picture of geese, painted by me back in January.

General update...

Because I'm participating in Secret Pal numero 8, I have STRICT instructions from my hostess extraordinaire to keep up with ye old blogging. I'm supposed to be writing a 3000 word essay, and work has been hellish busy. Any ol' excuse to not do it . Washing up has never seemed so desirable.
I've done no painting of late - BUT I have been buying wool - having a secret pal to buy for gives me a GREAT excuse to buy stuff for myself - well, when one is hanging around in ones local yarn store, how can one resist? So now I'm knitting hats as well as trying to finish Seth's jumper - (I'm on the first sleeve of THAT).
I've also bought a bread machine. My waistline is expanding.

Was lovely to hear from knitnurse alias hazelnutcluster alias lots of things.

Back to the grindstone.

The ankle is much better - ta! which is just as well, as me and sis are planning a walk from St Ives to the Lizard along the South West Coast Path from June 11th for a week - bivvying out if its fine, retreating to local hostelries (YHA) if not. Well, retreating to local hostelries (PUB) anyway. We are planning to walk the path as seen on the map in a downwards fashion in the vain hope that gravity might help. My sis is doing half marathons and similar while I am 'resting' - she'll just have to give me a piggy back. Syd is coming too, but Tilly will have to stay with friends :-( as she's getting too old and stiff to manage 7 days walking. I think I'm going to get some very old fashioned looks from her, when we set off, of the kind only labradors can achieve (and seal pups).

I've had some FINE advice from Ruse1966 which I feel obliged to pass on to any others who might contemplate walking the coastal path, it's sooo good...
Always buy decent socks.
The compass never lies but if your feet are wet, you're too far to the
right.
If you leave a cow in a glass of coke, it won't be there in the morning.

Bookcrossing, or ‘How to turn the world into a library’.

Have you a shelf full of books gathering dust, that you are unlikely ever to read again? Or have you a book that you loved so much that you want to share it with everybody? Would you like to find a free book lying on a park bench one day, waiting for you to pick it up and take it home? If any of these apply, then ‘Bookcrossing’ could well be for you… So what’s it all about?

How It Started:
Bookcrossing.com is a labour of love, conceived and maintained by an American company called ‘Humankind Systems Inc.’ which develops software and exploits the internet. Seeking a break from the boredom of creating yet another e-commerce website, and yet another email server application, Humankind company director Ron Hornbaker wanted to create an internet community site that would be innovative, that would give back to the world at large and that would give him warm, fuzzy feelings whenever he worked on it. Bookcrossing.com was the result.

In March, 2001 Hornbaker and his wife Kaori were inspired by two websites: the Phototag.org website, which tracks disposable cameras loosed into the wild, and WheresGeorge.com, which tracks U.S. currency by serial number. They realised that the same premise could be applied to books. It was a great surprise to Ron when he discovered that BookCrossing had not been done on any significant scale before. By 3 A.M. the same night as the idea was born, they had decided on the name (zero hits for "bookcrossing" on Google), registered the domain, and Kaori had sketched the running book logo on a crossing sign. The rest is history.
The BookCrossing site went live in April 2001, and since then thousands have joined up (currently 466,677) and millions of books have been registered (currently 3,027,361). No doubt because of its American beginnings, BookCrossing is much more popular in English-speaking countries than elsewhere, but numbers worldwide are steadily growing, and there are bookcrossers in most areas of the globe. Articles have been written about the site in countless magazines, and it has appeared regularly on TV and radio. In 2004, the word 'bookcrossing' was even added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary! (n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.).


How Does It Work?
If you want to join up and start releasing and tracking your books obviously you need access to the Internet – but with free access available in libraries, and internet cafes springing up in many places, this isn’t too difficult even without a home PC. Visit www.bookcrossing.com and register by providing a username and password, along with a few other details, and you're set. All your details are kept completely private - it's up to you how much you reveal about yourself onsite.
Next you will need to decide which books you’d like to ‘release in the wild’ and track, and register them. You will do this by clicking on the 'register book' link and following the simple instructions. Remember to write the Book Crossing Identification Number (BCID) you are given somewhere inside the book - people generally write it inside the front cover, along with the BookCrossing web address and instructions ( the three ‘R’s: READ, REGISTER, RELEASE) - so that hopefully your finder will know it is a special book and will know how to ‘journal’ it themselves when they find it. To make this identification easier, you can download labels to print off and stick inside the book cover, or even buy beautifully illustrated bookplates with bookcrossing instructions ready made from the Bookcrossing website supply shop.
When you register your book on the website you will be requested to write a ‘journal entry’ which can be as brief or long as you like: for example you can say whether you liked it or not (there is an optional scale out of ten), and/or give a brief synopsis of the story.
The next step is to release it into ‘the wild’, otherwise known as leaving it somewhere for someone else to find, so the book can start its journey.

