Actual Fibre Content

Hello folks! Sorry, I've been a bit distracted in a VERY GOOD WAY and therefore no blogging time! Let's just say that maybe OKC isn't as useless as I feared :-D

So what's been happening here at Chez Woolhouse? Not a lot, to be honest, I've been steadily ploughing on with the Iced Cardigan:



It's coming on nicely, I'm just in Sleeve Hell at the moment. I hate sleeves. First one is nearly done, second one to do and then the huge collar. Of course, the weather has now turned utterly lovely, I've lightly scorched my arms and one leg, so the last thing I need is a super-woolly, handspun cardigan :-) Typical!

I finished a gnomey hat which was a request from a friend:



Mmmmmmalabrigo in Ravelry Red, which of course my camera hates. It's soft and lovely as you'd expect.

Workshop prep:



coming on sloooooooooowly, but it's looking good and has a really nice hand.

I also finished another Baktus, but forgot to take a picture because I am a bit distracted at the moment :-) This was my Work Knitting, so I need to find something else sharpish. I'm considering a BSJ - NOT FOR ME MIGHT I ADD, but for a lady I just met yesterday who is due a bebeh in two weeks' time. And is a knitter! Yay! Only thing is I'm not sure I've got appropriate yarn (I know, hard to believe huh?) and I might be pushed for time...I have some lovely sockweight, but I don't want it too tiny or slow to knit. I shall ponder a little more.

I still need to comb some more of these Hebrideans - I spun up some more and it is really nice, typical longwool, very lustrous with little or no spring to it.

In other news, I'm still toying with renaming the blog, and mebbe my Rav name too. It's just not cutting it for me any more. Suggestions? Answers on a postcard?

Of course, I have been watching the F1, looking like another good season so far. Pleased with the McLarens, they're much better than they looked in testing, Sauber are impressing me like mad as is Paul di Resta. Good stuff, and China next week! I might have to rearrange my dental appointment...

~♥~

Hello April

Where the fuck did you come from???

*shakes head*

ANYHOO. I've not been doing much exciting crafty stuff, I'm mainly trying to prepare for the workshop I'm going to be teaching at a festival. Which in itself is exciting (I need to remember to buy a tent, dammit) but doesn't make interesting blog fodder at the moment. Other than that I've been rather stalled on stuff - I seem to have lost my mojo a little bit. Don't worry, I'm sure it will come back very soon, I'm just a bit focused elsewhere...like my lovelife ;-) Yeah, much to my amazement I got a date from OKC, and well, we'll see!

Not much else to report to be honest, I still haven't finished the Iced cardigan, in fact I might go and devote an hour to it. It only has 3/4 of one sleeve so far :-( but I could totally do with it at the moment while the weather is still cool enough!

~♥~

In which not a lot happens

Well not a lot has been happening down here. Still working, still knitting (the Iced cardi from Knitty, coming on very well thanks) and not doing a bunch else. The was-on-then-off-then-back-on-again date is now firmly friend-zoned, which I think is best for everybody concerned. I got myself an account on OKStupid, which so far isn't filling me with glorious hope but hey, you never know. Generally I'm rather fed up with the whole thing again.

ANYWAY, it's nice and warm in the "garden room" so I think I might go and try warping my loom in there. Am having a lazy day so far, would be nice to have something to show for it!

~♥~

didn't we have a lovely day...

the day we went to London?



Yup, the Ravelry LSG UK Hoars Meet Up.

Look! Tweasels in their natural environment (the pub):







Now, I am the first to admit that I dislike London. I love some of the things IN London - the yarn shops, the V&A, the British Museum, the Doc Martens shop (is that still there?) but London generally you can keep. It's too busy, too dirty, too noisy and there isn't enough greenery. No, Hyde Park doesn't count. Really, no, it doesn't. It's a field.

However, it has some compensations.



Need I say any more on this matter? I thought not.

Also:



The coned yarns are from the Handweaver's Studio, where I met up with a few other weaving-minded souls in the morning. It's a great shop, see:



Well worth the short trip up to Finsbury Park.

I actually had a really good time, it's the first time I've been into the Smoke since I moved, and it was weird coming into Paddington on the Great Western, I'm so used to landing at Euston. I kind of felt like I hadn't arrived properly, if that makes sense. What absolutely gobsmacked me, and this is one for the railway buffs, is that the Paddington trains from Reading had slam doors. SERIOUSLY? I thought Southerners were all advanced and posh?! SLAM DOORS??!? Haven't seen them in years. Even the Clyde Coast line trains have sliding push-button doors.

ANYWAY. I digress, as usual.

