Skip North 2009

And it was all over so quickly ~

I started off a day earlier this year, though, with the usual last minute pack and late arrival at WyeSue's place in Hereford (driving down country lanes in dense fog is not my idea of fun). We began the adventure the next morning, standing on her bed looking at the wildlife in the garden: two wild ducks shagging on the pond. I kid you not. DH reckons that Mrs Duck got off lightly with the mild ducking that she received during the procreative act: apparently if there are more than one suitor, she can drown!

Here is WyeSue trying to load the car - and this is BEFORE we even get there! Yep, she's having yet another destash...

We made good progress and got to Texere about half an hour before it closed. I didn't buy much here, but made notes for a future visit - just a big piece of soft leather which I thought might be good for soles on knitted booties.

Then we headed up to Mankinholes - which is a youth hostel set in beautiful countryside above Hebden Bridge not far off the Calderdale and Pennine Ways and just how I imagined Yorkshire would be.
We were joined by the 'Edinburgh crew' (that's Nat, Isabella, Margarete and Sally with WyeSue in the pic) who had also journeyed down early to visit Texere and here we all are after supper in the dining room, enjoying an early start to Skipnorth examining spoils, drinking wine, knitting (of course)...


Next morning up bright and early to be greeted by mist and the view of Stoodley Pike Monument on the hill behind the YH. After breakfast and clearing up, WyeSue and I decided to hike up to it -not as far as it looks, but a steep climb.

We strolled past brand new lambs as the sun began to warm the air and clear the mist.

The monument is covered in graffiti... How did they do it? I managed to climb up to the first level but the rest defeated me. Nice view, and here I am, modelling my finished Bettna.Quicker coming down than up, and we are greeted by these less than woolly sheep back in Mankinholes.

SkipNorth proper takes place at another youth hostel in Haworth - a far more urban setting, but a beautiful building (used to belong to the local Mill Owner). I led my first ever knitting workshop - with a colour theme - that afternoon and got positive feedback. Several participants had done colour classes with some well known knitters and reckoned my class was superior (head swells). There was a good selection of workshops on offer: dyeing, lace, filet crochet, colour and modular knitting.

And in the evening we spread out into four rooms (including the dining room) and brought out the knitting and spinning, cake and wine... There's nothing quite like getting together with a bunch of likeminded people and knitting. There was a LOT of enabling going on!

This work of art belongs to and is being demonstrated by the Spinning Fishwife - it's a spinning wheel operated by a pendulum. There's more about it on her blog.

Saturday and we pile on two coaches, appropriately labelled 'knit' and 'crochet' - there were double the number of us this year. I was a little apprehensive about the large number of folk but I needn't have worried - everyone was very happy to mingle and the group seemed very inclusive.

First we went to Coldspring Mill - Then we were in the second bus getting lost on the way to Lee Mills. We caused an obstruction on a major highway whilst awaiting directions... Once there we were shown a little selection from the Knitting and Crochet Guild collection - and the display was propped against the banana boxes - what other museum shows you around the warehouse? It doesn't really show the Guild in its best light...And yet, they have some wonderful treasures tucked away: We also visited the Skep - a small knitting shop and this wonderful haberdashers - which hasn't changed its contents since the 1950s I shouldn't wonder.

Later that same day, we celebrated Kiwi Sue's 50th birthday... And I can be found picking up signals from alpha centauri...The final Sunday I took no pictures - I was too busy perusing the treasures at Winghams. As you can see, I managed to contact an alien species the previous night, who accomplished the transplant of several large breasts onto my chest whilst I wasn't looking. Either that, or they're the ones LittleLixie gave me for our Baby Friendly Initiative project... Must give them to the Health Visitor. Breast Feeding Week coming up!

All in all, a bigger and even better SkipNorth than last year thanks to LittleLixie and Nickerjac's fab organisational skills, and I'll go again next year if I'm still around.

What spoils did I bring home with me?:I bought this chunky auracania to knit a jumper from ColdSpring Mill, and those rather lovely knitting needles from the Skep. The couple balls of Noro Shikisai became Ishbel as a present for Bev in thanks for dogsitting. There's some sock yarn from Coldspring there too, and 200g undyed lace weight yarn from the KCG yarn mountain. The knitted thing is flat feet for socks (thanks Nic) ... All lying on that large piece of leather I got from Texere.

