oh, my aching limbs

Well I woke up this morning and my limbs did protest...

Could it be because, ever eager to try new things and expand my skills, I headed out here

yesterday morning?

Whoooops. That's just the view from where I headed yesterday. This is where I actually went:

the rather wonderful White House Arts.

Here Roger Prime

(felter, teacher and textiles whizz extraordinaire) showed us how to make reversible, seam-free bags in our very own felt. Roger is a wonderful tutor, enthusiastic, encouraging and able to diagnose why I went wrong when I did.

Once I was over my initial excitement at seeing a plethora of vivid shades of merino tops (from Wingham Woolwork), it all seemed so peaceful and relaxing...just roll gently, rub for a while, but I'd forgotten how my legs lock if I stand still for any length of time, and after 8 hours at the work bench, and rolling each of my 3 felt items over 800 times...I limped to the bus stop!

But look what I made: a small piece of felt (ideal for a tiny purse) with impressionistic "birds" (an idea pinched from Navajo weavings), a brown clutch bag to go with my favourite dress and also with one of my favourite hat/scarf combos (still got some finishing touches to add to the clutch bag, so watch this space)
and (hidden in the bubblewrap) a large, freeform pouch in a soft white, sandwiched around around the colour of kingfisher wing feathers, with highlights of terracotta, violet, lime, eau de nil, pink... This, too isn't quite ready for you to see yet (even though I completed the rolling and rubbing once I got home) as it has a hole at the bottom, so I'm going to be sewing later this week.


All in all, a brilliant day and I can't wait for the nuno felt course Roger is teaching next month! (But I will remind myself to walk round a bit more, in the hope of having less ouchy legs).

the recipe for happiness?

It has to be said that caught knitting is rarely caught cake baking. In fact, since the great Rock-Cakes-at-My-Birthday-Party Debacle of 1977 (is it really polite to point out to the hostess--me-that her rock-cakes are so solid they could do duty as genuine rocks?) I have entirely abandoned such culinary pursuits. Oh, apart from the time I was dragooned into helping my nieces assemble a gingerbread cottage. It ended up looking more like an abandoned shack, and I solemnly informed them that this was due to "too much excitement", rather than admitting to my complete lack of skill in the sweetmeats department...

Caught knitting is also (a)untidy, (b)incapable of sewing a straight seam and (c)very fond of buying cookery, needlework and beautiful homes-type books and magazines. In fact, poor old Graham once came to visit my bachelorette pad, tripped over a pile of (dirty) laundry, then nearly got smothered by a landslide of balls of yarn and snapped "if only you would spend time doing good housekeeping rather than reading it". These days I am a reforming character. Well, the laundry is under control and the yarn is stowed in baskets, and pop-up landry bins, and duvet bags and hampers, and cardboard boxes and.... Just don't look at my desk, which is the untidiest spot in the house!

But I still indulge my idle dreams of domestic perfection, so I've been eagerly awaiting the publication of Yarnstorm's book: The Gentle Art of Domesticity. I hadn't actually been planning to buy it until a paperback became available, but then I discovered My Recipe for Happiness: no quince jelly. This is a mealy-mouthed attack on Jane Brocket (Yarnstorm) by Liz Hunt inThe Telegraph, and such viscious writing that I felt compelled to go and view the book immediately.

This took quite some doing, as the book itself is hard to classify. In Waterstones I was told that it was in "Crafts" but it eventually turned up in "Household". In Heffers it was in the cookery section, though there is scarcely a recipe in it. (There are, however, some illustrations of awesome shark attack cakes complete with red jam injuries. Yum. Maybe it is time to do more cake-decorating wtih the nieces?)

Difficult as the book may be to categorise, Liz Hunt certainly has some choice labels for Jane Brocket, though. How about "yet another proselytising former high-flyer turned homemaker"?