There are other good things to tell you about. My date has rekindled (hurray) so I'm all happy about that. I'm not telling you any more :-)

I have a new chair! A spinning chair! You may envy me now:



Isn't it awesome? I love it. This means I can sit properly and spin, rather than sinking into the sofa and wrecking my back.

I was given an incredibly generous present. I'm still rather overcome to be honest.



That's a Don Porritt tapestry loom. Oh my. I don't actually know how to make it work yet, but I'm going to find out! As far as I can tell, everything is there ready to go, just the reed needs a clean as it's gone a bit rusty. A soak in some Coca-Cola and a going over with some wire wool should sort that out. I just need to put aside some time to devote to sorting and learning.

I think that's it, I've just been to the dentist for a super-deep clean and I feel like I've been smacked in the mouth with a cricket bat. Hopefully though this will make my gums better - I'm not convinced personally, they've always been a bit dubious, but hey, I'll give it a try and see what happens. I get a week off then go back for the other side to be done. Can't wait...at least the anaesthetic has worn off enough so I can drink without dribbling, and the bleeding seems to have abated somewhat. Ouch. Soup for dinner again :-(

~♥~

Good grief

20th Feb already :-( Where does it go? Mum always says that time goes faster the older you get...she's not wrong.
Anyway. What's been happening down here in the deep South?
Well, a couple of truly bananas weeks at work culminated in me making a stupid rookie mistake, I'll find out tomorrow what the outcome is. Hopefully it won't mean looking for a new job...
A very promising couple of dates with a very nice chap has fizzled out in a rather disappointing fashion.
And my computer has been making horrible "dying donkey" noises and throwing out strange errors.

So all in all, a bit shit to be honest :-)

~♥~

Random Friday

Can you believe this new year is two weeks old already??? WTF?

So far this year I've managed to buy a new umbrella (it's awesome, it's this one), some CDs (how retro of me!) catch up with a couple of peeps on Failbook, sorry, Facebook, one of whom has had twins since I last saw her, go to Basingstoke, watch a lot of snooker, knit 3/4 of a sock and a bunch of shawl AND make progress on the sweater and go to work. It's going fairly well I think, the only things I haven't managed yet are winning the lottery and seducing Christian Horner. Well, the year is young :-D

Oh and I joined Twitter, but you won't find me tweeting much. I just live vicariously through other people.

Basingstoke is quite nice! I was surprised. I had a vision of it being all 70's brutalist and just plain boring but the bit I saw was okay. Admittedly it was mainly the ring road and the shopping centre (made famous by Jeremy Clarkson driving a Ford Fiesta around it) but it was pretty good. Excellent branch of Lush, which gave me a happy. And lots of samples. I likes samples. Unfortunately the super-speshul conditioner for my speshul snowflake hair isn't as good as the Aussie industrial-grade stuff, but it smells a damn sight better. The Aussie goop smells like rancid air freshener, but it works. Dilemma. Me and my first world problems, huh?

Southern Electric suck. That is all on that subject.

My former letting agents are muppets. I FINALLY got my deposit back, today. I moved out in NOVEMBER!!! Anyway, I have it. This is fortunate as I need to go buy furniture...

I have been weaving. I made a curtain for the bathroom, as I reckon my neighbours at the back can see mah boobs when I'm in the shower :-) Not that this is a great treat for them or anything...



Saori curtain. I finished it off and hung it today, so when I have some decent light I'll try and photograph it in situ. It's pretty neat, if a bit lumpy. I had the usual issues with the warp, it was so varied it was very tricky to beam it evenly, especially as I couldn't find my special card warp separator. Anyway it is done and seems to be pretty effective at blocking the boobie-view. Now I just need to make something for my lounge windows...

~♥~

Well that was the year that was

Well 2010 is nearly done. Can't say I'm going to miss it too much, especially the first half. The second half was okay. I'm hoping the improvement will carry on into the shiny new year :-)

So, a quick roundup of 2010, lets see how far I've come (ha) and what happened through one of the more stressful years of my life :-/

In January I was on the dole, having been made redundant for the second time in my life. That was weird, and hard when you're the only person paying the bills and putting food on the table. It lasted until April. I also had the chimney fire, and had no heating until May. In the coldest winter for god-knows-how-many years. I got really good at chopping logs.

In February I split up with the other half. That was hard. Really hard. It took a long time to recover from that, and a lot of soul-searching and general suckage.

March I had to give notice on my little cottage. That was just a mighty kick in the teeth - no work = no money = no house. Fortunately my ass was saved a few weeks later. I did however forecast Seb Vettel as a future F1 World Champion :-)

In April I got a new job, at the shipyard in Govan. It was good, the money was hugely welcome and I got to climb up an aircraft carrier. I also visited my first major fibre festival, Wonderwool. Around now things started to slowly look up.

