The afghan is finished. I really like it, after fearing that I might not. But I still haven't managed to photograph it, sorry.
I attempted an attached i-cord edging, and it looked absolutely ghastly. So, remembering that I was supposed to have this interest in blending crochet with knit, I did a simple double crochet (single if you are from the USA) for four rounds, and finished off with a crab stitch round. Crab stitch is also double crochet, but worked in the opposite direction, which gives the stitch a nice little twisted bump and a more defined look. I had thought I might make tassels for each corner, but they looked really naff. So I managed to find my pom-pom maker and did four in each colour, putting one of each on each corner instead. It makes me think of a camel blanket, or something, but in a good way. An actual Finished Object!
The orange-tawny Landscape shawl is progressing, but I am having to ignore at the moment that I have as usual gone awry with the moss stitch section. I am waiting until I have done a bit more of the next, stocking stitch, section to have a good look at it and see if I can get away with leaving it. I know I shouldn't, but..........
Spinning - continuing with the alpaca and silk, which has given me an excellent (well, I think so) idea for a "module" in the Spin to Knit class. I have even written up a first draft. Sometimes I amaze myself. Unfortunately, I have just realised that probably we should really have a Mission Statement, and dare I say it, Outcomes. As a matter of fact, I always do have these, but they tend to be in my head rather than set out, and take on their life during and after the actual workshop. Maybe it is time I grew up.
I had a great thrill this morning. One of the things that has happened whilst I had my blogging absence was that Sam, one of the two younger Snowshoes when missing and never returned. Today, their breeder emailed me to say that she has not one but two new litters of kittens, too young to give colours yet, but they look very well-sized, healthy little pink things......and are we still interested.
What a silly question. We shall go and see them in December and hopefully fall in love with two to come live with us and Barni and Ferdi. The former is not going to be too impressed, but I think that Ferdi will enjoy having galloping kits to play with, which will take the pressure off B. Those two are still hunting like crazy as winter refuses to descend. I am so glad that the DSM gets up first!
Ok, update on my sister.
Yesterday, she had her first appointment at Christies. We didn't really learn anything new, except that they are going to try palliative chemo. The long, long list of side effects and terrible things that can happen was daunting, but she fully appreciates that it is worth trying. The doctor was quite clear that if at any time she feels that it is not worth continuing, then that is her decision alone to stop. We were both very impressed by that - it puts a little control back in to her hands in a situation where there is practically none. All the medical people we have met have been very straightforward, although the word "death" has not been mentioned once. It is left hanging in the air. No false pretence, but nothing explicit.
I did sort of ask the question (another thing that is greatly appreciated, that it is taken for granted that I should be there, and am included in the consultation and can ask questions too), not "how long" but "presumably you can't give any sort of timescale. Seemingly, they really don't like doing that. Pennie didn't want to, but he did offer to speak to me alone. I refused, not fair to her, but I might later on if an opportunity presents itself. However, he did tell her that he was certain that she would still be around for a particular event a few months down the line, a relief in many ways, for me because I had uncharacteristically stuck my neck out and told her that yes, she would be there, I promised. So not like me, that......
So, chemo starts for her next Wednesday, and I don't think I shall be there as we are going to Cornwall for a few days - you can't ignore a 99 year old MIL totally, after all. But Pennie has very good friends who are more than willing to help too, so \I shall try not to feel too guilty.
I know really that I am not going to wake up and find it has all been a dream........
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
The Zombie Apocalypse
Bit dusty in here, eh?
Well, that was a long pause. I have been thinking for some time that I didn't actually want to give up blogging, but not getting round to actually doing anything about it. So many reasons for the hiatus, so many for starting again. So I shall kick off with explaining both as best I can. (Minus photos for now.)
Last time I wrote, we were about to set of for Mexico. Which was a highly enjoyable and mind-blowing experience, which maybe I will document one of these days. When we got back, I was totally knackered, then overwhelmed by the wealth of bloggable material that I had. I procrastinated.
One of my problems (yes, I have many and many excuses.....) was that our desk top pc was dying. I had been using mu iPad, and wasn't finding that completely satisfactory for writing stuff. OK, so we finally get acts together and buy ourselves lovely new laptops, yeay!! Except that nobody warned us about Windows 8. Do I really need to say more? It took me weeks and weeks to feel anything like able to use the thing and actually be creative, and by then I had two or three articles to write so blogging fell lower and lower down the list of priorities. And we were teaching, vending, travelling - all seriously good fun, but....distracting.
