Tricot Treat

Shipping Rates

2010-06-24T00:12:00.003+02:00

It's been a while since I messed with the templates. I'll get round to it but for now here are the shipping rates for any combination of things.

Within France (colissimo)
upto 500g $9.00
upto 1Kg $11.40
upto 2Kg $13.00

European Union
upto 200g $6.30
upto 400g $10.00
upto 800g $12.70
upto 1200g $16.70

Worldwide
upto 200g $8.70
upto 400g $11.60
upto 800g $16.40
upto 1200g $19.90

Contact me by email on
or you can message me on Ravelry, I'm maylin there.

Bluefaced Leicester Roving

2010-06-23T18:56:00.008+02:00

Time to start my clearout. Because I seriously need the room at the moment I have nearly halved my usual prices. All the roving in this post is $9 /100g. I will post shipping costs and my email in the sidebar. If you want something email me with the details and your email address and I will send you a Paypal invoice. Starting with superwash BFL roving. This is soft and oh so silky. A dream to spin. Not suitable for felting though. Packed in 100g bags.

Learning to Fly - turquoise blue and brown - 1 pack remaining.
Twilight - purples with a touch of black - ~~3 bags~~ 1 bag remaining.
Rusty - oranges, browns and a hint of grey - ~~1 bag remaining~~ sorry all gone.
Hydraulic Level 5 - blues and bluey greens - 2 bags remaining.
Dawn in the Forest - peachy pinks, grey and green - 2 bags remaining.

I also have a large quantity of non superwash bfl (so suitable for spinning and felting) that has been dyed with natural dyes. I have 2 colours - Old Rose, dyed with cochineal and Peach Rose, dyed with catecu (cutch). Just let me know how much you would like.

It's Been a While

2010-06-21T19:07:00.002+02:00

Lots of reasons why.

This year has been difficult and will probably remain so for a while. Emotional stuff for the most part. My mother was very ill and died in March.

It was always going to be traumatic but as these things go it was probably the best it was going to be. She died peacefully, without pain having received the Last Rites which seemed to reassure her. This is a favorite picture of mine from her younger days.

One positive thing to come out of it was the opportunity to reconnect more than superficially with my 3 brothers.

They say you never really become an adult until both your parents are dead. It has certainly been a time of re-evaluation for me.

One consequence of that is the decision to put more effort into the yarn dyeing. I want to think it out more thoroughly though before launching forth, so the Etsy Shop is on a bit of hiatus just ticking over with a few things in it. I have lots of other stock that I will be clearing through the blog and through Ravelry, ready for a fresh beginning in the autumn.

Now I just need to get to grips with this camera....

Wonderwool Wales 2010

2009-10-12T16:19:00.002+02:00

I'm moping. I have just received the booking forms for Wonderwool Wales 2010. I had a great time there the last 2 years and was really looking forward to going again. However there is now a requirement to provide Public Liability Insurance which I can see is going to be a problem.

To get insurance in the UK I would need to be registered at a UK address. Getting insurance in France requires me to be trading in France which I don't do (and have no desire to - the bureaucracy is unbelievable - and expensive). Sigh.

I wish the event would just organise some insurance for everyone and charge us accordingly. Or that is was possible to get insurance just for a one off event.

I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

It's my Birthday

2009-04-01T18:34:00.002+02:00

and I had a wonderful parcel from Jen (Squibstitcher on Ravelry) the genius behind Fresh From the Cauldron.

Trying to get on Track

2009-03-30T19:54:00.002+02:00

Wow I hadn't realised that I hadn't blogged at all this year! Too much has happened to talk about so I will stick to the main event. - My son's wedding in January. It was a lovely low key affair and I had the opportunity to catch up with lots of old friends. The cake decoration says it all though.

2008-12-08T13:14:00.001+01:00

Which Twilight Character Are You?

Created by BuddyTV

Everything comes to those who wait...

2008-11-30T10:59:00.003+01:00

I've been tagged by Sue - this is the deal:

To participate you

Link to the person who tagged you.
List seven facts about yourself.
Post the rules on your blog.
Tag seven more people to do the same and link to them.
Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry has been posted.

So 7 facts about myself? I will try and make this interesting and list things I am happy about.

1. I have walked on fire - and it was awesome.

2. I haven't lived in a house for over 5 years (for the last 6 years we have lived in yurts).

3. I hate alcohol, tobacco and coffee but I have picked coffee in Nicaragua for the Sandinista revolution.

4. I have a degree in Maths and a certificate from the Faculty of Astrological Studies.

5. I nearly lost my teaching job because of my criminal record for peace protesting.

6. I never wear a watch (I am frequently late for things).

7. My only child is getting married in January which makes me inordinately happy because it is so RIGHT and he and his partner deserve a happy life.

OK then 7 peeps to pass this on to?

My friend Rachel at her restaurant down the road aupapillon

My fellow spinner Diane with her local flock of Ouessant sheep at The Spinning Shepherd

The incredible designer and blogger Sylv at Chez Plum

The talented Emma (who has a new Etsy shop) at Y Lloeren

The wonderfully warm and generous Ambermoggie.

Fellow ex-pat in France Carolyn at Kids and Knits

And last but not least the incomprable Lorena at Snarkland

So, I have been knitting - mainly socks - we need them!

These are in Opal Rainforest 6 ply (I really like the thickness of this yarn) in colour Chameleon.

I have also benn making some in Merino/ Bamboo that I died . This colour is based on the TrueBlood/ Southern Vampire character Bill.

I have the same colourway in superwash and merino/tencel going into my Etsy shop soon.

And some test crochetting I did for Sylv, her lovely granny square mitts. They are very quick to make too for those last minute gifts.

There is lots more knitting but no pictures at the moment so I hope to be a better blogger in future.

Too much time on Ravelry, not enough blogging

2008-10-23T16:03:00.002+02:00

Well no point in apologising so on to the F.O.'s . First off the Woodland Shawl using one skein of Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color.

And socks of course:

I have been back to the UK recently to visit my mother. She lives in a residential hme close to my brother, so I was able to stay with him and spend time with my nephew. Although I was glad to be with her it was distressing when she seemed to lose touch with reality. I could cope with her talking about her guardian angel as if it was an actual physical reality but when she refused her medication because she was sure the staff were trying to keep her prisoner it was harder. I hate to think of her feeling isolated and persecuted.

I have been doing a lot of dyeing recently, I have a fair (the first Christmas fair of 2008) on Sunday. Many of the colours are inspired form the Ravelry group Knit One Dead Too where I have been spending a lot of time. It is a discussion group for the new TV show True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse books of Charlaine Harris so the colours are vampire based. Starting with blood red:

Alpaca/silk/cashmere laceweight

Merino/Tencel sock weight

bfl/nylon sockweight

I'm listing them on my Etsy shop now.

Ribbit, ribbit, rip it, rip it.

2008-09-29T08:27:00.003+02:00

A garden resident.

In an effort to reduce my UFO's I have been frogging. I have them down to 21 and want to get into single figures by the end of October. Then maybe I can start new projects with a clear conscience.

Glass, Rosacea and Cannabis

2008-09-27T20:39:00.003+02:00

Three totally unconnected themes as it turns out.

The glass window I am making is for here:

It is in the little log cabin joining our 2 yurts.
This is the view from outside:

I've made a begining and it is mostly going to be clear and blue glass as you can see:

So far, so good.

I realise that I have been sounding pretty miserable on my blog and I guess I have been pretty miserable. When I analysed it there were lots of accumulative reasons and one I think I have never mentioned as it is so hard to explain how frustrating it is. However after reading my blog a spinning friend here rang me and we got talking. She explained how her life was made miserable by ocular rosacea for some years but now after lots of mistakes by health professionals she had done her own research and finally had it under control. It was so wonderful to talk to her as I had not been able to talk to anyone who understood about the total frustration of the condition. My eyes feel dry but they water all the time (at least one does) if I am outside for more than half than hour I can't see properly (which means I stay in unless absolutely necessary). I can see well but it is a struggle as focussing especially when it gets bad is a constant difficulty, but in testing things are ok. My vision is distorted, and my eyes are sore, burning and irritated most of the time. Because of being inside a lot, being over 50 and with darker skin I may be at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Of course all of this often leads to depression and certainly to irritability. So the relief of talking to someone who understood was overwhelming. She came round the same day to lend me some books and give me some stuff that helped her. One of the books was on the beneficial effects of fasting and I am seriously thinking of giving it a go. Has anyone else tried this?

So thank you Diane. She has a blog too, say hello at The Spinning Shepherd.

Another thing that happened recently that cheered me up was getting a cheque for 100 euros expenses from the Musee de Tisserands (Weaving Museum) in my nearest town of Ambrieres. This was for a spinning demonstration I gave in July when they had a fair for their 20 th anniversary.

This was my stall.

I was sharing with a wonderful woman called Marie-Terese who gave me this at the end.

It is a beautiful cloth she made. She was demonstrating the technique which was so easy it was magical. Do you know how it was done?

She gathered fresh plants sandwiched them between layers of cotton and hammered them. She used a wooden mallet and had a marble slab underneath. After not very much hammering you peel the cloth apart and have two perfect full colour imprints on the cloth. If there is plant matter left, let it dry nd brush it off. She uses old cotton sheets as they are very absorbent. The imprints are not permenant if left in the light or washed but last a good 6 months and I can see from the cloth she gave me that there are previous layers of plants under the current one, which just adds depth.

She was helping people to have a go so I picked some plants and had a go.

And yes that leaf is exactly what it looks like. The area was a hemp weaving region and there are cannabis plants growing by the front door. In fact almost half the stalls at the fair were to do with hemp. The stall on the end of this row was run by the (apparently) largest hemp producer in the world.

Shop Update

2008-09-23T21:05:00.004+02:00

Despite feeling faint with hunger (well it must be at least a week since I had any chocolate!) I have continued to put stuff in the Etsy shop. I reckon it is better to add a few things a day so that the listings are continually coming to the top. Here is the alpaca/silk/cashmere laceweight I listed today. It is a shame pictures can't show how soft it is.

I am hoping to show pictures of the stained glass work I am doing tomorrow.

Fruity Days

2008-09-22T12:08:00.002+02:00

I spent a lot of yesterday juicing whatever was lying around in the garden (pears and apples), picking blackberries and making jam.

The blackberries have peaked since I was in the UK but there are still plenty around so I have juiced some with brambley apples from a friends tree. Unforunately if I stick to the diet (which I am trying to) I wont be able to sample it for a while.

I have however finished with the grapes and melon only. I lost 6lb in 2 days which is bound to be mostly water and will probably go back on in the next 2 days! Big thrill this morning - I got to have some carrot and apple juice and midmorning I was allowed a yeast drink, but since the only yeast extract I have is marmite (which I thought might be too salty) I substituted miso which just seemed more healthy.

mad diets

2008-09-20T18:20:00.003+02:00

I like the thought for the day today-
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
Vince Lombardi

I think I need to spend some time around confident people...

I feel sooo tired today

Today is day 2 of the getting up early and achieving something tangible everyday program. But maybe I need more sleep. Also I started a sort of detox today.

I found a book on Nature Cure for rheumatism and arthritis. My joints have been so painful I would try almost anything. Anyway this is all about a quite rigid fast/diet routine. It starts with 2 days eating nothing but grapes and melon 40z of each 3 times a day and the grapes must be ripe and have their skins on. I am of the opinion that I can cope with almost any diet regime for just 2 days. However this really means nothing else but grapes and melon i.e. nothing to drink not even water. Apparently the food contains enough water of itself but I am sure I need more than 24 oz of water a day... I am already feeling dehydrated and am torn between sticking to the letter of the regime or having lots to drink.

Our billy goat is improving and actually seems to be enjoying the attention. Which reminds me that I meant to update on Ron the premature alpaca. He is coming on in leaps and bounds (literally) and is no longer a house alpaca but is living in the field and learning to forget he was ever nearly a human being... A good excuse for a gratuitous animal photo.

I had a bit of a reality check in the UK and one of the things I realised was that 30 odd UFOs was downright stupid. Especially as by the time some of them are finished I wont like them any more. So some ruthless frogging is in order.

I did finish Rogue in the UK but didn't have my camera with me. It was too small before blocking but I left it drying after blocking and I hope it will now fit. Maybe Caroline will send me a photo or two when she gets to try it on. Fingers crossed it fits this time.

Bad Pics and Bullets

2008-09-19T16:47:00.003+02:00

My life is a mess.
I'm a mess.
I'm depressed.

I am unmotivated which is probably why I haven't felt coherent enough to blog so I will blog and stop trying to be coherent. Which will probably mean non sequitor bullet points. I would also chuck in some pretty pictures to liven things up but most of them are crap. Well it will add to the disjointedness of this post and hopefully add a little surreal counterpoint. It may just be bullet points from now on.

I came back from a week in the UK yesterday.
We drove by Mont St Michel on the way back.
There were lots of sheep grazing on the flats and I thought I took some cool photos.

It was a sunny day.
I have auto exposure.
what went wrong?

i was on aperture priority and it was wide open which is handy for close ups of yarn where I want a shallow depth of field.

Mont St michel is in the background.
Take my word for it.

Here they are in close up.
Any one know what sort the are?

I had a useful time in the Uk.
But it was nice to get back home.
And all the animals gave me a warm welcome.

I think I am panicing about the future.
Work has dried up completely.
I would say we were short of money but 37 euros seems a bit more than short to me.

It is the future that panics me, the uncertainty.

I started listing stuff in the etsy shop again.
Tomorrow I intend to list the long striping sock yarn.

I spent the evening snipping pooey hair off a goats scrotum.
The goat had been ill and had had diahorea (I could never spell that).
Alpaca Alex came to help and it is looking better now.
It stayed remarably still with scissors to its scrotom.
Sensible goat.
I however am now hobbling.
My arthritic knees had been stooped too long
Good job I have a supply of codoliprane.

Ah well tomorrow is another day.

Back Soon

2008-09-01T14:32:00.001+02:00

I have been meaning to blog for days, but seem confounded by circumstances. The yurt is chaotic at the moment. I changed ISPs and lost comms for a few days. Then I decided to rearrange things as I was recabling. That may have been a mistake as one thing led to another and now I am wallowing in chaos, most things have been moved out and I can't fit everything back in. Waahhhhh!

I also got stung by something on Friday and my knee is huge and painful but I now have medication and hope to be normal(ish) soon.

I am still struggling with Rogue but am getting there slowly.

Pictures next time.

It's just a phase we're going through

2008-08-20T23:25:00.002+02:00

I suppose it was inevitable sooner or later - taking silly pet photos.

woodie in glasses, originally uploaded by maylin.tan.

Stuff from the Blogisphere

2008-08-19T16:31:00.002+02:00

My creation, originally uploaded by maylin.tan.

I found this on Emma's blog Y Lloeren. Just a bit of fun. Why not give it a whirl. Here are the rules.

The rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

The other thing I picked up today in Blogland is this from Tutley Mutley's Blog. It is a little video on how to Navajo ply 'on the fly' on a drop spindle. That is to spin and ply all in one go. So clever, I will give it a go soon, I am fascinated by clever, elegant algorythms.

I have a couple more FO's as well.

Tudora

Less than one skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten.

an Hermione's Cable and Eyelet Hat

Less than a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Orchid. This a pattern devised by Jackie from a publicity still for the upcoming film - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had to undo one pattern repeat as it was way to big at first. I am hoping that my niece who is Hermione's biggest fan will like one in grey (the colour in the film).

On Olympic news I am behind schedule with Rogue. I would estimate that I am about 15-20% through having done one and a half sleeves and just started the kangaroo pocket. So time to knuckle down.

Warm Hands and Feet

2008-08-11T21:59:00.003+02:00

I have done a bit on my Olympic UFO. I have completed the pattern bit on the second sleeve of Rogue and cast on for the body and started the hem facing. I need to finish the Maalbrigo things before Friday though so I will be concentrating on them. Not necessarily a bad thing as I am waiting on some new Addi Turbos which will speed up the body (or at least make the knitting easier).

I finished the Irish Hiking Wristwarmers. If I did these again I would knit on DPN's and avoid the seaming but alot of people I know prefer knitting straight so it is good to have a sample of what can be done. The seam hardly shows with mattress stitch anyway.

I have been doing a lot of felting lately. Using felt I make from recycled things, which I then embroider and embellish.
The other day my much loved felt slippers literally fell of my feet. Here they are before I binned them.

So I decided to make myself a new pair. Stitching the thick felt by hand was quite strenuous but I m pleased by the result.

I am sure they will get bigger with wear but I could always stick them in the washing machine again to shrink them a bit.
Here are some of the bags I have made too. I think I will try needle cases next.

UFO Olympics and Malabrigo Madness

2008-08-08T14:20:00.002+02:00

I thought it might be a good idea to sign up for the UFO Olympics on Ravelry. My UFO's are starting to get a bit out of hand - 33 at the moment!

The object is to work on an unfnished project(s) for the period between when the Olympic flame is lit to when it is dowsed - 16 days. I have declared Rogue as my main event but hope to complete that and clear out some others from my list of WIP's!

For those who aren't familiar with the pattern, it is a hoodie with celtic cables trimming it. I initially started it year ago for my son's fiancee for her birthday at the end of August and knit one sleeve as a swatch. It fitted fine but then I got sidetracked...

I started stocking Malabrigo a while back to sell at some of the fairs I go to. I thought it was about time I knitted up some samples so that punters can see what the yarn comes out like. So the other day I cast on 4 one skein projects.

