knitting bookstore
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Beaded top in hemp Hemp yarn from House of Hemp in 'gosh', kingfisher blue / green. 
Luscious In violet alpaca, Sally Melville's Knitting Experience Book 2. 
Project Melanie's Baby Baby togs and stuff 
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Mike's cable sweater in marled grey Rowan wool - cotton. Finished projects 2003 2002 |
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Quick update No heating yet, but Sir Brian the Plumber has been beavering away every day last week and back again this week. He is going to come right up until Saturday as well, as he has loos to fit in a primary school over half term and wants to get us finished before then. What a hero!! The Guardian article in the magazine on Saturday about Lotte Berk classes has resulted in a flood of enquiries to the Energy Clinic (that's me). I didn't know that it was going in this week - in fact I had completely forgotten about it until we got the first call early Saturday morning. I have to declare right here and now, that I have changed quite a few of the names that Lotte employed for her exercises - particularly those with the flavour of the first one mentioned in the article!!! However, the method is fantastic, especially when combined with Pilates. I can't do more than 8 classes a week, though. Well, if there is really *solid* demand, I'll add an 8:30 pm on Tuesdays. It's nice to be in demand, but it has its drawbacks as well. First sleeve of Luscious is nearly finished. I am getting sidetracked all the time with calls and general thinking I need to do some work or something. Is there a treatment for that? Therapy? 21st March I had a lovely time at the show! ... the 'Country Living' show at the Design Centre, Islington. It was packed with furnishings, foods, clothes (however, not any clothes that would actually be useful in the country!) and garden / herbal / cosmetics type stuff. Country Living magazine is marketed mainly to those 'whose heart is in the country', so the the exhibitors were marketing to people who would *like* to live in the country, rather than for those of us who actually do. The feeling was inevitably distinctly cottagey, whereas my style is very definitely country house rather than cottage. It has nothing to do with size (I've seen some eeeeenooooormous cottages), rather more to do with attitude. Some stands had breathtakingly lovely stuff, much of which was very useful - like *large* solar powered garden spotlights and lamps. I shall invest when the weather is better, and I can work out where we need them. Others were rather twee. As a friend pointed out, we don't need exquisite little duck sculptures because the real things waddle across the front lawn every morning, following their very own duck-hewn track, hobble across the gravel drive, hop up the wall on to the lawns then gallop down to the ponds for a swim and a feed before flying off to their next appointments, narrowly avoiding the geese on their way in. What would-be country dwellers don't quite get is that real live wild ducks (and geese) don't behave like exquisite little sculptures - which is why one needs the ponds situated well away from the house :) Some finds stood out - and dimished my budget somewhat: Merrywood make the most amazing hand made soaps, the best I've ever seen, touched or smelled. Their stand was totally entrancing, piles upon piles of amazing fragrances and marbelled colours, and the poor (but happy) owner was seriously in need of extra help to tend ecstatic customers. Of course I went to visit my friend Jane Hopkinson and drooled over her bags (we swap massages for bags!) All of this is really to set the scene for some delicious yarn I found right at the end. Wensleydale, the finest, soft, silky, strong, unbelievable colours, all hand dyed with natural dyes from the farm. The company is Ford Barton in Devon. The scarves and throws felt substantial enough for serious duty, but light enough to melt in your hand. The lady on the stand was totally delightful, and a knitter herself. She had a basket of skeins lying there to waylay unsuspecting knitters, half hidden, understated, just enough to hook me *very* seriously. Results will be posted shortly. Er, yes, knitting: I ought to say that the "Luscious" front is nearly finished - my aim for this weekend is to start a sleeve. I've acquired some rather lovely beads for the the purple scarf and have started it, although it's going to be taken down as both width and bead placement are not quite right. It's going to be lovely! Heating? What do you think? Maybe next week? 16th March Service restored? Not a bit, but JamTart has discovered the massage table - warm, supremely comfortable and entirely suitable for a cat of her demanding status. So here is JT after a little craniosacral therapy:   15th March Spinning? Before I say anything else - good news: Linda is back! Had wonderful supper with Rachel and Meghan last night, to which were also invited the entirely mad duo Dr. Alex and Lynn, of Octopus. It's just my head that is still spinning. 