Moving on - this is the stash I swopped or acquired over the weekend from other SkipNorthers... Some of it was for The Yarn Yard p/hop charity Medecins Sans Frontieres UK - and I've made a donation to the cause (see widget in side bar to watch the astonishing progress toward £2000 - better still donate - tiz an excellent cause)

A lot from the following pic came from Winghams - and some bits are a present for a Ravelry swop 'focus on Handspun'. There's also some dyes, buttons from the haberdashers, and books from the KCG.Finally, fleece! That grey ball is North Ronaldsay sheep fleece and was a present from Isabella and is already spun up and awaiting knitting. It's wonderfully soft. The green brown fleece is from Wye Sue's destashing. There's some scottish llama top left corner and next to that is undyed BFL. I also bought 100g of yak/silk which is so amazingly soft it feels like bunny. And I nearly forgot - that's Spunky Eclectic (aka Abby's yarns) batt in there too - looking pink/brown which I got from Margarete (TA!). It's very soft and shiny with hints of red in it, and seems to have all sorts of natural fibre from alpaca to silk thrown in. My batts look nothing like this! I've already spun that one up too.There are some little carders down the front from Winghams which have turned out to be just the thing for flick carding the shetland fleece I bought at Wonderwool last year.

Here's what I've been doing with that baby carder - I've been trying to spin the shetland as fine as I can to knit a shetland lace square for this year's Weaver's, Spinner's, Dyer's, Guild shetland challenge. That's my wee Golding spindle which is just right for spinning fine.

All in all, I had a fabulous time and it was so good to meet up with old friends and make new.

Gill sent this to WyeSue and I sent it to Jen and Sandra and Myrtle and, well, enjoy:



It ain't all what it seems (thank Photoshop or summat similar) but it's still very clever.

I've just come back from skipnorth and didn't we have a loverly time - must unpack car now. Will upload pics of stash accumulation later...

And LET there be MOOSIC!

I've just added a playlist to my blog and had great fun choosing favourite tracks that I don't mind playing again and again as I waste spend time on the net. Just like Desert Island Discs.
My other half commented, "Who's that old hippy listening to music in the computer room?"
Thanks to Linda, as I spotted playlist on her blog. I'm her swap partner on Ravelry with a 'focus on handspun', though we've got very different tastes in music, methinks.

Blogging without Obligation...

I was glancing at MsHanane's blog - a knitting blog conversation between two friends, one Jewish, the other Muslim, which is interesting enough in itself, when I noticed this link in the margin. What a great idea. The following is shamelessly copied:

Blogging without obligation
~because you shouldn't have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.
~because it's okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.
~because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.
~because sometimes less is more.
~because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.
~because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone. (nor are folk at work likely to remember you after you're gone - tiz friends and family wot count).
~because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be "bloggable".
~because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won't be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. . .
f you feel the same way feel please free to grab the logo, make a logo or whatever you would like to do.

Welcome to the Letter S (I feel like I should be on sesame street)

On Aknita's knits I Spotted this meme with a letter theme. Interesting I thought, so I followed the trail to Soctopus and asked Missmalice for a letter - she gave me the letter S. Easy peasy lemon squeasy Methinks. Does Alice know that I'm married to an S, have a son S AND a dog S? (not to mention spinning, spinning and more spinning and sheep).

The idea is that you ask in the comments for a letter and one is sent to you at random. You then blog about ten things you love beginning with that letter.

Here we go then:

1) I'm married to a Steve. This is a rather old picture of he, before the front room got painted (it takes us a long time to decorate). He does not like his picture being taken. He is loyal, funny, kind, patient, an excellent cook, much better at tidying up than me, and a good friend. We've been married 26 years this July and lived together for a good long time before that... (and if I don't get off the computer soon, we may not be together much longer!).

2) The dog who is lying at the foot of the armchair is Tilly. This (you may have noticed) does NOT start with an S. BUT she is the mother of Sydney. Therefore Sydney is her Son (that's two 'S' for the price of one. Sydney was born (with his 8 littermates) during the Oz Olympics. Sydney - geddit?

Here he is waiting for a stick, with Tom the collie waiting to beat him to it. Syd prefers brightly coloured toys that squeak to sticks, usually. So that's Stick and Squeaky toys too (two more S that is)

Here he is having his ears played with (which he adores) and a Sneaky pic of one of my latest FOs - mazzmatazz's ocimum gloves from the Guardian knitting extra a few months back (remember that?) knitted up in my handspun.

3) I also have a Son called Seth. That's two more S. Seth is a great galumphing bear of man (6'4 and size 14 feet) and he gives great hugs. He has inherited his Dad's sense of humour (warped) and is also a great cook and raconteur as well as being a sensitive sausage. He is very people centred and popular. Unfortunately he has inherited my housekeeping abilities. I love both of my men.

