Wye Sue Knits

The Good, Bad & very ugly

2012-01-22T15:53:00.003Z

This is something we have been waiting to see in a very long time !

Yes, a cash offer has been accepted.

No time scales yet.

I have a scary job of getting my house ready to sell....

I was asked to knit a Starsky and Hutch jacket for one of Neil's neighbours.

I didn't realise how much knitting was involved, or that he wanted it in horrid yarn (25% wool).

I think it is bad, there are far nicer patterns around that would have suited her a lot better...

And just to show my thoughts about it...

At least I got paid money, and got myself a present - similar to this but in their sale and in purple....

now I think I should go and start on the great clear out upstairs, and cast on something for me that is in wool !

These photos also make me realise just how much weight I need to loose......

Not a Bread Bin

2012-01-12T17:23:00.002Z

Today I went in to some charity shops in Ross on Wye.

I was looking for a bread bin.

This is not a bread bin, but is what I came home with....

Looking up the serial number is was made in 1916 in Clydebank.

I played with the handle in the shop and it went round very smoothly.

Not played with it properly yet.

Maybe a job for tomorrow, or the weekend.

I loved the way the handle folds so that the cover goes on.

It might be a slow learning curve as I have to work out what all these do...

And how to attach them, need to search for some sort of instruction booklet on line, or just do some working out comparing old with new...

Thank you Gill

2012-01-09T19:04:00.003Z

A few days ago the lovely Gill posted details of her son's birthday cake.

I have made this a few times recently and ended up with a sticky mass. Thanks to Gill my proportions were correct and it set...

We is very happy here ....

And someone else has been eating a lot since they moved here...

Little Lola can just fit into this bit of their climbing thing... If she lies on top her brother they can both fit on the top bed as well....

I am doing something thing that I have never done before - watching Star Wars !
I do hope that questions are not going to be asked as I'm not playing total attention....

What is this ?

2012-01-07T13:39:00.003Z

We have been clearing out Neil's kitchen cupboards.

We found this piece of cookware.

A thick pot with a terracotta insert.

There were a pack of skewers in the bubblewrap

Has anyone any idea what it might be, we have tried searching and cant find anything similar - but I do want a terracotta pig grill....

No packaging, no recipe book....

But we do now have lots of juicers, and all sorts of chopping things.

Windy night

2012-01-05T12:44:00.003Z

There was this lovely old apple tree in the garden opposite.

The mistletoe loved it, we loved looking out on it.

The mistletoe killed it before Christmas.

The wind took it last night...

And this morning while all was blowing outside, Logan decided that he didn't want to sleep alone...

Poor Trig, now he cant even sleep in peace.

Good job Lola was sleeping elsewhere otherwise there would have been a fight....

Kids

2012-01-04T18:26:00.003Z

The kittens have settled in well.

Trigger has made a new friend, Logan does like to run under his belly, and there is lots of licking going on.

Trig tries to spend quality time in his bed asleep, and doesn't even wake up when a kitten falls on his head..

Lola has developed into a relaxed cat.

Unfortunately not long after this was taken her brother decided that he wanted to be on the top of the tower as well...

There is just about enough space for them both on the 'bed' but they are growing very fast.

They had their second injections today, and found their voices yesterday.

And the chickens are also doing well - there is no thing they enjoy more than a cob of corn in a brick.

Within five minutes there is just the husk left.

I have been doing some knitting recently. I was going to be good and update rav with details but I've got my yahoo id's locked, so animal photos will be it for a while.....

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:47:00.002Z

Happy New Year All.

It is very difficult to take pictures of kittens that are not blurred !

Lola and Logan are both gaining confidence and getting more adventurous each day. Lola has learnt that looking out of the window is fun, Logan has decided that sitting under a set of drawers is the best place to be. They have also worked out that knitting needles move, yarn is tasty .....

Trigger spends a lot of time in his bed keeping out of the way, but is also enjoying the younger company.

New Year usually brings resolutions, I dont do resolutions too well but I am going to try and minimize my wips this year. If all goes well I should be down to less than five by the end of the day. One of those is my wedding ring shawl, that I'm determined to finish this year (I have said that before...)

Thanks to everyone who has read these ramblings and left messages of support during the last year, it has meant a lot to us/me.

I am hoping that this year is full of more good news than last. We did have a stupid offer on Neil's house just before the holidays, we are sending happy thoughts to the house and know that it will make a lovely home for someone.

Making life changing decisions continue here, the main one being do we want to live in Scotland or Wales ....

And now for some good news

2011-12-19T19:58:00.004Z

Thank you for all the messages after my last post.
We were going to wait a while before we got some kittens, but independently we were both looking to see what was about...

So we went to look at the Cats Protection on Thursday, on Friday we had a home visit to check that we were suitable.
(there are now 5 bin bags outside)
And on Saturday morning we went to collect our new additions.

This is Lola (she was originally called Plum)

And this is her brother Logan.

As you can see they are enjoying themselves, showing not much fear.

They have investigated behind the dishwasher and also the washing machine...

This morning Lola was playing with her pink toy going round and round and round at speed.

At the same time Logan was climbing over me trying to get his teeth on the strap of my camera.

No growls at the dog today but we have had hisses previously.

Think little cat is going to be head of the house, and he is not three months old yet...

Phoebe if you are reading this please get in touch, my email address is wyesue at gmail dot com I've got lots of info that you might find interesting, including how my grandfather made your great grand mother eat a mangled marzipan rabbit.

Craptastic Year Continues

2011-12-12T16:57:00.002Z

I have not liked this year.

It started with visiting lots of hospitals with Neil, I got lots of knitting done while he had MRI
scans. I learnt of lots of ways he could die, I stressed, ate a lot and, if truth be told cant really remember much of what happened for the first half of the year.

He is now recovered, his energy levels are getting better and the 'sleeping sickness' is reducing.

One good thing that happened is that we got chickens, they are lovely ladies, we get at least one egg a day, sometimes all three laid, sometimes Dolly gives us a double yolker.

Then Mollie, my dear ex neighbour became ill. She was great, we used to giggle a lot. Even though she was forty years older than me she phoned me up to check that I was ok if she didn't see me for a few days. When she looked after the cats when I was away I always came home to a clean kitchen floor. I will miss her a lot, especially when we do something silly.

My boy has been ill for a while, he had thyroid problems (which is what his brother had).

This morning I made one of the worst phone calls I've ever had to. The vet was great.

He is now at peace.

It is going to be strange not having a him around. He had a good long life, 15 years of catty fun.

Lichen Waistcoat

2011-12-01T17:42:00.002Z

Hubby likes waistcoats, hubby likes Rav, Hubby found the pattern.

I found the yarn.

I really enjoyed knitting this.

This is some of the back

The colours repeat but the OXO change

I made it longer than the pattern said, so his back will be covered.

And it should go with his 'new' suit.

The sweater blocker used to belong to the lady that started our spinning group. No one knew what the bits of wood were (they thought it was a loom!) I got it for nothing. I am a very lucky girl.

And now I'm wondering that other interesting knits he is going to find for me to do....

Red Day

2011-11-26T20:13:00.005Z

Things are red round here at the moment.

I finished this shawl recently.

If you look carefully you might be able to see the skulls....

Details are here

I added some beads on the edge....

Thanks for all your messages about Mollie.
We always tried to have a laugh, she had a wicked sense of humour, and she will never be forgotten.

Today was her funeral.

The request was not to wear black, so here we are in our best charity shop finds, my coat was £10, Neil's outfit was £12 - yes a hand made suit for £8. I did have a black dress on - my posh clothes only come in black...

In true Mollie style there was a bagpiper, organ music doesn't go well with the pipes.... Some people were confused about the piper - she was Herefordshire born & bred, but loved Scotland and, knowing her, probably loved the idea of doing something different.

Auntie Mollie

2011-11-20T16:38:00.003Z

My dear friend and ex neighbour died today.

She had been in hospital since September, after leading an active independent life for 85 years.

She was presented with a long service farm medal last year, a couple of days before this photo was taken at our wedding. She worked on the land for 60 or 70 years, taking her sons in their pram (with a hot brick to keep them warm), whilst she picked potatoes.

She was a character, she once threw a pair of chickens at a Polish builder. She used to phone me with challenges - 'Dear, have you got a single door handle ?' Yes I did, and I went round and fitted it for her.
We went on adventures, soup & a roll, and then visits to garden centres or craft shops. She had a love of ornaments, I have never seen so many creatures in one garden ....

Sleep well Auntie Moll, now at peace.

The dark side

2011-11-04T09:34:00.002Z

You know how it is, you look on ebay and spy a bargain...

This is a Dryad 4 shaft floor loom.
It cost £75, from Bristol.
In 1949 it cost £12 17s 6d.

It came with it's original booklet (which didn't say how to tie it all together)

As you can see I did have some help with the final ties, after searching on the interwebs for instruction on what needed to be tied together...

A warping frame was constructed yesterday, so now I'm going to try and see if I can work out what I need to do next... I may be some time

Knitting and Crochet

2011-10-05T17:47:00.003+01:00

Just to prove that I have been busy over the summer here is a collection of things...
And strangely I have uploaded details on Rav of most of them before typing this....

This is Catkin, an interesting knit, with slip stitches to make the border.

It still needs its ends dealing with and buttons sewing on...

This is Babette.

I started this just before going north for Woolfest, and finished most of them while we were away for the week.

It is sewn together with black yarn. The squares were done with some of my 4 ply stash (which now fits into two crates).

And this is Ifigenia

Made with sparkly yarn and silver beads.

An interesting construction with short rows, I managed to get seven repeats of the pattern.

And finally some fish.

I've wanted to do the pattern for a while, and not sure how long it will take to make the blanket... the other colour is going to be a green.
I've tried to see how to sew them together but my head cant work it out at the moment, maybe once I have a shoal I should be able to work it out.

Thanks for all your comments from my last post.

The confusion over timescales was because the doctor said my friend had weeks rather than months to live. One part of the family are convinced that she will go on Monday (two weeks from when they were told), the others (and me) think that she will last a lot longer.
When I visited yesterday friend was a lot more chatty, her pain killers have been increased slightly and I think they have got the dose right for the moment.