Releasing Books
You need to make it clear that the book is not left where you release it by mistake (sadly, there are many registered books languishing in ‘lost property’) so put a ‘Post it’ Note (or similar) on the front cover of the book to let everyone knows it's there for the taking. There are plenty of examples of what to write on the website, but something like 'This is a free book, it isn't lost, please pick it up and take it home!' will get the message across.
You then need to think about where to release the book. This is fun. Anywhere folk are likely to linger will do - books have been released in cafés, in university lecture theatres, in waiting rooms. Obviously one needs to be aware of sensitive locations such as airports and train stations where a left book could cause a security alert. More exotic release locations have included a book being lodged in a crack half way up Haytor Rock (s’true) to another being wedged in a wreck at the bottom of The Mull of Sound in Scotland (scuba diving skills essential). I have released books in the Reception area at Bovey Tracey Community Hospital (very successful – waves to ‘Viking Maiden’!) and the Pizza Place (not so successful).

If abandoning your book to its fate doesn’t appeal, you can visit the bookcrossing ‘forums’ where other bookcrossers from all over the world meet to chat. Within the forums there are places to trade books, or offer them up as a ‘ring’ or ‘ray’. There are no rules – you can still give your registered book to a charity shop if that is your wish, or even pass it on to friends (who may decide to join bookcrossing themselves!). Either way, once the book has left your hands, you sit back and wait for the email saying someone else has 'caught' (found) it and made a journal entry of their own. If they go on to release it, you can follow its travels all over the world.

A lot of BookCrossing books are sadly never heard from again once they've been released. But don't give up if this happens to your book, just remember that someone somewhere may be reading and enjoying it, even if they haven't come online to say so. And there are many stories of bookcrossers receiving journal entries from books that they thought lost years before, having travelled around the world in the meantime.

Release Challenges
To vary the theme, many bookcrossers enjoy setting release challenges for themselves and others. An example might be 'Books about Christmas' to be released every week in December, or releasing gardening books in Public Parks and Gardens. Some Bookcrossers have attempted to release 'one book for every letter of the alphabet'. The website has a forum to discuss such adventures.

Finding Books
Lucky you if you are fortunate enough to find a BookCrossing book lying around somewhere. Its former owner will be anxious to hear what has happened to it, so head on over to the BookCrossing website and enter the BCID on the home page. You can join up if you want, or remain an Anonymous Finder. Then you can read the book and release the book yourself, or keep it as part of your permanent collection on your bookshelf: it's entirely up to you!
You can increase your chances of finding a released book by signing up for release notifications. Look for the ‘Go Hunting’ section of the bookcrossing website, where you can follow simple instructions to allow you to receive emails every time someone releases a book in your area. When you receive your release alert, finding the book is like participating in a treasure hunt!
Other Ways to BookCross
Releasing a book in the wild isn't the only way of letting your book travel. There are various methods of sharing your book with other bookcrossers, all of which can be organised through the BookCrossing forum:
- Bookrays: a bookray is a single book posted from one bookcrosser to another, following an order usually set in advance but often added to along the way. The final member of the bookray is usually at liberty to do whatever they want with the book once they receive it.
- Bookrings: a bookring is similar to a bookray, except that the final member of a bookring should send the book back to the first person in the list once they have read it. This person can then either release the book or keep it.
- RABCK: a 'Random Act Of BookCrossing Kindness' - is where a bookcrosser will send a fellow bookcrosser a book without being part of a ray or ring, and without expecting anything in return. The recipient is then free do what they like with the book. Many bookcrossers’ bookshelves on the site have a ‘wishlist’ which makes the sending of RABCK much simpler. I have received books full of glitter, and books with CHOCOLATE tucked inside. Mmm. Bookcrossers are such a generous lot.
- Trades: a trade is where two bookcrossers agree to exchange books, which they can then either keep or release.
- Bookboxes: a bookbox is exactly what it sounds like - a box of books. These work in a similar way to bookrings, except that each recipient should remove the books from the box that they wish to read, and replace them with other books before posting it on to the next person on the list. Many bookboxes are devoted to a particular genre such as science fiction, or chick lit, in which case books put into the box should fit the theme.
- OBCZ: an OBCZ, or ‘Official BookCrossing Zone’, is usually a bookshelf or box in the corner of a café, pub, library, internet café, or a multitude of other places, where BookCrossing books can be released and caught. If there is an OBCZ near you, feel free to take a book or two (remember to journal them), and maybe leave a couple in their place. I manage an OBCZ at South Devon College in Courtenay Street in Newton Abbot. There is another OBCZ in Hudson’s Coffee House in Plymouth managed by Mytilus.
- Geocaching: some bookcrossers have combined BookCrossing with Geocaching.
Social Bookcrossing
BookCrossing doesn't have to be a solitary activity and many towns and cities in the UK and around the world have regular BookCrossing meetups. Devon Bookcrossers meet up monthly approximately, in Hudson’s coffee house in Plymouth and the Boston Tea Party in Exeter. There has also been a bookreleasing walk at Drogo Castle to which over a dozen bookcrossers turned up. I have been pleased to meet ‘Pyxis’, ‘Europea’, ‘Anglersrest’, ‘Mytilus’ and ‘Sufiboy’ amongst others. (WAVES - Hiya!) Some meetups also include a mass release, where everyone will bring a few books and will release them around the local area. In addition to these meetups, there are also various Conventions around the world. The UK has its own ‘Unconvention’, held annually in Birmingham - which let bookcrossers get together en masse and enjoy themselves. The next one will be in July 2006 and is already sold out and I'm going!
Information about all these meet-ups can be found on the BookCrossing Forum or on Yahoo mailing lists devoted to Bookcrossing such as BCUK.