Irish Hiking Wristwarmers (which coincidentally is also the pattern for August in the Ravelry Mitten a Month Group)

Tudora - a button up neck warmer

Hermione's Cable and Eyelet Hat - this is copy of the hat worn by Hermione in 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' due to open in November. It was reverse engineered from a publicity still by Jackie and made available on her blog.

Dashing - long cable fingerless gloves.

As if I didn't already have lots of UFO's .

I am also halfway through the chevalier mittens (February in the Mitten a month group) in gorgeous red malabrigo.

And I would like to make a bag - not sure which yet - in Stonechat maybe with some Colinette Silky Chic knitted in.

I am hoping my copy of Interweave Knits arrives soon as I rather fancy the Dumpling Bag

I will endeavour to update my progress to my blog regularly as the next 16 days unfold.

Arte Y Pico

2008-07-29T09:55:00.003+02:00

I can't think what I have done to deserve it but Judy - The Spindling Scot has awarded me the Arte Y Pico award. I feel both honoured and guilty because I have blogged so little lately. Maybe it is the incentive I need to post more regularly. Thank you so much Judy!

Rules in English:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico" blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

Award winners are:...

These are the blogs I would like to pass the award on to. All of them I have found inpiring both creatively and many other ways.

Judy would definitely be top of my list if she didn't already have the award, I am frequetly in awe of her skill and expertise both in spinning and dyeing.

Woolly Wormhead - I have not only followed with relish Ruth's progress to becoming a successful author of her own individualistic patterns but also the birth of her son and the ambiton to leave her flat for a life on the road. This is all coming to fruition now so it is a very fitting time to be awarded this as she starts a new phase in her creative life.

Fyberspates - This year has been an excting one with Jeni giving up her 'day job' to throw herself into her yarn business and travel all over the world. Besides being inspiring in showing how it is possible to change your life and have the life you really want she has also raised awareness of the wider issues involved in the yarn we buy. Oh and did I say? - her yarns are beautiful. As without so within.

Ambermoggie - Can there be a more generous or compassionate blogger? She chronicles her life through knitting and the pagan wheel of the year with beauty and thoughtfulness. Is it any wonder so many other bloggers think the world of her too.

Chez Plum - Sylvie's passion for fibre shows in all her posts. Her creative energy seems channelled and focussed, making her one of my role models. I love the way she has marketted her designs with flair and creativity. She is also generous in helping other bloggers and many times has helped me out with my pitiful attempts at te frech language.

Last but not least Tutley Mutley at Knitknack Paddywack give a Blog a Home I suppose the common theme with all the people I have picked is that they live lives that inspire me and Terry is right up there. As well as being , like me, an avid knitter she is a midwife and often blogs about the trials and joys of that. I always feel inspired to make more of my life when I read of her escapades whether walking the dogs or running around in Thailand.

So why not stop by and congratulate these extraordinary women? There are lots of others I would like to nominate but I am sure they will not be overlooked and someone else will be nominating them soon. All of these women encourage me to feel that life, ordinary, everyday life can be full, creative and compassionate.

It's Official

2008-07-14T22:31:00.003+02:00

Before the weekend we took Woody, the dog who found us to the vet. After waiting a decent interval to make sure there weren't bereft previous owners eager to claim him, we have had him microchipped. We also started the passporting procedures, so he has had his first rabies shot and some other inoculations. He also had an antibiotics shot and drops and pills as he has picked up an eye infection. All in all I don't think he has a good opinion of vets now after three jabs, and the microchip one was huge. It was a bit painful for us too, although the bills seem cheaper than in the UK, all of that and 2 boxes of Frontline for the cats and dog came to 172 euros.

I'm a Winner!!

2008-07-10T00:06:00.002+02:00

I won a prize - the first time ever.

The lovely Sue who is doing the moonwalk yet again had a raffle on her blog and I won this lovely gift.

The project/sock bag is handsewn by Sue under the name Knittiotherapy (she has an Etsy sop which is empty at the moment) it is in a lovely tie dyed velvet, with sock wool like a strawberry milkshake and butterfly stitchmarkers.

I am so lucky.

In the last couple of weeks I also received a much needed USB to iPOD cable and a pair of Crocs, via the 'Random Acts of Kindness' Group on Ravelry.

Life is just a Bowl of Cherries

2008-07-08T23:59:00.001+02:00

At least for some...

Take me to the Land of Lost Things

2008-07-07T12:30:00.002+02:00

Do you ever go through a period when you just can't seem to find things? You end up wasting loads of time looking for the thing you need to do something. I usually shrug my shoulders in the belief 'it will turn up' which it usually does, but sometimes it gets very frustrating, when you have searched everywhere and waited a week or more and still no sign.

Currently on the missing list;

Potato Peeler
150 felting needles
crevice tool for the hoover
steel ruler
3 sets of Knitpick DPNs
sender address labels for packages

Of course the usual time for things to appear is just after you buy a new one. I wonder which of these will still be missing when I next blog?

Second Life

2008-07-06T20:37:00.002+02:00

I have been skeining up and photoing dyed stuff in the hopes that I will finally get round to posting some on Etsy.

This however is for my stash. I bought it originally about 20 years ago in a Liberty sale. It is all Rowan cotton chenille and 3 of them were white, 6 in a dusky blue and 2 in a dusky pink. Not now though.

Why stick with one colour if you can have them all?

2008-06-29T20:10:00.005+02:00

I had hoped to have loads of pix for this post but despite a warm muggy day, the light never seemed quite right so I will try again tomorrow.

I have been doing a lot of dyeing lately and really need to update my Etsy shop and/or creat a website. There is laceweight alpaca/silk/cashmere in subtle browns and greens and sock yarn in deep sludgy colours or irridescent oil slick colours. I have been making felt and dyeing it and even dyeing the feathers off the duck when we clipped its wing.

I have also finished my Noro mittens, the June ones for the Ravelry Mitten a Month Group.

and joined Sylvie's Fibre Swap on Ravelry too. I created a mosaic for my swap partners to get an idea of the things I like.

A while back I ordered lots of worsted weight wool/silk dyed in fabulous colours from Mystic Creation Yarns.

However having read the experiences of lots of disappointed people on Ravelry who said the colours were not fixed properly; I thought it best to fix it before using. It was just as well I did as the colour ran and ran. I soaked the skeins in vinegar water for a couple of days then microwaved each skein twice and after cooling washed and softened them. The colours are much faded but at least it wont run now when I use it. It is also nowhere near worsted weight only just a DK I would say.

Finally with the days of glorious weather we have been enjoying the garden.

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Keep on Blogging

2008-06-26T13:45:00.000+02:00

I am getting so bad at keeping this blog up - I blame Ravelry. Although I notice other bloggers haven't fallen by the wayside even if they are active on Ravelry.

I have been very busy, with animals, knitting, felting and especially dyeing and I do have photos so I will post before the end of the weekend.

WWKIP and Alpacas

2008-06-15T22:13:00.006+02:00

Well I am off the pills completely now. The sun is shining. I am feeling creative and able to stay awake longer - I am even up by 7am these days. So apart from achey joints, unremitting aging, rising prices and world hunger things feel pretty good. Thanks for good advice given and hugs sent.

Yesterday was Worldwide Knitting in public day and we had an event locally in the Salon de Thé of Papillon in St Fraimbault (a local tourist attraction village because of the wonderful flower plantings). About 10 knitters turned up and we had a raucous knit in and tea and cake (very yummy rhubarb and apple tart for me!)

There was even another Raveller - Spinnerglors

We even pursuaded Rachel, the restauranteuse, (is that a word?) to have a go - nice choice of colour, Rachel.

It was really great to see my friend Alex (who lives down the road with 13 alpacas) on weekend leave from the rehab hospital where she is staying for a couple of weeks after a stroke.

She has been knitting a ???? which has been growing organically...

Here she is trying out it's possibilities as exotic underwear.

Actually it is cria season on the alpaca farm and Alex's favorite, Hermione, had just given birth to Ron a month early (yes there is a theme to the naming - there is a Lupin as well). So we went there afterward to ogle him.

Poor darling.

His legs are so long, and thin as matchsticks.

He is spending most of his time under a heat lamp at the moment.

I will keep you updated on his progress.

Alex's husband, John, has also been shearing and I have reserved 2 alpaca blankets, just need to save up now.

Reality bites

2008-06-07T10:06:00.002+02:00

Musings on life, depression and growing old.

I spent most of last night unable to sleep, for physical and mental reasons. So I had plenty of time to think; and this is what I thought.

I have been withdrawing from my ADs (Seroplex) for 3 weeks now, and the day before yesterday the dose dropped again for a few weeks before I stop altogether. I am starting to worry about things and think about things I haven’t done for some time. This is how it goes.

On Thursday night I went into hospital for my sleep assessment. I spent the night with tubes up my nose, a clip on my finger and a thingy taped to my throat (by a big square of tape) and attached to a computer. Of course as soon as I was attached I felt desperate to pee and the nearest toilet was not close enough to reach. So a bedpan it was. In France they seem to think you can use one whilst lying down! I digress - I’m not sure how it went yet but it was not as uncomfortable as it sounds. All the stuff was removed and I went home. Later that day the patch where the tape was became inflamed and very irritated. Despite witch hazel and creams it was one of the things keeping me awake at night. More to the point whilst dealing with it I was using a magnifying mirror and had the realisation that my skin was all loose and crinkly. I have old persons skin. Whaaaagh.

My arthritis was also playing up so I couldn’t get comfortable and I finally resorted to painkillers. Then I started coughing as my throat was continually drying up (this is one of the sleep problems – I am guessing I must sleep with my mouth open and it dries my throat).

Add to that all the things going through my mind. Money worries. Nothing new here, either for myself or most of the people I know. We live in a depressed rural area and work is sometimes not very forthcoming. The surprise is that I hadn’t been worrying about it up to now. Then thinking about people, what they thought of me, was I being taken advantage of, was I appreciated etc. I mean, life is too short, this is not something I am prone to worrying about – why now? To top it all when I eventually fell asleep I dreamt my mum was having a go at me about something and really did not like me. Now I know this isn’t true. I love my mum but I also know she is very critical and has been all my life and deep down I feel she doesn’t like me even if I know that isn’t so (having said that she has never told me she does).

So all in all a pretty disturbed and disturbing night. I guess a lot is down to the AD withdrawal and I need to get a grip or I will be back on them. I felt better when I was just feeling above it all (even though I wasn’t aware the ADs were making me feel that way) but that can be dangerous especially as far as money is concerned, a little worry is useful.

About 8 years ago I was on Prozac and seeing a therapist (during the time I shared a house with my mum). I was also introduced to the Soka Gakkai by a friend. This is a lay Buddhist organisation; the name literally means ‘Value Creating Society’. There form of practice is chanting (you may have heard the chant ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’.) I believe that this practice enabled me to withdraw from the Prozac with no problem and sort my life out and still sustains me today. I have lapsed a bit though and usually only chant a few times a week.

So I need a plan.

I need to start chanting regularly– ideally at least half an hour a day.
I need to get back on the anti arthritis diet with a vengeance, and lose some weight too, for the sake of my health.
I need to put more effort into an online store and try to make a regularish income out of it no matter how small.
I need to stay in better contact with my mum and try to have the best relationship we can – she wont be around forever.

Well enough of the psychodrivel, if you waded your way through that congratulations.

Animal Stories

2008-06-04T16:57:00.004+02:00

I real must try and stay awake long enough to blog every now and then!

Tomorrow I have my sleepover in hospital to try and see what the problem is. So fingers crossed they find something that is easy to remedy.

I meant to post these pictures ages ago.

These are the ducklings born on Easter Day. They were so adorable, but the whole lot kept making a run for it down to the river which was pretty fast flowing and we lost a few.

We eventually incarcerated them with the one remaining chicken and now have 2 almost adult ducklings - still no idea of sexes though.

I love this picture of the 3 angora goats (before clipping) eyeballing the new family. The goats are halfway through clippng at the moment - so a bit of a strange sight.

This is the latest addition to the household - Woody. We were on the way to the woods a couple of months ago and saw him wandering around in the road. When Keith opened the landrover door to investigate he jumped in and sat next to him. They haven't been out of each others company since.

He had no collar, tattoo or microchip so pretty soon I think we will have him microchipped and castrated and call him ours.

He is absolutely adorable. So gentle and pleasant natured, not at all yappy. He also learnt pretty quickly (as we did) who is in charge - the cats.

The next addition is hopefuly going to be a brood of chicks in about 3 weeks. The sole chicken has gone all broody, but the silly cluck was just sitting on the dummy egg! I got hold of 6 (hopefully) fertile eggs and she is happily sitting on them now.

Wonderwool and stuff

2008-05-18T15:34:00.002+02:00

I am getting so sloppy about blogging - I must do better than this!

I can't even remember what I have mentioned and what not so I hope I don't repeat myself (I do that a lot - it's the creeping senility).

It's been a bit of a scary fortnight. My friend Alex who some of you might remember keeps alpacas had her 50th birthday a fortnight ago. 3 days later she had a stroke. She is in Caen hospital at the moment, and after a couple of setbacks appears to be recovering well. Her husband, John, has been left to care for the animals including the 13 alpacas with 5 more on the way! Here is a phot from about a year ago.

I have been busy knitting mainly socks. these are a (late) birthday present in Opal Silk.

I seem to have knitted a lot of socks lately, not sure I have photographed them all.
I finally get it about sock knitting; after years of saying I don't see the point. It was finally drummed home when I was visiting my friend Sara when in the UK (otherwise known as the mad cat woman of Doulting). I had knitted her socks for her birthday (3rd April) which in a fit of efficiency actually got to her on time. When I saw her on 29th April she confessed that she hadn't worn any other socks since getting them as she loved them so much.

I have just posted her another couple of pairs so she can wash the first ones!

No longer is the hand knitted gift received with false gratitude and consigned to the back of a drawer, but actually sought after.

Much as I love the 100% wool sock yarns I have knitted for myself I am not sure it is worth the trouble as I seem to wear through them so quickly (Colinette Jitterbug was the worst - lasted less than half a dozen wears). In contrast the socks I knit for Keith out of Opal and other yarns with 25% nylon go on and on. However I have some new yarns to dye - Merino/Tencel and Merino/Bamboo so will give them a shot.

I have been experimenting with very long and very short dyed stripes but still need to work on technique as especially the long stripes (think Noro Kureyon) are so time consuming. The short ones that work out like ikat vertical stripes need tweaking to get them just right. They will tend to spiral which is ok unless it is too tight a spiral which ends up like horizontal stripes or the pattern disintergrates altogether. Thats ok in both cases, - the effect is still nice, but I am aiming for a bit of predictability.

My son (who continues in good health - thanks to all those who asked at Wonderwool), has bought me the domain name http://www.tricoterie.com/ and is hosting it on his server so I want to try and get a site up and going. Tri'Coterie is the name I use on Etsy since someone else uses Tricot Treat and at present the site just takes you straight to my Etsy shop, which only has Opal in at th moment.

Wonderwool was a blast, I was rushed off my feet to the point where I had to miss the Prudence Mapstone workshop I had booked. That was a shame but I am not complaining. I cleared the majority of my Colinette Yarn. I mostly have Firecracker, Silky Chic, Fandango and Mohair left which I must get round to putting on my Ravelry trade pages. I might do a throw with some of it though.

After talking to Jeni and Amanda via their blogs, and in person, at Wonderwool I have made a decision to try and start out on my website with yarns that I feel ok about ethically and environmentally. As I am not brilliant about researching all that stuff I am indebted to them for all the time they have put in to it. Having met and talked to them I am happy to trust their judgement. Hence the decision to clear out the Colinette. I am not saying they are unethical, just that I have no idea where their yarn is sourced. I was unhappy about the way they treat people though and the many reports (and my own experience with Jitterbug) of colours running. Instead I am stocking Malabrigo - yum yum. This is a small family run concern where the yarn is handspun and dyed in Uruguay. Tobias, who runs it, is active on the Ravelry forums and I feel confident that I could approach him about any concerns.

This arrived a couple of days before Wonderwool.

For my undyed yarns and fibre I am at present only using http://www.bluefaced.com/ (who has just about anything you could desire anyway) and some merino tops bred in the Flaklands (virtually organically) and processed in the UK.

Starting from this base I can then branch out from there as and when. On verra.

One of the things that struck me being in the UK was that although food etc. was more expensive there was an abundance of 'stuff' incredibly cheap. Clothes and household stuff in supermarkets for instance. Some of this stuff was so cheap it was almost disposable, for instance it would be cheaper to buy a new duvet rather than wash it.

I can't help thinking when you can get a new toaster or T shirt for £2 someone somewhere is being exploited. More than that everything becomes devalued - you have to strive harder and harder to have a real luxury. Think of cashmere for instance. It is the sort of thing you would have expected to save up and buy one precious skein to knit something fabulous. With cheap chinese imports though it is now common place, and we never know the real cost - to workers, the environment, the animals. As with everything you tend to get what you pay for one way or another and I am not sure the cheaper cashmere is as good a quality as the more expensive stuff.

A year or so ago I bought a skein of Cashmere/Silk (50/50) laceweight from Posh as a special, special treat, I have done nothing but fondle it since as it seemed too precious to commit to a project. At Wonderwool I scored some Baby Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere (70/20/10) and the cashmere is Mongolian which isn't ideal but better than Chinese. It is even softer. Maybe this is to do with improved processing or maybe because it hasn't been dyed yet we shall see.