The next few months were pretty quiet. I focused on earning some money, chilling out about a lot of stuff, a lot of crafting, a little decluttering and watching motorsport and cricket. In August I went to the PicKnit in Glasgow with Casey and Jess, which was so cool.

In 2010 I also took part in the Ravelympics, scoring seven medals, and did the Tour de Fleece which was pretty neat too.

In October I got word of the new job, and in November got made an offer AND moved house. I moved over 400 miles, from rural Ayrshire to the Royal County of Berkshire, and started a job which I hope will last a good long time. I still don't really know my way around very well, but I'm planning, as spring approaches, to get out and about a bit more and get a feel for the lie of the land. It seems really pretty here, there's a great big forest to explore, lots of archaeology to go and see, a canal, some promising towns to visit and London is only a short train journey away too. My house is warm and cosy, if a bit on the small side. I'm struggling to find a place for everything, so I've been decluttering and generally getting used to a smaller space. My poor living room is stuffed with furniture :-) I may have to despatch my old horrible armchairs to the tip and either move in the smaller ones I ganked from my Mum (which I was going to put in the "garden room" - an icebox in winter and, I imagine, a sauna in summer) or get a couple from IKEA. The carder and combs don't have a home yet, and might have to be kept in their boxes except when I'm using them, which is a shame but you know, it could be a lot worse :-)

So all in all, I'm looking forward to a new year. I've pretty much had the new start already, moving down here, so now it's just a case of building on that.

Enough of this frivolity, I have some fibre content for you.



I've been doing some thread crochet. I finally found some colourful crochet cotton while I was in Stoke. Dunno what it will all be yet, but I'm quite enjoying it. 1.25mm hook, hoars. Fear the doily. I should add, the last piece (in white) isn't my work, I acquired it in a bag of crochet cottons from a car boot sale. Pretty ain't it?

While I was up in Stoke, I took lots of knitting (naturally):



Sweater in Scottish Tweed chunky, no pattern. I ripped back about four inches when I realised the waist shaping I'd done was total arse, but I'm now back on track. I think.

I knitted a sock!



This is from Wendy's book, Socks from the Toe Up, and it's the basic slipped stitch heel version. The yarn is what I dyed at the workshop Ange and I did with Lilith. Merino cashmere baby. Second one is on the needles and well up the foot already. Not washed yet, and my first attempt at working on two circs which I LOVE.

I bought a little bit of yarn:



Regia Hand-dyed Effect in a lovely peacock colour which I can't get to photograph properly.

I also swatched for an Epic Project:



This will become Jules' Sweater. Fifty-three inch chest, not including ease. I'm not saying any more, I'm just going to go and sob quietly in a corner for a while.

I've been spinning:



Mohair / BFL, also dyed by me at Lilith's. I'm spinning it into a soft single, then I'm going to knit myself a wrap in it. Hopefully. If there's enough. Hmmm.

Finally, in a nod to my former life as a potter (sigh) I treated myself to this:



Moorland Pottery, it's one of their Stokie range. It actually says on it:
"Ay up ow at oraight"
which won't make any sense at all unless you're from Stoke-on-Trent. I love it and want most of them. They need to start making tea and coffee jars to match. It's just a shame it's not bone china, which I actually prefer for mugs. I intend to take this to work and confuse the life out of my Southern colleagues.

Well that's it for 2010. It's quarter to eight at night, I've had no dinner yet (oops) so I'd best go fix myself something and settle in for a quiet evening on eBay looking for curtains. As it's new year I might treat myself to a wee dram of Laphroaig as well.

Happy New Year xxx

~♥~

THE KNITTER HAS LANDED

Well, a wee while ago actually (just entering the third week), but thanks to BT being their usual efficient selves (cough) and them screwing up my lovely broadband providers, it's taken a couple of weeks to actually get online. But I am BACK and SO FUCKING RELIEVED to have a proper internet connection again.

Eight Megabytes.

Oh yeah baby. Now I know those of you on fibre are getting 20Mb and are just laughing your asses off, in the last place I was getting 768Kbps so it's like going from a Suzuki Liana to a Red Bull Renault. Sweet.

I had 378 emails and about the same number of unread blog posts in Google Reader (gulp). Yeah. Epic. I've barely scratched the surface of the blogs.

Anyway I know you're all just SLAVERING to know how the move went. Well, no-one died, the only injuries were to me (one set of squashed fingers and one gashed finger, oh and my fingernails are just hideous)and my bank accounts now have a quite spectacular dent in them.

