands

I think my favourite design in the magazine is the Jeanne jacket.  Sadly my knitting skills (and patience) are not quite up to the level needed to create this stunning piece, which perfectly balances sharp tailoring with looser, more relaxed styling.  One side has a kimono style sleeve and structured lapel collar, with the hem of the jacket stopping just below the waist whereas the other side falls to the widest part of the hip, with a shawl collar and straight sleeve.

I also found inspiration within garments that I would not knit as whole pieces.  The Toffee jacket showcases a beautiful cable detail that I would love to make into a scarf using a chunky yarn.

 I have already decided to use up some of my stash yarn and create a cowl in the style of the collar from one of the jumpers.  This looks like it's going to be a new era for my knitting...

I lied...

Yet more yarn has made it's way into my soon overflowing stash, due to visits to yarn shops I have never been to before:

1. Withit Witch (Halesowen)-Four balls of Lana Grossa Luxor, a shimmery nylon webby yarn with a merino core.  Soft and luxurious looking (guess that inspired the name).  My excuse for buying it was that is was on sale as it was discontinued. 

2. Foxhill (Four Oaks)-Two skeins of Arucania Aysen (my excuse-it was pretty and purply) and four balls of Noro Silk Garden Sock (I was taken by the skirt in Noro Volume 26, knitted in Kureyon Sock.  Unfortunately there was no Kureyon in stock, but Silk Garden was available).  The first panel is currently on my knitting needles.

The fabulous Noro skirt

Kicked to the kerb in favour of the skirt was the Cornrows bag I was in the process of making, using Rowan All Seasons Cotton (again a sale bargain).

Luckily for me I have a new focus for my disposable income.  In October I am going to Paris for five days and looking at the cost of hotels it is going to be an expensive five days! No more yarn buying for the immediate future (except for the Mini Mochi that I intend to buy because someone has requested a scarf).

On a totally unrelated note I have a four word review of songs that I am currently hearing on the radio:

1.Neyo-Beautiful Monster: No beauty, just monstrous
2.Yolanda Be Cool-We No Speak Americano: Fifties sampling cheeky house
3.Anything where David Guetta is the producer: Don't wanna hear it

£369.25 in 14 days (excluding other monthly expenses)

I have spent far too much over the past two weeks.  Luckily most of it was unusual purchases that shall not dent my finances again (or for a while at the very least) but some of it was complete frivolousness that truly warrants me a harsh slap on my debit card carrying mitt.  I went to London on the 27th May to see the incredible Hindi Zahra sing at the Jazz Cafe.  Her debut album 'Handmade' is a short but sweet affair showing her variety in tone, moving from big and soulful to delicate folksiness to traditional North African along with her musical blending of jazz/folk/blues/North African/Mediterranean .  Seeing her live made me realise that her album doesn't do her justice-behind a microphone in front of you her voice is bigger, better and the addition of a live band who moved the music into the realms of rock, reggae and afrobeat, in addition to those in the album made it the most enjoyable gig that I have been to.
Before my musical evening I decided to visit Loop, a yarn shop in Islington which I knew sold luxury yarns.  I had intended to go there to buy a skein of 'Magic Ball', a yarn produced by an American company Be Sweet.  Each one is a texture fest-100 metres of mohair, bobbles, loopy boucle and ribbon that is hand dyed and painted.  And costs £24 per 50g.  I figured that wasn't much to pay as one would make a scarf, plus if I considered it to be a birthday treat it wasn't that much.  What I hadn't bargained for was all the other stuff that would catch my magpie eyes.  With there being a lack of yarn shops in Birmingham any time I visit one that has yarns that I cannot obtain unless I get them online I always spend far too much.  Which wasn't hard given the cost of most of the stock in Loop.  For weight, that skein of Magic Ball is the most expensive yarn I have bought.  For cost per item, it was superseded  by the skein of Tilli Tomas 'Disco Lights' that found it's way into my hands, an aran weight 100% silk yarn with a running thread of mini pailette sequins. This shiny, wine coloured little beauty knocked my bank balance down by £28.  I regained the most meagre of slices of financial sensibility by also purchasing 3 balls of cotton yarns (Rico Essentials DK and BC Garn Allino) which in total cost £11.50.  I was thrown a 'freebie'-a cotton bag to stow my purchases in, with the Loop logo in bright pink on it to make people fully aware that my label whoring tendencies only extend to yarn shops (cue flashback to two years previous in Edinburgh in similar situation and returning with similar cotton bag with k1yarns knitting boutique printed on front).
If that wasn't enough yarn buying I took a trip to John Lewis the next day before I had to catch my train back to Birmingham.  This time I did restrain myself, only spending £15 on four balls of Gedifra Amara, a shiny cotton/polyamide that is going to be made into a summer bag.  As per usual, I am sort of winging it with the design, making strips of Tunisian crochet in two colours which I will join with surface crochet.  I like the optical blending that happens when you use the two colour technique, yet when you look closely each colour becomes distinct.