4) My Sister is not an S but she is my Sis. Jane is three years younger than me, and fitter, and taller and more intelligent and slimmer. But I love her despite all these things. She teaches Science in a girl's school in Eire. Have I a picture of Jane?

Yep, here's one of her talking to a local yokel down in Cornwall, when we walked 80 miles of the SWCoast Path together, three years ago...

5) I love Spring and Strolling through the lanes around here, with the Sun shining and the snowdrops in abundance. (How many S in there?). Haven't taken any pics of the snowdrops so you'll have to take my word for it! I'm so lucky to live in Dartmoor National Park. This picture was taken on my walk across the moors to Postbridge - to the Hollowing Weekend back in January.

6)I also enjoy Solitude and Solo walking.

You CAN see me in this picture of a viaduct on the West Devon Pathway - I'm the little shadow in the gap in the wall at the top of the viaduct shadow. walked from Tavistock to Plymouth over a couple of days and camped out wild with the dogs - great fun.

7) Spinning, Sheep, Spinning Wheel, drop Spindles...

I'm obsessed, what can I say? I have a golding and an ashford spindle (the one chewed by Jack Russell and which still spins great), and a couple of others too. I also have my lovely, my preciousSS. my Lendrum spinning wheel (which I haven't photographed yet?!)

- but here's what she looks like (pic of distant relative). I've been spinning about 18 months now, and it has always felt like coming home. 8) S is for Skip North and Stash Expedition (SEX) Extraordinaire:

The weekend of 20th March over 40 of us will meet up in Haworth Youth Hostel to Spin and Knit in Public and be whisked around the LYS of Yorkshire, not forgetting the KCG collection and yarn mountain at Lee Mills.

The youth hostel itself is amazing - this stained glass window looks over the master staircase (and I love Stained glass too) - the building used to be owned by the mill owners and has gone through several incarnations before YHA took it on.Here we all are in the front room last year, cooing over stash and knitting, crocheting, knattering... I'm starting to feel the excitement building now. Love it, love it.

9) S is for a sweet tooth I possess, the stodge (think Stew and dumplings for example) I enjoy and the slim waist I long for - the two (three?) being mutually exclusive.

10) and finally a Sigh. The sigh I make when frogging. I have STARTITIS and have upped my WIPs the last week or so... One of my projects on the go is Apres Surf Hoodie by Connie Chang Chincio. She is lovely person btw - We're having a ravelry kal of this hoodie and Connie regularly drops by to offer encouragement. I'm making this hoodie into a cardigan in drops alpaca (I love the colour) - It took me a couple of starts on the lace before I finally could read it - the force is with me now and I'm on my fourth repeat with no (noticeable) mistakes. I'm making the fronts and back all in one to the armholes - that's a very long row to frog!

I also have mimbres vest to finish off (THAT involved steeking - another 'S' but not a love I guess); french beret started to use up some handspun; scarf in touch yarns laceweight boucle to finish off; couple of my own designs to finish; felted clog booties to knit for brother in law;socks to complete. Sigh again. The list goes on.

I was going to discuss Somnambulism but I think this post has gone on and on enough already.

This has been good fun and thanks to Aknita and MissMAlice at Soctupus.

If anyone else would like a random letter to blog on, please do ask and I'll pick one out of the Jacob hat for you.

Bit obvious, but so truuuue!

Thanks for all your kind comments on bigbadwolf and gloves. I'm going to take Rosie's comment and put it in the 'Winter Book' that I'm putting together after the Hollowing weekend - it's so appropriate. TA!

I've a touch of startitis again: lots of beginning projects. Will have to get the camera batteries charged.

SKIP NORTH coming up soon. I'm so excited! Its my second time going AND I'm running a workshop this year - all you that signed up for it - you FOOLS you!

Big Bad Wolf...

Haven't done any painting in a while, but saw an interesting technique for watercolour described by Linda Kemp in a book called

Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines a positive approach to negative painting
and thought I'd have a go yesterday. Was supposed to be off with the canoe club in Wales, but I pulled out because of snow so it was fun to do this instead... It's only 8"x6"approx so not big. I love the serendipity of watercolours. Only used two colours: chinese orange and indigo for the trees. Then thought the painting needed a focal point so had to put Little Red Riding Hood in with a dash of cadmium red. Where is the Big Bad Wolf?

Just a quickie flit in and out - I haven't abandoned you, dear blog...

Lookee what I finished, FINALLY! I've had a bad case of second glove syndrome and just had two fingers (was I trying to give myself a message here?) and one thumb to complete on Karen's KAL gloves. So they sat around for an entire year in hibernation. The middle finger of the right glove has 'tb 07' on it. Yup, I started them in 2007! This situation could not be allowed to go on.