There has been some controversy in the past over whether BookCrossing is a bad idea from the point of view of authors and publishers (another ‘Napster’?) - surely if people are sharing books in this way then there will be fewer books being purchased? Much the same argument was used against libraries at one time. The general consensus from Bookcrossers is that they actually buy more books than they did prior to BookCrossing - if they really like a book they'll buy a copy for themselves and another to release! My own experience is that I’ve been introduced to many new authors and genres as a result of Bookcrossing and have bought more books as a result. As with libraries and second-hand bookshops, BookCrossing is just another way for many people to read the same book, perhaps a book that they wouldn't have thought of reading otherwise.
Many authors are themselves bookcrossers and have released some of their own books.

Bookcrossing is the internet at its best – it is fun, it is free and also a fascinating excercise in fate, karma, or whatever you want to call the chain of events that can occur between two or more lives and one piece of literature. If you’d like to see what books are available on my bookshelf then please do visit
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/tutleymutley
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/s-devon-college


I’ve cribbed much of this – from the Bookcrossing website and from an article by a bookcrosser (Cyzaki I think) which was a H2G2 entry on the BBC website.
I’ve changed it in most places but it’s still heavily plagiarized!!!

Me? Obsessed? Nah!

WIPS

I took this picture of my jumper in progress, last month, in amongst the primroses - the bluebells are out now!

It's a jumper from the Alice Starmore fishing sweaters book I bought from Ebay. It's for my son - I let him choose the pattern, yarn colour etc. I'm knitting it in Sirdar Denim Sport Aran, which is 60% Acrylic, 25% Cotton and 15% wool - very soft and machine washable. Think I'm going to have quite a bit over though - obviously greater yardage than the recommended (Rowan) yarn in the original pattern - a lot cheaper too!

I'm close to finishing the back to match the front - Only the sleeves and neck to do. Think I'm going to have to block the bottom hem carefully as it has a tendency to curl up already.

I've ordered the felt slippers kit from Cabin Fever - couldn't resist! I've been hankering after them for a while - they're so cool - and i've not done any felting since the bag I knitted Seth's (now ex) girlfriend.

IN the Wars...
I started April with a tooth abcess. I'm limping into May with a sprained ankle! Saturday 6th of May saw the annual May Day celebrations in Lustleigh: there's an annual procession around the village of little girls and young women all dressed in (virginal) white and little boys and young men carrying sticks(!). They are escorted by a brass band and Spring songs are sung at various points along the route. When the procession arrived back at the Orchard, the girls and boys danced around the maypole making pretty patterns with the multicoloured ribbons. Following these frolics, the May Queen was crowned - she sits on a throne under a flowery canopy which sits on top of a huge rock in the middle of the Orchard. This great hunk of granite is distinguished by being adorned with all the names of previous May Queens carved on to its surface.
Yes I know I ought to have taken pics of this, but it was awful weather - the rain held off for the dancing and crowning of the queen, but p****d down thereafter. It was too dark and miserable for any good piccies. I was doing my duty on the lucky dip stall and my cash box (a plastic margarine tub) filled with two inches of water inside 10minutes I'll swear. I beat a hasty retreat to the village hall for a cream tea (obligatory in Devon) and watched the rain pour outside the door on to my two soggy doggies. Having done my duty as far as fundraising goes, I was on my way to the pub (where the morris dancers had also beaten a hasty retreat) - when I realised I'd forgotten the dog lead - t'was lying on the floor under the chair I'd recently vacated. I turned around to leap down the concrete steps back into the hall - these steps were awash in water. I aquaplaned off the bottom step and landed on my ankle in a way it wasn't designed to go. I heard it go pop!
I sat down in the rain and felt all queasy - several onlookers helped me to hobble back into the hall. I had not one but TWO GPs come to my rescue and both diagnosed a sprained (not broken) ankle. One of them kindly offered me (and the two wet smelly labradors) a lift home. I was torn between doing the sensible thing (going home and carrying out the RICE treatment) - and meeting my mates in the pub. It was a hard decision, but I went home :-(

This horrible picture is what it looked like after three days! It's still really swollen and purple and yellow from my calf down to my toes. You really wanted to see that, I know, sorry. I'm just walking on it now, after a week and a half. There go my plans to get really fit before my sis and I walk 80 miles of the coastal path in June - we're walking from St Ives to the Lizard. She'll just have to give me a piggy back!

Here's a prettier picture of Tilly and Sydney:

This is how they sleep, in the hallway - they have a bed each, but Syd gets lonely, so he climbs on top of his mum!

Secret Pal Numero 8
I'd completely forgotten signing up for this - having had a tooth abcess, work being busy and NOW (as of yesterday) a sprained ankle! I'm a WRECK! But I've had a reminder from my hostess Alison about SP8 and I found this questionnaire for 'this round'. Ooooo, I'm such a newbie at this...