It didn't all fit, by the way. Yeah. Let's just say that through a miracle of packing engineering, an unexpected trip back to Scotland, dumping stuff on Ange and simply dumping some other stuff, it all got done, sort of. I knew a 7.5 tonne van would have been better :-) I DEFINITELY couldn't have done it without the awesome assistance of Ange and Jules, neither of whom I fell out with in the process. Amazingly they didn't fall out with me either. I love you guys.

So I am here in freezing Berkshire! It's really rather nice. I've not had much chance to explore yet as I'm still unpacking (I only found my slippers last week) and the first couple of weeks it's been so cold and icy that I haven't really fancied going far (also skint, see bank account mention above...)I've found Sainsbury's (vital), the petrol station and the local hardware shop, the railway station and my office (handy). I can't get over having a shop 5 minutes walk away where I can buy milk! Cigarettes! A loaf! I don't need to get the car out!

In fact, the only thing missing as far as I can see is a yarn shop. The nearest "proper" one is John Lewis which really doesn't count. Typical. A lovely shop opens in Gourock and not all that long after I have to move. Huh. However, after having packed all the stash, and now unpacked it all into boxes, I realised something.



I have a lot of yarn.

I may not need to buy much for a while.

Yeah, right.

Interesting Times

Well, I'm moving.

Assuming my credit checks go through and nothing goes pear-shaped that is, *cross fingers* I'll be off down to Berkshire in a couple of weeks.

AAARGH.

I've started packing (slowly), I'm sorting out paperwork and forms and writing emails and shelling out the £££ and trying to work out what to do with utilities and bleargh. Head = Mince. I'm sure it will all work out in the end, but all I can see at the moment is OMG EXPENSE and OMG HOW THE FUCK AM I GOING TO FIT ALL THIS CRAP IN A VAN???

The wonderful Jules is sorting out transport - I've told him we're gonna need a BIG van. I'm leaving that one in his capable paws - if it won't all fit, guess who's going to have to do two runs? :-D (love ya chick!!!)

So it's all a bit epic here atm. I can't seem to get motivated to pack much, mainly because I'm full of cold and a headful of snot is not conducive to box-packing. However, I have made a small start and tomorrow will be a trip to the big B&Q on the way home for a sack truck and more storage boxes for the stash. I'm also going to run a cardboard box mission to Sainsbury's. I've even ordered some of those vac-pack bags off eBay for the bedlinen and clothes and what-have-yous.

It's going to be fun.

Anyway, last week was exhaustingly good. Went down to the parentals, ate cake, went to Fibre Flurry (very good), went house-hunting in Berks (successful on the 1st attempt, see disclaimer above *grin*), went to two Jane Thornley workshops in Glossop (great fun and AMAZING food and lovely yarn and Jane is adorable), went out with Jules in his new old Mini (it's so cute!), got given a very large toy sheep (thanks R, only you could think of that), got a new Golding (!!!) drop spindle off a Raveler and finally got my hot, sticky little mitts on the Alice Starmore books I've been jonesing after since January. Phew. Here's some pictures, and with that I'm away to pack another box before settling in with some knitting and the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Random on a Thursday

As it's now Friday and I forgot to post this last night, it's even more random ☺ especially as it's now all temporally confused as I've added things this morning. Heh.

I had (yet another) epiphany this week. I’m good at these. This one struck me whilst driving to work. Okay, not quite the road to Damascus, but near enough *grin* I was miserable about going to work. I didn’t want to get up and go out and be bored for 10 hours then come home and have dinner and go to bed. So I smacked myself firmly round the back of the head, and informed myself that a) I have no choice if I want to eat; b) being miserable about it MAKES IT WORSE and it feels like the days last an eternity; and c) I simply CANNOT do All The Things I want to, but if I go about with a more positive attitude I tend to get a lot more done.

Well duh. So now I’m trying to be more positive and what have you and trying not to worry myself about my little anxiety issues(ironic, huh) and allergy weirdness (my sinuses SERIOUSLY dislike air conditioning but they’re just going to have to deal with it) and that insect bite on my hip? That I’ve had for like, two months? That is still going ITCHITCHITCH? It really isn’t Lyme disease. Seriously, brain, it isn’t. It’s an itchy insect bite that you’ve been going SCRATCHSCRATCH at for weeks so it’s no wonder it’s not better yet.

Moar Randomz:

Facebook. Why? I mean, really? It’s awful. I could go on forever. I do not want to see your stupid “omg poor kiddy needz an operation WONT U THINK OF THE CHILDRENNZZZZ give us all your fucking money NAOW” all over my wall. Bleh.

Hyperbole and a Half is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen for a very long time. This post about horror movies is so me it’s unreal. Nice to know I’m not alone ☺

It was so foggy this morning it looked like November. Hmmm. Winter is coming. Need to knit faster.