It only took a couple of evenings to finish and sew in the ends. So, what took me so long?

Also, I bought a drum carder, second hand today. I haven't yet collected it from a farm near Crediton as the roads have been a tad treacherous, but it's a David Barnett carder and cost £150 - is this a bargain? Saved £50 on an Ashford carder anyway. And then I can tackle all that fleece I've got sitting about.

I had a go at arty farty spinning last year - I spun some uncarded handdyed mohair (bought from Maylin at Wonderwool Wales last year) very loosely and chunkily and then plyed it with some silk thread. This needed knitting into something. I put it with some homespun Jacob fleece and made a moebius cowl a la Cat Bordhi (very loosely following her free pattern). I ran out of yarn before I finished it but used up some scraps of colinette from stash. I'm pleased with the result and it was just in time to keep my neck warm in the (paltry amount of) snow we've had. O dear: look at that saggy chin. Age strikes, everything is on the way DOWN!

Bob's House

I did BSL level 1 several years ago, which is the equivalent of how to get by on holiday in Deaf world, eg "Hi, what's your name?" and "where's the loo?". I started level 2, but you really have to be part of Deaf (with a capital D) culture to get anywhere - like learning any foreign language - and, despite crap hearing, I'm very much part of the hearing world. But anyway, I think this ad is great.

How ironic is it, then, that Pepsi's other ads during the American Superbowl didn't have subtitles? Bit of a mixed message there, methinks.

Above and Below the Waves

Alison Murray is an amazingly imaginative, talented knitter with oodles of energy and ideas and she just happens to live in my home county of Devon, and it's been a privilege to meet her (and her mother Ann Murray who is also a great knit). Alison's day job has been working as a chaperone for young people, children and sometimes even babies in the music, arts and media world for the past 15 years. This involves residential work all over the country and abroad working with TV, film and theatre companies.

When she's not doing that, she works as a a textile designer and has knitted items on commission including a full English Breakfast. Alison also make installations for theme parks in the South-west, ranging from life-size polar bears for a Christmas grotto to Elvis Presley aliens and a cloning machine for a science-fiction ride (none of these were knitted).
Over the last few years she has been the driving force and brain behind two enormous community projects, encouraging and inspiring everyone to take part. This includes her family, with mum Ann, brother John Murray and uncle John Garrod all lending a hand. A 60feet high Christmas tree and a giant gingerbread house have raised over £20,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Alison loves to paint and read and relax at her home here in Devon when not rushing around the country. Her favourite colour is green, and she loves chocolate eclairs and all things ginger.

"I want to show people that knitting is not something that granny does," she said.

If you'd like to join in her latest project then read on...

"Dear Nautical Nutty Knitters,
Thank you for your interest and support in our latest adventure in all things watery. The theme is “Above and Below the Waves” and it will be our most ambitious project so far.
We are hoping to construct a tunnel that will make it possible to walk under the sea, while above there will be rocks, a lighthouse, boats, beach etc. As this is more complex project we are still working on the technical details and because of this the completion will be in 2010.
However, we can start knitting and crocheting now, and the following patterns are a rough guide to what we may need. As before there are simple patterns for rectangles and SQUARES, fish and coral, but feel free to improvise and make shells, starfish, seaweed etc.
Because of the theme we are aiming to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The project is already booked for a national tour in 2010-2011 and we will keep you posted.
We are also aiming to produce another book, as we did with the Knitted Gingerbread House. This will be called ‘Fishy Tales’ so we would love to receive any of your recipes or stories connected with the sea.

The following patterns are just a guide to get you started. Feel free to make whatever you feel inspired to do: Starfish, jellyfish, Seaweed, Crabs, Shells etc.
Please send all knitted items (or contributions to the fishy book) to
Alison Murray, “High Rising”, Northdown Road, Bideford, N Devon EX39 3LP

Patterns, September 2008

Rectangles

8” wide x 20” long,All shades of blue, white, grey, black, turquoise, sand or brown.

Fish

Make 2 pieces the same:
Knitting needles – 1 pair 3.25mm (UK10, USA3)

using A (main colour), cast on 13 stitches.

1st row (Right side): knit

2nd row: P1, *K1, P1 rpt from * to end

These two rows form pattern.

Keeping pattern correct dec 1 st at each end of next and following 2 alt. rows. 7 st remain.

Work 1 row.

Keeping pattern correct, and working in stripes of 2 rows in B (contrast colour) and 2 rows of A, inc 1 st at each end of next and every alt row until there are 17 st.

Work 5 rows straight, thus ending with 2 rows in B.