I'll let you make up your own minds about both the book and the article. But (inspired by Brocket's photography) I'm now off to arrange lots of pretty still-life shots of yarn and needles to make labels for all those items that I try to sell alongside the quince jelly on the market each Thursday!

edited to add several hours of reading later, I'm delighted that I bought the book. Got so absorbed in it, in fact, that I forgot to take the pictures. Ah well, maybe tomorrow (after a day's felting course, yippee).

wot? no ripples?

Fanfare and drum roll, please! It is now 7 days since I last rippled. Instead, I've been knitting a short-sleeved kimono-style top from the Rowan Tapestry Collection, using some Freedom Spirit. It is going to loook very peculiar, as (against my better judgment) I followed the instructions... the garment is knitted entirely in stocking stitch, even though there are no welts/borders at the base of the sleeves and body. So we have major rolling up. I think I'll be trying to at least stabilise the edges with double crochet, and maybe even work a couple of chains across the fabric of the body to stop it curling. (I knew I should've done a couple of garter ridges after the first 8 or 10 rows but just carried on following the instructions). The Rowan stylists must've blocked the heck out of the Tapestry to get non-rolling seams. Snarl...

And now for something much better:



Surprises from my secret pal! Not one, but two, selections of chocolatey delights

and some glorious self-striping sock yarn which will probably be used to make some eye-catching headgear to liven up my black-going-to-work outfits. The parcel came from Germany, but I don't think I've found my spoiler's blog yet...

ripple mania

Here we are: two more ripple scarves since Saturday...

I wonder whether this obsession might not be getting a wee bit out of control?

When not either at work or rippling madly, I've spent most of the last few days with my friend Tamy, in Cambridge on a flying visit from Singapore. Here she is wrapped up against the elements

as we explored the Botanic Gardens


Lastly, I found this over at Shona's blog. As I'm generally sound asleep at midnight and don't strike myself as even remotely eccentric, this was a real surprise. (Others may beg to differ).

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

It's a hard life...

First you strain to catch that elusive thought...

then you catch it and put it on paper...

then you have to recover!


(Graham at The Orchard Tea Rooms, Granchester on Sat 22 Sept)

ecquinoctal stroll

Yesterday, with the year poised between summer and autumn, we headed off to Granchester to sip iced tea and work on our current projects (an article on Coleridge in Graham's case, yet another ripple stitch scarf in mine) then we wandered back to Cambridge through the meadows, past the cows,

spotting signs of autumn,

as we ambled by the river.

Even once we were back in Cambridge the cows were out in force (this one was on Laundress Green!

are teenaged knitters the key to the future?

Graham spotted this in The Telegraph a couple of days ago. (I was rather staggered to note that "mums over 45 constitute the biggest-growing group in the games playing market". Are they craftily stealing playstations as their kids pack for uni? )

caught sitting

We get a box of organic veg delivered every Tuesday. The idea is that as the new boxful is delivered, the previous (now, of course,empty) box is removed. But someone seems to have taken a shine to this week's box:

(U)FO

Meet the Unidentifiable Finished Object

(NB, kindly focus your gaze upon the knitted object and not Graham's very smart measuring tape!)
It was supposed to be a tray for displaying my crocheted corsages, but, well, goodness; does Rowan Tapestry felt, or does it felt? (Clue: the answer is YES).
It went into the machine at 14" diameter and came out (one 60 degree cycle later) as 7" diameter. It is the thickest, most plumptious felt ever. The combination of soy and wool (each felting at its own rate) has created a fluffy, boucle fabric.


But what's a girl to do with an under-sized tray?

Option 1: the frisbee. (unphotographable) I discovered this option when I removed it from the washing machine and, so angry with the drastic shrinkage, flung it the length of the garage. Not sure whether this had more to do with the strength of my rage than with the item's inherent aerodynamic potential...

Option 2: the exceptionally silly hat (photos censored out of consideration for model!) Would need addition of elastic for true functionality.

Option 3: the wallhanging. Just add beads and embroidery and....nah, too pretentious by half.

Option 4: fold in half, and use as a knitted cornish pasty.


But, then again, why???

Option 5: teapot mat.



