Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Wondering where the time goes

Last night I actually managed to sit and spin for a whole hour whilst watching the tv. A big step forward, not telly watching, I've been slumped in front of a few things, but having the energy to actually spin. It's the orange merino/tencel from Bonkers, a nice cheerful colour for this time of year, but it works best for me spun fairly fine, and a little goes a long way, so the quantity on the bobbin is somewhat meagre as yet. Most likely to grow up in to socks.

On which latest pair thereof some progress has been made, and interestingly they are orange, too. I have done the toe and an inch of the second in the pair; I'm getting bored with toe-up and will do something different next time. I also knitted half a row on the giant hairy afghan last night, which I may not have mentioned before, can't remember.

A friend gave me a big bag of mohair in all sorts of colours, and I quickly decided that I was not a mohair jumper sort of a person, so it will become an afghan, made up on the needles as I go along. This is my "upstairs" knitting project, and as I couldn't get off to sleep last night, I came in to the workroom to listen to my ipod and knit for a while. Very peaceful. I have an upstairs spinning project as well, the last of the yak fluff so the DSM can knit himself some more fingerless gloves. He has Raynaud's Disease, and the medication he is on has exacerbated it something shocking. Wristwarmers etc do help quite a bit.

Still, that is all the fibre news that is fit to print (by which I mean nothing at all, just being silly). I am yearning to do some beading, too, but so far can't find the time. Hopefully, some of this will ease - an awful lot of the fall-out from the Great Cardiac Incident and the Great Gale/Power Surge will be dealt with. And if I can manage to moderate my compulsion to feed himself on interesting, tempting and heart-healthy meals three times a day.....soon, he will be able to forage for himself occasionally, and what is wrong with a nice sandwich, anyway?

The washing machine has formally been decreed dead, and all I have to do now is go out and buy a new one, and phone the insurance people. I could cope pretty well without most things, but hot water and the washing machine wouldn't number among them. You can only impose on friends so often.

This morning was taken up with the daily constitutional - went up the main track towards the mill, although we didn't get nearly that far, of course. I keep meaning to take my camera, and forgetting, although I didn't really see anything that would have made a good shot. What we did see was a flock of long tailed tits, a greater spotted woodpecker and a tree creeper all at once! It was nice. When we got back, went up on to the garden for a while and saw three of the four fish in the pond. The other thing we noticed was that one of the camellias that came from my mother is absolutely covered with flower buds, so we must remember to protect if there is ever any likelihood of frost. Then we went in to town to pick up the paper and I indulged us in terribly unhealthy cappucinos and maple pecan pastries.

This is a blog entry full of the minutiae of daily life, and that is exactly the way I like it at the moment. A little of the sort of excitement we have had recently goes a very great distance. Small pleasures, that's what I want. Small pleasures.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Making progress

Bother! I was halfway through writing a post, when - insert silly chain of events her - I did something stupid and uninstalled the modem. I did copy what I had written, but it hasn't worked, so even though I successfully did a System Restore as quicker than hunting around for how to reinstall&etc, I shall have to be creative all over again.

So, the DSM - and consort - are doing very well. We are both religiously following the add-five-minutes-per-day walking programme, which we are both enjoying because it gives us a nice relaxing time together in the fresh air, not to mention our beautiful woods. Today we saw the head of a heron peering at us over the edge of our neighbours' dam - there is always something good or interesting. Then chatted with other neighbours for five minutes, they saw us passing and rushed out to see how we were.

He is a bit tired - keeps forgetting this has happened and thinks he is as he was, which he will be, but not for a week or two. I'm tired, too. I had warned him that this would happen, well, warned me as well! It's ok - we both need to chill and relax, but that's quite nice, really, and we have loads of resources to keep us gently amused - and then some.

As well as all the wonderful emails, and phone calls, Pete has had a small forests worth of cards. He had one from an old and dear friend just yesterday. Really quite pretty, no? Well chosen to reflect the DSM's love of the countryside and so on.

card front

It was only as he handed it over for me to have a look at that he noticed the back..............

card back

Snicker. Well, actually no. Belly laugh.

Hey, other progress, too, I have finished the first sock. I have still barely spun at all, it will come back. But I want to get the second sock done, and then I have the camel and silk that I spun recently that I want to do something with cables in. There are some nice hat and scarf patterns in the One Skein book, I'm eyeing up those.