Keeping stripes correct dec 1 st at each end of next and following alt row. 13 st remain.

Work 1 row. Break off B and using A only continue to dec. 1 st at each end of next and every alt row until 5 st remain. Cast off.

To make up:
Using black, embroider an eye on each piece. Sew the two pieces together leaving a small opening. Stuff firmly and close opening.

The fish can be plain as well as striped. Size can be altered by using larger needles and thicker yarn.

Crochet Coral

Foundation ring: using double knitting wool and a 4.00mm crochet hook make 5 ch.ss into last chain to form a ring.
Round 1: 3 ch (counts as first tr) 14 trs into ring.

Round 2:3 ch (counts as first tr) 2 trs into next st, (3 tr into next stitch to end) ss into top of 3rd chain.

Round 3: as round 2. Fasten off.

To make a larger size repeat round 2 as many times as required.

(I'm not a crocheter so I'm hoping I transcribed that last pattern correctly).

Ravelry taught me something new today. I learned that 'colour dominance' in fair isle and stranded knitting can have an effect on the finished garment... Although I generally knit with both colours held in my right hand and usually carry one consistently below the other, I'm not at all consistent about it (just as I'm not that consistent about anything in my life!) - it can be a little haphazard. What I didn't know is that it can show up in the finished product.

See this linky here for the details. Fascinating, Mr Spock. I love Ravelry.

I have a hankering to knit clapotis. I can FEEL a Stash EXpedition coming on. Roll on SKIPNORTH! I also learned today that the SKIP in Skipnorth stands for Spinning and Knitting in Public. And I didn't even realise it was an acronym.

Bosnian Slipper Socks...

I'm giving the old bod a holiday after the holiday overindulgences...

With moral support from my ds, am following a vegan, wheat-free, alcohol-free diet for January... and have yet to shake off this stinking headcold. Haven't particularly missed anything yet, even chocolate. Must have really over indulged at Christmas.

Now I'm off to tempt myself at the pub- parentcraft reunion!

(mind you, have been invited around to friends' for supper on Saturday, and I promised to make profiteroles for dessert - ho hum).

Back home, finally, and seven couples turned out into the cold, with their babies. Noone wanted to go home! I love seeing nervous mums with bumps metamorphose into confident mums with babes.

One particular couple I cared for antenatally had come over from Bosnia where they are involved with community voluntary work, to have their baby here. Being the avid knitter that I am (really? Yes really!) I commented on the mum to be's beautiful handknitted slipper-bootees. So I was really chuffed when they presented me with a pair of Bosnian handknitted slippers tonight, as a gift.
These are different from the booties I'd admired, but still fascinating - I've been trying to work out how they're constructed - I'm even tempted to pull one apart and reknit it! They appear to be knitted in segments with the sole going a different direction to the instep/top. The cuff is definitely knitted last, in the round. The heel appears to be a standard dutch heel, but with really long gussets. This is they:
Whatcha think? Any ideas?

BOOKS

Think I did this meme, or one similar, last year. But having spotted it twice now, once on Helen's blog and again on Spinning Fishwife's blog this will cover todays blog nicely.

This meme is originally from the Big Read. Apparently they reckon most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. (!?)

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Post your list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

1.Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible Well, some of it.
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare.
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (well, most of it - I tossed it aside when she threw herself under a train because I couldn't bear to read on)
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres (started it, never finished)
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (on mount toobie!)
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

My favourite read of last year was "I know this much is true" by Wally Lamb. covers everything, war, peace, relationships, politics, religion, therapy, you name it, it's in there! Now I'm waiting for his new book to come out in paperback.

SICK NOTE

I wasn't called out last night, which was just as well, as I spent the night tossing in bed with aching limbs, streaming nose and sore throat. I stayed in bed with a book (Affinity by Sarah Waters) all day and didn't knit a stitch. I'm sure it's just a bad cold and not a dose of the virulent bronchitis/flu that's doing the rounds.

I got a letter from Carolyn Hillyer about an interesting weekend jaunt I'm signed up for, coming up at the end of January: "The Hollowing" a special all womens' retreat up on highest Dartmoor.

Sister Moon comes but unseen, time dissolving through her eyes,lonely witness to what has been as the circle road moves on…

Within the silent stillness of the hollowing woman, caught in the marrow of ancient bones and far inside the cauldron of crows, rests one seed that holds the key to the restoration of life. So we create a journey of germination and renewal as we pause before the last out-breath of winter, held at a turning point within the protecting hands of the oldest guardian, and guided by the visions that wait behind our eyes. A time for mending, dreaming, tending fires and travelling gently, supported within the circle of women and nurtured by the ancient land.