Well sorry if I havbeen drifting a bit there. in the next post I have a few animal stories and photos (unbelievably cute). Before signng off though I must show you the lovely birthday present I got from Tutley Mutley.

Lovely Louisa Harding Angora, which I think may become a hat or fingerless mittens, Kendal Mint cake, the cutest ever candles, an Interweave magnetic poetry kit (knitting theme of course) and a really, really good book. Lots of small doable projects. Thanks so much Tut!

Overstretched memories and mmmmMalibrigo

2008-04-19T23:25:00.003+02:00

I seem to have not blogged for ages - well actually I haven't blogged for ages. Lots has happened but I have also slept loads. Seems I may have sleep apnoeia (apnea). I am going for an overnight stay in hospital at the beginning of June for an assessment. I have calcification on my left tendon at the ankle which can be painful (I am having an insert made for my Crocs for this! part heel lift and part shock absorber). I have had flu which seems to linger on my chest. Also I can be a lazy sod.

We have had lots of animal stories and lots of knitting (well some) done but I can't show pictures at the moment, even of the wonderful birthday present from Tutley since my computers memory is overloaded at the moment.

However in a couple of days I will be wending my way to the UK in a van full of yarn to Wonderwool. En route I will be dropping off my computer at my son's in Bristol where it will be having an extra HD and more memory. I had great plans of all the things to get ready for Wonderwool but off course I am running out of time and have to curtail alot of them. I have been dyeing wool and roving like a mad thing though (between naps) though drying everything is somewhat harder and as to winding labelling and pricing - well that is just a bit of a drag.

Yesterday I have received a consignment of Malibrigo worsted and lace so all is not lost and I will be bringing my last remaining Colinette. If you read my blog or are a Raveller ask for a discount - 10% on most things and 25% on the Colinette!

I'm looking forward to meeting online friends in person. I will be away from the stall for a couple of hours Sunday morning though at the Prudence Mapstone workshop.

Oh and I nearly forgot the stall is called Tri'Coterie (a bit of a play on words that is supposed to sound like it is an exclusive group for knitting) and I am in position P2 right near the Cafe, Be seeing you

Colinette Sale Update

2008-02-18T10:25:00.002+01:00

A lotof the yarn has gone but there is still a bit left if you want to scoop a bargain. This is the state of play as of this morning.

POINT 5 - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $8

Red Parrot (13)
Popsicle (27 )
Toscana ( 5)
Alizarine ( 7)
Magenta (5 )
Summer Berries ( 5)
Toucan ( 7)
Florentina ( 1)
Windfall ( 8)
Jamboree ( 21)
Blue Saturn ( 8)
Sahara ( 8)
Lichen ( 5)

ONE ZERO - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $8

Popsicle ( 5)

SILKY CHIC - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Lapis (6)
Monet (3)
Cezanne (2)
Raphael (10)
Neptune (1)
Toscana (6)
Florentina (4)
Sahara (5)
Venezia (5)
Tapis (3)
Jamboree (9)
Rio (8)

FIRECRACKER - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Sahara (6)
Fruit Couli (7)
Jay (3)
Windfall (9)
Morocco (9)
Gauguin (7)
Toscana (9)
Turquoise (8)
Florentina (8)
Raphael (5)

ZANZIBA - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Jamboree (9)

ENIGMA - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50

Jamboree (5)

ATHENE - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50 (for 100g)
(This is on 1 Kg cones I will wind off multiples of 100g)

Jamboree (5)
Lilac (5)
Popsicle (5)
Florentina (3)

FANDANGO - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50

Red Parrot (2)
Forest (4)
Toscana (8)
Mist (5)
Jamboree (6)
Popsicle (8)
Alizarine (1)
Lapis (8)
Windfall (5)
Neptune (7)

MOHAIR - £4.50 – 6.50€ - $9

Lagoon (2)
Toscana (3)
Red Parrot (9)
Neptune (4)
Windfall (8)
Jamboree (9)
Popsicle (5)

Shipping is at cost as follows, for guidance I can usually get 4 skeins in a .5Kg package, 8-9 sk in a 1Kg, 13 sk in a 1.5Kg and 17 sk in a 2Kg package.

SHIPPING INFORMATION

French Mainland

500g 5.30€ 7.80€ (recommandé)

1Kg 6.40€ 9.50€ (recommandé)

2Kg 7.20€ 11.20€ (recommandé)

3Kg 8.20€ 12.20€ (recommandé)

European Union (4€ plus for insurance – please enquire)

250g 4.50€ £3.00

500g 6.50€ £4.50

1Kg 9€ £6.50

1.5Kg 11.50€ £8.50

2Kg 12.80€ £9.50

Rest of World (4€ plus for insurance – please enquire)

250g 6€ $8.80

500g 7.80€ $11.40

1Kg 11€ $16.10

1.5Kg 14.50€ $21.20

2Kg 17€ $24.90

Where did those ducks go, - oh and yes the days as well?

2008-02-11T22:07:00.000+01:00

I seem to have not blogged for ages! I spend lots of time on Ravelry maybe that is why? On the other hand I am not sure where February went to. I seem to have had an inordinate number of little illness but thinking about it today it could all be attributed to the big M (hot flushes, tiredness, headaches etc) If so let it get over with quickly.

At the moment we have sick goats, but I dosed them for worms and liver fluke today and hope that will do the trick. We recently acquired a male in the hopes of little kids this year before our ladies get too old, but he doesn't seem to have got the idea yet. There have been preliminaries but believe me you do not want to know what passes for erotic to goats!

We also 'lost' a duck and 3 chickens, suspiciously soon after a hunter passed by one evening... They are free range and tend to wander in the neighbouring fields so from that point of view they might seem fair game, I suppose. A friend gave us another 3 ducks who hung around for a few days before flying off! One flew back a couple of days after but there is no sign of the others. I know we shold clip their wings, butyou have to catch them first and so far they have proved cleverer tan me. Our one original duck is now hiding away sitting on a clutch of a dozen (unfertile) eggs. We are going to get some fertile eggs and sneak them in. Well that is the plan anyway.

So, and on to knitting. I finished my January Ravelry knitalongs. 2 pairs of Tweedy Mittens, 2 pairs of socks and a January is for Karen scarf.

I have started on my February projects but am way behind. A pair of socks in Opal Silk that was supposed to be for me but turned out too narrow (swatch ? What's that?) so Keith will get another pair, therefore I also started another pair for me in Lucy Neatby Celestial Merino in FieryFuscia. I am doing the Chevalier Mittens for the 2008 Mitten a Month Along in Malabrigo Worsted in Vermillion and the February is for Damejain in Jaegar angora. Well I need to get a move on, especially as I have a birthday present to sew this week too.

The really good news is that my son had his bone marrow harvest last week. It sounds pretty gorey doesn't it? It wasn't as straightforwad as it was hoped but it is over with now so no point in dwelling on the cringe worthy details. He now has his insurance banked so if he ever needs a bone marrow transplant in the future he has the best possible donor - himself. Hope it doesn't come to that though.

Colinette Athene and Chrysalis

2008-01-26T21:13:00.000+01:00

The main listing of yarns for sale is here along with the shipping information. Or you can skip through the following related posts and it is a little further down the page.

These 2 yarns are now discontinued by Colinette so you wont be able to see them on their website. So I thought I had better show them.

Athene is a mohair mix. 42% mohair, 25% viscose, 25% wool and 8 % nylon. Ravelry has it listed as a Sport weight with 140m to 100g. This was supplied to me on cones but I will be happy to skein or ball off any amount. I have between 600g to 1000g of each of the 5 colours shown.

I put a little of each under the scanner to show each colour. They do however look brighter this way. This $8.50 or 100g.

Chrysalis is a wrapped cotton yarn. The details are on the label.

I have 9 skeins for $9 a skein. This is an exceptional yarn in a gorgeous colourway (Raphael). You are unlikely to see this again and certainly not at this price.

Don't forget all the other yarns - starting as low as $8 - just scroll down.

Athene and Chrysalis

2008-01-25T01:08:00.001+01:00

The Colinette Sale is well underway now though do spread it around if you can. I have been a bit lazy to assume everyone willl know the yarns or check them out on Colinettes website but of course Athene and Chrysalis have been discontinued. Tomorrow I must take some photographs and give more details. For the moment it is late. My internet connection is still flakey so I am grabbing what moments I can. The chrysalis especially is very unusual. Manyana!

Latest Colinette update - Grab a bargain.

2008-01-24T01:42:00.003+01:00

I have just finished updating all of the Colinette Yarn I am clearing. It comes to over 700 skeins. I never knew I had so much.

You are very unlikely to see these prices ever again, certainly not with this much choice. I will probably leave them at this price for 2 weeks then withdraw them as I will be doing a 'Puce de Couturieres'. Until then it will be first come first served.

Check out the updated listing.

Would you like to make one of Colinette’s fabulous Perugino throws but find it a bit beyond your pocket? It is a common chevron stitch in 6 different Colinette Yarns. This will make a large throw or 2 generous sized wraps. In my sale you could pick out your own colours (3 Mohair, 2 Giotto and 1 Tagliatelli) and it will only cost you $57 (or £27.75 or 39.75€). If you are unsure of the pattern ask and I will explain.

What about a Zodiac Wrap. This is made with Firecracker, Silky Chic and Lasso. I don’t personally like lasso but have found a very similar wrap can be made with just Firecracker and Silky Chic. Just knit lengthwise to your desired length in garter or stocking stitch. Knit one row Firecracker followed by 3 rows Silky Chic on 8mm pins (if you use a circular needle you can change ends if the yarn you want to pick up is at the other end). One skein of each makes a very wide scarf – medium wrap. Double the quantities if you want something more substantial. At the prices in my sale this could cost as little as $16 (or £7.70 or 11€). What have you got to lose?

These yarns are so luscious that mixing them gives a sensuous, richly colourful result to anything no matter how simple. These prices are lower than Millshop prices and will not be repeated so grab a bargain while the going is good!

Take me to the bargains.

Colinette Mega Sale very cheap!!!

2008-01-20T20:14:00.000+01:00

You might like to check more recent posts for extra information if you have jumped straight to this one.

I am clearing my old stocks of Colinette yarn at ridiculously low prices. This is a once only offer to Ravelry users and fellow knit bloggers (i.e. anyone reading this) before I start listing on ebay.

Prices are in UK£, Euros and US$. Use the currency that you intend paying in. Postage rates are at the end of the listing, I charge actual postage costs and use a lightweight plastic packaging that should not add more than 50g to the weight, but the yarn often weighs upto 10% more than the weight on the label. The most economical postage breaks would be at 4sk, 8sk, 13sk and 17sk.

All the yarn is new (as in directly from Colinette with labels) in good condition, not seconds. I will update this post regularly with more stock as I count it and less as I sell it.

The number in brackets after each colour is the number of 100g skeins I know I have in that colour. I may well have another 1-3 skeins on top of this number (on display stands etc) so ask if you want more than is listed. You can check out colours on Colinettes website.

Email me

With the list of what you would like and I will send you a Paypal receipt. You can then make up your mind if you want to go ahead and buy. I accept Paypal, sterling cheque or euro cheque (however be aware that cheques need to clear before the goods are sent)

To start there is Point 5, One Zero and Shimmer 5 at lower than Millshop Prices.

All other Colinette Yarns in stock now added.

POINT 5 - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $8

Red Parrot (13)
Popsicle (27 )
Toscana ( 15)
Alizarine ( 17)
Magenta (5 )
Venezia ( 6)

Jewel ( 7)
Dusk ( 8)
Summer Berries ( 5)
Toucan ( 7)
Florentina ( 1)
Windfall ( 8)
Jamboree ( 21)
Blue Saturn ( 18)
Sahara ( 16)
Lichen ( 5)

ONE ZERO - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $8

Sahara ( 9)

Popsicle ( 6)
Neptune ( 6)
Toscana ( 3)
Summer Berries ( 4)
Red Parrot ( 10)

SHIMMER 5 - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Monet ( 7)
Fire ( 7)
Sea Breeze ( 7)
Florentina ( 9)
Toscana ( 2)

SILKY CHIC - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Lapis (8)
Monet (9)
Cezanne (8)
Raphael (10)
Neptune (3)
Toscana (6)
Florentina (6)
Sahara (5)
Venezia (7)
Tapis (5)
Jamboree (9)
Castagna (8)
Rio (8)
Morocco (6)

FIRECRACKER - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Sahara (6)
Fruit Couli (7)
Jay (3)
Windfall (9)
Morocco (9)
Gauguin (5)
Toscana (9)
Turquoise (8)
Florentina (8)
Raphael (6)

ZANZIBA - £3.85 – 5.50€ - $7.50

Jamboree (9)

ENIGMA - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50

Jamboree (5)

ATHENE - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50 (for 100g)
(This is on 1 Kg cones I will wind off multiples of 100g)

Jamboree (5)
Lilac (5)
Popsicle (5)
Jewel (5)
Red Parrot (5)

FANDANGO - £4.25 – 6€ - $8.50

Red Parrot (2)
Forest (8)
Toscana (8)
Mist (4)
Jamboree (6)
Popsicle (8)
Velvet Bilberry (2)
Alizarine (1)
Lapis (8)
Windfall (5)
Neptune (9)

MOHAIR - £4.50 – 6.50€ - $9

Lagoon (2)
Toscana (6)
Red Parrot (9)
Neptune (4)
Windfall (8)
Jamboree (9)
Popsicle (5)

CHRYSALIS - £4.50 – 6.50€ - $9

Raphael (8)

TAGLIATELLI - £4.75 – 6.75€ - $10

Sahara (7)
Jamboree (10)
Popsicle (8)
Summer Berries (4)
Gauguin (5)

GIOTTO - £4.75 – 6.75€ - $10

Burnt Ochre (8)

Lichen (7)
Windfall (7)
Popsicle (9)
Pierro (2)
Toscana (1)

SHIPPING INFORMATION

French Mainland

500g 5.30€ 7.80€ (recommandé)

1Kg 6.40€ 9.50€ (recommandé)

2Kg 7.20€ 11.20€ (recommandé)

3Kg 8.20€ 12.20€ (recommandé)

European Union (4€ plus for insurance – please enquire)

250g 4.50€ £3.00

500g 6.50€ £4.50

1Kg 9€ £6.50

1.5Kg 11.50€ £8.50

2Kg 12.80€ £9.50

Rest of World (4€ plus for insurance – please enquire)

250g 6€ $8.80

500g 7.80€ $11.40

1Kg 11€ $16.10

1.5Kg 14.50€ $21.20

2Kg 17€ $24.90

SOLD

Point 5
Slate (6)
Castagna ( 5)
Kingfisher ( 4)
Florentina ( 3)
Red Parrot (5)
Morocco (8)
Dusk (8)
Lichen (4)
Jamboree (5)

One Zero
Toscana (5)
Windfall ( 9)
Summer Berries ( 5)
Neptune (3)
Jamboree (9)

Shimmer5
Jay ( 10)
Autumn Leaves (9)
Fire (2)

SilkyChic
Jay (2)
Florentina (1)
Morocco (1)
Castagna (1)

Firecracker
Jay (2)
Gauguin (1)
Rapael (1)

Skye

Autumn Leaves (2)

Prism
Blue Parrot (5)

Mohair
Neptune (2)
Rose Garden (7)

Toscana (1)
Windfall (1)
Popsicle (1)

Chrysalis
Raphael (1)

Tagliatelli
Florentina (2)
Toscana (9)
Gauguin (1)
Summer Berries (4)
Sahara (1)

Giotto
Lagoon (2)
Windfall (1)
Pierro (1)

Where to go from here

2008-01-18T19:13:00.000+01:00

The cough lingers... and I have succumbed and recovered from a headache and sickness bug too. Well anyway that is my excuse for being a rubbish blogger. Does anyone else find that putting projects on Ravelry means you feel less urgency to blog about them? However some things can't be properly expressed on Ravelry. One is thank yous to wonderful people like the bountiful Lorena from Hanks in Florida. She was my SP8 and a couple of days ago a parcel came out of the blue to brighten a dismal, grey day.

Isn't the yarn gorgeous? The soap (which I think Lorena makes) was heavenly and scented the entire package - Lavender, Nag Champa, and Oats and Honey. The edibles are long gone, I took the Tex Mex to knitting club where everyone wants the recipe and I am embarassed to say that I was solely responsible for the demise of the Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups (my favorite). So my diet is not off to a flying start but at least the temptation is out of the way now.

Other good news is that my son and his partner have decided to tie the knot. He proposed on Christmas Day and they picked up the ring last week.

No day set and it is certainly not imminent but it is commitment, and of course brought a tear to my eye.

I have been doing mainly litle projects, socks and mitts and some spinning lately.
I finished the Opal Tiger socks.

I really like this yarn to knit and it is so hardwearing. Unlike Colinette Jitterbug which I have been very disappointed with. I loved knitting it but after 2 months and half a dozen washes they are now unwearable. They felted badly, the colour is still running and they are full of holes. I will try to remember to post before and after photos next time.

I have finished the Tweedy Mitts for the Ravelry 2008 Mitts a month group and started another pair as a late Christmas present for my friend Alex. She generously gave me the blanket of one of her alpacas, Bertie, so I have spun some straight from the fleece without carding and am making her some mitts.

