Wanderlust!

Life's irritation number 8

Don't you just hate it when you know everyone else is having fun and you are left at home?

That is just how I feel as I know that the annual banquet of yarn addiction that is Wonderwool is taking place in Wales this very weekend and many of my knitting friends will be there enjoying the myriad colourful sights, sounds, smells and feel of yarn, fleece and real live animals, sheep, alpaca, angora rabbits!

With over 200 exhibitors and 3 halls it is the premier wool and natural fibre festival in Wales, one that everyone talks about and one that I have NEVER been to!

It is all I can do to stop myself getting in the car and driving there even though I know that it is nearly 190 miles each way and would take about three and a half hours to get there. How do I know that? Because I've checked it out, I've never been but I've checked out the route just in case I was to jump in the car and drive there over the weekend. I know I'm not going but if I was I'd know how to get there.

I don't actually need yarn, I have a stash that risks outliving me but buying yarn is only part of the reason one goes to yarn festivals. There are workshops to take (and we all know what a sucker I am for a good workshop), things to see, favourite independent yarn suppliers to see, new suppliers to suss out and friends to meet up with.

Oh well, maybe next year.

And what's on my needles right now?

Having finished my Miss Winkle which is waiting to be blocked at the weekend and for me to rewrite the Lost In CyberSpace blog post, I have been working on my sock and have just turned the heel so will soon be on the home straight.

The next real post will be late.

Life's irritation number 7

Don't you just hate it when you manage to delete your work just when it is nearly finished?

There I was just finishing off my latest blog post when something happened and the words disappeared before my very eyes! Nothing I did would make them come back and I'm sure that it banished them further into the mysterious world of cyberspace.

Having turned the air blue with my protestations and frightened the cat to boot, there is nothing I can do but write it all again.

I am doubly upset as I have been pleasantly surprised by the interest that has been shown in my odd ramblings and unique view point of the world around me.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as I can remember what I had written and can recreate it.


And what's on my needles right now? 

If you think I have time to knit when I have a blog post to rewrite you're mistaken. If I had needles to hand I would stab the evil computer goblin who has stolen all my hard work.

I'm not a Granny yet!

Life's irritation number 6 -

Don't you just hate it when the world sees you as a stereotype!

Yes I knit but I'm not a Granny, nor do I knit because the Duchess of Cambridge knits, in fact I have been knitting since before she was born!

The knitting community has been twittering away this week about an article on the Guardian website entitled Knitting and Needlework: relaxing hobbies or seditious activities? You would think knitting was a peaceful hobby but people with very sharp sticks should not be upset. Here are a couple of responses from fellow bloggers Louise at Knit British and Kate at Woolwinding.

The first mistake the paper made was to use a photo of elderly women knitters gossipping over a garden fence as all of us in the knitting community know that knitters come in all shapes and sizes. I first knitted as a Brownie way back in the early 60's and have knitted in every decade since. I am far from in my dotage but when acting as a guide for the Great London Yarn Crawl last September I was the oldest. There are 4 million users worldwide of Ravelry the social network for knitters, spinners and weavers and if their 'avatars' are to be believed 12,000 of them are cats! And a fair few of them are MEN.

The next mistake was to say  that knitting is 'the relic of women's servitude'. I am not sure that women have ever been forced to knit, some like the Shetland Knitters have done so to support their family but in the 19th Century when early knitting books, like those available on line from the University of Southampton, were first published many women took up needlecraft in the same way as they learnt the piano to fill the hours until they married. Later during the war years women knitted to send some little piece of home to their men at the Front and with clothes rationing, one way to get a new outfit was to make it yourself. My Mother used to knit all my cardigans when I was a child but as manufactured knitwear became cheaper hand knitting was no longer a necessity, it has now become an active chose. 

To say that it 'is not relevant to the reality of modern women's lives' is an assumption which is not justified, with so many modern women taking up knitting as a means of self expression, for relaxation, to make garments that are unique or for any other of the many reasons knitters knit who can possible say that it is not relevant. And to think knitting is 'for women who have just too much time on their hands' could not be further from the truth. It is for women who have too little time on their hands, women who work, are mothers, have homes but who make time to do something that they really enjoy using yarn that they fall in love with!