And on another positive note, the oven is sorted - it simply came back on when the engineer looked at it. Must have been having a small crise de nerfs when I tried it several times, stuck my head in and all - no sound, no odour, no flame, nothing. Ah, well, it is now sorted!

And people are lined up to fix the socket, look at the washing machine, do the ironing and clean the house. The last two mean that I can concentrate on restoring his health and my stress levels to something approaching normal! Some time soon, hospital outpatients visits will start for him, we need to keep at the walking and I want to also do a graduated outings programme so he can get used to operating in the big wide world again. I'm talking mainly about birdwatching trips and pub lunches, nothing to strenuous, mind. Visiting friends (and friends kittens, heh heh......) At the moment, people are visiting us, which is great and a good and necessary first stage.

We're gettin' there. But a bit more spinning would be good......

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

He's back!

Phone goes at 9.30, Pete's mobile. "They are letting me out - now!"

Not until I've finished my breakfast and had a shower, says solicitous spouse. Such a cow I can be. Anyway, finally made it by eleven, after a trifling incident with getting in a muddle with the four wheel drive - the lane was a bit slippy, so I engaged it, and then couldn't unengage. Got there in the end.

So. He is actually not on any extra medication, the damage is not too bad, the consultant fully expects him to make a pretty much complete recovery. Thus far, he has negotiated stairs happily, walked out on to the bridge with me to see where the tree came down, bringing in powerline with it, and is now happily ensconced in the workroom with me, thus:

The return

I'm slowly getting used to him being back - it's wonderful, but scary. Although his attitude is going to make dealing with that much easier for us both.

It is nice just to keep touching him in passing (sorry, I'll ration the soppy stuff!)

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Nothing to report

Well, not much, anyway. Some good, some not so.

Let's get that out of the way first. A friend, who does know what he is talking about, tells me that in all probability my appliances are kaput. Ah, well. Just a question of organisation and one step at a time, like everything else, right? I'll move right along with that this morning.

I have one slightly sick cat. I am trying my best not to get overanxious, Neelix has already had a day off colour and recovered, so I have every reason to expect that Max will bounce right back too. Judgment, judgment - I mean whether or not to call the vet, not retribution from the heavens!

So, in the grand scheme of things, not all that bad, really. It's just that at 4am, when you are lying awake - well, I think someone has waxed lyrical about that somewhere before, so I won't go further.

I got to see the consultant's rounds yesterday, such a treat. I thought he was a little supercilious, but Pete reckons he is much better one on one, so it must be that he puts it on for all the minions - and me, maybe. One good thing, he doesn't think that the original heart attack was as serious as the registrar in CCU told us. Anyway, he is going to supervise the MRI and will decide then and then what is showing, so by the time I go in this evening we should know.

I was knitting my bright orange sock whilst this was going on. The consultant did a very good job of ignoring me, but one or two of the minions were gobsmacked, couldn't take their eyes off me. Pete is threatening to teach the other chaps in the ward to knit, he could do worse that teach the docs as well......

I have to say - and that is probably why I am sitting here writing this - I am finding the waiting, the hanging in limbo, very difficult. The very top of my head processes everything, weighs up the facts, makes inferences based on the information, is quite sanguine about the possible outcomes. The rest of me, mind and body, twitches and scuttles like rats in a sack. I suppose that isn't too surprising, and I do make myself run through relaxation exercises, breathing whatever, from time to time. I'm not beating myself up over this - I am proud of Pete for how he is managing, but I am actually proud of me, too. I don't all that often say that about myself, all those years of middleclass upbringing are jolly hard to shift....

I am being good and eating properly-ish. I made myself a simple - because I didn't have a whole lot of ingredients in the house - prawn risotto last night. It suffered slightly from the constant stream of phonecalls that came in during the cooking and the eating, but considering that it was made from only onion, arborio rice and big prawns, it was great. It was the largeish quantity of white wine and a sprinkling of a rather nice Cajun seasoning that we got in California that did it.

Now, when I say "prawns" I mean "jumbo" ones. Not King, not ordinary small pink prawns, but the ones in between. What I definitely do not mean is shrimp. Shrimp are tiny and brown, and quite delicious. Are we quite clear, there? Good.

And when I seemingly complain about phonecalls, oh no, not at all. I cannot say too often how much the calls, letters, cards, emails, blog comments have made to both of us.