I think this will have to be what it becomes. Unless anyone else has any ideas?!!!

Since completing this I've made something which I love (and with which it will be most difficult to part.) But it is a secret surprise, so I'm not showing you!

this week's FOs

This week I've been using some of my stash of yarns that I've dyed recently and whipped up a few items to sell via the country market. (Not that any of them actually did sell today, but there's always another week).

First off, a ripple stitch scarf.


The stitch is Gary's Ripple (from Jan Eaton's 200 Ripple Stitches) and it has to be the most addictive stitch pattern ever. This must be about the 10th scarf I've made using this stitch since July! The yarn here is the awful Jaeger Como that I jolly nearly shipped off to a charity shop. It nearly drove me mad when I tried to knit with it (splitting and puckering) but it behaved really well once coupled with my 6.5mm Susan Bates silvalume crochet hook.

Then there are 3 pairs of bootees (2 pairs in DK and one, the green one, in 4-ply).

They're worked in one piece, from the sole up and are distantly related to a yellow, lacy pair in a pattern that Patons published many moons ago (and which I've long since lost.) I'm particularly pleased with the 4-ply yarn, the softest lambswool that I got from Texere and which I've dyed in all sorts of unisex colourways (green with russet and blue; green with red and turquoise; green with purple; green with brown...do we see a pattern emerging here?)

knitting and dreaming

Decided to have a really lazy day yesterday and headed off to Cambridge Botanic Garden.

I found my favourite seat

which gives these two wonderful views


and knitted away for ages, with only the odd passing squirrel to distract me. Once I'd cast off I went for a stroll and fun taking pictures of reflections!

Just a perfect day...

Yesterday started off well, with Radio 3 playing my absolute favourite piece of music, Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies. (Sadly I couldn't get the youtube code to embed, so you'll have to click on the link! Also note, the youtube performance is on a guitar, it is even better on the piano.) I've been totally hooked on his work since I saw the premier of Le Jongleur de Notre Dame at the King's Lynn Festival in 1978 (Based on a medieval French story, and performed in St Nicholas Chapel, the cast included a rather stunning juggler.)

But back to yesterday! Next I had the wonderful task of choosing which of my handpaint yarns to work with next, then the carpeneter turned up to put a much-needed cabinet in our bathroom! Leaving him working, Graham and I headed off to town (Graham to the University Library and me to browse craft markets and bookshops)then we met for a half at The Granta, followed by lunch at The Rice Boat.

Obviously, we had to walk off all this indulgenece, so we wandered over Granchester Meadows (famously celebrated by Pink Floyd, another favourite track) and then came to rest in The Orchard Tearooms.

Lemonade was consumed,


ripples were hooked


and then (now totally overcome by waves of laziness) we reminded ourselves that it was a whole week since we'd travelled on a double decker bus (yes, we are both big kids at heart) so we decided to do the 2 miles back to the centre of Cambridge by bus! We were beaten to the upstairs front seats by two Japanese visitors but still had an exciting ride. As the the bus tore through country lanes it was ripping off leaves from overhanging boughs and the leaves landed in our laps. Huge fun.

the costs of being a hooker

After a mammoth dyeing session (er, that's mammoth as in "huge" as opposed to mammoth as in "extinct mammal"!) on Wednesday I now have lots of Jaeger Como in wild colour mixes inspired by (a) the blackberry bush next to which I did the dyeing (on a pasting table in the garden) and (b) a somewhat Gustav Klimt palette of golds and oranges, with flashes of greens and turquoises. Since I'm totally hooked on croceheted ripple stitch scarves at the moment I think I'll use the yarn to make more. But, big but, I realised that I'd need some large hooks. The ball band specifies 8mm, but I like drape, so I've decided to try 9mm, too.

Alas, I couldn't find any in my supplies bag. So off to town. And the awful discovery that the only large crochet hooks available in Cambridge at the moment are Pony hooks. AARGH. I hate Pony hooks. The hooked end is all catchy and splitty! After several months of intensive crochet I've realised that my top favourite hooks are susan Bates silverlume aluminium (and not just because of the gorgeous colours), followed by Britanny, followed by any other hook that isn't Pony.

