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to browse and drool |
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s*t*a*s*h! (blush) |
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Fine ribby alpaca/silk top-down raglan
In a beautiful blue-with-slubs 4ply. Hypnotic to knit.  Lace scarf / shawl In yarn left over from the beaded hemp top. Wavy shale pattern. Maybe this will become the shawl I promised myself this year. Sleeveless top for Toz in duck-egg blue Rowan DK Soft. Toria started it and has run out of steam. So have I. Crochet throw in sueded velour stuff Progressing slowly. Crochet is not comfortable for me.  |
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Knitty Threadbear Ozeyarn Martina for sock yarn Kangaroo House of Hemp Ford Barton Laughing Hens Hip Knits |
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I've done a shed-load of training in the last few years, some in new areas, some pretty advanced. I recommend these training establishments for outstanding integrity, professionalism and allround excellence: John F Barnes Myofascial Release Upledger Institute Craniosacral Therapy Jing Advanced Massage (I also teach with these guys) Pilates Training Solutions |
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Beautiful Bath We've just returned from a couple of days in breathtakingly beautiful Bath.  The architecture is unbelievable for those who will stop and take note. We arrived on the afternoon of the 28th and did a reci, as this was DH Mike's first visit since he was at university. Half way around our wanderings I managed to book us in to The Moon and Sixpence for sublime food - we just wandered in off the street, as it were, and they found a table for much later on that evening, which gave us plenty of time to imbibe Guiness (*not* extra cold) in a nearby public house. The Moon and Sixpence's marinated tuna with couscous was exceptionally wonderful and we couldn't fit in dessert. We stayed at the Royal Crescent which is definitely the most discrete, stunning hotel in Bath. The next morning Mike rushed around with camera taking notes for an exhibition of oils which will focus on Bath, whilst I wandered around Waterstones (it was *very* cold) and generally enjoyed much more of not being at work. I could really get into this...  The whole gamut of life at Avebury On the way back yesterday we visited Avebury, a standing stones site nearby. The energy from the land was like streams of cool water, particularly in the middle of the circles. I would wander out to the centre, feeling for the most enhanced position to bask and Mike found every time that I was right in the intersection of lines connecting several stones. We also spotted many druids in mufti and a lot of American visitors in the National Trust shop buying plastic things. We bought fudge to keep soul *and* body together on the way home, as it was a) extremely cold (have I mentioned it was cold?), b) the National Trust always can benefit from trade, which is why I think the plastic things are a brilliant wheeze, and c) a little band of druids seemed particularly interested in the plain butter fudge, and we thought they might have inside knowledge. It was indeed très yummy. On the way out I locked myself in the cubicle in the ladies' public loos as the lever to lock the door *first* locked the door, *then* detached itself from the piece of metal which had slid across to nestle securely in the lock. I fiddled to no avail with nonexistent thumbnail (I am a bodyworker, we don't do nails), and eyed up the top of the cubicle - plenty of room to climb over, if one stood on the cistern. Then I had a brainwave, which was to retrieve implement with which I keep nails nonexistent and dismantle the lock therewith, which plan worked beautifully. Mike reckons the loos stem from around the same time as the stones. December 24th Yuletide Greetings! Wishing all who trip over this page over the festive days a dwelling place full of inner peace, hope, and joy in being alive. We are going to be at home this year. That is because we refuse to be anywhere but home over yuletide. The reasons are these: 1. Over the break, we stop work. Really. DH Mike and I both run businesses and 'sub-businesses'. From home. Believe me, it is the most delicious thing on earth to be *at home* and *not working*. DH Mike is still beavering away on a commission... but he *will* stop at the end of today. 2. Our kids are grown up and free range. That means they may be here or they may not. They come and go as they please. They will definitely be here on the 25th, as there is feasting to be done and presis to give. What they are doing over the remaining days, we know not, but it will be full of fun. The fact that they and we can trail in and out as they and we please, without stress, deadlines or obligation is almost as delicious as being at home and not working. 3. We take the opportunity of the festive break to take a canter at projects we have started / not yet started / not quite finished / are nowhere near finishing / need moral support with / need uninterrupted hours with / are too mad to contemplate when time is at a premium (plenty of those) / will be cornerstones for endeavours during the coming year / need reviewing / are just plain fun. As I speak DS1 Chris is making some kind of machine in the workshop, DS2 James is planning culinary experiments, DD Toria is... er... nowhere to be seen. This afternoon I shall be building Chris' website to showcase his inventions and hopefully garner some new commissions. Whatever you do over the yuletide, have fun! The year's readership tally I've had just under 40000 hits to Alternative Knitting (the front page), not counting hits to archived material, for the year since 27th December 2004, which works out at about 800 a week or 115 per day, I suspect. Thank you very much to everyone who has visited. I am honoured. I have heard from many of you via email or sometimes in the comments, and it is a very fine thing to get a glimpse of who is reading what one is writing. 