And the writer should never have used the term 'revival', I have seen so many revivals during my knitting life that if I were a cat I'd be half way though my nine lives! Knitting has never been dead so hasn't needed to be revived, it has always been there carried on by dedicated few. The thing that has changed over the last few years is that knitting has become more social. Once an activity that I did alone at home and hardly ever talked about has turned into a group activity with Knit and Natter Groups everywhere you look. It is knitting that has given me and many many others the opportunity to write this and all the other knitting blogs around. Knit a longs (KAL's) are fun ways to join a group of other knitters to follow a pattern but to put your own mark on it with your individual use of yarn and colour. The camaraderie that has developed in the knitting community is something that other hobbies have enjoyed for years so why shouldn't we knitters have it too. A common interest encourages us to learn new techniques, stretch ourselves, write and publish our own patterns, move our craft onto another level.

I'm a Knitter and I'm proud.

And what's on my needles right now?

Well talking about KAL's, I'm knitting Miss Winkle by Martina Behm as part of Crafts From The Cwtch Spring KAL. The yarn is called Sea Deep and is hand dyed by Beth Sutherland of Luscious Creations. This is an enjoyable to knit narrow shawl/scarf with an unusual looped edge which I may have overlooked it it wasn't for this KAL.

Workshops aren't really work!

Life's irritation number 5 -

Don't you just hate it when people don't seem to be on your wavelength!

But don't you just love it when they are!

In everyday life we all spend time with others who are not interested in the things we are and sometimes they have an interest in something that bores us rigid, it would be a very strange life if everyone was the same. We do all, however, feel an infinity with those who share a common passion so it is extra special when we can spend time with like minded people and I have been luck enough to have a few of these special occasions lately

Instead of the usual Saturday morning at work I got to spend a whole day with knitting friends a few weeks ago and it also provided an opportunity to bring together friends from different parts of my life. A group I had first met through a knitting retreat had arranged a workshop at Proteus Creation Space in Basingstoke and accompanying me were two friends from my regular monthly knitting group.  There was plenty of time for knitting, chatting and catching up as well as a bit of learning something new.

Rachel of Porpoise Knits shared her knowledge of cast ons and cast off's (or bind off's as she calls them - forgive her, she is American).

Most of us are guilty of using only one or two methods of casting on, usually the one we were first taught; I know I am and I have been using the thumb method for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the one we choose is not the best tool for the job and I have fallen in love with Judy's Magic Cast On which I learnt as part of a toe up sock knitting workshop. It truly is magic, producing a fabric that is knitted from each side which has no lumpy seams so is perfect for sock toes. We also learned a tubular cast on and it's companion cast off, as well as an i-cord cast on which works perfectly for top down hats.

The venue was just right for the size of the group and we had home-made soup for lunch, plus a selection of home baked goods. Everyone seemed to have fun, even some newbies who were getting to grips with knitting. And it was great meeting up with new people and old friends.

The next Saturday I learnt how to make lined curtains thanks to Sue of Sweet Seams who provides sewing lessons in my community centre. Our very small group discussed all the things you need to think about even before you look at fabric when it comes to making curtains. Then once we had practised a mitred corner and herringbone stitch, we each made a small sample curtain.

That tiny grey patterned one is mine, it is lined and has weighted corners and I am extremely satisfied with a day well spent.

I have also attended a couple of craft sessions that are being run by Nicole of Think Make Do at The Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames. They have both been on very different types of fabric printing, this weeks was block printing and the first one was heat transfer.

They are both techniques that were new to me and ones I wouldn't have attempted at home particularly the heat transfer due to the specialist equipment needed.

Although the workshop is only 2 hours there is a chance to try the technique out on a number of samples and also to print a final useful item to take home.