Worse was to come. Not only did I have to buy Pony hooks, but in these large sizes they cost £3.30 each. Ouch.

End of rant!

Ravelry

I'm in. My user name is caughtknitting. Not sure whether I'll be able to do any knitting or crocheting this evening, though as I've gone and cut a finger whilst at work. Not a bad cut, just an awkward place.

the ultimate throwaway line?

Hooray! Radio 4's Pick of the Week has just included an excerpt from a programme broadcast on Radio 3 last week, about the discovery of the original manuscript of Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur. And it included what has to be the ultimate in thowaway lines, speaking of somebody "betrayed by his wife, who made him seven years a werewolf". And that's all. No further explanation! Mind you, Malory himself had a colourful (if werewolf-free) life as you can read here.

Whilst on the subject of literature, here's a poem by that prolific poet Anon:


A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?


And here is Crazy Big Owl, he of the crazy eyes (and stuffing session) I mentioned last night:

He's based on the "Cute Little Owl" pattern from the latest (Sep/Oct) issue of Crochet Today. This was, unbelievably, on sale in W.H.Smith, complete with an insert suggesting suitable Patons yarns for each project. (Mind you, since many projects use worsted weight yarns the list virtaully read "Washed Haze Aran, Washed Haze Aran, Washed Haze Aran" and so on and on and on). Needless to say, I did not use the recommened yarn for this project (guess what, Washed Haze Aran!) but raided the stash basket for super chunky and chunky-weight yarns. And, well, let's just say that I had my own particular vision of how the eyes should look!

gizmo heaven

Today has been spent happily playing with two new toys (I didn't really want to admit that they are toys but have no idea whether a pluralised gizmo has an "e" in it or not).

Gizmo numero uno cost a mere £1.25 and is a teeny little plastic device for winding embroidery floss onto bobbins. I'm using it to transfer Anchor Perle onto bobbins. It is a wee bit ricketty (and has to be clipped onto one of those dinky little boxes used for storing skeins of floss) but costs even less than a half of cider. Remarkably it came from a cycle shop. But not just any old cycle shop. No, Ely Cycle Centre is the most unexpected store ever. To start with, the bikes are upstairs, which strikes me as crazy (especially as this is a steep, twisty, staircase). But as well as bikes you can find: model kits, DIY equipment, toys galore (I very nearly bought a stick-on party moustache but there were so many to choose from that I gave up!)and an enormous craft section. Strictly speaking, there isn't much for knitters. But with crochet yarn, buttons, beads, fabric (and more) you're bound to find something that you need (even if you didn't realise it when you set out).

Whilst in Ely


(NB this picture was taken on an earlier visit; yesterday was decidedly overcast) we also visited the Cathedral and Topping Books, where Graham bought me this gorgeous tome as an anniversary gift!

The other new gizmo is an Ashford Niddy Noddy from Scottish Fibres (exemplary service, as always!). It is supplied unfinished, so Graham kindly smoothed it with fine sandpaper and we both had fun waxing it with some ancient beeswax polish. Now (at last) I can create consistently-sized skeins and it is such fun to do. When I went into the interstices of the garage to hunt the polish I spotted 7 balls of Jaeger Como (an impulse buy that I regretted) destined for the next charity shop run. I looked more closely: 90% merino, 10% polyamide... Suddenly I saw it with new eyes: dyers eyes. Yes, it may knot easily and pucker as you knit. But I can convert the off-greige colour into rainbow loveliness and it should be good for corsage-making, if nothing else. No prizes for guessing what the niddy noddy has been skeining!

And now it is owl-stuffing time (not to be confused with this ) and I must crochet some mad eyes. All will be revealed. But not today.

Transformation (crochet content!)

Do you remember these rather sickly looking yarns?