I am always losing mitts so made myself some cactus mittenettes in Colinette Prism in bright red Mardi Gras. This is one of Sylvie at Chez Plums patterns and she has a competition ending soon for people who ave knitted her patterns and send her photos.

I haven't made any real NY esolutions except to finish the things I put on the 2007 list! I am trying not to cast on a new project unless I castoff two until I get my UFOs under control. I have been giving some thought to how to go forward with my small yarn business though. Ihave quite a lot of stock to dye up and I have a stand booked for Wonderwool Wales but I really need to shift stock I have had for a while.

Towards this end I have started putting Opal sock wool in my Etsy Shop at discount prices ($11 for 150g 6ply). I have very large stock of Colinette yarn and will be either putting them on ebay or Etsy (I am a little wary about putting too much by way of commercial supplies on Etsy as some people get upset) but will probably post on ths blog and Ravelry to give folks the opportunity to benefit from dicount prices beforehand. Prices will range from £3.85 a skein for Pt5, 1.0, Shimmer 5, Silky Chic, Firecracker and Zanziba to £4.75 for Tagliatelli and Giotto. I also have Enigma, Athene, Fandango, Prism, Skye, Mohair and Chrysalis. I will do a post with colours, amounts and prices in £, $ and euros and postal charges very soon. I am getting very short of room so I really need to rationalise stock.

Wishing you all a non wheezy new year

2008-01-06T20:37:00.000+01:00

Well sorry to be away so long. I seem to have succumbed to the current round of colds, flu, coughing, sneezing etc. Even after 10 days I still feel rubbish especially towards the end of the day. I could sleep for Europe which isn't helped by the abysmal light.

I have done a fair bit of knitting though (goes with watching DVDs), though not much catching up on WIPs!

Anyway some pix:

My favorite Christmas Card.

The cat has such a fiendish expression!

My favorite Christmas presents:-

I LOVE getting knitterly presents. The books are wonderful and the Knitpicks needles are just divine to knit with. It has really got me going on sock knitting. I finished the ones I was on and have 3 or 4 more on the go!

Even Marge fancies a pair!

moar funny pictures

Did you see that I got a hat book for Christmas? Well I also bought myself this

And I have this winging its way to France at this moment. So I think I might be knitting a lot of hats this year.

I joined a sock knitting KAL and a mitten knitting KAL on Ravelry and am thinking of joining the Scarf a month KAL at Hanks So I just need a hat nitting KAL and I should have next years Christmas presents done in plenty of time! Well thats the plan...

Talking of sock knitting Ambermoggie has committed to knitting socks every month to raise money for her local hospice. She could really do with some sock yarn sponsorship so if you have a hank you don't need in your stash, do yourself a favour and donate to this good cause.

A few months ago my brother sent me a huge parcel of knitting goodies including 2lb of saffron superwash merino roving. This week I tied it in a really long hank and dip dyed it royal blue, turquoise, magenta and scarlet to give a lovely vibrant melange of lots of colours. I have split it into lengths of 1 colour repeat and begun to pre-draught it.

I want to spin it as a 2 ply with long colour repeats as in Noro. I then wanted to make a sideways knitted jacket similar to Hanne Falkenburgs Mermaid. But the pattern isn't available on it's own so I put in a plea on the Pattern Detectives group on Ravelry and they came up with a free alternative from Drops/Garnstudio (scroll down to pattern Z-319). That is such a great group.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2007-12-25T20:29:00.000+01:00

I seem not to have blogged for a while! I have been busy knitting but neglected to photo stuff that has already gone. I did finish the Fabel Socks however

and have started another pair in 6ply Fortissima Socki in a lovely autumnal colourway.

Needless to say IT got the better of me but I am old enough now to know when to give in to the inevitable. So Christmas knitting was put aside for the weekend as I was hosting the Spinning Group on Sunday and needed to tidy up. (Believe me Emma you WILL get your Gryffindor sweater!) It was really fun getting 11 people and 5 spinning wheels into the yurt!

We had a Secret Santa too with lots of fibrey presents.

But the gift that caused the most envy was a little sheep that pooed M and M's!

I have been updating my Etsy shop lately and still have alot of Opal 6ply to put on this week at a really good price ($11 for a 150g ball), but I like to spend the week between Christmas and New Year to tidy up loose ends and think about what I want to achieve in the next year. I have duly sorted out all my UFO's and I have (gulp) 25. So I want to see how many I can shift before 2008. Serendipitously I came across the Knit Warriors group on Ravelry. Check it out at on Lime and Violets blog. It should encourage me to get organised knitting wise.

Frost and Fire

2007-12-13T20:32:00.000+01:00

The temperature has really plummetted in the last couple of days. Even at the late hour I get up the frost is still everywhere and as the sun rises every weed and fallen leaf is rimmed with rime frost.

So I had to take some photos. Click on the top image to see the next.

It reminded me of a quote I once read to the effect that the Celts believed that the mundane was the edge of glory. A lovely thought - that the sublime can be glimpsed in the ordinary. The Buddhism of everyday life.

Where does the time go?

2007-12-11T22:22:00.000+01:00

I feel like I am running around chasing my tail at the moment, but if you asked me what I have done, I would be hard pressed to tell. However I have spent the best part of today trying to figure out why my internet connection was cut by my ISP. It turns out they added an extra 99 euros to my monthly standing order, my bank refused (and of course charged me for the privilege) and Tiscali cut me off. It turns out I hadn't returned a faulty modem because they had told me not to send it to the address that was on the return label and I thought they would send me a new prepaid address label. They didn't and I forgot all about it. Then out of the blue... no internet. Why is life so complicated? So then I had to compose a scathing letter and get a friend to put it into scathing french for me.

I just want to knit and events are conspiring to stop me! However I have finished the hat to go with the pair of Fetching for my SIL

The handspun is three ply that I dyed as roving, part superwash merino and part Blue Faced Leicester. Lovely and soft and silky. The hat has a little repeated lace motif, the pattern is from a Twilley's Freedom booklet and I adapted it to knit in the round. So one more thing crossed off the Christmas list.

I also have another pair of socks nearing completion with some of the yarn my SP11 sent me.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time this evening listing DVDs for sale on Anglo Info and ebay, in an attempt to declutter and make a bit of cash.

20 muddy paws and my carbon footprint

2007-12-08T16:59:00.000+01:00

It feels like it has been raining non-stop for at least 2 weeks.

Incessant rain + 5 cats = 20 muddy paws. I would knit them socks but they would only get them muddy and try as I might I can't get them to wipe their feet when they come in. They always look so hurt as well if they jump on you with cold wet paws and you act less than welcoming (this is usually when you have just changed to go out or put your pajamas on etc)

I have been to the UK for 5 days to see my son. It was such a relief to see him looking so well after seeing him last with his hair falling out in hospital. He has finally had an all clear on his molecular test. Once he gets another all clear they will harvest his bone marrow to store against the eventuality that he will need a transplant in the future.

I am glad I went but I have had to salve my conscience about my carbon footprint as I flew with Ryan Air. They started flying into Bristol (where he lives) in November and I managed to get a return flight for £20 (including airport tax and baggage fees). The ferry would have been nearer £200 and a complete no-no.

As a move towards offsetting I am making a determined effort to not use the electric kettle which I have a tendency to do despite the rayburn being lit. So I only use it a few times a week now first thing in the morning and make sure I only put a cupful in. Of course I should have been doing that anyway. I was also told that eating less meat has a dramatic effect on reducing ones carbon footprint. I haven't eaten any for 3 months as part of an anti arthritic diet (which is working very well) so I feel a bit better about flying and might consider it again next year. It was very quick and much less of a strain than the long drive and ferry crossing.

I have been very bad about blogging lately but spent quite a lot of time in Ravelry updating projects etc. So here are some FO's

Flower Power hat for Finch who has now gone back to Toronto.

Cabled beret for his mum Amy. I think the pattern was called Pumpkin and is a Twilley's Freedom pattern that was in Knitting magazine a couple of months ago. I made it in some chunky yarn from Ally Pally and knitted in the round on 8mm dpns.

A felted hat that was destined for me and stolen by Keith, in 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon. An improvised pattern consisting of a doubled over 'cuff' knitted as a rectangle and sewn to a crown.

The doomed Gryffindor sweater. I have some DK yarn now and have borrowed a knitting machine to try and complete this (sacrilege I know but needs must...)

Fetching in my own handspun. I have completed this and started a hat to go with them. Pictures next time. Also a pair in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I needed to use a little contrast yarn as I like a few more rows on my version.

Dancing Poppies scarflette in handyed aran weight silk.

Woolly wormheads cabled cap in alpaca. I finished this ages ago but made it too big and was to lazy to frog and reknit. I bought some shearing (spelling?) elastic and threaded it round the brim. Fits ok now, but is very warm!

Arghhhhh!!!!

2007-11-25T22:15:00.000+01:00

IT's a conspiracy. IT must be.

I am referring of course to knitting for Christmas. I have a niece and nephew who would like Hogwarts jumpers for Christmas (Gryffindor and Slytherin). You would not blieve the contortions I have been through to get school grey wool that was washable and not 100% acrylic. Of course now grey is fashionable pretty soon there will be loads of grey yarns around. I ended up bidding for lots on ebay first getting what I thought was 500g of school grey which turned out to be 10 oz - quite a difference. (That'll learn me to read the auction properly). I finally won 500g of school grey superwash wool and started n the Gryfindor. I knitted the body in the round to the armholes then split and started knitting the back. This morning I reached in to the bag for a new ball to finish the back and realised I was picking up ball 7 of 10.

Arghhh! Even in my most optimistic frame of mind I know that I will not have enough to finish!!! Somehow a sleeveless vest isn't quite the same. I need to go and bury my head somewhere.

What have I done to deserve such good karma?

2007-11-22T21:06:00.000+01:00

"Sometime in my wicked miserable past I must have done something good" (sung with the voice of Julie Andrews).

Yesterday I had the most amazing (I repeat AMAZING) parcel from my SP11.

A big parcel full of little parcels:

Starting with a card and chocolates,

a knitting bag and pencil/dpn case

the dpn case contained... sock yarn

Opening more parcels we have a lovely uru laceweight red yarn and more chocolate!

Then more chocolate and super kauni effect yarn.

Then we have dpns, something for the cats and more chocolate (this was so yummy).

Then more sock yarn (Keith already sees himself in these socks!) and a scented candle.

An amazing T shirt.

A sheepy tape measure (adorable the tail pulls out) - you can't have too many tape measures, and a minature basket of yarn and knitting.

As if that wasn't enough there was this amazing book which I have lusted over for so long. My heart was all a flutter. I just love it!

Could it get any better? Well yes it could. There was a handknitted shawl in a gorgeous burnt orange. All those little stitches, thousands of them made just for me. Just how lucky can one woman get?

Here it is all together, and I think I forgot the handcream, it looks like evening primrose (just what I need).

Jealous? I bet you are. Well I declared a hiatus in my diet to hve a chocfeast and started planning new projects to join all my other WIP's with the new yarn.

My wonderful benefactor? Is Nicole from Germany who blogs here. Go and say hi to her and hope you get palled with her for SP12! The really sad thing is that she previously sent a parcel that never arrived. I hate to think of all that knitterly love feeling abandoned somewhere. I hope some deprived appreciative knitter has found it.

Competition winners

2007-11-08T09:56:00.000+01:00

I have had a busy week and neglected my blogging (slapped wrists). Even though I haven't given the results of the competitions I have notified the winners and their prizes should be well on the way by now.

Firstly the draw for the short fat needles and homespun went to ikkinlala who belongs to a group blog. There were lots of ideas for what to do with them. Emm had an actual real use for them, knitting the very crown of hats. A few mentions for chunky i-cord and shawl pins which was my personal favorite.

Well how much sock wool could I fit in this basket?

Lets open it and see.

First out the Opal - over a kilo of it.

Then the Jitterbug.

Then Cherry Tree Hill, Celestial Merino, Knit Picks, Regia and individually dyed stuff from swaps.

In total 4,613 grams (163 oz). Apart from the guess of 1900Kg which I hope was a mistake, the highest guess was 4,900g from Kelly. It was the closest. So some Cherry Tree Hill and Tri'Coterie sockwool on its way to her.

This summer was so diabolical weatherwise that the only thing that survived the wet, cold and slugs was the leeks. One of the casualties was the Class A Catnip we had brought from the UK and nursed through 3 winters. Luckily I had collected seed and planted it all. It took ages to germinate and we finally got it going and brought it in before the first frosts. Of course it has a natural predator and 2 of them finally discovered it. So this-

becomes this-

and one blissed out cat. Luckily this one will survive, unlike the other one that was eaten roots and all!

So what has been occupying all my time? Getting organised for the annual Euromayenne Christmas Fair. Simple knitting patterns produced in English and French and samples knitted up. Miles of novelty yarn cut, tied, and reskeined. A successful day though and a nice space for my stall. Looking at it I don't know where I fit everything at other times!

Yet another Competition

2007-10-28T18:37:00.001+01:00

Before I tell you about the new competition don't forget to check out my previous post which also has a competition that ends midnight on Halloween.

Firstly I wanted to brag about my wonderful brother in Seattle. He felt that he had been a bit behind in birthday presents lately and asked what I would like. Non knitters are always perplexed when you say yarn but he rose to the challenge.

There are so many nice yarns that are either unobtainable here or much more expensive than in the States. One of these is Lambs Pride Worsted. I paid £5.99 a ball for some at Ally Pally last year, but found a US site selling a few colours at $3 a ball (yes really a mere £1.50). Do check out The Sheep Shed Studio. Well my brother, Gareth, gave me a spending limit to choose stuff then ordered it all and paid the (somewhat high) international shipping charges and I got this wonderful package.

I don't know what was more fun, picking all the stuff I wanted (and I went way over budget) or opening the parcel. It was like getting a present twice. I don't know why people have a downer on giving tokens it is so much fun shopping. Well what about the contents I hear you asking...

Lambs Pride Worsted, 9 skeins purple, 7 skeins red and 7 skeins garnet, plenty for 3 jumpers or cardies.

Wildefoote sock yarn 3 skeins Blue Blood Red and 10 skeins Tom Cat Grey. (I had hoped this would be the right colour for a Hogwarts jumper but it is marled. Why is school grey such a hard colour to get these days?). I am just swatching the grey at the moment.

Cotton Fleece to try - a skein each of yellow and kelp green.

2lb of superwash roving in saffron yellow. Scrummy.

Also not photoed 2 skeins of 6ply Waverley yarn in Rusty Red which have already become 2 pairs of socks! Definitely recommended for thick socks.

So how lucky am I?

Well it is time to share the love around. Also I feel like Halloween is the spiritual birthday of this blog (Tricot Treat - Trick or Treat, get it?) so here is a little competition.

I am a new sock knitter but even so I have a little stash of sock yarn ready to knit. Apart from the stuff my brother recently sent it all fits in here.

The pins on top are 9 inches long to give you an idea of size. I am not saying how full or empty this basket is but there is some Cherry Tree Hill, some Opal, one skein of Celestial Merino...

So if, before midnight on Halloween, you leave a comment with the closest guess as to the weight of sock yarn in the basket, you get to win something from the basket. Guesses can be in ounces or grams and should not include the weight of the basket. Good Luck.

Sock obsessed and a Competition

2007-10-22T17:58:00.000+02:00

Personally I blame Lorena. While she was my SP9 she made me my first pair of handknit socks. She also gifted sock yarn - Socks that Rock no less (and Cherry Tree Hill) and I knit my first pair of socks. Since then I made a pair in a weekend for Sock Wars and then forgot about it. Recently though being tempted by some Colinette Jitterbug I made myself another pair of socks and haven't looked back. I finished the Opal Socks I started for Keith (click for other views).

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I then decided to try 2 toe up socks using the magic loop. I used Silvers excellent tutorial.

I even finished them!

There was enough yarn left so that I could make another pair and I have finished one of them. Now he doesn't want to wear any other socks!

While perusing my novices sock yarn stash I was admiring this colourway when I realised it was just the thing for the Woodland Shawl that Emm blogged about a couple of weeks ago. It is a nice repetitive pattern and I've hardly had to tink at all. The pattern follows well from the line before.

A close up of the stitch pattern.

I said in the last but one post that I was up to my eyes in novelty yarn. Here is Marge trying to look pretty amongst it all. I have had an occasional stand at fairs but it seems like all everyone wants to buy is novelty yarn for scarves. I am pretty fed up with it now though and I think the craze is about to decline (we are about 2 years behind here). Well the most popular type at the moment is a large skein made up of a few metres of lots of different yarns tied together. So I have pooled all the novelty yarns and am skeining up lots of this type of yarn - much better value than the shop ones. I am hoping to be able to recoup my capital on these this Christmas and reinvest in more white yarn to dye for next year.

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Like Woolly Wormhead I have been buying bamboo needles on Ebay. I got 12 sets of 5 Dpns of various sizes in 9inches and the same 12 sets in 5 inches. Considering I only paid 99p plus £9.50 p and p for the lot I think the quality is pretty good. The tips are nice and there are no snags on them. I think with usage they will get even smoother. The thing is I quite like 5 inch dpns for fingers on gloves etc but by no stretch of the imagination could I envisage using them in any size larger than 5.5mm.