I've been told to bring the following items:

• A piece of yarn approximately 3 metres in length, that I have filled with the energy of my journey and my land between now and the gathering - washed by rain, blown by the wind (frozen solid if the weather continues like it is!) lain at my hearth, worn around my belly.


• A small simple gift that I've made, (out of wool, bones, something from nature) to carry and offer when we make a ceremony of remembering fire.


• A few words to share with the circle on our first night to describe my winter journey so far.


• A personal totem, piece of nature or item of significance to me, to represent me on the central shrine for the duration of the weekend.


• Since I can expect to spend some time in the roundhouse (an amazing building built as our ancestors must have done, by Carolyn and her partner Nigel - that's Carolyn in the entrance in the picture above) I must bring wellies and shawls and blankets to wrap up in and drums and rattles and torches to keep the night at bay.


• Women who came to the first workshop (I didn't) should bring their spindles and death totems (which sounds rather alarming!?)

The yarn and small gift and spindles are no trouble - but words to share? Death totems? What have I let myself in for?

STASH BUSTING FAIR ISLE TAMS in aran weight yarn.

Just a quickie (not that this daily blogging lark is becoming a chore yet, oh no!) - as I'm on call tonight and I should be in bed.

I sold a hat today, for £15. I was knitting a third tam down the pub (at our midwives' christmas do, as one does) and the landlady ooohed and ahhed over it. Quick as you like, Nigel, the landlord, nipped over and asked me if I would knit one for remuneration. Not normally, says I, as you wouldn't want to pay what I'd ask, but I might make an exception. So the deal was done and Fiona got the hat.

These are they - a quick, stashbusting, aran knit - see those long, colour changes that noro is so excellent for! And the pattern is a free download from GrammaK on Ravelry, to be found at Gramma K's Fair Isle Tam by Kathleen Taylor

This is the first one I did (front and back): it was rather large, so I knit the second one with one less repeat of the pattern and a bit of bodging. This first one went as a birthday present to Carolyn.

Here is the lovely Kate (a new and so young midwife who has just joined our Team and wun my hat fair and square in our annual 'reveal or steal' christmas party game) modelling tam number two.

And this is the last hat, with the same number of repeats which went to Fiona the landlady...

Today was the first meetup of the East Dartmoor Tea Shop Knitters in the Terrace Cafe, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey. There were 15 of us! Going clockwise from me there was Emily, Mary, Chris, Jane, Jill, Thelma, Vicky, Jae, Yvonne, Kathryn, Christine, Kim, Hanneka, Trudy and me. We grow.

I took my Mimbres Vest along, as I'm up to the neckshaping, and the time approacheth when I will soon have to advance upon it with a pair of scissors. EEk. Yes, my first ever STEEKS.

I was originally going to knit this pattern for the Ravelympics. I'm glad I didn't, as I never would have finished it in such a short time. And after I've gritted my teeth and cut the steeks the pattern calls for a double row of icord edging. Another first!

The Mimbres pattern is fascinating, and is by Meg Swansen (daughter of Elizabeth Zimmermann) from her book 'Knitting'. She tells this story about it:

She and her husband Chris were headed South West from their home in Wisconsin to Sedona, Arizona, to film a 'knitting vacation video' (part of a series). Meg had in mind a vibrant patterned vest in red and cream colours to match the sand and red rocks she remembered from previous trips to Sedona. They flew to Phoenix, hired a car and headed north. As they climbed into the mountains, a gentle snow fall rapidly became a blizzard and they reluctantly turned back and headed south instead, to end up filming in Saguaro county.

The design she had doodled on graph paper was inspired by a small drawing she had seen on a South Western Calender - the main crisscross had a hiccup in the middle and this appealed to her. Starting from this X, she charted outward, diagonally, in four directions. When she reached the edge, she mirror imaged the pattern in all directions. Soon she had lost sight of the original pattern, like victorian bedspreads, or ceramic tiles which form a new pattern from the union of the smaller ones.

You can see the results in the picture.

By now, the couple had reached New Mexico and decided on a whim to visit the Luna County Museum. In the Mimbres Room, she was stunned to see 'her' design painted in the centre of a small bowl. Most of the other bowls in the room were painted in black paint on a sand coloured background - this one was painted in red on a sandcolour. Spooky ay?

Nearly all the other bowls in this room had holes punched in the middle of the bottom - perhaps to release the souls of the potters who had made them and with whom they had been buried - Meg was told later that the bowl without the hole, the one she was knitting, was 'her' bowl and that its spirit had not been released at her death and that was why she was knitting it.

