And the next..........

I have never not enjoyed SOAR. To spend an entire week with people who do not consider you freakish because you get fired up by fibre, who can spend half an hour discussing the relative merits of one wheel or spindle compared with another, how the lay of a stitch is affected by the way you insert your knitting needle, or how to pronounce "Leicester" or "nupp" - well, what's not to enjoy?

But this year was probably one of the best yet. Many old friends, but a vibrant cast of newcomers, first-timers full of fun and enthusiasm. So many good conversations, quiet times, hilarious times. And that's before you even consider the workshops.

Plus, I was somewhat zapped by a cold (one departing, one arriving) for the entire week, which did rather kind of subdue things a bit. I find that I haven't taken as many photos as usual, and some of those I did take are pretty poor. Ah, well.

My workshop was ...interesting. Abby Franquemont has a vast and fascinating store of personal knowledge about growing up in the rich textile tradition of Chinchero, Peru, and I could listen to her describe it for hours. Hoever, she also comes from a western academic tradition (and nothing whatever wrong with that) which perhaps lay behind her structuring her workshop as rather more of a seminar than a hands-on event, and I guess my preference, at least for a three day class, is for the latter. What the heck, good people, good times.





Retreats - I was all fired up to do certainly three and maybe - for once! - four. But the cold Mark 11 fogged my brain - I did the Wrap & Roll session first, which I finally did get, and which turned out to be fun; then half of Patsy Z's seminar on the new fibres, which was very interesting, but I went loopy part way through and had to leave. Fortunately, the DSM was in the same class and took notes, so I did get the benefit. Saturday morning I had a rush of blood to the head and inflicted myself on poor Sara, herself beginning to succumb to the SOAR lurgy, and painted a knitted silk blank. Each time I do something like this, I get closer to being able to contend with fibre reactive dyes!

And on Saturday afternoon, I rested, hoping to energise myself for the Saturday night Spin-in. Well, kind of. I did get down to it, took a few photographs, but had to give in and revert to pumpkin mode. Still, been there before, will again, and did manage to capture:

A few usual suspects -





A glimpse of The Yarn Harlot -



And to hear Aquilina, from near Chinchero, sing more of her wonderful songs -



And then it was all over for another year.

Finally, finally, finally

I'm being gently nagged - but the hold-up has mainly been the time needed to upload photos from my camera to the pc, and then to edit and upload to Flickr. Plus the little matter of a modicum of jetlag, recovering from the SOAR cold and having an AH class yesterday.

Slouch I have not been. Honest.

So, we had a great time. That's it, really.

Oh - more info? Heh heh.

We started out in New York City, after a long and uncomfortable flight. Which was entirely our fault for flying with Continental, but they were way the cheapest. But maybe never again, regardless.





We took things fairly gently, a little shopping and wandering around what was a very interesting neighbourhood, lots of stops for coffee, people watching and so on. Nice.

Then Thursday night we went to see "Spamalot". Which was fun, but I don't actually think would have been quite so well received if it hadn't been Python. Definitely fun, though. Plus by some weird coincidence, the actor playing King Arthur was the same one who had played Shakespeare in "The Frogs" that we saw in NYC last time we were there four years ago.

Friday was largely devoted to the The Met. We did the backstage tour in the afternoon and It Was Fabulous, Fascinating and Fun. Too many highlights to bore you with, but eavesdropping on rehearsals had to be one, and being able to touch costumes
and props and then to see them onstage later was also a wow.

And by a freak of the internet, there was a glitch with our tickets for way up in the gods, so for the actual performance of Lucia we were in the stalls. Cor, posh! For a wonderful, wonderful performance - the plot is crap, but the singing was extraordinary!

OK, moving on - picked up car, avoided parking ticket, visited "Knitty City" where we provided entertainment for the cute and friendly young staff (of which more, later) and went again to Zabar's for essential supplies for a picnic and SOAR. And then off into the wilds of Pennsylvania.

My photos of the Delaware Water Gap are nothing special, but we did see a fine Monarch butterfly.



Then, we stopped at Bushkill Falls for a picnic lunch and a bit of a walk around. A pretty foretaste of things to come.





I was going to include my SOAR report in this post, but time is getting away from me, and besides, it will then be a bit picture heavy. So - continued tomorrow.

Well, hello there!

A brief check-in. No time or energy, thanks to a second cold SOAR-style, for a full post. That plus pics will come later. Enough to say it was good, all of it, NYC and SOAR - of course.

I just wanted to post this link, to give you a flavour. Let me know what you think, eh?

There will now be a brief intermission

While I take my newly acquired cold on holiday.

Hopefully, I will be over the worst of it by the time we get to SOAR, but I have some concerns about going to see Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met whilst in the throes. La Boheme would have been better, we could have coffed in harmony.

The flight may be fun too.

Ah, well. It will be great in the end!

I'll report back ad nauseam as and when.

Sunshine!

A fine and sunny weekend, no less.

The weekend started on Friday night, with a very pleasant dinner at a nearby restaurant that we had been keen to try. My niece is a good lass, and gathers family and friends together when it is around her birthday. It was a lovely evening, a really good meal, too.

As we came out, we were struck by the proverbial "nip in the air" - it felt really wintry. Back up at the house, where there is less light pollution, we could see a completely clear sky with stars twinkling fit to bust.