So does anyone want the surplus needles? There are 5 inch dpns in 6mm, 6.5mm, and 8mm and a set of 9 inch dpns in 8mm. Just leave a comment with any use you can think of for very short fat needles (try to keep it clean) by Halloween and I will draw a name from the commenters to see who I will send them to. I will include some handspun and any other goodies I have lying around too.

I will also be updating my Etsy shop soon with Opal yarn and Tofutsies. When I have done that I will run another contest (sock yarn as prizes obviously). So keep an eye out.

Please take a minute

2007-10-20T22:06:00.000+02:00

What do you think of an art gallery that has an exhibit of a starving dog? The dog is not allowed to be given food or water as its suffering is the 'art'. What do you think of people who would stand around drinking cocktails and looking at this dog dying?

I could hardly credit this when I read it, and feel like I want to do more than sign a petition. I want to shout and scream in the face of this so-called artist. So please take a minute to read the following blogs and sign the petition. And spread it around from blog to blog.

There are details and photographs on this blog. Beware though I burst into tears when I read it.
The petition is in Spanish but this blog has a translation.
You can sign the petition here.

Manyana

2007-10-15T19:57:00.000+02:00

Well they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and honestly it has been on my mind to blog and to catch up with all those great folks who have given me helpful advice. But something always seems to come up. Currently I am drowning in a sea of novelty yarn (I know that sounds like a nightmare to most but there is a reason )- explanations next time.I have also been conducting roof repairs with a domestic sewing machine (sounds surreal eh?)- this has dragged on so long it is doing my head in - photos next time.

In knitting news I finished the Branching Out scarf in the Malabrigo laceweight that was gifted to me by Emm. It is the most incredibly soft scarf I don't even know I am wearing it. My only reservation is that it has a tendency to fold lengthwise down the middle despite blocking and even ironing. Have others found this? A friend suggested that doing a couple more stitches of stocking stitch in the middle might solve it. What do you think? If I could sort this problem out I would definitely knit this again.

Having finished the Jitterbug socks I embarked on a pair in 6 ply opal for Keith. These are actually finished now, pics next time.

Being on a roll with sock knitting I have my eyes set on Pomotamus when I feel up to it but I think I need to practice a bit more first. I had a delivery of Tofutsies last week so swatched with this in mind. So far I love the yarn, it is so silky.

One of my targets this week is to list a load of Opal and Tofutsies in my Etsy shop so watch this space as I will be running a competition to celebrate actually managing to do that... (ok I'm pathetic at admin for myself )

This mess is the beginnings of a huggable hedgehog, I remain a little sceptical.

Other targets for this week? I have 2 pairs of long fingerless mitts half done that I want to complete. Firstly a pair in SWTC Soysilk. My own design using the Isabeau lace pattern used in the tote and shrug on Chez Plum.

Secondly a pair using some frogged Colinette tagliatelli in colourway Jamboree. Again my own pattern but I am using needles much smaller than those recommended to give a dense velvetty texture.

I am hoping to get at least one UFO disposed of, either by completing or frogging each week and will post my progress to keep me on track. Anyone want to join me?

I hope to post again soon to show you my haul of new DPN's and a little competition to liven things up. Stay tuned.

And we have a Winner!

2007-10-07T21:48:00.000+02:00

Well actually two. We will come to that in a minute. Gratuitous kitten photo first. I am feeding a friends cats down the road while she is visiting her son in Denmark. She asked me to also keep a lookout for a wild kitten she had seen around her barns. Is she going to get a surprise when she gets back!

They are so adorable but so many stray kittens appear here because they don't have a culture of neutering. This will make 7 abandoned kittens that she has found in her barn in the last 2 years. It becomes impossible to find homes for them. Who knows what their destiny will be.

Gratuitous flower picture now. The sunflowers are only just blooming now - those that escaped the slugs.

Well on to the competition. Thank you all for the really useful feedback I will go through all the points in my next post and start implementing them straight away. When I have done that, say by Halloween, I will run another competition so come back and visit again.

I tried to pursuade Fish to get off his paws and pick a couple of numbers but he was quite comfortable and didn't see why he should. So I asked Keith and a visiting friend to make the draw.

The winners are Yvette who will be receiving the roving and Alice who will be getting the lace yarn. Email me please at maylinDOTtanATtiscaliDOTfr so that I can get on to that. I will visit everyones blog who commented during the week too.

Thanks for all the Feedback

2007-10-02T23:26:00.000+02:00

It has been so useful, keep it coming. I definitely have to look at my close up photography. The detailed washing instructions and American needle sizes are really good ideas. I will look at how I can make the postage clearer. Etsy doesn't allow much leeway for grouping countries if you are posting from outside the US. I could really do with a group that says European Union, since that is how postage is categorised here - Domestic, EU, Everywhere Else.

So many good ideas for colours too. I have been wanting to do semi solids or graduated colours and have ideas rattling around my brain. Its nice to know others feel the same. Earth colours too - that is more of a challenge for me since I don't naturally gravitate towards them.

One thing though. does anyone have advice on how to twist skeins so that they look nice and tidy for photographing. I do them over and over and still have to keep turning over to get a neat side. Is there an optimum skein length or number of twists?

So don't stop - lets have more ideas.

FO's and a Competition!

2007-10-01T14:20:00.000+02:00

I was amazed at how quickly I finished these socks and how comfy they are - I feel so proud of myself. I have already rummaged through my sock yarn stash to start another pair. I think I might try working through Lucy Neatby's book 'Cool Socks, Warm Feet' I reckon I should have a good grounding in socks by the time I finish all six.

Yarn Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel, 2.5mm dpns, pattern (which had a bad mistake in it) on the ball band.

I also finished the 'So Called Scarf' I think this may be destined for a Pal, maybe I should try and make some gloves or hat to go with it.

A few days ago I restocked my Etsy shop for the first time in months. I have lots of yarn to dye up so thought I had better get on with it. I still have other stuff to put on - stitchmarkers and such. To celebrate I am running a competition, with 2 prizes at present, more if lots of people take part.

Firstly 1200m (100g) of Laceweight Bluefaced Leicester. This is gorgeously soft a single ply 90% bfl and 10% nylon to give extra strength. It is kettle dyed and then handpainted in shades of red and purple with little bits of orange.

Secondly just over 100g of 100% Bluefaced Leicester tops to spin. This is in two complementary pieces. One is purples and mauves the other similar shades with the addition of shades of orangey peach. This is so soft and lofty you just want to cuddle up to it.

So what do you need to do?

Mosey on over to my shop Tri'Coterie and check it out then leave me a comment before 6pm GMT on Sunday 7th October. In your comment please leave feedback - the more constructive the better. How can I improve my shop? What yarn weights, colours would you like to see? What sort of photos are best? Am I describing the stuff sufficiently or would you like more information and if so what sort? There must be 101 things that would improve things and don't worry about repeating what someone else is saying - if it is said enough times it might get through my thick skull! After time is up I will put all the names in a hat and see if I can pursuade one of the cats to draw (well ok - maybe something with hands).

5 o'clock and alls well

2007-09-27T00:28:00.000+02:00

We have had some pretty dismal days lately. Cold and wet with the smell of winter coming. Inside the Rayburn is lit and the yurt is warm and cosy. So what are the cats up to?

Fish

Painter

Manray

Marge

Jenkins

Ah to have such wisdom.

It feels like Christmas!

2007-09-23T20:12:00.000+02:00

Just look what arrived in the post!!!!

I thought this must be the late birthday present my brother has been promising me, but no, it is from my Secret Pal!!! Isn't it wonderful. It has really brightened up a dreary day, full of fabulous ideas. I don't know where Nicky Epstein finds the time do all that knitting, have all those ideas and write so many wonderful books. I love it, love it, love it. Thank you Secret Pal.

In knitting news I finished the first sleeve of Rogue and blocked it to see if the guage was going to work.

Well is it? Well actually I don't know yet because after it dried I unpinned it to let it relax before measuring and Jenkins hasn't got off it since. He likes the ironing board - it gives him a good lookout at where all the other cats are.

I also had a sudden urge to knit some sock, since my SP9, Lorena, convinced me of the delight of hand knitted socks I have been acquiring a modest sock yarn stash. I used a hank of Colinette Jitterbug in colourway Jewel and decided to use the pattern printed on the inside of the label. Bad idea. Everything went well until I turned the heel and ended up with this...

A rather narrow heel and only 8 stitches on the needle when there should have been 16. For the veteran sock knitters amongst you here are the offending instructions.

However I am a mathematician (do you like the air of confidence I wrote that with?) so I set about a few calculations based on the fact that I wanted to end up with 16 stitches and replaced with this;

k21, ssk, k1
sl1, p13, p2tog, p1
sl1, k13, ssk, k1
repeat last 2 rows until all heel stitches are picked up.

That seemed to work, I am ready to graft the toe now, then on to the second sock.

Here's a cute photo to end with. Our cats generally give each other a wide berth but recently Marge and Fish have taken to cuddling up together, it's so sweet.

The Year turns

2007-09-19T19:18:00.000+02:00

I have been busy and naughtily not kept my blog up to date - sorry SP. So this is a bit of a catch up.

After all the unpleasantness caused by the last posts slugfest I will decline from adding my latest wildlife photos. As peeps here will know we seem to now have an invasion of cobwebs and their somewhat large architects, but Rachel will be pleased to know I will not post pictures of ginormous spiders so she can open her eyes.

Or the dead moles left at the bedroom door. The cats never eat them and they lie on their backs with there paws in the air looking like they are sunbathing.

Jeni at Fyberspates has been bemoaning cream rugs and I understand her concern having to frequently washout blood stains caused by messy eating habits. I have to say though previously I had a multicoloured rug that disguised everything wonderfully; too well in fact. Given the choice I prefer not to get up in the morning and tread on a mouse's head I haven't seen. Or if I do see it to squash the gall bladder of said mouse underfoot instead - not recommended.

Well lets have some cat photos then. Here is Marge, trying to look dignified.

and Jenkins cleaning up after a drink.

The garden is becoming very autumnal, not many flowers left except a few gladioli.

And a bumper harvest of raspberries.

Which is turning into this.

Raspberry jam is my favorite and we are overflowing with raspberries (and pears which I don't like) this year. Unfortunately I can no longer eat them. The arthritis in my knees has been so bad I decided it was time for drastic action and I have embarked on an antiarthritis diet. I have cut out meat except fish and the only fruit I am permitted are apples, peaches, melons and bananas (which I don't like). I would say leave a comment and I will send you some jam but it is so heavy to post....

I have been knitting too. I finished this narrow shawl/wide scarf in Colinette silky chic, fandango and lasso.

I have to confess to not liking lasso at all and I am going of the Colinette fancy stuff that originally attracted me because I have an ooh shiny mentality. It drapes beautifully though and the colours are wonderful.

My second lace project, which is coming on nicely.

Branching Out in Malabrigo Lace weight, the most devinely soft baby merino wool in a semi solid green, gifted to me by Erqsome my SP10 spoilee.

And at long last I have been getting on with Rogue.

Unfortunately (have you noticed how often I resort to that word?) I didn't take the pattern with me when I bought the yarn and I bought DK (sport?) weight instead of aran (worsted). I think I have plenty so I am knitting a size larger and hoping that compensates. Well I can hope can't I?
And the So Called Scarf grows when I need to do mindless knitting.

I am a bit concerned I will run out of yarn as I think I only had one skein - a short scarf then.

The new Knitty is out and the things that have grabbed me thus far are the fitted zip up hoodie Roam (wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to afford to make it in gorgeously soft Malabrigo in one of their semi-solids?) Quite a few hats caught my eye: the super cute Flower Power (so many babies around too so a useful pattern), Pecan Pie (great for handspun or a couple of odd balls of Noro I have left) and Urchin (which looks like it might work well with Colinette one zero of which I have an abundance). The lace projects are also interesting too for when I need to progress on from the Branching Out scarf. Maybe I should make a Foliage to go with it.

Lastly I pass this every time I go to my spinning social days.

It is an earthship - a variety of eco house - that is being built locally by, I think, an american architect for a british family.

What a F**king liberty

2007-09-06T17:46:00.000+02:00

You have heard me moan about the onslaught of the slugs demolishing all before them in the garden. Well outside is one thing. My bookshelf is quite another. I discovered 2 slugs procreating attached by a cord of slime to my treasured copy of Unexpected Knitting! So much slime. So much grossness. I was traumatised all evening!

It's obviously an insect time of year as I found these previously unseen-by-me caterpillars looking like they were in black leather and consuming only nettles. Carry on chaps!

Autumn is galloping upon us and the goats have been greedily eating the fallen pears. They are so funny to watch as they select ones to go in their mouths whole, then toss their heads back and roll the pear around their mouth until they can get started by getting the first bite in (life is hard without hands). Afterwards they smack their mouths and lick their lips - they are hilarious.

I had 2 great parcels from Fyberspates this week. Never mind the yarn, our biggest cat, Fish, would like to say a big thank you to Jeni for sending him the lovely paper bags to get in. As soon as they were empty he got in and stayed most of the day. He loves getting in bags and boxes even ones patently too small for him. When I make the bed in the morning (well usually the morning) he waits until I shake out the bedcover that goes over the duvet, then dives under (as in a parachute game) and will sometimes stay all day there.

Last Sunday I went to my first french birthday party (Elfie's - the daughter of friends) - what well behaved children. No feeding frenzy ripping open presents but everyone watching and complimenting each other.

Lots of party games too including a treasure hunt.

I did a market stall in aid of a local animal rescue last weekend. I dug out my stash of around 200 silk shirts. I originally bought these from a fabric recycler with the intention of cutting them into strips and knitting them. I have ended up selling a lot though, really cheap, as they seemed too good to cut up. I've had them for years now, though, and they are getting more and more creased (well I'm not going to iron 200 shirts am I?) so I think it may be time to implement the plan. Before I do if anyone has a hankering for a silk shirt let me know what colour and size you would like and I will see if I can help out. email maylindottanattiscalidotfr

Help appreciated with SP

2007-08-27T23:43:00.000+02:00

At last photos of the Swallowtail Shawl, which could more appropriately be called the Frogpond Shawl for me. I liked knitting lace but I need to make sure I am concentrating and don't get my rows mixed up.

I used a 100% lace weight alpaca from Georges Picaud in a chocolate brown.

Embarassingly this is a Christmas present for my SIL - Christmas 2006!

The nupps were no problem with the needles I was using (bamboo circulars that I bought really cheaply of ebay).

By an astounding coincidence my SP11 spoilee has just posted her finished Swallowtail shawl to her blog. It was also her first lace project and also a present for her SIL.

I could really do with some advice for gifts for my pal. The only interests other than knitting listed are cross stitch. I know nothing about cross stitch but fancy dyeing her some threads. What should they be wool, silk or cotton? What sort of thickness? Any other bright ideas for cross stitching gifts?

I have had this yarn in my stash for some time. The shawl took 90g and I have 125g left - more than enough for another shawl. If anyone would like it leave a comment and I will send it on to you.

We have had 3 sunny days in a row now so I guess that is summer. This shot of hawthorn berries looks kind of autumnal.

A rare dry day

2007-08-21T09:41:00.000+02:00

Something unexpected in the woodpile (yes it is cold enough to be lighting fires!)

Just checking things out.

Bored now.

Late as usual SP11 Questionnaire

2007-08-14T14:12:00.000+02:00

What a bloody awful blogger I have become! Health not withstanding there is no excuse especially since (Da da de da) I finished the swallowtail shawl. Pix in another post, better get on with the questionnaire now. Which isn't very different from the SP10 one.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I prefer natural fibres, wool, silk, alpaca, soy, bamboo etc but do not have an absolute downer on fancy yarns in small quantities for such things as cuffs on gloves particularly if they are spectacular. I adore multicoloured yarns both bright and muted, Colinette is perhaps my favorite but since I resell it I have plenty. Noro is also wonderful. However I am beginning to value solid colour yarns having realised that having multicoloured everything doesn't suit many people! I have rediscovered lopi yarns which I used to use alot and have started using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and Lambs Pride Worsted (great for crochet too) both of which I really like. I am open to new ideas here. I also spin so spinning fibres are more than welcome. Just getting into sock knitting too, I have plenty of Opal sock wool but adore stuff like 'Socks that Rock' or anything not easily available in Europe. I am starting to be more aware of the environmental and ethical issues around yarn too but am not really on top of all the issues.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Mainly vases but I have the fabric and have started making needle cases (1 so far).

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I'm self taught and knitted my first item about 30 years ago but there was a big gap before I took it up again about 4 years ago. I am a competent knitter and happy to adapt patterns and make up my own but there are still lots of techniques I haven't tried. I have found cables fascinating and lace excruciating but am determined to stick with it.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=topnav__w_h_/202-4173048-1956647

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2R94YYEF0JGR4/ref=reg_hu-wl_goto-registry/105-7016417-2922046?ie=UTF8&sort=date-added

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=topnav__w/402-9283488-4746569

5. What's your favorite scent?

Lavender

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Chocolate, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Mint Crisp chocolate (not mint cream)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I spin, I dye, mess around with beads and cardmaking, stained glass and sewing. Interested in anything crafty.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I can play MP3's and like a diverse range of music from Dylan to U2, maybe old fashioned but not middle of the road. Female singer-songwriters, Alanis Morissette, Dido, Shawn Colvin. Souxie, the Au Pairs, Ova, Holly Near, Laurie Anderson. Though I could probably do with some education in classical music. I enjoy talking books, the spoken word and nature sounds too.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Purples, reds, greens, in all their shades. Intense jewel colours of most colours except browns and pure yellow and blue. Grey and black. Quite alot of 'sludgy' colours including browns and yellows. Blues if they are 'off' (towards the purples, greens or greys). There is very little I do not like in the right combination though pastels are not a favorite.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

1 partner, no resident children. 5 much loved cats (4 black, 1 grey) and 2 Angora goats (who give me lovely mohair)

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

Yes to all though ponchos I find difficult to wear.