Anyway, my Mimbres vest is much more subtle :-)

I had the grey garn studio yarn left over from the failed Astrid's Knitalong that I dropped out of last year, which I wanted to use up (very prosaic compared to Meg!). I've been fascinated by the randomness of using long colour change dyed wool like noro to get fairisle effects, so I wanted to try it out again with this pattern. The tone in the noro is so similar in places that the pattern almost disappears - but not quite. I like the effect.

I'll take some more photos when after I've machine sewed the steeks and I'm ready to cut.

Wasn't called out but had a lazy day with few visits...

At one of the postnatal visits I was astounded by the completely illogical advice given to the mum on her discharge from the hospital: she was advised to 'keep the baby indoors for 48 hours as she's small and it's cold outside". Reasonable enough, you might think, as baby Alex was only 2490grams, born at 37 weeks gestation, and it certainly is frosty cold today. But hold on there one cotton pickin' moment, just how exactly is this baby to be taken home if she shouldn't be taken outside?

And then, because the ward was busy and the mum didn't want to stay in a moment longer than she had to, she was asked to bring the baby back to the hospital the following day for the paediatric check. Let me see now, that's THREE trips outdoors into the cold. You get my gist?

AND I'm qualified to do the paediatric check...

But I had a very gratifying visit to another postnatal mother later on. I'd been to see her in the morning: 10 days postnatal and she's still expressing milk to give her baby with a bottle because she says baby Grace won't latch on, cries, refuses the breast when she tries to feed her directly. This mum burst into tears during my visit because she's so frustrated and tired - well, she would be, with twice the work of feeding the baby - all the sterilising and pumping as well as sitting down to actually give a bottle. Only once had the baby latched on since she'd brought her home, and that was when my colleague had assisted, so mum was very lacking in confidence and it's a well known fact that a baby's cry is designed to jangle every nerve in the body.

Since the baby was asleep during my visit I promised I would return this evening when Gracie woke up ready to feed. I was summonsed at 16.30hrs and hot foot round to her house: "Ok", says I, "show me what happens". So she gets her baby, positions her beautifully, and on she goes! HA! Sometimes this job is just so good. We laughed at Grace's contrariness and I congratulate mum on her breastfeeding prowess. Job well done and off I go.

And so to the second post of 2009, and I'm on call 'till tomorrow morning so I'll keep it brief.

One of the myriad resolutions I want to keep this year is to get fit and trim - I am furiously envious of my little sister who has had the audacity to get down to a size 10, the smallest and trimmest she has been in over 20 years... She's in love (which might have something to do with her fabulous new figure) but I think mebbe it's more to do with the mountain biking she's been participating in religiously, at least every Sunday.

Soooo, I've dusted off the old running shoes, and I'm eyeing me old bicycle (a hybrid with a verrrry painful saddle!) in the shed with trepidation.

With this new, trim, fit 'me' in mind, I went back to hashing last Tuesday - walk, run, walk, get hopelessly lost, find way again and arrive FIRST back to the pub because I missed the regroup(now THAT'S more like it!) - in the 'words'* I read the following:

Answers to last week's riddles:

1. Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.

This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3.Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the dorr.

This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions. (sic)

4. The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.

Now, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

worldwide, around 90% of professionals they tested got all the answers wrong, but many pre-schoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four year old.

Now I found the above all the more interesting because I didn't go hashing the previous week, and I boggled trying to think up the questions. I've since seen them (try googling 'giraffe, elephant and refrigerator' and it'll come up) and my guesses were far more fun. The repetition for answers 2 and 3 were mistakes. The repetition for answers 2 and 3 were mistakes.

The hasher who scribed them was, with no doubt at all, under the influence of something whacky.

*The 'words' are the single sheet of diary (a usually fictitious account of the previous week's hash by a reluctant scribe who agreed to write it up whilst under the influence) and events listing that Ashburton Hash House Harriers distribute every week.

Six minutes into the 2nd of January and I have technically failed in my new year's resolution to blog every day. Whoever guesses Zero days gets the prize!

What of 2008? A knitterly round up:

It started in January with the extreme knitterliness got off to a great start with a trip to ‘Get Knitted’ in Bristol – about 36 of us knitters converged on this converted supermarket in Brislington (on the Bath road) for tea and cake and much knitting and spinning and general chat…
And that set the tone for the rest of the year.
At the beginning of March I set out for Yorkshire by way of Hereford and WyeSue's to ‘Skip North’, joining 18 other knitters and crocheters at Haworth Youth Hostel (once a Mill Owner’s beautiful mansion) to spin and knit and chat and eat cake and drink wine. Lixie and Nikerjac (erstwhile organisers) hired a coach so we could visit Winghams and the yarn mountain at Lee Mills amongst other such fabulous places of no interest to anyone but another fibre enthusiast, and a wonderful time was had. I donned white gloves to examine the collection of 18th century reticules and even older lace shawls…

May heralded Wonderwool: a trip up to Builth Wells to attend the fibre show at the Wales National Centre And the Welsh food festival on at the same time. Yum.