Next morning was bright and sunny, and we headed off for Masham Sheep Fair. Which felt very strange, as usually when we go there, the weather is grey and dank, if not actually raining.

Presumably because of the weather, Masham was bursting at the seams with visitors. We had a great time wandering around, bumping into friends and indeed family - his, not mine this time - and in my case spending a ;little money. I suppose that as we about to go off on a major spindle-trapping expedition it was a bit daft to buy a new Spindlewood, but it was so pretty, I couldn't resist. Plus a little fibre, sufficient to spin the yarn for a pair of socks. I started it whilst sitting on a bench in the sunshine in the churchyard whilst everyone else went off to watch the sheep races. (I have some qualms about this, and was much happier doing what I was doing.)



A not very special photo of a Suffolk ram - love the black heads!



A fine Jacob ram.

And then let's see if these work - traditional English village pursuits!

The first;

And on second thoughts, the only, as the other is so very similar, and just how much British idiocy can anyone be expected to take! Not that I am knocking Morris dancing, I love it and have known many fine dancers.

OK, so, after a greyish start, today was another lovely day. We had a few chores to do, but then decamped outside with spinning wheels and kittens. The combination was not felicitous! Felinitous or felonious, maybe......

That Ruby is one big problem. She is too bold by half, and wants to Explore, with no fear of people or dogs. Cars she is reasonably wary of. anyway, we had a bit of a wander around with them, and then sat for an hour or so and spun Shetland tops for knitting samples. All nice and peaceful. I just hope I haven't collected any more midge bites, one armful is enough, thank you very much.

Two more days!!

Seeing red

No, I'm not angry. Well, no more than usual at the state of the world, and its "Emperor's New Clothes" attitude; and the lies and the spin and the cheating and the chicanery....no, I'm no more angry than usual.

I'm looking at real things.

I was out taking photographs - to which we shall come - and then, uploading them from the camera, I found this one.



Seaweed, taken at Hemmick, of course. but it fits so well with today's theme, that I include it. I like it, anyway.

Then there is this.



I am not actually that huge a fan of sedum. but today, the colour is right, and besides, they are attracting hundreds and hundreds of beautiful butterflies, swathes of peacocks and tortoisehells and red admirals (there's that colour again!) So, it earns a place here.

But what I really went out to photograph was the shawl. The dyeing is finished. I still haven't blocked it, but here we be, and let me tell you, I am thrilled with it.



The colour is slightly more subdued than it appears to my monitor. And just exactly what I had wanted, if I had known what that was. Best of all, it does appear to be dyed evenly!

Well, zipedeedoodah! I know that technically it is my second lace shawl, but it feels like my first. The first with a lace edging, anyway, and one of those fancy schmancy real and actual patterns. So, I'm crowing (and that's not something you hear very often!)

If and when anyone sees it in the flesh, you will be amazed by all the flaws and fudges and whatevers. Say nowt. I'm just sayin'.

OK, we are in to countdown time. One week today and we are gone. There's a fair bit to do. Which probably includes a trip to Masham - well, gotta get the priorities right......

Diving off the high board

Saturday was Guild, and a good day it was too. I didn't do the workshop - quite wished that I had, as it looked interesting, but I already have a) enough projects on the go; and b) enough projects stalled and never likely to be resumed. So I decided to sit and chat, and spindle spin.

I took my biggest Michael Williams spindle, at 60 gm, much heavier than I normally use, but I have to say a dream. (Now, there's a surprise!) I wanted to spin a relatively thick yarn for me - hence the big spindle - and apart from getting going on Friday evening, I did a spindle full on Saturday. Most satisfactory.

We left earlyish, too. Errands to run. A new mobile phone for me as my not desperately old one had unaccountably died. So I have a spiffy new purple! one, a camera phone, but with a data cable this time. And it's a radio and a MP3 player. Cor - all this technology, however shall I cope?

Also had to purchase a new dehumidifier, so that we no longer have to live in a swamp; and a new fridge - things are growing in the old one and I do not mean in a good way. Plus several more lorry-loads of food for the mogs, the downside of having doubled the population overnight.

Speaking of whom, the new adults have been venturing outside. Ruby is a monster - once off the harness, straight into the lane, rushing about, getting into the Troll's garden. Ack. They have driven me to drink.

And.

OK, I have one photograph. A really bad and pointless one, but the best I can do for the moment.

I completely forgot to take some of the ....ta da.....completed alpaca shawl, Meadow Flowers (??) from Knitters Stash. Yes, every last stitch of body and edging, the straying stitches caught in, and the ends buried.

But that isn't the end of the matter. I didn't want an off-white shawl, so it had to be dyed. Originally, I was going to use an acid dye, but slowly came to the conclusion that natural would be much more satisfying. Pondering the matter further lead me to choose cochineal, if which I knew I had both extract and bugs. And, in a hurry as usual, I opted for extract....except that when I came to investigate, I didn't have sufficient to do both the shawl and the two skeins of spindle spun yarn. So I threw in an equal quantity of lac extract.

Its still sitting out there in the dark. If you leave a dye pot to completely cool, it will often exhaust completely as well. This should give me a good rich colour, which I am hoping will be of an even coverage - I was really careful with turning it all very gently at frequent intervals. So, please......



Fingers crossed.