OK, so some more displacement activity to get me through the day. Sort out most of the above. Enjoy the glorious sunny, frosty day outside. A decent cup of coffee, drunk slowly. Maybe finish the rib on the first sock. We can do this. Hopefully, the next entry will take the story on to a better place.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Going back up

After visiting yesterday, and having a much more relaxed evening sitting knitting in front of the tv with the cats, I feel much better about things. Also, I had a phone call from a former student, now a member of a nearby guild, who had heard the news, and wanted to tell me that she had had a heart attack ten years ago and just look at her now!

This is the sort of thing that we are both finding so amazingly helpful; first the utter thoughtfulness and kindness of all sorts of people, but the if they share these experiences with us, it helps us so much to feel even more positive about the outcome. We are never be able to thank them adequately - just pay it forward, I guess.

So, yesterday arrived an enormous bouquet of flowers from his co-workers. Really and truly, I knew that it was way to big to take in to the ward. Really. It honestly wasn't that I wanted to hijack it.....Anyway, I took a photo of them to show him.

flowers

So I also took one of his boys so that he could see that they were behaving just as usual.

boys as usual

And while I had the camera in there, I took one of him.

himself

Pretty good, eh? Now that I look at it, I can see the anxiety around the eyes, but I do think he is entitled. I am enormously proud of him, his attitude is brilliant, quite well aware that this is the "easy" bit, but acknowledging the problems that might be ahead whilst at the same time being very positive. He now has knitting - gloves, and he has finished off the first he had been working on; a spindle with plenty of fluff; suitable books and magazines, including lots of Sodukos (sp??); and at the moment, both of my ipods, to which he is rapidly becoming addicted. I am graciously loaning him my nano, filled with everything from my library that I though he might like - ranging from Donna Leon to Jane Austen. He can recharge it at his bedside, phone too, although he isn't using that.

His mother is being amazing, too - talk about two peas in a pod. She phones him every night, laying on the poor, frail little old lady of 91, so very far away in Cornwall bit, even phoning back when put off by over-officious staff. And then she phones me, to make sure that I am ok.

Which I am, well, not too bad anyhow. I did clean the oven last night, so obviously I am not quite as relaxed as I might be......But one good thing, I saw a card in town for someone doing spring cleaning, ironing and odd jobs, so I am going to contact them tomorrow and get something set up. I can indulge in having everything made really shipshape, and then cope fine on a day to day basis.

I have reached the heel on the first sock, so progress there too. I was looking at my wheel last night, but couldn't summon up the energy. Maybe tonight, who knows.

Now to hang on in there until Tuesday.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Riding the rollercoaster

I have not even managed any sock knitting for the last couple of days. (That is going to change.) Life is giving me quite a ride at the moment, and having burnt the ear of friends various all evening, I find myself continuing the saga here.

first and foremost, he is ok. That is the most important thing. Other than that, it's a bumpy ride.

The storms hit yesterday. My sister and I were together, drinking coffee, when there was a massive gust of wind and a minor explosion, or so it seemed. Bright blue flash outside the window. Loss of power. Which remained off for several hours, as the wind had brought down a tree the other side of the river, taking out the power line.

Meanwhile, we went off sick visiting, to get really good news, that the docs were going to do an angioplasty and then he would be home, likely to all be over in a few days. So I came home, no power still so we repaired to the pub for a meal, got back to assess the damage which really didn't seem all that bad. Three blown light bulbs and the computer safe.

However.......today has brought a constant stream of discoveries of the weirdest minor (I do hope) things. The bottom oven, the printer and worst of all, the washing machine are all non-functioning. In some cases it may be blown fuses, I am crossing everything I have got that that is the case. Friends help - someone is printing Pete's email messages off for us tomorrow, and washing the jimjams. BIL has taken the seized bolt and wingnut from the lavatory seat that unaccountably collapsed yesterday (oh, I forgot to mention that, didn't I - nothing to do with the storm, though!) Whatever I have done to annoy whichever deities, really, I am grovelling, truly I am.

Because irritating and frustrating as all those things are, that isn't all. I went in to visit today, to find he had been moved to another ward without anyone letting me know, which was fun, but never mind. The real bummer is that some other doctor somewhere has looked at his tests and decided that there has been some damage done to the heart muscle after all. His consultant at Halifax doesn't agree, but the other one controls the angioplasty unit, so has the upper hand. An MRI is to be done - and for that he has to wait until Tuesday.