Thanks to Liz's tuition (hop over to Liz's blog and scroll down to 8 July to see just what went on), and thanks to some money invested in dyes and a steamer,I was able to convert them into this:



Whilst at Liz's I noticed that she had a wonderful storage solution: lots of knitted, felted pots and baskets. So I decided to follow suit (albeit in crochet).
So far I have created 2 tubs for my dressing table



But those monkeys who hang out in our bedroom seem to have different ideas...

so near, and yet...

Ravelry seems to be inviting about 240-250 people a day.

Now look at where I am

Found you!
You signed up on June 25, 2007
You are #11030 on the list.
301 people are ahead of you in line.
18720 people are behind you in line.
36% of the list has been invited so far

Yes, there's an entire weekend in the way!

(Here ends the grumpy post, look out for some crochet content coming soon!)

some bank holiday entertainment

As recommended by the nieces!



Altogether now: "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape..."

Tying the knot... (Crochet content!)

Q.
What on earth is Graham doing

putting a tie on

on what must be one of the hottest days of the year?


A. He is showing what a devoted husband he is by modelling the tie I've crocheted him to celebrate the fact that, two years ago today, we "tied the knot" at Cambridge Register Office.

The yarn is Jaeger baby merino 4-ply (formerly cream but now green burgundy and indigo after a dyeing session at Liz's) and the pattern came from one of those ancient Patons crochet brochures. I'm not sure that the tapering at the point is ideal, and I hope that wet pressing will cure it, but I could not face the iron this afternoon!

We've celebrated with a delicious meal and a few glasses of wine, and Graham has uttered his inevitable pun: "Anniversary? Don't you mean "Any worse-ery?"

Having a monster time...

Peace and quiet have returned to our home as the nieces were collected by their mother at 1pm, to be taken on to Nanny and Grandad. Actually, their visit was much quieter than it might have been, as Fashion Victim was unable to play the guitar she'd brought with her!

As you will see, Uncle Graham decided to exploit Miss Pegs's youthful energy:



Yesterday was spent crafting: friendship bracelets, hand-painting yarn and sewing monsters, inspired by the fantastic ones in Monda's etsy shop. Here's a close-up (taken by Fashion Victim) of some of our efforts:



(Somehow I don't think we'll be competing with Monda for Etsy sales, but these were huge fun to make!)

This morning was spent in the garden, soaking up the unexpectedly bright weather:


(The models' hats kindly loaned by Uncle Graham. Note very shy model on the right!)

Yet more friendship bracelets were produced, bubbles were blown and FV got to play with auntie's camera:

a true fashion victim

Fun and games here today, as my nieces have come to stay! The day got off to a bad start when I walloped my head and shoulder on a sloping ceiling. Surely, after that, things could only get better?

We had fun trying out crochet chains, we had a really great meal, and then.... E&J went to get themselves ice-creams. Only J came back, telling me that E had fallen over and hurt herself. A rather woebegone E told me that she'd dislocated her wrist. Happily, there was a first-aider close at hand who applied an icepack and suggested that maybe we got the writst looked at by A&E. I was still baffled about the cause of E's fall. Hmmm.... Turned out that she'd tripped on her amazingly long, decidedly ripped jeans....

One trip to A&E later and we have a broken bone to report! The niece formerly-known as Goth Niece is henceforward known as Fashion Victim Niece. Once we got home we decided to postpone our yarn-painting session until tomorrow, not least because cruel Uncle Graham was making jokes along the lines of "at 1pm I broke my wrist, at 6pm I dyed".


Let's hope that Fashion Victim Niece (E), Miss Pegs (J) and I have a less eventful day tomorrow.

On drying the dyeing

It was a wee bit overcast when Marianne and Maisie came over to dye on Friday but, as you can see (and there's a much better picture here) it was dry enough to put the skeins out on the washing line...

As you can see, we steam set the skeins. Liz likens this stage to cumberland sausages and those little steamed cloths you get in Indian restaurants. But, well, this one reminded us of something far less savoury. Or, as Marianne put it: "What would Gillian McKeith make of this one?"

