Short Row Shaping

Last night, after packing I knitted my first short row shaping sock heel. I felt rather proud of myself afterward. I took this photo of it this morning with my camera phone (I already packed my proper camera). I much prefer the look of it to the traditional heel flap. I am supposed to be making these socks for someone else but I want to keep them now.

We're off on holiday to Sicily tomorrow, for 8 days. I'll see you all in a literal or virtual sense when I get back.

The Forth's New Rules

Finished Poncho

I finally got my arse into gear and finished it. It took a while because I was making up the pattern and I wasn't feeling overly confident but I think it turned out ok.

I also started some new socks. I was missing not having and socks on the go, which I suppose means I've been sucked into sock knitting good and proper. I never thought it would happen to me. They colours look warmer in the flesh than they do in the photo. I have yet to decide who they will belong to.

Leicester Air Show

OK, the title is a bit of an exaggeration. I was walking back across the park at lunchtime to see a helicopter landing in front of me. It turned out to be an air ambulance. Natalie and I ended up getting our lunches and sitting on the park waiting to see if it would take off again. After some time an ambulance came and took away the patient that was inside. Then the crew sat and ate there lunch, waiting for their colleague to come back from the hospital. It proved to be of great interest to the graduates walking back from their ceremony. They kept stopping and having their pictures taken. They also let a few passing children sit in the cockpit.

We waited for ages for it to take off again, but eventually came back to work. We did hear it taking off a few moments ago, but I failed to get a picture of it (damn the complicated phone keylock).

People who've worked here a while say that this happens all the time and it's old hat, but I've been here 4 years and never seen it before.
For more see Google.

Move over Delia Smith

I made a quiche last night for the first time in years (I think since I was at school). It ended up being a bit traumatic. I hadn't quite remembered properly how pastry behaves, and ended up patching the crust. I obviously didn't do it that well because the eggy mixture leaked all over the place. Here is it in the oven.



It somehow still managed to turn out OK. It even tasted good. I think I have learned some valuable lessons for next time.

Lost Innocence

Last night I lost my circular needle cherry. I started doing some edging on the neck edge of the ponch. I can't say that I'm converted, but it wasn't as hard as I expected. Getting used to dpns took me months.



I didn't spend that much time on the poncho as I finally got round to doing some sewing. When I got the machine out I realised the flatbed part was missing. I'm hoping it's still at home somewhere and not laying in a gutter somewhere in Newcastle/Leicester. I still managed to do the most pressing sewing jobs. Just need to do some hand stitching to finish them off. Hopefully I'll get round to that next week.

I also took a photo of the fluff. I actually detest this stuff and had previously vowed never to touch it, but needs must. It is very girly.

FAO anyone who has been encouraging me to take the pledge (to not buy any more yarn till WoolFest2007). I have been avoiding doing so because I am going to Scicily in 8 days time and I'd like to be able to purchase some knitting souveniers while I am there. Plus I also have a list of things which I would like to make for Christmas and not all of them can be made from WoolFest purchases. I intend to keep some of my more special WoolFest items until inspiration stikes. But, to stop myself from making any unnecesary yarn purchases I sat down and made two lists. One of everything I have in my stash (not including acrylics and random ends of balls) and one of everything I want to knit in the next few months. The 'what I want to knit' list is actually quite scary, but I like to have a plan. It's not like anything bad is going to happen if I don't get everything finished on time. There are some things on their which just involve mindless kniting, but I'm looking forward to most of it. It makes the thought of dark Autumn nights more appealing.

Found these in the Union

They didn't do much for the coughing but they made me laugh.

I like that the dog photo is their registered trademark.

Hannah Needs...

According to Google "Hannah needs":

"...a New Name." - I disagree

"...adoptive parents" - I think I'm doing OK by myself

"...to go back home" - I agree with that

"...a Job" - I really do

"...your support!!!!!!!!!!!" - always

"...to use more than skills to escape the trap." - What trap? Is there something I don't know?

"...a home ­ and a good daily walk". - I get all fractious if I don't get my daily walk.

"...a little sister from China!" - hmmm...

"...to go into the tunnel and face the prisoner" - I'm scared.