14th March Aaaaaaaah... hot water Yes, we have hot water, which makes everything much easier to bear - no heating yet, though. However, Jamtart immediately sniffed out the only source of real heat in the house and was found asleep in the boys' bathroom, curled up in the wash basin, under which the hot water pipes run. She then found a way in under the basin and I have installed a cat blanket for her there. Luscious is advancing, and is half way to the armholes on the front. I have more yarn stash news: a friend, who is not a knitter herself, managed to procure for me two cones of 100% wool yarn, 500g of aran weight in rich purple and 500g of DK in fuchsia. Beautiful soft yarn, glides through the fingers. I am thinking of a scarf with discretely placed shiny beads in the purple, and I may well use the fuchsia as a 'main' yarn for my reds collection. What a sweetheart for doing that. Could it be that she had already picked up on my yarn-buying habit and was eager to join in - leading me further astray? Could one even possibly develop a yarn habit in one who knits not? 12th March We just don't learn I wish I hadn't mentioned water in my last post. Those of you who have stuck with me valiantly for over a year may remember that back in the mists of time, last February, our hot water system - and therefore the central heating as well - took a major dive involving freezing wet water only, the kitchen floor (stone flags) up and absolutely no solace for several days. Well, this was due to some of the pipes still being iron, or should I say, not being iron at all any more, just flakes of rust, leaving a hot-water-pipe-shaped cavity under the flags for hot water to meander along, never quite to reach its intended destination. Of course we were going to have it all sorted out in the summer. I leave you to imagine our surprise (!!!!funny, I wasn't at all surprised!!!!) when - having 'forgotten' to get the pipes replaced and rerouted in the summer, exactly the same thing happened again on Tuesday. So now we have no hot water and no central heating. And snow blizzards last night. The plumber (bless his cotton socks) is trying to get some hot water for taps going today, without much success. He's been a very quiet man for the last couple of hours. I am keeping out of the way. He does, however, think he may be able to start the rerouting for the heating on the 23rd. Does anyone have any idea when that is? I can't think that far ahead, my brain has frozen. I'm a freezing bunny. The cat is displeased, wandering disconsolately from freezing room to freezing room, staying only long enough with me in my little room to meeeow her complaint and demand to be let out again to see if the radiators have come on. The electric heaters only take the tiniest edge off the cold. I may have to buy more yarn to keep warm. 8th March And another one... I had made a resolution to stop doing stupid quizzes, but this one I found in the delightful Rachael's Glass House - it's chemistry, it's me, - - - - - - - I'm water???????????????  You are water. You're not really organic; you're neither acidic nor basic, yet you're an acid and a base at the same time. You're strong-willed and opinionated, but relaxed and ready to flow. So while you often seem worthless, without you, everything would just not work. People should definitely drink more of you every day. Which Biological Molecule Are You? brought to you by Quizilla 7th March Baby blanket goo goo goo It's finished, and you can see it here. I'm going back to 'Luscious' in the alpaca now, as I think I may have overdosed on baby colours and acrylic yarn for the while. Every time I knit a baby toglet in acrylic I think 'never again', then go and do it. Why? Why can't I use cotton? Hmmmm. Linda has reappeared - see comments for 6th March. Looking forward to the new blog! 6th March One Thousand (quite small) Sweaters I found - and bought from a real bookshop One Thousand Sweaters by Amanda Griffiths and Jane Crowfoot. Firstly, it's amazing that even Waterstones have current / new knitting books and secondly, I decided it was so odd that I wanted it immediately. For a review see here. 5th March Where's Linda? I must have missed something. I've tried to find LoubyLoo's Knittin' - Linda - for days now, and she's moved. Does anyone know her new address? Has something happened to her? Has she gone on a long holiday or retired - from knitting? Never! From blogging? I hope not. As predicted, the edging / ruffle on the baby blanket is taking *ages*, but I am soldiering away at it. I haven't had suffiecient time in a block to get into the rhythm of clickety click, so it seems even longer in the making. I'm so glad it's Friday! So, what kind of a cat are you, then? I'm obviously doing too much quizzing and too little knitting... The results below are grammar-amended. Literacy not one of this quiz-author's strongpoints.  Alley Cat! You're a wheelin' & dealin' kind of cat who not only has the unique ability to take things in her stride, but lets it be known she's smarter than she looks. What kind of cat are you? brought to you by Quizilla 2nd March Nearly there The blanket is undergoing its 4th garter stitch ridge of edging, wavy bits around the corners and regularly along the edges carefully worked in - and I'm even using stitch markers, something I have not done for years and years. Will post pici when it's finished. |
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