Hot flushes - I have spoken several doctors about them, one said I was too young. The other was a locum, who said I was probably right that they were happening but decided that it was best to wait until some of my other ills have been sorted out. So I'm going herbal and see if that helps.

At least the weather has broken, it is more like October now. Pity the wind is blowing so much, we did have a plan to go to the forest and take some photos of the autumn colours in the next week, we might end up with photos of piles of leaves on the ground !!

Not the best week

2011-10-02T18:52:00.003+01:00

Things are dissolving here, as well as dealing with our own ills (still waiting on an appointment in Bristol for Neil) we have 'outside' issues.

We were told that a very dear friend had a couple of weeks to live. I went into hospital last week and said my goodbyes, all very tearful.
It now transpires that she does have terminal cancer in lots of places, but the medical staff have never given a time scale, and someone very close to her has been telling everyone (including her close family) that my friend doesn't have long to live.
As you can imagine this has put my anxious head into more of a spin, I dont know what to think any more. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow after the doctors have been spoken to....
The truth could be that she is looking at more like three to six months, and as long as the pain management is sorted out that would be a lot easier to cope with.

I also seem to be in the early stages of hot flushes, and with this hot weather is not good.

Hey ho, at least I have refound my crafting mojo, now I just need to find the battery charger for my cameras for some photos. If you can imagine the state of a messy house, and double it that is probably the state of the house, and the charger hasn't been seen in a while... I could be gone a while....

I'm sorry about another bad news post, I really wish I could post some better news, I dont think I like this year much, and wish that next year will be better and hurry up !!

The good and Bad

2011-09-22T10:48:00.003+01:00

Sorry still not taken any photos of knitting, but I have been spending some time with the girls.

Chickens are very difficult to take photos of, they dont stay still for very long !

These are our three girls waiting for Dad to bring them some corn, or dandelion leaves...

They are good girls.

The cat is also on the mend, the tablets for thyroid have reduced his incredible high level to within the normal range. Luckily he seems to like his daily dose of cheese & tablet.

Neil has been having dizzy spells recently. He is being referred back to Bristol. The doctor thinks that scar tissue is constricting the blood supply to his head - the tumour they removed was very close to an artery in his neck. In the mean time his has been advised not to drive, it wouldn't be good if he got dizzy whilst turning at a junction....

And my brother has just found this site - if you have a spare couple of minutes it is very very very funny... Be creative every day !!!

Moving On

2011-08-27T16:27:00.003+01:00

After months of inactivity we decided that we needed to move on and do some of the things we want to do once we move.

So to ebay we went and this arrived within 24 hours.

It took a few days to paint inside & out, especially once we realised that it needed two coats each side - good job we have a large area of 'grass' in the front garden to work on...

We found a wonderful place in Malvern, and went to choose some girls

This is Daisy, she is a Bluebell, and eats more than I ever thought possible for one hen.
She also likes spilling a large quantity of food on the floor of the run.
We can forgive her for all of this as she has started to lay an egg every other day ...

Here is Dolly, a Columbine, with the tufts on her head.
And Delilah a Black Tail, she is our main layer, giving us an egg within an hour and a half of being in her new house.

They found the base of a very dead pampas grass makes an ideal dust bath.

And this is what happens when a handful of corn is thrown on the ground - heads down girls....

And the black coloured hen is Doris, she is a rumpless Copper Black and the youngest of the girls but probably the most loud.

It is amazing how well they have settled in, since last Friday we have had 8 eggs, one a day and they are getting slightly larger each day. There is a while to go before they lay 'full size' eggs...

Neil is improving, he is getting used to being able to do things, like walk the dog round the block, and drive again. It is going to be a long recovery, but he is getting there.
His house is still not sold, new agents are getting more interest but the right person has not walked through the door yet.

I'm still suffering from lack of sleep and the anxiety has past from Neil being ill to the cat being ill. He has an over active thyroid, and has just started taking tablets to see if those help. Unfortunately this is what his brother had, and we lost his over two years ago....

Hey ho, I'm still knitting and spinning. I really must get round to taking photos of finished things. I also must start blogging more regularly - before then I think I will go and see if the girls are ok..

Getting there...

2011-05-24T18:31:00.003+01:00

WARNING : SCAR PICTURE AT THE END OF THIS POST...

Sorry for the large gap in posts, we have been suffering from sleeping sickness.
I'm averaging about 12 hours of sleep a day, Neil is probably having a bit more.

This was a double rainbow, on Friday the 13th.
And we could see both ends of it (but they didn't photograph well..)

Over the weekend Neil learnt how to spin.

This is his first skein of plied yarn.

I have been stash diving to find him suitable learning fibre. He has been remarking on why fibre needs to be prepared properly - have I created a monster ?

I have even managed to find him his own louet wheel, we will pick it up at Woolfest.

And now if you are squeamish look away now....

Otherwise carry on scrolling down...

This is most of Neil's scar.

As you can see it is healing well. I did think it was straight originally, but it seems to be a bit wonky...

The holes from the staples are fading.

I think he should grow a ponytail to cover it, he thinks that is a very very silly, stupid idea and he would look foolish...

Squares for Ursula

2011-05-04T14:29:00.003+01:00

For the knitters out there please can you spare an evening to knit a square for a blanket for an old lady in Ireland. She lost her house and everything in it following a gorse fire on Saturday.
All the details are here

Neil is suffering from his hospital painkillers wearing off, his neck is giving him quite a lot of pain, and it looks like the scar is itching (which is a good sign of healing). Staples out tomorrow afternoon, so I get to see the scar then (it's about 4 inches long). He is more mobile and managing to use the new water boiler without any assistance.

The dog had his injection yesterday, I was told the wrong thing by the vet on Saturday, it last 3/4 weeks and it's effects are more or less instant. He wanted to go a lot last night only for 5 or 10 minutes, but it seemed like it was every 30 minutes...
This morning we were up at 6, back from his walk at 7. I went back to sleep and he didn't wake us until about 11 when he wanted company.

I'm still suffering from lack of sleep, the last few months have caught up with me. I'm hoping that after a lot more mornings of sleep I should be feeling a lot better.

Home

2011-05-01T11:08:00.000+01:00

We are home.

Neil is very stiff & sore, but happy to be back at home, the dog has licked his feet and all is well with the world.

Staples have to come out on Thursday, we have been given a suitable tool for the nurse to use.

I will probably be quiet for the next few days, need to calm down and catch up on sleep.

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support

Discontinued

2011-05-01T07:45:00.002+01:00

Neil rang at 7am, he has been 'discontinued' and I'm free to go and get him when I can.

Dog walked, breakfast being eaten, then I should miss the traffic (hopefully)

Now I suppose I have to be a responsible adult for a while.

The clearing up didn't go well yesterday - there is a path to the living room and the downstairs loo but that is as far as I got. I spent my time trying to finishing his 'coming home waistcoat' three more rows left on the body, collar and finishing round required....

Dog Solution

2011-04-30T13:35:00.001+01:00

The dog is being chemically castrated on Tuesday afternoon.
it will take a few days to take effect, but will last for 6 months and only cost about £30.
Neil does not know yet....

Anyone want a dog ?

2011-04-30T10:15:00.003+01:00

The dog has got to the constant howling phase of 'dog next door in season'. I tried taking him on an extra long walk this morning in the hope that he would sleep, but it didn't work.... I am sitting here with the cat on my feet listening to an awful noise, I just hope he falls asleep soon and gets himself some rest, I cant be doing with this all day...

Neil had a better night last night, his dressing was dry today (he had a leaking something yesterday that they had to put a stitch in) so the surgeon said he may be released tomorrow.

He's told me not to go and visit today, instead I have to sort out the house and do some house work so he can walk round without falling over too much stuff - those that know me will realise just how difficult that is for me, coupled with the fact I have been getting up at 6am for weeks....

Hee Hee

2011-04-29T12:57:00.002+01:00

Just spoken to Neil, he is well drugged.
They think that he will be released on Monday.

He has watched the wedding, much to my amusement as he has said for ages that he didn't want to. He was convinced that the Queen would be wearing yellow and she was.
Me on the other hand was going to watch it, I woke up at 10.30 and managed to stay awake for an hour, so I saw them married but missed all the frock watching before and after.

I feel a bit better after a couple hours sleep. Think it will be a day under the blanket for me, and working out how many rows I did on the first shoulder of Neil's waistcoat.

The morning after

2011-04-29T08:02:00.002+01:00

The last few days are days that I dont ever want to repeat.
After 10 hours in surgery and recovery Neil was back on the ward at 9pm last night.

I have just spoken to him and he sounds fine.
They didn't put any metal work in, they did however move him round and bugger up his frozen shoulder. The shoulder is giving him more pain than the operation.
The morphine driver didn't work properly, so he is on oral pain killers, and waiting on the physio to go and see him.

He said he should be released on Sunday.

I've taken the dog on a very long walk, he is now snoring, I am going back to bed and hopefully will manage to sleep

The long day continued....

2011-04-28T21:36:00.003+01:00

After several more phone calls I found out that Neil was back on the ward at 9pm.
Nurse said that he is 'perfectly fine'

I dont think I will be visiting tomorrow, far too tired to think about driving, perhaps I can try and sleep through the wedding (somehow I dont think the dog will let me...)

In recovery

2011-04-28T17:19:00.002+01:00

It's been a long day....

He was taken down to theatre at 11am.
At 5pm he was still in theatre, at 6pm I was told he was in recovery. The staff nurse said he was ok, and asked me to phone back in a couple of hours.

Think I will be staying here tomorrow, dont think I'm in a fit state to drive...
Need to check if the queen will be wearing yellow or not...

longer wait

2011-04-28T08:21:00.001+01:00

Just heard from Neil, who has just had a visit from the surgeon's registrar - he is second on the list, so wont be in until lunchtime....
He is watching everyone else have their breakfasts....

6 am wake up call

2011-04-28T07:35:00.002+01:00

Neil was woken at 6, told to have a shower. He is waiting in his gown. The doctor he saw late last night said he might be first in theatre as he could be in the longest.
He is excited about having a morphine driver (easily amused !!)

I was also woken at 6 by the dog, we were back from our amble by 7 in time to talk to Neil.