Sleepy

I am so sleepy this morning. I haven't been sleeping that well recently. Got up at about 7 am this morning after laying awake for a while. Decided to read for a bit and the next thing I knew the phone was ringing, it was 8.50 am. It was my friend Jonny calling to see if I wanted to walk in to work with him. This means I must have slept through 15 minutes of Radio 1, from my radio alarm, with the light on. Needless to say I didn't walk with him but ended up being quite late (not that anyone cares here). I still feel really sleepy. A couple of times I caught myself walking along with my eyes shut. I did see this little fella. I took a picture so it definitely wasn't a dream. I know caterpillars like to eat lettuces, but I really like them and I'm willing to forgive them that (as long as they leave some for me).

Breathless

There is nothing quite like the panic of not being able to breathe, well for me anyway. Coughing and coughing till my stomach is churned up and I can't talk any more. Getting panicy only makes it worse. The trick is to stay calm and try to breathe normally through my nose. Last night was a bad night.

This time of the year is the worst breathing time for me. So much stuff to be allergic to. Lots of different types of pollen and trapped pollution all at once. If you add to that the dust from a thorough moving-things-clean of the house and and a bottle of red wine (red wine contains lots of histamines from the grape skins apparently) then you a recipe for lungs full of mucus and a sleepless night of coughing. At least it means I am not wasting Sunday by sleeping through it.

I could avoid all this if I breathed through my nose religiously, but it's impossible to talk and not take breaths through the mouth. I refuse to spend my life mute and avoiding doing things so I guess I'm stuck with it. Though I am seriously considering buying a mask that blocks out the dust for next time I clean the house.

I was going to spend today finishing the house cleaning (kitchen and spare room) and doing maching sewing that has been neglected, before getting the train to Leicester at 4pm. However, Graeme's flight to Prague, which should have been at 9am was cancelled and hour ago. Now I'm going to have to drive him the East Midlands. Lucky that's on my way to Leicester. I think that sewing is destined not to be done.

Penance

I have been a very bad girl. I went to John Lewis yesterday to buy the extra yarn I needed to finish my rufflette cardigan. There was a bin full of half price yarn, and even though I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more yarn until I'd used up what I got at WoolFest I ended up with this. Bad Han!

As penance I am cleaning the house. Really really must not buy any more!!!!!

Bored

I've been quite bored for the past 24 hours. It was very hot yesterday (for Newcastle) so I decided to block the rufflette body while there was a chance it might dry in a day. Also I wanted to see what it looked like before spending more time and effort finishing it off. I hadn't been overly impressed with it when I finished knitting the body. Graeme and I aren't really alcoholics. We just often forget to put out our recycling box (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

I also wound this massive 435g skein of wool into a ball and tried knitting a bit of it to see what it looked like. I quite like the look of it. I originally bought it because I thought the colours looked manly. I want to make some things for the men in my family. I'm not sure I'm a great judge of manliness. Maybe grey, black or brown would be better. What do you think? It looks a bit greener in real life.

Excessive posting

I know three posts in one day is a bit much but, HOORAY, there's a new Knitty.

Knitting Gears

I seem to have several speeds of knitting. Sometimes I knit very slowly and things take ages to get done. Sometimes if I push myself I can go really quickly. I think I have been knitting in 4th gear for the last couple of days. I finished Natalie's pink North Pole socks (I did 70% of the second one on the train yesterday).

Yes, one sock is a bit longer than the other. Only half a centimetre. I'm hoping this won't be a problem.

I also used this chunky brown stuff (It had no label but was from the bargin bin at knitting4fun at WoolFest)

to make these secret things.

And I finished the body part of Rufflette from MagKnits.

I'm knitting it in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, which I've been keeping for a while. I'm not sure it's the most suitable thing for the pattern. It's bulkier than it should be. Will look less so when blocked. I think I am going to have to go and buy a couple more balls because the body section used much more than I'd anticipated. It is lovely and soft though.

Yesterday I went to my Uncle Les' funeral. I was dreading it, for no specific reason. Noone likes going to funerals, right? It was a humanist service, since my uncle and his family aren't religious at all. It seemed a lot more appropriate than a religious one, which just makes non-religious people feel uncomfortable. They played 'Smile Though Your Heart is Aching' and 'Unforgetable' (Sounded like Frank Sinatra, though could be wrong). Afterward we went back to my cousin Tracy's house and had drinks, food, reminiscences, etc. Anyway, I wanted to write some some of my memories of him.

He was a tiler by trade and a Sheffield United fan (although I can't condone that). He's quite a few years older than my dad. I remember one Christmas he got out a long knife, which he got during his national service as a desert rat in North Africa, followed by a lot of photos of my dad as a kid. One of Dad wearing wollen trunks on a beach somewhere.

