A quick hello

It has been an oxymoron of a week - mind bogglingly long yet so-oo busy that it flew by. I am very tired, both in body and mind.

I have managed the odd snatch-moment to craft - with eyes half lidded and fingers feeling stuffed fat I have been knitting - not just my sky-scarf which grows larger daily (why am I surprised at that!) but attempting more 'grown up stuff'.

Yes that is a circular needle - I know, I can't believe it either.

My wool shop is ticking over nicely, more orders posted this weekend  and I've had to order more yarns - such a terrible shame!!

It's nice to be 'back', I will pop over and visit you soon, just after I've knit a row or two of course :)

Wool delivery

After the excitement of Yarnival, life has more or less returned to my sort of normal.

On Saturday just before we went for our most delicious walk (yes I know a mixture of terms here - delicious and walk - for those purists out there, I concede that delicious is usually associated with something in the food line, but in my head 'delicious' is the perfect word to describe how wonderful it is to get out and walk again - so there!) Now where was I - oh yes, before we went for our DELICIOUS walk, the postie landed with a parcel for my wool shop.

Now, even though I know what is in the parcel (coz I ordered them) I still get excited!

I could barely contain myself as I pulled open the paper and breathed in the scent of lanolin - gorgeous!

I sold out all but three balls of my Isle of Auskerry and have orders for more - and here they are for you to feast your eyes on!

Do you know what I love about yarns and wool?

They are non-fattening and you can fondle them with out being seen as too peculiar!  

Any way, this evening I will be listing these as back in the hawthorn tree, now just to wait for the rest of my yarn orders to land - getting excited again!

Oh well, time to stop playing and go to work. Doing double shifts this week, so better get going!
Have a lovely sunny day where ever you are!

 hawthorn xxxxxx

Sunshine and yarn - bliss

Today was beautiful - we packed early (well for us, it was early) and set off towards Sedbergh in Cumbria. Our plan was to wander around the town which has many wonderful bookshops and antique shops, have a picnic lunch before setting off for our walk.

We stepped inside Westwood Bookshop and spent ages trawling through loads and loads of yummy books. It would have been rude not to buy at least one (or four) books....erhem.... which, between the boys and myself we did!

The first book - Knitting School caught my eye quite early on but I wasn't able to reach it as there was a woman steadfastly hogging the knitting section. I hovered for a while but she wasn't for moving. So I decided on a tactical retreat and went to find my boys.  I returned a short while later and discovered that 'my' book was still there and I grabbed it. Right next to it - as if it was fate - or luck - or something to do with that they are both knitting books and start with the letter K..... was Kristin Knits - oh it is full of inspiration and colourful knitting. Quite folky but definitely not twee - I was really really happy with my purchases (especially since I have found out I got my books for way less than half price and they are both almost new!)

We wandered through the town a bit more and came across the 'Community Charity Shop'. What a wonderful emporium of second hand delights! We came out with a mug (for me) a jar of beads (err for me) and a dog watering bottle/bowl type thing for the dog (not me!) And the grand total of our spendies in this charity shop? a whole £1.50 - wow!

Any hoo - spent up and happy we headed off to the river for our picnic - which was delish -  we sat in glorious hot sun ( in March!) We saw bumble bees and butterflies - such a treat.

Replete and ready for our walk I took along the necessary items...camera - check, sun glasses - check, knitting...check.

Every time we stopped - out came my wip. The yarn was generously donated by Fiona of TizDuster and is to be turned into squares for blankets for Japan. I just loved sitting in the sunshine and knitting much to the amusement of other walkers. My family are quite used to me crafting as we go along and no longer bat a collective eyelid.

Our walk continued in such a delightful way - we really really enjoyed it (my knee on the other hand is still debating about the amount of exercise it is getting....)  

Just one last picture - of Eldest... yes that is a sheep's skull on his back and yes that is a festive copper wreath frame on his head.... and no I didn't question him why...... 

Today is definitely a 'rest day'

I must have a very short memory or a very tolerant streak - I joined my laughing friend for another walk. She very kindly decided a slightly different route avoiding my demon in the woods and we went off through the fields.

Every field has sprouted lambs. Every where, of all shapes and colours. This means the dogs have to stay on leads much to their collective disgust but they soon forgot and enjoyed their time out. It was bliss, the feeling of being out and being active. Each walk I do gets easier on my knee.


Inspired by my walk-ability, I decided that when I finished work I would walk up to Himself's works and then come home with him. So, Giddy Dog and I set off in what I thought was plenty of time. I hadn't realised how tiring pavement-walking was and I found I was walking all jerkily - not good. I only just got to his works in time - I was ABSOLUTELY shattered!