In June I ran the Knitting and Crochet Guild Stand at the Contemporary Craft Show in Bovey Tracey: Imogen brought along her Victorian sock knitting machine and proceeded to knit the longest sock ever: it stretched from the entrance to the main marquee… Sue had her knickers on display. That’s a handknitted silk thong, a fancy lace 1940’s set of briefs and a 1950s style pair of sensible school knickers – not the one’s she was wearing.

IN July came the Knitting and Crochet Guild AGM in Winchester where I was duly elected a member of the board of Directors. Hmm, what HAVE I let myself in for?
The AGM involved MORE knitting, eating of cake, drinking of wine, and invariably much tinking (knitting backwards) as wine and complicated patterns do not go. There was a fascinating slide show of Montse Stanley’s collection, now housed at Winchester University library, and another talk by a woman who knits articles for war re-enactments from the original patterns. Who’d have thought that soldiers from the First World War were so SMALL?

IN August I participated in the Ravelry knitting Olympics. I opted out of watching the Real ones because of 1) our lack of a telly and 2) in protest of the continuing presence of the Chinese in Tibet.
I was sidetracked somewhat from finishing my ravelry project (I reduced my ambitions from knitting a steeked waistcoat to knitting a moebius cowl from my handspun instead) by applying for a new job – which I didn’t get. There was a strange mix of relief and disappointment at this, though I acquitted myself well at the interview apparently (my first in 18years!) I did manage to finish the cowl in good time. My sister nicked it a couple of days ago.

August also saw me participating in a natural dyeing workshop on a wonderfully sunny day at Joyce (humble proprieter of SpinAyarn)'s beautiful, traditional thatched farm near Manaton. The kitchen window looks out on Bowerman's nose, and several pet sheep, goats and a pig.

The workshop wasn't as hands on as I would have wished but the results produced by the various dyepots were truly stunning.

September brought Iknit London, and the yarnharlot as well as Jane Sowerby. Couldn't hear either of them (being deaf is a major pia) but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the visuals, and meeting up with so many of the online knitting world.

October was Knitting Week and started with Ally Pally (my first time ever at this amazing show). I was working for Touch Yarns - helping Marnie sell her colourful merino yarns - I learned more about possums than I ever thought possible over the three days I was there. We were so busy I hardly got any time to spend any money.

I also had the quote of the year from Kim Thittichai:

"Where have you BEEN that you don't know you can't paint on Wundawebb???!" - needless to say, I was gobsmacked and bought the book.
I was knackered when I returned from the festival, but no rest for the wicked coz our East Dartmoor Tea Shop Knitters Group had a KTOG (the second) the very next weekend. Over 120 fibre enthusiasts managed to find the Scout Hall, (including Sandra all the way down from the smoke and Jen up from Cornwall). We raised enough to pay our workshop organisers some petrol money and send £66 to Bliss, and £20 to the UK knitting and crochet Guild And put back £50 for next year.
(If we do it again).

In and between all these knitting events I have attended regular East Dartmoor Tea Shop meetings, which have now grown to become weekly events: WE meet the first Sunday in Bovey Terrace Café, the 2nd in Café Green Ginger, the 3rd in the Walled Garden. Dunsford and the 4th in Exeter Boston Tea Party. The 5th (if there is one) we have OFF. Then on alternate Tuesdays there is the Packhorse Knitters in South Brent (though I’m slowly sneaking back to hashing) and monthly there are two groups in Spin-a-yarn.
I haven’t even mentioned the Spinning group in Tedburn and the Devon Guild of weavers, dyers, spinners in Exeter on the first Saturday of every month.

Lots of FOs: Bettna, Rogue, moebius Prickle, baby hats and bootees galore...

I finally put one design for a hat out there, for free, and have been gratified that someone, somewhere has downloaded it from Ravelry just about every day since it was uploaded.
Speaking of which - Ravelry! Ah, Ravelry. What can I say about Ravelry?

I am obsessed. Just a little.

And THIS year I’m booked up for a knitting cruise round the Baltic Ocean – From Rotterdam to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, St Petersburg, Germany and back to Copenhagen (via the knitting centres of Northern Europe!). Roll on August I say.

*

Many Happy New Years to all of you!