Unfortunately, I decided that it would be a good idea to leave my yarn on the line overnight. Huge mistake. It ended up even wetter than when it went out, necessitating a long spell in the airing cupboard.

But what's a girl to do when even the airing cupboard isn't drying things? Clearly these skeins needed to be hung up to air, with a little help from my monkeys:

Having done such sterling work in finally gettting the yarn dry, I gave in to the monkeys' request to look after everything that emerged from the cauldron on Friday.

My favourites are the lengths of nylon velvet ribbon which you might just about be able to make out, as I've coiled them onto spools. But Graham has fallen in love with the 100% silk on the right.

Jenn's SP11 Contest (yet more questions)

I'm in Jenn's group for SP11 and she's asked us to Blog the answers to some questions. They may look easy, but I've had a tought time answering some of them...

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?

I'm assuming that yarn, needles and time (albeit in tiny snatches!) don't count as accessories, so the only other thing I always have is me is my trusty Chibi case and sewing-up needles. This was a gift from Liz and the first time I tried one of the needles out I was really frustrated by the curved end, but the more I use it, the more I love it.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?
Yes (the thought of travelling without it is unthinkable) but I've learned to travel very light: I take oddments of 4-ply yarn and perle sewing thread, 3.25mm dpns and 3mm and 1.5mm crochet hooks then I'm all set to work anything from crocheted corsages to baby bootees to small modular knit bags. they're in my bag even for my journey to work. For a vacation I'll add a pair of 5.5mm needles (sometimes my Peace fleece ones, sometimes my Britanny needles) and the addresses of any yarn stores within a 20-mile radius of wherever I'm staying. The 5.5mm needles are on the offchance that I might encounter some Noro (Kureyon, Blossom or Silk Garden)...I made 3 scarves after visiting Bobbins in Whitby this time last year....


3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?
Didima Camp in the Drakensburg Mountains, South Africa. With this view


plus some modular knitting, my husband and a gin & tonic, well, what more can a girl ask? But the yarn shop I found in Gamla Stan (the old town of Stockholm) a few years ago runs a very close second (it is where I first saw, and purchased Noro yarn)!

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?
I've not seen it in real life but I'm lusting after Invisible Threads in Knitting by Annemor Sundbo. Sadly it does not seem to be available in the UK, sigh.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?
Sadly not, as my broadband connection is very unreliable.

secret things, exciting things

Yippee, I've just had details of the person I'm spoiling in SP11. And just in case the person spoiling me has dropped in, head back to my entry on 7 August to view the SP11 questionnaire.

Now I must go and transform the kitchen into a dyeing zone, as Marianne and Maisie are coming to play this afternoon and I've bought pale yellow silk, patchily faded mauve merion and odds and ends of strangely-textured nylon yarns and ribbons to experiment with. (And thanks to Liz, for tipping me off that nylon yarns need a good prewash and musn't have any areas left unpainted, unless I want white dots!)

Absence of knitting content...

I'm in a grumpy don't-know-what-to-make-next mood. And I'm beginning to wonder whether I should change the name of this blog!

Since escaping from the joys of retail management 10 weeks ago (10 weeks already?!) I have only one knitted FO to report (a pair of modular knit bootees, designed and dyed by me. They sold rather faster than I expected, so I failed to get a photo of them!).

But I've handpainted 14 skeins of yarn and crocheted at least 8 scarves (mainly in chevrons using yarns that provide plenty of colour changes like Twilleys Freedom Spirit and Rowan Tapestry). I've made a very strange hat: it doubles up as a drawstring bag and would be ideal for a medieval peasant who suddenly came across oh, I don't know, truffles. I've crocheted and felted a slightly lopsided but altogether lovely basket to hold my lipstick collection. And I've lost count of how many corsages and brooches I've made (I'd hazard a guess at around 20). I've been doing a brisk trade in these via Cambridge country market and the scarves are destined for there, too, once the weather cools down.