Anyway, the articles are done - in fact the first of them has just landed in glorious technicolour on my doormat, about the silk spinners in Oaxaca, in the brand new Yarnmaker. There are more to be published and more to write, which I am very happy about as contrary to what you might think given the non-appearance of this blog, I do really like writing!
We still have our studio, and long may that continue so. In fact, I am there now, as it is much easier to find a little peace and quiet there than at home. You wouldn't think that one husband could be quite so - well, not disruptive, maybe the right word will come to me! Let us just say that he and I have different modus operandi.
We have taught some at the studio, both in our own space and a weekend workshop for the education programme. There should be another such coming up next year, which is great, and we have a few Guild workshops booked. The two big ones should be Fibre East, if we can persuade people to sign up for the homegrown tutors (we visited as vendors this year, to give us the excuse to catch up with SOAR friends, which was just lovely). And then there is Summer School, that I am greatly looking forward to. When we first taught a Summer School I was hugely apprehensive about keeping interest up for an entire week. I have come to relish the in-depth experience, and am really glad to be given the opportunity to teach our Spin to Knit class once more. I am working on a revised version, and that is going to take up quite a bit of my time, not only the course design, notes, etc bu also the samples, and the examples of work both for that and for the tutors display. My work is so very utilitarian. Still, there are ideas, and stuff on the go, and the studio is going to really come in to its own.
At the moment I am finishing off an afghan, natural brown Polwarth and silk, edged with what was white similar, dyed bright scarlet by me. I have a pygora lace scarf just about on the needles, but it has been frogged a few times and I am a bit scared of it now, to be honest. It will be something, though, the yarn is lovely, and also dyed by me to a rather nice royal blue.
I must, it seems, have been on a bit of a dyeing jag, as number three project is a shawl - the Landscape shawl, one I have long wanted to do - in a tawny orange overdyed BFL/silk blend. Simple, but is, I think, going to be nice.
In sitting down and writing this, I can see that the feeling that I sometimes have of not really doing/achieving anything is baseless! I am not putting the half of it down here. This gives me hope that I can actually manage to get back to maintaining a blog again, although I think that I shall try to be realistic and not aim for more than perhaps every other week, every week at most.
And it is, I think, going to be good to be back. If there is anyone out there to read this, not all driven away in disgust by my shabby treatment, please do let me know!
OK, so that is all pretty much in my usual vein. When I started blogging, I did not want to do a baring my soul, all my innermost thoughts type of thing. Mostly fibre, spinning, dyeing, knitting, my cultural interests, travel and so on. Only occasional personal stuff. So I give warning now that I am about to write about something very personal and emotional that is going to be dominating my life for a while and so cannot be ignored. If you don't like that sort of thing, stop reading right now. (I will always put the updates at the end of posts, so they can be easily avoided.)
I have a sister, eight years younger than me, and originally a huge nuisance in my life, as I am sure that those of you with younger siblings can imagine. As we grew up, we became good friends, and for the last umpty years living only an hours drive away from one another, we have met frequently, gone out together, gone on holiday together, moaned about the state of the world together. Been sisters.
Two weeks ago, she was told that she had inoperable, terminal stomach cancer.
Even writing that here, I still do not, at some level, believe it. Although at another, it is the only thought in my head, a constant background chatter in my life, it is the bell deep in the Tardis tolling away, minute after minute, second after second.
There is not much else to say at the moment. She is being taken to Italy for a holiday, to celebrate a special birthday, by her daughter and family. When she gets back, she has an appointment at Christies, which I will also attend, to set out......all that has to be set out. Which will include some chemo, for various practical reasons.
There are one or two other things thrown into this chalice, but I will get to those as and when. I can't actually write any more just now.
Well, that was a long pause. I have been thinking for some time that I didn't actually want to give up blogging, but not getting round to actually doing anything about it. So many reasons for the hiatus, so many for starting again. So I shall kick off with explaining both as best I can. (Minus photos for now.)
Last time I wrote, we were about to set of for Mexico. Which was a highly enjoyable and mind-blowing experience, which maybe I will document one of these days. When we got back, I was totally knackered, then overwhelmed by the wealth of bloggable material that I had. I procrastinated.