1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love predominantly wool yarns or mixes which have a predominantly natural yarn component (wool or cotton) - but I like the new funky fur, or novelty yarns because they're such fun to knit scarves with and feel and see. I like soft yarns. I hate 100% acrylic as it lets the wind through and feels sweaty. I sound like a yarn snob :-(
One of the best guernsey sweaters I knit myself was in a very pearlised, french 4ply 100% acrylic yarn that lasted for YEARS and 100s of washes, so I guess there are ALWAYS exceptions. I'm knitting a sweater for my son at the moment that has a large acrylic component along with cotton and wool - (Sirdar denim aran) - it's soft, it'll wash and wear well - ideal.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I've a wooden sewing box with draws in the top that holds needles, and a denim wrap thing that has needles in too. I've also got a ceramic pot sitting next to the computer here which has mainly paintbrushes in, but occasionally sports a knitting needle. I'm a total slob, so some knitting needles lurk in other places like plastic bags with UFOs inside.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Intermediate, bordering on advanced I guess. I've been knitting a long time, though I've recently rediscovered it after a several year hiatus, what with all this stitch and bitch energy around lately.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, and a Cliff wish list on my bookcrossing shelf.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like spicy scents, like cinnamon, and patchouli types. I like woody and citrussy smells too. mmmm. I'm not really a floral type.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Afraid so. I like chocolate. Dark chocolate. And nutty things. I should be on a diet but I've fallen off the wagon lately.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
No, don't spin, although one day, when I retire, who knows. I like painting, drawing, colouring. I've been known to embroider my own designs. And facepaint. I'm not at all good at crocheting. I'm mainly a knit.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Yes my computer can play CDs. I don't know about MP3s - what are they?
I like obscure bands from years ago that noone else has ever heard of like Bill Bruford, Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Air, Folky stuff, Catatonia, Sade (this list off the top of my head).

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like autumn colours - all those burnished, coppery reds, greens and browns (but not bright orange). I love greens - but generally mossy, not bright, depending on my mood. I can go outrageously bright and primary when it's hot and sunny outside. I hate bubblegum pink - bleurgh!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
My one and only son is 18years old and left home just before Christmas - but isn't too far away and visits regularly (usually to scrounge the rent money because he's overspent his budget!) - My DH and I are getting reaquainted in a much quieter house.
I have two chocolate labradors - Tilly and her son, Sydney. They are MY dogs as my DH is at great pains to tell me.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear all of those except the last.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I'll have a go at anything - I can knit plain stuff (stocking stitch, garter stitch) while reading, or at the back of classrooms, in meetings. I save the more complicated things for when I've got time to concentrate.
I like traditional British Knitting - guernseys, fishing ganseys, arans, fairisle. I'm a great one for not finishing stuff I start.

13. What are you knitting right now?
An Alice Starmore pattern for my son. I showed him a book of fishing jersey patterns and let him pick his favourite and the colours.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Oh yes please!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I actually like straight needles as I knit with one tucked under my arm - I'm positive I'd get on very well with one of those knitting belts you can stick the end of the needle in - but I've never tried. However I knit in the round a lot, so obviously circular needles are more practical even if they don't suit my style! I knit with any needle - but don't particular like some of the old plastic needles - too bendy. I've got bamboo and aluminium and some lovely french knitting needles which are plastic coated metal in bright primary colours.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Somewhere I've got a yarn winder from when I used to use a knitting machine a lot.

17. How did you learn to knit?
In school when I was about 8 years old - we had to knit two rectangles in brown yarn and garter stitch, and sew them together and stuff them. We then had to sew down the two top corners of the rectangle, attach a beak, eyes and feet and call it an OWL. Needless to say, I don't recall finishing it. My grandmother was a great knitter of arans. I used to watch her a lot. I really got knitting in my early teens. I knitted a bright green V neck sweater for a guide badge when I was twelve. By the time I was 15yrs old I remember knitting a cardigan with circular fairisle yoke that had such an even tension my gran thought I'd bought it.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
OOh, now that's telling. I have a jumper I was knitting for a friend from my own pattern which only needs the sleeves doing. I think it's 21 years old. oh dear. I'm not sure if there's enough yarn to even finish it, which is why it's been packed away in the attic for so long.

19. What is your favorite holiday?
An active holiday - adventuring of some kind. I've two holidays planned for this year - neither of them with dh (!)( he doesn't like travelling). I'm walking part of the South West Coastal Path, from St Ives to the Lizard, with my sis and Syd, the younger dog. We'll be camping out if it's nice, and youth hostelling if it isn't. In October I'm going to explore Thailand for a fortnight on my own (meeting up with friends in the middle for Interhash).

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Not really - I should be decluttering! I DO have too many books, knitting books, art materials etc etc.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to an Art magazine called "Artists and Illustrators". I am dying to get my hands on the pattern for felted slippers on the http://www.cabinfever.ca/ site. Those peace needles are really cute, aren't they? And I've heard a lot about addy turbos but never tried them! I'm also saving to make a spurge on the yarns on the handpainted uraguayan site one of these days. And, and, and.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'm learning all the time. I've just learned how to cast off with a sewing needle to make an elastic edge for ribbing. And how to knit socks from the toe up.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yes, I've knitted socks - but only two pairs of adult size socks - lots of baby and children's socks. I'm size 7, 41. Will try to measure them properly tomorrow.