It totally shook me - if we had had this news at the get go, that would have been one thing. But to have been given the least bad scenario, only to have it snatched away again is hard. Ah, well. We will get there.

Why am I maundering on like this? Because in a year's time, I want to look back at what I have felt and think - phew. All worked out, we are doing ok, I didn't need to worry.

And you can tell I am, I cleaned the fridge out at ten o'clock this evening.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Spinning out of time

That may seem a weirder and less relevant heading than most of mine. It reflects the state of my mind and my head, rather than any fibre activity.

I have reflected a bit about writing this as a blog entry, I don't tend to do a huge amount of "personal". More than some, less than others. But by the efforts of various people, mostly me, it is all out there anyway. And as I do blog for the way greater part for myself, well, I want to.

Some of you who might drift by know this already anyway. Whatever.

I call Pete, my husband, the DSM. Which comes from Sara Lamb once calling him a "dear, sweet man" which seemed to me to be so apposite that I clung on to it ever since. I don't really do DH, and try to keep a modicum of discretion around these parts.

Yesterday morning, the DSM woke me up unexpectedly early. He didn't feel well. He was afraid he was having a heart attack. Yeah, right. But after only a few minutes, I could see that there was something wrong, and while I still didn't believe it was that, felt my only option was to call the paramedics.

I think it was when they told him that they were putting a line into his arm that I sort of mentally whimpered "oh, shit", and next thing they were telling him that he had indeed had a heart attack.

I seemed to have got dressed at some point, and next thing, I was in the front of an ambulance with siren wailing, and surging through the unbelievably heavy morning traffic like an icebreaker through ice. That was terrifying. I still didn't feel panicstruck about Pete, I was so convinced that when we got to the hospital we would be told that the paramedics had made a mistake.

After half an hour in a cupboard set aside for relatives, a staff nurse came and told me that he had had a heart attack.

He couldn't - can't believe it either.

Well, obviously, we both can now, it is pretty much sinking in. The bleeping monitors with attendant attachments, the strange environment, all the people telling us......

Throughout it all, he has had very little even discomfort, just his left arm feeling weird. No grinding, clamping whatevers. He remained conscious and coherent throughout. (I very nearly choked when the Emergency Services person asked me first, was he conscious, and when I answered in the affirmative next asked me if he was breathing....) It is just so fortunate that he had the sense to take it seriously - half an hour later, he would have been driving to work.

He's doing ok. There remain tests to be done, and depending on the results of those, maybe procedures of a greater or lesser seriousness. We hope not, but what is needed will be done. We are shored up by the messages from friends far and near, many of whom are telling us of their nearest and dearest who have been through exactly the same, and we never suspected.

So, it happens to many, and we have been so lucky. But then, it is never going to happen to you........

So, I sit by his bed and I am knitting a sock. There won't be much more fibre work done for a while.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Finally, yarns

I have just about finished experimenting with the yarns for my next glass, based on those from "Handspun Revolution". I have some rather mixed feelings about it all, much to my surprise. The book is a bit of an "emperor's new clothes" sort of thing, as so many things are these days (grumpy old cynic!) - but.

The first one or two I tried left me considerably underwhelmed. Like this one:

knots

Here, you spin a bit, break off the yarn, tie a knot, spin a bit.....yawn. Boring to do and not pretty to look at. Then, I tried some where you mix commercial threads alongside whilst handspinning. The first couple of attempts, not photographed here, were as above. So I got to thinking, and realised that if instead of leaving it as a singles a la book, I plyed it on itself.......

multi-plied yarn

Now this I like! I could even see myself doing a largeish quantity for a project, if I had some unexciting mohair yarn to use up, or something.

Next up, I tried coils. The singles - which is pretty much just overtwisting the yarn mightily - I couldn't get to work, one because I have spent mumblemumble years managing to get rid of overtwist, but also because I think it probably only works with a fairly hefty singles anyway. Abandoned that one. Next, though, I tried the "beehive" yarn. Now, as suggested in the book, plyed with a slick silk thread, I didn't like it. So, I spun a fine merino singles instead, and lo and behold, a yarn that I think actually does have some potential.

beehive

(This is a lousy photo - well, none of them are all that hot, but I have had several goes at improving them and have failed, so - tough!)