One of my problems (yes, I have many and many excuses.....) was that our desk top pc was dying. I had been using mu iPad, and wasn't finding that completely satisfactory for writing stuff. OK, so we finally get acts together and buy ourselves lovely new laptops, yeay!! Except that nobody warned us about Windows 8. Do I really need to say more? It took me weeks and weeks to feel anything like able to use the thing and actually be creative, and by then I had two or three articles to write so blogging fell lower and lower down the list of priorities. And we were teaching, vending, travelling - all seriously good fun, but....distracting.
Anyway, the articles are done - in fact the first of them has just landed in glorious technicolour on my doormat, about the silk spinners in Oaxaca, in the brand new Yarnmaker. There are more to be published and more to write, which I am very happy about as contrary to what you might think given the non-appearance of this blog, I do really like writing!
We still have our studio, and long may that continue so. In fact, I am there now, as it is much easier to find a little peace and quiet there than at home. You wouldn't think that one husband could be quite so - well, not disruptive, maybe the right word will come to me! Let us just say that he and I have different modus operandi.
We have taught some at the studio, both in our own space and a weekend workshop for the education programme. There should be another such coming up next year, which is great, and we have a few Guild workshops booked. The two big ones should be Fibre East, if we can persuade people to sign up for the homegrown tutors (we visited as vendors this year, to give us the excuse to catch up with SOAR friends, which was just lovely). And then there is Summer School, that I am greatly looking forward to. When we first taught a Summer School I was hugely apprehensive about keeping interest up for an entire week. I have come to relish the in-depth experience, and am really glad to be given the opportunity to teach our Spin to Knit class once more. I am working on a revised version, and that is going to take up quite a bit of my time, not only the course design, notes, etc bu also the samples, and the examples of work both for that and for the tutors display. My work is so very utilitarian. Still, there are ideas, and stuff on the go, and the studio is going to really come in to its own.
At the moment I am finishing off an afghan, natural brown Polwarth and silk, edged with what was white similar, dyed bright scarlet by me. I have a pygora lace scarf just about on the needles, but it has been frogged a few times and I am a bit scared of it now, to be honest. It will be something, though, the yarn is lovely, and also dyed by me to a rather nice royal blue.
I must, it seems, have been on a bit of a dyeing jag, as number three project is a shawl - the Landscape shawl, one I have long wanted to do - in a tawny orange overdyed BFL/silk blend. Simple, but is, I think, going to be nice.
In sitting down and writing this, I can see that the feeling that I sometimes have of not really doing/achieving anything is baseless! I am not putting the half of it down here. This gives me hope that I can actually manage to get back to maintaining a blog again, although I think that I shall try to be realistic and not aim for more than perhaps every other week, every week at most.
And it is, I think, going to be good to be back. If there is anyone out there to read this, not all driven away in disgust by my shabby treatment, please do let me know!
OK, so that is all pretty much in my usual vein. When I started blogging, I did not want to do a baring my soul, all my innermost thoughts type of thing. Mostly fibre, spinning, dyeing, knitting, my cultural interests, travel and so on. Only occasional personal stuff. So I give warning now that I am about to write about something very personal and emotional that is going to be dominating my life for a while and so cannot be ignored. If you don't like that sort of thing, stop reading right now. (I will always put the updates at the end of posts, so they can be easily avoided.)
I have a sister, eight years younger than me, and originally a huge nuisance in my life, as I am sure that those of you with younger siblings can imagine. As we grew up, we became good friends, and for the last umpty years living only an hours drive away from one another, we have met frequently, gone out together, gone on holiday together, moaned about the state of the world together. Been sisters.
Two weeks ago, she was told that she had inoperable, terminal stomach cancer.
Even writing that here, I still do not, at some level, believe it. Although at another, it is the only thought in my head, a constant background chatter in my life, it is the bell deep in the Tardis tolling away, minute after minute, second after second.
There is not much else to say at the moment. She is being taken to Italy for a holiday, to celebrate a special birthday, by her daughter and family. When she gets back, she has an appointment at Christies, which I will also attend, to set out......all that has to be set out. Which will include some chemo, for various practical reasons.
There are one or two other things thrown into this chalice, but I will get to those as and when. I can't actually write any more just now.
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