You know, first thing this morning I had so many things to write down. Now I can’t remember half of them. Typical.

Bruce Dickinson rocks HARD.

Dating. I’m starting to think that I’m really not that bothered you know. After all, as things are at the moment, if I want to spend all weekend spinning, eat fishfinger and cheese butties, walk round the house half-naked or in sweatpants with a rag round my head to keep my hair up, listen to very odd music or sit half the night playing Solitaire on the PC…NO ONE CARES.

I found that if you mix Texel and Balwen fleece on the drumcarder you get a surprisingly awesome batt. By varying the percentages, you can grade the colours. That was an exciting evening at my house.

Formula 1 – I miss it. Hurry up with the holidays already.

I want to KNIT ALL THE THINGS. So I’m not casting on ANYTHING new until I’ve either finished something, or know exactly what ONE thing I need to knit straight away or I will OMG DIE. So far, nothing’s winning that contest.

Music – Following a thread on LSG, I’m delving into some new-to-me music at the moment. So far, Fever Ray, Lykke Li, Neutral Milk Hotel and Seasick Steve are going on the playlist. Also it reminded me of the deep love I have for Tom Waits, Tindersticks, Smashing Pumpkins and Björk. Also, we7.com. Full of win ☺ Lots of free music to stream, very reasonable downloads and it’s part-owned by Peter Gabriel. The radio feature is pretty neat too. Okay, there are ads, but you just ignore those.

We’re starting up a Guild! The Clyde Coast Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. I am very excited. The plan is to have meetings split between Gourock, Dunoon and West Kilbride, which means everyone should have chance to attend and we all get to see a bit of the area. The idea got mooted at the last spin Saturday and it seems to have legs. We’re all very keen anyway!

My Viking wool combs STILL haven’t arrived. I wish P&M Woolcraft would extract digit.

One of my colleagues finished today – he brought pies and bridies in for us, but I’m resisting after having looked at the innards of a bridie last time we had them. Bluuuuurgh. It’s a miracle I’m not dead. Really. So he gave me his chocolate biscuits instead ☺ Yum.

I loves my new wheel. We’re still getting used to each other but we’re making good progress. I struggled somewhat with fancy coiled-yarn plying as the flywheel wants to go the opposite way when I stop treadling. However by the end of the yarn I was starting to get in the way of it. The resulting yarn I fear will suck badly, but that's not the wheel's fault ☺

I really want to knit a Season 12 Doctor Who scarf.
All 14 feet of it.
Shoot me now. Maybe I could weave it...

~*~

Pause

I am trying to put together a proper post for y'all, but it's not coming too easily at the moment - I think my poor brain is quite worn out. Don't worry, I'm not about to stab myself to death with my DPNs or anything, just work and relationship (well, lack of) stuff and things not working and having to get new things and work being sucky and lots of busy and, well, meh.

So here's the last couple of weeks in bullet points...

• Sewing machine broke. This is sad because it was my Granny’s, and I don’t have the heart to get rid of it. I have the original receipt from 1974, ffs. Maybe a doorstop.
• Obtained new (to me) sewing machine. Joy abounds as it actually works and I’m not as bad at sewing as I thought.
• Had relationship moment and something of a revelation regarding same. Basically, single is better than dating some poor bloke whilst actually wishing he was someone else. The someone else exists and was the provider of my lovely sewing machine, hence possibly the only time in history that a sewing implement has triggered major life review. Hah.
• Work laptop died. This means limited Ravelling, which is a bugger as I don’t have much to do. This makes me extra-twitchy because...
• They’ve stopped us smoking at work other than lunchtime. This sucks donkey balls and makes me grumpy and bored and I eat too much.
• I therefore have an interview this coming week. I’m trying to work out how to ask if they have stupid smoking rules without sounding like a tit.
• Ange and I went to Perth, bought yarn, fibre and I got an extremely orange handbag.
• Perth is really nice.
• I bought a new mower. It is a revelation. I actually enjoy mowing the lawn now.
• I went to IKEA and managed to spend less than £100. This is a miracle. The devil should stock up on ice skates. Just goes to show I have actually moved on a hell of a lot :-)
• I now have my fibre beautifully organised, well away from ciggie smoke and kitchen smells. It’s all securely wrapped up anyway, but I am paranoid.
• I also have a lovely blanket chest, which is already full. So I’m making another blanket. It’s an obsession.
• I am so sick of marketing / research / nuisance phone calls that I have instigated a new telephone policy. I don’t answer it. I’ve set the answerphone to pick up after 4 rings and I’ll filter the crap out that way.

That's it :-)

I have a bunch of pictures on the camera but I'm too addled to deal with it now so you'll just have to wait, sorry :-)

~*~

in which there is a mild improvement in confusion levels...