And now for the long wait, crochet, coffee & toast....

Ward 3

2011-04-27T21:03:00.003+01:00

It's been a long day...

Not long back from getting Neil a bed. When we got to hospital an air ambulance was just landing (and disturbing a game of cricket). Got to the ward, and they had given Neil's bed to someone else... so he got put into the emergency bed.
(The helicopter was taking off when I left 45 minutes later)

I set him up with 3 days of phone/radio/tv/web/films
He might try the web but as there is no keyboard and his patience at the best of times is not good (texting does not happen) with just a numeric keypad and arrows it wont be long before he throws it across the room.

So he can watch the wedding if he wants to, but somehow I think he will find something else to amuse himself on Friday.

The nurses on the ward dont know when his op will be, apart from he cant have anything from midnight onwards.. I have to phone 9ish or 10ish.
They have said that I can visit when I want as it takes so long to get there (today the times were right and it was a round trip of 2.5 hours)

The dog next door is in season, our little grey 14 year old seems to be more interested in running the hedge than where his dad is at the moment.. the cat is more interested in chasing his tail on the mat.

Minimal updates tomorrow, dont think I will have any news until 2ish.

And now I'm going to take my boots off and see if there is anything totally mindless to watch...

Good News

2011-04-27T14:12:00.002+01:00

The lovely bed manager has just phoned, there is a bad available on ward 3 from 5pm today.
We can check in any time from then and dont have to go to admissions first.

So we are going to have a quiet afternoon watching Hellboy II and then an early tea, planning to leave here at 6 .......

Beds

2011-04-27T12:40:00.002+01:00

Or lack of...

We phoned the ward at 11 as instructed, was told by the nurse that they would get back to us within the hour to let us know about a bed.

We phoned again an hour later, still no news.

We phoned at 12.30, and eventually spoke to the bed manager (they need more soothing hold music!).
There were 4 male emergencies admitted in the last few hours, he is waiting for discharge tests on two patients. He said he will get back to us as soon as he knows anything...

But it doesn't matter what time we turn up at the hospital - apart from me getting back home to feed the dog, getting stuck in rush hour traffic and driving 2 hours each way...

We are not happy relaxed people at the moment. At this rate the crochet waistcoat I started last night will be worn into hospital....

And the ducks have walked out on us, we saw them waddling down the garden a few days ago - at least they were a lot bigger than when they arrived....

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T08:32:00.002+01:00

The duckies now have a raft (it was a coffee type table my dad had, I think he would approve of it's new use....)

Mum likes taking them there over night - safest place.

We have put chicken wire round the bottom end of the pond to stop the cat, it slows him down a little bit, but he is getting shouted at a lot !!

We have only named one of them - unsurprisingly this is Daffy.

We had a date for Neil's op, we have to phone to check his bed is there at 11am on Wednesday, then his admission time is 1pm.
We think the op is on Thursday, hopefully he will be home on the Saturday or Sunday.

And now I'm going to go and watch my babies again, they are so cute, and so fast on the water...

Neil did some time lapse photos yesterday, video is more tricky as they move so fast !!

Reasons not to garden

2011-04-22T10:42:00.003+01:00

We haven't done any gardening for a while (understatement)

But look what has just arrived today on the pond..

They weren't there when I got up at 6.30 for the dog, but by 10 they were swimming round very happily.

Now we have the worry of seeing if they survive, there has been talk of making a raft, the cat has walked past a few times already and ignored them.. strange that one is all yellow.

Best Easter present ever !!!

Hospital Visit

2011-04-20T11:58:00.004+01:00

Today we went to Frenchay to discuss the latest set of scans. We had to be there for 9am, so left early when we were ready before 7. I have never got to Bristol so quickly (and we weren't travelling above the speed limit). At 8.10 there was not a lot open at the hospital, luckily the unit was open even if the coffee shop didn't open until 9.30.

The result of the consultation is better than we thought, there are no further tumours, one vertebra is very thin so bloke doesn't know how much metal he can attach to it, might have to use some wire ... think it is the second one down so he should be able to attach stuff to the ones either side.
Artery to head pushed out of the way by 2cm, if damaged could have large stroke.

Think op could be in next few weeks, maybe on a Thursday (cant be on Monday as bloke has a bbq!)
Secretary should be phoning us in next few days.

Neil thinks it might be time to pack a bag... he will have reduced movement in his neck still be able to nod but limited sideways movement.

And now for some knitting:

I have eventually finished Evenstar shawl.
The beading is heavy, the graft in pattern is not as pretty as I would like, but the horseman might not notice...

Here it is blocking in the sun on the newish decking. Knitted in a hand dyed silk that I had in stash for ages. I thought there was enough of the huge ball to complete the shawl, but I was wrong, so I dyed up two slightly different colours, one for the last clue and one for the edging.

It is 54 inches diameter...

And I had a helper telling me what to do...

Now I need to go and find a bag to pack...

Spring Hat

2011-04-14T18:16:00.002+01:00

Here is what I made from those crochet bits I showed last time.

As you can see I got carried away...

The tit is on the right of the hat - thus making him a 'right tit'

He does look a bit as though the cat has had a good chew, time was against his legs...

for those on Rav there is an auction in aid of Air Ambulance in the Wonderwool forum.

What could be a better Easter present for your loved one ???

Unresponsible Adult

2011-04-07T18:14:00.007+01:00

First a picture of the sky, it has been really hot here the last few days, tomorrow is an ironing day after four loads of washing...

We have another appointment to see the surgeon, this time to review the scans Neil has had in the last few weeks.
Hopefully he will go through what will happen in the op and give us a date.

Another two weeks to wait - appointment is 9am on the 20th.

An interesting photo of the pond, I think it was meant to show the fish, but the conservatory is looking good !!

I have to admit to worrying about Neil falling over as his balance is not great - so what do I do, yes fall flat on my face on the concrete between the cars. I've grazed my face, and bruised my shins, and my arms hurt. It could have been a lot worse...

I need to be more careful....

This is my latest shawl, (rav link)

I really enjoyed knitting it, and it only took three evenings.

The pink and purple were hand dyed unlabelled from stash.

And now for something a bit different !!

These little bits (mainly of crochet) are going to be added to another creation to be unveiled at Wonderwool on Saturday.

If you are coming do come to the interactive area to see it in it's full glory.

I will try and post photos of it on Sunday.

And now to start on all those ends.....

Today

2011-03-29T17:46:00.003+01:00

I got up at 6.30 am, woke the dog, fed the cat, had a coffee, walked the dog, had breakfast.
Left the house at 8.10am drove to Bristol.
Dropped Neil at Frenchay Hospital for his first appointment at 9.45.
Drove to Get Knitted, shopped, chatted left at 10.20
Did the weeks food shop and left there at 11.15
Then it went a bit wrong, I took the wrong exit on a roundabout, I went on thinking that there would be a turning to the left - there wasn't. So I turned round and went back to the roundabout and took the right road and the hospital was easy to find.

By then Neil was waiting at a bus stop in the rain (and had been for a little while, whoops)
We had a detour to Hobbycraft in Gloucester on the way home (didn't but anything)
Home at 13.20, lunch.
Walked dog at 15.00, then fed dog

Now exhausted. Need to work out what to feed us...

Neil had lots of pre op tests, blood, ecg, etc. The CT scan was only 5 minutes and no bother.
I have loads of bits of paper to read before he goes in. They dont know when it will be yet, but he should only be in for two days, hopefully within the next month.

The waiting is not good for us...

Girl duck has a nest somewhere and only visits for a short time each day.

She gave me a shock landing in the pond while I was taking the next photo...

And this is my haul from Get Knitted.

A huge Namaste bag with lots of pockets and a zip to make it's gusset larger (it was in the sale, only £20!!)
And a couple of balls of crazy sock (couldn't decide on the colour I liked) and a ball of green sock that will be a shawl as well.

And then there are a couple of crochet hooks.

Now I really need to go and get some food, and then I can stop being the responsible adult. I have some very silly things planned to make but they might take me a while...

Look I've been knitting !

2011-03-28T16:31:00.003+01:00

Just to prove that I can still knit here is a nearly completed hap shawl, from Sharon Miller's Hap book.

I cant remember exactly how long I've been knitting it for but it is about 3 weeks.

I did get a lot done last week while I waited for Neil to have some MRI scans. He was in the machine for 2 hours - it was not a good day (I was sat watching the budget in the waiting area)

The next two days neither of us were functioning well.

Tomorrow he has a pre op assessment and a CT scan.

This time in Bristol, he will probably be there for about 3 hours.

I'm going to go shopping

Today we have been dyeing.

First we made some extra long skeins (using an old bit of bed)

Then I mixed the dye under strict supervision before we both painted halves of skeins.

After a steam this was it cooling.

And this is now long the skeins are...

And I do know I'm only short but they are taller than me !!

The plan is to make a crocheted waistcoat, in stripes. I'm going to be spending a while spit & splicing over the next few days before I start hooking...

The boys both enjoyed a lie out in the sun. If you click for bigger you should be able to see the ducks who have worked out that they cant be caught if they sit at the far side of the pond or get on the water...

So another long day of hospital visits tomorrow, hopefully the last for a few weeks. Neil has been 'pencilled' in for his op at the end of April. It wont be before the 19 as the surgeon is on holiday until then...

Full circles

2011-03-22T20:26:00.005Z

This has nothing to do with circles..

When we were in Wales a few weeks ago we went on a bit of a detour here....

Well I just had to, we didn't stay long enough to find a stable.
Apparently the post office do a good job franking cards
(we didn't see the post office either...)

This was the view in the sky at the weekend, the largest full moon for several years.

There has been activity on the field/hill at the back of my house, Neil set up a time lapse watching the farmers plant posts in very straight lines.
Hopefully we will be in when they plant the trees - the tractor thing for the posts was amazing to watch (we are easily amused)

This is Neil with his blanket, it didn't take me long to make the front - about two weeks, my head was not in the best place at the time. Pattern is flowers in the snow.

He has an MRI scan tomorrow, his least favourite thing in the world....
Next week he has a pre op assessment followed by a CT scan. (I'm hoping to visit Get Knitted while he is being seen, rude not to as I'm going to be nearby)

His op has been pencilled in for the end of April, we should know more when the surgeon's secretary gets back from her holidays on the 19th April. At least we now know that he will be ok for Wonderwool.