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

Scarves, wraps, fingerless gloves, getting into hats and bags and would like to try more socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?

A red Rogue, a Colinette wrap, a so called scarf and various others...

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Oh yes, my SP8 made me some wonderful socks that I wear all the time, they are my absolute favorites.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Whatever gets the job done - for gloves and socks bamboo dpns; for large projects addi turbos.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

The oldest is about 18 years old a cardigan from yarn I spun on holiday in France almost 20 years ago.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

I'm looking forward to Summer if it ever arrives.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Besides yarn, fibre and fabrics? Well knitting books I guess.

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 have a subscription to the UK mag 'Knitting' but will let it lapse when it is due as it is pretty uninspiring. I also subscribe to Interweave Knits (which I enjoy) and my sub to Vogue Knittting has lapsed and although I would like to renew it I had such problems with delivery I decided not to. I enjoy reading inspiring magazines and would be delighted to receive back issues (even well worn ones) of interesting mags. I am currently coveting Eunny's Anemoi Mittens, the Berroco Norah Gaughan pattern booklet and other patterns as they come up will be on my Ravelry notebook.

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

I would like to practice some more lace, perhaps working up to shawls by working on things with shorter rows like scarves. I would also like to make some more socks and get to grips with the various ways of doing them. Also there were some scandinavian mittens that Yarn Harlot described a while back that kind of looked like intarsia but weren't, at the time I searched for instructions but drew a blank and now I can't even remember what they were called - I will investigate.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Having ventured into the realm of sock knitting I want to build on that. I am a size 5 shoe (UK) but with a broad foot (10 in)

23. When is your birthday?

1st April (really!)

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

maylin

Still struggling

2007-08-03T22:13:00.000+02:00

Well swallowtail still isn’t finished. Yesterday I felt like attacking it with a pair of scissors. It seems like lace takes more concentration than comes naturally to me, especially when I can’t see what is going on because the yarn is so dark.

Do you like my centre stitch marker?

It seemed appropriate since every time I got to it I needed to frog. I had probably made a simple translocation of stitches but when I frog it just compounds the error unless I am incredibly careful (also something that doesn’t come naturally to me) with YO’s etc.

Anyway I persevered and I now just have 2 rows and the Bind Off then I can block! Maybe today?

In the meantime I started some routine knitting for my sanity. I picked the So Called Scarf . I found the pattern on Ravelry. It is very simple, has a flat almost woven texture that is very different from most knitting. I like the way it is turning out with Colinette Prism in some undetermined colour (Mardi Gras?) that I got in sale pack from Colinette’s Mill shop.

My wonderful, quirky SP10 spoilee sent me a thank you package. It contained biodynamic Chai Tea, an empty packet that had contained some amazingly delicious organic clotted cream fudge (it was empty when I got it honest! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Best of all the most sensuously soft baby merino laceweight from Malabrigo in a gorgeous colour somewhere between forest green and dark teal. I really must make something to wrap around my neck with this. Thank you so much Erqsome. BTW I only jusund your sweet thank you letter as I checked my secret email address before signing up for SP11.

In other news I am off for an X-ray this afternoon. My knees have been really painful, stiff and swollen for a few weeks and it has been getting worse so I went off to the doc’s on Tuesday. This is what I came away with.

Anti-inflammatory pills, and pills to protect my stomach when I take them, a months worth of painkillers (paracetemol, opium and caffeine) but it is the 2 bits of paper that might interest UK readers. They are a prescription for a blood test (which I had yesterday) and a prescription for X-rays to both knees and both hands. I guess arthritis is probably main suspect. I paid 22 euros to the doctor all but 1 euro of which gets paid back into my bank account soon. The prescription stuff was free, so will the X-ray be and I paid the nurse who did my blood test 4.35 euros which will also be reimbursed. The results of my blood test will be ready today, I pick them up from the pharmacy and copies are sent to my doctor. When I go to my X-ray today I expect to leave with my X-rays.

I watched Michael Moore’s film ‘Sicko’ recently. It was a bit of an eye-opener for me as to how the Health service varies in different countries. I realised he was taking a very one sided perspective but even so it makes me feel very fortunate to be living in a country with such an excellent health system. I may be wrong but I imagine that US readers will be surprised at the cost and UK readers will be amazed at the speed of receiving non urgent treatment and that the results not only are available almost instantly but belong to the patient. What’s it like where you are?

L'Echec

2007-07-30T10:20:00.000+02:00

Well count me a miserable failure - but I will finish, I will!

Duh!

2007-07-29T15:54:00.000+02:00

I just realised I had not published the previous post. I think I was waiting for my camera batteries which have still not arrived.

I have done little more on the Swallowtail but count stitches, and get everyone at my knitting group to count them (everyone came up with a different answer - and none of them the right one!) and try to figure out where the missing stitch has gone (or better still have it magically reappear). With only an hour or so to go of the TdF I think I will smudge it and see whether I can finish it today. I will post a picture of it later today just to stay honest - lets hope it is of it blocking (mistakes and all).

I can't do much else as something has happened to my knees that has practically immobilised me. Could it be old age and over exertion? If this is old age it sucks. Plus, surprise, surprise it is raining.

The Uphill Struggle continues

2007-07-25T10:32:00.000+02:00

Well I am still struggling with my TdF project the Swallowtail shawl. In the spirit of the competition I refuse to give up but with only 14 rows to go the problems refuse to go away. I can check my stitch count before starting a row to ensure I am on track and by the time I end the row (or usually only get to the halfway marker) I have too few (or too many stitches). What happened to them? I finally finished all the Lily of the Valley borders by sheer persistence. When I concentrated really hard I got a rythm going and I didn't need to frog the second border (just the odd bit of tinking).

However in frustration I started an Aviators Cap as some straightforward relaxing knitting.

And...MY RAVELRY INVITE CAME!!! Lorena was right it is a time sink, I could have spent all night on it. I have started to use my notebook, am nowhere near photoing any of my stash but I am actually beginning to feel a bit organised. Maybe listing all my WIPs will encourage me to finish them. I wonder if they allow unlimited WIPs? Of course looking at all the patterns only encourages me to start more.

Conrad came out of hospital after his third chemo, the end is in sight now. He has finished the new Harry Potter and is sending me a copy since their 2 person household has 3 copies! Having read a spoiler (which may not be true) that HG dies I asked if anyone dies (without wanting to know who) and he said the book was a bloodbath. Makes it sound more like Resevoir Dogs than a childrens book. (I don't really know if RD was a bloodbath since I couldn't watch beyond the first 10 min. I think I am alone of everyone I know in not liking Tarantino's stuff). Well anyway it means my cheapskate ways paid off and I will not have to wait too long before reading it.

I have been trying to put stuff in my Etsy shop but a series of thunderstorms shut me down and then I realised my photos were a bit blurry so I will have to reshoot. I have some really soft laceweight to put on so will post when I've done it. For the time being I am going to put everything in the one shop - Tri'Coterie since it seems a bit pushy to have a shop called Tricot Treat Shop when there is already a Tricot Treat. Incidentally I discovered the other Tricot Treat is on Ravelry and I sent her a message.

Of course

2007-07-21T22:19:00.000+02:00

everybody might be reading the latest Harry Potter and the world will come to a standstill for a few days. I am one of those cheapskates who will be borrowing someone else's copy sometime soon I hope. Please don't tell me what happens...

Maybe Tomorrow?

2007-07-21T21:18:00.000+02:00

Down to 33!!!

So Near Yet So Far Away

2007-07-21T20:02:00.000+02:00

I am now only 103 away from my Ravelry invite and have taken to checking every half hour. Why? Is all the hype getting to me? I feel like a kid at Christmas. It is worth noting that the queue behind me is growing at a faster rate than the invites are happening and is approaching the 13,000 mark. That makes around 20,000 existing and prospective members. Wow, are there that many knitters active on the internet?

Super Fast Post

2007-07-16T12:09:00.000+02:00

Luckily I unplugged everything yesterday evening as we had the mother of all storms last night and lost elecricity so the modem wouldn't have stood a chance. I have logged on brieflyto pick up email but must get off soon as the sky is rumbling and predicted to do so for the rest of the day.

Conrad goes back into hospital for his third session of chemo today which is different in some hitherto unappreciated way. Caroline has finished all her exams and is quietly confident that it all went ok. Since Conrad can no longer worry about Caroline he is left with worrying about Conrad like the rest of us. I think his situation has finally hit him and it has been a salutory experience. Although there is no real reason to know how it will all end for years the results so far are bound to make us feel optimistic. He is of the opinion that although the treatment is gruelling he would just as soon battle ahead and get it over with quickly so in only a few weeks he should have finished treatment and can concentrate on recovering.

On the Tour de France front the uphill stages just about sum up my knitting! I am determined to get this Swallowtail Shawl finished but if it wasn't for the challenge of the knitalong I am not sure I would make it. I finished all the budding lace - not without at least as much tinking as knitting and felt I was on the home stretch having reached the borders. Wrong. I was half way through the Lily of the Valley border and was coping with the nupps (despite not having new pointy lace needles) when I realised that nothing seemed to line up and then I ended the row before I ended the pattern. Arghhhh.

With the yarn I have, dark brown alpaca, and the way it scrunches up I cannot see the pattern as I go along. I stretched everything out and it looks nothing like it should. I am in the middle of tinking back to the beginning (I daren't frog). May be I should put in a lifeline next time. I. Am. Determined. To. Finish. This.

Must unplug now, catch you later.

Counting down

2007-07-15T22:34:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I checked my position in the Ravelry queue and this is what I was told.

patiently awaiting your invite?
If you've added your name to the invite request list on our front page then you can use this form to check your place in line.
Email address look me up!
Found you!
You signed up on June 1, 2007
You are #6136 on the list.
579 people are ahead of you in line.
10185 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

This is what they said today:
You signed up on June 1, 2007
You are #6136 on the list.
499 people are ahead of you in line.
10729 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

So I am getting closer and at this rate maybe I will make it within a week. Interesting to note though that registrations are coming in at such a rate that the proportion of the list who have actually been invited hasn't changed. So if the rate of registration continues there should be more than 12,000 behind me in line by the time I get my invite.

I must admit the suspense is getting to me reading on the blogs of others what a good time they are having once they join.

Le Tour and Secret Pals

2007-07-11T23:07:00.000+02:00

I am a bit slow in posting the last parcel from my Secret Pal Amber

I opened the parcel to a lovely rainbow wind spinner, just what I need to bright up these dull rainy days.

Next up, a gorgeous Green Man card, with lots of detail you can't see because of camera glare, with a sweet little feather.

Then patterns (including the clog pattern I have been coveting for so long) and an unusual book that looks interesting.

Oh and Takumi needles - bamboo - short. I love these. A beaded book mark and sweet sheep button.

Lots of little beautifully scented soaps, incense, an haute couture notepad, koolaid and the loveliest little cat button (it looks more like jewellery).

And yarn, beautiful yarn. This is so lovely. Probably the loveliest yarn I have ever had. A skein of 100% mohair in sumptuous rainbows and reds from Yarnsmith and over 400 yards of Shimmer from Knitpicks. This is baby alpaca and silk. I have already picked out the pattern for this. If my current lace project works out I would like to try Branching Out

And the current lace project?

Well when I checked out Amber's blog, I saw she had joined the Tour de France Knitalong. Although Le Tour goes nowhere near us (unlike last year) I felt like I really should join in as I live on French soil.

The uphill challenge of the Pois Rouge jersey seemed an ideal incentive for me to finish the abandoned Swallowtail Shawl. I started this as a Christmas present for my SIL in Seattle (who will be avidly following le Tour). It was my first attempt at lace and I wasn't prepared for the concentration it takes. So it became an abandoned project.

The first challenge was to find it. Then to find out where I was in it. Which turned out to be a row that had the wrong number of stitches! Well there is a clue as to why it became an abandoned project. I seem to recall frogging more than I knitted. So I tinked back 3 or 4 rows until I was pretty sure I was on the right track. Since then I have knitted and tinked a couple of times. This is where I am at the moment. It looks a bit like a screwed up scrap of yarn. I am trying to have faith that blocking will bring out it's beauty.

The latest updates on my son just get better and better. When he was recovering from his last bout of chemo they had to redo one of his blood tests because the recovery rate of his white blood cells seemed improbably good. They had doubled since the previous day. However the redone test showed they had doubled once again! He is bouncing back much faster than any of the doctors thought probable. He is still suffering the side effects of all the treatment and is pretty washed out but really the news couldn't be better. So thanks for all your positive thoughts and good wishes, every one helps and it certainly has here.

A Couple of Quandries

2007-07-01T20:56:00.000+02:00

Well Conrad is back in hospital. He had to have transfusions for his extremely low platelet count and then he got an infection (at least his temperature went up and so they assume he has). Although it is much nicer being at home he is being very philosophical about it and taking the long view. i.e. in a few months he will be finished with it all.

I have a couple of quandries and could do with some advice.

Quandry 1

I have stuff to put up for sale on Etsy. I have 2 shops Tri'Coterie which I use for commercial yarn (Colinette and Recycled Sari Silk) and Tricot Treat Shop which I was going to use for handmade stuff. When I set up Tricot Treat Shop some time ago there was already a shop called just Tricot Treat, which was sad but it seemed to be unused so I thought what the hell (I was also feeling pretty unimaginative at the time) and called mine Tricot Treat Shop.

Now I actually want to use the thing I find that Tricot Treat is in action and selling cool hand dyed yarn and stuff. So I don't know what to do. It is all so confusing especially as the one thing you cannot change in Etsy is the name of your shop. Maybe I should just stick everything in Tri'Coterie.

What do you think?

Quandry 2

It is real odd reading foreign blogs (non-european) and hearing about hot summer weather. We are having rain, rain, wind, rain, thunder, rain - you get the idea.

Along with all of this comes slugs.

Now I like to try and see the bright side whenever I can and although I will do my best to rid myself of the pesky devils I keep wondering if they have some redeeming feature. Now snails you can eat (not that I think I would but I am living in France here) but it is really stretching the imagination to imagine a slug recipe.

They are terrorising me. Eating whatever I plant. Sneaking up on the cat food at night. Leaving ominous silver trails for me to find in the morning (I do not feel inclined to walk barefoot in the dark at the moment). When I find them they are not titchy little things but well fed, looking like they could understudy for Jabba the Hut.

So can anyone tell me if slugs have any redeeming qualities?

Back now

2007-07-01T16:51:00.000+02:00

Well I finally finished the Bristol City fingerless gloves for Conrad (not that he will be going to a match for a while). I sent them off with the bag I knitted for his partner , Caroline, and they got them earlier in the week. When I spoke to him he said Caroline loved the bag but he found the gloves 'scary'! Here I was thinking that handknits were all trendy again - well obviously not for some young men.

It reminds me of being at school when everyone had a commercially knit yellow jumper for hockey (now that is a vicious game) and my mum hand knit me one. I was mortified. I guess from some points of view it looks terribly old fashioned. I am relieved though that he is able to tell me without any beating about the bush. How many times have you bought some luscious yarn, picked what you thought was the perfect pattern, invested hours of time in a present for someone special; they thank you, make all the right noises and you never see the item again? Much better to knit for someone who will really want your gift (this probably means knitting for another knitter). Still even better would be if they gave you clues for next time like "that's nice but I would really love a ...". Trying to think up the right thing is the hardest. Still he appreciated the card I sent with it...

I hope Caroline wasn't just being polite.

I didn't get anywhere near finishing the sheep glove puppet for my SP so I made a knitting needle case instead. I love it. It was hard to part with it.

I used a cat fabric as my SP (who I want to reveal but it doesn't seem right until her parcel arrives) has just become a mum to two gorgeous cats.

I also dyed her up some sock wool as she is into fuschia and orange at the moment. This is 100% Blue Faced Leicester and so soft.

I decided to make a needle case for my dpns as I keep losing them. Even the cats love it.

Will it ever stop raining?

2007-06-17T18:27:00.000+02:00

Call this summer? Well actually I did get a sunburned back last Sunday on a spinning day. We were under an awning outside and I didn't realise my back was in full sun. I am quite dark and rarely burn so I don't pay much attention to such things. It was also the sunniest day in ages and had to be enjoyed. Now I am peeling and shedding skin like a snake (incidentally my chinese horoscope sign).

My son, Conrad, went back into hospital Thursday night had a new central line fitted and has begun his second session of chemo. His partner, Caroline, has external exams in accountancy this week. I have everything crossed for them both.

Caroline is into red at the moment so I thought she might like Amanda's squatty sidekick. It was a relatively quick knit - a couple of evenings. I used Lopi instead of the recommended worsted weight as I wanted the bag to come out bigger and I know lopi felts well. I was captivated by the orange one made by kafn8me and had to make one. Here are shots before and after felting. For scale there is a sheet of A3 paper behind it.

I have also been collecting some stuff together to post on Etsy (but haven't got round to it yet) Firstly some handspun yarn from mohair I clipped from my goats and dyed myself. This is spun without carding just teasing and letting it find its own thickness. It gives a chunky boucle type yarn when plied that is very soft and shiny. Click on the stack to see the other colours.