Well. That was an interesting week. I got offered the job in Glasgow! Yay me! (Don't ASK about the one down South, what a fuck-up that was and NOT on my part) I now have a pile of forms to fill in, a medical next week at oh-dark-thirty and hopefully that's me for a few months.

So I have decided that for now anyway, I'm not moving house. I'll confirm it all this weekend with the landlords, but I spoke to the main man and he was cool with it, so that's one thing off my plate.

Also to add to the interestingness, I got another call today about another job where they seem to be OMG SUPER KEEN and might want to offer permanent. Which is promising, but we'll have to wait and see.

I have been crocheting and knitting and spinning, but I have no exciting photos so you'll just have to use your imagination. I finished the Scroll Lace scarf. It's still drying but very nice, in Drops Silk-Alpaca, I had to totally re-do the maths as the yarn is much heavier but it's worked well. I spun and plied the Bruise batt, that's also drying but dudes, 325 yards??? Woohoo. I am well pleased with that.

So now I know I will have some moneyz, I can start preparing for Wonderwool! Only another couple of weeks :-) Hopefully lots of spinny things coming my way. At least this time I don't need lots of equipment (well, maybe another wheel but the one I want I don't think will be there) so I won't be weighed down like I was coming back from London...

Not long after there is a machine knitting thing on over in Perth, so I'll probably tootle over there for a look-see. Mmm, cones. Don't ask me about the knitting machine though. It's sitting on a shelf in the lounge looking at me sadly. It really needs a major overhaul, and I just don't have the motivation at the moment.

I'm also starting to think about holidays this year. I didn't go anywhere really last year, so it would be nice to do something this time round. I'm thinking maybe go somewhere with good yarn :-) I'd love to do Shetland, but the ferry scares me too much and the flights are expensive. Maybe I should save up.

~*~

Still here! Still here!

Just about :-)

Until May anyway. Yes, I have had to take the fateful step of handing in my notice on my beloved, if chilly, cottage. There's little to be gained by staying any longer, sadly. The job market here still seems terribly depressed, and I'm having no luck with applications south of the Tartan Curtain either - maybe my location is putting people off? I don't know.

So, unless a miracle happens and I get offered a job in the meantime, I will be off back to Staffordshire. My parents have very kindly said I can stay with them until I can get back on my feet financially. Well, I can stay as long as I want actually. It makes sense, as even if I can't command the sort of salary I've been used to, my bills will be reduced to just the car, mobile, investments and internet, rather than the £1000 or so I'm shelling out now each month on rent, tax and utilities.

It's going to be hard though. I will have to put a LOT of my things in storage, and go from a three-bedroomed semi-detached house to one 11 foot square room. Gulp. How long do you think it will be before I get cabin fever? I am determined to make room for the stash, a goodly selection of books, the computer, Caroline the spinning wheel and my rigid heddle loom though. Even if it means throwing out half my clothes :-)

The privacy and peace is going to be a factor as well. Here it is tranquil, the only regular noise (apart from next-door's grandson when he's visiting, who sounds like he is wearing size 10 army boots most of the time) is the sheep baa-ing, the buzzards mewing, an occasional hoot from a coal train and a very distant sound of the A78. Occasionally you can hear the hum of the power station, or the faint sound of their tannoy. At the parents', although it is much better than it was, there are other houses each side, and a main trunk road right in front. The TV is always on, and my parents are both retired so are usually at home. Aargh. There are no snowy mountains to gaze upon, or a beach to stroll on either. Sigh.

It would play hell with my sex life, except I don't have one any more. Le sigh.

There are upsides. I won't need the potassium iodate tablets Ayrshire and Arran NHS dropped round a few days ago (for use in the event of a release of radioactive iodine from the station grin) I won't have to cook unless I want to, I imagine, and there are shops and a pub and civilisation within walking distance. I have good friends down there too, and of course the family, even though I might curse them sometimes :-)

So that's where I am at the moment. I'm still crossing my fingers that a job comes up before all this becomes a fait accompli, but it's not looking too promising. Well, hope springs eternal, right? :-) I would love to get back on the railway if I can. Yes, sad I know. I like trains. No I'm not a trainspotter. I just like the whole thing with trains and stations and all the possibilities they offer. Also I like big, mechanical, noisy smelly things. I should have been a mechanic :-) I enjoyed working on site, although I never went on track. (I don't have the tickets for it.) Shame, cause I'd find it really interesting trackside I'm sure, if a little nerve-wracking - 125mph train right past your earhole :-) Okay, there were times when it sucked, but find me a job that doesn't suck sometimes!