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
Nov. 10th

I just visited Shelley's blog and spotted this fun way to spell out my name. If you'd like to do the same you can do it here

I also found out, from the same source, that my all time favourite sci fi author, Octavia E Butler died at a comparitively young age last February. I'm shocked. I first read 'Kindred' years ago - and went on to enjoy the Xenogenesis trilogy which I've just sent in one volume (Lilith's Brood) to my convict penpal in the States. I'm going to have to get it for myself now.

Where have I been????? Well, March was a wipe out, written off in more ways than one! I started the month with a flu type bug - achy joints, green gunk producing cough, sore throat (swallowing a cactus everytime), bunged up sinuses AND a temperature - too much information? sorry :-( I retired to bed for a couple of days and was as weak as a kitten when I reemerged. Then I spent the rest of the month going to work, coming home and falling asleep on the sofa.
I'm back full of energy and I've lots to report - stitch 'n bitch going well - walking group also off the ground - finished Olympian cardigan and it seems to fit - Alice Starmore fishing jumper started and well underway - paddling trips - holidays planned (walking around SW coastal path with skin and blister in June AND tickets for Thailand (interhash) in October purchased - woohoo). Spring is in the air and sap is rising!
I promise to try and do all this updating within the week.
My digital camera is out of commission because my battery charger is caput - this makes adding pics of wips difficult. The pic below is of home sweet home and was taken yonks ago. (second terrace in from left, right hand row (in the shade). A stream runs along the bottom of the gardens. Neat puddle, huh?

So NEAR and yet so FAR(t)! AAaaaargh. I failed to cross the finishing line despite a valiant effort at the end - I've been working over the weekend and Saturday was hectic, so I'm left with just a few little bits to do. I've got:
ONE cuff, ONE button-hole band, SIX buttons to sew on, pocket flaps to finish sewing down and yarn ends to tidy. Sounds like quite a lot when I put it like that.
I've challenged myself by making it up as I was going along - it was funny to be making the neckband and wondering when to stop, wether to fold over and stitch down and not knowing quite how it would look until I was done.
I also perfected provisional casting on so I could graft the seam on the sleeves. And I got the dam thing nearly finished when it's been languishing in my cupboard for the past two years. My mother's away at the moment. I reckon it might even fit her!

BIG WELL DONE TO ALL OF MY MATES ON TEAM GB WHO DESERVE ALL THOSE GOLD MEDALS! and all the OLYMPIAN KNITTERS AROUND THE WORLD - fab work everyone. And thanks to Yarn Harlot for the inspiration. I've enjoyed it.

My son, Seth at Interhash couple years ago... ON the beach at Mumbles

My son is a HERO!

I've just got to tell you all this: RAFLMAO! My son is on holiday for the week - I didn't know this because he moved out before Christmas and I haven't heard from him for about 10 days... Anyway, he's been out boozing the night before, so he decides to take a stroll down by the River Exe to clear the cobwebs. An old lady comes up to him, frantically windmilling arms and shrieks "Help, please help my little dog!" - she points out to the middle of the swollen river where a small poodle appears to be giving up the will to live and is fast being carried away. Without stopping to consider the consequences, my son rips off his shoes and shirt and plunges in. He scoops up aformentioned poodle and swims back to shore, where he is now sopping wet and shivering. The daft b****r! Old lady thanks him profusely and exclaims at how treacherous the waters are - presses a fiver into Seth's hand (which is cramped with the cold) and departs. His jeans and underwear were still sopping when I picked him up from the busstop a couple of hours later - he only came home for the bath and bacon butties.

Hero or fool?! You tell me! I reminded him of how many people have died trying to rescue dogs - he said the river was quite flat and there were no dangers downstream and he didn't have time to stop to think about it, as the dog was being carried away rapidly. I was quite proud of him really. In between shaking with mirth that is.

Boulder (Olympic effort) update...
OOO things be slowing down! I thought this was looking like it wouldn't fit my ample mother, but she called in today and it will fit - just not be very loose. Obviously I didn't allow extra 'ease' when I was calculating from swatches. I've nearly finished the back. I've done both fronts up to armholes. I've finished one sleeve (which I've knit sideways on and done several short rows to make it slightly shaped) and cast on (provisional/loop cast on) for the other sleeve and knitted a couple of inches. You can see there's a lot of colour pooling in the fronts. That's Colinette for you. I think it's going to be OK.
I've got to knit the cuffs, pocket trims and neck and button bands. I've leave them till last as I'm still not sure how the yarn is going to last so if I need to, I can knit these in another colour (probably plain blue) and make it a 'design feature' - whaddya mean? OF course it was deliberate.

Heard this today. What is the fastest cake in Devon?

"scone". (s'gone - geddit?)

groan.