The beginnings of the bag

The rest of my money had been spent entertaining friends.  It was the first time that I had people over to stay so there was a distinct lack of sleeping stuff in the house (bar those that grace my own bed and my brother's).  Thanks to eBay I am now the proud owner of two inflatable mattresses (each with it's own in-built pump) and I also have 4 extra pillows, 2 fitted sheets and 2 blankets (courtesy of Primark).  All of these items now need to be vacuum packed into storage bags before they take over my wardrobe.  The best thing about having friends over was that it gave me a chance to cook for people.  I'm quite lazy with regards to my own food habits so I wanted to make something from scratch.   For our lunch I made a Chinese chicken soup (I used stock cubes as I did not have the time to be boiling chicken scraps) and baked a rather tasty peanut butter pudding, which was accompanied by a toffee sauce.  Both dishes turned out far better than I expected so I'm definitely going to make them again.

Rant 'a.k.a. Plea for a New Stereo Whilst Celebrating the Old One'

In the Top 10 of 'Songs You Don't Want To Hear On The Radio When You've Just Returned From A Long,  Trying Day At Work' is Justin Beiber's latest piece of rubbish.  Imagine my horror when turning on my trusty stereo after ten pm I am subjected to the kind of aural defecation that is equivalent to a seriously dodgy case of food poisoning.  I did not think that this Alvinesque voiced pre-teen pipsqueak (I do not believe the media when they say that the boy is 16-my voice has a deeper pitch than his!) could get any worse, but he has far excelled my expectations.  For this release he has teamed up with one of those incredibly un-credible stalwarts of pop/reggae/r&b/dancelite Sean Kingston or Iyaz and produced some utter bilge that I am sure his fans will love.  If someone is willing to pay me, I would love to train as an assassin and personally wipe out every single one of them, just for the fun of it.  Then I can get back to my everyday life.

What this basically boils down to is that I really need to get a new stereo.  I could change the station but it has a dial tuner, making it extremely annoying to tune in to or out of anything else. I have it locked into 102.2 FM, which was Choice FM, then Galaxy 102.2, now GalaxyFM.  At the time I received my stereo my musical tastes weren't as diverse as they are now and I mostly listened to r&b and dance, which was what Choice FM played.  When it became Galaxy it stayed the same but over the years it has become increasingly more commercial, giving the station a playlist that is mostly pop/chart, with a few specialist r&b/dance shows on Friday and weekend evenings.  Some of the pop is fine to listen to, yet at other times it's the kind of dirge that makes me want to kick my defenceless Amstrad MC 800 so hard that it explodes.
The stereo that I will eventually end up getting will have to have digital radio, so I can flick through stations with the same ease that I can eat three Krispy Kremes without feeling remotely guilty.  I also want it to have a USB port and MP3 playback so if such bad music moments occur I can listen to music of my own choosing.

I will admit that I am not yet ready to give up my Amstrad audio device.  It will be celebrating it's 12th birthday on my 26th birthday in a few weeks and although it doesn't like the occasional CD and the back of it has broken near the speaker sockets, making the left speaker go mute sometimes, it has been my faithful friend, accompanying me when I get ready in the mornings, craft, dry my hair, tidy my bedroom (not a regular occurrence of late), get ready for bed...  Until the radio broadcasters decide to do away with analogue signals I think I will stick with it.  Then, AND ONLY THEN, will I shamelessly pick up the Argos catalogue and pick my ultimate dream stereo.  For less than £100.

In my time away

I admit I have totally forgotten about this thing.  I would like to say that I have done many and varied exciting things, but I haven't.  What I will say is that I have actually done (and made) things so my time hasn't been totally wasted...I summarise as thus:

1.  Journeys out of Brumland:  London (March). It was a time of firsts-visited a part of the city I had never been to before (Canning Town), saw the O₂ Arena (from Canning Town tube station), saw the monetary black hole that is to be the Olympic stadium (from my friend's balcony), travelled on the DLR, walked around Canary Wharf (those buildings are bloody huge!), visited Greenwich Market-at which I had a rather tasty Louisiana hotdog, an equally tasty triple chocolate caramel shortbread square and bought some wool (okay, not a first for me, but it was the first time I had bought some ethically traded yarn).  In the evening I had a tasty Chinese meal in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, a bad strawberry daquiri (it was more like a strawberry colada) but an extremely good strawberry margherita.  Due to my extremely funny friends I also laughed so hard my stomach hurt (again, not new but I hadn't done it for a while).