On the hook at the moment is a crochet bootee from a 1970s pattern. I'm still a bit uncertain about my patten reading skills when it comes to crochet and this is more of a "recipe" book, by which I mean it will say things like "crochet along side of foot, across toe, down side of foot and across heel" but doesn't tell you how many stitches to crochet up from the sides. It looks a bit weird and puckered!

Ideas started and abandoned include my old amour Edgar, but worked with crocheted mitres, rather than knitted ones. I dabbled with this on Saturday and it looked quite good but, as I hate crocheting the first row from a foundation chain, and this pattern requires stitches to be added every few rows, I gave up.

So now I'm looking for a simple project demanding zilch concentration to work on at tomorrow night's KTog.One that doesn't involve crochet. Or chevrons.

Edited to correct links (thanks to Mary for the heads up!) I'm used to Blogger swallowing my photos but it has only done this to my links once before...

What a shower!

Graham and I spent a happy ten minutes in our back garden last night watching the shooting stars of the perseid meteor shower. Amazing to think that these vivid streaks in the sky were travelling at 135,000 miles/hour...

only in Cambridge...

The infamous Cambridge "bin busker" is back. Follow the link and you'll see that this is a chap who sits inside a rubbish bin, with just the neck of his guitar sticking out, serenading passers-by and those of us waiting at the Bridge Street bus stop.

So there I was, enjoying the strains of "where do you go to my lovely," when suddenly the bin busker was drowned out by an amplified voice singing "if I were a rich man". The new, more high-tech busker, was being pedalled round in a tri-shaw, which was doing a very short circuit centred on, yes, the Bridge Street Busker.

Busker Wars! Whatever next?

the joy of surprises

Today has been huge fun. We invited a friend to lunch (a very simple collation of mushrooms a la grecque; a dip made from canellini beans, carrot and dill; baked halloumi cheese; all washed down with white wine spritzers) and finally, finally we brought out our picnic table and dined in the garden for the first time this year.

Despite the blistering heat, I gave Margie a scarf that I'd crocheted for the occasion(today is the 20th anniversary of her arrival in the UK from South Africa) and she presented us with a bunch of deep red sweet peas (such seductive scent) and a large bundle of spinach and spinach beet from her garden. But she had an ever better surprise up her sleeve: a trip to the gardens of Docwra Manor, just on the other side of Cambridge. Here 2.5 acres of erstwhile farmland have been transformed into a series of garden "rooms" (I was going to say "miniature gardens" but as each of these little enclosures is about the size of our backgarden, that might be exaggeration!)

You can take a virtual tour here! But if you live within travelling distance I recommend going in peson. Every corner holds a new surprise (my favourite was a tiny circular water feature with a resident frog) and there are lots of gorgeous sights, scents and sounds to enjoy.

strange slogans on t-shirts

I've always been a bit fussy about words on t-shirts. In my early teens I fell in love with a beautiful design in C&A but then spotted that the "French" slogan was really just gibberish. So back on the rail it went.

Alas, the many teenagers currently studying at Cambridge's many language schools are less concerned. In the last 10 days I've spotted

* "let the fon begin"
(as a hopeless typist myself I suspect that this one is just a typo)

* "if I want to make stool in my pants now, you are the only one who can stop me"
(UGH!)

* "100% B&B Chivalry Style Sportwear made in Texas"(this one even had some washing instruction icons printed underneath it)

let me know if you spot anything interesting!

SP 11

Goody! There's going to be lots of blog-reading and gift buying and all-round secret stuff coming up between now and November, and no, I am not doing my Xmas shopping early this year. (AAArgh, I've just broken my never mention you-know-what before November embargo.) I'm doing something MUCH better. I've signed up for the latest Secret Pal knitting exchange. And here are my answers to the SP11 questionnaire, as whilst I'm busy devising treats and surprises for an anonymous someone, somewhere a different anonymous someone, somewhere wll be doing the same for me!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love natural fibres, especially wool, bamboo, cashmere and blends of any of these with nylon. I find that mohair makes me sneeze (though I get round that by storing it in the freezer) and I don't often use cotton. As for "fibres you absolutely do not like" can there really be such a thing?