Spring is on the way! (Took this Pic LAST year but the shoots of the daffs are visible)

The Funeral...
Phew - thank goodness that's all over and done with - and the funeral was as good as it could be - the family were all pleased and that really is the most important thing. I read my pome, and didn't stumble over the podium or crack up and run out screaming or even cry - so that was OK too. I cried when the children did their bits - 'specially Phil, as he's the same age as my son and I kept imagining how Seth would be in his place.
The vicar did his best to sell Christianity - but with my buddhist leanings, I've decided to let my body go to science when I die - there's a shortage of cadavers for medical students to cut up, apparently, and they do a lovely memorial service afterwards - very cheap funeral! See Dead Interesting for some really thought provoking stuff...

How's that? Here's my poster for the new S&B. Having already put out four , I've JUST noticed that Stitch hasn't got a capital S. *&$%?!

The Olympic project? Shh. I'm keeping very quiet. I just might have enough yarn - but it's looking a bit small. Maybe fit me instead???
I've half finished the back and left front and I've only got to pick up and knit the cuff on one sleeve (knit sideways and grafted together). I've still got one whole sleeve and 3/4 of the right front to do.

Now I really ought to go to bed.

The Walk - hopefully first of many outings with a gang of mates.

[I would have been back blogging much sooner, but work got in the way. Shame].

I organised a walk last Sunday, from the small village of Belstone, a couple of miles from Okehampton on the North Moor. There were six of us intrepid types and three dogs, and it didn't rain. I don't know the North Moor as well as the South East (where we all live) so I (attempted to) follow a route from Adventurous Pub Walks in Devon which my mate Cath got me for my birthday (ta muchly Cath!). It might not have rained but it was a really blustery day -

This is Belstone Tor: Irishman's Wall begins at the foot of here, and runs up over the top and down the other side towards the River Taw. We followed this route...

Irishman's Wall has an interesting history: Dartmoor has always offered common grazing for locals, but under ancient tradition, farmers had the right to enclose up to 8 acres of moorland for their own use. Towards the beginning of the 19th century two farmers hired a group of Irishmen to enclose a much greater area on Belstone Common. They had built about a mile of this wall before other local farmers realised what was happening. The resulting enclosure would have restricted their access considerably, so they gathered en masse at the wall, and at a given signal, pushed it over! The Irishmen departed not wanting to be involved in any fight, but parts of the wall remain - even if its name does seem to credit just one Irishman for its existence.This is the at the top looking down over the river Taw (and some ponies sheltering in the lee of the Tor, away from the wind. This is where we could have flown if we'd flapped our arms just a bit harder. We clambered down over the clitter to an ox bow type loop in the river where there is a ford - this is Cath trying not to get her trousers and boots wet... I won't tell you what she used to dry her feet, but the woman has ALL sorts of useful items lurking at the bottom of her bag.

From here we could see Cosdon Beacon. We walked across rough moorland and boggy bits to South Zeal and the welcome warmth of the Oxenham Arms Pub - couple of pints and a roaring fire. It was then only a mile and a half back to Belstone along the river through Skaigh Woods. Didn't bother with any more photos as there wasn't enough sunshine to make them interesting (and I haven't included the ones of my mates because I haven't asked them and they might be just a bit surprised to see themselves on the net!). T'was a 7 1/2mile hike and a good distance to amble along in no particular hurry. Couldn't resist taking this pic of a cat (in the window above the door) eyeing us up as we got back to Belstone:-

I've to read a poem at my friend's dh funeral tomorrow.

"Leisure"

What is life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare,

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows,

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass,

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night,

Not time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance,

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life is this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare."

William Henry Davies

"Easy, peasy", I thought, "Piece of cake". So why did I bawl my eyes out trying to read it out all by myself earlier?

Today I went on a proper walk on Dartymoor and nobody got lost, only Kate got a little worried. Tilly has seized up 'though, poor thing. Will write it up later. I knitted in the pub - and got ANOTHER potential stitch'n bitcher. I'm on a roll!

Got this death from Rabbitch whose sense of humour I appreciate.

You will be sucked dry by a leech. I'd stay away

from swimming holes, and stick to good old

cement. Even if it does hurt like hell when

your toe scrapes the bottom.


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I'm so excited!
About the prospect of a new stitch and bitch group in my local town! I've been thinking about this for AGES and wondering where the best venue would be - I'm such a clot - Bovey Tracey hosts the one of the finest (and most expensive, but lets not quibble) craft shops in Devon with a lovely sunlit cafe with roof terrace and disabled access and all - the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and it's open 7 days a week, so I reckon one Sunday a month, 3-5pm will be perfect. Now all I've got to do is suggest it to the manager. I talked to a waitress yesterday - and got my first member. Linda has been knitting for years and gets teased by her dh because it's an 'old ladies' hobby'. What is he on? And the more expert knitters there are, the more we can pass on skills to beginners!

I've also started and frogged my Herculian cardigan, 'Boulder':

I'd somehow managed to get my sums wrong and not cast on enough stitches. *Sigh*. All sorted now. I'm going to knit the back and fronts to the armholes only to see how the yarn lasts - I still don't think I'll have enough to finish :-(

The Olympian, Herculian Cardigan...