And now I need to get back to my mindless hap shawl, I should get a lot more of it done tomorrow. It is very bag like at the moment, I missed the photo opportunity before I picked up the stitches for the borders, I should manage to finish it before the end of the month......

Not good....

2011-03-16T17:01:00.004Z

I think it is about time I resurrect this poor unloved blog...

I would love to give stories of how good married life is, details of our new life in the country surrounded by animals and beds of vegetables but things have not worked out how either of us imagined.

Neil has not been well for a while, he has been complaining about tingling in his hands for years, his left hand is not working as it should do, unable to grip and not having much feeling in it.
After changing to my doctors he was referred to a neurosurgeon in Gloucester.
We then went through many hours in hospitals, MRI scans, the doctors appointments.
Currently he has an pre op examination/appointment at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol followed by a CT scan in a couple of weeks, and we are waiting for an appointment for another MRI scan...

They think he has had a tumour growing in his neck for 30 years. It has only been in the last five years it has been causing him problems. We have spoken to the 'main man' for spinal surgery at Frenchay, the tumour is rare, (he has only seen 2 others in 15 years of practice) but surgery of the top of the spine is something they are very used to doing.

Unfortunately the tumour is pushing against his spinal cord (as the doc said, he doesn't know how he is as well as he is). This could cause problems when they remove it, as they dont know how the cord will react without anything pressing against it, if it moves back slowly there is more chance of a full recovery, if it expands quickly then things are not good (and we are talking about as bad is it could be)

I go through days when things are difficult, I have lots of good friends that I can talk to and who will help out if need be. We are trying our best to be optimistic, we dont think the surgeon would operate if he thought things would not work out ok.

I have been trying to keep myself occupied, I was unable to concentrate on knitting for a while so have taught myself to follow crochet patterns.... so far one shawl, one blanket, a waistcoat and about half of another blanket.

We have known about the tumour for a couple of months, we have come to terms with him being 'poorly' (even though he doesn't look ill, all very strange really), I do have a problem trying to explain to others just how ill he is, and then I feel bad about spreading bad news, yes he is ill, yes it could be bad, but on the other hand they can do something about it, he may get the use of his hand back (and want an electric ukulele), or he may end up the same as he is now without the threat of loosing use of his arms & legs...

Hey ho.

We still have plans to move to Wales, we saw some interesting houses last week - who would think that hedges go green in the summer (you really had to see the wasteland the horse had dug up in their garden to appreciate how bleak the sea view was, and now they sat out in the garden with the wind, goodness knows....)
We have made an offer on a property, 8 acres of flat land, lots of farm building and a small cottage. If we do get it (and it does depend on selling at least one house, and the planning department) then we are going to have alpacas, kune kune pigs, angora goats, chickens, ducks and seasonal turkeys... and then there is talk of having some rare breed sheep...

I dont know if it is good for my stress levels getting my house ready to sell at the same time as being the responsible adult around here, but it will keep me busy and stop me thinking too much, which is bad for me.

So we will be trying to sell two houses at once, not an ideal plan....

I decided that I will update this blog with details of what is happening, I'm getting confused as to who knows what and who I owe emails/pm's to...

It is not good, but we are strong, and we will get through it, with help from the boys....

And this is what happens when I leave my chair, the cat is sitting on most of my knitting needles (in home made rolls)

Somethings blue

2010-06-21T21:57:00.003+01:00

Today was a dressing up day...

I had a blue shawl and trousers (that I made)
Blue shoes, blue nail varnish, and an antique blue pendant.

I borrowed some kirby grips and my underwear was new !!!

It was hot, but the ring fitted with a bit of pushing...

There were a mixture of chocolate muffins, of different sizes.

some were gluten & dairy free (in blue cases)

And others were knitted - thanks to Tutley Mutley

The four legs were there in pictures :-)

There was knitting in the sun, much to the confusion of some guests...

Others were watching my knitting more than I was !!!

And for place settings there were goodie bags - filled with things to do with the music we had:

Pink Panther biscuits

Sunflower seeds (Sunshine)
Rainbow drops (Rainbows)
Lollipop (and Lollipops)

And for those that enjoy a giggle this is what my new name is - and I will be changing my signiture to S.Paice.....

Busy busy busy

2010-06-01T17:16:00.004+01:00

Less than three weeks to go until the wedding....
Things were looking very disorganised this morning, but I've been busy rushing round and doing..

Flowers are ordered, not very subtle, I'm hoping for some amazing clashing of colours, gerberas in a mixture for buttonholes for all the guests - sounds extravagant but there are only going to be 20 of us !

And I have been baking and knitting:

When I came up with the idea of having knitted muffins as well as real ones, Tutley Mutley was with me. Terri very kindly offered to knit some for me, I have managed a few as well...

We measured and decided on a size for the knitted ones - when I put them on the stand I noticed that the knitted ones are considerable larger than the edible ones...

At least it should be more obvious which are which...

This is the first batch iced and ready to freeze.

So on the morning of the wedding they just have to be taken out and arranged on the stand

I'm trying to do something very different for the top tier, but being challenged with tension, and a small dog....

And once the muffins were iced they took on a more rustic look....

Think I got carried away with the amount of icing....

I've still got my trousers to make, but that is a job for tomorrow.

I've also been suffering from an ear infection for the last month, so far I've had drops, antibiotics and now I've got a spray - doctor thinks it has gone to my middle ear, hopefully it will be gone soon, I am getting lots of knitting done in the waiting room....

Himself's house is on the verge of being ready to go on the market - it will be ready before the wedding. I will only be working on it this week, landing and large sitting room to wall paper. Then I will have two weeks of calm sorting myself out and making space for a man and a small dog in my house....

I will try and share a few more wedding things soon

If you go down to the woods today...

2010-02-14T19:37:00.002Z

There are some confused animals about....

The Foresters in the Forest of Dean have grazing rights. Which means that animals do run wild over roads, in gardens, anywhere they can go they seem to end up.

This made me stop the car this morning and get out and try and take some photos of sheeps and their sign...

They kept on moving away from me, I was in very painty clothes so that might have been the reason...

I think these have been 'naughty' recently due to the markings on their behinds...

And this is the other side of the sign, and the side they were all crowding around when I drove past, they moved to the other side when I parked up and walked back...

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes, a date has been set, a bit of an outfit has been bought, a stole is half knitted, the cake stand is ready.

And maybe if I get my act together I might even get round to posting some photos of what I've been up to in the last few months (I'll miss out the ones of me artexing ceilings and painting walls, you can only imagine how much mess I can make with a brush in my hand !!!)

Reasons to be cheerful

2009-10-26T19:00:00.001Z

There is a new baby next door.
I dont ever knit the smallest size of baby outfit, I think I could have done with these - they might fit him when he is one !!

I was glad to see that I got the colour right as his babygrow matched when I delivered them :-)

There has been lots of knitting over the summer, two jumpers one in my handspun, a tank top, and several pairs of socks.....

But in the last month I have mainly been knitting with thin green

The centre of my wedding ring shawl is complete. I am now on the border, which does not photo well...

I was hoping that I might finish it before the end of the year but have been told that I cant wear green for my wedding which should happen sometime next summer. Yes, I have got engaged to Trig's Dad, and for those that know, I will end up with a silly name (the final frontier, for those that want to guess...)

This is a close up of the centre complete with mistakes that I'm hoping only I can see...

And this is now much of the first ball was left before I picked up for the borders. It is a lovely knit, not as complicated as I thought, especially now I've got the correct number of stitches.

So for my actual wedding shawl I've got some lilac yarn (from Estonia) and think I need some beads... I've been looking at a lot of pattern books and have decided on two of the patterns but cant decide on a border...
Good job I bought some other colours that I can swatch with, and the right border has got to be in one of my many books....

Autumn Colours

2009-10-22T12:25:00.002+01:00

I seem to spend a lot of time driving to and from the forest (as well as decorating while I'm there - bathroom nearly has walls, the shower works, the basin still isn't connected...)

This was taken on the home a few days ago, near where I saw the back end of a wild boar and some deer ....

This is a tree near Canop Ponds

I never realised that trees do hug themselves !!!

And this is my favourite tree, very twisted and old, and the leaves are just turning....

It is by the side of the road, covered in moss.

Looks like several creature should be living in it - or perhaps they are :-)

Yesterday morning we took the elderly dog for a walk - I didn't realise how short his legs are and that he doesn't like to go far...

So we had lots of time to admire the view on the way back - the sky was very dramatic

The polytunnels not so pretty...

This one looks like large worms are coming over the hill....

And that is it for today - next time there might be knitting or tales of sea travel ...

I have managed to upload all my holiday photos they all can be found off here hopefully in the correct folders....

Local Wildlife

2009-10-22T12:00:00.003+01:00

My dizzy ear sea sickness lasted into October - nearly seven weeks of feeling drunk was not a pleasant experience ! The doctor told me not to go on a boat again, advice that I had already figured out for myself !!

Now that I'm on dry land (and have a day at home) I thought I would update this poor blog...

We went out for lunch at a local pub by the side of the Wye last week. Noticing a huge number of swans on the river we decided to take a closer look on the way home... this is some of the 50 that I counted !!

And a lone one showing off - there is a reason for his puffed look....

It wasn't the cat who was enjoying some fuss when we got home..... one of these days he will fall off the step and roll into the pond...

This was the worry for the swan - if you click to enlarge you should be able to see an otter swimming in the river !!

He was not easy to photo, but did enjoy diving and resurfacing where you didn't expect him to...

We think we saw his holt, so might go and sit and wait to see him again....

The Motion of the Ocean

2009-09-28T22:43:00.003+01:00

Is still with me, after nearly four weeks of being on dry land I'm still suffering from motion sickness... last week saw me going to the doctors and getting some tablets, they made me even more dozy than usual... Back to the doctors this week to see if my ear infection has cleared up (which I dont think it has....)