Today I am walking rather tenderly.....hmmm - think I might tackle that stile first before I set off to meet Himself again!

What style/stile......!?

I have a nemesis........ it has a certain style about itself.

It dwells, troll-like in the woods.

Green and sometimes slippery - it waits.....for me......


The first 'biggish' walk out with a friend, I  blithely stepped forward, a cheerful pace made, happy happy heart...when......( a very Red Riding Hood moment here) lurking in the woods was....this.......

Chatting with my friend, our dogs blissfully snuffling away, following scents new and old, we approached the small woodland edge. There at the boundary is a stone wall, tumbled and ancient with an almost as decrepit fence supplying a supporting role.

Closer and closer to my doom I innocently tramped... the dogs unaware of impending horror just leapt over the demon that awaited me....

My friend hopped over equally as agilely, not breaking from her chatter or into a sweat, then it was my turn.

I stepped over with my 'good' leg and my 'bad' leg was to just follow...only it didn't. I was left teetering on the stile, with left leg in front and right leg wafting about and not bending.

Ok....ok...I thought, I can do this, so I stepped back, and attempted to put my right leg over first (at this point, my dear and true friend had started to laugh at me) this too failed.

I stepped back - the dogs, confused by my dithering,hopped back and forth only increasing my frustration and my friends laughter (I call her my friend rather lightly at this point - in my hour of kneed!)

I tried again, hoisting myself up on to the wobbly stile, levering my right left first and swinging my more able left leg over, the drop on the other side although not large is eye-watering enough when you land smack on to the top of the stile..... said ex-friend is laughing so hard she has tears in her eyes, the dogs have given up and gone for a paddle in the stream and I am smiling (grimacing in pain) as I haul myself over.

Humph....................

sky scarf progress

.......has been slow. But at last I have been able to snatch a few moments before work or last thing at night before going to bed to do a row or two. Like I say - progress is slow.

As a new knitter I am struck how slo-o-o-o-w knitting is compared to crochet - that could be down to the fact I am still unsure.

I have also decided that knitting is far more of a combat sport than a relaxing hobby. Normally I can grab a hook and a ball of yarn-to-go and while sitting in the car dash off a few rows. I have even gone walking with hook-n-wool and made granny squares or when my ripple blanket was still but a scarf sized stripling I took it out walking with me all over the hills and it grew glorious zig-zag ripple row by row as the miles disappeared under my feet.

Could I have taken knitting with me? I suspect not..... Each needle demands an enormous amount of personal space as I wave them around. They stab my thumb when I am not looking and quick as a flash make a sudden escape by sliding out of the stitches and vanishing beneath cushions.

I can be seen hunching over my scarf, tongue sticking out in deep concentration - the occasional (ok ok frequent) cuss as I drop a stitch or find that despite counting the pattern is looking like a positive skew, which I am lead to believe is a mathematical term for a measurement of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real valued random variable - yup - that sounds like my knitting.

Am I enjoying it? Strangely yes in a 'challenging' sort of way.

Now to sort out the basket.....

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A Tuesday Ta-daa

On Friday, in between having physio for my knee, getting things ready for Yarnival and having to go off to work earlier than usual to cover for a colleague on leave.....I did a random bit of crafting.

We'd planned to have a jar full of knitting needles at the knit and natter corner for any one to pick up and use and it was up to me to sort it out. I just did not have anything suitable and had been racking my already over-stuffed brain and could only come up with this.....

A hand thrown pot I have had for years and years and has gradually moved further to the back of the cupboard as colours,taste and fashion changed. I never got rid of it as there was nothing wrong with it - I had just become tired of it. In desperate need for a container for the needles and rapidly running out of time I had resigned to using this pot. Then it hit me - 

A few years ago, when I was still learning to crochet I made this - 

 

I blogged about it here and since then, this piece of crochet practise just hung around not doing anything, not becoming anything until Friday. I grabbed it, stared at it for a brief moment ~ and remembering the success I have had in the past with cutting crochet ~ I got hold of a pair of scissors and cut about a third off, wrapped it around the jar, stitched it tight and turned it into this.......

To say I am pleased with the results - is an underestimation of how surprised and happy I am at how it turned out. 

So a happy me skipped off to work (happy with my jar that is!) and on Saturday I was really chuffed to see it sitting there in the knit and natter corner filled with needles.

And now?

Well - funnily enough, it is now still full of needles and sits pride of place in the centre of the rumpus-room table, look - see what I mean!

Happy? - yup.