I have also been dyeing Blue Faced Leicester tops. These are so soft still after dyeing. At the bottom of the stack is a naf photo of some BFL boucle yarn. I have been experimenting with fuschia and orange as my Secret Pal is into them at the moment. I want to try this in self striping sock yarn too. I need to make a long skein for that though (8m)which I do outside BUT IT HAS NOT BEEN DRY ENOUGH!!!!

And I saw a picture of these little darlings in a back issue of Vogue Knitting (I think) and ordered the back issue of Spin Off that they were in (Summer 2006) because I just have to make some. I got the issue this week and have cast on to make one for my pal. They are so cute.

Back Soon

2007-06-13T17:59:00.000+02:00

I have been trying to update for a few days but the weather forecast has been predicting storms which have finally arrived. I have been offline mostly though to avoid risking my connection. I must get offline now so catching up will have to wait again. See you ASAP.

Am I thick or what?

2007-06-07T11:29:00.000+02:00

Don't answer that!

Before I went to the UK my SP10 emailed to say there was a parcel on the way.

When I got back there was no parcel from my SP but a really sweet anonymous parcel that I was sure was from Amber, because there was a little elemental with it, kind of her trademark.

My camera has run out of batteries (weird ones) so until I can get some more I am reduced to taking photos on my computer desk near the mains cable.

Lots of yummy fibres to spin, a moon goddess and a scentilicious bar of soap which is fast disappearing.

Now those of you more logically inclined would think 'Ah, then Amber must be my SP' but I just sat at home wondering if I should email my SP to tell her that her parcel hadn't arrived yet. Doh, it took an email from Amber confessing she was outed before I twigged.

Look at these fab buttons I bought.

Don't know what I will use them for but I couldn't resist them. They have a huge range but not sure where they can be bought. I got these at Wonderwool.

I made quite a bit of dosh at Wonderwool selling dyed mohair and wool and reinvested it in undyed Blue Face Leicester. The idea is to dye it up and sell it on Etsy. So watch this space - but don't hold your breath.

If I haven't been able to thank all the people who were so kind recently please consider yourself thanked. I loved Lorena's suggestion of getting something from the Fuck Cancer website. Why be subtle? They have lots of stuff for sale but I had a little giggle at the 'Fuck Tourettes Syndrome' merchandise

Eek, eek steek

2007-05-31T12:31:00.001+02:00

Well I am back in France now and embarking on some serious spring cleaning (I am always late for everything).

I spent enough time with my son,Conrad, so that he was probably relieved not to have a fussing mother around anymore. Things are a bit up and down for him. Fortunately it looks like the long term is the up and the day to day is the down. The chemo seems to be doing what is expected but the treatment is tough, his central line got infected, he picked up a hospital bug, he is in pain or drugged and has lost his hair and his sense of taste. Worst of all the ward is chronically under staffed so no matter how efficient and expert the nurses are (and they are) they can't keep up with everything. Despite everything he remains positive and hasn't yet lost his sense of humour.

Thanks for all the suggestions of knitted goodies I can make him. I took him a really soft black beanie for which his appreciation seemed a little mechanical. He vetoed the 'We call them pirates hat' so I decided to knit him a hat for his football team Bristol City. I got some Debbie Bliss Rialto in red and white from Get Knitted (isn't it handy having your son live in Bristol?) and started knitting. Now I had assumed that the stripes would be horizontal but on seeing me knit it he informed me the stripes went the other way! My little brain struggled for a bit to figure out how I could do this without knitting sideways (I had only brought Dpns with me)then I gave up and frogged it. I am now knitting fingerless gloves in Bristol City colours.

After a consult with his partner Caroline I have planned ahead and am going to knit her Rogue in a deep red colour for her birthday at the end of August (that should give me enough time shouldn't it?) Therefore I will be knitting by proxy. If I can't knit him something I will knit her something to wear and he can cuddle her when she wears it. Good plan heh? She is ideal to knit for since she is tiny and prone to feel the cold whereas Conrad tends to feel too hot. She is still wearing big jumpers and socks to bed.

Anyway here are the photos of the steeked tank I made for my partner, Keith. My first steek and it has worked out so well. The pattern is loosely based More Stripes in Knitty but since I changed the guage, the neck shape and the armhole shape, it is hardly the same pattern. The yarn is Noro Kureyon in a colourway that he picked out and is so him. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the frayed edges on the inside of the neck though so I sewed over them with a satin bias tape. I know there are better ways to do this when knitting the neckline but I will save it for the next time. And there will be a next time, I was so pleased to have the colours match each side and how tidy the neckline looks.

This is some yarn I have been spinning from a half kilo batt I bought at Ally Pally from Piiku (The same as your green fibre Sue). The colours are gorgeous, I wanted to spin it singles like Noro Kureyon and do some entrelac but it is thicker than I intended. However I now have the Fibre Trends felted clog pattern (also from Get Knitted) and think this would make great clogs so I will frog.

Oops here comes the rain again, just got the laundry in. I had better post this fast as the predicted thunderstorm will be here soon and I will go offline until tomorrow. Hasn't the weather been weird? Hot and cold, hot and cold.

As time goes by

2007-05-10T14:47:00.000+02:00

Things have calmed down a bit chez nous since last weekend (well I have calmed down a bit - not much but a bit and my ear infection has calmed down).

The dangerous first 24 - 48 hours is past and my son is still hanging in there. His almost exuberant spirits of a few days ago have fled in the wake of the gruelling chemotherapy. On the whole though things are going pretty much according to plan. He was due to have a central line put in his chest for administering things instead of the constant strain on the veins in his arms. This hasn't happened yet possibly due to a lack of resources. (It is really hard not to compare things with France at a time like this since here if it was needed it would be done, full stop.) Also the news this morning was depressing comparing cancer remission rates in the UK and France and the rest of Europe. Thank goodness he has a very treatable cancer and is in specialist hospital.

He made it very clear to me that I was not to visit him if I had the slightest infection, and more or less said that he was not willing to pander to my wishes to see him and make sure he was alright only to die of an ear infection a few weeks later! Just because I blubber like I have the IQ and emotional maturity of an amoeba is there any need to speak to me like I am intellectually challenged? Still it was more like the Conrad I know.

Thanks so much to all the people who have sent their good wishes they are very warmly received. Some people who have left comments I have no way of contacting but thank you anyway. I have been very bad with email replies anyway lately so take it as read that your thoughts were much appreciated. Rachel I would be very grateful if you would also thank everyone on the general daily email.

Well I hope to see him at the weekend so I must sort out what knitting to take and when I get back I will have FO's to post including my first attempt at a steek which I am very proud of. I really want to knit Conrad something but he is of the trainers and eveything black generation and doesn't seem to do knitteds. Any ideas?

Every Mothers Worst Nightmare

2007-05-06T22:36:00.001+02:00

I am sorry to all those I owe emails to and blogs I really want to comment on but this week has been pretty bad. It is going to get better gradually from now on but I will probably still be a bit flakey with the comms (though who knows I may throw myself into it with a frenzy).

My son has been a bit rundown physically and last week went to the doctor with bleeding gums and bruised forearms. He was told to rest and avoid stress. After I and his friends suggested a blood test was really in order he went and had one Thursday. Friday he was in hospital having a bone marrow biopsy and by the evening APL leukaemia had been diagnosed and he was having constant transfusions, drug therapy and chemo. It has been very sudden and thankfully the response has been swift. He tells me the first 48 hours were critical and now he has come through that the treatment is less frenetic.

'Luckily' the type of cancer he has is the most treatable and responds well to drugs and chemo. He was given an 80% - 90% chance at the outset of full remission. Wikipedia gave 90% and as he pointed out to me a vet friend had told him that if he was a dog his chances would be nearer 98% (so he hasn't lost his sense of humour). Which doesn't mean of course that the next few months aren't going to be very tough. He is luckily young, fit and healthy but the treatment is beginning to tire him a lot. The hospital he is in runs research trials on a very promising new drug which he is able to get only because he is there. He feels this is going to up his chances even more. Despite everything he is still very much in 'glass half full mode' and considerate of everyone else around him. His concern for how I am taking it makes me want to cry even more!

At present I am unable to visit him as the persistent cough I had had metamorphosed into a headache and nausea bug doing the rounds and finally became an agonising ear and sinus infection (no doubt the shock helped it along). I have a carrier bag full of medication now from the very sympathetic doctor I saw - both curative and prophylactic so that by the end of the week I hope to travel over and see him and hopefully be clear of everything so that I will be allowed to visit him.

The worst of the shock is over now though of course it is always on my mind and if you are like me you will now want to go and cuddle your loved ones (be it kids, partners, cats, dogs or knitting)

Enjoy every day you have, look after yourselves and I will be in touch soon.

Bearded Ladies

2007-05-03T22:10:00.000+02:00

I have been off line for nearly a week because of thunderstorms everday. Extraordinary weather! Generally the mornings would start cool, the heat would build until it was oppressive, then the thunder would grumble. If we were lucky we also got lightning and if we were very lucky rain. If this isn't global warming I don't know what is. It is supposed to be spring still.

Having lost 2 routers in the past 2 years I am now super cautious about unplugging everything. Mind you even that is not always enough as my friend Rachel found out last week. Having unplugged everything the transformer blew when she plugged it back in.

Anyway I found this nifty site for photo widgets to put on your blog. So I thought I would try it out on the photos I took a couple of weeks ago when I clipped the goats. Some of the widgets work better than others depending on the blog template. Hope these work out.

So here are my darlings before their haircut. Don't they have lovely beards!
Click on the pile to see the next photo.

And these are them lighter by a few kilos. Click on a photo to see a larger version.

And here is the mohair ater I dyed it.
I am going to bag it up and try and sell some at Wonderwool Wales. I have a stall there with my friend Margareta and our spinning wheels. So we need to sell stuff to fund our trip.

Past Times

2007-04-26T19:08:00.001+02:00

I found these photos in my folder. I never got around to posting them before! This is the very nice people from Fyberspates who were doing a roaring trade at l'Aiguille en Fete, the big knitting event in Paris that Margareta and I went to at the beginning of March. It was a quarter the size of Ally Pally and with alot more patchwork. The few Uk stalls there attracted alot of attention as they stood out as significantly different, and more forward looking.

While in the UK recently I went to the Shambles Carnival Club Jumble Sale. Held at the beginning of April every year and the biggest one in the West. It is almost impossible not to find something useful there. In fact it would be possible to completely furnish your house and clothe your family there. And the books...!

For Owen and George

2007-04-19T23:08:00.001+02:00

In the Uk I spent time with my gorgeous nephew, George. He is a BIG Lego fan. We were cruising the Lego site composing a wishlist when we decided to checkout his cousin Owen's (my nephew in Seattle) Amazon wishlist. This fascinated George, especially the fact that Owen and he obviously have the same tastes. Just to prove it I am posting a photo of George with the instruction manual for one of the Bionicles on Owen's wishlist. (I forgot the name, they are somewhat strangely named). (Sorry for the out of focus shot)

So what do you think Owen?

Secret Pals rock

2007-04-19T22:23:00.000+02:00

When I came back from the UK there were 2 parcels waiting for me. The last parcel from my SP9, Janice, and the first one from my SP10.

Unfortunately my camera is playing silly buggers. The autofocus stopped working and I hadn't realised. When I tried manual focussing I realised I probably need glasses! So please excuse the crap photos.

Hope I don't forget anything here there was so much from my SP9. Luscious merino wool, a huge handpainted hank, Green and Blacks hot chocolate (bliss, bliss). Short knitting needles (4 pairs!), patchouli incense, a pom pom maker, a wool comb (for those pilled bits). Chocolate (yum), a lovely glass pendant and amulet bag, hand cream a scented tea light, notelets, and various packs of things for scrap booking or card making. This was simply stupendous. Thank you so much Janice.

Equally welcome was my SP10 parcel. Some scrummy lace weight shetland yarn and a pair of socks worth of Knitpicks sock yarn in a lovely solid colour (I love multicolours but really need some solids for all the lovely patterns out there at the moment that just don't look right in anything but solids or semi solids). Some really unusual beads including a giant glass fish. Again scrapbooking bits and also a bag of supersoft tops in lots of colours. All smelling delicious because of the bag of lavender.

This is also a good time to say another thank you to my SP8 Lorena. I have been using the clover bamboo dpns she sent me and I think I like them even better than my Brittanys. They are so smooth. She also knitted me a pair of socks which have become my all time favorites, they are so comfortable, I feel disappointed whenever they are in the laundry! Before this I was never quite sure about all the fuss about handknitted socks. well I am a convert now!

So much for good vibes from swaps. I am trying not to get despondent about the fact that I still have not received anything from the 'Spin me a Treasure' swap. It is now months after the end and a month after I was promised an angel but still nothing. Ah well.

Sorry Normal Service will be resumed soon

2007-04-11T20:57:00.000+02:00

Sorry to be absent so long. I went to the UK at very short notice for 10 days. I had a bad cold and cough the whole time and now I am back home and feel like I have flu! So once I have wallowed in self pity for a couple of days I will post photos of the lovely, lovely parcels that were awaiting my return from my SP10 and my SP9! Bonne Sante

Au Jardin des Laines

2007-03-20T18:38:00.000+01:00

So Eunny Jang is to be the new editor of Interweave Knits. I can't wait to see how this impacts on a magazine that is already superb. Eunny is just the most amazing knitter, designer and blogger. I will definitely be renewing my sub.

When I took part in Spin me a Treasure my spoilee was Charlotte. As you will see from her blog she has an online shop, Au Jardin des Laines, selling very yummy yarns at incredible prices. I couldn't make up my mind what to buy so ordered a few balls to check out what the quality was like.

The top row is 2 balls (pelotes) of Angora Tweed in Strawberry and 2 in Violet this is about an aran weight in wool/angora and polyamide (50%/30%/20%) lovely and soft and so light (25g/74m) this was on offer at 1.73 euros a ball (about £1.30).

The middle 3 (light pink (which Charlotte gifted) and 2 raspberry) are my favorites. The balls are 25g and 58m of wool/cashmere (85%/15%) and so squishy soft and silky. I am making a pair of Fetching at the moment and seriously considering this yarn for Eris.

This is an incredible 1.55 euro for a ball (not much more than £1)!

In the extreme bottom right is a ball of wool and silk (60%/40%). 115m to 50g for 2.50 euros.

For ultimate luxury though you can't beat the remaining 4 balls (2 each in ebony and purple) of cashmere and silk (70%/30%). 50g (no length given) for 3.95 euros (about £2.75). I don't quite know what to make with this it is so gorgeous but wonder if it might not make deliciously silky socks.

I can thoroughly recommend this shop, it will certainly be a favorite of mine. It is at present only in French but quite easy to follow. I initially had problems with the online ordering (it told me everything was out of stock) but I emailed and we sorted it out easily. Charlotte says her English is not very good but it is better than my French! Vas voir. Check it out.

Cat Porn

2007-03-17T23:00:00.000+01:00

Sorry if this is in bad taste. It is both funny and a bit tragic.

Fish, the alpha male of our little cat tribe, will be 8 this year. He was castrated at 6 months old. When he was very young he used to still have urges and though he never bothered the other cats he would try his luck on the fluffy feather duster (nicknamed Sharon), the fluffy doorstop (Doreen) and even stray balls of mohair yarn. To no avail, he might have the urge but could not perform. In time this behaviour stopped.

However a couple of weeks ago it started up again. He discovered the new sheepy doorstop (another Doreen obviously) and started pestering her.

We would find her abandoned in the middle of the kitchen each morning. Lately he has even started pulling her out of an evening and attempting to perform in public.

Although he was obviously not 'going all the way' I thought his own scent might be attracting him and stuck her in the washing machine. The glamorous clean new Doreen is still attracting his attention though.

So is this something I should be worried about? Maybe his lack of performance worries him? Or should I just leave him to his simple pleasures?

Grrrr

2007-03-14T22:11:00.000+01:00

Do you ever feel you should have been born with an independent income, sufficient not to have to battle it out with anonymous, disinterested institutions? Actually the problems I have been having would probably have been the same.

For months I have been handicapped because Paypal decided the credit card I had used ok for years was not ok anymore. When I tried to make a payment Paypal would tell me that my credit card had refused the payment and to get in contact with them. My credit card company would tell me that they had authorised payment every time and would even give me the authorisation codes. There seemed to be no getting anywhere. I spent 30 euros on phone calls to Paypal in some call centre in Ireland only to get operatives who could only answer questions from a set script and supervisors who refused to let me get a word in edge ways as they insisted on telling me the problem was with my credit card. Eventually my credit card company suggested cancelling my card and issuing a new one. This we did but it didn't work either.

In desperation (there are so many things you can't do without a Paypal account!) I decided to open a French Paypal account. Today I duly went along to my bank to ask them for a debit card on my account. No problem there except that in France you pay for them.

It is a bit of a culture shock after the UK were I never paid bank charges unless I was overdrawn and there is no annual charge on my credit card.

In France I pay 65 euros a year for the privilege of having a bank account and another 33 euros to have a debit card. I also recently discovered that the mysterious 11 euros deducted from my account was because I started paying my insurance by Direct Debit! So far then I am paying 109 euros a year for the right to spend my own money. Oh and did I mention that unauthorised overdraft in France is a criminal offence?