I had my mother around t'other day and measured every bit of her I could think to measure, and then sat down and adapted a pattern torn from a magazine circa 1979 (am I really that old?)(Do I hoard things?)(see I KNEW it would come in handy). Question - if you change the yarn, and therefore the tension, and the needle size, and make it shorter and fiddle about until the instructions are totally different, does the pattern become my own design as the original was only used as a reference, as an inspiration? The original was called 'Pebble' - so I've called mine 'Boulder', because it's bolder and also because of the matriarchal tribe from Lijiang in China called the Naxi. The Naxi minority's matriarchal influences extend to their language: Nouns enlarge their meaning when the word for female is added, and conversely, the addition of the word for 'male' will decrease the meaning, eg. 'stone' + 'female' = boulder, 'stone' + 'male' = pebble. Good innit?
OK - the Pattern, which I will scribe here so it will not get lost on the scrap of paper I've scrawled on and I can print it off when I like.

'Boulder', to fit my mum, bust size 54"/138cm.
knitted in Collinette Prism, Blue Parrot - please let there be enough yarn because I won't be able to match the dye lot and the shop I got it from no longer sells it.
needles size 4 1/2 + 5 1/2 mm

Back With 4 1/2 needles, Cast on 101 st, rib k1,p1 for 6cm
last row increase 9st evenly along row,
(rib 10, inc 1 by picking up loop between st and twist and knit)x9, rib 11, (110st) Change to 5 1/2 mm needles.
Knit straight in stocking stitch until work measures 34cm
Armhole shaping: Cast off 17 st. at beg. next 2 rows (76st)
Continue without further shaping until work measures 22" (56cm)
Shoulder shaping: cast off 10st beg next 2 rows, leave remaining 56st on stitch holder.

Pocket linings x2 : Using 5 1/2 mm needles cast on 24st. Beg. K row, st st 26 rows. leave st. on stitch holder.

Left front
with 4 1/2 mm needles, cast on 47 st and rib k1/p1 for 6 cm increasing 4st evenly along last row: rib 10, inc 1, (rib 9, inc 1)x3, rib 10 to end (51st)
change to 5 1/2 mm needles.
Beg knit row, st st until work measure 20cm,
Pocket opening row: k 15st, place next 24 st on a stitch holder and with right side facing, k 24 st of one pocket lining, then k last 12 st.
Continue in st st until work measures 34 cm. ending p row.
cast off 17 st beg. next row.
Continue straight until work measures 19 1/2" or 50cm ending K row.
Neck shaping: cast off 12 st. beg next row, purl to end
work 1 knit row slipping last stitch without knitting.
cast off 2 st beg next row. purl to end.
then dec 1 st at neck edge every row for next 4 rows.
Work until front matches back - cast off.

Right front
work same as left front but reversing all shaping. (cop out ay?)

Left Sleeve
Using loop method from 'The Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques', cast on 73 st with 5 1/2 mm needles.
row 1: knit all stitches
row 2: purl 47 (k2, p4)x4, k2
row 3: knit all stitches
row 4: purl 47 (k2,p4)x4, k2
row 5: (k2, cable 2 forward)x4 k40 TURN
row 6: Purl 40, (k2,p4)x4, k2

(I thought the short rows might give the sleeve a bit more shape. Be interesting to find out and might mean a bit of frogging).

continue as set until sleeve measures 49cm (ensuring finish on 6th row of cable pattern) and then graft stitches together to form a tube.
Using 4 1/2 mm circular needles or dpns, pick up and knit 24 stitches from around cuff end - rib k1/p1 for 16cm and then use single rib castoff technique like shown in earlier post because I've finished my socks and that cast off is really elastic.

Right sleeve same as the other one, but in reverse (so the cables go the same way).

Take the 24 stitches along tops of pockets and rib (for as long as you want!) cast off - sew down edges and pockets.
Sew cardi together.

Pick up and rib neck.
Rib button and button hole bands and sew in place. Sew on half a dozen buttons.

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting

and do it all the time. While finishing a

piece is the plan, you still love the

process, and can't imagine a day going by

without giving some time to your yarn.

Packing for holidays involves leaving ample

space for the stash and supplies. It can be

hard to tell where the yarn ends and you

begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


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Took a look at a book...

Over on BCUK they've been discussing Mondegreens. For anyone that doesn't know what this means - A "mondegreen" (also sometimes spelt 'mondagreen') is the mishearing (usually accidental) of a phrase, such that it acquires a new meaning. Mondegreen is in itself a mondegreen - coined by the writer Sylvia Wright in 1954, in her essay "The Death of Lady Mondegreen". As a child she had heard the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Murray" and had believed that one stanza went like this:

"Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands

Oh where hae you been?

They hae slay the Earl aMurray (sic),

And Lady Mondegreen."