Anyway. I have been knitting:



The Serina shawl from Yarn Forward magazine, done in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply in "Little Foxes" colourway. I'm actually up to the knitted-on edging now, which is of course taking a frigging eternity to finish.

I did some spinning:



This was some left-over-from-plying singles, mixed up with odds and ends in my fibre box. Mainly merino, some Jacob, silk, BFL, Shetland and synthetics. About 200 yards of something approximating a 5-ply / sportweight. Ish. Maybe a DK. I've not tested the WPI yet, it varies a bit through the skein. Which is a good thing. I like my handspun to LOOK like handspun, you know?

Next up I want to work up some Scottish Tweed Chunky into a top-down sweater, maybe a cardigan. I also want to do another shawly-scarfy thing, maybe Ysolda's Scroll Lace, maybe I will design something. Don't know yet. I want something that isn't a standard triangle, more of a stretched-out one, so that it will wrap round my neck better and not have loads of fabric all dangling about. Suggestions gratefully received :-) Also I got "Socks from the Toe Up" by WendyKnits and now want to knit about a zillion pairs of socks.

I wove a poncho-thing! Using stuff from my Berber Jacket, and a pattern out of "Intertwined" by Lexi Boeger, I wove a longish piece of fabric, cut it in half (aargh that was stressful) added a bit of commercial fabric and poof! A poncho-thing. It's not quite finished yet though. It needs something, I just don't know what. Yet.



That's it in progress. Crazy warp. Good fun.

That's me for now. I need to go wash dishes and clean the bath - the landlord wants to bring someone round this afternoon who might move in after I've gone :-( Apparently I don't need to clean or tidy or anything, but I don't want to appear a total sloven :-)

~*~

Ravelympics 2010 Final Podium

That's all folks! Seven medals for Team Ooh, Shiny! I haz a proud.

Now I need a new challenge. But first, a few days visiting down south and discussing the next steps re: employment and accommodation...

~*~

Muddying the Waters

Well we had a leak on the water main apparently. This involved someone with a digger making a big hole and me having no water for the day.

When it got switched back on again, it looked like this:



Dude. Chewy.

Anyway it fortunately seems to have recovered today somewhat, which is good as the plumber stated I shouldn't use the shower (in case it clogs) or flush the loo too much, and to watch for things flooding in case the silt jams up an important plumbing bit.

Great. I just love my life sometimes.

So in the midst of all this (the plumber was also "fixing" the range - this involved bunging goop in the hole in the wall and slapping fire cement everywhere...don't get me started) I decided that I was going out. So I went up to Largs to hit the secondhand bookshop and maybe get a coffee in Nardini's.

I never got my coffee, as I went to the bookshop first and this happened:



as well as this:



which I realised was all far to heavy to lug around the shops. So I schlepped it all back to the car, then couldn't be bothered to walk back into town :-)

Imbolc
Today (or yesterday, depending on your calendar and preference!) is Imbolc, so in honour of Brìde I had the candles lit (one of which was scented which I think is what's given me this horrible headache):



and did some ritual sweeping out of the cobwebs ready for Spring. I also had a poke in the garden (and a bit of a clear up) and noted that yes, there are signs of life out there. Subtle, but the climbing hydrangea has new buds, the montbretia is putting on new shoots and so is the fennel. Hooray.

Knitting
I've done some.

In fact, I have finished my Woven Woods vest, and I've even sewn the button on. I just haven't taken pictures yet. I know, my bad. Next is to sort out the Ravelympics project and try and finish the weaving.

Now I'm going to go drink tea, nurse my headache and ponder where on EARTH I am going to put all of those lovely books.

~*~

Not Frozen Yet

I'm still here, a little chilly but doing my best with the open fire in the lounge and a few electric heaters. Oh and lots of fleeces and woollies :-) I'm really grateful the landlord said I would be recompensed for the electricity - my meter is virtually smokin', it's whizzing around so fast :-(

So anyway, I am pressing on with the daily grind. This being redundant business is rather odd. I imagine retirement is a bit like this, but I always figured I'd have a bit more of a plan for when that happens. You know, like having a late-onset midlife crisis, dyeing my hair purple, buying a sports car, that sort of thing. This "being-on-the-dole" thing is rather different. I think it's because it's involuntary. I don't really want to be sat around all day. I am supposed to be working. I like going to work, well as long as it is not the soul-sucking Pit of Hades where I was last.

Anyway, I duly registered myself for Jobseeker's Allowance at the weekend and went for my meeting at the Jobcentre yesterday. I honestly never thought I'd end up on the dole queue again. I'm trying very hard to not feel like a failure. I was in this situation eight years ago, and here I am again back in it. Bugger. Mind you, last time I only lasted three weeks on the dole before I got a new job, but last time we weren't in the throes of a stinking recession. This time though, I have a much stronger CV and a defined area of expertise. So there's something in my favour.