So grrr

Time to Update

2007-03-11T19:06:00.000+01:00

A huge thank you to my Spin to Knit pal, Maggie for the beautiful package I received ( a while ago now). The yarn is a squiggy soft merino in wonderful fresh spring greens. There were also some fantastic herbal toiletries from her own store . I feel so lucky, what a wonderful pal.

I also received this lovely alpaca fibre from my SP9 spoilee, Estelle, as a thankyou. Wasn't that sweet of her? It looks so uninteresting in the photo but that is because you can't feel it. I might spin it with some tussah silk. Hmmm.

Karen who owns my LYS asked if I would dye up some white mohair yarn that had been lingering on her shelves all summer, so I went to town with the colours, skeined the balls and space dyed the hanks. It did take rather alot of dye baths though.

I hope it sells.

The large yurt (unlike the small yurt which we have had much longer) is suffering from some sort of canvas rot. The crown cover has all but disintergrated.

So when we saw an industrial sewing machine for sale in mid Brittany we had to check it out. It was a three hour journey and despite its rather neglected state we decided to buy it. Keith spent time chiselling off the dirt (really), cleaning it up and making lots of minute adjustments to the tension but he has it working just fine now. So now we just need a source of inexpensive good quality canvas and we can effect much needed repairs this summer. It will be so useful in the future too for the inevitable home repairs.

SP10 Questionnaire

2007-03-09T11:31:00.000+01:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I prefer natural fibres, wool, silk, alpaca, soy, bamboo etc but do not have an absolute downer on fancy yarns in small quantities for such things as cuffs on gloves particularly if they are spectacular. I adore multicoloured yarns both bright and muted, Colinette is perhaps my favorite but since I resell it I have plenty. Noro is also wonderful. however I am beginning to value solid colour yarns having realised that having multicoloured everything doesn't suit many people! I have rediscovered lopi yarns which I used to use alot and have started using Debbie bliss Cashmerino and Lambs Pride Worsted both of which I really like. I am open to new ideas here. I also spin so spinning fibres are more than welcome. Just getting into sock knitting too, I have plenty of Opal sock wool but adore stuff like 'Socks that Rock'.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Mainly vases but I have the fabric and plans to make some needle cases.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I'm self taught and knitted my first item about 30 years ago but there was a big gap before I took it up again about 4 years ago. I am a competent knitter and happy to adapt patterns and make up my own but there are still lots of techniques I haven't tried.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

On Amazon.co.uk. Amazon.com and Amazon.fr

5. What's your favorite scent?

Lavender

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Chocolate, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Mint Crisp chocolate (not mint cream)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I spin, I dye, mess around with beads and cardmaking, stained glass and sewing. Interested in anything crafty.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I am fully MP3 compliant and like a diverse range of music from Dylan to U2. Female singer-songwriters, Alanis Morissette, Dido, Shawn Colvin. Souxie, the Au Pairs, Ova, Holly Near, Laurie Anderson. Though I could probably do with some education in classical music. I enjoy talking books, the spoken word and nature sounds too.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Purples, reds, greens, in all their shades. Intense jewel colours of most colours except browns and pure yellow and blue. Grey and black. Quite alot of 'sludgy' colours including browns and yellows. Blues if they are 'off' (towards the purples, greens or greys). There is very little I do not like in the right combination though pastels are not a favorite.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

1 partner, no resident children. 5 much loved cats (4 black, 1 grey) and 2 Angora goats (who give me lovely mohair)

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

Yes to all though ponchos I find difficult to wear.

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

Scarves, wraps, fingerless gloves, getting into hats and bags and would like to try more socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?

A wrap in 6 Colinette yarns, fingerless gloves in soysilk and an angora bunny to felt.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Oh yes, my SP8 made me some wonderful socks that I wear all the time, they are my absolute favorites.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Whatever gets the job done - for gloves and socks bamboo dpns; for large projects addi turbos.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Yes

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

The oldest is about 18 years old and I have them at various ages in between.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

I'm looking forward to Easter this year. The return of the sun, everything growing. Winters seem longer the older I get and spring cheers me up.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Besides yarn, fibre and fabrics? Well knitting books I guess.

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 have a subscription to the 2 UK mags 'Simply Knitting' and 'Knitting' but will let them lapse when thay are due as they are uninspiring. I also subscribe to Interweave Knits (which I enjoy) and my sub to Vogue Knittting has lapsed after the winter 2006 issue(which I am sure I would enjoy if it ever arrived) I would have liked to renew it but they keep forgetting to send it and by the time I get it it is months later. I enjoy reading inspiring magazines and would be delighted to receive back issues (even well worn ones) of interesting mags. I am currently coveting the felted clogs (knitted and crocheted) on the Stitch Diva site and Eunny's Anemoi Mittens. I would like to try and get the short Brittany dpns in 4.5mm and 5mm for knitting gloves. I have looked fruitlessly for some short bamboo straights for modular knitting.

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

I am trying my hand at a lace shawl. I love how it is turning out but have to concentrate so hard. I have just done the Prudence Mapstone workshop on Bullions and have all her books so want to try something freeform. I adore Debbie News book and want to try labyrinth and virtual knitting. I like to try new and different things.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Having ventured into the realm of sock knitting I want to build on that. I am a size 5 shoe (UK)

23. When is your birthday?

1st April (really!)

Happy International Womens Day

2007-03-08T23:21:00.000+01:00

Down on the Farm

2007-03-02T20:06:00.000+01:00

I seem to have been slow to blog lately, so some catching up is in order.

First an FO. I thought I would try knitting a beret out of 6ply Opal sock yarn (3mm needles guage 24.5 st /10cm) just for the hell of it. Made the pattern up as I went along and it worked out quite well. I cast on 110 stitches and it has come out a small adult or child size.

It must be lambing time. I went to visit an angora goat farm last Saturday with my friend Margareta and there was another lamb foundling being cared for in the kitchen.

There were also more than 30 angora goats.

Including one who was completely mad looking!

On the way there we saw a wonderful dome house, completly covered in wooden shingles, so I had to stop and take a picture.

Tracey who had all the angora goats wants to start up a yarn business with the kid mohair from her goats. Trouble is she knows nothing about knitting, spinning or dyeing which is why we were visiting. She had already sent off 25 Kg of fibre to be spun at a mill. Not into a fine soft cobweb yarn though but into oiled hanks, seemed like a waste to me. She wanted to know if Margareta and I would be interested in handspinning some yarn for her to resell. However she wanted to market it for around £4 / 50g and was expecting us to wash, dye, card and spin for alot less than that (the fleece was not clean). It didn't sound very realistic to me.

Kamikaze Goats

2007-02-16T14:16:00.000+01:00

I meant to post these pictures a while ago. When we first started dismantling the roof the normally cognitively challenged goats managed to find their way up on to the top of the building.

They were after the ivy on the walls and even went up the tiled slope. Because of course any scrappy bit of vegetation which is out of reach must be better than the lush pasture in front of your nose!

Surprisingly they also seemed to find there way down again. They seem to entertain themselves with climbing challenges.

High winds and Lambkins

2007-02-15T16:43:00.000+01:00

The results of last Friday Nights Spinning. Only about 25g of some merino roving I dyed. I have another 75g to go. This friday however I need to spin up the second skein for my Spin to Knit partner. Cutting it fine I know!

Last Monday I went for lunch with my friend Alex (the one with the alpacas). Back in September she rescued two abandoned kitties which I blogged about. You should see them now.

They are so beautiful.

True to form she had another waif in the house. A three day old lamb, one of triplets who wasn't thiving so she brought her in to hand rear.

She was very inquisitive especially about the knitting.

But got tired very quickly.

This week has been very windy. In fact we apparently had a mini tornado pass by on Saturday night. Whatever the cause we were woken up about 4.30am when the roof canvas went woosh and flapped about for about 3 min. No harm done, we anxiously waited for the next blast for ages but it never came. The following night we heard what sounded like a sonic boom. When Keith went out to investigate with a torch he found the front of the house roof (which he had been dismantling) had slipped off taking the front wall with it.

No big deal as we were taking it down anyway and since Keith had detached it from the gable end no damage was done there. In fact it has fallen ideally as the majority of that wall had to come down to accomodate the entry of the electricity supply following the latest legislation.

The yurt is a bit smelly as I am dying on the rayburn. At the moment some kid mohair locks but later some mohair skeins from my LYS. They had some white mohair that wasn't selling so asked if I would dye it. I need to try and time these things and figure out how much actually goes into these tasks.

Big is Better?

2007-02-08T21:44:00.000+01:00

I didn't blog for the Friday Night Spinners for a while but this is what I have been working on. The wonderful Ruth sent me some beautifully soft merino cross roving. I nearly always spin pretty chunky since that is what I mainly knit so I thought it was time I tried to go finer (it is all pretty haphazard since I am self taught and don't really know what I am doing!).

So I spun and spun and spun, well that's what it felt like. I finally finished at my spinning group last Sunday and I am really pleased with the result.

35g and 160m so I guess that would be a fingering weight? Is that like 4 ply in UK speak? Best of all it is still really, really soft. Thanks Ruth.

I have also been trying to finish my belated Christmas gifts.

I made a Sunflower Tam from the book Nature Knits to go with the Fetching mitts I made in child size. I used 2 strands of Patons Fuzzy Wuzzy ( a very old angora yarn) and 4.5 mm DPNs. It is a lovely shape that didn't need blocking and the design on the top is pretty stunning.

The very generous Sylvie from Chez Plum sent me a copy of her Cactus Mitts. They looked so good I had to try them straight away. I loved the colour of the mohair yarn that I used but in retrospect I think it is too fluffy as the pattern just does not show up well.

This is such a fast knit, much faster than Fetching, so ideal for a last minute present. It is knitted on 2 straights but since I dislike seaming I decided to try it in the round for the second one. It might have helped if I had engaged my brain first.

I used 2 stitches less because there would be no seam and the same size needles (5mm) so I was somewhat surprised that they were coming out so big. I mean loads bigger. I accept that my guage might be different on DPN's but surely not this much? I had got more than half way through before I twigged. When I cast on the 28 stitches at the beginning on three needles I thought 12 + 12 + 14 = 28... Doh. This would be funny rather than tragic if I didn't have a Maths degree!

However it seems that I knit tighter on DPN's (left). I knit these with a leftover part ball of yarn and ran out a few rows from the end so stopped then as I have short fat hands. I unpicked the last couple of rows of the first one to finished the left thumb. A bit of a mish mash but so cozy and I am pretty sure of the pattern now so I think another pair will appear soon. Thanks Sylvie.

So back to Ruth, also known as Woolly Wormhead. Last week I got her cable cap pattern and knit it in 3 strandsof Alpaca from my stash. I even swatched it and marked the size I needed.

However since I was knitting on DPN's from the centre out it was hard to get a really good idea of size. So I convinced myself it wasn't big enough and knit it larger.

I realised I was off mark when I switched to 2 circulars and tried to compensated by going down a needle size for the brim. The hat is so nice that Keith was trying to persuade me to keep it myself (friends even told me it made me look like Yoko Ono). But alas it is definitely too big and certainly not ok for my SIL (another late Christmas present). So some frogging is in order I guess.

Lastly look what Amber sent me. Isn't that thoughtful? She saw he picture of my Tricotin and thought I would like them. Can't wait to try them out.

Burning Down the House

2007-02-03T20:15:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit late with January photos for the Snap a Dozen Days

I thought I would use as the theme of my photos for the year our efforts at renovating our house and surroundings.

Well you all know I live in a yurt, but do you know why?

Answer - because it is more comfortable than our house. I don't think I have ever shown pictures before. So maybe it is time. There are 2 buildings currently standing (2 others have nearly disappeared). This is one half of the main one. The goats currently shelter here.

This is the other half of it.

This is the other building the end of which fell down about 10 years ago (close to where the small yurt is).

Keith put in a septic tank last year which has nothing to connect to yet but apart from that we have made little progress on the buildings, more on the land.

Since it is a part time activity and we are fairly comfortable as is it may go slowly. On verra.

This is the end of the first building where I will be clearing ivy.

Inside there is literally a carpet of undergrowth to be removed.

We've started removing the roof and the rotting timbers are doing sterling service as firewood.

See how the fleece on the goats is growing, looks like there will be plenty for me by early summer. (All that washing - Sigh)

Snowed in

2007-01-25T16:54:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit late posting with the results of last Fridays Spinning. It actually took me most of the weekend off and on to finish this orange skein.

I am not very practiced at doing anything less than chunky so it seemed like really hard work to spin this fine. And not very even but I am getting better. Unlike Judy, the Spindling Scot, who spins beautiful even lace weight, metres and metres of it. I am so in awe. I really liked the colour and shine on this. Here is a close up.

It is for my Spin to Knit pal. I also dyed her the superwash merino roving in purple, orange and magenta.

I then packaged it all up for her with a few extra goodies ready to post on Tuesday. But... we have been snowed in since then. This is the view up the road.

I had forgotten to take my camera off macro mode so the photos are a bit blurry. The garden is looking picturesque.

But the cats have a thing or two to say about the situation.

Poor Fish (who is pretty big) was sinking so far in his belly didn't clear the drifts. It is funny seeing cat paw prints everywhere sunk so deep.

It does make our rather dilapidated yurts look quite romantic though.

And everything in the garden is so pretty.

See our trusty landrover in the background? It helped us make our way to the local village shop yesterday but it was closed. Even the landie was skidding around but we did get to rescue the postman from a snowdrift. It is due to get even colder over night, -6c, and not rise above zero tomorrow but then we are back to +8c for the weekend so we should get to the post office and shops then.

Friday Night Spinners

2007-01-19T20:00:00.000+01:00

Tonight is my first night joining the Friday Night Spinners.

Which is good as I have stuff to do for my Spin to Knit swap partner. I posted previously with a picture of the yarns I was going to mix. I sorted them into piles to card. Orange wool, alpaca and mohair with tussah silk and some copper glittery stuff.

I made 5 piles but it was too much for each batt and I ended up with 8 batts.

This is a close up.

I will post pictures of what I spin on Monday along with the other Friday Night Spinners.

Spinning

2007-01-14T12:28:00.000+01:00

I am currently involved in 2 spinning swaps. The first is Spin to Knit and I received my first skein from my pal yesterday. 70 m of a lovely tussah silk in beautiful hand dyed pinks, greys and mauves with a lovely subtle sheen. I must find something special to make with this.

The second is Spin me a Treasure an international swap based in France. My spoilee is into natural colours rather than vibrant colours so this was my starting point.

A creamy carded wool from local sheep. A mixture of carded kid mohair (from a friends goats), angora (from local rabbits) and silk. The ball is a very fine 2 ply silk and a necklace of mother of pearl chips. I intend to spin the fibres into quite a bulky yarn, possibly flamme and then ply with the silk 2ply threaded with the mother of pearl. Something completely new for me.

The result is slightly coiled which I quite like.

I wasn't sure how frequently or how evenly to place the mother of pearl so I went with every 30-120 cm roughly and tried not to make it regular. I was concerned that the beads would wear on the thread as I slid them down and it did in fact break twice. I just tied a knot and trimmed the ends and it hardly shows.

Getting back to Spin to Knit, this is what I have organised for my spoilee.

My spoilee likes orange and is very easy to please so this is my starting point. Orange wool (left), alpaca (middle), and mohair (right). In front from left tussah silk, trilobal shiny stuff in a copper colour, soysilk and recycled sari silk fibre. Time to get the drum carder out.

I have joined the Friday Night Spinners an will get the button up soon.

Here is some recent spinning.
The pink is local wool plied with a grey/purple mohair (my own goats)
The blue is shetland and kid mohair.

FO and UFO's

2007-01-12T18:07:00.000+01:00

First finished object of 2007, and it is a Christmas present (late). I have 2 follicully (spelling?) challenged brothers and a similar son. Since they all seem to wear beanies (only black of course) I thought I would make them in some really soft (but not girly) yarn. This is Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk. Lovely to knit but with a slight tendency to split and deliciously soft. For the next one I will increase the rate of decrease near the crown to flatten the top a bit more and maybe alternate the decreases between left and right slanting and see what that looks like.

Next up ... the table of shame. My UFOs after I frogged the ones I wasn't going to complete and removed the 4 crochet projects that currently hurt my hands.

1. Keiths brown shetland jumper that I spun and knit him and which he burnt a hole in the back of by leaning against the rayburn once too often - to repair.

2. A little damage to a tank I knitted him that needs repair.

3. Cardigan from my own handspun almost completed but not sure I have enough yarn so may have to alter it a bit (approximately 19 years old!)

4. Cushion cover in Colinette Fandango and sari silk - halfway through one side.

5. Pink chenille lotus bud bag - 25% complete.

6. Sari silk bag, too wide and shallow, need to lengthen it.

7. Shorty cardigan from Rowan pattern (adjusted) in Colinette Point 5

8. Triangular garter shawl in Colinette Silky Chic and a commercial boucle.

9. Fingerless gauntlets in Colinette Tagliatelli 47% complete.

10. Isabeau Tote in SWTC Oasis Soysilk

11. Pair of baby boottes - one done. Of course there is an incentive to finish these now.

12. A scarf in SWTC Melody.

13. A triangular shawl in some strange yarn I got from Prudence Mapstones stand at Ally Pally.

14. A coat in Colinette Shimmer 5.

Also currently on the needles (begun this year) another beanie hat in Sublime and the Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Fall 06