In some of my awake moments I have uploaded some of my holiday photos, (nearly 250) taken around St Petersburg... If you are having problems sleeping and want to see just how much gold leaf is on show and how wet it can be in Russia, they can be seen here

photos for friends

2009-09-08T20:45:00.004+01:00

Sorry I've been missing for a while... things have been very busy... cant totally remember what I've been up to but lots of knitting and spinning has happened, decorating, and clearing out, helping my neighbour move (a frightening experience, I now want to clear out everything from my house that I dont need..) And I have just come back from nearly three weeks away with TutleyMutley cruising around the Baltics.

More details later on what we got up to but here are some of the nearly 800 pictures I took..

In Copenhagen there is a statue of a fishwife so this is for Isabella

Then just to show you how bizarre some of the Russian dolls are - look at the second shelf - I had to open the one of Ozzy,and it did have smaller ones, I stopped at the third...

It was 8.30am in St Petersburg - strange place Russia...

I managed to take a picture of the Russian Police - they do like a smoke...

This is by the square next to the Hermitage - a huge art gallery

For Lixie - I think this shop was in Amsterdam (but I may have got that wrong... been to so many countries in the last few weeks)

For all Londoners a red bus.

I think this was Helsinki, but it could have been in Stockholm, both were lovely places, both were wet, both we landed away from the city and had to walk or get a bus ...

For Gill - a statue wearing a plastic bag. It was near the red bus so Terri will have to remind me where it was....

And for Rosie, a frog holding up a building - this was in Helsinki in the rain next to a square with a post office...

And another for Rosie - in Russia they have red squirrels - we were excited, this one ran right up to me... the Americans with us didn't understand why we were jumping around until we explained about their evil grey squirrels...

I did suffer from major dizziness while I was away, mainly when on dry land - my head has been better today so I'm hoping that the worse is over and my ears are getting used to being on land.

I'll try and post again soon with some of my purchases and a most wonderful unexpected birthday present I got today....

Woolfest planning

2009-06-22T16:30:00.002+01:00

We have a van to sleep in, but it is not very big so an awning has been purchased - it is huge (and so is my front garden luckily!!)

The dog seemed to like it as well which is good !!

The neighbours were a bit confused, but we were good entertainment for them on a boring Sunday afternoon :-)

I'm going to be on the Kindred Knitters stand at Woolfest.

One of the demos that I will be doing is shadow knitting.

It is not the easiest thing to photograph but hopefully you can see what is hiding in the scarf that is going to be in the sheep auction (a bit of a hint there!)

And this is a shot of them hiding..

My job for today is to finish the scarf - another three sheep required and then do a sample for the demo.

I'm starting my Woolly adventure tomorrow afternoon (once I've made lots of cake)

I've checked the space in the van and there is lots, and I get to sit in the back with my feet up and knit all the way north - not been able to do that for many a year !!

And if anyone wants to make a sheep while I'm gone here are the instructions:

Shadow Knitted Sheep.

Shadow knitting is an illusion effect where patterns appear when viewed from different angles. For each charted row four rows are worked, two in each colour.

Cast on 24 stitches in background colour, then follow chart below.
Each row on chart represents four rows as follows:

Knit all stitches in background colour.
Knit blank squares, purl X squares in background colour.
Knit all stitches in sheep colour.
Purl blank squares, knit X squares in sheep colour.

Cast off.

Notes:

All the counting is done from the wrong side

Each row on the chart represents four rows to be worked.

Row ‘sets’ and stitches are numbered on the chart.

(Hopefully you can click on the chart to make it readable - if not if you Rav or email me your email address I can email the full instructions on my return)

If anyone is at the show, please come and say hello - we have been promised lots of chairs so you can rest your feet at the same time !!

Deep in the Forest

2009-06-22T15:54:00.003+01:00

My camera took a holiday for a few days in the Forest....

And these are a few things it saw whilst there...

There were strange moss covered trees

A very pretty butterfly - a friend of the one spotted by a moggie recently ?

And the light was bright (when it wasn't raining !!)

I also helped rip out a bathroom - well when I say a bathroom - it was more wall and ceiling removal... the bath stayed where it was but it is now on the landing (nice!)

The paper we found was interesting

And some of the paper was very old...

Did you know that you can get twenty bags of rubble in the back of a belingo car/van?

It will be great when the first house is clean, tidy and ready to sell - at the moment we dont get much time to sit knit & paint...

Nasty Foot & Pretty Yarn

2009-06-08T20:00:00.002+01:00

When I went to Liverpool I had got more than I expected...

This is my foot four days after I was bitten by an insect on my arrival on Friday afternoon...

It was itchy, swollen, red and not very nice at all - after a week it has now returned to 'normal'...

And I found out that I can spin with a cold compress on my foot....

This is the batt I brought at Skipnorth ...all spun up and ready to be transformed into a jumper

Once my yellow lace collar is completed it will be on the needles...

And then I decided that I needed to spin something 'interesting'

This is plied with sequins - not that many but they are bright pink....

And this is fibre that is wrapped round a core of cotton....

And my favourite.....

Yarn with bells on :-)

And now I'm off to try and design a shadow knitted sheep, with a bit of luck it will look vaguely sheepish and people will enjoy making a flock at Woolfest...

Meeting of minds

2009-05-27T19:36:00.004+01:00

These were taken last week ....

It is the cat's garden

The dog just visits...

Trig was having a good explore....

But had a problem when he came back up from what is meant to be the veggie plot....

Eventually they realised that they could get past each other with a bit of moving about...

Then the cat had to go and see what was now the bottom of the garden...

And then the stand off continued...

If only they had been so good today !

We had hisses (at me & the dog)
And growls at everyone...

And the odd claw shown in anger...

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

And if you are curious about what the bloke looks like - here is a photo taken today....

I've got an exciting end to week - I'm getting one of these on Friday on the way up to Liverpool for the weekend...

And the spinning is going well - I've nearly finished spinning up the batt I got from Winghams at Skipnorth....

Knitting is on a bit of a slow at the moment, but hopefully when the batt is done the clicking will start...

Happy Update

2009-05-17T13:34:00.003+01:00

Where do I start ... Wonderwool was good fun, chatting to lots of people. I was good and didn't buy any yarn or fibre - I mainly came home with food, a drop spindle and a book on needle felting.
I also came back with a bad cold - spent a few days in bed trying to get rid of the snuffles.

Since then I have managed to knit a few things - I used most of my Colinette stash to make this throw...

It is taller than me (not difficult some of you might say !)

I have also managed to finish my Mermaid kit - sorry no photo, it is hiding in a partly undecorated bedroom...

On Friday I managed to go to the Quilt Show at Malvern.

I met up with Georgina, and we had fun discussing the various quilts on display.

We liked this one...

This was made up of very small appliqued leaves, they must have had to be very careful when applying them - if I tried I would have probably sneezed at the wrong moment !!

This was amazing - an altar frontal

Fields and a river running through them...

I did come away with some material, somehow I needed some to help me use up some of the stash...

And the main reason why I have been away for so long is that I have been spending time making plans for the future.... Exciting times, lots of looking about on here and here
Only problem is trying to sell two houses and do lots of redecorating before then...

And yes I am very happy, he comes with his own spinning wheel (which he foolishly said he would like to learn how to use) and who knows one day we might actually manage to keep alpacas as well as chickens !!

Productive Times

2009-04-11T16:48:00.002+01:00

At last some knitting :-)

I started these last night, red spider mite socks...

And some spinning... I went to a spinning group last Tuesday morning, plied this in the afternoon.... someone wanted to buy it in the evening at knitting group...

Fibre is from Artist Pallette

And I finished the yellow lace for Anne... well we need another skein to do the lace round the neck...

And I have been helping nextdoor decorate the church for Easter. As you can see we do get a bit carried away.

I would have preferred if she had emptied the vase of water before I had to drive to church with it sitting on her knee - she did stay dry but it was a close thing !!

And a close up of the chickens...

My favourite animals (not)

2009-04-04T18:17:00.003+01:00

Herefordshire is known for bulls, strawberries and now horses.

I didn't realise when I moved here that there was a big racing stable nearby - in my defence the gallops are hidden behind tall hedges... I should have realised something was going on when I kept on meeting very tall horses being taken for rides three abreast in the lanes....

And now one of those horses that I keep meeting has won the Grand National... do you think the jockeys will start to wear florescent jackets when they are out exercising ?

You might tell from this that I'm not a great horse lover - I think the French have the best idea...

I have been knitting since I returned from Skipnorth - it is yellow, it is fine, it is for Anne, it will be finished soon... Tomorrow if it is nice I might be dyeing up some of the yarn I bought - dont think I will be able to get out - too many people coming to see a horse and blocking the lane (and I wont even begin to share my rant about that !!)

Question of the week 'how do you feel about chickens?' And you can probably guess that my answer was not what they were expecting !!!

Skipnorth

2009-03-24T12:02:00.004Z

As the photos are in reverse order (and I cant be bothered to move them all around..)
This is what I came home with:

From Winghams - I really wasn't going to get another batt... but this one called to me - it is red & brown, then there are mini carders, and a bag of silk loveliness.

My best bargains - from KCG, these were £1 each..
The large dk natural weighs 2.6kg,
the green light aran 1.1 kg,
the natural skinny lace (front right) 1.4kg,
the bright green lace also 1.1kg, and
the grey like fiddlesticks at the front 450g.

The large cones are pure wool and I think there is some silk in the natural lace...

And I'm going to try my best to use them and not give them away next year !!

And from Coldspring - two lots of pure undyed dk at less than 1p per gram, and some freedom spirit.

The camping shop had a small handbag for walking and a water bottle with a holder that goes round the waist.

From the Skep two hanks of very skinny silk - 100g for £5.

And these were the results of swaps and things that I was given...

The bag has three different coloured batts, there is lama there and some balls from the Spinning Fishwife.
And a Fat Feet in my colours :-)

And now where we stayed before Haworth - Mankinholes.

This is the view when we came back from our walk...

And some sheep - and the Stoodley Pike monument, which is where we walked to (and back down...)

We used a path up the steep front bit !!

A close up of the sheep - they were put there in 2000 and looked rather splendid :-)

Another shot of the way we went showing just how high up it was...

And someone managed to climb up it - I had height issues so stayed on the ground....

There were real sheep at the top :-)

And a close up ish view... just to prove that we got there !!!