Olympic stadium-the wire looking construction to the left of the white building

A slightly crappy pic of Canary Wharf at night (balcony view)

Bristol (Mayday Bank Holiday weekend).  Again some firsts-a meal in a Thai restaurant (wasn't great, the lamb was very chewy), my first visit to a club night that I used to go to since I left university (ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!)  I had feared that I would have felt out of place but all that fell away once the good music started.  And I'd had a drink or two (first time of tasting Southern Comfort-very nice!)  The falafel I had around three in the morning went down very well, despite me squirting more mango pickle on my coat than on the falafel.  The downside to the weekend was that I was wearing my calf length boots and the next day we walked a bajillion miles so when I came back to Birmingham my feet ached (and my body-too much dancing!).  After a good nights sleep the foot pain was in my ankles so I thought I may have done some actual damage to the poor tootsies but it was short-lived.  No pictures to show, as my phone battery died.

Creative things: Cushions.  Made as flat-warming presents for my Canning Town dwelling friends.  Tunisian crochet, using three colours.  I used multicoloured yarns that had long colour changes so there was subtle variations in tone to add interest

Cushion-detail

Mario Mushroom-one of the cutest and coolest things I have ever made.  I really wanted to keep it but my completely selfless self gave it as a gift.

Shawl-I have used the yarn that I moaned about in a previous post to create a rather fabby shawl.  I have worked on it on and off over the past few months and it is about 75% complete.  Now I have reached the good bit where I am decreasing so it is progressing quickly.

Bags- Four(ish).  One is complete, two are in progress and one I totally ruined because I assumed that the wool was feltable but after I shoved it in the washing machine on a hot wash it came out slightly bigger than the big size that I had made it, assuming it would shrink.  Okay, it was my fault as the care label said machine wash but the instruction was 30°C minimum action, which I thought was an indicator that a hot wash would ruin it (in they way I intended).

The finished bag that was made from feltable wool

Scarf-started today.  I pilfered the pattern from a lacy panel from a throw in a crochet magazine.  Also got a bargain with one of the colours of yarns used because it is discontinued, therefore it was reduced from £7.95 to £2-bargain!

And that's about it methinks.

Like a ball of yarn, but more awkward

In honour of St David's Day (a total lie, it was mentioned on Something For The Weekend this morning, but it is coincidentally appropriate) I had bought some very lovely yarn from a very lovely company called Colinette, based in Wales. They hand dye about 20 different yarn types in a range of up to 80 colourways, or some ridiculous number around that.  I have already used this website before to purchase some of their newest yarn called ART (a wonderfully soft merino/bamboo blend) but this time I went for Banyan (cotton) and Parisienne (a kid mohair blend).
For those unaware, yarn comes in two formats-a ball (self-explanatory) or a skein, in which the yarn has been wound in a circular method, tied then twisted together on itself to stop it tangling.  These have to be undone and rewound into a ball before you can use them-I have found that out the hard way in the past.  I also had trouble learning the right way to unwind a skein. Cotton and wool are nice smooth fibres so it is not too difficult to transform the skein to the knitter-friendly format. Mohair, on the other hand will tangle with itself faster than you can say dammit Janet so I assumed that the hard work would have been done for me and it would be ready-balled.....WRONG!  I spent an hour yesterday turning 50 piddling grammes of mohair into something workable.  The sad thing is that is pretty good timewise for me, I once spent over four hours having to unknot an incorrectly unwound skein.
Anyways, I show you my before and after handiwork below:

Before-an unwound skein

After-workable yarn

 
With all that effort I may not even bother making anything out of it, it shall stay as a testament to hard work and perseverance

I ♥ Misery Bear

In the spirit of Valentine's Day (albeit a day late) I feel I should confess that Misery Bear is my new found love.  Thanks to the wonder that is the BBC and Rough Cut, this wonderfully woeful animal has been brought to my attention and I am very happy that he is now in my life.  If you would like the chance to love this bear and bring a bit of hilarity to your day, visit  http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2010/02/misery-bear-valentines-blog.shtml  for a little taster

Write it down before you forget

Following on from yesterdays listing  I add a few more minor irritations:

14.  Occasionally he has tidying moments and he moves/chucks my stuff without asking whether I want it.  Yes I know my stuff may be slightly in the way but I know where everything is and when you move it I don't.