So, I move on to the pukka coiled yarn, all prepared to hate it. First attempt with the wool singles as in the beehive, no dice. But with a silk thread, oh, good fun! I even enjoyed spinning this one - it is a bit like a boucle to do, but not as nervewracking.

coiled yarn

I have one more that I can use, sort of made up and rather simple, but I think in the spirit of the thing and just about in yer face enough. I added firestar globs/slubs at brief intervals.

spot glitz

There's one more as yet to work on, if I get around to it - I've had one attempt and it didn't work, that was spinning sequins in. It is going to mean actually unstringing them and rethreading to make a successful yarn, and I don't really see that that is all that different from a beaded yarn. We shall see.

Anyway, after all it turned out reasonably good fun to do, and it will make for a good class, I think. The one remaining knotty problem is suggestions for what to do with the yarns when spun! The would couch on to things very nicely, but that is about all I have been able to come up with.

Thinking caps on.....

Friday, January 12, 2007

Music hath charms

By all the whatevers. I feel as if it is three o'clock in the morning and I am three quarters of the way down a bottle of Jamiesons, but stone cold sober with it.

In point of fact, it is one fifteen, I'm just about to go get lunch, and I have been clearing out the workroom because my current stuff was slippin' and a'slidin' all over the place. Plus I have lost some glitzy threads that I really do need (and still haven't found.)

So why?

I put on a Clancy Brothers cd, that's why. Seductive melodies that sing of loss and love, of roving far from home and nostalgia for it, of the joys of the whiskey and the carefree life. Sure, my bag was nearly packed and me half way out of the door before I remembered that I was actually meant to be emptying the Dyson's cylinder.

So, is there a journey still to be had within these now clean and organised four walls? There ain't no whisky, but that is probably a good thing!

By the way, has anyone ever seen this? I saw it so long ago that I can't remember anything about it other than that I loved it. Mind you, I was a teenager and student at the time.....

I return you &etc.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Hats and Rats

One of each.

First, the hat. Finished!

Hat

Nice to do, probably more in my future.

Then the rat. You will be relieved to learn, no photo. I was dealing with laundry yesterday, went dashing in to the porch to check the tumble dryer, and nearly fell over one very dead rat on the floor. Yes, you guessed it, one of my little darlings had left me a present. Probably Neelix, who despite the lack of fangs, can still hunt when the mood strikes.

I don't like rats particularly, but this one was actually quite....pretty? Silvery grey back, very white belly, not too scaly a tail. When I had a moment, I checked in our guide to British mammals, and wondered if it was in fact rattus rattus instead of norvegicus. So when the DSM got home, I sent him out to the dustbin, where the corpse had come to rest,with torch and tape measure. I do like to encourage his spirit of scientific inquiry. No definitive answer was forthcoming.

Anyway, I googled this morning, and seemingly, rattus rattus is practically non-existent in the UK - so must have been a youngish, not too raddled norvegicus. I'd just as soon not have any more for further investigation!

It was wildlife day chez nous yesterday. I had been standing at the bedroom window in the morning when a swooping bird caught my eye, of a raptorish nature, possibly. I was puzzled by the very pale colour, though. Anyway, a friend dropped in for coffee later, and she suddenly spotted something too, so I left her keeping a beady eye on its movements while I got the binoculars. The light was very poor, and it was partly obscured by the trees, so not easy. Kestrel would have been the most likely, as they are pretty common and I have seen them in the fields down the valley, but I actually lean towards it being a sparrowhawk. I have seen those as well, and I think both the jiz and the behaviour were more like. The earlier colour was a trick of the light.

Today, I have been living in a small swarm of long tailed tits, one of my favourite birds, that often flock up around the house in winter. What would be nice is if this could be a goldcrest year - fingers crossed!

OK, so back to fibre. I don't have a decent project on the go as yet, and probably won't until I have finished pratting around with these dam' art yarns. Which I will photograph if I get anything half-way decent. So - back to the saltmines. I have the second audio version of the "Stormbreaker" series to finish whilst I do so, so that's ok, then.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Time passes

I had this thought, or rather, series of them, this morning. Seeds, plants etc need certain conditions to flourish. One of those is light - without the right amounts and levels of daylight (as opposed to sun/shade) plants will not thrive.

It therefore seems to me to be entirely logical that animals should be likewise. Of this I am living - if you can really call it that at the moment! - proof. So are the mogs.

Sleeping cats

Glued to the bed, they are, at the moment. And I think that is a pretty good indicator that most "days" are in fact nothing of the sort, just a kind of extended night, and nightingale I am not, so I ain't singing. Or much else for that matter.