And these were very young - probably not even a day old - they were very wobbly on their legs...

Oh Dear

2009-03-18T17:19:00.002Z

Just read the instructions of how to get to youth hostel for tomorrow night:

How do you get to this Youth Hostel:Follow road to Lumbutts... and then you reach Mankinholes !!

Think it is going to be interesting :-) butts and man in holes...

At least we shouldn't forget the way !!

Yarny Adventures

2009-03-18T16:57:00.002Z

I'm still here... just...

So far this week I've fitted a new lock to nextdoor's side door, rescued a duck egg from falling into the pond (wild ducks visit every day, she cant be that bright otherwise she wouldn't have laid an egg within inches of the water...), I've written up workshop notes for modular knitting and even knitted a sample....

I have two huge bags of give aways for Skipnorth, a large smaller bag of 4 ply for workshops, knitting nearly ready to go. I've not even thought about what clothes to take - but they are all ironed, I just have to decide....

Tutley Mutley is staying tonight and we are going to Yorkshire tomorrow, (hopefully in the morning if we get some sleep !). The adventure that is Skipnorth starts proper on Friday, so exciting :-)

And now I better find Terri a bed - I do know where it is honest, it's just a bit buried at the moment...

I'm sure there was more to say, but my head is a bit airy... too much to remember to take with me... I suppose I better clear out the car as well so everything will fit - I think Morris might have to stay at home this year, but Bozi the spindle will be going on an adventure ;-)

We will be back on Sunday night, hopefully without the flu this year !!

Knitting :-)

2009-03-11T11:54:00.002Z

I did say that I have been knitting and would take photos...

So here they are - the back of Staghorn

Some socks in Mini Moch available from Woolly Workshop (when she gets some more in stock !!)

Very soft yarn, and the colour changes just happened without warning (apart from the knot in the yellow foot...)

I really should have got some more when I had the chance but...

The first fitted tank that I made - looks like nothing when it is flat....

Done with two strands of Colinette original pure wool 4 ply.

But when you put it on... and try and take photos in the messy stash room this is what it looks like...

Yes it is a different one, this one cast on on Thursday or it could even have been Friday and finished on Sunday night..

And the colour goes well with my new thin look jeans :-)

And for those who are curious (and I know you are, coz those that can have been phoning me up !!).

The bloke I met on Monday actually talks more than I do - I know hard to believe, but very true !! Not sure where it will lead yet, but who knows.....

And tomorrow I really should sort out what is going to Skipnorth for swaps, and then I might even end up with floors... and a very confused cat :-)

For Rosie

2009-03-09T08:50:00.002Z

There has been lots of activity in the pond for the last few weeks... over the weekend it has got more intense ;-)

I didn't notice at the time but they were all looking at the camera and wanted to say hello to Mrs Frog

I dont know how many of them are in this group but from the noise and the splashes they are having fun...

I'm off to have some fun of my own today (but will be keeping out of the water and fully clothed!!) - will he be a frog or not... time will tell....

Life changing decisions

2009-03-02T09:56:00.003Z

Were to start... things have not been what they should have for a very long time. I've been getting very stressed out and annoyed/upset.

I've resigned from the Knitting and Crochet Guild Board - I'm not going to go into details, all I will say is that that they lost two other directors for the same reasons....

This doesn't mean that I will be disappearing, I'll still be popping up at shows, maybe on the teaching to knit stands, maybe with stallholders trying to tempt people to part with their money ! And hopefully I will have more time for me and knitting :-)

I've also start to dabble in the land of Internet dating. There are some very strange people out there - I seem to be a perfect match with a number of motorbikes, people that try and sell themselves by saying their divorce is nearly through, not their fault she found someone else ... and one of my 'best' descriptions:

I'm alone, I love shooting, fishing, taking the dogs for walks, and steam rallies..

Sounds just like my type of guy (not !!)

Having said that there are some lovely men, just need to find one that can put up with a mad knitter ;-)

And another decision I've made is to go back to my OU degree. I dropped out a while back when things got too stressful with the guild - come May I hope to be back into it and eventually I might have another degree in the subject I wanted to do in the first place !!

And I haven't forgotten how to knit - my socks in Mini Moch will be finished today and who knows I might get round to taking the promised photos...

The Letter C

2009-02-19T07:37:00.002Z

I've been rushing around again...

Last week it was Cheltenham Stitch & Craft show - teaching patchwork knitting for three days

This week it is Cottenham - Textiles in Focus show. I'm going to be staying with Rosie at Cambridge.

I've also been knitting cables - Staghorn from A Fine Fleece.

And the only chocolate in the house is one of these (Rav link) it still needs its ends sewing in... made with two strands of orginal Colinette 4 ply in a muted brown colour....

I've also been spending a lot of time on the Charity Commission site some of my favourite documents are CC3, CC8, C35...

I've also been trying to keep an eye on calories - I really need to loose my extra pounds soon - less than a stone, if only stress and knitting were enough exercise to help :-)

And I've been drinking far too much coffee !!

Sorry there are no pictures, I will really try better next time (I think I've said that before !!)

Brrrr

2009-02-11T11:27:00.000Z

One of the 'problems' of living where I do is that when it is snowy or icy you cant get out of the village easily.

This was taken last Friday - a day when we weren't meant to get any snow !! Very pretty it looked, but it is getting a bit boring now, planning when to go up the lanes with minimum slide factor...

Today the buses (what few there are) aren't running because there are too many cars stuck in ditches on the route and it is not safe to drive on sheet ice..

Yesterday I did mange to get out and ventured as far as Leominster.

We found a walk along the side of the railway with this amazing gate.

And with the house arrest of last week I have been knitting - I've finished the back of the aran, started the baby doll tunic (needed samples for Cheltenham show later in the week) and completed a tank top (or it will be once I sew in the ends)

Who knows I might actually manage to get some photos taken soon ;-)

Turning corners

2009-01-27T16:49:00.002Z

As usual I cast on some lace - this is Lyra by Herbert Neibling.

In some lovely yarn from the Yarn Yard.

I started her on the 15th

So far there is nine days of knitting, I'm on round 130 out of 180.

And I'm now bored of her....

But I have got as far as the corners :-)

(hence the title of the post..)

I've worked out that it will take me at least 25 hours to finish her ...

It has been cold here and my lack of jumpers overtook me last night and I cast on an aran for myself. Hopefully once I'm warm my lace love will return...

The boy is a bit better, still horribly thin, but we are working on that slowly... He is just about to say hello and take over the keyboard, think I need to type fast and go and find some food...

So another corner turned :-)

And this is a bag I made today for a friend whose husband managed to felt a shawl I made for her...

I hope he gets the hint :-)

The photos are bad - the light had gone by the time I'd finished and the rain had started (again)

And the other side :-)

My machine does lots of patterns, I had fun deciding on the one to use...

And Rae, this has not dented the fabric stash, but I do have a cunning plan !!

Some weeks

2009-01-18T10:18:00.002Z

You just know are going to be bad.

This is one of them (the others, so you know when to steer clear of me are the first and third of March).

It started off my taking sickly cat to the vets, booking him in for his second thyroid op on Thursday. I kept them in all week in preparation, they decided that peeing in the bath was a good idea and that they didn't want to be quiet about it (2am when you have only just got to sleep was not nice !)

Then when I went to pick him up they said he might start twitching, fitting and other worrying things. If he did then I was to phone them straight away. Friday afternoon he started shaking... so I rushed to the vets (no easy task living where I do) and within the hour he had his first dose of liquid calcium. We then had to go back yesterday when he had an injection of pain killers. They have said that they dont need to see him again unless he worries me.

I keep looking at him and trying to work out if the twitching has stopped. His heart (that they said was not regular) is looking a bit strange, so I feel another phone call/ visit coming on.

So now I've got to the stage where everyone that works in the vet's knows me and my cat, they can even tell me what colour my sock is that is in my handbag...

It is also one of the weeks that I remember people that are no longer here. Sometimes this does not bother me and I can carry on with life. This year is different for some reason they are all coming back to me, and it isn't the happy times either - lots of last times. Not good for me.

So I've done what I always do - started my seasonal complicated lace, I'm not with it enough to take photos, but it is blue and it was a present from the lovely Natalie. I'm currently on round 58 of 180- not bad for three partial days of knitting.

And now I'm going to go and destroy an old bed base and hope that my mood lifts.....

Warm Legs (at last)

2009-01-08T14:52:00.003Z

Blogger has decided after too many attempts to upload photos :-)

German Stockings by Cookie A

I forgot to check my seams :-)

And I have enough yarn over from the two balls to make some 'ordinary' sized socks

And I was being silly with my feet

Thanks to Anne for taking the photos and to the Green Cafe for the tiled floor...

Now I have to decide whether my next pair of socks are going to be long or short... but before then I have some lace to knit ...

Not Happy

2009-01-07T20:57:00.002Z

Not only was it MINUS SEVEN when I got home from knitting last night, the cafe didn't have anything apart from cake for my tea... and blogger doesn't want to show you the pictures that Anne took of my warm legs...

so if you want to see my large calves (and I dont mean the four legged animals, they are all hiding in their sheds) go to Rav and look at my Holiday Stockings...

I will try and see if blogger wants to play in the morning :-(

How cold ?

2009-01-05T17:39:00.003Z

I managed to get to Welshpool for my delayed New Year non celebrations( I think that the cold germs had gone and didn't come home with me...)

We sent for a walk/slide at Lake Vyrnwy
on sunday morning..
It was 'fresh'

The little streams at the base of the dam had frozen.

But there was still running water under the ice..

I nearly fell over trying to take some of the photos

Some of my other photos were blurred because of the cold (nothing to do with the wine I had the night before...)

These were dangling at the 'shoreline' at the base of the dam

They were very pretty and looked like glass

And another very bad photo taken of a daily visitor to my garden. This was taken first thing on a day when the snow was about..

I've also seen him standing in the ice of the pond- I hope that my fish are hiding well at the bottom !

And I would like to apologise if I disappear for a while. For those that know me I don't cope well in January. I worked out that of the thirty funerals I've been to, ten have been family and of those five died or had their funerals in Jan...
And in working that out I realised that I didn't go to any funerals last year - now that doesn't happen very often !