15.  He never cleans the sink after he washes his face/shaves, thus leaving me to get rid of the stubble/ beady exfoliator bits.

16.  The shower curtain rail still hasn't been put up after about 6 months.

17.  He leaves scuzzy bubbles at the bottom of the bath after he showers, and gets water everywhere (due to no 16)

Now to the listing I was actually supposed to do-ideas for things that I want to make (and hopefully sell).  My problem is that I have a million and one thoughts about things I should make but never write them down.  I did attempt putting pen to paper but I always lose the scraps of notepaper.  By committing them to the internet they will be down for posterity and I will be able to refer to them when my ideas tank is running dry.  Whether any of them will be made is another story.

1.  A complete set of Mario Mushrooms (probably felted as crochet and knit will require me to make, sew together and stuff, whereas if I felt them I can make them in one piece)

2.  A bag with paisley patterning.  I feel that paisley is an underrated pattern, it seems to be left to old-man cravats in shades of burgundy.  My paisley bag will be red, with paisley shapes in differing sizes.

3.  Felted animal characters.  Circulating in my head is a rat with a chef's hat and apron-'Rat in Mi Kitchen' would be the name.  Also one of those retro owls with huge eyes, a panda and some fish.

More to be added...     

  

The limitations of living with family

Ahh, family.  Can't live with them, can't live without them.   Can't shoot them either unless you're planning a stint in prison.  I do live with my brother so I guess I should amend that well-known adage to can't live with them without wanting to take all their annoying little habits and setting them on fire (if that is technically possible).  I list my brother's faults as thus:

1.  He never shuts the door when using the bathroom-unless he's "laying down the law" (his words)
2.  He makes noise from the moment he gets up.  As a child he was always beat boxing and he still hasn't grown out of that habit.  I do not want to hear some drum and bass/dubstep remix of whatever song he wishes to remix when I'm trying to sleep.  He had the gall to call me a cheeky c*** under his breath when I told him to keep the noise down whilst he was singing in the shower.  He is not aware of the thinness of the walls (or the perceptiveness of my hearing) so I told him off.
3.  He leaves his worn socks in the living room.  Ditto trainers, biscuits, biscuit wrappers, Ped-Egg filings (yuk!), plates, mugs and other day-to-day detritus.
4.  The mantlepiece of said living room also serves as an extension of his bedroom with his cosmetic products-baby oil, deodorants, aftershave, lotion (body and hair).
5.  In the back room (which to be honest serves mostly as a thoroughfare to the kitchen and upstairs) he keeps a bike which he bought on the cheap because it was old and he took it out once and the tyre burst and it needs new wheels because the rubber is all cracked but he is too cheap to buy new ones.
6.  He is cheap.  Whenever there is a cheaper option available he will take it, regardless of whether it is actual value for money.  He baulked at the idea of spending £30 on an iron, so I bought it with my own money.  As for the ironing board, it came out of our joint account.  I was hoping that he would take a tenner and add a couple of quid of his own to get the £12.99 one.  Instead he got the £8.99 cheapo and kept the change.
7.  He does not know how to wash his clothes.  Rather than wash on a weekly basis he waits until he has no clean clothes left then shoves everything in the machine.  I once took 14 t-shirts, along with bedding, jeans, socks and underwear out once because I needed to use it and the clothes had been left in there.  Then he complains that his clothes never dry properly in the dryer.  Other times when he hasn't got a full load he will put a few things in the machine and just leave them without washing them.
8.  He does not do any washing up until he has used everything.  I do it on an 'as used' basis, unless I'm feeling lazy, then I'll do it later in the day or the next if I'm positively slovenly.
9.  He moans that he has no money.  That's because he spends it on crappy car/graffiti magazines and food that he doesn't need.
10.  And trainers-that boy has far too many trainers!  He is a Vans officionado.  He has at least 40 pairs, yet he still buys more.
11.  He does not buy milk, yet uses most of it.
12.  He's been with his girlfriend for about a year, yet he always complains about her.  Last year there was some farcical happenings concerning a pregnancy scare and frankly I was sick of it all.
13.  He watches the Hollyoaks omnibus (a leftover habit from a previous girlfriend)

I never realised there was so much that annoyed me about him.  I'm not saying that I am perfect but at least my habits are less annoying, from my point of view at least.