'Lurkers' are always welcome too, of course! It's a bizarre thing, the interweb, is it not? Some parts of my soul I bare with impunity, other areas never see the light of the 'net. I like it that way, and shall continue in this vein in 2006. December 23rd Finished for the Yuletide break Oh yes! I had my last clients on Tuesday, did a skills swap with Rachel (Fairweather) of Jing Advanced Massage on Wednesday, saw the 'Burning of the Clocks' in Brighton in the evening (solstice), chilled yesterday, did last minute shopping today with absolutely no stress, wrapped the presis to put under the already decorated tree, et voilà: je suis prête. The Christmas rush has got to Mike, DH, however. He opened the back door to a fine neighbour, engaged in jovial banter with him, took a card from him and said 'Many Happy Returns'. Neighbour Richard took it with a straight face, then wove it into conversation later on, to excellent effect. Mike will never be allowed to forget that :) I think he just delved wildly into the vocab bank for a suitable response and came up with a lucky dip that slipped past the editor. Knitting this yuletide break I'd like to finish something by the new year. Maybe the amethyst funnelneck sweater. Have got to underarms on the front. Or maybe the hemp shale shawl. Or maybe even the fine ribby alpaca silk top-down raglan. Not sure. You can sense that I am not consumed with passion for the craft just at the moment. But that will return. Fame but probably not fortune after the yuletide break Did I tell you about my Bella interview? It's coming out on January 31st, issue 6, in a feature about RSI which is not keyboard related. Years and years ago I got RSI in my wrist from cross-stitching a rug (still not finished) and coaxed myself back to painfree functioning with stretches and movement. Today, of course, it would be much quicker as I treat that kind of thing daily in the clinic. I think they are going to mention said clinic, so I may be inundated. On the other hand, there may be zilch response. We have had a fair bit of national coverage in one way or another over the years and there is no telling whether it will result in business or not. Strange but true. The last time it happened, about a year ago, the Guardian did a feature on us, which they had prepared a year previous to that; upshot: we were almost overwhelmed with requests for exercise classes which I didn't do any more. 'Twas good fun, though and I managed to convert several eager would-be exercisers to Pilates. December 19th Ready for Christmas This is the earliest I have ever been ready. And I haven't even stopped work yet. Huh? By 'ready' I mean I have a good turkey, all presents (none wrapped), my middle son helping with the cooking (he'll take over, hopefully, and I can prep for him) and Toria picked up from university (got lost on the way into manchester - again!). No cards written or sent yet, but they will follow. They'll follow Christmas, probably. New Year's cards. We're going to spend the break at home, as usual, pottering around and getting on with projects and generally enjoying not being at work, whatever our work may be. I am determined not to do anything to do with work, which will not happen, of course, but I am aiming for a few days not planning, admining or studying. Is it possible? It will be. I am so tired, nearing exhaustion, I shall stop thinking about what I could do if I were really industrious, and not worry about wasting time. Four mice Phoebe brought in four mice today, very much alive, and I rescued every single one of them. At one stage I thought she was bringing the same one back in again, but I was delivering them back into different fields and they ran off as soon as I let them down, so I think they may have been merely related. The fifth she deposited at the bottom of the stairs, I couldn't rescue. Not alive at all. Cleo just looked on. It was probably a game. December 9th Oh dear, I've been found out Bugger. This rings horribly true. The last bit... Well, and the first bits too :)
There are some rather enticing quizes on the site where this originates. I'm not going to reveal what my underwear says about me. Very very very silly quizes!!!!! Leading others astray and early risings Two things have made me cackle today: DD Toria at uni has fallen foul to sudoku. Tee hee hee cackle cackle. She (Tozzie) has just done the above quiz and is ALSO choleric :) Nice to know I have passed on my strongest traits to my one and only daughter. DH Mike had gallery visitors at 7:30. Yes, that's 7:30am. CACKLE. Usually it's me getting up for a 7:15 emergency appointment whilst he lingers 'neath the duvet until 8am when the radio turns itself off. This morning it was cold, so he had to venture out and put the heating on at 6am. TEE HEE HEE. Gallery visitors wandered off with painting tucked under arm. Last minute purchase for a gift to be presented tonight. Nothing like the last minute :) December 4th Rebound panic :) I've finished some knitting... the apple green Cashcotton sweater, to be precise. Now, to get a photo onto the site, I have to take it... load it on to the other computer, transfer it on to a pen drive, get it on to this one, fiddle with it and then post it. Just for the moment, take my word it looks and feels lovely :) Now I have dived into more cashcotton - was contemplating another sweater from Amanda Griffiths' One Thousand Sweaters - but that can wait. I've been wooed by Sally Melville's Knitting Experience Book 3, to do the funnel neck pullover in heathery amethyst. Her styles are so well designed, look simple but are very cleverly shaped. Even the box shape! I shall make this one longer than 21.5 inches and add a 2 ridge garter stitch edge around the hem and sleeves. What's happening to the lace hemp scarf / shawl? Stalled for the moment but not abandoned. Does anyone else do this: I finished the green sweater and went straight into knitloss - project deprivation, completion anti-climax, yarn grief, rebound panic... ? Oh dear, it's just me, then ;) |
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