Please don't worry about my well being while/if I'm gone - I have a plan to keep myself well and truly occupied, and it doesn't involve knitting or sewing...

And I have another challenge - how to take photos of my knee high socks, for they are finished, they fit and are very cozy, maybe if I venture out to knit in Hereford tomorrow night I might wave my legs about for all to see....

Busy fingers

2008-12-30T14:31:00.006Z

I've been wanting warm legs for a while...

This is the first German Stocking by Cookie A

I had a bit of bother with the sizing, had to restart and then redo the foot & heel ... but it now fits and it's friend was started last night

And the Tomatoes are finished :-)

I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves...

And if you turn the pattern pieces round you can get them facing the other way ;-)

And what else can you back tomatoes with ?

Yes, I do have some fried egg material :-)

I wonder what other projects I can use it for ?

And I'm off again tomorrow to not celebrate New Year... I hope the boys will forgive me for going away again....

Island Creatures

2008-12-30T13:39:00.005Z

I though you might like to see some of the creatures we saw whilst away...

This is a sign we saw on the way to the beach - no idea where the aliens were (and it did make us laugh with Suse's comment about the 'hold fast')

Cairsbrooke Castle has some donkeys that turn a wheel to pull up water.

They didn't want to play when we saw them so we decided to go and try on some armour (if you ever do - take off your glasses first, helmets dont go with glasses...)

The Garlic Farm has a resident peacock...

No idea why but he looked good - and the tastings of chutneys were wonderful - several jars made it home with us...

On the camp site opposite our house there were some goats - they were very friendly and followed the owner around when he collected the mole hills every morning...

And there was a strange mix of creatures on the 'chine' towards the beach...

Warthogs and Alpacas...

Click to make bigger....

And in the same paddock was a very sad looking llama

Missing half of her teeth

Not in the best of condition :-(

She was in need of a good trim and brush...

And in the queue for the ferry home there was a hungry crow. I didn't see him eat his bread he flew off while I was trying my sock on for size...

And finally this bluetit confused me greatly. I'd just managed to find a family grave in Ryde and could hear running water...

On the next grave in a pot was a very wet bird, I tipped the pot up so it could get out - it didn't look well as it wobbled to the hedge...

And the final holiday photo that I'm going to share..

A sign from Ryde of the Park & Ride :-)

Seasons Greetings

2008-12-25T14:33:00.004Z

Sunrise (ish) this morning.

It was sunny so we went for a walk on the beach...

Towards the Needles.

I did collect some interesting drift wood and stones with holes in... they were not appreciated very much by some :-(

But I liked them :-)

And Boris and Beryl had a special breakfast before going to sleep in a corner of their field.

I hope everyone has a peaceful time - we are off to watch Lost - we are worried about what happens to the dog, we fear the worst !!

And hopefully I might be able to show off a Christmas stocking soon :-)

On the Beach

2008-12-21T18:08:00.004Z

Can someone please tell us what this is - on the bits of the beach where the seaweed was there were lots of them .. they looked like rubber but weren't

Some were about the size of a small football...

And this is some of it amongst the different type of seaweed...

(it is on the left by the sand...)

Some of us played in the sea in our wellies...

Good job I had waterproof trousers on when I took this shot !!

Whoosh....

And the first wet foot shot I took...

Very foamy :-)

And the view towards the Needles...

Long Day Driving

2008-12-20T16:01:00.003Z

I left home at a stupid time this morning - hardly had space in the car for anything else.. too much food and drink...

Met my friends at a farmers market in Totton - I got there fine, their sat nav, maps and two of them got lost ;-)

We got on the ferry - it was calm but cold.

And this is where we are staying...

I would tell you where I am, but as usual all I know is that it is the Isle of Wight !!

This is one of our neighbours - meet Beryl. Her partner Borris was hiding when I went out with the camera...

And I've been told that if I'm naughty I'm going in here :-(

Tis the season to be cold...

2008-12-19T20:57:00.002Z

Last Saturday I helped Anne at a craft market in Hereford.

It was cold, I was well wrapped up - two neckwarmers, two pairs of fingerless mittens, and we wont go there with how many other layers I had on...

And yes that is the Clanger hat made by Ruth that I was told never to wear again - I couldn't find another hat...

I managed to finish the set of spirals for a friend just before we got to the restaurant for lunch :-)

And they fitted and she loved them.

Yesterday the leg warmers went to their new owner and she was very impressed and confused that everyone else knew she was getting them !!

And I thought my house was cold - but these are some windows in Hereford - snow inside !!

I'm off to the Isle of Wight tomorrow at some silly hour of the morning for a, hopefully, relaxed holiday...
I hope everyone has a peaceful holiday and that the seasonal fairy brings you lots of yarny goodness

It's a wrap

2008-12-10T12:45:00.000Z

Actually it is Hypoteneuse by Knit Spot.

Made with 8 hanks of Summer tweed.

Gill - book stand is quite large :-)

Here it is folded in half - I could tell you how long it is, but I forgot to measure its final length and it is now wrapped up to give to a friend this afternoon...

And some things that I also made this week - a very skinny long scarf in the remainder of the Big Wool I had over from the big cardi of a few weeks ago...

This is for neighbour's grand daughters birthday next week (to go with the pink legwarmers..)

Then we have some more Knitspot (do I see a theme to my present knitting ? )

A neck warmer and one mitten - now will I manage to start and finish the other mitten before lunchtime tomorrow ? I'm off out soon so I think it might be a late night...

The yarn is camel that I dyed myself..

And then as it was so cold at the weekend I made these on the way to London on the train - and I was so pleased driving home from the station when it was minus 2...

Brr

2008-12-05T16:19:00.003Z

This was the sky yesterday mid morning...

Surprisingly it didn't snow, just rain

And it was very cold.

And guess whose heating doesn't work ?

So with no heating I decided to block the runner and scarf..

The runner is 80 inches long...

I found space for the boards in the living room...

They were cold and wet, blocking wires dont go through cotton easily - the wires must have looked like mouse's tails as I had a cat attached to them when I moved them round...

This was the view on the floor for most of yesterday - the cotton was still damp when I went to bed last night ... I did have a halogen heater blasting all day and the hair drier was used a few times...

By this morning they were dry, so we got the floor back:-)

And this is my help - he was such a good boy sleeping off the wet knitting, he even walked round it...

His brother was nearly as good but didn't stay put for a photo...

Blocks & blocking

2008-12-02T16:16:00.004Z

I need to find some floor space :-(

I need to shut the cats out while this dries...

It is Tudor Grace from Knitspot made with Silkwood sock yarn.

And this is even more of a 'problem'.

I've finished knitting the runner - it is long, my floor is messy, my boys dont like being shut out of rooms...

It maybe a job for Thursday or Friday...

And the sewing machine has been unearthed...

These are some of the bits that have been transformed....

Can you guess what it is yet ?

I forgot to take pictures of the green ones, but a whole yellow...

And it sliced...

I had fun picking the fabric....

Did you know that you get strange looks when you go into shops asking for material for tomatoes ?

And the original red ones...

They are going to end up as placemats.

The designs came from this book

I've also got the flower one, I wonder what I can end up making ....

So close...

2008-11-30T16:38:00.006Z

.... I knew that I would not be able to manage blogging every day for a month...

The shock at loosing two pounds was too much for me on Wednesday, so I came back from keep fit and more or less when straight to bed...

Thursday I went shopping again - I couldn't find what I needed in Ross so ended up in Monmouth

Has someone branched out into retail ?

And the Friday saw me driving to Nottingham with Ali.

We went to see the location for next year's AGM for the Knitting and Crochet Guild.

It's going to be held at Ruddington.

We found locations, catering and some amusements...

There are some very old knitting machines

There were displays of stockings, including some very short ones that belonged to Queen Victoria.

Saturday was a day of present making - I finished a Tudor Grace scarf (Knitspot pattern).

I cut out lots of bits of tomatoes - all will be explained tomorrow !

And then today I went to Anne's Yardstitch.
As it was so cold we were all in Nutter's Cafe.

There was much eating, drinking, talking and knitting.

Marie had brought her new wheel - I've seen them in magazines and lusted after one, now after trying one - I'm in love...

And look at this tart !

I think she is enjoying moving round the shop :-)

I dont do shopping

2008-11-25T17:51:00.002Z

But in the last few days I've been to Abergavenny (Saturday), Ross (yesterday) and Leominster (today)

I'm exhausted by it all :-(

Here are some photos of Ross...

I have ended up with a new watch, a jacket (£5 in a charity shop today), several presents..

I did nearly buy a fork handle today for £3, but thought it better to see if I could find a dvd with the correct sketch on first (and I cant, it seems that four candles is not included on best of Two Ronnies...)

And now I'm off to knit the runner (I know I'm repeating myself, but the end is in sight - maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, but by the weekend....)

Mummy's Little Helper

2008-11-24T16:01:00.002Z

As promised some photos of knitting - this is a tudor grace from Knitspot.

I started it a few days ago, made with Silkwood sock wool, I'm just about to finish the first 50gs.

And with flash the lace pattern is more visible..

As you can probably tell I did have some help while trying to take the photos..

And this is Dun at his most helpful !!

I've also been working on the table runner...

Peeling Bell panel (with cat)

And the centre star.

I'm just about to start the second peeling bell panel, then I will have one bead, two trees and two chevrons and the bell edging and it will be done... probably about ten hours of knitting - better get on ;-)

Where I was...

2008-11-23T20:07:00.004Z

I took myself off over the border with Wales - not that far it's only about 20 minutes from home.

I ventured to a market town with an interesting dress shop wall...

And this is where I was - Abergavenny.

I didn't see anyone in a periwig, but there were a lot of cafes, and they all seemed full (very strange, if you ask me - dont the locals have kitchens?)

Maybe tomorrow there might be some knitting photos... better go and get clicking ;-)

Adventures

2008-11-22T17:18:00.004Z

I took myself off for an adventure today.

I went to so different country, where they speak another language....

The Market Hall made me stop and stare...

There were these chickens, chicks and eggs floating in sky...

And they weren't little either...

This one must have been taller than me (ok I do realise that I'm not the tallest in the world..)

He was huge :-)

And for scale - just to show how big they were...