Enough self-flagellation, on to happier subjects. It is finally starting to melt outside, so I managed to extract the car from its icy tomb and toddled off to Saltcoats. This was after my lovely plumber rolled up unannounced at 9am to have a look at the heating situation and found me in my dressing gown drinking tea. Hee. Poor man. I duly rolled up at the Jobcentre (after walking straight past it twice!) and did all the paperwork-stuff. I then had a surf round the charity shops, and came out with some VHS tapes to watch. £1 for three, you can't complain at that :-) A quick stop-off at the LYS for some purple yarn (for my Ravelympics project, more on that later) and some sewing thread for plying, then over to Ange's for a quick lunch, then onto Once A Sheep at Gourock for some quality yarn-fondling. Karen has a lovely shop there, not long opened, and has already parted me from fairly considerable quantities of cash already! She's an Ashford dealer, what can I say? I came back this trip with some more Ravelympics yarn - Kureyon, Silk Garden, Manos Wool Clasica and a bit of Debbie Bliss. Oh and an Ashford yarn gauge, because I've been looking for one for ages. I was very much in need of yarn-fondling, it has been a trying few days for several reasons, so this cheered me up muchly.

Spinning



A wee gallery of what I've been up to. (The last one is just some of my fibre waiting to be spun up - I needed another piccie for the mosaic!) I am LOVING spinning. It is so relaxing, and yet constructive. Big big fun. I'm still using the spindles as well, I'm currently spinning a very fine bluey-green which will be used to ply a thicker wheel-spun yarn - again for the Ravelympics. I can't spin super-fine on the wheel yet. More practice needed for that.

Ravelympics 2010

Okay. I signed up with the Completely Pointless group on Ravelry - Team Ooh, Shiny! (hahahahaha) and I'm planning to do a Berber Jacket, one of Jane Thornley's designs. Mine will be in blue-green as one colour, with purple-orange as the other. All stranded colourwork!!! I think I have all the yarn now that I need, a lot of Kureyon with various other bits and bobs. I'm also spinning for it as well, and dyeing both yarn and fibre. I'd like to use set-in sleeves rather than the drop-shoulder, but I don't think I'll have time to mess with the pattern. I'm sure drop-shoulders will be fine. I'd also kinda like to knit it in the round, and steek it, but again, not sure. I need to sit down with the pattern and have a really good look at it.

Yeah, so I'm crazy. What's new there? :-D

Well that's me, off to stoke up the fire a bit and think about going to Knit Night. I don't really want to go out, as it's cold out there and I have a cosy fire, and I also have a scratchy throat, but a bit of socialising would do me good and I need to get milk too :-)

~*~

Keeping Busy

This being made redundant thing means I got to spend time working from home. As I have nothing much to do, work-wise, I've been busy round the house.

I've been cleaning out the range and fitting it with some new seals:





(this is what the inside of one of the lids looks like after a couple of weeks - eeewww)

Which resulted in managing to hit a decent temperature for the first time this winter (firing it on coal helps too...) -



I've been doing a little DIY - a loose doorknob meant a quick fix with Araldite and a G-clamp. Inelegant, but effective.



I've been doing some crazy weaving:



using up some of the stash mountain and trying out a mixture of fibres. I'm going to put this through the washer once it's finished, and hopefully there will be some uneven felting and shrinkage.

I've been sorting through some of my patterns and vintage magazines:



and re-organising my shelves.



I started playing with the inkle loom I won on eBay:



It's rather good fun. I can see me getting some use out of this. I have Helene Bress' excellent book on inkles to give me lots of ideas.

I have finished the Craft Fairs for the year, and made a grand total of £47. Wow. IF I had a day job, I don't think I'd be giving it up anytime soon. Oh well, good experience. :-)

I finished the hat and scarf commission - I've not a photo of the finished hat yet, but it is the Watchcap pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann, worked in doubled Manos del Uruguay. I used the yarn single in warp and weft for weaving the scarf, 5dpi (I think!)





I finished my Noro legwarmers - stripes of Kureyon and Blossom.



I finally finished off my top-down Raglan a couple of weeks back:



and yes, I finished trimming the ends after this shot was taken!

I was lazy and ordered in from Tesco -



whose home delivery service, by the way, knocks Asda into a cocked hat on level of service and sensible use of carrier bags. Way to go Tesco!

Finally it was Yuletide Night in the village, and I may have bought some yarn:



Well, I have to have something to keep me entertained whilst I'm sat around posting my CV on the internet and praying for a miracle ;-)

~*~