These workshops take place on the first Tuesday of each month and I am already interested in the Japanese Shibori style heat setting which is being offered in May!

PS: My knitting group ladies have made it into the local paper. 

And what's on my needles right now?

Well, what's not on my needles! I still have my sock, have started the heel but not done very much knitting on it as I haven't taken it out anywhere with me. 

And the Waterlily is ready to divide for the lace yoke but I am not sure if it is too big and I need to decide whether to frog (that means undo for the non knitters who may be reading) it and start over on a smaller size. While I am considering my options I have started something else but I don't want to tell you about that now as I want to talk about it next week.

The Secret is out.

Life's irritation number 3 -

Don't you just hate it when you have a secret that you want to tell everyone but you can't!

After four weeks of pattern writing, knitting and sewing the giant blood drop is finally in place hanging from the 'tree' inside Kings Cross Station. Forming a focal point for today's recruitment stall it will remain there watching over the station's users for one week. This unusual sight attracted a fair bit of attention while I was there this morning resulting in over 100 registrations by lunch time and hopefully even more by 7 pm tonight when the bright red gazebo was packed away.

It was joined by many of the other 400 or so blood drops knitted by individuals and groups from this region which had been hung from the real trees in front of Kings Cross and those too were a source of interest to the many commuters and passers by who stopped to look at them.

Hanging high up there it is difficult to gauge the actual size of that giant so here is another photo of the finished object with a chair to provide scale. Seeing it in place made all the hard work worth while for such a good cause that effects almost everyone at some time in their life.

We are so lucky in this country when being admitted to hospital needing blood but if it wasn't for those who donate freely that vital resource would not be available.

I gave blood a few times back in the late 1980's after my father needed to receive blood but for various reasons I had to stop and didn't think to start again. My 88 year old mother, in the summer of 2012 was so anaemic that she needed 2 units of blood before she could undergo surgery to remove a tumour in her colon, now fully recovered she knitted a quarter of the giant blood drop. So today I registered to give blood again and I know that it is not possible for everyone to but if you can I would urge you to consider doing so.

I will give you an insight into the making of the giant blood drop in next week's blog.

And what's on my needles right now?

Well not actually on my needles but recently off is this version of the Cadence Shawlette by Emily Straw (it is actually double size) knitted in Valkyrie Aran by The Natural Dye Studio. I love this colour which is called Kings Hedge and reminds me of Rainbow Chard.

Life’s irritation number 1 –

Don’t you just hate it when you have a really good idea only to find someone else has had the same thought before you!

In my job I have written a series of articles for inclusion in a local free twice yearly publication and while writing the most recent one I realised that it was the tenth piece I had written! So after five years of writing for work I decided it was the right time for me to write for pleasure, I enjoy writing and have loads of off the wall thoughts so why not share them with others. I'm not sure if there actually are many others who are interested in hearing those thoughts but I'm posting them here and only time will tell if anyone reads them.

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a while now and have had plenty of ideas for titles but when I have researched them each and every one has already been used by others. But now, though a chance comment passed by a friend, I think I have come up with something that is original.

It had to be something to do with knitting because that is what I do in my spare time, that is what keeps me sane after the frustrations of a 9 to 5 job and that is what I would rather be doing all day and every day. Unfortunately I am yet to find anyone who is willing to pay me a living wage to do just that so the 9 to 5 job (including all the extra days and hours I work) it has to be for the moment and knitting is relegated to my spare time and that it just one of life’s little irritations that knitting soothes.

It is possible that I am irritated by life slightly more than others are or maybe I just notice things that others don't and that is why they are not irritated by them. Hopefully you will find the things that irritate me also irritate you or at the least find my view of them slightly amusing, I don't intend this to be one long moan!

So Dear Reader this is my first blog, I am learning as I go along and my photos may not be very good but please be kind to me, you may not agree with everything I write or share my sometimes unusual view of life but I only hope that you will want to come back and read my future posts.

And what’s on my needles right now?

Well, it’s red, a strange shape and a bit of a secret but I will tell you more about it later!