Apart from whining, that is. Slap me upside the head, someone.

There is a gratuitous cat photo as there are none of FOs, or WIPs for that matter. But - there should be soon. I have nearly finished the hat, and not only have enjoyed doing it but it is looking nice, I think. I am looking forward to getting dyeing and doing more.

Then, I have finally been working on some of this dam' "art yarn" stuff for my next class. Um. I find it extremely difficult. I like to produce yarn that is soft, or drapey, feels nice next to the skin, is wearable. Oh, and usable? The first couple of attempts failed dismally. Yarn grossly overtwisted to produce a coiled effect simply does not work for me. However, my next attempt, also a failure, gave me the idea for a variation which turned out reasonably well at the first try. If another shot works out, I will tell all.

I am quite looking forward to some multi multi coloured stuff and a few sequins. But despite the fact that some people spend serious money buying these things up on eBay, I am not intending a major career change.

Although it doesn't show, I have been away from this entry for an hour. The DSM returned damp and puffing from a run and persuaded me to start internet hunting for a short holiday somewhere where the sun do shine. Obviously, the whining is bearing fruit (or perhaps that should be the other way around?) Four days in Tunisia, maybe? Doesn't sound too bad to me. Watch this space.

And finally - why did I not have my camera in my hand this morning, when running errands in town. We watched as a young couple carefully unloaded three little "baby carriers" from the back of their vehicle, stashing them carefully in a doorway out of the rain whilst they locked up and then dad picked up one in each hand whilst mum carried the other. Teeny triplets, only a few weeks/months old (hard to tell, with my lack of experience and them no doubt being a little small for their age on account of there being the three of them.) Too sweet.

I must be getting soppy in my old age.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Hail, hail.

Blogger is so scary sometimes - it just published my new title all by itself, twice. Aargh.

Anyway.

Hail - as in I am back, hello and happy New Year to one and all.

Hail - as in the little hard balls of white stuff crashing down on my skylight window. It is chilly, dank and growing rapidly dark.

But also hail - as in the turn of the old year and the promise of the new stretching out before us, and all that lovely fibre, absorbing projects and interesting things to do, people to see, places to go. That's why I love New Year, wave farewell to the old and embrace the challenge of the new, leaving mistakes behind and welcoming the opportunities that can be encountered or made.

Or at least, that's what you can do once the hangover subsides.....

Actually, although I should, I don't have one. For once - oh! such a rare occurrence - we ventured out last night, an invitation to have dinner and to see the New Year in with friends up the river. So on went the boots and out came the torches and we picked our way carefully through the woods. It was lovely - warm, comfortable, good food and good conversation. We reluctantly turned on the television to make sure we got the time right come midnight, but were pleased that we did because the fireworks from the London Eye were spectacular even on telly.

We had only got back from Cornwall the night before. Travelling in either direction proved on balance not as bad as we had feared, surviving the total gridlock in the town on the way out, and the terrifying moment on the M5 coming back when we were suddenly completely blinded (and I really do mean that) by the wash from standing water on the carriageway). The aged rellies were by and large in very good form, although we are somewhat concerned about Auntie P, who has fallen victim to the newspaper collecting syndrome that some elderly people develop. They are piled high in every room, and there are tottering towers of them all too close to her little two bar electric fire. Thought and action are required, I fear.

So, here we have my new iPod bag, and two pairs of yak down wrist warmers as gifts for our hosts last night.

Holiday knitting

The DSM wrapped them before I was able to photograph them.

Other holiday knitting - a good start on the hat from Machine Knitting to Dye For. I bought three kits at SOAR, the hat ready dyed, and then socks and bag to dye myself. Soon, I hope. I just wish I could develop the knack of handling two yarns with one in each hand. The DSM can do it, no problem, but try as I might, I can't. I think I maybe have a slightly different grip/style of knitting from him.

Also spent some time sampling fibres from Adelaide Walker for Summer School, and did a little more of the latest spindling task , the lovely blue mix from Carolina Homespun at the SOAR market. So not too dusty.

Managed to get out a couple of times, once over Newquaywards, not our usual, but lighted on a bit we didn't know called the Gannel. Very interesting and a definite to go back to and explore further.

And of course, we went down to Hemmick.

Waves

Hemmick

Hemmick

Sea foam

Wild, windy and beautiful.

Good to be home, though.