Poor Lady Mondegreen, thought Sylvia Wright - how poetic to die with your true love. When she discovered some years later, that the actual line was "and laid him on the Green", Wright was so distraught by the sudden disappearance of her heroine that she memorialized her with a neologism... Wright gives other examples of what she says "I shall hereafter call mondegreens", such as:-

"Surely Good Mrs. Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life"
("Surely goodness and mercy…" from Psalm23

The columnist Jon Carroll of the "San Francisco Chronicle" has long been a popularizer of the term and a collector of mondegreens. He is probably the chief link between Wright's work and the general popularity of the notion today. He points out that the overwhelming majority of Mondegreens come from song lyrics. Examples include the Bob Dylan song with the memorable refrain: "Dead ants are my friends, they're blowin' in the wind", the great Crystal Gayle song "Doughnuts Make Your Brown Eyes Blue" and the not forgetting the equally wonderful Maria Muldaur song "Midnight After You're Wasted." (I'm showing my age - I can remember all these songs!).

My dh has been trying to get a neologism accepted into the english language for YEARS. Maybe anyone who reads this will help it along.

You know those woody, green bits you get on some tomatoes? They are henceforth to be known as ARLOES ('arlo', n. sing.). This is from the root Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie. Geddit? I like the way Tomato becomes Tomatoes and Arlo becomes Arloes. But I am easily amused.

Books!

I've been reading "The Bookseller of Kabul" by Asne Seierstad and it's making me mad! Grrr. Probably not the best book to be reading against a backdrop of the Islamic Brigade raging about a cartoon of Mohammed rather insensitively published by a Danish newspaper... It's a DRAWING for goodness sake. Isn't life itself more sacrosant than anything that could be said or written? And Peace and Happiness...

These women portrayed in the book - kept ignorant and illiterate, trapped in the house or under a burka, virtual slaves to their men. Now I might CHOOSE to be ignorant and housebound but to have my choice taken away? I'd rather be chained to the railings outside the Houses of Parliament.

On to a 'lighter' topic:

My diet. I've been doing fairly well, eating healthily, avoiding sugar etc.

Maybe my downfall is following these diet rules too slavishly:

1.~If noone sees you eating something, it has no calories.
2.~Food eaten for medical reasons does NOT count (eg hot chocolate, toast, cheesecake, vodka, wine) (Definitely a BCUKer one that).
3.~Biscuits have no calories because breaking the biscuits causes the calories to leak out.
4.~While you are cooking, food licked from knives and spoons has no fat content.
5.~Food eaten from someone elses plate has no fat as it rightly
belongs to the other person.
6.~If you eat standing up the food has no calories because of gravity.
7.~When you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you don't eat more than they do.
8~You will look slimmer if you fatten up the people around you.

Inspired by Nic, I've created a blogcloud image and I think it's very nifty. I like the unexpected juxtapositions of words to make a strange kind of sense: 'kayaking like mum', 'castle devon', 'socks time' and 'tutleymutley yarn'. Don't forget to knitknack loosely! thanks nic.
_____________________________

My friend's husband died yesterday, after a long illness. I went to see her today and she is, as you might expect, in need of huggles. Her dh died at home, surrounded by friends and loved ones, which is as it should be. We all deserve to be born at home, to die at home.

And back to knitting! tutmut joins the Olympians!

Well I dithered and I procrastinated and I dithered some more, then I decided at the penultimate moment (near as dammit) to join in YarnHarlot's Knitting Olympics . The deadline for late entries is tonight at midnight (in California I guess).

I have decided to finish what I've started. I promised my (ample) mother I would knit her a cardi. This is no mean thing - years ago I knit her a mohair polo neck tunic type jumper in k1p1 rib which took me AGES! I don't think she ever wore it before she left it in storage and then abandoned the stuff in storage. Took me a long while to forgive her that. So I'd started this TWO years ago (I kid you not) and adjusted the pattern so I thought - well, not only would the sleeve fit your average gorilla, but at that rate I'd run out of yarn. So I must frog the lot. and start again. So my challenge is to work out how to get this cardi to fit, and finish it in 16 days. Who am I trying to kid? This is a Herculean task! We'll see.

My socks are nearly finished - and I'm well pleased. They even fit. For only my second ever attempt at adult socks and first attempt at toe up I've done good. Enough bragging.

Here's another technical tip coming up. I was worried about using my usual cast off on the rib that would be trying to fit around my thick ankles, so I looked in 'The Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques" by Debby Robinson, and lo, I found this - the 'elastic method for single rib' - it's worked out perfectly...

Holding the yarn on the left hand (LH) needle cut the yarn end so that it's four or five times the length of the row to be cast off. Thread up a blunt tapestry needle with this end and use it to cast off.

1. *Put tapestry needle thr0ugh the first stitch knit (K) wise and slip it off LH needle.
2. Ignoring the next purl (P) stitch, put the needle through the next K stitch purlwise. Return to the ignored P stitch and put needle into it P wise, draw the yarn through and slip it off the LH needle.
3. Take the yarn behind the stitch still on the needle and bring it through to the front of the work. Put needle into next P stitch, K wise. Pull yarn through, not too tightly, then start again from *.

Robinson says, "This method is not half as fiddly as it sounds and produces a neat, very elastic edge, once you get into the swing of it. It can be used whereever a really stretchy edge is required." eg polo necks, or SOCKS!