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I've got needle rolls, pencil pots, biscuit tins, carrier bags. My husband would probably sigh and point out that despite all these storage options there are still many hooks and needles strewn (apparently) randomly around the house.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for almost 30 years, and crocheting for 2. I'd say I'm intermediate at both.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No!

5. What's your favorite scent?
The scent of yarn! But I also love lemons, lemongrass, bergamot and woody smells, also lavender and geranium.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I love dried fruit (except prunes, yuk) and dark chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I crochet, hand paint yarn and do a little bit of feltmaking. I've signed up for dayschools in felt and nuno felt during October and November. I'm not terribly good at drop spindling but a certain spouse has been dropping hints about spinning wheels...

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like world and folk music, early music (especially medieval dance tunes) and contemporary classical music (well, some of it anyway!). My computer refuses to play MP3s, sob.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like most of the colours found in nature, especially grassy and citrussy greens and berry colours of any description. But I do not like bottle green (yes, my school uniform was bottle green; if you watch the Harry Potter films, think Slytherin!) When it comes to yarns, I adore multi-coloured yarns, especially Noro.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I live with the world's best man, his daughter (aged 27) and a 16-year old tortoisehell cat, who is the gentlest cat ever.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Accessories.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Nothing! But I'm about to cast on some bootees and I'm busily crocheting funky brooches out of cotton perle embroidery thread.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Is there anything better?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
All of them, depending on how the mood takes me and how the implements and yarn get on. I have to say that I'm also influenced by looks (peace fleece needles and Britanny crochet hooks!) and colour. I do not like Pony brand crochet hooks as they make almost everything split.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I've a very ricketty metal skein holder that belonged to my grandma. Also my husband can be very useful for holding skeins. I'm the ball winder.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I dread to think, but take heart from the fact that my mother completed a short-sleeved jumper over 40 years after she started it.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
I love coast and countryside (in the UK and overseas) and enjoy exploring European cities. Yarn shopping is compulsory and steam trains should be prsent whenever possible.
edited to add: have just realised that I've based my answer on the British English definiton of "holiday" (vacation) rather than the American English one (something along the lines of festival/national holiday) for which I have no answer...!

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarn! and I'm slowly building a collection of prints/postcards featuring people knitting.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I've reached the stage where technique-type books are more alluring than patterns but I still can't get enough vintage or regional/ethnic/folk-type knitting books and social history. I don't subscribe to any mags but regularly buy Interweave Knits, Knit 1 and Selvedge (a wonderful textiles mag published in the UK).


21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Patience!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I flirt with sock knitting but suffer second sock syndrome. My feet are a UK size 6.5-7 (continental 40) and rather wide (as are my calves).


23. When is your birthday?
2 November

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
I'm awaiting my invite (see q21).

A very hard act to follow

Sorry about recent blog silence but have been deeply immersed in


(a) crochet: 3 scarves and about 14 corsages in the last 10 days! However, to stave off another bout of RSI I made sure that I also did plenty of...


(b) reading:

whilst I don't know any of R S Thomas's poetry (yet!) I was seduced into buying this book by a review in The Guardian. And I agree with those eulogies you can probably just about make out on the cover ( "A biography touched by genius" "Brilliant and unique....A masterpiece") It is also quite irritating at times, swinging around wildly from narrator to narrator, place to place, time to time (I'm too used to dry-as-dust, sequential academic tomes) but, oh, what fun. And so moving.

Beautifully produced, too, with endpapers that look as though they may have been by Stanley Spencer (or maybe, at a push, Laura Knight) but which turn out to have been by M E Eldridge, who--until I read this book--was just a name on the back of a postcard (published by Medici, in the 80s, I think) of exquisite illustrations of mice and foliage including a rosemary branch (which is why I, Rosemary, had it on my desk for many years). It turns out that "M E" was Thomas's wife, Elsi, who clearly merits a biography (and illustrated catalogue) of her own. (And I need a course in how to avoid overusing parantheses).