Using Multiple Loops in Index.php

Thanks Alchymyth!!
But I think I’ve solved it thanks to a reply which I found on this page.

So I replaced the code below

<?php
$page = (get_query_var(‘paged’)) ? get_query_var(‘paged’) : 1;
query_posts(“cat=-27,-28&paged=$page&posts_per_page=8&offset=1”); ?>

with

<?php
$page = (get_query_var(‘paged’)) ? get_query_var(‘paged’) : 1;
$num_of_posts = get_option(‘posts_per_page’);
if ( !is_paged()){
query_posts(“paged=$page&offset=1&posts_per_page=8”);
} else {
query_posts(“paged=$page&posts_per_page=$num_of_posts”); } ?><?php $i = 1; ?>

And it suddenly work exactly how I wanted it to!
With this query the first page lists 8 posts (excluding the first one. All other pages will use the “default” setting as configured under: Settings -> Reading.