When I was young he had a Peter Kay style aversion to garlic bread ('Garlic and Bread!'), but later on he travelled with my Aunty and broadened his palate and his horizons. They went to 42 different countries together.

He was competative at times and we'd often end up having good natured family arguments over games. I remember laughing at him battling with my mum over receiving a lipstick spot on his forehead, the penatly for making a mistake in one game.

He told us on Christmas, how he'd repulsed a girlfriend of Jonathan's (his son), who come to visit for the first time by serving up tripe and I remember admiring the icing he'd done on the Christmas cake (he was handy with a trowel). I remember how proud and happy he was when he became a grandfather and how he took, with good grace, being referred to as 'Grumpa' by us all.

He was fun to have around and I will always remember him and all those happy times. This is for him (I am a Wednesday fan):

Do you know this man?

This bloke came up to me at WoolFest (Friday) and asked me to take a photo of him with some sheep and email it to him. He gave me his email address on a bit of paper. His name appears to be Colin and the address is at Blueyonder. I tried several interpretations of his handwritten email address but the emails keep bounching. Now I am wondering if the whole thing was a joke or a dare, at my expense. Does anyone know who he is?

Happy Birthday Graeme

Coming home early from WoolFest meant that I got to spend time with Graeme on his birthday. He's not a big fan of birthday celebrations but I think he had a good time. We ended up having a barbecue, with steak, sweetcorn, mushrooms and baked potatoes. We also had some fizzy wine and cakes with sparkling candles. Here he is watching the Tour de France coverage with fizz in hand.

Ended up having a walk down the dene around teatime (before lighting the barbecue). There was a Punch and Judy and a bouncy castle in the park. Now we know what Alan Shearer is doing in his retirement.

I noticed the shoe tree is looking a bit sorry. Last time I passed people were pulling down shoes (along with a lot of foliage) and steeling them. Poor tree hardly has any low branches any more. The shoes seem to have spread to the surrounding trees. Hope they don't suffer the same fate.

All wooled up

WoolFest was excellent. Before we arrived I was epecting there to been loads of yarn stalls, some exhibitions and some sheep. I had in my mind and ammount I wanted to spend and the sort of thing I wanted to get. I wasn't prepared for how overwhelming the whole thing would be. Having spent the entire rest of the year making do with a couple of yarn shops (or departments) a whole market full of yarn, needles, hooks, roving, fleeces, dyes, spinning wheels, books, buttons, handles etc. comes as a bit of a shock. It was loely but I found the whole thing emotionally draining. I was so overwhelmed I forgot to take any picture of the stalls and just ended up with this one, which doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

I did manage to take a lot of photos of sheep. I was impressed by the curly haired ones (I'm not good at recognising the breeds).

They looks like they've got dred locks and they must have terrible trouble seeing through the fringe. I thought the alpacas were majestic looking. Untroubled by the frantic yarn-buyers saying 'Ahhhh...' over them all day.

Once we'd looked around everything I did manage to buy most of what I wanted. I'm not a very good shopper and I don't like crowds, so by the end of the day I was starting to flag (and my debit card was smoldering). Becca and I decided not to go for a second day. I wish now that I'd bought some dyes, some knitting needles (larger sizes) and looked more at the books. I'm sure most stuff can be bought online or ordered, now that I know what I am looking for. I don't think I could have shopped any more this weekend.

My favourite purchases are:

100g recycled banana fibre;


3 skeins of handspun, handdyed (onion skins) yarn;

4 skeins of Lopi roving;

and this drop spindle and roving.

I feel slightly intimidated by it all. My first impulse is to play with it all at once, but I think I am going to keep it all as it is for a while, while I contemplate what to do with it. I've got a couple of things to finish off first.

I should also say a big thank you to GlittrGirl for organising it all. The campsite was lovely and the views gorgeous. I really enjoyed spending time with the other knitters (Flossie, ScumKitten, PurlPower, Emily and Becca). Including Spinning Fishwife and Gourdon Girl, who'd come down from Musselbrough.

Yesterday Becca and I called into Cockermouth to look round the food market. We had a picnic next to the river and then set off home, calling at Birdoswald roman fort on the way. We got home just in time to see England going into extra time and loosing their penalty shoot out. Coming home yesterday also meant I got to have an indian takeaway with Graeme and spend his birthday morning with him. All in all a great weekend (aside from the sporting disasters).

For more WoolFest photos go to my Flickr pages.