HOT off press:- Secret Pal 8 package arrives:

Never mind opening with infinite care and patience, tutmut rips open the envelope and scatters contents amongst daisies, whilst dogs look on in wonderment at the foibles of humans.

The cloth matches my kitchen and will hang around in there to grab pots with, methinks.The rest is colour coordinated - look! The book has a beautiful hand stitched cover over a hand made paper inside - Secret Pal has similar book tucked inside knitting hold-all to make notations on experiments. I'm not sure I could be so organised, but I'll give it a go. (She has not seen the chaos that is my knitting containers). The needles are from Peace Fleece - I've been hankering after some for ages, they're so cute.They are of a size to knit the Alpaca yarn from Devon Alpacas. Yes - local pushmepullyous giving up yarn to a local mill that I never knew existed - in Tiverton. It is incredibly soft and very cuddly. Altogether a fab presi.
Thank you muchly, Secret Pal!

A stroll from Budleigh Salterton to Otterton Mill and back.

Have been on third walk with half a dozen mates (mostly from bookclub)- this time to Budleigh Salterton and up alongside the River Otter to Otterton Mill, where we all sat in the sun and had very pleasant lunch and pleasant conversation. New territory for me - never explored this part before. On the way back along the cliff tops, we encountered a herd of young bullocks who were very curious about the herd of humans invading their territory - I had to rescue Tilly who is seen here looking rather worried.
There is a 'hide' along the river where you can Ispy all kinds of sea and estuary birds - today, there were ducks, gulls, egrets and herons...
When we returned to the seaside it was SOOO hot I braved the sea - agonising walking down over those pebbles, very glad friend brought shoes down to shore line to enable rapid escape. The sea was bitterly cold - despite young lad frolicking in the shallows assuring me it got warmer! Everyone else watched my foolhardiness bravery from the comfort of the cafe, and waved (sensible lot).
C & C are organising the next stroll - wonder where it'll be? This was my first walk of any distance on the 'sprained' ankle (which is still swollen) - t'was fine, and I think I'm fit for the South West Coast Path, which my sis and I set off on tomorrow. St Ives here we come!

NEW HAT finished!

I'm really pleased with this "Wellington Hat" from a pattern bought from 'Cabin Fever' - probably go to 'Scotsbookie' who is my 'Not so Secret Pal for the Unconvention - shhhhh! (I'm pretty sure she doesn't explore these remote regions of blogdom).

It's a great pattern for using up scraps of double knitting. Of course this is ALL (including blogging) great diversion from essay writing.

I've frogged the start I'd made to the sleeve of The Baltic sweater for Seth because the pattern hadn't quite worked out as I thought it should.

Favourite word being "Wha...?"

Helen Keller, a deaf and blind writer and lecturer, once said: “Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people”.

Am I ‘hard of hearing’, ‘hearing impaired’, ‘mutton jeff’ or just a little bit deaf with a small D? Certainly not deaf enough to be Deaf, as in Deaf Culture. which I’ve learnt a bit about since acquiring a pair of hearing aids. I've the utmost respect for Deaf people, having experienced just a little of what they have had to endure for all their lives.

It’s been said that a person experiencing hearing loss will not do anything about it for an average of 10 years, it happens so gradually. That loss will be noticed by friends and family much sooner! I've been losing hearing (how careless) since I was 30ish, but didn't really notice until I was mid 30's when I found I was struggling in lectures when I was training to be a midwife. I went to the University Occupational Health Nurse and had my ears syringed but she said they were remarkably clear of wax and of course it made no difference to my hearing problems. It took me a few more years to get around to getting a referral to the audiology department from my GP. Mostly because I couldn’t hear the telly no matter how loud I turned it up. I was REALLY shocked when they said I would benefit from wearing hearing aids. It was a blow to my self image – and everyone knows hearing aids are just so untrendy – ugly, pink, sluglike and yuk. Theyr’e supposed to be flesh tone, but I don’t know anyone who has flesh toned like that. Where are the purple, polkadot, jewel encrusted ones, ay? I’d decorate them with nail varnish but I think I’d be in BIG trouble from the NHS dept. should I need to exchange them.

OK, so why not get those neat 'in the ear' things that can't be seen - I did have one once (bought privately at huge expense) for vanity reasons. Several reasons: 1)It gets blocked up with wax and goes wrong much quicker,
2) the NHS don't do them and 3) it's actually a boon if people see your hearing aids and realise you DO have a hearing problem, not just attention deficit disorder.
Although it's amazing how people don't see such things. I had a tooth abcess couple of weeks back - and the left side of my face swelled to twice its normal size. Interestingly people's eyes would slide away from my very obvious deformity. When I went to the Casualty to try and get some antibiotics, the nurse asked me "What for?"!

I got given one hearing aid for my 40th birthday but not much information - it took a great deal of getting used to. Having a plug of something in your ear feels much like you would imagine – but large vents helped and gradually I adjusted and my brain adapted. Thank god for the internet, where I learnt most of what I wanted to know. I can remember a lot of turning this hearing aid on and off with incredulity – playing ‘now you hear it, now you don’t’ games with myself. I can’t hear crickets without my HAs. I also can’t hear bird songs or telephones from another room, or highpitched alarms. Speech is the worst – expecially children. Everyone sounds like they’re mumbling without my hearing aids in. Now I have 2, which is better for working out where sounds come from, and makes sense when hearing loss is same in each ear. I’ve had them for over 8 years, and wouldn’t be without them. I even forget they’re in. They are not a panacea of all ills, though – I can’t use them with digital phones as they whistle and feedback. And even though these new digital ones from the wonderful NHS have a directional microphone, I still find it difficult to hear what people are saying when there’s any kind of background noise. It would be great to be able to hear properly in the pub. And I'm not brilliant at lip reading, though I hear better in daylight, so I must do a bit. Communicating in noisy environments is tiring and I’m likely to float off into a daydream after missing the joke for the umpteenth time, which doesn’t endear me to people, who think I’m dreamy, aloof, stupid or just antisocial.
Hearing loss is invisible and not something which attracts much sympathy. I get impatient with myself when I have to ask folk to repeat themselves for the second or fifth time. Even DH gives up and says “It doesn’t matter, not important” which is guaranteed to make me furious.
And being mutton jeff does not equate with mental impairment. No.

I've been told my hearing loss is typical of yer average 80yr old - a ski slope line on the audiogram, with normal hearing in the low frequencies and moderate to severe loss of high frequencies. Noone has been able to tell me why I have hearing loss. I reckon it’s because of NOISE. I’ve been to some loud concerts in my time, and I’ve ridden around on motorbikes for a good 15 years (including a couple of weeks on a 400/4 with an exhaust needing replacing). Lots of rock and roll casualties out there… see the rollcall of honour here

Work was OK - though I notice they (the local hospital) don't have loop systems anywhere but in the audiology dept. They also have intercom systems to access buildings which rely completely on hearing! Having a hearing loss hasn't made that much difference apart from having to take my HA out every time I want to use a stethoscope (I've lost at least one HA because of this). I have got into a spot of bother when I've been on call and haven't heard my pager go off, OR the phone (which has a loudspeaker in the bedroom) at night. I rely on DH to be an alarm and wake me up - but he's a sound sleeper too!

I’ll be surprised if people actually bother to read through this self indulgent rambling to the end. But that’s the good thing about blogging, ay?

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.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
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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 :-(