Can anyone (apart from Nic who will probably know) guess where I was today...

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

And now I'm off to knit some runner ;-)

Click click

2008-11-21T18:45:00.002Z

Today I have been mainly clicking - with sticks and not a mouse !

I'm at the half way point in the runner

It's too dark to take photos of white cotton :-(

Fifteen hours so far, I'm hoping the next half will be quicker, at least there will be less beads to slide on the cotton ;-)

Sunsets

2008-11-20T16:52:00.004Z

Last night on the way to Hereford I had to stop at the bridge to take photos of the sunset.

As I hadn't taken any of the River for a while - here is a 'Wednesday Wye' photo..

Levels are up a little and the reflection an amazing colour..

These next few are similar...

This is the village church - yes it is Italian looking...

And a far away view...

I drove off (probably after getting some very strange looks from the people in the cars that went past - it was rush hour, kids being picked up from school !)

Then I had to stop again on another lane...

The sun just going down in front of me...

And then tonight as I was on the phone I saw this from the conservatory... sun sets dont usually happen in this part of the sky...

Not as bright as yesterday but equally pretty.

I've had a lovely day meeting Gill & Sue at a wicked shop. We did take over the cafe with lace books and samples - there was frogging, discussing, and enabling... and cake eating...

I look forward to seeing the results :-)

Horrible Child

2008-11-19T15:56:00.000Z

When I was in Cardiff the other week I was a horrible child.

I was enjoying not being a driver and taking photos as we went along.

When told to take a photo of the lorry we passed on the roundabout this is the outcome.. how did I manage to get me in there as well ?

And there were some tunnels...

Anne wasn't really going that fast - honest !!

I will try and answer all the yarn comments in the next few days - the pile of yarn waiting to be neck & wrist warmers was camel & silk dyed by me..

Snow Forest

2008-11-18T21:58:00.001Z

I've been busy in the last few days - lots of clicking of needles - and for once I'm using straights :-)

This is Hazel's latest pattern - I'm not doing it totally as pattern.

Using thinner cotton and different beads, which you can just about see ..

It took me 45 minutes for the first of these patterns and 30 for the second ... I'm hoping that the second half will fly off the needles...

And this is the first end with bell edging, and trees.

This is how long 160 rows are with scissors for scale (they are dressmaking ones)

Only another 525 rows to go...

I'm using 3mm & 3.25 mm

And just to prove there are some Hereford cattle living nearby - these are in the long fleece sheep field by the river - sorry for the spooky look on it's face, it was dusk

Beep....

2008-11-17T18:05:00.003Z

.....Sorry I cant come to the blog at the moment too busy with xmas knitting...

But here are some Monkey socks that I've finally finished - I started the second one on 20 Sept and completed them a couple of days ago..

I suppose if I hadn't started so many new lace projects they would have been finished ages ago...

Yesterday

2008-11-16T12:23:00.001Z

I spent a lot of time reading this...

There are 4 shawls and 4 scarves that I'd like to make...

Better get clicking before I go on the cruise with Nancy :-)

And this was the one that I cast on, for a present. The nupps are getting easier - must remember to be loose with my yarn overs otherwise the language isn't good !!

And I might *have* to cast on something else later - Hazel's pattern is out for this

Saturday Sky

2008-11-15T19:23:00.002Z

I haven't done one of these for ages...

I looked out this afternoon and thought there was an interesting mix of colours in the clouds...

And surprisingly it didn't rain :-)

Someone was not impressed - he would rather sit on the bed that it on its side in the conservatory..

I'm not sure about getting rid of he bed now, it would be cruel and both of the boys like the hammock effect they have created...

And sickly cat who is getting lots better... this week they have both been demanding, running round like idiots not the elderly men they are - think the full moon had a lot to do with it....

(It is a terracotta chicken that is 'pecking' him..)

Down an Alley Way

2008-11-14T19:22:00.006Z

There is a Small Gallery

The delightful Anne runs it and made a brilliant sign for the door in the cold weather..

In the last few weeks I have been disturbing her a lot !

This is no gallery really put a haven of woolly goodness ...

I cant remember all that is sold but I dont think there is any acrylic to be seen - wool, silk, alpaca, nettle...

For a small space it is crammed full of stock

And there is also a display of under garments - made by a group in Worcester

And can you see who was making herself known on the counter ?

apparently these all started off as bras

and were then decorated...

So if you are down in Hereford, take yourself off to Church Street (it's near the cathedral !)

From High Town go down the alley by the side of M&S..

Then there is another smaller alley down the side of the cheese shop...

But dont go on Monday's as it is Anne's day of rest ;-)

These are my favorite - cups & saucers !!

Thank Goodness

2008-11-13T13:22:00.001Z

They are finished :-)

I'm very glad - I nearly got asked to make some more last night while I was waiting for keep fit to start...

They are 17 inches long, they are pink, very girly and I hope she will love them !

I'm off to wind these now... colours not totally right (the light is so bad - it's raining again !)

They are going to be some of these
and pairs of these

Thanks Wibbo

2008-11-12T09:33:00.003Z

The lovely Wibbo did some clicking for me on a family history site and found out what happened to Great Uncle Kenneth. After reading the report I do remember being told the story once but had forgotten.... It also gives the details of a branch of the family I'd been trying to look in to - hopefully with the correct spelling I might find out more...

And here is what happened to my brave great uncle :-

Joined up Nov 1915 served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 1 April 1916. Came home to train for a commission went back out to France April 1918.

Reported missing after fighting at Maroeuil 9 May 1918 and is now known to have been killed in action or to have died of his wounds on or about this date.
His Officer Commander wrote ‘He volunteered to take out a night patrol to enemy front at Maroeuil and the patrol being under fire …. Went forward alone with bombs. My idea is that your son did this with the object of creating a diversion under which his men could retire – a very fine and brave act. Your boy was only a very short time with us, but we were much struck with him, and only the day previously his company commander was saying to the adjutant and me what a fine officer he was’ and his commanding officer : “ I soon noticed how keen he was, one of the most conscientious subalterns I have ever met. The splendid courage he showed in going forward alone will be long remembered in this battalion”

And now I've shared, I will stop talking about dead relatives and concentrate more on knitting - only one more day of pink knitting for me (hopefully !!)

My Old Soldier

2008-11-11T10:06:00.002Z

This photo was taken a few years before my Grandfather died aged 95.

He was in the Signals attached to the Eighth Army in WW2.

He did not talk much about what he saw, but he was in North Africa and Italy.

(His brother was Kenneth)

And this a photo of my Mother, Grandmother and Auntie.

Never Forgotten.

Beads, blur & bad

2008-11-10T17:29:00.003Z

This is how far I've got with my beaded knitting - it is Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights (Rav link)

I'm getting used to using a crochet hook for adding the beads, and it is very slow compared with knitting lace without the beads !!

I did try and take pictures of the lace pattern - this is the best of them..

And this shows how much I love my next door neighbour - these are leg warmers for her grand daughter.

They are pink.

They are in acrylic.

Enough said.

( I have dyed up some camel today for reward when I've finished them...)

Great Uncle Kenneth

2008-11-09T09:58:00.001Z

This sits on my mantlepiece.

It was always on display at my grandparent's house.

Kenneth was my Grand fathers big brother.

He was in the Seaforth Highlanders.

There are only a few photos of him, this one in his kilt - there is another with fellow soldiers, they have plain coverings over their kilts to protect.

I would love to know his story all I know is from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission War Commissions website.

In Memory of Second Lieutenant KENNETH WILLIAM ALLAN DUNCAN

10th Bn., The King's (Liverpool Regiment)attd. 6th Bn.,
Seaforth Highlanderswho died age 23on 08 May 1918

Son of the Rev. George Allan Duncan and Lilian Susan Duncan, of The Parsonage, Weston Point, Runcorn, Cheshire.

Late of Lloyd's Bank, Liverpool.

Remembered with honour ARRAS MEMORIAL

When the Boat comes in...

2008-11-08T11:45:00.004Z

I was down in Cardiff yesterday.

We decided to go down to the Bay, initially to see Torchwood but we got distracted...

There was a boat coming into land...

The Westminster.

When they were trying to land the crew were all dressed up with hats on looking towards the land...

I didn't realise that Naval Ships/Boats had a crown on them..

Once the gang plank was down there was lots of activity - people milling round the deck, including men with guns....

I started behaving myself ;-)

There was a yellow thing at the blunt end ...

And lots of guns....

And a very big gun at the pointy end ;-)

There is a warning sign :

'Danger Turret may train without warning'

I think the bloke is safe, too short to be shot...

And what do you do with all the rubbish from when you are at sea... you play pass the parcel to the skips that were stationed up the quay.

They also plugged it into the electric and water mains ....

And I got some replacement beads and threading stuff -- today we have a knitted beaded fringe.. photos soon...

For Hazel

2008-11-07T21:23:00.005Z

As requested how to make a clampable display stand...

First drill holes in the end of two bits of 1 x2 wood.

The uprights are this length on the long supports (the drop to the table is Daffy length)

And then cut two base bits..

I cant remember why I chose this measurement....

Then attach the two bits together....

And the other side

And both sides...

Then clamp to a surface - here the ironing board !!
I use single hand release clamps from here One of the cheapest DIY places and next day delivery :-)

Another view of the clamp

And the reason for the blanket - to hide the clamp when on display.

I fold it under the wood to protect whatever is on the table.

All that is left is for a ridged green garden cane suspended between the holes and with a sheet, cloth etc threaded on, and there you have it a tall display that fits easily into the back of a car and can be put up easily :-)

Dont mention the beads...

2008-11-06T19:52:00.000Z

Every had one of those days when you make no progress.
Well that is what happened today.....

I had 2500 beads strung on to my yarn, I wasn't too sure about them being right - then the knitting gods decided for me - my yarn broke.

So I have nothing to show for my hours of threading :-(

And I feel like this rhino (who lives at Chester Zoo)

Remember, remember ...

2008-11-05T09:01:00.000Z

To check there isn't one of these in your bonfire !

This little fella appeared in the front garden last week, he isn't very big and looks like he needs fattening up before he has his long sleep ;-)

He also should learn how to cross the road - he very nearly wasn't last night when I went out...